OUR PURPOSE FOR LIFE

    SHAME AND GUILT Is guilt and shame holding you back from living to your full potential in Christ? Are you living with fears and insecurities? Is shame and guilt preventing you from fulfilling God's plan for your life? Beware of people who take pleasure in other people's problems. Some people want you to live in your shame and guilt. They will speak negatively about you. They may even remind you that you are undeserving of God's love. Some of them may even be Christians. Others may be close family.   Pray to God to guide you to people who are genuinely concerned about your well-being. Much of our guilt and shame stems from focusing on what others say about us rather than what Christ says about us. But we are not our past. We are not what we did. We are who God says we are. He says we are forgiven. He says we are redeemed. He says we are free. "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they ca...

Why do we lack peace of mind? Worry and anxiety rob us of our peace of mind. Being plagued by worry-filled thoughts is painful and depressing. And the more we become aware of how powerless we are in some circumstances, the more we give in to despair, give in to depression, and give in to desperation.  Some of us are so accustomed to feeling this way that we are unaware of the extent to which it inhibits our capacity for bravery, vigor, and concentration. We are unaware of how much it influences both our relationship with God and our interactions with others. The waves of the storms of life and the storms of emotion within our souls knock us around like a ball. However, there is hope because God promises us calm despite the storms of life. God promises us inner peace; of mind and heart. How to experience God's peace of mind Have you ever attempted to fall asleep deeply after going to bed but found that your mind was racing with worry, anxiety, anger, resentment, and other emotions i...

Longing for more We all have a deep underlying longing for something that is beyond our human capacity to completely comprehend. It is an awareness of something within us that is lacking and which if realized, would make our lives complete.  We all have strong desires for things like love, power, achievement, identity, goods, and social connectedness, but none of them provide long-term fulfillment. We may feel joyful and delighted for a short period of time, but that sensation always disappears. Many people are dissatisfied with their life, even if to others they may be seen to have it all; a generally good life. They imagine that the next idealized relationship, purchase, or career will be the one that will finally and fully satisfy them. Only for the joy and excitement felt when these things are achieved to disappear with time. "Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!" Ecclesiastes 5:10 Our supreme satisfactio...

    The Purpose of Prayer In the Bible, God urges humans to pray several times. Why, then, should we pray? What is the significance of prayer in our lives? This is a question that many Christians, as well as people of other religions, have asked. What is the sense of prayer if God oversees both human history and individual lives? Understanding what prayer is is essential to discovering the solution. What is prayer If you view prayer as a means of establishing control over your you will be worried and agitated by what appears to be unanswered prayer. However, if you consider prayer to be an ongoing dialogue with God, you'll realize there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer God may choose not to do what you request when you request it. You may have times when you struggle to hear what He is saying for a variety of reasons. It is indeed difficult to hear no, or even not yet, to what seems to be a good and valid request. However, if prayer is first and foremost a conversation...

How to please God We were created to bring God glory in everything we do. We are here on earth as temporary ambassadors for God's Kingdom, so how we live our lives must please God. Rejoice, Pray and Give Thanks constantly "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) We can't please God unless we have a relationship with him. When we are in constant communication with God internally in joyful prayer with thanksgiving, we please Him. In life there is always something to be thankful for. Let us be still and quiet, allowing our spirits to connect with God's Holy Spirit, as this will please God. Study the Word "You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus."  (2 Timothy 3:15) Through the bible, we gain wisdom by viewing life through God...

  God and Money Is making money your primary motivator in life? Is your entire effort devoted to the pursuit of money? What do you do every day? "Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world."  1 John 2:15-16 God and Money are the two masters of the earth. Jesus says in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."  You are either controlled and driven by God or by money in this world. Consider this: what consumes the majority of your thoughts? Is it how to labor efficiently for God's kingdom or how much money you need to make? People kill for monetary gain. Yes...

Jesus in the desert God occasionally causes hardships to come into our lives and paths to test us! We learn and grow in our Christian walks in part because of these testing! The end goal is for us to develop our relationship with Him and our DEPENDENCE on Him. What did God the Father do with Jesus when He said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased?" about Jesus? He led Him into the desert! After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. (Matthew 3:16-17 NLT) Immediately after His baptism, Jesus is led into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing for forty days and forty nights. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. (Matthew 4:1-2 NLT) What did Jes...

The Mystery of Salvation Have you ever wondered at the mystery of salvation? The bible says that when we are born again, the old is gone and the new is here.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  2 Corinthians 5:17  Transformed by the Spirit of God God uses the extraordinary power of His Holy Spirit to change our hearts and attitudes, transforming us from the inside out. When He starts to live in us, we are regenerated. He starts instructing and directing us according to his truth and His ways. And we naturally start to have desires for things that are in line with His will. That is God's power operating within us. "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God."  1 John 3:9 God gives us a heart willing to follow his ways. He takes away or heart of stone, and replaces it with a heart of flesh. "I ...

Love God and Love People The greatest commandments summarize God's will for his children: love God and love people. “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:36-40 We cannot keep these commandments without inner transformation by God's Holy Spirit, because loving God requires us to be sanctified, set free by the truth of His word, and pure of heart. And loving others necessitates self-denial and supreme satisfaction in Christ alone. The will of God in every day decisions It is essential that we have a renewed mind, one that is shaped and governed by the Holy Spirit, that we see and assess all relevant factors with Christ's mindset, and ...

The Pure Heart The heart is a perplexing organ. It is the wellspring of our thinking and, ultimately, our actions, yet it is hidden from the rest of the world. We have a tendency to govern and monitor our outward behavior, since what we do is apparent to the rest of the world. However, we often overlook the heart. Yet nothing is more essential than our inner lives. Our genuine self is our inner self. Every day, we put on masks and appear to be better than we are. God sees through the disguise and assesses us based on our motives hidden deep in our hearts. 'How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. ' Psalms 19:12-13   A true follower of Christ doesn’t behave differently in church and another way at home. No, we do not wear masks and play games. We do not manipulate behind the scenes. We also do not twist God’s Word...