Glorify God, Stand Strong, and Lead

One of the most recent additions to our group has started writing his own letters. Here is one that I hope will encourage you as much as it has encouraged me:

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Corey,

Sorry it took so long to answer your first letter. I agree with you that there are very few godly men standing up for what they believe. So many people are distracted by the things of the world. For example, the media today is growing more and more popular, seeking to entertain us, but rarely with anything good and wholesome.

Very few men are leading their families, teaches their sons and daughters to be godly men and women. As a result, there is an increasing tendency in the youth of today to want to satisfy their flesh, rather then seeking the Lord, so that they might be truly satisfied.

There is a song circulating today that talks about a man who is so busy in life that he misses the true purpose in life. Just like that man, we tend to read parts of the Bible that we like the best and live by the rules those passages teach. We try to make God into something that can fit into our lives, rather making God the focus of our lives.

It seems as if people have forgotten that there is a purpose to their lives. If you go up to a person in the streets and ask them what they are living for, they will most likely give a worldly, self-centered answer. Only when the Lord moves their heart do you get a question in response, “I am going to Hell: what must I do to be saved?” However, very few people are asked this question, because most people are sitting at home, rather than evangelizing in the street.

Godly leaders need to rise up in this generation and stand strong in the faith. They need to direct people to Christ and guide people to lives that glorify God. May God bless you this week.

Brian

Give ear to my words...

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation…My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” ~Ps. 5:1,3

Nick,

Throughout the Psalms, we see a pattern: every Psalm is directed to God. The whole Bible, in fact, is one continuous story of God’s majesty, mercy, and love. In our modernized world, we are often distracted from the things of the Lord. TV and radio commercials encourage us to buy things to improve our lives; newspapers and magazines highlight the scandals and sin of our culture; internet chat groups entice us to spend more time looking at a computer screen and less time enjoying actual fellowship and encouragement from believers. Books are also written to satisfy our fleshly lusts. For instance, what good is there in mystery novels? There is never anything God- glorifying behavior, but only death: a constant reminder of Man’s sin and the consequence of it. Self-help books do not point to God as the solution to our troubles, but rather to our own selves. Even supposedly Christian books contain a shockingly enormous amount of sensuality. I bring this all up to illustrate, and to show more clearly, the need for godly thinking and judgment. Our thoughts are always to be on the Lord. Morning prayer times and evening Bible studies are important for our spiritual growth, but we should always be questioning our actions as to whether or not they are for God’s glory.

If you watch a movie, before you even turn on the TV, you should ask, “Is what I am going to see and hear going to make me become more like Christ?” Before you pick up a book, evaluate whether it contains godly examples, whether the plot ends with the good side victorious, and whether there is God-honoring behavior. In Scripture we repeatedly see sinful man turning away from God, but God always returns victorious.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” ~1 Cor. 10:31

So, whether you’re reading a book, playing a game, watching a movie, eating, drinking, walking down a sidewalk, etc., constantly be asking yourself whether you are glorifying God with your actions. The world needs godly men to lead; men who glorify God in all that they do. We are to be those men who take up the duty of leadership. May the Lord bless you this week.

Your brother in Christ,

Corey

Glorifying God through Humility

Dear Corey,

“Hear and give ear: do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for lights, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness.” ~Jer. 13:15-16

We are supposed to give glory to God in everything. We are not to be proud, but to be humble. Part of Jeremiah 13:18 says, “…Humble youselves; sit down, for your rule will collapse.” Throughout the Bible, we are told to be humble, to glorify God, and to glorify Him in everything. Everything we do, everything we think. We can’t do that because we are fallen man. But that’s why Christ died and rose. That is why we were created: to glorify God. We are to glorify God always.

Your BIC,

Nick