Each of us needs to cultivate a small group of spiritual friends who we can share our temptations and struggles with. The Puritans used to ask God for one “bosom Friend” who they cold share their temptations and struggles with. In order to do this we have to admit our need and give the other person “permission” to minister to us. Galatians 6:2 reminds us that we are to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” After God created man, and put him in the garden in Gesesis 2. We are told that God said, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18. God recognized that we needed people even before sin entered world, with that in mind to overcome our struggles and difficulties we need to develop relationships now. We often have a hard time finding that friend in our life who can and will help us in times of need. We need to remember Proverbs 18:24 which says, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Take time to develop spiritual relationships, you never really know when you are … READ MORE

If we want to appropriate the grace of God in our lives, we must realize that we must submit ourselves to the providential plan of God in our lives. Our tendence is not to humble ourselves but to resist the working of His mighty hand. Not only must we see God’s mighty hand behind our circumstances, we must also see it as the hand of a loving Father dealing with His children. It is often difficult for us to see God’s hand of love in the midst of heartaches because we persist in thinking that happiness is the greatest good. However, holiness is a greater good than happiness. God is more concerned about our eternal than our temporal welfare and more concerned about or spiritual than our material welfare. As we submit to his working, we will begin to understand that adversity has its purpose. We need to pray for the grace to humble ourselves under His mighty hand and the grace to believe that He does in fact care for us.… READ MORE

If we want to appropriate the grace of God in our lives, we must understand the importance of God’s word in that process. The Holy Spirit enables us to apply Scripture to our situation according to John 14:26. As the Spirit of God brings scripture to our minds, we are able to apply them to our circumstances and find the strength to face our circumstances. We do this not in a magical way, but by embracing that truth we have hope in the midst of our circumstances. This presupposes a couple of things: One, we must read and fill our hearts with God’s word for the Holy Spirit to bring it to our minds. Remember John 14:26 says, “… whatsoever I have said to you.” The Spirit doesn’t “put things in our minds,” He helps us to recall what we have learned. Second, we need to understand that the Bible is not merely a book ABOUT God, it is a book FROM God! The Bible is God’s self-revelation to us of all He wants us to k ow about Himself and His provision for our salvation and Spiritual growth. If we are to appropriate the grace of God, then, we … READ MORE