Benevolent

The purpose of God is to make you stronger! you can truly live in God’s strength. God wants you to have a deep assurance that His plan is to strengthen you, no matter what the circumstances. In these days it is a great secret to know the strength of the Lord! This strength comes to those who desire to follow after Christ. This makes it so important to walk in faith, and forsake the things that would block God’s presence in your life. By confessing and turning away from any sin, the door opens for God’s cleansing grace to wash through you, restoring the strength of God in your life Strength, power for living, is needed by everyone in these challenging times. And God wants to give you His strength, in an abundant supply. But God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, and God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts (Isaiah 55:8,9). This is undoubtedly true, when it comes to the strength of the Lord. God’s ways of strengthening you are different than man’s ways. God’s purpose is to make you strong. In fact, “He is the One who gives power and strength to his people.” (Psalm 68:35). God’s purpose is to strengthen you, and to give you power in His ways. You are even commanded, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might!” (Ephesians 6:10). God wants you to be strong. Strong in Him, strong in love, strong because you are filled with the Holy Spirit. You must have an unshakable confidence, that God’s purpose is to make you strong in Him. When you face situations which you don’t understand, or when you encounter obstacles, difficulties, or painful situations which you were not expecting, it is easy for you to lose sight of God’s purposes. God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts. Our thoughts can become thoughts of fear or discouragement, anger or frustration. Thoughts like: “I’ll never be able to get through this,” or, “God must be punishing me for something I’ve done,” or, “The Lord is against me,” can become a part of our thinking. But God’s thought is to make you strong! His will is to make you stronger, not to tear you down. You must become strong in the ways of the Lord. “The way of the Lord is strength to the upright.” (Prov.10:29 ) God says to you, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10. The strength of the Lord is more than enough, to meet every obstacle. God’s Word says, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim.2: 1). The Word says, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Rom.8:37 ). The Word says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil.4:13), and, “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1 ). God’s promise is, “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15). Yes, God wants you to be strong! The WORD OF GOD strengthens your faith, and builds you up. The Word of God can be relied upon, with confidence. “Strengthen me, according to Thy Word.” (Psalm 119:28 ). Meditate on, and rely upon, the Word of God. Saturate your mind and your spirit with the Word, and the promises of the Word, for your strengthening. As you do these things, God will impart His strength to you. You will be strengthened to walk in victory, and walk in faith. God will show himself strong on your behalf’ Being strong as a follower of Christ does not mean pushing other people around, dominating other people, or being otherwise obnoxious. Strength from the Lord makes you strong enough to love people, strong enough to be gentle with difficult people, strong enough to do the right things at the right times, with the peace of God in your heart. It is awesome, to have the strength of His love!

That's about right.

OH weird name for a church.

Praise God. Welcome back!

: Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Perhaps no other component of the Christian life is more important than faith. We cannot purchase it, sell it or give it to our friends. So what is faith and what role does faith play in the Christian life? The dictionary defines faith as “belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.” It also defines faith as “belief in and devotion to God.” The Bible has much more to say about faith and how important it is. In fact, it is so important that, without faith, we have no place with God, and it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). According to the Bible, faith is belief in the one, true God without actually seeing Him. Where does faith come from? Faith is not something we conjure up on our own, nor is it something we are born with, nor is faith a result of diligence in study or pursuit of the spiritual. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that faith is a gift from God, not because we deserve it, have earned it, or are worthy to have it. It is not from ourselves; it is from God. It is not obtained by our power or our free will. Faith is simply given to us by God, along with His grace and mercy, according to His holy plan and purpose, and because of that, He gets all the glory. Why have faith? God designed a way to distinguish between those who belong to Him and those who don’t, and it is called faith. Very simply, we need faith to please God. God tells us that it pleases Him that we believe in Him even though we cannot see Him. A key part of Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” This is not to say that we have faith in God just to get something from Him. However, God loves to bless those who are obedient and faithful. We see a perfect example of this in Luke 7:50. Jesus is engaged in dialog with a sinful woman when He gives us a glimpse of why faith is so rewarding. “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” The woman believed in Jesus Christ by faith, and He rewarded her for it. Finally, faith is what sustains us to the end, knowing that by faith we will be in heaven with God for all eternity. “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).

