pleasing God

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Simcere searches are rewarded. Do you remember either yourself or your children being told to go and look for something,  and not finding that thing told you didn't really look?

God is like this. He is waiting for genuine searches. Imagine being one of those who Jesus came to visit after His resurrection,  how good would that have been? Now imagine you were one who hears about Him visiting others, but He did not visit you! How would you feel?

A similar scenario is about to be played out in the return of Christ.  Jesus Himself said: two would be in a field, one will be taken the other left (Matt 24:40). Jesus was constantly saying things like: he who has an ear let him hear.

We must pay attention. He is returning soon. Tonight the Western world is running around pretending to be witches and warlocks for Halloween.  Satan is gleeful. Many will be lost. What are we doing to our children?

a need for faith

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Faith says: Jesus is enough, He paid the price, He covered all my sin: past, present and future. There is nothing more to add, He is my goodness, my righteousness, my completeness.

Today I can walk in acceptance of this truth and live for Him, trusting Him to use me for His glory.

My faith in Him is what gives Him pleasure, it opens doors for me and strengthens me. My faith is essential and necessary. Amen!

God's representative

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17 NLT

Oh God! We can confront in a way that destroys or builds up. Admittedly being confronted is not easy, initially it can be painful, I pray that it allows room for recovery. I did this today, however I also did other things well. 

Today I invited a friend to drop her two daughters to my house next Sunday after I return from church, and I will teach them Sunday School. She asked if she could come as well. Praise God! I have dreamed of this. 

I also attended a fund raiser for my great nephew who is travelling to Singapore to play soccer. That went well. I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. I spoke to another nephew and was asked to join the family on Christmas Day again, and make the icecream cake I made last year. It is good when people remember. Praise God!

I then went and helped my first nephew weed his front garden. He and his partner were grateful and invited me to a circus next Saturday for my nephews birthday. I have a plan to surprise him. We will see how it goes. Always be open to creative solutions. Amen!

whatever you do

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17 NLT

Sometimes we can be caught in a web of deception and not know it. In an effort to stay connected with family we can inadvertently  be coaxed to say more than we should to a member whose goal is fact finding about another member, without a heart concern, in other words a gossip. Then the original member discovers our involvement and is offended and hurt. The unfortunate thing about fact finders is they talk to you more  and make you feel wanted. Therein lies the deception. 

Why am ai talking about this? Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat. Well, we can be the goose if not careful. In all our conversations godliness must be woven, love and forgiveness must be present. If selfish ambition is present then they are not. The desire for connection can couch selfishness and deception. Yuk!

Speaking from experience, devastation can only result. Only Jesus can heal the wounds, only Jesus is saviour, not I. Amen!

right in His sight

This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:17 NLT

In the book fo Esther we see Esther having to go to the king, her husband, to ask for mercy for her people. However, even though she was queen, she could be killed to going uninvited. Esther received favour from the king, and all was well.

As Christians we have favour before the King of Kings, because of Jesus. Without the blood of Christ it was a scary  time for those who came into God's presence. They could die instantly if they failed to come correctly. 

We are blessed because of Jesus and Jesus alone! He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Amen!

good news

This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:17 NLT

Last night I went to the movies with girlfriendd to watch Mrs Harris goes to Paris. Mrs Harris is inspired to buy a Christian Dior dress, and has several windfalls which enables a cleaning lady to travel to Paris to buy an expensive dress. All silly nonsense, but apparently the story around the woman who changes the course of a fashion house has some merit. 

We have a better windfall than dollars or dresses, we have eternal life. Jesus gives us the good news in the gospels, especially John 3:16. Paul, the writer of Romans had the same experience. He was travelling the way of a religious zealot, persecuting Christians, when Jesus knocks him from his horse and asks why Paul is persecuting Him. Paul had what is called a paradigm shift. I have had this shift, from religious Catholic to a born again believer with a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

Yesterday I read a post about a born again Catholic believer who still is a Catholic. Not being a Catholic anymore suits me as I found Jesus outside the Catholic system. However, it still works for some. I have a cousin who enjoys the system while having a living faith. 

The important message is being born again into eternal life. Amen!

truth

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

1 Corinthians 13:6 NLT

As  Christians we fight for truth daily, in ourselves, our families and friends and our communities and countries. Our enemy is fighting fiercely for his way of lies, bondage and theft.

We fool ourselves if we assume for a minute that anything has changed. Satan no longer cloakes himself in deceptive niceness, now he is going for the jugular, our jugular. We must rise up and battle the lies or our babies and children will be sold into death and destruction.

Love is what God is, not lust or 'lets not offend anyone' lies. Love confronts lovingly and in a spirit of reconciliation.  We have the mandate of reconciliation upon us, let's walk in it with authority. We have Halloween to confront next week. Let us do it in a loving spirit. Amen!