Confession...what image does that word bring up in your mind?  Going to a priest to tell him all the bad things you have done?  Confessing to the cops that you committed a crime?  Confessing your love?

The Bible gives us three different images for the word confession and they are all essential in our Christian life.  They will each revolutionize your life.  Let's check them out:

1) Confessing Jesus as Lord.  This is what saved you.  Romans 10:10 says "For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."  What did you confess to get saved?  That you were a sinner?  No, that Jesus is Lord.  Romans 10:9 "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

When Jesus came He took on the sin of the whole world.  He solved the sin problem.  God is not sending anyone to hell for...

When we are walking in love, a supernatural shield of protection, called the shield of faith will be active.  As if right out of a superhero movie, we have a very real shield that will put out all the fiery darts of the enemy!  

1 John 5:18 "We know that whoever is born of God does not keep on sinning.  But whoever has been born of God guards himself, and the wicked one cannot touch him." 

When we are obedient to God and walk in love we are supernaturally protected.  I talked about it in last week's Facebook Live teaching in our Love Series.  I've included it here with this blog for you to watch in case you didn't see it because I went through a number of Scriptures about why love never fails.  I showed you how walking in love actually protected Jesus physically and can do the same for you.  Just click the play button at the top of this post.

This shouldn't surprise us.  One of my all-time favorite chapters of the Bible is Psalm...

You are in a battle.  It can be easy to forget that and just let yourself be overcome by stress, worry, and fear as a normal part of life...getting pulled along like a log going downstream...feeling like you have no control over the matter.  But then Satan wins. That gets me a little mad. How about you?

Ultimately we know that Jesus has already won the war, but you and I have millions of opportunities to enforce Jesus’ victory...or not.  If Satan is allowed, he’d love to hit you with some regret, disappointment, sickness, lack, weariness, doubt...really anything that will keep your eyes off of the Word and who you really are.  As Joyce Meyer has so popularly declared, the battlefield is in our minds. That’s why stress, worry, and fear are so prevalent. Satan is engaging us in battle. Unfortunately, too many Christians just surrender and say or feel that they are too weak, too unworthy, too sinful, or too powerless.  

Today, look at...

When you are worried or stressed, do you pray more or less?  Sometimes the situation is so all-consuming that we don’t even remember to pray!  Other times we pray a lot but it seems like nothing is happening.


There are all kinds of reasons we should pray and there are all kinds of different prayers, but today let’s talk about that kind of prayer where you need something from God.  You have a petition for Him - you know, all those things you worry about. A petition is defined as “a formal written request addressed to a sovereign superior for a particular right or grace.”

I bet if you were writing a petition to an important government official you’d put some time into it, wouldn’t you?  You’d do some research on the subject matter and you’d have some reasons to explain why you think the official should grant your request.  You’d write or type it out on nice paper making sure it didn’t get...

The world is filled with advice on how to overcome stress and fear.  Here’s one tip I recently read in the Huffington Post: “Go outside and wander around until you find a rock or crystal that you like and is small enough to keep in your pocket. In the morning, afternoon and before sleeping hold the rock for about a minute. While you do, imagine that the rock is emanating enormous strength, power and courage and filling your entire being with radiant power. Carry the rock with you and turn to it as needed. The rock itself may not have any inherent power, but you imbue it with great power.”

Wow, what if there was a rock you could spend one minute with morning, afternoon and night?  What if there was a rock that emanated enormous strength, power and courage and filled your entire being with radiant power? What if there was a rock that you could carry around with you and turn to whenever you needed?  And even better yet, than what this article is...

Life can be monotonous sometimes, can’t it?  A bit boring. Oh, sure there are those times where we have a lot going on and it’s chaotic - whether for the good or bad - but there are a lot of times in our life that are just the day to day living of life here on earth.  The same old, same old.

 
No matter how many times you have cleaned your kitchen counter, it will need to be done again tomorrow.  Unless they invent disposable clothing that you find stylish, you’re going to have to keep doing laundry.  Another day of going to work is right around the corner. What are we having for supper will be asked again for sure.

 
Well, at least you aren’t having manna again for supper like the Israelites.  They had been wandering in the wilderness for a long time and God had graciously supplied them with manna for their food.  But just as your kids turn up their nose when you put supper on the table exclaiming, “We are having...

I remember the day I sat on the edge of our bed and asked my husband if he would care if I just didn’t wake up tomorrow morning.  I was in my 20’s and life was not going according to plan. The rude awakening to becoming an adult with job problems, money problems, learning how to be married and raising kids was all just a bit much for me.  I wasn’t going to commit suicide, but I really didn’t care if I went on to heaven at that point. I’d lost hope that this life was going to get better and I was just clinging on knowing heaven would be better someday.

 
How about you?  Have you lost hope?  Are you weary of holding on waiting for the miracle you need?  If you are standing on a Scripture, saying the right things, believing for it to happen in your life and it is not happening, it may not be your faith but your hope.
 

The hope that you may be familiar with goes something like this.  I hope I win the lottery. I hope...

When we moved into a new home several years ago, we didn’t immediately put up the same old pictures from our last home.  I was tired of some of them and others just didn’t convey the look I was going for in the new home. We picked our favorites and then went with some blank walls for a time while we decided what we wanted to put up.  We didn’t rush out to buy a bunch of new things either as we decided it would be more fun, in the long run, to purchase something while traveling or for other meaning and then every time we look at the picture or the knickknack we would think of the meaning or the story behind it.  

 
You probably like to do something similar when decorating to set the atmosphere in your home.  HGTV is wildly popular for helping us find new ways to express love and comfort in our homes in a way that is inviting to others and is a peaceful place for us to come home to, but what about the spiritual atmosphere in your home?...

Our world is noisy, isn't it?  I always look forward to warm summer days and having the windows open or laying on the hammock.  But it seems that every time I do, someone is mowing their yard!  I mean could we just establish a rule that everyone has to do it at the same time (when it is convenient for me, of course) so I can enjoy the peace and quiet the rest of the time?

Our minds get noisy too with the constant thoughts of things we need to do and things that concern us.  With all the noise in life, how can you hear from God? I'm convinced that almost every Christian would do whatever God asked them to do if they just knew for sure they heard Him say it.   How can you know it was Him speaking and not your own thoughts?  How can you hear that one voice in life that you need to hear the most so that you can get the answers to your most pressing needs?

God has promised to guide us by His Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth. Having...

If I were going to be a policewoman, I think I would want this uniform the lady in our picture is wearing.  Stylish, smart and warm for a brisk day. I’d be directing traffic in style! Okay, so you can quickly see I probably was not called to be a policewoman.  But it’s amazing to think that I could wear this cute outfit and yet have the ability to stop a big semi truck in its tracks. How would I do that? Would it be my massive muscles that stop the truck?  Would I stand in front of the semi like Super Girl with my cape blowing in the wind and pushing hard on the truck to get it to stop while my super cute boots dug into the pavement? No. The truck driver would stop the truck for me based on the authority of my badge and position. 

The position police hold gives them their authority. Our government has delegated authority to the police to uphold the law.  They represent the law. And your position in Christ gives you your authority. (Click...