Author: words and signs

The Door

“I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.”

John 10:9

Jesus makes yet another monumental and outrageous claim for a man. He says He is The Door, the one and only door that will save you from destruction. Only the holy God could or would make such a claim and demonstrate that it is a true statement and valid claim.

It supposes that there are other doors. The other doors are other kinds of life away from Jesus and down into another room for living. They are wrong doors, because they lead away from eternal life, to a place of destruction. They may be attractive to you, they may be left open a little bit, so that you can easily get in, but they are bad choices. There is only one door that leads of life, and that door is a person.

The person is able to save and rescue us from our sin and the consequences of it. Only He can do this because He has already pains the price for your sins. The law of God requires the shedding of blood to pay for sin. Hod requires a death to lay for sin. Only Jesus is the Saviour of the world and can forgive and change human hearts and minds.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God covered their shame with the skins of dead animals. Those animals had to die to cover over the results of their sin. The ancient sacrifices of animals to pay for sin, as pictures of Jesus the coming Saviour, are again, reminders that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

Only Jesus is able to shed His blood as a substitute sacrifice for sorry us. We cannot do it for ourselves, since we are corrupt and full of sin, dead in sin in fact.

Why is God so particular about this? Why does someone have to die?

Sin is serious. It is the destroyer of the whole world, and human lives with it. We don’t realise because we are used to it and born into it, and think it is “normal” God is holy and will not tolerate sin or sinners at all. They cannot come into His presence without the shedding of the blood. The breaking of God’s holy law requires compensation, and it is a terrible compensation. We need to realise the seriousness of what we do every time we sin.

It’s crucial we enter in through Jesus the door. We can’t afford to walk past this door and miss it. Many do and many are lost, going in through the doors that cannot save us. We can see the door and where it leads us, in the Holy Scripture. As we read and search for God, the Spirit will reveal the way to us and convict us of our need for forgiveness and help us to choose rightly and enter in through the door of Christ.

It requires no effort, but we just walk through. We cannot do anything to save ourselves. The door says, “whoever wants to can come in..” this is the invitation presented to us today. If you have never entered into this room through the door of Jesus and faith in Him, do so now… you will never regret it. Just shut out the world (close your eyes) and confess your sinfulness and ask Him to forgiven and change you. He died to save you and loves you so much. He will forgive anyone who is sorry, and anything that has come in the way of Him in your life.

It is not attractive on the outside. It doesn’t appeal to our human taste. We want to contribute and do something from God, but we can’t. We just believe and receive. Believe that Jesus can save us and trust in Him, and receive the gift of forgiveness and new life that He gives to us.

As we enter we see the beauty of the Lord and He changes us and cleanses us and makes us like Him. We enter the door of eternal life, a life so wonderful that it lasts forever, forever in the presence of the one we love the most. In that room with that door, we find perfect liberty and protection. No one can take us away for Him, and He will keep us safe in Him forever. He will feed us and ensure we have the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives, making us more and more like Him. This is life and peace with God.

“I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.”

John 10:9

An old commandment

“Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

1 John 2:7-11

Loop

The old commandment and the new commandment are the same thing. We are to love each other as sisters and brothers in Christ. The new commandment is true in the life of the Christian, because the darkness of sin and the life of sin is passing away. As we make progress in the Lord, and in our spiritual walk with Jesus our Saviour, the darkness dispels and we walk in clearer and clearer light. 

The more we love each other, the more light we have and the more light we show. Jesus is the Light of the World, because as the holy Lord and God, He is all light and there is no darkness in Him at all. As the Lord Jesus sets up, His kingdom on earth, the light grows and is growing until the kingdom will come. The darkness is passing away, because the light is shining. Every place where the light shines, the darkness is chased away.

The Christian brings light wherever they go. The mark of Christ is love for others and love especially for each other. When we live rightly and seek holiness in all we do and say, we bring light into the dark places of this world, where God would have us to be. We become light bearers and a blessing to the places and people that God sends us to.

We have no excuse and must make no excuse about hating a brother or sister in Christ, whatever they do. We must forgive those who do evil against us and say all manner of evil, falsely and ignorantly about us. This is the way of Christ. We may not be able to be close friends with that person, but we do not hate them. Some deeds done against us are very serious and some people need to be away for each other, but we do not hate. 

