As I was in my personal studies meditating upon the word of God, a certain scripture passage kept coming back to me again and again. I was reading in the Amplified Philippians 2:14. It leaped off the page to me and I knew that this was something important to share this week with you. Simply because I believe we as Christians can have false expectations about life in general; that when we got saved, things were supposed to change for the better around us. More respect and love would come our way. Promotions and money would begin to flow. Our unsaved friends would see what we now see and fall on their knees and repent. When in reality it seems that we are tested and stretched on every side. The Bible tells us that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) We as the righteous are taken under God’s special protection, yet we all have our share of crosses to bear in this world.

Mathew Henry stated, “we must seek peace and pursue it; be willing to deny ourselves a great deal for peace' sake. It is the constant practice of real believers, when in distress, to cry unto God, and it is their constant comfort that he hears them.”

It is vital that when we are in distress that we cry out to God, but what we cry out to God can determine our deliverance or prolonged captivity. This is what brings us to Philippians 2:14 "Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves]," Some other versions read:

Following Sundays 11AM Dynamic service I am sure that some people may be wondering what took place.  We witnessed the altars being flooded with people looking for answers to their life.  They were seeking God for wisdom and strength.  We are a church that believes in the power of God and that he can interact with us here and now in this life.  This means that we can experience the presence and power of God manifest in our midst through His spiritual gifts.  The Bible is clear that there are gifts of the Holy Spirit given for the building up of the church.  There are 9 gifts in three categories;

1. Gifts of revelation: which enable us to know, understand, or perceive by our senses things which we could not know by normal human ability. These are the word of wisdom (that which pertains to the future), word of knowledge (that which pertains to the past and present), and discerning of spirits (to see into the spirit realm).

2. Gifts of power: which enable us to perform things which are beyond human ability, or believe God for things beyond the reach of what we consider ordinary faith. These are workings of miracles (creative miracles), gifts of faith (sirigate faith), and gifts of healings (restoring that which is sick).

3 Gifts of utterance or speech: which enable us to declare in some measure the mind of God. These are prophecy (to edify and encourage via a word of knowledge or wisdom), tongues and the interpretation of tongues (these are equal to prophecy for tongues without the interpretation of tongues is unfruitful). "greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues" (I Corinthians 14:5)

Does the Selfish Gene really exsit?

Yes the selfish gene is a part of our DNA as carnal fleshly creatures. It is destructive and the root of spiritual disease. As we can see in Galatians 5:19 that the works of the flesh all have an underlying motive – self (ishness)!

Galatians 5:19,The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (greek definitions of each characterist)

40 to 45% of Americans create one or more resolutions each year.  Some of the most popular resolutions are regarding weight loss, exercise, and to quit smoking. Other resolutions that top the list are handling money better and reducing debt.

Take a look at how well these resolutions stand under the weight of time:

- past the first week: 75%
- past 2 weeks: 71%
- after one month: 64%
- after 6 months: 46%

While it’s true that many people break their new years resolutions research shows that people who detail out their new years resolutions are 10 times more likely to achieve their goals over those who don’t clarify their resolutions.  So here are some insightful ways to create goals that achievable.

S.M.A.R.T Goals

It’s important when setting goals to write our goals down and then track them. It is advocated by many experts to use goal setting software when setting goals. This helps us to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.  This is also a scriptural truth:

Habakkuk 2:2 (English Standard Version) 2And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it..."

Specific – our goals should state the answers to the What, Where, Why and How questions, detailed as simply as possible. We should use action words to explain WHAT we are going to do, WHY the goal is to important and How we are going to achieve it.

Is Christmas really a pain?  We mainly think of the term "The Joy of Christmas" - so why say pain?  In John 3:16 it says, "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son..." Most wouldn't think of pain when we hear this scripture, we are more likely to think of things like liberty, freedom, salvation and healing.  I believe it was different for God.  I believe God felt the pain of giving His most cherished treasure to be sacrificed for us.  The pain of seeing his Son give up his super powers and become subject to the same challenges and temptations that mankind is subject to.  Many may not think of God having feelings - but he does.  We were made in his image - therefore if we have feelings it is because He first had feelings.  The difference between our emotions and God's emotions is that He is not ruled by them.  Yes, God can feel joy, anger, astonishment, and pain.  (Luke 15:3-7; Gen 6:5-8; Jer 17:4; Matt 17:5; Rom 5:8)  I believe God was very lonely on that day Christ was born, but he looked beyond his own need and saw to ours.  God took his innocent son to free the guilty.

I believe we as believers should take a moment and really think about what God gave up for us; everything.  This in turn should put a joy in our heart this Christmas season to be more grateful and giving.

Thank you God for the sacrifice that you made for me.  Thank you for giving up everything so that I can be free and righteous in your eyes.  Thank you God for living in me and teaching me how to sacrifice in the same manner.