"Difficulties are not an option in my life." I begin this introduction with a statement that should be a daily declaration in everyone's life. For as long as we live, difficult times will always show up but making them a "normal" standard in my day to day life to deceive us and make us doubt God's promises is not an option for a child of God. There is a saying "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about dancing in the rain." While you dance in the midst of the storm, God will see your heart conform to His. We can't let life dictate our pace and blessings, we have to do something about it. Sitting at the side of the road and waiting for someone to give us what we need is not an option. When you have a clear identity of who you are in Christ, God will reveal to you that everything you need is already inside of you. All you will ever need in this life comes from God. The same God who lives and dwells in you. When all hell breaks loose, God releases His power in you to prevail in all of your doings. But, it will take someone who is committed to insisting and resisting at all cost during times of discouragements. You have all that is needed for you to persist and to manifest the movement of God in your favor. It's customary to invoke God who seems to be outside of our realm, every time we need Him. We appeal to God to come to us even though He is already in us. "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). You want His divine power to come to you when all you have to do is release His power that is already inside of you. Remember that in all of our doings, "God's purpose demands resistance." In other words, you have to fight against opposition for that purpose to be fulfilled. It is the only way that you'll see the promises become a reality. Understanding what your purpose is and what it represents in your life will help you unleash God's power. It is critical to know how to position yourself, regardless of the situation you are encountering and to push forward until something happens. Push forward at all times and pray until God's heavens are opened in your favor. Until the much-needed response becomes a reality in the natural realm. Let's not worry about our circumstances, but rather, persist in pushing forward while God orchestrates the outcome of our victory Victory is something that comes disguised as a full game of discouragements and weaknesses that will try to keep you out of focus. But knowing how to unwrap what seems to be packages full of discouragements will take a persistent person to reveal God's favor in you. While the opposition increases, your strength will be growing and pushing forward until God's favor is released with His anointing to obtain the victory that has been always in you. Why? Because victory is a place that dwells in you. Jesus obtained it on the cross, and Jesus the Victor lives in you.

What does the Christian life look like when life is unpredictable, hard, or just plain ordinary? We live in an instant-gratification world, where results are quickly measured and words like discipline and perseverance evoke thoughts of legalism or asceticism. But Everyday Faithfulness explores what daily perseverance in Christ looks like during various seasons when spiritual growth seems especially difficult. Working through the unique challenges that come with seasons of waiting, caretaking, suffering, worry, spiritual dryness, and more, this book delves into practical ways to build habits into everyday life that will aid in spiritual growth throughout a lifetime. Each chapter closes with a real-life example of a woman whose life of regular, everyday faithfulness will encourage readers to remain steadfast in theirs. Published in partnership with the Gospel Coalition.

This is a very controversial subject which disturbs many people. οIf you do get disturbed it will be because of the emotion usually surrounding the subject of "eternal security." οIf you get upset it will NOT be caused by the manner in which Dr. Marshall has presented the subject. It is the contention of the author that there is biblical truth in both the Calvinistic and the Arminian position concerning this volatile subject, and that each camp should candidly recognize the value of the other's positions. John Wesley once wrote, "The truth of the Gospel is within a hairsbreadth of Calvinism." Quite a concession for the chief spokesman of Arminianism! Dr. I. Howard Marshall echoes the contention of Wesley, and then goes even beyond it. "The full Arminian position is as much open to error as is extreme Calvinism. My aim is to reach beyond the Calvinist-Arminian controversy to a position which is biblical."

If you want to know the temperature of your spiritual life, look at the thermostat setting on your prayer life. Prayer is the most misunderstood and neglected aspect of the Christian life. It has been estimated that most Christians pray three to five minutes a day. Compare that to the time many spend complaining, and you’ll gain insight into the spiritual and emotional condition of our day. Yet God has constructed the world in such a way that there is much He won’t do in a Christian’s life apart from prayer. Prayer, when combined with faith, can accomplish great things. In this practical and comprehensive overview of prayer, Tony Evans covers a variety of topics, including: Principles of productive prayer The power of prayer and praise Fasting and prayer Prayer and God's purposes Tony’s expositions of various passages on prayer will help you realize its critical importance and encourage you to make it a dominant mark of your life.

You were born for this. God hardwired you—yes, you—for this. I'm talking about sharing Jesus with others. What if I told you evangelism is less about delivering a polished presentation and more about having a real conversation? What if I told you that God has created you to bring glory to himself by sharing Jesus with others, and that you don’t need years of training to obey what he already made you to do? God created you for his glory to advance his gospel with the gifts, talents, and opportunities he gave you. You live at this time in history for a purpose bigger than yourself. In these pages you will read how to connect the gospel story with your story, and how to talk about that story in normal conversations with people you know. No gimmicks. Nothing clever. No need to freak out. Just you, Jesus, and others—in conversations that matter.

When we have difficult questions, the Bible has answers. Join Rick Warren, pastor and New York Times bestselling author, as he invites us to take a closer look at key biblical figures and the ways in which they faced difficult questions and challenges in their daily lives. In God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions, Warren uses stories from scripture to teach us that the Bible is filled with examples of real people who faced the same dilemmas we're facing today. By demonstrating the ways in which God chooses to use ordinary people to accomplish his plans--despite their weaknesses and failures--Warren gives us hope as we take on life's countless challenges. Better yet, Warren provides us with realistic solutions that we can start putting into practice today. Taking us inside the lives of biblical characters including Moses, Paul, and Jesus himself, Warren gives us a chance to see the up-close-and-personal ways they navigated their own circumstances. Although God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions is anchored in timeless stories from scripture, Warren also weaves in modern examples that address the twelve questions he's asked the most as a spiritual leader, including: How can I learn to handle discouragement? How can I respond better in a crisis? How do I become more resilient when I feel like a failure? How can I fight my loneliness? How is change possible for me? How can I lead a more peaceful life? The concrete, practical insights that Warren shares in God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions will give you the tools you need to build up your resilience, strengthen your relationship with God, and finally enjoy a life full of lasting purpose, peace, and significance.

Christianity Today Book Award Winner Justice requires perseverance--a deep perseverance we can't muster on our own. The world's needs are staggering and even the most passion-driven reactions, strategies, and good intentions can falter. But we serve a God who never falters, who sees the needs, hears the cries, and gives strength--through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit--to his people. Offering a comprehensive biblical theology of justice drawn from the whole story of Scripture, this book invites us to know more intimately the God who loves justice and calls us to give our lives to seek the flourishing of others. The authors explore stories of injustice around the globe today and spur Christians to root their passion for justice in the persevering hope of Christ. They also offer practices that can further form us into people who join God's work of setting things right in the world. Now in paper with an added reader's guide.

“A triumph. This novel’s haunting strength will hold the reader until the very end and make Faith and her story impossible to forget.” —Richmond Times Dispatch “Extraordinary.” —Orlando Sentinel From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult (Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart, Handle with Care) comes Keeping Faith: an “addictively readable” (Entertainment Weekly) novel that “makes you wonder about God. And that is a rare moment, indeed, in modern fiction” (USA Today).

Using a thorough, integrated biblical theology to make sense of the 'master story' of Scripture, Allan J. McNicol explores the nature and importance of the Bible's abiding narrative of the persistence of God's promises to his people, and their hope of final triumph. Special attention is given to the often contentious claim that these early followers of Jesus presumed that they stood in full continuity with Israel, the historic people of God, and were claiming that many of God's promises were coming to fulfilment among them. McNicol presents a closer analysis of the texts as he shows how the theme of the people of God fits into the wider literary productions of these major New Testament writers.

Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith