Built Upon

          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