Aptiva

Dear Reader, we may find our selves at a low ebb. Our lives have become shrunken, and small. We find the world and his wife have turned against us, and all about is only pain and suffering. It is right and proper to call out to the maker of the universe and ask why? Time and time again the psalmist wrote of their anguish, hurt and pain to the God they assumed cared for them, they held nothing back, they expressed their sorrows and sufferings. Yet within these Psalms, the authors also did one other thing, they placed their sorrows and sufferings in the hands of God, and waited for him to redeem the suffering and use it for His own and our own good. Suffering released, can be redeemed, suffering held tightly too, cannot. Many Dear Reader, ask why, but few then trust to listen for the answer. In your suffering Dear Reader, do you wait upon the Lord?

Dear Reader, too many are in bondage. Some to physical ailments, not of their own making, others to drink, drugs or similar things. Some simply to ways of thinking. We would find it strange to discover one who had a physical ailment unwilling to accept care and cure from those able to offer it. We watch with sadness as many held by drugs will not and sometime cannot call out for help. Yet for those held by ways of thinking, they have a simply resolution, Ask!. If you do not understand something, ask. If any would seek knowledge, and knowledge of God and from God, one merely needs to ask. Yet many are scared, falling to a false sense of pride, or concept of being ridiculed. Yet we must be better than this. Doctors do not mock the sick, and ministers of the word will not abuse those seeking. The desire to add knowledge for the better understanding of God is the highest of motives. Take courage Dear Reader and ask!

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. • Author: Albert Einstein (1879-1955) There is Dear Reader great pressure upon us in this word to conform to a certain type of thinking. Often this pressure reveals itself in the goal to prevent us thinking at all. From young girls who are told via subtle and not so subtle advertising what body shape they should be. To those who have faith in Jesus who are told to define love as "approving every action that any person desires to do". Yet to this pressure upon us we do have a response. We can think. We can think with informed revelation from Christ and through Christ. We can answer the obvious pressure of advertising, by acknowledging that we all come in every shape and size and should appreciate them all. To the simply incorrect. By correctly defining Love: Which we know approves of what is good, and steers us away from that which is harmfu

There is Dear Reader some discussion about when and how the sabbath should be observed. However one writer concludes Man is accountable to his Creator for what was given him in his creation. The moral law of God for all of mankind for all of time is whatever man is morally committed to do by virtue of the nature of his creation and by virtue of his relationship to his Creator. Man was made to bear the image of God in all that man does. If he bears the image of God as God has designed and commanded, man will be in full conformity to the moral law of God for all of mankind for all of time. In other words, man was made for the moral law. But Jesus said that man was not made for the Sabbath day. Therefore, the Sabbath day cannot be moral law. There is wisdom in these words, even without reference to the sabbath. If one were to base one's life around seeking to honour this proposition one would logically come to the conclusion that we have failed in our task, and thus need something, or

Some Dear Reader, can have trouble working within basic boundaries. They are for ever chasing their tail so to speak. Yet others can be as organised and efficient as is humanly possible. Yet both may have wrong priorities. The first individual sometimes simply claim they cannot fit God's agenda into their disorganised lives, the second is so efficient they cannot see the sense of adding a spiritual dimension. Yet God reveals a basic truth, with Jesus first in our lives, all else becomes more balanced and fruitful. The Shalom of God brings blessing to those things which He approves of, and the ability to rid of us of the things He does not. The result is the things of God grow and the things not of Him fade. Disorganisation can move to control and efficiency can move to being effective. Yet the first step is choosing to give God priority. Dear Reader will you take this step?

Dear Reader, a problem can exist in our supposed communities of faith, this is that the average church has so established itself organizationally and financially that God is simply not necessary to it. It is no wonder that we as believers suffer from lack of relationship with our creator when we add large amounts of money into the mix. The ability to provide for ourself can preclude the necessity to rely upon our Father in heaven. It is no wonder Jesus said we cannot serve both God and money I wonder Dear Reader, which is your master?

Dear Reader, many accept Jesus as marvellous teacher, but fail to accept his divinity.Others however fail to understand that his incarnation of earth as a human was a permanent decision the Christ took. Not only is Jesus God, but also man. Forever. This choice was done for love of His creation, to achieve what was needed for our benefit. Another blogger teaches this far better than I , at http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/jesus-is-still-human Yet the hope this brings, the awe it inspires comes with a task we must face. To love our God and His fellow humans in the same manner as He. Are you loving to humanity?

There is Dear Reader, a deep well oft untapped which lies in our sphere of influence. It is a Christ centred community of faith, what some call a church. The church is synergy in action, it is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Being part of a community of faith is by far the most visible practical and obedient step that a follower of Christ can make. It acknowledges within their life that the kingdom of God is more important than individual preferences, that they have been given gifts and are willing to share them, that in humility they have acknowledged they are not self-sufficient, needing the support guidance and accountability that community offers. They have learnt to need and be needed. The Question Dear Reader is are you willing to admit to needing things from others, and to being needed by them in return?

In God's community of faith, believers Dear Reader should be regenerate. Another person puts it this way, Regeneration, is the Holy Spirit's work in a person – which means a transformed heart, new desires and being a new creation, as the New Testament states it. "Regeneration is the opposite of religion, "Religion is what people do for God. Regeneration is what God does in, through, for, with and in spite of people." A long running TV character called "Dr Who" regenerates. Those who follow the series know this allows various things. First and for most a new actor to play the part of the character, but within the series, we know the essential basics of the character remain, but expressed in a new format. In a similar way, God takes the essential within a human, and now expresses it in a new way. Removing that which should not have been, and bringing to the fore that which should always have had prominence. A regenerate believer is one which reflects the

There is Dear Reader, a gift from the almighty which goes beyond it's simple name, it has come to be known as Church, yet in truth it is a community of faith. One writer describes it as this: Jesus, was clearly a man on a mission. Sent by the Father, Jesus came humbly, went to the cross, rose, and reconciled people back to God. "Church is Jesus' people by the power of the Holy Spirit," The local church can be defined as "a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership , gather regularly for preaching and worship , observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, and are unified by the spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scattered to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God's glory and their joy." The question is, are we part of such a community?, for without that connection we cannot claim to be fully

A Christian is a sinner declared saint. They have acknowledged their sin, and their innate inability to remove it. Only the action of a just, merciful, and loving God can take the punishment for their sin upon Himself, and express the freedom they desire by granting a declaration of pardon from sin. This is called redemption. This redemption freely offered must be accepted by each person, making them disciples of Christ. A disciple of Christ is easy to recognise, they follow the example of Christ in His teachings, and actions, a disciple of Christ, puts Christ’s Kingdom as their first priority in life. To these people everlasting life with God is granted.

There is Dear Reader, a push within our society to have all things fantastic and special.The implication being, that those things which are simple and common are of little value. Yet God places no such restriction, for it is within the little things of this life that we can perceive the saviour at work. A father who chooses his family over career. A Mother who limits herself so her family may have more. A teenager who rejects a hedonistic lifestyle in favour of serving others in the area. In these and many other small acts we find Christ, we find him in the attitudes, we find him in the thoughts, and we find him in the actions. Another commentator puts it like this, " One of the most amazing revelations of God comes when we learn that it is in the commonplace things that the Deity of Jesus Christ is realized" May I encourage you Dear Reader, to find the holy in the common!