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Recent Posts
- The Gospel Explained
- Faith Strengthening Techniques
- Commitment Love
- Satan’s Strategies to Defeat God’s People
- Standing Against the Forces of Darkness
- Biblical Self-Talk
- The Sovereignty and Providence of God
- The Person and Attributes of God
- The Call of Matthew
- The Human Conscience
- The Bible as Divine Revelation
- Something Wrong with America
- Yahweh’s Holy War
- Proverbs 31 – Snapshot of an Excellent Woman
- The Seven Year Tribulation
- Future Christian Rewards
- The Rapture of the Church
- A Christian View of Death
- The Life of Faith
- God Used Jonah to Change a Culture
- The Gospel We Share
- Improving Culture – A NT Example
- Improving Culture – An OT Example
- Biblical Examples of Riots and How They Were Handled – Part 3
- Biblical Examples of Riots and How They Were Handled – Part 2
- Biblical Examples of Riots and How They Were Handled – Part 1
- The Effects of Sin Upon Our World
- Demons and How They Influence Mankind
- Satan’s Evil World-System
- Satan as the Ruler of this World
- Holy Angels and How They Influence Mankind
- The Biblical Teaching on Tithes
- The Old and New Priesthood
- Authorial Intent
- King David – the Good and the Bad
- David – A Better King
- Saul – The King who Failed
- When Life Gets Tough
- Guard Your Heart
- Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks
- A Song of Ascent – Psalm 126
- God’s Imputed Righteousness
- A Song of Ascents – Psalm 123
- They Will Suffer for Your Unfaithfulness
- Seek Your Servant – Psalm 119:169-176
- Biblical Meditation
- The Christmas Holiday
- Establish Our Footsteps – Psalm 119:129-136
- No Distractions
- Theological Categories of God’s Justice
Category Archives: Spirituality
Standing Against the Forces of Darkness
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the apostle Paul set forth the Christian armor which, in many ways, is a picture of the healthy Christian life. It is something we intentionally put on and use to defend ourselves when we come under attack. The assaults ultimately come from Satan who has well developed strategies of warfare and demonic soldiers to command. Satan and his fallen angels knowingly and intentionally attack. They are behind every act of terror the world has ever known, they do not relent of their activities, and they are not reformable. In addition to these fallen angels, Satan also has useful idiots—unbelievers and carnal Christians—who assist him in his efforts. These people help make up Satan’s world-system that seeks to envelop and enslave everyone it can. Satan’s system is philosophical, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural. These are all things external to us, but which are intended to penetrate our thoughts and impact our values, speech and practices. Furthermore, Satan has an inside agent within every person, which is the sinful nature which naturally resonates with all that is sinful and prideful. Continue reading
Posted in Angels & Demons, Biblical Exegesis, Christian Theology, Church, Living by Faith, Righteous Living, Spirituality
Tagged Attacks by Satan, Christian armor, Demons and How They Influence Mankind, Ephesians 6:10-18, How do we fight against demons?, How do we fight against Satan and demons?, How do we fight against Satan?, Living in the devil's world, Living successfully in the devil's world, Our Christian struggle, Our spiritual armor, Paul's description of Christian amror, Roman soldier's armor, Satan as the ruler of this world, Satan's world system, spiritual warfare, Standing against demonic forces, Standing Against the Forces of Darkness, Standing aganst spiritual forces, steps to spiritual growth, The Christian enemy, The Christian's armor, the flesh, The world, what is our spiritual armor?
