Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Monday, 10 July 2017

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Monday, 19 June 2017

Monday, 5 June 2017

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Monday, 1 May 2017

Selah Monday : Building Spiritual Character Part 2

     No comments

We continue this from the part 1 last week. In case you missed it click here

3) Timothy's third priority in building Christian character is                       DOCTRINE. 

One of the most disturbing facts about Christian young people today is the absence of doctrine to guide their lives.

Doctrine is God's absolutes. It is the teaching of God regarding His standards for our moral and spiritual lives. In Proverbs 4:2 God says, "I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law." Isaiah 29:24 speaks of this malady. He says, "These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine." 

As Dr Ironside says, "These words tell of a time when the spared of Israel will be all righteous because taught of God, and instead of following after the vain imagination of their own hearts, as in the past, they will be brought to the place of perfect subjection to His holy will." That's where we want to be. We want to be in "the place of perfect subjection to His holy will." That can only happen when we begin to understand good doctrine. Good doctrine is the teaching that comes from God. It is the word of God. God's word is truth. It is good doctrine. 

Robert Mounce says, "In a day when heresy was threatening Christian orthodoxy it was supremely important for believers to know with certainty the fundamental truths of their faith. Correct theology is still the best antidote for error even today."

It does make a difference what you believe! Sincerity is not enough! You can be sincerely wrong. You may be very sincere thinking that your plane will leave the 7 airport at 2 P.M. But the pilot doesn't ask what time you think we ought to leave. He's on a schedule. If you arrive at 3 P.M. you miss your plane. If you miss your plane you miss your connections on the other end. You can be in a heap of trouble.

God doesn't tell us when the rapture will occur. He doesn't tell us when we are going to die. He just tells us to be ready. What you believe really is important. The Bible is the Word of God. It isn't wise to second-guess it. God said it. Jesus did it. I believe it. That settles it. Satan, there's no room for you, hit the road.

4. The fourth priority in building spiritual character is to identify and use your SPIRITUAL GIFT.

Do you know what your spiritual gift is? If you are a Christian you have one. Paul gives us a seminar on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12.

He begins by saying, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant..." He goes on to say in verse 4-7, "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all ..." We each have different gifts. They are not given for our enjoyment or to impress others with our outstanding ability in a given area. According to verse 7 "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all ..." 
Paul describes the gifts ape parts of a human body. We can't be all. We can't all be eyes. We can't all be ears. We can't all be thumbs. Each member has its own function. Working together your body can do wonderful things. If everybody thinks they are a nose and starts running—that's trouble with a capital T.

So our task is to discover how God has gifted us and to use that gift to build up His church. When we all do our part the results are wonderful. When we sit back and watch the body struggle we shoot ourselves in the foot and the church limps along never realizing its true potential. 

So Paul admonishes Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14, "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all." Here Paul is describing the gift of pastor-teacher. He describes this gift in Ephesians 4:11-12, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers..."

The pastor-teacher gift is given for a specific purpose. It is "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ..."

Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:14 that this gift was recognized and acknowledged by the laying on of the hands of the elders. In other words the church has recognized and affirmed the giftedness of this man. They have ordained  him to the pastoral ministry.

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

Monday, 24 April 2017

Selah Monday : Building Spiritual Character part 1

   ,  No comments

Building Spiritual Character 

Influence is how your character affects other people. Character is what you are in the dark when no one else is looking.Your character determines your influence on others. The two work together in drawing people to the Lord.

A stressed-out woman was tailgating a man on a busy street. Suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. He does the honest thing and stops at the crosswalk even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn in total frustration at missing her chance to get through the intersection. In the middle of her ranting she hears a tap on her window. She looks
up to see the face of a very serious police officer. The officer orders her to exit her car with her hands up. He takes her to the police station where she is searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a cell.

After a couple of hours, the policeman unlocks the cell door and escorts her back to the booking desk where the arresting officer is waiting with her personal things. He says, "I am very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn. I saw you give him an obscene gesture, and you were cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the "Choose Life" license plate holder, the "What would Jesus Do" bumper sticker, the "Follow Me to Sunday School" bumper sticker and the chrome plated Christian fish on the trunk. Naturally I assumed you had stolen the car."By way of contrast Henry Stanley a journalist went to the interior of Africa to find Dr. Livingstone. Reporting on his time
spent with him Stanley said, "He made me a Christian and never knew he was doing it." That is the influence of a genuinely Christian character.

Some clergymen were discussing their opinions about the various translations of the Bible. One loved the KJV because of its simple beautiful English. Another liked the Revised Version because of its accuracy of translation. Still another chose Moffat's translation  for is up-to-date vocabulary. But the capstone of the conversation came from a minister who said, "I like my mother's translation best. She translated it into life, and it was the most convincing  translation I ever saw." That's the power of spiritual character. rut how do you build that kind of spiritual character?

