" O Death, where is your sting? "

As we prepare to bury my dearly loved father-in-law, a man who lived faithfully for God and 'fought the good fight' - there is sadness at his passing on but also great hope! His body may be "deceased" but he is alive in Christ. His suffering is over for all eternity - He will NEVER suffer again! His hope has now also become reality! Death has truly lost its sting! It is not darkness he has entered but glorious light! 

God is so merciful - even in this time. The day after we lay him 'to rest', we celebrate new life as seven people are baptised and give testimony of Jesus Christ's life-giving miracle in their lives! From death to life... the perfect picture of what is illustrated through baptism. 

God is glorified - in death and in life! What a Saviour! What a God!

A Firm Foundation...

In this uncertain time of earthquakes in New Zealand, especially in Christchurch, my thoughts immediately turned to one surety in life - Jesus Christ - a sure foundation. As I saw pictures of people walking around damaged or destroyed homes, my heart cried out for them. And yet, I wonder how many eyes were turned to God - the One who uses nature to proclaim His greatness but to also warn people to turn to Him and not presume on His mercy! He is the one constant when all around us in life is in turmoil. And yet, how easily don't we as people want to look past God to our own resources and efforts...
The other thought that came to mind was the suddenness with which it all happened. Just past 4am, when no one was suspecting anything, the first violent quake hit. There was no warning. No instruments could warn of something that hadn't happened yet. There wasn't even an indication that it could happen where it did. There was peace and then it struck. Reality.
The sad thing is that the Bible has long been warning that Christ is going to come to earth again - suddenly - unexpectedly - while we are still about our everyday business. And yet, knowingly, people turn off the alarm sounded by Scripture and walk straight towards their judgement...
"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." (Ps 95:7b)

Life and Living... at full tilt or full drag

Quote from Michael Wells' book 'Heavenly Discipleship' - "Is life living you or are you living life?"

So true - we often allow life to get the better of us instead of getting the better of life and living life to the full. This applies especially on Monday mornings and when the sky is grey and it's raining constantly...
How can we live life to the full? God's answer - "The Truth will set you free...". Once you have God's gift of a new nature instilled in you, you can start to really LIVE!! As a friend of mine always says, when asked how he is doing, "I am riding life with loose reins and at full tilt - and loving it!!" I know what he means because he is a Christian who is living his life IN Christ. Christ has lived his old life already and paid the debt oweing on that life 2000 plus years ago and now he can live this life to the full because Christ is living IN him and THROUGH him. Christ now has become his life - his old life has been crucified! There has been a supernatural takeover! Now, instead of going through life like an unwilling dog being taken for a drag by an enthusiastic owner, you and I can be the enthusiastic one - seeing life through new eyes of boundless and exciting opportunities - and life will be the slipstream created and the wake left behind us...

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly..." (Jesus Christ - John 10 verse 10)

STAND4TG 2010 - Standing Firm! – Conference in Auckland, April 2010 with Conrad Mbewe

STAND4TG 2010 - Standing Firm! – Conference in Auckland, April 2010 with Conrad Mbewe

Prayer - in 'the fear of God'

There is a major difference between 'fearing' something and living 'in the fear' of something. 'Fearing' shows a lack of security or a sense of being unprotected. Living 'in the fear of' something shows a deliberate and conscious respect towards someone or something.

A healthy 'fear of God' is a forgotten truth today. Jesus gets called the 'Big J' and God 'The Big Guy in the Sky'! Us puny little mites on earth forget that we are living before and coming in prayer before the Almighty Creator of the universe! He gives us the very breath in our lungs and then we want to "tell" God what we want and order requests from Him and His celestial e-store?? It is only when we try to understand God's utter holiness and our utter helplessness and sinfulness without His intervening mercy, that we can come in true humility before Him in prayer and leave our requests before His mercy seat and His promise of an eternal love towards us. Prayer can never be flitting and thoughtless!

Prayer - Glorifying God!

"The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  - I still remember learning this catechism truth as a child and yet, somehow, when I start praying, I quickly fall into rattling off all the needs I might have or others have asked me to pray for. I don't stop and first consider who this is I am praying to. I take God for granted!
The Psalmist says in Psalm 63:3 "Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips shall praise You." I need to start my prayers expressing praise to God for His steadfast, unending and undeserved love to me - a fragile, inconsistent, fallible being. The God of the universe - the awesome, all powerful, all knowing and ever listening God - is the one who hears my words and sees the condition of my heart even as I come before Him.
As I start to praise and glorify God - expressing truth about Him as revealed by God Himself in His Word - my own needs seem to melt away into insignificance and they are replaced with a calm assurance in my spirit that He has heard my heart-needs even though I have not yet expressed them and that He will answer in His own time and manner because He loves me with an unending love!
"To praise God is to prize God" (Eastman). Do I value, esteem and cherish Him enough? Do I 'prize' God? If I do, it will be the first thing that comes out in my prayers because it will flow out of a heart brimming over with thankfulness and love. Soli Deo gloria!

Lord, teach me to pray!

I have been gripped by an insight from Bishop J.C. Ryle on prayer - "Prayer has obtained things that seemed impossible and out of reach. It has won victories over fire, air, earth and water. Prayer opened the Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from Heaven. Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought fire from the sky on Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer overthrew the army of Sennacherib. Prayer has healed the sick. Prayer has raised the dead. Prayer has procured the conversion of countless souls."

I have always believed God answers prayer but, like many Christians out there, I struggle daily to keep my prayer life consistent. As an aid to anyone else with the same struggle, I have found Dick Eastman's book 'The Hour that Changes the World' very helpful in this regard. It is extremely practical and challenging! "Only as we apply our knowledge of prayer to the actual practice of prayer will we discover the practical power of prayer" (Eastman).

Join me as I strive to have prayer become primary in my daily life - not just an add-on or an afterthought...