I’ve started to prepare for my sermon and I’ve found myself finding so many things to say but really not wanting to go off on a tangent every point in my sermon! Its strange I really expected me to struggle with filling a 30 minute slot and I’ve found that I could probably do a 3 point sermon for every verse almost! I thank God for the fact that I’ve been trying to run a tap and I’ve suddenly had a river of thought and points!
One of the things which I had been thinking about last night was that God’s hero’s are all so much of failures of human proportions. Lets take for example Moses, he was an adopted son of a Hebrew woman bought up in the palace to such a high position, a murderer and yet look at how much God used him? That’s just one example (I’ll be using this one in my sermon so for those who are coming… you know what part of my point is!) but the more I think about these things, the more I realise that there are so many unsung hero’s in the bible that are great examples to us but seem to be very lost in our memories.
I’m going to look at one of these today and share with you why I hold this particular person in such high regard in my mind and why. Some of you who know me best know that my favourite book in the bible is Job. Not because its short and to the point, but its simply because it shows faith and love towards God through the hardest of times and the most difficult of situations that if you and I were faced with in this day and age we would have cried out to God curses and really turned your back on him, indeed, I had just a small taste of loss and I was so quick to point the finger at God and for me to turn my back and run. The fact is this, Job was a faith soldier.
Picture the scene, you’re an upright lover of God and you do all things according to his plan to his design. You’ve got a big family and plenty of land and livestock, (the equivalent to having a big house and a fancy job with a Lamborghini on the driveway), and you are blessed by God. Satan can’t stand a successful God loving and fearing person so what does he go and do. Says to God, “its your holy hand outs that’s keeping him so much in love with you God, take it all away, and he’ll surely deny” (Job 9 and 10, obviously not exactly how it is written in the scripture!)
God knew Job’s heart and knew where his love for him came from so he said to satan that he can strike down and take everything from Job but not to hurt him. As the story goes on, even this happeneds and what does Job do? Well he praises God even further and thanks him for the turmoil! How many times can we say we do that? His friends all came around him asking him what he was doing and why didn’t he just end it all, obviously God has left him to his own devices and was not blessing him any further. Again Job stands by God and defends him.
At the end of the book, it says this;
Job 42 v 12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so he died, old and full of years.
So you can see that Job never gave up, he got through his tests by the Devil and came out the other end with a lot of blessings from God.
Right, here’s my point of the sermon here – Don’t give up. 3 words, as simple as that. If I could sum up how I would do my Christian walk better, its this. Never give up, never stop trying and never think you have failed. Moses murdered yet he was used by God and met him on a mountain, David was an adulterer, and God made him the greatest King in history, peter denied Christ yet used him to build the church. Can you see my pattern here. Although these people did sin and although these people did fail to attain the highest standard of God, they were used by him. So don’t give up, we are not worthless to God infact quite the opposite.
In Christ
Mikey
At last I hear some of you cry, a new sermon from Mikey Nash… or not as the case may be! Firstly thank you, thank you to all those who continue to support me and who continue to pray for me. Its overwhelming that its been over 2 weeks since my last blog and yet I am getting well over 20 hits per day from people and people giving me comments, its awesome and I thank and praise God for his provision.
So here we are, July 20th and the rain here in England just keeps on falling! Its incredible really how much rain we’ve had, partly the reason why I’ve had no chance to update the blog or even attempt to put a message on here explaining my absence! A lot of my client’s have lost a lot of money and a lot of time from the rain and it threw into sharp relief the real reason why insurance is there. The best definition of insurance was told to me by a wise man a long time ago (ok, it was my boss about 6 years ago), it is to make sure that when something goes wrong, it can be made right again.
Its strange to think about Christianity in the same way of Insurance but there are some similarities between what we believe and what we strive to do and the insurance industry. Bear with me, these links aren’t exactly concrete but they do link, I promise you!
Number 1 – The safety net. When you take out insurance you pay a small premium and you know that if something happeneds to your car, your house or your business it is (most of the time) covered and you will be put back into the same position as when the incident took place. As Christians, we take out our religion, pay a premium of our whole lives in dedication to God and to doing his will and in return, we KNOW that when we die our eternal salvation is safe! Ok so that’s a very “blasé” way of looking at it, but it still is true.
Number 2 – Piece of mind. When your insurance company issues you with your cover notes, you can read through it and see what is covered and when and also how much excess you need to pay for the privilege. As such, you can ‘see for definite’ the cover which you have and the piece of mind this brings. As Christians we also have the same principle with the bible. We can see word for word what God has to say about situations and what God has to say about our salvation and see the plan from start to finish. To me that is an awesome privilege and something which I hold very dear.
So there you have just two examples of where insurance, and my very boring job has in common with Christianity and my very exiting religion!
I’ll try and keep on top of these lunchtime sermons, I am preaching on the 12th August 2007 at widney evangelical church. All are welcome so if you want me to give you more detail, contact me on mikeynash@hotmail.com.
Thanks guys, in christ’s blood alone am I saved.
I wonder how many of you have ever asked your mum or dad for something only to be told “no”. Probably 100% of you have had this experience, either being told No, or having to tell your child No. I can remember asking my mum and dad to go to the cinema with my friends once when I was about 11 or 12. We were going to see a 15 film without having any adults there. I can remember trying to justify it to them that it wasn’t that bad and we’d be in a big group. My dad very rightly said that I couldn’t go. At the time I resented him for saying it because I wanted to do it so bad, the film looked amazing and I would have been with all my mates.
