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Psalm 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
When we puff ourselves up by trying to do too much or trying to go further than we should, we are rejecting the most powerful force on earth.
It sounds all too easy to ask God to be in everything you do, but when you get carried away, He is often the last person to be called!
Christ was rejected by the very people who needed Him most. He was rejected by the people who were actually waiting for Him!
Yet still He became the cornerstone; the stone which holds it all together – because He loves us so!
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Matthew 26:52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
When this all unfolded in the Garden of Gethsemane there was no war or fighting between the disciples and the guards. There was no retaliation by either side. Why?
Because Jesus spoke with authority and He diffused the situation by healing the guards ear there and then.
Being faced by someone who speaks with great authority is one thing, but being faced with that same person who performs a miracle right in front of you is another thing.
We need to make sure in our future that we are not taken in by the evil one who will perform miracles too; but rather compare what is done with God’s Word and His ways.
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Matthew 26:49 Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
If you were going to betray someone, how would you go about it? Yes, I gather it is an unfair question based on what is going on, but think about why…
In order to win trust or respect we choose to do things in particular ways. If we want to get someone to trust us, then we do something in a way which will help them to trust us.
Here, Christ knew what was coming and He knew how He would be betrayed. Yet He still chose to go through with it and He also made sure everyone else was safe.
Christ said we need to love others – that love should not come with strings attached; just plain Christian love!
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Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.
What is a holy kiss? Have you ever kissed someone to be polite? Well that isn’t. Have you ever kissed someone because they are friends or family? Well that probably wasn’t either!
What is the sincerest kiss you have ever given someone? A kiss which meant the most in the world… Now we are getting there.
When God said we need to love each other He meant we need to be 100% sincere with our relationship with them!
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Genesis 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.
What was your reaction to seeing the person of your dreams for the first time? If you are married, then what was your reaction upon seeing your future partner for the first time?
I guess not too many of us broke down in tears of joy! I know I was very happy to meet this person!
God has set our lives before us as a journey of faith and when we do follow Him in faith our rewards are great, not just in joy and peace but in many walk of life.
Trust in your God because He does have a perfect plan for you; even if you get things wrong a few times!
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Jeremiah 31:9 They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.
When God was speaking through the prophets He told the people many times of the Messiah who was going to come and the joy and righteousness which would follow.
God continued to tell us of the joy and righteousness which awaits us through Christ.
Yet how many people choose to ignore this wonderful news just because they get caught up in the world too much?
Live for Christ and live with Christ!
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Psalm 103:13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
Just as a parent will correct a child after they do something wrong, so does the parent show pity on a child when they do not understand what they do wrong.
God is not going to destroy anyone who does not do exactly what He says. It is OK to question what is going on. It is OK to ask Him why. It is OK to stop and think.
God has pity on His people. He has pity on us because He knows we are still learning to love Him.
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Deuteronomy 8:5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
When the prophets told the people they ought to consider something in their hearts it was a direction to get them to think of this thing frequently.
When you love someone you think of them often and think of them in many different ways; this is how we should be thinking of God’s Word too!
Just as a parent will correct and chastise a child when they do wrong, so will God be doing so for us.
Listen to God when He tells you stuff so you don’t end up being upset when he corrects you!
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Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
This is one of those “I told you so!” verses we come across in our bibles.
But stop and think a bit about the words here. Think about them in terms of what has happened in the past with people who said they followed God and yet chose to do their own thing.
We have many accounts of the people of Israel getting into all manner of trouble as they chose their own path rather than following God’s rules.
And yet when they chose to obey God their lives had many rewards as God showed the world how much He loved them.
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Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction;
It does not matter whether you are child, adult, priest, king or the poorest of people; if God wants you to stop and listen, He will do what it takes!
Don’t blame God when He turns to you and tells you off! Don’t say it is unfair when you are the one doing something wrong.
Just because someone else may have done exactly the same does not give you the right to go off and do what you like!
God is just. He has the right to say when we do something wrong!
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John 9:22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
What sort of a witness are you for Christ? Do you hide your real feelings when confronted by people you know do not believe in Him?
There are many places in this world where people are not allowed to teach others about Christ still. At this time people were scared of revealing their belief in Christ because of the fear of death or banishment.
Just remember. Nothing is impossible with Christ. Don’t hide your faith.
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John 7:13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
When Jesus was being sought by the authorities many people chose not to talk aloud about Him to ensure their own safety.
There are a few places still today where teaching about or talking about Jesus is against the law with the penalty being death!
But still some chose to continue talking in private and behind closed doors – just as they do today in those places.
God would like us to be honest and open about Him to show others we depend on a Saviour who can do anything!
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Genesis 12:12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
When Abraham took his wife Sarah to try and get away from the famine in his own land, he thought he was doing the right thing.
When he got there he did not want the local people to take his wife because she was so beautiful; so he told a bit of a lie!
God does not want us to have to tell lies to get out of trouble but rather to trust in Him and depend on Him so the trouble will be dealt with by Him instead.
Trust is a very big word when you are worried by the people around you!
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Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
Should you be afraid of a person who wants to hurt you with a big knife or something worse? Of course yes!
But human fear is very different to the fear we should have for God. Humans may be able to do all manner of bad things to us, but they can never take away our souls.
God wants to keep you and your soul safe and in peace with Him in heaven; that means we have a choice to make.
We either fear and trust in humans and get as far as the end of our lives, or we fear and trust in God who can keep us for eternity after our physical bodies conk out!
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Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
It is hard to try and describe something which has never been seen before; and harder still to describe a person whom you have not seen.
Isaiah was describing many different things in his prophecies and here we have a depiction of Christ as a slender rod or branch from which something bigger is going to grow.
When we plant a cutting to grow into a big plant, we start with something very small which grows as it is fed and nourished.
Don’t be put off thinking you are too small; God wants to nourish and feed you to become something great for Him!
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John 7:27 However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”
One thing I do love doing is reading God’s Word to find out more truths every day. I love the fact I learn new things day in day out!
If we stop taking the gospel in and assume we know best, we will fall into the same trap these men were falling into; don’t think you know it all just because you know some scriptures.
I marvel at how some people know so much and then think it strange when some say I know a lot. I always say I don’t because I know I don’t.
Jesus continued to teach the disciples every day and we should be willing to learn every day just like them.
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John 6:42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Have you ever listened to how a crowd can get out of control when they hear a few murmurings about something wrong?
It does not take too much to set a crowd out of control and start a riot or worse!
These people knew Jesus as a little boy and now they were questioning everything just because they thought they knew the truth.
What they were not taking into account was God’s initial prophesies about how the Messiah would come and in what form.
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Psalm 24:8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.
How many times a day do you question yourself or pose a question to which the answer is obvious?
It is good to remember some simple truths about God; that He is the one true God, Lord Almighty, King of Kings.
It is good to remember that nothing is impossible with God, that He has the power to overcome anything; no battle is too much for Him.
How are you going to remind yourself? Write it on a poster and hang it up? Paint a picture? Read it every day? However you do, remind yourself each day.
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1 Samuel 18:7 So the women sang as they danced, and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”
What we do with and in our lives is going to be noticed by others! What comes out of that may not be what we want to come out!
David was doing his best to do what God willed in his life; what others were noticing or seem to notice was that David was getting rid of more of the enemy than Saul.
People do tend to pick up on the truth and talk about it to others; if you are not following the truth you may well find you work against the majority – which is always hard work!
Stick with God’s truth.
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Acts 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
When you can show people God is with you they are going to believe in God as well because of what they see.
The disciples continued to not just trust their faith but depend on it as well, showing others just how much they depended on and trusted in Christ.
Just because Jesus the man did not walk with them did not stop they showing other people how great God is.
Let us go out and be an example. A continual example. A constant example. A faithful example.