Spiritual Growth

by A Living Flame for Christ and the Sabbath
8/09/2008 / Christian Living

I look at you, you ask Me to change your life but are you willing to change?

You ask Me to mend your ways, but are you willing to be mended?

You ask Me to mould and fashion you but are you willing to be, what I want you to be?

You ask Me for deliverance but truly do you want to be delivered?

My children, My sons and daughters, your groaning and your moaning reach My ears

They fall often on deaf hears, because I know your hearts

Your cries are pathetic to Me, because I know you really don’t want to change

Your cries are dispassionate to Me, for you do not learn the lessons I want you to learn

It cannot be your way!

It must be My way!

Are you willing to be changed?

To be mended and moulded?

Are you willing to be delivered?

Truly are you ready?

If you are, then know I am more than ready!

(Friends please allow the Lord to speak to You thru this message and let us both allow Him full right over us for a total and new life in Christ amen.)

“Come Holy Spirit, please touch each and every heart that will come across this message. Open our hearts to Your Word and Your Truth and let us walk in total abandonment to You. Bless us all and keep us from the snares of the enemy. Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit now and forevermore.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

Determine whether you are – Progressive? Moderate? Traditional? Evangelical?

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Christian Profiles

Progressive Christians are gifted with powers of critical thought, a passion for social justice, and a respect for people who hold views that differ from their own. They tend to favor the separation of church and state, support a woman’s right to choose an abortion, and are eager to learn from people of other world religions. Progressive Christians tend to emphasize what people of different religious traditions can do in cooperation with each other to create a better world. Rather than seeing contemporary culture as being hopelessly depraved, progressive Christians seek to reform it on the basic of ethical norms derived from Old Testament prophets and the teachings of Jesus.
Moderate Christians are usually comfortable in denominational churches (i.e. Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran). While embracing Christianity, they also respect those who may be less committed, and tend to be skeptical of religious hype. Moderates are in a good position to mediate between those who hold views that are more extreme than their own, whether liberal or conservative. They can play an important role as peacemakers and mediators where there is conflict in churches. The Second Coming of Christ is not normally emphasized by moderates, most of whom share the progressive’s desire to see progress in the here and now.

Traditional Christians appreciate dignity, familiarity and beauty both in public worship and in their private life of prayer. Comfortable with the venerable language of Scripture, creeds, and the great hymns of the church, they regard those who seek change for change’s sake as being too willing to toss aside the tried and the true for something less substantial. Given their respect for what Christianity has received from those who have gone before, their style of faith can provide a sense of continuity and stability in troubled times. Traditional Christians generally accept the church’s teaching about the coming kingdom of God, but like moderates, this is not a subject frequently talked about or discussed.

Evangelical Christians seek out churches where the gospel is boldly preached and people are not afraid to express their faith with strong emotion. They tend to find the worship of many denominational churches lifeless and the preaching shallow. Evangelical and fundamentalist Christians may have difficulty accepting those whose views seem less settled than their own. With their faith strongly rooted in the Bible, evangelicals have a special calling in helping others stay in touch with the life giving Spirit of a living God. Some evangelical Christians are highly critical of popular culture, to the point of thinking the “end-times” are near and look forward to Christ’s Second Coming, an event they expect to happen very soon. Among evangelicals, biblical prophecy and the rapture are a focal point for conversation and study.

All Scripture is taken from the KJV.
Luke 4:
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Mr 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Mt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Joh 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

God has a purpose that is eternal. His thoughts are much higher than ours are. Man oftentimes views things from a temporal perspective so they devil gains an advantage by utilizing mans carnal lust. God desires that all be saved, healed and delivered. Man seems to be more concerned with the temporal things such as money, jobs, houses, and the praise of man. As nice as these all may seem those who focus on these are deceived by the devil. They have bought into the lie that “things” produce real life. True life only comes by the Spirit.

