This day, Friday 13th August 1971, as a ten year old girl, I gave my life to Christ on the beach at my home town of Newcastle in Ireland… I have been a Christian for 50 years today, and the Lord Jesus is more precious to me than ever.
He has brought me through so many troubles and trials, but His love for me has kept me with Him. His promises are true and His Word is truth. There is no one like Jesus, and I rejoice to know Him and to be in His family. One day I will get to see Him and never again be parted.
This is my love story, and I love Him and pray to be like Him. I commend Him to you and ask you to “Consider him”
He will never leave you and never blame you or bring you down. We can trust Him to bring us safely to heaven. I pray for perseverance to the end and to walk in the presence of Him, who my soul loves….
“Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving and keeping me…” 💛😘🙌🏿🙌🏼🙌🏽🙌🏾
“She who has been forgiven much, loves much…” (Luke 7:47)
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”
Revelation 2:4
The Christians at Ephesus had done so many things in their church for the glory of God. They had worked hard and kept working hard, until the difficult jobs were done. They did not give up and saw the tasks right through to the end. They were against all evil things and all evil people. They would have nothing to do with the unrighteousness works of darkness.
The Christians had questioned and tested those who were false apostles and prophets and would not give them any credibility, thereby ridding the church of error and false doctrines. They have suffered great hardship for the name of Christ, and gave not given up their faith…
But, they have somehow lost the love they once had for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and have grown cold in affection and desire for Him. After all the great things they have done, even so, the criticism is so deep it requires that they repent anew and commit their hearts again to their dear Lord Jesus…
It makes me think.. how much do I love Him? What will it be like to see Him? Do
I “see” Him in the Scripture and want to be with Him so much.? Do I love Him so much, I want to be like Him? Will I give up everything for the sake of having Him in my life?
I must have passion and love for Him as a person, because of what He as a person, has done for me. It is not cold, it is white-hot love, poured out on Calvary’s hill, for rotten people who don’t love Him back! His is a love that holds back nothing and is not willing that any should perish, but that all would know Him and love Him with all their, mind and soul and strength..
Do you love Him? He loves you and has died for you. Will you love Him? Do you love Him more today than yesterday?
The church at Ephesus was in danger of loosing its testimony. The church could close because of this sin. No love for the Lord of Love. No love for the God who is love. Do I inflame my love in the Scripture and prayer? Do I reach out to others in His name? Do I meditate on His ways, His word, His promises to me?
There are people who will do things out of duty, but have no love in their hearts. God hates this. Love is everything, and love will conquer all.
“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”
“To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;”
Revelation 1:5
Sin cannot be washed away with water. The water fo Baptism does not save anyone. Baptism is an outward confession of the faith that the person has put in Christ. Baptism does nothing to make us holier or better than another person, it is an outward sign of an inward change…
Sin can only be atoned for by the shedding of blood.
“According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Hebrews 9:22
The Old Testament law stated many rituals had to be carried out to make sure the items and utensils and the people who approached the holy God were ceremonially clean. This was to teach the people that God is holy and we approach Him only, in holiness of life. We are not holy, and therefore require cleansing. The Old Testament sacrifices were all about cleaning for sin and making the participant suitable to approach God and worship God.
An animal had to die for the blood to be shed. This was a bloody and gory scenario that people were required to go through to become ceremonially clean. There were many rules surrounding this, and God required complete obedience to His commands. This is the requirement of a holy God. We cannot come into His presence unclean and unforgiven.
All the blood that was spilt over the millennia, was to teach us that simple fact that blood must be shed for the forgiveness of sin. Death is the result of sin, and these pictures of animals dying to pay for sin, were the picture of the coming death of the Messiah. His death was the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world, and through His sacrifice, we can be forgiven and gain access into the presence of God. Only through the death of Christ can anyone be forgiven. The death of animals does not atone for sin, but only the death of Christ who is our only Saviour.
“For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins. Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Hebrews 10:1-4
Because our Saviour, Jesus has died for us, we can be cleansed from sin, through His shed blood. His blood is able to cleanse anyone who comes to Him in faith and repentance. He is able to save anyone who comes to Him, because of who He is and what He has done.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7
So when we feel the guilt and weight of our sin, we come to Jesus and seek forgiveness and a new life. He can deal with or sin and cause so to walk in fellowship with Him, because we are now clean. The guilt of our sin is atoned for by the blood of Christ and we are washed clean from the moral disease of sin that holds us away from God. We are now brought near. We are clean and so can relate to God and approach Him as daughters and sons in His family. Jesus has paid the price for our salvation and we are now free from the taint of sin. We are not yet made perfect, but God regards us as clean and holy, because of what Jesus has done for us.
We can come into the presence of God and worshipHim acceptably and pray and make our requests. God will hear us, because of what Jesus has done for us. This is the power of the blood of Christ. He makes peace between God and people and is able to save us to the very end.
