"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." - Philippians 4:4

Easier said than done, isn't it Paul? And yet, that is not only our command, it is our privilege. And it is possible!

Today we are exploring the joy that is found exclusively in the person of God. Joy is not only able to bring us feelings of great pleasure and happiness, it is also able to get us through very difficult life circumstances as we look forward to the future God has prepared for us in Heaven. Even if we never experienced another good thing in our lives here on earth, we have an eternity of goodness to look forward to in Heaven with Jesus.

Jesus gave us the example of looking past the heartaches and the trials of life when he went to the cross and endured it's shame on our behalf. The reason he was able to do this is because of the joy that was set before him, the redemption of his bride; us!

One important thing we must understand is that joy is accessible to us 24/7 as well, even in difficult circumstances. Because we know that God will never leave us nor forsake us, that means his joy is always available, too.

We must choose to accept the gift of joy that is a fruit of God's spirit. Even when life is hard, whether because of God's discipline because of our sin or because of the curse of Adam on this world, we can still continue to walk in joy and allow it to fill us up with peace and happiness.

If you want to know the joy of the Lord, you must know the Lord for yourself. Seek him in his Word, learn about his nature and his character. Find out what He wants from you and then do it. When you walk with God and obey what He says, you will experience his joy in your life.

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There are many burdens in life. There are financial burdens, burdens of sickness, relationship burdens. Another kind of burden is the guilt for wrongdoing. With other burdens, there are things you can do to bring relief to yourself. You can go out and get an extra job, you can take vitamins or see a doctor, you can have conversations and make intentional connections, but what can you do to relieve your conscience when you have done wrong? The one and only remedy for this kind of burden is forgiveness.

We cannot live a joyful, prosperous life if we have a constant cloud of guilt hanging over our heads. Guilt wears us out, shuts us down, destroys our vision for the future. Whenever I used to do something wrong, I would find myself spending a lot of time playing my sins over and over in my head, condemning myself for the wicked or stupid things I have done, and it blocked my ability to move forward or live freely in the moment.

If you have experienced this, I want you to know that there is a solution. The only thing that can set us free from the feelings of guilt and shame are the forgiveness of God. God is the one we are ultimately accountable to. He is the one with the power of judgement toward life or death, of our eternal sentencing to Hell or entrance into Heaven. The good news is that He is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." (Psalm 145:8-9) He is willing to forgive every sin you've ever committed, great or small. He is willing to wipe away your feelings of guilt and shame.

To receive this forgiveness, however, you must humble yourself before God. You have to turn from the sins that were once your death sentence, and follow the God and His commands that bring life. You must throw yourself on the mercy of God and let Him turn you into a new creature. It is my prayer that you would do that today. Call out to God. Admit your sin. Accept that Jesus died to pay for your sins and accept the free gift of eternal life that He offers you. Live for Him. Follow Him. Let His forgiveness fuel your future.

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You are powerful. You are strong. You are an overcomer. These are not just nice thoughts to post on your bathroom mirror, they are promises from God himself.

"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power..." - 2 Timothy 1:7

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong, and very courageous..." - Joshua 1:9

"[...] in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." - Romans 8:37

In this episode we are looking at God's promise that he will give us power when we humble ourselves under his mighty right hand.

In life, we seek to achieve victories, to rise up and conquer challenges. Sometimes we are up to the challenge; other times we are not. When we face failure and we lose power and we cannot find a way through difficulty, what options do we have to persevere?

Some people just give up. They say, "this is too hard, and I am not enough to conquer this."

Some people will say, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." This is a much better attitude, but in the face of endless challenges, it is sure to fail at some point.

The only way for us to consistently conquer trials is to humble ourselves before God, admit our shortcomings, and allow "the power of Christ to rest upon [us], for [his] power is made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Power is something we all want, and really something we all need. We need it to be courageous, to overcome sin, to perform acts of kindness and acts of faith. When we don't have it we can feel, well, powerless. But with God, you are never without power. In your weak moments, you can surrender your weakness to God and he will grant you the power you need to continue in the fight.

