Philippians 1 : 1-6 NKJV
(1) “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the
bishops and deacons:
(2) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Thankfulness and Prayer
(3) I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
(4) Always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,
(5) for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
(6) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good
work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
“As the saying goes, “There is only one of you.” You are a living message for Christ in a one-of-a-kind way that no one else can duplicate.
Message building is a lifelong process, and the Lord wants you to participate actively in developing His purpose for you in many ways:
1. Read and Study the Scriptures. Time in God’s Word is essential for
growth. As you learn who God is and what He has done, He unfolds His
truth in a personal way through the Holy Spirit and gives you wisdom
and understanding for everyday life.
2. Realize God’s Ultimate Goal. While His specific plans for you are
custom made, His goal for every believer is the same—to conform us to
the likeness of His Son—so your words and actions are reflections
of Jesus’ character.
3. Review God’s Pattern Of Operation. Ask, “How has He gotten my
attention before? What is He teaching me in this present situation?”
Read and study the many character portraits in the Scriptures.
4. Reach Out to Serve Others. Meeting the needs of others and becoming
involved in their lives challenge you to trust the Lord to provide the
resources. Your faith will grow as He uses you to bless others.
A closing prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, make me a living message of Your love.”
Charles F. Stanley
I Lift Up My Soul
Our heavenly Father will always reward and recognize whenever there is an increase in the amount of faith you personally develop and exercise. Increase the amount of faith you possess and you will automatically be blessed in one way or another by our Lord. It is really very simple. You see, faith is an action word. An exercise of your faith will always require you to take some action, to perform some task or duty, to provide some type of service to your fellow man.
The Holy Scriptures tell us in The Book of James, Chapter 2, verses 17 and 26 (NKJV):
(17) “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
(26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works
is dead also.”
These truthful words make it abundantly clear that real faith must be exercised if it is to increase and be used to the benefit of another person or situation. Real faith is active. It is not passive.
People will often ask, how much faith do I need to possess in order to be useful within the Kingdom of God? How much faith is enough in order to reap the rewards of God’s blessing? The correct answer is not quantitative. The amount of faith is not the point to be understood. Rather it is the use or the actual exercise of the amount of faith that you currently do possess. Whatever it may be.
The tiniest of all seeds in God’s Kingdom is that of the mustard plant. Its seed is minuscule. God tells us in His Holy Word in The Book of Luke, Chapter 17, versus 5 and 6 (NKJV) that it takes very little faith to be able to move mountains in your life:
(5) “And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’
(6) So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say
to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in
the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
The critical point of this whole subject is that you take action. You take charge of the faith that you do have and use it the benefit of some other situation or person.
God will always reward and bless an increase in the amount of faith that you possess.
If you want to increase the amount of faith that you do have, then simply follow the instructions given you by God as recorded in His Bible in the Book of Romans, Chapter 10, verse 17 (NKJV):
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
If you truly desire to increase the amount of faith that you have, then you simply need to begin and sustain a daily discipline of Reading and Meditating on the Word of God, i.e. The Holy Bible. Read it every day. Think about what you read. Make notes in the margins of your Bible. As you mature in the reading of Scripture, learn how to cross reference different discussions by and between different chapters and verses. Take your time. Don’t be in a hurry. Think about that which you read and how best to apply it in the living of your life.
Reading and learning God’s Word is to become a lifelong journey. Relax with it. Enjoy the journey.
To make this journey more enjoyable, I suggest that you join a local church and become an active participating member. Make sure it is a Bible believing and Bible teaching church body….not necessarily a denomination…that you choose to join. Attend Sunday school classes and contribute to the discussions. Supplement your church activities with a regular bible study group if possible. The fact is that you need a mentor to teach you and to hone your knowledge as you grow in the Lord. Believe me, if you follow these instructions, you will grow mentally, physically and spiritually. And as a result, your faith will increase!
As your knowledge and understanding of (1) who God really is and (2) who you really are is growing and becoming greater, you will need to begin using your knowledge and God-given gifts, talents, and abilities. Put what you are learning into play by loving your Heavenly Father and serving Him and by loving and serving your fellow man. Use the knowledge you have gained by serving other people and becoming more and more Christ-like. This is what will greatly please and bless your Father in Heaven. This is a definite demonstration of your personal increase in your faith. Your blessing from God will surely follow.
Go back to the beginning of this message now. Reread the words written by Dr. Charles Stanley. I think they will now take on an expanded meaning. Let God use you in His Kingdom as you love and serve Him by loving and serving your fellow man. Count it all joy!
God’s Greatest Blessings to All of You………………