We say "God bless you" and Heaven weeps!

Listening to Keith Green's amazing song "Asleep in the Light" really stirred me up as I was having my morning jog just recently.

There I was enjoying the stillness, if humid, early summer morning here in Australia - ear phones in and my Nano Pod on 'shuffle' jogging away like I have done countless times before, when this song, which I might add, I must have heard at least fifty times, started to play.

As if for the very fist time the lyrics seemed to come alive and reverberated through my brain.

The song itself is pretty ancient but the lyrics remind us that Christ comes to our doors so often. He comes in the guise of many and varied people - we may see these people at our front door, in the supermarket, at church or at work in fact anywhere we go Jesus may present himself to us, through them.

We so often turn these folks away saying - "God bless, be at peace" or variations of this but do we actually mean what we say - and can we back it up?

I continued on my way but those lyrics kept haunting me throughout that day and when I eventually joined a prayer and praise group that next Saturday morning through Twitter, as I usually do, I found myself actually tweeting those very words "God bless you - May God's peace be with you". Must admit I was shocked!

How glibly those words rolled off my keyboard - how trite they sounded after being convicted of their TRUE meaning. The very phrase sounded so flippant, off-hand, brassy and yes! even rude.

How can we as so-called Christians sound so 'real' yet be so hypocritical. The very phrase "God bless you" is so well worn it becomes worn out when we don't really mean what we say.

Not only that but I honestly believe that it can become an affront to God and a major sin.

I truly believe that God puts people in our paths on purpose then leaves it up to us to reach out to that person no matter who he or she may be.

The ways we reach out can be so numerous as will be the many and varied people we are trying to reach.

I believe that some of these people can come as a mighty big shock. Reaching the so-called unreachable, the unlovable, the friendless and the lonely. The busy office worker, the check out chap, the unflappable secretary, delivery driver and (here is a hard one) your enemy!

Jesus was a "REACHER" - He touched the unlovely, the ostracised, the lonely and the sick. Mark 5 tells the story of how Jesus reached a demon possessed man - chained due to his violence, yet was touched by the Son of God and became a Warrior for Jesus.

In Romans 12, we are even called to be Jesus' hands and feet, reaching out to people just where they are and in their need.

Now, at this point I am certainly not recommending that we disrespect people or annoy them in any way but all I am saying is that we, with the Holy Spirit's leading, connect with people around us. This may be as simple as a smile or a helping hand.

John 13:35 says "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another"

The presence of love for others even 'unlovable' others in our lives is a sure sign that God is changing us by his Spirit. With Jesus' Spirit inside of us any words of hope, encouragement, love and patience from us can and will make a huge difference.

Sometimes words of love and encouragement and putting ourselves 'out there' can mean a BIG sacrifice for us, but that is exactly what love does - it puts others first and ourselves last.

After learning this amazing lesson for myself I can now say "God bless you" in it's true meaning.

How are you at reaching out? How many personal stories are out there that you will never hear? How many hands are reaching out to you that you wouldn't even know about unless you make the first point of contact?

Pray this prayer with me:- "Dear Lord, I'm not really good at 'reaching out' but I know that with your help I can be courageous even bold for you. Please give me a loving and sensitive heart. Help me to love as you do and help me to see others as you do. Please help me to show love where it is needed most."

God bless you and may God's peace and joy reign in your life this week as you strive to show "Jesus type" love to everyone with whom you come in contact.

When a couple of seconds are enough

We have certainly come a long way - just a mega second and WHAM! we can capture in nature what people have been trying to do since the dawn of time - from cave paintings to oil paintings man has tried to do everything to convey our world to others.

By using computers, and amazing cameras, it just takes a split moment in time to capture the grandeur of nature or even the enormity of space and preserve them forever.

When I think of time in seconds and what can happen in that mega short time it makes me stand in wonder how in such a short time a situation can turn into a catastrophe or something amazing can happen to change the face of world and its peoples.

For example;-

It only took a moment in time during the final stages of World War 2 when in August 1945 the atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The devastation was horrendous and 129,000 people were horribly killed and many hundreds of thousands more left permanently mutilated and terminally ill from radiation illness.

It only took a moment in time for Neil Armstrong to make that final step on to the moon in 1969 "one small step for man - one giant leap for mankind" - The EAGLE landed and Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took a stroll on the moons surface - forever changing our world.

It took only a moment in time in 2002 for a terrorist bomb to explode in Bali killing 202 with a further 209 injured.

It took only a moment of time for two hijacked planes to hit the World Trade Centre on 11th September, 2001. They were a series of four co-ordinated attacks that left 2,996 dead and changed the way the world viewed terrorism.

It took only a moment in time for the Wright brothers to take flight in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, N.C and to change travel, and aviation for the world forever.

It took only a moment in time for the first person to be injected with a miraculous vaccine invented by Dr Jonas Salk in 1957 to counteract the deadly and debilitating effects of Polio that had killed and maimed 1000's of people worldwide.

It took only a moment in time for the Berlin Wall to be opened for all in November, 1989. The wall had divided the country and it's people since 13th August 1961 causing many 100's of deaths and 1000's of family break-ups.

I could go on - hundreds of thousands of amazing events that have changed the way we see our world. Some incredible and awesome some devastating and disastrous.

