4 Questions Every Believer Should Ask Themselves Often

The condition of your heart today will determine how you respond to God’s truth today. What is the condition of your heart according to the Book of Luke?

Question 1

What truth am I refusing to believe?

Like the seed thrown in the path in Luke 8:12, there may be some aspect of God’s truth in your life that is being trampled on or snatched up before it can take root. Your reaction to this truth could be hostile or apathetic. You either reject the truth or just ignore it long enough that it can be taken away.

Take an honest look at what truths are being spoken into your life that you are refusing to believe. What are you dragging your feet on? Is there anything you are intentionally avoiding? Any sin in your life that you are justifying?

Question 2

What truth do I no longer believe?

When we neglect to consistently drink from God’s Word, we start to wither away like a seed thrown on the rocks like in Luke 8:13. As a result, we fall when tempted or fail when tested. Jesus calls us to drink from the living water that He offers, when we do, we will never be thirsty (John 4:14).

When promised of Gid did you once cling close to that you now rarely think of? Are you more in love with Jesus this year than last year? Remember that the believer’s life is a journey, not a sprint. We need to frequently preach the gospel to ourselves so that our hearts remain encouraged.

Question 3

What truth is being overshadowed by lies?

If we believe the lies of the enemy and allow sin to grow in our hearts, it will come out the truth and keep us from growing. This is found in Luke 8:14. When we don’t prioritize God’s truth, it will become overshadowed by the pleasures of concerns of the world.

What “thorns” are choking you? It might be a secret sin you don’t want to confess, like an addiction to pornography or substances or sugar. It could be the distraction of entertainment or envy that you need to feed. Regardless of what these thorns are in your life, your response to them should be the same: turn away from them and turn to Jesus. When we focus on God’s goodness and truth, sin and lies start to fade.

Question 4

What truth is bearing fruit in my life right now?

Even in the most difficult of times, when our hearts are deeply hurting, the Holy Spirit is still working in us. God is shaping us to be more like Jesus despite ourselves. This is why you can be confident that when our hearts are receptive to God’s truth, something will grow. Fruit will be produced in abundance (Like 8:15).

Take a minute to look at where the Spirit may be working in your life. What fruit do you see? If there is no fruit, that would be the reason to examine your faith and consider whether your “soil” has accepted the “seed” of the gospel.

Pray For Change

Based on your answers to these questions, what is the condition of your heart? Are you in a healthy place, or can you think of times when your heart has been more aligned toward God? What changes could you make in your life to better embrace truth and produce fruit?

Regardless of whether times are good or bad, these are questions we should regularly ask ourselves. Examining our hearts and seeing ourselves clearly requires prayer. (Psalm 139:23-24). We need the Holy Spirit to give us the eyes to see. We need God to reveal to us what He wants to change, and we need His power to change it (Philippians 3:13).

Asking these questions may be the heart check the Lord uses to begin changing your heart and equipping you to better serve His kingdom.

A Rhema Word

But he answered, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every wird that proceeds out of the mouth of God” – Matthew 4:4

A Rhema word from God is a word that is personally communicated to a believer you hear in your spirit.

A Rhema word from God will certainly change the course of the circumstances in your life. You cannot hear from God and remain the same. One of the reasons why we sometimes do not get results is because we take actions without hearing from God. It is one thing to have faith, but another when you act in response to hearing a word from God on an issue.

God designed man to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. God’s voice and the word it brings gets rid of fear and confusion. You cannot hear from God and be confused.

Starting your day with a Word from God is why a healthy devotional life is important. It puts you in a spot to hear God before you start your day.

God has given us the complete revelation of Himself in His Son Jesus, which has been parceled and given to us in the Bible. This complete revelation of God is what is called the “Logos.” Behind every scripture in the Bible is the voice of God. This is important to understand. The Holy Spirit makes us hear God’s voice in the scriptures as it applies in specific circumstances. This is the Rhema Word. We can also hear the voice of the Holy Spirit directly and audibly.

The revelation of the written word in your spirit we call “inspiration” is actually the voice of the Spirit speaking into your spirit person to teach or reveal something to you at the moment. Jesus said of the Spirit,

“But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, He will not speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come” – John 16-13

Something happens inside of you when you receive this Rhema eord from the Holy Spirit. It automatically generates faith. Fear quits. “You know that you know, that it is true. It’s not some strange revelation.

Many are not aware of what they have sitting somewhere on their tables or on their shelves called the Bible. It is God’s Word -yes, literally God’s Word. It has Rhema in it for you every day. When you learn to stay with the written Word and allow the Holy Spirit to speak into your spirit person as he teaches you from the scriptures.

When we meditate on the scriptures we position ourselves in such a way that the Spirit can speak through the scriptures and bring the Rhema word to us.

When we pray and ask the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word in the Bible come alive to us. We will begin to understand who God is.

When we learn to sit at the feet of Jesus to hear His Word, He speaks to us in revelation and inspiration and brings a Rhema word and something will happen inside of you.

Heart Check

In Psalm 41 God reminds us if everything is going wrong in our it’s time to check our relationship with Him.

God’s kindness and truth have often been the support and comfort when I have experienced man’s unkindness and treachery. It’s important to check our hearts when things are going well. To see if we are the problem.

Here are a four questions I go over in my head when everything is going wrong:

Four Questions

These are found in Psalm 41:

1. integrity

How do I treat others? – verses 1-4

2. Treachery

How do I treat others? -verses 5-9

3. Mercy

How does God treat me? -verses 10-12

4. Glory

How do I treat God? – verse 13

God can pour out blessings when we keep our hearts right with Him. When things are not going good in our lives it is not time to pull away from God, but to run to Him. Ask Him for forgiveness if we aren’t following Him, and ask for answers if we need them.

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Why I Enjoy Writing

I enjoy writing because is helps me keep my eyes on the long game of my goal. Writing helps me come to know what I know. It organizes my thoughts. As well as share what I’ve learned and my thoughts with others.

I remember in school we learned to read and write. I had to write 2000-word essays on a book the entire class was reading. That is not so anymore. We have a generation that cannot or will not read anymore. It’s a “Hey look it up on “Google” attitude and if it’s there it’s true attitude.

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly”

Spiritually Blinded

Spiritual blindness is being unable to see the truth of God through Jesus. We are all born into a state of blindness because of sin. Ever sense Ada, sinned in the Garden of Eden, every generation and every human being had been born spiritually blind and spiritually dead to their sin.

Our human sin soaked natures permeates us to the heart, blinding our eyes and leaving us in the dark. We cannot do anything to change our condition within ourselves

Just being dead in sin before we come to know Jesus we are spiritually blind. We are blind to the things of the Spirit. We are unable to perceive them. It is Jesus who is the light of the world and it is Him who opens our eyes to the truth of who He is.

Jesus is the Word of God and had been with the Father in the joy of the Holy Spirit from the beginning. There has always been a relational love between God and His Son, Jesus. It is in Jesus we can find true life, and His life is the light of all humanity. Even the thickest darkness cannot overcome His light.

Before Jesus came no one had ever seen God the Father. But Jesus being God’s one and only Son, who is God Himself has made known to us (John 1:18).

When we see Jesus, we see what God is truly like. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father’s likeness. Hebrews 1:14 says,

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory, the very image of His substance, and upholding all things the word of His power, who, when. He had by Himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

When Jesus came into the world He had created. The world did not recognize Him. (John 1:10). His own people, the Jews did not see that He was the promised Messiah, and eventually the Gentiles would not recognize Him either. People loved darkness more than light (as it is today), even though Jesus, the light of the world, had come to them (John 3:19). Although the light of the world was among them, spiritually blind people could not see Jesus for who He was. Even Jesus’s own family at the time believed He was, “out of His mind” ( Mark 3:21).

Those who are spiritually blind cannot see the truth of God. Even those who are ‘religious’ can be spiritually blind. The spiritual leaders (the Pharisees ) of the day were spiritually blind when they should have understood like Jesus telling Nicodemus the Pharisee that he must be born again, yetNicodemus did not understand this teaching (John 3:1-21). Jesus also spoke with the Pharisees after He healed a man who had been born blind (John 9). It was the man who was born blind who spoke truthfully about Jesus, he knew that he was blind now he could see (John 9:25). In contrast the Pharisees thought they had their eyes opened, but they were spiritually blind to the truth of Jesus. Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would would be guilty of sin, but now you claim you can see, your guilt remains (John 9:41).

