Spiritual Christian Living

  Overcoming the Enemies of a Christian Freeimages.com      The main motivation for creating this blog was to encourage Christians to be more spiritually minded and less carnally minded.   I hope that you have seen that theme as you have read through my previous blogs.  Hopefully, you have seen some differences in the ways that Christians can respond to the world around them.  They can respond the same way as everybody else, or they can try and respond from the nature of Christ within them – which may be very different.  I would love it, if, as a result of reading these blogs, you responded a little more like Christ! I would love it if you were a little more patient with people, a little more loving, and a little more godly.       I think that one of the keys to being a spiritually-minded Christian is to be aware of the enemies that Christians face and learn how to overcome them… and that is the subject of this paper. ...

  Have a Healthy Fear of God    I read a story from the Bible the other day and noticed something about the story that really stood out to me!   I think that there is an especially important principle in the story, and I would like to share that with you today.   In the book of Exodus, chapter 1, we read that as the Israelites began to prosper in Egypt, the Egyptians came to despise them.   They had forgotten how God had greatly blessed them during the times of Joseph and began to spread lies about them and oppress them.   In the middle of this story is a remarkable statement!   (Exodus 1:12-17) GW “ But the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they increased in number and spread out. The Egyptians couldn't stand them any longer. So they forced the Israelites to work hard as slaves. They made their lives bitter with back-breaking work in mortar and bricks and every kind of work in the fields. All the jobs the Eg...

  Human Nature & The Story of 2 Brothers    God created mankind with the incredible capacity for greatness!   As human beings, we have within us the potential to accomplish wonderful things in life and to help others to do the same.   It is sad, but we also have a nature within us, because of the sin of Adam and Eve and our own sin, with the capacity and inclination toward evil.   We have within us a sinful nature that can cause us to go in the opposite direction of greatness.   That is the great dual nature and potential of mankind.   We are capable of going in dramatically different directions.   Which direction will we go in?   Which road will we travel on?   The answer reminds me of a story that I heard many years ago.   It is the story of two brothers.        Many years ago, there was a remarkable series of events that occurred in the lives of two brothers.   As they were growin...

  Biblical Encouragement for: Wholesome Language    It is quite common in our society to hear a wide variety of words that seem very harsh and inappropriate.   Sometimes the language is often accompanied by a high sense of emotion.   Sometimes the language is clear evidence of impatience and anger of the speaker.    When we become Christians, the Lord begins to change us from the inside, little by little.   One of the things that He often begins with, is our language.   Does the Bible say anything about our use of language?   Does it matter what comes out of our mouth?   That is the subject of this paper.        Let’s look at a few verses in the Bible that talk about our use of language. Matthew 12:34 “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth    speaks.”      Your speech can say a lot about what is in your heart.   Maybe your language is an indication that...

  How’s that Working for You?         My older sister uses this phrase quite often when talking about the actions of other people.   I think that it is a great idea to stop and look at your life objectively and ask yourself “How is what I am doing working for me?”   That choice that I made a few months ago, “How is that working for me?”   We have a lot of ideas about life and eternity.   We sometimes think that we have it all figured out, but I think from time to time, we would benefit from stopping and saying to ourselves and others “How is that working for me?”   “How are my ideas, my beliefs, my thoughts, … how are they working for me?”   Mike Tyson is quoted as saying “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.”   We make a lot of plans, but we need to stop every once in a while and take an objective look.      I think that this can be an important principle in spiritual areas also. ...