Is Your Christian Walk Superficial?

Jesus said in John 14:23 If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Love and obedience go together like bread and butter or a hug and a kiss between husband and wife. Jesus taught that love is the springboard of obedience and that one does not exist without the other. The Apostle John defined it best when in 2 John 6 he said; And this is love; that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.

I remember talking with a pastor about this, after I realized that the two were synonymously tied together like the proverbial golden rule “Do unto others as you would have then do unto you”(Matthew 7:12). Well that pastor didn’t seem convinced at all but more like annoyed that I a non-member to his church no less, would dare to talk about something like love and obedience in one sentence. I had to shake my head when not 20 minutes later he got upset with me in our Sunday school class.

Allow me to expand on that last paragraph. That Sunday we had a cool missionary guy come in to talk to us about the different levels of missionary work and how they worked in the past compared to present day. E1 is work within the neighbourhood of our church, E2 is work within our city, E3 is work within our country and E4 is work outside of our country. The cool missionary guy said that we have less long-term missionaries today then we did back in the 60’s when he first became one. I suggested that it was perhaps the church was ignoring the E1 portion and he said that is exactly what it was the church was losing its place here in North America. Perhaps he was convicted by the fact that the church really had no plan to evangelize the neighbourhood at all, I really don’t know.

So how does this all apply to the question; is your Christian walk superficial? Quite simply really it’s like this;

If we are not doing (obedience) what Jesus taught us then we are being superficial. Ask yourself these questions;

• Why do you go to church on Sunday?
• How many people have you brought to Christ?
• Do you have a plan to evangelize?
• What’s the most important aspect part of your life?

Here are Jesus’ commandments in there entirety for your full perusal you can also find them in your Bible if you need a Bible send me an email I will send you a Bible.

THE COMMANDMENTS OF JESUS

I.
REPENTANCE

1. "Repent"	Matt. 4:17; Rev. 2:5
2. "Come unto Me"	Matt. 11:28
3. "Seek first God and His righteousness"	Matt. 6:33
4. "Forgive if ye have ought against any"	Mark 11:25
5. "Deny Yourself"	Matt. 16:24
6. "Ask…seek…knock"	Matt. 7:7
7. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate"	Luke 13:24

II.
BELIEF

1. "Believe the Gospel"	Mark. 1:15
2. "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me"	John 14:1
3. "Believe on Him who He (God) hath sent"	John 6:28-29
4. "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me"	John 14:11
5. "Believe the works…I do"	John 10:37-38
6. "While ye have light believe in the light"	John 12:36
7. "Believe that ye receive"	Mark 11:24

III.
THE NEW BIRTH

1. "Ye must be born again"	John 3:7
2. "Cleanse first that which is within"	Matt. 23:26
3. "Make the tree good, and his fruit good"	Matt. 12:33
4. "Abide in Me and I in you"	John 15:4
5. "Have salt in yourselves"	Mark 9:50
6. "Labor…for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life"	John 6:27
7. "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven"	Luke 10:20

IV.
RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost"	John 20:23
2. "Let the children first be filled"	Mark 7:27
3. "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink"	John 7:37-39
4. "Keep my commandments and…the Father…shall give you another Comforter"	John 14:15-17
5. "Ask…with importunity"	John 16:24; Luke11:5-13
6. "Tarry…until ye be endued with power from on high"	Luke 24:49
7. "When the Comforter is come…He shall testify of Me: and ye also shall bear witness"	John 15:26-27

V.
FOLLOWING JESUS

1. "Follow Me"	John 12:26
2. "Be baptized"	Matt. 3:13-15; Matt. 28:19
3. "Take this…(communion) in remembrance of Me"	Luke 22:17-19
4. "Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet"	John 13:14-15
5. "If any man will come after Me…let him take up his cross daily"	Luke 9:23
6. "Learn of Me"	Matt. 11:29
7. "Continue ye in My love"	John 15:9

