Whose Idea Is It?

Have you ever thought, “How do I know that idea was from God? It could have been my flesh. Maybe I just thought it up. Maybe it was the devil!” Well, there is an easy test to determine whether or not what you are sensing is from the Lord or from your carnal nature. Ask yourself how much self-gratification is involved. If the desire or the idea is intended to benefit principally you, then it is not from the Lord. If, on the other hand, it has a wider impact that reaches out to touch others and change them, taking the gospel to the world, then it is the Lord. It’s that simple.

How to Thoroughly Defeat Fear

There is one other element to getting rid of fear. We see it in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Love is bracketed by two other considerations: power and a sound mind.

If we’re going to thoroughly defeat the spirit of fear in our lives and enable ourselves to consistently love, we’re going to have to draw on this power and do something with our minds. The word for “power” is dynamis. This is talking about miracle-working, Holy Ghost power—the kind that the apostles were endued with from on high on the day of Pentecost. 

America Needs to Back Israel

Our nation is facing more of a crisis at the moment than many people realize because of the approach America seems to be taking toward Israel. As our government pursues some type of accord with Iran, they are putting pressure on Israel. This pressure is dangerous not only for Israel, but for us as well. Whether that pressure includes the land-for-peace mentality or stopping settlements,  no nation and no person have the right to limit what God gave Israel or the Israelites’ right to occupy their land—yet that is what is in process right now.

“But They Treat Me Badly!”

How do we love people when they’re unlovely, treat us poorly, or act ugly to us?

First John 3:16 says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God. Because he laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” That word translated “perceive” here is ginosko. If you look it up in your concordance, you’ll find it can be translated as “to perceive, to know, to recognize, or to feel.”