Tag: Accepted in Christ

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Do days have a voice?

As a unit of time, a day is a twenty-four hour period, which will remain as long as our earthly life lasts. Each time the clock strikes midnight, a new day is dawning, equipped with its own issues, lessons, and opportunities. We must regard each day as valuable and useful because there is no time like the present. The future, at best, is most uncertain. It is said that each of us lives “a day-at-a-time,” because just about everything is subject to time.   No one can guarantee what a day has in store. However, we can be assured that […]

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Content

To be content means “being in a state of satisfaction and peaceful happiness.” The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). To be content begins with the understanding that everything around us – the things we can see, feel, touch, and handle are at best temporary. Paul also wrote to Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 […]

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Considering Nature

It was a sunny mid-morning in San Antonio, TX  on April 25, 2018. While sitting in my backyard enjoying the cool and quiet of the day, I observed the grass with diminishing traces of overnight dew barely glistening in the sunshine.  I then took a a cursory glance of the various shade trees and shrubs around with their leaves and branches slightly fluttering in the cool breeze. There were a few birds and butterflies zipping around, while a couple of squirrels making their way along the top of the fences. After that I curiously looked heavenward and witnessed small patches […]

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Conscience

What is “Conscience?” What purpose does it serve? Does everyone have it? Conscience is the English translation of the Latin word “conscientia” meaning knowledge. Conscience is described as “The inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action” (dictionary.com). Every human being is born with a God-given conscience. The word conscience occurs at least 31 times in the Bible.  There is hardly any reference to the conscience these days, unlike bygone days. Some time ago one would hear statements like these, “let conscience be your guide,”  “do not stifle your conscience,”  […]

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Confession

Confession in broad terms means “the act of admitting and acknowledging that someone has said or done wrong to someone.” However, from a Biblical perspective, confession means “to say the same thing as another” or “to agree with God that we have done wrong,” from the Greek, “homologeo.”  Confession to God means we admit our guilt by saying what God says about our sins and accept the principle that when we sin, we violate God’s laws. Sin is also a violation of God’s character and holiness. When we sin, it is definitely against God. In confessing his sin to God, […]

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Compassion

Compassion means demonstrating concern, kindness, and caring with a willingness to reach out to help others. In its more commonly used sense, compassion has been defined as “sympathetic pity and concern for the suffering or misfortunes of others.” Compassion incorporates love, thoughtfulness, gentleness, tenderness, commitment, and mercy. In speaking of God’s faithfulness, the prophet Jeremiah wrote this about God’s compassion: “It is because of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).  God’s compassion in salvation is not at all based on our worth […]

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Communion

Communion is defined as “A close relationship with someone in which feelings and thoughts are exchanged” (Cambridge English Dictionary). The Apostle Paul concludes his second letter to the Corinthian Church with this salutation, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen” (2 Corinthians 13:14). An integral part of communion is fellowship. In integral aspect of communion is fellowship, which means friendly association with people sharing one’;s interest and objectives. Communion of the Holy Spirit means that the Holy Spirit (third Person of the God […]

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Commitment

Commitment means being “dedicated to a cause, purpose, activity, duty, or responsibility.” Also, dedicating oneself, time, and energy to something or someone you believe in. Commitment is actually an obligation, meaning something you must do at all costs. There are numerous things in life we are legitimately committed to. For example, our family, our jobs, our church, our studies, and the list goes on. However, as christians, our commitment to God surpasses all other commitments.  The christian’s commitment is based squarely on the extent of our love for God. Jesus in His day, told the Pharisees, “You shall love the […]

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Comfort

Comfort is an  important word in the christian’s vocabulary. It is used in a wide variety of ways these days, such as comfort zone, comfort stations, comfort foods, comfort shoes. However, in a more important and concerned sense, comfort is used to help others who are grieving, upset, worried, frightened, or distraught.  Also, some seek comfort from different sources, such as church pastors, friends, colleagues, and family, especially in “short-term” situations. For example, anxieties or one who is not seriously hurt in an accident, or one who is  temporarily hospitalized. In more serious cases, comfort can ease or alleviate a […]

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Christian Character

How should we as born-again christians live our lives? This age-old question applies to every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because we are living in a very humanistic, secularistic, materialistic world where there is a diminishing regard for God and spiritual values. Times have certainly changed compared to years ago when, generally, people had some fear of God and His Word, even though some were not christians.  In his letter to the Roman christians, the Apostle Paul writes, “I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable […]