Listening to God John 6:66-69

John 6:66-69

".Many of [Jesus'] disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'"

Many of Jesus' disciples chose to leave Him. Why? They had a hard time accepting some of the things Jesus taught.

As you grow in your faith, you may be tempted to turn away because Jesus' lessons are difficult. When that temptation comes, don't turn away from God. Think about life - there is nowhere else to go! No other way of life meets you at your point of deepest inner need. No other way of life has its foundation in truth. No other way ends in meaning and purpose.

You must learn to trust God with the great times AND the hard times, the easy lessons and the difficult lessons!

Remember, with Jesus, there is no middle ground - no grey area. Either He is Lord of your life or not!

The more that people understand the power of Jesus' message, the more they divide into two camps - honest seekers and followers who want to understand more; and those who reject Jesus because they don't like what He teaches. Simon Peter saw that Jesus' words, however challenging, led to life.

Written by John North of Ambassadors For Christ. You can hear John Weekday mornings at 6.05am on FM103.2 and in our Audio Lounge.

What Worship Does

What Worship Does

“You who fear the LORD, praise Him!”
Psalm 22:23 NKJV

Worship humbles the smug and lifts the deflated.

Worship adjusts us, lowering the chin of the haughty, straightening the back of the burdened.

Worship properly positions the worshiper. And oh how we need it! We walk through life so bent out of shape. Five-talent folks swaggering: “I bet God’s glad to have me.” Two-talent folks struggling: “I bet God’s sick of putting up with me.” So sold on ourselves that we think someone died and made us ruler. Or so down on ourselves that we think everyone died and just left us.

Treat both conditions with worship.

1 of 365 devotionals in Grace for the Moment, Volume 2 Originally printed in Cure for the Common Life

Living for God

Living for God

Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Let your light shine!

What light? The life of Jesus Christ in you! Jesus repeatedly pointed to Himself as the light of the world (Matthew 4:16; John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35). Now He says to the disciples and to us today, "You are the light of the world".

How can this be true? Because Jesus is now living in you! Jesus is still on this earth, carrying out His ministry to people. If this is true, then where is He? What is His body? We are! Believers around the world are called in Scripture: "the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). Jesus wants to shine His light on people around you. That's why He's put you in that job, that course, that neighbourhood.

Jesus is calling you today to let Him shine through you.

Written by John North of Ambassadors For Christ. You can hear John Weekday mornings at 6.05am on FM103.2 and as an mp3 download in the Audio Lounge.

The Holy Spirit -Galatians 5:22-25

The Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:22-25
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

The Christian life only works when we allow the Holy Spirit to live His way of life through us!
We can achieve a measure of goodness in our activities through our own strength; but it is only surface goodness. We live that way to meet up to other’s expectations, or to assuage our own conscience, or to try and live up to a moral standard; but that goodness does not flow from who we are — our inner life. We are still fallen beings, full of selfishness and pride and independence.
The restoration of our inner lives is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. His inner life overflows with goodness and the fullness of God’s character. As we say to Him, “I can’t live that way, but You can, and You are in me”, He not only changes the way we act, but changes our very inner being to be more like Christ. Then the godly life just flows from you, instead of draining you.
God wants you, rather than trying hard to live for Him, to allow Him to live supernaturally through you.

The Holy Spirit -Ephesians 1:13-14

The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13-14
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Our experience of the Holy Spirit here in this life is a foretaste of how wonderful heaven will be!
In today’s verses, the Lord is telling you that when you heard the message of the gospel and put your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and you were born again, something else very significant happened too. God put a seal of authenticity on your salvation, a guarantee that one day you would experience the fullness of glory in heaven. That seal, that guarantee is the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in your life.

In Romans 8:23, Paul refers to it as “the first fruits of the Spirit” which make us long for glory. Like eating the first apples of the season gives you an idea of what the season will be like, experiencing the Spirit is a little taste of what heaven will be like. The presence of God, the glory of God, the love of God, victory over sin, closeness to God — all these things the Spirit wants to fill your life with now!

Romans 8:14- The Holy Spirit

Romans 8:14
"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."

Expect the Holy Spirit to lead you!

In Acts 8:29, when Philip was walking on the Gaza road and a chariot went by, it says, "Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go up and join this chariot.'" As Philip followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, it led to a wonderful opportunity to talk to one of the leading government officials of Ethiopia about Christ, and the man put his faith in Jesus!

When the great Council of Jerusalem met in Acts 15:28, James came out of the council meeting and said, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials."

The Holy Spirit wants to lead you in two ways. As you make yourself available to God for Him to use you in other people's lives in this world, the Spirit will guide you so that you are fulfilling His plan for you, just as He guided Philip. The main thing is your availability to Him.

And in your own personal spiritual life, the Spirit wants to lead you into the great life-changing truths. He wants to transform you from the inside out! God's message to you today: make your life, your mind, your heart totally available to God, and you can expect the Holy Spirit to guide you in life!

Eight Specific Reasons Why Christians Suffer

Eight Specific Reasons Why Christians Suffer

by Joyce Meyer

This is a great link to aid understanding of why it is often the Hard road to travel as followers of Jesus.

I dont know about you, but i find it extremely comforting to know that there is some'one' out there that understands.

But Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you]” (John 16:33).