Trust in the Mercy of Jesus

 Jesus loves you as you are. If you are an alcoholic, he does not love your addiction, but he loves you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

God created the human race. He loves what he created and he is grieved and angry with what we have done with his creation, but although he is horrified by what we have done, he never stopped loving us.

Some of Hitler’s Nazi leadership group turned to Jesus before they were executed and God forgave them. God will not forgive just because you feel guilty, but you must be willing to change.

So if your life is rotten, do you have to give up all your sins before you be forgiven, before you can receive eternal life. There are sins that you do not even realise are sins. There are sinful addictions that you cannot overcome in your own strength.

Come to Jesus as you are. If you are sincere in trusting Jesus, he will save you first and then set about cleaning you up. Even then Jesus will not force you to stop doing bad things, but he will help you to get free.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NRSVue

We all carry heavy burdens. If we don't have a guilty conscience, there are things we should feel guilty about.

But guilt for sin is not the only burden we carry. It may not even be the burden that is distressing you the most. You may be crushed by the sins others have committed against you, domestic violence, sexual abuse, workplace bullying or many other terrible things.

Come to Jesus with your burdens and let Him supernaturally relieve you of the traumas that you cannot deal with yourself.

Talk to Jesus about your burdens. He is listening. Preachers tell you you must have faith. Many people in despair have cried out to Jesus in spite of their doubts. So many have cried out to Jesus, like this.

“Jesus, if you really exist, please change me. If you are real, I want to give you my life!”

God spoke through and Old Testament prophet:

Call to me, and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jer 33:3 NRSVue

A grieving single mother mourned the death of her daughter. She went to church and told the pastor she wanted to invite Jesus into her life so she could see her daughter in heaven.

The pastor said that was not a sufficiently good motive to merit salvation. He sent her away. Only some time later she had a personal encounter with Jesus and received salvation.

Do you believe the pastor was right? I absolutely do not. Jesus wanted to meet her as she was. He is willing to receive you and me where we are. When we take the first step, he will lead us on from there.

Love and Justice of God

 In the Bible we see some passages where God is furiously angry. In other passages, God is full of love for everyone. Which God is real, the angry God or the loving God?
This is a problem for many people.

But have a look inside your own heart. You love your children, but you are angry if someone maliciously hurts your child.

What do you think should happen to someone who rapes your wife or your daughter and shows no remorse?

In the Bible, we see that God is love.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 Jn 4:16 NIV

But then we see that God is angry. But isn’t God a loving father? Yes. But could it be that God is angry because he is a loving father?

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 
It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Lk 17:1–2 NIV

If someone seduces your daughter, and she becomes a prostitute, how do you think you would feel towards the man who ruined your daughter’s life? Would you easily forgive him?

But God is love. He wants to forgive, but only if the offender sincerely wants to change and be forgiven.

God is also a God of justice. Offences must be punished. God wants to save us from our own perverse character, so He sent his son Jesus to be punished and suffer death on our behalf.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

Everyone is Important to God

For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Gal 6:3 NKJV

This verse is difficult to understand. How can a son or daughter of God be nothing?

 When I was a new Christian, a pastor tried to correct my tendency to pride. He told me I was “nothing”.. Of course, he exercised so much power to judge and control me, that he seemed to be saying he was super important, but I was quite literally “nothing”. This is not Christlike ministry at all. It was spiritual abuse.

Paul was a Jews, as was Jesus. In Hebrew thinking we often find extreme black and white statements which are really shocking if we take them literally.

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. Lk 14:26 NKJV

Jesus also tells us to love on another. Paul tells husbands to love their wives. Parents who hate their children are the worst sinners on earth. So Jesus is not telling us to hate people, but rather to love God more then we love our families.

Likewise, in Galatians, Paul is telling us not to be self important but to consider other people to be at least as important as ourselves.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Php 2:3 NRSVue

Here again, Paul is not telling me I should go around feeling inferior to everyone. That is sick.

No. I see an insane man pulling faces and talking to himself. He is just as important to God as I am.

Years ago I was a language teacher. A young woman in my class was dressing and acting like a prostitute and I think she was. She was as important to God as myself.

