Category Archives: Christian Life

GOD’S KINDNESS CAUSES US TO CHANGE

Christian life

GOD’S KINDNESS CAUSES US TO CHANGE

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance.” Romans 2:4

I am intrigued by the “upside down” way in which God deals with people. When He wants to draw us to Himself, He hides. When He wants us to listen to Him, He whispers, and when He wants to change us, He showers His goodness on us.

Jacob is a case in point. He was an unsavoury character – “deceiver” was his name. After cheating his twin brother out of his inheritance and his father’s blessing as the firstborn, he ran for his life. For some reason which God does not explain, He chose Jacob to be the one in Messiah’s line.

But Jacob was an unlikely candidate. How was God going to shape him into a worthy patriarch of the Jewish nation? Before anything else, Jacob needed a good talking to because of his bad behaviour. Exhausted from his long journey, he put his head on a rock and went to sleep. He had a strange dream; a ladder reaching up into the sky with angels ascending and descending on it and the Lord Himself standing above it. In his dream God spoke to him – not a word of reproach or rebuke, never a threat of punishment.

“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” Jacob could not believe his ears; he who needed to be faced with his wickedness, was hearing gracious words of comfort, promise and blessing. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” (Genesis 28:13,15).

Jacob was probably more ashamed of what he had done because of God’s kindness than he would have been had he received a sharp rebuke.

Perhaps we can paraphrase the Apostle Paul’s comment this way, “It is God’s kindness to us that causes us to change our minds about Him.” Why do we need to change our minds? Is it not because our opinion of God is sometimes far from what the Scriptures reveal about Him? When Moses asked God to show Him His glory, God responded, “I will cause all my goodness to pass before you.”

God wants us to know how good He is. He showers His goodness on us so that we can change our minds about Him. He wants us to recognise His goodness, celebrate His goodness and honour Him for His goodness. He wants us to respond to His goodness by reflecting it in the way we relate to others.

How do you treat God’s kindness? Paul warned, “Don’t treat God’s kindness with contempt.” Ingratitude is the most subtle way to treat God’s kindness with scorn, as though it were worth nothing. Ingratitude sets our way towards disaster. God is good. Let’s acknowledge His goodness…always.

GOD’S ABUNDANCE IN A SEED

Christian Life, ,

GOD’S ABUNDANCE IN A SEED

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest…. will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22, NIV).

God is abundantly generous but also very wise. He does not want us to live only from handouts from Him. He wants us to live in obedience to His ways so that we can grow in trust and dependence.

So, He built the amazing principle of seedtime and harvest into everything He does. Creation began with one of each species with the potential to reproduce through seeds. “God blessed them (the water and sky creatures – author’s comment) and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number…”” (Genesis 1:22). The harvest from which we eat, comes from seed (Genesis 8:22);children are born to us from seed (Gal 3:16);faith is given to us as a seed (Matthew 17:20);God’s Word is seed (Luke 8:11; 1 Peter 1:23);the kingdom of heaven is a seed (Matt 13:31);our Saviour was a seed (John 12:24); even ourmoney is seed (2 Cor 9:10).

When you look at an apple, what do you see, some fruit to eat or the potential of an orchard of apple trees? It all depends on your perspective.

As our Father, God has pledged to meet all our needs but, if we do not understand the law of the harvest, we will miss one of His most amazing and exciting principles. He wants us to partner with Him in everything we do, including releasing His supply of resources for our lives, so He put everything into seed form. Every seed, no matter what kind it is, has the power within itself to produce a harvest but it must be sown in the appropriate soil in order to release its power.

Our responsibility is not only to sow the seed, but to put it into the right soil; for example, money buried in the ground, or in the bank, will not grow, but given away to someone in need, will produce a harvest

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6,7, NIV).

Whatever our need might be, if we sow the appropriate seed into the right soil, we will reap what we have sown, according to the amount we have sown.

This principle applies to everything we do. If we sow friendship, we will reap friendship, if we sow love, we will reap love, if we sow conflict, we will reap conflict etc. The principle works for everything.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

The outworking of this law has an even bigger purpose than just meeting our needs. Through the harvest, God not only increases our store of seed but also enlarges our harvest of righteousness. It is right to be generous and every time we give, we increase our capacity to be like God. Wow! That’s what God wants!

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DOCKING WITH GOD

Christian Life, ,

DOCKING WITH GOD

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

What is your orientation?

I’m not asking whether you are gay or not! What I want to know is, Are you docked with God or is He docked with you? “Are you crazy? What do you mean?”

Docking is the term used when a space vehicle connects with an orbiting space station to transfer people or equipment to the space station. The space station does not come down to earth to dock. Its people and supplies are brought up to its level so that it can fulfil its purpose.

How often have you heard the expression, “God is always there for me”? Is that the be-all and end-all of our Christian lives? What about our being there for God? Does He have to “dock” with us? What if He wants us to “dock” with Him so that we can fulfil His higher purpose?

I watched an interview on a Christian TV channel between a young Filipino girl, Mary Grace and the programme host, Don. Mary Grace was born with half a right arm and a right leg eight inches shorter than her left leg. Her left arm and leg were normal. She was rejected by her peers and lived a lonely childhood. Her grandmother loved and accepted her and taught her about Jesus from babyhood.

Mary Grace had a passion to play the piano but no-one would teach her because of her disability. Her grandmother finally found a piano teacher who was willing to take up the challenge and, at the age of five, Mary Grace began piano lessons. She learned to play with her left hand first, and then she put her right stump to work. She practised for hours each day until her stump bled.

