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Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Christ has demonstrated the ultimate instance of kindness and love that anyone could think of in giving us Salvation through His actions.
It is not because of the thing that He has done but the mercy He has shown us that we know this to be true.
Martyrs have come and gone, but it is the love and demonstration of that love which stands out for me.
It is the Holy Spirit who can open up our hearts to what Christ has done when we start to listen with our hearts.
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Ephesians 4:23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
Have you noticed that the harder you try to make sure you keep to the law the more the small things seem to go wrong?
It is not in our own strength that we can live for God but in His strength and in His guidance alone.
We cannot hope to be able to do all the right things all the time just by focusing on the law because we are all carnal and we all get things wrong.
The harder we try to more we realise this – make sure you let God lead you through His Spirit!
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1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
Well, Halloween is upon us and we are all wondering what we should do about it… the answer is surprisingly simple but one that people don’t want to get involved with.
If you aim at things of this world then the only reward you will get is of this world. If you aim for Halloween then the only enjoyment you will get is of this world and you may end up feeling ill from the worldly ways.
But if you keep your focus on God and allow Him to guide and protect you, then the ways of the world will not be that exciting…
To get the most enjoyment out of life, keep God in the centre of your life.
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Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.
I look back on life and I think to myself “why didn’t life have a warning label on it?” and then I look at how much I tried to teach my children and the youth around me and I think “Oh, it did!”
As young people we should try to discern good from evil and apply good in our lives so that we may not have to put up with the judgment afterward; but it is hard to listen…
There is so many loud noises to distract us from the good path and from listening to others who try to teach us those ways that we tend to fall off the rails far more than we should.
Is there a way out of this? Try to look for and aim for good and enjoy it!
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Proverbs 10:25 When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
One of the big temptations we have is looking for the buzz or excitement in life. We try to seek out where we can get the next buzz from rather than trying to make peace.
No you certainly are not alone in thinking that you still do like it now and again even as a Christian!
Look at a bit of history though. The evil people do not make that big an impact on history as the good people do. Each generation looks to find excitement in its own generation and not by reading books about it.
Evil is very harmful, but it has no staying power!
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Proverbs 10:23 To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom.
When people get up to mischief, we can be sure that they are treating it much like a sport and not looking at the consequences of their actions.
And let’s be honest, we have all been there, done that and have the T-shirt; so no turning round and blaming others – look inside your own life first of all.
When we do begin to understand consequences and to look at how much we hurt other people when we do wrong, we begin to gain understanding of life; or wisdom.
I know I have had to learn for a very long time before I have gained any understanding; but I thank God He is persistent in teaching me!
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Luke 6:48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
In order to build a house that is going to stand up to the very worst that the weather can throw at it, we should aim to build it on the best possible foundations.
Lighthouses are built on rocks, not just to warn ships away from those rocks, but because they have a better chance at surviving!
For us to survive in life we should build our lives on the best foundation… and that is love, the love that Christ has shown us from the beginning.
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Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
It is not how much strength and wisdom we can dig up, accept or take in that will shape how well we get on in life…
It is how much God is willing and able to fill us with!
All we need to have is faith that we will be able to accept something from God and we can then allow Him to fill our lives with as much as we need.
He knows our needs better that we do and is able to fill our needs in ways that we cannot comprehend. All Him to work in your life!
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Proverbs 4:6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.
When we do gain wisdom and understanding from God we should be keeping it and growing with it as if it were as special to us as the person we love.
God wants us to understand many things, including our life with Him; we do not have to understand every single aspect immediately, but grow consistently with Him.
Keeping what we learn in our hearts and living by it will go a long way for us to understand things better,
Loving God means loving all aspects of Him including His law.
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Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
When you gain knowledge about something the best thing to do with that knowledge is to use it!
God continues to try to give us knowledge and wisdom through the Holy Bible and the people He places around us that can understand it better.
When we gain that understanding and knowledge, hiding it from everyone does sound a bit pointless.
But what is also pointless is turning you back on your new-found knowledge. If you want God to guide you, listen to Him!
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Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
Have you ever marvelled at how some people can work so well in a team, how they just seem to use their eyes to communicate with each other?
How close is your walk with Christ? If He wanted to guide you with His eyes, would you be able to pick up on that or do you need firm instruction?
I would like to think that I would be able to pick up on things, but we are just not mind readers!
When we listen to Christ’s instruction through our bibles, we can pick up on more that He wants without having to be told over and over again!
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Revelation 3:17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked –
The trapping of this world are real and they are very attractive! They would not be called temptations or trappings or whatever unless they were real temptations.
If we fill our lives with these things we will have a life full of… well, stuff. None of that will be able to taken with us to heaven so we will be leaving it all behind.
If we want something to fulfil our lives, we need to aim for more than just the world has to offer.
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2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Have you ever found yourself wondering whether you are lacking in the fruits of the spirit?
Don’t put yourself down about it because we all do lack from time to time; but also don’t get caught up in despair about it either…
We can always bring our problems back to God and ask Him for strength to help us through or set them right.
Christ has cleansed us from sin so we can always approach Him, no matter what!
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James 1:24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
When was the last time you looked in the mirror and were surprised at what you saw?
Could you accurately describe your face to someone else?
Far too often we do not remember what we have learned or what we have read… but this is quite normal for most of us because we do not all have photographic memories.
God knows that and He accepts that. What He would like us to do is to try to remember what we should be doing for Him, and to go out and do it!
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Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.
Some people will take this as being a sign that only a few people will get to heaven; depends on how you look at it.
If you are playing a numbers game then be prepared to be overwhelmed in heaven because there are a whole lot of people who genuinely love God and are loved by Him.
But will they all be the same people as we see in churches, synagogues, temples and the like? I fear not.
Too many still choose the laws man makes instead of God’s way.
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John 19:39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about thirty-five kilograms.
It is amazing how Jesus can change people. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who had a high position in Jewish circle before he got to know Christ.
This time he was not coming alone but with Joseph, a disciple, both of whom were probably not wanting to let themselves be found out by the Jews just yet!
When we get to know Jesus we should be more willing to come out and be a shining light rather than someone hiding in the shadows.
Jesus death and resurrection are good news and need to be told!
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Luke 23:47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”
Think about what this centurion had witnessed… Depending on how long he had been with Jesus he may have seen the way Christ was treated.
Then he would have seen the darkness that overcame everything, and the earthquake, the rocks being torn apart and then Jesus giving up His own life while the others continued on as expected.
It is no wonder he saw Jesus in a new light!
Do we have to be a witness to so much before we believe in Christ?
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Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.
I do find it very encouraging that Jesus would use the same words as the Psalmist had done so many years previously. For me this shows us that Jesus had submitted totally to being human.
That is a defining thought for me, that our God should lower Himself to such an extent as to be one of us.
Let that not be discouraging but very encouraging because He knew that He would be with God in Heaven once again. Let us take a firm hold of that same promise for ourselves!
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Psalm 31:5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
I sometimes look at the words that David wrote and ask myself, “How did he have this special insight into a redemptive relationship with God?”
He must have seen a very special side to a relationship with God that we should see because of our knowledge of what Christ has already done for us.
David saw this before knowing Christ. That was faith built up on something else and not just scriptures.
We can know that special relationship by knowing Christ better…
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John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
It is through God’s mercy and grace that we get eternal life. It is not anything we can do but the free gift from Jesus Christ our Saviour!
The eternal life that He gives to us is not going to stop. Once it has been given it is ours to keep, just as a non-perishable gift is.
It is not like a money bag when there are pick-pockets around. This gift is given to us and nobody is going to take it away from us. It is ours to keep.