Built Upon

        Sanctification and justification are two terms that are easy to confuse, yet they both play vital roles in the life of a Christian.         Let's start with justification. Justification is the act of God whereby humankind is accounted free from guilt of penalty of sin. For Christians, this starts when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, and what He has done. His sacrifice then covers our sin, and we are justified and made holy. Being holy doesn't mean we aren't sinful, but that all your sins, past present and future are already paid for, and you don't have to accept the consequences.         Sanctification begins after justification. While your sins have been covered by the blood of Christ, Christians are called to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, into the image of Christ.  Romans 6:1-2 says "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Thus, sanctif

There aren't times in your life when you're just waiting; you're always on mission.  God is our one true comfort in any situation.  It's worth it to press pass resistance.  You say you have nothing in common with them, but they're heading towards hell just as fast as you were.  Everything you do for Christ will last forever. God isn't a tangible presence, but an all-encompassing presence.  The only way to be filled with the spirit is to empty myself of me.  sometimes we know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.  See the one and do something about it, instead of seeing the all and doing nothing.  "A belief, no matter how sincere, if not reflected, isn't a belief. It's a delusion." ~Kyle Idleman It's crucial to have hope and power beyond ourselves.  Don't focus on trying to change yourself, focus on God.  "True humility isn't thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." ~C.S. Lew

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." ~Matthew 27:50-51         What is the significance of the curtain in the temple being torn in two at the death of Jesus?         The curtain was huge, 6-inches thick, and separated the Holy of Holies in the Temple. God dwelt there amongst His people, yet separated by this curtain. While it may seem like an unfair thing for a loving God to separate His presence thus from His people, it was actually amazingly caring that He allowed the High Priest to enter once a year and intervene for the people. God is the very essence of Holiness, and we the people are as far from perfect holiness as the east is from the west. Being holy, God couldn't come into contact with a filth-ridden people, but because He cared He allowed His presence in the Holy of Holies. If anyone, including the Hig

  God is like the focus mechanism on binoculars, without it pretty much everything is out of focus.  "He who prays as he ought will endeavour to live as he prays." ~John Owen While reading the Bible is beneficial, and indeed critical to the Christian walk, it is not the sole determinate of the strength of your relationship with God.  You can't live for Him without living with Him.  "Interpretation without application is abortion." ~Dr. Howard Hendricks If you wait till you 'feel' like it to change, you will never change.  "Our best havings are wantings." ~C.S. Lewis Live like someone died for you.  "If therefore anybody is lost, the blame is theirs, but if anybody is saved, the credit is God's." ~John Stott Hell is the most just place in all creation.  God's grace not only forgives us, but also transforms us.  "Dreams don't work unless you do." ~John Maxwell "At the day of judgement, we shall

For he grew up before him like a young plant,      and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,      and no beauty that we should desire him. 3   He was despised and rejected by men;      a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces      he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4   Surely he has borne our griefs      and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,      smitten by God, and afflicted. 5  But he was pierced for our transgressions;      he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,      and with his wounds we are healed. 6   All we like sheep have gone astray;      we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him      the iniquity of us all. ~Isaiah 53:2-6         Isaiah ministered as a prophet in Jerusalem during the reign of four different kings, from c. 739-686 B.C.; Jesus was born a

              What is prayer? Prayer isn't about us and what we get out of it or even about helping others. I've heard many times from people that you should try to pray less for yourself and more for others. So is that what prayer is about?          Let's pretend that you're a man named Billy and you live in a kingdom with a king who is willing to meet with you at any time. You go see him maybe once or twice a day. When you go, you say "Hey, how's it going?" no pause "So I have some issues, my wife's sick, one of my cows are lost, and my kids won't behave. Also my friend Joe has some financial troubles. So if you would help us out, that would be awesome. So thanks, bye, see you later, and you're pretty cool I guess."         Let's be honest. In this scenario, when you're in and out in less than three minutes, you don't really care about the king at all. It's all about you and 'Joe' and what the king can d

Reject or add to parts of the Bible. "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The Bible warns in both Proverbs 30:5-6 (Do not add to His words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar) and  Revelations 22:18-19 that His scripture is not to be added to or taken from, for it is breathed out by God in divine revelation. So if one proclaimed to know God and boasts a revelation for additions or subtractions from the bible, he lies.       Don't stay within the Church "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." (I John 2:19) If someone is a true Christian, they will stay within the body of Christ, His church. If someone leaves the church and t

          A general misconception among non-Christians and new Christians is that when you become a Christian, you have to change your way of life. Taking into consideration things we've heard all our life that a 'good Christian' doesn't do, we strive to discipline ourselves to conform to the ideal of a good Christian. In time, we general have a decent amount of success. Whether it be drinking, smoking, cussing, unfriendliness, bad influences, or any number of things, if we discipline ourselves, we are able to make our outward appearance more 'holy.'            However, the fact of the matter is, that this isn't what we're called to do. The Bible never says "When you believe in Jesus, discipline yourself to look more like Him." What it actually says is "And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is t

