tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70564334116005945312024-02-20T11:14:27.294-08:00HeartSong Christian blogA place for me to put my Christian poems, devotionals, messages and other stuff. I'm just a Christian wanting to share what I'm learning with others on the journey.rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-36632565812908972052012-10-27T17:45:00.001-07:002012-10-27T17:45:10.998-07:00STUDYING THE BIBLE–SOME TIPS:<p><br>today we are going to look at studying the bible , why we need to do it and how to go about it. I just want to share with you a few things I've learned about this:<br>why do we need to study the bible?</p> <p> I'm in love with a wonderful man I met online. He doesn't live here so primarily we communicate through email type messages sent through a website we belong to. When I get a message from him I read it through carefully, savouring each morsel of it. It might be only a few lines long but it's very precious to me. How much more precious to us should be the message god has written to us, aka the bible! This is the main way in which god speaks to us so it's very important!</p> <p>As we study the scriptures we learn these things: <br>-- we learn about who god is.<br>--we learn what he did for us on the cross.<br>--We learn who we are.<br>--we learn how to live this Christian life in a way that pleases god.<br>--We learn what promises god has made to us.<br>--We learn how god worked through the lives of men and women of faith in the past</p> <p>and so much more!</p> <p>2 timothy 3:16 says this: <br> Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), [AMP]</p> <p>Is it necessary for me to study the Word of God regularly?</p> <p>Indeed it is! When we stop studying God's word on a regular basis, our spiritual growth tapers off, our love for god becomes less fervent, we stop making an effort to do right, we may even find ourselves straying from the faith, falling into sin and becoming hard hearted. We could get to the point where we might choose to turn away from god completely! I think we can see now how important it is to stay in the word of god! some time in the Scriptures each day is strongly recommended, if not imperative.</p> <p>Besides all this, we are commanded to study the bible:</p> <p>Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.</p> <p><br>So, we need to study God's Word. the bible is like a gold mind, the more we dig the more nuggets we are likely to find. The more we dig into a passage or a topic the more we are going to know about that passage or topic, the more truths we are able to learn from it and apply to our lives. The bible is also like an onion, once you get through one layer there are more and more layers to go. I can study a passage one year and then come back and study it the next year and get fresh insights, seeing things I didn't even notice in my previous study of that passage. </p> <p>Is there anything I need to do before I open my bible?</p> <p>Yes, certainly. Here is what I have learned is important to do before opening the Word of God:</p> <p>1. We need to be saved, we need to have given our lives to Jesus and accepted him as our Lord. When we are saved, the holy spirit comes to live in us. He is the one who encouraged and guided each writer of the scriptures and every word they wrote was inspired or god-breathed by the Spirit of god. he is the ultimate bible teacher! Without him it isn't possible to understand what the bible is really saying.</p> <p>[ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.<br>[1 Corinthians 1:18 </p> <p>2. Prayer. Before we pick up our bibles we need to take some time and ask god to reveal himself to us and to show us what he wants us to learn from the study of his word. This is important because on our own we may learn a few things but with the Holy spirit teaching us we will learn a lot more, and He can take the word of God and use it to convict us, to correct us, to comfort or encourage us.<br>3. We need to resolve in our hearts that we will do what God's word tells us. This is the hard part for me. I have studied the scripture for years but I battle with applying it to my life. This is very important though because the scripture says:<br> But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.[James 1:22-25]<br>As well as these, here are a couple of other suggestions:</p> <p> 4. If possible, find a place and time where you are least likely to be distracted. I do my bible study in my bedroom, usually at early morning and later in the afternoon. </p> <p>5. have a notepad or computer at hand to write down things that the Lord is showing you. this is a great way to internalise the truths and concepts god is revealing.</p> <p><br>So now I'm here with my bible open before me, how do I go about this? </p> <p>There are many ways to study the bible, this is something to ask god about. Here are a few ideas I've picked up from various places, which I have used in my own studies:</p> <p>1. One way to do this is to read the bible until something really speaks to you, then stop to think about that. You might only read a verse or two before one really stands out, or you could read a chapter or more. As an example, I could be reading in Isaiah 45 until I get to this verse:<br> I am the Lord, and there is no other,<br>besides me there is no God;<br>I equip you, though you do not know me,<br>[v5]<br>Something about that verse stands out for me so I stop reading and think about it . There is only one god, he is above everything and everyone else. That might make me question, am I serving god alone? sometimes we can give too much importance in our lives to other things, like having a lot of money or always having our own way, or we can put someone on a pedestal in our minds and worship them. We may not set out to do this but it might be something that if we really search our hearts we may discover we are doing . If God is the one and only that means I have to worship him alone. I need to pray that god will show me if I am worshipping anyone or anything else and ask his forgiveness about that, then resolve to worship god alone from now on.</p> <p> 2. Another method is to pick a book of the bible and start working through it, with a good commentary to help you understand things that don't make sense. If I'm doing a book study I will usually do just a few verses at a time. The number of verses I do each time may vary. for example when I studied the book of acts I would study 5 or 7 verses at a time, until I came to one of the times when someone was preaching, then I went very carefully through it, a verse or two at a time. It can be slower but it really helps me to understand what is being said. I will read them, write down the things that I learn from them. then I will find a commentary and read it for any further insight. then i will write down the things I learn about god in that passage, the things I learn about me and I will write down an action step, something I should do in response to what I have studied. A really good thing to do in studying a book is to sit down and read the book in one session. Of course, if you are doing psalms or something like that, it's going to be impossible to do, but if it can be done it's good because it helps us to see the bigger picture, to be aware of what the book is all about, to see some things that stand out, to pick up on things that we might not notice when doing a more in depth study. </p> <p>3. Another method is to look at bible reading as a conversation with God, reading a few verses then talking to god about them. this can be a meaningful way to read the bible as well. As an example I might be reading my favourite verse which is Psalm 121:2 <br>my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth<br>so then I stop there and thank God for the many ways he helps me, remembering specific things he has done,like last week when I was opening a bottle of flavoured mineral water and it went absolutely everywhere, including all over my heater which, thankfully, wasn't on then. Or the time a few years ago when I put my hand on the cord of the waterbed I had at that time and realised the cord was abnormally hot, dangerously so. I turned it off then. It was malfunctioning and a fire could have started. Or the time last year when a Muslim friend of mine and one of his friends I was chatting with asked me to explain what Christians believe and God gave me the right words to say. I might also ask god to help me in a situation that is coming up, for example, I'm doing a Christian radio show this morning and I need God's help to know what to say, what songs to play, what bible reading to do, etc. </p> <p>4. Another way to do a more in depth study is to ask the text certain questions:<br>who? When? where? What? and so what? <br>A. Who? Who are the characters in this passage? <br>B. What? there are a lot of what questions, such as "What is God doing in this passage" or "what events are taking place here" or "what really stood out for me?" <br>C. when? When did the events in this passage take place? the when and where questions are not always applicable. <br>D. Where? Where did the events in this passage take place? In Israel or somewhere else?<br>E. Why? there are a variety of why questions, such as "Why on earth did he do that?" or "Why did she react in that way?" or "why did God do this or that?" <br>F. So what? What in this passage can we apply to our lives? Is there a promise of God to claim? a command to follow? a warning to take heed of? etc etc.</p> <p>6. Another way to learn from god's word is to study a topic. I am doing a study at the moment on the different names of god. I am really enjoying this! One thing that I'm doing is that whenever I read the bible or study it, if I come across a name of God I write it down, with the scriptural reference. I can then pray and ask god to reveal himself to me in that way. For example I can read Genesis 14:18-20 which says:<br> And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said,<br>“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,<br>Possessor of heaven and earth;<br> and blessed be God Most High,<br>who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”</p> <p>there the name "God most High" is used three times. So I copy one of those verses into my notes and ask God to help me understand and know that he is the most high god, above everything and everyone else. Then if the Holy Spirit shows me something i write it down. Later I read through my notes and ask God to help me see things that I have missed. There are other ways to do a topical study, Bible gateway and some of the other bible sites have a topical index, where you can study on a particular topic. You can also do a search on bible gateway and other sites for a word such as faith and you will get all the verses where the word is mentioned. It's a great resource!</p> <p>7. I've heard of bible reading and bible study explained in this way: we read to read, we read to feed and we read to lead. what I mean is this. <br>A. Reading to read is when we just pick up our bible and sit down to read a few chapters. This is certainly a good thing to do. If we have some time to spare, reading the bible is a great way to fill that time. <br>B. Reading to feed is when we study the bible, in any of the ways I have mentioned or any other ways you might find to do this. The bible is described as our spiritual food:</p> <p> Everyone who lives on milk is not used to the word of righteousness, because they are babies. But solid food is for the mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between good and evil.<br> [Hebrews 5:13-14 CEB]</p> <p> therefore, when we study the Bible we are giving our spirit a healthy meal. When we fail to spend time in the word of god we are starving our spirit and that is something to be avoided, for reasons we have discussed earlier. </p> <p>C. Reading to lead is something that those who teach God's word in any capacity need to do. Pastors, Bible Teachers, Missionaries, Sunday School Teachers and others. Say a Pastor needs to prepare a Sermon for next Sunday. he will probably ask god what topic He wants him to teach on. Then, when he knows what he is doing, he will need to find bible verses and passages relating to that topic. This is reading to lead. I needed to do this when I was writing this study. For example, when I was talking about doing a topical study on the names of God I wanted to find a good example. I remembered seeing something in Genesis 14 so I went to that chapter and found what I was looking for in verses 18-20. People who read to lead need to make sure that isn't the only reading or studying they do. That is an easy trap to fall into. We need to study god's word for ourselves, for our own spiritual growth, then we can share with others the things god is teaching us.</p> <p>I hope this information has been helpful. God bless each of you!</p> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-66664840719492634082012-10-01T13:05:00.001-07:002012-10-01T13:05:14.840-07:00Making the Change<blockquote> <p>MAKING THE CHANGE!</p> <p>Do you have a habit you long to get rid of? Is there something in your life you want to see changed? We all understand we are far from perfect and that there are a lot of things in us that need fixing. We try so hard not to lie or steal or gossip or whatever it might be and we fail. Then we get discouraged and wonder if we are ever going to change. </p> <p>There are two things we need to realise.<br>1. we can't, on our own efforts, change ourselves or get rid of a bad habit. We need God's help. We need the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, he is able to change us. Someone may, by sheer force of will, be able to stop lying for a while, but when they find themselves in a pinch they will fall back to their old ways. I know this from experience. I'm using lying here as an example but the same works for anything that needs to be changed in us. Only the Holy spirit of God working in our lives is able to make permanent changes. We need to cooperate with Him of course, but we can't make the change on our own. God is willing to help us, we just need to ask him. It won't happen overnight but it will happen.</p> <p>2. it's not enough just to stop doing something that we used to do, we need to replace it with something new. It's not enough for me to not tell lies anymore, I need to speak the truth. it's not enough for me to stop gossiping, I have to learn to speak words that encourage and uplift others. It's not enough to stop thinking negative thoughts, we have to start thinking positively. </p> <p>Jesus told a story that relates to this:</p> <p> When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when the demon doesn't find a place, it says, “I will go back to the home I left.” When it gets there and finds the place empty, clean, and fixed up, it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse than itself. They all come and make their home there, and the person ends up in worse shape than before.<br>[Matthew 12:43-45a CEV]</p> <p>I may deal with the subject of demon possession another day, but I shared this story to make a point. The person was delivered, the problem was gone, but the process of change wasn't fully complete, his house or spirit was empty. If the person had gotten saved then the Holy spirit would be living in him and therefore when the demon came back to check things out, it would know there was no hope of moving back in. </p> <p>Without progressing to phase two, change will never be fully accomplished. god will help us with this too if we ask him. He will show us how to replace the bad things in our lives with good things.</p> <p>We can't just move onto phase two without doing phase one, allowing god to clean up our lives and get rid of the bad things like lying or stealing or whatever it may be. Once God has cleaned up the mess then he will help us replace it with good thoughts and actions. </p> <p>One more thing I would say about change. Don't expect it to happen instantaneously. sometimes god will deliver us straight away from some bad habit or other problem in our lives, other times he expects us to go through the process. Though it's hard, there are several advantages to this, including:</p> <p>A. we learn to depend on god more than before, since it is only by his help that we are able to make any progress.<br>B. we become more grateful and thankful for all that god has done and is doing in our lives. gratitude is important. It is right to thank God for his many blessings and for all his help.<br>C. We learn patience and endurance, and these are things that we need in our Christian walk.<br>D. Having gone through all this to get free of some habit or other we learn to think seriously before we start doing another thing that has the potential of being habit-forming. A person who has been freed from alcohol addiction will probably think twice before they take up smoking. </p> <p>Change is never fun or easy but it is certainly something we all need to do at some point. If we know someone who is trying to make a big change in their life we can help by praying for them and encouraging them. Sometimes we can act as accountability partners, for that person. Knowing that I have someone who I will be talking to about how well I did this week might help me not to give into temptation so easily. Of course, we need to have accountability partners who we can trust, who won't tear us down but encourage us and pray with us.</p> <p> God can free us from the most destructive habits that were holding us back from being the people he meant us to be, and fill our lives with new and beautiful things. Then we are a living testimony to the power of god and we are able to help those who are having the same kind of problems we went through.</p> <p> </p> <p>May God bless you all!</p></blockquote> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-41707716583108641612012-09-18T12:35:00.001-07:002012-09-18T12:35:19.305-07:00WHEN PRIDE GETS IN THE WAY<p>when pride gets in the way:</p> <p>Sis was happy. the pastor was happy. The new music leader was happy. Everyone was happy ... except me. I've been struggling with my bad attitude ever since things changed. Why is it that out of everybody, I've got this horrible attitude that is not only affecting me but will affect the others in the group if I don't get this sorted out? I'm mostly angry at myself because I'm being unreasonable and I know it. Change is a good thing and the new music leader is a guy I know quite well. he is a gifted musician and also knows how to lead. </p> <p>today we had music practice. O boy, what a disaster! The more it continued, the more angry and stirred up I got and I hate myself for it but I couldn't seem to change it. I mean, after all, how dare this young guy come in, take over and tell me how to play and try to modernise everything? Goodness me, I've been playing piano since well before he was born! grrrrrr! the longer the practice went, the worse my attitude got until the most satisfying thing I could do when I came home was slam my bedroom door. Just grrrr!