1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
The Holy Spirit must love when we take the time to memorize scripture because all of sudden we gain God's insight (spiritual wisdom) to what the verse is about. After spending time memorizing this verse the Holy spirit showed me these three things
1 Be self-controlled and alert - As Christians we must recognize our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19.
Every day we choose to either walk in the flesh or in the Spirit. When we deny our flesh we live through the Spirit and God uses our lives to reflect His purpose
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose Romans 8:28
Being alert means being on guard with the edicate in our lives. We don't walk on the edge of right and wrong. That's the slippery slope. We walk far from it. (Thessalonians 5:22 Avoid every kind of evil.)
2 Your enemy - the devil is your enemy when you choose to follow Christ. His tactics range from making people believe there is no God to simply just doubting the Power God has in our lives. It's not a personal Vendetta. It's a spiritual one. If we are not following Christ we are are not going to care about Bible principals being the focal core of our lives thus ministry isn't important anymore in our hearts. The devil knows that if we remain in Christ and Christ remains in us he cannot divert our focus and we will bear much fruit. He also knows if we recognize Christ as the absolute core to our lives we will only see our accomplishments through Christ. Not through ourselves.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
3. Looking for someone to devour- The devil goes around looking for people he can devour. Some key factors are a person who doubts, is living in disobedience, has an unforgiving heart, or maybe just isn't taking steps in their faith to draw closer to God. So instead of being devoured we resist him (James 4:7) Sometimes that feels like suffering. But through our sufferings we are soon after restored and made strong only by God himself.
1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Faith only grows when we desire to allow God to himself makes us strong firm and steadfast. Faith is a gift from God. The strength God gives us to endure hardships (hardships that the devil uses to draw us away from God) can be the very same circumstances that draw us closer to God and make us vocal to people who don't know Christ.
God Bless
How much of ourselves would be left if we made it a priority to daily give our whole selves to God? What would our lives be like if we were truly committed to being content to doing the work He wants to accomplish through us and all this being done in His timing not ours?
Friday, July 20, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
A Working
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
Today was an interesting day. God has been showing me that as Christians we need to live for Him before we can show others that they need Him in their lives. Who are we to want to promote a life in Christ to others if we ourselves are denying his power in our own lives? God wants to work in believer's hearts but he wants those hearts to reflect their lives and evidently affect others who dont know Christ or what it means to accept Him.
Today was an interesting day. God has been showing me that as Christians we need to live for Him before we can show others that they need Him in their lives. Who are we to want to promote a life in Christ to others if we ourselves are denying his power in our own lives? God wants to work in believer's hearts but he wants those hearts to reflect their lives and evidently affect others who dont know Christ or what it means to accept Him.
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