LIVING THE EXCELLENT CHRISTIAN LIFE.......

LIVING THE EXCELLENT LIFE

Introduction

Christians are followers of the footsteps of Christ in everything that is pleasing to God the Father. When a person is born again into God’s family. It is expected that such a person will surrender everything to God and embrace the life of Christ and live by it.

The grace of God is available for everyone redeemed to grow in the spirit and mature in Christ.  It is a matured Christian that can follow the footsteps of Christ consistently, living in love with God and his neighbours.  

The scripture teaches that born-again Christians should depart from their past life of uncleanness, and greed.  They should put-off certain behaviours like Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  They should not lie, one to another, seeing they have put off the old man with his deeds. 

But we are living in the last days and God expects us to grow up in the spirit if we will overcome the attacks of the devil and his agents.  The born again child of God can no longer live in ignorance or self-deceit.  A believer should embrace the excellent life of Christ.  

Living the excellent life is easy when a person has developed his or her spiritual life to the end that he can hear the voice of God, whose guide and Teacher is the Holy Spirit. 

Spiritual Growth

Spiritual growth is vital to a transformed life, which makes a person to be alert in the spirit and to desire to please God in all they do.  Paul admonished the Ephesians to live differently, as people who have heard of Christ.  He asked them not to walk like the gentiles in the vanity of their minds, having their understanding darkened and being alienated from the life of God through ignorance - Eph 4:17-19

For one to grow spiritually, certain rules must be observed, some of these rules include:

1. Studying your Bible daily. Do not be content with merely reading the Bible, instead, you should cultivate the attitude of studying with Notes on your study and have a quiet time to meditate on the scriptures.

2. Learn the secret of prayer. Prayer is communicating with God, and so we need to know how best to relate with God, our Father. One of the secrets of prayer is to pray with faith in your heart, that God will answer you.  another secret of prayer is to pray without season, when things are well and when things are not working.

3. Rely on the Holy Spirit. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to succeed in our Christian journey.  He directs, teaches and guide us on what to do.  Establish a relationship with Him and be active doing the will of God, and the Holy Spirit will help you.

4. Attend church regularly. The Church is Christ’s organization where members gather to worship the Lord and pray for divine intervention in the affairs of the church and individuals.  Christians need one another, and the bible counsels us not to neglect fellowship with the saints.

5. Be a witnessing Christian. We witness in two ways: by the life we live and by word of God we preach or teach.  The two should go hand in hand for maximum harvest.

6. Love: Let love be the ruling principle of your life. Jesus said to those who followed Him, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). The greatest demonstration of the fact that we are Christians is that we love one another.

7. Be an obedient Christian. Let Christ have first place in all the choices of your life.

8. Learn to resist temptation. The temptation is not a sin. Temptation will not go away as long as we live, so we need to learn how to discern and resist temptations.  We should learn how to avoid a tempting situation, things and places.  Any person can be used to tempt you, It is yielding to temptations that is sin. 

9. Be a cheerful Christian. Our lives and appearance should commend the Gospel and make it attractive to others.  Don’t let your circumstances get you down. Learn to live graciously within them, realizing the Lord Himself is with you.

The Excellent Life

When a Christian develops his or her spiritual life, living a godly life becomes a daily experience.  The desire to please God and do His will takes a priority place in his/her heart and God's presence will be with that believer.  

Living an excellent life in which we no longer conform to the patterns of this world is the life that leads unbelievers to God.  That should be our passion this end times, to win people unto the Lord with our own godly living and through the word of God we preach or share with them.

What then is the Excellent Life?

The excellent life is living the new life of Christ,  a life that has put off the old man, with its deceitful lusts and renewed in the spirit to desire and pursue righteousness and true holiness.

It is putting away lies, speaking every man, the truth with his neighbour.   It is being angry and yet not allowing the sun to go down upon your wrath, which God hates.  It means forgiving your offenders immediately they offend you so that the devil has no chance to shift you.

The excellent life is deciding not to steal any more, but rather to work hard and diligently also that the person may have enough for his family. It is watching the word you speak to make sure they edify and not pollute the ears of the person hearing you.  

The excellent life is making sure you do not grieve the Holy Spirit in your word or actions.  If you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and refuse to do what the Lord is asking you to do, you are grieving the Holy Spirit.  If you pollute your body and use it ungodly, you are grieving the Holy Spirit because your body is His Temple in your life.  

If you aren't living pure, the Holy Spirit will not be able to stay in your body and you have grieved Him.  Remember that it is the Holy Spirit being with you that seals you unto the day of redemption.

It is a life where all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.  It is a life of love and kindness, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you - Eph 4:21-32

Living the Excellent Life

We live an excellent life by putting on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of God that created him.   It is a life that treats others with love and respect, and a commitment never to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  

In the office and to our employers, let us do our best, and fulfil our employment as unto the Lord.  The way we will work for God, if Jesus were to be around us, is the same we should work.  Cheating, dishonesty and stealing of any kind should never be heard about us, as sons and daughters of God.

Let the servants do likewise to their masters, and the wives should submit to their own husbands in all things, humbling themselves as unto the Lord.  Let the husbands love their wives without conditions and forgive their weaknesses. 

The excellent life requires self-discipline and living according to the word of God, meditating on the Word and obey it.  A transparent lifestyle in which the enemy will come to you in the night and finds nothing in you.  You are committed to doing the will of God and pleasing the Lord.  

We all know that no one can live an excellent Christian life without Christ living in him.  The excellent Christian life begins with salvation and total surrendering to God.  Jesus Christ explained to Nicodemus that he must be born again.

He says to him: "…I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" - John 3:3. Salvation is the first step to the excellent Christian life.  In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  Will you receive Him now? 

Conclusion

Living an excellent Christian life does not mean enjoying a life of ease and never experiencing problems. You will still have enemies, people who do not like you, as well as those that hate you because of your faith in Christ. 

You will still face temptations every day, but temptation in itself is not a sin, it is when you yield yourself to the temptation that the person has sinned.  This is why 1 Peter 5:8 says that there is an enemy who wishes to destroy us, that enemy is the devil and he can use anyone or thing to tempt us.  

We should "Be self-controlled and alert in the spirit because of the enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." But we know that Jesus has overcome the world!

FIRE...