God is at Work in Your Life

 I feel so imperfect, so flawed, so flawed, but God accepts me as his son. Only because of what Jesus did on the cross, paying for all my sins.

My guilt is cancelled.

I am a half-finished work, but God sees the end product.

I am a construction site, but God is the architect and master builder. He loves to see his beautiful house taking shape.

God delights in the work He is doing in my life.

As I wrote these thoughts on my computer, I felt moved by the Spirit of God and His love. Then I felt that I was allowed to reshape these words a bit so that God Himself was speaking directly to me.

"You feel so imperfect, so flawed, so lacking, but I accept you as my son. Only because of what Jesus did on the cross, paying for all your sins.

Your guilt is cancelled.

You are a work in progress, but I see the end product.

You are a construction site, but I am the architect and builder. I love to see my beautiful house take shape.

I delight in the work I am doing in your life."

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Cor 5:17 NRSV

Future of Planet Earth

 The future of humanity and our planet has been a burning issue for over a hundred years.

For the Bolsheviks in Russia, the coming glorious age of communism was the salvation of humanity.

During the Cold War, there was a terrible fear that nuclear war would destroy us all.

In our time, the Greens are fighting desperately to save the planet.

The staunchly devout Muslims firmly believe in a golden age, Dar Es Salaam, ‘’House of Peace.‘’ In this fulfilment of their hopes, Islam is to rule the whole world.

In the ‘’New Age‘’ movement, they sing of a marvellous new age.

‘’This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.‘’

‘’This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust are in abundance
No more lies or mockery
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystical crystal revelation
And the true liberation of the spirit.‘’

Such thoughts have been increasingly common for over a hundred years, but 150 years ago the American poet Walt Whitman wrote a beautiful poem.

I DREAM'D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the
attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;
I dream'd that was the new City of Friends;
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust
love-it led the rest;
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of
that city,
And in all their looks and words.

These thoughts come from the depth of human hearts. Where do they come from?
 
King Solomon pondered the deep questions of life for a long time. He wrote about God:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ec 3:11 NIV

God did not just create us humans as biological machines, as Karl Marx and other philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries taught.

In our time, we recognise the emptiness in our hearts to which these lifeless philosophies have led.
About a hundred years ago, German poets felt the deep loneliness of a life without a relationship with a dear Heavenly Father.

Strange to wander in the fog!
Life is loneliness.
No one knows anyone else, everyone is alone. (Herman Hesse 1905)

But 2000 years ago, God's Son came into this world to reconcile us with Father God.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Jn 3:16–17 NRSV

Jesus wants to give you a new life with God the Father.
Why?

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 Jn 4:16 NRSV

But God's plans are even more far-reaching.

God wants to save this planet and restore everything, and He will bring this about irresistibly.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Re 21:1 NRSV

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Re 21:5 NRSV

God's Plan for your Life

Are you in an impossible situation, and you can’t see a way out? In spite of everything, there is a good, all-powerful God who loves you with all his heart.

The 57th Psalm is a prayer by David, who was chosen by God to be the next king of Israel.

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. Ps 57:1 NIV

King Saul was consumed with jealousy and murderous rage. David was surrounded by Saul and his soldiers and took refuge in a cave. David had no help but God.

He cried out with all his heart, but not loudly. He desperately needed help.

If you are being interrogated by the police or a mean boss, you can’t pray out loud but God hears the cry of your heart.

He was crying out for mercy. God's help is always grace, and God's mercy and grace is always there for you because He loves you.

God answered this prayer. David survived and became king.

God had a plan for David to become king.

 You may be overwhelmed with problems right now. God has a good plan for your life. He doesn't just want to help you through this crisis. He has a good future for you.

I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfil his purpose for me. Ps 57:2 NLT

New Start, New Life

 God has given you your life because he loves you. Whether you were born in loving marriage or not,  you are loved by God from the bottom of His heart.

God has given you talents and abilities because He loves you infinitely. God has built talents into your being, even if you have not developed your potential yet.

God designed you to have loving relationships and friendships because He loves you. You may have been so hurt that you withdraw from love and friendship, but God wants to heal your broken heart.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3

God has a good life planned for you, even if you have messed up your life, or people have so mistreated you, that you have not fulfilled God's good plan until now.

But in the Bible, I read how Jesus restored totally ruined people so that they could start again with God's love.

Jesus found a lonely woman at a well. She had been married five times and was now in a de facto relationship.

Did Jesus see her as a sinful woman?

How could she survive as a single woman? As a prostitute or beggar? Starving, abused and raped?

The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.” Jn 4:25–26 CSB

She believed that Jesus was the Saviour from God and that He could and would save her.

She became a missionary with a whole new life.