October 27

TEN DANGEROUS POSSESSIONS

(GROWING UP IN GOD)

#3 ABILITY WITHOUT CHARACTER

According to Bill Britton:

-"Ability is a wonderful possession, but without godly character behind it, it is dangerous and destructive both to yourself and others. Seemingly everyone does not have great ability, but there is no excuse for not having a Christian character. Anyone, with the help of the Holy Spirit, can develop a Christ-like nature and character. No matter how much or how little ability you have, you do not have to be corrupt, deceitful, dishonest, or greedy. God is more interested in you being like Jesus in character, rather than you having His power and authority." ( Ten Dangerous Possessions, Bill Britton )

-The word “character” means: the features and traits that form the individual nature of a person or thing. The character and nature that we are speaking of is ( of course ) the character and nature of God. This character ( through partaking of God’s divine nature ) is to be written on our hearts. God gives men and women ability to do certain things, giving some tremendous ability, that is, above and beyond the ability of others. It is very important that we realize that to whom much is given, MUCH IS REQUIRED! With this God-given ability comes a calling. THIS CALLING INVOLVES US BEING CONFORMED TO THE CHARACTER AND NATURE OF GOD! Without the character ( nature ) of God in our lives, ability becomes a dangerous possession that will be used for self-promotion, corruption, deceitfulness, dishonesty, and greed. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WITH SO MUCH ABILITY, HAVING SO LITTLE OF THE CHARACTER OF GOD IN THEIR LIVES!!!

-The Bible refers to a person not having the character of God as a WORKER OF INIQUITY. This is to be found in Matthew 7:22,23. A “worker of iniquity” refers to a lawless person, speaking of lawlessness, and refers to people who do not have God’s laws written on their hearts. The people spoken of in this passage possessed tremendous ability, being able to prophesy, cast out demons, and do many wonderful works in the name of the Lord, but did not possess the character ( nature ) of God. They did not experientially know God. These people will depart into judgment for the purpose of correction. The purpose of the correction will be to have the character of God applied to their heart and life.

-As for the true servants of God, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF HAVING THE DIVINE CHARACTER ( NATURE ) WRITTEN ON OUR HEARTS. May we be diligent to pray for godly character, for ability without character is …

-A DANGEROUS POSSESSION!-