The Prayer of Faith

James 5:14-16   Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Healing is real. It is not something that no longer happens, or something that is irrelevant today.  It is something that God has ordained, something he has decided to do for us.  He wants to heal us; it was his idea, not ours.

It was also his idea that if we want or need something from him, we should ask for it. In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

It's not that God doesn't know what we want or need.  It's not that he doesn't understand if we are sick, or doesn't know what we need help with. He is God.  He knows what we need before we know what we need!  Jesus also said in Matthew 6:7-8:  "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

God tells us to ask him for what we need in prayer, not because he doesn't know what it is we need, but rather because it takes faith and humility to admit that we have a problem that we cannot handle our self and that we need his help. It is pride and unbelief that keeps people from asking God to heal their body, or intervene in their lives.  The Bible tells us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  (James 4:6)

Honor and Respect for our Leaders.

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  Hebrews 13:7

We have learned that God has appointed leaders over his church body to help us learn how he wants us to live and behave.  Like all Christians, God expects leaders to live lives that are holy and acceptable to him.  In fact, he holds them to an even higher standard, because those who lead are supposed to understand what exactly it is they are leading others to.  James 3:1 confirms that God judges the leaders of his church more strictly. 

Here in Hebrews God calls us to remember and consider the outcome of the lifestyle of the leaders of our church.  He charges us to imitate their faith; which implies that God does not only desires the leader of a church to have faith and a lifestyle worth imitating, but he expects it!  The Bible clearly states that we are to live a life that is holy and pleasing to him.  And how could anyone expect to teach others how to live a lifestyle that they themselves do not live?  People who know how those leaders live could disregard the Word of God, thinking that if a leader of the church can live in sin, it must be ok for them to live in sin, too.  This is a false, dangerous thing.  This is why God judges those in leadership positions so strictly.

No one is perfect, not even the leaders of the church.  We should pray for those in leadership positions, that God would give them the strength and the power to both live and teach the truth.   

Be the Hands and Feet of Jesus

Romans 12:4-5  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,   so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

If you have come to God and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then according to the Bible you are part of the Body of Christ.  Being a Christian is not about rituals, rules, or ordinances.  To be a Christian is to be part of Christ.

Think about your body.  Your hands, feet, mouth...they all do what you want them to do.   Your body is an extension of yourself.  It follows your will and desires.  Your feet don't go around wishing they could walk somewhere you don't want to go, after all!

If we are the body of Christ, then we should go where Jesus would go, do what he would do, speak what he wants us to speak.  A Christian's will should be God's will.

Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-2   Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

When we come to God, make him Lord of our lives, he washes away our sins, and we are made new.  We are a new creation in Christ.  And God desires us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.  A sacrifice is the surrender of a possession as an offering to God.  God wishes us to surrender our bodies to him.  We are no longer our own; we are bought with a price.  And that price is the blood of Jesus.

How do we present our bodies as a living sacrifice?  We obey his commands.  We do his will.  We listen to his words.  We live the way he tells us to live.  It will not always be easy.  But it is worth it to do the will of God.

What did Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit?

On one occasion, while he [Jesus] was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift given to us by God. Jesus said to his disciples that they were not to leave Jerusalem until they had received this baptism. Since Jesus had also told them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, this baptism of the Holy Spirit was very important if they were to postpone this in order to receive it.

So, what is it about this baptism that was so important? Why was Jesus so determined that the disciples stay put and wait until they received it in order to fulfill Jesus' orders?

Jesus himself described the Holy Spirit this way during his ministry: Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11

The Holy Spirit gives us courage, wisdom, and power. In the gospels, Peter denied knowing who Jesus was three times— and Peter swore he would die before he betrayed Jesus in such a way! But in Acts, after being baptized with the Holy Spirit, Peter not only claimed Jesus is Lord before the people he had previously denied him before, but he did so with such wisdom and power that 3,000 other people became Jesus' disciples that day.

Jesus also called the Holy Spirit a teacher. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26 When we come to God through Christ and he fills us with his Holy Spirit, the Spirit teaches us the things we need to know, and reminds us of the things that God wants for us to do, and how he wants us to live. The Spirit infilling us is the key to how to live a godly, righteous life, the way God wishes us to live. If you have not received this baptism, pray that God will fill you with his Holy Spirit now!

We must preach the Gospel

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

One of the last instructions that Jesus gave his disciples before his ascencion into heaven was to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A disciple is someone who accepts and helps to spread the teachings of someone famous. Christians should be disciples of Christ, we should accept, live, and spread the word of who Christ said he was and what he taught.

Once someone has accepted Christ into their lives, they are baptized in order to publicly show the world that they are disciples of Christ. This is a public confession that they believe and have accepted that Jesus is Lord, that he died on the cross for our sins, that everything Jesus said about himself, the Kingdom of God, and what one must do to inherit this kingdom, is true.

What does 'Born Again' Mean?

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

Who wouldn't want to see the kingdom of God? A place where God reigns and all bow their knees and cheerfully follow and obey his will? A place where God is acknowledged as the Mighty One, worthy to be praised, and no one tells you otherwise? It sounds wonderful, it is wonderful, and only those who are born again will ever see it.

But what exactly does that mean? “Born again” certainly sounds confusing. We've all been born; do we need to be born twice? And how exactly are we to be reborn, anyway?

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Ephesians 2:1-2

According to the Bible, we are all born dead—not our physical self, which is very much alive—but our spirit is dead. Sin kills, it kills our spirit and our souls, and unless those are alive, we will not see the Kingdom of God. So when the Bible says that we need to be born again to see the Kingdom of God, it literally means just that—having been born once, physically, we must have a second birth. A spiritual birth. But how exactly does our spirit come alive?

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

We are born spiritually when God saves us, through his grace, when we come to Christ. Through the blood of Jesus we are renewed, redeemed, and reborn—and we are capable of coming into the Kingdom of God. Praise God for his grace and mercy!