What are we doing in our faith?

What does it take for Christians to make it in the world today? It takes Faith (without faith it is impossible to please God). It takes Moral Excellence, Knowledge, Self-Control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, and most of all Love. You can make it child of God, all you have to do is focus on making God the most important person in your life. Change some of the things you know is keeping you from delighting yourself in the Lord. Begin to focus on some of the things that have taken the world over and see if those things drive your life. The most important thing that a Christian should be seeking (outside of witnessing to others) is the return of Christ Jesus, and how His return (Philippians 1:6) marks the completed victory over the issues that plague us today. Our faith will always be challenged when we're consistent in our walk with the Lord, but how do we plan on walking through the adversity. Ephesians 6:11-12 instruct us to stand firm in our faith, and that the battle is of spiritual warfare and not with us His chief creation. Our faith should be ever increasing in our lifestyle, so that our character is always in-line with the Father; remember Moral Excellence is a by-product of increased faith which will increase your knowledge, which will strengthen your perseverance. You have been bought with a price beloved, and your lifestyle in some way should reflect the gratitude for the Gift of Christ Jesus. One of my favorite author's is Pastor C.H. Spurgeon (aka Prince of Preachers) and one of his most convicting quotes for me is, "There have been many who would do well if they would learn that they have nothing beyond what God has given them. And the more God has given them, the more they are in debt!" Continue beloved to Grow in Grace.

What are we doing? We must believe, live, and represent Christ.

This maybe old news to most of you, but I believe in remaining sensitive to the Spirit to post last weeks bible study...in His grace, Eddie.
http://www.newattitude.org/humbleorthodoxy/

Humble Orthodoxy – is a commitment to believe, live, and represent biblical truth with humility. The text that will support this term is Colossians Chapter 3
Believe -
God has revealed Himself in Scripture and that His revelation reaches its culmination in the person and work of Christ on the cross. God's truth in Scripture should not be redefined or reinvented. Our role is not to change truth but to let truth change us.
Live -
The truth of the gospel transforms not only what we believe but how we live. Truth shouldn't stay stuck in our heads but should affect our lives. We must live what we believe.
Represent -
We must represent truth to the people around us in light of the cross. We want to represent the truth not merely as those who are right, but as those who have been rescued.

I have been studying this term of Humble Orthodoxy for the past nine months and we will begin to study the term and live the term to full existence as a church. My prayer is that as you “Grow in Grace” you will begin to see the purpose of living out Humble Orthodoxy in your life.
We studied James 4 with an emphasis on verse 6.
Question: What is keeping you from living a life that is completely about glorifying the Lord?
Turn back to (Colossians 3:1-4) and ask your self this question. Am I setting my mind on the things that’s above? Paul informs us that we need to set our minds on the things that are above, not on the earthly things. (Romans 6:4) Paul also refers to the life of the child of God being buried with Him through baptism - (Colossians 3:3) for you have died and your life is hidden in Christ. You must seek the things of God in even in your circles of influence.

Think about the many times we have forgotten that we were Ambassador’s for Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:20) and we did not live out (1 Peter 2:12). It is imperative that we live out our lives with Humble Orthodoxy. Begin eliminating the little issues that tend to plague you. You know what they are those things that feed your pride and keep you at a distance from the Lord. “God is opposed to the proud…”

Look at the many members of the earthly body in (Colossians 3:5,8)… look at the phrase in verse 7 “once walked” meaning that all of the members of the earthly body is opposed of God indicates that those things should be a thing of the past. Not a continued excuse of why we fail to eliminate these things from our lifestyle.

I never said that you or I was perfect but (1 John 3:9) says, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him(you); and he cannot sin, because he is born of God”. John is indicating that you should not be practicing the sin of ________________ (fill in the blank). Being able to change your mindset “setting your mind on things up above” (Colossians 3:2)

GOD WANTS US TO CHANGE OUR MINDSET!!!
(Romans 12:1-2) supports the scriptures that I have given you.

Don’t let your mission for receiving be the only reason why you ask for Him to work in your life. If we are good stewards of the things that He has given us we will be able to understand and live out (Hebrew 13:5, 6) and we will be able to walk in His grace and “Grow in Grace” 2nd Peter 3:18. Seek God tonight and focus on His glory as your guide through this maze of life.

Spiritual Growth YALL!!! Spiritual Growth!!! Be the Ambassadors that the Lord has called you to be. My challenge to you is to set your mind on things above – and READ THE SCRIPTURES COLOSSIANS 3 & JAMES 4 (TWO CHAPTERS) Meditate and walk in Humble Orthodoxy

ELF3

What are we doing? Change our hearts and attitudes

But He gives more grace. “Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 ESV)
Beloved believer in Christ, have you ever felt that you were due some respect because of the amount of time, energy, and or sweat that you put into a project or ministry. Have you ever lost control and resorted to placing yourself back on top as ruler of your life instead of being lead by the Spirit? One of the biggest problems believers have is trying to match the glory of God here on earth when we have accomplished something that we say we’ve been lead by God to complete. Pride takes on so many different shapes and sizes in our lives, and the end result is always shown as self-glorification. Beloved believer “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We must kill the sin of pride and change our attitudes about not humiliating ourselves for the sake of the Messiah. If you recall, Christ died a death that was about humiliation (Galatians 3:13) just for your ransom (Matthew 20:28). Change your heart by seeking the heart of Christ in your daily walk, and by taking on the heart of Christ you will see the adjustment in your attitudes. Killing pride and cultivating humility is an essential for the true believer in Christ, because we must realize that this spiritual warfare is larger than we are, and will continue until the return of our Messiah. By drawing God’s attention through your humility, you will glorify God and attract His grace, His unmerited kindness. Begin looking at the unchurched and unsaved person that God has sent into your life and pretend that you are looking into a mirror of your former self; pre-Christian, pre-salvation. Your heart should be changed and your attitude should be about serving that person until their season has past. Walk in the grace that has been given to you, and do not spoil the opportunity to enjoy the humility the brings on His grace.

