I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. -John 15:1-2
Try as we might, no one can avoid getting cut or pruned by God in this life. God touches everyone, and many times his touch hurts. How we respond to these trials will be the evidence of what type of wound we have received. God cuts everyone but everyone who is cut does not experience the same outcome.
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.-James 1:25
It had been a very, very long Sunday. Setting up the church in our rented space for the morning service, navigating a few difficult personalities in the foyer, trying to make new people welcomed, trying to make sure no one goes into the children’s ministry whose not supposed to, trying to stay in a good spirit even though where I was stationed in the church there was no air conditioning and it was now a humid 90 degrees, and a whole host of other random tasks a pastor ends up doing on Sunday where beginning to take their toll. As I was driving into our night service, McDonald’s golden arches seemed to be shining a little brighter to my weary eyes.
How can someone become a Christian leader? The only way to be a Christian leader is if other Christians follow you as you follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). But, ironically, the hardest part of Christian leadership is that no one naturally wants to follow because of sin.
Sin is rebellion against God’s authority and leadership. Therefore, human nature, because of sin, simply does not like Christian leadership either since it is a delegated leadership role from God.
So what’s a Christian leader to do? How can you be a Christian leader if no one wants to follow you? The only hope a Christian leader has is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Satan is a liar (John 8:44), Satan is a deceiver (Revelation 12:9), and Satan is an accuser of Christians (Revelation 12:10). Satan is the Christian’s chief enemy, for we fight not against flesh and blood, but against Satan’s spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12). And we are to resist him (James 4:7), but how? How do we fight against Satan?
With just a quick read of Scripture, there’s no doubt that God not only allows Satan to live, but God allows Satan to tempt us. But why does God allow Satan to tempt us? Or maybe an even better question is why did God allow Satan to tempt Jesus?
Why Does God Allow Satan to Tempt Us? For God’s Glory
It’s a good place to start by noting that any question that starts with “Why does God . . . ?” can always be answered “For his own glory and our good.” Everything God does ultimately is rooted in his sovereign plan of glorifying himself and loving people.
How do you get someone to forgive you? As hard as we try not to, we all sin against those we love. Sometimes it is difficult for them to forgive us.
Whether it’s because we keep sinning against them the same way or because the sin we confessed was so hurtful (like cheating/adultery), there are times in life when we will confess our sins to those we have hurt, but they will struggle to forgive us.
Thankfully the Bible talks a lot about forgiveness. Here are five truths found in Scripture that will help answer the questions, “How do I get someone to forgive me?”
1 Peter 4:7, 1 Peter 3:7, James 5:16 (NIV), Psalm 66:18
God’s grace is a free gift which we cannot earn or lose due to our own actions. God saves, justifies, blesses, and loves us all because of his undeserved grace. And yet, it seems our obedience and personal effort to be pure are directly related to our spiritual power, especially in prayer. Here are three facts about the biblical connection between prayer and purity.
Impurity Cannot Steal Our Salvation, But It Does Hinder Our Power in Prayer
Sin does not cancel the grace of God. However, sin hinders are experience of God’s grace. When we become a Christian and then we sin, we will never be in jeopardy of losing our salvation. Once we are truly brought into the family of God, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). If, however, we forsake God in word or deed to such a degree that it shows we are not saved, this simply means we were never truly saved to begin with. It does not mean we lost our salvation since this is impossible according to Scripture.
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. – Luke 22:61-61
Follow me. – John 21:19
What should you do when you finally hit rock bottom? Where can you go when you’ve landed face first? What should you do when you don’t know what to do?
If anyone knew the feeling of being at the lowest point of life, it was Peter. Peter truly hit rock bottom when he betrayed Jesus. But the thing that Peter learned, the thing that we all must learn when we are at our lowest, is that rock bottom is the best foundation to build upon.
. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3:23
What is sin? The literal translation of the word “sin” means to “miss the mark,” used to describe an arrow missing the intended target. To understand how we miss when we sin, we must first know what we were supposed to be aiming at.
What is Sin? Sin is Concealing Rather than Revealing the Glory of God
Man was made for the glory of God (Isaiah 43:7). The glory of God is the visible manifestation of the invisible qualities of God. Therefore, man was meant to expose, bear the image of, and reveal more of the beauty of God.
Romans 3:23 states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” You’d think this verse would say “all have sinned and fall short of obedience” but sin is not merely a lack of obedience. Sin is missing the mark of glorifying God.
