The first requirement that leads to koinonia is to be Christ-centered not man centered. We may think that koinonia is what we have with other believers, which is true. However, it is not really possible if the Lord Himself is not in the middle of our relationships with others, and the main purpose for them.

      One factor that leads to koinonia, the ultimate form of fellowship with others, and with God is when our hearts begin to burn like King David’s for the Lord to have a place to dwell. That’s the heart that will likely bring...

      As we have been focusing on how to judge ourselves in the faith, let us now move on to how we judge our work in the Lord. First, let us consider that as it is not easy to judge ourselves, as we will tend to be either too generous or too harsh with ourselves. It can be even more difficult to judge our work in the Lord. Yet, we want to know that our efforts are not in vain, and we want to bear fruit that remains according to the Lord’s exhortation. How do we know this?

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      Last week, I shared a personal experience of how the Lord is helping me grow in patience. This week, we will look at how just focusing on one thing it can help us have a breakthrough in may other areas, even things we are not focusing on.

      This is actually a military tactic that can help us greatly in our personal life. It’s called “concentration of forces.” This is the tactic of concentrating forces at one place along the enemy line to create a breakthrough. Once you have penetrated an enemy line, their whole force has to retreat...

      I have learned that if I do not write down my goals and check regularly on my progress to achieve them, it’s unlikely I will achieve them. This seems to be why the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!”

      Abiding in the Lord or growing in the fruit or gifts of the Spirit requires spiritual discipline and a means of measuring progress. There are biblical teachings or exhortations about most of these, and for the others we should ask our Teacher, the Lord, for...

      The prayer that Jesus gave His disciples to pray, which has been prayed by His disciples for nearly two thousand years, is for His kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We can be sure this prayer is going to be answered, and it is being answered in our time.

      This we can be sure about God’s kingdom—it will never shrink, and never stop growing. We are assured this in Isaiah 9:7: “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the...