We are trapped by what we believe

The following is an excerpt from a message a preached a few weeks ago.

In Proverbs 23:7 we are told:

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”(NKJV)

It has only been in recent years that this verse, Proverbs 23:7 has made sense to me. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”


I wonder, has there ever been a time in your life when you knew that God was calling you to do something? But because of fear and self doubt you chose not to do it? Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt led to do something by the Spirit and you did it, and then a little later doubt creeps into your mind as to whether you have done the right thing or not? For years I had run away from my calling but when I said to God that I would enter into full time ministry the peace I experienced was amazing and I felt great; but then after a few days the enemy showed up and I started thinking about everything that had happened in my past and how great my job was and I started doubting what God had called me to do. I started telling myself that there was no way I could do what He wanted me to do. Why would God want to use me? He must have made a mistake; I am not smart enough or talented enough. I want to say to you that as soon as I started thinking like that, I had opened the door for Satan to start causing problems for me. You see for me the battle of the mind has been, and still is an issue. It has prevented me in the past from doing the things I have wanted to do and if I am not careful it will prevent me from doing what God has planned for my life and what He has called me to do. It will hinder me from growing in God and experiencing Him to the fullest in my life. Satan knows this is a vulnerable area in my life and I am sure for many of you also. He constantly attacks my mind trying to bring me down, trying to inject doubt and fear into my thought patterns and trying to distract me out of the will of God. I want to say to you this morning that the Devil will always tear down, he will always condemn and he will always sow seeds of negativity and doubt into your mind.

You see God uses our past experiences and our current ones to mold us, to strengthen us and to teach us. Satan uses those same experiences, especially the tough ones and the ones where we may have failed in the past to destroy us. He tries to discredit us before God by accusing us and he tries to remind us of our past failures in the hope of causing us to doubt and to step out of the will of God. Sometimes he even works through other people to sow these seeds of doubt.

Have you ever told someone an idea that you knew God had told you only to find yourself being told by another that it can’t be done, it will never happen? Or we don’t have the resources or the talent to do it? Or we have tried that before and it didn’t work. Friends I want to tell you today that when we hear stuff like this I want to say to you that this is not from God. If God has called you to it then He will make it come to pass. The devil constantly lives in the past whereas God looks to the future; encouraging us to be what He has created us to be and encouraging us to strive for a better future filled with hope, peace and possibility.

In Romans 8:31 we are reminded of an amazing promise of reassurance that “if God is for us who can be against us?” And that “nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Satan comes to steal our joy, our hope, our peace and our faith that we have in Christ. He plants seeds of doubt and fear in our minds in the hope that we will just give up and walk away from our God given purpose. You know whenever we make a choice to live for Christ these attacks will inevitably come. Satan does not want us to do what God has called us to.

This is why we should always give thanks to God in every circumstance and to sing praises to our father in heaven. We need to keep our mind focused on God and the things of Heaven. Satan cannot get a foothold in our hearts and minds when we are praising God. I don’t know about you but for me the battle in my mind is a constant thing and often I can feel very negative about myself and my ability. But when you feel negative you start to speak negative and then you start to act negative and if you’re not careful the atmosphere you can create will affect everyone around you. If God is going to be able to move us forward then we have to guard our thoughts and our words.

This last year has been especially hard for me as the enemy has tried to make me give up. He has told me that it is just too hard and he has tried to make me doubt that I could ever be effective as a minister. Our enemy would have us believe that we are useless, that we are not talented enough or have the skills that God needs for us to do what God has called us to do and I would say to you this morning that when we get thoughts like that it is just a lie of the enemy.

When God called me to ministry this is exactly what happened. You see in the past, when things got hard, my response was always to run. To give up and throw in the towel before I had even given it a go. Why? Because it was easier to do that. The enemy regularly tries to get me out of the will of God by telling me that I am no good and that the ministry is not the place for me. He tries to remind me of my childhood and my past experiences. He tries to convince me that what I have to say is not important and because I failed at school, how could I ever expect to do well at studying the word of God. He tries to convince me that I can’t pray because people will judge me or I won’t have the right words to say. But greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. Friends, when God calls us He will never ask us to do something that we are not capable of doing and that He is not willing to resource us in. In Jeremiah 29 verse 11 God says: “For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”” What a great promise.

