Forgiven and forgotten

Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more - This verse is found in Hebrews 10. What an amazing verse this is, what an awesome truth that we can hold on to.
When God forgives, He also forgets. How often do we forget when others hurt us? How often do we forget when others say things about us? We might say that we forgive them, but to forget about what has happened is a whole different ball game.
I think we should be thankful that God doesn't treat us as we treat others. I thank God that He chooses to forget my past so that I can have a future. Let's thank God today that He doesn't hold grudges, that He doesn't condemn us for our past sin when we come to Him, that He has paid the price for our sin, that when He says forgiven He also means forgotten. I think we should try and do the same. 

Out with the Old in with the New!

In today's chapter of Hebrews the writer compares the Old with the New. He shows us that under the old law the Priest wasn't worthy of offering the sacrifices of the people to God as he was a sinner himself.
This is why Jesus was perfect for the job. He was and is the only sinless one, the only man that could ever pay the price for the sin of the world. He was and is perfect and so because of that His death made everything right. He could pay the debt through His perfect sacrifice, unlike the Priests in the Old Testament that were sinners themselves who had to consecrate themselves just to be able to carry out their ministry. In fact if God wasn't pleased with them they could loose their lives during the act of sacrificing.
We can and should never forget what Jesus did for us that first Easter. He paid our debts and left us free. We don't have to go to a priest and ask him for forgiveness, we have a Saviour that's done it all for us - lets Praise Him and put away the old and receive the new today!

Jesus - The only Sacrifice

Hebrews 8 speaks of Jesus bringing in the New Covenant, that is the new law, the new way to live. Under the old law, there had to be a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. The person that needed forgiveness would take a sacrifice to a priest and then the priest would offer the animal or grain to God as atonement for whatever the person had done. If the person did the same thing again, he would repeat the sacrifice and so it went on. This became more of a religious ceremony than something that they did for God. This became more of an outward showing of being sorry than actually being sorry, which is why God brought in the New.
Under the new law, the debt for sin was and is paid once and for all. Jesus died just the once, so that the sin of the world would be dealt with. This means that we no longer have to make a sacrifice for the things that we have done. It means that all we have to do is come before the Throne of Grace and ask for His forgiveness. How glad am I that I live this side of the cross? Let's face it, if I didn't things would not look too great for me. Firstly the thought of having to kill anything bigger than a spider doesn't make me feel overly enthusiastic, and secondly, as a gentile woman I would be so far down the chain of blessing that the only person lower than me would be a gentile girl child.
I really am so blessed and grateful for being born this side of the cross. I just want to take the opportunity to thank God right here and now for what He has done for me through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus was the Ultimate sacrifice. God doesn't ask for religious ceremonies, He doesn't require us to put on a show of being sorry. All He asks is that we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour and follow Him.

Hope...

On reading Hebrews Chapter 7, I must be honest I thought that I wouldn't really have anything to write, as it continues with the theme from Chapter 6. However, as I continued to read the chapter a single word jumped out of the page, and that word was hope.
When we look at the world today and the mess it is in, where is the hope in the lives of those we meet? When we see the news that is full of terrible things from murder and war, to starvation and floods, not to forget all the financial problems that face our world, where is the hope?
We are so fortunate as Christians, we have a hope and that hope is Jesus. I remember as a child going to church or chapel as we call it in Wales, and singing a hymn, 'My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness' 
The world we live in needs hope. Our government needs hope. Our towns and cities need hope. Our neighbours need hope. The person in flooded Bangkok needs hope. The person stuck in the rubble in Turkey needs hope. The people of Libya need hope. The list is endless, but we all need hope. The only hope for this world and everyone in it is Jesus. He is the light of the world, He is the Saviour of the world, He is the only one that we can truly put our hope in. 
I will let you down, not through choice, but because I am flawed, Jesus will never let you down, He is perfect, He is the way, the truth and the life. Whatever your situation, whether it be health, financial, family problems, job problems or anything else, put your trust in the HOPE of the world today, put your hope in Jesus

Promises

In Chapter 6 of Hebrews, the writer ends by showing how God always keeps His promises. 