“… through him (Jesus) to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.”
Colossians 1:20
“Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7
What have we to do timid about? Why are we shy about ourselves? Perhaps we hide because of unsureness about the support and power that is available to us?
As a Christian, the power of God resides in us, as the Holy Spirit of God dwells within our souls. We are alive to God and vibrant with spiritual life. Our bodies may be tired, but we increase in vigour in Christ as the days go by. We love Him more and His holy Word. As we read and meditate on the Word and let it infiltrate our minds and hearts, we have increasing self-control and we exercise the power of God in submission and conformity to His will for us.
Love is our defining feature in our lives, primarily love for God and also love for sisters and brothers in Christ. We see those not in the kingdom as lost without a Saviour, and seek to tell them the good news about salvation and a new life in Christ. Love shows itself as less and less of self and a growing likeness to Christ. Love subdues itself and sets up the other for the good of the person and the benefit of their souls. Love is not selfish, but kind, forgiving and generous. All this is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian.
We bring all that we are under subjection to Christ. No one else can be trusted to guard our heart and mind and bring us safe to the home in heaven. This is our destiny as Christian people, and we rejoice with singing at His kindness toward us and His majesty and power that keeps us. We set straight paths for our feet, so that we walk a life of faith and self-control in the only Saviour…
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7
What have we to do timid about? Why are we shy about ourselves? Perhaps we hide because of unsureness about the support and power that is available to us?
As a Christian, the power of God resides in us, as the Holy Spirit of God dwells within our souls. We are alive to God and vibrant with spiritual life. Our bodies may be tired, but we increase in vigour in Christ as the days go by. We love Him more and His holy Word. As we read and meditate on the Word and let it infiltrate our minds and hearts, we have increasing self-control and we exercise the power of God in submission and conformity to His will for us.
Love is our defining feature in our lives, primarily love for God and also love for sisters and brothers in Christ. We see those not in the kingdom as lost without a Saviour, and seek to tell them the good news about salvation and a new life in Christ. Love shows itself as less and less of self and a growing likeness to Christ. Love subdues itself and sets up the other for the good of the person and the benefit of their souls. Love is not selfish, but kind, forgiving and generous. All this is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian.
We bring all that we are under subjection to Christ. No one else can be trusted to guard our hearts and minds and bring us safe to the home in heaven. This is our destiny as Christians people, and we rejoice with singing at His kindness toward us and His majesty and power that keeps us. We set straight paths for our feet, so that we walk a life of self-control and faith in the only Saviour…
“These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.”
Jude 1:16
It is easy to be a fault finder and be critical of other people and what they say and do. This is not just having a helpful judgment to discern a situation, but a critical spirit that is negative and condescending to other people all the time. It comes from bitterness and a desire to pull others down while trying to make ourselves look and feel better. It is lack of confidence in ourselves, due to our sin and failure and lack of love.
It goes along with the other sins in this verse, flattery and boasting. All these sins are about ourselves and the desire to put self first and build it up at the expense of other people. Selfishness is at the centre and that prime sin, pride.
It is all too easy o fall into the trap of these kinds of sins. It starts with doing and thinking wrong and then the conscience tries to placate itself by comparing ourselves with other people and boosting ourselves up while bringing others down. We might not do it in the open, or actually do or say anything, but it happens in the mind and effects our attitudes.
However we try to hide ourselves, our attitudes always come out, one way of another. They will eventually work themselves into our speaking and actions and others will see what we are like. We will see it too, and though hidden in the thoughts, we will be confronted with our bad attitudes and ugly mindset. We need to deal with ourselves before it become a problem for other people, or becomes a permanent way of functioning for us.
Grumbling and complaining breeds a negative atmosphere and can pull down the feelings of other people, so that everyone feels bad. The attitude spreads and people pick it up without realising it. Being so negative is detrimental to the social environment and leads to more and more complaining. It can only be stopped by confession and a turn around from the darkness of fault finding to the positivity of building people up rather than seeking to bring them down. What if the complaint is justified?
The sincere complaint is brought to the right source of the problem and dealt with. We can state our case and make our point, but the solution may not be in our hands to fix or change. We have to leave it, as we have tried to draw attention to the problem, but it is now not our responsibility. We have to leave the complaint with the source to sort out for themselves. This requires that we are courageous and open-minded and not just agitators who cause problems.
Flattery is simply insincerity, and a form of lying to get your own way. It also needs repentance and confession. Boasting is also ugly and the idea that we have anything good about ourselves outside of God, is foolish. We show lack of gratitude to the Lord for His gifts to us and just take them to ourselves and imagine they are ours to do what we like with. The remedy is to humble ourselves before Him and seek His help to over come this sin.
