Time & Trouble
“Take the time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit” 1 Tim.4:7 [Ph, emphasis added].
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” Rom.1:20. You and I are without excuse, because spiritual things are clearly revealed even in our daily living. Take physical fitness for instance, if you want to be physically fit it is going to take time and trouble. You have to take the trouble to wake up early to jog, to go to Read the rest of this entry
DIY
“Some people are like the seeds on rocky soil. They welcome the word with joy, whenever they hear it, but they don’t develop any roots. They believe for a while, but when their faith is tested, they abandon it.” Luke 8:13 [GWT, emphasis added].
I pray that your commitment will not be superficial. But you must also take steps to ensure it is not superficial. “Some people are like the seeds on rocky soil. They welcome the word with joy, whenever they hear it, but they don’t develop any roots. A lot of people are like this. They hear the Word, they become excited about it, and the Word even brought tears to their eyes. Thank God for the tears but please do what you have heard. Just do it! I understand this will make Read the rest of this entry
New Light
“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” Heb.10:22 [NIV]
To grow spiritually, the second thing is I Must Be Resolved To Grow. Make the decision and accept the responsibility that comes with spiritual growth. How close are you to God now? You are as close as you want to be. Have you seen people way closer to God and you wish you could be like them? Guess what? You can be even closer to God and spiritually greater. But you are where you are because you have chosen to be. How do I know? The Word of God Read the rest of this entry
Grow Up!
“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity” 1 Cor.13:11-12
Some of us are allowing our hearts to become hardened because of the pains that we have gone through. For some of us reading this today, the pain was caused by your fellow Christians. And you are wondering, how can these people call themselves Christians and be behaving like this? And you have allowed that experience to harden your heart. It could even be your spouse who perhaps Read the rest of this entry
Abba Father
“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” Heb.4:15-16
Bitterness has the power to make our minds become closed towards God. And having a closed mind towards God is a dangerous place to be. A lady that had gotten married as a virgin but had no children after years of being married could not understand why her friends that had several abortions, now had three or four children but she was childless at the time. There are things that we cannot wrap our minds around, that make our hearts become hardened towards God.
God is Faithful
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise” Heb.10:23
I implore you to settle this truth in your heart today; you cannot follow God and be a reject. But the enemy lies to you that God is a showstopper and that He will deprive you of joy. I have been following Jesus since 1995 and I can tell you that there is no better place to be than with Jesus. You cannot follow God and be a reject. It is impossible. Scripture is clear that God has not called you to seek Him in vain.
Un-Boxed!
“The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved” Lu.8:12 [LB, emphasis added].
The hardened path equals a closed mind. So what causes people to be so closed to spiritual growth? There are three things.
#1. Fear. What if God tells me to do what I do not want to do? What if God says go to the village and become a missionary. And because you do not know God, you put Him in a box, and you limit Him in your life. I have been there Read the rest of this entry
Hardened
A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds came and ate it” Lu.8:5 [emphasis added]
Jesus explained our Scripture reference today to mean, “The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved” Lu.8:12 [LB, emphasis added]. To understand the footpath, you have to look at it from a farmer’s perspective. The footpath is the trail the farmer takes when he is sowing seed or irrigating his farm. So it is Read the rest of this entry
Are You Interested?
A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds came and ate it” Lu.8:5 [emphasis added]
Over the next few days, our focus is going to be on thinking clearly about spiritual growth. Our discuss will be centered on the parable of the soils in Luke 8:4-15 [please study]. Your life is not an accident. You are not here by chance. You were designed for a purpose. You need to understand that. But in other to become all that God has designed you to be, you must grow spiritually. Meaning, you cannot be all that God has called you to be if you do not grow spiritually. The Read the rest of this entry
Absolute Love
“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” Rom.5:8.
Some people have become so entangled with competing that it has become full blown rivalry. Rivalry about different political camps for instance has led to siblings turning their back on each other. Politicians will come and go and after they have gone your brother still remains your brother. For some people it is the football club they support that has resulted in full-blown marital problems. The husband and wife go to club to watch a match together, but because the Read the rest of this entry
