What is your priority?

I was sitting reading the bible one night and I paused and asked my husband a simple, yet complex question and it was something like this: "We know what we ought to do as Christians. We are supposed to spread the good news and/or witness to others, visit the sick, help those in need, study His word, etc. But why aren't we (or most of us) doing these things???" Now let me first say that doing things won't get us into heaven. We know that salvation comes by believing in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead and confessing with your mouth that Christ is your Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9). So it is not by works that we are saved but because we are saved we will do good works. So again I ask the question, why aren't we doing what we are supposed to do? I believe, and the bible even states, that we have to renew our minds. When we became a Christian, we became a new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17). So our mind needs to be renewed to the things of God which means we need to prioritize. And I believe it is simply this: Serve God and everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING else is secondary. That includes family, friends, work, etc. is all secondary to the Lord. I am currently reading the book of Hosea. The people in this book have not been recognizing God and everything that they are working for is about to come crumbling down. All because God is not included in their lives as He should. Please know that all the blessings that you have do not come from man or from a job, it's comes directly from the Father in heaven who loved us enough to send His only begotten Son to die for our sins. Let's be encouraged on today and everyday to do the will of the Father. After all, we were created for this!

Speaking in Tongues: Is it still TRULY happening today?

The topic of speaking in tongues is quite controversial. I mean, think about it....being able to communicate with God in another language that you have never learned before or even heard of is a stretch for the imagination. Or is it? The bible says that with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). Not just some things, but ALL things! Even beyond what we could ever think of. I am a firm believer that tongues are real and relevant today. First, because the power of the Lord is just as strong today as it was way, way back in the biblical days. Just because time has passed does not mean the power and prophesies of the bible have been diluted, it's in full strength! Second, because I have witnessed it from other believers. And third, the reason I'm so passionate about tongues is because I have spoken in tongues myself. I was one of those people who thought that speaking in an unlearned tongue was impossible until August 18, 2009. On that night, I prayed to the Lord and asked if He wanted me to speak and if so I would be willing to yield to His will. And that's important in doing anything for the Lord, you must be willing to yield (set your pride, feelings, etc. aside). And I can honestly say, that not long after that I was praying The Lord's Prayer and after only a couple of words, I could not speak in my natural language. It was a very powerful experience that I will never forget. It was in that moment that I knew that the God that I had been learning about for so long was not just "a nice story" but He was real! The bible says that tongues are a sign for unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:22) and I was an unbeliever in tongues but not anymore!
Now I was told by a very respectable leader of a church that everyone can and has the ability to speak in tongues. And I even had a believer that told me (before I ever spoke) that I HAD to speak in tongues! I don't believe (from what I have read) that everyone will speak in tongues. I think that people have different spiritual gifts that make up the whole body of Christ. I hope that you are operating in your spiritual gift, but perhaps you don't know what your spiritual gift is. Well, if you don't know, you know who to ask. "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Luke 11:9-10). God bless you!

Grace: The Love Offering

I hear the phrase "Nobody's perfect" or "Hey, you know the flesh is weak" a good bit. I have even said those words myself. And personally when I have said them, it was to give an excuse for doing something I knew that I should not have done and made the choice to do it anyway. Now though these phrases are very true, they are not an excuse for me or any other believer to sin. Yes, the big S word, sin. We have been given a wonderful gift from the Lord, and that gift is grace. Before Christ came we were bound by sin with no way out but He came to set the captives free (that's you and me)!
In Romans 6:1-2 the question is asked,
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"
"Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Now this does not mean that we will never sin or make any mistakes (God knows I have made plenty!) but it does mean that we should not purposely or premediate (or plan to) sin and certainly should not make it our lifestyle. But we know that if we should sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). He is always ready and willing to forgive us when we come to Him with a sincere heart. HE IS the love of God that has been given to us and I think that's something to praise about!

John's Heart

As I go on my journey to becoming a better Christian, sometimes I have to call on my fellow believers to help me understand things that I don't fully grasp. One of those is LOVE. Particularly the love of God. I believe that God has been telling me that the love that I understand to be true is just scraping the surface of what I need to know. In other words, I have to dig deeper into this love thing. So I asked my pastor about some reading that I could do to help me better understand. He told me to read (in this order): 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, John, and Hosea. Right now I am really enjoying the book of John very much and really taking my time to understand it. But so far my heart is full from this one particular verse which is John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." This short verse has so much meaning for me. You really have to read the previous verses to truly understand its importance. But as you may know John was what you would consider to be a forerunner for Christ. He came to baptize those who were willing with water but told them that there would be one (Jesus) who would come that is greater than he. John had an understanding and a love for Jesus that I think is incredible. He understood that though he came before Jesus, he was not to be put in the spotlight so to speak. His purpose was to serve; not to get any credit, not to be boosted up but because he loved Jesus, he just wanted to be obedient. I believe that we should all apply this to our everyday lives. We have a purpose in this life to serve the Lord and that shouldn't be done out of obligation but it should be done because we have a heart for Christ.