Be Gentle When Rebuking Others

Speaking From God’s Wisdom Does NOT Offend But Encourage

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2 NIV).

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:13-18 NKJV).

Important notice: The Lord gave us this message to write after members of our ministry and members of the body of Christ, in general, are being persecuted by their fellow 'Christian' brethren. The Lord is warning us not to wage war against each other. A true Christian employs the weapons of love, humility, and gentleness to embrace true unity in the body of believers.

The world as we know it is practicing violence, hatred, and every kind of sin the Bible warns against (Revelations 21:8). Scripturally, we learned that evil and deceit have been decreed by the Lord to continue until the end of time (Daniel 12:10; Matthew 13:30). When our Lord Jesus Christ visited the world, He brought a message of peace and reconciliation for all mankind (Luke 2:14; Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20). However, the Lord has given His Peace to ‘those with whom God is pleased’ and these are those who accepted Him as their Lord and who follow His teachings (Luke 2:14; John 14:27). Learning from the Holy Scriptures, the Christian message teaches us a lifestyle of being peace-loving, humble, caring, and gentleness (Ephesians 4:2). Additionally, in bringing forth the beautiful heart of the Lord, the Scriptures knowing the disobedient nature of human beings teach us to be patient with others and allow them to react without a compulsion to the will of God (2 Timothy 2:24; 2 Corinthians 9:7). In other words, when a person conforms voluntarily to the Word of God he or she simply agrees with the scriptural instruction(s) to obey and submit to the Voice of God (John 10:27).

Demeaning Others Is Demonic

Some time ago the Lord Jesus sharply rebuked a young man in our ministry who was in the habit of humiliating and talking down on others. The Lord said that even if we rebuke others we need not state it in anger and as if the other person(s) is nothing (2 Timothy 2:25; Galatians 6:1). Now, brethren, we are not writing this message as if we are sitting in judgment over others, in fact, we are being encouraged ourselves to watch our salvation and not to be a stumbling block to others (1 Corinthians 10:32; Romans 14:13-23). Furthermore, our message to others whether we rebuke, teach, preach or encourage ought to be in a meek and gentle spirit impacted by the purity of the wisdom from above (James 3:17-18).

In the same breath, the Bible asks, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13 NIV). Thus, if our conduct and speech towards our brothers or sisters are hostile, demeaning, and driven by anger, bitterness, and hateful feelings such behavior has its roots in evil and we know who is the source of evil (James 3:14-16). Therefore, a person who operates from evil motives is driven by a spirit of evil hate, and whatever unpleasant thought or word he or she conceives he attaches it to his victim with evil intent. If we operate from ‘such “wisdom” [then it] does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil’ (James 3:15 NIV).

Now, brethren, I am not trying to play victim or hero here. My intention is simply to share an experience that could help and benefit someone in his or her walk with the Lord. As a ministry, we are not only receiving encouraging emails and messages from brethren around the world, in fact, some people plainly display their hatred towards us albeit in a Christian tone (scriptural verses) but with the voice of the devil which is evident through the spirit of the message. 

We are going to be direct here, recently (24 July 2018) we received an email message from a former member of this ministry in fact a few such emails lately. In his discourse, the member did not hold back his thoughts, emotions, and what he thinks about us and our work in the Lord. At best, the spirit of love was absent and the voice of the Lord was silent we couldn’t hear it in that message as the ‘sulfur’ of insult and ridicule rained down on us. God forbids and may He help us love our fellow brethren and those who oppose our message. We emphasize a person has a right to disagree with a message, but when love is absent instead of correcting someone gently we do not fulfill the Lord's message of loving unconditionally (Romans 12:9-21; 13:8). Thus, if others condemn us and consider us a nuisance to life let us be comforted that the Lord Jesus Christ loves us more and He made us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

The Father Has Unconditional Love For The Rejected

After reading such content, we were left asking ourselves, what did we gain from this, edification or encouragement? NO! Instead, our peace and spirits were momentarily disturbed (Proverbs 15:1; 4). Thus our gain in that message was pain, hurt, and slander which caused us to long for some comfort, nothing pleasant to help us in the Lord (Hebrews 10:24). To put it blindly, we were made to feel that we are welcome to seek and serve the Lord and that we are not part of Him! O’ Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for being a gracious and forgiving God who said, “Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37 GNT). Brethren to get people saved, the Lord Exercises great patience with sympathetic love to invite sinners to Him (2 Peter 3:9; Luke 15:20). Now beloved brethren, if we are in the business of destroying the faith of others we are not gathering but scattering and being a stumbling to others (Matthew 12:30). Let us be warned, when our turn comes to appear before the Lord, He will Judge us for the souls He lost as a result of our ungodly actions (2 Corinthians 5:10).

