Proverbs 9:9
"Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning"
When you give instruction to a wise man he will increase is his head knowledge. When you teach a just (righteous) man, he listens not only with his ears, but with his heart as well and he will apply it to his life. There are many wise and intelligent people but sometimes I feel like that is all it is. They will appear smart on the outside but where is thier heart in it ? Are they truly applying what they are being told ? If you just listen to what you are being taught, but not putting any application to it then you are not truly learning.
While here in IGNITE, I have been taught so much from all the pastors and teachers which have come here. If I had just sat there in class, and listened to what they had told me but didn't take it to heart and let it change my life, then I wouldn't have grown at all. Some things were a lot harder for me to apply and hit my life harder than others, but I know that these things are necessary in order to grow closer to Him. For me, recently I have struggled with softening my heart towards people whom have hurt me in the past and truly forgiving them. For years I have harbored unforgiveness and resentment in my heart, and it has dictacted the way my life has turned out up until this point. I have had a hardened heart, and let the devil gain that foothold on my life, and in turn he was able to use it against me and it kept growing and catapulted out of control. What I have learned is that I must let that anger and resentment go and forgive others as Jesus has forgiven me. An amazing book that im reading here called On Being A Servant says that its not about what another person does to us, but its how we respond to it. Such a simple statement yet it hit me pretty hard. Although what the other person has done was wrong towards me, its ultimatley my own choice how Im going to respond to it and let it dictate my life. I've been responding to situations and people the wrong way for years, but I refuse to let the enemy have that foothold over my life anymore.
Application:
Today I will pray for the ones which I have harbored this anger and resentment towards and I will ask the Lord to continue to soften my heart and learn to truly forgive.
2 Timothy 2:2
"And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also"
This verse along with the context surrounding it is talking about discipleship. The past three months here in IGNITE I have been discipled by my teachers and the many pastors which have freely given up thier time to come here.
In verse 1 he says, "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus". I don't deserve to be here, but the Lord has has shed so much mercy and grace on me and has chosen me to be a part of this ministry. Also, 1 Timonthy 1:12 says, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry". That has become one my favorite verses since being here in IGNITE. After all the things that I have done, and the way I used to live, He still in all His love and mercy, has counted me faithful to be here and to enable me by learning from all the pastors and men and woman of God that have graciously passed thier wisdom onto me. The Lord is so faithful when we are faithless.
In the verses following, verses 3-7, we are given three illustrations which we are follow. First we are to be like a soldier. We are all enlisted in God's army and the world is a spiritual battlefield. Our motivation should be to please the One which enlisted us,which is Jesus Christ. Second, we are given the illustration of being like an athlete. An athletes motivation is to train to be the best, and recieve a crown. As christians, that should also be our motivation. To train and to do our best to obtain a heavenly crown. Thrid, he talks about being like a farmer during harvest. Likewise, we should want to participate in the harvest, which is ministry, because we want to see the fruit of it, and also to bless others. So alltogether, in a nutshell he is saying that we should want to please to Jesus, obtain our heavenly crown, and see peoples lives transformed and changed.
As I go into Browning to serve, it is now my job to teach others and to raise up disciples there. God has so graciously blessed me with this time of being coached and raised up, and now He wants me to pass that on so that I may bless others as well. I can not wait to share the love of God and share the infinite ways in which the Lord has blessed me.
Application:
Today, I will get my team together and pray specifically for our time in Browning, and that the Lord will fill us with His strength and His Holy Spirit in our to carry out the tasks which the Lord has set before us.
Psalm 119:9-11
"How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You."
"That I might not sin against You". When we sin against each other here on earth, we are also sinning against God. I don't know about you, but for me that changes things and puts things in a different perspective . When I take a step back and think about all the things that the Lord has done for me then why would I ever want to do anything to hurt Him? God has literally saved me and brought me back to life. If you don't know my testimony, then let me briefly share some of what the Lord has done for me. I was addicted to drugs and I overdosed multiple times, but one time in particular really sticks out to me. Everything went black and the next thing I remember I woke up in the hospital not knowing what had happened. I had no energy in my body, I literally had the life sucked out of me. When I got back to my apartment I walked in and saw the disposable paddles still on the floor that they needed to use to revive me. That hit me. My heart had literally stopped and by the grace of God He brought me back. There are multiple circumstances which the Lord has saved me from. I shouldn't even be here today, yet because of His grace He has still chosen to use me as His instrument for His glory. Thats truly amazing. It doesn't matter how much I have messed up in the past because He has redeemed me and finds me worthy in His sight. I could never thank the Lord enough for all Hes done, but I can continue to grow in Him and follow the perfect plan that He has for my life. I don't know if your familiar with the song but as Im writing this the words continue to play over and over in my mind, it says "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back". Lord Jesus, thank you for saving my life, breaking me free of the chains that held me in bondage, redeeming me and choosing to use me as an instrument for Your glory.
Application:
I want to truly have His word hidden in my heart and to always be encouraged to stay in His will. Today I will memorize Romans 12:1-2 which says, "I beesech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God"
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize ? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus : not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
There is one part in here that really sticks out to me. That is "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection". Here on earth if you compete in sports, run marathons or things of that nature you must train continually and discipline your body daily. This verse is not talking about doing those things though. It is talking about disciplining ourselves daily to keep our fleshly bodies in the Lord's will.
