Stepping Into The Heart Of Christ

What if for just one day Jesus were to become you? What if, for 24 hours, your boss becomes His boss, your mother becomes His mother? Nothing changes, everything stays the same except for one exception. For one day, you have the heart of Christ.

What if, for 24 hours, your actions became His actions, your thoughts became His thoughts? What would be different? Would the people around you notice a difference? What would it be like?

In Philippians 2:5 it says “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” We have all heard the saying, “what would Jesus do”, but how many people actually follow their own advice? How many let the heart of Jesus rule their lives?

When people read about the scandals of the various churches and spiritual leaders, it is no wonder that they want nothing to do with Christianity. What kind of example is that?

If you are a Christian, you have probably encountered others who have attacked you and your faith. The natural response would be to fight back. But you have to remember that Jesus stayed on the cross for this person. The least you can do is to remain seated.

You do not know what events have influences their opinions of religion. Many people only know what they have seen or read. What they need to see is the difference between religion, as defined in the world, and Christianity, as defined in God’s word.

What people need to see in this world is Christ in you…The hope of glory. Because a world without Christ is a world without hope.

In Eph 4:23-24, it says, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness”. God wants you to have a whole new heart.

The beauty is even without a new heart, God loves you anyway, but refuses to leave you that way. Your heart is no different from a broken leg. Without Christ, there is pain.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (JN 12:32). We do not call out to people to join a church, we call out to people to become part of Christ and He will add them to His church.

If you call out to people to join a church, it will not be long before they are disappointed, because people are not perfect.

Jesus’ heart is pure and not affected by His environment. Let the heart of Jesus live within you and your heart will live within Him.

Steps To Control Your Thoughts

Why should you want to control your thoughts? As the old adage goes, you are what you think. If you cannot control your thoughts, your thoughts will control you.

When other people say things that bring a negative thought into your head, you need to control whether you let it stay there. If you don’t have that control, your brain will start to build other thoughts off of that initial thought; whether it was true or not.

How do you start controlling your thoughts? First of all you need to know that it is possible. Next, if you have a thought that you should not keep, do not talk about that thought. Proverbs 30:32 says, “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.” Saying something about that thought only reinforces it.

You need to rebuke the thought and tell it to go away. That’s easier said than done, especially if you are not in the habit of doing it.

The bible calls this casting down our thoughts. 2Co 10:5 says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”. God would not tell us to do something that we could not do. We need to ask Him for help when it comes to doing this. We also need to be persistent. At the beginning we may need to do this many times.

After casting down those thoughts we need to replace them with correct thoughts. In Php 4:8 it says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

When someone has said something against you that has made you mad, you need to pray for them. This will get your focus off of yourself and onto what God wants you to do.

Once you have successfully controlled your thoughts for a while, it will become easier. You will be able to look back on past victories and that will help you through your current situation.

Don’t give in to your negative thoughts. They will destroy you. Cast them out. Replace them with what God wants you to think about. Make this a habit and your life will definitely improve.

What Does God Really Sound Like?

Does God really speak, and if He does, what does He sound like?

God is always speaking. There are many recorded instances of God speaking from the beginning of time until the present day. Yet hearing God is something that most people struggle with from time to time.

When you pray, it can seem as though you’re just talking to yourself. Yet God does hear you when you pray, even if you can’t hear Him, so even though it might seem as though you’re talking to yourself, God does hear you.

How can I be sure that God hears me?

If you follow God, then God’s Spirit lives within you.

“I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor , who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads you into all truth…you know and recognize Him because He lives within you.” John 14:16-17

So, if you follow God, the Spirit of God lives within you and speaks with you.

How do I hear God?

Most people don’t usually hear an audible voice; they generally hear God through their thoughts. The question then is, “How do I know it’s God’s thoughts rather than mine?”

The easiest way of knowing whether what you hear is likely to be from God is to check that what you sense in your spirit lines up with God’s word and His character. To be able to do that, you need to be familiar with what the Bible says.

What does the voice of God sound like?

The voice of God in your spirit is kind and peaceful. It is warm and loving. Sometimes you will just know that you know because you have a quiet assurance. While God may convince you of wrong doing, He will never condemn you, so reject any condemning thoughts, they do not originate with God.

