Giving In

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor. 10:13).

Satan presents the opportunity before us to sin, and often times we take that opportunity. When we give in to temptation, we sin against God. In 2 Samuel 11, we find the story of King David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the tragic events which followed. David gave in to temptation and committed a horrible, heinous, hurtful sin, yet he was a child of God. He was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), and yet he committed awful, terrible, horrible sin. What we see is this: if a person is bound to sin, he is bound to suffer. Sin always brings consequences; even for the believer.

Those who belong to God are completely and totally made accepted in God’s sight based on the justifying work of Christ (Gal. 2:16). And there is nothing you can ever do to make God love you more. Nothing. There is also nothing you have done that makes God love you any less. Nothing.

But when we give in to temptation and sin against our Father, our fellowship with Him is hindered. For example, if a son does something wrong to his father—falling short of his expectations or rules—the son has hindered his fellowship with his father. He remains the son of his father, but the relationship suffers. Their fellowship will be hindered until the son admits to his father that he has done wrong. It works the same way with God; our fellowship with Him is hindered until we confess our sin (1 John 1:9). When we confess our sin to God, the fellowship is restored. This is relational forgiveness and we need to seek it when we give in to temptation.

Are we seeking God's forgiveness daily even if we give in to temptation?

(Free Christian Resources visit www.brandonsdesk.com)

Bro. Brandon

Unity

1 Peter 4:7-11
"Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God's words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen."

The thing I love about this ministry is that the ministry leaders are from different denominations, ideals, and personalities.

We, as Christians, are called to love God, love others, and love ourselves. We are supposed to love each other. In this passage, God says to have an "intense love" for one another. I've always wondered what would happen if every Christian in America would look past their differences, and focus on reaching the world for Christ. Do you know how much more effective we would be if this happened. Let's start trying this. Let's come together as one for the advancement of the Gospel.

Why should we love each intensely love each other? The answer is that because we are Christians, we will at some point suffer together. We are supposed to be there for a person who is going through a tough spell. We are called to suffer with the family that has lost a loved one. No matter how you will suffer, we have this assurance that we are not alone. Of course we have God on our side, but, if we do what we are supposed to do and be united in Christ, we have each other.

1 Peter 3:13-17

"And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil."

Everything, if you are a Christian, comes down to love. Do we love one another? If not, let's start.

-Bro. Michael

The Character of a Soldier of God: Part 2

Last week we discussed the first three characteristics of a soldier of God, (Strong, Singled-Minded, & Strict). Click here if you haven't read part one. Also if you'd like to follow along or use this devo with your students you can click here for student worksheets.

This week we are going to look at verses 11-19 of chapter 2.

11This saying is trustworthy: For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 14Remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words; this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers. 15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent, empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness. 17And their word will spread like gangrene; Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them. 18They have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are overturning the faith of some. 19Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription: The Lord knows those who are His, and Everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness. - 2 Timothy 2:11-19.

In these verses two characteristics stick out to me:

I. A Soldier of God is Secure (v11-13)

The Word here says if we endure with Him we will live and reign with Him forever.

If we reject Him before man, He will do the same to us. As believers we have already accepted Him once and for all. Verse 13 says it best, if we are faithless He remains faithful. He CANNOT deny Himself. If we accept Christ into our hearts then Christ now lives within us, forever. Even when we mess up, are back slidden, or totally fall off the grid, Christ is still in us. Because of that God can't deny us, because He can't deny Himself, His Son.

If we were without Christ (like verse 12 infers) He could deny us, because we are without Christ. But for the believers, the Soldiers of God, we HAVE Christ. No one or nothing can take that away from us. Because of that we can peace in knowing that our faith, our salvation is secure.

 

II. A Soldier of God is Sound in Faith (v14-19)

To be sound in faith means to know the Word. Most arguments in the Church come from Biblical ignorance. Verse 14: Paul asks us "Why are we fighting about what the Bible says? Is it doing us any good?" We as Christians receive enough questioning from the world, do we really need to tare each other down from the instead. So what if you're Baptist, or Church of Christ, Methodist, or anything else. GOD DIDN'T MAKE DENOMINATIONS. This is what Inflamed is all about. Our aim is to get back to the first Church, God's Church. No denominations, just the Word of God.

The best way to stop these Biblical arguments is for each of us to spend alone time in the Word. In doing so you'll find that it's not important to fight about Church carpeting, music styles, or even the order of service. Verse 19 makes it clear that God knows who His children are. You don't have to be a member of _____ denomination to get into Heaven, that's not how God works.

I encourage you to compare your life with this model life of a Christian outlined by Paul. See where you match up, and find areas you need to improve on. More importantly go back to the day you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you know without a shadow of a doubt that you are His that's great, you are secure and nothing can steal you away. Now your task is to get rooted in the Word, be sound in faith.

For those of you who can't remember a time that you asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart, to save you and become the Lord of your life and the Savior of your life understand this, YOU ARE NOT SECURE. Don't allow another moment to go by without talking to one of our ministers or some other Christian in your life.

