Blessings of God shared!

I know I'm a little late today, but late is better than not at all. Today's reading for me was Galatians 3 continuing with Paul's letter.
Quite often I find that when I read the word of God it's one verse that jumps out at me and today that is what happened. The verse that impacted my thoughts today was verse 8 which says this,
'Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.'
Paul announces that the gentiles are blessed through Abraham. This got me thinking today about how God has blessed me, but also how I bless others because of that blessing.
This also challenged me, as it made me question whether or not I do bless people as I should?
As Christians we are blessed and so therefore should be blessed to be a blessing. I want to make sure that I am that person. I want to make sure that I am a blessed person that shares that blessing nature of Jesus wherever I go!
If you know the Lord and have just read this, then challenge yourself today to bless those around you, even those that irritate you!
If you don't know the Lord then I want to tell you that you too can know him as Lord and Saviour. It's as easy as this...
1. Believe...Tell Jesus that you believe that he died for you
2. Ask...Ask Jesus to forgive you for all the sin in your life
3. Accept...Jesus and receive him as your Saviour and King of your life.
4. Share...Jesus wants to part of your life, join a church that will encourage you in your faith and help you to understand how to follow him in your daily life.

Who am I?

Today I've been reading Galatians 2. In this chapter Paul gets really angry at Peter for pretending to be someone else. Peter is behaving differently around the Jewish people and so Paul calls him a hypocrite.
This got me thinking about how people see me. Do people see me as a Christ follower, or do people see me as a church goer? In other words, do people see Jesus in me or do people just see someone that goes to church and acts no different to those who don't?
This is a huge challenge for all of us. We need to make sure that we practice what we preach. 
Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations, but we are not going to do this if we are two faced. We need to be true to him and true to ourselves. We must allow God to be the very centre of our lives and so live for him. Let's show the love of God to those we meet today. Let's bless those people in our path and allow them to see Jesus through our words, actions and deeds!

'Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.' Matthew 5:16

Praise God!

As I was reading my Bible this morning I realised that I hadn't written my blog for a long time. I think it might be time to start this back up again as it really helped me to focus on God's word and on what I was reading. Today I read Galatians 1 and the verse that jumped out at me was this, 

"And they praised God because of me." Galatians 1:24

This got me thinking, does anyone praise God because of me? Does anyone want to know God because of me? These are huge questions. My job is to share Jesus with children, therefore I should radiate the presence of God, but do I? I don't think I do as much as I could; therefore this means I have some work to do.I guess the answer is this...I must invite more of God into my life so that I that others are attracted to the Holy Spirit in me.The only way that others will see Jesus in us and therefore 'praise God' because of us is if we look to him and invite him into every part of our lives. Let's do that today...let's invite God into everything!

Help!

My Bible reading today is from John 5. Jesus is talking about how he relies on God to guide him and that everything he does comes from following God's lead.

This is brilliant. The Son of God totally relying on his Father to be able to complete anything. In fact he says this in verse 30... 

"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

This is something that we as Christians need to take notice of. If Jesus himself says he can't do anything without God, then who are we to think we can go it alone? We need to make sure that everything we do is committed to God.

I have learnt many things over the last 10 years of knowing the Lord, but one of the most important things that I always try to remember is this...

                         'If it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me'

Basically, if Jesus did it then we should do it too. One of my favourite verses emphasises this point, 'Follow God's example, therefore as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.' Ephesians 5:1-2

We need to be holy, we need to follow Christ's example. When we follow Christ's example we follow God's example, when we follow the example of God we lead others to Christ!

Tempted? PRAY!

In my Bible reading today, Jesus and his disciples are at the Mount of Olives. Jesus is preparing himself for what is about to happen  but before going to be alone with God, Jesus says to this to his disciples, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
This statement from Jesus got me thinking this morning; Do I pray that I will not be tempted to do something that I shouldn't? Do I pray for protection against temptation on a daily basis, or only when I remember?
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus instructs his followers to pray exactly that, to pray that God will help them when they are in temptation. 
We live in a dark and sinful world. We accept this as OK because its the 'NORM'. We allow ourselves to be tempted to do things that look fine because it doesn't harm anyone, but in the eyes of God we are NOT doing what is righteous.
If you are a regular reader to my blog you will know that I believe the Bible with all my heart. You will also know that I will not compromise the things of God intentionally. You might even think that I am a fundamentalist - well I am!
When I look around me I see people that profess to be Christian that do compromise the things of God. I see people that do not understand that the things that they are doing are not in line with what God has called them to be. Come on Church! We are God's people! We need to be what HE'S called us to be! We must pray that God will help us fight the temptations of this world. It is so easy to become apathetic and complacent with our way of thinking. 
Jesus didn't go to the cross so that we could pay at being Christians; he didn't die so that we could compromise his word or do things just because they feel good! He went to the cross so that we could have life in ALL its fullness!
My prayer for today is that we all ask God to help us not fall into temptation. That we trust in him and turn away from our evil ways following him and him alone!Say goodbye today to apathy and complacency. Say goodbye today to compromise and temptation - live the life that God has called you for...a life in all its fullness...John 10:10

Pick up your sword!

