Remember what brought you to Jesus…
Praise lift your voice to the King, who is He call Him by name and glorify Him in words and song.
Hebrew 12:1 says “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Remember how He saved you, specific instances, ask yourself “What would have happened?” ”What could have happened?” Testify to what God has and is doing.
Proclaim His Goodness…
Proverbs 27:5 “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.”
Psalm 31:19 “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.”
Psalm 145:7 “They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.”
Revelation 12:11 tells us “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”
Commitment to Reading God’s Word
Live your life by the Scriptures. Every word spoken by other believers and Christian leaders alike need to line up and be proven by scripture. Do not let a false word detract you from God’s truth.
Galatians 1:6-7 warns us “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”
Again in 2 Peter 2 we read, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
There will be scriptures that build you up in the knowledge and truth of Jesus Christ. Many will be unique to you and your personal relationship with God. These life scriptures should become those that you journey with daily. Call them to remembrance with every thought or challenge and remember them every day in every moment. Make sure there is a scripture about God’s power and goodness. When we speak scripture with our voice and within our thoughts the work of the devil is destroyed. There is nothing better than God’s Word to send the devil running. What are your go to scriptures?
Here are a few of mine…
Romans 8:38-39 “nothing can separate me from the love of God.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 “take captive every thought making it obedient to Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 4:8 “whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and praise think on these things.”
Hebrews 4:12 “ Word of God is living and powerful, discerner of the thoughts of man, motives of the heart.”
Proverbs 18:21 “death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
Keep growing in Christ
We should be constantly moving toward Jesus Christ, that is to say our relationship should never stand still. Do you know Him more today than yesterday? Has he shown you something new about His Kingdom, Your position in His Kingdom? The more we discover God and all the good things He has for us, we gain strength in His truth to overcome whatever this fallen world and darkness brings at us.
Rick Warren in his book “Purpose Driven Life” making it clear that it is not about you. We were created for God’s pleasure. The amazing part is He wants to have a personal relationship with you. The NLT translation of Romans 5:10 says “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”
The key to this friendship with God, is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward what you do. What you normally do for yourself start doing for God, whether it is daily life eating, working, exercising, even making the bed. How about time you spend helping those around you…family, co-workers, friends those you meet while shopping, taking a walk are these moments self-motivated or servant motivated. There is a kingdom way of looking at your life, just as Jesus came to serve so should we.
Another way to keep growing we must be in continued conversation with God. I love this…Rick shares one way to do this is with “breath prayers” throughout the day, speak a few words, a simple phrase, (not like the ones you may say under your breath in frustration) I mean like “God I know you are with me.’ “Thank you God for your goodness.’ “You will never leave me.” “Help me trust You.” Or simply “Yes God.” Declare your position in His Kingdom “I am the daughter of the Most High King.” In fact, start using these instead of the others you tend to use in those frustrating moments God is there too.
What breath prayers can you come up with?
Finally, we are called to love people
This means not just your family. I know it can be difficult, but the truth is we do not have to love their behavior or hair style. Those are fleshly things, we are to love them on God’s level, deeply through action and prayer.
Ask Jesus to give you His eyes to see them as He does. In Hebrews 10:23-25 we are told how to put this into action, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Life is short, I am in the last third of my life and the first two went by so quickly. I confess I did a poor job of representing Jesus back there but God is good, He quickly forgives and forgets what was and looks to now and the future. In his Word He encourages us by example. Through the Holy Spirit living in us He will inspire us to action and help us overcome our wrong attitudes, exchanging them with those He has given to us know as the fruit of the Spirit.
The Passion Translation of Galatians 5 beginning in verse 13 Paul lays out this truth and even warns us. I have included it here for you to meditate upon.
“Beloved ones, God has called us to live a life of freedom in the Holy Spirit. But don’t view this wonderful freedom as an opportunity to set up a base of operations in the natural realm. Freedom means that we become so completely free of self-indulgence that we become servants of one another, expressing love in all we do. For love completes the laws of God. All of the law can be summarized in one grand statement: “Demonstrate love to your neighbor, even as you care for and love yourself.”
But if you continue to criticize and come against each other over minor issues, you’re acting like wild beasts trying to destroy one another! As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self – life. For your self – life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your old self – life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self – life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit. But when you are brought into the full freedom of the Spirit of grace, you will no longer be living under the domination of the law, but soaring above it!
The cravings of the self-life are obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior.
Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things[i] will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!
But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions:
joy that overflows,
peace that subdues,
patience that endures,
kindness in action,
a life full of virtue,
faith that prevails,
gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit.
Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.
Keep in mind that we who belong to Jesus, the Anointed One, have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self – life was put to death on the cross and crucified with Messiah. We must live in the Holy Spirit and follow after him. So may we never be arrogant, or look down on another, for each of us is an original. We must forsake all jealousy that diminishes the value of others.
Notice how the last couple of verses points out a challenge to our flesh as we live in the Holy Spirit, God knows we have the weakness of pride, so He reminds us to be careful and not let the characteristics of pride manifest in you as you serve the King.
Thank you Jesus that you lived among us and left your Holy Word for us to carry on with, loving and sharing the gospel to those we encounter.
Be Blessed dear sisters Love, Sister Laurie
Instructions For Life According to Jesus Christ 