Category: Faith Fix

Praying (ATP)

When praying about something, do you just pray once about it (say one day, one time & move on & wait ) or do you keep it in your daily prayers? Example,  healing for instance.

Praying is an important, yet extremely misunderstood part of our faith, and for that reason I’m very happy to answer this question. Depending on which “camp” or flavor of Christianity you subscribe to, you could get a different answer on this. I have learned it is not hard to answer any question when you understand our faith and Scripture.

To start with, the purposes of both the Scripture and faith is to point us toward God. It always was. Jesus claimed on many occasions in many ways to bridge the gap so to speak between us and the Father. The overwhelming theme in scripture is God, a loving Father, desiring a pure relationship with His creation. Even salvation, with all its promises, with all its claims, has the purpose of bringing mankind back to His presence. God loves people.

Why you may ask do I say all this? It is because you cannot understand prayer without understanding the one you are praying to. Have you ever been uncomfortable with a conversation because you didn’t know the one you were talking to? Sadly, this is how most people pray. They pray when there is a need, to a God they don’t know, not really knowing if He is even listening much less willing to answer. People then make “spiritual” claims such as, “God works in mysterious ways,” in order to pacify their lack of knowing Him. Many even spend a lifetime with this gamble-mentality kind of prayer.

1 John 5:14 tells us, “Now this is the CONFIDENCE that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” That’s a bold statement! Most people pray with zero confidence. If you were confident when you ask, you wouldn’t feel the need to keep asking which is really begging. In the next verse (15) it says, “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” Prayer isn’t as much about what you ask as it is about knowing the One whom you ask. If you know who you ask, you will know His will. If you know His will, you know what you can trust Him for. When there is trust, then asking or receiving isn’t difficult.

When one approaches prayer this way, something in them changes. I’ll use the example of healing since that is what is asked. In many places all through scripture, including Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24, we see God’s will IS healing. Since it is His will, we do not have to seek Him on whether or not He wants us healed, but we simply must believe it. Now that we know this, Mark 11:23 says we can believe it’s ours. If we then SAY we are healed, we shall be healed. However, even if we claim this in faith, and then go do things that cause the reverse of healing, we can negate this faith by our actions and thus we will go without. An example of this would be a person who claims healing in their lungs, yet continues to smoke.

All prayer, when asking God for something, needs to happen from a place of knowledge of His will.  Without this, people are simply spinning their wheels. The heart of prayer is this, conversation with a God that you love and want to get to know. I always encourage people with this, which I suspect will answer your initial question: if you need something, put it before the Lord. After that, thank Him for it whenever it comes to mind. Spend more time praising Him and thanking Him for His goodness and less time asking Him for it. The purpose of asking God for things really isn’t for us anyway. We should know what’s ours, but ask for those who don’t.

God’s heart is nothing but good toward you all the time. If you have a need, He knows and wants to fulfill that need. Even more so, He desires you to trust that He wants to. However, because of His desire for us to have free will, He has given us the right to choose or refuse. God is not withholding from His people, He is waiting for their faith to release it in their lives.

To sum this all up, if there is something you need, learn His will and claim it, praising Him for it. Save the bulk of your asking for those who don’t know what to believe. One who prays in such a way, trusting God in their conversation with Him, will always be fruitful.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Life In the Fast Lane (ATP)

Question: Would you please explain fasting? How do we properly fast according to the Word and for what reason?

In the Old Testament, fasting was a religious ritual. A public fast was prescribed by the Mosaic Law and kept yearly on the day of atonement. Look at Leviticus 16:29-30 (AMP), “It shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month [nearly October] on the tenth day of the month you shall afflict yourselves [by fasting with penitence and humiliation] and do no work at all, either the native-born or the stranger who dwells temporarily among you. For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord.”  It seems this annual fast was similar to water baptism, in the sense that it was an outward symbol of an inward transformation. We must remember though that as Christians we are not under this Levitical law of the Old Testament. Jesus already made atonement for our sins.

