Twelve Stones - Lesson 4 - Consistency

Joshua 4:21-22, ‘…When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones Then ye shall let your children know…’

The Lord has taken us from captivity and allowed us to enter His Promised Land. We have been in turn handed the awesome responsibility of walking differently of loving differently and teaching differently. Have we forgotten where we came from? Have we forgotten where we are going? Let’s not forget our foundation and let’s certainly not forgetto pass the torch to the next generation.

Last week we reviewed communication and how
we are going to take the Lord’s lead with our communication.

Can anyone give testimony of how they incorporated that practice this week and how it helped?





Some synonyms for the word consistency:
steadiness, reliability, uniformity, evenness, stability and regularity.

The opposite of consistency is of course: inconsistency
Meaning discrepancy, contradiction, variation, irregularity, changeability, unpredictability,

I think we would all agree which one would be a better character trait to have.
Which one would be a better foundational stone to build on.

We need to have a Consistent Life
We reviewed this verse last week as it applied to communication.
Let’s see what we can learn about consistency

Philippians 1:27, ‘Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;’

I believe stand fast speaks of consistency, would you agree?





Philippians 4:1, ‘Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.’

Stand fast maybe meaning hold our ground,
Fight the good fight.

How can this verse help us?





So we need to stand fast.
We need to stand on the Gospel,
We can’t stand there forever,
The Lord has given us something to do.
We each individually were asked to do something for Him.

Ephesians 4:1, ‘I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,’

What has the Lord called you to do?
What can you do to be more consistent in your walk?





So when we know what the Lord’s specific plan is it is easier to walk in that direction.
It will then be easier to please Him, rather than stumbling around
doing what we think He wants us to do.
We need to increase daily.
As we walk in our consistency.

Colossians 1:10, ‘That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;’

What can you share with us about this verse?





I believe we quite often want the Lord to give us something to do that we like.
With the people we like.
Getting rewarded, as we like.

1Thessalonians 4:12, ‘That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. ‘

How consistent are we toward them that are without?

If we are not consistent enough in this area possibly that is why we are lacking in some area?





We need to have a good testimony.
Our testimony needs to be consistent.
Others are watching more than we know.

1Timothy 3:7, ‘Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.’

Rather than me asking how consistent is your testimony,
I will ask how can we make our testimony more consistent?





As far as our testimony I believe,
Our actions should speak so loudly that others cannot hear what we are saying.

James 3:13, ‘Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.’

What does this verse say to you?





We read the word conversation a lot in these verses.
We are talking here about consistent living.
So we are really talking here about consistency coming through in our lives.

2Peter 3:11, ‘Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,’

From all the verses we have read over our lifetime,
We truly know how we need to live.
We don’t need others telling us what we are doing wrong.
You certainly don’t need me telling you what you need to do.

We are going through these scriptures on consistency so the Lord can tell us individually
And help us be more consistent as we ask Him for help.

How should we ask the Lord to help us be more consistent in our walk?





It gets frustrating at times.
Others aren’t consistent.
How come I always have to be consistent?

Others are always pointing out my flaws,
How come I can’t point out theirs?

We aren’t here in class to learn more and impress others.
We aren’t here to learn more on rebuking them when we are wrong.
We are doing this for the Lord.

We need His help for ourselves.
We need His help in taking care of those interfering with our consistency.

Philippians 2:16, ‘Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.’

Closing thoughts from anyone?




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