Advent 2010 - Joseph was righteous and merciful

Matt. 1: 19 tells us that Joseph was "a righteous man." This means he was God-fearing and law-abiding. He was a simple and honest man. The Christmas story gives us a glimpse into Joseph's righteousness.

We are told that "Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph." This means Joseph and Mary had already gone through the first step of making marriage vows and were for that reason considered husband and wife. We are also told that Mary was found with child "before they came together." This means Joseph had yet to take Mary into his home.

At this point Joseph knew only one thing about the child Mary expected: that he was not the father. He thought this could only mean that another man had slept with his wife. As a law abiding man he could not and would not take Mary into his home. As a righteous man, Joseph could not take a wife who was an adulteress. As a righteous man, Joseph could not take a wife home who was not a virgin.

Joseph was righteous, but he was also a merciful, caring, and compassionate man. He did not want to humiliate Mary. He did not want to shame her in front of all the world. He did not want to publicly accuse her of a serious sin. He did not want to subject her to a community trial. He did not want her to be stoned to death. So he decided to divorce Mary quietly. As a truly righteous man, Joseph showed love. As a righteous man, Joseph showed love not only for God, but also for his fellow-man.

Righteous Joseph was and is an example for Christians everywhere to follow and imitate.
As we wait to meet the Messiah, not as a helpless Babe, but as the holy Judge who will come on the clouds, we want to be found to be righteous and merciful.
This can only happen if we are are saved from our sin, ourselves and from God’s enemies by Jesus, because he was born to save us from our sins and to give us his righteousness and mercy.

Advent 2010 - looking forward to the coming of His Kingdom

Jesus warned the church, and individual Christians, to expect to be persecuted and mocked, because the unbelieving world hates believers in the same way that it hates Christ (Jn 15:19; 16:1-4). Paul says "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12). To share in Christ’s tribulation is something that his followers should be prepared for and expect.

But Christians also share in Christ’s kingdom. Christ "has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father" (Rev 1:6). We even now are subjects of Jesus' Kingdom and under his authority (Col 1:13). And someday we will reign with Christ (Rev 5:10) and will be seated with Him at God's right hand (Eph 2:6).
Right now the churches' participation in Jesus' royal power is hard to see, veiled behind affliction, poverty, and little power (Rev 2:9; 3:8).

And yet, during the Advent Season, the 4 weeks before Christmas, we in faith are looking forward to the day when the kingdom of Jesus will bring all distress to an end. And Jesus who promised to return to us says: “Yes, I am coming soon." (Rev 22:20)

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Advent 2010

Season of Advent – the four Sundays before Christmas, starts on 28 November.

The word “Advent” essentially means “coming” and “expecting”. It is a time to be filled with joy, because God became a man and was born as a baby on that first Christmas, to become our Redeemer and King!
During this season we also remember that Jesus wants to come to us, here and now through his Spirit’s work in us, and through us come to a lost world in dire need of him.
Finally we also remember during this season that Jesus Christ promised to physically come to us again, to create a new heaven and earth in which we will live for all eternity!

God sent his Son
During the next four weeks, until Christmas day, we will remember that Christ took on our weak, human nature and became one of us.
As the Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Cor 5: 21: God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.

This is what Christ did for us during that first Christmas day. In taking on ”weak human flesh”, he associated himself with our dilemma which is the result of our mistakes, disobedience and sin. He came to live the life that God requires and we cannot accomplish, and lived it perfectly, holy and without sin, in our place! The Son of God became our brother and will never leave nor forsake us.

During this season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, we want to celebrate that when God gave the gift of salvation, he did not send new laws and rules through which to figure our how we can be saved. No, he sent his Son to save us.
The Advent message always remains that (John 3:16) God so much loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Lets trust in the Son. Lets rejoice because he did everything we could not do, to save us! Lets pray that he will come again soon to dry all our tears.