How do we discipline our body and bring it into subjection though? For me, this means staying in God's word everyday, praying without ceasing, and surrending my fleshly lusts and desires to Him daily. Ill be honest, there are days that I have failed on doing some or all of these things. Its not that I don't understand the importance of doing them, its just that there are so many things going on that I lose track of time and am exhausted by the end of the day and just pass out. There really are no excuses for not doing all of these things though. I have the desire to grow deeper in the Lord and to stay in His will for my life. If I stop doing daily devotions, or slack off on my prayer life it makes a huge difference. If im not in God's word I will not be renewing my mind daily and will dry up spiritually. If im not praying throughout the day then by the time I lay down to go to sleep I feel a huge weight on me and I need to stop and pray. If i don't lay down my fleshly desires to Him everyday, then the enemy will creep in and fill my mind with them and get me off track. These things are so important and I want to discipline my body into doing all of them every single day without any excuses.
Application:
Tomorrow, I will wake up earlier so that I have more time between the Lord and I, and spend more time in His word and in prayer.
Philippians 3:9
"and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith"
I read this verse a few times and each time I did the first thing that came to mind is the Holy Spirit. It brings me back to the whole context of this first part of the chapter. In verse 3 which says, "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Chirst Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh". People may follow the laws of the flesh on earth and think because they lived a "good life" and that is enough, but we as Christians know that this is false. Our righteousness will be found in Him when we listen to the convictions of the Holy Spirit, because He knows the perfect way to live and He will guide our every step.
In Acts 1:8 it says, "But you shall receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shal be witnesses to Me". Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not a one time occurence. We must constantly be asking the Lord to fill us afresh daily. When we are filled with the power of His Spirit the Lord tells us that we will be witnesses to Him. That says a lot to me. We may be in our ministry and are going about our duties and appearing to be witnesses to others on the outside but where are our hearts in it ? What are our motives behind our outward works ? By using the power of His Holy Spirit our hearts will always be in the right place and in doing so we will be witnesses not only to others but also to God as well.
Application:
Tonight I will pray that the Lord fills me afresh with His Holy Spirit, and make it my everyday prayer .
Philippians 3:8
"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ"
Emptying ourselves of the world and being filled with Him and His Holy Spirit. For me this is a daily occurence. I must die to myself everyday and ask the Lord to fill me afresh with His Holy Spirit.
About 8 months ago is when I gave my life to the Lord. I fell down on my knees with tears rolling down my cheeks and surrendered everything to Him. In doing this there were a lot of things I had to give up and get rid of so that I may be filled with Him instead. It has been a difficult process and there are still things I struggle with daily to give up into His Hands but I do it daily and I have seen the fruit of doing so.
There was a lot that I gave up in that moment of surrender. My life was full of darkness; the lying, the deceit, the addictions. There were so many sins that I was a slave to, but the Lord broke those chains when I gave my life to Him. The old me is gone and I have become a new creation in Him. The things of the past that I have given up mean nothing, especially since it means that I am able to gain Christ in thier place. Romans 12:1 says, "I beesech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service". A living sacrifice for Him. Living each day for Him and Him only. Giving up my fleshly desires into His Hands and trusting in His will for my life, even when it gets hard. Psalm 37:4-5 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass"
Application:
Today I will memorize Psalm 37:4-5 so that I may be able to constantly remind myself that He knows what is best for me and to give Him the reigns and the control over my life.
Matthew 18:15
"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you , you have gained a brother."
This verse, along with verses 16-20, really go hand in hand with maturity. Its easy for us to gossip and talk badly about someone when they may do or say something that may hurt us. But by doing that, we are also in sin and just creating more problems. Not only does it create problems between you and that other person, but it causes disunity between an entire group. Rather we need to approach that person privatley and talk it out with them and then if that doesnt work you bring others into it to help you talk it out and mend that friendship.
For me personally I can remember an instance in highschool this happened to me. I told my bestfriend something in confidence and it wound up around the whole school and I couldnt even walk up and down the hallways without people pointing and laughing at me. I didn't do the mature thing back then, rather caused problems for that person as well and it just escalated from there, until finally one day I approached them and we talked it out. That experience changed a lot for me. It was so hurtful in so many ways and caused a lot of trust issues for me, but it also grew and matured me as a person as well. Because of the effect it had on me, It caused me to not want to do that to another person. Although the damage and disunity had already been caused, just going to that person and talking it out with them changed everything between us. She was one of my bestfriends and I didn't want to lose that friendship and to this day her and I still talk every now and again, and theres no issues between us. It took me years to approach her though, and thats also where I fall short. I let people hurt me and take advantage of me without taking a stand for myself. On the other end, If I feel i have hurt someone in some way though, or someone doesnt like me for my own actions its easy for me to approach them and make it right.
There are a couple verses that come to mind when I think of how we should treat other. The first is Psalms 103:8 which says, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy." The Lord has neverending mercy on us, and we in turn need to have mercy on eachother instead of getting angry and blowing up on that person. The other verse is Proverbs 10:12 which says, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins." We need to love eachother. Harbouring hatred and maintaining grudges against another person will in turn harden our hearts and also hinder our relationship with God.
A couple verses that really helped me with the hatred that I had in my own heart is Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." This really hit me. If i am not merciful and gracious unto others for thier sins against me, then the Lord in return will not be merciful unto me. For years I have harboured hatred in my heart towards a couple people who hurt me when I was younger. It has been hard for me to work through it but since being here in IGNITE I have been able to let go of that hatred, and in turn I pray for them.
Application:
Today I will pray and ask the Lord to give me strength and have mercy on those who hurt me.
Also to overcome the trust issues I have, tonight I will confide in my teammate Tianna about something that I haven't been able to open up about because of my fears.
