It's just me!

Today's reading is in Exodus again and it follows on from God's commandments to Moses. In chapter 28, God instructs Moses to make a uniform for Aaron, so that he can approach God on behalf of the people. This got me thinking...I don't need a uniform to approach God. I can come just as I am. I don't need to have a priest go and chat to God for me, I can talk to God myself. 


                                           Hebrews 4:14-16 

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.



When Jesus died, he made a way for us to have a direct relationship with God. We no longer need to have a priest ask for forgiveness for us and make a sacrifice. When Jesus died on the cross he was the ultimate sacrifice which means that we no longer need to make those sacrifices, we just have to believe in him.
So lets do what Hebrews 4 says and 'approach the throne of God with confidence'

Sin has a consequence...Moses strikes again!

So, I was reading my bible again this morning and the thing that came to mind was that 'Sin has a consequence' I know that this is obvious, but how seriously do we take this statement? 
In Exodus once again we can learn from Moses and his mates! In Chapter 20 God has just given the commandments to the people and in the following few chapters we find a list of do's and don'ts that need to be obeyed. Do you know what? I'm so glad that I don't have to live under the law of the Old Testament. I'm so thankful that I live in the grace of God.


BUT....
Do we think...its only a little sin it doesn't matter? 
Do we tell only 'white' lies that don't matter, or do we realise that when we sin we have 'MISSED THE MARK?' We have missed living the perfect life that God had intended for us.
In the Old Testament the people of Israel had to do so much to absolve their sins, in fact they had to do so much that it was pretty much impossible to keep up with! I just thank God that I can come before him and ask him to...

1. Forgive me
2. Help me not to continue in sin
3. Guide me in his ways

I know that I won't ever be perfect this side of Heaven, but I guess my prayer is that God will help me take seriously the sin in my life and deal with it.

There is a consequence for sin, we have to realise that we can't just carry on sinning without anything happening. I guess there are lots of people that think the things they do wrong are so small that they don't matter, or that they are good people.

However, we need to remember that we live in a fallen world and that we are born in sin. That it is the sin in our lives that separate us from God. The only way we can sort this sinful nature is through the Blood of Jesus. When we receive Jesus as Lord of our lives, and believe that he died for us and enter into a relationship with him, then and only then are we saved. 

Aren't we glad that we are living after the cross and not before it. We are in a privileged position as we can have forgiveness of our sins without sacrificing anything as Jesus has paid the price for every sin that we have done and will do. We don't have to do all the sacrificing and ritual cleanings that the Israelites did, we are cleansed by Jesus blood.

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

                                                                                                                                                                

.                                                        

Good 'ole Moses

Reading the continuing story of Moses this morning, once again it made me think! I know reading the bible is meant to make me think, but like I said yesterday, its the obvious things that we can so often miss. And lets face it, we can read the same passage time after time and see something different each time!
Anyway this mornings reading was once again from Exodus. Moses has gone up the mountain to speak with God. No-one is allowed on the mountain except for Moses, or else they would die! Moses after speaking with God comes back down the mountain to tell the people to get ready to meet with God themselves! They then prepare for 3 days to meet with God, during which they cleaned and consecrated themselves etc...
This got me thinking, how much do we prepare to meet with God? Do we come to church on a Sunday just to meet with friends, or because its what we've always done? Do we just go through the motions of church or do we really come to meet with Almighty God?
I think this passage of scripture shows us how Awesome and Powerful God really is. The Israelites knew that if anyone had gone on the mountain they would've died. If we really knew how Powerful God was, I think we'd have a little more reverence for him. 
We come into church on a Sunday, we talk and catch up with friends, sometimes we are even late! What's that about? We are coming to worship the one and only Creator of the Universe; the God that flung the stars into space; the God that loves us so much that he sent his Son to die the worst death imaginable so that we can have a relationship with him! HOW DARE WE! Would we be late for an appointment? Would we talk and chatter in front of the Queen? NO! 
We need to be ready to meet with our King. We need to be ready to worship our God. We need to come into the house of God expectant, and wanting to be close to him. I think we have really started to miss the point. When we come before God it is not something small and insignificant, it is something amazing, paid for by the blood of Jesus!
Let's learn from the Israelites and come into the presence of God with reverence, and awe. Let's come before the throne room of grace and meet with our God.

Our God created the World, the sun, the moon, and the stars. We need to remember that when we come into the presence of God we are coming to worship our creator, our Father, our King and our Saviour. Let's be in awe of Him!

Thinking some more...

I've been thinking today how much do we support one another? Am I an encouragement to the people I work with? Am I an encouragement to the people I work for? Do I encourage my friends and family in their walk with Jesus. 

