Activating Jesus In Our Lives - Through Personal Growth

2 Peter 1:3-10 “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. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

‘Personal growth’ in Jesus is ESSENTIAL for your soul! It is how God designed us to live on this earth in harmony with all things! When everything is growing in our lives there is no time to investigate the negative of life and yet we hear every day of another Christian that has fallen into the world and away from God.

We spend too much time focusing on that kind of stuff when really God calls us to focus on our own selves and grow our own personal relationship with Him to the point that we can look past the world and see the beauty of where we will spend eternity.

In order for ‘Personal Growth’ to take place we have to experience the abundant life in Christ in a moment by moment way! Our mental, emotional, physical and relational elements – those things INSIDE of us MUST grow toward Christ.

If we are striving to obey the command of the above Scripture; then we will see personal growth in a way that we are effective in the lives of our children, our spouse, our family, workplace and every other place we might be in!

God’s Plan is perfect and when we are placing value on our personal growth with Him; we see it at work and just like laying steps on a frame of stairs; each one brings us closer to the top or in the case of a Christian – closer to the Lord and eternity!

Here are some ways that we can measure where our ‘Personal Growth’ in the Lord is and where we need to improve and grow!

©     Focus ~ What are we doing today that is helping us be a better Christian? In order to grow ‘personally’ we must be INTENTIONAL in our focus. Have you noticed that we go where we are looking? We naturally gravitate to where our focus is. James 1:25

©     Fruit ~ What are the fruits of our spiritual lives? Do we see the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ active in our lives? Are we growing what God says to grow so that the ‘fruit’ is evident to us as well as others? Galatians 5:22-25

©     Fun ~ Do we have fun in our Christian walk? Is there laughter in our house? Do we enjoy each day as a gift from God or are we cursing the day – is everything ‘wrong’ or is everything ‘right’? There should be joy and laughter abundant as we journey toward eternity. God desires us to ENJOY this life! Psalm 16:11

©     Foundations ~ Are we studying to increase our knowledge base or are we relying on just what we hear and do at church? The foundations of our lives should be personal with God! It should be a growth experience that takes place between us and the Lord ONLY! Our foundation must be strong in the Lord and that only happens through personal growth – building that foundation with God one step at a time! 2 Timothy 2:15

©     Friends & Family ~ Are we ‘growing’ our family toward the Lord? Are we extending the same love that Christ gave us to our families and friends?  Are our relationships with others strong and healthy in the Lord? Do we pray for our friends? Has God convicted us on which friends we  should have? Do we have friends that we talk about the Lord with and grow in those relationships? Proverbs 27:17

©     Finish ~ What will our ‘FINISH’ be? What will our personal growth level be when we cross the finish line to see Jesus? How we finish will show the evidence of what we have loved in this life! Acts 20:24 says it so beautifully!

What will our finish be? It tells the story of where our personal growth is! It is my prayer that you are faithful to the Lord and desire Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! That the Power of the Lord is evident in your lives and that you are on a path to grow in Him to the point that others see Christ in you thereby sealing the foundation that Christ has laid out in you!

Paul says it so well in Timothy…2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Even in his departing this life; he wanted others to know how much God loved them and what their reward was going to be! He gave them strength by showing them what personal growth had done for him and that it all ultimately would bring others to the Lord. Can we say that tonight!

Grow in your personal walk with Jesus to the point that God is evident to all! You reap the benefit of a relationship and others get an opportunity to see Jesus!

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Activating Jesus In Our Lives - What Is Our Purpose

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish”

As humans we search for significance in everything we do! We wonder ‘why’ we are not this or that and if we are this or that we wonder why we didn’t do it better or how we can improve it. The idea that ‘purpose’ is important to us was given to us by God! He gives us vision to become and do. He gives us creativity! He made us and gave us purpose for a reason.

The Bible says in Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

The reason that God gave us a desire for purpose was that our minds would be challenged in ways that are creative and would draw others to Christ.

