Sunday Re-Cap 27 December , 2009

God’s Presence our Daily Bread
by Ps. Abel Phillips

Luke 2:10–11
10Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord

Jesus is the mighty Savior. He came to save His people. He came to save you and me. So even if you are in a cold, dark period of your life, don’t be afraid — the Savior has come and He will save you to the uttermost!

Presents Or Presence?
In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. —Psalm 16:11
“It is not God’s promises we need, it is [God] Himself.” Presents may make us happy for a time; earthly gifts from God may make us happy temporarily, but fullness of joy comes only when we remain in a right relationship with God.

We experience God’s daily presence by abiding in the Word of God, abiding in the anointed Holy Spirit and in His Son, Jesus Christ) – 1 John 2:24-29 Word of God – (Written word reveals the Living word- Jesus)

It is no wonder that Proverbs 4:22 tells us that God’s words are “life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh”. So if you are under the weather or if symptoms are attacking your body, double up on God’s medicine. Simply feed more on God’s Word, and you will find life and health flowing through your body again.

1 John 2:28-29 - And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Abiding in Christ means that a person continues in the Word of Christ and knows the truth, that a person lets the Word of God abide in his life, that a person experiences the indwelling presence and witness of the Spirit, and that a person has power to live like he should. Abiding in Christ means that a person dwells in love and in unity and fellowship with all other believers, and it means that a person bears fruit and lives a very fruitful life. Abiding in Christ means that a person loves others, that he lives and walks in love toward others.

- God’s presence with us is one of His greatest presents /gifts to us. Matthew 1:23 “… and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
God has promised you His constant presence (Hebrews 13:5- “I will never leave you nor forsake you. When we are conscious of His presence every day, we will experience a peace that gives us rest, joy inexpressible in our spirit and a power that nothing in this world can offer. In fact, we will begin to be peaceful and powerful like Jesus. we will speak and behave like Him. This is because we cannot be in God’s presence without His beauty, love, peace, power and glory rubbing off on you.

So, we can enter this New Year with a sense of God’s presence if we look to Him in each of these directions. He is there to help us through every trial, temptation and task no matter what it is. He is all-sufficient for us for the coming year. So let each of us resolve to “run with patience the race that is set before us,” looking to Jesus to find the way. He’s there to meet us each and every step of the way.

Sunday Re Cap (13th Dec 2009)

Health and Wholeness Through the Holy Communion (Part II)

What is the basis of Christ as our Passover Lamb? Is 53:7; 1 Cor 5:7-8; Jn 1:29; 1 Pet 1:18-25, John 19:32 & Exodus 12:46 (No bone broken).

Exodus Chap 12:

V8- Why the roasted lamb? Fire speaks of the wrath of God; and this was the picture of God's fire of wrath upon Jesus on the cross. Rom 5:9; 1 Thess 5:9.

V9-why not raw? Eating the roasted lamb signifies feeding on the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Not half baked or half cooked gospel. Half of our own efforts and half Jesus' finished work on the cross. Accepting that the full fury of God's judgment went upon Jesus. That is the only way to partake the HC.

V10-sorrow for only the night but joy comes in the morning! Psa 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. God's anger burned for a moment in time upon Jesus so that we can enjoy His favour for life! Here we are, thinking God is still angry for every sin against us. The HC is to remember that HIS FAVOUR IS FOR LIFE! Is 54:7-8, Ps 103:8-9. That moment has come and gone through the cross! God is no longer angry or will He ever be angry with us. Rom 5:8-9; 1 Thess 1:10. To say that God is angry with us is to say that the cross was insufficient!

If God had exercised and exhausted His fury and wrath upon Jesus on the cross; then what about Ananias & Sapphira? Acts 5:1-14.

The writer of Acts who was Luke was a very detailed man (physician). He uses certain terms to describe a believer or an unbeliever. Ananias was described as "a certain man" in Acts 5:1.

1. Certain man usually used for non believers in Acts. Acts 3:2, 5:1, 8:9, 9:33, 14:8, 19:24; Except Acts 18:7 and 25:14. In these cases, Justus was given a description (as one who worshipped God and the status of Paul was not Dr.Luke's words but the words of another non-believer.
   
2. Certain disciple usually used for Christians. Acts 9:10, 9:36, 16:1
   
3. This situation is not a norm in the New Testament church but a single event. A whole doctrine of judgment cannot be based on a single event.
   
4. God may have used this event to establish apostolic authority in the early church.
   
5. As Ananias and his wife were non believers, this outcome serves to remind the church that the Holy Spirit will avenge anyone in the church who was being taken advantage of.
   

Continued next week…

 

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Sunday Re Cap (6th Dec 2009)

Receiving Forgiveness of Sins Enables Us to Receive Our Father's Love

Rom 8:38

³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2Ti 2:13
       ¹³ If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

"God does not need our love; in order to love us". We are not the initiators of that love but God is! He first loved us! Even when we don't feel like loving God; we can be assured that He loves us. His love is constant.

Do you and I need to love God? Same answer as, "Does God need our money"? He owns the cattle over a thousand hills. God IS LOVE! There is no shortage of LOVE in heaven. The Bible says God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son who is a manifestation of love. God IS LOVE No shortage of love in heaven! Our need is not to love God but to FIRST receive His unconditional LOVE.

1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The key to receiving God's love is by receiving forgiveness of sins through the finished work of Jesus on the cross!

The purpose of the Cross was love. God the Father Himself initiated the cross. HE DID! He put to rest the matter of love through the cross and said He would love us forever because of what Jesus had done on the cross. We don't need to do anything to earn that love.

Up to the cross, God's love for His people was subject to their obedience and how they failed and again and again! However, after the cross, God's love for His people was based on Christ ultimate sacrifice and obedience on the cross! It's not your obedience that saved you or will ever save you; it's Christ obedience!

Does that want us to go out and sin? NO! Let's see what Jesus had to say about that. How many will believe if Jesus said something?

Luk 7:40-43 These verses clearly show that when we are forgiven, we do not go out and sin more BUT we LOVE more!

Then someone might say what about the unforgiving servant? Let's read what happened to him when he received forgiveness and then went out and used that as a license to sin against his brother? Matt 18:23-35

Mat 18:34-35 He remain tortured as he received GRACE for himself but applied the LAW on others. Always remember as recipients of GRACE, we show that same GRACE to others as well.

What is the purpose of God forgiving us? Love! We don't need to love Him but when we come back to the realization of His forgiveness of sins, we cannot but LOVE! The issue is not how much we love God because that will change with circumstances; but the real issue here is receiving the forgiveness of sins!

1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

When we feel unloved, a failure, do you feel like going around saying "I love you" or "I love God" to anyone? Honestly? We feel dry, discouraged. Then when we turn and look at the cross and God's great love for us, what happens? We are overwhelmed and now, we can love again!

When we are touched by that LOVE, we give, we love naturally. Don't try to love God. Allow Him to love you and watch your own response!

 

Samuel Hari © GROW BM