Month: January 2016

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Live As Christ Lived

20th January

“But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we can know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”

1 John 2:5-6

As the stone rolled back and Jesus’ earthly body was resurrected, a great victory took place, both on this earth and in the Heavenly realms. The angels celebrated, humanity celebrated and we too now celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death. Our commission on this earth is to simply live as Christ did, and make His Name known among the world. Christ lived to serve others. He lived to show God’s love, grace and compassion to all, even to those who hated Him. He lived to bring healing to the sick, the burdened, the lost, the spiritually oppressed and the marginalised. Yet above all, He came to make a way that we can receive forgiveness from our sins, through His substitutional sacrifice for us. In other words, He took our place on the cross.

It is because of what Jesus did on the cross that we too can live for Him, obey His word and replicating His loving, kind and compassionate deeds on this earth. Yes there will be times when we slip up and fall very short of the standard of living Jesus set, but as it says in the beginning of John’s letter in verse 1 and 2 “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ…..the sacrifice that atones for our sins – not only our sins but the sins of the world.” Friends may we show how much we love Christ by living for Him, reflecting His character in our schools, homes, work and communities. Let us live for Jesus, turn away from our sins and keep our eyes fixed on Him.

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Restoration

19th January

“But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatten calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry.”

Luke 15:22-24

Jesus in Luke 15 tells 3 separate parables, highlighting the joy of when something lost is found. The most famous of these is probably the story of the prodigal son, who left home taking with him his portion of his father’s inheritance. He squandered all he had on prodigal living and ended up feeding pigs in the fields. He eventually came to his senses and decided to go home and ask for forgiveness from his father.

As the son approaches home, incredibly the father rushes out to greet his once lost son, throws his arms around him and declares that his ‘dead’ son is now alive. Moreover, he restores the son by giving him three items. The first a robe, to symbolise status, a ring, to symbolise authority and sandals, to symbolise his liberation from slave like living and to affirm his status as a son of his father‘s household.

Much has been made of the true meaning of this parable by commentators and scholars alike. Is this a parable depicting the journey of a Christian who was once fallen away from the church, and God the Father waiting patiently to reconcile that person back to Him? Or is it our daily relationship with Father God; our daily sins and rebellion, forgiven by a loving Father, full of grace and mercy? We could probably argue for both viewpoints, yet what is key to this parable, is truly the grace, mercy and love of a compassionate Father, who is in the business of restoring broken things, ie.. US. Our Heavenly Father does beckon us back when we fall away from Him, when we sin and rebel against His holy standards. He does adorn us with royal robes and give us the status of being sons and daughters of His Kingdom. He does restore us and give all the benefits of His inheritance for us, even when we don’t deserve it. That is grace. That is love. That is our God.

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A Simple Word

18th January

“That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick.”

Matthew 8:16

After Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law, many came to Him, bringing their sick and spiritually possessed to Jesus. Matthew records this event in just one simple verse. Of course there are many other occasions where Jesus healed the sick and delivered the spiritually oppressed. But this verse stands out for the simplicity in which Jesus performed His miracle. Matthew tells us that Jesus cast out the evil spirits and healed the sick with a ‘simple command’. Other translations write, that it was with just a ‘word’, yet what is incredible, is the power of Jesus’ ‘word’ or ‘simple command’!

If we believe that Jesus lives in us, then guess what, that same power also lives in us. Yes, the same power that rose Jesus from the dead lives in us. What is more exciting is the authority of Jesus’ words. We often build up sickness and the demonic to be on an equal level with Christ or at least His opposite, yet in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus was and is and always will be. Sickness is temporary. The enemy’s work on this earth is temporary. Pain, sadness and sorrow is temporary. Why? Because, Jesus is greater that all the above and has the victory and authority to overcome them all. Guess what? We do too… When we pray in Jesus’ Name, we bring the power of God into our situations and the victory that that brings. The power of Heaven invades the earth. After all, do we not pray Jesus’ model prayer…‘let Your kingdom and Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven?‘ This is no meant to be an inspirational philosophy or ideology.. This is the truth. In Jesus’ Name we have the victory. We live in His victory.

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Following Jesus

16 -17th January

Weekend Edition

“When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. But when Jesus touched her hand the fever left her. The she got up and prepared a meal for Him.”

