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Staying in Step with God

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Guest Postby John Doyle“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in LOVE, as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2  DEARLY LOVED CHILDREN OF GODThe Apostle Paul’s encouragement from this verse to all followers of Christ should grab our heart strings, tugging them tight, when referencing our relationship with the Heavenly Father, all made possible because of the Sacrificial gift of His Son. I don’t know about you, but it blesses me to know that I am the Father’s dearly loved child! Therefore, I should feel compelled to walk in the way of His Love in an effort to bring Glory to Him. 1. PLEASING AROMA OF OUR FAITHPaul gives yet another stirring image to consider here when he said that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us wafted up to the Heavens like a "sweet smelling aroma". This sensation and reality is true for every Christ follower when we respond in obedience to His Word. Walking the Jesus way of *Love* whilst the people of the World watches. We get to bless and please our Heavenly Father with the aroma of our Faith and Sacrifice that is on display itself through us in this dark World. 2. STAYING IN STEP WITH GODSo how do we walk Christ’s way of Love?I think it’s a lot like the way a toddler tries desperately to keep up with his or her loving Father so that they can grab Daddy’s hand and stay in step with him. My daughter Kimmie in Heaven sometimes would run after me as a little girl and grab my hand and say I want to hold your hand Dad. Likewise, every time you and I, as Christ followers, follow after Jesus and stay in step with our Loving Father, we walk out God’s way of LOVE for the people around us and they will see it and will be impacted by it and then we can trust God that they too will live their lives and walk in "Newness of Life" in Christ (Romans 6:4). Often that might mean being willing to lay down our comforts and preferences in our busy lives, so that Christ is honored by our devotion to Him and the precious family and friends He has given to us. This could also mean in these days forgiving and showing compassion to someone who may have purposely hurt us, doing so in an effort to follow Christ’s example of Forgiveness and Love toward us. Whatever opportunity God gives and walks you through in your life today and in the days ahead, be sure to stay in step with Him, knowing it will not only bless those you help and perhaps give to, but it will please your Heavenly Father by Him watching from Heavens Glory His child *Walking out His LOVE* As a Christian, Husband, Father and Grand Father I love helping my Loved ones and other people and seeing them grow…

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Loving God with Our Mind

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by Graham Mol"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength," (Mark 12:30). This statement by Jesus was the focus of the sermon I preached on Sunday. Following the service I had someone asking about resources or courses they could make use of as they seek to "love Jesus with their mind". I thought that I would share some options here for the benefit of anyone reading this blog. These are just some of the resources that I have found helpful in growing my knowledge of the Lord and His word.Bible Thinker - website: https://biblethinker.org/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7u2HaYBKDaLPcWmldxgGEABible Thinker is a website and YouTube channel run by Pastor Mike Winger. I came across Mike's videos a few years ago and have found his careful study and teaching to be of great value. He has covered a wide range of topics from indepth Bible studies, tough theological debates and Q&A sessions. This is a very good place to start in growing your Biblical knowledge.Renewing Your Mind - https://renewingyourmind.org/Renewing Your Mind is "an outreach of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian discipleship organization founded in 1971 by Dr. R.C. Sproul." It comprises of a daily audio recording/podcast of about 20-30 minutes of Biblical teaching that is presented in a way that the average person can understand. Many of the teachings are by the late R.C. Sproul who had such a warm and engaging way of teaching the truth of God's word.Got Questions - https://www.gotquestions.org/Got Questions is a great quick reference resource for finding answers on Biblical questions. The content is well researched and the writers have a commitment to providing Biblically sound answers. If you are researching a particular topic this is often quite a good place to start looking.I hope that you find these resources useful as you seek to love the Lord with all your mind.God BlessGraham

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Asking for Help

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by Luke KincaidThe idea for today’s blog came to me while trying to purchase some of the world’s healthiest breakfast… McDonalds! It was a rainy Friday morning and I wanted something tasty to fill my stomach before I started working. After dropping Seth off at school, I realized that I had left my wallet at home and the disappointment began to set in. But then I remembered, I had some money which totaled R29.20 which I believed was enough to get something to eat.I parked my car, walked through the very cold, rainy weather, and began to investigate what my money could buy me. To my surprise I realized that I didn’t have enough to buy anything of substance with the closest meal costing R29.99. So, I stood there, trying to figure out what I could buy so I didn’t look like a strange person walking out empty handed.  While thinking this through I looked over to my left and saw a gentleman waiting for his food. So, I thought, “I can either walk out with a cup of coffee or humble myself and ask this gentleman for R1 and the worst thing he could say is no”.I asked and I was graciously handed R5. I purchased my food and enjoyed it while thinking that if I hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have got what I wanted. Now this is a small example but as brothers and sisters in Christ we are called to, “2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” – Galatians 6:2. And while it may be difficult to ask for help in whatever difficult situation we find ourselves in, we could actually be robbing someone of the blessing of helping by not asking.I love these words from a lady by the name of Aubrey Hoeppner:When you ask someone else to help you bear a burden, you are giving them an opportunity to serve God and share Christ’s love with you. We also see throughout Scripture that God has created each of us in the body of Christ with different strengths, calling to use these strengths fully to glorify him and build up others. When you find you are weak in one area and call on someone else who is strong for help, you are giving them an opportunity to exercise their God-given gifts.So while it can be difficult to reach out to those around you when you are in need, it is necessary because we can’t handle everything by ourselves. There are times when we will need to reach out to our spiritual family and when others reach out to us let’s be willing to help bear that burden.Much love,LukeP.S. If you would like to read the entire article from Aubrey Hoeppner, you can find it here:Three Reasons Why Asking for Help Is Honoring to God

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God is…

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Guest Blogby Dave GriffithsWe will never be able to grasp God in His entirety. But He wants us to know Him, and we can certainly learn about Him through His actions.The bible suggests that we love God for what He does as well as who He is (Psm 116) In fact, what He does expresses who He is. God’s two major actions in all of history are Creation and Redemption. God is the Creator who made all things by His will ex nihilo, out of nothing. (Heb.11:3) (Rev. 4:11). He is also the lamb of God slain to provide the individual Redemption of men and women. (Heb. 5:9-10)In addition to these basic truths, God’s actions in history extend in more directions. He is actively preserving and sustaining the world. He takes care of people, plants, and nature through the cycles of life.God also created two special institutions; The nation of Israel and the church. Through Israel He brought Messiah, Jesus into the world. He created the church on the day of Pentecost through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2) The church has no national boundaries. Jews and Gentiles are brought together in this one institution for the chief purpose of spreading throughout the world the good news of eternal life through faith in Christ. Christ, who is God, is actively involved in history as Head of the church, which also will enjoy God’s coming Kingdom.Two more of God’s special acts are, 1) His giving of the inspired, inerrant Scriptures, (not one jot or tittle is to be changed) (Matt. 5:18) and 2) His incarnation.The incarnation is one of God’s greatest acts when God, robed in flesh, stepped into time through the person of His Son and became the permanent God-Man Jesus. He died on a cross to take the punishment we deserve for our sins, and rose from the dead so that we could be declared righteous and saved. This great salvation is available to all who put their faith in Christ alone for deliverance.Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but though Him.Dave.

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