Fitness of my soul

I was reading my daily devotional this morning on the Bible app (YouVersion) & the reading plan is called '30 Devotions for Youth Leaders'. 

Today's jumped out at me by reminding me of all my comrades who are either on thinking of taking stress leave, taking it already or have resigned. 

Leaders of the church all have a target on them by the world & of course the enemy so they (we) need to be in a place where we stay close to Jesus, hour by hour or we all will fall!

Let me share the devotional from today, I trust it will be helpful to you as it was for me;

"The Fitness Of My Soul

In many medical circles, the pace at which your heart rate returns to normal after intense exercise is a key measure of your fitness. The faster your heart rate recovers, the fitter and healthier your heart.

The ability to recover is as telling as the ability to explode into activity. How fast we can slow down is as important as how fast we can go.

I’ve grown increasingly aware that this same phenomenon exists in my spiritual journey. Frankly, I’ve been guilty of saying that when I get away it can take up to a week to wind down. I extoll the virtues of a two-week vacation because the first week is spent sifting through the clutter of my preoccupied mind.

I don’t find much in the biblical account of the life of Jesus that talks about two-week vacations. In fact, Jesus had incredibly short recovery times.

“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” ~ Matthew 14:1314 (ESV)

Jesus, on hearing of the cruel death of John the Baptist stole away for some quiet time. He needed a desolate place to be by Himself. With His Father. He had just a short time before the demands of ministry burst on the scene, but for Jesus, a few hours with His Father were enough to return His soul’s pulse rate to normal.

The fitness of Jesus’ soul forces me to wonder – have I made too much room for the clutter and chaos of my life? Do I expect too little of my personal Sabbath? Can I find rest in a matter of moments with Jesus, or have I excused the mess in my life, even though it strangles my spiritual breathing?

I’m not condemning vacations, but I realize that I need to become better at finding short times of recovery. Times of Sabbath and Selah.

Often, the health of my soul can be measured by how quickly I recover – to forgive, to feel regret, to extend grace, to show love, to exhibit courage.

What could God do, with just a few minutes?"

How well do you know the Word of God?

How well do you know the Word of God? Does it mean much to you anyway I wonder?

If you are a Christian and know the Word of God, see if you knew a few of these;

Why were Adam and Eve expelled from Eden?

Contrary to popular belief, Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden not because they ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but in order to prevent them from eating from the tree of life (both forbidden trees are in Genesis 2:9) which would have made them eternal. God doesn’t like competition! Here is the verse (Genesis 3:22-23): “And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. [23] And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.”

Or maybe since it's just been Christmas and we know that story so well, a few of you might have realised this about the Wise Men;

There weren’t three and they didn’t visit Jesus in a manger. The Bible gives neither the number of men (but does the number of gifts as three, which is probably where this misconception stems from). Additionally, Herod demanded the death of all boys under two, making it probable that Christ had been born up to two years prior. Also, the wise men visited Jesus when he lived in a house according to the Biblical account in Matthew 2:11.

How about the 'end times', do you believe in the Rapture?

The “Rapture” is not in the Bible! Despite being believed by a large number of protestants (many of whom also believe that only that which is in the Bible can be true) it was actually invented in the 1600s by one Cotton Mather – otherwise famous for murdering women by strangling them to death (by hanging) in the Salem witch trials. The term in the Bible commonly mistranslated to the word “rapture” actually comes from the Greek ἁρπάζω (harpazo) which actually means “caught up” or “taken away” and it refers to one person only (Philip).

Interesting misconceptions that we can have about the Bible, even sometimes over the things we've read often, but then there's always those parts of the Bible that we often don't read, how about some of the Old Testament that maybe we think isn't so relevant anymore since Jesus has now been..

I was reading yesterday in Luke 21 where Jesus talks about the end of the age and says "All men will hate you because of Me." v17

I see many Christians these days doing the right thing and 'selling' Christianity as something people need, but at the same time trying to be 'nice' people so much so that sometimes discount or even get some of the things of God wrong just so they can paint their religion in a light to be accepted.  

