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Psalm 44

Take the plunge

If I’m safe in Christ then why do I feel so anxious? Nothing can or will separate me from the love of Christ and yet I feel discontent and irritable. James tells me that I fight because of what I desire. People are used to get what I want or they become obstacles in my way. So life is filled with conflict (James 4:1ff). The problem isn’t that I can’t get what I want. The problem is what I want.

Take the plung of willing self sacrifice

Lately the books I’ve been reading have been talking about the importance of worship. Usually what you want is what you worship. The difficulties I have in my marriage, work and community come from what I worship. My dreams, my hopes, what I think will make me happy take over my life and drive me, they whip me like slave masters when I don’t get what they want. And when I do it is never enough, there is always something else to strive for.

Paul talks about being like a lamb for the slaughter everyday (Rom 8:36). He has learnt to renounce his life long dreams and replace them with a life long love of Christ. This means that he’s not going to stress about what he needs, he has taken the plunge.

Sacrificing my happiness is a really scary thought. But I’m not very happy anyway so why not dedicate my life to learning to worship God more than I do anything else? Why not seek his kingdom first and let God worry about meeting my needs? If you want to join me then ask Jesus to help you take the plunge.   the Rev

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Romans 8:31-39

A Star Destroyer on my tail

The big ship is called a Star Destroyer (bad guys) and it is chasing the smaller ship called the Millennium Falcon (good guys). If that wasn’t enough you can also see a couple of Tie fighters right on the Millennium Falcon’s tail. As I watched this impossible chase it resonated with how I feel. There are so many responsibilities at work, at home, as a husband and father. I have so many weaknesses; lacking love, patience and self control. My energy levels are so low, like the Millennium Falcon my hyper drive is broken so I can’t jump to light speed. There seems to be no escape and no safe place to hide.

This is how I feel

Unlike Star Wars the movie I live in a world made by my Heavenly Father. He is at work not just in the world but specifically in my life. He assures me of his commitment to me, that he has already given up what was most precious to him (his Son) and that having done so will not withhold what I need. Even though I’m guilty God has provided forgiveness in Jesus Christ. And even though I am weak God is strong, he is able to use me in my weakness to overcome all that assails me in my life.

Jesus is right now at the right hand of God praying for me and praying for you. Though it may feel like a star destroyer is on your tail I promise you that God is with you and he is for you. And if God is for you then who can be against you? (Romans 8:31).   the Rev

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Romans 8:28-30

Seeing the future

When my first son was born I had no real idea how he would turn out. Now he is sixteen, works at Dominos and enjoys being an Air Cadet. His dream is to become a pilot in the Air Force. It’s hard to imagine my son flying a fighter jet but that doesn’t mean he won’t get there.

We can’t see into the future very well, our imagination is so often clouded by the press of responsibilities, frustrations, hurts and challenges that need to be faced now, today let alone tomorrow. But God is not limited by time. All of time is as one to him, he operates outside of time and so he can see us in the past, the present and the future.

Before he even made us he loved us who have faith in Jesus Christ. And he uses every event in history, the present and the future for our ultimate good. The purpose behind what happens is that God is transforming us into the likeness of his Son.

God’s knows the way, he knows the future and he is the one who will bring it all about according to his will. From my perspective life is hard to control, random, dangerous, and difficult. I often try and achieve, gain and win for myself that which I think will give me safety, comfort, success and a good future. But in reality I have no idea because I can’t see the future. For example owning a house is never going to be as secure as trusting God. And yet so much of my effort goes into worrying about not having a home.

God would have me concentrate more effort growing in my character than my bank balance. Tough times are opportunities to grow in the fruit of God’s Spirit. My encouragement is to trust God especially during bad times because he has no trouble seeing into the future.  the Rev

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Romans 8:18-27

If pain persists...

The other day I sawed into my thumb while pruning some kind of bush. There was blood, pain, a dressing, throbbing and eventually some pain killers.

