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.

You Are

You are
Here is a portion of Scripture I have quoted many times in my blogs over the years. It is something all Christians need to realize and take to heart. The apostle Peter writes,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:9-12
Peter makes clear believer in Christ are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful love.”
We are a royal priesthood. However that sadly is not what some groups see Christians as. Sadly as I heard one person say “some calling themselves Christians, act more like street thugs determined to get their way no matter what.”
When I looked at it from the point of view of a woman having to walk through the lines of protestors at an abortion clinic, or from the standpoint of those in the LBGTQ community, who see those claiming to be Christians protesting against them, wanting to take away their rights. I can see where the person is coming from.
As Christians we should not be protesting against anything that does not take away our rights or the rights of others.
Peter said,
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 
If statistics are right Christians are the most persecuted faith on the planet. It is estimated a Christian dies for his faith every three to seven minutes somewhere in the world.
We as Christians are “aliens and strangers in the world...” we have no right to protest or judge those outside our faith. The apostle Paul wrote,

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? 

Are you not to judge those inside?  

God will judge those outside. 

“Expel the wicked man from among you.” 

1 Corinthians 5:12,13

Christians have no right to judge. We are God’s messengers in this world. The job given to believes in Christ is simple Jesus said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20.
Jesus also said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12.
I know as a follower of Christ, I with all I know about Jesus and God. I would want others to tell me about all God has to offer if I didn’t already know.
I would not want people to judge me, to force their faith or way of life on me. I would not want them demonstrating against me if I am doing something lawful.
I would want to have free and open dialogue with them something that cannot be done while holding placards in a protest.
As Christians we must remember the words of the writer of Hebrews who said,

“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.

Please think about it.

Your Life

Your Life
Question,  Are you living life the way God would want you to live?
James the half brother of Jesus writes,
“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.  
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.  
Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.  
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  
Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:13-18.
If you claim to be a follower of Christ you will desire to live a life that is acceptable to Jesus. In order to do that we must do our best to live a good life. A life of humility. We are not to harbour bitter envy and selfish ambitions or deny the truth. As James tells us this “is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.”
As James states,
“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
Wisdom however that comes from heaven as James put it
“...is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
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.

  If we claim to be Christians what James and Paul are saying need to be seen in our life by those around us with out us saying a word.
Question, when people see your life, what are they seeing?
Please think about it.