Feature Photo of Dead Sea Israel By Dave Herring Upsplash.com
Walking in Godly Principles is a bi-weekly scripture of encouragement, subscribed by “…time with the master…”. Previously published on the front page of the site, it will now appear additionally, as a post as well.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others. Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers. Often, sharing them results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Feature Photo of Dead Sea Israel By Dave Herring Upsplash.com
Walking in Godly Principles is a bi-weekly scripture of encouragement, subscribed by “…time with the master…”. Previously published on the front page of the site, it will now appear additionally, as a post as well.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others. Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers. Often, sharing them results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Join our Pastor Ray as he shares the dynamic power of The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Video
Session 5
Welcome to number 5 of The Holy Spirit sessions
Last week, we had a closer look at the gifts of ‘knowing or revelation’, more of the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings with Him as He resides in us, in order that individuals become equipped to enter in and walk along the narrow road.
This is what we discussed:
Word of Wisdom (How to act or speak) – receiving divine understanding and insight, which enables us to deal with a specific situation or circumstance, is a word of Wisdom.
Word of Knowledge (Know about a situation) – God imparted information of facts and details which are humanly impossible to know in any circumstance we may face, is a word of Knowledge.
Discerning of Spirits – Being able to perceive the spiritual source behind a spoken word, motive, attitude, mood or action of an individual or group, is the gift of discernment. Spiritual sources are either: Heavenly, Human or Demonic.
Healings – The supernatural ability to minister physical healing to those who are sick, is a gift of healing.
Working of Miracles – God working through individuals to perform the impossible or an act contrary to the physical laws of nature, is the working of miracles.
Faith – The ability to believe God for the impossible in a situation beyond the normal, is a gift of Faith
This week we’ll look at the gifts that the Spirit gives to certain individuals for the purpose of building up, equipping, and serving the members of the local body (or His Church) – as confirmed in the scripture of Ephesians 4 .
Just a quick reminder here: Who are the true ‘Body of Christ’? Jesus tells us in John 3 who His body is… those who are born of water and of the spirit. We can refer back to the Gospel Explained sessions for a recap on being “born of water and of the Spirit”.
According to Gods plan, it is not sufficient for us to just enter in the narrow gate and walk along the narrow road. Rather through His unit, the Church or His body, we should be assisting directly or indirectly, in preparing others for what God wants of them.
The prayer of Jesus to the Father in John 17, was that His body would be one. In the prayer, Jesus asks God for His body to be perfected in unity so that the world would know He had been sent by God. Paul says in 1Cor that we were all baptized into one body. Therefore, we have a responsibility to others in the body, and cannot just center on ourselves. To pray for others, encourage others,help others materially, are just some of the things we need to be doing for one another.
The Spirit adequately prepares us for these functions, by giving us specific gifts that we use to minister to others. There are seven Gifts of Function that are used for the uplifting of the members of the body, in both the individual and corporate sense.
PROPHETICAL GIFT OF FUNCTION
This gift of prophecy is a gift that operates in different people from time to time …” just as God wills…” and this, as we see in 1Cor, is for the edification, exhorting, and comforting of the body. The gift operates differently to those who are appointed to the office of Prophet, in the Fivefold ministry. These operate in the gift of Prophecy all the time. We will look more deeply into this topic in the next session.
THE GIFT OF SERVICE
This gift involves serving the brethren in a very practical way. Such members of the body are reliable, willing helpers, that experience fulfillment in getting a job done. As confirmation of this, we can look at the book of Acts, to see how the early church dealt with this.
THE GIFT OF TEACHING
This gift involves the desire for truth and the willingness to share it with others. It also involves the ability to communicate the truths from the scriptures to the body. This person is usually found teaching in smaller home groups and to the children’s church. Depending on the degree of the gift, some of those with this gift may well find themselves appointed to the office of teacher, as in the Fivefold ministry which we will discuss next session.
