Tag Archive | Christianity

Beware! You’re being watched!

Jan21

Question:  How do I get over my resentment of church people after witnessing hypocritical behavior by some of them?

Answer:  Unfortunately, many people have blamed the entire church body for bad behavior they’ve seen or experienced from some in the church. Some have even used this reason to explain why they don’t want to attend church. But they need to know that like everybody else, when members of the church do wrong or treat people wrong, they sin against God.  And, like everyone else, they will answer to God for their actions if they don’t ask forgiveness for and repent of their sins. Those Believers who have truly grown in their relationship with God already know this.

But you need to understand that your own relationship with God should not be based on the actions of humans.  Your relationship with God must be based on your acceptance of the actions of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ!  Jesus is the only one God sent to die on the cross and take the punishment we deserved for our sins.  We can be thankful for His sacrificial death and resurrection.  Only by accepting Jesus as our Savior, asking Him to forgive our sins and repenting from our sins, are we saved from eternal damnation. Then, we can look forward to going to heaven.  And we make the first steps needed to develop godly feelings towards other people.

Because God’s Holy Spirit will then be guiding you and helping you to have the correct feelings towards others — whether they are doing the right things or doing the wrong things.  You’ll learn to hate the sins and not the sinner.  You’ll learn that you are to pray for people who are doing wrong instead of resenting them.  Pray that they repent and do right.  Love them because God loves them and wants them to live their lives for Him.

As Christians, we must remember that we are being watched by both fellow Believers as well as unbelievers.  And just as the Pharisees watched Jesus hoping to find something they could use against Him (see Luke 6:6-11),  our actions will also be used for and against us by others.  Our actions can help draw people to Christ or push them away from Christ.  The Bible teaches us in Matthew 5:13-16 that we are to represent the love of Jesus Christ to others by being “salt and light.”  It says in verse 16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (NKJV)

Beware, Christians!  You’re being watched!  So, make sure what others see is the love of Jesus Christ in you!

Follow me on Twitter: @valclarksplace.com

Don’t start the New Year believing the devil’s lies!

Dec30

Question: I can believe that God loves other people.  But, with a past like mine, how could God really love somebody like me?

Answer:  First, know that you are not alone in feeling this way.  There are many people with pasts that include everything from using illegal drugs and drunkenness, to stealing, sexual promiscuity, and even murder who think there’s no hope for them to have a true relationship with a Holy God.  But that is simply not true.  These are just lies of the devil!

The Bible gives us many examples of how God has used people with troubled pasts.  Take the prostitute Rahab.  She hid the messengers of God when they needed help.  Joshua 6:25 tells us that as a result of her actions  — despite her background — Rahab and her household were saved by God.  And in another example, look at the life of the Apostle Paul, a well-known persecutor and murderer of Christians, who was later used by God to be a great Christian leader.  In 1st Timothy 1:15, Paul himself says:  “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (NKJV)

In fact, Satan even tried to get Jesus to believe his lies.  Luke 4: 1 – 13 tells us how Satan encountered Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days trying to tempt Jesus to turn His back on God and worship him instead.  It didn’t work.  Satan failed to tempt Jesus away from God.  In verse 8, Jesus responds by saying, “Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'”  So if Satan tried to get Jesus away from God, you know he is trying to get you.  Don’t fall for his lies!

The truth is that God actually wants to have a relationship with us.  But, as it says in Romans 3:23, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”  And our sins do separate us from God.  But because God loves us so much He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and to be able to join Him in Heaven one day.  That one and only way is through Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.  Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment we deserve for our sins.   When we accept Jesus as our Savior and ask Him to forgive us of our sins and repent, we are reconciled to God.  See John 3:16.

So remember, Satan doesn’t want you to have a relationship with God.  He wants you to stay wallowing in your sins and separated from God because of them, and on your way to hell with him.  Jesus says, “The thief  (Satan) 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.” (John 10:10)   So, while we must realize that Satan wants us to feel unloved by God and defeated, we can stand strong against his lies.  We can go into the new year knowing that we, indeed, have God’s love.  Praise the Lord!

Follow me on Twitter:  @valclarksplace