Problems within the Family

 

    Family problems are serious.  They can affect your relationship with God.  If you grow up in a dysfunctional home, then your perspective of God can be askew. You need to be able to see who He is and understand His character for Him to be able to help and heal you and your family.  The Bible covers siblings killing each other, incest, adultery, polygamy, and more behaviors that cause dysfunction and division in the family.  You have to face it with God to be able to start seeing change.

    If you ignore the family problems, they grow, spread, and turn into inherited sin that can last generations until someone is strong enough to address it.  When you address it with God, it is unpleasant.  You are facing aspects about yourself and family that you do not like and make you uncomfortable.  You are shining the light of truth on hidden sin and everyone who is exposed will not appreciate it. 

    Remain in God as you address the sin and problems within your family. He will protect you and give you provisions to do what you are called to do.  You may not feel strong enough to face it especially if it has been going on for generations.  It feels normal to the family, but because of your relationship with God you can no longer ignore it.  

    Relationships in the family may feel strained as you align your life with God.  You are becoming a person more like Jesus.  You may even be treating them better, so it can be confusing when they turn on you like you have wronged them.  Remember that Jesus said when they hate you it is because they first hated me (not quoted perfectly).  The way of the world and the way of Jesus will never mix well.

    If you do not address the issues within your family, then they will be what rule your family.  If you do not address the issues, then you are not being obedient to God.  The sin that is accepted will wreak havoc on your family.  Boundaries and learning how to communicate are gifts from God.  Use them and learn as you make mistakes in your start to develop them. 

    Confront your family inherited sin and issue head on and your could build a new legacy with the help of God.  You can form strong relationship and have a close family.  You can face life hardship with people around supporting and helping you.  Be bold, pray like a warrior, and endure the hard part no matter how long it may last and your entire family could benefit.

Genesis 25:1-6, 37:26-28, Exodus 2:14-17, 18:10-27, Numbers 10:29-36, 31:1-20, Judges 7:1-13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Luke 12:49-53, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-15, & 1 Timothy 5:8

Settling in Christianity

 

    Christianity is about walking in faith with Jesus.  It is powerful and passionate.  It is living a life of purpose even when it is not easy.  Christianity that settles is complacent faith.  It is settling for getting into Heaven, but not reaping any of the benefits on earth.  If you are settling, then you probably look more like the world than Jesus.  It is an insult to the sacrifice that Jesus made for you.

    When you settle you never get to have the ultimate peace that Jesus provides, emotional stability, or spiritual rest.  Together these allow the Holy Spirit heal you from what the world broke.  When you embrace your faith and decide to follow Jesus life may get harder.  Life could get impossibly hard at time, but you have God right there in it with you.  You endure the trails so you can become more like Jesus.  It changes your very nature and character to be a good witness for God.

    When you become passionate in your walk with Jesus you obtain inner peace, the ability to resolve conflict, and hold onto the ability to start over.  Conflict and strife are hard.  They may make you uncomfortable, but learning how to handle conflict and stay passionate is important.  You cannot serve God unless you are willing to face conflict in His name.  You are settling in your faith if you are not willing to obey God completely and sometimes He will call you to face opposition or people with different perspectives in life.

    If you are strong in your faith, in God's Word, and have an active prayer life then the Holy Spirit will provide you an equilibrium in facing the uncomfortable and hard moments in life.  Hold onto you the promises that God has given and you know what you are fighting for.  You do things God's way and you will be victorious.  

    Christians that settle allow injustice to prevail.  They become tolerant of what makes God angry.  They don't care what happens in the world as long as their world stays safe and secure.  What they do not realize is that God will allow the issues to come to their door if they pretend they do not exist.

    When you are called to obedience Satan will be there to tempt you to do the opposite.  His way will appear more enticing at the moment, but God's way will lead to the freedom that you need.  His way is best, safest, and reasonable, but to get to the final destination you will have to face hardship, conflict, and trails.  You will have to trust God to finish your life journey well.  Life is a marathon, so you have to focus on the end goal or you are likely to give up too soon.  

    If you are complacent in your faith you are likely to fall for the idols, always be in spiritual turmoil, act like a victim(oppressed), and become weak in your faith.  Satan will leave you alone because you are no threat.  You become the kind of Christian that give Christianity a bad reputation.  The worst part is one day you will have to face God and explain yourself.  