Loving regardless and forgiving regardless, is a Christ like thing to do, and demonstrates we are walking in the light and have fellowship with God. We walk in the light and remain in the light. Because we walk in the light, we do not make mistakes and we are obedient in following what God wants us to do. 

The opposite is also true. If we are hating people and being unforgiving and harsh, then we are walking in the dark, and not with God. We stumble and fall and fail because God is not blessing us and not pleased with us. We cannot see where we are going without the light, and so we get into a mess. We are blind to what we are doing and don’t see our own sin. It’s time then for self- examination. 

We judge others but not ourselves, our at least, judge ourselves more leniently that other people. It is hard not to be biased when it comes to ourselves. God knows the end for the beginning and He will bring all things to pass and to light. He will vindicate the guiltless and convict the guilty. There is justice with God. 

Jesus has brought the light into the world and has brought the gospel,that saves people and can rescue them for sin and death. Hate has no place in this gospel. The call is to everyone who believes. Everyone who hates has no salvation because the light cannot be there. When the light comes into a life, is brings light and the darkness goes and doesn’t hang around. Sin is not tolerated, as our desires are now for the light. 

Counsellor

https://open.spotify.com/episode/13JSROsrLPwVL1xMGqWHiP?si=gzo2cX-tSE6czK4hFbIzfg&dl_branch=1

“My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him. But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him: he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.”

1 John 2:1-6

When we go wrong, we have a counsellor in heaven who pleads with the Father for our sakes, continually. His blood is sufficient to save the whole world, and is sufficient to save us from our sins. He is able to approach God’s holy throne, because He is holy and has won the right to make a plea on our behalf to the Father and judge for all.

This blessing is for those who know the Lord Jesus, personally, and have come to Him and had their sin dealt with. The root of sin is destroyed in that person and they are able to close the right way, and please the Lord. The mark and identification sign that we know the Lord, is that we are eager, willing and able to keep His commandments. It is not about our experience of God, or our feelings about Him and spiritual life, or about prayer and Bible study, but about obedience. We read the Word, believe it and do what God says.

If we are carrying out our spiritual duties and not obeying the Word, we are not of the household of faith. We cannot say we love God and His Word, and remain rebels against Him. All who have come to Him have bowed their knees and have given up the right to self determination and are now slaves to holiness. Without this indwelling holiness, taught and empowered by the Spirit within, we can never see God. If we don’t agree and want our own way, insist that we are believing Christians, we are liars. We do not speak the truth, because the truth is not in us.

If we keep the Word and obey it, then that Word is perfected in us and we know and love the Truth, who is Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Our righteousness stems for Him and not from our own hearts, that is impossible, since we are dead without Christ and incapable of pleasing God.

What is my Christian assurance based upon?

I look at my life and see that I am walking with God, just as Jesus walked with God. I am so in love with my Saviour, that I do what He says and copy His lifestyle and attitudes and obedience to the Father. Jesus was always in communion with His Father and obeyed the sound of His voice, at all times. He was obedient to the Word and obeyed right to death on a cruel cross. He trusted the Father so implicitly, that He was able to obey, even when it meant pain and death. This shows us true faith and devotion to a loving God, who knows every outcome, even when we don’t. We must trust in Him at all times, especially when the going gets difficult and we cannot see the way ahead of us, and can only see trouble. If that is the way He desires us to go, we walk into the trouble, knowing that all things work for the good of those who love Him. Knowing that God will give the strength at the right time, to walk through the dark pathways.

When we fall into sin, it is the same principle. We walk in faith and seek forgiveness again in faith, knowing that He will receive us because of Jesus.

We can never ultimately fail, and so we can walk with the confidence that we have the power, the grace and the faith, all given to the believer, to make it to the end of the journey with joy and have lives full of glory. Love is our defining mark, love for God and other people, and that love must show itself as obedience.