</p> <p>This is what happens when pride gets in the way. I'm proud of my musical ability. I shouldn't be, but I am. Ok, I'm no opera singer or concert pianist but I have perfect pitch and I practice my singing and playing nearly every day. The world would say that it's a good thing to be proud of my ability, such as it is, but God says pride is a bad thing.</p> <p> Pride goes before destruction,<br>and a haughty spirit before a fall.<br>[Proverbs 16:18]</p> <p>The gift isn't mine. <br>It's more of a permanent loan. God gives us these things not to do what we want with them but to glorify him with them and edify or uplift others. God doesn't care how well I sing or play, he cares about my heart attitude. Am I doing this to glorify him or me? If the answer is that I am using it to glorify me than I am misusing it. We will have to give account to the Lord on Judgement day about how we use the gifts and talents he has given us. If I am serving god at church or in any other way in order to gratify my own ego then I am in the wrong and I am displeasing God.</p> <p> That doesn't mean we shouldn't do our best at whatever we are doing for the Lord, but it does mean we should examine ourselves and if we notice wrong attitudes, pride, self-admiration or whatever, we need to bring these to god and ask his forgiveness. Then, when we find ourselves thinking wrongly again, we need to stop and ask the Lord's help to change the way we are thinking. The Bible tells us to take every thought captive to obey Christ:<br> For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,<br>[2 Corinthians 10:4-5]</p> <p><br>Now that I've calmed down I feel totally ashamed of my rotten attitude. after all, the music leader didn't exactly tell me how to play, he made suggestions of what he thought would sound good. He encouraged us and advised us. I was in the wrong all the way because instead of taking his suggestions as they were meant, i took them as criticisms and got angry. </p> <p>We can't let bad attitudes like this fester. The bible tells us:<br>Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. </p> <p>[Ephesians 4:27-28]<br>I can't just ignore this. I need to bring it to God in prayer, tell him exactly how I am feeling and ask him to forgive me and change me. I need his help to deal with my pride, as well as to put things in perspective. It's not all about me, but about serving and pleasing god.</p> <p> I'm going to go and talk to him about it right now. I know that nothing is impossible with God, so I can trust him to instruct and guide me. You can trust him too. the bible says:<br>Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,<br>[Ephesians 3:20].</p> <p> </p> <p>I hope I have given you something to think about.</p> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-77488632280999782002012-09-03T19:48:00.001-07:002012-09-03T19:48:06.630-07:00WHEN GOD BRINGS LOVE INTO YOUR LIFE<p><br>WHEN GOD BRINGS LOVE INTO YOUR LIFE:</p> <p>I could write, if not a book at least a long short story, about my relationship disasters - times when I rushed into love because I was lonely or a man seemed to be what I was looking for. I didn't ask God, I just went for it. The longest relationship I ever had lasted for 2.5 years, although I was in love with one man for almost 4 years without him knowing a thing about it. </p> <p>Just last Year I told god that I was feeling lonely and I prayed that I would find a man who loved god and would love and accept me as I am. God said that it would come in time, but first he needed to heal my heart from some of the things that happened in the past. I went through a few difficult weeks dealing with some things, I cried a lot, prayed a lot, wrote a lot and god began to heal me. </p> <p>Around Christmas time god brought a new friend my way. A kind, caring Christian man who lives in a country called the Solomon Islands, which isn't too far from Australia, I'm not exactly sure where it is though, I'm hopeless at geography. Well I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story but just in case you can't, I'll spell it out. </p> <p>From the first I trusted him. I would write letters that were pages long, sharing my thoughts and talking about my day. when I began to suspect that I was beginning to care for him I said to God, "Lord, I do want to feel love again but I don't' want to get hurt again. Please don't let this go anywhere if it's not from you." </p> <p>I knew that martin was in love with me. he told me he was, but that if I only wanted to be friends he would accept that. </p> <p>Then one night in February I had just gotten into bed when I felt a real urge to pray for him. I tried to ignore it but it was so strong that I got up and started pacing the floor and praying. That was when I faced up to the fact that I was in love with this man. I didn't tell him how I felt though, not for a few more weeks. I prayed and fasted and pleaded with God to show me if this was his will for me or not. I was so determined I wouldn't take another step until I was sure. </p> <p>Then one night I heard god's still small voice. I can't remember the exact words but he said something like this "this is the man i have given to you. This is from me. don't be afraid." </p> <p> the next time I talked to Martin I told him that I loved him. I've been happy ever since. I tell him that he is my gift from God, an unexpected blessing in my life. I thank God almost daily for bringing me this happiness when I had begun to doubt if I would ever experience true love.</p> <p>The bible tells us: <br> I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,<br>that you not stir up or awaken love<br>until it pleases.<br>[Song of Songs 8:4]</p> <p>This is very good advice. Another scripture that I've taken to heart is this:<br>Unless the Lord builds the house,<br>those who build it labour in vain.<br>Unless the Lord watches over the city,<br>the watchman stays awake in vain.<br>[Psalm 127:1]</p> <p>in other words, if God's not in it it isn't going to work. </p> <p>Being single can be hard, I know it can. We need to remember that whatever god allows to happen in our lives is part of his plan for us, and the scripture says: </p> <p>And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.<br>[romans 8:28]</p> <p>I hope I have given you something to think about. God bless you all!</p> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-49871402126414245742012-09-03T08:11:00.001-07:002012-11-03T16:07:37.486-07:00SEVEN THINGS I AM THANKING GOD FOR TODAY<p>Hi readers:</p> <p>It's after midnight and I'm in the mood for writing. O well I guess when the inspiration to write hits, I might as well make use of it. </p> <p>SEVEN THINGS I AM THANKING GOD FOR TODAY:<br>1. Holidays. It's just nice to get away sometimes. My friends and I are staying in a place called Moree for a week, we just got here today. I was feeling exhausted, this weekend has been very busy and sleep has been elusive. I've only been here a few hours and I had a bit of a sleep and I feel good. I praise god for that.<br>2. Best friends. Where would we be without them? My 2 best friends in the world have stuck with me through thick and thin and I am so grateful to God for them.<br>3. Laughter. Little things that make me laugh can brighten up my day. the bible says that a joyful heart is good medicine and that's true.<br>4. animals. we have Maria's guidedog Karly with us. She's a great dog, very affectionate and playful. I don't have a dog of my own at the moment but Maria calls me Karly's auntie. lol. </p> <p>5. Sleep. It can be such a blessing. we take it for granted until we have a few days when we don't sleep well, then we realise how much we need it! I thank god for sleep. <br>6. god's peace. The bible says:<br>And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.<br>[Philippians 4:7]<br>What a blessing this is! to have God's peace in our hearts when we live in such a crazy, troubled world. <br>7. God's mercy, which is new every morning. the bible says:<br>The steadfast love of the<br>Lord never ceases;<br>his mercies never come to an end;<br>they are new every morning;<br>great is your faithfulness.<br>[Lamentations 3:22-23]<br>Each day can be a fresh start with God. No matter how badly I messed up yesterday, today is brand new and God's mercies are new each morning. I find that a very comforting thought.</p> <p>And now my challenge to you: <br>can you find 7 things to thank God for? I'm sure you can if you try. Let's take a moment to thank god today for some of the many many blessings he has given us. </p> <p>Prayer:</p> <p>Lord I am so thankful for the many blessings you have brought to my life but most of all I am thankful for Jesus who died for me on the cross. Please teach us all to be grateful, to be people who count our blessings. </p> <p>Lord I pray you will bless each of the readers of my posts, I pray you will meet their needs and that they will feel your presence today. we give you praise in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.</p> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-41491328125371800422012-08-25T13:35:00.001-07:002012-08-25T13:35:10.884-07:00Where Do Our Frustrations Leave us?<p><br>Here is something that I wrote last week and forgot to share until now.<br> 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.<br>[Philippians 4:6-7]<br>WHERE DO OUR FRUSTRATIONS LEAVE US?</p> <p>well there I was, doing a radio show on <br>www.powerradio104.us <br>thinking things were going ok., then, uh o! My computer started going weird. All i wanted to do was get back to the broadcaster window so I could at least talk and make sure I had a few songs still queued up, but do you think I could get it to work? I did have a few songs lined up because they kept playing all the time I was arguing with my computer, trying to get it to behave.. At last, however, the final song stopped and I had dead air. the only thing i could do was restart the computer. grrrrrrr! I told the wretched thing how much I hated it and wanted to throw it in the nearest lake. Even when I restarted the computer it took a couple of attempts before i could take back the station and finish the show. grrrrrr!</p> <p>which leaves me with a question. Where do my frustrations leave me? I think God brings frustrations into our lives for a reason. I was listening to a message on prayer this morning and one of the things the speaker said was that God puts on our platter everything that will happen to us this day, nothing that does happen to us is outside his control. that seems to me to be a good thing to remember when things go wrong. god knows what he's doing. <br>WHY DOES GOD ALLOW FRUSTRATIONS?</p> <p>So, if god has control of everything and he has a perfect plan for my day, why did he allow my computer to go haywire this morning? Maybe, as simple as it seems, because he wanted me to think about frustration and write this post? We don't know all the reasons why god allows things to happen to us, though if we look back we can sometimes see how god was working through some circumstances or issues in our lives. We just have to accept, as hard as it is, that we don't know all the answers, but God does and he has a purpose for everything we go through or experience. Sometimes the reason is for our benefit, sometimes for the benefit of others. I remember one time I asked my best friend why god allowed me to go through a difficult time I had come out of. Her answer, which I believe came from God, stays with me to this day. She said that perhaps god allowed me to go through it so that I could help others who have been through similar experiences. </p> <p>so what does all this have to do with frustration?</p> <p>When things go wrong our immediate response is quite often "God, why did you allow that to happen?" or "Why me Lord?" a better response would be "What are you trying to teach me in this?" but I admit that's not the way we usually thinkand of course, that's not the way I reacted today. We have to learn, though it is hard, that God ordains our troubles and trials for his own purposes and he only lets us go through things when he knows there is a need, because this will teach us something important, cause us to depend more fully on himself, or any number of other reasons. </p> <p>TRUSTING NOT REACTING</p> <p>God will teach us, no matter if he needs to pound it into our brains, that his way is best. The more we trust him and believe that he has good plans for us, the more we will learn to put situations into perspective. What good did my anger at the computer do me? None at all. How could I have handled it better? by bringing it to God, telling him all about it, then asking him if there is something he is trying to teach or show me. </p> <p>As the Bible says:<br>Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. </p> <p>[Philippians 4:6-7 MSG]</p> <p>I don't say that this sort of response is easy but we will learn to think this way in time. Jesus didn't let the little things frazzle him because he trusted the Father completely and knew that god has a reason for all he does. </p> <p>FINAL THOUGHT</p> <p>if our troubles trials and challenges, no matter how big or small they may be, are drawing us away from God and causing us to doubt, then we know we need to get into some serious prayer about it. If, on the other hand, they are drawing us nearer to god, then that just might be the reason why he is allowing them to happen. </p> <p>Prayer:</p> <blockquote> <p>Father, sometimes things happen that leave us angry, frustrated, annoyed, stressed or depressed. help us to take a step back and remind ourselves that you have a purpose for everything that happens to us and that this situation is in your control. Help us to accept it when we don't receive an answer about why this is happening to us. thank you that in your love you allow us to face hard things so that we can grow and become more dependent on you. teach me, teach us all, to trust you more and learn from the trials we face. amen. </p></blockquote> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-39149931586658391542012-08-09T11:42:00.001-07:002012-08-09T11:42:41.397-07:00Poem: One Prayer<blockquote> <p> </p> <p>This is something I just wrote, something I just experienced. I want to share it with you in the hope it might help someone, and also to testify of god’s goodness and faithfulness. If it wasn’t 4:41 am at the moment I think I would be singing right now, I feel so grateful and joyous. </p> <p> </p> <p>I hope you like the poem. god bless you.</p> <p> </p> <p>ONE PRAYER:</p> <p> </p> <p>The darkness was thick around me,<br>No ray of light to be found.<br>Deeper I sank into misery,<br>Despair and shame did abound.</p> <p>Feeling battered and bloody from battles i faced,<br>Feeling helpless and hopeless and weak,<br>I cried out to god with all of my heart , <br>"One thing alone do I seek.</p> <p>"I'm tired of fighting myself and you,<br>I long for the trouble to cease. <br>But one thing dear Lord that I desperately need,<br>Let me again feel your peace." </p> <p>a soft gentle glow seemed to brighten the darkness; <br>A loving hand lifted me up <br>Washed me anew from the sin and the shame <br>and wrapped me in a blanket of love.</p> <p>Peace gently fell on my aching heart <br>As sweet as the morning dew;<br>I felt free for the first time in a very long time,<br>And all I could say was "thank you!" </p> <p>One single cry from the depths of my darkness <br>Then came my saviour and friend <br>An ever-present help in difficult times,<br>To heal and restore me again.</p> <p>What gratitude now fills my heart!<br>O Jesus my words can't express,<br>When I needed you, you came quickly to me. <br>When I called, your answer was yes!</p> <p>why is it we don't think to pray?<br>We just flounder around on our own;<br>But god is so willing to help us <br>So we don't need to struggle alone.</p> <p>If we ask in the name of Jesus <br>And believe that our prayer will be heard, <br>God is faithful, loving and kind,<br>he will do all he said in his word.</p> <p>so don't give up believing <br>that god will answer your prayer,<br>He may not always act in a moment,<br>But at the right time his help will be there.</p></blockquote> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-90068752529682007822012-08-05T23:52:00.001-07:002012-08-05T23:52:02.435-07:00God’s wonderful grace<p><br>GOD'S WONDERFUL GRACE</p> <p>Amazing grace, how sweet the sound <br>that saved a wretch like me</p> <p>Amazing what? </p> <p>what is grace anyway?<br>The bible says:</p> <p> We have been ransomed through his Son’s blood, and we have forgiveness for our failures based on his overflowing grace, which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding. <br>[ephesians 1:7-8]</p> <p>How much would it cost to save a single soul from going to hell?</p> <p> All of us have failed to meet God's standard of absolute perfection. No matter how good we might be, we can never measure up to that! We all do things we shouldn't do and don't do things we should. </p> <p> for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,<br>[romans 3:23]</p> <p>Our sins deserve to be punished. </p> <p>We have broken God's law. Do you think there is anything we could give to god or do for him to pay the price for our sins and save us from going to hell?</p> <p>Actually, if every person who ever lived gave all that they had and dedicated themselves to serving god all their lives long, they would come far short of being able to ransom even one soul from hell. Our situation was totally hopeless!</p> <p><br>Jesus is our saviour.<br>Jesus came to this earth. He was fully god and fully man and he gave his life for us when he died on the cross.</p> <p> For the wages of sin is death,<br> but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.<br>[romans 6:24]</p> <p>he took our place and took the punishment we deserve for our sins. He was raised from death on the third day <br>and in him we are made new. We are part of his family now and he has given us a fresh start.</p> <p>And the life I now live in the flesh<br> I live by faith in the Son of God,<br> who loved me and gave himself for me.<br>[galatians 2:20b]</p> <p>This is grace.</p> <p>It is God's undeserved gift of forgiveness for our sins and new life, all because Jesus died for us. <br>No wonder why we sing <br>amazing grace how sweet the sound <br>that saved a wretch like me<br>I once was lost but now I'm found <br>was blind but now I see. </p> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-31560884041388289652012-07-28T15:06:00.001-07:002012-07-28T15:06:41.496-07:00devotional: praying for our unsaved family and friends:<p>DEVOTIONAL</p> <p><br>Marianne sat down in Pastor Johns office and sighed. </p> <p>"What's troubling you?" he asked her.</p> <p>"Well, I'm feeling a bit discouraged" she admitted, "For years now I've been praying for my family to become Christians and nothing has changed. Jack still gets drunk every weekend and Mum is talking about going to visit a Clairvoyant. are my prayers doing any good at all? Are they even getting through? Mum changes the subject whenever i talk about church and Jack just tells me to shut up talking about that god stuff. I wish I knew what to do!" </p> <p>"It's hard not to be discouraged sometimes," he replied sympathetically, "Especially when you want something so much and nothing seems to be happening, I know I've felt that way too, that's when we have to trust that god knows what he's doing and keep on praying even though we don't feel like it. You know the story of Abraham and Isaac, how god gave him a son when he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90? If he had given up praying for a son when he was 98 do you think Abraham would have gotten his miracle?" </p> <p>"Probably not," she admitted thoughtfully.