THE GIFT OF EXHORTATION
To exhort is to appeal, encourage, console or comfort. Exhortation can even involve admonishing or urging someone to follow the right course of action. The scriptures command us to do this for one another. This gift enables a person to have a ‘spiritual eye’ for a need, and then respond with the proper advice, encouragement, warning, or counsel to others.
THE GIFT OF GIVING
This gift is the ability to generate money or acquire material goods and give generously for the work of God’s kingdom as we see in the book of Acts when Joseph (or Barnabas), sold his land and blessed the body of Christ. The gift is manifested by consistent giving and also God’s blessing on the one who does the giving.
This gift provides the ability to lead others into accomplishing God’s purpose for their lives and the life of the body as a whole. We see this as Peter leads the disciples at an outreach situation.
Those with the gift of leadership, are visionaries in the making and are used to establish different ministry areas by the Lord. Those with this gift are being formed into the appointments of ‘administration’ or apostle as we see in the scripture of 1Cor. The gift is vital for the growth of the local church and is particularly important for pastoral work.
THE GIFT OF MERCY
This gift provides the ability to empathize with those who suffer misfortune or are experiencing some kind of hurt. The gift leads those who have it, to perform acts of kindness, help, and comfort towards those in need. We see in Psalms that God is the source of all mercy, and according to Luke, God requires His children to be merciful.
Just to help us get further understanding of what we’ve looked at this week, let’s have a look at this diagram:
– Once again we see the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit can be seen all together (as one unit) in the green section – showing that all parts of the fruit of the Spirit are within us at the same time.
– The Holy Spirit brings ‘gifts’ with Him.
– The 7 Gifts of Function we’ve just discussed can be seen – made up of Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leadership and Mercy.
Right – Let’s recap then, on what gifts we’ve heard about this week:
The gift of Prophecy – This prophetical gift of function, is a gift that operates in different people from time to time as God wills – to lift up and encourage His body. Normally it is witnessed at a group gathering.
The Gift of Service – Serving the body of Christ in a very practical way, is a gift of service.
The Gift of Teaching – Teaching others involves the desire for truth and the willingness to share it. It also involves the ability to communicate the truth of the scriptures, to the body.
The Gift of Exhortation – Being able to appeal to, encourage, console or comfort others, is the gift of exhortation.
The Gift of Giving – The ability to generate money or acquire material goods and give generously for the work of Gods kingdom, is the gift of giving.
The Gift of Leadership – The ability to lead others into accomplishing Gods purpose for their lives, and the life of the body as a whole, is the gift of leadership.
The Gift of Mercy – To be able to empathize with those who suffer misfortune or are experiencing some kind of hurt, is the gift of mercy.
LET’S PRACTICE….
To close this session, as in previous sessions, take a few minutes to go around your group, practicing the gifts that we’ve learned over the last three weeks. Be encouraged to leave your seat and lay hands on other members of the group whilst praying for them – as the Lord leads.
Remember as we mentioned before – The purpose of practicing the gifts is to help us overcome the ‘fear of man’ (or
shyness). PLEASE – IT IS NOT AN EXERCISE TO FORCE GOD TO ACT BY OUR OWN STRENGTH. Rather simply, the more we practice in front of others, the more confident we will become.
Once again – As you pray now – remember:
With the language gifts, we must Firstly, Believe and
Secondly, open our mouths and move our tongues – otherwise absolutely nothing is going to happen!
Thirdly, we must get rid of any unforgiveness or anger in us by praying quietly for the Lord’s help. (remember we said forgiveness is a decision not a feeling!).
Also, please be sensitive to those who are not comfortable praying out aloud. Don’t force them to pray, but rather allow them to be still and let the Spirit of the Lord, wash over them during this time.
The Lord be with you as you discover new things this coming week – In Him!
Thanks so much for spending this time with me – next week in the last session, we’ll look at some more gifts the Holy Spirit brings to us which are more permanent, abiding gifts. Until then, Bless you all.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others. Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers. Often, sharing them results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Join our Pastor Ray as he shares the power of The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit Video
Session 4
Welcome to number 4 of The Holy Spirit sessions
Last week, we had a closer look at some of the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings with Him as He resides in us.