Wisdom and hearing God come from The Spirit of God within you.

Usually, when you make a decision based on hearing God you will have a sense of peace rather than unrest. Confusion and inner turmoil are not from God. When the Spirit of God speaks to you, He prompts you, gives you a nudge or plants an idea that is a good answer to a question, or gives you direction or understanding.

God is a God of love. If what you hear contradicts God’s character, it probably isn’t from God. Here’s what Corinthians says about love:

Love never gives up
Love cares more about other people than self
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have
Doesn’t have a swelled head
Doesn’t force itself in others
Isn’t always “me first”
Doesn’t fly off the handle
Doesn’t keep score of people’s wrongs
Trusts God always
Always looks for the best
Never looks back
Keeps going to the end

If you’re hearing something that contradicts what love would do, you’re probably not hearing from God. God is speaking all the time, it’s just a matter of learning how to tune into His thoughts and recognize His voice.

Does God Has A Problem With Riches?

Does God want us to be rich? Does being wealthy prevent us from going to Heaven?

In Matthew 19:24, Jesus states, “And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”. This is repeated in Mark 10:25.

Luke 16:19-31 tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus, the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man ended in torment.

On the surface, this seems to indicate that God does not look favorably on the wealthy. But how do we know where the line is drawn between securing our future and becoming rich? Read more

Please Pass The WD40 For My Soul…

You may be wondering what WD40 has to do with your soul. It would help to know exactly what WD40 is.

It is said that you can fix anything with duct tape and WD40, although a big hammer helps, too. On a side note, it is surprising to know that one of the things that you are not supposed to use duct tape on is a furnace duct. The name comes from the canvas it is made from, not from what it is supposed to be used for. Read more

Fighting The Tide Of Criticism

Critical darts. At some point in our lives, every Christian, in fact every person has to deal with criticism. You may feel as though you have been placed on a dartboard and everyone is taking turns throwing the darts at you.

Why do people feel the need to criticize? Many people criticize because they feel a loss of control. They would rather do a task wrong than to do it someone else’s way. Read more

Seeking A “Convenient” God In A Convenient World

Our lives have become so convenient in almost every way that we expect the same convenience when we deal with the God of Heaven. That is not exactly how God expects it to work.

Do you remember the last time you lost the TV remote control? Wasn’t it a nuisance to have to get out of your chair, walk all the way over to the TV, and push the button? Some folks are old enough to remember when TV’s did not even have buttons. They had a knob to turn the channel and another, bigger knob to fine tune the station.

Today we push a button on a hand-held remote and, voila, the channel changes to one of several hundred stations. Read more

6 Steps To Staying Spiritually Fit

The same way that not doing physical exercise will cause your body to get out of shape, not doing spiritual exercise will cause your spirit to get out of shape. It is easy to let the day to day concerns fill up your life and take away from the time you need to stay spiritually fit. Here are some things to do to help you to get back into spiritual shape.

1. Study the Word
There are many places in the Bible where it says to continuously study the Word. Phrases such as “Study to show thyself approved unto God” and “in his law doth he meditate day and night” tells us this. We need to stay constantly in God’s Word so we can avoid the ups and downs that most people go through. This does not mean you will not have trials, but you will be in contact with God who knows what you should do to go through those trials. This leads into step 2. Read more

4 Ingredients For Personal Spiritual Growth

“You are the light for the whole world….your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Mt 5: 14 – 16).

While, just being good Christians does qualify us to be “the light for the whole world”, it certainly does not provide us with a blanket permit for our light to “shine before people”.

The intensity of our Christian light’s brightness will be directly proportional to the degree of our personal spiritual growth.

Remember, even in the darkest night, no one notices a dim bulb that flickers. Now, a neon glow sign, that’s something entirely different; that is something that attracts immediate attention, even at dawn or dusk.

The five ingredients needed for personal spiritual growth are: Read more

The #1 Key To Unlocking True Success Into Your Life

Success in one of the most sought after things on this planet – everyone craves success in one form or another in their lives.

People want:

* Success in marriage…

* Success on the job…

* Success in business…

* Success in family relationships…

* Success in their personal lives… Read more

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