Are you operating in your gifting? Have you ever considered how important it is to operate in
your God given gift?
It is unfortunate that there are people all over the world who have yet to identify their gift think about all of the untapped potential that exists in the church. If you're not regularly operating in your gift, then you are not maximizing your potential. when we operate in our gifts, we not only build and edfiy the church by allowing for spiritual growth and development, but we begin to impact our generations, communities, and the world. When you operate in you spiritual gift, you function in your God given purpose which creates opportunity for successful living. Almost everything you do at home, work, church, or in the community should require you to use a gift, skill, or talent that God has given you. recognize that He has given all of us gifts to use for His glory. Once you identify your gift, don't compare it to anyone else's. each gift is important and has value in the body of Christ. Talk to God and listen to him to learn how He wants you to use your gifts. God has given us wonderful passions, gifts, and abilities so we can live a full life that glorifies Him.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Page 44
Sin and Temptation. Seems like revolving doors in a Christian's life. You're always resisting the urge to sin and fleeing from temptation. Heard an old message by TD Jakes that shared great revelation about the uniqueness of every Christians battle to be like Christ. there is a difference between testing and temptation. sometimes Christian will say God is tempting me or blame God for their sin. That's wrong. God will test, place us in trials in order to build our character ( insert scripture) but God will never tempt us. God is on our side. He doesn't want to bring us down. He'll never tempt us to sin because sin draws us away from Him, and not toward Him.
In James verse. I never caught that until recently. What the verse tells us is that each and everyone of us has a specific unique evil desire that.... That's why some of us struggle with sexual sins, other homosexuality, lying, stealing, bigotry, etc. As Christians we'll want to judge and question why she's always sexing, and why he.....it's because that sin is the person's evil and lustful desire is inclined to. the devil learns what our evil desire is and uses small subtle, but often effective, little games to lure us away from God, away from the hedge of protection He's set up for us. Our evil desires trap us in sin, not God and definitely not the devil. We tend to give the devil too much credit. He's not God, thus not all powerful or all knowing. Yes the devil sets up external inducements to sin may be placed before him, but they would have no force if there was not something in himself to which they corresponded, and over which they might have power. We are all born sinners (insert scripture reference). Though not all with equal prponseties to sin. Everyone has a corrupt nature, which has its residence in the heart; it is natural and hereditary to him, and therefore is called his own.
There can be no temptation unless something within us causes a sinful desire. That's why we all don't struggle with the same sin!! The sooner we recognize that and remember that sin is sin in God's eyes, then hopefully the sooner we can get the help we need. Instead of coming to church pretending we're perfect and all together, we should be sharing our struggles and temptation so we can receive encouragement and prayer.
In James verse. I never caught that until recently. What the verse tells us is that each and everyone of us has a specific unique evil desire that.... That's why some of us struggle with sexual sins, other homosexuality, lying, stealing, bigotry, etc. As Christians we'll want to judge and question why she's always sexing, and why he.....it's because that sin is the person's evil and lustful desire is inclined to. the devil learns what our evil desire is and uses small subtle, but often effective, little games to lure us away from God, away from the hedge of protection He's set up for us. Our evil desires trap us in sin, not God and definitely not the devil. We tend to give the devil too much credit. He's not God, thus not all powerful or all knowing. Yes the devil sets up external inducements to sin may be placed before him, but they would have no force if there was not something in himself to which they corresponded, and over which they might have power. We are all born sinners (insert scripture reference). Though not all with equal prponseties to sin. Everyone has a corrupt nature, which has its residence in the heart; it is natural and hereditary to him, and therefore is called his own.
There can be no temptation unless something within us causes a sinful desire. That's why we all don't struggle with the same sin!! The sooner we recognize that and remember that sin is sin in God's eyes, then hopefully the sooner we can get the help we need. Instead of coming to church pretending we're perfect and all together, we should be sharing our struggles and temptation so we can receive encouragement and prayer.
