Prayer is a 2 Way Communication

This blog was inspired by my grandfather who preached on this very subject this past Sunday. The funny thing is that this topic is essential for a Christian's growth yet it is rarely talked about from the pulpit.

Prayer is something that we hear about all the time during sermons and various others activities in which it is promoted. This is rightfully so; however, generally, all we hear is that we should talk to God as much as possible. But we rarely hear that we need to let God talk to us in our times of prayer. This means that if God is talking to us, we are being silent and listening for Him. So really, prayer should have two parts: us casting our cares upon Him and us listening to hear His voice.

When we meet a new person or friend, we want to get to know them. But if we want to know more about them and about their character, we don't always talk and not let them tells us anything about themselves. The same goes with talking to God. Yes, He wants us to cast our burdens and cares upon Him. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you." We should do this continually too. 1 Thess. 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing." But during our prayer time, we should spend as much time listening to God as we do telling Him things so that we can hear His voice and what He wants to tell us. If we are doing all the talking, we will not be letting Him talk to us.

I will end with this story that is true. The worlds largest church is in South Korea and now has over 1 million members. But when it was still a small 300,000 member church, the pastor had another pastor come to Him from another local church that had 3000 members. The pastor of the 3000 member church asked the pastor of the largest church in the world why his church had so many more people. This pastor responded by saying that it came down to not only the amount of time they spent talking to God each day, but the amount of time they allowed God to talk to them. The 3000 member pastor prayed to God for 30 minutes daily but did not allow much time for God to talk to him. The pastor of the worlds largest church prayed 1 to 3 hours a day but split the time between Him talking to God and allowing God to talk to Him. This was the difference between the two. And if you want to see God really change your life, continue speaking to Him but also allow Him to speak to you. God bless you!

Past is Past, Future is Now!

People, especially Christians, often allow their past to remain their present state of mind. What I mean by this is that they allow things that they have done in their past to clog their mindset now and take their focus off of the things of God. (see Heb.2:12) They let Satan get the best of them by worrying about things that have already happened. But the Bible tells us to "cast all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us." (1 Peter 5:7) So what we have to do as Christians is to begin to understand that our past is in our past. We cannot undue all the things that we have already done. We have to repent from those things and learn from them, not relive them and dwell on them.

The mindset that we have to get back is the one that the way we think now affects our future. If we are expecting God to do great and mighty things and that is our current mindset, then in the future, He is going to use us to do those great and mighty things. But we have to get our minds prepared for that now. Philippians 3 talks about the goal in life. Verse 14 states it in very simple words. Phil. 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (NASB) This verse has to become our mindset. We have to focus on the call that God has for us now so that we will be equipped to pursue it now and throughout the rest of our lives. If we are worried about what we have done in our past, how can we be concerned about what God is wanting to do with us in the present and future.

Probably the greatest example of this is Paul in the Bible. Remember, Paul was Saul at one point. Saul was the guy who basically enjoyed killing Christians for the fun of it. His goal was similar to Hitler's with the Jews and that was to destroy every Christian on the face of the earth. But God got a hold of his life and used Saul/Paul TO WRITE HALF OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. So don't tell me God cannot use you. He can if you will turn your eyes upon Jesus and upon the calling that God has for you. Remember, Christ has already forgiven you of your sins. Now thank Him for it by focusing on your calling.

What do you smell like?

Having the sense of smell is something that is a God given gift that should never be taken for granted. There are people out there who are less fortunate and do not have the ability and privilege to have a sense of smell. Through smelling, we are able to identify things such as flowers, good cooking (or bad in that case), and about every other possible thing you can think of. The sense of smell helps us to recognize things even without always being able to see them visually. As people, we let off a spiritual smell or fragrance no matter where we are or who we are with. My question to you is, what do you smell like?

2 Cor. 2:15 says, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (NASB)

We have to remember as Christians that people are always watching us waiting for us to mess up so that they can justify their actions by saying things like, "Look, there is another hypocritical Christian. Why would I want to believe in their God when they act the same as us." What kind of fragrance are you giving off? Are you a person that is always complaining about everything to the point that you miss the blessings that God has already given you. Or are you a person that is filled with the joy of the Lord to the point that other people can't help but "smell" Jesus Christ all over you. If you are this kind of person, you can rest assured you are walking in line with the Word of God. We have too many Christians today that "stink." They claim to be a Christian but then turn around and cuss or tell dirty jokes. They scream at their kids when a simple quiet but stern response would be more appropriate. These actions are not letting off a good fragrance that would bring people to think about Jesus Christ. It is about time that Christians start smelling like what they say they are. If a weed said it was a rose but still let off that not so great smell that weeds give off, we would obviously know that it was a hypocrite. The same goes with Christians. If we say we are following Christ but give off a smell that reflects the things of this world, then people will call us hypocrites.



