goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

Life is Preachy

By Linda Tancs

Your life is a sermon, as many say. In other words, what message does your life preach? St. Francis of Assisi put it this way: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” Does the life you’re living mirror the teachings of the Gospel? Do you treat others the way you’d like to be treated (Matthew 7:12)? Do you speak lovingly (Ephesians 4:29)? Are you patient (Romans 8:25)? Are you generous (2 Corinthians 9:6)? Actions speak louder than words. Make your life the best sermon it can be.

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

Abundant Life

By Linda Tancs

In Matthew’s gospel, the Lord explains that it’s hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of Heaven. When Peter asks what’s in it for the apostles, who have given up everything to follow Him, Jesus replies, “Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:23-30). It’s important to recognize that this discourse was not intended to emphasize a recoupment in the capitalist sense. Instead, Jesus is referring to the ability to perceive the things of this world in a spirit of detachment that results in abundance in the sense of perceiving them without distortion, not necessarily in abundance of the things themselves. Don’t look at things carnally; view it from an eternal perspective (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

The Bill of Rights

By Linda Tancs

The U.S. Bill of Rights spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. In relation to God, Christians have another bill of rights: the Bible. Thanks to the finished work on the Cross, we have certain rights that are divinely ordained and given to us by God. These rights include: living under the grace of God (Romans 6:14), exercising the authority delegated to us (Matthew 28:18) and praying in Jesus’s Name (John 16:23-24). Find more rights in your Bible. Are you claiming your rights?

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

Hiding or Hidden

By Linda Tancs

Hiding is self-centered. The prophet Ezekiel hid in caves to avoid the wrath of Jezebel. He was in the shadow of a cave rather than in the shadow of the Almighty. To be hidden in God is God-centered (Psalm 91:1). God wanted Ezekiel to be hidden in Him. That’s why He sent an angel to minister to him. Are you hiding from something? Maybe it’s fear, insecurity, anger, disappointment. Stop hiding. Instead, choose to be hidden with Christ, safe and secure.

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Uncategorized

The Hammer and the Anvil

By Linda Tancs

St. Dominic de Guzman was a Castilian-French Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He once remarked that it is better to be a hammer than an anvil. He was speaking of the need to master one’s passions or else they’ll master you; in other words, exercise self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). As the apostle Paul intoned, we must not become a slave to anything (1 Corinthians 6:12). Get the hammer ready.

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

The Law of the Gift

By Linda Tancs

Pope St. John Paul II referred to a principle called the law of the gift—namely, that one’s being increases in the measure that one gives oneself away. That principle encapsulates the life of John the Baptist, who declared that he must decrease so that Jesus may increase (John 3:30). In the natural, that meant stepping aside to give place to the One greater than he. In doing so, John fulfilled his life’s purpose, a ministry dedicated to magnifying Christ. Whatever we praise, we raise in our life.

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

Saving the Best for Last

By Linda Tancs

In the Amidah, a Hebrew prayer, the patriarchs and matriarchs are recited: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah. Rachel and Leah were Jacob’s wives; he married Leah first, but she’s mentioned last. The reason given for this is because Rachel was Jacob’s favorite wife. She’s mentioned first, but arguably the best was saved for last. After all, Leah gave birth to Judah, who is in Jesus’s line of ancestry. Like this ancient prayer, we often assign value to things in order of importance to us. But we don’t have the final say. Sometimes what’s last will be first and what’s first will be last (Matthew 20:16).

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

The Eye of the Storm

By Linda Tancs

The eye of a storm is a circular area of calm, surrounded by high winds. So it is with you. The center of your being is calmness if you keep your mind stayed on Christ (Isaiah 26:3). Just as the eye doesn’t give way to the storm around it, don’t let your peace give way to your circumstances (Matthew 8:26).

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

Not As Bad As You Think

By Linda Tancs

How many times has something—a task, a problem, a challenge—loomed so large in your mind that you were afraid to tackle it? That’s certainly how Jacob felt when he decided to confront his brother Esau. The problem started when Jacob tricked his brother out of his birthright and then deceived his father into giving him the firstborn blessing that should have gone to Esau. When Esau found out, he was so angry that Jacob had to flee for his life. When Jacob decided to face the problem he created, he was understandably apprehensive. But Esau met him, embraced him and kissed him (Genesis 33). Can you relate? Oftentimes, the result isn’t as bad as you thought—the task wasn’t that onerous, the apology wasn’t that hard, and so on. Don’t imagine the worst; just do your best.

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.

goforwardinfaith Christianity, Religion, Theology

Signs and Wonders

By Linda Tancs

The phrase “signs and wonders” appears over 30 times in the Bible. In the Old Testament, those events include the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses (Exodus 3) and a donkey that spoke to convict its master of his sin (Numbers 22:21-29). In the New Testament, Joseph receives several instructions in his dreams from an angel, beginning with the exhortation to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:18-25). In today’s environment, God has ample ways to communicate. It might be through a store sign, a newspaper article, a video or some form of social media. Make it a point in this new year to be watchful and attentive to all the ways God is trying to communicate with you.

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As part of FOOT FORWARD MINISTRIES (a teaching and speaking ministry), Go Forward in Faith represents faith-based meditations for personal and professional growth. Join the Facebook group @goforwardinfaith.