Episodes
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Think Spot 281 August 2017
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Think Spot - 28th August 2017
Charlotte Bronte - “Life appears to me to be too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrong.”
What I do know is that your conscience is the faculty which is sensitive to right and wrong, and judges your actions and attitudes. Everybody has a conscience and all are sensitive to spiritual truths, whether they are immediately aware of it or not.
According to the Bible, a clear conscience is essential for inner peace and joy, confidence in prayer, good health, effective service, .right relation-ships, effective witnessing, making right decisions, and victory in spiritual battle. A clear conscience is the inner joy and peace of spirit which results from having all personal wrongs made right with those whom a person had offended - either God or someone else.
However- many Christians carry around guilty consciences due mainly to unconfessed sins, affecting relationships with God, other people and themselves. If left unchecked, a conscience which is guilty, slowly grows 'dead', cold and silent. That is until such time that the guilt has been assuaged and put right.
If at the moment you are burdened by a guilty conscience, ask the Holy Spirit to show you clearly what is affecting your conscience. Then decide, at any cost, to clear it up in the power of the same Spirit. He will help you! Pray to the Father and ask forgiveness, (1 John 1:9), and fully accept His love and forgiveness. If there is anyone else involved, then you will also need to ask for their forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-24).
Ask the Father to help you go, and the Spirit will help you, because one of the hardest things in the world to say is: “I was wrong! Please forgive me." Your conscience can be cleansed because of what Jesus did on the cross!
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!”
Go into this week, ready to serve the living God, being confident that the Holy Spirit living within you, empowers you, is transforming you and desires that your conscience be clear. He will help you overcome if you ask!
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Sunday Aug 27, 2017
Exploring the Bible - 29. Old Testament - Zechariah
Sunday Aug 27, 2017
Sunday Aug 27, 2017
Exploring The Bible
29. Old Testament
Zechariah - 520-470BC
G'day and welcome to our series, "Exploring the Bible" This is also the title of our latest book available on Amazon by clicking here or visiting PulpTheology.com
Key Verses:
- Zechariah 8:3
- Zechariah 9:9
Zechariah preached 520 - 518 BC. in Jerusalem while the Temple was being built, and 480 - 470 BC after the Temple’s completion. He encouraged the people to finish the Temple, for one day the glory of the Messiah would fill it.
(As it would when baby Jesus was taken there.) The people then hurry to build, for the Messiah is coming, and coming soon!
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Saturday Aug 26, 2017
Gems in the Letter of 1 John - Part 111
Saturday Aug 26, 2017
Saturday Aug 26, 2017
Part 110 - 1 John 3:11
Love
The other day I was sitting watching some small birds called sparrows enjoying some seeds we had given them. British sparrows, if you do not know them, are about the most uninteresting little birds there are. They are only brown, different shades of brown, with an odd dash of black. Their idea of a song is very quaint. They just chirp endlessly, thinking they are making an interesting noise – they aren’t, well possibly interesting to other sparrows, but no one else. And we spend good money to buy seed for them in the winter - why? I suppose we feel sorry for them and that we should do something for them, just out of the goodness of our hearts.
Much of this is what God does in the way he treats us. Why should he? He is, after all, even further above us than we are above sparrows. Yet he cares for us; he feeds us; he makes sure we have enough to eat, to keep us going. Can we say he loves us? Yes! Amazingly we can. Very fortunately for us he made us in his own image so he has an interest in us and feels a responsibility for us surpassing that for any other creatures on earth.
What does he do for us that we do not do for the sparrows? The sparrows will chirp endlessly away until they get too cold and fall over or fall prey to a hawk and that is the end of them. We are given many abilities to do something more than just chirp away. We know where there is a doctor who can give us the medicines we need to keep us well and happy. We are told, and understand, that there are different ways of living. The sparrows do not understand that we are being good to them - we understand that there is a Creator God who has been wonderfully good to us. We have the power and ability to choose a different way of life. We can commit ourselves to following him who provides many good things for us. We can understand that there is a whole great created world out there into which we can fit. We can sing and express our joy in ways far beyond a sparrows chirping though we have never done anything that has made it inevitable that we should be so wonderfully granted the gifts of grace.
Is this love? Perhaps, in some ways, what I see in our back garden is an analogy of some part of what the love is like that the Bible talks about so much. Can you think of a better analogy of how God loves us and therefore of how we are to love each other?
