fruitfulness

Submit yourselves to God

Submit yourselves to God

James Bible Study Chapter 4: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

A harvest of righteousness

A harvest of righteousness

James Bible Study Chapter 3: The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Godliness is great gain

Godliness is great gain

‘Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.’ The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, is very concerned to instruct his young disciple how to deal with false teaching and corruption - especially financial corruption - in the church in Ephesus.

The Power of Humility before the Lord

The Power of Humility before the Lord

So many of God's promises are conditional upon our obedience. James 4, verses 6-8, are an encouragement to submit to God and be humble before Him. There is power in your obedience and humility. ‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.'

Faithful to the Calling

Faithful to the Calling

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). This theme runs right through Scripture, watching, praying – with thanksgiving – faithfulness in prayer! There is a big responsibility for us in this. Paul says here in v3, “Pray for us that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains.” There must be constant prayer from me and from you – pray! Just like Paul, I need prayer that God will open doors.

Our hope is in heaven

Our hope is in heaven

For all believers there is the wonderful hope of heaven; from this assurance springs the faith and love we express in this life. Whatever we are going through today, our hope is not down here, OUR HOPE IS IN HEAVEN. We’re not expected to be wealthy down here, we’re not expected to be living necessarily in comfort. My real home and your real home is the FUTURE. I feel that somehow the Church has lost sight of the key element of our faith. OUR HOPE IS IN HEAVEN – NOT HERE!

Fishers of men

Fishers of men

Seek God’s direction and purpose for your life. In Luke 5, some of Jesus’ disciples had spent the night fishing on the Lake of Gennesaret but caught nothing. Jesus saw them from the shore and called out to them, ‘Let down your nets on the other side’. They did, and the nets broke! The moment you respond to the instruction of Jesus, you’ll pull in a tremendous harvest. All my life I’ve wanted to hear that voice behind me saying, “Do this, go there.” (Isaiah 30:21.) And after 70 years of ministry, I KNOW with certainty that His voice continues to give me direction and fruitfulness.