Grace

God’s Common Grace

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Despite the fact that we live in a very fractured world infected with sins of all forms, God’s beautiful grace not only lavishes the lives of believers but it is extended towards non-believers as well. I will refer to this form of grace as God’s Common Grace and, as will be explored below, it exemplifies God’s sovereignty and His all-the-time goodness which is, simply put, impossible to contain, even in a world hostile to God.

In Acts 14:17, Paul and Barnabas frustratingly tell the people in Lystra and Derbe:

“Yet He has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy“

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God’s Unfailing Love

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Today I feel particularly drawn to reflect on God’s steadfast and His unfailing love in my own life.

As sin-bent humans we are so prone to fall away from our faith walk. Media bombards us almost unceasingly with sin-infested messages where the Enemy waits for Christians to fall into all kinds of temptation. Not a single Christian is ever immune to our susceptibility to sin which is why it is so incredibly important to be in constant prayer Forgetfulnessand to actually be in God’s Word. I think that as Christians living in a self-absorbed western culture, we easily become ignorant of the fact that if we are not actively seeking intimacy with God then we will indeed fall away. For clarity, by falling away I mean that we begin to quench the Spirit thereby weakening our faith and delaying us from furthering God’s Kingdom. I believe that delaying the good work of Christians is one of the Enemy’s main spiritual assaults against us. It is when we enter into the forgetfulness of Who God is and all that He has done for us that the Enemy renders Christians ineffective for God’s work. Continue reading →

Our Best Hope for Peace

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As calamities, atrocities and disasters of all kinds continually emerge throughout different parts of the world, the need for peace becomes progressively amplified. The inescapable truth is that the same peace which humanity has sought repeatedly throughout the last two millennia is still not found in anything under the sun. In fact, as mere mortal beings we are utterly incapable of ever attaining this life-transforming peace because we ourselves are spiritually-depraved. Like Romans 3:10 tells us,Fallen short.jpg

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.

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Self-Righteousness is Dangerous

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As sinful beings who have been pointing fingers at one another since the Fall, it should be no surprise with how swiftly we find ourselves repeating the same mistake to this very day. Accepting personal responsibility and accountability for our actions has always been challenging for us to do in our strength. It is far easier for us to simply blame others after all anyway, isn’t it?  In the same vein, one thing that continues to fascinate me is how quick we are to identify and judge the sin which we see others commit. Continue reading →

Suffering, Perseverance, Character, and Hope(Part 4 of 4)

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Throughout today’s post I will conclude this four-part series by focusing on the Hope that we all share as believers in Christ.hope in Christ (1)

Although hope is essentially the final resultant fruit yielded from our suffering as Christians(Romans 5:3-4), I feel that its influence has the ability to penetrate into every facet of our lives. In fact, it is the very hope in the return of Christ which serves as the basis for believers to purify themselves in this life (Titus 2:11-14, 1 John 3:3). Continue reading →

Suffering, Perseverance (Part 2 of 4), Character, and Hope

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Press on; God's Got This!

Press on; God’s Got This!

Throughout today’s blog entry I will continue the series, which I began last week, however this time I will underscore the importance of perseverance in the Christian life.

Perseverance is a widely disseminated term particularly within the confines of Western Culture. Therefore, I feel that a working definition is required for purposes of clarity within this post. Continue reading →

Suffering (Part 1 of 4), Perseverance, Character, and Hope

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Romans 5 3-4.jpgToday I feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding me to start a new series about perhaps one of the most ubiquitous topics that we face on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, this topic focuses on both suffering and perseverance and their critical importance in our lives, particularly as Christians living in an increasingly broken world. Throughout this first entry (1 of 4 in series) I will attempt to provide linkages between suffering and perseverance, relying on God’s Word, in order to emphasize their respective levels of significance in the Christian life.

To begin, I will identify what the Scriptures tell us regarding the value that suffering has in the Christian life.

The relevant Scriptural Text here comes from Romans 5:3-5 where it tells us the following:

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

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5 Ways To Actually Practice Mercy You Need To Know

/ Jesus_Follow3r

Admittedly, I didn’t have the opportunity to read last Thursday’s post, however based on the excerpt you provided here, I absolutely agree with your insightful thoughts.
What I have come to discover is that Truth is often the toughest pill to swallow, especially during particular seasons/times when we have permitted our Christian lives to become complacent (myself included).
Over the recent years, I feel that throughout Western Culture we have allowed Christianity to become too comfortable.
Nowadays, it is very evident that the number of Christians whom actually pursue godly risks, and take leaps of faith is dwindling. This deeply saddens me, and this reminds me even more so of how much work is needing to be done by Christians in this broken world.
Jesus tells us that “…The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2).
Jesus not only clearly identifies the problem (which is just as relevant now as it was then), but He also provides us with the solution. The solution is simply found in faithfully asking(through prayer) our Mighty God to send(emphasis) workers(you and I) into the harvest field(to those in need within the front-lines).
It is worth noting as well that believers doing the praying are no more exempt from actively partaking in this work of spreading the Gospel(The Great Commission) themselves than other believers.

God Bless!

Dealing with Anxiety through Contentment in Jesus

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Anxiety is an area of my life that I have continually struggled with. Although I have certainly come a long way from my high-school days where my anxiety was at its peak, anxiety loves to try to re-gain prominence in my life at the seemingly most inconvenient of times. What I find particularly intriguing about the Scriptures is its repeated reference to trusting in the Lord rather than being afraid. Jesus Himself spent a good portion of His earthly ministry towards communicating the futility in anxiety which is definitely rooted in fear. Strikingly, fear does not only lead to anxiety but it will also typically result in a paralyzing-fear of pursuing godly risks essential to our faithful obedience to God(See COMPLACENCY HINDERS OUR JOYFUL OBEDIENCE TO GOD).

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