What Is a "Spirit of Fear"? A spirit of fear comes from not being able to put our trust completely in God.The NIV translation of 2 Timothy 1:7 reads, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not timid, but full of power. When we are in ri

You can even put that one verse on a card and stick it in your pocket or purse. You pull it out at a stoplight or sitting in a doctor’s office or waiting for a class to end. Before you realize it, you know the verse. It begins to shape the way you think—and the choices you make. When you least expect it, the Spirit of God brings it back to mind.I o

1. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”What people think it means: A popular verse many people interpret as a promise of a future with material prosperity and happiness – a life void of suffering and challenges.What it actually means: The

What Is Laziness and Why Is it a Sin? “Jesus knew of laziness’s dangers,” writes David Chadwick. “In the parable of the talents, he condemned the servant who buried his talent. He called him ‘wicked and lazy.’ His talent was taken from him and given to another.” To be lazy is Biblical idleness defined. Laziness is often associated with sloth and be

3. Play fun music (maybe not hymns, but happy music that adds to the party feel.)4. Have really good candy (or healthy snacks if you’re one of those people…) Since day one, Christians have been marked out by generosity. Your neighbors are about to walk up to your door with an empty sack. Responding generously to this cultural request is one of your

We will make time for whatever we value most. In fact, we’ll regularly pay people for their time to help us untangle our lives. Which is totally fine. But why wouldn’t we also make time to allow the wisdom of the ages to wash over us for free?Desire to know what the Scriptures sayI could tell you that you could read the entire Bible in a year if yo

Joanna the wife of Chuza, and SusannaA group of women listed in Luke 8:1-3 (including Mary Magdalene) provided for Jesus’ ministry and needs “out of their private means.”Although not an anomaly for women to have a job in ancient times, it was rarer. These women, healed by Jesus’ ministry, decided to give up financial means in order to follow him.Jo

Who will you spend time with over a meal this week?3. Hanging outLife gets busy and sometimes you can’t clear an evening, even when you want to.When that happens, find some time to hang out while running errands or while the kids play together. Perhaps you visit over yard work, helping one another out.Community and fellowship involve times and inte

This enrages the members of the Sanhedrin, and they order Stephen’s death by stoning—a practice used in the Old Testament to put to death blasphemers and other doers of great acts of evil.Just before they drag Stephen out of the city to be stoned, he receives a vision of heaven where he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God.What does Saint S

1. Love is Sacrificial “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESVAnyone can say they love someone. But love is more than a word, it’s an action. One of the most beautiful aspects of Biblical love is God showed us His love at a loss to Himself. He gave

It doesn't work! That's what we say when we're filled with worry, fear, or despair. The truth is we can't take any one of these things without the other. Each of the things we're talking about forms a whole. God is telling us what to do in the midst of a troubling state of affairs. He's telling us to focus on Him and others; to think about Him, to

For many Protestants, this presents a theological problem as most do not hold a belief that allows for praying to the dead (in heaven) or praying for the dead (in purgatory). A Protestant understanding of this expression is that all believing Christians are saints and that we have a commonality of belief and eternal hope with those who have gone be

1. Foster a Servant Heart When Jesus was approached by the mother of two of His disciples to establish them as greater than the other disciples, Jesus concluded that He came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). The point He made was that to be greater is to actually be a servant. If we’re to imitate Christ and His relationship to others,

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14).The “handwriting of ordinances” referred to here is the Mosaic law. For the Christian, how do we define “law?” It can be defined as, a set of rules, a routine, or pattern of works that man

As Christians, we are on a journey to become more like Jesus as the Holy Spirit works in our lives. Many of us will share our testimony of how we became a Christian and tell others how we have seen God at work in our experiences and in ourselves. There are times when it can be really hard to follow Jesus, but in those times, we have our memories of

Pray for Peace This is the time. Today is the day! It’s time to stop reading the headlines and start lifting our head and heart to the One who can do something about it. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive the

H — Humility. Joy begins with humility. To say, “Restore, O Lord,” requires the humility to admit that you need restoring. Jesus said “Blessed [or happy] are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who

Anything not mentioned in Scripture has to be evaluated with extreme caution.We also should be wary of the various opinions on what the grail promises: youth, eternal life, or a grand mystical experience. As Christians, we know eternal life only comes from the Lord, not from relics.Relics played a major role in medieval church history.Bones of sain

But then legalism, distraction, or plain busyness seeps in, and the monotony of religion overshadows our first love. We trade God’s presence for programs and listening to His voice for rule following. Unless we combat this life-stealing progression, we’ll find ourselves drifting slowly but steadily into spiritual apathy.The solution: praying for a

2. Recognize Your AbilityThe beautiful part of this story is that each man’s responsibility matched their ability. In other words, there are no excuses. To some people, God will give the ability to reach millions with the gospel of Jesus Christ. To some people God will give the ability to reach a few with the gospel. Notice however that both men go