The same as Christ Jesus

 The same as Christ Jesus

The apostle Paul writes,

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:5-8.

What kind of attitude to you have? Are you proud of who you are? Are you proud of your position in life. Are you proud of your position in the church you attend? Do you consider yourself to important to do the menial tasks around the church. Things like cleaning the toilets. Mopping the floors or taking out the garbage?

When people look at you do they see a humble person? Do you have a servants heart?

Jesus did. Jesus was God. Yet He as the apostle Paul notes, he made himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant. Being obedient to death on the cross.

This according to the apostle Paul is how we should be. Our attitude should be like Jesus’. One of humility willing to do whatever we need to, to help in the furtherance of God’s kingdom.

Take a few moments now. Pray and ask God to show you if you are truly humble or not.

Please think about it.

To be in the multitude

  To be in the Multitude

In the book of Revelations the apostle John is given a glimpse of heaven. John states,

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  

And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." Revelations 7:9,10.

What John says here to me is incredible. “A great multitude” from every nation, tribe, people and language bowing before Jesus the Lamb of God.

And they are crying out “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb”

For me personally that is one place I’d like to be. Standing before God praising Him.

Do you want to be in that multitude praising God?

Please think about it.

Let your requests be known

Let your requests be known

The apostle Paul writes,

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  

This is good, and pleases God our Saviour,...” 1 Timothy 2:1-3.

As believers we are called to pray for everyone. Everyone from kings, and those in authority to our family, friends and neighbours.

Doing so for many may be hard. Especially when it comes to those in authority we disagree with or who seem evil. Still we are called to do so.

Paul understood what he was saying. He was living under one of the worst dictators the world has seen. Yet he still said pray for those in authority.

Paul believed in prayer. Prayer can and does change things. That why Paul tells us to pray. 

Do you pray for your government leaders? Do you pray for your family, friends and neighbours? If not why not?

Please think about it.

Spotless

  Spotless

The apostle Peter writes,

"But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.  2 Peter 3:13,14.

This is a call by the apostle Peter to all who believe in Christ Jesus. When Christ returns we need to do all that is humanly possible to “be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with God”

So here is my question to you. If you believe in Christ Jesus, were He to return today would He find you spotless, blameless and at peace with God?

Please think about it.

Let us

  Let us

In the book of Romans the apostle Paul writes,

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Romans 14:19.

We live in uncertain times. Around the world terrorist groups attack, kill and destroy anyone who speaks out against them. Wars and rumours of wars are everywhere. Political unrest abounds.

It is into this world that we as Christians are called to make every effort to do what we can to bring about peace. 

The apostle Paul telling us,

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18.

So my question to you is, Are you doing what you can to live at peace with those around you?

Please think about it.

Respectfully

 Respectfully 

The apostle Peter writes,

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15,16.

This I believe is important advice for all who claim to be followers of Christ Jesus. We are to be prepared at all times to tell anyone who asks why we believe in our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus. 

Peter also makes it clear we are to do this “with gentleness and respect”. 

We must never be aggressive when presenting the Gospel massage. We should always respect the listener. 

I have always believed that we should say to a person “this is what I believe. It’s your decision whether or not you believe it."

How do you present the gospel message?

Do you present the gospel message in a way that is respectful to the one listening to you?

Please think about it.

A People of God

 A people of God

The apostle Peter writes,

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

Dear friends,

 I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:9-12.

This section of scripture resonates with me. You see for most of my adult life I have lived in a country that is not the one in which I was born. I am a landed immigrant legally allowed to live here. That being said I am an alien in the country in which I choose to live. 

I know that I must obey the laws of the land in which I live. Failure to do so would mean my being sent back to the land of my birth.

This is what Peter here is saying. As Christians. Believers in Christ Jesus. We are strangers in the country in which we live. As such we must obey the laws of that land. We must “abstain from sinful desires”.

We must live such good lives among the people of the country in which we live. So that even though they may accuse us of doing wrong. “They may see our good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us”.

If you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus. Do you live a good life? When people see you do they see a good person. One who truly represents Christ? 

When people see you do they see Christ within you?

Please think about it.

In every situation

  In every situation

In the book of Philippians we read,

“Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

 let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God , 

which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

                                                                          Philippians 4; 6,7.

I think we all become anxious from time to time. Especially when we run into problems. 

    Problems are unfortunately part of life. And it’s easy to let those problems pull us away from God.

That is why we need to make God the most important part of our life. The one we turn to each morning, the one we pray to each night and the one we go to throughout the day. For in doing so we will find what Paul writes is true,

"Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

 let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God , 

which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

                                                                          Philippians 4; 6,7.

Do you take your requests to God daily?

        How important is God in your life?

Please think about it.

The Messiah

 The Messiah

Jesus said,

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

In the gospel of Matthew we read,

"...The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." 

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."Matthew 26:63,64.

In the book of Acts when Peter stood before the elders and rulers Peter said,

"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 4:12.

The above verses from the New Testament show what the writers of the New Testament believed Jesus to be. These claims were controversial then and still are today.

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"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 is Jesus to you?

Please think about it.

By the Grace of God

  By the Grace of God

The apostle Paul writes,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9.

Writing to the Romans the apostle Paul states,

"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.

Christians believe that God in the form of His Son Christ Jesus, reached down to mankind offering each individual who believes Him the way to heaven.

We believe Christ paid the price for the sins of each one who would believe in Him. 

The apostle Paul writing,

"But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" Titus 3:4,5.

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.  

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". John 3:16-18.

Do you believe in God? Do you believe that God sent His one and Only Son into the world to pay the price for your sins? 

Have you accepted the saving Grace that come from God through Christ Jesus?

Please think about it.

Slow to anger

  Slow to anger

In the book of Nahum we read,

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,

and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. 

His way is in the whirlwind and storm,

and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”

                                                                    Nahum 1:3

Nahum said it, “The LORD is slow to anger”. 

I firmly believe God gives everyone a chance to follow Him. Going to great lengths to show people the way to heaven.

Jesus speaking about 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. 

The apostle Paul writes,

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: 

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

                                                                            Romans 5:8.

God has gone to extreme lengths in human terms to show how He loves each and every individual on this planet. 

C. S. Lewis writes,

"He died not for men, but for each man. 

If each man had been the only man made, 

He would have done no less." 

                                             C.S. Lewis.

That being said God has given us a warning Jesus saying,

“Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". John 3:18

God has also given each individual a free will. Thus a person can choose to believe in God or not. 

Do you believe in God?

Please think about it.

A warning to all

 A warning to all

In the book of James we read,

"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.  Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.  

Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.  

Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.  

You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.  

You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you." James 5:1-6

In 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.

What is said above is not just for the wealthy but for all people. It is important especially if you claim to be a Christian, a true follower of Christ Jesus, that you deal honestly with those you interact with, be they a customer, some one who works for you or just some random person you deal with.

So are you dealing honestly with people? What will God say about your dealings when you stand before Him on judgement day?

Please think about it.