ABC's of Godly Character - G

G is for Growth! Spiritual Growth is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins the process of making us more like Him, changing us to His image.

By God's power we have everything we need to live Godly lives. The key to obtaining everything we need is to obtain knowledge about God. Our knowledge of Him comes from the Word, given to us to help us grow and mature into bold, witnessing Christians. We don’t obtain knowledge just by sitting in the pews at church, or in class, or by flying through Bible readings just to check off a list of the things we are supposed to do. You have to actually absorb what you hear and read. It has to soak into our hearts and change us. We have to gain understanding of His Word so much that it convicts us to change. Colossians 1:9-10 says “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (ESV). Does your spiritual growth show that you are gaining knowledge and wisdom about God? Do you live a life pleasing to God ALL the time? Does your life bear good fruit or rotten fruit? Knowledge doesn’t help us, unless it leads us to change and live right in the sight of God. We should strive to learn what God wants us to do and then pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to help us do it. God wants us to learn more about Him and to also help others do the same. We are always moving, the question is “what direction are we moving?”. Are we taking steps to get closer to God or is our daily choices leading us further away?

Prayer Starter: Dear Lord, please help me to grow more in my relationship with You. Help me to draw nearer and nearer to You. Give me a desire to spend more time reading and learning from Your Word. Help me to learn to talk and pray to You more often. In Your Name, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a commitment to spend time with God EVERY day. Add a timer to your phone, or mark it on your calendar. Are you willing to give God 5-10 minutes of your day to help your spiritual growth?

ABC's of Godly Character - F

F is for Forgiveness! Forgiveness is the ability to overlook another person’s weaknesses or mistakes by expressing Christ’s love. We are to forgive, let go of that wrong, and forget it! If we bring it back up every time we are upset then we haven’t truly forgiven them. If we can’t forgive another person, then why should Christ forgive us? Forgiveness is hard, and sometimes the last thing we want to do, but we must. Colossians 3:13 tells us to “Make allowance for each others faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (ESV). Do we have to keep on forgiving others that do us wrong or can we just write them off and be done with them? Matthew 18:21-22 tells us that Peter asked the same thing: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (ESV) This doesn’t mean we should forgive someone 77 times. It means that just like Christ gives us never-ending forgiveness we should offer the same to others. Forgive every time someone seeks our forgiveness. Colossians 3:12-14 says “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (ESV) In these verses, Paul gives us instructions to help us live for God every day. We should have Christ’s forgiving attitude. We should let love guide our thoughts and life. We should have peace in our hearts and with others. Every action, every word we speak, and every attitude we have either reflects a life for Christ or of Satan. Which one will you choose to represent today? 

Matthew West sings “Forgiveness”: It flies in the face of all your pride, It moves away the mad inside, It's always anger's own worst enemy, Even when the jury and the judge, Say you gotta right to hold a grudge, It's the whisper in your ear saying 'Set It Free', Forgiveness. Show me how to love the unlovable, Show me how to reach the unreachable, Help me now to do the impossible, Forgiveness, Forgiveness.” 

Prayer starter: Dear God, thank you for always forgiving me even though I don’t deserve it. Please give me a forgiving heart like yours. Help me to be more forgiving to others today. Amen.

          Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be more forgiving today. Offer forgiveness to the people that have hurt you and more forward from there.   

ABC's of Godly Character - E

E is for Evangelism! Evangelism is the communication of the gospel message, including a warning, an explanation, and a call. Evangelism is warning people about sin and its consequences. It is an explanation of God’s remedy for sin and clear call to turn from sin and to turn toward God, to repent and believe in Jesus by faith. Who is supposed to evangelize? Preachers and adults? Sure they are, but ALL of us are also called to evangelize. Acts 1:8 says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (ESV). From the moment we get saved we are called to enter into God’s Mission Field. God places people in our lives specifically for us to witness to. No one else may be able to talk to that person like we can.  

Babbie Mason sums up evangelism best with the song “Each One Reach One”: “The message is unchanging: "Go ye into all the world", and share the love of Jesus, far away or door to door. Just like somebody told you that Jesus loves you so you must tell someone who will tell someone, until the whole world knows. For each one, can reach one, as we follow after Christ, we all can lead one.  We can lead one to the Savior.  Then together we can tell the world that Jesus is the Way, If we each one, reach one. So will you go and labor? Will you hold high your light? One by one, and two by two, we can win our world for Jesus Christ.”

 How are others supposed to get saved if we don’t do our part in evangelism? Romans 10:14-15 says 14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (ESV) We all have to tell the world about Jesus. God calls all of us to do it. Are you fulfilling your call today? 

Prayer starter: Heavenly Father, please help me to not be ashamed of the Good News of salvation. Help me to boldly tell others about your great love today. Help me to evangelize the world around me. Help me to see the world through your eyes. God give me the words and courage to spread the Gospel everywhere I go. Thank You for filling me with the Holy Spirit so that I may speak of Your wonderful love today. Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to ask God to show you the person and give you the courage to tell them about Jesus today.

ABC's of Godly Character - D

D is for Devotion!  Devotion is committed deep love great dedication and loyalty, strong enthusiasm and admiration for somebody or something. Who or what are you devoted to? Are you devoted to your team? Are you devoted to your family? Are you devoted to God and your relationship with Him? Devotion requires work and commitment.  In 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul says “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (ESV). Paul knew that Satan would attack our commitment to Christ. The moment we get saved, the attacks will begin. From that point on, we are forever in a battle with Satan for your devotion and your soul. We should first and most importantly be devoted to a life for Christ. It is hard, but look at the great reward we will receive. Heaven is where we should desire to live, and we can only get there by confessing our sins and asking Jesus to redeem us. He was devoted enough to pay the death penalty for us, so we should honor and thank Him by returning such devotion. We serve a jealous God. Exodus 20:5 commands that we have no idols. “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” (ESV). We will be either devoted to things or people of this world or to God. Where is your devotion? Jesus made it clear that we can’t have it both ways. If we are going to have God in the center of our lives, nothing or no one can share that unique position with him. Are you devoted to Jesus more than money, the pleasures of this life, recreation, entertainment, sports or even another person, including a family member? Mark 12:30 says “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (ESV). 

