WHO IS A CHRISTIAN?

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2020.

SUBJECT : WHO IS A CHRISTIAN?

Memory verse: 

"

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

"

 (Acts 11 vs 26.)

READ: Romans 10 vs 8 - 13:

10:8: But what does it say? “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
10:9: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10:10: For with the heart one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
10:11: For the scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
10:12: For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
10:13: For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

INTIMATION:

Christianity is both private and public, with heart-belief and mouth-confession. Since you now believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and that eternal life comes through Him (First John 5 vs 5), you will begin to act as Christ directs, and you will find help in your daily problems and in your prayer; you will be empowered to serve God and do His will; and you will become part of God’s plan to build up His church. Our relationship to God and the power He provides result in obedience. Having received forgiveness and eternal life, we are now daily challenged to live that life with His help. 

A Christian is one who believe inwardly and outwardly that Jesus’ death has allowed God to offer them forgiveness and eternal life as a gift. A Christian is anyone who has the Spirit of God living in him or her. If you have sincerely trusted Christ for your salvation, and acknowledged Him as Lord, then the Holy Spirit lives within you and you are a Christian. You can be assured that you have the Holy Spirit because Jesus promised that He would send Him. They have accepted that gift through faith and are seeking to live a life of obedient gratitude for what God has done for them. 

Have you ever been asked, “How do I become a Christian?” The passage we read today gives you the beautiful answer. Salvation is as close as your own lips and heart. People think it must be a complicated process, but it is not. If we believe in our heart and say with our mouth that Christ is the risen Lord, we will be saved. Christ has provided our salvation through His incarnation (God in human form) and resurrection. God’s salvation is right in front of us. He will come to us wherever we are. All we need do is to respond and accept His gift of salvation. 

A Christian, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, is no more dominated by his or her sinful nature, but rather is controlled by the Holy Spirit. All of us would have been dominated by our sinful nature if Jesus hadn’t offered us a way out. Once we have said yes to Jesus, we will want to continue following Him, because His way brings life and peace. We are united with Christ in His death, our evil desires and bondage to sin died with Him. Now, united by faith with Him in His resurrection life, we have unbroken fellowship with God and freedom from sin’s hold on us. 

If you are a Christian, you should act like it. To be a Christian means more than just making good resolutions and having good intentions; it means taking the right actions. This is a straightforward step that is as simple as putting on your clothes. You must rid yourself of all evil practices and immorality. Then you can commit yourself to what Christ teaches. If you have made such a commitment to Christ, are you remaining true to it? What old clothes do you need to strip off? How would those closest to you describe your Christianity? Do they think you live so that God will accept you, or they know that you live because God had accepted you in Christ?

The Christian real home is where Christ lives (John 14 vs 2 - 3). This truth provides a different perspective on our lives here on earth. To “set your mind on things above” means to look at life from God’s perspective and to seek what He desires. This provides the antidote to materialism; we gain the proper perspective on material goods when we take God’s view of them. It also provides the antidote to sensuality. By seeking what Christ desires, we have the power to break our obsession with pleasure and leisure activities. 

Daily we must consciously choose to center our life on God. Use the Bible to discover God’s guidelines, and then follow them. In every perplexing situation, ask yourself, “What would Jesus want me to do?” When the Holy Spirit points out what is right, do it eagerly. Christ gives us power to live for Him now, and He gives us hope for the future—Hw will return. Once one has given himself to the lordship of Jesus, then it is his desire to follow after the directions of God’s word. 

Prayer: Abba Father, I believe in Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and the substitutionary work He did for me on the cross. I confess Him as my personal Lord and Savior, and empty myself before You that You fill me in with Your grace, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

HOW TO BE BLESSED BY GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2020.

SUBJECT : HOW TO BE BLESSED BY GOD!

Memory verse: 

"

Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

"

 (Luke 6 Acts vs 21.)

READ: Matthew 5 vs 3 - 12:

5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:4: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5:5: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
5:7: Blessed are the merciful , for they shall obtain mercy.
5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
5:10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:11: Blessed are you, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
5:12: Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets which were before you.

INTIMATION:

Jesus, in the longest recorded sermon, described the traits He was looking for in His followers. He said that God blesses those who live out those traits. Each beatitude is an almost direct contradiction of society’s typical way of life. In the last beatitude, Jesus even points out that a serious effort to develop these traits is bound to create opposition. The best example of each trait is found in Jesus Himself. If our goal is to become like Him, applying the beatitudes will challenge the way we live each day.

Each beatitudes tells how to be blessed by God. Blessed means more than happiness. It implies the fortunate or enviable state of those who are in God’s kingdom. The Beatitudes don’t promise laughter, pleasure, or earthly prosperity. Being “blessed” by God means the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. To find hope and joy, the deepest form of happiness, follow Jesus no matter what the cost.

The “Poor in spirit”—not proud, conceited, or arrogant are blessed. This character trait clashes with the worldly values of pride and personal independence. We must recognize our humanity, spiritual poverty, and destitution (Romans 7 vs 24 - 25). We must empty ourselves of self-reliance and learn to be humble before God. Those with such an attitude of mind will submit to the kingdom reign of God, and consequently are blessed.

Mourning here is grieving over spiritual poverty and sinfulness. The humble person recognizes his or her spiritual poverty, and thus mourns over his or her inadequacies before God. This character trait clashes with the worldly value of happiness at all cost. 

