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| Source: Vision Church |
Then the Lord brought to mind a situation from work that really illustrated what I think He meant; I worked for ten years in a Primary School as a Mentor, encouraging and supporting children that were finding school a bit difficult because often there was other ‘stuff’ going on in their lives. There was one particular young child who had experienced quite a lot of loss in their lives. Then over a holiday period something very traumatic happened to them and when they returned to school they went completely off the rails and became unstable and very angry with everyone around them. The child’s behaviour meant that they could no long be taught in the class as they didn’t listen, talked over the teacher, would run off round the school and eventually became quite violent towards the other children. We then decided to remove the child from the class and teach them on a one to one basis. The child at first did not cope well with this and became very violent and belligerent towards me and the other staff trying to help them. We got things thrown at us, we were kicked, and school property got damaged so that we had to remove anything from the room that could be picked up and thrown or damaged. In the end there was nothing in the room but soft cushions. The child was only able to be in school for a greatly reduced time, during which learning was impossible as the child would simply not engage with anything. Little by little we encouraged and affirmed the child and after a few weeks some semblance of teaching was re-established, although I was always on a tightrope knowing they could ‘blow’ at any minute. Over the next few weeks the child began to slowly open up about how they felt about themselves and it was clear they felt very confused, rejected and unloved. We slowly developed a rapport and as time went on we were able to do more things together, however it was all a bit academic and the child struggled to stay engaged.
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| Source: YouTube |
The verse in 1 John 3:1-3 reminded me of this incident. Although we have not yet seen God we know that one day we will. If we have committed our lives to the Lord and the love of Jesus rules in our hearts, this will not be a time of condemnation and shame in fact the verse tells us that we will be like Him because we will see Him as He truly is. God trusts us enough to promise not only to provide for us here on Earth but that we will really get to know Him when we eventually go to be with Him. He won`t hold anything back and He won`t say ‘sorry you`re not good enough for me to share myself with’, He won`t reject us but will welcome us into His presence.
Which brings us to the crux of the reading: 1 John 3:3 ‘All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure’. It`s simple really, when we know what God thinks of us, the love He pours on us and the trust He puts in us by promising to share Himself with us, we no longer want to offend Him. In fact, it encourages us to try and live as godly a life as we can, knowing that God Himself has saved and affirmed us, changed us and believes in us. No matter what our past may have been, the minute we trust in His saving grace a change takes place and we become a child of God, an accepted child, a trusted child, a loved child and a responsible child. John 1:12 tells us ‘Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’. It`s this very revelation that make us want to live closer to Him, imitate His ways and desire His will in our lives. It`s not born out of fear but of love. In John 17:17-19 we get a glimpse of the depth of the love of Jesus for us in his prayer to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane; ‘Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified’.
It is this love for us and this trust placed in us that encourages us to stay pure to stay connected to the vine (Jesus) and to keep ourselves as clean as we can. However, even then, we have help because Jesus prayed that God would help us, which He does every day, every time we ask him to. See how much our Father loves us; Romans 8:38-39 ‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord'.
Author: Jan Pearson
May God bless and enrich your life
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The part that jumped out at me was: 'No matter what our past may have been, the minute we trust in His saving grace a change takes place and we become a child of God, an accepted child, a trusted child, a loved child and a responsible child'. This demonstrates God's unconditional love for us and how we are transformed when we know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. May God use us as His Children, to His Glory, to bring His Kingdom here on earth so that others can experience His unconditional love and change their lives forever. Thank you for sharing this wonderful blessing. God bless
ReplyDeleteThank you dear sister for taking the time to Bless the body of Christ with this heart warming Blog. ALL the Glory to God ALWAYS.
ReplyDeleteWhat an honour and privellage that God trusted you as an ambassador for his beloved Son Jesus to Bless this young persons life, to show them the love of God.
The scriptures that came to my mind when reading this blog were Matthew 10:29 and Luke 12:6, if God does not forget the sparrows then he most definitely would not have forgotten this young person, Prasie God.
God Bless
Romani cap. 8
ReplyDeleteB. La vita del cristiano nello Spirito
La vita nello Spirito
1 Non c’è dunque più nessuna condanna per quelli che sono in Cristo Gesù. 2 Poiché la legge dello Spirito che dá vita in Cristo Gesù ti ha liberato dalla legge del peccato e della morte. 3 Infatti ciò che era impossibile alla legge, perché la carne la rendeva impotente, Dio lo ha reso possibile: mandando il proprio Figlio in una carne simile a quella del peccato e in vista del peccato, egli ha condannato il peccato nella carne, 4 perché la giustizia della legge si adempisse in noi, che non camminiamo secondo la carne ma secondo lo Spirito.
5 Quelli infatti che vivono secondo la carne, pensano alle cose della carne; quelli invece che vivono secondo lo Spirito, alle cose dello Spirito. 6 Ma i desideri della carne portano alla morte, mentre i desideri dello Spirito portano alla vita e alla pace. 7 Infatti i desideri della carne sono in rivolta contro Dio, perché non si sottomettono alla sua legge e neanche lo potrebbero. 8 Quelli che vivono secondo la carne non possono piacere a Dio.
9 Voi però non siete sotto il dominio della carne, ma dello Spirito, dal momento che lo Spirito di Dio abita in voi. Se qualcuno non ha lo Spirito di Cristo, non gli appartiene. 10 E se Cristo è in voi, il vostro corpo è morto a causa del peccato, ma lo spirito è vita a causa della giustificazione. 11 E se lo Spirito di colui che ha risuscitato Gesù dai morti abita in voi, colui che ha risuscitato Cristo dai morti darà la vita anche ai vostri corpi mortali per mezzo del suo Spirito che abita in voi.
12 Così dunque fratelli, noi siamo debitori, ma non verso la carne per vivere secondo la carne; 13 poiché se vivete secondo la carne, voi morirete; se invece con l’aiuto dello Spirito voi fate morire le opere del corpo, vivrete.
Here is the English translation:
DeleteRomans chapter. 8
B. The Christian's life in the Spirit
Life in the Spirit
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit which gives life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the law could not, because the flesh was weak, God made it possible: sending His own Son in the flesh similar to that of sin and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 because the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 For the carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the law, and neither can it be. 8 Those who are in the flesh can not please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. If someone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong. 10 And if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Thanks so much the for the words that reminds us who God is and he has done for us how he changed circumstances beyond our understanding thank you lord Jesus Christ for paying a price for us so we can be call children of the most high God bless and peace to all
ReplyDeletethank you for this article today , that prompts us to remember our personal walk with our God of where we started from and to where God has taken us to? things we thought were right God has shown us was rung, things we thought were rung , God has shown us were right. just as Christ accepts us with all our faults and shortcomings , Let us accept each other? and persevere towards the goal which is Christ Jesus with the hope of eternity in our hearts .AMEN
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing story of God's love and grace to a young child through His child. How blessed we are that God trusts us enough to be in difficult situations where He can bless those in most need through us. We are children of God not because we deserve to be but because He chose us to be through His incredible Love and amazing Grace. What a privilege it is to serve Him. Thank you for this uplifting and encouraging blog. Every blessing.
ReplyDelete