The choice is yours? What are you going to do with it?

Grounded in Christ,

Bro. Austin

Shoot for the Stars

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

We use this Bible verse a lot in our modern world - we see it on t-shirts, key-chains, and that sort of thing on a pretty regular basis. We tend to focus on the spiritual application of this verse; if we endure through sin, we can find strength in Christ. That is definitely the primary focus of this verse, and that lesson is something that we all need to keep in mind as we go through life. Today, however, I'd like to take a quick look at an every-day physical application of this verse.

One of the key differences between a Christian and a non-Christian is the near-inhuman level of endurance that Christians have. We can persevere through anything and everything - a quick look at the bloody history of persecution that the church has faced is proof of this.

We persevere because we know that Christ holds the future. No matter what happens to us, no matter how discouraging or painful events in our lives may be, it will get better. If you follow the pattern that God has set for us in the scriptures, and if you pray to him for the things that you need and want, you can know - without a doubt - that everything will ultimately work out. 

In other words, no matter how hard we fall on our face - if we are persistent and we put him first - we can find comfort in knowing that everything will work out in the end. (James 4)

The point I'm trying to make is this: next time you have a goal that seems unreachable, next time you want to accomplish something but the "rules" of society tell you "you can't," don't be afraid to try anyway. 

Try your best and let God do the rest.

Show the world that Christians are persistent - we have no fear because God is on our side - and allow God's infinite power to help you reach your goals. When you get discouraged, just remind yourself of this: if God is with us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31)

In Christian love, 
- Bro. Ethan

Hope for the Trampled Soul

Psalm 56:1-3 (HCSB)

 Be gracious to me, God, for man tramples me; he fights and oppresses me all day long. My adversaries trample me all day, for many arrogantly fight against me.

What's amazing about many of David's psalms is that he often wrote them right in the middle of his struggles. The same can be said about many of our most beloved hymns... written right in the midst of trials and suffering.

David wrote this when he was engaged in battle with one of his fiercest enemies, the Philistines. We get the picture of a man oppressed. He is overwhelmed, he's stressed, and he's a little afraid. He's facing an enemy that is confident and arrogant.

The longer he fights them, the more powerful they seem. You can relate to that, can't you? You feel oppressed. You feel beaten down. You just feel trampled. The magic of Sunday wears off and your job doesn't give a rip that God is on the throne. The medical problems don't take into account that you had a wonderful church service several days earlier.

You can relate, can't you? You feel trampled all day long. There's an arrogance, a methodical way with which your opposition wears you down. It's like all your buttons get pushed. Easter wears off. Sermons wear off. Our good feelings wear off.

So how does he respond? How in the world does David deal with this? He's not in the synagogue. He's not at church. He's digging in the trenches. Trying to survive.

Here's how he responds: Psalms 56:4:

In God, whose word I praise,in God I trust; I will not fear.What can man do to me?

He responds the only way he knows how. By making a conscious decision, a conscious, day-by-day decision, often one moment at a time decision, to see the bigness of God. To force yourself to see the true perspective. To pull back the camera, to keep pulling it back, until you see that no matter how big your problem is, no matter how sharp the enemy's teeth are, no matter how stressful, no matter how grim or overwhelming the circumstances seem... you pull it back to you see that it pales in scope to our God and master.

Look at what he says:

In God, whose word I praise.

Everything is changing, fleeting. Health is fleeting. Finances crumble. Relationships erode. David, in the trenches, unsure of which of his men will survive the night, looks to His Father and His unchanging word. The unshakeable truths of His counsel. His promise to never leave or forsake his people. His vow to bring justice. His unwavering love and mercy. The hope that this is not all there is. 

Put simply, he clings to the immovable. To that which cannot be changed or altered. 

Look at what he says next:

In God I trust; I will not fear.

This is coming from a man who is experiencing real fear. Real frustration. Real stress. Real worry. There is a cause and effect system in place. What we claim to be true becomes true. In Genesis, God spoke... and it happened.

He spoke, and things came into existence. In the same way, we choose, we speak, how to respond to the circumstances we face. In fact, that's the only thing we can determine. We can't control the situation, we can only choose how we respond.

David is saying, "I will not fear." Now he's saying it as fear is creeping into his soul, but he's saying it. "I will trust in God. I choose to make him bigger than my circumstance."

Look what he says next:

What can man do to me?

"What can he do? My soul is secure. I have a never-ending relationship with my Heavenly Father. I've been forgiven of my sins. What can he do? Kill me? I die, and I'll be with the Father."

What if you responded that way? What if I responded that way? In light of my relationship with God, in light of who He is and how he will never leave me, in light of the amazing grace I've been shown, what can this problem really to do me?

Dear reader, God knows you're feeling trampled. He knows you're worn out. He knows you're struggling right now. Don't be ashamed and don't hide it. Do the same thing David did. Force yourself to see the bigness of God compared to your circumstance. As the old hymn says, "The things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."

By His Grace,

Adam

What do I do now that Easter is over?

