2 Peter 1:8
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NLT)
In the previous verses he talks about responding to the promises of God. And he tells us we should supplement our faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
In other words, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to grow us daily into the character of Christ. This is a lifelong quest. Being a believer is not a onetime use of a seed of faith to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is not just getting the ticket to get on the bus to eternity. There is a price to pay while we are still on this earth.
There is work to be done. We can only do so much with the knowledge we first had after that saving encounter with Jesus. But as we let the Holy Spirit teach us we do grow in our moral excellence. We obtain self-control, patient endurance, godliness, and love for everyone.
As we walk out shining His light to a dark world we open doors for others to step into and as we do so we grow. And as we grow in Christ, so grows our faith. It is an exciting journey!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Owe Nothing
Romans 13:8
Owe nothing to anyone-except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law. (NLT)
Debt is the one word common to almost everyone in our society. Sit back and think about what your life would be like if you had no bills. The only things that come in the mailbox are cards and letters from family and friends. No credit card bills. No insurance bills. No tax bills. No solicitations.
Can you imagine that? Probably not. We have lived with the buy now pay later mentality all our lives. The idea of saving first and then buying has been long forgotten.
Yet this scripture tells us to owe nothing. We are to be debt free owing nothing except love to one another. Isn't it time to work on getting to that position in life? Isn't it time for us to stop spending more than we are make by not balancing what we are taking in with what we are putting on that credit card?
Would this mean giving up things we like, things we have grown accustomed to having? I am sure it would. We might have to drop the cable connection and even the Internet. Dumb down to a simple cell phone. Remove snack food and for some remove cigarettes and candy and beer and even soda and trips to the coffee shop. We might even have to depend on others for help.
What would happen if we started to live with bare necessities as we paid down those bills? First we would remove the worry about the bills and second we would learn to live with less. Simple steps: give to God, pay debt, and then live on what is left.
With God's help we can do anything. We can even change our lifestyle to obey His word.
Owe nothing to anyone-except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law. (NLT)
Debt is the one word common to almost everyone in our society. Sit back and think about what your life would be like if you had no bills. The only things that come in the mailbox are cards and letters from family and friends. No credit card bills. No insurance bills. No tax bills. No solicitations.
Can you imagine that? Probably not. We have lived with the buy now pay later mentality all our lives. The idea of saving first and then buying has been long forgotten.
Yet this scripture tells us to owe nothing. We are to be debt free owing nothing except love to one another. Isn't it time to work on getting to that position in life? Isn't it time for us to stop spending more than we are make by not balancing what we are taking in with what we are putting on that credit card?
Would this mean giving up things we like, things we have grown accustomed to having? I am sure it would. We might have to drop the cable connection and even the Internet. Dumb down to a simple cell phone. Remove snack food and for some remove cigarettes and candy and beer and even soda and trips to the coffee shop. We might even have to depend on others for help.
What would happen if we started to live with bare necessities as we paid down those bills? First we would remove the worry about the bills and second we would learn to live with less. Simple steps: give to God, pay debt, and then live on what is left.
With God's help we can do anything. We can even change our lifestyle to obey His word.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Show Me
Luke 3:8
Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. (NLT)
Show me! That is the unofficial motto of the state of Missouri. We tend to make a joke out of it when we want someone to prove what they are saying. We say "I'm from Missouri. Show me!".
Being a Christian is more than going to church on Sunday and more than reading the Bible. It is not how well we follow the doctrine of the church we attend. It is not how well be obey the Ten Commandments.
We may appear to be following Jesus because of what we let others see about us. We act the part very well because we are focused on doing and saying the right things. But has there really been change in our lives?
How we make ourselves appear to other does not make us a Christian any more than attending a church every week does. When we have asked Jesus into our heart and allowed the Holy Spirit to change us, we do not have to do anything. He changes us from the inside out and others see a new person because of who we are and not because of how we decide to be.
The way we live changes because we have yielded our lives to Him and He changes us and those changes continue to occur as we walk with Jesus each day.
Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. (NLT)
Show me! That is the unofficial motto of the state of Missouri. We tend to make a joke out of it when we want someone to prove what they are saying. We say "I'm from Missouri. Show me!".
Being a Christian is more than going to church on Sunday and more than reading the Bible. It is not how well we follow the doctrine of the church we attend. It is not how well be obey the Ten Commandments.
We may appear to be following Jesus because of what we let others see about us. We act the part very well because we are focused on doing and saying the right things. But has there really been change in our lives?
How we make ourselves appear to other does not make us a Christian any more than attending a church every week does. When we have asked Jesus into our heart and allowed the Holy Spirit to change us, we do not have to do anything. He changes us from the inside out and others see a new person because of who we are and not because of how we decide to be.
The way we live changes because we have yielded our lives to Him and He changes us and those changes continue to occur as we walk with Jesus each day.
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