BUILD YOUR FAITH

http://www.christianlifecoaching.co.uk/build-your-faith.html

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”

You build your faith by reading and speaking God’s word. The Bible tells you that as you renew your mind, you will be transformed.

You renew your mind with the word of God

If you’re feeling defeated, it could be because you’ve been listening to the lies of the enemy.

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”

Let God’s word tell you who you are and what you have. Don’t give any attention to anything that tells you differently. God’s word is true.

• Acknowledge, agree with, recognise, confess and speak, the word of God
• Choose to see yourself as God sees you
• Speak out these truths even when you don’t yet see the reality

 

When God called Gideon a mighty warrior there was no evidence to suggest that it was true. God saw and spoke what Gideon would become.

Learn what God says about you and accept God’s opinion of you.  Believe what God says about who you are in Christ and you will become what you are in Him. By faith, believe the truth and act on what you believe.

You will build your faith as you constantly remind yourself of who you are in Christ.

Biblical Confessions To Build Your Faith

Apart from Jesus, I can do nothing; but in Jesus I can do all things. I choose to see myself as He sees me according to His living Word. My life is hid with Christ in God. I will say the same things that God says in His Word. How can two walk together if they don’t agree?

I choose to trust God. His Word will be the final authority in my life. I base my entire life upon God and His living Word. Because I meditate upon His Word day and night and carefully do all that is written in it, I will prosper.

I’m not just an ordinary person; I’m a child of the living God. I’m not just a person; I’m an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. I’m not just a sinner; I’m a new creation in Jesus. I’m part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. I’m one of God’s chosen people.

Jesus has declared me not guilty. I refuse to be discouraged. God is the God of all encouragement. There is no condemnation for me because I’m in Christ Jesus.

Satan is the father of lies. I won’t listen to his accusations. I am cleansed by Jesus’ blood. No weapon formed against me will succeed. I will disprove every tongue that rises against me in judgment.

My mind is being renewed by the word of God. I will pull down strongholds and cast down imaginations. I will bring every thought captive to the will of Christ.

I am accepted by God. If God is for me, who can be against me? Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world. Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ. As the Father loves Jesus, so Jesus loves me. I have the righteousness of God through Christ. I am not a slave of sin, I’m a slave of God and a slave of righteousness.

I will continue in God’s word. I know the truth and the truth has set me free. I am free indeed because Jesus has set me free.  I have been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness. I’m now part of the kingdom of God.

I will submit to God. When I resist the devil, he has to flee. No temptation will overcome me which is not common to man. God is faithful. He will not let me be tempted beyond my strength. With any temptation He will also provide me with a way of escape, so that I can endure.

Jesus always causes me to triumph. I’ll reign as a king in life through Christ Jesus. The Word of God lives in me. I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me. I am an overcomer. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God gives me the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord.

I am a success to the glory of God. All His blessings will come upon me and overtake me because I obey the voice of the Lord, my God. I am confident that those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing.

I will not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Speak God’s word daily. Believe it. Allow the living and active Word of God to build your faith, renew your mind and transform your life

WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW WHO I AM IN CHRIST?

Who I Am In Christ

http://www.christianlifecoaching.co.uk/who-you-are-in-Christ.html

Why do I need to know who I am in Christ?

You need to know who you are in Christ so that you can live a successful Christian life.

The more you agree with God about your identity in Christ, the more your behaviour will reflect your God given identity.

Learn to see yourself as God sees you. Accept what God says about you and become the spiritual person you are. God’s opinion is the one that counts.

Understanding who you are in Christ will give you a strong foundation to build your life on. Knowing who you are in Jesus is the key to a successful Christian life.

Your identity doesn’t depend on something you do or have done. Your true identity is who you are in Christ.

When you are in Christ you are a new creation, the old has passed away. It’s time to stop living out of who people say you are and take hold of the truth of God’s word.

You need to know who you are in Christ so that you can know what to do, when to do it, where to go, and how to do it

Who I am in Christ

 

Because you are in Christ, every one of these statements is true of you.

