Continuing temptation - Continuing sin!!

Temptation - Can we avoid it? - Is it just a common part of our humanity?

Well - looking at it from a purely human aspect 'temptation'  has been around for years and years from creation really and it will continue to plague us until Jesus comes again - pretty sad turn of events I'd say but one which we as Christians have to come to terms.

What is so good and comforting to realise again is that Jesus Himself was tempted as we are - WOW that is a comforting thought  that the very Son of God - Jesus - Pure Man and Pure God was not immune from Satan's efforts to have Him sin.

Another comforting thought that springs to mind is that being tempted is not the sin - we are all tempted - every one of us and probably every day - the SIN part comes when we actually yield or give in to the temptations.

Experts tell us that we have approximately 5 seconds from the first inclination of sinning - or when temptation strikes to turn away from temptation - FIVE SECONDS - not a lot of time - but time enough to decide "will I or won't I" - the decision is up to you and me to make.

Jesus although tempted as we are did not sin - pretty amazing when you consider. We have a problem in that we think of Jesus as holy and able to avoid temptation - that's true BUT He was also a man and suffered from  all temptations  known to common man - pretty gobsmacking thought that!!

Here was Jesus - the God/man - sent from the Father but also coming under the very temptation known to common man- you and me.

I must admit that the thought of that is somehow comforting to know that our own dear Saviour that died to take away my sins - suffered the very same temptations that I do - How miraculous is that!!

Temptation can be very nasty indeed -  it is a cruel and devious foe we are facing when we are faced with temptation - Jesus stood foot to foot - toe to toe with the same enemy we face - yet did not sin!

Okay then let's look to to Jesus - He has taken the load for us.

We can travel along or follow along the very steps that He took - If we look hard we may even see his blood stained steps that he took to win our freedom and the power to overcome temptation.

Man, what a saviour!! And He did it all for us - If He hadn't then we would be like the un-saved - unable to overcome temptation.

Oh Yes they can try with all the 'self-help' seminars - the psych sessions the one-on-one counselling but nothing will really help without the the blood stained cross, the pierced side, the agony and death of our Lord Jesus Christ on that terrible but beautiful cross.

Of course the amazing and awesome resurrection of the Lord was the clincher - the very fact that he overcame death and is right now seated on the right hand side of the Father interceding for us is, well to truthful, utterly incredible!

Jesus was a man! and as a man endured  heaps of temptations yet did not sin.

Then it only stands to reason that in HIS POWER and His power alone, the members of his family - you and me - may cease to sin and have power over temptation - awesome isn't it.

Remember there is no sin in 'being tempted' - the sin is 'yielding' to that temptation'.

Jesus as the Head triumphed over temptation - we as members of His body share in that awesome victory!

Our place of sure safety is only found wrapped in the arms of our Saviour - Christ is with us armed for our defence.

We are the tempted ones now - all we can do is throw ourselves into the arms of the tempted Jesus our Saviour and our Lord.

The chain has broken - the shackles are gone - we are free - claim the victory through the one who broke them!

God does not promise the same help for those who don't know Him however.

Until we repent of our sin and accept Jesus as Lord of our life and hand over to Him 100% we have no capacity to please God or to overcome addiction to temptation.

But those who are saved may claim the power and wisdom of Jesus relying on God's Grace to have the victory even over Satan's most dastardly, subtle and compelling temptations.

Doubts, ducks and puppets

Doubts!!

Wow! I've had  a few - doubts about all sorts of things - my ability to achieve - about the health and well being of my family - about being able to financially secure the present and future.

Doubts about decisions involving employment, retirement, relocating and generally keeping our heads above water.

Life can be difficult - it reminds me of a duck swimming in a pond - all serene and calm on the top but underneath all kicking and struggling trying to keep afloat!

Doubts do nothing but add to the stress already thrown at us through everyday living and coping with life.

I even had huge doubts about my salvation and whether there is really a God!

If God was alive why why why and so on....Well it took me a while to comes to terms with this pretty gigantic question.

Doubting my salvation took me on highs and lows - when bad things happened in my life I immediately doubted - and asked the inevitable question Why?

It was then that I drew much comfort, peace, confidence and reassurance from these thoughts.

God does not will 'bad' things to happen in life. He gave us a beautiful and in some senses a magical gift in issuing the gift of life in the first place.

In that gift of life He gives us a radical freedom  - we are free people - not puppets pulled on strings here and there at the whim of some Master puppeteer.

He is certainly not like Zeus - storming in at the last moment to strike down the worlds evil.

Our God is so grieved when we suffer bad things - we need to live in this world with all it's evil, sickness and badness. Therefore we are prone to have these 'bad' things in our lives.

God never wishes harm on any of His children - not for me - not for you. He walks beside us and loves us unconditionally.

He mourns with us - He groans with us - He weeps with us. He also laughs with us - comforts us and encourages us.

God's grieving is experienced most vividly in the mocking, torture, obscene hurt and unimaginable suffering of Jesus for all of humanity.