When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no-one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised

If we remember back to this story in Genesis, God promises Abraham that he would become the Father of Nations. Abraham and his Wife Sarah were really old, but in spite of that God kept His promise. 

The amazing thing about our God is that He never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. This means that He still keeps His promises to us. If God says, "I will never leave you" then we can guarantee that He will NEVER leave us. If God says, "I forgive you" then that's it - we're forgiven. 
When God makes a promise, then that promise is a given, unlike us. When we make a promise its not always guaranteed. We need to make sure that we remember that we serve a God who will never let us down, who loves us unconditionally, and who is always there through the good and the bad times. 
Let's praise God today for His faithfulness, and ask Him to help us to keep our promises to Him and to others. 

The Ultimate Sacrifce

Today's study is from Hebrews chapter 5. It speaks of Jesus being THE High Priest, and of how He was called by God into that role. 
The role of the High Priest was to offer gifts and sacrifices on behalf of himself and the people. In Jesus case, He was the sacrifice and not for Himself, but for us.
It also says in this passage,
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission
When Jesus was living among us, He offered up prayers and petitions even then. And there is some more great news that goes with this, He still offers them to the Father today. We have a Saviour that speaks on our behalf and intercedes for us.
What a great picture that paints, our Lord and Saviour speaking to God for us. Telling God the Father how worth it we are, how we should be forgiven and how much He loves us. Let's remember today that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - that means that He believes we are worth it - let's make sure that we show Him our gratitude and that He didn't make the ultimate sacrifice in vein.

Resting in God

Today's passage of Hebrews speaks of 'entering God's rest' Through our belief and faith in God we enter His rest. 
Rest is so important that God even made a commandment to rest on the Sabbath. In our fast food kind of lives we are sometimes so busy rushing around doing the stuff that we forget to rest in His presence. Sabbath or Sunday is not just about going to church, or even fellowship with like minded people, its about resting in God.
We need to spend time with God, we need to come into His presence and just be close to Him. When we don't set time aside to share with God then we end up feeling further away from Him than before. We are the first to say where is God? What we should be saying is where are we? God doesn't leave us, in fact He says in His word that He will NEVER leave us. He just asks us to spend time with Him. Let's do ourselves a favour and rest in Him. Allow Him to minister into our situations, allow God to take control.

Be encouraged today!

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today - Hebrews 3:13
When I read this verse today I asked myself a question - do I encourage others in their Christian walk? If not why not? 

The writer of Hebrews instructs that we should encourage one another daily, and the reason for this is so that we don't fall into sinful ways. If we don't look out for one another, then there is a greater possibility that we won't walk the walk, and eventually get out of the loop. What I mean by that is we need one another to have fellowship with so we all can be part of the body of Christ.
There are some that believe that you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. I am not of that train of thought. I don't believe going to church makes you a Christian just like going to McDonald's doesn't make you a burger, however, I do believe that meeting and having fellowship with like minded people is invaluable, and will encourage us to continue our walk with the Lord.
We really need to encourage one another in the Lord. We need to make sure that when others are low in faith that we pick them up, and likewise they will pick us up when we need it too.
Let's try and encourage one another in faith and maybe through our love for one another we will show a lost world what being a Christian is really about - Jesus.

Above all!

In the first chapter of Hebrews the writer tells of how honoured Jesus is in the Kingdom. He is above the angels, He is the Son of God, He laid the foundations of the earth.
If God can pay this kind of honour to our Lord & Saviour, then so should we. We so often take our Saviour for granted. I'm not saying that we do it consciously, or intentionally, but I think we do. 
Jesus should be the very centre of our lives, without Him our lives are meaningless.  

I know that I've said this many times before and written it in my blog, but it never ceases to amaze me that the Lord of Heaven and earth, the creator of the Universe, the King of Kings, the Son of Almighty God Himself, came to earth, lived as a man, and died the most horrific death so that I could be saved!
I'm really glad that the writer of Hebrews started this letter this way. He or she really helps to focus us on who we serve. We need to give honour to our God and King and show Him what He means to us. God has elevated Him - so should we!

