God's incomparably Great Power

God is in the miracle business, and sometimes He chooses to Glorify Himself through miracles. He always works in the mundane, but He especially shows His Glory through the impossible.

Source: RedBubble

Ephesians 1:3-6 ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved’ 

Again, in Ephesians 1:11-12 ‘In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory’

and in 2 Chronicles 16:9 ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him’

God is looking for people to demonstrate His Power. To experience God's Power, we must not discount God's ability to accomplish the impossible; Genesis 17:17 ‘Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ When God prophesied about this miracle child, Abraham laughed. Probably he did not laugh because of disbelief, but it was incredible to him because Sarah was barren and past childbearing age. Just like Abraham, we don't consider the miraculous.  We ask, 'How can God fix this situation?', or 'How can God turn this around?', or ‘How can God use somebody like me?'  God is in the miracle business, and sometimes He chooses to Glorify Himself through miracles. He always works in the mundane, but He especially shows His Glory through the impossible.

Source: Bible Verses to go

In Matthew 19:24-26 Christ told his disciples about the impossibility of mankind being saved; ‘Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ Many of us know God as Father. He cares, directs, and disciplines us. It seems not many know God as El Shaddai, God Almighty, the all-powerful and sufficient God, who can do anything and meet any need.

In John 14:12 Jesus said that those who believed in Him would do greater miracles; ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father’.

When Peter preached his first sermon, 3,000 people were saved; Acts 2:41 ‘So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls’. Jesus’ ministry was largely limited to Israel, but the disciples reached and turned the world upside down. Nations and governments are transformed by the gospel, but most Christians still have no experience of this. This is the God we need to know as well. We need Him for our lives, our families, our churches, and our nations, to be transformed. We need El Shaddai. We should try to follow the example of the Apostle Paul who made it his mission to not only know Jesus but to also know His Power; Philippians 3:10 ‘that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death’.

When God appeared to Abraham, He told him to walk before Him and be blameless.  This does not mean sinless, but single hearted, sincere, and wholly devoted to the Lord. What situation is God calling you to bring before Him? Our God is the God of the impossible. Let us bring our problems, fears, and hopes before Him.  Because that is where He works, He works in the impossible.

Author: Eugene Dragunas

May God bless and enrich your life

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Trust God to finish what He started in us

Until you stop floundering around, God can't/won't do anything for you, so the word we can learn today is trust God more and try less.

Source: constant contact

Philippians 1:6 ‘being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’

If we want God's Will to be done in our lives, don't rush things.  Sarah, Abraham's wife did that and as a result Ishmael was born, which brought about all sorts of strife and family complications even in the world today. Remember; ‘flesh gives birth to flesh, the spirit gives birth to spirit’ (John 3:6).  So, let us be sure that our plans are conceived by God's Spirit (the Holy Spirit) and that we don’t continually try to salvage anything that is flesh based.  In Genesis 17:21 God said ‘But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year’. So, Isaac was born as a result of God's Will, done by God's Way and in God's Time.  

Everything that is conceived in us comes from one of two sources, the flesh or the holy spirit. So, we must be vigilant because people will try to involve us in all kinds of schemes to promote ourselves, which is clearly flesh and not spirit. God doesn't need anyone’s help to bless us, He can do it all by himself, which is why whenever the enemy attacks us, we need to be able to point him to our spiritual birthplace and remind him that we didn't begin this project and we don't have to finish it. Philippians 1:6 reminds us of this in the confidence that He who began a good work in us will carry it onto completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  2 Corinthians 3:4-5 reinforces this: ’Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God’.

Source: Redbubble.com

Here is a further thought: If God is dealing with you about carnality, pride or some other obstacle in your life/path, don't resist, don't run and don't get in his way like a drowning man frantically trying to save himself.  Until you stop floundering around, God can't/won't do anything for you, so the word we can learn today is trust God more and try less.

May the Lord bless you and let the Holy Spirit speak to you.  Hebrews 11:6 ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him’. So we trust Him to complete whatever He has started in us. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight'.

Ephesians 3:20-21 ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen’.

Be Blessed.

Author: Herb Jean

May God bless and enrich your life

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Faith alone isn’t enough, we need to repent, believe and be baptised

I wonder if you have ever felt beyond redemption. If you realise you are guilty of murdering the Son of God you might think you have committed the unforgivable sin.  

Source: Knowing Jesus

After the resurrection, Jesus had ordered the apostles to wait for the promise of the Father.  John the Baptist had also had said he baptised with water, but they were going to  be baptised with the Holy Spirit, receiving power to be Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the world. When Jesus ascended into heaven the apostles returned to Jerusalem, devoted themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers, waiting for the promise of being baptised in the Holy Spirit.  They were around 120 people.  When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place.  Jews came to celebrate this Jewish Feast from every nation under heaven and also people who weren’t Jews but who feared God or had converted to Judaism. They were around 3000.  

When the Holy Spirit fell, all these visitors were absolutely astounded as they could hear them talking in their own languages. So Peter stood with the other apostles and addressed the locals and the visitors.  He reminded them of the prophecies in the Old Testament that were written centuries before and that they knew so well.  And showing them how the Scriptures clearly told that Jesus whom they had crucified was the Son of God.  They always believed that when the Christ came, the promise that God had made through the prophet Joel would come true (Acts 2:17-21), that God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh.  Peter was explaining that that was exactly what they were witnessing which baffled them so much.  Seven weeks earlier they had shouted, ‘Crucify Him!’  Watching Him being spat at, laughed at and mocked.  Can we imagine how they felt as they began to realise that their sins had crucified Jesus Christ? 