We know that Easter & Christmas are huge events in our faith.  We know that we live in a culture of CEOs (Christmas & Easter Only).  So now that Easter is over: what do we do now?  I think this is a pretty relevant question for us because most churches put a lot of emphasis into Christmas & Easter, but very little emphasis on the rest of the year.

'Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain & your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile & you are still in your sins. ( 1 Corinthians 15:12-17)

Based on the writings of Paul in this particular passage, the resurrection is extremely important to our faith, which is why we celebrate Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.  But, he goes on to say that if Christ wasn't raised from the dead then our preaching & faith is in vain; our faith is futile; & we are still in our sins.  I would say that this has huge implications on our life.  We celebrate Jesus conquering death on Resurrection Sunday, but that same resurrection is what should drive our faith after Easter.

Ask yourself this question: am I as excited about Jesus today as I was on Resurrection Sunday?  We shouldn't just be excited about Jesus on special days; we should be shouting praise everyday.

Saved by grace,
Bro. Eric

Humility Hurts

"Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Phil. 2:6).

Paul writes here about Christ's supreme example of humility (Phil. 2:5-8), and how we are to follow that example to attain church unity (see v. 5). Christ was "in the form of God," Paul writes. Christ was fully and completely God, and Christ was fully and completely man. It's a divine mystery, but without it, Christianity is dead and useless.

Even though Christ was in the highest possible position (He was God), He didn't cling to His very rights as God as something to His own personal advantage. The point of the verse is this: If Christ chose to take on flesh, then there would have to be a descent of some sort. He would have to subject Himself to our weaknesses, struggles, and limitations. The Creator takes on the form of the created. The Infinite becomes the finite. Jesus was "in every respect tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).

We too (as believers) are in a great position. We who are in Christ are saved by God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9), God loved us before time (Eph. 1:4), God purchased our salvation (1 Cor. 6:20), and the list goes on and on.

You see, when Jesus left heaven to take on flesh and be born as a babe, His position of being God did not change. He just took upon Himself our weaknesses and struggles. And we are not commanded to leave our position as God's children; indeed, we cannot for we are secure in His hands. But we are to live humbly and "count others more significant than ourselves," and when we do that, often times it will hurt. Sometimes, it hurts to live in humility.

Christ made the ultimate sacrifice and demonstrated supreme humility. What sacrifices will you make today to demonstrate Christ-like humility?

Bro. Brandon

Are you a conqueror?

I encourage you to read Numbers 13 and 14, if you are able.

In verse 2, Moses receives a message from God. "Send men to scout out the land of Canaan I am giving to the Israelites."

But starting in verse 27 we start to see human fear of the unknown begin to over shadow what God said. There are two different responses to the scouting party, I like to call them the Conqueror's and the Cowards.

The first thing that we see starting in verse 27 is that both groups saw the exact same thing.

• the good
• Both groups saw that the land was good for harvest
• the obstacles (verses 28-29)
• Both groups saw that the people were strong.
• The cities were large and fortified.
• The descendants of Anak, giants basically
• The Amalekites, Jebusites, Hittites, Amorites, and the Canaanites.

The greatest hindrances to church growth are not the problems of money, or direct opposition from unbelievers; the greatest hindrances has always been the cowards with their lack of faith, complaining, murmuring, sowing of discord, and dragging their feet.


The main difference between cowards and conquerors is not in what they see with the physical eye, but how they react and respond to what they see.

• Differences
• cowards follow the path of least resistance, while conquerors see resistance as an opportunity for God to manifest His power.
• Cowards
• After they saw all of the obstacles, they said to Moses "We can't go up against the people because they are stronger than we are.
• Conquerors
• In verse 30, Caleb said "We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it.
• Cowards listen to the voice of the majority. Conquerors listen to the voice of God.
• Every time I read this story, I can't help to think anything different than if there was some peer pressure.
• Only 2 scouts came back saying that they could conqueror Canaan.
• Maybe some of the scouts thought that they could conqueror the land, but feared the idea of war in and of itself, so they voted against going in.

We need men and women who will stand on the side of faith and trust in the Almighty God even when they stand alone. I would rather be a radical, lonely, conqueror, full of faith in God than to be numbered with a bunch of cowards that only did what the crowd said and did.

• Cowards are fueled by fear. Conquerors are fueled by faith.
• If the cowards, in this case, remembered the fact that God promised them the land, and that God never broke His promises. This little argument would have never surfaced to begin with.
• Cowards depend on their own works. Conquerors depend on the revealed Word of God and His omnipotence to fulfill it.
• Cowards see the negatives as greater than God. Conquerors entire focus is on God.
• Cowards are always looking back wanting to live in the past. Conquerors are always looking to the future for new ground to possess in the name of Christ.

So ask yourself a question today. Which am I? Who are you? A coward, or a conqueror? Are you somebody who sits to the side, or somebody who takes the lead? Are you defending the word of God every chance you get, or are you letting it slide by this one time? Are you standing up for God, even if nobody else is with you, or are you just following the crowd?