</p> <p>"Anyway Marianne, it doesn't matter how far someone may be from accepting the truth, God can take the hardest of hearts and turn them around, look at what he did with the Apostle Paul. you remember we studied his story in the book of Acts? Before he became a Christian he actually persecuted the church. He believed that Christians were telling lies about god and so he tried to stop them but Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus road and stopped him in his tracks."</p> <p>"So I guess if God could get through to someone like that, he can get through to my family, right?" </p> <p>"Yes. Nothing is too hard for God, so just hold onto that. Keep Praying for wisdom about how and when to witness to them, look for opportunities to do good things for them and most of all,keep praying for them. God will reach them at just the right time." </p> <p>"I will," she said, feeling encouraged and much more hopeful, "Thank you."</p> <p>All of us want to see our family and friends coming to know Christ. the most important thing we can do for them is pray for them and not give up even when we don't see results. We also need to ask God to show us what he wants us to do or say to them. We can show them the love of Christ by our actions, by doing things to help them, just like Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. sometimes God might tell us to say something, share a bible verse or talk about something we learned at church, while at other times the best thing we can do is drop the subject for a while and pray that god will send someone else to speak to them, such as a co-worker or friend whom they respect and would listen to. </p> <p>God wants our loved ones to be saved even more than we do, so we can trust them to him. the bible says: <br>The Lord isn't slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their<br>hearts and lives.<br>[2 Peter 3:9] </p> <p>Prayer:<br>Dear god, we all have friends and family that we love and care about and we long to see them get saved and walk with you. We ask you will give us wisdom and show us what we can do, and help us to keep praying when we feel discouraged and remember that you love them much more than we could ever do. We commit them into your hands Lord, please do your will in their lives. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.</p> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-59564439027447094202012-07-28T15:03:00.001-07:002012-07-28T15:03:57.321-07:00HOPE message about hope:<p> Romans 5:3-5<br>This doesn't mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys-we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the<br>right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady<br>hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. Already we have some experience of the love of God flooding through our hearts by [the Holy Spirit given to us.</p> <p>I want to talk about hope today. Before we go any further, though, I thought it would be good to have a definition:<br>This is a definition I found on wikipedia:<br>"to cherish a desire with anticipation"; "to desire with expectation of obtainment"; or "to expect with confidence".</p> <p>as Christians, our hope is not vague but it is certain. We hope to be with Jesus forever. that will happen. We hope to escape the second death, if we hold onto our faith, that will happen. We hope to see our saved loved ones who have gone on before us. that will happen. </p> <p>Why do we need hope?</p> <p>Imagine you are going on a long journey. sometimes the road is bumpy, you have mountains to climb, rivers to ford, valleys to get through. sometimes the difficulties of the journey make you forget why you started out in the first place. But, if you have in your mind where you are going and why you want to get there, you will keep plodding on because you know the result is going to justify all the struggles and effort you went through on the journey. </p> <p>that's why God gave us hope. He knew life would be difficult, there would be persecutions and trials and the usual suffering that happens because we live in a fallen world of fallen people. He wanted us to keep our mind set on the goal, what we are aiming for, eternal life with God, so that we will keep on battling through until this life is over and we are in the presence of god.<br> This is because we remember your work that comes from faith, your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. <br>[1 Thessalonians 1:3</p> <p> the bible warns us not to lose our hope.<br> if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation[<br>[Colossians 1:23]</p> <p>To see hope in action, we will have a brief look at some incidents from the life of Abraham. He is acknowledged as a man of great faith, which he was, but he was also a man of great hope, as the bible says:<br> In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,</p> <p>[Romans 4:18-20].<br>god also promised to give Abraham's descendants the land of Canaan, where Abraham lived as a semi-nomadic shepherd.</p> <p> After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram [Abraham] in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.<br>And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” <br>[Genesis 15:1-8 ESV]</p> <p>So, one of the things Abraham was hoping and praying for [that is, the birth of a son] happened in his lifetime. In fact, Abraham had several sons, Ishmael by Hagar, Isaac by Sarah and Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah by Keturah. The other promise, that he and his descendants would have the land of Canaan, didn't come true for 400 or more years! Even so, Abraham, Isaac and the rest of the Patriarchs hoped expectantly for this thing to happen and at last it did happen when the Israelites, under Joshua, took the land. </p> <p>My point is this: some of the things we hope for will happen in our lifetime, but most of what we as Christians hope for won't happen till after this life is over,yet we still need to hope. </p> <p>Abraham's faith and hope were tested in about the strongest possible way when God ordered him to offer up Isaac as a whole burnt offering:</p> <p> After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. <br>god called Isaac Abraham's only son because it was Isaac with whom God would make his covenant and his descendants would inherit the land. We don't know why God asked Abraham to do this thing, some suggest that Abraham and Isaac were acting out a prophecy that would be fulfilled when God gave his only begotten son, that is, when Jesus died for us on the cross. Others suggest that Abraham's love for his son was bordering on worship and God needed to correct him. We don't know. Anyway, here is what the writer to the Hebrews says about this event:</p> <p> By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. </p> <p>The point is, Abraham's faith and hope didn't waver even during this most difficult time. Our hope and faith should not waver either, no matter how difficult life gets or how unlikely it seems that we will ever get what we hope for. </p> <p>Another example of hope in action is David. He was a young man and at the time he was first anointed as king by Samuel, he was keeping his father's sheep. it was years before he actually became king of all Israel. At the time he was anointed, Saul was the king. God had rejected him from being king because of Saul's disobedience. Initially, David was welcomed at the king's court because he was a gifted harpist and his music soothed the king, who was tormented with an evil spirit. however, when David killed Goliath, Saul began to be jealous of David. he gave his daughter to David as a wife, but Saul began plotting to have him killed until David had to flee for his life. For years he lived in the desert, hiding from Saul who was pursuing him, wanting him dead. At last David escaped to the enemy of his people, the Philistines. He had plenty of reasons to despair and give up hoping but he never did. </p> <p>when Saul was killed in battle David reigned over Judah for 6.5 years and one of Saul's sons ruled Israel, until Abner, Saul's uncle, switched sides and encouraged the whole nation to make David king. David was finally made king after Saul's son Ishbosheth was murdered. </p> <p> All the Israelite tribes came to David at Hebron and said, “Listen: We are your very own flesh and bone. In the past, when Saul ruled over us, you were<br>the one who led Israel out to war and back. What’s more, the Lord told you, You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be Israel’s leader.<br> So all the Israelite elders came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over<br>Israel.<br>[2 Samuel 5:1-3]</p> <p>This took place years after David's first anointing by Samuel, yet David never gave up believing and expecting god to do what he had promised. he never lost hope. In fact, he encouraged Israel to hope in their god: <br> O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;<br>my eyes are not raised too high;<br>I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me.<br> But I have calmed and quietened my soul,<br>like a weaned child with its mother;<br>like a weaned child is my soul within me.<br> O Israel, hope in the Lord<br>from this time forth and for evermore.<br>[Psalm 131]<br>So, be encouraged and hope in god. Your hope is like a fire, if it isn't tended to it goes out. Spending time with god in prayer and bible study and reminding ourselves what God has done for us keeps that fire burning. We can encourage each other to keep hoping, just like Saul's son Jonathan encouraged David:</p> <p> Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh and encouraged him with God. Jonathan said to him, “Don't be afraid! My father Saul’s hand won't touch you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be your second in command. Even my father Saul knows this.” Then the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David stayed at Horesh, but Jonathan went back home.<br>[1 Samuel 23:16-18<br>Jonathan was half right. Saul didn't touch David, but Jonathan died on Mount Gilboa and was never David's second in command. Still he encouraged David at a time when Jonathan's own father was doing his utmost to kill David. we can encourage each other too. We all have challenges in life but we know it's going to get better. </p> <p>, thinking about the future keeps our hope alive. <br>Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. <br>[Hebrews 12:12-13]</p> <p>Let me leave you with this blessing from romans 15:13.<br> May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.</p> <blockquote> <p>amen.<br>questions to ponder:<br>These questions are just for you to think about and answer in your time alone with god.<br>1. what things are you hoping for?<br> 2. can you think of other reasons why we need to keep our hope strong?<br>3. how do you keep your hope strong when you are going through hard times?<br>4. Do you know anyone you can encourage to keep hoping in God today?</p></blockquote> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-80747747579521564972012-07-20T09:04:00.001-07:002012-07-20T09:04:23.617-07:00a little prayer and praise<p>Hi readers:</p> <p>This morning I was praying. sometimes I write down my prayers because it helps me to focus and I'm better at expressing myself in writing than in speech. Anyway I began praying for my unsaved relatives and friends and it turned into a praise time and I decided I would tidy it up and post it. I think sometimes we can all get so bogged down in the challenges and trials of life, and I'm talking to myself as much as anyone else here, that we don't look up and contemplate all the riches and joys and wonders that we have as Christians. The greatest of all is that we can know god. I hope this encourages someone. If anyone wants to share something encouraging along this line that they have written, email it to me at <br>rishie@dodo.com.au<br>and I will happily post it, giving you credit of course. Let us encourage each other,.<br>Here goes:</p> <p> </p> <p>Father I pray for my family, I pray for all my unsaved loved ones to come to Christ. you gave the prescription we all need to follow in Acts 16:31<br> And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” [ESV]<br>I pray that my family and loved ones will believe in you Lord Jesus, in who you are and in all the wondrous, amazing, life-giving and praise-worthy things you have done for us, things for which the eternity of the eternities will not be sufficient time to thank you fully for! I pray they may know these things, put their faith and trust in you and be saved. i want them to know the security i know, I want them to know the love I know, Father I want them to know your omnipresense that you have shown me so far, that I am never alone, no matter where I am am! There is so much about you I want them to experience Lord, what I've learned in my 32 years being your child has just scratched the surface of all that there is to learn of you. </p> <p>father knowing you is wonderful knowing you is awesome knowing you is incredible! It helps us get through our hardest times, gives us a reason to get up in the morning, knowing you gives purpose and reason and direction to our lives. O the incomparable joy, the riches's and depths, the power and pleasure, the satisfaction invigoration and inspiration, the communion and fellowship involved in knowing you Jesus. O, Jesus thank you for the privilege of knowing you. Thank you that you reveal yourself to us. We will thank you forever for who you are and all you do. . dear Father, make us thankful people, may we never let a day go by without saying "thank you" to you for at least a few of the vast array of blessings you give us. <br>Lord our God, among all the blessings you have given us, having a relationship with you is the greatest. It is all because of the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to know you. Give us a hunger to know you more. Make us people that you can share more of yourself with. Help us remember Lord that as we draw near to you, you draw near to us. Teach us to seek you with our whole hearts, knowing that he who seeks shall find. <br>these things I pray in the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name, the name of my blessed lord and saviour, the name of the lover of my soul, the name of my beloved king, O Jesus I love you Lord! amen.</p> <p> </p> <blockquote> <p>I hope you were blessed by that. I certainly was. god bless you all and may you each have a wonderful day in the Lord!</p></blockquote> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-54169618250389033482012-07-12T13:53:00.001-07:002012-07-12T13:54:44.390-07:00Rishie’s Ramblings: yes, it’s me again<p>Dear readers:</p> <p> </p> <p>Well it’s been more than six months since i posted anything on this blog and I appologise for that. there have been a few reasons but mostly I’ve been lazy and haven’t posted the couple of things I have written. </p> <p> </p> <p>I now have a new computer. While I was away at christmas time, someone got into my computer and messed with it. It has been in and out of the computer shop all year and finally I decided it was better to get a new one since they still had no idea what the problem actually was. So, I now have a netbook and I like it. I’ve spent the last week or so getting it set up with the programmes I want and so on. </p> <p> </p> <p>Well I am going to try and post more regularly, I have a couple of teachings to put up here and some poems too. I am also going to write more regularly just about my life and the things I’m thinking or doing, that will be in this category of rishie’s ramblings. </p> <p> </p> <p>I’m having issues with the blogger interface not being very accessible so I am using windows live writer. Let’s see how this works out. </p> <p> </p> <p>Plese keep my cousin Karra in your prayers she has problems with her heart and may need a transplant. She is not a Christian so maybe the lord will use this experience to draw her to himself. I’m praying for that anyway.</p> <blockquote> <p> </p></blockquote> <blockquote> <p>god bless you all! </p></blockquote> rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-61102565253258275402012-03-06T18:57:00.000-08:002012-03-06T18:57:41.597-08:00Unitytoday I want to look at the subject of unity: unity in our Church family and unity across denominational lines.<br />
The scripture says:<br />
Behold, how good and pleasant it is <br />
when brothers dwell in unity!<br />
[Psalm 133:1]<br />
we all can see that when a Church is unified and working together it is a much more pleasant environment, a place of peace and harmony..<br />
Divisions in the Church can cause heartache and may result in some members leaving the Church, but when the members of a Church make an effort to strengthen the bonds of unity and heal the hurts that have resulted from disunity, the church can be stronger and more able and willing to serve God, our master and blessed lord. <br />
In my town we have interdenominational prayer meetings, where members of the different Churches get together at one church to pray about a variety of things. We also work together for a few events during the year such as the world day of prayer service and the carols service at the end of the year. The pastors of the Churches get together for discussion and prayer from time to time. We can do a lot for God when we all work together.<br />
Here is an example of what unity can do:<br />
In the time after the flood and before Abraham, all the people spoke one language and lived near each other. They decided that they <br />
would build a tower that reached heaven, not to glorify God but as a show of what they were capable of doing, to glorify themselves.<br />
Here is what God says:<br />
" And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. [Genesis 11:6]<br />
That is what unity can accomplish. Of course, they were united in an act of rebellion against God, but they were united and God knew the best way to deal with this was to scatter them and give them separate languages.<br />
<br />
Because the devil knows that we can accomplish a lot when united, he will do his level best to cause divisions in the Church. <br />
Here is one example from Scripture of a divided, disunified Church.<br />
Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: agree with each other and don't be divided into rival groups. Instead be restored with the same mind and the same purpose. My brothers and sisters, Chloe’s people gave me some information about you,<br />
that you're fighting with each other. What I mean is this: that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," "I belong to Apollos," "I belong to Cephas," "I belong to Christ." Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? <br />
