Question: I’m afraid I’ve messed up so many times God won’t forgive me again. Am I right?
Answer: No. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” ( 1 John 1:9 NKJV) God looks at our hearts. He knows when we are being sincere in our requests for His forgiveness or just saying words we don’t really mean. He also knows that we will keep “messing up” at times because we are all sinners. So, as we seek forgiveness, we must also pray for God to help us repent, or turn away from, our sins and live our lives to please Him.
And, just as we want God to forgive us when we sin and give us another chance to start over, God expects us to forgive others. He does not want us to be like the servant described in Matthew 18:23-35. In this story, we see how the king granted one person forgiveness of the enormous debt he owed the king. But, this same person refused to extend that same type of forgiveness to someone else who owed him a much smaller debt. This person ended up suffering punishment for his failure to forgive. In Luke 17:3, Jesus says, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.”
However, just because we are expected to forgive, it doesn’t mean we stop being wise. God also gives us wisdom. The Apostle Paul warns us in Ephesians 5:17, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” If someone is abusing you or committing some other sin, the Bible tells us that is wrong. That would not be God’s best for your life. You can and should forgive and pray for others without tolerating their sin.
Remember that because God extends His grace to us, He will give us another chance when we mess up. He will forgive us of our sins if we ask Him with a sincere heart. God wants us to repent of our sins and live our lives to please Him. We start to please Him when we accept His only Son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the only One God gave us who took the punishment of death we deserved for our sins. Since sin separates us from a holy God, we can only go to Heaven by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, asking forgiveness, and repenting of our sins.

Thank God for second chances!

Reposted from my 6/7/17 blog.
Follow me on Twitter : @valclarksplace

Question: My best friend since high school  is very sweet but also very bossy. She keeps insisting that I join her book club even though I’ve repeatedly told her I don’t want to join. As a Christian, how do I let her down without making her mad at me?

Answer: Just be honest with her and stand firm in your decision.  Be kind and gentle as you speak and pray for God to give you the right words to say.  Reassure her that you appreciate her friendship and thank her for wanting to include you in her group. It’s normal to not want to be confrontational with those we care about but sometimes certain situations call for us to say and defend positions which might not make others happy. If she really is a friend, she should understand and not get mad.

Many times in life, we may encounter people who try to pressure us to do things we don’t want to do. This pressure can come from a variety of different places. For example, your religion professor tells you that you must believe that there are many ways to heaven.  Don’t succumb to this pressure!  If you are a Believer – having accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior – you know that God’s Word tells us that there is only one way to Heaven.  You know that Jesus says in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV)  Stand firm in the truth!

Or, another example of others trying to pressure you to live your life their way might come from famous people you admire.  These celebrities might tell you that you should live any lifestyle you want. They basically tell you that if it feels good, do it! But, as a Christian, you know that this is not the truth.  The Bible instructs us as to how God wants us to live our lives.  He tells us that we are to live our lives to please Him.  In John 14:15, Jesus says, ” If you love Me, keep My commandments.”  God has provided us with His Holy Word – the Bible – to let us know the type of life He wants us to live.  He wants us to repent of our sins and live holy lives… lives that honor Him!

The bottom line is this: each one of us must decide who we are going to let run our lives. We can choose to just live our lives to please people, or we can choose to live our lives to please God. Remember in Luke 4:8, Jesus says, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”

So, who are you letting run your life? If you’re a Christian, the only answer should be God!

(Re-posted from my 3/10/18 Blog)

Follow me on Twitter: @valclarksplace

Question: I’m used to deciding where I stand on an issue based on what God’s Word says on the subject. Many friends think I’m being too old-fashioned. Should I change my views to fit in better?

Answer: No.  You just need to remember who you are supposed to be serving: God or man? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you should only be serving God! So His view on an issue is the only view we should have as Believers. This is called having a Christian or Biblical world view.

For example, if a politician promised to support a law that would legalize stealing other people’s property, you would not vote for this politician. Even if the politician promised to give you a lot of the stolen items to keep. And you really wanted some of these items. You would recognize that this politician was trying to get you to support something that is wrong in the eyes of God.  For in Exodus 20:15, God says, “You shall not steal.” (NKJV)

But too many Christians today are trying to have it both ways. They know that they are supposed to be living their lives to please God. But when Biblical teachings become unpopular, not personally advantageous, or labeled as hateful by many in society, these same Christians cower. They start to hide, back away from, or deny the true teachings of God’s Word in order to be appealing to others.

In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus says, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (NKJV)

Therefore, if you want to please God, you will not deny His teachings. You will commit to reading His Word so you will know for yourself what He has to say about life. You will pray for God to give you guidance and wisdom as to how you are to engage with others who do not share your Christian views or who want you to support positions and policies that go against God’s Word.

And, you will know that the only way to view the issues and dilemmas of the world is by seeing them the same way that God sees them…and living your life accordingly!