Basically the question is, Are you leading people to Christ, or sending them straight to Hell?

The Character of a Soldier of God: Part 1

What does it mean to be a soldier of God? This is series I discussed with my youth a few months ago. We all experienced growth from it and I think we can all benefit from it. Stay with me as we go through the book of 2 Timothy every Monday.

Today we'll start with chapter 2. (Chapter 1 is straight introductions).

"1 You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter. 5 Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to get a share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Keep your attention on Jesus Christ as risen from the dead and descended from David. This is according to my gospel. 9 I suffer for it to the point of being bound like a criminal, but God’s message is not bound. 10 This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." - 2 Timothy 2:1-10

First before we look at the characteristics of a soldier of God, let's define WHO is a soldier of God. Timothy was being mentored by Paul here in this text. Timothy was a young minister just getting started. To many a "soldier of God" is narrowly viewed as a preacher or pastor or some type of "official minister." But I think it's far more broad. You see Paul in another letter tells us all to put on the armor of Christ. Soldiers need armor. We as God's Children make up that army. If you've accepted Christ into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior, this text is for you. You are a soldier of God. Since we are who this text describes it would benefit us to know how we as soldiers are to act.

In these 10 verses, we find 3 characteristics:

I. A Soldier of Christ is Strong

  v1-2: shows us that our strength isn't a physical brute strength, but rather a spiritual strength that comes from the grace of God. We need to be committed, find a mentor who will help show us the Will of God.

II. A Soldier of Christ is Single-Minded

  v3-4: we see that a soldier doesn't get mixed up in worldly affairs. Instead of pleasing ourselves we aim to please God. 

This brings us to the verse (Matthew 6:24) "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." We can't serve the Lord and the world. James says in his letter that "friendship with the world is hatred towards God." We can't have it both ways. If you remember in Revelation, John states that God would rather us be wholeheartedly against Him that to serve both Him and the world. We can't be lukewarm, we must be fully for Christ or fully against Him. God despises the lukewarmness so much that He said He'd vomit us out of His mouth if we stayed lukewarm.

A soldier of Christ must be singled-minded and focused on Christ.

III. A Soldier of Christ is Strict

  v5-10: this comes with 2 things we soldiers are to do:

1) We must follow the rules (v5). Our playbook or rule book is written in His Word. The word Bible stands for B-basic I-instructions B-before L-leaving E-earth. Every question we have can be answered by turning to the Bible. 

2) We must also work hard (v6). It's not enough to follow the rules. Anyone can do that. But to be a soldier of God we must put forth effort to be the best we can be. Being a soldier isn't a passive job, it's active. As soldiers of Christ's team we aren't on the defense, we are playing offense. We need to give Christ our 100%. 

A soldier needs to be strong in spirit, singled-minded (following only God's Will), and strict (to follow the Word of God and to work their hardest possible).

As we continue this study of what a soldier of God looks like, take time today and each week to compare your life to the life that Paul outlines here for Timothy. Where do we fall? What in our lives can we change to better mirror this example?

Click here to find student worksheets based on this devotion.
http://www.ipursueworship.com/lessons.html

God Bless,

Bro. Austin

Resurrection Morning

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so they could go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week,they went to the tomb at sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Looking up, they observed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away. 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; they were amazed and alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.’” 8 So they went out and started running from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid. - Mark 16:1-8

Salvation is fulfilled here. You see His death wasn't enough. His death conquered our sins, but didn't bring eternal life. For us to have our sins forgiven AND experience eternal life He had to die AND be raised from the dead. 

So many people struggle with the reality that Christ's resurrection really happened. However there's more proof to support it than there is to reject it. Look in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, or Isaiah. These are just some of the most common areas. I'm not here to dispute Christ's life, death, or resurrection. I'm here to glorify Christ and thank Him for what He did for me on that cross and even more for coming back to life.

That old rugged cross isn't a negative symbol for me. Sure there was suffering, pain, anguish, but without it I'd be nothing. Without His love and mercy, life would be meaningless. If there was no love there would be no cross. If there was no cross then I wouldn't be here proclaiming His name. There'd be no point. BUT, He did come, He did show love (not only to me, but to the whole world, past, present, and future), He did take the cross for our sins, He did die in our place, and He did rise again on the third day! We love because He first loved us. 

Today focus on the cross, but more importantly focus on the empty tomb. The cross had promise, but the power was in the empty tomb. Praise Him today! Thank Him today! Share Him with someone today!

Bro. Austin

The Model Prayer

Why do you pray?
In Luke 11, one of the 12 apostles asked Jesus how to pray, so He gave him an example prayer.

First, Jesus instructs the apostles to address the Father and express their desire for the Father's will to be done. Even in prayer, Jesus wants us to put God first.

In Matthew's account of this story, found in Mt. 6, Jesus instructs his apostles to pray "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." When I pray, I often find myself asking for selfish things: "Help me to pass this test." "Please allow me to be able to afford this house." "Please make me a better Resident Advisor." Things like that.

