Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Armour of God

Ephesians 6:13-17 NLT
Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. [14] Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. [15] For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. [16] In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. [17] Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Belt - Truth - mentioned first - truth of who Jesus is, what he has done, who we are in him. This is first and foremost the greatest part of the armour because it reminds us of the truth of God and is the starting point.

Body Armour - representing the righteousness that comes from Christ and wraps us round protecting us and our heart. Covering our heart - relationship - Jesus' righteousness not our own.

Shoes - good news - ppreciated to take it into places that don't yet have the news of Jesus. When we have our shoes on we are ready to walk anywhere we need to go, prepared with the truth of the good news, protected by His righteousness.

Shield - faith - held up against enemy attack. Standing firm in faith - knowing we have our hearts protected, holding his righteousness around us and standing in truth.

Helmut - protection for our heads - right thinking - enables us to live transformed lives - thinking is protected - salvation - assurance - God's thoughts transforming our mind.

Sword - of the Spirit - word of God - sharpened and ready to use - a weapon of attack - God's Spirit brings the right words - God's word - at the right time to speak to the situation.

Truth
Righteousness
Good news
Faith
Salvation
The Word

Know the truth. Live in God's righteousness.  Share the good news. Live by faith.  Saved in right mind by grace. Know the Word of God.

We fight the enemy by understanding and applying these 6 things to our lives, not just occasionally but at all times.

In addition, pray in the spirit, stay alert - watchful - persistent in prayer for believers.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Devotional thought.

Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. [20] Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. [21] We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. [22] Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Citizens - from the same place, belonging to that same group of people (benefits and responsibilities of citizenship)

What are the benefits of our citizenship and what are our responsibilities?

E.g responsibilities to kingdom and it's King.

God's family - those gathered in Christ (belong to him) in the same family.

As a family there are benefits and responsibilities .

What are the benefits and responsibilities of families?

E.g Security, everyone works together - different roles and responsibilities, different gifts, given for the building up of others.

We have a strong foundation - secure.

Becoming a holy temple - carefully joined together for him (not for ourselves) - Fitted together perfectly

We are made citizens and built into a dwelling where God is honoured by us and found by others.

What are the implications of being built together?



Monday, August 27, 2018

Thoughts from Jonah

A couple of days ago I read through Jonah. Today I'm processing some thoughts around the last part of Jonah. We so often focus on the story of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish that we can miss the real point of Jonah.

Yes, we can learn about obedience and the consequences of lack of obedience through the first part of the story. Jonah's lack of obedience had a huge impact on him and our lack of obedience can too.

But let's think about what was happening in this situation. There is more going on than just lack of obedience. God needed to address the issues in Jonah's heart towards people.

God sent Jonah to preach to a city that was full of sin. God was planning on destroying the city because of the sin. When Jonah finally got there, and gave them God's word, the people received the message, believed it and repented. God, seeing the hearts of the people, with his love for them, showed them grace and spared them from destruction.

Surely this is a great outcome. But Jonah was not happy. He wanted God to destroy the people, to bring judgement on them the way he thought God should do it. How often do we want God to do things our way when God has something different in mind?

God's message to the people had brought repentance and salvation. Yet Jonah was not happy. God then provided a powerful lesson while Jonah was sulking, to help Jonah understand just how important people really are to him.

He allowed Jonah to find shade under a small plant, but Jonah was upset when it died and he was left to scorch in the sun. He complained to God. Notice how his focus was on him alone and not on others or even on God. Here is God's response. 

Jonah 4:10-11 NET
The LORD said, "You were upset about this little plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day. [11] Should I not be even more concerned about Nineveh, this enormous city? There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, as well as many animals!"

God had to show Jonah, that people matter to him. In fact people matter immensely to God, more than we can really grasp or understand. Ninevah had many thousands of people. People who mattered to God and should have mattered to Jonah.

 People matter to God and should matter to us. Just as we are important to God, and loved by him, people who don't yet know his love and grace matter also and are loved by him. He wants them to know him, he does not want any person to perish.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 NLT
This is good and pleases God our Savior, [4] who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. [5] For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus. [6] He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.

