Category Archives: The Gospel

Fishers of Men

04 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by in Christianity, Faith, Inspiration, Spiritual Training, The Gospel

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Fishers of men

I am proud to say that I have a new profession… I am a Fisher; forget the gender specifics! I fish for the humankind.

When we are called into the kingdom of God there is a lot of attention and emphasis on us, the new convert. And while we continue to be grounded in our Faith by staying closely connected to God and growing spiritually, we have been called into a greater purpose; a new profession. No, don’t give up your day job just yet, unless God has called you into full time ministry. The training for this role is on the job training.

Matthew 4:
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
And He said unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

Becoming a Fisher for God is simple. Qualifications: accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, confess and repent of your sins, turn away from your old life and live a righteous life in Christ. Too simple? Not at all! There are no catches, hidden agendas for fine print. Don’t think you are not good enough or that you don’t deserve the ultimate promotion? Yes you are and yes you do.

So what does it mean to be a ‘Fisher of Men?’ Our greatest example was and always will be Jesus Christ. At no point did He live a pomp, privileged life unconcerned with the world or the fate of others. He was focused at all times on His purpose… to educate the world about Him and the Kingdom of Heaven. He therefore travelled far and wide preaching and teaching the Gospel; daily. He remained in constant contact with God the Father and never diverted to follow His own path. The four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell us of Jesus Christ, His life and works.

Jesus did not sit in the temples and synagogues daily or on a particular chosen day, Sunday or Saturday suited and booted and waiting! Waiting for the sick and needy to find Him. No, He went out of the four walls of the synagogues or His house and He travelled on the transported afforded to Him at that time… oh and He walked; a lot. As Christians we cannot get so comfortable and complacent in the four walls of our church. Our lives cannot revolve solely around our Sunday worship or whichever day of the week is designated for worship. Remember worship should be every day.

A Fisherman of the natural kind, cannot wait at home for the fish to jump out of the sea and travel to find them. They have to commit to their profession, invest in the necessary equipment, tools, resources and time. They need expert knowledge of the weather and the best locations to fish; and most importantly of all they have to get up out of the four walls of their homes and go fishing. I imagine in this age of technology they would need to staying abreast of innovative technology, with continued training and reskilling throughout their lives to be an effective fisherman.

So how does the Christian measure up to this new profession. Well first of all; secular societies are often insulted at the mention of Jesus’ name, making it difficult to spread the Word of God. There seems to be a lot of respect for other religions and faiths, but little for the Christian Faith. But that’s ok, the fisherman too has to ride the storms and cannot give up because the weather is threatening and perilous. Jesus continued with His ministry against oppositions such as the might of the Roman Empire, the King, the Jewish Leaders. Know that it is not nor ever will be easy! Don’t let fear prevent you from spreading the message of Christ far and wide. Don’t wait for someone to find you, to discover you are a Christian in the hope that they will find Christ through their own efforts! Help them by telling them about Christ and the kingdom of heaven.

Leave the four walls of your church and your home and tell people about your Faith. Let yourself be guided by God the Holy Spirit and use wisdom and discernment; but do tell them. Work situations can be easier than you think. During many discussions on a Monday morning when work colleagues would ask each other how their weekend went and what they did! Everyone openly shared their exciting weekend adventures, ‘I went to a party and got drunk off my face and don’t remember how I got home,’ or ‘I went away for the weekend and stayed in a beautiful hotel,’ or ‘I caught up with household chores and did some gardening.’ Naturally, I did something as well so I wasn’t going to stay silent. I shared my wonderful weekend too, don’t stay silent because you think someone might not want to hear it. “I had an amazing time at church, I was moderating, or ushering… there was a baptism.” I too have a voice and the many weekend escapades of the world do not interest me; but I had to listen to them every week; so I shared my experiences and my joys just like anyone else.

You have a voice so use it! Don’t stay silent and hope for the best, Jesus didn’t! Use your spiritual gifts, cast your net wide, spread the Gospel of Christ and become real Fishers of Men!

Don’t force your beliefs on me!

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Christianity, Faith, The Gospel

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Spreading the Gospel

No one can force you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, it cannot be done. You have to accept Salvation of your own free will.