In conclusion, with this message, we are not saying that we stand above this message but in submission to the Lord, we accept whatever scriptural correction to obtain maturity in Christ and to be useful in service to His body. In addition, there will be a follow-up message to this one during next week or the week(s) thereafter.

As always, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or if you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.

With Love from all of us

Brother Glenn

Being Dressed In Love As Opposed To Being Bitter

Loving Your Fellow Brethren

"I'm giving you a new commandment: Love each other in the same way that I have loved you” (John 13:34 GWT). Also, 

"Pay your debts as they come due. However, one debt you can never finish paying is the debt of love that you owe each other. The one who loves another person has fulfilled Moses' Teachings" (Romans 13:8 GWT).

Dear Brethren, this is a follow up article from the previous week’s article, God’s Word Edifies And Builds Up. We are using a different heading because we want to draw attention to ‘Love’ since this should be the force behind every Christian’s interaction with others whether Christian or non-Christians (1 Corinthians 16:14). God's love is indiscriminate, pure and full of mercy for sinners and we should contain the same kind of spirit. By becoming a Christian through believing faith, or when a person becomes born again (repenting of past sins) by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, he or she renounces past sins and takes a vow to follow and obey the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 14:21-23). In other words, as a Christian we should transition or transform through scriptural teachings and guidance from our old way of life to the new way of life (Romans 12:2).

The Fruits Of A Transformed Life

As we know, this new and transformed life is best achieved if we willingly submit to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and the scriptures (1 Peter 5:2; Ephesians 6:7). In previous articles, we emphasised that transformation into a good and fruitful Christian life does not happen through mere talk or a sense of magical imagination, NO! Instead, we change through a deliberate and a willing submissive attitude into the new life in Christ and as we yield through patience and perseverance, the Lord adds the fruit of our obedience (John 15:1-2) showing off our readiness to serve others (Ephesians 4:12).

What are these fruits of obedience? “... do all you can to add to your life these things: to your faith add goodness; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add patience; to your patience add devotion to God; to your devotion add kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to this kindness add love. If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:5-8 ERV).

LOVE

In addition to these precious virtues the apostle Paul showed us the most excellent way, love and its ingredients often read and liked but in short supply in Christians. Let us remind ourselves again that “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. Love will never end” (1 Corinthians 13:5-8 ERV).

Being Tolerant And Forgiving From The Heart

Now, having added the above as the most basic Christian attitude there should be no utterances to our fellow brothers or sisters such as, ‘we are not afraid of you’. By so saying, are we not saying that we are not bound by the principles of love as discussed above? Is this not carnal talk aimed at divisions and showing off superiority? Now besides love that should govern our relationship with others, some Christians simply don’t have a spirit of tolerance (Colossians 3:13-14). In their zeal to humiliate their fellow brother or sister, they expect their fellow brethren to be perfect and sinless. It is as if they were just waiting for the slightest mistake to attack.

As a matter of fact, some Christians are very judgmental forgetting that their fellow brethren were sinners before they came to the Lord and that they are still a work in progress (1 Thessalonians 5:14), and in order to continue the work of God in people who are a bit weaker we should learn to forgive, encourage, correct and help our brothers when they have stumbled (1 Corinthians 8:11-12). Some few years ago, we had a sister in our Ministry who fell into the sin of fornication and when we asked the Lord how to deal with her situation since she confided in us and confessed to us. He knew her heart and that she had genuinely repented before Him, so the Lord said He forgave her and that she was welcome to continue in her service to Him (John 8:11).

Additionally, we had a young brother in our ministry who just did not grow up in his faith, in fact he sinned at will, but the Lord loved him and was very patient with him, as much as his disobedience frustrated us, the Lord commanded us to encourage him and not to condemn him to destroy his faith in the Lord. Similarly, we once asked the Lord a word on behalf of a brother who shared with us his frustration with his brother for neglecting his spiritual life and being a burden to others. In His reply, the Lord graciously encouraged the brother to pray for his brother and to encourage him in the Lord instead of looking at his failures and criticize him.

