How Can I Stay Inspired as a Christian? Archives - Christian Questions Bible Podcast

Most of us don’t realize just much of our lives come down to our own personal choices. We have far more power over how we handle our everyday experiences than we give ourselves credit for. Why wouldn’t we claim this power so we can better influence our path? Because we subtly and regularly fall into habits of thinking that lull us into a lukewarm and compliant attitude of submission. The Apostle Paul was all about helping us, as his fellow disciples of Christ, challenge the status quo and reset our minds so we can daily think and choose with spiritual clarity. Much of the letter he wrote to the Philippian Christians focused in on the adverse conditions in life and how to think through them. Examining this letter is the first step to better focusing our Christian thinking!

The Apostle Paul really loved his fellow Christians at Philippi. While on house arrest under Roman guard, he wrote them a comprehensive letter concerning their Christian growth and development. One of his conclusionary teachings in this letter is found in the commonly read verse of Philippians 4:8. Paraphrased it says, “Finally, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure lovely or of good report, if there is anything excellent or praiseworthy, dwell on these things.”

This letter to the Philippians is a tutorial on several of the high standards that true discipleship requires. Paul showed us how to handle limiting circumstances by talking about his own imprisonment. He implored all of his brethren to work through their issues in a unified fashion. He focused us on the importance of leaving our old standards of success behind and instead seeking success in a life of sacrifice. These and many other teachings were all in place to address the building up of a mature Christian mind.

Paul then gave us the list of things he pointed us to and what we should dwell upon. This was no mere listing of nice things to preoccupied us. This was a list of solid, connected, sequential and spiritually-sound priorities. Dwelling on them meant we were to use them as solid foundation stones of our Christian lives.

First on this list was the instruction to dwell on what is true. As we dig more deeply into his teaching, we realize the apostle was pointing us not to general worldly truth, but to godly eternal truth. All of the rest of his “think about this” list had its foundation in this solid beginning. Check out our May 15, 2023 podcast, “We Are What We Think About, So What Are We Thinking About? (Part I)” for more. After comprehensively summarizing the letter to the Philippians, we delve into the meaning of what is true, what is honorable, what is right and what is pure. What we find is the beginnings of a profound and life-altering approach to setting our minds up for true Christian thinking. Join us as we begin to learn what to think about and how to think about it!

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We all know people who are visionaries, you know, the kind of people who change the world around them. They see things others don’t. They imagine possibilities others can’t. This often results in them taking risks in ways others won’t. While we appreciate these trendsetters, most of us are not that kind of visionary. However, we can and should be visionaries for our own lives. So, where do we find the inspiration and guidance for our life’s vision? As Christians, the obvious answer is to look to the Bible. The only problem with this is, we often see the Scriptures through the eyes of our own limitations. Today, let’s look more closely to see if we can find a biblically motivated vision for our lives that we can really invest ourselves into.

The prophet Habakkuk had a problem. His vision of the world around him focused on the ever-increasing power of the surrounding heathen nations. He was struck with a fear of Israel being overrun by them. He brought his fearful vision before God in a very forceful and straightforward manner. God answered his fears in a straightforward manner as well. He told Habakkuk that his fears would be realized but that also, God’s will and way would win in the end. God told him that his job as a prophet was to be a watcher. Habakkuk was to write down the message so others could understand how God would eventually prevail. His job was to relay God’s vision of the future to the people.

We often have the same kind of problems as Habakkuk had. We too can be easily overwhelmed by our immediate circumstances and future. We too can feel lost when it comes to how to cope with the big unknowns of life. Like Habakkuk, we too can find peace and direction with all of this, but only if we do what Habakkuk did. Habakkuk found a powerful and compelling vision for his life. Finding this vision required him to abandon his old ways of thinking and adopt an entirely new perspective. That perspective was only available to him when he thoroughly committed himself to acting not in fear but in faith.

How can we adopt the same kind of powerful and motivating vision for our lives? Check out our January 9, 2023 podcast, “Does My Life Have a Motivating Vision?” for answers.

It turns out that there were five specific steps Habakkuk followed to change his vision. The first of these steps was to put his fears and questions before God. He requested answers. He not only requested, he also put himself in a position to hear and accept anything that God would reveal. We’re not prophets like Habakkuk, so we won’t literally hear God’s voice. We can, however, see God’s will through a Bible-based approach to our experiences. Join us as we uncover the steps Habakkuk laid out and learn how to find and follow our own life-motivating vision!

