Allow me to introduce you to the Christian in the pit. Christian in the pit seems religiously normal by most's standards. She received Jesus Christ as her Savior at a very early age. In fact, she cannot remember not being "saved". Brought up in church, attendance of every service was assumed, not mandated. The Sunday School class, children's church, and youth group were her childhood peers. In fact, these were pretty much her only peers at this stage of life, since she also attended her church's tiny Christian school. This ready made group of kids made it easy for her to have a social life. She rarely, if ever, had to "put her self out there" to meet new people. With the church and small school, the friends came to her.
Christian in the pit memorized tons of Bible verses, as was the school's requirement. Through Sunday School, her knowledge of great Bible stories and their heroes was more than respectable. Christian in the pit grew up around prayer and knew how to pray herself, when needed. She was even gifted in praying for others and as such, was very comfortable to do so.
At an early age, Christian in the pit discovered the possession of a certain measure of leadership skills. She also soon found joy in leading Bible studies. Great satisfaction came from preparing, delivering, and discussing God's Word. She volunteered to teach the young adult Sunday School class, she led a women's neighborhood Bible Study, she even spoke at a few retreats and preached in the main sanctuary a time or two. She now recalls the conscience and deliberate thought, "It's a good thing I have people dependent on me to deliver a lesson, this keeps me in God's Word. Staying in the Word is crucial to 'staying close' to God. I wonder if I would be this disciplined without this level of accountability?"
And with that thought, the enemy of her soul turned the first shovel in the preparation of a very calculated pit, uniquely designed specifically for her.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Monday, January 9, 2012
Simply Healed
After the sun had set, people with all kinds of diseases were brought to Jesus. He put his hands on each one of them and healed them. Luke 4:40 (CEV)
1. Sick people were brought to Jesus.
2. Jesus touched them.
3. The people were healed.
Guess what step is missing that we often try to add? It would come in between step 1 and 2.
Jesus did not interview, assess, or qualify the sick person or the concerned persons who brought the unwell. He did not decide if the person was worthy of a healing. He did not prioritize the sicknesses and only focus His power on the most ill. He did not ask the people how much Scripture they had read the previous week. He did not quiz them on their knowledge of His Father.
He simply received those who came to Him and healed them of their disease. But we have to decide to complete step #1 and go to Jesus if we are truly ready to be healed -physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
1. Sick people were brought to Jesus.
2. Jesus touched them.
3. The people were healed.
Guess what step is missing that we often try to add? It would come in between step 1 and 2.
Jesus did not interview, assess, or qualify the sick person or the concerned persons who brought the unwell. He did not decide if the person was worthy of a healing. He did not prioritize the sicknesses and only focus His power on the most ill. He did not ask the people how much Scripture they had read the previous week. He did not quiz them on their knowledge of His Father.
He simply received those who came to Him and healed them of their disease. But we have to decide to complete step #1 and go to Jesus if we are truly ready to be healed -physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Return to Me
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ~John 6:35
The words "he that cometh" in the above verse means to arrive or to return. If you find yourself hungry and thirsty in your spirit, turn yourself back towards the right direction that leads to your return to Jesus.
The words "he that cometh" in the above verse means to arrive or to return. If you find yourself hungry and thirsty in your spirit, turn yourself back towards the right direction that leads to your return to Jesus.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Today's Wow Moment
God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you'll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
This WOW moment was brought to you by the Message Bible, Romans 14:17&18~Keeping it real, one Passage at a time!
This WOW moment was brought to you by the Message Bible, Romans 14:17&18~Keeping it real, one Passage at a time!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
He Moves Me
God's love accepts you where you are, but it also leads you to make changes to move you closer to where He is.
Spend time thinking about His Love for you TODAY!
Spend time thinking about His Love for you TODAY!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
How to Fix Stupid
One day God will fix stupid. Here's how.....
I John 1:5-7
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing [c] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The stark contrast of the words "light" and "darkness" intrigued me. I wanted to know what does it mean that God is light. And what exactly is the darkness?
So I did some digging and found out that the original Greek word "light" in this verse is φῶς (phōs). The definition of phos includes the practical idea of anything that emits light, such as a lamp, a star, or fire. But it is also defined as being "of truth and its knowledge".
Darkness in the above verse is the word σκοτία (skotia/skotos). Again, the definition includes darkness as in the absence of light, but it too has an additional definition; "of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness".
So light is truth and darkness is ignorance. Therefore, it would not be inappropriate to sub those words in the above passage, like so:
I John 1:5-7
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is TRUTH, and there is absolutely no IGNORANCE in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in IGNORANCE, we are lying and are not practicing [c] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the TRUTH as He Himself is in the TRUTH, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The same Greek words for light and darkness are found in many verses. Here are a few:
You are all sons of the light (phos, truth) and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness (skotos, ignorance)
1 Thessalonians 5:5
For you were once darkness (skotos, ignorance), but now you are light (phos, truth) in the Lord. Live as children of light (phos, truth).
Ephesians 5:8
BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS REALLY COOL!!
Look at Revelations 22:5
There will be no more night*. They will not need the light (phos) of a lamp or the light (phos) of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light**. And they will reign for ever and ever.
*This word "night" is νύξ (nyx) and its definition includes "the time of moral STUPIDITY and darkness".
**This light is NOT "phos". This is a different light that we will experience when we get to Heaven. THIS word for light is φωτίζω (phōtizō). Its definition is "to enlighten, light up, illumine,to bring to light, render evident,to cause something to exist and thus come to light and become clear to all,to enlighten spiritually,to give understanding". It's best summarized by the word ENLIGHTENMENT.
The main truth that we fight to hold on to here on Earth, but will become completely clear in Heaven, is how very much GOD LOVES YOU.
While we are in this life, the enemy of our soul works hard to keep you in the dark. When we put our faith in Christ, we became children of light or truth--we came to understand an assemblance of God's love. This truth of God's immense love is something we must actively hold on to and try our best to not allow the darkness of doubt to creep back in. Our fleshly view of God's love is tainted by our environment, low self esteem, and our finite minds. However, in Heaven, the truth of His love for each individual will be illuminated straight into all of us without the need to constantly hold onto it, because we will become completely enlightened and the truth will be clear to ALL.
I John 1:5-7
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing [c] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The stark contrast of the words "light" and "darkness" intrigued me. I wanted to know what does it mean that God is light. And what exactly is the darkness?
So I did some digging and found out that the original Greek word "light" in this verse is φῶς (phōs). The definition of phos includes the practical idea of anything that emits light, such as a lamp, a star, or fire. But it is also defined as being "of truth and its knowledge".
Darkness in the above verse is the word σκοτία (skotia/skotos). Again, the definition includes darkness as in the absence of light, but it too has an additional definition; "of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness".
So light is truth and darkness is ignorance. Therefore, it would not be inappropriate to sub those words in the above passage, like so:
I John 1:5-7
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is TRUTH, and there is absolutely no IGNORANCE in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in IGNORANCE, we are lying and are not practicing [c] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the TRUTH as He Himself is in the TRUTH, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The same Greek words for light and darkness are found in many verses. Here are a few:
You are all sons of the light (phos, truth) and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness (skotos, ignorance)
1 Thessalonians 5:5
For you were once darkness (skotos, ignorance), but now you are light (phos, truth) in the Lord. Live as children of light (phos, truth).
Ephesians 5:8
BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS REALLY COOL!!
Look at Revelations 22:5
There will be no more night*. They will not need the light (phos) of a lamp or the light (phos) of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light**. And they will reign for ever and ever.
*This word "night" is νύξ (nyx) and its definition includes "the time of moral STUPIDITY and darkness".
**This light is NOT "phos". This is a different light that we will experience when we get to Heaven. THIS word for light is φωτίζω (phōtizō). Its definition is "to enlighten, light up, illumine,to bring to light, render evident,to cause something to exist and thus come to light and become clear to all,to enlighten spiritually,to give understanding". It's best summarized by the word ENLIGHTENMENT.
The main truth that we fight to hold on to here on Earth, but will become completely clear in Heaven, is how very much GOD LOVES YOU.
While we are in this life, the enemy of our soul works hard to keep you in the dark. When we put our faith in Christ, we became children of light or truth--we came to understand an assemblance of God's love. This truth of God's immense love is something we must actively hold on to and try our best to not allow the darkness of doubt to creep back in. Our fleshly view of God's love is tainted by our environment, low self esteem, and our finite minds. However, in Heaven, the truth of His love for each individual will be illuminated straight into all of us without the need to constantly hold onto it, because we will become completely enlightened and the truth will be clear to ALL.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Holy Guacamole--This is Some Good Stuff!
I know it's a little long, but I had to share this passage taken from The Message Bible. Hopefully, someone needs to read this today as badly as I did. I took the liberty of underlining the parts that jumped out at me.
Keep It Real,
Angela
6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.
12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.
20-21As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
22-23But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
Keep It Real,
Angela
Romans 6
The Message (MSG)
When Death Becomes Life
1-3So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! 3-5That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.
12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.
What Is True Freedom?
15-18So, since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! 19I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?20-21As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
22-23But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
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