THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CHRISTIAN
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
There is a great deal to be learned about the process of developing a Christian life, and yet we have barely begun to touch the things that we need to strive toward the most in the development of a Christ-like life.
It seems like many people have a concept of the words that Jesus used in His messages to us as the church but somehow we fail to follow the examples that Christ laid down for us to follow as well. Jesus gave us tremendous examples of the ways we need to stay close to God through His Spirit in such things as prayer. There are many people who pray and yet many times those prayers are not met with any apparent power due to the attitude or approach that we make to God. If we were invited to be in the presence of worldly royalty I am sure we would be required to make some preparation before coming before them. All kinds of protocol would need to be followed in security and then in tradition for that Kingdom or government. While God never needs any special preparation for security there are things we need to remember for our own safety, protection and communication with God.
As we develop closer ties with the Father it becomes easier for us to speak to God, but we need to remember that when we first start to come to the Father we need to build trust between us and Him just as we would with any other relationship we try to build. We can't think that we are going to start any relationship as though we have been best friends; instead, we need to develop a bond of trust and faith in the relationship that will carry us on throughout our lives, and that isn't done in one prayer. You may have heard me say that there is no reason when we first come to God for Him to ever trust us because of our tendency to lie. For many of us, there needs to be a complete re-set in our lives in the development of our relationship with a prayer life because of our past promises made to God and then broken, or the out and out lies we have tried to sneak by Him in the past. God cannot be fooled like we can fool so many others in life. That is something new Christians have to deal with that is completely different than it is with this world. The building of trust comes first in a friendship, and Jesus told us that we are His friends "If we obey His commands". There is also an issue of loyalty to God that is important to Him in the same ways it is important to us. We treat people on a different level that we find we cannot confide in. Jesus told what He needed to say to His disciples in parables later on in His ministry because to those who did not listen with spiritual ears all they were is good stories. Although they may have been remembered they never got the true meaning of what Christ was saying, and often He would go back and explain the true meaning of what He meant to His disciples later on. If we want to allow access to God's secrets for our life we need to be among those whom He can trust with the information. It takes an investment in time and all that goes into the development of a friendship with God. He has told us what He expects from us in that development,
As we can trust we can start to love as well. This, as well as many other areas that Jesus demonstrated for us through the things He did to stay close to the Father through each step of His life and ministry, are vital for us to understand as parts of the foundations of our faith. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
There is a great deal to be learned about the process of developing a Christian life, and yet we have barely begun to touch the things that we need to strive toward the most in the development of a Christ-like life.
It seems like many people have a concept of the words that Jesus used in His messages to us as the church but somehow we fail to follow the examples that Christ laid down for us to follow as well. Jesus gave us tremendous examples of the ways we need to stay close to God through His Spirit in such things as prayer. There are many people who pray and yet many times those prayers are not met with any apparent power due to the attitude or approach that we make to God. If we were invited to be in the presence of worldly royalty I am sure we would be required to make some preparation before coming before them. All kinds of protocol would need to be followed in security and then in tradition for that Kingdom or government. While God never needs any special preparation for security there are things we need to remember for our own safety, protection and communication with God.
As we develop closer ties with the Father it becomes easier for us to speak to God, but we need to remember that when we first start to come to the Father we need to build trust between us and Him just as we would with any other relationship we try to build. We can't think that we are going to start any relationship as though we have been best friends; instead, we need to develop a bond of trust and faith in the relationship that will carry us on throughout our lives, and that isn't done in one prayer. You may have heard me say that there is no reason when we first come to God for Him to ever trust us because of our tendency to lie. For many of us, there needs to be a complete re-set in our lives in the development of our relationship with a prayer life because of our past promises made to God and then broken, or the out and out lies we have tried to sneak by Him in the past. God cannot be fooled like we can fool so many others in life. That is something new Christians have to deal with that is completely different than it is with this world. The building of trust comes first in a friendship, and Jesus told us that we are His friends "If we obey His commands". There is also an issue of loyalty to God that is important to Him in the same ways it is important to us. We treat people on a different level that we find we cannot confide in. Jesus told what He needed to say to His disciples in parables later on in His ministry because to those who did not listen with spiritual ears all they were is good stories. Although they may have been remembered they never got the true meaning of what Christ was saying, and often He would go back and explain the true meaning of what He meant to His disciples later on. If we want to allow access to God's secrets for our life we need to be among those whom He can trust with the information. It takes an investment in time and all that goes into the development of a friendship with God. He has told us what He expects from us in that development,
As we can trust we can start to love as well. This, as well as many other areas that Jesus demonstrated for us through the things He did to stay close to the Father through each step of His life and ministry, are vital for us to understand as parts of the foundations of our faith. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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