How well do you know the Word of God?  Do you love God with all of your strength, mind and soul? Are you afraid of being persecuted though?  Living a life that is acceptable to God won't always be loved by the world - we read that throughout the Bible - we can't compromise God's Word just so we can be accepted by the world - we will lose everything!

I know many people of many faiths that are dedicated to their religion, but often don't actually read the primary souce themselves - this is dangerous!!  How do you really know what you believe if you only hear parts of it told second hand, or even third hand.

How well do you know the Word of God?  If you're a Christian and don't read the Bible on a very regular basis, you could find that you're in for a shock when Jesus says "I don't know you" [Luke 13:27] because you didn't know the parameters for the narrow door. (Read Luke 13:22-30)

Read the Word of God - it brings life - don't try to put your own spin on the Word either, but let the Holy Spirit give you the meaning to each word and you will find life!

God bless you and may the Spirit of God guide you

Reflections of Brengle - holiness

"I saw the humility of Jesus, and my prode; the meekness of Jesus, and my temper; the lowliness of Jesus , and my ambition; the purity of Jesus , and my unclean heart; the faithfulness of Jesus, and the deceitfulness of my heart; the unselfishness of Jesus, and my selfishness; the trust and faith of Jesus, and my doubts and unbelief; the holiness of Jesus, and my unholiness.  I got my eyes off everybody but Jesus and myself, and I came to loathe myself." 

Samuel Logan Brengle p47-48 of 'Samuel Logan Brengle' by Hall

Great words of Samuel Logan Brengle - my experience tonight, but I thank God that as I can't sleep even though I'm exhausted, Jesus came to save me tonight from my inadequacies and all the feelings of unholiness, just like Isaiah felt in chapter 6, the live coal has touched my lips, and maybe even my heart. I thank Jesus that right now, I no longer loathe myself though as Brengle says, but in Jesus changing my heart, I am now starting to see myself as He is re-shaping me - it's a work in progress though!

Jesus can and will do the same for you, that is my testimony.  I pray that Jesus will be all you need today and as I was reminded while standing collecting in a shopping centre today and saw a guy missing an arm - Jesus wants to make you whole today - not necessarily physically, but spiritually, the essence of yourself.

Why don't you just take a moment and soak up His presence.

May Jesus, who died to give you life, give you rest and wholeness that you need today.

Be blessed
Simon

What are you controlled by?

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit"

Ephesians 5:18

What a contrast between riotous living and righteous living


But if a man or woman can be controlled by alcohol, how much more can the Holy Spirit control a man or woman?

Benny Hinn - 'Good Morning Holy Spirit' p92

It's always good to stop and re-evaluate and look at where we are in life. We can't really intentionally go forward unless we look at where we are. Of course life does go on whether we do or don't, but to intentionally shape the direction of our life we need to.

To direct my life for tomorrow, I need the Holy Spirit to direct where that is actually going, otherwise I'm just directing it on my own wisdom, which I admit, can sometimes be not so great!
I'd much rather depend upon the all wise, all knowing God who has a perfect plan for my life - will I choose to follow it or not, is up to me.


What are you going to choose to be controlled by today - the choice is completely up to you.


May God bless your journey today, and tomorrow!

Re-evaluating

It's so easy to get caught up in routine and become insensitive to what you are actually doing and the way it can effect those around you.

We run a breakfast program at our local Primary School 5 days a week, and it can be very annoying, especially during the winter, getting up a couple of hours earlier than you would if it was just a 'office' hours day and it can be very stressful with dozens of youngsters demanding different cereals or toast, or spaghetti on toast, or a milo, or tinned fruit etc.

All we ask from the kids in return is to wash their dishes, but for most of them, that's too much and they creatively hide the bowls or cups and we have to hunt them down and stay behind to do their dishes.

Some days I just grumble but 'suck it up' and wonder why I am actually doing what I am doing - is it really worth it?!

Today we had a couple of new girls come to our kids club that we know from the breakfast program and at the end, their mother was telling us that her daughter has never eaten breakfast at home, but has been excited every morning and getting up early to come to breakfast at the school. Apparently it's her highlight of the day!

What a slap to my far from enthusiastic approach to breakfast!