So many churches teach women that their husbands are more important than they are, because men as supposedly wiser than women. The bible talks about doctrines of demons and I am convinced this is one of them.

I look around church meetings and I almost always see more women than men. Women who love God often find it hard to find a husband who is spiritually strong enough to be their married partner, and yet people rip bible texts out of context and tell us that the husband should always be the spiritual leader.

Clear eyed observation tells me this is dangerous nonsense.

Jesus tells you that you are dearly loved by the Heavenly Father. If you believe that Jesus suffered the punishment for your sins on the cross, if you accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers, you have eternal life.

You are a son or daughter of God for ever and ever. You cannot be a nobody. You are a very important somebody in God’s eyes, but you are not more important than anyone else. Why? Because God loves everyone without exception.

“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. Jn 3:16 NRSVue

Love is the Answer

 From his birth in Bethlehem to his death on the cross, Jesus was surrounded by conflict and rejection. He was born in a stable. Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt to save their child from being killed.

When Jesus began his ministry, he was opposed and persecuted by the religious leaders for three years until they had him executed on false charges.

His country was occupied by brutal Roman soldiers. The Jewish people were divided into religious and political factions. There were religious legalists, violent freedom fighters, and corrupt collaborators who worked for the Roman occupiers.

In this chaotic environment, Jesus loved people, cared for them, practised and taught forgiveness, and loved his enemies.

The world we live in today is catastrophically chaotic. 

Our environment is stressful. There are conflicts in families, communities, and Facebook groups because of different political or religious views, gender identity, and all kinds of difficult issues. 

We see Jesus as a role model in the Bible. He also lived in an extremely stressful time. He loved Jews and non-Jews, Roman officers and cared for prostitutes. 

Paul was a true disciple and also a wonderful role model. He loved and respected men and women, slaves and intellectuals. 

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28 NIV

In the lives of Jesus and then Paul, we always see kindness. Of course, kindness was not always possible. Jesus and Paul could also confront people, but they wanted to treat everyone with kindness as much as possible.
 
Kindness is often lost in this day and age. So many people are overwhelmed by stress and hurt. Rejection has become an epidemic. So many people are rejected, and then they become increasingly defensive. 

Many people hate themselves. How can they love their fellow human beings?

The antidote is not culture war, but kindness and love.

In the daily news and on social media, we see war, culture wars, hatred, and violence, murder, and corruption over and over again. Of course, we often react with outrage, but then we are in danger of becoming habitually horrified.

Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; 
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. 
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Ps 37:1–4 NIV

… “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” Lk 10:27 NIV

The antidote we need is not culture war, but love. You cannot love God without receiving God's love.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 Jn 4:10–11 NIV

But if you hate yourself, you cannot receive God's love, nor can you love your neighbour. 

We need spiritual therapy. Think of beautiful memories. Thank God for people who have loved or helped you. Don't let the horrors of this world take away the blessings God has given you in your life. 

God's Frustration

 God's frustration.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Lk 13:34 NIV

Jesus loved everyone, even the stubborn Pharisees and priests who persecuted him.

… God our Saviour, 
who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Ti 2:3–4 NIV

God wants to save everyone, but many do not want to trust God. 

That is God's frustration.

God sacrificed his best to save everyone.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

God has plans and purposes that will inevitably come to pass.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Rev 21:1–4 NIV

But God also has intentions and desires that can be frustrated.

He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. Jn 1:11 NLT

When Jesus visited his hometown, the people did not want to respect him as the Messiah.

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. 

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. Mk 6:3–5 NIV

Notice the words, “He could not.” There are things that God can not do unless we let him. God chooses to limit his actions according to our free choices.

God is love. When you love deeply and strongly and those you love, reject you, you feel deep pain. God also feels this pain.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 Jn 4:8 NIV

If you do not experience God's blessing, please do not blame God. 

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Jn 10:10 NKJV

He wants to forgive you, bless you, heal you, and give you a new life. 

It's up to you. 

You can pray this way and receive God's amazing answer, but you must really mean what you pray.
“Jesus, if you exist, come into my life and forgive all my sins.”

