We have probably all heard that God is love (1Joh 4:8), but what does that really mean?
Some believe that God only has love, it’s only one of his attributes, and he will show it to us when we deserved it or when we have behaved good.
Some believe he only loves me and will hear my prayer when I have repented from all of the sins I have done. Some may even think: All sins I have done since I was a child and I also need to know exactly what I did. So they search and search their past and life to discover what they have done wrong, but that is not what God wants you to do. It is about how much you are forgiven and loved, not how much you have sinned.
There are a lot of people who are not very confident in their prayer, fellowship and communication with him, because they believe that God keeps a record of wrongs.
Today I believe that God has something very special and something new he want to speak to you about through this scripture: Phi 4:4-7. Do not think that you’ve heard this before and you do not need to hear it again! I think everyone has experienced and maybe you experiencing it right now, that you have or are worried. It can be anything from money to situations that you have at work.
Whatever circumstances you are facing, you can have a peace that surpasses all the understanding.
Before I was afraid that when I had a bad day, it was because God did not protect me, or maybe it was even He who made negative things happened and he was angry at me some how. He sent a curse because I forgot to pray or read in the Bible today, or maybe I did a sin? This is not so!
You will certainly deal with a bad day better if you have a attitude of gratitude and thankfulness, and by using time with God by praising Him, and having fellowship with him in prayer
But most days that are difficult is so because we are not living in an perfect world and we have a spiritual evil enemy too. It has nothing to do with God punishing you in one way or another.
There was one who said, “It’s not what meets you in life that will break you, but how you handle it.” If you have an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness, and believe God is really good under all circumstances, you will handle life much better!
The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 10: 8). If you are depressed and worried do you have strength? We have little strength and power if we do not have joy.
The joy is in you already, but you need to discover it more and more.
We also have an enemy who is looking for an opportune to steal our joy and peace. Learn how to discover more of this joy, which can even heal you and set you free.
I have also include some personal stories in this encouragement.
Watch the video or listen to the mp3 and podcast (link below).
There are four important and essential questions that all people want an answer to. Maybe you live in denial, and think that it doesn’t matter or I am not a person who relay cares, but deep down, all people want to know the answer to these four basic questions. It doesn’t matter if you are religious or non religious. If you are a Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Atheist and so on, there is a longing in all people’s heart to know the answers to these questions.
Some think of our desires and lust as something evil. Especially when we read this verse:
James 1:14-15 14 But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them . 15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death.
Can I tell you one thing: Your lusts and desires are created by God and they are good. In fact, they are absolutely essential to our existence. Before you get upset about what I’m saying now, let me ask you this: Do you have appetite? Are your desire for food sinful? I hope not so, because you would soon have starved to death.
Top two of our strongest desires we have are to have sex (the desire for food is number one). Is the desire and lust after having six sin? Some strongly religious may say so. Some decades ago, there were also many who looked at sex as almost a sin in, and sex was just a necessary evil to carry on the human race (it should at least not be enjoyed). Today, most people realize that sex in itself is not a sin, because there would not be many of us then, but if you feed this lust with the wrong thoughts, it will start to conceive something and if you dwell on it a lot, it can lead to death, for example of your marriage and/or relationship that you have.
So remember this: Your lusts and desires in themselves are not sin, but you need to have wisdom and know the truth so that sin does not control them. God has also given you self-control, it is part of your new and true nature. The only power sin has over you today is lies it wants to tell you, for the truth is that the power of sin was broken once and for all by Jesus’s death and resurrection 2,000 years ago!
It is a spiritual evil force and power called sin, and it is our enemy. When other hurt me, I know that they do not see the truth about who they are, and when somebody sins against me, I also know that they are not what they do, but it is a spirit that is behind, and it’s called sin, and it has tricked them to choose to do the wrong thing.
If you or others were our enemy, we would have fought a fight against ourselves or others, but yourself or others are not your enemy (Ephesians 6: 12-13), it is the spiritual power, called sin. It is our true enemy, and the good news, as we can also read in the Ephesians, is that we can stand after having overcome everything or as one translation says: win victory in all things. I hope you begin to see the Good News now?
Your enemy is not yourself, but the lies you believe about yourself.
We as Christians say that we have the answered for the problem of sin, which is Jesus, but in the practical life, it often does not look like it. Many Christians struggle with sin as much as the non-Christians, some even more, although they may manage to maintain a better facade. in addition they struggle more with condemnation, guilt and self-condemnation. You may find that some non-Christians can often exercise better self-discipline than many Christians. What is this so? Is there an answer?
When I bring up a subject like this, about sin, I can get many reactions. Some people think that I will not listen to this because I feel tired of being condemned and feeling guilty. Often this subject can be said like this: You are a big sinner, stop sinning, shame on you, try to win victory over your sin! Or they try to give you a ten-step program to overcome sin and live a victorious Christian life.
Someone else may think like this, when they hear this subject: Not another person who wants to say that sin is not so bad and not dangerous or that it’s noting really called sin.
I do not want to tell you any of this in this teaching. I do not want to condemn you and I do not want to say that sin is not dangerous or non existent. My focus is on identity and who you are, that will help you to not to fall to any of these traps.
This is a part of a series, so follow this series in on this website.
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