NCarolinian

Why bother God with our requests and petitions when He knows the beginning from the end anyway? And even if it is not a bother why do we really need to submit any inquiry to Him since He is all-knowing? Some situations in life are going to teach yes you can do that. Other situations will teach no you cannot do that or maybe at a later time you can do that. However, there are going to come circumstances within our experiences which warrant wisdom. This type of wisdom can only come from a God not only willing to share His vast, unending insight with us but also warn and educate us about the pitfalls of life because He has been there and done that. Hebrews 4:15 states we can trust in this very fact about God through Christ -  " 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." As you may observe, in this age of faith, seeking wisdom is half of the answer to why ...

This world, our society is performance driven. Goals are usually set to help in meeting benchmarks and attaining the ultimate prize. Wherever believers in Christ are driven to perform or serve, whether in a necessary job or in voluntary charity work - Christians need to realize and capitalize on their relationship with Christ. The Kingdom of God requires the believer's attention by them being so heavenly minded that they are very earthly good. Focusing on Jesus with His plan for our lives and lifestyle in the Holy Spirit is The Way. Do you have a building name after you? An eponym is a person, place or thing after whom or which someone or something is named. For example, many honored and distinguished people receive the privilege of having buildings named after them. The Twelve Apostles have their names inscribed on each of the twelve foundations of the heavenly city, New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:14 describes - "The wall of the city had twelve foundations and on them were th...

God, in His All-Knowingness, did not have to come as God-Man, as Jesus Christ - to know what humanity goes through, but God is all about the extra, about the abundant, about going so many more extra miles that it is ridiculous to count - God visited anyway. Because humanity categorizes things, Christianity is labeled a religion. However, Christianity is more than rules and regulations - lived properly, Christianity is a relationship with God through His Son, Christ Jesus.  And why not believe in Jesus Christ? His love- plan was to humble Himself or dress Himself with humanity, His own creation, not some other animal and not only not use all the All-Power He had at His disposal as God, but some translations say "emptied Himself" to become the best example of the servant of Father God. Paul in his letter to the believers in Philippi stated it like this -  "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  who, being in very nature God, did not...

On every Sunday, but especially Easter weekend, Christians celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Good Friday is the redemption from sin through Christ's suffering and sacrificial death upon the cross. Resurrection Sunday celebrates that Christ took back His life and defeated death, Hell and the grave so that believers in Him have the complete victory. The payment was made for everyone with Christ's life-blood on Friday and He arose on Sunday morning or the morning of the third day, so what was Jesus doing on The Second Day? Jesus was working, ministering, and loving in the underworld of the afterlife on The Second Day.  Paul, in his letter to the believers in Ephesus, quotes Psalm 68:18 in describing where Jesus was and what He did on The Second Day. "This is why it says: 'When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.' (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descende...

Before Christ suffered and died for everyone, John recorded Jesus saying, concerning the time when He would leave,  "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--" (Jn. 14:16) .  The Greek word for "another" in this verse is the word allos . "It means one of the very same kind; same character; same everything; or a duplicate." (Renner, Sparkling Gems, p.195) "Just as Jesus is the exact image of the Father in every way, now Jesus unmistakably tells the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will exactly represent Jesus in every word. That's why the word allos is used to make this point. It leaves no room for doubt that the Holy Spirit will be exactly like Jesus." (Renner, p.196) "Jesus did only what the Heavenly Father would do, and now the Holy Spirit will do only what Jesus would do. As Jesus' Representative on earth, the Holy Spirit never acts on His own or out of character...

When traveling to certain cities in the U.S., like Knoxville, Tennessee and Chapel Hill, North Carolina - about all you see and hear are things related to the college of that city and their latest endeavors. In Knoxville, almost all you see is the orange and white of the Tennessee Volunteers and talk of their progress in football, basketball and other sports. Same goes for Chapel Hill, except you have the color of Carolina or sky blue and white at every turn and talk on every corner of their past, present and future. I look forward to the day when everywhere one turns we see Jesus and speak Jesus. The pure manifestation of that desire, according to Scripture, is New Jerusalem on the New Earth. Believers will receive a great taste of that concept during the Millennial Reign of Christ. But we can begin practicing right now looking at life with Christ-like perspective and start placing Jesus in our everyday descriptive speech as well. How the believer does that is to run all his/her  ...

Of all people, Christians should be joyous. If ever there was something and someone to be ecstatic about in life, the salvation that Christ provides is cause for celebration. Now-a-days, where is the Christian's true spirit of celebration in Christ? And not just because of His saving grace but because of what Christ has done, is doing and has promised to accomplish in their lives. I witness the enthusiasm, excitement and joy in human celebrations that Christians should be matching and exceeding in their own lives.  Humanity excels at celebrating in wins within sports and even more-so celebrating great plays within a game itself. We celebrate holidays, whether government or religious in nature with great passion. We celebrate birthdays and goals we have met to great ends. In addition, some believers have been desensitized to the miracle of sunrises and sunsets. Today, a miracle from God that eliminates a life-issue seems to be the only fostering of celebration of God in our lives. S...