God grace is all-powerful and on going - He provides His amazing grace to cope with anything life can throw at us.

His grace can overpower the attacks of the evil one. His grace can give us confidence to move on with whatever is troubling us.

Are you doubting??

Are you really relying on Jesus' sacrifice for your sin?

Do you really believe that Jesus did that for you? - That YOUR sin was laid on His shoulders - that He carried YOUR sin as well as that heavy cross up to Calvary that terrible day?

Do you really believe in a living and personal Lord? A friend that is with you always - that hears what you say and knows your deepest thoughts?

Do your really believe that Jesus rose again from the dead and lives with His Father and has prepared a home for you?

Are you trusting God? - Really trusting Him?  Or are you suffering from a fear of the Lord - a fear that you have gone beyond what God can forgive?

You may be suffering from doubts and anxiety stemming from your recollection of past sins - if you are then be assured every person remembers their sins - they are ever before us.

You may be asking the question "When Jesus comes again will he remember my sins?"

The awesome part is that God doesn't remember them. He looks at us and sees Jesus - the penalty paid - How miraculous is that??  Hebrew 8: 12 says "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

A huge sense of sins and present evil in our lives or around us may throw us into a state of doubt!

This doubt will tell us that you are unworthy, that you are no longer counted with those who have given their lives to Him.

There is no sin that is too big for God - Nothing - so your sins run deep! God's love and grace runs deeper.

Confess your sin, trust Him with your life - Give Him what he wants and yearns for - your love, your trust, your everything.

You are much too loved to be thrown away by God - he created you and loves you with a love beyond our comprehension.

Stop doubting - come back to Christ - give Him your all - you are redeemed by Jesus sacrifice you are His forever if you trust in this surety.

There is no place for doubt, fear, anxiety or stress - Jesus loves you - Heaven claims you - Hell can't hold you.

Surprise!!

Ever been taken completely by surprise?

It can be an amazing experience.

Life itself can be a surprise - our plans and dreams can come crashing down in an instant - all it takes can be some sort of accident or illness, death or disablement, loss of a job or family breakdown.

On the other hand there could be a birth of a child or an engagement, a sudden and unexpected promotion and unplanned and spontaneous holiday - lots of surprises can be exciting and marvellous.

One of the biggest surprises that occurred in my life was when Jesus tore down the curtains, smashed the rock that was my heart and replaced it with His brand new one.

Talk about "taken by surprise" - here I was trying to build a life based on the world's standards - looking for happiness the world's way - most of my hopes and dreams that I had carted around for years kept on tumbling down - I was frustrated and sometimes depressed.

I never really knew why? - I never REALLY understood - I was groping around like a blind person in a strange place - vaguely knowing what I had to do but unwilling to do it.

All my life it seems that I had been searching and looking for some 'missing part' I always knew wasn't there.

Hoping upon hopes that God would accept me anyway - Then came the big surprise!

In 1 John 2: 15-17 God tells us to "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." and again in 2 Corinthians He tells us to "Be separate"

God wants first place in our lives - He doesn't want to and He will not play 2nd fiddle to anyone or anything.

As Christians we are destined to live our lives here on earth and live in the world. BUT we should not let the world dictate to us how we should act and live while we are here.

We need to be separate from the world in everything we do. The world out there should be able to notice we are different from them.

Whatever we do - we should be doing it for God's Glory - His glory is our aim, our one desire and why we are here in the 1st place.

We can't afford to spend our entire lives stocking up treasures and wealth, homes, cars, promotions and anything else here while eternity waits for us.

We can find our joy in the Lord - we can certainly enjoy His creation - His boundless and amazing gifts to us.

The joy of being forgiven and willing to forgive others. The Joy of being very content with what we have and willing to share with others. The Joy of true friends and a willingness to bring others to our awesome God.

We should be very separate from the world in our actions - if something is right even though we may lose by it - it MUST be done.

If a thing is wrong even though we may gain by it we must put it aside completely. NO compromises!

There is no such thing as 'white lies' or anything at all that is a bit suss - no matter how trivial.

We can't let anything of the world's values rub off on us - if we are truly God's, then He must have full control.

We must walk worthy of our calling with all dignity remembering we are children of the King in fact the King of Kings.

When we think of it like that - there is absolutely no room for compromise in anything we do - running our business, running our homes, raising our children, shopping in fact everything we do we need to glorify God in the doing.

We MUST keep ourselves "unspotted" from the world and not get our hands dirty from playing the worlds games.

We can't let our eyes, feet, hands or minds take us along the paths of darkness .

These eyes of ours will see our amazing and awesome Lord, our feet will walk the streets of gold and our hands will be praising our Lord.

Give our Lord our entire lives - Nothing lasts here on earth -NOTHING! except the very GRACE of God - He is so willing to accept you into His family but we need to hand the controls over to Him.

We have to come to the place in our lives where we say enough is enough - no more struggling with God, no more trying to live in two worlds and no more fighting for two Generals.

