Month: November 2016

Weekly Word Of Encouragement: God Walks With Us Now

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“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,”” (II Cor. 6:16) In this passage Paul is explaining to the Corinthians that God has fulfilled his promise from Leviticus 26:12 “And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” This promise is fulfilled by the fact that the church is the temple of God. Since we are the temple of God, He walks among us now! This is a return to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:8 when God actually walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve. Likewise, God walks with us now, even if it is not completely obvious yet (“we see in a mirror dimly” (I Cor. 13:12).) Keeping this truth in our heart helps us stay connected to His presence. Application: pick some words from the Continue Reading →

Weekly Word of Encouragement – Our New Self Is Our True Self

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“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I Cor. 5:17 (ESV) In I Corinthians 5 Paul has been explaining how our inner self has been transformed even though our outer self, our body, has not. In verse 2  he says that “in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling.” (ESV) We groan because our body drags us down, not only with physical weakness and disease but also with it fleshly lusts. We don’t want to be influenced by our old corruption but we are. All who long for holiness and love and communion with God wish that they did not have to contend with their weak body. But scripture comforts us by teaching that this is normal. We do not have to be discouraged about our weaknesses; it is just part of Continue Reading →

christlike creed

The Christlike Creed

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When the church wanted to clarify its doctrines in the early centuries it developed the Apostle’s Creed. It would also be helpful to have a creed that summarizes the practice of the faith. That is why I wrote the Christlike Creed. It contains 9 stanzas of 3 lines each and summarizes the important attitudes and practices of the Christian life, including identity and destiny. It describes what a Christlike person looks like. In other words, it describes spiritual growth and discipleship. Consider how important it is to have a description of what a disciple of Jesus looks like. How can a church or ministry make disciples if the leaders or the people don’t know what a disciple looks like? Don’t we need to know what we are aiming for? This creed describes what a disciple of Christ looks like so we know what is important and what is less important. Continue Reading →

Weekly Word Of Encouragement – Our Weight Of Glory

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“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” II Cor. 4:17 (ESV) Sometimes it is hard to think of our suffering as “light momentary affliction” but the point is that our suffering is light compared to the blessings and glory God has for us. Paul, who wrote this, wasn’t try to minimize the pain of suffering, for he experienced more than his share of suffering. Suffering hurts and makes us miserable. But the worse your suffering is the more you understand the magnitude of your glory. If your suffering that hurts terribly now is nothing compared to your future blessing and glory then your future blessing and glory must be amazing. Rejoice In Persecution – Weekly Words Of EncouragementDecember 20, 2024Mercy Come When We Are Merciful To Others – Weekly Words Of EncouragementDecember 16, 2024Our Present And Future BlissDecember 13, 2024

battle warrior

Overcoming Destructive Desires – Imitation Of Christ Chapter 11

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How did the great Christians of the past become so godly? They committed themselves to “putting off the old self” (Eph. 4:22) and crucifying destructive desires. This enabled them to completely dwell on God. We naturally pursue our own desires and worldly things that will soon pass away. We struggle to completely defeat even one fault. It is a battle for us to pursue God’s grace every day. This is why many Christians never mature. Our own desires keep us from becoming complete Christians. Our ungodly affections keep us from loving God with our whole self. When troubles surround us we naturally look for worldly pleasures to comfort us. Therefore, we need to be very intentional about conquering our old self. If we think of ourselves as warriors or athletes (I Cor. 9:24-27) and train ourselves to “lay aside every encumbrance that entangles us” (Heb 12:1) then we would make Continue Reading →