As a pastor, the difference is vital. I do teach. There is no doubt about that. But I am first and foremost a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The truth is I do public speaking 5-7 times a week. Half of which is preaching and half of which is teaching.

Here is the difference in a nutshell and a more detailed explanation to follow:

Preaching – Is trying to affect a person’s thinking by appealing to a person’s heart.

Teaching – Is trying to affect a person’s heart by appealing to their thinking.

PREACHING

As a preacher, I believe that certain truths need to be acted upon immediately. It just may save a person’s marriage, prevent a teenager from becoming an addict, and help nudge a person from falling into sin. A sermon, therefore, is an appeal to the heart, the emotions, and the soul of a person.

There is a lot of passion in preaching. It is designed that way on purpose. It seeks to fire the emotional drive of a person which is often the source of our desires. The Bible speaks of this when it states:

Proverbs 18:1 Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

Desire is what drives us. It is what makes an artist successful, what drives a business owner to success, an athlete to be a star, a child to get straight A’s. Preaching is meant to fuel good desires. To instill desires in young people to be pure before marriage, to build desires in married couples to have a stronger marriage, to encourage godly and holy desires!

This is what preaching sets out to do. Many, many people can point to a sermon as the turning point in their desires, the foundation of their decisions to stop a particular sin, to start some service for God, or to live a better life.

In secular circles, this is known as motivational speaking. It is preaching, just not on godly topics. Politicians will often preach in their speeches. They are trying to get people to vote for them or some agenda, and they appeal to a person’s emotions and desires to achieve this.

As a pastor, I have discovered that preaching is a tremendous tool to help instill godly desires in people.

TEACHING

Also as a Pastor, I believe that certain truths need to be ingrained in a person’s understanding in order to perform those truths well. This is accomplished through teaching. While preaching can create a desire to do something that a person does not fully understand–this can be both good or bad, depending on the desire–teaching attempts to reason with a person’s mind.

Teaching presents the evidence, is rarely emotional, appeals to the intellect, and provides a person with many different angles of understanding. It usually does not accomplish quick changes in a person’s behavior, like preaching can, but it begins to allow for a solid foundation upon which behavior is directed.

Many things need to be taught in order for them to be done or implemented well. Without teaching on the mechanics, the why’s, where’s, when’s, and how’s, the foundation of a passionate Christian is easily eroded. Jesus did both. He taught and He preached.

Let me give an example. A hot sermon on prayer may instill and create a desire to pray in the layman. But without any teaching on how to pray, his desire will go unfulfilled. And without the hot sermon, he may not have as strong of a desire to pray even if he has been taught to pray.

The disciples of Jesus understood this. Jesus had instilled a desire to pray, but they lacked the understanding on how to do so. So, they asked Jesus to teach them:

Luke 11:1 – And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

A school lecture, is teaching. It is often boring to students because there is little to no emotional appeal. Still, teaching is essential.

CONCLUSION

Both are important. Both preaching and teaching are necessary to build a solid Christian life. In our church, our services are divided almost equally between preaching and teaching. People need the right desires and the understanding on how to direct those desires.

There are several things the Bible speaks of that cause resistance.

THE ILLUSTRATION

First, let me paint an illustration. If you know anything about electricity, you know that there are several factors that create resistance to the ability of electrons to flow across a wire. These factors reduce the amount of power able to reach the object you are wishing to supply power to.

If God is the source of power, and we are the ones who need that power and strength, then walking with God is like being plugged into Him. Our walk with God is the wire, our connection to the source of power.

It is important that we have a conductor from God to us. But along that route there is resistance. This resistance reduces the power, strength, blessings, and joy that we get from God. It is essential that we reduce as much of the resistance as possible to enjoy as much as possible from our God.

SATAN

Zechariah 3:1 – And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

In electricity, the thickness of the wire allows more free electrons to flow through it. The thinner the wire, the more resistant it is to power.

Satan wants to restrict you as much as possible. He will resist your walk with God. He will seek to stem the tide of grace, mercy, power, and love from God to you. If he can keep your walk with God thin, stretched out, and weak, we will not enjoy the fullness of God.

Satan will throw things our way that will distract us, reduce our time with God, and consume what we get from God faster than we can get it. Satan seeks to resist what you can get from the Lord!

DISTANCE

Acts 7:51 – Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

2 Timothy 3:8 – Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

In electricity, the greater the distance to the source of power, the more resistance there is to the flow of free electrons. There are just more things that can go wrong. There are more barriers and unexpected twists.

In our Christian life, distance from God is equal to our acceptance of Him in our life. The further away from Him we find ourselves the more resistant we are to Him, His will, and His truth.

Our unwillingness to accept some of the things about God or Christianity distances us from God. This distance brings more resistance. We add too many variables that distract us from getting the power of God. There are too many barriers and things that can go wrong.

PRIDE

Pride is a scary resistance. In this case, it is not Satan resisting your access to God, nor is it you necessarily distancing yourself from God, but pride causes God to resist you!

James 4:6 – But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

1 Peter 5:5 – Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

You may spend a lot of time in prayer, Bible study, and church. But if you have pride, God is resisting you! As you can imagine, this is not good. Pride is a resistor to the power of God. Whereas humility brings a free flow of grace and power from God, pride will bring resistance from God Himself!

Often, pride isn’t resistance to God or the things of God; it is the desire to control these things, to dominate them, or to be known for them. God, however, resists this concept emphatically! A Christian can serve God in pride. A Pastor can preach in pride. A Sunday School teacher can teach in pride. Pride is where you love to serve God so that you might have the preeminence, to have the spotlight shining on you!

God will resist you!

Humility is about submitting to Him. It is not about you. It is not about what you do. It is about God. It is submitting yourself to the will of Jesus Christ, not choosing to follow your will in service to God.

CONCLUSION

These are a few of the Biblical resistors in our life. If we want to enjoy the fullness of God, we need to reduce or eliminate these resistors. In electricity, a superconductor is a conductor with a resistance of zero. That is the goal of every Christian. We want to be superconductors to the power of God in our life.

The things we hold most valuable in people are born out of adversity, not ease. Imagine watching a movie that only detailed how easy everyone had it, with nothing to overcome, nothing to triumph over, and nothing to strive for. You would be bored stiff. If nothing every bad happened to the good guys, if they didn’t have to struggle, if they didn’t have to overcome anything, you would not be interested.

Imagine a novel where there were no antagonists-bad guys-and no problems for anyone. What would be the point of reading it? What would the book offer you? Nothing.

The same is true for you. What makes you worth knowing is the strength, experience, and hope you gained from all those problems and difficulties you have overcome. Our problems define us. They show our strengths, our weaknesses, our achievements, our experiences. These experiences are what we bring to the table in a relationship.

It’s interesting how people seek out, for help, others who have faced similar experiences and trials. When a man loses his wife, he finds more comfort in someone else who has lost his or her spouse. They understand him. They can bring something to the table that no one else can.

Many of you have gone through horrific circumstances and situations. As a pastor, I ache for you and the burden that you carry. If I am aware of it, I will pray for you. But know this: these same horrific experiences have given you great depth to your character. They have added flavor, interest, and intrigue to your personality. They have made you the unique person you are, and they have made you a person worth knowing.

God understands this. Many times, people run to God in the hopes that God will sprinkle some spoofal dust on them and-shazam! Take away all the problems. God won’t. God knows that going through the problem is what will add interesting dimensions and needed strength to your life.

Proverbs 24:10 – If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

Instead, God wants this reaction from you:

James 1:2-4 – My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

That perfection, or completeness, only comes through those trials. It is the difficulties that you go through that make you valuable to others, to God, and to yourself.

The stories we most enjoy from the Bible are those of individuals who went through great trials and those who suffered greatly. Not because we enjoy seeing others suffer, but because we admire their strength, their courage, their character, and their determination. It is qualities like that that we find intriguing and interesting in others.

