Walking The Walk

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you." ~Ephesians 3:16 We all have seasons in our life when we may find ourselves lacking in faith.  Perhaps feeling as if maybe somewhere behind us we stumbled off the right path.  What do we do when that happens? There's three things we can do when we find ourselves feeling lost in our faith. The first thing you should do is to do a little self-examination.  Very often when we're feeling lost, it is because sin has come between us and our relationship with God.  Ask yourself if there is something in your life that you need to acknowledge and ask forgiveness for.   Acknowledge it, confess it, ask for forgiveness, and then turn from that sin in the future.     The second thing you should do is continue to build your faith on the truths of God's Word.  The bible is absolutely essential in our faith.  In it, we learn of God's love for us and how God would have us live.  Wit...

" Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."  ~Ephesians 4:29 It's always better to be part of what's right with the world, than part of what's wrong. And it's easy to tell which side your on by just looking at how you interact with other people.  What your attitude towards things are. How you live your life. If you're complaining all the time, you may be part of the problem. If you're unhappy all the time, you may be part of the problem. If you spend more time focused on and pointing out what other people are doing wrong than on what you're doing . . . you guessed it.  You may be part of the problem. We spend an inordinate amount of time focused on what we don't have.  Focused on people that make us mad.  Thinking about the things that aren't going exactly right instead of appreciating the things that are. What if...

" Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." ~Ephesians 4:32   I said in a message I delivered last week that the Bible talks so much about forgiveness because unforgiveness is so toxic to us. It's true, and you'll never see a better example than around the holidays for many families. The holidays can be a very stressful time of the year.  Often we find ourselves together around the table with friends and family members that we don't get along with very well. I used to dread seeing these people every year. The vitriolic remarks. The condescending tone. The attempts to bait me into a debate. And too often, I'd fall for it. We make that decision whether we're going be dragged into a conflict or not.  Whether we're going to allow somebody that will never be our biggest fan to continue to steal our peace year after year is completely up to us. When you learn to truly forgive, you will find peace. Peo...

I never go to a concert with out some of these in my pockets. "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."   Ephesians 6:11 When I was in high school, I went to my first rock concert.  It was an 80s hair band called Ratt, and they had a big song at the time "Round and Round."  It's funny, but they're featured on a Geico commercial right now you've probably seen--the couple in the ad loves their new home, but they have a "Ratt problem."  Then it flashes to a scene showing the band Ratt playing "Round and Round" in their kitchen. That's the first band I ever saw in concert.  I didn't know what to expect.  I went with a couple friends--Chip was the only one old enough to drive, and of course Jim, too.  Anyway, when that opening act came out and started to play, I was overwhelmed.  It was so loud!  I grew up around farm equipment.  I grew up around guns.  I grew up blowing up things...