I Identify As…

I identify as a born again Bible believing Christian, spirit filled, Bible reading, tongue talking, doer of the Word, who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and soon coming King – this is my reality.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed that people of the Christian faith are not included in treating people with dignity, respect and inclusion. We are all equal as human beings, regardless of age, sexual orientation, mental health and faith, and what is pertained for one individual should be across the board for all people, not just the chosen few, who are in vogue. Like everyone else, we should be able to express who we are, which is a huge part of our identity too, and should not be ostracised and mocked because of it, the ‘safe space’ is for everyone. The hypocrisy is astounding.

Please note that Jesus our Saviour, will be returning soon and we all will need to give an account of our lives: the thoughts, deeds, actions, words and motives done in the flesh, and who can stand before God? If you did not know, Jesus is our redeemer who came to save us from our fallen and sinful nature. If you don’t know Jesus yet and how He came to restore our relationship with God in heaven, who loves you and wants you to be reconciled to Him, I say to you today: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes unto the Father but by Him, Jesus is the only one mediator between God and man, and only God can forgive sins.

What is sin? It is knowing the right thing to do and not doing it. Sin includes things like sexual immorality, addictions, drunkenness, drugs, watching porn, lying, stealing, unforgiveness, hate, anger, gossiping, and much more. These separate us from God, who is holy and righteous and just. He weighs the motives of our hearts and all of us have missed the mark.

The call to salvation is for everyone. Regardless of your wealth, status, sexual orientation or religious background, Jesus invites you to turn from sin and accept His gift of salvation. No amount of money, social standing, or religious observance can save you. It’s not about comparing yourself to others; the only comparison that matters is with God, and we all fall short, we all have sinned. God doesn’t want our religion; He wants a relationship with us. Good works cannot save you; there is nothing you can do to earn salvation. It’s by grace alone, so no one can boast. Our works are like filthy rags to a holy God. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God in hell—a fate you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. We are created with a God-shaped vacuum that nothing else can fill but Him.

Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins on the Cross so we can be restored to God, our heavenly Father. There needed to be a sacrifice, and God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, who was sinless, to take our place. It’s like a mother giving away her new-born baby or you giving away your only child to pay someone else’s debt, someone who couldn’t care less about you or love you back. God was willing to do that for you and me.

Jesus Christ was crucified, with nails driven through His hands and feet and a crown of thorns pressed onto His head. He was whipped until His skin was torn off, becoming unrecognizable. As He hung on that Cross, He did it for your sins. He took our sins upon Himself, including the very sins that have destroyed our lives. He was destroyed for those sins on that Cross. He bled and died for our sins, which were buried with Him in the grave. Three days later, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Jesus is alive!

Now is the time to respond. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This declaration and belief bring salvation. John 3:36 warns, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

Embrace this good news today and pray: “Dear God, thank you for loving me. I confess that I have sinned against you. I believe that Jesus, Your Son, died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. I ask that you forgive all my sins. I confess that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Thank you for Your gift of eternal life! I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Remember, it’s not the prayer that saves you; it’s the heartfelt belief and confession, repentance and choosing to trust in Jesus for a righteous life, from now on. Now is the time for salvation. Turn from darkness to light, from sin to salvation, and follow Jesus.

Ask God for forgiveness of the wrong things you have done, repent (turn from them) and leave your old sinful ways behind, and begin a new and righteous life trusting in Christ Jesus, every single day, ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit to help you, and read your Bible and obey it, repent to God daily, connect to God through prayer and ask the Holy Spirit for revelation, guidance, wisdom and discernment.

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** By Lori McPherson / Photo by Patricia McCarty

10 Ways We Grieve The Holy Spirit

In Ephesians 4:30-32, we are shown three things that grieve the Holy Spirit.

The word grieve in this text means to throw somebody into sorrow and to affect somebody with sadness. That tells us that the Holy Spirit is not a ghost, force, power, wind, oil, or a dove without a personality. He is a Person who lives within us, and we, as Christians, have the ability to have a relationship with Him. We also have the ability to cause Him deep heartbreak.

10 Things To Watch Out For

1. Toxic Emotions

We grieve the Holy Spirit when we hold on to toxic emotions. Bitterness, wrath, and clamor all describe toxic emotions. The closer we get to the Lord, the more we’ll become aware of these emotions and let them go. 

2. Grudges

The reason many of us love to hold onto a grudge is that it takes time and energy to build, and we are unsure of who we are without it. People believe that harboring resentment stops them from getting hurt again. These things all make sense to our hurting minds, but the Bible warns against such choices. You cannot host the Holy Ghost and harbour a grudge.

