Simply Spiritual

Paul being brought before Gallio, governor of Achaia

One of the topics I need to study for my Bachelor of Theology Degree is Apologetics.  Now, with all of my bible study experience, I never came across the term apologetics. 

What is apologetics?  The word comes from the Greek word Apologia which means ‘defense’, so Christian Apologetics essentially means ‘defending the Christian faith’.  A person who is versed in apologetics is called an ‘Apologist’.

Even though apologetics may appear to be a new branch of Theology, it is rather quite old.  People have been defending their belief in a living God since in Old Testament times.  You will find scriptures in the bible that command you to defend your faith.

“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life.  And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it”.  I Peter 3:15

I guess you can say Paul was one of the greatest Apologists of all time.  Here’s what he says in 2 Corinthians 3 -6:

“We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans and methods.  We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds.  With these weapons, we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God.  With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ.  And we will punish those who remained disobedient after the rest of you become loyal and obedient.”

This is what being an apologist is all about – using God’s weapons to fight those whose purpose is to destroy God’s Word and those who believe in Him.

There are certainly a lot of tools to learn and master to become a good apologist.  Attacks on the bible and Christianity have certainly become more prominent and sophisticated in our time.  A true Christian now needs to know how to properly answer those questions that deny the existence of God and Jesus Christ, as well as those aspects of the bible that persons try to distort and discredit.  It is a lot of work, but certainly well worth the effort. 

It goes to show that I too, have a lot to learn, but I am well prepared to open my mind and heart to all that the Lord is teaching me so I can go out and teach it to others, as well as to effectively defend my faith.

If you wish to know more about Apologetics you can study these Free Courses

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve made a post.  I have been busy adding content to my website as well as researching information and visiting other bible related websites.

I have always yearned to gain more knowledge about the bible and the few bible correspondence courses I have taken have given some knowledge and insight about God and the Christian faith. 

Recently I have been borrowing Christian and Spiritual books from our local library and I realized that there is still so much I have to learn about God, the bible and the history of Christianity altogether.  I have always asked God to open my mind and he has done so, albeit little by little.

One day I decided I wanted to do a Theology course as I realized that this is the best way for me to really know more about the bible.  I browsed the internet and came across this site providing free courses in Theology.  They’ve got Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate courses as well.  The other great thing about it is you can access these courses online.  This is just what I needed.  With a full time job and a family it would be difficult to actually go to classes. 

So I decided to sign up and now I am on my way to earning a Bachelors Degree in Theology.  I am so excited! and grateful. 

The bible says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).  I have always tried to live my life according to God’s Will.  Of course I am no angel, I have done things I know were not pleasing to Him, but I have asked for forgiveness and strived to improve my life for the better every time. 

God has continued to bless me, undeserving as I may be.  But I am thankful and I will use this new opportunity to continue what I have started – to spread the word and help others (as well as myself) to live a spiritual life.

If you wish to learn more about the bible you can visit http://www.TrinityTheology.org and take advantage of their free courses.

To live a spiritual life means living a life with peace of mind, contentment and joy.  When you spend adequate time in prayer, bible study and meditation then there is nothing much else for youu to do but just live your life.  However, if you still feel that something is missing or lacking in your life then you should seek guidance on what you feel that is.

You must remember that there is only so much you can do to live a peaceable and stress free life.  You cannot put yourself under undue stress and anxiety over things you have no control over.

For instance, as a wife, mother and career person, life can be very overwhelming with the amount of duties you have to do in a given day.  But apart from proper planning and time management, there is only so much you can do.  Trying to overstretch yourself will only make you stressed out and tired unnecessarily.

There is a saying “why put off for tomorrow what you can do today,” but if you don’t have the time today then by all means put it off for tomorrow.  God does not expect you to be super human, and this goes not only for women, but men as well.

Another stressful situation can be the lack of money.  If the money you have now can only go so far, then you have to be content with that for the moment.  Stressing yourself out over money you don’t have does not make any sense whatsoever.  Do what you can now and more will come when the time is right.

Don’t let anyone pressure you into doing something you don’t have the time, resources or inclination to do.  Happiness is your right, and you can only do so much.

“Don’t worry about anything, instead prayabout everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand”.  Philippians 4:6-7

Fruits of the Spirit – Are you Bearing Them?

Here is a video I would like to share with you.  It’s called Simply share Jesus.

Paul and Barnabas

One of the roles of a Christian is to spread the word of God.  There are many ways to do this and it will vary from individual to individual.

Some people wait for a dramatic experience to happen to them before they can start witnessing to others.  Maybe they think something of what happened to Paul would happen to them.

