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Psalm 78:70 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
When others were looking to the sons of Jesse as soldiers, leaders and worthy sons, David was being quietly ignored as the lowly shepherd boy.
Samuel was told to reject each of the older brothers and to even ask for more children when David had been left out of the selection to start with.
Moses was tending to sheep at the time he was called to serve God.
If we are willing servants to start with God will be able to use us without having to fight us for obedience!
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Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
God continues to use the most unlikely people at times throughout history to do some of the most important jobs.
We may think we are not good enough for God or we may think we do not do enough for God but He is the one who knows us from the inside out.
He chooses the people He knows will be able to achieve the tasks He lays out before us. He chose the young shepherd boy called David to be the next king.
He knows what each one of us is capable of and is willing to support us through every step He asks of us.
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Luke 2:6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
God’s timing is far beyond our control or our understanding; whether He wants to use the whole kingdom to make one thing happen or to use one person to change a kingdom, God is in control.
Human’s tend to try and stick to timetables and calendars in order to try and keep things under control; God has time under His control!
We live our finite lives and try to pack in as much as we can into those lives; God controls them.
We may take a long while to plan a surprise for someone, but God can use many centauries because He is in control.
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Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Have you ever wondered why some things happen in life? What would possess Caesar Augustus to do something so labour intensive as to count everyone in the land?
The logistics and money involved in making this all happen would frighten most people into not doing anything like this to start with.
What else would have motivated Mary and Joseph to get up and go to the City of David just as was predicted by the prophets of old?
God uses all people to make sure His will in done at the right time and the right place; just open your eyes and believe!
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Matthew 27:37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
This simple statement upset many of the Jews because they did not want to believe the Messiah could live such an ordinary life, be of no standing in the religious sectors and be placed on a cross along with criminals.
But Pilate was able to see some truth in what Jesus was doing and who He was, giving Him His real title upon His death.
Don’t allow the world to limit our King’s title or His significance. Jesus is our King and we have to do his thing, trusting Him always and giving Him His rightful praise and glory!
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Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
Being sensitive to someone else’s beliefs and allowing their beliefs to change your own seems to be a very fine line sometimes.
I don’t know how many times God has got people to write down the simple fact that He alone is God and there are no other Gods; but man seems to like ignoring the truth!
Whether it is a person carving a statue and then bowing down to the statue instead of God Himself, or whether it is bending the truth to fit in with other people, mankind continues to diminish God’s importance!
It is quite simple really: there is only one God who created this all in the first place.
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1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
Being sensitive to those around you is not something we are all good at! Some of us go ahead and do things and then realise afterward it has upset someone else.
God wants us to think of others and to be sensitive to their beliefs and feelings; upsetting people just because we don’t want to accept their ways is not what Jesus teaches.
Christ showed us we need to uphold the truth. But going against someone just because they are trying to uphold Abraham’s or Moses’ teachings is not what God wants!
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2 Timothy 2:23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
Having awkward questions which bring Christianity into question in our own minds is not new, this has been going on for a long time and our Bibles reference this.
Most of the questions come from people who do not know the answers in the first place and are clinging to what they can get their heads round at the time.
If you don’t understand something about God’s Word then ask people who have been studying it, ask God, ask a friend…
Don’t just listen to someone who thinks they know the answers – they probably don’t!
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Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
How many times has someone asked you a seemingly impossible question? For example: why comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Whilst we may like to think of strange things like this or Schrödinger's cat, they do not do much for our overall spiritual wellbeing!
Finding out exactly where you can from and who your ancestors are may be fun, but is not exactly helpful to us past a certain point.
God has given us reason to live and reason to believe; is that not enough for us to aim for without losing our minds in the wind?
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Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
We may find it hard to keep up with things at times and we may fall behind in our duties from time to time, but God can still do things over and above what we can!
It is God who can do things through us and who can give us the strength to continue far beyond our means.
When we accept Christ back into our lives He changes us from the inside out so He will get the glory He deserves.
If we submit to Him He can use us for His glory every day and all the time; allow Him to work through you today!