Lu 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Just as the devil tried to deceive Jesus, he is still trying and succeeding in deceiving the lost and unfortunately many of the saved. Many people have yet to come to Jesus as the many riches and possessions are their god. They see no need to pray and seek the Lord as they are in control; at least they think they are. The truth is they have been deceived. Until they lose their life, they can never find it. (Mt 10:29-16:25). We hear many asking God to bless America. We need to ask God to save America, and forgive them. America is operating from a temporal perspective instead of eternal one. The riches won’t get us into Heaven. The only thing that will cause us to live eternally with Jesus is being born again.

So here lies the dilemma. Since we know that many are blinded what then will cause their eyes to be opened so that they will cry out to a loving forgiving Savior? Maybe they must experience as I did, the loss of everything that they hold dear before recognizing the need for help. I was my own god which led me to become a man with no hope nor reason to exist. I then gave Jesus a try. I am glad I did as He gave me what I needed and what I was really searching for all the time. He gave to me Himself. So how are the blinders to come off of people?

God gave to us authority in Mathew 18:18 and 16:19 to bind the devil. We can bind the spirits that have blinded a person’s mind and command them to loose their hold that the person my see. We also, because the Word says “whatsoever”. We can bind the devil from supplying any resources to the person (as led by the Holy Spirit of course). Please remember here that God is the one in control. We bind and loose as the Holy Spirit leads, not our carnal mind. There are times that God has allowed the devil to do things in a person’s life so that they will cry out to Him. If we are to bind spirits which God sent or allowed we are walking in rebellion against the will of God. Therefore the Holy Spirit must lead us. We must be as Jesus when He said I speak what I hear the Father speak, and I do what I see Him do.

What needs to be our motive in binding and loosing? The devil likes to “enable” people to go in opposition to the Lord. Just as at times we enable someone to do the wrong thing by giving them money, the devil does the same thing. He said he would give all if they would worship him. If we through spiritual warfare can cut off the supply the devil is giving, then people can see a need for Jesus. This is no different from in a natural war. If we can cut off the enemy’s supplies, then very soon he can no longer fight. Our view must be from an eternal perspective. Our motive must be from love and concern for their eternal life as opposed to their temporal life. A person’s soul is much more important than what they possess here on earth. Just as God heals many yet it seems others are not healed. Consider this. Some that are healed go all out for the Lord and follow him with their whole heart. Others, even if they are healed, go back to their plans and leave God out. Case in point was my own mother. God miraculously healed her of cancer. Yet, she refused to acknowledge the Lord. She gave credit to chemotherapy. She was healed and then went on living her life for self, not for the Lord. She just couldn’t believe in God as a healer or Savior. (She did finally accept the Lord about eight years later two weeks before she passed). Just as I said about money enabling, healing sometimes just enables also. What is the prime objective? It is an eternal objective, not a temporal one. We all will get a new body someday, but unless we meet Jesus we will have an eternity where none of us really desire to go. We can be healed and prosper in this temporal life and still be eternally lost. We must get a different perspective. We must look at things from God’s eternal view rather than from a carnal temporal one. God has a plan for each of us that is for our good, yet until we focus on eternal things, we will never find out what it is. By the grace of God may we learn to surrender our own will and plan for self, and find the glorious one that He has instead.

As long as we think that it is just about ourself rather than about Jesus and His will, we are missing the mark. If we are truly crucified with Christ then what the Holy Spirit desires will be preeminent, which always places the eternal purposes higher than the temporal.

I am a 59 year old Born-Again spirit filled Christian, that has been saved for 30 years. Jesus found me when I was suicidal. I learned real quickly that I was powerless to be in control of my life, so I let Jesus take over. He has chosen me to be a warrior for Him. WE win, if we fight His way.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

Pastor Cedric A. Portis Sr. Third Presbyterian Church
St. Louis, MO

Timothy II2:15 Study toshow thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Your mind is bring shaped/formed and molded by what you take into it. There is a computer adage that states garbage in, garbage out. Many people want to act different, they want to talk different, they want their walk to be different, they are tired of resembling the world…but the sad fact is that while wanting this change statistics show that the average American will read 100 newspapers, 36 magazines listen to 750 hours of radio and watch 2500 hours of television and complain the whole year about not being able to find time to read my Bible. Where is the studying of God’s Word? If we want this change that we seek, then study of the scriptures is a spiritual discipline we must have in order to effectively do the will of God.

