Straight Talk

How to avoid the traps of religion and enjoy a real relationship with God

As a teacher of God’s Word, I have a great responsibility to equip people with the knowledge of how to live a holy life and not be legalistic. It’s part of addressing the age-old issue in the church of liberty versus legalism—by helping believers understand how to be free in Christ instead of “holier than thou.” But in our quest for freedom, we can’t forget that God is a holy God, and He does want us to live holy lives.

A good place to start is by simply understanding the difference between what real holiness actually means and what legalism looks like.

“Holy” means being separate and set apart for God’s use. It’s about belonging to God, not the world, and pleasing God, not man. The focus is on God’s love and grace—God’s power, given to us free of charge, to enable us to do with ease what we could never do with any amount of struggle or effort. It’s having a heart that desires to do what’s right because you love God, not because you want to try to earn something from God or impress anybody.

The key to a life of peace is accepting God’s amazing grace

I spent a lot of years being frustrated about a lot of things. But one of my biggest problems used to be the frustration I had about me. I didn’t like myself.

So I tried very hard to change. I didn’t like my personality. I felt like I was too bold, straightforward, loud and expressive. Along with that, it seemed that every message I heard at church (and we were in church a lot) just pointed out more things that were wrong with me. I remember at times wondering,  How can one person have so much wrong with them?

Victory is sure if you’ll rely on God’s Word more than your feelingsDo you know you are in a war?…

You can give God the time He deserves—and here’s how

Are you faithful to God or are you having an affair?

James 4:4 (AMP) says, “You [are like]
unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and
breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the
world’s friend is being God’s enemy?” 

This is basically saying that when we
care about anyone or anything more than God, or when we trust in and
lean on anyone or anything more than Him, He is not first place in our
lives. In other words, we are unfaithful.

Are you just hanging on, trying to make it through the day? Then it’s time to live within the boundaries of God’s Word.

Are you living an unsustainable life? Have you ever said things like, “I can’t keep this up much longer. If I have to live like this one more year, it’s probably going to finish me off. It’s all just too much!” 

Do you feel like you’re on a treadmill, and if you try to get off everything will fall apart, so you just keep going? 

This is what it means to “live on the edge.”

By keeping our bodies in tip-top shape we can truly do God’s work the way He intended.

If you suffer from self-doubt or self-hatred, abuse your body with bad food or bad habits, or regularly find yourself at the bottom of the list of people you do things for, then you do not understand your own value.

I believe that many people today are experiencing a self-respect crisis. This condition has to change in order for us to lead effective Christian lives.

Do you take your relationship with God serious?

If you’ve listened to my teaching much at all, you probably know I had a rough childhood. In fact, I didn’t really have one. 

I was seriously abused throughout my childhood. My life was horrible! I don’t remember ever being really happy until I was in my 20s. My mind was a mess; my emotions were a mess; I didn’t know how to maintain a decent relationship; I had all kinds of fears; I developed phony personalities to protect myself; I was lonely, in debt, miserable, depressed, discouraged and physically sick. For many years I had a big mess in my life.

Why God wants you to invest your life in Christ—today

 I like this saying: The greatest gift you can give your family and your world is a healthy you! In this day and age, there’s a lot of focus on appearance—your clothes, makeup, your car, your house, even the kind of computer you have. But you can look great on the outside and be an absolute wreck on the inside. That’s how I used to be. I dressed myself up every day, but inside I was a mess in my mind, emotions and attitude.

The Bible says Jesus came to make us completely whole—spirit, soul and body. He wants to heal every part of us because He’s “into” wholeness. He wants to restore everything we lost through sin, ignorance, attacks of the enemy and mistreatment from others. Listen—God is a God of restoration.

What if we were to use everything God has given us to reach our world?

Scientists have long known that we use only a small portion of our intellectual capabilities. Consider what might happen if we used just a little bit more–or even all–of our latent mental abilities.

Civilization would be much further along than it is now. Technology, inventions, science and medicine all would be more advanced. Education would be improved. Music and art would be drastically enhanced and more enjoyable.

Selfishness is not learned behavior—we are born with it. The Bible calls it “sin nature.” Adam and Eve sinned against God by doing what they wanted to do and what He told them not to do.

The sin principle they established was forever passed to every person who would ever be born. God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and to deliver us from them. He came to undo what Adam did.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He comes to live in our spirit, and if we allow that renewed part of us to rule our decisions, then we can overcome the sin nature. It doesn’t go away, but the greater one who lives in us helps us overcome it daily (see Gal. 5:16). That does not mean that we never sin, but we can improve and make progress throughout our lives.

Don’t spend your life in so much fear of making a mistake that you never do anything.There are critical times…

When I trusted God and began exercising (even though I didn’t want to), I learned a life-changing principle

Until I turned 64, I’d never exercised in a serious way. I had walked and done a few things to stay in decent shape, but I was not dedicated to exercise. I had reached into my excuse bag many times over the years and come up with all kinds of “reasons” I could not exercise. But, the Lord spoke to me and encouraged me to begin a serious workout program so I could be strong for the last third of my journey through life. 

I already had good eating habits, but when it came to going to the gym several times a week, I used the excuse that I simply could not do that because of my travel obligations. I truly couldn’t figure out how I could manage to put serious workout time into my already busy schedule. I finally decided to do what I could do instead of focusing on what I couldn’t do.