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11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ~ Acts 17:11

Christians tend to be closed-minded, but not by worldly standards of closed-minded, but biblical standards. We take what has been taught to us as being right, and we never go looking to see if it’s right or not. We never question it. Why? Could it be that we are taught not to question anything from childhood, just accept what is taught as absolute fact? When children ask us why, we quickly shut it down and don’t give them an answer other than, “because that’s the way it is.” Why do we do this? Why do we limit ourselves and our children from knowledge?

The writer of Acts spoke about the Bereans. The writer called them more noble than the Jews in Thessalonica because they searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul was preaching was true. How many of us can say we daily search the scriptures to make sure that what we have been taught all of our lives is true? Very few of us, if any of us. We mostly, as a whole, turn a blind eye when it comes to tradition. We turn our eyes and refuse to question what we believe has been set in stone. But what good does that do us? Who does that help?

It limits us. It can keep us from getting close to God. And in many cases, it can even lead us to an eternity without God. Wouldn’t it be better if we all searched the scriptures daily? But why do we have to do it daily? Why do you have to breathe every second? Because without reading the scriptures, it’s like you stop breathing, and now your spirit isn’t getting any oxygen. And soon enough, your spirit will give out and will die because you refuse to give it oxygen to breathe.

See, we’ve gotten to the place where we no longer read our bibles daily. We no longer search for the truth. And we as a Church has become very weak. We have allowed sin into our temples and blasphemies on our pulpit. We have looked the other way and have become closed-minded. We are supposed to be doing greater things than even Jesus did, but we can’t even read and search the scriptures once a day. We have our priorities all wrong. So many of us are blinded by tradition that we don’t even know who we are fighting. We are completely defenseless, and we don’t even know it. Remember that a blind man cannot lead another blind man to safety.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Search Daily.

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Stop Making Lame Excuses

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” ~ Genesis 3:11-12

When God asked Adam if he had eaten from the forbidden fruit, Adam blamed his wife. Today, men love to make jokes, well I hope they’re just jokes, and they’re not being serious, that Adam had to eat the fruit because Eve was naked. What else could he do? First off, let me just say that this is such a lame excuse. Even though men are, for the most part, joking when they say this, this is how we are today.

We make lame excuses for why we sin. We hate owning up to our sins. Why? I believe it’s because we don’t want to change. See, sin thrives in darkness. If we can make an excuse that allows us to continue in sin, or at least make us feel better for doing it, we don’t have to repent. We can live in the realm of, “it’s not my fault.”

But when we don’t take responsibility for our actions, we can’t have forgiveness. Sin cannot survive in the light, so we have to confess our sins before our God. We have to repent so that we can be saved.

8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 John 1:8-9

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stop Making Lame Excuses.

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Spend Time In The Scripture

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ~ Genesis 3:1-5

I remember a few years ago, one of my friends told me she wanted to be a Youth Pastor and asked me if I thought it was a good idea. So, I simply asked if she understood the Bible and could explain it to people easily. She responded with, ‘No, not really. Not really at all, actually.’ Then, I asked her if she thought reading her Bible was important. She responded with, ‘Yeah. Well, I don’t think you need to read it every day.’ Even though part of her wanted to know God and do God’s work, she didn’t want to take the time to get to know God and His Scripture.

This is the mentality of most of the Church today. Part of us wants God, but the other part doesn’t want to put the time into God. We don’t want to take the time to read God’s word so that we know what He has planned for us, what He expects from us, who He is, His characteristics, His likes, and dislikes. In today’s world, we know more about celebrities than we do our own God. This is the biggest problem in the Church today.

See, Satan knows the Scripture forwards and backward. That’s how he trips us up. He’ll ask us, “Did God actually say…” and if we don’t know the scripture, then we’ll begin to doubt. We’ll have no defense against his attacks and schemes. Look at what the Psalmist writes about how to keep your heart pure.

9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. 10 I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. 12 I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. 13 I have recited aloud all the regulations you have given us. 14 I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. 15 I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. 16 I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.

Psalms 119:9-16

The only way for us to overcome sin and withstand the schemes of the enemy is to know the Scripture. This is our main weapon against the enemy. When we know Scripture, we can put it into practice, and we can overcome any obstacle that may come in our way. Don’t allow laziness to keep you from your most important Spiritual Weapon.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Spend Time In The Scripture.

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Give Thanks In All Circumstances

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Many people believe that God is saying that we have to be thankful for all of our circumstances, or even that we have to be happy about all of our circumstances, but is that what Paul is saying? Does God really want us to be thankful for all of our circumstances? No, of course not.

God doesn’t expect us to be thankful for all of our circumstances. He expects us to be thankful IN all of our circumstances. There are things in this world that we can’t control, loved ones dying, losing our job, finding out a loved one, or we have cancer. When His plan for us is for our good and not for evil, God doesn’t want us to be thankful for cancer. He wants us to be thankful THROUGH cancer. In spite of cancer. So that we can fight through cancer.

God doesn’t give us hardships, but He allows us to go through them. He allows us to suffer for a short time, but He always gives us the strength to make it through to the other side. The Joy of the LORD is our strength. That doesn’t mean that we’re happy about our situation, but instead that we’re gonna put our trust in the LORD because He loves us. When we trust in Him, we can make it through anything.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give Thanks In All Circumstances.

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Turn Back

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, ~ Acts 3:19

When we sin, it’s as if we are killing ourselves over and over again. Sin is the road that leads to death. It doesn’t matter if your sins seem to be ‘less sinful’ than someone else’s sin; both of your sins lead to death. Both of your sins take you to the same place. But no matter what you’ve done. No matter how far you’ve strayed, forgiveness is still an option for you.

