God designed you to hear his voice. In a sense, there is a "receiver' in you that allows you to get guidance from God.
What channels does God use? The primary way that God speaks is through the Bible. This is why we need to read the Bible every day. God's will is found in God's Word.
God also speaks through godly Bible teachers. Have you ever been in church or at a Bible study and you feel like the teacher is speaking directly to you? In that moment, God is speaking directly to you.
God also speaks through other Christians. He even speaks through you. If you'll stay in tune to him and learn his Word, sometimes God will use you to say things to people that he wants to say to them. It's not something special reserved only for pastors; God speaks through every believer at different times.
God also speaks through your circumstances and your pain. God is speaking all the time. But we must listen. Tune in to God and he will lead you on the right path.
Over and over we are reminded that He is Lord and that we should give Him that place in our lives. To crown Jesus as Lord means to surrender our lives to Him. It means to have no will of our own, but to want His will supremely. It means the willingness to go anywhere, do anything, and say whatever He desires. Jesus always comes to take over our lives.
Info : The importance of lordship can be seen in the fact that whereas the word “Savior” occurs only 24 times in the New Testament, the word “Lord” occurs 522 times. It is also significant that whereas men invariably say “Savior and Lord,” in that order, the Scriptures always say “Lord and Savior.”
To make Jesus our Lord is the most reasonable, logical thing we can do. He died for us; the least we can do is live for Him. He bought us; we are no longer our own. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands oursouls, our lives, our all.”
If we can trust Him for our eternal salvation, can we not trust Him for the management of our lives?
How do we crown Jesus as Lord? There must be a crisis experience when for the first time we turn over the controls to Him, when every area of our life is placed under His sovereign sway. It is a total commitment with “no reserve, no retreat, no regrets.”
With His wisdom, love and power, He can do a far better job of running our lives than we can.
Since we took the first step, boldly accepted Jesus into our lifes, we had experience how He can change lives, what is it to totally surrender our lives to Him?
This article encourages me a lot of wanting to become more like Jesus. Especially to do more humanitarian work. Would want to take this opportunity to remind all of u that our God is a big God.. bigger than any other issues or circumstances. Do not be a weak Christian who are tempted to slide away from God but be a strong one to continue to grow in our walk with God.
Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
You need to realize that it doesn’t say, give thanks FOR all circumstances, but rather, IN all circumstances. No matter how terrible may be some of the circumstances of life, with God’s help there will always be that for which we can be thankful.
I googled about Thanksgiving day and found an interesting fact about it saying that thanksgiving celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, which is on the 25th. Now we get to see all the Christmas decorations at the malls, families planning on Christmas parties or setting up Christmas decorations. This is a form of them preparing to thank God for bringing Jesus to the world to be our savior. Or perhaps to thank God for the people or the relatives around for helping them throughout the days of their lives. Amen?
One of the greatest privileges of being a Christian is to have the capacity to give thanks regardless of what happens. It is easy to be thankful when things are going our way, but a Christian can rise above any situation to thank God for causing all things work together for good.
Giving thanks is one of the big things that God desires from us. InI Thessalonians 5:18 even says it is GOD’S WILL that we should give thanks.
Unless you and I are giving thanks to God, we’re not really loving God as we should. Unless we’re thanking God, we’re not really worshipping Him as we should. Unless we’re thanking God, we’re not really praising Him like we ought to.
“Giving Thanks” is what God expects from us. It is God’s will for us. It is part of our spiritual worship before God which is to give thanks and praise His name.
But WHY does God want us to be thankful people? Because when we’re thankful, we’re telling others what we think about God.
Thanking God is a declaration that we believe in Him. It’s a witness to the world around us that we look to God for our help. If we are not thankful for what we have we will not be grateful for what we do have yet. God multiplies thankful people. Jeremiah wrote, "From them shall proceed the voice of thanksigiving and the sound of those who make merry and I will multiply them and they not will be diminished." (Jer 30:19) So I encourage you to remember these few points of the importance of thanksgiving.
I. MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE THANKFUL TO THE RIGHT SOMEBODY
Make sure that you are thankful to the right somebody. If we’re going to say "thank you" we must say "thank you" to somebody. Make sure that it is the right somebody.
Eg, when someone drop you back, say thank you to the driver specifically by addressing them with their name.
II. MAKE SURE YOU THANK GOD FOR THE RIGHT REASONS
1. I’m thankful that I enjoy the blessing of living in the Malaysia where this country is free from natural disaster such as earthquake or volcano eruption
2. I thank God for the physical strength that He gives me every day or thank God even for food which is provided everyday to keep our stomach full… and the list goes on.
Our lists could go on & on, but let’s take a look at the list that David made in Psalm 103:3
He begins by thanking God for being a God who forgives all our sins. Wow, David knew what was important, didn’t he? He doesn’t begin by thanking God for making him King. He doesn’t mention that Israel had become the strongest nation in the world during his reign. No, first of all, he thanks God for forgiving our sins.
We may not be able to understand everything that happens in life, But I’m convinced that God is still the great physician, & that He knows the deepest needs of my life even better than I do. And whether my need is physical or psychological or spiritual, I’m sure that God will always do that which is best for me. And I’m so thankful for that.
III. EVEN THOUGH BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOD’S PEOPLE, WE CAN STILL PRAISE GOD
But not everybody is sharing in our joy & thanksgiving. There are many who are suffering. Even though bad things happen to God’s people we can still give praise & thanksgiving to God.
Why? Because the great difference between God’s people & all the rest is that God’s people do not suffer alone.
We’re not the only ones struggling. We’re not the only ones hurting. The people who never darken the door of the church are hurting, too. The people who never lift a voice in praise or thanksgiving to God are hurting, too. The great difference is that when we hurt God is there to help us through those difficult moments of life.
But the God of the universe who has billions of people to be concerned about, never forgets. He heard the groanings of Israel & He remembered the covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.
# Exodus 3:7, the Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, & I’m concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them."
God is saying, "I hear every cry that comes from the lips of my people, every prayer from the depths of their hearts. I’m concerned about their tears & their suffering. And I’m reaching down to rescue them."
That is another good reason to be thankful, isn’t it?
Ephesians 5:20 says "be thankful for everything." I Thessalonians 5:18 says “give thanks in ALL circumstances” Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but IN EVERYTHING, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Being thankful isn’t always easy to do, because there are a lot of things I’m just not thankful for. So, how can I be thankful for everything, if I don’t FEEL thankful for everything? Well, there’s a couple of common ways to be thankful for all things.
The key to this powerful tool is found in Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And (what will happen?) the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
So, in other words, if I am anxious about something, if I’m troubled by my circumstances or difficulties, there is a way to rejoice in the midst of frustration. And it starts with a four word phrase: “The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:5b) Then Paul goes on to say in the next verse (because the Lord is near) “don’t be anxious for anything, but in everything - by prayer and petition - with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
How can I avoid being anxious? How can I avoid being controlled by my circumstances? How can I avoid being crippled by my difficulties? It is in remembering that the Lord is near. He’ll never leave me nor forsake me.
And Paul’s not the first writer in Scripture to tell us this. There’s a very famous psalm that goes this way : Psalm 23
It has been my experience that when people around me are hurting, that those are usually the times when we are most able to communicate our love & concern to them. Because we can’t stand to watch them hurting, we scoop them up in our arms.
Or if they are too big for that, we try to communicate verbally our love for them. We want them to know that we hurt, too, because they do. And we try to do everything we can to take away the hurt. Those have been tender, precious moments.
And some of my greatest moments with God have been the times I have hurt the most, when I felt the most empty, when I’ve cried from the depths of my soul, to find that He was there, always faithful, always keeping His promise.
Over all, we have to really know the importance of giving thanks to God, like how we thank our parents for raising us up. What’s more the God who give us a purpose of life to be on earth, the serve Him and other people and to give the glory back to Him.
If you are here & you are going through the trials of life without the help of Jesus, then I want you to know that you don’t have to continue down that lonesome road any longer, that God sent His Son into the world, & the sacrifice is complete. Include Jesus by thanking Him how he brought you through everyday.
