Extolling God

  Extolling God

The Psalmist writes,

"I will extol the LORD at all times; 

his praise will always be on my lips. 

My soul will boast in the LORD; 

let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 

Glorify the LORD with me; 

let us exalt his name together." 

                                        Psalm 34:1-3.

If nothing else the New Testament shows Jesus and his apostles experienced all that it is to be human. They attended weddings. The followed the rules set down in the Torah. They interacted with people of all walks of life.

They were also beaten, thrown in prison all but one dying for their faith. Yet through all of this they praised God. They praised him not only in the good times, but after they’d been beaten and while they were in prison.

They praised God because they knew that even in their darkest hour God was with them. 

How about you; do you praise God in the good times and in the bad?

Please think about it.

God or Money?

 God or money?

In Proverbs

Those who trust in their riches will fall, 

but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

                                                               Proverbs 11:28

The Psalmist writes,

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, 

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." 

                                                                            Psalm 20:7.

Jesus said,

"The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate theone and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" Matthew 6:22-24 

So here is a simple question to anyone who calls themselves a Christian. A true believer in Christ Jesus.

In what or in whom do you put your trust?

Please think about it.

By this they will know

  By this they will know

Jesus said,

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34,35.

Do you show love to other Christians? Do you show love to those around you, family, friend and foe alike?

Jesus when asked,

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 

This is the first and greatest commandment. 

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:36-40.

Francis of Assisi wrote a prayer I think all of us who call ourselves true believers in Christ Jesus need to take to heart. He wrote,

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." 

                                                                     Francis of Assisi.

Are you an instrument of Gods Love?

Please think about it.

Crazy Lunatic Poached egg?

  Crazy, Lunatic, Poached egg?

The apostle Paul makes this point,

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8.

If Jesus was not the Son of God, The Christ. Why would he let himself die on the cross? As the apostle notes someone might die for a righteous man. But why die for a sinner?

C. S. Lewis puts it this way, 

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So who do you think Jesus is?

Please think about it.

If you look

  If you look

In the book of Deuteronomy we read,

"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."  Deuteronomy 4:29.

An unknown writer stated,

“Maybe the atheist cannot find God 

for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.”

                                                                              Author Unknown.

In order to truly find God you have to be looking for Him. Sadly too many people are not looking for God. Equally sad is the fact that many people have made up their minds that there is no God without at least reading the New Testament or the Bible as a whole.

As the writer of Deuteronomy states you have to look for God with your whole heart and soul.

Are you?

Please think about it. 

From God

 From God

In the book of Acts we read of a incident where Peter and some other apostles of Jesus who had been told by the religious leader of their day not to preach in the name of Jesus did so anyway. 

The book of acts records,

"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." 

Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!  

The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.  

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." 

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honoured by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  

Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  

Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  

After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  

But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:28-39.

The take away from this is a warning to all who would wish to do violence to those who believe in Christ Jesus. In doing so they will find themselves fighting against God.

Christianity has stood the test of time. Today in 2023 there are three billion, (3,000,000,000) people world wide who believe in Jesus and that number continues to grow daily.

Many governments, religious leaders, and individuals have tried to eradicate Christianity but have failed.

They have failed because Christians are following Jesus Christ, God incarnate.

What do you think?

Please think about it. 

The Stone the builders rejected.

  The stone the builders rejected.

In the book of Acts we read,

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!  

If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  

He is " ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:8-12.

Here Peter is standing before the religious leaders of his day having to give an account to them for healing a man in the name of Jesus. 

Those leaders did not believe in Jesus. Not only that they had the authority to have Peter and those with him jailed or flogged for speaking about Jesus. 

Yet knowing this Peter still spoke boldly about who Jesus was saying,

“He is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:11,12.

This is what Christians believe today and speak boldly about to the world around them.

If you consider yourself a Christian do you tell those around you, in word and in deed about Jesus?

Please think about it.

Falling Short

  Falling Short

The apostle Paul writes,

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Romans 3:23,24.

As mere mortals we fall short of what God wants for us everyday. That is why we need to come before God often and confess our sort comings, our sins, directly to God.

The apostle John writes, 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1John 1:9-10.

Do you do this? Have you ever confessed your sins directly to God?

Please think about it.

Do you believe?

  Do you believe?

Jesus said,

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 1:10,11.

To many people in the world today think God is a big old man ready to thrash you with a stick if you don’t do as he wishes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Especially when it comes to Jesus.

Jesus speaking of Himself said,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17.

God loves everyone. God wants everyone to enter into a personal relationship with Him.

That being said God has given everyone that has ever lived a freewill to choose whether or not to believe in Him. Which is an act of faith.

The writer of Hebrews telling us,

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

I think God asks us to have faith in Him because having faith in someone we cannot see is perhaps the hardest thing an individual can do.

The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

 and certain of what we do not see.”

                                                           Hebrews 11:1.

So. Do you believe in God a God that loves us so much He sent His one and Only Son to save us?

Please think about it.

God and only God

  God and only God

In the book of Ecclesiastes we read,

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty of man. 

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes12:13,14.

I believe what is written above. I also believe that God is a just and all knowing God. That is why I am not scared to stand before Him.

The Psalmist writes,

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16.

What the psalmist is saying here is that God knows why we are the way we are. He knows us right down to the level of our DNA. Thus God and only God can judge us justly.

Please think about it. 

Belief in Christ

 Belief in Christ

The Psalmist writes,

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:7-12.

Like it or not. Whether you believe in God or not. God is omnipresent. We cannot hide from God. That being said we have no need to fear Gods presence as long as we believe in Him. As long as we believe in Christ Jesus we know we will have a home in Heaven.

In the apostle John’s gospel we read this conversation between Jesus and Martha,

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes Lord" she told Him, "I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world," John 11:25,26,27.

The question thus becomes do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?

Please think about it.

Green pastures, still waters, and the valleys

  Green pastures, still waters, and the valleys

The Psalmist writes,

"The LORD is my shepherd, 

I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; 

my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

 and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." 

                                                                                                 Psalm 23.

As Christians. As believers in Christ Jesus. We can say with confidence that no matter what we do. What we go through or where we go. In good times and in bad. God is with us.

Can you say this?

Please think about it.