Go tell what he's done!

I was reading Luke chapter 8 this morning and found something I've read many times, but it really spoke to me. In this passage we find Jesus healing a demon possessed man. His name is Legion because he has so many demons. Jesus heals him and then tells him to, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you."
I love this, Jesus doesn't want the praise, he wants God to get the praise. This got me thinking, when was the last time I told people what God has done for me? As Christians we know what God has done, and its amazing, so why don't we share with others the miracle of what God has done for us?
When the man in this story went away, it says that he 'went away and told all over the town how much Jesus had done for him'  This is what we should be doing. If you know Jesus as your Saviour, if you have accepted him as Lord of your life, if you know that Jesus died for you, if you know that you are forgiven and saved by grace, then why wouldn't we go around sharing the good news? If we had just done something exciting then we'd be telling everyone about it, if we had just come back from our holidays we would be showing everyone endless reals of photographs, so why wouldn't we share the miracle of Salvation with others. That really is exciting!
I know that its not as simple as that, but actually it really is! If we are just doing like I said yesterday going to church on a Sunday and thats it, then that is not living our lives in the fullness that Jesus has called us into. Jesus didn't go to the cross so that we could warm seats in a cold building once a week. He didn't go to the cross so that we could play at Christianity. He didn't go to the cross so that we could attend a 'NICE' club and love one another and forget about the people that are outside who are going to a lost eternity!  
Think about it - are you a Christian that wants to see others know Jesus, or are you a Christian that just thinks about God when your in church? Are you a Christian that wants to share what you have, or are you a Christian that thinks its the preachers job to tell others its your job to listen and look after the building? I'm not saying that the other jobs in a church are not important, but if all we are worried about is the building, then we are seriously deluded about what Christianity is really about!
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, we need to go do likewise! Lets go and tell this lost world what God has done for us! Let's go and show others the way to eternal life! 

The Sower

The Parable of the Sower is probably one of the most famous. Jesus is using the picture of a farmer sowing seed to explain what kind of people hear the word of God.
I was thinking about this, and thought this can also talk about the kind of Christian a person is.
The first seed lands on the path, and so the seed doesn't last very long as the birds pick at it and eat it - game over. This made me think about different kinds of people in church. The first kind of Christian is just a Sunday Christian, the type of person that isn't different apart from attending church once a week because they have always done it. As soon as they leave the building they put their Sunday best back into the wardrobe and thats pretty much it. They go to work on a Monday and no-one ever knows that they even believe in God let alone follow him! They behave exactly the same as everyone else and so they live in the world Monday to Saturday and on Sunday they do the God stuff.
The second seed falls on shallow ground and so when the seed grows the sun burns down upon it and because the seed has no root, the plant withers and dies.
This kind of Christian wants to live the life, but struggles because of other commitments such as their job or their family. They want to do all the Jesus stuff, but following Jesus is always put further down the list because they have to work or because they have stuff to do on a Sunday such as taking the children to play sports or to visit family - this kind of Christian has their priorities in the wrong order. They have everything else first, Jesus second.
The third seed falls among the weeds, and so the little plants get choked by the weeds that are growing alongside them.
This kind of Christian is really busy with Church. They are doing the stuff, busy for the Lord, but actually they are not putting Jesus into the equation. They want to see people come to know Jesus, but they are so busy doing what needs doing that they forget their own walk with the Lord and eventually they burn out completely!
The last seed is the good seed. It lands on good fertile soil and produces a good harvest and eventually spreads the good news getting a plentiful harvest.
This obviously is the Christian that has the right perspective. This Christian puts Christ first and always relies on God for the things that they need to do. They serve the church, they love one another and they preach the gospel with a passion. Everyone they meet knows that they are Christians and they are respected for what they do and for what they believe.
I know that as Christians there is probably a small part of all of these people in us. I know that sometimes I don't go to Church with the right attitude, I know sometimes I get so busy that I forget the reason I'm doing what I do. 
As Christians we MUST be different; we MUST put Jesus first; we MUST not get so busy that we take Jesus out of the equation; We MUST be people that do everything we do to the Glory of God! 

Forgiven - the debt is Paid IN FULL!

Today's bible passage is in Luke 7. This passage of scripture is about the woman anointing Jesus feet. This has a really powerful message, and I believe one that is as vital today as it was then.
Jesus tells Simon that "her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" 
We are born into a lost world. A world that is full of sin. Therefore, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we really should be grateful for his forgiveness. Let's face it we don't deserve anything but condemnation. Jesus didn't have to go to the cross, he could've said, 'Leave them to it - it's their fault, leave them sort it out' but he didn't. He loves us so much that he died for us, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life - John 3:16
We need to realize that we have been bought at a price. Jesus left the riches of heaven to come and save us lot! We were all set for eternal damnation, but Jesus said - 'I'll Go!' WOW What an amazing God I serve, that he would come and lower himself to die the cruelest of deaths so that I could be forgiven. This passage of scripture tells this in its entirety. The woman in the story is a sinner, and she is cleaning Jesus feet with her hair, tears and some perfume. She is so grateful for the forgiveness that Jesus has shown her that all she wants to do is show him love. We too need to humble ourselves before the Creator of the Universe and be forever grateful for his grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, patience etc...God could've chosen to condemn us all, but instead he chose to take our place, he chose to sacrifice himself so that we can be forgiven.
Thank you Jesus for dying for me, thank you Jesus for dying for a lost world! Where would we be without you? LOST!  

Let's get praying!

Today I've been reading from Luke chapter 7. In this passage of scripture Jesus heals the centurions servant. The amazing thing about this centurion is that he knows and believes that Jesus can heal his servant, and sends word for Jesus to do it from a distance.
What faith this man had. He knew that Jesus didn't even have to be in the house let alone in the room!
How much faith do we have? How much faith do I have? We pray for the sick and pray such weak and pathetic prayers, that to be honest it doesn't show much confidence in the power of God. "If its your will Lord...." we pray. Of course it's his will! God doesn't want anyone to suffer, he just wants us to trust in him, he just wants us to believe in him! Jesus never prayed 'If it's your will Father, please heal this man, or if you want to dad please raise Lazarus' 
We need to get with the programme! We need to pray powerful prayers and know and believe in our heart that Jesus will heal! 
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective - James 5:16
We need to believe this verse. When we come before our Heavenly Father and pray for something or someone, we need to believe with all our heart that he will answer - even if the answer we get is not what we expected, we still need to believe with our whole heart. I want to make sure that my prayers are 'powerful and effective' I know that the only way I can do that is if I believe with all my heart that Jesus is Lord and that he will meet me at my point of need. I don't want to say wishy washy prayers anymore! I want to be powerful and effective for God. 

Building Blocks

 OK its Luke again and still chapter 6. Todays passage is the parable of the two builders which is really well known.
I know that this is going to be an obvious point but I have to put my trust in God, I have to build my life on his foundations and not on my own.
It's so easy to carry on with my own agenda, or do my own thing, but when we come to know Jesus as Lord then we should no longer want to please ourselves, we should only want to please him. We shouldn't want to do things the easy way just because we can, we should want to do our best so that his name is glorified.
I guess this story has once again helped me to reassess what I am all about. Am I all about me? Do I only think about me? Do I share the gospel because its my job or do I do it because I love Jesus? 
We need to make our foundations firm so that when others see us, they see Him. We need to make our foundations strong so that when the hard times come we can withstand the storm. We need to make our foundations sure, so that when others challenge our belief in God we can be sure of what we believe and not sway from the narrow path.
I found myself challenged the other day by another Christian. They believed something that I don't agree with. I just want to say that if I hadn't had my foundations in Jesus that it would've been really difficult to deal with. Imagine another Christian believing in something that is not of the bible, it does shake you a little. BUT - when you know that you know that you know that Jesus is your rock then nothing can sway you!
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full -John 10:10
If there is one thing I've learned over the last few years of being a Christian is the above verse. Satan doesn't want us to follow Jesus, he will do anything in his power to stop us following the truth. He is a thief and a cheat, he will even use other Christians to try and topple us. Lets remember today - our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms - Ephesians 6:12
We need to remember that - neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 8:39
So if you are feeling that you are stumbling, that you are far from God - remember the above verse, remember that we have to make Jesus our foundation; that we have a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us - Ephesians 3:20
 

 

Love is all around...

 Luke chapter 6 again. It's a tough one today! Love your enemies! Argh! I guess this is one of the hardest things Jesus tells us to do. He says, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you."
I know one thing, this is really hard! Jesus never said it would be easy to follow him though, in fact he says that we should "Take up our cross"  
When we choose to follow Christ, we are choosing the narrow path, we are choosing the hard road, but, we are also choosing life in all its fullness! 

It's easy to help those that like you, it's easy to help people that you like, but what about those that are different? What about people that have a past that you don't agree with? What about people that smell? What about people that do things that we think are ungodly? 
Well, Jesus said that he came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus said in Luke chapter 5 - "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
This means that we too are called to the lost, that doesn't mean that we are called just to the pretty, to the nice, to the rich, to the people that we like, to the people that have the same car as us etc.... We are called to all those that are lost! We are called to the drunk, the tramp, the poor, the prisoner, the young person on drugs, people that hate us, people that make life difficult for us! We are called to a lost world. There is no plan B - We are plan A and so we have to love our enemies and go and tell them that Jesus loves them too!

