Not of the world (2): Selfish Ambition

Today's verse(s): James 3:14-16
14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

The two root causes in this passage are the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit. if anyone is to harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in their hearts it is not something worthy of boasting about rather we should seek the truth and ask God to change our hearts, we are all born in sin and have all fallen short of God's standard (see Romans 3:23). Therefore, we are all guilty and we must acknowledge this and not harbor any type of sin in our hearts (see 1 John 1:8). If a person remains to harbor envy and selfish ambition then disorder and evil practice comes and this is evident in our world today where there are disorders of many kind and many evil practices that follow. The root of all these things are sin and we must admit that we have sinned to God and be truly willing for him to change us and to embrace his change. It is not impossible to change, even though it may seem it I have struggled for years to see change in my own life and I can see now that God has been working all along to provide something better although it may seem bad at the time just analyze your situation and pray to see the good in what God has given you to do. In this passage selfish ambition is all over the world and I've been guilty of it myself, selfish ambition is to be self-seeking and self-serving but we are called to be different as the body of Christ we are the light of the world we are to shine (see Matthew 5:14-16) and we are also called to use the gift we have been given from God to serve others. (see 1 Peter 4:10). We are also to look to Christ as our flawless example. Christ was humble and He served others and He told us to love others more than He loved himself, He loved us enough to give his perfect life for sinners like you and me out of love so that we could be saved (see Luke 19:10 and Matthew 20:28) . The root of putting and serving others before yourself is love (see Galatians 5:14). Remember in all that you are doing that you are not earning God's favour, He loves us always but rather we are serving God and not sin anymore as christians this is our duty, our reward is in heaven (see Mark 9:35). I just pray that each person who reads this blog will give thier life to Jesus (if they haven't already) and to keep striving forward in their faith in Christ. 

God bless y'all

Jaleen ;)

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Not of the world (1): Lust

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:15-16

The enemy can deceive us as Christians in many ways and we need to be on our guard at all times by reading our word, praying. We also must pray that we are clothed with the Armour of God so that we are able to fight against any spiritual attack (see Ephesians 6:10-20).

The enemy's attacks are not always blatant to us though which is why we must pray for the Holy Spirit to lead us in all that we do and to give us discernment and we really must be reading the Word of God daily. The enemy will try to disguise himself as an angel of light (see 2 Corinthians 11:14).

Jesus showed us a perfect example of overcoming temptation and He shows that knowing the word is essential to overcome the enemy's attacks (see Matthew 4:1-11). The enemy doesn't come with red horns but he disguises himself in sinful desires and things that tempt us and draw us away from God. He comes to us in the form of temptation. Let us pray that we will remain firm in the faith and that we will resist any temptation and that we would have a clear understanding of God's will and that his will would be done in our lives and that we will submit ourselves wholly to Him and have a desire for Him alone. Pray this in Jesus' name.

God bless you! 

Jaleen :)

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Not everyone is going to like you! (Word of encouragement)

I am not perfect but I think sometimes  as believers its easy to play the 'I'm perfect' card which I know I am guilty of. When people see you they think you have no issues or problems and that life is all fine and dandy. But they don't see behind the scenes we need to be careful that we are being genuine as Christians but at the same time we are not to be of the world (see Romans 12:2) which can be hard but not impossible (see Phillipians 4:13). I know for myself I find it difficult to express myself because I know my opinions will not be popular. But I am learning that no matter how much you try and fit in and no matter how much you keep in your opinions there is always someone who will dislike you. There will be always someone who hates you. I remind myself of the weather - it may be a beautiful sunny day yet there will be always someone who complains and doesn't like it. As the body of Christ we all need to get over this, and i'm not being harsh because I include myself. Even if everyone hates you just know that Jesus loves you and as the body of Christ we love you we are called to love one another. All these things are so temporary compared to what Jesus has promised and remember Jesus was talking about the pharisees popularity so don't be fooled into thinking it makes you right with God (see Luke 6:26) and also (see James 4:4). Jesus understands us he faced every temptation we face yet he didn't sin, He is totally able to relate with us so roll you cares to Him, and praise Him today remember His beautiful promise (see John 16:33).
God bless you, 
Jaleen :)

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Don't get distracted but endure

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12

As believers we must be continuing in our faith so that we may grow and mature in it (see my blog on maturing here). To continue in our faith we must endure temptation which means we may suffer and it may be long suffering but whatever it is we must endure, we must not get distracted by the temptation, we must not give into the temptation but we must endure it. It may be hard but there is a reward for enduring the temptation which surpasses the hardship of the endurance. This reward is the crown of life and it is promised to those who love him.