If God wanted to force you to love Him He would have done it all by Himself and He didn’t, so no one else can do so.  If you are being forced, be weary make sure you accept the Lord because you believe in Him and not in the person trying to convince you, no matter how charismatic they seem to be. As a Christian you should preach and teach the gospel, be patient with the non-believer and do not get angry with them. Remember you were once in that same position, when you did not believe, thought you had all the answers and rejected anyone sharing the faith with you.

There is an urgency for us to preach the gospel today but this is not to be confused with pressuring someone into submission. The urgency lies in the fact that no one knows when it is their time to leave this world, today, tomorrow, next month, next year we have absolutely no idea. The following scripture tells us of a rich man who thought he had everything the world could offer and was pleased with his accomplishments. But:

Luke 12:16-21
And He spoke a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him, you fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Having accumulated great earthly wealth, with no concern for the things of God, the rich man was completely satisfied with himself and was set for life or so he thought.  At no point did he think that he would not be alive long enough to enjoy it, and he wasn’t, so there is an urgency for Christians to preach the gospel and for those hearing it not to delay in answering the call. Jesus did not force anyone to follow Him, He fed thousands, He walked on the sea, He preached the kingdom of heaven to them, He healed the sick, raised people from the dead, not in secret but in very public places surrounded by the same people who rejected Him.

When Jesus explained to them that He was the Bread from Heaven sent down by the Father to give us life and that this was a spiritual illustration of who He is, they thought it was too difficult to understand and complained. The following scripture tells us that many of Jesus’ disciples walked away from Him:

John 6:60
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

In that very moment in front of Jesus Himself, many disciples walked away from Him and never returned. They didn’t want to take up the challenge or try to understand something that was out of their comfort zone, remind you of anyone?

John 6:66-67
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away?

Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him, you cannot force someone to want to be with you. This would be a good time to remind ourselves of the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. When these characteristics develop in you, you will have patience to go that extra distance, to keep preaching the gospel even if many walk away when they hear it, never thinking that there’s no point to it. Don’t try to drag anyone kicking and screaming; guide them, answer their questions, be gentle, do not anger and do not attempt to force them to get results. If they don’t want to hear anything you have to say and walk away, you must respect their wishes and leave them alone.

When a Christian attempts to share their faith with a non-believer it is to help them to find the Lord and to receive the gift of Salvation freely, not to force their beliefs on them. When Jesus sent His disciples to spread the gospel, He directed them saying, if people do not receive you, move on.

There are billions of people in the world who need to hear the Gospel, so we must keep moving on to get to as many people as possible, the urgency is in the second coming of our Lord Jesus and we have absolutely no idea when this will be. It is not for us to labour at trying to change someone’s mind; we leave the Holy Spirit to work with people’s hearts and minds when drawing them to the Lord. If someone hardens their heart and mind against the Lord, no amount of cajoling will change it, but don’t be discouraged. Someone out there needs to hear the Gospel.

Be encouraged and keep going in Christ!

Blessings!

 

Walking with God!

10 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Christianity, Faith, Inspiration, Jesus, Love, Spiritual Training, The Gospel

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 Jesus footsteps2

For the best part of three and a half years twelve men walked with God, literally and in every sense of the word; on this earth. They lived with Him, ate with Him, prayed with Him, laughed with Him, cried with Him, worked miracles with Him… do I need to go on?

What an awesome, awesome honour! When I meditate on this it is very humbling that our God, came down out of heaven, to work with us and for us. He could have brought the mighty angels with Him; He could have done so many other things to fix us, but He chose to include us in His plan. And if that wasn’t awesome enough, He WASHED the feet of His disciples and after He rose from death, He COOKED for them… fish on the beach! People of God it doesn’t get any better than that.

Let’s take that in for a moment… then reflect on ourselves. When was the last time we did something that special for someone, whether we know them well or not? It is so easy to go through life focusing on ourselves and not putting anyone else first. Everything Jesus did was for others; for us. The level at which He humbled Himself for us, means that surely we can humble ourselves for each other. Remember we were created in His image and in His likeness; so it is possible to be like Him and indeed we should be.

Love started us on this journey and love will bring us through.  Often when relationships fail in life, you will hear people say ‘Love was not enough,’ and this belief is expressed in films and books again and again.  Whilst this statement is true to some extent it is not the whole story.  The truth is, “Our love is not enough but God’s love is more than enough and perfectly able to cope with anything we experience in life.”  We need to practice God’s unfailing, unconditional, unfathomable transcendent love.  Through it all things can be accomplished.

