Prayer and God's Presence.

God said to Moses: "And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." (Ex. 33:14); and Moses told the Lord: "And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." (v.15).

I have already said that the Bible is our final authority. Yes, but, whence comes that authority? It comes from the fact that the Holy Spirit has inspired it. It is God's Word, God has already spoken to us through the Bible.

But it is NOT the case that God is not able or willing to talk to us nowadays. The fact is that, although He has already spoken to us in the Bible (and it is a great blessing for us), sometimes we need to know what is God's perfect will for a particular situation. Or maybe you need help to make a wise decision. The fact is that, according to the Bible: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom 8:14). So, if a Christian is a son of God, then he or she is able to be led by the Spirit. I am not going to talk right now about God's guidance (maybe in a later post I will do it), or how to discern when it really comes from Him. But, may it suffice by now to say that we can be lead by the Holy Spirit; but it will always conform to the Bible, never against it.

What I am talking about now is about God's presence. I have already shown that without it Moses didn't want go anywhere! What is God's presence? Anyway, God is omnipresent, that means He is everywhere! Yes, BUT we are talking about the "manifested" presence of God. His presence gives us peace, guidance, love, understanding. That is what God gives us when we are in a good relationship with Him. It is not just a "feeling", but it is great when we can feel it. The Bible says: "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." (Psal 16:11) (I underlined it for emphasis).

How do we "enter" God's presence? Through PRAYER. Praying with the good attitude. A prayer which means you depend on God, you submit to Him.

Prayer:
Characteristics:

1. According to God's will (as it is written in the Bible, and according to what we know He wants from us)
2. He is the Lord. We trust and obey Him.

But, what may hindrance the prayer to be effective? I mean, that we may not receive an answer, or God's presence.

See, we all need answers from time to time to our prayers. And we all need God's presence, so that we may be comforted, guided and more. But SIN can hindrance that, or a lack of understanding.

I will continue with this subject latter.

Understanding and Teaching the Bible.

We know that the Bible is the final authority for us Christians, and it is always a blessing for us. But, how many times we lack the desire or the time to study it?

When I was a new Christian, it was amazing for me to have had an encounter with Jesus Christ. I just tried to find out the "truth" for so many years... and now I had discovered it! It was not easy, I still had many questions, but the way God take me to Christ was awesome.

From the beginning on I understood that I had to read the Bible, and try to understand it, in order to get rid of all the lies I have learned elsewhere. Of course, I wanted the truth, and only the truth, so, I began to pray and read the Bible.

I was looking for the best way to read the Bible. A friend had told me that she used to read seven chapters from different books a day (besides that, I was aware of a program for reading the Bible in one year, reading four chapters a day). I wanted to ponder different opinions, in order to choose the best program for me. So, I asked another friend from the church his opinion. I was surprised, because he never told me how many chapters he read a day, or which program he adhered to. He just talked about the Bible and other related issues. I think that he wasn't reading his Bible regularly, like many other Christians, as I have found out. Don't get me wrong. I know him, he is a good Christian.

However, even good Christians have problems. And that is probably one of the reasons we struggle with so many issues during our Christian life. We need to have Bible teachers who love and are passionate for the Lord and for His Word. In fact, we need to be passionate for the Lord and for His Word ourselves!

There are some practical steps we can take in order to help us to accomplish that:

1. Take an hour or whatever time is suitable for you apart, and use it for praying, reading and meditate in the Bible.

2. It would be better, if possible, to do that early in the morning (When I do that, it is always a great blessing for me! I usually have a better day, too).

3. While reading the Bible, take into account the context of any passage, specially for that verses which are difficult to understand. (There are books on this subject, too).

4. Use the help of books, biblical dictionaries, etc. Do always remember that the Bible is the ultimate authority, though.

5. Pray to God, that you can understand His Word. Ask Him to help you to live according to His Will daily.

Remember that you will reap what you saw. Start to invest into your spiritual life (if you have not do that so far)! Spend time, and invest in valuable resources, if you feel they can be helpful.

On the other hand, if what you want is to teach the Bible and be effective, I have found this book about Bible teaching, "Teach the Bible to Change Lives". The author has been teaching the Bible for more than 20 years. I think it is worth to give it a try, specially if you are in the ministry.

I hope this article helps you to have a better relationship with God.

First of all, in order to live a victorious Christian life, you need, (obviously) to have a Christian life! I mean, how is your relationship with Jesus? I am not talking about any denomination. If you go to a Bible-believing church, that is O.k., but I am not talking about that right now. If you have ever received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, you know what I am talking about. You know that God has given you eternal life, and that Jesus Christ paid for you on the cross. And also you know that you are much better now than before, when you walked without God in your life.
But, anyway, are you letting JESUS to be the Lord of all areas? You just obey God in order to gain heaven, or to avoid hell, OR, have you come to a point were you do God's Will because you love Him, and that what He says is what is better?
Think about it, pray to God to give you insight on these issues. (read Eph. cap. 1)

Hello! - Introduction

There are many Christians who are struggling with living a victorious and fructified life in Christ. The problem is an issue of ignorance, ignorance gives the enemy and advantage over us; although he has been already defeated by the victory of Christ on the cross, where he "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:14,15).
But, as it is written in Hos. 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge".
I will share with you some of what I have learned through my christian life, and I hope that will be a blessing for you.