Recently, while in conversation with some other ministers, we were discussing medical conditions that are the result of consuming too much or too little of any one thing. The key to life and this walk with the Lord is balance and moderation. Keep this in mind when you consider the concept of fasting.

Let’s look first at Matthew 6:16, “And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy and sour and dreary like the hypocrites, for they put on a dismal countenance, that their fasting may be apparent to and seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full already.” If fasting is so that you can have brownie points with God or man, you’re doing the same thing this scripture warns about. Don’t fast just to say you’ve fasted. In fact, a fast is more of a private sacrifice than a public accomplishment.

In the Old Testament, we see an example of fasting in Ezra 8:21, “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.” Ezra declared a fast for the purpose of humbling oneself and seeking God for direction. The word humble means, to bow down, to submit, to weaken oneself, or to lower the estimate of self. Ezra knew that fasting would help to weaken the flesh and that the act of fasting would allow him to gain direction.  Ezra did this because it was only through the direction of God that he would make it safely from Babylon to Palestine. Notice the fast was specific and didn’t last forever. In fact, the Bible doesn’t say how long the fast lasted so we can infer it was for as long as Ezra needed to be able to know the direction.

Another example of fasting is found in, 2 Samuel 12:16-17, “David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.”  In this incident the son David bore with Uriah’s wife, through adultery, had become sick unto death. David fasted as a last ditch effort to save his son, but it didn’t work. David was fasting believing if he did he would earn his son’s life. Skip down to 2 Samuel 12:21-22, “Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?” Was it wrong that David fasted? No, sometimes if you don’t know what to do, you’ll try anything to get your help, but ultimately we see that the fast didn’t change anything in his circumstance.

Let’s look at the testimony of Jehoshaphat, one of the most prosperous and Godly kings of Judah. 2 Chronicles 20:2-3, “Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”  Skip down to 2 Chronicles 20:12, “…For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”  In 2 Chronicles 20:15 we see the Lord’s response to this fasting and seeking His direction, “…Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” Then God proceeded to give them direction specific to the battle at hand. I highly recommend reading this entire chapter and seeing the divinely orchestrated victory, provision, protection and peace that God delivered to His people.

Did the fast move the hand of God? No. The fast helped God’s people to hear from Him.  Look at Psalms 109:24, “My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.” There’s a key truth we can see here. As we fast, our flesh becomes feeble, or weakened. Most of us could use to put our flesh under sometimes so it doesn’t scream so loud at us! The flesh and mind is what gets in the way of us being spirit led.

Now let’s look in the New Testament. Matthew 17:17-21, “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?’ So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” In this particular circumstance, the disciples needed to know what to do. This was something man on his own wasn’t going to “figure out” but needed God’s direction. Fasting would help them get out of their heads and hear from God and as a result fasting helped them stay in faith in their situation.

In the book of Acts, we see fasting for the same purpose again and again. Look at Acts 13:2, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate now for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 14:23, “And when they had appointed and ordained elders for them in each church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had come to believe.” The direction from the Holy Spirit on who was called to become leaders and ministers came after prayer and fasting.

Even Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. The devil came to tempt Him with food but Jesus refused. Jesus was endeavoring to put His flesh down so His spirit could lead. His flesh and mind wouldn’t have allowed Him to be crucified, but His spirit knew the truth and the direction of God.

If our motivation for anything we do for the Lord is to be seen or to fulfill an obligation, we’re doing it all for the wrong reasons. Fasting is always associated with prayer and is meant to help us hear from God. It’s not a requirement but in these many examples you can see how putting the flesh under this way allowed for the people of God to hear and know what to do. Generally, we must endeavor to live a fasted lifestyle. We should recognize areas of our life that we have allowed to quiet the voice of God and move towards eliminating those things so we can be in constant fellowship with Him, always knowing His plan and direction for our lives.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

The Trial That’s Coming (ATP)

My life has changed in many positive ways over the past few years, God has blessed me in so many ways and for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. I truly am enjoying and loving my life and have so much to look forward to. At the same time I see so much evidence that we are getting closer and closer to the end times and years of tribulation are coming and this makes me sad. The thought of tribulations coming to this world makes me sad and I know that when Jesus comes back we are going on to something better but I think part of me truly doesn’t understand or grasp how amazing this will be because now that I have just started to really love life I want to keep living here even longer, I know this is wrong thinking and the Bible says so specifically. This joy in life is new for me as I spent many many years in depression and anxiety.  I often question my salvation which I know contributes to my wrong thinking and fear the day I meet God and judgement.

