“Try to give your agenda to God. Keep saying, ‘Your will be done, not mine.’ Give every part of your heart and your time to God and let God tell you what to do, where to go, when and how to respond. God does not want you to destroy yourself. Exhaustion, burnout, and depression are…
We have a great challenge to meet the spiritual hunger of those under 40 where 3% are Christians who reflect Christ (51% are unbelievers) compared to 9% of those over 40 who are Christians that reflect Christ. In the first chapter 1 Chronicles, the writer lists a genealogy highlighting the descendants of Abraham who ruled…
Jesus used on-the-job training in equipping His disciples as they served in the world. This became a starting point for implementing a larger vision of the church studied earlier in Eph. 1-3. Eph. 4-6 instructs how to implement the church’s larger vision by equipping believers for works of service and teaching the truth of Christ…
True worship can be summarized as acknowledging God’s holiness and greatness to gain understanding and learn instruction. It begins with repentance of sin and trusts in the Holy Spirit for strength. Personal impact: Waits on Him in prayer and meditates on God’s word to heal wounds. Corporate impact: Praises God to defeat evil in the…
Cindy Jacobs in her book, “Possessing the Gates of the Enemy,” quoted Ed Silvoso’s definition of a stronghold: “a mindset impregnated with hopelessness that causes the believer to accept as unchangeable something that he/she knows is contrary to the will of God.” Rights we have to give up in order to tear down strongholds: The…
Most believers want to enjoy the fun things of the Christian life like socials, sports, Sun. morning services and committees rather than roll up their sleeves and fight the spiritual battle in a world that is going mad. Numbers 1-3 explains the components necessary for spiritual warfare to build God’s kingdom on earth. The Lord…
The last of the ten commandments is not coveting anything that is your neighbors. Ahab’s coveting of Naboth’s vineyard illustrates the dynamics and results of coveting. Coveting expressed itself in this example through false witness, murder and stealing. Those who follow deception because they have no shepherd covet and commit idolatry. Dynamics of Coveting Ahab…
If we don’t eat, we become malnourished. The same applies to spiritual food or feeding on the bread of life, God’s word. From a survey of 1050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors in 2005-06, 81% said there was no regular discipleship program or effective effort of mentoring their people or teaching them to deepen their Christian…