If you don’t like what you are reaping, change what you are sowing! It is not enough just to be courteous to others, we actively have to show unconditional love
Source: Harper Collins Publications
1 Thessalonians 3:1-3 ‘So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God's service is spreading the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials’
Recent Time - This last year, has been challenging for us all with the pandemic and it will have affected us all in different ways. Some folks, living on their own, unable to socialise, unable to go to church, because of age, infirmity or vulnerability. Many folks we have spoken to, are just longing to have a cuddle, to feel loved by others. As Christians, we know that Jesus embraces us, and keeps us under the shadow of His wing (Psalm 91). However, as humans we were created to have fellowship with one another. Thank God for social media and the internet, but not everybody is fortunate to have these facilities, especially those of the mature generation!
Paul's Journeys - Paul and his companions had arrived in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey in AD 58 and planted the first church in that city. Thessalonica was also a seaport trade centre, on the North-West corner of the Aegean Sea in Greece. Previously, Paul had been with his followers in Philippi, and were treated outrageously; 1 Thessalonians 2:18 ‘For we wanted to come to you, certainly I, Paul did, again and again, but Satan blocked our way'. So, Paul sent Timothy to visit, to strengthen and encourage them in their faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.
Building Each Other Up - As Christians, we all have seasons in our lives of discouragement, opposition and separation. Many folks are starved of encouragement and acceptance. Our stiff British upper lip denies us from admitting our needs. We are afraid of being thought of as weak or being rejected. We all need each other; we are all equal in God’s sight;
James 5:16 ‘Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’.
John 13:16 ‘Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him’.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 ‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just in fact you are doing’.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble, with the comfort with which we are comforted by God’.
Source: The Living....Tumblr
Fruit From our Labours - The dictionary defines encouragement like this; ‘If someone is encouraged, by something that happens, it gives them hope and confidence’. For example, by telling them what they are doing is good, and telling them that they should not give up if things are not going so well! Victory in Jesus will come if we persevere and ‘keep pressing on’.
My wife was given a prophecy many years ago; ‘Don't let a day go by without blessing somebody’. She has endeavoured to do that either by prayer, phone, text or letter etc, regardless of perhaps needing encouragement herself. Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 3:10 ‘Night and day, we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and again, and supply what is lacking in your faith. It brings joy to a Christian, to see fruit from their labours’. Paul had experienced this joy countless times. Only God can change a person’s life. But He will use His people to be an instrument in the process to do it. If you don’t like what you are reaping, change what you are sowing! It is not enough just to be courteous to others, we actively have to show unconditional love.
Having an Increase of God’s Love – In 1 Thessalonians 3:12 Paul continues; ‘May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for, everyone also, just as ours does for you’. Only God can increase our love for one another. How? Jesus tells us in John 13:35 ‘If you have love for one another, they will know that you are My disciples’. People will be attracted to you. Although it has been difficult during lock-down to express our love to others, ask the Lord who needs encouragement today. Send a text, card, or cal them, just to tell them you were thinking of them. If your feel that your capacity to love has waned, ask God to fill you again with His never-ending supply. Paul encourages us; Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me’.
1 Thessalonians 3:13 ‘May He strengthen your hearts, so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of God and Father, when our Lord Jesus comes with His holy ones’.
Amen.
Author: John Yates
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
Before we make predictions as to what the Almighty will do, or worse, tell Him how He should act, let us remember that God always has the bigger picture and the longer view
(Please start by reading Jonah 4)
Source: Grace Fellowship
‘It’s not fair!’ is the common cry. A sense of personal entitlement pervades fallen human society, bringing with it unrequited misery as a response to injustice. What appears to me to be fair and just can simply be selfishness dressed up. One of our more successful contemporaries has said: ‘Life’s not fair, get over it!’.
Jonah had run away rather than betray his people, had been thrown overboard and drowned in the Mediterranean, brought back to life inside a sea creature, and still had to walk 500 miles to pronounce a few words to an undeserving enemy who became the recipient of God’s mercy. Back home his world view was that the God of Israel should only have dealings with that chosen race. Now he is angry with God who is slow to anger, who has relented from deserved disaster for a foreign people who will bring murder and mayhem to his own kin. And now he moans at God with that other common human utterance: ‘I told you so!’
Jonah 4 is full of questions; in fact, this is the only book in the Bible that finishes with a question. Twice God asks Jonah if he is right, or perhaps has the right, to be angry, first over the city being spared, and secondly over the withered plant that had shaded him. The narrative throughout the book makes is clear that nothing happened by chance. God sent the storm that threatened the ship, God appointed the fish, God made the castor oil plant grow, then appointed a worm to attack it, and God appointed a scorching east wind to make poor Jonah yet more uncomfortable.
But perhaps it was God’s questions that made Jonah the most uncomfortable. Is his anger justified? Can a man challenge God’s actions? Jonah would have rather the city be destroyed, and the plant live, but the Lord was showing a better way, reversing human presumption. Jonah thought he knew about God’s nature, but God was bringing him to a more personal relationship, and that was going to be a painful process. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he debates the question of election: Roman 9:14-16 ‘What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy’.
