Month: July 2015

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A New Home: Our Glorious Hope

8th July

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone forever.””

Revelations 21:3-4

Have you experienced what it is like to come to the end of a long race or finally finished a long assignment or task. The elation we feel, when we know its finally over, is almost indescribable. The big sigh of relief, the weight lifted off your shoulders and the joy in your heart are just some of the emotions running around our hearts and minds. The good news is that one day we will have the same feeling, just highly intensified.

How great to reach Heaven’s gates and hear the voice of our Master calling us saying, “well done My child, you made it!” Or the promise we have of eternal life spent without the pain of failure, without the hurt of death, without sadness, mourning, and sorrow. Without grief, anxiety and tears. It will be so great to finally be rid of all struggles and strife, of selfish desires and lies.

Finally, we won’t need to pray in faith, but talk face to face with God Himself. We will finally meet our Risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We will experience His glorious light and love, His warm loving embrace. We will be filled with joy, laughter and happiness. We will experience continuous angelic worship.

All these things are promised to us and that day will come soon. Let us renew our hope in everlasting life. Let us keep pressing on in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit, not giving up, not falling into temptation, but living pure and blameless lives so when that day finally comes when Jesus returns, we will be called home and into His everlasting glory. If you are tired and weary and fed up or life’s hardships, please don’t give up. There is hope. Just keep pressing on a little longer. Jesus Himself promised that the end will soon come.

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The Alpha And Omega

7th July

“And He also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and Omega-the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life””

Revelations 21:6

Today’s world is full of uncertainty. We read of perilous financial times in Greece, wars and terrorism across the world and violent acts of murder across the lands. Yet there is one person that is sure and consistent in this ever changing world, JESUS CHRIST!

Before time even began, Jesus was. He was before Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was there when the world was first formed. He didn’t just exist after He was born as a Human on Earth. He has always existed. As the writer of Revelation tells us in his wonderful descriptive words, Jesus is and will always be the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is our Constant in an ever changing world. He is our Hope when we live around such great uncertainty. He is our Security when life seems full of fear. He is our Protection, our Guide, and our Sustainer.

What’s more, we have the promise that if we are thirsty for Him, He will quench our thirst and reveal more of Himself to those who are seeking Him. The more we put our trust in Him, the less we need to worry about the calamities around us. His refreshing springs from the water of life, provide healing for our scars, freedom for our bondage and liberation from our sins. Although this passage talks about life after Jesus’ final victory, we can experience that blessing now, here on earth. Jesus is alive today. He can work in our situations today. He is alive, He is not dead and He reigns victoriously giving faith and hope to all who seek Him. Put your trust in the the Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords.

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Blessings Await Those Who Are Obedient

6th July

“Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying His commands.”

Psalm 112:1

This wonderful poetic psalm is such an encouragement to the reader. It highlights the key blessings of obeying God commands. However, the psalmist highlights that the blessings are not just in begrudgingly obeying but in joyful obedience and submission to them.

It is one thing to acknowledge that we need to honour and fear God in our decisions, our thoughts and actions, yet the motivation behind it cannot be out of duty, but rather should be out of our heart wanting to please our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we do obey and honour God, there are countless blessings that await. Our children will be successful and blessed, our characters will shine out God’s riches and we will not be overcome by evil. God will shine a light in dark places to lead and guide us. We will be confident and fearless and be able to face adversity triumphantly. We will be so blessed that when we hear of bad news, we wont fear it because of the confident trust we have in the Lord’s care. We will be known for our generosity, compassion and righteousness. We will lend money generously and conduct our business affairs fairly. We give money to those in need and have influence and honour in society..

These things are not fantasy, they are God’s promises! There are in God’s word for a reason. They are the blessings of obediently following the Lord’s commands faithfully and joyfully. In His commands we do find direction, hope and joy. Let them come alive and be evident in your life so we can reap the blessing of an obedient child of God.

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The Short Man With A Big Heart

3rd & 4th July

Weekend Edition

“When Jesus came by, He looked up at the Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today!” Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.”

Luke 19:5-6

News of Jesus’ arrival in Jericho quickly reached the ears of the eager Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had a reputation of being a shrewd and dishonest tax collector who had gained his wealth by cheating people on their taxes. He was not a very popular man, much like every other tax collector in Jesus’ time.

When Zacchaeus heard Jesus was coming to town, he made every effort to see Jesus, but due the large crowds and his short height, his vision was blocked. However, his desperation to see Jesus soon found him climbing a sycamore tree in hope of catching a glimpse of the Son of David. As Jesus neared the tree Zacchaeus had climbed, he called out to Zacchaeus by name and invited Himself to his house. Without hesitation and much to his delight, Zacchaeus climbed down the tree and took Jesus to his home.

While they were enjoying a meal together in the home of Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus convicted by the very presence and acceptance from Jesus, repented of his wrongdoing and promised to repay the evil he had done to the people he had cheated. Jesus applauded Zacchaeus’ noble actions and said that “salvation has come to this home today.”

