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Matthew 18:22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
I am pretty sure none of us want to hear these words from Jesus… Peter asked Jesus how many time they should forgive people and the answer was a whole lot more than expected!
Jesus forgave people of some of the vilest sins possible and still continues to do so when people come to Him with an open and humble heart.
When God asks us to be more like Jesus, it is in ways like this where we should be willing to continue forgiving until the person realises their mistakes – it is not up to us to judge when to stop!
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Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Mercy and forgiveness are some of the hardest things to give in life when you are surrounded by people who are taking everything!
God has called us to be more like Jesus in our actions, the love, walk humbly, show mercy and give people hope in an otherwise hopeless situation.
God does not call us to judge the world and put it to right! God does not say we need to go out and correct everyone. God says we need to learn to forgive just as much as He has to forgive us of our sins.
Start at home…
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Matthew 10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
What did Jesus do to the twelve disciples? He sent them to go and tell people about the gospel, not just any people but their own people, the Jews.
This was before the great commission where He sent everyone to help spread the gospel; this was the message to try and gather the Jews together to show them the Messiah had come!
How often do we miss the simple calling of telling out neighbours about God? How often do we look for the complicated instead of the easy? Love the people around you and shine Jesus’ light!
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Mark 3:14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach
When Jesus chose the twelve disciples it was not a random choice of twelve people but a specific calling of those twelve men to do an appointed task.
When He says He has chosen us, as in yesterdays verse, it is not a random choice but a specific calling for us to do a chosen task!
Yes, God has already chosen us to do something and if we are willing to listen we will get to know what it is – but we need to listen!
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John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
We did not choose Christ to be our Saviour… You may be saying “but I thought I did” and you would be correct. What is being said is that we did not pick Christ out from a line-up of potential candidates, so to speak.
Christ is God and chose us to be His people and not the other way round. Just because we live in a real world and face real decisions does not mean we are in control of the whole real world!
Jesus wants us to take this truth and tell others so they are not trapped by the limitations of this world. Be more like Christ and free your faith!
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Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How often do you thank God for things in your life? Do you thank Him for the good things? Do you thank Him when times get tough?
We do like to thank God when we have a good time or when things go right, but when things do not go according to plan we should be thanking God for continuing to be with us and look out for us!
Think of what may have happened and how we have been kept for a reason. Thank God, always!
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Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
How much of your life reflects what you have learned about Christ? How much of your life reflects Jesus’ ways of living?
Jesus spent His whole life on earth giving glory to God the Father and making sure everything He did was for God and with God.
It may well be a very hard thing for us to emulate because of the sin in our lives, but we should at least try to aim to something more like His life than our old lives.
Do a bit more for Jesus Christ today!
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Colossians 1:10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
Paul knew God had told him to go out and tell many different people about God; and so he did so, willingly.
His prayers for the people he met and taught were not that they would give up everything and come to him to be taught, but he would be able to go out to them and God would fill them with the right knowledge and wisdom.
Sometimes we have to trust others to do what we know has to be done because we cannot be in all places at the same time – that is God’s realm and what He is going to do as long as we sow the seeds.
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Romans 8:8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Whilst we continue to do the same things the people around us are doing and continue to live a life without Christ, we continue to find it very hard to please God.
If we want to please our God then we need to do things which are closer to what He wants in our lives.
He is probably not asking you to give everything up and live in a local church – He is probably asking you to take on board all He is trying to teach you and share it with others to let them know what you now know.
We may live in this world but we do not have to live for the world!
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Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Whilst we may still doubt our faith at times, Jesus does not doubt us or limit His love and mercy toward us.
When He talked about how much faith we needed, it was not a description of a huge bucket full but the smallest of seeds the Jews knew of instead.
Jesus knows we do doubt things, but He also knows that a tiny spec of faith shows Him we love Him and that pleases Him; for that Christ is willing to reward us!
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Mark 8:23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Christ turned the question back on the people. They were questioning His power, they were putting an “if” into the equation… so Christ was putting an “if” into their faith.
We need to be sure of our belief in Christ (I hope we all are) and with that depend on Christ to show His might and power to us.
We should not be saying, if you can, but simply be asking “please” and expecting a response.
Jesus has already promised many things to which we need to trust and believe He will do, without the “ifs” and “buts”…
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Luke 17:6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
Do you, like the disciples, ask God to increase your faith from time to time?
Why did Jesus answer by telling them if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they could do wonders?
Because faith is something very precious and something too many people lack; they will go through the motions of everything a Christian should do but their faith is not quite there!
Faith is the belief that God can and will do things. You need to actually believe it… even if it is a tiny little belief…
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Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
When you are persistent and continue listening out for God, you will hear what He has to say!
The Canaanite woman was persistent and showed Christ she believed fully in who He is and what He was capable of.
Jesus’ answer was to heal her because of her faith – not because she was the right race or religion, but because of her faith in Christ.
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Matthew 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
What would you have thought if Jesus answered your cry for help with “I haven’t come to serve you but to server other people!”
Don’t be put off if you think Christ is saying no to you. Instead be a bit braver and ask again or continue asking until something happens.
God is a compassionate God who is looking out for all people; we just have to listen to what He is saying and not make our own minds up!
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Acts 19:9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
Don’t be afraid to walk away from people who continually do not want to accept the truth you are telling them about Jesus? If they continually try to break down what you are building up, working against Christ, then it may be time to let them stop and think by themselves.
God wants us to tell all people about Christ, but when we reach stone walls which are preventing us from telling people openly about Christ, then we need to think about how we go about it again.
Our reaction does not have to be “walk away!” It could be “carry on living with Christ in your community to set an example.”
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Acts 19:2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
Paul was quite bold in what he said to people because he was filled with the Holy Spirit!
God wants us to be filled just as he was. God wants us to have faith in believing He is with us and in us every step of the way so we can do as Paul did.
Just because we believe in Christ and have asked Him to forgive us does not mean we are filled with the Spirit – that comes through growing with Him and listening to Him!
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Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him
No matter where we come from, what we have done or how we have lived, if we are willing to call on God from our hearts, then He will uphold His promises to save us from our sins.
For most of us, this is not going to be a problem, but for someone who has lived their lives killing for a living, these words will be hard to hear.
Our God is much greater than anything we have ever done. His grace covers anything we can possibly do. His mercy goes beyond our imaginations.
Accept Christ. Accept life!
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Romans 10:13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This is a promise which we don’t get until we can grasp what it means. Someone may tell us something like this in the beginning, but until we understand just how great a promise this is we may never quite get it.
Christ backed up the scriptures by telling the disciples what it means to call on His name.
If we are willing to accept Christ as the Son of God and willing to praise and worship Him as such, then He is willing to call us His children.
God keeps His promises!
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Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When was it that Christ showed His love for us? A long time ago, around 2000 years ago give or take a few decades…
Yet He did this knowing what we were going to turn out like. He did this even though He knew we would still get it wrong. He did it because He loves us!
He loved us at the beginning of time and He loves us now and He will continue to love us right to the end – that to me is just amazing and I try to thank Him a lot for this!
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Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Both Jews and Christians agreed the law condemned us to death, but how we get out of it is quite different.
There is nothing we can do to work our way to heaven because it is a gift from God.
Jesus gave His life to pay for our debt so we would no longer be regarded as guilty!
How does this work? Grace given to us because of Christ’s love and mercy; hence it is only through Christ we have life eternal!