Matthew 8:14-15

Jesus is our healer. He healed so many people throughout His life on this earth and continues to heal people today. He is as alive now, as He was when He walked on this earth over 2,000 years ago. His healing in our lives is not just limited to physical healing, but emotional healing, spiritual healing and mental healing. He truly is our healer. Yet what is our response when we have received a touch from Jesus?

As Jesus entered Peter’s house, it came to His attention that Peter’s mother-in-law had a fever. In Jesus’ time, there was probably no Lemsip or anti-flu jabs that you could take. So when a fever came, it was a serious affair. Yet for Jesus nothing was impossible. He reached out, took her hand and the fever left immediately. Jesus’ miracle was incredible, yet the reaction of Peter’s mother-in-law is what stands out most in this passage. As soon as the fever left her, she got out of bad and started to prepare a meal for Jesus.

This is so significant in our lives. For many, we have received a healing touch from Jesus Christ. He may of healed us physically, spiritually, emotionally or mentally. But rather than get up and serve Him, we have stagnated and gone ‘back to bed’. Today, the call is here. Dust yourself off. Live in the healing of Jesus’ miraculous work in your life and start serving the One who made you whole. Serving is not out of duty but out of a heart of thankfulness and gratitude. So it was the same with Peter’s mother-in-law.

We must believe that Jesus has the power over of sickness, whatever that may be, but also that He has the power to completely restore and transform our lives. May we dust ourselves off, get up out of ‘bed’ and serve the Lord with gladness and joy, celebrating His healing in our lives and hearts.

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Our Great High Priest

15th January

“He is the kind of High Priest we need because He is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honour in Heaven. Unlike those other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. BUT JESUS DID THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL WHEN HE OFFERED HIMSELF AS THE SACRIFICE FOR PEOPLE’S SINS.”

Hebrews 7:26-27

The most comforting thing about living a life for Christ, is that we do not worship a religion but a person, Jesus. It is for that reason that there is no long list of rules and regulations that we have to adhere to, in order to reach God. Yes of course God has set us guidelines of holy living in His word (the Bible), but the reason we are saved from our sins, is not because we have followed ‘the rules’ meticulously but rather because we have faith in Jesus Christ, and because we believe and accept that His victory on the cross, was more than enough to save us from our sins. It is because we believe that by the grace and the free gift of Jesus’ redeeming love, we have had our guilty verdict overturned and are pronounced innocent by the Judge, Almighty God.

Jesus, the perfect, sinless Saviour, offered Himself on our behalf to pay the debt we owed. Notice the words the writer of Hebrews uses, ‘Jesus did this once and for all’! Yes, you can smile! You can lift your voice in thanks! Jesus’ sacrifice was not something He had to do over and over again. It was an exchange between God and humanity. Our wretched and filthy sins were exchanged to clothes of righteousness. It was a ‘once and for all’ action.

It is in this forgiveness and acceptance that we can find our peace, joy and purpose in life. We are loved by the creator of this world. And it is by His grace that we can live for Him and love Him too.

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No Longer Slaves To Sin

14th January

“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him.”

Romans 6:6-8

The book of Romans contains such wonderful good news about Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and His victory over the power of sin and death. It encourages us to know who we are in Christ and how we can know our identity as sons and daughters of the Most High God. It also highlights the extent of Jesus’ love for us and the power of that love, to change us from sinners and enemies of God to children of God, sharing in the inheritance of all God has for us, both here on this earth and in Heavenly places.

Today’s verse highlights the simplicity of the gospel and the power of what Jesus did on the cross. As Jesus hung on the cross to die to pay for our wrong-doings, all of humanities sins were placed on His shoulders, from the beginning of time to the end of time. Everything we have ever done and will ever do was nailed to Jesus at the cross. As Jesus died on the cross, so did the power of sin over our lives. And when He rose victorious on the third day, Jesus defeated the enemy, and made a way that we can boldly approach the throne of God, without the label of sinner over us. We now can come as children approaching their Father.

Moreover, because of Jesus’ victory, we too can share in that inheritance and walk in victory in our lives too. We are no longer slaves to sin because Jesus defeated the power of sin’s hold in our lives. We are free from the power of sin. All we need to do is walk in the victory of Christ. We are no longer dead in our sins but alive in Christ Jesus.

