What Type of Faith Do You Have?

     There have been so many people who say that there is no God because it just doesn't make sense.  I even had one person ask me how did God form man.  Did some huge hands come out of the sky, grab the dirt up like modeling clay and shape the first man?  My answer was, "I don't know - maybe".  LOL!  The truth is if Adam was the first man then there really wasn't anyone there to see it now was there (not to mention lil ole me).  As a matter of fact, when God formed Eve He put Adam to sleep first so even the only other human on earth didn't see how it was done!  Still no witnesses!  LOL!  Isn't that just like God?  He is telling us throughout scripture to believe in what we don't see.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things UNSEEN".  Hmmmm...  So you mean to tell me that I have to just believe in God by faith and everything will be okay?  Well, yes!  Why? Because God said it would.

     Now here's the other side:  Okay I'm going to believe that a major cosmic shift millions of years ago caused a gigantic explosion that separated the planets and formed our universe putting everything in perfect alignment with the sun and it has stayed that way for millions of years?  Then from that cosmic blast the first form of life was created (uh oh there's that word again) out of nothing.  Then over millions and millions of years that one-celled Amoeba became what we are today, a living functioning human being with millions of neurons all firing in the correct order that cause me to be able to feel pain, walk, sing, play, type, sit, jump, talk, and even cry at the right time.  Wow that's a lot to take in.  But here's the similarity that a lot of people miss.  As an evolutionist, you believe the same thing I do - that it had to happen by faith!  What? Why do I say that?  Because no one was there to see the "big bang" or the see the amazing progression of life over the millineums. 

     So where is your faith? In the things of man or the things of God?  Do you believe in the bible?  If you do, then you believe all of it, not just part of it.  And if you believe in the bible then you believe in God, who by the way, is the main focus of the entire Bible.  You see without God there would be no Bible.  So I choose to believe by faith that everything in the bible did happen and you choose to believe that everything in the science books happened - by faith.  Who do you think is right?  Here's the thing: I'm not here to judge anyone. You choose to believe what you want to believe. But when Jesus comes back for His church, which I'm also going to believe by faith, then we will see who's right.  At that moment, many will believe.  Why? Because they will all bear witness to the most incredible event the world has ever seen! 

     Accept Jesus today, and believe!  Activate your faith in God, not in things of this world. Do it today! Before it's too late.  I believe with all my heart that I'm right.  Do you? If you do then I pray to God that you're not wrong.  I can't take a change with my eternity.  As for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord!! 

God bless you!
Robert T. Sells
http://www.robertsellsonline.com/
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RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE - A PERSONAL TESTIMONY

(James 4:7)

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have been absent from writing this column for a few months now. I normally write what the Lord gives me about marriage and relationships but this month I feel the Lord is leading me to share with you a personal experience I have been living. For the last few months, I have been constantly encountering the devil’s attacks. I pray you will be blessed by my story. And I pray that as you read this, if you are going through anything right now in your ministry or your life, that you will receive deliverance from that thing that has you bound. Here then is my testimony:

I am so grateful to God for what He has done in my life! I have had a very challenging year so far in 2010. In January my favorite uncle passed away from cancer. He had been sick for some time and was living down south with his daughter. As far back as I can remember my uncle has always been a source of inspiration for me. And little did I know how many lives he affected until I went to his funeral. Then in February, my father-in-law (the only man whom I ever called pops) passed away from cancer also. He was very dear to me and I loved him very much. I remember as he fought for several years with the fact that he was legally blind and in deteriorating health, he always had a good word of encouragement for my wife and I when we stopped by. He always said, “I love you and I’m proud of you son”. This meant so much to me. Ever since I first started going to church after accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in my adult years, I can remember him standing and holding open that front door as I walked in. “God bless you”, he’d always say. I didn’t know that he would one day become my father-in-law. Then in March 2010 my father went into the hospital diagnosed with cancer and was there for a month in and out of the ICU four times before he passed on to be with the Lord on April 2, 2010. He also had cancer attacking his body. My father was my rock and the prime example of how a man should be. He wasn't a "go to church every Sunday" type of man but he read the bible cover to cover many times and he definitely believed in the Lord. He provided a good home for his wife of 53 years (my mother) and my brother and me as we grew into men. My mom passed away on November 5, 2004 from complications from a stroke she suffered a few months before.