It worked out however, that my mates went to the film (which I saw years later and it was terrible!) and they managed to get the police involved in the evening. In hindsight, it was the best thing for me when dad told me “no”. I wonder how many of you have ever realised that God does the same thing, and actually takes this in to account when we pray for something?
When we make plans and when we ask God for help with those plans sometimes he can say no because its not the right time, or even the right thing that works in God’s plan. We have to rememeber that God sees all, past, present, and future and as such we can have a sure and real sense of peace when approaching the future as long as we trust God in his providence.
A lot of you know my plans thus far and know what I’m thinking of doing. I’m ready for God to say no. There are some of you who would find that strange because of how far along I’ve come with the plans and with the preparation, however, God’s will must be done in my life. If its God’s plan that I complete my application and go through the stresses and strains but not to actually go, then that’s fine. I can already see what changes and things which have become more prominent through these things.
For example, had I not started the application process, there are one or two things that may not have been bought to light. One of these is Nell and my relationship with her. I didn’t realise how much she means to me until I was faced with 4 years of uncertainty with what is going on and being uprooted. Perhaps part of God’s plan here is to show me that these things are available and that I’m suited and gifted enough to do it, but not yet, he has other things to do.
I don’t know, but I’m praying that God’s will In my life is being done and that he will reveal to me the plan as I go along. Its strange because it is completely out of my hands at the moment in some respects, and I’m it feels like I’m waiting on God’s plan to made known to me. I’m having a meeting tomorrow with an Elder from the church, perhaps this could be God’s talking to me and saying “No”, but I’m prepared to answer “Ok Lord, your will be done”.
Please please please pray for me and Nell at this time, we’ve faced with some very big decisions that could shape our whole lives together. We need to have God’s peace about situations and trust in his plan.
Thanks Everyone for your support so far, I know that sometimes the blogs have been sporadic and a little bit wayward, but its now 6 months old, I for one cannot belive how quickly the time has flown by but God has been working with me throughout this whole site so far and would value your prayers for this to continue.
In God’s Will, and trusting in his path.
Mikey.
1 John 4v18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Yet again I am reminded by people that another week has passed by and I haven’t written anything in the blog! This is because of how busy work has been with these floods and freak rain! It keeps me in a job of course but makes me very very busy! So here it is, the Teatime sermon!
Something that has been very shocking that has come out of these freak floods and storms has been certain sectors of the church who have said that this is God punishing us for being un Godly. Apart from being very freaky, it’s a little bit unbiblical also!
Take this passage for instance, which is very relevant to rains especially.
Genesis 9v15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
I know that God is referring here to flooding the whole earth, however the fact remains that God said he would not bring his punishment upon the earth through flooding in this way again.
It seems to me that some sectors of the church have a really yo yo view of themselves and they change from one extreme to the other to try and attract people to them. They go from “Jesus loves everyone, and it doesn’t matter who you are” to “God is judging humanity and sending the flood waters to sort us out”. Don’t know about you but if I didn’t have a strong belief in what I know already and have a concrete basis of biblical principles I would think that church is a bunch of nut cases who don’t know if they are coming and going.
I’m not saying that some sectors of the church do fantastic work and are brilliant in their biblical doctrine and follow that implicitly, I find these “fickle” Christians who never call on God but in times of trouble and are so quick to blame God but so slow to acknowledge him when things are good. We’re all guilty of it. I’ve pointed the finger more times at God then I like to think about, however when he has answered my prayers, instead of praise, he gets silence from me.
Yes its raining and yes it should be summer (here in England at least) but praise God for the rains, praise God for the times of trouble so that we can reflect upon God and learn to trust him. Yes that’s right, THANK GOD FOR TRIBULATION. If we had it easy street for our whole lives, where would be the salvation and trust upon God’s provision and plan?
Little bit of a rant today, I apologies, its just meant to be a reflection that God loves us and looks out for us and wants the best things for us even when we are going through difficulties.
In Christ’s Name,
Mikey.
What a week it has been, sorry about the no notice week off I took, it was and still is a pinnacle couple of weeks for me and they are also pivotal to my future! So understandably, I’ve been a little preoccupied. But I’m back on it now, I’m re energised to doing this work and I’m ready to share with you what I have found over the past few weeks.
Firstly, praise be to God. That’s a given. He has blessed me through trials and through situations where I have had to lean on him for his guidance and for his support and I’ve loved every moment of getting to know God better in that way.
I’ve now completed my application form for the Light Project (link to the bottom right of this page) and will be sending this off tonight. Its been a rough and turbulent time to come to the decision to send it off. I have had my eyes open to the fact that this does not only affect me and have an impact on me, it has an impact on all the people around me. Yes, Jesus says “leave your nets and follow me” but there are very real things that could become problems if not dealt with before I go.
I will be the first to admit if I don’t know something. I will look and search for the answere wherever I can so that I will know for future, but lets be honest how can you know the answer to the future whilst searching for it? You can’t, it comes down to the issue of time again and trusting that God will present me with the correct and most helpful situations in his own time! I’ve been quite selfish with my planning of this and to those people who are affected, (you know who you are), I am sorry.
God has presented me with this opportunity, yet God does not call me to be alone in all that I do, indeed quite the opposite. I have to engage and be involved with many many people throughout training and also throughout my life. Nell and I should be looking at this together and looking for how it will work together as apposed to me looking at it and then hoping it all just falls into place in the long run.
I praise God that my eyes have been opened today to that, and before I send my application form off I can call and discuss these things with my family and with Nell. I’m still applying but taking steps forward in conjunction with my family and with Nell to find the right and most amicable path that I can with God at the centre of it all.
