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Friday, September 29, 2006

More about God's love...

God's love is essentially practical. When we say God loves you, it is not to descend into mawkish sentimentality, as if words alone could comfort you in the depths of a sub-par lifestyle. Instead, it's a reminder that God has done something already; He has taken the initiative to transform your life - whether you choose to co-operate with Him or not.

Wallowing in self pity is an option, but it does not change reality. The real reality is that behind the scenes, whether we want Him to or not, the Almighty Creator has already put into effect a chain of events in order to enable us to achieve the potential He has placed within us.

This is love - not that we loved God. Quite the reverse, our attitude and actions placed us diametrically opposed to His purpose and our true destiny. But that did not stop Jesus from giving up His life in place of ours, or prevent the Father from accepting that sacrifice. We too can choose. Do we allow ourselves to be drawn into receiving this for ourselves through acknowledging the reality of our falling short, and our need of a total change through the means He has provided in advance for us? Do we turn away, dismissing the urges of the Spirit as some form of subcnscious trickery?

Whatever we do, one thing is for sure, we cannot avoid the question and its consequences. Have you experienced God's love for yourself?

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The case for hope

Romans ch.5 v.2 tells us that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This is a direct result of being delared righteous - sinless - without fault; because of the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on our behalf. His perfection is attributed to us, not because of any great thing we have done to deserve it, but because His love for us uniquely qualifies each of us to participate by faith in His destiny for us.

Because we have been delared to be innocent of all wrongdoing, we can now stand in the presence of the Almighty himself, with complete confidence that He will not turn us away or reject us, for he will not reject His own .

We can have full confidence in His ability to bring about all that He has promised - in both our own lives and for the whole world. Our certain hope rests on His ability to transform the universe to reflect His glory, His will in all things. That He will complete the work He has begun in each of our lives to make us like Himself.

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Monday, September 25, 2006

Power and Glory

We experience God's life-transforming power as a direct result of His demonstrating His glory. Why does he do this? Because He chooses to do so. It is His inalienable right as Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

Because it is His will, we can face the future with confidence. He will transform us. We will experience a positive change in our circumstances, not to merely make us more comfortable, but to show His greatness in achieving the impossible.

That is our destiny. To witness a situation that could only be rectified by a miracle, turned around through the intervention of a power greater than we could imagine.

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Sunday, September 24, 2006

Power to be Me!

There is a reassuring verse at the beginning of John's Gospel - "But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John ch.1 v.12-13

When I first read those words, the night I put my faith in Jesus, I knew, I experienced for mysef the truth of this, the reality of what it meant to be a child of the Almighty. Deep down inside, I was certain, that the hope I had was a genuine life-changing transformation.

This then is what we have a right to, a life-transforming power that sets us free from the chains and limitations when we seek to live a life purely for ourselves. By finding Christ, we experience a power from outside of ourselves that will ultimately transform us into the person we were truly meant to be.

We go back to the designer, back to discover a purpose and plan that will not only impact us, but transform those whose lives we touch in reconciling them with their Creator and their destiny.

By finding faith, we lose our old self, but gain our true identity in seeking to reconnect others with theirs.

That is power!

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Friday, September 08, 2006

The Author and Perfecter of our Faith

Perspective is important. We're all too familiar with the story of the spies in Numbers ch.13 v.33 - who saw themselves as grasshoppers when comparing themselves to the opposition - and so, that's what they became. There's a flipside to this, a positive way of looking at the same principle. In Judges ch.6 v.12, Gideon is called a mighty man of God - after all, we're told in Romans ch.4 v.17 that the Good Lord calls things that are not as if they were - His word brings about a change in our universe to reflect His will.

So, what can you see? What has God's word revealed to you that should transform your perspective? What goal should be your central focus?

We have a pattern set before us through the example of Jesus. He could see a goal set before him. It called for action, perseverence, sacrifice. He knew the cost of his actions, he could see the reality of the situation he was in, but most importantly, he could see the end result. It kept him going, sustained him during the most painful of his ordeals. It makes our experience seem trivial, but it's none the less real - and we can guarantee his presence beside us, within our very being as we experience exactly the same dilemmas.

Did we hear correctly - is this truly the Father's will? Why is there a problem? Is there a different, easier way that we could go to see God's plan fulfilled without any opposition?

We are in very good company...

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