Tag: God

The Hands that Pray


When you pray, do not do as the pagans do. With their many words they seek to impress; yet when you pray, do so in secret as your Father is in secret. (Paraphrase of Matthew 6)

 

Your hands were made by God as you were so when you pray take note of them.

Your thumb is the nearest finger to you when you pray. So, begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember.

The next finger on your hand is the pointing finger. Pray for those who are teachers or who instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need our support, and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction, so keep them in your prayers.

Next is your tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president regardless of who you voted for, and then pray for leaders in business and industry and administrators. All of these people shape our nation and guide public opinion and they need God’s guidance.

The fourth finger is your ring finger. It is usually the weakest finger as most piano teachers will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need our prayers day and night. You can’t pray enough for them.

Last is your little finger, it is the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. The Bible says, “The least shall be the greatest among you.” Your pinkie finger should remind you to pray for yourself because by the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your needs will be in their proper perspective and you will be able to pray more effectively.

This is just a prayer suggestion which came to me through email and I thought I would share it with you.

Trying to be the best will not get you into Heaven


It is a fact that we try all of our lives to be the best at whatever we do or who we are. Some of us succeed, many of us fail, but being the “best you can be” will NOT get your foot into the gates of Heaven!

Your salvation is not based on works, it is based on belief in Jesus and the penalty that He paid for your sins. There are works that we should do for God and His Kingdom, but our works alone cannot save us. Anything that we do in our own strength and of our own wisdom will not have any impact on our salvation.

As Jesus said to His disciples, “Apart from me, you can do nothing”. We can try but we will fail by ourselves and on our own. We may be able to do things for and in the “world”, and we may be successful at some things, but if  by our own efforts we are striving for eternity they will fail without Christ in our life and without Him in those plans.

Our best is not good enough unless God is involved in all aspects of our lives. Christ is our strength and our reliance on Him for that strength is mandatory to be a successful Christian. There are many religions which point people to their strengths, their self-reliance to be successful in life and in their spiritual lives, but these endeavors will not produce eternal rewards because they are from man’s point of view and in man-made religions.

Religions that have been started by men only confuse and deny the issues that are real in our world. This is exactly what Satan wants because it takes away from the Truth of God’s Word and the gospel of Jesus. If we do not get any message out to the people in the world, in our congregations, in our home or workplace, we must get them to know Christ!

We are not the ones who save, but the message about His grace and the work that He did for us must be told to all who will listen. Once that is accomplished, the seed is planted in their hearts and the Spirit takes over the watering and nurturing of their conscience toward being saved and sanctified in Christ.

The blessing that we have been given through the blood of Christ that allows us to come to a saving knowledge of Him is not to be held unto ourselves but is to be given to others. Once we have that blessing, we are to give it away to others. How could we keep this knowledge and the gift of eternity from others? Knowing of the eternal consequences for those who have not accepted Jesus should make us want to tell anyone who will listen.

Yet, the wisdom of God is foolishness to those who won’t accept it and to the world as well. Believe in Jesus, search the scriptures, find the truth and don’t believe the lies that are told in the world. Satan knows these things are true but he has been and is leading the world astray and when the age comes to a close, it will be too late.

Doctrine and Salvation


I am having a hard time with this one so bear with me.

Our Lord, Jesus, specifically said that we come to the Father through Him. By accepting Him as our Lord and Savior we are saved. There was no particular doctrine involved, at the time there were no Baptists or Methodists or any other religion besides Judaism or pagan beliefs in the area where He lived.

According to John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This is not a doctrinal statement and it does not give partiality to any belief other than in Jesus and God, the Father and the Spirit since He is the Comforter that was sent after Jesus ascended to Heaven. These concepts are not in question between doctrines or between true believers. The problems have arisen over the years because of disagreements in the church itself, regardless of the denomination.

These disagreements have resulted in hurt feelings, splintered families and broken churches. We are all trying to worship the same God and His Son, Jesus, so why can’t we get along? The reason may be as simple as this: we are human. We have differences of opinion about everything, especially religious topics.

Can we get past this and worship the One True God and His Son? Yes, we can if we follow what He teaches us in the Bible. The way to know Him is there because that is where God reveals Himself to all of us, through His Word. Doctrines don’t reveal or save anyone, regardless of their origin.

