God Is Love

God is love and the Christian is to show Love.... But first... you must love Jesus.

You cannot truly love your brother or sister if you do not truly love Jesus.

He died for you and freed you from sin.  He showed his love for you by dying for you.

Do you love Jesus?

How is it manifested in your life?

Do you hide from Him or seek Him?

Do you wait for Him in prayer or only on Sundays?

What does it mean to Love Jesus?

It means to put Him first.

It means to obey Him.

It means to love one another.

It means to love God.

The great question which all rational beings must answer is this: "Do you love Jesus Christ?"   As Christians we must ask it often. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments"

Refiners Fire

Malachi 3:2-3

Who can endure the day of His coming 

And who can stand the day He appears?

For He is like a refiners fire and like a launderers soap

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; 

He will purge the sons of Levi

And purge them as gold and silver

That they may offer to the Lord

An offering in righteousness

The refiner’s fire that Jesus takes us through, He went through Himself. He went through it and suffered and died for our sake so that we would not have to deal with the flames ourselves. Jesus took that fire upon Himself, though He did not have to, and Jesus offers us salvation from our sins because of what he did.

But then Jesus tells us that if we truly want to follow Him, we are going to have to go where He leads. Jesus doesn't promise us complete prosperity and ease of life. What Jesus does promise is a life that is good.

1Peter 1:6-7

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Promises, Promises Promises!

In Genesis God makes a clear and comprehensive promise to Abram 'I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great, And so you will be a blessing'. When we as humans make promises we enter in to a contract usually with the intention of fulfilling the contract being made, an example when a groom and bride stand facing each other on their wedding day they make  promises to one another with the full intention of keeping them, many fail in the promises made during their wedding vows .

 Not so with God when he makes promises you can be confident  he will fulfill them he is faithful . The problem arises when the promises do not come to fruition within our time scale, as was the case for Abram. 
God promised that he would have descendants that would become a nation that takes time which Abram clearly did not factor into the promise,  having descendants does not happen over night, but he makes a common mistake he helps God out, through his own scheme rather than waiting for God's plan to come about. Patience is not a gift many of us have but it is a fruit of the Spirit which is given by God and developed within us all we need to do is to ask for it, it is not instant, it is a life time lesson for some of us to learn but learn it we must.
 Blessings Ray     

And Jesus said......

Jesus said 'I am the way, the truth and the life no one can come to the Father except through me'


Jesus said 'I am the Way' he is the one who leads to the path of life, it is only through Him that we can be with God. If you turn up at an airport wanting to travel to South Africa then you need to board a plane that is heading to South Africa, no other plane will take you there. Jesus is the only way to the Father.
 Jesus said 'I am the truth' no other man on this earth can claim to be such. There is no one on this planet who never lied or did anything wrong, so no one can claim to be the truth, except Jesus because He is God himself and there is no sin or lie within Him.


Jesus said 'I am the Life' What is the meaning of life about which Jesus is talking? Are we dead and do we need life? Lets see what it is about. We read in Romans 3:23, 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' And also in Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord.'


All have sinned and so we are lifeless because our soul is dead in sin. because of our sins we are heading towards death - eternal death. But Jesus came into this world to save us from hell. He gave His precious life for us. he shed His precious blood on the cross to purchase freedom for us.


He gave His life for us but now we have to claim life - eternal life, so that we may never die but live forever. Jesus came to give us eternal life - a life that will never fade. He came to give us life abundant and it is available free of cost because Jesus paid the price for it on the cross.


The Good News of Jesus is for all; it welcomes all just as we are. but if that loving invitation into God's Kingdom is to be accepted, it requires radical change of those parts of our human nature that fall short of God's will for His creation. you may recall that the very first recorded words of Jesus in Mark's account 1:15 are these 'The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the Gospel/the Good News.' The challenge to repent, to turn away from what is selfish and sinful, in order to receive something better - that challenge has always provoked a mixed response.


We are called to preach the whole Gospel, not an edited version, not an inoffensive Gospel like lead free petrol or wheat free bread the gospel only comes with power if there is repentance. 


Blessings
Ray

And He will be called.....

For to us a child is born

to us a child is given,

and the government will be on HIs shoulders

and He will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:6

Wonderful Counselor - through the birth and death of Jesus, a priceless gift arrived, the Wonderful Counselor sent to dwell in all the hearts of those who would believe. Is He guiding you? Surrender your life to His leadership, what He has for you is beyond anything you could imagine. 1 Corinthians 3:9

Mighty God - We follow a Mighty God, not like the gods of this world, or the gods Isaiah had in mind when he wrote this prophecy. Isaiah was surrounded by gods who were impotent and brought death but we have a God who is mighty to save. This is what makes our God mighty, scripture tell us that while we were dead in our sins He made us alive!

 Our Everlasting Father is compassionate, He is not angry with us, he is concerned about the smallest things in our lives and when He corrects us He does it to bring us closer to Him, not to condemn us or drive us away. He wants for us to be His children.

Prince of Peace - we long for peace in our lives....in our thoughts, decisions, emotions, relationships, families and our world. He is our Prince of Peace, our refuge throughout the storms in our lives.

The Government is on his shoulders all authority is with him, he is the one who is in charge of this world and as Christians we have access to the everlasting father because of the birth of this child Jesus let us honour him.

Blessings Without Warnings  Ray x 

My Son's Testimony

January Sales

I have a friend who would readily admit to the January sales being a highlight of her year. With Christmas over now comes the lure of grabbing a bargain. Another friend commented 'IT IS ONLY A BARGAIN IF YOU NEED IT'

We live in a world that has bred an ideology driven by consumerism, my desires, my needs are of paramount importance it encourages having, rather than being. Historically this ideology was the reserve of the privileged class; but now it is expected and required by many.

I read a story today with photos of a Celebrity Chef spending £30,000 on a hair transplant, it was required to retain his youthful look for American TV so he would remain popular with the viewers.
The followers of this now established 'Good Life' ideology are driven by the hollow promises that offer so much but leaves them hungry for more, it conditions them to live dissatisfied, disillusioned lives chasing what is not catchable because satisfaction is always just around the corner.
There is no question the Bible clearly teaches us personal responsibility and the idea of doing our very best in everything we do, but have we subtly bought into the same ideology as the world? Is Church about me and what I require? Has God just become another avenue for me to become fulfilled rather than the true worship of God?
Timothy Vaverek prescribes a three-fold Christian response to the life of consumerism

1. Through self-denial turning away from inessential desires of will and flesh.
2. Through prayer a deeper communion with God leading to the path of self-sacrificial love.
3. Through works of mercy and charity, places our focus away from us to others.

If we commit ourselves to the higher call of Christ, the world will see the glory of God in and through His church. Titus 2:11-14 'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age....'