 

Sunday times

Today I was once again reading Luke. Chapter 6 has the passage where the disciples are 'doing work' on a sabbath and the Pharisee's are not too happy! They accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking God's laws.
This made me think - how do we act on a sabbath? Do we only do things that are for God or do we do a little shopping? Do we go to church to meet with God or just meet with friends? Do we enter God's house and go through the motions of worship just because its Sunday and we've always done it? Are we really there to meet with God or are we just there because its tradition? Do we show up late?  
When I go to worship I want to meet with the Creator of the world, I don't want to be late, or go just because its Sunday, or just go to meet other like minded people.
It's good to be with others that believe in God, but, when we enter into His presence, it should be just to worship the Saviour of the world and not to chat about football scores.
I don't want to be Pharisaical about this, as lets face it they were judging the disciples for the trivial things, like eating. But I do believe that we owe God our full attention, our complete focus, our whole act of worship. 
If we love God, then why would we be so disrespectful? When we come into God's house we need to be ready to worship. We need to be ready to meet with God himself, not just come to church to tick a box. I guess I can never really understand how anyone can go to church as a tradition, or just because its Sunday, or even late. You wouldn't be late for the Queen, so how can we be late to meet with Almighty God.
Let's all come before the throne room of grace and worship our Lord and King! Let's get ready to be in his presence and be expectant of what he will do. 

The greatest gift!

Once again I'm reading from Luke chapter 5. I have read this story loads of times and use it in schools to teach children about friendship. Its the story of the friends taking their paralysed friend to Jesus. What a lovely picture of friendship - taking their friend to the Lord. 
I think this is the best thing anyone could do for their friend. To introduce a friend or anyone to Jesus is the most amazing thing you can ever do. 
This made me think, how often do I introduce my friends to the Saviour of the world? These people took their friend to Jesus and his life was changed forever. When we show others who Jesus is, then that impacts their lives in such a way that changes their lives forever. 
Jesus told us to go into the world and make disciples of all nations. That means that we have to tell others about Jesus and help them to know him. We need to be world changers, life changers and not just people pleaser's. We have a Saviour that loved the world so much that he died on the cross so that we could all be saved. We need to share that with those who don't know. Let's face it, if we don't tell people the good news then they might never know! How terrible is that to think that a friend or family member is lost for all eternity because I didn't have the courage to tell them that Jesus loves them! I can't and don't want to be responsible for someone being lost! So if your a friend of mine and your reading this and you don't know Jesus - 
Please hear this! Jesus is Lord & the ONLY way to heaven! Jesus died for you! Jesus wants to have a relationship with you! If you don't believe in Him then just ask him to reveal himself to you, just ask him to help you to believe.

DON'T IGNORE THIS! IT'S IMPORTANT! 

THIS MESSAGE WILL AFFECT YOUR FUTURE IF YOU IGNORE IT - YOUR ETERNAL FUTURE!!!!!

Follow me...

In Luke Chapter 5 Jesus is preaching to the crowds. He gets into Simon's boat and teaches from there. This is a brilliant picture of Jesus teaching the people. 
I can imagine the hustle and bustle of this scene as people are trying to get to Jesus, and the safest place being the boat on the water. 
In the mean time Jesus has this conversation with Simon Peter. He tells him to put his nets back into the water, and Simon Peter does what Jesus asks and gets the catch of his life. Simon Peter recognised that Jesus was someone special and so he did as Jesus told him to. He could've said no, but he chose to act on the commands of Jesus. I want to act on the commands of Jesus. I want to be like Simon Peter who said, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 
This was to be the start of an amazing adventure for Simon Peter. I bet Simon Peter didn't expect to leave being a fisherman when he went to work that day. I bet Simon Peter didn't expect to go and be a disciple of the Saviour of the world either. He was just going about his normal everyday work when BANG he met with the most important person ever to walk this planet. I too had a change of direction just like Peter. I was just going about my day to day life when Jesus made a huge impact on me. Since then my life has completely changed, my job has changed and I can honestly say that I am having the greatest adventure getting to know Jesus and sharing my life with him.
Jesus always meets us exactly where we are. Whether we are in a good place or a bad place, Jesus comes into our lives in the place where we are. I was just going about my day to day work, Peter was just going about his day to day work.


If you haven't met with Jesus yet, then look out! It could happen anywhere!

Who are you?