Revelation 3:10 (NKJV)

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

What you are dealing with, in many ways, I have also dealt with. I would say that often, as people truly repent and now live a changed life, they also have these same exact thoughts. First of all, salvation is very simple. You can think of it like this, if you have a heart to be saved, believe in the Romans 10:9 instruction, then you are saved. All else is just working out details to make you a better Christian, but salvation itself is very simple. Now let’s focus on the rest of this question.

Loving life is a God thing. I often think about this natural world and am reminded that God created it. He made life and our existence one to be enjoyed and desired. Just think of John 10:10, that Jesus said He came to give us abundant life, a life full, and a life full of joy. But what of the impending tribulation? What of judgement on the earth? What of when the Bible speaks about times when men will despair of even life? Remember the above scripture of how He will keep us from that time but let’s look at some others too.

Here is an important scripture: Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Of course we know this verse when we are looking at consecrating ourselves, submitting to God’s plan. Let’s however look at it from another angle, “… the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The first thing I ask myself here is, “What is it to live in faith?” Well, part of that can be answered in the very last part. “… who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The Word gives us a clue here to build our faith on.

Jesus didn’t die for you so that abundant life could be taken, but given. I encourage you to read John 10:10 and Romans 8:37-39. Romans tells us nothing can separate us from God’s love and we don’t just have victory but we are more than victorious. The tribulation to come cannot separate those who are truly God’s (which you are) from His love and therefore His abundant life. If it can’t separate us from His love then it can’t separate us from His life. The answer is back in Galatians, “the life I NOW live I live BY FAITH in (Him and what He promised). See how that works? When we read scripture in the light of other scripture, hope begins to grow!

The key is something every Christian needs to constantly ask themselves, “What I am living for?” Regardless of how one lives, this life too soon will be over. The amount of time we have is just not very long. As a Christian, it is important we live right and for the right things. Do we live for God, or for what God can give? Now, also being a person who came out of the depths of depression, I understand first hand where you are coming from. It feels great to live free from that darkness and I don’t want it to end! This is all the more reason we need to make Him our focus.

Jesus said there WILL be tribulation in this life that we WILL experience, but He also said to be of good cheer. What we learn is that if our joy is founded in anything other than Him, we are vulnerable. Whether in trial or times of abundance our joy needs to rest on Him. He is the only thing unchangeable. Part of that is knowing He always brings us through, keeps us from the worst, strengthens us in our weakness, then gives us the promise of victory every single time. The trap of depression is hopelessness and despair. Jesus and all that He is has now become our hope. In fact, He is what is promised. If then our hope for happiness is in anything else, we will lose it. Not because God will take it but because the enemy knows that mere human desire has no foundation. Remember Paul said, no other foundation (other than Jesus) can be laid.

Fear always tries to make us to feel as though what we have will be gone at any minute. The fact is, in this world that fear is based in absolute truth. However, we now have a new supernatural standard to live by which declares, God’s love protects, preserves, and prolongs me, therefore I always have reason to rejoice.

I encourage you, spend much time reflecting on God’s unending goodness. Spend time worshipping Him especially when you feel the anxiety and pressures of life. Do not fear a changing life, but rejoice in the one Who constantly refreshes life. Your life is indeed good and it will indeed continue to get even better. There will be opposition along the way but every opposition for the Christian in faith ends in His glory and victory. Embrace who He is and endeavor to live in His presence. It’s in that place that His life will be truly manifested in you!

