Blogs
Subscribe to James Banfield - Blog by Email
Subscribe to James Banfield - Blog by RSS
IT'S FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND'S HERE! WELCOME TO THE INDIE GOSPEL'S TOP 20 BLOG FOR...
Jesus is praying for all believers to be one as He and the Father are one.
This goes far beyond what many promote as unity today. Paul besought the Corinthians to "all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10). This is God's standard of unity.
This oneness among believers is what Jesus said would cause the world to know that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has. The only way that Christ's body will be one as the Father and Jesus are One is through God's kind of love. No wonder Satan tries to get believers to go at each others'...
We are not from the world. Through the new birth, we come from God and should constantly remind ourselves of this. It is not good to be too "at home" in the world. We are in the world but are not of the world. Great men and women of God have always had this attitude.
The primary reason that God chooses to use those who are nothing by the world's standards, is so no one else can take credit for the great things that are accomplished.
If the Lord used those who had it "all together" in the natural, then they would share the glory that rightfully belongs to God alone. But when the Lord works miraculously through someone who obviously has no talent or ability, then everyone says, "This must be God."
Not only does this keep others from misdirecting the glory that belongs to...
Forgiveness (What does it mean to you?)
For God so loves us all that He sent His son to die for our sins. This ultimate sacrifice made it possible for us to in a since get a clean slate. How do we use this chance to start fresh and can we learn to practice this form of grace? Of course we will never be as good at forgiveness as God but what can we do to ask for or to offer forgiveness and how do we go about doing it? What more do we need to do besides say I’m sorry or I forgive you? When you hurt someone, what do you do? When someone hurts you do you need to know all of the where, when, and why’s before you can forgive. From your experience does knowing everything help you to forgive or does it in some ways hender your willingness to completely forgive? Do you live by the motto “I forgive you but”, or have you learned to accept an apology without each complete detail knowing that too much information may just piss you off so you make the choice to just let go...
In this prayer, Jesus prayed twice that the Father would keep His disciples from evil. Then He reveals the way that God will accomplish this - through His Word, the holy scriptures. Anyone who desires to live for God, reject the devil, and reject the world's system, must know God's Word.
We must study the scriptures, for they reveal the will of God for our actions and attitudes. To be filled with the knowledge of God's will, we must be filled with God's Word. God's Word is His will! Those who are ignorant of God's Word will be ignorant of God's will.
Knowledge of God's will is foundational in developing Christian conduct and character. There is no way we can fulfill God's will if we don't know what it is. The starting point for any Christian is understanding God's will for his life. How can a person obtain...
HAVE YOU EVER WORRIED ABOUT EXPRESSING YOUR LOVE FOR JESUS IN PUBLIC? A LOT OF PEOPLE WON'T BECAUSE THEY "MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE". YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK OF THAT, WHAT IF JESUS THOUGH HE MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE AND NOT HAVE GONE TO THE CROSS FOR US. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TROUBLE WE WOULD BE IN? EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE A LESSON FROM BLIND BART.
In order to fully understand what eternal life is, it is helpful to understand what it is not. Eternal life is not living forever. Everyone lives forever in either heaven or hell. Also, eternal life is not living forever in the blessings of heaven as opposed to being tormented in hell.
John 3:36 and 5:24 show that eternal life is a present tense possession of the believer.
Here, Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ.
As we have already discussed, the word "know" is speaking of intimacy instead of mere intellectual knowledge. Therefore, eternal life is having an intimate, personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus the Son.
According to John 3:16, this intimacy with God is what salvation is all...