Showing posts with label spiritual fervor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual fervor. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

Enthusiastic Joyful Patient And Faithful

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving The Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."  Romans 12:11-12 (NIV)

After urging the believers in Rome to be living sacrifices unto God, the Apostle Paul told them to love one another, and to never lose their zeal for serving God.  They should praise Him in good times and bad times; the should never lose hope; they should be patient during the trials, the tribulations, and the storms of life; and they should faithfully and regularly pray.

The entirety of chapter twelve of the book of Romans could be entitled, "Guidelines For Christian Living."  These two verses encourage us to love and serve The Lord with gusto, no matter what comes our way.  We ought to communicate with Him regularly and often.  The more that we pray, the better off we will be. (James 5:16)  We need to learn to be patient, and to wait on The Lord.  He does thing in His own time-frame. (Isaiah 40:31)   We should be "on fire" for The Lord, we should be very enthusiastic about our service to Him.  Jesus said that He did not want any "lukewarm" followers. (Revelation 3:15-16)   We should also be joyful as we approach and deal with everything. (James 1:2)  We have already been assured of the victory. (1 Corinthians 15:57 and   1 John 5:4)  With Him, we win; without Him, we lose. (Romans 8:37)



Monday, September 3, 2012

Guidelines For Christian Living

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving The Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need." Romans 12:10-13 (NIV)

This was the Apostle Paul's advice to the Christians in Rome on demonstrating Christian living and brotherly love.

Paul's discourse on "brotherly love" actually begins with verse 9 and continues through verse 21. It does not matter how "good" we are, we could all improve on our Christ-like behavior. While lengthy, and fairly comprehensive, this list is not exhaustive or complete. However, living as these guidelines suggest, would provide a very good example of Christian living.