Finally, if you have been in the habit of destroying the faith and confidence of your brother or sister in the Lord, repent my friend for God will use the measure you used to discourage others from following Him as the sole Judge (Matthew 7:2). If we forgive and act mercifully towards others, the same will be given to us (Matthew 18:26-35). We are thus all servants and no one should treat others disrespectfully or shamefully just because you either support their ministry or family.

As always, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.


Blessed Grace

Brother Glenn

God Is Faithful To His Promises

Holding Firmly Onto God’s Promises

“Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23)

A short message from the Lord

Claudia (15 March 2020)

I (Claudia) always ask the Lord in prayer to give me visions and messages, this morning after my morning prayers I heard the Lord say, “I am standing on all My promises”.

Overcoming being a weak-willed Person

Dear brethren, as an online ministry, we will continue to provide messages on this platform to encourage and warn those whose hearts are fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. As a warning from the Lord in the light of the above scripture, no one should even attempt to stray from the path of truth. The Word of the Lord warns us that the enemy is operating like an opportunist and he has an evil plan against those who disrupts his campaign of destruction (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8). Knowing the overwhelming strength of sin which the enemy exploits through our weakness, (Genesis 4:7) if we blink for a moment and lose focus he’ll be right there to capitalize and launch an attack to bring us down.

Patience

Often, our strength gives way in the midst of constant attacks and we succumb to the pressure of the situation (Luke 22:55-60). Brethren, it would be very easy for us to point a finger at the apostle Peter for denying the Lord and think that we would have handled the situation much better isn’t it? If so, have we ever considered the emotional impact this had on the apostle because he thought his decision to deny the Lord would result in him not losing his life? However, Peter did not fully realize at that moment that the Lord prayed for him not to lose his life and salvation (Luke 22:32).

A brother recently told me that his most constant and pressing attacks always come from within his house. According to Brother Will, (not real name) these frequent attacks are twofold verbal and silent (being ignored and sneered upon) abuse. In his explanation, the brother highlights the tangible presence of evil hatefulness which leaves him emotionally traumatized and forces him to harbor suicidal thoughts as a way to escape this onslaught.

Now brethren, having been exposed to such an environment both in my adult and childhood life, situations such as this facing our brother Will are serious especially if it involves your parent(s) wife, children or husband. It often leaves us with no shoulder to cry on and when we are faced by this, we have the Lord to turn to in prayer (Proverbs 18:24).

Strength To Endure

Furthermore, while we await the Lord’s coming for our permanent redemption, as an interim relief, the Lord has also provided various ministries and gifts (Romans 12:4-8) of which this ministry is part of. Now as humans, we often run to people for help and sympathy while it is not wrong, not all of us have been endowed to carry the pain of others (Numbers 11:14) and those of us who have been called to serve God has equipped us with a servanthood spirit dressed up in patience and humility (Numbers 11:16-17).

Finally, we, therefore, encourage you, dear brethren, to endure hardships (2 Timothy 2:3), drink from the Lord’s cup of suffering for being a follower of Christ (Matthew 20:22), be obedient and faithful as a servant (Hebrews 3:5), conquer the race (2 Timothy 4:7) to receive the crown of eternal life (James 1:12).

If you are unable to visit a Church to accept the Lord Jesus Christ due the impact of the Covid-19 virus, you can pray this  Prayer of Sincere Repentance, by faith to invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your hear. Once you have done so, read the Bible every day, continue to faithfully seek the Lord, and take refuge in Him. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.


Blessed Hope to our fellow God-fearing brethren

Brother Glenn

Conquering Foul Mood Swings

God Knows The Habits Of Your Soul

“A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back” (Proverbs 29:11 ESV). Again, we read in the Bible “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9).

In this article, we will not have an in-depth discussion on the human personality for the benefit of our message we will share some experiences and guidance from the Lord on how to restrain the mood ‘excesses’. Furthermore, being ministers of the gospel we have learned first hand how some people both Christian and non-Christians changed from one personality to another. Similarly both faces has its own set of values. What we mean is that good intent is being displayed when God is remembered in a person's life and evil intent is displayed when the person gives expression to anger leading to grudgingly and hateful feelings. We need grace, faith and deliverance to unmask the evil in our hearts and be true children of God. Please read on!

