God’s will

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Do you hear people pray: “God if it is your will please heal aunty Betty”. We do not need to pray like that with regard to healing. Jesus paid the price for all our diseases.

Isaiah 53:5 says “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Peter said: ““He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Then why are some people not healed? I do not know. However, I do know that all who came to Jesus for healing went away healed. The fact that some go away I healed does not compute that it was not God’s will to heal them.

For myself I am constantly battling to step into divine health and refuse to accept sickness. I am there again. I hear my Lord say, step into healing and refuse to buy the lie! This can be challenging especially when all my nursing says sit, lay still. My God welcomes me to get up and walk past the sickness. He is God, I am not. If I let my natural training and understanding rule, I will be bound tight by disease. I cannot shop at the stalls of sickness. Amen!

Propitiation?

“God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.”Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Propitiation is a big word and one we do not use, except in scripture and except when talking about forgiveness of sin and usually the Old Testament. The mercy seat, the place on top of the ark of the covenant in the holiest of holiest in the Jewish temple, was where the blood of animals was sprinkled to atone for the sins of the people. This scripture presents Jesus as the sacrificed lamb who atoned (paid for) our sins.

Jesus’ sacrifice made a way for forgiveness of all sin for all time, past, present and future. When I came to Christ He forgave all my sins, those that weighed me down in my past, those I would do now and in the future. Sin is something we do easily until trained to walk in holiness and His righteousness. We do this by faith not self- effort. When we come to Jesus He gives us His Holy Spirit to counsel us, to guide us and to encourage us. He leads us to right ways and helps us stear away from wrong ways.

We have confidence that forgiveness is ours as we come in humble repentance. Jesus’ sacrifice is enough for all mankind for all time. He does not look for us to be good enough, for He knows we are unable. We are like sheep that have gone astray, yet He loves us. 

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RGDymdgGL7Q&si=131kJKbEhoRIAuED

Firstborn

“No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is a beautiful reference to Jesus and the the fact that God would not allow His holy One to rot in a grave. Peter includes this verse in his first sermon in Acts 2:25–36.

It is amazing, and encouraging to me that prophesy can be included in a simple, heartfelt prayer. How good is our God that He works in our lives in such a beautiful way.

This Easter has been my best yet. In a land that does not celebrate Easter as a whole, we expats are able to celebrate Jesus without Easter eggs and the western corruption of the season. We did have hot cross buns, though made with love by a South African couple. My flatmates and I did 5 Lenten studies leading up to Easter and yesterday three little children in our block of flats heard the Easter story and received a hot cross bun.

10,000 people from church across Kathmandu marched through the city and met at a field to share a time of worship. I had prayed that the message impacted non-believers alike.

The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead gives us hope of eternal life. He was the ‘firstborn’ of all creation. When Jesus rose from the dead He was the first son of resurrection life. He calls us brothers and sisters, all who have faith in Him.

Thank You Jesus for the new life you give me! Amen!

Overcomes

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today many will be suffering. Suffering from torture, suffering from isolation, suffering from rejection, and persecution. Some many suffer from illness, or mental disease. However, Jesus tells us, have heart, I have overcome the world and all it dishes out. 

Jesus said these words before He went to the cross, before He was brutally beaten and crucified. He said it in the past tense. What did He mean?

Jesus had resisted sin, remained the pure and perfect lamb that was about to be slain. In giving Himself, He conquered over Satan’s hold on us. No matter what comes against us we can have peace and victory in Him.

We can take His victory and stand today knowing that eternity is ours because of Jesus! Amen!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FnDfQg5odp8&si=SoQai1ItP_BcR9W1

A day of grief

“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.”John‬ ‭16‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today, for me is a quiet day. Yesterday we experienced the horrors of the crucifixion, tomorrow the joy of resurrection, but today is quiet and filled with reflection.

The horror story of Good Friday was terrifying for the disciples. They had lost their dream, their rabbi. They had plans, great plans, but today they lie in the dust.

We can have periods of intense grief, losing one loved dearly, but joy will come. The place they occupied is empty, but a new thing is coming. The emptiness hurts. The disciples had walked, talked and lived with Jesus. He was brutally taken away. This day was filled with pain and sorrow. The pain is real. It was real for the disciples. It was redefining them. In their minds nothing would stop them, they would conquer the earth. However, today their plans are shattered and in the dust.

Today is the day for the grief-stricken. Your only hope is Jesus. He will heal you and complete you in a way you did not know. He has a plan and a purpose for your life, still! Allow Him to do the new things and joy will come. His plans are best! Amen!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=GfYo9-vJQUk&si=ZDN4WMPcSiytnCTa

The sacrifice

“No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.”John‬ ‭15‬:‭13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Jesu passed men dying on crosses as He went into Jerusalem. He saw the brutality of the Roman crucifixion and knew what was before Him. The horror of it caused Him to pray, not once, but three times, “Father if it is possible let this cup pass from Me!” Yet in humble obedience He endured the cross knowing that it is why He had come, so that we could be made free and reunited to the Father.

Isaiah wrote, ‘It please God to crush Him severely, yet when you make Him a restitution offering He will see His seed…Is 53:10). I was discussing this verse with my Nepali flatmates last night and Martha gave me a short video clip to watch. I will share it. It helped me see that it was not actual pleasure as we know pleasure, it was a necessary sacrifice.

The Jewish Bible writes it this way:

“yet it pleased Adonai to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand Adonai’s desire will be accomplished.”

‭‭Yesha 'yahu (Isa)‬ ‭53‬:‭10‬ ‭CJB‬‬

Jesus thank you that you sacrificed yourself for us. I am so grateful! Without that sacrifice I would be in a bad place. You gave me new life. You redeemed my life from the pit. Thank You!

https://youtu.be/iJOeiT1IkhY?si=XfYNHAEJBTD5-Ts2

Living bread

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭51‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This verse encapsulates what and who Jesus was. He was God, He came down from heaven to live among men for 33 years. 30 of those years were in obscurity to men. Three of those years turned the religious world upside down.

Jesus calls Himself living bread. Just as we eat food everyday, He invites us to eat of Him, all that He represented. He then tells us, “whoever eats of this bread will live forever”. Then He explains that ‘this’ bread is His flesh, which He would give ‘for the life of the world’. Jesus was about to be crucified for all mankind for all eternity. He was the perfect sacrifice, pure and undefined. His sacrifice freed us from the power and defilement of sin.

Today, if we turn to Him and lay down our pride, ask for forgiveness and invite Him in, He sets us free from all darkness and gives us joy unimaginable.

You cannot save yourself, that is why Jesus came. Your own goodness is not enough. Paul the apostles says it like this:’none is good, no not one’.Romans 3:10

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is only one way, and that way is Jesus! Amen!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=l3-XroRBMrE&si=r5lk_5M0egyIMHSU