The Modest Life: June 2017

Hey! I hope you have had a blessed weekend. I did a live bible study on this topic, which you can find below. I was prompted to discuss this topic because of my own struggle with it and others around me.

Is our relationship with Jesus active or inactive?

What weapons do we have if we do not know how to arm ourselves?

Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

It is clear that there are demons around waiting for us to slip up.

1 Peter 5:8-9

⁸Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

We simply cannot afford to miss out on our prayer life, which is our direct connection to Jesus. Our good and faithful father Jesus is an example, He prioritised His prayer life above all things because He was concerned with pleasing His father and doing exactly what He has called Him to do. John 5:19 and John 12:49 are examples of Jesus’ obedience.

Luke 5:16

¹⁶But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

How much more us? Are we going to follow the examples of our good and faithful father or will we choose to let life and our responsibilities get on top of us? Jesus was a servant and this was His main concern whilst here on earth.

A few points:

· Make the decision now that there will be no more excuses. God is the one that gifted you that job, promotion, child, husband and etc. He can take things away from us/life lessons can make us humble ourselves and remember our first love, Jesus. I am in no way saying that something bad is going to happen, but as a good father does God will teach us for our own good.

· Understand that we choose what we make time for and can make sacrifices here and there. You may have a friend that always gives you the, “I’m busy” excuse, but you realise that they give their time to whom they choose. God gave us the same 24 hours, so we need to make it work.

· Get strategic! If you have to buy an organiser to plan your day/week, then do it, time yourself for your specific tasks but more importantly ALLOCATE TIME.

· Die to self. Most of this is caused because we do not want to experience discomfort. I had to recently check myself and wake up about 15 minutes before my alarm as my prayers became sloppy.

· Make it personal. Do not compare your time with God to others. When you have a personal relationship with Jesus, it all comes naturally, so let it flow.

· Be creative with it! A sister in Christ told me that she went to the beach on her own and had her quiet time there. I often enjoy retreating to quiet places at lunchtime and enjoying God’s prescence, its almost like we are taking a walk together (well we are J) and I do not feel pressured to talk for the sake of it.

· Do it. The most important thing is that we realise that Jesus is a priority and that we need to feed our spiritual man like we need to nourish our bodies with food and water. The difference is a more bold and confident walk in Christ, a fulfilled life that brings the best out of us, it will not be perfect but worth it and a lifetime of growth.

I pray that this encouraged you to be intentional about spending time with our King Jesus.

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Rosemary x

Sunday, June 18, 2017 No comments

Hey Beauties! Please note that there is a video version of this topic which I will link below.

This was inspired by the fact that I met up with some people that I have been trying to disciple, but begun to feel discouraged as it is almost like they hit the reset button and I had said nothing at all.

Once we hear the good news, we are encouraged to share it because we know that Jesus is the truth.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”

So what is a disciple? A learner, a follower. This is demonstrated in Matthew 16:24:

Then Jesus said to his disciple, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Why do we expect others to give their lives to Christ so easily or quickly, when we ourselves have our own journeys where we have been reluctant to fully commit? Speaking for myself, It has only been in the last four years that I decided to put away the lukewarm act and fully commit my life to Christ. I guess, it is difficult to see our fellow brothers and sisters without a saviour like Jesus, who we know will be enough for them, if only they give Him a chance. However, we have to be patient and not ruin out witness in the process, by being too pushy. After all, our fruits draw non-believers to us.

Matthew 7:15-20 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.

How do you handle situations? Are you the type to do the wrong thing when you feel no one is watching (even though God always is) or do you aim to give God glory in all things?

Are you positive and calm when situations do not turn out how you planned or do you complain bitterly about situations with the rest of your colleagues or friends? Are you set apart in every area of your life and honest about areas that are a work in progress?

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

We need to look at ourselves before we look at others. Why do we want people to come to Christ? Is it for His glory or ours?

I used to take it personally when people showed no interest in accepting my invite to Church or get in my feelings in regards to their salvation. As I have matured, I still care about their salvation but have learnt that I have to do my part in the body of Christ; Planting the seed and trusting God to water it. I also learnt that there will be many other ways that God will call people to Him. This could be in a variety of ways. Remember that we are the parts to one body, if we all/majority do our part, that is what matters. It is not about them coming to my Church to see how we do things. They can give their lives to Christ any place at any time. The main thing is that they give their lives to Christ and He will do the rest.

A few encouraging pointers

· Expect resistance.

But continue to pray for them and do not lose hope! Remember that Jesus is longsuffering for us and still continues to be – just because we are saved does not mean we are perfect with nothing to work on, it’s a journey! 2 Peter 3:8-9

· Do not write people off when they turn away from Christ or show no interest in becoming saved. I have learnt that people have to be at a stage where they are fully ready to give their lives to Christ. Not because I put pressure on them. If God gives us free will, who am I? Joshua 24:15.

· You just never know! Believe it or not, people are watching! We that call ourselves Christians and figuring out what is so special about our Messiah (everything btw!). Who knows whether behind closed doors they are praying for Jesus to show Himself if He is real? (which of course I know He is).

· Love them anyway.

I used to say that I would never go to the pub with my colleagues and watch them get drunk. I said that this is not the place for me. But God spoke to me and when I decided to join them for drinks, I learnt that God could use me there and then!

· Do not ruin your witness!

I have often done things I should not and believed that this ruined my witness. I later found that it is not about beating myself up about what has passed, but repenting and focusing on what I do next, which in that moment I can control. This could set a good example to those around.

I pray this encouraged you and that you boldly hold your head high and make disciples! #Discipleship!

Rosemary x

Sunday, June 11, 2017 No comments

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