One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is complacency. Contentment in Christ is to be sought after and celebrated. Complacency in Christ, however, is very different.
Christian contentment means that no matter what happens, you are fully satisfied in Jesus. Christian complacency means that no matter what happens, you are fully self-satisfied with your current personal effort in pursuing Christ.
If you are a Christian, you probably have listened to a lot of sermons. For God has ordained that his message found in the Bible should be regularly and publicly communicated through preaching sermons.
It’s truly amazing when you think that even in an entertainment saturated culture such as the America, every Sunday masses of God’s people gather together to listen to a preacher give a sermon out of God’s word. From the moment of the churches birth in Acts 2, all the way up the present time, sermons have been God’s first choice in communicating (besides the Bible) to his people. If sermons are so important, every Christian should take the time to learn how to listen to a sermon.
Key Bible Verses: Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 6:1, Romans 16:17, Romans 14:4
One of the defining marks of a true Christian is a disdain and discernment for sin. When the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and as we grow in our walk with Jesus, we become more discerning to the sins both in us and in others. This is a great gift that benefits a heart seeking after God, but with each gift we receive comes a temptation to use it wrongly. So how do we use our discernment according to the Bible?
How to Use Discernment the Right Way
Discernment over sin should, of course, primarily be used to aid the believer in confessing and repenting of their own rebellion. For how are we to help others see clearly if we ourselves still have planks of sin in our own eyes (Matthew 7:1-5).
In every Christian, whether they would admit it or not, there is a desire to have a strong, wise mentor who is willing to invest in them. Few, however, find a wiser Christian mentor who is willing to help guide them through life, relationships, and ministry as a good mentor should. So how do you find a Christian mentor?
How to Find a Christian Mentor: Don’t Be Self-Centered
“Where are all the mentors?” is often posed as a question but it is really meant to be an accusation against the generation above us. But perhaps the blame does not always lie in the lack of mentors available but also in the demands and expectations of those desiring to be mentored.
Everyone has something in their life they want to change. Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution, an addictive sin pattern, or just an annoying habit you are finally fed up with, the Bible states that change is possible. But it’s not easy. And certain changes can only be done through the power of Jesus Christ. Therefore, here are four Christ-centered, Christian ways to change your life.
Change Your Identity Through Christ to Change Your Life
The primary Christian way to change your life is to change your identity through the grace of Jesus Christ. At the core of Christian doctrine is the idea that who you are will determine what you will do. The world opposes this idea and states that to change yourself, you just need to change your actions. But again, Christianity states that to change your actions, your identity needs to change first. Jesus explains it this ways:
Bible Verses: John 21:12-15, 1 Kings 19:4-9
Life is exhausting, especially when we are seeking to please the Lord and we have failed. Nothing wears us out like our own sin. In times of failure and exhaustion, we know we need a touch from God, but sometimes we can’t hear him. So what should we do?
While there are many spiritual answers that would be appropriate (read the word, pray, fellowship with other believers, resist the devil), the Bible often points to one aspect of our life that we frequently devalue: taking care of our bodies.
Is solitude good or bad? Does solitude help or hurt our Christianity? Is solitude an ingredient for hearing God?
Yesterday, I was doing some cardio on the treadmill in my basement while listening to an audio format of the Bible. I was tracking pretty well with what was being read to me, but then the heater came on. I could still hear the words quite clearly, but I could also hear the heater. I only realized my mind was drifting into the worthless space of “lala land” when the heater finally clicked off. Suddenly it was much easier to simply hone in on the words being read.
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.
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.