A Christ Follower: The Journey

Your Will Be Done On Earth Like It Is Done In Heaven : Jesus Complicating Discovering God's Will Sometimes, when I think about the will of God, I feel a bit perplexed by how complicated people make determining how to know God's will. I think one reason people do so is because they confuse a particular context of a well known passage of scripture.  Many consider Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he sweated blood, and where He prayed, "Not my will, but your will be done," as as an automatic belief that your, or my will, will consistently be diametrically opposed to what God wants? This is simply NOT true. In the context of Gethsemane, Jesus absolutely knew what the Father wanted, and He knew what it would take to carry out that will. He would have to go through a LOT of pain, and then He would die. His body rebelled against what He already knew to be the will of God. So, He said, "Not my will, but your will be done."  This does not, the...

Your Kingdom Come.   Jesus The Back Story: Anyone who has read the New Testament knows the word "Kingdom" pops up a lot. Jesus talked about it. John the Baptist talked about it. All of the gospels are filled with this important word. Peter had a few words to say about the Kingdom, as did Paul, and the list goes on and on. As a matter of fact, the word "Kingdom" appears 162 times throughout the New Testament. The Greek word for "Kingdom" is  Basileia ,  and most of the time it is used with  Theou... Kingdom of God.    Or it is found as  Basileia Ton Ouranon:  Kingdom of Heaven. My point is this: Talking about God's Kingdom is a vital and important topic for each Christ Follower to know as much about as possible. Jesus Throws A Curve: When we think about Jesus telling us to pray, according to the will of God, " Your Kingdom come ," many tend think it may be about Jesus coming back to the earth. And they would be corre...

Hallowed Be Thy Name.   Jesus Looking In The Rear View Mirror As I sit here writing, I think about the third commandment:  You know what it is, don't you?  It tells us that " you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain ."  I remember, when I was growing up, even the most non spiritual or irreligious person, whose mouth was "like a sewer," would say to me, " Well at least I don't take the name of the Lord in vain ." They meant they didn't say the "G.D." words where they swore a curse using God's name; however, when the early Hebrews intersected this command, they really took it differently. They took using God's name completely serious. They would even be reluctant to write the name out completely. Some still today only write "G-D," and the early Hebrews were even so concerned about treating this name with the utmost respect, they would not even say it outloud: They were completely afraid of ...

Our Father Who Is In Heaven.  Matthew 6:9b FIVE IMPORTANT WORDS The five words written above in our scripture speak about the ultimate Father.  Hopefully, you know Him. But maybe you don't.  He is the Father who looked out upon the planet He created, and though He was not surprised, He saw human beings walking away from the most important relationship of their lives. He saw way too many deciding to break His law and spurn His life giving truth. Or, at the very least, decide they do not have any need of Him; therefore, they became dead to Him. No, He didn't want them dead to Him, but by choice, they did so.  Breaking God's law is sin, and the "wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a.)  This death equals the ultimate breaking of the absolute most important intimate relationship. This spiritual death is the worst possible death of all. I say this because God no longer becomes -- or is -- the Daddy, Papa or Spiritual Parent who resides in heaven ...

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that God is, and that God is a  rewarder of those who  diligently seek Him Hebrews 11:6 Overcoming The Impossible Is it impossible to please God? Well ... yes and no. God gets great pleasure out of His children simply believing what He promises His children. But choosing not to believe God is absolutely the number one way to get on what humans might call "the bad side of God."  Say What?  Think of it this way, it brings God so much pleasure when each of us take seriously that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth him will not perish but will have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Those who believe in Him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already...." Why? Because they have not "believed in the name ...

I am The Vine. You Are The Branches Apart From Me You Can Do NO-Thing. Jesus. The Source The source of our lives, and the power for holy, godly and healthy living, comes from a day by day abiding, or resting, in the Lord Jesus. He is the ONE who has all authority in Heaven and on Earth. (Matthew 28:18.) And He is the Head over all rule and authority. (Colossians 2:10.) It is important to know this because the reality of spiritual warfare is more real than most know, and as we abide in Him, He makes us complete. (Colossians 2:10 KJV.) We have the power, through our relationship to Jesus,  to draw close to God, and He will demonstrate His intimacy with us, through Jesus. We also have the power to submit to God, as we abide in Christ, and resist the Devil.  Satan actually has to run away from us. (James 4:7-8) When we humble ourselves to Him, "He will lift us up." (James 4:10) Daily Be Intentional So, let us be intentional, start...

ANXIETY THE EPIDEMIC Please Read Philippians 4:6-7  Over the years, I have been amazed how many people, Christ Followers included -- myself included -- who are struggling with anxiety or have struggled with anxiety. Sometimes the anxiety morphs into full blown panic attacks, and people begin to struggle even more because they believe the lie that, "a good Christian should not feel this way;" yet, even Jesus himself exhibited a somatic response to intense overwhelming anxiety, in the Garden of Gethsemane, by sweating blood. Certainly Jesus is the epitome of human perfection, and He never sinned; therefore, experiencing being emotionally distraught cannot mean a person is lesser of a person for being like our Lord. This begs the question: What can be done? Well, the scope of this web log cannot begin to fully answer such a thing; however, I do think I can offer you a thumbnail sketch, or overview, of how to be able to begin to "fear not." Five Considerat...