Posts Tagged ‘love’

ABIDING ALLOWS ME TO IMITATE CHRIST

Posted: October 24, 2012 in Art, Books, Christianity, Education, Encouragement, Faith, Family, History, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, News, Parenting, Photography, Politics, Quotes, Success, Travel, Uncategorized
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– Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV

Both verses 1 and 2 of Ephesians 5 begins with a directive and a conclusion that supports, or summarizes, why the directive should be adhered to and carried out. The Apostle Paul begins the 5th chapter of Ephesians by exhorting definitively the mandate God ordained in the beginning when He declared that Man would be made in His image and likeness. In the beginning, it was God’s desire that man become an image bearer of His person. In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son Jesus Christ that we may, through faith in Christ, fulfill what He intended from the beginning.

Paul begins Ephesians 5 by stating the directive to be an imitator of God. His reason. Because we are dearly loved by God. Meaning, because God loves us dearly, we should seek to imitate Him in how we live. How should we live. Live a life of love. Why? Because Christ loved us and gave His life for us, in order that we may fulfill God’s will in being an imitator, or image bearer of His likeness, through faith in Christ, as He ordained for us to be in the beginning.

How significant is this mandate? Consider the way the Apostle John writes it in his letter 1 John. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” – 1 John 2:6 NIV “

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4:9 NIV

My purpose in life is my purpose in Christ, to be an imitator of God. The blessed man in Psalm 1 delighted in God’s law meditating on it day and night, which Jesus explained as abiding in His word in the gospel of John 15. Abiding in Christ is the proactive initiative of sincerely seeking to be an imitator of God by applying God’s word (living through Christ or walking as Jesus did). No amount of money can help me walk as Jesus did, live through Him, or validate me as one who does.

May God bless you and help you to live through Christ and walk as Jesus did, being an imitator of God, so you can experience the fullness of life Christ came for us to have.

 

THE AUTHOR OF MY PROSPERITY

Posted: September 15, 2012 in Art, Books, Christianity, Education, Encouragement, Faith, Family, History, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, News, Parenting, Photography, Politics, Quotes, Success, Travel, Uncategorized
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“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither. Whatever he does prospers.”

– Psalm 1:3 NIV

Careful inspection of Psalm 1 reveals there is a lifestyle that results in productive living and the outcome of that lifestyle is prosperity. Verse 1 of Psalm 1 illustrates the depiction of a blessed man being one who is mindful about the company he keeps. “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” – Psalm 1:1 NIV I don’t believe this verse is just referring to the proximity of my association with the types of people mentioned in this verse, as much as it is highlighting the necessity of not adopting such mindsets that would inhibit my ability to be a blessed man. If I’m never in the company of sinners how can I lead them to Christ?

Walk, stand, sit. What is my daily posture as it relates to God’s word and the application of its principles? A blessed man relies upon the truth of scripture as the basis, foundation and means of experiencing the type of lifestyle God has ordained for those who seek sincerely to be living sacrifices for Jesus. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2 NIV The principle of prosperity, from the perspective of the Scripture, is inclusive of an intimate personal relationship where the sincere seeker is invested in God’s word and the application of its truth. It is illustrated in Psalm 1 as a man who delights in God’s law and meditates on it (i.e, thinks about it, reflects upon it, opens his mind to understanding greater revelation and illumination of what is written, sincerely desires to understand and accept God’s word as the authoritative doctrine on living a spiritual life).

In the gospel of John, Jesus reiterates this truth revealed in Psalm 1 by explaining to His disciples the necessity of the word of God in being productive. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” – John 15:7 NIV If I walk in the way God has chosen for me to take, standing firmly upon His word as the foundation for living the life He has ordained for me as His child and consistently sit at His feet as one who sincerely seeks to learn from the Master ( a posture of humility) then, as the blessed man is described as one who is like a tree planted by the rivers of water and his leaves never wither, I should encounter prosperity in every aspect of my life (spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, financial, relational, and professional).

May God bless you and help you to walk in His ways, stand firm in your faith and sit at His feet to grow in His grace and truth so you may experience the fullness of life Christ came for us to have.