Repent

The problem with repentance is it makes me feel bad about myself…

Someone speaks on the inside and convicts me about things I have said and done, thoughts, even…

“When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;”

John 16:8

This is one of the works of the Holy Spirit and it is a precious one. If He speaks in your life and makes you feel uncomfortable about your attitudes and thought processes, you are a blessed person, you are a Christian. If He leaves you alone and you never have the joy of knowing His dealings with you, you are in trouble, as you don’t really know Him at all.

When we go wrong we feel guilty, and the Spirit works with our conscience to bring us to repentance and reinstate our faith in the Lord and our position of walking with Him. He teaches us about righteousness, not our own ideas about that, but what God teaches us in His holy Word. As we read and meditate on the Word, the Spirit witnesses into our lives and speaks to us about our state before God. The Word has a purifying effect on our lives and the Spirit applies it’s meaning and applications to our thought processes and behaviour.

There is accounting, and we will all give account for the deeds done in the body. For the Christians it is not the judgment of eternal punishment, but to receive our rewards, and the rest of our works to see if they are gold and precious stones and not wood, hay and stubble. We can loose our reward by our personal carelessness about sin in our lives. It should cause us concern that we could have nothing to offer our Saviour on that great day of reckoning.

“Therefore, bring forth fruit worthy of repentance!”

Matthew 3:8

When God speaks to us we should act on it. The work of repentance always brings forward works of goodness and righteousness, because we are right with God and our attitudes are in line with Him. Our lives should show that we are repentant people, humble, kind and putting other peoples considerations before our own, or at least on a par with our own.

We bow our knees before the Lord of heaven and earth, and repent of the sins of the day and start fresh again to walk with Him. Keep short accounts with that, and it will mean deep fellowship with God and with Jesus, who has paid for the forgiveness for us. We should never forget what we owe and the cost of what we possess in Christ.

“Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours…”

1 Corinthians 3:21

We possess the forgiveness already, for we can never loose our salvation, but we easily loose the fellowship with the Father, because of our tendency to do the wrong thing. We are encouraged to know that all is ours already and we can enter into its reality each day, as we walk with the Lord.

Testify

“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.”

1 John 1:1-4

John was there with Jesus in His ministry. He saw God, heard the words of God, touched God (leaned on Jesus breast) and now He is declaring what he knows. John has been, and is, a faithful witness to the reality of eternal life, which is fellowship with God and fellowship with each other. John wants joy, so is telling others, including us, the good news about Jesus.

What it must have been like for those disciples to follow Jesus, is mind boggling. To follow the Son of God through His earthly life and see and hear the words of eternal life repeatedly, must have been thrilling. They saw the gospel actually happening in the death and resurrection of Jesus, they lived it and it changed their lives for good. They had a message that would change the world, one soul at a time. They had a message that gave hope to every human soul and a promise of competent forgiveness and eternal life forever, a quality of life not known to the human psyche.

This message had supernatural powers to change lives and bring about a change that would be seen and noticed immediately. People would see that a person who believed would be radically different than what they were, or what they themselves were still like. This message would be so powerful that hell and it’s minions would try to stop it being heard or spread about.

Today, as we look around, it can seem like they have won. Churches are dead and dying, saints are despondent and unable and unwilling to change their ways to godly living, and people are dying in their sins. There is so much false religion, it is hard to tell the difference. Everyone claims to be true, and every message claims to be the right one.

“This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth. 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. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

1 John 1:5-10

We must first tell people exactly what God is like. This presumes we know God and know what He is like. Are the messengers of this message like Jesus? Do they have His character as their character? Am I as a Christian like my Lord and God, or have I just imbibed another kind of culture?

God is light. He is Holy. He is perfect. He owns everything and upholds everything by his perfect Word. Only He can save us. He decides everything and nothing happens that He does not allow. He allows tragedy and sorrow, to chase us to Him and make us continually dependant on His mercy and goodness. We have no standing with Him and no claim to anything good. All blessings are from His mercy and the result of His glorious grace towards the humans he has created. People need to be taught and hear about what God is actually like.

John tells us in this passage. God is light and has no darkness at all. We are not like God. We are born into the darkness and we live in darkness until the light of God shines into our lives. We cannot walk with God, because God will not tolerate the darkness in us and would consume us if we came near Him, such is His perfections and glory.