Source:Pinterest
Jonah thought he knew how God was supposed to act, but God had higher plans. Eventually Nineveh was overthrown. having returned to their violence and wicked ways God pronounced their downfall some 150 years later through the prophet Nahum. It is the final question of the chapter and the book, which is most telling. God asks: ‘So shouldn’t I be concerned about the great city of Niniveh, in which there are more than 120,000 people who don’t know their right hand from their left — not to mention all the animals?’ (Jonah 4:11 Jewish Bible).
God was giving an opportunity to those who had lost their moral compass. Today we should take this to heart. Like Jonah we can be zealous for God’s name and reputation but fail to understand His heart of compassion and the length of His patience. Before we make predictions as to what the Almighty will do, or worse, tell Him how He should act, let us remember that God always has the bigger picture and the longer view.
Indeed, life as we know it is not fair, but one day Jesus will return and make everything right. There will be a Day of Judgement, but today He offers compassion and mercy to those who turn in repentance, having Himself paid for our wrongdoings. We should never resent other people’s blessings, even if we think they don’t deserve it - that’s their story. Having received mercy, let us practise mercy; James 2:13 ‘For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement’.
Be blessed.
Author: John Plumb
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
A historical footnote:
It seems that Jonah never made it home. The revered tomb of ‘Nabi Yunus’ is in Nineveh, on the outskirts of Mosul. It must have some significance because in 2014 followers of ISIS blew it up.
God is merciful, not wishing for anybody to be lost, but there comes a point when His patience runs out and His wrath is revealed.
(Please start by reading Jonah 3)
Source: Mission Venture Ministries
Nineveh in the 8th century BC had all the trappings of a great city. Capital of the vast and successful Assyrian empire, cosmopolitan and cultured, boasting a grand library and sophisticated learning and living. Palaces and gardens and ingenious water supplies via aqueducts and canals, all was secure and content. But there was a dark side to all this opulence, as the success of the empire was based on systematic cruelty, brutalising every nation they conquered with ever more ingenious means of torture. It is thought that these were the people who invented the hideous custom of crucifixion so as to extend the suffering of vast numbers of their victims. Terror was state policy, and mass deportation the means of keeping whole people groups in subjection.
The prophet Nahum, some 150 years after Jonah, cried out in Nahum 3:1 ‘Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder – no end to the prey!’. Nahum, the only other prophet from northern Israel, predicts in graphic detail the final retribution and destruction of this tyrannical people at the hands of the Babylonians and Medes; Nahum 3:7 ‘Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her? Where shall I seek comforters for you?’ He even predicted the means of conquest and the colour of the invaders’ uniforms.
So why did God send Jonah to Nineveh and why did God go to such extraordinary lengths to make sure he got there with a simple five-word call to repentance? In the following years did God change His mind? What can we learn about the nature of God’s mercy and God’s judgement? The opening verses of Nahum are clear;Nahum 1-3 ‘This is a prophecy about Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nachum the Elkoshi: Adonai is a jealous and vengeful God. Adonai avenges; he knows how to be angry. Adonai takes vengeance on his foes and stores up wrath for his enemies. Adonai is slow to anger, but great in power; and he does not leave the guilty unpunished’. (Jewish Bible)
Source: Never Thirsty
So, the Lord is slow to anger, but that does not mean He lets people off. An analogy might be the pan of milk on the stove which superheats but does not boil, but suddenly there is a point at which it boils over and cannot be stopped. God is merciful, not wishing for anybody to be lost, but there comes a point when His patience runs out and His wrath is revealed. God’s wrath was simmering against Nineveh, and He sent Jonah. The citizens repented and the overturning was delayed. Years later God’s wrath boiled over, and it was too late. Nahum was sent to tell them that time was up and in Nahum 1:6 ‘His wrath is poured out like fire.’ Within a few years, impossible though it seemed, that was the end of the great city, which still today lies in abandoned ruins on the outskirts of Mosul in Iraq.
We have much to learn from these Old Testament prophets, whose message is reiterated in the New Testament; 2 Peter 3:9-10 ‘The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come…’
So, was Nineveh guilty? Emphatically yes, but before we join the cheerers of her downfall let us remember that every one of us is also guilty. We may not have committed atrocities, but we have all fallen short of God’s standard of holiness, and all deserve His vengeance. There was a time – forty days – for the city to repent and be spared the overturning. To Jonah’s dismay they did, but afterwards they returned to their cruelty and carnage, their idolatry and arrogance, and God sent another prophet to say, ‘enough already’ (as they say in the USA). The Message version renders the last verse of Nahum; ‘You’re past the point of no return. Your wound is fatal.’
The message for us is that both Jonah and Nahum point forward to Jesus. Jonah proclaims the opportunity for everyone, however good or bad, to repent and believe in Jesus who paid the price of our sin and be spared from the coming wrath. Nahum pronounces a time when Christ will come as righteous judge and the opportunity will have passed, and the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly will come. (2 Peter 3:7).
Next week: Jonah - Part 4 - God – Mercy or Judgement?
Author: John Plumb
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
We are not told what Jonah had promised to God, but it must have been something along the lines of agreeing to speak out whatever prophetic message the Lord gave to him. Many of us have made promises to God and this prayer of Jonah is a reminder for us to review those vows.
