Lord, bless my work this week

The hand which brings gifts to God, must first be washed in the atoning stream. In every work we do, God first of all looks for the reparation of what we have done, by the blood of his Son. If this is present, he accepts the work as done to his honour and he blesses it with divine grace. But God will not have any part in anything done in our own strength only and without reconciliation through Christ.

When things go well at work for the unbeliever, he or she may experience gratefulness. The worldling's heart may beat a grateful throb. But he must be cleansed, or God will not accept and bless what he had done.

Lev 23: 12, 13 (The Message) - On the same day that you wave the sheaf of the first grain that you harvest before the Lord, (a sacrifice and prayer of thanksgiving for the harvest), offer a year-old male lamb without defect; it is a Fire-Gift to God , a pleasing fragrance.

Let the sweet fragrance of the cross of Jesus perfume everything you do. Nothing cleanses, but the blood of Christ. Let your reconciliation with God through Christ discern the character of your thanksgiving and praise. Bless God with worship, because only then will everything you do with your life, all you do at work and everything offered to Christ in his church, be welcomed by God as a token of your love.

May your work this week be blessed, because it comes from a heart that loves the Lord and is accepted by him as honouring his Name.

We live by faith, in Jesus

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'" Romans1:16-17

Paul is a master at coming up with unexpected insights: He says that the Gospel reveals God's Righteousness.

When we think of Righteousness, we tend to think of crimes being punished, not sins being forgiven. Righteousness means holy, perfect and sinless.

The Gospel (means "Good News") is about being saved. It is about receiving mercy. It's about not being righteous and yet receiving the benefits of righteousness.

Gospel and Righteousness are not normally compatible, and one would think that the only way to make it so would be a compromise where either Righteousness is watered down or Gospel benefits are limited.

But God manages to bring Gospel and Righteousness together. This is because He brings His Righteous Son to the sacrifice-atonement of the cross to deal with our Unrighteousness. We are given His Righteousness.

Now Gospel and Righteousness are compatible!

We begin each service of worship, each opportunity to love and revere God, as "Saved Sinners."
We come to worship God, who gave His very best so that we can be delivered from our very worst!

And so like Paul, we are not ashamed - we are "Saved Sinners" with a Gospel-given Righteousness.

May the Lord bless us as we come to worship Him and listen to His Word tomorrow!

Is being good, good enough?

What does it take to go to heaven when you die? Is being good, good enough? Is it enough to live a good, moral, ethical life? It is certainly better to live that way than to be an immoral and unethical person. But is it enough?

If you were to die today and God were to ask you why he should let you into his heaven, what would you say? Many would give this answer: “I’ve tried to be a good person. I’ve tried not to treat other people badly. I’ve tried to do good. So my good works would counterbalance the bad ones." What do you think? Are you willing to put your trust in yourself, your good works or your excellent religious activities, rituals and traditions?

Our eternal destination is too important not to have certainty about it. Do we want to risk our salvation by trying it our way, or are we willing to accept God’s terms and receive forgiveness (and heaven) God’s way?

Jesus said in John 10:9, "I am the Door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved." In the verse immediately prior to this Jesus said, "All who came before me are thieves and robbers." The implication is that he is the only way. There is one door and Jesus is that door. If you go through that door you will be saved. Any other door does not lead to salvation. This is consistent with what Jesus said in John 14:6: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through me." But it is not enough to only say that Jesus is the right way. Truth is not truth as you see it. Truth is truth as it really is. Christianity is not what we think it is. Christianity is what it really is.

What Christianity really is, is the Good News that Jesus saves us by grace through faith. (Eph 1 and 2). Jesus is the only way –Jesus is God’s gracious way that leads to us receiving him in faith as our Saviour!

Grace means "the undeserved favour of God." We receive from God in a positive way what we do not deserve. We deserve damnation, yet we receive salvation. This grace by which you have been saved is the gift of God.

Speaking of Jesus, in 1 Peter 2:24 we read, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the Cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by his wounds you were healed." Far from ignoring our sins, Jesus came to this earth to pay the penalty for our sins that we might receive the gift of God, which is salvation by grace . . . through faith.

And faith, a gift from the Holy Spirit, is the willingness to receive Jesus as only Saviour and God’s only way to heaven!! When God gives us the gift of grace, by grace our hardened hearts and unteachable spirits are changed into believing ones that with thanksgiving, praise and worship, in faith, receive, love and follow Jesus!

Being good is not good enough! You have to be much more than good!
You have to be saved. You have to be redeemed! You have to be delivered!
By Jesus – by grace!!!!

Humility makes you strong in the work of God

There are people who think humility is a weakness.
But you cannot make this mistake if God comes first in your life – if Jesus always remains your highest priority. When we put Jesus first, personal priorities, needs and pride take a back seat. If we radically surrender to Christ, the needs of his work and the needs of others become more important than our own. And that is what being humble is all about.

Is this not what Jesus told us that God expected from us in the “greatest commandment of them all”?
”'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)

True humility is not a weakness or a fear that allow others to intimidate you. No, true humility is a willingness to serve (love) God and serve (love) others - even your enemies. It is a strong positive action, that makes a difference to God’s work and to people. Humility, service and love give us the courage to resist the temptations of wickedness (disobedience), because the Holy Spirit fuels the flame of our love for Jesus.

May you be blessed when you humbly love and follow Jesus everyday, everywhere.

Jesus' Great Commission - by Joy Salvage

Matthew 28:18-20 GNB
"I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

Bees made their home inside the pool pump cover at the office and had to be removed. When they were gone we saw that in a few days they had made these honeycombs. The perfection of these structures is amazing. A hexagon is the most efficient shape as it uses the least wax and the off-set of the hexagons on the other side strengthens the structure without using extra wax.

Jesus spoke these words that are known as “The Great Commission” and they explain how we can most efficiently fulfil this commission in partnership with him.
The first “side” of the hexagon is the fact that Jesus, who has all authority, tells us to go.
The second is where we must go (to all people).
The third is that we must make them disciples (devoted, committed followers).
The fourth that they must be baptised.
The fifth that they must be taught to obey God.
The sixth, which keeps all the sides together and is most important, is that Christ promised to be with us always and that we are not expected to build the earthly structure of his church by ourselves.

Go Tell! by Joy Salvage

What is known by Christians everywhere as “The Great Commission” is found in Matthew 28:18 -20. Then Jesus came to them and said, ”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.”

Just before his Ascension Jesus reminded his disciples that all authority had been given to him and, as the ultimate authority, he instructed them to make disciples of all nations. Matthew was not the only one to record this in the Gospels. Mark 16:15 says “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”, Luke 24:47 “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached …to all nations” and John 20:21 “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you”. No matter which Gospel we read the message is clear – Go tell!

Jesus lived selflessly and died for the sins of all mankind and we cannot be true disciples if we do not tell everyone about his great love and sacrifice. We, who know the joy of being able to turn to God in every situation, cannot keep this privilege to ourselves. We must share the message of grace, mercy and forgiveness of sin with our families and friends, our colleagues and acquaintances and everyone we come into contact with. We should also live in such a way that our lives are testimonies to God’s love. The great commission is to tell everyone. This starts in our homes and then spreads to our daily contacts and then moves to supporting outreaches everywhere in whatever way we can.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul asks the following questions: “But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? How can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them?” (10:14 Message). Can you imagine being in dire straits and not knowing God? If you were let down and disappointed by everyone you know and could not pray to a God you believe in and trust, how would you feel? If you were kept in safety through a dangerous situation, to whom would you give thanks if you did not have a personal relationship with Jesus? We cannot keep the Good News to ourselves because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and everyone should have the opportunity to accept him as their Saviour.

There are different ways of spreading the News. We can become full time ministers of the Word and go where God sends us. We can go out into our neighbourhoods and tell others about him face to face. We can tell about him in emails to and conversations with those we are in contact with every day. We can give time and support to the outreach programmes of our congregation. Almost every outreach effort requires funding and it is not enough to support only the immediate needs of the congregation - we must reach out because that is what Jesus asked of us.

Some of us may think that we are not able to do any of these things, and it may be true, but there is something that we can all do – we can pray. We can pray for everyone in full time and part time ministry. We can pray that the leadership of the congregation will be led to make wise decisions when choosing outreach programmes. We can pray that we, and others, will be given opportunities to speak to neighbours. We can pray that those to who receive emails about the Good News will be receptive to the message. If we really cannot give, we can pray that God will speak to the hearts of those who can. Remember the widow who gave despite her lack of funds and think again before you say that you have nothing to give. God will honour sacrificial giving.

Jesus did not instruct us to do this and leave us to our own devices – the last part of verse 20 makes that clear: “I am with you all the days until the end of the world.” (MKJV). As long as we are willing he will provide us with the strength and ability to “Go tell!”

Is God first in your life?

The results of living a self-seeking life, where we and not God and his Kingdom became the highest priority, are before us all the time: unbearable stress about our jobs, neglected marriages and families, few if any real friendships, and the nagging sense that none of what we do is really making a difference. There are times when we sense it, but for the most part we live life virtually oblivious to the fruitlessness of a life where we, and not Christ, are in the centre of our concerns.

What is keeping us from being able to put God's priorities first today? Jesus also encountered people who had the "I'll get around to God’s stuff when I have the time" attitude.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:25 and 27:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Jesus is telling us that when self-seeking concerns take precedence over following him and doing his work, we need to re-evaluate. We should not let our worries about material security be the reason for saying "I'll get around to God’s stuff when I have the time”.

The amazing thing is that God is not asking us to do anything that he himself did not do first. In Jesus Christ, before we ever thought of doing anything for God, he gave up everything for us. He gave us his best. He gave us his only Son.

May you be blessed when you put God’s priorities for your life first – and he adds everything you need unto you.