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 10:12-13, Judges 6:7-10, 21:25, 2 Samuel 7:8-11, Psalm 119:89-96, Matthew 5:25-26, 1 Corinthians 6:3-8, Colossians 3:12-15, & 1 Peter 5:10-11

Complacent Faith

 

    When God's people become complacent they loose their strength in unity, closeness to God, and in wisdom.  Complacent Christians become more like the world than the church that God designed for them.  If you are a complacent Christians, then this is why you are not moving forward.  

    Complacency makes you susceptible to be more likely to do evil than good.  You start doing what you think is right instead of what God said was right.  It will lead to oppression and devastation in your life.  God is not an idea that you have in your head.  He is the once that created your head and everything else.  He is seeking a close relationship with you, but if you choose yourself over Him then you will be the one missing out.

    God's love for His people is boundless.  His love for you is greater than you know.  He provides mercy, strength, protection, and more while knowing where you are weak or unstable.  Where you are struggling, God is trying to help.  Will you let Him?

    You need to understand, not just know, who God is and His character to be able to live passionately for Him.  You trusting God and stepping out in faith can change everything in your life and the lives of the people around you.  Live a complacent life and you are a slave to the whims of people in the world.  You were not brought in this world to be a slave to anyone or anything.  God is waiting to empower you, but you can't be complacent in your walk with Jesus or life.

    God gives you what you need to be victorious in His name.  You can't ignore or neglect God's commands and expect to be blessed.  You have to be obedient even when you don't understand the command, afraid, or feel that it is unfair.  God is justice.  It will prevail in some way.  Your calling may be intimidating, but running away will only make things worse.  You may be an underdog, but if you have God supporting you then you can't lose.  Ignore God in complacency and there is no end to all that could go wrong.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6, Judges 1:19-36, 6:20-21, 21:24-25, Psalm 20:4-8, Proverbs 1:28-33, Isaiah 32:9-15, Amos 6:1-7, Zephaniah 1:12-13, Romans 12:9-13, 1 Corinthians 15:56-58, & Revelations 3:15-19

Partaking in the Lord's Supper

 

    The Lord's Supper is church practice for true Christians only.  It is done to celebrate Jesus, remember his sacrifice, and face who you are in comparison to him.  It is not something that everyone in the church should partake in.  Not even all true Christians should partake at certain times because of unforgiveness, division, or living in open sin.  It is a declaration of your salvation covenant with God.

    To honor God and Jesus means that you need to live a life that is true and faithful.  It is how you live everyday that matters.  The Lord's supper is only a small action to recognize that Jesus is the only way to God and salvation.  Before you declare you are worthy do a self-examination to make sure you can face God without regret.

    Partaking in the Lord's Supper is an exercise of your faith where you declare to the church you are ready to face God today.  Jesus loved you enough to die for you.  As a Christian you are saying you are willing to die for the church like Jesus did.  When you partake in the Lord's Supper you are declaring yourself a living sacrifice.  Your are declaring that your life belongs to God to do with it as He sees fit.  You are claiming your righteous birthright to be with Him for eternity.

    Jesus' blood provides atonement.  If you accept the gift from God, then you are accepting all the responsibility of being a part of God's family.  You are a representative of Jesus.  Come to him in God's Word for your daily nourishment.  The best thing for you is to turn away from your sins and follow Jesus.  

    When you have examined your heart and life you face who you are in the light of the truth of God.  If you are ready, then you are to partake in the Lord's Supper.  When you do you are declaring you are a servant for the church and no longer living for yourself.  If you are true in your actions, then you are accepting God's blessings that come with being a humble servant: fellowship, unity, health, strength, boldness, and more.    

Matthew 26:26-29, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:20-34, Ephesians 3:20-21

Meditate to Prepare

 

    When you are a Christian you need to prepare before you participate in the Lord's Supper.  Many churches will have a moment to pray before it is offered.  In this moment you pray and meditate to make sure you are spiritually prepared to participate.  However prayer and meditation works a lot better if it is a part of your daily life.  At the Lord's table your focus is on remembering what Jesus did for you.  You reflect on his past, repent your sins, and prepare to move forward with him.

    You partaking in the Lord's Supper represents your relationship with Jesus.  Are you approaching him in a worthy manner?  Do not get overwhelmed in how you are not perfect or that your relationships are not all in great standing.  Listen to how the Holy Spirit guides you as you prepare.  

    It would be worse if you thought you were perfect and participated.  God wants you aware so you can surrender it to Him.  Once you do, then you don't have to pick it back up.  He will take care of it from there as long as you obey the Holy Spirit where He prompts to make changes.