However, by following Jesus' example, I ought to ensure that - first and foremost - the things that I ask for will benefit God, that they will show His glory to the world! Following Jesus' example, I should pray things like "Help me to pass this test so that I may have a career in which I can spread Your word, but ultimately - Your will be done." "Please allow me to be able to afford this house so that I can have others in my home and share my blessings with them - but Your will be done. If You do not want me to have this house, then I am okay with that." "Please make me a better Resident Advisor so others can see You working through me. Please help me to become better so I can use my leadership position to spread Your gospel." If I always put God first in my prayers, then I'll know that everything I'm asking for is actually something worth asking for.

Second, Jesus instructs them to pray for the things that are necessary for life. "Give us this day our daily bread." He instructed the apostles to pray with a mindset in which they were only concerned with having what they needed that day, trusting God to provide for them. Interestingly, Jesus didn't tell them to pray "Give me what I need." as I am prone to do, he said to pray for "us." One of the lessons which I think we can take from this is that we should pray for others.

After studying this verse, I began praying for the necessities of life in a different way. Usually I'll say something like "Please bless others as you have blessed me with the things I need to survive and please continue to bless us today." That's just an example - the words we say aren't the focus of this post - it's about the attitude we have when we pray. Let's pray for others, so that they can be blessed with the same things that we have been blessed with.

Finally, Jesus prays about forgiveness and temptation. Mt. 6:12, 13 - "and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Jesus instructs the 12 to pray that God forgives their sins the way they forgave others who sinned against them. Once again, He uses "us" - when we pray, let's be sure to pray that God forgives everyone whom He has saved by His grace. We should also pray that those who are not yet saved will be saved, so that they too may have forgiveness of their sins.

When Jesus describes to the apostles how to pray about temptation, he uses interesting language: "lead us not into temptation." The immediate question would be: does God lead some people into temptation? Well, no. In James 1:13, we are told that God does not tempt. So what is happening here?

When someone makes a habit of sinning without repentance and totally rebels against God, to the point that there is not even a tiny speck of desire for God in their entire being, the Bible states that God "gave them up." We can see an example of this in Rom. 1:20-32. God continued to "hold them in his hand," to bless and protect them, waiting for them to change their minds. However, once they began to live in absolute open rebellion against the Lord, once they denied his protection...

He withdrew his protective hand, reserving access to His blessings and His protection for when they changed their minds. He never forces anything on anyone.

I believe that this is what Jesus is speaking of in this passage. He, in essence, told His disciples to pray that "When we are totally immersed in sin to the point that we totally refuse Your help, please don't give up on protecting us and blessing us - do something to show us the truth; do something that will deliver us from the evil that plagues us."

In my prayers, I include something along those lines and I would encourage each of you to do the same. I usually say something like "When I am utterly blind on something and the truth on the issue literally does not exist in my mind, please do not give up on me - show me the truth somehow and I will come around."

What can we draw from this beautiful example of a prayer? In this model prayer, Jesus instructs the 12 in much more than just praying for these four things, but today we talked specifically about praying that:

1. The Father's will is done before our own.
2. The Lord will bless us and everyone else with the necessities of life, day by day.
3. He will forgive the saved of their sins.
4. God will do everything to bring us back to the faith if they we away.

From now on, if we have not yet incorporated these things into our prayers, let's make sure to do so - let's learn to pray as Jesus instructed his 12 apostles to pray.

Thank you for reading!
- Bro. Ethan

The Seated Savior

Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. - Hebrews 10:11-12 (HCSB)

Today, we celebrate Good Friday, the day Jesus cried, "It is finished." I love that phrase. It has such a finality to it. Do you know what Jesus did, after coming back to life and eventually ascended to heaven? He sat down. Really, the writer of Hebrews actually mentions that Jesus took a seat. Why?

The Savior is seated. Do not let this fact be mistaken for laziness or inattention. He is seated because His work is finished. Under the Jewish religious system, the priest stood, performing the same rituals and sacrifices over and over again. This system was never intended to forgive sins. The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). The priests’ repetitive sacrifices only served to remind people of their sins over and over.

Then Jesus came. He fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17). He offered Himself as the payment for humanity’s sins... one time, forever. He achieved what the Law never could. He achieved righteousness for the human race. He became our substitute. Then, Hebrews 10:12 tells us, He sat down.

He sat down because His work was finished. In contrast to the standing priest, offering temporary sacrifices and reminding people of their sins, Jesus sat down after offering a permanent sacrifice that removes people’s sins. This is phenomenal news.

This is revolutionary, even controversial. No more sacrifices. No more guilt. No more attempts at self-righteousness. We really don't have a clue how significant this event is. A seated Savior means total forgiveness. A seated Savior means that, once you are saved, He remembers your sins no more. He forgets your past... and your future. This is not an easy thing to accept; it sounds too good to be true. We always want to add something to the equation. Self-righteousness has always been mankind's problem, and I daresay it always will. Perhaps that's why I've listened to sermons that said (quite literally), "If you keep sinning, your Savior may finally give up on you and bring you home." That scared me to death. I daresay that most of my life I've lived in fear that God would get tired of my continual struggle with sin and "turn off the lights."

