Question: Is my friend right when he says that Christians should not take the Bible as the inerrant word of God?

Answer: No, your friend is not right! If anyone says that they believe in the God of the Bible, but don’t believe the Bible is the word of God, they are being deceived.  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” ( 1 Timothy 3: 16-17 NKJV)

Satan wants us to doubt God and not follow God’s teachings in the Bible. The devil’s tactic of deception is not new. He started deceiving mankind all the way back in the beginning in the Garden of Eden. Genesis Chapter 3 tells how the serpent tried to make Eve doubt God’s word and disobey God’s instruction to not eat the fruit of the tree “in the midst of the garden.” Eve told him that God said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” (v.3)

“And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'” (vs.4-5)  Eve fell for the devil’s deceptive words.  She ate of the fruit and gave some to Adam. They both disobeyed God! All three, Adam, Eve, and the serpent, received God’s punishment!

Likewise, today, Satan continues to try to deceive us into thinking that we don’t need to live our lives according to God’s  Holy Word.  For example, he tries to deceive us when we are dealing with troubles in our personal relationships with family and friends. Satan wants us to fight against each other and not get along.  But, God wants us to show love to one another, pray for each other, and forgive each other. We should treat each other the way God’s Word teaches us to treat each other.

Also, when we face physical and mental illnesses or addictions, Satan wants to deceive us into losing hope for getting better. But God tells us to put our hope and trust in Him. We are to pray and believe in Him for healing. “…And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Therefore, we must recognize when Satan is trying to deceive us. “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things (our sins) the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 5:6)  To be protected against Satan’s deceptions, we must “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)  We must pray and study God’s Word.  Ephesians chapter 6 spells this out for us. We need the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (v.17b)

Most importantly, we must make sure we “take the helmet of salvation.” (Ephesians 6:17a)  To do this, we must understand that our sins separate us from a Holy God.  But God’s love for us led Him to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus willingly took the punishment for our sins that we deserved.  He rose again on the third day and sits at the right hand of God.  By accepting Jesus as our one and only Savior, we have everlasting life with God.  His Holy Spirit will live in us to help us live for God. 

And, His Holy Spirit will help us resist Satan’s deceptions.  Amen! 

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Question: Once again, just before my husband and I tried to go out for a “date” night, we got into an argument over something minor and it ruined the whole evening.  How do we stop this depressing pattern?

Answer:  First you and your husband should discuss the fact that this pattern of behavior happens.  Then, pray together that God would guide your conversations with each other and bless you to communicate with each other in a way that would be pleasing to Him.  Seek out good Christian resources to help you with this like the ones found on the Focus on the Family web site, www.focusonthefamily.com.   Bottom line: you’ve got to stop letting the devil steal your joy!

You see, having the devil interfere in your life trying to cause trouble is nothing new.  Satan works to cause us trouble.  He even tried to cause trouble for Jesus Christ, Himself.  Matthew 4:10 tells of the time when Satan tried to tempt Jesus to serve him instead of serving God. Satan took Jesus up on a high mountain to show Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Satan promised to give Jesus all the kingdoms if Jesus would worship him.  But Jesus said, “Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'” ( NKJV)  Like Jesus, we too should be ready to speak the power of the Holy Word against the devil when we see he is trying to disrupt our lives.

There will be other times when we believe we are following God’s plan for our lives and Satan will try to get us off track.  He may even do this by using someone in our lives we trust to try to derail us.  He attempted this against Jesus.  When the time came for Jesus to be crucified — to take the punishment in our place that we deserved for our sins — He began to explain to His disciples what was going to happen.  That’s when His disciple Peter, “took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to you!'” But Jesus recognized these words of the devil speaking through Peter.  So Jesus pushed back by saying to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23)  Again, like Jesus, we must be on guard against sinful advice even from those we consider friends.  We must understand that it is the devil who is trying to use them to pull us away from God.

Therefore, when you can sense, for example, that an unhealthy argument is coming on between you and that other person — be it a spouse, child, parent, friend, or even a stranger — be on guard.  Recognize this for what it really is, the work of the devil trying to destroy the joy of your relationship.  Stop and pray to God to give you the right words to say.  And, remember Ephesians 4:26-27, “‘Be angry, and do not sin,’ do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”  Remember, Satan wants to destroy our positive relationships and cause all kinds of trouble in our lives because he is evil.  He wants us to be miserable and defeated just like him.

Above all, Satan wants to stop you from accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, from joyfully living your life to please God, and from having everlasting life in Heaven.  Don’t let him do it!  Accept Jesus Christ as your one and only Savior and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Turn away from your life of sin and start enjoying the blessed life God wants for you.

Jesus wants us to take comfort in His Words from John 10:10.  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  Take comfort in His words and stop letting the devil steal your joy!

Re-posted from June 4, 2016

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Question: It’s been months since my boyfriend dumped me, and I still have dreams of being married and having kids with him.  How do I move on?

