All have a meeting with death.

What Happens When You Die?" This is an important question because death is something you will eventually face. And death is no respecter of persons. It strikes the old and the young, the sick and the healthy, the poor and the rich, the good and the bad.

When your time is up, it’s up. Death can be postponed, but never eliminated. The fact of the matter is, someday you will die, and those you love will die, and nothing can change this solemn fact.  All have a meeting with death. So what happens when you die?

*Here is what WILL NOT happen when you die.

-Death is NOT the end of existence. The Bible says . . . (Gen. 25:8). This implies an existence after death. So death is NOT the end of existence.

-You will NOT be "reincarnated" into something or someone else. In fact, reincarnation is nothing more than a fairy tale. The Bible says . . . (Heb. 9:27). You get just one run in life and that’s it.

-You will NOT have a "second chance" after death. If you say "No" to Jesus in this life, then you’ll NEVER be given another chance in the life to come. The Bible says . . . (Heb. 9:27). In other words, you get one run at life and then you face judgment from God after you die. The only opportunity you will ever have to get right with God is the opportunity God gives you in this life. There is NO second chance after death.

*What WILL happen when you die?

When you die your body and soul will separate. Your body will remain here on earth where you family and friends will bury it and "lay it to rest." But your soul begins The Next Existence and begins its Eternal Continuation depending on whether you are saved or lost.

If  saved, or you’ve accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and have a personal relationship with God, then your soul will go straight to Heaven to be with Jesus (Luke 23:43, 2 Cor. 5:8).

But that’s not the whole story. The souls of departed believers will wait in Heaven with Jesus until the Second Coming. They will return with Jesus and be reunited with their resurrected bodies (1 Thess. 4:14, 16). I Cor. 15:51-55 adds that your resurrected body will be "imperishable." That is, your new body will be perfect in every way. Your resurrected body will never wear out, never suffer injury, never get sick, never grow old, and never die. It will be imperishable.

But what about the unbeliever? What about those who haven’t experienced the love and forgiveness which God makes available through the cross?

If a person is lost, that is, He (or she) hasn’t accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord, and doesn’t have a personal relationship with God, then their soul will go straight to Hell where they will be separated from Jesus and those that will be in everlasting paradise.

"Hell" translated in the Bible.

1. Tartarus - which is where the most vile and wicked demons are imprisoned (2 Peter 2:4).

2. Hades- which is where a lost person’s soul is sent when they pass from this life (Luke 16:22-24) (note that the Rich Man was alert, in agony, and all alone). Hades is like a temporary holding cell in which criminals are held until they are sentenced. The Bible tells you that Hades will be emptied out just before the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20:13). The lost of the earth will be judged and sentenced to . . .

3. Gehenna - this is the final place of punishment for those who never experienced the love and forgiveness of God made available through the cross. It is a terrible, terrible, fate for sinners.

You will meet death, face to face, some day and you need to be ready. Don’t take one single day for granted.

James 4:14 reminds you . . . . Life is a precious, precious gift. So don’t waste one single day. If you’re holding any grudges, let them go. If you’re living in sin, stop doing what’s wrong and start doing what’s right. If you’re not as close to Jesus as you ought to be, then get as close to Him as you possibly can. Life is too short to waste. Don’t waste it on foolishness, selfishness, or sinful living. Get as close as you can to Jesus and you will enjoy life and fulfill your purpose for being here.

Do these things and you will be ready when you meet death, face to face.

You become what you think

The Law of Concentration states that whatever you dwell upon grows in your life experience. Whatever you think about on a continual basis becomes a part of you.
You become what you think, and the more you dwell on something, the more you have of it in your life.

The Law of Substitution states that your conscience mind can only hold one thought at a time. It makes no difference to your mind whether the thought is "negative" or "positive," it can only hold one at a time. However, you can choose to substitute "negative" thoughts with "positive" thoughts, thus changing your mental state of being.

The Lord understood these principles when He inserted a couple of scriptures into the Bible: Proverbs 23:7a, "For as you think in your heart, so you are."

Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep them in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because they trust in thee."

You are what you are because of what you have allowed yourself to concentrate on!
If you find yourself crabby, miserable, negative person that nobody likes to be around . . . guess what?  You’re that way because you have allowed yourself to feast on a steady diet of crabby, miserable, negative thoughts.

If you bake a cake and it doesn’t turn out like you want, you can blame the oven all day long . . . but that won’t change the outcome of your next cake. If you want to change the outcome of the next cake . . . change the recipe!

If you find that you’re not the person you want to be, you can blame your circumstances all day long, but that will never change anything. If you want to change . . . change the recipe of your life!

Try substituting negative thoughts with positive ones. And do you know what? . . .
If you’ll concentrate on what’s right in your life instead of what is wrong . . . what’s good instead of what’s bad . . . what’s sweet instead of what’s bitter . . . you’ll find that you’re a totally different person . . . and the only thing that changed . . . was you!

Happiness comes when you stop wailing about the troubles you have, and offer thanks for all the troubles you don’t have.

It’s exciting to realize that you can hold the thoughts and feelings and purposes of God’s very own heart in your heart? It’s thrilling to know the Creator of heaven and earth wants to be one spirit with you and transmit His thoughts to your mind?

First Corinthians 6:17 says that when you were joined to the Lord you became one spirit with Him. He came into union with you so that He can talk to you heart to heart. God wants you in this harmony with Him so that His thoughts can become your actions.

He wants you to walk so closely with Him that you never lack power to overcome the evil of this world. He wants you to be so in tune with His Spirit that you are able to feel His heart of compassion toward those around you who are hurting or bowed down with sickness and pain.

He wants you to consent to become one with Him, just as He has committed to be one with you, so He can reach out through your hands and fulfill His purposes in the earth.

Make a fresh commitment today to walk in union with your God. Give your attention to His Spirit in your inner person. Determine to yield to His voice and not to the voices of the world or the flesh! Determine to yield to His fresh leadership of your life, and not to the traditions of people.

Ask yourself: What voice am I listening to in times of crisis or decision making?
Allow the mind of Christ to flow through you!

By faith you can have your mind renewed if you will begin to read the Word of God daily and to the best of your understand and ability, begin to apply that part of it that applies to you, in your daily responses to life.

Romans 12:1-4
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
This is a written directive of God’s will.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Now then, since you know what God wants and how he wants you to begin.

It is your decision. Will you continue to use the same old recipes which have not worked? Try God’s new recipes- they have worked in countless millions of lives who became serious about their situation, and decided to let God help.

Focus your efforts on rejoicing.