Having learned from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself for more than seven years, we can assure you that the Lord is greatly familiar with our emotional struggles and how it affects our behaviour and relationship with Him and other people around us (Psalm 139:1-6). It would be prudent of us to remember that we communicate love, sadness, anger or hatred through our emotions and much stronger than words because or true-self would be on display (Matthew 15:19). Often, we kind of ‘cover-up’ our true feelings through our words while our actions give a different interpretation of how we really feel or how the heart directs. Moreover, in last week’s (15/01/2018) article we referred to the benefit our desires wants to fulfill the need in our hearts.

Negative Moods Ruins Relationships

Let’s just briefly differentiate here; there are moods which has a positive outcome which is aimed at encouraging others and negative moods which has a destructive intent. Therefore, negative mood swings issues from various sources of motivation. As a point of illustration, we could display a foul mood because we hold a grudge against someone; we may also be moody because of some inner-conflict we are experiencing, jealousies, or misdirected anger and even when we struggle with feelings of a strong dislike (hatred) of someone or a certain group of people to identify but a few. As a direct reality mood affect our relationship with others and not only that, the spirit of strive is being ignited through negative moods.

Sometime ago, the Lord has repeatedly corrected a few brethren in our ministry who were in the habit of having rolling mood swings and this greatly affected their relationship with God and some people around him. The Lord revealed that the negative message that was being conveyed through moods swings led some people to question the integrity and purity of our salvation and equally this cast further questions on the transformative work of the Holy Gospel (1 Peter 3:15). Therefore brethren, our association with the Gospel and our Lord Jesus Christ directly impacts how our message outside should be viewed and it should always be seasoned with grace so as to make it inviting.

How To Control Negative Mood Swings

Evidently, it is true that not all of us are naturally and spiritually gifted with the same mental strengths and abilities. However, in the Lord Jesus we have all been given the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13) and our actions and attitude should rightfully operate under the conviction and influence of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:7). Furthermore, the Bible teaches us that the Lord expects us to bear fruits (John 15:4-5) and such fruit should be evident in our lives. In some of our experiences, we often came across some people who simply don’t have enough faith and discernment to recognise the move of God in their lives and see the move of the Holy Spirit in them. For example, a person who have been delivered from (drinking, smoking, fighting, and gambling), witchcraft or any other destructive bondage of sin received both deliverance and the Holy Spirit. You may ask how so! Well, the person’s ability to resist indulging in his or her former ways is evidence of the presence of the spirit of self-control (1 Corinthians 15:9). In other words, the restraining and convicting power of the Holy Spirit helps us overcome our weaknesses. Therefore, why are some Christians saying they cannot change from their weaknesses while others show every sign of obedience, purity and restraint? The answer is simple; such Christians have allowed the power of evil, worldliness and their self-gratifying attitude to stand in the way of the Lord and His Holy Spirit to transform them. Thus, change brought about by the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ in people all over the world is evident in the way people conducts themselves are meeting the Saviour.

In conclusion, we ask you, why don’t you allow the Lord to change your unwelcoming and destructive moods? Why are you allowing the pain of being moody to control you and ruin your relationship with God and people? We implore you, repent from being moody and acknowledge the trouble it causes, assess your feelings about people before engaging them, resist your negative thoughts and opinions and allow the spirit of self-control to take over. As Christians, we should remember that our attitudes should never be hostile but kind and gentle. Let us not allow our self-will to stand in the way of the Lord if we do humility, gentleness, kindness and self-control will not manifest (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:1-17).

Now, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.

Blessed Love in Christ

Brother Glenn

God Is Well Pleased With A Humble Servant

Being Humble

“Likewise, you younger men [of lesser rank and experience], be subject to your elders [seek their counsel]; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [tie on the servant’s apron], for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5 AMP).

How God Taught A Pastor Humility

A few years ago, I attended a Church service in Hillbrow, Johannesburg to listen to a Pastor’s testimony after he and a team of missionaries returned from visiting another African country. In his address to the congregation, the pastor described in detail the humble way of life of the locals, he complained about the type of food, the straw bedding, clay utensils, and the condition of the houses with no ablution facilities. By reliving his experience, the pastor explained jokingly how he would get up during the night and complaining bitterly against God saying, ‘God, I am not impressed with you for allowing me to live in these conditions, was it for this that you send me here?’ In addition, he further explained how resentful his heart grew against God and that he longed the comfort of his home and to be away from his God ordained assignment.