• I am loved 1John 3:3
• I am accepted Ephesians 1:6
• I am a child of God John 1:12
• I am Jesus’ friend John 15:14
• I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him Romans 8:17
• I am united with God and one spirit with Him 1Corinthians 6:17
• I am a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in me 1 Corinthians 6:19
• I am a member of Christ’s body. 1 Corinthians 12:27
• I am a Saint Ephesians 1:1
• I am redeemed and forgiven Colossians 1:14
• I am complete in Jesus Christ Colossians 2:10
• I am free from condemnation Romans 8:1
• I am a new creation because I am in Christ 2Corinthians 5:17
• I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved Colossians 3:12
• I am established, anointed, and sealed by God 2Corinthians 1:21
• I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind 2Timothy 1:7
• I am God’s co-worker 2Corinthians 6:1
• I am seated in heavenly places with Christ Eph 2:6
• I have direct access to God Ephesians 2:18
• I am chosen to bear fruit John 15:16
• I am one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house 1 Peter 2:5
• I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I share His nature 2 Peter 1:4
• I can always know the presence of God because He never leaves me Hebrews 13:5
• God works in me to help me do the things He wants me to do Philippians 2:13
• I can ask God for wisdom and He will give me what I need James 1:5

 

Simply choose to believe what God says about you.

“How can two walk together unless they agree?” Amos 3:3

 

Try reading the above list every day for a month, preferably out loud. The more you know who you are in Christ, the more your behaviour will reflect your true identity.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Romans 12:2

 

To live an effective Christian life you need to know and believe who you are in Christ. Understanding your identity in Christ is crucial to your success.

The best way to renew your mind and experience transformation is by knowing, thinking and speaking who you are in Christ 

Train yourself to say the same things that God says in His word. Become who you are in Christ. God wants to do more in your life than you imagine.

THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Here is an article posted at : http://wildhunt.org/  that speaks to the problem we have when discussing the Separation of Church and State. As stated below, I think that we are coming from very different perspectives , if you believe that our government and nation is only a Christian Nation  and always has been, then the Constitution and all our rights only exist if you are a Christian, they do no pertain to any other religion and so therefore there is not nor has there ever been any Separation of Church and State, but that they are one and the same. This is why we never get any where in any debates over this issue, the Christian Right only understands it from this perspective and can not   understand where everyone else is coming from, it is simply not in their thinking or comprehension. From their perspective there can never be any other religions period, other religions have no rights as far as they are concerned. There can only be one religion and it is theirs. So any kind of debate with them is like debating a brick wall, dense and unable to comprehend what true freedoms that our Constitution speaks about. They do not understand that the Creator,( if there is one, for those who do not believe in one) had given us the gift of life, and being a ‘gift’ it is ours to do with as we see fit as long as we do no harm to others . We must have the right to choose to believe or not, and choose the religion we want ,or not. Even their God gives us those rights. They can not force us to believe as they do, even within their religion, God gives every one the choice to believe or not, and so should they. So anyway I think it is an interesting article.

blessed be

 Separation of Church

About That Wall of Separation: This election cycle in the United States has brought forward an old argument, is there a “wall of separation” between religion (“church”) and our government (“state”)? While many argue that the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution decreeing that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”, and years of subsequent legal precedent, make such a separation very plain, certain factions of Christian conservatives claim that the Establishment Clause was only meant to prevent denominational favoritism among Christians, and that ours is a Christian country. This division in understandings was in full display in a recent debate between Delaware Senate candidates Christine O’Donnell (who has gotten too much coverage from me already) and Chris Coons.

In a debate at the Widener University Law School, Ms. O’Donnell interrupted her Democratic opponent, Chris Coons, as he argued that the Constitution does not allow public schools to teach religious doctrine. “Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?” Ms. O’Donnell asked him, according to audio posted on the Web site of WDEL 1150 AM radio, which co-sponsored the debate. The audience at the law school can be heard breaking out in laughter. But Ms. O’Donnell refuses to be dissuaded and pushes forward. “Let me just clarify,” she says. “You are telling me that the separation of church and state is in the First Amendment?”

O’Donnell has been roundly mocked in the press for this latest gaffe, but it’s very representative of a certain understanding of the US Constitution, and many feel she was sending “dog whistle” signals about her stance on church-state issues. Far more explicit was Minnesota Republican Secretary of State candidate Dan Severson, who spoke plainly what O’Donnell only alluded to.

Quite often you hear people say, ‘What about separation of church and state?’ There is no such thing. I mean it just does not exist, and it does not exist in America for a purpose, because we are a Christian nation. We are a nation based on Christian principles and ideals, and those are the things that guarantee our liberties. It is one of those things that is so fundamental to the freedoms that we have that when you begin to restrict our belief and our attestation to our Christian values you begin to restrict our liberties. You simply cannot continue a nation as America without that Christian base of liberty.

This is the same sort of viewpoint that drives Christian groups like WallBuilders, who claim that modern Pagans have no expectation of Constitutional protection under the religion clauses. Separation of Church and State isn’t just about Christmas displays on public lands, it’s about the very character and nature of our country. If we swing too far into an understanding that would please Severson or O’Donnell, it could jeopardize the free exercise and equal treatment of religious minorities in the United States. We would go beyond sanctioning “moments of silence” and see reinvigorated battles over teaching Christianity in our public schools.

