Your Life Will Never Be Boring

The battle cry, the cry of victory went out from the cross when Jesus hung there with the nails in His hands and feet and He cried out, “ ‘It is finished!’ ”

Those three words reverberated through heaven and hell. I’m sure every demon heard them. Then three days later the resurrection crushed the gates and government of Hell.

So now we stand in the victorious strength of Jesus. We can fight for Him as He works through us, marching on, taking ground for the kingdom.
I promise you — your life will never be boring as a spiritual soldier for the Lord!

Rev Ran 🙂

Be Altogether Different

The Ethiopian conversion in Acts 8 shows us what happens when someone becomes a Christian. A radical and immediate change took place in this man’s life. He went instantly from being a miserable, empty, unhappy man to a man who was overflowing with joy.

Becoming a Christian changes a person completely. Jesus described it as being born again. The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Conversion is about the change in your lifestyle that will result. If you have really met Jesus, then you will be altogether different. And want to change.

Rev Ran 🙂

Is It You?

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Many times when we’re looking for some great superstar to come on the scene, God is developing someone in obscurity whom we haven’t ever heard of. Maybe that someone … Is You ?

If you have faith in God, if you believe that God can use you, if you are willing to take a step of faith here and there, then God can do incredible things through you.

Rev Ran 🙂

People Are Ready!

The number of people who believe in the afterlife is higher than ever. A recent global survey was conducted, asking people about their belief in God and the afterlife. Of the 18,000 people polled across 23 countries, 51 percent were convinced there is an afterlife and a God. In the U.S., belief is even higher, with 76 percent of Americans believing in heaven.

According to Jesus, there is indeed life beyond the grave. Why should we accept His word over the word of another? Jesus is the only one qualified to speak on the topic because He came from heaven, and He has returned to heaven. That is why Christ—and Christ alone—can address this topic with authority. Jesus is still the way – the truth – and the LIFE !

Share the Gospel … People are ready to believe!

Rev Ran 🙂

What's Wrong? What's Right?

A man took his wife to see the doctor, and as he was sitting in the waiting room, he saw the doctor come rushing out, asking if someone had a screwdriver. He returned to the exam room with the screwdriver, but a few minutes later, he came running out again and asked for a pair of pliers. The man was getting concerned at this point. Moments later, the doctor came out and asked if anyone had a hammer.

Unable to stand it any longer, the husband said, “Doctor, what is going on in there? What is wrong with my wife?”

“I don’t know,” the doctor replied. “I can’t get my medical bag open.”

When it comes to our Bibles, the same is true for a lot of us. We haven’t even opened them.
So we have NO IDEA what’s wrong with us or for that matter … WHATS RIGHT !!

Rev Ran 🙂

A New Spirituality?

In America today, we have something that could be described as a new spirituality. It’s a revival of sorts—not in the biblical sense of people turning to God, but a revival of all kinds of ancient and weird spiritual concepts and beliefs.

And some of this strange theology is finding its way into the church. We must be very careful to keep our guard up. Don’t forget that when the devil misled Eve in the Garden, he did it with partial truth. He did not question God’s Word altogether. Rather, he questioned if Eve properly understood it.

We must be careful of the deviant teachings that are out there today. I hope this won’t disappoint you, but there aren’t any new revelations. Everything you need to know about God is already written in His Book. As it has been said, if it’s true, it isn’t new. And if it’s new, it isn’t true. So don’t go looking for new revelations. Spend your time instead in learning God’s Word, and He will bring fresh understanding of it.

Rev Ran 🙂

A New Nature

The Scripture is full of descriptions of the believer’s new spiritual life. In Ezekiel 36:26 God promises He will give us a new heart and a new spirit !

In Psalms 40:30 we have the promise of God giving a new song.

The Bible also promises there will be a new self. Ephesians 4:22. As believers, our spiritual lives are new, but we still have the capacity to sin. And though we have the capacity of sin, the tyranny and penalty of sin in our lives has been broken. However, sin’s potential has not been fully removed, because we have two natures within us that are constantly at battle: a new nature and an old nature.