You can have the Holy Spirit and harbor a grudge, but you cannot host Him. When you host somebody in your home, they get your attention and respect. 

We cannot host the Holy Ghost properly if we harbor things in our hearts.

3. Offense

Offense is like an automatic weapon – once you pull the trigger, it keeps firing. It is always tied to pride and control. Your offense might give you an excellent, logical reason why you should feel or act that way, but as you yield to it, the sweet grace of the Holy Spirit is withdrawing.

Jesus said we will be offended in this world (Luke 17:1). We will get offended and hurt. But what hurts the Holy Spirit’s feelings is when we hold onto our hurt feelings and develop theories, gossip, switch churches, and become people who hold on to toxic emotions. When we allow these toxic emotions in our hearts, they become deep-seated bitterness.

4. Bitterness

Bitterness is different from offense:

• Betrayal is what people do to you; bitterness is what you do to yourself. 

• Bitterness is internal, and betrayal is external. 

• Anybody can be betrayed, but bitterness is optional. 

When you are not a believer in Christ, it is so easy to fall into that choice. A Spirit-filled believer needs to understand that it breaks the Holy Spirit’s heart when we hold on to bitterness.

5. Unforgiveness

When you release forgiveness to someone who wronged you, you are not setting them free; you are setting your future free. When you stay in that state of bitterness and unforgiveness, the person hurt is actually you. Holding unforgiveness is like drinking rat poison and hoping a rat dies from it.

We all encounter these feelings but when we permit them to stay and grow, they push away intimacy with the Holy Spirit. You may still read the Bible and go to church but if you are holding onto the past, the Holy Spirit cannot be released to flow freely in your life. I encourage you today to let go and let God. The Holy Spirit wants to inhabit you so powerfully, but He cannot inhabit a vessel that is filled with toxic emotions. You need to keep your heart pure for the Holy Spirit.

6. Evil Speaking

The Holy Spirit is grieved when our speech is morally rotten (Ephesians 4:29). What is the first thing the Holy Spirit does when He fills us – we speak in other tongues. If your tongue is not cleansed, the Holy Spirit is grieved. When Isaiah came into the presence of God, the first thing he noticed was that his tongue was unclean.

7. Cursing

The Bible says when Peter denied Jesus, he cursed and swore. That was the state of somebody who denied Jesus. Anybody who allows cursing to come out of their mouths already has something broken in their relationship with God. No Christian should be guilty of such unbecoming talk. Abort those thoughts quickly in your head and don’t give birth to them by speaking them out of your mouth.

8. Lying And Exaggerating

Lying is deceit. Deceit often requires sufficient truth to make something seem realistic, valid, or appear true, while in reality, it is not. Partial truth is not truth but a little lie. Exaggeration is not a mistake; it is a lie. When you exaggerate or present a half-truth, you align yourself with the father of lies. Remember, the Holy Spirit’s name is the Spirit of Truth. He honors and loves the truth.

9. Harsh Speech

Christians should speak with a sense of the grace of God in our words (Colossians 4:6). “The way it is” often hurts – we should give more grace than that. Even if we are correcting or reproving somebody, we cannot do it raw; it must be correctly seasoned with grace. The person might have messed up but they are not a mess. That is grace.

10. Rudeness To People

We grieve the Holy Spirit when we are rude to people (Ephesians 4:32).

The Scriptures say Jesus did not break a bruised reed. That is talking about people, not plants. You encounter people who are ‘bruised’ as the Scripture describes them. They vent on you. They act out of their brokenness and can be harsh to you unfairly. Instead of replying harshly and breaking them down, you can come with understanding that they are hurting. For the Holy Spirit to remain upon us, there has to be a pursuit of kindness, humility, goodness and forgiveness.

The Holy Spirit is deeply affected by how we treat people. He loves people so much. When He sees injustice or that somebody becomes harsh and loses tenderness in their heart, He is grieved.

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*** By Vladimir Savchuk © Copyright – Vladimir Savchuk. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author at HungryGen / Photo Pixabay

From Supermodel to Advocate: Kathy Ireland’s Pro-Life Journey

Kathy Ireland, once celebrated as a supermodel, has embarked on a profound journey of transformation, emerging as a passionate advocate for the pro-life cause. In an interview on the show Huckabee, she shared her personal evolution from being pro-choice to embracing a staunch pro-life stance.

Initially identifying as pro-choice while maintaining her Christian faith, Kathy’s perspective shifted as she immersed herself in medical literature and scientific research. She discovered the undeniable truth that human life begins at the moment of conception, equipped with its DNA, sex, blood type, and unique fingerprints.