        Sovereign is defined as "Being above all others in character, importance, excellence, etc." and "A person who has supreme power and authority." As we can see from the bible, God is sovereign in both of these aspects. Isaiah says in Isaiah 14:27 "For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" In Proverbs 16:9, Solomon says "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." The fact that God is sovereign means He has supreme authority over everything; not in the same way as a king or queen of earth but as the supreme Lord of all creation, with control of everything. The fact that He is sovereign also means his character is impeccable, unlike all of humanity.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth,  so are my ways higher than your ways and

        Today I'm going to talk about something that took me a long time to realize. For the longest time, I thought that as a Christian, what you are supposed to do is live a good life (better than non-Christians) by the statutes in the bible. I thought you did this because Jesus died for  you, so you should at least TRY to be good in return.         What I've come to realize is, that in actuality, Christians aren't supposed to try as hard as possible to live by the rules in order to be a decent person. By no means! Truthfully, we aren't even really capable to change ourselves. The reality is that Christ died for us, allowed us a personal relationship with Him, and through that HE changes us. Our focus should be on our relationship with Him and growing there instead of attempting to better ourselves on our own.         I used to not understand what people meant when they spoke of identity in Christ, but now, I think I do. Having your identity in Christ means who you

Should we still follow the ten commandments today, since we're under the new covenant and not the law?         Jesus came to fulfil the law, which means we don't have to attempt to uphold the law by our own fruition. We don't have to live by the law any more. However, the reason God gave us the laws to begin with was because He loves us, so shouldn't they mean something?         Through Jesus' death on the cross, we can have a personal relationship with Christ where He transforms us to be like Him. Even though Grace abounds, we don't keep living in sin because we are being changed by the blood of our Saviour. He works through us to make us in His image. So DO we still follow the ten commandments? Yes, because they are Godly principles. But that isn't what we put our identity in or what saves us, and we don't keep them through our own power and our own desires. Being transformed to live like Christ, you truly can live a life to the full.

        "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that you may have life and life to the full." ~John 10:10         What is Jesus promising us? Money? A good job? A family? Popularity? Success? What exactly is a life to the full?         Jesus isn't promising us any material blessings. Even though by His grace He does bless us with material things, what He is promising here is a life with Him. A life with Him means a life to the full. It also means that as you get to know Him more, He changes you to be more like Him. While this doesn't mean we won't have hard times in our life (Jesus did!) it does mean that in every circumstance we have the option of joy in Him.         Jesus gives joy. What is joy? Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is fleeting, and is experienced through transient things such as pizza, new clothes, a fun game, a new job, good relationships . Joy doesn't have to be fleeting. It is something received solely from th

        Jesus claims to be THE way, THE truth, and THE life, insinuating that there is NO other way, truth or life.         Jesus says that He is the way. The way to what? In John 14:2-4, Jesus says to His disciples, "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also. (4) And you know the way to where I am going." Thomas replies that he doesn't know where Jesus is going, how can he know the way, and Jesus said: I AM THE WAY.         There is one way. Jesus is the way to His Father's house. Thus, Jesus is the way to eternal life with Himself and the Father. Prior to this scenario with His disciple's, Jesus had mentioned that He was the only way. In John 10:9, Jesus says "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pastu

                  What would the world be like without light? How would we live? Could we live? In all honesty, without light we would all be dead. Despite the fact that no light would mean no heat and we would all freeze to death, we also would soon die merely because we couldn't see to do anything. You could easily stumble into all kinds of things, be it a canyon, a lions mouth, or a giant blender. Light is essential to life. Wherever there is light, it overcomes the darkness. As humans, we rely on light for almost everything in our day to day life.          So what is Jesus claiming when He claims "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) He is claiming to be our saviour, our saviour from the darkness of human life. He's claiming that without Him, we would be dead; that He is essential to have a full life. However, with that He also promises that He will overcome darkness.    

        John 10:11- "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Jesus shows Himself metaphorically as a shepherd and us, His people, as His sheep.          Compared to the intelligence of the shepherd, sheep are not intelligent. They can't survive for long wandering on their own. It's upon the protection of their shepherd that they must rely. Indisputably, sheep are entirely undeserving of their shepherd's protection. However, a shepherd protects and fights for his sheep even to the point of death.         In Jesus' case, He fought for us and protected us by His death on a cross. As a sheep's understanding is minuscule compared to the vast perspicacity and intellect of his shepherd, so is Jesus' understanding of this world and life infinite beyond our imaginations. Without Christ, we can't survive for long. We're headed for death. Yet with Him, we can have protection and eternal life. Even though we

        After Jesus fed the 5,000, He crossed the sea to Capernaum. The next day, the crowd followed Him. When they found Him, they inquired "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves." The crowd was merely seeking after Him for materialistic gain. He then says "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you." Jesus was rebuking them for only working for transient worldly gain instead of eternal gain. He goes on to say "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." What did Jesus mean by calling Himself the bread of life?         When Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years,  they were starving until God provided bread (manna) from heaven. For the Isr