This morning I read from Luke 22 which retells the story of the last supper. I have read this passage many times, in fact this is the passage I like to use for communion, however I noticed something that I had never noticed before. Jesus tells his disciples to use a sword.  In verse 36 Jesus says this, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and of you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one."
This really got me thinking, why would Jesus be telling his disciples to buy a sword? He was warning them that things were going to get tough, things were going to get really bad. He wanted them to be ready.
What about us? Are we ready? Do we have our sword? Well I hope so, as without our sword we are unarmed. The sword I speak of is the word of God. We must never be too far away from it, in fact we should have it written in our hearts. The word of God is just what it says on the tin...the word of God. It is our weapon against the enemy, it helps us to discern whether people are telling us the truth or not. 
A few years ago not long after I became a Christian, I asked my father a question about something. To be honest I can't remember what the question was, but I remember the answer as if it were yesterday. He told me to be a 'Berean in everything' What my dad was telling me was to test everything. Just because people tell us something it doesn't mean it's of God. Just because they have been Christians for a long time or are even in leadership doesn't mean that it is of God. Being a Berean means that we test everything against the word of God, we test everything with the sword. Look at the word SWORD...it is WORDS, God's words to us. Be a Berean today, soak in the Sword of God, allow the Holy Spirit to minister to your needs, believe the Bible and use it to defend yourself. PICK UP YOUR SWORD!

Worship...or the Rocks will!

My Bible reading today is in  Luke 19 and is the famous passage of scripture describing Jesus entering Jerusalem. Each year at Easter time we remember this story and think of how everyone welcomed Jesus with open arms, only to shout 'crucify him' only a few days later.
The verse that stood out for me today, has to be verse 40, 

"I tell you," he replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

 In this verse Jesus is replying to the Pharisees that are not happy with the shouts of praise. Jesus is letting them know that he deserves to be worshipped, that if the disciples stopped worshipping then the rocks would take their place.
What an awesome thought. Jesus is so worthy of praise that if we don't do it then the earth beneath us will. We were born to worship God. We were made to worship God. We need to remember that if we don't do what we are called to do, then the rocks will do it for us.
I know one thing, I don't want to be replaced by a rock! I want to worship God and live a life of worship and praise. Let's remember that we are called to worship the creator of the universe, let's not leave it to the rocks to do it for us, let's worship God in everything we do!

What do you want today?

My Bible reading today is in Luke 18. Jesus is on his way to Jericho and he finds himself in an encounter with a blind man.
This blind man wants to know what all the commotion is about and so asks some of the crowd to describe the scene before them. They tell him that Jesus of Nazareth is there and so he begins to yell out!
This man might be physically blind, but his spirit isn't. He knows in his heart that he is about to meet someone special, that this Jesus can make a difference to his life, so he calls out.
We may be able to see in the physical, but if we are spiritually dead then we are blind. We need to make sure that our spirits are fed and that we are in tune with the Holy Spirit to ensure that the scales fall away from our spiritual blindness.
We can be followers of Christ all our lives, believing in him, knowing his word inside out, even preaching his word, BUT we can be spiritually blind, spiritually dead. Let's cry out to Jesus today and ask for our spiritual blindness to be healed so that we can see the world and those around us through the eyes of God.

Persistence, humility, belief, sacrifice!

My Bible reading today is found in Luke 16. Jesus teaches about being persistent with God, humble with God, to believe like a child ending with sacrifice. These things must be important if Jesus mentions them one after another.

Why would Jesus want us to be persistent? Does he want us to nag God constantly? No! But he does want us to come to God with the important things, he does want us to come to God and cry out to him with the things that are unjust in this world. We need to seek God, we need to fall at his feet and want his input into every part of our lives.

