Iam-Christian

Little Bobby’s Letters To God

2012-04-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Little Bobby came into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner. His birthday was coming up and he thought this was a good time to tell his mother what he wanted. “Mom, I want a bike for my birthday.” Little Bobby was a bit of a troublemaker. He had gotten into trouble at school and at home.

Bobby’s mother asked him if he thought he deserved to get a bike for his birthday. Little Bobby, of course thought he did. Bobby’s mother wanted Bobby to reflect on his behavior over the last year. “Go to your room, Bobby, and think about how you have behaved this year. Then write a letter to God and tell him why you deserve a bike for your birthday.”

Little Bobby stomped up the steps to his room and sat down to write God a letter.

**************
Letter 1
Dear God,
I have been a very good boy this year and I would like a bike for my birthday.
I want a red one.
Your friend,
Bobby

**************
Bobby knew that this wasn’t true. He had not been a very good boy this year,
So he tore up the letter and started over.
**************
Letter 2
Dear God,
This is your friend Bobby. I have been a good boy this year and I would like
A red bike for my birthday. Thank you.

Your friend,
Bobby
**************
Bobby knew that this wasn’t true either. So, he tore up the letter and started again.
**************
Letter 3
Dear God,
I have been an OK boy this year. I still would really like a bike for my birthday.

Bobby
**************
Bobby knew he could not send this letter to God either. So, Bobby wrote a fourth letter.
**************
Letter 4
God,
I know I haven’t been a good boy this year. I am very sorry.
I will be a good boy if you just send me a bike for my birthday.
Please! Thank you,

Bobby
**************
Bobby knew, even if it was true, this letter was not going to get him a bike. Now, Bobby was very upset. He went downstairs and told his mom that he wanted to go to church. Bobby’s mother thought her plan had worked, as Bobby looked very sad. Just be home in time for dinner, Bobby’s mother told him.

Bobby walked down the street to the church on the corner. Little Bobby went into the church and up to the altar. He looked around to see if anyone was there. Bobby bent down and picked up a statue of the Mary.

He slipped the statue under his shirt and ran out of the church, down the street, into the house, and up to his room. He shut the door to his room and sat down with a piece of paper and a pen. Bobby began to write his letter to God.
**************
Letter 5
God,
I’VE KIDNAPPED YOUR MAMA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, SEND THE BIKE!!!!!!

Prayer In Times Of Earthquakes

2012-04-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

Loving God, we lift our prayers and intentions for all those affected by the earthquake. We often do not understand why these things happen in our world, but we must place our trust in your divine providence and go to you for the help we need, regardless if it is in good times or bad times. Lord, please bless all the affected people, help them to persevere and be strong. Help all affected to see your face in the love and care provided by the rescuers, medical staff, and fellow members of the human family. Please grant strong faith, courage, and healing to all the affected persons. Please also motivate the people of the world to provide assistance and care in all the locations affected by this situation. We pray in the name of your beloved son Jesus, the Good Shepherd of your people. Amen.

O God, who has established the earth upon firm foundations, graciously receive the prayers of Your people: and, having utterly removed the dangers of the shaken earth, turn the terrors of Your divine wrath into the means of the salvation of mankind; that they who are of the earth, and unto earth shall return, may rejoice to find themselves citizens of heaven by means of a holy life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ocean of Compassion

2012-04-17T18:39:00.002-07:00

If we embark upon a contemplative journey through the different miracles Jesus had performed, we can easily decipher the inner inspiration carved on the surface of their soul. And that is nothing but the Lord’s own compassion for His sheep-fold. None of His miracles was designed for either name, fame or public applause. Instead, each of them was a relentless outpouring of His compassion. His Sacred Heart was like a limitless sky of genuine empathy! And in Him lay spilling over the endless ocean of the same compassion!

It was His hands of compassion that He stretched out as He made the paralytic walk straight, brought the blind to the unseen horizons of sight and fed the hungry with the loaves of love baked in the oven of ineffable providence. It was the same hands of Him that were extended toward the most loathsome lepers as He hugged them close to His breast and opened the eyes of the dead as He restored them to life. Each of His utterances was sweet-coated with compassion and His merciful looks caused Him to weep as He saw the miseries of His people. He wiped off their tears with His kerchief of compassion and rained down relentlessly in their hearts as a shower of lasting consolation!

This same Jesus is the deepest ocean of compassion that incessantly embraces, with its comforting waves, the restless shores of our inner inflictions and carry away into the depths all anxieties, worries and fears that remain there and provides us with instant healing and eternal serenity. Let us daily accompany and imitate Him and there by be filled with this heavenly virtue of compassion.

Let us gather from the fullness of that same ocean a tiny yet divine drop of compassion and preserve it inside the sacred container of our heart. And this little treasure within us will certainly and always guide our steps and help us to be more considerate and kind towards our fellow beings. Blessed are those who are compassionate to others; God will be compassionate to them (Mt. 5:7).

- – - written by Fr. Thomas Pattathilchira, CMF

Am I Handicapped?

2012-04-17T18:36:00.002-07:00

Recently I visited one of the institutions where the physically handicapped people are taken care. They are very happy to be recognized; especially when they meet some visitors they feel very happy forgetting their disabilities. On my return, I was reflecting about the spiritual handicaps which we are not aware in our lives.

God created me in his own image, lacking nothing. He has given me eyes to see the marvelous works of God in this creation. I am also able to see Jesus’ face in my brothers and sisters, which gives me tremendous joy when I spent time with them. I can see the mighty God, in the form of bread, in the Holy Communion. I keep my eyes holy by often spending time with My Lord. I know that I should become an eye for those people who are not able to see, and who fail to see the reality. I can see the alphabets very clearly and I go to my spiritual doctor, Jesus for the check up of my eyes thus it remains an attractive one, by which many could be attracted to my Lord.

The tongue, although one, is often powerful than any other parts of the body. I am aware that each word I utter can give life or death to the next, thus forcefully uphold its virtue. I can speak the miracles happened in life daily, and raise God’s praise and pray. The Almighty becomes tangible in my tongue and I experience the divine presence through Holy Communion. I can speak other’s goodness and can encourage the other. Proclamation of the Word is possible through its effective use, and I read the word of God meditatively. If I do spent time with God like the prophet, my tongue could become a powerful weapon for God as well as for the people, and might be the voice of the voiceless as well as sword in the hands of God.

Both hands are given to me to continue the good work of God in this creation, wherever I go. I can be faithful to God by using these hands to nurse others lovingly, to lift others carefully, to embrace others divinely, and to bless others priestly. I can write with these hands. I do praise God by lifting my hands or folding them humbly.

I do find pleasure in walking in the way of the Lord. I can reach out to the people, who are expecting my presence, in the streets, orphanages, neighbors, sick and abandoned. At times God gives more strength, and I walk fast to the altar of the Lord.

I hear the consoling voice of God, especially when I go for confession. My ears are very toned to His voice, and I am able to discern God’s voice which comes through my authorities, friends, parents etc. God is very kind to me and I can lend my ears to those people who are nobody or who are waiting to speak out their inner self. I keep my ears clean thus I will be able to hear the others as well as God’s goodness alone.

If the heart beat stops, whole human being might become still forever. It is very true, if divine love does not bloom in my heart, my spiritual life is ended. I create the union of hearts in me, between and God’s,mine as well as others. I do experience God’s love, especially at times of prayer, Eucharist and sacrament of reconciliation. I know my hearts beats, and I cherish the fragrance of love by being with my Lord, and my brothers and sisters.

My Handicaps

When I sit in front of my Lord who is fullness I see my handicaps in various areas. I could measure it by comparing my heart with my Lord. I wonder the following could become some signs for my spiritual handicaps:

The real innocent nature in me has been lost, and I am not able to have a genuine smile in face. Often I try to smile artificially, which creates even more tension than reducing. To imagine or see the goodness in others has become a terrible dream, thus avoid those people who are good. In spite of appreciating others, watch them with a doubt. However one tries, the words of encouragements or appreciation does not come from heart, but remains only in lips. One does find pleasure in few companions who are able to cop up with their narrow ideologies. One does watch with suspicion even their friends, if they move with any other. One does not want to be challenged even by God.

There is no shortage of excuses in one’s daily life. One cannot sit quietly in front of God for some time. One might not be able to have the prayer of contemplation or meditation. Even if one sets time for prayer, without uttering words or using books one could not continue. Too much conscious about the time often compels one to look at time frequently.

Only a person who receives energy from the true energy, else one cannot give or become energizer. Without receiving the energy continuously, if anybody tries to become life-giving energizers, it will not last, and that might cause the handicap. There are people who are handicapped, in our community, family and society. They might be pretending that they are care takers without acknowledging about their handicaps. Am I also included among them?

- – - written by Fr. Biju Maramkuzhackal SVD

Passing On Our Faith To Children

2012-04-17T18:23:00.003-07:00

Passing on our faith to our children may seem discouraging, still each parent can be effective in ways no one else can. Each child has a special bond with his / her parents and it is designed by the creator. Because of this special relationship , parents have a greater opportunity to teach and profoundly influence their children than anyone else. God, knowing this situation or recognizing this situation has commissioned parents with the task of training their children spiritually.

God has given us as parents the primary responsibility for passing on ‘His’ truth and the way of life to our children. Read God’s instructions in Deuteronomy 6;5-7, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart , with all your soul and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way , when you lie down and when you rise up “. St Paul told Timothy “From childhood you have known the Sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3;15). St Paul in his letter to Timothy says “ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, which I am sure you have inherited”. ( 2 Tim. 1;5) Thus, the faith goes down to generations.

We catholic parents undoubtedly have a desire to see our children live by the truth taught by our Church. Some may exert pressure on the children to compete with others and shine in ranks, without inculcating in them the ideas and morals they should hold dear and the habits they should follow. We do notice that our society is deteriorating morally. Values taught by religions are not considered very important. Some argue that there is no absolute truth and so truth is considered as relative.That is why our Pope Benedict XVI always talks against relativism that is questioning and destroying traditional values. “ God has not changed in any thing” says Malachi ( Ch 3;6) “Christ Jesus is the same today, as yesterday and for ever.”( Heb.13;8) says St. Paul.

We parents have to do the teaching, guiding and setting the example. We can teach them only if we acquire some knowledge of the Bible and the teachings of the Church through reading and listening to preachings. We may feel inadequate in the task and that is why our priests, religious and competent lay persons give instructions through sunday classes. Very often we hear that sex education will be introduced in school. The parents are the best teachers on the subject because they can tell their children all spiritual aspects involved whereas the secular teaching is purely materialistic and even encouraging spiritually wrong ways to deal with problems.

But the children have to be receptive. “Hear, my child, your father’s instruction and do not reject your mother’s teaching for they are a fair garland for your head and pendants for your neck “ ( Prov. 1;8) Young people have a responsibility and duty too. They need to open their eyes and ears and in a willing attitude learn the truth as their parents are the most reliable teachers. Some children may resist. Mostly it may be due to our wrong approach or their misunderstanding, which can be rectified. When we speak from the heart in love about what is in our hearts from God’s Spirit , it is likely that we will see our children waiting to listen. If any child chooses not to embrace God’s truth and words, it should not be because we parents did not diligently teach them the Word of God and the sacred traditions. As we parents are responsible to teach our children, excuses like lack of time, lack of knowledge, lack of interest for listening and study by children should be overcome suitably.

Parents can play a powerful role in encouraging their children to choose God’s way of life. We may not be highly educated or trained for teaching. When we walk with God, the creator will show the way. Some may be more naturally gifted in teaching, but all share the duty and responsibility We also do affect the faith of our children even if it is only by our example. As parents let us make sure that we follow the divine instructions given in Deuteronomy 6;5-7. If we do our part, we can help our children embrace the true catholic faith. Like Timothy’s grandmother and mother, we too can pass this faith to our children from generation to generation.