My point to you is this. Do not forget that God is all you need, but God does not call us to be alone through life. God indeed calls us to be part of a fellowship of people within a church or within out family lives. Do not make the mistake that you can do it on your own and you do not need anyone. Its not God’s way.
More tomorrow on how things have been revealed to me, but just pray because in about 5 hours, the application form will be en route… pray that God would use that.
I’ve been feeling a little bit lost again today. Simply because my mind feels like its been thrown into the wilderness and things that I would normally cling onto have seemed to just disappeared! Almost like walking on a dark night and not realising that you’re really walking towards a cliff. It wasn’t until I read someone’s signature today of the following scripture when things seemed to be lit up again;
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
It struck me when I read these words what the implications are. The obvious first inclinations are that we are walking through a world of darkness and God will shine a light so that we can see what and where we’re going, which of course is a very valid and very real and uplifting interpretation. But I want to look further into what Jesus says here.
Imagine, its about 25ad, electricity is still 1900 years off, the best invention to date is probably being able to carry light around with you. Whether that be on a big stick that burns for about 10-15 minutes but around this time there were lamps that were available that could burn for hours using the right fuel. So now that you’ve got that imagination in your head, imagine being in the temple and being poor. You can’t afford to step out into the darkness at night for fear of being robbed, beaten up or worse, you can’t afford a fancy lamp and can’t afford the fuel to go with it.
You then catch a glimpse of a man, and he says “…whoever follows me will never walk in darkness”. Great! No more getting beaten up! But you think about it further, what does it mean?
We have the benefit of knowing the full story, we know from the start, to his death, to the present day and how it all points to one thing. Jesus. But in these days, it wasn’t so clear to see. Imagine the Joy of being told that you will never have to walk the world in darkness. We take these things so much for granted; this is a very very powerful verse that should mean more than it does. We live in a world where if its dark, we only but need to turn on a switch and we have a light source. Imagine not having that.
Jesus of course does mean spiritually there but I always find it interesting to put myself in the position of the people who are around when these words were being said and imagining the impact of Jesus’ words here.
So as I imagine myself lost in the wilderness (which I will touch on more on Monday once I’ve gotten my head around), I imagine what it would be like if there was no light in the world but the sun and being told there is another way to walk in the light. I thank God for his light and for his path which he shows with that light.
Pray for me, I know I ask everyday but I really need it today.
In Christ’s name
Mikey.
I have read today someone ask the question “what more can I do for God” which in itself is a paradoxical question. There are many ways to answer that and all of them not in itself incorrect however if we actually look at what has been asked in context of our lives we realise that its not a question we can ever ask of ourselves or of God. You see, we should never stop trying to answer our first calling from God and that is to submit all that we are and to be like Christ. The bible says this;
Romans 12 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
How can we obtain this aim, well it is possible and it should consume all of our time because of how difficult it is to do. It states in this passage not to confirm to what the world wants us to be, but how often do we find ourselves trying to obtain the latest fashions, gadgets or trends of the world? In itself that isn’t a bad thing, but we are called to be different. I’m not saying that you should put on some flares and wear a big hat with “kiss me quick, I’m Christian”, what I’m saying is that we should never look around and thing that we want to be like everyone else.
In a similar way, we shouldn’t think of ourselves better than everyone else because we are different. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you feel superior to someone because you’re going to Heaven, or even less likely to speak to someone because of their background or creed? I know I’ve been guilty of this, and I’m ashamed of that fact but God calls us to look at ourselves before even thinking about judging or assessing someone else lives. When we have obtained perfection, then we have the right to judge others, any of you perfect?
The beginning part of this passage talks about giving our bodies as a sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This doesn’t mean that you should slaughter yourself but to sacrifice all that you are and all that you have to God. We are called to sacrifice things for him, not when it pleases us or when we feel like, it talks about ALWAYS submitting to God everything, forever. I mean its not a small price to pay for eternity but its difficult faced in this culture which we are in these days where it talks about self gratification before anything else. Look after number one and all that Jazz.
In a nutshell this small passage should shape and fashion our ever part of our lives. Pure and simple, submit everything to God, don’t follow the herd and never think yourself better than anyone else. Easy eh? Not in the slightest but the bible also talks about having help in these things.
Romans 8 26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Do not loose heart if you cannot conform to God’s calling to you, however trying is 100% better than not trying. I know that I fail, every single day but because of God’s love and compassion I can pick myself, learn from my mistakes and keep pushing. Imagine if the first time you failed as a Christian, you just stopped and thought, “forget it”. Where would you be now? Use your own life as a testament to God’s loving and merciful grace to us.
Keep going. And in answer to the question “what can I do more for God”, everything. Pure and simple.
In Christ’s love and merciful grace, always interceding for our sin and the one who took all our mistakes and their implications on the cross.
Mikey.
Well today it dawned on me what it is I’m actually doing and I’m struggling with finding the courage to undertake it. I know God is saying “I’m here holding your hand through fear” but even if you know your parachute is going to open, jumping out of the plane is difficult! I keep catching myself saying, forget it, its too hard, what’s the point, why are you doing this. Don’t get me wrong I know I’m doing the right things and for God’s will as I’ve prayed many many times and feel a peace about my plans, but as the time for the jump closes in, I’m being blinded by anxiety and fear about what to expect, what I’m going to gain, what’s going to happen to my family etc.