Making a cake is messy

The world is a dangerous place to live in and often it is a place of sadness for us. We suffer in so many different ways. People hurt us and we hurt them. We can feel lonely, worthless, ashamed, guilty, belittled, used and even abused. Where is God in this world of suffering? Is he doing anything about it?

When God made the world he declared all of it to be good. Then humanity broke it by rebelling against God by wanting to live their own separate way. They introduced death into the world and death is suffering, it separates our loved ones from us. But all suffering is a form of death and it constantly reminds us that one day it will be our turn to die.

Yummy, well worth the mess

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Romans 8:14-17

Identity

At high school I wore a school coloured jumper that my mum knitted for me. I was the only student at school with a home made jumper. It felt like everyone noticed. It felt like I was wearing a neon sign saying ‘my family is dirt poor.’ The way I coped was to behave aggressively. I found that was the best way to keep people from teasing me. Even though no one said anything about my jumper I still felt like a loser.

Would you share your piece of pie?

Is there something in your past or present that labels you a certain way? How would you describe yourself? A loser, successful, powerful, in control, a worrier, depressed, angry, ashamed, tired, unhappy? Hurt is inevitable and it can scar you so deeply that you may allow it to define the way you think of yourself (identity).

However let me suggest that God should be the person who defines you. If he loves you, forgives you, saves you and adopts you as his child then stop listening to people or even your own thoughts which condemn you and which label you as worthless.

Being rejected and hurt by people is inevitable. But God will always love you. In fact in your greatest need, in your deepest despair you can and should cry out to your Heavenly Father because he loves you so much. He even reminds you of his love deep down in your soul, Spirit to spirit. And he provides for you an eternal inheritance.

There are going to be times of suffering for loving Christ. But when he returns he will strip away all your guilt, shame, injustice and hurt from your life. Then we will all see without doubt our real identity.  the Rev

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Romans 8:9-11

Amazing

My parents were divorced when I was in primary school and it left me guttered, angry and lonely. My response was to turn to darkness and self destruction, in my thinking, hard rock music, violent horror movies and learning to become effective with anger, impatience, unkindness and maliciousness.

the Rev is like worthless taxi

So when I read the Gospel of John for the first time I was blown away by Jesus Christ. I always thought of God as being for middle class people not street kids like me. He spoke to people who were immoral, he forgave them, he came to save them. Wow. And then I read these words…

“and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:23.

Amazing. God would make me his home, actually live inside my body if I trusted in Him. I realised I’d been living my way and I said as much to Jesus, asking him to be in charge of my life. I wanted Jesus to be my Lord and to live his way. I said this to God while travelling home on a bus. Immediately I was flooded with Christ, all my arguments in favour of being an atheist were exposed as being excuses to rebel, to be angry and to hate God for what happened in my life.

A completely different person walked off that bus, even remembering to thank the driver. Since then Jesus has been working in my life, to undo the damage, the dark habits, the hurt and the loneliness of my life. He has blessed me with a loving wife, four great kids and a wonderful church family.

Jesus is reversing the death I sowed in my heart and life so that more and more there is real life, joy, peace, light and truth. Amazing.  the Rev

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Romans 8:1-39

A fresh start

If my life was a bed then I would be sleeping in a very messy bed. If my life was a record I would be stuck in a very deep groove. Despite everyday being an opportunity to start afresh I find myself repeating the same mistakes. Like Paul I want to scream “O wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?” Rom 7:24. The answer is Jesus Christ, and I give thanks for him. In Romans 8 we find out just how Jesus goes about saving us from our wretchedness.

A Fresh Start

A fresh start begins with a change of heart, a new outlook, a new agenda for the day. Lesson number one is that there is far more to this world than hunting and gathering, possession, experiences and relationships. Lesson two is that you need to see the world as God’s gift to you, for you to enjoy with him. Those good things you enjoy aren’t yours but come from God’s goodness. Lesson number three is seeing relationships as opportunities to give and serve of what God has given you. Lesson four is that God is much more interested in your character than in your ability. Do you bear the fruit of his spirit?