Four ways to build Spiritual Character

If you want to be a person of influence you must build spiritual character into your life. Paul shares four things that Timothy must give careful attention if he is to be a man of spiritual 
influence. 
1Tim4:13 - 14 reads
 "Till I come, give attention to 
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is 
in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of 
the hands of the eldership." 

1. His first priority is to be READING. 

He says, "Give attention to reading." Some commentators believe that the admonition is to the public reading of God's Word. Others emphasize the need for reading to develop his own personal walk with God. There is much to be said for each of these interpretations. In those days the people were amazingly literate. Children received instruction in the home, in the synagogues, and in public schools. The public reading of the Scriptures in worship services was an essential part at the their education. Notice how often the word "teaching"
occurs in the Word of God, and you will see the high importance God places on public and private education. The public reading of the Word of God in the synagogues was a vital part of their educational system.

Biblical illiteracy is steadily growing throughout the church. Many churches today thrive on praise Songs and popular psychology with a few Bible verses sprinkled in. Christians need to read the Word in the quietness of their own study. Public teaching is no substitute for personal daily devotional Bible reading.


2.  His second priority is to be EXHORTATION.

"Till I come give attention to reading, (and then) exhortation..." teaching has to do with education. It imparts intellectual insight and knowledge. Exhortation is to exert influence on the will. It is to guide another in the way he should go. It is to encourage him to do what he knows is right. It presupposes that the other person knows what is right. It simply encourages and stimulate him to do what he already knows is the right thing to do. Once you have taught your children the difference between right and wrong you need only to exert your influence on him to do what he knows is right. 

Every Christian needs a special Christian friend who will keep reminding you of who you are and use the power of personal influence to keep you on track. A little girl was climbing a mountain with her brother. She became very weary and discouraged. She said, "This mountain is nothing but a pile of rocks!" Her brother replied, "But the rocks are stepping stones for us. They help us climb the mountain! That's exhortation! When you get weary climbing the mountain of Christian experience, remember that those painful rocks are stepping-stones for us.

Isaiah 40-41 are a source of great encouragement and exhortation to Israel. In the last three verses of Isaiah 40 God exhorts his people saying, "He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the
young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

In chapter 41 the people seeing the strength of the enemies were afraid. Instead of surrendering in despair we read in verse 6, "Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, "Be of good courage!" Just a few verses later, in verse 10 we hear God saying, "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." That's the power of exhortation.  We really do need each other. We need to be encouraging one another, helping one another, and strengthening one another. What a sad lot Paul found in Corinth. He exhorts them in 1
Corinthians 1:10-13, "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"
The Greek word translated "plead" (paraklesis) is very closely related to the Greek word for exhortation (parakaleo).

Sunday, 23 April 2017

Saturday, 22 April 2017

Thursday, 20 April 2017

Friday, 14 April 2017

Tuesday, 11 April 2017

Birthmarks of a Christian

     No comments

A Forgiving Spirit

Whoever has been forgiven much should truly seek to forgive others for less. That should be the position of every Christian. They have been forgiven such a great price that they could never pay or repay and had a wrath removed (John 3:36) that they had coming to them. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35), the unmerciful servant had been forgiven of an unpayable debt, but a smaller debt he would not forgive. Jesus said, “If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:15). Shouldn’t Christians be the most forgiving people of all because we’ve been forgiven of all?

A Loving Heart

Can anyone say they’re a brother or sister in Christ and then not love their brothers or sisters in Christ? Someone might tell God “I love you God, but I don’t like your children” and will have an issue with the Father of those children. First John 4:7-8 tells us, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.” We are told, “… through love serve one another love” (Gal. 5:13) ,and love is what it should look like.

A Righteous Life

Don’t let that subtitle worry you because none of us are righteous. It is only Jesus’ righteousness that has been declared for us (2 Cor. 5:21). However, a life of practicing sin in a regular, consistent manner might create doubts about someone’s salvation and probably for good reason. One birthmark should be a growing in grace and the knowledge of God (2 Pet. 3:18), but another is a growing pattern of overcoming sin. The Apostle John writes, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4), and in 1 John 3:6, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” None of us will ever be sinless on this side of glory (1 John 1:8, 10), but we will sin less, just as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

A Hungry Life

I met a young man named Ben who was really eager to learn how to serve others and to live a life of obedience. I told him that he was blessed, and when he asked why, I reminded him of Jesus saying “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt. 5:6). Just like the psalmist, you’ll have this same desire: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). That will be a hunger for His Word (the Bible), for His purpose (Matt. 28:19-20), and for Him (in prayer).

Conclusion

Nobody has every attribute of a Christian down perfectly, so don’t be overly anxious over these birthmarks. The Word gives us a good idea about who a believer is and who may not be. Only God knows the heart, but almost every Christian I meet seems to be forgiving. Most believers I know have loving hearts. A great number of the born-again that I know live like Christians, and some I meet have a hunger to learn more about God. No believer can claim sinlessness, but we should claim we sin less.

Source: Faithinthenews.com