Belong, Believe and Behave

Belong, Believe and Behave….

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Belong…Every human being born in this planet today Belong. It is a matter of origin. This contradicts the very core of Charles Darwin – Origin of species pertaining to evolution. The foundation of God’s love for the world is not human in nature, that is why we will struggle to understand it fully, but to God it is simple. According to Him all that He has created is good.  Expound… if we are to reach the world with God’s agenda in our hearts then we need to embrace what he embraces and expel what He abhors. People he loves, He hates Sin.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Believe… For the disciples Believing came a bit later. Even Peter’s faith journey with Jesus came later as Jesus asked the very question, who do the crowds say I am… when some of them reflected on what people are saying, Peter in his sanguine personality exclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Even with the countless miracles and demon driving power of Jesus could not ensure their belief in Him, until they question was ask.

Our believing depends on our scrutiny of what we believe in. Let me say that questioning ones faith is not synonymous to Unbelief. The Apostle Thomas questioned his faith in Jesus several times. Maybe that’s why he was coined “Doubting Thomas”. Jesus knew Thomas curios heart. The strength of our Faith is founded on the answered questions, but not answer will come if we don’t ask. But once we do Believe in Jesus Christ then those questions we have will soon find its answers. The result of our believing is our testimony. Thomas needed to see and touch Jesus for his faith to be strengthen and it due course St. Thomas according to traditional Ecclesiastical History puts him in Madras India in December 21, 53ce where he was told to have been martyred for his faith.

Because of his faith many came to know Jesus in India and continues to grow today, in spite of continued persecution in that country today.

Matthew 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,

Behave

Our behaviour towards each other is very much expressed by our own behaviour in secret with God. We cannot bear fruits worthy of repentance if we have not repented of the poison that seeks to destroy the tree. Expound on the passage in Matthew 3.

Here we see John the Baptist confronting the Pharisees and Sadducees even calling them “Brood of Vipers”. If we are to judge John we will say in our politically correct society of today– John Behave, that’s no way to speak to ladies.

Our behaviour must reflect God’s love for others, and the truth of the matter must be coated in love. God’s truth is coated with love, as Robert Steedman our teacher in SGC would say…would you rather have the feather or the 4×2 of God’s discipline, because He disciplines those He loves. Our behaviour must bear the 9 fruits of the Spirit and the container that holds the eight is Self-Control. Too much of the fruits without the balancing effect of self-control is like Vitamin C is good for us but even our own body knows how to react to it if we had too much.

Our Worship to God in secret is our key to behaving the right way to others. The value of our repentance is measured by our action and in action about issues that will confront us in our daily walk as believers.

Our Belongingness is secure, there is no force in the universe that can take away God’s love from us, only our continued rebellion and unbelief towards God and our display of our behaviour that disdains the very love he is offering us today will indeed separate us from Him.

Our theme this year is #moreofGod – and our byline is Let us Rise and Build. Expound.

If I am going to continue to Belong, Believe and Behave, then my prayer for us all is to fathom more of God’s love, apprehending his heart for my constituents and acting on it. As the apostle James would exhort us to show our faith in action, we cannot have more of God without rising up to his call to build the broken walls and gates of lives, our churches, our people and our city and nation like in the days of Nehemiah.

We have all the components of nation building under this hollowed roof today. Will you be one?

Rev Graham’s quote

Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion – it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.