(Please start by reading Jonah 2)
Source: Bret Hammond
Discussions persist as to whether it is possible for a man to survive inside a whale. Scientific minded people will point out that it is not possible for a human to pass through a whale oesophagus, and if they did, they would quickly die from drowning, crushing or from strong stomach juices. There is, however, an account of a sailor in the late 19th century whose whaling boat was capsized by a sperm whale they had harpooned. All but two of the men were rescued and returned to the main ship, the ‘Star of the East’. James Bartley was subsequently found and rescued from the animal’s stomach as they cut it open, some fifteen hours later. It is said that his skin was bleached, he lost his hair and he was nearly blind, but he lived another 19 years. The story circulated around newspaper articles for 100 years, until in the 1980’s someone decided to check out the truth. Records revealed that the Star of the East was not a whaling vessel and there was no-one on board by the name of James Bartley.
There are many other seafaring yarns and hoaxes which don’t allow the facts to get in the way of a good story, and the name Jonah is still considered to be bad luck to any seafaring crew. But let us look at the Biblical account. It says at the end of chapter 1 that the Lord appointed/prepared/provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. So why should we doubt that God, who created all things (Jonah 1:9), is able to make whatever sea creature He wants to fulfil His purposes at the exact time of His choosing?
At this point we should overlook some of the Sunday school stories and pre-conceived ideas and look at the text. It seems to me from the language that Jonah actually died and was then resuscitated; ‘out of the belly of Sheol’ (Jonah 2:2) – Sheol in every other scripture is the place of the dead; ‘The waters closed in over me to take my life’ (Jonah 2:5) – drowning; ‘at the roots of the mountains’ (Jonah 2:6a) – deep sea; ‘I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever' (Jonah 2:6b)’ – no return, but…‘yet you brought up my life from the pit’(Jonah 2:6c). This is the language of one who has passed away but has been brought back again for a purpose.
Source:Angela Arndt
Some eight centuries later Jesus was being challenged by the Pharisees who demanded a sign. In Matthew 12:38-41 He answered; ‘A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here’.
So, Jonah was a sign. He brought a message of repentance to bad people, but he himself had to die and be restored to life to demonstrate God’s authority over life and death. God confirms His Word with miracles. This sign points forward to Jesus who was to die on behalf of sinners and to be raised, not just for a few more years but for all eternity, into heaven, in the presence of God on our behalf (Hebrews 9:24).
Jonah ran away from the presence of God and died trying to spare his own people of Israel from the ravages of the Assyrians. He was brought back to preach repentance to those undeserving of mercy. Jesus died bearing the burden of all the sins of all mankind. He was resurrected and restored to glory where He intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25). Jonah’s was a brief restoration to temporal existence, possibly bearing the evidence of his ordeal, but Jesus was resurrected to his new body, permanent and indestructible, yet still bearing the marks of His suffering. Nevertheless, Jonah became a sign of greater things to come.
Hidden in that dark, cold and lonely place Jonah repented saying in Jonah 2:9 ‘what I have vowed I will pay’. We are not told what he had promised to God, but it must have been something along the lines of agreeing to speak out whatever prophetic message the Lord gave to him. Many of us have made promises to God and this prayer of Jonah is a reminder for us to review those vows.
The moment Jonah repented and vowed to pay up on his promise the power of heaven came down and the shout ‘salvation belongs to the Lord’ went up, the fish heard the voice of its Creator, spat out the prophet, and Jonah was back on dry land.
Next week: Nineveh – Innocent or Guilty?
Be Blessed.
Author: John Plumb
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
The cost of obedience to God’s call may be even greater than the cost of disobedience. The question we might ask ourselves today is this: ‘Am I prepared to hear God’s Word and to act on it, whatever the consequences and whatever the cost?’
(Please start by reading Jonah 1 - the whole chapter)
Source: Heart of Mesa
When the Word of the Lord came to Jonah and what did he do? He ran. God had told him to go to Nineveh, some 500 miles north-east of his hometown, but instead he headed for Tarshish, a couple of thousand miles to the west. What triggered such terror for this prophet of the Lord and why such flagrant disobedience?
The year is 760BC, and the Hebrew people are a divided nation – Judah to the south and Israel to the north. Both kingdoms have suffered from idolatrous and power-hungry leaders, but northern Israel has been particularly afflicted, and their territory whittled away by surrounding enemy states. God has sent the prophets Elijah, Elisha, and later Amos and Hosea to remind them of the results of repeated apostasy and rebellion against God’s commands. But, to a despairing nation, Jonah brings a message of hope; 2 Kings 14:26-27 ‘For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash’.
Jereboam II, though yet another godless despot, was able to take back lost territory, quadrupling the size of Israel and ushering in a time of unprecedented prosperity through trade. All of which was foretold by Jonah the prophet. 2 Kings 14:25 ‘He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher’. So, we don’t know why God chose Jereboam as deliverer, but we do know that Jonah had impeccable credentials as a prophet of the Lord, yet he still ran.