The Advent Wreath
The symbolism of the Advent Wreath is beautiful. On Sunday our wreath will be displayed.
The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying continuous life. It signifies victory over persecution and suffering. The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of thorns. Any pine cones or other seeds symbolize life and resurrection.
The circle of the wreath, that has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ who entered our world a true man and who was victorious over sin and death through his own passion, death, and resurrection.

The four candles on the wreath represent the four weeks of Advent. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of his second coming to judge the living and the dead.
The lighting of candles signifies Christ, the Light of the world.

In family practice, the Advent candles on the wreath is usually lit at home on Sundays at lunch or dinner time, after the blessing of the food.

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Feast of Christ the King

On Sunday 21 November 2010 the Church again celebrate the the Feast of Christ the King. It is the last Sunday of this Christian calendar, as Sunday, 30 November 2010, marks the first Sunday of the new Christian year as we observe the First Advent Sunday, when amongst other things, the count down to Christmastide begins.

The Christian year ends celebrating Christ the King, in victory. We gladly bring honour to Jesus who has not only saved us from our sins by his cross and resurrection, but also ascended to the right hand of God. Our celebration of the glorious work of Jesus culminates in the great finale of the celebration of Christ the King. We rejoice that his Kingdom has come on earth, just as it is in heaven.

We bring honour to our Redeemer, Christ the King, who victoriously reigns now, and reigns forever. He dealt with our every need, delivered us from every enemy, healed us from all sin, harm and injury and he is worshipped when everyone bows before him as Lord of all.

Yes, we know everything God has promised has not happened on our earth yet! Yes, his Kingdom has come and, yes, he is the King and Head of the Church and , yes, he reigns in glory. And yet, his dominion is also still coming to us and to the world. We still live in hope, and in faith that we truly heard the Word of God, that testifies that he will also come again in glory to effect in the smallest detail, his glorious reign. But until he comes again, we celebrate his heavenly rule, and the coming of his dominion over everything and everyone with great expectation, in faith and in the certain knowledge that even now he is the King of our hearts, of his Church and of every aspect of our lives.

On Sunday we celebrate that Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal Son of God, takes his place as King of kings and Lord of lords in our lives, our faith and our knowledge in faith that he will bring justice and righteousness to us, to his people and to the whole world.

We celebrate that our King not only brings salvation to us, but through his ministry through the Church, also to the end of the earth. His people accept the grace that he brings, and commit their lives to the power of the Holy Spirit who empowers his children and his Church to fulfil the commission of Christ the King to preach the gospel to everyone, bring justice wherever we serve him and bring hope and light where darkness still hides his glorious reign and redemption.

We have to and want to live only for his honour, glory and reign. We seek to be obedient by the power of his resurrection and his Spirit. We are convinced that nobody and nothing will separate us from the love of God that we received in Christ the King, our Lord and our Saviour!
Hosanna to the King of kings!

Sick and Tired (4) – Final

Renewable Energy

When we grow weary, we often fall into depression. It’s so easy to be negative and critical when you are tired, and at the same time feel defenceless and loose reasonable perspective. When you are exhausted, its so easy to feel sorry for yourself. You become like the man who had both an identity crisis and energy crisis. He didn’t know who he was, but was too tired to find out.

But what can we do about it? We need a renewable source of energy. We need to grow strong again.
Isaiah says: (Isa 40: 31) "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength: They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

"Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength." The contrast here is between the vulnerability of a weary person and the vigour of a waiting believer. We wait for the Lord because we trust him and walk by faith. Literally, the word for “wait” has the connotation of "to bind" or "to braid." The idea is to braid ourselves together with the Lord. To wait upon the Lord may be the Old Testament equivalent of faith in the New Testament. To wait on the Lord means that we seek his presence earnestly, while waiting patiently and expectantly for his answers.

The promise to those who wait upon the Lord, is that they shall renew their strength. The original word for “renew” means that the Lord shall "exchange" their weakness for his strength. As we draw nearer to God, waiting upon him expectantly in faith and trusting in him as our resource, he will impart his strength to us.

Paul expresses this same idea in 2 Corinthians 4:16 where he says, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." In Jesus Christ, our inner man can be renewed everyday as we effect our faith in him. And spiritual renewal makes it easier to truly rest emotionally and physically as well.

We must give top priority to our daily relationship of quietly being with the Lord, listening to him and submitting to his will and way with our lives. We cannot allow anything to rob us of this renewable spiritual energy. It is in these daily times of drawing upon God’s resources that we are given the strength to live for him. If we want to face our circumstances victoriously, we must spend time patiently waiting upon the Lord. This is how we receive his renewable strength.

Are you, here at the end of the year, in desperate need to renew your strength? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Prayerfully ponder. Focus. Braid yourself with him.
And Christ will give you strength.

Beware of the judgmental spirit of legalism

Just as we value and defend our personal freedoms, we should guard against anyone who wants to steal our spiritual freedoms in Christ. The good news of the message of Christ is that we have been set free to live in the power of Christ, to choose to live for God and drink from the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
We have been set free from the punishment of a law we were unable to keep. We live by grace through faith.
Sadly many Christians are unaware of the extent of this freedom in Christ. Many allow others to judge them or they judge themselves by legalistic standards in stead of enjoying the abundant life that Jesus has given us in his mercy.

Beware of the judgmental spirit of legalism
Col 2: 16 – 17 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Have you noticed that within Christianity there is sometimes a judgmental spirit? Far too often we encounter a Christian, even a whole “church of Christians”, who is that way. You feel like they are always looking over your shoulder comparing you to some personal preference that they have for you, to live up to. Sometimes you hear Christians talking about other people in the most negative way possible, putting them down for something they did or failed to do.

As followers of Christ, we desire to be obedient to him. That is what following Christ is all about –– seeking to hear his voice and to follow where he leads. We should be concerned about righteousness and justice and live pure and simple lives. We want our children to learn Christian values. We do not condone sin. If Christians do not stand for what is right and holy, who will?

But when we move from a broken-hearted attitude of love and compassion for a lost world to a hardhearted attitude of self-righteous judgment, because other Christians have different views about negligible causes and ideas about right living, we have become unrighteous ourselves.

We’ve been set free to live for Christ. We are free to do anything and everything that we can do in Christ. So, do not let anyone judge you by so-called righteousness that keeps itself busy with the shadows of reality in stead of being focussed on living for Jesus.
We have been set free from the judgmental spirit of legalism. We are free to live for the Lord and to enjoy the bounty of his grace.

Sick and tired. (3)

Losing perspective when we are weary.

We all run out of energy sometimes and have to face the problem of being weary. Last week we saw that when we become weary, we are defenceless against the enemy. We are like a vulnerable sheep to the wolf.

But we also lose our proper perspective when we are weary. The best. known Bible story to illustrate this is found in Genesis 25:29-34. Its the story of Esau selling his birthright. Notice why he sold it: Because he was famished! He was starved, he was wanting, yes, he was in physical need!
"And when Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.’... But Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ And Esau said, ‘Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?’ And Jacob said, ‘first swear to me;’ so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."

It was because Esau was physically exhausted, weary and hungry, that he sold his birthright and lost his proper perspective, and so can we.
Take Note that weariness makes you to pay more attention to your physical and emotional needs, than to your spiritual needs. If you are sick and tired, you usually are more inclined to “looking through physical eyes.”
Because Esau was famished, he could not see what was really important any more, and missed out on the blessing of God.

Even in the Lord’s prayer Jesus allows us to pray for bread, before we ask for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus knows that a famished person can hardly think of sins, temptations and forgiving his neighbour. We need bread, our most basic physical needs met, in order to gain proper perspective on our spiritual health.

What we really need is spiritual vision. Jesus also quoted Moses in saying that “man cannot live form bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord!” We desperately need bread, rest, health and to be physically relaxed. Then we will have the energy and the perspective to repent, to forgive and to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, knowing that we will receive everything else from the Lord we serve. We need to learn how to rest by to trust and obey.

