Your pursuit for purpose will not always render a vote in popular opinion, especially through the eyes of reason.

Remember:

Always remain prayerful so that your vision is clear. Walking away from people will be hard because it will hurt, but always remember obedience is far better than sacrifice.  Walking away from some habits sometimes requires help don’t give up.

TO BE CONTINUED

Don’t take your trust out of the will of God.

Devotion is A Lifestyle. Even though you can’t see it your commitment brings you within reach. 

I’ve been receiving a lot of requests in regards to commitment. Today lets focus on being relentless. The definition of relentless:

Refuse to let anyone deter you from doing what you feel in your heart that you must do to get closer to God.  Everyday make a conscious effort to include spending time whether reading the Word, whether praying, or having a conversation with Him. Know that this is essential.

We can find excuses for just about anything if we try.  Everyday we see that life is about choices and how do we respond and or react to everyday challenges. Just about any problem you face will be linked to commitment. There is one thing that can’t escape anyone and that is You are responsible for your commitment.

As a Pastor the one thing that I cannot control is your commitment.  Do not allow yourselves to be overwhelmed with the struggles of life, know that God is committed to you and His desire is for you to be committed to HIM. There is comfort in knowing that He is with you everywhere you go and it is about time that you commit your ways to him.

How many people have ignored the truth at one time or another? I could put two hands up!

Our need for direction is instinctual because something/someone is after you! Everything is going wrong, but some how you saw the shadow of death and God woke you up and snatched you out. Again, I can say yeah that has been me too. I then had to realize that what i was doing wasn’t working yes, I too needed direction.

You could be the person who says, “I have ignored all the signs and now I need more. ” It only takes one step to get on track while in pursuit of direction you will then face some tough questions, and even tougher challenges. You will also have to face something called deliverance and it is at that point you might get uncomfortable because you will have to adapt to a new normal. I say that because at some point your disfunction became normal to you. Don’t get scared remember that change isn’t easy, your pursuit of direction doesn’t never really stops it can best be reflected in stages of growth.

Keep Going, Keep growing! He wants you to take you to your next level.

As I sit here and recall my day today. I was blessed to be able to Eulogize a long time member of Mount Zion Baptist Church. As I  brought my sermon to a close the word relationship came to mind.  I know that we hear it all of the time that we are just passing through, but the question is what are we doing with the time that we have. What happens in between the point of entry and that point of exit.

I had a moment when I thought about those families who had to lay loved ones to rest all varying in ages.

Today analyze and evaluate YOUR relationship with Christ.

Studying the bible for oneself is extremely important to the personal spiritual growth and development of the believer, to live a Christian life.

Well, you may ask; what is the difference between a believer and a Christian? If I believe, am I not a Christian? I’m glad you asked. The Bible, as recorded in Roman 10:9 kjv, lets us know that when we confess with our month, and believe in our heart that God did indeed raise Jesus from the dead, we are saved. The question is what are we saved from? We are saved from the destruction and dominion of sin over our lives. When one believes and confesses, he now opens the door of opportunity for renewal and transformation. This renewal or transformation can only start and be maintained through studying and following God’s Word. When we study the Word of God, we learn to become followers of Jesus Christ.

For example, as recorded in the Gospels of: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, which gives an account of the life and teachings of Christ; Jesus called fishermen to become disciples. In Mark chapter one, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and saw fishers. Jesus told the fishermen to follow me. The fishermen straightway drooped their nets and to follow Jesus. In order for the fishermen to follow Jesus, there had to be some type of belief or confidence in him. When Jesus said follow me, it simply meant believe in me and I will make you to become fishers of men. Upon the fishermen believing in Jesus, they followed him, and were taught by him to become Christians which is simply followers of Christ.

Well, you ask, what does this have to do with effective bible study methods? My answer is EVERYTHING! If we want to feed our faith and grow in developing as followers of Christ, studying to learn of about Jesus, his actions and habits is essential.

We are all different and what is effective for one may not be as effective for another. However, I have found, for myself, a method that feeds me what I need in order to grow spiritually and develop as a Christian.

• The first step I take is, to have Devotion:

o   During this time before beginning anything I pray. Prayer helps me come to a calm down and focus on what is before me. During my prayer I ask God to open up my spiritual eyes, to see beyond the topical and into the spiritual. I consecrate myself because I want to be fully in His presence. I also ask for illumination of the revelation or the enlightenment to receive His revealed Word. I also begin to worship Him, and honor Him, in song because this ushers in His presence allows Him to increase as well as me to decrease. This will go on throughout the week.

• The next step I take is, to READ! READ! READ!

o   This simply means that at this point, I am only reading in order to get an understanding of the situation or the topical circumstances. During this time, although reading lasts for a number of days. I begin a study systematically. Beginning a study, systematically simply means that, since I like research and investigations, I want to find out the: background, writer, mind frame of the people or person involved, the setting, the environment, the issues that surroundings, and etc. I find that it is always good to know what is going on before as well as after.

• I also begin to utilize different versions of the bible and reference materials that are no charge an available through the internet as well as, purchased materials.
• The next step I take is a more biblical/ spiritual approach.

o   I basically at this point, begin to ask myself, how does this scripture apply to me? I like to deal with me as well as my current situation and circumstances, applying them to the Word before addressing or expressing to anyone else. I begin to do a self-evaluation in order place myself in the shoes, situation, or circumstance of the individual/s involved in the text.

In order to become Christians and follow the example of Christ we must learn of him and his ways through the Word. Each individual person, even as the disciples displayed, will learn in different ways. However, no matter what way or how we learn, the underlying factor is that we should be willing to follow Jesus. In order to follow Jesus and beome Christians studying and applying the Word is essential to a Christ like life.