Last Commented Religion & Spirituality Blogs (1,491)

How can some claim to love God and hate their own brother, sister, neighbor, friend, spouses.

1 john 4:20 says, if a man says, I love God and hateth his own brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his own brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen

What is it that you perceive???? I wish to perceive beauty....

It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age. Margret Mead

A compilation JANUARY 20, 2015

Let your conversation be without covetousness [love of money]; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.—Hebrews 13:5 (1)

*

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”—Luke 12:15 (2)

*

Everyone is laying up treasure in some way. It may not be expressed in our assets or bank accounts, but there is something which gives us reason to get up in the morning. Whatever controls our heart is our treasure, and it’s either earthly or heavenly. The reality is we straddle both spheres, and no matter how heavenly our interests may be, we live on earth and are subject to its demands and values.

What begins as our treasure, whether earthly or heavenly, is something which serves us and furthers our interests. In the pursuit of it, our treasure becomes our vision, and in time what began as our treasure and grew into our vision becomes our master. The free will we are given is actually limited to one thing … who is our master? From there on, everything we do is a logical explanation of what is the mastering principle of our lives. It’s either temporal or it’s eternal, self-centered or God-centered, earthly or heavenly, but it cannot be both.

Society today holds to the belief that a person’s status and success is directly related to reputation and material wealth, but society has it backwards. We cannot put the pursuit of money, prestige and power before the pursuit of God. Jesus says we cannot serve both God and money. (3)

The features that characterize heavenly treasures are the exact opposite of earthly treasures. Instead of temporary and troublesome, they are permanent and peaceful. To store up treasure in heaven is to live on earth with heaven in mind. The issues which govern our values, goals and behaviours should not be confined to this life only and played out ‘before men’. They should have eternal issues at heart, and be played out before God. The very same possessions, bank balances, occupations, living standards can either be storing up treasure in heaven or on earth. It is not the substance of our possessions that is the issue, but the audience before whom we live.

Materialism does not relate to how much we actually possess, but our attitude towards what we possess. Everything that we lose when we die should be given appropriate status now, and that which holds its currency beyond death is what we should invest in now. Once we have settled the issues of storing up our real treasure in heaven, our vision is good, and our master is God.—Charles Price

*

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.—Matthew 6:19–21 (4)

1 KJV.
2 ESV.
3 Matthew 6:24.
4 NASB.

**
SPEND YOUR LIFE LOSING YOUR LIFE FOR OTHERS.--THAT'S THE SECRET OF SAVING IT!

Jesus said, "He that saveth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it!" (Mk.8:35). "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God!" (Mat.6:33). And what is His Kingdom? His Kingdom is souls! His Kingdom is missionary work! His Kingdom is reaching the lost with the Gospel! Jesus didn't commission us to save ourselves, He commissioned us and called us into His army to save others!





Anchor TFI

First of all, what many in the world do not know or understand is, that quoting Scriptures DOES NOT make you a Christian; saying you believe in God, yet denying the power thereof DOES NOT make you a Christian; Being a nice compassionate caring person DOES NOT make you a Christian; Doing good deeds DOES NOT make you a Christian; Being raised in a home where your parents took you or made you attend church every Sunday DOES NOT make you a Christian; attending church on special occasions as an EMC (Easter, Mother’s Day ,Christmas) church member DOES NOT make you a Christian; not given to smoking, cursing, drinking or drugging DOES NOTmake you a Christian.

Being a Christian is a spiritual happening on the inside of a person’s whole being (mind,body,soul,and spirit), and in his/her life and is a life-style change, that bring about a spiritual change, in a committed personal relationship connected to Jesus Christ in His Spirit with our spirit, and in truth; a person who has confessed his/her sins before God and turned away from those sins, has faith to believe that Jesus Christ paid their sin debt in a suffering death on the cross, to reconcile us back to God; therefore, there is NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who no longer walk (live) according to the flesh, but walk (live) according to the Spirit of God. This person is connected in a relationship with Christ, and is as Jesus says, YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN! John chapter 3

A Christian is a person who has been REGENERATED by the Spirit of God and has been water baptized and resurrected as a new creature in Christ, which means born again in the Spirit and baptized in the water. The old creature (nature) has passed away, and behold that person is made new, filled (joined) with the holy Spirit of God, and set apart, called and seen as righteous in the eyes of God, because that person has taken on God's righteousness.

