Nothing can separate us

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭38‬-‭39‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We live in a world where deep and lasting love is rare, and is see by the special few. However, my Bible tells me that God’s love is not fickle, but enduring.

When we think on the above verses there are some powerful things mentioned. Yet, this scripture tells me God’s love is for real and greater than all powers fighting against me.

People may reject me and walk away, but He is faithful. As someone who has accepted Jesus as Lord, I am confident that the sacrifice Jesus made is enough to cover all my sins and keep me in His love.

While we were steeped in sin He died for us so that we could be united with Him in eternity. Nothing I have done separates me from His love. What a crazy God we have! His forgiveness never ends. He wants my love in return. He has it! Amen!

Rejection

“Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;”Mark‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Whilst ever Jesus was silent and did not walk in His destiny He was accepted, yet, the moment He stepped up to walk in His calling He was rejected by those with the power to kill the body. These same people had been given authority to rule over the biblical truth, however, they failed in recognising God’s gift to them for they did not understand Isaiah 53. The religious leaders were expecting Jesus to be a conquering king not a humble preacher who healed the sick. This misunderstanding caused them to crucify Him.

Those of us who face rejection face the same tribunal of people who think they have the angle on truth but do not. The truth they claim comes from their own flesh and the world in which they live. As someone who was a Catholic for 19 years and then left to become born again, all my relatives think I am an apostate. For those who function in worldly wisdom, these people think I am a fool for walking away from the cash cow. Because their mindset is worldly they will not understand until they themselves become a servant of lord and are willing to seeve him only and not cash.

Rejection is inevitable when we are judged by those of a different mindset and priority. We must align ourselves with the One who was Himself rejected but who sacrificed Himself for our salvation. My priority must be Jesus! Amen!

Enter

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

While this psalm is not the shortest psalm, it comes close. Psalm 117 wins that prize coming in a two verses. Psalm 100 has five verses. However, it has a similar style, both are exhorting us to praise the Lord.

Hopefully this psalm causes us to think. It begins with ‘shout’ triumphantly, moves on to ‘serve’ gladly, ‘come’ with joy, ‘acknowledge’ God as God, then ‘enter’ His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. It ends with a why do all this: for God is good, and His love is eternal, His faithfulness endures to all generations.

When Jesus was asked to teach the disciples to pray He said: ‘Our Father who are in in heaven, holy be Your name, may Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth’. He started with praise and honour, long before we get to us: ‘give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil’.

We may be consumed with ‘us’ but He comes first. We are not God! Entering His courts and gates is an honour and we need to show that respect no matter what is going on in our hearts. We will get to us just as the Lord’s Prayer does, but first He needs to be praised. Amen!

Speaking Jesus

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As I patiently wait for the language to speak to my neighbours, I pray. I pray daily and consistently for the place I find myself in, I pray for my home country and pray for the various people groups that stand out to me in the world.

I post these blogs and use social media to make a stand. I am travelling back to Australia on 26/5 for a month, I am looking forward to sharing my faith there. Meantimes I will pray for people to have dreams and visions of Jesus.

I cannot pretend that the role of sharing my faith is not a real one, it is. I am grateful that my son and his children are out there evangelising. Praise God! I am blessed to see this. However, I have a part to play. Amen!

Truth in prophesy

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”

‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Truth is not found within us, we are a fallen people. Truth has to come from someone that is pure and without sin. Jesus is the only man born without sin, who lived without sin. The above words were spoken by Him. He was speaking about the Holy Spirit who was poured out, on the believers in Jesus, on Pentecost Sunday. From that day timid fishermen became bold speakers about Jesus.

Not only does the Holy Spirit speak about Jesus, what He has heard from Jesus, He speaks prophetically about the future. The believer in Jesus carries the Holy Spirit  in their hearts. Under divine inspiration, much like Peter’s first preach in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit fills a person with vision and boldness. In the Book of Acts we see many such divine encounters and hear prophesy being given.

The prophesy of the Holy Spirit is given for edification , rebuke and encouragement. The Lord wants His people to be holy as He is holy. We are to be set apart for His work and His purposes. We are told to test prophesy. In other words prayerfully accept it and wait on God for His direction. If we are concerned about a prophesy given to us ask those mature in the Lord to discern with us the truth of the word given.

Jeremiah battled against false prophets in his day. The word God had given Him was dire, God’s people were going to be taken captive because of their sins, the false prophets told the people “all is well, nothing bad will happen”. Jeremiah was persecuted, however his words proved true. The Book of Revelation is filled with dire prophesy. It tells of things to come. It is the only prophetic book in the New Testament, apart from the words spoken by Jesus in the gospels. He spoke of the future and it was not pretty.

Having said all this, I am not encouraging anyone to be a prophet of doom. This is a heavy task and only given to true prophets by the Holy Spirit. A prophet must be recognised in the body of Christ as a prophet. Every believer can prophesy but not all carry the mantle of a prophet. Be wise! Amen!

Glory

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.”Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

If we stop and think about this verse, we come to realise that the skies tell a tale of the glory of a creator. The perfect symmetry, exact distances, the amazing uniqueness of the Earth, the Sun and Moon the smallness of our solar system in the vastness of space shows intelligent design.

A chance glorious sunset is enough to cause our hearts to wonder and praise. I come from Tamworth, NSW, Australia where we had the best sunsets. My flat faced the west and every day glory would streak the sky. I would find myself running outside to snap pictures and fill my phone wit sunsets all so diverse and yet so similarly full of glory.

I am now in Nepal and such sunsets are rare. Yesterday I was walking at sunset and saw a few rose -pink clouds and was in raptures. How easy I am caught with joy!

As an astronomer, I wonder at the constellations, the Milky Way, the distant planets. I appreciate the technology in the James Webb and Hubble telescopes that enable us to zero in on beauty hidden in the dark night skies. 

As a child of God I worship the creator of all this and know my God is real. He is magestic and worthy of praise. Amen!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=lCurAnLiwiY&si=-rAvJUJ0zjKI3Yrk

Words

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In this chapter Paul is addressing works of the flesh and giving a good reason for living righteously:

“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.”Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In the book of Revelation we see something about the church at Ephesus. They were doing many good things but the one the the Lord had against them is they had lost their first love. When we lose our first love we become jaded with others and sink into the flesh. We start to listen to the accuser of the brethren and do and say things that are ungodly.

I have watched the opposite happen. I have a friend who frustrated me no end and caused me to react and complain. Now, I love that friend and fully appreciate him. As I have changed and continued to pray for him he has also changed, to become more godly.

 My constant challenge is to love the Lord like I did at the beginning. I was so thankful and joyful. May ai constant stay in that place for the outcome for the church at Ephesus was that the Lord would remove their lamp stand.

In looking at the history of the church at Ephesus there was a gradual decline, and it was eventually called the church of Mary. There was a debate about the deity of Christ at birth in the third ecumenical council. The church survived until the 12 century and now is in an area ruled by muslims.

If we want our faith to produce fruits that last we must stay true to our God. He is worthy of all praise. We would do well to continually come back to our first love. Amen!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1E70xEt3wIM&si=62kkgzIdv0mFiZVG