W.I.N. - A Publication of Freedom Covenant Global Ministries Hi ! In this issue, you'll read: A WORD FROM THE EDITOR - WEEK THREE With that in mind, this week's lesson continues by directing us to set up regular appointments with God. This will help prevent us from falling into the trap so common to man known as "taking for granted." As you study this week, try to go beyond just reading the Word. Dig a little deeper into each passage, taking time to pray over it before and after you read it. In this way, you will allow the Holy Spirit to teach you the very heart of what the Father is wanting to reveal to you. May each Scripture come alive in your hearts and change your lives for His Glory! Rev. Sam T. Leigh ***A word to our readers: If you know someone whom you think would like to receive this newsletter on a regular basis, please pass along a copy of this edition for them to review. If they decide they would benefit from having this newsletter sent directly to their e-mail address, they may simply send an e-mail containing their name and e-mail address to winsubscribe@fcgm.org. Read again Psalm 139:5-10 As we saw when we read this psalm last week, God is everywhere. But we must be careful we don't fall into the trap of taking his presence for granted. David, the same psalmist who penned Psalm 139 also wrote Psalms 55:17; "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice." We suggest, as part of your study discipline, that you set up a parallel prayer discipline, based loosely on this morning-noon-evening format. Read Isaiah 50:4 Remember: God is not interested in spending just half an hour with you. He is not even interested in spending two hours with you. He wants the whole day. In fact, in no place does the Bible say: "Pray for one whole hour each day." What it does say is "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). A whole day is to be marked by an ongoing contact with God in prayer (read Psalm 118:24). II. Putting it into Practice In your devotions this week, read Psalm 27. As you read, talk to the Lord about the content of this psalm. When you have finished, go back and find one or two verses and meditate on them. III. Memory Verse 1. Ask the Lord to help you remember his Word (see John 14:26). 2. Use the version of the Bible you are most familiar with. What you normally read in your Bible is what you need to be memorizing. 3. Don't just memorize the contents of the verse; memorize its “address” (the verse reference) as well. You can do this by following this pattern: Step 1: reference; Step 2: verse content; Step 3: reference. Then repeat steps 1-3. Note that you are quoting the reference twice as many times as you quote the actual verse content. This gives the verse a clear “reference tag.” 4. After you have read your memory verse out aloud several times, try going through your memory verse without reading your computer screen. 5. Look up your memory verse in your Bible. Look at its immediate context and read the verses that come before and after your memory verse. 6. Print out your memory verse or jot it down on a piece of paper. Take this paper with you when you go to work or do other daily activities. Meditate on the meaning of the verse throughout the day. 7. During your noon appointment with the Lord, take out your memory verse and go over it again. Talk to the Lord about what this verse means to you personally. 8. In the evening (at either your evening study or your evening devotions), see if you can quote your memory verse from memory. Then, without looking at the memory verse itself, see if you can find it in your Bible. 9. The next day, before you begin committing a new verse to memory, rehearse your previous day’s memory verse and see if you can remember it (without cheating!). 10. Finally, at the end of the week (possibly on Sunday), collect all your week’s memory verses, rehearse them and see if you can recall them without reading them. Spend a little extra time on any verses you have difficulty recalling. 11. Remember: Don't just memorize a verse. Put it into practice (James 1:22). It is not being able to quote a verse from memory that counts. It is His Word abiding in your heart that counts (John 15:7). When you actually apply a verse consistently to your daily life, that is when you truly know that verse! Acts 2:42-47; 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. This week we are looking at the first part of our passage, "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship..." In this introduction to the passage, we see that "they continued stedfastly." This tells us that they had a starting point, because "to continue" in anything indicates that "one started in it." We will examine the starting point in a moment, but before we do, let's take a look at how they continued in that starting point. The Scripture states that they "continued stedfastly." This means that the people of the early church were unwavering, unfaltering, resolute, persistent, committed, dedicated, unswerving, and firm in their everyday walk with the Lord. There was no waffling back and forth like we see around us in the present day and age. This is a very important key to the overall success of the early church and is something we need to see more of in today's church! Now, let's look at the starting point. What did the early