"Ascribe tot he LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe tot he LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!" Psalm 96:7-9 (ESV)
"The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around." Psalm 97:1-3 (ESV)
"The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!" Psalm 99:1 (ESV)
7.25.2009
7.21.2009
Spiritual Battles
I thought that this was a pretty good post from Greg Laurie, regarding how to win a spiritual battle. Click here to check it out.
So is your sword sharpened by study or dulled by disobedience? I know that mine is not as sharp as it should be and that there are definitely some dull spots on the edge of the blade that need some serious work.
So is your sword sharpened by study or dulled by disobedience? I know that mine is not as sharp as it should be and that there are definitely some dull spots on the edge of the blade that need some serious work.
7.20.2009
Ending Spritual Droughts
Hey y'all. Just want to encourage you to listen to this sermon from Dr. Mike Mowery on ending spiritual drought in our lives. I do not know about you, but I personally have experienced spiritual drought and can honestly say that I am going through that at this very moment. That is a personal prayer request I can throw out there, if y'all would pray for me regarding this area of my life.
In his sermon, Dr. Mowery notes there are three things we must do if we want to end the spiritual drought in our lives. First, we must surrender unconditionally to the Lordship of Christ in our lives. Second, we must cut the ties we have with all evil influences, even if that means we must make some radical changes. Lastly, we must cry out to God until He restores our soul.
It is a really good sermon that helps you focus on what must take place if we want the spiritual drought in our lives to come to an end. So if you want to hear the sermon, it is linked here. On the homepage of FBC Grapevine, there is a box on the right side that says last weeks message. Click on the "Listen" button, and then if it is not already selected for you, select the message titled "Ending a Spiritual Drought" from July 12.
In his sermon, Dr. Mowery notes there are three things we must do if we want to end the spiritual drought in our lives. First, we must surrender unconditionally to the Lordship of Christ in our lives. Second, we must cut the ties we have with all evil influences, even if that means we must make some radical changes. Lastly, we must cry out to God until He restores our soul.
It is a really good sermon that helps you focus on what must take place if we want the spiritual drought in our lives to come to an end. So if you want to hear the sermon, it is linked here. On the homepage of FBC Grapevine, there is a box on the right side that says last weeks message. Click on the "Listen" button, and then if it is not already selected for you, select the message titled "Ending a Spiritual Drought" from July 12.
7.13.2009
Be Ready to Confront False Teachings
Last Sunday evening, I had the opportunity to preach here at FSBC Yuma. As I was preparing for this sermon, I was praying and asking God to show me what I should preach on, and what He showed me is something that has been on my heart for a while now. The sermon focused on 1 & 2 Timothy, and Paul's warnings to Timothy regarding false teachers in later times and the last days.
In 1 Timothy 4, Paul warns Timothy that in later times, there will be people who depart from the faith and follow the teachings of demons and deceitful spirits. There will be liars and deceivers who teach false doctrines and lead people astray from the truth, because they themselves have a seared conscience and are standing against God.
In 2 Timothy 4, Paul warns Timothy that a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but have itching ears, wanting to hear only what they want to hear. These people will then accumulate teachers that suit these passions and turn away from listening to the truth. The point here is that truth will no longer be held in any sort of regard. Truth will intentionally and willfully be discarded, in exchange for lies and myths. Unfortunately, we can see this happening within the church today. Sound doctrine and truth are being rejected and lies are being accepted.
Don't believe me? We have pastors in churches today who do not believe that heaven is a literal place of existence and that they words that Jesus used to describe hell are metaphorical. Some churches are starting to incorporate eastern mysticism practices into their worship services. Some "church leaders" argue that you do not have to believe in Jesus to follow Him. And one could continue on with more examples. What we need to wake up and realize is that the warnings Paul gave to Timothy are just as applicable to us today as they were to Timothy.
So what can we do? First, we need to be in Scripture daily, seeking the truth of God and knowing what God's word says. Second, we need to confront those who are teaching false doctrines in the church. Notice in 1 & 2 Timothy, Paul did not tell Timothy to stand by and let false teachers continue teaching. Paul told Timothy to remain in Ephesus and confront the false teachers. Third, we need to do as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, "...preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." When the opportunity comes for you to share the Gospel message of Christ, or when the opportunity comes to confront false teachings, be ready to preach the word. But if we want to be ready to preach the word, we have to be in the word, so that the word will be in us!