The Christian has no questions about following the teaching of Jesus Christ, and believes by faith that Jesus is God incarnated, the Creator of the universe; He/she is a public witness of this Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people freely professing and confessing his /her faith not just in words but life-style and deeds, believing in what Jesus has said, "For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Mark chapter 8

So, what then is REGENERATION?... glad you asked... Regeneration means to BE BORN AGAIN OR TO BE RESTORED FROM THE OLD SIN NATURE TO THE NEW SPIRITUAL NATURE IN CHRIST Jesus ... born again from above by God, through the washing away of our inner-man by the Holy Spirit, and forgiven by God of ALL sins. A person who has been regenerated the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the body (spirit) that person who has repented of their sins, and asked (invited) Jesus Christ to come into their heart. As Jesus let's the disciples know in John chapters 14 & 15. The Holy Spirit helps the believer to live as God has commanded us to live, He convicts our hearts of our sins when we sin, so that we can immediately repent and remain righteous (in good standing)before God.

Regeneration is the spiritual change in a person riding us of our sin nature and this enables us to respond to God by faith. Our minds are illuminated, our will to do things our way is no longer our mindset, sin is no longer of interest, and we have a new nature in Christ. Regeneration brings about a new disposition and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is experienced. God opens up His knowledge, understanding and wisdom in Christ to us, and we are secure in life here on earth and eternal life in heaven. THIS IS WHAT BEING A TRUE CHRISTIAN IS ALL ABOUT!!
continue...

I’m not a Christian and therefore not bound by their conventions. I don’t have to turn the other cheek. I criticize the Church from time to time and point my finger at Christians when I think is due but have never attacked their God, nor the God of any other religion.

What I saw yesterday surpassed all levels of decency; I thought we lived in a time of religious tolerance.

People who think that blasphemy is good fun, are sick.



Added after 156 comments
This is not about religion; it is about respect towards others and I'm deeply disappointed with the few people who approved of such behavior. Why does respect fly out the window when we get to religion.

Cultivating vintage faith

The world of today is a fast-paced world, where everything has been sped up and continues to be speeded up with each year that passes. You live in a fast-food world, a world where more and more emphasis is placed on acquiring things quickly, and there is less emphasis on the quality of things. People are becoming used to everything happening more quickly, taking much less time.

At the drop of a coin a machine spits out a drink, or at a fast-food counter a meal is served in minutes. Once upon a time, people spent a very long time building their houses and acquiring the money to do so, whereas in the world of today, houses are thrown up at a breakneck speed.

People expect to work less and to acquire more and have more leisure. People can instant message and send e-mail or large amounts of data around the world in seconds, or travel to the other side of the world in a matter of hours.

This speeding up of the pace of life has changed people’s expectations of what is normal or acceptable. It can lead to heightened expectations on the spiritual front as well—expectations for instant answers to prayer and spiritual manifestations to occur upon demand.

There are times when I do bring answers to prayer instantaneously, but there are also many times when I expect you to allow for the wine of your faith to mature and develop and to reach the fullness of its flavor.

Throughout the centuries My people of faith have been tested and tried through not receiving immediate answers to their prayers. They waited thousands of years for Me, their Messiah, and prayed and pleaded with God to send Me. Yet He could not send Me until the timing was exactly right‚ when all was aligned, world conditions were right, the hearts of men were prepared, the government of the world was what it needed to be in order for My Word to spread and My followers to survive. So many conditions had to be just right, even though so many clamored earnestly for years on end for My coming. Then, after I came, many of those same people rejected Me outright, because the answer to their prayer did not come in the packaging they had hoped for—that of a king of earthly Israel.

