Winning Souls

 Proverb 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

The soul of man is trapped and is held by Satan. From the fall of Adam and Eve, the soul of man has been made captive to sin and darkness. A child, as innocent as it may be, was born with the nature of sin in his heart. The battle to “win” back God’s creation has been fought from the beginning of time. It is the desire of God that souls be brought back into fellowship with Him. Winning souls is to convert others from their sinful ways and win them over to Christ. To win is to teach and persuade others of the claims of Christ in their heart.  Teaching them that the source of life is found in the tree of life. Righteousness and right living is to confess our sins, trust in the blood of Christ to cleanse our heart from sin, and live righteously before Him. As Christians, we are to be ambassadors for Christ, doing what we can to convert others to follow Christ. Our first responsibility to win others to Christ is to live a life that reflects the image of Christ. Our words and teaching are discarded when our lives are not consistent with the teaching. It is through the teaching of the word in harmony with our lives that others can be won to Christ. It is possible to win others to Christ without walking them through the "Roman road to salvation." Our life should be a living Bible, seen and read by all men, but there is power in the spoken word. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Roman 10:10. Let our fruit be that of righteousness and our lives win others to Christ.

Not By Bread Alone

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Matt 4:4 

…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God.

Man is not just a physical being in need of nutrients to keep them alive and healthy. People are created with a mind, body, and soul. People cannot truly live if they don’t feed the whole person. As creatures of flesh, we tend to focus on the body. Hunger, thirst, strength, and pleasure. But there is more to life than fulfilling the needs of the flesh. Man does not live by this alone, but it must be feed food from above, manna from heaven, the word of God. And this is the Word of God that speaks. Christ the bread of life, the fountain of living water, the One who gives spiritual and eternal life. The temptation is to put priority in making sure the physical needs are met first. This is known in the world as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This is the way of the flesh. But Jesus’ hierarchy teaches that seeing God as our greatest need and then trusting Him to provide for all our other needs is the way of God. The greatest teacher that ever live on earth said,  “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you”. 

Seek The Lord

Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

The scripture implies that the there are seasons in our lives when God is found. We don’t decide to seek God on our timeline. The attitude of finding God when it is convenient is folly. We don’t come to God on our terms. It is the Spirit that draws us, and His Spirit will not always tarry. When is God near? When can He be found? The Lord brings things in our lives that cause us to focus our attention and awakens our spirit to our need. It is times like these that He may be found. Going to places (church) where His presences is known is a good place to find Him. His presences is not restricted to the four walls of a church, but it is a good place to start. A place where the word of God is preached, His name is lifted up and praised. Begin to read His word and let the Spirit of God work in your heart. His word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edge sword. It will pierce the heart and draw you to Him. Seek Him now, don’t wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late.

Respecting People

James 2: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

Committing sin when professing to be a follower of Christ is to do something that you know violates God’s word. God’s word makes many things clear about what is sin. The world often scoffed at the word and blows it off as antiquated and irrelevant in our progressive society. They pick and choose what they thing is wrong and right. Choosing their own morality base on their own desires. Treating people differently because they are richer or poor, white or black, smart or ignorant is to commit sin. Racism and having social prejudices that leads to injustice is to disregard the mercy of God. The Word of God requires that we show respect to all human beings, that our origin of birth or social and economic class should not dictate to us how we treat others. God is no respecter of person. For God so loved the WORLD that He sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins and provide a way to live forever with God in this life and the life after.

Wondrous Word

Psalm 119:18 “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”-

Blinded by sin, it is not natural for people to see the truth of God’s Word. God in His love, grace, and mercy illuminates the mind and opens the eyes of sinners to see Jesus. To see that we are sinners and need of a Savior. As Christians, we need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see the deeper things of God. The Law of God is more than a rule book of things to do and not to do, but a love letter that God gives us to help us understand what it means to live and what it means to love Him. His Word is filled with wondrous things, and the half as yet to be told of all that He has for us. It is The Good Book in every sense of the word. His Word is food to the soul and the air we breathe. 

Handling the Word of God

2 Corinth: 4:2 “but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifesting the truth we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”-

The Word of God stands alone without any defense. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, men full of the Holy Ghost, led by God’s Spirit wrote with a pure conscience how God wants His children to live. His Word is not open to interpretation that caters to selfish desires of men’s hearts. It is to be handle with care and interpreted with pure intentions. It is not to be used for selfish gain or want. How the Word is interpreted is critical to how we live. Interpreting God’s Word to justify our sinful behavior is handling God’s Word deceitfully. We should always look into the Word of God with the intention of drawing closer to God. If our interpretation of His Word causes us to live a holy life, then we can live with a clear conscience in the sight of God. Not everyone will see the scriptures in the same light or interpreted it the same, but we all can have an interpretation that will manifest the truth to our heart with a conscience void of offense. 

Christian Home

Debt. 6:7 “ and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.”-

Bring up children in a world that is anti-Christian is a taunting challenge for parents who desire that their children not drift away from God and His Word. We live in a day where His Word is being denied and ridiculed by those who desire to be a god unto themselves. They seek after their own lust and desires to satisfied their passions. The Word of God is relegated to just another book with some good inspirational words. As Christian parents, it is important that we keep His Word prominent in our homes. It is also important to realize that a home filled with Christian symbols and hanging scriptures does not make it a Christian home. A Christian home is lived out within the walls of the home. The words that are spoken, the attitudes that are portrayed, and the spirit that is manifest are the true evidence of a Christian home. Our love for Christ is seen in the way we treat our spouse and our children. With love and kindness one to another we share the love of Christ one to another.  Let us not forget His way, live life following the commands and precepts of His Word in the morning, through out the day, and when we close our eyes for the night.