" But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."2 Peter 1:5-11 NKJV. |
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Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lays waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach Neh 2:17 NKJV.
Walls by: J.Harkins
So you call yourself a born again Christian? Nice; I am proud of you, You have decided to walk the way of God, In this You have made the best decision of your life. But! There is a little bit more to it than just calling yourself a born again Christian.
And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Neh 2:19 NKJV.
There must be an accounting taken of ourselves. Just as Nehemiah went out to examine the condition of the walls surrounding Jerusalem, so too must we do the same. We must take a good long look at the walls; or shall I say boundaries that are around us. As for myself, when I walked in the world, I had my own set of rules, there were certain things that I just would not do, but there were also things that I tolerated from others around me. Over the years I had allowed my gates to be burned by fire (that is my eyes and ears). As for my eyes I would chose to look the other way when I saw something that I knew was not right. My ears, I would pretend not to hear certain things. I had walls around me but there were cracks in them. No! There were large gaping holes in them.
Friendships:
The righteous should choose his friends carefully,
for the way of the wicked leads them astray. Prov 12:26 NKJV.When setting boundaries in our lives one of the first things we must do is to be more particular as to whom we allow into what we call our circle of friends. I found a good definition on Friendships, it is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more humans. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism. Their tastes will usually be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of hardship. A friend is someone who may often demonstrate reciprocating and reflective behaviors. The last two words in that paragraph are the best two, reflective behavior! We must be very careful who we decide to spend are free time with . Do not be deceived: “Evil Company corrupts good habits.” 1Cor 15:33 NKJV. Self-control: Whoever has no rule over his own spirit
Is like a city broken down, without walls. Prov 25:28 NKJV.Now where would we be without self-control it is a key factor in setting up the boundaries in our lives. It is like the mortar that holds the stones together in our wall. Without it the stones would come crashing down at the first big wind storm. Now Self control is perceived in a few ways. One of which is philosophical and might be described as the exertion of one's own will on one's personal self - their behaviors, actions, thought processes. Much of this comes from the perception of self and the ability to set up boundaries for that self. Self-control can be expanded into several different areas, ranging from respect to willpower. Self-control is therefore centered in the ability of a person to exert their will over the inhibitions of their body or self. Paul describes self control in the epistle to the Galatians (5:22), as one of the fruits of the Spirit. In the epistle addressed to Titus (2:6) he instructs him to 'Urge the younger men to be self controlled.' The Apostle Peter describes an increase in self control as fundamental to the salvation of a Christian ( 2 Peter 1:5-8). Now without this key ingredient we would be like a city without walls and a city without walls anything can get in, and anything can come out. We are on a journey just like the Israelites in the old testament, It is true that we are all a work in-progress we will make a lot of mistakes, But we must be diligent in our efforts to keep all of the commandments statues and precepts set down by God, We must love him with all of our hearts souls mind and with all of our strength, And if we do these things, We will find it very easy to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. J.C. Harkins | | If you would like to recieve this weekly devotional please (Click Here) . Please visit our website and click on the links tab where you will find bible games and new study materials to help in your journey. Contributing writers and editors are Janie Davidson, Denise Feller, Sherri Lynn, and Anna Popescu. Website Designer Keith San Miguel Borja. Johnny is the head writer for GEM Ministries. He resides in Arizona with his wife Sylvia. We would like to invite all comments and suggestions, please contact us at gem7ministires@yahoo.com and don't forget our website gem-ministries.org
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