The Holy Spirit does a tremendous work in our lives, giving us a new heart, dwelling in us, adopting us into God’s family, He prays for us when we are stuck, when we suffer he points us to the coming redemption of the world and he assures us of his success in forever keeping us safe in the love of God.

A fresh start is what you can have every day, where your life can become like a bed which has been made, like a record player that isn’t stuck in the same groove. A life that grows in life because it is given life by the Holy Spirit. the Rev

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Romans 8:1-8

Who am I?

Lately I’ve been thinking about who I am and how that affects me; my thinking, my behaviour and my mood. It’s not such a simple question to answer. I’m a husband, father, son, brother, pastor and friend. Sometimes I might say that I’m tired, upset, angry, happy, crazy, depressed, distant, excited, affectionate, caring.

Clash of the Toddlers

But with all my different roles and moods there is both good and bad. There is failure and victory, there is what is right and what makes me feel guilty. It is easy to allow how I feel define who I am and then dominate my outlook and my life. If I feel depressed then all that I see and do is depressing.

But who am I in Christ? I’m not a sinner, I’m not a failure. There is no condemnation over me. It is as though I’ve never yelled at my kids, nor have I been emotionally distant to my wife. Guilt, shame and fear need not be what dominates my thinking and my life because Christ has taken my guilt, shame, rejection and punishment upon himself when he died on the cross.

Though those closest to me may hurt me God never will leave me, or reject me. When I think about God’s love for me, in and through his Son, it changes the way I think about my wife, kids, ministry and life. I don’t have to protect myself; my reputation, my comfort, my career, my happiness. Whether I’m treated well or not doesn’t matter because my identity is not based on my circumstances nor how people treat me.

People can call me a loser, they can treat me like I’m a loser but I’m not a loser in Christ. Not now and not forever. This means I can love people who treat me as though I’m a loser because nothing they do or say defines who I am. What matters is my identity in Christ, what matters is who Jesus says I am.  the Rev

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Romans 7:13-25

Relationships a mess worth making?

Lately I’ve lived on an emotional island; engaging with people only as much has been required. I’ve been hiding. People in my life have let me down and I’m angry. Distance has been my friend, it has made me feel safe.

Emotional island

But within my safety there is loneliness and that hurts. So I reach out to people for comfort, for friendship and find that it takes effort with sometimes no reward. So I retreat again to my island. Relationships are messy, awkward, painful and necessary.

God made me a creature of community, like himself. Not made to be alone but to live in harmony with God and neighbour. God loves using people to help me grow by exposing what I worship. If my kids are fighting for the billionth time and I lose it with them I have an opportunity to realise that in that situation I worship my comfort. I long for peace and quite. I believe that raising my voice is quickest way I will achieve what I want.

God has put me within family and community so that I can exercise his love, forgiveness, patience, perseverance. Worship of my own comfort makes me want to live on an emotional island. Christ wants me to live within the mess of relationships because that is the best context for me to become less selfish and self centred.

God wants me to put in the hard work, to spend the time my kids need to understand that they fight because of what they worship; to have what they want, to get their way, to win the argument, to be better than their sister or brother. God wants me to train my kids to worship him and that they do this by serving each other rather than wanting to have their own way. No more islands, I’m going to role up my emotional sleeves and enter the messiness of relationships. the Rev

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Romans 7:7-12

The law’s freedom

No wild animal wants to be fenced. Freedom is vital. Often our view of God is that he reminds us of a fence, that he wants to stop us from enjoying true freedom. So it should not surprise us that sometimes we turn away from God and indulge in what we really desire.

Greed

I have to some degree a fear of falling to my death. So I am careful about walking up to the edge of a cliff and peering over the edge. However, if there is a fence I’ll happily walk right up to the edge without any fear at all. The fence will keep me from falling, it is keeping me safe. I can enjoy the view without the fear.