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“Let go and let God.” This simple statement is focused on faith and trust, two fundamental challenges for Christians. We may think it’s easy to have faith, but when we are in times of difficulty, the depth of our true faith is revealed and sometimes revealed as seriously lacking. We may think that we have trust, but when pressed, when we feel like we need answers or changes or insight, our trust becomes scarce while anxiety abounds. All of this can be depressing! We can feel like we are letting God down. The good news is that we are not alone in this struggle to let go and let God. Many of God’s faithful had these same struggles. Because their experiences are recorded in Scripture, we can not only read about their struggle but see how God’s blessing worked in spite of their weakness!

Way back in Genesis, Abraham and Sarah were given an amazing promise. God told Abraham to leave his father’s house and go to a new land that God would show him. Abraham listened. He took Sarah and his household and journeyed to this undisclosed location. As dramatic as this was, it wasn’t the biggest part of God’s promise. God also told him that his descendants would inherit this land. The only problem was Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children. Worse than that, Abraham was already 75 years old and Sarah was 65! While God’s promise was powerful and exciting, it also seemed like it pushed the limits of their reality.

Abraham and Sarah were classic examples of having been given a direction to follow but not understanding how to get there. Time went on and Sarah did not become pregnant. Years went by and both Abraham and Sarah became perplexed. However, their perplexity was not in relation to doubting God’s promise; rather, it was about how that promise would be fulfilled. After about 10 years with no child, they took matters into their own hands. Sarah gave her servant Hagar to Abraham, and she conceived a son.

This account is full of lessons and guidance for us. First and foremost, it is all about trying to do God’s will. Just like Abraham and Sarah, we sometimes run ahead of what God would have us to do. In their case the result was not fatal, but it did add lots of difficulty and stress. Why would we expect anything less?

Check out our October 31,2022 podcast, “How Do I Let Go and Let God?” for more. We walk through the 25-year account of Abraham and Sarah, beginning with the promise of having a son all the way to the birth of Isaac. What we find are striking and relevant lessons for us to apply in the here and now of our own lives. Join us as Abraham and Sarah’s experiences teach us the depth of faith and trust required to truly let go and let God!

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It’s hard to stay focused, especially when that focus requires attention be given to something that is different and challenging. As Christians living in this 21st century, our responsibility is, as Jesus said when he was only 12 years old, to “be about our Father’s business.” As clear as this objective is, because we are imperfect we sometimes get tripped up and lose our focus. Thank God for His grace given to us through Jesus! What about other times when it’s not just a typical misstep? How about when we fall not just into a careless or impetuous wrongdoing, but into a full-blown choice that leads us towards evil? What do we do to help us come to our senses, and not only retract the wrongdoing but decisively get ourselves back onto the path of God-honoring thoughts, words and deeds?

Walking away from God’s presence and blessings in our lives can happen in a variety of different ways and on a variety of different levels. Whatever the circumstances we face or the experiences we have, there is always a single, driving, common theme present: personal choice. The simple fact of the matter is, if you and I have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, God will never walk away from it. He is faithful and will always be present for us in every time of need. On the other hand, we have the power to walk away from that faithfulness, should we choose to. The scary thing is that we can walk right out of the protective range of His grace and favor.

Why would we do such a thing? It turns out that the Bible clearly details several reasons we can end up in such a condition. Being in the sinful human state we are, falling prey to these motivations for leaving God behind can be easier to follow than we might think. So, what are they? What could cause us to walk away from God’s favor? Desire and pride. Our desire and our personal pride.

Desire is stimulated by what we see and what we feel. Pride is stimulated by the credit we want to have reflected in our lives. The toughest part of all this is that it is all natural – and in our world, it is all encouraged. Essentially, we are saying that walking away from God is a very natural, very human thing to do! Great! Now what?

Check out our June 13, 2022 podcast, “God is Out of My Life! How Do I Get Him Back In?” for answers. We not only carefully examine what parts of our human makeup can draw us away from God, we also address the issues of degree. When we are drawn off course, how far off do we go? What remedies and changes are appropriate and at what stages? Join us for an honest and biblical conversation about our own human tendencies and the solid remedies we can use to keep us in God’s favor.