Philemon

After reading the book of Philemon it made me think about the relationship between Paul and Onesimus. Paul was not only his friend, but he was like his defense lawyer standing up for him.Paul was pretty much vouching for him, he wanted him to be treated fairly and was asking Philemon to accept him as a brother in Christ.
This is a picture of Christ and us. Jesus is our defense council, He is our interceder. He goes to God and asks Him to forgive us when we mess up. 
We can be so thankful that we have a Saviour that not only went to the cross so that we are saved, but a Saviour that still vouches for us when we do things that are not pleasing to God.
I thank God that I have a Saviour who vouches for me when I get things wrong. Thank you Lord that even now as I write this you are interceding for me to the Father.

Live a life of righteousness

In The book Titus, Paul explains what teaching he wants Titus to teach. He encourages him to show how to live. He explains what is expected in Christian living. I think we can sometimes forget that as Christians we should live a certain way, that we are called to live a life of righteousness.
I know that we will never be perfect this side of eternity, however that is what we should be striving towards. We should be aiming to live a life that glorifies God.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
It teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self- controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope— the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

We have been saved by the grace of God, therefore, we need to lead lives that show Jesus that we honour Him and want to live only for Him. We need to make sure that our day to day lives include Jesus. We need to make sure that what we do and what we say are righteous before God, which will lead others to come to know Him.

Fear not - God wins!

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline
In 2 Timothy, Paul gives this advice to Timothy. It's something that we need to take hold of today. We are called to be disciples and make disciples. How can we accomplish this if we are afraid? How can  we be bold enough to tell others the truth, if we are fearful of what they might say or think about us?

If Joshua hadn't been bold and courageous then the Israelites would've ended up wandering in the wilderness for a lot longer than they did. I don't want to wander in the wilderness, I want to be part of a Kingdom building team that shows people that Jesus is real, that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus is the only way to the Father! 
I believe that God is telling us to rise up and be bold. We need to realise that God is on our side and that He has the victory! Forget fear and live in the truth of the cross! The battle is won!

Think big - think Kingdom!

Paul finishes his first letter to Timothy with sound advice. He says,  
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs
In our world of consumerism, everything is about what we've got, what we want, and whether we've got something that someone else has. I believe that this verse isn't just about the love of money, I believe its about the love of anything that is not of God. If we are busy wanting STUFF then we no longer have our eye on the Kingdom.
Even back in the Old Testament the Ten Commandments that God gives to Moses talks about this very problem. God puts things into perspective in the Commandments even in the very first two, There is only one God, and only worship God. He then finishes the Commandments with don't want what others have!
We need to make sure that we only worship the Lord. Whatever we yearn for, whatever we think about, whatever we do compulsively is the thing we worship.
Let's make sure that we get it right. I know that I don't always get it right. I want God to be my all in all and not the stuff of this life. Let's face it in the very same passage Paul says this, For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it .
Let's remember that the things of this world are but a blink of an eye. This world is not our home - we need to remember that! Think big - think KINGDOM! 

Children of the King!

1 Timothy 4:12 - Don't let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity.
This is a really important verse to me. I'm employed at my church to pastor children and to tell them about Jesus, and so this verse shows me how important young people are to God. We need to nurture them, we need to encourage our children and young people, so that they can be all that they are called to be. We need to make sure that they are fully equipped and ready for all the world will put in their path.  
So often children and young people are not taken seriously. They are not listened to and are made to feel less important. I don't think this is the case in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom way of looking at children is to say that, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.
We must remember to value our young people and to encourage them at all times in the Lord. Who knows they might even show us a thing or two after all Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven 
Let's make sure we look after our young people. Let's make sure that we show them the love of Jesus. Let's equip them in the ways of the Lord, so that they can be ready for the battle, so that they can show us the way. 

There is freedom in the cross!

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men
This verse comes from chapter 2 of 1 Timothy. What a great verse to think about. What an amazing truth we have hope in.
Jesus paid the price for us all. He gave up the splendour of Heaven to pay the ransom for a lost world, a debt that He didn't owe. We owe nothing, the debt is paid. Jesus paid our loan off, we are no longer debtors and the price was paid once and for all at the cross. How amazing to know that our sin is forgiven because Jesus paid the price for it. 
We are no longer condemned, but instead we are free. 
Thank you Lord for your sacrifice. Thank you Lord for taking my place. Thank you Lord that the ransom is paid and I am free! Praise God for the freedom of the cross!  