What we find however in our society is that we have taken this creativity that God instilled in us and have turned away from God and have used purpose in this life for our own gain instead. This has caused many problems and has caused us to turn away from God as though we do not need Him.

As believers we must settle the issue of ‘why am I here’ so that God can use us for bringing others to Christ in this life.

Do we have a purpose? Absolutely. We just have to understand what the purpose is and how God wants each of us to figure it out.

Psalm 138: 8 says “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; Your love, O Lord, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.”

In this life we question everything and sometimes there are no answers and we are left to wonder. We wonder why we are not better at something; why our kids have problems; why we don’t have enough money; why our husband doesn’t think we are queen; why the washing machine and the lawn mower quit at the same time; why, why, why? The list can go on forever!

If we let the wondering run through our minds over and over again; we begin to feel defeated and pretty soon it affects everything in our lives; INCLUDING LOVING GOD! That is how Satan uses our questioning to defeat us!

The Bible says that ‘All things work together for good to those who love God’ and when we really BELIEVE that then we don’t spend our quiet time wondering why, why, why!

We get more focused on our purpose! Have you ever noticed that some people are more focused on their purpose than others? This is why.

When we believe the simple truths of the Bible and apply them in our lives; then God has an opportunity to open our minds to HUGE things.

Looking into our ‘purpose’ here helps us define who we are in Christ. Being sure of some things will keep our minds from wondering on the things that take us away from Christ!

Here are some ways to measure the value of ‘purpose’ in our life:

©     Are we actively DECIDING to pursue God in our life? Are we giving our time to discovering how God can use us in His Kingdom? Are we bathing everything in our lives with loving God? When we do this we are actively seeking purpose in this life with the Lord and He gives us peace and joy. This decision is so important because we HAVE to settle it in our minds – we ARE living for the Lord no matter what! Ephesians 5:8-9

©     DISCOVER WITH God what you were made to for the Kingdom! Each of us has talents, gifts, experiences, interests and personalities that God has created in us to use. Once we settle the issue of ‘why’ then we can look to the Lord and ASK Him to reveal to us what we should do and HOW we should do it. God WILL provide the answer in still, small ways and just a little at a time. God does not overwhelm us…we overwhelm ourselves. He tells us to ‘wait upon Him’ and He will reveal to us our gift! Since God is the one who created us; we should ASK the Creator to help us discover our purpose in this life! Job 12:10

©     Let God DEFINE who you are! He will give each of us focus in this life and help us see where we should be and how we should act. We should not try to let other humans define us. ONLY God can do it. He alone reveals the heart and tries the heart. Jeremiah 17:9-10

©     Are we DEVELOPING our life according to God’s Plan? Are we redirecting things all the time to get closer to God? Doing this will bring His purpose for us into focus more and keep God fresh before us. We should ALWAYS be growing and changing and getting closer to the Lord. We NEVER arrive at perfection; but should always be searching out new ways to get closer to the Lord – seeing His purpose for us becomes clearer the closer we get. 2 Peter 1:3-8

©     Are we DEDICATING ourselves to God’s purpose in this life? Dedicating ourselves means that we are seeking after God and NOT turning toward the world. We are denying the world, turning away from sin and believing God more and more…growing in Him and not letting this world prevent us from believing. So many of us become discouraged over problems, trials and sin and God calls us to be dedicated to Him and believing Him even though we can’t understand problems in this life! Philippians 4:6-9

©     Do we DEMONSTRATE the purpose of God so that others see God in us? Are we so dependent upon God that He can be seen in us in every aspect of our lives? God’s desire is that we grow in Him to a point that we are a shining light for Him to use. When things go wrong in our life; is our faith taking over? This is a demonstration of God’s love in us! James 2:23

©     When we put all these things into ACTION; we find our DESTINY in Christ! It is easy to see our purpose when we are actively seeking God and putting into place all the plans He has for us! I can’t tell you your destiny in Christ and you can’t tell me mine; but if we are each seeking after God in a way that is active and our faith in God is STRONG; there will be no question about our purpose here on this earth! John 17:21-23

It is my prayer that you are actively pursuing God in such a way that His purpose is revealed to you in this life! God loves us so much and IF we are paying attention it is easy to see!

