NCarolinian

                    There are many uses of the word "sight" in Scripture. There is the biological sense of vision. The phrase "in God's sight" is loaded with concepts such as God's view, God's perspective, God's knowledge-of or God's presence. Then there is living by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) yet if we keep our sight set on God, life tends to go as it should.           However, do we live as though God's gaze or sight is everywhere? There is nothing that shocks or surprises God. There is not anywhere God does not want believers to be holy and blameless before Him. Paul speaks to the omnipresence of God, especially with Christians and uses the word "sight" to convey that idea when he says, "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." (Ephesians 1:4)           If God can see you and God is everywhere, esp...

        Be careful how much focus you place on your  skills, talents and gifts in life. The Blesser is always going to be greater than the blessing. James reminds us that - " Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17)            This flow-perspective is a mindset Christians must have in order to cultivate the kind of Christ-like character that needs to be displayed daily in each believer through the Fruits of the Spirit. In other words, if we acknowledge The Blesser and where our blessings come from, keeping a thankful and grateful heart for all our blessings, then the remaining Fruits of the Spirit have a wonderful chance to develop and shine for God.          The reverse of this thinking is a shift of focus away from The Blesser onto the accumulation of gifts and/or quality of gift(s) to the po...

                    In case  you did not know, faith is a struggle, it is a fight! Paul writes to his protégé, Timothy, saying - "Fight the good fight of faith." (1 Tim. 6:12)           However, Paul does not simply stop there, he continues with the admonishment to -  "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Tim. 6:12)          There seems to be two levels of action implied here - striving (fighting) and seizing (taking hold). These descriptive words do not have anything to do with the initial Salvation of an individual. The Holy Spirit makes this point clear through Paul to the believers in Ephesus -  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) ...

                    The bottom line is we all have a spiritual self that needs to be attended properly and regularly.            Athletes train their bodies and minds for their sport, usually for a competition of a season of games. They make a deliberate decision to go through all the necessary preliminaries in order to play in the actual game and be a part of the winning team.            Many people have the drive to to keep themselves physically healthy and/or have this chance of victory and team comradery. Other people train in some part of education or the arts to fulfill that development need and desire to reach personal goals.            The businessman or woman will take classes to be aware of how the business world works. The musician or painter will take classes to perfect their craft as well as to understand t...

Ever since the virus of 2020 hit the globe in March, I have been questioning God -  Where are you Lord? What are you doing? I have listened out for His voice in my spirit for the answer. I have listened in the sermons and teachings of others for His answer. I have asked others on a one-on-one level and listened for His voice in that setting.  Many of the answers I receive are appropriate due to the omnipresent, all-powerful, all-knowing God that Christians put their faith, trust and hope in. Answers like God is on His Throne, everywhere and inside of us. Answers on the line of God is orchestrating history and this virus is just a step toward the chaos of The Tribulation Period.  However, just like a two-year old in the faith, I always come around to the "why" question. I ask God, "But why Lord, knowing you are all that we need, you are All-in-All, and we have been crying out to you, will you not respond favorably and rescue the world from this virus and not...

The bottom line is to represent my Savior, Christ Jesus, well. I believe this idea begins with the realization of Christ's sacrifice for each of us, then moves to an attitude of passionate desire and need to serve and represent Him for life. He died for me, I'll live for Him should be every Christian's life-formula. Whenever humans represent another individual, business, government or the like - usually that means the party we are representing cannot physically be present. The burden then falls hard on The Ambassador of the person, company or nation to reflect the other party accurately. There is no doubt that we have failed miserably at portraying our friend, work, country and God to others in the past. But there is a Helper, especially for presenting Christ to people. God's representation method is slightly different from humanity's. With humanity, where the represented party is not present when we personify them, God is. His Holy Spirit is standing next ...

For someone who is known as Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and The End, from Everlasting to Everlasting, Faithful, True, The Good Shepherd, The Good Teacher, The Way, The Truth and The Life - for somebody who is known now by Christians and later by all as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16) - how do you serve THE KING who has it all? The whole unfolding of The Great Story, for the lack of a better title, is a mystery. If one goes all the way back to when God created everything, the book of Job states that the angels were around to see the material universe formed by God (Job 38:6-7) . So, with this in mind, God must have created that which we know as spiritual, first.  In my book, "Angels: More Than Messengers", I mention this as the origin of angels. In addition, I document that all angels were originally created in a holy state of being. For it was sometime later that God said about Lucifer, " You were blameless in your ways from the day y...

When I think of the position of King, in my head words like sovereign, rule, reign, Majesty, Lord, Your Grace, leadership, responsibility and a whole host of others come to mind. My ultimate King is Christ Jesus. He has and will always exemplify every trait and characteristic of The King perfectly. The wonderment that strikes me is that Christ delegates His rule and reign to us. Jesus is at the right hand of Father God right now, but His Holy Spirit dwells within each believer and the corporate church to testify to God's presence and show His love. This speaks of present day actions that display how Christians are leaders in the area of caring for others. Some capitalize on this notion and are on a great journey to becoming a great king or queen for Christ. Others who sit on their development, the result is not favorable.  I do not know about you, but seeing myself as a priest or king of God is a challenge. However, even though we can start practicing this role now,...

To love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind as Jesus instructed in Matthew 22:37 has got to be a life-long pursuit. This love relationship is tested again and again so beware to the wimps of relationships.  Jesus, nor I, nor many other Pillars of the Faith will ever tell you that this road of faith is easy. In my perspective,  Matthew 22:37-39  should read something like this -  "'Love [Devote yourself to] the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love [care for] your neighbor as [you would care for] yourself.'" Sometimes loving or devoting yourself to God, even with visible proofs of His presence, while not seeing the actual person of Christ - is difficult.  Jesus even said,   "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more ...

"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." - Galatians 5:22-23 Do you love someone? That is precious because there is a great chance love will return to you.  Do you experience joy at times? Believing you do, cherish those times for they can bring a smile to your face later by remembering them and possibly be recreated.  Do you know peace or is there no peace in your life? A calm, steady assurance of who you are makes all the difference in living in this world.  Do you instill Forbearance or long-suffering or tolerance over things for a long time in others? This is a kind of patience that goes above and beyond the call of duty. I find there is usually a nice reward that comes from with-holding some thoughts, words and actions at times. Do you see your kindness paid off and appreciated? There is nothing like seeing your efforts go the distance and perhaps receiving a ...

Christians are considered citizens of another kingdom, kids of another family and residents of another world or realm - all while living in this one. There is an amazing balance act required by the Follower of Christ when he/she accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  You have heard the expression - The Believer has to be in the world but not of the world . This truth tells of the requirement met for living out the Christian life (not being of the world) while meeting the condition for living in a temporary place (having to dwell for the time being in the world). In Matthew 22:15-22 , Jesus is approached by Pharisees with an entrapping question - "Is it right to pay the Imperial Tax to Caesar or not?" The Imperial Tax was a special tax levied on subject peoples and not the Roman citizens. Referring to the coin used for payment in those days, Jesus answered, "Whose image is this? And whose inscription?" The Pharisees replied, "Caesar's....