What about being humble? When we pray if it becomes all about us and not about God then we have missed the point. Praying is not about us, it's about him, it's not about what we want, its about who God is. Praying is about us sharing our lives with the creator of the universe and so we should always enter his presence with humility and honour. Think about it, you wouldn't rush into the queens palace shake her by the hand and then put your feet up on her table and switch on the TV. We give honour to the queen and to those in power, so why would we not give honour to our God? I'm not saying that we shouldn't respect the queen, but if we gave God even half as much honour and humbleness as we do the queen, then we would be on the right track. God deserves our praise, God deserves our thanks, God deserves our honour, God deserves a people that humble themselves before him and lay face down in his presence. He alone is worthy, he alone deserves all we have to give.

The next thing that Jesus encourages us to do is believe like a little child. This always makes me smile. I work with children as a job, and love to see children in worship. They are so simple in their approach to God, they just accept his word and love him for who he is. This is so important for all of us who serve the Lord. Jesus says, 'Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' We need to remember that we can debate, study and read the word of God and know it inside out, but if we do not accept it then we are walking on thin ice. We need to accept God and walk in his ways. A child accepts whatever the adult says to be true as they have no other point of reference. The same it should be for us, if God says it...it's done. If God says 'Go do!' then just do it! We need to be in complete obedience to him, and follow his lead and not the lead of man.

Jesus finishes this passage talking about sacrifice. He tells those with him that they must sacrifice everything for the things of God. This may sound harsh, but to completely follow him, we must be all in. We cannot have one foot in the kingdom and the other in the world. If we serve the riches of this world then they become idols. If we follow what others say and ignore what God says then we are not true followers of the King!

This passage leads us through our Christian lives in just 30 verses. We need to be persistent in the things of God, we need to be humble serving God and those in need, we need to believe and trust in him and we need to sacrifice the idols of our lives and follow him in spirit and truth. 

Ready or Not?

Over the last few months, we have been studying Revelation as a church. In my morning Bible reading Jesus is talking about the end. In Luke 17, Jesus heals 10 lepers and then the passage goes on to talk about the coming of the Kingdom.
Jesus talks about the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus explains that the coming of the Son of Man will be a surprise, it will not be on a news report, it won't be well reported, it will just happen.
Are we ready? Do we know what this means for each one of us? This reminds me of the parable of the 10 virgins, where 5 were ready with extra oil and 5 were not. We need to make sure that we are ready for God. We can't leave it till the last minute.
As Christians we have a life in all its fullness and we also have a promise of eternity with God! We need to make sure that we tell as many people about the Lord as possible. We need to share what we have, we have the greatest gift we could give anyone. We have the gift of Salvation. We need to share it and not just keep it to ourselves. As Jesus says, he will 'come like a thief in the night', and then it will be too late. We as Christians don't want to let our world down. We must make Jesus known.

If you are reading this and you don't know Jesus as your personal Saviour, think about this...
If you don't know Jesus as Lord of your life you will live eternity without him! We don't talk about hell very often as we don't want to frighten people, but as real as heaven is, hell is real too. So often people mock about burning in hell, and say things like, 'at least it'll be warm down there lol' BUT...this is not something to be joked about. This is not something to ignore. Think how long a lifetime is, now think how long eternity could be, this is how long those who don't know Christ will be away from him in hell.

If you want to ask Jesus into your life it is as easy as 1,2,3. Just say this prayer and it's as simple as that...
Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for me, I know that I am a sinner, I ask that you would forgive me for all the bad things in my life that I have done. I ask that you would come into my life and be my Saviour. Help me to live for you, help me to honour you. Thank you for all that you have done for me. Amen

If you have just prayed that prayer, tell someone. Be blessed and remember, you've just received the greatest gift you will ever get! Don't forget to find a church that can support you and nurture you in your newly found faith. Be blessed to be a blessing and share your new life with everyone you meet! 

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!