I am so grateful for the life I had with my earthly parents. They were a constant example of what it meant to be successful at marriage. I have been blessed to have two loving parents who adopted my twin brother and myself at 8 months old and loved us our whole lives as if my mom gave birth to us herself. But this last 5 months have been especially trying on my heart and soul with the loss of 3 of the most important men in my life. Throughout the process I allowed the devil to come in and try to damage my ability to write. For a few months I couldn't write anything and I temporarily stopped writing for this magazine, which I write for every month. I allowed the devil to come in but I wasn't going to allow him to steal what God has given me. And I prayed to God for an answer to this turmoil I was going through. Why couldn’t I hear His voice the way I had before? Why was I struggling to allow God to write through me all of a sudden when before He spoke so freely? Then I heard God say, “You need to be refilled my child”. After all of the attack my heart took I didn’t realize that it had drained me of my faith to hear from the Lord. I was drained of energy, faith, and perserverance. The devil was trying to take the very gift that God had given me to do His work. I couldn’t allow this. Then, in the midst of this struggle, our church made the announcement that they were going to be hosting an “Area Wide Pentecostal Rally” and I knew I had to be there. The answer to what I was going through was going to be at that meeting. So I made sure my wife and I were there. We didn’t know what God was going to do, but we knew it was going to be something big.

So on May 23rd of this year, we went to the Pentecostal rally and it was during this rally that the Holy Spirit truly moved. I was singing praise and worship earlier that day I heard the Lord say, "Stay faithful, I'm refilling you." That night at the rally the pastor delivering the message about gifts of the Holy Spirit called people up, and as a deacon in the church I was called to help pray with someone who wanted to receive the Holy Spirit. We prayed with them and they did receive it! What a wonderful time in Christ and a moment for celebration!! Many people received the Holy Spirit during that service. After that I thought I was done and the pastor who spoke that night called up me and my wife. He grabbed our hands together and pushed down very slightly and said "take it!" We both went down under the power of God and the Holy Spirit truly ministered to us during that time. By the grace of God, He refilled us!! I have been writing ever since.

I am sharing this to let you know that the devil moves during our grief and it is during those times of human weakness that we must be careful to stay prayerful because he will try to steal, and kill, and destroy what God has for us (John 10:10). If the devil can't get to you because of your faith, he will try to get to you through your family members. The thing that I understand now is that even though these mighty men suffered tremendously during their last days here on earth, as they transitioned to be with the Lord God healed them and they will remain healed for an eternity with the Lord!!! When praying for healing for loved ones, trust God without fail that He knows what He is doing. You may not see the manifestation of healing in them but believe me, if they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior then God WILL heal them, in this life or the next.

Some of you reading this now may be going through some major storms and trials in your life with ailing family members and loved ones passing away. But there are two scriptures I want you to remember. In John 16:33, Jesus was comforting the disciples after he just told them He would be leaving them. He says to them, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." This is a firm reminder from Jesus that even though we experience hard times while we’re hear on earth, Jesus is always with us and He is the great overcomer. He came to this earth to die for our sins so that we may be free from the bondage of death once and for all. 1 John 5: 1-5 reminds us that we are overcomers because of our faith in Jesus. It says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”. No matter what you’re going through, just remind yourself of who you are in God by meditating on 1 John 5:1-5. Regardless of what you may go through, because of Jesus, you’ve already overcome it.

Glory to God in the highest for He is worthy to be praised!!
Robert T Sells
http://www.robertsellsonline.com/

The Mad Rush Is Back

Well, it's the last week of the year and the new year is upon us!  What do we always do at this time? Well, I notice every year how many people rush to create a "list" of the things they say they're gonna do next year.  They call it they're "New Year's Resolutions".  I call it "New Year's Things I Say I'm Gonna Do But Don't".  LOL!  What is it that causes so many people to follow tradition and create a list with no thought put into it?  Then by January 3rd, they have already forgotten 98% of what they wrote down on December 31st! 

I challenge you this year to go to God in prayer before you write your list down.  Ask God what He wants you to accomplish this year.  You will be amazed at what He gives  you.  As the Lord leads, write down what you truly feel Him saying in your spirit.  This will probably be an urge that may go against YOUR plans for the new year.  But it is the RIGHT way to go.  When God gives you an assignment there is no more need for external motivation. (IE - your mom, dad, brothers, sisters, friends, co-workers, etc...)