I’ve learnt to value certain fences. The trick is learning to value the freedom the law gives me. I’ve found that when I indulge myself in sin I only get hungry for more. And it is really hard to say ‘no’ when I get the urge again. It is like travelling at 100km for a while and then slowing down to 60km. It feels like your moving backwards and it is hard to stick to the limit.

God tells me to love my wife, to be faithful to her, not to lust after other women, whether in my mind, online, or in real life. The world hurls images of women at me all the time, seeking to entice my heart to desire someone else. God’s law gives me the freedom to say no to this temptation and yes to actively loving my wife. God’s law helps me learn to be content with whom God has given me, to think in terms of being loving more than being loved.

Jesus said “he who sins is a slave of sin.” Despite Sin’s promise of freedom it in reality will enslave you and kill you. Many family has been broken because of unfaithfulness, whether sexually, because of work, because of gambling, because of alcohol/drugs, because of worry, because of discontent. The law will keep you safe and will set you free from the slavery of sin. the Rev

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Romans 7:1-6

A new desire

We live in a broken world as broken people. We have no lack of rules and regulations. And yet people still do that which is incredibly dumb, people get hurt, people still cheat. Rules are not the answer to the brokenness of the world.

Nice smile, shame about the lettuce

Rules often have the opposite effect than intended. Tell a child not to and be certain they will try. We never grow out of this tendency to desire what is wrong. This explains why we have so many broken marriages, so much unfaithfulness, abuse, pain and suffering. All because our hearts crave illicit pleasure rather than being content with what God has provided.

God’s law is the basis by which all humans must relate to God. To be his friend you must be like him. To be like him you must keep all the commandments perfectly. None of us do so we are stuffed. Christ steps in and delivers us from the requirement of the law. He takes our punishment and gives us his obedience. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

We are no longer under the dominion of the law. Our relationship with God is one of grace. This means we don’t have to keep the law. But before you go crazy consider this. When Christ saves us he also changes us. He gives to us a desire to love God and love people. However this desire must grow alongside our old desire to please ourselves by enjoying breaking the law. There is immediately a conflict.

The Ten Commandments help us identify what our hearts crave. I may find that I am jealous of other people’s money, homes and lives. My coveting alerts me to the heart issue of discontent, of me replacing God with money. It shows that my affection has moved away from God and away from my family. I can ask God to make me content, with him and my relationships. Christ came to free us from the desires of heart by giving us a new desire which loves God and loves our neighbour. the Rev

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Romans 7

Understanding our connection with the law

Have you ever wondered why junk food is more tasty than healthy food?

Which tastes better?

Paul explains to us that all of these questions are related to our connection with the law. You might be tempted to think that the problem lies with the law itself. If there was no law then we wouldn’t be in trouble. However the real problem has more to do with what you want than it does with the law.

The function of the law is to expose your inclination to be selfish and self serving. So much so that you are prepared to exchange God for a lie and hurt people instead of loving them. You do this by wanting what gives you pleasure much more than God. You do this by lying, stealing and being unfaithful in your relationships, all of which hurts people.

Paul teaches that in Christ you have a new nature that when it comes into contact with the law it doesn’t instinctively want to run in the opposite direction. Christ develops in you a new desire which loves God and loves people. The law then defines for you what this looks like in real life. It looks like love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control etc.

The struggle you have is with our old nature that still craves the pleasure of the flesh. Sometimes you do the opposite of what you want because your old cravings tempt you to enjoy what you know is wrong and bad. This struggle is normal for every Christian. Your hope is that we will bit by bit gain victory over your carnal self. Your hope is that Christ will once and for all deliver you when you enter into eternity with Him. the Rev

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Romans 6:15-23

Turkeys and Gun fights

Hunt Skink, yum

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Romans 6:15-23

Good Anxiety

What kind of driver drives this car?

