YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE!!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JULY 9, 2020.

SUBJECT: YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE! 

Memory verse: ""Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, without walls." (Proverbs 25 vs 28.)

READ: Proverbs 8 vs 32 - 36: 

8:32: Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. 

8:33: Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. 

8:34: Blessed is the man who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the post of My doors. 

8:35: For whoever finds Me finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD; 

8:36: But he who sins against Me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate Me love death.

INTIMATION: 

How long you stay in your problem depends on your reaction to the problem. "Your attitude determines your altitude." How quick you can come out of the problem depends on your attitude in the problem. You get trapped in the problem if your choices within the problem are not right choices. Our attitudes color our whole personality. We cannot always choose what happens to us, but we can choose our attitude toward each situation. The secret to a happy heart is filling our minds with thoughts that are true, pure, and lovely; thoughts that dwell on the good things in life (Philippians 4 vs 8). This should be our secret as we face the struggles of daily living. 

The children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years when the actual journey could have taken them days. Experts have calculated that the Israelites could have walked across the wilderness in ninety days, but it took them forty years. Why? It is because of their attitude while in their problem in the wilderness. They were forgetful, doubtful, unfaithful, and ungrateful. Their negative attitudes only caused them to rebel even more and bring about even greater troubles. It eroded their faith in God and encouraged thoughts of giving up and turning back. 

How you conduct yourself in the problem will determine how long you stay in the problem. It took God one day to get the children of Israel out of Egypt; it took Him years to get Egypt out of them. Murmuring, complaining, rebelling against spiritual authority, refusing to forgive another, and disobedience to the known will of God can keep you in the problem for the rest of your life. Stop it!

Do you know that some people, even believers, have been trapped in the same problem for years due to their attitude. Often such attitude runs in a family line that they become trapped in the same problem of their father, and the daughters become trapped in the same problem of the mother. The Bible calls such problems generational curses. When the same bad habits control you and those you love from generation to generation, you are mired in the pits of an inherited problem that can only be resolved by the supernatural deliverance of the Holy Spirit. 

I really don't think that anybody would like to be trapped in a problem, not even you reading this message! With God no problem is intractable, because nothing is impossible with Him. Therefore, don't be ensnared in your problem, which is a fallout of your attitude. It's time to break off from that bondage and prepare yourself to receive your provision. Aristotle said, "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; the hardest victory is the victory over self." 

God has guiders or signposts to guide you through the problems to your promised land. These signposts are to be honored and obeyed. Remove them, ignore them, or try to take short cuts, and you will die in your problem. God has given us a Road Map—His Word. Within the supernatural Guide—His Word—are many "guiders" or "signposts" leading out of the wilderness. Among them are faith, diligence, excellence, knowledge, patience, and integrity. Look at your checklist to find out where you are lagging.

The children of Israel were faced with two choices; wander aimlessly in the wilderness for years, or go directly to their provision. Their attitude determined their choices. We are faced with the same choices; in which direction are you going? Are you going to stay in your problem, or are you going to walk into your provision? It is time to walk away from the problem. What you walk away from determines what God brings you to. You must live Egypt before you can reach your promise land. Look at your attitudes and examine what you allow to enter your mind and what you choose to dwell on. You may need to make some changes. Go straight to God, and surrender all to Him. Listen to Him, and obey.

The path to open rebellion against God begins with dissatisfaction and skepticism, then moves to grumbling about both God and present circumstances. Next come bitterness and resentment, followed finally by rebellion and open hostility. If you are often dissatisfied, skeptical, complaining, or bitter—beware! These attitudes lead to rebellion and separation from God. Any choice to side against God is a step in the direction of letting go of Him completely and making your own way through life which leads to a dark end. 

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of raw and complete obedience to You, and let Your Word be my guide in all I do, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING CHRIST JESUS

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13" 

Devotion : Apostle Paul's prayer in the opening scripture is worthy of note. The moment a believer in Christ Jesus begins to stop believing, doubt sets in and he/she begins to lose many things. Firstly, he loses the flow of the power of God to get things done because where there is doubt, faith is absent, and God needs our faith in Him to bless us (Hebrews 11:6). Secondly, he loses his trust in the Word of God and such a person seldom studies the Bible. Finally, he loses fellowship with other believers because he does not have the confidence to fellowship with Christians. Jesus Christ counseled Apostle Thomas to continue believing so that doubt and unbelief can be destroyed (John 20:27). Christians need to pray for one another to be filled with joy and peace in believing so that their hope in the Holy Scriptures and the many promises of God therein will be kindled until they have experienced them. Dear beloved, is your joy and peace in Christ and the scriptures still alive? Share your comments here!

