Month: July 2016

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The Way To Eternal Life

19th July

“And this is the way to have eternal life – to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth”

John 17:3

Jesus, in Matthew 6, taught us how to pray by giving us ‘the Lord’s prayer’. In His model prayer, we are given guidelines to help us structure our prayers and to give us a basis on what we should be praying for. Here, in John 17, Jesus prays another prayer, which we can also use to help us pray. Furthermore, Jesus’ prayer in John 17, gives us a deeper understanding of Jesus’ heart for the nations, His disciples, His role, and His relationship with the Father. There are many key gems contained in His prayer and today’s verse is one of them.

A question that is often asked is, ‘how do I get eternal life?’ or ‘how can I be saved?’ Jesus in His prayer, gives the answer by outlining a very simple truth. The way to eternal life is ‘to know God and Jesus Christ’. So the next question is ‘how do we know God?’. Well, that answer is found in verse 6, “I have revealed You to the ones you gave me from this world”. How do we know God? Through Jesus. Jesus was both 100% fully God and 100% fully man. All the ideas of who God is, what His character was like, who His heart was for, was found in Jesus. How Jesus acted was like God acts! How He talked was like God talks! What He did was what God does! They are the same. Jesus was God on earth. Jesus revealed God’s nature, character and heart because He was God!

How can we get eternal life? By knowing God! How can we know God? By knowing Jesus!

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Jesus’ Prayer

18th July

“I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.”

John 17:15

We live in a sinful world. It is a fact. However, living in a sinful world doesn’t automatically qualify us to live sinfully. Sometimes when we pray, we pray prayers that ask God to remove us from being surrounded by sin or even to remove us from this world completely. Yet when Jesus came to this earth, did He ask for those things? No! Jesus came for the sake of the fallen world. He came directly to live in a sinful world and to surround Himself with sinful people. Yet He was not content in just mingling with ‘sinners’ to enjoy their lifestyles. On the contrary Jesus came to bring life and light into the darkness. He came to make a difference in the world by laying down His life for ‘sinners’. So just like Jesus, we too are in this world to make a difference and to bring life and light into the darkness.

When we pray, let us not ask God to remove us from this sinful world, but rather pray for the strength to withstand the evil one and his fiery arrows. Let’s pray for strength to make a change as we carry our lanterns into the darkness. We are in this world to make Jesus known!!

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Knowing What To Rejoice In

16th & 17th July

Weekend Edition

 

“When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him,”Lord even the demons obey us when we use Your Name!”….“But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in Heaven.”

Luke 10:17, 20

Jesus sent out seventy-two of His disciples on a mission trip with the aim to heal the sick, spread the message of the kingdom of God and to make more workers for His kingdom. He anointed His disciples with power and encouraged them to bring peace wherever they went, if they were accepted.

When they came back they were over joyed at experiencing victory in the spiritual realms and realising how powerful the Name of Jesus was in casting out demons. Yet Jesus reminded them that true joy was found not in spiritual victories but in knowing their position in Heaven.

Today we can know the fullness of what Jesus did for us on the cross and the victory that was won. There is no greater victory than that won at the cross. It is because of that victory that we should rejoice. We should rejoice that we are called Children of God, that we can abide in His love and that whatever comes against us, we can remain secure and unshaken because our names are written in the Book of Life. It is the knowledge of how much we are loved and valued by Jesus that helps us to rejoice in-spite of our circumstances and in the midst of storms. Gaining victories through Jesus’ Name is great, yet the greatest miracle was when your name was written in the Book of Life because and through the Blood of the Lamb.

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Loved By Him

15th July

“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into this world so that we might have eternal life. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.””

1 John 4:9-10

There are verses in the Bible that are so powerful, and so edifying that they almost don’t need any commentary added to them. Today’s verse is one of them. It almost feels like the author has purposefully made it so simple to explain the kind of love God has for us. ‘He sent His only Son, a sacrifice for our sins, so we can have eternal life. This is the love of God.’ This is the true gospel.

Sometime we over confuse it. Yet the truth is so simple. We are loved. We are forgiven. We can have eternal life. And our sins are taken away. There is nothing complicated about it. The complication comes from our own ability to accept this truth when we try and reason and fit the gospel into our lifestyles. Rather than try and change our lifestyles to fit in with the gospel, let’s let the gospel change our lifestyles. Let us be driven by the love He has for us and start accepting what He did for us.

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Mountains Melt Like Wax

14th July

“The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.”

Psalm 97:5

What are mountains before God? If you try to imagine that God is out of our idea of time and out of our scale of thinking, mountains are like nothing to Him. Yet to us, His created children, they are huge. It is almost like our view from the top of a very tall mountain. Everything below seems so small. Yet it is only from the top of the mountain that we get that perspective. When we are at the bottom, the scale of sizes switch perspective. For from the bottom of the mountain, everything looks so big.

Sometimes we really need to re-align our image and perspective of how big God is, to the truth and not the lies that society and problems decrease Him to. If God is that big, imagine how small (yet not insignificant) our needs and problems are. Furthermore, considering the sheer greatness of God and the minuteness of us, isn’t it amazing that He calls us by name and knows the very hairs on our head. Isn’t incredible that He hears our cries and captures our tears in a bottle. Isn’t unfathomable that He would send His only Son for our sakes. That is the God we serve. No matter how big your worries or problems are, know that God is always bigger.

