"The Jesus Series | Responding To Jesus | Part 3
Click link below https://youtu.be/qPPRZHHiEAI
Posts
Five Ts of the Christian Life
The Christian life is multifaceted. At any given moment, I find there are a number of different things going on at the same time. In the passages for today we see five of these aspects, which all begin with the letter T. Psalm 127:1-5 1. Trust The Christian life is not meant to be one of self dependent toil, but of dependent trust. With trust comes peace and sleep. 'Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves' (vv.1-2). As Victor Hugo wrote, 'When you have... accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace; God is awake; It is easy to get caught up with our own plans for our lives, families and ministries. This psalm is a wonderful reminder that ultimately you are totally dependent on the Lord. This is a message of great comfort, but it is also a challenge....
"I CUT MY THROAT AND BELLY OPEN BECAUSE SATAN SAID I WOULD GO TO HEAVEN IF I DID!" on YouTube
Click link below https://youtu.be/gk50V-upC_Q
How Do I Discern God's Will?
"What shall I do, Lord?" I asked (Acts 22:10). God no longer appears to us in the middle of the night to reveal His will like in Samuel's case. Neither does He send the angels from heaven with a message, or send letters falling from heaven to let us know what He expects from us. How can I possibly know what God's will is? First of all your heart must be in a condition where it knows no will of its own in any matter. When we are willing to obey God's will, we have already solved ninetenths of the problem. Once you have reached that stage, you are not very far from finding out what God wants you to do. You don't allow yourself to be led by your feelings or emotions because you know it is easy to be deceived. Search the Scriptures to find God's will because the Spirit and the Word must work closely together in this process. If you listen only to the Spirit and disregard the Word, you are deceiving yourself. When the Holy Spirit leads and guides yo...
New Clothes
I tend to wear very similar clothes every day. I cannot claim to have much 'dress sense'. Yet, believe it or not, before Pippa and I got married it was even worse. When I got married, my flared trousers, misshapen sweaters with holes, string vests, ties (inherited from an uncle) and dilapidated trousers had to go. I hate getting rid of things - especially clothes to which I am attached. They feel like old friends. But alas, the time had come to be re-clothed. As well as the outer clothing, our hearts and minds have an inner clothing. When you come into a relationship with God through Jesus, the old clothes have to go and you need a new set of clothes for your heart and mind. Proverbs 24:15-22 Control your heart and mind about other people Have you been wronged or hurt in some way by someone and then found out that they got into trouble? This passage warns us against thinking that they are getting what they deserve and rejoicing over their problems: ...
We Believe Without Seeing
Therefore we are always confident. We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6-7). When you struggle with problems, difficulties and disappointments, or when you have to make crucial decisions, do you trust God to the extent that you are willing to put your life unconditionally in His hands? Are you absolutely confident that whatever He allows to happen to you will work out for your good? Or are you struggling ahead in your own strength until you feel totally defeated? Jesus Christ came to confirm that God loves you without a shadow of doubt. Nobody can argue about His care, help and compassion for you. You are precious in His sight! If this is true, then it is also true that Christ will not allow anything to happen that could hurt you. On the contrary, He wants only what is best for you. When you have this assurance in your heart, you cannot do anything but trust God unconditionally in everything that you undertake. To ensure that you have peace of mind, you have to ...
The Beauty Of Creation
The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters (Psalm 24:1-2). Spring awakens in all its beauty after the dreariness of winter; hesitantly at first, but then in all its glory of color, luscious greenery and birdsong and involuntarily one becomes astonished by the beauty of God's Creation. What was dead and dull becomes an abundance of color. The birds that migrated during the winter months return and warm the hearts of all who want to listen to their joyful singing. When you look around at that time of year, you cannot help but prayerfully sing the words of that immortal song, "How great Thou art!" In a world where everybody seems intent on self-destruction; a world of violence and anarchy, pollution and extinction, the replacement of natural resources with artificial aids, spring arrives and hope flares up again. There is also a revival of faith. If you h...
The Highway To True Peace
"I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:10). There is but one way out of all negative, disconcerting and terrifying experiences of life - the highway to God! This is the road we have to take when we are burdened with frustration, disappointment and failure, sorrow and pain. Jesus extended a hearty welcome to all of us when He said, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). There is no situation that God cannot handle. There is no problem that He cannot solve. Nothing is so tangled that He cannot unravel it; there is no heart that is so broken that He cannot heal it. Our problem is that we feel we should first try to put things straight ourselves. When we fail, we call on psychologists and counselors to help us. When they can't help us, we become anxious and fearful, hopeless and inconsolable. And all the while God is waiting to help us if we wou...
When Your World Falls Apart
I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning (Job 7:16). When we have set high spiritual objectives for ourselves and have aspired to live according to honorable principles, yet experience nothing but adversity, we are left with intense feelings of sadness. Then we wonder: where is this road leading? If life has knocked you to the ground, there is only one way that your life can go: upwards! It is at moments like these that you have to be very careful that self-pity doesn't control your thoughts and emotions. When dark storm clouds are gathering, or the storm has already broken, search for something constructive and permanent to hold onto. This will bring you to God - the Eternal, Unchanging One. You may doubt if anything constructive will survive the devastating circumstances that you are in. But remember that not even the darkest moment of your life can prevent you from making a fresh start. A lot of drift-wood might need to be cl...
When Everything Seems Lost
Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). There are times in life when dark clouds of sorrow and disappointment descend on us. The death of a loved one or breaking off a long-standing relationship - these experiences are traumatic. It feels as if a part of your life has died. When this happens, some people find it practically impossible to fill the void. The result is that they sink into inconsolable mourning. This can have devastating effects on their lives, and can be detrimental to their emotional, intellectual and spiritual well-being. It would be foolish and insensitive to say that you should not mourn because you have been separated from someone or something precious to you. On the other hand, it is important to know that with Christ's loving support, you will be able to deal with your sorrow and loss. It is unthinkable that God did not experience sorrow when His Son died on the cross, or that Jesus would not have mourned at the grav...
Total Forgiveness
Bishop Sandy Millar speaks of a time when he was walking along the beach and he noticed how the sand had been churned up by the footprints of those who had gone before him. The next morning the footprints were all wiped away by the sea. He sensed Jesus saying to him, 'That is a picture of forgiveness.' Or to use another analogy, forgiveness from Jesus Christ is like deleting the file of all the bad stuff in our lives. Forgiveness is never easy. We all know how hard it is to forgive others. However, we often assume that forgiveness from God is almost automatic. On her deathbed, the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (1729-1796), said, 'I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. The good Lord will forgive me: that's his.' In the passages for today we see the very high cost and huge blessing of God's forgiveness. As P.T. Forsyth (1848-1921) pointed out, first, you have to know the 'despair of guilt'. Then you can ...
Chained To The Past
Be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self (Ephesians 4:23-24). Don't blame yourself for things that happened in the past. The danger is that mistakes, failures and defeats in your past can hamper your spiritual growth and rob you of the joy that God intended for you. Maybe you can recall the times when you allowed a worldly attitude or lack of enthusiasm to rob you of the highest calling of your life. Such memories can cast an unnecessary shadow over the present. If you keep on fretting about what might have been, you not only allow the excitement of the present to pass you by, but you also open the door for depression. Remember, the past is history, the future is a promise - the present is really all you have! A living, practical faith in Jesus Christ requires continual adjustments in your life. Your attitude towards life should alter all the time. Instead of always expecting the worst to happen, you must learn to accept that God only wants wha...
There Is No Easy Way
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty (Proverbs 14:23). The elevator to success is out of order so you have to climb the flight of stairs laboriously, step by step. Today more and more people are looking for a shortcut to success. Unfortunately these are mostly people who wish to get the most out of life without putting anything back into it. They are the "grabbers". An attitude like this always leads to a compromising lifestyle, a strong dislike of hard work, and sometimes even to dishonesty. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. You must be committed and prepared to offer the best possible input. If you wish to attain really worthwhile goals, you must make sacrifices and show pride in what you do. Then you will also experience the joy of a job well done, although it might cost time and money, talent and dedication. If you want your achievements to be of any value, you must be willing to pay the price. It is an irrefutable fact that people...
How To Have God Ideas: Troy Black
How to Start Having God Ideas: Allow God to Shift Your Motivation Allow God to shift your motivation by accepting His ways. So what are God's motivations? When we read the Bible, we see that He created us to know and reflect His glory. We also see that He saved us because He loves us. God is motivated by making His glory known. People can get frustrated over this concept because it almost seems like God has a big ego He's trying to inflate. Yet, when we understand God is the very best that can possibly exist, we'll want to see His glory known and reflected everywhere. God's desire to be known is a desire for people to experience the best. God is motivated by His love for mankind. This is how our thoughts differ from God's: When we deserved punishment, God offered us grace. I've never met anyone on this earth that is like that in their natural state. But as we are made into new creations in Christ, God is able to transform the intentions of our hear...
Without Christ
I looked for him but did not find him. Song of Songs 3:1 Tell me where you lost track of Christ, and I will tell you where you will probably find Him. Did you lose Him in the prayer closet by neglecting regular prayer? Then that is where you should look for Him. Did you lose Christ when you turned to sin? Then find Him by giving up the sin. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? Then find Him in the Scriptures. Look for Christ where you lost Him. He has not gone away. It is dangerous to be without your Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without a shepherd, like a tree without water at its roots. Seek Him with your whole heart, and you will find Him. Give yourself thoroughly to this search, and once again He will be your joy and gladness. Written By Charles H. Spurgeon
Your First Question
'What is your first question going to be?' I was preparing my cross- examination for one of the first criminal trials in which I was involved when I worked as a barrister. A senior and experienced lawyer was helping me prepare. He showed me the significance of a first question. Psalm 2:1-12 1. The first question in the Psalms is about Jesus It is all about Jesus. The safest place to be in life is close to Jesus. Paul, preaching the gospel in Antioch, quotes this psalm. He says, 'We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm: "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." (Acts13:32-33, quoting Psalm 2:7). It is Jesus who is his 'anointed' (Psalm 2:2). The Hebrew word here is 'mashiah' (messiah). He is the Christ, the Son of God, whom we are to love: 'Kiss his Son' (v.12). The psalm's original context prob...