You never really know what God is doing around you, nor how He is even using you in your day to day 'routines'

I thank God for His gentle reminder to me to never undervalue anything that He uses us for. It can be so easy to forget the impact that even the simplest of things can do to others and who knows what they might be going through.

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Colossians 4:6

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good”, but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free.

Amen!”

Prophetic movement

I was at at conference on the weekend called 'Dwelling in The Spirit' in Melbourne. The conference was amazingly powerful and there was no doubting that God was present. I felt on the first night that God had even sent four angels specifically for our time there, but not sure of their specific role or purpose but God surely had His way.

As we went along, one of our main speakers, Corey went into a ministry time at the end of his sessions and many many people recieved words from God and were encouraged as it usually is when you hear from God.

One of the things I took away from the weekend is that I heard God saying to us, and when I say us I'm speaking to The Salvation Army who it was run by and attended by, we NEED to be a prophetic movement!

It's easy enough to respond to situations but to be one step ahead, or to take leadership over situations it to have a hand up; in terms of the 'evils' of this world, we NEED to be one step ahead to be relevant, or else we will loose influence and be irrelivant. One saying I love is 'prevention is better than a cure'; it pays to be prophetic, and the world we live in needs us to be.

God, His Word and His Salvation is going to be always relevant, more than relevant, a necessity for the world, so how do we bring that necessity to the world around us - by being prophetic - being relevant, two steps ahead of the enemy in whatever form he is counteracting God's work.

What does this look like and how will this happen? How it will look, I'm not completely sure, maybe a bit like the book of Acts but in modern settings, but how, just by listening to the voice of God, loving Him with all of our hearts and minds and acting on His Word when He speaks.

What is the Spirit saying to The Salvation Army today? How are we being that prophetic movement that the world so desparetly needs? Love God and love your neighbour - pray night and day for justice (Luke 18:7-8 http://www.saglobal247.org/)

I just want to leave you with a passage of scripture;

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

2 Peter 1:19

Be relevant (prophetic) to the world that is needing the relevance of God and His salvation.

God

There is a living God; He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all He has promised.

- Hudson Taylor

Short message for today

"What is impossible with man, is possible with God"

Luke. 18:27

General Linda Bond's first pastoral letter

June 2011

Pastoral Letter Dear Salvationists: As this is my first pastoral letter since I took office as General in April, I want to share a personal word with you and also emphasise what we hold in common. My upbringing in the New Aberdeen Corps in Nova Scotia, Canada provided me with a clear understanding of the gospel of Jesus. As a child, I was not only aware that I could accept him as my Saviour but was trained to serve him. That service ultimately led me to say yes to the Lord's clear call to be an officer. A variety of appointments over these past 42 years have proven that the Lord opens doors of opportunity and gives great fulfilment and blessing. As Lord and Saviour, he never disappoints. Obeying him, trusting him and living for him are my greatest joys. No doubt you also have had a personal encounter with the Lord that has changed the course of your life. Every experience is different but what we share in common is that we serve him together in The Salvation Army. We are blessed with a wonderful heritage and the future is as bright as the promises of God. Yet the present connects both, does it not? We build on the past and chart a course for the future by our faithfulness to his mission in the present. Surely we all desire to be part of a Spirit-filled Army of the 21st century! Much depends on our own response to the Spirit but we can never imagine what God has in store for the Army he raised up. We need to seek him, keep in step with his Spirit and make his mission our priority. Very soon you will be hearing from your territorial/command leaders about a way in which we can meet together in prayer. Commencing 1 September, we will begin to hold a weekly 30-minute international prayer meeting on Thursdays. Territories and commands have been asked to choose a half hour between 5 and 8 o'clock in the morning and will be urging Salvationists to pray for the Army and our mission priorities. Because we serve in so many different time zones, there is the possibility that for all or most of every Thursday, the Army will be at prayer. I hope you too will be joining us, in groups or individually. There will be information coming soon on the General's website. I will be joining with staff at International Headquarters at 7.30am, London time. I close this letter with one of my favourite verses of Scripture; Psalm 143:8: 'Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you'. The psalmist whispered this prayer in the midst of adverse circumstances. However, it can be prayed every day, in the best of times and the worst of times. And it will be a prayer that God will always answer. May you delight in his love, be secure in it and share it. God bless you richly, Linda Bond General

Prayer

Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God. -Andrew Murray

Which one are you?