We either have to have one or the other - either the world with all the razzle dazzle or God with His forgiveness, love and mercy.

We all have to choose!

Either way - every sin ever committed will be dealt with one way or another either:-

At the foot of the cross where Jesus took our sins and paid for them with His death or at the throne of God where we have to give an account.

I know I would have most definitely fallen away from God without His grace.

I am so glad that His great SURPRISE completely took me by surprise. I was so absorbed in me that I took my eyes of Him.

It is so easy to live our lives in a fantasy thinking that God is some distant, far off Deity, when in fact it is as simple as asking Him in to take the controls of our life.

All our wealth and 'stuff' we have accumulated here on earth means nothing and there is nothing we can give to God to make us worthy of His grace.

Going to church and pretending we are holy won't cut it - giving our time and effort to others won't cut it and trying to buy our way to heaven definitely won't cut it.

There is only one way - and one way only. -

Accept what Jesus did on the cross - ask forgiveness BUT make sure you count the cost and turn everything over to Him 100%.

It is SO worth it - the freedom of a transformed life is awesome and amazing.

Vengeance - They will not get away with this!

Vengeance - even the sound of the word is just so powerful - VENGEANCE !!

Makes me want to cower somewhere and hide - it is such an awesome sounding word - coming out of a heart filled with unforgiveness, anger and a desire to see justice done.

Vengeance can take on many forms and many locations - it is generally and mostly carried out by us wanting to get our own back for something we see as wrong or offensive to us.

Ephesians 4:31-32 says "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Pretty amazing words and so true - BUT it is pretty hard to do if we have been severely hurt by someone or the legal system has let us down - that can be very devastating and so wrong - everything inside of us cries out for justice.

Think about these verses from Romans 12:19 and let them sink in:

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'vengeance is mine, I will repay' says the Lord".

Now they are pretty amazing words as well - I must admit that I have read these words before and have tried to put them into practice but always have failed until just recently.

When someone or something offends us - the first thing we must realise and immediately put into practice is that very verse in Romans.

If we are a Christian and we have given our entire lives to Him then the Great God of creation - our Lord and Savour not only knows who the person is that has offended us - but what was said - what the motive was and what our reaction is going to be.

If that person is a Christian, then it is up to the Lord to lay on that person's heart his/her need to seek forgiveness and to put things right.

Certainly not up to us to jump the queue and try to beat God at His own game.

If that person is not a Christian - then we have two trains of thought.

1) The person could very well become a Christian and then of course it becomes the work of the Holy Spirit to convict that person of their need for forgiveness.

Again, let's not try to usurp God's plans and get there before Him - probably making things heaps worse with maybe dire consequences for you and the person involved.

2) The person may never come to know the Lord! That being the case - our Lord knows exactly what was said and what was done.

He knows how you were hurt - he knows how your reputation, feelings, family, finances etc were effected.

He also knows the injustice of what happened and how the consequences of that injustice  has played out for you over the years.

It then becomes His, holy, righteous and just 'vengeance' to deal with the problem. Not ours!

You see, either way we look at the problem of vengeance we come up with the same answer.

It is God's job to repay.

He will be our Champion on the day of Judgement - He will lead us through to the other end - He will give us peace when there is no peace and He will certainly make sure that there will never be any one sin ever committed in the world unaccounted for.

Now that's an awesome thought - EVERY sin will be accounted for:-  Either at the cross of Jesus or at the throne of God!

That leaves us with where each of us stands at this moment.

Are you prepared for the coming Glory of God? - Sins completely forgiven and nailed to the cross of Jesus or...

Are you coasting along - keeping unforgiveness and savouring vengeance in your heart - planning how and when to exact it?

We can't carry unforgiveness in our hearts and still be following the Lord.

We need to either ask forgiveness or give forgiveness  -

Jesus said :- "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins". Matthew 6:14 & 15.

It will probably be one of the hardest calls you will have to make - but you will certainly let a prisoner free - free from guilt and free from carrying around a burden that has stopped a relationship with the Lord and...

That prisoner is you!

Lord, help us to reach the unreachable, change the unchangeable, love the unlovely and forgive the unforgivable.

Lord you are the ONLY one to help us do the impossible - change our hearts Lord - help us bit by bit to become the type of people you want us to become.

Struggling with anxiety?? Over stressed??

Are you struggling with anxiety?

Did you know that we don't have to have anxiety in our lives!

That's right - we can overcome even the slightest trace of anxiousness if we give everything over to God .

Ho Hum here we go again - I've heard all of that before - it doesn't work I can hear you say.

Well, I must admit I have been a Christian a long time and it has just been recently that I have learnt that there is really no place in the Christian life for anxiety.

That's right - no place at all - in fact if we let ourselves become a slave to anxiety we are virtually saying to God that we don't trust you enough to believe what you say in your Word and we want to live without you.

Yes, anxiety is a sin. - pretty horrible sin  at that - anxiousness can lead to all sorts of problems in our lives. Physical problems - Like not sleeping, depression, eating disorders, stomach and liver problems, tobacco and alcohol abuse in fact all sorts of stress related issues - stemming straight from an anxious and worrying lifestyle.