To walk with God we need to be in the light. We need to get rid of the darkness of sin in our lives. We sin because we walk in the darkness. Our souls are darkened and we cannot relate to God. But God has provided a way out. He sent Jesus into the world to pay for sin. The fact that Jesus has died and shed His blood for the recompense of sin, is the way back to God and into the light.

To receive the blessing of this salvation for my sin, death and darkness, I must recognise my sinful state, my individual sins that I have committed, and seek the forgiveness of God. If I confess, God will forgiven me, as He promises and make me a righteous person. He can do that, because the perfection of Jesus becomes my perfection. I become a child of the light. I leave the darkness and now walk in the light, as God is in the light. Other people will notice the difference.

If I refuse to admit I am sinful and walking in dark shameful ways, I am lying to myself and God and know nothing of the truth. This is a universal principle for all human beings. Without this admission of guilt, I can never be saved. Unless I accept my futile position before a holy God, I can never be in a state to be forgiven. I can never be a Christian and I can never walk in the light.

There are many who call themselves Christians in our time, who have never known repentance and never seen what they are really like before a perfect God. They are lying to God and themselves and know nothing about the truth and certainly do not know the Truth, who is Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

The call of God, therefore, is to repentance. This is our part. The faith is given to us by God and is a gift, but it is not ours unless we repent. Unless I accept my state of total darkness before the God of uncreated light, I can never be saved.

This is the message of the gospel. It is hardly ever heard. All is placating fallen human desire and wishes, and there is no facing up and admissions of total guilt before the Holy God of heaven.

How many are really believing people? How many are really walking in the light? We can hardly tell, because there is no difference between the dark and the light any more. If we are in the dark, then all is dark. No light can walk with darkness, so we are fooling ourselves.

Repent and believe, it is the only way.

Jesus has done it all when He died on that cruel cross for our sakes. There is nothing left to do, just admit our sin and put our trust and hope in what he did for us. How glorious this is, because it depends on Him and not on us. How futile it would be if it depended on me…!

Repent and believe, so easy… such a small step to eternal life… take it….

Laughter of fools

Ecclesiastes 2:1

“I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.”

Solomon communes with himself and decides to carry out a test to see if there is any pleasure or meaning in laughter and joking. He investigates all things that could be funny, bring laughter or amusement.

Perhaps he thinks about and indulges in witty repartee, or sarcasm, or satire, to try to lighten the serious side of life and bring serious issues to a lower level of importance. Looking at books, listening to others, writing, all sorts of ways that mirth and humour are enjoyed.

If it began as pleasure, it does not seem to have ended that way. The humour is overcome by the seriousness of life and the issues of meaning and futility hold sway. The laughter turns hollow and the humour is only a fleeting moment of mirth. Reality is serious and full of disappointment and distress. These things cannot be laughed away. Laughter conditions us in to thinking that everything is ok. If people are laughing it’s ok. Even the sound of laughter can be a conditioned response.

In our Western culture we are very keen on comedy at the moment. There is much on TV and comedy clubs thrive. We use comedy to stultify the realities of life and helps us make light of the problems we might be going through. It might last for a moment, but soon we must face reality again. Humour has become a kind of social drug that keeps things superficial and trivial to stop us worrying or trying sort things out. It’s a kind of emotional pacifier that placates our difficulties but cannot take them away.

It is foolish to make light of something that is serious. It is foolish to poke fun at serious states of mind that result in being duped about how serious they really are. Reality musts be faced, and many are not living in it, but chasing dreams and fantasies that can never sort out anything. We become mere phantoms and ghosts of our former selves, in order to try to assimilate the issues we have picked up and cannot face or sort out.

There is no reference in Scripture for a human laughing at God, but there are plenty of instances in modern culture of people laughing at the truths of God and making light of deep and serious issues from the Word of God. Laughter shows lack of respect, and though we have open access to truth, we continue to regale the things about spiritual life and godliness, that would lead us to God and the truth.

Our laughter can also cover up much sorrow. When we laugh a lot, we are usually trying to cope with something we are finding difficult. The happy face becomes a mask that hides trouble. Even if we are happy a lot, we still have things to deal with that can cause us distress.

