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Showing posts from March 24, 2024

Life Without Jesus: Saturday Meditation

                                         Lamentations 3:40 - "Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the LORD." We have transgressed and have rebelled: yet thou hast pardoned. During the Saturday before the first Easter, what would the disciples and other followers of Christ be thinking? Story Over? Game over? Dreams over? No more Kingdom? Go back to the old ways? Well, now that today we know that neither the story, nor the game was far from over, what are we thinking? As we wait in eager hope for Easter Sunday, what are we busy with? Maybe preparing the grand Easter meal. Or shopping. Or trying to get Easter eggs. Or maybe, like the disciples, simply meditating on the outcome of Christ's crucifixion. Thinking about what life will be without Christ. As far as we, personally, are concerned, was it a wasted sacrifice? Did we reciprocate His great love? Do we intend to? If so when? When it is too late? Let's think about how we have personally upheld and honoure

World Forgiveness Day: The Bounty of Forgiveness.

  July 7 is recognized as "Global Forgiveness Day" on the US National Day Calendar to encourage forgiveness as part of an element of personal health. While it is great to give "forgiveness" the importance it deserves, maybe Good Friday, should be actually World Forgiveness Day!   Today Jesus forgave and recommended to the father to forgive His assassins, murderess, betrayers, deserters, mockers, thieves, gamblers, bribery takers, - everyone who were involved in nailing Him to the cross. Good Friday is about forgiveness as well as a demonstration of God's love. When we forgive someone, we stop disliking them. We pray for them; we support them in times of need. It does not mean we start immediately liking them, that may take time. We may not like them. But we stop disliking them . We stop hating them. We stop gossiping about them, however juicy it may seem.  Today, following His example, can we think of one person (or more) whom we have not been able to forgive,

Fear to Reverence

Prov 9, 10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight". (This post is drawn from the KJV Bible Study and Lloyd John Ogilvie) Jesus Christ totally transformed the relationship that we have with God - from Fear to Reverence.  In the times of the Old Testament, people feared God and they never thought of coming into His presence. Even the High Priests weren't safe enough to enter God's presence, the Holy of Holies, because of their sin. But  the dynamics of our relationship with God changed, when Christ arrived on the scene. When He sacrificed Himself on the Cross and, was resurrected to be a living God, a series of events we will shortly celebrate. We no longer have to be far away from God. We don't have to cower away from him, wallowing in our imperfections. God wants us as close Him as possible so that He can love us, guide us, assure us, and strengthen us. God wants to see us grow. He wants to see us overcome th

Discipline & Discipleship

Matthew 28:19-20 New International Version 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age Matthew 28, 19-20, quotes Jesus as instructing us to make disciples. Verse 20 goes onto say how and what they are expected to do. But before that, we, ourselves need to observe and follow verse 20 before we preach to others and expect them to follow Christ. Titus 2:11 tells us how. Pastor David Jacobs opens up on this in a transparent manner . While we, and as churches, blindly believe and follow verse 19 we seldom understand that verse 20 is a qualifier and a responsibility and forms the discipline of discipleship for ourselves. Here is what he says - "This verse tells us how to conduct ourselves in a holy manner. Titus 2:11 says: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath ap