The transcript from the show:

Interviewer: “We’re back with Kathy Ireland, author of the bestselling book ‘Real Solutions for Busy Moms and Dads.’ Kathy, what mom’s advice is all about?”

Interviewer: “But on a personal level, there’s another aspect of your life that I found fascinating, and you’re unafraid to talk about it. I think that’s so refreshing in the life of the celebrity who often says, ‘I don’t want to get into anything like this.’ You were once pro-choice but you became very clearly pro-life. What was the turning point for you? When did the switch click for you that said, ‘This is a human being?'”

Kathy Ireland: When I looked at some medical books and saw the scientific evidence ahead of me. As I mentioned, I was baby Christian for such a long time, even though I was a Christian, very pro-choice. I always have and I will continue to fight for women’s rights. And so, even though maybe I wouldn’t have one myself, who am I to impose my beliefs on someone else? It’s a woman’s body, it’s her choice.

After I really realized that I was on the fence, I dove into the medical books, I dove into the scientific research. What I learned is, at the moment of conception, a new life comes into being. The DNA, the genetic blueprint is there, the sex is determined, the blood type is determined, the unique set of fingerprints is there.

And I picked up the phone, I called Planned Parenthood. ‘Help me out here, give me your best arguments.’ And the best arguments were, ‘Well, if you get it early enough, it doesn’t even look like a baby.’

We’re clumps of cells and that unborn human being does not look like a baby the same way a baby does not look like a teenager; a teenager does not look like a senior. But that unborn human being looks exactly the way human beings are supposed to look at that stage of development.

Some people say, ‘Well if you get it at a certain state, it’s okay.’ According to the law of biogenesis, all life comes from pre-existing life and each species reproduces after its own kind. Therefore, human beings can only reproduce other human beings.

So, it doesn’t start out as one species and suddenly become a human being somewhere along the way. And some people say, ‘Well, it’s a woman’s body, it should be her choice.’ There’s a 50% chance the baby she’s carrying is a male child and he would have a penis. Women don’t have penises.”

So, it’s residing in her body, it is not a part of her body. And the bottom line is, I really believe if The Unborn is not a human being, have as many abortions as you want, whenever you want, no justification is necessary. If, on the other hand, The Unborn is a human being, no justification is adequate unless another human life is at risk, that being the mother’s.

But in that case, you’re not acting to kill, you’re acting to save a life. And I also believe that when an abortion takes place, there are at least two victims.

We cannot be condemning women. Women have been so hurt by this and they’re not given all the facts. And especially as Christians, we need to be so careful that we are not condemning her because by doing that we can turn her away from oh this person and their God and they’re being so unkind, I don’t want to have anything to do with their God. And not only that, they’ll tell 10 friends.

So, it’s an issue we need to deal with love but I believe we got to get politics out of it. We need to put this in the hands of science. Even if you don’t share our faith, an atheist can know that it’s wrong to take an innocent human life. That’s why I don’t mind imposing this on other people and the science on that is clear.

Interviewer: Kathy, your explanation is maybe the clearest, the most effective that I’ve heard, not just from a person who is a celebrity, from any person in politics or even from the pulpit. And I want to say thank you for the clarity with which you have brought about this topic.”

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**Interview at Huckabee © 2009 FOX News Network, LLC. / Photo by Today show

Topics of Interest:

Planned Parenthood Origins

Support for Crisis Pregnancies in USA & UK

GET INFORMED:

Please be informed and educated about abortion procedures and gain a better understanding of what they entail, visit: PRO LIFE CONNECT. This resource provides accurate, evidence based information designed to educate and inform people about the medical, emotional, and social aspects of abortion. Understanding the facts is a critical step in making informed decisions and engaging thoughtfully in the abortion debate.

The Tale of the Little Boy and the Sailboat

I want to share with you a story about a young boy who lovingly crafted a small sailboat. He adorned it with fine gems and precious metals, polished it until it gleamed, and marked it with his signature, ensuring everyone knew it was his creation. When he took it to the river to test it, the boat sailed beautifully. However, a strong wind arose, sweeping the boat away, and the boy was heartbroken by the loss of his cherished creation.

Sometime later, while walking through town, the boy was astonished to see his boat in the window of a shop. Though some gems were missing and it was battered, his signature confirmed it was his boat. He rushed inside and told the shop owner, “That little boat is mine; I made it.” The owner replied, “I’m sorry, but I bought it from someone else. If you want it back, you’ll have to pay for it.” Determined, the boy worked tirelessly for weeks, saving every penny. Finally, he returned to the shop, slammed the money on the counter, and bought his boat back. Holding it aloft, he exclaimed, “Little boat, you are twice mine. I made you—and I bought you back!”

