Deepen Your Roots of Faith
John 15:7
“If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.”
How Can I deepen my roots of faith?
Talk to God in Prayer Daily
PRAYER is TALKING TO GOD. God is looking at our hearts and He wants us to come and talk to Him and hear Him talk to us and lead us and guide us in the journey of life!
Prayer is personal communication with God. God made us and has redeemed us for fellowship with Himself and prayer is our means of communicating to Him. Prayer is our way of personally relating and connecting to Him.
Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you.
John 15:7
“If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.”
Read God’s Word Daily
Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.
Acts 17:11
“…or they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”
We must remember that the Bible is God’s divine revelation to His creation. It is how He speaks to us. It is how He teaches us about who He is. Which means, if our goal is to have a real, personal connection with God, then it is only by immersing ourselves in His very words that we will grow in our understanding of who He is.
“We are called to remain and abide in Jesus, and the way we remain in Him is through Scripture.”
For us, we must fasten our view of God to how He describes Himself in Scripture so that we are anchored to the real God. Spending time daily in God’s Word helps us understand our view of God to Scripture.
The bible is our primary source for knowing God and His ways. It is a living book through which God Himself speaks to us for our instruction and direction. As Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The bible is unique in human literature. It was written by over 40 authors in three languages, on three continents, over a period of 1500 years, yet it is without contradiction or error.
Obey God Moment by Moment
John 14:21
“The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”
We will grow to know Christ more intimately by obeying Him. Obedience is the evidence that we love Jesus Christ.
To obey Christ’s commandments, we first must have them.
To have Christ’s commandments you need to be in God’s Word consistently. Read it over and over until it shapes your worldview.
To obey Christ’s commandments, we must keep them.
Obedience is not a matter of lip service, but rather of doing what He commands, not just outwardly, but from the heart. Same thing, about Jesus Sermon on the Mount. At the end of the sermon Jesus says, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24 NIV). That wise man’s house stayed strong through the storm. But then Jesus spoke about someone else: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (Matthew 7:26 NIV). You probably know how the story goes: The foolish person’s house collapses during the storm. God has given you the Bible for transformation, not just information. When you apply it, you’re building a firm foundation for your life. God intended for us to apply the Bible to our lives — not just read it. So when you read God’s Word but don’t apply it, the foundation of your life may crumble.
Obedience yields three benefits: God will love us; Jesus will reveal Himself to us; and, we’ll enjoy a relationship with God that the world cannot know.
Obedience results in the Father and the Son loving us.Obedience results in Jesus revealing Himself to us.Jesus says that when we obey Him, He will disclose Himself to us. Obedience results in enjoying an exclusive relationship with God that the world cannot know.
Be a Witness for Christ through your Life and Words
Mark 16:15
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Christ’s death was in payment for the sin of the whole world (for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord), so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life — and this is God’s free gift of grace. Christ’s Resurrection broke the power of sin and death in the lives of all who would place their trust in Him, and Christ’s commission remains the same today: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.”And He has promised, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Our lives can get so filled up with busyness, entertainment, family life, responsibilities, and on the list goes. We get so distracted that we forget to pursue one of the most central commands of our faith: to share the Good News of Jesus with everyone! The world is lost, hurt, broken, confused, and searching. Believers hold the truth, the answer, and only hope for our dying world.
The Great Commission
This passage in Mark is known as the “great commission” from Jesus. Jesus speaks to his disciples from his resurrected body, offering them a parting charge to share God’s story of love with the world. Jesus’ work was complete and now it was up to his followers to share the events they had witnessed with the world.
God has always desired to partner with humanity to complete His good work. But the commission from Jesus greatly expanded who this message was for. The disciples and subsequent Jesus-followers were now authorized to go into all the world to preach the gospel to all of humanity.
The message the disciples were commissioned to share was the history of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Telling others the meaning of these events and inviting whoever would listen to accept Jesus into their hearts so they can enjoy the benefits of being a part of God’s family. As the disciples shared with others, they made more disciples who could reach more and more people with the story of Jesus. Today that same mission endures. Believers are charged by Christ to share his story, heart, love, and the message of his generous offer of salvation with the world.
The Mission
Tell everyone everywhere! Go and Preach the Good News!
Mark 16:15 is a clear mandate to spread the Good News to all people on Earth. We must not ignore the Great Commission.