You have need of patience, that after you have performed My will, you might receive the promise.5 Patience is not an easy virtue to cultivate, and in fact, it goes entirely against the modern way of the world, which is all about speed, “right now,” and quick answers and instant results. But even though you live in the world, you are not of this world, and the spiritual dynamics have not changed—patience takes faith, and faith is the cornerstone of your lives for Me.

You will continue to experience answers to prayer when I know it is best. But you will also continue to experience the tests‚ trials, and challenges of life that arise when I appear to be in silent mode and My answers do not come immediately. And this trying of your faith will work patience, which is a very important facet of faith.

Faith isn’t manifested only when you receive immediate answers to prayer; it is also manifested in endurance, long suffering, and the patience to keep on persevering in the faith even when you don’t receive a response or see action as a result of your prayers. Let patience have her perfect work, so that your faith can be whole, and entire, wanting nothing.6

Remember, faith takes patience, and patience is the mark of a vintage faith‚ one that has been deepened and ripened and is mature, rich, and full-bodied.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

5 Hebrews 10:36.

6 James 1:4.




Anchor TFI Online

A pause for reflection

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God ... My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” 3

Here is someone who is hungering for a word from God. He alludes to a difficult time, a season where he has been calling out to God in the midst of pain, grief, or confusion. From all angles, it appears as if God is silent to his cries. So much so that those around him say, “Where is this God of yours that you pray to?” But notice what he goes on to write—words that read as if they were transcribed from the most reflective of journals:

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God ... My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you.”4

The psalmist comes to see that there is no silence—there’s just an answer coming from God that’s deeper than words. God is present, and speaking, but what He’s saying isn’t resting on the surface waters of life.

When I was nineteen years old and in college, I was invited to a weekend party at a nearby university. My friend, Phil, was going, and encouraged me to come along. He said that there would be five of us in the car, but there would be room. I wanted to go, and tried to make it happen, but couldn’t.

They left without me on a Friday afternoon. Two days later, as they returned to campus, a car from the opposite flow of traffic crossed the dividing line, became airborne, and landed headfirst into their car. All four were killed instantly.

I first heard the news late that Sunday night. I left my dorm, walked over to the nearby athletic complex, hopped a locked fence, and sat in the empty football stadium under a moonlit sky. I grieved for my friend; I thought of the brevity of life, and how close I had come to being killed. I remember crying out to God to help me sort it all out, to make sense of it all. To talk to me ... to say something ... anything!

Silence.

In truth, it was one of the deepest conversations we had ever had. He was speaking to me, moving within me, communing and communicating with me on levels that had never been opened to Him before. It was the start of many conversations—some even more traumatic.

Within four months I became a Christian. It is of paramount importance to consider that it’s not silence we’re encountering, but a pregnant pause; a prompting to engage in personal reflection so that the deepest of answers, the most profound of responses, can be given—and heard.—James Emory White

*

God suffers with us, feels every anguish, knows every doubt. Being infinite does not mean merely infinitely large, but infinitely small as well, so that he understands and experiences our silence, our pain, with us, not just in a theoretical way, but deeply and completely. Sometimes in our suffering, in the midst of silence we have the wind knocked out of us, and there is nothing left to pray with. God knows this, and you can be sure that he is at that moment praying for you.—Derek Flood

3 Psalm 42:1–3 NIV.

4 Psalm 42:5–6 NIV.
**
“The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” Isaiah 32:17




Anchor TFI Online

A compilation January 13, 2015

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.—Psalm 62:1 (1)

Entering into the silence of God

A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”

Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.—Matthew 15:22–28 (2)

*

I have always been impressed with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28. How could this woman face the silence of Jesus when her need was so great? How could she stand firm while the living God was standing right in front of her? She could touch Him. She knew He had the power and authority to heal her daughter because she calls Him Lord and addresses Him as “Son of David.” Yet, Jesus remains silent.

