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Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Imagine telling someone that you are going to be with them forever.
Now you may think this is something we will all say when we get married or express our love for another; but living that truth is something different.
We can do our best to be there and love and support, but when it comes down to it, we fail at some stage. Not because we want to fail, but because we are human and we do fail.
God does not have that problem! The Holy Spirit will be and is with us from the moment we invite Him in! Awesome or what!
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2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
Have you ever wondered why this should talk about the Lord being with our spirit?
When Christ changes us, He changes our spirit. Our souls are us, the part of us that defines us through our minds, emotions and will.
God changes the part of us that defines our relationship with Him; if we have God with our spirits, we are a new being because God cannot accept sin.
This does not mean we stop sinning because we still sin through our souls even if the spirit has been changed.
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Luke 2:3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Can you imagine the uproar if everyone had to go back to their birthplace to get taxed and accounted for?
How many planes would be needed to ferry the people back and forth so they could all spend Christmas at the place of their birth?
I can’t imagine they were too pleased back when Jesus was born either; but they obeyed the rules of the kings.
Do we have that sort of respect for authority nowadays? Do we have that sort of respect for God?
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Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive
How often do you realise you are about to do something wrong and yet still go ahead with it, thinking that it will be OK?
God wants us to stop and think about what we are doing and then to turn away from those evil things. If we know they are not good then we need to stop them before they take over our life!
We all do struggle at times, but God is good and wants to help us overcome those times; but we need to ask for the help and not just expect Him to do it all.
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Luke 15:1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.
Can you imagine the uproar at this first sight? Here is Jesus, the Messiah who came for the people of Israel, allowing all the people they rejected to come to Him!
We get jealous or upset when our enemies come to be with our friends just as the people of Israel were getting upset here… why?
Because we judge other people and think they are not worthy of our love and support!
Jesus was perfectly right to judge, but took time for people to be given a chance before He would judge. How much time do we take before judging?
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Matthew 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Did I not say it could be difficult? Well, turning your life around may well have to start with changes to your attitude towards others…
Loving those that hate and despise you is difficult and hard work; but that is the pointer toward being blameless or perfect.
We may not be perfect by simply loving our enemies, but we make a very big difference to our lives and to their lives when we do turn round and befriend them!
Start by turning your walk round, holding on to God’s hands firmly and walking with Him, step by step…
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Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Have you ever asked yourself how you could turn your life around when you are so caught up in trouble?
The answer is easy, but the act of turning round may well be very difficult for you.
Do not despair though because God wants you to walk with Him so that turning around can be easy.
When we place our hands in God’s hands and allow Him to lead us around, we will walk properly!
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Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was perfect and upright, and one who feared God and turned aside from evil.
How do you think people would describe you if they had to do so in one sentence? Would it be anywhere close to this description of Job?
I know my description would not be like this, but I hope that others would describe me as being close to God!
God gives us our lives to live and we have a choice as to how we live them. He gives us guidance and encouragement to live those lives close to Him and with Him.
It is our choice. Choose well.
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Psalm 37:37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.
None of us is perfect or blameless when it comes down to it, but have you ever noticed that the people who do things the right way normally are a lot more at peace with themselves?
By continually working against the system we build up an angst which will not allow us to enjoy the peace that God would like us to have.
When we work with God and with His people, we can enjoy that peace He has designated for us.
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Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
One of the things you may struggle with is working out whether you have to do anything in order to gain this great reward from God in heaven… until you trust Him and He shows you the answer!
God does not require us to work hard in order to gain this reward; it is a gift from Him and is not a reward for working hard but for believing in Him.
Many people before us have had to endure many hardships because of their belief in God; we should expect some hardships to come our way when we say that we do believe.
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1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always
You may be asking yourself how you could ever rejoice when bad things are happening to you.
You may look back on a very bad part of your life and wonder how anyone could ever rejoice at that point…
But look at this rejoicing from a spiritual point of view instead of the physical and you get a different picture – one where we always can rejoice for what Christ has done in our lives.
I find it easy to rejoice in Christ and I hope you will now too!
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Ecclesiastes 2:10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my reward from all my labour.
Can you imagine what it would be like to have as much money as you could ever imagine? What would you actually do with it all?
What about working so hard that you actually accomplished all you set out to do? What would be the cost of having to work that hard?
We like to think that we could do more, have more, spend more, enjoy more, but when it comes down to it, the only rewards we see for all the stuff we do is what we get out of it.
If we want more than that then we need to trust God who can supply more than the physical!
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Solomon 2:15 Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.
Foxes may look beautiful, especially baby fox cubs, but they are very mischievous creatures and sly to go with it.
There are going to be those who run amongst us in the same manner: they will look beautiful but they will be mischievous and lead us away from God.
Be very wary of the people who say things which do not agree with God’s Word because they are the foxes in our lives.
Trust God to lead and not man.
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Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
One of the worst feelings we can have is when someone throws doubt into our minds and makes us doubt something we have believed in for a long time.
This is why it can be hard to get through to some people about the Gospel – because they have believed a lie for so long and trust in that lie.
But being able to open someone’s eyes and ears to the truth is very rewarding as they realise the truth for themselves.
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Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
God made the Sabbath for us and for a reason. He did not have some spare time to take a day off; God started the Sabbath for our good.
Working your socks off to try and make a success of your business or to earn more money is not going to be good for your health; it may fill your pockets but at the cost of your wellbeing!
God knows this and so made the Sabbath so we would take time off to be closer to Him. He did not make it just so we would take time off but so we would enjoy our time off with Him!
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Luke 13:15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?
Where do you draw the line about what you do or do not do on your day or rest? I know many church leaders cannot rest on Sundays because they are so busy with organising services and things so they should be taking another day off somewhere.
God has given us 6 days in which to do what needs to be done with another day as a day of rest. But that does not mean life coming to an end every week!
We need to continue living and allowing people to see that we love God and serve Him, even on our day of rest.
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Mark 3:5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
Each time Jesus faced the religious crowd, this time in the synagogue, He had to contend with them and their version of the laws.
Jesus wants us to know His law but to apply it properly into our lives; this is why He personally said that the most important laws were to love God and people.
Not doing something just because someone else says it is frowned upon does not make it right. Following God and His ways is what we should be focusing on.
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Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.
The Lord’s grace and mercy go far beyond what we can imagine and certainly do not stop where ours fail and crumble!
He puts up with a heck of a lot from us; which is in itself a sign of just how gracious and merciful He is.
He takes great pity on those who do not yet know Him and sends out His messengers far and wide to proclaim the Gospel.
If you are being asked to do that, make sure you answer God’s calling…
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Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
How many times have you given to a beggar on the street, or given to a homeless person? If you run out of fingers then you have done well compared to most of the world!
It is a sad thing we find when we compare ourselves to God and His ways; we are nothing like Him!
But never let that put you off because we are all still learning to live with God within us.
Let us never forget our enemies either because that are in need just as we are…
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Leviticus 25:35 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
What would it be like to have love and respect in every household in your family? I’m not just talking about the ones you know and love but the ones who fight and don’t seem to care!
God wanted people to be able to live with each other and not against each other. He wanted His people to behave as one big, trusting and respectful family.
It did not mean they all had to agree, but that they would be respectful and uphold God’s rules!
Just one aspect would be looking out for each other at all times!