        Prayer starter: Dear Jesus, forgive me if I have given my first love and devotion to someone or something other than You. I know you deserve all honor, glory and praise.  Please help me to become 100% sincerely devoted to living my life for you. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Guide me, show me, and teach me how to live totally devoted to You. In your name, amen.

        Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to start becoming more devoted to God today. Make it a priority to pray and read His word every day.

ABC's of Godly Character - C

C is for Confession! Confession is the admission of wrongdoing or sin, admission of guilt, a voluntary written or verbal statement admitting you have done something wrong. None of us like to be wrong. It is difficult to admit when we are wrong, however, as a Christian that is exactly what we are supposed to do. James 5:16 says “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (ESV). When we are honest enough to tell God where we have sinned and ask other believers to pray for us, we can have the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome that sin. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV). We all need forgiveness when we do something wrong. We will mess up in friendships and relationships but we should try to correct those mistakes. No sin is allowed in heaven so we must confess our sins and sincerely ask for forgiveness. Also, we should ask others for forgiveness when we do wrong to them. Be specific when seeking forgiveness from God or from people. We need to be willing to specifically say what we have done wrong and then make it right. With confession of sin, relationships will grow stronger. Our relationship with God and others gets stronger when it is based on honesty, surrounded by confession and forgiveness. When you seek forgiveness from another person, remember you can’t control that person or their response. Keep focusing on God and trying to live for Him, then leave the outcome of the relationship in His hands. It is also good to confess your sins to a faithful, Godly friend if you are struggling. That way they can hold you accountable to move forward out of that sinful stronghold. Christ knows what is best for you, confess where you need help today. 

         Prayer starter: Father, You are a wonderful God, mighty to save and forgive when we ask You. Please forgive me for _____________, which is wrong in Your eyes. Help me to be honest enough to seek forgiveness from the people I have done wrong to also. I need your Spirit to guide me in my life and to help me not sin against you. Let my words and deeds be more pleasing in your sight.  Amen.    

        Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to confess your sins to God and to those you have wronged so that you may receive forgiveness today.  

OCC December Prayer & Burundi

DECEMBER IS FOCUS ON PRAYER MONTH AT OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD. 

Keep an eye on OCC’s national Facebook page for a prayer takeover in the month of December! We will be sharing daily prayer requests and praising God for the gospel opportunities collected during National Collection Week.

 

YOUR PART – share, share, share! As a Prayer Network Partner, we ask that you like, comment, or share these posts. This helps more people be exposed to what we’re doing and allows more people to be involved. Don’t forget to use #praywithOCC on your posts!

 

Mid-South prayer request:

· Praising God for a wonderful National Collection week and for all of our amazing volunteers!

· Prayers for Mid-South staff who are working in the Charlotte and Dallas PCs over the next several weeks and their families while they are away.

· Prayers for safe travels for volunteers going to serve in the PCs.

· Please pray for several of our Mid-South volunteers who are going dealing with serious health concerns.

· Prayers that all gift filled gospel opportunities will arrive safely to children all over the world.

International Prayer Requests

General Prayer Requests each country faces:

· Wisdom to recruit, select and lead new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.

· Provision of resources to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

This week our requests are for Burundi. 

Pray for Burundi. It is a mountainous, fertile country in Africa. It has 12 people groups with 25% of them unreached. 27% of the population is Evangelical Christian. Young people and children suffered the brunt of the violence, upheaval and poverty of the last decades. Lift these issues up in prayer:

-The physical needs of children. Around 560,000 children have lost at least one parent, 45% of children under five are undernourished and many thousands suffer from malaria and AIDS. Violence against children is common. Only half of children attend school; but praise God for debt relief, which allows the government to offer free primary education to all children. This should raise enrollment significantly. Pray for the many ministries and government agencies that focus on caring for children and providing them with life opportunities.

· Pray God will bring an end to the political instability.

· Pray for the strength and endurance of the leadership teams. Pray that God will provide more engaged team leaders on each level.

· Pray that more children will participate in The Greatest Journey (TGJ) discipleship program and that God will provide more TGJ teachers and Ministry Partners who are completely engaged in OCC.

ABC's of Godly Character - B

B is for Boldness!  Are you ever a chicken to speak up? Boldness is not hesitating in the face of real or perceived danger.  Ephesians 6:19-20 says “words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (ESV). Paul, while he was in prison wrote these words. He didn’t ask for the church at Ephesus to pray for him to get out of jail, but instead, that he would continue to BOLDLY speak about Jesus. We, like Paul, should pray for God to help us be bold, regardless of our circumstances.  We should speak boldly for His honor and His glory about what is right in His eyes.  Acts 4:29,31 says “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (ESV). Boldness is not running your mouth just to be heard. It requires courage to speak when we are afraid and courage to do what is right. How do we become more bold? Like the disciples, we should pray for boldness. To gain boldness we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us courage, search for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, and realize that Satan will try to make us feel rejected, embarrassed, or uncomfortable. Boldness is hard, but we are all called to speak boldly about God.  

​Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me the courage to speak boldly about You and Your mighty power. Give me the passion to speak Your words of truth in love. Help me to not be ashamed to take a stand for what is right and pleasing in Your sight, even if it means I will be standing alone. In your name I pray, amen.  

​Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to speak boldly about Christ to someone today!