In some ways it is easier to think about what the love of God to us is than to think of how we are to love to each other. We are to ‘love’ all those who are loved by God, our brothers and sisters, the members of the fellowship we find ourselves in, even when they can be a difficult lot sometimes! How can we define what the Bible means when it demands that we must love them? We have to do so in a way that is reasonable, that is beyond what might be expected of us in the normal attitudes of our general culture and society and that will enable us to feel satisfied that we are obeying the repeated commands such as ‘let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth’ as it says in 3: 18? And so that we may ‘have confidence before God because we keep his commands and do what pleases him’ as we read in 3: 22.
My suggestion is that we must always act before them with positive attitudes. We must never show any hint of a negative attitude to them, both the ones we find easy to be friends to and those we do not. If we act positively always and never negatively then we shall ‘set our hearts at rest in his presence’ and ‘we will have confidence before God’ as 3: 19 and 21 say we should.
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Friday Aug 25, 2017
Friday Prayers 25 August 2017
Friday Aug 25, 2017
Friday Aug 25, 2017
Partakers Friday Prayers!
25th August 2017
We pray together and when Christians pray together, including across the internet and from different times, different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity!
You, Lord, through your works have revealed the everlasting structure of the world.
You, Lord, created the earth.
You are faithful throughout all generations,
righteous in your judgments,
marvellous in strength and majesty,
wise in creating and prudent in establishing what exists,
good in all that is observed and faithful to those who trust in you,
merciful and compassionate;
forgive us our sins and our injustices, our transgressions and our shortcomings.
Do not take into account every sin of your servants,
but cleanse us with the cleansing of your truth,
and "direct our steps to walk in holiness and righteousness and purity of heart,"
and "to do what is good and pleasing in your sight"
and in the sight of our rulers.
Yes, Lord, "let your face shine upon us" in peace "for our good,"
that we may be sheltered "by your mighty hand"
and delivered from every sin "by your uplifted arm";
deliver us as well from those who hate us unjustly.
Give harmony and peace to us and to all who dwell on the earth,
just as you did to our fathers when they reverently "called upon you in faith and trust,"
that we may be saved,
while we render obedience to your almighty and most excellent name,
and give harmony and peace to our rulers and governors on earth.
Amen
(Taken from Clement of Rome in a letter to the church in Corinth around AD96)
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Monday Aug 21, 2017
Think Spot 21 August 2017
Monday Aug 21, 2017
Monday Aug 21, 2017
Think Spot - 27th February 2017
We have the start of a new week! Its Monday! How and in what circumstances are you trusting God? How did Jesus Christ trust in the Father? Jesus knew that the Father was going to bring Him back to life after his death on the cross. Jesus trusted the Father in this area of His life, just as he did in all aspects of his life. How are you doing? Do you have concerns and areas of your life where you need an assurance that God the Father will help you?
Here are some simple steps which may help you maintain a trust in God.
- Pray, casting all anxiety on God. He cares for you because you are His personal concern (The great apostle Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends wrote this in 1 Peter 5v7 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.")
- Accept and thank God that His peace has filled that area (Another great apostle, Paul, wrote this in Philippians 4v7 says "Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.")
- Learn to be content whatever your circumstances are, resting in God (Paul goes on in Philippians 4v11-12 "Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.")
- Allow the Spirit to control your mind for life and peace (and again from the pen of the apostle Paul, this time in Romans 8v6 "So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.")
- Trust God to fulfil your every need (Matthew records these words of Jesus in Matthew 6v32-33 "but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." )
- Obey and follow God's commands to love God and love others (Jesus is recorded in Matthew 22v37-40 "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.")
- Finally, be prepared to be obedient to the Father, in supplying the needs of others you meet and therefore showing you love God and other people! One way to show you are trusting and loving God is to be the answer to the prayers of somebody else and showing that love to them! Ask God to show you, how you can help somebody else in need this week and showing your love.
Go in peace this Monday, into this week, knowing God is worthy of your trust! God will take care of you, but not always in the way you expect! Expect Him to allow circumstances and situations to arise where you are to trust Him fully! He will help you if you ask! After all, He knows you better than anybody! And don't be afraid to help somebody else because by doing that, you show you are loving and trusting in God!
