Month: November 2016

Reflection on Colossians 1:11-20

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians 1:11-20

Scripture

He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear Son who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Observation

Paul pays for the Colossians that they will be strengthened with God’s glorious power.

God has brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His Son. Jesus purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Christ is God made visible. He preceded creation and reigns over all things. Everything in creation was made for Him and through Him.

Christ is the head of His church- and therefore my head. He is reconciling all things to Himself.

Application

We were trapped in a hostile, foreign country, but God rescued us. We were destined for hell, but God intervened and rescued us- He rescued me! I was dead and done, but He came and rescued me.

God’s way is not by might and power. He did not send in a military force with tanks, helicopters and bombs. No, He gave away His power, becoming flesh and dying on a cross.

This is our God. The God who spoke galaxies into existence with a word. The God who holds the whole of creation in His hand, who could crush everything instantly in his zeal to end evil. This God became weak, subjecting Himself to sinful men and women.

And He died.

In His death the great transfer took place. The guilty were forgiven and rescued from darkness.

At the cross I died and my sin died with me. I am a new creation, no longer bound by the chains of the dark kingdom. I am a citizen of a new kingdom, the kingdom of God. Reborn, released, refined.

Prayer

Jesus my Lord, you are my Saviour, my Redeemer. I was trapped in sin, but you rescued me. I was bound in chains, trapped in the kingdom of darkness, but you came and brought me out into your glorious Kingdom.

I never earned this, never deserved it. But your love is greater than my sin. Your mercy triumphs over my evil ways..

Your glorious majesty has won my heart. Thank you for setting me free, Help me to live as a child of the light not as a child of the darkness. Amen.

Reflection on Jeremiah 23:1-6

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jeremiah-23

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah+23.1-6

Scripture

And this will be his name: The Lord is our Righteousness. In that day Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.

Observation

Sorrow is waiting for the shepherds of God’s people, for they have destroyed and scattered the ones they were supposed to protect. God promises to pour judgement over those people, but He will gather the remnant of His scattered flock. God will gather them into His sheepfold and they will be safe and increase in number.

At the right time the Lord will raise up a king who will do what is right and just. He will be called the Lord is our Righteousness.

Application

The Lord calls all of us, but especially leaders, to be righteous. This righteousness comes not from our own ethical standards or sense of fair play, but as a gift from the Lord.

The Lord is our Righteousness means that the Lord is our source of righteousness. He declares that us to be right on the basis of the cross. He then expects us to live right, that is, without sin.

This is a journey, a walk of one step after another. We take a few steps towards righteousness and then we stumble. But the goal is always to walk in the ways of the Lord our Righteousness.

Prayer

Jesus you are the Lord my Righteousness. Thank you for declaring me to be righteous in your blood. Please lead me in the right ways so that I learn to be like you. Amen.

Trump and Clinton

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glass-ceiling

I’m pretty much over the post-apocalyptic whining of the Left and that election thing that happened in the U.S. last week. But I think Stephen McAlpine nailed it:

Hillary Clinton lost the US election because she was talking about glass ceilings to people who were simply worried about keeping a roof over their heads.

To read the whole article, which I highly recommend click here

 

Reflection on 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

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2thes3-13

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+3.6-13

Scripture

As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

Observation

Paul commands the Thessalonians to have nothing to do with those brothers and sisters who refuse to work. He set the example himself of not depending on the people he ministered to. He had previously told them anyone who will not work should not eat.

Yet some of the Thessalonians remain idle and meddle in other people’s business. He encourages them to work and to never tire of doing good deeds.

Application

Having an ethic of work rather than idleness is a long-standing christian (even pre-Christian) virtue. The Thessalonians may have been expecting Christ to return any moment, but Paul says they must continue to work and to do good deeds.

Contributing positively to society- whether through working for wages or running a business or through volunteering- is a part of our witness.

Christians must not only talk about the Saviour them must live lives which show that following Jesus makes a difference.

Whatever our financial arrangements, we must all ensure that our lives reflect the holiness of Christ.

Prayer

Lord you command us to never get tired of doing good. Please show me how to live up to this commandment today. Amen.

A Different Social Narrative

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Reflecting on rum and beer ads, Stephen McAlpine writes:

Our role is to build such thick communities in the power of God’s Spirit that people steeped in the secular social imaginary look on wistfully and say “Those Christians  know how to have a good time.”

Our role is to build such attractive narratives of meaning that Christians not only know that God’s community is where they should be, but they want to be there too.

And in the midst of what appears to be rapid and dislocating decline in the Western narrative (and for those who pooh-pooh the idea of narratives of decline, my response is “show me the money!”), we have the option of creating counter narratives that locate people in places they’d rather be. Places of safety and refuge.

Places of forgiveness and possibility.  Places where the God who upholds the cause of the weak is honoured, in the face of the cultural gods who oppress the weak and silence the marginalised.

Read the rest here

Reflection on Luke 20:27-38

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heaven

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+20:27-38

Scripture

“And the fact that the dead are raised, Moses himself showed in the story about the bush where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is the God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.”

Observation

Some Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection, come to Him with a far-fetched story about a man who dies, leaving his wife to his brother who also dies and passes her on to the next brother. The question then is whose wife is she in eternity?

Jesus responds that they do not have any idea about the resurrection. People in this age marry, but in the resurrection they will not because they have eternal life in the presence of God. Jesus then goes on to show that the resurrection is a scriptural idea as the living God described himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Application

Those who are sceptical of the gospel make fun of our hope of eternal life. Like the Sadducees, they extrapolate the present temporal world into the eternal realm, and make fun of their own assumptions.

The kingdom of God is not limited in time nor is it restricted by sickness and death. We shall be transformed, raised and equipped to live for ever in the presence of God.

There are many things we do not know about eternal life but we do know it is real. We know that there will be no more sadness and no more loss.

Whatever God has in store for us it will be good!

Prayer

Thank you Lord for your promise of eternal life. Amen.

Reflection on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5,13-17

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2_thessalonians

Passage: https://www.biblegatesway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2.1-5,13-17

Scripture

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

Observation

Concerning the coming of the Lord, Paul encourages the brethren not to become unsettled by prophecies and reports supposedly coming from him saying that the day has already happened. That day will not happen until the man of lawlessness is revealed who will oppose every godly thing and proclaim himself to be God.

Paul encourages the Thessalonians to stand firm and hold onto Paul’s teaching.

Application

End time prophecies have always been a source for alarmist teaching. We can become very unsettled, and even fearful, because of false teaching, false prophecies and speculation presented as truth.

When I first became a christian in the 1970’s, the then USSR was supposed to be allying itself with China to bring on the battle of Armageddon. The Great Tribulation was supposed to happen by 1988. Lately the rise of ISIS and Britain’s vote to leave the European Union have all been “found” in Bible prophecy.

We are called by God to know the Scriptures (all of them and not just parts of Revelation) and to trust Him. He is the one- the only one- who knows the day, the hour and the manner of Christ’s coming.

Prayer

Come Lord Jesus, cone. Help me Lord to trust in you and to know that all of history is in your hands. Amen.