Doing what is right before God? (Deuteronomy 6:18) (2 Chronicles 14:2

Deuteronomy 6:18 says,

‘’And thou shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers.’’

Are you doing what is right and good in the sight of the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 6:18)

Are you focusing on the things that are eternal? (Colossians 3:2)

Are you a friend of the world or a friend of God? (James 4:4) (1 John 2:15-17)

Are you serving God and Mammon together? (Matthew 6:24)

Are you living for the flesh alone? (Romans 8:13)

Do you love your neighbor as yourself? (Matthew 22:36-37)

Are you pleasing men above God? (Matthew 10:28)

Do you seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness? (Matthew 6:33)

Do you study the Word of God? (Joshua 1:8)

Do you have a regular and effective prayer life? (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Do you apply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Are the secret sins, the little sins, the besetting sins still dominating you? (Hebrews 12:1)

Are you polluting your relations with God with idols? (Exodus 20:5)

Do you place the things of the flesh above the things of the Spirit? (Romans 8:13) (Galatians 5:16-17)

Or do you despise the things of the Spirit? (Genesis 25:29-34)

Do you preach the gospel of salvation? (Mark 16:15)

Have you genuinely converted to Christ? (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Or are you playing church and playing religion? (Matthew 7:21) (Matthew 13:15)

Or do you repent without conversion? (Acts 3:19)

Or do you confess without forsaking the sins confessed? (Proverbs 28:13)

Do you please the World above God? (Exodus 23:2) (Luke 16:15)

Remember, that the majority are doing a thing does not make it right. God is not a democrat and His Kingdom is not a democracy where the majority is always right. Once the Word of God something is wrong, it can never be right though millions and billions of people are indulging in it.

Remember the Broad Way to everlasting destruction in Matthew 7:13 where the overwhelming majority threads every day?

Remember also the Narrow Way to everlasting life where a few thread? (Matthew 7:14)

Examine your life whether you are still in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:15)

The choice is yours!

God forces no one to follow Him and obey His Word. But every man will give an account of his freewill choices someday which will determine where he will spend his eternity, either in Heaven with Christ or in Eternal Hell with the Devil (2 Corinthians 5:10) (Hebrews 9:27) (Revelations 20:10; 22:15)

Act now, because no one knows when the end will come (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Remember that not all those who went to bed last night woke up alive today. We are alive today by His grace and mercies (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Ayodele Adegbulugbe

A Simple Approach to Bible Study

A simple approach to Bible Study

By Benjamin Kerns on Mar 17, 2016 06:00 am

 ENCOUNTER: Read Matthew 24:3

What are you curious about?

There are so many things that capture my thoughts, so many rabbit trails that I find myself on.  I got a new running watch and couldn't figure out how to program it, so I googled it, which got me thinking about my new training schedule, which sent me to look for a race to run, which got me to a clothing site, to swim suites, to the ocean, to surfing, to wipeouts, to epic fails!  And like that 45 minutes were wasted and my original issue didn't even get resolved.  

Bible Study is the spiritual practice that helps keep our thoughts and curiosities within the rails. We all head off on in different directions and there are many shinny objects that catch our eye.  I think God might have actually made us this way.  In this passage in Matthew, the disciples who were with Jesus were not simply satisfied to be in the dark, the wanted to know more, they asked questions.   

The gentile nudge is that we dive more and more into scripture, that we be curious about the things of God, about the people of God.  There are lots of strange and unique things in scripture.  There are difficult teachings and challenging rebukes.  Bible Study keeps our eyes on the road and allows us to dive deeper into our own mental and spiritual formation.  

In the same way we have become experts on our own personal mental hobbies, may we as a church, encourage each other more and more to wrestle with scripture, to dive deeply into this foreign culture that scripture was written in, lean into the deep spiritual truths, so that we can have our views of God and ourselves sharpened by His very Word.  

LET'S TRY SOME BIBLE STUDY:  (PROAPT)  Grab your Bible, a piece of paper, pen, and a cup of coffee, and lets get after it!

PRAY:  Ask God to illuminate your study, to meet you, to speak to you, and for you to be open to whatever God has for you.

READ:  Pick a passage.  Why not Colossians 1:15-23 (One of my favorites).  Read it through three times, slowly, being aware of what catches your eye.  

