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Count Your Blessings
As we end 2011 and look forward to 2012 – we thank God for his blessings!! But what are blessings? - Spiritual or physical gifts from God Let me share some thoughts that came to me via email this week from someone reflecting on this idea of God’s blessings:Two main thoughts came to my mind.
Firstly, Every good gift is a blessing from God.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Secondly, we have to remember that spiritual blessings are the greatest blessing and in comparison to these, material blessings pail in significance.
Therefore, whether or not we have material gifts makes no difference to how blessed we truly are Even if we do not have them, we are still supremely blessed (Eph. 1:3 ). And if we do have them, they are not our focus.
These verses come to mind.
Luke 11:13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (The Holy Sprit is the supreme good gift)
John 6:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
The trouble is, we inverse the value.
We focus on material things as the measure of blessing (unfortunately we reinforce it when we only seem to be able to pray for health,
wealth, safety, jobs, etc) rather than the Holy Spirit and His work.
In our hearts we need to focus on the kingdom and our place in it as the measure of God’s riches toward us.
Matt. 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This also applies to sharing and giving.
I remember this verse… it’s interesting.
Rom. 15:27 They were pleased to do it (give generously), and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’
spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
I read it as saying, the gentiles received the greater blessings, they ought to have no probs sharing the lesser ones!
I thought these were some great insights worth pondering and sharing as we think about 2012 and how we will use our blessings to serve our great God.‘Grace and Peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savoir.’
This is a line that we find very regularly in the Bible – it is mostly used as a
greeting or a farewell. But I think it is a line we could readily use at
Christmas time. As we think about Christmas and its original origins – It says
this – Grace and Peace to you. It is a gift offered by God.
What does this word Grace mean? Is it just a girl’s name? Is it
something you used to say before eating a meal?
The way I like to remember it is in the following way:
Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense
The Christian message of Christmas is that: “God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life”
The gift of grace is a new life – selected, purchased & wrapped by Jesus Christ.
Jesus went on to say, “I have come so that they can have life….Life to the Full!!!“
It is a gift that will never perish or fade – It is a gift of a life of Peace,
Hope, Joy and Love – despite our circumstances.
That in the hard reality of much of this life we can have contentment and peace
knowing my life is in God’s hands – now and forever.
There are two verses from the famous Hymn Amazing Grace that remind me of this life
of peace……
The Lord has promised good to me.
But, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
His word my hope secures.
And mortal life shall cease,
He will my shield and portion be,
I shall possess within the veil,
As long as life endures.
A life of joy and peace.
It reminds me that this gift of eternal life begins here and now on this earth and
continues on for eternity. It actually brings a great sense of peace, that no
matter what happens in this life God will get me through, and even if I was to
die, I will continue to enjoy this gift of life that goes beyond the grave.
This Gift of life helps me sleep at night, brings contentment – and more than
that brings purpose and direction. I am so thankful for the gift of life this
Christmas.
Grace and peace to you and your family as you celebrate Christmas this year.
Peace be on Earth
What is peace? – I heard someone this week explaining that it is much much more than just the absence of conflict. That peace is much more holistic and is more about the sense of CONTENTMENT. But even more, it contains ideas of completness, wholeness, happiness, health, as well as prosperity and safety.
I continue to look around me and think that Christmas is one of the most PEACE-LESS times of the year. So much rushing around and buisiness and not a whole lot of contentment and contemplation. When it is said about Jesus that he would bring Peace on earth – what does that mean? how do we live in that in our such busy lives? Well I think that Psalm 85 helps me understand how it may work. The Psalmist points out the big problem we face as humans – we are not right with God! But once that is sorted out then a “peace that transcends all understanding” is made availabe to us. In Psalm 85 it says “rightousness and peace kiss each other” – I think this is such a wonderful word picture. That once we know that we are right with God, peace results. They are intimately linked. As we are enfolded in the arms of a loving God – there is a sense of saftey, protection, completness – contentment that brings our peace.
Jesus Christ came to secure our righteousness – and now we can have peace on earth. No matter our situation – in light of the big picture – the little things of life take perspective. I went Christmas shopping with my wife a last week – we worked through the list of gifts, we had coffee together, we had a nice lunch together in a very busy and noisey shopping centre, but strangely that was a sense of peace and contentment – knowing that all of this was not that importantant and that these things could be enjoyed in light of the bigger picture. The more I reflect on the big picture the more I have peace and contentment here on earth. Take time to contemplate this year – it may make a world of difference to you christmas …..
