Fruitful Living
Living daily as children of God
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if, indeed, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. (Romans 8:9-10 NKJV)
INTRODUCTION.
The Christian life begins with a step of faith for salvation.
Then it continues step by step towards spiritual maturity as we develop a growing closeness with God. If we sincerely desire a more intimate relationship with our Lord we need perseverance and often personal denial as sacrifice.
There may be “idols” that will hinder closer walk with God and these must be forsaken so that we can gain the characteristics of serenity, love, purity and joy as we go with the Lord on a daily walk of faith.
Living Sacrifices to God
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Behave Like a Christian
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore,
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Romans 12:1-21 NKJ)
Submit to Government
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves.For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practises evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.Render, therefore, to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour.
Love Your Neighbour
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.
(Romans 13:1-10)
Stay blessed!
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Dr Joyce Aryee, the author
Fruitful Living
Protecting the Muslim home in the modern age • Communication, addiction, temptation, marital fidelity (Part 2)
“So fear Allah concerning women. Indeed, you have taken them as a trust from Allah, and their private parts have become lawful to you by the word of Allah.
You have rights over them: that they should not allow anyone whom you dislike to enter your beds. If they do that, then admonish them and discipline them without causing harm. And they have rights over you: their provision and clothing according to what is reasonable.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ḥajj, ḥadīth 1218, in the lengthy narration of Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh describing the Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage.
The modern Muslim home
The Muslim family today is living in a very different environment from previous generations.
Our grandparents had problems.
Our parents had problems.
We also have problems.
But today we have something they did not have. For instance:
Technology that can enter the home without opening the door
A person can sit beside his or her spouse and simultaneously communicate with hundreds of people around the world.
A person can be physically present at home but emotionally somewhere else.
A husband can be sitting next to his wife while emotionally attached to someone on his phone.
A wife can be sitting beside her husband while comparing her marriage with carefully edited marriages she sees on social media.
A young person can access sexual material within seconds.
A married person can secretly communicate with an old romantic partner without anyone knowing.
A person can lose money through betting without physically entering a betting shop.
This means that modern marriage requires something our predecessors also needed, but which we must now consciously develop: STRONGER PERSONAL BOUNDARIES.
The “third party” in modern marriage
Traditionally, when people talked about threats to marriage, they talked about another person.
Today, the third party may be:
• A smartphone
• Social media
• Pornography
• Betting
• Online friendships
• Private messaging
• Gaming
• An old romantic partner
• An emotional attachment
• Work
• Endless entertainment
We should therefore ask ourselves:
Who or what receives the best of my attention?
Is it my spouse?
My children?
My parents?
Allah?
Or my phone?
Sometimes the marriage does not collapse because there is no love.
Sometimes it begins to collapse because attention has been diverted elsewhere.
Communication: The lifeline of marriage
One of the most common causes of marital distress is communication breakdown.
Communication is not simply talking.
There is a difference between:
Speaking and communicating.
Hearing and listening.
Responding and understanding.
A husband may say: “I told you what I wanted.”
The author is the Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governor Expert.
6. Gossip
In some countries there is an unspoken rule that you can say whatever you want about someone as long as you follow it with, “Bless his/her heart!” I am as guilty of this as anyone. We like to talk about other people’s lives as if we live in their heads and know everything about them. This is something “churchy” people are constantly accused of, and is often the result of a judgemental attitude (covered below). Why won’t the woman who had an abortion come to your church? Because she’s afraid of the looks you’ll give her and the distance at which you will keep her. The same could be said for the pregnant 16-year-old or the man who cheated on his wife. Sure, it’s nice to escape our own issues by talking about someone else’s for a while, but let’s try to remember to speak with grace and that our sin is just as sinful as anyone else’s. – Galatians 6:1 – 5
7. Hatred
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us what we already know – that murder is wrong – but he follows that up by saying that anyone who has harbored hatred towards someone has committed murder in his heart. Hatred is connected intimately with fear. We fear people we don’t understand and that fear causes us to hate them irrationally. The general attitude towards all Muslims based on the acts of a small sect is a perfect example of this. We also tend to harbor hatred against those who have hurt us. We constantly need to be searching our heart and monitoring our thoughts and feelings.
8. Judgement
This one is the kicker. This is what will be the death of our faith and our influence. I know that Paul tells the churches to expel sinners from their midst. He encourages us not to indulge someone in sinful behavior. We use those verses to justify judgement of others and I believe this is a gross misinterpretation of scripture. Yes, we are to hold each other accountable, but I would never deign to call out a stranger or even an acquaintance on some perceived sin. I will hold my husband accountable, as he does for me. I know he loves me, so when he gently rebukes an action of mine I know that he is only encouraging me to better myself, just as I do the same for him. That is what Paul is talking about when he says to hold fellow brothers and sisters accountable in love. He is not talking about condemning others. Every time a Christian judges someone based on skin color, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, promiscuity (the list goes on, you get the idea), then they are acknowledging the belief that they are better than that person. The truth of Jesus is in our equality. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Christians have accepted Christ and avoided condemnation based on faith and the grace of God. We do not avoid condemnation based on our own actions. Every time we think less of someone else, we forget that we are also sinners. Paul himself claimed that he was the “worst of all sinners.” If Paul considers himself the worst sinner – a man who dedicated his life to spreading the gospel of Christ and who wrote most of the New Testament – how much more of a sinner am I? The only way to avoid this sin is to acknowledge our own weaknesses and to embrace humility. In fact, that could help us avoid a multitude of sins.
End Note
We are called to be one another’s keeper and to strengthen one another. We can only achieve this when we allow the Holy Spirit to be our Helper as Jesus tells us in John 16:7-11. The Holy Spirit is more than ready to help us because: Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him- Philippians 2:12-13 (NLT)
- This article was inspired by a devotional I found on the net.
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