Valentines meeting: Character and Reputation

Proverbs 22:1

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favour rather than silver

and gold.

Now, character is one thing; and reputation is another:

Character

1 John 4:8 ESV / 311

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

It goes back to a meeting we had last March, and we highlighted characteristics of God and what He represents, there has to be a link between us and God is we truly call ourselves Christians. It’s cliche but also important to ask ourselves; WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / 269

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

In moments of happiness, sadness, triumph, loneliness; he still remains the same. How faithful enough are you to remain in a positive mindset like Jesus when things are turning into turmoil

2 Peter 3:9 ESV / 226

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

How many of us can say that we have this characteristic? One of the biggest trials of being a Christian can be forgiveness! - use example of woman who forgave man who murdered her son.

Question: does anyone have any bible verses or stories they think of when hearing the word 'character'?

- David and King Saul, what distinguished them was their character 

- David ran to all these women and always came back to God

How do we know when to come back to Christ when we have fallen out of character?

- if you don't believe in God and believe that you won't go to Him, He won't rescue you!

- spirit vs flesh

- Sometimes we have to be vulnerable in order for our character to come out

- Trials produce character 

-Be loving to people that try to damage your character 

Verse 15:: foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. 

Reputation

Proverbs 22:1 ESV / 197 helpful votes

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

What’s in your heart? Are you idolising materialistic things, your job, your friends, or are you giving all glory and honour to God?

1 Peter 2:12 ESV / 101 helpful votes

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

From the Jewish perspective, Gentiles were often seen as pagans who did not know the true God. During Jesus’ time, many Jews took such pride in their cultural and religious heritage that they considered Gentiles “unclean,” calling them “dogs” and “the uncircumcision.” Gentiles and the half-Gentile Samaritans were viewed as enemies to be shunned (see John 4:9; 18:28; and Acts 10:28).

Gentiles were long seen as enemies of the Jewish people, yet Christ provided good news for both Jews and non-Jews. Paul praised the Lord’s goodness in his letter to the (mostly Gentile) church in Ephesus: 

(Get someone to read)

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups [Jew and Gentile] one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:12–14).

Let the light of Christ shine in you, even against the people that are proudly proclaiming negativity and are enemies of your progress, it will rub off on them and hopefully give them the spirit to reach out to Christ!

Isaiah 54:17

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

Famous verse and very well needed! We face daily trials and tribulations so constantly need to cling onto God in times of warfare. Spiritual warfare is a biggg one, feeling like you're constantly being attacked and you remain in the mindset of 'should I do it?' Or 'should I not?'

But in the end the choices you make as a Christian will determine who you are in, and whether you've chosen to follow His ways

What 3 things can I do to enhance my character?

If I left this earth, what can be said about my reputation? How did I impact the lives of others?

Thank you for reading ladies, any further questions don't hesitate to email us at ladieswhofellowship@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA FELLOWSHIP!

Social media used productively...is excellent! Too celebrate our 500 followers, ladies who fellowship had an online Twitter Q&A on our page.

It was so refreshing seeing ladies come together on the timeline and express their views based on the question put out there to them. 

The main question in the Q&A was:

How do we eradicate the fear of 'being judged' by others in the church?" with the hash tag #askLWF

Fellowship can be done in so many different ways; social media being a big part of that - we'll definitely be doing more of these in the future as it's important for us to come together and speak about what affects us, and how we can overcome as women on a journey with Christ.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter is you haven't!

>>>>>>> @ladyfellowship

We also received an incredible email response from our fellow sister Nneoma:

The first issue as the question rightly identified is that there's a "fear" of judgement in the church. However, the Bible in 2 Timothy 2:7 tells us that the spirit of fear is not from God, but that he has given us "the spirit power & of love & of a sound mind". So the first thing that we need to do in response to the question is cast down that spirit of fear and bring it into captivity & to the obedience to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Secondly, people in the church need to have their mind renewed by the reading of God's word on what judgement actually is. I believe that it is the common misconception of judgement that causes and spreads the fear of it. 

Contrary to ideal belief of judgment being wrong, the Bible in (Matthew 7:1-5), actually teaches us how to judge people. Matthew tells us that the way to do this is by first dealing with personal sins in our own lives so that we can see clearly in order to point out the sin in our brethren's life for them to deal with. So in the church we are charged to judge each other righteously (John 7:24), which means according to God's standards and rules revealed in His logos word. 

Additionally, the next issue with this is that if we as believers judged ourselves then others wouldn't have to. (Read 1 Corinthians 11:31). The Apostle Paul goes on to tell us in 1 Corinthians 13:5 to examine ourselves to prove that we are still in the faith- that is to say, to see that we are still in right standing with God's word and His perfect will. 

Remember the world is already judged, so that's not our job. 

In most of my experiences, what most people class as judgement is actually correction. For example, i have been in a situation where an old friend of mine suddenly picked up smoking as a new habit. I talked with her & advised her to quit because smoking kills. It's sad to say that she didn't take the sound advice very well & felt like I was judging her by merely correcting her of something she already knew was wrong. In this day and age some people might class what I said as judgement but did I judge her or did I just read out what the packet of her cigarettes says? Also is it "judgement", if it is the absolute truth? 

It has become a cliche in the church to say "only God can judge me", but people don't truly understand what that means. God's judgement is FINAL & JUST! This should put the fear of God in us. 

Therefore, it is better to have someone judge us here on earth whilst there is still time to change; than have the holy & righteous God do it. The great benefit of being judged is to be corrected as it says in 1 Corinthians 11:32: “... when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” This is the ultimate reason why we should receive righteous judgement within the body of Christ. Let us be reminded that The Lord chastens(corrects) who he loves, so also are we to correct people out of love. If I didn't love my friend I would have left her to smoke until it eventually kills her, after all it doesn't affect me right? But that should not be our attitudes as Christians & as preachers of the Word, we are to tell people in what ways their lives are wrong; whether that truth is welcomed or unwelcomed.(G. Craige Lewis). For when we do this as the Bible says we save people from the fire(Jude 1:23). 

Arise - second meeting of 2016

 

“While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 

It's not a dead situation. God can help us to arise and overcome

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 

It's important to have friends that can grow with you and build you up in fellowship. 

Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. 

When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”

The power of the tongue, God has the final say 

 And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

 Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.”

With Jesus, there is peace. 

Believe in where He wants you to be. Live! This girl was dead and had a new life when Jesus said ARISE

Mark 5:35-42 NKJV

http://bible.us/114/mrk.5.35-42.nkjv

- arise spiritually, arise in faith, in work, in every part of your life

- write a book full of blessings

- when God is blessing your neighbour, he's in your neighbourhood!!

- WAIT, you can't run away from God 

- don't bite the fingers that fed you, God has the ability to take AWAY your appetite

- you have the power to overcome any obstacles you've overcome; stand firm and ARISE

* we try to make as much notes as possible but it's always helpful being present at our meetings, you gain so much more! These notes are only a snippet of the incredible messages we receive through discussing the word :) *

Amen!

For any further notes, and questions please don't hesitate to email us at ladieswhofellowship@gmail.com

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