Father, I pray that You would help us to trust in You and that You would supply our needs, calm our concerns and help us to love You and others more fully. I ask this through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside all those who have peace with you. Amen
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Sunday Aug 20, 2017
Exploring the Bible - 28. Old Testament - Malachi
Sunday Aug 20, 2017
Sunday Aug 20, 2017
Exploring The Bible
28. Old Testament
Minor Prophets - 432BC-425BC
G'day and welcome to our series, "Exploring the Bible" This is also the title of our latest book available on Amazon by clicking here or visiting PulpTheology.com
Key Verses:
- Malachi 3:1
- Malachi 4:5-6
Malachi preached in Jerusalem 432 - 425 BC. His message was one of judgement on corrupt priests and a people filled with wicked practices and having no real sense of the security of faith in God.
Why? Because their hearts had become hardened to His voice, God’s word had no impact upon the people. Until John the Baptist came with the voice of a prophet 400 years later, God remained silent.
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Saturday Aug 19, 2017
Gems in the Letter of 1 John - Part 110
Saturday Aug 19, 2017
Saturday Aug 19, 2017
Part 110 - 1 John 3:6
Sin and sinning!
At first sight it seems as though John contradicted himself. In chapter one he said, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” and now he says, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (3: 6). How can that be? He seems to say, first that everybody sins and now that if we sin we cannot be his disciples.
The difference is largely hidden in the different Greek tenses in the original. We can see what the difference is most easily if we replace the phrase ‘keep on sinning’ with the concept of idolatry. We, particularly in the West don’t think of ourselves as idolaters because we do not have any sort of idol, picture or statue that we relate to. But what is idolatry? It is when we place anything, anyone or any idea above the Creator God who made everything, everyone and every idea! And here there all sorts of possibilities. Some people place a football team above everything in all creation, chasing it round, watching it play, wearing its costume etc. Or their family, which although a good thing in general should not be allowed to be the only and most important thing in anyone’s life. Or having lots of money, so that all of life becomes a search for more. And a moment’s thought will let you add a lot of possibilities to the list, probably some of them from your own experience, if you think about it!
Most of us find getting it right a difficult matter. To succeed in life, or even just to survive, we need to concentrate on the things that we need. We need a satisfactory amount of money; we need to give time and energy and love to the family. And so on. But where do these things stand in relation to the Lord? He is to be first, and more important than anything else in our lives.
Hopefully you have said to yourself something like – yes, that’s right. But if so that is very worrying, is it not? Sin was a much smaller and much safer thing so long as we thought of it in terms of moral behaviour, in terms of even the Ten Commandments after Jesus had extended them. Most of us, most of the time, manage not to have any other gods, misuse the name of the Lord, say anything rude to our parents, commit any form of sexual misbehaviour, or say any lies about anyone else. (I have picked out every second of the Ten Commandments for that list).
I said ‘most of the time’. That is hopefully right but there are the other times when we slip up, are there not? So John’s analysis is exactly right. We all make mistakes; we all have a very strong tendency to have idols – not least because the one that I have not yet mentioned is ‘ourselves’, ‘me’, and we all like to have ourselves up on a pedestal above all else.
This is the challenge that John throws out to each one of us: yes, most of us will have a tendency to break the moral and ethical rules, which amounts to sin. But what about the more significant thing - do not keep on sinning; do not have an idol to which the Lord has to take second place. That is both a more difficult to thing to avoid and the one that – with the continual help of the Holy Spirit – it is much easier to identify and therefore endeavour to do something about.
Have you, perhaps as a result of this analysis, identified the things that are idols in your life? If you have you have taken a good first step to doing something about them. Now the battle is on for you to resist it or them, to knock them down, to stamp on them until there is next to nothing left. May all strength be yours to succeed.
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Friday Aug 18, 2017
Friday Prayers 18 August 2017
Friday Aug 18, 2017
Friday Aug 18, 2017
Friday Prayers
O all-transcendent God
what other name describes You?
What words can sing Your praises?
No word at all denotes You.
What mind can probe Your secret?
No mind at all can grasp You fully.
Alone beyond the power of speech,
all people can speak of springs from You.
Alone beyond the power of thought,
all people can think of stems from You.
All things proclaim You – things that can speak, things that cannot.
All things revere You – things that have reason, things that have none.
The whole world's longing and pain mingle about You.
All things breathe You a prayer,
a silent hymn of Your own composing.
All that exists You uphold,
all things in concert move to Your orders.
