Areas for Discipleship / Christian growth

Salvation
Assurance of Salvation
Sanctification
Communion
Water baptism
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Confidence in the Bible / Scriptural Authority
Bible reading
Recognize the voice of the Lord
Hearing God
Faith to live by
Bible Study
Sound doctrine
Refute those who teach wrong doctrine
Bible meditation, memory
Tithing / giving
Fellowship
Worship
Being yoked with Jesus
Lordship of Jesus
The Cross of Christ
Being yoked with others
Loving others
Unity of the Faith
Submitting to others
Willingness to roll up your sleeves and go to work
Operating in the fruits 1 Peter 1, Gal 5
Operating in the gifts of the Spirit 1 Cor Eph Rom 12
Understanding personal calling
Relationship with the Lord God Son and Holy Spirit.
Quiet time
Time of Prayer
seeking God
fasting
Living in expectation of God doing something in the next moment of your life.
Waiting and Expectant for God's movement
Divine encounters with other people
Prayer list and pray for those throughout your life.
Have a journal of life experiences, hopes victories concerns failures.
Repentance
Forgiveness
Steps of discipleship: from new convert to a leader and functioning in gifts God has called them.
Money - 5 Aspects - poverty, stewardship, abundance, contentment, job/carrier
Meet the needs of the poor
Spiritual warfare / intercession


Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster
Meditation
Prayer
Fasting
Study
Simplicity
solitude
Submission
Service
Confession
Worship
Guidance
Celebration

Anyone have any additions or comments?

Faith Laws

Laws of Godly Faith Romans 3:27

Romans 12:3 Each of us is given faith.

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1. Without forgiveness we can't have faith. Matt 18:21-35
2. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Prov 18:20,21
3. Command the problem to go.
              Believe you will receive and not doubt.
              It will be granted Mark 11:22,23
              Pray for an answer.
              Believe it's already done.
              And it will be granted. Mark 11:24
4. Search for God with all your heart. Jer 29:13
5. Praying day and night builds faith. Luke 18:1f
6. Pray in the spirit builds faith. Jude 20
7. Faith comes by hearing the word of God Rom 10:17
8. Faith works through love. Gal 5:6
9. Faith is sown in peace. James 3:18  Faith has God's peace. John 16:33
10. Faith can't coexist with a double mind James 1:6f
11. Each of us are given faith. Romans 12:3
12. Faith needs works James 2:17
13. When your prayer of worry turns to praise. Phil 4:6f You have prayed through.
14. Faith prepares for the future. Noah
15. Faith endures. James 1
16. Faith understands authority. Centurion Luke 7:1-9
17. Faith does not take no answer, or lame reasons as an answer of no. Syrophonicion women. Matt 15:21f Mark 4:24f
18. Poor are rich in faith. James 2:5
19. Fix our eyes on Jesus. Heb 12:2
20. Jesus is the author of our faith Heb 12:2
21. Jesus is the finisher of our faith. Heb 12:2
22. Pride and faith can't coexist. Hab. 2:4
23. We can't believe and seek glory for ourselves. Jn 5:44
24. God opens the door of faith. Acts 14:27
25. Serve with no thought of self, increases faith. Lk 17:5-10
26. Faith is assured of the promise. Heb 11:1
27. Faith does not consider a report against God's promise. Eph 6:16
28. Praising God defeats unbelief. Rom 4:20,21
29. Faith can rest. Heb 4:1;
30. You got to fight for faith. 1 Tim 6:12
31. Faith works in Jesus not the concept. 2 Cor 1:20
32. Faith is kept 2 Tim 4:7
33. Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Heb 10:23
34. The fear of man brings a snare. Prov 29:25
35. An evil report does not shake faith Ps 112:7
36. Faith is not disappointed Rom 10:11
37. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Faith is required. Rom 14:23
38. Faith is made strong in weakness. Heb 11:34 2 Cor 12:9
39. Imitate peoples faith because of the good outcome. Heb 13:7,8
40. You can't try faith you have to believe. Because the tests of faith will cause those who try faith to quit.
41. Faith is perfected by works James 2:22
42. Making Jesus Lord builds faith. Romans 10:9
43. If faith is lacking that means love is also lacking.
44. Oral Robert's 3 steps- God is your source Phil 4:19 Sow into your need 2 Cor 9 Expect a miracle Mark 11:22-24
45. Faith is a decision on our part or why would we be commanded to have it. Have faith in God. Mark 11:22, Deut 30:19,20
46. We speak about what we believe in. I believe therefore I spoke. 2 Cor 4:13
47. God answers Prayer. John 14:14
48. Faith is content in the present and believes for the future. Phil. 4:11
49. Became mighty in war Heb 11:34 not before war!
50. I must die to myself if I am to live by faith. Gal 2:20
51. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for we must believe He exists and rewards us. Heb 11:6
52. If you have faith you will live by your faith. Hab 2:4 Matt 4:4
53. Faith is ours and we can grow it 1 Jn 5:4
54. Prayer and fasting build faith. Matt 17:20,21
55. Crying day and night for an answer expresses faith. Luke 18:1-8
56. Faith lives by the word, has a dream, is adventurous, not affected by the world. Cho
57. Faith works for what, in the natural, would be a waste. Noah.
58. Faith needs courage 2 Cor 5:6-8
59. Faith stands, before God and against Satan.
60. Faith is strengthened by encouragement from others.
61. Faith is bold Eph 3:12
62. Faith is not led astray by the enemies success or power Deut 13:1-3 or faith withstands a test from God. Judges 20:18f Faith continues after defeat Judges 20:18f63. Faith trusts God.
64.Your Faith will be Tested 
65. Pray for your faith to be increased. Luke 17:5
66. The alternative to faith is rational thinking.
67. Start in the flesh and look for HS to help you, when God has already told you to do something in the word. Wigglesworth
68. Faith is based on the hope of the Scriptual promise. Hebrews 11:1
69. Faith will continue to the end, it will hold fast. Heb. 3:6; 3:14  James 1:2-4
70. Faith thrives as you are in communion with God.
71. Faith is Now Hebrews 11:1
72. Mustard Seed - Faith starts small; Faith grows with the right start
73. Faith starts with God not with works. Works won't build faith if faith is not there to start with.
74. Faith is perisable Heb 2:1 Use it or lose it by Roy Hicks
75. Faith is not presumption.
76. Faith is confident.
77. The word will not profit if it is not united with faith. Heb. 4:2
78. Faith and fear can't co-exist. Faith believes and fear doubts. Luke 8:50
79. Doubt will kill faith if left unchecked. 2 Cor 10:3-5 So counter doubt with the promise of God.
80. Meditation fertilizes the word of God. Faith is maintained by keeping your mind on the word and rejecting the problem. 2 Cor 10:3-5; Phil 4:6-9
81. Faith does not fear death. Dan. 3:16-18; Matt 10:28
82. Christ dwells in your heart through faith. Eph. 3:17

