ABC's of Godly Character - R

R is for Respect! Respect means to view or consider with reverence; to view as having real worth. Showing respect is shown in many ways. It is shown by how we treat others, how we talk to or about people, and how we treat other people’s belongings. When we respect someone with Godly respect, we honor them because of who they are in Christ—a loved child of His. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:1-3 and as one of His 10 Commandments “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” No matter how old we are or what we think about our parents, God wants us to respect them – or respect their job as parents. When we respect and honor them, it will be a testimony to them and others of our God and our faith. God blesses the one who honors, respects and loves their parents, according to His Word. If we want people to treat us with respect, then we must first treat others with respect. Home is the first place where we should learn to respect others. We can always work on being more respectful to our families. If we learn to respect our parents, then we will already know how to respect older people, police officers, teachers, bosses, people in authority etc. Respect is a testimony of our faith in Christ and will bring blessings to us in the long run. Are you respectful to others or does sarcasm, hateful words, and bad attitudes seep out of you? Philippians 2:3-4 says “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”. Is life all about you and what you want and getting things “your” way? When we think of others first and place them ahead of our own needs in life, then we are showing respect and honor.

Prayer starter: Dear Lord, let me be an example of Your Love to others. Help me to show respect to all people and put others in front of myself. Help me to be respectful to those who you set in authority over me. In Your Name, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be respectful to everyone you speak to today. Lose the attitude and bring honor and glory to God by showing respect to others!

ABC's of Godly Character - Q

Q is for Quietness before The Lord!

Quietness means allowing God to speak directly to your heart through the Holy Spirit. Prayer is not just a one way communication. When we pray we are asking God to fulfill His Will in our life, when we are quiet before Him, we are waiting patiently to hear what we should do, and then actually doing what He said when we were still enough to listen and hear Him. To be quite before the Lord, we must remove ourselves from the craziness of our daily lives and spend time focusing on God and His Word. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” In Mark 6:31 Jesus said “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” Jesus, himself, even spent time alone in the quietness of God. Mark 1:35 says “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He (Jesus) departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed”. Psalm 119:18 tells us that when we ask, God will reveal His Word to us: “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word”, for Him to do this, we must get quite and spend time studying and praying. Psalm 37:7 says “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”. Are you too busy? Do you stop and wait patiently on God to speak to you or do you just rush through a prayer and a little Bible reading? I LIKE, LIKE, LIKE to talk, but even more, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and treasure my quite time with my Lord! We all need our own little “quite place” before the Lord. We need to stop and spend time with Him, daily. Matthew 11:28 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Do you need some peace and rest today? It is available through Jesus!

Prayer starter: My Precious Lord, please help me to make it a priority to stop and be quite in Your Presence. Help me to spend time alone with You. Help me see the wonderful things that I need out of Your Word. Fill me with your Presence and help me shine for You. In your Sweet Name I pray, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN to God and His Word. Allow some quite in your life so He can speak to you today. 

ABC's of Godly Character - P

P is for Perseverance and Persecution! Perseverance is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult; continued effort, despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. Persecution is to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; to cause suffering because of belief.  As our world continues to drift further away from God we, as Christians, will have to persevere because of persecution. Jude was Jesus’ half-brother and James’ brother. His writing in Jude 1:17-25 says “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” We have the power and strength of the Holy Spirit in us to help us during hard times. We should live close to God and His Word and not listen to false teachers or temptations in this world that want to pull us away from our faith. We should also help others come to know Christ and His Power so they can persevere during persecution also. We should hate sin but love unsaved sinners and want them to also have eternal life. Our perseverance and willingness to witness could mean life or death, heaven or hell, for someone we know. We don’t have to be afraid about persecution and the end of this world if we trust God and are rooted in His Word.

Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please help me to stand up for what I believe and to have Your Strength in me to stand strong when I am persecuted. Help me to boldly witness to others in this world and to share my faith with them. You know the temptations I face, and I know You can give me power over them through the Holy Spirit. Fill me with your passion and love for others today. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to not fear this world, but to stand strong and persevere when you are persecuted. Will you share your faith with someone today?