AS I think these things however, 1 verse comes to mind that is very prominent in my mind;
1 Peter 5: 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Going back to the skydiving analogy as I have done many times, but its very real and prominent, before you jump you have 7 hours (sometimes 2 days) worth of training for the 5 second’s from when you leave the plane until you’re floating with the parachute above your head. I feel like I’m in the door at the moment and I’m ready to jump and waiting for the jump master to shout “Go” and I know what I need to do, I know the right things and wrong things to do that could mean the difference between a good jump and bad jump.
When I did my first jump, I was thinking how easy it would be just to sit in that seat, not get up and land safely and get out of the plane and get on with my life. This is the same with my life at the moment, I have a nice job, a nice car, some money and a routine that I could follow until retirement… very easily, what would that actually achieve in the end? What could I say to God when I stand in front of him? “I had the opportunity Lord and I heard you shout, “Go” and I did nothing”. Imagine on that first jump if I hadn’t have jumped. I would have landed, I would have gotten out the plane and had to explain to people why I didn’t jump, more than likely I would berate myself because of my fear. I don’t want that to happen with this.
God has been so awesome in my life and has helped open the door, I’ve been shown it, and I’m sitting there, its almost time for the big moment… I pray for courage to take the jump and to do it in God’s time and according to his will.
I would ask that you pray today for me that this feeling of fear and anxiety is taken away and that God will shout at the right time for me to go.
In Christ’s name.
Mikey.
How much do we give to our lives? Ok there are two levels you can look at this question. Number 1 is worldly and number 2 is spiritually. I bet most of you get up in the morning? Make the effort to get out of bed, have food during the day and keep yourself clean etc? Well that takes effort, which we have obviously gotten used to because we do not now notice when we do these things, they have become part of life.
I speak to many Christians who tell me that they wish they had more time, they wish that they could put time aside to read their bible and spend time with God. It’s a common problem, especially with working Christians who work very hard. But how much do we give to our lives to make sure that we have time to relax? Watch our soaps? People say that they have so little time to give. I say to you. Give it. Check out this verse:
Luke 21:1As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.[a] 3"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
On the face of it, it seems to be about how much money we give and how much the poor lady gives in comparison with the rich people. We all know the phrase “time is money” well apply the notion “money is time” here. Replace the money aspect with the time. If you have so little time to give but give it all and give it freely, then you have put in more than others.
Don’t get me wrong, people who spend hours in prayer and reading their bible, that’s awesome, but how about instead of giving just that hour out of your whole evening, why not spend the whole evening doing something for God? I’m not suggesting every evening sit there and pray with your bible, but why not go and see someone who needs help or company in God’s name? Or such like. We do not want to become like the rich guy’s at the temple giving just the 10% with a prayer and some bible reading and hope you’ve ticked all the boxes for that day!
I know it sounds like I’m telling people what to do here, but its something that God talks about, Giving everything to God, this includes time because he gives us that time! I always find that I make the excuse that I’m too tired to read or pray, but I know that every time I do, I feel energized and so much better with my whole outlook after I’ve spent time with God. Let us not be like the rich young man.
Matthew 19: 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
In Christ.
Mikey.
I was going to do blog on satan’s power and I will touch on that but I’ve had a few things that have affected me over the weekend. In short, I had a dream on Friday night where people were questioning me and shouting things like “who are you to teach people when you do not follow his rules yourself” and “you’re pathetic, you’re not worthy of anything” and being physically attacked by these people. Its difficult to assertain where this dream came from, I first thought it was from God telling me to get my act together and break the chains that bind me to my non Christian life, but the more I thought about it and the more I talked it through, I realised that I have been attacked once again by satan.
What with my plans and what I’m hoping to do, there is no surprise that I am very vulnerable to attack at the moment. I’m looking to give my life in service to God and the best way to attack that is to say that I’m not worth it and that I’m pathetic, like I should stop trying because I’m going to fail. Its so tempting to give up and not follow what I believe is God’s calling as there is so much sacrifice and so much life change and satan knows that, he pounces on that. Jesus however was also tempted by satan in Luke 4. Here is an excerpt:
Luke 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours." 8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'[b]"
Do you see Jesus’ response to this particular temptation? He was shown that he can have it all, he can have authority over all things. In respect to our own lives, how many times have we shone away from doing God’s will because there is something better in it to do something else. In my case, I could very easily continue as I am at the moment, I would probably be very successful and have quite a lot of money, nice house, nice car etc, but for what price? Jesus calls us to leave everything we have to follow him.
I have been tempted to do the easy thing in this situation, but its only made me stronger and more determined to do what God’s will is for me in my life. If that means leaving my Job and money etc (which is becoming clear and plain to see) then I am willing to do that.
When we are tempted, when we are being attacked we sometimes do not spot it for what it is, we need to be vigilant against the attacks of satan as he is cunning and he is very clever. It speaks in Revelation of the beast having, knowledge, authority and an overwhelming intention for all of us to fail and to share his fate, however what he does know and is enraged about is Jesus comes with the free gift of Forgiveness, love and compassion. If we trust in that, we can never fail.
Sorry about today’s blog, it seems a little rambly but I had some points I wanted to make and its difficult to get all the in-depth thoughts down in one lunchtime, but know this:
Hebrews 15: 5b… God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."[a] 6So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"
What more can I say?
In Christ.
Mikey.
With these exciting times that I am facing and with the many implications that come with these, I’ve also been looking at what attributes and what parts of human personality make a good Christian leader. There are many websites out there which claim to have the answer about what you need to be able to know that you are going to be a Christian leader, there is even one with a 100 question survey that at the end the results tell you if you are going to be good.
