If It's God, Then Say So!

I have attended many churches, multiple church groups, fellowship with many other believers and heard a multitude of preachers and teachers speak. I'm flooded with mixed feelings about how so many leaders choose to share a word from God. My initial reaction is a teaspoon of shock, afterwards, a dash of hurt, followed by a cup full of righteous anger. The two most frequent sayings used to preface a word from our Lord are "I believe" and "In my opinion"...

You Are Made Right with God Through FAITH

"Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are"...

You Are Not Made Right with God By Obeying the Law

Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” "But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down"...

Would You Like Salvation Based on Opinions?

In "What Is True Repentance", I talk about how being under law makes you sin conscious and how you will never measure up; hence Jesus' sacrifice. I discuss why basing your righteous standing and salvation on repentance means you're actually basing it on everyone's opinions, since everyone will see sin differently. One example I use is wine; some may think having a glass of it is a sin, but others may not. In reminding believers of the sins they do every day, that they don't even realize are sins, the Lord led me to go deeper; to show just exactly how ridiculous it is to try and adhere ourselves to the "law"; even though he did already say he set us free from it...

Do You Really Want Deliverance?

If the Lord told you that he had the BEST opportunity for you, something FAR beyond what you could dream up, and all you had to do was surrender your plans to him, would you do it?  You'll likely give an animated, "YEH, of course I would!" Then ask yourself, "Are you willing to fully surrender to the Lord, if it means going into lack?" You'll still probably say something like, "Sure, I'll suffer for Christ." Now ask yourself, "Are you willing to fully surrender to the point of quitting your job, selling your home, donating all of your belongings and not knowing where you'll live?"

Would You Like to Waste Your Life When You Grow Up?

Are you passionate about a cause or hobby? Are you gifted in the arts? Are you starving to share information or products that you know will benefit others? Are you a natural born athlete? What's that business you wanted to start? Are you aching to be a teacher or leader of a group? Are there classes you want to take, places you want to travel, empires you want to build or problems you want to solve? Do you want to have a family, climb a rock wall, quit your computer job to be a youth pastor, bypass college math to become a dancer or be a personal trainer? What do you day dream about, imagine, foresee and visualize for your life? Now, why are you letting people hold you back from doing it?...