- – - written by K. C. Thomas

TO GOVERN IS TO SERVE (On the Royal Wedding)

2012-04-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Green
First published in Christian Voice May 2011
Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.
It was highly significant that the royal couple William and Catherine should compose a prayer to be read out by the Bishop of London in his sermon on their wedding day. This is what they prayed:
‘God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
‘In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.
‘Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.’
COMFORT THOSE WHO SUFFER
They have begun by thanking God, whom they have acknowledged as their Father, for the blessings of their families, their love and their joy. Then they have prayed to keep their priorities right and to be generous in every way. Importantly, they have asked God to help them to serve and to comfort the suffering and they have asked it all in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
The expression ‘comfort those who suffer’ reminds us of Jeremiah’s prophecy of the return ofIsrael:
Jer 31:13: Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
Paul’s words to the Thessalonians:
1Thess 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all.
And Isaiah’s prophecy of the ministry of the Messiah:
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion, to give unto them beauty for Ashes, the oil of joy for morning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
THE GREATEST SHALL BE AS THE LEAST
It was the late Sir Edward Heath who said in 1970 from the steps of10 Downing Street, ‘To govern is to serve.’ This is not the place to ask whether he lived up to that declaration; it is difficult not to fall short of our ideals in government. But the sentiment he expressed was most certainly informed by the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 22.
The concept of service is one which our monarch honours not least in the distribution of Maundy money, which finds its origin in our Lord’s washing of his disciples feet. And the paradox that the greatest shall be as the least, the master shall serve, the lowly shall be exalted, the meek shall inherit the earth finds its culmination in our Lord’s words in Matthew:
Matt 20:28: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
God gave himself for us, as a perfect design example of the greatest becoming the least and through that act of service being restored and glorified again. Christ’s sacrifice echoes a theme which runs all the way through scripture. In Mary’s song of praise God hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree (Luke1:52). Our Lord was not inventing a new doctrine. The psalm says:
Psalm 37:11: But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
It could be difficult, humanly speaking, for the Duke and Duchess ofCambridgeto have the humility to come down from their lofty position and fulfil the hopes of their prayer. But that is precisely why they have prayed and we believe the grace of God will enable them and that God does indeed answer prayer.
Psalm 37:5: Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY
The Bible is particularly keen to impress the virtue of humility on leaders. Paul in Romans 13 places the King under the authority of God. He is the minister of God, Paul writes. Human authority derives from Almighty God. Those were radical words at the time and they are radical words today.
King David in his last recorded speech remembered this:
Sam 23:3: The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over mean must be just, ruling asin the fear of God.
WhenIsraeldemanded a King, Samuel warned them of the tendency of Kings to oppress. No doubt he had in mind the warnings given to the future king in Deuteronomy not to multiply silver and gold, not to lift up his heart above his brethren, and above all to learn to fear the Lord his God by copying and studying the law of God (Deut 17:17-20). The king who keeps God’s commandments, we read, will prolong his days and those of his children.
In many ways, the Royal wedding service has come from a more traditionalist point of view than is fashionable amongst the ruling class today. Indeed, the concept of service itself is not exactly the flavour of the month. The evangelical awakening fostered Victorian philanthropy and our duty to serve became part of the Protestant work ethic. This Godly philosophy spread throughout the whole of society. Our civil service was the envy of the world and copied throughout the Commonwealth.
TARGETS REPLACED SERVICE
Until very recently we still thought we could rely upon those in public service to serve. Perhaps the only place where the ideal of service still persists is in the process of being elected to public office. Those seeking positions as members of parliament and especially as councillors find that to be voted in, particularly when trying to overturn another party’s majority, it is usually necessary to spend the four-year term leading up to the election making themselves available to the local community, taking uop local issues, helping with housing benefit, agitating for the fixing of street lights and paving stones. To be the chief in the community it is necessary to be among the people as one who serves.
But for permanent publ;ic sector staff, sadly, when the neo-conservative enthusiasm for targets moved in across theAtlanticlike a storm, it replaced the virtue of service by self-interest. What will benefit the community swiftly became subservient to that which would benefit the Department as the meeting of targets brought financial rewards to the organisation.
Social service used to be done in the community by middle-aged women, who gave their time as freely as William and Catherine prayed they would give theirs. Today, social services is a career and people seem only to care when they are paid to do so. Of course those same middle-aged women were able to give their time so freely because their husbands brought home a living wage and taxation was much lower than it is today. Arguably, the unpaid social workers of yesterday delivered a more understanding and compassionate service than the university-educated, politically-correct employees of County Hall.
Needless to say, the biblical injunction to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God (Micah 6:8) has gone with the idea of service in our brave new secular world where everyone is out for himself, a law unto himself, there is no such thing as a society, and the family has been redefined to be two or more individuals who share a fridge.
A RETURN TO THE OLD PATHS
That is why we can be thankful and enthusiastic about the recent Royal wedding on so many levels. There were the three most influential leaders declaring and proclaiming the beauty and solemnity of marriage. We heard arguably the greatest Christian church in our land outside the cathedrals ringing with praises to God. We heard prayers made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And above all, we heard the second in line to the throne and his bride pray in the spirit of Jesus Christ to serve the people and comfort those who suffer. We saw in that moment a declaration of faith from a man and a woman who will God willing one day be King and Queen. May the Lord uphold them, deepen and quicken their faith, bring those alongside them who will teach and encourage them, and bring their noble prayer to fruition.

THE GIFT OR THE GIVER?

2012-04-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Green
First Published in Christian Voice June 2011
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
The last few months have been something of a challenge to me. Three dear friends for whom Judy and I were praying to be healed have gone to be with the Lord. And we were not the only ones praying. Christians with stronger faith than us were believing for restoration and healing for these precious servants of the Lord.
The words of our Lord are as clear as can be. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Clearly there is either something wrong with the promise or with our prayers or with us. And it cannot be that there is something wrong with the promise.
Andrew Murray, in his book “with Christ in theSchoolofPrayer” cautions against inserting a condition to qualify the words of our Lord. He observes that many believers add the expression “If it be the will of the Lord”. Murraysays that to add such a condition has an outward show of piety but diminishes the power of God and the force of the words. It is not what our Lord actually said.
Faith is obviously a key. Many times in the Gospels we hear our Lord commend people for their faith. “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” he told both the woman with the flow of blood and the blind man. I often feel like the man who cried out to him, “Lord I believe; help thou my unbelief.”
Perhaps a university education in the dark, satanic, rationalist mill of one of our oldest seats of learning did not help me to see beyond the physical to the spiritual reality. If the friends for whom I was praying depended on my prayers for their healing I should not be surprised if they and I were disappointed.
It has been said, “Never spoil a good prayer with a bad confession.” How many times do we catch ourselves, having prayed as fervently as we will for some positive outcome, turning away after the final powerful amen and thinking to ourselves, “I’m not sure the Lord is going to do that.” Both Christ in Mark 11:23 and Paul in Romans 10:9 speak of what can be done if you “believe in your heart.”
Please don’t get me wrong. I have prayed for people and they have been healed. I have witnessed miracles of healing. It is just that three deaths in as many months, three times in which prayer has gone unanswered, can be something of a spiritual setback. I can blame my lack of faith for the lack of results. And yet, as I say, there were believers with far greater faith than mine praying for these brothers and our sister.
In one of the chapters of “with Christ in theSchoolofPrayer”,Murrayobserves that confidence in the promise is only as good as confidence in the promiser. That leads me to wonder if I should be focusing more on the Lord himself than on what he can do for me.
Were we praying for ourselves when we prayed for our friends to recover, or was it for the glory of God? Yes, knowing that God is likely to answer prayers that he be glorified, and wanting to see him glorified in any case, we naturally prayed that God would be glorified in the return to health of the sick. But in our hearts, was it our benefit or the good of the Kingdom which occupied our minds? In John15:16the Lord links our requests to the father with the bringing forth of fruit.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Let us not forget that, aside from the Lord’s prayer, the only specific thing Jesus told his disciples to pray for was for labourers to be sent into the harvest field. Such a prayer is a prayer for mission, it is a prayer for the Kingdom. Perhaps prayers for the terminally ill to recover can be made because we do not want to see them go from us rather than because their recovery will be for the good of the Kingdom, or possibly even good for them.
After all, do we not console ourselves by expressing the thought that the departed are in “a better place” . A funeral can be more about us marking a rite of passage for the benefit of our frailties than about the departed. In the same way, although we may stand beside the sickbed pleading with God to be glorified in this person’s healing, we may be thinking of how much we should miss them should they go. Looking at their achievements for the Kingdom and how they had exercised their talents, it could be that these two men and one woman of God had faithfully done all their duty and were now called home to rest.
When all else fails it is good to go to the Psalms. There we find all our human hopes and fears, our misery and our joy, the depths of the soul and the glory of God expressed in a way which can lift our spirits. To pick up again onMurray’s recommendation that we concentrate more on the giver than the gift, we can ease ourselves into that frame of mind by this verse from Psalm 37:
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
We can read this verse looking to the promise in the second half, but perhaps to delight in the Lord is an end in itself. A couple of weeks ago I had the great privilege of taking part in a house group study on the first Psalm. The first two verses say this:
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
If we look to the Hebrew, the second verse can be translated: “but his delight is in the Torah of Yahweh.” We see the same expression over and over in Psalm 119. The very first verse says:
Psalm 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Again the expression “the law of the Lord” is really “the Torah of Yahweh.” We find an echo in the verse with which we opened, where Christ said: “if my words abide in you”. In truth we find the character of God expressed in his word. Christ is God incarnate so every word of Scripture is a word from the Messiah himself. To delight in the Lord is to delight in his instruction. In order to pray with the mind of God we must know the mind of God, and we shall find the mind of God in the Scriptures and above all in his Torah. Then we can say with the Psalmist:
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
It is said of Rhys Howells then he reached the point where he would pray for the sick and the Lord would reveal to him whether they would be healed or not. To have something of the Spirit the Lord placed in Howells would be an undoubted advantage. It would certainly save time in prayer if we knew what the will of the Lord was for each individual for whom we prayed. That being said, I really cannot envisage putting myself through what that man endured for the sake of his closer walk with God. Thank God we serve a Lord who knows our frailties, generously deals with us as individuals and meets us at the point of our need.
Solomon asked merely for wisdom from on high in order to discharge the duty the Lord had laid upon him. He did not ask for riches, wealth or honour. The Almighty, hearing his prayer, granted him wisdom, and because he had only asked for that, gave him riches, wealth and honour as well (2Chron1:10-11). In the same way I believe that as we concentrate more on, or as the Bible puts it, “delight in” the Lord, in his law and in our duty towards him, the desires of our hearts will be added. Not that we will stop articulating the desires of our heart in our prayers, consoling ourselves rather with the thought that the Lord knows what we need before we ask. No, we shall still ask, over and again if necessary, but we shall have things in a right perspective.
I have found that as I pray to know God more deeply, and back up that prayer by fasting, such prayer is answered. Unexpectedly at such times the Lord has also granted me other encouragements, things which I was scarcely aware I was praying for.
So the events of the last three months, the disappointments, the anguish, the sadness, have spurred me on to seek the Lord more in prayer and in his word, to delight in him, and to strive to be in a place where I know the mind of God and attain by his grace a deeper faith in the one who promises that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness then all else will be added.

SERVING GOD AND MAMMON (On the Conservative Christian Fellowship)

2012-04-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Green
First Published in Christian Voice August 2011
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Last months’s Christian Voice newsletter carried an article about David Cameron’s party for gay activists in10 Downing Street. We also reproduced the full text of his speech.
Mr Cameron’s determination to force sodomy onAfricawas also printed in Pink News, which was understandably delighted, and in the London Evening Standard. The Press Association syndicated the story world-wide, so it hardly suffered from inadequate or biased reporting.
Whatever one’s view on the rights and wrongs of using foreign aid to co-erce the governments of poorer nations to legalise vice, or indeed to change policy in any direction, the bare facts were undeniable.
Mr Cameron’s declaration of intent has led us to call a meeting next month (6th September) at the Emmanuel Centre in Victoria, to record a video and post a petition, all with a hope that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the end of October will tell Mr Cameron that the white man does not know best and that his neo-colonialism is not acceptable in the modern world.
We circulated details of the video, petition and meeting by e-mail to our members and supporters and wider afield, in the hope that there would be an international reaction against what we see as David Cameron’s cultural imperialism.
One e-mail recipient, a member indeed of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, decided to complain closer to home, and e-mailed its leadership, hoping to elicit their support in bringing some prophetic witness to bear inside the Conservative Party itself. He received the most extraordinary response.
A spokesman from the Conservative Christian Fellowship replied:
‘Sadly the report you refer to is both sensational and unhelpful. As I understand it the British Government’s approach to supporting Human Rights inAfricahasn’t changed since the 1948 UN Declaration Human Rights. Something I am sure all Christians can comfortably sign up to.’
Our correspondent, taking this plain if ungrammatical denial on trust, then understandably berated Christian Voice:
‘Where did you get your information?’ he fumed. ‘If it was from the homosexuals, I would beware of listening to people who are against both the Gospel and the Conservative party.’
I dislike having to criticise fellow Christians in public, and would not do it at all without first having e‑mailed the CCF myself. Nevertheless, an organisation which its Patron, Gary Streeter MP, says has ‘made an impact’ and ‘stood up for Christian values’ and which claims to be ‘a vibrant Christian witness within the Conservative Party’, turns out to be less committed to Christian values and the cause of the Gospel than to the Conservative Party in whose headquarters it is based.
In point of fact, it is so dedicated to putting a brave face on the less-than-Christian antics of the Coalition Government that it is prepared to twist the truth. Fair enough, to describe a report as ‘sensational and unhelpful’ is not to say it is untrue. But to go on to say that British Government policy towards homosexuality has not changed in sixty-three years and that the Government is doing only that which Christians cannot fail to support is a barefaced, risible, outright lie.
True enough, we do not know what the leaders of the CCF have been saying privately to Mr Cameron. They may, for all we know, have been protesting with all their strength. But their public response hardly gives an inkling that they have any misgivings about his pro-gay foreign aid policy whatsoever. Denying it actually exists, following a well-publicised and undisputed speech from the Prime Minister himself is certainly not a promising start.
It may be that some aspiring young things see their membership of the CCF coupled with enthusiastic support of their party as a stepping-stone to eventual membership of the House of Commons. ‘When I get there, or when I become a minister, or when I become Prime Minister, then I’ll speak out and make a real difference,’ they might think.
But it doesn’t work like that:
Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
We are tested on our faith at every stage. By working hard to advance our employer’s or the party’s cause by honest means, by making ourselves useful, being diligent at every turn, we can certainly earn the right to be listened to. That is how we advance, not by defending the indefensible. By putting God first, seeking first his kingdom and righteousness, all else will be added (Matt6:33).
But when we put the demands of God, his kingdom and righteousness second, the problems start. Not only can we not serve God and another master at the same time, but the Apostle James points out:
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
And indeed, as James suggests, that kind of thinking, ‘Just wait till I get into power then I’ll show them,’ leaves out the power of God to raise up one and pull down another. It forgets his power to bestow favour in the eyes of men.
Joseph certainly did not think like the CCF appear to. He did not flinch when his boss’s wife tried to seduce him. Today that would be seen as a forgivable bit-on-the-side but the Godly men of old viewed adultery as a betrayal. For resisting wickedness Joseph was thrown into prison, and that might have been the end of him, had not the Lord granted him favour because of his faithfulness first with the prison governor and then with Pharaoh himself:
Gen 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Acts 7:10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
Joseph was not the last to be granted favour by God for his faithfulness to the Law of the Lord. Samuel was not afraid to tell Eli that the Lord’s judgment was to fall on his house. Despite this, or because the Lord knew what kind of fearless young man Samuel was to be, in the previous chapter we read:
1Sam 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.
Daniel stood up for righteousness, refusing to eat meat dedicated to idols. He managed by diligence and study and willingness to learn to make himself useful in the service of the king, but without compromising his beliefs. So we read:
Dan 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
God bestows favour on the faithful. Proverbs says:
Prov 12:2 A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
And in the Gospels we read:
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Peter risked unpopularity by standing up on the Day of Pentecost and giving his great sermon with all its condemnation of those who crucified Jesus and encouragement to turn to the risen Jesus and be saved. It was straight-down-the-line no-holds-barred full-frontal evangelism. And it was honoured by God, in the numbers saved and bestowing of favour with men. The believers, we read, were:
Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
When we look at the example of the prophets we see men, even men in the Court, who risked their lives by telling kings things they did not want to hear.
Nathan admonished David for his adultery and murder of Uriah: ‘Thou art the man’, he told him, chillingly (2Sam 12:7), in what I believe was a public rebuke, in the light of the public consequences which Nathan said would follow. It is certain that David’s sin was public knowledge and Nathan’s condemnation of it was more than a quiet word in private.
The prophet Isaiah did not shrink from public condemnation of national sins. Even as a young man, he was denouncing the princes in king Uzziah’s administration for taking bribes and perverting judgment (Isa1:23). And despite this (or because of it once again!) we see the Lord giving Isaiah a glittering career in the heart of government even under unrighteous king Ahaz (2Chr 28:1) and being unafraid to pronounce judgement on king Hezekiah for his stupidity in showing the Babylonian ambassador all his wealth (Isa 39:6).
Not all the prophets were as high up as Nathan and Isaiah, but not one of them flinched from his duty to tell it as God saw it. They were well-versed in the scriptures, meditating in the law of God (Josh 1:8, Psa 1:2, 119:15 &c) and through that knowing the mind of God. They were not men-pleasers but devoted to God. They and the Apostles set their sights, not on climbing the greasy pole of earthly preferment, but on what the Epistle to the Hebrews describes as ‘a better resurrection’ (Heb11:35) and Paul portrays as a ‘crown of righteousness’ (2Tim 4:8).
We cannot serve both two masters, and these events sadly show that when we try, truth falls alongside faithful witness. That ought to be a lesson to us all.