Arise

Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.”



Arise can refer to awaking from the dead. Such as not being aware of what is going on around you. It can refer to not staying seated anymore. Being seated as opposed to doing your duty of following the commands of Jesus. Arise can refer to being in a position to go.



In this verse arise, shine shows we can't shine if we haven't arisen. So to arise is to let the light of Jesus shine through us to others. So to arise is to be a light to those around us and in the world. To stop vegetating, (attending and listening and learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.)



Isaiah 52:1,2 “Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.”



This verse presents the same idea of arising and amplifies this idea.



Awake and clothe yourself in your strength. This is the armor of God explained in Ephesians 6. And the beautiful garments represent the righteousness we have in salvation. We don't gain our righteousness by good works, but by God's free gift of salvation which we get by His grace.



With this preparation and shaking off the dust of being asleep. Being asleep could be our life for self indulgence self focus. The dust is what lingers on from that former life. Now we are to live a life energized by God



Luke 1:37,38 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. “



God was going to bring the Christ into he world through Mary having a virgin birth. Nothing is impossible with God. This was a blast of light from God to Mary. She responded by saying, Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word. She accepted the light and was willing to live it out.



We should do well to live that way. There are 4 ways to deal with a revelation from God.



Different ways people respond to the Bible:
1 Be too busy to pay attention to the Bible and what it teaches. Note God usually speaks to us through the Bible.
2 Receive the teaching from the Bible but reject it when the going gets tough.
3 Receive the teachings of the Bible but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches cause people to turn away from following the Bible.
4 Receive the word with joy and do what it says.



Now we should be like those who receive the word with joy and unite it with faith. Heb 4:2 Then the word which we hear will grow within us to produce fruit at maturity.



In John 11 Lazarus was oblivious to the world because he had died. There was nothing he could do. Jesus called to him in the grave commanding him to come forth. When Lazarus heard Jesus he responded with life.



Let us respond with life when we hear Jesus and shine for Him in what we do in life.