THE WORD OF GOD SAYS IN JESUS CHRIST…………

The Word of God Says in Jesus Christ…

I am faithful (Ephesians 1:1)

I am God’s child (John 1:12)

I have been justified (Romans 5:1)

I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)

I belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20)

I am a member of Christ’s Body (1 Corinthians 12:27)

I am assured all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)

I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6)

I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)

I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)

I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7)

I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)

I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)

I am chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11)

I am holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)

I am adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:5)

I am given God’s glorious grace lavishly and without restriction (Ephesians 1:5,8)

I am in Him (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30)

I have redemption (Ephesians 1:8)

I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 1:14)

I have purpose (Ephesians 1:9 & 3:11)

I have hope (Ephesians 1:12)

I am included (Ephesians 1:13)

I am sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

I am a saint (Ephesians 1:18)

I am salt and light of the earth (Matfthew 5:13-14)

I have been chosen and God desires me to bear fruit (John 15:1,5)

I am a personal witness of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8)

I am God’s coworker (2 Corinthians 6:1)

I am a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

I am raised up with Christ (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:12)

I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6)

I have been shown the incomparable riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:7)

God has expressed His kindness to me (Ephesians 2:7)

I am God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)

I have been brought near to God through Christ’s blood (Ephesians 2:13)

I have peace (Ephesians 2:14)

I have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18)

I am a member of God’s household (Ephesians 2:19)

I am secure (Ephesians 2:20)

I am a holy temple (Ephesians 2:21; 1 Corinthians 6:19)

I am a dwelling for the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22)

I share in the promise of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6)

God’s power works through me (Ephesians 3:7)

I can approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)

I know there is a purpose for my sufferings (Ephesians 3:13)

I can grasp how wide, long, high and deep Christ’s love is (Ephesians 3:18)

I am completed by God (Ephesians 3:19)

I can bring glory to God (Ephesians 3:21)

I have been called (Ephesians 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:9)

I can be humble, gentle, patient and lovingly tolerant of others (Ephesians 4:2)

I can mature spiritually (Ephesians 4:15)

I can be certain of God’s truths and the lifestyle which He has called me to (Ephesians 4:17)

I can have a new attitude and a new lifestyle (Ephesians 4:21-32)

I can be kind and compassionate to others (Ephesians 4:32)

I can forgive others (Ephesians 4:32)

I am a light to others, and can exhibit goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:8-9)

I can understand what God’s will is (Ephesians 5:17)

I can give thanks for everything (Ephesians 5:20)

I don’t have to always have my own agenda (Ephesians 5:21)

I can honor God through marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33)

I can parent my children with composure (Ephesians 6:4)

I can be strong (Ephesians 6:10)

I have God’s power (Ephesians 6:10)

I can stand firm in the day of evil (Ephesians 6:13)

I am dead to sin (Romans 1:12)

I am not alone (Hebrews 13:5)

I am growing (Colossians 2:7)

I am His disciple (John 13:15)

I am prayed for by Jesus Christ (John 17:20-23)

I am united with other believers (John 17:20-23)

I am not in want (Philippians 4:19)

I possess the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16)

I am promised eternal life (John 6:47)

I am promised a full life (John 10:10)

I am victorious (I John 5:4)

My heart and mind is protected with God’s peace (Philippians 4:7)

I am chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12)

I am blameless (I Corinthians 1:8)

I am set free (Romans 8:2; John 8:32)

I am crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)

I am a light in the world (Matthew 5:14)

I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)

I am the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)

I am safe (I John 5:18)

I am part of God’s kingdom (Revelation 1:6)

I am healed from sin (I Peter 2:24)

I am no longer condemned (Romans 8:1, 2)

I am not helpless (Philippians 4:13)

I am overcoming (I John 4:4)

I am persevering (Philippians 3:14)

I am protected (John 10:28)

I am born again (I Peter 1:23)

I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I am delivered (Colossians 1:13)

I am redeemed from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13)

I am qualified to share in His inheritance (Colossians 1:12)

I am victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57)

BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF GOD’S DESIGN

by Neil Anderson October 3 BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF GOD’S DESIGN 1 Corinthians 6:18 Every other sin that a man commits is outside his body, but the immoral man [fornicator] sins against his own body Sex glands are a God-given part of our autonomic nervous system. Normal sexual functioning is a regular, rhythmic cycle of life. But when Jesus said, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), He was describing something beyond the boundary of God’s design for sex. The word for lust is epithumos . The prefix epi means “to add to,” signifying that something is being added to a normal drive. Jesus challenged us not to add onto the God-given sexual drive by polluting our minds with lustful thoughts. The only way to control your sexual drive is to control your thought life.   Sexual lust demands physical expression, and that’s where Romans 6 comes into play. We are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies (verse 12) by using our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness (verse 13). Whenever you use your body wrongly through a sexual offense, you give Satan a foothold and your sexual problem becomes a spiritual problem. A missionary shared with me at the end of a conference that he was finally free after 20 years of bondage to lust. He sought counseling for his problem during his preparation for missionary service and on every furlough, but he never gained lasting victory until he realized that it was a spiritual problem which needed a spiritual solution.   Scripture indicates that sexual sins are in a class by themselves because they require the use of the body. Virtually every person I have counseled regarding a spiritual conflict has confessed some kind of sexual aberration.   Prayer: Lord, I yield my sexual life to You as an expression of loving worship. I choose today to assume responsibility for my thoughts.      We live in a world that is overwhelmed with sexual lust of all kinds. It seems to be one of the biggest problems we seem to have to deal with in today’s world. Right now it seems that Homosexuality is a very hot topic. I am not here to say it is a sin or not, as far as I am concerned both sides of this issue have good arguments as to what the correct interpretation and intention of what the scriptures ‘really’ say about it. Tempers flare and for the most part LOVE has been kicked out of the discussion. Personally I think that what we all need is Jesus Christ within us, and that we as Christians need to listen and learn from the Holy Spirit on how we should proceed with this issue. I believe we need to lift up Christ , teach about Christ, and introduce all to Christ and let the work of the Holy Spirit to fill each of us and guide each of us in the way we should go. We need to trust that God is more than able to convict each of us with our own particular sins, and lust, and problems that we each personally must deal with and overcome by His Spirit. If someone is living a way that you believe is wrong, just give them Jesus Christ and allow His Spirit to deal with  any of us ,on whatever issue they are dealing with. Just give them the love of Christ, and stop trying to prove that your interpretation is the correct way to go, the truly correct way to go is by Loving them to God.  In the love of Christ  blessings to ya.

THE TEST OF SELF INTEREST

THE TEST OF SELF-INTEREST
by Oswald Chambers

“If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” Genesis 13:9

As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God.Whenever right is made the guidance in the life, it will blunt the spiritual insight. The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. It would seem the wisest thing in the world for Abraham to choose, it was his right, and the people around would consider him a fool for not choosing. Many of us do not go on spiritually because we prefer to choose what is right instead of relying on God to choose for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eye on God. “Walk before Me.”

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The goal in many of our lives is for the ‘self’ , to try to change our circumstances and make it what we want to happen in our lives, but to live the life of Faith in God is to let go and let God be Lord ,Master and King in our lives, to have the faith to know that what ever happens in our lives that it is God who either brought it about  or allowed it to happen for His purpose in us. The goal of the Christian life is to walk in faith and believing that Gods Spirit knows what we need in our lives . Many of us are not quite here, we don’t realize that it is God who is shaping our lives, and it is the ‘tests’ that we go through that help us realize our weaknesses and total dependence on God ,that is the outcome of the ordeals we go through in life. This is what it means to walk in the Spirit or to be Spirit led, it is the trusting of our lives to His care that will produce the transformation that God desires in us.
God is the Master Artist , crafter, gardener and He is the one who decides how we are to be molded and formed as a vessel for his use. It is worldly ,fleshly and self thinking to always try to change our circumstances, but it is an act of faith to rely on God to do what we need to have done to form us into vessels fit for the King.The reason why I do not believe in ‘spells’ or positive affirmations to try to change my situation or circumstances in my life, is because I believe that the ‘role’ of a Christian believer in Yahshua/Jesus is to believe that whatever comes our way is for a purpose that only God may know, and it is a walk of faith on our part to believe that God knows what situations or circumstance we need to go through in order to grow in HIM. That does not mean that if we are sick, in pain, or dis-eased not to get medical help. We must do what we need to do but we must trust that it is God that is allowing these things to happen. The serenity prayer is a good place to understand this process.

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
–Reinhold Niebuhr

PET DOGS, SHARIA AND BLESSING OUR ENEMIES

English Spanial taken by P.A.T.C.

http://www.khouse.org/enews/2010-08-31/print/#3

If we did not have enough reasons for dreading Sharia law, Iran has given us another one; dog ownership is out. Iran banned all advertisements for pets on Friday, including ads for pet food, pet shops, and other pet products. Why? Because Iranian dog owners care entirely too much about Fido, and that infatuation could lead to “evil outcomes” of some mysterious nature, besides the fact that dogs are unclean animals in Islam.

“Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children,” the Grand Ayatollah declared.

The situation, of course, is more serious than the banning of canine companions (although that’s pretty rough). Sharia law isn’t just threatening to keep Persians from their pooches. In Afghanistan in early August, the Taliban lashed 35-year-old Bibi Sanubar 200 times before shooting her to death for adultery – adultery that allegedly took place after her husband had passed away. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian women who was given 99 lashes and has thus far avoided execution by stoning, was told this weekend that she would be hanged on Sunday – but the execution did not take place. Ashtiani was tortured until she “confessed” to the murder of her husband – an act she claims was devised and carried out by his cousin. While she awaits her fate, the Iranian government continues to play tormenting head games – such as mock execution days.

The promotion of Sharia is not confined to the Middle East. Its rigid regulations and devaluing of women have followed large populations of Muslims into European nations and beyond.

The spread of Islam through the North Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas in European Russia, has brought with it the Sharia mentality. The region of Chechnya has been particularly troubled and the Russian constitution has been violated by those who are more interested in upholding Islamic law than the local Russian law. Women are harassed and shot with paintball guns for not wearing head coverings. Eateries are ordered to close for the month of Ramadan – and they do it. In May, Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov told the French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview that Russian law is not as important as Sharia law in the region. This past December, Vakha Khashkhanov, the head of Chechnya’s Centre for Spiritual-Moral Education, informed Reuters that Chechnya permits polygamy.

This is in Russia, not Iran.

Sharia is considered by Muslims to be God’s law, although there is disagreement about what exactly Sharia entails. Its interpretation can vary from nation to nation and culture to culture. Islamic scholars have their various opinions.

Yet, as Muslim communities grow in the West, Islam’s influence has enlarged as well. Since 2007, the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) has existed in Britain, according to its website, “to provide a viable alternative for the Muslim community seeking to resolve disputes in accordance with Islamic Sacred Law and without having to resort to costly and time consuming litigation.” British law still trumps Sharia law, and hopefully men who rape and beat their wives are not let free to continue the subjugation and abuse, but MAT has the blessing of the British government to take care of minor disputes according to Islamic law.

I have no problems with peoples religions, as far as I am concerned you have the freedom and God given right to believe what you want, but  forgive me the not so Politically Correct belief here about this ‘Sharia law’  which ,really pisses me off! I do not believe so called ‘leaders’ of any religion has the right to ‘enforce’ their version of their beliefs on anyone within their religion or most certainly outside of their religion. This ‘Sharia law’ is so evil and in many instances it degrades and devalues and harms women the most. To  out law dogs , really, people evolve already! Dogs are the most unconditional and loving beings on the planet! I believe they were sent by an Unconditionally loving Creator to help us get over ourselves and to learn to love others as dogs love us. These people need major help! LORD HAVE MERCY ON THEM for their ignorance, intolerance, hatred, and wicked ways.

blessings.

Related Links:

• TIMELINE-Encroachment Of Sharia Law In Russia’s Caucasus »
  – Reuters
• Iran Bans Pet Ads, Brands Dogs ‘Unclean’ »
  – News.com.au
• Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Subjected To Mock Execution »
  – The Guardian
• Muslim Arbitration Tribunal »
  – web site
• What Can Sharia Courts Do In Britain? »
  – Telegraph.co.uk
• ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Developer: I Don’t Hold Islam Accountable for 9/11 Attacks »
  – CBS News
• Taliban Execute Pregnant Woman In Afghanistan »
  – AFP
• Poll: Majority Of GOP Said Obama Wants Sharia Law »
  – CBS News
• The Christian Witness to the Muslim »
  – Answering Islam
• Understanding Islam – Links »
  – Ministering To Muslims

 

HOW SMALL IS YOUR god?

“The person who does not know the living God is condemned, by the gods of their own making”.
These  small gods are petty and not that much better,if at all, than the rest of humanity.These small gods  that men and women have made for themselves ,throughout the ages,are jealous ,petty and lacking love and mercy, only a little greater than they themselves.They are  only a little stronger, only a little wiser, but never anything any better. Immortal they are thought to be and always afraid of their mortal children, they are conveniently protected by a too fortunate gift of immortality. These gods are always fighting amongst themselves and never it seems, ever lead by  good  and loving examples. Are the people ever transformed by these gods? Are the people who worship and honor these man-made gods ever transformed into loving,compassionate and forgiving people? I have found that people who honor the gods of their own making are just like their gods. And those who honor and follow the Infinite and true God sooner or later WILL be transform in that likeness as well. So who do you want to emulate? Do you have a small and petty god, a god that is not loving, nor do they care about what is going on in your life, nor help you try to change it?

