CHRISTIAN LIFE

Spiritual Hardships

Jesus was crucified to restore our relationship with our Creator. So why does God so often feel far away? Is He working in our lives? How can we tell?

Day One: Finding God
Some of the most promising and spectacular words ever spoken by God are found in the book of Jeremiah: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you” ...
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For more, see: "Why are there times when God seems silent / absent in a believer's life?"

Day Two: Feeling Love for God
First, an important question: are you born again? Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation? If so, the enmity between you and your Creator is gone, and you have entered a secure and loving relationship with God...
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Day Three: The Difficulty of Following Christ
No sane parent has ever said, “I wish my children would misbehave,” and there’s never been a self-help book entitled How to Live an Unhappy Life. We all want blessings, happiness, and fulfillment, and we associate a happy condition with a certain amount of ease...
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For more, see: "Living for God—why is it so difficult?"

Day Four: Overcoming Spiritual Apathy
Spiritual apathy, coldness, or indifference can affect even the most sincere Christian at one time or another. Human emotions being as fickle as they are, feelings of apathy or disinterest can sometimes replace the fervor we once felt for the things of God...
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Day Five: Christians and Depression
Depression is somewhat of a charged issue among Christians. Some flatly declare it to be a sin. The thinking is that depression reveals a lack of faith in God’s promises, God’s judgment on sinful behavior, or just laziness...
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For more, see: "The Christian and Depression

Day Six: A Clear Conscience
Conscience can be defined as “an inner feeling that acts as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.” For those with a biblical worldview, the conscience is the part of the human soul that is most like God...
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Day Seven: The Boring Christian Life
There are many misconceptions about the Christian life, and one is that it is boring. The truth is the Christian life is where we find true joy and lasting peace, hope and contentment. These things, like all good and perfect things, come from God ...
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Day Eight: False Conversions
To convert is to be “born again.” At the moment of conversion, the converted person is filled with the Holy Spirit and begins a journey of turning away from sin and beginning to worship and serve the Lord. A “false conversion” is no conversion at all...
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For more, see: "The True Danger of Preaching False Conversion"

Day Nine: Rededicating your Life to Christ
“Rededicating your life to Christ” is a popular concept in modern Christian culture. It’s a decision made by a Christian who has fallen away from the practices of Christianity to turn back to Christ and strive to follow Him more completely...
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For more, see: "'You will seek Me and find Me'"

Day Ten: God, Fighting our Battles
That God will fight our battles means we do not have to anguish, be anxious, or be discouraged when bad things happen in our lives. When it seems a situation is hopeless or the matter at hand is too overwhelming, we may be tempted to doubt God...
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Day Eleven: The Hand of God
Several Scriptures describe the hand of God moving and guiding people (1 Samuel 5:11; 2 Chronicles 30:12; Job 19:21; 27:11; Ecclesiastes 2:24; 9:1). These passages do not mean that God literally has a hand. The Bible declares that God is spirit (John 4:24), that He does not, in His essence, have a physical form...
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Image Credit: iWorksphotography; untitled; Creative Commons