Happy New Year!

I thought that since today is the last day of the current year I'd better write something. The past year has probably been the most difficult year of my life so far. I can be honest and say I am glad to see the back of 2011 and so am trying to look forward to 2012.The great thing about this time of year is the fact that even though the past year has been truly awful I can still praise God for all that He has accomplished and for all that He has done in my life.
It is amazing how God can meet you even in the hardest of situations, and to be honest that is the best thing about 2011, as there have been so many hard situations that I have found God in the strangest of places. 
My prayer for the coming year is that I would only look to Him, that I would stop worrying about man's opinion of me and just look to Him. I am so grateful that I serve a God that loves me and values me and that is all that matters. If man doesn't like that then that is how it is. Jesus is Lord and nothing else matters. Thank you Lord for 2011 and for showing me that its not about me, its not about others opinions, its not even about church - its about us bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into our lives and the lives of the people around us. Let's make 2012 a Kingdom building year! Have a blessed 2012!

God's word is His bond!

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.  And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll
Today I've finished the last chapter of the Bible. The above verses are verses 18 & 19 and I believe that they are relevant to us today. All of the Bible is relevant, however I believe that we need to take notice of these two verses at the end of the book.
These verses are saying that we have to make sure that we don't add anything to this prophecy or take anything away. John is being warned to write down what he's been shown without exaggerating or removing anything.
I think we need to do this to the whole Bible. This is the word of God. So often we hear people saying that they don't believe in Creation, or even in the birth and resurrection of Christ. This book is the truth. We need to make sure that we don't try and change God's word to suit ourselves. As we approach the New Year let's make sure that we resolve to take God's word as it is; let's make sure that we read it, pray about it, learn from it, live it and believe it. AMEN

The choice is yours...

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children
What a great piece of scripture from Revelation 21. In the previous chapter we see the end of Satan, and in this chapter God brings His own to Himself. What a great inheritance we have. We are children of Almighty God and with that in mind we have so much to praise God for.I think sometimes we forget that God is our Father, we are His children, we are His family. Without God in our lives then we are nothing, without our Heavenly Father we are empty vessels wandering through life pointlessly doing what we do for no benefit but our own.
I know that God puts each of us in our various positions so that we can make a difference for His Kingdom. If we don't look to our Heavenly Father and do what He has called us to do then what is our life about? We have a choice, do we choose to follow the way our Father would want or do we choose to listen to Satan's voice and give up our inheritance for the here and now?
We have a God that loves us so much that He wants to be in our lives, He allows us to choose whether we give Him access, but if we don't then we are choosing to give up everything. Make a choice today - make it Jesus, there is no better choice that any of us can make. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last!

Celebrate!

Revelation 19 tells of the wedding feast of the lamb. This chapter also tells of how Satan and his army will be defeated.
It's Christmas day and I was thinking what has this reading got to do with today? What does this reveal to me today? I believe that Satan's defeat began that first Christmas. Even though from the beginning of time, God had a plan to stop Satan in his tracks, it all came into being in that manger in Bethlehem. Jesus was the answer, Jesus still is the answer, and He came to this earth as a baby to stop Satan and to show us how God wants us to live.
Christmas is about celebrating the fact that God invaded earth and chose to help us out from the mess we'd made. The beginning of the New Testament is about the birth of Jesus, and the end of the New Testament is about Jesus conquering Satan and bringing all suffering to an end. We have something amazing to celebrate today. I've read the book! It's a great ending! Let's celebrate our Saviours birth and rejoice in the fact that He rules all! Death has been defeated! Satan you are next! 

Happy Christmas! Jesus is Lord!

Happy Christmas

In Revelation 18, John describes what will happen to Babylon. He describes all the riches that will be lost because of the sin committed there.
This got me thinking about this time of year. It's Christmas day tomorrow and the vast majority of people will not even give a thought about the true meaning of the day. Most will be so busy with the stuff that Jesus won't even get a look in.
In Babylon they had unimaginable wealth. Every country wanted to do business with them. In society today we put so much value on the things we have, the place we live, the wealth we have that we forget about the important stuff. More importantly we forget about Jesus!

Christmas is or should be about giving God the glory for what He has done for us. If we look at the Christmas message we see our creator choosing to come to earth as a man so that He could pay our debt! What's not to celebrate about that? We should celebrate, we should want to praise God all day! So why do we choose to eat so much that we feel ill, drink so much that we feel ill and buy so much that we are in debt? That's not what Christmas is about!
I appreciate that this chapter of Revelation is not about Christmas, but it is about greed. It is about the punishment of a country that wanted more! Let's not be like that, this or any other Christmas. I'm not saying that we shouldn't give presents, but what I am saying is that we must make sure that in amongst all the partying and the greed fest that Christmas has become that we miss the one thing that is important - God came to earth as a man to save sinners! Happy Christmas everyone! God bless you and yours!

 

He won't let you down!

You have always been, and you always will be the holy God. Rev 16:5
Today I've read two chapters again of Revelation, chapters 16 & 17. They reveal the wrath of God and of how God's army will defeat Satan and his army.The above verse shows us that God has been there forever. There is not a time that God hasn't been. I think this verse set in amongst all of the rest of the chapter gives us a real hope in a situation that is going to be really difficult.
When we are going through tough times it is important to remember that we are never alone. God is always there. He knows what we are going through, He sees what is happening in our lives. We need to trust Him and know that no matter what, He is and always will be God!
Look to Jesus today. There is nothing that He can't handle, there is no burden to heavy. Let's face it in these two chapters of Revelation serious things are happening in the world and that doesn't faze Him. There is nothing in heaven or earth that can stop Jesus from loving us, so all we have to do is trust Him. He won't let us down - He won't let you down!

Don't wait!

Today once again I've put 2 chapters together. Revelation 13 &14. These two chapters have their similarities and I've never noticed this before. In chapter 13 John shows what will happen when Satan is allowed to rule the earth. The beast will be worshipped and all those who don't worship him will be killed. In chapter 14 John shows what will happen if people do worship the beast and receive his mark. They will be condemned to an eternity without God.
These two chapters are not easy reading, and to be honest most of Revelation is the same. However, just because something is hard to read doesn't mean that we shouldn't take it seriously. God is showing us through Johns words that we have a choice. We serve a God that doesn't force himself on us. He doesn't make us do things that we don't want to. He doesn't even say 'You WILL believe in me'
In chapter 13 the beast is saying 'You will serve me, you will worship me or else!' God doesn't do that, he allows us to make our own way in life, whether right or wrong. We are not robots, we have been given free will, however having free will means that we can and so often make mistakes. We need to realise that those mistakes are what will condemn us.
My God is a God of mercy, however He will one day be a God that judges a lost world. If you don't know Him today, do yourself the biggest favour you can ever do! Ask Him to be your Saviour, ask Him for His forgiveness and give your life to Him now!