• Christians are to make disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)-"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. "  This is the Great Commission of Christianity.  This is the primary goal of all believers and followers of Jesus.  We are to lead by example, and teach them the ways of Jesus.  This is the will of God for all humanity.  That they be saved, and in turn, aid in the salvation of others.
  
• Jesus' followers are known by their love (John 13: 35)-"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."  When we love the way the LORD loves us, it is evident that the Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts.  It proves that we are Jesus' followers/disciples.  When people can see the love we have for others, that love will spread among them as well, and they too can begin to love others.  This is how we know who Jesus' followers truly are.  We can see it in their love.
• Christians should help other Christians grow (Acts 14: 21-22)-After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned again to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers.  They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.  We know that it is very important that Christians help one another to grow spiritually.  The way that we help one another is based on our own experience in our walk of faith.  Our experience enables us to help our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  All Christians will be tried.  There are many disappointments in the walk of faith.  Because of the good nature and perfection of Christ, we know that man falls short of God's glory and grace.  We will often find that we are disappointed or discouraged with the way things can turn out in this imperfect world.  But we must encourage one another when we see our fellow Brother or Sister in a slump, feeling discouraged, or growing weary.  We must remember the reward that we have as Heirs of God's Kingdom, and that Jesus too had to go through many tribulations until His death on the cross.  Like Jesus, we too will go through similar trials and tribulations.  Like this, we fulfill God's plan and call on our lives.  Victory cannot be obtained without adversity.  Through the adversity, we must remain faithful.  This is good discipleship.

This brief study serves as a reminder to all believers.  He calls us to be disciples.  To have love for one another.  To encourage one another.  To lift one another up.  To teach one another.  To lead by example.  Lets live in that way, even during the worst of times.  Be a blessing to your fellow Christian Brother or Sister, just as the LORD is a blessing to you.  Until the next study, may the LORD be with you and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

• The Bible will help you discern bad teaching (Acts 17: 11)-And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul's message.  They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth.  It is very important, as believers, that while we learn the scriptures at our local Churches, and from our Pastors, that we refer to the Bible directly for confirmation that what the Leader is preaching is correct.  We cannot only go by what is being preached from the pulpit.  We must get our Bibles and read them for ourselves in order to fully comprehend what the LORD is saying to His Church.  Only then can we be sure that we're learning the truth.  If you can find it in scripture; you know it is being taught accurately.  If not, that's a sign that the person preaching can have gone in error, or falsehood.  ***Please beware of false teaching.***
• God grants discernment (1 Corinthians 12: 10)-He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and to another the ability to prophesy.  He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking.  Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, and another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  So, we know based on this verse that God carefully gives these gifts to the people of His choice, so that they can work together, and to confirm that His Spirit is working through each Servant.  Once they are in agreement, they can affirm to the rest of the congregation what was said, what was understood, what the LORD wants from us, and what is needed to accomplish any of the Church's goals.  This is how the Church grows.  This is how they reach the level of growth and spirituality they need in order to be, or to get where God has planned for them.
• Discern between right and wrong behavior (Hebrews 5: 14)-Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.  Once a believer has reached a certain level of maturity, they are no longer in need of what we call baby food-or blended food (the word preached gently).  Once they have grown to the point where they can handle the raw truth of the Gospel, they can have the solid food (the truth about how they should act, behave, or live).  They will not be hurt by it, nor will they leave the Church for someone preaching it.  They will live according to what the word is commanding or saying for their own spiritual welfare or benefit.  So, of course, the Church Leaders must discern when to preach solid Gospel food/word to the people, and when to preach with a more gentle baby food-like approach.  Once we know better, we can receive the solid food, enjoy it, and live by it.
• Ask God for help in discerning his will (James 1: 5)-If you need wisdom-if you want to know what God wants you to do-ask him, and he will gladly tell you.  He will not resent your asking.  It is important that believers understand the power that they have.  God's children have the ability to have a direct relationship with the Creator.  They have the power to get on their knees and ask our living God for help in discerning exactly what His will is for their lives.  And they can have confidence in knowing that He will reply to their requests.  He will speak to your heart and mind; or give you a vision or a dream to confirm what His perfect will is for your life.  Or, He could give a message to give to you from another Servant to confirm what His will is for your life.  Just like a father hears his child's request, and joyfully gives to his children, so does God hear the prayer of a fearful child, and answer them accordingly.  He will bless them.  