Our sins really do separately us from God and other people. Even if we are Christians, if we persist in our sin, we do not receive the blessing of the Lord, and another will receive it. Setting aside pride and self is very difficult and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us to be over comers in all these ways. He is gracious and kind and will persist with us until we conquer the sin that so easily besets us and we live God-honouring lives, for His glory and not our own.
“But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you that “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”
Jude 1: 17-21
These character faults will become more prevalent in the last times, when the return of Christ becomes nearer. People will be all about themselves and what they can get, with little or no evidence of the restraining power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They will cause social problems and carry on their lives in the way that they think best, everyone walking in the light of their own eyes, with no regard for others.
Jude constrains us to build ourselves up in faith and not in worldly wisdom. We are to pray in the Spirit and say and do the words and action He would want us to do, to be discerning and full of the wisdom of God. Our identifying mark will be love, love for Jesus Christ and love for other people, putting others above ourselves and not thinking overly highly of ourselves. This is the antithesis of these sins of complaint and flattery and the underlying lack of gratefulness they betray.
“…and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.”
Jude 1:22
We are to save those who are going astray by warning them of the punishment to come if they do not repent, and helping the weak to build up their faith in the Lord and turn away from their sin, and repent and change.
“Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”
“She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21
There is no other Saviour, other than the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other God than the Lord God, revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures, which make us wise to this salvation.
The angel told Joseph this message about his intended wife, Mary. She was already expecting a child, which was from God – the virgin was with child – and they were to call the child JESUS, because He would save His people from their sins.
Jesus is the Saviour, promised for the beginning of the world… Satan has tempted and conquered Eve and destroyed Adam’s soul through disobedience, and they are cast out from the presence of God. God speaks to the serpent, Satan, and promises a coming Saviour, who would reverse the damage done in the garden. There would be a salvation for all who repent and believe in this coming Saviour. This was Adam and Eve’s only hope. They had ruined the entire race of human souls, but right at the beginning God, graciously gives them hope of an eternal salvationSalvation that would bring them back to Him.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:15
The coming Saviour would bruise the head of the serpent and therefore destroy him and his power. This is the first sign of our hope in Christ. The Scripture is full of these kind of promises and pictures and signs. This coming person is the only hope of humankind and is the Saviour sent from God to buy back the souls of those who have been born into sin and therefore need a Saviour. Only this Saviour could pay the necessary price to redeem the lost souls back to God.
Isaiah the prophet spoke about a suffering Saviour, one who would give His life for our sake and pay the terrible price of redemption to bring us back to God.
“He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with grief. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:3-5
Here, we clearly see the suffering Saviour, and the work He was to do for us on the cross as He died. He was to be a castaway, for our sake, a sufferer of intense grief, and the burden bearer for all the sin of His people, who He came to save. He was rejected, despised, pierced, crushed and under the punishment of God, but He did so willingly to bring us to God.
The New Testament tells us as eye witness accounts the life and death and resurrection of this suffering Saviour.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.”
John 3:16-18
This passage also tells us exactly who Jesus is. He is the eternal Son of God. Only God could make that promise to Adam and Eve when they fell so miserably at the beginning, and only He can bring that salvation to pass. He has done so, and all we have to do is believe. Those who trust in this Saviour are forgiven and brought back into fellowship with God, but not just as redeemed sinners, but as dear children. This is the love of the Saviour of the world, that Jesus should do such things for our sake. This is why Christians love JESUS, because of all He has done for them and all they have been delivered from.
Jesus is the only Saviour, because of who He is and what he did, and holds the place of honour in heaven’s court. He is forever praised for what He has accomplished on our behalf. Isaiah has the last word in this… God says about His Son…
“Therefore, will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
Everything has the possibility of making us anxious. It is not necessarily the things that troubles us, but the state of mind we are in. We can live our lives in a state of perpetual anxiety about any number of things. This is why we need this verse to remind us to deliberately and purposefully to lay all our burdened down on the burdened bearer, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who can shoulder all our problems and fears and doubts and show us the way through.
We are to cast all our anxiety on Him. We are not meant or required to bear it. Our remit is to live out lives in faith and trust in the Lord at all times. The fact that we do not, means we have too much trouble in mind, and are not trusting in the provision and the deliverance of the Lord. When trouble strikes there is a way out for the believer, and a way to keep our minds pure and undisturbed by doubts and fears. We call to mind the Scriptures and rehearse the promises of God and the blessings we possess in Christ.
Trouble will help us to grow as Christians, if we are dealing with it in a God-orientated way. If we are trying to deal with it ourselves, we will not succeed and have stress and anxiety about the situation. Those who are centred in Christ, know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, and nothing will take them away from their inheritance.
The Lord Jesus really does care for us in every little detail. He will never let us be utterly shaken or put to flight by the enemy. He will help us to stand and fight when the time comes and we will be able to resist the onslaught of opposition or temptation.