However, as he narrated his experience the pastor sensed the love of the Lord for all people, despite their socio-economic circumstances. He also realised how the rich and powerful often forgets the plight of the very poor and needy avoiding their company or being unable to render a service to them. Being greatly moved by the Lord, the contentment and appreciation the pastor saw in the eyes and faces of the locals made him feel even guiltier for acting like such an ungrateful spoilt-brat. Holding back his tears of not only having seen hardship with contentment (1 Timothy 6:8), but also experiencing hardship the pastor opened his heart to the Lord and humbled himself to serve and endure for the remainder of his service to the needy there.

A Front Of False Humility

Now, being humble is not a matter of talk but it is a real hearts condition (Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew 20:26-28). To be humble requires us to be patience, tolerant, merciful, and forgiving and to be full of abundant love and I know we humans fail this test. What renders this true is that we often consider what others would think of us (our social class) if we serve them in the name of the Lord. Brethren, let me truthfully share with you, the moment we become aware that our work in the Lord is burdensome and we despise those we serving it is no longer for the Lord we doing it for or serving but for our own interest to receive recognition (Matthew 6:1-21).

Additionally, we have observed how the ‘people taking advantage theory’ puffed up some Christians; in fact their ‘humility’ is more a facade or an act than an actual Christ like heart condition of serving others. As it is, such Christians always feel ‘robbed’, they feel they are burdened and doing more than what they are supposed to do. Thus my ever complaining brother or sister ask yourself, are you really doing enough? Or should we not be the carriers of God’s renewed, invigorated and unconditional love that is ready to give and serve to fulfil the longings of a needy person(s) so that they feel the effect of a ‘touched by God’ experience (Lamentations 3:22-23; Matthew 25:31-40).

Furthermore, given to the Lord’s Judgement of the righteous and the wicked in the book of (Matthew 25:31-40), we should not think for a moment that those who will be standing on His right hand side will be there without merit, having heard and experienced the Lord ourselves as a family and ministry, we can tell you the good and Godly deeds of a true Christian is well followed and sealed by the Lord (Hebrews 6:10; Acts 10:31). Moreover, we implore you dear brethren not to just live for the moment and think this day of reckoning and blessing will never come, in fact that DAY is definite and that DAY is earmarked to either shame us or to exalt us in the Presence of the Lord and all those present (Matthew 25:31-40).

We give Either Our All Or Nothing

From our experiences with the Lord, we can add that it greatly displeases Him when a Christian complains to do something for Him. Sometime ago, the Lord assigned somebody in our ministry to do something for Him and at first the individual went about the Lord’s tasks willingly and with great enthusiasm thinking it might end sooner. As the person continued in his tasks and see that this has been going on for a good number of months, the brother concerned started losing interest in his tasks. As a reminder, the Lord rebuked the brother for being disobedient and that his commitment in doing the Lord’s tasks had no specified timeframe.

As it was, the Lord reminded the brother that his service to those he was called to serve was not just for them, but for Him (Matthew 25:40). Like we said, such lack of humility hurt the Lord and this led Him (The Lord Jesus Christ) to tell the brother not to continue in the tasks the Lord gave him. How sad! Now just how many Christians do we know who commits themselves to serve others in ministry, giving or in any other service in the name of the Lord only for them to ‘chicken out’. For the Bible reminds us that, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62 GNB). Now brethren, we learned from the Lord that humility should be applied to our commitment to serve (Romans 12:3-8). If we use ‘clever’ reasoning to justify our lack of commitment to the service we were called to do, God knows the real reasons of our heart and He will expose our feeble humility that had no roots in love (1 Corinthians 16:14).

In conclusion, Do you see a brother or sister pursuing his fellow brethren in Christ for his or her own benefit without regard for the Lord? That is reflective of a selfish and unloving Christian who derives pleasure in humiliating others. Do you hear or see a brother or sister having an answer to everything to showcase superiority? Well, they are driven by self-interest and what matter is their gain. Do you see a brother or sister in Christ being impatient and pushy? Hmmm, that is an expression of NO respect for others! Can such dastardly behaviour be equated to humility? Never! Christ our Lord died to free us from sins and self-exaltation and to have His Peace (Colossians 3:15-17).

