Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

It was through the obedience of the one man that salvation came for us all, to be free and easy to get, so that we could be reconciled to the Father through the Son. For Jesus, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11)." It was through the obedience of Jesus Christ, God's Son, who reclaimed back the authority that God had placed in Adam when He created mankind.

So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).

God did not make us to be timid creatures, but He made us to have authority in His Son, whom we believe died for us. It is that faith that gives us the authority. That when we pray, we are confident we will be heard by God, again, not on our own merits-- for all our good deeds are like sin in front of God, and our whitest garments have been stained with blood many times over-- but the blood of Jesus Christ that dripped from the cross and swept our hearts clean. Hence, in the New Testamant Jesus abolished animal sacrifices for He was the ultimate sacrfice of all. God who became man on earth, who lived a blameless life, to die a cruel death as He bore the sin of mankind on his shoulders. That when we pray, we pray "in Jesus name" believing that God will work through us.

When we have authority we are confident. I read something interesting the other day: That people who pray long public prayers are usually those who do not pray long private prayers. For those who spend hours in private communing with the Lord do not need to spend that much time talking to Him in public, since they know Him that well already. So when we pray, we pray with a spirit of boldness, coonfidence, and a knowing of God's will to come.

Actually, we do have authority since the day we entered God's family. For He had reclaimed the authority, and He commanded us to go and do likewise out there. Yet Peter warns us that we should "be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1 Peter 5:8-9)." Yes, Satan roars like a lion. He deceives. He's the father of all lies. We may be taken aback at what he does, but in God, we have the authority over the world! We do not fear though the devil prowls around to steal, kill, and destroy, but we have to be on the alert at all times agianst his schemes.

Whatever happens on this earth is inconsequential, for Jesus Christ has overcome the world!

Joel.

Was having breakfast with my father yesterday, when this old man came down and sat at the table (we were at a hawker centre). Next thing he had to do was absolutely disgusting, i.e. whip out a cigarette and become a chimney smokestack. When my father asked him not to smoke he launched into a tirade of "You have no right to do this! You don't smoke, but I smoke, you have no right to tell me not to smoke!" So we asked him to move but he kept on talking about "you have no right to tell me not to smoke" so in the end we had to move away from the carcinogenic smokestack.

I've noticed that whenever we are indulged in doing something we know is wrong, for example. the abovementioned old man, and other people gently tell us that it's not right, there are 2 general responses. 1) Listen and find out why; 2) Blare out in a loud voice that people have no right to tell us that we're wrong. And response 2 is what I'm focusing upon today.

In all respects when we want to give a word of advice to someone, we are told to do it in a gentle manner. For "a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1)." Likewise, when people question us on our motives or our doings we are to, in our hearts, "set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3:15-16)." For we are told that "whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins (James 5:20)."

And  yet if the other party responds in a harsh, unreasonable manner, you can be sure that what you say is not going down well with him/her. For example, if you were to tell me that I was being too childish, and I reacted negatively by saying "What right do you have to tell me this?", then you can be sure that the Spirit of God is not working in me, but it is the spirit of pride that is taking control. For if we do not listen, we do not learn. If our hearts are hardened, the Holy Spirit cannot take action to cleanse and heal our hearts. If our conscience is deadened there is no way to repent. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

So when we react angrily to what people say, there is indded something wrong with our hearts. Even if we do know that what that person may be saying may not necessarily be true, 1 Peter 3:16 (as mentioned above) tells us to be gentle in the way we respond! Rearing the ugly head of anger doesn't help anything, it might further compound the problem instead. If I were to take offense at your words of advice, it would harm my relationship with you. If I ended up hating you for your insensitive/insensible remarks, Jesus says, "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment (Matthew 5:22)." If it were God telling you directly about what He wants changed in your character, are you going to snap back at Him and tell Him He has no right to do it? He can strike you dead for disobedience and insolence, if He wanted to. If He used your friend to tell you something from Him, and you snapped at your friend instead that's akin to snapping back at God. "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8)."

Choose carefully what words to say to someone steeped in sin. And choose carefully what words ot say in reply to someone's opinion/advice. It may be God speaking, you never know. God calls us to be a gentle people. Paul says, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:5-6)." Take every word with a pinch of salt and carefully evaluate what your priorities are and your life's motives are all about.

God is willing to change you for the better -- if only you'd let Him!

Joel.

 

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Excerpt from Exodus 3:13-15

Indeed, God's name is so great and beyond understanding that He can just call Himself "I AM".  Why else is it that in the Bible when He is mentioned He is named as "God" and the other idols are named "gods"? He is higher than everything, above all the earth. And He rules the earth with His sceptre from on high, and He loves us all.

Yet there are times when we choose to reject Him. As Christians, when we want to do things our way. As non-Christians, simply by not believing that He allowed His Son to sacrifice His life for our lives. His heart bleeds badly every day. Yet humans still choose to live in sin, and when catastrophe befalls, come to this conclusion that "if there were a God, then why would He send such-and-auch problems upon me and my family? I haven't done anything wrong..."