I read of a minister who was visiting one of his members. The lady of the house was trying to impress him about how devout she was by point out the large Bible on the bookshelf and taking in a very reverential way of it as “the Word of God.”

Her young son interrupted the conversation; “well if that’s God’s book we need to send it back to him because we never read it?”

Let me tell you why we give Bibles to new members at ThirdChurch.

1. To take away the excuse of not having one.

2. For you to Study it.

3. To bring it to church with you.

Everyone should have their own Bible, and bring it, write notes in it, use it.

We must realize that evangelism is difficult without study, hearing from the Lord is difficult without study, exercising your spiritual gifts is difficult without study.

Peter I 5:8 Be sober, vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

If you have ever seen National Geographic or the discovery channel and observed a lion stalking attacking and killing prey, you would notice that the lion does not seek the animal that is leading the heard, but the one that is dragging behind, unaware of their surroundings until it is too late. This metaphor about Satan as a lion is speaking to those who have poor or non-existent bible study habits. When you are not armed with the Word of God, you will fall prey to the roaring lion in a time of need, in a time of desperation, or in a time of plenty.

Question – How do you recognize Satan…you must know God. IF you cannot recognize God you will never be able to recognize Satan and you will constantly find yourself in situations where you don’t know how you got there…didn’t see it coming. The Lord reveals Himself to you through His love letter to you called the Bible and it strengthens you to be able to be up with the heard and not fall prey to the roaring lion.

Romans 12:2 tells us plainly that we as people are transformed by something very specific. What transforms us? It is the renewing of our minds. Studying the Bible is not some vice or habit we should have but it is a lifestyle that transforms our lives. Study gives us a foundation for our faith. Those who attend Bible Study and Sunday school have heard me say before that it is not only important to know “what” you believe, but you must know “why” you believe it.

Someone once asked a man who was a regular church goer, “Sir what do you believe?”

I believe what my church believes.

What does your church believe?…It believes what I Believe.

And what do both of you believe…We both believe the same thing!?!

If you don’t know what your why you believe something, it will not be a lifestyle for you and you will not be able to convince someone else of what you believe if you can’t explain it.

Peter I3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

This verse expresses to us that we must be ready at all times to give answer about the joy that is in us, and answer to our faith and our hope. You know why the Bible does not come up very much in conversation…because people don’t want to be exposed about how little they know about the God they serve. They just go saying, “I believe in God”

Well so what…so does Satan…what makes you any different from Satan?

Study brings about freedom in the Christian life because Jesus says in John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Free of what…the yoke and slavery of sin. Free to do what….to abundantly live, to worship and to praise the Lord. There are things that the Lord demands of us and allowing ourselves to be shackled with sin handicaps us.

Many are confused about Jesus Christ because they are ignorant of this truth. If you don’t know about something, you won’t be successful at it, nor tell anyone else about it. And if our main job is telling then we are failing.

We live in a society where everyone is always trying to get ahead through promotions, raises etc. We have our job responsibilities from Jesus. What if Jesus were to give us that yearly review that promotions and raises are generally based. Would we be in line for the promotion we seek, would we be in line for the raise we are asking for?? Many of us go through life asking for that promotion of a spouse and family, that raise of a new car, job or home…. but I believe that we need to start weighing the request with the performance. Have we proved ourselves faithful enough with our assignment from Jesus to be blessed in this way??? Have we been faithful over a few things to become ruler over many??? I believe a sobering look at performance would curb our “Santa Claus” mentality toward Jesus…. and this reality is realized through study of the Word of God. Maybe the reason for such a lack of performance is that the garbage in was some false teaching leading you in a false direction.
Questions this morning:

Do you know contextually what is in your BIBLE?