Activate Jesus in your life today by living out the life He has given you to live! Make Him first and He has this beautiful way of making all things come together in Him! What a huge promise from His Word! There really is FREEDOM in Him and I hope you are seeking that today!

Activating Jesus in Our Lives – What is Our Purpose

Activating Jesus In Our Lives - By Community

(NOTE: This is the 2nd in a series I am teaching in our Women's Bible Study on Wednesday nights - Come and join us if it is possible!)

Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

While ‘loving God’ shows our UPWARD devotion; ‘loving others’ shows our OUTWARD devotion.

Everything that God does involves relationship. First should be our relationship to Him and then the next part of being an ACTIVE BELIEVER is our relationship with others.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:16 “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:15 “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Christ is the head of our body and the body is made up of believers in community; which is the church. Are we a ‘part’ of the body or are we just merely a ‘body part’?

This is the difference in someone who is part of the body and someone who doesn’t believe enough and instead just chooses to be a body part. The Bible describes us as part of the body of Christ and the opposite of that would be disconnected body parts.

If our heart, mind, soul and strength are poured into Jesus Christ; then we ARE desiring to be part of the body.

Since we are desiring to be ‘part of the body’ then we are automatically part of the community of God! That is the way that God works with His own.

Sometimes ‘Community’ is hard work. It takes time to invest in community and in our day and age; time is the last thing we have a lot of and yet God continually calls us to it! Do we ignore it and become just a ‘body part’ – or do we proceed to get involved with the local church and become ‘part of the body’?

Here are some ways that we can evaluate our level of commitment to ‘Community’ and learn if indeed we are ‘part of the body’ or a ‘body part’.

†       Connected – Are we a participator or a spectator? We are ‘connected’ if we are helping to grow the local body of believers. Ephesians 4:16

†       Compassionate – Are we moved to compassion for other believers or are we cold and distant when others are struggling? Is our heart broken for those who need encouragement in their trials? Every time Jesus felt compassion for others He did miracles! Our body needs miracles and those are found in answered prayer, helping hands, giving monetarily, sharing our testimony of what God has done and many other ways! Ephesians 4:2, 32

†       Changed – Are we changed since coming to Christ and growing within the body? Are we living a different way at home and from our hearts? Our relationships with others should tell the story. Are we living out that ‘changed life’ and it is evident to others? Ephesians 4:17

†       Character – Have we changed out of our worldly clothes and put on the clothing of Christ? Has our character changed? Are we seeking to be more like Christ every day? This should never get old for the believer. We should be seeking Jesus constantly and asking Him to mold our character to be more like Him. When we do this; others see Him in us and His light shines in the darkness of the world. Ephesians 4:22-26

†       Choices – Do our words and actions build unity or divisions within the body of Christ? Do we choose our words to build others up or do we share in the ‘4-1-1’ and get the scoop instead of letting the Love of Christ wash over us? It is so easy to want to be in the ‘know’ in this world; but God calls us to build up the body by our words and actions instead of tearing down. Ephesians 4: 1,3

†       Complete – Are we allowing others to also be ‘part of the body’? Are we encouraging others to get involved and be a part with us or are we exclusively trying to keep others out because we don’t know them or want them involved with us? God calls us to community to GROW others right along with the body and include them all to be a part with us! This is so very important for the future generations of the body! Others ALWAYS need to be included in the growing Community we live in! Ephesians 4:11-13

†       Committed – Are we committed when it is difficult to be committed? Are we dedicated to the body of Christ in such a way that we might have to sacrifice something to do the work of the Lord? This is hard in our world because we have so many different things to do! God assures us in His Word however that when we put Him first; He makes a way for all things in our lives! It is a beautiful promise to those who are found faithful! Ephesians 5

To activate Jesus in our lives in a powerful way we must first love God and then love others! With the Love of God filling us; God gives us the POWER to love those in our community; which is the body of Christ!