VI.
PRAYER

1. "Pray always"	Luke 21:36
2. "Pray that ye enter not into temptation"	Luke 22:40, 46
3. "Pray…the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers"	Luke 10:2
4. "Pray for them which despitefully use you"	Luke 6:28
5. "Pray to the Father…in my name"	Matt.6:6; John16:24,26
6. "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father, which art in heaven…"	Matt. 6:9-13
7. "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions"	Matt. 6:7-8

VII.
FAITH

1. "Have faith in God"	Mark 11:22
2. "Be not faithless"	John 20:27
3. "Neither be ye of doubtful mind"	Luke 12:29
4. "Take no thought for your life"	Matt. 6:25-34
5. "Let not your heart be troubled"	John 14:1,27
6. "Be of good cheer"	Matt. 14:27
7. "Be not afraid"	Mark 5:36: Luke 12:4-7

VIII.
SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES

1. "Search the scriptures"	John 5:39
2. "Remember the word that I said"	John 15:20
3. "Let these sayings sink down into your ears"	Luke 9:44
4. "Take heed therefore how ye hear"	Luke 8:18
5. "Take heed what ye hear"	Mark 4:24
6. "Beware of the leaven (doctrine) of the Pharisees"	Matt.16:6, 12
7. "Beware of false prophets"	Matt. 7:15-17

IX.
LETTING YOUR LIGHT SHINE

1. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works"	Matt. 5:16
2. "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness"	Luke 11:35
3. "Go and bring forth fruit, and …bear much fruit"	John 15:16, 8
4. "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father"	Luke 6:36
5. "Tell…how great things the Lord hath done for thee"	Mark 5:19
6. "Lift up you eyes, and look on the fields"	John 4:35
7. "Walk while you have the light"	John 12:35

X.
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

1. "Hold fast till I come"	Rev. 2:25; Rev. 3:2-3
2. "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh"	Luke 12:40
3. "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord"	Luke 12:35-36
4. "Take heed…lest…your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life"	Luke 21:34
5. "Remember Lot’s wife"	Luke 17:31-32
6. "Take heed that ye be not deceived"	Luke 21:8; Mark 13:5-6
7. "Watch"	Mark 13:34-37

XI.
SUPREME LOVE TO GOD

1. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart…soul…mind…strength"	Mark 12:30
2. "God, and Him only shalt thou serve"	Matt. 4:10
3. "Worship the Father in spirit and in truth"	John 4:23-24
4. "Call no man your father upon the Earth"	Matt. 23:9
5. "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God"	Matt. 4:7
6. "Fear Him (God) which…hath power to cast into hell"	Luke 12:5
7. "All men should honor the Son"	John 5:22-23

XII.
OUR DUTY TO GOD AND MAN

1. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s"	Mark 12:17
2. "Swear not at all"	Matt.5:34-37; Mark 4:22
3. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder"	Matt. 19:5-6
4. "Agree with thine adversary quickly"	Matt. 5:25
5. "We saw one casting out devils in thy name…Forbid him not"	Mark 9:38-40
6. "Eat such things as are set before you"	Luke 10:8
7. "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost"	John 6:12

XIII.
OUR DUTY TO OUR NEIGHBOR

1. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"	Matt.19:17-19
2. "Thou shalt do no murder"	Matt. 19:18
3. "Thou shalt not commit adultery"	Matt. 19:18
4. "Thou shalt not steal"	Matt. 19:18
5. "Thou shalt not bear false witness"	Matt. 19:18
6. "Honor thy father and thy mother"	Matt. 19:19
7. "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise"	Luke 6:31

XIV.
COVETOUSNESS

1. "Take heed and beware of covetousness"	Luke 12:15
2. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven"	Matt. 6:19-20
3. "Ye pay tithe…and not leave (them) undone"	Matt.23:23
4. "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away"	Matt. 5:42
5. "Give alms of such things as ye have"	Luke 11:41
6. "When thou makest a dinner..call not thy friends, nor thy brethren…but….call the poor"	Luke 14:12-13
7. "Make yourselves friends of the mammon…"	Luke 16:9