In 1 Timothy 4, Paul warns Timothy that in later times, there will be people who depart from the faith and follow the teachings of demons and deceitful spirits. There will be liars and deceivers who teach false doctrines and lead people astray from the truth, because they themselves have a seared conscience and are standing against God.
In 2 Timothy 4, Paul warns Timothy that a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but have itching ears, wanting to hear only what they want to hear. These people will then accumulate teachers that suit these passions and turn away from listening to the truth. The point here is that truth will no longer be held in any sort of regard. Truth will intentionally and willfully be discarded, in exchange for lies and myths. Unfortunately, we can see this happening within the church today. Sound doctrine and truth are being rejected and lies are being accepted.
Don't believe me? We have pastors in churches today who do not believe that heaven is a literal place of existence and that they words that Jesus used to describe hell are metaphorical. Some churches are starting to incorporate eastern mysticism practices into their worship services. Some "church leaders" argue that you do not have to believe in Jesus to follow Him. And one could continue on with more examples. What we need to wake up and realize is that the warnings Paul gave to Timothy are just as applicable to us today as they were to Timothy.
So what can we do? First, we need to be in Scripture daily, seeking the truth of God and knowing what God's word says. Second, we need to confront those who are teaching false doctrines in the church. Notice in 1 & 2 Timothy, Paul did not tell Timothy to stand by and let false teachers continue teaching. Paul told Timothy to remain in Ephesus and confront the false teachers. Third, we need to do as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, "...preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." When the opportunity comes for you to share the Gospel message of Christ, or when the opportunity comes to confront false teachings, be ready to preach the word. But if we want to be ready to preach the word, we have to be in the word, so that the word will be in us!
6.20.2009
Current Events
Those of you who read my blog know that I keep political postings to a very bare minimum. My intent for this blog has never been political but solely to share what I have been learning in school, as well as the various things that God is teaching. Tonight though, I am combining the two.
Unless you have been living under a rock, or you just are so out of touch with reality that you do not know what day it is, there is a lot of civil unrest in Iran right now, following the recent elections. Many people are upset and they are taking their voices to the streets, and to the world. I have seen pictures and video of people being beaten, objects be hurdled in anger at others, and a video, which many have now seen, of one protester being killed in the streets.
As I was watching all the news coverage this evening and looking at several of the pictures that the news agencies have published, I felt the Lord really impressing it upon me that we need to pray for the people or Iran, and not just in Iran, but in all of the Middle East. Yes, we should pray for their freedom, but more importantly, we need to be praying for people in Iran and the Middle East to come to know Jesus as their Savior.
Please pray for these people. In most parts of the Middle East, you can be imprisoned for sharing the Gospel with a Muslim, or even worse things might happen. It is an area of the world where the Gospel is not readily heard but desperately needed. Please pray that hearts would be softened as you watch the news coverage of what is taking place in Iran. Also, as you watch the news, and please understand that I am not trying to sound like nor be some bleeding heart here, but please try and set aside any predispositions and opinions of people from the Middle East and remember that they to are people, just like you and me, and that we all need Christ.
Unless you have been living under a rock, or you just are so out of touch with reality that you do not know what day it is, there is a lot of civil unrest in Iran right now, following the recent elections. Many people are upset and they are taking their voices to the streets, and to the world. I have seen pictures and video of people being beaten, objects be hurdled in anger at others, and a video, which many have now seen, of one protester being killed in the streets.
As I was watching all the news coverage this evening and looking at several of the pictures that the news agencies have published, I felt the Lord really impressing it upon me that we need to pray for the people or Iran, and not just in Iran, but in all of the Middle East. Yes, we should pray for their freedom, but more importantly, we need to be praying for people in Iran and the Middle East to come to know Jesus as their Savior.
