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Stand Up For Jesus

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Guest Blogby John DoylePhilippians 1:27 "Only let your conduct be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your works that you STAND fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel." I am sure you may remember this saying "If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything" How true it is. If a person doesn't have firm convictions, more than likely they will fall into traps set up by the things of this World and sometimes by the Devil. How many people are not standing on a firm foundation, but they seem to believe just about everything the TV or the Media Posts put on Social Media around the World. In these difficult times of Lockdown we Christians need to keep standing strong in the Lord and in His Word. We don't want to be people who fall for anything because we are not standing on a Firm foundation given to us in the Lord Jesus. Standing for Jesus means standing up for the Gospel. The Gospel (Good News) tells us that what we couldn't do for ourselves, namely, earn our own Salvation and a place in Heaven, Jesus has already sacrificially done this for us. There were two important things Jesus did to secure our salvation. Firstly He led a perfect life on this Earth so that we could get the eternal reward through our Faith in Him, all because of His sinless life on earth (Rom 5:19). Secondly He put Himself on the cross to remove our guilt, once and for all - Please read Isaiah 53:5-6. He did this for all people of all Nations (No one was excluded). With God given Faith we grab hold of Jesus' sinless life and sacrificial atonement, make it our own, and claim Heaven because of our Faith in Christ alone. The Gospel of Christ declares: HE DID IT FOR US! The Bible promises that He and His Word is at work inside us, giving us power to live for God and deal with life in a fallen world Please read 2 Cor 5:14-17. Standing up for Jesus also means standing up for the entirety of God's Word. Standing for Scripture means that we regard every word in the Bible as God's Word and not the word of men - 2 Thess. 2:13. Standing for Christ means that we will gladly be guided by what Scripture tells us, trusting that it will lead us into all Truth and Righteousness - Ps 119:105. Standing for Christ means letting His Holy Word speak into our lives and allowing it to become our guide and not allowing the things of this World to distract us from the eternal truths that we have been given through His Word - 2 Cor 10:5. Standing up for Jesus and His Word cannot be done in ourselves. We need the Lord Jesus Who says, "I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides…

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Death Before Dishonour

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by Luke KincaidI always enjoy trying new flavors of energy drinks. I am well aware of the negative impact they can have on your body but I often go to one of these caffeine heavy drinks on a day I haven't had enough sleep the night before. While looking at the artwork on one of the latest flavors I was really invested to find the following saying:Death before dishonour.While this saying is quite old and has been adopted by various groups of people, I began to think of what this could mean for a disciple of Jesus.So, what does it mean to honor God?"To honour God means to give Him the regard, respect, reverence, admiration, adoration, awe, praise, submission, and obedience which are due to Him. To honour God means to worship Him in all our attitudes, affections, and actions. The essence of what it means to honour God is revealed to us in what Jesus called the first and greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38)" - Compelling Truth. I am aware that the words, death before dishonour do not appear in God's word but I think it can be a really powerful motto to live by as God is always worthy of honour. He always deserves to be honoured by us and this is something that will never change. With this in mind, when I find myself purposely wanting to dishonour Him through purposeful disobedience or through worshipping something or someone other than God, I will try to remember and be motivated by these wordsMuch Love,Luke

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Running on Dregs

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by Calven CelliersLast week I experienced car trouble. I was on my way to visit a lovely new couple to our congregation, when my car started losing power, and kept threatening to cut out in the traffic. I pulled over and gave my mechanic a quick call. As I explained to him what was happening, he advised me to go home and bring my car into his workshop the next morning. So, I called ahead to my appointment, explained my situation. They graciously understood my predicament and we rescheduled for this week. The next morning my mechanic checked out my vehicle and the verdict was as he suspected, contaminated fuel. Fuel contamination is, as the name suggests, fuel that becomes contaminated or tainted with water or sediment that collects towards the bottom of fuel tanks at the service station. As I reflected on this experience, it brought to mind the reality of what happens when we as believers let our ‘tanks’ run low, and our spiritual lives become contaminated. Sometimes we find ourselves running very low because we are giving out more than we are taking in, and eventually we become quite drained, less than our best and tainted because we’re cruising on the dregs of what’s left, and we start losing power. It’s impossible to continue giving out when there’s nothing left to give. Maybe you’re there right now? Maybe you feel like you’ve got nothing more to give and you’re tempted to ‘cut out’ and give up? Well, if that’s you then I want to encourage you this day.In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus said that when we’re tired, worn out, and empty we can come to Him. I like the way the late Eugene Petersen paraphrases Christ’s words in The Message saying, “28-30 Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11: 28 – 30TheMessage)The simplicity of Jesus’s invite, come to me, is so refreshing. All of us go through times where we feel spiritually empty. David likens it in Psalm 42 to a deer panting after water. Jesus doesn’t offer us a four-fold path to peace-giving enlightenment, like the Buddha did. He doesn’t give us five pillars of peace through submission as Islam does. Nor does He give us a “10 Ways to Relieve Your Weariness,” program like our pragmatic, self-help-oriented 21st century culture does. Instead, Jesus simply offers Himself as the solution.There is a danger in continually running on dregs. When we let our spiritual tank run low, our energy and inspiration disappear. Our desire to live for Christ decreases, and soon, we are just getting by.When you’re running on dregs it becomes difficult to…

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An Ascension Day Poem

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Today is Ascension Day, a day which commemorates Jesus' ascension in Heaven after a period of time following His resurrection.The record of Jesus' ascension can be found in Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 24:50-53 and Acts 1:1-11. To mark this Ascension Day we would like to share the following poem with you:A Sonnet for Ascension Dayby Malcolm GuiteWe saw his light break through the cloud of gloryWhilst we were rooted still in time and placeAs earth became a part of Heaven’s storyAnd heaven opened to his human face.We saw him go and yet we were not partedHe took us with him to the heart of thingsThe heart that broke for all the broken-heartedIs whole and Heaven-centred now, and sings,Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,Whilst we our selves become his clouds of witnessAnd sing the waning darkness into light,His light in us, and ours in him concealed,Which all creation waits to see revealed.Source: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/a-sonnet-for-ascension-day/

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