Holy Spirit

What are you doing with God’s invitation?

3rd quarter of 16th century

3rd quarter of 16th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is possible to learn much about God’s invitation and never respond to it personally. Even so, His invitation is clear and nonnegotiable. In the book of Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus makes a very generous offer that is hard to resist. However, many of us turn our backs and walk away.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

He is very specific in what He asks and equally clear in what He offers. The choice is up to you. He gives you all, and you give Him all. He requires nothing more or nothing less.

Isn’t it amazing that God leaves the choice to you? Let’ think about it for a minute….There are many things in life you cannot choose. You cannot, for example,  choose the weather. You cannot control the economy and you cannot choose whether you are fitted with big nose or small ears or a lot of hair. You cannot even choose how people respond to you.

However, when it comes to life after death, you are given a choice. You can choose where you want to spend eternity–heaven or hell. God leaves the big choice and the crucial decision to you. The ball is in your court and you are free to do whatever you want with it.

No doubt you have made some bad decisions in life. You may have chosen to skip college to hang with the boys. You may have chosen the wrong career or even an incompatible spouse. Now your past is haunting you, and you wish you could turn back the hand of time. You wish you had a chance to make up for the bad decisions you have made during the past.

God has provided a way out for you. He wants you to know that it doesn’t matter how tattered your past has been, with Him your future is spotless. One good decision for eternity offsets a million bad ones on earth. The choice is yours.

What are you doing with God’s invitation? You can either accept it, or reject it.

Stop Grumbling Among Yourselves! Jesus Is The Bread Of Life

Bread

Bread (Photo credit: ulterior epicure)

Jesus makes an astonishing statement when He declares: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will; is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:35-40).

When the teachers of the law heard this they began to grumble, “. . . “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (John 6:42). But Jesus was talking about the spiritual Bread that nourishes the soul.

 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.  It is written in the Prophets: ‘they will all be taught by God. ‘Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.  No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.  Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 43-51).

When we think of bread, we think of something that accompanies a meal, not something that is the meal as Jesus indicates.

When Jesus tells us that He is the bread of life, He is also telling us that we will never hunger again. It means that Jesus is enough! When we come to Him and partake of His life, we will never hunger after another savior to redeem us; we will never hunger after another teacher to instruct us.

Jesus’ peace is enough, His presence is enough, His fellowship is enough; His atonement is enough, His Lordship is enough, His Kingdom is enough, His grace is enough, His mercy is enough, and His love is enough. He is the bread of life.

In Christ You Have Everything

Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 4-10).

Jesus Christ is above everything, before everything, and ahead of everything in your life, in this world, and in this universe. Before you ever sinned, He was already your redeemer, waiting for you to come to Him. When you had your first revelation of God, it was Christ’s image that you beheld.

Christ is your hope of the resurrection. And because He has already experienced it, He has made it possible for you to experience it as well.

Are you empty?

Christ is your fullness

Are you weak?

He is your strength

Are you needy?

He is your supply

Are you confused?

He is your wisdom

Are you seeking?

He is your destination

Are you anxious?

He is your peace

Are you alone?

He is your companion

In Christ you have much more than you could ever imagined—everything!

How Genuine are you? Do You Make empty Promises?

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus’ description of himself “I am the Good Shepherd” (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: “To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
and they love him who speaks what is right., (Proverbs 16:13).

The politician promised so many wonderful things. His constituents wanted to put their faith in him. They kept hoping someone would come along who cared about their plight. Every time new promises had been made, the hopes of the people soared. Each time, though, their hopes were dashed to the ground, and the great talk dissolved into the wind. This time they hoped it would be different. They had to hold onto something. Promises were the best they could find. If even half the talk resulted in action, they would be a great deal better off than they were now.

Talk without action can be destructive. If we make a promise, we must be committed to following through. Jesus told the people of his day that they should not swear, because when they did not do what they said, it was a sin.

But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one (Matthew 5:34-37).

It is good for us to commit ourselves to helping other people, but when we make empty promises, we are being cruel and unloving. It is through actions, not mere words that we show how much we care. Actions speak louder than words, and action done in love speak the truth of Christ in our lives. Besides, it has been said that one of the highest accolades is the comment, “if he says so, you can take it to the bank.”

Let us always strive to follow the example of Christ, saving our words until we are ready to act.

Do you listen to your father’s instruction?

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. (Proverbs 13:1).

It seemed like his father was always picking on him about something. “Do this.” “Do that.” There was never a time when he left him alone. Sometimes the boy thought it would have been better if he did not have a father. He could not get away with anything, and if he was caught doing something he was not supposed to, his old man was on his back in a flash. It was not fair.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6)

But when the boy grew up and had a family of his own, he realized that his father had kept after him to teach him how to live properly. He wished there were some way to thank his father; but he decided the best way was to be a good father to his own kids.

Often we scorn instruction and rebuke because it isn’t what we want to hear. But there comes a time when we are glad that we had instruction. The words come echoing back to us, and we begin at long last, to understand why they were offered. Too often we reject the words without actually paying attention to them. We need to listen to instruction no matter how much we do not want to hear it. It takes maturity to realize that others may know what is best for us.

Proverbs 4:20-27

My children, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.