The Deeper Meaning

You might wonder how this story relates to us. In many ways, we are like that little boat. Each of us is uniquely created by God, reflecting His image and cherished deeply by Him. However, life’s storms and the lure of the world have swept us away from our Creator, leaving us battered and lost. The challenges of life and the wrong things we do separate us from God. The temptations of the world and our own pride hurt us, and the enemy, Satan—the fallen angel, who hates mankind—tries to keep us down.

The boy in the story represents Jesus, who came to save us. Despite our broken state, affected by sin and life’s hardships, Jesus recognized us as His own. Just as the boy worked hard to buy back his boat, Jesus paid the ultimate price for our redemption. He bought us back with His precious blood, shed on the cross. He did this to restore our relationship with God the Father, as God is holy and cannot abide in sin. We are twice His—created by Him and bought back with His blood.

Understanding Our Condition

All of us have done wrong and fallen short of God’s standards. Sin is not just about major wrongdoings but also includes knowing what is right and failing to do it. It encompasses acts like lying, stealing, unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy, anger, sexual immorality, idolatry, addictions, pornography, drugs, and wanting to live separately from God. These wrongdoings separate us from a holy and righteous God.

God judges the heart, including our thoughts, words, deeds, and motives. While people can pretend to have a holy exterior and act pious, God sees through our facades and knows our true nature. It’s not about religion, where you have to do things to be accepted by God. It’s about a relationship with God who is near and accessible. Our good works cannot save us; they are like filthy rags in comparison to God’s purity, you cannot buy salvation. The Bible states that the wages of sin is death—eternal separation from God in hell, a fate none of us would wish upon anyone.

The Sacrifice of Jesus

Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross so we can be restored to God, our heavenly Father. There needed to be a sacrifice, and God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, who was sinless, to take our place. It’s like a mother giving away her newborn baby or you giving away your only child to pay someone else’s debt, someone who couldn’t care less about you or love you back. God was willing to do that for you and me.

Jesus Christ was crucified, with nails driven through His hands and feet and a crown of thorns pressed onto His head. He was whipped until His skin was torn off, becoming unrecognizable. As He hung on that cross, He did it for your sins. He took our sins upon Himself, including the very sins that have destroyed our lives. He was destroyed for those sins on that cross. He bled and died for our sins, which were buried with Him in the grave. Three days later, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Jesus is alive!

The Call to Salvation

This message is for everyone. Regardless of your wealth, status, sexual orientation or religious background, Jesus invites you to turn from sin and accept His gift of salvation. No amount of money, social standing, or religious observance can save you. It’s not about comparing yourself to others; the only comparison that matters is with God, and we all fall short, we all have sinned. God doesn’t want our religion; He wants a relationship with us. We are created with a God-shaped vacuum that nothing else can fill. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Now is the time to respond. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This declaration and belief bring salvation. John 3:36 warns, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

A Prayer of Salvation

If you feel the call in your heart, don’t wait. Embrace this good news today and pray:

“Dear God, thank you for loving me. I confess that I have sinned against you. I believe that Jesus, Your Son, died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. I ask that you forgive all my sins. I confess that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Thank you for Your gift of eternal life! I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Remember, it’s not the prayer that saves you; it’s the heartfelt belief and confession, turning away from sin, and choosing to trust in Jesus for a righteous life. Now is the time for salvation. Turn from darkness to light, from sin to salvation, and follow Jesus.

What next?

Download the free guide on the 7 Things To Do After Getting Saved:

7 Ways Pride Grows in Our Hearts

In his excellent book, Humility, Andrew Murray states that “pride is the beginning of every sin.” The puritan Thomas Watson said of pride, “It is a spiritual drunkenness; it flies up like wine into the brain and intoxicates it. It is idolatry; a proud man is a self-worshiper.” The Bible states, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Pray that God will place the mi

Pride is universal—something we all deal with, ancient as Adam and relevant as the morning news. Yet we don’t always see it, for it grows like weeds around our lives.

Oh, we see it in the obvious ways, but we can be blind to its deceptive, subversive presence in our hearts. We know the disease, but we don’t recognize the symptoms. And that’s why we need the insight of our Great Physician to reveal its symptoms and release us from its grip.

Here are seven symptoms of pride I’ve been seeing in God’s Word as the Spirit works in my own life.

1. Fear

Pride is at the root of fear and anxiety when we refuse to humbly rest in God’s sovereign care. Fear simultaneously reveals our lack of trust and our poisonous self-reliance. We fear because we don’t have faith in the Lord, are enormously preoccupied with ourselves, and lack self-control.

