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St. Paul School of Leadership & Discipleship Lesson 174 - DEVELOPING WARRIORS—NOT WIMPS (PART 3) By Frank Eiklor and the Shalom Team Chapter 3 The Servanthood of God's Warriors Part 2 Standing up for Jesus in not easy. Resisting temptation is not easy. God never promised an easy road for true Christians. After all, it was not "easy" for the Father to offer His beloved Son Jesus to be crucified for our sins. It was love! And it was not "easy" for Jesus to suffer and die a horrible death on the Cross. It was love!
That love is placed. In our hearts by Holy Spirit when we say "yes!" to the Lord Jesus. We realize this life is a war against Satan and evil. And God calls each of us to be His soldiers of purity, power and purpose. Paul was a true warrior for our Lord. And he calls on us to follow him as he followed Christ. We continue our study in chapter 3. Last lesson taught you the first four qualities of being a true servant. Here are the final three points.
5) THE LIFESTYLE OF SERVANTHOOD—Philippians 2:14-16 Babies and the immature cry and complain when life brings difficult times. Those are normal traits. But look at Christ's "warrior school" and we learn a new and powerful lifestyle. No more murmuring, gossiping, complaining (v. 14). We are new creations acting as lights in our dark and crooked world (v. 15). And we offer His love and life to those around us (v. 16).
6) THE ATTITUDE OF SERVANTHOOD—Philippians 2:17-22 It's easy to hurry past these verses. Don't do it! You will see why Paul's heart was the heart of Jesus. And he found someone else who had that heart of putting others before themselves. That's why the name "Timothy" has come to describe a faithful disciple who becomes a true warrior for Christ. Paul is willing to give his life for others (v. 17). He says that only Timothy really cares like Paul where loving others comes "naturally" (v.20) while all others "seek thier own, not the things of Jesus Christ" (v. 21). That's the kind of heart you and I want.
7) THE SUFFERINGS OF SERVANTHOOD—Philippians 2:23-30 Nowhere are we taught that loving and serving Jesus will be a life without pain. Testings, trials and temptations will meet us in this life. Look at Epaphroditus. Not even the possibility of death could stop him. When others forgot "prisoner Paul," "Mr. Long Name" was there to care. These examples worth following!
NEXT LESSON— Chapter 4—The Spirit of God's Warriors. "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1) Related Articles · More Articles Jesus said many would come in His name and deceive the hearts of the simple, sinful and proud. Eastern mysticism and meditation is a big thing in the gullible West. And one day a “world leader” will appear on the scene with the persuasion of a god and the heart of a devil. Jesus warns His children to know the Scriptures, live in obedience to the Father’s will, and stay alert to the signs of the times. They laugh no more. Now God’s description of how He will destroy the old earth and create a
new one makes perfect sense. The splitting of the atom turned many skeptics into believers.
After all, look what man himself is capable of doing with the atom and hydrogen bombs. Now
the fear is that nuclear weapons are being placed in the hands of madmen who wish to annihilate
their enemies. God has blessed man with incredible genius. We stand in awe as we watch men and women in a room full of computers and high-tech instruments guiding and landing spacecraft on distant planets. At that moment, we appear invincible. But then a mammoth tornado comes—or a terrifying hurricane—or rains that flood whole regions and never listen to our shouts to “Stop!”—or the shake that removes from under our feet any confidence or pride we carry, and leaves us numb with hardly enough breath to even utter the paralyzing word “EARTHQUAKE!”. And man is helpless in the face of it all! |
