Monday, March 19, 2018
Monday, March 12, 2018
Spiritual Growth
When we accept Christ as our Savior,
the Holy Spirit lives within us and begins the process of making us
more like Him. This is Spiritual growth.
2 Peter 1:3-8
His divine power has given us
everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who
called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given
us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may
participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in
the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every
effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and
to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to
mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in
increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and
unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This verse is telling us that with
God's power we have everything we need to live lives of godliness,
which is the goal of spiritual growth. What we need comes through our
knowledge of Him. This
knowledge of Him comes from the Bible.
Acts of the
flesh that identified our lives before we came to Christ:
"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord,
jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before,
that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
We need to confess and repent these acts and God will help us
overcome them. As we experience spiritual growth, fewer and fewer of
these acts of the flesh will be evident in our lives.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law."As spiritual
growth occurs, the fruit of the Spirit becomes increasingly evident
in our lives. The Holy Spirit dwells within us as salvation takes
place. The old, sinful nature begins to give way to the new,
Christlike nature. Spiritual growth is a lifelong process that
depends on our study and application of God's Word.
We should pray for God to increase our
faith and knowledge of Him.
John 14:16-17
2 Corinthians 6-7
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Galatians 5: 16-26
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Turning Conversations to Christ
I recently read an article by Rebecca Manley Pippert about how to turn conversations to Christ. Her answer was amazingly simple and powerful. It's simply to ask good questions!
In a recent Bible Study, we learned about how many questions Jesus asks in the New Testament. I've forgotten the exact number, but the main idea was that Jesus asked questions and told stories. Just Google "Jesus teaching with questions" and you will come up with some wonderful articles. In one of those articles Eric von Atzigen compiled a list of 135 Jesus questions.
People often resort to preaching sermons when trying to witness to others. Of course, Jesus was the master communicator and our model for living. So why not ask questions like the Master Teacher?
Questions are effective because they can be used in a non-threatening way, they often evoke a response which is a brilliant way to communicate and let people know that we are interested in them and want to get to know them.
The Concentric Circle Model is good tool to use when you wish to turn a conversation to Christ. Begin with general interest questions about their family, job or where they're from. Then move to specific interest questions about their area of interest. Next ask issue questions that cause them to reflect on what they believe. Then you can ask a spiritual question.
So instead of busting out with a sermon, spend some time getting to know a person, showing genuine interest establishes a relationship with them. Then you can discuss spiritual matters. I love the question approach and as a teacher who was taught to ask questions while teaching, I can't believe I didn't think of this before!
In a recent Bible Study, we learned about how many questions Jesus asks in the New Testament. I've forgotten the exact number, but the main idea was that Jesus asked questions and told stories. Just Google "Jesus teaching with questions" and you will come up with some wonderful articles. In one of those articles Eric von Atzigen compiled a list of 135 Jesus questions.
People often resort to preaching sermons when trying to witness to others. Of course, Jesus was the master communicator and our model for living. So why not ask questions like the Master Teacher?
Questions are effective because they can be used in a non-threatening way, they often evoke a response which is a brilliant way to communicate and let people know that we are interested in them and want to get to know them.
The Concentric Circle Model is good tool to use when you wish to turn a conversation to Christ. Begin with general interest questions about their family, job or where they're from. Then move to specific interest questions about their area of interest. Next ask issue questions that cause them to reflect on what they believe. Then you can ask a spiritual question.
So instead of busting out with a sermon, spend some time getting to know a person, showing genuine interest establishes a relationship with them. Then you can discuss spiritual matters. I love the question approach and as a teacher who was taught to ask questions while teaching, I can't believe I didn't think of this before!
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