I have been thinking about our responsibilities as Christians and felt that I wanted to share some thoughts that I have recorded in my notebook over the last few years. I believe that God would have me publish them here on the men's blog even though I may have posted them on blog.steveford.me.uk.
The main thrust of the blogs will be in regard to our personal walk with God and what the responsible and expected outcome might or should be. We are Christians primarily because of our encounter with Jesus the Son of God not because of our background or upbringing but because we have responded a responding YES to a spiritual hunger that has been awakened in us by the Holy Spirit and not something that has been cooked up in our imagination. With that being the case then each of us will have a need to and a desire to proclaim the mighty words and deeds of Christ the redeemer much in the same way as all those who Jesus himself touched and healed. We have been healed and set free from the power of Sin by the grace of God. We have an urgency to gossip the gospel.
Now onto the title of this post. The Andrew principle.
Andrew the brother of Peter, the gobby, impulsive one, was a man who appears to say very little yet who's motto seems to have been "I know a man who can". We only read about Andrew 3 times in the gospels he appears to be very much a man in the shadows, God needs men in the shadows. On all 3 occasions Andrew was bringing someone to Jesus. Andrew believed all things were possible he had had an experience with Jesus that had transformed and inspired him, he had spent time with Jesus, this is the first principle, that of spending time with Jesus. Andrew had been a disciple of John the baptist and had been standing with John when he heard John say "behold the lamb of God" John 1:35-37 the passage says "they heard him speak and followed Jesus". We also read that the two disciples wanted to find out more about this Jesus that John had referred to as the "lamb of God"and so asked a leading question, where do you live? In other words "we would love to spend some time with you", Jesus says "come and see" John 1:38-39 which they did. This encounter of spending time With Jesus so inspired Andrew that he then went onto find his own brother and enthused him and brought him to Jesus. Look what God did with Simon Peter, he along with Paul changed the world. We don't read about Andrew again until John 6:8-9 when, in response to a crisis, he brings a young lad and his lunch to Jesus. Look what God did with that, fed a hungry crowd. The next time we read about Andrew is in John 12:22 in a dilemma he informs Jesus about some Greeks who want to see him. We don't know what God did with them but we do know they heard God speak John 12:28-30 and I am sure some of their lives were enriched for the better. So the Andrew principle is spend time with Jesus. Get soaked in his word and never under estimate your usefulness to God always endeavor to bring people to Jesus and let God do the rest. In the following blogs we will look at some examples and principles of losing to gain and letting go to achieve.
The main thrust of the blogs will be in regard to our personal walk with God and what the responsible and expected outcome might or should be. We are Christians primarily because of our encounter with Jesus the Son of God not because of our background or upbringing but because we have responded a responding YES to a spiritual hunger that has been awakened in us by the Holy Spirit and not something that has been cooked up in our imagination. With that being the case then each of us will have a need to and a desire to proclaim the mighty words and deeds of Christ the redeemer much in the same way as all those who Jesus himself touched and healed. We have been healed and set free from the power of Sin by the grace of God. We have an urgency to gossip the gospel.
Now onto the title of this post. The Andrew principle.
Andrew the brother of Peter, the gobby, impulsive one, was a man who appears to say very little yet who's motto seems to have been "I know a man who can". We only read about Andrew 3 times in the gospels he appears to be very much a man in the shadows, God needs men in the shadows. On all 3 occasions Andrew was bringing someone to Jesus. Andrew believed all things were possible he had had an experience with Jesus that had transformed and inspired him, he had spent time with Jesus, this is the first principle, that of spending time with Jesus. Andrew had been a disciple of John the baptist and had been standing with John when he heard John say "behold the lamb of God" John 1:35-37 the passage says "they heard him speak and followed Jesus". We also read that the two disciples wanted to find out more about this Jesus that John had referred to as the "lamb of God"and so asked a leading question, where do you live? In other words "we would love to spend some time with you", Jesus says "come and see" John 1:38-39 which they did. This encounter of spending time With Jesus so inspired Andrew that he then went onto find his own brother and enthused him and brought him to Jesus. Look what God did with Simon Peter, he along with Paul changed the world. We don't read about Andrew again until John 6:8-9 when, in response to a crisis, he brings a young lad and his lunch to Jesus. Look what God did with that, fed a hungry crowd. The next time we read about Andrew is in John 12:22 in a dilemma he informs Jesus about some Greeks who want to see him. We don't know what God did with them but we do know they heard God speak John 12:28-30 and I am sure some of their lives were enriched for the better. So the Andrew principle is spend time with Jesus. Get soaked in his word and never under estimate your usefulness to God always endeavor to bring people to Jesus and let God do the rest. In the following blogs we will look at some examples and principles of losing to gain and letting go to achieve.
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