Christian Living – Smart Christian.net
Philippians 4:4-7 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Easier said than done I hear you say, but these words were written by Paul in prison. He had endured so much. It is only by God’s grace that he had survived so far. Yet he could still talk about joy and peace. It was the peace and communion through prayer to God that got him through. No, I am not saying that you can name your blessing a claim it like some claim, but God will help your spirit survive if you lean on him.
Read more at: Christian Living – Smart Christian.net
Don’t Grumble
Philippians 2:14-15
14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.
HCSB
There are a lot of people that seem to have plenty to grumble about, but what good does it do? Little if any at all. We all have issues, some of us could sell our life story to soap opera writers, I personally have grumbled more than my fair share, and I have had some decent reasons to grumble compared to many. Yet I have it better than a huge portion of the planet. I used to live in Turkey, a country that touches both Asia and Europe, with Muslim roots. There were people there who did not have access to hot water for a bath, shortages that kept them from being able to use their gas stoves. They actually had a huge population of people who had to dig through garbage to find anything that they could sell or eat. Dirty diapers did not detour them from digging through American trash cans! And we grumble!
All grumbling does is multiply and share our misery! It sucks the energy right out of the room! I have known people who grumble so much that they could make your dream vacation seem like a cancer diagnosis! Dwelling on whatever is bothering them makes them feel worse, and it certainly won’t help you.
When non-Christians see us grumble it makes the Christian life seem miserable, why would anyone want to be a Christian like you, if you are constantly grumbling?
Instead of grumbling try being grateful for what you do have, praying, and asking your pastor and other church members for advice and prayer. Looking for solutions will bring more satisfaction than grumbling ever will, and will make you a better witness for Christ.
The link below is to my affiliate Amazon.com A purchase through this link will help support Smart Christian,net. I recommend this book to anyone struggling with depression or purpose.
Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind,
Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power
by J.P, Moreland
Fishers of Men « Christian Coffee
On many occasions I have heard stories from non-Christians talking about how they started building a relationship with a Christian, sometimes it is a person they work with, sometimes it is someone they knew in school…, but the moment the Christian found out they were non-Christians, the Christian started acting like talking to a non-Christian would kill them! This is incredibly rude, makes non-Christians believe we are liars when we say that we have a God of love, and chases them AWAY from Christianity! This is NOT how Christians are supposed to behave!We are supposed to be fishers of men. When you go fishing you actually have to go near or on the water, and offer the fish something that they want, in the case of fishing for fish it can be worms, shrimp, even bread balls have been known to work. The point is that the fish has to like what you are offering at the end of your hook. If you put something toxic at the end of your hook, they either will not bite at all, or your catch will be good for nothing.When you offer non-Christians fear and loathing, you will not catch anyone! You must offer them the genuine love of Christ. Be a friend, a real friend.
Who says you are a basket case?
A lot of people struggle with self-loathing for a lot of reasons. Some are sold the lie that they don’t deserve love. Some are told that they will always be oppressed because of the color of their skin or their sex. , Some are terribly abused, and some made bad choices.
With God, whatever those reasons are don’t matter.
Moses started off the child of a slave that was supposed to be murdered as soon as he was born, but God had a plan.
David a sheppard boy who brought a rock to a sword fight with a giant, with God he became such a brilliant King that thousands of years later people who have never been to Isreal, never gone to Church or synagogue know his name.
Joseph was hated enough by all of his brothers that they thought about killing him but sold him into slavery instead, he ended up in prison. But by God’s grace, he became the second most important person in all of Egypt and the one responsible for saving a huge portion of the people in the then known world who would have starved to death without him.
Saul was a hunter of Christians who wanted them dead, or at least in prison, but God was even able to forgive him, and he became Paul who wrote most of the New Testament.
Stop thinking that you are a basket case, God can do mighty things with you. Don’t buy the lie that you are a victim, don’t buy the lie that you are too old, too poor, too stupid or whatever you think you are. While we are all marred by sin, we were also made in the image of God. Let that image shine.
Aim for the stars, you might not make it, but aim for them anyway, and be amazed by how far you go when you realize that it’s God’s opinion of you that matters most.
Correcting four myths about the history of the Crusades
“The four myths:
Myth #1: The crusades represented an unprovoked attack by Western Christians on the Muslim world.
Myth #2: Western Christians went on crusade because their greed led them to plunder Muslims in order to get rich.
Myth #3: Crusaders were a cynical lot who did not really believe their own religious propaganda; rather, they had ulterior, materialistic motives.
Myth #4: The crusades taught Muslims to hate and attack Christians.”
Read the entire article at Correcting four myths about the history of the Crusades
Does Jesus Endorse Blind Faith? | Stand to Reason
Taken out of context, John 20:29 is often used to justify faith without evidence. Greg looks at the whole passage to clarify the true meaning of the verse.