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John 6:27 Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Sometimes it is very easy to go out and do work just because it is for the church or because it involves Christians in some way; but is it the right work?
I found it very easy to go off and do paid work because I knew it would be structured and I could just get on and do the work.
But what is God actually calling you out to do? Is it to go and do the paid work and occupy yourself or is it to do something to help Him spread His Word?
Listen to what God is saying in your life to find out what He wants you to do.
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Exodus 5:11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.
Pharaoh did not want to allow the Hebrews to go; they were the servants who worked the best!
When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh to ask him to let the people go he turned things round and made their work even harder than it was before.
Moses was trying to follow God’s wishes and even told Pharaoh what those wishes were.
Pharaoh had to learn the hard way that coming up against God was not the best plan he had!
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Isaiah 3:15 What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor?” Says the Lord God of hosts.
When we use our own judicial systems, class systems or any other sociological systems to put down others we are doing this against God’s wishes.
We may have our judges who judge the people, police who do their duty and other ways of keeping the law; but when that goes against God’s wishes we are walking the wrong way!
God wants us to use the systems we have in place to judge fairly and responsibly.
Keep God in all decisions you make by lifting everything up to Him in prayer before we start.
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Proverbs 1:9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck.
Children who are willing to listen to and obey their parents are looked at more highly than those who do not.
Golden chains and ornaments we place around our necks are meant as a show of beauty and awe. People tend to take notice!
When we stop and listen to God we also tend to stand out from the crowd as people stop and take notice of what we are doing!
The favour we find is often greater than any gold and silver we would like to place around our necks!
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Genesis 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
Taking a ring which is a symbol of your power and authority and giving it to another person is a very public show of your support for them.
We can trace this act throughout history signifying a passing on of authority, power or grace and favour.
If we are willing to forsake all in favour of God and His glory; we may well find we are set in good stead in this world as well.
Standing up for what is right and just goes a long way to encourage others to support you.
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Luke 15:22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet
When the lost son returned home the father did not get any old garment out for him but the best robe and rings and sandals.
When Jesus forgives us it is not a half-hearted forgiveness but total forgiveness and the best there is too!
Christ has given us the best and we just have to come home to Him to receive the gift of Salvation that has already been prepared for us.
It may seem strange that Jesus is waiting for us with everything prepared; this is a demonstration of His love for us!
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Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
The prophet’s words here are a foretelling of the salvation to come for the church. The words ‘spoken’ here being from the church and not from himself.
We do now rejoice we have a Saviour in Christ our Lord. We can be joyful for all He has done for us already.
Our Salvation is not by what we have done but because of what Christ has put on us through His mercy.
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1 John 1:4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
This letter was written to share the truth of Jesus Christ being the Son of God and our eternal Saviour.
It may be an easy thing to hear the Gospel from a book or a letter, but taking in those words often needs a personal touch from the person telling the story.
When you want to tell someone about Christ it is better to be able to tell them from your heart what Christ means to you.
The joy Christ gives you runs so much deeper than watching a good movie or hearing a good story. Christ’s love is truly amazing!
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1 John 2:1 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.
John wrote this letter addressing it to fellow saints in Christ, calling them children because they had not long trusted Christ and the Gospel message rather than trusting only in the law of Moses.
He could not get them to stop all sin because we still have our sin nature; but he encourages them to turn away from sin wherever possible.
It is because Christ has given it all and continues to stand between us and God, smoothing the way that we can look forward to eternal life.
Christ has not given up; He is lifting up!
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Psalm 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
Sin is that dirty blot in our lives which we like to hide from the rest of the world; just as we may try to hide a dirty smudge on our clothes, we try to hide our sin from others.
God can see through any disguise we hold up. God wants to wash us cleaner than we can ourselves.
We may be able to scrape off some things but deep cleansing is God’s domain; he alone can wash us white as snow.
Christ gave His own life, blood, torment and time on the cross so we could be forgiven and brought to Him as clean babes. Trust Him.