We can spend a lot of time in God’s house – but if we don’t respond, we don’t gain salvation. This daily devotional reviews what our response should be when we consider the church,
Devotions in the Self-Discipline Review series
All year, we’ve been looking at self-discipline. We looked at self-discipline as the operational plan for self-control because it talked about improvement.
We are reviewing everything and hopefully putting all of the building blocks together. What I am doing is going through all of the devotions for the year and pulling out the nuggets.
I am formatting this as a glossary page. If I already have one, I will combine them later.
Our Response to Church
- If he would be speaking to us today, Moses would tell us to read our Bibles and attend church (“… listen to the statutes and ordinances …” [Deut. 4: 1 CSB]). Not only that, he would tell us to pay attention and do them (Can We Change the Scriptures?).
- Preaching could mean church work as simple as one person talking to another person, telling how to ABCD (What Is Missions?).
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
- We are teachers as others watch us as we go about our lives. We may be the only Bible they ever read. Our homes may be the only churches they enter (What Is Religious Instruction?)
- Think back to when we ABCDed. How did we feel? Pumped, weren’t we? I mean, our sins were forgiven. Our future was secured. Our God loves us. In those first heady days, we spend as much time with God as we could. We read the Bible, we prayed, and we went to church. When we read the Bible, we gobbled up what we were supposed to do, who we were supposed to be. We worked to do it right (How Do We Lose Our First Love?).
- We need to mourn for ourselves, fellow disciples, the church and the world (How Do Disciples Mourn?).
- To up our worship game, we have to be sincere and consistent. We have to put in the time to do it. That doesn’t mean just go to church every time the doors are open. That means we have to faithfully seek God. We have to worship God privately as well as publicly (Forever Worshiping Our Lord).
- What do we not see in I Timothy 2: 3-4? Along with not seeing this limited to specific people groups such as disciples, we don’t see it limited to a specific time. We don’t see God saying this is a Sunday-morning-go-to-meeting response. It isn’t limited to when the church doors are open. It is 24/7/365. It is to be joyful and triumphant. That will bring us happiness and peace (How Do We Worship through Praise?).
- If we have ABCDed but not been baptized, we need to find a church of like-minded believers so we can. We want to be obedient (Is Baptism Part of Salvation?).
- Is I John 2: 17-18 saying the antichrists are leaving the church? Are trying to compromise the church? (Who Is the Antichrist).
- We receive gifts to be used for the church (Are Spiritual Gifts Different?).
- We should find the areas in our church where there are needs and try to meet those needs as God directs (Collecting for Others).
- Individual disciples need to watch for his/her own spiritual health. Let’s expand that. The church also has to watch for its spiritual health. The church does not want to be caught sleeping. Instead of being asleep, disciples need to be awake and sober (How Is Sobriety a Balanced Life?).
- The church is to imitate Jesus. So, we are to be holy and righteous (Who Is Jesus as God?).
- Paul told us that the outcome of our walks should be producing fruit. This fruit is leading people to God so that they can ABCD, supporting other believers, and growing the church, both inwardly and outwardly (How Does Perseverance Help Consistency?)
See Also
Divine Intervention and the Church
Only God has the authority to determine how He wants us to operate His church. God isn’t looking for ritual in religion. He is looking for relationship (The Council Has Spoken).
Described as the cornerstone (Eph. 2: 19) and the head (Col. 1: 18), Jesus makes the church. The church is nothing without Jesus (How Do We Keep the Sabbath?).
Jesus created the church, which gave it life. He gave it His righteousness. Everything came from Him (How Do We Keep the Sabbath?).
Jesus said an end-time sign would be increased persecution for the church (Asking for Prayers).
Jesus provides all necessities to church members. He is Lord and does not need us to be Lord (The Perfection of the Church).
Jesus’ subjects are the church (if that makes the church His kingdom, okay). Right now, His kingdom is in our hearts. Jesus is within us. Why am I thinking that? We are Jesus’ subjects now. That isn’t going to wait until we get to heaven. He is our Sovereign now. Eventually, we will join Jesus wherever His kingdom is. Until then, we have dual citizenship (Conversations with a King).
God always has His eye in the prize — a restored relationship with us. The tribulation/judgment is not going to be His focus. He is going to focus on us perfected (What Is the Rapture?).
If God has generously provided resources to us, we should generously give it back — either directly to His church or to another of His disciples (Collecting for Others).
God had plans to provide for His church – His family (The Hopeful Family).
Everything was placed under Jesus’ authority for the benefit of the church (Who Is Jesus as God?).
Jesus and God have been planning since before the world was created to redeem the church in this way so our relationships would be restored when we ABCD (Who Is Jesus as God?).
See Also
Rapture of the Church
The rapture is the event in the end times when the church will be removed from this earth.
Jesus’ church will be called together in the end (The Perfection of the Church).
There is debate as to when the rapture will occur in relation to the tribulation (What Is the Rapture?).
I believe that the church will be raptured after everyone who will believe has made a profession of faith. The church will be raptured after everyone who will believe the gospel through seeking God has made a profession of faith (How Will the Tribulation Begin?).
One theory is that the church will be raptured before the tribulation starts (What Is the Rapture?).
When I think of the rapture, I think of First Thessalonians 4: 16-17. But all this verse tells us is how Jesus is announced and the rapture order. It says nothing about the state of the world in which we are living at the time (What Is the Rapture?).
First Corinthians 15: 51-53 also are very familiar. Again, it says nothing about the state of the world in which we are living at the time (What Is the Rapture?).
First Thessalonians 5: 9 does not talk about the rapture by name (but then no verse does). It is talking about believers will not experience God’s wrath. But God’s wrath is always tied up in our propensity to sin. Whatever happens in the tribulation is just leading up to the final judgment (What Is the Rapture?).
Revelation 6: 17 happens in the beginning of the tribulation. Yes, great wrath will have befallen them if there are wanting mountains and rocks to bury them. Again, just going on what the verse says, they don’t say when the church is going to be raptured (What Is the Rapture?).
Jesus is called the Bridegroom. Disciples are called the bride of Christ. Once we change our addresses after He comes to take us home, Jesus will announce His wedding to His church. In this ceremony, Christ’s church will be made perfect (What Is the Rapture?; Who Is Jesus as God?).
We read in books of history about how early Christians were sport for the gladiators and lions.
That stopped. Why? Because Satan found out he wasn’t accomplishing his purpose when he was attacking the church as a whole.
Did Satan give up in defeat? No, he started attacking us with slander, false teachers, and division (Trust as the Foundation for Peace).
Satan is trying to destroy the church from within (What Happens to the Antichrist?).
In addition, Satan is doing a pretty good job of undermining the church. Outside of church – and daily devotionals – how often do we hear the term sin?
Oh, we hear someone broke the law. We hear that there are bad people.
But Joe Cool on the street doesn’t really throw around, “I am a sinner.” That is, unless someone is joking or bragging about it (Spiritual Wisdom Leads Us to be Sensible People).
The type of attack doesn’t matter. Regardless of our outcome, “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD” (Isa. 54: 17 ESV).
God will be victorious in the end. That should give us a ton of security (Trust as the Foundation for Peace).
Father God. We want to praise You in Your house. Then, we want to praise You in Heaven. Amen.
What do you think?
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