What Does It Mean to Repent?

It means to first acknowledge our sin before God, then to make the decision to turn away from that sin. Scripture is clear that those who are saved will have the desire to obey God, and will try to put to death their sin nature.

While we will always have sin, In our Christian lives we will grow and mature, and sin less and less as we learn to crucify our sin nature and to live a life pleasing to God. It is possible to do this, and to reach a level of maturity in faith where we learn to commit  less sin.

How do we do this? There are two keys. The first is 2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. This means not only our bad thoughts/temptation, but the thoughts we think of as good, our doctrines, our emotions, the words that others have spoken to us, and even the Word of God. It takes time to put this into practice, but He is the One who knows this new and living way, and only He can teach it to us. And we can only learn it from Him, for it is He who writes His law on our hearts.

The second part is praise and worship, which keeps the line of communication open between us and God. Our focus throughout the day should be on God, asking Him to guide us and praising Him quietly within, making music to Him in our hearts.

Jesus said seek first the Kingdom of God. He did not say that there was something we should seek second or third. We should seek Him in all things, whether in our relationships, in our job, in our recreation, or any other thing. Just keep in mind that this is all a growing process. In the natural world, we are not born knowing everything and able to do everything that an adult knows and does. We must learn it as we grow and mature. The same is true spiritually. Now maturity can come much faster spiritually than naturally if we pay attention and put God's kingdom as the goal of our lives, but it is still a process - one which will continue until the day we finally see Jesus face to face. And what a glorious day that will be!

Just like my brother likes to quote and live by 1 Corinthians 10:31 says So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

I pray that you find your self a great and God blessed week! And that you find your self in the word of the Lord!

Are You Sheep or Shepherd?

Paul tells us in Acts 20:28-31

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹So be on your guard!

It is easy these days to get side tracked and distracted from the main goal in our lives of worshiping God. We hear explanations for all sorts of sinful things. Whether it be drugs, steeling, homosexuality, the list can go on and on….We say “its only this one time.” Or “I’m not hurting anyone.” If we find ourselves giving justification for something to ourselves, then that should warn us that what we are doing or thinking is probably wrong.

The wolves that Paul is talking about can be seen as simple acts that on there own don’t hurt anything, but as they accumulate they separate us from the grace of God. So how do we know when we are being overtaken by these wolves? As I said earlier, we find ways to justify our actions to ourselves. We make up excuses for ourselves and for others. If someone wants you to do something that is un-Godly, then I have news for you. You might want to check out there teeth because that is a wolf! Unfortunately, there are people out there with the cunning and ability to pull the wool over our eyes. When we find ourselves in that bind of  all we have to do is turn around and God will be right there. There is someone or something in our lives this very day this very hour that has attempted or is attempting to bring us back and become of this world instead of just in it. Our skin makes decisions for our souls and that blinds us from the work that God has in store for us. There is someone or something in this world that maybe you have done something wrong to. Only God and you can answer those questions.

So what are you going to do? Sit back and let the wolves tear you and your fellow flock apart? Or Not worry about conforming to this world and stand for what is right even when it is hard? We live in a wolves den that is hungry for our souls. So ask your self, are you a sheep or a shepherd?

Rebel With a Cause….

So we say that we want to be different, be individuals, we hate having to conform to the establishment, and we want to stick out. We wear the clothes that makes up part of who we are, we cut and color our hair to show that we are different from others, and we strive to be remembered as who we are. Well, I have news for you. We are doing what God wants us to do.

Romans 12:2 says “²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

We have all heard the term before of rebel with out a cause. It is something inside of us all that makes us want to make a difference and show it. This is part of what God has hard wired into us. He purposely tells us that we shouldn’t worry about what this world thinks of us or has in store for us. He wants us to stick out like a sore thumb. He wants us to stand up and show the world that we are different. So how do we do this? Simple, we put ourselves out there with our beliefs and our God in plain view for all to see. In a world that thrives on shock and awe, we must give it to them. If we can have radio personalities talking about sex and drugs in great detail on the radio so that is “in your face”. Than we can do the same. No one said that being a Christian was one of quiet demeanor. To be humble is not to be silent. Ladies and gentlemen being religious, or spiritual, or holy, or however you want to put it is not weakness. It takes courage to stand up and show who we really are in Christ. So I choose to stand up and be different. I choose to not just tell but show others just how different I am. I choose to do this because God wants me to. He wants all of us to. The day that comes when you leave this world and see Jesus, remember that your “friends” that thought bad things about you, talked about you, pointed and laughed at you because you are a proud Christian won’t be there standing next to you. There are no excuses and there is no reason not to do what we are  made to do. Be that rebel. Be a rebel for Christ!

If There Was a Third Testament……

In the beginning the word was with God and the word was God. Somewhere along the line some people where led by God to write down in great detail about the heroes, profits, and bad guys and all there works whether good or bad. They predicted with out flaws the coming of Jesus strait down to the way He was born to the way He would die and then rise again. Fast forward a few thousand years and we have once again many who wrote by Gods direction about the heroes, villains, and people that Jesus interacted with and the things that were said about Him and to Him. Now fast forward a couple of thousand of years again and here we are in our modern lives, with our modern problems, and our modern way of thinking of things. But what happens when Jesus comes and all that has been foretold comes and goes. Now fast forward an uncertain number of years. And once again by Gods direction and inspiration, and possibly directly writing it, imagine that there was a third testament to the Holy bible. The question I pose is simple. If there was a third testament what would it say about you? I would say that would probably be a tough question to answer. Or would it? We are given very plain, very easy, very strait forward commandments to live by. We are told exactly what is expected of us. Our faith determines who we are in Christ. We already know that He gave everything for us. And we know that the day is coming when we will be with Him again. So if and when that next installment of the greatest book ever written is published, what will it say about you? Will we be heroes that stood up to others with courage in our hearts to openly live and breath as Christians? Will we be the villains that try to make it so that we gain over everyone else? Will we be the ones so wrapped up in our own salvation that we don’t love our fellow man unless we have something to gain? Or, will we learn from our history and our mistakes and step out of that comfort zone, forget what others think of us, and do whatever it is that God wants us to do? Either way, we don’t have to wait 2000 years for someone to read our story and be influenced by it. We don’t even have to wait until tomorrow. We can start right now. This very second there is someone out there that needs you whether we realize it or not. We don’t have to go around and try to make things better for someone by giving money or time. Yes those things are great. But when was the last time you asked someone what you can pray for them about? If we hesitate or wait for the right moment, it may never come. Or the end may come and then it will be to late. That time can be in a few years, months, days, or even minutes. We don’t know when that time is. Bring others to Christ by not only loving your neighbor with what is needed to survive here on earth, but also tend to there spiritual needs. When the body is long gone and wasted away, the spirit remains. They say that human spirit can overcome anything. Well, where did you get your spirit?  What will be said about you if there was a third testament?