GOD’S LOVING DISCIPLINE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY JULY 8, 2020.

SUBJECT: GOD’S LOVING DISCIPLINE! 

Memory verse: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3 vs 19.)

READ: Hebrews 12 vs 3 - 11:

12:3: For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
12:4: You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
12:5: And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
12:6: For whom the Lord loveth he chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.

12:7: If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

12:8: But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 

12:9: Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" 

12:10: For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best for them, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present for the present, but painful; nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it

INTIMATION: 

God deals with His children as a parent deals with his or her child. Discipline is for correction, education, and growth. Discipline is for the purpose of molding our characters in order that we will be prepared for eternal dwelling. While in persecution, therefore, one must remember that the love of God is being manifested in one’s life because God is using trying times in order to mold one for eternal dwelling. God wants no spoiled children in heaven, and those discipline is necessary in order to train our minds to be able to dwell with Jesus who suffered the same tribulations. 

Discipline proves you are a member of the family of God. Anyone who rejects the discipline of God is considered illegitimate by God Himself. Jesus was the Son of God, but did nothing He was not instructed to do by His Father in heaven. Yet Jesus suffered in God's boot camp (Hebrews 5 vs 8). God wants to make us mature and complete, not to keep us from pain. Therefore, we should respond to discipline (chastening) gratefully, as the appropriate response we owe a loving Father.

God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish but to bring people back to Him. Instead of complaining about our struggles, we should see them as opportunities for our spiritual growth. For instance, if you are lukewarm in your devotion to God, He may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude, and He uses only loving discipline. You can avoid God’s discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying the Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can re-ignite our zeal for the Lord when we allow Him to work in our heart.

It is a blessing to be disciplined by God when we do wrong. At times God must discipline us to help us. This is similar to a loving parent disciplining his child. The discipline is not very enjoyable to the child, but it is essential to teach him or her right from wrong. Also, it’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but His discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of His love, and ask Him what He is trying to teach you. Realize that God is urging you to follow His path instead of stubbornly going your own way. 

Discipline sounds negative to many people because some disciplinarians are not loving. God, however, is the source of all love. He doesn’t punish us because He enjoys inflicting pain but because He is deeply concerned about our development. He knows that in order to become morally strong and good, we must learn the difference between right and wrong. Correction is a vital part of discipline, and discipline means “to teach and to train.” 

It’s difficult to know when God has been disciplining us until we look back on the situation later. However, not every calamity that happens to us comes directly from God, of course. But if we rebel against God and refuse to repent when He has identified some sin in our lives, God may use guilt, crises, or bad experiences to bring us back to Him. Sometimes, however, difficult times come when we have no flagrant sin just like Job. Our response then should be patience, integrity, and trust that God like Job also. 

In trying or difficult situations don’t try to second-guess what God is doing. Rather, in an act of spiritual discipline, raise your hands in the darkest night of your life and praise God in heaven for the victory that you can only see through the eyes of faith. Then and only then will you see the miracles of God's provision. A man on his knees can see more and farther into the future than a man on a mountaintop. Trials force us to pray with an intensity that causes God to incline his ear toward our cry.

Prayer: Abba Father, I desire Your loving discipline to put me on the right path, and mold me to Your child worthy of eternity with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GOD’S PROMISE PRECEDES TRIAL!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JULY 7, 2020.

SUBJECT: GOD’S PROMISE PRECEDES TRIAL! 

Memory verse: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers." (Isaiah 30 vs 20.)

READ: James 1 bs 2 - 5:

1:2: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various troubles,
2:3: knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
2:4: But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
2:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, and without reproach, and it will be given him.

INTIMATION: 

Everything God offers man on earth comes to him in the form of a promise. And the promise precedes His trial. However, trial comes before triumph, the cross comes before the crown. Darkness comes before the dawning. Promises come before problems, and problems come before provision. Gold is tried, and purified in fire to get the finest of it. So also, are God's children purified in the furnace of adversity. The brightest crowns that are worn in heaven have been tried, smelted, polished, and glorified through the furnace of a great problem. 