Those who were experts in religious law and who prided themselves on their knowledge, were self-righteous, hypocritical and did not see the prophecies about Jesus the Messiah being unveiled before their eyes. The religious leaders would eventually be the ones to lead the crucifixion of Jesus. They were spiritually blinded, and their sin left them in darkness, unable to see the true light of Jesus Christ.

The Darkness and the Light that Overcomes it

Satan is behind blinding the minds of those who are alienated from God. He was there in the Garden when he tempted Adam and Eve to not trust God who gave them life and walked with them in close relationships daily. Satan the enemy of God has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light that Jesus came for us to see (2 Corinthians 4:4).

However, Satan does not have the final word. God has the final word when Jesus says “It is finished” ( John 29:31) as He gave up His last breath, dying on the cross and atoning for the sins of His people once and for all, Because of the cross of Christ, there is hope. Because of Jesyx, there is light in this dark and present evil age.

Since the resurrection and rising of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has made it possible for us to be born again and to discern the truth. If we believe we can be transformed with renewed minds, and be willing to discern God’s pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2),/

However, those who are dead in sin and unbelief remain spiritually blind. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolish, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” The minds of unbelievers are in darkness and they cannot see the wisdom of God, and follow the pattern and powers of this world,

I saw a clip of a man standing by some homosexual people reading the Bible on a street corner a few weeks ago. The homosexuals were screaming in the many face of the man that he was speaking lies. He man was reading about Sodom and Gamorrah and abomination. This is a prime example of spiritual blindness.

How the Spiritually Blind can see

Jesus came and opened physical and spiritually blind eyes. John 9:39 He said, “For judgment, I have come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they, which see might be made blind.” He was prophesied to be light and one who would open blind eyes. As it is written in Isaiah 42:6-7.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison”

We can read about the truth of who Jesus is and what He did in the Bible. When we hear the truth of Jesus through scripture, we can respond in faith as faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ Jesus (Romans 10:17). As we turn toward Jesus, the Holy Spirit works on our hearts and changes us to be more like Jesus. We are saved by faith alone. It is God’s grace to us that saves and opens our eyes (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Flesh Cannot Change Flesh

We all face the struggle of dealing with our flesh. Paul told us in Romans 8:6-7:

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God, for it is not subject to

Our flesh does not magically vanish when we become believers. Jesus said, ‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The flesh is old, carnal nature. It must be dealt with. Think of it as a weak-willed person in us. Our fallen nature has a side to it that has no character, no resolve, no backbone, and no self-control.

The Bible says in Romans 6:19 that the flesh is a slave to impurity and wantonness, that serves the law of sin and has passions and desires that bring corruption and had its own wisdom which wages war against the soul (Romans 7:25, Galatians 5:24, 6:8, 2 Corinthians 1:12, 1 Peter 2:11, Romans 7:18). It is the flesh that desires and generates immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, and envy, (Galatians 5:19-21). It is the weak willed man.

When I speak of the flesh, or the carnal nature, keep in mind that I am primarily referring to mind set, a way of thinking. It is the insanity which keeps up bound up in sin that we know (when we are in our right minds) is destroying us.

If a person is struggling with a powerful pull of sexual temptation, the conflict between flesh and spirit becomes a relevant issue in life. Paul said in Galatians 5:16,

“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.“

The key to overcoming life-dominating habits is to walk in the Spirit. I have never seen anyone in sin who was walking in the Spirit. We can not follow God accurately if we don’t crucify our flesh.

You can spend years on a psychologist’s couch or regularly attend support group meetings but if you want to overcome habitual sin, you must learn to walk in the Spirit.

The process is a lifelong battle. Pail said in Galatians 5:17,

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“For the flesh lists against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, that you may do the things that you desire.”

There is a battle raging inside every believer who wants to please God yet finds that part of them simply wants to indulge in pleasure and sin.