The strongest marriages I know are from those that have suffered through great difficulties. The strongest relationships I have are born out of struggles. This includes my relationship with Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:1 – For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

Got problems? Suffering? You’re in good company. You are now worth knowing.

Here they are:

1. God tests people
2. Satan attacks people
3. Murphy’s Law – That which can go wrong, will go wrong
4. Consequences of our own actions

The World View that says, “Bad things only happen to bad people,” will be a very disappointing one for you, because bad things can happen to anyone, and for all sorts of different reasons.

IMPORTANT: I don’t think it is possible to judge why another person has experienced something negative in their life. Since any one person can fall victim to any of the four reasons, it is outside credibility that you can accurately say, “I know why so and so is going through this.” No you don’t. In fact, as a Christian myself, I often get frustrated by the phrase: “Everything happens for a reason.” The implication is that God was responsible for, or encouraged the murder, suicide, rape, car accident, or lie. God never condones sin. Never. God is not responsible for the murderer’s decision to take a life. The reason for the murder is simple: The murderer decided to kill.

Even in an attempt to be comforting, we must be careful of what we say. Don’t forget that God created all of us with a free will.

I believe that God can take the consequences of a situation and turn it around to your good, but I don’t believe that God ordained anything that involves sin.

If a person commits suicide, I don’t believe that God willed that. I do believe that the consequence of that situation can be turned eventually to a greater good. God gave us a free will, and if a person’s free will decides to take his own life, that was not God’s plan.

Let’s take each of the 4 reasons that bad things can happen to good people and examine them.

GOD WILL TEST PEOPLE

Take a look at the following verse:

2 Chronicles 32:31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

You might argue that God ought to already know what was in his heart, but the honest truth is, until we are faced with a set of circumstances, we really don’t know what we’ll do. We always hope that we’ll face adversity with courage and integrity, but until you actually face it, you don’t. God may know, but He needs to show you.

If you believe in God, you will be forced to understand that God often puts us through testing or trials. There could be any number of reasons for this, but simplest explanation is found in the following verses:

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

If a body builder wants to be stronger, he must put himself under the pressure and pain of the weights. Only the pressure and weight of this action will his muscles grow as he wants them to.

Haven’t you ever heard of the phrase: “No pain, no gain”?

Problems will make you stronger. God knows this. As parents, we know this too. We often let our children come under stress or pressure to teach them to be stronger.

I never prevented my children from falling down when they were learning to walk. Falling down taught them to walk faster and better. It also taught them how to fall.

Why would God be any different? If you think that serving God, or believing in a God, will keep you from suffering, you are wrong.

A loving God will allow you to suffer-but with purpose. To give us strength for the tasks of life, we may first have to suffer in order to gain that strength. So much of being a good father, for me, is the result of the trials in my life. Could you imagine trying to raise children without ever knowing what rejection was? Or what it meant to be made fun of? Or having never experienced any sort of pain whatsoever? The greatest men and women in the present and in history are almost universally men and women who have also suffered greatly.

SATANIC ATTACK

Think about this verse from the Bible:

Luke 13:16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

If we were to examine the story of Job in the Old Testament, we would find that Job was a righteous man. In fact, the Bible claims that he had a very close relationship with God.

Yet, God allowed Satan to attack Job just to prove a point. Satan took away everything that Job had, except his life. All so God could prove to Satan that Job wouldn’t betray Him.

Sounds harsh doesn’t it? But the fact remains that there is a Satan, and that God may allow Satan to attack us.

These types of attacks are generally designed to disillusion you, discourage you, or shatter your faith. I believe that if you can weather these attacks, you’ll find, as did Job, something greater on the other side

MURPHY’S LAW

“That which can go wrong, will go wrong.” Personally, that is a bit pessimistic for my tastes, but there still remains a measure of truth in it.

