The battle for God’s kingdom is real, and has casualties both physical and spiritual. I pray for everyone fighting on God’s side, that the victory would come and we would not lose any of ours, that none of ours should perish but that all would reach eternal life.

25 May 2013

What would happen if the good news of Jesus Christ were to be proclaimed in every nation on Earth on the same day?

Learn more – even get ideas and strategies for your own outreach HERE

It really is crazy how people are hurting and dying more and more lately. We truly need God. Anyone who doesn’t realize that is foolish and naive. Serious bombings, expansions, and injuries have been multiplying daily. Satin is on the move. We need to protect ourselves from him and his lies by praying and uniting as God’s children.

1 Peter 2:9 says But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness

into his wonderful light.

I have no doubt or hesitation to believe that this verse is for all who will accept it. God has made us holy by forgiving us for our sins of the past, present, and future. We belong in heaven. This Earth is filled with darkness and Satin’s presence overwhelms and tries to defeat many of us. The good news is that Satin won’t bother us when we are called to be with the Lord in his kingdom of Light!

But for now, while we are on this Earth, we need to declare God’s praises and continue in prayer and faithfulness. We do not know the time or day that God will come for us. But we do know that it is soon and we should live each day for the glory of the Lord.

Romans 13:11 says And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

There is nothing bigger than God. We need to embrace this and realize that God loves us all no matter what sins or things we are guilty of. We don’t need to judge one another or do hurtful things to one another, we need to love and pray for one another. God’s people are at war and Satin and his followers don’t stand a chance. 

Click for more on the End Times

Verses dealing with the Revelation

I believe we are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). But do we know what is meant by God’s Kingdom? It sounds funny but I myself didn’t know the meaning of it before and I’m praying it everyday!

From both the text above and the Lords Prayer, the Kingdom of God is clearly emphasized: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” and “Holy be your name, your Kingdom come“. 

In summary, this is what the bible teaches about God’s Kingdom:

▪ God’s Kingdom is a heavenly government with Jesus Christ as King, and from among mankind, 144,000 are taken to rule with him.—Revelation 14:1, 4.

There has been much radio silence around this here little bloggy. That’s because I’ve not been my usual let’s-talk-about-nonsense-and-make-fun-of-life self. I’ve been fighting the urge to type out these ranting posts about all my pet peeves and all my worries and all these things that I don’t even want to read about, much less subject you to. This week however I was asked if I’m still doing this blog and I knew right then I needed to get my gluteus maximus in gear and get some things written down. Wednesday seemed just the day to do so.

Here goes.

(Sorry but this might be a toughy. I’ve been convicted.)

Let’s talk about prayer. I’ll go first. My prayer life stinks. I’m super good at remembering to thank God for things throughout the day and even throw up little prayers for patience or peace or whatnot. Not so good at sitting down with Jesus and having that deep, heartfelt, well-hello-there-best-friend-here-is-my-life conversation that I so desperately need and Jesus so desires to have. That time of communion with the Lord has been deeply lacking.

Enter 31 Days of Prayer by Ruth & Warren Meyers, stage left.

Ten days in, this book has already been a life-changer. I’ve been super blessed to have a darling friend who has committed along with me to go through this book. We meet together regularly and talk about all that we have learned, how we’ve changed our behaviors/attitudes in regards to prayer, and just plainly shared burdens with one another. It’s been amazing.

I shared with her, and now I’ll share with the world (because all the world is reading this blog, right?) what I learned on day 7. I have no idea what the title is for that day. All I know is what the Lord taught and is teaching me.

And it all has to do with my desires.

The Bible says this,

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2

I want you to focus in with me on the very first sentence. Paul beseeches believers to present themselves as a living sacrifice. According to Dictionary.com to beseech means to “implore urgently” or to “beg eagerly for.” Some translations use the word urge. This very intense plea I think show the importance of offering oneself up in service to the Lord, as a living sacrifice. An active, living, breathing sacrifice.