What are we doing? Christ has redeemed us.

Romans 6:12-14 has shown the true believers in Christ that we are able to over come the issues of lust and unrighteousness in the body, but one must first be truly saved. Am I saying that we won't make mistake? Not at all, but we must be aware of the smoke screens that the enemy has place before us in our daily walk of trying to live in a righteous life before an all sovereign Lord. Romans 12:1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." In your daily attempt to be in union with the Lord you will have some set backs: some that are due to your not seeking the Spirit of the Lord during the walk and some that are designed by the enemy to watch you fall before the Lord. We must see how Paul has created the perfect synerio for the believe to see how his/her past discretions are just that, in the past. Paul informs us that if we are true believers that we have been baptized into the death of the Messiah. We where buried with Him by baptism into His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we to might walk in the newness of life. Life as you knew it is NO MORE! Listen, you are now a redeemed soldier for the Messiah, but one cannot become redeemed unless the Father draws you to the Son.

What are we doing in our Worship?

Friends, what are we doing in our worship? Are we coming to the alter of grace with a sacrificial thanksgiving in our heart and a sincere motive of G-d centered, G-d fearing, G-d exulting praise when we come to the house of the Lord. Worship can be done in so many was to please Jehovah, and it can be done in so many ways to show signs of disrespect as well. We must not be about personal glorification and becoming more impressed with the latest fade of how one should worship. The Lord gave the Sabbath Day for His chief creations to remember the reason for the Sabbath (means a day set apart/ not the seventh day) which is to rest and remember where the Lord your G-d brought you from . That is why worship is so important because if you think about the way you have handed the week, you have seriously in some way mishandled the way you remember the struggle. Being involved in a church that has a great choir, great children/youth programs, even having excellent preaching is not enough for your personal growth.
What are we doing in our worship? Yes it is hard to focus on the message if the preacher is not capturing you with his preaching. But if you are in a form of worship, you should be praying for that preacher instead of noticing how dull things seem. We have been distracted by many wonderfully animated displays of what some call preaching, but the substance of the message is the best thing to look for when you are in the house of worship. If the message is not laced with the Messiah, if it is not centered around the Messiah, if it is not talking about the redemptive work that the Messiah has for you, or the restoration that the Messiah can do for you, then my beloved friend you then must pray even harder for that individual and the sheep that he is leading. The best way to witness the release of God's blessings is to pray that His will will be done "on earth as it is in heaven". The worship that one has for the Lord is the center piece for our existence today. We need to be about worshipping Him until He returns or our living will be in vain. My dear friends call upon the Lord for an extra jolt in your prayer life, for an extra jolt in your worship, and an extra jolt in your commitment to His truths.

With so much love for the Savior,
ELF3
His Grace

Your activity in Christ.

We have all been apart of relationships that give the aroma that all is not well, and that the individual we’re involved with is not pulling his or her weight in the relationship. We don’t see fruit in our labors and we begin to become noticeably out of touch with that individual and begin testing other avenues to happiness. Maybe that’s how our relationship with Christ is… we have a great time with Him, spending time with Him, enjoying the benefits to come, but we are not willing to labor for Him during our stressful times. My wife and I have been in a loving relationship for six years (nine if you count the three years we dated before the marriage), we love each other and we want to see each other happy and succeed in life. But we reflect on the times when we were completely upset with each other and wanted nothing more then for the other one to shut their pie hole and listen! When we reflect on those inexcusable times in our life, it often ends with us both realizing that know one else would put up with either one of us if we were with someone else. I look at it as showing longsuffering and realizing that the union that we have; started well before we knew each other, with its origins beginning in the will of God. Our relationship is true, because we made sure that we wanted to establish it on the foundation and values of the Lord. You see you can be in a relationship with an individual, but if it’s not on a solid foundation you‘re walking on unstable ground.
Do you have activity with Christ? Are you bringing your all to the relationship with Him? Have you realized that if you have a “true” relationship with Him, that you have heard the call from God to walk in the newness of life? Be active in your walk with Christ and never give up. Last evening Elisa and I read an article entitled “Between the lines; A relationship for All Seasons”. The article grabbed my attention because the article’s first sentence was in red, and stated, “You’d think the phrase “spending time with God” would induce a sigh of anticipatory pleasure." As I continued to read the article the writer continued to state that we must look at “spending time with God” as seasons in our life. You may be going through a season with the Messiah, but it may not be the type of season you wish to experience at this time. You could find it hard to get on your knees to pray, hard to read your bible, or maybe you just don’t feel like reading. Sometimes taking that initial step to deny yourself of some things for five minutes will begin to show you how to walk out of that season. Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and ask G-d to give you the strength to walk in Him during your different seasons. Be encouraged my friend, and put some spice in your relationship with the Messiah begin to deny yourself and think about how know one will put up with you more than Christ.

His Grace ELF3