As you know, it’s very easy to sin. It comes naturally to us. But the new nature doesn’t come naturally; it comes supernaturally. These two natures are battling, and each day, you determine which nature you are going to build up.

So which nature will win? The one you build up the most. Every time you obey God and resist sin, you are building the new nature.

Rev Ran 🙂

Happy Father's Day

On this Fathers Day 2013 I want you to consider this: many of the attitudes a child will develop about God will be based on their relationship with their fathers. While I am not trying to lay a guilt trip on fathers, I do want to say that we fathers need to do everything we can to be a godly influence on our children.

Many adults have never grown up themselves, so they abandon their responsibilities to their families to chase after their own interests.

That is why Andrew Murray said, “The secret of home rule is self-rule: first being ourselves what we want our children to be.”You are an example. The question is, will you be a good one or a bad one?

To know that our children walk with the Lord — that is our great hope. But we need to remember that they don’t belong to us; they belong to God. Our responsibility is to point them to Him. It is my prayer that you are doing just that!

Happy Fathers Day 🙂

Its All About Faithfullness

Normally when most people step onto a scale, they want to weigh less. But when you step onto God’s scale, you want to weigh more. You want to have substance and depth and purpose and weight to your life. When Daniel confronted the wicked King Belshazzar, he told him, “You have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.” Effectively he was saying, “Belshazzar, you are a spiritual lightweight. You have done nothing with your life.”

That really causes you to stop and think. It is not so much about bad things you did; it is more a question of what you did with your life. Did you accomplish anything? Did you impact anyone? Did you seek to glorify God with your life? Or did you spend it in the pursuit of nothingness?

God is far more interested in our faithfulness to what He has called us to than He is in our success. It is all about faithfulness. That is what you will be judged for in that final day.

Rev Ran 🙂

No Fair-Weather Followers Need Apply

The great English preacher John Wesley once said, “Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I do not care if they be clergymen or laymen. Such men alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.” I don’t know if Wesley ever found such men. But I know that Jesus did.

Jesus called 12 of these men to be His disciples. In the Book of Acts, they were described as “these who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).

Then God gave power to the New Testament church in Acts 2 in an upper room.

If there was ever a time in history when a world needed to be turned upside down or, should I say, right side up, the time is now. But if it is going to happen, then it will need to be through committed believers like the ones John Wesley was looking for: people who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God. No fair-weather followers need apply.

Rev Ran 🙂

The Gospel

Lately, I have been listening to a lot of pod casts from today’s most popular preachers.Men and women who are having a tremendous impact on today’s church. And I have come to a conclusion that probably won’t make me popular.

I think that because we have a lot of anemic, shallow preaching today, we also have a generation of people who think they are Christians but really are not. These are people who have been told to believe, but they never have been told to repent. They have been promised heaven, but they never have been warned of hell. They have been told that God wants them to be happy, but they never have heard that God wants them to be holy. I wonder whether a lot of these people even know what the genuine gospel message is.

I read recently that 7 in 10 American adults have no clue what John 3:16 means. And barely one-third of all adults know the meaning of the term, “the gospel.”

It is not for me to decide who is a Christian and who is not. That is ultimately up to God. But what we don’t need more of today are sort-of Christians. What we need are no-doubt Christians—people about whom you could say, “There is no doubt in my mind that person is a follower of Jesus Christ.” The fact is, what is considered as Christianity by many today would not even qualify as such in the first century.

That is where you come in. God wants you to share the gospel and make disciples in your own sphere of influence. This is what the early church did, and the world was a different place because of it.

Rev Ran 🙂

Be Filled

In Acts 4 – After being told to no longer speak in the name of Jesus, Peter and John were released.

And so what did they do? They prayed for more boldness to preach the gospel. They said, “And now, O Lord Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29–30).

