Showing posts with label Discipleship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Discipleship. Show all posts

Thursday, April 27, 2023

HOLDING MY PLACE!

I won't be on-line tomorrow for much of the day. In case T.H.O.T.S. come to mind, I'll share..... 
Trusting 
Him
On
This 
Subject
......my T.H.O.T.S. "jottings" later. 

"Jottings." Those paper and pencil types. Mine with a freshly sharpened #2 pencil!
A magnetic bookmark is perfect for holding my place. 

Friday, December 8, 2017

CHOOSE : TO DISCIPLE

Having only a bird's eye view at a recent UM basketball game, I choose to watch the monitor----that is when I didn't have an eye on one of my 5 grandboys who were with us. Interestingly enough, the ads often caught my attention more than the runaway game.
Disciple Design certainly caught my eye. The design of the ad alone spoke volumes---especially for this perfectly-sharpened pencil loving Christian.
Is there a design for a disciple? 
Allen Bible Church calls it "marks of a disciple"---marks that guide their lives individually and corporately. Their Seven Marks design are the guidepost for church members living out their mission of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19); loving God supremely, loving others sacrificially & strategically  transforming our world with His truth.

It takes more than a little baptism water to make a disciple----it takes discipline. 

Choosing to disciple seems to go a step further by reaching out to others and coming alongside them in their walk of faith. A divine design for all.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

GOODNESS: "FRUIT TRAIT” #6

8/27/09
Discipleship Tools taught me that goodness is the engagement of love! I think most of these qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are an overflow of love, His love. Cole taught me that the Greek word for goodness is the same as for virtue. Virtue is moral excellence and is the character trait that is valued as being good. What does it look like? People of goodness display integrity, honesty and compassion to others. Goodness compels/allows us to do the right thing---even when we don’t feel like it. The opposite of virtue is vice. Interestingly enough, the definition of vice lists everything from an immoral habit i.e. prostitution, gambling and drugs to mild failing in character. Hm-m-m a vice is a vice just like a sin is a sin---no real degrees of sinning even though our human nature tends to “rank” our sins. Obviously the more our lives are filled with goodness/virtue, the less room there is for those vices. So then the more we are filled with Him…..well you get the idea. Move over Self!
So, how do keep from wandering away from His goodness. One of my all-time favorite hymns, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” holds a reference to His goodness in the last verse.

O, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.


It’s His goodness that keeps me from wandering, His goodness that restrains me from SELF. In my flesh, I’m so prone to wander. And it’s His goodness that keeps us merciful and scrupulous as we deal with others. Goodness is virtue in action and endears us to others. Ah but for the grace and goodness of God………
Tonight just “goodness facts” but next time it could get personal. That’s what God does every time I Trust Him On This Subject (or scripture)---He brings it on home to my plate. So I’m going to “serve” those THOTS up to you. Hope it won’t be too hard to digest.