He was and still is our example of how to show real unconditional love to each other.  Being a trained Complementary Therapist; I enjoy helping people to look after their tired and overworked bodies; and of all the treatments I have done my most favourite is looking after peoples’ feet. Those poor little members do so much to bear us up, becoming sore and swollen after a long days’ work, yet often we treat them so poorly. Many will tell you they are disgusted with their feet, refuse to look at them or show them to anyone and absolutely refuse to let anyone else look after them.

This happens all too often in life. We can be dismissive, refuse to show love to others, embarrassed by each other, will not give unless we receive; yet no one is able to repay Jesus for the things He did and continues to do for us. Could we wash the feet of a tired brethren, show unparalleled hospitality to strangers and loved ones, without ever expecting some kind of repayment? He knew we couldn’t repay Him yet He did it anyway… To walk with God we must first walk in His footsteps, because now it is a Spiritual Walk!

Recommended Reading
The Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

 Stay Blessed!

Follow Christ and the Blessings will follow you!

26 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Faith, God's Blessings, Love, The Gospel

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 Above clouds

We spend a lot of time focused on obtaining blessings from God, begging for the signs and wonders; the miracles, great wealth and more! Many Christians when they come to the Lord, get carried away with what they see, the miracles, the preaching and teaching, the prophesying; and crave the ‘power’ of the Holy Spirit.  They want to raise the dead, they want to preach to thousands, they want to prophesy and have many followers. Leading these followers to the Lord however, comes in a distant second. The desire for worldly wealth becoming an obsession in this Christian generation. Whilst it is a good thing to have a desire for the Lord to use you, and work great things through you, and there is nothing wrong with being blessed with wealth; nothing can or will work if you do not have love in your heart.  Love for God and for each other. If your heart is not for God, everything you do will be in vain. 

We do not follow the signs and wonders or the wealth… we follow Christ and the blessings follow us!

In the following scriptures, Jesus tells His disciples that the signs and wonders will follow them who believe and go forth preaching and teaching the Gospel. Then the Lord Himself will work with them confirming the preaching with the signs wonders! 

Mark 16:17-20
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.  

Praying ceaselessly for God to give you the power to heal and raise the dead is not what the Lord taught us. God’s blessings come in many forms but first and foremost, He is a Spirit and requires us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. We are called from the physical to the spiritual. His blessings will primarily be Spiritual and to a lesser extent material. He will not bless us with things that we are ill equip to deal with, don’t understand, and He certainly will not bless us with blessings which are not part of our purpose in Him.

Often Christians take scriptures out of context as in Malachi 3 below, and pay their tithes only for what they think they can get from God; and start asking for what they want. But God did not say, pay your tithes, then come to me with a list of your demands!  

Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 

God did not say the blessing will be great wealth, actually we do not know the what, where, when or how; so often if the blessings don’t fall in line with what people desire, they ignore it. We think if we say it long and hard enough, claim it and believe it; it will be so. Some start ‘sowing’ into huge global ministries buying miracle water, oil, prayer shawls, magic: if you sow into the ministry, thirty days later you will suddenly become rich. In all this people are relying on their ability and determination and forget the most import factor; God’s will! Often there is little or no love for God or the things of God. We don’t spend time with Him, refuse to praise Him; but we want to demand the blessings from Him.

There are so many books, teachings and advice in the world today on how to remind God of His promises to us, how to claim those promises, what processes we need to follow to obtain the blessings of God and a victorious life in Christ. There is little mention on nurturing your relationship with God, waiting on Him, letting Him work in your life according to His perfect will for you! If all these worldly doctrines are to be believed, we will all be rich in earthly wealth, we will never be sick, we will have be healed if we become sick, and we will not die because we can just ask the Lord for whatever we want, believe it and we will receive it?? Not so… many people who don’t know the Word of God for themselves believe and live according to these doctrines.

Christians will struggle, will go through trials and tribulations, will get sick; some will be rich and others won’t, and we certainly will die. The abundant life is not a life rich in material blessings; it is a life rich in Christ and the things of God. This is not defined by earthly possessions and financial status. Life itself is a blessing which we so often take for granted, or completely discard by the taking of a life. How often do we thank God for the life He gave us without worrying about the trappings?

If we love God, believe in Him, preach the Gospel, delight ourselves in Him, have a real relationship with Him, be faithful and obedient to Him; guess what? He will give us everything we need. The blessings really will follow us, above and beyond anything we could ask for! And the following scripture confirms this!

