Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

Counting The Cost Of Being A Disciple

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Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...

Counting the Costs Of Being A Disciple

 

If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and work out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job, if you don’t you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will laugh at you. “This man began to build but can’t finish the job!” They will say…….in the same way, concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have”.

Luke 14:28-30; 33

Jesus is talking about counting the cost of being His disciple, but He
uses an illustration based on common sense. Any individual who is going
to take on an endeavour first of all sits down and writes out a budget.
Part of being a good steward over what God has given you is being an
individual who budgets, an individual who will take the time to be
faithful in little and in much.

The kingdom of God does not consist of people who only get saved, and
then lay back and never do another thing. We need to do everything
necessary to be faithful in God’s work. We must budget and know
what’s happening with everything that comes through our hands!

 

 

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon

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Resurrection of Christ

Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon

MATTHEW 6:24

          MATTHEW 6:22-24

SINGLENESS OF VISION

Jesus is speaking of spiritual vision. If we keep our attention (eye) single upon Jesus, the Word, then all that we will be filled with is the light of His Word (Jn. 1:1-14; Ps. 119:105). The key to victory is this singleness of purpose (Phil. 3:13). The strength of the laser lies in the fact that all of the light is concentrated on one single point. Likewise, the strength of the Christian lies in how single his or her vision is upon Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Heb. 12:1-3)

You may have God and riches, but you can only serve one of them. In Matthew 6:24, the Lord amplifies this by saying that we cannot serve two masters. Why is this so? Because we do not have the capability of faithfully serving both of them. You will cleave to one more than the other. You cannot serve both with all of your heart. We just don’t have the capacity to do our best in two areas at the same time. God wants singleness of vision, singleness of purpose. He wants us to serve Him with all of our heart.

You may be wondering how you can still make a living without always thinking about money. Where will it come from? How will you get more of it? In verse 33, Jesus goes on to say that He will supply all of your need when you seek first the Kingdom of God. All of these other things (food and clothing etc.) will be added unto you. If we will simply put God and His Kingdom first in every area of our lives, He will add to us all the wealth that we need. It’s when we covet after money that we “pierce ourselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10). Put God to the test today. Put Him first in every area of your life and see if He won’t provide all the other things for you.

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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In the kingdom of God, we won’t be given any great opportunities until we are proven faithful in the small things

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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...

Image via Wikipedia

In the kingdom of God, we won’t be given any great opportunities until we are proven faithful in the small things

MINISTRY IN ACTION

Mk. 1:31, “And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.”

MT. 8:14-17; MK. 1:29-34; LK. 4:38-41

How did Peter‘s mother-in-law minister unto Jesus and His disciples? Did she sit them down and preach to them? Certainly not. Yet sometimes people think the only way we can minister to another is to admonish them with the scriptures.

Peter’s mother-in-law apparently ministered to them by serving them. The word translated “minister” is the same word that was translated “deacon” twice in the New Testament, and “serve, served or serveth” eight times.

We can minister for the Lord by doing some of the menial tasks that many consider to be unimportant. Jesus said that even a cup of cold water given in His name would not go unrewarded (Matthew 10:42).

Many people are waiting for the important jobs to come along where they can make a big impact or receive a lot of recognition, while they pass by many lesser opportunities every day. But in the kingdom of God, we won’t be given any great opportunities until we are proven faithful in the small things (Luke 16:10).

Today, ask the Lord to show you ways you can minister to others by serving them.

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In The Name Of Jesus Christ Of Nazareth Heal The Sick

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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus’ description of himself “I am the Good Shepherd” (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: “To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Then He called His twelve disciples
together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure
disease. And He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick
(Luke 9:1-2)

God wants us
to pray with faith, boldness and the expectation that what we decree in prayer
will come to pass. He has given us the authority in the Name of Jesus to issue
decrees with daring audacity and have them established.

Some
religious folks however gripe at our boldness, asking, “Who do they think they
are, giving such decrees?” They expect us for instance, to pray and ask God to
heal the sick, instead of taking it upon ourselves to command the sick to be
healed in the Name of Jesus. Well, first of all, the Bible never says we should
pray to God to heal the sick rather, we’re to heal the sick.

There’s no
place in the Scripture where God asks that we pray to Him to heal the sick. In
Matthew 10:8, Luke 9:2, Luke 10:9, Jesus charged the disciples to heal the
sick; He didn’t ask them to pray to Him or to the Father to heal the sick. In
Mark 16:17-18 He said, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they
shall recover”. Jesus made it clear that we believers have been given the
authority in His Name to heal the sick.

In the third
chapter of the book of Acts, while Peter and John were at the gate of the
temple called Beautiful, they met a man who was impotent in his feet, never
walked from birth. Notice Peter’s language to the man: “…..Silver and gold have
I none; but such as I have give I thee:
in the Name Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). He
didn’t pray that God should heal the sick man. He was conscious of the
authority he had and knew that though he couldn’t give the man money at that
point in time, he could ‘give’ him healing in the Name of Jesus.

The nature
of God has been imparted to your spirit if you’re born again, therefore you’re
to reign as a king in life (Romans 5:17 AMP).

When you
pray for the sick, made bold decrees! Command the devils responsible for the
sickness to come out and that the sick be healed in the Name of Jesus. Expect a
change every time you issue such commands. This is the kind of prayer James
refers to as the prayer of faith in James 5:15.

PRAYER

DEAR FATHER, I THANK YOU FOR MY WORDS
ARE IMBUED WITH AUTHORITY FROM SPIRIT. THEREFORE, I SPEAK FORTH
AUTHORITATIVELY, HEALING THE SICK, CLEANSING THE LEPERS, RAISING THE DEAD,
CASTING OUT DEVILS, AND DEMONSTRATING GOD’S LOVE TO MY WORLD, IN THE NAME OF
JESUS CHRIST, AMEN!

www.rhapsodyofrealities.org

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