Character Building - Your Roof

Listening and responding are the key factors in having a strong roof on your spiritual character; without these factors, you have a leaky roof. God speaks to us through his word, prayer, and preaching. You may not realize it, but whenever you respond to God's leading you are making a decision. We must take careful thought in how we respond when God speaks with us. But how can we respond if we aren't listening? Matthew 11:15, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:9, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Mark 4:23, If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. If we are to respond the correct way to God's voice, we need to listen up! Too often we are too busy listening to other people, the world, and ourselves that we completely cut off God. How can you respond as you should if you aren't paying attention to what was being said? God has so much to show and tell us that we should be spending every possible moment in our lives listening and heeding his words. The roof of your character will get stronger against the storms of life the more you decide to follow Christ. It is no easy task to follow Jesus Christ through every trial that we may face, but he is ALWAYS there to walk beside us and help us through every difficult situation, small or great! He is prepared to listen to our voices when we cry for help in times of need and he can answer any prayer of ours. I John 5:14-15, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. So, what exactly is our problem? Why is there a leak in our roof? He loves us, he listens to us...why don't we listen to him and love him like we should? We are all so apathetic in our Christian lives that we have NO RIGHT calling ourselves Christians! We are the farthest thing from Christ-like! We have stopped responding to God's voice, we have stopped repairing our roof to the point where our protective roof no longer exists! And, without the roof to our house the inside begins to deteriorate and spoil and eventually there will be no house whatsoever! Our entire Christian character is then lost, gone, and cannot be found or identified in our lives! If we aren't going to listen then we can NOT respond. Listening, however, isn't the only problem. We can listen, but if we don't respond correctly then we still have a leaky roof on our house. When we don't respond with the right attitude to what we hear we are ruining the point of even listening. Our attitude towards a situation greatly determines our character. God looks on your heart – your attitude is the state of your heart and if your attitude isn’t right, God can’t use you – just like he couldn’t use Eliab in I Samuel 16:7. God wants us to have a good attitude when we respond to his leading so he can use us for his perfect will. He is the potter, we are the clay – let him mould you into a great example that will give him the glory that he deserves. Make your roof strong! Listen and respond correctly today while you can, while you still have the ability to make the right decision by following Christ. Build your character on the Lord Jesus Christ, choose the right materials, and respond to God's leading.

I’d Rather Have Jesus

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold, I'd rather be his than have riches untold; I'd rather have Jesus then houses or lands, I'd rather be led by his nail-pierced hands chorus Than to be the king of a vast domain Or be held in sin's dread sway; I'd rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today.

I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause, I'd rather be faithful to his dear cause; I'd rather have Jesus than world-wide fame, I'd rather be true to his holy name He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom, He's sweeter than honey from out of the comb; He's all that my hungering spirit needs, I'd rather have Jesus and let him lead

Character Building - Your Building Materials

To quote a friend, “What we allow ourselves to dwell on, becomes the basis for our decisions. People don't accidentally sin; we make the decision to sin.” The things that you allow yourself to watch, listen to, read about, etc. will ultimately be what you think about. If we let the wrong things seep into our thoughts then it encourages bad choices. You can have a solid foundation to build upon, but your house – your character will fall if you don't use the correct materials. When you are making each decision, it is like you are adding another brick to your house of spiritual character. The difficulty is in choosing the right bricks. There is always a choice and each choice leads to another and so on, like a domino effect. In other words: If you make a good decision you have begun the chain-reaction of choosing another good decision the next time you have to make a choice, the same if you make a bad decision. Whichever you make, it has an influence on the next decision. Sometimes this is not the case, but you are more likely to make another bad decision after you've made a bad decision because you have set the sequence. This is why we must strive so hard to make the right choices so that it will influence our next decision. It is very important to use the right bricks on your house so that it will stand when the storms of life come. Whatever you decide today always effects tomorrow. Our character is what we truly are and what we do is what defines us. There are so many bad materials that we can pick up and use on our house that you may not be able to tell which are good and which are bad. These “bad bricks” have been disguised by the devil and even by our own eyes. If you are at this point in your Christian life, you need to seek the help of Christ. He alone can remove your blindness if you really want a strong spiritual character. Ephesians 4:17-19, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Matthew 20:30-34, And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. This blindness, wherever it originates, must be corrected so that your house will have strong building materials. The question lies not in the problem, but in the cure. Do you want to continue in darkness and stay blind to the truth or do you want to receive your sight and become a light for Christ? Luke 11:33-36 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. Get rid of the bad bricks…begin again…start living right. The Lord wants you to live for him, let him help you build your house of spiritual character.

Stepping in the Light

Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour,

Trying to follow our Saviour and King;

Shaping our lives by His blessed example,

Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.

How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Saviour,

Stepping in the light; Stepping in the light;

How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Saviour,

Led in Paths of light!

Character Building - Your Foundation

Your decisions define your character, whether they are good or bad decisions they determine who you are and what you become in the future. Each choice made directs your path either away from God or towards him. For example, Matthew 7:24-27 tells of the wise and foolish men whose choices made a big difference in their lives: Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. The places where these men built their houses – the foundations they chose preceded the success or failure of their structure. Likewise, the foundation you choose – the decisions you make precede the building of your spiritual character. Not everyone, however, builds their character on a solid foundation (like the fool.) Your decisions come directly from your heart, so your decisions tell the true state of your heart. Mark 7:20-23, And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. There isn't a person that cannot apply at least one of these evil things – these sins, to themselves. We will always take after the sin-nature of our hearts without God’s help and guidance. Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Hebrews 3:12-13, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Whatever we look at, listen to, etc. will influence our heart’s spiritual condition. We need to encourage each other to follow Christ and change our hearts to be like his. God is the Master Builder and his Son is our blue-print; our character should be patterned after him. To start our life's project, we need to begin building on Jesus Christ for he IS the Rock – that solid foundation. Any other foundation is sand, it will not stand...it will not last through the storm. Luke 6:48-49, He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. Where are you building, on the Rock or on the sand? Psalm 18:2, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 62:6, He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. Psalm 31:3, For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.