True, we can not claim to understand or fully understand what we have not experienced personally. Prayer is the way to help and words of encouragement to those who need it.

Yes

It might seem tough, seem like God has deceived you. Honestly God will never leave you, nor forsake you. Yes, life can be difficult but you have to stay strong and trust that God will heal you.

Spiritual growth is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins the process of making us more like Him, conforming us to His image. Spiritual growth is perhaps best described in 2 Peter 1:3-8, which tells us that by God's power we have “everything we need” to live lives of godliness, which is the goal of spiritual growth. Notice that what we need comes “through our knowledge of Him,” which is the key to obtaining everything we need. Our knowledge of Him comes from the Word, given to us for our edification and growth. There are two lists in Galatians 5:19-23. Verses 19-21 list the “acts of the flesh.” These are the things that identified our lives before we came to Christ for salvation. The acts of the flesh are the activities we are to confess, repent of, and, with God’s help, overcome. As we experience spiritual growth, fewer and fewer of the “acts of the flesh” will be evident in our lives. The second list is the “fruit of the Spirit” (verses 22-23). These are what should characterize our lives now that we have experienced salvation in Jesus Christ. Spiritual growth is identified by the fruit of the Spirit becoming increasingly evident in a believer’s life. When the transformation of salvation takes place, spiritual growth begins. The Holy Spirit indwells us (John 14:16-17). We are new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The old, sinful nature begins to give way to the new, Christlike nature (Romans 6-7). Spiritual growth is a lifelong process that depends on our study and application of God's Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and our walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26). As we seek spiritual growth, we should pray to God and ask for wisdom concerning the areas He desires us to grow in. We can ask God to increase our faith and knowledge of Him. God desires for us to grow spiritually, and He has given us all we need to experience spiritual growth. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can overcome sin and steadily become more like our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Great words, we are conquerors.

Complete repentance is required and to love the lord your God wholehearted.

Wonderful. Praise God.

Hungering and Thirsting for God By Dave Butts Hunger and thirst are natural expressions of the basic human desire and need for food and water. One of the clear indicators that something is wrong physically is when we lose our appetite. It is the same spiritually. To hunger and thirst for God is at the very root of our being. It’s the way God made us. When there is no hunger for the presence of God, it is an indicator that something is wrong spiritually. Because that hunger is so basic to human nature, it often finds fulfillment in other areas rather than in seeking God. Much as eating unhealthy junk food can dull physical appetite, so that which is not of God can dull our spiritual appetite. This happens to non-Christians as they look for happiness and fulfillment in any area except in their relationship with God. It may be in human relationships, quest for power or money, or escape to physical pleasure. The saddest examples, however, are of Christians who allow their appetite for God to be dulled by other things . . . even religious things. Our churches are filled with believers who are so satiated by activities, programs and projects that they no longer have a hunger for God. So many Christians today snack their way through the day on "junk-food" activities and then find they have no time to "feast" with God. We complain about our "busyness" and tiredness, but that is typically a spiritual problem more than a problem of schedule. We desire everything except God. We take God in small doses throughout the day and week and somehow hope that on Sunday we can "catch up" on our time with the Lord. Let’s look at the Scriptures which speak of developing this hunger and thirst for God: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). ". . . whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and ho believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’" (John 7:37-38). "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?" (Isaiah 55:1-2). "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1). "The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17).

To rest in God is His will for us. To be still in His presence and be confident in Him and His power are what He truly wants us to be. He has counseled us about this long time ago, that when we rest in Him, He will save and strengthen us (Is. 30:15). But the world had taught us to run elsewhere to get help. We had learned to rely on tangible things to quieten our souls and momentarily bring peace to our minds, not quite grasping the truth about God and what He is able to do. For with God all things are possible. (Mark 10:27) Friend, are you looking for rest for your weary soul? Rest for your sick body or unquiet mind? The Lord Jesus is bidding you. He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mat. 10:28)

My question has always been, how did God come to being?