The apostles were with Jesus and gave us our New Testament by their writing to the churches which they started. Jesus said to go and tell the world the good news about salvation through believing in Him and by repenting of our sinful ways. Follow Jesus and allow Him to live in you and through your life in this world.

Sometimes, actually most of the time in our lives, we who are Christians are the only representatives of Jesus that many people see. It is through our actions and our words that they can see Him and if we don’t act like our heart has been changed, what will they conclude? If your heart has not been changed by allowing Jesus in, why not pray that He will come into your life and change you into that “new creature in Christ” mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Sometimes, our churches are split in two because of hard feelings and pride. Sometimes it is because of jealousy. Sin can cause more problems in churches than it does in your daily life. The reason behind this is that it is not recognized until it has done the work that Satan intended for it to do. Sin in churches is easy to see for someone outside the church but hard for those inside. Although it is the effect of sin that we can see, not the sin itself. We are not to be judges toward our brethren, that is left up to God alone.

I know that I may get many comments about being judgmental toward others because of this but I am only stating an opinion and an observation. From outside a church it is hard to know what the cause of the split is, whether it is personal or is it due to “factions” inside the church.

In 1900 there were only about one thousand religions in the world. Now, there are over ten thousand. Many of them are man made and don’t follow the One True God so how can we be so fractious in the Church that Jesus and His disciples started, regardless of the denomination? Satan has caused the splits in the church over the years and has laughed each time a denomination has split apart. Satan is the main cause of these problems because he attends church more than most of us do.

Christians need to get back to the basics of Christianity, telling others about Jesus, calling for a revival in our congregations and bringing people to a saving knowledge of Jesus and the reason why He is needed in their lives today! If we are not doing that, then we are not doing what Jesus told us to do as His followers.

Dad, what are you doing?


You may or may not know where Father’s Day came from, so I looked it up and found it. It came about because of a girl named Sonora Smart Dodd. In 1909, she was sitting in church listening to a Mother’s Day sermon when she had the idea of Father’s Day. She had been raised by her father after her mother’s death, so she wanted her father to know how special he was to her. To make a long story short, twenty-five years later, through her efforts President Calvin Coolidge designated the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day, then President Lyndon Johnson declared it as well but it took President Richard Nixon to sign the proclamation and make it permanent.

In God’s Word, there is one father that we know of who doesn’t have anything to say and yet he helped to raise and teach and nurture the Son of God. I am speaking of Joseph. In the story of Jesus’ birth, Mary and the angels have big parts to play; the wise men who are seeking the Child are prominent in the story too. Joseph is told that the Child is from God and that it is OK to accept Mary as his wife. Later on he is warned in a dream to take the child and flee to escape Herod’s soldiers.

Nowhere in the story do we hear from Joseph. I suppose if you are told that you are to be the step-father of the Son of God that would take your breath away. But there are many things about Joseph that we can only get from other scripture. Joseph loved Mary, which is what a father is supposed to do. Even though he thought she didn’t love him.

When he was making plans to divorce Mary, God showed him the divine plan in a dream: In a dream an angel appeared to Joseph, “Joseph, thou son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her womb is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20-21). “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have relations with her until her son was born; and Joseph named him Jesus.” (Matt. 1:24, 25).

How much better would the world be if every father took responsibility like Joseph? He understood what God expected of him, and he was ready to obey! Even if the village that they lived in considered the child to be a child of adultery. Joseph believed God, obeyed God and accepted the responsibility that God had given him.

About fifty years ago, seventeen percent of the children born were raised apart from their fathers. In 1990, that number was up to 36%. Today, nearly half of all children in the U.S. are raised without a father in the home.

You know, in many ways, we as fathers and husbands, are to be the leaders of our team. The team being the family, we are expected to be the head of the household in all areas. That includes financial, religious, personal, etc. Every part of our lives and the life of our family, we do not control but we are to guide and help and nurture to the best of our ability and the ability that God has given us. That is our responsibility as fathers. We are to be like God as much as is humanly possible, just don’t ACT like a god!

Your wife will take care of that! She will bring you down a notch or two if you do!

Joseph was a devout Jew and made sure to do everything according to the Lord’s teachings in the Law of Moses to the best of his ability. He sought God and led his family to the Passover festival every year.

I read once that “A child is not likely to find a father in God unless he finds something of God in his father.” (Austin L. Sorensen) Seeing God in their father is a child’s best way to come to know God as their Father. Let that settle a bit in your mind and think on it. Who else would a child look to if not his or her father? We all claim, if we know Jesus, that God is our Father but can you feel Him? Can you touch Him?

Those sensations of touch are necessary for children and only our earthly fathers can give us a hug or hold your hand or pull the fish that you caught off the hook. We are supposed to be the spiritual leader in our family, like the priests in the Old Testament. If your child sees you reading the Bible, then they will see that you think it is important, especially when the wisdom that you gain from it is applied in your life, to every part of your life.

You are able to instill faith in your children. You are able to show them what a loving father looks like and acts like. You can give them the ability to trust and depend on their Father in heaven, but you can’t give your children something that you don’t have. Before they will see God in you, you have to let Him into your heart and your life. He has to be the top priority and they have to see you seeking Him. When you do, your children will see it; your grandchildren will see it. They will know that it is important, that He is important to you and to them.

A preacher once asked some preschoolers to draw pictures of God. He was going to use them as illustrations for his sermon. At the end of the class, they came up with rainbows and men with big hands. His daughter told him that she didn’t know what God looked like, so she drew a picture of him instead.

Joseph was a quiet man in scripture. Strong in his faith, yet we never heard him speak. His example teaches all of us a lesson in righteousness, responsibility and a lesson in religion. God is our Heavenly Father and He wants nothing more than for you to be a part of His family.

Can we have a daily Sabbath?


Can we have a daily Sabbath? Can we enjoy a time with God as the focus of our attention and nothing else? In today’s world and the society that we live in with everything being instant and with no time for listening and waiting, can we slow down enough to hear His voice? If we heard it, would we listen?

The answer to these questions should be a resounding, YES! We must make time for God in our lives on a daily basis, because if we don’t we will miss out on the most important relationship that we have available to us. Just as with any friendship, there has to be a time of conversation but we also have to listen too. God’s voice is not the booming voice heard in movies or on cartoons. It is still and quiet and we need to quiet our minds in order to hear it and understand the meaning behind it.

God doesn’t need us, but He wants us in a relationship with Him on a daily basis. He doesn’t want us to come to Him once per week or just when we are hurting. He wants us all the time and we should want Him too! He does allow us to live on the earth and be what He intended for us to be and He is the Creator, so why can’t we give Him some attention daily?

I think that we don’t give Him daily time because we don’t think that we have the time to give. We do have the time but we usually put other priorities ahead of God, when He should be number one! I imagine some people might want to know why He should be number one so I will tell you, because you are breathing!

He created the earth and the trees and everything else that allows us to breathe, and He created you! He has a purpose for you and once you find that purpose, you will know.

Our Creator wants us to love Him because we are loved by Him, not because we have to but because we want to. Many people in this world refuse to acknowledge Him which is sad and it is because of Satan‘s influence in the world. He has convinced scientists and most of secular society that God doesn’t exist and that he doesn’t either. The problem with this is that it is wrong and when history comes to an end, we will all find out the truth but it will be too late.

There will not be a party in hell, but it will be hell for those who don’t or won’t believe what the Bible has taught for thousands of years. It is like believing in gravity, whether you believe in it or not it is there. Not believing in it won’t nullify its effect. If you don’t want to believe in hell, that is fine, but don’t blame anyone but yourself if you end up there one day.

The only way to salvation is through belief in Jesus and the sacrifice that He made for us, acknowledge that you, like everyone else, are a sinner and ask Him into your life. This is the easy part, the hard part comes with living your life through Jesus and His life through you.

Is the Bible up to date and relevant?


The Word of God is beyond time. It was, is, and always will be true. There is no time, no season, nor a single day during which the words in the Bible are not binding. I know that this will upset some people but it is true. Every word and punctuation mark in the Bible and the Torah is valid and always will be. The Spirit of God permeates the Bible and makes it relevant to our time because it is timeless and the wisdom contained within it is too.

Do we have any reason to ignore the Bible? For our own spiritual well being we really don’t and shouldn’t but many people do. They look at it as an old outdated book that has been around for thousands of years and many scholars have pointed out that the wisdom in it is contained in writings from other cultures as well. I have heard the argument that the Bible is copied from other religious texts and may not be original.

Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s Word is true and was given to the prophets and poets of the Old Testament as a guide to Him. It also points to the Christ long before He came into the world. No other religion has this prophetic quality and accuracy in their writings. God’s word told specifically how long the Babylonian empire would last, how long it would be before the Messiah came into the world and when the crucifixion would take place. All of these prophecies were given through the prophets at least 500 to 1000 years before they occurred.

No other document from any other religion can claim this and the reason is because God gave the words to the people who wrote them down. He is the only One who is outside time and therefore can see the beginning and the end and everything in between.

The Bible illustrates why the world sees its wisdom differently:  (1 Corinthians 2:14) “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”  (KJV)

The world and those who are not part of God’s family, cannot discern the wisdom contained in the Bible, regardless of the translation, because it is the spirit living within which gives the interpretation. The wisdom of God‘s Word is foolish to those who don’t know Him.

When we are saved by accepting Jesus into our hearts, the Spirit resides within us from that point on. It is His job to teach us, instructing us as we read and study to be better equipped as Christians. Because, following Jesus and being a Christian is not a “walk in the park”.

Being a follower of Christ and not just a fan requires more than just accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior like many believe. It takes discipline to become a disciple and you have to realize why you are doing this too. It is not just because you don’t want to go to hell, but because of your thankfulness toward God who loved us even before the world was created.

Hell is for those angels who rebelled against God and were thrown out of Heaven. It was not meant for us and yet when we refuse to accept God’s grace through Jesus, we are as guilty as they are in our rebellion toward Him. Some people may say that they have not rebelled against God, but when you don’t accept a gift given to you freely isn’t that a form of rebellion?

When you refuse a gift from someone, aren’t they offended? If someone refused a gift from you, wouldn’t you be offended? God does not take offense the way we do, but it still counts as rebelling against Him when we refuse the gift of His grace through Jesus. We are, in effect, telling God that we want to get to Heaven our way.

Except, there is no other way to get there. Nothing that we can do is good enough, regardless of the amount of money or time or effort involved, to be equal to the sacrifice which Jesus provided on the cross to pay for all of humanity’s sins.

They have all been paid for, all we have to do is claim the grace that is there for us and eternal life is ours! The only “catch” is that we have to do it while we are alive, here and now. Once we have accepted it, the work in our life begins again because we are born anew as “new creatures in Christ”. The old life that we had is done away with and a new life begins. It will not be easy, but the reward will never end.

There will be time with family that are Christians that you will never have to worry about losing because you will have eternity. As someone once said, “billions and billions of years” will be your reward for accepting Jesus! Time will have no real meaning at all because we will have far more than a lifetime to get to know someone or get to know many people!

This existence or life that we have now is but a “puff of smoke” compared to eternity. Make the best decision that you can make, accept Jesus as your Lord, give Him your life so that He can give you His!

Are we pushing an agenda or trying to bring people to Christ?


In the charged atmosphere that our country is in, what are we doing as representatives of Christ? Are we representing Christ to the world? There are many who see the church as a radical group that is pushing their agenda on people who don’t want it. In this scenario, the church is being compared to zealots and terrorists because of the way the message of a few congregations gets attention from the media. Sensationalism in our society is all the rage because of so-called “reality TV” so anyone who has an opinion, especially one that is going to get attention, will get air time.

Even the man-made religions of Islam and Scientology get far more favorable time than most churches that follow Jesus. Is it because we are living in the times prior to His return? I don’t know for sure. Many people wonder when that might happen and the fact is that no one knows except God. When the time is right, it will happen because it is prophesied in His Word. That belief is based on faith, but not blind faith. It is faith in a risen Savior and in the prophecies which have already come true that are in the Bible.

Christ is the answer to all of life’s questions because He is the author of life. He is the Creator and our redeemer and the only “agenda” that I am preaching if that is what you call this.

