2 Timothy 1:9 (KJV) Says, "Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began,"
When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and we are set apart, being in the world, but not of it. As born again believers in and followers of Jesus Christ we are commanded to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commission is defined in Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV) which says, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
As Christians which by definition is to be Christ-like, our behavior should look different from the behavior of those that are lost. As we go about our everyday lives people should see in us the fruits of the Spirit which are found in Galatians 5:22-23 which says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." When we demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit by living them out, then we are allowing the world to see Christ in us. As Christians we should respond to situations in a Godly manner in lieu of reacting to them in a manner that coincides with the way a lost person would react to them. The key here is to take time to respond recognizing that at times the best response is silence, in lieu of reacting in the flesh which can lead to us saying things that do not fit who we are in Christ.
When a person who proclaims to be a Christian behaves in the same manner that a lost person does, it is extremely damaging to their testimony. It is also damaging to Christianity because many lost souls are seeking to trip up Christians, and to build a case supporting the idea that Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites. It is vital that we live our lives in a manner that is Christ-like because doing so is our greatest testimony. Living our lives in a Godly manner, and responding to situations in a Godly way can serve to give others the desire in their heart to have what we have, and that is Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.
As born again believers in Jesus Christ we have been called out by God for a purpose. We have been called out to serve him, and to raise the standard that is found in the secular world. We have been called out to be witnesses for Christ, and to show forgiveness to others; even those that lost people would more than likely not forgive. We are called out to live our lives in a manner which allows others to see the light of Christ in us.
I encourage you to live your life in obedience to God, and to allow others to clearly see the fruits of the Spirit in you. I urge you to remember that you have been called out for a purpose, as a servant, to raise the standard in this world, to be a witness, and to show forgiveness. If you fall short in these areas or have an area of particular weakness that you know you need work in, take it to God in prayer asking him to help you strengthen this area of your life. I encourage you to live your life in a manner that is pleasing to God, and that serves as a testimony of his miraculous power and greatness. We are all a work in progress and will be until the Lord calls us home. We should, however, strive to be more and more Christ-like in our behavior each and every single day with the hope that when God calls us home he will be able to say well done my good and faithful servant.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you!
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Thursday, January 11, 2018
A Better Way
Genesis 6:13-14 (KJV) Says, "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." Genesis 12:1 (KJV) Says, "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:" In
Exodus 3:10-11 (KJV) God is speaking to Moses and he says, "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
In the above passage of scripture pertaining to Noah, God instructs him to build an ark. Now if you read further in the Bible on the topic of Noah you will see that Noah was given specific details from God on how to build the ark, with what materials, how large it was to be, and what exactly he was to place aboard it. He was also given a specific deadline on when the ark was to be completed. This was by no means a simple task, but with God working through Noah it was accomplished. In the above passage of scripture regarding Abram, we see that he was instructed by God to get out of his own country, leave his family, and go to an unknown location which God was to lead him to. I would say that was difficult for Abram because leaving one's country and family to head to an unknown land would be difficult for anyone. Finally, the above passage of scripture regarding Moses pertains to God calling him to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Now he is being told by God that he is to go before Pharaoh the King and request that the Israelites be released. Moses trusted God, who worked through him, and the Israelites were at last released from bondage in Egypt, but God had given Moses no simple task.
Noah, Abram, and Moses as well as many others named in God's word, were given quite a load to carry. They were assigned various tasks to be carried out in specific detail, and these tasks were far from simplistic. With that said, not one time do we read that any of the three of them gave up on what they were doing, proclaiming their task to be so difficult that it was over their load. These guys trusted God, they were organized, and did not become discouraged and give up. With God working through them, they accomplished all that he had instructed them to accomplish.
Noah, Abram, and Moses accomplished large tasks that were life altering for multitudes of people, and played a huge role in history. They obeyed God, trusted him, got organized, and got busy seeing what they were called to do through to completion. Why do I think many people of today would have reacted in an opposite manner had God put such a large task to their charge.
Numbers of people pack their schedules to maximum capacity with tasks they deem urgent on a daily basis, and then add others necessary to meet their families needs on top of those. They don't stop until their schedules reach a fullness that's overwhelming. People like this usually take little or no time to pray, read their Bible, or spend any alone time with God in order to grow in their personal relationship with him. God has been left off of many daily schedules.