How does one become a living sacrifice? By daily, DAILY offering oneself up to Christ. To be used as his servant. Including everything. Talents, physical abilities, resources, your future, your desires.

For me, this word “desires” was becoming a stumbling block. Reading through day 7 in 31 Days of Prayer the thing that jumped at me were my desires. That they were just that. They were my desires. What I wanted. How I wanted my future to look. My deep, sometimes overwhelming desire to be a mother. Those were all mine. Not Christ’s.

The Bible says,

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

My desires should be to seek God’s kingdom first. Not to pursue my own desires. What I want. What I feel I need. My desire should be to further advance God’s kingdom. And that desire comes through daily giving up more of myself to Him. My prayer, in those intimate moments with the Lord, is for Him to mold my heart to His own. That He will remove my selfish, earth-driven desires and replace them with His own righteous and holy desires. That I will be more like Him. That I will be less like myself.

I’m giving my desires over to the Lord.

-E

Once upon a time in college, God invited me and some friends to prayer walk a neighborhood. We started by just walking the street once a week, praying for the homes and the people we encountered. Sometimes we took rakes with us in the fall or cards or cookies or carols on special occasions. We played with the kids and prayed for the sad, sick, grieving, and lonely. We didn’t see 52 churches born, just a few messy friendships formed, lots of service and love poured out (when they didn’t receive it, Jesus did!), many hours of prayer, a drug dealer moving on, and a man eventually kicking his drug addiction by the grace of God. It was an adventure in learning more of the Lord’s heart.

Probably the biggest lesson in those days for me was learning to love the bad guys. How do you love the man who beats his children, tears a screen door off the hinges in a rage, and pulls his son close for a cuddle, only to whisper drunk in his ear, “You ain’t nothing, and you ain’t neva gonna be nothing but a poor mother @#$%^&.” How do you love a man like that? When you know the heart of God, you know that God radically loves even the ones that are the most abusive. It’s a miracle for humans to love the unlovely, but it’s God’s nature.

When God’s nature started pushing out my natural, human responses to this man, I began to realize I really cared for him and believed God could change him. Practical acts of love for him began flowing naturally as we responded to gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit, “Go knock on his door.” “Take him a fried chicken meal.” “Drop by and check on the kids.” “Share your potatoes with him.” “Stop by and invite his kids to church again. He’ll soften in time.”

The day after I graduated from college, he sent his kids to church for the first time. That afternoon, we all sat together on the front stoop of his house and said awkward goodbyes – not knowing when we’d see each other again. I was able to visit them six months after that – and six months after that. And, I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did, when I went back to visit him last. He was sober and clear-eyed, and he thanked me for being a friend – for caring about his kids – for challenging him on his behavior, but always coming back. Then, he started praising Jesus that he was two years clean.

Two years clean. That, friends, is a story of Jesus at work – transforming the world.

“…Behold, I make all things new…” -Revelation 21:5

Because I didn’t realise that I was enslaved by such things, I didn’t know that I was on a path leading me to death. I bless the Lord for looking down on me and finding me worthy to be rescued. Things aren’t 100% right yet but it’s ok, at least I know that I’m His and He is mine. The Lords presence means so much to me and the minute I feel myself shifting out of it, everything else doesn’t matter and everything else must come to a stand still.

Mondays and Thursdays we have campus ministry at school. Yesterday we were being taught on the Holy Spirit and how He has His own personality. A vision was shared where our leader was in a similar meeting whilst in high school. He says he saw this young child run into their prayer room and going to each and every person that was there, nudging them, seeking their attention but none of them responded to the little child. The child then ran to the leader and said to him, “I won’t be in your meeting today. I tried talking to them but they are too busy caught up in their own situations. I won’t be in your meeting today.” The Lord then explained saying, “If you had not been caught up in your worries, your wish lists, you would’ve gotten your breakthrough today.” My heart was so captured by this. I thought of the times I go into my own secret place to pray and just listing and meditating on things that I want and things that I need the Lord to fix forgetting that His thoughts are higher than my thoughts.

