strength

It takes more than just being around the Bible to truly connect with its power. You do have to spend time reading it! (How are you going to know what it says if you don't?) You can't be satisfied to read it just every once in a while, either. "Faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ” (Romans 10:17), so if you want to keep your faith fresh and strong you need to be continually nourishing it with the Word.

To fear God is not to be afraid of Him. In fact, 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear” (NKJV). The Bible tells us hundreds of times to “fear not” because fear and terror come from the devil and cause torment (1 John 4:18). But the Hebrew translation for the word fear in reference to God means “to respect or reverence,” which is a very positive thing. 

Consider the following verses about the benefits of “fearing” the Lord.

There are people, according to Ephesians 4:11, who are called specifically to operate as prophets. They are anointed by God to speak His message. 

In Jeremiah 1:5, God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (NIV). There is a calling on the life of a prophet to speak on behalf of the Lord as He directs. God is telling His people to pay attention! “Do not scoff at prophecies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20)!

Prophets See the Future

Not only can you have meaningful friendships, but God desires them for you. He is interested in every aspect of your life. He desires the very best for you. Your heavenly Father sent His best—Jesus—to the cross on your behalf so that you might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Your Lord and Saviour is the friend that sticks closer than a brother—One who has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.

1 Timothy 4:3-5 tells us that our food is made acceptable by the Word and prayer.

So, when you bless your food at each meal, take the time to do more than a quick, “Bless this food.” This is your opportunity to pray protection over yourself—to bless it and sanctify it, and pray against anything that would cause illness, in Jesus’ Name. If you’re at a restaurant, you can include a prayer over the people who will be preparing your food—that they’ll handle it correctly with wisdom. 

Some people assume that a person who commits suicide is doomed to eternal damnation in hell. But that’s not what Scripture teaches. Scripture says that the only sin that will send a person to hell is the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:9). We should also remember that God does not want anyone going to hell but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:9).

A lot of Christians have been confused about that issue. So let’s look at what Paul wrote. He stated in Galatians 4:13, “You know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.” The two phrases we need to fully understand are “infirmity of the flesh” and “at the first.”