Jesus is not a fairy tale.

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NKJV

In Spite of Toxic Religion, God is Still God

Can you imagine that despite the arrogance of some prominent preachers, there is still a good God?

In the Bible, I read about many false prophets, but the few true prophets wrote the Bible with God's inspiration.

In the Bible, we see the sad story of the sins of the Jews, and the history of the Christian church is no better.

Nevertheless, I do not want to focus on the sins of the Jews and Christians, but on the wonderful role models, the heroes of faith and the many believing Jews and Christians in the Bible who have shown us the way to God and still do.

Have you ever thought that despite all the scandals in the churches, Jesus is there and loves you?
Everywhere we look, we see pornography, sexual perversion, abuse and rape. Nevertheless, I know that sex is good.

Despite all the perversions of religion, despite hypocrisy, self-righteousness and
know-it-all attitudes, I still believe in God.

Do you want to invest your money? There are scams everywhere, but do you want to bury your money in the garden or keep banknotes under your bed?

A clever person wants to invest their money in productive projects.

A wise person is not interested in toxic religion, but they are also not satisfied with this world.

Are you disappointed by religion? Don't give up though. Where there is counterfeit money, we can often also find the real thing.

God is real. God is your creator. God loves you.

Jesus said:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NIV

A young atheist felt the emptiness in his soul. He saw a church and went in, where he observed pious worshippers.

He began to address God in his own way.

God, if you exist, and I don't believe you do, then I don't think it's my duty to believe in you. On the contrary, it is your duty to reveal your existence to me. If you do exist, then let me find you.

In a remote village lived an old man who loved Jesus. He prayed for years that God would help him to bring a Jew to faith.

One day, the young atheist, who was Jewish, was travelling. He sought shelter in the village and the old Christian welcomed him.

He gave him a Bible to read. As the young man read the Testament, he felt the love of God like fire in his heart and he believed.

The young atheist was of Jewish origin, but only when he met Jesus as his Messiah did he find the God of Israel.

Are you Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist? It doesn't matter. Jesus was born a Jew and lived on earth as a Jew, but he died on a cruel cross to suffer the punishment for our sins.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

God in Tough Places

If you have had an experience of deep darkness, terror or despair, you may have experienced the miraculous intervention of God. His presence has come into your experience.

It was like you were a child terrified of the dark and then your mother came into the room and turned on the light. Your mother spoke words of comfort and reassurance, and suddenly the darkness was like a distant memory. Let us recall to our minds the times when God turned on the light.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Gen 1:3-4 (ESV)  

He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Ps 107:20 (ESV)  

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,  
"Lord, my servant is lying paralysed at home, suffering terribly."  

And he said to him, "I will come and heal him."  
But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. Mt 8:5-8 (ESV)  

A pastor’s wife was desperately ill. No prayer for healing made any difference. The pastor read aloud the 91st psalm every hour until she was completely healed.
 
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High  Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
   My God, in Him I will trust." Ps 91:1-2 (NKJV)

Corrie ten Boom spent terrible years in a Nazi concentration camp in WW2. She was released before the end of the war due to a clerical error. This apparently ordinary middle-aged single Dutch woman became one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century.

Her message to the world was simple but profound. There is no dark hole so deep, but that God is deeper still. She wrote a famous book about how God brought her through her terrible experiences. The title of the English edition is “The Hiding Place”.

You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble;
   You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Ps 32:7 (NKJV)  

To the Chief Musician. Set to 'Do Not Destroy.' A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!  For my soul trusts in You;    
   And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,            
   Until these calamities have passed by.
 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.
He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.

  God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. Ps 57:1-3 (NKJV)  

When my first marriage broke up, I was a part-time single father. I was deeply distressed and intensely concerned for my baby daughter, who was 18 months old when her parents separated. I received powerful reassurance from this Bible text.        
 
He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
Isa 40:11 (NKJV)

Grace before Truth. Ministry must be kind.

