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John 5:18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
If Christ does not fit nicely into your world – what do you do about it?
The Scribes and Pharisees had one way of trying to deal with it – hunt down Jesus and kill Him because He dared to be the Son of God!
Too often in our lives we would rather see Christ change or have Him change the world than we make any changes! But Christ would like us to change to be more like Him.
The more people who try to be more like Christ the better – because we would then see the world change for the better… and that would please God!
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Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
Have you ever been fishing? How easy did you find it? Depending on who you ask, the answers will be very different!
When I fist started as a young boy we would get bamboo sticks, a bit of line, a float made from anything that floated and a hook from someone who had one!
When Jesus started collecting the disciples He knew they would be very different people and they would all have to take a new look at life with God to move forward.
Each one of us has a very different life with God, from the amateur boy going out with a stick to the seasoned professional with all the right equipment.
Be yourself, but follow God doing it!
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Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
I find it interesting Jesus chose to start His ministry with similar words John chose – come and say you are sorry and let’s get things started.
Too often we take on the attitude we are right and everyone else is wrong, and where does it get us? We get deeper and deeper into trouble as we continue saying the wrong things!
Jesus simply wants us to admit we are wrong and move on; don’t expect God to change to suit our ways of life and don’t expect the world to change to suit our needs!
But thank goodness we have a God who does forgive and bring us back in the fold!
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Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
Can you remember being a child, doing something wrong, and your parent absolutely cracking up with laughter instead of shouting at you for doing wrong?
As a parent and a grandparent, I have lived through both sides and think I have the right to laugh at things now.
God may not be human, but I’m pretty sure He has laughed at many of the things we have done wrong… and yet He still loves us and continues to support us in everything we do!
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John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
It is not because your friend told you about your sin that you are guilty – we do not have the right to judge or blame each other for doing stuff against someone else, never mind God!
Jesus came to make sure we understood how the scriptures are in fact the truth. He came to show us to depend on them. He came to show us they do tell us where we go wrong!
We don’t really have the excuse of saying we were not sure anymore either. We know and the writing is plainly on the wall for us to realise our sin is sin!
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John 9:41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
Imagine you were walking along and stepped in some paint; when you continued to walk, you would be spreading the paint where you walked and you would know to stop and clean up.
But, if you were blind, you may not know you have stepped in paint, and you would not know you were spreading it everywhere!
God has allowed us to hear the gospel so we can know what is right and wrong – we don’t have the excuse of “we didn’t know it” anymore!
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John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
Can you imagine what was going through Pilate’s mind when Jesus said this? I wonder whether he realised just how powerful Jesus could be?
Even through the false accusations, Jesus was telling Pilate he was not ultimately responsible for what was happening – showing his there were greater powers at work!
We may not agree with what happens in the world, but try and look at it from God’s point of view…
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Judges 3:12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
Some of the Old Testament is really depressing reading – the amount of things which went wrong and the trouble and strife the people went through just seems too much to bare!
But why did it all happen? Because they went off on their own and did things against God time and time again! When they did, God allowed the evil around them to close in on them.
But each time they turned back to God with open hearts, God was waiting patiently to turn things round again.
God loves you more than you can know!
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Judges 3:6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
How likely is it that you will do things wrong, get things wrong or run off and follow the wrong paths? Very likely!
Mankind has shown time and time again just how easy it is to run off and follow the path of least resistance by giving it to everything around us. And we will likely do that same one day!
But we do not have to continue doing this just because we got it wrong once – God has provided us a way out. God has forgiven us already – but we should bring it before Him by acknowledging it!
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Judges 2:3 And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’
God has not promised us everything is going to be smooth sailing and that we shall not have to face up to evil – rather the opposite and He has done this from the beginning.
The more we play with fire, the more likely we are going to get burned.
The more we play with evil, the more likely we are going to be hurt by it and give in to its ways!
God has warned us about the evil in the world and how easily we fall into it, but has also warned us against it just as much. Stop. Look & Listen!
