Showing posts with label realized. Show all posts
Showing posts with label realized. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 June 2010

A Carefree Christmas


"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6)

Can you really have a merry Christmas even when you have a thousand and one pressures bearing down on you? Yes, you can--and you don't have to leave the country to do it. No matter how intense or how trivial the problems are that you're facing right now, you can have the most wonderful, most carefree Christmas season you've ever had in your life; and you can start having it today.
As a believer, you're probably familiar with that scripture that says to be anxious for nothing. But, have you ever taken it seriously enough to put it into action? There's a good chance you haven't because you haven't understood just how dangerous those anxieties are. You probably haven't realized that they're a deadly part of the devil's strategy against you.
That's right. Worry is one of the chief weapons of his warfare. If he can get you to worry about them, he can use the financial pressures and family pressures and scheduling problems that are just a "normal" part of everyday life to weigh you down and drag you into more trouble than you think possible.
Medical science tells us that a high percentage of the people hospitalized in the U.S.A. are there with ailments caused by worry and tension. Yet, a great many believers worry without even thinking about it. They'll worry about being too short or too skinny. They'll stew over this and that and not even realize they've been sinning.
"Sinning, Brother Copeland?"
Yes! For the born-again, Spirit-filled believer who owns a Bible--worrying is a sin. So, even if the Christmas cards are late and 45 people are coming to your house for Christmas dinner, don't worry.
Instead, do what the Bible says to do. Pray, making your request known to God...and praise Him for the answer. Then you'll have peace.
Now, go ahead and have a truly merry Christmas, you carefree thing you!
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:24-34






Monday, 3 May 2010

Free Your Faith


"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any." (Mark 11:25)

Few people realize just how closely connected faith and forgiveness are. Jesus taught about that connection in His sermon on mountain-moving faith that's recorded in Mark 11:22-26.
He said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive."
Jesus backed those two sentences up together on purpose. He wanted us to know that releasing those who have wronged us is fundamental to receiving from God. He wanted to impress on our hearts the fact that we cannot have our prayers answered and hold grudges in our hearts at the same time.
Unforgiveness clogs the faith channel and keeps you powerless against the mountains in your life!
If you've been praying for something and you just can't seem to get an answer, check your heart for unforgiveness. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring any grudge that's hidden there to light. Unclog the channel of faith and you will soon see things you've been praying for come to pass.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:21-35