A Christ Follower: The Journey

THE ADDICTION TEMPLATE: WHAT IS SIN PART B. Once Jesus was talking to some real religious guys.   And he confronted their addiction/sin.   He confronted their toxic religiosity. These were the same folks that he had also told that they make the rules so difficult that no one can keep them; thereby placing an unnecessary load on other people’s backs.   I suspect the load would be felt in the form of guilt and shame.   These are the TR folks (Toxically Religious Folks or TRF) who made these rules, but they were not held accountable to keep them for themselves.   Their whole life style of religion was based on lies that they believed others should do.   Kind of like, “Do as I say and not as I do.” They gave themselves the “right” to do this because they viewed themselves as “Abraham’s children.   But there was no resemblance to Abraham’s faith perspective, which Jesus attempted to point out; nevertheless, like addicts or sinners- who don’t wan...

What Is Sin? Part A      In modern times the word “sin” has become a sort of antiquated or archaic word. Many in our culture do not even want to use such a word; however not knowing what it is can leave a person extremely vulnerable. So for the next couple of days I would like to simply blog about, in part A the definition of sin. In the next blog-- or part B --I want to talk about what Jesus said about sin and how it can impact a person's daily life. You might be surprised to hear that he has a very unique take on what habitual sin does to us… It “ain't” a pretty picture.       Sin is not temptation. First Corinthians 10:13b tells us that everyone is tempted when “ the individual is drawn away by their own lust and enticed .” Therefore, temptation is an unhealthy utilization of healthy desires. Notice what comes next "then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin."   Even Jesus was tempted; for example, in the book of Hebrews w...

God does not give to us the spirit of fear,  but God does give to us the spirit of  power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7     God is a giving God. James tells us that "every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of the light."   There are also things that people say that God gives us that He does not give us at all.  When bad things happen to good people,   many times they credit God as the source of the badness.  I don't think that this  is correct; for example, sometimes people go through a pattern of being anxious or afraid. Then they say, "I don't know why God is doing this to me." This has always puzzled me because God is a loving heavenly father; why would a loving heavenly father place fear on His child? Fear is certainly NOT " a good and perfect gift." The fact of the matter is that God is not giving them that spirit of fear; nevertheless, because they believe God is givin...

THERE ARE 4 WAYS TO HEAR GOD… OR NOT.   Jesus Based On Matthew 13:1-9;18-23 Checked This Out As You Read This Blog Back in the day, when Jesus was teaching among us, He made it clear that He wanted rock solid living to be a part of our lives. He also wants it for you and me in this quick sand world in which we live. Folks back then were not too very different from us, and He knew that, even though He was teaching some powerful stuff, people had to have “ears to hear” what He was saying.   Therefore, H e pointed out 4 kinds of people who would intersect His Kingdom Teaching or HKT. Sadly only 1 out of 4 would “get it.”  I think the results are about the same today??? First Group:   I hope I am not speaking to you when I say that you will miss the eternal life boat entirely. Why?... because you let the Devil get in the details… literally.   God speaks loud and clear, especially to you, and your physical ears are working just fine.   ...

But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19   A lot of people, who are in need, like to copy this script or quote it. Yet I do not think some people realize just how powerful a Scripture verse is this very special promise,  for those who are seeking to do the will of God. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that there may be two types of people who are quoting this passage: The first type are those who just like to think of God as a "bellhop in the sky." The second type of people, who quote this verse,  are people who are in service to the Lord. This promise is for the people of God who are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness , and it is not a promise for those who are looking at God as if he is some kind of a super natural sugar daddy. And it is not about our wants, but it is about God meeting our needs... as we seek to serve him; therefore this is a very precious pro...