Source: Redbubble
Now imagine Jonah’s journey from Gath Hepher to Joppa. God could have blocked his way at any time, but our prophet made it to Joppa, had the money for the expensive fare, and found a ship going the way he wanted to go. What was going on in Jonah’s mind? From the text we know that he was no coward; later telling the sailors to throw him into a storm-tossed sea, and later still telling God that he was not afraid to die. We can only imagine the reasons for the turmoil in this man’s mind as he walked the 60 miles to Joppa.
As a prophet, Jonah had been given a glimpse of what was to come. Within a generation the Assyrians (whose vast capital city was Nineveh) would cross the newly established borders of Israel. They would come with vast armies bent on conquest through new levels of barbarism, for whom cruelty was a beaurocratic policy for subjugating every populace in their path and annihilating every culture not their own. Everything that Jonah knew and loved would be swept away. His future family, his people and his tribe Zebulun would be ravaged, brutalised and deported, the borders gone and the brief success of northern Israel as if it never happened. Isaiah 10:5-6 ‘Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets’.
Jonah could do nothing to prevent God’s plans. Worse still, he is being called by God himself to preserve the future tormenters and oppressors who will commit atrocities against all he cares for. He knows God as the God of mercy, he knows the Ninevites as the thugs they were, and he knows what is to come for his people, and he would rather be drowned than have to deliver that message. I imagine on that road to Joppa he’s asking a different question: ‘Why me?’ Here is a man who was prepared to do anything to save his people, even to die so they might be spared, and who points forward eight centuries to one who will.
The cost of obedience to God’s call may be even greater than the cost of disobedience. The question we might ask ourselves today is this: ‘Am I prepared to hear God’s Word and to act on it, whatever the consequences and whatever the cost?’
Next week we ask the question: Jonah – Fact or Fiction?
Be Blessed.
Author: John Plumb
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
What do we need to do differently individually and collectively to seek the face of the Lord for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
Source: Twitter
I am in a dilemma really – sitting here wondering how to start this blog and where it will lead? When I was at work in my last real job (I worked as a contractor for two stages of my ‘working life’ so I am talking about being employed here) I had a team of 46 people working on healthcare projects. We needed to work closely together so I/we used every opportunity to develop teamwork and good communication. One of the things that we did was to develop this teamwork around three principles. The principles themselves are not important here, but on my last day when we were having a ‘leaving party’ one of the lead members of the team said, ‘what are those three principles that we were supposed to be using to guide our teamwork’!?
Well, I was frankly in the words of my generation ‘gob-smacked’! What?! There I was thinking that I was being a pain by ‘keeping on’ - trying to remind people of these principles for the last couple of years or so at every opportunity - and here we were after all this time with one of the team leaders (and a much-respected colleague) who couldn’t remember what they were! It was a lesson at a number of levels but the simplest one was that in the jumble of life and all that we have to respond to, we can’t remind ourselves often enough about what is really important.
In this respect Mary keeps coming back to mind; Luke 10:41-42 where Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’. (In sitting at Jesus’ feet and seeking a deeper relationship with God she was not only 'letting down’ her sister by not helping her, but also breaking a cultural norm about the role that she was expected to take given the circumstances of the day). It causes me to think about how difficult it is for us to abandon our normal patterns of behaviour to seek the Lord’s face.
How important does something need to be to cause us to make real changes to the way that we live? Let’s think about something that we might do that breaks our own cultural norms or current behaviours in response to the Lord telling us to ‘seek His face’; Psalm 27:8 (ESV) ‘when You said, Seek My face’, My heart said to You, Your face, Lord, I will seek’. (Our minds do readily respond to the Lord sometimes, don’t they? It’s easy to mentally get that God wants us to seek His face or to be convinced of a biblical principle. It’s quite another to alter the way that we behave or radically change something in our lives to enable us to respond to what the Lord asks?
Source: Christian Art Gifts
For example, it’s not too hard to understand why the Lord has been teaching us to abide in Him, the true vine. We get that it’s only in the vine that we can we get the sustenance that we need and remaining in the vine is the only way that we can walk with the Lord day by day. But how do we abide? It isn’t understanding the words that brings us into this relationship with the vine, it’s the Holy Spirit that brings us in to the relationship. Let’s apply a test. The scripture is John 15:5,7&8‘I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing… If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so, you will be My disciples’.
I guess if we can tick the boxes:
√ asking what we desire, and it being done for us and
√ bearing much fruit to the glory of God the Father
… then there is no need to be alarmed? But if we are more like; ‘without me you can do nothing’… then are we really abiding?
Often the bible’s answer to things that are not right, is to seek the face of the Lord. In the New King James version, the word ‘Seek’ appears 310 times not including all of the related words like ‘inquire’; these are not all referring to ‘seeking the Lord but a good many of them are. There are a number of Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) words that are translated as ‘seek’.
In Psalm 27:4 David seeks after the Lord with delight: ‘One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire of His temple’.
In Jeremiah 29:13 the prophet is answering a question as to why the Lord has not answered: ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart’.
I suspect that Mary’s heart was seeking in the manner of Psalm 27 – with delight she was seeking the face of God and establishing her relationship with Him.
In the Laodicean church of Revelation 3 the Lord is urging people to seek His face because He was revealing to them the massive gap between where they thought they were and where they in fact were in His sight – miserable and poor and blind and naked.