That's a shame, because it's a lie. It's a lie from Satan, the father of lies. It's a lie designed to keep believers in bondage and has deceived many a dear child of God.

Either it's finished or it isn't.

My friend, if you've placed your faith in Christ, you're forgiven. I mean, really forgiven, okay? He took care of all the sins you committed before you came to Him. And guess what? He's already forgiven you for what you'll do tomorrow. That's the Gospel. You know that habit you can't break? The sin that has haunted you for years, causing you to doubt your salvation countless times? The same one that fills your heart with shame every time you ask God for forgiveness, just hoping He'll give you "one more chance"? He forgave that too. And when He looks at you. He sees righteousness. Righteousness. As a believer, you are righteous in God's sight. Don't feel very righteous? That's ok. All He sees is Jesus! You're covered.

He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2 Corinthians 5:21 (HCSB)

His work is finished. Rest in that today. Don't let anyone guilt you into thinking it's up to you now. It never was, and it never will be.

Oh, and by the way, if you just happen to be reading this and you are not a believer... I don't know what you've heard or what you've been told about God, but somebody lied to you about Him. Maybe they were just confused. Your sins can be forgiven, too. If you run to Jesus, He won't be angry with you. He'll forgive you too. Just ask Him.

By His Grace,

Adam 

Some Who Trouble You

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6-7).

The church of Galatia was turning away from the gospel. The source of the problem was "some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ."

And there are many today who are deceived by “every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). Don’t think that you are immune to being easily deceived, the Bible says that the devil can even disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

But how will we protect ourselves against “different gospel[s]” as Paul says here if we barely spend time in the Bible? If Sunday morning and possibly Sunday night is the only time you get a feeding of the Word of God, then you are as vulnerable to false gospels as a baby lamb is to a roaring, hungry lion.

If you are not arming yourself with the Bible, meditating on the Bible, memorizing the Bible, studying the Bible, reading the Bible, then you will be “tossed about like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:16). Often times, we have revivals and conferences to get our hearts set on fire for Christ and have a rekindled passion forGod and the word of God. These events are great, but we need to realize that clear knowledge of God is the kindling that sustains fires of affection for God. If we we’re growing in our maturity and knowledge of God’s Word like we should be, then we wouldn’t have to depend on events like these to get revived!

Theology matters. The study of God matters. Because if you have a low view of God, then your worship of Him will be low. But if you have a high view of God, then your worship of Him will be high. We need to strive for maturity in our faith—and study God’s Word to defend ourselves against what is not true or right.




Bro. Brandon

Jesus knows what you are going through.

In John 1 we see that Jesus was with God at the very beginning.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it."

"The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory as the One and Only Son from the Father full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning Him and exclaimed, "This was the One of whom I said, The One coming after me has surpassed me, because He existed before me.") Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness, for although the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son the One who is at the Father's side has revealed Him."

John 1:1-5, 14-18

Because Jesus is in fact God means that He was there in Creation. He created everything. He created us, and because He created us, He knows all of us individually. That is encouraging isn't it. We serve a God that takes time to create us, to know us on a personal level, and loves us so much.


We also need to keep in mind that Jesus was tempted. We can see this in both the Gospel of Matthew and Luke. Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. He fasted during this time. So He was really hungry. Satan came to Him and told Him to turn some rocks into bread. In Matthew's account Jesus' reply was "Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God". Then Satan told Jesus to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. Then Jesus said "Do not test the Lord your God." Satan, in a desperate effort to make Jesus sin, tries again. Satan says "I will give You all of the Kingdoms of the world if You will fall down and worship me." Jesus then told Satan, "Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him."

We can learn how to respond to temptations from Satan through these passages. After every single temptation, Jesus always responded with scripture. We serve a God who not only created us, not only loves us, not only protects us, but loves us so much that He shows us how to defeated Satan and his temptations.

The thing I love most of all about Jesus is that He knew what was going to happen to Him, and He did it anyway, just for us. Jesus knew that people wouldn't understand what was happening. Jesus knew that the Pharisees and the Sadducees were going to question time and time again. Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him. He knew that Peter was going to deny Him three times. He knew that all of the disciples were going to run and flee when He was arrested. He knew that He was going to be mocked. He knew that He was going to be beaten until He barely recognizable as a man. Jesus knew that the very people who a week earlier were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!", are now shouting Crucify Him, Crucify Him! Jesus knew that the very people He came to save, and love would choose to free a murderer than Himself. Jesus knew the pain that He was going to go through on the Cross. He knew that the Father was going to be forced to look away from His Son. Jesus knew all of this was going to happen, and He still did it. If this is not love, so me what love is.

Jesus also knew that it was only Friday, but Sunday was coming.

Jesus knows what it feels like to be alone. Jesus knows what it feels like to be tempted. Jesus knows what it is like to be betrayed. Whatever you are going through today, this week, this year, just know that Jesus understands what you are going through, because He has been through it.