 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jn 8:12 NIV

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples, that if we live in his light, we too will be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, not because of our own goodness, but if we allow Jesus to live in us and work through us.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? …
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Mt 5:13–14 NIV

Jesus appoints and empowers his followers to minister his goodness, but we must do this in the right spirit.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jn 1:14 NIV

Grace comes before truth. If we judge, accuse and attack people with truth, we are not ministering grace. We are not living in the love of God. Our ministry is worse than useless.

Warm salt water is an effective antiseptic and medicine, but if a doctor rubs salt into your wounds, it is harmful and cruel.

If you approach a drug addicted prostitute aggressively by preaching judgement, you only add to the torments of a suffering human being.

As a young man in my twenties, I saw a psychiatrist to help with my depression and anxiety. Then I became a converted Christian believer. I joined a church where nearly every sermon was an aggressive lecture pressuring me to repent, obey and submit, over and over again.

I experienced the love of God when I prayed and worshipped but the preaching progressively increased my suffering and anxiety, until I spoke out angrily and I was excommunicated, leading to a severe mental illness.

If a doctor performs major surgery on his patients over and over again, he will kill them. Surgery is sometimes necessary, but if it is a routine medical treatment, it is life destroying

In the same way, an evangelist who confronts people with their sinfulness can save lives but a pastor who preaches this way every week is dangerous monster.

Jesus confronted self righteous religious leaders with the judgement of God for their sins, but He did not minister to other people like this. Jesus was known as the friend of sinners.

Jesus is still calling us to come to Him to receive mercy.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

The Answer is the Love of God

 There are so many people who are not satisfied with money, things, sex and empty entertainment. They are hungry for something more, something spiritual. Many turn to New Age meditation, or even witchcraft, but they don’t find real contentment there.

There is a God, a loving heavenly father. He wants to reach the lost souls who stumble from one thing to another.

As Christians, many of us are partly to blame for the confusion around us.

Many Christians read the bible and believe in a supernatural God, but they don’t let God step into their own lives with miraculous answered prayers, even though they have serious needs that they try to deal with in their own human ways.

I have experienced many miracles, but I still often fail to trust God.

There are other Christians who are so upset about divorce, homosexuality and abortion, that they become self-righteous culture warriors and forget to love the people around them.
God is holy, but we must never forget that God is love.

There are also Christians who believe for miracles, but then get trapped in pornography or some other vice.

Many children believe in God, but then turn away because of the failures of Christians.

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! Mt 18:6–7 NIV

As a Christian, I was always zealous for truth, but I have had to learn to be gentle and understanding with my own family and others around me.

We must learn to be kind and loving, as well as strong in our spiritual and moral beliefs.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Cor 13:2 NIV

If I am constantly open to receiving the love of God and sharing that love with others, I will not be a spiritual policeman who offends people who need love.

People need Jesus, but they will not recognise Jesus in us unless we love like Jesus loves.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

If you are not yet committed to believing in Jesus, I pray you will meet Christians who love with the love of Jesus.

If you have not yet found the reality you long for in Christianity, talk to God about it. Ask God to show you more of His love and truth.

God has not Forgotten You

 Are you at the end of yourself? Has God forgotten you?

In the Old Testament, the Jews were desperate. They had gone wrong. They still believed in God to some extent, but they had not taken God seriously.

God had commanded:

“You shall have no other gods before me. Ex 20:3 NIV

God had strictly forbidden the worship of idols.

But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame. Is 42:17 NIV

Apostate kings in Jerusalem had worshipped idols since Solomon's time, and the people copied the sins of their neighbours.

Many believed in the god Baal and the goddess Asherah, Baal's supposed wife. This religion was all about sex and fertility. The priestesses of Asherah were prostitutes. The men worshipped the goddess by visiting these prostitutes.

This also happened in God's temple. This was supposed to make the land fertile so that they would have a good harvest.

It's a bit different here today. Sex is worshipped, but not fertility.
Exactly the opposite. We want to have very few children, and there are no longer enough young people in Western Europe.

The Jews in the Old Testament cruelly slaughtered their children in order to gain the favour of the pagan god Moloch.

Abortion is sometimes needed to save the life of the mother but millions of unborn babies are killed for all kinds of reasons.

God's prophets had warned again and again, but most people did not want to take the warnings seriously.