Every day we make choices about which part of us will be in control. We can choose to give in to the flesh, vent our anger towards others, be sarcastic, indulge in sexual thinking, and be wrapped up in ourselves. We can sit in front of a television, listen to carnal music, or we can choose to shield ourselves from the sensualities of the media, control out minds, bridle our tongues, and show kindness to others. Minute by minute throughout our lives, we will face choices about our behavior.

A person does not mature into godliness simply because their salvation experience happened a long time ago. They grow into the likeness of Christ only by daily cooperating with God’s work in their inner being.

This is where a typical believer gets bogged down and discouraged. When it seems that change will never come and they are bound to live in defeat. We must realize that it is not God’s desire for us. While it’s true that one aspect of the Spirit vs flesh occurs in our daily lives, it is equally true that we strive after righteousness, and fight against the desires of flesh, and continue to pursue a course of holiness, which gradually gain ground in us. This process takes time and requires us to diligently cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work.

If we are sincere in this we will begin to notice that temptation no longer grips us with overpowering power. Our intimacy with God increases, and this helps us to overcome temptation.

This spiritual growth and development is not automatic. A person does not mature into godliness overnight. They grow into holiness by daily cooperating with God’s work.

Positive Emotions

Hope is considered a positive emotion. It’s a feeling of optimism and anticipation about a positive future, and it can be triggered by some degree of difficulty, uncertainty, or negativity. People who have a lot of hope may experience benefits like better mental and physical health, a strong sense of purpose, fewer chronic illnesses, and lower levels of depression to name a few,

Hope by definition, is an optimistic state of mind that is based on the possibility or expectation, of positive outcomes with respect to specific goals.

Perfect Peace

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever for in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength” – Isaiah 26:3-4

God made an amazing promise through Isaiah. “You will keep him in perfect peace” God promises that we can have perfect peace, and be kept in a place of perfect peace.

In the original Hebrew text the term “perfect peace” is actually Shalom Shalom. This shows how the Hebrew language repetition communicates intensity. It isn’t just Shalom, it’s Shalom Shalom, “perfect peace“. It is as if God wasn’t satisfied to give us one door of peace to walk through. He opened up the double doors of peace and said, “Shalom Shalom.” If one assurance of peace is not enough for us. He will follow it what a second and then put on top of those two the promise to keep us there

Some can have this peace, but it is fleeting and they are never kept there. Others can be kept in peace of the wicked, the peace of spiritual sleep and ultimate destruction. But there is a perfect peace that the Lotd will keep us in.

Who are the people who enjoy this peace? Isaiah tells us, “Whose mind is stayed on You.” This is the place of perfect peace and even the source of it. When we keep our minds focused on God, settled on, and established on the Lord Himself, then we can be kept in this perfect peace.

To be kept in this perfect peace, our minds must stay on Him. What sustains your mind? What is your mind established upon? Who does your mind lean on? To have perfect peace, your mind cannot occasionally come to the Lord, it has to stay on Him.

If our minds are focused on ourselves, or our problems, and the problems of other people in our lives, or anything else, we can not have perfect peace.

Paul said in Philippians 3:10,

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed to His death.”

Satan loves our minds on anything except God and His love for us.

When we trust in the Lord, we keep our minds on Him. The battle for His trust begins in our minds. If we trust in the Lord, it shows in our actions, but it begins in our minds.

If the Lord calls us to rely on Him completely with our minds. He appeals to our minds with a rational reason why we should trust Him, because of His everlasting strength.

Perfect Peace

What Brings Me Peace

We live in a stress-filled world. Thankfully one of God’s promises is that He will provide us with His peace in the midst of trouble.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled do not be afraid” -John 14:27

With a promise like that, believers should be happy and secure in a troubled world. While we face the same kind of problems everyone else does, the peace that God gives enables believers to cope and rise above them. Through faith and getting to know God through His Word we are able to overcome hardships and rejoice -even in the midst of adversity.

Most people think of peace as the absence of conflict or strife, but God’s concept of peace is much more than that. In Hebrew the word “Shalom” us used with means peace and health and stems from complete or perfect. My Pastor describes Shalom as the peace that comes when God had completely destroyed the enemy.

Is t really possible too have this kind of peace in troubled times? Absolutely. But many miss out on it because they look for peace in all the wrong places.