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    Evolution of a Christ- Centered Life
    Evolution of a Christ- Centered Life
    Evolution of a Christ- Centered Life
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    Evolution of a Christ- Centered Life

    By Calvin Barnes Jr.

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    About this ebook

    We are living in such a time that mediocrity is the norm when it come to the things of the Spirit. Only when we learn to truly live a Christ-centered life can we experience the God we read about on Sunday mornings. As you read this book the goal is that you allow the Holy Spirit to constantly evolve you into the image of Christ. This journey is not for the faint of heart; it will require you to give up everything, but if you are willing to yield to the direction of the Holy Spirit, your life will never be the same.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXlibris US
    Release dateMay 10, 2020
    ISBN9781984578518
    Evolution of a Christ- Centered Life
    Author

    Calvin Barnes Jr.

    Calvin Barnes Jr. has been a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for a period of 23 years. He accepted his call to ministry in August 1997. Mr. Barnes also served as an Elder for Word Alive Christian Church for a decade and has a weekly radio ministry that reaches many with the message of the cross. Calvin resides in Northwest Florida with his wife Marsha and their children.

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      Book preview

      Evolution of a Christ- Centered Life - Calvin Barnes Jr.

      Copyright © 2020 by Calvin Barnes Jr.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      Rev. date: 05/07/2020

      Xlibris

      1-888-795-4274

      www.Xlibris.com

      812673

      Dedication

      Marsha C. Barnes,

      the love of my life

      My legacy:

      Jenae

      Ja’quaria

      Olivia

      Ashli

      Autumn

      Calvin III

      Jonathan

      Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      Chapter 1   No Other Gods

      Subtle Idols

      Total Submission

      Signs of Potential Idols in Your Life

      Time consuming.

      Idols control your emotional well-being. It can make you high, and it can make you low.

      Idols cause you to compromise the principles of God.

      Idols have a tendency to be the object of your affections.

      You participate in the things of God only for others to validate you.

      The Cycle of Idol Worship

      There Is Only One True God

      God with Us

      Summary of No Other Gods

      Chapter 2   Death to Self

      The Art of Dying

      The One You Feed Will Be Dominant

      The Importance of Fasting

      Humility

      The Defeat of Temptation

      Love Not the World

      Dying Daily

      Chapter 3   Heavy Diet of the Word

      Hearers and Doers of the Word

      Encouragement and Conviction

      Knowing Him through the Word

      Chapter 4   Pray without Ceasing

      The Frequency of Prayer

      Staying in the Closet

      The Lord’s Prayer (Jesus’s Example of How We Should Pray)

      Going to God as Judge

      Chapter 5   Understanding Your Identity

      The Sonship

      The Achievement Trap

      Never Settle for Less

      Chapter 6   Personal Inventory and Spiritual Discipline

      Inventory of the Heart

      Spiritual Discipline

      Chapter 7   Learning to Suffer

      A Great Cloud of Witnesses

      The Fellowship of His Suffering

      Obedience and Suffering

      Chapter 8   Walking by Faith

      Shield of Faith

      Chapter 9   A Matter of Character

      Character Has to Be Intentional

      Refining Character

      Conclusion

      About the Author

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      In loving memory of

      Johnny E. Owen

      Derrell A. Jenkins

      Cody Kennedy

      Special Acknowledgement:

      Pastor David Richardson

      Apostle Willie Inman

      Merrie Jo Owen

      Valerie Johnson

      Sobrina Rattler

      INTRODUCTION

      T HIS BOOK WAS birthed out of my personal evolution of developing a Christ-centered life. If I were to take a poll of my fellow believers who consider themselves followers of Jesus and the following question was proposed, Are you truly living a Christ-centered life? I would almost guarantee that the majority of the people surveyed would answer yes. But the truth of the matter is that the modern church, especially here in the West, has no real concept of being totally devoted to Christ. Most Christians live two separate lives: we have our Sunday facades, and we have our secular lives. We try to keep our secular lives for our own benefit, and we keep our so-called spiritual lives for God; and we are all too content on keeping these two worlds separate. In the eyes of God, he doesn’t separate our lives by church life and secular life. God sees us as a complete being, and he wants to get his glory through us. In fact, Jesus is concerned about every aspect of my life—from my relationship with him to my career and marriage and every detail of my life. My sincere desire is for you to have a personal encounter with Jesus that evolves into a lifelong love affair, one that changes everything about who you are. I wish I could give you a magic pill or some sort of formula to help you with this transition, but life is a journey of highs and lows. Somewhere within this quest, if you search with all your heart, Jesus our Savior is waiting to become the most significant part of your life. Imagine for a moment the God of the universe standing and knocking on the door of your heart. All you must do is open the door and allow him to come in. Our Heavenly Father wants to fellowship with us constantly; he wants us to go beyond simply giving our lives to him at the point of salvation.

      The Bible says in Hebrews 4:16 that we can come boldly before the throne of grace. When I think of the word boldly, I realize that it implies confidence. So once I’ve accepted him as Lord and Savior, I’m now able to enjoy a level of intimacy like no other. The word evolution means the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form. I caution you to not get confused by the word evolution because I believe scripture supports that Jesus finished everything on the cross, and our evolution consists of only discovering through a relationship with him the promises of an abundant life. As you continue to read this book, you will discover the Christ-centered evolution that comes from a life of being committed to the teachings and principles of Jesus. We must realize and understand that Jesus is the source of our evolution. Without him, true change will not happen. I’ve been guilty of reading blogs and self-help books, trying to transform myself into what I thought was the perfect Christian, only to discover that I fell short. I ended up with feelings of failure and defeat. Although I may have had good intentions and my motives were sincere, I still could not make any real changes in my life without the help of the Holy Spirit. At the time of writing this book, I am two weeks from my forty-sixth birthday, and I have been saved since the age of twenty-two. For most my adult life, I have been in the ministry. The next statement I’m about to say pains me to my heart, but it’s a statement of fact and is the real motivation behind this book. For at least 90 percent of my Christian walk (ministry included), I have not lived a Christ-centered life. I was like the average American Christian: I perceived Jesus like a genie in the bottle who was ready to grant me my heart’s desire. The Christianity I signed up for was blessings and pie in the sky with no real-life change.

      Only after my family was in jeopardy of falling apart did I really begin to discover the awesome experience of a Christ-centered life. Through my pain and tears, I encountered the Jesus I preached and read about for years. Jesus was no longer a figure in history or someone that I knew a few facts about. He was a real presence in my life. I began to long for the personal-prayer time. He became so real to me that my life was changed! The scriptures literally began to jump off the pages, and God was speaking to me so clear. As I began to reflect on my new relationship with the Holy Spirit, I began to develop a burden for Christians who suffered from what I had been through. My hope and desire is that this book will be a lifeline to help you develop a Christ-centered life.

      Let the evolution begin …

      CHAPTER 1

      No Other Gods

      Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

      —Exodus 20:3 KJV

      A S CHRISTIANS, WE are very familiar with this scripture, and most of us will

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