ABC's of Godly Character - O

O is for opportunity, the opportunity to witness! Opportunity is recognizing and acting upon situations God places in our lives. We learned with "E is for evangelism" that we are ALL called to witness to others, but do we seize the moment when we have an opportunity to do it? God places people in our lives for us to reach out to but sometimes we are too busy in our own little world of "me" to recognize it. In Colossians 4:2-5 Paul says: "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." (NASB) Do we make the most of every opportunity? We should always look for opportunities to share Jesus with others. He has blessed us so much and we should always be willing to tell others how great He is. We should choose our words carefully, let the Holy Spirit guide us, so that we can speak with the right tone and not in a convicting or self-righteous one. 

Hawk Nelson sings in Words: "Words can build you up, Words can break you down, Start a fire in your heart or put it out. Let my words be life, Let my words be truth, I don't wanna say a word unless it points the world back to You."

Prayer starter: Heavenly Father, guide my words and help me take every opportunity that You set before me. Help me realized when You are leading me to share my testimony or Your great love with others. In Your name I pray, amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to ask God to give you an opportunity to share His Love with someone today and then be bold enough to do it.

Operation Christmas Child & Rwanda

This week join us in praying for Rwanda. It is a fertile, mountainous country similar to its southern neighbor, Burundi, in Africa. It has 13 people groups with 23% unreached. There are 5 languages in Rwanda. Challenges for Prayer include praying for the children and young people were deeply scarred by the events of the 1990s, but they are now the young adults and future leaders of Rwanda. They carry a painful legacy and difficult burdens no young people should have to bear. 

Pray for:

1. Pray God provides all of the resources needed during the coming year and continues to strengthen the Operation Christmas Child Teams’ commitment and trust in Him.
2. Pray God’s peace and presence will dwell over the teams. Pray He will bless everyone who works with this project and bring the children a deeper knowledge of Christ.
3. Pray for the ministry to university students. Most Bible study leaders lost their lives, but a new generation of workers is being raised up. Pray for more workers and resources for the task. 
4. Young people’s ministries, which work across denominations. Bible reading programs, prayer groups, youth camps, alternate education programs, AIDS awareness as well as assisting orphans, street kids and child heads-of-households are all aspects of current work.
5. Orphans from genocide, war and AIDS may number up to 900,000 – 30% of all Rwandan children. There are over 30,000 child-led households caring for 100,000. They are the most vulnerable to exploitation. 
6. Pray for counselling for those who witnessed or suffered traumatic experiences and for those who must live without parents. Their numbers are vast, their pain is deep and the church is still learning how to offer such ministry.
7. Social networks – such as the extended families of these children – to offer love, mercy and kindness to them, treating them as their own. Pray also for friends for these orphans; 74% say they have none, and 40% feel life is meaningless. 
8. The children of genocide perpetrators. Pray for the breaking of any ties that might carry on the legacy of guilt and violence; pray for freedom in Christ and a new identity. 
9. Models of family and community, which these children have not experienced. Pray for churches, ministries and relations to teach and show them how to live as part of a family, a community and a society in a manner that glorifies God. Missionary presence continues to increase! 
10. Pray God will help the team to fulfill their three year strategic plan to reach more children in Rwanda.
11. Pray God will provide volunteers who are committed to the mission of Operation Christmas Child.

Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2015 will be delivered to 145,584 children in Rwanda. Praise God that over 643,129 children have received a shoebox since 1994, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here.  Rwanda has 12.6 million people.  42% of the population is 14 years old or younger.  

A boy in Rwanda receives his shoebox gift!