Stress/anxiety can cause countless problems

Worry and stress (anxiousness) is a given in today's society and most businesses are geared around striving to do better - keeping up with other businesses - keeping an eye on "Key Performance Indicators" measuring successes and analysing failures/down times and working out ways to minimise bad impacts.

All the hype and "go-go-go" in the business world has a marked effect on us as employees/employers.

Mental Health issues has become one of today's main concerns - The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells me that almost half (45% or 7.3 million) of 16 million Australians (aged 16-85 years) met the criteria for a diagnosis of a mental disorder at some point in their life. One in five (3.2 million) had experienced the symptoms in the 12 months to the survey - and most of these cases can be attributed mainly to anxiousness.

Pretty staggering statistics - I must admit feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that - stats have never been my strong point but with figures like that you must take notice!

What is happening to the world? I can certainly tell you - because I have been caught up in the downward spiral myself and being there it is not a pretty place.

We as human beings have systematically turned our backs on our Creator God - we have turned to others things that give us a feeling of well-being for the short term.

We have in short become idolaters - looking to other people or other'idols' in our search for so-called happiness - You know how it goes - "If I can just buy this new house I will be happy" - or "If I can just go on this holiday that will be my hearts desire" or "If I can just live with him/her all my troubles will be over".

We hear it everyday - things that we figure will make us 'happy' and 'fulfilled'. I'm telling you right now that these 'things' will never make you happy and fulfilled - they will certainly give you a 'buzz' in the short term but they will never ever give you your hearts desire and fulfil that longing that we all have for perfect happiness and contentment.

I have been reading lately and also studying in our Bible Group a book by John Piper - "Faith in Future Grace" - I must admit that it was a bit daunting but one thing bounced out at me and smacked me fair in the face - that thing is:-

God has given us grace to save us in the first place - without that grace we cannot come to Him at all.

It was grace that drove Jesus to Calvary - Grace that nailed him to the cross - Grace that enabled Him to take all the mocking, scourging, torture and death.

It was also grace that enabled Him to rise again and seal our salvation. - Pretty amazing stuff but stuff that I knew and was always amazed at BUT..

It is also His ON-GOING grace that keeps us walking with God - to enable us to continue worshipping, praising and living for Him.

This ON-GOING grace is a day by day - moment by moment thing graciously given to us by the Father.

This is the thing....

God will give us this grace for today - the grace for tomorrow will come tomorrow.

Think about that!!!

We don't have to concern ourselves with what will happen tomorrow - because tomorrow's grace hasn't been given to us yet - in other words our worries about tomorrow will be taken care of by God tomorrow - not today.

We can spend so much time worrying about tomorrow when in fact as Christians God has enabled us and given us the ability to cope with everything JUST for today - in fact JUST for the moment!

Last year we were "thrown a curved ball' when from left field we were given some pretty devastating news  - My immediate thoughts were - How are we going to cope with this? - I must admit that I lost it - wrung hands and got depressed - did it help? not at all - only made things heaps worse.

God didn't promise us a life free of trauma and problems. He did promise us the ability to get through them - He WILL see us through to the end IF we keep our eyes on Him.

God also promises us His grace and the ability to get through the day - He will give us the strength we need to cope with the problems and trauma associated with what you are doing NOW not tomorrow.

Through our trauma of last year and of course the continuing uncertainty we were and are able to cope by God's grace every day - we had and have to keep our eyes on Him and don't look to the future - knowing that the grace to cope with tomorrow will come tomorrow by our gracious Lord - it won't come today.

Looking at tomorrow's problems today WILL definitely cause anxiety and worry.

God's grace will see us through today it is His promise and God's promises never fail.

Matthew 6:34 says "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own"

Up to just recently I hadn't really got a handle on that verse - BUT it is amazing and awesome to think that God can and will give us the strength to cope with what is dished out today - Let's not take tomorrow's troubles and concerns on our shoulders today.

His grace is all sufficient, all powerful and all conquering.

Trust God for everything we need for today - His grace and strength will see us through both today and tomorrow.

I wrote the following song when I was 15 years old. I have never forgotten it and every now and again I will sing it to myself - luckily no one else can hear.

I guess it has become more of a poem now but the interesting thing is that the words mean more to me now than they did 50 years ago - Our God is indeed marvellous in our eyes - He is awesome and amazing and I am ever spellbound by his wonders.

I want to go to Heaven,

That's where I want to be

I want to go to Heaven.

My Saviour's Face to see

O Lord Keep me close in this world of sin and strife,

Come today, come in to stay, come and change my life.

I want to go to Heaven

Where the streets are paved with gold.

I want to see my Jesus' face

His beauty to behold.

His grace took Him to Calvary

His love showed Him the way

That's why I want to live for Him

And praise him every day.

And when I think of Calvary

And what he did for me

How the Father's wrath was paid

By His death upon the tree.

