He purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Ephesians 1:7 (NLT) If accepting Christ erases our sinful past, what happens if we sin after accepting Him? People often struggle with this concept. Some think that God only forgives the sins we commit before we came to Christ, not the sins we commit as believers. But think about it this way. How many of those sins were committed before Jesus died? None of them! In other words, He paid for them all in advance—whether they took place before we came to Christ or after. Through Jesus’ obedience and sacrifice, God made a way for you to walk in full forgiveness—and obedience—with Holy Spirit guiding you on the inside. So, when …

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30 (NLT) What does dying to self, mean? First of all, let’s talk about what it doesn’t mean. When the Bible talks about dying to self or denying self (see Matthew 16:24), it isn’t saying you need to give up on all your dreams and desires. It doesn’t mean you die to the dream of having a happy marriage, a loving spouse, a family, or living with purpose. It also doesn’t mean you should stop managing workloads, handling business or developing skills. Dying to self means that in every life situation, we stop being selfish and focus on others. In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon described what he discovered about …

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12 (NLT) Many people struggle with shame and self-condemnation because of an incomplete understanding of God’s stance on our sins. You see, when we come to Christ, all our sins are forgiven. In fact, they’re not just forgiven, but today’s verse says they’re “removed…from us as far as the east is from the west.” When God says He’s removed our sins, then they’re not just covered up; they’re completely erased. What does that mean? It means that your present, your future and even your past are completely altered. Imagine you could view a video of your entire past. Now, imagine God editing out every single sin you’ve ever …

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. 1 John 5:21 (NLT) Idolatry. It’s probably not something you think about often. We may not come across idols like the golden calf made by the children of Israel (Exodus 32) or the statue Nebuchadnezzar created (Daniel 3), so we might think that idolatry isn’t an issue today. But idol worship is not about a statue; it’s about placing something in your life ahead of God. If asked, most believers would say I believe in Jesus, but is He the centre of their life? What occupies our thoughts every day? What do we worry about? How do we spend most of our time? Often, we aren’t focused on Jesus; we’re fixated …

You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3 (AMP) Idolatry isn’t really about the idol. It’s a heart issue. Most of us don’t think about idolatry too often, but it affects us more often than we think. If you’re constantly thinking and worrying about something or someone, you may have begun to idolize that thing or person. This doesn’t mean you worship it, but if it’s on your mind constantly and it has begun to take precedence over your relationship with God, it might be growing into an idol (substitute god) in your heart. Our relationships are precious, but what happens if they start to take up more room than Jesus? For example, maybe you focus on your spouse because you feel like …