Have you given up on being humble? Repent and pursue humility, for the Scriptures say only the humble will be exalted (Matthew 23:12). Don't you want that? For those who are not yet born again, please pray this Prayer of Sincere Repentance to get you started. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

With Love

Brother Glenn

Who's Voice(s) Are We Following?

Who Are We Listening To?

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).

As Christians, we only have one Voice to listen to and that is the Voice of our Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. As it is, God in His Wisdom has not hidden the message of His Word to be ‘unlocked’ by specially gifted people but so that it may be understood even by the simple minded (1 Corinthians 2:1; Psalm 119:130). However, today, many people wants to be associated with a pastor or preacher who delivers a certain message that appeals to them and what they believe even if it is false and this was evident by the countless false predictions we received in recent years (2 Timothy 4:3). Are some of these not voices we ought to be careful about? We should discern!

How To Recognise The Voice Of The Lord

Like I indirectly allude above, we don’t a special skill to hear and understand the Voice of the Lord. We do, however, need the Holy Spirit of the Lord to be able to recognise the Voice of the Lord (1 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:9). Thus, if we need the Holy Spirit, we should just ask by a simple faith and the Lord who will see our desire for the Holy Spirit would give us (James 1:5; Luke 11:13) Therefore, the Voice of the Lord will always leads us to salvation and correction (2 Corinthians 7:10; 2 Timothy 3:16). Based on the aforementioned Scriptures, this is then the perfect guidance from the Lord which if we obey could lead us to a sinless life in Christ. As we know, the Voice of the Lord would not lead us astray or cause us to stumble into sin, instead God is preparing us for His Kingdom and into sinless obedience (James 1:13). Additionally, we always have the option to listen to the Voice of the Lord or to disobey Him and such disobedience would have been as a result of some other voices.

Other Voices

A few weeks ago, a friend shared with me how he was led astray by voices of lusts and he ended up indulging in pornographic material and dating other women after joining a dating site. However, by the Lord’s grace the Brother confessed that He felt a strong urge and Hand restraining him not to get involved with any of the women met on the dating website. Having said this, the Lord revealed to us that there are countless unfaithful Christians who are flirting on dating websites and this is displeasing to the Lord. We encourage you brethren to resist the lustful voices of the flesh (Galatians 5:19).

Furthermore, voices other than the Lord’s finds its origin in sin and disobedience. In other words, these voices sets us up against the will of God which leads us being rebellious Christians (1 Samuel 15:23). As a Good Father, it greatly displeases the Lord if we act rebelliously, stubbornly and purposely against the teachings of His Word. From previous articles on this website, we have shared how a man who confessed to serve the Lord ended up in Hell for disobediently living in sin and when he died he was utterly surprised that he ended up in Hell after he was a Church regular, tither, fund raiser and serving on Church board meetings (Matthew 7:21-23).

In conclusion, which voice or voices are you listening to and remember the voice you listen to is the voice you will follow. Like the Bible says, the Voice of the Lord leads to life and eternal joy and the voices of rebellion leads to destruction (Romans 2:5-10). We should not forget, the Lord is near and our salvation is priceless, let us listen to His Voice!

To begin a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, please start by praying this Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Blessed Grace,

Brother Glenn.

Developing Self-Discipline

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls (Proverbs 25:28 ESV).

 

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor 9:24-27 ESV).

We are sharing this message again as a reminder to encourage some brethren who became weak and lost their confidence in the Lord. Some just don't know where to begin to get their lives right with God. In desperation to conquer the spirit of anxiety and confusion, some Christians turned from the Lord to worldly pleasures and the Lord recently told us that such Christians are being driven further away from Him and His protection. Now, while there are countless articles on this subject by both Christians and non-Christians, our message is equally important for body of Christ we are called to minister to. Many well-meaning Christians are struggling to walk faithfully before the Lord due to their lack of self-discipline. In this brief work, we will look at critical areas in our lives which will disqualify us from our Heavenly prize. Being ill-disciplined encourages unfaithfulness and it is like playing right into Satan's hands. He is a skilful deceiver, making countless Christians think they always have enough time to make and live right with God until time runs out on them. By faith we know that beyond this tent eternity is waiting (2 Corinthians 5:1) and if we lived obediently and devoted to God, the rewards would be endless (Proverbs 12:28) but living without regard for God the consequences would be dire and irreversible (Romans 2:9). Consequently,our well-deserved punishment would be as a result of ignoring the Holy Spirit when He pleaded with us to reform our ways but we instead listened to the devil who whispered 'you can do that later!' We must Beware, and straighten up and take good note of our salvation.  The Lord told us, “No sloppy Christians will enter Heaven”. The 'sloppy' Christian is rather living carelessly and particularly non-committal when it comes to the things of God. Sad, but true, some of these unsuspecting brethren think they are pleasing to God when they go to church every Sunday and give tithes. Frankly, if we continue like that we are self-deceived! Like I said in a  previous article God desires fruit,yes FRUIT!