Life is full of endless opportunities.  We are faced with making decisions on a daily basis.  Not all opportunities in life will benefit our lives both as believers, and non-believers alike.  However, It is important as believers, that we seek God and His will when making any decisions concerning both our spiritual and physical well being.  When we lean on Him for His understanding and direction, we guarantee victory and success in whatever we do.  We know that His spirit will not mislead us, or take us down the wrong path.  We know that He will guide us to a place of peace, prosperity, health, love, and wealth both spiritually and materially.  So, if any of you lacks in discernment, ask God to give it to you so that you will know what is right for you, and what is wrong.  What to surround yourself with in your environment, and what to keep away from.  Until next study, Happy Discerning!  Live well!  And may God guide you with His Holy Spirit and wisdom!!  God bless you!

• Be fully devoted to God (1 Chronicles 28: 9)-But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there in Samaria when the army of Israel returned home.  He went out to meet them and said, "The LORD, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and let you defeat them.  But you have gone too far, killing them without mercy, and all the heaven is disturbed.-When God gives a command to His people, His people are to remain faithful and carry that task out with control, in obedience to Him.  There has to be a balance in the way it is carried out.  There has to be order in it.  We His Children, are to carry out His commands in a way that resembles or reflects His way.  We should never be overdoing anything that He asks, nor should we be out of control when we do it.  If we do, we are in danger of falling into disobedience, which is sin.  We know that our God is great, and with His greatness comes responsibility, order, discipline, and balance.  Too much of anything is not good.  We need to exercise care when carrying out God's plan.
  
• Worship God with devotion (1 Chronicles 29: 9)-Our fathers have been killed in battle, and our sons and daughters and wives are in captivity.  If we do not remain devoted to our God, God can make us into an object of ridicule.  In the story of Hezekiah, when he reopened the temple, we see that their ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God.  They abandoned the LORD and his Temple; they turned their backs on Him.  They also shut the doors to the Temple's foyer, and they snuffed out the lamps.  They stopped burning incense and presenting burnt offerings at the sanctuary of the God of Israel.  That is why the LORD's anger had fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem.  We must remain faithful and devoted to the God of Israel, and carry out His commands.
• Be devoted to prayer (Psalm 5: 3)-Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD.  Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.  Every morning we should be bringing our requests to God and waiting, expecting a response from our God who is faithful.  We should commit to bringing these requests first thing each day rather than waiting until the end of it.  God should always come first.
• Let your life be devoted to God (Romans 12: 1-2)-And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will accept.  When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?  Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.  Our bodies should be fully devoted to God as well as our hearts and minds.  When we think about all He has done in creation, in His birth, in His life on earth, all He did to teach us the truth of our existence, and purpose, it should be really easy to commend and commit to Him our bodies, minds and souls.  Our bodies are important in that, we should not be hurting our bodies in any way, and this includes inflicting it with pain, suffering, abuse both physical and sexual abuse, tattooing, sex outside of marriage, masturbation, anal sex, sex with animals, and sex with same sex.  This is called lasciviousness.  This is detestable before the eyes of the Lord.  This is what our God wants from us.  He wants us to willingly live for Him.  He does not want us to copy the behavior of the world.  He wants us to let Him transform us into the people we were designed to be.  We were designed to live for, obey, and worship Him with everything we have.  It's the right thing to do.  When we get to the point where we understand what His will is for us, it becomes easier to commit to that sort of lifestyle.  A lifestyle of love, peace, understanding, wisdom, devotion, commitment, obedience, faithfulness, and the list goes on..  It is a life of honor that the LORD our God wants for and from us.  This is the life we should want to live..for HIM.  Lets keep this in mind, and when we pray; lets pray for God's will to be done and carried out in our lives and in the lives of all believers in Him.  

