The Word: Revelation 3: 1-2 (KJV)
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Dig Deeper:
John 15: 4-6 (KJV)
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned
Think about it
ALIVE TO GOD….
Let’s do a bit of recap:
The father already said 2017 is our year of Grace. We believe there is a release of grace already in the atmosphere over us. There is corporate grace in the house, there is also individual grace That anointing of grace will then start to find expression our lives, our families, our career throughout this year. The impossible will start to be possible. Unusual favour and testimony suddenly becomes our experience…. In the name of Jesus. We started discussing Growing in Grace this month and we already said there are 7 characteristics of living things: Respiration, Nutrition, Excretion, Sensitivity, Movement, Growth, Reproduction. We discussed the Art of respiration yesterday and said respiration is simply about breathing and breath stands for life. Let’s go deeper into what respiration stands for today.
Respiration:
Respiration is the first and most important characteristics of living things. It stands for having life in you and without life, you can’t exhibit the other characteristics. There are so many references about Jesus being our life:
– ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’
– ‘The thief came to steal, kill and destroy, I came so they can have life and have it abundantly’
– ‘He that eateth my flesh and drink my blood has life’
– ‘In him was life and the life was the light of men, the light shines in darkness and darkness cannot overcome it’
So from a spiritual perspective there can be no spiritual growth unless we are firstly alive to God. Now there are many stages of spiritual life in a man. Unbelievers are normally completely dead. Certified 100% dead spiritually. So they need to be born again, pure and simple. They need to believe that Jesus died for them, confess him as their Lord and saviour and that’s it, they are reconnected back to God.
However some believers are half alive or half dead depending on how you choose to describe it. They are born again but their spirit man is lukewarm and partially disconnected from God. In our text today: Jesus warned the church in Sardis, who had a reputation of being vibrant and alive that they were partially dead (disconnected) already. Attending or being active in a church or being religious is not proof that we are alive to God. A Pastor or leader in the church can actually be partially dead to God. Being alive to God is a matter of connectivity. Eli was still the official priest in Israel for a long time but he was spiritually dead and God had chosen Samuel. King Saul was the official king in Israel for several years but in God’s record, the throne was already given to David. Without our connection to God, we are merely walking spiritual corpses. The day Adam ate the fruit in the garden, he became disconnected and died spiritually. He still lived several hundreds of years physically but he had died spiritually a long time ago. Being alive to God is simply for our spirit to be connected to him. And that starts from becoming born again and has to be maintained on an ongoing basis. Just like a husband and wife can be in thesame house but detached from each other and be doing their own thing. A believer can become disconnected from God and mistake activity for fellowship. When there is a problem with the placenta in the womb, the foetus will not get adequate feeding and nutrition. We need full connection in order to experience all round growth. The starting point before we can experience growth this year is this foundational thing of our connection and fellowship with God. Perhaps some aspect of our lives are partly disconnected, we can boldly approach the throne of grace and receive help in the time of need today
Our memory verse for February
2 Peter 3: 18
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Let’s take a few moment to learn our memory verse for this month by heart. It can be memorised in 3 lines:
Line 1: But Grow in grace,
Line 2: And in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
Line 3: To him be glory both now and for forever.
Once you say it a few times it will stick.
Prayer focus: Father help me to be fully connected to you IJN
On Grace: God’s lavish Grace – Terry Virgo
Masterlife Workbook: The Church is embarking on weeks of discipleship workbook study starting with the Masterlife: Disciple’s cross.