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Psalms 102:17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.
It may not seem like God is listening to your prayers when everything seems to be going wrong in your life, but God is certainly not ignoring your prayers!
The people of Israel did not give up on their prayers when they were under the horrific rule of the Egyptians; God was listening and waiting for the right time to answer those prayers.
We do need to be humble and patient to wait for God to answer our prayers; but we also need to be consistent and never give up praying!
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Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Putting our faith and trust in the Lord is not just about saying you believe and telling others you believe… it’s about showing and experiencing an emotional, spiritual and loving communion with Christ.
When we can say we do experience that we will receive the promise Jesus gave us – The Holy Spirit will be with us and in us for our enjoyment and our requirements.
God will never turn His back on any of us who are willing to enjoy this loving communion with Him!
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Psalms 25:2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
Here the psalmist is declaring his trust in the Lord, something we all need to do and allow others to see; what use is faith and trust if you hide it from everyone?
He also asks for protection from others who may try to work against him physically or spiritually.
I believe his focus is on asking God for strength and conviction to share the gospel without being ashamed; let us all ask for this same strength and conviction!
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2 Timothy 1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
When you go out and share the gospel message with people who do not normally go to church, there are bound to be times when people object to what you are doing.
Do not be ashamed of what you are doing – you are doing it for Christ and because of what He has done for all of us.
Putting your faith and trust in Christ means believing He has done what He did and will keep His promises no matter what we go through…
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Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
When we hope in things like winning the lottery, we see our hopes dashed – it is in vain.
When we hope in people who deceive us, we are disappointed because they let us down.
Putting our hope in Christ allows us to see rewards because He gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us after He went back to heaven.
Hope in the promise that Christ will come again and allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with all God has promised!
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James 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
As we start December we can look forward to Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Christ; but it is not always good news.
There are times when we look at what the world has given us and we despair, wondering whether it is all worth it.
If we can trust in Christ and allow Him to strengthen us and guide us in our lives, we will find the things which test us do make our bond with Christ stronger – because we can see the results when we look for them!
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John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Black Friday has been and gone – so what was it all about?
Despite people trying to link this to the crucifixion of Jesus, it is all about money… It is the day when shops get their stock moving in preparation for Christmas shopping and the black comes from accounting term of being in the black (profit) rather than the red (debt).
There is only one Black Friday which offers hope and salvation and saving – that is when Christ was crucified; when He paid for our sins leaving us in the black for the first time for our sin debt!
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Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
The blood of goats and calves and various other animals may well have allowed people to show they were repentant before Christ came to us; but it was still not quite enough.
When God allowed His Son to be the ultimate sacrifice, it was just that. No sacrifice would ever live up to the measure of Christ shedding His blood.
And this was done for us all; the ultimate sacrifice without a blemish, pure to the end and enough to cover all of our sins – accept it!
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Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation.
God’s plan was set in motion by the building of the tabernacle, but that was not the end of it all; we needed something ‘out of this world!’
We may well have some of the best architects and engineers in the world who can construct all manner of amazing buildings nowadays, but they don’t quite make the mark…
God wanted something more to show us just how much we men to Him – and that was to bring His Son Jesus Christ into this world as the greatest tabernacle of all!
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Hebrews 9:2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place.
This text refers to the original tabernacle set up with the Israelites and used here as a memory jogger for the Hebrews.
This first thing which would be seen would have been the candlestick or lampstand which we now relate to the light of the gospel.
The shewbread was placed on a table which we now signify the sharing of the gospel with.
God had a plan in the beginning and we still have that same plan; we are just realising what it is nowadays!
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Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
Hindsight is always the best sight! When we have been there and done that, you know what is expected and what should be done…
Why then, after we get to know God through Christ and with the Holy Spirit, do we go back to trying to do everything by ourselves once again?
It is through God’s strength, Christ’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s guidance that we can do things – don’t try and leave them out of your life!
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Galatians 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The promise God gave to Abraham was that through his seed the Gentiles would be able to be blessed and brought into the church body just as the Jews would be.
The choice, however, is ours to make as to whether we accept Christ as our Saviour just as the disciples and believers before then did.
Jesus Christ is at the centre of our church and remains the focus through which everyone is able to be blessed and have their sins forgiven once and for all.
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Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Have you ever been into a religious institution where you have not felt welcome? I say religious institution because the section of passage depicts what church should be.
The disciples were sent out to share the gospel and include the gentiles into their church – all inclusive, not exclusive!
Christ made His promises for all mankind to accept and believe in and we have a duty to share those promises with all people we meet.
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Mark 13:11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Jesus warned the disciple they would have to face many hardships, some of them being would be when they are brought face to face with the councils and courts of justice just because they were talking about Christ.
We are going to face people who will try to justify their own lives and try to show that Jesus was not real, and He is not the Son of God. Some of these arguments are going to be difficult for us…
But if we are willing to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us through these times, we will prevail and bring glory to God!
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Luke 1:45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!
Our faith is going to be shown for what it is – if we are willing to demonstrate our faith to others, they will see the object of our faith and may tend to believe because of that faith.
But when we show we do not have faith in someone or something, we get to sow doubt into other people’s beliefs rather than faith!
God is willing and faithful to bless those who demonstrate faith in Him; He may well allow miraculous things to follow after that faith!
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Romans 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
Abraham showed his faith in many ways, not least of which was believing God could accomplish childbirth even when he and his wife were around one hundred years old!
I have heard many grandparents complain of the amount of work they have to do whilst looking after their grandchildren, not because they do not love them but because it is hard work!
But Abraham and Sarah looked forward and trusted God would give them the strength and wisdom to bring up their promised child.
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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.
It may seem harsh that Jesus refused to help this woman in front of the disciples, even when the disciples begged Him to help her; but Jesus wanted this situation to reflect God’s glory.
Sometimes the fast and easy way is not the solution Christ wants from us and the way things happen make us wonder whether He is going to help us at all.
Just maybe Christ is waiting until we acknowledge the glory is His and His alone before He helps us like we want Him to!
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Luke 11:8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
It’s no good just thinking about a wish and hoping someone is going to come along and fulfil your wish; you have to make that wish known so people will be able to do something about it.
When we keep our needs away from God it is much the same thing – but when we are bold enough to bring those needs before God, He is faithful and just in answering our needs!
Sometimes you just have to ask, even when you feel like you should not be asking – just make sure it is for a need and not a desire…
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Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
We like to think we can avoid temptations which come our way but we always seem to give in to some of them all the time!
When we do give in to temptations, we are not just giving in to sinful ways but are allowing evil into our lives when God is trying to protect us from that evil.
God can give us strength to walk away from temptations just as a good friend can help you walk away from something you should not do… we just have to follow His guidance!
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Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
This is not talking about money debts owed here but rather the debt we owe to God because of our sins – this is why some bibles use the word sins rather than the word debts.
The type of things we fall short of all the time are love, obedience and gratitude.
If we fall short of these things toward God, then should we not expect to see these shortcomings from the people around us?
We need the grace extend forgiveness to others just as we expect God to extend His grace and forgive us!