Category: Level: Beginner

anxiety

What Jesus Says About Anxiety

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In 1985 19% of college freshman reported being overwhelmed by all they had to do; in 2016 it was 41%! Anxiety has become a huge social-psychological issue. “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concern in the United States. Over 40 million adults in the U.S. (19.1%) have an anxiety disorder.” It affects approximately 25% of adolescents . Mental health providers report that for youth anxiety is often linked to fear of failure, perfectionism, comparisons to others (often through social media), or difficult neighborhood environments. So, let’s look at what Jesus says about anxiety. We all feel anxiety some of the time and some of us feel it much of the time. Anxiety is an issue in every place and time. But the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced was a place where one could become free of anxiety. He taught us the foundation of overcoming anxiety in Matthew chapter 6, Continue Reading →

heaven, on earth, sun

Your Amazing Spiritual Blessings

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Does it seem mysterious to you to say that we have “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”? (Eph. 1:3) ESV. This idea has seemed very abstract and fuzzy to me, especially the part about the spiritual blessings being in heavenly places. Why does it say the spiritual blessings are in heavenly places instead of in our hearts? And if the blessings are in heavenly places and we are living on earth does that mean we are separated from our blessings somehow? Do we have to wait until the next life until we have them? As we look at Ephesians 1:3-14 we can see that Paul lists the spiritual blessings he refers to in verse 3. If we look at these blessings perhaps we can answer some of our questions. Verse 4: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world; He chose us to be holy and Continue Reading →

judge discern guilt freedom

The Consequences Of Guilt And Condemnation

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The purpose and destiny of all we do is the community of love with God and His followers. This community is supposed to begin now, on earth, in our Christian fellowship. And one of the fundamental principles of Christian fellowship is the division we make between guilt and condemnation. This division gives us great freedom in relationships, even outside the body of Christ. As Christians we make a big distinction between guilt and condemnation. We know that we are guilty of sin, but we also know that God does not condemn us. Romans 8:1 states, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” There is no punishment for us except the natural consequences (e. g. jail for crimes). So, because of Jesus’ death there is a huge chasm between our guilt and condemnation. Normally, when someone is judged guilty of a crime then we say they Continue Reading →

sun, heaven, luminous light

Being A Light In A Culture That Rejects God

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Many of us feel like large portions of our society are hostile to Christians and not willing to respect our beliefs. Christians are vilified in some media just for expressing moral standards. We are considered intolerant towards people and irrelevant to society. We are misrepresented in order to make it easier to reject us. The good news is that these are all attitudes that the citizens of the Roman Empire held towards Christians for over 250 years. But Christianity still steadily grew and by the end of the 4th century, it was the dominant religion in the Empire because believers excelled at being a light for Christ. Christians in the Roman Empire were considered antisocial because they did not join in the immoral pagan worship or in the violent and bloody spectacles that were popular at the time. Christians were considered atheists because they would not worship any of the Continue Reading →

what should we be doing?

What Is The Purpose Of The Christian Life?

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What is the Christian life all about? Sometimes we find ourselves wondering “What is the purpose of the Christian life?” Who can deny that it is important to have a general idea of what discipleship and spiritual formation are all about. What are we supposed to focus our energies on in the Christian life? And what is spiritual formation according to Scripture? One place we can find this in Scripture is in Paul’s prayers for the churches. One particularly helpful prayer for spiritual growth is at Philippians 1:9-11: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (NIV) The progression in this Continue Reading →