EVIL IN THE CITY (On the riots)

2012-04-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Green
First Published in Christian Voice September 2011
Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Acres of newsprint, hours of speech and gigabytes of internet have been devoted to finding a cause for the riots inEnglandthat flared up at the end of August.
In natural terms, as David Cameron correctly observed, the lawlessness sprung from ‘a lack of responsibility, which comes from a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals.’
He was right, although it is a pity that he failed to acknowledge how the British Government itself has contributed to the very evils he identified. No-fault divorce-on-demand, introduced in theUKin the 1960′s, and amoral sex-education from the 1970′s are just two of a raft of measures made in hell which drove our nation into sin and sowed the social wind which would become a whirlwind in the future.
Liberal Elite Forced Evil Onto the Poor
All the legal disorder of the sixties and seventies undermined the basic morality and the familial foundation of our society. To make it worse, not one of the laws of the permissive society was demanded by the people. Every single one was a creature of the political class, the civil servants, politicians and opinion-formers of the liberal elite. Naturally, all the immorality and its consequences bore and still bears most heavily not on the wealthy men who forced it all through, but on the poorer sections of our society.
With an almost total absence of responsible men, let alone fathers, on many of our council estates, with children there knowing ‘their rights’ and the phone number of Social Services if any discipline if so much as mentioned, is it any wonder that those estates have been terrorised by gangs for years now, even before the riots and looting happened?
To be blunt, it would have been a miracle if the riots and looting had not happened, in natural terms. It was, to use the popular expression, ‘waiting to happen.’
Lest anyone think I am being too acerbic against our rulers (the political class, as I called them above) just look at what the Prophet Amos says about the wealthy women ofSamaria:
Amos 4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. 2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
He calls them ‘cows’, which many might say is not too loving. Amos names these wealthy women as oppressors, and his heart is for the poor and needy upon whom the policies of their husbands were bearing heavily.
God Brings the Disaster
However, Amos does not see things in the naturalistic way in which a majority even of Christians might see them. At the start of Chapter Three he asks a series of nine rhetorical questions. Each of them requires the answer ‘No.’ Here are the first seven:
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
In a very Hebrew way, Amos starts with the uncontroversial and builds to a climax. It would be nitpicking to say that on occasions the hunter might catch nothing in his snare; a practised trapper would certainly expect to find something there. In the same way, the expectation is that the people will be afraid if they hear the warning trumpet. Lastly, if disaster or calamity befall a city, says Amos, it did not just happen by chance; the Lord did it.
The context may be argued to mitigate the conclusion. Amos has systematically laid out the sins ofSyria,Gaza,Tyre,Edom,Ammon,Moab, Judah and, lastly,Israel, his principal focus and burden. For their mounting transgressions God ‘will not turn away’. It may be possible to say that some disasters are specifically the doing of the Lord, in particular, those against nations whom the prophet has specifically identified. Others, it could be said, come out of nowhere, or that there is a naturalistic explanation for them, which was the proposition with which we opened. The reader must judge the sense of Amos 3:6 in its context.
Even in its context, Amos would tell us that deeds of violence and destruction at least against the nations he identified came from the same loving heavenly father who removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and who desires not the death of a sinner but rather his repentance (Ezek 33:11). Calamity is coming from the very God who became one of us in the Lord Jesus Christ and endured the horror of the Cross to save mankind, or as many as would put their faith in him, from the consequences of their sins.
Righteous Perish with the Wicked
It is a hard thought to take in, especially as there must have been, among nearly 3,000 souls who perished in the Twin Towers ten years ago last month, a good number who feared the Lord. The same would be true inNairobi, in August 1998, where 247 people died and 5,500 were injured in a bomb attack on the United States Embassy. One year ago, in June 2010, around Whitehaven inCumbria, a gunman killed twelve. Did God visit these atrocities upon those cities? On Boxing Day 2004, almost a quarter of a million lives were lost in the Asian Tsunami. The one inJapanearlier this year was believed to account for over a thousand lives. The insurers might call these ‘Acts of God’ but are we seriously willing to blame God for these inundations?
In London, on 7th July 2005, there was a smaller-scale terrorist assault than that in New York which still killed 48 innocent bystanders as well as the four bombers and left 700 injured. Is that the Lord at work as well? Two weeks later, a similar attack failed when the bombers made a mess of it. Many Christians, including me, gave thanks to God for protecting the city. But, in all honesty, should we give God the credit for savingLondonfrom death this second time but not recognise that he allowed the first offence to proceed to its deadly end?
After all, the Psalmist said: ‘Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain‘ (Ps 127:1). The implication is that the Lord may have ill intentions against that city. Job asked his wife: ‘What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ (Job2:10)
God Destroys Nations and Kingdoms
Jeremiah was given a mission to his countrymen:
Jer 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
The prophet is as certain as Amos that in this instance at least God himself is the one sending the disaster, or the ‘evil,’ as the KJV translators put it. (The same Hebrew word is used as in Amos 3:6: ra’ah, meaning moral evil or an affliction or calamity.) That verse comes after God’s declaration in the famous potter’s house of his ability and intention to reward nations for their obedience and for their rebellion from his righteous laws:
Jer 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
The Lord Jesus himself pronounced judgment against the towns of Corazin,BethsaidaandCapernaum(Luke10:13-15). A while later, when asked about the Galilaeans slaughtered by Pilate, the Lord Jesus did little to gainsay the understanding that such disasters are warnings or judgments from God:
Luke 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
The Lord appears to be saying that there was sin inGalileeandJerusalemwhich did indeed deserve judgment, even though the unfortunate individuals on the receiving end of these particular terrible events were not necessarily those responsible for the judgment.
How Long Shall the Wicked Triumph?
And then Jesus immediately uses these two incidents to issue a warning to his hearers to repent, on pain of perishing in the same way. Indeed, when the Romans sackedJerusalemin AD70, the destruction was total and the loss of life immense. Even thoughJerusalemandJudahdeserved the demolition that was to come, the Lord still cried out in anguish over what was to come:
Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
God is full of lovingkindness and compassion, but that must also involve judgment on the wicked, either in this world or the one to come, and as nations cannot be called to account in the next world, they must be dealt with in this. It is not loving to let sin abound, even if grace abounds much more (Rom 6:1). No father stands by while his children trash the backyard. No Almighty God can let injustice and evil flourish for ever. The Psalmist cried out, ‘How long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?‘ (Psalm 94:3).
There is also a sense of collective responsibility. We are all responsible for the sins of our nation. Folk may be born again, but if they do not sound the trumpet of warning, Ezekiel says God will require the blood of the wicked at their hands (Ezek3:18-21, 33:2-7) . The righteous always have a prophetic duty to lift up their voices like a trumpet and warn about the sin in the land (Isa 58:1). The understanding that the Lord can either protect a city or a nation or bring judgment against it places upon us a huge responsibility as ‘strangers and pilgrims’ in the land:
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
The text presents prayer and seeking peace as two separate activities, so the Lord requires more of us than just praying for peace. If we truly wish to see peace in our nation, then we must seek the Lord as to what would make peace with him and then witness that prophetic word (prophetic in the sense of forthtelling the word of God) to our leaders. As God has clearly set out what he expects of nations in his word, it is not difficult for mature Christians to seek the Lord in the Bible and proclaim that word ‘in the great congregation’ (Psalm 40:9).
It Could Get A Lot Worse Yet
I often hear Christians suggest that our national situation and/or that of the world in general is so bad that the Lord Jesus is set to return any day soon. If we accept the pre-millennial eschatology behind the suggestion for the sake of argument, one trouble with the view expressed is that Christian campaigners were saying exactly the same in the nineteen-seventies. They thought it was bad enough then. Another possible problem is that if the source of the evil for which God would bring judgment originated in the nineteen-sixties, then seventy years from then, rather than fifty, may be the time of judgment. Either way, it could get a lot worse yet if there is no change in policy in our nation.
The proportion of Scots in favour of gay marriage has risen from 41% to 61% in just nine years, from 2002 to 2010. How long will it take until we are likeSodom, where righteousness was turned completely on its head? I am more concerned for our future now than at any previous time. I really believe that unless Christians stand up quickly a time is coming when no man can work (John 9:4) and very few of us will be saved out of the trial to come. Ezekiel was moved to suggest that only the three most righteous men he could think of would be saved when the Lord stretched out his hand against the land:
Ezek 14:20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
The ministry of Christian Voice may be summed up in these words: ‘Working for Godly government; praying for national repentance.’ If Amos, Jeremiah and the Lord Jesus spoke words which are applicable today, then unless our nation repents, we can expect more and worse disasters in the years to come. The people of the Lord, Ezekiel’s watchmen, have an awesome duty to perform in any age. The prophet Amos says:
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
The word of God is clear. Even without a specific prophetic warning, the secrets of the Lord have been revealed in Holy Scripture. We know what God requires of us. We need to have our own lives in order and we must be active in building the Kingdom and in speaking out against evil. The final two questions posed by Amos are these:
Amos 3:8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Dear friends, I am sorry this is such a solemn article, but I have to speak it as I see it. The very survival of our nation could depend on whether Christian men and women like us rise to the challenge before us. The Lord Jesus calls us do a very simple thing in proclaiming his word. If we do this simple thing, we can depend on our mighty God to do the clever stuff, indeed to do the miraculous. It is not over yet! Can we rise to the challenge?