You are the end of all that is,
You are one, You are all;
You are none of the things that are,
You are not a part and not the whole.
All names are at Your disposal;
how shall I name You, the only unnameable?
What mind's affinities with heaven
can pierce the veils above the clouds?
Mercy, all-transcendent God,
what other name describes You?
Amen
A prayer of Gregory Nazianzus (329 – 390)
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Monday Aug 14, 2017
Think Spot 14 August 2017
Monday Aug 14, 2017
Monday Aug 14, 2017
Think Spot - 14 August 2017
All of these things being done daily in your life lead to what I am convinced is the key to the reality of a successful Christian life - that key being joy. As you grow closer to Jesus, living in peace, trust and obedience, then your spiritual life will be your natural life and your natural life be your spiritual life! Your joy will abound and shine a light giving people a reason to ask "Where do you get all your joyous hope from?". You will then be able to· share Jesus as your source of joy. A joy that is anticipatory, expectant and true! Joy comes from putting Jesus first, others next and then yourself! Go practise it this week!
You can show this joy by singing, laughing, smiling, shouting praises to God, lifting hands in worship', and crying, but that is only the external part of joy. True joy also incorporates an internal joy. Real joy is when you can believe in: the mountain top when you are in your deepest valley. Abundant joy is being surrounded by darkness and still believing in 'the light'. Anticipatory joy is when amidst total confusion you still believe God has a plan of love for you. It was this type of joy that Jesus had, when in the garden praying, the night before he was betrayed, when full of mixed emotions and anguish he said "Not my will, but yours, Father!"
As sons and daughters of God, we have many reasons to be full of joy. Yet how often we forget! Here are some reasons for joy!
- Psalm 51:8 & 12 - Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me-now let me rejoice. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
- Jeremiah 15:16 - When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven's Armies.
- Luke 15:8-10 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."
- 1 Peter 1:8-9 - You love Jesus Christ even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
Do you desire to be' overflowing with joy today and this week? Go into this week with a joy that is anticipating and expectant! Do you need to hand over to Jesus a particular area of your life' where Jesus does not fully reign and have control?
I pray that the Father will reveal more of Himself to you, as you daily seek His face, overcoming all hindrances to living a successful and joyful-Christian life. May the Holy Spirit who lives within you, if you are a Christian, continue to transform you into the image of the Son Jesus Christ, and all to the praise and glory of God the Father. Amen.
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Saturday Aug 12, 2017
Gems in the Letter of 1 John - Part 109
Saturday Aug 12, 2017
Saturday Aug 12, 2017
Part 109 - 1 John 3:1
The children of God
John said, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” That is quite something to say about us. Our thoughts probably fly immediately to the question of our relationship with the Father God but I want to go off on a slightly different tack. In modern society, particularly in the West, to be a son or daughter of a father is almost all about relationship, but it is not so in all the world, and most probably was not in those days.
When we lived in Pakistan our house was on a big hillside with many houses on it. Water came from a small reservoir on the top of the hill controlled by a guy we called the ‘water wallah’. When he died who was to become the next water wallah? There was no question who that would be – it was his son. And that was how it worked in their society. If father was a cook, the son expected to be a cook; if father was a motor mechanic, his son expected to be a motor mechanic; and so on. In more developed societies things don’t work like that. I was a maths teacher; neither of my sons, though both highly numerate, ever even considered becoming a maths teacher. It is just a different way of living.
John’s society will have been much more like that Pakistani society than my English one. So when he said we are the children of God he was saying something we can easily miss. He was saying that we are to be as much like God in Jesus as we possibly can be because our ultimate destination is going to be where he is, so he says, “what we will be has not yet been made known.” (next verse) And he says many things that strongly suggest that. We are to be born of him (preceding verse). We will suffer the same rejection as Jesus did (second half of the first verse). We have an expectation that we shall grow to be like him (next verse) through the work of the Holy Spirit within our lives. We have an expectation of seeing our elder brother at the end of the age (again next verse).
All that is to be a huge encouragement to us. Do not for a moment believe those who think that, unless you have had an experience of monumental life shaking importance, or an almost out of your skin charismatic event, you are not on the right road towards the Lord. No, you only need to have been born of him, experiencing what he has done to and for you, not what has happened in you, to be a child of God, with your feet firmly on a way that will eventually – we have no idea when or where – lead us to the appearance of the Lord Jesus to us.
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