Discipleship Archives - My Manna

Let Him be your Lord!

My Manna — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 22:00:00 +0000

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14).

When God gave the Ten Commandments-
He began by saying that we should have no other gods before Him.

Idols can be a lot of things.
Essentially-
– an idol could be defined as anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives.

An idol is any object, idea, philosophy, habit, occupation, sport, or whatever has one’s primary concern and loyalty, or that to any degree, decreases one’s trust and loyalty to God.

Alan Redpath defined idolatry this way:
“Our god is the person we think is the most precious, for whom we would make the greatest sacrifice, who moves our hearts with the warmest love. He or it is the person who, if we lost him, would leave us desolate.”

This definition really opens up the possibilities doesn’t it?
A lot of things could qualify as idols in our lives.

It is a true but terrifying fact that a person can attend church every Sunday and still be an idolater.
Is there one thing in your life that, if God asked you for it, you would say, “Absolutely not”? Is there one thing, that if the Lord required it of you, you would say, “Anything but this”?

If so-
– then that thing, that pursuit, or that passion is an idol in your life.
Is there an idol in your heart today?
Is there someone or something more precious to you than God Himself?

Any person or pursuit that takes the place of God in your life will not satisfy.
Let Him be your Lord!
Let Him be your God.
He will satisfy you.

(PR)

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Always Up

MyManna — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 22:00:35 +0000

“He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” Philippians 2:8-9.

If you’re with Jesus-

– you’re on the way up!

When Jesus came to the lowest point of emptying Himself-

– even the death on the cross,

– from that very moment,

– everything is higher and higher!

This is true with everyone who sides with Lord Jesus too.

“We are raised up to sit in heavenly places,” Ephesians 2:6.

“We are built up in the most holy faith,” Jude 1:20 .

“Therefore hope is laid up for us in heaven,” Colossians 1:5.

“A crown of righteousness laid up for us,” 2 Timothy 4:8.

“One day we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air” 1 Thessalonians 4:17 .

Every reference to the career of Jesus from the point of the cross is always up!

Now-

You have a choice!

You can follow the career of the loser!

Or you can follow the career of the Lord!!

It’s your choice!

(PA)

The post Always Up appeared first on My Manna.

God's Goals

MyManna — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 23:00:19 +0000

There is no circumstance in our lives about which the Lord will not speak to us.
And we can be sure that when He does-
His words are always purposeful and powerful.
Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-14.
Consider some of God’s goals for His children:
God wants us-

– to comprehend the truth of what He is saying.
As Christians, we can be confident that this will happen-
– because the Holy Spirit is present within us,
– and John 16:13 promises that He will guide us into all truth.
It may take time and effort on our part-
– but the Lord’s intention is for us to clearly understand what He’s communicating.
Our heavenly Father also has a goal-

– to conform us to the image of Christ.
As we read the Scriptures-
His Spirit may point out Jesus’ compassion toward the Samaritan woman as our example for living.
Or He may warn us, through Jesus’ rebuke of Peter, not to rely on human understanding.
Our part is to respond to His words by aligning our lives with the truth, and not to resist.
In addition-

God reveals truths about life in Christ so we will be able-

– to communicate those same principles to others.
Jesus spoke only what His Father had taught Him. John8:28.
Likewise, we need to be listening carefully every time God speaks so we, too, will know what to say.
God has something to say:
– to the obedient and the disobedient;
– to the powerful and the weak;
– to the self-assured and the insecure;
– to the lost and the saved.
Don’t miss what He has to tell you.
Let whatever happens in the course of the day draw you to Him-
– and practice giving Him your full attention.

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Spiritually parent!