PRAYING WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST

2012-04-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Green

First Published in Christian Voice November 2011
1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
I hope we can take it as a given that every Christian wants to know more of the Lord. Especially in prayer our desire should be to pray with the mind of God. The Apostle Paul claimed to have the mind of Christ. It is tempting to think from the use of the word ‘we’ that all Christians of whatever level of spiritual maturity have the mind of Christ.
However, that apparently did not apply to the church inCorinth. In the very next chapter the Apostle upbraids them for being carnal rather than spiritual. They had some way to go before they would have the mind of Christ. Clearly there are no shortcuts to the throne-room.
Conditions to Be Met
The Lord Jesus laid down a number of conditions which need to be met before prayer will be answered in the exact way hoped when it was made. One of these conditions is given in the verse above: ‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.’
Prayer at its best is a two way street. We set out our needs before the Lord and attend to his response. But there are occasions when we cry to the Lord for a particular outcome, and on those occasions especially we need to be praying with the mind of God himself lest we ask amiss, as the Apostle James puts it (Jas 4:3).
So I want to suggest that the place to find the mind of God is quite simply in the word of God. And since our Lord Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the mind of God is the mind of Christ and the word of God is the word of Christ. Now we can bring the words with which we opened from first Corinthians and the Gospel of John together. Having the mind of Christ is the same thing as abiding in him and having his words abiding in us.
Prosperity and Success for the Lord
Turning to the quote from the book of Joshua, we all want to be prosperous and successful. But the context is that Joshua had a job to do. He had been commissioned by the Lord to take the people ofIsraelinto the promised land. And he was successful at it precisely because the book of the law did not depart out of his mouth. He meditated therein and then did exactly what he had been told to do.
It is interesting to note that the ‘book of the law’ was Joshua’s Bible. All he had was the five books of Moses. With our complete revelation, we should do a lot better, although we have more to read and more to meditate in. However, by using the Christian Voice Bible reading plan it is possible to read right through the Bible in one year with a time investment of less than 20 minutes per day.
More of that later, but the point I’m trying to make is that Scripture is teaching us that only by knowing the word of God, meditating in it, and having it never far from our mouths will we know the mind of God well enough to make our prayers heard, our way prosperous and our doings for the Lord successful.
Revelation of the Spirit
A couple of verses earlier in his letter to the church inCorinth, the apostle Paul wrote:
1Cor 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
We see here that to have the mind of Christ on any given subject we must not just search the Holy Scriptures but also listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through them. The Holy Spirit has to soften our hearts and illuminate our minds to make us receptive to the word of God. Too often we have baggage from the world which has to be cast off to make way for the spirit of God:
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Just before his famous word about how the Lord Jesus humbled himself to become one of us, the Apostle Paul wrote:
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
For the Holy Spirit to speak to us through the Biblical witness, we need to humble our hearts as Jesus humbled himself for us. There is no point reading the word of God only to dismiss it as irrelevant or not in accordance with our preconceptions or experiences or an inward voice or a dream we just had or the spirit of the age. If we filter the Scriptures through our own sinful prejudices we shall never have the mind of Christ. We need instead to filter our prejudices through the Scriptures and receive the whole counsel of God in humility.
The Power of the Word of God
There is power in the Scriptures which we can only dimly discern. The Lord Jesus refuted the suggestions of Satan through his knowledge of the Scriptures, in point of fact through verses from the book of Deuteronomy. Satan was sent away with his tail between his legs.
At other times in his ministry, our Lord took those who were contending with him right back to the scriptures:
Matt 12:5 Have ye not read in the law?
Matt 19:4 Have ye not read?
Matt 21:16 Have ye never read?
Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture?
Mark 12:26 Have ye not read in the book of Moses?
Luke 6:3 Have ye not read so much as this?
The Prophet Isaiah wrote this:
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Word of God in our mouth
Joshua was told that the book of the Law should not depart out of his mouth. It seems a curious expression. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews recalls Jeremiah’s word from the Lord; ‘I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people’ (Heb8:10cf Jer 31:33).
We are rather more used to the word of God being in our minds and our hearts than in our mouths. Isaiah too speaks of a people who keep the law of God in their hearts, and he gives them a promise which we shall gratefully receive:
Isa 51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
But the word of God being in our mouths? What is that about? Is it something to do with the great Hebrew word, the Shema of Deuteronomy?
Deut 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Speaking and Praying the Word
Teaching and talking constantly of the scriptures, about the scriptures, sharing and discussing the things of God, or being ‘ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear’ (1Peter 3:15). Having the word of God so close to our mouths that we are as ready to give an answer to unbelievers as our Lord was to Satan only comes from studying the Scriptures and meditating prayerfully, just as Joshua was instructed.
Paul told the Ephesian elders:
Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
A lifetime of study, prayer and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was behind that assertion.
There is another place where the Scriptures can usefully be in our mouths, and that is in the place of prayer. It is good to pray the words of God, firstly because there is no better way to be in agreement with God than by praying the word of God. The Psalms, the Lord’s Prayer, Jeremiah’s Lamentations, all these are powerful prayers straight from the mind of God. Secondly, in prayer for a specific matter, it is good to remind the Lord of his word in Scripture. ‘Lord, your word says …’ And how shall we do any of this except by knowing his word in the first place?
Read the Whole Bible Next Year
I just hope and pray that each of our members will begin really to get into the Bible; and perhaps the best time to start doing that will be on New Year’s Day.
Our Lamplight Bible‑reading plan was one of the first things we published when Christian Voice was formed fifteen years ago. We published it out of a simple desire to help our members read the word of God, so they could discern the will of God and pray with the mind of God.
What makes the Lamplight Plan different is that we read two chapters of the Old Testament with a chapter or part of a chapter of the New Testament on each day. The Old Testament is chronological, with the Prophets set in their context. The order of the New Testament is theological so we start with the Gospel of Luke, follow that with Acts, and end up in John’s Gospel, letters and Revelation. Unlike some other reading plans, no Scripture except John 1:1-18 is repeated, and Psalms and Wisdom words are interspersed through the year, often alongside relevant OT or NT Scriptures. So the Lamplight Plan is as good for reading through the Bible the first time or the twenty-first.

‘God can heal today’ say MPs

2012-04-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

Three prominent Christian MPs have challenged the Advertising Standards Authority to produce evidence to support their assertion that God cannot heal, reports Total Politics.
The ASA ruled on 1st February 2012 that Christians in Bath may not say in an advertisement:
“NEED HEALING? GOD CAN HEAL TODAY! … We’d love to pray for your healing right now! We’re Christian from churches in Bath and we pray in the name of Jesus. We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness”.
In a letter (on the Total Politics link above) to the Chairman of the ASA, Lord Smith of Finsbury, the MPs, Gary Streeter MP (Con), Gavin Shuker MP (Labour) and Tim Farron (Lib-Dem), from the all-party group Christians in Parliament, mention the prayer that has gone up for Fabrice Muamba and ask if those praying for him are wrong.
The openly-’gay’ Chris, Lord, Smith of Finsbury who is also a vice-president of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, spent his years as an MP doing just that. In 2009, the ASA cleared the atheist bus ads which claimed there was no God.
As the MPs point out, a belief that God can heal today is based on ‘two thousand years of Christian tradition and the very clear teaching in the Bible’.
The Lord Jesus said: Mark 16:17 ‘And these signs shall follow them that believe; … 18 … they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.’
The Apostle James said: James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
So James lays down some
One of the claims made by the ASA is that belief that God heals might stop people going to the doctor. In fact, none of the Bath Christians would advise against medical assistance. Christian theology views medicine as a gift from God and being a doctor or nurse as a vocation. One of the evangelists, Luke, was a doctor. No Christian is going to tell a man with gall stones not to have the operation.
But just as God did not step in to save the Israelites from the advancing Egyptian army in Exodus 14 until they had exhausted all human ideas, and the woman with a flow of blood in Luke 8 had seen all the doctors before she came to Jesus, so it is often when the efforts of medicine can do no more that the miracle comes.
At other times, as in Fabrice Muamba’s case, prayer covers the whole pattern of events, such that an operation and healing go more swiftly and smoothly than anyone could imagine. And then the doctors speak of ‘a miracle’.
Faith is also important. Both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle James tell us not to doubt. The ‘double-minded’ will receive nothing from the Lord, says James. We must not pray and then say to ourselves ‘I don’t think the Lord will do it, but it’s worth a try.’ And prayer has to be fervent, from the heart.
Just put “miraculous healing” into any search engine, be encouraged, and confound the ASA!

Tesco – now it’s mice infestations

2012-04-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

It doesn’t get any better for Tesco, who have seen their ‘big price drop’ flop, sales and profits drop, the worst perfomance of the ‘big four’ over Christmas, their share price plummet, their UK operations CEO sacked, their local management in a spin, all since announcing a £30,000 gift to London Gay Pride in November 2011. And only days ago we reported on a Tesco manageress in Gravesend calling the police because one of our members was giving out our ‘Boycott Tesco’ leaflets outside her store.
Now it’s an infestation of mice in Tesco’s flagship Tesco Metro in Bedford Street in London’s Covent Garden. The store has been closed by Westminster Environmetal Health Department.
This is not the first time mice have been found in Tesco. Just over a year ago, in December 2010, a shopper in Birmingham was horrified to see baby mice fall out of crisp packet she picked off the shelves in Tesco’s Aston store.
Customer Liz Wray told the Daily Mirror: “There were half a dozen of them crawling out of different holes in the crisps and we couldn’t believe our eyes. All staff did was put a cardboard box over them and close aisle six.
“I’m not sure if they were inside the multipack or if they were just in amongst the packets.
“But there were a lot of holes in the bag, they’d obviously been at them.”
She was astounded that staff did not close the store. To let mice feed in the store would be bad enough. For mice to be allowed to build a nest in the stock betrays a lack of seriousness over hygiene and general cleanliness.
And the same inability to distinguish between right and wrong is behind their decision to support ‘gay pride’. Philip Clarke was elevated to CEO and the recently-departed Philip Brasher to UK Chief in March 2011. It has all goine wrong since then. Tesco’s only hope is to put their trust in God. Repenting of the ‘Gay Pride’ decision will be part of that.

David Cameron does God – up to a point

2012-04-10T10:03:00.002-07:00

by Stephen

David Cameron has quoted from the Gospel of Luke and spoken of ‘we’ Christians at a pre-Easter reception at Downing Street.
Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell famously didn’t ‘Do God’, but Mr Cameron is making rather a habit of it. As Easter Sunday approaches, Mr Cameron has decided to “do God” in public, as Alastair Campbell might say.
In December last year, the Prime Minster called for a return to Christian values during a service held in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.
He said there were three reasons why the King James Bible was as relevant today as any point in its history.
“First, the King James Bible has bequeathed a body of language that permeates every aspect of our culture and heritage. Second, just as our language and culture is steeped in the Bible, so too is our politics.
“Third, we are a Christian country. And we should not be afraid to say so. Let me be clear: I am not in any way saying that to have another faith – or no faith – is somehow wrong.”
Now Mr Cameron has held a reception in Downing Street and quoted from the Gospel of Luke as he spoke of “we” Christians.
“This is the time when, as Christians, we remember the life, sacrifice and living legacy of Christ. The New Testament tells us so much about the character of Jesus; a man of incomparable compassion, generosity, grace, humility and love. These are the values that Jesus embraced, and I believe these are values people of any faith, or no faith, can also share in, and admire.
“It is values like these that make our country what it is – a place which is tolerant, generous and caring. A nation which has an established faith, that together is most content when we are defined by what we are for, rather than defined by what we are against. In the book of Luke, we are told that Jesus said, ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you’ – advice that when followed makes for a happier, and better society for everyone.”
He told the assembled guests that he welcomed a Christian “fightback”. He said: “I think there’s something of a fightback going on, and we should welcome that. The values of the Bible, the values of Christianity, are the values that we need.”
Interestingly, this is what Jesus said about marriage, which Mr Cameron wants to change into a ‘gay’ version:
Mar 10:6 “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said:
“The last verse, Mark 10:9, is normally taken to refer to individual marriages, which people in Britain today set aside as a routine. I’ve been on the receiving end of divorce on demand. Some fifty percent of marriages are now being put asunder because one party simply decides to walk out.
“But David Cameron wants to put asunder the whole institution of marriage as ordained in the beginning by God Almighty. In 2007 he voted for the Sexual Orientation Goods and Services Regulations which have been used against Christian hoteliers operating the values of the Bible, yet now he urges a ‘fightback’ against secularism.
“David Cameron voted to abolish the blasphemy laws in May 2008, which provided a foundation for a culture of respect for both God and man. In the same month he voted to allow animal/human hybrid embryos. A day later he voted to allow abortion – or the murder of children in the womb – at 16 weeks gestation, a time when every organ and every brain function is in place and operating. It was good that he quoted Christ’s ‘golden rule’ from Luke 6:13 (and Matthew 7:12) but he would not allow to be done to him what he allows to be done to children in the womb.
“It is a good beginning to call for Christian values and to urge a Christian fight-back, but Mr Cameron’s thinking needs to be joined up. He needs to be transformed by the renewing of his mind. How can he in all seriousness urge a ‘fight-back’ against the marginalisation of Christianity and against attempts to ban the wearing of crosses and crucifixes when the Home Office is fighting in the European Court to uphold exactly such a ban?
“David Cameron is right that the values of Christianity are the values that we need’ but he needs our prayers to realise that he cannot pick and choose from the Bible or from the teachings of the Lord. Yes, respect for property helps stop youth looting from shops. Yes, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you helps maintain order in society.
“But keeping a few of Christ’s commandments while breaking a raft of others is to break them all, as the Apostle James points out.
“A little like some of the church today, Mr Cameron overdoes the love and compassion of Christ, but shies away from his laws and judgments. But even then he is selective. He likes being compassionate to homosexuals to the extent of overturning God’s holy institution of marriage, but he doesn’t want a lot of compassion to be shown to last summer’s rioters, or for that matter to the disabled people being made redundant by Remploy.
“Napoleon liked religion when it maintained peace and order, and not when it challenged his assumed right to autocratic rule. Such a convenient approach seems to be catching to leaders.
“I repeat, David Cameron needs our prayers; and a few letters might not go amiss either.”

Islam Growing at Astronomical Rate in UK

2012-04-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Islam in the UK is growing at an astronomical rate according to recent studies.
“Muslims in England and Wales are practising their faith and passing it on to their children at much higher rates than any other religion, including Christianity,” the Muslim News reported last month.
The report comes after research recently published in a sociology journal showed that 77% of actively practicing Muslim families successfully perpetuate their faith to the next generation, in contrast to only 29% in actively practicing Christian families and 65% in other religions.
Summarizing the findings, the Muslim News Report noted that

The study, ‘Intergenerational transmission of Islam in England and Wales: evidence from the Citizenship Survey’ by academics from Cardiff University, also found that 98% of Muslim children surveyed said they had the religion their parents were brought up in, compared with 62% of Christians and 89% of other religions.
The team analysed data from the Home Office’s 2003 Citizenship Survey data, using 13,988 replies from adults and 1,278 from young people aged 11 to 15.