Use examples of nature to cause you to consider the genius of God’s role throughout creation. You are supposed to love and fear God “actually living it out is challenging. It’s tough, and you’ve often take what God has given you for granted and “forget that you already have everything you need in Him and Instead of seeing your purpose as to serve God, you “live instead as though God is created for you, to do your bidding, to bless you, and to take care of your loved ones.”

Focus on how you can be serving God. Your life really is a vapor, a short span of time that you should be using to serve God and yet you still view life’s daily worries as important. Although being born in this world it’s human and normal to do so, worry is not really something supported in scripture; rejoicing is what you should be desiring to do. In Phil 4:4 it says “rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” it doesn’t end with “unless you’re doing something really important.” When you replace God with worrying you “convey the belief that you think the circumstances are more important than God’s command to always rejoice. In other words, that you have a “right” to disobey God because of the magnitude of your responsibilities.” It seems like a Good point to focus in on all your responsibilities; it’s an easy sin to fall in to. But Focus your efforts on rejoicing, when you do your worries become smaller in your mind you’ll learn more and more that essentially God is in control anyways.

 “The Son of God was born among the people whom God still somehow loves. While in this world, the Son taught His followers what true love looks like. Then the Son of God died and was resurrected and went back to be with God.”

The emphasis in your life is to be “obsessive” living for Jesus. This is offensive to many people in the world as it’s much easier to not be obsessed with Jesus. Don’t forget that, your “part is to bring God glory” and the point of your life “for others to look at you and your life points to Jesus.” Period. You can do this in a number of ways. If you are person that happens to be blessed with a lot of material possessions, “God has given you this good stuff so that you can show the world a person who enjoys blessings, but who is still totally obsessed with God.” Having stuff is not a sin, but refusing to share what you have (selfishly hoarding it) IS.

Living obsessively for God involves taking risks that many are afraid to take. Don’t stop taking risks and be ruled by your fears of what could happen?” Some of the fear of sharing your possessions comes out of a fear of what might happen. “Sadly, many people die while living selfishly.”

Shine your light. LET THE WHOLE WORLD SEE. LIVE IT for the Glory of the Risen KING.

Whatever has control of your mind has control of your soul

Do you know that you are a part of Christ and you have been called out of the darkness and have been commissioned to open the eyes of those that the god of this world has blinded, your commissioned to be an unstoppable force that changes those around you, to preach the gospel that is dedicated to leading souls to glory. Therefore as a part of Christ you must possess a certain character in order to effectively carry out what God had in mind for you. You are a part of “The Church in the World”. The first thing you must understand is it’s the church “IN” the world and not “OF” look at what this actually means.

EXAMPLE: In your home you have electricity. The electricity is in your house, but it is not of the house. It is a different entity from the house and the source of its power is from outside of the house, but because of its character it effects what is done in the house. That is how you are in the world that is how it is to be and is what God had in mind for you. You are in the world, but not of the world, you’re a different entity from the world, but because of (The Holy Spirit Living in You) the spirit of God affects the world and what is done in it.

WATCH THIS: The world spoken of here is not what you think of as the earth. It is not just the dirt which consists of many elements and minerals. The world is the influential principalities and powers which govern the mental capacity of mankind.

Understand whoever or whatever has control of your mind has control of your soul. That is why the Bible says in Eph 6:12 “For you wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]”. These principalities, power, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness are the influential worldly characteristics that try to control your mind and are capable of controlling your soul.

The Holy Spirit is in you and you are in the world, your apart of the influential Power that is to be EFFECTIVE in the world. It is the power to bring about a Christ like result. The way you are effective in the world is by your character. Remember character is that distinguishing trait that separates you from everyone else. You “IN” the world must possess certain Christ like character traits in order to be effective. You must be a light in the world. The purpose of light is to illuminate Jesus. The Bible says in Phil 2:15 “That you are to be blameless and harmless, a child of Gods, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse world, among whom you shine as a light in the world”. Therefore, you in the world must be a light. So it doesn’t matter how spectacular you are building yourself up, if the people around you are not being lights shining in this dark world then you are not being effective and therefore you are not operating in what God had in mind for you.

You must stand in the world against what the devil is trying to do. Understand that the devil wants control of your mind. You must possess the Christ like character to stand against the things he is doing to try to get control of your mind.

God allows you to go through periods of spiritual drought

Everything in your life can be going great and then all of a sudden something happens, and it’s as if someone pulled the rug out from underneath you.

Maybe you have a wreck on the way to work one day and the guy who hit you doesn’t have insurance and you end up having to pay most of the repair bill out of your own pocket.  Maybe one of your kids gets hurt playing soccer and you have some unexpected doctor’s bills to pay. Or maybe you go to the doctor for a routine checkup and when the doctor calls you back with the results of your tests he informs you that you have cancer.

When something like that happens it usually catches you off guard and often knocks the breath out of you. But how you respond in that situation is very important. You can either respond by blaming God, which is what the prophet Jonah did when the worm ate the vine that was providing him shade. Or you can respond in faith, like Elijah did and do whatever the Lord tells you to do next.

Sometimes God allows things to happen in your life to test your faith, which is exactly what He did when He allowed the brook to dry up. Suddenly, Elijah had a decision to make.

He could either complain about it like the Israelites had done when they were wandering around in the wilderness. Or He could be patient, and put His faith and trust in God, and see what God had in store for him next. Fortunately, Elijah put his faith in God. Here is what happened next. Look at Kings 16:-17:

Then the word of the Lord came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."

God had another plan, another test and another mission for Elijah. He told him to go to Zarephath of Sidon, which was coastal town located between Tyre and Sidon. To make the decision even more difficult to make it was about a 100-mile walk from the wilderness to the town of Zarephath. To make matters worse it wasn’t in Israel and was ruled by none other than King Ahab’s father-in-law. To top it all off God told Elijah to put his life in the hands of a poor widow woman.

Elijah again responded in faith, trusting that God would do what He said He would do, even though it didn’t really make sense. Especially after he met the woman and discovered that she had more than her share of problems.

Yet because He obeyed, despite not fully understanding, God not only provided for His needs but also for the Widow and her son.

(1) the lessons you can learn from Elijah is to always put your faith and trust in the Lord and do what He tells you to do.
(2) A second lesson you can learn is that God will sometimes allow you to go through periods of spiritual drought to test you and help you to mature. He may also use spiritual droughts to prepare you for the next assignment that He has for you.