Page 59
Adolescent violence is a real widespread public health problem in the United States. It is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. Though school shootings ( such as the recent school shooting in Ohio) appear to be the most tragic display of youth violence, youth violence also includes harmful behaviors such as bullying, slapping, or hitting. It's sad that lives are loss and people are endangered because someone didn't feel love and accepted.
Youth violence can be prevented. Truth is most teens who commit these acts of violence don't just wake up one morning and say "I'm going to be a bully or shoot up my school." Rarely were incidents of school violence sudden, impulsive acts. Just like with sin, there is slow and steady progression. A youth progresses from forming an idea, to planning an attack, to gathering weapons. For a variety of reasons peers or friends of perpetrators and victims of violence fail to communicate to an adult what they see. Pastors, teachers, family members, and parents often miss or ignore the behaviors of a teen crying out for help. We fail to do our part to stop the violence before it starts, or halt is escalation.
Simple acts of compassion and care can help to prevent youth violence. Many perpetrators at one point felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others prior to the attack. Some were coping with significant losses or personal failures and just needed strong support.
Even though school shootings are not as rampant as the media may make it seem, the truth is youth violence in various forms is. School safety goes beyond prevent violence and into creating a safe zone where all students feel welcomed. School safety includes physical and social changes to the environment to address the social and economic causes of violence.
While there is no single answer as to why adolescents resort to violence, there are clear contributing factors to address. Everyone needs to be educated on the warning signs, stop and prevent bullying, promote diversity acceptance, bring awareness to the reality of mental health issues, and most importantly, just show people we care.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Page 61
The Gospel
The good news is that Jesus came for all. His blood covers all our sins so we do not need to be ashamed of our past. His power is continually working in us, giving us power to overcome, so we do not need to be unashamed of our current temptations, trials, and test. It doesn't matter whether our sin is homosexuality, bigotry, lust, dirty tongue, etc. God's love is available to all. He wants us to embrace his freedom and share our weaknesses so we can be delivered.
The good news is that Jesus came for all. His blood covers all our sins so we do not need to be ashamed of our past. His power is continually working in us, giving us power to overcome, so we do not need to be unashamed of our current temptations, trials, and test. It doesn't matter whether our sin is homosexuality, bigotry, lust, dirty tongue, etc. God's love is available to all. He wants us to embrace his freedom and share our weaknesses so we can be delivered.
Page 65
Family Life
The family is the foundation for society. It's not rare to hear a laywer, therapist, or psychologist in court explain a suspects behavior in relation to their family background and structure. Teachers often attempt to understand a child's behavior by understanding their family life. There's little debate about it, that a family unit is very critical to an individual. Many will also go a step further and argue, with valid evidence, the importance of the family in society. The family and the general good of society are in some ways interdependent. Fractured families tend to produce fractured people, with varying degrees of antisocial behaviors, whom only God can heal. The problem with most US families today isn't simply the high divorce rate, but the dysfunctions occuring in the family. No one undertsands their role or position. A wise man once said, "When the man of the house is out of place, God is replaced, the woman is misplaced, and the children are displaced." Our future prosperity and health are anchored in the strength of our family relationships. Once the relationship between parents and children disintegrates the very fabric of society begins to unravel. The same is true for the relationship between husband and wife. Our family relationships are where we begin to learn love, patience, trust, respect, teamwork, forgiveness, diversity, open communication and other valuable traits. The truth is those from healthy families (not necessarily ideal, perfect, or "normal") exhibit better emotional and psychological well-being and are less likely to display behavioral problems such as school violence, juvenile delinquency and substance abuse.
As a society we need to begin to consider how we can rebuild and strengthen the family. How do we begin to communicate regularly with honesty and love? How do we begin to discuss the taboo subjects of domestic violence, incest, molestation, and abuse? Better yet, how do we prevent these sinful behaviors. How do we create families that play, pray, and eat together? I don't have any concrete answers, but I know it starts with God. God, the creator of life, creator of the family unit. We need to use His Word as the standard. We need to ask God for wisdom and to show us what family is supposed to be.
Deuteronomy 6:6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Page 52
If there's nothing in your life that you're passionate about, then you're probably not really living.
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