[1 Corinthians 1:10-16]<br />
the group had splintered into 4 separate factions,for Paul, for Appolos <br />
For Peter [Cephas] and for Christ. This division had caused arguing among the believers.<br />
as each side argued for their chosen leader. I am sure you can imagine the sort of problems that would arise in a divided group like this, arguments between groups, divisions even in homes where people were for different leaders, each group trying to prove that the others were all wrong and they were in the right. you know how it goes, <br />
when we know we are right our flesh nature wants to prove to everybody else that they are wrong in whatever it is we are arguing about ,and give detailed explanations as to why they are so wrong, we love to be proved right.<br />
What a mess! Paul makes it clear to them that Christ is the leader of all and that himself, Appolos and peter were only servants through whom they learned about Christ and began to grow in the faith. What sort of example do you think this kind of Church group would be setting for non-believers?<br />
Unity doesn't mean we necessarily totally agree with everything each other believes, but unity is when we agree to disagree and put our differences aside. <br />
Of course, if someone's beliefs differ in a major area such as salvation by faith in Christ or salvation by works only, then we need to pray for the one who believes in a works based salvation to learn the truth, loving them, not looking down on them and, if God guides us to,gently and respectfully show them the truth from God's word.<br />
An example of a doctrine that people disagree on is the doctrine of the rapture. some are pre-tribulationists [/That is, that Jesus will come for the Church before the Tribulation starts], some are mid-tribulationists and others are post-tribulationists. others don't believe in the rapture at all. The truth is we don't know, when Jesus is coming back. I personally am a pre-tribulationist, as I explain in another post here, but just because I think that way doesn't mean that if I had a friend who doesn't agree with me about that I need to argue with them about it and try to prove I'm in the right. Rather, since we don't really know anyway we can agree to disagree and focus on the things and beliefs we do have in common.<br />
The Scripture says:<br />
Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. [2 Timothy 3:14]<br />
<br />
Another thing that causes disunity in the Church is gossip. This is one I struggle with a bit. We have to think, when we are going to share some piece of information about another,<br />
- is this true,<br />
- is sharing this helpful,<br />
and<br />
- what is my motive for sharing it.<br />
Let me show you how this works. Now, as an example, Imagine if you heard that I was taking drugs. NOW I don't and never have taken drugs but this is just an example. Then if you told your friends "Did you know that Rishie takes drugs, and she calls herself a Christian,don't you think that's terrible?" <br />
even if it was true Jesus gives us very clear ways of dealing with sin in the Church and they don't include gossip. The way to handle it would be to confront me and if I didn't listen, to bring a couple of witnesses along, and if I still didn't pay attention to make it known to the Church and if I still didn't pay attention, to treat me like an outcast and hopefully I would be brought to a realisation of my sin. <br />
Gossip doesn't do any good but it can do a lot of harm, especially if the things we are gossiping about aren't true, it can damage relationships and cause problems in the church. <br />
Another thing that can be very hurtful is if someone treats us nicely but then says unkind things about us behind our backs and it gets back to us. Ouch!I had a friend, once who came to stay with us for a while and when she left she said it has been nice seeing me and she was looking forward to next time but she said to one of my friends that she would not come back to visit here as long as I was here. Now that person and i sorted things out and I'm not saying this to put her down just using it as an example. You can imagine how that hurt. now if we have a problem with someone the best thing to do is to lovingly speak to them about it and tell them how we feel. <br />
So if there is disunity in the church, What can we do about it?<br />
Firstly? pray. Take it before the lord, if possible get a group of people together and pray about it.<br />
Secondly, if God leads, you may be able to intervene to help reunite the rival groups.<br />
I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have laboured side by side<br />
with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. <br />
Sometimes one who isn't in the middle of the dispute can bring rivals together to try and sort things out or at the least, to agree to disagree. Jesus says this:<br />
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.<br />
[Matt 5:9]<br />
we need to be guided by the Spirit because on our own we could end up doing more harm than good But with God's help we may be able to reconcile those who are at odds with each other. <br />
If there is disunity in the Church it shouldn't be ignored but the members of the Church need to seek God about it and then do what he tells us to do.<br />
<br />
As for disunity between members of different denominations, We need to pray about that too and God may show us something that we can do, such as starting a morning tea for Christian ladies in the town or area you live in,<br />
or having a men's breakfast or a picnic or something every so often.<br />
We need to be careful that we are not critical of people in other denominations I know someone who sometimes makes negative generalisations about members of a different denomination, and i have been guilty of negative thoughts about people from another denomination, all this should definitely be avoided. If we know that we are feeling this way or doing this sort of thing we need to pray about it. In one of her books Beth Moore talks about making friends with a Christian lady she met and then discovering that this lady belonged to a denomination that was looked down on by the members of Beth's Church. She explained that this friendship helped open her eyes and that God used it to deal with this prejudice she had against members of the other Church. God can do the same in our lives too, if he sees we have a prejudice against members of other denominations or other races or people of different colour or whatever our prejudices might be. Prejudice has no place in the body of Christ and if we are prejudiced God is not likely to allow you to stay that way.<br />
In closing I want to leave you with a scripture from the book of Ephesians chapter 4 :3-6:<br />
and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. You are one body and one spirit just as God also called you in one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all. <br />
Do you notice what stands out in this passage?<br />
1 ... 1.... 1 ... 1.... <br />
He couldn't have made it clearer. As the song says:<br />
Father make us one <br />
that the world may know <br />
you have sent your son<br />
father make us one."<br />
May this be our prayer.<br />
I hope I have given you all something to think about. May God bless each of you!rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-76621206504221638672012-02-18T21:40:00.000-08:002012-02-18T21:40:26.612-08:00Insight: a few Questions to Prayerfully ConsiderHere are a few thoughts to prayerfully consider. I haven't written this to judge anyone but in the spirit of Hebrews 10:24 I thought I would share them.<br />
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,<br />
[Hebrews 10:24]<br />
<br />
Did I have a time of prayer and bible study today? <br />
<br />
Are there things God has done for me today that I need to thank him for?<br />
<br />
Are there sins in my life I haven't asked God's forgiveness for?<br />
<br />
Do I know anyone who needs a hug, a kind word or a helping hand?<br />
<br />
Is there anyone I know who needs encouragement in their Christian walk?<br />
Is there someone I should call or visit or email to let them know I care?<br />
<br />
Am I using the gifts and talents God has given me?<br />
<br />
Have I taken a few quiet moments to allow God to speak to me?<br />
<br />
Have I told God today that I love him?<br />
<br />
Is there anyone in my life I need to ask forgiveness of?<br />
<br />
Is there anyone in my life I need to forgive?<br />
<br />
Are there relationships in my life that need mending?<br />
<br />
have I told my loved ones recently that I love them?<br />
<br />
Have I shown my loved ones recently that I love them? Sometimes actions speak louder than words.<br />
<br />
Are there things I need to talk to God about?<br />
<br />
Do I know someone who is sad or hurting that I can comfort?<br />
<br />
Is God telling me to do something and I haven't done it yet?<br />
<br />
Have I prayed for my Church and pastor this week?<br />
<br />
Have I prayed for Christians who are suffering for their faith?<br />
<br />
Am I being a wise steward of the money God gives me?<br />
<br />
Am I becoming more like Jesus?<br />
<br />
Am I a doer of the word or just a hearer only? <br />
<br />
do I set my mind on things above, not things of this world? [col 3:2]<br />
<br />
<br />
Here are a few thoughts to prayerfully consider. I haven't written this to judge anyone but in the spirit of Hebrews 10:24 I thought I would share them.<br />
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,<br />
[Hebrews 10:24]<br />
<br />
Did I have a time of prayer and bible study today? <br />
<br />
Are there things God has done for me today that I need to thank him for?<br />
<br />
Are there sins in my life I haven't asked God's forgiveness for?<br />
<br />
Do I know anyone who needs a hug, a kind word or a helping hand?<br />
<br />
Is there anyone I know who needs encouragement in their Christian walk?<br />
Is there someone I should call or visit or email to let them know I care?<br />
<br />
Am I using the gifts and talents God has given me?<br />
<br />
Have I taken a few quiet moments to allow God to speak to me?<br />
<br />
Have I told God today that I love him?<br />
<br />
Is there anyone in my life I need to ask forgiveness of?<br />
<br />
Is there anyone in my life I need to forgive?<br />
<br />
Are there relationships in my life that need mending?<br />
<br />
have I told my loved ones recently that I love them?<br />
<br />
Have I shown my loved ones recently that I love them? Sometimes actions speak louder than words.<br />
<br />
Are there things I need to talk to God about?<br />
<br />
Do I know someone who is sad or hurting that I can comfort?<br />
<br />
Is God telling me to do something and I haven't done it yet?<br />
<br />
Have I prayed for my Church and pastor this week?<br />
<br />
Have I prayed for Christians who are suffering for their faith?<br />
<br />
Am I being a wise steward of the money God gives me?<br />
<br />
Am I becoming more like Jesus?<br />
<br />
Am I a doer of the word or just a hearer only? <br />
<br />
do I set my mind on things above, not things of this world? [col 3:2]rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-22026495959596315562011-12-20T17:03:00.000-08:002011-12-20T17:03:04.225-08:00TTWO RESPONSES: Doubt versus Faith. A devotional. I had planned to write a couple of different Christmas things, but this is such a busy time of year I am only going to share a few thoughts with you on one aspect of the Christmas story. This is just somethin I put together quickly. Luke's Gospel presents us with two angelic visitations. The Angel Gabriel visits Zechariah in the temple: And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." [Luke 1:11-20] The second angelic visitation took place six months later, when Gabriel appeared to a young girl called Mary: And he [Gabriel] came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. [Luke 1:28-38 Notice that both Zechariah and Mary asked a question; but one was punished and one was not. Why? God doesn't punish people for asking a question, though he may choose not to answer, so that can't be the issue. I've heard it taught that the reason Zechariah was punished was because he had been praying for a son for many years and God was finally answering his prayer. Therefore Zechariah should have rejoiced and gladly accepted the message, whereas Mary had not been praying that she would be the mother of the Messiah so her question was understandable. I wonder though, if the difference didn't have something to do with faith. I'm not a pastor or theologian and I could be misreading this, so I encourage you to study this for yourself and allow the Lord to teach you. I see Zechariah as a person who had been praying for so long and had finally given up hope He still served the Lord and did what was good, he is described as a righteous man, but maybe he didn't want to get his hopes up again just to have them dashed. Maybe he didn't want to believe again because it would be too painful if it didn't happen. Even the visit of one of God's angels didn't penetrate his heart and cause him to hope again.. In that culture children were seen as blessings from God, so a childless couple were thought to have sinned in some way. You can imagine how fervently Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child in their younger days but as time went on and Elizabeth went through the change of life it seemed impossible for them to have a child and so perhaps they gave up hope. We tend to do that sometimes in our prayers, don't we? We pray fervently for something, such as the salvation of our parents or friends, but as time goes by and we don't see any changes in their lives we give up and stop praying. This is something we should not do, God rewards faithful and persistent prayer, even over many years. Abraham is a perfect example of this, he and Sarah prayed for a son and finally God gave them one when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. So, I think it could have been Zechariah's doubt and lack of trust that got him into difficulty. Gabriel tells him: "And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." As for Mary, I suspect her question came from curiosity. She was betrothed, which in that culture was as legally binding as marriage except that the girl still lived with her parents and there was no physical intimacy. That being the case she was naturally curious as to how she , a virgin, could become pregnant. We can see her faith and trust in God clearly in her response: "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." [v38] We can't imagine how difficult and scary it would be for Mary to be discovered to be pregnant when she wasn't married. These days it is an accepted thing in our culture though that doesn't make it right, but in Mary's time and society she would have been shunned and possibly, if Joseph chose to denounce her, she may have been put to death by stoning. Apart from all of that, can you imagine the awesome challenge and privilege of being mother to God's only son? She might have been expected to do as Moses did and ask God to give the job to someone else but instead she says "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.". In Hebrews 11 we read these words: And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. So to sum up, we see two things: 1. Persistent, faithful prayer is pleasing to God. We should not give up praying even if we have been praying and waiting for many years. 2. We cannot please God and do what he wants us to do if we don't have faith and trust in him. We must believe that what he says he will also do, and put our confidence and trust in him, stepping out in faith even if what he is asking us to do seems impossible. I wish you all a very merry and blessed Christmas. wo Responses: a Devotionalrishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-5574957317164359262011-11-06T19:54:00.001-08:002011-11-06T19:54:52.597-08:00Reflecting on the RaptureLet's look at the subject of the rapture today. Unfortunately there are those out there who predict the day that Christ will return. Even more unfortunately there are those out there who believe these people. why? Because they don't check what someone says to see if it lines up with scripture. Please, my dear brothers and sisters, do not be deceived by these people. They may just be misguided but they are also misguiding others and causing heartache and anxiety. I don't mean to sound harsh but I'm so saddened by those who believe these false prophets and find themselves confused and doubting when what is prophesied doesn't come to pass. <br />
<br />
Don't misunderstand me, I firmly believe in the rapture, Jesus is coming one day and those who are his people will meet him in the air. I don't believe in those who say they know when this event is going to take place because of what the bible says. I'm going to talk briefly about what the Bible teaches in the hope that someone who reads this won't be mislead into believing what someone tells them if it doesn't line up with scripture. I'm not a pastor or theologian and my own understanding of these issues is limited, so I encourage you to check what I say and the scriptures I will give and if what I say doesn't line up with scripture please disregard me and be guided by the Word. <br />
<br />
There are bible scholars who disagree about the order of end-time things. Some say that the rapture will come first, followed by the tribulation and then the glorious appearing of our lord Jesus. Others believe that the rapture will take place half way through the tribulation and others don't believe in the rapture at all. I'm not a theologian by any means but i personally take the first view, that the rapture will occur before the tribulation.<br />
<br />
Now to explain a few terms so you will be able to follow the rest of this study, just in case you are already confused. The rapture is when those of us who believe in Jesus will be caught up in the clouds to meet him in the air. Every Christian who ever lived will rise from their graves and we will be given new, glorified bodies that are far superior to the bodies we have now, just as a mansion is far superior to a tent. <br />
The tribulation is a 7 year period of time where the Lord will begin to judge the earth for their rejection of his son Jesus. There will be those who come to salvation at this time and many of those will be martyrs. At this time we will see the rise to power of a man who will be at the head of a one-world government. He is known by many names but most commonly known as the Antichrist. in the second half of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation, he will be worshipped as God, and those who don't worship him or who don't have his mark on their head or hand will not be able to buy food. <br />
<br />
The tribulation is also known as 'the time of Jacob's trouble' and there will be a second and worse Jewish holocaust where two Jews out of three will be killed. Please don't think I am antisemitic by saying that, I'm really not. <br />
<br />