The recent report is not an isolated event. Last year the multi-faith group, Faith Matters, studied the frequency of conversions to Islam. Researchers discovered that between 2001 and 2010, the number of British converts rose from 60,000 to 100,000. This includes a large numbers of female converts, which has nearly doubled from what it was ten years ago. (See the Faith Matters’ article, ‘Surge of Britons Converting to Islam‘ as well as The Telegraph report.)
Another study from last year, conducted by the US-based Pew Forum, estimated that the total number of UK Muslims is 2.9 million (4.6% of the population) compared with 1.6 million (2.8%) in 2001. If present trends continue, the Muslim population of the UK will swell to almost double within 20 years, reaching a staggering 5.5million.
If these figures are accurate, it means that by 2030 Britain will have more Muslims than the nation of Kuwait.
As these studies suggest, the growth of Islam in the UK is largely the result of both the strong retention rate within Islamic families as well as conversion from outside. (Immigration is also crucially important, but that is a topic that will have to wait for another post.) I want to explore both of these factors, beginning with the strong retention rate.

Retention

What accounts for the fact that 77% of actively practicing Muslim families successfully perpetuate their faith to the next generation, in contrast to only 29% in actively practicing Christian households?
No doubt there are numerous reasons for this, but one important factor is education. Professor Scourfield, one of the researchers in the recent study, was quoted in The Muslim News as saying,

“Muslim children tend to lead busy lives, often attending religious education classes outside school three or more times each week on top of any other commitments they have.
“They typically learn to read the Qur’an in Arabic. They also learn a great deal about their faith from parents and other family members. Religion can have an especially important role for minority communities in keeping together the bonds between families from the same ethnic background.”

Even when Muslim children go to the state schools, their parents make sure that they get a solidly Muslim education. By contrast, Christian parents in Britain can often be incredibly ambivalent about the formative role that education plays, sometimes even completely denying that it has any relation to how successfully the faith is perpetuated from one generation to the next.
In addition to this, there is the strong role that community plays in keeping children within the faith. Muslims are raised to think in very communal and corporate terms, so that to grow up and abandon the faith is equivalent to abandoning one’s own people. By contrast, Christians within Britain (and sadly throughout much of the Western world) tend to think very individualistically. Even when faith is perceived to be about more than one’s own spiritual interiority, it is still thought to be primarily an individualistic experience. Consequently, a Christian child can grow up and abandon the faith without feeling that he or she is also abandoning his or her own people. This makes apostasy a lot easier.
Another reason stems from the fact that the Islamic religion is so totalizing, affecting every area of life. It is woven into the fabric of every level of the culture in which a child grows up. British Muslims have been careful to preserve this culture within their communities and to prevent it being neutralized throughWesternization. This too has something to do with the strong retention rate. To grow up and leave the faith would be to grow up and turn one’s back on one’s culture.

Conversion

If what I suggested in the last section explains why British Muslims have such a strong record at perpetuating the faith from one generation to the next, what explains the surprising levels of conversion?
Part of the reason is that Muslims take evangelism seriously. Batool al-Toma, who runs the New Muslims Project, has commented that “Islam is a missionary religion, and many Muslim organisations and particularly university students’ Islamic societies have active outreach programmes designed to remove popular misconceptions about the faith.”

The testimony given by many converts to Islam is that they are converting as a reaction to the decadence and moral bankruptcy of modern society. Many girls see Islam as an escape from the culture of partying and drunkenness that characterizes modern British society.

Another reason why are so many Britons are becoming Muslim is that the Islamic faith is an escape route from the decadence and moral bankruptcy of contemporary British society. At least, that is the testimony given by many converts. The Faith Matters survey cited above found that numerous young women (on average 27 years old) are going into Islam as a reaction to the moral licentiousness, drunkenness and ‘unrestrained consumerism’ of modern society. Quite simply, British young people are craving the stability that Islam brings.
Young men are converting for the same reason. “I liked the way the Muslims students I knew conducted themselves” says Paul Martin, a 27-year old convert to Islam. “It’s nice to think about people having one partner for life and not doing anything harmful to their body. I just preferred the Islamic lifestyle and from there I looked into the Qur’an.”
Lynne Ali converted to Islam at age 19. Her story is similar to scores of other young women who are attractive to the Islamic lifestyle. Having been what she calls “a typical white hard-partying teenager”, she felt a great void in her life.
“I would go out and get drunk with friends,” Lynne recounts, “wear tight and revealing clothing and date boys. I think, underneath it all, I must have been searching for something, and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled by my hard-drinking, party lifestyle.” When Lynne met her boyfriend, Zahid, at university, she felt that Islam offered an escape route. “I am so grateful I found my escape route…I am no longer a slave to a broken society and its expectations.”

Where is the Church in All This?

It is true that people remain in the Christian faith, or convert to it, for similar reasons. Yet as Christians we should be honestly asking ourselves some hard questions. Are we doing as good a job as the Muslims in showing the communal nature of the Christian faith? Do we also prioritize evangelism? Are we doing as good of a job as the Muslims in proclaiming the totalizing nature of our religion, showing that the Christian faith affects every department of life? Are we showing our young people that the faith is not just true, but lovely, so that when our children grow up they do not want to walk away from it? Is there a noticeable difference between the lifestyle of Christians and those in the world, so that young people see the Christian faith as being an escape route from pagan decadence?

Hole In The Heart

2012-04-08T17:44:00.002-07:00

The tree was smack in the middle of downtown surrounded by a lot of concrete, stores, and cars, with roots going down into a tiny patch of dirt by the street.

Right in the middle of the trunk was a hole. The hole apparently was made by a branch growing back around grafting itself into the main tree trunk.

The tree seemed healthy. Its leaves were shiny with a vibrant deep green hue. It looked good. It functioned as a bit of shade-giver and was growing fine. Everything about seemed to be normal.

Except that it still had the hole in its center.

Sometimes we walk around with holes in our hearts. We look good, we carry on day-to-day, and the hole goes undetected by anyone. But sometimes we are aware that it is still there.

This Easter we remember how Jesus demonstrated the love of God towards us all. He came to restore us to our relationship with God, and He came to heal…including holes in our hearts.

His love will heal your heart when He touches you with His love. He not only can do that, but is more than willing to.

God is love. That is good news.

- – - written by Sally I. Kennedy

Empty Tomb Of Jesus Pictures

2012-04-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

Will God Forgive My Grave Sins?

2012-04-08T15:44:00.001-07:00

Will God Forgive My Grave Sins?

Have you ever committed a grave sin? Are you doubting whether God will forgive your grave sins? Are you in doubts and have not done a confession for a long time, or not believing in confession?

I would like to share something that helped me to give importance to confession and changed my life to see things differently, trusting the Lord who is always there waiting for our call to guide us.

The Story of God’s Forgiveness

Once there was a wealthy young man, God-fearing in nature who got married to a beautiful young lady. Both were very happy but the woman even though she was provided with everything the world could give was not happy. The man being a good person gave everything to make her happy but still she would always be disturbed and unhappy. He showed her to the best doctors, councillors, took her to different exotic places around the world but nothing could change her.

One fine day, there was a preacher who had come to their parish to give a retreat and this man took his wife for blessing and counselling. The only thing that the wife said was she has committed a great sin in the past before marriage for which she had confess and that she is sure even after confession it cannot be forgiven. Understanding her concern the father told the lady to come along with him for a walk by the river side that evening.

While walking on the banks of the river the preacher took this opportunity to tell her to pretend that they are talking to God and confessing their sins to God. And as a penance God is asking them to pick up a stone equivalent to the size of their sin and to throw the stone in the sea. The preacher takes a small stone to the size of his sin and throws it in the water asking the lady what she saw in the water. She replied that there was a noise with a small splash and the stone slowly sank in the river.

Now was the turn of the lady to do the same and the preacher said; knowing her sin he will help her carry a big stone that she chooses to throw. Picking up the huge stone they did the same as the preacher had done, threw the stone in the sea. Once again the preacher questioned the lady asking her to describe what she saw. This time also her answer was the same but it made a very big noise with a huge splash of water so big that they were wet and the stone went into the sea sinking slowly with calmness coming to the river once again.

Keeping the experiment in mind the preacher compared the woman sin saying even though both of them had different stone to the size of their sins once thrown into the seas both could not be seen and that after the stones sank they brought calmness once again.

Nature of God’s Forgiveness

The is what the preacher made the women understand that once we confess our sins to God they are surely forgiven, no matter how big or dangerous they may be, never to be seen again. Just as the east and the west cannot meet each other, the same way God also forgives our sins never to look back at them again.

Once the woman understood this formula and changed the way she was thinking, there was great rejoicing and happiness in her married life and she was able to love her husband like never before. We need to guard our spoken word to receive only by saying what we desire to have which is acceptable and pleasing to God.

So my friends, please remember: However grave your sins maybe, the infinite kindness and love of our Lord will erase even your gravest sins forever, once you confess your sins truly and wholeheartedly to God.

- – - written by Tome de Souza

Give Yourself Entirely To Christ

2012-04-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Give Yourself Entirely To Christ

Story: Carry The Entire Jigsaw To God

It was December and Christmas was round the corner. Alvin was very excited because just a couple of days after Christmas he would celebrate his birthday. He was sure of getting at least one gift from his mother. It was Christmas Eve and the festivities began. Alvin got a new dress, a Christmas crib and some Christmas gifts from his Christmas friends but, the elusive birthday gift which he was looking forward to was still a couple of days away.

Finally the D-day arrived and Alvin waited with bated breath trying to guess what his mother would give him this time. Would it be one of those boring cars, nay! not again, may be another soft toy he thought or would it be another story book? The suspense was getting to be unbearable. Finally his mother planted a kiss on his cheek after wishing him and handed over the birthday gift. Alvin could wait no longer; he hurried into his bedroom and quickly unwrapped the gift.

He was amused to find that his mother had given him something totally different this time – it was a jigsaw puzzle. Alvin was supposed to piece the jigsaw together. Try hard as he did, he could not piece the jigsaw together and he spent most of the day running to his mother with the different pieces. Each time he ran to his mother, his mother sent him back and made him bring the entire jigsaw to her so that she could explain it to him and let him try his hand on it once more.

Our life is a wonderful yet complicated jigsaw pieced together very intricately by Jesus and the various pieces are our health, family, relationships, possessions, career, ministries etc. What we try to do when faced with a problem in any of these areas is that we try to pull out that particular piece from the entire jigsaw and take it to God instead of carrying the whole jigsaw to him. To make our life wholesome God wants us to surrender our entire life to him.

Story: Give Complete Ownership To Jesus

A man built a double storied mansion and Jesus came one day and knocked at the door to the entrance of his mansion. The man opened the door for Jesus and welcomed him. He showed him around and before long gave him the best room in the 2nd storey for stay and said “please stay here with me”. The man now felt secure with Jesus having taken possession of his favourite room in the 2nd storey.

Before long he heard another knock and went to open the door. Even before he could open the door properly, he felt somebody sneaking in. He was totally disturbed when he realized that it was Satan who had sneaked in. Satan made a mess of every other room in the building except the one in which Jesus stayed. All the while our man thought that Jesus would come to his aid but when Jesus did not turn up, the man, unable to stand the commotion went to Jesus and sought his help. The moment Satan saw Jesus coming out of the room he ran away. The man asked Jesus “why did you not come to my help?”Pointing to the room in which he stayed Jesus said, “Son you gave me only this room to stay, how do you expect me to interfere with what is happening in the other rooms.”

The man realized his mistake and promptly gave Jesus the whole of the 2nd storey to use. The next morning he heard a knock on the door. Thinking that it might be Jesus calling him he ventured to open the door. Even before he could open the door wide Satan sneaked in and started playing havoc in the rooms on the ground floor. The man tried his best to rid Satan but could not. After a while he lost his patience and stormed upstairs. Everything was calm and quite upstairs.

“Lord, how could Satan come in this time with you upstairs” quizzed the man. Jesus smiled and answered “Son you only surrendered the rooms upstairs to me. You put me in charge of the rooms upstairs and look there is absolutely no problem here. As for the rooms downstairs, I have already told you that I never interfere in anything that is not surrendered to me.” Saying this Jesus put his arms around the person and walked downstairs. Seeing Jesus coming Satan fled the scene. The man now realized what Jesus wanted him to do and promptly gave Jesus the keys to the entire building.

Early next morning he heard a knock at the door. This time though, even before he could answer the door, Jesus answered the door. As usual it was Satan. The man leaned against the door of his bedroom as he overheard Satan saying “Sorry, I didn’t expect you here. How did the OWNERSHIP of this building change?” Jesus answered “The building is my property now it has been surrendered to me; I am in charge, so better get going”. The man was never troubled again by Satan.

—————- —————-

In 1 Peter 5:6-7 St. Peter the apostle says “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” Very often we behave like the man who surrendered one room at a time to Jesus only to find problems in the others. However we never think twice before entrusting our life to total strangers.

In our anxiety to reach the office on time, we are prepared to trust the bus or taxi driver, a total stranger with our life. We are sure that he will take us to our destination safe and sound where as the fact is that being a human he is equally likely to commit a mistake and get us involved in an accident. On the other hand we have Christ who is so sure of everything he speaks and does, and will never get us into any trouble, but, we are hesitant to trust him. What an irony.

Each time you partake of the Holy Mass, offer yourself up to Jesus at the consecration of the bread and wine and listen to him in the person of the priest acknowledging your surrender with the words “This is MY BODY”. You have given yourself up to Christ and Christ has now acknowledged your body symbolizing your life as his own. What has taken place here is a change in ownership. Your body is no longer yours but Christ’s.