I love what Paul reminds us of in 1 Corinthians 1: 26-31(NIV) when he says:

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Satan is right about one thing, I can’t do it!, on my own. But when Jesus enables me to do it and it is His will for my life, I can do all things. If God had said to me seven years ago that He wanted me to enter the ministry I would have run. He knew that it was not the right time for me then.

You know God does not care how smart we are, how many degrees we have. How much money or talent we have. All He asks is that when He calls us to do something that we are obedient and trust Him and to allow Him to do what He needs to do in us. Then all things are possible through Him who gives us strength and He will give us what we need to do His will. When Jesus selected His disciples who did He pick? Twelve ordinary men. And look what He was able to do through them. They changed the world. Why was that? Because they were willing to be used by Him.

You know the verses in Romans 8 are probably the most reassuring of all the verses in the bible. My favourite verse is probably verse 37 when Paul says: That we are" more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Did you hear that? We are more than conquerors because we are children of God. Friends our relationship with God and the Holy Spirit allows us to take authority over the stuff that has tried for so long to control us. When we receive Christ as our Lord and saviour we are able to overcome everything that the enemy can throw at us through the power of the Holy Spirit. If God is for us then it doesn’t matter who is against us because scripture says that we are loved by God and we will be victorious in Jesus name. God’s love will protect us from anything that has taken place in our past and we no longer have to be bound by past experiences. You know the devil will try and limit our ability by reminding us of our past. If people pleasing and fear has been an issue for us before then that is what the enemy will use to hinder us. Maybe we are bound by addiction, self doubt, a lack of confidence, negative talk or self-sabotage. Whatever it is we can be free from it through the power of the Holy Spirit. You know there are times when the battle rages and I want to encourage you that when that time comes (and it will come), push into God. Spend time in prayer, read and reflect on those scripture within the bible that remind you of the victory that you have in Christ and of the strength and the peace that He brings. Paul reminds us in Philippians four to think of the good things, the heavenly things. When the difficulties come call on a friend to pray with you. Play your favourite praise and worship songs and seek out God. The devil cannot infiltrate our minds when we are completely focused on Jesus.

"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Romans 8:31

I've got the joy joy joy joy....

Below is an extract from this mornings sermon.

 

The Psalms are a wonderful place to go for praise, prayer and reflection. They illustrate wonderfully the prayers of God’s people. Some are prayers of praise, some of frustration and lament and others are prayers of worship and thanksgiving. Psalm 100 is one of those that is certainly “A Psalm of Thanksgiving”. It is an invitation for us to join together and to acknowledge the great things that God has done. Not only does Psalm 100 call us to praise the Lord with thankfulness – but it also describes to us the nature of thanksgiving. 

 

Joy

“Shout for Joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with Gladness.” Last week I touched on this one briefly when I shared from Colossians 3. “Do all things as if doing them for the Lord.” Friends I don’t know if you are aware but the God we worship is the creator of all things! God created us, He created the world in which we live and He gave us these things to enjoy. More than all of this the God we worship is the very God that came to this earth as a human child; who lived within the creation, and because He loves us and wants to restore us into a perfect relationship with Him He willingly gave His life on a cross so that three days later He would overcome death and rise again. Friends it is through this resurrection of our God that we have an opportunity to be set free from the sin in our lives and be joyful. We have the most amazing story to share with the people around us. I don’t know about you but this brings great joy in my life and certainly causes me to worship our God with a spirit of thanksgiving. Are you experiencing joy in your life as a result of your faith this morning? Friends in our scripture today the Psalmist calls for all nations to worship our God with joy and with singing and shouting and praise. But our shouting should lead to more than a happy noise it should lead us to serving Him because He is the one true God. Worship leads to service, and true service is worship. It is interesting that Church is not a place where we generally shout with Joy. I wonder, how many of you are involved with a sport or love to watch sport or go to live games? I would say most of us enjoy it. When you go to a game do the people just sit there or do they cheer on their favourite teams? You know it’s fascinating how we can go to a sporting event and get extremely vocal for our team but we don’t get loud and vocal when we worship our God, the creator of all things. Our lives are meant to be a joyful call to God. God wants us to get excited about who He is.