Laughing at other people and their misfortune is mean. We see and hear this repeatedly. People are picked on and made into jokes. It happens all through society and at every level. It brings our culture into the dirt and trivialises serious argument and thought. Issues get dealt with through joke lines and insult, rather than logic and reason.

“Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Am I not joking?”

Proverbs 26:18-19

Covering over our meanness with more jokes and light hearted banter, is also mean. It becomes a prison.

Laughter is good, and it has it’s place, when it is sincere and from a sincere heart.

“A cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Proverbs 17:22

Laughing does brighten the spirit and can alleviate the mood, and make us feel lighter when we are cast down about what we are thinking about. We can use it to help others and help ourselves. But mainly it is reserved for people who are trivial and trite about suffering or serious situations that require serious thought and deep comfort, certainly as is presented in the media. We are taught to be lighthearted and let our feelings pass over us with a laugh, and move on, thereby never really dealing with the issues.

The outcome of this research of Solomon’s, shows that humour is folly and a vanity. To seek this kind of entertainment is trivial and foolish. There is no wisdom to be found in the local comedy club or watching the stand up comedian on the television. Both lead us into fleshly mindsets and ungodly living. It is folly to live in this way.

“For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.”

Ecclesiastes 7:6

Thorns only hurt and last for the moment of mirth and create a momentary blaze, and then they are gone. So like those who make light of trouble and cause long term heartache for so many. This is foolishness.

Meaning

Meaning

Without meaning we fade away. Even out best pleasures are rendered facile. Everything is empty and pointless. We embrace apathy and all care goes out the window.

If there is no meaning, there is no justice. Again, no justice, apathy sets in. There is no care. Carelessness takes over our lives, our families fail, business fails, and whole countries are lost.

We play with fire when we take the Almighty God out of our equations. They don’t add up or make sense, and we think we are right because our reasoning is faulty and ill-logical. Our minds are darkened and we embrace the folly of thinking that humankind is the top of the tree, because we will not bend ourselves or bow our knees to someone higher. Pride becomes our necklace, and we strut the human stage in utter folly.

We set ourselves up as the harbingers of meaning, and yet we embrace the folly. We become utterly futile and descend into pure decadence. What we want we will have, so get it now while you can. There is no justice, so no day of reckoning. Anything goes. Selfishness and sins abound.

God laughs and weeps. He laughs at the wicked for He knows their day is coming and there is a day of judgment that is not dependant on human endeavour. There is justice and it will be meted out. God weeps at how we contaminate the succeeding generations and lead so many into falsehood and error. So many are blinded by the gods of this vain world and it’s mindsets and philosophies. Many are lost and face a lost eternity because of the folly of those who propagate lies. All this evil must be paid for.

God is still willing to forgive. He gives us our lives that we might find Him and know Him and not have to suffer under the tyranny of falsehoods. The voice is very small now. We have almost stamped it out. Only a few remain who are willing to be seen and known as lovers of God, and face the unpopularity and ridicule.

The way we use our precious language is also contaminated with illogical use. We have lost meaning in every way, and communication is getting harder and misconception is easily embraced. Speaking and listening are not priorities and silence ensues. Silence separates and has little meaning, except “I want to opt out…”

People settle for nothing rather than the effort of making themselves known.

Education is riddled with error. Teachers make up “knowledge” to suit themselves and to fit the system they are imposing on the situation. Education is full of myths and non- fiction, fairytale and made up stories. Knowledge decreases and ignorance rules.

Remember God. He waits for us to come to our senses. He still speaks into our lives, and we must rouse ourselves and hear Him. Indolence will bring us to destruction and we will walk into death with our eyes closed and our soul asleep. Waken up and turn yourself around. Face the Lord and He will sort out and forgive your problems and sins. He has all power and everything is in His control, and you are destitute. He can bring you into His family and you can start again. Give up your idols, your folly, your lazy ways, and seek His face. He is not far way.

“God intended that (we) would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’”

Acts 17:27-28

He upholds our lives every moment and yet we regale Him. This is the ultimate foolishness. Wisdom seeks the Lord and doesn’t care what other think or even the folly of our own minds. We find ourselves in Him, for all meaning and purpose is in Him. His will, will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Folly will cease and all who embrace it’s spirit will perish.

