Multiply your ministry effectiveness. “…so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Eph 4:12-13 (NIV) God’s plan is for the body of Christ […]
Author: Stephen Trammell
Your identity in Christ propels your mobility for Christ. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach […]
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Benefits of Serving (5)
Serving produces personal reward. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Col 3:23-24 (NIV) What motivates you to serve? Do you […]
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Benefits of Serving (4)
Serving produces organizational stability. Who are you serving? The answer to that question changes everything. “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. […]
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Benefits of Serving (3)
Serving produces practical unity. “Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw […]
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Benefits of Serving (2)
Serving produces numerical increase. “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Acts 2:41 (NIV) “…And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47 (NIV) “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added […]
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Benefits of Serving (1)
Serving produces spiritual growth. “Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.” Zeph 3:9 (NIV) As you serve God by serving others you develop spiritual muscles. Spiritual growth produces serving and serving produces spiritual growth. God does […]
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Spiritual Toolbox (5)
“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Eph 4:16 (NIV) Are you on a path of obtaining Christlikeness? Are you progressing in your faith? We have been examining habits from our spiritual toolbox. Here’s a recap of four of […]
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Spiritual Toolbox (4)
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17 (NIV) Habit #4: A practical application of my faith in daily life Information without application is an abomination. God’s Word is to be activated through constant use. Every believer should be a reader, a hearer, and a doer of […]
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Spiritual Toolbox (3)
The Christian life is not a solo flight. God calls us into a vertical relationship with Himself and a horizontal relationship with other believers and then the lost world. An isolated believer is a disconnected believer. To reach your full redemptive potential requires embracing our next habit from our spiritual toolbox. Habit #3: A vital connection to other growing believers […]
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Spiritual Toolbox (2)
How’s your prayer life? Are you spending unhurried time alone with God? Your ministry effectiveness will never rise above the level of your daily intimacy with God. Habit #2: A daily practice of meeting with God in prayer “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and […]
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Spiritual Toolbox (1)
How do you become all that God has created you to become? What habits are essential to reaching your God given potential? Over the next five days, let’s open the spiritual toolbox and examine five habits necessary for obtaining a lifestyle of Christlikeness. Habit #1: A daily intake of God’s Word You are what you eat. If […]
Where there is health there is growth. A healthy body will grow. A healthy believer will grow spiritually. A healthy church will grow both numerically and spiritually. You determine the level of participation in the process of maturation. God honors your devotion to daily spiritual disciplines. You also have the wonderful opportunity to assist in […]
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Stabilized
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” Eph 4:14 (NIV) Spiritual maturity will ensure stability. God blesses the pursuit of spiritual maturity. His strength and stability […]
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of […]
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” Eph 4:15 (NIV) You become what you focus on. Diffused light is weak. Focused light can cut steel. God blesses a life that is focused on His mission. His mission involves knowing, growing, […]
“Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.’” Ex 18:17-18 (NIV) Where there is order there is fruitfulness. God is a God of order, not chaos. After leading the […]
“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Eph 4:16 (NIV) Is anyone tracking you spiritually? Are you in a weekly environment where you can know and be known, love and be loved, care and be cared for? In other […]
“There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to one hope when you were called–one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Eph 4:4-6 (NIV) What do you have in common with those in your sphere of […]
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Eph 4:3 (NIV) Reputation is based on how others perceive you. Character is what you are in private. Character is revealed in crisis. Or another way to say it is that crisis reveals character. Unity flows out of the character […]
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Eph 4:1-2 (NIV) What does a life worthy of the calling you have received look like? It looks like humility, gentleness, […]
Is it possible to be in a crowd of thousands and still feel alone? We overload our lives with the confetti of activities and saturate our schedule with deadlines and diversions. We tend to over commit and anesthetize our pain through the avenue of busyness. Constantly and persistently we are running from the lurking shadow of aloneness. […]
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Eph 3:20-21 (NIV) There’s more to explore! You are finite and God […]
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Abounding Fullness
Commercials, billboards, and newspaper advertisements remind us how food driven our society has become. We are always asking about and searching for our next meal. Then we eat as though it is our last meal and then announce, “I’m full!” Have you been there? Have you ever been so full that it hurt? God has given us an appetite […]
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Indescribable Love
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–“ Eph 3:17-19 (NIV) Is it possible to comprehend the love of Christ? Think […]
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Abiding Relationship
We are by nature acceptance magnets and approval addicts. We want others to admire us and to affirm us. I heard about a basketball coach who instructed his players to always acknowledge their teammate who passed the ball to them which enabled them to make the shot. One of the players responding by asking the coach, […]
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Inner Strength
God never intended for you to live the Christian life outside of His power. In fact, it is impossible to live the Christian life without God’s power. For the believer, it is not a matter of being without God’s power. It is a matter of not appropriating the power God gives you when you are […]
Family is God’s idea. God is pro-family. Regardless of your upbringing, whether you grew up in a stable Christian environment or a broken home, you can be adopted into God’s spiritual family. “from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” Eph 3:15 (NIV) God’s family is known as the Body […]
“For this reason I kneel before the Father,” Eph 3:14 (NIV) Kneeling keeps you standing. Why would Paul assume the posture of kneeling in prayer on behalf of the saints in Ephesus? Paul had already surrendered his life and agenda to God. Kneeling was simply an outward expression of his inward position in Christ. The […]
“I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.” Eph 3:13 (NIV) The thought of someone suffering for you is a bit unsettling. What would motivate someone to suffer for you? The Bible calls it love. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ […]