Aptiva

We have , Dear Reader, become used to living in a service society. Sadly this means people serve us. We only serve them when we are also paid to do so. This was never the model that Jesus showed. He came as the servant King, freely giving, without demanding in return. Yet posing a question, which instigated response. Those who truly understand his gift of service via sacrifice, change their ways of living. The ties of sins which were upon their life are loosed and gone, and the lifestyles associated with these sins are shunned in favour of God's plans. Yet still the consumerism enters church life, people attend large church's to see what they can have for their family, instead of asking, how can they serve God in the community in where they live. We need as believers to stop being consumers and to start being free service providers, to start in fact being servants, like Jesus. Which are you in your faith?

The man who will not believe in hell must surrender his right to believe in heaven! Many people cannot understand why such a loving God would allow people to go to hell.Why they ask does the father allow his children to burn on the eternal fire, yet the the answer to this conundrum is that those who choose the option of hell have declared themselves not children of God at all. The word of God tells us that hell was created for Satan and his followers, thus any human who chooses to reject God, by default accepts the devil. Therefore the person who throws them on to the fires of hell is actually their father Satan, a being so described in the Bible who would gleefully take his children into pain and destruction along with him. To avoid the obvious conclusion, many deny that hell even exists. Yet the word of God is very clear, if one would acknowledge Heaven is a place which one can reside, by comparison the opposite must also be true. Heaven without Hell, would be a heaven devoid of just

We do Injustice to the gospel when we claim that we understand perfectly the living God. To many so-called Bible teachers often claim infallibility when interpreted the Word of God. The Bible reveals to us in some small measure the truth about an eternal and ever living God.It cannot contain all there is to know about God, it can tell and explain to you, but truthfully only when we meet God himself can it be understood. Many at this point would think I am meaning about death, however I do not. The Bible explains to us that upon admission of our own guilt and acceptance of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross, the promised holy spirit will come to dwell within us physically. It is his presence which allows us to grasp the truth of who God really is, it is he who brings us into deep relationship with the Father and the Son. It is he also who teaches us with humility, that what is introduced in the Bible is merely the surface.it is also he who explains to us that many things revealed

The bible records many messages from God, via His prophets, to His people. Many of these messages are about future events, which will directly or indirectly affect God's chosen people. They call for a large dose of trust on the part of the people of God. Many imply , like Jeremiah, that the present will quickly get worse, but will eventually be restored. This restoration however will be beyond the lifetime of Jeremiah's listeners. How then did they react to this message? Badly. Few wish to hear of doom and destruction, less wish to go through it, and even less will thank you for telling them. Yet here lies the challenge, do we trust God? The same warnings carried by Jeremiah are pertinent today, put not your trust in things of this world, but instead turn to the spiritual, to God and seek His face. Yet how many of us are dong this, in the west we spend many hours earning money, or storing it for when we can't, how much trust are we placing in our own endeavours, and how muc

When reading the Bible is often easy to fall into the trap that we cannot do the things that Jesus the Christ did. The truth is the exact opposite. The same power and authority and Spirit that he used to accomplish the work of God the Father is available to us as promised by Jesus upon his resurrection. Yet even when we realise this there exists a second pitfall that awaits the immature Christian. Most desire that works that they do to be grandiose affair well noticed by man and God . However, the less well-informed about Christ's life seemed continually miss the fact that the bulk of what Jesus did was very self-effacing, quiet, and done with complete humility to God the Father's will. In fact it was in the smallest things that Jesus did that we see his greatness coming out.How he was obedient to his earthly parents . How he managed a business and paid for his family to live. How he resisted his family's desire to manipulate him. How he found time to be with God the Father

Most of us develop our Christianity along the line of our temperament, not along the line of God. Then we use the excuse that our behaviour is just because of our character. "I'm sorry, I'm just and outspoken person", we say after yet another inappropriate comment, or "I'm just built that way" after another burst of anger. Yet these traits we so easily define as "part of our character", have no place in being used as an excuse to ignore God's word, if we do then we have in fact idolised our self. Who we like to think we are has become more important than who God is calling us to be.Self worship is the most deadly form idolatry , as it plays on our desire to justify sin as something to be proud of.

God set the Jewish nation a practical expression of his mercy and grace, every seven years freedom for Jewish slaves, and every 50 years, freedom for the land. Sadly the y never really seemed to practice it. Maybe if they had they would have better understood the maker of this law, and what it taught about his character. Setting things free is what God is about, yet who on this world would rescue a fawn of the forest , who had hurt it's leg, nurse it carefully back to full health, then take it to the wolves den, and in full sight of the pack, release the hapless doe. This is why, when God saves us, He wants to place us back healthy yet away from the tearing down of the evil one. It is why God tells us to move our associates and change our ways, so that we can be returned without fear of imminent attack, until we have adjusted to our new freedom, and then and only allow us to face the enemy, but to do so with his full armour. What is your life needs a jubilee?

"The central thing about the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship to Himself, not public usefulness to men." We run hither and thither, like ants on some well aimed, but ultimately pointless mission. Until, finally when our last curtain call is upon us, we discover, like a bad golfer, that we have been playing the ball towards the wrong hole on the course, all our skill and effort leads to nothing, for we have aimed at the wrong thing. "he with the most toys wins", says one bumper sticker, "wrong" says God. "He who knows the Son of God and obeys with love wins". The world is aiming for Hell, and off there in a hurry. Yet Christians fall for this rush of life, refusing to plan into their time, reflection, so essential for the soul. Reflection helps answer the "why" of life, giving context and framing to an otherwise frenetic life. Are you to much in a rush?

"True faith drops its letter in the post office box and lets it go. Distrust holds onto a corner of it and wonders why the answer never comes." Faith has failed to be all that it can. Until we are willing to totally surrender to the person or object we claim to place our faith within. A person may have faith that the rope will hold their weight, but only those who actually take the jump prove this statement to be true. Too often people of "faith"are in fact very far from the mark. Replacing true faith with estimated risk. Having backup plans in place, in case their faith was misplaced. The Western world is very good at holding onto that corner of the letter of faith. The Christ told people that whoever was to follow him was to give up everything to make sure he was placed at the primary position within their life. Anyone who failed to do this, he said was not worthy of him. We place our faith in the Christ, trusting that the promises he made are true. Have you let

One person wrote about Jesus, that ..."He had nowhere to lay His head, and we have made poetry out of His poverty while being extremely careful not to share it." In this western world, the need for money has become overwhelming, we are bombarded by things to buy with it, ways of making more with it, and presented with fears about what would happen if we didn't have enough of it. Existing within such an atmosphere and still maintaining perspective is not easy. I read recently, that one of the richest men in the country was depressed as his fortune had fallen by over 2 billion, he still twice that much left, but felt a failure. When your God is money, then your natural enemy is poverty, and all your efforts are placed to defeating this, your self esteem is wrapped in this battle, he was losing his! When Jesus is recognised as God, then the natural enemy is Satan, and all your efforts will be put into serving Jesus and avoiding the pitfalls of the Satan. One such pitfall i

We as humans often give into temptation. We see it as a short cut to our own desires. The problem is this can corrupt our view of actions. Many can take an action and justify it as a good thing. However sadly temptation yielded is lust deified. The issue this leaves us with is clouded judgement, we no longer can be trusted to know on our own accord what is right. Jesus was tempted, however he never succumbed. This is a major difference between us and him. The other is that he faced a greater temptation than we ever have. For every temptation to which we yielded, there was more of it in reserve for us to face. Only Jesus faced the full measure of temptation and overcame. Thus only Jesus has a view of purity about actions and only he can therefore instruct others as to the standards of life. Finally temptation never ceases, if you overcome one, another is presented, this is humanity living in a fallen world. We should not concern ourselves, for Jesus gives instructions on how to deal wi

"Motive imparts moral quality, and without a holy motive there cannot be a holy act": Those who have come to the realisation that they have no inherent quality to commend themselves to a holy God, have come to the position Jesus describes as "poor in Spirt". This becomes a springboard for all other learning. Further revelation instructs us that all actions done without God being the centre of that action, are actions of selfishness, not ones of glorification of God. Thus a cup of water can be given to a thirsty person, while a beneficial act, it is not necessarily a holy one. It depends on the motive of the giver. All our actions, and therefore our life are eventually revealed by this standard, things done for the glory of God, and things done for our own. What then is your motive?

Dear Reader, we often wonder at the way our life seems to turn and twist. In our well organised plans, we suddenly find disease or debt, accident or betrayal, and it brings us to the reasonably question of why? Have i done wrong? , or why have you allowed someone else to to do this to me? We can keep many thinking of many things to ask God, yet do we truly seek an answer? Oswald chambers says this "If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across" Maybe this is the answer, we committed, by accepting the salvation the cross offered, to serving God in all his ways, we accepted to be "willing putty in His hands". Are you still willing to be that putty, maybe we need to ask "why" less often and ask "how can you use

There is dear reader a perception that one can exist inside of this life without affecting another person. This view, I believe comes more out of hope that actual truth. In its hope we can act with impunity. Safe in the belief that nothing we do actually causes anybody else any problems. Yet in truth, we must admit that we are part of the body politic. Whatever I do brings change and affect to other people. I am part of all that I have met, and they are part of me. Then hundreds of thousands, I have never met have been changed because I exist. Like the gravitational forces, which exist upon all bodies, my existence brings change to the direction and life of others. I leave things behind in other people's lives, and I gain from them in return. Obviously with many this influence may be small and somewhat insignificant, but with some very powerful. So, dear reader, since your life does affect another person. I put it to you, we are responsible to live our lives as best for other peopl

"Motive imparts moral quality, and without a holy motive there cannot be a holy act": Those who have come to the realisation that they have no inherent quality to commend themselves to a holy God, have come to the position Jesus describes as "poor in Spirt". This becomes a springboard for all other learning. Further revelation instructs us that all actions done without God being the centre of that action, are actions of selfishness, not ones of glorification of God. Thus a cup of water can be given to a thirsty person, while a beneficial act, it is not necessarily a holy one. It depends on the motive of the giver. All our actions, and therefore our life are eventually revealed by this standard, things done for the glory of God, and things done for our own. What then is your motive?

"The sons of light have an overwhelming obligation to the children of darkness. The lighthouse keeper dare not compromise with the storm; neither dare the light become friendly with the darkness." I wonder how many of us would trust a lighthouse which demonstrated that it was only working part of the time. Reliability to give the same consistent message is at the base foundation of being able to trust that the lighthouse will do the job it was built to do. Each and every day you set out to sea, you rely and have faith that the lighthouse will be there doing it's job warning you away from the treacherous parts of the waters. Without this protection your own life is put at risk. In a world which claims at present that "absolute truth" is a thing of the past, those who place themselves as followers of the living Christ, will disagree with the everyday majority view and firmly believe that "absolute truth" not only is knowable but essential for life. And

There are, dear reader, many copies of an original masterpiece found throughout the world. However their owners are aware of this copy. It is the forgery which causes concern in life. No one wants to find that they have a forgery of a painting instead of the original. The revelation only brings with it pain and misery. The owner is unlikely to thank you for revealing this loss to them. The same is true for human traits. There are many forgeries of love passing themselves off as the original, however that original is only owned by the creator himself and his followers who he bestows it upon, though his Holy Spirit. All others are poor copies and we would do well to recognise them as such. Copies are fine, for they remind us an original exists and we must seek it. Forgeries are not as they lead us to complacency. Have your dear reader sought the original?

Sometimes Dear Reader, another's thought is far more profound than one's own.IN this case it is borrowed. POVERTY: Learning to Give Ourselves. We always seem to be better at giving then becoming. We can give love even when we are not intrinsically loving. We can be generous even when we are not truly compassionate. We can be concerned about others and yet essentially still live for ourselves. We can be giving to the poor and yet withhold the very thing they most urgently seek: companionship in the journey. Being poor is what Jesus invites us to, and that is much, much harder than serving the poor. If we wish to journey with the poor, we need to become poor ourselves - poor for the sake of the gospel and poor for the sake of our neighbour. This poverty does not only mean that we voluntarily lay aside our time, our power, and our priorities in order to serve others. At a deeper level, it means that we discover our own poverty, weakness, and brokenness and can therefore

Many times Dear Reader, we mistake travelling in a similar direction for travelling together. For the greater part this oversight causes no pain when discovered, for the consequences of such discovery are small. However, when those travelling have placed responsibility and burden on one another, becoming reliant so to speak, a departing of the ways becomes more painful. Yet this world sadly, encourages a lifestyle which is all about the individual, and not about the creator. You see Dear Reader, the creator teaches us to look beyond our self , to follow His ways is to accept we are the least important in the equation, and when we travel, we serve not ourselves and our desires, but His. Yet even this is oft misunderstood, because of the order in which we serve. We seem to think that serving our creator is a licence for never serving a human, while in fact the creator is very direct in His teaching. In this world he has appointed leaders whose job is to care and direct, and whose burden

There is, dear reader, a nagging problem which all of us have to deal with! Who has the right to dispense justice? We understand that all human beings have fallen short in some way and demonstrate their life is not perfect. This leads us to the not unreasonable conclusion that not one person is able to cast judgement upon another. And while we are able to accept the judgement of others in the theoretical, things change greatly when it comes to the practical. In fact, dear reader, only true justice would be completed if the judge themselves had never committed a crime, or had never broken the law in any way. For if the judge who stood before us had faced every temptation we had faced but had overcome those temptations with success. Had been presented with every opportunity to break the law, but had rejected them all. Then the judge themselves does have the right to fairly judge others. Where however with you find this judge?. This is the person, who the Bible describes as Jesus Christ.

There is dear reader a concept called "fear of the King" however, we need to understand what this means. Many people come to understand this concept as a fear that the king himself will act unjustly or unwisely, and so we cannot trust ourselves to him. This however is not the meaning, the person who has true fear of the King understands that the King has a judicial right to apply justice to the life of that person, in effect, the King can bring punishment for wrongdoings of a person's life. Thus the king should be a feared figure, because they represent justice within the kingdom. Furthermore, this view of the king should bring comfort, for those that obey the law appreciate that it is there. Take dear reader a random breath tests conducted by the police during Christmas time. Only those who have exceeded the alcoholic content allowed by the law would fear these things. Those who are driving within legal limits appreciate that these random breath tests bring safety to the

In our thought Dear Reader about Kings, we must turn our very minds to the question, what type of Kingdom do we desire them to rule. How would this kingdom manifest itself. In the great mythological kingdom of King Arthur and his knights, this story would most often portray the knights as men who would willingly give their lives to the benefit of the kingdom in which they serve. In fact, their very presence brings order to the kingdom, one act of justice on the part of a Knight of the order of the roundtable will in turn promote many acts of justice by others who watch them. Conversely, when one of the knights acted in a selfish manner than that selfish act promoted selfishness with other people. We do not live in a kingdom which is perfect, that is something which is yet to come. Yet we know of the kingdom we wish to live in. The question we should ask is are we living like knights of this kingdom?

It is apparent, dear reader, in most continents of the world kings and queens are not what they once used to be. Where once total power rested in their hands. Many now are just figure heads of past glories. Given the many atrocities which had been carried out under the banner of this king or that Queen, it is not unreasonable to be in the situation we are presently residing. Yet the limiting of absolute power from the former sovereigns of this world has not prevented the abuse they used to carry out from being visited upon us by others. Sadly, however, the opposite is not always true, for many leaders of their countries were worthwhile men and women, who took their role of King and Queen with such seriousness that their entire lives were dedicated to the furtherance of the people under them. The monarchy indeed became the true Shepherd. Sadly with the lessening of the monarchs power the ability to protect the flock has also gone. Our mistake can come when we apply our knowledge of huma

We have dear reader, come to live in an age which defines our lives as winners or losers. Those that have much money, power or authority are winnners, those who do not are losers. While many might deny this at a verbal level, it's reinforcement throughout society is overwhelming. Our responsibility is not to overthrow the way society operates, but merely how we operate within it. For in dealing with the creator god, we can apply the same fallen principles to him. If we have everything we want, if we always seem to end up on top, God is obviously blessing us and we are in his will. If things go against us, obviously God is against us. The problem with this mentality of thinking is it is based purely around the individual's life. In fact, God is so much bigger than this. Those who've come to have a saving relationship with the creator god have come to understand that their life exists solely to glorify his name. So if the name of Jesus will be raised higher by financial bless

There is the reader a famous story about a farmer who sees a storm coming , as he looks through his kitchen window. His concern grows when he sees a flight of swallows, who will be taken up by the storm and badly hurt. His concern leads him to action, he steps outside and opens up his barn doors and attempts to lead the swallows into the safety of the barn so they can ride out the storm. His efforts are futile as the swallows fear the farmer, and everything he does to try and make them go one way only succeeds in driving them further away. In frustration, he returns to his original position, as he sits and thinks about the problem. He wishes that he could become a swallow, go out to the birds outside and lead them personally to the safe space within the barn. It is at this point Dear reader that the farmer finally comes to realise in his own mind, who Jesus Christ really was, and understand what Jesus Christ was trying to do whilst on earth. Dear reader, will you enter the barn?

There are, dear reader, many things to get people angry about religion. Yet, I wonder if we consistently sat down and thought about things, would we be willing to honestly admit that the thing which ultimately irks us most is that religion seemed to tell us what to do. Yet my argument dear reader it is that Christianity is different, yet again from all other religions, which helps define it as a faith. Christianity is less concerned about what you do, but all about its concern with who you are. It is this very core being that Christianity reaches out to, touches and instantly alienates. For the message of Christianity comes from a holy God, and his Holiness when it interacts with us immediately shows to us how fallen we are. Yet it is at this point that we can differentiate ourselves from animals, an animal will work by instinct only, whilst humans have the ability to consider and after consideration, make a different choice. Thus, when the holiness of God touches us and all of us rea

There are many different types of hero, dear reader. Yet, I argue the greatest one of these, is the hero who has considered all the options before they make their choice yet go ahead with their choice and save others at sacrifice of their own life. Many people have done heroic things in split-second decisions, it reveals the truth about their character and should be honoured by us all. Yet still more amazing, are the ones who have had time to reflect upon their decision before they make them. Mothers who refuse to accept treatment, because it may harm their growing child inside them. Parents who refuse food, so they can give more to their youngsters. Fathers who accept punishment for their son's mistakes. All of these show that they consider the other people more important than themselves. The Christian faith tells of a time when its main character,the person of Jesus finds himself in a garden called Gethsemane. He has at this time, the ability to choose to go forward with the plan

There are, dear reader, many copies of an original masterpiece found throughout the world .Yet while each copy can bring much pleasure to its individual owner or viewer, it's value, rightly so, is always judged less than the original itself. Even more confusingly, there exists artists of such skill in the world that they can copy an original masterpiece to such seemingly perfect brushstroke that it takes an expert to be able to differentiate their work from the original. There can be only one masterpiece, the rest are all copies or imitations. While those who have known copies can take great pleasure from this, the person who thinks They have a masterpiece yet suddenly discovers they have a forgery, has a very different view on the work they now own. Copies are useful only when they are recognised as copies, when mistaken for the original thing they can cause many problems. The same illustration can be applied to our spiritual life, the faith of Christianity tells about the relatio

There is dear reader a misnomer in this world . The people labour under the misperception that all religions of the world are striving towards the same goal and ultimately will teach the same thing. Yet any cursory look at this will show that the starting points of most religions are so radically different from one another that they cannot be comparable. The Problem people face, is this, we think that even though one person catches a train. Another rides a bike , and the third decides to walk they will eventually, given enough time, end up in the same destination. Regardless of where they started from. The problem with this is that we have failed to realise these three travellers are on completely different continents, from one another. These continents are completely unconnected, and in fact, are separated from one another. Thus, no amount of travel by train by a bike or by walking would allow them to cross the ocean, which separates them all. They could travel for a lifetime by thei

Many of us have dear reader, experienced the interesting phenomenon and of trying to tune in our radio. As the machine squeaks and squawks at us as bits of noise are combined with static garbled speech and the occasional recognisable celebrity we finally tune in to the station we are seeking. Yet it only needs a slight knock of the machine to find the frequency we so clearly heard before now come across as such a noisy mess. At this stage we need to re-tune the radio back into what it originally was tuned to. Our life is very similar to this as well, it only needs one knock to find us off balance, and the clear messages we used to hear from the creator being now becomes just garbled mess. It is at this point dear reader that wisdom would say slow down and take the time to re-tune and listen to to the message he is giving to us. So, dear reader have you tune your radio?