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The Apostles were never rich in earthly wealth, but they could not avoid the signs and wonders following them wherever they went, because Jesus was working with them through the Holy Spirit, simply because they were doing the work of God. They never once prayed and begged for the ability to work miracles. Let us go back to the doctrine of the Bible and stop getting carried away with the doctrines of charismatic men and women!

Be blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if?

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Christianity, The Gospel

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 Rocks on the ShoreAnd Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me to you.  Exodus 3:13-14 (KJV)

Many are adamant that there is no greater power than us, no creator of the universe, no God, nothing after death, we just die and then there is no more consciousness, nothing, it is as if we never existed.  I have a question for you!  What if you are wrong?  What if there really is a God and everything He has taught us is true and there really is a heaven and a hell and an eternal life after the physical death?   

The world invests a lot of time in trying to prove that God does not exist, a God they do not believe exist in the first place; so why so much effort in trying to prove there is no God.  Surely if someone believes there is no God that should be sufficient for them, but this is clearly not the case.  How many expensive and time consuming experiments have been attempted by very intelligent and learned experts to work out how Jesus performed miracles, that they don’t believe ever happened; or whether or not Noah’s Ark ever existed or whether Pharaoh and his army actually drowned in the Red Sea.  Why spend your life trying to prove something you don’t believe ever existed in the first place?  It doesn’t make sense to me, unless there is an element in there somewhere that is not sitting right with the person, that keeps tugging at their spirit or is challenging their disbelief.  It is my belief that many people who say they do not believe there is a God actually do believe to some extent that there is a God but chose to reject the truth because it is not what they want in their lives and it doesn’t sit well with their logic. 

To believe in God, let Him guide us and to give Him control in our lives is just too much for many people to accept.  People like to boast of their personal achievements and the self-gratifying feeling that they did it all by themselves.  They walked on the moon, conquered a race, discovered a planet, they are the greatest that ever lived and the thought of saying ‘I was able to do this through the strength and empowerment of Jesus Christ,’ is too much for them to accept.  I cannot imagine a more wasted existence than to believe that someone or something doesn’t exist but to then spend my entire life trying to prove that they really don’t exist. 

God does not ask us as Christians to prove His existence because we cannot.  Sometimes we get caught up with useless debates trying to prove who God is, when we really cannot and the message we are trying to get across is lost. Moses was most concerned with whether or not the Children of Israel would believe that he was sent by God, but God simply said, tell them my name is I AM. I AM sent you! No further explanation required. We must always testify from our personal relationship with God, by Faith.  How would you begin to prove such a thing?  When I tried to share this concept with a friend I was told that I was ‘disillusioned,’ and that my statement was ‘moronic,’ so in other words I was a ‘disillusioned moron.’  I know the truth and we all will one day!  As a Christian don’t get frustrated when you can’t get through to someone, ask the Lord to reveal the truth to them and move on to the next one.  Time is short and as I said in a previous blog, it is not our friend because it just keeps ticking on regardless of the state we are in. 

Jesus is definitely returning to us very soon, but many people either don’t believe or think it is still a long way away.  Remember Christ left us just over two days ago so by God’s time will it be another half day, a few more hours a week?  We don’t know.  We need to be alert and not ignore the signs of the times.  A broken world cannot produce hope and fruitfulness.  It produces earth quakes with the earth literally breaking apart creating havoc and mass loss of life, or it’s erupting from its’ core with vicious force destroying everything in its wake.  We have rivers which instead of watering the land and growing the crops, as they were created to do, is responsible for the deaths of millions of people each year.  We have cities sinking into oceans with every passing moment.  Tsunamis, floods, avalanches, aeroplanes disappearing in mid-flight, people willing not only to take their own lives, but to strap bombs to themselves and kill as many innocent people as possible.  Children killing parents, parents killing children, the deepest bond possible, giving birth to another human being and they reach a point in their lives where they are able to kill each other.  Countries at war.  Who can stop any of these horrific things from happening!  Who can fix this?

              There is no one on this earth who can fix this and God will not patch it up.  His Word is clear, this world will pass away and He will build us a new one.  It is our duty as Christians to get the message out there, simple and uncomplicated. We cannot force anyone to believe in God but we must continue to spread the Gospel regardless of whether people accept it or not.