Let’s quickly recap what we discussed:
1. A Gift from God – The Holy Spirit is a gift (singular) from God and He brings along with Him gifts of the Spirit (plural)
2. The Holy Spirit Comes to Live in Us – When the Holy Spirit resides in us, we display the Fruit of the Spirit and receive gifts.
3. God’s Nature – The Holy Spirit is the nature of God abiding in us.
4. God’s Tool Box – The Fruit of the Spirit is only part of the equipment we need; the gifts of the Spirit make up the balance.
5. God the Source – The spirit of God (NOT MAN), is the source of the gifts – the gifts glorify God (NOT MAN).
6. Nine Personal Gifts – The language gifts, Knowing or Revelation Gifts and Doing or Power Gifts, make up the group of personal Gifts.
7. Heavenly Language – Tongues is a heavenly language by the power of Holy Spirit, spoken to God – not Man.
8. Interpretation – Paul commands us to pray for interpretation of the heavenly language, so that all may be edified.
9. Prophecy – Words brought by the power of the Holy Spirit from God to man is called prophecy.
10. Given Freely by God – The gifts are given freely by God to all those who desire them.
In session 3, we said that there were nine gifts, which could be split into three groups of three; the first three we discussed were the ‘Language gifts’. These consisted of:
1) Diverse tongues,
2) Interpretation and
3) Prophecy.
The next group of gifts we are going to look at are the gifts of ‘knowing or revelation’.
WORD OF WISDOM (HOW TO)
Word of wisdom is a gift which involves the imparting of divine inspiration to see, understand and respond to life situations from Gods viewpoint. In other words, receiving divine understanding and insight, which enables one to deal with a specific situation or circumstance.
A good example of this gift is found in Matt. 22, where the scripture says,“…But Jesus, perceiving their malice, said, “Why are you testing me?…” By divine revelation, Jesus knew that they sought to trap him, but this divine revelation showed him how to answer them in a way that would not allow them to trap him. It was also a sign of the spirit abiding in him.
WORD OF KNOWLEDGE (ABOUT)
The Word of knowledge is a supernatural revelation of some detail of the knowledge of God. It is God imparted information of facts and details which are humanly impossible to know. It is receiving a portion of the mind of God, about a given life situation, at any one given moment.
The gift would be used to reveal a vital piece of information that could help deal with certain life situations. It could also be used as a testimony of the indwelling Sprit in the life of the one having it, to cause others to turn to the truth (as in the case of Jesus at the Well).
DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
Being able to perceive the spiritual source behind a word, motive, attitude, mood or action of an individual or group, is the gift of discernment. Spiritual sources are either: Heavenly, Human or Demonic.
An example of this gift, which operates in the lives of all spirit filled believers at various times, in Acts, where the Spirit revealed to Peter that Simon was trying to buy the gifts of God with Money. Significantly, Peter also had a word of knowledge here as well, when he said to Simon, “…. for I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and bondage of iniquity…”
Finally, we look at the last group of gifts of ‘Doing or Power’.
HEALINGS
The supernatural ability to minister physical healing to those who are sick, is a gift of healing. By virtue of the expression ‘gifts of healing’ (plural) in 1 Cor. 12:9, the implication could cover all areas of healing, namely: spiritual, emotional, mental and psychological.
It must be born in mind that this gift is firstly to glorify the name of God as we can see in the scriptures of John, and then for the benefit of the one that has been healed.
The ability to believe God for the impossible in a situation beyond the normal, is a gift of Faith. It is the faith to accomplish specific tasks, face potentially overwhelming circumstances, or to persevere in the face of dangerous situations. We should read Acts 27 sometime this coming week, to see Paul working in the gift of faith.
To try and give us better understanding of what we have been sharing over the last two weeks, let’s have a look at this diagram:
– The fruit of the Spirit can be seen all together (as one unit) in the green section – showing that all parts of the fruit of the Spirit are within us at the same time.
