Welcome to Our Resources Page
Maybe you have questions about Christianity. Maybe you're curious about the bible, or maybe you want to learn more about Jesus and His free gift of salvation. You've come to the right place. Here we'll post resources to help you answer questions, grow in your faith, and even compare different faiths and religions to true Biblical Christianity. We hope that you are blessed by what you find here.
Depression: nobody is immune to it, there isn't a vaccine for it, but God can get you through it and protect you from future episodes. See our resource by Pastor Phil Jones on: The Ins and Out of Depression
Abide in christ
What does it mean to "abide" in Christ? Well, as Christians we have the Spirit of God living in us. It's through the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ that we have freedom from sin. That is the only way to defeat the sin nature in us. Romans 8:3 says, "And because you belong to him (Jesus), the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." It's only by the power of the "life giving Spirit," which is the Holy Spirit in us, that we can be free. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in us, is what makes Christianity different from every other religion. Abiding in Christ is the means of having the Holy Spirit living in us.
In John 15:5 Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing" In this metaphor, Jesus describes himself as the vine and us as the branches. The idea is that the branch depends on the vine for nourishment and support. The life-giving sap that flows from Jesus to us is the Holy Spirit. The result is that we will bear much fruit, such as transformed character (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23), and the results that the ensuing transformation has on other people who see that we are changed people.
To abide in Christ is to have a life-giving connection to Him. It means to draw from Him what we need to live, without seeking it from other people, or the world around us. For example: if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, trusting Him alone for your salvation, then you are fully and completely accepted by Him without having to perform well or do anything for Him! Therefore, you don't need to seek approval from others here on earth by doing things for them (as Christians, we do good works from a position of salvation and gratitude, not to earn salvation or gratitude). You can tell when people are seeking praise and approval from others when they complain, or are disappointed, when they don't get the praise they think they deserve. We all know people who are seeking praise and approval from others, but as Christians we are already accepted, so don't need to earn it. When we seek our emotional and relational support from Him, instead of from the world around us, then we strengthen our fellowship with Him and He is able to guide us in the way that we should go. He will then protect us from evil, protect us from the trappings of this world, and will lift us up above the petty problems of this world.
To abide in Christ is to be dependent on Him. In Philippians 4:19, the apostle Paul says, " And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." This means that we bring all of our needs to Him, trusting that He will provide for us. One thing to keep in mind though, is the word "needs." God never promises to provide our "wants," He's more interested in building our character and supporting us with the necessities of life, not the luxuries. Remember, the branch receives the sap from the vine, it doesn't demand it. The branch can only make fruit from what it receives from the vine.
To abide in Christ is to stay for the long haul. One of the truest indicators of a true conversion is that the believer continues in fellowship and submission to God through the long haul. Through good times and tough times, the true believer continues to draw life, love, fellowship, and everything else they need from Jesus. This means that we keep on trusting Him to provide for us, asking Him to guide us, thanking Him for everything He brings our way, and drawing our very life from Him.
Corrie ten Boom, who survived the Holocaust, said "when Jesus is all you have, you realize that Jesus is all you need." She and her family were sent to the German concentration camps and she lost all of her family there. All that she had was her faith in Jesus Christ, and through all of the atrocities of that experience, Jesus provided everything that she needed. Her faith in Jesus alone, carried her through that horrific time. Corrie is a great example of the power that comes from abiding in Christ. He sustained her through all that she went through, and He will sustain you through everything that you are going through as well, if you will just abide, remain, trust, and draw everything you need for life from Him.
Andrew Murray is one of my favourite authors. His immense love for God, as a result of God's immense love for him, is evident in all of his writings. I pray that you will be blessed by this devotional. There is a devotional for every day of the month; each one building on one more aspect of abiding in Christ.
In John 15:5 Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing" In this metaphor, Jesus describes himself as the vine and us as the branches. The idea is that the branch depends on the vine for nourishment and support. The life-giving sap that flows from Jesus to us is the Holy Spirit. The result is that we will bear much fruit, such as transformed character (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23), and the results that the ensuing transformation has on other people who see that we are changed people.