Saved by Grace to Do Works Proving Our Obedience to Christ

From the onset, those who proclaim a “feel good” gospel often use the need satisfaction gospel as a selling point while failing to encouraging Christians to work out their salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Such ministers tell people, “you are saved by grace,” interpreting it to mean that you don’t have to do anything else but just go to church on a Sunday, give your tithes, pursue your career, send your children to Sunday school, take life easy, befriend the world, live irresponsibly, be worldly and enjoy life.  I also heard some saying that Christ did everything for you, good! so it’s OK to be a sinner since you are saved by grace and your works will not save you (Ephesians 2:8-9). What Paul meant in the preceding verse  is very true; we will not be saved by our works.  However, Paul here is referring to works apart from Christ’s sacrifice. He means that if we reject Christ, our works will not save us; our obedience to Christ Jesus should become our works (Titus 1:16). Kindly allow me to boldly state this: Christians who magnify the grace doctrine have a healthy appetite for sin. They feel they don’t have to work on their salvation, some whom the Lord commanded to pray and read Bible daily considered it as works. How absurd! The same Paul stresses the importance of building onto the foundation which is Christ (Ephesians 2:20-21). We are being built up through prayer, Bible reading and good works that testify about our connection or union with Christ Jesus (Jude 1:20; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 5:1-21). We show our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ by keeping His word, meaning doing the word (John 14:15; John 14:23).

Let us therefore stop being lazy and read the Bible for ourselves; this way we will not be deceived by every wind of doctrine, but will be on guard against error like the wise Bereans (Acts 17:11). One brother emailed me, after the Lord told him to pray and read his Bible daily, saying that someone told him that daily prayers and bible reading are works. How would he grow as a Christian if he is not going about his Father's business (Luke 2:49). Consequently, this brother would rather not obey the Lord because someone he trusts more than the Lord told him not to obey the LORD by reading his bible and praying. He, like many other people, listens to the opinions of other people more than what the Bible commands. You may ask: what does this have to do with self-discipline? Well, you will find out shortly!

How to Exercise Self-discipline as a Christian

Briefly, self-discipline is the ability to control one’s feelings and desires to overcome self-deception and self-contentment. Our feelings run rampant within us, and as humans we respond to any situation through our emotions, whether it be negative or positive. Therefore, our emotions, which will determine our actions, should be carefully balanced against the word of God. If we, for instance, obey our feelings every time to respond to a given situation, this would result in us being selfish and biased. Scripturally, self-discipline involves being under the direction of the Holy Spirit and we know self-control tempers the severity of excessive behaviour (Galatians 5:22-23). Amongst our Christian duties, we must live to please God (Romans 7:4-6; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 5:10; Colossians 1:10).

As Christians, we are encouraged to apply self-discipline to every area of our lives, including our thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5), our feelings (Leviticus 19:17-18; 1 Peter 2:11), our speech (Psalm 39:1; James 3:7-8), eating and drinking habits (Proverbs 23:2, 20; Amos 6:4-6; Ephesians 5:18), and our sexual behaviour (1 Corinthians 7:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:4-5). When we consider the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we ought to apply and exercise self-control in addition to our obedience to the Lord.

Furthermore, it takes disciple to submit to correction (Psalm 141:5). We can't call ourselves a Christian when we are head-strong and not submissive to a word of disciple for ill behaviour. If a well-meaning brother or sister uses the word of God us to corrects then it is God correcting us (Hebrews 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:11). Instead, we should humbly accept rebuke and discipline our life's according to such correction!

Also, we should not call ourselves a Christian when we run to some excuse every time when it is time to pray, do Bible reading or witnessing (Luke 14:18-20; Exodus 4:10-14; Luke 9:59-62). Not only is this ill-discipline; our interest is clearly not to please God but your own selfish ways.