The Tribulation will end with the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus, who will come in the clouds and everyone will see him. he will defeat the antichrist and set up his kingdom on earth for 1000 years. This is called the millennium. <br />
<br />
This study is just a brief overview of some key passages dealing with the rapture. this isn't a full study on end time things but if people are interested we can do a deeper study of these things in the future. one of the key passages dealing with end time things is Matthew chapter 24, where Jesus addresses some of those issues. I actually started preparing a study on that chapter before I realised that wasn't the direction I should take this study. We are going to look at a few verses though as I think they are relevant:<br />
<br />
And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.<br />
<br />
Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. <br />
[verses 1-8, 23-24]<br />
<br />
Jesus warns us that false christs and false Prophets will arise and they will lead people astray. The trouble with false prophets is: unless we know the scriptures we may not even know we are being deceived. that's why it is all the more vital for us to know what the bible says and if we don't know if something is true or not, to check it up and not just believe what someone tells us. most authentic bible teachers and pastors will encourage us to do that very thing, check if what they teach is in agreement with what the bible says. It is sad but true that devout believers have been mislead into joining cults because they accepted and believed what they were taught and were discouraged from checking to discover if what they were told was scriptural. .<br />
<br />
The passages where the rapture is discussed most clearly are in the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians. we are going to read these passages and I will make a couple of comments. <br />
<br />
The Coming of the Lord <br />
<br />
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe<br />
that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.<br />
[1 Thess 4:13-18] <br />
<br />
The first thing that needs to be clarified here is what Paul means by sleeping, and Jesus clarifies that nicely in John 11:<br />
<br />
After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died," <br />
<br />
The early Christians distinguished between the death of a believer and the death of a non-believer. For a believer, absent from the body is present with the Lord and the Church knew that they would see that loved one again in heaven. For an unsaved person they said he died because Death is a place of no hope, where god is not <br />
<br />
The Church at Thessalonica had received a letter purporting to be from Paul, claiming that the resurrection had already happened. Also some of them were worried because they knew in the future there will be a time known as the great tribulation but at that time they were experiencing a lot of persecution. What if this was the end time already? Did that mean they missed the rapture?and what about their departed loved ones? So they were confused and uncertain, which is why Paul wrote these letters to them and explained these matters a bit more clearly. Confusion is one of the enemy's tricks. <br />
<br />
The time of The rapture will happen at a time we are not expecting it. Jesus set it up that way so that we would have to be ready. If we knew he wasn't' coming for 100 more years we would relax and not try too hard to reach the lost and we wouldn't care about our spiritual growth, but if we realise he could come at any moment we are going to want to be ready. There won't be any advance warning, we can't predict from the scriptures when the Lord will return. That's why we shouldn't listen to anyone who says the world is going to end in 2012 or anything like that. the bible gives us prophecies of things that will happen in the last days but we can't discover the exact dates of things. <br />
<br />
<br />
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. <br />
[1 Thess 5:1-4<br />
If we knew that our house was going to be robbed on a certain night we would be there waiting for the robber and we wouldn't let him take anything and would take him to the police. In the same way, if we knew Jesus was coming today we would wait for it and we would be very careful about how we lived and what we did on the last day. We don't know when he will come but we need to be ready. i have heard of some Christians who think "O well, the rapture is coming soon, so I don't need to worry about saving money for the future and i can just live for today because Jesus is coming back soon." That, of course, is spurious. The knowledge that the lord could come at any moment should encourage us to get our lives right and deal with any sin we have in our hearts so that if he does come today we will be ready. <br />
<br />
<br />
God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
[2 Thess 1:6b-12]<br />
This refers to what is known as the judgement day, it will happen at the very end of time, when everyone who has rejected the great thing that Jesus did for us by dying on the cross will be judged. The time of judgement for the Church takes place after the rapture, when all of our works are tested by fire.[See 1 Corinthians 3] <br />
<br />
We need to remember that we will have to give account for the way we lived our lives here on earth. It should make us reflect on the way we live and the decisions we make. <br />
<br />
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.<br />
[2 Thess 2:1-12]<br />
This is talking about the glorious appearing, the return of Jesus to the earth after the tribulation. he will defeat the antichrist, [the lawless one mentioned in this passage], and all those who follow him and then Jesus will reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem for 1000 years. After that time the devil, who had been chained and left in the bottomless pit for 1000 years, will be released, and the final battle between good and evil will take place. None of this will happen until the tribulation happens and the tribulation i believe won't happen till after the rapture, it's the explanation that makes most sense to me although bible scholars disagree about the order of things. <br />
<br />
I hope this has been helpful to someone. Let us live each day in readiness for the return of our Lord and saviour!rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-12863935101465547722011-10-18T02:14:00.001-07:002011-10-18T02:14:45.070-07:00rishie's Ramblings 29 September-18 OctoberThursday, September 29, 2011 05:41:33 PM<br />
Today was a rainy and horrible sort of day, a day borrowed from winter. I managed to get all I needed to get done and I was able to order a new bed, since mine is falling apart. I will be sleeping with my head at the foot of the be because this end is a bit more stable. <br />
<br />
this afternoon I was talking to my little cousin Georgia on Facebook. I am going to stay with my cousin Nicole, who is Georgia's Mumn, next weekend. I always enjoy visiting them. <br />
<br />
Well that's about all I have for today and I'm getting tired anyway. Tonight I will be trying a sleeping aid i got fro the health food shop, I can't remember what's in the tablets but I hope they will help me. <br />
god bless you all.<br />
<br />
<br />
Wednesday, October 05, 2011 04:40:09 AM<br />
<br />
<br />
I was just reading from a devotional book called "our daily bread" that someone sent us in braille. I felt inspired when I read about a Mum who took 5 minutes each morning before her kids went off to school, to pray for each of them by name. Other kids in the neighbourhood joined the prayer circle when they happened to be around. What an inspiration! Sometimes it's the little things that make so much difference!<br />
I want to share 2 quotes that were quoted in that article:<br />
The issue isn't how much time<br />
We spend with God in prayer,<br />
But seeking him throughout each day <br />
And knowing that he's there [Sper]<br />
<br />
Prayer is an acknowledgement of our need for god [Unknown]<br />
<br />
I was challenged by that first quote. I have 2 prayer and bible study sessions a day and I try to start each hour with meditating on a bible verse for a minute or two, [I'm not boasting I'm just explaining something, we each have our own ways of approaching time with God,] but I was challenged about seeking him through the day and knowing that he's there, not just in my prayer times and things. We don't' just give God part of our day, we need to give him all of it. We can acknowledge god while talking with friends or doing shopping or making something to eat or whatever we're doing, and if we find that we can't acknowledge god in something that we're doing then maybe we need to think about whether we should be doing that thing. <br />
<br />
O Abba father, thank you that you are always with me at any time of the day or night, whenever I call to you, you're always there and each one of us when we pray gets your full attention. How awesome you are, dearest Lord. Your love for us is far greater than we could ever comprehend with our little mortal minds. I praise you Lord for who you are. You are my holy, loving, heavenly father and you gave your son Jesus to die for us because that was the only way to save us. Thank you Lord, I wish there were better words to express my gratitude but sometimes the simple words are best and I know you understand how I feel. Thank you Abba Father. Amen.<br />
<br />
[note: Abba is a Hebrew word meaning daddy, it's a word a small child would use to speak to their dad. The bible says:<br />
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" <br />
{romans 8:15}]<br />
<br />
<br />
04:59:47 AM<br />
I just wanted to say a great big thank you to all those who read these scribblings of mine. i may not always say it but I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read these posts. God has been speaking to me about letting people know how much I appreciate them and about showing my gratitude more openly. I am often blessed by things that people do, even little things, but I don't tell them often enough how I feel. May God bless you all!<br />
<br />
<br />
Thursday, October 13, 2011 04:05:15 AM<br />
Hi readers:<br />
<br />
I was looking through a list of journalling prompts for things to write about since I'm in a mood for writing this morning and i might as well make use of it, lol. The prompt I found is:<br />
<br />
what bible verse spoke to me today?<br />
<br />
Here's the bible verse:<br />
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the<br />
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. <br />
[Galatians 2:20]<br />
<br />
Thoughts:<br />
As Christians we are new creations. We can't live for god and live in our own way at the same time, we have to choose which way we will go. We often face the choice, "Will I do what I want to do or will I do this god's way?" <br />
<br />
I am encouraged in times like that by remembering that Jesus experienced the same temptations and challenges we face. I'm sure there were times when he wished he didn't have to go through with the Father's plan that sent Jesus to the cross to die for us. The difference is, Jesus always chose to go God's way. His prayer was "not my will but your will be done". When we are faced with the choice of going our way or god's way we can talk to Jesus about it and ask his help to make the right decision and hold to it no matter what. <br />
<br />
Thanks for reading and may god bless you! <br />
<br />
4:24:58<br />
Hi again readers:<br />
<br />
I told myself I wouldn't write about any other journalling prompts unless one really stuck out at me and grabbed my attention and guess what ? <br />
<br />
I found a quote in my list that i didn't realise I had copied. I really like it. Here it is:<br />
<br />
• “What in your life is calling you? When all the noise is silenced, the meetings adjourned, the lists laid aside, and the wild iris blooms by itself in<br />
the dark forest, what still pulls on your soul? In the silence between your heartbeats hides a summons, do you hear it? Name it, if you must, or leave<br />
it forever nameless, but why pretend it is not there?” - The Terma Collective<br />
<br />
<br />
the thing that calls to me is music, specifically singing. I love it. I've always been passionate about singing. I dreamed of being an opera singer but that never came to fruition. I feel drawn to my keyboard to sing a few times a day. Mostly what I sing is Christian praise and worship music but I sometimes sing other things, like the classical songs I learned when I was blessed enough to have a teacher. <br />
<br />
I'm glad that sis and I have got back into singing at church, I really missed that. We also go to Garden court and sing and play piano there, although the piano there is woefully out of tune. We sometimes sing at the International Christian community website, they have a music event on Wednesday morning my time. I long to get back into singing at nursing homes, I loved doing that so much but there were reasons we couldn't continue to do it. <br />
<br />
Well I think that will probably be my last entry for now, unless i find something else to comment on. I'm listening to a lovely worship song now called we all bow down. I like it. <br />
<br />
Ok see you all later and thanks for reading.<br />
4:39:07<br />
you can tell I'm in the mood for writing today can't you? <br />
<br />
• If you had to evacuate your home because of a natural disaster, what three things would you take with you?<br />
<br />
<br />
We were in a situation similar to this once, the drama was that we had a tree in front of the house we lived in that looked about ready to fall. the foundations of that house weren't very strong and we thought the place would collapse. There was a very strong wind that day so the emergency services people couldn't come and cut the tree down. We packed up in one heck of a hurry and I thought about the things I wouldn't want to leave without. i packed the bouquet of material flowers I carried when I was bridesmaid at my best friends' wedding, the candlesticks a dear friend in America sent me, some of my jewelry, a few clothes and things like that. Later we came back for the computer. <br />
<br />
At that time there were bush fires in the surrounding areas but we weren't affected so people were being evacuated to our town. We were given a room in a hotel that was miles from the bathroom, well miles is an exaggeration but it felt that way. There was also a dust storm that night. It was not the most enjoyable night we ever spent. <br />
<br />
Well if today there was a natural disaster and I could only take 3 things my handbag would be one of them because there's a fair bit of stuff in there, including my bible courier, which is a little black box with a memory card that has 2 versions of the bible that are read through a speech synthesizer, as well as my cane and miniguide and a few other odds and ends. If I could i would take my computer and also my piano keyboard. I would also want to take the candlesticks and perhaps a few of the little ornaments my Grandmother gave me before she died. yes, I know that's more than three things, but o well never mind.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.<br />
Friday, October 14, 2011 03:44:49<br />
Dear readers:<br />
<br />
Well i don't know what happened to the earlier entry I put in here it seems to have vanished. O well i know where else I posted it so i can get it back. I wrote that I was feeling very depressed, weak and vulnerable, and needed God's help. <br />
<br />
Just a little while ago I went to my piano keyboard and sang some songs of worship to God. Just before I did that, I opened my bible as I always do an read some verses from the book of psalms which is my favourite book of the bible. here are the verses I came across this morning: <br />
<br />
I remember the days of old; <br />
I meditate on all that you have done; <br />
I ponder the work of your hands. <br />
I stretch out my hands to you; <br />
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. <br />
Selah<br />
<br />
Answer me quickly, O LORD! <br />
My spirit fails! <br />
Hide not your face from me, <br />
lest I be like those who go down to the pit. <br />
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, <br />
for in you I trust. <br />
Make me know the way I should go, <br />
for to you I lift up my soul. <br />
Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! <br />
I have fled to you for refuge!<br />
Teach me to do your will, <br />
for you are my God! <br />
Let your good Spirit lead me <br />
on level ground! <br />
For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! <br />
In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! <br />
[Psalm 143:5-11]<br />
<br />
wow! those verses perfectly fitted my situation. I read them aloud as a prayer to God. It's amazing how God knows what we need, and blesses us with evidences that he knows what we are experiencing and is with us in our trouble. god is sooooo good!<br />
<br />
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 8:09:11 PM<br />
<br />
I've been unwell today with gastric problems but I'm feeling a bit better now. I'm just sitting here listening to music and chatting online. I'm about to post this to my blog.<br />
<br />
I just heard that Gilad shalit has been returned to Israel. I'm so glad about that, he was a prisoner with Hamas for 5 years it must be an amazing relief for him to be back in his homeland. God is good.<br />
<br />
Well that's all I have to say for now so I'm going to post this. Should any of you wish to talk to me on twitter my id is <br />
heartsong4jc <br />
www.twitter.com/heartsong4jc <br />
god bless you all!rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-6040101474774352872011-10-18T01:39:00.001-07:002011-10-18T01:39:40.335-07:00prayer2 - the Lord's Prayer Pray then like this:<br />
<br />
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done,<br />
on earth as it is in heaven.<br />
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,<br />
as we also have forgiven our debtors.<br />
And lead us not into temptation,<br />
but deliver us from evil.<br />
<br />
[Matt 6:9-13]<br />
<br />
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."<br />
And he said to them, "When you pray, say:<br />
<br />
"Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins,<br />
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.<br />
And lead us not into temptation." <br />
<br />
I want to talk to you today about using the beautiful prayer known as the Lord's prayer as a prayer guide. It is nice and meaningful to pray that prayer through, we often do it in Church services and it's often the first prayer taught to new believers. however Jesus gave us not only a prayer to pray but a guide for our prayers. We are going to go through this prayer bit by bit and i will share what I have learned about using this prayer as a guide.<br />
<br />
Firstly though, notice what the bible says in Luke 11:1<br />
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."<br />