What is extraordinary is how this unknown hero of the faith pushes into the silence. She ignores the words of the disciples. She forsakes the wisdom of humankind and pushes into the abyss of silence.… Without fear and with courage she looks behind the silence. Helmut Thielecke says, “The silence of God and of Jesus is not one of indifference. It is the silence of higher thoughts.”

The greatest silence in the history of humankind took place on Golgotha when God the Father remained silent as His Son cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words echoed and reverberated through the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys that surrounded Jerusalem. Slowly fading into deeper silence. But God lay hidden behind the silence, planning the demise of Satan, overcoming the inability of the Temple to forgive sin, and designing a plan to conquer sin and provide a way for humankind to know God personally. God raised His Son to life. A feat He planned to repeat for everyone who calls on the name of His Son.

Somehow, with eyes of faith, this Canaanite woman sees this God behind the silence as her only hope. She risks everything and pushes into the silence of God. She is rewarded. Her daughter is healed.—Craig Smith

1 ESV.

2 NIV.
**
IF YOU WORK FOR HIM, HE'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU!

If you love Him and delight yourself in Him and work faithfully to try to love others and help them, He'll do anything for you, anything! He'll supply all your need according to His riches in glory! (Phi.4:19). He'll even give you the desires of your heart, anything you want! (Psa.37:4).--Not only whatever you need, but your wants as well! It's the Word of God, it's the promises of God and you have no excuse for not claiming those promises!

Most of God's blessings and rewards are dependent upon your obedience and worthiness, your doing a good job faithfully. The Lord doesn't reward you for loafing, the Lord rewards you for faithful good work. The minute you start obeying and working, God will do His part without fail! He will bless!

May God help you to have faith to believe God and His guarantees and be willing to obey Him and work at it, to do everything you can do, so that God can do the things you can't do. Are you a good and faithful servant? If so, God will take care of you! The good and faithful servants enter into the joy of their Lord! Here and now and there and then!




Anchor TFI Online

Here are some of the steps He’s shown me to take in this direction:

The confusion and frustration brought on by my restlessness was largely due to the fact that I kept it all to myself. I bottled it up inside without sharing it with anyone. By nature, I’m not a particularly good communicator. I always look for an excuse to not be totally open, and even hope that people will eventually read my mind. This “hope” has never materialized. I know perfectly well that it’s my own pride that holds me back from being open and honest with others. Although I’m blessed to have a personal connection with the Lord, being honest with others about my restlessness has helped me a lot. God very often speaks to me through their advice and perspective.

It pays to come to the Lord with an open mind and without any will of my own, if I truly want to know what His highest and best will is. The abandoning of my own will is no easy task. This is why, during such times with the Lord when I’m earnestly seeking His will, I repeat Jesus’ words from Gethsemane over and over: “Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.”3 Each time I repeat it, I ask Him to help me truly mean it, so that it’s not merely a “vain repetition.”

I may come to the Lord seeking answers to my restlessness and not receive all the answers I’m hoping for. I may only receive part of what I’m requesting. At one point I felt like I’d run into a stone wall and didn’t know where to go. Why couldn’t the Lord just give me the whole kit and caboodle instead of merely part of the revelation? The answer was found in my devotional reading for that day, which was based on Habakkuk 2:3: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time… Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” The indication could not have been clearer. The answers I was still searching for would come to me at God’s appointed time. All I had to do was wait. Since then I’ve received some answers which arrived just when God knew I needed them. They could not have come any sooner or any later.

For example, at that time I was writing many articles and submitting them to various websites. I found this very fulfilling, but I felt certain that it would soon lead to another step in my pursuit of writing. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I’d always wanted to write a book, but had no idea what it would contain. However, just recently, after several more articles were written, I received the exciting idea, which was like a revelation to me, to take my articles and modify them so they take on the form of chapters, and combine them into one volume. This project is currently underway. This revelation gave me faith to continue waiting on the Lord and believing that my remaining questions would be answered in His perfect time.