Jesus went all the way to Calvary to save His people, why would He now leave them high and dry in the time of their need? He promises to never leave us or forsake us, and as we take Him at His word and rest on that promise, we find it to be true, and the same with all the promises of God.
Cast all doubts away. He has died and you have trusted in Him and what he did for you, so be assured of His love for you, as His precious child. No one can take you away from Him, not even yourself! Nothing can separate you from His love and nothing can harm you or take your soul away from Him.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
John 15:9-16
When we obey Him and Castlewellan all our cares on Him, He gives us His joy in return. Such is the grace and kindness of our Saviour and Lord. He is not harsh as we are, and He is not judgmental as we are. This is why we can trust in Him. He gives blessing for our doubts and oil and wine to heal our wounds. He never treats us as we deserve, but gives us all we need day after day. He nourishes our souls with the Word of God, and fills our desires with all good things.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
There’s always something you can do to overcome temptation. There’s always a diversion to distract you from displeasing your Lord and God, to help you keep His holy commandments. Temptation always starts with desire. We must lay straight paths for our feet and train ourselves in the paths of righteousness so that when temptation comes our desire for God is greater than for the sin that easily infests us.
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
James 1:13-15
The Apostle James explains it here. Our own inbuilt desire for sin, grows the lust for sinning in our hearts and minds and we are tempted to do wrong. The desire pulls us away from the Lord and tries to tell us that it is ok to do this thing we want to do, and so we find ways to justify our sin in our minds. We excuse ourselves and the desire for God gets less, until finally we acquiesce to the wrong and do what we want to do. We carry out the wrong deed, it takes over our lives eventually and hardens the heart against the Lord and we become out and out sinners. Sin always brings death, and our relationship with the Lord ends up in tatters. We no longer want to please Him, and our testimony is tarnished. We cannot be lost to Him, and He will find a way to bring us back to Himself, but the sparkle has gone for now.
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.”
James 1:16-18
We have substituted our spiritual walk with the Lord, for some tawdry things we wanted, or some person, rather than walking with God. We have been deceived. All that is good comes for the Lord, and He denies us nothing that is not for our good and best welfare. He has given us the privilege and power of spiritual life, and we throw it over for some foolish idea we have in our minds, or some pet lust that easily fills our hearts. We are the first fruits of a new and beautiful creation that will last forever in eternity, and we want some cheap thing in this life, rather than the reality of heaven’s glory.
“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.”
James 1:22-25
We are required simply to obey. We look at ourselves portrayed in the Word of God, and realise we are not good enough, and God requires that we walk godly and honourable lives with Him. The danger comes for us, when we think we don’t want that any more and there is better for us somewhere else. We think our desires lead us in right ways, and that the fulfilment of them will make us happy. God tells us that is not right thinking, but to keep to His paths is life and peace. If we follow Him, we become strong in the Lord and effective doers of the Word. God will bless us in what we do.
We must prepare our minds for action and keep carefully to the pathway laid out for us in Scripture, so we must know the Scripture and know the Lord. Our desires should be for Him, and so we feed these desires and this keeps the wrong desires at bay. God will give us things to do that will help us and keep us loving righteous lives for His glory and not our own.
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.”
“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.”
“David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.”
1 Chronicles 28:20
This was a task that David really wanted to do, but God said that Solomon would do it instead. The task was huge, since God’s house has to be built to His specifications and not just deigned by Solomon. It was daunting for all those involved in the work, and great faith has to be exercised to get the job done properly, so that God would be glorified in His temple.
David is encouraging Solomon to be strong in the Lord and very courageous and do the work. David makes it personal,for Solomon… he says “my God.” God is personal to His people and will never leave them to suffer or struggle alone. Maybe Solomon spoke to his father about the concerns he had about the building project, and David is telling him to go ahead and not be discouraged by the difficulties or afraid of do it he wrong thing, but to trust in the Lord.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you”
Deuteronomy 31:6
The building would be a success, because God was with Solomon – Solomon is God’s servant and God will never fail him, leave him until the work is completed.
God is encouraging us also in this regard. If you are a Christian, God has given you a task to do, or maybe more. We must do them in His strength and trust in hIm completely to give us the persistence and power to do the job for His glory and our good. We are encouraged by the Word of God primarily, but also the instances of God’s faithfulness in the past and His keeping power over our souls.
God will never leave us and will not let us wander far from Him, His keeping power, depends on the death of Christ our Saviour, on the cross, and that sacrifice is sufficient to keep us always. God’s power never fails, nor His great and precious promises. They are great because they are God’s promises and we can depend on Him every time.
Whatever I am doing today, let it be with faith and love for the Lord, and may I keep my way clean and right with Him. He will do the rest and give me the strength to complete my task for His glory. We are courageous, because we obey the Lord and trust in what He says.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Daughters of the Kingdom 