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  • You are here: Blogs Directory / Devotionals / Stuart Rankin's Blog Welcome Guest
    Stuart Rankin's Blog
          A place where spiritual observations are exposed & aired. Working with: www.counselling4him.org.uk

    Tue, Jan 24th - 10:33AM

    Ramblin's after a quiet time.



    Whilst reading Phillipians 2 today I realised I was reading one of my "Purple" passages. They never fail to surprise me, no matter how many times I have read the same verses.  When I reached v 12 of Chapter 2;  I realised that I had been taking so much for granted that I had not really thought about the words: "continue to work out your Salvation with fear & trembling"  Do I really have FEAR? do I TREMBLE?  

    I realised that God had been talking about the life of Christ, assessing the life of his Son, telling us that in v5 our attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.

    Who being in the very nature God........

    ........and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.

    We as Christians are to ponder & assess the example of Christ & from this we are to determine our response. What is our attitude to the works & person of Christ. Remembering that in v 6-11 God says what he thinks of his Son, so what do we think?

    We are to come to some sort of conclusion based on the pro's & con's of Christ Jesus. We are to think rather seriously "In fear & trembling", exactly what we think & not only that, what are we going to do about it all?

    If we accept what has gone on before as pure myth, we can walk away & lose our very lives & more importantly our very souls.  That my friends happens every day of someones life.

    Paul in his unique way puts it absolutely right on the mark. He is after all writing to believers, here he pens what we as believers should be doing.  v14 Do everything without.......

    ......So that you become Children of God without fault in a crooked & depraved generation.

    If we belief the testimony of God & agree in our hearts we should do as Paul says & we WILL become children of God.  That Is Awesome is it not??

    The difference between accepting or rejecting really is life or death, fear & trembling, when the decisions are made & we believe,  we can then with Paul, be glad & rejoice. v18.  No more fears then, no more trembling then, only a constant reminder every day of God's love.

     "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God"  1Jn. 3:1

    That my friends is THE miracle, that is worth telling your neighbour about. Because of the work that Jesus did at Calvary, God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him a name that is above all names.

    That is The  'happening'  that, you can call a miracle, and on top of all that: WE can become children of God.

    Then anew this song we'll sing, Hallelujah what a Saviour.

    That is Awesome

    Love in His Name  Stuart

    Man of Sorrows! wondrous name
    For the Son of God, Who came
    Ruined sinners to reclaim.
    Hallelujah! What a Savior!

    Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
    In my place condemned He stood;
    Sealed my pardon with His blood.
    Hallelujah! What a Savior!

    Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
    Spotless Lamb of God was He;
    “Full atonement!” can it be?
    Hallelujah! What a Savior!

    Lifted up was He to die;
    “It is finished!” was His cry;
    Now in Heav’n exalted high.
    Hallelujah! What a Savior!

    When He comes, our glorious King,
    All His ransomed home to bring,
    Then anew His song we’ll sing:
    Hallelujah! What a Savior!



    Comment (1)

    Sun, Jan 22nd - 9:19AM

    Ramblings from memory



     

    I well remember a story that I heard from a speaker from Campus Crusade.  A young girl was on her way, flying from Chicago to London,  to rejoin her Parents who had recently moved to the UK. It was a long & tedious flight & the child was getting bored with her surroundings.  The flight staff were very kind to her & every so often one of them would give her a fizzy dring & another would give her chocolates & cookies. Gradually the flight was nearly over & the attendants changed the girl into a new clean dress that she might meet her parents looking her best.

    Her Father was dressed in a white shirt & light slacks, & he was at the barrier to get a glimpse of his little girl.  The daughter by this time was so excited & nervous after the long flight, that as she ran to greet her Dad, she was violently sick. The fizzy drinks & the chocolate & cookies came up all over her dress, her Father rushed forward to pick her up, regurguitated cookies & chocolate as well & gave her a big hug. The wee girl, yes you've guessed it,  was sick again, this time over her Dad.  Her Father held her & spoke gently to her, never a word of anger as his clean white shirt & light trousers were covered with vomit. Just Fatherly love. He was ensuring that the girl, his girl was feeling safe in her Father's arms.

