Carried By Christ

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. Psalm 139:1-4

Sunday, October 29, 2006

I thank God for my tribulations in life

If you read these posts on Carried By Christ regularly, you will notice that often the theme is about faith, prayer, and how the Lord makes us stronger through the storms and tribulations of life. This post, unlike most of my previous posts, does not use scripture. Instead, I offer you the inspirational words of Hellen Keller:

I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

1 Timothy 2:1

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks.

When we pray we tend to ask for His blessings and ask for things. There is nothing wrong with that, but how would you feel if you had a friend who only got in touch with you when he needed things? A simple thank you, every once in a while, would be nice. God likes to be thanked, and our prayers should encompass more than our own lives. We should pray for others, our troops, our friends, our enemies, our family, and our fellow bloggers. I pray for all of you everyday. Won't you join me?

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Romans 6:1-2 KJV

1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

There seems to be a misconception in society that if you give to charity, live a good life, and assume that there must be a God somewhere out there that that is enough to earn God's approval. And hey, if they mess up, say a few prayers to Mary, or visit a confessional, and you are good again. Or perhaps some believe that if they go around doing good deeds, or read their Bible regularly that God's favor will be with them. And hey, if they are really bad sinners, than God don't like them anyway, so there is no need to go to church. Besides, in the end he'll just say to everyone, "Awe, all right, come on, everybody. Hey, you bad ones will just have to hang out in the lowest level of heaven."

Then these people look at all the Christians at church and say to each other, "I saw him shaking his fist on the roadway," and "She said a curse word," and "They judge others." The final thought, of course, being, "What a bunch of hypocrites attending church while being such horrid, sinful people."

God loves us unconditionally no matter what we have done. That does not give us a license to sin, but it is an incentive to respond to Him in love.

As a believer, a Christian understands that our works do not earn our way into heaven, but that His love does not give us a license to do whatever we want either. His love and mercy for us should give us an incentive to serve Him, love Him, and be grateful for His unconditional love - despite the fact that he knows us for who we truly are - unworthy sinners.

Holy living does not bring salvation, but true salvation will produce holy living. We still stumble sometimes along the way, but if you have a true relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ, it will result in changes of your lifestyle.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Ecclesiastes 11:3

If the clouds be full of rain they empty upon the earth.

We always rejoice when we see a patch of blue sky after a storm. But it is not us that brings that clear sky. When that patch of blue appears it is because the Lord deemed that it was in his timing to clear away the storm clouds.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Changing Lives down Romans Road

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Romans 23:28

Change comes upon a person most often when facing a crisis. Sometimes, it is just a matter of realizing that you are as fallible as the rest of us. Either way, change comes when people take a long look at their lives.

And then the old ways come back.

Making moral changes in our lives is not good enough. That is like tending to the symptoms of a disease, rather than the cause.

Fact is, we are inherently evil. Romans 3:10 says that "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 adds to that saying, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

"But I am a good man (or woman)," one might say. I give to the charities and volunteer at an orphanage; or I am tolerant and treat people kindly. I don't sin. Sin is committed by bad people."

Romans 5:12 states that "...as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

Romans 6:23 continues to tell us that "...the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 5:8 "But God commandeth his live toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ dies for us."

Romans 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Romans 10:9-10 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Don't forget that our spirits are dead with sin, and God came to Earth to live as a man, and to die as the perfect sacrifice. John 1:1-4,10-11,14 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made by that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Okay, you may realize that you need to believe in Jesus Christ, but simple belief is not enough. You must believe with your mind and soul, to the point that your works begin to reflect your living and growing faith, not because you have to (dead faith), but because you desire that your works reflect moral fruit because of your loving relationship with Him. The demons believe that Christ died for our sins, but that belief alone does not pull them into the graces of God.

Works alone, however, as some believe, cannot save your soul as some may claim. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

Then when there is no longer an absence of God in our lives can we truly change. Outward change does nothing. We must change within. Jesus warned the Pharisees, "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."

When people truly find Jesus Christ it changes their lifestyle.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Facing the Giants

This post speaks of football, but has nothing to do with football. It touches upon the win by the Arkansas Razorbacks college football team over number two ranked Auburn, but it really has little to do with the Hogs as well. This post is about something bigger, something portrayed in a big way by the movie, Facing the Giants.

I first heard about the motion picture on Air 1 Radio, a Christian radio network that has a station out of Yucaipa, California that I listen to. They mentioned that the movie was produced, or something like that, by a church out of Georgia using church volunteers. They mentioned that Sony Pictures was distributing it and that the film was highly inspirational.

I've seen some inspirational movies, but I wasn't ready for what I thought would be an obviously low-budget film with lousy acting and a mediocre story.

Still, curious about the film, I began to look around on the internet about it, and I found that Facing the Giants was putting up some pretty spectacular numbers for such a small film. Then I read something that really caught my attention.

The Arkansas Razorbacks football team was beat handedly by the USC Trojans in game one of the season. Under the leadership of a freshman quarterback they had put together a string of wins against beatable teams, and were now going to face the Auburn Tigers. Auburn, at the time, was ranked number 2 in the nation. The Tigers were faster, bigger, and more talented. Arkansas would be lucky to score once, much less to win the game. Houston Nutt, Arkansas' Head Coach, took the team to see Facing the Giants in preparation for this game, and then they went on to defeat the Auburn Tigers in a game that is being considered as the biggest upset in College Football this season.

Okay, now I was convinced. This movie must be inspirational.

Facing the Giants is more than inspirational. The movie is soul-inspiring, waking up my sleeping spirit and it encouraged me to pray, and believe that there is nothing that God cannot do.

Yes, the film is obviously low-budget and the talent is not the best that the entertainment industry has to offer. But who cares? Facing the Giants is tied for the best film of the year, in my opinion, and of course the film it is tied with is another inspiring film, End of the Spear.

See Facing the Giants. It is awesome. You will sit on the edge of your seat with your palms together and tears streaming down your face. You will walk out of that theater a changed person.

With God, all things are possible.

God Bless.

Monday, October 09, 2006

James 4:7 KJV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Telling the world about Christ

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. . . .praising God. . . And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42, 47 NKJV

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Who Jesus is

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:29-30