Faith in Jesus Christ means that we are wealthy beyond our wildest dreams because we have everything we want, everything we need and our success is guaranteed! Not because of any of our own actions or deeds but because of the spirit of Christ that dwells in all of those who believe For many the World would have us believe that success is measured by how much we have (our material wealth), but the problem with this is that there is no defined boundary that tells anyone when they have maximised or achieved the wealth they desire. There appears to be a human desire to constantly want more and sadly many people never seem to be satisfied by what they have. The Word of God tells us however in 1 Corinthians 4:8 ‘Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!’ Those who are struggling in the World who do not see an answer and sometimes contemplate taking there own lives and sadly some act on this and end their lives on earth. If only these people would have taken the gift given to them by God and that is the gift of Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus declares in John 6:35 ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty’.Faith in Jesus Christ means that we are wealthy beyond our wildest dreams because we have everything we want, everything we need and our success is guaranteed! Not because of any of our own actions or deeds but because of the spirit of Christ that dwells in all of those who believe; 1 John 4:15 ‘If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. As a Christian I wake up each morning knowing that I have the living spirit of Jesus Christ in me and what a joy that is! No matter what I have planned for the day or whatever the World will throw at me during the day, I have the living God in me so I know with confidence that I do not need to worry, everything will be okay. 1 John 4:4 ‘You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’. Becoming a Christian does not mean that we become immune to the same hardships as non-Christians. We still live in the World, have jobs, bills, families, and suffer, hardship, loss and grief just like everyone else. When Jesus came to earth he suffered the same emotions and pains as we do. In fact whilst in the garden of Gethsemane just before he was arrested Jesus asked his Father to take away the suffering that he was about to endure; Mark 14:36 ‘Abba Father,’ He said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.’ Whilst on earth Jesus was God but he was also human at the same time. In his humanness, just like us’ Jesus did not want to suffer, however Jesus was also prepared to let his Father’s will be done. By having faith in Christ this is what we can do everyday of our lives too. Handing our life over to God everyday allows us to deepen our relationship with Him and allows our Father to work in us so that people will see that we are children of God. Handing our life over to God also gives us peace. I work in a very busy environment, as I am sure many others do. I see many people in my workplace becoming increasingly stressed and frustrated by workload issues, personality conflicts and other things, however I do not seem to be affected in the same way when things get tough. This is because trusting in God provides an inner peace that is hard to describe but is priceless!
So let’s go back to the original question of success or wealth. Personally, I want for nothing, I have everything. Yes, materially I have a lot. I have a great family, a nice home and a good job, and I thank God every day for every thing He has provided in my life, however I do not see these things as a measure of personal wealth or success as ultimately these things were given by God and belong to him anyway. God tells us in his Word; Ecclesiastes 5:10 ‘Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless’. Money and material things will not make a person happy for very long. This is why we see wealthy people including celebrities who appear on the surface to have everything a person could desire, but on the inside this clearly is not enough as some become depressed and extremely unhappy. The only answer to true happiness and peace is to trust in God: Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you, ’declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’. Therefore wealth to me is not a measure of how much money I have or how many material things I have, it is a measure of my relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I am excited about the plans that God have for my life and I pray everyday that His will is done in my life. Money cannot buy the peace and confidence provided by faith in Christ and in fact money is not needed, this is a gift given by God to all who believe; John 3:16 ‘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’ Jesus died for me and he died for you and all you need to do to accept this gift is to allow Jesus into your heart and into your life. Do this and you will have wealth beyond you wildest expectations.
Author Gary O’Neill Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others
Is there someone in your life you love? Why not make sure they know it by showing them that you love them with every fibre of your being.
