Real Christianity development, Author at Real Christianity

Some of the beneficial effects of hardship

Though it is hard to believe this while you are going through a period of hardship, there really are many benefits that come from it. Some of these come to you personally. Others are about making you more effective for the sake of others. Therefore …

Endurance and perseverance

The character qualities of endurance and perseverance are not widely sought after. Perhaps that is because the only way to develop them is for us to endure and persevere regularly until we eventually get good at it. Doing that is not pleasant, but there is …

Preparing for persecution and suffering

We therefore need to start to see struggle, persecution and suffering as normal, rather than objecting to them, as though they were things which ought not to be happening to us. Far too many of us have been presented with a watered-down gospel. It is …

Our third battle is against the Devil and all his demons. They are doing all they can to undermine and destroy you.

If life as a Christian was not already complicated enough, with our own flesh and the ungodly world system to deal with, it is made much harder by the involvement of the Devil and his demons. They are all fallen angels who were thrown out …

Every disciple needs to lose his fear of people and learn not to be ashamed of Jesus

We all have a strong desire to be liked and approved of by others. Therefore we are prone to neglecting our duties as disciples, or even denying Jesus, in order to avoid being disapproved of or criticised by other people. That craving to be approved …

We also have to contend with the sinful world system which is all around us. We must also reject its values and separate ourselves from its influence.

Whereas our battle against our own flesh takes place within ourselves, our battle against the world and all it stands for is an external one. By ‘the world’ we mean all of the thinking, values, standards, ways, priorities, practices, obsessions and methods of the unsaved and sinful …

Part of the war we have to fight is a lifelong battle between our new self and our old self. In other words, it is a battle between our spirit and our flesh

The battle or conflict that we have to face is not only external to us, involving other people and demons. It is also an internal battle between our ‘old self’, otherwise known as our ‘old man’, ‘carnal nature’ or ‘flesh’, and our ‘new self’, ‘new man’ or ‘new nature’. That is our …

When you become a disciple it is as if you change your nationality and become a citizen of the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom and its ways and values must become your focus, in place of the values of this world.

Another way to express the radical nature of the change we have to make, from being an unbeliever to a mature disciple, is to speak in terms of us changing our nationality. We are no longer to view ourselves primarily as citizens of the country …

Self-denial is a valid and essential part of a life of discipleship

Modern Western society is fixated upon self. We are continually urged to indulge ourselves, such that many of us have become habitually self-centered and even self-obsessed. Far from condemning such an approach, modern psychology encourages us to focus on ourselves, excuse ourselves and love ourselves more and more. By contrast, the …

Every disciple is regarded as being part of the spiritual war between God and His enemies. Therefore we all have a duty to learn how to fight effectively in that war

We are expected to see ourselves as being part of a huge worldwide battle: fight the good fight of the faith;…… Timothy 6:12 (a) (RSV) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that …