"But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6-7

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It's the subject of a million songs, the plot of a thousand movies, the drama of every high school relationship. Everyone wants it, craves it, needs it. People look high and low for it. A crazy little thing called love.

We have been told that God loves us. Do you know what that means? In this episode we explore the scriptural basis of God's love for us.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. "

Romans 5:8 - "But God shows His love for us in this, that even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. "

1 John 3:16 - "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

The paramount expression of God's love is Jesus hanging on the cross. How does that show love? Because we were under the death penalty from our sin with no hope of escape. We were on death row, and rightly so. We knew God's law, for it was written on our hearts, and we broke it anyway. We spit in God's face and told Him we knew better. But Jesus, because He is rich in mercy, paid the death penalty on the cross for our sins, and now anyone who places their faith in Jesus does not have to die but can live through Jesus forever. He did that because He loves you. He doesn't want you to die, to go to Hell, to be separated from God forever. He loves you and did everything He could to show you His love.

John 15:13 - "Greater love has no man than this, than someone lay down his life for his friends."

Not only did God show His love on the cross, He went above and beyond to bless you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:3).

Once we understand all the ways God has loved us, it is impossible to question His love and intention for our lives, and that makes us free to show others His love so that all people "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:18-19

This podcast is meant to encourage you, comfort you in God's love, and spur you to speak the truth of God's love to all the people within your sphere.

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Juggling. Speed reading. Underwater basket weaving. What do all these have in common? They're all talents, of course! Well, I'm not sure about the last one, but you get the idea.

God has given each person incredible talents, and He wants us to use them. The talents I just mentioned are trivial compared to the spiritual gifts that God has promised to us, but every talent we have is supposed to be used to give glory to God and to build up the body of Christ.

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21

This declaration was made by Paul after describing how he was made a minister to the Gentiles according to God's power, in order that God would be glorified in Christ and in the church. He talks about the special, spiritual gifts God gave him to accomplish this purpose. You have likewise been given talents by God to bring him Glory.

In this episode we are looking at the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), and in it we see three men given gifts by God. One is given five talents (an ancient unit of money), one of them two, and one of them a single talent. These three men were to invest these talents in different business ventures so that when their master returned, he might say "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much." The first two were faithful with their talents and pleased their master. The third was unfaithful, and whined that the master had not given him enough to work with, but this was far from the truth, as a talent was worth twenty years worth of labor.

This is the meaning for us today: do not waste your talents. God will not be pleased if we are apathetic towards the gifts He generously gives us. You have special talents that God wants to use to build His kingdom, so this is your moment to stand up and accept the fact that you are talented by God and you are going to honor Him with your talents.

"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." - Romans 12:4-8

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There is an idea that is growing very popular, the idea of self-talk. Speak positive affirmations over yourself, don't let any negativity into your space, find your worth within yourself. These things sound very good on the surface, but they have a shaky foundation. Without a solid basis of truth from which to say these things, you are at the mercy of your emotions, the words of others, and the wicked lies that come from the enemy.

But a Christian has a solid basis to make claims about himself because he has the unchanging word of God, which holds promises and truths that are perfectly applicable to our lives. One of the most powerful and challenging of these truths is that we do not have to feel fear. If we were perfectly sanctified, we would never, ever feel fear.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of self-control." - 2 Timothy 1:7

If we believe that we have God's spirit living within us, we have a fearless spirit. God has told us so many times not to fear. In big things, in small things, our God declares over and over again: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. " (Isaiah 41:10)

Let it be known that these are three lies that can cause fear in your life.

1. "God will not provide." That is a lie. "God will provide every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:19

2. "God will not protect me." That is a lie. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." - Isaiah 43:2

3. "God has it out for me." That is a lie. "I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul." - Jeremiah 32:41

If God has your best interest for your future, can protect you, and promises to provide for you, then you never have to feel fear. All you have to do is follow Him, love Him, and obey His commands.

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Peer pressure is something we all know from experience, but we do not often talk about the ways that it affects our lives. In this episode, we are going to look at both sides of peer pressure, the negative influence that it can have on us, as well as the positive.