The meek—lowly, mild, gentle, unselfish , not arrogant or self-seeking, will inherit the earth in the sense that they will enjoy the greatest that life has to offer. Because they understand the brevity of life and the temporary nature of material things, their concentration of thought is on that which is above. This character trait clashes with the worldly value of seeking power, and materialism.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who realize their sinful condition and mourn over their sin, hunger and thirst after the justification that can come only from God by His grace. Such people seek the knowledge to God through His Word. It is the Word of God that will supply the knowledge of how to be justified of one’s sin. God is the source of righteousness. 

Those who are merciful sympathize, and have pity on others. They thus seek to relieve the suffering of others because God has had mercy on them in relation to their sin. Their mercy will reap mercy from God. This trait clashes with the worldly value of strength without feeling.

The “Pure in heart” are sincere, without guile or a vile heart of evil motives, and do not seek to find evil on others. They will understand the pure nature of God, and thirst after such purity. This trait clashes with the worldly value of deception.

Peacemakers are those who recognize their own sinfulness will seek peace of mind with others. Such are sons of God for they portray the spirit of God in their relationship with others. They are not contentious, nor do they have a spirit to argue with others. This character trait clashes with the worldly value of personal peace being pursued without concern for the world’s chaos.

God’s way of living usually contradicts the world’s. If you want to live for God, you must be ready to say and do what seems strange to the world. You must be willing to give when others take, to love what others hate, to help when others abuse. By giving up your own rights in order to serve others, you will one day receive everything God has in store for you.

Rejoice is the attitude of those who truly understand the inner nature of the Christian life. They are able to rejoice in persecution for they know that life exists beyond this world. The fact that you are being persecuted proves that you have been faithful; faithless people would be unnoticed. In the future God will reward the faithful by receiving them Into His eternal kingdom, where there is no more persecution. 

The Beatitudes are a standard of conduct for all believers. They contrast kingdom values (what is eternal) with worldly values (what is temporary). These Beatitudes are not multiple choice—pick what you like and leave the rest. They are interwoven and must be taken as a whole. They describe what we should be like as Christ’s followers.

Prayer: Abba Father, in You all things consist. Give me the grace to manifest the character traits after the order of my Messiah Jesus Christ that I may be blessed, in the mighty Name of Jesus I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND MATURITY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020.

SUBJECT : SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND MATURITY!

Memory verse: 

"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."

 (Ephesians 4 vs 13.)

READ: Mark 4 vs 26 - 29:

4:26: And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground;
4:27: and should sleep by night and rise day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
4:28: For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  

4:29: But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.

INTIMATION:

Spiritual growth can be compared to human’s need for food, occasioned by hunger, and the process of farming for food production. No human can survive without food, and hunger drives them to feed. First, the human’s need for food necessitates the farming to produce food. The farmer procures the land, and clears the land for cultivation. The ridges are done, the seeds are planted. Then the farmer waters the plants, and adds nutrients (for example Fertilizer) as the case may be. Weeds grow in the farm and the plants grow among the weeds. The farmer weeds the farm, and tends the plants to maturity. The plants mature and bear fruits, and the fruits are harvested. 

Christ is the farmer, and invades our lives at conversion. When we open our lives, He plants the seed of the Word in our hearts (Luke 8 vs 11). While some open their lives to Him the first time He knocks on the door, most of us are resistant and defensive. The moment we open our ourselves to Christ (the farmer), He secures the land, which is our heart, for planting of the seed. The land is cleared, and ridges made. There are a lot more work of watering, weeding, and tending the farm that has to be done. 

Yes, you have given your heart, but a lot more of your life are yet to be surrendered to Him. God is not worried that you have given as much as you understand at that moment. Once Christ has entered, clears the land, makes the ridges, and plants the seed, He begins the process of watering, weeding, and tending to get the best of you. Though there will be struggles and battles, but the outcome will never be in doubt.  God has promised that ‘He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.’ (Philippians 1 vs 6.) God promises that His harvest will be magnificent and prolific—the best fruit ever grown. 

Many spiritual functions parallel physical functions. As our bodies hunger and thirst, so do our souls. But our souls need spiritual food and water. We would not think of depriving our bodies of food and water when they hunger and thirst. The living Word, Jesus Christ, and the written Word, the Bible, can satisfy our hungry and thirsty souls. God allows hunger in our lives to make us look for food (His provision). Hunger is tantamount to the problems God allows in our lives, to make us always come back to Him. These life's challenges usually "soften us up," and reminds us of our need for Him. 

The maturity of the plant is tantamount to our conforming to Christ, and becoming the disciples of Christ, and bearing fruits after His type, our type. Christlikeness is our eventual destination, but the journey involves a lot of activities. These activities start with our believing through worship, belonging to him through fellowship, and becoming like Him through discipleship. Every day God wants you to become a little more like Him. 

It is easy to grow impatient with God and feel like giving up hope because things are moving too slowly. When we are close to a situation, it is difficult to see progress. But when we look back, we can see that God never stopped working. We should always do spiritual checkups on ourselves. We should look for a growing awareness of Christ’s presence and power in our lives. If we’re not actually seeking to grow closer to God, we are drawing farther away from Him. 

Your witness may be weak and your efforts may seem to have slow or small influence, but the Word of God is a powerful growth agent. Keep your eyes on the great harvest to come and don’t let bad soil or weeds discourage you from faithful service and witness.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the seed of Your Word planted in my heart. I ask for Your tending to the seed, and nurturing the growing plant that it may grow and produce fruit after the likeness of Christ, as the fruit abide my joy will be full in You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

To help you spiritual growth process, think about what you are doing that might be spiritually ineffective or obsolete. Perhaps you need to intensify your study and find helps that provide more substance. Perhaps you need to grow by engaging in new areas of service that express your faith. Seek God for how He would help you keep growing in your faith.