The people had surrendered to the rule of the cruel false gods. Finally, they had to reap what they had sown.

At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it … 2 Kings 24:10 NIV

Nebuchadnezzar's army conquered God's people and Jerusalem was occupied.

The Jews were deported en masse to Babylon, where many were enslaved.

But what does this ancient history have to do with us? Does slavery exist today?

You can find drug dealers everywhere. If you have an addiction, you are enslaved. Many young women end up in prostitution to buy drugs.

There are boys on the street who spend the night with gays to avoid freezing on the street.

When people are exposed to such terrible alternatives, we can speak of slavery without exaggeration.

How can God allow such suffering? God has given us free will as human beings. We can suffer because of our own flawed choices, or often because of the evil choices of others.

One of the young Jews who was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar was Daniel. He was very intelligent and of noble birth. Even as a teenager, he was enslaved and castrated.

But God loved Daniel and all the deported Jews. In the prophetic book of Isaiah, we see God's heart for the suffering Jews.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Is 49:14–15 NIV

Daniel was determined to remain faithful to God in his miserable circumstances.

God sees your heart and His heart beats for you, as it did for Daniel. Daniel became the administrator of the government under Nebuchadnezzar and one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

Are you in a mess where you can't see a way out?

God has not forgotten you. He loves his suffering daughters and sons, just as he loved Daniel.

God's love never gives up.

Saved by the Love of God

 If you try to obey Jesus, to serve God, to help others with love for your neighbour, then God's heart beats over you with joy.

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zep 3:17 NKJV

What does this mean?

Can we earn God's approval through good works? Not at all.

How do we come to God?

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25–26 NKJV

Your faith is crucial, but there are many who acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and who strive to live virtuously, but you see no radiance of God's love in their lives.

There are those who do good works for Jesus and they hope to earn God's acceptance.

But there are also Christians who are humbly aware that they are only saved by God's mercy and forgiveness.

God loves you because he loves you.

He created you out of pure love. He longs for you to get to know him. He wants to have an intimate love relationship with you.

A duty-orientated religious person cannot even grasp this idea.

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Jn 3:3 NIV

If God gives you the insight that you can only stand before his judgement seat through his forgiveness and cannot be saved by any good works, then you can ask Jesus to give you his New Life, and only as a gift.

Jesus has already paid the price on the cross.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23 NIV

If you have started a completely new life with Jesus, you are God's beloved son or daughter.

For God, your trust and childlike love are much more important than your works.

But who can truly love God without following Jesus?

God is love. He loves not only you, but all your fellow human beings, everyone, even the terrorists, drug dealers and pimps.  

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

 A beloved child with good parents wants to become like his parents. When we have truly discovered the love of God, we will also love our fellow human beings.

Those who experience God's love every day want to pass on God's love.

All who truly love God, want to serve God.

All who love their fellow human beings, want to help them.

All who come to Jesus with a humble heart will find an open door to a new life.

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. Jn 10:9 NASB95

Those who live this new life in close fellowship with Jesus become like Jesus himself, a tree of life that produces heavenly fruit.

What kind of fruit did Jesus produce in his earthly life?

Tender love, extreme mercy, amazing wisdom, deep humility and fearless proclamation of the truth that can only come from God.

Jesus is waiting for your prayer. He will never let you down.

God Will Restore Lost Beauty

 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Rev 21:4–5 NKJV

I saw her face, and she was no longer beautiful, but I still loved her. I could read her trauma in her face, and I could not hold back my tears. Love is much stronger than the beauty of youth.

But despite much suffering and loneliness, she couldn't help but love Jesus. She is waiting for her new life in a better world.

In God's new world, the crippled will leap and dance.
The blind will paint beautiful pictures.
The deaf will play beautiful instruments.
Faces disfigured by sorrow and illness will be young and beautiful again.

‘And he said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and certain.

I see her face, and I cry, but I must write too.  

No matter how your life has gone wrong, Jesus sees His beloved child in you. He sees your sorrow and He weeps, but He also sees the beauty He will restore in heaven and He smiles with an unimaginable tenderness.

Emergency in Intensive Care. Safe in God's Hands

 I am now 75. Nearly four years ago I had an emergency life saving operation. After the operation, my blood pressure suddenly dropped to 60/45 and my pulse to 29, so it was an emergency, but I thank God for good doctors and nurses and effective medication.

I did not feel panic. I trusted Jesus. I was completely safe in God's hands.

My life with Jesus is eternal, but my mortal body is perishable.

What can I do this week that will make a difference to those around me?

How can I make God's love and truth known today?

“Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. Ps 39:4 NIV

Your life is really very short, but God has planned a purpose for your life.

What is the goal of your life? Do you already know?

If not, have you asked God seriously? He loves you. He wants to answer. He is not deaf and not dumb.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. Jn 10:27 NRSV

Love Your Enemies

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  Mt 5:43–44 NIV

It goes against our human nature, but this is what Jesus taught.

But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; Mt 5:39 NRSV

If you are a Christian, then hatred and revenge are strictly forbidden.

Some Christians want to obey these commands to such an extreme that they become pacifists. But are victims of bullying or violence not allowed to defend themselves? If you see a weak person being attacked or abused, should you just stand by and pray? Does a Christian, as some claim, have no rights?

When Paul cast a demon out of a fortune teller, he and his partner Silas were beaten and thrown into prison.

How did he react?

So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Acts 16:24–25 NLT

No matter what happens to you, your love for God must never diminish. Anyone who blames God for injustice makes their situation even worse.

And how did God react?

Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! Acts 16:26 NLT

I know an ex-Muslim from Arabia who registered in Jordan as a persecuted refugee. The Muslim UN officials did not want to let him move to Australia as a refugee. As he sat in a UN office, an official was on the verge of rejecting his application, but then God intervened.

God sent an earth tremor. The building began to shake. The officials were shaken. They sensed that God was at work. Suddenly the official said, ‘Application approved,’ and she stamped the visa application.

How did Paul react when he was released by the Holy Spirit?

The jailer thought the prisoners had escaped and he wanted to kill himself, but Paul loved his enemies.

But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” 

The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”
And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Acts 16:28–32 NLT

Some Christians claim that a Christian should have no rights, but this is not the case.

When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.”
The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” Acts 16:35–37 NIV

Victims of bullying and abuse often make one of two mistakes.

Some learn to passively accept abuse and see themselves as inferior victims. Many sexually abused girls, but also boys, become prostitutes.

Then there are others who seek justice or revenge with hatred and anger. It is not a mistake to seek justice, but we must learn, like Jesus and Paul, to love our enemies.

Friendship with a Holy God

 There are Christians who worship Jesus, but they are motivated by religious duty, not spontaneous love.

Some pray with a prayer book. Others pray without a prayer book, but their prayer is a religious routine.

Some misunderstand the Lord's Prayer.

Jesus said we should know our heavenly Father as ABBA. ABBA means Papa or Daddy in Hebrew.

But there is another extreme. There are Christians who want to treat Jesus as their mate, and a very permissive mate at that, who supposedly doesn't take little faults like pornography addiction seriously.

I once heard of a young Christian who was enthusiastic about reading charismatic paperbacks and discussing revivals. His girlfriend was a prostitute and his life was far from chaste and holy.

I sometimes see supposedly devout Christians who consider sex before marriage normal. I am amazed that they do not suffer painful pangs of conscience. I could never live like that.

God is love. He longs to love people as friends.

 In the Old Testament, Abraham, Moses and David were friends of God.

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Ex 33:11 NIV

But there is no true friendship without love and respect.

God is holy.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14 NIV

Arthur Blessitt is an American missionary and evangelist. When he was a young preacher, he evangelised in a red light district. Like Jesus, he did not stay away from sinners and prostitutes, but like Jesus, he was also holy and faithful.

He asked permission to preach in a nightclub with naked dancers. He went backstage and spoke to the naked young women who were having a rest.

Many men would be overcome with sexual thoughts and feelings in this situation but God gave Arthur Blessitt the gift of grace to minister with God's holy love.

After listening to the loving sermon for a while, the women began to have chaste feelings and they covered their naked bodies with towels.

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them. Ps 25:14 NRSV