Those who truly love Me are those who obey My commands. Whoever passionately loves Me will be passionately loved by My Father. And I will passionately love you in return and will manifest My life within you. (John 14:21 The Passion Translation) When I read this scripture it really blessed me as so many of the scriptures do. But this translation doesn't just say those who love Me, it says those who passionately love Me, using the word passionately takes the whole thing to another level. It means being Intense, fervent, zealous, vehement and heartfelt about something, in other words you are consumed by the very thing you passionately love. When was the last time you were passionate about something? When was the last time something gripped you and drove you and excited you? Maybe it was the women's world cup or the Cricket world cup, Wimbledon or some other sporting event. The problem though with being passionate about something like a sporting event is that emotion can be short lived and what you get in return can soon leave you feeling empty and longing for the next thing to come along. But here in this verse from the gospel of John we see and are promised a reciprocal response. That if we passionately (Intensely, fervently, zealously, etc.), love God and show that, then He will love us back with the same passion and in addition He'll manifest His life in us. In fact He's already demonstrated just how passionately He loves us in a way we never could show Him, in that while we were still sinners, doing things that we knew were wrong and not caring too much about it, Christ died for us. (Read Romans 5:8) He left His throne and the glory and majesty of Heaven and came to earth and constrained Himself in a body so He could shed His blood on the cross to give us a way back to Him and have our sins washed away, forgiven and forgotten through repentance. He also calls us to love one another in the same way, and if we did so how much better would the world be. If we put each other before ourselves we, would all be blessed and feel loved. In John 13:34 Jesus says ''A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another''. and in Romans 12:10 it says 'Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves'. Is there someone in your life you love? Why not make sure they know it by showing them that you love them with every fibre of your being. Don't be half soaked about it, surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to fill you with the Love of Christ for that person and then do something about it. I recently asked a group of women what they liked their husbands to do to show them love and affection and here are some of the answers. Doing small mundane tasks without being asked. Make a cup of tea some time during the day. Hold hands. Never stop saying 'I love you'. Tell me he loves me. Words of affirmation (not flattery). Continual openness. Not too macho to share feelings or problems. Has that special smile for you only. Give me a hug or a kiss. One lady explained that hugs and kisses were like the polyfiller of a loving relationship. Without these it's like planting a tree in the ground and depriving it of water. None of the above are difficult but they all say 'I'm passionate about the way I love you'. Give it a go, you might just find that the person you love in this way returns that love. Just as Christ promised in the scripture at the beginning of this article. Whoever passionately loves Me will be passionately loved by My Father. And I will passionately love you in return. May you know God's passionate love in your life. Every blessing to you all.
I think the word forgiveness can be used quite loosely and not always fully appreciated by the person who says; ‘I forgive them’. I think we have perhaps forgotten, or in some cases have never been aware of how to totally forgive. I recently listened to a series of sermons at MCF Life Church about Forgiveness. It wasn’t immediately obvious that these talks were about forgiveness as they were aimed more at preparing us for the strong message that was to come in the final talk. Building up to this final message we were made aware of something that is crippling the church and severely holding us back as Christians. In that final message I seemed to zone everything out (which can be hard to do when trying to keep a 4 year old entertained!) and it was as though God was giving me a very clear reminder of what forgiveness actually is. I think the word forgiveness can be used quite loosely and not always fully appreciated by the person who says; ‘I forgive them’. I think we have perhaps forgotten, or in some cases have never been aware of how to totally forgive. There is a very clear example that God has given to demonstrate to us how to forgive. He tells us to forgive as we have been forgiven. It’s right there in the Lords prayer! This was a eureka moment for myself. It’s like someone had opened my eyes and I suddenly knew where I was going wrong. There have been many occasions where I have had to forgive people for one reason or another. I’m no different to anyone else here although there has been the odd occasion where the hurt that has taken place has gone pretty deep and I’ve dragged that hurt around with me in a little suitcase rather than leaving it at the cross. I already knew that as a Christian it is only right that I have a forgiving heart. Now it may sound a bit silly but even though I knew I had to forgive I didn’t really know how to go about doing this properly or how I should even feel afterwards. About a year ago I underwent a course of Christian counselling as a few things were getting the better of me and that suitcase of personal baggage was getting pretty heavy by now! We talked about various different things and forgiveness was regularly brought up and I was encouraged to forgive various different people as we sorted through the suitcase. This felt good, however, it just stopped there. I was left feeling a bit confused. Had I really forgiven all those people? I said I had...but had I? I still didn’t feel overly great towards them. It was only when I heard this final message that I realised I had a bit of unfinished business. There is a bit more to it than just saying you forgive them. God has called us to forgive as we have been forgiven. It is only when I was reminded that Jesus died on the cross for our sins that I really began to understand. That God forgives our sins and then chooses not to remember them. He doesn’t bring them up again later and throw it in our face or go telling others about it. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten. God then chooses to bless us. When we ask for forgiveness of our sins we are forgiven, they are forgotten, we are blessed and we are then at peace with God. This is where the challenge begins. So when somebody wrongs us we have to forgive. That means to hold no grudge or bitterness towards that person. We are to keep it to ourselves and not to blab their wrong doings to anyone and everyone. Then for the hardest part, we need to ask God to bless them. Only then can we feel a real peace about it. This may need to be done on a daily basis to keep that peace as sometimes it is harder to forgive for the things that hurt deep down.
Author: Samantha Tarplin
May God bless and enrich your life Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others
