What's in it for... what??

I realise that blogspot posts die down these days, and probably a miniscule if not no one actually reads my blog anymore. But that is fine, i will continue to write none the less.

What's in it for me? A common question always asked and sought after, if i dont benefit from any of this, then I will not bother being a part of it.

While it does make sense, i mean if it adds nothing to your life why would you want to invest in it, it can also backlash in a different direction. As always I will speak to brothers and sisters with regards to this who are in the Lord Jesus saved by grace through faith(this includes myself). Do not fall away from assembling together, for by it only can the true meaning of church exist. It isnt a building but a gathering of saints, whom by which are cleansed by the very blood of Christ. I wish to implore to you, don't give up your race, just because some one offended you, for if we are taught to bear with our enemies by the turning of the cheek in Matthew 5:39, what more a brother and sister. We are all growing together, sharpening each other as proverbs 27:17 says iron sharpens iron, the process is not one that is smooth, nor is it one that destroys one another, but through the process of sharpening do we become more better equipped for the glory of our heavenly Father!

I am reminded of a story, of a man who was hired to chop wood, when he was first employed he managed to chop huge amounts of wood with the swing of the axe, but as time went by and years passed, it became less and less, though he was working so hard, he could not match how much he cut in the early days. The employer wondered why and the employee also felt discouraged... the employer then asked the employee to pass him the axe, looking at it he noticed how dull it became, he went to sharpen it and handed it back to the employee and asked him to try again, and once again he was able to chop as much if not more wood than the beggining. 

Sharpening is a painful process but it wont destroy you only make you better. We can go on without sharpening but the effort would be tremendous. So bear with one another in doing so, we will be sharpening one another!

So don't be discouraged when correction arrives, but be not decieved. The word of God is always final, always true so with everything that comes, let it be of the word and not the world. If correction arrives contrary to what the word of God says, do not take it in as sharpening, for that is not sharpening but shattering. This does not mean you argue it till the cows come home, but you may discuss it with the person to find out more, perhaps we have misunderstood what they said, in everything if it is found that it is indeed contrary to the word of God then dimiss it.

Yet after writing all this alas it may seem i was not able to talk about whats in it for me.. perhaps i will save it for another day, if the Lord wills it. But as it is now, if this even encourages one family member or pours cold water on burning coals of anger, then it is much better than whatever i was going to share. Turn and forgive your brother who offended you. Calm down and give glory to God, mend your relationship and continue to sharpen one another.

Blessings,

Chris

Passing moments fleeting time

Days pass and I believe that what I hope for will come to pass.

But each time it gets so vlose, it drifts away like a leaf gliding through the wind.

I am unable to handle the pressures that come falling down, filled with fustration turned to disappointment.

Yet in all this, why is there a sense of security.. a love that holds on, an embracing of which i can feel but not see.

It must be none other than you oh Lord of my life, the conforter of my soul.

You embrace me to let me know you are still there. I still hope in you, you are still my rock of salvation.

At times i wish i can come to see you sooner. At times i contemplate to end my earthly vessel to just arrive at eternity's shore. But i know that is not your desire. You are life and not death, you are lighr and not darkness.

So my soul oh my soul, trust in the Lord. Find Him because surely we will praise Him on the rooftops. Surely He has a better plan. Trust in Him.

Help me this saddened soul, to be lit with your light and love, give me wisdom and knowledge, but more so give me comfort and my needs.. which you oh Lord knew before i even ask. Only you can help. Only you can sustain. Hope is found in you.

Grace, Faith, Obedience

It has dawned upon me, the more I read the more I understand, the more I walk.. That the Christian walk is more than just salvation, yes Salvation through the blood of the Lamb is by far one of the most fundamental truths in our Christian walk, but it's also just the beginning of it all. Through my life as a Christian(basically my whole life) one this is for sure, a personal relationship with God is awesome, and definitely hits the top priority of everything, as I went along, Abba Father actually performed quite a few miracles in my life, healing was the most apparent one, healing for my grandparents when I was very little, healing from my fits, healing for my friends back, my mum's back, oh how wondrous and might is He! :D Seriously He is awesome!

Then I moved on in my walk, before I left UK, I prayed, that I wished to grow deeper in my walk with Him, I would say He granted it a year after I landed, I don't know but I've always had a draw towards God even when I was small. I joined a church that taught about grace, it was wonderful! I never heard anything about grace before this, I knew of it's existence to some extent but never knew the word for it, i learned about prophecy, which He so graciously provides through the Holy Spirit, about the Holy Spirit and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit... It was all good and I was glad, on a personal level during that time I also learned about love, Christ's love in us, Our Father's love displayed through Christ, and how important it is, that it becomes the greatest among Faith and Hope... Love binds things together, it's not weak of fluffy, actually it will come hard on people who are doing wrong in order to save them from a greater pain and to direct us back on the same path, it's not boastful, there in love, there is not a single bit of pride involved, it's all servitude to the Most High, it takes you to a humbleness, a humiliation if you would like to call it that, there's nothing to boast about, when it's all about God and Him using you as a vessel to serve others, it is slow to anger, now this doesn't mean it's slow to discipline what I have learned was it's very patient with people, understanding their situations, and encouraging their growth in the right direction, but as mentioned it's not weak, nor is it slow to correct, but when some one is on the path to becoming more like Christ, it's patient enough to see you through it. I could talk so much about love, it's an on going experience and sometimes you don't walk in it, but love itself, who is God will correct you.