Mary Grace is a concert pianist today, playing with her right stump as though it were an arm and hand with five fingers. Her passion now is to shine for Jesus through her music. But she does much more than play the piano for Jesus. In 2001 she went to the USA and there met a Filipino woman who has become a “mother” to her. With the money Mary Grace earns from her concerts, and sponsorship they garner from all over the world, these two courageous women support more than 350 college graduates in the Philippines who pastor multiple churches, some from five to thirty churches.

Now that’s what I call “docking” with God. God has so much blessing He longs to pour through you into the lives of spiritually impoverished people, but He is waiting for you to connect with Him with a heart of love and passionate obedience. How many are there in our church who are still locked into their own selfish lives, instead of “docking” with God to receive the supplies of grace He longs to pour out on empty and starving lives?

So, what’s your orientation – are you “docked’ into God or are you still waiting for Him to “dock” into you? (LAC)

CREATIVE OR REACTIVE?

Christian life, ,

CREATIVE OR REACTIVE?

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ​ Ephesians 4:29 – 5:1

E-R-I-T-A-E-C-V. Meaningless letters strung together.

What do we get when we rearrange them?

C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E or R-E-A-C-T-I-V-E. Same letters – totally different meaning. It all depends on our attitude. Many of us are reactive most of the time. What does that mean? It means that we react negatively to situations or people instead of looking for positive solutions. Being reactive often means being confrontational.

Take, for example, the age-old problem of your kids or your husband leaving dirty clothes on the floor. It’s recipe for a blow-up. It’s too much to expect them to pick them up and put them in the laundry basket in the bathroom!!! Instead of using this situation as an opportunity to vent your spleen and create resentment and rebellion, Moms, why not put a funky laundry basket in each child’s bedroom and plan a treat when they co-operate.

Instead of raising Cain when someone offends you, why not go to the person concerned and say, “Let’s talk. What did you mean?” So often, our anger is aroused, not because the other person meant harm but because we have taken it up the wrong way.

Jesus was never reactive in His responses to people. No matter what they said or did, not matter what questions they asked or traps they tried to set for Him, even if He had to say hard things, He always treated people with gentleness and respect. He was never rude, nor did He snap at people. Consider His composure when He was going through the greatest ordeal of His life.

“When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made not threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23, NIV)

God has pet themes in Scripture. One of them is unity. Why? Because He created the universe to reflect Himself. The Jewish creed is very simple, “Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”(Deut 6:4). In His high priestly prayer (John 17), Jesus’ plea to the Father was that His disciples (including us) might be one as He and the Father and Spirit are one. The Apostle Paul urged the Ephesians church to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:3) All the gifts in the church are to function in harmony to produce one thing – unity expressed by the mature way we handle life (Eph 4:13).

Unity in the body of Christ is destroyed when we cannot longer trust one another, when the church is no longer a safe place where we can be ourselves and fail without condemnation. Scandal and gossip are sure ways to destroy trust. God regards talking about people behind their backs as so serious that He lumps them together with murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, and idolaters. (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).

Jesus said that it is our behaviour, as well as our talk, that will convince the world who He is!

AT PEACE IN THE STORM

Christian Life, ,

AT PEACE IN THE STORM

“A furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.” (Mark 4:37,38 NIV)

What a ridiculous situation! Wind howling, little fishing boat writhing in the storm, waves crashing over the sides, twelve men frantically trying to keep the craft afloat and Jesus sleeping through it all! How could He sleep with the icy waves drenching Him every now and then, and the boat wildly rocking in the waves? It’s no wonder the disciples were irritated with Him and shook Him awake with a stern rebuke, “Don’t you care if we drown?”

Jesus woke up, wiped the water from His eyes and stood up in the heaving stern. With a sweeping gesture with His hand across the expanse of water, He shouted into the wind, “Be quiet!” Instantly the wind subsided, and the water sank down into a dead calm, the stars shone in a cloudless night sky and the moon cut a silvery path across the lake. The disciples were stunned. They could not believe what had just happened; from howling gale and raging sea to dead calm within minutes. Who was this man and how could He do that?

Jesus ignored their amazement at the miracle and called their attention to their own complete mistrust of Him. “Why did you doubt?” He demanded. They had no answer.

Let’s examine the situation. Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side.” He never said or did anything outside His Father’s instruction; therefore He intended to reach the other side of the lake. Since He was completely at peace, trusting His Father’s love and purpose – and he was still to go to the cross – the storm was not a threat to Him. It was a natural phenomenon over which He had complete control within His Father’s plan. He could sleep peacefully despite the raging water and the drenching waves because He dwelt safely in God.

What surprises me is that the disciples were more amazed about His stilling the storm than about His sleeping through it! Did it not occur to them that it was unnatural for anyone to sleep so peacefully in such outrageous circumstances? Should that not have aroused their astonishment and alerted them to something about Jesus that was much bigger than they could understand?

What can we take from this story for ourselves? Since Jesus’ instruction to anyone who would be His disciple is a simple “Follow me”, what the story holds up for us here is a lesson in trust in the trustworthiness of our Father. The disciples’ terror was a clear indication that they did not trust God’s word to them at that moment, “Let us go over to the other side.”

This is the story of our lives. Built into our old nature through Adam’s rebellion is an instinctive mistrust of God. We just don’t trust His Word. It takes a lifetime for Him to teach us just how trustworthy He is so that He can get on with the task of recreating us in the image of His Son.

We need to make a non-negotiable decision that God is always good and that He loves us, so that we can filter every experience through those unchangeable truths, just as Jesus did.