P2970 Religion can kill our faith.

“Beloved ones, God has called us to live a life of freedom. But don’t view this wonderful freedom as an excuse to set up a base of operations in the natural realm. Constantly love each other and be committed to serve one another." Galatians 5:13. We’ve been set free to love one another and to serve God, of our own volition.  

When we read the Gospels, if we look at the hawk-eyed big brother attitude of the Sadducees, Pharisees, Teachers etc. we can see they pounced on anyone who broke even the smallest of the man-made rules. This included some poor schmuck who was born blind. These religious leaders picked on the guy because he was healed on the Sabbath! Like the man chose that day!? He was offered healing and he said yes … wouldn’t you??

Then there was another man who spent 35 years of his life lying by a pool, and he got into trouble for carrying the bed he had been pop-riveted to for years!  All because he was also healed on the Sabbath. There were others and Jesus healed them all on the Sabbath too. But as soon as these healed people were out in public, some enthusiastic religious enforcer immediately demanded to know why they were breaking this law or that one! Sadly these legalistic men skipped right past the joy of those amazing healings and went straight to the so-called infringement.

The Pharisees etc. lived to point out other people’s sinful actions and attitudes. Their laws consisted of hundreds of add-ons to the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses. Father God paid an incredible price when He gave us the freedom to choose! His aim was REAL reconciliation not lip-service or more laws. Today we are free to choose LOVE. You simply cannot legislate against sin.

After all, the bible says that sin itself, can give our misdeeds a greater appeal! The religious laws of Jesus’ time, alienated and distanced the people from their God. You simply couldn’t afford to even appear to make any kind of mistake, you would get caught and punished. They even had sacrifices for the things people might have forgotten they did! 

Mercy flew right out of the window, rapidly followed by grace. Healing etc. had to be legislated into a suitable time and place delegated by the religious rulers’ discretion. People had no choice, they either obeyed the law to the letter, or they were punished. Sometimes they had rocks thrown at their heads! Or they were beaten within an inch of their lives. Or they had to fork out money they didn’t have to pay for grain offerings, doves, sheep and cattle. The religious rules had been around for so long, they had slowly been perverted away from loving God and each other, into legalism.

I think the very worst part of all this is that God Himself became even more estranged from His very precious children - why wouldn’t you avoid a god who appeared to require punishment for every single misstep? We know that sin starts with an inward attitude, which can result in an outward action against what God has said, but I think the complete truth is when we sin, we sin against LOVE, not rules. When what we do is not from love we’ve sinned. Which makes categorising sin a waste of time. Instead of focussing on outward actions, our hearts need to be changed. They need to have an attitude transplant and God has given us the perfect opportunity to have one!

Jesus did it for us - He is God’s love in action. He is the perfect example for us — unfettered by profit, agendas, prejudices, judgment, appetites and selfishness,. Meanwhile those snarky I’ve-got-a-right-to-do-what-I-want attitudes we cherish so much in this modern age, can go from choice to entitlement in a heart-beat. Sin is a heart condition. We were born with it but Jesus took the huge burden of personal responsibility for mankind's sin, past, present and future, upon Himself and He met every legal single requirement. He overpaid!

Almighty God sent Jesus to save everyone, even the guys who killed Him. God chose to sacrifice His own Son willingly—to give US back our freedom, and give US the opportunity to walk with Him. Religion takes our choices away, it sets our minds on an impossible task … remaining sin free. And it totally ignores what Jesus already did for us. It also removes Love from our midst. Loving one another is our only hope of thriving instead of just surviving. “Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others].’ Colossians 3:14. (AMP)

Unless we choose to live in Love, like Jesus did, the law will continue to haunt the church.  We need to do what the bible says, and put aside gossip, resentment, criticism etc. etc. and pay far more attention to our own hearts, than we do toward other people’s sin. Religion chokes the life out of faith. Bye. 👋

P2969 Hope maintenance.

“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power constantly energises you. Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!” Ephesians 3:20-21 TPT. Jesus is our steadfast anchor and hope, and the bible is hope’s back-up and proof that what we know is true. Finally, our praise and prayers mirror what we hope for! 

You and I need to take the time to protect our own hope. We can’t always just jump in and start out with faith, because our faith can be weakened by circumstances, emotions and trouble. Christ’s birth, life, and death have established HOPE on the earth, permanently. "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27.This is not a transitory thing, it is an eternal thing. It is an established, firm, foundational fact. We cling to His incredible goodness. Faith will spring up in us, as we continually maintain our hope in Who He is and what He did for us.

We need to remind ourselves about what the Bible says, instead of focussing on what is going on around us or inside us. We ask the Holy Spirit to remind us of the incredible things the Lord has already done in our lives that are good, filled with hope, grace and truth. Verses like those two above, are so helpful, they remind us that God has dominion over everything else that is going on, and He doesn’t just want to answer our prayers — He wants to bless us while He is doing it! He has our best interests firmly established in His heart.

Here is another well known verse that show us ‘hope’s purpose.’"May Your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in You.” Psalm 33:22. Our hope is an investment in God’s greatness, not in our ability to believe! There are times when we hope for things that are bigger than our faith seems to be. However, God is always good, He will get us there, He will turn our hearts toward Him! Just be honest with Him and ask for His help. When we asked Jesus to save us He made our heart His home. We could be bad at living like that is a reality, or good at it, none of that makes any difference at all to HIS goodness. 

Things happen all the time in this life, stuff like —- a loved one is desperately sick, or the job we want to be available isn’t. Maybe we need somewhere safe to live. Of course we pray about such desperate things, but our hope needs to be in WHO He is, not just the answer to our prayers. If our hope is in the answer to our prayers then our hopes can be shattered if things don’t turn out the way we think they should. We must start with the known, the reality, the substance of Who Jesus is — His character, and His attitude toward people like me, we are the people He loves. All of that is in the bible.

Sometimes we desperately hope for things that are beyond our immediate scope of belief. Pray and ask Him to walk you through your failing hope and faith, until you are again standing on His goodness. Things like these are a place for us to continue to stretch our faith IN HIM. Here is an example: it is one thing to believe God can get you to work on time when the trains are late — and totally another to believe He can heal someone who is severely depressed! He can! But we can drive ourselves batty struggling and striving to stretch our hope and make our faith into something it isn’t … yet. When you find a weak place, let Him be your strength.

You and I might have a mustard seed size of faith, and still grow a big tree that will shelter others. The important factor in that sentence is time. We never arrive, we are always in transit in this life - that's part of the adventure. We need to invest our hope in His goodness, like we invest in breathing or having enough water — not in our ability, or inability to pray. Let His goodness be a fixed point. Then hope will not disappoint you. HE never changes. But our ability to hope in Him answering our prayers might easily be swayed or changed with adverse  circumstances. 

That’s why our hope must be in Who He is. Our thoughts aren't about things like - did He answer my prayer this week, last month, last year? Our prayer needs to be fixed to the only true fixed point - is Jesus God or not? Can God do anything or not? Anything else leaves us open to being knee-capped by the other guy when we get overwhelmed by whatever is going on. God is good. He gives good answers. No matter how things look now, He’s got this. He’s with you in what is going on. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen." Hebrews 11:1. We hang onto our hope in Him, until we hit faith and we return to the certainty of Who He is ... now we have substance ... we aren't trying to push faith out, we know that we know Who He is.

Silence from heaven is never final … it means it is faith-stretching time - during that time we need to dig into our hope chest and remind ourselves of Who He is and what He has done for us. Hope maintenance facilitates growing and strengthening OUR faith. We stop using other people’s experiences to push us along, and start developing our own history, our own stories of His grace in action. Then we can't be stopped. Remember:  “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 . I believe that hoping in God’s goodness is the key that breathes life into overwhelmed struggling, sad hearts. Bye. 👋

P2968 God’s Love is alive...

… IN US! We don’t have to pray it down or work it up - it is released ... given away ….by using our faith!“Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5.

Jesus came into this world as Love personified. That’s why studying His life in the Gospels is so beneficial. We can see what God’s love looks like in real life, interacting with real people. He is our example, our living illustration of God’s love in action. That’s God’s love talking to the woman at the well, or pardoning the adulterous woman who was taken to be stoned. That’s God’s love touching lepers, loving sinners, and healing the sick in the middle of a service. That’s God’s love standing on a hillside preaching for hours. Jesus cared that the people listening had no food, and no way to get it easily and He provided for them.

Jesus is God’s love beautifully wrapped in vulnerable  human skin, flesh and bone. It was His love that stayed on the cross until the redemption of mankind was accomplished. It was God's love that called Him away from here and leave this world, so He could stand beside His Father interceding on our behalf. His love sent back to us our best ally - our helper, teacher, counsellor, healer, etc. in the Person of the Holy Spirit. 

We all love miracles, but miracles are not the main thing! If we stop at miracles we are like Simon the Sorcerer in Acts, or the Pharisees demanding a miracle to order. When we see things like Jesus turning water into wine, walking on water, calming the storm, or healing Peter’s mother-in-law, or healing a man blind from birth …each one of those miracles are prompted by a passionate love for each situation and each individual…These things are not prompted by obligation, or formality or even to prove Jesus was God Himself in human form! God’s love chose to speak to ordinary people in extraordinary ways, in their everyday circumstances.