God is more interested in the lost* than we could ever be but he calls us to love them, to pray for them and to share life with them so that they also would know him.

This is the lesson Jonah had to learn. The people of Ninevah mattered to God. He cared about them and loved them. He forgave them when they turned to him. People still matter to God. He still loves them and sent Jesus into the world to make a way for them to come to him. We have been given a message of hope and grace for the world. A message of salvation.

Matt 28:18-20 NLT
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Like Jonah, we have a choice. We can run away from the call to speak God's message to people living far away from God, or we can embrace it, and be joyful when they discover God's saving grace. Then we have the opportunity to walk with them on the journey of discipleship towards maturity in the faith.

We can be so consumed by our own lives, so focused on our own comfort that we can think it's all about us. But God says to us, people still matter. There are thousands, many hundreds of thousands of people, in cities and countries in our own nation and all around the world that are yet to hear the message of God's love for them, who as yet have no way to discover the grace of God for themselves.

They are more important to God than our personal comfort. Are they more important to us than our personal comfort?

We have a message of hope, a message of grace that the world needs to hear, a message that God is asking us to take to others. Will we put aside our own comfort for the lives of other people?

(*Lost people are people who do not have a relationship with God that is based on who Jesus is, what he did for us through his death and resurrection and have then placed their hope for salvation in Jesus alone, thus beginning the journey of discipleship as a follower of Jesus)

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Listening

James 1:19-20 NLT
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. [20] Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

How quick to listen are you? Listening is an art and a discipline. Its an art because when we listen well it produces something beautiful.

It is a discipline, because it takes practice ti do it well.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

A Thought

"Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”"
Joshua 3:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.3.5.NLT

We live in a different time and culture to Joshua and the Hebrew, the Israelites,  who after journeying in the wilderness, were now entering the promised land. Yet there is a principle here: purify yourselves. How do we do that?  How do we live righteously before God.

The Word of God gives us the answer. We come before God, confess our sins and let his righteous life cleanse us and make us whole. He promises to purify and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The apostle John makes it clear in his first letter. Fellowship with God and each other is the result of faith in Jesus. It is faith in Jesus and his sacrifice for us which cleanses us from all sin.

 "But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."
1 John 1:7‭-‬9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.1.7-9.NLT

Once we understand this we can stop striving to try and please God by our own means and by striving to be good enough for God by our behaviour. Instead, by grace, God through his love, and the work of his Spirit, enables us to grow and to change by changing the way we think, (Rom 12:2) and thus our behaviour changes. We see life differently and live differently, by grace and not works.

Grace is not reliant on works and striving. We are saved by grace, we live by faith, and we are then able to live in obedience to God by the power of his spirit in us and do the works he prepared for us.

 "Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him."
Philippians 2:12‭-‬13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.2.12-13.NLT

Paul is keen for followers of Jesus to understand the great power that is at work in us. It is the very power of God, his Spirit, at work enabling us to love him and live for him. Paul also encourages us in to live out of the new nature God has given us. We have become new creations (2 Cor 5:17) and are now made righteous by Christ.

 "Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."
Ephesians 4:21‭-‬29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.4.21-29.NLT

Paul tells us that we will be able to live differently because of what Jesus has already done, and therefore we can choose to live differently, no longer live like we did in the past. Sometimes old habits are hard to break. But Paul says to "put on your new nature". Let God show you where you need to change your behaviour. It is a daily choice to live in our new nature, not to gain salvation but because God in his grace and mercy had already given it to us.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

A widow, an act of obedience and a miracle

2 Kings 4:1-7 NLT
One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, "My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the LORD. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves." [2] "What can I do to help you?" Elisha asked. "Tell me, what do you have in the house?" "Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil," she replied. [3] And Elisha said, "Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. [4] Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled." [5] So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. [6] Soon every container was full to the brim! "Bring me another jar," she said to one of her sons. "There aren't any more!" he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. [7] When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over."

