Faith is the key that opens the door to our spiritual victory and enables us to walk triumphantly with Jesus. Only true faith can overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. (1 John 5:4) To "overcome" means to be able to conquer our sin, our self, our circumstances and our trials through the power of faith.

What is faith? Over the last several months we have been exploring this very critical and essential subject. And as we have reiterated over and over again, few subjects in the Bible are more important for us to understand and live than that of faith.

Each Easter season we celebrate the series of injustices that led to the conviction of the innocent and the acquittal of the guilty.

We began a series of articles last month on why faith is so important in our lives. We defined faith as being fully persuaded that what God has promised, He will perform.

Are you heading into a threatening storm? Is the course you're on heading for rocks and shoals? As we travel, we are becoming aware that significant portions of our subscribers are going through serious trials and "dark times."

Few subjects in the Bible are more important for us to understand than that of faith. The dictionary tells us that faith is "confidence or trust in a person or thing." Since human trust has been greatly abused in this world, many people have chosen to put their faith in "something" rather than "someone." This should never be true of the believer.

Last month we continued our series of articles on Faith in the Night Seasons by exploring God's will and how we can know it personally. What is God's will for decisions like, "Should I take that new job offer?"..."Should I marry?" ... "Should I have that operation?"

Exploring God's sovereign will, His revealed will, His will for all mankind and His will for believers hopefully has been helpful. But what about daily knowing God's specific, individual and personal will for our lives? "Should we take that new job offer?" "Would it be better if we move to that new city?"

Continuing on in our series Faith in the Night Seasons, how appropriate it is during this Christmas season that we first spend a few moments remembering how much God loves us. The whole purpose of our book Faith in the Night Seasons is to show the length, the height and the depth of God's Love toward us.

One of the most familiar "Christmas Card" verses is found in Isaiah:

Thanksgiving is intended to be the most spiritual of our national holidays. It is a time to reassess our situation, ask forgiveness for failures, reestablish our priorities, and to give thanks to God for our heritage, the vision, and the commitment of our founders for the liberty and freedoms that have resulted from their commitment and devotion to us, their posterity.

Over the last several months as we have been reviewing our new book Faith in the Night Seasons, we've taken some time to really explore God's basic will for our lives. According to the Bible, there seem to be four different aspects to God's will:

Each year, as we approach the holiday season, our preparations for Christmas include revisiting the events surrounding the birth of Our Lord. Bethlehem, the shepherds, and the angels are familiar to us all. But not much is generally known about the mysterious "Magi" who came to worship the infant Jesus.

In order to thoroughly explore "night seasons," their origin and purpose, we need to go back to the beginning. What is God's basic will for our lives and how does He achieve it? In other words, why has He called us to be Christians in the first place?

Imagine moving into a new neighborhood with your family and immediately having your children invited to the neighbor's house on the corner.

The Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica fulva) belongs to a family of small birds that migrate from Alaska to spend the northern winter in Hawaii.

Where is the Love of God in our land? Where are the genuine Christians who really walk in His truth? Isn't there anyone who "knows" God intimately?

God's primary goal and purpose for our lives as Christians is that Christ may be formed in us and lived out through us. "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of His Son."

What is God's basic will for our lives as Christians?

As a Christian, have you ever felt abandoned by God or disappointed with Him? Have you ever asked, "Where is He when everything in my life is falling apart?"

In my experience, it is the most commonly asked question by honest skeptics: "If God is real, if God is personal, if God loves us, why does God allow evil?" A proper understanding of this issue not only provides great insight into the nature of God, it ties together a comprehensive understanding to some of life's ultimate questions: the answers to my origin, meaning, morality and destiny!

I am so excited to finally be able to share Faith in the Night Seasons with you. I've lived the material in this book for the last seven years, and it has taken me a year and a half to write, so you can understand my joy and excitement at its publication.

We have had numerous requests to put "the Inner Court Ritual" from our books, The Way of Agape and Be ye Transformed on the net in the interest of promoting spiritual health and unity in the Body of Christ. With this purpose in mind, here is a condensed version of Chapters 14 and 15 of Be Ye Transformed.

I am so very excited to report that my new book Faith in the Night Seasons is almost completed. After living it for seven years and then writing it for almost a year and a half, you can't believe how thrilled I am to have it nearing completion.

Over the last several months we have been delving into the real meaning of Agape Love-the supernatural Love of Jesus that is poured into our hearts the moment we believe and invite Him into our lives. It is God Himself who comes into our hearts at that moment-He is that Love!

Without a doubt, there is a great need in Christianity to get back to the basics of God's Word. This is true whether we're talking about salvation, sanctification, service, or finances.

This month many of us may avail ourselves of the opportunity to celebrate our loved ones with a traditional remembrance. It is also an appropriate time to remind ourselves that you and I are the recipients of the ultimate "valentine."

"Why does everyone make such a big issue about God's Love?" "What's so special about it? Why is it so important?" There is only one answer to these questions. 1 John 4:8 says, "God is Agape." This is why Agape Love is so special, so important, and why we are commanded to seek it with all of our heart, mind and soul.

Last month we began a short series on "knowing God loves us." We said that it's critical to know He loves us, not just in our heads, but in our every day life experience. We need to know God loves us "experientially" so that no matter what happens to us circumstantially, emotionally or physically, the security of His Love is always there.

"Herein is Love, not that we [first] loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)