When we grow weary, we tend to lose our proper perspective on God’s reality. But even when I am sick and tired, I must remember that God is still on the throne. We need to see that. We need to know and believe that!
If you are weary, you are more inclined to “looking through physical eyes.”
Yet it remains the best time to learn how to rest by to trust and obey.

Only Jesus can!

Col 2: 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.

The main threat to Christianity is not the direct, head on attacks. Its the subtle changes in God’s truth that can ambush us much more easily. Its adding to or subtracting from the Gospel truth while still presenting an illusive image of being Biblical that are the most dangerous threats.

The Christians to whom Paul was writing in Colosse were faced with false teachers that would distort Christianity by adding to it. In order to be a true Christian, in their view, one must not only believe in Christ but ALSO be circumcised. They taught Christ plus adding circumcision, a Jewish ritual, to the Gospel.

Their tactic is still being employed today. People still are adding to essential Christianity. Faith in Christ is not enough for some. They want to add some sort of good work, religious rituals or fashionable faith of the day as being as essential as Christ.

As Christians, we must be clear about the basics. We contend that salvation is
BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE, IN CHRIST ALONE.

We believe that everything has been provided for us in the person and the all sufficient, once and for all, complete work of Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have been given all that we need for life and godly living. We are alive in Christ. Our sins are forgiven.
We will not add to it and not subtract from it!
Jesus is all we need!

Only Jesus can:
I cannot save myself o God,
- no one can, my Lord!
There is no one, to take away
all my guilt, unrighteousness!
Just Jesus can,
can achieve God’s gospel plan.
Yes, Jesus can,
o holy God,
only Jesus can!

A Saviour pure, I need, o God,
- sinless man and God,
to carry all my punishment,
satisfy your will, your wrath!
Pure Jesus can,
sinless Christ, the Son of man.
Lord Jesus can,
the Son of God,
only Jesus can!

Being sick and tired of being sick and tired. (2)

Defenseless when attacked
One of our challenges is that our strength is exhaustible. We all run out of energy sometimes and have to face the problem of being weary.
Last week we saw that Isaiah 40:30-31 deals with the fact that we all become tired, even the youth and even vigorous young men! It says:
"Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength: They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

When we become weary, we are defenseless against the enemy. We are like a vulnerable sheep to the wolf. Satan, the enemy who steals our lives and prevents us from being significant in God’s service. Like the wolf, he waits for the weary idler who falls behind the flock. And then he ambushes and devours that easy prey.

The Scripture is filled with examples which illustrates this point. In Deuteronomy 25:17-18 we read, "Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God."
Amalek’s attack on Israel is an example of what happens when Christians grow tired and fall behind the flock in serving God, becoming victims of those who do not fear God.
That is why we are urged in Hebrews 12:3 to consider Jesus "who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart." It is when we grow weary and lose heart that we are in the most dangerous position a Christian can be. We become easy prey for the enemy. Our defenses are down, and sometimes we aren’t even aware of it.

Say no to exhausting schedules! Pursue Christ! Find rest in quiet time with the Lord. Earnestly keep praying for protection when you are tired. Rest. Eat well and healthy. Sleep enough. Take leave if you can. More importantly, take good care of your personal relationship with Jesus, and make time to spend with the source of rest, love, trust and hope, Jesus Christ, who died, that we may live triumphantly. Fear God!
Do not fall for the devils snares and ambushes because you are tired.
Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of spiritual dangers and temptations!

Disciplined

Col 2:5 “For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.”

Orderly here means disciplined. If you’re going to really know Christ, you must discipline yourself to study, to pray, and to serve. You must have a plan and then follow the plan. It will not happen by accident. And it will not happen unless you make it a priority. Our faith can grow to be a firm foundation of a life that makes an impact through loving effort and focuses on the mystery of God, even Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

Here is the lesson. A life worth living requires discipline, so we must be intentional. We must order our lives in such a way that we plan to get to know God better. We must order our time in such a way that we make opportunities to serve God, to worship God, to listen to God and to respond to his leading.