In the early 1900s, when God was pouring out His Spirit in a new way in churches in different places, three Godly men quite independently declared that in ‘about 100 years’ time’ there would be a similar outpouring. They said that the difference this time would be that it would not be identified with any one person/individuals and that it would be global. In response to this I am reminded of Daniel. Once he saw through prophesy that the years of exile were ending, he sought the face of God to make that word a living reality.
So here are three reasons (not the only ones) for us to seek the Lord for a fresh outpouring of His Holy Spirit:
- As Mary and David, with a deep hunger and delight at knowing the Lord – for the sheer love of Jesus and wanting His name to be honored and lifted high.
- Because we know that something is wrong and are desperate for the Lord to move in power for the sake of the church and those who have no knowledge of salvation at all.
- If we hear (as Thelma reminded us not long ago) the sound of ‘moving in the mulberry trees’ and recall God’s promises to pour out His spirit when His people rise up and seek His face and are convinced that this is the time of our visitation, then we will seek His face for a fresh outpouring.
I think that this message is coming to us again and again through different people not just so that we will understand it but so that we will live in it. What do we need to do differently individually and collectively to seek the face of the Lord for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit? We need to remember that God rejected the Jews of Jeremiah’s time because they did not seek Him earnestly and in truth. Sometimes we need reminding again and again so that we determine what’s important and change accordingly?
Me with a quenchless thirst inspire,
A longing, infinite desire,
And fill my craving heart.
Less than Thyself, oh, do not give,
In might Thyself within me live;
Come, all Thou hast and art.
(Charles Wesley)
Author: Chris Pearson
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
We can say that we trust God in all things, but we don’t really know that we do, until we have been through trials and practically put our trust in God through them
Source: BibleVerse to go
A dictionary definition of peace is ‘Peace is freedom from hostile aggression, a lack of conflict and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or diverse groups’. This represents the world’s view of peace, basically the absence of conflict. True peace, however, is the peace that only God can give. In Philippians 4:7 the Apostle Paul says, ‘And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’. Also, in John 14:27 Jesus says, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid’. So, know that God’s peace is far beyond anything we can understand and that it protects our hearts and minds in Jesus, it is a gift Jesus gave us, it is not the peace that the world can give. Jesus tells us not to be afraid, but that is easier said than done.
Of course, worldly peace is short lived. There are always wars going on somewhere in the world. There are always major conflicts between countries or within governments and all sorts of examples of man’s inhumanity to man. Even in our own lives and among the people we know and love, we see disagreements, unexpected sad and tragic circumstances that appear unjust to us. So how can we have God’s peace with all that going on? Well, Jesus’ promise of peace does not mean we are free from tribulation; John 16:33 ‘And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world, you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!’ (The Passion Translation (TPT)).
There are many more scriptures to back up the fact that God says, if we believe in Jesus and walk in His ways, we will certainly face trials and persecution in this world. Sometimes, even as Christians, we can mix up the world’s peace and God’s peace. When we go through trouble, we can think God is punishing us for our sins or we are not good enough. We can believe God does not love us or has abandoned us and we can even believe that life should always be a happy and joyful existence if we are leading a Christian life. However, all of these are false. It is perfectly clear that as Christians, we will suffer but God’s Word tells us that we can still have peace in all circumstances.
God lets us go through persecution, but why? Firstly, if we are followers of Christ, we will suffer because he suffered; John 15:20 (TPT) ‘So remember what I taught you, that a servant isn’t superior to his master. And since they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And if they obey my teachings, they will also obey yours’. Secondly, God is instructing us. He allows bad things to happen to us, he is not punishing us, but rather teaching us. When we are taught something, it is to further our knowledge and understanding. We can learn a lot from textbooks and teachers, but we also need to get practical experience. As Christians we have the most amazing full and complete textbook, the Bible. We also have wonderful teachers and other books, that help us understand and interpret what God is teaching us. Just as in education there are certain things we have to accomplish practically before we can say we can do it. Each of us have our own walk with God. We can say we have faith, but unless our faith has been tested practically, then it is just words. If we say we are long suffering and have perseverance or patience, it is just words, if we haven’t been tested through it practically. We can say that we trust God in all things, but we don’t really know that we do, until we have been through trials and practically put our trust in God through them.
Source; embroiderypanda
James 1:2-4 tells us; ‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing’. We can’t be expected to feel joy at all times, can we? No, of course not, we are not expected to be robots without feelings and emotions. When my mum went to be with the Lord, two good friends of mine prayed with me that my grief would not overwhelm me. I didn’t understand at the time what they meant, but later, I realised that though I needed to grieve, my grief did not overwhelm me, as it does with some people, because of my relationship with Christ and the gift of His Peace.
Numerous devout people in the bible suffered many trials. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Stephen, who was stoned to death, Paul who came close to death many times and was eventually killed for his faith. There are many more examples, and all of these had the peace of God in them because they trusted God and lived to please Him and not themselves or the world. Jesus himself, in the knowledge that He was going to suffer an inhumanely painful death of crucifixion, went ahead with the Father’s Will for Him. He didn’t, smile with joy, no, He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed a heartfelt prayer to His Father in heaven, sweated blood, asked for the cup to be taken from Him but then obeyed the Father and died for us so that we might have eternal life.