So what is the best way to not smell like the world but like the things of God. Romans 12:2 says it best when it says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Staying away from the smells of this world will help us to remain smelling like a true follower of Christ. So it is up to you. Choose this day what fragrance you are going to let off!

What kind of love do you exhibit?

Being a loving and kind person all of the time is not always an easy thing to do. Often, things happen to us that cause us to detest a person when we should be loving them despite their actions. Remember that when it comes to sin, we love the person but hate the sin. So the question to you is, what type of love are you exhibiting. Are you showing phileo love. This type of love is often considered "brotherly love." An example of phileo love would be befriending someone or showing brotherly love to them. This type of love is often only exhibited during positive circumstances. Are you the person that is nice to people only when things are going good. Do you show phileo love only or are you someone who shows unconditional love. There is a term for loving unconditionaly and that is called agape love. This type of love is the kind that Jesus has towards us. He loves us despite our actions and despite how much we sin or fall short of the glory of God. This is the type of love where you love someone no matter what they do to you or how bad they hurt you. Think about it this way. Christ loved us so much that He accepted us as we were. Then, once we became Christians, the Holy Spirit began to work in our lives to make us more like Christ. (sanctification) We too should show this agape love by accepting people as they are. No matter what a person looks like, smells like, or acts like, we should love them unconditionally so that we can show them the agape love that Christ first loved us with. (see 1 John 4:19) If we want to be world changers, we cannot let the actions of people to cause us to lose the love of Christ that we have for them. If we do this, then we will lose opportunities to be a light to them. John 15:17 says, "This I command you, that you love one another." (NASB) Showing the love of Christ, agape love, is not an option. This is a command straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. I believe that adds some authority to this statement and should imply to each and everyone of us that we better love people unconditionally or else we will be judged harshly. Its amazing to think that Christ had such unconditional love for us despite all that we have done that He gave the ultimate act of love. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (NASB) Christ made the ultimate sacrifice of love by giving up His life for the sake of ours. As Christians, we need to get to the point where we would give up our lives for the sake of the souls of others. God bless you!

Did God really die for only a select few?

There has been an ongoing debate for years now over the effects of the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When I say "effects," what I mean is the people for whom Christ died? Did Jesus's blood really open the opportunity for everyone to receive salvation or was it for only a select few. This is better known as the Calvinist v. Arminian debate. But who is right. To be honest, is there a right side? Does it even matter? Or can we even know the right answer or is it something mysterious that God does not want us to know. I have heard people in my life say comments such as, "I don't know which side is right. I guess we will just have to wait until we get to Heaven to find out." But here is the thing. We will have to give an account for how well we stuck to the Word of God when we get to Heaven. Taking the position of the person who made the above quote does not sound like a good position once you think about it, now does it. Here is the great thing. Through careful study and observation of the entire Word of God, the Old and New Testaments, one can find the definite answer to this plague that has hit the body of Christ.

First of all, to answer the question, yes God died for each and every person. Everyone has a chance to receive salvation and no one is predestined to Heaven or Hell. First of all, I would like someone to tell me where in the Bible it says that God predestines people to Heaven or Hell in those exact words. It doesn't say it. But I can tell you where in the Bible says that salvation has been brought to all men in those words. Titus 2:11 says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men." (NASB) Without even getting into heavy Scripture that applies directly to this subject, we can prove that Calvinism is inconsistent with the teachings of the Word of God.
One such example is this. The purpose of the Bible is to equip us for the calling that God has on our lives and to make us more like Christ. The character that God requires of us in the Bible is the character that is like His. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture in inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." (NASB) So it is safe to say that the Bible instructs us to have character that mirrors that of God. So if Calvinism is true, then it is in direct contradiction to the Word of God in James chapter 2. This chapter talks about how showing partiality, or favor to one over another, is a sin. (see James 2:9) Basically, this passage is telling us that being nice to the people we like and mean to the ones we don't like is wrong. Now tell me how predestination is in line with that passage. If God predestined people to Heaven and Hell, He would be showing favor to one over another. Since when can God exhibit a double standard. He can't. The Word of God is designed so that our character will be like His. And according to James chapter 2, predestination is unBiblical because God would be showing favoritism which according to the Word is a sin. To go along with this passage, 1 Peter 1:17 further tells us that God is not a God who shows favoritism. This verse says, "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth." This verse is further proof that God does not show favoritism to one over another or predestines people, but He judges impartially according to each one's work without showing favoritism. I have not even come close to touching all the Scriptures that prove that God died for each and every person, but I hope this will give you a foundation to build off of. God bless you!