Some time ago I was watching a show on SBS about the end of WW2. I saw a film clip of the victory celebration in Melbourne when World War II ended. Friends that celebration was a shout of praise, people were dancing in the street. The war was over – the victory had been won. We need to shout praises to our God – We know who wins the spiritual war in our world – we know who has the victory – Praise be to God. We need to shout joyfully because Jesus has won the victory. We need to be filled with joy and shout about it. That is something to be thankful for don’t you think?

 

Gladness

“Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” Psalms 100:2 (NKJV)

You know there is a huge difference between gladness and sadness. When we come before the Lord – we are to do it with gladness not sadness. We are to come before our God with a willing heart, coming before Him because we want to not because we have to.

I don’t know if you have ever noticed it when you visit other churches but there are times when people come to church on Sunday morning to worship almost like they are coming to a funeral service. Friends we are entering God’s house. we need to come in here on Sunday morning like we are coming into a resurrection service and rightly so because we serve a living God not a dead one. Our Lord has risen from the dead. That is a joyful celebration.


Thankfulness

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” This is the focus of the message this morning. God calls us to enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts. That is, when we enter into the presence of God whether through prayer, worship or even in our everyday walk with God, then we are called to come before Him with an attitude of thanksgiving. 

You know when we come before God in this way our focus shifts from a self-centered one to a God-centered one. When we are a thankful people it prevents things like jealousy and envy from entering our lives. A spirit of thanksgiving creates a sense of peace, harmony, unity of mind and a sense of community. Thanksgiving creates an environment where we are all unified in spirit and working together for the common good. When we come before God with a spirit of thanksgiving we appreciate what God has given us. We never need to worry about what we need or want because not only do we understand that God gives us everything that we have, but also that He will always provide the things that we need. If we are a thankful people who are controlled by the Spirit and by the word of God, then we will reveal it in our worship to God and in the way we live. Instead of imitating the world we will be led by the Word and the Spirit to be joyful in the Lord, submissive to the Lord, and thankful to the Lord. Friends a spirit of thanksgiving helps us to overcome some of the sins that can so easily invade our lives. Idolatry, pride, greed, selfishness and ingratitude. 

It was when our first parents Adam and Eve became “unthankful” that our world began to spiral into sin and judgement. Instead of being thankful for what they had, Adam and Eve believed the lie of Satan that God was holding out on them and it was this jealousy and desire for more that led to their sin. A thankful spirit is a triumphant spirit. Friends we need to be thankful for what God has done for us.

 

God calls us to have a thankful attitude. You know a spirit of thanksgiving is an inviting one. It creates a positive atmosphere rather than a negative one. Just like a negative attitude is contagious; so too is a spirit of joy and thanksgiving. When we are joyful and thankful, people want to be around us and they are lifted up and encouraged.

Are we a joyful people?

Do we live a life in a spirit of thankfulness to one true God who loves us and provides for us?

Can we like the Psalmist truly say “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise?”

 

When we read Psalm 100 is it a true prayer from our hearts or is it just lip service before God? 

 

I pray that we will be a thankful people.  A people who are not only thankful for what God gives to us but also for the people who tirelessly work to serve our God. 

 

"For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen."

Romans 11:36

Advertising is great if it matches what is going on inside.

This week has been great as I have been able to spend a week on holidays with my family.  Holidays are important and they should be used to recharge, refocus and spend time with those we love.  This past week has been a great week although I must admit that after 3600km of travel I am feeling a little weary.  As is our tradition, when we are on holidays we always try to attend a non salvation army church.  This is not because we do not like the army, far from it, but we do enjoy taking these opportunities to attend different worship settings.  This week was no different and so we decided to leave town and attend a different denomination.  For us, because we live in regional South Australia our nearest town is an hour away regardless of the direction.  This being the case we scoured the internet to find a church to attend in Whyalla.  On finding one that took our fancy we checked the time which said that their worship celebration commenced at 11am.  After travelling a whole hour to get there we discovered on arrival that their meeting commenced at 10am.  Needless to say this would have been embarrassing had we chosen to still go into the building.  As I reflected on this on the way home, disappointed and quite upset that we had been unable to attend worship, I began thinking about the similarities between the failure to advertise the correct information and our walk with Jesus.

