Rhythm of Faith

Knowing Deceit: In Relationships, Business and Everything You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Matt 7:11 The Bible amazes me, God amazes me! The key to so much can be found in just a verse in the bible. The word of God says by their fruit you shall know them. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. Matt 12:35 So many people claim to be what they are not, even what they are very very far from being. So many of us wonder if our friends are good, honest, God fearing people as they claim to be? We wonder if our Priests.Pastors, Spiritual leaders are as God fearing as they seem on the altar? If our fiancé will make a good husband? If perhaps the person we work with is honest? Everyone can carry a bible but very few actually read it and even fewer understand what they read. Deceit is everywhere,in the house of...

Prayer: Heaping Empty Phrases “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Matt 6:7 According to the canons of the Pharisees, every day a man ought to pray eighteen prayers. Their prayer books abound in tautologies, and in expressing the same things in different words, and by a multiplicity of them. " Gils exposition on the bible" There are formulas, programs, advice and techniques for getting what you want from God.This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need.  As loving Parents, we all want the best for our children. Their wants and desires are not always the best for them. I for one as a parent would like my kids to approach me with their desires and wants in the most simple way without a lot of drama. I would rather they come as they are not with escorts to ask on their behalf but as they are even if they are incoherent. No matter how incoherent my ...

Grow Down How honest and direct children are with their needs! If it feels good, they laugh. If it hurts, they cry. If they want it, they ask for it—or just take it. In Luke 18:17 Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” These words about children actually preceded Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler who couldn’t admit his need for God and Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus, who scaled a tree — like a child — to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus set the stage with a truth and then illustrated it both negatively and positively. By contrasting two men’s actions — one who couldn’t admit his needs and one who readily admitted his needs to the point of making himself look like a child — Jesus clearly teaches us how to approach God with our needs. What do you need? Patience with a potty-training three-year-old? Wisdom with a truth-stretching six-year-old? Compassion with a troubled thirteen-year-old? Jesus ...