After you receive a promise, a loving God takes you into a tailor-made problem, revealing to you the spiritual, emotional, moral, and financial imperfections in your life. Problems will make you neither weak nor strong, but they will reveal what you are. The greater the promise, the greater the problem. The magnitude of the promise God gives you determine the intensity of the problem you are preordained to encounter. If God gives you a million-dollar promise, you can count on a million-dollar problem. The wilderness comes before the provision in the promise. The diamonds (the promises) is in the dust (the problems).

Many people believe that Christianity should offer a problem-free life. Consequently, as life gets tough, they draw back disappointed. Instead, they should determine to prevail with God through life’s storms. Problems and difficulties are painful but inevitable; you might as well see them as opportunities for growth. You can’t prevail with God unless you have troubles to prevail over. When we are burdened, we may feel defeated. But our burdens can make us stronger and develop qualities in us that will prepare us for the future. We cannot be over-comers without troubles to overcome. 

As believers, we feel that if the Holy Spirit leads us, it will always be “beside the still waters” (Psalm 23 vs 2). But that is not necessarily true. He lead Jesus into the wilderness for a long and difficult time of testing, and He may also lead us into difficult situations. When facing trials first make sure you haven’t brought them on yourself through sin or unwise choices. If you find no sin to confess or unwise behavior to change, then ask God to strengthen you for the test. Finally, be careful to follow faithfully wherever the Holy Spirit leads.

In our memory verse, the Lord gave His people the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but He promised to be with them, teach them, and guide them during hard times. God expects a lot from us, and many times following Him can be painful, but He always acts out of His love for us. Next time you go through a difficult time, try to appreciate the experience and grow from it, learning what God wants to teach you. God may be showing you His love by patiently walking with you through adversity.

How you conduct yourself in the problem will determine how long you stay in the problem. It took God one day to get the children of Israel out of Egypt; it took Him years to get Egypt out of them. The children of Israel murmured, complained, made another god for themselves, rebelled against Moses, and so on. And all these God hate. Experts have calculated that the Israelites could have walked across the wilderness in ninety days, but it took them forty years. When we face hardship and discouragement, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. Suffering is the training ground for Christian maturity. It develops our patience and makes our final victory sweet. 

Some people say that troubles are the result of sin or lack of faith, but they may be a part of God’s plan for believers. Our problem can help us look upward and forward, instead of inward (Mark 13 vs 35 - 36; Philadelphia 3 vs 13 - 14), they can build strong character (Romans 5 vs 3 - 4), and they can provide us with opportunities to comfort others who also are struggling (Second Corinthians 1 vs 3 - 5). Your troubles may be an indication that you are taking a stand for Christ. When you do so, you are experiencing the privilege of showing that you are worthy of God’s kingdom (Second Thessalonians 1 vs 11).

Prayer: Abba Father, I know you want to make me mature and complete, even in my trials. I thank You for promising to be with you in rough times. Give me the strength to endure, and help me to help solve my problems, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SENSE KNOWLEDGE FAITH!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MOMDAY JULY 6, 2020.

SUBJECT : SENSE KNOWLEDGE FAITH!

Memory verse: "Therefore they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will you do?" (John 6 vs 30.)

READ: John 20 vs 24 - 29: 

20:24: Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 

20:25: The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them,  “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

20:26: And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”

20:27: Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your fingers here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

20:28: And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

20:29: Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet they believed."

INTIMATION:

One of the greatest dangers that we face as believers is sense knowledge faith. Until we see or feel we are not convinced. That is no faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11 vs 1). God demands that we accept His Word as it is, the very Word of God; and that we act upon it, independent of any feelings or any evidence that the eyes can see or the ears hear or hands can touch or mouth can taste or nose can smell. We should have confidence that God will bring about His promises because He has made them on the basis of His existence and His oath (Hebrews 6 vs 18 - 19).

In the passage we read today, Thomas believed because he had personally touched the body of Jesus. Those who believe without having touched and talked to Jesus have greater faith. They are blessed because they have believed without the empirical evidence for which Thomas sought. Therefore, those today who would seek a miracle from God in order to believe are actually struggling with their own faith. They are asking God to take away what blessedness they have by believing without seeing. 