The lyrics, “I don’t wanna talk about You like You’re not in the room, I wanna look right at You, I wanna sing right to You” have been in my mind for a while now. That’s how I feel. I don’t want to talk about my Father like I know of Him, I want to talk about him like I know Him. I’m so caught up in getting to know the Lord more it’s not even funny. I’m learning to trust Him. I’m learning to love Him and to allow Him to love me back. My prayer is for a heart that loves Him more and more, a heart that longs for Him with every rising of the sun and every setting of the same. There’s nothing I want more.

Romans 12:1

The Message (MSG)

Place Your Life Before God

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Be blessed

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” NASB

The point of hearing the shepherd’s voice is following the shepherd’s heart. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. He adds that those sheep were given to Him by His Father, and no one is able to take them from Him. Jesus is talking about connectedness, and it gets Jesus into trouble as He makes it clear that He is One with God. That isn’t what the crowd wants to hear.

The voice of my sweet Savior bids me to follow and love as He loves. It calms my heart and stills my soul in the same way mama’s voice always did. Christ’s voice gives me the courage to follow Him even when I don’t know where He’s leading me. I don’t have to know; I just have to believe that He is Who He says He is. Jesus makes that very clear as He challenges those who would stone Him to death.

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” John 20:37-38 NASB

Jesus challenges me in the same way. If I believe He is who He says He is, then I need to hear His voice and follow Him. Walking in God’s kingdom means following His Son. I have to let Jesus go before me, and that means being patient and not having to know where I’m going. I only have to know Who I’m following. Walking in God’s kingdom doesn’t make sense to the world, and sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me either. That’s where trust comes in. I know my Shepherd’s voice, and I rest assured in His promise that no one can snatch me out of His hands. His is a voice of love, hope, and peace that allows me to be one with Him and with God.

Today would be mama’s 97th birthday. Her voice of love still sings in my heart, and I still feel the love and safety of her embrace. I thank God for mama and know she will be celebrating with Him today as she does every day:)

Jesus, My Good Shepherd

Jesus is God’s firstborn son.

He knows the Father better than anyone.

For eons this Father and son converse;

Together they created the universe.

Jesus has knowledge of the Father’s ways.

To him Jesus gives all honor and praise.

One of his reasons for coming to earth;

To help mankind know God’s true worth.

No man has seen God at any time.

Only Jesus can explain Jehovah, our God, who is sublime.

Jesus teaches us to be God’s ambassadors;

Like Jesus, we are kingdom advocates and messengers.

Jesus attitude is always positive.

Despite changing circumstances, he remains constructive.

Jesus set the pattern for us to learn,

Humility, patience and mild-temperament;

So we can serve God and others.

Not putting ourselves first and wanting our druthers.

Jesus conquered this sinful world’s influence.

A record of his life gives us this assurance.

If we follow his example and teachings,

We will be successful too and receive Jehovah’s blessings.

The end will arrive at last,
But life is not finished there.
God’s purpose is not a finality here.
He sent His Son for life everywhere.

He brought life to an empty world.
He brought love to a world of hate.
He promised us love for eternity.
The point of this world is in debate.

Some think this world is all there is.
We are born, we live, and we die.
When all is said and done,
We are buried and there we lie.

We live on this earth – a botched creation.
God didn’t intend all this hate and crime.
Injustice, cruelty and pain aren’t  God’s plan.
He sent Jesus to show us a loving time.

Easter is a prelude to God’s Kingdom promise.
We celebrate the Victory of God’s Lamb.
When my life is finished – at the finale, the end,
May the Lamb carry me on the promise of who I am.

I am not a top-of-the-class Christian.
I’m a sinner forgiven by grace.
There is no hope for this botched life,
Except by God’s Plan – I’ll see God face-to-face.

When all is said and done,
We’ll see clearly when we begin anew.
Plan for that Grand Finale, my friends.
When all’s said and done, I’ll see you!

Amen?

If men can make bridge halves start

From opposite river banks,

And with blueprint, I-beamed steel

Labor, rivets, and welding tanks

Meet them over raging streams.

God can bring marriage halves

From divorcement’s cold shore,

And with Heavenly blueprint, Love

And will power, join them once more,

Renewing the home’s lost dreams.

- eab, 2/29/12

Christianity is about something that happened; something that happened to and through Jesus; something that touches and transforms our life continually. Christian faith is centered on the cross. What led up to the cross, the event of the cross and repercussions of the cross throughout history is the story of Christian faith. The Christian faith is not about another moral teaching or some new religion or a book, object, or place. No! The Christian faith is all about one man—how he changed the world through his life, death, and resurrection. Our faith is about Jesus alone and what he did on the old rugged cross.

The tomb is empty, our cry: He is risen.

The resurrection of Christ is core to Christianity. If it were not for the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity would have never arisen to the heights that it did, and the Jesus movement would have been relegated to a footnote in history. In the cross, Jesus an innocent person was executed, abandoned by his friends and utterly forsaken by God. The resurrection is God’s faithful response to Jesus willingness to go all the way. It inspires hope for both the now and the future. The resurrection was not an arbitrary display of how powerful God can be; it was the inauguration, the in breaking of God’s kingdom, bringing with it a great hope for the future of this world and for those who cry out from the ground for justice.

N. T. Wright claims “The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.”

The resurrection is without a doubt the most awesome, glorious, miraculous event in history.

The simple yet transforming fact that it actually happened makes it even more awesome, glorious, and miraculous.

This single event transformed the apostles 2,000 years ago, and it has the ability to transform us now. It points us to our ultimate destiny. N.T. Wright says that in the resurrection Jesus’ body was the one bit of earth to be already fully and completely colonized by the powerful, life-giving energy and glory of heaven. Through the resurrection, Jesus was putting the human project back on track. In Jesus, God has indeed overcome the problem caused by the eating of the Tree of Good and Evil and has also led the human race, at last, to taste the Tree of Life.

The resurrection is important. Proclaiming it as an event in history goes beyond saying the words, it is also, about how it affects how we respond to life. We proclaim the resurrection as true by loving and serving our needy brothers and sisters, by reverence of all of life, and by living in life-honoring, honest ways. The resurrection happened 2,000 years ago and happens every time we love our neighbor, every time we serve the least, every time we honor the good, true, and beautiful. It will happen to each of us as we enter eternal life now and later. The resurrection goes way beyond any one event, even the amazing event that happened to Jesus. It stretches way beyond our life and includes everyone in the loving embrace of Our Father, the God who is with, for, and ahead of us (thank you, Rob Bell).

I trust the resurrection as a truth we affirm with both word and deed. I am still learning what this means and I am fully committed to deepening my knowledge of what the resurrection really means for me now and later. God will handle the later.

19 May 2013

God is calling the Nations from the North, South, East and West to embark on this Prayer Journey with Him. He is moving in His awesome power, and He is challenging us to be part of this journey. It is a journey that is not about us, but about a world in desperate need for His glory and compassionate love.

Believers in many countries of the world will lift expectant praise and desperate prayer with one voice in stadiums, open fields, community centers, private homes and even secret places.

For more information visit www.globaldayofprayer.com

Prophet Jeremiah, Russian icon from first quarter of 18th cen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

Recently, while looking through the writings of Jeremiah, I ran across highlighted scriptures that caught my eye on several occasions in the past. I vividly recall how, when I reflected on these passages in a prayerful manner, their current relevance jumped off the page with an unmistakable clarity. It was as if the Holy Spirit especially wanted these words to come alive for me and that they did. Like I have commented in the past, at times like these scripture ceases to be just printed words on a page and instead, morphs into a living organism.

The subject matter here comes from Jeremiah 23 and deals with his observations that many religious leaders, including priests and prophets, are deceiving people with dreams, prophecies, and other revelations that they claim to be from God, but are actually made up from their own imaginations or worse, their own treacherous hearts.