Jesus’ agenda on this earth was always to “seek and save the lost.” He came for people like Zacchaeus. He came to show us that even sinful tax collectors can receive His grace. Jesus broke every cultural and religious rule by inviting Himself to eat with an unclean man, yet that didn’t bother Jesus at all. He was more interested in the heart of Zacchaeus and saw in him purpose, hope and a future. After Zacchaeus had experienced such tender loving care from Jesus, His life was completely changed. He realised his sinful actions, repented and set out to live a completely different lifestyle, a lifestyle that honoured God and brought glory to His name.

We too can know we are loved and accepted by a kind and gracious God despite of our sinful nature. He also wants to know us personally and wants to have an intimate relationship with us too. Will you accept Jesus’ invite into your heart? Has your life been transformed by meeting Jesus?

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Hallelujah Anyway

3rd July

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them!”

Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Although this is a previous post, I wanted to share it again as it is appropriate for my life now and I am sure will be a great help to somebody else today.

I was talking with a colleague about something that had frustrated us both. It was a situation out of our hands yet needed to have some urgent attention. After discussing the difficulties I left her office and as I was walking out she shouted “Hallelujah Anyway”. What a fantastic statement of faith, contentment and trust in an Almighty God.

This verse sums up the “Hallelujah Anyway” statement. For if we know that God is in control then what is the need to worry. Worrying put us in the position of God and takes away the trust we have in God to help us through our situations, Interestingly the NLT version of this verse varies slightly from others. More often than not we hear the version that says “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God…..”, however this version claims that “God causes everything to work together…”. The focus varies from things changing to God working. The emphasis is not on our circumstances but on God, the author of life. It is God who is working in our lives to resolves all things for His glory. Sometimes it might not be that the situation or problem changes as YOU might like, but what is guaranteed is the fact that whatever the problem, God will make good from a challenging situation in accordance with His perfect will for your life. It takes faith to trust Him but the benefit is we allow God to work and don’t try to fix things in our strength!

Whatever you face today, take courage that God is at work in your situation if you allow Him in. Shout out that no matter what happens in your day “Hallelujah Anyway!!!”

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What Is Better Than God’s Presence?

2nd July

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul I will shout joyfully to the living God.”

Psalm 84:1-2

Imagine a world where believers have such desperation to meet God and to have intimate and deep relationships with Him. Imagine if believers would have such a sense of longing for the presence of God that it pained them to not be in His presence. Where Christians would shout joyfully to the Lord from the bottom of their hearts and worship Him with their whole being! Is it possible?

It can and should be possible.

We are living in an age of grace where God sent His only Son to die for us and to rise again so we can have an intimate relationship with the Creator of the world. We have the opportunity to access the presence of God wherever we are, whatever we are doing and whatever time of day. God never sleeps, is never too busy for us and is never shy. Wouldn’t it be great if we invited the tangible presence of God on the train on the way to work, while in meetings, around the dinner tables, in our schools and homes. Yet so often we wait for Sunday to come and then decide to worship Him with all our hearts. God isn’t just alive one day out of the week. He is alive everyday!

We shouldn’t just be waiting for Heaven to worship God day and night but start now. Let us include God in all we do. Let us pray that we would have such a strong desire for the presence of God in our lives that in would pain our hearts not to be in His presence. Let us join with the psalmist and worship God with our whole being. It is possible…. We just have to want it!

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Faith To Believe Without Seeing

1st July

“Then they told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But He replied, “I wont believe it unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hands into the wound in His side.””

Luke 24:30-31

For eight days Thomas, after hearing the disciples (his friends) tell him that they had seen the risen Jesus, doubted that Jesus was truly alive. Earlier in the passage we read that two of the disciples (maybe not part of the 12), were walking with Jesus and their eyes could not open to the true identity of Jesus. But they had not heard that Jesus had risen. Yet Thomas, whose own friends had told him that they had seen Jesus alive doubted.

In verse 27 Jesus again approaches the disciples with peace and then calms every doubt Thomas had about Him. In fact, Jesus responds with the very same words Thomas had used, by confirming that it was really Him, “Put your fingers here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side.” At once Thomas cried out in belief that Jesus in his Lord and God.

It can be said that we are all on a Thomas journey. We may have heard of Jesus, we may know who He is through the Bible, but may have not yet had a personal revelation of Jesus in our lives. However it takes a personal encounter with Christ to fully recognise who He is for ourselves and to understand His kind, gracious and loving character towards us. We move from doubt to fully trusting in Him.

We are even more blessed today, that we believe without seeing Jesus face to face. However, His character and attributes can so easily be seen, not only in creation but also through the kind outworking of Jesus’ character in and through the lives of believers across the world. If we say we have met the risen King, then we should be doing our best to show Him to others through the way we are living our lives! Let us move from doubt to belief and from living for ourselves to living for Christ.