My heart cries out with gratitude

That He the lord most high

Should deign to take my sins upon Himself and bleed and die

Are you sure you Know Him at all??

John 17:3-4

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

How close is your God?

This question is probably one the most important questions we as mere humans will have to face as we go through and live our ordinary lives in our ordinary world.

There are heaps of so-called Christians today who have cast off the 'fear' of God completely disregarding Gods principles, His plans for Eternity and God's very righteousness.

They can actually acknowledge God mentally but deny His existence in their hearts and in turn it is reflected in how they live.

A healthy dose of the 'FEAR' of the Lord is what keeps our hearts, wills, love and commitment all within reach of the Holy Spirit.

If we lose the very "fear' of the Lord then there is not much hope for us. Acts 13:26 says:- "Those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent."

So what do we mean when we say "Fear the Lord?"

Our God is amazing, He is incredible, He is loving with a love that knows no bounds, He is merciful and His grace is from everlasting to everlasting.

God is also Just and rightly to be feared. The fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgement on sin - Hebrews 12:5-11 says - "Son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you."

While God's discipline of the believer is done in all love it is still a fearful thing. Saying that Believers are not to be 'SCARED' of God - there is absolutely no reason to be scared of God - we have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us - and that nothing can take us out of His hand.

Fearing God means having a super reverence for Him and that super duper reverence will have a vast impact on the way we live our lives.

Fear of the Lord is also having a huge respect for Him - obeying Him 100% of the time, listening to Him when He rebukes and disciplines us and worshipping Him in awe and wonder.

God isn't like the children's favourite story  "The Wizard of Oz". God is not here granting wishes and unlike the Wizard of Oz - Our God is definitely NOT a fake - there is no little man pulling levers behind the curtain.

Our God is to be revered with a reverence almost beyond our understanding.

Do you personally know the revealed God in Scripture? Or do you believe in a God who is kind of like the wizard in OZ.

Satan is the most effective liar - that what he is best at - lying and deceit are his main weapons - God is not warm and fuzzy - He is just and holy and fearful as well as being merciful and full of grace.

God is ready to forgive us of our sins - we need desperately to repent - to revere God as He is Holy and Just and rightly to be feared.

We don't have to be scared of God - we certainly can look forward to eternity with Him - that is if we have given our entire lives to Him and that he has taken up residence in our lives.

BUT we are to have utmost reverence for God - holding Him in awe and wonder.

So where are you? - Do you know Him at all? He is far far more than "a granting wishes god".

"I will NEVER speak to you again!"

Offence is one of those things that affects most of us at some time or another - it is also used by Satan and is one of his most useful tools in driving and alienating people from one another and God.

I'will never speak to you again!!

We can get offended over the most trivial things or we get offended when people don't do the things we expect them to do.  Sometimes that person may be completely unaware of what we were expecting of them in the first place.

Taking and giving offence is a sin - it can be a two way race - giving offence is sometimes inadvertently done to someone who is super sensitive but does that make it ok? Not at all! It is still a sin and we as Christians should be extra careful in the way we approach people.

When we are talking to people we should become super-sensitive in our approach, language and conversation - taking huge amounts of care in the way we are talking and acting.

Taking offence is something that we are probably all guilty of at some time. Offence can drive families apart - can ruin churches and lead to all sorts of mayhem and disasters.

As John Bevere put it in one of his books - it is "The Bait of Satan"

Satan loves to use offence - he knows that offence is one of those personal sins - And because it is so personal it can cut at our very hearts where we hold our innermost thoughts and sensitivities.

If we are offended we feel let-down, victimised, bullied, disappointed, angry and revengeful.

All or at least some of these feelings usually come to the fore when we are offended - all of them wrong - all of them are sins and all with the potential to cause arguments, to seek vengeance and retaliation. Offence will ultimately cause separation from that person but more importantly from God.

We will get to the stage of complete estrangement from family, friends and acquaintances. But more importantly it can become total estrangement from our Lord and Saviour.

Jesus has the answer to this moral dilemma - But it takes a big commitment from us - a commitment to give ALL or yield EVERYTHING over to God, including our very nature - God can and will change us dramatically.

The sin of offence can be replaced with a peace and love for others that you would never think possible - YES God can change our hearts to that degree, so that offence will have no part in our lives at all.

Don't be deceived confession and repentance is great and so necessary BUT if we haven't yielded our ENTIRE life to God then we get caught in the sin-confess-sin-confess syndrome with sin having a BIG foothold in our life.

If God isn't everything in our lives - then he hasn't got any place in our lives at all.

It is one thing to say "yes" I will accept Jesus as my Saviour and Lord BUT if we still want to hang onto our old life with all the hang-ons then Jesus hasn't got the complete control that He needs to fully change our lives.

If you focus on immorality you will become immoral - If you focus on mud you will become dirty - If you focus on jealousy guess what? you become jealous and if you focus on offences you will become offended BUT... If you focus on Holiness you WILL become holy.