MyManna — Mon, 23 May 2016 22:30:08 +0000

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
Many years ago, a small Jewish boy asked his father-
“Why must we surrender our Jewish faith and start to attend Lutheran services here in Germany?”
The boy’s father replied-
“Son, we must abandon our faith so that people will accept us and support our business ventures!”
That young boy held on to his disappointment and bitterness for the rest of his life-
– because his family abandoned their faith.
His faith in both his father and religion were crushed.
When this boy left Germany-
– he went to England to study where he formed unique philosophies for his own life.
From those theories, he wrote a book that changed the world:
The Communist Manifesto.
That boy was Karl Marx!
For 70 years, billions of people fell under the spell of his Marxist ideology.
The hypocritical influence of that little boy’s father produced tragic consequences.
If the young people of our world do not receive godly faith and training from older believers-
– then they will develop distorted perspectives as well.
As a believer, you and I have the responsibility of spiritually parenting others to-
– follow Christ,
– serve Him faithfully, and
– do great things for His Kingdom.
Paul referred to Titus as “my true son in our common faith”-
– and Timothy as “my true son in the faith” (Titus 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:2).
Though they were not flesh and blood-
– they bonded together as family and Paul raised them up to follow the Lord.
If you know a young person who needs a faith-filled believer in his or her life, then pray with and for them, and seek to teach them a love for Scripture, a commitment to Jesus Christ, and to fellowship and worship with the church.
Ask the Lord to bring a young person into your life whom you can spiritually parent!

The post Spiritually parent! appeared first on My Manna.

Let Him be your Lord!

MyManna — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 21:00:36 +0000

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14).
When God gave the Ten Commandments-
He began by saying that we should have no other gods before Him.
Idols can be a lot of things.
Essentially-
– an idol could be defined as anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives.
An idol is any object, idea, philosophy, habit, occupation, sport, or whatever has one’s primary concern and loyalty, or that to any degree, decreases one’s trust and loyalty to God.
Alan Redpath defined idolatry this way:
“Our god is the person we think is the most precious, for whom we would make the greatest sacrifice, who moves our hearts with the warmest love. He or it is the person who, if we lost him, would leave us desolate.”
This definition really opens up the possibilities doesn’t it?
A lot of things could qualify as idols in our lives.
It is a true but terrifying fact that a person can attend church every Sunday and still be an idolater.
Is there one thing in your life that, if God asked you for it, you would say, “Absolutely not”? Is there one thing, that if the Lord required it of you, you would say, “Anything but this”?
If so-
– then that thing, that pursuit, or that passion is an idol in your life.
Is there an idol in your heart today?
Is there someone or something more precious to you than God Himself?
Any person or pursuit that takes the place of God in your life will not satisfy.
Let Him be your Lord!
Let Him be your God.
He will satisfy you.
(PR)

The post Let Him be your Lord! appeared first on My Manna.

Highest calling

MyManna — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:00:16 +0000

Friday, 26 February 2016

What is a calling?
Sometimes people struggle to understand what a calling is.
It sounds so mystical and mysterious to many.
A calling is an invitation or summons to leave what we’re doing to serve someone who needs us.
It always involves feelings of inadequacy-
– because it moves us out of our comfort zone.
It always involves sacrifice, unselfishness, and commitment for us to use our talents, abilities, and life experiences to serve God and man.
A calling of God is always an inner leading from Him-
– that is consistent with God’s Word in the Scripture.
Can anybody be called?
Yes!
In fact, everybody is.
“…you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, 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.” 1 Peter 2:9.
For the highest calling in life is-
– not to be a teacher or a public servant,
– not to be a pastor or a doctor,
– but to be a Christian and to follow Jesus in faith.
It’s a calling for life and for eternity that you don’t want to miss.
Have you accepted life’s highest calling?
(PR)

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Fair-weather followers

MyManna — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 00:00:27 +0000

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).
John Wesley, once said:
“Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I do not care if they be clergymen or laymen. Such men alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.”
I don’t know if Wesley ever found such men.
But I know that Jesus did.
Jesus called these men to be His disciples.
In the Book of Acts, they were described as “these who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).
If there was ever a time in history when a world needed to be turned upside down, or should I say, right side up, the time is now.
But if it is going to happen, then it will need to be through committed believers like the ones John Wesley was looking for:
– people who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God.
No fair-weather followers need apply.
God is looking for disciples.
So what does it mean to be a disciple?
It simply means that you take your plans, your goals, and your aspirations and place them at the feet of Jesus.
It simply means saying:
“Not my will, but Yours be done!”
Let’s commit ourselves to being true disciples of Jesus Christ.
Not mere fair-weather followers, but disciples.
(PR)

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