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Romans 6:15-23

Doing the dishes and the gospel

I did them last night

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Romans 6:15-28

Free Slaves

I am a slave of what I love. The more I love the greater my captivity. I love my freedom. So I don’t like to be told what to do, I don’t like being asked lots of questions, I don’t like having chores, I don’t like having to work hard. I’d rather be free to watch a good movie or read a good book… who am I kidding, what I really love is to play my video game. There have been times where that’s all there has been with the occasional interruptions of life, work, sleep and food.

But that isn’t freedom, that is slavery. Jesus came to save me from what I love; my video game. What has Jesus come to save you from? What do you really love? Where do you find happiness? In romance, pornography, the bottom of a bottle of wine, the success of being a workaholic, having people do what you want, being popular with people, feeling secure? If so then you serve those masters, you do their bidding. You work to buy romance novels, you destroy real intimacy in your relationships by indulging in pornography, you isolate yourself I the company (loneliness) of your drunkenness, you sacrifice your family and friends for the pleasure of work, you distance people by being bossy, you compromise to win people’s friendship, you rob security with the fear of worry.

You are not under the slavery of these masters. You live under grace. You are God’s slave. You are free to do his bidding, to do what he wants rather than doing what you love. There is real freedom in God’s slavery because he will give you the ability, the gifts, the wisdom the strength to do his will.

Love God equals seeking his kingdom first. If you are tired of being trapped, of going around in circles then begin afresh in Christ. Realise that you are his slave, that you have switched masters and that when you obey Jesus then that is when you are truly free. Only then will you be a free slave. the Rev

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Romans 6:12-14

Dealing with misery

Treat or Torture?

The message this week has brought to me a lot of misery. It’s about not allowing sin to have dominion of our lives. So what happens? One of my hobbies went rampant and swallowed a whole day in complete self indulgence at the neglect of my family and work.

Now to be honest, I have to admit that it isn’t my hobby that went rampant, it was my own desire for pleasure and a desire  to escape my responsibilities. My heart used my hobby and made it terrible, desecrating and warping it into something that has hurt people that needed my attention, help and care.

Then guilt walks in and harasses me, kicking me when I’m down, making me feel the failure I am. While guilt was sinking in the boots fear comes along and starts yelling at me about the disaster I’ve brought upon myself, my family and my ministry. Fear woke me up in the middle of the night several times just to make sure I didn’t forget how much trouble I was in.

Enter Jesus who embraces me, there is no frown on his face, only concern. He tells me that he has changed everything so that now I can fight that which makes me miserable. I can now be an instrument in his hands to be used for good rather than evil. Why? Because I now live under the dominion of his grace.

It is a scary thought realising that what you find pleasing can in fact be the source of your misery. Whether you over indulge or go cold turkey your desire gone mad hurts you, just in a different way. For me escape only made the pressure worse. But saying no makes me miserable because I want to indulge in my hobby… bah.

Christ has made it so that our hobby gone mad isn’t even on our radar. Whether we get to do it or not won’t matter because we have something better to do. To love God and love people is the only real way we will deal with misery. the Rev

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Romans 6:5-11

Bewildered Freedom

Worry is a symptom of captivity. Jesus said “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:34

How are your shoe laces?

What you love, long for and worry about has captured your heart and your life. How else are beauty products sold if not by making men and women treasure being outwardly attractive? How else do gym and health food shops prosper unless they make us treasure our health? How else do dating services, pornography and romance novels ensure their market if not by preying on our loneliness and desire for intimacy?

When you get upset or angry is it not because reality has not conformed to your will? We like to feel we are in control of our lives and we achieve this by being good at something. It may be getting good marks at school, having an important role at work, having friends that like and respect you, winning at sport, escaping in a movie or video game.

Missing the bus, getting bullied, burning dinner, being bossed around, not sleeping, feeling lonely remind us that we are not in control. Our will is rarely done. Perhaps that’s why we feel rarely happy. When was the last time you had a good laugh or felt really joyful?

