Virtue
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue – 2nd Peter 1:3
Virtue – Morals, chastity, a good quality, ethical conduct, respectability, honor, honesty, character, kindness, innocence, trustworthy, faithfulness, temperance.
Virtue is something professing Christian men and women should have. Virtue should be manifested in and through us both naturally and spiritually. Sadly to say, sometimes you will see virtue being manifested through an unbeliever more so than you see in some Christians.
Yes, we all have sinned and came short of the glory of God, but this doesn’t give us an excuse to continue to practice sin. The above scriptures indicates God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, but in order for us to live according to the scriptures, we must have knowledge of God and who He is in our life and understand what He has given us; and this only comes by studying the Word of God, hearing the Word of God, and prayer.
Read MoreThe Bible
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand – Revelation 1:3
The Bible is one of the most purchased books, but one of the least read, and if read without the Holy Spirit one cannot receive a clear understanding of the Bible. The Bible has been stated to be contradictory as well as violent. It’s amazing how people can look at documentaries who gives history of the Civil War and other wars, but receives the Bible as violent when it gives the history of the different wars the people of God went through. The Bible gives history as well as the present and the future.
The Bible is a book Christians should have read through countless of times, but yet when you ask most Christians how many times they have read the Bible they look at you as though you’re asking them about Mars or something else foreign.
God communicates to us through His written word, the Word is God, and God is His Word. With atheism, agnosticism and intellectual people deciphering the Bible without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; Christians need to remove their Bible from the closet, dust it off and see what God is saying.
Read MoreSeek The Kingdom of God
Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.
To seek “first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” indicates His disciples should turn to Him first for help, as well as fill our thoughts with His desires, to take on His character. It’s to serve and obey Him in everything.
Many Christians take portions of the Bible they will submit to and leave out the rest, but if we’re going to be true disciples of Jesus; we must submit ourselves to His instructions from Genesis through Revelation, the Bible is not like a fast food restaurant where you can pick and chose the food you like. Some things required of as Christians, the flesh does not want to submit to ; that is why it is so important to have a prayer life. The more you pray the more your flesh will come subject to the scriptures.
To “seek” is to try to find; search for, to attempt, to dig, look up, hunt up, sniff out, go in pursuit of, go in search of and sadly to say there are very few Christians that’s truly seeking after God the way He has instructed us to. Once they attend Sunday service, that’s it until the next Sunday, but God is requiring more of us other than Sunday Worship. We should seek after God the way we seek out to purchase the lastest ipod, phone, video game and spouse. If we seek Him the way we seek after things, we would have an encounter with Him that will be fulfiilling, and everylasting.
Jesus informed His disciples in order to follow Him they would have to deny themselves, the instructions wasn’t just for the disciples of Jesus time, but for modern day Christians to follow as well (Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me – Matthew 16:24). Come after indicates seeking, looking for the things of God, seeking to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Every Christian is assigned a spiritual cross and each cross is different.
Cross indicates pain and suffering, Jesus instructed His disciples to pick up their cross and follow Him. There is no pain or suffering that heaven cannot heal. If pain and suffering wasn’t coming to the disciples it wouldn’t have been written in the Bible for us to be aware of it. Pain and suffering comes through things and people we have placed in our lives as well as tribulations we go through in order to be created in the image of God and His Son. When you search the scriptures, anyone that was used or blessed of God went through trials and tribulations; but through their continue seeking after God through whatever they were going through, after the test they received a reward for their faithfulness.
When we seek God, He will fellowship with us as He did with Adam in the Garden of Eden. We can come into the presence of God when we seek Him with our whole heart ( And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart – Jeremiah 29:13). When we seek God, He will visit us in our homes, work-place and school wherever we’re are, we will be able to feel His presence with us. God wants to do more than just visit us while we attending church, but in order for Him to do that, we must come submissive to Him.
Some Christians can tell you about the latest style or their favorite television program better than they can tell you about scriptures. The individual is seeking the things of the world rather than seeking the things of God (Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him – 1st John 2:15). God has instructed the disciples of Christ to set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth, Christians should be spiritually minded; knowing the coming of the Lord is like a thief, and we must be clothed in His righteousness to enter into Heaven. When He appears it will not be the time for us to be trying to be ready, but we should be prepared for His coming (Behold , I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keep his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame – Revelation 16:15).
God desires to hear our voices other than when we’re in church. How many times do you give God praise and a dance in your home? Can you praise Him in the bad times as well as in the good times? How many times do you deny yourself from eating and fast to consecrate yourself before the Lord? Can you turn the other cheek when someone has lied or did you wrong? All this comes under seeking God, doing what Jesus would do. Seeking God’s kingdom is allowing God to have full control of your life. Seeking God’s kingdom is not allowing anything or anyone to have more of your time than what you give to the Father and the Son.
God’s kingdom is in power. God will give you the power to control your temper, tongue, body and anything else that needs to be under control when you submit yourself to the Word of God. When we seek the kingdom of God; we are seeking to allow Him to have full dominion over us and allowing Him to empower us to have dominion over things in our lives that are contrary to the Word of God.
Seeking God’s righteousness is seeking His Word and His righteousness and how to apply it to our lives on a daily basis. Love our neighbors as we love ourselves is everyone even those that does not deserved to be loved according to us or the way the world would look at them. Love is stronger than the grave and can conquer anything. We cannot experience Agape love if the God of love is not living within our being.
Serving no other god is seeking God’s kingdom allowing Him to be God and God alone. Whatever we love more than God has became our god whoever and whatever it may be. The Bible will give us a diagnostic check up; if we allow the Bible to check our heart, mind, will and spirit, it will instruct us in what we need to do to correct the problem.
God wants us to be faithful to Him and to His Word daily, and we can only do that by allowing God to have full control of our being. When the Spirit of the Living God is living within our being He can make changes that we cannot make ourselves. When He lives within us, He gives us a do right mind, a do right heart. His Spirit assists us to purpose in our heart to be willing and obedient to the Spirit and the Word of God. When we seek the kingdom of God, He gives us a portion of His Spirit to enable us to do those things that are pleasing to Him.
We the church must be in position to fight the good fight of faith. We the church must be in a position with God that when we pray, He will hear our prayers and answer them. We cannot be seeking the kingdom of God when we’re giving the majority of our times to things that pleases our flesh. Prayer is needed, but is not given in our homes, schools, work-place and churches. Its hard to get the body of Christ to come to church and pray for an hour, but if food and music is involved the people will flock to it.
The church has left its first love and is seeking the things of the world; He that confesses that he or she is a Christian should live as Jesus lived to please the Father. 2012 has passed and we’re in a new year; the things we didn’t do pertaining to the kingdom of heaven should be our focus for the year of 2013. Step it up a notch in your praying, fasting, reading and studying the Word of God. Purpose in your heart to submit to the Word of God once you have read it. Purpose to love with unconditional love, purpose to please the Father on a daily basis (I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me – Philippians 4:13
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God Hasn’t Forgotten You
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity) to give you an expected end.
Sometimes we get wearied, especially if we have been praying for something or someone for a long time. Our emotions and Satan will try to influence us to stop praying, stop believing, but God has given you a promise, and God is not like man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He has to repent. Whatever God has promised you, God will fulfill His promise.
Sometimes our prayers hasn’t been answered because it’s not in line with God’s word. God will never go against His word. Other reasons could be, we’re not really believing what we’re praying for or it’s not the time for the answered prayer to be manifested.
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