Looking for answers? part 1

1. What is Salvation?
Salvation is deliverance from the penalty, pollution, and power of sin(Rom. 6:14,23; Ti. 3:4-6). It is generally more important than being saved from fire, deep water, illness, or loneliness.

2. What is a sin?
Sin is any thought, word, or deed that either violates or falls short of complete conformity to God's holy laws(Rom. 3:23; Jas. 4:17, I Jn. 3:4). In short, Jesus and His apostles taught that sin is anything that doesn't reflect selfless love for God and others(Mt. 22:34-40).

3. What has God done to provide salvation?
He became a member of the human race in the person of Jesus(Jn. 1:1, 14), lived sinlessly as our substitute to fulfill God's righteous demands(2 Cor. 5:12), suffered and died on the cross to bear the penalty for our sins(Mt. 20:28; Rom. 4:23-25; I Cor. 15:3-4), and rode from the grave to break the power of death and defeats Satan( Acts 2:24; Heb. 2:14-15). In other words, He accepted full responsibility to pay the price for the consequences of our sins.

4. For whom did Christ die?
Jesus died for all the people(Jn. 3:16; 2Cor. 5:14-15), for all have fallen short of their original purpose to know God(Jn. 17:3), to glorify Him(I Cor. 10:31), and to enjoy Him forever(Rev. 7:15-17; 21:1-4). Christ died for those who are sinners by nature(Ps. 51:5), disobedient by choice(Rom. 3:23), spiritually dead(Eph. 2:1, 5), unable to please God(Rom. 8:8), and under Hid wrath(Jn. 3:36; Rom. 1:18).

Pray First!

This post is from the devotional book of "Our Daily Bread".
I just want to share this wonderful reading from "Our Daily Bread"

(Read: James 5:13-18)

A Bible teacher asked his class this question:"When you are in trouble, what do you most often do first?" He gave them Three answers from which to choose:
1. Take care of it yourself.
2. Call a friend and talk it over.
3. Ask God for help.

Only two people in the class of 35 indicated that they prayed first. Most of them choose number 1 and several choose number 2. My guess is that these responses are typical.

James wrote, "Os anyone among you suffering? Let him pray"(5:13). Too often, prayer is not our first response to trouble. We may try to figure out solution by ourselves, using our own skills or financial resources, or we may turn to our friends. When none of that helps, we finally get around to praying.

Not only that, we don't pray about the trouble very long or pause to consider what the Bible has to say about our response to our problem. It's amazing, though, what can happen when we take time to pray about the issue and listen to God speak through His Word. He will give us fresh way to look at our situation, and help us to be more Christlike.

James said, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much"(5:16). So always PRAY FIRST!

Think it over:
When you face a problem, where do you turn first?
How has prayers helped you during difficult times?
How has God answered your prayers?
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Prayer should be our first response---
Not our last resort.