It's been a while since writing in my blog, and so I thought I'd write about what I believe God has been saying to me over the last few weeks. I've been praying for guidance about different situations and every time I get the scripture from Joshua 24:15," But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
I believe that this scripture is as much for today as it was all those years ago when Joshua spoke them to the Israelites. Who are we serving? We may say that we are Christians, we may even believe that we are, but are we serving God or man? Are we serving God or our own self? Are we serving God or are we just paying him lip service?
Joshua served the Lord completely, he cherished his word and lived and believed it. So many 'Christians' today don't believe the word of God. I find this so hard to believe that people that say they love the Lord and believe in him, don't believe his word as the truth. The word of God is not negotiable! If God says he did something, then that is what he did! How dare we choose to dispute the word of God. How dare we call God a liar! I fear for those 'Christians' who choose to accept some of the Bible and not all of it. I fear for those who believe that God could have created the world through evolution! I fear for those who dispute creation, the flood, miracles, healing and all the other amazing things that God has done and recorded in the Bible so that we can learn more of who he is and what he has done. 
Joshua served the Lord entirely. He never compromised, he was a man of his word. Do we compromise? Do we give in when the going gets tough? If so, WHY? Jesus doesn't promise an easy life, although he does promise a life in all its fullness. If there is one thing I have learnt in my 10 years being a Christ follower, I will NOT compromise the things of God. Many Christians today don't see the bad in things so they accept anything because it looks looks fine, it doesn't hurt anyone so lets accept it! So many Christians today are so afraid of what others think of them that they won't stand for righteousness. They are blinded by science, they are afraid of being different, they are complacent and don't worry about what God thinks about how they act. They are more concerned about what man thinks than how they make God feel. 
I know that I don't get things right all the time. I know this side of glory I will not be perfect. I know that I am a sinner saved by grace. My prayer is that like Joshua I will stand when the going get's tough, that I will serve the Lord and stand for his word all my life. 
If you are reading this and thinking this could be you, if you know that you don't believe all of the word of God, then ask him to change you. If you know in your heart that you have compromised or accepted things as OK just because everyone else has, then ask God to reveal it to you and repent.
My biggest prayer for anyone reading this is that the Lord will bless you and keep you and have his face to shine upon you. That he will convict you and I regarding sin and righteousness, and that we will stand, that we will serve, that we will honour the creator of the Universe and give him the worship that he deserves.

Let's go!

Over the last week as a church we have been seeking God each evening. We have had our annual week of prayer and fasting. As usual this has been an amazing week of blessing and we've met with Almighty God each night as we meet together to seek Him.
I decided to write this today to share something that I believe The Lord has spoken to me about over the last week.
On Wednesday I was travelling to an assembly and The Lord spoke into my heart a scripture. I must admit I didn't know where in the Bible it came from, but nevertheless I knew that it was of The Lord and from Scripture. He also gave me a picture of a field that was white, which was very apt as many of the fields I travelled past that morning were still covered in snow.
On the way back to church, I prayed that God would show me the field in my minds eye so that I could have a photograph to show the church. I returned a different route and came upon the field quite quickly and took the photo safely as I parked in a convenient passing space.
On returning to church I looked up the scripture that God had given me. It wasn't in my version of the Bible and so I was even more convinced that it was God speaking to me. 'Look I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.' John 4:35 ESV
I believe The Lord was telling me that we have to get to work. The harvest is there for the taking but we have to do our part. We cannot wait for it to wither away. The picture I took shows this so clearly. The front of the picture is white with snow, although some of the field is starting to go brown where the snow has melted.
Lets remember the story of Esther in the Bible. She saved the people because she did what needed doing at the exact time she needed to. One of my favourite verses comes from this story, 'For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your Father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this.' Esther 4:14 NIV
Lets be like Esther. We are here for such a time as this. The fields are white for the harvest. Are we ready to get to work and share the good news of Jesus? He is the answer to every situation, the world needs a Saviour, the world needs a hope. We have that hope, let's not miss the opportunity to share that hope with those that don't. Don't leave it until the fields have withered, we have to take every opportunity to show the love of Jesus with the world..
Lord help us to see the world through your eyes. Help us to bless those we meet sharing the gospel with them and showing them the love of Jesus.

What do you need?

I haven't written my blog for quite some time, although after my Bible readings today decided that it might be time to start it back up again.
Today's readings started in Matthew 7. Here we find Jesus, healing a man with leprosy, remotely healing the Centurion's servant and healing Peter's mother-in-law.
In all of these situations, Jesus was meeting the needs of those he met along the way. In the case of the man with leprosy, Jesus was just walking down the mountain and this man came to him with a need. Jesus dealt with that need and then moves on. In the case of the Centurion's servant, he doesn't even see the man he just see's the faith of his employer and deals once again with the situation. Lastly, we read of Jesus visiting his friends home where he sees the need of his mother-in-law and once again Jesus sees a need and fills that need.
How often do we follow the example Jesus gives? Jesus tells us to go and do likewise, however I don't think we always do. I know personally that often I miss the signs of others, and even don't know what to do in a situation. Jesus knows exactly what to do and when to do it. 
What about you and I? What do we need? We so often have a list of demands for God, but they are not our needs they are our wants. When we come to God in prayer we offer him up a list of can you do this, and can you do that, when none of it is really what we need. Jesus already knows what we need, so what do you need today? What do you want to share with the Lord today? How can  your life be impacted today by God? Why not ask God to give you what he wants you to have today, and see what happens - it will be amazing.