Over the past few months I have been thinking a lot about my soldiership and officer covenants.  While attending officer councils a month ago our new Territorial Leader Commissioner Tidd made an interesting comment which has really challenged my thinking about what it means to be a soldier in The Salvation Army.  He said that "soldiership is not membership, it is more than that."  He is right. Soldiership is much more than simply a level of membership in our churches.  For many soldiers (and I am sure I am certainly guilty of this) this is what it can often appear to be.  We advertise on our physica/spiritual websites that we are Christians, that we are different, that we love God etc etc.  On the inside however and often in the way we act as well as our priorities, we reflect something completely different.

For the soldier we are called to be more.  We are called to be responsive to the Holy Spirit's leading.  We are called to grow in grace through worship, prayer, service and reading of the bible.  We are called to uphold Christian integrity in every aspect of our lives and to be faithful to the purposes for which God raises up The Salvation Army; sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to Him, and in His name caring for the needy and disadvantaged.  Often we fall far short of the covenant that we have made to our God because lets face it, there are other things we would rather be doing right?  Our priorities say more about us and our walk with Jesus than what we claim to stand for.  We turn up late for church, we don't pray, we don't read our bibles and we fail to look after those that need us and God so much.  Friends as I have reread my covenant in recent days I am challenged to step up in my spiritual life. Sometimes we get the service part right and neglect everything else.

You know when we turn up late for church, when we choose not to worship because we don't like the music, when we don't pray because we are worried about what others think it is not the minister we are dishonouring.  When we fail to act out our covenant as soldiers we are actually disrespecting God.  Friends there is a failure to fear our God in our churches.  We have removed the awe and reverence for God and turned our christian walk (and dare I say our officership and soldiership) into something that is very different to the commitment we made so long ago.  Very often we can be like a church that advertises the wrong information on their website.  We can appear to be saying one thing but what is actually going on inside and spiritually is very different.  Before we can win others for Christ, before we can lead others spiritually forward we have to be investing in ourselves and getting ourselves right before God.  If we want to see people come to our churches and be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit then we need to be doing this ourselves.  We need to be coming to church, praying, reading our bibles daily and allowing God to change us.  If we are claiming to be a soldier for Christ, if we are claiming to have found the answers to the problems in our world, if we are calling for a reform in society then we need to be living it.  Sometimes we can be so focused on getting the outside of the cup looking right that we forget to clean the inside.

2014/15 is looking to be a huge year in the prophetic.  As you look around the world you can see the signs of heaven that are spoken of in the gospels.  You can see the prophecies of the Old Testament beginning to take place.  Big things are going to happen in the world over the next 12mths and the question I think we all need to ask ourselves is are we ready?  Are we spiritually ready to receive our king?  We are running out of time and it is important that we get it right.  When the day comes and Jesus returns to claim his bride I pray that we will each hear well done good and faithful servant.  I guess the only way we will be hearing this is by getting ourselves right with God spiritually and by walking true to the covenant that we have made with Him.  When we are spiritually right and spiritually growing then we will be in tune with God and on His path and not ours.  Soldiership is more than membership, it is a commitment to grow and change.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Matthew 23:25-28

Quit Kidding Yourself!

While out in the garage several weeks ago I noticed my wife's bike sitting there collecting dust. I remember when we bought it two years ago and in that time it has only traveled around 10km. As I reflected on this I noticed that a bike has all the right parts. Handle bars, a good seat, pedals, wheels, the whole bang lot. A bike is designed to be ridden. It is built not only for leisure purposes but also for fitness but if the bike isn't used then we receive no benefit from it at all. Like the illustration of the bike the bible is very much the same. The bible is the blueprint for our lives and contains everything we need to live a blessed, fruitful life which generates true spiritual growth. The problem is if we don't use it; if we don't allow the words to transform us then it is simply just another book. The words without action is totally useless. The book of James tells us alot about the 'How Too' of Christianity and he addresses many of the issues we face today as Christians. Below is part of a sermon I shared with my own church on Sunday in regards to James 1.

