The Disciplined Lifestyle of the

VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN

The 5-Fold Necessity is the means of the Disciplined Lifestyle of the True Disciple of Christ who in turn is a truly Victorious Christian. These five elements are inseparable, they are unified together in one, complementing each other for a whole work. In order to be successful in any one of these areas one would have to be successful in the whole working, for of necessity, each one leads to (and/or) from another. If one is weak in any one of these elements, then he or she is weak in every one of them.

PRAYER: The Christian life begins with prayer, continues through prayer, and will consumate in the sealing-up by prayer. Consequently, anything we accomplish in this world (of any true value, lasting eternally,) will follow that same pattern. Pray without ceasing [1 Thessalonians 5:17]. Jesus would that men ought always to pray, and not to faint [Luke 18:1]. If you have not yet begun a regular time of scheduled prayer, do so quickly. If you already have a scheduled time set aside for meditation and prayer, God bless you. But please don't limit your prayer efforts to any single certain time. Be always in prayer. Do nothing without prayer. Make every decision prayerfully. In this way, you will be led and guided By the Holy Spirit in everything you think, say and do.

BIBLE: We will not pray according to His will if we do not know His will and we will never truly know His will apart from Scripture. Here we see the inter-locking-work of Bible and Prayer. It is no more than the principle of conversation between two. He speaks, I hear. I speak, He hears. God is speaking through His Word, I am speaking through my prayers. Jesus says: Lo, I am with you always, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee [Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5]. If I am to be a companion to Him who is always with me, then surely I should hear what He is saying. Our scheduled private time of prayer and meditation should surely include some Scripture. I think it is sad that most of us have never read the Bible through (at least once). There are many Bible Reading Programs available to help schedule a Daily Reading that will take us through the entire Bible in a year, reading a few minutes each day.

CHURCH: Whenever you hear the word "church" what imediately comes to your mind? Your first reaction to that word tells a lot about where you are spiritually. Of course negative incotations are deadly, and should be dealt with instantly. Nothing effects our prayer life or the understanding of the Bible like our attitude toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you do not yet belong to a local church, seek one out right away, if you need help contact us with your address and we will do our best to locate one (of our denomination) for you. If you are already in a local Bible-believing / preaching / doing-Church then get involved in the work of the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ. We are certain your pastor will be more than glad to help you find an area of ministry.

CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP: Of course, in the church, during service times (for far too many this consists of Sunday Mornings only), you have the priviledge of being together in unison of the faith, but, what about the other (6?) days of the week? Maintain contact through Cell Groups for Bible Study, Prayer, Testimonies and Witnessing Programs. Seek out another Christian in your work place or school with whom you can share your faith, your faults, your needs, your testimonies, your prayer requests and praise reports. Work together with someone in Witnessing or Tract Distribution. We must of necessity find ourselves with the unsaved, for their sakes, but we need not go it alone. Pray and God will send you someone to fellowship with.

WITNESS FOR CHRIST: This is the consumation of the whole of the 5-Fold Necessity. Ye are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven [Matthew 5:14, 16]. The outward working of the Victorious Christian Lifestyle is that others may see your light and glorify your Father which is in heaven. The truly effective witness for Christ is the Victorious Witness. Your Victory in Christ is to become their desire, and of course their desire can only be satisfied as each of them comes to Him in his or her own personal relationship with Him. If they are to see Christ in this world, it is in us that they will see Him. Think of it this way: "Christ in you [their] hope of glory." Tell them by all means, but (by all means) show them by your life!

- Pastor John Lowery -