If we choose to look after ourselves and our own comfort, and refuse to actively learn what His love looks like so we can minister to someone else, we can render ourselves ineffective. The Holy Spirit is pure love — that’s why we can so easily hurt Him with our careless talk and attitudes toward others! Love makes itself vulnerable at great personal cost. So we need the Holy Spirit's guidance desperately, every minute of every hour of every day - He knows how to please the Father and the Son a-n-d .. He knows the way through everything that happens to us! 

The purity of the Holy Spirit’s love is the power of God to do good. He is God’s goodness in action! Human beings desperately need His kind of altruistic love… it has nothing whatsoever to do with feelings. Jesus came into this world to illustrate love’s true nature. The bible tells us that He demonstrated God’s love toward us while we were sinners. The most precious form of love there is, has nothing to do with the other person’s behaviour. We can’t make that kind of love up!  I don’t care how nice you are to others, nice runs out! 

Love is a little like Joseph’s beautiful coloured coat in Genesis.  It was given to him by his father Jacob. That coat was a concrete illustration of Jacob’s love for his youngest son. It covered that young man, and marked him out everywhere he went. People who saw him might say; ‘There goes Jacob’s youngest son!’  That’s why his brothers were jealous, they had to stare at that coat! 

God’s Love covers US in the same way. His unchanging love is the stamp of God upon His people. It can’t be faked. The people who choose to be transformed by love are enabled by His Grace to put whatever other people do to them - by accident or design - under His blood. We have a far far greater purpose than revenge - we have been appointed by Almighty God Himself to share His Love with other people! There is no greater calling than that. 

Forget this title, or that important position, or this influence, or that speaking ability - loving others is the reason we are all here … We must consciously decide to learn that kind of love. And the grumpy difficult people in our lives are our teachers, our motivators - they inspire us learn how to rely even more deeply upon God’s grace to do the impossible. These people give us opportunities to die to what we want, and say yes to what God wants.

Paul says this beautifully in 2 Corinthians 5:12-21.MSG.“God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care. We’re not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we’re on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.”

‘May the love of Christ be foremost in everything we say and do as we follow Him.’ Amen. God’s love has been given to us to share, it is alive, it will totally change lives.  Bye. 🙏

P2967 God knows how to choose a leader.

The Lord chooses someone who is honest, loves Jesus and knows that they truly need redemption!! Someone who will acknowledge their own mistakes readily and repent. God does not choose perfect people. Almighty God loves the person who has learnt to rely upon the Holy Spirit. Human beings, on the other hand, often look for the charismatic, the shiny people, the one who we think has His ear. Hmmm…

Think about this: John was supposedly the Lord Jesus’ favourite disciple. Why didn’t Jesus pick John to be their leader? The Apostle John is recorded as being “the one Jesus loved…” … so why didn’t the Lord put John in charge?? This man had plenty of faith, he did not mess up like Peter. Why did God pick Peter?? Perhaps  Peter was a man of action, he dared to believe and he knew how to take a rebuke!

The reality was, the person Jesus chose to be the leader was the guy who messed up publicly, the most! Peter fell over his big mouth all the time. He constantly, and consistently said inappropriate things - even in deeply spiritual situations. There were other times when he tried to save face, as well as his neck. After all, he nearly drowned himself with his own ambition!

By the way it was Peter who objected to having his feet washed, but later agreed. (John 13:6-10). It was Peter who cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. (John 18:10). Peter noticed the withered fig tree. (Mark 11:21). And Peter was one of the three who witnessed the transfiguration of Christ. (Mark 9:2-6). Plus it was Peter who denied Christ under pressure, despite his sincere vows to the contrary.

Maybe Peter is an object lesson to show us that our mistakes aren’t forever and the Holy Spirit’s help and transformation in a life makes all the difference. However, Peter’s mistakes also highlight the kindness, forgiveness, compassion, and the ongoing willingness of our God to understand our humanity.  Perhaps the Lord has a different criteria when HE looks for a leader. 

Here is another interesting thing to note about Peter - he didn’t defend himself, or make excuses. Not once. Instead he was the willing beneficiary of the Lord’s undeserved Grace. He was prepared to learn. However, when it seems Jesus gave this man a chance to repent, he responded with hurt feelings.  

John 21:15-17.“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?”“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me? He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.” The third time He said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Peter’s response to the Lord’s questions here are surprising. He is blissfully unaware of what he has previously done. It seems he did not feel that he had to re-affirm his loyalty. The thing is he had already repented for what he did… ON THE SPOT! (Read Matthew 26:69-75.) His faith is in their established relationship.