Let me tell you about the True Living God. This God of abundant love and amazing grace has willed to give us everything we truly need ,as a free gift. Jesus left the realm of heaven and came to the place of death to show us who the Living God truly is, who gave His life so that we might live. That is not what any puny man -made god,has ever been able to do.

I think many times we as Christians bring with us to the Body, that is Christ, a small vision or expectation of who or what the True God really is. Many of us bring the man-made vision of god with us. Here is were our problems begin and end. I think many of us read into the Bible this very small god, the god of hate and fear that we thought we left behind. I think a major hindrance we bring to our Bible study is that we have in many places a too literal reading of scriptures and in other places our reading should be more literal. We fail to understand that although Scriptures are God Breathed they are written by mere mortals with their own beliefs,  filters and blockages. The Scriptures reveal the true and infinite God in the person of Jesus Christ and in all references to Him ,I take for the most part as literal, the rest I take as a means for the Holy Spirit to guide me daily in the way I should go. The Bible is a revelation of the ‘experiences of God’ that people have had, and the walk they had trying to figure out what it all meant to them. These people were not perfect in any way ,shape or form, but they experienced the Infinite God in personal and unique ways to them and the Bible is the stories of those encounters, with all the good , the bad and the ugly of their own personal natures put in there for good measure. We must also remember that the culture 2000 to 5000 years ago is very different than our own as well! Our Infinite God does not condone all the behaviors we read about, and just because it is in the Bible does not make it the way God would have us personally to go now in this age, that is why we need our own personal encounter with the Infinite God and the personal guidance with that Holy Spirit on a moment by moment basis.

I read earlier this month that the author Anne Rice said she had left Christianity because of well ,Christians,  many leave for the same reason , but I ask  all of  you who have left Churches for that same reason : “Are you really more perfect than the rest of us Christians? Are you able to live the life of Christ better than the rest of us? Can you hear from God better than the rest of us? Are you always able to respond in all circumstances with total love, peace and forgiveness? Are you the only one that can read Scriptures as they were intended? If so , then you have made it to perfection, but please forgive the rest of us who are still in the process of becoming all that Christ would have us to be. I am glad you have made it, but please have patience with the rest of us because we are slow learners.”

The Body of Christ the Church which is ALL  Churches and Denominations that  put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are not perfect only the Head which is Christ IS. The perfection we seek, we will never fully comprehend nor master until Christ returns , until then the Church will have to learn to put their trust in the Living God  and follow after the Spirit of Christ. The Church is a family and like all families we are a disfunctional lot most of the time, but once in a while we get it right, but hey, that is why we are family we need each other to help  when we are not able to get off the ground and stand up by ourselves,  you see, we have to embrace one another before we can get up on our own 2 feet, and that is why we need each other and it is not wise to go it all alone.
The Infinite God I love has told us that we will know His true followers by 2 things…………LOVE, for God and one another and  by our FRUIT. So if you go to a church that does not have these signs, then either stay and love and guide them back to God  , or go to a Church that does have fruit and love but either way let the Spirit of God lead you  in the way you are to go, it won’t always be the same guidance for everyone, some are told to stay and love and others told to move on.
So how small is your god? My God led by example in the life of Jesus Christ and I have chosen to follow him, as imperfect as I am.
Go in love and shalom
blessings

JESUS:TRUE MYTH AND TRUE HISTORY

In all my studies about myths and legends I have found to my amazement and dismay how similar they all are to each other, and this brought to me much confusion for a long time. Many use this fact as a reason NOT to believe the story of Jesus Christ to be true because many cultures have similar stories of a dying god. But what if the reason for the similarities is because our Creator was preparing our minds and hearts to a true realization of these myths? The Old Testament and the religion of the Jews was to prepare the Jews for the fulfillment of their religion , rituals and traditions that pictured  the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What I find fascinating is that our Creator has left all cultures clues to the Truth, and although there is many differences among these cultures, many of these ‘myths’ are too similar to disregard. I believe they all tell the same story but throughout the centuries and  because of the differences in these cultures many of the truths got confused and distorted.

Our seasons and the cycle they make tell the same lessons to all of us, the phases of the Moon and her changes tells the same lessons but in a different way. I believe we need to take the similarities of these myths and legends and see what is the common grain of truth they speak to us of and utilize and incorporate this knowledge in our lives. It does not make one more right than the other, but some ‘myths’ are closer to the truth than others and by our reliance on Spirit, we need to trust Spirit’s guidance into what it is Spirit is saying to us. It may be that some of these Myths prepared us for the real thing. There are just too many instances in the New World of the people being prepared for the coming of the White man and the religion they would bring, and the destruction they would bring to their own lives and cultures as well, you just can’t disregard this, and say this is false.