Christians continue in so "stedfastly?" The Scripture states, "...the apostles' doctrine and fellowship..." What exactly is the apostles' doctrine? The apostles' doctrine is simply that which was taught by the apostles under the authority of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The early church was built on this teaching of the apostles, which is nothing less than the teaching of Christ, made known through them and recorded in the New Testament. Together with Christ, the apostles and prophets form the foundation of the church, as stated in "Ephesians 2:19, 20; 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone..." While only a portion of the doctrine of Christ was made known during His earthly ministry, after His ascension He revealed many additional teachings to the apostles through the Holy Spirit. Shortly before His death Jesus said in John 16:12, 13; 12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. And in John 14:26; "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Therefore, we must avoid people who reject the authority of the apostles, as we see in Romans 16:17, 18; "17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple." People who stray from the doctrine of the apostles bring division and apostasy into the church. We must "note them" and "avoid them". Remember, although they come with "smooth words and flattering speech," they are not servants of Christ. Instead, they serve their own belly (evil and corrupt desires). We are commanded to stay away from them. In closing, it is only through the apostles and their teaching that we can have true fellowship with God and Christ. The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:3; "...that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." It is time for the 21st century church to return to the apostles' doctrine and walk unwavering in its truth as revealed to us through His Holy Scriptures. It is time to stop questioning the message and arguing among ourselves as to which of us has the right interpretation. The only one who is right is Jesus Christ and it is time we became obedient to His instructions. It is time for the church to wake up and return to its roots. We are searching for the answer to the question, "Is the end result the same for both the early and the present church, and if not, how can we get "Back To The Kingdom?" Until next week... Bishop Sam T. Leigh We had a wonderful service today (Sunday March 6, 2005). The Holy Ghost came down and blessed us mightily with interpretation of tongues. He said to us that he had heard our prayers. What a wonderful Savior we serve... I would like to report that God has richly blessed Whitestone. He has blessed in so many ways too numerous to mention here. We've seen souls pray through to find Christ as their Savior. Others have found healing for their bodies and spirit. And we are expecting more of the moving of God in our lives... There is a church building we are looking at right now, and if it be in God's plan, we are hoping to occupy it before too long. Keep this in your prayers, as we're praying for a revival and are needing a larger place. Yours, In His Service,
WITNESS ~ INSTRUCT ~ NURTURE / Volume 1 Issue 3
Mar 9, 2005
SETTING UP REGULAR APPOINTMENTS WITH THE LORD
BACK TO THE KINGDOM - PART II
GREETINGS FROM WHITESTONE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
I trust that it is apparent by now to those of you who have been studying the Bible lesson each of the past two weeks that we are building on a theme of prayer and the study of God's Word designed to draw the student closer to God and help he or she to develop a more intimate and personal relationship with Him.
Presiding Bishop
Freedom Covenant Global Ministries
E-mail:
Website: www.fcgm.org
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SETTING UP REGULAR APPOINTMENTS WITH THE LORD
I. Developing a Devotional Lifestyle
Daniel, a man known for his prayer life, also set aside three times a day with the Lord (see Daniel 6:10).
Read Psalm 65:8
By setting up regular appointments with the Lord (in prayer and the study of his Word), you are setting up a framework where the command to "pray continually" can become a daily reality for you personally. 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Here are a few suggestions that may help you to memorize your memory verses:
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BACK TO THE KINGDOM - PART II
Last week, we began laying the framework for our article "Back to the Kingdom" by looking at a passage of Scripture found in the Book of Acts to help us establish, for comparison sake, a pattern of conduct within the early church. Our goal through this continued series will be to determine how far removed the 21st century church has become from this pattern in order to better understand its condition. As stated previously, for the purposes of our examination, we will work on the premise that "with all things being equal, we can expect the same end result." Let's read the passage again.
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GREETINGS FROM WHITESTONE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Greetings in the name of our Redeemer and Lord !
Rev. B.L. Laster
Whitestone Christian Fellowship
Tucson Arizona
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