Those who would truly believe today will ask for no miracles from God because they do not want God to take away their blessedness. They seek to walk by faith not by sight (Second Corinthians 5 vs 7). They are assured that God is pleased with their faith because they continually allow Him to lead them through His Word. Therefore, have your own faith in God. Believe the Word without reservations, speak out your believe with full assurance, and in Jesus’ Name claim the promise in the Word, and you will have what you say!

Most believers are engulfed in Thomas' kind of faith; "Unless I see and touch, I will not believe." That is sense knowledge faith (sense of sight and touch). The Jews then had faith in what they see and hear or feel. Up to now, this enemy continues to be bane of many Christians. For instance, someone comes to a pastor sick. He is in great pain. When the pastor prayed for him, using the Word in Isaiah 53 vs 4 - 5, the pain leaves him instantly,  he says, "Thank God I am healed." When he is asked, "How do you know you are healed?" And he replies, "The pain is gone." Can you understand that? He has no faith in the Word. It is meaningless to him. He only believed he is healed because the pain is gone, not that the Word said he is healed. 

Had he believed the Word, instead of going to the pastor, he would have looked up and said, "Father, you laid this disease on Jesus, and it is unseemly for me to bear it. I dishonor You in bearing it. So, in the name of Jesus, I command it to leave me, and I command Satan to take it with him. I have no use for it, I refuse to have it."  In trusting the Word, and Jesus’ name, he gets his personal deliverance. He would have honored the Word, and the Name, implied lukewarm honored the Father and Jesus. And he would have learned to take his place in Christ.

The instance given above indicates that the person is healed either by the faith of the pastor, or better still by his faith in the pastor's faith. Such persons are like the one in James 5 vs 14 who calls for the elders to come and pray over him and anoint him with oil, and prayer of the elders heals him. The only faith he had was in the elders. This is typical of sense knowledge faith. He can see the elders, he can hear them pray, can feel their hands upon his head, and the anointing with the oil. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You mean what you say, and say what You mean. Your Word is forever settled in heaven. My complete trust and confidence is in You and Your Word, and no lies from the pit of hell can take this away from me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

A PRAYER-LESS CHRISTIAN!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JULY 5, 2020.

SUBJECT: A PRAYER-LESS CHRISTIAN! 

Memory verse: "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” (First Timothy 4 vs 8.)

READ: First Timothy 2 vs 1 - 4:

2:1: Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, interceptions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

2:2: For kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

2:3: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

2:4: who desire all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

INTIMATION:

There is no denying the fact that the lack of prayer is the undoing of some members of the body of Christ. A prayer-less Christian is a weaponless, powerless, and defenseless Christian. He or she is a toy in the hands of the devil and his agents—the demons. A prayer-less Christian is very far away from God and cannot seek Him. Prayer is the master key to godliness. It should be as natural as breathing and as enjoyable as eating. It will be as unconscious as our communication with each other. While doing all these we must not lose the fact that we are communicating in fellowship with someone superior to us but has given us the privilege to come to Him. 

Let us take a cue from the prayer habit of Our Messiah Jesus Christ. The Scripture in Mark 1 vs 35, gives us an example of the importance of prayer to Jesus: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” If prayer was important for Jesus, then it must be important for His followers. Jesus was a man of prayer. He taught prayer, not as a slavish duty, but as a glorious privilege. I use to wonder why He needed to pray. But He needed that because He took His human form, and lived the human life. I am convinced that He didn't draw upon the secret resources that belonged to Him during His earthly ministry, more than it is possible for us who live and walk in His Name. 

Pray, even if you have to get up very early in the morning to do it. It’s vitally important to: (1) seek the Lord before your busy schedule takes over your thoughts; (2) withdraw from noise and demands so you can focus on God; (3) take Jesus’ attitude of regular communion with the Father; (4) reflect on the priorities Jesus had for His life; (5) determine to pray on a more regular basis, not just in times of crisis. Outside of God we can do nothing. Jesus emphasized this fact in John 15 vs 5, when He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, Bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We seek God through prayer and His Word. Believing that God exists is only the beginning; even the demons believe that much (James 2 vs 19 - 20). God will not settle for mere acknowledgment of His existence. He wants a personal, dynamic relationship with you that will transform your life. Those who seek God will find that they are rewarded with His intimate presence. God finds easy to reach us as we constantly visit Him. Our visit to the Lord is fellowshipping with Him in prayers. By constant visit, we make ourselves available for His use. We will be in that prized inner-circle with Him; one of the trusted ones.