Peer pressure is a social pressure we feel that tells us to become something we are not. That pressure can come from a friend or friends, spouse, coworker, classmate, or social media. Wherever there are relationships, there is bound to be peer pressure.

Most often, we think of peer pressure in a negative way, and that is a reasonable connection. There are more people to encourage us to live selfishly and do things that are not godly than there are who will tell us to run from our desires. Scripture warns us that people will try to entice us to evil, and we have been given strict instructions for what we are supposed to do when that happens.

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." - Psalm 1:1-2

"My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent...my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths," - Proverbs 1:10,15

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. " - 2 Timothy 2:22

It is vital to run from the temptations of the wicked, not to entertain their plans. We must ground our minds in the word of God, allowing it to dwell in us richly. We must pursue righteousness, love and peace with those who also desire to be used by God.

In this way, we can activate positive peer pressure mechanisms in our lives. Through constant community with growing believers, we will always have a source of fresh inspiration and an outlet for our discouragements and failures, as well as our victories and testimonies. By surrounding ourselves with positive people and messages, it becomes easier and easier to resist temptation, and harder and harder to fall back into old, sinful habits.

If you want your spiritual life to be revitalized, start by taking charge of your immediate surroundings. Make the choice to follow Jesus in every decision and value, and then make the changes that reflect that decision. By the time you are finished, you will have become an inspiration to another believer, a fresh wind in their sail, a positive peer pressure in their life.

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In this episode, I answer the question of how we should treat those in the LGBTQ community. This was inspired by a comment from a listener who wanted to know how they should love their gay friend.

It is not a question that the Bible calls homosexuality a sin. Those who wish to deny it will have to jump through many hoops and contort many scriptures in order to come to the conclusion that it is anything but. If the Bible is not useful for revealing truth, and the literal parts should not be taken literally, each individual must define truth for themselves, and that is exactly what we see happening. There are as many "truths" about sexuality as their are people to create them. But for us who do see the Bible as the truth, we are left with the question, "how are we supposed to treat our friends who are participating in sin?"

The first step we have to take is to find out whether this person would consider themselves a Christian, a true disciple of Jesus. This will determine what advice we are supposed to take from the scripture. There are, however, three steps that we should take with those who are struggling with homosexuality, whether they consider themselves a Christian or not.

1. Consider how God sees them. When God looks at any person caught in sin, he sees a lost child. That child may be angry with the world, angry at themselves, angry at God, but they are probably scared and confused because these emotions are byproducts of sin. Better to pity and pursue them with truth than condemn and avoid them. God is the ultimate judge and hates sin more than any of us, but he does not leave people to flounder without help, and we should not either.

2. Pray for them. Prayer is the weapon that no one can stop. It cuts through all defenses and can penetrate any wall. The stubborn heart of a sinner is no match for the persistent prayers of a saint. If you have a friend who is battling the sin of homosexuality, you need to offer them the aid of your prayers. They ought to be many and filled with fervent desire to see a change in the other person.

3. Keep the conversation going. Make sure that they know you want the ultimate good for them. Let them know you love them, that you care about them. They may cut you out of their life if you don't approve of their homosexuality, but don't cut yourself out of theirs. I would suggest that you ask them questions about what they are feeling, what questions they have asked themselves, what prayers they have prayed. They are still a human being and desire to be known and loved, and God has placed you in their life to do just that.

If your friend happens to be part of their church and wants to follow God truly, it may be appropriate to confront them about their sin. This is always better to do with the help of a pastor. If you are a young person, it may be appropriate to talk to your youth pastor and have them talk to your friend with you. If you are an adult, seek the help of your senior pastor. Do not do anything that is going to completely destroy your relationship with the individual.

If they are stubborn and will not hear the truth, the pastor ought to put them out of the church temporarily and you are not to associate with them or even eat with them. This is a hard and explicit command from Paul as you wait for your brother/sister to return to the fold

Our Christian obligation is love for all people. We must do everything we can to see as many people in that community come to know Jesus as the savior, and it starts with a conversation.

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