Elijah is best known for defeating the 450 Prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah on Mt. Carmel. But He would never have been spiritually mature enough for that assignment had he not lived through a few spiritual droughts. So if you find yourself in a spiritual drought this today don’t give up. Don’t throw in the towel. Remain faithful and wait on God to show you what to do next. Make sure you understand that Spiritual droughts are temporary, they do not last forever.

(1) Continue to read and hold onto the Promises of God found in the Bible.
Read it, study it, and allow God to minister to you through His Word.
Memorize certain Scripture verses and Meditate on them. Allow the Word of God to feed you and be your source of strength even in the midst of the spiritual drought that you are facing.

(2) Next, don’t forget to pray, and when you have prayed, go back and pray some more.
Don’t be afraid to be honest with God about how you feel. He’s a big God, he can handle it, if you’re angry at him let him know it. If you’re disappointed, tell Him. If you can’t express yourself verbally write it down.

(3) Finally, when you find yourself in a spiritual drought or facing a problem that you can’t seem to find the solution to, don’t try to get through it on your own. Instead turn to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and let them help you through it, after all that is one of the reasons that you as a brother or sister in Christ are here.

If you have never sinned, go ahead and throw the first stone!

"Never judge a man unless you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. How many times have you judged others based on rumors and lies? How about you how many times have you been judged because of your past? Or have been criticized for doing something different or even being different? Or maybe you have felt the sting of being unfairly judged by another person when they did not even know you?

Every one has a story...and part of your story includes being judged or condemned unfairly by others...something you really have very little control over.

The challenge with being on the receiving end of judgment or condemnation is to not to let others unfair judgments shut you down. The pathway to this is forgiveness or to forgive those who make such condemnations...because that is the only way to be free of the anger and negative self-image that such condemnation can create.

Matthew 7:1-7:5  Jesus doesn’t really address this part of the equation. He’s interested in you and he wants you to realize how unhealthy it is to live a critical lifestyle, how God distains such an attitude to life. He talks in some very strong terms about judging or condemning others. But He doesn’t leave you there alone. He gives the way out of having a critical, judgmental heart.

First of all, Jesus clearly commands you not to judge.  When you see someone making a practice of self-destructive behavior and you gently bring that to their attention that is not what Jesus is talking about here.

So if you really want to apply this passage accurately in your life, you don’t stop making intelligent choices using a reasonable amount of discernment. You simply examine yourself to see if in your attitude you are condemning others.

Jesus commands you not to condemn others. In John chapter 8, Scripture gives you amazing insight into the character of God, a bunch of men are swarming
around a young woman caught in adultery. They bring her to Jesus to get him to pass judgment on her... they’re testing him. Jesus, while not disputing the law itself directly, redirects the question with his words. “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!"

Don’t make judgments as though you had the right to make judgments when you’re not, truly, equipped to make judgments. And that’s the problem.  Each of the men in John 8 had sin in their lives that they were not dealing with while at the same time wanting desperately to deal most severely with the sin of another person.

When you judge another to the point of condemnation, you, expose yourself to falling. That’s why in Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted”.

There’s another real downside to condemning others. "Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.”

God will use the act or process of making things equal when you stand before Him face to face on the judgment day. Part of this equal process, will be your own standards of judging others. If you’re quick to condemn others or if you do so without mercy...then you should not expect much different from God.  If you prejudge others as matter of practice, you should not expect something different from God. Likewise if you do not condemn others, if you apply mercy and grace and give others the benefit of the doubt, you can rest a bit easier as you stand before God, for soon, one day, you will give an account of your life and your faith in Jesus Christ.

If you search your own heart and come clean with God about all the flaws you have, you can get on with the business of loving each other, which, by the way, is what Jesus recommends above everything for you.

You will have more Strength if you work together as a group.

Thank God for those times when He has either calmed your spirit or sent someone into your life to remind you that you should remain calm and not get carried away with what you wanted - even if you are so sure that it is exactly what God wants. Let that angry spirit within you calm down before you say or do things which will not only hurt yourself but also hurt those around you.

God does not always provide the details of how He is going to use you in what He is doing. Perhaps that would lead you to worry about some of the details - details which are God’s concern, not yours... Instead you had to follow God’s instructions and then trust God that he would use your actions to accomplish His purpose.

This element of trust emphasizes that God is in control. He uses you to accomplish His work but if no trust is required, the burden of the task and the need to control things becomes yours.

So often you want to know every detail of God’s plan for you, the danger for you is also that it becomes your plan, not God’s.

God will also tell you that you’re not alone and you do not have the burden of the task placed on your shoulders alone. Many times God will tell you that He will work through others - they will be His instruments also. Repeatedly God had others to help those he had given plans so they did not have to work alone. God sometimes does great things through individuals but He often deals with many people as a group - as His people - and He accomplishes His purposes through His people. Leaders cannot do the work unless those who follow also feel called to that work.

When you serve God, that service is very personal. God wants you to give all of yourself to Him. However, because it is personal, it can become quite easy to think that you alone are sincere in your service and to forget that there are others around you who are also eager to serve.

You may feel called by God to serve Him in some way but you have to work with those Christians which God has placed alongside you in your life. When each person serves God on their own without working together, they will not have the strength which they would have had if they’d of worked together as a group.

Enthusiastic and-eager people can provide the spark you need to work effectively for God. But that enthusiasm must not make you forget that God not the individual is in control. He will use you - in His way and in His time. You may not understand how but you need to be available for His use and not to set your own agenda. If your enthusiasm only lasts while you do your own thing, then you need to question that enthusiasm and the motives behind it.

You are to follow God’s word and listen to Him to try and determine what He wants you to do. Sometimes He will speak to you through mighty acts but other times through the quiet moments you spend with him or the calming advice of other believers. This means not just listening to what you want to hear but to be open to all of God’s word, To discuss with others what you feel that God is telling you and to work together with them.

Mostly, you are to trust Him. He is in control and His will shall be done despite you or through you. You can pray to God, asking Him to answer your petitions and trusting that He will do so, but you make your prayers subject to His will - thereby acknowledging that His ways are greater than your ways.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHILE YOU’RE AT WHERE YOU ARE.

When you are in a place between there and there and you begin to ask God What Am I Going To Do While I am Where I AM, Lord Now What!!! It is within this place that every child of God must go through at some time or another. Noah went through it, it was called the flood, Abraham went through it, it was called the Mount of Moriah, Moses went through it, it was called the desert experience, the Israelites went through it, it was called the wilderness, Elijah went through it, it was called Zarephath, the 3 Hebrew boys went through it, it was called the fiery furnace, Daniel went through it, it was called the lion’s den, Paul went through it, it was called prison, John went through it, it was called Patmos, and you must at some point go through this place.