OBSERVE:  What stands out?  What questions do you have?  Who wrote this?  What were they trying to say?  Why do you think it has been seen valuable over centuries? If you let your curiosity go, what would you google? What questions does this raise?  Where do you need to go to learn more?

APPLY:  This is where our weekly devotional rhythm comes in.  Be Reflective, Be a Blessing, Be Together.  Based on what you have just read, now what?

PRAY:  Pray again and thank God for this time, ask for the courage to get after whatever He has put on  your heart.

TELL:  Go and tell someone about what you have learned or how you have been shaped by this passage of scripture.  (Or in general)  Tell me, I would love to be encouraged by what God is doing in your life!

May God meet you, encourage you, sharpen you, and equip you for every good work!

Are You a Compromising Christian?

It was at Antioch in Acts 11:26 that the disciples were first called Christians when the people of the city observed that the way of life and behavior of the disciples was not different from the Christ which they preached.

Therefore, the name Christian means a Christ-like personality.

A Christian is a person sanctified in Christ i.e. a person set apart or consecrated to the service and worship of God .He is a person called out of the world to become a saint(1 Corinthians 1:2). Though he is physically and geographically resident in the world, his heart and affections are in heaven (Colossians 3:2).

He is an ambassador of Christ on Earth and a citizen of the Kingdom of God. As a citizen of God’s kingdom, he is to live by the principles and doctrines of the kingdom of God while resident on Earth.
He lives a separated life, separated from the world.

Separation means that he will not comply, conform to or compromise with anything that is contrary to the mind of God (2 Corinthians 6:14). The world refers to unregenerate mankind whose lives are organized on the principles of the Devil also known as Satan, who live for things but not for GOD; who live for self but not for others; who live for time but not for eternity. Their worldliness comprises of the lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17).

A separated Christian will not allow the cultures of the world around him to mold his thoughts and actions (2 Corinthians 6:14).

The world is represented by four places in the Bible as follows:

• Ur of the Chaldees standing for the religions of the world
• Egypt standing for the pleasures of the world
• Babylon standing for confusion
• Sodom for the sins of the world

A citizen of the kingdom of God must be separated from these things

When the Jews were redeemed from Egypt by the blood of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:12-13), they had to leave Egypt for Canaan. Therefore, the first effect of redemption is separation. A sinner who has become a Christian redeemed by the Blood of Jesus cannot continue to relate with the world as before. He lives in the world, but not of the world.

How can he become a compromising Christian?

When the Jews were leaving Egypt, Pharaoh offered them four compromises which the Devil continues to use today to pollute the Christian life of many Christians who fall for his compromises and rendering them unfit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

Compromise Number 1 Sacrifice to your God in Egypt (Exodus 8:25)

Pharaoh told the Jews to remain in Egypt and render their sacrifices to their God while resident in the land of Egypt. How does this affect many Christian believers today?

The Devil tells them that it is not necessary to become a Born Again Christian in line with the Scriptural requirement in John 3:3 but to become a good man and do their best i.e. to continue to serve and worship God with their old Adamic nature without a complete and total repentance and conversion which the new life in Christ stands for (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As a result, many Christians who fall for this compromise may repent but are not converted (Acts 3:19). They confess sins but do not forsake the sins (Proverbs 28:13).

Compromise Number 2 Go, but do not go far away (Exodus 8:28)

Pharaoh tells the Jews to go and sacrifice to their God but not to go far away from Egypt.
How does this compromise many Christian believers today?

The Devil tells you that you can become a Christian but should not become a fanatic; do not have a holier-than-thou attitude because you did not kill Jesus; that you should take it easy because God is not as strict as some Christians take Him to be.

The Devil is telling you to continue to remain in the darkness or in the twilight of the Light of the Gospel. Those who fall for this compromise are easily overcome with darkness without any resistance.
Among them are the Christians who dress in ungodly apparel, which the Bible refers to as strange apparel (Zephaniah 1:8). The Devil deceives them that God is interested in their heart only but not in outward appearance.

But Jesus said that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. This means that there is a connection between your heart and your outward manifestations. If you are corrupt or polluted in any of your outward manifestations, it indicates that the inward –heart and mind – is corrupted being immoral, unclean and harboring unholy thoughts.