<br />
I think we can all benefit from learning more about prayer, it's such a vital part of our Christian life and yet it is one that so many believers including me struggle with at times. We looked at prayer in a previous message but there is so much more to say about it. <br />
<br />
now let's look at the Lord's prayer phrase by phrase:<br />
1. <br />
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. <br />
[Matt 6:9b]<br />
God is our heavenly father. The bible says:<br />
God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ because of his love. This was according to his goodwill and plan <br />
[Ephesians 1:5 CEB]<br />
and this:<br />
Like a parent feels compassion for their children- that’s how the LORD feels compassion for those who honor him. <br />
[Psalm 103:13 CEB]<br />
<br />
notice the verse in Ephesians says:<br />
God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ.... <br />
we are not natural born children of God, we are not god as Jesus is, but we are adopted into the family of god. An adopted child doesn't have the same birth parents as a child of the family would have, but an adopted child is legally part of the family. <br />
<br />
When we became Christians we became part of the family of god. That's why the Lord's prayer starts with "Our father" not "My father". It reminds us that we are united with every Christian everywhere in the world and all those who have gone to Heaven before us, in one family with God as the head and Jesus as our holy big brother. <br />
<br />
Hallowed is an old fashioned word meaning "holy". Other translations put it in different ways such as:<br />
May your holy name be honored;<br />
[GNT]<br />
Reveal who you are. <br />
[MSG]<br />
may your name be kept holy.<br />
[NLT]<br />
uphold the holiness of your name.<br />
[CEB]<br />
may your name be honoured; <br />
[Phillips]<br />
<br />
God's name is holy, and that will always be true. The fact is, though, that people judge god by what they see in us. That's a very sobering thought. If they see us lying or using profanity they will think less of god and so in that way his name is not hallowed. his name refers to his character. We want to live in such a way that people won't have a lower opinion of god because of us. <br />
<br />
Suggested prayer points:<br />
* thank the Lord that Jesus died for you <br />
* thank God that you are now a part of god's family, if you are a Christian.<br />
* Pray that the way you live will bring glory to God and not bring dishonour to his holy name.<br />
<br />
2. Your kingdom come, [Matt 6:10a]<br />
<br />
Jesus is the King and one day he will return to set up his kingdom here on earth but for now he is in heaven, ruling over the heavens and ruling over our lives. One of the reasons he came to earth was to speak about the kingdom of heaven:<br />
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."<br />
Matthew 4:17<br />
<br />
We are subjects of the kingdom of heaven if we have surrendered our lives to Christ and accepted him as our Lord and Saviour. He rules over us from heaven through his holy Spirit who lives in each of us. <br />
<br />
When we pray "your kingdom come" we are praying for the day when King Jesus will return in all his glory and will set up his kingdom on earth for 1000 years. after that time, when Jesus has defeated Satan once and for all, ,there will be a new heaven and a new earth where god and Jesus will reign from the New Jerusalem. <br />
<br />
We are also praying for God's help to live here and now as subjects of the kingdom should live, that we might follow the King's rules for our life and do the work god has given us to do. for example, Jesus tells us this:<br />
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."<br />
this is the most important work that we as Christians can do: sharing god's truths with the people he brings into our lives. <br />
<br />
Suggested prayer points:<br />
<br />
* Pray for your unsaved family and friends to come to know Jesus.<br />
* ask god if there is some way you can help your unsaved friends and family to come to know Jesus.<br />
* Pray for missionaries and evangelists, who are busy about the work Jesus gave us to do.<br />
3. your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [Matthew 6:10b]<br />
<br />
god has a perfect plan for the universe and for our lives, a plan he knew of before the world was formed. He wants us to walk in that will. god is our loving heavenly father so his will is always best for us even though it may not always seem to be so.<br />
<br />
God reveals this will to us in various ways such as: <br />
* when we study the bible<br />
* through the advice of Christian friends we trust, especially those who are mature and can advise us well.<br />
* when we examine our circumstances and see if god is opening a door for us to go through or if the door we think we want to go through is shut. <br />
* through the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to our hearts and tells us what god wants us to do. <br />
Can you think of other ways god speaks to us?<br />
When God tells us what he wants us to do he also gives us the grace and strength to do it. Sometimes, though, he will tell us to do something that <br />
*. we really don't want to do. the choice then is between doing our will and doing god's will. Sometimes it can be really hard to say no to what we want, and we can battle with ourselves about whether we should do what we want or what we know is right. <br />
We also pray for god's will to be done not only in our lives but on earth. We can pray for situations like war, famine, natural disasters and corrupt political leaders, because in every situation god has a perfect will and we know that his way is far better than ours. The trouble is that most of the people in the world are not children of god, most of them haven't asked Jesus to be their Lord and Saviour and even those of us who are Christians often choose to do what we know is wrong. There is also the enemy, satan, who temporarily rules over this world. he wants to do as much damage as possible, keep as many people as possible from getting saved and tries to work against God's perfect plan for this world. <br />
<br />
We can still pray "your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" because God can take the worst possible situations and bring some good out of them. <br />
<br />
In Heaven god's will is always perfectly carried out, and the time will come when this will be true of the earth as well.<br />
<br />
Suggested prayer points:<br />
All we have to do is listen to the news to find plenty of bad situations we can pray about. <br />
* pray that God will bring something good out of the bad situations that are happening.<br />
* pray that you will know what God's will is for your life.<br />
* Pray for the strength to choose god's will over your own in situations where you find it hard to obey.<br />
<br />
<br />
4. Give us this day our daily bread, Matthew 6:11A]<br />
<br />
In this petition we are asking god for the things that we need. He already knows what our needs are but he wants us to talk to him about them. Notice that it doesn't say "give us our daily cake" but "our daily bread." God will give us the things he knows we need to have, not necessarily the things we want to have. God will say no if what we are asking for is not good for us. He may sometimes choose to give us what we want to have but not always. He may also give us the answer "wait", because he knows that what we ask for is not best for us at this time and also he wants to teach us to pray without giving up, even if we have to wait years for what we have prayed about. Abraham prayed for a child for years and years and when he was 100 God gave Isaac to Abraham and his wife, when they were far past the age of childbearing. <br />
<br />
god wants us to talk to him about every situation of our lives, bring to him every need no matter how trivial, and then trust him with the outcome. He is our heavenly father and he desires to have a relationship with us, isn't that a great thought?<br />
<br />
we can also use this time to pray about the needs that our loved ones have, [our friends and family members], for our Church groups and for any needs we are aware of in the community or even our country. <br />
Suggested Prayer Points:<br />
* talk to God about the things you need.<br />
* talk to god about the things your loved ones need <br />
* Talk to god about any needs you know about in your town or even your country.<br />
* If God says no, pray for the strength and wisdom to accept it.<br />
* If god says "Wait" then pray for the patience you will need as you wait. <br />
* if God has answered your prayers then thank him.<br />
<br />
5. and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [v12a]<br />
<br />
and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. [Luke 11:4]<br />
<br />
we are asking God to forgive our sins. We all sin every day, sometimes because we choose to and sometimes just because it is part of our nature. Whatever the cause of our sin, we need to confess it to god, taking full responsibility for our actions and asking his forgiveness, ... but there is a proviso: we have to be willing to forgive those who have sinned against us. We have to forgive those who have hurt us, those who lied to us, those who spoke unkind things about us behind our backs, and anything else that anyone might have done to us. The bible says:<br />
“If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your<br />
sins. <br />
[Matthew 6:14-15]<br />
<br />
Sometimes it can be hard to forgive. maybe there is someone who hurt you badly in the past and you can't even imagine forgiving that person. That's when you need to ask god to help you forgive them. maybe you also need to see your pastor or find a Christian counsellor in your area. I have a person in my life I'm finding it hard to forgive but I'm trusting the Lord and I'm talking to him about the issues and I'm sure he will help me to really forgive them and put it behind me. <br />
<br />
Remember that those whom we have hurt and treated harshly will have to forgive us too. It can be hard to forgive but God blesses us when we sincerely make an effort to do it and he will help us. <br />
<br />
suggested prayer points:<br />
pray for the willingness to forgive those who have hurt us.<br />
Pray for the ability to forgive fully.<br />
Thank god that he has forgiven all your sins.<br />
<br />
6. And lead us not into temptation, v12a]<br />
Every human being experiences temptation, even Jesus went through seasons of temptation but he never sinned. <br />
<br />
god isn't the one who leads us into temptation. We are tempted either by our own desires, and/or by the enemy. God can and will help us when we are tempted, however. The bible says:<br />
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation<br />
he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.<br />
1 Corinthians 10:13<br />
when we experience temptation we can ask God for help and he will always show us a way to go that we will not fall into the temptation. Sometimes though, we don't want to avoid the temptation and there is a war in our hearts between what we know we should do and what we may want to do even if we know it's not good for us. we need to choose to do god's will even though it's hard, because what God tells us to do is really for our best even if we can't see it at the time. We need to cry out to God for help and for strength to do what we know he wants us to do.<br />
<br />
Suggested prayer points:<br />
pray for guidance about avoiding situations where we know we will be tempted.<br />
pray for the strength we need to say no to sin even though our flesh is fighting against us. <br />
<br />
7. but deliver us from evil. [v13b]<br />
<br />
another translation says it like this:<br />
<br />
but deliver us from the evil one. [v13b]<br />
<br />
That's what this is all about. We know the evil one has plans and schemes against us. We want to avoid those schemes as much as possible. To do this we need god's help. As a blind person, there are times when I need to rely on someone to help me find my way, if I am in a place I don't know or if I'm walking in a place that is familiar to me but there are obstacles in the way. then I need to trust the person who is helping me, and go where they lead.<br />
<br />
If we want to avoid the pitfalls and obstacles the enemy puts in our path we need to trust god and follow where he leads us, even if we don't understand or if we don't know the path he is leading us on . <br />
<br />
Suggested prayer points:<br />
pray that God will help us to be aware of the enemy's schemes against us.<br />
Pray that God will keep us out of the traps the enemy sets for us.<br />
<br />
Pray for your loved ones that the enemy's schemes in their lives will not stand.<br />
<br />
To finish off this prayer we have to go to the KJV because this part is not always included in all the versions of the word:<br />
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. <br />
[Matt 6:13c KJV]<br />
the word "thine" is an old-fashioned way of saying "Yours".<br />
In this final part of the Lord's prayer, known as the doxology, we are acknowledging god as king, as the all-powerful one and as the only one worthy to receive glory.<br />
<br />
this doxology can be compared to the praises Solomon gave to God when the first temple was consecrated:<br />
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours.<br />
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power<br />
and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. <br />
<br />
Many believe that this part of the prayer was included at a later time and wasn't part of what Jesus taught his followers. It's a great way to finish praying though, to offer praise to god for who he is and to remember he is the all-powerful, glorious king of kings. <br />
The word Amen comes from a Hebrew root word meaning truly or surely. The word for faith, emunah, comes from this same word. When we say amen we are expressing our agreement with what has been prayed.<br />
<br />
I hope you have found our study of the Lord's prayer helpful. May the Holy spirit lead and direct you as you pray this prayer and use it as a prayer guide.<br />
<br />
Prayer:<br />
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you that you have given us a prayer to pray and also to use as a guide for our praying. help us to learn to pray as you have taught. Help us to be honest and sincere, talking to you freely about every aspect of our lives. Thank you lord god that you always hear us when we pray. Amen. rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-43072745710842844352011-10-11T00:34:00.001-07:002011-10-11T00:34:19.920-07:00Thoughts from my Grandmother's GraveYesterday I went to my Grandmother's grave. I was staying with my cousin in Grafton which is where Nana lived a good part of her life. My heart was aching and all I wanted to do was get back home to my computer and write. <br />
<br />
It's so hard to lose a loved one. All the time i was in Grafton I kept expecting to visit her but of course she's in heaven now. <br />
<br />
I talked about it with my Auntie and learned from her that my mother isn't coping well with Nana's loss. The sad part was, a few of us weren't able to get there in time to say goodbye to Nana and Mum was one of those. Also when someone we love dies we can think of so many things we would like to say to them but once they are gone it's too late.<br />
<br />
As Christians we know it's not too late, we will see our loved one again in heaven. I have that comfort of knowing Nana was a Christian and so in the sadness of her loss there is the ray of hope because I know I will see her again. I don't know how those who live without God in their lives can cope with the lost of a loved one. God helps us, comforts us, listens to us when we want to talk or cry or even scream. he gives us his peace and he carries us when we can't go on anymore.<br />
<br />
I wrote a poem for Nana that I want to share. I know you all didn't know her but maybe you can relate to some of this:<br />
<br />
rest in peace, dear Nana,<br />
close your weary eyes <br />
and open them on heavenly vistas <br />
of indescribable glory.<br />
<br />
Rest in peace, dear Nana <br />
your time on earth is done,<br />
You lived a long life, and we <br />
are left to mourn your loss.<br />
<br />
Rest in peace, dear Nana,<br />
You will never be gone from us As long as your memory <br />
Lives on in our hearts.<br />
<br />
Rest in peace, dear Nana,<br />
dance on golden streets,<br />
feast on heavenly delicacies <br />
and see clearly all the beauty around you.\<br />
<br />
rest in peace Dear Nana,<br />
we miss you and we love you<br />
and for now our hearts are sad,<br />
Because you had to go.<br />
<br />
Rest in peace, dear Nana,<br />
no more pain or sorrow,<br />
Life eternal stretches before you,<br />
Happiness, pleasure and peace <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Before she died my Nana was almost completely blind. She had bad arthritis in her knees and needed to use a walker. She also had diabetes. The thought of her feasting on heavenly delicacies, dancing and seeing clearly all the glory of heaven is comforting to me.<br />
<br />
Thank you for reading this. god bless.rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-51684421386275988932011-10-05T01:40:00.000-07:002011-10-05T01:40:28.727-07:00Thoughts and a Poem for Pastor Youcef NadarkhaniI've been thinking about Youcef Nadarkhani , a pastor in Iran who is sentenced to death by hanging because of his Christian faith. He had three opportunities to recant his faith in Jesus and return to Islam, but he didn't do it. He is a husband and father of two boys and if he had denied his belief in the Lord he would be back with his family by now. I can't imagine how strong the temptation would be to deny Jesus. Actually that would be a bad choice to make because the Bible says that if we deny Jesus he will also deny us, which is a scary thought. <br />
<br />
People like this man are such an incredible inspiration! I know it's the power of God in them that makes them able to stand strong and endure such persecution, but God gives us the choice of what we will do in each situation and pastor Youcef and others like him are choosing to stand strong in their faith, even to death if they should be called on to do that. <br />
<br />
I've been following Pastor Youcef's story on Twitter and praying that he might be released unconditionally and he and his family kept safe. If you want to receive updates on this story on twitter I suggest you follow @JordanSekulow www.twitter.com/JordanSekulo you can also do a search on twitter for Youcef Nadarkhani. Another thing you can do is check out the American Centre for Law and Justice website: http://aclj.org/ which has news articles and whatever up-to-date information about pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's case that is available. they also have a petition there to sign that I would encourage all of you to sign.<br />
<br />
