May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Romans 15:5-7
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 2 Timothy 2:3-7
Does the Holy Spirit teach you? Does He guide you in your interactions with others? Does He tell you how to use the supply the Lord has given you? Is it by your own strength, talents, and abilities that you have a supply, money, and things or is it by His goodness and mercy that you have what you have? How fragile is this life? How quick can tragedy strike? How fast can your life change forever?
We often will dismiss or forget that the Holy Spirit is WITHIN us. We negate His Voice and suggestions because we haven’t trained ourselves to listen to Him or recognize Him. Do you hear the (Rhema) Word from Him in your mind? Does He give you suggestions on how to navigate your day? Do you ever ask Him? How much of your day is directed by you and how much is directed by Him?
Are you willing to actually suffer for His sake and Name? Are you willing to lose things, money, status, and popularity for Him? What does it mean to really have a life terminally committed to Christ? What do you think Paul meant when he asked Timothy to ‘suffer as a good soldier of Christ Jesus’? What kind of suffering did the first century Christians endure? Are we able to do the same?
The narcissistic, prosperity, good-feeling ‘gospel’ taught in SO many American Churches has not done the ekklesia any good. In fact, the spiritual immaturity and the lack of spiritual discernment has created a huge swath of generations of immature baby-like Christians, because most pulpits NEVER preach anything above 3rd grade. Most pulpits see the Sunday sermon as something that needs to be for EVERY person attending that service. That approach makes for very bland baby food served over and over. Where is the discipleship? Where are the questions? Where is the day-to-day, face to face discussion of spiritual things between elders and disciples? Is the maintenance and mortgage of the property facility, and the budget of the salaries of the pastor(s) and staff the MOST important thing?
Do you rely on human teachers to teach you or have you matured enough spiritually with the Holy Spirit to teach you? Be honest with yourself and God. Are you actually studying the scriptures for yourself WITHOUT a ‘program’ or bible-study class / group? Have you learned enough spiritual discipline to ‘feed’ yourself?