Understand that this is the place that God is developing your character. This is your wilderness experience, your lion’s den and your fiery furnace. This place that you’ll find yourself in is a lonely place sometimes. It is a place that you often will feel rejected and neglected, but understand that it’s at this place your being selected and inspected this wilderness experience is to develop your character.

1st Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show praises to God who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

The Divine purpose for you is not just a mere external imitation of Christ but an internal transformation. Because you can look Holy on the outside and be pure hell on the inside, but an internal transformation is Holy on the inside and will cause the outside to be Holy. You can’t just have a form of godliness, but you must have the power. The form of godliness will let you get to a place, but the power will keep you at that place. The form of godliness will bring a storm in your life but the power will take you through that storm.

The ultimate measure of you as a person is not where you stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but what your Character is made of in the difficult to understand moments of life. Understand that reputations are built in a moment, but character is built in a lifetime. Reputation is what others say about you, Character is what the angels say about you. Reputation is the form of godliness; character is the power of it. When you succeed momentarily it is because of what you know, when you succeed temporarily it is because of what you do, when you permanently succeed it is because of what you are.

The reason that you will experience the wilderness or the reason you will be between there and there is because God is working on your character. He is trying to get you to a point that you are able to stand in the midst of a challenge and controversy with comfort and confidence, not in what you know, but because of who and whose you are.

This is the point where your character is developed, and you get to the point where you say Lord I need you. When you’re done trying to do everything yourself, where your trying fix the situation yourself and all you do is make it a bigger mess then it was before. God is trying to get you to the point where you are totally leaning on Him. He is trying to develop your character so that you realize that you need Him. When you get to the point that you realize that you need God every hour, not just when things are bad, but when things are good. Then it will become your character.

When your character is developed, when you’re totally depending on God to fight your battles for you, then you can put your energy into developing yourself in God.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHILE YOUR AT WHERE YOU ARE when you got to lean and depend upon Jesus. Trust in him and he will provide. That is what Job meant when he said though He slay me yet will I trust Him, If you trust Him He will, not maybe, but he will provide.

What Is God’s Antidote For Worry

Worry does not solve the problem. Worry cannot change the past. It cannot control the future. It can only make you miserable today. It is unhelpful. It’s unreasonable. It magnifies the problem. It makes mountains out of molehills. Worry makes your problems seem bigger than they really are. To worry about something you can’t change is useless. To worry about something you can change is unintelligent – just go ahead and change it. Worry is unreasonable.

Worry is unhealthy. The body is not made for worry. Worry can cause ulcers, backaches, headaches, insomnia. It’s unnatural. Plants and animals don’t worry. The only thing in creation that worries is people. Worry is not natural and it’s unhealthy.

What Is God’s Antidote For Worry? It’s for you to Believe He will TAKE CARE OF YOU.
If you really believe that God is going to take care of you, you’re not going to worry. You’re going to trust in God for all your needs.

If you’ll trust Him. He says, “He will provide for you. He will protect you. He will guide you. He will gather you to his side if you’ll let Him be your shepherd. Look at what it says in Isaiah 40:11. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.

Philippians 4:19 gets even more specific. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Worry is not only unhelpful, unreasonable, unhealthy – but it’s unnecessary if Jesus is your shepherd. Any time you worry you’re acting like an atheist. In essence you are saying: God is not going to take care of my needs. I don’t think He can. I don’t think He’s big enough – in fact I’m not sure He is even there. The antidote for worry though is make God your shepherd.

All worry is about is a control issue. Who is really in control? Worry is nothing more than you trying to control what you can’t control - trying to control the uncontrollable. Worry is a warning light that you have not put God in control.

Who’s in control of your life? God gives you the option. He doesn’t force Himself in your life. You have two options – either you can be in control of your life or you can let God be in control of your life. God doesn’t co-pilot. If you’re in control of your life you’re in the Driver’s seat. If you’re running your own life without having God in control you ought to worry. Because there are things in your life that you will never control. But if God is running your life and He’s the Lord of your life – you should not worry. The Lord is all knowing and all powerful.

Begin Praying About EVERYTHING.

What should you start praying about? Start praying about the things you have been worrying about. If you prayed about the things you worried about you would have a lot less time to worry. Worry doesn’t change things – prayer does. Worry is stewing without doing. Prayer puts you in contact with the One who can change the things you can’t. Whenever a problem arises you have two options – you can panic or you can pray.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Philippians 4:6. Cast all your care upon Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7. When you put your faith in God – He works miracles.

There is a second thing you do if you want to deal with worry. Consider One Day AT A TIME.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34. God will take care of tomorrow – trust Him for today. Don’t open your umbrella until it starts raining. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. When you worry you don’t change yesterday, you can’t control tomorrow, and you mess up today with worrying. The future can seem overwhelming. Therefore, trust God in small bites. Live for Him today. Notice how Jesus prayed: Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

Overcoming worry is a day by day choice. There is no pill you can take to stop worrying. There is no seminar, book or tape that will make you stop worrying. God’s antidote for worry is to put Him in control of your life.

God knows what you’re worried about today –There is only one cure, all the others are fakes. The Lord IS the antidote. Not might be, not could be, not may be – you can say with certainty that Jesus IS the solution. When you can say that and mean it, you’re going to stop worrying. Don’t carry that burden one more second.

Pray this: Jesus I don’t understand it all, but I’ve come today to put you in charge of my life. I want you to be my solution – my manager – my boss – my Lord. I want to know You more than I’ve ever known you. I want to listen to You. I want to follow you. I want you in control of my life. Come into my life and take control.

Sin takes your desires and makes liars out of them

Here is how the enemy does battle. Sin is the enemy, the rebel, the pretender to the throne. And the main way sin does battle against you is to turn you as God’s servant into a traitor. Sin wants to turn your servant-desires into schemers against the throne. Desires which were appointed by God to serve you – like desire for food, desire for drink, desire for sex, desire for rest, desire for friends, desire for approval – are attacked by sin and captured and corrupted and turned into betrayers. Then these desires – when in the service of sin instead of God – lure you to obey them. When that happens you hand over your members – eyes, ears, tongue, hands, feet, sexual organs, vocal cords, etc. – to serve those desires and their master, sin, and your members become weapons of unrighteousness.

How does sin succeed at this? How do the desires that he captures and turns into betrayers turn you into a slave of sin? They lie to you with half-truths. "It will feel good." Obeying this desire does feel good. But only for a short time then later comes the misery and destruction. That's why Hebrews 11:25 refers to "the fleeting pleasures of sin." These half-truths are very deceitful. Ephesians 4:22 says that your "old you" is corrupted by the "desires of deceit." 1 Peter 1:14refers to "the desires of your former ignorance."

