NCarolinian

Nobody, including the Christian, is exempt from problems, issues or challenges in life. However, sometimes those difficult situations can become not just moments, days, weeks or months of hardship, but a lengthy season of struggle.  Many believers refer to this period of life as being in the wilderness . The wilderness may be a season of our own making. The wilderness may have come about by outside influences or circumstances. The wilderness might be a direct attack from the enemy or the wilderness could be the direct result of our non-alignment with God's Word for our life. The wilderness is not only limited to individuals, but can also be applied to a family or a local church. In any one of these cases, if we are in the wilderness , the Lord has allowed for us to be there. But He has not meant for us to stay. Abraham was instructed by God to take up camp and move across the wilderness into a foreign land that was promised to be his and his descendants. Abraham obeyed ...

You probably have figured this out by now, but did you know that you cannot hear very well, if at all, what someone is saying if you are speaking at the same time? First of all it is rude. Allow the person talking to you to have "the floor", then wait for your turn to interject or just make your comment. Some people simply have no Social Graces . Secondly, if you need to hear instruction from the one speaking and you beginning talking in response to their comments, you could miss some important information.  Well-balanced conversation is a listening and speaking skill that needs to be developed more fully for some. Hearing is one of the five senses that means meaningful sound is being received by our ear. Listening is the reception and comprehension of those sounds into meaningful ideas that may lead to a verbal or non-verbal response.  Some individuals start listening then they stop and just engage their hearing while their mouth begins to answer to the already formul...

Psalm 91:11-12 “For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” This verse is quoted by Satan when he was tempting Jesus to leap off a high place in the wilderness (Matthew 4:5-7). However, this verse is not just for the benefit of The Son of God. The original context is meant for all sons and daughters of God, through Christ Jesus. The first key word we come to in this passage is “give” . Because of faith in Christ, the many different services angels provide for God become multiplied when the children of God are considered. Angelic care is part of the Benefit Package of Salvation through Christ Jesus. God “gives His angels” . The second key word to observe is “charge” . In the original Hebrew the word is tsâvâh (tsaw-vaw'). This word denotes a command, an appointment, a purposeful sending out. According to Perry Stone’s study of this verse and particular word – th...

My dear Mother always told me, "If you are going to do something, do it right the first time so you do not have to do it again." Christ Jesus does not have to Save the Universe every time it gets in a jam. He has Saved us. We have the Answer. We just have to accept Him and His ways to be Saved and Successful.  Hebrews 9:11-14 spells it out by saying, "But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Him...

     The Disciples had occupations ranging from Fishermen, to Businessman, to Tax Collector, to Zealot or Political Revolutionalist and to Treasurer. The most common profession found among the majority of them was Fishermen. Andrew, Peter, James and John, the sons of Zebedee worked as fishermen according to Matthew 4:18-22 . Thomas, Nathaniel and Philip were found fishing after Jesus’ resurrection when He appeared to them, so they also may be fishermen. ( John 21:2-8 ) They at least knew how to fish. That is 7 out of 12 belonging to the Guild of Fishermen.      God calls us to be fishers of men and women just as we are – cracked pots and all. Notice Jesus did not go and call a Pharisee, Saducee or religious leader to be fishers of men? Perhaps that is a reason why they were Sad-U-See (insert groaning here). Jesus summoned those that knew they were imperfect. Paul mentions a quality that Jesus loves to capitalize on – weakness. In Paul’s second letter to ...

I believe appreciation of all your blessings keeps the right attitude. This focus on the affirmative is contagious as it forms a positive cloud around you. The challenge in this world is entering and sustaining that atmosphere of appreciation. Some steps that have helped me and perhaps they will help others are - (1) Enter into prayer with God by thanking Him first for your many blessings, then move into a time of praising Him for who He is in your life. ( Psalm 100:4 ) (2) Sow what you desire to reap. If you want the attitude of appreciation then appreciate someone in person who has blessed your life. ( Matthew 13 ) (3) And hang out with those individuals who are also positive, realistic and appreciative. ( Proverbs 13:20 ) So, practice this attitude with God, sow it with others to reap it in your own life and in the meantime surround yourself with those that already have an Attitude of Appreciation.

Jesus has always existed. Humankind knew Him as Jesus when He was born. That is the name Mary was instructed by the angel Gabriel to give her supernatural baby. However, He has always been and forever will be The Word of God. Father God's Word has always been with Him.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." (John 1:1-2) The Father, Word, and Spirit of God all live in harmony within the mind and heart of Father God. Anytime Father God speaks, God's Word performs Father God's thoughts perfectly as He, The Word, is uttered from Father God's lips. "'Let there be light' and there was light... " - Genesis 1:3 "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3). The first question I come to is - Why God? Why create this grand story to begin with? The only answer I keep coming back to is His display o...