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Biblical Self-Talk
Self-talk is a mechanism of our reasoning that includes mental dialogues that can be quite complex. The dialogue can originate solely within our mind, or be influenced by external experiences or discussions. Sometimes these dialogues are pleasant, and sometimes not. And they can approximate reality, or be pure fantasy. The Bible presents a number of passages that address what today would be called self-talk (Gen 17:17; Deut 7:17; 8:17; 9:4; 18:21; 1 Sam 27:1; Psa 14:1; Isa 49:21; Jer 3:17-25; Luke 7:39; 16:3; 18:4). On several occasions, David faced pressure in life that disrupted his mental state and he took control of His thoughts and directed them to God (Psa 13:1-6; 42:1-11; 131:1-2). In these instances, David was his own biblical counselor as he applied God’s Word to his own situation and effected stability in his soul. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Counseling, Hot Topics, Spirituality
Tagged Arguing with self, Biblical counseling, Biblical self talk, Changing our thoughts, Controlling our thoughts, Counseling oneself, Mental dialogues, Mental drama, Mental productions, self counseling, Self talk, Why we think the way we do
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The Human Conscience
The word conscience translates the Greek word συνείδησις suneidesis, which refers to “the inward faculty of distinguishing right and wrong.”[2] Conscience does not instruct us concerning what is good or evil, for that is determined by God; rather, conscience is that inner voice that urges us to do right. However, because of sin’s corrupting influence, the human conscience it is not always a reliable gauge of right and wrong. It would seem that conscience functions cognitively in a judicial role, evaluating thoughts and actions and determining guilt or innocence based on moral laws. This would make sense, as Paul describes the conscience as “bearing witness” with regard to some behavior, and the mind serving as the courtroom, “accusing or defending” the action. Continue reading
Posted in Bad Behavior, Christian Theology, Hamartiology, Living by Faith, Righteous Living, Spirituality
Tagged a clean conscience, a health conscience, an evil conscience, and weak conscience, How does human conscience work?, How to restore the human conscience, Human conscience, The conscience as a moral compass, what is the conscience?, where do we get our conscience from ?
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The Faithfulness of the Lord
The strength of the believer is in God, as we trust His Word, believing He will sustain us as we face life’s difficulties. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Inspirational Writings, Living by Faith, Spirituality, Suffering & Persecution
Tagged a fortiori rationale, Christian victory, Do not trust in man, Faith in God, faith in God's Word, God is faithful, God's faithfulness, God's loyal followers, People fail, The faithfulness of the Lor, Trust in the Lord, Trust the Lord in the trial, Victory in life, Victory in life comes from the Lord, Wait on the Lord
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Bible Promises that Strengthen our Faith
The Lord permits us to face trials in order to develop our Christian character (Jam. 1:2-4). He also gives us promises that are rooted in His character that we might learn to trust Him as we walk with Him. The tests of life are inevitable, but how we handle them is optional. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Inspirational Writings, Living by Faith, Righteous Living, Spirituality
Tagged Bible promises in a crisis, Bible promises that help us grow, Bible promises that strengthen our faith, Bible promises when facing hardship, Bible verses that help my faith, Bible verses that strengthen our faith, Claiming bible promises, Faith to deal with a crisis, Learning to live by faith, Living God's Word in faith, walking by faith, What it the life of faith, without faith it is impossible to please Him
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The Righteous Lifestyle of the Believer
God is working to produce His righteousness in us from the moment of salvation onward. Paul writes, “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). God produces His righteousness in us to justify, sanctify, and ultimately glorify us. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Inspirational Writings, Righteous Living, Spirituality
Tagged do not love the world, Does God call us to live a righteous life?, growing spiritually, How does God grow us spiritually?, how to grow spiritually, living a righteous life, obstacles to spiritual growth, overcoming the world, Satan's world system, spiritual growth, spirituality, steps to spiritual growth, the Christian life, the old sin nature, the spiritual Christian, the spiritual life, what is spirituality?, why do Christians sin?
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The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus while celebrating the Passover meal on the night before His crucifixion. The unleavened bread symbolizes the perfect humanity of Christ, and the red juice symbolizes the blood of the New Covenant that was ratified on the cross. Christians who partake of the Lord’s Supper see themselves as the beneficiaries of the spiritual blessings of forgiveness and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Church, Hot Topics, Inspirational Writings, Spirituality
Tagged Consubstantiation, Does the Lord's Supper impute grace?, Four views of the Lord's Supper, How often should Christians partake of the Lord's Supper?, Is Christ actually present in the unleavened bread and red wine?, Is Jesus present in the Lord's Supper?, Paul's understanding of the Lord's Supper, The biblical teaching of the Lord's Supper, The Eucharist, The Holy Communion, The Lord's Supper, The Lord's Supper and the New Covenant, The meaning of Communion, The meaning of the Eucharist, The meaning of the Lord's Supper, The symbolic view of the Lord's Supper, Transubstantiation, What does the bread and red wine symbolize?, What does the Lord's Supper represent?, Why should Christians partake of the Lord's Supper?
