Humanities sinful nature needs changing, but only God, working through His Holy Spirit, can transform the sinful human heart, through the power of His Word. In 1 Peter 1:3 we are reminded that God, “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” At death a believers hope becomes reality as they enter the glorious presence of God and the full unhindered, joyous fellowship with the Trinity, the angels, and other saints (Romans 5:1-2) The means of the appropriating this living hope and eternal inheritance is spiritual Birth, and the power for that appropriation was demonstrated by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Christ rose from the dead, forever securing His children’s living hope in heaven by finally conquering death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15). We need to recognize that as a follower of Jesus Christ we become a new creation, and while we cannot change our spots, God make us something new! We must learn to live in that newness as we experience a metamorphosis from this life to the next.… READ MORE

Perfection! Why can’t I seem to get there? Paul writes in Romans 7:15 “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; butt what I hate, that I do.” ow can I be a true believer and not be consistent in my walk with Christ? Our struggle in the Christian life is that our expectations are not realized in this life. We struggle and struggle with our heart and our actions, as we find ourselves striving for perfection. Yet our struggle seems to be a brass ring that is always out of our grasp. This leads us to a frustration that often causes us to just simply want to give up. 1 Peter 1:3-5 challenges us to restructure our priorities and expectations in the Christian life. It reminds us that our focus needs to be on maturity not perfection. In life perfection is an unattainable goal, the more we learn, the more we know that we have more to learn! What this verse reminds us of is the reality that we are to grow in wisdom, and move toward a mature faith. That maturity can always grow, but it … READ MORE

Today we live in a culture, that believes that no one has the “right” to tell me what I can and cannot do. If the Bible does not speak against a specific act, it is assumed that we can do whatever we want. However, Galatians 5:13-14 reminds us that just because I may have the liberty to do something, doesn’t mean that I should do it. We do not possess a spiritual license to do as we wish. This would be seen as Spiritual “Sadduceeism.” Sadducees were a sect of Israel which taught religious tolerance to the nation of Israel, the problem was that they were only tolerant to those who agreed with them on their “liberty in God” This is part of the reason they hated Jesus so much, because He challenged their doctrine. We need to be careful that we do not desire to exalt ourselves at the expense of others. Demanding my right to exercise liberty, and exercising it at the expense of others, is a sign not of maturity but of carnality. Paul reminds believers in 1 Corinthians 12:31 “that I show you a better way” and then shares with the wonderful instruction in 1 Corinthians … READ MORE