Practice the word

For James and for the Christian this is where the rubber meets the road and so my main focus will be on what it means to practice the word of God as we continue on our spiritual journey. James reminds us that it is simply not enough to hear the Word; we actually have to put it into practice. Like the illustration of the bike, if we do not actually get on and ride it the bike is of no benefit to us at all. Many in the church today have mistakenly believed the lie that if they simply hear a good sermon or attend a good bible study then they will naturally grow and receive the blessings of God. Did you know that Australia is the highest consumers of Christian materials (per capita) in the world. We love to buy CDs, the latest books and videos on how to grow in our faith. James however, reminds us that it’s not listening or hearing how to do something that brings the blessings but rather we actually have to put it into practice. How many people here this morning like to highlight their bible and write in notes? I do this all the time which is great. Marking our bibles is important but what is more important is whether our bibles leave a mark on us. Does what we read transform us and leave us different to how we started? James uses the analogy of a mirror to illustrate his point and so I am going to focus on three ministry ideas that stem from this. 

Examination

Why do people own a mirror? What is its purpose? Mirrors allow us to see ourselves and to make ourselves look good. They allow us to fix up the flaws in our appearance. God’s word is like a mirror. The scriptures allow us to see ourselves as we really are. As we meditate on God’s word however there are several mistakes that are often made.

1. We don’t study ourselves as we read through the word of God. For some, the reading of scripture is a religious exercise because we feel obligated to do it. If the bible is going to seriously impact us then we need to look at ourselves in relation to the word.

2. We forget what we see. Often as we read the scriptures they may challenge us at the moment we read, but as we enter our day we forget what God has said to us and as a result there is no transformation.

3. The final mistake we can make is that we fail to obey what the bible tells us to do. Many Christians think that hearing is as good as doing and that is not true. As mentioned before Australia is the highest consumer of Christian material. We seem to love substituting doing, for reading or talking. We hold endless meetings and conferences about evangelism and church growth but then we don’t actually do anything about it. These things are great but they need to be followed by action. If God’s mirror is to make a difference in our lives then we need to look into it carefully and seriously. We need to examine our hearts and live in the light and victory of God’s word. This is tough because it takes time and devotion. Five minutes a day in the word of God is simply not enough to accomplish a deep spiritual examination.

Restoration

The second ministry is that of restoration. The mirror of the word does not only examine our hearts and expose our sin; it also helps us to be cleansed from our sin. I don’t know if you have ever noticed but our world fills our minds and hearts with so much junk. But as we meditate on God’s word, it begins to cleanse our minds and hearts from the worldly influences and free us from spiritual defilement. It is the blood of Christ that cleanses our guilt but it is the water of the word of God that helps wash away the defilement. But we cannot stop at examination and restoration otherwise we will miss the full benefit of God’s mirror and so that leads us to the final ministry element.

Transformation

After we have been restored by the Lords grace He wants to take us further by bringing about transformation. He wants to change us so that we will continue to grow in grace and not commit our past sins again. Many Christians confess their sin and claim forgiveness but for some reason they never grow spiritually. Psalm 139:23-24 says “search me oh God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Friends the word of God when studied, meditated upon and then allowed to transform us, is a powerful tool to walk in the victory and freedom of our faith. We cannot simply read it and then not put it into practice. If we do, then the bible is no different to any other book and it’s message is worthless. Our faith is a living faith and the word of God is the Rhema word of God. That is that it is alive. God never meant his teachings to remain in a book; He meant that we would live it out and share it with those around us. If we are to have complete victory and freedom in Christ then we need to be hearing and doing the word of God. James encourages us to raise the bar in our spiritual walk. He challenges us to understand and to not be deceived into thinking that reading and hearing will bring about spiritual growth. If we are to grow and receive the spiritual blessings of the gospel then we must practice what it commands us to do. If we are to be all that God tells us that we are then we need to read it, meditate on it, claim it and then live it.

Are we being transformed by the word of God? If we are claiming to have faith in Jesus; if we are claiming that the bible is our blueprint for living; if we are claiming that the bible is the absolute and living truth of God then we need to be stepping out in faith and living it. True victory and freedom comes from living out God’s word and walking in the blessings.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

Caught in the darkness

These past few months has been a challenge especially on the lead up to Christmas.  Busyness and stress seem to be the norm.  In November I was able to take some leave for the month and to be honest it was much needed.  One would think that a month away would allow you to become refreshed and ready to take on the world.  For me however, the opposite has been true.  These past two months have probably been the darkest I have experienced for a while.  This year has been extremely full on and as I look back over the year I have to wonder what I have been able to accomplish.  It feels as though nothing has been done.  To top it all off I am now in a spiritual and physical place I really don't want to be.