Grace

I've started to read 1 Timothy today. This once again is a letter of Paul, although this time its not to a church but instead its to a person, his friend, and son in Christ, Timothy.
Paul writes these words,
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 
Paul wrote these words about himself, however they are just as relevant to us today. God pours out His grace and mercy on us daily even though we don't deserve it. We are sinners saved by God's grace. The salvation that we have is not earned, its freely given, all we have to do is receive it. I just want to thank God today and everyday, for the grace that He has given me. 
I'm reminded of a song that we sing at church which goes, 

When I was lost you came and rescued me
Reached down into the pit and lifted me
O Lord, such love: I was as far from you as I could be
You know all the things I've ever done
But Jesus' blood has cancelled every one
O Lord, such grace, to qualify me as your own 

What an amazing God I serve. He came and rescued me from my life of nothingness. He took a life that was meaningless and gave me grace, hope, love and salvation - and all for free! 

Encourage and pray!

I've started Paul's letter to the Thessalonians today. I guess the thing that jumped out at me was how he begins his letter. In each of the previous letters he starts exactly the same. He thanks God for them and tells them that he remembers them in his prayers. I know this is so obvious, but I've never really joined the dots on this one before.  
Anyway, it got me thinking about prayer. How often do we tell those that we are praying for that we are praying for them? How often do we encourage them by telling them that they are in our thoughts and our prayers?
I pray for my family and friends, but I don't always tell them that they are in my prayers. I thank God for my family and friends, but I can't remember ever telling them that I do thank God for them. I guess its the Britishness within me. There are things that we do that are given as done, maybe we should encourage those that we care about and tell them that we are holding them in prayer before the Lord.
There is another scripture that I love that is in Revelation 5:8. It tells of the prayers of the saints being taken into God's presence in golden bowls carried by angels. Lets pray for those that we care about and fill the bowls of angels with the prayers of the saints. 

Thankful?

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful
On reading this last chapter in Colossians I asked myself the following questions:
How much do I pray?
How thankful am I?
Paul tells us that we should devote ourselves to prayer. How devoted are we? Do we only pray when we need help or are going through some hardship? We need to be praying all the time, we need to share our lives with God through prayer. Its all about communication. If you don't communicate with others then there is no relationship, likewise, if there is no communication with the Lord then there is no relationship.
Paul also tells us in this passage that we should be thankful. How thankful are we? 
It was our Harvest service today at church. I know that this is the time of year that we thank God for what we have, however I really had a revelation this morning. I know that what I'm about to say isn't new and isn't brain surgery, but I do believe its an important statement. 
WE NEED TO THANK GOD FOR WHAT WE HAVE AND WHAT HE'S DONE ALL THE TIME! 
When was the last time we just wanted to thank God for the everyday things, the mundane, the stuff that we take for granted? When was the last time that we prayed just to thank God for who He is and left the shopping list on hold? We so often forget to thank God and just pray for our needs and the needs of others, and sometimes even just our wants. I know that it says in scripture that God will give us the desires of our hearts, but this doesn't mean that He is Father Christmas and so just gives us stuff. We need to remember that when we pray we are talking to the creator of the universe. We are communicating with the Saviour of the world. Let's give God the respect He deserves and give Him praise and thanks for who He is and everything He's done. 
 

Who is your life?

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
I don't usually start with the passage, but I love today's passage so much that I couldn't think of a better way to start than God's word!
There is so much in this passage from chapter 3 of Colossians, but I love the fact that Christ is my life! Paul is telling us that we need to make sure that Christ is everything, that Jesus is Lord of our lives, that He is the centre of everything that we do. 
Is that the case though? Is Christ the very core of everything in my life? Is Jesus the centre of every conversation. I remember when living at home with my parents, there was a sign on the wall in the living room that said, 

'Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, 

the silent listener to every conversation' 

I believe that when Christ is our very lives, this above saying comes into play. For us that means that every situation we are in, wherever we are, whoever we're with, we invite Christ to be there.  

