NCarolinian

Nations, cultures, and families spar over the teachings of Jesus and especially His divinity. The message of Jesus and the lifestyle change He requests on behalf of His Father is no less than drastic in the eyes of the world. Jesus said of this disturbance - Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12:51-53) Why the division? James says it nicely when he stated - ...don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4)  The word - "world" - in the original Greek is kosmos . This word means orderly arrangement or ...

It is great to know that Believers in Christ are privileged to have a relaxed, childlike, conversational dialogue with God like we have with each other here on earth with our friends and family. However, there are a few notes, a few pointers that God emphasizes that should lead the Christian to a more structured prayer life. Let us start before we even get into prayer. Matthew 7:7  says - "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened unto you." The first step is to ask God. However, what would make this step even better is to harmonize your request with God's Word and everybody involved (call it step 1a). James 4:3  warns us of our true intentions in praying, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives." So, ask yourself some questions, check your motives then consider your thanksgivings before heading into prayer. A grateful, thankful heart and mind is a another wonderful pre-prayer medi...

What is IT all about? The answer is God's presence. For  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11) God wants our journey to be one of life. He sent Jesus that we might experience life and life more abundantly ( John 10:10 ). Just being in His presence for eternity is a joyous occasion. But Wait There's More! God in His abundance desires to shower the Believer in Christ with "pleasures for evermore" . To make sure you receive the joy of being eternally in God's presence, living life to the fullest and experiencing His pleasures the all important question becomes - Who do you know? Jesus spoke about - What It Is All About and who we should know - as He prayed to God The Father - Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3).  Then later as He prayed for all believers He added - Father, I w...

If you desire to be a healthy and productive Christian, your spiritual body, especially your spiritual heart, cannot afford to JUST go through life without proper care. Proverbs 4:23 places a lot of value on this part of our body -  Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. King Solomon's emphasis on the heart via the Holy Spirit is well placed. You can almost hear King Solomon taking a lesson from his earthly father David and Heavenly Father Yahweh as David penned - Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me . ( Psalm 51:10 ) Then later Jesus declares that the pure in heart will see God ( Matthew 5:8 ). Are your spiritual arteries clogged? A pure heart knows God's will much better and flows much easier in His plan than a heart congested with unidentified, unconfessed, unforgiven sin that can block those spiritual arteries like cholesterol. "A heart that is not pure will keep you seeking the wisdom of men rather...

In the scope of eternity, the time humans have to live on this earth is but a vapor and that is an understatement. In the movie Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf said, " All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." So, in this line of thought - that time is short and I should do my part while here on earth - I feel overwhelmed sometimes to tell people who are living incorrectly that they are in the wrong. I understand an attractive lifestyle on my part, an exemplary lifestyle might be a more gracious way of gaining their attention. However, time is short and often I look at those "spiritual boxing gloves" and want to try to knock some sense into people before it is too late. I mean we are talking about two eternal realities - A New Heaven and New Earth with the New Jerusalem as it's capital OR The Lake of Fire. These two destinations await people who accept or deny the answer (a relationship with Jesus Christ) to ...

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Why is the blessed man compared to that of a productive tree planted by streams of water? The blessed man's delight was in the Law of the LORD or Word of God and the frequency by which he meditated on it was at least twice a day - day and night - if not all throughout the day. For just as the man received his spiritual nourishment from consistently being in or delighting himself in God's Word, so the tree draws from the nutrients of the stream of water and produces its fruit in season. Allow me to work backwards. Do you wish to be productive and yield fruit in season ? Then make sure you are planted or Com...

I want to be famous in God's eyes. In order to do that Jesus said -  "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35).  Therefore, my prayers should be fashioned around requesting God for - a better character, confidence, attitude, and lifestyle that would fit being  "servant to all" . Servant-hood, or putting others before yourself can be as simple as consideration or as serious as a life-sacrifice. In either situation and all points in between, swallowing this  Pill of You First, Then Me  goes against my wiring. God is trying to re-wire me in this area. It is not that I do not have compassion for people. It is not that I do not serve. I have compassion and serve, but usually at the prompting of a leader. A true leader is a servant of God and of people. He/she comes alongside them and God to aid in fulfilling God's plan for everyone involved. A leader has a listening spirit toward God and toward people. A lea...

Dear Father,      Holy is your name. Please release your power, purpose, and provision into my life. Forgive my wrongs against you as I find forgiveness for others through your mercy and grace. Please keep me away from faith-compromising situations. Should I get ensnared, deliver me from the evil one for I recognize you are omnipresent - everywhere (The Kingdom), omnipotent - all-powerful (The Power), and omniscient - all-knowing (The Glory) from everlasting to everlasting. Let it be! Matthew 6:9-13

"Sticks and stones may/will break my bones but words/names will never hurt/harm me." However you choose to say this, the phrase has been spoken as a defense mechanism against antagonists, such as school bullies, throughout many years. Does the slogan or mantra work? Possibly for some. But people can be extremely cruel with their words and hateful speech that is heard repeatedly crushes the spirit and damages the psyche. Part of the solution is to not accept, trust, or believe the words that you know to be false and to replace them with the truth. The other part of the solution is not so easy sometimes - change your environment -  "Bad company corrupts good character." ( 1 Corinthians 15:33 ). Those are words for the victim of an antagonist. Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had words for who seemed to be Believer Bullies. These were Christians that were still rough around the edges and needed a  slap on the wrist for behavior modificati...

Life goes on after the physical human body shuts down. That is why they call it  The Afterlife . How do I know this? Jesus, The Choice, said to the thief on the cross beside Him,  "Today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)  The original Greek word for Paradise is  paradeisos . It means park or walled garden. How could the thief be with Jesus in an actual, beautiful, walled garden/park after they had died unless it really existed in The Afterlife where Jesus was headed? Once somebody completes this human chapter of existence, the lifestyle without Christ leads to Hell and the Lake of Fire. The lifestyle with Christ leads to Paradise and Heaven. There is emphasis on making your decision for your eternal destination on this side of life and getting it right. Once a decision has been made for or against Christ, there is no cross over later on ( Luke 16:19-31 ). Paradise - the intermediate heaven for true believers. Christians who have gone on before us wi...

The Holy Spirit taught me something this morning and I thought I would share with Ya'll! God has a Layaway Program. The Program is not quite like ours but resembles it enough that the Holy Spirit delivered and interpreted His message to me and now I hope I can communicate it well enough to you. When I was growing up The Layaway Program at K-Mart was a big thing. Someone could pay half down on an item or at least something like ten percent, leave the store, the item would then be placed on hold in a Layaway section of the store until the person returned to pay-off the remaining balance and collect the item. The Holy Spirit said to me - Jesus came and put would-be Believers on Layaway. However, the item, being humanity, was so precious in quality and so many in quantity that it required Him to pay Full-Price up front with His life. Jesus then left The Store (earth) after conquering death, hell, and the grave, but left The Warranty that is good for eternity. The details of ...

In short, there is an enemy of our souls, WHO is not God's evil-equivalent, but is defeated - "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." (1 John 3:8) - and now because of Christ's frustration of The Accuser's plan, Believers in Christ have been blessed "in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) ______________________________________________________________ Know your enemy. Know that you have an enemy of your soul. Have you ever met or known somebody whose lot in life seemed to be accusing people? All he/she did was to look for an opportunity to be difficult by pushing your buttons, blaming you for whatever, and just filling that opponent role in your life. In 1 Peter 5:8 that is exactly who Peter says the devil or Satan is - " Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  Ever read a parable that...