    Jesus knows your weaknesses, needs, and heart attitude.  He works with you where you so you are to be able to have a real relationship with God.  His expectations are that once you become aware of your sins, repent and sin no more.  Make yourself pure for God.  Release what makes you weak, weary, and burdened in life.  Jesus is strong enough to carry it all.  

    The reason for meditation is to make sure you do not forget about Jesus, your purpose, and that your focus needs to be on the eternal instead of the right now.  It keeps you in step with Jesus so you do not be led astray.  

    What you do for Jesus and in God's name will not be forgotten.  You do not need to seek an audience.  God will not forget, but if you seek reward on earth then there will be none in Heaven.  You turn God's work into being about you.  Meditation will help you remember why you are doing it.  It is to glorify God not yourself.

    Remember what love is according to God.  It is sacrificial.  It is passionate about righteousness.  It sanctifies.  It holds grace.  It feeds your soul.  Love knows how to forgive.  Jesus shed his blood for your sins, so you could find peace.  Your soul can have joy because of his love.  If you accept his love, then God's wrath is removed from you for all eternity.  

Psalm 23, Isaiah 55:1-5, Matthew 26:27-30, Luke 22:14-20, John 8:11, 1 Corinthians 11:27-30, & Revelations 3:20-22

Jesus' Love

 

    The way Jesus loves teaches you how to love in obedience.  He teaches you how to love sacrificially.  His love for you made the way for you to be able to sit at the Lord's Table.  If you love like Jesus you should have passion in your life.  This is not passion like the world, but a fire within that draws you closer to God.

    You cannot claim to love God and not be obedient.  Jesus proved his love.  He was obedient to the point of death.  Your obedience is a direct connection to your relationship with God.  When you are obedient the Holy Spirit is revealed within you.  When you love Jesus in the same way he loves you you seek to be more like him.

    After Jesus' resurrection he showed his love and forgiveness to his apostles by pouring into them for 40 more days how to love like him.  He taught them how to go out and make disciples to carry on his love throughout the world.  To serve and be obedient means you live a sacrificial life.  It is no longer all about you, but the shared space you have with God in you. You sacrifice your comfort to be obedient.  

    The love of Jesus compels you to carry on his work and lead other people to reconciliation with God.  Pray about your role in God's family.  Pray how you can be used to spread the good news.  Pray on where you need to be obedient to display your love for God.  Pray about where you need to be involved in God's mission.  Pray about changes you may need to make to approach God's Table faithfully.

Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 6:46-49, 10:1-4, John 4:34-38, 14:15-26, 15:9-17, Acts 1:7-8, 2 Corinthians 5:11-15, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 John 2:3-6, 4:18-19, 5:1-5, 2 John 1:5-6

Jesus Forgives

 

    Everyone has fallen short of God's expectations and need salvation to be made right.  Jesus is the only way to salvation, but the journey will look different for everyone.  Jesus came into this world to be the sacrificial lamb in obedience to God's Word.  While he was here he made the old testament make sense and gave life to the standard of living.  

    Jesus had people that he had to forgive.  Before he became the sacrificial lamb all of his closest friends betrayed or abandoned him.  Each one of those men needed to be forgiven and they were, except for Judas.  Judas killed himself before he could face Jesus.  I guess he didn't realize that he would still have to face Jesus on judgment day.

    Jesus' apostles could not move forward and become the men of purpose that they did without Jesus first forgiving them.  The Bible doesn't mention most of the forgiveness stories, but it does tell us how Jesus forgave Peter and then how they were anointed to serve God for the rest of their lives.  The same goes for you.  You cannot fulfill your purpose unless you are forgiven by Jesus.  He has to forgive you for you to be able to approach the Lords Table.

    Jesus forgives because he loves you.  Forgiveness is love in action.  It is the hardest part of love.  Jesus shows you how to forgive and restore the relationship.  Even if a relationship is not restored, you can love people enough to forgive.  When you forgive people, you reveal how much you love Jesus.  Forgiveness is taking care of people who do not take care of you.  The purpose of forgiveness is to release you from the burden, stay close to Jesus, and be able to keep growing in your faith.  If the other person benefits, then it is a path for you to use to introduce them to Jesus or meet him in a new way.

Matthew 25:34-40, 26:26-30, Luke 7:36-50, 11:17-22, John 20:19-23, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, & 1 John 1:8-10