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Being Thankful

13th July

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

One of the hardest lessons to live by is to be thankful and joyful in all circumstances. After all, as Paul writes, it is the will of those who belong to Christ Jesus. Yet being thankful and joyful in all circumstances doesn’t necessarily mean we should accept all things or be content with injustice or hardships. Being thankful and joyful means that you put your trust in Jesus and not in our own ability to change circumstances for the good. If we know that our circumstances are in the hands of Almighty God, then that gives us cause and reason to rejoice. It gives us cause to be thankful knowing that God is control. It takes away the pressure that we put on ourselves to ‘make things better’ and allows Jesus to be in the driver’s seat. That is why we should never stop praying. By persistently praying we are continually inviting Jesus into our circumstances and by doing our filled with joy and hope.

As we lay down our needs and hopes at the feet of Jesus, may His joy fill our hearts, not just with a temporary happiness but a sustained joy that doesn’t waver in hardships and is not swayed by circumstance. It is a joy that resounds in victory and comes from the very throne room of Heaven. May your hope and thanksgiving be found in Jesus.

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I Can Do ALL Through Christ

12th July

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13

Paul was a man who went through everything. Extreme hunger, extreme poverty and extreme persecution; All this, to share the gospel and to share the love of Jesus with others. Yet how did he survive? How did he not give up? The answer is found in today’s key verse. ‘I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength’. Paul learnt not to depend on food, others, circumstances or anything else for his sustenance and strength. The only source of his strength and joy was Jesus. He knew that through the empowerment of Jesus’ strength in him, he could accomplish all, endure all and persevere in all.

Today, if you are going through challenging circumstances, experiencing hardships or financial turmoil, know this… it is only through Jesus’ strength that you can endure. He will lift you up, shelter you from the storm and guide your path in the darkness. He will give you the strength to keep going and not to give up. Put your trust in Him and just as He helped Paul, and so many others throughout history, He will help you too. Don’t give up but instead look up to Jesus.

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God’s Love Is Powerful: Re-Visited

11th July

“Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise Him, all you people of the earth. For His unfailing love for us is powerful; The Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!”

Psalm 117

There is no greater love than the love of Father God. In fact the Psalmist tells us that God’s love for us is POWERFUL. It is because of His powerful love that sin was defeated. It was His powerful love that resurrected Jesus from the grave. It is His powerful love that saves even the most hardened criminals. Because of His powerful love towards us we too can have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Even when we rebel against Him, His powerful love calls us back into His arms. He is faithful and just always. His faithfulness endures forever.

It is because we are loved with such a powerful love, that we can praise Him, we can love Him too, and we can love others with the same love He loves us with. His powerful love breaks the chains of addiction, fear and bondage. His powerful love is liberating. He powerful is constantly re-uniting broken families and bringing hope and justice to the world. Let us unite in praise to the Lord, because of His Powerful love towards us and because of His faithfulness.

Start your week in praise. Accept His Powerful love. Love God. Love yourself. Love others.

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In The Midst Of Turmoil

9th & 10th July

Weekend Edition

“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him.”

Psalm 34:8

Turn the news on and you will be bombarded with a wave of negativity, depressing facts, hate, killings and economic insecurity. It is a bleak sight. As Christians, we too are obviously effected by the circumstances of the world. However there is a big difference in our approach to them. We can still maintain our joy, even when joy seems a long forgotten emotion. That is not to say we are not sad, concerned or even disturbed by the news and facts but it is to say that no matter what is happening around us, if we take refuge in Him (in God), we will not be shaken. Furthermore, refuge in Him, gives us the motivation to fight injustice, stand up for people’s rights and practice true religion.

Be encouraged, God is for us and will fill us with His joy. Good things are coming.

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Statement Of Faith

8th July

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”

Romans 10:9-10

What do you believe and why do you believe it? Do you just believe something that you were made to believe or do you personally sincerely believe it? Deep question right! Yet knowing what you believe and why, is the difference between life and death. It may seem rather dramatic but it is a truth we need to take seriously. Life and death, of course is ultimately eternal life or eternal damnation. Yet it could also mean life or death on this physical earth too. Many Christians boldly stand up for their faith in Jesus, in persecuted countries, then face the ultimate penalty for not denying Christ. This is the reality of what it truly means to know what you believe, why you believe it and in extreme cases, even be willing to die for your convictions.

If Jesus wasn’t truly sure He was God, then our faith would have been built on a lie. If Paul and Peter, kept wavering in their faith, and denying Jesus every time persecution came, where would today’s church be. In fact, as Paul addresses in this wonderful chapter, how can people be saved, if they don’t know what they believe?

Our role is firstly to get our own lives in check. We mustn’t sit on the fence of unbelief or in the courts of lukewarmness. We must know what we believe; that Jesus is Lord and He was raised from the dead to forgive our sins. This is the foundation of our faith and the truth we must hold firmly. After we are sure what we believe, we can then have enough of a conviction to share it boldly with others so that they might believe for themselves. “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news.” (Romans 10:15b)

What is your confession of faith?