Sin takes your desires and makes liars out of them. They promise satisfaction and happiness, and they deliver cheap, fleeting, shallow stimulation that leaves you less content and less peaceful and less hopeful and more guilty, more restless, more discouraged and more enslaved. That's why Romans 6:21 says, "The outcome of those things is death." And that's why 1 Peter 2:11 says, "Abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against your soul." There is a war for your soul going on. Sin is fighting for the throne of your soul; it is using your desires as betrayers; and sin will turn your members into weapons of unrighteousness.

 How Shall You Do Battle Against Sin?

How then shall you fight? Look at Romans 6:11-14 teaches you to do battle with sin.

First, remember that five chapters on God, sin, and justification have gone before chapter 6. Scripture does not teach you how to do battle with sin until you have learned how Christ has done battle with sin first and done what you could not do and what the law could not do. Five chapters to help you see why justification by faith is utterly essential as a foundation for doing battle with sin! You cannot fight sin successfully until you know your sin is forgiven. The only sin that you can triumph over is a sin that Christ has died for. If He had not died to take away your condemnation, you could make no progress at all in sanctification. You don't make yourself holy in order to be justified. You are justified by faith in order to become holy. That is why Romans 1-5 precedes Romans 6. Your triumph over sin in the body follows Christ's triumph over sin on the cross.

Planning and conducting a war – Christ Died for Your Sin

Part #1 In your battle with sin: Stand Firm in your awareness that Christ died for your sin. Christ shed his blood so that God's wrath would be satisfied, appeased, taken away. You were saved from the wrath of God through Him." That is Part #1 in your battle against sin. Don't ever skip it. If you do, Sin will defeat you with a hopeless and guilty conscience.

Part #2 You Died and Rose with Christ

When Christ died and rose again, you died and rose again. Or to be more precise, God viewed you as united with Christ so that his execution for sin, became your execution and his reward with resurrection became your reward.

Galatians 2:20; 5:24; 6:14.) These first two strategies of defeating sin in your life happened before you were even born.

Part #3 – You Have Become United with Christ

God united you with Christ by faith. In 1 Corinthians 1:30, You are in Christ Jesus, God grafted you into Christ. What was your part? Faith in Christ, receiving His death and resurrection as a free gift.

Part #4 – God Justifies you

God justifies you by your faith because you believed in Christ. He forgave all your sins and assigned to you the righteousness of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Part #5 – Consider Yourself Dead to Sin

Romans 6:11, "Even so consider yourself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

This is something you do with your reason and your will. You "Consider " something to be so.”Consider yourself" to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." as you have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection – "even so" bring your mind and will into alignment with this. Think this way. Know yourself this way. Count this to be the truth about yourself. You died and you rose with Christ.

All of God’s children will be tried and tested in some way

Nowhere does the Bible teach that you as a Christian are exempt from the tribulations and natural disasters that come upon the world. Scripture does teach that the Christian can face tribulation, crisis, calamity, and personal suffering with a supernatural power that is not available to the person outside of Christ.

Many sincere Christians face a host of problems that are the natural result of living in the world. Facing unexpected expenses (if the car suddenly breaks down), the stress of meeting important deadlines, coping with sicknesses and even surgery, getting stuck in a traffic jam on the way to work, having an argument with a spouse, all ordinary trials. Although these examples do create temporary stress and hardship to a certain extent, they cannot rightly be classified as the type of trial Peter is alluding to here in verse twelve 1 Peter 4:12. Peter is talking about fiery trials; these are extremely intense, prolonged, and may even threaten your very life.

Scripture urges you to not be surprised when intense trials and suffering come their way. Many Christians today do seem to be taken back when difficult circumstances and situations prevail. Many Christian groups are advocating a pain-free life if enough faith is placed in God. This theology is not supported by the clear statements of Scripture. Scripture here is a direct contradiction to that mindset.

The Holy Spirit says it is abnormal to not experience trials and tests of your faith. Having a painless life is both impossible and undesirable. Many people try in vain to escape from suffering and pain through the use of alcohol and drugs or through other dangerous and unwise practices. Others deny that pain and suffering even exists still others try to place the blame for their misfortune upon others. Facing your situation with the help of God is the only realistic and acceptable response to suffering and pain. Just knowing that trials will come to you during the course of your life prevents you from “falling apart” with unnecessary worry and despair. The Spirit reminds you that you will be persecuted because He was as well (John 15:20). Indeed, if you try to live a godly life you can expect it to come eventually (2 Tim. 3:12).

All of God’s children will be tried and tested in some way. Scripture says that you should not be surprised when suffering comes since it is guaranteed by God. He also tells you that Suffering is Graced by Glory:

Suffering is Graced by Glory (1 Peter 4:13-14)

Suffering for Jesus Christ makes pain profitable for you in many ways. In verse thirteen, He declares that suffering is blessed with the glory of God only to the extent that you suffer for Him. As he gave his own personal testimony to the transforming power of God, the Apostle Paul said he wanted to know the “fellowship of his suffering” (Phil. 3:10).
Too many Christians seem to base their responses to pain and suffering solely upon emotions and feelings. But in (James 1:2) God reveals that  “count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations” It has to do with making a mental evaluation and not an emotional response!

Some will face fierce persecution but respond with rejoicing because you have been considered worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ (Acts 5:41).
Your suffering is graced by God’s glory for many important reasons. First of all, it is because He goes with you through your pain.

Remember that God never sends you anywhere--He goes with you through every event in your life.

Secondly, suffering for Jesus Christ is also graced because the “spirit of glory and of God” rests upon you. The glory of God is also where His presence is. Since God is especially near to you as you suffer for Him, His glory is there as well. Going through severe pain is hard; going through it all alone is even harder! Knowing God is there with you gives you peace, joy, and the strength you will need to endure whatever may come.

Thirdly, suffering for Jesus Christ is also graced by glory because God expands your Spiritual maturity and usefulness are enhanced through the unlikely agents of suffering and pain.

Spiritual growth will accelerate through the enduring of pain and hardship for the cause of Christ.

You need to remember that your ministry to others is enhanced through suffering and hardship. This is one reason why Peter said earlier that suffering was “More precious than that of gold that perisheth” (I Peter 1:7).

Fourthly, suffering because of our testimony for Jesus Christ leads to God’s glory because it causes you to trust in Him even more.

You never really know just how strong your faith is until it is tested.

