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…)

It has been my experience that too many of us, as Christians, have been confused about love.  We have assumed that attaining the look of love was the same reality as actually being transformed into a loving person.  I’m not saying that we have consciously planned on being shallow or noncommital, but that somehow we have settled on the cosmetic instead of the real.  (more…)

Have you ever tried to throw away an old bad habit…or a self-defeating addiction?

Someone said that the best way to break a bad habit is to drop it. If we don’t break that bad habit or addiction, it will have a way of breaking us!

So how do we break that bad habit and/or a self-defeating addiction? (more…)

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Within the United States, January 15th is the day set aside to recall the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., a man whose determined efforts to cease racial inequality made an indelible mark in the 1957-1968 civil rights movement.

Looking back, this was a period of time where ignorance regarding the races tended to run rampant, and people were judged, not by their characters, but by the color of their skin. It was a time when even some of our laws were unjust, and unnecessary hatred, fear and violence was perverting society’s self-acclaimed stand as a Bible-believing nation. (more…)

8. Getting versus Giving

In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, it says “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” It is not about what we gain when we serve. But it is about what we can give when we serve. A lot of people nowadays in networking look at networking on what they can gain out of it when they are at the gathering. Why not look at it on what you can give out of the networking. If we are constantly looking for praise and encouragement from people, benefits from other people, we will be disappointed and end up being a man-pleaser. But if we have an attitude of a servant, desiring to give and help, we will find fulfilment and satisfaction in God for God will be the one to reward us. I have met leaders in ministry works who give up when they feel unappreciated by other fellow men. While we need encouragement, our attitude should still be of giving rather than taking. Networking in business should be like this. I want to give those in business a challenge as they go for their next networking gathering. Instead of thinking what they can gain out of it, think about what you can give to others in the networking group. Instead of using people to win things, use things to win people. How can you turn everything around by being a person with excellent thinking? These are examples of excellent thinking – “I want to win you over so I honour you. I want to win you over so I bless you. I am a blessing to you even before you are a blessing to me. There is nothing I want to take from you. I just want to bless you.”

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3. Self-centered versus Spirit-centered

You are not self-centered but Spirit-centered. Zechariah 4:6 says “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Sometime, when we ask people to come forth to serve in the ministry and to serve God, they say they are not adequate or good enough. But we got to understand that God is not looking for perfect vessel but willing vessel. Your lifestyle is going to grow more and more into perfection. But God is looking for a willing heart that He can pour out His anointing and Spirit upon you. So it is not to find the source within yourself but to lean upon God who will empower you and give you a vision. I said earlier that when God gives you the vision, He will give you the provision.

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HOW DO WE APPLY IT?

All these above are the foundation of excellent thinking. But what can we do practically to change the way we think? How we do it to ensure that our right thinking will lead to right behaviour and methods?

When we think correctly, our methods will be correct. It is crucial for you to know that excellence is not the same as extremism. Just because God expects you to be excellent, He doesn’t expect you to be an extremist. Setting high standard for yourself is good but demanding perfectionism is being extremist. Perfectionism is different from excellence. Perfectionism does not allow for mistake. Each time, it is not good enough and you blame yourself for not getting it right. Being an extremist can lead to depression, being suicidal and low self-esteem. This is not excellence. (more…)