I think that’s why he climbed out of a perfectly good boat in a storm! Fear only hit that man when he saw the wind and the waves. It seems that he had already comprehended the Lord’s faithfulness to forgive, because he had experienced it over and over again. I think he understood that God allows us to learn and he clearly shows us the difference the Holy Spirit makes in one man’s life! The Lord shows us that, through Peter.

The scriptures show us that leaders are best chosen by God, not by people. Saul is a perfect example of this thought, he was a bad choice by the people based on looks, not character. However God hand picked David, yet he sinned with Bathsheba and murdered, Uriah;  Moses was a murderer too;  Abraham left his parents behind, and put his wife in moral danger twice; Gideon and Elijah were both found to be cowards on occasion;  and Jonah was just plain wilful and petulant! 

The person who knows and will admit they are wrong, and learn from their error, has a distinct advantage over the person who covers up, or ignores it. I don’t actually think that people fall into sin all that easily - I think they step into it one bad decision at a time. God knows how to choose a leader, and it isn’t always who we think it should be. Bye.👋

P2966 What God did FOR us.

What I write here was never meant to be a list of do’s and don’t’s — if you have read anything I have written as formulaic, right now …I’m asking for your forgiveness. Please don’t get stuck in trying harder - it leads to frustration..

Our God is looking for a people who will not leave obedience, teaching and passion to the pastors;  or evangelism to the evangelists and missionaries;  or kindness and compassion to the ministry of healing!! He has called each one of us, and He wants us all in the middle of what He is doing, now - today! Our love for Jesus is what motivates us. It holds us by our hearts into somewhere that we probably wouldn’t choose for ourselves. It holds us firmly into His Love no matter what.  We dare not abuse it.  As His plan unfolds in front of us we won’t ever want to be anywhere else! 

I want to be real with you. There were things that I found I’d tolerated in my heart that I thought I couldn’t help having there. These were terrible things that other people did to me when I was vulnerable and couldn’t do anything about it. Finally, I realised that I didn’t need healing —instead— I had to remove the stumbling blocks I had allowed to remain inside my thoughts, and start living the way He told me to do, using my faith, daily. Starting with true forgiveness, that lets loose grace and unconditional love.

All of this happened to me, with no signs, no wonders, no big voices from heaven - I just had to decide to obey  - cold turkey! Now, I agreed with the bible, I knew it was truth, but I didn’t always obey it because I thought I had good reasons why I didn’t have to, why I couldn't help it. So if what He said didn’t seem to be true for my life and experiences, and if I didn’t feel anything, and nothing changed immediately, that meant I was OK. That’s error, it's not faith. 

I am writing these things for those people who are sick of feeling like a deceitful failure. They smile at church, say and do all the outward right things, but they are using their own strength. They haven’t acted in faith upon what He has said because they are waiting to feel like they can! In my experience, the feelings come later … much later! The good news is the Holy Spirit knows the way through anything. And He will help you, sometimes by reminding you of something Jesus said.

Would you believe, I actively dismissed some of what I read in the bible, as not applying to me? My safety was not in HIM, its roots were in deception. Do you ever see disappointment toward you on His face? If you do, that’s a demonically-inspired mirage. WE are the love of His life! He gave us a book full of instructions and the Holy Spirit, Who will make each instruction personal when we ask Him to do it. Do you know that in His eyes you can’t fail? He has already done all the work for us!!  We just need to stay honest with Him and others, and fix the mess we make as we walk with Him. Peter did that. He blew things all the time, BIG time. 

Jesus continually remembers the cross, and what it did for all of us! My job is to identify with Him the way He identified with me. Now I live like He would, obedient to our Heavenly Father. And I repent and repair things when I've messed up. We can’t just pray God will fix us and stop there, hoping He will eventually do all the work for us. Be-ca-use …Jesus already did everything for us and we obtain it by acting on what He said using your faith. Do the thing that scares the daylights out of you first. You will really see Him help you when you step out on a limb.

It’s time to use our faith, believing that what He did worked…and it's out there waiting for us to claim it by acting on it!! Then we will make our faith bigger than our feelings. Sometimes Christianity consists of so much spiritual talk that we forget the work is done. That’s because it is not just meant to be heard, it’s like your credit card, it has to be activated. Jesus made stuff easy to identify — don’t steal, don’t hate, don’t covet your neighbours 100 foot catamaran, cute spouse … etc. follow Him. 

Knowing what attitudes are dangerous should be clear to us, but Christianity is not a test that we pass or fail. Jesus took that test for us in His name and HE PASSED, once ... for everyone.  Our God wants us to move on beyond repentance into the bigger things He has for us. We need His love shed abroad in our hearts’ much much more than we need lists of do’s and don’ts. Bye again. 👋