The bible also has a lot to say about Christian leaders and what they’re purposes are along with the implications and similarly punishments that come with being in a position of leadership, there is one passage, or even verse that stood out from all the others which I think puts into context not only our leaders, but also ourselves.
John 5:44 (New International Version) 44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God[a]?
You see there are those Christians, and think we have all been guilty at one time or another, who outwardly seem brilliant. They have everything, they tell you that their prayer time is amazing, they tell you that their bible study is awesome and they will tell you that their relationship with God is the best ever. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they are not experiencing all of these things, indeed, all of those apply to me at the moment, but my point is this. If people, indeed Christians, state these things in search of praise with other Christians, or anyone for that matter, but do not have it in they’re heart, they are indeed lost and have lost the true meaning of what being a Christian is all about.
There is no coincidence that Jesus picks out these “outward” Christians in his teaching. He mentions the heart many times because that is what God sees.
In the same way of course, if we try to obtain praise from the world by conforming to its sinfull ways and its practices that we know are fundamentally wrong by God and his word, and do not seek the praise from God, we are lost. Our aim in all things that we do is to seek God’s praise and his blessing. If we do that with EVERYTHING that we do, we find pretty quickly that the world’s praise is in vain, it means nothing because ultimately, it won’t save us, but God’s praise will be sustained throughout eternity.
I pray today that we are not being outward Christians and searching for that “pat on the back” and a “well done” from those around us, I pray that we are seeking to do God’s will and in so doing gain his praise.
In Christ,
Mikey.
God has been so gracious and merciful towards me, and has poured out countless blessings in my life over all of my life, but it is only really recently that I’ve stopped praying just when things are wrong and things are bad. Its one of those Chicken and the egg things, do you pray because you are in trouble or do troubles happen because we do not pray? Personally I think it is very difficult to be prayerful when we feel that we have nothing to pray for! Strange to think that praise does not often cross our minds at this time. Ephesians 1:3-5 is the start of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and of course it is part of a greeting, but lets read his words;
“3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”
Why is it that when the world views itself in times of trouble they will cry out to God saying where are you? Yet throughout days of peace and tranquility, they are constantly trying to think up new ways of pushing God out because he’s not needed. The first part of this passage states that God pours out his blessing constantly on and in our lives, and speaks of the ultimate blessing that we have received, the blessing of forgiveness through Christ, surely that’s enough to thank God for!
I don’t know if you know anyone famous or have met anyone famous, but I can’t imagine being a good friend of Tom Cruise, or someone just a famous but knowing that this famous person knows your name and knows who you are makes you feel special in someway. Imagine the God of creation knows your name, the one that was there at the start, who is there now and who will be there until the end of time, and beyond. This God who know’s everything about you and Jesus Christ is being an intercessor for your sin to God. I don’t know about you but it gives me goose pimples thinking about that. Verse 4 states that even better than that, he knew he and us before we even existed chose us to do his will as part of his plan.
I feel very special thinking about that, I feel that what do I have to fear when I have God on my side, what do I have to worry about when God has planned my life and why should I fear the evil one when I know that God has already decided his fate?
I praise God today for his infinite and wonderful blessings upon my life.
In Christ.
When do we know to do something? I mean generally not just with the spirit. For example, when do we know when to go to the toilet? When do we know when to brush our teeth or get up in the morning (judging by today’s experience, I don’t know when to get up!). My point is, we have all had experience and learned from that experience so that we know when to do things. As most of you know at the moment, I’m planning on doing further training, specifically bible training soon and have been praying about this very thing, not that I know when to go to the toilet although that is helpful, more that I know when.
I can tell you the why, I can tell you the how and I can tell you the where, but the explanation of when escapes me. This is something, which is commonplace for us all. If we look at the scriptures, there have been many times where the characters have known the why, how and where but not known when. The whole of Isaiah is a prophecy about Jesus as the messiah, but because the Jews of the time didn’t know when, they missed him and are still waiting. I for one do not want my life to become like that, missing opportunities even when they are staring me right in the face, but because I don’t know the “when” factor, I miss them.
I think it’s a stark lesson for us all. God does not work within time. He is above time, beyond time and controls when things happen because of that. Nell and I were speaking on my drive home last night and she knows of my patience deficiency! I find myself willing things myself to happen and not to wait, as such I have found myself pushing things through that shouldn’t be pushed and not pushing things that are more important. We as Christians need to trust that God will provide all the necessary factors, the how: God will provide us through his will the means necessary. The why: God’s will cannot be bent to our own will and as such the why becomes “God’s will”. The where: God is everywhere and he knows the needs of people and ourselves, he will place us where he needs us to be. Finally, the when: stuck in time, we have no concept of God outside of this and we need to trust that God’s timing is perfect.
Its not a question of just trusting God for one or a few of these factors, its trusting God in all of them and he will show us his will unfolding. Hindsight is both a blessing and a curse. We can see where we went wrong and what we should have done, but also can see how God works in out lives and where he has provided for us. Trusting in him takes that factor away as we know that if we trust him, God will provide.
In Christ’s most Holy and infinite mercy and grace.
Its time to resurrect this bad boy! Its amazing how circumstances and how directions can change just in 1 month! Its been exactly 1 month since my last blog and there are some things to fill you all in on. For starters, I’m still alive! Just about at least! I’ve been praying for guidance from God as to directions in which he wants me to travel and where I can do the best work for him. Its become clear that the glorification that I do in my current job is being rewarded with something new. A few things have come up which I’m investigating at the moment. One being something that I am very interested in taking.