    That my friends is how our Heavenly Father greets each one of us for the first time, covered in the dirt of the world, in the slime of the pit.  He takes each one just as we are & proceeds to wrap his arms of love around us. That all giving Agape Love that only He can give. Thanks to the works of Christ on that awful calvary cross, God accepts us & takes us to be his own. Not a word of admonition, he takes us & forgives us, all that we had ever done & cast it away, he lifts the guilt of our sin & allows us to forgive ourselves.

    Thats a great thing, lifting our guilt & allowing us to forgive ourselves.  If folks would fully realise the benefits that God gives us, we would not have to hurt. With the Holy Spirit at work in our lives we can become new creations, we can become renewed in Him.

    The Psalmist can write, "Praise the Lord O my soul, and forget not, all his benefits.  Ps 103 :2.

    That can be yours this very day.  Or if you have never met with God & Jesus, or would like to know him better? Why not simply ask him in to your heart today.

    Jesus tells us that: "Here I am! I stand at the door & knock, if anyone hears my voice & opens the door I will come in & eat with him & he with me.  Rev. 3:20.  

    Jesus calls out of our troubled lives & wants each one of us to know rest & peace & his all giving love.

    I find that AWESOME

    Love in His Name  Stuart

    Jesus calls us over the tumult
    Of our life’s wild, restless, sea;
    Day by day His sweet voice soundeth,
    Saying, “Christian, follow Me!”

    As of old Saint Andrew heard it
    By the Galilean lake,
    Turned from home and toil and kindred,
    Leaving all for Jesus’ sake.

    Jesus calls us from the worship
    Of the vain world’s golden store,
    From each idol that would keep us,
    Saying, “Christian, love Me more!”

    In our joys and in our sorrows,
    Days of toil and hours of ease,
    Still He calls, in cares and pleasures,
    “Christian, love Me more than these!”

    Jesus calls us! By Thy mercies,
    Savior may we hear Thy call,
    Give our hearts to Thine obedience,
    Serve and love Thee best of all.



    Comment (4)

    Tue, Jan 17th - 3:56AM

    Ramblin' for Jesus



    It never fails to lift my spirits when at the end of a holiday life gets back to normal. Last night we started our bible study again, we have been meeting quietly for a few years now & everybody is free to comment & all do.  We are currently looking at the birth of our Saviour from Luke's Gospel. What I find is that the Christmas readings are all about babes in a manger & Sunday school nativity plays, I am not saying that is wrong, but when we look at these events outside Christmas, we can understand them without the tinsel.

    In Scotland now we are in the middle of winter so the shepherds on a cold night hear the the Angel's message we can relate to that. Our Temperature is sub-zero at night.

    We got to talking about our experiences with God's spirit prompting to do things, (the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see Jesus, prompted by the Angel messenger). My question this morning to you is, "what have you done that has been prompted by the Spirit of God?  When we look at our devotioal lives, are we looking in at ourselves, or are we looking out to see if we can help our neighbour?

    There are people of all ages, from all types of backgrounds, from all countries,  who have gone out, unprepared, unsung, & with no fanfare from the media of the world, to do great things for God.  I know a Pastor who is building houses in Sri-Lanka at this moment for people who were made homeless after last years tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean.  Christian aid is helping people in Pakistan to overcome their recent earthquake, helping in an Islamist country.

    What are we doing to help our fellow man who need our help? Sometimes giving money is too easy, why not try to spend TIME with someone who is in need? When we look around their are all sorts of people who could do with a litle help, who are too proud to ask.

    The miracle of the virgin birth was only the start of a life of service to his Father God, Jesus never stopped doing things which set the prisoner free from the entanglements of life, the worries of being poor, the worry of being ill & unjustly accused.

    Why not let the miracle of your re-birth & regeneration be to help those who can least help themselves? That would be my prayer for ALL OF US who claim to know & love the Saviour.

    Working time for God is Awesome.