Education

Education

Education is a powerful tool in the hands of the right people and the wrong people. Governments desire control over it, for by it they can mould society and build the kind of workforce they require. We think we have choice, but that is debatable and almost wholly limited.

The voice and choice in Education has been taken away from the educators and put in the hands of those far up the tree. The result is much standardisation and scores of averages. The rise in testing young people is concerning and is setting precisidents for our society as a whole. Our culture has changed and is ever changing, and not always for the good, but if the scores are good, it’s ok.

Moral precedents are being set and we are accepting the limitations being put on our freedoms as human beings and we have lost our liberty. In a very short space of time we have reached the place where we will do exactly what the leaders are saying every if it destroys or lives, our families lives and our livelihoods. We are completely compliant. Our mind set has seen changed and we respond easily to fear. Our individual courage has failed us and we succumb to the suggestions of others really easily. Social pressure works well now, and we behave like lemmings when threatened or dictated to.

This is quite scary, but we think it is ok. We have suspended our own judgment because we have not been taught logic and sound argument or how to debate properly.

“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

Our moral compass has also gone awry. We no longer know right for wrong and our judgment is suspect. We call evil things good, and allow folly into our hearts and minds. There is no justice and no sound judgment. The generations go by and embrace more and more folly. We feel and say nothing, the blind leading the blind. Have we already received the delusion?

We have imbibed the spirit of the age, and it has dragged us down to perdition. People are in so much pain, because they believe what they are told by leaders of all sorts, and are now led themselves by children, social pressure and the societal folly that inhabits every part of the media. As we look and listen, we let it into our psyche, and imbibe the lie…

It’s ok, it will be alright in the end; nothing bad is going to happen; someone is always there to help you….

Our education has made us totally dependant in every way. Personal courage is not valued or needed, because we must be dependent on other people for the control mechanisms to work. Physically we are unhealthy and weak; intellectually, the mind is futile; spiritually we are dead in our sins. The lie already runs in our veins….

How can we stop it? Can it be reversed?

It’s difficult, because now we are also blinded. The lie has so infiltrated us that we are becoming sick in our minds and accepting of every wicked thing that comes along. The mess is impossible to clean up, as it has infiltrated everything. The contamination is complete. To be uncontaminated is to be an outcast and to suffer great loss and pain. No one can tolerate holiness of character or life, and people will try to get you to go along with them.

“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’”

Matthew 11:16-17

It is hard to resist, but it must be resisted and rejected completely. It looks so attractive and “free” but the consequence is death. It is comfortable to be accepted, but the end is to be rejected by all goodness. To think like this is to run against the stream and it is hard work just to stand still. Something is trying to destroy us, but we must stand against it at all costs. To give in means death, not just to ourselves, but our families and people around us. Who will listen?

We don’t know who will listen, but trust that God knows what He is doing and is working out His eternal purposes for the good of His beloved people. To be in that number is life and peace, but not in this life…

“Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:32-33

Even two thousand years ago, the disciples faced the same mindset. How much worse it is today, and the infiltration of the airwaves into our psyche, feeds the beast. We need not fear, because our Saviour has overcome on our behalf. All we have to do is trust and obey, keeping our lives pure and our minds clear for all contamination. God will supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ. Our account is full and God regards us as perfect already. We can call out to Him at anytime and receive the deep, inner help we need. This is the only reliable dependency that exists.

“Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

Galatians 5:1

The grave

The grave

The grave wasn’t His, it was only borrowed for a minute or two. He rested for a few moments, presented Himself to the Father and raised His beautiful body again, forever victorious. No one could hold Him down, He is relentless in His love for His people.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-58

He is the Lord of Life. He holds the keys of death and hell. He decides who lives and who will die, eternally. We fear Him for who He is, but we are not afraid, because He has redeemed us by His precious, all- powerful blood. He will bring His people home to Himself, triumphant, like an army with banners, fearful, rampant… victorious, as He is. He has beaten death forever and will deliver all those who believe in Him and take refuge under His sway. He holds that sway over sin and hell and can rescue us for this place. The grave cannot hold the redeemed sinner, as it could not hold Him. Those who trust in Him are not confounded.