God offered us an opportunity for the forgiveness of your sins through the precious blood of Jesus. When we gain maturity in our faith, when we learn to be truly grateful to God even in the midst of tragedy and loss, we can change the lives of those around us.
If that’s the kind of God that you need tonight, turn your life over to Him.
I never noticed until this morning the context of this command in the Epistle of James: "My brothers, do not blame your troubles on one another or you will fall under judgment" (Jas 5:9 NEB). The context is patience. A farmer's precious crop comes up only as he waits patiently for autumn rains, winter snows, spring sunshine. Anything worth having is worth waiting for.
Troubles are permitted in order to teach us many lessons, not the least of which is patience. If we instantly assign responsibility for those troubles to somebody else, our energies will go into resentment instead of into learning God's lesson of patient waiting. The Lord's coming is far more certain than even autumn rains and winter snows. We can stand firm and patient no matter how others treat us, knowing that in the end our troubles will be transformed.
"The Lord is full of pity and compassion" (Jas 5:11)--can we believe that, even when we feel sorry for ourselves because we are so badly treated? He knows it all. He purposes a crop. Be patient. It will come.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! 2 Peter 3:18
Every Christian desires to grow and mature in his or her walk with Christ. But our desire does not always match reality. I would like to look more closely at the word of God in order to learn how we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
What is spiritual growth? Spiritual growth is not mystical, sentimental, devotional, or psychological. It is not the result of some clever secret or formula. Spiritual growth is simply matching your practice with your position in Christ.
Your position in Christ is perfect: you have a righteousness from God (Romans 1:17). You are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). You have all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). You have all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
But now you need to make progress so that your practice moves toward your position in Christ. And it’s a life-long journey.
Spiritual growth is essential to the life of a Christian, just as physical growth is essential to the life of a child. Because God commands us to mature spiritually, we need to understand how that happens.
Misconception of spiritual growth
First, spiritual growth isn’t necessarily related to time. Some people have been Christians for a long time and have grown little spiritually, while others have been Christians for a short time and have grown much spiritually. Your commitment to growth is what matters, not the amount of time elapsed from your conversion. Spiritual maturity cannot be measured by the calendar.
Secondly, spiritual growth isn’t necessarily related to knowledge. The issue is not knowledge alone but what you do with what you know. The Bible says that “knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Knowledge can make you proud and actually retard spiritual growth. Only when knowledge conforms you to the image of Christ will help you grow.
Thirdly, spiritual growth isn’t necessarily related to religious activity. Some people think that they have grown spiritually if they have served on a ministry in the church. They assume that if they’re busy, they must be growing spiritual. Remember, being busy doesn’t even result in salvation, let alone spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth isn’t necessarily related to prosperity. Some people believe that because they have prospered, they have God’s favor. If they possess much, they think that God has blessed them because they are such wonderful Christians. God may have blessed them, but that isn’t necessarily an indication that they are spiritually mature. We need to understand that what we do with our financial resources is just one part of our spiritual lives.
My Role In My Spiritual Growth Christian growth is discipleship. It is a joint venture between God and the Christian. No one can grow as a disciple without God doing His part. No one can grow as disciple without doing their part either. God has given us the tools to walk as disciples. Amen?
# 2 Peter 3:18 We are commanded in this verse to “grow”. Christian growth is not totally automatic. There will always be areas that we will need to grow in spiritually. We will never reach full spiritual maturity in our lifetime. The pursuit of discipleship is a life long effort.
We as Christians talk much about our salvation. How Jesus defeated sin on the cross and how if we believe in Him, we have salvation. But we do not talk about overcoming sin in our lives and our responsibility to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We emphasize salvation but many times and we ignore sanctification which is the process of becoming like Christ.
How can we grow spiritually to become more like Christ?
# Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
This verse speaks of exercise – “walk in newness of life.”
Role 1 : Holiness.
"I am holy; you be holy." 1 Peter 1:16
Holiness is the goal of discipleship. How to become holy? I am sure you have all the ideas of holiness floating around out there we need to come to a common biblical understanding of holiness.
