Live The Faith Ministries

Try to please God and not yourself and everyone else around you. It is not all about me, it is all about God.

Many times, our prayer life & witnessing are like auto insurance. We do not use them unless there is an accident.

Psalm 51:6-10

⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

 ⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

 ⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

 ⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

 ¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

To get verse 10 (“create in me a clean heart”) you have to go through verse 8 ("Broken Bones") There is always a reason that we go through whatever it is we go through.

Only what we have repented of is covered under the blood. If God declares something is wrong, then it is wrong. Sin is sin no matter how much you try to candy coat it. 

Running Hard (Expanding on yesterday’s thought)

1 Timothy 6:11-12 (The Message)

^11-12But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

Who says the love of money is not the root of all evil?

1 Timothy 6:9-10 (The Message)

 ^9-10But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

Do not put your faith in money, put your faith in the God that is the Provider! He will provide even when the money is gone! He makes a way where there seems to be no way possible!  God is God! He can do anything. 

Key Verses:

Matthew 6:25-34 (King James Version)

 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

 Duet. 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

 Ruth 3:11

And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

      What is the one of the biggest sins that we as Christians commit? (Next to Gluttony)

Answer: Worry.

      We are all human, not one of us can sit here and say that we do not worry. If you can say that, then you are super human or super spiritual.  

Definition of Worry/Worried:

To feel uneasy or concerned about something.

To be troubled.

To cause to feel anxious, distressed or troubled.

Persistent mental uneasiness.

A source of nagging concern.
     

     Jesus declared, “I AM the bread of life,” Do you understand the impact of what he is truly saying? He is saying, “I will take care of all of your needs spiritually from now until the day you die.” He is our daily bread, just as we eat every morning, we need to partake of that bread. He will sustain us, and Jesus is saying, “I AM the bread of life.” I AM complete, sustaining nutrition for you spiritually. If you eat this bread and drink this cup, you’ll never thirst again.” As bread, Jesus promises satisfaction now and for eternity. Notice, “Never hungry,” He says, “Never thirst.” Do you really believe that, or are those words on a piece of paper?  

What is wrong with worrying???

 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Worry is disobedience:
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Worry is unbelief:
Matthew 6:25-34 (we read above)  25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Worry is a form of atheism:
Psalm 14:1). The person who worries is really saying, "THERE IS NO GOD who can handle my problems and take care of my life and my future." The one who worries, as well as the atheist, is a Fool (Psalm 14:1)
Worry can lead to physical problems:
Stomach ulcers and other physical problems can often result from needless worry and anxiety. Not only is worry spiritually unhealthy, but it is also physically unhealthy. Worry can never help us, but it can harm us.

Worry accomplishes nothing:
Matt 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

      So, my question is Why worry when nothing good comes from it? We are always scurrying, and hurrying, and what if’ing.

What if I get sick?

What if the diagnosis comes bad?

What if my wife leaves me?

What if I lose my job?

What if I can’t make the payment?

What if I do bad on the loan?

What if my child goes away?

What if my child gets in immoral relationships or gets pregnant?

What if my child decides he or she is gay?

What if?

     Have you ever what if’ed your way through life? If you what if your way through life, you really are not taking the Bread that sustains, the Bread of Life.

     If I’m what if’ing through life, I’m not trusting in the promise that Jesus gave, that he will take care of everything…. Do you want to end up like Mr. Worry?

     The same God who commands us not to murder, lie, and steal also orders us, with equal force and authority, not to worry. This is a tough one for us because these other sins are external acts while worry is an internal emotion. Worry comes so naturally to us that we often do not even realize that we are doing it. The weight of worry can crush us, and, if we hope to avoid this, we must make it a habit of doing two things.

     First, we must focus on the faithfulness of God. Worry is attached to a fearful uncertainty of the future, and, when we worry, we are actually calling God’s future faithfulness into question. Yet, if anything can be established from Scripture, it is that God is always faithful to His people. In fact, the Bible declares that it is impossible for Him to be unfaithful (2 Timothy 2:13).

Second, we need to focus on the needs of others. It is amazing how quickly we forget about our own worries when we turn our attention to other people. By being others-centered, we turn from being self-centered, which is the catalyst for worry. God’s provision for what we worry about is often found as we help others. Do not forget that the disciples were each left with a basketful of bread after they had served the multitudes (John 6:13).

      Now, realizing that it is impossible for God to be unfaithful to us, why not praise him! Lift him up and thank him, and stop worrying for tomorrow and become others-centered….

          Said the robin to the sparrow, "I should really like to know Why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so."

Said the sparrow to the robin, "Friend, I think that it must be That they have no Heavenly Father, such as cares for you and me."

Trust God! Be Worry Free!

 Questions:

Name ways we can stop worrying

Name a time when you felt peace and did not worry over a problem and God took care of it?

How can we become others-centered instead of self-centered?

Note: I did this study for a House to House group about a year ago and I cannot remember all the rescources that I used. I apprecitate all the information that a gleaned from those rescources and had I known I would use this study online, I would have referenced each.Thanks to those I did use.

Many will be celebrating "Easter" soon. Chocolate bunnies and painted eggs along with baskets of candy will cause delight in many children as they celebrate.  I do not celebrate Easter, but I do celebrate "Ressurection Day."  The tradition of Easter has long since taken away the reality of the true meaning of that day.  Not to get off topic, but as a side note you may want to research at a later time, Easter is actually named after a pagan holiday. I want to discuss is the seriousness of the crucificiton.  Do you really know what it meant to be crucified? The agony and suffering that is caused by this type of punishment can be understood when seeing or hearing a physician giving the medical aspects of what happens to the body during a crucifiction.  Please read the below description, and remember this all happened to Jesus after he had been tortured relentlessly and had to drag a heavy cross on His already wounded body.

Below is an excerpt taken from cbn.com called "A Physician’s View of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ". Please read it and think on it. Have a blessed ressurection day, knowing that Christ did what he did for your eternity.

The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms to tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The patibulum is then lifted in place at the top of the stipes and the titulus reading, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” is nailed in place. 

The left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The Victim is now crucified. As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain — the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves.

As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.  At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.

Jesus experienced hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain where tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins — a terrible crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.  One remembers again the 22nd Psalm, the 14th verse: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” 

It is now almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level; the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissue; the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasps His fifth cry, “I thirst.”  One remembers another verse from the prophetic 22nd Psalm: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou has brought me into the dust of death.” A sponge soaked in posca, the cheap, sour wine which is the staple drink of the Roman legionaries, is lifted to His lips. He apparently doesn’t take any of the liquid.

The body of Jesus is now in extremes, and He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. This realization brings out His sixth words, possibly little more than a tortured whisper, “It is finished.”  His mission of atonement has completed. Finally He can allow his body to die.