Jesus Christ has already made the first move. He reached out to us in love. He gave his life for us on the cross. He died there to pay for our sins. He was not passive. And just as he was proactive, so must we be. If we want to grow in our knowledge of God, we must pursue Christ actively.

Being sick and tired of being sick and tired. (1)

One of our challenges is that our strength is exhaustible. We all run out of energy sometimes and have to face the problem of being weary.

We simply have to deal with weariness. We cannot accept being sick and tired as a way of life. We all have to learn about how to tap into the strength of God to overcome the risks of exhaustion, because the risks are many and it holds danger for our physical health, emotional wellness and our spiritual vitality.

Isaiah 40:30-31 deals with the fact that we all become tired, even the youth and even vigorous young men! It says:
"Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength: They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

Isaiah, here deals with two truths we should be aware of to be able to defend our ourselves against weariness and to manage our risks. The first is the obvious truth, that every one grows weary. As we already said, even the fittest and healthiest young person does. The second truth is a deeper and most important truth and faith reality, that, as we learn to trust and expectantly wait on the Lord, we tap into his inexhaustible strength. Are we willing to remain sick and tired of being sick and tired, or, are we willing to learn about how to, through faith and trust in God, manage our energy, challenges and risks through a living relationship with the Lord?

We need to take note of the risks of allowing ourselves to become exhausted. And it is a choice to take on too much, to stress too much, not to be able to say no, in time, to have life priorities where being rested and having time to rest on God are too low on our list. Then we run the risk of being so vulnerable that we, in the words of Isaiah “stumble badly”. When our priories are primarily materialistic or when be defy reality thinking we can move mountains without faith – even spiritual mountains – we eventually will stumble badly!

When we allow ourselves to become too tired we also become vulnerable and defenseless against the enemy, namely evil attacks and temptations. We also loose perspective and we become victims of despair, of despondency and depression. We may burn all our energy to try to win the whole world and then we may loose our souls, our very lives, as Jesus warned.

During the following few Wednesdays we are going to discuss being sick and tired of being sick and tired here in the Midweek Devotion. And how God’s purpose, wisdom, strength and life can take us out of the rut that we may mount up with wings like eagles, running without getting tired and walking without becoming weary!

Here is a hint of where to start - if we in faith rest upon the Lord, trust his judgment, live according to his values, say no to the principles of darkness that run our plans, dreams and diaries, and return to the restful peace who is our God, and fellowship with the source of light, who is our God, and obey the Kingdom principles of the all wise and all knowing, who is our God, we will fly, run and walk with joy and hope and enthusiasm, again!

Say no to exhausting schedules today. Say yes to being recuperated by sharing quiet time and worship time with the source of rest, love, trust and hope, Jesus Christ, who died, that we may live triumphantly.
(I know this may sound airy-fairy – but watch this space for God’s reality!)

Willing to pay the price for ministry!

Ministry is another word for service. The Apostle Paul had a passion for ministry, because he knew that it meant allowing God to use him for God’s purpose. Do you see serving God for the sake of the church, as a calling and a ministry? Do you have a passion for serving God? If we want to make a difference in people’s lives, we need to become passionate about this service.
We must know that to be used by God, we must be willing to even pay the price of ministry.

Paul says: (Colossians 1:24-25) I rejoice in what was suffered for you... for the sake of the body of Christ, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness.

If we desire to be used by God, we must know that it will involve sacrifice. If we are going to follow Jesus in suffering for the sake of the Church, then we, like Jesus, must be willing to pay the price required for our choice, and the price may even include suffering.

Paul knows for certain that his suffering as part of his service for the Lord had meaning. If the work we do for the Lord is even worth suffering for, we rejoice that the sacrifices we make produce something that matters. And we, the church of the Lord, work for a reason worth sacrificing for, even worth suffering for. The reason is the cause of Christ.

If we desire a life that counts and makes a difference, we will volunteer for duty. We will step out in faith. We will be determined to live a life dedicated to serve God and serve others. Then we will make a difference in this world for God. Our lives will count for a lot. It will touch others. It will bring glory to God’s Name.

The Ultimate Love Affair (5) – with all your strength.

Not only do you have to love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind, you are required to love him with all your strength. Christianity is more than heartfelt dedication or soulful passion for Jesus. It is even more than thoroughly considering the Scriptures and saying “Yes” to what God revealed about himself. Being a Christian needs to be lived in every aspect of our lives. To love God with all our strength means to love God in everything that we do.

In Colossians 3:17 it says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Christianity that is only in the heart or only in the mind may be the reason we fall for either sentimentalism or intellectualism. But being a true Christian is to practically live for the Lord. This changes our faith into a strong and powerful service to God’s Kingdom. It makes us soldiers of the cross.

A Christian lifestyle is required if we truly love the Lord. James says in his letter that faith without good deeds is a dead faith. We must be "doers of the word" he says. We can also say that faith that does not inspire Christian living is faith without love and Paul says that even if we have the faith to move mountains, if we do not have love, we are NOTHING.

We must be careful not to consent intellectually to the Christian faith while our lives, our practices, our priorities and the values according to which we live shout louder than what we say we believe. And what it may shout is that Christ is not relevant to everything in our lives. The powerlessness of many a church lies in the problem that too many whose names are on their rolls may not be far from the Kingdom of God, yet they are not in the Kingdom, of the Kingdom and for the Kingdom of God.

Hanging out with the Church does not make you a follower of Jesus. It is committing everything you are and you do to Christ and to surrender to his will in the most practical way imaginable that testifies of being truthful in your confession of being a Christian. What a tragedy it is to be so close to the Kingdom of God that you agree to what the Bible teaches, and you even sometimes wipe away a tear because you are touched emotionally by the Gospel, yet you live outside the City of God and the family of God, because you do not love the Lord with all your strength and all your choices and you are not doing what will make a difference to the glory of his Name and the extension of his Kingdom.

Jesus said – Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and everything else you need will also be given to you.
What is the top priority in your life? We must surrender all that we are to all that God is, and dedicate ourselves to live for Christ. Submit to the guidance of his Spirit in a way that reflects a love for God that is genuinely devoted, full of passion, thoroughly considered, and finally, also fully lived for the Lord.
That is the ultimate love affair – an all consuming life for God.

Christ qualified us for an eternal inheritance

Colossians 1:12 : Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the believers in the kingdom of light. We have been qualified by God to receive an eternal inheritance in the kingdom of light. We have been made legitimate heirs of the kingdom of God. Only heirs receive an inheritance, and we have been placed on that list.

We know what Christ did to qualify us as heirs of God’s eternal light. Col 1: 14 says “in whom [Christ] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”
The work Christ did for us can be summed up in the two words found in this verse. The words are redemption and forgiveness.
Redemption comes from the word "redeem" that literally means to buy back. It means that we were bought back by God.

This is precisely what Jesus Christ did for us. He made us and he bought us. We are twice his. He redeemed us by paying the penalty for our sin on the Cross. He died there in our place. He took upon himself our sins. He was our substitute. He purchased our redemption by giving his life as a sacrifice. And because we are redeemed, we now receive the forgiveness of our sins.

We have been qualified for our inheritance as God’s children, because we have been delivered from the penalty of sin. Because of what Christ did on the Cross we are set free from the penalty and from the guilt of sin. We can breathe a big sigh of relief. The burden of sin has been lifted. We are no longer guilty before God. Christ has taken our guilt away.
We are going to heaven! Praise be to God!

The Ultimate Love Affair (4) - with all your mind!

Our love for Christ begins with a pure devotion with all our heart, and expresses itself by being full of passion, with all our soul.
But there is more to the ultimate love affair. Jesus says that you are to love the Lord your God with all your mind. Our love for God is to be one that is systematically thought out too.

Loving Jesus is more than excitement and more than euphoric warmth and experience. It is not emotion that is illogical, and that excludes good understanding and dedicated learning.

There is a brand of Christian teaching that creates the impression that clear thinking, study and considering the Bible can get in the way of our relationship with God. While it is true that when you rely on intellectual aptitude to figure out God, you will always fail. God cannot be fathomed by human minds. And if you wait until you have figured God out, all the reasoning and debate can stand in the way of a blessed and spontaneous love affair with the Lord. Yes, our minds can be a barrier preventing us from devoted, passionate love.
But that does not mean that our minds are not also a big help in growing our relationship with God.

It is clear from the Scriptures that God knows that our minds, our thinking, our insight and our contemplation are always involved in our love for him. In Romans 12, we are told that our minds need to be renewed and then we will live for God with pure commitment. And Jesus says we are to love God with all our mind.

A mind committed to Christ, transformed by the renewing power of the Spirit, is a remarkable asset to the Kingdom of God. Christianity makes sense and anyone who thoughtfully considers the plan of God will soon be able to communicate just how reasonable it really is to serve the Lord passionately. Faith is after all a certain knowledge of God, his heart, his plan and his character. Faith is a big, heartfelt “Yes” to everything God has told us about himself through Jesus Christ! And our love for the Lord grows as our informed faith grows as a result of better understanding what God is saying to us about himself and his plan for our lives.

A mind that loves God will become a mind into which God will pour his wisdom and his insight. After all, our love relationship is with the almighty God who made the whole universe. Our God has all wisdom and all knowledge.
And as we commit all our ways to him in love, even our thinking, reasoning and learning, he gives us of his wisdom and his knowledge. All our intellectual ability ought to be dedicated to God. When it is, he will show us how to think and how to reason with less flaws and with more understanding.

There is perfect order in God’s creation. We will find the same in his character as we learn to know him better through our love relationship with him. One of the main reasons that we love him so devotedly and passionately, is because his Gospel makes so much sense to poor sinners that are lost! It is what he showed us and taught us about himself that made us love him with all our hearts and soul.
Therefore we simply have to love him also with all our mind.

Living worthy of our Lord

Colossians 1: 10 - 12 We pray that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father…

Hopefully, we never quit learning and growing and therefore maturing. Just as we had to learn how to live as human beings in this world after being born as completely dependent babies, so we also must learn how to live as spiritual people. Just as our parents taught us how to walk physically, so the Spirit of God teaches us how to walk spiritually.

Col 1: 10 – 12 shows us four ways in which we must walk to live lives worthy of the Lord. (1) We must walk in increasing knowledge of God. (2) We must walk in fruitful service. (3) We must walk in Spiritual power. (4) And we must walk in joyful thanksgiving.

Think of all God has done for you. Yes, the greatest blessing for which we should be thankful for, is our salvation. It is the greatest gift that anyone can be given. What Jesus did on the cross, dying and paying for our sins, changed the destination of our walk from hell to heaven. Even eternity is not long enough to thank God for that. And then God has continued to bless us with an inestimable number of other blessings. If we see all that God has done, we do not want to live any other way than worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in everything as we live as joyfully thankful Christians.

Giving thanks is the worship of mature children of God. It is an acknowledgment of the goodness and grace of God. It increases our faith. And it shows others our trust in God.

Being a Christian is something you must be, as well as something you must do. You can not do it, without being it, but you must do it or you can not be it.
Who you are – a Christian - and how you live - the Christian life - always go together.

The Ultimate Love Affair (3) - with all your soul!

We are not only to love God with all our heart, we are to love him with all your soul.

The soul speaks of our emotions. To love God with all our soul means that our love for God ought to be passionate. When we think of a love affair, we all think of passion. And we are all people of passion.

While we may try to deny our emotions, our emotions have a way of rising to the surface in spite of all our efforts to hide them. And emotions can be very good. God created our ability to feel and to feel passionately. Our emotions can make a most positive impact on our relationship with God and we must confirm that it is OK to express our emotions, especially as we express them in love for God. We simply ought to be emotional about our love for God. No, we are not talking about sentimentalism exposed in bad taste. We do not mean emotion only for emotion’s sake. We are talking about warm, passionate, self consuming love for the Lord who saved us.

Many people within our current society became cynical . They also became disillusioned and apathetic regarding “church”. Apathetic literally means "without passion." Others became passionate about less important matters and cooled off regarding the matter of salvation, of a lost world that needs to be reached with the Good News of Christ and about living holy lives for the Lord.

We cannot afford to be apathetic about our love for God. We must be excited about our relationship with Jesus. We must be passionate, because real, true love is passionate love. To love God with all our soul means that we must involve all our emotions in expressing our relationship with him.

When you gave Jesus your heart, sincerely and devotedly, it will be easy to become excited about following him.

Stand by faith, and walk in love

You stand by faith, and you walk in love. Faith is our response to God’s Word, his Good News about Jesus. The authenticity of this faith is proven by the way we love one another.
Look at Colossians 1:4.
…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints (fellow Christians) …

Love is indispensable for every true believer. 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)

John says: “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20)

Do you believe that love is important? You certainly can’t read these passages of Scripture and come to any other conclusion. Following God in faith and walking in love are synonymous. You can’t have one without the other.
Are you walking in love?

We stand in faith, walk in love, and rest in hope.
Look at Colossians 1:5. “…the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven…”

Hope makes us willing to endure, even sacrifice for the sake of the Faith, the love and the future glory. Hope allows us to rest in God’s promises. We will be encouraged, even enthused, if we focus more on hope and on heaven. The glorious destination we expect inspires our faith in God and our love for our brothers and sisters!
May we be blessed by the gifts of faith, love and hope. It gives real meaning to our lives!

The Ultimate Love Affair (2) - with all your heart!

We are using a couple of Blogs to talk about the meaning and impact of the Great Commandments:
Love God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ And: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself!
Without a love affair with God, all that we do becomes meaningless. Without a love affair with God, we lack the motivation and the passion to do his work. There is a frantic need for a passionate, hot-hearted, intense, consuming love affair with God in this world.
This is the one and only love affair that will take you to heaven, even before you die!

But how is this love relationship to be worked out? There are many similarities with any other love affair, (yes I know its not exactly the same as falling in love with a partner!)
Jesus gives us four ways to work it out: with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.

Today we hear that we have to love the Lord our God with all our heart.
To love the Lord with all your heart means to love him with pure devotion. It’s not enough to give Christ a (little) place in our hearts. No, we are called to love him with all of our heart.

Remember how it was when you first met that one special person who captured your heart. Remember how you could not hide it and wanted to talk about it to whoever would listen? Remember the look in your eyes when the “beloved” walked into the room? Remember that you were thinking of the loved one all the time, wanted to make phone calls all the time and wrote letters every day? You longed to be with the one you love with all your heart! This person was a high priority in your life. Hope all still remember what we call “being in love" is and how wonderful it is. Being in love is a breathtaking experience. Many would say they were rushed off their feet by it.

Well, to love God with all your heart is a lot like that, and more! It means that your heart is totally devoted to him. It means that you are faithful to him. And it certainly means that God is the most important Person in your life! It means that you cannot stand being separated from him!

Remember the glorious experience of pure devotion when we first became Christians! The Bible calls it our "first love." Hope you remember it — the thrill of meeting Jesus for the first time, and for the first time understanding his love for you as well? You came to him, received his forgiveness and experienced his unconditional acceptance. For the first time you understood why people who know the Lord cannot stop talking about him, working for him, worshipping him, praising him!

How could you help but love him back? Remember the time when you gave Jesus your heart? Your whole heart! The wonder of being a follower of Jesus is, that this amazing love can be fresh every morning. This amazing love for Jesus brings us to love God, who gave us his Son, with all our heart! This love for God is the gift of the Holy Spirit who showed us the precious love of Jesus!
We never have to be deprived of our first love for the Lord. We can love him with all our heart till the end!
Remember the words of the Hymn writer?
Amazing love! how can it be,
that Thou, my God, should die for me?
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.(
Next Wednesday we will share on what it means to love God with all our soul!)