September 16, 2018
The way we see ourselves has an impact of every area of our lives. Our identity determines who we are as people and even determines whether or not we are happy, successful, hopeful, and our ability for God to use us.
The devil is hard at work robbing believers of their true identity in Christ. This Sunday we will explore the key truths about our true identity in Christ.
September 9, 2018
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”
(Matthew 5:6)
In the Beatitudes, Jesus points to “blessedness” (“happiness”). John Baker, in his book ‘Life’s Healing Choices’ describes them as God’s pathways to “wholeness, growth and spiritual maturity”.
Of course, the truths that are contained in the Beatitudes are all through Scripture. They’re pathways to becoming all the person God wants us to be. The story of Jacob in Genesis 31 & 32 describes his struggle “I won’t let go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26) and his conversion, his filling with righteousness - ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but ISRAEL … Then he blessed him there. So, Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face … (Genesis 32_28-30).
September 2, 2018
On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day.
We had morning tea, took photos, shared terrible dad jokes, and heard a short message from Peter.
August 27, 2018
Have we become too safe locked behind the doors we put up around us?
Are we too comfortable living the same way everyday?
God calls us into the unknown and we are faced with the decision to play it SAFE or have FAITH.
August 19, 2018
The third of Jesus’ statements about “blessedness” (happiness) is - “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). And once again, Jesus is turning expectations on their head. He’s speaking to a crowd of Jewish people, who have their sights set on a “Messiah”. One who would ‘deliver them’ from their political and social circumstances.
So, this must have been puzzling, confusing, ‘crazy talk’ for them to hear. They didn’t want meekness or gentleness. They wanted ‘macho’ and they wanted it Braveheart style. And it’s true for us. Not much of our political, social and economic world values ‘meekness’. It’s seen as weakness!
The good news is, a deeper understanding of ‘meekness’ is ‘strength under control’ or ‘courage under fire’. It’s ‘conviction’ but with a gentle spirit that comes from the infusion of God’s spirit and God’s strength in our lives. May God bless you with meekness.
August 12, 2018
John Baker, the founder of Celebrate Recovery and author of “Life’s Healing Choices”, uses the Beatitudes of Jesus to help us explore choices that help on the pathway to growth, spiritual maturity, happiness and healing.
The choice to ‘hope’, he says, is grounded in the seconded of Jesus beatitudes – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
Many of us, perhaps most, don’t like the thought of ‘mourning’ the past and those things that have happened that casue us hurt and grief. And, we will often substitute unhealthy behaviours and attitudes in place of mourning.
Jesus says that mourning is the key to finding God’s comfort. The pathway to that comfort and hope begins with knowing who God really is, understanding who we really are and seeing how God can change us.
August 6, 2018
We often say “bless you” or we sign off a card or email with “blessings”.
Jesus, in his famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’, tells us eight ways to be blessed, to be happy.
The first Beatitude - "Blessed are those who recognise, that they are spiritually helpless" (God’s Word Translation - Matthew 5:3). I imagine that helplessness to be an admission that we’re powerless, that we need help, that we can't control and manage everything in our lives but we need God's help; then we will be blessed.
How do we develop that kind of attitude – humbly admit we need help, humbly ask God for help and humbly accept help from others.
July 30, 2018
Injustice is a fact of life. We wish that it wasn’t, but it is.
From the time we were small children, we understood the concept of injustice well. “It’s not fair!” Do you remember saying that to your parents or your teachers? Of course you do. We’ve all been there.
When we suffer as a result of doing something stupid, whilst it hurts, at least we can reconcile ourselves in the knowledge that we brought it upon ourselves. But when we suffer as a result of an injustice, when we’re experiencing pain that we don’t deserve, man that rubs salt in our wounds, doesn’t it?
The bottom line is that injustice magnifies the pain of our suffering.
So how do you respond when you’re suffering unjustly?
Probably a lot like Habakkuk in the Old Testament. He took God to task, because the injustice and the suffering of his people just wasn’t fair. He cried out to God, but God didn’t give him the answer he was looking for.
So today, we’re going to spend a bit of time with Habakkuk … because during his suffering and through the injustice, God wrought a mighty work in his heart.
And with all that I am, I believe God means to do a mighty work in our hearts, when we suffer injustice.
July 22, 2018
Sometimes, on our life’s track, we come to realise that the destination we’re trying to reach is unachievable; the dream we had isn’t going to come true; the hope we had isn’t going to be fulfilled.
Some destinations become unreachable because of our choices; a single decision or choice we’ve made. Some are out of reach because of decisions others have made. Sometimes there’s no one to blame. We are where we are and not where we want to be!
Solomon reminds us that - “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a longing fulfilled, is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12). We can move on from our heartache. We can continue to pray fervently, to listen for God’s voice, to find the ‘good’ we can in our circumstances, to use our hardships for God’s glory and continue to believe that somewhere along our track in life God will do something “good” for us.
July 15, 2018
What has your attention these days?
What has mine?
And is where we’re directing our attention leading us somewhere that we want to go?
The Proverbs of Solomon, recorded in the Old Testament, give us wisdom about our path, about the track of our lives. Solomon’s key observation was that it’s our direction (more than our hopes, or dreams, or intentions) that determines our destination and where we end up.
In Proverbs 4:25-27 Solomon adds an important corollary, namely that what gets our attention, determines our direction and ultimately, our destination. Attention, direction, destination. That’s the principle, of the track of our lives, in three words.
We can choose to ‘give’ our attention and we can choose to ‘pay’ attention. The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to give our attention and to - ‘fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfected of our faith’ Hebrews 12:2-3).