In today's passage of scripture we find Jesus speaking in his own Village, and then casting out a demon. If you haven't already realised I'm still in Luke chapter 3.
Jesus goes to the temple in Nazareth and after reading the scriptures he ends up enraging the people and they try and stone him. In contrast to that the next passage speaks of how Jesus casts out a demon. The demon knew who Jesus was, 


"What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God"


How amazing is this, his own people didn't know who he was. He had grown up within that community, but they didn't know who he was, however, the spirit inside the man knew exactly who he was.
I guess that the people in Nazareth thought they knew him, but really they were basing their conclusions on the small boy that grew up in their village. Jesus said himself that 


"A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”


The difference in the story of the demon possessed man is that the spirit knew exactly who Jesus was, he was afraid of Jesus, he spoke out exactly who Jesus was and is. 
I am so glad that I know who Jesus is. There is nothing like knowing who Jesus is. When we know Jesus as Lord then there is nothing to fear. The demons were afraid of him, so what do we have to fear? We have nothing to fear. When we have Jesus as the centre of our lives then we never have to fear anything or anyone. We can know him as Lord and Saviour, we can trust in his words, we can trust in his actions all we have to do is believe and that is what the people in his own town lacked, they lacked the faith to believe in who Jesus was. I thank God that I know who Jesus is, do you know him? If not do you want to know him? If you do then its easy, all you have to do is say a short prayer and ask Jesus to be your Saviour.
If that's you then just say the following prayer and believe:


Lord Jesus I believe in you. I know that you died for me so that I can be forgiven. I'm sorry for all the sin in my life and pray that you will help me to stop doing anything that is not of you. Please come and be my Saviour. Please come into my life and take control. Thank you Lord for dying for me
Amen

Jesus vs Satan - No contest!

Today's scripture is the very famous passage of the temptation of Jesus. It is really comforting to know that our Lord and Saviour went through everything that we go through. Jesus was tempted by Satan, and he never flinched! 
Satan starts tempting Jesus by tempting him with the stuff - "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread"
How often does Satan try and do the same with us? "Go on buy that item; you need that new handbag, it doesn't matter if you can't afford it..." Satan wants us to put things before God. He wants us to want things and shop till we drop - he wants us to covert stuff and be consumed by the need to have what others have.


Next he tempts him with power - "I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours"
We all want to be successful. We all want to do our best in all things, but when it becomes our obsession then it is put before God and that is not of God. Jesus should be the centre of our lives. If we put career before God then we are worshipping other gods, we in effect are breaking the second of God's laws. We need to put God first and not our bank balance.


The third time Satan tries to tempt Jesus he wants to test him, to test God - "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here"
How often does he question who we are in God - "Are you really a Christian? Are you really accepted by God?" The biggest temptation that Satan could tempt us with is challenging who we are in God. We have to stand firm and know that we are Saved, delivered, bought at a price, children of the living God. We need to remember what Jesus did so that we could be all of those things and more. We need to remember that our Salvation cost God everything, it cost him his Son. 

John gets everyone ready

In today's passage of Scripture, John is preparing the way for Jesus. He is telling the people that Jesus is coming and he is warning them to be ready.

Good 'ol John, he was faithful to the end. He didn't mince his words he just told everyone he met the truth, he wasn't bothered about offending anyone.

I think we can learn a lot from John. 

I'm not saying we should go out in the street and start shouting at people, but I do think we need to tell people the truth. 'Its the truth that sets us free' People need to know that Jesus is the ONLY way, that Jesus is the SAVIOUR of the world, that Jesus died that we might be forgiven, that if we don't believe in Jesus and ask him to be our Saviour then its a one way ticket to a lost eternity.

I believe if John was about these days that's what he'd be preaching. He wouldn't be just telling us the nice stuff, he wouldn't be worried about offending people, he'd just tell them the truth and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

We need to stop worrying about offending people too. We need to realise that the gospel is offensive to those who don't believe. We need to get out of the boat and help others to come to know the facts. Let's show others Jesus and not worry about the consequences, lets be bold and courageous and tell others the best news they will ever here. 

I don't want to get before the throne of God and find out that someone I could've told about Jesus isn't there because I wasn't brave enough to tell them.

OK - where's he gone?

Once again I've been reading Luke. Today's passage of scripture is the passage where Mary and Joseph manage to loose Jesus! This always makes wonder how Jesus can go missing for 5 days.
This story shows us what an amazing relationship Jesus had with his Heavenly Father even at that young age. He loved God so much that he got lost being in his house, he forgot about what he should be doing or where he should be, all   
because he was spending time talking about the God he loved.