Psalms 16:11 (NKJV)

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Sowing The Word (ATP)

In Mark 4:14 (The sower sows the word), we recently learned that this particular scripture in context was sowing the word as a pastor. Can you reveal scriptures to better help us sow the word as the sheep?

The scripture mentioned in this week’s question, Mark 4:14, says, “The sower sows the word.” In context, in the parable, Jesus is talking about those who preach and teach the Word of God, as five-fold ministers (Eph. 4:11), which is a concept we see again when the Apsotle Paul deals with Timothy as a pastor. 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

The fivefold ministry offices are not for everyone in the sense that every Christian is called to be a pulpit preacher, but the job of those ministers is seen in Ephesians 4:12, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry…” What is the work of the ministry? Matthew 28:19-20, “…make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…”  Mark 16:15 brings even more light to it, “…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” What is preaching the gospel? It’s sowing the Word. But if you keep reading this passage of scripture, you’ll see that there are signs that follow the life of a believer (a sheep, any born again believer whether five-fold, pulpit minister or not), which include casting out demons, speaking in tongues, and laying hands on the sick that they would recover.

The work of the ministry is for all believers. The pastor and other pulpit ministers sow the Word to the congregation and in turn the congregation is to take that Word and sow it to others, both in speaking and in demonstration. Look at Romans 10:8, “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach).” The Apsotle Paul was preaching scripture from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 30:14) in order to encourage the Romans to use scripture, in other words to sow the Word.

I love what the Word says in 1 Peter 3:15, “…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (humility and reverence).” What does this mean? Always be ready to preach the Word of hope! Always be ready to speak the Word of salvation, to testify!

An important principle in scripture is seen in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Now, of course in context this is regarding giving and sowing financial seed, but the principle remains. Whatever you sow, that you will reap or really, produce. If you want to win this lost and dying world, the only way you’ll reap saved individuals is by sowing the Word of salvation.

All Christians everywhere need to rise up and refuse to be scared to be bold! Romans 2:4 tell us, “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” Let’s share His goodness with this lost and dying world! Amen?!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

Right Out Of Hell (ATP)

I have a cousin who believes the greek word that Jesus used for hell – Gehenna – refers to burning the garbage outback, not the way that it is worded in our English Bibles as “fire and brimstone.” He believes that people will eventually, somehow earn their way out of hell over millions or even billions of years. What does the Bible say about Hell?

The concept of hell is a scary one and one of those things that you could do great study on. As with a lot of these type of theological topics, a single Faith Fix is not even remotely enough room to barely touch the subject. So I am going to touch on some basics, answering the question, but not covering all or even really part of its totality.

First I want to say that what we think of as hell isn’t exactly the fullness of what the Bible discusses. Hell is a physical place that exists in the earth today. We see this in the Messianic prophecy of Psalms 16:10. “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” We know that Jesus, after He died on the cross, descended into a place referred to as Sheol, or Hades, or hell. We see this also in Ephesians 4:9, … He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. However, praise God He didn’t stay there!

Hell is a holding place for those who die but do not go to Heaven while the earth remains. We know after judgement that God creates a new Heaven and a new Earth. We see in Revelation 20:14, “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. “ So then, what of this Gehenna?

The actual word used is geena, and your cousin is right in its literal translation. Gehenna was a real place, originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned. Imagine the putridness of such a place! However, Jesus was not actually talking about that place, rather simply using it as a description of what hell is. He was truly trying to scare the hell out of people who were well acquainted with this place. After all, how would you describe such torment the likes of which no living human could fathom?

As for the permanence of hell, the idea of hell not being real or everlasting is simply not scriptural. It is a lie from hell itself and wishful thinking on the part of Christians who don’t like to believe in its reality. Look at Jesus’s own words in Mark 9:43-44, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” Notice what He says: “into the fire that shall never be quenched” and “the worm does not die.” It sounds pretty clear and Jesus made it clear on purpose by saying it then quoting scripture afterward.