A fifth reason why suffering results in glory is that you are caused to see sin for what it really is. As God allows you to suffer and be tested through a variety of painful circumstances, He does so in order to purge your heart of sin.
A sixth reason your suffering is filled by God’s glory is because it causes you to yearn and long for your heavenly home. Experiencing severe pain helps you remember that life is very short and that there is a better life awaiting you in the future.

(Eph. 2:6), one day you will be with Him physically, never to be separated from Him (John 14:1-3).

Finally, your suffering is an opportunity to experience God’s glory because it follows the pattern set for you by Jesus Christ. His attitude in suffering is one you will do well to imitate as closely as possible.

God knows you better than you do.

You can be bold. You can even be real jerk. (Not that God wants you to be a jerk; because when you are, you often hurt others and undermine the truth.) God wants you to be as responsible as you can be. But all are irresponsible at times; error-laden, self-deceived, easily tricked by deceptive talkers and have been part of your own ego trip. God knows this better than you do and can count the countless times you didn't remember it. And God still saved you. If your worst didn't stop God, what are you afraid of?
"Living life to the fullest" isn't a matter of getting a steady stream of thrills, achieving one's 'bucket list', or traveling the world, or becoming rich, or accomplishing some big task. It's a matter of doing what you're here to do, taking care of what you're responsible for, giving love at each opportunity, and trusting the Spirit to lead you through it. When it comes to having a 'full life', it matters what your life is full of.
It's true of all. Each has had doubt that Christ has saved them, even when you have no cause to doubt. God is trying to teach you to live confidently in the gift of your rescue even when you doubt it. Those who Seek God can trust in the God who seeks them, you can be confident and trust that God is with you:

YOUR IN!
The world just keeps getting more complex, and no matter how complex you get you can never keep up. You just seem like an ever-smaller speck in the big picture. But God chose his son to become the same kind of speck you are - that's what Christ was all about – and God proceeded to show you just how meaningful and powerful a 'speck' could be, through Jesus, and then through His followers.

You're no speck to God. You're a partner, in the reshaping and rebirth of all that exists. You're like the reckless son who left and returned, or like the son who stayed; you're part of the family. You can have the assurance that God has you in mind in all of this. You're intended to be part of the whole, in Christ. This is the Big Picture, and you're in it !

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD"
--------- Jeremiah 29:11-13

Believe to Receive

Everything God has promised in His Word has already been done? The only thing you have to do is Believe to Receive what rightfully belongs to you by faith. Those who have faith always have a good report because they are constantly walking by what the Word says and not by what their five physical senses are telling them. To live the life of faith means to live in full assurance of the finished work of Christ.

There are three ingredients of faith: belief, trust, and confidence. Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I say unto you, whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.” Anything that can be found in the Word has already been granted to you; however, you must believe that you will get it. You can’t say you believe something and not trust. Trust is maintaining a committed stance on what God has said. When you trust in something, you have full confidence in it.

A great illustration of confidence that is born out of trust is to think about when you sit in a chair. You trust that a chair is going to be able to hold your weight, and, therefore, you are confident that if you sit in it you will be secure. Most people have no questions when it comes to believing in a chair’s ability to support them. However, when it comes to God and the things He has promised you, you tend to lack absolute confidence. The way to build it up is to meditate on the Word of God and think about all the things He has already done. Has He ever let you down or failed to come through for you? Think about the many situations you have been in where God showed Himself strong on your behalf. You can trust in Him as your source of all things.

Laying hold of the promises of God means adopting an ownership mentality. This is not a mentality that is waiting for God to do something, but is one that knows what already belongs to you. With an ownership mentality you’ll say, “I OWN healing, deliverance, abundance, and prosperity. These things are mine!” You actually get the promises to manifest in this physical realm by releasing your faith in the grace of God that is available to bring them out of the spiritual realm and into the natural. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God.” It is through God’s grace that each of the promises are at your disposal.

It’s hard to have faith when you don’t have understanding of the Word of God, that’s why it is important to attend a church that is actually teaching you how to live by faith. Traditional, religious mind-sets convince you that you have to try to get God to do something, but the truth is, He has already done it. Instead of praying to God to heal you, declare and admit that healing exists inside of you right now. Healing isn’t being made in some healing factory; it is already in existence! Declare that you have faith in the grace of God versus faith in your own ability to get God to move.

No matter what you are going through, or what your five physical senses are telling you, don’t allow your life to be led by your sensory mechanisms. Facts can change on a daily basis, but the truth of God’s Word never changes. It has the power to change and rearrange the facts. All God is looking for is for you to Believe to Receive what He has already done.

Steps to victory from CONTROLLING HABITS

CONTROLLING HABITS ARE SO POWERFUL they slowly bind you. Life controlling habits are formed at a pace almost unnoticeable.

Usually the person doesn’t even know they have formed a habit in their life. And if someone asks they say, “I can quit at any time. This isn’t a problem.”

Daily practices over time become habits that are almost unbreakable. Habits are formed through willful behavior a person has given in so many times to this thing that they are now addicted. This is the reason a habit is so powerful, because it is so unnoticed in its beginnings.

Habits will break your will. Once you have allowed a habit to control you the Bible says, “That habit is your master.” That habit breaks you down to the point where you don’t even try to resist because you feel like you can’t break free. The attitude becomes…Why should I try, I always go back to doing it again. A habit will break your will to fight.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the bondage of slavery.” Gal. 5:1 You might be feeling like you don’t even have the will to fight, because the habit has broken your will. Once a habit has broken your will to fight, you’ll feel a sense of hopelessness. At this point the habit its self owns you because you have allowed it to own you. If you feel like you have lost the will to fight because your will has been broken. That is the power of a bad habit. Bad controlling habits will destroy you and others along with you.

At first a habit seems very harmless; at any time in the early stages you could rid yourself of it. In fact you convince yourself you could stop at any time. Then the habit takes a stronger foothold, advancing a little more taking away a little more of your freedom. Over a period of time that habit like the enemy begins to advance and destroy you.

Here is how you can break free from the grip of a bad habit in your life, from the smallest to the largest? First you must understand what God’s word says in 1 Cor. 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to all humans, and God is faithful: He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

God lets you know that in every situation with every temptation he provides victory.

Steps to victory:

Admit you have a problem.

Everything starts with confession accepting the responsibility that you have a problem. You cannot win until you know you have a problem.

1Jn.1:9 “If you confess your sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive you of your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness.”

Healing starts with confession. Many people give in to a state of denial, they never admit they have a problem therefore they never break free. The first step is recognizing you are bound and you have a problem that is the first step in breaking free.