To be holy is to be morally blameless. It is to be separated from SIN and consecrated to GOD.
The first step in becoming Holy is to change the way you think!
# Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The process of Spiritual growth means Christian growth with the growth of Holiness. It is a process of “mind change”. It is a process of seeing things from a Godly perspective.
#Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
It becomes clear that if we desire to be holy, we must change our way of thinking. We must set our minds on the things of the Spirit.
# Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above and not on earthly things. Role 2: To be obedient
God wants us to walk in OBEDIENCE, not victory or in selfishness. Obedience is oriented toward God. Victory is oriented toward self. Serving God is a matter of obedience. Victory becomes a by-product of obedience when I successfully obey God.
#1 Samuel 15:22So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. Does God want sacrifice? The answer is yes. But do you know what He wants more? He wants us to obey Him with our hearts. He wants us to listen to Him. Obedience includes sacrifices. We can sacrifice by listening, by obeying and being a doer of the word. But sacrifice without your heart involved becomes nothing more than a ritual.
Obedience is a matter of the heart. Jesus said it this way. # John 14:15If you love Me, keep My commandments In other words, it means, "If you love Me, Obey Me.”
Obedience is our role in our spiritual growth.
We need to seek holiness in our lives. We need to see sin as God sees sin. Any act of sin is impurity. We need to be transformed in the way we think. We need to dedicate ourselves to God. We need to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We need to come clean. Spiritual growth progresses from knowing you are a Christian to knowing the word of God to knowing God himself deeply.
The way to know God deeply is to spend your life focusing on his glory, thus learning to understand the fullness of his person. That focus becomes a magnet drawing you upward through the levels of spiritual maturity. How are you progressing spiritually? In what areas do you need to pray, and allow God to work in you ?
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. -1 John 1:7
Connection to God is birth forth when Jesus carried the cross to the calvary is a bridge to link us to God. Through Jesus, we will be in the light and not in the darkness.
Connection is a link or relationship between people or things.
Connecting with people is communicating with people.
It’s like Nokia’s famous slogan = connecting people.
Let me ask you, is your handphone important to you? It is important to me. I need it to get in touch with all of you, my family and friends. When we have connection with people, it’s not just about knowing someone who you just say hi and bye to. It’s about communicating with people to understand the person, to know their needs and to build long lasting relationship with the person. Amen?
When you know how to have a relationship with God, you will know how to have relationship with people.
I want to emphasize to you that all we need to have in order to be able to connect to people is all about our faith.
# Heb 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith supports what we want to do. Faith is a confidence which is not seen. We should have faith that people around us will be saved. It gives us a positive attitude. Faith is holding your own with your peers, Not worrying the person is going to climb over you. We need to have a bigger heart than that, we should rejoice n celebrate for them if others are doing well n doing better than us, even if they're our peers or juniors
The question we need to ask ourselves is this:
If we don’t have church Big Days, or conferences, or guest speakers, or zone outreaches, do we have faith to still win the lost?
It is like when you go to a new place such as you enter a new working place or a new college, do you meet new friends. Yes, isn’t it? It is always about meeting people in our lives. Whether to work with, to stay with or to study with. With the society around us, we can easily be connected to people. Amen?
Do we have the capacity to “birth” a person into the kingdom of God individually?
In Jesus’ ministry, He didn’t have Big Days or zone outreaches, yet He single-handedly led individuals to commit their lives to God.
# John 4:35 (read) It explains thatJesus sees harvest everywhere.
Harvest is a process of growth.
To Jesus, EVERY TIME is HARVEST time.
-He has “harvest eyes.”
Whether we can see it or not depends on whether we have “harvest eyes.”
To have “harvest eyes” is to:
-Recognize that the season for soul-winning is now!
-Identify who is ready to be saved.
-Be involved in the act of soul-winning now!
-Always want to see increase in the number of souls saved.
-Bring a new believer into commitment to the church.
The common problem that we face when we talk to the non believers about Christ are such as
-People who don't have Christ say, “When it's my time I'll know” or “I'm not ready yet.”
-God is not real since God cannot be seen.
But that is not true.