As believers who love Christ this verse can be helpful in times of suffering which requires endurance - just imagine receiving the crown of life promised by the Lord to you because you love him and endured temptation for His name's sake. Let us pray the to the Lord that we will not fall into temptation but rather we would endure it for His name's sake. Take time out to understand this prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and then when you're ready pray it to God who will hear you in Heaven do not pray it as a repetition but pray it out of a genuine heart to do His will.

God bless you,

Jaleen :)

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Good news: yes, YOU can be saved too!

THE FALL (sin separates man from God)

1. Adam was the first human being and together with his wife Eve they sinned against God by going against God's command and we all were born into sin from this point. (see Genesis 3:6)

2. We are all sinners and we all willingly sinned we loved it (see John 3:19)

3. Our sin separates us from the loving God (Romans 3:23)

            

 THE GOSPEL (the good news)

1. God because He is full of love gave his only begotten Son who payed the price for every sin that we ever committed and will ever commit.

2. If you repent (turn away from pursuing sin and start pursuing Jesus) and believe in Jesus by faith you will be saved. (see John 3:16)

3. And to them who receive Him, Jesus gave you the right to become sons of God! (see John 1:12)

There was no other way for us to be saved no way and God did not have to provide a way rather out of his love and his abundant grace and mercy gave His own son for us.You have been given a free ticket to life will you accept it or reject it?

The choice is yours.

God bless you,

Jaleen :)

The storm of life

24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. Luke 8:22-25

In Luke 8:22-25 the disciples encounter a storm, despite the fact that some of them were  fishermen which means they had been at sea many times, the disciples were described as being in jeopardy. (see Luke 8:23) See it doesn't matter how experienced we are at things sometimes experience doesn't cut it. We cannot control the waves and turn of every point of our lives as much as we think we can or as experienced as we think we are we will always fall short. For example, if you have an athlete who is competing in a sport lets say racing, they are experienced in this area, they train, they eat well, they get enough sleep and then the big day comes it only takes one unfortunate event such as an injury to destroy all their efforts and the situation becomes a disaster. You see no-one can plan the direction of their life. No one can eliminate all their weaknesses likewise no-one can control the storms of life only Jesus can, its not about us controlling the storm our way no matter how much we know or think we know by experience (i.e. to remove the injury) Jesus brings calm in a completely different way and by a different approach and that is by faith in Him not what we see and it is only Jesus who is capable of producing a great calm from a raging storm. (Luke 8:24)

When we trust Jesus through whatever we are going through (life) by faith and give Him our all, He will produce a great calm even if the way does not seem most favorable, remember as believers we live by faith and not sight. (see 2 Corinthians 5:7)

God bless you

Jaleen :) 

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Consistency

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 

Matthew 4:1-2

I know something that I struggle with is consistency and its not good to be inconsistent. As believers we are called to be consistent in our faith to endure trials, resist temptations, to be fervent in prayer and to continuously rejoicing.

Jesus demonstrates the perfect example of consistency in Matthew 4:1-11.

Throughout His life, Jesus is consistent in prayer, teaching, love, perseverance and faith just to name a few. Even though He came to earth fully human He was perfect and consistent in every way. This passage shows that He was consistent in overcoming temptation, consistent in God and consistent in faith. He was not overcome by evil but consistently overcame evil with good, as we are called to do (see Romans 12:2). When you feel inconsistent or as if you are not worth enough there is only one person we need to look to and that is Jesus. Maybe you are thinking but how? In a world jam-packed with all its evil wordly desires that are the opposite of what God requires how can we keep our eyes focused on Jesus. By prayer and spending time rooted in his word. Instead of seeking all the wordly desires which will never fill you spend time with God. Read devotions, listen to sermons that truly preach the Gospel and have thier foundation in the Bible, but most importantly pray God is full of grace and mercy waiting for you to come with loving arms but don't take this for granted there comes a time when He is coming back to judge, he is loving and has been patient with you. (see 2 Peter 3:9) Its your choice let Jesus in, believe in Him today. Time is running out.

God bless, Jaleen.  

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 God speaking through His servant I was really convicted by it and God wants you to be saved from the wrath to come.

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