God's calling on your life is to be a missionary!

One of the great things about the body of Christ is the diversity in it. We have blacks, whites, reds, and yellows. We have Hispanics, Scottish, Canadian, Chinese, Japanese, and Phillipino brethren. We have got every color of the rainbow in the body of Christ and that is a good thing. It's also great that God has different callings on each of our lives. Some are called to be teachers, others pastors, musicians, professional athletes, full time missionaries, or daycare managers. Whatever the calling is, pursue it with all your heart because no calling is higher than any other and our reward is based on faithfulness. But there is one thing we are all called to be and that is missionaries. The difference between this type of missionary and the one noted earlier is that the latter one is a missionary as their primary occupation. But each and every person is called to be a missionary despite the "career calling" that God has on their life if you will. Mathew 28 is a very popular passage and rightfully so. This is when Jesus issued the Great Commission. Notice it is called the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion. Mathew 28:19 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (NASB) These words are the very words of Jesus and He is commanding us to reach the lost of this world throughout the entire world. That means in Africa, Asia, China, and the US of A. That means right here where you and I are. We are called to be witnesses in our day to day lives at work, in school, at church, and in the marketplace. So when you wake up in the morning, instead of saying, "oh, I have to go to work," say, "Thank you Lord for another day that I have to tell someone about Jesus." I guarantee you that your attitude will change real quickly. It is about time we get serious about witnessing because if the Christians don't witness, do you really think that the non Christians are going to? No, of course not. It is up to the Christians to change the face of this earth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But remember that we serve an awesome and loving God that does make us go out into this dangerous world all alone. No, not at all. If you read on into the next verse of that passage in Mathew 28:20, it says, "teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (NASB) What an awesome promise from the Savior of this world. He is saying I will be with you no matter where you go . Jesus was saying that we have no reason to fear because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. (see 1 John 4:4) So all that's left to do is be a light to a dark world. The brighter you let your light shine, the brighter you will appear in the eyes of the lost. God bless you!

Disciplining Ourselves for What?

With all of the modern technologies that we have available to us in this day and age, it is very easy to get distracted in our day to day lives with the things of this world. It is a constant struggle for the Christian to daily devote time to the study of God's Word, prayer, fasting, and other forms of worship to the Almighty. But something the Christian has to remember is that this devotion to God daily is essential; even so more than EVERYTHING else that comes in our lives daily. This must take first priority in the Christian's life if he or she expects to leave a mighty impact for the name of Jesus Christ. But here poses another problem. Most Christians do not realize that daily devotion is necessary to be an impacter. They think that going to church once a week or reading a verse a day is going to cause them to leave a legacy like Billy Graham's. This mentality is none other than a lie straight from the pits of hell authored by "it's number one tenant." A Christian cannot just be a person who knows every Scripture in the Bible but does not have a relationship with God through prayer. A Christian can't be a person who can pray a prayer that causes the hair on your head to stand and then turn around and cuss out his fellow bretheren. A Christian has to be a follower of Christ who strives to be like Christ with all of his heart and soul. 1 Timothy 2:6 says, "But have nothing to do with the worldly fables fit for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." A Christian's main goal each and every day for his or her walk with Christ should be to discipline themself even more for the purpose of godliness. This is not an event that happens every Sunday. It is a lifestyle that happens everyday. There is a reason that the Muslim faith is spreading like wildfire through the world and the United States. They are devoted to their faith. If Christians would only develop that same passion for Christ, the true Messiah, then we could turn this world upside down. If Christians would realize being a Christian is a lifestyle and not an event, then they would do things that they never dreamed for God. Remember, God is looking for availability, not ability. If you will discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness everday, then God will equip you to do great things. God bless you!