Thursday 13 July 2017

A Lifestyle

A Lifestyle
James the half brother of Jesus writes,
“My dear brothers, take note of this: 
Everyone should be quick to listen, 
slow to speak 
and slow to become angry,  
for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil 
that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, 
which can save you. 
Do not merely listen to the word,
 and so deceive yourselves. 
Do what it says.”
                     James 1:19-22  
The Apostle Paul tells us,
"But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, 
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  
gentleness and self-control. 
Against such things there is no law. 
                                    Galatians 5:22,23
The writer of Proverbs tells us,
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
 bind them around your neck, 
write them on the tablet of your heart. 
Then you will win favor and a good name
 in the sight of God and man.”
                                              Proverbs 3:3,4,
Listed above are attributes of followers of Christ. Attributes that we must if we claim to be Christian s follow
The early church set the example for all who would call themselves followers of Christ. The book of Acts telling us,
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  
Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47.
If we claim to be followers of Christ we can do no less than what the scriptures tell us to do.
If people do not see God reflected in our lives, if they do not see the love of Christ in our lives, if they do no see that we live life differently than the world around us, they will not want anything to do with us. As the writer of Hebrews states,
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men 
and to be holy; 
without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 
                                                         Hebrews 12:14.
Francis of Assisi said,
“The deeds you do
 may be the only sermon
 some persons will hear today” 
 Francis of Assisi.
If you claim to be a follower of Christ you are God’s representative on earth. You are the lense if you will, through which people will see God. Thus how you conduct your life may determine the eternal resting place of someone you come in contact with.
Please think about it.

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