When I read these words from the prophet Jeremiah I am reminded so clearly of what I hear going on in many corners of the church today. I hear various preachers, teachers, self-proclaimed “prophets” and “apostles”, along with lay brothers and sisters who have what they claim to be a “word” from the Lord, or a “vision,” a dream, or some other form of divine revelation. I am certain that in some cases these phenomena are exactly what they are said to be, but in the majority of cases my internal “discernment alarm” goes off loud and long. Instead of a true “word” or revelation from the Holy Spirit, my fear is that many of these self-styled “teachers” are either deceiving themselves, being duped by the enemy, or worst of all, deliberately leading others astray in order to advance some personal agenda, often financial.

The prophet Jeremiah dealt with a similar infestation in his day, and that is exactly what it is my friends, an infestation. In Jeremiah’s time many religious leaders, motivated by their own personal agendas as well as self-deception, were leading followers down various paths laced with deception. Reading the 23^rd chapter of Jeremiah, you cannot help seeing this issue with great clarity. In graphic terms, the prophet describes the impact of these “prophets” on himself and on the nation:

My heart is broken because of the false prophets,

And my bones tremble.

I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine,

Because of the holy words the Lord has spoken against them.

For the land is full of adultery and it lies under a curse.

(Jeremiah 23: 9-10 NLT)

After further describing these false teachers, Jeremiah expands upon the effect of their erroneous teachings. He then warns the people:

Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you,

Filling you with futile hopes.

They are making up everything they say.

They do not speak for the Lord.

(Jeremiah 23: 16 NLT)

Speaking through the prophet, the Lord makes it clear that these false teachers were not sent by him and that they do not speak for him. As I listen to so many preachers, teachers, evangelists, and “apostles” speaking today, it strikes me as clearly evident that God did not send them, either. Sure, they may claim to have a “word from the Lord” or a “holy vision.” And perhaps a small percentage that makes this claim are genuine. But in my estimation, many are engaging in their own dreams, fantasies, and vain imaginings. As stated earlier, some are merely self-deceived, while others have darker motives of personal gain or advancement of the enemy’s agenda.

This state of affairs is made more critical by the fact that the church is at such a pivotal point in its history. Marked by a massive exodus from their ranks, the older Mainline denominations are, at best, hanging by a thread. Even the Southern Baptist Convention, long the solid backbone of Evangelicalism, is now losing members and yearly baptism numbers are at record lows. The only churches that seem to be growing are generally of an independent, charismatic nature, but researchers are sometime cautious about the statistics associated with this group, along with the Word of Faith churches, because it appears the membership rolls are constantly shifting, with new members flowing in and at least an equivalent number flowing out.

My point here is that the church, floundering as it is with these problems, can only be further weakened by false teachers, prophets, and the like. Already viewed in a generally negative light, every time a prominent Christian leader is caught in some sort of scandal, usually either sexual or financial, it only deepens the public image of Christians as little more than hucksters and hypocrites.

I am of the firm conviction that now, perhaps more than ever, each Christian must take it upon himself or herself to take responsibility for deepening their capacity for discernment. Granted, some are gifted in this area, but gifted or not, each of us needs to become as sharp as possible when it comes to discerning the spirits. Otherwise, we run the very real risk of wasting valuable time, resources, and energy running here and there chasing windmills, rather than going about the kingdom business we are all called to: deepening our relationship with Christ, making disciples, and serving others in his name.

There is no magic formula for developing discernment and chances are you already know how to do it, you just haven’t seen the necessity of it and taken the time. Here is a list of a few basic strategies that, if consistently applied, should help you deepen your level of spiritual discernment:

• Pray diligently, asking the Holy Spirit to help you specifically in this area.
• Immerse yourself in scripture. The key principle for evaluating any teaching or preaching is making sure that it is aligned with biblical principles.
• Read several books that discuss how to deepen your level of discernment. Also, explore relevant material on the Internet and apply what you learn.
• If you know someone who is gifted in the area of discernment, ask them to mentor you for a period of time.