Their language, manners and conversation has not changed. In the name of fashion and to look acceptable, they dress like Jezebel. You may be a Minister of the Gospel, a Man of God, Pastor, Prophet or whatever you call yourself in Ministry.

You may have the anointing to see visions, call down fire from heaven like Elijah or raise up the dead like Jesus did. If any of these four compromises are in your life and ministry, forget eternity with Christ in heaven.

Remember Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus foretold how on the Day of Judgment, many powerfully anointed Ministers of God will be sentenced to eternal hell for being workers of iniquity. Compromise is one of the reasons that will condemn them. Compromising your Christian faith is an iniquity.

A Christian who is determined to make it to heaven must take heaven by force and by violence (Matthew 11:12) with no room for compromises of any sort. God’s standards are high and He is strict and is the reason why the Bible tells us that few will make it to heaven while many will be lost (Matthew 5:48) (Matthew 7:13-14). He does not tolerate lukewarm Christianity (Revelations 3:15-16).

Compromise Number 3 Go you that are men, leave your wives and children behind (Exodus 10:7)
Pharaoh meant that only the men should leave Egypt to sacrifice to their God while their families remain behind in Egypt.

It is God’s programme that a man and his entire household be saved. Biblical examples of whole households that were saved include Noah’s family (Genesis 7:1), Rahab’s family (Joshua 6:17-25), Zacchaeus family (Luke 19:9), Cornelius family (Acts 10:2) (Lydia family (Acts 16:15) and Crispus family (Acts 18:8).

By this compromise, the Devil tells you to become a Christian but not to worry about your wife and children. When you become a Christian, you have a responsibility to labor and pray for the salvation of your family members. Many who failed in this have had their Christian testimonies rubbished by unsaved, wayward family members.

Recently, in one of the South African countries, the flourishing ministry of a respected Man of God was rubbished through his daughter who lived a wayward lifestyle. Her boyfriend posted nude pictures of the Man of God’s daughter on the net and that was the end of the ministry. Many of the members left in thousands in disgust. What a tragedy!

Remember the tragic ending of the great Prophet Eli in 1 Samuel Chapter 3, who had no control over his wayward children. He fulfilled his ministerial calling but neglected his parental responsibilities to his children which turned out to become his waterloo.

Compromise Number 4 Go serve the Lord but leave your flocks and herds behind in Egypt (Exodus 10:24)

The Jews were shepherds and their business at the time was rearing sheep. Pharaoh wanted the Jews to leave their flocks behind in Egypt.

The Bible says in the book of Matthew that where your treasures are, there your heart will be. If your business is still in Egypt, then your heart will be in Egypt which means that you are yet to be separated from Egypt and what Egypt stands for. You will surely backslide to Egypt where your heart and its affections are.

Here, the Devil tells you to become a Christian but that it does not matter how you do your business as long as money flows into your pocket. You can do forgery and pen robbery to enrich yourself, false weights and measures, inflate invoices, loot public funds, give and collect bribes, sell alcohol, run gambling and lottery outfits, work in brewery and cigarette factories, invest in brewery shares, sell your body for money and many other ungodly businesses and incomes that do not glorify God.

Many Christians, in fact the overwhelming majority are in one or more of the four compromises.
Examine yourself whether you are still in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). A compromising Christian is one that is looking back like Lot’s wife and therefore not fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

To please God and live for God, all the four compromises must be far from you. To be far from the devil’s compromises, certain things must happen as follows:

You must have the determination of Daniel not to defile yourself (Daniel 1:8)
You must have the commitment of the 3 Hebrew boys who vowed never to bow down before Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image (Daniel Chapter 3)
You must submit totally and fully to God on His own terms and resist the Devil (James 4:7)

If we are unable to abide by the three conditions above, then we are not ready to be a Christian on God’s terms. If we are not Christians on God’s terms, then we are on our own, deceiving ourselves by being Christians to please the world on the terms of the world.

That means, we are friends of the world and enemies of God (James 4:4). If we are enemies of God, how are we going to enter into His Kingdom to reign eternally with Him?
Let us meditate upon and ponder about these things if you know that eternity with Christ is your real ambition.

May God empower us and strengthen us to live to please Him in Jesus name

Ayodele Adegbulugbe
www.xtianrace.blogspot.com
www.maritalsuccessresource.simplesite.com