Life in Christ

Repentance

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , ,
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47 ESV

repentance 1

So many words. What do they really mean? Take repentance. Most of us growing up in the Bible belt associate repentance solely with sin. Whereas Jesus in the above scripture stated that repentance (metanoia) and the forgiveness of sins are two distinct subjects that need to be proclaimed.

Repentance has to do with changing your mind. In today’s vernacular, it is to change your worldview.

It is to acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord and King and Savior of heaven and earth. It includes renouncing sin, but so much more. It involves being reeducated. It is learning life from the Triune God’s perspective. It involves questioning everything you have learned from the world’s system and comparing it to how God sees it and does it.

Like Saul who was zealous for the traditions of his fathers (which led him to murder Christians), he changed his entire viewpoint of life after being encountered by Jesus Christ (including his name to Paul). We likewise experience the same through repentance.

It involves our beliefs, values, and traditions. It is a complete house cleaning of one’s soul and mind.

John the baptist preached about the repentance of sin until Jesus fulfilled his initial destiny on earth. He died for us removing the eternal death sentence (past, present, and future sins) from us. Repentance is acknowledging what He did, admitting that we have been wrong about him, and now move toward focusing our mind, heart, body, and soul for his glory. It is leaving behind what we were before we came into contact with Him. It is allowing His Spirit to change us from the inside-out. It is acknowledging that we are poor of spirit and need His involvement to permanently change our hearts to match his.

Repentance is so much more than just eliminating the practice of sin from one’s life. It is thankfully aligning ourselves with the Triune God’s divine order and perspective. It is the process of adding God’s worldview into your world which leads to a refocusing of your time, talents, and treasury. When God becomes the center of your life, you can’t help but be thankful and grateful for everything He has done and is doing for us. It all begins when we repent.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Founder & Executive Director
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married

Little Faith

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , ,
“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 ESV

faith 3

How much faith do you need to live a productive life as a Christ-follower?

Whenever I hear people state that we need more faith, I cringe. My reason and encouragement comes from Jesus himself. He rejoices over the fact that we have “little faith.” His claim is with very little faith we can move mountains.

There is no shame to have only “little faith.” Faith is faith. Look at Jesus’ statements in regards to having a little faith.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much…” Luke 16:10

 

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:30 (Doesn’t He provide for us who have ‘little faith’.)

 

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:23

 

We have learned over a lifetime that God is good and faithful. He always delivers on time and in the best method possible. Over the years we have slowly learned that it is not my faith but His faith that helps me through life’s ordeals. Also as we pray and ask, we don’t know specifics of how or when. All we know is God produces good and whatever happens is God taking everyone into consideration. It may not always be best for me in my opinion. But it is best for the advancement of His Kingdom.

For example, whenever we have mountains to move in our life and wait patiently for God to provide a solution, isn’t it challenging to wonder how God is going to do it this time? In prior times, he may have sent a person to help us through. He may have “dropped a meteor out of the sky” to miraculously have the mountain flatten. Or he may have simply given us a shovel to start digging and build character and strength through the process. He may even allow our great-great children to continue the process until the mountain disappears. He doesn’t always reveal his plans to us. He simply deals with the issue in a way that we all know He is responsible for the productive outcome. And we are grateful for his involvement in our life.

I for one am thankful that my little faith is more than enough that allows us to walk with our heavenly God. So if you have little faith – REJOICE.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Founder & Executive Director
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married

Praying in Agreement

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , , ,
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26 ESV

pray 35

Ever run out of words when you pray? Not quite sure how to phrase it for God so he may clearly understand what you seek? Maybe you are putting too much emphasis on the words and not enough on Jesus Christ?

We are encouraged to know that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to make our position clear for God(Romans 8:26). In fact, the book of Hebrews states that Jesus is our High Priest and likewise intercedes on our behalf to the Father (Hebrews 2:17,4:15). How awesome is that?!

God knows what is best for us before we even ask. He also knows our request before we make it. And he also knows the consequences of our request better than we can ever imagine.

Depending on the season of our life, prayer takes on different avenues. In our early walk, we pray and it seems God answers all our small requests. I call this the time of building trust.

Then comes the time when God begins to answer our prayers not as we request, but in a different manner. We accept. Maybe disappointed, but yet thankful. It is only later in life we can look back and appreciate God’s reply rather than our own wishes. Than as our prayer life grows, we begin to spend time communicating with God on a constant basis. We thank him. We ask him to bless the person we just met. We ask for his intervention on a sick friend. Over time we begin to view life more through God’s eyes.

Our prayer life changes from asking him for “whatever” to seeking His viewpoint. Our prayers become more to align our heart in agreement with His purpose. Since this life is His Story and we are the characters in His plot, we slowly begin to accept our role and gladly join him on His adventure through time and space.

Like any healthy parent-child relationship, we are thankful that our parent seeks to care for us until we are ready to care for ourselves. In that process, we are given leeway to make decisions and bear the consequences of our actions within the boundaries of a family unit. Generally we learn to fail, grow, and experience life in a relatively safe environment. Doesn’t God do the same for us?

Prayer is the means that allows us to communicate with our Heavenly Parent. He wants us to make suggestions and learn from the consequences of how to best live for eternity. When we are transparent with Him, it allows Him to become more real and influential in our life. Prayer helps build the intimate relationship between a child and parent. Our heavenly Parent knows what is best for us now and through eternity. He is only giving us the leeway to effectively learn and prepare ourselves to care for oneself and others in the world tomorrow.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Founder & Executive Director
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married