Christianity in the West is at a crucial crossroads. The church finds itself in a time of shifting sands and changing landscapes. In a metaphorical way, this state of affairs is like being in the desert or, like the ancient Hebrew people, wandering about in the wilderness. We may wander off the path in countless ways, certain we are traveling in the right direction, only to discover we have been chasing a mirage. In other cases, we become mesmerized by a certain teaching, an innovative program, or, as is often the case, a highly personable teacher. In this mesmerized state, we are prone to drift far off the course set for us by the Master.

It is vital that we train ourselves in the ways and means of biblical discernment, especially in these changing times. To neglect this critical need, for whatever reason, is not a viable option.

© L.D. Turner 2013/All Rights Reserved

2 Corinthians 12:9 just told me God’s power works best through WEAKNESS! Folks, I could go on and on about my weakness! I’ve got an endless supply of it! Isn’t that exciting?!

But wait! There’s more!

Turns out YOU have that exact same qualification … in spades!

I can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to do!

Well, if only I could love deeply!! Yet, I know that’s what I should be doing… love deeply. I told him that if I was to represent Christ, to be His ambassador and witness unto Him with my own life then I have to love deeply. It doesn’t matter whether the target of affection doesn’t love me back or care about me let alone show gratitude. As long as someone has been placed in my life, for a time and a season maybe – even so, I long to be God’s vessel of love. Yet, let me clarify, that needs to be with discernment… Jesus makes it clear to be as harmless as doves and as shrewd as serpents… He also tells us not to throw pearls before the swine.

Why do I feel a longing (a long way to go to achieve this longing I have to admit!) to love deeply?

When I was about 6 years old in the UK, my neighbour who was my classmate’s mum invited us along to Sunday School. I first came to know about Jesus then and in my childish innocence, I embraced Christ. A few years later, we returned to our hometown – Jaffna in Sri Lanka. I embraced the traditions and religion of my parents and relatives. Yet in my heart, I longed to know Jesus. My younger brother died on the 10th of April (yup today is his death anniversary) and I recall looking at the Hindu temple near our home which I frequented in worship regularly and asking the statues (which I used to believe as god) why I couldn’t have been taken instead, sparing this young perky (we used to call him Perky) life. It was a pointless conversation, talking to stone I suppose.

A few months later we moved to the capital of the country. My older brother began taking me along with him to church, youth fellowship and often places where he preached. I remember giving my heart to God. Due to my dad’s opposition in attending church, when we moved to New Zealand I got involved in the Christian groups at school and then University. However, love for family and family pressures saw me becoming a Hindu again. At one point I didn’t go to church nor did I go to the temple… I wanted to get to know Jesus as I knew I was missing out on something. The Bible was a book of law, one I couldn’t measure up to – well that’s how I saw it then…

However, years later, through life’s storms Jesus revealed Himself to me. (If you are keen on hearing more, and you haven’t already read it, this is how – http://priyanthiv.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/shepherd/)  I finally embraced Jesus, went running into His open arms.

I recall a time when I felt God leading me to show love to one of His children… This guy was being a porcupine so to speak and although he had cared about me much for a time and a season, he was becoming cold.  I asked God why He wanted me to do so with such a character… God questioned me back, “When did you first hear about Jesus?”.  I replied… Then came the next answer, “When did you finally embrace Him as your Lord and Saviour?”  Ouch!! That was like decades later…  God then told me, “Ahhh so you expect me to wait till you are ready to fling yourself into my open outstretched arms, but you don’t want be patient with my son?” Well, I am so grateful to God for the many friends in my life who have been there for me despite my failures, weaknesses, wrong choices and most of all hurting them… I appreciate their love – shouldn’t I do unto others likewise?