Some of us can tend to get temptations and trials mixed up, however, temptations never come from God but from within ourselves or from satan. Satan only tempts with that which is desirable to us. He put temptation in Jesus’ way, but as we know Jesus resisted him every time. James 1:13-15 tells us ‘Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death’. James 4:7 gives us some advice on how we might deal with these situations; ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’.
So, how can we obtain this peace that surpasses all understand? The bible, as ever, offers this advice:
Pursue our relationship with God - Acts 4:12 ‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’. Peace will allude those who don’t have a relationship with God. Without that knowledge of Jesus there will always be fear of death and judgement within the hearts of people. Yet knowing the Lord enables believers to have peace even within the worst of storms.
Put away anxious thoughts and place our trust in God - Philippians 4:6-7 ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’. Believers can struggle with doubt or unbelief leading to anxious thoughts. However, we are clearly taught not to worry about anything! By praying to God and giving thanks to Him for everything and trusting Him in everything we can receive His peace
Prioritise our spiritual walk - Matthew 6:33-34 ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble’. Peace can be difficult to find when we become distracted with the cares and worries of this world. It is easy to fall away from our spiritual walk after a series of small compromises of faith that slowly drain peace from our lives. Making our spiritual growth a priority is essential to having a life of peace to sustain us in hard times. We have to ask ourselves: How is our prayer life? Are we constantly in the word? Do we fellowship regularly with other believers?
Push past our present situation- 2 Corinthians 5:7 ‘for we walk by faith, not by sight’. It is easy to get stuck in our present situation and let our peace evaporate just like it did for Peter when he stepped out on the water to walk towards Jesus. Peace isn’t the absence of a stormy situation - it is the ability to remain calm and faithful in spite of the uncertainty. Faith is about hoping for what we don’t yet see in this world and as we grow in our faith, the peace of God will infiltrate our heart and minds with his peace.
Peace, be still – In Mark 4:39-41, When the disciples were afraid for their lives because of the fierceness of the storm, and in a frenzy, they woke Jesus. He said three simple words ‘Peace be still’ and the entire weather system complied. Can you imagine the amazement of those tough and experienced fishermen? The Lord desires that we step back from the anxieties and perplexities of this world to see His power displayed in magnificent ways. Jesus knew about the storm brewing while He slept on the boat and He knows about the storms hovering over our lives even today, yet He still says, ‘Peace be still’.
We can take great comfort from what the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:11-13 ‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength’. I pray, that as followers of Jesus, we may demonstrate the peace of God every day so that others may know Him too. Philippians 4:4-7 ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let our gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus’.
I leave you with these final words from Philippians 4:8-9 which I use as a prayer for all those read this and myself too; ‘Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you’.
Be blessed.
Author: Barbara Dragunas
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
The Bible doesn’t promise us an easy life. There will be struggles, but one day we will understand their purpose. In Christ we have a future and a reason to live today.
Source: alittleperspective.com
We all want to be blessed, but what kind of blessing are we expecting, Happiness? Health? Wealth? Prosperity? Power? Jacob was a man who wanted to be blessed by his father Isaac. The name Jacob means ‘heel grabber’, he was therefore by name and nature a trickster. First, he caught his brother Esau in a moment of need and stole his birth right, then, aided by his equally scheming mother, he stole his brother’s blessing. You may want to remind yourself of the story by reading from Genesis 27 to Genesis 28:9. Jacob’s character is revealed in that he had no conscience about deceiving his father, only a fear of being found out and cursed instead (Genesis 27:12), but God had plans, as the rest of the story reveals.
Looking closely at the text, we see that Jacob was blessed by Isaac twice; the first in Genesis 27:27-29, the second in Genesis 28:3-4. There are however some key differences.
Blessing One - The Stolen Blessing
The first blessing promises both wealth and power – the ‘fatness of the earth’ and ‘lord over your brothers’, even ‘blessing for those who bless you’. This is the blessing for the easy life – ‘La Dolce Vita’ in which everything goes right, no struggles, no pain, no trauma nor tragedy. Did it come to pass? Not at all. Jacob struggled with man and with God, being renamed Israel to testify to his struggling. He ran for his life from his brother, was continually deceived by his uncle Laban, ran away again, bowed and grovelled before his brother, was bereaved of wife and favourite son, and lost everything, becoming destitute in the famine, finally living out his day’s dependent on his re-found son Joseph. Living his last days in exile in Egypt he described to Pharaoh his 130 years sojourning as ‘few and evil’. Clearly the blessing he gained by deception did him no good at all.
Blessing Two - The Real Blessing
Source: PInterest
There was however another blessing; the real blessing, given willingly by his father to the son who now obeyed (Genesis 28:3-4). This time there is no mention of personal prosperity but the promise of offspring, becoming a ‘company of peoples’, and possession of the land – all the promises that God had given to his grandfather Abraham. In this blessing Isaac invokes the name of God Almighty, ‘El Shaddai’, the all sufficient One who provides.
So, Jacob, and subsequently the nation of Israel, will struggle, will be rejected and mistreated, but will fulfil the promises of God in covenant continuity for a people and a land. Jonathan Sachs wrote: ‘Time and again God blesses the patriarchs – but always and only in terms of children and a land. He never promises them ‘the richness of the earth’, or that they will ‘rule over their brothers’. Wealth and power have nothing to do with the covenant. They are not part of Israel’s destiny’.
