Growing Up Into Him

The Christian life is not by effort, and not by struggle; not merely by trying to put into practice certain maxims, or by trying to attain to a certain measure; but from beginning to end, and all together, it is a matter of knowing the Lord Jesus within. Of course this implies response to Him, and a continual yieldedness to His working by His Spirit within, and so co-operating with Him in His purpose of conformity to His image. (more…)

The Universality Of Christ

God has singled out a Person, and gathered into that Person all the Divine perfections; everything is inseparably bound up with His Son; He has put all the fulness of eternity and of the universe into that Person, and bound up all the fulness in Him; not a fragment can be had apart from Him; that which is to characterize the new creation is in Him. The predestined end of God is a full presentation of the fulness of Christ - “The church, His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23). (more…)

The All-Inclusiveness of Christ

Spiritual service, vision, vocation, glorification, have no existence apart from Christ; they are not things as things, and cannot be had except in the Person of the Lord Jesus.

To many salvation is as a thing. It is detached and regarded as something by itself; to be given by itself, for the good of those who receive it. Sanctification is wrapped up in the same way. So often we think of salvation and sanctification in relation to the persons in view, and so some thing for them, but it is Christ Himself who is salvation, He is sanctification, and He is within as these. (more…)

by T. Austin-Sparks

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col.1:27). Read the whole verse carefully, fragment by fragment, to get the full import of its wonderful truth: “God was pleased to make known - what is the riches of the glory - of this mystery… which is, Christ in you.” The riches of the glory, Christ in you! (more…)

The Value of the World

Romans 1:29-31; (NKJV) being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.

2 Timothy 3:1-4; (NKJV) But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

When we do a comparison between the values of the Ten Commandments against the values of the world system, you will find that the world’s system teaches you the opposite from the word of God. Romans 1:29-31 says that those who do not build on the values of God, will be filled with all kinds of evilness.

Romans 1:29-31 and 2 Timothy 3:1-4 are descriptions of the values of the world. In 2 Timothy 3:1-4, Paul was talking about the Ten Commandments. When you break any of the Ten Commandments, you do not honour God. (more…)

Where do these ten values come from?

These ten values come from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17 as mentioned earlier. Let make reference back to the ten values against the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20:1-17

1. Exodus 20:1-3
Love the Lord thy God = the values of Loyalty

2. Exodus 20:4-6
Worship no other gods = the values of Commitment

3. Exodus 20:7
Not to take God’s name in vain = the values of Respect

Not to be presumptuous, proper honour

4. Exodus 20:8, 10-11
Honour the Sabbath day = the values of Accountability

The seventh day is the day that God has set aside for rest. It is during the Sabbath that you worship God, be connected back to God, reports to Him the events of the weeks and the things to come, and to hear from God what you should do in the coming six days. (more…)

7. Values of Faithfulness (Trustworthiness)
“Faithfulness is the cornerstone of one’s character” - Edwin Louis Cole

Luke 16:10, 12 - (NKJV) - He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

1 Corinthians 4:2 - (NKJV) Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

Faithful is our manna, especially to the things that belong to another man. If we are faithful in the little things, we will be faithful in much. Without faithfulness, there is nothing to build that will last. Be faithful in the things placed into your hands whether be it in submitting your works on time, not taking things from the office home for your personal use, be a good steward in your finances and, so forth. (more…)

4. Values of Accountability (Connectedness)
Accountability also means connecting to the person whom you report to. There are many times you give a person an assignment to do. This person can become so busy with the work that he forgets to go back to the person to report the status and what he had done. It is important to stay connected with the person who assigned you the work. Reason is simple. The more you work on the project, you may have great ideas but these ideas may not be what the boss wanted. This lack of regular communication and update with the boss can result in misunderstanding between the boss and you as well as frustrations where you may feel that your works and efforts are not appreciated. It is important to stay connected to the boss. (more…)

Values To Learn In Order To Build Ourselves Up To Last

1. Values of Loyalty
Loyalty is the quality of being firm in your friendship or support for someone or something. If we believe that there is only one God in this world, we will align ourselves to this one God. The same applies in your place of work. There are many companies that you can work for but for you to stay on in the same place will be greatly influenced by the leader of the company. If the CEO of the company has great visions for the company, the employees will align themselves towards the same visions. The vision of the CEO will become the vision of the employees, too. No matter what may happen, the visions and the direction remain. This is loyalty, being firm no matter how great the storm is. (more…)

2 Peter 1:5-11; But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

When a businessman sets out to start a business, he does not plan to open shop for only 1 year and then closes it down. Neither does one enter into a marriage and plans to end it in 5 years’ time. No one in their right frame of mind will start a new venture in life or career with the plan to let it last for a short period of time and then calls it quit. When we plan, we plan to build. When we build, we build to last. (more…)