In life and in this world there are many troubles. Some are caused by us, some by natural processes like earthquakes and hurricanes, and many of the wars and diseases that afflict mankind have their cause in Satan and his demons. I know that there are many who will not believe this because they put about as much into belief in him as they do in Bigfoot or “little green men”.

Humans are hated and despised by Satan because of our status in God’s eyes, especially those who have accepted Christ as their savior. The rhetoric that is being debated in the media about Christians and their belief that is based on the Word of God against sinful lifestyles.

In many ways we are very much like children who cannot get along. One group goes to one part of the playground, another to another area and none of them play together. Our pride and selfishness gets in the way of being the people that God intended for us to be. We have our own views and opinions of how “religion” or lack of it should be done and we are stubborn enough to not allow others to influence us.

Why are we such a stubborn people? Because we want things our way, we want to do everything on our own, like children even as adults.

God knows this and He knows us and our ways. He also knows what is best for us but until we decide to follow Him, we will be stuck doing it our way. We may get some things done in our world, but what about after we leave this world and stand before Him? Will anything that we have done matter at that point? If it was done for Him it will, if not then the question becomes “What did you do with my Son, Jesus?”

The answer to this question may not mean much to you now but when eternity is before you the answer will make a great deal of difference. We do not know how many days that we have in this life and I know there are many who think they should do all they can to have fun before they die. Have you considered what happens after you die? Many people think that once you die, that’s it, but it is not.

We all have eternal souls and where we spend eternity hinges on the answer to the  previous question. Your life in eternity, whether in heaven or hell, is determined by your answer toward Christ. Did you accept Him as your Lord and Savior or did you reject Him? You place in eternity depends solely on the answer to that question, think about it.

In what shape are you in?


I am not talking about your body shape, I am speaking of the shape of your relationship with Jesus? Are you good friends? Do you speak to each other on a daily basis or do you only call when you need something?

God loves you as no one on earth can and His love is unconditional. He doesn’t require you to do anything to earn His love. He does ask that you ask Jesus into your heart and your life, but He will never force you into a relationship with Him. God doesn’t do that, regardless of what other religions say with regard to your acceptance of their version of “God”.

When you become part of God’s family, you are a part of it but yours is a unique part. Unique in the way that you are because there is no one on earth with your abilities and God knows what you can do, even if you don’t, yet!

The Bible is a collection of stories, true, but it is also God voice speaking to us and telling us how much He loves us. He speaks to us through the poetry and the history of the Jewish people but He also speaks through the letters and the prophecies, the wisdom contained in the book of Proverbs. Many people don’t realize that God spoke and is still speaking through the words contained in this book. But it is so much more than a book. God’s love is expressed all through it from Genesis to Revelation. It is expressed angrily as a jealous God would but it is also expressed lovingly as a father would to a child that he loves.

The anger that is expressed is the kind that a parent would have toward a child that is doing something which might hurt them or cause them to be killed. It is not a hateful anger nor is it an anger which is comparable to our anger, it is a type which I cannot fully describe to anyone unless they have a child which they love. When that child runs out into the street or touches something which might endanger their life, don’t you feel a little angry and anxious because you may have lost your child?

That is the type of anger that most closely mirrors what God expresses and yet He loves us with an unbounded love, one which we cannot fully comprehend. When you are looking for something and yet you don’t know exactly what that something is, you will find your answer in the Bible and nowhere else! You may try to find it in another religion or a job or by using drugs or alcohol, but when you wake the next morning feeling hollow and still wanting something to fill that space, God is the only One who can.

“I have lost my way” is what I have heard some say about not going to church or that they have been gone too long. God knows where you are! He never left you, you just looked away from Him, that is all! Just like the grass looking greener on the other side of the fence and the cows stretch to get at it not knowing that the grass is the same.

God loves us with a love that none of us can understand or comprehend in our human way because He is our Creator. He is as far above us as we are above a bacteria so our feelings and His feelings are totally different and yet He cares for us as no one else can, like a father caring for billions of His children.

Giving your life and your heart to Him and becoming one of His children in a real sense is the best decision that you can make with your life. I do not want anyone to think that being a Christian is easy because it is not. The old self is still there, as are the temptations of your previous life. The world and all of its temptations as well as Satan and his demons will bring up things and people that will cause you to stumble and fall from your life as a child of God. At which point you have to decide to ask God to forgive you and turn back to Him, following His lead just as a sheep follows its shepherd.

