What is the answer to a genuine Godly life?
Having lived over 50 years as a Christian I have witnessed many, many believers trying to be their best for God. They do good for a while and then they crash and burn and sometimes never recover to where they were before.
What can I do to truly stand for God, day in and day out, for a lifetime.
We all have our ups and downs, but what can I do so that I can recover quickly and get back “on the saddle” again?
Having worked with hundreds of people personally who are endeavoring to be solid for the Father, I have come to the conclusion of what it really takes to be a vibrant born again son of God.
The answer is…
Do you really want to know?
Would you change your life accordingly?
OK! Enough delay tactics; here’s what it takes to be your best for God over a lifetime:
Intimacy with God.
Yes, have an intimate relationship with the Heavenly Father. How do you do that? The answer is a 3 in 1 interwoven activity:
Spend time in His Word / Speak in tongues / Talk to Him and Listen to Him
Do we not with the people we love: hang out with them, talk to them, learn about them, and listen to them? With the Heavenly Father we express our love to Him by studying His Word about Him and praying to Him. Not only asking in prayer to get something, but to share how much we love Him and are grateful for Him. Of course speaking in tongues is prayer in the spirit (1 Cor. 14:14; Eph. 6:18; Jude 20); it is magnifying God (Acts 10:46); it is giving thanks to God (1 Cor.14:15, 17). What is most awesome, they are heavenly words, perfected by Him.
Now that you have the answer. Do these three things so that you will have intimacy with God.
Agape,
Bob
Do you remember playing sports with your friends and when they were choosing sides, you would yell out to the team captain, “Pick me, pick me!” Being picked on the best team is something we still yearn for as grown-ups. As we apply to schools, or jobs, or professional organizations, we are always trying to be chosen by the most beneficial groups.
I believe this even carries over in our spiritual life. We desire to know the true God and be on His side. For many religious seekers they work hard to be approved. For the Christian, we appreciate what Jesus Christ has done to redeem all mankind. We desire to be a part of the family of God.
Thankfully it is not about begging God to choose us, but it is all about recognizing the finished work of Jesus Christ so that we can be chosen in Him. We do not work for God’s acceptance. We simply believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and God raising Him from the dead, then we become a member of God’s family. Jesus Christ did all the work for our redemption before God. We chose to believe on Him.
Jeanie, my wife, was inspired to share this antidote: “God fights our battles; we celebrate the victories.” In other words, God wants us to trust Him and His Word, knowing that He does the fighting, we accept the blessings.
The spiritual reality of our new birth is that God has chosen us. Yes, we have to believe Romans 10:9 to get saved, but our Heavenly Father knew we would chose Him. This reality of God choosing you is confirmed by the following verses:
Ephesians 1:3-5: ASV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love:
having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
God knew some day you would believe. Knowing this, He expressed His love and complete ownership of us by choosing us before the foundation of the world. There are not too many things that God has “chosen before the foundation of the world.”
He picked you and me as His child forever. You are not only on His team, but in His family “holy and without blemish.” Also you are seated in the heavenlies next to Him (Ephesians 2:6). Aren’t you glad He picked you?
Agape,
Bob
The Bible contains a number of tough men that we all want to emulate. Moses is one that has demonstrated amazing leadership and boldness confronting the most powerful man on earth at the time – Pharaoh. He also, led millions of God’s people out of Egypt to the promised land. God gave him the tablets of the law that guided Israel for hundreds of years. Yet, with all his toughness, there is a quality Moses had above all other men in which we can learn an important lesson. The Bible says that Moses “was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
Our Lord and Savior contained this quality. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
Few really know and appreciate the quality of meekness or humbleness of mind. Most people think these qualities imply weakness, passivity or even cowardliness. The truth is far different.
Meekness is an attitude or quality of heart [See 1 Peter 3:4] where a person willingly accepts and submits to the will and desires of someone else, which for us as Christians, is God Almighty. We gladly lower our self before Him, so He and His power and love can be magnified in my life.
I Peter 3:15: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear [reverence]:
We place the Lord our God in a special place in our hearts, so we can exercise His qualities of service to others just like Jesus Christ did.
Philippians 2:3-5: Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind [meekness] let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
This quality of meekness is the sign of a real man of God. All through the Bible we are encouraged to have this mind set. With meekness we can truly walk with our Heavenly Father and experience His love and power manifested in our lives.
James 4:10: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Colossians 3:12: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Agape,
Bob
Once you are infected with certain diseases, like Lyme disease, you are a carrier forever. There is no permanent way you can get it out of your body.
Christians are carriers of something even more permanent. They many times forget. At the new birth, when someone confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in their heart God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9), they become infected with the gift of holy spirit. This includes everything wrapped up in that spiritual package, including nine manifestations.
A TEMPLE
What really happens when you experience the new birth is you become a temple, the residence of God Almighty. His presences abides in you.
1Cor 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Cor 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
2Cor 6:16: …for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
I know we do not think about having God resident within us all the time, but His residence is permanent! He is not going anywhere. We have God in us represented by the gift of holy spirit. That is quite something to carry!
As a carrier, I would encourage you to use the spirit daily. Exercise it, manifest it, believe it, love it, be led by it. How?
Enjoy your spiritual disease by spreading it all over those others without it, and those who have not fully learned God’s Word.
Agape,
Bob