After they had prayed, “the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness” (verse 31).

The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, but the apostles were given a refill two chapters later! Friends – God does give refills! And He longs to bring it to you in times of Crisis, Compromise and Opportunity!

There is nothing wrong with asking God for a refill. In fact, there is something right about praying this, because we are told in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit: “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” In the original language, that could be translated, “Be constantly filled with the Spirit again and again and again.” God will empower us with the Holy Spirit and fill us again and again and again.

Rev Ran 😊

When You Get To The End Of Yourself

It has been said that when you get to the end of yourself, you get to the beginning of God. Many times when hardship comes, we have our own plans for how to handle it. We have plan A, B, C, D, and E. And after we have exhausted all of those, we find ourselves in that place where we say, “If God doesn’t come through for me, it is over with. This is horrible.” But actually, it is not horrible, because it is an opportunity for God to show His glory.

When the disciples found themselves battling a storm on the Sea of Galilee, the Bible tells us that “about three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water” (Matthew 14:25). This means the disciples had been at sea for nine hours when Jesus arrived on the scene. Why did He wait so long? We don’t know. But maybe He was waiting for them to completely exhaust their resources.

A lot of times, God waits until we come to the end of ourselves. Jesus came to the disciples at the last moment, but on time, And not only that, He came walking on the water. Perhaps it was to show the disciples that the very things they feared—the wind and the waves—were only a means for Him to reach them.

The disciples may have lost sight of Jesus, but He never lost sight of them. And when you are in the midst of your storm, He never will lose sight of you.

Rev Ran 🙂

He Will Give You Peace

Tonight I was reading Philippians 4:6-7 – it’s important to note what this passage does and does not say. It does not say you will necessarily receive the specific things you ask for.

But it does say that no matter what, God will give you peace in the midst of it. You might say, “Lord, take this problem away.” He might and he might not. But know this. No matter what, He will give you peace as you ride out your personal storm if you will turn it over to Him. We need to trust in the plan and providence of God.

I love it when it says, “And the peace of God will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.”
Friends, that pretty much covers everything, doesn’t it? Those are two areas that cause worry. The heart- wrong feelings; and the mind-wrong thinking. Gods peace will guard both.

Rev Ran 🙂

Let's Bring People

There are many unsung hero’s in the Bible. One of my favorite is Andrew, Peter’s brother. Andrew is primarily known as the man who brought others to Jesus.
1. Thoroughly excited, he brought his brother Peter to the Lord with the words, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41)
2. He brought a little boy to Jesus saying,”Here is a boy with five small barley loves and two small fish…” Jesus then feeds the 5,000
3. Just before going to the cross, Andrew with Philip brought a delegation of Gentiles to meet The Lord, when they said “Sir we wish to see Jesus.”

I believe you can say that Andrew is like the patron saint of unsung heroes- he represents the kind of people that fill our local churches and habitually fly under the radar doing what needs to be done, and not worrying about who gets the credit.

But here is the thing we need to remember:

If we had more Andrews, who simply brought people to Jesus we would probably have more Simon Peters.

Friends – Let’s bring people to Jesus, stand back, and watch whatJesus will do !

Rev Ran 🙂

Sheep

The Discovery Channel was doing a story about 450 sheep that fell to their deaths in Turkey. According to the story one sheep jumped off a cliff, and then 1,500 others followed.

I thought … wow … that’s really dumb. Then they went on to explain, not only will sheep follow other sheep, but they also will follow goats. In fact, that is how sheep come to be slaughtered. A “Judas goat” is used to lead the sheep up a ramp to be slaughtered. They will get in line and actually follow the Judas goat to their deaths.

We may think sheep are stupid animals, but remember, Jesus calls us His sheep. And we sometimes do things that are outright stupid as well. Don’t we try at times to run from God? Don’t we disobey the Word of God? Don’t we resist His will in our lives? Of course we do. The Bible tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way . . . ” (Isaiah 53:6). That is just the way we are. We are just like sheep.

So instead of following other sheep—and certainly not a Judas goat—we should follow the Good Shepherd. Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me ….. neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27).

This Fourth of July America who have you chosen to follow?

Rev Ran 🙂

iFaith

In the age of the iPhone, iPod, and iPad, our culture also has an iFaith. It’s a do-it-yourself divinity that has been customized for an individual’s needs. But this is not the faith that is given to us in Scripture.

I would classify this as another gospel, which the apostle Paul warned about in Galatians 1: “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.

The Holy Spirits goal is not to make Jesus like us; it is to make us like Jesus. Being a Christian is knowing God and walking with Him, no matter what. It means having our faith intact when the sun is shining and the sky is blue as well as when the storm is raging and the journey is difficult.

Jesus made it clear that storms will come into every life. And when those storms come, it will become evident what kind of foundation we have built on.

Rev Ran 🙂

Our Family Tree

You may be surprised to know that the family tree of Jesus Christ was one of the most messed-up family trees of all time. And if you are a child of God it is now your family tree.

Recorded for us in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, it includes prostitutes, cheats, adulterers, liars, and even a murderer. Yet we have to remember that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and that includes genealogies. And in the genealogy of Jesus, the grace of God is on display.

Normally, Jewish genealogies did not include women. But in Matthew’s genealogy, we find five: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and of course, Mary. What is fascinating about these women in the most exclusive genealogy in history is that several of them were immoral. This reminds us that Jesus came to heal broken lives and to restore shattered hopes.

The word “redeem” used in Galatians 4:4-5 means to buy out of a slave market. This term would have been readily understood by people living in the first century, because slavery was still in practice.

Jesus has redeemed us, he purchased us with his blood, and His resurrection has given us our freedom. That is what Jesus did for us. God gives second chances. And He can redeem the mess we make of our lives. All you have to do is ask Him in.
Thank God for His Grace!

Rev Ran 🙂

When Men Were Men

Remember when men were men? Remember when you could tell by looking? Remember when men knew who they were, liked how they were, and didn’t want to be anything but what they were?

The last few days my son Morgan’s girlfriend Kalynn, has brought her two year old nephew to our house. He is all rough and tumble, no fear, 100 mile an hour BOY! And I love it! He brings back great memories of when my three sons were his age.

Over the last three decades we have seen a major assault on masculinity. The results are well represented in the arts, the media, the world of fashion, and among those who have become the heroes of our young people.

On the heels of a bloody Civil War, Josiah Holland wrote a passionate prayer on behalf of our country. It begins, “God, give us men. . . .” But the truth is, God doesn’t give a nation men; He gives us boys. Baby boys, adolescent boys, impressionable boys, who need to know what becoming a man is all about. God’s plan is still as He designed it at creation. And it starts in the home. That is what Psalms 78 is all about.

Men, are you modeling manhood according to God’s Word? Moms and dads, are you raising your sons to be authentically masculine? If not, why not? Think it over!

Rev Ran 🙂

Unlimited Power

Are you happy with the way that you are right now? Are there things in your life you would like to see dramatically altered? Perhaps like many other people, you make bold resolutions whenever a new year rolls around. You make plans regarding what changes you want to make in the coming year. But it’s not long until you have gone back on those great resolutions.

In the same way, as Christians we are often defeated in day-to-day living because we don’t really realize how many resources God has placed in our spiritual account. A lot of times we say, “God help me. God, give me this. God, give me that.” Meanwhile, God is saying, “Will you please go check your account? I have deposited more than you could ever use. Check it out.”

Our defeat in our battle with sin and temptation lay largely in our ignorance of the facts. There is in Jesus Christ the power to live a new life and to no longer be under sin’s control. That power is not in imitation, because you can imitate Jesus all you want and try to be like Him. The power comes from impartation. God has done something for you, and now it is for you to appropriate that divine provision.

Rev Ran 🙂