I wanted to express my thoughts about this situation and poetry is the way I express them most easily. if I could talk to Pastor Youcef this is what I would say:<br />
<br />
I am so encouraged by people like you <br />
Who allow god to use them so mightily,<br />
Who stand up for the truth in the face of death <br />
And will not recant your faith. <br />
<br />
I read your letter of encouragement <br />
Which you wrote from prison <br />
And it really touched my heart and made me <br />
Think of how I would react in your situation.<br />
<br />
You are an example of what god can do <br />
With a heart and life that is yielded to him,<br />
You may not even realise <br />
The ways God is using your testimony.<br />
<br />
God has used your case powerfully <br />
To make people more aware <br />
Of the difficult plight of Christian people <br />
Who live in the Muslim world,<br />
<br />
And to challenge us who live in the West,<br />
Who don't experience such intense persecution <br />
To think about our priorities<br />
And the way we live as Christians.<br />
<br />
So I want to say thanks to you <br />
And tell you my friends and I <br />
Will continue to pray for you <br />
That God's will be done in your life.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Thank you to all who have read my scribblings, may God bless you all.rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-36799716549891485082011-09-27T23:05:00.001-07:002011-09-27T23:05:58.190-07:00Saturday, September 17, 2011 05:22:13 PM Well I keep saying I'm going to update this regularly but I keep failing to do so. I'm only writing now because I need someone to vent to. I'm sitting here at 5:30 trying to stay awake. I've had precisely 2 hours sleep. this sleeping problem has been going on for months now. Now and again I'll have a few nights of fairrly good sleep but i dont' remember when the last night like that was. To top it all off I have a 4 hour radio show starting in an hour and a half and I'm already battling with sleepiness. grrr! But, balancing that picture out and overshadowing it, I have a big god who loves me, who knows my needs and has promised to be with me until I can be up there with him. Sunday: well I do feel better today, it's amazing what a couple of hours of sleep can do! I didn't end up doing the show last night I just didn't feel up to it. I'm looking forward to church tonight it should be good. Well I don't have any more to say right now so I will close this. Monday, September 19, 2011 5:21:16 PM church was very nice last night. I told the Pastor about my sleeping problems and he prayed for me and anointed my forehead with oil. I felt a lot more peace last night. After Church we decided to go for a drive, which was relaxing and we enjoyed it. Then we stopped in at a cafe for a late dinner/early midnight snack. then we went home and talked for a while before i came in here and went to sleep. This morning Maria and I did our Christian radio show Power praise and got a new listener, yay! It was a young guy Maria met on one of the game sites we are members of. These games are written for blind people and they are a lot of fun. Well that's all I wanted to say for now. Thursday, September 22, 2011 6:07:23 PM Ever since Pastor prayed for me on Sunday night I have felt much more at peace and I'm getting 5 or so hours of sleep a night. It sure is an improvement. god has swept away the darkness and confusion in my mind and i am so grateful to him. tonight we are going to a concert at Church. A new Zealand singer called Jules Riding is coming to sing for us. I'm excited about it, it should be a good night. I didn't have my computer class today because my teacher, Ross, had something else happening today. i met him in the bank this morning and it took a few moments for me to realise who it was. Duh! Well I don't have much more to say I just wanted to check in. Wednesday, September 28, 2011 3:53:51 PM the Jules Riding concert was awesome! Not only did he sing and play some great songs, despite the fact that he had a mild dose of laryngitis, he gave a testimony about a difficult time in his life when he hadn't felt God's presence for a couple of years and he stopped doing his music ministry and experienced depression. It was a very real, honest testimony of how god brought him back from all that. it was such an encouragement to us! His music is rather popular around here right now, Sis and I bought one of his albums but we also have some of his songs from youtube and we play his music quite often. On a different note, my chihuahua Speedy is in hospital again. She went to the vet yesterday and she won't be home till tomorrow. I miss her so much! she had an infection in her teeth and the infection has spread through to her kidneys. We don't know how bad her kidneys are but it's not good. Anything they can do is only a temporary solution, she isn't going to be with us for much longer which is sad. We are praying that God will do a miracle for her. please pray for her too. I think I'm going to create a separate blog for posts like this, if so I will let you all know. I'm going to upload this now. Thanks for reading and God bless you all!rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-84437818471480398902011-09-13T18:41:00.000-07:002011-09-13T18:41:29.785-07:00Prodigal Returning I want to share some thoughts today About the Prodigal son, a story I'm SURE IS <br />
well known to each of you. For those who may not know it or those who need a refresher, here it is:<br />
[Luke 15:11-24]<br />
And he[Jesus] said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. <br />
<br />
"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father.<br />
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.<br />
And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'<br />
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.<br />
And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. <br />
<br />
Here are a couple of points that stuck out at me:<br />
1. the son is saved, he's a son not a servant. the point is, even children of God can mess up big time! I know it from my own experience. all we need to do is put distance between us and God and we allow the enemy an opportunity to get at us.<br />
the bible says:<br />
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. <br />
[1 Peter 5:8-9]<br />
Satan wants us to fall into sin and be ineffective in our Christian life and he will take every opportunity, he and his unholy horde, to tempt us and try to get us to put enough distance between us and God to allow the enemy of our souls access to our lives. that's why we need to be vigilant and why we need to watch and pray. The enemy will try to convince us that it will be fun to step away from god for a while and do some other things, but those who have fallen into sin know it's not fun. Maybe at first it is but it's a downward spiral. when I got out of the mess I was in I wondered how I could have let my life get into such a state. One of The answers is this: sin is deceptive. It likes to pass itself off as something harmless,there is often a false sense of security that what we are doing is really not so bad. i used to justify it by saying <br />
noone knows what I'm doing I'm not harming anyone but god knew and I knew he didn't approve.<br />
<br />
2. I'm sure the prodigal didn't overnight decide that he wanted his share of the inheritance. This was something just not done in that culture even in ours. It was extremely rude and the father could have severely reprimanded him for even suggesting it, but he didn't'. The point is, if the son had rejected that sort of thought the moment it cropped up, the whole sorry scene wouldn't have occurred. the same happens with us. Sin starts in our thoughts and moves on to words and actions, and, if it is not dealt with it can really mess up our lives, just like a little fire that starts and begins to spread, if someone doesn't put it out it can do a whole lot of damage. <br />
3. The prodigal realised how bad his situation was, but to return was his own choice. he could have chosen to stay where he was feeding pigs and slowly starving to death, but he made a choice to return to his father. When we are brought face to face with our sin what we do then is our choice. we can cry out for mercy to god and repent or we can stay in our sin, which may lead to our choosing to abandon our faith altogether. Our story differs from the prodigal son in at least one point, the moment we call out to god he is there we don't have to take the walk back on our own, God will help us to get our lives back in balance, there will be a time of restoration, and he is the one who restores us and helps us to change our ways.<br />
<br />
4. The prodigal's father wouldn't take him back as a servant and neither does our father. we serve him because we want to thank him for his incredible love for us, but we are god's children not just slaves. Jesus said:<br />
You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. <br />
<br />
5. The father welcomed the son right back into the family. There was no period of probation to see if his behaviour had changed, there was no stern lecture "you better change your ways, this is your last chance!" The father welcomed him back gladly. I want to look at that scene a bit closer before we conclude: <br />
[Luke 15:17-24]<br />
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion,<br />
and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him,<br />
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe,<br />
and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.<br />
<br />
And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. <br />
<br />
the son hadn't gotten far in his repentance speech when the father started giving orders to the servants and ordering a celebration. Notice what the Father gave the son?<br />
1. A robe. <br />
our Father takes our filthy robe of sin and replaces it with a clean robe of righteousness.<br />
. the bible says it this way:<br />
He himself[Jesus] bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.<br />
[1 Peter 2:24]<br />
and this:<br />
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 NRSV]<br />
<br />
2. The ring:<br />
The significance of this didn't hit me until I read one of Max Lucked's books. The ring, in olden times, was used <br />
to seal important documents, the emblem on the ring was dipped in wax to form the seal. The father was showing that the returned prodigal has the right to speak for the father. And we are our Father's ambassadors here on earth. We speak in his name when we tell people of his great love for them. Can you think of other times when we represent God?<br />
<br />
3. The party:<br />
the bible says this:<br />
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.<br />
<br />
There was a celebration in heaven when you first gave your life to god and there will be one when you go home. God doesn't cancel that party If we get tangled up in serious sin. We may wonder if we will be welcome in heaven because of the bad things we did,but no, god is merciful and if we truly repent he will restore us And our sins will be removed as far as the east is from the west,and that celebration in heaven will happen when we get there.<br />
<br />
I want to speak a word of encouragement to anyone caught in a web of sin. Jesus says:<br />
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. [Revelation 3:20]<br />
<br />
Jesus was speaking to THE Laodicean Church whom he called a dead church. yet though they had sinned by compromising with the world and they were proud and puffed up, Jesus offers them mercy. He is standing at the door knocking. No matter what you've done or where you've been he is standing at the door of your heart waiting for you to open the door. And if you feel that you can't break free enough even to do that, cry out to him and he will come to you and take you by the hand and he will affirm his love to you and help you get started on the journey of repentance and reconciliation. One of my favourite verses says <br />
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.<br />
[Psalm 147:3]<br />
We may not feel worthy to come to him, we may feel so sin-stained that we can't approach him, but the truth is we aren't worthy. god's grace is a free gift that we couldn't possibly earn even if we lived as close to perfect as we can. but the enemy wants us to feel so unworthy, so brought low that we may choose not to come to our father because we can't see how he would possibly accept us. he is waiting for us to cry to him, so we need to call out to god, tell him how unworthy we feel pour out our hearts to him and allow him to heal us. The words in the original language of that verse Psalm 147:3 imply a surgeon stitching up a wound. It may be painful but once it's done we will be fully healed and restored.<br />
<br />
If we can it might be good to ask someone to pray for us through this process. We don't have to go into specifics unless we feel lead to, but it's good to have someone praying for us and prayer is powerful. <br />
<br />
if you're in a situation like this, I would really encourage you to read "When godly people do ungodly things" by Beth Moore. that's where I got a lot of my ideas <br />
for this message. I want to share a message that one of my followers tweeted today:<br />
No matter how far you have fallen....#YOU can begin again. <br />
God bless you all.<br />
<br />
Questions:<br />
[These are just for you and God to talk about privately, if you want to]<br />
<br />
1. Why do you think that putting distance between you and god allows the enemy access to your life?<br />
2. Why do you think that Satan works so hard to stop us being effective for god?<br />
3. We saw that sometimes we can let our feelings of unworthiness separate us from god. Can you think of other times when we should disregard our feelings and go with what we know is true ?rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-12844338489485226792011-09-11T14:47:00.000-07:002011-09-11T14:47:35.096-07:009/11 some thoughts, a devotional<br />
Hi!<br />
<br />
i wrote this devotional this morning. I didn't take much time to edit it because I wanted to put it here today so it's probably not as well written as my other things. Anyway here it is:<br />
<br /> “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. <br />[Isaiah 40:1]<br /><br />Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,<br /> I will fear no evil,<br />for you are with me;<br /> your rod and your staff,<br /> they comfort me. <br />[Psalm 23:4]<br /><br />Your Word has given me new life.<br /> This is my comfort in my suffering.<br /> Psalm 119:50<br /><br />When I felt the Lord telling me to write a devotional on 9/11 for our Christian radio show Power Praise, I felt unqualified to do it, since it wasn't my country that was attacked and though we can feel sympathy for those who lost their lives and for their families, it's not the same for us as it is for the people of America and especially the people of New York. <br /><br />But I was reminded how I felt the night of the Christchurch Earthquake which I know has nothing to do with 9/11 but bear with me just a bit.<br /><br />I remembered thinking about the tragedy and wondering where god was in all this. I know God is all-powerful, so why didn't he stop it from happening?<br /><br /> Then God reminded me of the little miracles. The people who shouldn't have survived but did. The people who were supposed to be at work in the buildings that were worst hit but somehow weren't where they were supposed to be. the survivors that were found when all hope was gone.<br /><br />the same could be said for 9/11. What happened then was terrible and tragic but there were tiny beacons of hope that shone through. People who got out of the buildings thanks to the bravery of the firefighters and with god's help. People who were supposed to be at the twin towers Who didn't get there for whatever reason.<br /><br />It's hard to find the words to say to explain why god allows things like this to occur. THERE are things happening that we won't fully understand this side of heaven. Yet there are things we do know, things that we as Christians can hold onto Though the world is going crazy around us. We need to hold onto these things because it's going to get worse before it gets better.<br />Let me remind you of some of these things.<br /><br />1. God loves us. the bible says:<br /> "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. <br />2. He is with us when we suffer<br />and he understands how we feel.<br />The bible says:<br />Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,<br /> I will fear no evil,<br />for you are with me;<br /> your rod and your staff,<br /> they comfort me. <br />[Psalm 23:4]<br />and this:<br />And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."<br />[Matthew 28:20b]<br />3. Our life on earth is temporary.<br /> The sufferings we have now are nothing compared to<br /> the great glory that will be shown to us.<br />[romans 8:18]<br />4. The future we have in God is far more wonderful than we could imagine:<br />As the bible says:<br /> but just as it is written, <br /><br /> “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, <br />AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, <br />ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” <br /><br />I hope that something I said has encouraged you today. remember that God does understand how you feel so you can tell him whatever is on your mind.<br /> May god be with you today.rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-83615712291188162622011-09-01T21:56:00.000-07:002011-09-01T21:56:42.889-07:00Reflecting on God's Love, a devotionalSee what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. <br />
[1 John 3:1a ESV]<br />
<br />
There are 2 things I love about this verse that I would like to discuss.<br />
<br />
Firstly we are not just called God's children, that would be miracle enough, but we actually are his adopted children as the bible says:<br />
<br />
Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this <br />
[Ephesians 1:5]<br />
<br />
I don't have any children of my own but there are a few young people in different parts of the world, mostly Africa, who call me Mum. I'm even a grandma. We aren't related in any biological sense but we care about each other like family. I have a Mum and Dad of my own who aren't biologically related to me, actually I have 2 mums as well as my natural mother. I separate the families in my mind by calling them my natural family and my other family. <br />
<br />
My point is, God could just choose to call us his children but he goes one step further and actually adopts us into his own family through Jesus Christ. You know the saying you can pick your friends but you can't pick your relations? Well god picked us, the unlovely, the sinful, those who have rejected him and hurt him and disobeyed him and ignored him. he still picked us. I think if I were God and wanted to add to my family I'd pick the angels because, apart from the third of them who joined Lucifer's side, the angels are obedient to his every word and they don't sin. God didn't do that though, he chose to love us even though he knew exactly what our lives would be like and all the good and bad things we would do. the bible says:<br />