As Christian believers we have been included in these promises. The Bible doesn’t promise us an easy life. There will be struggles, but one day we will understand their purpose. In Christ we have a future and a reason to live today.
Philippians 3:20 ‘Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ’.
Be blessed!
Author: John Plumb
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
Isaiah 40:11 encourages us that He feeds His flock (us) like a shepherd, He will carry his lambs (us) in His arms, and He holds us close to His heart
Source: PInterest
I was recently sitting in my favourite chair, in the beautiful morning sunshine reading my daily reading, from a lovely little book that blesses me so much, when one of the verses the book highlighted both blessed me. It took me back to a little incident that happened at the weekend that the Lord used to reveal His Wonderful Character and care for me. The verse was Isaiah 40:11 ‘He will feed his flock like a shepherd, He will carry the lambs in his arms holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young’. I was immediately overwhelmed with the image of Jesus as the shepherd of our lives and all of the different ways that affects us.
At the weekend we had gone up to a friend’s (John) local farm with our children and we took my daughter in law into the barn where the baby lambs and new moms were being looked after. It was obvious these sheep were being well cared for and each section of the barn was divided into sections to cater for the needs and development of these little families. There was one section where there were only lambs and I wondered why there were no ewes with them and why they ran to us bleating when they saw us. Next there was a little section where there were two ewes and six lambs between them. One little lamb looked so pathetic, his little knees were pointed in together and he appeared to be all hunched in on himself and slightly shivering. We were both concerned for him and frankly I wondered if he was unwell. However later when we spoke to John and described what we had seen, he explained that the lambs on their own were ones who's mothers had not been able to feed them and they were being hand reared so obviously had learned to trust humans and ran to them. Then even from my faltering description, John knew exactly which lamb I was talking about and assured me that he had been checked and watched, and that he was doing ok. John is obviously a good shepherd and knows his sheep well. And although, frankly he doesn’t expect to have them with him for eternity, he still puts in so much care tending, birthing and making sure each lamb thrives if it possibly can. Imagine how much the Lord wants to care for you as He is preparing you for eternity with Him.
So why am I saying all this. Well, it struck me this morning that if John does that for his lambs how much more does our Shepherd Jesus know and care for us. Isaiah 40:11 encourages us that He feeds His flock (us) like a shepherd, He will carry His lambs (us) in His arms, and He holds us close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. This verse has been a comfort to me over so many years.
He feeds His flock
Source: G21
Are you hungry today, are you seeking the Lord, are you desiring to be fed and filled by him? Well, the good news is that as your Shepherd He has promised to feed you. He will turn up to where you are and give to you the food you need. Jesus says in John 6:35 ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again’. His delight is to fill you with Himself, to feed you from the finest of wheat, to make sure you are well fed and thriving by giving you Himself. When we allow him to feed us with His Word and His Spirit, we really do have everything we need. We are equipped for the long journey of life; we really have more than enough to sustain us. Psalm 145:15 ‘The eyes of all look to you in hope, you give them their food as they need it’. It is only when we are hungry that we are in a good place to eat a full meal. Jesus wants us to be full but, if you are hungry that’s great Jesus wants to fill you. If you are not feeling in that hungry place in the Lord at the moment don’t worry, just ask the Lord to stir up your hunger, and you will be amazed at the things He can bring that will make you hungry for him and put you in just the right place to eat a full and sustaining meal from His hand.
He will carry the lambs in His arms and carry them close to His heart
Oh, this image is the most amazingly comforting picture of the Lord’s love and care for us, He carries us! Some days I really need a good carry. Just like when I was a little girl and my legs got tired, I would reach up and say, ‘carry please daddy’. Dad would pick me up and carry me till I felt stronger and could walk a bit further by myself again. The Lord carries us; It's ok to be carried by the Lord at times. Its not an admission of failure, it's just feeling a bit tired and weary. If you need reassurance that its ok to need rest in the Lord, put down everything else, give Him all the cares and worries and let Him carry you, just look at where Isaiah says he carries us; ‘Close to His heart’! Not on His back where He cannot see us and we cannot see Him, not under His arm where we can’t see His face, no, it`s close to His heart where we can experience the comfort of His heartbeat and He can respond to us, up close and personal!
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young
For those who still have little children to look after will know how distracting that can be. We sit in church services or try to read and pray with little hands clutching at us and little voices vying for our attention. It's hard to be as focussed on the Lord as we would want with such relevant distractions, but He promises to still gently lead. He will speak to you amidst the distraction if we learn to hear His voice above the rest. Ask the Spirit to hone your ability to hear His voice above everything else. He is still speaking.
For us older sheep who now have more time and ability to sit and listen in an undisturbed way, well we know we still have the distraction of our lambs (be that our own children or other people who we might be concerned about), only now we worry from a distance. However, the concern and the distraction is just as real and just as invasive. Jesus is still our shepherd and still wants to lead us, He is just as aware that we need to hear His voice of love, care direction as much as we ever have. Ask the Holy Spirit to amplify that voice to us again, fill us again, and direct us again, He is still our guiding and caring Shepherd.
