What are we called to do as followers of Jesus Christ?
Really just two things – 1) love the Lord your God and 2) love your neighbor
But what does that look like in our daily life?
1) Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth – our lives should reflect the love and affection that we have for our Heavenly Father - in praising Him, in honoring Him, in glorifying Him - by our desire to be in His presence and please the One who loved us first.
2) We must be willing to wait on the Lord – we live in a microwave world and waiting has become something we are just not good at – but all things are accomplished in His timing – not ours.
3) We are to be His witnesses to this world – as His witness it is His testimony that we are to be reflecting to the world around us – proclaiming the Gospel which is the greatest news man has ever heard or experienced.
4) We are to reflect His love and His grace and His mercy and His righteousness to all those around us – we all fall short of His glory therefore we must be His vessels that reflect His glory – not our own.
5) We are to share the reason for the hope that is within us to all who will listen – what good is your hope if you are not sharing it with others who do not have it ?
6) We are to stay true to our calling – He has gifted all of us with a calling (a ministry) and we need to obey and follow that calling, even in the small things – let us not be swept away with vain ambitions and prideful visions.
7) We are to make sure that we are the ‘vine’ and that Jesus is living through us – if we are not living in and through Him we are not fruitful and all of our efforts shall be as wood, hay and stubble.
8) We are to stand firm in His word - that means we need to be in His word, drawing ever closer to the One who created us, abiding by His truth
9) We are to shed off the wisdom of man – man’s wisdom has grown ever more insidious in the life of the body of Christ, without knowing God’s truth how will you know the difference and only God’s truth will set us free.
10) We are to be humble – true humility is a difficult thing for us in these times but we are called to it – humility is restoring God to His throne in our lives and focusing on worshipping Him not ourselves or others.
11) We are to have integrity – Godly integrity is only achieved when you are a living sacrifice, knowing where truth and honor are found.
12) We are to live a life that includes self-sacrifice and self-control – the actual practice in daily life of dying to self and living for Christ.
13) We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead in all matters – without the Holy Spirit filling us and leading us we may as well not get out of bed – for the works of the flesh are but dust.
14) We are to be a bond servant of Jesus Christ in every part of our life – the voluntary and willing submission of every part our lives to the Great Shepherd and His direction.
15) We must be actively exercising our faith in all aspects of our lives – faith without the accompanying works is dead, faith in action will be the natural occurrence of our submission to the will of Christ in our lives
16) And we must reflect the love of God to a lost and dying world – the ‘bottom line’ as we like to say in our day to our whole purpose on this earth – to share the love of God with all creation.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
our walk of faith
Our Walk of Faith, God’s Saving Grace -
I was recently impressed with the analogy that our walk of faith through God’s saving grace is like a funnel – wide at the open end and then it gradually becomes narrow as you proceed (walk) through it.
Our walk of faith begins with God’s saving grace – and His grace, like the open end of a funnel, is wide open, inviting and directional. Once we are born again from above (by grace you have been saved through faith) our walk of faith, like traveling through the funnel, follows the narrow way that leads to life. It is the process of being refined through discipleship, sanctified by the Spirit. And even though the way is narrow His grace and His mercy are always sufficient no matter where we find ourselves within that funnel.
Also, the funnel is pointed upward, not downward. God’s grace always points us, draws us and directs us to Him - drawing us ever nearer – and that is the key to our walk – drawing closer to Him…more of Him and less of us.
So, let us walk boldly and confidently through the funnel as we draw ever closer to Him knowing that He is leading and guiding us through the power of His Spirit – and one day we shall be in His presence forever.
I was recently impressed with the analogy that our walk of faith through God’s saving grace is like a funnel – wide at the open end and then it gradually becomes narrow as you proceed (walk) through it.
Our walk of faith begins with God’s saving grace – and His grace, like the open end of a funnel, is wide open, inviting and directional. Once we are born again from above (by grace you have been saved through faith) our walk of faith, like traveling through the funnel, follows the narrow way that leads to life. It is the process of being refined through discipleship, sanctified by the Spirit. And even though the way is narrow His grace and His mercy are always sufficient no matter where we find ourselves within that funnel.
Also, the funnel is pointed upward, not downward. God’s grace always points us, draws us and directs us to Him - drawing us ever nearer – and that is the key to our walk – drawing closer to Him…more of Him and less of us.