Regardless of what you may personally think of Jesus of Nazareth or whatever you may believe about Him - He too changed the world.  He came as a baby over 2000 years ago, lived just 33 years, a sheer moment in time compared to the history of this old world, and then He died as a criminal - crucified on a cross, nailed there humiliated and scorned.

BUT WOW! what an impact this humble carpenter had on our world. Jesus' remarkable life has changed so many people in so many ways the list is inexhaustible it just goes on and on infinitum.

We can see so many changed lives today because of this amazing man - so why?

Is it because He left so many good teachings behind Him? Or maybe He paved the way for child care, or caring for women, maybe freeing the slaves? No there is far more to Jesus.

Jesus, is God - He was there with the Father since creation. He was there when sin via Satan entered the world, He knew that sin needed to be punished - every single person who has ever lived on this earth has sinned - There are no 'good or bad' sins - all sins are the same - SIN!

Romans 3: 23 "For ALL have sinned and fall (way) short of God's Glory" (Parenthesis added)

Jesus knew that because sin needed to be punished that everyone everywhere were doomed to eternal separation from God and doomed to be separated from the very place that God had prepared for His followers.

Jesus took that punishment for us! - That is why He went up that hill to Calvary - that is why He underwent the scorning, mocking, whipping, slapping, crown of thorns and finally nailing to that dreadful, but amazingly beautiful cross.

Then in a moment of time He rose from the dead - smashed and pushed aside the big old rock that was blocking His way - nothing could stop the glory of the Lord  - nothing could stand in His way - He rose a Victor - killed death forever and in so doing paved the way for everyone to find a way to Father - incredible? Yes and all in just a moment of time.

All we have to do is to accept that gift of Jesus - the incredible gift of forgiveness since that awful/beautiful day when he offered His life for yours and mine.

If you haven't done so before - offer your life to Him today - ask His forgiveness and invite Him through the Holy Spirit to take up residence in your life right now. And in a moment in time your life can change dramatically.

Yes, Jesus changed the world radically and permanently - He certainly changed my life and I know He can change yours as well.

'Cause I am LOVE

God is LOVE!

How many times have we heard that - seems like forever to me - BUT have you really stopped to consider what that REALLY means?

First let's look at what a typical 'world-type' view of love could be:-

I Googled "what is love" and searching through the countless answers, and ignoring all the sexual gratification answers about so-called 'true' love, the following ones just about summed up what generally the world defines as LOVE.

"The strength and depth of Love is the level of self-acceptance each person has for themselves"

"Love is being able to compromise - learn to love yourself then you can love someone else"

Then there were these little pearlers:

"Love depends on how open, honest and exposed each individual is willing to be"

"Love is 50/50 - we are joined together as a team and we pull the load together - it's all about give and take"

I can certainly see where they are coming from but true love is so much more than "self acceptance" or "learning to love yourself".

In good solid marriages, openness and honesty are great attributes as is compromising in sticky situations, but LOVE certainly doesn't depend on them alone.

Let's look at what God defines as pure love and then we may be able to get a picture of what REAL love is.

God's love is an "all-sacrificing" love - There is no compromising with God - He loves us just how we are. He wants us to love as He does.

God's love to us doesn't depend on my ability to 'love' myself before I can love Him back nor does it depend on my openness and honesty before He will love me.

God's love isn't a 50/50 deal - giving and taking - I give to you and you give to me sort of arrangement. His love is unconditional - He gave His everything even before we even knew Him - He loves us THAT much.

God gives us 100% love - pure love - and that's how He wants us to be - 100% committed to Him and 100% committed to our marriages not just on a 'give and take' arrangement.

To love like God is being totally committed to Him and to our loved ones here on earth - no compromising, no asking "what do I get out of this". Putting ourselves last always thinking others better than ourselves, no slacking off - always putting them first.

God sent His only son to die for you! That in itself is such an amazing show or sign of one hundred percent love - God gave us that much while we gave him nothing in return.

God never stops loving us - we often try to run from God - Jonah did and we all know how he ended up - Gods love will never give up on us - not ever!

I know I personally tried running from God in a way - I liked the idea of a God who forgave and loved no matter what - so I figured I could do as I please, so I did. With disastrous effect. That's not giving Him one hundred percent love - That's "I'll do as I please and you will love me anyway" type of love.

We have to come to the point in our lives where we hand everything over to God - holding nothing back just as he did for us, trusting Him with our lives - God is pure love. He will not let us go and He will never leave us.

So how do we react to that type of love?

We can react with APATHY - "Thanks mate - that was great - I will give you a call next time I want something"

We can react with GUILT "I can never repay that gift - I am such an unworthy person"

God doesn't want us to love Him when we 'need' Him or feel 'obliged' to love Him back. He wants us to trust Him to obey Him - to tell others about Him and to reverence Him.

Reverence for God is so important - I was in church this morning and I noticed during the worship service people talking to each, feet up on the chairs in front, yawning and generally showing no interest.

A love for God and a true reverence/fear of God go hand in hand - you really can't have one without the other.

Isaiah 33:6 says  "He (God) will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure"

We can see here that the very 'key' to salvation is a healthy fear of God - a reverence in acknowledging his awesomeness, might and power.

God's love is pure love - He gives us one hundred percent love. A love like that demands a response from us - a reverent and awe-inspiring response - a "TRUE-LOVE" response.

What's going to be your response to the great and wonderful love of God?