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Posts Tagged ‘Spirit’

Be Kind to One Another

Posted in christian living, Missions, tagged , , , , , , on January 4, 2012|

Kindness is something you don’t find much in our world today.

The Bible speaks about kindness many times. Kindness is one of the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

The dictionary says kindness is being considerate, or helpful. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone treated each other with kindness?

It usually doesn’t take a lot to be kind. Sometimes I think we make it to hard, when something so simple and easy as a genuine smile can brighten someone’s day. Being polite and kind to others can sometimes be just what they need to make their day. Holding the door for someone, letting them go ahead of you in line, smiling and saying hello, you never know.

The little, everyday things we can do to show others kindness can be a seed planted in their lives that will one day grow and help lead them to Christ.

These days it seems we even have a hard time with Christians treating each other with kindness. We want to fight and argue over our views and interpretations and forget that as Christians, we all have the common ground of faith in Christ.

A friend of mine recently talked about relationships and how they seem to come to an end. He said it is based on what the relationship is about. If it is based on some thing or some activity, once we get tired of that particular thing and move on, the relationships based on that activity usually come to an end. Only the common ground of faith in Christ and His grace is what doesn’t change and the one thing that can hold together a friendship.

Let’s see if we can make a point to do one act of kindness each day. You never know where it may lead.

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Faith without Works

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2011|

We read in James 2:26 that faith without works is dead. Many think of works as working in a food pantry, helping the homeless, being active in a church, maybe doing door to door evangelism etc. These things are all well and good, but I’m wondering if this verse might actually mean something a little different than this.

In this verse Jesus is saying that if we believe in Him, we will do the works that He did, even greater ones. Obviously we can’t do anything on our own, but by faith and the power of the Spirit within us, we can do the works of Christ.

When we think of the works that Jesus did, we think of love, compassion, mercy, giving of ourselves, caring, selflessness, healing and teaching. Jesus did these things on a daily basis, with people He came in came in contact with as a normal part of His day, and usually in ways that were not exceptional or highly dramatic.

I believe we all have different callings and different interests, but each of us as followers of Christ can be daily living in the love of God and doing the works that Jesus did, through faith.

Whether we are out doing a specific ministry, or going about our daily routine, we can by faith let God work in us and through us, and allow the Spirit to work in a way that will touch those we come in contact with and show them the love of God.

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Alone Time

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

Luke 5:16 — But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray…..

This verse says to me how important it is to have personal alone time with our Father God.

Jesus would slip away to a lonely place and talk with His Father. We read numerous times throughout the Gospels how Jesus would go off alone and pray. Now if Jesus needed time alone with Him, I certainly think we need to do the same.

Most of us believers understand the need for prayer and to pray for others. We know we need prayer for ourselves and we know it is right to pray for others and their needs.

What we forget is that personal, alone time with God. When we can sit and listen in silence and hear that ‘still, small voice’ ( 1 Kings 19:12 ). The Holy Spirit will speak to us and guide us, but sometimes we need to sit and listen in silence for a while. We need to pray for others, pray for our needs, praise and worship God for a while, then stop talking and listen for that quiet, soft voice of the Spirit.

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Our Teacher

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , on August 18, 2011|

1 John 2:27 But as for you, Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as his Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For his Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit’s teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ…….

This verse talks about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within each of us as followers of Christ. He is there to comfort, teach and lead us.

This talks about a common problem we who follow Christ seem to have these days. We talk about Jesus as a person from the past and seem to find out about Him from books, pastors, and the so-called ‘spiritually educated’. We know it in our head, but do not act on the fact that Jesus is alive and it is His Spirit that lives within each of us as followers of Christ. We have a living relationship and fellowship with Him through His Spirit.

The Bible says that He gives us His Holy Spirit and we do not need anyone to teach us. The Spirit will guide us into all truth. We need to let that get into our spirits and quit looking to only books and people to tell us what they think about Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us and lead us into His truth.

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Everyone Welcome

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Community, The church, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2011|

Have you ever passed a ‘church’ building and saw a sign out front that says ‘Everyone Welcome’?

When I see one I always wonder if they really mean what they say. I’ve seen so many congregations over the years get set in their ways and enjoy the people who are “regular’s”, but what would happen if ‘everyone’ did come to their church?

What would the thoughts and feelings be if a gay couple walked in, or a few prostitutes decided to come in for a service. What if a group of homeless people walked in to hear the Sunday morning sermon? Would everyone be truly welcome?

We know that Jesus welcomed everyone, literally, and mostly those who the ‘religious world’ didn’t want to have any association. Jesus met with and cared for the people who probably wouldn’t go to church, either because they wouldn’t be welcome or because they just didn’t think they would fit in.

Maybe that says something about our ‘organized church’ of today. Maybe we’ve become so involved with religion and the proper way of doing things that we’ve lost our first love. Could we be so caught up in the trends of modern religion that we forget our relationship with the God of the universe?

Maybe we need to concentrate more on living in fellowship with Christ on a daily basis, loving Him and loving others, and not worry so much about what building we go to on Sunday morning….if we go at all. The true Church is not a building, and it does not matter which day we meet or where we meet. The Church is a community of believers who live for Him each and every day. We should not be focused on a building, but on a daily walk with Him.

To love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love others as ourselves fulfills the law. We no longer need to worry about obeying the law and the rules and regulations. We now live under a new covenant which went into effect at the death and resurrection of Jesus. We now have the Living Word within us through the Holy Spirit. We no longer need any man to teach us the ways of God, because now the Spirit is our guide.

It is time to put our focus back on our first love, Jesus. It is time to live out our relationship with God on a daily basis, not only on one day. If you are a follower of Christ, it is a daily way of life of loving God, loving others, and being prepared to give an answer of the hope that is within us to those who ask us. I pray we are all letting the love of God show through us so that others will be drawn to Him.

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Power of God

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , on July 19, 2011|

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God

People can be persuaded to do certain things or believe certain things by the power of suggestion from certain people. Of course, this isn’t what is being talked about here, because our faith needs to be in something more than just a belief. Our faith is in our living God. Paul tells us that when he spoke, it was not by natural, wisdom of men, but by power and demonstrations done by the Holy Spirit.

Even today there are many people who can talk and persuade others by the power of their message. We don’t need more powerful man-made messages or the opinions of others to guide us. Now more than ever, we need to seek and listen to the powerful message of God presented through the Holy Spirit. The powerful and life changing guidance of the Holy Spirit is the only thing that will make a difference in our lives today.

We need to be careful who we listen to and what message they are presenting. There are to many people with their own agendas and who are way off base from the message the Holy Spirit wants to give. Remember, God’s word says that (1 John 2:27) we have the Holy Spirit living within us and we have no need of anyone to teach us what is true.

Abide in Christ and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit within to lead you and guide you in truth.

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