Depend on God’s power to combat bad habits. Phil. 4:13 “You can do all thing through Christ which strengths you.” Isaiah. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” When it comes to being set free from habits that bind, Jesus can do more in a moment than doctors can do in a lifetime.

God must become your primary source of strength.
Start your days off with God, and he will help you through the day to overcome and show you a way out. The more you allow God to be part of your life the more you will see him working in you.

You have to stop trying to do this by yourself. He did not say go along but said draw near to me. James 4:7

Bad controlling habits must be replaced by good ones.
Num. 33:50-56 “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.” In Colossians 3 Live as a Christian in the same manner: throwing away your old way of living and moving ahead into your new life of obedience to God and faith in Jesus Christ.

NEW HABITS TO REPLACE THE BAD ONES
Find support from others.
God says it is absolutely essential for your recovery or healing. You are healed by admitting your faults to one another.

The root of your problem is you lie to each other you deceive each other. You become dishonest with each other. You end up wearing a mask. You pretend you have it together. But you don’t and you then deny your true feelings, and you play games. You end up living with shame and it makes you insecure.

God says revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing. The amazing thing is, when you risk honesty with someone, all of a sudden, this feeling of freedom comes into your life. You realize that everybody has habits and often they have the same one you do.

James. 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

The Bible tells you that you need to bare one another’s burdens.
Take one day at a time.
Matt. 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Why? Because God wants to give you enough strength to change you for one day, not for the week, one month, the rest of your life. He wants to take it one day at a time so you trust in Him.

You take a life problem and you break it down into bite size pieces and you work on it one day at a time and you get God’s strength one Day at a time. Any victory, no matter how minor, thank God for it, and you’ll get victory one battle at a time, today is the only day that counts, one day at a time.

• Don’t worry about tomorrow.
• Don’t worry about a week.
• Don’t worry about a month.
• Don’t worry about a year.
• Concentrate on today.

Phil 4:13 “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you”

Sometimes, conversions are connected.

Yes, in this turn-around moment, God changed the world. God molded communities. God is molding you right now. So certainly, this mysterious, miraculous moment on a simple road to Damascus, affected history and shaped lives in a broad and sweeping way. Acts 9:1-20

But beyond the dramatic and broad sweeping aspects of this story, what about some of the more subtle effects? God works in between the lines too, in between the major milestones, in between the major turn-arounds of your life.

Poor Ananias. Can you imagine? Ananias hears the call of Christ to do something absolutely illogical. And it wasn’t just illogical. It was potentially dangerous. Saul had a reputation. Ananias realized what the consequences of his actions might be. Going to Saul, he was risking his future, his freedom, his safety. And he was risking the future, freedom, and safety of his Christian community as well.

And yes, in addition to being dangerous, this action was illogical. “Saul? Wait a minute. Saul? You want me to go and seek the man who has been seeking to kill us? And then you want me to identify myself as your follower and heal him? You want me to trust him? You want me to trust his words and intentions? You want me set him free, and simply trust that he is who you’ve named him to be?”

This call was dangerous and unreasonable enough for Ananias to question Jesus. But Jesus tells Ananias that he has visions larger and more incredible than Ananias can possibly wrap his mind around. He follows the call. He seeks out his enemy to heal him and send him in the right direction.

Sometimes, conversions are connected. Sometimes when others have had a ‘turn-around’ moment, you too are sent in another direction. You live in a life of relationships. Your healing is bound up in the healing of others. Your conversions – your directions, your turn-around moments – are bound up in the conversions of others.

So Ananias is converted too. He seeks out Saul in the house of Judas, and he obeys God. And he too probably had a change of heart on that road. Did you notice the first thing Ananias says to the man who has been his enemy? Did you notice the first words out of his mouth?

“Brother Saul.” He addresses his former enemy as his brother. Saul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus was dramatic and beyond anything that many have experienced. But conversions aren’t always dramatic. Sometimes they are faint and unnoticed. Sometimes God is working on the inside as much as God is working on the outside. Saul had a turn-around moment. So did Ananias.

And that leads to a question for you. You might not have seen a flashing light and audibly hear the voice of God on a regular basis. But because you believe in God who works intimately and He exists in all parts of the created universe and lives within you, you can be assured that He is turning you around, sending you in new directions all the time. Here’s the question: How is God turning you around these days, and what directions are being envisioned for you to follow?

Sometimes, seemingly insignificant moments can send you in profoundly significant directions. In so many ways, he raised you, and you would not be the person you are today had you not experienced the depth of the love he has for you.

In some ways, your experiences of love with others and the different paths of your life was the flashing light and the holy voice you needed, because of your experiences God has sent you in more positive directions than you could have anticipated. He has taught you by experiencing those who try to do right and those who follow the way of the world.

For you are a slave to whatever has mastered you

Some people are a slave to work, some people are slave to jealousy, some people are slave to gossip, Some are slave anger, pornography, various drugs, and many other vices that hold them in bondage.

Whatever it may be 2 Peter 2:19 “For you are a slave to whatever has mastered you.”

So Today take an inventory of the Controlling NEGITIVE HABITS you allow in your life, that needs to be broken

1. HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY A CONTROLLING HABIT

A controlling habit is something you find yourself doing even though it is destructive ether physical, mentally, emotionally, relationally or spiritually. Or you consistently do something you wish you wouldn’t do, but you find yourself doing it any way.

Romans 7:15 Listen to Twenty- Century New Testament.
“I do not understand my own actions for I am far from usually doing what I want to do and I find myself doing the very thing that I hate.” (TCNT)

The apostle Paul fully understood his dilemma even though he had good intentions.
You must understand many good people are bound by bad controlling habits

Humans, reason in their minds, you must admit you have a habit and that you are less than in control of. Denial is not the way to deal with the problem.

Be honest, look at your life and evaluate the things you find yourself doing that you hate. Realize the importance of the identification process and then submit your own inabilities to make the necessary changes. Take a moment sometime today or tonight and write down the habits in your life that you want to see absolute victory in.

Some of the greatest spiritual challenges.
1. Materialism 2.Pride 3.Self-centeredness 4.Laziness 5.Anger/Bitterness 6.Sexual Lust 7.Envy 8.Gluttony 9.Lying

Temptations are more potent when you neglect daily time with God and when your tired physically. You are also vulnerable during these times. You can become self-confident, instead of God confident. You should be aware that you are also vulnerable to overconfidence when you experience a spiritual victory.

The Sin of Pride is an absolute killer among many good people. God sees your secret sins and vices. Psalm 139:3-4 says that “God discerns you doing this and doing that; He is familiar with all your ways. Before you speak a word from your mouth He knows it completely.”