If your car breaks down, it doesn’t mean that God did it, or the devil did it. It could be because it just broke. It can happen to anyone, at anytime. It is not necessarily a reflection on your Christianity or lack thereof.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Sometimes things happen. Can God intervene? Of course He can! But I don’t assume that His intervention, or lack of it, is a reflection of my Christianity. Many times I feel that God doesn’t intervene just to see how I’ll handle the problem. Clothes wear out, electronics break down, and bodies get older.

Personally, natural disasters aren’t necessarily created by God or the Devil either. I believe that God is capable, but I don’t believe He is responsible for every natural disaster in history. Hurricanes strike Christian’s houses as much as they do atheist’s houses. Christians died in the World trade center as much as atheists did. Christians are injured in car accidents as much as atheists are.

Can God intervene? Absolutely. That, however, is a decision that God makes, for reasons that He only knows.

A Christian may ask, “What about Romans 8:28?”

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Of course there are 2 conditions here, but let me point out that your understanding of ‘good’ may not be God’s understanding of ‘good’. What’s good for you may just be something that you don’t like.

I know of several cases where a disease has actually improved a marriage. Before the disease this man was a drunkard and beat his wife. The disease made him see life differently. He is now sober and loves his wife dearly. Is not the disease therefore good?

All I’m trying to say is, be careful before you attribute something to God, or make a judgment of why something is happening to someone. Realize, also, that no matter who you are, or what your belief is, things can go badly for you.

Seeing things clearly will help you with dealing with it.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR OWN ACTIONS

This, I believe, is one of the main reasons why things go wrong in our life. We made a bad decision. The consequences of that action is not God’s fault, the devil’s fault, or chance’s fault. It is your fault.

If you smoke and end up with lung cancer, that is your fault. Not God’s. Not Satan’s. Yours. The decision was yours to make and you made it.

I heard a story, or a joke, one time that I think illustrates this point.

A preacher lived in a little town nestled in a valley below a lake. The dam on the lake suddenly and inexplicitly began to give way, threatening the small town with imminent destruction.

As the flood waters rose, a man in a 4×4 truck drove up in several inches of water to the preacher’s house and yelled, “Preacher! Jump in! I’ll get you out of here!”

The preacher responded, “No! I trust God. He’ll take care of me!”

Frustrated, the driver drove off. The waters continued to rise, and soon a man in a rowboat rowed up to the preacher’s house. He yelled, “Preacher, hop in. I’ll row you to safety!”

The preacher returned, “I’m okay. I have faith in God! He’ll take care of me!”

Frustrated, the man rowed off.

Well, not long after, the water was lapping the roof of the preacher’s house and the preacher was standing on top of the roof. A helicopter swooped down and lowered a rope ladder. A man’s head poked out of out of the fuselage, holding a megaphone. “Preacher! Grab the ladder! We’ll fly you to safety!”

The preacher waved them off. “God will protect me! I trust God!”

Frustrated, the pilot flew off.

The preacher drowned. He found himself standing before God, and he began scratching his head in confusion. He said, “God? I don’t understand. I put all my faith and trust in you, and trusted that you would take care of me. But I drowned. What happened? What did I do wrong?”

God answered, “Idiot! I sent the 4×4, the boat, and the helicopter. You didn’t take any of them!”

Your decisions have consequences, and God is under no obligation to bail you out of them. In fact, the consequences are how we learn. But don’t be surprised if you get hurt from a decision you make. That is not God’s fault.

God gave you a brain. If you jump off a cliff, and half way down you change your mind and ask God to save you, God is under no obligation to do so. He gave you a brain that ought to have said, “Don’t jump.”

IN CONCLUSION

There are four reasons why bad things happen to good people.

1. God may be building or testing you.
2. Satan may be attacking you…just whether the storm.
3. Things go wrong. It may be no one’s fault. It just went wrong. Things happen.
4. You blundered. You made a mistake, or made a bad decision, and now you have to live with the consequences. That is no one’s fault but your own. Even good people make mistakes.

Realizing these simple truths will help you in dealing with life’s problems. First, you won’t be judgmental about others, nor will you lose your faith in God if you are a believer, nor will you blame God for things that aren’t His fault.