<br />
This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins. <br />
[1 John 4:10 <br />
<br />
God wanted to show his love and he chose to do that by loving and saving us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we are god's children. <br />
the second thing I love about our verse from 1 john 3 is it talks about god's love, which we have spoken about already. God's love is not like our love, it doesn't fluctuate, it isn't less when we mess up and it doesn't increase when we do good although he is pleased when we do good. There is no force on heaven or earth that can stop God from loving us ... except if we ourselves reject God and totally turn away from him and <br />
even then he will try to draw us back to him until the end of our lives.<br />
<br />
this is incredibly comforting. I can't lose God's love unless I reject him. When I sin I may wonder why God puts up with me but I know he doesn't stop loving me. There was a time a few years ago when I strayed away from god and got into some stuff that I regret very much now. When I came back to god he didn't say "I'm not taking you back, my love for you has died because of your actions". no no no! He took me back, cleaned me up and put me back on the pathway to walk with him. If he did that for me he will do that for you, whatever you have done. If he could forgive and use the Apostle Paul, who persecuted the Church of /god in Jerusalem, then he can forgive anyone who asks him. Isn't that great news! How awesome God's love for us is!<br />
<br />
<br />
This is what the Apostle Paul says about god's love:<br />
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We need to realise that even if we don't feel that God loves us, he really does. In times like this we have to choose to believe what we know is true rather than relying on our own feelings or knowledge. <br />
<br />
A point to remember is thatGod doesn't love us sparingly but willingly, lavishly, more than we can ever imagine. He doesn't accept us into his family grudgingly but welcomes us and loves us and works in our lives because he wants us to be the best we can be and he wants us to glorify him.<br />
<br />
It does us good to reflect on these things. today I spent a few minutes thinking about who God is and reflecting on his great and awesome love. i came away from that feeling very grateful and deeply loved. I was thinking about the verse:<br />
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. <br />
[John 3:16]<br />
I only got as far as "for god so loved the world" but there will be other times to reflect on the rest of it. I'm glad I took the time to do it today, I often get too busy and caught up with things but we all need to take more time to read god's word and think about what it says and how we can apply God's word to our lives. It draws us closer to god and helps us to learn more about god, or ourselves, or whatever we have been reading or reflecting on. I hope you will take some time soon to reflect on the verse at the top of this message, or on any verse you find that talks of god's love. We really need to know and believe that god does love us and that he showed it by sending Jesus<br />
"who loved me and gave himself for me." <br />
Galatians 2:20c. <br />
<br />
Prayer:<br />
God we thank you for your amazing, unfailing, steadfast love. thank you that you did adopt us into your family through Jesus. thank you that he did give himself for us. Lord help us to reflect on your great love so that we will have a deeper understanding of it and so that we will truly believe that you do love us, despite what the enemy may tell us.<br />
we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. <br />
[1 John 3:1a ESV]<br />
<br />
There are 2 things I love about this verse that I would like to discuss.<br />
<br />
Firstly we are not just called God's children, that would be miracle enough, but we actually are his adopted children as the bible says:<br />
<br />
Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this <br />
[Ephesians 1:5]<br />
<br />
I don't have any children of my own but there are a few young people in different parts of the world, mostly Africa, who call me Mum. I'm even a grandma. We aren't related in any biological sense but we care about each other like family. I have a Mum and Dad of my own who aren't biologically related to me, actually I have 2 mums as well as my natural mother. I separate the families in my mind by calling them my natural family and my other family. <br />
<br />
My point is, God could just choose to call us his children but he goes one step further and actually adopts us into his own family through Jesus Christ. You know the saying you can pick your friends but you can't pick your relations? Well god picked us, the unlovely, the sinful, those who have rejected him and hurt him and disobeyed him and ignored him. he still picked us. I think if I were God and wanted to add to my family I'd pick the angels because, apart from the third of them who joined Lucifer's side, the angels are obedient to his every word and they don't sin. God didn't do that though, he chose to love us even though he knew exactly what our lives would be like and all the good and bad things we would do. the bible says:<br />
<br />
This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins. <br />
[1 John 4:10 <br />
<br />
God wanted to show his love and he chose to do that by loving and saving us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we are god's children. <br />
the second thing I love about our verse from 1 john 3 is it talks about god's love, which we have spoken about already. God's love is not like our love, it doesn't fluctuate, it isn't less when we mess up and it doesn't increase when we do good although he is pleased when we do good. There is no force on heaven or earth that can stop God from loving us ... except if we ourselves reject God and totally turn away from him and <br />
even then he will try to draw us back to him until the end of our lives.<br />
<br />
this is incredibly comforting. I can't lose God's love unless I reject him. When I sin I may wonder why God puts up with me but I know he doesn't stop loving me. There was a time a few years ago when I strayed away from god and got into some stuff that I regret very much now. When I came back to god he didn't say "I'm not taking you back, my love for you has died because of your actions". no no no! He took me back, cleaned me up and put me back on the pathway to walk with him. If he did that for me he will do that for you, whatever you have done. If he could forgive and use the Apostle Paul, who persecuted the Church of /god in Jerusalem, then he can forgive anyone who asks him. Isn't that great news! How awesome God's love for us is!<br />
<br />
<br />
This is what the Apostle Paul says about god's love:<br />
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We need to realise that even if we don't feel that God loves us, he really does. In times like this we have to choose to believe what we know is true rather than relying on our own feelings or knowledge. <br />
<br />
A point to remember is thatGod doesn't love us sparingly but willingly, lavishly, more than we can ever imagine. He doesn't accept us into his family grudgingly but welcomes us and loves us and works in our lives because he wants us to be the best we can be and he wants us to glorify him.<br />
<br />
It does us good to reflect on these things. today I spent a few minutes thinking about who God is and reflecting on his great and awesome love. i came away from that feeling very grateful and deeply loved. I was thinking about the verse:<br />
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. <br />
[John 3:16]<br />
I only got as far as "for god so loved the world" but there will be other times to reflect on the rest of it. I'm glad I took the time to do it today, I often get too busy and caught up with things but we all need to take more time to read god's word and think about what it says and how we can apply God's word to our lives. It draws us closer to god and helps us to learn more about god, or ourselves, or whatever we have been reading or reflecting on. I hope you will take some time soon to reflect on the verse at the top of this message, or on any verse you find that talks of god's love. We really need to know and believe that god does love us and that he showed it by sending Jesus<br />
"who loved me and gave himself for me." <br />
Galatians 2:20c. <br />
<br />
Prayer:<br />
God we thank you for your amazing, unfailing, steadfast love. thank you that you did adopt us into your family through Jesus. thank you that he did give himself for us. Lord help us to reflect on your great love so that we will have a deeper understanding of it and so that we will truly believe that you do love us, despite what the enemy may tell us.<br />
we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056433411600594531.post-38246672778115858792011-08-30T13:35:00.000-07:002011-08-30T13:35:06.443-07:00Prayer, study 1Today I want to share some thoughts with you about prayer. there is so much I want to say about it that it will probably end up being more than one study. <br />
<br />
Prayer is, very simply, talking to god. When my dad was alive and I wanted to ask him for something or even just to spend time with him I didn't drag myself into his room on my knees and grovel at his feet and say something like "O most noble father I beseech thee that in thy mercy I may make a request of thee, unworthy wretch that I am,..." I would walk into his room and say "Hey dad can I talk to you about something?" Now it is true that god is absolutely worthy of respect and we should thank him for the privilege of prayer, but because of what Jesus has done for us we have every right to come into the presence of our Heavenly Father as i had the right to come into my earthly father's room and talk to him. The bible says:<br />
<br />
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.<br />
[Hebrews 4:16]<br />
<br />
We are god's children, the bible says;<br />
Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this <br />
[Ephesians 1:5 GWT]<br />
<br />
god chose to make us his children and he wants us to come and spend time with him, just like earthly parents are happy when their children just want to spend time with them. It is true that we are sinners and we don't deserve the kindness and mercy god has lavished on us, it is true that we do so many things that god does not approve of, yet he doesn't' turn away from us. He forgives us and cleanses us and restores us to fellowship with him. <br />
<br />
So prayer is spending time with god; sometimes talking to him, sometimes listening to him, sometimes just being silent in his presence. God wants us to pray to him, he wants to fellowship with us. <br />
<br />
If I had a child who came to me every day and repeated the same words and phrases each and every day, i would get frustrated after a while. god wants us to pray to him from our heart, telling him the things that are on our minds. We have seen already that we can talk to God like we would talk to an earthly father, respectfully but naturally. god knows our needs before we voice them so we don't need to repeat prayers or even use the same words every day when we pray. If someone wants to pray but doesn't know what to say to god then they might benefit from saying a prayer that some other Christian has written, it might give them a place to start from and give them ideas to pray about. I have some prayers written by others that on occasion I use to guide my praying but on the whole I think it's best to pray from our hearts. <br />
<br />
I would also encourage those who don't know how to pray or what to pray for to turn to the book of Psalms which is basically the bible's prayer book as well as being the songbook of the scriptures. there are other prayers in the bible such as the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, or Paul's prayers scattered throughout his writings. These prayers are divinely inspired as all the word of god is divinely inspired. I plan to do a study on using the Lord's prayer as a prayer guide but that's for another time.<br />
<br />
Also I think we should try to avoid using the same words whenever we pray for something. sometimes we find words that express so well the things we feel that we put those words in our minds and the next time we pray we use the same words to pray for the same thing. Our prayers can become just something we say by rote if we do that. If we make the effort to find new ways to pray for the same things each time we pray then we are more involved in our praying. <br />
<br />
For an example, a person might say grace every time using these words:<br />
"Father thank you for this food, bless it to me in Jesus' name amen." After a while it becomes just a routine to say those words before eating. those words are fine but if the person made an effort and used different words such as <br />
<br />
"Lord I'm so blessed that I have this good food to eat, thank you for giving it to me lord and thank you for the good it is going to do to me. I pray in the name of Jesus, amen." <br />
<br />
then he or she would be more involved in their praying and it would remind them to be truly grateful to god for the blessings they have received.<br />
There are formulas for prayer such as STAR [Sorry, thanks, adoration and requests] which might help some people in their praying but they need to be careful it doesn't become just a routine of repeated words. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
When we pray we pray in the name of Jesus. What that means is that we know on our own merits we don't have the right to pray or expect god to hear us, but because of what Jesus has done for us we are able confidently to enter god's presence and we know our prayers are heard and will be answered in his way and timing. The bible says:<br />
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever<br />
we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.<br />
[1 John 5:14-15].<br />
<br />
Let's talk for a bit about answered prayer. Sometimes we can pray and pray about something and nothing happens. It can be discouraging but we must never give up. <br />
<br />
When we pray, god will give us one of 3 answers: yes, no or wait. <br />
<br />
sometimes he will say "yes" and we will receive the thing we asked for. sometimes he will say "No" and we need to accept that he has good and sufficient reasons for saying that. Other times he will tell us to wait. Waiting on God produces patience and trust in him and also produces perseverance which is important.<br />
<br />
We don't know how to pray as we ought, sometimes all we can do is tell god what's on our hearts and ask his help. The bible says;<br />
And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will. <br />
[Romans 8:27]<br />
<br />
<br />
so if you have a situation and you find it hard to pray about, remember that the Holy spirit is praying to God for you. <br />
<br />
It can be nice having friends or Church Members praying for you if there is some need in your life. there is power in united prayer. The bible says <br />
<br />
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."<br />
[Matthew 18:19-20]<br />
<br />
I meet every week with a little group of people and we have a prayer meeting. I'm always inspired by them. They pray for anything from world governments to members of the website who are unwell or anything else. <br />
I think something like that is a real blessing because we agree with each other's prayers and pray for each other. It might be beneficial for you to find a little group and make a time to pray together online or offline. <br />
<br />
The bible says:<br />
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. <br />
<br />
the Pastor at my church makes time in our prayer times during the Church service to pray for those who are ill or need surgery. He and one or two deacons will come and lay their hand on the person and the pastor will anoint them with oil, just a little cross on the forehead, and they will pray for the person. This doesn't mean that the Pastor's prayers are more effective than the sick person's prayer, god is not a respecter of persons, it's just that they are praying for the sick person in agreement with what James says in the bible passage above.<br />
<br />
We can pray to god anywhere at any time but it's a good idea to have a special place and time set aside for prayer. I pray in my room, when I first wake up in the morning, at some point in the afternoon and just whenever throughout the day. <br />
<br />
Prayer Problems:<br />
1. The biggest pitfall to prayer is our lack of faith. The bible says:<br />
<br />
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. <br />
[James 1:6-8]<br />
<br />
and Jesus has this to say:<br />
And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.<br />
[Mark 11:22-24]<br />
And the writer of the book of Hebrews warns us:<br />
<br />
And without faith it is impossible to please him [god], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.<br />
[Hebrews 11:6]\<br />
2. I don't know about you but whenever I go to pray my mind comes up with a whole stack of things I need to do now and if i persist in prayer all kinds of stray thoughts cross my mind to distract me. We can get around that by asking god's help to control our straying thoughts. He will help us if we sincerely ask him. <br />
3. sometimes when things happen we think "O, I need to pray about this." but when we get to our prayer time we have forgotten what we wanted to pray for. We need to keep a list of things and people we are praying for. I have a file on my computer and I've divided the things I'm praying for into groups like financial needs, healing, missionaries and ministries, prayer needs from my friends, prayer needs for me, etc. During my prayer time I might say "Right I"m going to pray for financial needs today" so I will go down the list and pray over each need. It really helps me to have that file and know what I need to pray for. We need to be guided by God about what things he wants us to pray about. We might be praying for one thing and God will tell us we nee to pray for something else, then we need to drop what we are doing and pray for what God has revealed to us.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm sure I will have more to say about prayer at a later time but I'm going to finish this for now.<br />
<br />
Questions:<br />
<br />
These are just questions to ponder or talk about with God.<br />
1. Why do you think prayer is so important in the Christian life?<br />
2. What are the problems you have in praying ?<br />
3. Have you created a prayer list with all the things you are praying for. If yes, do you find it helpful. <br />
4. what are the problems in prayer that you have experienced?<br />
<br />
<br />
rishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12295415018767995356noreply@blogger.com0