Jesus loves us… He loved us first and thus died on that cross so that we can be reconciled with our Heavenly Father… God loved us even though we didn’t love Him back… In fact, we still don’t love Him as deeply as we should… Well, I know I don’t – I’m constantly aware of how much I fall short of truly loving Him and truly trusting in Him.  I often feel like the Israelites who murmured despite God’s carrying them through the wilderness providing and protecting.  How much I wish I had unwavering faith without worrying about tomorrow?

Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him.  Did He love Judas any the less for it?  Jesus knew Peter was going to deny Him.  Jesus knew that His disciples were going to fall away after His death for a time.  Did He love them any the less for it?  Why is it then, we love people expecting them to love us in return?  We talk about wasted emotional energy… Is investing God’s love in peoples’ lives a waste?  Imagine if Jesus hadn’t come to earth and died on that cross saying the same?  After all, how many of us are truly loving Jesus the way we ought to?  Aren’t most of us going on about our own selfish businesses most of the time unlike Jesus who went about His Father’s business?  Aren’t most of us seeking first the cares of our lives before seeking God’s Kingdom?  Is this what Jesus says in Matthew 6:33?

(Having said all this, we shouldn’t be loving anyone – whether it be a parent, spouse, someone we long to marry, a child etc etc – in such a manner that we place them above all others and especially God to the extent that they consume our entire thoughts and affections… That is unhealthy love… and could be a symptom of a deeper hurt that needs to be addressed).

Love heals… Love helps each other grow… Love builds up… Is it of any wonder then that Jesus summarised all the laws and commandments into the two greatest commandments which centre on LOVE… Love for God and love for our neighbours – as ourselves? 

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

(1 John 3:2-6)

Jesus tells us, His disciples

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  (John 13:35).

God’s Word puts much emphasis on loving one another and outlines ways of doing that too!  Hasn’t Jesus set the ultimate example for us?

Fact is, we would love deeply (or at least strive to do so) if we truly believed in loving our neighbours as ourselves.  Falsehood and hypocrisy and being two faced will automatically dissolve… as we seek to love each other as ourselves… Selfish ambition would vanish as we seek God’s Kingdom and look at believers as the temple of God.  We will seek to nurture and build up, not condemn and not tear down…

Love is patient,

Love is kind,  (being kind does include discipline / speaking the truth in love)

Love does not envy ……..

Love is not self-seeking (it doesn’t expect anything back in return, even to be loved back!)

Love is not easily angered…

and much more… ( 1 Corinthians 13)

• Are you loving people or even God for that matter expecting something back in return?  Are you asking the question, “What’s in it for me?”

God is my all in all – He is the one who loves me unconditionally and I find my security in Him… The more secure I am in Him, the more it doesn’t matter how people treat me, it doesn’t matter what people think of me or how they label me, it doesn’t matter because whatever they do, they are doing it against God’s child and that’s between them and God.  But my decisions and my actions – I am accountable to God!

And if I loved God, I would love my neighbour as myself…  (Once again I confess I fail in these areas but my heart’s desire is to endeavour by God’s grace and His mercy!!)

“Above all things have FERVENT love for one another” (1 Peter 4:7)

And I just saw a quote while searching for an image which says a lot!

“Love deeply, Hold loosely”

]]> http://reconciliasian.com/2013/04/10/heavenly-citizenship/ Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:45:26 +0000 hyunandsue http://reconciliasian.com/2013/04/10/heavenly-citizenship/ Hyun’s article entitled “Heavenly Citizenship” was published by The Mennonite on April 1, 2013 as part of a Bible study series examining what it means to be “Citizens of God’s Kingdom.” As a ministry that aims to walk alongside immigrant churches, important questions of identity, belonging, and being a welcomer/stranger emerge.

What does it mean to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom to you?  How does that impact your life right now?  We’d love to hear your thoughts and insights!

http://www.themennonite.org/issues/16-4/articles/Heavenly_citizenship

Took this on Easter Sunday as Pastor Jeff preached on our authority IN CHRIST.

We died with Christ and were raised with Christ! Now we live to Christ! We are seated IN CHRIST in heavenly places. New perspective!

Ephesians 1:15-23