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Monday, November 23, 2009

Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

We've established in before, that in the fulfilment of the law, we are made righteous when we accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour.

However, we can see here that Paul speaks about a revelation of righteousness.

What is the purpose of growing in that area?

If you know who you are, and who you aren't, according to the Word of God, it'll greatly influence the way you live your life.

On top of that, it includes what you can do and what you should abstain from as a righteous being.

Don't ever neglect feeding upon the Word of God and the importance of growing in the revelation of your righteousness.

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@ 7:35 PM

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

1 Corinthians 3:18-20
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”;
20 and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

We can see that Paul speaks to the Corinthian church and challenges those who think of themselves as wise.

Let us do the same for ourselves.

Have you ever reached a point in your spiritual life, where you've attained a certain level of revelations? Or you've heard God speak very clearly to you with regards to some areas in your life? Or some changes you've made to your life has made you feel more "spiritual" about yourself?

These things are not wrong. But should it cause you to start feeling better than you ought to think of yourself, that is where you need to start "becoming a fool that you may become wise."

That does not literally mean you start behaving like a fool. But it is the state of knowing that even though you might know more, you don't know all that you need to know. It is a state of being humble and receptive to further spiritual growth.

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@ 7:07 PM

Monday, November 9, 2009

Stepping into the shoes of a competitor, the perspective of the race changes.

Before the race begins, fellow competitors standing by your side may intimidate you or give you a cause to feel good about yourself even before the race begins. You may be the champion of last year's race, or you may be standing next to the champion of last year's race.

When the race begins, a different set of challenges come along. The flesh begins to set in, ever step that you take seems to sap life out you. The wind seems to push against you so much harder than before. The energy that you need to thrust you forward seems to increase exponentially. But everyone has their eyes fixed on one thing; the finish line.

At times you may look around in your circle of friends in church and think to yourself, this person is definitely much more spiritually mature than I am, I will never be able to do what he/she does. Or you may be elevating your spiritual maturity above others and thinking better of yourself than you ought to.

As you journey on, obstacles come and challenges arise. Your battle against the flesh seems to sap strength out of you. You may begin to get discouraged because of what you feel.

But God promises that He will renew our strength. Isaiah 40:29-31.

Keep your eyes fixed on the one thing that matters; God. At the end of the race, let us be able to echo the words of Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

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@ 6:49 PM

Monday, November 2, 2009

Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

The journey of life is often referred to as a race, while the process of it is referred to as the good fight of faith.

We are the competitors of this race. It is significant to understand this, because it helps us to get a better picture of what we should focus on in life.

Before a race begins, there will be speculations about each of the contestants. Positive or negative; the crowd will have an idea of who won last year's competition, who is greenhorn of the competition, or who had the worst time record last year.

When the race begins, as the adrenaline gets high, thoughts will form in the minds of spectators; this guy will never catch up, or the one in front is bound to win this race. But as the race goes on, there have been instances where the unsuspecting leader of the race gets overtaken by another competitor. The leader of the race is now a completely unfamiliar face, someone who was not heard of before, and the thoughts in the minds of the spectators change again.

But the moment that everyone looks forward to, ultimately, is the end of the race.

In life people can say things about you, positive or negative comments. Maybe you did not have a good start to life, or maybe you had a very good start. They can bring up your past mistakes, or they can elevate you to a position where you start to feel good about yourself because of what you've done.

While you're running this race, people can form opinions about you too. One mistake can change the impression that people have towards you. Likewise, one good "deed" can make people think very positively about you. These impressions that people have will change based on what you do, or fail to do.

However, these comments do not make a difference. What matters most, ultimately, is the end of the race.

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@ 5:51 PM