Revelation 20:10, referring to the lake of fire which is where hell eventually gets cast into, says, “… and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Again, it’s finality is clear. Though the subject of hell is vast, and you could really spend a lot of time studying it, the concept of it was made simple. The problem is when people struggle with the truth and start to come up with different interpretations of scripture or begin reading into things that are simply not there. It’s a dangerous place to start interpreting Truth based on your ideals or emotions.

Though the Bible is an incredibly complex book, it’s main theme and concepts are not complex at all. Where people so often get into error is when they start trying to explain away things that are uncomfortable instead of learning to understand them. I too struggled with the idea of hell and a loving God, until I understood it. Once when asked how a loving God could send people to hell, He opened His truth to me. He doesn’t send anyone there, they choose it. You may say, “But who would choose it?!?”

Hell, simply put, is the absent of God which means the absent of anything good. God is the embodiment of good, so without Him, good doesn’t exist. Hell is a place made to contain the devil and his fallen angels. Though God never intended man to be there, if they reject Him there is not options. It’s either with Him or without Him.

Whether you understand it fully or not I can say this: there is enough said that I want to ensure I stay as far away from it as I can. If people truly had a concept of what it was they wouldn’t be so casual about their lives. I hear people joke about going to hell and I think, “Dear Lord if you knew what you were saying!” The truth is, as long as Christians side with the devil and water down scripture, those people never will never understand it. It will be a joke to them right up until they realize that it is their permanent future.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Is Your Heart In It?

The Bible doesn’t actually give an exact date as to when Jesus was born, so why do people believe He was born December 25th? I know a little about the Pagans, who I think started the celebrations, but not a whole lot.

Romans 14:5

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

The Bible does not tell us many things. This is not accidental nor an oversight on God’s part. An important thing to remember about scripture is that it is not a complete account of all of history. Though some may try and argue this, common sense tells us there is a lot God has left unsaid. I’ll speak more to that later.

The Bible does not say specifically when Jesus was born and I see good reason for this. The focus of the New Testament is the heart of man being brought back to God. When dealing with religious questions, Jesus always got to the heart of the issue, which was the condition of the heart. The purpose of the law was to point men back to God but instead man used it for bondage. I suspect that if we knew the exact date of Jesus birth, we would have yet another sect of Christianity that would be known as Birthatarians!

It still amazes me that though we have been given such magnificent freedom, humans still feel the need to make self-imposed idols, the whole time being distracted from what God really wants. We do things like get crosses and put them on everything or make certain days so religious that we often lose sight of the relationship we have with our God. Not that these things in of themselves are wrong, but people focus more on what doesn’t matter than what really matters. For example, people will be more concerned with having a cross hanging on their mirror than using faith and authority as they go. They will show up to church on Christmas and Easter and skip the rest of the year.

While I was growing up, in a religious context, we were taught not to do something very specific on a certain day of the year. When I got older I inquired with a spiritual mentor why as Christians we don’t do that and they had no idea what I was talking about. It was a tradition that started somewhere in my family’s past, but no one knew why and there was no scriptural basis for it.

So why Christmas on December 25th? Many of our holidays have their roots in events of the past and often times are a mashup of many traditions. Christmas and its date is a holiday that some Christians instituted during a celebration that pagans had. The reason they did this was that in their attempt to convert them to a new faith, they gave them something that looked similar to their old one. So is that wrong? I would say according to scripture, it wholly depends on the heart behind it.

Colossians 2:16-17 says, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what you celebrate as long as it is with the right heart, you’re focused on God, and it doesn’t hurt a weaken a brother’s or sister’s conscience. Romans 14:13 tells us, “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”

Some people still get so focused on certain days and events that satan will use them as distractions from truth. Jesus dealt with this in Mark 7:9. He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. So often people major on the minors and end up in a ditch. It’s not God’s will, but it is something humans have done throughout history.

As for me and my family, we celebrate Christmas. We don’t claim it’s the specific day Jesus was born but we celebrate the fact that He was. We also do not let that be the only day we celebrate Him. Whether we have Christmas or not, we celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus every day because that’s what good Christians should do. To recognize a day or not is worthless unless it’s done for the right reason. He is the reason for every season.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff