Its so simple sometimes

Blessed be the Lord,who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation!
(Psalm 68:19).

Sometimes we forget how good we have it. But reminding yourself about the goodness of God is a good thing to do . Though it’s an easy thing to do, many of us make it more complicated than it should be. Lets break down this verse and see how the psalmist does it…

What should we do?

“Blessed be the Lord..”Praise God. Worship Him. Honour Him and tell him you love Him, With a loud voice say: “God You are Awesome!”

Why Should I do that today?

“…who daily loads us with benefits…”because everyday He builds you up, everyday He gives you strength, everyday He gives you blessing, everyday He places protection around you, every day He gives you favour -not once a year or once a month – but every 24 hour period. He doesn’t just give you one benefit – He loads you up, as much as you can carry he will give you for that day.

Who is He again?

“..The God of our salvation! ” Not just any  God – But our God – the God of our salvation. The God who sent His son Jesus to die for our sins in order that we can be a part of His family; the God of our salvation , of our healing, the God who blesses us, who prospers us, who fills our life with Joy. The God who sent His only son in order that we would live the fullness of life

GET A REALISTIC PERSPECTIVE

“……..In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John :16:33

One of the most enjoyable TV shows I’ve enjoyed in recent times is a BBC  documentary series called “Young Soldiers”. The series follows four young men as they join the British Army as recruits to becoming tough professionals soldiers serving in Afghanistan. What makes the series so fascinating is that they join with the knowledge that they will be deployed to Afghanistan.  From Day 1 in Basic training they are told that they will be deployed to Afghanistan and will see action. The army makes it very clear to them that death is a very real possibility for them. When basic training is completed they are given one last chance to leave the Army – after that they are committed to serve at least four more years.

While they begin basic training excited at being soldiers, the realities of what it means to fight in a war begins to sink in. Two young men decide to quit and the other two accept the possible outcomes and stick with the Army. It is interesting to see how different people respond when they are told in advance that the road up ahead is a very difficult one that poses many risks.

In the scripture above  Jesus tells us that in this world we will have tribulation. He does not say “might have”, a “strong possibility” or “more than likely” to encounter tribulation – He says that in this world “WE WILL HAVE TRIBULATION”.

As soon as we get our head around that, as soon as we comprehend that “we WILL encounter tribulation” we immediately become better prepared for it.

When tribulation comes we do not jump up and down scream; “Where are you God?”. We do not question our faith and start to doubt all that we have learnt. NO – We understand we are experiencing exactly what Jesus told us we would experience and we put into practice the things we have learnt as christians. We rejoice as we know God is with us even they we cannot feel Him close by.

We are glad, knowing that that the Kingdom of God suffers as violence –  and as we are a part of this Kingdom we suffer sometime too.

We know that once the tribulation is over we will have a testimony, know God in a much deeper way and become a lot more experienced as a “soldier for Christ”.

Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation – Something we must accept – The good news is that He also told us to be of “good cheer” as He has already overcome the world!

God is good!

(Beware of the gospel that says Christianity is a life of roses, and every day is easy.)

Don’t mess with a lifer!

Mat 16:25 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Start watching enough of those prison documentaries on the Nat Geo channel and you start to get a basic understanding of what prison life is like. (Not that I’m saying “doing time” is anything like watching a 45 minute documentary). But watch enough and you’ll get an understanding of the dos and don’ts of prison life.

One of the more interesting lessons that prisoners learn is to never mess with the “lifers”.

The “lifers” are the prisoners who will live out the rest of their lives behind bars. Their crimes were so bad they will never be released from jail. And the reason you never mess with a “lifer” is because they have nothing to lose. While other prisoners do their time with the the hope of one day being released from jail the lifers do their time knowing they will die in jail. This means while other prisoners know that committing more crimes while in jail can lengthen their stay in jail, the lifers know that whatever further crimes they commit has little or no impact on their stay in jail. That’s why you never mess with them – because they will do whatever needs to be done – they have nothing to lose. They’ll do anything to you without thinking twice because they have no regard for the consequences.

Right now you might be asking “What on earth does this have to do with a Bible blog?” (I know it’s a big leap but bear with me)

When Jesus says if we keep our life we will lose it and if we lose our life we gain it, he is talking about a mindset; a mindset similar to the “lifer”.

When you – as a christian – realise that Christianity is about laying your life down and no longer living for yourself – but laying your life down. You do what needs to be done. Your whole way of thinking is different.

You pray because you know you need to pray. You attend Prayer meetings because you know you should attend prayer meetings. You love because you know you must love. You give when you know should give. You tithe because you know you should tithe. You attend church every Sunday because you know you should be in Gods house every week. You DO what needs to be done because ; you’ve laid down your life; you aware that you are no longer your own ; you have been purchased with a price. You have a certain mindset that has no regard for “own” life…..

People who have not adopted this mindset don’t really do much for the Kingdom. They are of no danger to the devil. They’d love to come to Prayer meetings but thats when Masterchef/Desperate Housewives/(Any TV Show) is on. They’d love to tithe – but they are saving for that special holiday/car/renovations. They’d love to give – but things are tight right now. they’d love to come to church every week but life is so hectic catching up with family/friends/sleeping in because they are so busy at work.

The key thing to remember is: Jesus said when you give up your life THEN WILL YOU ACTUALLY GAIN LIFE. But if you chose to hang on to your life YOU WILL THEN ACTUALLY LOSE IT.

Make sure you lay down your life for God. while others whinge and complain of how hectic it is to serve God Be of the mindset that just does what needs to be done because God is glorified.

Psalm 139:”You talkin’ about me God?”

Psalm 139:17-18
How precious are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the the sum(number) of them! 
If I should count them they would be more in number that the sand….

I think about God all the time. I try to imagine what He will be like when I meet Him. Would He have a sense of humor like mine? Would he laugh at my jokes? Does He like sport like I do? – silly thoughts I know …but thoughts still the same. But I do think about God a lot; His holiness, His love for us; His love for mankind in general; I think about how BIG God is, How majestic He is; How He is God of the ages; God from the beginning of time. If I had a dollar for every thought I had about Him my spare car would be a Ferrari.

So then imagine my surprise to learn that God actually thinks about me!

I remember getting all excited when I was told that a senior manager at the multi-national company I worked at told another senior manager about my good work. I remember thinking “Wow- He actually read my name and mentioned it to someone else! He must of thought about me” (Lets be honest everyone like to know that someone important thinks about them). If realizing that a senior Manager thought about me boosted my self esteem to level 10, how much more should my self esteem boost knowing the God of ages thinks about me….all the time.

Psalm 139 tells me that – not only does God think about me – But He has thought about me so much – that if you were to number these thoughts they would be more than the grains of sand on the earth……that is mind boggling. It is no wonder that King David said of God;  “You understand my thoughts are far off (v2)” and  ”You are acquainted with all my ways (v3)”.

If you’ve ever had a crush on somebody, If you have been madly in love with another person, If you’ve ever had an unhealthy obsession with a music/sports star, if you happen to be the parent of the most gifted child on planet earth – The thoughts you have had about that person would be a fraction of the thoughts God has had about you.

God loves you.

When Davis says “Marvelous are your works”(v14) – It is the from realization that He is God’s work and that God sees him as marvelous.. 

You are a marvelous work of God.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

THE QUESTION :
WHO AM I? -The eternal question that’s plagued many is now answered in my blog! (isn’t the internet great!)

THE ANSWER :
WHOEVER YOU THINK YOU ARE! – Wasn’t that an easier answer than you first thought!

Now some of you may think that I stole that piece of wisdom from Tony Robbins – I didn’t!

I stole it from the Bible.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as a man(he) thinks in his heart, so is he….”

Proverbs says whatever I think – I am. If I think I’m a loser – then I’ll most likely be a loser, If I think I’m a winner in life – then I’m most likely to be a  winner in life.  If I think about happy things – I’ll be a happy person, If I think about being generous all the time – I’ll be a generous person…..whatever I think in my heart, so I am.

There’s a reason the Bible says so many positive things about you (E.G. YOU are blessed, YOU are an over comer, YOU are born of God, YOU are Righteous, YOU are a child of God, Whatever YOU ask for in prayer will be given to YOU, When YOU draw near to God He draws near to you, YOU will prosper in everything YOU do etc.) It’s because God is wanting you to THINK  about these things in order for you to BECOME one of these things.

You maybe slightly offended by what I’m saying because it sounds too much like the  modern motivational theme of “Power of Positive thinking” – I just want to say one thing: THE BIBLE TALKS OF THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING!

The Bible may not use the exact term; POSITIVE THINKING – But it does use the Biblical phrases like  MEDITATE ON THE LAW or MEDITATE ON YOUR WORD – which really – is old speak for positive thinking.

In order to become an overcomer – you need to think like an overcomer

Romans 12:2
….be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

And when other thoughts jump into your head saying you are a loser, a sinner, a two-faced hypocrite (sound familiar?) – You need to assert your authority over those thoughts and think about how God sees you.

2 Corinthians 10:5
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Guilt Free living is great!

Romans  8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Condemnation is a horrible thing. To live this life walking around with shame,guilt, poor self esteem or even a sense of you are not good enough is a horrible way way to live your life.

Even God knows this is a horrible way for people to live out their lives – Which is why He sent His son into the world; top pay the penalty for our sin; our shame; our shortcomings.

 

When the Bible says there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus – it means there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. If you are carrying around condemnation you never got it from God! You got it from somewhere else!

You might have sinned the same sin for 1,000,003rd time – You feel so frustrated that you feel the need to walk around with a sense a shame! Don’t do it!  As long as you repent and ask for forgiveness there is no condemnation! Some christians know this scripture but still feel the need to walk around with shame as a form humility – Don’t do this! This is a false humility – and whenever you feel the need to wallow in self condemnation you are saying that the blood of Jesus was not enough to deal with your of sin!

Jesus never came into the world so we could take on a life that makes us feel bad because we constantly fail high moral standards! Far from it – He came into the world that we might be free from that very existence!!  In  John 10:10 He  said that reason He came into the world was that so we may have LIFE and have it more ABUNDANTLY!!

If you are wallowing in shame about something then repent and then get over it! If you still feel bad after that  then repent for feeling bad because Jesus already paid the highest price so that you can live life abundantly!!

 

 

Stop Worrying! You’ll Regret It Later!

Matt 6:25-27

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?

“Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature??

 

At the moment my 3- year old son  is going through a funny phase with his favourite foods, where he hasn’t realised that I can provide him with more of this food if something goes wrong.

I can give my toddler son an ice cream cone or a bit of chocolate as a treat. He goes outside to savour his treat when all of a sudden we will hear a deafening scream followed by tears, screams and sobbing. My son has dropped his ice cream/chocolate and our ever entrepreneural family dog has scored big time.

We rush to our son. We calm him down. We tell him there is more ice cream/chocolate available so that he stops crying – Only he doesn’t stop, he gets worked up even more. We run to the fridge grab another ice cream and put it in his hand – Only then does he begins to calm down. There have been times when we haven’t been as fortunate – There were no more ice creams/chocolate in the fridge to give him. So I have had to try to make him understand I will be going to the shop later on and I can buy and even bigger ice cream so he can can stop crying…….but he doesn’t.

All his mind understands is that he wants an ice cream and he wants it now. He does not have the maturity or patience to understand that if he has lost his ice cream I will replace it as soon as possible because I’m a cool Dad and that’s what cool Dads do  - He does not have the ice cream in his hand so he screams.

As he gets older he will realise that I could walk into any shop and buy every ice cream available for him  if I wanted to. There is no need to cry, scream or worry about where the next ice cream will come from.He  just needs  to chill out and know his Dad is cool.

