Thu, May 25th - 2:35PM

Ramblin's after reading about a meeting!

One of my favourite books of the New testament is Acts;   Acts of the Apostles, or as I have heard them described as Acts of The Holy Spirit.  Reading Chapter eight at verse twenty-six, where Philip the Evangelist, after a sucessful mission in Samaria,  was sent by the Holy Spirit down the road which ran from Jerusalem to Gaza.  It was about sixty miles long, somewhere along that road he came upon an Ethiopian Eunoch from the court of Queen Candace, he was the important official in the treasury, a kind of 'Chancellor of the Exchequer'.

The passage is pretty self explanitary, he was reading the scriptures, but could not understand what they meant, so he asked Philip.  What an opportunity the Holy Spirit had put Philip's way.  He had been on a mission as a team member in Samaria, & he had proved himself. Here he was on his own, as God's trusted representative on the road to Gaza meeting up with a man who had the ears of a queen.  Not a lone convert, but the opportunity to bring a whole nation to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That my friends is an awesome task indeed, Philip had passed his first test so he was trusted with this extremely sensitive mission work on a one to one basis.

The narrative of the passage runs quickly but smoothly to a complete understanding of God's plan through Christ for the salvation of the world.  So the man wanted to join immediately; He was baptised in a local water hole. Philip was called elsewhere & the Eunoch was left praising God for his unmerited love.

Note the sequence of the events, he asked the questions, received the answers, believed & was baptised.  No waiting period, no probationary period, no councelling, no waiting to see how the convert would behave, if he or she is good enough to attend the Church!!!

No,  just belief & acceptance, straight into the arms of a waiting Father. Receiving the Holy Spirit as part of his conversion & starting a life for God throught the works of Christ on Calvary's cross. 

How would we react if we were given the same task by The Holy Spirit? What would our first thoughts be? Not Me Lord, I have to go to Tarshish.......  Not me Lord I must do.......  Not Me Lord, I must meet with my Pastor!!!!!

It is my earnest prayer that we would all have the necessary to go down the road as instructed & carry out God's instructions. Remember we are indeed Ambassadors for Christ, Philip acted here in this passage as the perfect man for God.

Knowledge is what we require, remember no one can introduce a person to Christ if we do not already know Christ ourselves. Study the word, listen to the still small voice & obey.  Do the small tasks which God puts your way & you will surely be trusted with more responsibility for the bigger tasks.  Trusting in a faithful God for all your needs & you will be sucessful, as you work for God in your own corner of your vineyard.

God's work is Awesome my friends, why not start today. The journey starts with a single first step. Go in the peace of Christ

Love in His Name  Stuart

Thu, May 11th - 3:52AM

Ramblin's after a quiet time.

Reading this morning from 2 Corinthians 5:11 - 6:2.  I find Paul's statement one of great strength & encouragement. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. All this from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ & gave us a the ministry of reconciliation:  .........

.......We therefore are ambassadors for Christ as though God was making his appeal through us, we implore you to be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. WOW what a statement, we are ambassadors for Christ. What a definitive statement, we are to be like Christ, because we are new creations in Christ. The implications from this are absolutely tremendous, we are not sheep following our shepherd blindly.  Rather Christ is the object of our faith & we follow him with our eyes fully open in trust & in love. The greatest part I have omitted until now, that God does not hold our sin against us,  because we are new creations in Christ, we go from being enemies of God to being reconciled to him to then assisting him in the great ministry of reconciliating others to himself. Can you imagine that you are now assisting God!! 

The ambassador has:

The message about Christ.

The mission for Christ

The motivation we have for Christ.

We see all this from Paul's letter, written by Paul, under the authorship of the Holy Spirit. chapter 6 1-3 tells us that: God helped us, because today is the day of His salvation, today is the day of His favour. We turned to Christ because of the promptings of God the Holy Spirit, God in his grace wants us all to be reconciled to him, so he not only organises it but then ensures that we want that for our lives too. My, how Awesome is that, my Sisters & Brothers?

There is also a sense of urgency about all this my friends, we can only receive God's grace whilst we are actually living, that is:  "Before the mighty waters rise & God will be found".  PS 32:6.  We cannot reach God after we are dead if we have not reached him whilst his grace is available to us during our lifetime.  It is only during our lifetime that God's favour is open to us. Paul tells us 6 v2 "I tell you now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation".

In all the writings about a loving God, I see no evidences of ifs & buts, the message is straight;  Repent, turn to God's ways, be actively involved in his reconciling work & fully participate in His mission. We as his disciples are no less than Ambassadors for Christ, our daily living is being observed by those around us, that others might say, usually with disdain:  " He/She called themselves Christians"

My fervent prayer is that each one of us is living a wholesome life for God, through the works of Christ our saviour, being guided by the indwelling Spirit of God.  Do not get caught up in useless, unanswerable debates,  instead "Go forth & tell".  A God who loves the world so much, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall  not perish, but have eternal life. 

Awesome

Love In His Name   Stuart

Wed, May 3rd - 3:46AM

Ramblings from the major Prophet.

Read a lovely little chapter from Isaiah, 35:1-17.  Found between two prophesies of the Lord's intentions for the near & distant future, about 700 BC ( King Uzziah died in 740 Approx.)  A really encouraging little chapter to all believers, this is what we need as Christians, not always bombarded by do's & don'ts, but encouragement.

Telling us how creation will be glad on that day, when he comes. The wild flowers will blossom the flora & fauna will be glad, that the day will be coming when the Lord will keep all his promises, not only will the land see the splendour of the Lord v2 but the people who are in need will have their needs met, He will come & save you v3f The blind will see & lame will leap like the deer. Water will gush in the parched land.

The road v8 will be called,  'The Way of Holiness'.  The unclean will not journey there, It will be for those who walk in the way!

Make no mistake my brothers & sisters, the Lord will not be bought with cheap worship & praise,  only the redeemed will walk that Holy Road.

They will find God's holy hill & be able to stand upon it. Nothing of any kind of threat will walk this road, this way, no ferocious beasts, lions or any other.  v10 tells us of the ransomed of the Lord will return.

Christ paid the ransome price at Calvary, not 30 pieces of silver which Hoseah used to buy back Gomer from the prostitutes of baal, But Jesus who bought us with his life, sacrificed for us on Calvary's cross. 

Friends when we think positively, remembering the promises, we need never be afraid again. Our God will fulfill his promises on the last day, troubles & sighing will flee, v10   Why?  Simply because gladness & joy will overtake them v10 We will all enter Zion with singing & everlasting joy which will crown our heads.  Never mind the temporary happenings. they will pass & we will be full of Joy.

Isaiah can be heavy reading as you soon realise, but when a little gem such as this appears, it makes it all worth while.

So how can we ensure that we are on this Holy Way?   Quite simply by believing in the promises of God, not only that but have a little faith in these promises & you will be saved.

One of God's greatest promises is the "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  JN 3:16.

My earnest prayer for us all is that we will walk together, singing His praises, knowing His Joy & His Gladness.

That my Brothers & Sisters will be Awesome

Love in His Name   Stuart