The grace that leads to godliness

Titus 2
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.   12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age 
Definition of grace. Goodwill, loving-kindness, favour of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues what is due to grace 
It is not fear nor guilt that aids us to live a godly life. Often we can live in such a place that we live godly because we are under guilt. Or are fearful of judgement.  I have heard preachers give condemning messages with the intention of calling people to live godly lives. But this just won't bring lasting change. The only thing that will is grace. 
By the Greek definition grace is not simply a doctrine. It is very active. Grace is always at work in our hearts.  It is the loving-kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them. It is grace that keeps our passion for Jesus burning bright. Grace that thaws our hardened hearts. Grace that teaches and reminds us to forgive and to give to others. 
We need to be strong in God's grace. We must acknowledge that we cannot do anything good without His holy influence.

It is only by allowing God's grace to flood our hearts, only by being filled with His love that we can truly make decisions from the right motives. God does not want our obedience because we are scared of Him. He wants our obedience because we are in love with Him. To keep our motives pure, our hearts must be full of His love. 

Be strong in God's grace. 
How? Surely this is something them to grow in. To allow His grace more access, to allow Him to draw our hearts by His loving kindness to Jesus, to strengthen us, to inspire us to be more like Him. How can we grow in grace?

God gives grace to the humble. - James 4
In our hearts we acknowledge our need of Him. That it is He that makes our passion for Jesus burn bright, it is He that enables us to walk in true holiness. That without Him the best we can do is behave externally. And this is to be a white washed tomb. No. We need God. We need His Spirit moving  through us, His love motivating us to love Him and others.

It is by humbling ourselves, acknowledging our need for God that we can bear fruit. The purpose of our lives can only be truly achieved with God's grace pouring through our fibre. There are so many people relying on God moving through us. Needing to be led. Eternity can be affected by just one person. Let us recognise our true responsibilities and move.

Glorify God

The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
I've been considering for a long while now ''what is the purpose of my life?''
But this is not the correct question. The correct question is: How can my life bring glory to God? Of all the things that my life can be summarised as the best would be: ''Christian Walsh. His life brought glory to God.''

But how can this be achieved?
Simply put, in every area of life, in every situation seek to lift God's name high see Him praised for whatever you do and get no praise back yourself out of it. To go out each day to point people to Jesus and not to seek any popularity from the love you show. Looking to give, looking to love, looking to bless, looking to bring God's Kingdom into people's lives and not looking for a thank you nor anything back in return.

We develop a heart for the glory of God by spending time in prayer with him alone. By doing this we will get no praise from man and so remove the temptation to look good. 

We cannot live for God and for ourselves at the same time. It is one or the other. We cannot work for God's glory and for our own. Someone must receive the glory. Also, we are to be prepared to suffer for his sake. This attitude is vital where it comes to living for God. Without it we will always choose the easiest option and this option is living for me. Be prepared to be ridiculed for our faith, to be spoken poorly of for speaking out.

In whatever we do it must be done to the utmost excellence, trusting in Him to work through us that it is recognised that the work is beyond the ordinary and the natural and God's name is glorified. It isn't just works though. It is in a demonstration of the Holy Spirit's fruit within us. As love, joy and peace are observed from those around us.

Not a day is to be wasted in proclaiming Jesus to the world. Everyday pray for doors to be opened, boldness to suffer for the gospel. Our thoughts are to default back to Jesus. We are to set our minds on Him and on building His kingdom.

Wired to love

1 John 4:7-8 NIV
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, God is love.

We are a new creation. Born anew. Re-wired on the inside. And it is important to know how about how this new creation is wired. To have our minds renewed.  Because it is easy to think we are still wired in the old way. That we operate on the inside as everybody else does.
But the truth is that when we were born again a re-wiring took place. And where we used to have a heart that was wired to take and get and look out only for its own interests this has been replaced with a heart that desires to give and to bless and to love. The re-wiring that God has done empowers us to live a life of love.

We must keep on remembering who we really are.

The proactive nature of God's pursuit of us.

''Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.'' SoS chp 1
''Let Him lead me to the banquet hall, let His banner over me be love.'' SoS chp 2

Jesus is always taking the initiative in our relationship with Him. He is always reaching out for us, always trying to connect with us, always trying to be intimate, to pour His love, His grace, His Spirit into us. He loved us first. And continues to love us first.