To abide in Christ is to have a life-giving connection to Him. It means to draw from Him what we need to live, without seeking it from other people, or the world around us. For example: if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, trusting Him alone for your salvation, then you are fully and completely accepted by Him without having to perform well or do anything for Him! Therefore, you don't need to seek approval from others here on earth by doing things for them (as Christians, we do good works from a position of salvation and gratitude, not to earn salvation or gratitude). You can tell when people are seeking praise and approval from others when they complain, or are disappointed, when they don't get the praise they think they deserve. We all know people who are seeking praise and approval from others, but as Christians we are already accepted, so don't need to earn it. When we seek our emotional and relational support from Him, instead of from the world around us, then we strengthen our fellowship with Him and He is able to guide us in the way that we should go. He will then protect us from evil, protect us from the trappings of this world, and will lift us up above the petty problems of this world.
To abide in Christ is to be dependent on Him. In Philippians 4:19, the apostle Paul says, " And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." This means that we bring all of our needs to Him, trusting that He will provide for us. One thing to keep in mind though, is the word "needs." God never promises to provide our "wants," He's more interested in building our character and supporting us with the necessities of life, not the luxuries. Remember, the branch receives the sap from the vine, it doesn't demand it. The branch can only make fruit from what it receives from the vine.
To abide in Christ is to stay for the long haul. One of the truest indicators of a true conversion is that the believer continues in fellowship and submission to God through the long haul. Through good times and tough times, the true believer continues to draw life, love, fellowship, and everything else they need from Jesus. This means that we keep on trusting Him to provide for us, asking Him to guide us, thanking Him for everything He brings our way, and drawing our very life from Him.
Corrie ten Boom, who survived the Holocaust, said "when Jesus is all you have, you realize that Jesus is all you need." She and her family were sent to the German concentration camps and she lost all of her family there. All that she had was her faith in Jesus Christ, and through all of the atrocities of that experience, Jesus provided everything that she needed. Her faith in Jesus alone, carried her through that horrific time. Corrie is a great example of the power that comes from abiding in Christ. He sustained her through all that she went through, and He will sustain you through everything that you are going through as well, if you will just abide, remain, trust, and draw everything you need for life from Him.
Andrew Murray is one of my favourite authors. His immense love for God, as a result of God's immense love for him, is evident in all of his writings. I pray that you will be blessed by this devotional. There is a devotional for every day of the month; each one building on one more aspect of abiding in Christ.
| abide_in_christ_devotional.pdf |
freedom from sin
, One might ask the question: "can anyone ever be free from sin?" That's a good question, and the answer isn't very easy. First of all, we're born with a sin nature. When God created mankind, he created them in "His image." After Adam and Eve sinned against God, it was said that Adam "became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image" (Genesis 5:3). That later statement, "in his very image," means that Adam and Eve's children, and all generations after them, inherited the nature of sin. God had already sent them out of The Garden of Eden, paradise, because of their sins, and there was no way that they could earn their way back in. God pronounced judgement on them, sent them out of the garden, and placed an angel with a flaming sword to guard the entrance. There was absolutely no provision for them to get back in. Sadly, though when we ask people, "if you died in your sleep tonight, and stood before God and he said, 'Why should I let you into Heaven?' people always say, 'Because I'm a good person." This is the biggest lie that Satan tells us.
The problem with mankind is the sin nature; no parent has to teach their young child to lie, cheat, steal, or defy them. I've seen young children, as early as 1 year old, hold out a hand full of food, and no matter what their parent says, they defiantly look straight at their parent and throw the food on the floor. That is rebellion, and rebellion is sin! And, as children get older it just gets worse; the terrible two's, the rebellious teen years, and even throughout the adult years there is rebellion, rejection, and more! We all have the capacity to sin to the worst degree, and nobody is exempt!
So, after the bad news that sin will always be with us, and that our good deeds don't erase sin, what about that freedom from sin? Well, God can't totally free us from sin right now. The problem is that He would have to throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Sin is inherited from our parents, and it's ingrained into our memory, our choices, and our environment. So if God were to eradicate our sin He would have to make us a vegetable because He would have to eradicate our memory and we would cease to be a person anymore.
But don't worry, God has a solution in two parts: part 1, He takes care of the "power of sin over us" here in this world, and then part 2, when Jesus returns and we join Him in the clouds, we get a new body! And guess what? That new body will not be tainted with sin! Wooot!!! Nobody really knows the mechanics of that, but we do know that no sin will enter Heaven, so we leave the details of that up to God to figure out.