 

Again, we should not call ourselves a Christian when we complain to do the will of God; our attitude should just be obeying Him with a humble attitude and by faith (Philippians 2:14; Ephesians 5:1-20; 6:5-8). “For it is God's will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15).

Additionally, how can we say we are Christian when we disobey the Holy Spirit every time He convicts us to avoid a certain decisions which may result in some questionable behaviour; He is correcting us to discipline our lives according to Christ’s example.  When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in our hearts and convicts us, we need to respond without delay and bring  such matter to God in prayer for deliverance. The Bible says "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13) Thus, if we discern the Spirit is convicting us, we don't resist Him, but we should submit to emerge as truly transformed God-fearing Christians. The Bible declares, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart" (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15; 4:7) From experience, we learned that resisting and ignoring the Holy Spirit could be consequential and this 'grieves' Him (Ephesians 4:30).

Exercise Self-discipline Consistently

It is a fact, some of us are not good at self-coaching. We are prone to ignore our short-comings, and justifying our actions even when we are aware that our progress is not steady. Like we iterated in our previous articles many Christians are being overcame by a spirit of laziness which results in procrastination they never accomplish the things they set out to do for God. I have seen many men who claimed to have heard from God to do some ministry work, but when such work fails, they ramp up excuses. Caution, if your ministry fails because you were not on your guard (self-disciplined) (1 Peter 5:8), you need not look further than your own attitude. Such failure occurs because we were disobedient and we failed to employ Godly discipline and faithfulness (1 Corinthians 1:9). Biblically, a faithful person is someone who can be trusted; and we are said to be faithful when we are seen doing what we promised and are expected to do. If we continuously makes empty promises, relaxing through the false hope of excuses, are we not ill-disciplined? If we don’t do against our own will what is Biblically expected of us, are we not being ill-disciplined? Being self-disciplined is strictly going against the wishes of our own appetites and cravings in obedience to realising our mission (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).

Let's be honest, people often exercise self-discipline only when they need something, like the attending to  strict training regimen to compete in some competition, and once they succeeded and received what they needed, they return to their former ways. Under normal circumstances, we consider such people as being successful because they were self-disciplined; they faithfully applied and obeyed all the rules to accomplish their goals. In the Christian walk, we are encouraged to 'press on' in discipline to reach our goal of salvation (Philippians 3:14). Since we are weak and gives up easily, we often rely on others to encourage and motivate us to achieve some goal, like dieting, achieving some qualification or any personal ambition. In Christ, however, because of the promised glory, and the encouragement coming from the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit we should exercise self-discipline (1Corinthians 9:24-27).

Within the Christian race, we have holy rules to comply with, those rules forms part of our “training” regimen. These rules are laid out for us in the entire Bible, and in order for us to achieve the crown of life we must allow virtues of self-discipline, faithfulness, holiness, obedience, love, purity, fellowship with God, Godly manners and faith (2 Peter 1:5-11).

Personally, before I received my breakthrough in the Lord some years ago, I also followed the Lord very inconsistently. Back then, I committed myself to the Lord as the mood dictates, there might be many who follows a similar pattern they pray when they feel like, they read the bible when we feel like, they fellowship with the brethren when it suits them and they witness when we like to. Additionally, some even do right only selectively, not faithfully as God commanded. We may quote the Scriptures at length to try and impress others and showing off our Bible knowledge, but the most important thing however, is how much of it are you applying?

Let us pose some direct question just for introspection, are you doing right selectively or perhaps when you are with Christians, but when you are alone or in the company of unbelievers you smother the truth and act just like the mockers?  Also, do you act with integrity and self-discipline when others watch you, but when they not around, you show your true being?  If so, we encourage you to STOP your deceitful ways and live by the truth for your own good. Remember, a deceitful Christian bears a bad testimony and no self-discipline is evident, but only a spirit of unfaithfulness and an unstable relationship with God.

In conclusion, self-disciplined Christians keep their word and promises even if it means you have to sacrifice a less important commitment (Psalm 15:4). We may also say that a well disciplined Christian has unquestionable good mannerism, friendly and never neglecting to follow and obey the Word of the Lord.

As always, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.

Blessed grace and peace,

Brother Glenn.