Living the life that is pleased to God and get favor from God and man
The ultimate and efficient intention of the mind in the form of the old man is to commit itself in a deep and hearty commitment of the soul to self-gratification.
The new man however is a spiritual mind, or a disposition to please God instead of self. It is right over against the carnal selfish state. The mind is fully committed to pleasing God so this becomes the chief purpose for which the individual reacts and acts.
There are many parts to the Christian ministry, but some aspects are more important than others and Christian believers must watch so that the enemy does not take advantage of their carelessness.
We must therefore give priority to certain aspects of life to remain alive. Difficulties and challenges come and go but life must be protected and preserved in order to sustain it.
Do you know that great achievement does not come perchance? It is not a product of “trial and error”. It does not result from gambling. Great success is a product of dogged determination to study and achieve success. Wisdom demands that you identify those activities that compete with your study time and do away with them.
God is interested in your physical growth, spiritual development, and academic advancement. The gift and potential to grow and move forward are available to you in Christ. All you need to do is to “stir up the gift of God, which is in thee” (2 Timothy 1:6) to achieve your life ambitions.
The message of the Gospel is the free gift of eternal life to those who believe. “God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son”; that “Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption”. Only in Christ is our whole salvation.
There are many things involved in soul-winning such as earnest piety, common sense, spiritual wisdom in adapting means to the end. Matter and manner and order and time and place all need to be wisely adjusted to the end we have in view. Without this sagacity and adaptation of means to this end a spiritual mind will fail to win souls to Christ.
In preaching the Gospel, we must present those truths. Sinners must be convicted of their enmity. They do not know God and consequently are often ignorant of the opposition of their hearts to Him. “By the law is the knowledge of sin,” because by the law the sinner gets his first true idea of God. By the law, he first learns that God is perfectly benevolent and infinitely opposed to all selfishness.
He deserves and demands the best of our talents, material resources, and time. The house of God should reflect the character of God – sacred and dignified.
Dear reader, I don’t know what phase of life you are in. I don’t know what’s going on right now with you, but here’s what I want to say to you, keep moving. It’s enough you are still here and that’s something to be grateful for. Don’t be a victim of discouragement, or demotivation. Seeking who to blame for the present state won’t move you forward. Note that as God was with those before us, so He is with us too to give us the expected end. Let’s do our best with what we have while we keep trusting God for wisdom to expand the different areas of our lives.
Jesus knew that however genuine and sincere our desire and resolve to follow the Lord may be, we will fail if we do not watch and pray. Our spirits may indeed be willing to please the Lord, but our flesh, which unfortunately we sometimes yield to, overpowers and weakens us.
Goodness is one of the virtues that God graciously bestows on the people that love Him. God, Himself is gracious and merciful. He is abundant in goodness. He, therefore, wants His children to imbibe the deeds of goodness through His grace in our lives.
The Almighty God knew that the tendency of Israel to dabble into an unnecessary imitation of the culture and tradition of other people was very high, hence, His decision to forewarn them. Israel had demonstrated repeated unfaithfulness and faithlessness in their dealings with God; for this reason, God did not want to leave anything to chance.
A remnant shall survive the assault. Whether against the Assyrians or in the time of the end, God has prepared some people who will outlast the storm. They will stand when others fall. They will be faithful when others are backsliding. They will continue in the faith when others are turning away. I trust you will be one of the remnants.
God is holy, and those who serve Him must be holy. Israel is to be separated from all unclean persons and things, be devoted to God’s service, and obey all His commands. That is the purpose why the Almighty God severed them from the people of the land; which is a very forcible argument, which laid them under great obligation to obedience and holiness.
God’s mercies and His salvation guarantee our happy rest. The more we seek after the perfection of our obedience, the more shall we enjoy complete emancipation from every form of spiritual slavery. Liberty is next to life and is dearest to all brave men.
God wants to maintain a loving relationship with a man. However, “can two walk together except they are agreed?” Therefore, before anyone can have a meaningful relationship with Him, he must repent and believe the gospel. Moreover, he needs to follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Redeeming the time is to set your priorities right and ensure you work according to the order of their value. Time will not wait for you, do something now to fufil your destiny. Stop procrastinating. Remember, wasted times cannot be regain but you can redeem the time.
Christ died and made Himself a ransom, because of His love for us. Thus we have every reason to be filled with hope and feel secure to expect His help and blessings. Through His Love we enjoy salvation and abundant life, live a life of love, to become more like Him, live a life of victory over sin and evil, and enjoy His presence filled with joy and encouragement.
There once lived a man who protested each time he was extended a God-be-with-you compliment. He reasoned that if God were to be with someone the person will lose his freedom to do as he pleased. True, God’s presence in our life should put some restraint in our lives. What the protesting man did not consider is that God with us makes us unconquerable for, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
The gracious protection of God is very important for our security. The Assyrians had broken their covenant of peace and started overrunning Israel without any recourse to human sympathy. This necessitated the remnants crying to God for deliverance from the Assyrian oppression. Sennacherib, the Assyrian king moved his army against Judah and Jerusalem in a heartless invasion that devastated the land.
God is neither a tyrant nor a dictator. He gave man the right to decide what he does, hence, it is said that man is a free moral agent. But for every decision he makes right or wrong, there is a recompense. It is often said that decision determines destiny.
Thus the great forbearance of God is to lead sinners to repentance. He waits for them for days and for months and perhaps for years! How wonderful that God should spare them. He sent his ministers, his written word, his providences, and to no effect. Finally, he came himself by his own Spirit and has been abused by them in a thousand ways. And even now perhaps you are still indulging in unbelief which is a sin that grieves him almost beyond endurance. If you persist you do it at the peril of your soul.
The consequence of this state of deception is to expect to be abandoned by the Spirit of God. If they should continue to remain in their state of deception, they may expect the Holy Spirit to abandon them forever. God’s Spirit will not always strive with man. He gave up the Israelites because they vexed and grieved his Spirit. He abandoned the old world for the same reason. And many individuals, and families, and nations, in every age of the world have been given up because they have refused to come out of deception into the light of the truth.
Jesus told the Sadducees that they are wrong because they “do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matt. 22:29, ESV) We often struggle with a question, only to realize that had we understood the Bible and the power of God, we would not even have to ask? but rather we would have already known the answer!
The ironies of prayer are evident: God knows our need, yet we must ask; God is ready to answer, yet we must patiently persist. It was continuous knocking that gave the widow victory over the unjust judge. God promises that He will answer prayer if we do not waver when our faith is tried. Perseverance proves that we have no alternative, that we depend on Him whole-heartedly.