Category: General Christian

Pitfall of Passivity | Work While There Is Light

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41

WHAT IS PASSIVITY OR BEING PASSIVE

Someone passive: is without active response or resistance
• Passivity is a characteristic of someone who holds back and lets others act.
o When they should also be acting
• To be passive is to have no resistance and yield to external influences.
• Showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern
• Lacking energy, drive, motivation, or emotion
• Accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance

THERE IS GOOD PASSIVITY PASSIVITY IS APPROPRIATE WHEN WE ARE BEING SUBMISSIVE TO THE WILL OF GOD THIS KIND WAS SHOWN BY JESUS ON THE NIGHT OF HIS ARREST

He submitted to the abuse of his captors,
• Rather than allow his disciple to fight for him
1 Peter 2:23: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
• Jesus Christ, did nothing to stop those that bound him in ropes, mock him and beat him
But he had also told his disciples that he could have called twelve legions of Angels
Matthew 26:53: Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
• Jesus sought to do the will of the Father
• Submitted Himself willing to the cross

PASSIVITY BECAME DESTRUCTIVE TO DAVID A MIGHTY MAN OF GOD

2 Samuel 11:1: And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
• David did not answer his call to duty
• He did not take care of his responsibilities
o He was not where he was supposed to be
o He was supposed to be on the battlefield leading his troops
• He stayed in the comfort zone of the palace
• As a result, he had TOO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS

THE INSTRUCTIONS THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE DON’T REQUIRE PASSIVITY.
THEY CALL US TO TAKE ACTION. WE ARE COMMANDED TO PUT AWAY PASSIVITY AND DO THESE THINGS:
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
1 Thessalonians 5:17: Pray without ceasing.
PREACH THE WORD
2 Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
Hebrews 3:13: But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
1 Peter 1:22: 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
FLEE FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND LUSTFUL SEXUAL THINGS TO EYES AND EAR
1 Corinthians 6:18: Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
HONOR PARENTS
Ephesians 6:2: Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;
PUT TO DEATH . . . THE COMPONENTS OF YOUR EARTHLY NATURE: SEXUAL IMMORALITY, IMPURITY, LUST, EVIL DESIRES, AND GREED, WHICH IS IDOLATRY
Colossians 3:5: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
HONOR THE LORD IN YOUR BODY AND SPIRIT WHICH BELONG TO HIM
1 Corinthians 6:20: For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s

Give your heart to Jesus today by saying this prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Please forgive me. Come into my life. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Please, help me to live for you the rest of this life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.

Hunger for Spiritual Food | Bread of Life

By Pastor Dennis Williams

Psalm 119:9: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy Word.”

Psalm 119:10: With my whole heart have I sought thee. O let me not wander from thy commandments

“WITH MY WHOLE HEART I HAVE SOUGHT THEE.”

How many of us can genuinely pray this back to the Lord?
We have not arrived yet
- We are pressing forward to the mark:

Philippians 3:14: I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

THE PSALMIST SAID: “WITH MY WHOLE HEART I HAVE SOUGHT THEE”
GIVE OUR WHOLE HEART TO THE LORD
In Loving Him
Deut 6:5: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with thy soul, and with all thy might
In Obeying Him and His Word
Psalm 119:2: Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart

• Develop that Thirst and Hunger for His Word
In trusting the Lord
Pr 3:5: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.
• We don’t know what is best for us
• Don’t trust in the Power of Self, self-confidence, self-esteem, etc
Give Him your whole heart in Prayer
Je 29:13: And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
• Promise of God
• Lay down the time wasters
• Pick up a ministry of Prayer
In Repentance when you need too
Jl 2:12: Therefore, also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with mourning:

Psalm 119:11: Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
WHAT ARE WE PUTTING IN OUR INNERMOST BEING? THAT PART OF US THAT WE CANNOT SEE.
Hebrew 4:12: For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
• The Word of God is living
• The Word has power or creative energy
• The Word admonishes (warns and reprimands) us
• The Word of God only source that can divide the soul and spirit

Down in Psalm 119 vs. 15-16: I will meditate in thy precepts (instructions), and have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statures: I WILL NOT FORGET THY WORD.
Meditate on the Word- Meditate is to think deeply or carefully concerning the Word
• Spend some time.
• Let our time with the Word be rich – not scarce
• Get to know the ways and mind of the Lord

Give your heart to Jesus today by saying this prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Please forgive me. Come into my life. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Please, help me to live for you the rest of this life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.