And I suppose finally, if today you find that you have responsibility for shepherding others, whoever that may be; lots of people or just one, the responsibility is just the same. I could ask John, our farmer friend, about the sleep he has missed, or the days off he would love, but his shepherd heart drives him on. God has put us all in a family to care for each other and even in this we need our personal Shepherd to help us as we care for others, so that we will know how to love and care for them as He would, how to hang in through their difficult times and how we are to keep connected to the Lord so we can be a true friend to them. It’s a gift given us by the Lord to care for others and as we are an extension to His hands and feet He again will provide and equip us with all we need to fulfil that amazing privilege to care for others.
May the Lord lead you and guide you today as you rest in the blessing of being one of His treasured flock.
Author: Jan Pearson
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
I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because as someone once said ‘There is no room for God in those who are full of themselves’. There can be no filling if there is no emptying. If I want to have room for the spirit, I need to empty myself of self.
Source: Etsy
America Preacher David Wilson once said; ‘To mature into Christianity is to mature into self-denial to an extent that society will be unable to understand your actions’. Wow, what a challenge!! I have been focusing lately on my own motives for doing things and asking myself if I am doing them for the glory of ‘me, myself and I’ or for the Glory of God? In Corinthians 10:31 Paul says, ‘Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’. Yes, it says 'whatever' you do. How many of us can honestly say that we do everything for the Glory of God?
In today’s society ‘self’ has perhaps become even more important than ever before. This is the age of the selfie, a word that entered the dictionary for the first time in 2013. It has become totally normal to take pictures of ourselves to show others where we are, how great we look or what we are doing at any given moment of the day. There are many characteristics that give an indication of ‘selfishness’ or putting oneself first:
Impatience
Maybe I think I am generally patient, but how often have I found myself being impatient in a traffic queue or a supermarket queue, even when I am not in a hurry? I have found myself wondering why the person in front of me needs to chat with the cashier, or why the waiter is taking such a long time bringing my order. Or maybe I cannot wait for someone to finish their sentence to put my point of view across. Impatience is often a sign of thinking our time is so much more important than someone else’s. We are told in Galatians 5:22 that patience is meant to be a fruit of the Spirit: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness’.
Materialism
One of the greatest threats to our walk with God is materialism. We live in a ‘must have’ and ‘must have now’ society, where we can often have what we want, when we want it. I was shocked with myself the other day when ordering some cushion inserts online. I was actually tempted to go for the ones that I would receive the next day even though I could get the same ones 5 days later for half the price. I did not give in on this occasion, but I was surprised how tempted I was!! I need to make sure I am not being drawn away from God by using my money for my own desires. God does not stop us enjoying His blessings but too much wealth spent on ourselves can take up so much time and energy that we no longer glorify God. Affluence is a mixed blessing. If used correctly it can be used to glorify God but if used incorrectly it can take our focus off the Lord and what He wants us to do.
God warned the Israelites that they would be tempted to forget Him when they experienced financial prosperity. Deuteronomy 8:10-11 tells us: ‘When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day’ and Deuteronomy 8:17-18 continues; ‘You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me’. But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today’.
Source: PInterest
We are told in Luke 6:38 that if we give generously, we will receive an even bigger blessing, Jesus says: ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you’. We are also told in 1 John 3:17 that if we see a need and do not meet it, even though we are able, then we cannot have the love of God in us; ‘If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?’ I read somewhere that most of what God gives us is not for ourselves but for the blessing of others, including our time, our talents, our spiritual gifts, our money are all things that God wants us to use generously to bless others.
Self-importance
It is no wonder that self-importance is a problem in our society today. We are constantly being told by the media or adverts that ‘we matter’ or ‘we are worth it’ or ‘we deserve it’. We are encouraged to do a certain thing or possess a certain thing and then we will be special. The bible however has a different message. It tells us to humble ourselves and to put others first. Luke 14:7-11 ‘When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honour at the table, he told them this parable: ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’. If I am not full of self-importance or selfish ambition I will look to the needs of others and want what is best for them. If I imitate Christ, I will put aside my own desires, as He did and I will do what it says in Matthew 7:12 ‘So, in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets’. Of course, I want to be treated with love, respect, forgiveness, so I need to treat others that way too.
These are only a few of the areas of selfishness that can enter our lives without us even noticing if we are not careful. So, what can I do to keep ‘me, myself and I’ at bay?
Well firstly, I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because as someone once said ‘There is no room for God in those who are full of themselves’. There can be no filling if there is no emptying. If I want to have room for the spirit, I need to empty myself of self. The Apostle Paul was a perfect example of this throughout his life after Jesus had appeared to him. In Galatians 2:20 he says, ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’.
The Bible tells us to not just read His Word but to remain in His Word, Psalm 119:36 ‘Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Let me be focused on your word and your will; not on my will’ and Hebrews 4:12 ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart’.
Being a servant of Christ instead of self means doing everything for the glory of God, dying to self, loving others, coming out of my comfort zone, being willing to help someone when I don’t feel like it, going to places I have never been before, confronting people with the truth…….and so much more!! But for the glory of God, it will all be worth it!!!
Author: Thelma Cameron
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