In addition, where you put your money, your heart follows. So if you invest in the things of God, your heart will be in the things of God. God knows this.

Luke 12:34 – For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Because of this, there are three types of monetary giving that the Bible speaks of. They are: tithes, offerings, and alms. Here are the distinctions:

TITHES

Tithing is literally a tenth. Malachi 3:8 speaks of robbing God by withholding your tithes. God asks for 10% of your increase. This 10% was meant to fund the work of God (Numbers 18:24). It is given by the Christian as something that already belongs to God.

Leviticus 27:30, 32 – And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

Giving less than 10% is not tithing. Giving more than 10% is more than a tithe; only the 10% can be considered a tithe.

OFFERINGS

Offerings are exactly what it implies. There is no set amount to make it an offering. It is anything over the 10% that God requires that you decide to give because of your love for God and your thankfulness for what He has done for you.

Deuteronomy 16:10 – And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

An offering is something you decide. The amount is not set. It is given according to the blessings you believe God has blessed you with. This offering is given to the work of God as well. It is a way you say, “Thank you!”

ALMS

Alms are monetary, or things you have purchased, that you give to someone in need. It is your decision to help the poor, to meet the needs of the needy, and to love your neighbor.

Acts 3:2 – And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

This, again, is something you determine to do. There is no set amount, no determining factor except your own heart.

Proverbs 19:17 – He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Perry S.

Being a Spirit filled Christian is not spooky or even supernatural. A person does not have to break down and start foaming at the mouth, start spouting in some unknown tongue or language, or even suddenly have the ability to heal the ailing. It is actually much more practical than that.

Walking in the Spirit, to be Spirit filled, is a mental exercise that puts your thinking, hopes, and desires in God’s hands. Notice the following passage of Scripture:

Romans 8:5-8 – For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Notice how many times the word ‘mind’ appears. Walking in the Spirit–and thus to be Spirit filled–is about where your mind is. So here are some of the evidences of a Spirit filled Christian:

1. Is in constant prayerful contact with God throughout the day (1 Thess 5:17).
2. Is loving to those around him (Gal 5:22).
3. Is at peace with life (Gal 5:22, Rom 8:6).
4. Has songs of God and Jesus on his lips throughout the day (Eph 5:18-19).
5. Is joyful (Gal 5:22).
6. Does not feel at odds with God (Rom 8:6-7).
7. Is constantly thankful for what he has and what he is (Eph 5:18-20).
8. Is humble to those around him (Eph 5:18-21).

These are the basic evidences of a spirit filled Christian. So many times, as Christians, we are looking for the supernatural, when the quality of our life is not determined by the power we wield, but by how much the Spirit of God has filled every aspect of our life.

It begins by absorbing your Bible. You need to be in constant contact with God throughout the day. Do not just say your prayers, read a verse or two, and then dismiss God until the next day. If that is all you ever do, then God only occupies a very tiny fraction of your life. There is no way you are filled with the Spirit.

Remember, the most important aspect of the Christian life is your relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Being Spirit filled is not determined by your position in Church, how well you keep the rules, to what degree people recognize your spirituality, or how much influence you wield over others.

It is how much you fill your daily life with God!

Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Sin, particularly in the life of the Christian, can keep us from accomplishing what God intended us to accomplish. It prevents us from doing the will of God and finding purpose and meaning in our lives.

The Bible continues further on down with more warnings of the dangers of sin:

Hebrews 12:14-15 – Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

If sin is not dealt with, it leads to these additional complications and problems in our Christian lives:

1. Prevents us from seeing the hand of God in our lives. God is evident all around us. Sin, however, will blind us to these evidences. People who are living a just and righteous life will see God’s involvement and hand in every aspect of their lives. But sin can blind us to all of that.
2. Fail of the grace of God. Grace is God’s provision for our insufficiencies. Sin can rob us of this provision. We all are lacking in things. God’s grace makes up for where we lack. But sin will cause a failure to receive or take advantage of that provision. This may be because we can’t see God’s activity in our lives.
3. The root of bitterness that defiles many. This is the ultimate burden of sin. Sin, left unchecked, will bring a root of bitterness into our lives that cause us to be blind to God, to fail of God’s grace, and eventually defile many of the things we love.