Although God is all-powerful and all-knowing, He has chosen to let us help Him change the world through our prayers. How this works is a mystery to us because of our limited understanding, but it is a reality. The Christian’s most powerful resource is communion with God through prayer. The results are often greater than we thought were possible. Some people see prayer as a last resort to be tried when all else fails. This approach is backward. Prayer should come first. Because God’s power infinitely greater than ours, it only makes sense to rely on it, especially because God encourages us to do so. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for the privileged invitation to constantly commune with You in prayer, knowing that without You, I can do nothing. Give me the grace to live a prayerful life in communion with You at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GROW TO BE LIKE JESUS!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JULY 04, 2020.

SUBJECT: GROW TO BE LIKE CHRIST!

Memory verse: "But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head—even Christ." (Ephesians 4 vs 15 .)

READ: Ephesians 4 vs 11 - 15:

4:11: And He Himself gave some to be apostles; some prophets; some, evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 
4:12: for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 
4:13: 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;
4:14: that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
4:15: but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—even Christ

INTIMATION:

God created us to grow, and he wants us to grow. His ultimate goal is for us to mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus Christ. The Word of God, the people around us, and the circumstances we encounter in life are all used by God to mold us. Sadly millions of Christians grow older but never grow up. They are stuck in perpetual spiritual infancy, remaining in diapers and booties. The reason is that they never intended to grow. They never allow the world to pass through them while passing through the world. The Word of God, the people they interact with, and the circumstances they encounter in life hardly influence them from shifting their position. 

Spiritual growth is not automatic. It takes an intentional commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow, and persist in growing. Discipleship—the process of becoming like Christ—always begins with a decision, the decision to respond when Jesus calls you. Even our response is not automatic, it may take some time. Peter, James, and John were called on three different occasions by Jesus Christ before they eventually got committed: Jesus called them first when the disciples of John the Baptist followed Jesus (John 1 vs 35 - 42), the second time at the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1 vs 16 - 18), and thirdly at the Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5 vs 1 - 11).

When the first disciples chose to follow Jesus, they didn't understand all the implications of their decision. They simply responded to Jesus' invitation. Accepting the invitation is all you need to start. When you get committed to the call, the growth process begins, because your life is shaped mostly by what you are committed to. They can develop you or mar you, but either way, they will define you. If you tell me what you are committed to, I'll tell you what you will be in the years to come. We become whatever we are committed to. 

Usually many people miss God's purpose for their lives at the point of committing themselves, or being obligated to their choice in life. Many are also afraid of getting committed or obligated to anything, and prefer to just drift through life. Many others

make half-hearted commitments to competing values, which leads to frustration and mediocrity. And many more make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as becoming wealthy or famous, and end up disappointed and bitter.

Every choice you make has eternal consequences, so you had better choose wisely. The Bible in Second Peter 3 v 10 - 11, the apostle Peter warns us thus, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness," Realizing that the earth will be burned up, we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal and not be bound to earth and its treasures or pursuits. 

One major parameter for measuring a mature Christian, the apostle Paul says, is “speaking the truth in love.” This sounds so simple, but it seems so hard for us to do. Some of us are fairly good at speaking the truth, but we forget to be loving. Some of us are good at being loving, but we don’t have it in us to level with others if the truth is painful. The instruction here is to do both: Speak the truth, but do it in a loving manner. Think of the trouble we would spare ourselves if we followed this practice, especially in the church! When you have a problem with another believer, don’t go to someone else with it. Go directly to that person, and speak the truth in love.

How can we grow more and more like Christ? The answer is that Christ forms us into a body—into a group of individuals who are united in their purpose and in their love for one another and for the Lord. If an individual stumbles, the rest of the group is there to pick that person up and help him or her walk with God again. If a person sins, he or she can find restoration through the church (Galatians 6 vs 1) even as the rest of the body continues to witness to God’s truth. 

What are you committed to? Do you spend more of your time piling up possessions, or striving to develop Christlike character? As part of Christ’s body, do you reflect part of Christ’s character and carry out your special role in His work? Now that we have been warned about the impending end, the choice is yours. 

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of truth and commitment in You that I may never shift my focus on You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!