So, let us walk boldly and confidently through the funnel as we draw ever closer to Him knowing that He is leading and guiding us through the power of His Spirit – and one day we shall be in His presence forever.
the wisdom of God
The wisdom of God
As we look at our country today we are ever hastily forsaking the wisdom of God and we are exchanging it for the wisdom of man. We now are ridiculing, slandering and ultimately rejecting His wisdom. This trend is running rampant through all segments of our society, even into the church.
As Proverb 1 indicates:
For those who disregard God’s wisdom -
How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof
When distress and anguish come upon you then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD
They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.
For the waywardness of the naive will kill them and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
And here is the promise for those who desire and seek after His wisdom -
Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
For he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.
May we seek after the true source of wisdom and not be lead astray by the wisdom that will ultimately destroy.
For the path is wide that leads to destruction…and man’s wisdom is the road map that provides the directions for that path.
There is a narrow path leads to life and God has promised that He will provide us with the directions if we are willing to listen and obey.
As we look at our country today we are ever hastily forsaking the wisdom of God and we are exchanging it for the wisdom of man. We now are ridiculing, slandering and ultimately rejecting His wisdom. This trend is running rampant through all segments of our society, even into the church.
As Proverb 1 indicates:
For those who disregard God’s wisdom -
How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof
When distress and anguish come upon you then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD
They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.
For the waywardness of the naive will kill them and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
And here is the promise for those who desire and seek after His wisdom -
Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
For he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.
May we seek after the true source of wisdom and not be lead astray by the wisdom that will ultimately destroy.
For the path is wide that leads to destruction…and man’s wisdom is the road map that provides the directions for that path.
There is a narrow path leads to life and God has promised that He will provide us with the directions if we are willing to listen and obey.
children of the living God
Children of the living God,
May the word of the Lord enrich you abundantly above and beyond all that you can imagine. May it strengthen your faith and give you hope in this desperate day.
Do not fear the world, nor shall you fear man, and do not become ensnared with the wisdom of this world for it is vain and fleeting.
People of His pasture, we are not of this world we are sojourners walking this earth until we reach our eternal home. And since we are His people we must be about doing His business while we walk in these fleshly tents.
I say this as one who struggles with the wiles of this world - His word says that I do not have to fear. For I must place my faith and trust in Him – in His faithfulness, in His lovingkindness, in His righteousness, in His Holiness – and take up my cross and follow Him. For He has promised His Holy Spirit shall be with us to lead us and guide us if we might surrender all.
As we are the apple of His eye therefore may we focus on the goal set before us, the crown of glory that is His restoration of His creation by His sacrificial atoning work. Let all the earth hear of His glory. Let all the earth praise His wonder. Let all the earth rejoice in His lovingkindness. For we are His witnesses called to proclaim His glory.
Children of the living God it is time that we take our place and fulfill our calling for the harvest is ripe and the workers are few. For in desperate times people call out to the God they do not know and we must be ready and prepared to lead them to the living waters – to the place that is beyond the fear of man and his world.
May His mercy and grace abound to all who call upon His name and may His strength uphold us.
a bondservant seeking after Him,
prb
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt 10:28-29
May the word of the Lord enrich you abundantly above and beyond all that you can imagine. May it strengthen your faith and give you hope in this desperate day.
Do not fear the world, nor shall you fear man, and do not become ensnared with the wisdom of this world for it is vain and fleeting.
People of His pasture, we are not of this world we are sojourners walking this earth until we reach our eternal home. And since we are His people we must be about doing His business while we walk in these fleshly tents.
I say this as one who struggles with the wiles of this world - His word says that I do not have to fear. For I must place my faith and trust in Him – in His faithfulness, in His lovingkindness, in His righteousness, in His Holiness – and take up my cross and follow Him. For He has promised His Holy Spirit shall be with us to lead us and guide us if we might surrender all.
As we are the apple of His eye therefore may we focus on the goal set before us, the crown of glory that is His restoration of His creation by His sacrificial atoning work. Let all the earth hear of His glory. Let all the earth praise His wonder. Let all the earth rejoice in His lovingkindness. For we are His witnesses called to proclaim His glory.
Children of the living God it is time that we take our place and fulfill our calling for the harvest is ripe and the workers are few. For in desperate times people call out to the God they do not know and we must be ready and prepared to lead them to the living waters – to the place that is beyond the fear of man and his world.
May His mercy and grace abound to all who call upon His name and may His strength uphold us.
a bondservant seeking after Him,
prb
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt 10:28-29
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