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When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, he changed everything. All that the people of Israel had ever heard before this was related to the Jewish Law and much of that teaching had been corrupted by their religious leadership. Jesus sat on a hillside teaching his disciples, allowing anyone to listen in who had a mind to hear. For those who did, he unfolded transformational instructions to become his true disciples. The import of the simple statements he began his sermon with, now known as the Beatitudes, is eternal. Last week we began to unpack these Beatitudes and covered the first three of the seven. Here in Part II, we cover the last four. What deep lessons and instructions did Jesus use to describe his own character as a model for ours?

In Part I of our 2-part series, we labeled what being “blessed” really means. We spoke in detail about “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (humble), “Blessed are those that mourn” (those who grieve) and “Blessed are the meek” (teachable). These three characteristics lay a very solid foundation on which to build a Christian life. The next three, “hungering and thirsting for righteousness” being “merciful” and being “pure in heart” are also steppingstones to a dramatic conclusion. Understanding the progressive nature of these six beatitudes gives us a far deeper appreciation of what Jesus wants us to be.

It is important to realize that appreciating the depth of the Beatitudes unlocks an understanding of the challenges of a Christian life. Each and every experience we have – be it happy or sad, inspiring or crushing – ties into these seven characteristics. The further you go through this list of these Beatitudes, the more difficult it is to apply the character trait.

Take the sixth beatitude as an example, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purity of heart is not something we come to Christ already possessing. As a matter of fact, the exact opposite is true. We come to Jesus because we make mistakes, we say bad things and we act out of pride or jealousy, or anger or selfishness. All of these are symptoms of an impure heart, and we are loaded down with them. We need Jesus because we need forgiveness for our sins. To develop a purer heart is to work at purging out the sinful thoughts, words and actions from our lives. Purity of heart is not a function of mere desire. It is a result of hard work, humility and discipline over a very long time.

Check out our January 24, 2022 podcast “Is God Happy With My Attitude? (Part II) for more. We establish a clear order and connection for all of the Beatitudes. We focus on the last one, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” We reveal why this particular characteristic of peacemaking is at the top of this profound list. To be a true Christian requires work. Join us and learn how these seven character traits can focus that work to best honor God!

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The source of the phrase, “The devil is in the details” is a bit unsure. It is thought to be a derivation of the phrase “God is in the detail,” thought to be from an old German proverb sometime in the 1800’s. Whatever the origin, both phrases are profoundly true. As we begin a new year, we often look to get things in order, so that we can improve our quality of life. For a Christian, this is a great practice but is also one that should be approached with a measure of caution. Why? Because the devil CAN be in the details! Just because we decide we want our lives to be better does not mean we will automatically go about it in a God-honoring way! So, what do we watch out for? How can we be sure to have the details of our desires be more appropriate, have godliness written all over them and no trace of the devil?

The devil is a spiritual being not of this earth. But through several prophecies, the Bible tells us a fair amount about his heavenly position and responsibilities. These prophecies reveal he was called a “morning star.” This was a very high rank among all of God’s created beings. They also tell us how he was given a measure of oversight over the earthly creation. All of this adds up to Satan being in a natural position of powerful and influence over humanity. This became obvious when he deceived Eve in the Garden, and she followed his direction rather than God’s specific instruction.

The nature of Satan’s rebellion against God is prophetically revealed in Isaiah 14:12-14. These verses describe not only his mindset, but his objectives as he sought to be like God. When we couple the prophetic history of Satan with his blatant rebellion against God, we end up with an alarming influence over humanity that is evil. The unfortunate conclusion from all of this is that the devil is not only in the details of our lives, he is naturally in those details. This means his rebellious characteristics of arrogance, deception and subtlety have an indelible effect on the human race.

We as humans often look to make decisions to improve our lives and focus our ambition, especially at the beginning of a new year. Knowing what we know now, we need to proceed with wisdom, as we want to have God in the details of our lives and not Satan. Check out our January 03, 2022 podcast, “Is the Devil in the Details of My Life?” for more. We look at four specific aspects of Satan’s desires. We compare his desires with our typical human attempts to make our lives better. What we find is reason for caution and hope. Caution, because it is painfully easy to give in to the devil’s way of doing things by always putting ME first. Hope because these things are recognizable and changeable! God belongs in the details of our lives. Let’s make sure He is there!