Twisting the Word | Spirit of Error

By Pastor Dennis Williams

I John 4:6: We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Isa 26:3: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

WHAT OCCUPIES YOUR MIND THE MOST ?
Last week we talked about thirsting for God
We also talked about a thirst for knowledge
• As Christians should be careful of what we put in the mind
• Lead us down the wrong pathways
• A head-on collision with:
o Error and False doctrines, conspiracy theories,
o Conspiracies mixed with religion
o Can become and addiction
o And others
• Lead to Spiritual Contamination:
o Contamination is the action or state of making or being made impure by polluting or poisoning. (drinking water, atmosphere, food)
o Wrong information can contaminate your entire being (Body soul and spirit)
• Are we protecting our Body, soul, and spirit?

AS A CHRISTIAN SIN BEGINS IN OUR THOUGHT LIFE
GOD GOES THROUGH THE MIND TO GET TO OUR HEARTS
Jesus said, “Mark 7:20-23 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:23 All these evil things come from within and defile the man.”
• No one commits these outward sins without first having committed them
• in his mind.
• If we want to grow in godliness,
• we must win the battle
• over sin on the thought level.
WE SHOULD DEVELOP A CHRISTIAN THOUGHT LIFE
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

• This scripture is not talking about “Positive Thinking”
• written by the author of “THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING”
• This author was a universalist:
o and believed that everyone is going to heaven if they believe in a god, and have some redeeming value
o which is just about everyone.
• The Bible is but not all Positive: Talks about Heaven Hell, SIN (The wages but the Gift of God)
• The Truth is: We cannot overcome the evils of this world,
• or even the evil in our hearts, in our strength.

APART FROM CHRIST WE CAN DO NOTHING
John 15:5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

ALONGSIDE THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING IS ANOTHER HERESY CALL THE POWER OF POSITIVE CONFESSION

A belief that words have a kind of spiritual, magical power that we can use to get what we want.

The practice borrows not from biblical truths
but from a new age concept called the “law of attraction.”
Which teaches that “like attracts like”— or a positive statement or thought will draw a positive reaction.
WE CANNOT FORCE GOD TO DO ANYTHING
GOD DOESN’T WORK FOR US
GOD’S PLAN FOR OUR LIVES MAY NOT MATCH UP WITH OUR OWN

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 11:33-35 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

WE ARE TO DEVELOP A CHRISTIAN THOUGHT LIFE THAT INCLUDES JESUS CHRIST AS LORD

Easy to get caught up in ERROR in today’s time
- Conspiracy theories etc
- False doctrines
- Doing “spiritual internet searches” for the latest in spiritual news. (BE CAREFUL AND PRAYERFUL)

2 Corinthians 2:11: Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

2 Corinthians 10:5: Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Read the Bible everyday and stand clear of error
Pray about bouncing from teacher to teacher and website to website
Error in the Word of God can bring confusion
Can bring despair and hopelessness

Give your heart to Jesus today by saying this prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus,Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Please forgive me. Come into my life. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Please, help me to live for you the rest of this life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.

Hole in the Heart

By Pastor Dennis Williams

There is a hole in the middle of our hearts until we find Jesus!

Only Jesus can quench our thirst and hunger!

Matt 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied

Righteousness is right standing with God.
In a right relationship with Him
Wanting to do it God’s way
Trusting in His Power and Strength

ITS NOT OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
THE BIBLE ALSO TELLS US THAT THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO TO EARN OUR WAY TO HEAVEN BECAUSE WE’VE ALL SINNED !

Romans 3:10: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.

EVERYDAY YOU’LL WAKE UP HUNGRY AND THIRSTY,
• What do we chase after daily?
• Seek ye first the Kingdom of God – And all these things shall be added unto you
• Examine our own selves

HOW DO YOU TRY TO QUENCH YOUR SPIRITUAL THIRST?
Jesus told the woman at the well that those that drink that “physical water’ will thirst again.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
• Jesus, is the thirst quencher
• We may seek to fill the dry place
WITH:
• our thirst for knowledge, power, pleasure
• Or with other gods like relationships, eating, shopping, alcohol, drugs, sex, careers, or possessions.
o Along with these gods bring:
o Addictions, perversions, debt, stress
o Leave us parched and dry
• All these only satisfy temporarily
• Temporarily can turn into years

JESUS CAN DO IT. JESUS CAN FIX IT

2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

• He, and He alone, can fulfill that desire in our hearts for righteousness
2 Corinthians 5:15: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Spiritual Desire

Psalm 73:25: Whom have I in heaven? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Isa 26:9: With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.