Until the next study, be blessed, and pray for God to improve any areas of your life that are lacking devotion to the one true God, our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  God bless you.

• Be determined to obey God-(1 Samuel 7: 3)- Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, "If you are really serious about wanting to return to the LORD, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth.  Determine to obey only the LORD; then he will rescue you from the Philistines."  In this verse, we see clearly that if we are determined to obey God, we are immediately blessed by God and are given victory over whatever obstacles we are facing.  We can see immediately that the LORD will rescue them from the Philistines that were against them.  We know that when God gives an order, and that order is followed; we will reap the blessings to come from one single act of obedience.  This is proof that God's word is not only true, but literally results in blessings and victory.
• Determine not to sin (Job 31: 1)-I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.  When we are determined not to sin, we make a commitment to the Lord, within our hearts not to subject ourselves to temptation of any kind.  If we see there is danger of falling into sin, we steer away from that danger; we avoid that temptation so that we do not fall into sin.  When we see something that could lead us into temptation, rather than continue to stare at it; and lust after it, we change our focus onto the task at hand, or go somewhere else or do something else to avoid that sin.  This is how we exercise our determination not to sin against God.  When we do this, we become stronger, and are blessed.
• Determine to stand firm (Isaiah 7: 9)-"Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria.  And Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.  You do not believe me?  If you want me to protect you, learn to believe what I say."  What the LORD is trying to say to the Church in this verse is that we must be determined to stand firm in Christ.  If we want to stand firm, we must learn to believe in the word of the Lord.  We must believe in what He says.  When we believe in the Lord's word, we act in a certain way (in obedience to His commands), and our actions or decisions result in blessings and victory in all areas of our lives through our Lord Jesus Christ.  
• God helps us be determined (Isaiah 50: 7)-Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be dismayed.  Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do His will.  And I know that I will triumph.  We know in this verse that God helps us to be determined to accomplish any task He sets us to do.  He makes a promise to His Servants that He will be our guide, protect us, and provide for us.  We need not be concerned or fearful, in anything because we are confident that He will give us what we need.  He will give us strength to complete the journey ahead of us.  
• Determine to follow Christ (Mark 8: 34-38)-Then He called His disciples and the crowds to come over and listen.  "If any of you wants to be my follower," He told them, "you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.  If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it.  And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?  Is anything worth more than your soul?  If a person is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in the glory of my Father with the holy angels."  In these four powerful verses, we see that the LORD calls His disciples, (us), and tells us that if any of us want to be his followers, we must put aside all selfish ambition.  The Christian life is a selfless life we live.  We cannot be only thinking of ourselves.  We must shoulder our cross, (life's heavy burdens), and follow Him.  If we are selfish, and try to keep our lives for ourselves, (try to only live for and accomplish victory only for ourselves), we will lose it.  (Meaning we could die in our walk of faith-become faint in it, and give up-resulting in corporal death).  And how can we benefit by gaining the whole world-(fame and fortune) but lose our souls in the process?  (Meaning we could lose our salvation by not obeying God's commands to live for Him and do as He asks).  He asks a rhetorical question to the believers to help them to understand that if they do not live for Him, they are living selfishly, or for themselves, which is another form of idolatry.  He wants us to understand that nothing is more important than our souls and where they will end up.  He clearly says that if any of us are ashamed of Him in these bad days, He will be ashamed of us on judgement day.  So we must be determined to follow Him.  And if we do not have sufficient determination to follow Christ, we should be praying to God, and asking him to give us the determination we need to go forward.

I hope this study is helpful in understanding the importance of determination.  Determination is very necessary to walk in faith with Christ.  It is one of the most difficult walks in life, but, here we see with Christ it is not impossible.  For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.  Philippians 4: 13.  Until the next study, God bless you!