It’s hard to be happy when you are slave to so many masters. Everything you worry about points to a master which is ruling your life. Christ came to set us free but at a bewildering cost. When Christ becomes your treasure that is when you are free. Turning away from what you thought made your life worth living is impossible without a complete change of heart.

We will be explore just how we have died in Christ and how this has set us free from sin’s dominion over our lives. We will be encouraged to live not for ourselves but for God. Where going to try and put all this in concrete terms. In summary it will mean that we will stop trying to achieve, earn or make something of our lives by seeking Christ’s kingdom first.

This means evidencing that Christ is active in our lives through us taking on his character; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control.

It is shocking to think that Christ came to save us and set us free from that which we desire the most. What we want is what Christ came to free us from and this explains something of our bewildered freedom. the Rev

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Romans 5:12-21

Freed Captives

It is widely known that people who have been imprisoned for long periods of time become institutionalised. When released they are overwhelmed by the freedom of choice. They have to make a lot of decisions which were once made for them, when to wake up, what to eat, where to work, what to do with their free time. Many who are released re-offend so that they can go back to prison. The familiarity of prison is more comfortable than the freedom of freedom.

Escape the Reaper

You and I are exactly the same. We live our lives as though we are still bound by the chains of our sin. It seems impossible to us that we could walk away from our addiction; whether that is to alcohol, sexual immorality, adultery, pornography, gluttony, the fantasy of romance or marriage, the paralysis that prevents us from showing our love to our family and friends.

It seems horrifying that what we thought was normal is in fact our prison. When we want to change the way we look, when we worry about our children’s future, when we long that our spouse was different, when we wish our job paid more… all these normal things can in fact be our normal desires gone mad. They can control us more than any prison cell

We are like birds who have grown up having our wings clipped, never realising that Christ has restored our wings and that if we only looked up we would soar high up into the sky.

Christ has killed us, he has buried us and when he rose from the dead he raised us as well. Sin no longer has its total control over you. Christ has transferred you out of death’s reign and into his kingdom of life.

This means that you have the power and freedom to rebuild your life a new. Or as Paul puts it you “should walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6:4b). This will involve bearing the fruit of the spirit and cutting out the works of the flesh. The more you live your freedom the freer you will be.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.  Romans 6:14          

the Rev

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Romans 6:1-14

Men and Women are like turbines

A turbine is a rotary engine that spins by the force of water, air or steam. Women seem to spin by the force of their anxiety. There are so many challenges, problems and calamities that need to be averted. This is why a woman cannot have a restful holiday at home. Why? Because there is always something that needs doing, the voice is strongest where she lives because that is the place of her work. That is why, my fellow men, if you want to rest then you must take her away from home. It’s hard for a woman to slow the turbine of her life down.

Where is your life heading?

Men on the other hand ignore the turbine. It can spin like mad; responsibilities may loom but a man will not even glance in its direction. Escape and ignore is the man’s favourite strategy. As long as he is good at one or two things a man can ignore the world falling down around him. Work hard at work, rest hard at home is a man’s motto. Home is a place away from work. That is why a man gets up to go into his ‘cave’ when a woman asks him to do something (work).

Would you be interested in learning something that would mean that you didn’t have anxiety to manage or cope with? I am coming to realise that 90% of my anxiety is my desires gone mad (lust of the flesh). What I need is what’s wrong with me. I need a friend, a loving wife, behaved kids, easy to write sermons, a healthy church. All of this has taken a hold of me and spins my turbine so fast I never rest, I’m never at peace.

Jesus says “he who seeks to save his life will lose it.” Mark 8:35. There are many voices that have deceived me into thinking that if I’m buffed, funny, popular I will have saved my life from being alone and rejected. I’ve worked so hard and I’m never saved.