What happens a few minutes after the consecration confirms this truth. Your body (read your life with all its problems) has now been accepted and transfigured by Christ into his own body. Just believe that this is the body you receive in communion and you will feel sense and see a world of difference in your day and all that you do that day.

- – - written by Lajan Miranda

Me - A Christian?

2012-03-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Paul was a prisoner who had appealed to have his case heard at Rome , by Caesar, and there were preliminary hearings underway to help the Roman Governor send a summary statement to his Emperor.

Having a Jewish expert available – King Herod Agrippa, who reigned over part of the Roman province of Judea – Governor Festus asked Paul to address the assembly and to state his case. You can read it in Acts chapter 26, verses 1-27, as it is faithfully recorded by the inspired historian Luke, at the end of which Herod Agrippa made a comment that was quite ambiguous. It is translated quite differently in different versions of the Bible as translators try to catch exactly the right meaning. Here are a few variations:

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28 NKJV)
“In a short time you think to make me a Christian!” (RSV)
“Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” (NIV)
“With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian” (ASV)
“A little more, and your arguments would make a Christian of me” (NJB)

There you have it – the translators offering a whole range of different possibilities, from protest to probability. Getting the right meaning requires that we understand a little about King Herod and his usual pattern of behaviour. He was not Jewish, but Idumean, and was ruling as king under Roman direction and control. Agrippa was by no means ignorant about the prophets and. in a general way knew about the Jewish religion. He was informed too of the facts of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Almost a Believer?

Some of the translations would seem to imply that the king was on the verge of faith. It is clear, however, from his subsequent behaviour when he showed no signs of improving his lifestyle or any inclination to live in a right way that he was, in fact, sneering at the apostle's appeal to him. His response really meant – “Do you think you can make me a Christian so easily?”

Additionally his apparent acceptance without any query of Paul's statement is confirmed by his use of the word “Christian”. Disciples were first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26). The name had by no means come into general use, but Herod knew a good deal about those who were so called. Did that knowledge make him any better? It did not! It probably dulled the edge of his curiosity. At the same time it could make him imagine he knew in advance all that Paul would have to say. It stood in the way of his accepting the truths that he thought he understood.

Our Misunderstandings

Is it not a fact that the ground in our minds can be pre-occupied with our own imperfect grasp of something? Superficial knowledge is often the enemy of accurate knowledge. We think we know something, but we don't really know it at all. The first condition of knowing a thing is to know that we do not know it. We are never too old to learn. Humble realisation of that fact can help us to read the Word of God and listen to its preaching intently. We should never give only casual attention to the Word of God; it is far too important for that.

Fundamental truths will always remain of paramount importance, but they might not always appear that important. If we recognize them as fundamental, they can seem to us like blurred outlines of figures cast onto a screen when the projector is not properly focused. The blurred outline keeps us from seeing the clear-cut truth as it is in Jesus.

We need to hold fast to the plain central facts of the Gospel – our own sinfulness and helplessness, our need of our Saviour, the perfect work of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us and the power of simple faith which leads to consecration and obedience. How can we hope that others will learn of Jesus unless they feel that we ourselves know our Lord intimately, and have the right to speak of him? We need to prove for ourselves the wonderful promises of what he does and is; we must know them to be true so that we can hand them on with confidence to others who have exactly the same need as us.

Paul's Appeal

Paul had precisely this preparation, this passion and this faculty. He had found fundamental truth when he encountered the risen Lord Jesus on the Damascus Road. It completely changed his life. Once an enemy of Jesus Christ he was now his devoted follower and he was determined to try to share that understanding with others. Here are a few statements he made which illustrate how he felt about his calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ:

“I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2);

“What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7,8);

“Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you" (1 Corinthians 9:19 -23).

Agrippa's Opportunity

King Agrippa might have been flippant in his reply to Paul's appeal, but Paul was in deadly earnest when he said to him:

"King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe" (Acts 26:27).

He was giving the King the opportunity of a lifetime, to admit that there was real substance in the fundamental truths that Paul had outlined. For when the king brushed the opportunity aside, Paul replied like this:

Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." And Paul said, "I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains".

That's a wonderful reply when you stop and think about it. He wanted the King, in all his regal splendour, to be like him. This poor, worn-looking Jew, confronted the Tetrarch with all the pomp and circumstance of his state, and protesting that his most earnest desire was that the Tetrarch and indeed every person present, were such as himself – minus his bonds. Paul knew that he was free from the bondage of sin and death and wanted all others to share that freedom and to have the hope that he had – of an endless life in a perfect world.

That opportunity is ours when we recognize that the Bible presents it to us and asks us to "believe the prophets". Every day as we read the Bible and think about its teaching, we are being asked to become a Christian – to shape our lives after the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Me – a Christian? Yes. You, if you choose to follow wherever Christ will lead.

Claud Lamb

The Coming of Jesus Christ

2012-03-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Coming of Jesus Christ

Son of…

That Jesus is the vital link between the Old and New is confirmed in the very first verse of the New Testament. It establishes the connection between David and Abraham, with both of whom God made covenants or agreements. It was the birth of Jesus which was now to make both those covenants meaningful, for they both anticipated One who would conquer sin and rule for God. That opening verse declares:

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1)

The actual birth of the Lord Jesus is only recorded in two of the Gospel accounts, Matthew and Luke. Both of these records bring together a whole series of Old Testament passages which found their fulfilment in the birth of the only begotten son of God. The crucial point that all the gospel records make plain is that in the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifested Himself in human history for the salvation of sinful man. Here are some key verses to that effect:

Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ”Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:22,23)

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight’ “ (Mark 1:1-3)

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham: to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life” (Luke 1:68-75)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth … No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him” (John 1:14,18)

God with Us

Because Jesus was the only begotten Son of God and God was speaking through him, he was “God with us”. In Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet foretold this coming time:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. behold, he is coming,” says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:1)

The speaker is God Himself, and the coming Messenger was said to be preparing the way before God but when that same prophecy is quoted in Mark’s gospel a subtle change is made. There it reads:

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you” (Mark 1:2)

This change indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ was, in the fullest sense, God’s representative and that God was manifest, or shown, in him in a most wonderful and remarkable way. As John explained in the opening verses of his account:

“The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him” (John 1:18)

... something the Lord himself was later to confirm to his disciples when he said:

“He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9)

Jesus was God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) because he was the Son of God – not God the Son.

The Redeemer

Luke, having spoken of the miraculous conception of the Lord Jesus through the operation of the Holy Spirit upon his mother, sums up the truth of the matter in the words of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist:

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (1:68)

It is interesting to note that this is the language which God used when He delivered the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt (remember the Passover Lamb!). Then He said:

“I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt” (Exodus 3:16)

At that time his agents to deliver the people were Moses and Aaron. Now it was that God sent His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was both the leader who would rescue mankind from sin and death and the Passover Lamb who would make possible that deliverance (John 1:29).
John’s gospel tells us that in the Lord Jesus “the word was made flesh” (1:14). It was by His word that God had revealed Himself in past ages; now that word was made flesh, for the Lord Jesus was the fulfilment of all that God had spoken. In him, God’s complete revelation was given in the realm of human experience. When we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, portrayed in the gospels, we see the life of God manifest, the life that He wants us to share.

Not a Life Story

The four gospels are not, strictly, accounts of the life of the Lord Jesus. Apart from the information about his birth and events immediately subsequent to it, and then his visit to the temple at the age of twelve (recorded in Matthew and Luke), all the gospels relate the details of the ministry of the Lord Jesus which took place in the last three and a half years of his life. This is their main focus of attention but, even here, it is evident that only specific incidents and discourses are recorded – ones that are important in helping us to understand the things we need to know about his work and teaching. John the Baptist was given the task of preparing the people of Israel for the public work of the Lord Jesus. He preached baptism for the remission (or forgiveness) of sins and the burden of his message was that man is mortal, the point being that we all must do something if we want to become immortal and share in the life of God. His message, then, strikes an urgent note at the start of the New Testament and again he picks up and confirms the message of the Old.

Desperate Situation

He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Pre-pare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God’ ” (Luke 3:3-6)

In the prophecy of Isaiah the voice asks a specific question and receives a very pointed reply:

The voice said, “Cry out!” and he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades … but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

Thus it was that John taught that we are all in desperate need of salvation from sin and death and his message is as relevant for us today as it was for those who first heard him. The truth that he preached is intended to prepare our hearts to accept the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation. Otherwise we too will wither and die.

Dudley Fifield

Love Your Neighbour As Yourself

2012-03-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

Who is my neighbour? Jesus was asked this question by a lawyer who was enquiring about eternal life. As we study this subject of the second commandment (love thy neighbour as thyself) expounded through the Word of God, the answer will become clear to us. I felt moved to write on this subject when I was in the unfortunate position of relying on help from others, due to a temporary physical disability.

Responsibilities to our Neighbour

The parable of the Good Samaritan recorded in Luke 10:39 gives us a very clear picture of helping our neighbour and the responsibilities attached. Firstly, the Good Samaritan did not know the person he was helping. The priest and the Levite, who we would think would be the first to offer help, walked on the other side of the road. Sometimes it is the people we think least of, or perhaps do not even know, who offer the most help. They are often the busiest people—yet they find the time. We need not go out of our way to help: the opportunity can be found on our doorsteps and on our road of life. This is shown in the parable. After all, we are reminded to do good to all men. We should not just offer help to those we enjoy helping or those we get on well with, or those who have offered us help in the past; but we must do good even to our enemies.

The Good Samaritan literally got his hands dirty helping an unfortunate person. It is easy to offer help when it will not cost us time, money or any form of sacrifice. On occasion helping others may hurt. We may feel inclined to restrict our help, lest we ourselves are adversely affected. In the parable, the Samaritan went so far as to offer the innkeeper money from his own pocket. If we should think we are giving too much, let us remember that God has blessed us with all that we have, to use in Christ’s service. After all, Christ gave his life for us and gave it in an agonising way. In fact, his whole life was one of giving. So, whenever we have the opportunity to help someone, let us think of him.

Good excuses as to why we cannot help can always be found. However, we must bear in mind that God has endowed us all with different talents to use to the best of our ability. There can be occasions when we find a person who requires help, yet our own talents are not sufficient; this can be expressed in shyness or a reluctance to help. In such a case we should approach someone who has the right talents. Should there be no one else to turn to, however, we must use our own talents to the best of our ability—and prayerfully.

Patient Continuance

We can help too much or too little. When preparing to help we should attempt to size up the situation or persons involved, to strike a happy medium. We must also be consistent with our help, particularly with elderly people whose life-style is often one of set routine.

In our walk on the path of life we shall come across people who do not believe in God, yet seem to show more “christian” love than some who are believers. This should remind us of James, who said that faith without works is dead and works without faith are dead also. Therefore, when performing acts of kindness, we must embody spiritual things as well.

S. G. WINTER-MOORE

The Commandments of Christ for Today

2012-03-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the beginning, God created the world, he filled it with his glory and created man and woman who were placed upon the earth in the wonderful Garden of Eden, to live in and look after it.
God gave Adam & Eve, the first man and woman, one command while they were living in the Garden, and that was to not eat the fruit of one particular tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. All other fruits they could eat, but not this one.
However, despite only having one command to obey, in time they gave into the temptation of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and tasted of the forbidden fruit. This was mankind’s first sin and God being perfect cannot tolerate sin and they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden and instructed to fend for themselves. Sin is simply the breaking of God’s commandments, they are what cause us to be separated from God because he cannot live with sin. How many sins did it take before God decided to throw them out? Ten? Twenty? One Hundred? A thousand? No, just the one sin and they had to pack their bags. One sin and Adam could no longer approach or dwell with God, one sin and he had to die. God is pure holiness and does not take sin lightly, and that’s why he has told us in James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. So if we break one little commandment, then we have broken the whole law.
Later on, the nation of Israel, or the Jews, were born out of the descendants of Adam (specifically Jacob, also called Israel) and are God’s people. When they left their life of slavery in Egypt, God gave the descendants of Israel, or children of Israel a long list of laws to obey through a prophet called Moses. The best known of these are the Ten Commandments, dealing with how to behave towards God and how to behave to other people.
1. I am the Lord thy God, no other gods before me
2. No graven images
3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath Day
5. Honour mother and father
6. Do not kill
7. Do not commit adultery
8. Do not steal
9. Do not bare false witness
10. Do not covet
These are moral laws that told the Israelites how to conduct themselves towards others, including God, but there were many other laws given which can be read of in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy and Leviticus. There were ceremonial laws such as the feasts, and observing of days like circumcision on the 8th day for a new born boy. There were dietary laws like certain things they could and couldn’t eat, laws of cleanliness to help prevent the spread of diseases, laws regarding worship such as the sacrifice of animals to God.
But why did God place this heavy burden on Israel, well perhaps part of the answer is in Exodus 19

On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. (Exo 19:1-8)

The people of Israel said that they will do everything that the Lord has said! They were filled with self-confidence, however God knew that they could not do all that he required. They failed to realise that they did not have the strength to carry out God’s directions perfectly and they did not recognise just how far they were from God and His great glory. This is the reason why God gave them the commandments and in particular the ten commandments we see given in the next chapter, telling the Israelites to keep them all, but if whoever fails in one point fails in them all and will be separated from God forever. God wanted to show the Israelites through the heavy burden of all the laws and rituals that they didn’t have the ability to please Him. God knew they wouldn’t follow all the commandments, but they didn’t yet realise this.
But why did God give them all these commandments when he knew that they wouldn’t be able to keep them perfectly?