Live a Life of Giving

Acts 20:35 It is more blessed to give than receive.

Proverbs 24:11,12 Help those in need and don't blow it off. God judges our hearts.

Proverbs 21:13 He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will cry himself and not be heard.

Ezekiel 34:4 – What the shepherds did wrong.

Did not strengthen the sickly.

Did not heal the diseased.

Did not bind up the broken

Did not bring back the scattered.

Did not seek for the lost.

Matthew 25:41

Did not invite the stranger.

Did not clothe the naked.

Did not visit the sick and those in prison.

Luke 16:20,21 The accounting of the rich man and Lazarus

Note: In all the parables of Jesus none of them had a name of a person. Therefore I consider this a true account of 2 people in history. We should help those without strength and not just please ourselves. Romans 15:1

Live a life of giving, not a life of taking. We are rewarded when we give. A life lived to please ourselves turns bitter.

Drifting, Hardness, Sluggisness

At Kendallwood this past Sunday I taught on 3 things that keep us from growing in the Lord.

1. Was drifting away from the faith. Hebrews 2:1-4. Drifting could be just not paying attention to what we are doing. It could be not being sharpened in our faith and staying close to God in prayer and Bible reading.

Some ways to get out of drifting is to meditate on the Bible and know there are large benefits in following God.

2. The Second area that befalls people is hardness of heart. Hebrews 3:5-4:3 Hardness of heart is no believing the teaching of the Bible. It is deciding against believing the Bible. The end result of hardness of heart is a lack of rest within.

3. Sluggishness Hebrews 5:11-14 is the third thing that keeps a Christian from reaching his potential in the Lord.

And this verse came to mind today that goes along with what I am saying above.

Romans 1:21 “ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. “

This verse refers to areas that people fall into that keep them from following the Lord fully.

1. Did not honor God. To give God the credit for our success. To Look to God in all we do. And to seek God daily for the answers and direction from Him.
2. Did not give thanks. It is important to have an attitude of thanks for all we have and do. This is not just for the things we have. We are to give thanks in all things in life both good and bad. Why? God is the one we serve and living by faith in Him means we are looking to Him to help us out of our problems. We give thanks in our problems because we trust God to help us in our problems.
3. Became futile in their speculations. We should keep our mind on Christ and not speculate on what will happen in life apart from what the Bible says. Trust in the Lord and His Word. God will answer prayer and deliver us as we look to Him. Don't put your mind on the things that could go wrong. Put your mind on the promises of God in the Bible.
4. Their foolish heart was darkened. As we turn away from God our heart becomes dark and does not receive from God anymore. This can change with repentance. All of us need repentance. And all of us should do it from time to time when there is something on our heart that is troubling us from what we have done.

So let us press on to know the Lord, for His light will come to illuminate us as we continue to seek Him.

Hearing From God

We can hear and have direction from God.

John 16:13 Jesus will disclose to us what is to come.

Psalm 119:99,100 We can learn much about God's direction by observing the testimonies in the Bible.

Amos 3:7 God will share his plans with His prophets.

Jeremiah 23:22 It is important to stand in the counsel of God, to announce God's words to His people.

Genesis 18:17 God did not hide from Abraham what He was going to do.

1 Corinthians 2:10 God reveals His plans to us through His Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:12 We can have the mind of Christ.

John 15:15 Jesus tea

ches us what He has heard from the Father.

Ephesians 1:9 God has made known to us the mystery of His will.

Life Summary from Bible

Here is a summary of what we should be doing.

Micah 6:8

“He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God? “

Deuteronomy 10:12

 “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, “

Zech 7:9,10

“Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

Zech 8:16

“These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. “

1 Timothy 1:5

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. “

• Do justice. Treat people with justice. Help people gain justice.
• Love kindness. Not only are we kind but we seek it out and work towards being kind.
• Walk humbly with God. Humility cares more of others, and is not self absorbed.
• Fear the Lord your God. A sinner will fear the consequences of sin. A righteous believer will respect a holy God.
• Walk in all His ways. Read the Bible and study to live as God desires us to.
• Love God. Live in hope and expectation of what He has promised.
• Serve with all your heart and soul. Serve God with all you have.
• Love from a pure heart. Have a heart totally for God and don't hold back. Don't make provision for the flesh.
• Good conscience. Deal with sin and problems right away. Walk in confidence in the finished work of the blood of Jesus.
• Sincere faith. The motive for faith is to serve God and not self advancement.