You become what you focus on -

The on-going consequence of sin in our life can alienate us entirely from our Lord and Saviour who so desperately want to hold us near

Satan gains most ground in our lives through our own attitudes of unforgiveness and taking offence.

We struggle hard to get the speck out of our brothers eye when all the time we don't notice the log of offence in our own. We easily see all the wrong in others - we easily take offence at what they may say, do or even think.

Giving and taking offence should have no part whatever in the Christian's life - If you are offended with someone or you know someone is offended in you - then it is up to you, with our amazing Lord's help, to make sure it is put right.

Confess Jesus as your Lord - give your life ENTIRELY to the Lordship of Him. Ask Him to change your life through His Spirit and to change you into a child of God.

Renounce the things of darkness - things like taking offence - stop living for yourself and start living for God - it is a freedom that you never thought possible.

Please don't interrupt now Lord - I'm praying

What an amazing verse is Hebrews 8:12 "For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more"

That is a pretty awesome statement.

To think that God is willing and able to forgive our sins - no matter where we have been or what we have done!

Of course we have to come to the place in our lives where we are willing to ask God's forgiveness, claim the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as a full pardon for our sins and ask Him to take over the control of our lives.

An amazing sense of freedom will come into our lives at that moment as the Holy Spirit of God works the age old miracle of transformation and justification in our lives and we are forever changed!

There can be a problem through!

Sometimes we feel we have lived such a rotten and unholy life that we can't possibly ask God or anyone else for that matter to even think of forgiving let alone forgiving and then forgetting.

God promised that He will "remember our sins no more". That simply means  forgiven and FORGOTTEN - Forgotten - that's right - no memory of them at all.

Are you in a situation where you can't possibly think that God can forgive you? - or maybe handing your already-forgiven sins over to God again and again? Maybe you just simply can't forgive yourself.

Gods love, grace, faithfulness and promises are boundless and free - God has smashed your past sins - don't cart them around your neck like some putrid old carcase.

Claim God's promises that He remembers your sins no more! They may kick, squeal, bite and struggle but ultimately they are doomed - they have no real hold over you any more.

So yes! claim those promises that your sins are forgiven - don't keep dredging them up all the time.

Every brand new day is a special gift and a blessing from God. We are forgiven. The chains of sin are broken. Don't continue to go stumbling around lost in the darkness of guilt.

Dry your tears, don't continue to be embarrassed by your weaknesses, feeling abandoned in this on-going fight against already forgotten sins.

Boldly come to the Father, He is also a friend who is eager to hear and willing to help you.

Every time you cry, every time you hide your face, every time you run away, every time you turn your back on God, He is saying "I'm still here - I've always been here - I love you - I remember your sins no more."

Accept His offer of forgiveness - keep breathing - keep believing - hang on tight to His promises that the chains of your sins are broken.

Listen to what Jesus says - Listen to His promises - don't rush around praying over and over for forgiveness that has already been given - It's like saying to God "Please Lord, don't interrupt me now I'm praying."

You know gazing into the face of Jesus is gazing into wondrous love and grace - what He says He will do - He will certainly do - you can bank on it - rest in Him.

Satan is the one who says can't while God says can - Satan says won't while God says will - Satan says GUILTY while God says INNOCENT.

Don't listen to Satan - the king of liars.

Listen to the one who can set you free - free from the on-going guilt of dragging around already forgotten sins.

We will all keep on sinning while we live in this world - unfortunately that is the price we pay - It is the on-going work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of these sins so that we can bring them to God. BUT...

Forget the past sins - Jesus died so that we can live  - He nailed them to His cross. Claim God's promise and start to really trust Him.

I won't sing that!

How are you at compromise?

In the world in which we live, we are taught from an early age that compromise is good.

We learn from a very early age that we can't always have what we want or when we want it.

When, we as children, argued with our siblings maybe over toys or whatever, generally we had pointed out to us the need to compromise, maybe take turns - you have it today and whoever has it tomorrow - so that placates our desire to be the No 1 and we learnt to share, to give in, to compromise.

So we live our lives - well most of us anyway - prepared to compromise - prepared to share - prepared to give in when appropriate - and in that way life can go along pretty smoothly.

There is one area in our lives though that demands there is, never will be and never should be compromise!

We can never compromise our Lord and Saviour - Jesus said I am the Way the Truth and the Life - no one comes to the Father except through me - no compromise here!

There is no other way to get to God - not by doing good or being 'holy'.

Jesus also said - we are in the world BUT we are not of this world - amazing - we can live in this world but basically we are not part of the world out there - we are set apart - set apart to live for Jesus.

So in effect Jesus is telling us - actually commanding us not to compromise - no compromising Him, His Word or our Christian faith.

Pretty big call when all through our lives we are taught to compromise and in life that is what it is all about.

Being a Christian isn't easy - God said it wouldn't be - we have to stand up for what we believe and not compromise our faith by bending to the world's wishes or standards.