I won’t go into too much detail right now but it can pay for my whole theology degree over 4 years and give me the ground work of working in the church for that whole period. Its something that seems absolutely perfect for me to do. Obviously there are implications on this which could potentially make things difficult but I’m yet to find an obstacle that I cannot overcome to get there!
Please pray for me that I do God’s will in this situation and its not just me looking for a way out of insurance. I know that its not because I am enjoying my work at the moment, it would be very easy for me to just stay here and I am comfortable but “If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat”.
Praise God for his infinite goodness to us, and to his unfailing love and care.
This is the first of a series I’m going to write entitled from Adam to The Lamb, where I look throughout the bible and prominent figures of the bible and at their failings and redemption. I am currently reading a book called “God’s Famous People” by Peter Lewis of Cornerstone Evangelical Church in Nottingham (England) and I promise I will only take inspiration and not content from the book!
I’ve been thinking about many people in the bible and what made them worth being in the bible in the first place and what messages they have for our future and us today. There are hundreds of different people actually mentioned in the bible, but I’m going to look at those figures who are described in some detail, and hopefully by the time we get to the end of this, we’ll have a better knowledge that Christians Fail and it is only by God’s grace and mercy and more importantly, his forgiveness that we can have any chance on those final of days.
As you may well have guessed so far, the first person I’m going to look at is Adam. The first Man, the man perfectly formed and crafted by God’s hand and one that had potential to live with God in paradise and in perfect union with God. Lets take this verse to start with;
Genesis 2 v 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
I don’t know if you are like me in anyway but if someone tells you not to do something, you start looking for the reason why and when I was younger; I just did it to see if anything bad would actually happen. Adam shared with God a relationship on earth that we will never have until the day of redemption, he could talk to God like he was just sitting next to him and he could feel God’s perfect radiance and peace as Adam had not sinned… yet.
We know from the benefit of seeing the whole bible in it entirety and looking at the way in which the plan works to God’s benefit and unto God’s perfect justice that we cannot approach the throne of God as we are in sin. It’s only through Jesus’ sacrifice and through his love that we can be free, but imagine a time when this didn’t matter. God was there with man.
Adam (in conjunction with his wife, Eve) then decided that they could obtain something better than this. That they could ascribe better knowledge and have the ultimate in Godliness right there in the garden, with God watching on! The serpent spun his web of temptation and Adam and Eve took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and realized one or two things, which changed everything forever.
Ok you’re not stupid, you know the story, that isn’t my point today, and my point is this. God didn’t give up on us because of our sin and our lust for knowledge beyond God. God sent his son into the world; he took on human form, his own creation to walk among us again and to ultimately take upon himself the Sin, which our ancestors, Adam and Eve had created. Imagine that. God, this ultimate being and this perfect person, cared so much for his creation that he took upon HIMSELF the pain, torment and death that we deserved.
If there’s nothing worth thanking him for today, then this is surely what we should be praising God for now.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, [a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This verse has somewhat become washed and eroded in Christian’s lives, we should hold onto and really realise what this verse is all about.
In Christ.
Its been a little while since I “blogged” but I’m still here. I’ve been taking a small break to get my relationship with God strong and to talk to people and God about my future. The situation as it is now is that me and God are strong and I am (trying to) serve God in all that I do, of course I fail but with every set back I try that much harder to succeed! Its awesome.
I’m going to pick up on what I left off in a couple of Days and continue my near daily blog, and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued prayers and for your continued support in the last few months. Its been so amazing seeing God answer my prayers and that is no coincidence that people from 5 continents were praying for me and I thank you all so much for that.
God answers prayers and hears us.
1 Jn 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
We can take great confort in that and want to encourage you to cast all of your cares upon him.
Thank you again, and hope I can continue to strengthen and encourage you.
In Christ,
Hey everyone, just a quick note to ask for some prayer. I had a meeting with one of my company directors and he said (with not so many words admittedly) that I've either got to commit to the company or stop wasting their time. I know that God is calling me elsewhere, but I am not sure if this is the opportunity that I've been asking for or not. I do not want people to think that I am giving up and just going but at the same time, i do not want to go against God's perfect plan. I have a lot fear about what the implications would be if I left, for example there are still bills that need to be paid and there are still commitments financially that I need to fulfill. There is also the question of Brazil in October to think about.
Please pray that I will know God's plan for me and what the right path is for me to take and where he wants me to be. I know that he will not steer me wrong, but I don't want to make the wrong decision based on my own human thoughts and feelings which are of course fallible.
I'd appreciate knowing that you are praying with me through this time. I love God and I will go anywhere he wants me to be but I need to know God's will in this time of uncertainty.
Thanks again for your support!
Mikey
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a really awesome speaker, I have, some of my most memorable sermons were the ones where I was transfixed from the moment they opened their mouths to the last Amen! Some times I’ve listened and I’ve been like “yeah, this guy is striking a chord in my heart” and its those speakers who I feel have real authority from God.
Imagine the scene, you’re sitting on the side of the river, probably eating your bread that was made at home, it’s a hot day and you’re dipping your toes in the water to cool off. Along comes a crowd of people following a guy wearing camel hair clothes and a leather belt, eating some locus and honey. I bet you’d be thinking, “I’m going to be killed by a crazy man here…”. They guy stops and turns to the crowd and says the following;
Matthew 3 v 7 - "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
If we didn’t know it was John the Baptist, I can imagine myself at least thinking, “eh?”. But if we actually take apart what he’s saying here, we suddenly realize this is a very real and very scary warning which John gives. The first part for example talks about coming wrath! I know that there are people on the street corners talking about the end of the world and its coming soon etc, but John spoke with authority and power. "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” I’d be scared!
