One name

Let a man [thoroughly] examine himself, and [only when he has done] so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:28 AMP

Yesterday, Good Friday, we came together as a family around that table to 'examine' ourselves. Some were more keen than others, but we pressed on! On squares of paper we each openly confessed our sins. 

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps,  your offenses, your sins) James 5:16a AMP

Those that couldn't spell received help from those that could. We each glued our 'sins' onto a big sheet of white cardboard. How interesting it was to see some common themes coming through! A bit of a wake up call for us, the parents. 

The next step was the 'covering' of our sins. We covered our sins in red tissue paper, representative of Jesus' blood covering our sin, cleansing us from sin.

But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guild [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. 1 John 1:7 AMP

Then we each glued on a letter of His Name and the crown, acknowledging that Jesus is the King of Kings. 

To Him all the prophets testify (bear witness) that everyone who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him, giving himself up to Him] receives forgiveness of sins through His name. Acts 10:43 AMP

Finally we prayed.

... and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its workings]. James 5:16b AMP

What a powerful family time this was. A time of putting Jesus where He belongs, in the centre of our family. Of those that weren't so keen in the beginning, after the prayer, one read from their bible, sharing what God had been talking to them about the night before. Another's heart was stirred with the visual reminder of what Jesus has done for us. God is good.

Question for today, as we have these four days called 'Easter', what are you doing, or going to do to 'consider Jesus'?

So then, brethren, consecrated and set apart for God, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest Whom we confessed [as ours when we embraced the Christian faith. Hebrews 3:1 AMP

Sinners, Grace and Mercy

Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognise that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realise that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interest, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. James 4:8-10 AMP

Here is a call to humble ourselves, a call to confess without any shadow of a doubt that we are sinners. For most of us we have divided hearts in so many ways, most of all in our ability to completely trust God and consistently follow His path for our lives. Easter is the perfect time to get more revelation of our need for greater humility.

Easter is also a great time to get more revelation of the grace and mercy God has given us, and how they are available to us, the sinners.

Let us fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favour to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Hebrews 4:16 AMP

What a message of hope. We are not left or forsaken in our sin. We have a God who extends the hand of reconciliation through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Let's reach out and grab His hand with both our hands. Today, let's accept the grace and mercy which is freely given to us.

My little children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God's law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father - [it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father's will in every purpose, thought and action]. And He [that same Jesus Himself] in the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins, and not for ours alone but also for [the sins of] of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 AMP

I refuse to repudiate God's grace

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine." but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19-20 The Message

In this passage of scripture the Apostle Paul is talking to the Galatians about the centrality of Christ in His life. He is explaining to them about how he used to do life prior to his divine meeting with Jesus, compared with his life now as a follower of Jesus. Paul goes on to say,

I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. Galatians 2:21 The Message

The words, 'I am not going back on that,' challenged me. How easy is it to slip back into the 'old ways' of life. There are a few questions we can ask ourselves from this passage of scripture, to analyze the degree to which we are living out of God's grace.

1. Am I trying to keep rules and working my head off to please God?

2. What is central in my life, is it my ego?

3. Is it important that I appear righteous in front of others?

4. Is it important that others have a good opinion of me?

5. Am I driven to impress God?

Some times there is not a simple answer to these questions. But rather we need to take time to reflect on each area of our life and be honest about our motives for our actions. We need to be brave and admit that our motives aren't always as pure as they seem. We need to acknowledge that our flesh has taken control in that area. We need to return to Jesus. He, and He alone is our way forward.

But the Scriptures [picture all mankind as sinners] shut up and imprisoned by sin, so that [the inheritance, blessing] which was promised through faith in Jesus Christ (the Messiah) might be given (released, delivered, and committed) to [all] those who believe (who adhere to and trust in and rely on Him]. Galatians 3:22 AMP

Jesus has done it all for us. Jesus has given us right-standing with God, our Heavenly Father. As Easter approaches, let's take lots and lots of time to reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice. Let's refuse to repudiate God's grace, but rather let's embrace His grace and live fully in it.

[Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favour) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous]. Galatians 2:21 AMP

A God-story

If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own." Romans 4:2-3 The Message

As I read that portion of scripture, 'Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was a turning point', I am reminded of the times when I have felt lost or that life was 'out-of-control'. In those times rather than run, I have chosen to stay and enter into what God was doing for me, albeit sometimes after a battle in my mind. I made the choice to trust God, putting my hope in Him and His promises.

Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. Romans 4:19-21 The message.

I love how this scripture says Abraham 'plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God.' For me, that is akin to immersing myself in God's presence and devouring His word, letting His love and truth completely engulf me. Without fail, every time I have 'plunged in', and there have been literally hundreds of times, I have come up strong, ready for God.  Those times have been a turning point in my life. They have been the times when I have gained more revelation of what it is to trust God. They are the times when the next chapter of God's story for my life has been written.

Questions for today, who is writing the story of your life now, is it you, or is it God? Who are you trusting to set things right, yourself or God? What are you plunging into to find answers and get strength? Is it God and His word, or is it something else? If your answers to these questions aren't God and you would like Him to be the answer, take time to talk to God now. Tell Him you want to be set right with Him, today, through what Jesus has done for you. Click on this link to find out more about deciding to follow Jesus. Let your story be God's story.

That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. Romans 4:22-25 The Message

My inner self thirsts for You

O GOD, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is. Psalm 63:1 AMP

Today, are you in a dry and weary land where no water is? Are you scrambling around in this thing called 'life', unsure what to do next? Searching, waiting, striving, all to no avail? Is your inner self restless, thirsting for something more?