Last but not least, I must learn to accept the rest that the Lord wants to give me. This is something I’m still working on mastering. It has proven most effective to tell the Lord over and over, “I accept the rest that You want to give me.” I keep saying this until it becomes part of me. Initially my heart and mind will protest. I’ll feel things creaking inside me as I try to reverse habitual thought patterns and accept God’s thoughts. But the peace I experience in the end makes it worth it all.

If you are looking for rest to your soul, rest assured that it can be found. He longs to give it to us. We just have to willingly accept and receive it.

3 Luke 22:42.
**
WE HAVE TO RECEIVE THE GIFTS OF GOD BY THE EFFORT OF FAITH.

God wants you to ask so He can give your faith part of the credit and He can reward your faith with an answer. He wants you to share in both the credit and the benefits, even though it is all by grace and it all came from Him to begin with--Heaven's bank of exchange, Your burdens for His blessings!




Anchor TFI

Do it now!

In a class I teach for adults, I recently did the “unpardonable.” I gave the class homework! The assignment was to “go to someone you love within the next week and tell them you love them. It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven’t shared those words with for a long time.”

Now that doesn’t sound like a very tough assignment, until you stop to realize that most of the men in that group were over 35 and were raised in the generation of men that were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho.” Showing feelings or crying (heaven forbid!) was just not done. So this was a very threatening assignment for some.

At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them. I fully expected one of the women to volunteer, as was usually the case, but on this evening one of the men raised his hand. He appeared quite moved and a bit shaken.

As he unfolded out of his chair (all 6’2” of him), he began by saying, “Dennis, I was quite angry with you last week when you gave us this assignment. I didn’t feel that I had anyone to say those words to, and besides, who were you to tell me to do something that personal? But as I began driving home, my conscience started talking to me. It was telling me that I knew exactly who I needed to say ‘I love you’ to. You see, five years ago, my father and I had a vicious disagreement and really never resolved it since that time. We avoided seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings. But even then, we hardly spoke to each other. So, last Tuesday by the time I got home I had convinced myself I was going to tell my father I loved him.

“It’s weird, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load off my chest."

“When I got home, I rushed into the house to tell my wife what I was going to do. She was already in bed, but I woke her up anyway. When I told her, she didn’t just get out of bed, she catapulted out and hugged my neck, and for the first time in our married life she saw me cry. We stayed up half the night drinking coffee and talking. It was great!

“The next morning I was up bright and early. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. I got to the office early and accomplished more in two hours than I had the whole day before.

“At 9:00 I called my dad to see if I could come over after work. When he answered the phone, I just said, ‘Dad, can I come over after work tonight? I have something to tell you.’ My dad responded with a grumpy, ‘Now what?’ I assured him it wouldn’t take long, so he finally agreed.

“I didn’t waste any time—I took one step in the door and said, ‘Dad, I just came over to tell you that I love you.’

“It was as if a transformation came over my dad. Before my eyes his face softened, the wrinkles seemed to disappear, and he began to cry. He reached out and hugged me and said, ‘I love you too, son, but I’ve never been able to say it.’

“It was such a precious moment I didn’t want to move. Mom walked by with tears in her eyes. I just waved and blew her a kiss. Dad and I hugged for a moment longer and then I left. I hadn’t felt that great in a long time.

“But that’s not even my point. Two days after that visit, my dad, who had heart problems, but didn’t tell me, had an attack and ended up in the hospital, unconscious. I don’t know if he’ll make it.

“So my message to all of you in this is: Don’t wait to do the things you know need to be done. What if I had waited to tell my dad—maybe I will never get the chance again! Take the time to do what you need to do and do it now!”—By Dennis E. Mannering




Anchor TFI Online