John then goes on to speak about something which some Christians are guilty of and in some respects, all of us are guilty of. The right to do what you want because you are a Christian, well I say to you, “And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham”. You have no divine right on this world because you are a Christian (or in this instance Jewish of Abraham descendants). You can’t just expect to say that you love God and that you follow Jesus and do nothing! It defeats the object and is a grave contradiction in terms. Christian = Like Christ, did Christ do nothing? Of course not he gave his life so that we might live.
If that wasn’t enough to make these people want to dive in there and get baptized, john drives the point home. “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Hang on? What did he just say? We need to produce fruit? What does that mean? Well its simple, when you become a Christian, you are sewn into the ground, you spring forth and its only by your fruits that you are shown how strong you actually are.
John is saying here something that I would want you to take with you. If we do nothing for Christ, if we produce no fruit for God, we are dead plants, only fit to be cut down and thrown into the fire. Take encouragement, and warning from this passage. Be not only “sayers” but “doers”, I’ve said before that there are Christians who acknowledge Christ with their lips and deny him with their lifestyle. Do not be dead tree’s, be fruitful and healthy trees. But also, remember that God recognizes those fruits and rewards us for it. If we are working for God, and laying all our problems and cares upon him, we can be strong. Its not by our own strength that we carry on being Christians day by day. With attacks from the enemy, with temptations, but it is by our faithful God that we can do this.
In Christ Alone.
Mikey.
Where to start really. I’ve been struggling of late with my own conscience and with my own walk because of 2 main factors really. Sin and also the most important factor – myself. I’ve been worrying so much about what God thinks of me I’ve been scared to do anything for him in case for some strange reason I do it wrong or I offend him by what I think or say. Because of that I’ve been doing to opposite, pretty much nothing in God’s name and I could feel myself drifting away from Him which is really horrible.
It wasn’t until very recently that I realised that I’d not properly prayed or properly read his word and found all manner of excuses not to do this blog because I felt wrong doing it. But here I am, how did I get to this point from there you may ask, well that brings me to the scripture of which I wish to turn to today.
John 16:32 "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
Firstly I know this isn’t Matthew, but this really meant something to me over the last few weeks really. It both scares me and feels me with Joy. Firstly, the reason it scares me witless is the last sentence about never being alone and always having God watching me. I do things and say things and also think things that I would feel ashamed if anyone else knew what they were and it’s the same fore EVERY person, anyone who says otherwise either is in denial, or very lost.
As Christians we know that God is there through all that we do and he knows all. That includes what we say, what we do and the most scary part is what we think. Personally, there are times when I think ‘ah, who’d know’ Its just me here… but then remembering that God is there always makes me so afraid and I will try and hide from God. Remember in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to hide from their God.
Think about it, how ridiculous that we could think of anywhere that God doesn’t see us! And for this reason also, I am filled with Joy and peace that I have a God that doesn’t sleep and watches over me wherever and whenever I am. Its scary to think that God knows us properly, he knows us better than we know ourselves and yet, through all that, he loves us and forgives us. How amazing is that? We are the wretched humans that sin every day, yet God sent Jesus to save us.
I don’t know about you, but that means more to me that anything. And for that reason, I prayed last night, for forgiveness for peace and for him to guide me. I felt the strength to be able to come here and share this with you as a encouragement to all of you that we are being watched yes, but we are also being watched in love and forgiveness.
Thank you so much for all your patience over the past few weeks. Thank you for your prayers, I guess I just needed to pray also.
In Christ.
It’s a proven fact that people are scared of what they do not know. I’ve already said here that I’m scared of storms because I have absolutely no control over what happens to me in these situations. But as Christians, people can persecute us because they are scared about what they do not know about. They have a perception of Christians that we all wear sandals, have beards and carry around a bit print bible around with us telling everyone they are sinners.
When Jesus was born, there were people who knew the scriptures and there were people who knew that a messiah for the Jews was going to present itself at some point, but there were people who had heard of Jesus and what had been said about him even when he had just been born and were afraid of the implications. One of which, and most famously was Herod.
Matthew 2: When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.
Herod was obviously a smart bloke, he knew about the old testament teaching (although they were the teachings, and not called the old testament at the time) and he knew that someone was going to come one day to free the Jews, and more importantly the whole world, but the one thing that he was most scared about was loosing his crown as Jesus was going to be the “King of the Jews” and for a King that was the worst thing that could happen because he would have to leave his lavish lifestyle.
There are people around today that are scared of the same thing, but not in exactly the same way, they are scared of loosing their lifestyles because they know that it goes against God. As I’m sure a lot of you already know, its easier to follow the devil who promises so much but never delivers, then it is to follow God who promises very little but very important promises and delivers every time.
I know myself that one of the biggest things that was holding me back from coming back to God was that I was happy, superficially but I was happy. I had many things, I used to enjoy the world and all that it had to offer, and I was scared of loosing those things to follow some guy who lived 2000 years ago. The things which I have gained from following Christ has been better than what the world has to offer a million times over.
As Christians we get tempted and we get swayed into thinking that Jesus some how threatens our happiness because his teachings are against what the world offers, but we need to remember how much we have gained from having a life with God and having a walking relationship with Jesus, and how can we justify throwing all that away to go back to what the world offers? We can’t.
