Game Changer

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by Calven CelliersLike a good film, Romans 8 has got it all. It starts with an attention-grabbing introduction – “1 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1NIV), it has a fairy tale finish – “38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 38 & 39NIV), right in the middle we have this majestic truth, “28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28NIV), then there’s the subplot – “37 … we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37NIV), but the linchpin, the hinge on which this awesome chapter turns is verse 31 – “31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31NIV) That’s the game changer! Perhaps you’re reading this blog post today and you’re wounded, broken and desperately in need of God to heal your heart and your emotions. Underneath the mask you live in pain and wonder if anything is ever going to change. For many, religion has created an atmosphere where we find it hard to believe that God is on our side because all we see God as is the punisher if we don’t get it right. If all you have is that kind of narrow vision of who God is you’ll never be able to walk in the fullness of your relationship with Him.In his book “If”, Mark Batterson makes this amazing observation. He writes, “Most people who reject God are really rejecting religion, without knowing it. They aren’t really rejecting God for who He is. They are actually rejecting God for who He isn’t … everything I rejected about God was not God. It was religion. It was people who go to church and do not show the love of Jesus, people who don’t practise what they preach, people who are indifferent to the poor and suffering. I had rejected that, but guess what? Jesus also rejected that. Jesus was and is the enemy of dead religion.”Let me pull this thread for just a minute. The most insidious lie that you can ever believe about God is that He is somehow against you. If the enemy can get us to buy into that lie, then we land up rejecting God for all the wrong reasons. If you don’t love God, it’s because you don’t really know God; to know God is to love God. Religion is all about what you can do for God. Christianity on the other hand is all about what Christ has done for you.“Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE.”…

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I Am Here

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by Calven CelliersOn both my visits to Israel, the Sea of Galilee has without a doubt been the highlight of my trip. Luckily, however, I have never had to endure a violent storm out on those waters, but I’m told that this body of water is a nasty place to be caught during a storm. A valley to the north acts as a natural wind tunnel, creating violent squalls with waves that often exceed 10 feet. Under such conditions, even the most experienced seamen would be taxed to the limits of their expertise just to keep the boat from capsizing. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read about one such occasion,“22 Immediately after this (referring to the feeding of the 5000), Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home.23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” (Matthew 14: 22 – 27NLT)Not being natural born water walkers, we are endlessly fascinated by this particular account in Scripture. But anyone who has ever felt abandoned by the Lord needs to slam on brakes at verse 27 – “Don’t be afraid. Take courage. I am here!” – before rushing into the rest of this story. As we read this verse, we need to keep in mind that the poor disciples were nearing the end of their physical, possibly mental and even emotional endurance, when Jesus came walking towards them on the water, and yet He didn’t immediately calm the storm. He allowed it to go right on raging.Life has taught me that Jesus often forces us to wrestle with challenging circumstances for a while. I suspect that is because if He immediately calmed the storm that had the disciples stretched to their limit of their endurance, they would have been grateful, and they would have learnt that Jesus can calm a storm. But by allowing the storm to rage a little longer He was demonstrating what He could do in a storm. And considering what the disciples would still need to face in their lifetime, this was a critical lesson. It’s one thing to be told something is true. It’s another thing all together to be shown.“How do I know He’s my fortress, until with arrows flying all around me, I run with all my heart into His open gates? How do I know He’s my hiding place until I hear the enemy crashing in the bush behind me, feel…

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Your Goodness is Running After Me

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by Calven CelliersOne of my current favourite worship songs is Bethel Music’s “Goodness of God” and as you settle down to read this blog post I would encourage you to take 5 minutes to listen to it now. So, tap on link below, meditate upon these lyrics, and allow the truth of these words to fill your cup:https://youtu.be/-f4MUUMWMV4 “1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”  The beauty of this entire Psalm, never mind just this verse, is that it gives us opportunity to thank God for His goodness as we recount His faithfulness and praise Him for it. One commentary that I consulted as I prepared this post made the observation that this Psalm “contains nothing but praise. It is tuned to rapture, and can only be fully enjoyed by a devoutly grateful heart.”Scripture never guarantees us a problem free existence. In fact, Jesus made it quite clear in the Gospel of John 16 that “33 …In this world you will have trouble…” (John 16:33NIV) and it’s when you’re in the middle of those tough times that you may very well find yourself asking, “If God is good, why does He allow bad things to happen?” This is a natural response when life is turned upside down. It’s hard to sing about a good Father when you’re slap bang in the middle of difficult circumstances.I’ve personally found that the best way to overcome doubts about God’s goodness is to understand the importance of perspective. We have a ground-level, here-and-now perspective that doesn’t always take the full scope of reality into account. God, however, does. We have a snapshot of reality. God sees the big picture. He has the panoramic, wide-angle lens.Even Jesus had to face difficult and painful things while on earth. He was tortured and endured a painful, unjust death. However, His death and resurrection made a way for us to be reconciled with God. Through something that seemed bad, God was able to do something very good.Sometimes, you will be able to look back at painful seasons in your life and see how God ultimately used them for good. Other times, you will never fully understand the purpose of what you’ve had to endure. That’s when we have to trust that God sees more than we can see. He knows more than we know. He works in ways beyond our comprehension. And if we agree to follow Him only when we understand what He’s doing, we’ll always stop short of experiencing His inexplicable wonders.We are living in a broken world, and sadly bad things do happen to good people, but I want to encourage you with the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Rome:“38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our…

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Sharing is Caring

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by Calven CelliersLast Sunday as I drove home from Church, I witnessed a small, seemingly insignificant, act of kindness that really touched my heart. One of the local homeless guys at a nearby intersection was given a loaf of bread by a motorist. He immediately opened the packet and I thought he must be really hungry. But then, much to my surprise, he took out a piece of bread, put the remainder of the loaf down on the sidewalk, and walked over to a stretch of lawn on the verge, where he proceeded to crumble the slice of bread for the birds to eat. How kind. I thought of Christ’s words in Matthew 6, “ 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…” (Matthew 6:26NIV) and how our Heavenly Father had used this homeless man to do just that. Out of the little he had, he chose to share it some way. Even though it was only a slice of bread, and it was only for the birds, it spoke to me of generous stewardship.The scene that played out before me at that intersection got me thinking about what we read about the early Church in the book of Acts, and how their example of godly living, that involves sharing, sets a precedent for us as believers living in community to this day. Sharing is not just a preschool principle, and it is not only about money or things, we can share in all sorts of ways, and when we do it honours God.We read in Acts 4 that “32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” (Acts 4: 32 – 35NIV)This is a beautiful glimpse of what life was like in the early church. This was not a forced distribution of goods, or sharing. It was by no means an attempt to make everyone give up their material things and redistribute them to others. No, it was a change of attitude, saying, ‘Nothing that I possess is mine, for my exclusive use, but everything that I possess is God's, and therefore it is available to anyone who needs it.’ To fully appreciate the generosity of the early church, we need to think about the makeup of that church. Both Jews and Gentiles who had the courage to confess Jesus as Messiah were often ostracized by their family. Christianity was considered to be a dangerous and blasphemous cult. The survival of early believers was often…

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