XV.
HYPOCRISY

1. "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy"	Luke 12:1
2. "Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes"	Luke 20:46-47
3. "Do not ye after their works"	Matt. 23:2-3
4. "Make not My Father’s house an house of merchandise"	John 2:16
5. "Do not your alms before men, to be seen of them"	Matt.6:1-4
6. "When thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites…to be seen of men…enter into thy closet and pray in secret"	Matt. 6:5-6
7. "When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast"	Matt. 6:16-18

XVI.
MEEKNESS

1. "Take my yoke upon you…for I am meek and lowly in heart"	Matt. 11:29
2. "The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them…but it shall not be so among you"	Matt. 20:25-26
3. "Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all"	Mark 10:43-44
4. "Be not ye called Rabbi"	Matt. 23:8
5. "Sit not down in the highest room"	Luke 14:8-11
6. "Rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you"	Luke 10:20
7. "Say, we are unprofitable servants"	Luke 17:10

XVII.
OUR LOVE TO THE BRETHREN

1. "Love one another as I have loved you"	John 15:12
2. "Despise not one of these little ones"	Matt. 18:10-14
3. "Have peace one with another … and be reconciled to thy brother"	Mark 9:50; Matt. 5:23-24
4. "If thy brother…trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone"	Matt. 18:15-17
5. "If thy brother trespass against thee seven times a day…thou shalt forgive him"	Luke 17:3-4; Matt. 18:21-22
6. "Judge not according to appearance… first cast the beam out of thine own eye"	John 7:24; Matt. 7:1-5
7. "Condemn not"	Luke 6:37

XVIII.
PERFECT LOVE

1. "Be ye therefore perfect"	Matt. 5:48
2. "Sell that ye have and give alms"	Matt. 19:21; Luke 12:32-33
3. "Love your enemies"	Matt. 5:44; Matt. 26:52
4. "Do good to them which hate you"	Luke 6:27-28
5. "Lend, hoping for nothing again"	Luke 6:35
6. "Resist not evil"	Matt. 5:39-41
7. "In your patience posses ye your souls"	Luke 21:19

XIX.
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH

1. "Be thou faithful unto death"	Rev. 2:10
2. "Hold that fast which thou hast"	Rev. 3:11
3. "When men shall revile you, and persecute you,…rejoice, and be exceeding glad"	Matt.5:11-12 Luke 6:23
4. "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another"	Matt. 10:23
5. "When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak"	Matt. 10:19
6. "Murmur not among yourselves"	John 6:41-43
7. "Look up and lift up your hands"	Luke 21:28

XX.
PREACHING THE GOSPEL

1. "Preach the gospel to every creature"	Mark. 16:15; Matt.10:7
2. "Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His (Christ’s) name"	Luke 24:46-47
3. "Baptize disciples, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost"	Matt. 28:19
4. "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded"	Matt. 28:20
5. "What I tell you … that speak"	Matt. 10:27; Mark 4:22
6. "Feed my sheep"	John 21:15-17
7. "Heal the sick"	Matt. 10:8

XXI.
WISDOM

1. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves"	Matt. 10:16
2. "Beware of men"	Matt. 10:17
3. "Let (the blind leaders) alone"	Matt. 15:12-14
4. "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine"	Matt. 7:6
5. "Consider the lilies… how they grow"	Matt. 6:28
6. "Whatsoever city … ye shall enter, inquire who is worthy; and there abide … Go not from house to house"	Matt. 10:11-13; Luke 10:5-7
7. "Whosoever will not receive you … shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them"	Luke 9:5; Luke 10:10-11

"IF A MAN LOVE ME, HE WILL KEEP MY WORDS."
John 14:23

I took this complete table from wowzone.com

You might notice that nowhere in that list does it say become a member of a local church, but it does say beware of men.

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar