As Christians we are called to live by faith (Gal 3:11). In other words salvation and all God's promises for us are received by faith. There is a wonderful definition of faith in the Amplified Bible translation of 2 Timothy 3:16; "the leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness". My definition is knowing that you know, that you know, that you know that all God's promises are ours! How do we get faith? God has given all of us a measure of faith (Rom 12:3). To receive all God has for us and walk in all He wants us to do we need to strengthen or grow our faith. How do we do that? In Romans 10:17 (NKJV), we are told: "so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". As we hear God's Word preached and read it for ourselves, our faith will grow. Need healing for example? then search your bible for scriptures on healing and meditate on them. I promise you it works.

In the New Testament we see several references to: “the mystery” (E.g., Col 2:1-3). The apostle Paul showed us that “the mystery” is the revelation of the ministry of God’s Son Jesus on this earth, culminating in His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven and all the impact this can have on our lives (1 Tim 3:16). Through his death and resurrection Jesus defeated satan, stripped him of all his evil power and authority (Col 2:15) and won forgiveness of all of our sins. Our sins separated us from God and left us open to all of the works of the devil (John 10:10). When we believe in Jesus and ask Him into and give Him control of our lives, we can experience God’s forgiveness, restored fellowship with Him, victory over satan and the wonderful new life God has for us (John 10:10). We call this salvation.

As a boy I was taught scripture in school; I loved the Old Testament battles and heroes and the things Jesus did, but as a non-Christian, I had no understanding of the powerful, life changing spiritual significance of the Bible. No one ever told me I could be saved and have an amazing personal relationship with Jesus. You see as a non-Christian, natural human being, the Bible was a mystery to me, simply a book of stories, no more (1 Cor 2:14).

When we are saved, Jesus comes and lives in us in the form of the Holy Spirit (), the third part of the trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). We are all spirit beings; we live in a body and have a soul (1 Thess 5:23). As Christians, the Holy Spirit interacts with our spirit and brings the scriptures alive to us (1 Cor 2:9-10), and as a result we can see the full spiritual truth, meaning and power of God’s Word and how it can change our lives; the mystery is revealed to us! It’s wonderful, life changing! Get in the Bible, pray, ask God through His Spirit, to give you revelation of all He has for you and how He wants to use you to share Him with others.

Do you ever find your mind wandering, full of a myriad of thoughts, some of which you are not proud of and others that create worry, stress, fear and depression?

God promises us perfect peace of mind if we focus our minds on Him (Isaiah 26:3). We need to bring: "every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5), "set your mind on things above not on things on the earth" (Col 3:2).

How do we do this? We need to spend quality time in His Word so that when the wrong thoughts try to pop up we just naturally replace them with God thoughts. This means immersing ourselves in the Word, not just on Sunday or a few minutes here and there. We need to make God's Word a priority, studying it day and night (Psalm 1:2). Believe me the results are amazing!

In talking to His disciples, Jesus told them: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6; NKJV.) After being arrested for preaching about Jesús, the apostle Paul in addressing the Jewish leaders, said: "nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; NKJV). The apostle Paul made it clear that all we need to do to be saved and become a Christian is to believe in Jesus Christ (Acts 16: 31). Believe Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins, rose from the dead and won for us forgiveness and new life in fellowship with Him. Repent of sin and ask His forgiveness. Give Him your life and be saved. So simple but yet we can make it so complicated.

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." NKJV, Col 3:12-13.

These verses describe the characteristics people should see in the Christian: tender mercy or compassion, kindness or gentleness benevolence and a lack of abrasiveness, especially to those who tax our patience. We should be people of humility, having a humble mind with no arrogance and a real concern for others. Meekness in our verses above does not imply weakness but someone who knows the power and strength they have in Jesus Christ but has their emotions under control. The Christian should be long suffering, patient, bearing with and enduring what others do and say. We are called to be forgiving, walk in God's love (verse 14) and be at peace (verse15). Sounds like a tall order but: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Phil 4:13)