Part 1: God takes away the power that sin has over us. You see, before we transferred the control of our life over to Jesus, sin had power over us. The apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 7. He has a struggle and says, "The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. (Romans 7: 14-15). If you have ever struggled with sin you will understand this struggle. You hate doing something, but the compulsion to do it is overwhelming and keeps nagging you until you give in to it. Then, sin turns around from tempting you to accusing you; "you're no good" "you've done it now, and you're a failure" and on and on. Once you have become in-dwelt with God's Spirit, things change. You see, God defeated sin on the cross, He completely crushed its power. Satan threw everything he had at Jesus while he hung on the cross, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was able to sacrifice his life for us to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus did not go to the cross in his own power as a man, that would have failed. No, when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane he surrendered his will to God and in doing so he surrendered all attempts to go to the cross in his own strength as a man. That same power that overcame sin on the cross is available to every Christian. You see, at the end of Romans 7, the apostle Paul says, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" Romans 7:24. And God wants us to come to that same realization; that we are totally unable to free ourselves from "this life that is dominated by sin and death," totally unable. We can suppress sin for a while, we can avoid it for a while, but Satan is sly and he knows our weaknesses. He is ruthless and takes great pleasure in tripping us up. But then Paul goes on to say, with great excitement, "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin" Romans 7:25. But he doesn't stop there. In Romans 8 he goes on to say, "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death" Romans 8:1-2.
So here's the deal (finally!). You don't get free from sin here on earth; God, by the power of the Holy Spirit in you, frees you from sin. How? Like Romans 8:2 says, "the power of the life-giving-Spirit [frees] you from the power of sin that leads to death." When sin tempts you the way to be victorious over it is to do nothing on your own (by trying to avoid or suppress it). What you do is to surrender it to the Holy Spirit and He takes care of it. One very wise young girl said it this way: "when sin comes knocking at my door, I go and get the Holy Spirit and He answers the door. Satan, seeing the Holy Spirit says, 'oh, I must have the wrong house' and flees." You see, Satan and his demons are powerless against the Holy Spirit and they flee in terror! There is no match, no contest, no wrestling over anything; Jesus was completely victorious over Satan at the cross. It was like a basketball game but the score was 10 billion to zero! So when temptation comes knocking at your door, the way out is to put your faith Jesus and say, "the power of the life-giving-Spirit has freed me from the power of sin that leads to death." Notice the word "has" in that verse; freedom from sin is a done deal! It was accomplished at the cross over 2,000 years ago! Stay with the assurance that by the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for our sins, and don't give up. Believe it with all your heart because God rewards those who have faith in Him. In James 4:7, he says, "humble yourselves before God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you," so persevere and stand firm from a position of power, because God is all powerful and He will free you from the temptation to sin just as He promises.
Below is an article that will help you if you struggle with sexual sin. The first version is like a brochure style, while the second version (text only) is better read in a pdf reader such as Acrobat Reader. I pray that you are blessed, and freed by this article.
The problem with mankind is the sin nature; no parent has to teach their young child to lie, cheat, steal, or defy them. I've seen young children, as early as 1 year old, hold out a hand full of food, and no matter what their parent says, they defiantly look straight at their parent and throw the food on the floor. That is rebellion, and rebellion is sin! And, as children get older it just gets worse; the terrible two's, the rebellious teen years, and even throughout the adult years there is rebellion, rejection, and more! We all have the capacity to sin to the worst degree, and nobody is exempt!
So, after the bad news that sin will always be with us, and that our good deeds don't erase sin, what about that freedom from sin? Well, God can't totally free us from sin right now. The problem is that He would have to throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Sin is inherited from our parents, and it's ingrained into our memory, our choices, and our environment. So if God were to eradicate our sin He would have to make us a vegetable because He would have to eradicate our memory and we would cease to be a person anymore.
But don't worry, God has a solution in two parts: part 1, He takes care of the "power of sin over us" here in this world, and then part 2, when Jesus returns and we join Him in the clouds, we get a new body! And guess what? That new body will not be tainted with sin! Wooot!!! Nobody really knows the mechanics of that, but we do know that no sin will enter Heaven, so we leave the details of that up to God to figure out.