Those people who jeered, and mocked were no worse than any of us, and the sins that made them do it; cowardice, envy, hatred, fear, are the sins that lodge in our hearts and minds, so we were there when they crucified the Lord.  So we can take to heart Peter’s words and say this Jesus whom we crucified, whom our sins nailed to the tree God has made Him Lord and Christ.  It seems a hopeless situation.  

Source: PInterest

If we realise we are guilty of murdering the Son of God we might think that we have committed the unforgivable sin.  Peter’s response is full of hope, full of mercy; Acts 2:38-39 ‘Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself’.

Repenting is not a feeling, it is an action.  To think about our behaviour and to turn away from it and come to the Lord, to be completely washed, totally cleansed.  This was the Lord Jesus’ command.  So faith alone isn’t enough, we need to repent, believe and be baptised.  So we understand with our mind, believing that Jesus is Lord, respond with our heart, repenting, turning away and being baptised, washed.  As we do this God responds by forgiving our sins and remembering them no more; Isaiah 43:25 ‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more’ and Hebrews 8:12 ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more’. God is able to do something that we aren’t able to do and that is to forget.  But if we understand the measure of our sin and the love and forgiveness that the Lord extends to us as we receive the promised Holy Spirit into our lives we will be able to do the things that by ourselves we can’t achieve.  

There isn’t any need we will ever have that God hasn’t already provided for; Philippians 4:9 ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus’. There is no limit to the promise of the Holy Spirit either in time or space; Acts 2:39 ‘The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call’.  If we feel beyond forgiveness, beyond redemption, then please read Acts 2 and appropriate these amazing words of hope.  Jesus is alive today, ready to pour out upon us the Holy Spirit and to share with us the victory over sin He won at Calvary.  

Author: Betty Plumb

May God bless and enrich your life

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Let go of the Helm

If we want to live the life God wants us to lead and be guided by Him, then we have got to let go of the helm

Source: biblestoryguy.com

Those of you who know me, have probably heard me, or Barbara, my wife, say that, for the first hour or so in the morning, I am on remote control. My mind doesn’t start working, in the sense of making major or even some minor decisions for that time. Barbara knows better than to ask me a question or give me an instruction or request during that time, because I will not be able to answer her properly or forget what she has said, so whatever she has asked is unlikely to get done. The plus side of this is that the Lord uses this time to talk to me. Probably because, I am in no state, to interrupt, or put my own slant on what He has to say.

A few weeks ago, one morning, I woke early and went downstairs to spend time with the Lord, but unusually, I was also seeking the Lord about the plans I had in my head for the day. Things I thought I ought to be doing, and the way I should be doing them in an ordered, timely and appropriate manner. So, seeking the Lord really, in my own planning, asking Him for guidance in the way I should fulfil my plans, which sounded good and right to me as a man. The Lord’s response was, ‘I would rather watch your house, your belongings, your ideas, and your body disintegrate. I want you to spend time with Me. Your future is with Me, not in your house, your schemes, plans and ideas.’ I felt fully reprimanded and confused by what the Lord had just said to me.

When Barbara came downstairs, I shared with her what had happened and what the Lord had said.  She decided to look at our daily readings, as, even though they were written some years ago, they are especially relevant for the time we are in now, the first reflection she shared was from Sarah Young ‘Jesus Calling’. It said as follows:

‘Remember that you live in a fallen world: an abnormal world tainted by sin.  Much frustration and failure result from your seeking perfection in this life.  There is nothing perfect in this world except Me.  That is why closeness to Me satisfies deep yearning and fills you with Joy. I have planted longing for perfection in every human heart.  This is a good desire, which I alone can fulfil.  But most people see this fulfilment in other people and earthly pleasures or achievements.  Thus, they create idols, before which they bow down.  I will have no other gods before Me! Make Me the deepest desire of your heart.  Let Me fulfil your yearning for perfection’.

Source: Bibleversestogo.com

These reflections were taken from: Exodus 20:31 ‘You shall have no other gods before (in hostility towards) me’ and Psalm 37:4 ‘Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.’

Barbara, went on to read from the Bible commentary, the meaning of Heart: (The centre of the human spirit, from which springs emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage, and action – “the wellspring of life”).

We realised later, that this reading was not for today (we had read the wrong reading), but in fact two days hence, (early morning lack of vision, or God’s greater vision?). The actual reading for the day was just as pertinent and relevant; ‘I want to be central in your entire being.  When your focus is firmly on Me, My Peace displaces fears and worries.  They will encircle you, seeking entrance, so you must stay alert.  Let trust and thankfulness stand guard, turning back fear before it can gain a foot hold.  There is no fear in My Love Light, while I bless you with radiant Peace. Turn your whole being to trusting and loving Me.’ (These reflections are taken from 2 Thessalonians 3:1 and I John 4:18).

We spent a long time praying, seeking the Lord, reading, and reflecting on the Word. As we did this, we began to realise, how much the world and its rhythm of life we have been brought up on, and how is has become second nature to us.  Some of these things may seem harmless and natural, but that is not how God see’s it at all.

I believe that God’s Word to me that day was a reminder that even though scripture calls upon us to be good stewards of God’s creation, including our possessions and bodies that there is a risk that they can take pride of place in our thinking, but Jesus must come first in every way every day. 

How often do we ask God to show us how to fulfil our own plans and purposes, or even worse, not include Him at all? If we want to live the life God wants us to lead and be guided by Him, then we have got to let go of the helm. It may just seem like tiny things, but how long before we start instructing God in how we live? We need to have our focus on God first and foremost in all things, big and small. We need to pray for God to help us as we need him in the centre of our lives, and for that to happen, we need to let go.

May God bless you today in your walk with Him.

Author: Eugene Dragunas

May God bless and enrich your life

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