This got me wondering, how often do I get lost spending time with God? How often do I get excited about spending time with God? If there is one thing God has shown me today in this story its this...the stuff will get done, but I need to make sure that I get into the presence of God. So often we are so busy doing the stuff that we forget about the importance of spending time with God. We get lost, but not in the way we should; we get lost in the busyness of the day. I know that today that's what's happened to me. I have been so busy doing the things that I know needed doing that I haven't spent enough time with the Lord.
I guess the story that comes to mind is the story of Mary and Martha. Martha was so busy cleaning and cooking for Jesus, that she had no time to sit and listen to him. We can all have a bit of the Martha's sometimes. Being so busy doing things around the house, for family, for church or even for God, that we forget the importance of spending time with God and in his word. We need to be more like Mary, or more importantly more like Jesus. Jesus always took time to spend with his Father. We too need to make sure we spend quality time with God each day, so that we can grow just like Jesus did. It says in this passage of Luke:


And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature,and in favour with God and men


If we want to grow in wisdom and in favour with God and man, we too need to spend that quality time in our Father's house. We need to sit at the feet of our Saviour and listen to what he has to say. Let's face it if we are not sitting listening we are likely to miss what God has to say!
I believe God is asking me today - Jen where are you? I believe he's asking all of us, Where are you? We need to be able to answer - "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening" 
God wants us to get so lost in his presence that we forget time, just like Jesus did. He lost 5 days! 
Lets loose time with God today. Let's get off Facebook and emails, and chatting over the internet with friends and spend some quality time with God. 

His name will be...Jesus!

Today's reading comes once again from Luke, its about Jesus being taken to the temple as an 8 day old baby. This story shows that Jesus was taken as every other Jewish baby boy has been taken to the temple before and since. This baby who was so special, still went through the same Jewish customs as all the other baby boys.


The thing that strikes me about this is in verse 21:  


On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.


This is the most amazing name, in fact its not just a name it is who he was and who he is. The name Jesus or Yeshua means 'The Lord Saves' Jesus was and is the only Saviour of the world. Even at his very conception he was destined to be the Saviour of the world.


Jesus has many other names too, which also show who he was and is. He is Lord of Lords; King of Kings; Alpha & Omega; Messiah; Redeemer; the Lamb of God; Creator; Light of the world; the way the truth and the life - but most of all to me - He's my King! 
I Praise God for that little baby born over 2000 years ago. That little baby changed my life and allowed me the privilege to know my God. 

While shepherds watched - you know the song!

Today's scripture is from Luke 2. Its the story of the birth of Jesus and so a very familiar one. Its always strange to me to be reading the Christmas story at this time of year, but lets face it we can't have Easter without Christmas.
I love this passage, its the shepherds visiting Jesus. It always makes me feel good to know that ordinary people went to see our Lord and Saviour and not just the Wise men. It just goes to show that Jesus came to this world for EVERYONE not just those with money, intelligence, fame, a title etc.... Jesus came into the world to save sinners-that's everyone. We have all fallen short of the glory of God, and so he came for the whole world.
The shepherds wouldn't have been the favourite choice for most to go and visit a king. They were not highly thought of, and so for the Creator of the world to actually invite them to one of the biggest events in history has got to mean something. For me it means that Jesus is Lord of all; that Jesus came for all; that Jesus doesn't have favourites. 
I believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the whole world and so whoever believes in him WILL be saved. All we have to do is reach out to him and he will welcome us, just like he welcomed the shepherds. We don't even have to reach too far - he is only a prayer away. 
Let's remember that whatever we think of ourselves, however we feel about ourselves or our past, Jesus came for us all.  All he asks is that we believe in him, worship him and follow him, just like the Shepherds, they believed in him, worshipped him and then went and told others about what they had seen.

Praise - whats that about?

In the concluding part of this first chapter of Luke we find the continuing story of the birth of John. Zechariah has just got his voice back after 9 months of saying nothing and the first thing he decides to do is Praise God. 
I think this is Awesome. I want my first words to praise God. I want to get up in the morning and praise God. I want to go to work and praise God. I want my whole life to be praising God. 
This doesn't mean that I have to go around all day long singing, although sometimes that does happen especially when you've got that one tune from Sunday stuck in your head, but it does mean that my whole life should be worshipping God. When I get up in the morning I should praise him; when I speak to others I should show them Jesus; when I drive my car I should behave in a manner that is glorifying to God; when I teach the children I should act in a way that shows them that Jesus loves them. Everything I do should be my daily act of worship for him.
We can't all be worship leaders, but we are all called to show this world that they have a Saviour. Our world is lost and full of despair . We need to show our world that we have a Saviour who they can put their hope in, a Saviour that will never let them down, a Saviour who loved them so much that he died for them.  
We have a lot to praise God for - so lets just Praise him and take a leaf out of Zechariah's book - 
 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them."

We are blessed!