Please pray for these people. In most parts of the Middle East, you can be imprisoned for sharing the Gospel with a Muslim, or even worse things might happen. It is an area of the world where the Gospel is not readily heard but desperately needed. Please pray that hearts would be softened as you watch the news coverage of what is taking place in Iran. Also, as you watch the news, and please understand that I am not trying to sound like nor be some bleeding heart here, but please try and set aside any predispositions and opinions of people from the Middle East and remember that they to are people, just like you and me, and that we all need Christ.
6.12.2009
Yielding
In Romans 6, Paul teaches that just because we as Christians are forgiven of our sins, this does not mean that we are to continue living willfully in sin. Rather, we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ, since Christ died to sin, so we also have died to sin if we have received Christ as our savior.
As I was reading through Romans 6 though, I read this chapter in the Amplified Bible and really like the way the Amplified Bible translates verse 13, because the Amplified Bible uses the words yielding and yield, which is slightly different than the NKJV which uses the word present. The King James also uses the word yield in verse 13.
When I read this verse, the word yield really stuck out in my mind, as I immediately thought of the many yield signs that we see as we are driving. Depending on where you live, you will see many yield signs or very few yield signs, but nevertheless, we know what a yield sign is and what it means. A yield sign does not require the same action that a stop sign requires. At a yield sign, we must slow down and check to see if there is oncoming traffic that we must yield to and give way. If we want to be completely honest though, how many times do we actually follow the yield sign? Personally, I know what it means to yield, but when it comes to actually yielding, I tend to just tap the brakes and blow on through the sign. Only if something much larger than me is coming my direction will I generally yield and wait.
According to Dictionary.com, one definition for the word yield is “to give place of precedence.” I think that this definition is fitting for many of us today. Many of us tend to “give place of precedence” to sin in our lives, as we live with the mindset that Paul is warning against. We should not continue to live in sin simply because we are forgiven through Christ. We need to consider ourselves dead to sin. Therefore, we need to stop yielding to the sin that is in our lives.
When we are driving and come upon a yield sign, and we see that a large vehicle is headed our direction, the smart response is to yield to the oncoming vehicle, so as to avoid a collision that can result in serious damage and death. In our spiritual lives though, when we see sin coming in our direction, no matter how big or small it may appear, we need to ignore the yield sign and blow right on by that sin. Do not yield yourself to sin, as the first part of verse 13 tells us, but instead do as the latter part of verse 13 tells us and yield yourself to God and present yourself as an implement of righteousness (Amplified Bible).
As I was reading through Romans 6 though, I read this chapter in the Amplified Bible and really like the way the Amplified Bible translates verse 13, because the Amplified Bible uses the words yielding and yield, which is slightly different than the NKJV which uses the word present. The King James also uses the word yield in verse 13.
When I read this verse, the word yield really stuck out in my mind, as I immediately thought of the many yield signs that we see as we are driving. Depending on where you live, you will see many yield signs or very few yield signs, but nevertheless, we know what a yield sign is and what it means. A yield sign does not require the same action that a stop sign requires. At a yield sign, we must slow down and check to see if there is oncoming traffic that we must yield to and give way. If we want to be completely honest though, how many times do we actually follow the yield sign? Personally, I know what it means to yield, but when it comes to actually yielding, I tend to just tap the brakes and blow on through the sign. Only if something much larger than me is coming my direction will I generally yield and wait.
According to Dictionary.com, one definition for the word yield is “to give place of precedence.” I think that this definition is fitting for many of us today. Many of us tend to “give place of precedence” to sin in our lives, as we live with the mindset that Paul is warning against. We should not continue to live in sin simply because we are forgiven through Christ. We need to consider ourselves dead to sin. Therefore, we need to stop yielding to the sin that is in our lives.
When we are driving and come upon a yield sign, and we see that a large vehicle is headed our direction, the smart response is to yield to the oncoming vehicle, so as to avoid a collision that can result in serious damage and death. In our spiritual lives though, when we see sin coming in our direction, no matter how big or small it may appear, we need to ignore the yield sign and blow right on by that sin. Do not yield yourself to sin, as the first part of verse 13 tells us, but instead do as the latter part of verse 13 tells us and yield yourself to God and present yourself as an implement of righteousness (Amplified Bible).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)