Category: Interior Life

failure discouragement distress

When Our Efforts To Change Are Failing

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As we progress in the Christian life, we begin to notice certain sinful areas of our life that we can’t seem to conquer. We all have our own weaknesses and no matter how hard we try, we continue to fail. We may be able to control our surface behavior most of the time, but inside we still feel the impulse to sin. Our efforts to change are failing. Earlier in our Christian life, we were able to overcome many of our sins just by actively resisting temptation and receiving God’s strength through the Scripture, prayer, and friends. But now we realize our sins are powered by deep desires, attitudes, and beliefs we can’t control or change. And our own special areas of weakness are constantly reminding us of this. They are a spotlight on our old nature. Rejoice! Now we are discovering the end of ourselves. We have come to Continue Reading →

heaven eternal perspective

Eternal Perspective Sets You Free From This World

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An essential principle of following Jesus is learning to live with a heavenly perspective. This means living our lives, knowing that we are citizens of heaven, (Philippians 3:20), and will spend eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth … Store your treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19–20 NLT). Colossians 3:2 states: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (NIV). This eternal perspective sets you free from this world. When Jesus came, he brought the Kingdom of Heaven and his followers live in the Kingdom now! But the Kingdom is mixed with this fallen world. After Jesus comes He will sweep away all the fallenness and will fulfill the promise of a perfect Kingdom for us to dwell in, the New Earth. All the rewards we stored up in heaven will come down to the New Earth for us. Since we Continue Reading →

mask false self

Healthy Relationships Through Letting Go Of Your False Self

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Discovering your false self is very important for spiritual growth. God wants to reveal any falseness and destroy your false or ideal self. Your false or ideal self is the “self” you created since childhood in order to avoid being rejected and be accepted by others. It includes all the inauthentic strategies you develop to cope with your world. Some people create a false self that always smiles and cooperates and agrees with everyone. Others create a false self that prefers to oppose and fight others; their false self is the “tough” self. Some create a false self that escapes rejection altogether by hiding behind hobbies or studies or career. There are endless varieties of false self and we all have our own individual version. Letting go of your false self can be a huge challenge. Of course, the result of adopting a false self is that others do not Continue Reading →

dry dark dryness desert night

Gaining The Benefits Of Spiritual Dryness

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Many of us will face seasons in our lives when we cannot sense God anymore. We will feel like he left us, or maybe doesn’t even exist. This usually happens after we have overcome most of our major external sins and then made considerable progress in loving God and others. But in spite of our progress, we still can’t connect with God. We think back to times when we felt God’s presence or could clearly see his activity in our lives. We remember the pleasure we had with God, especially during worship, reading scripture, or prayer. But suddenly our spiritual life seems dry or even dark. We don’t feel the enthusiasm for God we had before. Yet, there are many benefits of spiritual dryness. This stage of the Christian life has been experienced and written about by many of the great Christian teachers since the earliest centuries. Some have called Continue Reading →

guilt conviction sin

Seek The Benefits Of Conviction Of Sin

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Conviction of sin is one of God’s most important gifts. It pinpoints areas that are keeping us from transformation into the image of God and communion with him. But conviction of sin can lead to destructive attitudes as well as constructive sorrow. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:10, NIV). Seeing our sin may lead us to self-condemnation or rejection, or to imagining that God condemns or rejects us. We may begin to hate ourselves or think we are hopeless. These are all strategies of Satan. He knows that if we reject ourselves (for any reason, not just sin) that it will create a wall between us and God. Self-rejection may be Satan’s number one strategy in every person’s life. It cuts us off from the grace and power we need for healing. Instead, we should treat Continue Reading →