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:20)

So the purpose of the Old Testament law and in particular the Ten Commandments, wasn’t to remove sin, but to reveal sin, or make the people conscious of sin.… a law that allowed the people to judge each other. God didn’t give those commandments so the Israelites could be saved. Can the descendants of Adam keep all the commandments perfectly? Can you draw pure, clean water from a dirty, polluted water pot? Of course not. The purpose wasn’t to save the people from the judgement, but to show the people that they were condemned and that they needed a saviour.

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isa 64:6)

as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; (Rom 3:10)

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Rom 3:12)

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. (Rom 3:19)

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Rom 3:22-23)

So if this is what it is like, then how can we possibly escape punishment? What can we do to be saved. If we base it on our own efforts then we have no hope, but God has put in place a plan to rescue the children of Adam from the punishment of sin.
After God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites he says

An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. (Exo 20:24)

So, Moses made an altar…

And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." (Exo 24:4-8)

What was the reason for all of this. To show the Israelites that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin and everyone who wants to approach God has to do so under the perfection of a blemish-free sacrifice.

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Heb 9:22)

God commanded those animal sacrifices because he is holy and righteous and his law states that the penalty for breaking even one of the smallest commandments is death. Since the children of Israel could not keep all the commandments they had to bring a sacrifice to God that was without blemish so that the innocent and pure animal could replace the one who was guilty. But, animal sacrifices could not remove sin, they could only cover a man’s sin and they had to be done time after time. This was until God sent Jesus Christ his son into the world who willingly offered himself as the perfect sacrifice.

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Heb 9:23-28)

Jesus was able to fulfil the ten commandments and all the other laws required, not once in his life did he sin and so he was able to lay down his life as the perfect sacrifice required which would act as a permanent sacrifice.

When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Heb 10:8-14)

Christ did away with the need for regular animal sacrifices because, unlike the animal sacrifices, he was able to make it possible for sins to be forgiven.

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds," then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Heb 10:16-18)

No one can save themselves by trying to keep the ten commandments, or any other part of the law, but it does serve the purpose of defining and revealing sin, directing people to look for a saviour.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:10-14)

Only God has a way that can save sinners, and that was through the sacrifice of his own son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus addressed the issue of the people thinking that living by the law was the only thing that mattered. Jesus brought with him a new commandment,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Joh 13:34-35)

It was a commandment of love, and he expands on this in Matthew 22

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Mat 22:35-40)

The people in the time of Jesus, like the Pharisees, put so much pride in upholding the law and had so much respect for themselves that they were in violation of these two laws because they were putting themselves first.
The definition of sin hasn’t changed between the Old and New covenants,

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:17-19)

Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, but he came rather to fulfil.

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Heb 8:13)

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. (Heb 9:1)

All the old testament rituals, and sacrifices were done away with. A new better covenant had been established, one that was based on a law of grace and not a law of works. The new covenant in Christ adds clarity and focus to our hearts, and condemns those who are only intent on keeping the letter of the law.

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luk 18:10-14)

The Pharisee boasted about himself to God, thanking Him that he was not like other men, the tax collector humbly asked God to have mercy on him, a sinner. Jesus said the tax collector was the only one who went home justified before God, the greek word here for justified means to be rendered righteous.
If you fail to forgive someone because you think that someone doesn’t deserve it, then you will earn the Lord’s condemnation just like the Pharisees, but if you confess your own sins and forgive others you too will be forgiven.
The new covenant and the commandments of Christ are all about loving and forgiving others, but it doesn’t mean that the old law is invalidated.

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Rom 3:31)

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2Co 3:3)

But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (2Co 3:14-16)

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Heb 8:10)

If the old law was unimportant why would it be written on our hearts?
This is the argument Paul makes in Romans… we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the spiritual life, not the lift of the flesh.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Rom 8:1-6)

So in the new covenant, the commandments laid down for us by Christ, we are still serving and sinning under the law, but we are serving now in a newness of the Spirit, because we want to serve, not because we have to. We do not serve out of fear because we are tied down by a burdensome law, but we do so out of love because Christ is our Lord and Saviour. It is no longer a case of obedience leading to salvation which Israelites thought, but rather a case of salvation leading to obedience. We are now under a law of love, and because we love and forgive others we want to follow the commandments of Christ. Christ turned the thinking upside down. The Jews thought it was wrong to kill or steal, or break any of the other of the ten commandments because it violated the ten commandments. Jesus has told us that it’s wrong to kill or steal, because it breaks the law of love.
We are to follow the commandments of Christ, not because we have to, not because it makes us look better than others, but because we want to do them out of nothing but love for God and others. And if we love God and others then we will willingly want to do the things which please God and hate doing the things which displease him. Our mercy towards one another is our evidence of our love for God.
Jesus brought a new way of thinking with him, his commandments based on a law of love and forgiveness. If we don’t forgive others, then we won’t be forgiven ourselves. Jesus emphasised this many times,

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses.] (Mar 11:25-26)

Or read any of the epistles of John for a lesson in love.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Rom 13:8)

Jonah: Prayers and Answers

2012-03-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Jonah: Prayers and Answers

Jonah, rather than being a book of prophecy, is more of a book of history. The only real prophecy in this book is the prophecy that in ‘forty days the city of Nineveh shall be overthrown’. As it happened, this prophecy didn’t actually come to pass, because God changed his mind and chose to spare the city of Nineveh. The book of Jonah, though placed fifth among the Minor Prophets, is mainly an account of the life of Jonah, the son of Amittai. He originated from Gath-hepher in Galilee, a city which belonged to the tribe of Zebulun.
Jonah, means ‘dove’ and his father’s name, Amittai means ‘the truth of Yah’, and no-where in the Old Testament do we find these names, except in 2 Kings 14:25, where they appear together. It would be extremely unlikely for there to be two prophets of the same name, and to also have fathers of the same name, when the names themselves were so rare as not to occur anywhere else in the Old Testament. So I think we can safely assume that the Jonah referred to here in Kings is the same that we read of in the book of Jonah.
This would mean that the life of Jonah is placed around the time of the early reign of Jeroboam II, which was somewhere around 800 BC and roughly coincided with the work of Hosea and Amos. This makes him one of the oldest prophets that we have writings for. In Kings we read of his prophecy of the victories won by Jeroboam which extended the boundaries of Israel once more, and Jonah probably became very popular in Israel as these victories came to pass.
We do not know if the events which are well documented in the book of Jonah happened before or after the reference in Kings... but we will now look at those events and in particular the prayers within the book.
We have little introduction to the man Jonah himself, only his father’s name, and then we are straight into the account of Jonah’s work. The Lord’s command was to go to the great city of Nineveh and forewarn the inhabitants of its destruction, brought about by the great evil in the place. Jonah, as many prophets did, rose up at the Lord’s command, but Jonah instead of hurrying to do the Lord’s work in Nineveh as you might expect, instead hurried away to Tarshish - in the opposite direction, away from the presence of the Lord.
You might be wondering, how Jonah, who would have known the character of God could flee from the presence of the Lord. Surely he would have known what David said, Ps 139: 7, 9 - 10.
Jonah was not fleeing from God’s presence, as that would not be possible, but he was actually fleeing from the service of God.
Other prophets have disputed with God. When God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh, Moses told the Lord that he couldn't because of his poor speaking ability (Exodus 4:10). Ezekiel objected to the manner in which God wanted him to cook his food (Ezekiel 4:9-15). When God told Jeremiah to present the Lord's message, Jeremiah told God that he couldn't because of his young age (Jeremiah 1:6). But Jonah didn't argue. He didn't try to talk God out of it. He didn't even attempt a compromise. He just fled.
And yet Jonah was not the only one who tried to flee from the presence of God. Adam, also tried to hide from the presence of God (Genesis 3:8), but without success.
We are not told the reason of Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh until near the end of the account. His desertion of duties was not because he wanted the Ninevites spared (as one could easily assume), but in fact the opposite, that he did not want to see them spared. He knew that if the Ninevites repented, God would spare them. Nineveh was the Assyrian capital and Assyria had been a great threat to Israel over the years. He hoped they would be destroyed, and receive, in his eyes, what they had coming to them.
So, Jonah headed down to Joppa and then got on a boat destined for Tarshish, perhaps the furthest point away from Nineveh that he could think of.
But had he escaped from the Lord? Jonah might have thought so, but while on the ship, God sent a storm. Not just any storm, for these would have been seasoned sailors, who would not care much for a storm, usually. But this one made them fear for their lives, they threw out the cargo, they prayed to their own gods for deliverance, and yet while this was happening, Jonah lay asleep in the inner cabins perhaps still thinking he had shaken off the Lord.
The ship’s captain, presumably in disbelief that Jonah is fast asleep during all the panic, wakes him and urges him to call on his God to for deliverance.
It is interesting that even though these people did not know the True God, they were aware that this was a judgement of God. They felt this sudden storm was a punishment from God on someone aboard the ship and they cast lots to find out who it was. God revealed to them that it was Jonah.
The sailors demand to know who he was, and why this tempest had been brought on them. V 9, Jonah, with no shame, tells them he is a Hebrew but then states the exact opposite of what his actions show. He says that he fears the Lord, but if he feared the Lord he would have obeyed God and not have run away in the first place, and at the very least he would have prayed to God concerning the storm.
Jonah was by now well aware that God had brought this storm because of his disobedience. He also realizes that if he stays on board, they will all perish and he offers to give his life to save the sailors. He will not take his own life, but will take the rightful punishment for disobeying God and asks them to throw him into the sea.
The sailors tried as hard as they could to save Jonah, but they could not. They rowed as hard as they could, but the wind God had sent was stronger, and they could do nothing.
And so we come to our first prayer, given by the sailors rather than Jonah. Jonah has had plenty of opportunity to pray, but simply chooses not to.
The sailors really did not want to kill Jonah. They had to do something to save their own lives, however. They did not want to be guilty of murder either. They begged to the True God to not hold them responsible for his death.
v.14
They no longer referred to Jonah's God with the general title of elohiym but now referred to Him as Yahweh, His covenant name with Israel. For these gentiles to call upon Yahweh and fear Him indicated that the Lord had truly revealed Himself to them.
So, having made their petitions to God, they took Jonah and threw him into the sea. God hears the prayer of the sailors and answers with the calming of the storm.
The meaning of ‘fear’ has changed for the sailors. At first they were afraid for their lives because of the storm (1:5). Then their fear turned to terror when they discovered that not only was Jonah the source of the storm but that God had also pursued Jonah to their ship (1:7). And finally they attained a fear of Yahweh in the sense of worshiping Him with great awe and respect (1:16).
The sailors did not just go on with their journey after they dumped Jonah into the sea and the storm had ceased. They very likely had to go out of their way to sacrifice and make vows to God. If there was nothing left on the ship to sacrifice (because they had previously thrown everything overboard) then they would had to have gone to great lengths conduct these sacrifices.
Back to Jonah. God is not through with Jonah and doesn’t abandon him to the sea. A great fish comes along and swallows him. If you remember, Jonah went down and down in the first few verses, down to Joppa, down to Tarshish and now God is sending Jonah down to the depths of Sheol (2:2). At least that is what it felt like to Jonah as we shall see in a moment.
Jonah, has plenty of time to reflect from the inside of the fish, whale or whatever else you would like to think of it as, and finally offers his prayer to God. His prayer is very similar to writings we find in the Psalms and I’m sure you will notice many other similarities to the time that Jesus was in the tomb.
(v. 1) It seems such a shame that Jonah waited until now to pray. But yet, he is no different from many of us, waiting until the situation is so dire, that there is no way out, but to pray to God. God would have helped him I’m sure if he had admitted his mistakes and asked for forgiveness at any time, but he has waited until the very last moment before doing so, but notice that God is still there for Him and ready to listen....
(v.2) The word hell is sheol, and just means the place or world of the dead. The belly of the fish must have seemed like hell to Jonah, perhaps wondering whether he was about to die, or wondering why he was in this predicament in the first place and if he would live to see land again, but God had to push him this far to get him to see sense, and repent and obey God’s command. The word ‘cried’ here, implies a pleading with God to forgive him and remove him from the fish.
(v.3) Jonah is describing what happened to him as he was thrown overboard. There would be no way that he could have survived the sea without divine help and recognises that even the waves that passed over him belonged to God.
(v.4) Here is the turning point of Jonah, he once again looks towards God and is renewed in hope and spirit. He had been cut off from God because he chose to turn away, but like so many examples in the Bible, those who come back will be accepted by God.
(v.5) The waters surrounded Jonah, even unto the point of his last breath, and the seaweeds were tangled round his head, either from the bottom of the ocean, or weeds which the fish took in with Jonah. There was no other way out of his entanglement, except through the help of God, and again we can see many parallels throughout the Bible.
(v.6) Jonah was carried around the sea in the fish all the way to the bottom of the ocean, among the depths containing the rocks that lined the sea floor, and barred in by the land all around which held the sea. There was no escape from his watery grave and he was resigned to his death for his corruption was so bad, but after much thought he realises the true power of God, in that the Lord could reach down and bring him up from his corruption as only the Lord can.
(v.7) when Jonah was at his last, and his flesh had given up all hope, he remembered the Lord, and instinctively prayer came to Jonah, and the Lord in all his mercy heard that prayer.
(v.8) This is no time for pride of the flesh. They who trust in idols and follow hopeless paths do so at their peril. Those who abandon God, abandon the mercy that God has stored up for them.
(v.9) Jonah’s repentant heart is now fully evident, he praises the Lord and vows to give over his life once more and in particular complete the task that was assigned to him. Acts 4:12; Eph 2:8. Jonah knows his only hope is in God.
But when exactly did Jonah make his vow to go to Nineveh? Did he make it only after God had, in a manner of speaking, twisted his arm while in the fish? With a little thought we can deduce that Jonah actually made this vow before the beginning of the book. When Jonah initially became a prophet he vowed to be a representative of God and speak on His behalf. His running away had broken the sacred vow he had sworn to. Remember Deut 23:21-23
The act of becoming a Christian involves a vow not much different from that of a prophet, for when we are baptised we are essentially vowing to give our lives to God and perhaps we should be thinking about this a little more during our daily lives.
But going back to Jonah’s prayer. There is no petition in the prayer. Jonah asks for nothing; he simply cries out in acknowledgement to God. Sometimes it is good for us just to thank God, and praise Him, without asking for anything.
Some writers wonder how genuine his prayer was. How much of it did he really mean it? Or was he just saying what he had been taught? Had the rebellious Jonah really changed? Or is he just saying all the right things? From my studies I see a man, at his end, his body is just a shell and the flesh has given way to the spirit within him - I see little of the former Jonah left in this prayer, But, however sincere the prayer was, God obviously found some good in it (for all prayer is transparent to God) and chose to answer.
(v.10) God hears Jonah’s prayer and answers. He saves his life and in the process teaches him the valuable lesson of obedience.
And now we essentially go all the way back to where we started. Jonah has wasted time and is re-ordered to get on with his ministry, and this time he rose and went to Nineveh as commanded. He has learnt his lesson well.
His message for the inhabitants of Nineveh was a simple one and we are not told about anything else he may have said. ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown’. He preached the same message throughout the great city which was three days journey across.
The Ninevites had no trouble understanding the message or accepting the message. They had a short time to sort out their wicked ways or the power of God would come upon them and destroy them and the city, and repent they did. All the city believed in the judgement being put forward by God; from the rich to the poor they all set about correcting their ways.
And he we read of the prayers and petitions of Nineveh.
(v 5 - 9) The king realised, just as the sailors did in their storm, that the situation was beyond human control and they needed to cry out for help. For those who still slept unconcerned with the fate that awaited them, the king wanted to wake them so they too could assist in preventing the destruction.
The leaders of Nineveh decided that everyone should show their repentance by fasting and wearing sackcloth. Even the animals were included in this demonstration of mass repentance. The king completed the decree with a hope that echoed the ship captain's in chapter one. The ship captain said, "Perhaps the gods will consider us and not let us perish" (1:6). And here the king said, "Who knows? God may turn away from His furious anger so that we will not perish" (3:9).
God saw into their hearts and saw the sincerity of their repentance and answered their prayers. God’s mercy prevailed and he spared the city of Nineveh.
Jonah’s reaction to this? (v1)
Anger. His prophecy had not been fulfilled. He had wanted the Ninevites destroyed, he had judged the Ninevites unworthy of salvation and travelled a large distance to tell them of their impending doom, and for what... to find out that God wasn’t going to destroy them after all, making him look, well, stupid I suppose.
Jonah had totally lost sight of what was happening here, for he placed more value on his own honour and personal wishes than the goodness and mercy of God.
And in his anger he prayed to God once again, revealing some of his more true feelings in the process. (v2,3)
"Lord, I knew from the very beginning that you wouldn't destroy Nineveh. That's why I ran away. You are a kind and merciful God, and you are very patient. You always show love, and you don't like to punish anyone, not even foreigners. Now let me die! I'd be better off dead."
In these verses we see Jonah opposed to God in three areas. First, as God's anger decreased Jonah's displeasure and anger rose. Second, God speaking was enough to cause the fish to swallow Jonah and throw him up again. Jonah referred to himself as saying "isn't this what I said." It seems Jonah thought that his words had the same weight as God's own words. And thirdly, God had anticipated Jonah's actions from the very beginning and caused all of the circumstances that occurred to bring about the repentance of Nineveh. Here Jonah told God how he had anticipated God's intent and actions and thought he knew better than God.
This is a different Jonah from the Jonah who was praising God for saving his life. It was fine for God to save Jonah, it was nice of God to give him another chance, even when he really deserved to be punished, but not so good for God to give the people of Nineveh another chance. But why should the Ninevites be treated any different from Jonah?
Jonah had done what God had asked him, but his attitude towards the Ninevites remained unchanged since the beginning. He sat on the edge of the city waiting - hoping that God would not accept their repentance and would destroy them after all. Here we can see a similarity with Jonah and Abraham. When Abraham was faced with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah he bargained with the Lord - "If you find fifty righteous will you spare the city? Forty-five? Forty?... If you find only ten will you spare the city?" (Genesis 18:23-32). Abraham asked God if a few good men were left in the city, would he spare it? God tested Abraham to reveal whether he had the heart of God in him or not, and Abraham passed the test. Jonah failed the same test and was prepared to have them destroyed, no matter how many good men remained in the city.
In short, God didn’t answer this prayer of Jonah, for there was no good in it. However God still saw fit to treat him graciously. It was time for Jonah to learn another lesson.
Jonah was sat outside the city in the hot sun waiting to see what would become of the city. He was suffering in the heat and God, through his grace, made a tree to spring up to provide shade for him. Jonah first provided his own shade by building a make-shift shelter (4:5), but then God provided better shade for Jonah (4:6). We can see several parallels between the shelter that Jonah made for himself and the shade that God provided. Each time we see where men have attempted their own solution, only to have it fail, with God coming through with the only solution. The first contrast was the ship that Jonah provided for himself to escape, and the fish that God provided to bring Jonah back. The second was the attempt of the men to save themselves from the storm by tossing things overboard, and God calming the storm after they tossed Jonah overboard. The third was the effort of the sailors to reach dry ground by their own efforts by rowing, and them reaching the dry ground after they threw Jonah overboard. In each case God provided the only workable solution. Only these solutions work because God, will not allow any other to work. Jonah's shelter proved inadequate; but God came through and provided good protection for Jonah's head, making Jonah extremely happy (4:6). But unlike the previous parallel event, God here took his solution away. The plant and its shade were removed so that the sun and the hot east wind caused great discomfort to Jonah (4:7-8) and Jonah became angry, for the tree had been taken away. And this is the lesson that God is trying to teach Jonah. He is trying to show Jonah how unforgiving he is. God is shaming Jonah, that he had pity on a tree, and yet, did not have pity on the people of Nineveh. The Lord speaks to Jonah in summary.
"Jonah, you are concerned about a plant that you did not plant or take care of, a plant that grew up in one day and died the next. In that city of Nineveh there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell right from wrong, and many cattle are also there. Don't you think I should be concerned about that big city?"
The book of Jonah is filled with references to prayer. There is a reference to prayer in every chapter of the book.
In chapter 1, the sailors prayed from fear (1:5).
In chapter 2, Jonah prayed in faith (2:1-7).
In chapter 3, the Ninevites prayed with fasting (3:8).
In chapter 4, Jonah prayed in foolishness (4:23).
God answered every one of the prayers except Jonah's prayer recorded in chapter 4.
We have to recognise that God provides the only workable solution in our lives, and trying to live by the ways of man will fail. The only way is God’s way and if we ask God for help he will show it to us.
The blood of Jesus makes it possible to confidently come before the Lord and offer our prayers without fear. (Hebrews 10:19). Even the most shameful sinner can send a prayer into God's holy presence. Nothing is obscured when we pray to God; all of our prayers are completely transparent to Him and if He can see even a small amount of worth in the prayer He will take it out and delight in it. As we have seen throughout the book of Jonah, God will readily respond to even the barest of prayers containing true humility and thankfulness. He then gladly runs to aid of the one who sent the prayer.
Dave Edmonds

