spiritual growth

The Bible teaches clearly how to live curse-free. You can begin to renew your mind and think differently so you can cooperate with the ways of God and experience the fullness of THE BLESSING Jesus purchased for you.

Just follow the instructions God gave in verses like these:

“My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life” (Proverbs 4:10, 12-13).

When Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61 concerning the anointing that was on His ministry, He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:16-18).

As a Holy Spirit-baptized, Bible-believing Christian, the devil has no authority over you! In fact, you have the power over him. He doesn't have any right to mess with you and what you own. He doesn't have authority over any area of your life—not your health, your family, your finances or anything else.

Most people think he practically owns the whole world. But he doesn’t! He doesn’t have the title deed to anything.

When you allow the Holy Spirit within you to be your guide, you can say “no” without explanation.

You would be wise to discuss this with your friends to whom you may have to say “no.” Let them know you trust the Lord to help you make decisions about certain (or all) areas of your life.

Help them to understand that He knows what lies ahead in every decision and you can’t just strike out doing your own thing without getting His OK!

From television to movies and magazines, we are flooded with voices telling us we have any number of possible choices that can bring deliverance from our fears, peace about death and success in life. Even voices from religious tradition have brought confusion about what it means to gain and keep our salvation. God does not want man spending life on earth continually questioning whether he is saved, always fighting thoughts that he isn’t good enough or hasn’t done enough to earn God’s favor.

For the clear truth about salvation, listen to the voice of God’s Word:

Work pressures. Family commitments. Church outreaches. All these things are well and good. They may even be God-ordained, but if you find yourself feeling the effects of too many commitments, then it’s time to de-stress your life. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Don’t let stress keep you from having an abundant life. Implement these five steps and get your life moving in the right direction!         

Make Time for the Word

First things first. Make your relationship with God your first priority. Here are three ways you can stay connected to God every day.

1. Stop all compromise.
Refuse to allow the things of the world—material possessions, career position, sinful pursuits, ungodly relationships or social standing—to eat away at your time with God. Get His Word into your heart so deeply that no one else’s opinion is important.

Believers spend a lot of time and energy questioning this. But the answer to the question is the same no matter what your giftings and talents are: You are called to be a blessing.

Actually, the only reason the Body of Christ is still physically present on planet earth right now is for this very reason. We’re members of His army, so what’s our calling? We’re on a mission to exercise authority over the powers of darkness, spread the light of the gospel and free a lost world from the devil’s grasp.

The Holy Spirit is always speaking; it’s just a matter of opening your spiritual ears to hear Him. Let’s look at three ways that you can improve your ability to hear the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is coming back. There’s a day and an hour appointed for His return. We know that’s true because Jesus spoke of it saying, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). At that appointed time, He will catch away those of us who are prepared for His coming and take us to heaven with Him to celebrate for seven years. Then He’ll bring us back with Him when He comes to reign over the earth.

What a day that will be!

The Apostle Paul gave some instructions to believers in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. 
 
Once you have the elements (which you can purchase for home use), take the time to come to God. As you begin, say something like this:
 

Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” At Kenneth Copeland Ministries, we believe that when Jesus died for us and rose again, He purchased for us a total and complete redemption which required that He endure a physical and spiritual death.

We know Jesus had no sin. He was not born with a spiritual nature of sin like men who have earthly fathers, and He never committed any sin while He was on the earth (Matthew 1:23; Hebrews 4:15).

Scientology is a religious movement based on a system of beliefs, practices and rituals created in 1952 by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. It was later characterized as an “applied religious philosophy” by the Church of Scientology in 1953. Scientology has become fairly successful, especially in Hollywood where it has attracted many actors and performers.

Although Scientology presents itself as a harmless philosophy that even a Christian can embrace, here are a few of its main points that don’t line up with what the Bible teaches:

One of the biggest changes between the Old and New Covenants is how sin was handled.

In the Old Covenant, God established the priesthood to provide a way for the Israelites to cover or atone for sin—the breaking of the law. The high priest offered a blood sacrifice each year in the Holy of Holies to cover the sins of the people. When the high priest failed, the people had no approach to God.

In contrast, the blood of Jesus did not just cover over our sins; it eradicated our sins.

In 1 Peter 2:18, God commands us to give due respect and honor to our masters—or our employers. In 1 Timothy 6:1, we see this again, “All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against” (NASB). That is the purpose of honor—to stand out as God’s children among those in the world. There are plenty of people who show dishonor to employers, but we shine His light when we honor and submit to those in authority over us.