ABC's of Godly Character - N

N is for New Creation! Are you a New Creation in Christ? After we get saved we are called to live differently than the rest of the unsaved world. Being a New Creation means we change our habits, our attitudes, our words, our actions, and our lifestyle to reflect that of Christ. Ephesians 4:22-24 says “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (ESV). Paul tells us in Colossians 3:5-10 to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (ESV). Look at that list again. When we are a New Creation in Christ we should not have sex outside of marriage, not want what others have, have no evil thoughts, no idols, no anger, no bad or hurtful language, no lies…some of these can be hard to achieve. I truly struggle with anger issues; I have a temper, but I try to keep it in check and let God's Word transform me.  At a young age I memorized, "Be angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath" Ephesians 4:26. Without the help of the Holy Spirit we are looking at a hard list to live up to; however with His help and by hiding God's Word in our hearts we can complete the challenge and become a New Creation!

Prayer Starter: Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to become a New Creation that lives a life for You. Help me do away with my old sinful, earthly self and cling to the Fruit of the Spirit that You can help grow in me. Help me to be pleasing in Your sight. In Your Holy Name I ask, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to work on this list in your life today. Write it out these verses and place them where you will see and read them, then ask God to help you achieve it!

ABC's of Godly Character - M

M is for Maturity! Are you a mature or immature person? Christian Maturity is something that develops with time. It is a process that begins when a person accepts Jesus as their Savior. The Apostle Paul said that spiritual growth is an ongoing process in Philippians 3:12-14 "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." In order for Christian maturity to develop in our life, we must make a choice to learn God's Word, allow God to renew our mind, and then be obedient to what we learn. Romans 12:1-2 says, "present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” As we mature, we should learn to walk obediently with God. It is making a choice to live by God’s ways instead of the world’s ways. Step by step, day by day we must deliberately make a choice to choose the right path. It won’t be easy. We will have growing pains, but reaching maturity is worth the battle. We mature by choosing to apply God's Word in everyday circumstances. As we walk step by step, applying God's Word to our life, we will grow spiritually. Are we at the same place in our relationship with God as what we were when we first got saved? Can we look at our life, or can others and see that we are more in love with Jesus today? I can look back on my life and see growth. When I was a child my “Bible reading” was when I was in Sunday School or when my parents done devotions with us. As a teen, I started reading my Bible more on my own. My Mom and I would read the Bible aloud across the hallway to each other and say our prayers before we fell asleep in our beds each night. Then I decided to read the whole Bible for myself. It took me almost 2 years but I done it—2 years meant that I only read it about 10 minutes a day. Was that my best? Was 10 minutes a day all I could give to my God, my Savior? Mature…I think not! Now I am so in love with God’s Word that I want to read it again and again. I learn something new each time I read it. Just reading it to say I have done it isn’t growth, though, we must want to apply and learn from what we read. Reading it to check it off a list or to say we have read through it "x" number of times may not mean we are absorbing it and learning to apply it.  A couple of years ago I read through the Bible twice in one year, does that mean I am mature now? No, we never totally mature in our Christian faith. We always have room to improve. I can tell you, the more time you spend studying God’s Word, the more you will want to do it. So let me ask you some Spiritual Growth questions. Is reading your Bible a “want to” or a “have to” decision? How often do you pray? Do you ever read your Bible besides when studying for Sunday School or church? Do you study your Sunday School lesson? Do you pay attention in church and try to learn or are you busy on your phone, clipping your fingernails, or sleeping? Have you ever read a whole chapter of the Bible? What about a whole book of the Bible? What about all 4 Gospels? Have you ever read all of God’s Word? Take time to honestly evaluate your Christian Maturity. Do you enjoy God's Word? Are you still milk fed like a baby or are your growing? Spiritual maturity should be a priority for us. "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:13-14). As a believer, we are not to always be milk-fed. Instead, we are called to chew on the "meat" of God's Word. Discover God's truth by in-depth Bible study and feed ourselves spiritually.

Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please help me to grow in my Spiritual Maturity. Help me to put away childish behavior in my life and mature in my relationship with You. Help me to fall more in love with Your Word. Help me develop more of a desire to learn about You and to talk to You. Help me press on and continue growing more like You every day of my life.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to set a goal of how much time you are going to spend reading God’s Word and in prayer. Work on your growth process today! You are responsible to make a choice! Will you choose to use and apply God's Word to your life?