NCarolinian

Everything in moderation, right? For the most part. However, Galatians 5:23 says, "Against such things there is no law." What thing(s) is there no law against? The previous verse answers this - "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" .  There are two major observations with this list of the Fruits of the Spirit. First, these outcomes are Godly results, notice in Galatians 5:22 identification of The Fruit is with The Spirit. The things against which there is no law are of and from The Holy Spirit. So, to have these Fruits in your life means to have The Holy Spirit's love, The Spirit's joy, The Spirit's peace, The Spirit's forbearance, The Spirit's kindness, The Spirit's goodness, The Spirit's faithfulness, The Spirit's gentleness and The Spirit's self-control for your own benefit as well as the benefit of others. The second observation is that having no law against ...

You have heard it said, "The battle belongs to the Lord." (2 Chronicles 20:15) You have also heard it said,  "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12) So, which is it - should we stay or should we go? Is the battle God's or ours? I believe the answer is both or situational with Holy Discernment. You have King David and King Jehoshaphat being examples of trusting in the power of their saving God by obeying His Word to hold back Israel's army at a certain point ( 2 Samuel 5:23-24; 2 Chronicles 20:15 ) - the battle was the Lord's in these situations. Fast forward to the time of Paul and his letters to the believers in the churches of the world at that time and a new picture emerges. With a New Covenant, comes a new, additional way of battling. God may still choose to battle for ...

Why put armor on if you are not going to fight or at least defend yourself? You might say, "Well, I'm a lover not a fighter." (a la Michael Jackson) Or you might comment, "I am a cook." Or "I am the stable-boy." Or "I am the seamstress of the kingdom." An enemy gives no mind to these things as he slaughters you. It is the same with the The Enemy of our soul. The enemy cares not about your rank or occupation, he will kill you, steal all from you and corrupt you unto destruction just the same. This is why, for those Christians who think they fill a less important militaristic role in God's Kingdom - they are dead before they even begin their ministry with Christ - they need to suit-up with The Armor of God also. Some might say, "Well, why did you take The Armor off to begin with?" To that I say, who says they did?  What if the prayer for The Armor of God once again is a renewing of that part and what it means to our spiritual...

Have you ever heard someone confess - "All my eggs are in one basket.....I've tied my rope to that horse....I have hitched my wagon to a star" ?  These are all - Sellout statements. In this time of diversification, this mentality of the one-stop-shop for everything is rare. In today's world if you desire to be everything to everybody in one location, you better have the money and/or the infrastructure to build and support it.  Spiritually speaking - true Christianity confesses -  "All my eggs are in one basket.....I've tied my rope to that horse....I have hitched my wagon to a star" . A true believer in Christ is one who would go anywhere, anytime, to any person, unashamed and declare - "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)  To me the declaration is not that hard to make. Jesus Christ of Nazareth stated who He was - "I am the way, and the truth and the life" (John 14:6) . He proved who He was - ...

Do you know what a High- Fa-Lutin' Shin-Dig is? It is a term I grew up with to describe a party so elaborate, fancy and beautiful that your dreams are not even invited. There is a King who has invited everybody in history - past, present and future - to such a party. Even the workers of the celebration will be allowed to rejoice. The cost for this party was beyond enormous. However, the furnishings, the food, the entertainment (music and acting), the decorations, the games, the memorabilia and all the tickets to the event have been paid for by the King's Son - The Prince. He knew the cost of the event while planning the party and still said, "Yes" to the King's will for this gala. For all the "i's" to be dotted and "t's" to be crossed, The Prince made sure His part was fulfilled. The Prince paid for everything and everybody with His life's blood. The King's Only Son, laid down His life, so that anyone and everyone who ac...

I can remember being taught if I was ever on fire to - "Stop, Drop and Roll". I have a new one for you as a Christian - "Think, Watch and Go". It seems more people do not stop to think about their upcoming words, action or thoughts now-a-days. This is not a new problem. Isaiah 44:19 documents it saying, "No one stops to think..." And even when the brain is working properly, the mind needs to be focused on the appropriate things. In Romans 12:3 we read about how to think of yourself - "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." A chapter later readers scan something not to think about - "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." - Romans 13:14 Scripture encourages us to use our thoughts as a personal memorial to the time of God...

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where do you invest your money? Do you place it in stocks, bonds, savings accounts, checking accounts, a retirement account or all of the above? When you spend your money, what do you spend it on? Are your spending habits on little nick-nacks here-and-there or are they big purchase items spread out over time or both? Where is your wealth? Where is your "treasure"?  In Matthew 6:21 , the original word used for "treasure" is  thēsauros   (thay-sow-ros') meaning a deposit; wealth . The explanation for this word went on to make the difference between first fruits or tithe and the rest of a person's holdings. This word means the latter - everything after the tithe. The Holy Spirit tells Paul to instruct Timothy through  1 Timothy 6:17-19   to   "command those who are rich" . What does he command them? "Command them to do good" with their monies. Here is what t...

Why do we have to be Superior to the next person (female, male, race, nationality, etc)? Why can't we compliment each other? When will we ever have leaders and people, from inside the family to inside the Halls of Government, that will honor collaboration? As someone said once, "Why can't we all just get along?"  Matthew 20:20-28 says this about the situation....... Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard about this,...

What is it you treasure? This is what I believe is communicated in Matthew 6:21  as Jesus says, "For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." Notice the location of the treasure is mentioned first. If you pin down who or what you cherish most in your life, prioritize most, devote the most time to - then there is a good chance that is where your wealth or treasure is locked-up. The verse goes on to say "there your heart will be also."  Remember Princess Leia in Star Wars confronting Han Solo? She said, "If money is all that you care about, then that's what you'll receive!" The Lord looks at the Heart ( 1 Samuel 16:7 ). Both 1st and 2nd Chronicles weigh-in on this by saying - "...for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought." (1 Chronicles 28:9) and "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:...

The Trinity is the best marriage. The Trinity is a relationship which has been described many ways - an egg, an onion, triangle within a triangle and the list goes on. At this point in my Faith-Walk, I view The Trinity as the best partnership or marriage. I hope you are blessed like me to have a spouse where you can complete their sentence(s). Maybe the two of you don't even have to say anything sometimes and you just know where you want to eat dinner and go there. It used to spook each of us out, but now we just laugh. We realize quality time with each other developed our deep connection, our "Spock-like-mind-melding" if you will. I believe The Trinity is the perfect example of this relationship. Father God, Christ Jesus the Son, and The Holy Spirit are three persons yet one relationship. Words are thoughts made vocal. Not to say that Father God is incapable of speaking, but I see Jesus, actively sitting at Father God's right hand as Father God's vocal piece...