@Get Inspired

FIND TRUE FREEDOM IN YOUR LIFE  Here are some key ideas from the Bible about freedom—including how to find true freedom in your life. 1. People have been searching for it for thousands of years. The quest for freedom is a theme found throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Just three chapters into the story of God’s creation, humanity gave up its freedom by choosing to rebel against God. From that time forward, the perfect freedom God created in the Garden of Eden was gone, and the long-term effects were both physical and spiritual. The Old Testament of the Bible records how God’s people lost their physical freedom time and again as various empires overtook them (most notably the Egyptians, as recorded in the book of Exodus). The loss of physical freedom was often tied to spiritual disobedience like worshiping false gods. But time and again, the one true God forgave His people and rescued them. When God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He was foresh...

 God’s Purpose: Peace and Life Step 1 - RECOGNIZE God’s Plan for Your Life God’s Purpose: Peace and Life God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life -- abundant and eternal. The Bible says ... "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." --Romans 5:1 (NIV) Only those who have been made the decision to accept Christ’s substitutionary payment for the forgiveness our one’s sins can experience Christ’s justification. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." --John 3:16 (NIV) "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." --John 10:10 (NIV) Why don’t most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have? Step 2 - REALIZE our problem The Problem: Our Separation God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. Go...

 the Word of God is living and active Ephesians 6:17 (KJV) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: The writer of Hebrews informs readers that God’s Word is more than simply a historical record of events and people: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). In this passage, Word of God refers to His revelation in a general sense, meaning any method God uses to communicate with humans. Our primary exposure is through His written Word, the Bible. We learn in Scripture that the Word of God is alive and active—it not only lives but works. Let’s explore these two characteristics of God’s revelation to humankind. The original Greek word translated here as “living” means “to have life” or “alive.” The Word of God is alive because God is a living God (Hebrews 3...

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.(John 15:1)  Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human and Divine natures, and the fulness of the Spirit that is in him, resemble the root of the vine made fruitful by the moisture from a rich soil. Believers are branches of this Vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hid with Christ; the root bears the tree, diffuses sap to it, and in Christ are all supports and supplies.  The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all true Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand but as they are borne up.  The Father is the Husbandman. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian we look for a Christian te...

              THE MAP The little boy watches his father study a city map. The boy asks, “Why do you need a Map?” “Because we’re going where we’ve never been before. Perhaps I can find work in this city,” replies his father. The boy thinks more. Suddenly he says, “Father, my birthday is coming soon. I shouldn’t ask for much, but there is one thing you can give me.” “I’ll give you whatever I can, son. What is it you want?” The boy answers, “A map.” The father is puzzled. “Why do you want a map?” The boy explains, “Because I am growing older. I will be going where I have never been before. And you said, ‘For that, I need a map’.” Suppose you are the boy’s father or mother. What would you give to meet your son’s need for a sense of direction in life? Why Consider The Bible? Consider the Bible as the Map for life. Its wisdom spans many thousands of years, yet millions today find its message as fresh and meaningful as ever. They find that its truths work in ...

  Jesus Sets His Face Towards Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-62) Jesus is resolute in living his call to love unendingly and sacrificially all the way to the finish line. Our call is to do the same, figuring out what shape that takes in these challenging times. Christian Faith Here we go again…getting out of bed on Sunday and instead of working in the backyard or relaxing in the living room, or around the pool, or in front of the tv…and instead going to church to sit on a hard bench pew, sing a few songs, shake hands and say “peace of Christ be with you,” and then listen to words written a couple thousand years ago and be forced to deal with Jesus again. Week after week this goes on. Life would be a whole lot easier, maybe, if I didn’t have weekly encounters with Jesus. Yet, here we are, engaging in this increasingly odd practice of gathering together on a Sunday in an old building, eschewing other options. Maybe, I want to believe, we recognize in the murkiness of our souls that “somet...