So here is a fascinating essay on this topic and read it with an open heart, and may you be blessed by it as I was.

Bright blessings,

 

* This essay is adapted from G. Boyd & P. Eddy, Lord or Legend? (Baker, 2007).

Though the Jesus story gives us every reason to believe it is substantially rooted in history, it has a curious, and fascinating, relationship with myth and legend.

The story of God coming to earth, being born of a virgin, manifesting a heroic, counter-cultural love toward outcasts, dying for the people who crucified him and then rising from the dead has a familiar “echo” to it. If we haven’t completely deafened our ears to it, hearing this story has an affect on us that is a bit like recalling a long forgotten dream. On some level, there’s a part of us that seems to intuitively “remember” something when we come in contact with the loving savior portrayed in the Gospels. Though it may be suppressed under layers of cynicism and apathy produced by the harshness or sheer monotony of life, and though we may not be able to express it in words, something within us senses that this story puts us in touch with a dream about the way things are supposed to be. It reconnects us with something we’ve lost along the way, something we’ve perhaps given up on, something we’ve forgotten.

Throughout history, and in every culture, people have, in a wide variety of ways, recalled this dream, even without having had any contact with the Jesus story. They’ve expressed this dream through myths and legends. We in modern western culture sometimes respond to unbelievable stories by saying, “Oh, that is just a myth.” “Myth” and “legend” are for most people equivalent to “untrue.” (Hence the visceral fear some modern Christians have about conceding anything in the Bible may be myth). But, as the great mythologist Joseph Campbell has noted, there is a much more profound sense in which myths and legends can be very true. At their best, myths and legends express our innermost sense of reality, our deepest longings, the obstacles we face in pursuing these longings, and our hope that somehow, someday, these longings will be satisfied. (1) In other words, myths and legends express a dream.

Campbell’s observation goes a long way in explaining the curious relationship the Jesus story has with myth and legend. While the Jesus story is unquestionably grounded in history (See P. Eddy & G. Boyd, The Jesus Legend) it nevertheless bears a certain resemblance to certain myths and legends. The resemblance is due to the fact that this story incarnates in actual history the sense of reality, the longing, the obstacles and the hopes that all great myths and legends express. In Jesus, God shows his love for the world by becoming a human, serving sinners, dying on a cross, rising from the dead, defeating the devil, rescuing humanity and giving them eternal life in fellowship with himself. This is the heart of the Jesus story, and it expresses and addresses a dream that is buried in the depths of the human heart.

While some have tried to use mythic and legendary parallels to argue against the historicity of the Jesus story, these vague mythic and legendary parallels are actually what we should expect if indeed the Jesus story is “true”—in the fullest sense of the term. After all, one aspect of the Jesus story, extending back into the Old Testament, is the teaching that humans are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28). We’re thus “wired” for God, if you will. Not only this, but the New Testament itself declares that Jesus is the light “of all people” (John 1:4, 9) who is always working in the hearts of all people to lead them back to himself (Acts 17:26-28, cf. Rom 1:19-20). (2) We should thus expect to find “echoes” of the Jesus story expressed in the myths and legends of all people.

C. S. Lewis expresses this insight when he writes:

Theology, while saying that a special illumination has been vouchsafed to Christians and (earlier) to Jews, also says that there is some divine illumination vouchsafed to all men… We should, therefore, expect to find in the imagination of the great Pagan teachers and myth makers some glimpse of that theme which we believe to be the very plot of the whole cosmic story—the theme of incarnation, death, and rebirth. (3)

The difference between these myths and legends, on the one hand, and the Jesus story, on the other, is not a “difference between falsehood and truth.” They are both true, but in different senses. As Lewis continues, the difference between them is,

…the difference between a real event on the one hand and dim dreams or premonitions of that same event on the other. It is like watching something come gradually into focus; first it hangs in the clouds of myth and ritual, vast and vague, then it condenses, grows hard and in a sense small, as a historical event in first century Palestine. (4)

This is why Lewis contended that Jesus was “Myth became Fact.” In Jesus, “the essential meaning of all things came down from the ‘heaven’ of myth to the ‘earth’ of history.”(5) The dream expressed in myth and legend, including the premonition of a dying and rising God, is perfectly expressed and becomes historically true in the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

The famous author of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, J.R. Tolkien, makes the same point when he says,

The Gospels contain a fairy-story…which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels—peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: ‘mythical’ in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe [viz. a climatic eruption of joy].

Yet, the story of Jesus in the New Testament isn’t only a fairy-story, according to Tolkien, but a fairy-story incarnated in real time and space. In the person of Jesus, an all-embracing fairy-story

…has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. The story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the ‘inner consistency of reality.’ There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. . .

And from this Tolkien concludes:

[The Christian] story is supreme; and it is true. Art has been verified. God is the Lord, of angels, and of men—and of elves. Legend and History have met and fused. (6)

What Lewis and Tolkien are saying is that the Jesus story fulfills the intuitions and longings expressed in many myths and legends. The God revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the reality to which certain aspects of various myths and legends point. Jesus is the reality all authors of myths and legends, together with the rest of us, dream of.

If we are honest with ourselves, and if we grasp the depth of the “good news” this story embodies, something quite like the Jesus story is what we hope to be true. Yet, most amazingly, this story gives us reason to believe it is historically true.

We have reason, therefore, to conclude that this story is, at the same time, both true myth and true history.

Endnotes

(1) J. Campbell, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and Religion (New York: van der Marck, 1986) 55.

(2) for example D. Richardson, Eternity in Their Hearts, rev. ed. (Ventura, CA: Regal, 1984 [1981]); idem, Peace Child, 3rd ed. (Glendale, CA: Regal, 1976 [1974]).

(3) C. S. Lewis, “Is Theology Poetry?,” in his The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses, rev. ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1980 [1949]) 128.

(4) Ibid., 128-29.

our heavenly account

I have spent the better part of my life with my fingers crossed hoping that what ever doctrine ‘I decide’ is more true or right than the next persons interpretation of said doctrine will get me through this life and the next without to much flames. I have many days, feelings of hopelessness in my thinking . My thoughts go like this: OK I believe or ‘I decide with my limited understanding ‘that such ‘n’ such is the true way to take this doctrine, and everyone else in the world is wrong, now I hope to God I got it right or else I fry……literally, if I or any of us are wrong ,that is what is being crammed into our minds. How can any of us go through life this way, and many of us do? Some groups believe all Christians MUST keep the Sabbath and once they have been taught this doctrine , that if they now don’t keep it, they will burn forever because they were taught the truth weren’t they?

Most Christian denominations believe that if you don’t believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, or the Deity of Jesus, or any number of other doctrines that you will suffer for eternity.

So here I am thinking how on earth can little ole me ever ever come to the truth here? All these groups believe that only they are the one’s being led by the Holy Spirit and the rest of us are being decieved . I can understand why so many folks say enough already and leave Christianity for good, who can blame them? Not I, been there , done that.

So this is how I have come to terms with this.

Lets say that ALL that Christ had done for us was placed in a heavenly bank account and His name is on that as owner of that account but that all of humanity has access to this account and can sign their names on checks that they need cashed.OK lets say that only a few are aware of this and they are at various level of understanding and can access this account according to their knowledge by faith.Some know more about Heavens principles than others and can receive much from this account but many of us still struggle with understanding it but we at least know it IS possible to access this account and that it is ours and that we ‘in the know’ can now claim ownership of it.So that all who know of our riches in the heavenlies can now live this life on earth a bit more elevated than our fellowman , we do not have to go about wondering why this is happening or why that is the way it is and so forth, plus as we learn we are able to receive the healing, the promises of God to us to take care of our needs more so than our fellow man. So the rest of man kind do not know they too have access to this heavenly account made possible by Jesus Christ and so continue to live this life in various levels of ignorance and hopelessness, living in a dog eat dog world and living under the rules of engagement of this world the best they can, and granted many have had great success under worldly principles but at great cost and lost in family life, health,relationships and so forth .The key of understanding is that the EVERYONE HAS the same account as those in the know, only they do not know this and live their lives never knowing the riches that are truly available to them and never knowing that God is not Mad at them holding them accountable for their sins that Jesus already took care of so they join various religions trying to appease an angry god, until they die and then are told what they have now and what they missed and could have had in their life. Many in the know of this account, because they are still unclear as to how to access this account also suffer loss in this world because of ignorance as well.

One of my prayers is this, God please don’t let me live this life in ignorance to what you have made available to me! Don’t let me wake up on the other side of life and find out I could have had this or that, in order to be of service here in this life to others, I need access to all the promises of God and my heavenly account in Jesus name.

So what I may have not made clear here is this, Jesus Christ has taken care of the sin problem, there is no angry God to appease, we are dearly loved by God, and just because you may be ignorant of the salvation that Jesus won for you, does not mean you do not have it now, only that you can not be blessed now by that knowledge and live the rest of this life knowing you are indeed the child of the King instead of living in the poverty of your thinking that you are a just a child of a mere human and living with that in a world that can really care less whether or not you live or die.

May we all come to know that we are indeed blessed of God now in this life!

blessings and shalom