When Peter stepped out on the stormy sea to come to Jesus, he was walking in humble faith. But when his gaze shifted to his circumstances and to self-preservation, he trusted in himself, became afraid, and began to sink. Jesus saved him while admonishing him: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31).

2. Entitlement

Self-sacrifice stems from a humble heart. Entitlement is rooted in a prideful heart.

The core of the gospel is that we are not entitled to anything except just punishment for our sins (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). Yet we deceive ourselves into thinking we’re better than we are, and deserve better than we have. We think we deserve God’s mercy. We think we deserve people’s praise. We think we deserve love, success, comfort, accolades. We certainly don’t think we deserve suffering, heartbreak, or discipline.

But when we experience these things, we grow bitter, frustrated, and disturbed because we believe we’re entitled to more. We forget that apart from Jesus we are rebels who deserve only condemnation.

The disciples regularly wrestled with entitlement. On one occasion, they were arguing about who was the greatest. Jesus’s response was a rebuke: “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves” (Luke 22:26).

3. Ingratitude

Our proud hearts say that we’re good, that we should get what we want, and if we don’t, that we’re justified in our ingratitude. If we’re somehow uncomfortable or inconvenienced, we can complain. It’s our right. Humility, meanwhile, recognizes that God is good and gives us what we need, so we have no reason to be ungrateful. We lack nothing (Deut. 2:7Ps. 34:9).

The Israelites grumbled in the wilderness, though God fed, clothed, and led them through it (Ex. 16:2Deut. 8:2). Their stubborn hearts rejected God’s daily mercies out of self-idolization. But God’s Word rebukes our whining: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent” (Phil. 2:14–15).

4. People-Pleasing

Pride is self-worship and self-preservation at all costs—and people-pleasing is the direct result. Some think people-pleasing is a positive trait because they’re so clearly concerned with serving others. But that’s nothing more than a sneaky sheepskin we put over a wolfish habit. People-pleasing is all about self-satisfaction—fearing man more than God—and seeking the fleeting happiness that comes from man’s approval.

The apostle Paul knew human approval was a pointless and prideful pursuit. Thus he could say, “Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10).

5. Prayerlessness

Pride deceives us into thinking we can “do life” on our own—we’re capable, independent, unstoppable, self-reliant. We think that we don’t need God every hour, that we don’t need his help, grace, mercy, courage, and hope. So, surely, we don’t need to pray.

But a humble heart submits itself to God in prayer because it knows it can do nothing without him.

When God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah’s response was not to go to God in prayer. Instead, he fled, his heart furiously and arrogantly silent (Jonah 1:3). Only when God humbled him in the fish’s belly did Jonah finally cry out in prayer (2:1).

6. Hypocrisy

When you’re proud, you elevate your status, forgetting the mercy God has shown you. You think you’re better than everyone else, so you easily find fault with others. Pride produces a hypocritical spirit.

The Pharisees’ hypocritical pride blinded them both to their sin and to God’s mercy—which made them cold-hearted and cruel toward others. Jesus had harsh words for them:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. (Matt. 23:27)

7. Rebellion

Rebellion against God manifests itself in resistance to God’s Word and God-ordained spiritual leaders. It’s the reflex of a prideful heart. It also shows itself in a lack of submission—wives to husbands, children to parents, employees to bosses, citizens to government. Rebellion says, I know better than you, God, when I don’t.

Even though Adam and Eve had all they needed for life and joy, they pridefully rebelled against God’s good decree, thinking they knew better than him. And this ancient rebellion brought untold pain, suffering, and death—for them and us.

Humbled for Us

Yet there is hope for the proud heart in the incarnation of humility, Jesus Christ. Immanuel—God with us—condescended to live among us, die for us, and raise us to new life. He never had a shred of sinful pride—no fear, no entitlement, no ingratitude, no people-pleasing, no prayerlessness, no hypocrisy, no rebellion (Phil. 2:4–6).

The God-man emptied himself of all he deserved to save us from all we deserve. He who was entitled to the highest honor forfeited it for our eternal good.

Because of his humility, we can be forgiven of our pride. That’s both the sting and the joy of the gospel. It deals with our pride by destroying it, reminding us that life is not about us, and that we deserve only the wrath of God. Jesus also deals with our pride by taking the just punishment for it on himself, that we might be renewed in the image of our Creator (Col. 3:10) and made humble like our Savior.

Being humbled is not smooth or painless, but it’s the daily rescue we need. Hallelujah to the Redeemer we have.

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*** By Jaquelle Crowe at The Gospel Coalition + Missionary Rob Jackson / Photo at Pexels