So what is the most dangerous sin? Your most dangerous sin is that sin that you have successfully hidden from everyone else. We don’t deal with a sin that we can successfully hide. We just continue to hide it. This is extremely dangerous.

I’ve often said that the best thing to happen to a child who does wrong is for him to get caught. Being caught means he must now deal with his wrong. He must address it. And he can purge himself of the guilt that the wrong produces.

But it gets worse when an adult successfully hides an affair, pornography, a drug habit, or what not. Not only does the guilt of the sin begin to poison his mind and his heart, but he never seeks to address it properly. He just keeps hiding it.

The Bible also tells us:

Numbers 32:23 – But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

This does not necessarily mean that you will be caught. Though the odds of being caught increase the longer you hide your sin. But it means that your sin will eventually consume you, change your attitudes, your thinking, and your heart. Eventually, you won’t even care that people know what you’re doing or involved in. You may even get to the point where you brag about it.

This root of bitterness has destroyed so many relationships and families. I’ve witnessed firsthand the destruction of a sin that has been successfully hidden from everyone else. Eventually, their heart and mind is poisoned. They harm relationships, they begin to question God, and they have an uncaring attitude.

Your sin will come out one way or another. You will get caught, or you’ll get to the place where you just won’t care anymore. It left alone long enough, the root of bitterness will consume you.

The very best thing in the world to do is to admit your sin to someone that can help you. Obviously, you need to take it to God and ask for forgiveness, but you also need to admit it to the person you were trying to hide it from. If you don’t, you’ll continue to make it difficult to quit the sin, and you’ll just jade yourself even further. Admit it. Get it out. Seek help.

As a parent, if one of my sons come to me and admits a wrong, asks for punishment, and wants to fix the wrong, I would be floored. I can’t imagine that I would get angry or upset. In fact, I would have a difficult time even disciplining him. After all, the purpose of discipline is to get them to face the wrong and deal with it. But if he is already doing that, then I don’t need to. I would be ecstatic if my children did this. So would any parent.

Whatever your sin may be, bad or really bad, hiding it is the worst thing you can possibly do. It sears your conscious, it poisons your heart, and it allows that root of bitterness to begin to grow.

That is the most dangerous of all sins.

The main problem for most people is attempting to talk to someone that isn’t in the room with them. Of course we know that God is there and that God can hear you, but you may find it difficult to emotionally accept that if you don’t yet have a close walk with God. Have you ever tried to talk to someone that wasn’t there? You feel foolish and quickly lose your train of thought. You wonder why you were saying anything at all.

This is the main problem for a lot of young Christians. God hasn’t become close to you yet, so when you pray to Him you feel somewhat foolish and insecure. You feel your prayers are doing nothing.

To break past that mental barrier, do this instead: write a letter to God. Yep, you read that right. It is still prayer to write a letter to God.

You see, we are all used to writing a letter to someone that isn’t in the room with us. So when you write this letter to Jesus, you will feel much more comfortable and focused in your word use and what you want to say. You will quickly punch through this mental barrier you have about prayer.

Prayer isn’t spooky. It is merely conversation with your God. Writing a letter is sufficient. Write to Him about your concerns with prayer, write about your feelings and emotions, and write to Jesus about your fears. Here is a possible way to write your letter:

Dear Jesus,

Me

That is merely a sample. There is no right way or wrong way to write it. Write it as if you were conversing with God! After you are finished, read it out loud. Thank God verbally and either destroy the letter or file it away for later reference. Perhaps you may want to use a journal. But if you confessed some of your sins, or mentioned something extremely personal, you may want to destroy the letter. Don’t worry, God not only read it but stored a carbon copy of it in His mind. No doubt He is excited about your prayer.