God really doesn’t want us to be governed by masses of rules and streams of regulations, we can be so much happier knowing that we are working for the true and living God, and that our ultimate gain is that not of superficial happiness but of eternal forgiveness and a everlasting life with God. How amazing is that? We shouldn’t feel threatened by God because as a father, he wants the best for us and the things that the world offers are not always the best for us at that time. We need to trust in God’s provision as well as his plan.
I pray that we do not feel that we are missing out because we don’t have enough of the world’s offerings, but we feel that we are being filled up with Jesus and his offerings, which are immeasurable and everlasting.
In Christ I stand.
I don't know what you think about God talking to you, I don't know if you struggle to hear him or you are just so busy you don't take time to listen to him. But much in the same way, there are characters in the bible that have had the full spectrum of God talking to them.
There are times that God will speak to people in an audible voice and there will be times when God speaks in the smallest whisper, there are times when God has spoken with actions and with direction, and there are times when God has used prophets to speak to his people. I could go on and on about the ways in which God speaks to us, but I’m going to concentrate on God speaking to us, almost unexpectedly.
Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Just before the angel appeared to Joseph, he had been considering divorcing Mary, and also he was probably feeling pretty down and low about things at the moment. I can imagine he was very untrusting of Mary at this time as well, I mean think about it, if your wife was to say to you “I’m pregnant, but I’m still a virgin” you’d be thinking… ‘yeah right, whatever love…’ and its pretty certain that Joseph was thinking these things.
I would think that Joseph was in quite an angry state and probably didn’t want to pray to God asking for his guidance or asking him for his peace about the situation, so for God to speak to him was both important and very necessary.
The dream itself is not to dissimilar to dreams that many people in the bible have had, an appearance of a heavenly spirit, or being in front of them speaking to them very implicitly about a situation that they are going through. In this instance it is an unnamed angel who spoke to him, and spoke some pretty strange and scary words.
Imagine waking up from that dream! You’d think that you were crazy, an angel said that the child that was within your wife’s stomach, was going to save people from their sins. I don’t know about you, but I’d be freaking out by this point, but Joseph did exactly what the angel said.
The point I’m trying to make is this, God still speaks to us when we’re angry and don’t want to listen, and also when we are in despair and we forget that we can cry out to God and he will hear our prayer.
Take confidence from Joseph that despite going through bad times and times where the only way out seems to be to give up, God still works through those particular scenarios and makes a way for something so much better, and he still talks to us comforting us through these times.
I pray that if you are going through times of decision or times of trouble that you will ask God for his help and that you quiet your heart to listen to his will.
More later!
Well I’m back after a short break, I feel refreshed and ready to do God’s will and ready to talk more about his amazing gift through Jesus Christ. So many things have challenged me over the past week, its difficult to know what part of the scripture to start from. I had said that I would start a study in Job, and I still intend to do so, but I think from a young(ish) Christian that I am, its good to go through the life that made my forgiveness and freedom possible. I am therefore going to go through the book of Matthew and look at Jesus’ life.
To do this I need to make one or two things perfectly clear. The build up to Jesus’ life is one of many millennia of prophecy that can be viewed throughout the Old Testament, I do not have the time or the space to write about that just yet but I will dip into the Old Testament from time to time to drive home certain points.
I am going to post excerpts from the passages that I will look at but I would urge you to read the whole chapter either on your own at some point to see what I am referring to.
The start of Matthew 1, gives a genealogy of Jesus Christ, and its amazing to look at, it gives an account of Jesus’ family tree from Abraham all the way through to Jesus himself. I don’t know about you but I don’t know if I could go back even 3 or 4 generations. It serves the point that Jesus was the “Lion of the clan of Judah” who featured in the story of Joseph (made famous by Andrew Lloyd Webber).
The conception of Jesus was something of a miracle itself. I know that you are all very familiar with the story, but sometimes its good to look at these things with fresh eyes to enable us to actually take what happened not on face value, or for granted, but for what it was, an amazing miracle.
Matthew 1 v 18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
God gave Jesus to Mary and she was a virgin. In human terms this is a physical impossibility. But that’s my point; God is the God of impossibility. We should take strength from the conception of Jesus because if God can enable a virgin to conceive and doing the absolute impossible, why should we worry when we are faced with impossible tasks? We have a living God at the head of our lives, and this God can do all things.
Its interesting to see that Mary hadn’t asked for this happen, she didn’t pray for a child and she certainly didn’t pray for God to perform a miracle in her life, yet God blessed her with the most awesome of tasks, to bring God’s son into the world! Again, we should take enormous encouragement from that, because through God’s plan, things can change and things can come our way that we didn’t ask for or expect but they are such a blessing to us! We should trust in God’s unfailing plan.
Things looked to get a little bit difficult because of the culture of that time, Joseph had in mind to divorce Mary and their agreement to marry. I can imagine Joseph seeing this act as the worst thing to happen to him at the time. But as we know, this was a very amazing blessing, and again, we should view our own situations in the same way, things that seem to be bad, and things that look like our lives are crumbling God uses to bring amazing blessing to us.
So already, we can see that God can bless when we don’t expect it, and also when we feel our lives are falling apart.
I pray that you will fully trust God’s plan and trust in his unfailing love and protection for us through all situations. There is no need to fear, there is no need to be stressed about situations as we have the creator of the world working in our lives and helping us.
I hope this will help you with your own walk; tomorrow I am going to look at the peculiar circumstances of Jesus’ birth. In preparation of which, I would suggest you read the whole of Matthew 1.
I am free in Christ alone.