Question: I’ve been praying to get a job at a certain company for years. I keep applying, but I still haven’t gotten the job. Why won’t the Lord answer my prayers?
Answer: Maybe He already has! Just because you haven’t gotten the answer you want doesn’t mean God hasn’t answered. There could be many reasons you haven’t gotten that job. One reason being that you may not be ready for it due to your lack of having the necessary skills needed. Or, maybe God knows that you need to work at a different company for some reason. Still another possibility is that God does plan to give you a job at that company…just, not yet! The bottom line is that if God wants you to have a certain job, He will make sure you get it. Our God is all-powerful! Also, since He is all-knowing, He knows what company is best for you.
Too often, we think we already know, on our own, what is the best path to take in our life. But we fail to pray for the Lord to guide our thoughts, plans, and decision-making. We must always pray to follow God’s will for our lives even when we find this to be difficult. Hebrews 13:20-21 says, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead…. make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” ( NKJV )
Therefore, we must not put our trust in ourselves to plan what is best for us. We must seek Jesus, through prayer, to give us wisdom and direct our paths. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us why we need to do this. Here God says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” (NIV)
Thankfully, we can always trust that our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. He knows what paths we need to take. He knows the desires of our heart, and He wants what is best for us. So, as we make these important decisions in our lives, remember Matthew 6:33. In that verse Jesus says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (KJV )
Remember: God knows what’s best. Stay in His will for your life!

(Re-posted from 5/11/17)
Follow me on Twitter: @ValClarksPlace

Question: At my recent class reunion the conversation turned to more socially controversial topics. When asked my opinion, I froze. I was afraid that if I gave my biblically based view, they would not like me anymore.  How do I be stronger next time?

Answer: It’s true that in these days and times, it can be easy for Believers to feel intimidated during conversations on socially controversial subjects. Most of us have seen for ourselves how expressing our biblically based views can be met with a great deal of retaliation by those who disagree with us.

Retaliation can come in a variety of negative reactions.  On one level, we might find that we are no longer invited to certain parties. We may lose longtime friends. We may even be shunned or disowned by our families.  Of course, the loss of these relationships hurt us deeply.

On a different level, we might find ourselves facing backlash on our jobs or during our community activities.  For example, your co-workers may want you to join a union that uses your dues to support political candidates and policies which go against the teachings of God’s Word. Refusing can at the very least make you very unpopular or even hated by the others.  Refusing to go against your Christian beliefs can even lead to you losing your job in some situations where you get accused of being intolerant.

Or, if you choose to participate in a peaceful political rally or protest, you could be threatened by opponents. Recently this happened to a pro-life lady praying in protest near a clinic of the nation’s largest provider of abortions, Planned Parenthood.  In this case, the person doing the harassing was a state representative.  He posted a video showing himself making derogatory comments to her, and he offered to give $100.00 to anyone who could give him her home address. Then he could make her information public and pro-abortion supporters could protest outside her private home.  (See story here)

This behavior is obviously wrong — as wrong as it would be for abortion opponents to physically harm anyone running an abortion clinic. But in our world today, fueled by social media, holding a different view on an issue can potentially be dangerous.  People representing both sides of a variety of issues often receive death threats against them and even against their spouses and children by those who disagree.

Understandably, knowing the possible backlash we could face makes us hesitant to stand strong for the teachings of God’s Holy Word. The Apostle Paul himself even had some of these concerns. Read Ephesians 6: 18-20. He asked his fellow Believers to pray for him “that utterance may be given to me (by God’s Holy Spirit), that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel…that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” ( vs 19-20 NKJV ).

Therefore, Christians are to pray!  Pray for God to be glorified in every situation. Pray for revival in our land. Pray for all those who haven’t already done so to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And, pray that as Believers we follow God’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves. And be bold like Paul to stand strong for God’s Word!

Question: I can believe God’s promises for other people but not for myself. Why?

Answer: It’s not uncommon for many people to accept that God is a loving God. But yet, they can find it hard to accept that God loves them. This can be especially true if they feel that they have sinned too much for God to love and forgive them. Or, they think of their relationship with God the same way they think about their relationships with people.

In many of our lives, we’ve had various people disappoint us, mistreat us, break off their relationship with us, or even abuse us.  We come to learn that there are people who cannot be trusted. These people may even be family members or close friends — even those who have been in our lives for many years.

But our Almighty God loves us greatly, and He can indeed be trusted! His Holy Word tells of His great love for us. In fact, “God IS love.” (1 John 4:8 NKJV)  And Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him; And He shall direct your paths.”

Unfortunately, instead of listening to these truths of God, we start to listen to the lies of Satan.  We forget that he is our enemy. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that, “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.”

So when you are experiencing those occasional feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness,  lack of confidence, or unworthiness — or just feeling plain unloved — know that these feelings are not from God.  They are from our enemy Satan. He tries to capture our minds so he can pull us away from God.

But don’t lose hope! God is able to bring the victory of healing in these battles that go on in our mind. Sometimes He heals us directly. Sometimes He uses others like trusted Christian counselors, doctors, and pastors to help you through these mental struggles.  Thank God for providing these wonderful people in our lives to be a blessing to us!

Remember the good news God gives us in Jeremiah 29:11:  “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.”

Of course God’s greatest show of love towards us came through His only Son, Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  So repent. Ask God to forgive you of your sins, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior!

Read God’s Word. Learn about the promises, hope, and love He has for you. Pray to Him about your needs. And know that unlike people, God always keeps His promises. He does not lie so we know we can trust that His Word is true! Lean on God and stop letting the devil steal your joy! Start living the “abundant” life God has planned for you!