Those knowing God’s word understand the desire and ambition of Satan, how he seeks to destroy mankind. He makes sin appear to be attractive. He shows how pleasant sin and immoral conduct can be. Of course Satan never shows the tragic end of sin.
You don’t need to look long before seeing the results of the power of sin in the lives of people: premature deaths, broken and dysfunctional homes, plus the loneliness and the heartache sin brings. The bible does say there is a pleasure in sin, but such pleasure is only momentary. The end result is not only pain, but separation from God on earth, then in eternity.

God desires for you to confess and repent of sin. He desires for you to reflect who He is to a lost and dying world. You do that both through words and actions. Your actions especially often speak even louder than your words.

Who are you listening to?

As you begin each day of your life, you will have decisions to make. Some are easy and some are difficult. And there are many voices competing for your attention and your loyalty. Some decisions are easy, others are much bigger and take days, weeks, months, or even years of searching and questioning. Competing voices pull you in different directions. You want to do what’s right, but what’s right isn’t always so clear.

Examples:

Better finish this project today and meet that deadline. - Tomorrow will be good enough, I work too hard.

I really shouldn’t do this; it doesn’t seem ethical and honest. - It’s just my integrity. Besides, no one will know.

Mom always said I shouldn’t do this. - Maybe I hold my convictions too tightly. Go ahead, it feels right.  

Who are you listening to? It easy to see what you thought was right in many situations, but often life doesn’t paint it so black and white. And even after you make a decision, you sometimes continue to wonder if it was the right one, you have knots in your stomach, and you wonder if you’ve missed some piece of evidence.

How can you have peace in your decisions? It all boils down to Who you’re listening to. But knowing how to listen can sometimes be difficult.

Sometimes you think God has a perfect blueprint for your life and you have to figure out what it is and then do it. You think you can look at circumstances and follow the open doors. Taking your circumstance into consideration is important, but if that’s all you do, you leave out the voice of God.

The flip-side of this extreme is the idea that you can simply immerse yourself in scripture and then you can use your powers of reasoning to apply this wisdom to your life. God gave you your power of reasoning, and you ought to use them, but again, if this is all you do, you leave out listening to God.

Either of these options will bring you to a decision, but if you don’t listen to God during times of decision, you won’t have His peace in the answer.

Hearing God’s voice isn’t always easy. It takes a lot of work. In order to hear God’s voice, it might be helpful first to know how to recognize the false voices that speak to you.

In 1 John 4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. (1 John 4:1-3,)

The false voices are in this world, and so you need to be careful who you listen to. They may masquerade as teachers, acquaintances, or friends. They seek to be the authority in your decisions, whether overtly or covertly. But these false teachers can lead you down the wrong path if you are not careful who you listen to.

Does the guidance you receive fall in line with scriptural teaching or not? Does the life of your guide show evidence of knowing Christ? Have you set your mind to knowing the difference? This is where your God-given powers of reasoning, mixed with prayer, can be very helpful.

The false voices in the world often entice, they are attractive. The type of wickedness a Christian is likely to fall into isn’t the obvious wrong things – at least not right away. If someone asked you out-rightly to kill the person standing next to you or rob the corner store, your likely answer would be no. But the wicked entice – they tempt, persuade, and charm. And when you feel like you’re in too deep, they ask more of you, and it is harder and harder to refuse. That is why you must test the spirits – for sometimes their origin is not immediately obvious.

What is wrong is generally made out to sound very good by the wicked. What trips the Christian up is bad company that slowly confuses your thinking.

If you are seeking God and trying to walk with Him, but you are not experiencing His peace, you are probably listening to the wrong voices.

Both a love for God and love for others is required.

All have lukewarm elements and practices in their lives; that’s where the God’s excessive grace of it all is. The Scriptures demonstrate clearly that there is room for your failure and sin in your pursuit of God. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3). His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). Many think that when you mess up, it means you were never really a genuine Christian in the first place. If that were true, no one could follow Christ. Many think they must have a life of perfection (which none will attain on this earth). To call someone a Christian simply because he does some Christian-y things is giving false comfort to the unsaved. But to declare anyone who sins “unsaved” is to deny the reality and truth of God’s grace.” And Scripture stresses the need for you as a believer to desire to give to the poor, but emphasizes that not everyone is called to give all their possessions away or give in the same way necessarily. Like how in the New Testament one guy named Zacchaeus when he got saved simply paid everyone back and a different guy sold everything he had. Each responds differently, but the willingness to give possessions away was evident in both of them.
Most like to avoid when Jesus states that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Yes. Through Christ all things are possible so it’s not to say some rich people might be saved, but here in the United States many sometimes like to deny their status of being rich. Americans are rich, and it’s safe to say when Jesus says the road is narrow and few will actually find it….and fewer still among the rich, it applies to the majority of Americans.

Jesus said it first. Also, read the passage and evaluate yourself as to whether or not you’re giving out of your desire to serve God or whether you are holding on to your possessions with a tendency to hoard. I know I tend to hoard things that essentially aren’t mine to begin with. They’re God’s. The Bible stresses not to give God your “leftovers,” He wants your devotion and your firstfruits. Think of it in the context of Cain and Abel. God despised Cain’s sacrifice because it wasn’t the best that he had to offer. God was insulted by this. God doesn’t want leftovers. He wants devotion.
Your life is “measured by how you love.” Love is required to serve God successfully. Both a love for God and love for others.

Don’t believe or think you have to work your way to Jesus. You don’t. Fully believe and Know that you are saved by grace, through faith, by the gift of God, and that true faith manifests itself through your actions. As James 2 writes, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Can you have “dead” faith and be saved? Why would you, in your right mind, want dead faith if you can have what God has to offer you? Typically individuals who desire this “dead faith” don’t want to give God their all. They are hesitant or fearful of actually committing to following Jesus. Why toe the line of “Can I do ___ and still be saved?” Your heart is already in the wrong place if you’re trying to see how much you can sin and still be saved. Give God your all, devote yourself to Him, because when it comes down to it there’s a lot of uncertainty in scripture on whether or not a person cannot be devoted to following God and still be saved. There is no doubt however, in the fact that a person who devotes themselves to loving God with all their heart, soul, and mind will be in heaven

In short, You are not saved by works, you are saved by grace through faith. If you truly are saved though, there will be works in your life that attest to the fact that you are saved. Being a lukewarm Christian is being no Christian at all based on understanding of scripture. The idea of a “lukewarm Christian” is something that American Christians have created in order to make a safe option of Christianity that requires little or no devotion or actions to follow up on your faith in Christ.