Come along on sunday as we explore this idea of peace on earth in a little more detail.
Did you see the signs?
This morning driving to the office I saw the sign again. I drove past a nativity scene that was placed in a local park. It supprised me a little thinking about how the christian message is constantly taken out of Christmas herre in Australia. But in my little suprised feeling my thinking also flicked back tot the message on Sunday and as I kept driving I began to reflect of what this sign was saying about God and about me. As I continued on in my trip I suppose I engaged in an act of worship as I gave thanks to God for what he had done by sending his son. It brought a smile to my face as I reflected on what that ment for me. What an amazing God that would love so much!!! I took heed of this sign and though how will I live for you today – and as I have battled through my day this sign keeps piccking me up and reorientates me in my thinking and action. Thank God that He is with us!!!
Celebrate & Create
On Sunday night we contmplated God as Creator, we thought about how we create and then we went and created.
This week we were encouraged to look out for evidences of our creator God in everyday life – acknowledge him and worship him in them.
We were also challenged to be creative in our everyday lives – enjoying being co creators with God.
I saw some wonderful paintings and heard of some wonderful words and hear that people now have seeds planted in the ground waiting to spring to life. God is truely BEAUTIFUL
How might you celebrate the creator this week?
How will you be creative this week?
What is Firering you up this week?
On Sunday we realised that it is good for us to get angry about injustice and unrighteousness. We were reminded that the real issue is what do we do with that anger? “In your anger do not sin” In your anger PRAY and ACT!! Cry out to God to stop the wickedness and then seek him for where whe would want you to be part of the answer. Some times it is easy for us in our comfortable lives to sit back and not care – as one person said on sunday – ‘the thing that made them angry was apathy’ Maybe have a read of Psalm 58 agian this week and get stirred up to take a stand for righteousness and justice.
What Makes You Angry in this world?
There are a number of Pslams that express God’s anger at the wicked things and people of this world. Psalm 14, 53,58,59 are just a few. As followers of Jesus what do we do with these Psalms. We recall Jesus words to “love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute you” or to “turn the other cheek”. So what do we do with the ‘angry Psalms’? One thing that I have noticed in reading through them is that two of the main things they deal with are unrighteousness and injustice. Two of the things that Jesus often gets worked up about!! Particularly when he confronts the Pharisees – who were ‘self righteous’ and lorded it over the poor & weak.
Though we are not to call judgment on people – we are called to act against injustice and point people to Jesus Christ as the only source of righteouness. I think the ‘angry psalms’ stir me to action over the evil that is so prevalent in this world. Where injustice is rampant and people are living against God’s desires. So I will be stired to action – to pray that people would turn to Jesus and that injustice will be overcome as people live the way God intended. “Love your neighbour as yourself” “consider others better than yourself” Look after the orphan and widow in their distress”. Why not have a read of some of the angry psalms and see what sirs you with what is worng in ths world
God of the great reversal
Ray brought us a great message on Sunday as he preached about Hannah and how God heard her pray and changed her situation. Once she was barren then she had a child, once she was oppressed then she was esteemed, once she was in tears then she cried out in joy.
Here is a God worth worshipping – one who can turn things around – when all seems lost – God has other plans.
As Hannah did – do we trust in God? Do we cling to him? Do we cry out to him? As he showed Hannah – he is a faithful God and is very aware of the situation of his people. That is why he sent his son, Jesus Christ – to turn things around for his people!! Those who have faith are turned from death to life, from darkness to light, from lost to found, from slavery to freedom, from thirsty to quenched, from hungry to well fed….. the bible list many more turn arounds for those who turn to him and trust him… why not have a look for a few today… Why not start at Ephesians 2 and then see what else you can find…
Worship In Song
Psalm 119 speaks of the Word of God. The psalmist weaves together an amzing work of art as he proclaims the power of Gods Word in his life.
This must have been an amazing song – all be it a very long one
We talked on Sunday about how Gods word’s set to song – Help us remember them and they stir our emotions bringing God’s word to bear on our hearts.
The challenge was this week to rediscover our love for God’s word through song. That we would remember the songs that have had an impact on our lives and why - to think about God’s impact onour hearts and lives through the years. What Songs stir your heart?
This week let us fill our lives with God’s word set to song - CD’s, Ipods, Computer, in the car, at home….. Listen and hear what God is saying…..
As we continue to sing these songs God is glorified and we worship….
WORSHIP
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2 The Message
WORSHIP
Total Devotion Undying Commitment Loving adoration
to something greater than ourselves