In this account of the widow, the prophet asks her "what do you have?" All she had was a small amount of oil. The prophet instructs her to gather jars and pour her small amount of oil into them. Notice that God required a small act of obedience. She needed to get jars from her friends and pour oil into them.

"And she did as she was told". These words stood out to me today. I've read this story often, but today this small sentence was powerful. It seemed such a small thing. A small act of obedience but this small act changed her life in a powerful way. It gave her and her family a future.

It is this small act of obedience that brings the miracle.

As I read this I wonder:

Are we really prepared to do what God asks of us?

Sometimes we want God to perform a great miracle for us when what he is actually asking for is a small act of obedience. A small act that uses what we already have. That small act of obedience can create the change and the miracle that sets us on the right trajectory for the testy of our lives.

A couple of questions.

What is already in our hands that God can use?

What small act of obedience is God asking us to carry out?

My challenge is to look at what we already have. View it as God sees it, offer it to him,  and act in obedience.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

A thought prompted by Ezekial

The Biblical book of Ezekial can be a difficult read. It is full of God's thoughts towards an unfaithful people, the people of Israel and Judah. And yet within its words and lengthy judgements on sin there is a lesson for us as well as many wonderful promises that relate to God's restoration for his people. We are told by Paul in his letters to Timothy that all scripture is useful.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 NLT
But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. [15] You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. [16] All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. [17] God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

If this is so; if Ezekial is written so that we can learn from it; if it is there for our correction, edification and equipping, then what do we learn from Ezekial?

Here's a couple of thoughts from my reading so far. God's main concern with his people is that they had turned away from him and were copying the customs of the people around them, customs that did not uphold justice or mercy or help people walk in a right relationship with him.

Ezekiel 11:12 NLT
and you will know that I am the LORD. For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you."

Does this sounds familiar to us? Paul's  words of encouragement to the people of Rome were very similar. He was exhorting them to live in a way that was different to the world and customs around them. He wanted them to know God's will for their lives and to allow God to do his transformative work in their hearts and in their minds and their thinking.

Romans 12:2 NLT
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So my first thought or question to us is this.

To what extent is my life conformed to the customs and patterns of behaviours in this world and is my life being transformed by God?

How am I allowing God to do his transformative work in me and am I letting him change me by addressing the way I think and the way I'm choosing to live in this world?

God calls his people to live in this world but to live differently in this world. Jesus prayed that we would know how to live in this world yet live for him.

John 17:15-18 NLT
I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. [16] They do not belong to this world any more than I do. [17] Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. [18] Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.

We are to live in this world, yet differently to the world. In fact Jesus clearly states that we are sent into the world. We are not to escape this world but to live in a way that honours and glorifies God in this world.

God's promise to the people of Israel was that he would place a new spirit within them. When they returned to follow him, and do away with the evil practices and customs of the world, he would change them from people with hard, stony hearts and transform them into people with a tender and responsive heart.

Ezekiel 11:19-20 NLT
[19] And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, [20] so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

This is also God's promise to us. It is a rebirth, just as Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again (John 3). God wants us all to know this rebirth, to be born of the Spirit. He wants us all to be transformed. When we choose to become followers of Jesus, God gives us a new spirit within. We are a new creation.

My second set of thoughts then is around the nature of our hearts. Have we made the decision to be a follower of Jesus, handing our life over to him? (Or are we still holding onto bits of the old self wanting to rule our own lives?)

And if so, where are we holding onto old ways of stubbornness and hardness of heart when God wants to give us a tender heart that is responsive to him? Responsive to his transforming power in our lives and responsive to his heart for a hurting world.

It is only by allowing God's ongoing transformation (for it is an ongoing work) in our lives that we can become the people God has planned for us to be and to change the world in which we live by being examples of his love and grace in the world. It is both a work of grace which is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-10) and an application of that work in our lives (Phil 2:12,13).

Father I pray that we will live differently in the world around us and have a tender and responsive heart to you and to the people you love.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Thoughts from the writing of Peter.

A couple of quick thoughts from this morning's time with God.

1 Peter 3:15-16 NET
But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. [16] Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.