You can go to God everyday in the new year and ask Him what you can do today to accomplish the tasks He has given you at the beginning of the year.  He will always direct you properly.  And His answers will work 100% of the time with no fail! Because God is not a man that He should lie.  His promises are always "yea" and "amen".  Seek God in prayer for His will for your life in 2011 and you will begin to see God do amazing things in your life and the lives of all those you touch! Now what better motivation is that? 

Go ahead and do it now!  Spend the rest of this week praying to God to tell you what He wants you to do.  If you do what God says, 2011 will be the best year you ever have!

God bless you,
Robert T Sells
www.robertsellsonline.com

The Separation of Church and Race

“Eleven o’clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America,” civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. declared many times, quoting evangelist Billy Graham.

It has always bewildered me how churches have always been so divided among racial lines. The above quote still holds true today. There are some predominately white churches that will and have absolutely frowned on me when I enter, even though this is supposed to be “God’s house”. I have experienced a lot of racial tension in mostly white churches before many times.

One particular time when I was a teenager, I was asked at a mall by a white gentleman to play for his daughter’s wedding. The church was predominately white but I did anyway. When I got there everyone was giving me horrible glares. It was as if I had walked into their home and they didn’t want me there. After I played the piano for some women who sang “Evergreen”, I was escorted immediately out before the wedding continued, I was given a handshake from the father who gave me a “hidden 5 dollar bill” he had in his hand and sent on my way. Two men stood in front of the door to make sure I didn’t get back in! And this was in the house of God!

One would think that if we are going to be one in Christ then we can’t be one in Christ as long as we are separated into our racial groups which others can’t be a part of. And the same thing is true of many predominately black churches as well. I have seen how some whites are treated in all black churches. They are sometimes excluded, ostracized and just plain treated different. I realize that there tend to be separate worship styles and this may be one of the things that can separate us. But why can’t we all worship God together? We have become a nation of Christian separatists. And instead of embracing everyone in Jesus’ name, we are practicing separation within the body of Christ from others who don’t look like us. Please read and meditate on these scriptures:


“Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.” (Psalms 66:16)

“Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” (Psalms 96:13)

As I was reading these 2 scriptures the Lord was showing me that everyone is welcome in His house, and the body of Christ includes everyone. Is this how we think heaven will be: separate streets of gold for Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians, Mexicans, etc…? Of course not. Let’s do as Jesus said when He was teaching His disciples how to pray. In Matthew 6:10 he says, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. Bringing the different worship and preaching styles together as one won’t necessarily be the easiest thing. It’s going to take a lot of work, and most importantly, a lot of compromise. But as the body of Christ, we must begin to bring heaven to earth and truly unite as one body, all for the glory of God!! After all, there are some churches who have successfully united different races and cultures all for the glory of God! If they did it, then everyone can do it. For nothing is impossible with God.

God bless you!!
Robert T. Sells
http://www.robertsellsonline.com/

Our Children Are in Danger! Who Wants to Help?

I saw on the news recently about a young 18 year old man in Chicago that killed his 17 year old girlfriend, her 11 year old sister, and their 43 year old mother. I asked myself what could possibly make a young man do that? It just amazes me the horrible stories that I am hearing lately.  It's no surprise to me, however, why this is happening.  Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 about the end times.  Nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom (can you think of an example of this?).  There will be wars and rumors of wars (Korean conflict, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Jordan, etc...). I just named a couple of examples but there are children who are coming against their parents by yelling, cursing, fighting, injuring, and yes even killing them. And there is a direct correlation to this and all of the violent TV shows and life-like games that teach children to rebel against authority. 

We have to take the head in our household and raise children who will become productive members of society. Even more importantly we must raise Godly children. That is our responsibility. God gives them to us to raise in the way He would see them raised and He gave us an instruction manual - the Holy Bible. The bible says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. ( Proverbs 22:6) Another scripture says, Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)

We can't stop the future from happening. And all of the Bible's prophecies will certainly come to pass.  But we can do our part to bring more of God's light to the world by raising Godly children through stern discipline in love.  Remember, as our children grow up, they become the leaders of society.  If the Lord delays His coming, who do you want running this world 20, 30, 50 or even 75 years from now if you're still here?

(c) 2010 Robert T Sells - All rights reserved