Today's passage of Luke is still in chapter 1 and is the song of Mary. Mary is visiting her cousin Elizabeth who is also pregnant. She then sings this prayer and to me shows how blessed she feels.
This made me think, how often when God asks me to do something do I feel blessed? More often or not when God asks us to do something it generally means that we have to get out of the boat and do something different. It can mean doing something that we don't necessarily want to do or even feel comfortable to do. In the passed God has told me so clearly to do things and I have taken a few days or even sometimes longer to actually do it! In fact in most cases I end up having an internal argument with God, because I'm thinking that I might not have heard him correctly because its something that is going to be difficult. 
A few months ago, the Lord clearly told me to do something that I felt was going to be particularly hard, and I kept asking him to tell someone else to tell me to do it! In the end the Lord said to me, "My sheep know my voice!" I realised that if I really knew him that I didn't have to question if I'd heard from him, I just had to trust him that he was in control of the situation, so I did what he asked!
Anyway, back to Mary. She wasn't asked if she wanted to be pregnant, she was told she would have a baby, and as I said yesterday, he would be the most important baby ever to be born - the CREATOR of the world in human flesh! (Still blows me away that one!) She as we read yesterday didn't argue, she just got on with it, but more than that she felt blessed. Mary was put into a dangerous position, but she still felt blessed by God. Let's face it she was blessed, we know that now, but at the time she felt blessed to be chosen for such a task by God himself. It really shows what kind of person Mary was. She was chosen by God because she loved God, because she could handle it!
When God asks us to do anything, we should feel blessed, not bothered! We should praise God for asking us. When God calls us to do something however small or large, we should praise him, as he has PERSONALLY called us for that task. God knows what I am capable of, he knows what I can accomplish and what I am not able to accomplish, and so when he asks me to do something its because he knows that I'm up to the task.
Mary didn't look at the obstacles she just got on with the plan of God.  I think sometimes we look too much at the obstacles and don't look at what God has planned. Let's go forward with this blessing today - whatever God puts in our path lets feel blessed that he's asked us to do it, as lets face it he could've asked someone else. He knows everything about us, lets be like Mary and trust in him completely and thank him for the blessing and challenges ahead.

Luke some more...

OK so I know it looks as though I've written twice today, but really my last post was officially yesterdays as I was poorly. So this is the up to date one!
Today's reading once again is Luke 1 and its Mary being told by Gabriel that she is going to have a baby.
I was teaching on this subject at Christmas time and really got blown away by this story. Its amazing to think of this young woman just going about her daily work and then an angel just happens to show up and tell her that she's pregnant! Oh and by the way, the baby is only the CREATOR of the universe! I really can't imagine how she would've felt!
Firstly she's not married! Although she was engaged, which meant at this time that she was in big trouble being pregnant out and unmarried! Then she's got to explain things to her boyfriend, Joseph! Good luck there Mary, not to mention telling her parents!
She should have been stoned according to Jewish law, she was really in a pickle, but because of the kind of person she was, because she loved God more than herself, she didn't complain she just got on with it!
This story really made me think about the birth of Jesus in a completely different way. Each year we celebrate the birth of Christ, but we forget to mention that this miracle was in fact the creator of the world being born! Imagine being Mary - she's not just pregnant, but she's going to give birth to the God who created her! Doesn't that just blow your mind? I know it completely blows me away just to think about it!
But the thing that really blows my mind is this - Creator God loves me so much that he chose to come to earth as a human baby to eventually die a cruel and awful death! Now that really does blow my mind! 
Thank you Jesus! 

Let's look at Luke!

I've finished Leviticus and after having 48 hours feeling unwell I'm back to the blogg. I've decided to start thinking about a new testament book this time, as each day I read a passage of scripture from the old and the new testaments. So today I'm starting in Luke!
Today's reading is Chapter 1:1-25. I've probably read this passage of scripture hundreds of times, and I think sometimes that familiarity can be a bad thing as you miss things because you are skim reading instead of actually reading. 
I guess when we read the story of Christmas this can happen quite a bit. I love asking the questions: 
How many wise men were there and what did the shepherds bring Jesus, to the children in School and watch their faces when I reveal that we don't know how many wise men and it doesn't say that the shepherds brought a lamb. I guess we have listened to the Christmas carols so much that we forget to look at the word.
Anyway, back to the passage. The thing I love about this story is that God sends Gabriel to tell Zechariah that his wife is going to have a baby, and when he finds out he doesn't believe it as she is too old. God can do anything! Zechariach doubts God and so doubts God's power and authority. He is struck dumb from that moment until John is born as punishment for his disbelief. 
The thing that struck me about this is how often do I doubt God? How often does God tell me something and I have to question him? He could strike me dumb on a daily basis sometimes, as whenever he tells me to do something, I always say - are you sure? I don't think I can do that...I know one thing, I can learn a lot from Zechariah, he doubted God and got quietened down because of it!
If we doubt God, then he will use someone else. He wants people that trust him completely, and want to do his will. If people like Billy Graham said, well God I don't think this evangelism thing is for me, then there would be millions of people in a different situation right now, or even God would've asked someone else and Billy would've missed out on the journey of his life!
We all need to be prepared to do as God asks of us, even if it is difficult. We need to be obedient to him, lets face it, he has the whole jigsaw in front of him, we are only wandering about with our one small piece of Jigsaw!

Trust in God!

In today's passage of Leviticus God instructs the people on how to look after the land. He tells them to work the land for 6 years and then leave the land un-worked for a year. This meant that they had to trust God completely that they would have enough food to keep them going through the year of rest.
This made me think, how much do I trust God? If God told me to give up work and trust in him completely would I do it? Many people do, and I am in complete awe of them.
But its not just about money, how much do we trust God in all things? Do we trust God with our loved ones? Do we trust that God will look after them? Do we trust God with every part of our lives, or do we only allow him control over the small things and any big decisions are ours to make.
This is a really hard thing to do, but my prayer is that I trust God with all of my life and not just the small insignificant part.

Celebrate!!!!!

In todays installment of Leviticus I read about all the different feasts and festivals. God wanted the Israelite people to celebrate what he'd done for them with a feast, he wanted them to remember what he'd done for them and celebrate it!
I think as Christians we need to get with the programme! Jesus has done so much for us and how do we celebrate it? We give a couple of chocolate eggs, maybe put on an extra service, have school holidays and call it job done! Argh! 
We need to actually CELEBRATE what God has done for us. I'm not saying that getting the Israelites out of Egypt wasn't huge, but dying on the cross to save mankind has got to be worth celebrating far more than escaping from an alien land!
Jesus left the comfort of heaven, to come to earth as a man, to lay down his life so that we can be forgiven! Personally I think we need to celebrate this, we need to remember what he did, what he went through, how much he suffered so that we could be in a relationship with God. We are so fortunate to live this side of the cross, we have a lot to celebrate this Easter, we have a lot to celebrate because of the cross, we have a lot to celebrate because Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven. Let's celebrate what Jesus has done for us, lets celebrate daily with everything we do - lets do it for Him!

Poor old Aaron!

After reading today's Chapters from Leviticus I must be honest I felt really sorry for Moses brother Aaron. In chapters 21 and 22 we find the rules for the priests. 
I know that I said yesterday that rules are good for us, but I must admit feeling really sorry for Aaron. He didn't really have a choice in being a priest. It wasn't as if God asked for a volunteer and Aaron found his hand in the air with everyone else looking at the floor. 
On a more serious note Aaron was chosen by God to do the job. We are all called to do something, but are we obedient enough to do it? Are we listening to God's guidance so that we do something amazing for God with the help of his Holy Spirit. 
The fact is that Aaron did have a choice just like we do, although, Aaron chose to obey God no matter what or how obscure the thing he was asked to do. I would like to think that I too would choose to obey God no matter what. I would like to think that even if I didn't want to do what God wanted me to do that I would do it anyway. I don't think that Aaron got up one morning and decided that this is what he wanted to do, but I do believe that he made the choice to obey God and do it anyway. 
Sometimes we look at others and think, "I wish I was like them, I wish God used me like he uses them" But we all have a part to play in the body of Christ, we are all equally important to God. 


¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
 ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-19

I am so thankful that God hasn't asked me what he asked Aaron to do, although equally Aaron would not have been called to do what I do. I praise God that he has given me the privileged to serve him, and my greatest prayer is that through serving him I too can make a difference in the lives of the people that I meet. Aaron was obedient, I want to be obedient too.

The Do-nots & the Go do's!

Today's passage of Scripture once again is in Leviticus and is all 'Do Not...' It made me thankful that I live in the time I live. I know that I still have to obey the 'Do Nots' but I also have Jesus as an example of the Go Do...Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfil the law.


While the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were stopping people from doing things, Jesus was telling them to Go do stuff. For example, Jesus tells us to Go and make disciples of all men; to love one another; to love God; to be a good neighbour; to heal the sick; look after the poor and elderly; to turn the other cheek...We need to start doing what Jesus told us to do and stop worrying about the Do not's of life.


I was speaking to a lady in school today. We spoke about Lent and about what lent meant to her. She explained that this is the only 'Religious' thing she does as she didn't do religion. I explained to her that I wasn't religious and that I didn't do religion either. She was really surprised, she then went on to tell me that I was the most religious person she knows! 
I think this is a general misconception that people have. Most people think that to be a Christian means that you have to live by a long list of rules and regulations that are meant to be restricting and 'party-pooping' I feel really sad that I was told that I am the most religious person that this lady knows, although there is part of me that feels really good, as she knows what I believe and that Jesus is my Saviour - I guess for me its good to know that she knows that I am a Christian. I do believe however, that if religion and the restrictions of religion is the thing that is stopping people knowing Jesus, then that is bad. I want to be a Christ follower and not a person that is legalistic and stopping others from being in a relationship with God because of a list of rules that I put on them.
This has really made me think. I need to show Jesus not with the rules that I keep, but in the Christ like actions that I do. I need to do what Jesus did - Love God, love others, treat others with compassion and kindness. I need to make sure that when people see me they don't see the restrictions, but instead they see the truth - the FREEDOM that comes with knowing that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and that through his death that we can be forgiven of ALL of the sin in our lives.
I want to run the race that God has for me, I want to run the race of Freedom and help others come to the same knowledge that I have, that Jesus is Lord and that there is freedom in knowing the creator of the world.
Lets face it rules are there to be kept. Rules help us to keep on the right track. You can't play even a game of football without playing within the rules. Lets remember that the rules that are in the bible are not there to restrict us, but are there to keep us in line with what plans God has for our lives.

Rules are good - or are they?

I must admit I've been reading Leviticus for a few days now at the same time as reading Exodus, in fact I'm about a third of the way through. I must also admit it is quite full on and I don't understand all of it, but I know that all of God's word is important and that I can learn through reading any of it.
I guess my first thought about what I've read so far is that it is a book of rules. We all have to live by rules, in fact  every day we chose whether to break a rule or obey a rule.
God made the rules for the Israelite people so that they could be closer to him, so that they could be Holy and righteous. However, because we live in a fallen world, the Israelite people were fighting a loosing battle. The rules and laws that they were meant to keep became a huge problem for them so much so that the rules eventually became more important than God himself.
One of my favourite passages of scripture is where Jesus is having a go at the Pharisee's and teacher's of the law. In Matthew 23 Jesus is quiet scathing as he calls them hypocrites. 


²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Matthew 23:23-24


The Pharisees are so concerned with the law that they are forgetting the important stuff, their forgetting loving one another, helping one another and more importantly loving God. They are only concerned with keeping the rules, and so they judge those who are not as good at keeping the rules as they are!
I would also like to say that rules are good for us too! Anyone who knows me will know that I am a person that always has to obey the rules.  If we disobey the rules of life then we are generally going to get into trouble. Many of the laws of our land are based on the 10 Commandments, e.g. do not murder, do not steal etc...But it also tells us in the bible to obey the laws of the land -
  
¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 1 Peter 2:13-14


So even though reading Leviticus can seem a little daunting, I am really glad its in the word of God, not just because it shows me that I must obey the law, but also that I can Praise God that I don't live under the law, instead I live under grace. This means that I don't have to perform all the sacrifices that the Israelite people had to, instead I know that Jesus died for me as a sacrifice once and for all, so that I can be saved, forgiven and accepted into the family of God. We are so fortunate to live this side of the cross, we don't have to go through a priest; we don't have to make a sacrifice; we don't have to stay away from others because we are unclean. All we have to do is accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, acknowledge that he died for us and ask Him to forgive our sins - JOB DONE!

Mo strikes again!

Well I guess I'm coming to the end of Exodus, and beginning a new chapter in the lives of Moses and his mates. In today's bible study we continue with Moses back up the mountain with God. He's on a second go at the 10 Commandments as he smashed them previously in temper. 


I like the thought of Moses receiving the second set of Commandments, I know that Moses probably didn't, lets face it he's already spent 40 days and nights up the mountain and just because the people make a mess of things he's back again. Anyway, the reason I like this is because I serve the God of the second chance. How awesome is that? My God loves me so much that he gives me a second chance just like he gave the people of Israel a second chance. I know that people were punished for what they did, but God is a loving God and he doesn't want to see anyone lost and so because of that he gives me chance after chance to sort things out.
On the same thought though, even though God is full of love for everyone, one day God will judge us all for the things that we have done wrong. I know that I am not perfect and that there is no perfect person, except Jesus, so we have to make sure that we keep short account with him and know that he will give us the second chance even when we don't deserve it. Lets do the same to others, lets give others their second chance too.

What's the idol Mo?

Today's bible passage is a very famous story. Moses has gone up the mountain to receive the 10 commandments  from God, meanwhile the people are asking Aaron to make them a god they can worship. The golden calf just pops out of the flames and the rest is history.
We all have idols, things that we put before God. The Israelites were impatient and easily swayed, so what is it that sways me? What is it that takes the things of God from the forefront of my mind?



I guess today's idols are not the same as in the time of Moses. We worship other things: Family, friends, TV, Music, Work, Computers, Holidays, Money, Gadgets, etc...the list is endless. Whatever we love more than God is an idol, whatever we put before God is an idol. Whatever we think about the most is an idol. 



The other thing that this story shows me is the impatience of people. We ask God for help and if it doesn't happen instantly then we get bored and think that God isn't listening or has forgotten about us. God is interested in us, in everything about us, but what we need to realise is that God's timing is not as ours. He sees the big picture, whereas we only see our small jigsaw piece. If there is something that you've asked God, then don't give up, Moses pleaded for the lives of the Israelite people to God and God listened to his plea. Let's always remember that God is for us, and if he is for us then no-one can come against us.