This was brought home to me just last week when I again learnt a lesson from my family - I have shared recently how my daughter in law shared a book with me by John Bevere. The book changed my life and made me realise how much we need God and how we can make our life count today and forever.

Well this time it was Elyssa my 9 year old Granddaughter  (or Grandblessings as I now refer to my Grandchildren).

She was at her singing lessons - she loves singing, dancing and all things musical - and auditioning for musical theatre when musical lyrics for a certain number were being performed.

The lyrics and music were great and she was enjoying singing when suddenly words on the page jumped out at her - they were just "not right" and belittled and downgraded the name of God.

Afterwards she went to her coach and quietly but determinately advised her that "I can't sing those words".

Elyssa - making a stand

I was amazed as was her teacher, who phoned Elyssa's Mum to talk about it. As far as Elyssa is concerned - there is NO compromise - amazingly she is prepared to forgo her chance at singing that part because she knows that it is "just not right."

We may have to compromise throughout our lives here on earth BUT God says where He is involved there is absolutely no room for compromise - If we don't give God 100% then we haven't given Him anything.

When we make Jesus king in our lives - then He MUST be King over EVERY aspect of our lives - not just a little bit.

We can't hold back some little part and say to God 'You can have this part but not that - I want to keep that and keep saying this" - No doesn't work like that.

Make Jesus king over everything.

If we try to compromise Him an any way then that makes us open to His wrath. Why? because then He isn't really Lord of our life at all and God demands everything.

So how are you at compromise? - Is there anything you are holding back?

Once again my family have shown me amazing truths - God is never through with us no matter how old and crotchety we get.

Nine year old Elyssa, by her courage and determination not to 'put God down' has been a huge lesson to me. That lesson has enabled me to say with all certainty - "Father take ALL of my life - I don't want to compromise you any more."

Father I thank you for my family - thank you for the lessons you have shown us through them - I praise you Lord for your faithfulness. Give us the courage of our convictions and help us to give you 100% of our lives.

So again the question is asked - how are you at compromise - the decision and action is yours - the grace and assistance is Gods.

Who am I?

Who am I that the Lord of creation should bleed and die for me?

This was brought home to me recently and made me think very carefully - Who indeed am I? - Certainly never ever worthy of such grace and love as this!

That the son of God the most high Lord went to the cross for me is almost beyond the realms of possibility that He could leave His home above, take on the form of a man, come to earth to save me blows me away.

When you think of it - the King of the Universe - A King!! THE King - bleeding and dying to take my punishment and why?

Romans 5:7&8  says (NLT) Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good, but God showed his love for us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Hard to believe! - that Jesus died to take away the sins of the whole world - He didn't die just for the holy and 'good' people of the world - He died for the sin laden the world - Jesus died for me - the worst of sinners.

Now matter where you are - no matter how dark the place is where you are - no matter where you have been or who you have been with - no matter that your sins are forever before you - no matter that you are weighed down with the guilt of your sins............

JESUS loves YOU - yep - loves you with the deepest of love - a love that drove him to Calvary and beyond - a powerful all consuming love - a love so powerful that it broke the chains of death and the grave couldn't hold Him any more.

A love that burst through the very portals of death and confirmed the promise that we too can be victorious over death, sin and all sorts of temptations in fact anything that Satan can throw up at us.

Satan can have no hold over us - Yes it's that simple.

All we need to do is accept and believe that Christ died us and be willing to give Him our entire lives and no longer live for ourselves.

We are not and never will be saved by our good deeds. Good deeds will never earn us a place in Heaven.

If that was true then Jesus died for nothing - He died in vain - We are only saved by His grace. A free gift that no one can earn. All we have to do is to accept that gift, renounce living for ourselves and commit our lives to Him as Master and Lord.

So who am I that the Lord of Creation should bleed and die for me?

I am a child of God - bought by His sacrifice and blood spilled on Calvary - The King of creation and Lord of the universe.

I was bought by His blood - I live by His promise - I have conquered death by His resurrection

Two mules and a heap of dirt

I was reading in 2 Kings chapter 5 recently and was blown away (again) by the story of Naaman and the little Israeli girl held captive by old Naaman and his wife.

This little girl was obviously far away from home - taken as a slave to Syria and made to work hard for Naamans wife.

I expect that life wasn't easy for her - she must have missed her Mum and her home and it doesn't really bear thinking about what atrocities she witnessed as her family was separated and her whole way of life changed.

God was using this little girl to change in a most miraculous way the entire household in which she found herself.

God can use anyone and anything at any time for His holy purpose - He can even use you and me! The thing is we may not realise what is happening at the time. God's big picture is seldom seen by those he is using.

For example - You may be working hard to win others for Christ and seeing no results whatever - or you may be completely in the dark not even realising that God is using you.

Remember that sharing with others is a Holy Spirit Job - Their response to you is the Holy Spirit's responsibility - Your job is to do the sharing bit. In one way you become the Holy Spirit's mouthpiece.

So ...... getting back to the story - poor old Naaman, that big strong Syrian soldier - the Commander of the army to King Aram - the one everyone looked up to - the ever valiant Naaman - hero of the nation - had leprosy!