Answer: It can be very difficult moving on with our lives after having our dreams shattered.  Unfortunately, as long as you’re dealing with imperfect people, you’ll run the risk of having them disappoint you.  And, as the Bible teaches us, we’re all imperfect people.  Believers know that we are all sinners and that it is our faith in Jesus Christ that saves us (See Romans 5:8-11).  God’s Word also tells us that it is Him that we must put our dependence on. He knows our needs and wants.  He will bless us when we believe and trust in Him! The ability to move on with our lives will happen if we put our hope in God, and God alone!  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (NKJV)

More and more these days, we find people putting their hope in other people instead of putting their hope in God. For example, we see this nearly every election, when various politicians and their political groups make all kinds of promises to people in order to get their votes.  People put their hope in these politicians because the people really believe these politicians are going to do things to make their lives better. Later, the people realize their lives aren’t much better.  And, too many times, their favorite politicians didn’t keep their promises.  Instead of putting our hope in politicians, we need to put our hope in God! (See Psalm 118:8-9.)

Also, people have been known to put their hope in religious leaders. They forget that religious leaders are still human.  They are imperfect and will sin just like everyone else.  The only man to walk this earth without committing sin is Jesus Christ because He is God. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21) Sadly, when religious leaders fall, some of their followers will have their faith shaken.  They may even abandon their faith.  This happens because they have put their hope in man instead of putting their hope in God.

Most commonly, people find themselves putting their hope in their family.  Be it their parents, children, or spouses, people’s live can be shattered when these family members make huge moral mistakes.  Hearts are broken as a result of their sins, and disillusionment sets in.  People will often blame God for putting them in these relationships.  But, all along, people should have been putting their hope in God and not in their family members because family members are still just imperfect humans.

Therefore, people need to stop looking for hope in all the wrong places. Our hope should not be placed in politicians, celebrities, religious leaders, friends, family, or even ourselves.  Our hope should only be in God!  Listen to renowned Pastor Tony Evans speak on why our hope should be in God in his message titled “Your Future and Your Hope.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaI41bJanhM

Follow me on Twitter: @ValClarksPlace

Helpful Links:

Focus on the Family    www.focusonthefamily.com

Crown Financial Ministries   www.crown.org

The Christian Broadcasting Network  www.cbn.com

World Magazine   www.worldmag.com

Question:  Why are some Christians siding with those who stand against biblical teachings?
Answer:  Sadly, many Christians have more of a “What’s in it for me?” attitude than a “put God first” attitude. They don’t take the time to examine themselves to see if they are making choices that please God.  Instead, when they make choices on how best to deal with society’s issues, they mostly consider how the outcome will benefit them or the people they care more about.  They don’t put the priority on what is right according to God’s Holy Word.  If the two sides don’t match, it’s God’s side that takes a back seat in their choices.
For too many Christians, not only are they looking out for themselves first, but they also tend to side with what is popular with those they admire.  For example, when some Christians are at parties with friends who are drinking heavily, making crude jokes, or belittling those who don’t embrace their sinful views on social issues,  these Christians will likely remain silent.  They don’t want to look unintelligent or seem like a religious extremist if they offer a biblical view on these topics.  They also fear being excluded from future party invite lists or being labeled intolerant because they aren’t seen as embracing sinful lifestyles.
Other Christians fear losing favor with their boss at work.  They’ve caught on to the unwritten rule that you never openly disagree with the boss if you want to get promoted.  So, to stay in the good graces of their boss, they might choose to simply go along with employers or co-workers’ requests to donate to causes or organizations that the boss supports.  They’ll  agree to donate their money and even their time to these causes even if these causes promote views that go against the teachings of God’s Word.  They choose getting ahead on the job before standing for their faith and refusing to participate in these sin-promoting activities.
Even more far-reaching in impact is when these Christians vote for politicians who clearly state that they are planning to push for legislation that goes against biblical teaching. These politicians promise good things like creating more jobs or helping the poor. Therefore, these Christians are willing to overlook  the sinful things they also promise to do, like supporting abortions and redefining marriage to be something other than the biblical marriage of one man with one woman.  Again, they choose to make God’s teachings take a back seat to the political promises they hope to get.  These choices not only negatively affect them, they negatively affect the entire society and lead them away from God.
Christians must stop being hypocrites — praising Jesus and declaring their love for God on Sunday, then turning their backs on God when they think they’re getting a “better” offer on Monday!   They must remember that Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (NKJV)   In Exodus 20:3, God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  When Christians choose social status, money, power, or any other thing that makes them put God after it, they are making these things more important than God is in their lives.  They are making Jesus take a back seat to what they think is a better offer.  We must always remember, though, that there is no better offer than receiving God’s gift of the saving grace of His Son, Jesus Christ, and living our lives to please God!

(Updated and re-posted from my February 18, 2016 blog.)
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