Prayer works!

Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?....Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude to the things about which we pray. --Oswald Chambers

Discipleship

"Discipleship is anything that causes what is believed in the heart to have demonstrable consequences in our daily life"

Eugene Peterson

New Pledge of Allegiance

Since the Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer are not allowed in most public schools anymore because the word 'God' is mentioned..... a kid in Arizona wrote this NEW School prayer:

"New Pledge of Allegiance"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of Him very odd.

If scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow

Becomes a Federal matter now..

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,

That's no offense; it's a freedom scene..

The law is specific, the law is precise.

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all..

In silence alone we must meditate,

God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks...

They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.

To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.

It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong,

We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong..

We can get our condoms and birth controls, Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles...

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed, No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school's a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen

End times?

There is so much going on in the world at the moment, it's almost like the world is ready to end and many people are actually worried it almost is!

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus tells us;

".. you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come."

Yes, as many are currently saying, the signs are pointing to it being the end, but as Jesus said, it's only the start and I believe it has been starting for a long time.

We have hope in Jesus, He has given us eternal life which takes away any fear of the end in my heart.

No one knows the date or time the world will end, not even Jesus, so when people tell you the world will end in 2012 or any other time, I wonder how they know, unless they are God.

Find hope in Jesus as I have, I can sleep well knowing that I'm saved here and now thanks to the sacrifice Jesus gave for me. Whether the world ends tonight or in 1,000 years, I'm going to Heaven where there is no fear or pain.

This is only the start, if it truly is the birth pains of 'the end'. Live life everyday like it's your last. Choose to love and live a good life. Life's too short to live in fear or to leave anything till tomorrow (unless you're trying to balance the budget..)

Spread the news of God's love rather than spreading fear of 'end times'.

Be blessed, and live under the wing of God's salvation through the Blood of Jesus!

Patience?

If God told you on the front end how long you would wait... you'd lose heart... But He doesn't. He just says, "Wait. I keep My word.... In the process of time I'm developing you to be ready."

- F.B.Meyer

Which star are you following?

I've noticed how often people love to read their stars - are you one of those people?

Have you noticed how much of a pull that they can have on you - when you're turning through the newspaper and find the page with the star signs on it, you can't help but be pulled into it - why is that!?

One thing that annoys me a bit is when Christians have to read them to enjoy the day... well that is if it is a good reading for the day! Why do we as Christians look for positive words and find hope in something someone reads from an interpretation of what they think the positions of the stars in the sky are saying to them?

Why do we listen to the creation rather than going straight to the Creator?

I might tell you a secret - the creation can't tell you anything as accurate as their Creator - God is all knowing and placed the stars in their place, find hope in Him rather than in someones interpretation of God's art. The stars are there for our awe of their Creator - it points us to God and how amazing He is!

I've been led to think that around 2,000 years ago there was a few wise men who also were led by the stars - one in particular actually.

These wise men followed this star and were actually led to a Saviour.

In saying this, I pray that you are also a wise man/woman and follow the correct star and also find your Saviour instead of fuzzy, generalised predicitons that cover everyone who was born during that month that you have been born and find a special, personalised word of hope for you; specifically from God the Father of all creation.

Which are you going to follow today, the stars or singular - a star that leads to your salvation through Jesus.

Hope all is well in your part of the world, and remember to pray for the families affected by the Christchurch earthquakes and current upsets in the Middle East.

Blessings

General's Pastoral Letter - Gratitude (2)

PASTORAL LETTER TWENTY-ONE

GRATITUDE (2)

Dear Fellow Salvationists,

Once more it is my great honour and privilege to be in touch with you through a Pastoral Letter.

Commissioner Helen Clifton joins me in sending greetings to you just where you are, thanking God for your fidelity to the gospel and for your service in his great Army of Salvation.