Often, we can get into a mindset of legalism that says ''what must we do to connect with God? What steps do I need to take to draw me closer?'' This mindset puts all the onus on us. Makes it about our efforts. And  makes God out to be a reluctant God. Someone who is not keen to meet with us, not keen to know us, not eager for relationship.

But God is so keen for a deep, intimate loving relationship with us that He sent Jesus to die on the cross to make a way possible, to enable man to connect with Him. His heart is yearning for connection with us.

'Let Him kiss me; let Him lead; let Him love' shows beautifully which way round everything is. Jesus is taking all the initiative, making all the moves towards us. The only instruction for us is to let Him in. Let Him close so that He can embrace us, love us. Let down our defences and give Him full access to our hearts. Hearts that long for Him also even though we don't always feel it. Jesus is very eager to shower His love into our hearts more than we can imagine.
Let Him.

"How precious to me are your thoughts towards me God"

So often we get trapped into worrying about what people think about us. We concern ourselves with how we look to others, their opinions about us. This can become a huge snare and stop us being ourselves. We fear not being accepted by others so we behave differently in order to fit in. The huge danger becomes when we take our value based on other people's value of us. However, Psalm 139 v17 says ''How precious are your thoughts towards me God.'' David made God's thoughts, God's opinions of him far more important than peoples'. David placed huge value on what the Lord thought about him. Because everyone has an opinion. But God's opinion is the only perfectly true one. People can criticise but we shouldn't get down and people can praise but we shouldn't seek after their compliments. David made sure he was listening to God's opinion of him by treasuring His opinion far more than peoples. Rather than ponder on his reputation he would ponder God's thoughts towards him. He set apart God's thoughts and pursued them. By living like this he could say the next part, " how vast is the sum of them". It appears God has much to share with us, much to impart toward us. Words that will cause us to see ourselves as He does. Words that will strengthen and make us stand strong against the lies of the world. Words that will help us to see our true infinite worth, to see that we are accepted and loved unconditionally independent of performance/ behaviour. Words that our souls need to hear. So, if we find ourselves needing to know what others think of us, needing to know their opinion, needing to be praised, let us remember there is only One opinion that truly matters. And seek His thoughts. Always.

We are mighty warriors

Judges 6:12-15 NIV

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”   “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”   The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”   “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Gideon sees himself as weak.
Why?
1. Because of other's opinions. They see him as weak. "My clan is the weakest and I am the least in the family. "
2. Because of circumstances. His whole experience for years has been one of being down trodden. Of being pushed around, being robbed and having to hide.

And yet God had big plans for Gideon's life. He wanted to use Gideon to change the world. To advance God's Kingdom on the earth. To see people return to Him.

And so in order to achieve His plans He starts with Gideon's self image.
He knew that Gideon was capable of leading an army. He knew that Gideon was a mighty and powerful man. He knew the truth for God always sees us as we really are.

And the truth is we are all mighty warriors. Strong and powerful because of the Spirit of God that dwells within us. We are all capable of changing the world. So often we don't think so because we experience bad circumstances or we believe the opinions of others.

But the only opinion that truly counts is Jesus'. We can do all things through Him who gives us strength. We are mighty warriors with a world changing Spirit in us. We bring light wherever we go.

Seeing ourselves as God sees us is one of the first keys in unlocking our full potential in advancing God's Kingdom. As we do this we open up a truly exciting future in Christ.

Go! And make disciples.

Jesus said 'Go and make disciples,' and a huge part of this is in the mindset, in how we see. So often I go thru life and survive. Go thru each day wondering what I'd like to do or think about the tasks that have to be completed. But to fulfil the great commission requires us to see beyond the here and now and look to prioritise God's work ahead of all else. So when I walk around do I set my mind on God, listen out for His promptings, His voice or do I do what I want? One way is a way of purpose, one way is aimless drifting. What is required? A ' proactive, front footed, seeking opportunities to build the church' mindset. Each person is hugely important to God. Each person has their own set of needs and hurts and all need Jesus. So as u go thru life look at every person and remain open to God, asking Him how to give, to love, to bless each person. It may be as simple as a prayer, it may be a smile, a kind word. Whatever always be on your look out to bless. And let God work thru u.