Believing the truth, God’s truth, is the active power of our new life. It is the Lord’s grace-based way of giving wings to our new life of faith. All Christians will tell you that they believe in Jesus. But have we been “blinded” by the light? The all-important issue of believing doesn’t end there. The demons also believe that the Father and Jesus exist, but they take no joy or peace in believing it, nor do they live yielded to Him in trust and obedience.
Since we are saved by grace through faith, it is entirely by means of faith that we are meant to access all that grace so freely supplies. For instance, God’s Word says that we who believe can be filled with all joy and peace “in believing.” If this is not what you are experiencing all day long, then perhaps there are a few things you still need to learn about recognizing and overcoming the stronghold of unbelief which may be quenching your faith.
I was face to face with a monster. The sweet, sad soul opposite me was being squeezed relentlessly by a monster depression, and had been off and on for years. By now, it had rendered him utterly hopeless and physically homeless, barraged hourly by thoughts of stabbing himself. How could I position him for the Lord to set him free? What would you have done? You may ask: Was he a Christian? Yes, but being a Christian can make depression worse, if…
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Confidence – who needs it? We all do! And plenty of it. Like popcorn with salt, everything goes better with confidence. But where do we go to get it? In The Sound of Music, Julie Andrews as Maria is the spokesperson for popular culture when she sings: “I have confidence in confidence alone, and as you can see, I have confidence in me!” That’s what we want to be – optimistic people brimming with self-confidence. But before we all join in and sing a chorus or two, let’s stop to consider…
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Ever wonder why it’s so hard to feel God’s delight in you? How can God possibly delight in any of us? Some days it takes a lot of faith just to believe that He can love and forgive us. But that He actually delights in us, rejoices over us, has passionate affections for us, and is constantly devoted to us—this really seems too much to ask! First, let us identity the enemy’s strategy: he and his kingdom have been continuously at…
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TIME TO RING THE GONG ON FEELINGS? Don’t you wish you could banish some of your feelings as easily as banging on the gong banished unwanted performers from the Gong Show stage? What good are the crummy ones anyway? Where do they come from? And why do the ones we hate stick to us like glue, while the ones we love drift so easily away? These were the mysteries of the interior…
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Believing the truth, God’s truth, is the active power of our new life. It is the Lord’s grace-based way of giving wings to our new life of faith. All Christians will tell you that they believe in Jesus. But have we been “blinded” by the light? The all-important issue of believing doesn’t end there. The demons also believe that the Father and Jesus exist, but they take no joy or peace in believing it, nor do they live yielded to Him in trust and obedience.