I am writing this Letter from my office in our home because recently I have undergone further surgery, this time for a heart bypass procedure. This took place unexpectedly six weeks ago and I thank God that I am making good progress and am able to keep up with all official matters through the kindness of the Chief of the Staff who meets me in our home regularly to discuss key matters of business and policy and also through the great help of my personal staff at International Headquarters.

Commissioner Helen Clifton is taking wonderful care of me but is also facing her own health challenges at this time. So your prayers are very, very precious to us both and to our family.

The theme of this Letter, as with Pastoral Letter 20, is gratitude. It is a theme that can never be exhausted. It is a natural theme for us at this time for we feel indebted to so many for loving support. Many of you have sent messages of prayer and encouragement. These have blessed and helped us so much.

I want to record heartfelt thanks to Almighty God for his unfailing love to us all. You will know of those times when you have experienced the loving closeness of our Heavenly Father. Sometimes he is so near to us that we can almost reach out and touch him. May you each be drawn closer and closer to God in this wonderful way.

We praise and thank God because he is able to save us from our sin and from the overarching rule of self and selfish ambition. Acts 4:12 tells us that there is no other name by which we can be saved. God the Father has given us Jesus, God the Son, to be our only Saviour. Our hearts fill up again with gratitude.

We have still further cause to be glad and grateful to God. He alone can make us holy. He alone can purify us and sanctify us through and through. In the words of the old chorus, not only is he 'able to save', but he is 'able to keep' - to keep us pure and victorious day by day from falling to temptation. Our part is to consecrate ourselves to God without reserve. He then does his part in cleansing us through and through, again and again.

In closing this Letter, I salute you and thank God for you. I commend each of you - just where you live and serve - to the infinite care of the Father, to the safe and loving hands of Jesus, and to the cleansing and enabling power of the Holy Spirit.

Yours in Sacred Service,

Shaw Clifton

General

Joys of Islam Women

I've been getting quite a few emails and other messages along similar lines of the content of this post which are starting to concern me.

I also received an email last week which contained a video of an Islamic woman getting 'stoned' but was cold blooded murder and everyone present was enjoying it, filming it and being entertained by it! What the people were actually doing, I can't believe humans could do - it was absolutely discraceful!!! The next two nights, every time I closed my eyes to go to sleep the vision of their inhuman acts was all I saw, and a week later, I am still completely scared by what I saw!

Anyway, here is the latest, have a read and feel free to leave your comments;

"20 years from now, I will be in Heaven --bye !!"

This was written by a woman born in Egypt as a Muslim.

This is not hearsay, and it will scare the life out of you.
Make sure you read the paragraph (in red) towards the end.

Joys of Muslim Women

by Nonie Darwish

In the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child, and consummating the marriage. The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy.

Even though a woman is abused she can not obtain a divorce. To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses. Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. Husbands can beat their wives 'at will' and he does not have to say why he has beaten her.

The husband is permitted to have (4 wives) and a temporary wife for an hour (prostitute) at his discretion.

The Shariah Muslim law controls the private as well as the public life of the woman.

In the West World ( America ) Muslim men are starting to demand Shariah Law so the wife can not obtain a divorce and he can have full and complete control of her. It is amazing and alarming how many of our sisters and daughters attending American Universities are now marrying Muslim men and submitting themselves and their children unsuspectingly to the Shariah law.

By passing this on, enlightened Australian and American women may avoid becoming a slave under Shariah Law. Ripping the West in Two. Author and lecturer Nonie Darwish says the goal of radical Islamists is to impose Shariah law on the world, ripping Western law and liberty in two.

She recently authored the book, Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.

Darwish was born in Cairo and spent her childhood in Egypt and Gaza before immigrating to America in 1978, when she was eight years old. Her father died while leading covert attacks on Israel. He was a high-ranking Egyptian military officer stationed with his family in Gaza.

When he died, he was considered a "shahid," a martyr for jihad. His posthumous status earned Nonie and her family an elevated position in Muslim society.

But Darwish developed a skeptical eye at an early age. She questioned her ownMuslim culture and upbringing. She converted to Christianity after hearing a Christian preacher on television.

In her latest book, Darwish warns about creeping sharia law - what it is, what it means, and how it is manifested in Islamic countries.