For over ten years now I have been battling with many personal issues; one of which is anxiety.  Throughout my college experience this anxiety began to reveal itself in many ways to the point where I didn't think I would survive.  Spiritually I went backwards.  In recent months this anxiety has raised it's head again and in recent weeks I have been diagnosed with depression.  I have been fighting for a long time to avoid the need for medication however this time it has been a necessity.  Is this simply a physical issue or is it a spiritual one?  Well for me I think it is definitely both.  I have done the counseling and now I am on the medication. You may have noticed that my facebook account is now inactive.  This has been done intentionally as I simply cannot handle social interaction at the moment.  In hindsight this has been beneficial for me and I don't really miss facebook at all.  One day I may reactivate my account but for now I am enjoying being away from it.

In recent days I have been reflecting on solomon's words in ecclesiastes 1:1-11.

 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”

³ What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?
⁴ Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.
⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷ All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.
⁸ All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹ What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹ No one remembers the former generations,
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.

Solomon's words reflect my thoughts over recent months.  What is the point? why even bother when all will be forgotten.  Everything is meaningless.  This is how you think when you are in that place of darkness.  Being told to cheer up or to get over it simply escalates the problem.  This darkness is a horrible and sometimes terrifying place to be.  It is safe to assume that when Solomon the wisest man who has ever lived wrote these words he was in a bad place.  Life must have been pretty tough.  You know it can be so easy to dwell on this stuff; so easy to get caught up in the negative thoughts; so easy to make decisions based on how we are feeling rather than what God is calling us to do.  In the middle of all of this and as I began to relate to Solomon, God reminded me of a scripture which I believe is the best of His promises.  This scripture is very dear to me and I love how God reminds us of His absolute truth in times of great need.  God knows our every need and He speaks at just the right time.  Here is what He has reminded me of in recent days.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-39

You know our enemy the devil tries many ways to destroy us.  1 Peter 5:8 warns us that our "enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  Anxiety and Depression is a horrible illness that is certainly not from God.  For many it is a physical issue where the chemical inbalance needs to be restored and medication certainly helps that.  For others the issue is of the spiritual nature.  Either way it is an illness of the enemy and he tries in many ways to bring us down by polluting our minds.  God however, reminds us in His word that He is bigger and more powerful than anything the enemy can throw at us.  It is hard when you are in this place to think of anything positive but as we reflect on words like those found in Romans 8 we are filling our minds with the things of heaven.  The very things that will assist us in fighting back against our enemy.  I love the reminder that no matter what we are going through, no matter how hard it appears to be or how useless we feel God is right there with us.  Nothing can separate us from the love and saving power of Jesus. As I continue my physical and spiritual battle I praise God that He is with me; that He will never abandon or give up on me. I praise Him for a wonderful wife and for those who are upholding my family in prayer.  In the middle of the darkness is the brightest light; His name is Jesus.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;

“Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

 Isaiah 41:10, 43:18-19

It is that time again

As I sit here enjoying the final days of a much needed holiday I can't help but think about the weeks that lie before me.  Those that know me well would be well aware that the Christmas period is a difficult time for me.  I have to be honest that this time of year creates much anxiety and it is not a time that enjoy very much.  Some may question these thoughts saying you're a minster of the church, how can you dislike Christmas?   This would be a fair question I guess.  The fact is I do dislike this time of year but only because it seems that more and more the world is losing the real meaning of Christmas.

It frustrates me year in and year out that the season of Christmas gets earlier and earlier.  I couldn't believe it this year when I began to see Christmas merchandise appearing on the shelves of the local supermarket in August.  You see it is the consumerism and the materialism that drives me nuts to be honest.  Christmas has become a huge cash cow that many seem to buy into.  I remember a few years ago I did an experiment in my local shopping center.  Armed with a video camera and several questions I wanted to see how the people in my local community interpreted the Christmas season.  I must have interviewed at least ten or so people and each time I received the same sort of answers.  Some said Christmas was about the gifts; others told me that it was about spending time with our families, good food, chocolate, children and Santa (an anagram of satan by the way).  Out of all the people I spoke to not one person told me that Christmas was about Jesus.  

