Thursday, March 31, 2011

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

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