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Honor the Lord From Your Wealth
Giving for the Lord’s work is legitimate. The issue for the Christian is not how much one gives, but rather, that one gives joyfully, “for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Church, Hot Topics, Spirituality
Tagged Are Christians required to tithe?, Give to the Lord, Giving to the poor, God loves a cheerful giver, Helping the homeless, helping the needy, Honor the Lord form your wealth, How much should Christians give?, is tithing biblical?, Should Christians tithe?, the Bible and giving, the Bible and money, What does the Bible say about giving?, What does the Bible say about tithing?
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Religious Syncretism
Several years ago I had a strange conversation with a young woman who was in graduate school and finishing her degree in Social Work. The woman became excited when I mentioned I was in seminary and she proceeded … Continue reading
Posted in Hot Topics, Living by Faith, Spirituality
Tagged Chrislam, Christian Science, cult theology, cults, doctrines of demons, ecumenical movement, ecumenism, False doctrine, horoscopes, Interfaith Movement, Is reincarnation consistent with Christianity?, karma, New Age, reincarnation, Religious Syncretism, Scientology, Syncretism, what does the Bible say about horoscopes?, What is Christian science?, What is the interfaith movement?
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The Work of the Holy Spirit
The dynamic of the believer’s spiritual walk is predicated to a certain degree on how much Bible knowledge resides in his soul. He cannot live what he does not know, and knowing God’s word necessarily precedes living His will. Knowing … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Dispensationalism, Inspirational Writings, Spirituality
Tagged Can a Christian lose the Holy Spirit?, Filling of the Spirit, grieve the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Quench the Holy Spirit, spiritual, spirituality, Walk in the Spirit, work of the Holy Spirit
7 Comments
Restoring Fellowship with God
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light [i.e. purity and holiness; cf. John 3:19–21; 8:12; 12:35–36], and in Him there is no darkness at all [i.e. no sin; cf. John … Continue reading
Posted in Hamartiology, Spirituality
Tagged 1 John 1:5-10, 1 John 1:9, confession, Confession of sin, do I lose my salvation when I sin?, fellowship with God, forgiveness of sin, hamartiology, In Christ, light and darkness, no condemnation, Romans 8:1, walking in the Light, what happens when I sin?, when I sin
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The Filling of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit fills us to accomplish His will (Eph. 5:18). The filling of the Holy Spirit simply means He controls, influences or directs us as we yield to Him and are willing to accomplish His will according to … Continue reading
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up … Continue reading
Steps to Spiritual Growth
The Christian experiences his greatest blessings in life when he reaches spiritual maturity and utilizes the rich resources God has for him. However, this takes time to learn, and ignorance must give way to the light of God’s revelation found in His Word. Frustration is often the handmaiden of ignorance, but spiritual success comes with knowledge of God and His Word. Continue reading
The Sin Nature Within the Christian
If the devil were a broadcaster sending out his signal through the world, the sin nature in every person would be the receiver that is specifically tuned to welcome his message. The sin nature, sometimes called “the flesh” (Gal. 5:17, 19) or “old self” (Rom. 6:6; Col. 3:9), has a natural affinity for Satan’s values and his world-system. More so, the sin nature is not eradicated from the believer during his time on earth, nor is it ever reformed, as though it can be made to love God. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Theology, Hamartiology, Spirituality
Tagged Can Christians sin?, Do Christians have two natures?, do Christians sin?, does the Christian have a sin nature?, the sin nature, The Sin Nature Within the Christian, the sinful nature, the spiritual war within, the war within, two natures, two natures within the Christian, why do Christians sin?, why do people have sinful natures?, why do we sin
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Thoughts about Spiritual Growth
Truth is reality as God sets it forth in His Word. A plain reading of Scripture reveals that God exists, and that He is not silent. His Word reveals the origin of all things, and helps the reader to … Continue reading
