“Our Daily Bread” http://odb.org/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
“Homily Grits Devotional” http://www.homilygrits.com/
Ephesians 2:10… For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus forgoodworks, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (NKJV)
I wrote yesterday, about the sad statistics concerning the decrease in the number of Christian’s going to church on a regular basis… And how important it was for the young children of a Christian family, to be immersed in Christ’s church body, in order to learn at an early age about the importance of God in one’s life…and to see first hand the love of Christ in action, at an early age…
Here is the link for those who want to read about the dwindling statistics of only 17.7% of the American Orthodox Christian population (Catholic, mainline and evangelical) going to church on any given weekend (As of 2004)… http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139575-7-startling-facts-an-up-close-look-at-church-attendance-in-america.html?p=2
Going to a Bible believing, Bible preaching and teaching church, is where a Christian who is looking to grow closer to the Lord should be attending on a regular basis… The Bible tells us that Christians are to gather together in fellowship to worship the Lord, in… Hebrews 10:24-25… And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (NKJV)…
It is the church, where the Christian will find the opportunity to put their spiritual gift or gifts (which God gives to each believer) into use…1 Corinthians 12:11… I wrote on 1/19/13, about how the believer should look to “Get Plugged in” to an open position in their church; to become part of the church body, in order to make use of their spiritual gift God has given to them…Ephesians 4:15-16…
But first things first… It is important to find “The Right Church” (written about on 1/05/13)… And in finding the right church, the importance of a church with the right biblical church doctrine (written about on 1/08/13)… I have posted what I consider an excellent church doctrine (The BFC “Articles of Faith”, for my church), found in the writing of 1/08/13, which can be found at the following link…
All of these past days of writing, can be found @ www.Godsmanforever.wordpress.com I am bringing up these past writings, because they tie into today’s writing about doing “goodworks”… For a Christian to grow closer to the image of Christ, as they have been called by God to do (Romans 8:29)…I don’t believe this can be accomplished to the best of our ability, unless we put our spiritual gifts into action, in the corporate body of Christ (His church)…
God intended His church to be a time of gathering and fellowship in Christ’s name… And as the scripture from Hebrews tells us…we are to gather “in order to stir up love and good works”… This means getting involved in a church in some way, to use your spiritual gifts to make the church body a complete body of Christ…
For those that believe church is a duty to be performed as an obligation to satisfy God’s requirements…I am sorry to say, that Jesus warns us in the Bible, of people who falsely believed that these self-righteous works done in the name of the Lord, qualified them for entrance into heaven… They were being turned away by the Lord, when it was too late, in…Matthew 7:21-23… (There is no mention of Purgatory in the KJV Bible)… Here is the link for this important scripture… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat7:21-23&version=NKJV
God’s Word describes how the Christian has been called to…“Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16), and to “Walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-18)… I wrote about this and more, on 3/18/13, in my writing titled…“A Holy Calling”…
The link above, about the dwindling low percentage of Christians who attend church on a regular basis…reveals a growth in the smaller churches, that are structured to offer a more intimate experience, with a complete package for the Christian looking to grow closer to the Lord (the ultimate goal for all Christians)… These smaller churches are typically growing in members per church, as well as in new churches…through what is called “Church Planting”… This is where dedicated Christians get together to form a brand new church, in areas where they can take root and prosper under the correct biblical church doctrine…
My church is involved in planting a new church, some 25 miles south of our church… Pastor Dan from my church, spent a day back on 2/10/2013, in an extremely interesting sermon titled…“I Will Build My Church”… This audio sermon can be found at the following link, where you can scroll down to this exciting teaching… http://www.newbeginningsbfc.org/?p=52 Anyone with questions about this audio, should contact Pastor Dan directly @ 1-856-796-3076
The Apostle James (Jesus’ half brother), spent half a chapter writing about a faith without any evidence of good works, as being a dead faith, in…James 2:14-26… Here is the link for this writing… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james%202:14-26&version=NKJV
With yesterdays and today’s writing, my hope is that God will urge non-church going people to think of their children’s future ahead of themselves… But who will also be concerned with their eternal future… And to look for a church with all of the biblical characteristics that will satisfy their spiritual needs, “in order to stir up love and good works”…as Christians that want to grow in their quest to become more “Christ like”, as the they grow closer to the Lord (James 4:7-8)…
Heavenly Father, Your Word is clear on exactly what You require to forgive the sins of those that are still unredeemed sinners… I pray Lord, that all of us would look to Your Word, for the truth that will cut right to the very soul of all of us, like a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12-13)… And Lord, I pray that we would all seek the fellowship and the love that a Bible believing, preaching and teaching church would be able to provide, to enrich our lives like never before… I pray for the fullness of Christ in all of our lives, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
God's group 