As a result of leaving God out, packing their schedules, lacking organization, and poor prioritizing we have people running around proclaiming things are over their load. These are people with worldly issues such as financial, material, and job related, for instance. You know the type, they are so wound up that within five seconds of being around them you feel the stress because it has permeated the air. Their temper is on a hair trigger because they have put to much on themselves, left God out of all of it, and continue to run in the same loop without stopping to consider they need to make some changes. If Noah, Abram, or Moses had behaved like this it would have changed history because Noah and his family would have drowned, Abraham's family and land would have never grown in all the ways it did, and Moses would not have been successful at leading the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.
If you are one of these people, know this there is a better way. Go to God in prayer, and do as the Bible instructs us to do, cast your cares on him. Don't fill your schedule to overflow, and become stressed out to the max because you can't keep the pace of it. Get organized, prioritize, and trust God. Allow him to lead, guide, and direct your path. Spend time with God daily, and put him first in your life. Don't continue doing exactly like your doing, and expect a different result. Stop whining, complaining, and being filled with self- pity, as you proclaim things to be over your load. There is nothing big enough to be over God's load. Give him control of your life, obey him, follow his direction, and experience the love, peace, contentment, and joy that comes along with it.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
Exodus 3:10-11 (KJV) God is speaking to Moses and he says, "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
In the above passage of scripture pertaining to Noah, God instructs him to build an ark. Now if you read further in the Bible on the topic of Noah you will see that Noah was given specific details from God on how to build the ark, with what materials, how large it was to be, and what exactly he was to place aboard it. He was also given a specific deadline on when the ark was to be completed. This was by no means a simple task, but with God working through Noah it was accomplished. In the above passage of scripture regarding Abram, we see that he was instructed by God to get out of his own country, leave his family, and go to an unknown location which God was to lead him to. I would say that was difficult for Abram because leaving one's country and family to head to an unknown land would be difficult for anyone. Finally, the above passage of scripture regarding Moses pertains to God calling him to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Now he is being told by God that he is to go before Pharaoh the King and request that the Israelites be released. Moses trusted God, who worked through him, and the Israelites were at last released from bondage in Egypt, but God had given Moses no simple task.
Noah, Abram, and Moses as well as many others named in God's word, were given quite a load to carry. They were assigned various tasks to be carried out in specific detail, and these tasks were far from simplistic. With that said, not one time do we read that any of the three of them gave up on what they were doing, proclaiming their task to be so difficult that it was over their load. These guys trusted God, they were organized, and did not become discouraged and give up. With God working through them, they accomplished all that he had instructed them to accomplish.
Noah, Abram, and Moses accomplished large tasks that were life altering for multitudes of people, and played a huge role in history. They obeyed God, trusted him, got organized, and got busy seeing what they were called to do through to completion. Why do I think many people of today would have reacted in an opposite manner had God put such a large task to their charge.
Numbers of people pack their schedules to maximum capacity with tasks they deem urgent on a daily basis, and then add others necessary to meet their families needs on top of those. They don't stop until their schedules reach a fullness that's overwhelming. People like this usually take little or no time to pray, read their Bible, or spend any alone time with God in order to grow in their personal relationship with him. God has been left off of many daily schedules.
As a result of leaving God out, packing their schedules, lacking organization, and poor prioritizing we have people running around proclaiming things are over their load. These are people with worldly issues such as financial, material, and job related, for instance. You know the type, they are so wound up that within five seconds of being around them you feel the stress because it has permeated the air. Their temper is on a hair trigger because they have put to much on themselves, left God out of all of it, and continue to run in the same loop without stopping to consider they need to make some changes. If Noah, Abram, or Moses had behaved like this it would have changed history because Noah and his family would have drowned, Abraham's family and land would have never grown in all the ways it did, and Moses would not have been successful at leading the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.
If you are one of these people, know this there is a better way. Go to God in prayer, and do as the Bible instructs us to do, cast your cares on him. Don't fill your schedule to overflow, and become stressed out to the max because you can't keep the pace of it. Get organized, prioritize, and trust God. Allow him to lead, guide, and direct your path. Spend time with God daily, and put him first in your life. Don't continue doing exactly like your doing, and expect a different result. Stop whining, complaining, and being filled with self- pity, as you proclaim things to be over your load. There is nothing big enough to be over God's load. Give him control of your life, obey him, follow his direction, and experience the love, peace, contentment, and joy that comes along with it.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
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