Set Christ apart as Lord

What does it mean to 'set Christ apart as Lord'? What does that look like in my life and in yours. I can only answer for me but as I read these verses it's important to look at what comes before because that is what gives context to this. The verses before are all about honouring other people, in the way we live, how we speak and in our actions.

So setting Christ apart is all about honouring him first and foremost. Giving Jesus first place means letting him have the way in our thoughts, attitudes and behaviour so our lives reflect his nature and not our own. Then when we are asked, we can give a reason for the hope we have in him. When Jesus has first place in our hearts, God's Spirit can produce in us the right fruit, the right speech, the right behaviour.

And then further on we read:

1 Peter 4:17 NET
For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?

I always find this verse interesting. Jesus clearly calls us not to judge one another in Matt 7:1-3. So what could Peter mean here?

Remember the context is all about our attitudes. I believe God is asking us to take a look deeply into our own attitudes, motives and behaviours. We can judge our actions and behaviours in the light of the grace given to us through Christ.

I think we can sometimes find these verses to be not very palatable because we want to solely focus on God's grace. However God is going to make a judgement on how we live and how we have allowed his grace and love to transform us.

We are saved by faith. It is the only thing that saves. This is God's grace and nothing else as we see in Eph 2:8. But because of grace, our actions become part of the saving process of working out our salvation. Paul, after encouraging us to have the attitude of Jesus says to work hard to show the results of your salvation and to do so with awe and reverence, Phil 2:12,13 (NET)

So what does this mean for me and for you? How do we apply this to our lives?

Here is my take on this.

Am I living my faith by concentrating on and focusing on my journey and what I need to work on and deal with rather than judging others?

In other words - judge my own actions according to God's word and let God make a judgement on other people.

What about you?


Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Today if you hear his voice...

Today my thoughts turn to living in obedience. As a follower of Jesus true discipleship requires obedience to his Word, the teaching we find in the Bible about how we are to live.

Obedience, true obedience starts with a heart of worship and celebration.  It continues in knowing that we belong to him and are cared for by him. This requires us to trust him. Notice that the call to obedience begins with the conviction of God's care for us.

Psalm 95:6-9 CSB
Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
[7] For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice:
[8] Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness
[9] where your fathers tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

The word 'hear' as in the phrase 'Today if you hear his voice' is to hear with intention. To hear with an expectation that you will act in obedience to what you hear. The Israelites heard, but hardened their hearts, the psalmist asks us to choose a different path and to hear God with intention and with obedience.

James also picks up on this in his writing on hearing and doing.

James 1:22-25 CSB
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. [25] But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works-this person will be blessed in what he does.

It is the same understanding that we will hear and we will act intentionally on what we hear. We are not to be stubborn like the Israelites, but instead, choose to walk in obedience. Freedom and blessing is ours and comes through trust in the God who saves us and in obedience to his  guidance and direction for our lives.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Creating space for creativity

How creative are you and your team?

Allowing space for innovation and creativity are important to allow teams to grow and flourish. But how do we create space for innovation?

We've been taught to think that raising ideas in a group setting, brainstorming or pooling our thoughts, leads to more creative and innovative ideas. But does it?

Here's a great article debunking the myth that brainstorming builds greater innovation and creativity.

Why Brainstorming Groups Kill Breakthrough Ideas (and What To Do Instead) http://flip.it/dGjCHU

Monday, February 5, 2018

Thought of the day

Isaiah 30:20-22
God speaks - let us listen. God wants to teach us, guide us, direct us, and bless us. Listen for his voice - he will show you the way.

A thought about idols. What are the idols in our lives

Materialism - the stuff of this world

Comparrison - how do I measure up to others

Fitting in - to be accepted

Here's the thing: I think we spend so much time and focus on "fitting in" and "being accepted" that they have become the idols of our world.

Therefore - we worship at the "temple" of the materialist god - the shopping centre - and spend our lives on what does not nourish the soul.

We chase after relationships with people that will never fulfil our desire for acceptance because God is where we find acceptance.