– The Holy Spirit brings ‘gifts’ (plural) with Him.
– The 9 personal gifts as we have been discussing this week and last week, can be seen in three groups.
– Language gifts – made up of Diverse tongues, Interpretation and Prophecy.
– Knowing or Revelation gifts – made up of word of wisdom, word of knowledge and discerning of spirits
– Doing or Power gifts – made up of Healings, Miracles and Faith.
Let’s recap then on what gifts we’ve heard about this week:
Word of Wisdom (How to act or speak) – receiving divine understanding and insight, which enables us to deal with a specific situation or circumstance, is a word of Wisdom.
Word of Knowledge (Know about a situation) – God imparted information of facts and details which are humanly impossible to know in any circumstance we may face, is a word of Knowledge.
Discerning of Spirits – Being able to perceive the spiritual source behind a spoken word, motive, attitude, mood or action of an individual or group, is the gift of discernment. Spiritual sources are either: Heavenly, Human or Demonic.
Healings – The supernatural ability to minister physical healing to those who are sick, is a gift of healing.
Working of Miracles – God working through individuals to perform the impossible or an act contrary to the physical laws of nature, is the working of miracles.
Faith – The ability to believe God for the impossible in a situation beyond the normal, is a gift of Faith
LET’S PRACTICE….
To close the session, once again, take a few minutes to go around your group, practicing the gifts that we’ve learned about over the last two weeks, as was done before in the previous sessions.
VERY IMOPORTANTLY though – The purpose of this exercise is to help us overcome the ‘fear of man’ (or shyness) – by practicing together. PLEASE – IT IS NOT AN EXERCISE TO FORCE GOD TO ACT BY OUR OWN STRENGTH. Rather simply, the more we practice in front of others, the more confident we will become.
As you pray now – remember:
With the language gifts, we must Firstly, Believe and
Secondly, open our mouths and move our tongues – otherwise absolutely nothing is going to happen!
Thirdly, we must get rid of any unforgiveness or anger in us by praying quietly for the Lord’s help. (remember we said forgiveness is a decision not a feeling!).
Also, please be sensitive to those who are not comfortable praying out aloud. Don’t force them to pray, but rather allow them to be still and let the Spirit of the Lord, wash over them during this time.
The Lord be with you as you discover new things – In Him!
Thanks so much for spending this time with me – next week in session 5, we’ll look at some more gifts the Holy Spirit brings to us which we’ve grouped as ‘the gifts of Function’. Until then, Bless you all.
“…time with the Master…” is an on-going series of teachings, about lifestyle in the Church and is published bi-monthly.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
If I look at my life over many years I will recall that there have been many mishaps along the way.
What is a mishap? Webster’s defines it as an unfortunate accident, bad luck, misfortune. In other words, something that has taken place that was not expected, should not have happened. Something that could also have taken place through poor choice, carelessness. There are many ways in which we could see the meaning of the word, mishap.
Often mishaps can lead to disastrous effects which may even last a lifetime after the experience. Sometimes it could be a freak happenstance.
Falling from chair accident, falling down stairs, slipping, stumbling falling man vector illustration
I can’t imagine that there is any one of us that hasn’t, at one time or another, experienced a mishap. Some poor souls go on, time after time suffering mishaps.
Many of these souls become angry and embittered at life, feeling that it has dealt them an unfair blow. A great number openly blame God for their misfortunes.
A mid eighteenth century New Thought author, James Allen said, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you and you will be tomorrow, where your thoughts take you.”
What James Allen was saying is that our lives are the direct result of how and what we think.
In two of the many scriptures relating to the issues of thoughts, Luke 9:7 and Matthew 15:19, Jesus alludes to the fact that thoughts result in emotions and actions. He reassures us that the only humans who are not affected by this are children.
On closer examination of the above, what we will find is that thoughts lead to actions, actions produce result and finally result produces consequence. Either consequence for our benefit or consequence for our obstruction.
The Bible is full of stories to support this fact and probably one of the most well known of all is that of David and Bathsheba.
David was the greatest and most loved King in the history of the Israelites. Loved, not only by his people, but more importantly, by his God. God said David was ‘A man after His own heart.’ He never spoke of any other person in this way. Yet, one night David gazed at a beautiful woman bathing on her rooftop and lusted after her.
David was the king who united Israel and Judah. It was through his lineage that Jesus, the Messiah, would one day be born. As a boy, he was selected to be a musician for King Saul. He also killed the Philistine giant named Goliath. David became best friends with Saul’s son, Jonathan. Saul became very jealous of David and plotted to kill him. Jonathan helped him escape. David became King of Israel and made many mistakes. He was married when he saw Bathsheba. He fell in love with her. She was also married. David arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. He then married Bathsheba. Their firstborn son died, but she later gave birth to Solomon. David had several children with troubled lives. His son, Ammon, raped David’s daughter Tamar. Absalom, David’s third son, resented David. He became king of Hebron. A battle took place between Hebron and Israel. Joab with David’s army killed Absalom. David’s life was filled with sin, heartache, grief, and forgiveness. David ruled from about 1005 to 965 B.C. and was thought to be the ideal king. He was the writer of Psalms.
His thoughts led to him committing adultery and ultimately murder. The consequences of his actions, brought on by thoughts was the death of two sons he deeply loved, unseated from his (physical) throne, and prohibited from building God’s temple. He died a man of great sorrow.
Let’s return to the issue of mishaps. How many of us are blinded to the fact that, what we term as ‘mishaps’ in our lives are in fact, like David, the results of thoughts that led us to do things, or make decisions that, in the end worked against us.
This article was prompted by my realization, a few days ago, that Jesus never faced any mishaps in His thirty-three year lifetime!
What picture emerges from the Gospels, concerning His life?
He was obedient to God and Man. Luke 2:52
He was a man driven by a purpose, from which he never deviated.
He spoke to people and they were healed, He spoke to the elements and the were stilled. He spoke to wine and it multiplied.
He never prayed to the Father asking for help, He simply spoke and it was done!
The issues He faced in His life were the results of His obedience to God
and not His own will. Nothing occurred in His life that could be vaguely
described as a mishap.
Considering these points, we could be forgiven for thinking that He achieved this by virtue of the fact that He was God in a human body. But many places in the Bible testify that he was human in every way, Hebrews 2:17 being only one of these. He was born of the seed of God via a surrogate mother.
We could be forgiven for suggesting that He was surrounded by divine protection and so avoided all mishaps.
What the Bible tells us however, is that Jesus was a man of prayer, constantly in communion with The Father. He said that the Father and He were one. He gained Godly wisdom, enabling Him to always think like The Father thought and thus make decisions that would always protect Him from mishaps.
Finally, we could be forgiven for thinking that we could never be like Jesus or do the things He did. Again Jesus Himself tells us, “I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father.” John 14:12
Let’s say goodbye to mishaps and live for beneficial outcomes.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
I really don’t believe God gets any kind of joy at seeing us suffering in our daily lives, as we go about the challenges we face. God certainly is not like a human being. As a genuine Father, He wishes to see us succeed in getting to know Him. Why would He want us to know Him? Simply put, so that we have someone to help and guide us daily – a spiritual Father of great wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Who better to call on during our day than one who is compassionate and caring?
God is not bound by time as we are, and therefore He can see into our future. From the ‘foundation of time’, God saw our whole life span on this earth. This is quite an astonishing thought. As a result, He knows the correct path for us to travel through time, in order to end up firmly in His spiritual kingdom forever.
In a sense we are very similar to Cinderella in the famous fable. As Cinderella’s Step Mother and sisters were jealous of her, treating her badly, so the world is the same with us. Because our world is filled with people soaked in self-centred natures, we are more often than not, in an uphill battle as our lives unfold. Inclusive in the uphill battles are the down sides – the times when we seem to miss the mark with God. Getting angry with Him, blaming Him, not managing to do the things that please Him or just misunderstanding Him.
We look at fellow believers and think that we fall far short of God’s expectations, while others are constantly flying in their walk with the Lord. We seem to use other believers as a measure, comparing ourselves to them. As we dwell on thoughts of failure, we become more demoralised and eventually believe there is no hope for us.
According to the fable, when the fairy Godmother asked Cinderella what she wanted, Cinderella replied that it didn’t matter what she wanted because it would be impossible for her wishes to be granted. The fairy Godmother’s reply to Cinderella was, “Let me be the judge of that!”
How many times have we thought it impossible to achieve God’s expectations…? In a way we are right! In our own strength it is impossible. However, if we allow the Holy Spirit within us to do HIS work – in us and through us – we will begin to find a greater peace flowing throughout our lives.
God sees us as a finished work. Isn’t that astounding? For those who have received, by grace, God’s gift of salvation, He sent His son to pay the ultimate price so that sin could be removed forever. Not only did Jesus die to remove our sin, but also to put to death our sinful nature which came into the world via Adam’s sin of disobedience. Through the death of Jesus – the scripture in Romans tells us – we are no longer slaves to sin!
As God looks upon us, He sees what we look like ‘in Him’ – our glorified bodies – our future.
If you knew that by tackling a certain difficult task, there was an absolute guarantee of a great reward at the end – you would certainly persevere through that task with excitement. And so it is with the Lord and our lives. For those who have committed their lives to Him, believing by faith that change will come, He sees the finished work and is excited to commit Himself to us on a minute by minute basis. He fully commits to us because He knows His reward is great.
The final product He witnesses is worth everything He has had to put up with from us daily – our every outburst of anger, our every rebellious thought, our every tear shed. As we commit to Him, remember: He no longer sees our weaknesses but through His son, He sees the joy and peace he has longed for us to walk in.
“…And so Cinderella and the handsome Prince were married and lived happily ever after…”
YOU… ARE God’s Cinderella – married to Him – His bride – forever to live happily ever after!
From: “…time with the Master…”
“…time with the Master…” is an on-going series of teachings, about lifestyle in the Church and is published bi-monthly.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
button).
We have heard about the “The Gospel” – the foundation of the Christian faith. Today there seems to be many different versions of how the gospel is interpreted, what the Gospel is or what it means.
The gospel is normally explained by saying, “Jesus died on the cross so that my sins may be forgiven”. This explanation is correct, but is it the fullest answer?
In the Christian faith, a tremendous amount of focus is placed on the death of Jesus, and quite rightly so, for it was the ultimate sacrifice paid for mankind’s sin. A debit that God paid in order that we might have opportunity to have our wrong doings wiped away…as far as the East is from the West. This is an amazing thought and one worthy of our focus.
So…. the gospel shows us how we are forgiven our sin – but then what? Is that the end of the story?
We have seen from past articles that Adam lost his likeness to God through disobedience. He gained a sinful nature and passed this nature down the line of mankind. Therefore, every human being is born with a sinful nature – an engine if you like – that drives us to sin. This drive to sin comes about automatically and is so natural that we are powerless to resist.
All of mankind, irrespective of culture, is bound by this self-centred nature. This all adds up to a pretty miserable and difficult existence. No tolerance or respect for one another.
However, the gospel of the Kingdom shows us the next step in the death and burial of Jesus. A continuation of the story. The scriptures show us that on the third day, Jesus rose from the grave. It also shows us that around 500 people witnessed this event. This is an historical fact.
The Apostle Paul asks a very pertinent question in the book of Romans. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound – God forbid”. Paul goes onto explain that our old sinful NATURE was buried with Jesus – the engine which drives us to sin. Hallelujah – we are therefore no longer slaves to the sinful nature – we don’t have to sin any more.
He continues by saying that if our old sinful nature died and was buried with Jesus, then also we were raised up in the newness of life with him.
So… the gospel of the Kingdom shows us that we have power to overcome the temptation to sin by the fact that Jesus took away our sinful natures. This is worth focussing on!