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Give Without Expecting A Return

13th January

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Luke 6:38

True generosity gives without expecting a return. In fact, in the previous verses, Jesus says the following, ‘Love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid‘. The Kingdom principle is to give to others without expecting to receive back. However, there is good news. Jesus promised that when we do give, our Heavenly Father who sees all, will bless us and in return, what we give, will be given back to us, even more than we gave in the first place. Yet, what we receive in return should never be the motivation of our giving. There is no formula. We give, because all we have is God’s anyway. We give from God’s storehouse, not our own. We give back to Him, what He has already given to us. It is by the grace of God that He blesses us when we give.

Moreover, when we give, especially to those who we feel might not deserve our gifts, we replicate the actions of the our Heavenly Father, ‘…you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked’ (v35). Our Heavenly Father is compassionate, and likewise, we are commanded to be the same. Let us not withhold the blessings we have freely and generously received. May we freely give our time, our love, our money and our compassion.

We love because we have first been love by God. We give because we first have received from God.

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The Father Who Gives Good Gifts

12th January

“You parents – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.”

Matthew 7:9-11

Jesus, in His sermon on the mount, addresses the issue of giving (and asking). He alludes to a parent and child relationship as an example to explain His message. He asks His audience a rhetorical question, ‘if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?’. The obvious answer of any good parent would be ‘of course not’ right? Parents want to give their children the best they have to offer. Jesus then explains that, if we as sinful people (compared to God), know how to give good gifts, then can you imagine how much more our Heavenly Father has in store for us?

Yet there are two problems with this example. Firstly – What if my earthly parents did give me a ‘stone’ when I asked for bread? Secondly – I feel to ashamed to ask God for anything.

The great news to both those questions, is that God is a kind, generous and compassionate Father. He truly does want to give us good gifts. The greatest gift He gave us was Jesus; so if that is a measure of His goodness, can you imagine what else He has in store for us. Our earthly parents may not have set a good model of generosity, but as we grow in our understanding of who God is, we soon discover what a wonderfully generous God we serve. So much so that Jesus Himself tells us that we should not hesitate to ask God for anything in faith, ‘Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for.’ Know this; God wants to bless us with every good and perfect gift. He wants to shower His love and kindness over His beloved children. We are His children. Let us open our arms and hearts to receive all that He has for us.

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It’s Better To Give

11th January

“Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then He will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.”

Proverbs 3:9-10

The principle of giving should be an evident fruit in any believers life. Not just financial giving, but giving of time, acts of kindness and love, and service towards others. Yet the principle of giving is not made up but the writer of proverbs or some other human writer, it is a principle that comes from God Himself.

Father God knew that His relationship with mankind had been severed by man’s sin in the garden of Eden. He knew the only way to restore that relationship was to send Jesus Christ, His One and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins, to pay the debt we owed and restore mankind’s relationship with God. In other words, God sent His best, His Son Jesus to this earth, for our sakes.

Yet God’s gifts started way back from the beginning of time. He gave humanity trees and crops to bear fruit and vegetables, He gave Adam Eve as a partner, He gave women the ability to reproduce, and even though man sinned when they ate the forbidden fruit, He continued to pour His love, grace and mercy on mankind throughout history.

We have been set the greatest example of giving by the creator of every good perfect gift. Let us remember that all we have is a gift from God; whether financial wealth, friends, family, property, food on your table and clothes on your back. All we have and are is a gift from God. It should be our pleasure to replicate our Father’s action, in our generosity both to God (firstly) and to others.

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Faithfulness That Reaches The Clouds

9th -10th January

Weekend Edition

“For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May Your glory shine over all the earth.”

Psalm 57:10-11

It is a great joy to know that our God is faithful. He keeps His promises and never lets us down. He is there when we need Him, forgives when we don’t deserve it and freely showers us with His grace. It is no wonder David used such descriptive words to describe God’s faithfulness. ‘Your love is as high as the heavens’ and ‘Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds‘. David’s words are so expressive and so heart-felt. It’s almost like when children say, ‘I love you to the moon and back’. There is no measure of that love but you know that when it is said, it comes from a heart completely given over to love.

It is with that same love that David loved God. He truly knew first hand of God’s faithfulness. In fact this psalm was written when God delivered David from Saul’s persecution. We must take time to look upon our lives and reflect on the victories won through Christ, so that we may remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness and unfailing love towards us. His love truly is unmeasurable and His faithfulness is un-ending. May God’s glory shine in us and through us as we celebrate His goodness towards us.