Bro. Michael

Who Do You Live For?

During the earlier parts of my ministry I began serving as the youth leader at my home church. We were small but had a love for God that was unmatched. Trying to keep maintain unity I asked the students to decide on a name for our group. Several names later the group decided on LIVE4HIM. I must be honest, I didn't like the name, to me it seemed very vanilla. I wanted a name with "depth" like [PUSH]+ which means "Pray Until Something Happens, then act!" or 3D Youth which stood for "Dedicated, Determined, Driven." I don't know why, but I liked those names better. The next thing I tell you is something that truly humbled me and got me on fire for the name LIVE4HIM. My students said, "Why would we use [PUSH]+ or 3D Youth? No one knows what those mean, we want a name that shows who we are, and who we serve. We aren't ashamed." After that I embraced the name and went on to teach our youth & our church about who we choose to serve.

There are three things things we can choose to live for in this life: World, Self, Him.
1) LIVE4WORLD: Sometimes it’s hard for us to live in, and not of the world. 

15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. - John 17:15-18

His prayer wasn’t for us to escape the evil one, but to protect us.
Like Christ, the world is our mission field. We once were of the world, but now are set apart to minister to the world.

James mentions in his letter to “remain unspotted from the world, we are left to grow and witness.” - James 1:27

Romans 12:2 “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.” The word "world" (or age in other texts) refers to society or a system man has built in order to have happiness without God.

This is what happens when you live for the world, you conform. Christ died to deliver us from this world. The world is crucified to us, and we to the world.  It would be total disloyalty to the Lord as believers to love the world.

James writes “Living for the world is hatred toward God” James 4:4
Matthew 6:24 You can’t serve/love two masters. These two masters can be anything. Mainly we think of the world and God or money and God, really anything and God.

2) LIVE4SELF: Too many times we love ourselves more than God, or don’t consult God 

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will belovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. - 2 Timothy 3:1-5

People who are self-lovers, don’t associate with them.

1 Corinthians 6:20 says that "Our body, our spirit, belongs to God." So we should honor Him with it. Our body is a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1). 

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. Instead of lifting ourselves up, let's focus on lifting Him up. Don't live for ourselves, but Live for Him.

3) LIVE4HIM: We need to refocus on Christ.                        

and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised. - 2 Corinthians 5:15.

He didn’t die for us so that we could live our own petty/selfish lives. He died for all so that those who live through faith in Him will live for Him and not themselves.

James Denney says: "In dying our death, Christ has done for us something so immense in love, that we ought to be His, and only His forever."

1 Corinthians 8:6 says this: One God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; “He is the purpose/goal of our existence.” one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, “Jesus is the Mediator/Agent of God.” and through whom we live. “It is through Him that we have been created and redeemed.”

We can’t live FOR Him if we don’t live IN Him.

1 John 2:6  “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. (Eph 5:1)

This lifestyle is impossible on our own power/strength. We must allow God to live IN and THROUGH us. So, in order to live FOR Him, we must live IN Him. And in order to live IN Him, He must live IN us & THROUGH us. To live4Him we must allow Him to live in/through us.

One question still remains. Ask yourself today, Who do I live for?

Bro. Austin

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There is absolutely nothing you can do to make God love you less.

If you consider yourself a religious person, you might back up a step. While you may agree in principle, you'll start praying very, very quickly that I add a "but" to that statement.

Example 1: There is absolutely nothing you can do to make God love you less, but he requires obedience and service.

Example 2: There is absolutely nothing you can to do make God love you less, but you need to take up your cross daily. (side note: a lot of Christians don't even know what that means; they just know it just sounds spiritual).

Example 3: There is absolutely nothing you can to do make God love you less, but if you don't get that sinful habit taken care of... if you don't read the Bible more... if you don't grow closer to him, he may just remove his blessing on you. Heck, he may even say he's finished with you and kill you off. (side note 2: I'm not sure if anyone's ever said this one verbatim, but I sure have heard it preached and taught).

Feel free to insert your own examples; they are all the same. Jesus saves you, but you need to do more, try harder, and do your very best to be better.

In his new book, One Way Love, author Tullian Tchividjian has this to say about grace:

Even those of us who have tasted the radical saving grace of God find it intuitively difficult not to put conditions on it when we try to communicate it to others—“Don’t take it too far; keep it balanced.” As understandable as this hedging tendency may be, a “grace, but” posture perpetuates slavery in our lives and in the church. Grace is radically unbalanced. It contains no but: it is unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated—or else it is not grace. (pp. 179-180)

What if Jesus really does love you unconditionally, with no strings attached? What if he loves you more than you can possibly imagine, regardless of how you respond to him?

This is the message of the Gospel. This is grace. This is nothing new; this is the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3 KJV).

Why does it seem hard to accept? Why is it not preached more? Why is the tendency of preachers, teachers, and believers in general to focus on "do more, try harder"? Because it is unnatural.