This makes the gospel real in our personal lives. Yes, Jesus died for our sins, but He also died that we might walk in victory daily!!
Here is a point to ponder – how many services have we attended in honour of the resurrection of Jesus and heard that He took away our sinful natures?
The resurrected Jesus gives us a toolbox to use in our daily lives. This toolbox helps us through our walk on earth. It helps us stand firm as we are sanctified (made more like Jesus) – daily, a bit at a time. The final reward will be when we hear His voice saying to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
The toolbox is the resurrected Jesus – the Holy Spirit! We don’t have to look outside ourselves to find God – He lives within us!
By all means focus on the fact that Jesus died for your sins, but never forget the fact that the resurrected Jesus lives within you – the very character of God, giving you power to overcome the sinful nature and granting you wisdom and knowledge about life circumstances.
When we are confronted by life’s tests and trials, will it be necessary for us to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?”
With His character firmly within in us, the question is, “Will we allow Jesus to do what He needs to?” …..
From: “…time with the Master…”
“…time with the Master…” is an on-going series of teachings, about lifestyle in the Church and is published weekly.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
Hello to all my family, friends, followers and readers.
I am excited, as I’m sure you are, that today, January 1st 2019 has dawned.
I am convinced that as Paul says, “….there are three things that remain – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love”. (1Cor.13:13).
There is no doubt in my mind, that when we have faith in the accomplishment of our dreams – they will come to pass. If we are blessed with the gift of faith, then we are rich.
However, where our faith is weak, there is always hope. Hope keeps us moving through the suffering, pain, loneliness, loss, fear and the many other human traumas that we experience along life’s long rocky road. Hope gives us the strength to push on.
Yet, it is said in these words of wisdom that faith and hope will pass away in due course and the only one to remain, will be love. Of course, the love that these words of wisdom speak about is not the romantic love that is so exciting when we experience it; it is not the love we have for our Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, but it is the love we have of God, ourselves, our fellow humans; the gratitude we experience for the world in which we live in and also the many different experiences we go through in this life.
The mystery in discovering this Love, that the scriptures speak of, is found in it’s advice to: “…….ask and you will be given what you ask for, seek and you will find, ….” (Matt. 7:7).
Have you ever asked God for His love, to come and live inside you, to become part of you? If love is the only lasting quality, then you are wise to ask for it, wise to search for it.
My hope for you is that this year of 2019 will be the best year of your life, that all your dreams will be fulfilled, that you learn how to negotiate the rocky parts of your journey through life, with peace, joy and contentment in your heart.
Above all, I wish that you will find the great everlasting love of God.
Please Note: I will not publish articles on this site until end January, 2019 as I shall be taking a much needed break from all my usual activities, which include my business and writing.
If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
button).
“Consider it all joy”, says James from his book in the new testament, “When you encounter various trials…”
One wonders why somebody would make that kind of statement. James goes on….. “Knowing that the testing (trying) of your faith produces endurance”. He further goes on to say,”And let endurance have its perfect (mature) result, so that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking nothing”.
How often have you heard people say, or have read, that all you and I have is now, this moment in which we breathe and live; laugh and cry, sing and shout? Yesterday exists in our memory, tomorrow in our dreams; it is only today that we hold in our control. Where we make choices based on love or fear, faith, doubt….
who have committed their lives to Him, believing by faith that change will come, He sees the finished work and is excited to commit Himself to us on a minute by minute basis. He fully commits to us because He knows His reward is great.
and passed this nature down the line of mankind. Therefore, every human being is born with a sinful nature – an engine if you like – that drives us to sin. This drive to sin comes about automatically and is so natural that we are powerless to resist.
Jesus – the engine which drives us to sin. Hallelujah – we are therefore no longer slaves to the sinful nature – we don’t have to sin any more.
within you – the very character of God, giving you power to overcome the sinful nature and granting you wisdom and knowledge about life circumstances.
Ad Crucem Christi - The Cross of Christ 