Christ Like Walk

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Col. 3:16     It's hard to do that if you can't remember what you read. I have heard this many times.    "I can't remember the book, chapter or verse but I know it’s on the right side and at the bottom of the page. Ah, here it is!"      You know scripture is God breathed ( 2 Tim. 3:16-17 ). Faith comes by hearing the word of God ( Rm. 10:17 ).   Paul tells Timothy to preach the word ( 2 Tim. 4:2 ). Christ tells us to observe everything He commanded ( Matt. 28:18-20 *20 ). The 3,000 continued steadfast in the apostles teachings, Christ commands ( Acts 2:42 ). The word is there so that we may know for certain what we have been instructed ( Luke 1:1-4; John 20:30-31 & 21:25 ). Acts 17:11 the more fair-minded searched the scriptures daily to...

“…praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47            They were captivating because of the raw truth. They didn’t need any smoke and mirrors to sell the word ( 2 Cor. 4:1-6 ). With an open statement of truth they commended themselves to everyone. Christ was captivating ( Luke 2:52 ). The apostles were tantalizing ( Acts 3:11 ). The body of Christ was appealing ( Acts 5:14 ). How were they so winning? What was so special about this growing group? They had the truth. They died to themselves for it ( Col. 3:3; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Rom. 6:1-4 ). They took glory in it ( Gal. 6:14 ). They stayed steadfast in it ( Acts 2:42 ). They preached it ( Acts 2, 8:4 ). They gave all of what they had to any one in need ( Acts 2:43-45; 4:32, 37 ). They didn’t tolerate anything else ( Acts 5:1-11; 2 Thess. 3:6 ). They were united in love ( Acts 4:32-33 ). They were zealous ev...

Are You Genuinely Converted? “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11        The early church was genuinely converted. We know that by what we see in Acts 2:42-47 . So how can we been genuinely converted today?  There is a lot to this conversion thought.  If you ask a Christian today who knows what answer you will get? I ask these questions “Is everyone who says “I’m a Christian” a Christian?” and “And how do we know which way is right?” It is life and death for us all, how do we know what to do? I will say this; in order to do anything right we must do it by Christ’s authority ( Matt. 28:18 ). The only thing we have to go by to know what He wants us to do is His word ( 2 Tim 3:16-17 ). So we must search there.  With that being said, we must agree that the only place we can see how t...

How do you know if you are among those who are genuinely converted? “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Acts 2:37-41         More now than ever in the face of oppression from great opposing religious forces is genuine conversion in dire need of true understanding.   The early church were Christians (Acts 11:26). We need to know ho...

“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Acts 5:42      The early church did not lack in zeal.   In fact they started off with a zeal that seemed never to die.   Acts 2:37-47 shows us a picture of believers zealously living faithfully every day.   They were believers who heard, believed, repented, confessed, and were baptized. This number grew rapidly and unimaginably fast as time progressed.   How could this be? They were just a bunch of people apart of some religious group. Right, Or did they have something we miss? I do know this; they predated any divisions or denominations so it’s worth paying attention to. I don’t know about you but I want to be a part of believers that lived in such a manner to earn the name Christians (Acts 11:26).   I know one thing they had zeal to spread the word.          The apostles preached...

“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Phil. 1:19-21            We often forget that our manner of life is not about us, it is about Christ.   We struggle and fight to grow as individuals. We seek to come up with new words and new ways to initiate growth. Yet all we see the apostles do is obey what was commanded by Christ ( Matt. 28:18-20 ). All we see the early church do is following in obedience the commands they were taught by the apostles (Acts 2:40-47). I never grew until I let go and let God.   I have done things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks to the Father through Him, that I would nev...

“Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common." (Acts 4:32)      The early church understood the idea of unity very well. It was obviously something they struggled with as time went on, we can read about that struggle in the letters.  This massive group of baptized believers was meeting without an issue of discord. They simply were ONE.  They understood that they were of one body, one Spirit, one calling, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Eph. 4:4-6) .     How do we know this? In Acts 2 we are on the first day of the week and we have a group of believers, 3,000 to be exact, baptized (Acts 2:41) . Also in Acts 2 we see them continue steadfastly in apostles doctrine, and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers ...