Take heart - our God is in control!

It sometimes feels as if there is one big conspiracy to make the weight we carry on our shoulders, unbearable. 

If it does feel like that, listen to these inspired words in James 1: 16 – 17:

“Don't be deceived my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows”.

We are warned: Don't be deceived by cynicism and negativity. Do not believe the world that evil is out of control and nobody can help you! Do not be caught up in the despondency coming from those who are blind for the gifts of God!!

Do not be deceived by those who do not believe that nothing is impossible with God.

Pray for spiritual eyes that can see and appreciate that “every good and perfect gift comes from above, from our heavenly Father.

There are lots of good and beautiful experiences in life and it happens neither by random nor by chance. It comes from an unchanging gracious, merciful and good God!

Excitement about your future comes from the Father who made the heavenly lights: sun, moon, and stars! These awe inspiring creations of God show us stability, beauty, light and life and our God is the Father, the Creator, of these comforting, warm and beautiful “lights”. Just as he created lights, God is also much more than a “shifting shadow” – in other words, nothing. He is the almighty Creator, Sustainer and unchanging Provider of every good gift!

Therefore – never be deceived! Never become a victim of the propaganda of evil that everything is spinning out of control. Look at the great works of God in the sky and remember how great your God is! He is in control, he rules and he reigns – and he gives us every good and perfect gift!

We are called as children of our God to venture into the future with the confident knowledge that the “Father of the heavenly lights” is ready to provide us with every good, perfect, exciting gift we need in order to embrace our opportunities and with much joy and faith worship the Giver, the Provider, the Protector of us all!

The Gospel of Christ is aimed at mobilising each one of us to become living testimonies of God’s gifts of salvation, love, joy, peace and hope!!

Take heart - our God is in control, and you are always in his hands!!!

Covenant Renewal: God takes us back!

How committed to God do you want to be?  The answer to this question depends overwhelmingly on one’s view of God, who he is and what he did for me and you.

And nobody sees the glory of God directly, apart from how that glory is revealed in God the Son, Jesus our Saviour, by the work of the Holy Spirit.   Any other true view of God is simply impossible!

In Exodus 34 we find an encounter of Moses with God who had for some 40 days been in exceptional fellowship with this same living, holy God. Moses heard God saying wonderful things; he also heard God saying things that terrify.

We read in verses 5 – 7:  Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses and proclaimed his name, the LORD.  And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.  Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

Yet in the end Moses learned first and foremost how small he was before God, how weak, how completely dependent on our almighty Creator – and Redeemer. And that he is not the God of our subjectivity, our feelings, our imagination and our worldly ideologies.

This God is in no one’s pocket and no human mind has ever come near to grasping his greatness, his majesty, and his glory.

Everything changes when we once again see the true greatness and glory of our God in his salvation plan through his only begotten Son, Jesus. When we allow the divine glory to drain our hearts of all its trivial, self centred preconceptions and preoccupations and excuses about God.  

The foundation of every Christian’s life is the discovery of the greatness of God and especially, the discovery of how immeasurably small our thoughts, our ideas, our wills, our plans and even our lives are in comparison to the reality of the greatness of the one and only living, loving, gracious, holy God.

We are in awe that this God deeply cares about us and our lives, our thoughts and our feelings. Although we too often break away, God continuously reconfirm this covenant of grace with us, when we affirm our response to his grace with repentance, faith, love, awe and renewed commitment.

And that our Lord “takes us back” always remains the most amazing of it all.

May our love be sincere...

Paul emphasizes love as our main responsibility within the Church of Christ.  Whether it is our love for the Lord, fellow-believers, my neighbour or even my “enemy” – our love must be sincere and genuine.

If love is faked it consists of empty words and we must take care that “our deeds do not speak so loudly that others cannot hear our words of love”.

Romans 12: 9 “Avoid what whatever is evil; cling to whatever is good.”

Whenever Paul thinks of the faith community (or congregation), he teaches that they are a family in the Lord.

Romans 12:10 says:  Be devoted to one another in family love. Honour one another above yourselves.

We have one Father. The bond that unites the members of the family in the Lord has pre-eminence to any other bond or loyalty. The members of the “Christ-family” should do all in their power to be and remain devoted to each other in tender affection.

This family affection implies compassion, unity, peace, support, faithful worship and respect –especially for the sake of “those who are of the household of faith”. (Gal 6:10).

But we know from 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8 that “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Jesus-love is our standard and Jesus’ love our example!