Rhythm of Faith

The promise of eternity is clear in scripture; we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). Since we are in God’s image, we are eternal, whether we like it or not.  God made us this way, eternity is promised in scripture to both saved and lost.  Heaven and Hell faces those made in the image of God.           When Adam and Eve fell, all of mankind fell with them; Jesus came to redeem us, to restore us from our fallen state.  He died in our place, for our sins, His death purchased our redemption.  The word redeem in Hebrew is lag Ga'al, and means to play the role of kinsman, someone who is a relation to the person needing rescue, hence the term, kinsman -redeemer .  Jesus became a “ son of man ” when He was born into humanity...

'He is not here, but is risen!' Luke 24:6 Christ, the founder of Christianity, was the only man capable of making an appointment beyond the grave and turning up to keep it. Jesus told His disciples, 'After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee' (Matthew 26:32 NKJV). And He did. If you visit the graves of those who founded the great religions of the world, you will find that they are still occupied. But if you visit the grave where they laid Jesus, you will find that it is empty and the words of the angels still echoing, 'He is not here, but is risen!' Those words turn every Christian burial into a celebration. Jesus promised, 'Because I live, you will live also.' Eventually you will die of something; the question is; how can you die right? There are two correct answers to that question: 1) By preparing in advance. It was a truly human tombstone that bore the inscription, 'I expected this, but not just yet.' Here...

Oh yes! He's been coming soon since I came to this world.....he's been coming soon since the bible days" you may say, true but then if we don't remind ourselves of His great return who will? I'm a love oriented christian,by this I mean, I do everything I do because I Love Him(Christ), not because of the day of rapture or any end time related fear, but recently I had a conversation with a friend who told me of the need to spread the news of His return, although I didn't agree with her initially,because I didn't think it was right to repent for the fear of judgement day,(I felt we should repent because God loves us and He sent His only son to die for us) after much thought and with the help of the bible passage she gave as a reference (Ezekiel 33:1-8) I have been made to understand that if we don't warn others to repent before He (Christ) comes, we'll be held responsible for their un -repentance. Also the Holy spirit reminded me of the story of...

'...Stand...still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.' 1 Samuel 9:27 Here's an ancient Scripture with a modern message: 'As they were going down to...the city, Samuel said to Saul...'stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.' Today we are told that in order to succeed we must hit the floor running at a hundred miles an hour, and keep it up until we collapse in the sack at night. And what's the downside to all this? Our walk with the Lord slows to a crawl, or stops altogether. Our busyness leads to spiritual barrenness. Being part of the chase can be exciting and rewarding, but it leaves little or no time for God. And you don't have to be in business. Look at mothers with small children: every minute consumed by little creatures who pull at you, scribble on your walls and walk mud all over your floor, then have the nerve to wake you up in the middle of the night. If that's happening to you, you need to say: 'Tim...

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21) Communication in marriage is a lifeline of information, conflict resolution and affection. To be able to communicate effectively, you must understand the disproportionate power of words. In relationships, words are tremendously powerful for good or bad. In every good relationship, there is an exchange of many positive words. These words act as seeds that create a powerful and disproportionate harvest. The same is true in bad relationships. In every bitter or unsatisfactory marriage, there are either few words exchanged (few seeds planted) or there are negative words exchanged (bad seeds planted). Literally, the power of life or death for any relationship is in your mouth. You possess an incredible ability to give life or death, encouragement or discouragement, truth or deception, praise or criticism, hurt or help to those around you. To understand this issue fu...

When you’re grieving or going through hardship, do you turn to the Bible for help? When we reach out to God’s Word to help us through difficult times, it’s a comfort to learn that many heroes of the faith faced the same sorts of pain, loss, and grief—and record promises and truths that we can apply to our own situations. I’ve chosen four Bible passages below that communicate a simple but powerful truth: God will not and does not forget us. It’s easy to slip into despair and loneliness when life overwhelms, but the writers of the Bible repeatedly remind us that God is always there. 1. Matthew 10:29-30 For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. —  Matthew 10:29-30  (GNT) Have you ever wondered how an infinite God could possibly care about a single person? In this passage, Jesus confirms that God  does  care about us. God ...

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. — Deuteronomy 11:18 (NIV) What does it mean to fix God’s words in your heart and mind? Among other things, it means to be continually conscious of the Bible’s teachings as you go through your daily routine. And one practical way to make sure that God’s words are always close at hand is to memorize verses and passages from the Bible. At first glance, memorizing Bible verses might seem a strange activity. For many Christians, Bible verse memorization is something kids do in Sunday school, not something that serious adults do. And if you didn’t grow up reciting memorized Bible verses to your Sunday school teacher, the idea of intentionally memorizing parts of a book—even the Book—might seem odd. But there’s power in the act of memorizing—of becoming so familiar with a word, phrase, or verse that it springs to mind instantly when something happens to trigge...

The quickest way to change a relationship from bad to good is to start thanking God in prayer for people. Praying for them will do two things -- change your attitude and change them. Positive praying is much more powerful than positive thinking. People may resist our help, spurn our appeals, and reject our suggestions, but they are powerless against our prayers. When you say to somebody, "I'll pray for you" what do you say? What do you pray? The more specific you are in prayer the more specifically you get an answer. In Philippians 1:9-11, Paul spells out exactly what he's praying for people. "And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." (NIV) These verses give you four things you can ...

There are ways to make ourselves available to hear God's voice and one of them is to enter into respectful, heartfelt praise and worship. God delights to manifest His presence and power to people who are truly praising and worshipping Him. And when His presence and power come, we hear His voice, we see miracles, people are healed, lives are changed, and transformation takes place from the inside out. Isn't that part of what you desire in your relationship with God? When you talk to Him and listen for His voice, aren't you praying primarily because you want some kind of change or transformation in some area of your life? If you are asking Him to provide a new job, that's change. If you are praying for a loved one to come to know the Lord, that's change. If you are asking God to reveal Himself more to you and to help you grow in spiritual maturity, that's change. If you are praying for the teenager who lives down the street to stop using drugs, that...

Many people today don't even bother to think rationally about what they believe and end up building their entire lives on beliefs that are simply not true. Whatever the news media, a celebrity or a group of friends say suddenly becomes 'truth' to them. Believing what others say rather than exploring God's Word for yourself will actually limit you and even keep you from doing what God created you to do. But, if you will contend for the truth, embrace it and build your life upon it, you will succeed in every endeavor. If you want to stay on track with God's Truth, you have to make communication with Him a priority in your daily schedule. I can't urge you strongly enough to communicate with Him frequently through prayer, reading His Word, worship, and simply acknowledging His presence and guidance throughout the day. When you know God, you know Truth. Living in His Truth will bring peace, freedom, and joy to your life. Prayer Starter: God, I don't want to be li...

Hebrews 9:14 14how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Have you heard the voice of your conscience saying things like, “You deserve hell for the sins you committed against your wife three years ago” or “Why are you surprised that your child is not talking to you? You were never around when he needed you”? You know, there are people who feel depressed all the time because of a sense of guilt, and they “pay” for their sins in terms of illnesses. In fact, doctors are discovering that many psychosomatic sicknesses are caused by guilt and condemnation because the conscience is saying, “You have done wrong. You must be punished. How can your sin not be punished?” That is why you must have an answer that will satisfy your conscience. When your conscience says, “You have sinned. You must be punished for this sin or else God is not a just God...