Jesus came to save all of mankind. He paid our debt because He knew we would never be able to pay our own debt, so He took our place. When we repent, we are accepting His free gift of Salvation. Because of His great love for us and His great mercy and grace, He blots out our sins. He washes us clean. He molds us into a new creation. After we have accepted His salvation, our sins no longer have any hold on us.

We can become whoever we want, and we can achieve whatever we want. Salvation not only frees us from our past but it also gives us a future. So, never give up on your dreams because who you were yesterday isn’t who you are today. You can overcome any obstacle in your way because Jesus has already overcome the world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Turn Back.

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Choose Your Destination

13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. ~ Matthew 7:13-14

Many people don’t look forward. They don’t want to think about the future, only about the now. While the present is important, the future is just as important, if not even more important. Because the present won’t last forever because the future will become your present sooner or later. Not knowing what you want or where you are going is like putting on a blindfold and entering an obstacle course. Because that’s what life is, it’s an obstacle course filled with uphill battles, downward spirals, but most importantly, a finish line.

People love to say, “It’s not the destination; it’s the journey that counts,” but what’s the point of a fun journey if it lands you in jail? To some fun is drugs. Setting fires. Stealing. Murder. Sure those are extreme cases, but what’s the difference between drugs and sleeping around? They both land you in the same place, Hell.

We love to look at others and compare our sins to justify our behavior as better than others, but what good is being “better” if you’re going to the same place as them? We don’t like to talk about it because we don’t want to change, we don’t want to do hard things, we don’t want to let go, so we don’t want to think about the most important question, Where Will You Spend Eternity?

Eternity isn’t avoidable; it’s inevitable. Every one of us will have an eternity, and only we can decide where we will spend it. It’s our choice. But how can we choose if we don’t know the requirements? We love to say we’ll get saved when we get married, or when we hit a certain age, or when we get a certain amount of success. But what if those days never come? Tomorrow is promised to no person, so don’t wait for tomorrow. Accept your salvation today.

What seems important now won’t seem important in eternity. Those things that we want now that are holding us back aren’t going to mean anything when we’re in eternity. Life is precious; we only get one chance to get it right. So choose today to decide where you want to go. Don’t just wait for tomorrow because tomorrow never comes. Do it today.

Peace. Love Go Forth and Choose Your Destination.

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Leave Them Behind You

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 3:13-14ESV

I believe it would be fair to say that we are not where we want to be, neither have we achieved all that we’ve planned. The goals we set for ourselves (plans to move our careers forward, ideas to promote and market our businesses) can sometimes feel daunting; set back by no’s, not now’s, and not interested.

But forgetting those things that are behind you can make your ways seem clear. When we let go of the past, we can move forward because they are in the past, they’re over with, they’re done with, they’re over. The past has no hold on us; we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Now we grab hold of today, and we press on, always moving forward toward the goals we have set for our success.

Heavenly Father, help us to move forward from our past so that we can pursue our call. The call you have given us. Oh, LORD, help us to remember that we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Please show us the future you have planned for us that we may not stray from the path you have paved out just for us. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

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Take Correction With Love

13As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:13-15

Paul tells us to not grow weary of doing good multiple times. He not only tells us to do good, but he also tells us we need to help others remain in the love of Christ. Many of us take this as Paul telling us we need to correct others, which we need to, but Paul is also telling us we need to learn to take correction when we are in the wrong. We’re quick to correct others, but we don’t always accept correct from others. Why? Why don’t we like to take correction from others?

When we take offense from others correcting us, what does that mean for us? Are we filled with pride? Selfishness? Man-pleasing? If we are, what does that mean for us? None of those things get you closer to God. It doesn’t build up the Church. It doesn’t strengthen the spirit, so what does it do?

It brings division… and what does division bring…? well, Mark 3:25 says, “If a house is divided against itself, that house Cannot stand.” If the house cannot stand, then the house will fall; when that house falls, then we are without protection, without defense. As the Church, the body of Christ, we have to learn to give correction with love, but we also have to learn to take correction with love. Without correction, we can’t learn or grow. And if we stay where we are, never moving forward, we will become like stagnant water dirty and stink. We have to continuously grow so that we can grow closer to God. So that we can become more like Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take Correction With Love.

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Use Your God-Given Gifts

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ~ Ephesians 4:7

Each of us was given grace in the form of the free gift of Salvation from Jesus Christ through faith, but we were each given spiritual gifts as well. Gifts of teaching, apostleship, prophets, evangelists, etc. In each of us is a spiritual gift given to us through the Holy Spirit. Our gifts can also be in music, sports, film, education, medicine, etc.

We don’t have to be a preacher in order to have a gift from God. Not all of us are pastors; if we were, we would all be one body part. If we are all one single body part, then we aren’t complete. God uses and utilizes every part of the body because each body part is important. And as each body part is important, each gift is important.

Peace. Go Forth and Use Your God-Given Gifts.

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Cling To His Divine Nature

4 And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. ~ 2 Peter 1:4NLT

God has called us to Himself so that we may be saved. When we are saved, we are changed. We are given a new clean heart and a right spirit. We are given a new life. We are a new creation. Because of this, God Himself lives inside of us and shapes us into His perfect image. This is why we must fight sin.

We can’t allow ourselves to be overcome by the very thing that God has just rescued us from. We have to set our minds to live in righteousness. God has given us everything we need in order to overcome sin and cling to righteousness. Put on your whole Armor of God that you can overcome every sin that comes your way and become more and more like God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cling To His Divine Nature.

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