God's unconditional love is unnatural. We are a conditional people living in a conditional world. There are very few people I love unconditionally. For the majority of relationships in my life, they are hinged on condition. Every person on the planet is similar in this regard.

It's unnatural, and your tendency (and mine, when writing this blog) is to add some balance, to add a "but," to any message that says, "You can't do anything to diminish God's love for you."

Paul preached this; he was accused of giving "license to sin" (Romans 3:8). He was. His message of grace and God's unconditional love made people mad. Especially religious people. You can't preach radical, no-strings-attached grace. You just can't.

So we respond by saying, "Do more, try harder." We promote and read bestsellers by well-meaning believers that say, "If you love Jesus, you'll do this. You may not even be saved if you don't." (Not making that up, either; just paraphrased it a little). We respond by adding works to the relationship we achieved by grace.

Yes, no-strings-attached grace is unnatural, but it's not new. Paul himself dealt with this issue in Galatians. Look at his words to this dear group of believers who were trapped in the bondage of performance-driven faith:

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. You foolish Galatians! Who has hypnotized you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified? I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh? Did you suffer so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing? So then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 2:21-3:5 HCSB) 

The key verse is Galatians 3:3 - "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?" I ask you, believer, the very same question. You were saved by grace , so are you now going to live by works? Paul is clear: the same grace that saves you is the same grace that grows you.

Believer, he loves you. He really, really loves you. And nothing you can ever, ever do will change that. He died for you. He transferred the righteousness of his son to you. If you can get that, something strange is gonna happen. You just might surprise yourself with faithfulness to him. You just might surprise yourself with what happens in your life. Not a license to sin. Something greater. Something liberating.

Next time, we'll be looking at this equally-jarring statement (you really won't like it!): Nothing you can do can make God love you more. 

By His Grace,

Adam

Influence

Upon reading the title of this post, I’m guessing you either assumed this is going to be about “protecting one's reputation” or “living up to the name ‘Christian’”. 

Which one matters most; this one or that one? 

The answer is: both. For a couple of minutes, let’s stop and think about how others perceive us.

  

“…he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” – 1 Tim. 3:7 (ESV)

In 1 Tim. 3, verse seven, Paul describes to Timothy how those who are chosen to lead Christ’s church must be well thought of by outsiders. This piqued my curiosity – in 2 Tim. 3:12, Paul states that “all who desire to lead a Godly life will be persecuted”. 

Is this a contradiction? 

The qualities given for "overseers" are good qualities for anyone to have. 

If God gives us a list of the qualities for those whom he wants to lead his church, then we know that those standards are good standards to live up to.

With that in mind, one might say that this verse tells us it is good for every Christian to have a good reputation.

So, Christians are supposed to be well thought of by non-Christians, yet all who even desire to be Christians are going to be persecuted? 

How does this work? 

If you are a Christian, as I am, then your light should shine as an example to the world; others should see us and think “what a generous, self-controlled, mature, joyful person that is; is that what it really means to be a Christian? I want to be like that.” 

If someone lives a Godly life, it does not necessarily guarantee that the persecution will end. 

However, by being consistent in dedicating oneself to meeting others’ spiritual and physical needs and guiding them towards Christ, not only can each one of us be a good influence for non-Christians, we will make those who persecute Christians feel guilty.

“And I heard the voice of The Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go, and say to this people…” (Is. 6:8, 9) 

Many in the world today wear the name Christ, but few are willing to make the sacrifice. 

If you are a Christian, join me in ensuring that we aren’t just wearing the name of Christ; let’s live up to it. 

Thanks for reading, 

- Bro. Ethan


For the full post, in which we go into much greater detail on the topic of Christian influence, check out this post my blog: www.manofg.blogspot.com

Your Heart: Christ's Home

"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph. 3:17 ESV).

Paul prays here that the believers in Ephesus would be strengthened with the power of God (Eph. 3:14-21), and here he prays that Christ would dwell in their hearts.

The Greek word for “dwell” here is katoikeo. It’s more complex than meets the eye. Split that term in half and katoi means to dwell or to reside in. And keo means to be at home—or to be comfortable in a home. Put those two terms together and you have “to dwell comfortably in a home.” Now read it that way: “So that Christ may ‘dwell comfortably in your hearts’ through faith. . .” Makes a huge difference.

This is Paul’s prayer that Christ may dwell comfortably in their hearts but not before they are strengthened with power through the Spirit (Eph. 3:16). Would you say that Christ is not comfortable in the hearts of His people sometimes? Of course. I know that to be true in my case. Often times, in the hearts of His people, Christ goes where He would never choose to go.

Here's the principle: Christ can’t settle down and be at home in our hearts if He’s always up cleaning the place up all the time because it’s such a mess.

But if our “inner beings” are being strengthened with power through the Spirit and we are allowing God to do with us as He pleases and we are giving Him all the room He needs to work in our lives, and we are opening up every door to Him, then Christ will finally be able to settle down and be at home in our hearts.

What places in your heart are you keeping from Christ?






Bro. Brandon