I was reading an amazing passage of scripture this morning, in fact it's one of my favorite stories about Moses. In Exodus 17:8-16 we find the story of when the Amalekites are attacking Israel. Moses sends Joshua with some troops to go and fight them, and while the fight is going on, Moses stands on the mountain with his hands in the air. When Moses' raised the staff of God, Joshua is winning the battle, when Moses lowers the staff of God, then Joshua and his army begin to loose the battle. Moses' arms get tired and so Aaron and Hur hold Moses arms up for him so that Israel can win the battle - which they inevitably do.

I know that this is an obvious point that I'm making, but less face it, sometimes the obvious things are missed! When Moses held the staff of God upwards the army was winning! When we lift God high in our lives then we cannot lose. When Moses' didn't hold the staff of God up the army was losing, its the same for us, when we look away from God then we are on a path to destruction. We need to hold the name of God high, we need to praise God for everything he's done in our lives, we need to look to God in everything and then we cannot lose.

Another thing to think about - When Moses got tired his friends were there to lift him up! How often do we encourage one another in our Christian walks? When we are low we need to be there to encourage one another to keep going in our faith. Paul did exactly that with Timothy as I wrote last time. How often do we say an encouraging word; or join in something that isn't our thing just because we want to support the people doing it; or join in something just because its God's will. Sometimes we have to do things no matter how stupid, or how much we don't want to do it, we just do it to obey God and support others in their obedience to God.

My prayer is that God would help me to keep my eyes on him, to be an encourager, and help me to show the people that I meet that I belong to him. I want to show others that Jesus is Lord of my Life!

A few thoughts...

I was teaching this morning in our Sunday School, which I don't really like to call that, so I'll call it by its correct name - Xcel group. I wasn't really very prepared as I was a stand in and only found out about 2 mins before. We looked at 2 Timothy 1 and I had such a great time with this passage, talking with the kids, that I thought I'd share some of the thoughts so that I would remember them as well as maybe blessing someone else that just happens to read it.

Anyway in this passage Paul is writing to Timothy to encourage him to keep going for Jesus. As a group we decided that we need to encourage one another more. We need to help one another when we are feeling low, or when we are feeling like everything around us is going pear shaped. We need to pray for one another, pray with one another! Lets face it if its good enough for Jesus then its good enough for us! In John 17 Jesus prayed the most amazing prayer - He is just about to go to the cross and he prays firstly that God's will be done through him, then he prays for his disciples and lastly but by no means least, he prays for me! OK not just me, but he prays for all those who believe in him through the message of the disciples - the rest of us! I love this - my name might not be in the bible, but Jesus still chooses to pray for me just before he chooses to die for me! I can't even begin to imagine the awesomeness of that. It blows my mind to even try and think about it. If you've never read this passage of scripture - read it! It is the most amazing, awesome, inspiring, fantastic prayer ever! Then read John 19 and read what Jesus did so that we can have a relationship with him, so that we can be forgiven! What an awesome Saviour I have! What an awesome Saviour we have!

He is also reminding Timothy that he is not alone, that the Holy Spirit is with him. We need to remember this too! We can encourage one another to know that we are never ever alone. Jesus sent his comforter to be with us to guide us and give us courage, so that we can be all that we need to be for him! How amazing is it to know that I am not alone? How amazing to know that the Holy Spirit wants to share my life, wants to be a part of my life, wants to show me God's love and so much more.

Paul then goes on to tell Timothy not to be ashamed. I am not ashamed to say that Jesus is Lord of my life and that he died for me and that he is the ONLY way to heaven! However, I know that its easy for me to say this. I live in a country where I have free speech, am allowed to read the word of God etc...I know that I am privileged, and I don't take that lightly. I also know because the word of God tells me that this will not always be the case, and that one day I won't be so fortunate. 

Anyway, if you are reading this then I hope that you have been blessed. If you are a Christian then remember that you are never alone and that the Holy Spirit is with you always! If you are not a Christian and you would like to be then its easy! Just read the following prayer and believe it in your heart and then your in!

 

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I ask you to be my Saviour and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Help me to be the kind of person you want me to be. 

If you would like to know more then please feel free to contact me or look on the following web link

http://www.ccci.org/how-to-know-god/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally/index.htm

I thought I'd start this blogg with something positive, with something that really means something to me. I want to thank God for what he's doing in my life. I'm saved, redeemed, loved, forgiven and all because Jesus chose to go and die for me!

Anyway, I guess I really decided to do this so that I could write the things in my life that are positive, to write what God is doing in my life so that I can look back and see all the amazing things that have happened. So this is the start of my on-line diary of how God is working in my life. Maybe if you are reading this you might be thinking that I'm completely mad, well that's OK, as God loves me no matter what.