I recollect another story I heard several years ago about a christian friend who was shopping at a local shopping center.  As they went up the escalator to the next level they looked down and noticed a local church sharing the good news of Jesus and singing Christmas carols.  As they continued up the escalator they overheard a conversation of two others behind them.  One of the shoppers turned to their friend with this comment.  "Typical it's Christmas and the church has to bring Jesus into it..."

I don't know about you but those sort of statements concern me.  Christmas is about family and yes it is about good food and gifts, but the reality is that the true meaning of Christmas is about Jesus.  It is about the hope that is available to all people through the most precious gift; the gift of Jesus.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.  That whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but will receive eternal life."( John 3:16)  What an amazing message.  Jesus really is the reason for the season and although the world is trying to remove Him from this time of celebration we each as Christians have a responsibility to share the good news of what Christmas is really about.

Our world desperately needs to hear about Christmas and it needs to hear about the real reason for our hope and love and family and yes even the gifts. As much as I hate the consumerism at this time of year I also love this time of year because I am reminded of what it truly represents.  This worldly view of what the season is only fuels my desire to share the gospel with a lost world. 

I challenge you this year not to get caught up in the hype and the false Christmas gospel but rather share the good news with those around you about the true and real meaning of this festive season.  You can't take Christ out of Christmas else you are simply left with a 'mas.'

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. - Jesus

John 3:16-18

Life was so much simpler once

Today I had a great opportunity to visit the museum at the old Port Pirie Railway Station.  It was awesome to step back in time and see how life used to be.  As I have reflected on this it has begun to bother me by how much more complicated life has become since technology has taken over our lives.  They say that technology is supposed to make life easier.  Mobile phones, social media, ipads and laptops are all supposed to create a life that is simple, quick and easy.  It seems to me however that this so called technological advancement has in fact created the opposite effect.

When our technology fails to work or even if we try to contact someone and they fail to respond we seem to go into meltdown as we stress and ask why haven't they responded?  I wonder what would happen if we decided to remove technology from our lives altogether?  I think it would probably have an effect on others more than it would have an effect on me.  Technology is everywhere to the point that we literally cannot do anything without it.  As humans in the world today we are basically railroaded into compliance with the world even if we don't want to do it.  It shows how easy it is for an individual to be forced into doing something a certain way as we simply cannot function in the world if we don't do it.

I don't know about you but this really frustrates me.  People have forgotten how to communicate anymore.  We wonder why society is falling apart and I think for the most part it is because we don't know how to communicate any more.  Take away computers, phones and facebook and lets face it, we are helpless.

Back in the good old days life may have had it's issues but at least people talked to each other.  They weren't surrounded by the constant buzzing of phones and facebook messages, rather they communicated the old fashioned way.  We can't even 'time out' from work anymore because we are now easier to get hold of.  Even when on holidays the temptation to log on and check facebook and email is so great that we are just constantly connected to technology.

It is interesting to note that for me to even convey these thoughts I am having to use a social media site.  I don't know, some call it progress, some say that it needs to happen but does it really??  It doesn't have to happen it just needs too as we create more and more needs that rely on this technology.  It also frustrates me that in an attempt to save time things like self serve registers in supermarkets has now reduced the amount of jobs available,  pay wave systems on EFT and no pin required for purchases under certain amounts has now actually reduced the security on credit cards.  All this so called easy of access has in fact created many other problems that we never had before.

So I come back to my earlier question:  What would happen if we just got rid of the technology and reverted to a simpler and less complicated lifestyle?  I think we would be a lot happier to be honest.  I think our days off really would be our day off.  I think people would certainly learn to communicate in a way that creates good strong relationships.


How do you suck a world in to buying into technology?  make them think they have to have it.  When the Y2K hoax took place 13 years ago it was interesting to see the reaction.  Why did this all take place in the first place?  easy to answer.  The panic caused everyone to upgrade their systems which in turn literally put everyone on the same page.  All of a sudden the world  was able to be controlled from a central point because everyone's hardware and software was now able to communicate.  I had an old 286 computer that functioned no different in the year 2000 than it did in 1999.  The whole thing literally forced the hand of business and the general public.

I don't know, maybe I am way off here but it is interesting to think about.