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Exodus 23:32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
Have you ever promised someone something just to keep them quiet? Did you know you were promising something you would not carry through?
We live in times where people make all manner of promises and then discard them before they are fulfilled; and yet we still accept these promises from others!
God made promises to us and has carried out every single one of them so far – there are more yet to come but we have to be patient for the right time.
Don’t follow the crowd and make empty promises or empty deals with people you know you will not get round to – it makes your God look bad!
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Nehemiah 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.
What ever happened to a whole country coming together to say they were sorry before God?
I know it is a hard thing for just one person to come and say sorry to God, so getting a whole country to do so would be quite a task – but this is what happened many times throughout our history.
I know we are less bound by religious events nowadays, but this does not mean we should abandon good things.
Our bible teach us to not forget about coming together as a group of believers to show support for our God – we need more of it!
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Joel 2:12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Have you even got into a relationship and wondered whether the other person has a clue what a real relationship should be about?
If we are serious about getting into a relationship, be it with another person or with God, then we have to be real about it and focus on how we can improve things and move forward all the time.
If we think it is all going to be easy and we don’t have to do anything (because we think they love us) then we are in for a shock! If we do not show love back in a relationship, it may well not last!
Be real. Be honest. Be open. Be fully in love!
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Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
We can read how God prevented people from crossing the Jordan river because of their actions against Him, but the underlying message was the same then as it is today.
We may be surrounded by sin and corruption, but the message remains the same.
If we are willing to turn our back on the sin and corruption and genuinely seek God with our whole hearts, then He is willing to be there for and with us!
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Isaiah 26:16 Lord, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.
What happens when things your life? Do you just roll yourself up in a ball and hope things go away, or do you call out for help?
I think many of us tend to withdraw when things go wrong at first, but when they keep going wrong, we reach a breaking point and call out for help!
God would rather see us call out for help as soon as we see the problems and not wait until we are desperate – allow God to see you are not afraid of depending on Him for things in your life!
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Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.
And, finally, give thanks to your God! Yes, the one in Heaven, waiting patiently for you with loving, open arms!
It is amazing how much we put God through in our lives, and yet He is always willing to allow us back in and to continue loving us throughout it all.
I give thanks to my God who has loved me from the start, continues to love me and will always love me – because His love endures forever!
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Psalm 136:25 He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
No matter where you look on earth, there are people, animals, mammals, insects, fish or whatever, depending on God for their food supply. Without Him, we have nothing.
God continues to uphold the food chain so we may live here on earth. We seem to try and kill off the food chain despite our education system teaching it to us at an early age.
Allow God to express His love for you by accepting what He has for you, and show Him your love by obeying what He asks of you!
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Psalm 136:13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
God’s love goes far beyond our natural understanding. When we do see how He can do amazing miracles, our belief and faith grow in bounds.
How can we get more of this? By trusting in Him more and more and believing He will do these type of things for us.
Don’t sell God short. Don’t think he is not up to the challenge. Don’t stop praying just because you think you are bad or the prayer is not what He wants.
Sometimes, we will be truly amazed at how God answers our prayers!
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Psalm 136:10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
This has always been one I have struggled with. I know just how much God loves me. I know how much He loves you… so why did He do this to the Egyptians?
Let us look at some local laws to try figure this out. The local speed limit in town is 30mph or even 20mph near a school. If you continue to do 40mph or 50mph near a school, why should you get away with it?
The law states you must not do it. If you disobey the law continually, you will get punished. If you think your laws are better to follow than the actual law, the will get punished according to the actual law!
God gives us more than our fair share of chances because He loves us – but discipline will happen if we don’t listen!
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Psalm 136:9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
Have you ever looked up at the moon and wondered why it is there; what use is it?
I can remember the first night of looking up at the moon through a half decent telescope and being in awe of the majesty of this huge heavenly body floating through the midnight sky!
God does things for a reason and we should accept that sometimes we will not understand the reason; instead look at what He has done and stand in awe of the majesty of it all!
He did this because He loves us!