NCarolinian

I have really been captivated by a passage of Scripture lately. The Holy Spirit, through Hebrews 4:14-16, has been impressing upon me the uniqueness of my Savior. No other belief system can declare what this passage claims. Here is what Hebrews 4:14-1 6 says -  "since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." The whole passage, all three sentences are pure encouragement and the reassurance seems to build throughout.  In the first sentence believers are encouraged to "hold firmly to the faith we profess" . Why? Because "we have a great high priest who has ascended into heav...

Having parents that disciplined you as a child is great. Scripture admonishes mother and father - "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." (Proverbs 13:24) However, having parents that discipline you in love would be wonderful. Somewhere in the corrective process, this next level of discipline would include a re-examination of why there was discipline in the first place. Something to the tune of the parents saying, "Chad, you know why we are taking the keys away from you for this weekend? Because......(disobedience, lied, etc...)" - would be a wonderful part of disciplining kids. In the same kind of vein, Christ Jesus says to us every day - "Trust me, inquire of me, I have been there, done that, have the t-shirt and conquered it all for you to have the victory also!" This is my Pritchard Paraphrase of John 16:33 -  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have pea...

There are periods when we are tested. There are times when we are the tester.  One of the characteristics of life is the power of choice. Whether or not that choice is a test is situational. Not every choice is a test. Some choices are mere decisions with consequences. A test implies a tester. The tester might be our education. We acquire great amounts of knowledge to test what we have learned in class. The tester might be ourselves. As youngsters and adults, we are always testing the boundaries of different things (i.e. authority, technology, imagination) to see how far we can go.  As Christians, our faith is tested to mature us as believers and give another opportunity for God to showcase His love and faithfulness. Pastor Rick Renner said this best when he commented in a newsletter -  "You will never know what God can do unless you do something that gives Him the opportunity to show you!"  That is the willingness to put your faith to the test and...

Isaiah 59 New International Version (NIV) Sin, Confession and Redemption (Sounds like something we could say about today) 1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent bloo...

It is no wonder to me now-a-days that Paul encouraged his fellow believers in Ephesus to "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes ." (Ephesians 6:11) The original Greek word for "schemes" here means mind games. The enemy has been around since our creation so he knows our tendencies, behaviors, attitudes, desires and mindsets. Therefore, it is easy for him to manipulate a weak mind or develop mind games/schemes against us. Father God knew Satan's strategy also. So, He had John the Baptist and Jesus emphasize starting with the mind when concerning major decisions, especially about one's faith. This beginning with the mind or way we think surrounds the word "Repent". Many Christians know the call to Repent - Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. - to be most associated with John the Baptist. However, Jesus also proclaimed it - "From that time on Jesus began to preach, ' Repent...

Thank God that He is not done with me yet and probably never will be. He is not done with you and the world either. If this is not the best example of Long-suffering, I don't know what is. Have you ever seen someone exasperated? Have you ever seen someone exasperated, but with The Patience of Job (as the saying goes)? There is a sigh or blowing of air out of the nose, a sinking of the shoulders, a rolling of the eyes - then a granting of grace to the offender because you or The Lord in this case has long-suffering. This is the mental picture I want to portray to you. In the Old Testament the original Hebrew word for Long-suffering was a compound word (two words that form one) - Arekaph (aw-rake-af). Arek (aw-rake) means long, patient and slow . Aph (af) means nose or breathing passionately .  So, when you combine the two and get Arekaph or Longsuffering - the meaning becomes something like.... long, patient, slow, passionate breathing that steers clear of anger . Ever...

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  Resist him [the devil], standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, bec...

There is a time and place for corporate prayer. Plus, there is a difference between tarrying with The Lord and droning on. Tarrying involves disengaging your tongue and engaging your spiritual ears - something the Pharisees or  "hypocrites" of Matthew 6:5-15  found hard to do. This verse is not speaking about corporate prayer, the verse is dealing with the individual's communication to God.  Matthew 6:5-8 states -  And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ...

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Darkness does not have to do anything to achieve it's purpose. It's nature is dark, void of any desire to accomplish or allow light in it's realm to be successful. The Lord desires us to be like Light - associated with Him, therefore working for Him or displaying the "fruits" of our association with Him. To start off Matthew 5:16 , Matthew says, "In the same way.." . He is referring back to what he was just speaking about - analogies of us being a light. Matthew 5:14-15 states -  You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Notice that people back then, just like people today, built towns on hills. Why would you do that? Attention. And where ther...

For me, as a Christian, worshiping God is so easy in places like my North Carolina mountains, lakes, beaches, gardens, beautiful chapels all over the state and any natural area I did not cover, not to mention my own church. However, I have been to places that are extremely less fortunate in scenery, economic status and general upkeep - struggling there to worship. I was convicted recently of this wrong mindset and attitude. It is right to worship The Lord in those incredible lovely places. However, no matter how dim the light might be in the other places of the world; no matter how tore-up the environment might be - God always deserves to be honored, glorified and praised. Whether I can see God in a run-down, forgotten, forsaken place or not - I should praise God anyway. To praise God, to worship God, especially in these challenged areas is to bring a whole new mindset, attitude and atmosphere into that environment.  David in Psalm 34:1 sets a precedent,  I will extol th...

War! What is it good for? The song says, absolutely nothing . However, America has made money, jobs and supposedly kept world peace by going to war. What are humans going to do without war? It seems like our nature is to always be at odds with each other since the days of Cain and Able. Over the years our survivability as individuals, people and nations surfaces from within us and we develop positions of employment which prepare for both the offensive and defensive aspect of war. So, now the question becomes - how will we ever handle true peace-time? This time of peace is prophesied to come, where... "He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)  This world status; this atmosphere; this global condition; people will have to undergo a great transformation. The fi...

Excerpts from Sparkling Gems From the Greek , by Rick Renner, p.636 "When you said yes to the will of God, you surrendered to Him, agreeing to pick up the 'oar' He has placed before you." "If God has called you, don't jump ship ! He needs you in the bottom of the boat in order to keep the Body of Christ moving forward toward maturity. You are very important!" "You see, it's easy to start obeying God. Initiating a project is fun and exciting, and it's always the easiest part. The difficult part is sticking with that project and seeing it through all the way to the end. The real test comes when the excitement is gone and the reality of hard work and commitment begins to dawn on you. That's always the golden moment when the flesh is tempted to forget you ever heard from God and to start looking for a way out!" "But the bottom line is this:  Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether or not those around us ever show us appre...

From before we were born, The Plan has always been about God; about Him choosing us first (Ephesians 1:5) ; about Him loving us first (Romans 5:8) . God loves us because He cannot contradict Himself - God is love (1 John 4:8) . His love for us has never been about us earning it or receiving it as a reward.  "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) And God's grace, His gifts keep flowing for eternity after making Him your personal Lord and Savior.  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) God's perfect earthly representation of His love was and is Jesus Christ. Our healing is for His glory. Our deliverance is to His credit. Our advantages in life are arranged by Him and we should praise Him for them. Christ paid such a high price n...