Yes - the old dreaded skin disease - killer of that time - and still a scourge today - had struck down the mighty, courageous and looked-up-to Naaman and he was devastated!

The little slave girl plucked up enough courage to go to her mistress and suggest that Naaman go to her home country and visit Elisha the prophet - not only that but she was emphatic that if Naaman should go then Elisha would definitely cure him of his leprosy - What faith was that!!

Can you imagine what would have happened to her if Elisha wouldn't have helped?

What faith was that??? How is our faith? - I have been convicted only this week of how little faith I have - I look at friends who have given up family, jobs and security to go to another land without all the mod cons - to raise their young family in squalid conditions and why? because they know deep in their hearts that God will look after them.

They trust God with their future - not even considering the 'big picture' just trusting God and having faith to follow through with the conviction that God has placed in their hearts.

Oh Lord - please give us the faith to follow you more closely - to trust you more and to hand everything over to you.

......Back to the story - so anyway Naaman's wife told him about the young slave girl and old Naaman went to the king and asked him leave to travel to see Elisha the prophet from Israel -  The king agreed - but instead of going to Elisha - the king of Syria sent a letter to the king of Israel introducing Naaman and more or less demanded that HE cure him of his leprosy!

It is interesting to note that the little slave girl disappears from the picture - I wonder whatever happened to her? - God used her to get Naaman to Israel - she did an amazing job - Was she ever rewarded? I doubt it.

We, may never know what we have sown in this life - whether good or bad - Have we encouraged or convicted others of their need for Christ? - have we maybe put others off the very thought of becoming Christians? - a sobering thought! Like the little slave girl we may never know.

Well you can imagine the King of Israel's surprise - fortunately Elisha heard of the commotion and had Naaman brought to him. Elisha knew that God was going to work a miracle in the man's life.

Well whatever old Naaman thought was going to happen - didn't! He figured he would be treated with respect - that Elisha would maybe bow and scrape - tug at his forelock, fall down at Naaman's feet and generally be subserviant like everyone else.

Instead Elisha send his servants out to tell Naaman to go wash in the Jordan river and dip himself down seven times and he would be free of leprosy.

Naaman was disgusted - not only didn't Elisha show respect, but he told him to go wash in the dirty Israeli river - He had much better and cleaner rivers back home - so off he flounced?

How do we go when God tells us to do something? - or when we are convicted about something or someone - do we obey straight away? or are we like old Naaman - flounce off and ignore God!

Anyway, once again a servant spoke up (luckily for him he had these amazing servants) and convinced him to turn around, dry his tears, toughen up and go throw himself in the river Jordan seven times.

Well, to cut a long story short - the miraculous happened and he was cured - what a shock!!

When God answers our prayers like we thought - do we get a huge shock!! Again our faith is questioned! Faith in God is believing what he says in His word over anything we may see, hear or experience.

Good old Naaman all cured, pink and fluffy went back to Elisha and wanted to pay the prophet heaps of cash to say thank you - But Elisha would have none of it. The more Naaman insisted the more adamant Elisha got - He would not accept payment for something that God alone had done.

Like Naaman from way way back how often do we try to buy our way into heaven? - maybe not so much with money and wealth but even thinking that there is more we have to do to somehow secure a place.

Jesus did it all - there is absolutely nothing we can do - God cannot love us more and He cannot love us less - He paid the price for our salvation on the cross.

Because of His great sacrifice God sees us as spotless and blameless - Our sins have been buried in the deepest sea and God has planted a sign over them saying 'No fishing' - in other words no dredging up your sins once they have been buried.

God forgives our sins and then forgets them.

Anyway, old Naaman finally got the message - God and Elisha finally got through to him -  I guess he looked at his new pink skin and praised the God of Elisha and Israel and this is where the mules and dirt come in....

Being an over-the-top kind of guy, he asked Elisha for as much earth as a pair of mules could carry so he could build an alter to God in his own homeland - He still didn't realize that God can be worshipped anywhere at any time - nevertheless that what he wanted.

How are we at worshipping God? Do we worship Him at all? We should and can worship God in everything we do - Glorifying Him in everything - mundane or important.

Give God the glory in everything and he will give us the assistance to make things happen and/or get through any trials or tribulations.

So old Naaman finally got going back to his own country - with his glowing new skin - and his new found faith in God. It was a worry though that before he left he asked that God would forgive him for those times when he must accompany his king in the temples of Rimmon (their idol god) .

God accepts no rivals in our lives - He will not have anyone or anything ahead of Him. Naaman didn't understand that - makes me wonder if he ever did!

God wants all of our lives - He won't play 2nd fiddle to anyone or anything.

It's absolutely no good by handing over your vessel to God and saying 'here fill it up Lord' when He can't because it's already crammed full of all sorts of stuff.

Let's get rid of the 'stuff' in our lives then ask God to re-fill our lives with Him - True freedom only comes by complete surrender to God's will.