Christ's Love is Your Weapon
The Beatitudes: Christ's Sermon on the Mount:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
- Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
- Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
- Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
- Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For Good Spiritual Health: Billy Graham in 1953
- Read your Bible daily. Hide the Word of God in your heart. It comforts, guides, corrects, encourages – all we need is there.
- Learn the secret of prayer. Prayer is communicating. Every prayer that you pray will be answered. Sometimes that answer may be “Yes” and sometimes “No,” and sometimes it is “Wait.”
- Rely constantly on the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8), Stand aside and let Him take over all the choices and decisions of your life.
- Attend church regularly. The visible church is Christ’s organization upon earth. Christians need to gather together to worship God attendance.
- Be a witnessing Christian. We witness by our life and by our word.
- Let love be the ruling principle of your life. Jesus said “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one to another” (John 13:35).
- Be an obedient Christian. Let Christ have first place in all the choices of your life.
- Learn how to meet temptation. Temptation is not sin. It is yielding that is sin. Let Christ through the Holy Spirit do the fighting for you.
- Be a wholesome Christian. Our lives and appearance should commend the Gospel and make it attractive to others.
- Live within your circumstances. Realize the Lord Himself is with you.
St. Paul to the Romans 12
- 1 I urge you, then, brothers, remembering the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God; that is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people.
- 2 Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and mature.
- 3 And through the grace that I have been given, I say this to every one of you: never pride yourself on being better than you really are, but think of yourself dispassionately, recognizing that God has given to each one his measure of faith.
- 4 Just as each of us has various parts in one body, and the parts do not all have the same function:
- 5 in the same way, all of us, though there are so many of us, make up one body in Christ, and as different parts we are all joined to one another.
- 6 Then since the gifts that we have differ according to the grace that was given to each of us: if it is a gift of prophecy, we should prophesy as much as our faith tells us;
- 7 if it is a gift of practical service, let us devote ourselves to serving; if it is teaching, to teaching;
- 8 if it is encouraging, to encouraging. When you give, you should give generously from the heart; if you are put in charge, you must be conscientious; if you do works of mercy, let it be because you enjoy doing them.
- 9 Let love be without any pretence. Avoid what is evil; stick to what is good.
- 10 In brotherly love let your feelings of deep affection for one another come to expression and regard others as more important than yourself.
- 11 In the service of the Lord, work not halfheartedly but with conscientiousness and an eager spirit.
- 12 Be joyful in hope, persevere in hardship; keep praying regularly;
- 13 Share with any of God's holy people who are in need; look for opportunities to be hospitable.
- 14 Bless your persecutors; never curse them, bless them.
- 15 Rejoice with others when they rejoice, and be sad with those in sorrow.
- 16 Give the same consideration to all others alike. Pay no regard to social standing, but meet humble people on their own terms. Do not congratulate yourself on your own wisdom.
- 17 Never pay back evil with evil, but bear in mind the ideals that all regard with respect.
- 18 As much as possible, and to the utmost of your ability, be at peace with everyone.
- 19 Never try to get revenge: leave that, my dear friends, to the Retribution. As scripture says: Vengeance is mine -- I will pay them back, the LORD promises.
- 20 And more: If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. By this, you will be heaping red-hot coals on his head.
- 21 Do not be mastered by evil, but master evil with good.