But we all have been guilty of wrongdoings. The smallest lie is enough to make anyone like the worst murderer on earth. For "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)", and "the wages of sin is death (Romans  6:23)"! God doesn't consider that stealing a cookie from Mum's cookie jar is better than an armed robbery at a bank, to Him, it's sin. And sin is disgusting to Him. He can't bear to look at sin. When His Son took on the burden of the world's sin onto His shoulders, He hated looking at His Son any more, and hence Jesus cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)?" when God hid His face behind the clouds.

God is perfect, and God is righteous. God cannot stand the sight of sin. Which is why if He were to judge us today we'd all just die for our sin. And yet He gave us a way out, that if we were to believe and confess we'd be safe from God's eternal condemnation to hell. 

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

So as we can see our righteous God hates sin, and He graciously provided us a way out of it. He could strike us dead any moment, yet He chose not to, preferring instead to be patient and just and waiting for people to turn back to Him just like the prodigal son (2 Peter 3:9)

Yet people take it for granted. Indeed, in "civilised" Europe and Australia and America you see it happening. Some professing Christians visit churches only on c ertain occasions, others indulge in the very sins we were told to avoid, yet more do not even believe in the resurrection or the virgin birth of Christ. People make fun of Jesus Christ every day and get away with it. Danish cartoonists made a mockery of the prophet Muhammad, and Islamic clerics are baying for their blood, and boycotting Danish exports.

God desires relationships, not religions. Religion was invented to fill up the spiritual void in peoples' lives which God left for them to find Him, and yet through the lies of Satan people are being deceived to follow worthless and hopeless religions which do not help at all, but they only allow more areas for the devil to steal, destroy and kill.

More and more each day people are being deceived. Even back in Israel, during the period of the kings, God told Jeremiah, "The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end? (Jeremiah 5:31)"

When people reject the truth of the sovereign God, and go after their own fancies, whims and fantasies, they're just ripening themselves for attack by the evil one. How sad is it when people fall into the pit of deception without even knowing it!

Paul comes down strongly on these people, saying," The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:18-32)"

When we reject God and embrace the devil, the devil attacks. Yet when we realise it and confess our misdeeds to God, He is always faithful and just and forgives us (1 John 1:9)! How much longer are we going to take advantage of this by constantly sinnning and falsely repenting, confessing but not doing anything else about it?

God desires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and He doesn't want any insincere stuff!

Joel.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:"
'Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, 
your will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:5-15)

I've been talking about prayer for some posts back and now I'm going to touch on a different point of The Lord's Prayer. When we pray we say "God your will be done", true? But are we merely paying lip service or do we actually mean it?

We pray believing that what God wants He will do, and we will just obey what He wants us to do. True?

But what happens when it is God's will that something unpleasant should happen, e.g. we fail exams, not get into the school of choice, or get retained for the next academic year? Do we pray out against it or do we ask God that His will be done no matter the circumstances? Is it for us to decide how god wants to work in our lives or we want to control our own destiny in order to, perhaps, "serve Him better" or "worship Him more"? We have to figure out what we want and what God wants and realise if there's a conflict or it's similar, so that we do not go against the will of God! The Pharisee Gamaliel observed in Acts 5:38-39 that "if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

God is not a God whom we should dictate that we want everything good. Even Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:21) Are we willing to trust that He's got everything in His hands and we're just mere mortals who don't even know how much hair we have on our heads, let alone the individual length of each one?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)" 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)".

One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:19-21)

Indeed, who are we to go against God's holy, pleasing and perfect will? For God never did say that our life with Him would be easy. It would be tough and yet with His mercy and grace we can complete the journey with Him knowing that He will pull us through when we falter. He was the one who said that "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:33)" And Jesus took up the cross, bearing the most excruciating, humiliating pain for our sake. So did Andrew. Peter, crucified upside down. James put to death with the sword. The Christian way was never easy. Persecution would be rife by the forces of the evil one.

And God promises us that "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)"

This song by Hillsongs United talks about following God all the way, no matter what happens. The chorus goes:

Jesus I believe in you

And I would go

To the ends of the earth (x2)

For you alone are the Son of God

And all the world will see

That you are God (x2)

For if He could give up all He had in heaven for our miserable lives, giving what little we can back to Him would already be pleasing to Him. It's not how much we can do, but what we can do out of the amount that we have. For the rich men gave out of the excesses of their wealth, but the poor lady gave the only 2 copper coins that she had left. And that's what Jesus looks at, ultimately. For the human eye looks at outward appearances, but the LORD looks at the heart!

Are you going to give out of your riches or out of your poverty? A dollar means nothing to a rich man, but to a poor man it presents so many endless opportunities!

Joel.