Page 136 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege
of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways He does not seem to use with
others. Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased
and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy
Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.

“As the Scriptures say, ‘If anyone is going to boast, let him boast about what the Lord has done, and not
about himself.’ When someone boasts about himself and how well he has done, it doesn’t count for much.
But when the Lord commends him, that’s different!” II Corinthians 10:17,18

“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better
than yourself. Don’t just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they
are doing.” Philippians 2:3,4 (Living Bible)

Others may be involved in excessive materialism and self-indulgence, but AMOS could not…he remained
a humble rancher/prophet down Tekoa way with “utter contempt for forms of religion that did not disturb
one’s conscience or change one’s life.” Amos 7:14,15

Other bachelors in Babylonia could curry the king’s favor and enjoy the palace feast but DANIEL could
not…he purposed in his heart not to defile himself by eating the king’s rich and dainty food or with the
wine which he drank. Daniel 1:1-8

Others ridiculed the preacher and scoffed at a forecast of coming disaster, but NOAH stood alone in the
midst of moral darkness and built an ark to the saving of his family. Genesis 6:1-14

Other women could forget their roots when married to wealth or be ashamed of their humble and
despised family background, but ESTHER could not but obey her foster father and risk death for her
patriotism and people. Esther 5:1-14

Others could keep their corporations, vacation in the mountains and enjoy the social life of Jerusalem, but
PETER and ANDREW could not. They forsook all and followed Jesus. Matthew 4:18-22

Others saw God’s love restricted, God’s people as a chosen few, and God’s strategy limited to Israel but
STEPHEN saw God’s offer of redemption to all the world and thus became the church’s first martyr.
Acts 7:54-60 Are you ready to become distinct from the “others?”

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