Romans is about helping me understand I’ve been trying to save myself from the wrong things/people. God isn’t here to fulfill my desires gone mad, he is here to free me from my desires/needs/wants.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.  Romans 6:14          

the Rev

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Romans 5:12-21

Reverse Death

When we are born we immediately begin to die. Each day that passes brings us closer to the inevitable. So we are all dying in a world which is dying. The best we can do is delay our death, to fill our time on earth with as much life as we can before our time is up.

Freed to live

In addition to this very depressing outlook on life is the reality that much of our time here on earth is spent spreading more death than life. Anger, jealousy, hatred, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, greed, gossip, lies, are all common in our experience and all of them come from and lead to death.

However, Christ reverses death for us. He explained that it is necessary for us to be ‘born again’ to enter into the Kingdom of God. When we believe in Jesus we are born again not unto death but unto everlasting life. As soon as we are born again we begin to live our everlasting life which reverses death.

In Christ we can live life and not live death. Instead of spreading death as I mentioned earlier we can choose to spread life. We can choose to be patient, kind, gentle, selfless, generous, forgiving, encouraging, truthful, faithful. Each day presents us an opportunity to grow in our eternal life. Birth as a baby is a birth into death. Spiritual re-birth in Christ leads into everlasting life.

No longer are you bound to death but in Christ you are bound to living life.the Rev

These exercises will help you explore how you can better understand that you are in a kingdom of life not death. Click on 'read more' to access these exercises.

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Romans 5:1-11

Take the mask off and be yourself

Fitting in, being accepted, being successful, is no easy task. We live in a world that rewards the beautiful, the famous, the successful, the powerful, the strong. Having the right image, looking good, being positive and being popular become burdens we think we must carry because we fear rejection, ridicule, loneliness, sadness and suffering.

Hope in God

It is hard for us to accept that God loves us even though he can see through our mask, through our facade. He can see the sadness behind the smile, he sees us before we have prepared ourselves in front of the mirror. He sees  the darkness that lurks within our heart. He knows our weakness and our addiction to what is wrong.

While we were without strength Christ died for the ungodly (Rom 5:6). Instead of pretending to be better than you are, instead of trying to impress people, instead of trying to impress yourself, instead of believing in yourself why not believe in Jesus Christ? Why not be impressed with Christ?

For Christ can fix all that is broken. Christ can strengthen that which he fixes. Christ brings a bond that can never be broken, a bond that requires no mask and no pretending. Be encouraged to take off your mask and be yourself, to put your faith in Christ so that you can enjoy the assurance of God’s love, the assurance of God’s achievement and the assurance of God himself. the Rev

These exercises will help you explore how you can experience assurance in your every day life. Click on 'read more' to access these exercises.

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Romans 5:1-11

Is God good and is God real?

Is believing in God a nice theory that is comforting at times, like Christmas and Easter, or when we are in a tight spot? Or is God really fair dinkum? If He is real then why can we feel so bad, so guilty so far away from him? Why doesn’t God help us more the way we want? And is there any real sure hope for the future and eternity. It is time to not just to know what justification means but to actually experience justification in your day to day life. Learn then about God’s blessing, God’s hardship and God’s hope, all of which can be yours by believing in Jesus Christ. the Rev

These exercises will help you explore how you can experience justification in your every day life. Click on 'read more' to access these exercises.

Hope for the hopeless

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Genesis 15:1-17 and Romans 4:13-25

Refreshing our Faith

Routine is good for simplifying and making life efficient. But any relationship that becomes routine is unhealthy. Our relationship with God can become a series of tasks to be done; bible reading, prayer, church, tithe. So how can we refresh our relationship with God? Understanding God’s promise to us will help us appreciate God. This will encourage our hearts to warm again towards Him so that when we pray we desire to really connect with God, we read his Word with a desire for him to speak to us. In fact everything we are and do will be done with God. the Rev

These exercises will help you explore more deeply God's unconditional promise. Click on 'read more' to access these exercises.

Refresh your faith