Hearing the word #thefathersword

Following Christ and Serving him is one of the best decisions that could ever be made by man. When a person gives their life to Christ, they declare that they want to serve him and no doubt God loves it when people serve him wholeheartedly. 

Over the past few months, we have looked at ministry and service and wondered how God wants us to do ministry. Before you actually go into ministry and service, there's something crucial that is the foundation for every believer. Let's look at a passage from the bible which will help us

Luke 10: 38-42 is a well-known passage. Let's see verse 39 - And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat Jesus' feet, and heard his word. Verse 41 says And Jesus answered and said unto her "Martha, Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things"

Martha and Mary were two sisters and no doubt both wanted to please Jesus when he came to visit them. Martha was concerned about Christ and serving but Mary was sat at the father's feet so she can hear his word. How many of us are like Mary? How many of us are like Martha? At some point in our life, we have somehow been concerned with both aspects - Serving Christ but also wanting to be at his feet. 

Martha, despite all her good intentions, missed out on Christ because she was too busy trying to serve Christ, it sounds a bit harsh but the reality of it is that there are times that Christ wants us to serve him by sitting at his feet and hearing his word. Have you become too busy trying to serve Christ that you no longer have time to sit at his feet? Jesus said to Martha that she has been become troubled by many things which indicates that she was trying to do all the physical things whilst missing on the spiritual aspect. 

Could it be that we are trying to serve Christ without actually having a relationship with him? Happy to serve Christ but missing out crucial time with Christ..............

In order for us to serve Christ wholeheartedly, we first need to establish a relationship Christ and that means to sit at his feet and hear his word. 

Proverbs 4:20 - My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 

21- Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. 

The words of God bring life and healing, let's get into the culture of spending time at the feet of Jesus. Don't be like Martha and become troubled by many things, take time out to listen to the words of God. 

As you sit at the fathers' feet, may he also give you clarity and a clear path of what he wants you to do in this season. I also pray that Christ will help you develop a culture of relationship. 

Be blessed

#thefathersword - The art of Communication

There's a merry go round in the world these days. Messages go from one side to the other but are we assured that the right message will get across.
All throughout our life, we will communicate in various ways. This could be verbal via phone, voice notes, conference calls, face to face. Then there's non-verbal such as messaging, emails, text and everything else in between.

What has stumped most people is the idea that they don't know how to communicate. Communicating and knowing how to communicate are two separate ideas.

Let's see what the Bible says about communication

 James 1:19 - Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech [be] always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Proverbs 18:13 - He that answereth a matter before he heareth [it], it [is] folly and shame unto him

When you read the word, you will find many gems of how to communicate. The biggest difficulty the kingdom has today is Communication. Lack of communication or a communication breakdown is the number one reason why many things fall. It can be marriage, your relationships with people, or even in business.

Whenever a message is given to someone, the responsibility on both parties is to check that each other has understood the message and it's always good to go over the message and to be sure that they have got the message.
However, one can only get the message if they are silent whilst the other is speaking. It can be very frustrating when people don't listen to what was said. If we are to be effective communicators within the kingdom, we must first learn how to listen to people rather than speak over them. We should listen to understand and not listen just to respond.

The other sticking point is hearing and listening. We often have this belief that hearing is the same as listening but it really isn't. Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by ear but listening goes much deeper. Listening is something that we choose to do, listening is something that not everyone has mastered. To really listen to someone, we have to be free of noise and distractions. When we listen intentively, it leads to understanding. The more you listen, the more you will know.

How about when you want to confront someone or having to resolve an argument. Do you know how to? Do you know how to communicate in the heat of the moment?

Matthew 18:15-17 "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Romans 12:17-21 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord

The number one test in our walk with God is how can we handle conflict? I believe that everyone should settle their differences no matter how long it takes. The first stage in conflict is to settle every issue you may have but if it can't be resolved, then call in other parties so they can help mediate.
Dealing with conflict is very key if we are to have long-standing relationships with people. Conflict will arise but how you deal with it is very key.
 
In conclusion, Hearing is a gift but listening is a skill. Choose to listen, choose to understand. Deal with conflicts in a godly manner.

Ryan

'Ye shall know the truth' #thefathersword

A while ago whilst I was studying the word, the phrase 'And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free' dropped in my spirit. I know the phrase but for me this time I had to really tear it apart and break it down. You know when the Holy Spirit just drops a word and leaves you speechless. This was me for about a week.

I had to find out the revelation and now I know it, I want to share it with you all.

John 8:32 - And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

What does it mean to know the truth?

Jesus said in John 14:6 - "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me"
When we looked at this passage, we immediately came to the realisation that knowing the truth is us knowing Jesus. So the next question was how do I get to know Jesus?
We can get to know Jesus through being intimate with him. The more intimate you are with Jesus, the more you get to know him. When we grow in the knowledge of Jesus, when we begin to read the word more it's only then that we will become strong.

John 1 describes this - In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
So we can clearly see that the living word is God himself, so the more we read the word, the more knowledge we can gain.

Let's now move on to the next section of John 8:32 which is - The truth shall make you free.

So we already know that knowing the truth is effectively is us knowing Jesus. So could this mean that if we know Jesus, we will become free?

Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Romans 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life

John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

2 Corinthians 3:17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Let's look at John 8:36 in a bit more detail. We know that the son of God is Jesus Christ and we then find out that he is actually the way, the truth and the life. So if we add everything up we then arrive at this conclusion

'The more knowledge you have of Jesus and his word, you will become free'

The real climax point was when Jesus died on the cross. When Jesus died, the veil was torn in two and everyone found out that he truly was the son of God. John 3:16 states this - For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life".  To have everlasting life is to have eternal freedom and we can only achieve real freedom when we get to know Jesus and we believe in him.

To take it a little bit deeper, we may know of Jesus and we may read the word but do we apply his word in our everyday lives? It's good to have knowledge but the application of knowledge is what will set you apart............
If you are to ever grow in freedom, we must grow in knowledge.

'And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free'

Be blessed always