It is my prayer that this week we evaluate our lives and discover if we are ‘part of the body’ or just a ‘body part’ and make the changes that we need to make to come closer to the Lord! Our relationship is what does this for us. Invest in your relationship with Christ today and make it a priority! It will enhance your life in such a way that you would NEVER want to turn away from the Lord.

How To Activate Jesus In Our Lives

Putting Jesus into ‘ACTION’ in our lives is easier said than done! It is not easy to turn away from everything that the world teaches and everything that we might currently believe about how to fix our lives.

Women are the best at figuring out ‘self help’ and ‘fix-ability’ in this crazy life we live! If it is broken or needs to be fixed up then a woman can do it. However, right along with that comes the mindset that we really CAN fix it and help it. This is not what the Bible teaches!

There are things that we are suppose to do in this life that come through knowledge and ability; but it should all be filtered through the Lord and our relationship with Him.

This is probably the hardest concept to teach! If we can ever just get to the point that we pour everything in this life through the filter of God in our soul; we would be on the right track. This is how many get derailed in this life.

If we pour life in and there is no filter of God through which to receive things in our hearts and souls and minds; then we are filtering that life through whatever IS filling us up at the moment: anger, bitterness, hardness, spite, good intentions, self help, etc. This CAN be very destructive.

The Bible IS the ‘Instruction Manual’ for this life and unless we are filling our souls with the INSTRUCTIONS then we cannot possibly filter the life we are living through God.

There are ways that we can begin to activate Jesus in our lives that will encourage us to continue to filter our lives through Him. Unless we are using the INSTRUCTIONS that God provided and really learn to change from the inside out – defeat is at every turn!

It is my prayer that you begin to use these instructions that are Biblical and life changing if put into ACTION!

Mark 12:30 ~ “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

‘Loving God’ is the beginning to the understanding that comes along with being a fully devoted believer. We must give ourselves over to a love of God with ou thoughts and actions, with every breath that is in us. Our decisions should reflect Him; our emotions and feelings should be in line with what God tells us to do above!

In order to ‘activate’ Jesus in us we have to LOVE GOD more than anything in this life! This all begins with a relationship with God that captures our heart and gives over to the Loving Goodness of the Lord that is found in the Bible. To love God completely it is true that we must LOVE Him with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, ALL our mind and ALL our strength!

Here are some ways to measure our value of ‘Loving God’.

©     Trust ~ Do we do things our way or God’s way? We have to believe that God actually tells us the truth! Proverbs 3:5-6

©     Trade ~ What things haven’t we given to God: He traded His ONE SON so that He would gain MANY sons! John 3:16

©     Time ~ God offers us eternity; how much time do we offer Him? We can’t offer God the leftovers; He WANTS ALL of us! Matthew 26:40

©     Truthfulness ~ Do we defend things in our lives that are worthless? When we are honest with God and honest with ourselves the temporary doesn’t seem as important as the eternal! Matthew 23:28

©     Teachable ~ Are we willing to let God ‘MAKE US’ into a fully devoted believer? We can’t change what we are until we change what we believe! Ephesians 4:11-13

©     Tested ~ Is our love for God strong enough to endure testing? God WILL at some point TEST our love to see if it is true! Luke 18:18-23

©     Treasure ~ What do we think about, dwell on, build on and count on? Where our treasure is; we will find our heart! Matthew 6:21

Activating Jesus in our lives takes ‘Loving God’ more than anything else in this life! Filtering everything we do, we think, we believe through God! It is a tried and proven way to live this life here on earth and it prepares our hearts for ETERNITY!