Praise the Lord saints.
Taking the Church away from the Word as our basis for doing and using something different made us powerless not powerful. The spiritual power is in the word and it is seen when it is applied in our lives.
Deuteronomy 4:2: “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it” (also Deuteronomy 12:32, Rev 22: 18-19). The reason God says this is because “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psalms 119: 160). Why do we settle for a portion of the truth instead of the pure truth?
Discipleship is far more important than what is used today. Jesus taught those who followed him, “Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). A person carrying his cross entered into suffering. Without reproach, without dying to self, we cannot learn from him. Today’s church teaches blessings with no self denial but self exaltation. Luke 9:23: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” This is not a single decision but a lifestyle. The cross we carry is a crucified life, to ourselves and the world.
Our bodies are a dedicated temple which we present as a living sacrifice to our God, as we present ourselves––heart, mind, body, and strength in service to Him throughout the day, not just when we attend church.
Paul “strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorted them to continue in the faith, saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). This Greek word for tribulations (thlipsis) means pressures. Anytime one goes against the flow of the world there is resistance, trials come. This is what it means to be a disciple and carry the cross.
Certainly there is always a percentage of unwilling people that are lazy in pursuing knowledge of the word. What new born does not hunger for nourishment, for the newborn Christian it is a hunger for the truth? They can only be fed by the word. The people do not know what to do, they need to learn by example. Non-disciples cannot make true disciples. The real leaders are serving, the people learn by seeing their example.
Many within the Church still struggle with the same habits and bondages as before and do not move on to maturity because of one reason – no discipleship. Now I’m not speaking of shepherding like the cults do, but an actual friendship, a spiritual mentoring. This takes time, patience, and getting to know the individual, showing genuine concern and love.
The basics are the milk of the Word (Hebrews 6). These basics need to be taught over and over until the believer is established. If the foundational core teachings, the milk, are not taught then we cannot expect to go on to eat the meat. The bible expects those who are born spiritually to go from milk to meat to become mature and effective. The time this takes is really up to us, we get out of it what we put into it. We are to live by a higher standard and quality of life; we are to be changed people who have hope and have answers for life’s purpose.
Christians are to be a unique people, called out from the world, we are not to be friendly to a world that is against our Lord. We don’t ignore the world and we still live in it but we are not to be influenced in its trends or engulfed in issues the non believers are. Jesus is our example of a true pilgrim on earth. If you are following Christ for prosperity or success in the world, then you are following the wrong Jesus and are not being a disciple of him.
Till next week,
God Bless.
Rev. Dr. Robert L. Harrison, PhD – pastorrobharrison@gmail.com, @drrobharrison (Twitter), Robert Bob Harrison (Facebook)
District Elder | Pastor – True Holiness Worship Ministries www.trueholinessworshipministry.com coming soon! – 2800 41st Ave. N, St. Pete – www.opendoortrueholinesschurch.org
Church of God and True Holiness, Intl. www.trueholinesschurches.org
The Gathering of Pastor Member – Chairman, Outreach and Political Action Committee
Chaplain – SCLC of Pinellas
Parent Support for Education Council Executive Board Member
Chaplain – Dept. Juvenile Justice for Circuit 6
