PRACTITIONER-2

Text : Philippians 4:9 ISV 

Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

In the Kingdom of God, doing preceeds teachings. It's an aberration to teach what you are not doing.

Today, we want to focus on the principle of teaching as we have it in God's  kingdom. 

The book of Acts opens with the account of Jesus' acts. But notice the order in which it was recorded. 

 ```In my first book, Theophilus, I wrote about everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, ```` Act 1:1 ISV.

Notice that Jesus  'did' before he 'taught'. Anyone who has mastered the act of teaching what he is not practicing is not only a hypocrite but a messenger of death.

2 Corinthians 3:6 says who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, *because the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

If you are only teaching the text (the letter), you are not only injurious to yourself, but also to your listeners. This is why you should be careful who you listen to. 

To tap into the life the Spirit gives, you must be ready to do before you teach.

This is well exemplified in parents-child relationship.  A *child essentially does what the  parents do and not necessarily what they say.* 

Christ expects us to be the living epistle that people read. He said in  

Matthew 5:16 that, In *the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven.”* 

The onus is on you to let people see your light by the way you live. Note that your life can make people glorify our Father in heaven and it can also bring reproach to His name.  Be a good practitioner of what you profess.

BIBLE READING:MATTHEW 7:21-29.

PRAYER FOCUS

1. Father,  help me that by my everyday living, my life will bring glory to your name always.

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