What does Jesus mean to me?

I started looking at Colossians today. Once again Paul is writing a letter to one of the churches. I love this letter, it always makes me feel uplifted in my faith.
I love the way that Paul describes Jesus in this first chapter. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together 

What a great way to describe Jesus. This got me thinking, how would I describe Him? What does Jesus mean to me? 
He is my Lord, my Saviour, my Rock, my Provider, my King, my Creator, my Father, He is my everything, the list is endless. 
If you are reading this, what does Jesus mean to you? Is He part of your life or is He part of a story that you've read? Is He your Lord or is He just a swearword? 
Make Jesus your Lord today - you'll never regret it - it'll be the best decision you've ever made.

I can do anything!

I finished Philippians today reading both chapters 3 & 4. What a great way for Paul to end his letter and his encouragement to the church at Philippi.
In verse 13 of chapter 4 he says these very famous words, I can do everything through him who gives me strength
What a great verse, what a fantastic truth. We like Paul can take this verse and run with it. We can do everything through Jesus who strengthens us. When we get up in the morning we have the knowledge that we can do anything that we put our minds to because Jesus has given us the power and authority to do it in His name!
Let's remember that with Jesus strength there is nothing that we cannot accomplish for Him. We can be bold and courageous and show others Jesus through actions and words. We can pray for the sick and see them healed. We can give words of encouragement and knowledge to people through the Power of the Holy Spirit.There is nothing that we cannot do, because Jesus has given us the Spiritual gifts to get the job done. So let's do it - let's be strengthened today and go out showing the love of Jesus to others.

Why do we do what we do?

Why do we do what we do? Do we go to church because its a Sunday? Do we read the bible because we want to or because we feel obliged to? Do we spend time with God or just say a quick prayer and call it job done? Do we believe that Jesus died for us or do we just think its a nice story that we learnt at church?
In Philippians chapter 2, Paul says that we should do everything humbly, nothing out of selfish ambition or gain. We need to make sure that everything we do is for the right reasons - to glorify God and lead others into a relationship with Him.
In verses 5-11 Paul says this: 
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
Jesus was humble, He was obedient, He came to earth to serve and to die. We need to make sure that everything we do, glorifies Him. He deserves our praise, our worship, our lives, He deserves and asks for our all - let's not let Him down, let's put everything into our lives for Jesus, so that His name will be lifted high. 

That I would decrease so that He would increase! 

 

Do you contend?

I started Philippians today. This once again is written by Paul, and like Ephesians he starts with some encouragement telling them that he prays for them.
The verse that jumped out at me was verse 27, Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 
The word that really jumped off the page for me was CONTENDING. This word means to struggle, to fight, to engage in a competition or campaign in order to win or achieve.  
Do I contend for people? Do I contend for my family and friends? Do I get down on my knees and struggle for those that mean the most to me? 
We all pray for those that we love, we all pray for those who need prayer, we all pray for the lost. BUT do we fight for them? Do we fight for our churches? Do we fight for our leaders? Do we fight for our communities? I could continue with the questions, but what is the answer?
Personally, I don't think I fight enough. I pray for those I love but I believe that I need to fight for them, I need to struggle for them, I need to contend for them. Come on church - let's start to contend for our lost world. Let's fight for them, let's get on our knees and make a difference with our prayers.
 

Second best is not enough

Ephesians last chapter ends with encouragement for the readers and is full of advice and help for us today. 
In the previous chapter, Paul tells of how we should behave as Christians and he continues with this theme in chapter 6. In the first few verses he speaks of children honouring parents and salves honouring masters. In fact slaves are told to do everything to the glory of God. 
We should do the same. We need to make sure that whatever we do its done to glorify the Lord. 
How can we do this? 
The way to accomplish this is to make sure whatever we do whether big or small, we do in a manner that shows who we are in Christ. We must always do our best, we must never cut corners and think that will do, only our best will do for God, second best is not good enough.
When we behave in this manner, it will show others Jesus. When we get on with things without complaining it shows others Jesus. When we go the extra mile it shows others Jesus. 
Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words