For the West, she says radical Islamists are working to impose sharia on the world. If that happens, Western civilization will be destroyed. Westerners generally assume all religions encourage a respect for the dignity of each individual. Islamic law (Sharia) teaches that non-Muslims should be subjugated or killed in this world.

Peace and prosperity for one's children is not as important as assuring that Islamic law rules everywhere in the Middle East and eventually in the world.

While Westerners tend to think that all religions encourage some form of the golden rule, Sharia teaches two systems of ethics - one for Muslims and another for non-Muslims. Building on tribal practices of the seventh century, Sharia encourages the side of humanity that wants to take from and subjugate others.

While Westerners tend to think in terms of religious people developing a personal understanding of and relationship with God, Sharia advocates executing people who ask difficult questions that could be interpreted as criticism.

It's hard to imagine, that in this day and age, Islamic scholars agree that those who criticize Islam or choose to stop being Muslim should be executed. Sadly, while talk of an Islamic reformation is common and even assumed by many in the West, such murmurings in the Middle East are silenced through intimidation.

While Westerners are accustomed to an increase in religious tolerance over time, Darwish explains how petro dollars are being used to grow an extremely intolerant form of political Islam in her native Egypt and elsewhere.

(In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in australia and the U.S. to elect the President by themselves! Rest assured they will do so ... You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA .. Dearborn Mich. is one ... and there are others ...)

I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!

It is too bad that so many are disillusioned with life and Christianity to accept Muslims as peaceful ... some may be but they have an army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam ... the peaceful support the warriors with their finances and own kind of patriotism to their religion. While America is getting rid of Christianity from all public sites and erasing God from the lives of children the Muslims are planning a great jihad on America.

This is your chance to make a difference ...! Pass it on to your email list or at least those you think will listen.

If the world ever needed Jesus - it is now! Christ is what we really need, the forgiveness and a life of holiness is what is essential for us here and now - it's up to you!

I'll leave you today with the words of Jesus;

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10:10

Law = freedom

I walked out onto a pedestrian crossing this morning and realised that it was my right to walk out and have the right of way, but still kept my eye on the cars knowing that not everyone totally abides by the law!

I should feel completely confident to walk out onto that crossing and know that I was safe and wasn't going to be run over by a car, but then as I was leaving that shopping centre in my car, I was at an intersection within the carpark indicating to go right and another car just overtook me on my right and went straight not taking any account for anyone else! I'm just glad I didn't go without checking - even from behind me!

There is a law that the creator put in place for the universe so we don't have to be in fear for safety and can live in freedom. Sometimes we might be unaware like the guy who overtook me, but then again he might have thought he was above the law and had more right than me, but I'm not sure which one, but he did seem oblivious to what the 'rule' was and just did his own thing.

God did give us His law as a safety net for us to live and enjoy life - if you look at all God has said, He knows His stuff!

Sometimes we do stuff up and that's where Jesus comes into it - He is our forgiveness! If we do break the law and effect other people, Jesus comes to us and shows us how to make things right again and bring back 'shalom' - balance and order to the universe.

God is good, and Jesus is that goodness - taste and see the truth in that and how relevant it is even today in this world where we are so 'self sufficient', but then again, are we really!?

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Galatians 2:21

Litter vs Sin

Is litter and sin related?

I was at KFC last week and a few little thoughts came to my mind as I was sitting there.

It was quite busy at lunch time and all the workers were busy serving and cooking, and every table was full of rubbish! The workers didn't have the chance to leave the customers to clean the mess of the customers; customers that were fully capable to cleaning up after themselves, but they couldn't be bothered putting in that little bit of effort.

That really annoys me!

I notice some people don't worry about the trouble or inconvenience they can/are causing others, being selfish, for personal benefit which costs another.

Sin is similar, where we often do something to benefit ourselves, which is at the cost of someone else. We leave a mess that someone else has to deal with - that makes God sad!

Think the next time God convicts you that you're doing something that's not quite right how it's hurting or affecting someone else, and look at it through His eyes, repent and fix it up - clean up your mess to enable someone else to live the life Jesus wants them to live, in freedom - freedom from your mess!

Hope this short insight to my lunch time helps you today

Bless ya