The bread of life will never get stale!

2012-03-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

If you are tired of feeding on the “bread of this world” and are hungry for something real, then “taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
I must say that I have been blessed over and over since I trusted the Lord for my salvation back in 1983.
Some of my friends thought I became religious, but they were actually mistaken. I was raised in a religion in Germany, heard about God of course, but was discouraged from reading the Bible, because we really didn’t understand it; so we were told. I left that religion as a young woman after my mother committed suicide and the church would not give her a proper burial, since in their eyes she had committed the immortal sin! No one from the church ever came to comfort a 15 year old broken hearted girl! For the next 18 years I just sort of stumbled through life, always wondering what it really was all about – hungry for something, but was not sure what!
You may say that this is not for you, because there are so many hypocrites in the church, and you are correct, there will always be those, but don’t let them stop you from tasting the “bread of life.” If you eat healthy foods, and your neighbors eat junkfood, I’m sure that that won’t keep you from eating healthy! You can use that as an excuse, but that’s just what that is – an excuse for you not to come to know the Lord.
If you are truly honest with yourself you will know that there is a restlessness about you that you can’t even explain , and you think that maybe a great vacation, a new toy, a new relationship, whatever is new to you at the moment will bring you lasting happiness, but you are mistaken. These things are temporary and will only last as long as things are happening! Real joy and contentment will only come as a result of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe me, if I had to recount details of my life to you, it would take a book! I only know that after eating on the bread or should I say breadcrumbs of this world I was starving for something real, for something lasting, for something other than what I was doing! And I wasn’t a drug addict or drunk or lost everything, no, I had my own business, had a beautiful home, new car, RV in the driveway, and plenty of money in the bank, and a closet filled with clothes and shoes! I was also on my third marriage and that had just ended - but Praise the Lord, He had mercy on me, sent someone into my life who gave me some little booklets to read, which you can find here: chick.com
At first I didn’t want them because I thought they had to do with religion! But since they were written in comic book form, I ended up reading them anyway. The long version of this story is on my website breadwinnerfromhome.com under “my story”
And the short version is that the Lord saved this “woman at the well!” My life has not been the same since that day.
I encourage you to do some research into this “bread of life” – don’t look at the hypocrites, God will deal with them in time! Look at your own life, take a good long hard look and be honest with yourself. If you are tired of the way you are living, there is hope for you! Take a few minutes and read “about Him” because that’s what is really important. If you like, let me know what happened, or if you have additional questions, I would love to help! I felt that this post was appropriate for this time of year and I hope this was a blessing to you, for that is my desire.

Overcoming obstacles

2012-03-15T19:16:00.002-07:00

If you are reading this post, I’m sure that you have run into an obstacle that was or is difficult to overcome. I can’t even count the ones anymore that I have faced in my lifetime that I either had to overcome or give up on. For the most part I’ve learned with the help of the Lord to overcome them. I’m not saying that it’s easy to do, but it is possible.
I’m thinking of a verse that may help: “ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

One thing is for sure, we will face obstacles – that’s just life! It is how we handle them that really counts in the long-run. Whether there is a problem with your spouse, or your children, or a church member, or perhaps an illness or death, or maybe it has to do with your business or job; whatever your obstacle is, there is help for a child of God!
I had been working in a ministry in Germany for many years and I ran into several obstacles, but the one I’m thinking of almost made me want to quit. Thank the Lord that I had a very good friend whom I could confide in, knowing that it would stay between us and the Lord. I traveled to Austria where my friend lived and spent a few days there with her. We had great fellowship, we prayed together, we sang songs together and played our instruments and then Johanna suggested to me that we would take a hike up one of the mountains. This was in Austria, in the alps, and I was in my 40’s at the time. The next day we started out, and at first the going was pretty good, but soon we started to go up. Johanna was always in front of me guiding me and cheering me on. She took me on a path that wound up the side of the mountain where I could only see the next bend, but not the whole way. Had I seen the whole way up the mountain, I would have told her that there is no way I can do this! About half way up the mountain, I wanted to quit, since I was breathing very hard and my legs felt like jello! Johanna pointed out to me how far we had already come and when I looked back down into the valley it began to dawn on me that this was more than just a trip up the mountain! The Lord was using my dear friend to teach me some valuable life lessons here. Everything was green and lush in the valley and grew. It made me think of the song “The Lilly of the Valley.” We took a brief rest, and then kept going. (Hebrews ch. 4:1-5 talks about entering into his rest) She then pointed out that the higher we went the less people we saw. After a while we came to a spot that was extremely narrow, and the drop down was very steep! Johanna told me not to look down, not to step on any small rocks, but to put my feet on solid ground and to lean into the mountain! I not only leaned into the mountain, I held on to it and walked very slowly, and before I knew it I made it across that narrow pass. Are you familiar with the song “Leaning on the everlasting arms”?
Soon after that we came to the last stretch of the climb. When I looked up, I saw a path that went straight up to the top. I told my friend that there was no way I could make it, but she just laughed and cheered me on and told me to put my face down, not to look up, and to put one foot in front of the other and go! The amazing thing was that I did exactly that and it seemed that I got a second wind although I think the Lord was merciful and asked my guardian angel to give me a little push Johanna was already on the top when I finally made it. It was an amazing sight up there, and I would have jumped for joy, but my legs wouldn’t let me jump so we rejoiced together in God’s beautiful creation. As I looked around I noticed that what grew up there were only some rare flowers and few trees that were all bent over from the storms they withstood. It was a wonderful lesson for me and I thank God that I had/have such a wise friend.
We didn’t stay very long on the top, but I surely will never forget that trip up the mountain with my dear friend who was more than “just” a friend, but my mentor who taught me some valuable life lessons! Needless to say I stayed in the ministry until the Lord opened the door for me to return to the States years later. Johanna was a blessing to me and helped me in her wise way to overcome my obstacle!
Are you familiar with this song?” I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back”
I hope that this story has been a blessing and help to you, for this is my purpose in telling it. Friends are a wonderful blessing from the Lord and we need to treasure and appreciate them.
I am facing several obstacles right now, a personal one as well as more than one with my business online. However, when I think of my mountain trip it helps and encourages me to just keep going, not to quit, but to persevere!