People are always ready even when they are not because they live in denial state when they say they are not ready.. In some area of their life, it's always the right time to meet the Lord. It happened to me. I was ever ready to accept Christ as my savior even when I was 10 but I do not have the chance since my whole family back then were Buddhist. But I DID NOT hesitate receiving Christ as my savior when I had the chance 6 yrs later. The Holy Spirit must have been prompting me all the time and has been stirring up my faith for Him all the while.
We, as Christians, need to able to move in the Spirit with a love for people so that we reach them at all times.
Evangelism is not about winning arguments on evolution or highlighting the evil in a person's life …
-It's about winning people with love.
Love is the biggest winner of them all. God loves people, so we should love people too!
We need to have a faith confidence. An assurance that we know who we are, in Christ, knowing that God loves us, God is with us, God will carry us through our problems in life because nothing is impossible with God. Amen?
How do we win people? Ask yourself, 'what wins you?
1.Believe and be interested in people
Remember their names. Listen to their stories. Be eager to know what is going on in their life. Value their comments. Believe that they want to change and pursue a better life.
2.Empathize with people.
# Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, Weep with those who weep.
Understand what it must be like for people to go through what they are going through.
3.Smile.
Be the friendliest people on Earth. Be enthusiastic about the people you meet.
Be positive about their life.
Be glad you've met them.
4. Help People.
The quickest way to win people is to help them at your expense, especially if they’re strangers. Show kindness to people. Be sensitive to their needs. If you care, you’ll be aware of their needs. Be supportive, encourage them as they go through a tough time.
5. Don’t argue about theology, share your testimony.
People might be disagree about the truth which we believe in but don't be disagreeable. Accept their opinion and don’t reject their statement. It's not about being clever. It's about being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that makes us effective witnesses for Christ. Share with them about what has God has done for you and how did you fell in love with God.
Now, how do we make connections with people and what are the benefits of joining a cell group?
Making the connection requires…
1) A recognition of need
As mentioned earlier on, we need to help people in order to win people. We have to know their needs in order to recognize their needs.
2) A response to God’s offer
People has already heard about God, heard about the story of Jesus. It is just a matter of whether do they want to have the salvation.
3) A willingness to receive the gift of Grace
Jesus has died on the cross for our sins to cleanse us with His blood so that we can be saved. We have to have an open heart to receive God’s love which is ever ready for us.
All of you here has already known God. You might know or still do not know your purpose on this earth here. I can tell you that the reason we are here on earth is to prepare us for our eternal life in heaven. In order to learn how to live purposefully on earth, we need to join a cell group besides going to church only. Amen?
What are the benefits of joining a cell group? You’ll get:
Friendship
You’ll get to meet people in cell group who will become your lifelong friend because people in a cell group is ONE family. You will not be alone in your life. You will have support from one another.
Boldness when you face challenge
In a Cell group with accountable relationships we are challenged by those who love us to move on toward what God has for us. If you have difficulties in your life, your members will go through them with you and keep cheering for you.
In Hebrews 10:24-25 it says, And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Growth
Being involved in consistent, growing relationships that are based on Christ, generally improve our health whether in your spirit, mind or soul. You’ll become more mature in your thinking, knowing how to live your life purposefully and able live positively.
Since God uses us, who we are is deeply important. We are not neutral messengers. We have the amazing call of helping people to see that they are indeed seeking something they don't have. God wants nothing more than to connect relationally with you. God choose you for a relationship before the world was created. God’s grace is there when the connection is weakening or lost. Mission is deeply connected with our own discipleship and maturation as Christians. Once we begin to bear fruit, opportunities for sharing the gospel are not so much forced as they are naturally created.
No mankind is alone. Someway somehow you’re connected to people. The first person you’re connected to is your mother is pregnant with you. God has already known you even before you are in your mother’s womb. Amen?
Try to think about who are the people you’re connecting now? Do you think you can actually do something to improve your relationship with the people around you?
Think about whether are you still exploring a connection? Have you made the connection but discovered how hard it is to stay connected?
I want to challenge all of you to think of at least 2 person whom you would want them to know God. Share your testimony with them about how God has touched and changed your life.