In saying this I don’t mean that we are considered sheep, but in some ways we are. We are like children and sheep, we don’t know what is best for us so we have to be shown or taught what to do. Many people don’t like this idea, they are very independent and like the two year old that everyone has heard say “I can do it myself”; but even the two year old gets into trouble before long and comes running to mommy or daddy.

Our Father is the ultimate daddy because of Who He is. He won’t give you everything when you ask for it, but He will provide for you a life and the ability to serve and glorify Him here and in the life to come. Even if you don’t subscribe to the “afterlife” idea, it will be because God refers to it many times in His Word.

Are there any “nots” in your life?


Have you ever wondered whether you are good enough for God? Have you asked Him if you are good enough to get into Heaven? The answers to these questions are simple: yes, you are good enough for God and no, you are not good enough to get into Heaven!

Well, why not? Why am I not worthy to get into Heaven? It is because of our human nature and the fact that we are sinners from the time that we know right from wrong.

Can we change? Yes, but not on our own. Only by accepting Jesus into our lives and allowing Him to change us from our heart outward can there be any lasting change. This kind of change makes a difference not only in our lives but through our lives we are able to touch others because of it.

The change in us will be evident to others and they will want what we have because it gives us hope and peace. A peace that those in the world cannot understand.

Your life can be so much more than it is with Christ in it and yet, many people don’t want Him in their lives. To me, that doesn’t make sense but that is how life with Jesus is. If you have Him you can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want Him. If you don’t know Him, you can’t understand why anyone would want to.

I have been away too long for God to want me


I know many people who have said this and feel this way, but why? There are times in our lives that we move away from God and it is us who move because He doesn’t. He is always by our side in every situation no matter how desperate it seems and regardless of the circumstances.

Jesus said that not one sparrow falls from the sky without the Father’s notice, so how can we think that He doesn’t notice our troubles and trials? He is always there, we just have to acknowledge Him and turn to Him for guidance and direction. If you have never asked God for anything in your life, He still knows you as His creation, and His child because He created each of us and knew us before we were born. He knows exactly what purpose and plan that He has in store for you and will bring it about without your help if He has to.

God loves us, all of us, whether we know it or not. His patience with us is longer and more enduring than we can possibly imagine. I know that many people try to put “human” qualities and traits on Jesus and God and Jesus did live as a man until His resurrection, yet He was fully God too! As it says in the first chapter of John, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1)

His humanity was what He had to take up like we do when we put on a suit and yet He did it for us, because of His love for us. We cannot deny this and one day it will be for all the world to see. In order for us to come back to Him, if we ever knew Him, takes only a repentant spirit and a prayer for forgiveness because of our actions. If you have never known Jesus, it still only takes a prayer of repentance, one that is truly sorry for the life that you have lived. Acknowledge that you want to live for Him and allow Him to live through you and in your heart. That’s it!

I know that is too simple and straightforward for some to believe but it is true! He made it that simple so that a child could understand how to do it, it is us religious “grown-ups” who make it hard by putting religion and its dogma into the equation. That is why Jesus was so upset with the Pharisees of His day. They knew the scriptures, the prophecies that foretold Him and His coming and yet they did not “see and hear with their spiritual eyes and ears”.

Pride and selfishness get in the way just as it did then. They were proud of being descendants of Abraham and Moses. They were looking at what they would lose if common people could come to God without a priest and a sacrifice. Their position of importance among the people meant more to them that the people that they were supposed to be shepherding toward God.

This same pride is at work in the church today. Many preachers and evangelists, especially those with television ministries, allow their pride and the money which comes into their offering boxes to sway them and their message. I am not accusing all of them, but the ones which get into the news the most and draw the most attention, cause the world to look on all who claim Christ as being the same.

Pride is Satan‘s most useful tool to discredit the Church and the followers of Christ. Mainly because it causes the most hurt and makes the mistakes which are made so visible.

Give your life to Christ so that you can undo some of the damage that has been done in your life. You will be able to do this through Jesus’ power, not your own and He will give you the words and the strength to accomplish it. Don’t rely on your own strength because in the end it will fail, but His will not!