No one can stop Him or stop this happening. Jesus is the Lord. He is the King above all Kings, the Mighty One, the face of heaven’s beauty, heaven’s cover story and Lover of every humble and rescued soul.

One day soon, He will return to the earth to take His people away to safety and security with Him forever. Their bodies will be reunited with their souls and we will, be resurrected to eternal life. This will be the end. There is no more reason to keep the world system going. All the elect people of God are now gathered into the eternal kingdom and the new heavens and new earth are about to start. Sinners will be judged by the Saviour of the world, as God haters and rejecters. They will receive their certain “reward” and will loose their souls to eternal death.

The earth will melt and the heavens will pass away like a rolled up garment. We will be with the Lord forever and enjoy His warm embrace. All sin will be assigned to everlasting darkness, where God will hold all evil in this confined space, never to contaminate ever again. We will be free to do what is right and good always, and the shackles of sin will be forever and completely loosed.

The grave will not just be empty, but will pass away with the dead earth and dead souls who chose its final resting place as their own. The grave is not ours, it is only a holding spot for the body, until the Lord returns.

“But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:54

Also the corruption will be put right again. The rot will disappear and glorified flesh will be revealed. We will be as Christ is, even now, as He appears in glory. We shall be with Him everlastingly and will experience that great and unsurpassed joy, that only the Christian knows. It will be untarnished and untainted by sin, death or any disappointment, but be always and ever our righteous reward.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.”

1 John 3:1-3

What privileges we possess. We know some things about how we will be at that glorious time, but not everything. It will be beyond anything we could ever experience in this fallen world, and behind our wildest, most optimistic dreams. We shall be like Him, our hearts desire, our true love, our majestic Saviour and Lord.

We praise His name and give honour to His majesty, who is forever praised…

The water factor

“All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.”

The water factor

Ecclesiastes 1:7

God has set up many natural systems to show us his power and glory in how He does things in our world and beyond, and also in the spiritual life. One of these is the water cycle. The water is evaporated by the sun into earths atmosphere and becomes vapour in the form of clouds. When the time is right, the vapour falls on the earth as rain, snow or hail, mists and fogs, etc. The rain runs down the earth, as fresh water, and replenished the living things and runs back into the salty sea. The salt water is then, evaporated again, looses it’s salt and is evaporated back into the clouds. So goes the water cycle. The whole system is self-supporting and the mighty seas are kept within the bounds that have been set for them.

Proverbs 8:29

“… when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth;”

The water cycle is necessary for the upkeep of life and the propagation of it on our planet. Without it, or if it was to stop for a minute, we would all perish. The cycle is the guarantee that we are cared for and provided for on this grand level.

“… who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, [in which were] fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint;’

Deuteronomy 8:15

God provided the necessary water for His people in the wilderness, even through miraculous means. He is the sustainer of all living things and upholds life by the word of His power.

The rivers all run into the sea because this is the way the physicality of the environment has worked out. Each part of the cycle affect the other parts, and that in turn affects the land. This is the purposes of God, that it should be so like this. Gravity pulls the water down from the clouds, down onto the mountains, and down into the sea. The water erodes away the rock and makes the channels in the environment. The rivers continually flow into the sea as part of the water cycle. The shape of the land and everything related to it is influenced by this whole process.

“He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever. You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.”

Psalm 104:5-8

Even in creation, God uses the forces of His nature to mould and make the mountains and landscape. He is in change of the whole process, as these verses show.

The sea never fills up, because the convection currents and the evaporation physics that pulls the water out for the sea and into the clouds as vapour, never stops. The tides are controlled by the moon and the sea ebbs and flows continually and predictably. The majesty of God is clearly seen in all these wonders. The puny needs of the human is also seen. We seem like pawns on the chessboard. We move in a restricted way and are so seemingly dispensable. Futility fills our hearts and our ways, and we are lost without the Lord. We die without His mighty provision, both in the body and also our souls. We must bow to the majesty of the Lord, and listen to what He is saying to us. We revere His name because of who He is and what He continually does for us.

“He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains. They give drink to every animal of the field.”

Psalm 104:10-11