"Simon told how God first looked upon the Gentiles to choose from among them a people to bear his name. (Acts 15:14) He looked away from His chosen people to the nations. This is the Grace of God. When it becomes repetitive and habitual, it becomes a danger to you. But when you realize what God has done for you, then you are grateful.
When you are asked to host someone, be hospitable. If God allows you to be asked, then there is a blessing for you. Do not be heavy, but be light-hearted.
Colossians 1:1-5 / Ephesians 1:1
Paul is speaking to a particular people. When we preach the Word, we want those who receive the Word to keep it in their hearts. The Word must fall on good soil to produce fruit. Listening to the Word is good, but we must pay attention to it in its depth. "Therefore we thank God continually that when you received the word of God, which we made known to you, you did not receive it as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which works in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13) When you receive the Word, it produces transformation in you. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, love follows. You can have faith, but faith in what? In Jesus Christ.
Acts 3:12-16
When you have faith in Him, it is because you recognize that He is the most important. You rely on Him, you are sure that what He says is the truth. "I give you a new commandment: Love one another; as I have loved you, so you also should love one another. (John 13: 34) My obedience is conditioned by Him.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Everything revolves around Him. My faith must have a true foundation. You have to be certain that He has the ability to change you. We often focus on the apostles, Peter, Paul or John, but they never did anything to draw attention to themselves but always to Jesus Christ. They lived for this Jesus. "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; but say only one word, and my servant will be healed. (Matthew 8:8) This is full conviction. You must have this Jesus Christ. Your confidence cannot be in a man. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man" (Jeremiah 17:5) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; And teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus Christ had to be able to speak, but what did He say? The Yahweh of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament.
Our life should go from progress to progress. If not, then somewhere along the line of Balaam, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) God does not change his way. He has chosen Levites for service. Not another but a Levite. They were chosen by God Himself. When God came in the flesh, He called each of the apostles. He Himself made the choice and He taught them. You can't talk about someone you don't know. "He said to them, "And you, who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15) They needed to know who He was. Jesus did not set up biblical schools, but it is a divine call. God calls men, He equips men. "But when it pleased Him who set me apart from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I should preach Him among the Gentiles, immediately I consulted neither flesh nor blood, and did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me but departed to Arabia. (Galatians 1:15-17) "For I received from the Lord what I taught you; that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread" (1 Corinthians 11:23) Paul was not there at the Holy Supper with the Lord but the Lord instructed him. For someone to preach the Word of God, he must have received the Word and God must have taught him. God does not send you to biblical school but to the school of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 1:11-17
Paul trusted in Jesus and Jesus took him in. God wants to do the same for you. A chosen one is different in the way he receives the Word.
Philippians 1:3-5
Every son and daughter of God focuses on this Gospel and that is what brings us into the new covenant. Everything on this earth will pass away. "Whereas by the same word the heavens and the earth from henceforth are kept and reserved for fire, for the day of judgment and of destruction of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:7) The salvation of your souls is important to God, do not let this Grace pass you by.
When you have put your trust in God, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) then nothing can stop you from loving and serving this God. I need to hold on to this Jesus. We don't need religion but only this Jesus.
"God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:27). "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15) We are to be in the image of Jesus Christ. "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). "And as we have borne the image of the earthly, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly." (1 Corinthians 15:49) "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope by your calling; there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and among all and in all." (Ephesians 4: 4-6) What the Bible had to declare should be the object of our aspiration.
1 John 2:3-11
When you know Him, you hold to what He has said. The first command is "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) If you don't love God, how can you love your brother? When you love God, God's love makes you love the other. "Having purified your souls by obeying the truth to have sincere brotherly love, love one another ardently with all your heart" (1 Peter 1:22) We know that we have passed from death to life through love for brothers and sisters. When you love your brother with a sincere love, you are truly saved.
If you believe that you are the light then you are doing the works of the light. We are called to be part of the Gospel. "Let no one seek his own interest, but let each one seek the interest of another." (1 Corinthians 10:24) At Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down, they desired to put everything together. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35) Why then are you stingy? "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) Trust God. When the Word is preached to you, what does it do in you? The Word of God produces faith in the Gospel and that produces love. A son or daughter of God is not selfish, he or she does not calculate for the other. Generosity is part of the life of a believer. Giving, loving, serving are part of the life of a believer. Do not expect anything in return because God will take care of you.