Becoming Strong in the Lord: Part 1 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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All this week, John North is focusing on becoming strong in the Lord, and shares from the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

Transcript

Here we are at the beginning of another week. And as we start this week, we want to start it the best way possible. Listening to God.

That’s what we do each weekday morning at this time. Just stop and listen to God. We read a bit in His Word. We ask Him to speak to us. And we have our hearts open to receive from Him.

You may not be in the habit of doing that. It may feel a little strange to you to think of coming to God in that way. But that’s what God wants to do in your life. He wants to change the way you live, change the way you think, change the way you relate to Him, so that you are constantly growing spiritually in your life.

I don’t know what God wants to do in your life, but I know He wants to do it through His Word, through the Bible.

Is your heart ready to receive from the Lord this morning?

We want to talk this week on the theme of becoming strong in the Lord, strong in the Lord.

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In Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle Paul is writing to the Christians in the city of Ephesus.

He says starting in verse 19:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that is, the things they’ve written.

Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Well, what are our lives built on? The foundation of the apostles and prophets, that is – The writings of scripture.

The apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, the foundation of your spiritual life is your relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s where you have to start.

God has done an incredible thing for you when Jesus Christ died on the cross.

You have moral failure in your life that makes you guilty before God that separates you from Him and His holy nature.

There’s nothing you can do. No amount of good works can remove that separation between you and God that causes major problems in your spiritual life. But God has done what’s necessary. Jesus took your place, faced God’s judgement, so that you could be forgiven, accepted by God, and begin a life in meaningful relationship with Him.

Have you ever yet put your trust in what Jesus Christ has done for you? You can do that right now. Simply pray to God and say, thank you for what you have done for me that I could not do for myself. I receive your forgiveness, and I want to live my life for you.

That’s the foundation.

But how do we build on that foundation? How do we make sure that we are always growing in our spiritual lives? Well, the blueprint for being strong, and nothing can be built without a blueprint, without a plan, nothing that is meaningful and lasts.

Well, the Bible is the Christian’s blueprint. It tells you how to think, how to behave. It impacts every area of your life.

You must learn to keep the Bible at the centre of all you do. You must learn to read your Bible, to think about your Bible, to talk about what God is teaching you to other people.

Put the Bible at the centre of your life, and all of your life will come together because God will be involved.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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