Posts

Good seeds of righteousness

“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’” Hosea‬ ‭10‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The book of Hosea was primarily written against Israel. Israel was in a time of prosperity but in it forsook the Lord for foreign gods. This verse is a call to repentance, but it was not heeded. Prosperity tends to allow pride and falsehood. The west has prospered but turned away from their God. People elevate their own opinions, own desires and are hardened to God’s heart and His desires. We do well to open our ears to what God is saying to us in this verse. If we diligently read the Bible we hear calls back to our first love, Jesus. He died so that we might have new life. He blesses us with His goodness and presence in our hearts. Do we allow Him to reign or is the throne of our hearts usurped by king I? Are our lives consumed with comfort and en...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pride

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!” Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭30‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ If there is one thing the Lord hates, it is pride. Satan’s fall was pride in self. We read in the book of Daniel how Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a great tree in which the birds enjoyed living but is was cut down and a metal band was places around it and for seven years it could not grow. The dream spoke of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in self and God’s judgement. Daniel warned him not to be proud and he held it in check for 12 months but then he let it loose. In the book of Ezekiel God’s prophet is required to prophesy against Egypt and Assyria. They became tall tress but were cut down by the Lord, because of their pride. Our Bible is full of such stories. Pride d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pride and humility

“In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.”  1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What causes us to be proud? Personal success does this. We fail to give glory to our God who enables us this success. We easily think we have done it when our God has made a way. Pride causes us to mismanage our relationships with others. We treat them as less than ourselves. We use them as pawns in a game, and this is wrong. We are called to love and honour. How is our God wanting us to treat these people? Yesterday, I had a call from my music teacher to ask me to attend my class a day earlier as today is a holiday in rememberance of the lives lost last year in the youth uprising. I was out of home but happily obliged. My teacher was coveri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Let go and trust

“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”  John‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬-‭32‬, ‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We often hear the verse, “ and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”. But, do we give knowledge to the rest? We are truely His disciples if we remain in Him and are faithful to His teachings? We cannot give the nod to Jesus’ teachings and not practise them. He is the source of life, if we remain in Him. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He alone is truth, there is no other truth. He is the word made flesh. In other words the embodiment of God’s eternal word. John tells us in Chapter 1:  “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.”  John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We associate ‘word’ with black letters on a page. They...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lord watches over you

“The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭121‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I am awake at midnight and have been praying for those still alive and caught in the recent flood here in Nepal. People are still being found. Yesterday a 60yo lady was found, a young boy was found and several hydro workers have been rescued. I think of thise still alive in mud and rubble. I imagine what it must be like to be trapped and unable to save yourself. A small baby was also found in rubble. How can life sustain for so long without food or water?  What would be going through the minds of the people. Whilst these people were found. What about those who may not have been found and lay trapped knowing they were probably going to die buried alive. I pray they encountered Jesus.  Lord have mercy! You are our life, our strength and our song.
Post a Comment
Read more

Fear of the Lord

“Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Respect for who God is the beginning of knowledge. Treating Him like a genie does not work. Treating Him like a doting parent also fails. He is the God who created all things. The vastness of the universe is His. Yes He has called us to be sons and daughters along with His Son, but remember what His Son was willing to do in obedience to Him. This morning I am confronted with the bigness of what God has called me to do. He reminds me of Moses. Whilst I am 72, Moses was 80. He had a cushy, well, comfortable job tending sheep in the backside of the desert. He had all day out of the house and alone with the sheep. He did not want the job of confronting Pharaoh or shepherding 1,000,000+ recalcitrant Israelis. Scripture show us how he dragged his heels. I can relate! God has an unusual sense of humour but He knows His plans and He knows us well. Like Moses I do not want...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flesh or spirit

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Is fruit something we just talk about or are really engaged in producing. Are they relevant to the Christian life? If the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is absent, then what are we? walking lies? Jesus told His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. A cross crucifies. We must crucify our flesh. Paul goes on the say: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”  Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬ So that we know what to crucify, let’s look at the works of the flesh: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of a...
Post a Comment
Read more