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Every Christian wants to be faithful in living their life with thankfulness. One immediate question that arises is, what causes us to be thankful? What life experiences bring us to gratitude? Most of us would answer that we feel appreciativeness when things fall into place or when a hard experience yields a righteous result. These are great times to give honor to God, but what about when the opposite happens? What kind of acknowledgment do we give to God when our opportunities are cut off for no good reason? Would we be grateful if we were singled out to have our personal freedoms to spread the gospel stripped, and we were instead literally locked in our house? The Apostle Paul was. The last several years of his life were mostly spent as a prisoner of Rome. What was his secret to rejoicing?

Imagine you lived at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, and you were converted to follow his gospel message. Imagine being so moved by that message you, for the next 20 years or so, travel throughout the Roman Empire preaching this gospel. The joy of the gospel provokes you to speak on street corners, in synagogues and before authorities. Through God’s love and grace, you heal the sick and debate religious philosophy. You are often falsely accused as a troublemaker and yet you never stop moving. But you never stop teaching, preaching, healing, converting. You never stop standing in public places for the name and cause of Christ. You rejoice! For 20 years, the joy of the Lord has driven you, inspired and provoked you to change thousands of lives.

You are taken prisoner and brought to Rome and confined to a rented house for two years. You are under constant guard. Now your only freedom is within the walls of that small house. Your life of adventure, fellowship and witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is over. Or is it?

Do you take these shackles as a sign that you had a good run? Do you see this as an ending of an era, and you have now been removed from active service? This could be an easy path to follow, but it is not the only path. You could decide that by God’s grace you are here. You could choose to bring as much gospel activity to your little house as can possibly fit. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul did.

Check out our November 22,2021 podcast, “How Can I Rejoice in Trials?” for more. We break down the mindset the Apostle Paul had while in prison by examining four of the letters he wrote while bound by chains. In these letters Paul’s rejoicing in God’s providence is palpable. His clarity on teaching the most important things is inspiring. Join us as we observe the Apostle Paul rejoice in his trials, and we then follow Paul as he followed Christ

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It seems like wisdom has become old fashioned and obsolete. When I think of wisdom, I think of a thoughtful approach that is not driven by self-interest. I think of quiet observation that seeks to understand the people, the facts and the circumstances before weighing in with answers. When I think of wisdom, I think of my Grandma Helen. She lived a hard life and yet judged no one, always found a way to help and contribute and continually guided others towards their best and most integrity-filled path. When I think of wisdom, I think of Jesus. I think of his everyday life, his teaching, his obedience to his Father and his selflessness. When I think of wisdom, I don’t ever think of our day and our tech-driven, opinion-heavy and reaction-riddled approach. What happened? Where did we go wrong?

Intelligence implies the ability to acquire and process knowledge and to be able to take that knowledge and put it to good use. This is a wonderful characteristic to have as it provokes order and growth. While wisdom benefits from intelligence, it dives much deeper regarding the application of knowledge. It is both experience and maturity- based. Its application of what it has observed and processed can be an enormous catalyst for positive change. A good leader can be intelligent, but a great leader must be wise!

Jesus displayed a level of godly wisdom in his life and ministry that was rare to say the least. We can trace at least four distinct characteristics of being wise that Jesus displayed. The first of these is understanding. Without true understanding of a circumstance or a person, being wise barely has a chance to see the light of day. The problem here is that it’s far too easy to judge what we don’t understand, and this always produces unwise conclusions. Jesus taught us in Matthew 7 to beware of such uneducated judgment regarding our brother. The consequence for such an action would be to be judged with the same harshness we doled out. Wisdom needs understanding to flourish and understanding needs wisdom to be accurate.

There are several other characteristics of wisdom that make it such a sorely needed but rarely-observed commodity in our 21st-century world. Check out our November 1, 2021 podcast, “Is Anyone Listening to the Wisdom of the Bible?” for more. We examine several important scriptural examples. There is breathtaking inspiration in watching someone like King David learn it through hardship – and then live it. There is also heartbreaking sadness in watching his son, King Solomon, attain lofty wisdom only to see it drain away when his priorities became distorted. The highest and most influential wisdom can only be grasped when we center it on the highest godly principles of Scripture. Join us for an enlightening conversation about the life-changing influence wisdom can have. It will be time well-invested!