Another thing you may want to attempt is to get two chairs. In one, place your open Bible. Sit in the other. Then-and this may sound silly-talk to your Bible as you would if God or Jesus was sitting in the chair.

I did this too, and it helped. Having something to focus on as I prayed helped me to say what I wanted to say. There is no magic formula in prayer. There is no certain way you must say things. There is just you and God talking. So, talk. Tell Him all. Tell Him everything!

Soon, you’ll break down those mental barriers in prayer and have a vibrant walk with God. Soon, you’ll be talking to Him anywhere and everywhere and knowing His presence.

There are more priorities than the ones listed here. But these three are the number one priority in each of the three areas listed below. Forgive the bluntness of the following statement, but it would be unchristian to do anything less than these three duties.

How can we, as Christians, claim that title (of being Christ like) if we are not doing the very things that make us Christ like? How can we claim we love God if we are unwilling to obey His commandments, or to downplay these areas? As citizens of the United States, the rights and privileges come with certain responsibilities, such as jury duty. Fulfilling these duties and obligations is what makes this country uniquely American. How can we expect less of Christianity?

THE #1 THING WE CAN DO WITH GOD

The top priority in this area of doing things ‘with’ God is to Walk with Him.

There is nothing else that tops this list. The very reason for our creation was to fellowship and walk with God. It was the reason for Adam’s creation. It remains the single greatest thing you can do with God.

Walk with God

Micah 6:8 – He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

It was Enoch who God took because he got so close to Him in their walk together. It was Noah who God chose to save from the coming flood because of his walk with God.

Christianity isn’t about a list of things we can and cannot do. It is about a relationship. If you take the relationship away, it makes everything else meaningless. I’m a Christian because of the relationship I can have with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It is my walk with God that sustains my Christianity!

Prayer, meditating on the Word, having the mind of Christ, love, praise, worship, mercy, grace, and salvation all play a part in the relationship. I do these things because I like to spend time with my God!

THE #1 THING YOU CAN DO TO GOD

As before, there is only one thing that tops the list in this area: To Magnify Him!

We are asked to Love God with all we are. We are asked to worship Him and nothing else. We are asked to praise and adore Him. We are asked to bring glory to His name.

We are to magnify God.

Psalms 34:3 – O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

It only makes sense. If God is your God than to magnify Him in your life is necessary. How do we feel about criticizes of our country that exhibit no patriotism? How do we feel about fellow students who show no school spirit? How do we feel about a team member who doesn’t want his team to win or to be the best? Then how does God feel when His Children are not interested in magnifying Him?

In every area of our life, God is to be magnified. God ought not to be an afterthought. He ought to become larger and larger in our lives!

THE #1 THING YOU CAN DO FOR GOD

Once again, there is only one thing that can be at the top of the list: Sharing the Gospel with Another!

If I were to give an overall theme of the Bible, it would be that of reconciliation. From Genesis to Revelation, the aim and goal of the Scriptures is to reunite man with God. Jesus died to provide that reconciliation. The New Testament has, at its most basic components, a charge to spread the Gospel!

Going back to the Old Testament, the choosing of the nation of Israel, the temple, the sacrifices, and the priesthood was all about reconciliation. Once Adam and Eve sinned, everything from there on out was about reuniting man to God.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The last words of Jesus before ascending into Heaven were about preaching the Gospel and about being witnesses. This is the heartbeat of God. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son!

How can we call ourselves Christians and not tell others of Jesus Christ? How can we say we love God and not share Him with those around us?

All three of the areas or priorities listed here are meant to be done with direct participation. Not indirect. Direct. You say, “I go to church.” Good, but do you do these three things directly? Do you tell others of Jesus? Do you hand out tracts? Do you share Jesus with those around you?

You may feel that your other areas of service help towards that goal, but I believe that God meant for you to tell others in some way, not indirectly, but directly. There is nothing, no ministry, no service, that you can do that is greater than sharing the Gospel with the lost!

Every act of God since Adam’s sin was to make it possible for man to be reconciled to Him. How can we then sit idly by?