Faith, Fear, and Love (Part 1)

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." ~ 1 John 4:18

How can you increase your faith?

By increasing in love.

Why does increasing in love increase your faith?

Because according to 1 John 4:18, love casts out fear, which is the opposite of faith.

So, increasing your faith involves increasing your love.

In the days to come, we'll continue to explore the relationship between love, faith, and fear.

God bless,
J.W.

Pure Truth

"For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." ~ Proverbs 2:6

The Bible, i.e. the Word of God, is a source of truth.

That doesn't mean that the Bible is the ONLY source of truth. 

Books by Christian authors, self-help books, and even other religion's "holy books" can have some semblance of truth within them. 

So why should we believe the Bible over other texts?

Because the Bible is the only source of pure truth. 

While other texts may require you to parse out that which is true from that which is not, the Bible is THE ONLY text in which truth is the only thing that could possibly emanate from it. 

Why? 

Because according to Proverbs 2:6, its Author gives wisdom. That's just what He does. According to Numbers 23:19, God does not lie. He is trustworthy. And because the Bible is His word, we can believe what it says.

So the question is, in your thirst for knowledge and understanding, would you rather drink from a pure well, or from a well that could be contaminated?

I don't know about you, but I'd rather drink from the purest water there is.

God bless,

J.W.

Faith Without Works (Part 2)

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." ~ Revelation 3:20

Even in salvation, God doesn't do it all Himself. He asks for our participation.

In Revelation 3:20, He says, "behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I'll come in and dine with him."

Here, God being God, He could have just opened the door Himself. But He asks us to respond to His call.

That is not to say that we must do something to earn God's love. Ephesians 2:8 says that salvation is a free gift. But we don't get the gift without action on our part.

So, if you want what God has for your life, don't just whine . . .  or complain . . . or feel entitled. Put yourself in position for God to move on your behalf and see if He won't do it.

He calls, but we must respond in action.

God bless,
J.W.

Only God Can Reveal

"He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'" - Matthew 16:15-17

This past Sunday, my pastor said something that I found to be so true and so profound.

In short, he said that it is impossible to reason with irrational people. So, rather than argue with them, you should just pray that God would remove the scales from their eyes so that they can see the truth (Acts 9:18).

Matthew 16:15-17 confirms that statement. 

There are some things in life of which we simply cannot convince people. Jesus said that Peter's revelation that He was the Christ could ONLY be revealed to Peter by the Father. 

This is why the best evangelism we can do is to live our lives in the best way we know how according to the purpose and plan of God, because it is often through the lives of transformed people that God reveals Himself to untransformed.

The question is, in your efforts to win souls, are you just talking or are you walking what you talk? Being about our Father's business is what wins souls, not debating with people. 

God bless,
J.W.

God is Sufficient (Part 3)

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." ~ Revelation 3:20

Yesterday, we looked at Colossians 2:9-10, and the importance of dwelling in God if we are to receive His best for our lives.

The question we were left with, however, was what does it mean to dwell in God?

Well, the good news is that dwelling in God doesn't require us to do much.

Revelation 3:20 says that if we would just respond to His call and let Him in, He'll come and dwell with us.

How crazy is that? 

To think that we don't have to change our environment to dwell in God. But He'll come to us.

That we don't even have to change the essence of who we are to serve God. But He'll come in and change us.

But first we've got to open the door and let Him in.

God bless,
J.W.

God is Sufficient (Part 2)

"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." - Colossians 2:9-10

Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that God is the head of principality and power – in other words, He’s omnipotent. There’s no one greater than Him.

But somehow, there’s often a disconnect between how we live our life and this depiction of our Heavenly Father. We often feel like we are small, when Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that God is BIG.

So, what’s the key to unlocking God’s fullness in our lives? Colossians 2:9 says that the fullness dwells in Him. Thus, in order to be complete in God and experience the great things He has for us, we’ve got to dwell in Him too.

To find out what it means to dwell in God, stay tuned.

God bless,
J.W.

God is Sufficient (Part 1)

"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." ~ Colossians 2:9-10

In today’s society, it seems like people are always looking for the next big thing – the next iPhone, the next Xbox or PS4, the next Jay-Z or Beyonce. We have this insatiable appetite for more because somehow, what we have doesn’t seem good enough.

But Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that God is so omnipotent and omnipresent that we don’t need anything else. We are complete in Him.

The question, then, is, have you experienced the fullness of God? Are you complete in Him?

If not, stay tuned tomorrow to find out how you can experience God’s fullness.

God bless,
J.W.