Do you know about the life of Jesus and what He did and still does for you?

Do you know about the topics the Apostle Paul wrote about and why he wrote about them?

Do you know the history of the nation of Israel and why it is important for you and I?

Can you defend your faith and what you believe if you are challenged?

I want to encourage you this morning to commit yourself to study of the Scriptures and allow yourself to receive the benefits from it.

So what are the benefits of Study?

Gives victory over sin…. Jesus died for and bore the sin of the world

Overcome worry…. Not to take no thought for tomorrow

Confidence in sharing your faith – be ready always to share your faith

Help you in discovering God’s will for your life – show yourself approved for His work.

You will begin to find, understand and live on the promises of God and then and only then will you be able to sing with conviction, “on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” Some people seem to expect the Word of God to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read it. Although the jolt may hit us periodically, the Benefits of the word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their long-term benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills they feel a new strength surging through their bodies.

They have developed a lifestyle of consistently taking vitamins because they have been told that, in the long haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their physical health, resistance to disease and general well being.

The same is true of study the bible. At times it will have a sudden and intense impact on us. However the real value lies in the cumulative effect that long-term exposure to God’s work will bring to our lives.

Let us look quickly at the four basic steps of study.

I. Repetition

Repeating anything is a sure fire way to learn and definitely affects the mind. Repeating creates ingrained habits of thought. If you repeat something to yourself, even if you don’t believe it, your subconscious mind after a while will be affected. Radio and television advertisers know this and this is how they get you to try their product even though you are not initially interested. This is how you hear a song and don’t care for it too much and then the radio will play it so much that you begin to say/think well it’s not that bad.

It is the same with Bible Study. Repetition will ingrain the way God wants you to think into your mind and soon you will realize that His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Slowly but surely you will begin to speak the word of God into situations in your life and the life of others.

If you really love your family and your friends, you need to equip yourself to speak the Word of God into their situation instead of:

1. Just listening and echoing the sentiment of the situation being bad.

2. Expressing concern when inside just happy it is not happening to you.

3. Bringing chips and dip to the pity party.

If you believe in the promises of God, if you believe in the power of prayer you need to start speaking the Word of God into these situations!!!

II. Concentration

This may seem silly but when studying you must focus on what you are doing. Concentration centers the mind and keeps you from being distracted by every little thing. We must center our attention upon Scripture and our purpose when studying. So where do you study, with the TV on or off, where is the phone are you setting aside time for you and the Lord to Communicate through His word

What is sin? Sin is not doing what God tells us to do in the Bible. Everyday you have to make a decision to do what is right and not what is wrong. When you do what is wrong, you have sinned. When your parents ask you to go to bed; you have to make a decision to go to bed or to ignore your parents. When you ignore your parents, you are choosing to sin. The Bible tells us to obey our parents. When you ignore them, you are not obeying them- this is a sin.

“…choose you this day whom ye will serve…,” urged Joshua of old (Josh. 24: 15). Sin is a choice.

People sin because -

1. They do not know God. And those who know God, sin because they do know the Bible. It is important that you read the Bible everyday.

2. We are selfish. Think about some of your sins. Most of them are because you are selfish. You are only thinking about yourself. When you ignore your parents, you are not thinking about how this makes them feel but about how you want to continue playing that game or watching that television show.

3. Many people sin because it is much easier. It is hard to let the Holy Spirit guide you. It is sometimes a lot easier and more fun to do bad things.

Since sin is a choice, you are responsible for your sin. Our goal should be not to sin even though are friends are sinning and it looks like fun. God will talk to you about your sins when you get to heaven if you are saved. This is not going to be any fun if you have a lot of sins.