How to serve God ?
John 6: 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?
John 6: 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this : to believe in the one he
has sent”.
So the depth of your faith in Jesus is considered to be how much you serve God! The more
Your faith grown the more you are considered to gain credibility in terms of serving God. So it is not the external work which determines the service you offered for God but your internal faith which aspirates you to serve him counts.
* In order to increase our faith in Jesus we have to know who he is?
The following verses help to know our Lord more so we can increase our faith on him and this understanding would lead us to enter the Father’s kingdom.
John 14: 6 Jesus answered,” I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me”.
*The way: His way is the Cross way leading to the death on the Cross. Whoever accepts him as the Lord will follow him in this way and the sin will be cleansed by his blood and is entitled to dwell with the Father in Heaven.
*The truth: The words in the bible are summed up to two greatest commandments which are to love God and to love your neighbors. Disciples have to know and practice this love in order to reach the Father.
*The life : The eternal life of God. The quality of this eternal life can be seen as the holiness, love, righteousness and other characters contained in the fruits of Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Whoever possesses this abundant life is qualified to meet the Father.
The Triune God
The New testament bible revealed that there is a Triune God :
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever"(John 16:16)
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (John 16:26)
"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."( 2 Corithians 13:14)
What is faith ?
How to prove that your faith is genuine ?
By the revelation in the bible that:
1. By accepting Jesus with your mouth and heart, then you will be saved. Romans 10:9-10 [NIV]:
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved”
2. Any body with the Holy Spirit lives inside (Ephesians 1:13-14 [NIV])
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are Gods possession -- to the praise of his glory “
3. The transformation of your life since believing in Jesus confirms your faith (Ephesians 4:21-32 [NIV] :
“Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”
PSALM 23
A psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Relationship of husband and wife
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh;she shall be called ‘woman,’for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:18-24 | NIV)
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:21-25 | NIV)
The true love:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy,
it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8 | NIV)
Whoever Loves God has to obey his words.
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him"
(1 John 2:4 | NIV)
The greatest commandment
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34 -40)
Work of the Holy Spirit
The Work of the holy spirit is helping us to confess our sins, to understand the Bible truth , to grow our spiritual fruits to have good characters and to give us the spiritual gifts to serve people , so come near God by confession to Jesus and then to ask the Holy spirit to fill us up , we will have all this work of the Holy spirit to strengthen our spirit and characters and we will be able to live a life according to God’s will !
" But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. (John 16 [NIV]).
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5 [NIV]).
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free -- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. (1 Corinthians 12 : 4-13 [NIV])
Our weapons to combat the evils
in the spiritual war fair
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6)
The goal of living：
To live a Christian life is different from living a life of the non believer :
Teaching by Jesus (Matthew 6 [NIV])
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Teaching by Paul (Colossians 3 [NIV])
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Teaching by John (1 John 2 [NIV])
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.