    Love in His Name  Stuart



    Comment (0)

    Tue, Jan 10th - 11:46AM

    Who is in charge? or Further Ramblings



    I was reading from Ezekiel 37:1ff   The valley of dry bones, here we picture the lifelessness of people who need an infusion of God in their lives.  God injects his Holy Spirit, & we in our turn become alive because we have believed in his Son, Christ Jesus, with this thought in mind I took the next step in my wanderings, thinking, that if God goes to all this trouble to set us up in the first place does it not make sense that he will keep us under his protection?

    I really do think that God's protection is available for us all, all we have to do is continue to believe, to continue to have faith in His Name.  When we are afraid, or anticipate an attack from the evil one, we do really have to remind ourselves that Christ has already overcome death, we have already been clothed from on high, our bones have been clothed by the Holy Spirit.  "Death has been swallowed up in Victory'  "Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?"      1 Cor. 15:55. 

    The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you"  Heb. 135b.  The message cannot be clearer, "keep your eyes upon Jesus author & perfector of our faith". Heb. 12: 2 

    It is only when we leave the fold of our own volition that we become unstuck, we forget all those  verses we learnt at Sunday School, we forget our experiences with a gracious God & all that he has already done for us, & in our unfaith & doubt,  we are afraid.  For many reasons we allow ourselves to be trapped into thinking that we are alone!  Friends we are never alone, Mel's post for today set me thinking about how we as Christians should go about our daily lives, "Be Holy as I the Lord you God am Holy"  when we do this we can never be afraid, so take heart my friends in Christ, no matter what we do in life, with the Lord in complete control we can never be afraid!!  Then the evil one will no longer have any say in our lives.

    At the outset of this new year let us start how we want to go on, with our Sovereign Lord leading us we can & will overcome in the face of adversity. To all those who are starting new ventures, be confident that;  "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus".  Phil. 1:6. 

     Start getting to know the will of God for your lives today, allow him to clothe you completely, your bones will no longer be dry.

    That would be an Awesome work.

    Love in His Name  Stuart



    Comment (1)

    Tue, Jan 3rd - 2:29PM

    Wiping the slate clean. or more ramblings



    A happy & Blessed New Year to all.

    A New Year, what a prospect, no one can know what is going to happen except the God we worship, he is the God of our past, our present & our future.

    As I look at my new diary, which is pristine clean, I recollect the one that I had last year, which with its notes, bad writing & smudge marks unclean pages was a reflection of my life.  The new one for 2006 in its clean, sharp annotations & entries looks like my life can be when I lean on a forgiving Father! The God we worship can wipe the slates in our lives clean, wipe away & forget the things we did which went against the grain. All those things which we should rather have left undone, those things we said, which should rather have been left unsaid. Our Heavenly Father takes these trangressions & forgets then as far as the east is from the West. Ps. 103:11-12.

    That gives me great hope for the future, a God who is so BIG that he can forgive & forget all those things, which we do against his precepts & his Law.

    It is my earnest prayer at this time that we too, can forgive & forget our neighbours transgressions against us. Are we as big as our God? Can we forgive the people who we FEEL have upset us, have bad-mouthed us, have brought shame on our Church?

    I would like to think that the answer is YES, that we can forgive, that we can forget. No matter what has been done in our communities accross God's world.

    My diary will not be pristine for long, will yours?

    Remember,   "Praise the Lord o my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.Praise the Lord o my soul, & forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins & heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit & crowns you with love & compassion".  Ps. 103 : 1ff.

    He looks on us like the prodigal Father & welcomes us wth with both arms outstretched.

    Friends  Thats Awesome

    Love in His Name  Stuart

     



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    About Me

    Name: Stuart Rankin
    ChristiansUnite ID: shar
    Member Since: 2005-09-07
    Location: Livingston, United Kingdom
    Denomination: Christian
    About Me: I am a retired Pastor, I still preach in any Church that invites me, although it is usually Evangelical independant ones, I am licensed to preach in the Church of Scotland, & often do. My background in Christian Brethren & I took my training at Glasg... more

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