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Every Christian loves Jesus and every Christian wants to be acceptable to him. None of us ever wants to take his sacrifice on our behalf for granted. We don’t want to fall into a pattern of complacency where we don’t appreciate the blessings he gives us. While these are all well-stated intentions, we need to dig in much deeper to see how to make them well-lived principles. How do we actually live our love for Jesus, and what role does passion play in that life? Where do the dangers of complacency lurk? Is all passion positive? Is feeling content really expressing a lack of appreciation for what God does for us? Fortunately, the Scriptures give us very clear answers to all of this!

To be complacent is to be in a self-satisfied state with little or no awareness of deficiencies or danger. This is a really easy and appealing state of mind, as it focuses on everything being just the way we want it to be. The lack of awareness issues that come with it can be easily ignored by simply smothering them with our feelings of satisfaction. Out of sight, out of mind.

This is obviously a dangerous place to live if we are Christians. The very idea of self-satisfaction is in direct contradiction to our stated focus of following Jesus. The Pharisees reminded us of how blinding complacency can be. Of all the people in Israel, they had the best education and the best access to their Holy Scriptures regarding the coming of their Messiah. When Jesus arrived they rejected him, choosing to rely on their power and position instead of the prophecies in God’s Word. They were just too comfortable to see the error of their ways. That comfort caused them to lose God’s favor.

Passion is the other side of the story. Passion is a strong feeling, be it positive or negative that can drive us to action. We all have experienced our own passion. We have also seen it in others. One obvious observation that needs to be clearly stated is that all passion is not good. As a matter of fact, most of our passions tend to bring us down dark roads that often dead-end at regret. Why? Most passion is emotion-driven, and many of our emotions are self-centered and riddled with sin.

So, how are we supposed to be passionate about Jesus if passion can be just as bad as complacency? Check out our October 4, 2021 podcast, “Am I Passionate or Complacent About Jesus?” to expose the pitfalls of complacency. We break down and discuss how passion works. How can we find godly and compelling motivation to put Christ-centered passion in place? Managing the passions in our lives can be just as challenging as avoiding the complacency traps that surround us. Join us for this enlightening journey towards true discipleship and true passion for Jesus!

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Let’s set the record straight right from the start. As Christians, God does NOT want us to suffer! Having said that, we know He does want us to learn and grow and mature. This means he will permit us to suffer and will use it as a tool to serve our eternal welfare. Now, what about the rest of the suffering experienced by everyone else? The answer is essentially the same – it is part of the permission of evil, which will be an eternal lesson for all. While these are good lessons, how do we cope with our individual suffering here and now? There are two groups of people who are suffering that we want to talk to today. There are those who may know of and appreciate Jesus and there are those who have dedicated themselves to follow him as his disciples.

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus famously invites all who are “weary and heavy-laden” to come to him so he can give them rest. While this invitation is comforting and encouraging, understanding it requires a deeper look. The first thing we notice is that it is an open invitation. Jesus had just finished talking about how those with power and influence tended to reject his teaching and miracles. He thanked God that the beauty of the salvation he was bringing was so readily received by the everyday people.

To be weary and heavy-laden means you are exhausted and overburdened. This simple description fits so many of us here and now. Even though our world is amazingly advanced, stress and suffering are rampant.

We are:

-challenged with physical things like illness and aging

-burdened with financial stresses like job loss and too much month at the end of our money

-pressured with social conformity and political unrest

We face emotional traumas like broken families, severed relationships, and loneliness.  Our struggles include psychological things like depression, anxiety, phobias and mental illness.

Because we know that our time in Christianity is not a time of healing, how can Jesus give us rest? What can he possibly do for us with physical healing off the table? Check out our May 3rd 2021 podcast, “Does God Really Want Me to Suffer?” for more. We look carefully into what Jesus can do for whom. The bottom line here is that there are two different answers as to what Jesus will do for us, depending on our relationship with him. In both cases, there is really good news.

So, does God REALLY want us to suffer? The answer is no! That being said, the next logical question is then why doesn’t He take our suffering away?  The responses here are bigger than a one or two-line explanation. More than that, they are very encouraging and uplifting as well. If you are suffering in any way and are looking to God and Jesus for relief, please join us for this important conversation. Seeing our suffering with biblical understanding can absolutely help us to cope!

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