Part 1: God takes away the power that sin has over us. You see, before we transferred the control of our life over to Jesus, sin had power over us. The apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 7. He has a struggle and says, "The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. (Romans 7: 14-15). If you have ever struggled with sin you will understand this struggle. You hate doing something, but the compulsion to do it is overwhelming and keeps nagging you until you give in to it. Then, sin turns around from tempting you to accusing you; "you're no good" "you've done it now, and you're a failure" and on and on. Once you have become in-dwelt with God's Spirit, things change. You see, God defeated sin on the cross, He completely crushed its power. Satan threw everything he had at Jesus while he hung on the cross, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was able to sacrifice his life for us to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus did not go to the cross in his own power as a man, that would have failed. No, when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane he surrendered his will to God and in doing so he surrendered all attempts to go to the cross in his own strength as a man. That same power that overcame sin on the cross is available to every Christian. You see, at the end of Romans 7, the apostle Paul says, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" Romans 7:24. And God wants us to come to that same realization; that we are totally unable to free ourselves from "this life that is dominated by sin and death," totally unable. We can suppress sin for a while, we can avoid it for a while, but Satan is sly and he knows our weaknesses. He is ruthless and takes great pleasure in tripping us up. But then Paul goes on to say, with great excitement, "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin" Romans 7:25. But he doesn't stop there. In Romans 8 he goes on to say, "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death" Romans 8:1-2.
So here's the deal (finally!). You don't get free from sin here on earth; God, by the power of the Holy Spirit in you, frees you from sin. How? Like Romans 8:2 says, "the power of the life-giving-Spirit [frees] you from the power of sin that leads to death." When sin tempts you the way to be victorious over it is to do nothing on your own (by trying to avoid or suppress it). What you do is to surrender it to the Holy Spirit and He takes care of it. One very wise young girl said it this way: "when sin comes knocking at my door, I go and get the Holy Spirit and He answers the door. Satan, seeing the Holy Spirit says, 'oh, I must have the wrong house' and flees." You see, Satan and his demons are powerless against the Holy Spirit and they flee in terror! There is no match, no contest, no wrestling over anything; Jesus was completely victorious over Satan at the cross. It was like a basketball game but the score was 10 billion to zero! So when temptation comes knocking at your door, the way out is to put your faith Jesus and say, "the power of the life-giving-Spirit has freed me from the power of sin that leads to death." Notice the word "has" in that verse; freedom from sin is a done deal! It was accomplished at the cross over 2,000 years ago! Stay with the assurance that by the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for our sins, and don't give up. Believe it with all your heart because God rewards those who have faith in Him. In James 4:7, he says, "humble yourselves before God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you," so persevere and stand firm from a position of power, because God is all powerful and He will free you from the temptation to sin just as He promises.
Below is an article that will help you if you struggle with sexual sin. The first version is like a brochure style, while the second version (text only) is better read in a pdf reader such as Acrobat Reader. I pray that you are blessed, and freed by this article.
|
| ||||
Gospel tracts
|
|
| ||||||
The ins and out of depression
In the fall of 2016 my immune system crashed and I was taken off of work. I had high anxiety, insomnia, and was diagnosed with generalized depression disorder, which later became Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD) because it lasted longer than 6 months. After years of counselling I had made some progress, but since PDD is connected to childhood trauma, I was still at the mercy of the depression no matter what I tried. One day I came across a brochure from Grace Fellowship International that had a resource website for depression and on it were the following audio resources by Pastor Phil Jones. I found them extremely helpful in approaching depression from God's viewpoint. After listening to the programs, taking notes, praying and applying what Pastor Jones said, I was able to change my thinking and improve. I was also able, through God's amazing work, to embrace childhood traumas and be released from that bondage as well. The final blow to my depression was reading the book of Romans. The Apostle Paul is talking about how Adam's sin "brought death, so death spread to everyone , for everyone sinned" 5:12 (NLT), and then in Romans 5:17 he says, "But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." Then Romans 8:2 says, "And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." I was out camping when I read these verses and I got so excited because they speak of freedom. I came home from camping and all of a sudden I got hit with this heavy depression. I remember praying, and believing that "God's grace is greater than this depression, and "The power of the life giving spirit has freed me from the power of sin that leads to death," and instantly the depression left me and never came back. I was freed from the depression by the Spirit of God!
Now, I'm not saying that you can just recite those scriptures and you will be instantly healed from depression; that was my experience and God took me through many steps to get me to the point where I read His Word, accepted it as truth, believed it, and then experienced the result of God's power working through me by His Word.
The first step is to listen to these recordings, make notes, read scripture, and believe that God can heal you; and He will.
Grant S
Now, I'm not saying that you can just recite those scriptures and you will be instantly healed from depression; that was my experience and God took me through many steps to get me to the point where I read His Word, accepted it as truth, believed it, and then experienced the result of God's power working through me by His Word.
The first step is to listen to these recordings, make notes, read scripture, and believe that God can heal you; and He will.
Grant S