Love Fulfilled Ministry

" His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue " ( 2 Peter 1 ) We are to diligently seek all things of God that pertain to life and godliness. Peter writes on, that to confirm our calling and election we are to be diligent at practicing certain qualities and if we practice these we will never fall.[ 1 ] In sequence we are to add these qualities, to faith we add virtue; to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance godliness; to godliness, kindness; to kindness, love.[ 2 ] We begin with faith and add virtue, virtue is defined as a particular moral excellence, good behavior or character or quality, the conformity to a standard of right .[ 3 ] The word virtue is used by Peter to describe a quality we are to have; we are called to virtue and are to add to our faith virtue.[ 4 ]. The power of God has given us, through the knowle...

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" ( 2 Chronicles 7:14 ). God resists those who are not humble ( 1 Peter 5 ). While those younger in Christ are to be submissive to leaders, humbling themselves under God's authority, leaders have a greater responsibility; to set the example to the younger. Jesus was an example of humility, " when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly"  ( 1 Peter 2:21-25 ). A quality of a leader is that of influencing. When we learn to entrust ourselves to the just judge our circle of influence grows. Influencing is leading by example, having a sense of the suffering of Christ, shepherding the flock by supervising it willingly not out of necessity, nor by lo...

For by grace you are saved through faith and this is not out of you, the  gift of God,  not out of works (or acts) that no one should be boasting. For of Him we are workmanship being created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God makes ready beforehand that in them we should walk (Ephesians 2:8-9) Our righteousness is in Jesus's work alone; his birth, death, resurrection, and authority. As believers we are under a new covenant of Grace, adopted as his children, sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of inheritance. We live it out in spirit and in truth, we worship God in spirit and in truth. The Holy Spirit lives in us and guides us into all truth. Jesus is the truth, the word of God. To follow him is to live out his plan expediently, experiencing his suffering, and with perseverance to run the race he has set before us. While righteousness is not by our works we must understand that faith without works is impossible. We run the race before us because we love him, w...

Brothers if ever someone may be being overtaken in some offense, you the one spiritual, equip this one in a spirit of meekness, take heed yourself so that you may not be tried also, of one another the burdens be you bearing and thus fill up the law of the Christ ( Galatians 6:1-2 ). The Greek word for offense in this passage is paraptóma which means to fall away; pará, "from close-beside" and píptō, "to fall" – properly, fall away from close-beside . Understanding this is essential to discipleship and our walk with Christ; as we walk with Christ, those who walk close to us, who fall, need to be equipped (not condemned, judged, etc...) through meekness bearing their burdens.[1] God disciplines those he loves, equipping them through love and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome, his purpose for the church is to equip, to build up the body in love. To do this fulfills the law of Christ, as the greater principles of love are being lived out which glorifies him (...

" being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ " ( Philippians 1:6 ). Oh what a promise from our great God. We might not understand our trials, but his promises anchor us during these trying times. The promise is that He will complete his plan in us. " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope " ( Jeremiah 29:11 ). Trials refine us, they bring us closer to him. True peace is that the God of peace is with us in the heat of the battle. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations ” ( Jeremiah 1:4-5 ). God is raising his army, consecrating his people, putting forth his plan. " Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was...

the one peering into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and is persevering, this one is not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of work, this one will be happy in the doing  ( James 1:25 ). At the core of who we are exist values, principles or standards of behavior, one's judgment of what is important in life. Character is defined as the action you do to carry out your values. We can develop values in things that are not valuable and it takes effort to change.  For freedom we look into the perfect law of liberty, it was for freedom that Christ set us free.[ 1 ] When we see the truth we must be a doer who acts and perseveres. Doing is key and so is perseverance, God can renew our minds through instant healing but often chooses to transform. Transform means to make a thorough change in character, which means changing our values.[ 2 ] We know the truth through hearing the truth, but change occurs when we through perseverance do the truth, we ...