Sometimes we can get ourselves into all sorts of states by worrying, and being anxious about money, bills, food and clothing etc. Jesus said worrying doesn’t add anything to your stature. If God is your father – Understand that He is a good father who will provide for all your needs. You might be crying out in desperation to God with tears “GOD WHERE ARE YOU!” And all the time God has just gone to the fridge to get you another ice cream!

Maybe all you understand is that you want a new house/car/cash/holiday and you want it  now – God’s bringing all that in good timing so don’t stress about it. The Bible says it is God who gives the power to create wealth – so why do we get stressed about about money.

Worry is a waste of time – Instead we just need to relax and know that our Spiritual Father is the coolest Dad of all.

Get Up! You’re still Righteous!

Proverbs 24:16
“For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again…”

The Bible is filled with many promises and blessings for the righteous – The only problem is we never think of ourselves as the “righteous”.

We think of ourselves as “not that special” – or “forgiven” – or just as “christians” – anything but “righteous”. In doing so we have confused the word “righteous” with the word “holy”.

Being righteous is your position – not your lifestyle. Being righteous means being “In right Standing with”.

2 Cor 5:21
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Being righteous simply means being in right standing with God – and when we follow Jesus we are made righteous because what JESUS DID – Not what we do.

We may fall again and again and again……. All we need to to do is rise again….Because that’s what righteous people do.

Soultion People – Not Problem People

John 9:1-2

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

“Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.

I’m not sure about you – but I find it annoying that whenever some great disaster, tragedy or terrorist attack occurs – that for days afterwards news stations always fill the airwaves with interviews and opions from every expert under the sun who tell us why it happened and how it could have been prevented. It always seems like too little, too late.

The days following the death of Steve Irwin I learnt so much about sting rays….This is largely due to the fact the news stations constantly showed interviews with stingray experts who talked about sting ray behaviour and what Steve could have done to prevent his death. Unfortunately it did nothing to bring Steve back from the dead.

In the scripture above Jesus sees a blind man which causes the disciples to turn into CNN newsreaders – All of a sudden they begin interviewing Jesus on why this man was born blind. But Jesus does not play the role of interviewee – nor does he satisfy the curiousity on what is really a very good question. Instead He is already talking about the positive impact of the solution.

God is not a negative problem God – He is a positive solution God.

We – His people – are not negative problem people – We are positive solution people.

When we encounter people who are tied up or bound up with problems or misfortune we can judge, criticise and analyze why they are in this mess. Or we can bring the solution by the power of God – and God can be glorified!

If we ouselves encounter a massive problem – we can also blame other people (our parents, our teachers etc.) Or we can thank God that we are Solution People and that He has given us the power to deal with this problem! Then we can thank God that we have another testimony to glorify God with!!

God is good!

In all things give thanks!

how to gain even more from your faith

1 Timothy 6:6
Now godliness with contentment is great gain

It’s good to know that God wants us to be blessed. It’s great to hear that the power to gain financial increase comes from God. It’s even more amazing that that Jesus died on the cross in order for me receive ALL the blessings of Abraham (And boy there some amazing blessings there).

But just as amazing is that the apostle Paul tells us that godliness with contentment IS GREAT GAIN.

Contentment is an amazingly underestimated attribute.

The man who is not content and who is always in the pursuit of riches is usually never happy enough yet. He is always waiting for that better car/house/income to arrive before he can fully enjoy life. His life perspective is skewed because he thinks the world revolves around him. He is insecure because he values himself by his material posessions. Never grateful because he is always wanting more.

When we are content with what we have we tend to have a better perspective on life. We are grateful for what we do have, and tend to be more thankful for all the good things in our life. We tend to be more secure in who we are and have a more positive outlook on life.

A man who is content with his with what he has is usually the “glass half full kind of guy” whilst the man without contentment tends to be the “glass half empty kind of guy”.

There is nothing wrong with material wealth in itself – It is just wrong when we set our lives up for the pursuit of it. That is why contentment can bring such great gain becuase wealth across all areas of life then comes without pursuing it.

Jesus told us not to worry about what we will eat or wear (because all these things the godless people chase after) – but to SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and then ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED UNTO US.

1 Timothy 6:9
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.