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• Having a Joy-Filled Life In Troubled Times: The Growth of the Gospel, cont’d – Part 4

  In Contented, Faithful, Happy, SeriousFaith, Teaching / 26 August 2009 / 0 comments

  (Click here to search for all the posts in this series…) Philippians 1:27-30 – Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me. [...]

   

• Love

  In Faithful, SeriousFaith, Teaching / 26 August 2009 / 0 comments

  Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (NKJV; emphasis mine) As a servant of Christ we can explain and fulfill the entire law of God in one word: “love”.This isn’t a wishy-washy, standardless love. Nor is it a Hollywood, sensual, feelings-only love. It is not a love that everyone gets to determine on their own. It is not love that says “live and let live”, “you do your thing, and I’ll do mine”. It’s not “tolerance” or a “don’t judge anything I do” mentality. It’s not political correctness or “all roads lead to God”.“Love your neighbor as yourself” is also not a call for “self love”. In fact, that command presupposes [...]

   

• Others Focus

  In Faithful, Happy, SeriousFaith, Teaching / 26 August 2009 / 0 comments

  Ephesians 4:2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (NKJV) I’m always amazed at how exactly opposite the world’s ideas are with the Creator of the World’s ideas. The world would have us to believe that the road to success is paved with self interest – look out for number one; take care of yourself; if you don’t get yours, no one will give it to you. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Phil, “how’s the working out for you?” Despite endless sources of teaching and advice that encourage you to focus on Self (professionally, spiritually, personally) the world is filled with dissatisfied, unhappy and lost people who can never quite get what it is they are searching for [...]

   

• Self Esteem?

  In Faithful, Happy, SeriousFaith, Teaching / 26 August 2009 / 0 comments

  Galatians 2:20 • I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (NKJV; emphasis mine)(Previous devotionals can be found at www.seriousfaith.com)That the church has been influenced by, and inundated with, worldly psychology is not even arguable. The only debate is how pervasive the influence is, and whether or not it is a negative development.It’s certainly beyond the scope of this Devotional, and probably my intellect, to address this entire issue, but the subject of “self esteem” is one that I’ve had many inquiries about lately. Rarely a day goes [...]

   

• Me First

  In Faithful, SeriousFaith, Teaching / 26 August 2009 / 0 comments

  3 John 9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. (NKJV) (Previous devotionals can be found at www.seriousfaith.com)Within a few short years, the early church was already seeing many of the problems that we see today. The apostle John in our opening verse speaks of a man named Diotrephes who was refusing to show hospitality; not because he was trying to protect the truth, but because he loved to have “preeminence” among those around him.Preeminence is the idea of marked superiority, of being the most noticeable and of the highest rank or position.Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, [...]

   

• Off With His Head!

  In Faithful, SeriousFaith, Teaching / 26 August 2009 / 0 comments

  2 Samuel 16:9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head!” (NKJV)The “dead dog” was Shimei, who was following King David cursing and spitting at him. Abishai, a soldier-defender of David’s, was happy to relieve Shimei of his head in a misguided attempt to defend David’s honor as King. David’s response?2 Samuel 16:11b “Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him” (NKJV)What a contrast to how we typically respond to rebuke, correction or adversity. Our natural tendency is to be defensive and angered when someone comes against us, even if they try their best to be gentle [...]