The Apostle Paul was an avid persecutor of the early church, but when Jesus appeared to him in a vision, his life turned completely around and he became the apostle who took the gospel to the Gentiles.

Now, if we wait around to see visions or hear voices before we can do God’s work, then we will just wait forever.  You can only do God’s work if you really make up your mind to do it.

If you want to change your life – just do it!

If you want to do God’s work – just do it!

Don’t sit around waiting for miracles, just do what is necessary to be a witness.

Once you’ve made a start then the right help will come along.  Pray and ask God for guidance and then He would put everything in place for you to succeed.

“Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.”  James 4:8

Reflection in Water

What you think in your heart is what is reflected on the outside.  To change your outlook on life you must change how you think.  The type of life that you live is dependent on what you think and believe.

“As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects a person.”  Proverbs 27:19

To change your life to something better and more positive, you must change your thoughts.  No-one is responsible for your life but you.

What is your destiny?  Only you can decide.  Do not blame others for your failures or lack of accomplishments.  You are in control of your own life.  Your ideal life can be attained by constant positive thoughts and beliefs.  You should not change them to suit your circumstances, but build a positive, spiritual life by entertaining positive, spiritual thoughts everyday.

If you wish to change then you must build a relationship with Christ and as with any other relationship it takes commitment, patience and communication (prayer) to be successful.  Once you do this, it will be the best relationship you will ever have, and not to mention a life filled with happiness, joy and contentment.

What does it mean to ’see the Christ’ in someone?

Each and everyone of us have weaknesses and faults we sometimes cannot help.  If you are fortunate enough to have taken control of your life and deal with your shortcomings then praise be to God.  However, not everyone is so fortunate.

If someone is not leading an ideal life or has done something awful to you, then you should not judge or condemn them.  We must always look for the good in that person – The Christ in him.

We were all created in God’s image which means we all have the potential to do good.  We may not always understand why some people do the things they do.  Sometimes circumstances in their life have led them to live as they do, but they are not necessarly ‘bad’.

The bible tells us “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23)

We all have sinned and it is only through Jesus Christ can we be made free from sin.  If someone has chosen not to believe in Jesus, then we must pray for them and hope one day they turn their life around.

Seeing the Christ in others is what helps us to love everyone, including our enemies, for this is what Christ commanded us to do.

“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.  For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too.”  Matthew 5:44-45

Mountain

What is Faith?

“It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is evidence of things we cannot yet see.”  Hebrews 11:1

This is what a true christian lives by – faith. 

Many people don’t believe in God the creator because they cannot see him.

Even the Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt lacked faith from time to time.  They even built an image to worship when they got impatient after Moses went up to Mount Sinai.

And this is what we do sometimes, when our patience runs out because God does not seem near, we falter in faith.

“So you see, it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6

We must live by faith and not by sight.

Anything you want for your life can be achieved if you just have faith.

Now don’t confuse faith with wishful thinking.  It is not a matter of sitting around waiting for things to happen, but by working toward making it happen.  But while you are working, you are praying and believing.

However there are some things that you do need to wait on God for.  Perhaps you are terminally ill, then you need to have faith that God can heal you.

It takes a little faith to make big things happen.

“I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’, and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20

Have you ever seen a mustard seed?  It is very small indeed.  So imagine what you could do with a whole lot of faith.

We must live by faith for you see, we will not always get what we want in this life, and we have to face trials and challenges that we sometimes don’t understand, but there is a higher reward awaiting us.

“Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Romans 5:2

A child in Ghana

Stop complaining falls more or less in the same category as stop worrying.  Just as there are chronic worriers, there are chronic complainers, people who just complain about everything and could never be satisfied about anything.

I read in a magazine recently about some college students from the US who took a trip to West Africa – Nigeria and Ghana specifically.

Their experience there taught them to be appreciative and grateful for the things they have in their own country.  What they take for granted, these people don’t know much about.  Basic things like indoor plumbing and electricity.  One student said she has learned to be appreciative of her education, and not just the academics, but basic stuff like hygiene and health.

Another student said whenever she found herself wanting to complain about no airconditioning, hot water, or not having anything to wear, she remembers her trip to Africa.

But what was most interesting to me is that one of them expressed his amazement that even though the Ghanian people had barely enough to survive, they were happy and content. 

And this is the point really, we here in the western world, despite the fact we have everything – good education, access to technology, abundant food and the basic necesities – we just don’t seem to be satisfied or happy with life.  While the people in some partfs of Africa are struggling to survive, they have learned to be happy with what they do have – which is not much by our standards.

We have to start recognizing how blessed we are and stop taking our abundance for granted.  There is no need to complain or worry because God is always there to take care of us.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank Him for all he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God’s peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”  Philippians 4:6