My inner self has been restless and thirsty all morning. Today I woke up later than normal due to a broken night's sleep. My day started with a short prayer, not the normal devotion time that I enjoy each morning and live my day out of. As a result the activities of the day have tumbled along, with 'some-thing' missing. That something is the peace that I get from having sat at the feet of my Heavenly Father, being in His presence, soaking in His word and talking to Him. I didn't have time to properly sit with Him this morning. Oh what a difference it makes to my day when I set the Lord continually before me.

I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, ... You will show me the path of life' in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:8, 9, 11 AMP

Question for today, what is your inner self thirsting for? Where have you set God in your life? If you are feeling like I was, in desperate need of some time sitting in the presence of God, why not ask God to help you make that time available? He is listening and He will give you what you need.

In the day when I called, You answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self.... For though the Lord is high, yet has He respect to the lowly [bringing them into fellowship with Him]; but the proud and haughty He knows and recognises [only] at a distance. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever - forsake not the works of your own hands. Psalm 138:3, 6-8 AMP

Many plans

Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purposes for him that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21 AMP

This morning, it was once again time to lay down my plans and submit to God's purposes for me. I had become increasing irritated over the past couple of days as 'my' schedule slipped, and then slipped again. Now it is a complete landslide! Ever so gently last night the Holy Spirit started to speak to me in among my frustration, reminding me that God is sovereign, and that He has it all under control. Everything will be sorted out, in God's timing, not mine.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 AMP

So this morning I repented. Repented of trying to tell the Maker what and how to make.

Woe to him who strives with his Maker! - a worthless piece of broken pottery among other pieces equally worthless [and yet presuming to strive with his Maker]! Shall the clay say to him who fashions it, What do you think you are making? or, Your work has no handles? Isaiah 45:9 AMP

My plan is still in 'landslide', but it doesn't matter anymore, as I have now repented and realigned myself with God, the all knowing, all seeing, creator of the universe. 

I am the Lord, and there is no one else; there is no God besides me. I will gird and arm you, though you have not known Me. That men may know from the east and the rising of the son and from the west and the setting of the sun that there is no God besides Me. I am the Lord, and no one else [is He]. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace [national well-being] and I create [physical] evil [calamity]; I am the Lord, Who does all these things. Isaiah 45:5-7 AMP

The big challenge is to stay aligned with God, and with His purposes of salvation of all the earth. To stay connected to His plan and be a vessel for His purposes.

Question for today, do you have plans in your mind that don't seem to running to schedule? When was the last time you 'checked in' with God to ensure that your plans line up with His purposes for you? If it has been a little while, why not take time today to sit and surrender your plans to God, and wait for His response. He always has the best plan, He created us and loves us.

Let fall in showers, you heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness [the pure, spiritual, heaven-born possibilities that have their foundation in the holy being of God]; let the earth open, and let them [skies and earth] sprout forth salvation, and let righteousness germinate and spring up [as plants do] together; I the Lord have created it. Isaiah 45:8 AMP

I sent you Timothy

For this very cause I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, who will recall to your minds my methods of proceeding and course of conduct and way of life in Christ, such as I teach everywhere in each of the churches.
1 Corinthians 4:17 AMP

Do you have a 'Timothy' in your life? Someone that God has sent into your life to help you learn more about living Christ's way. For me, God bought such people into my life before I even knew I needed them! I thank God for the many people, in all spheres of my life, that I have learnt so much from. It is such a reminder of the importance of staying connected with people, especially in the tough times. Isolation is not normally conducive to gaining victory.

Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing. Now also we beseech you, brethren, get to know those who labor among you [recognize them for what they are, acknowledge and appreciate and respect them all]—your leaders who are over you in the Lord and those who warn and kindly reprove and exhort you. And hold them in very high and most affectionate esteem in [intelligent and sympathetic] appreciation of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we earnestly beseech you, brethren, admonish (warn and seriously advise) those who are out of line [the loafers, the disorderly, and the unruly]; encourage the timid and fainthearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, [and] be very patient with everybody [always keeping your temper].

1 Thessalonians 5:11-14 AMP

But not only have I learnt much from the divinely appointed personal relationships in my life, but I have also learnt much from books I have read. Books, especially about Christian women who have experienced great trials. Women who have put their complete trust in God and come through the trial stronger and more in love with God than ever. Some of these books I have read with my daughter, including the biographies of Isabel Kuhn, Amy Carmichael and Elizabeth Elliot. We have both enjoyed seeing how God worked in miraculous ways during very traumatic circumstances in each of their lives, and reading how they stood firm in their faith, often alone with no-one else to deliver them except God. It is by those women writing letters, journals and books, that their life stories have been recorded and now provide much encouragement to those who read them. They remind us that God has a purpose for each of our lives, and that He does work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His design and purpose.

[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago]. [It is that purpose and grace] which He now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real [to us] through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality (immunity from eternal death) to light through the Gospel. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 AMP

Question for today, do you have 'Timothy's' in your life, either via personal relationship, book, podcast, blog etc? If not, I would like to encourage you today to ask God to bring those people into your life, through whatever method He so chooses. When the 'Timothy's' do appear, open your heart and listen and receive all they have to teach you. They are an important part of the journey God has you on.

And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in [spreading] the good news (the Gospel) of Christ, to strengthen and establish and to exhort and comfort and encourage you in your faith, 

1 Thessalonians 3:2 AMP