Now Grace, it's what we call merited favour, so that is what I have learned, that it's His grace was that exchange, that enables us to become Children of the most High. His exchange. But it is not the same as Mercy, which I find more and more of the two being mixed together, making it really confusing, and confusion isn't from God. Mercy is the forgiveness of God, As my walk continued, grace became an apparent two edged sword, which it should not have been to start with, as you dwell in the Scriptures, the more you will realize grace is not the license to Sin, but the power to choose not to, but never forget if you do fall, 1 John 2:1New King James Version (NKJV) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Grace is much more than a covering, its the power to do God's amazing work, the power to live our God's plans for you, the power to obey! and Christ has never said you don't have to obey anything I say, just do what you want and some how or another you'll get there. He always called for obedience(I'm not going to qoute anything here, you can read it yourself, the great commission verse after the famous 19.. revelations, Corinthians, Christ's walk itself was an obedience and if we are called to be more like Christ, how can we live in sin and live in Christ at the same time?).

Now I'm not saying you can earn your salvation, there's no way to earn it, God paid for it, through Christ, as a free gift, but I am saying a new life in Christ requires a death to our old life in Sin, Sin has no more power, though we know we struggle in this life between flesh and spirit, but we also know what the scriptures say about this, walking in flesh - destruction, walking in spirit - life. But that transformation happens, and should continue to happen as you accept Christ and become more and more like Him.

I challenge each of you who reads this, and is a brother and sister, to go through the gospel, year after year it's something new and refreshing, old and reminding for me, God doesn't contradict Himself, what He says in the word will ALWAYS, I say again ALWAYS overrule, supersede anything preached on the pulpit yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You will find that the Christian walk is more than just preaching the gospel, more than just grace and having your sins forgiven, it's in fact, what I see it as, and what the scriptures say, and new life in Christ. Where the old has gone and the new has come. Not where the old has stayed and the new covers it like a carpet hiding rubbish. :)

Blessings! Keep the good fight of Faith, as we continue to walk with Christ, ain't going to be all rainbows and butterflies but His Grace through Faith will enable you to go through it all!

-Chris

I thought

I thought...

I thought I am strong, but I am not,
I thought it gets better, but it did not,
I thought so long, but I thought wrong.

I thought about death, about where is it's sting,
I thought I heard from heaven above,
I thought I had strength to carry on,
But I might have thought wrong.

Oh what am I but a mere human,
here today and gone tomorrow,
why must the heart feel so heavy,
as if in deep sorrows, pain and anguish.

There's supposed to be hope,
but a human is so short sighted he cannot see,
oh God my God, I don't know how strong I can be,
help me be strong, help me be strong.

O death where is your sting,
but why is it that you call to me?
My Savior Lord, won't you come and take me?
Rescue me from this earthly vessel.

I am pierced so grievouslym
I thought maybe if this and that,
but all I thought, was wrong.
So now I stand in a place of doubt.

To live or to die?
to prepare all things well.
I thought. But I thought wrong.

Rescue me. Save me. Call out to me. Let me hear your voice, take me and counsel me, make me understand. You are my last hope and my first. don't let me mishear you, my shepherd, my Lord....

A year of turning back to God

I have not written in my blog for a long time now, since July I noticed, but you know God is much more faithful than I am in my writings. I wanted to write about this year, what I hear and see it becoming is a year of turning back to God, it really spells out the word repentance.

As much as it seems a taboo, this word repentance, it's actually an amazing word.. to turn your back to sin, and turn your eyes to God. There's a sense of grace in it, to have this opportunity to even turn back to God, that shows His mercy, whether or not you notice it, it shows His grace, no matter what you have done, He is able to forgive, if you turn your back to sin and turn to Him, to get down on your knee and say, Yes, I declare, you Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Saviour, that I admit I am a sinner and I need you in my life, I thank you Father God for sending your son, my Lord, to die for me, so that I can be set free, from the bondages that hold me down. Amen.

This isn't a prayer only for those who are unbelievers, it can be for those who have fallen away, for those who just fell away. Repentance, is necessary, God is able to work in us a great work, if we allow Him to, He can change the heart, that we constantly battle with, He has faith, and we can have faith in Him, that He will finish anything that He starts in us for His name sake.

Romans 3:21-25New Century Version (NCV)

How God Makes People Right

²¹ But God has a way to make people right with him without the law, and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. ²² God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: ²³ Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, ²⁴ and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. ²⁵ God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 

I like the amplified version for verse 23 in particular:

Romans 3:23Amplified Bible (AMP)

²³ since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,

As good as we are, we have all fallen short, some might think they fell too far, and that there's no hope for them, I say to you who think this way, that is not true! Christ died even for the worst sinner and can change them completely! To you who say I sin a little, but my good out weighs my bad, I say, does breaking one law and keeping the rest make you justifiable not to be arrested and tried by the law? Either way we have fallen short of the glory of God, in His eyes, we are like dirty rugs, yet in His love for us, He sent His son, my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to die for all of us! includes the worste to the best of us. But it all requires this action of repentance, to turn to God, accept His help, and turn away from the evil that was once capturing us like a master to a slave.

There's so much I could write in this one post, but I will leave it as it is for now. I hope this year will be a blessing for you, that you will find peace, that you know God is ever waiting, and when you seek Him you will find Him, that He will help you through this year, ride on His help, and be strengthened beyond all measure!

Many Blessings!
-Chris