NO COMPROMISE

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west,

And His glory from the rising of the sun;

When the enemy comes in like a flood,

"The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

The Redeemer will come to Zion,

and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,"

Says the LORD.

"As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, 'from this time and forevermore."

Arise, shine; 

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you,

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see:

They all gather together, they come to you;

Your sons shall come from afar,

And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

Then you shall see and become radiant,

And your heart shall swell with joy;

Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. Isaiah 59:19-60:5

We are living in times when there is a "line being drawn in the sand" as it were for Christians and the Christian Church. The enemy is coming in like a flood across the earth, as satan knows his time is short - that Jesus is coming back for His bride, the Church, the Body of Christ, and those Messianic Jews who have embraced Jesus Christ in truth, as their longed for Messiah. We are told in Scripture prophetically that at a certain point in time, following a seven-year period of the outpouring of God's wrath on the earth in what is called the Great Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to rule and reign from Jerusalem as King of kings and Lord of lords for a one thousand year period. More about these future events at another time!

As we approach these end-times, it is very clear that satan is working overtime to do exactly as Jesus said he would, in John 10:10 "The thief [satan] comes to steal, kill and destroy....." human lives by any means at his disposal. We are seeing increasingly a well-orchestrated attack on human life, from the womb to the grave. Abortion, the deliberate murder of babies during, and now up to full-term with a significant number of failed late term abortions (seeing healthy babies delivered) resulting in healthy newborns being left for hours to die is rampant, with probably hundreds of millions of babies being disposed of in the past fifty years - worldwide.

My wife, Tessa made an interesting observation the other day concerning the fact, that here in Australia, a significant number of failed late term aborted babies have been left in cold metal trays, sometimes for a number of hours - to die. Why, she posed, if they are going to kill them, don't they give them an injection to kill them quickly, instead of just leaving them to suffer food and warmth deprivation.

Euthanasia, which once was seen as barbaric and against the best ethos upholding the Hippocratic Oath of the medical profession here in Australia, has been legalised in every jurisdiction of the nation, with the Australian Capital Territory today enacting the most liberal of Euthanasia laws, even allowing teenagers to be afforded state-sanctioned suicide for conditions even such as severe depression in an otherwise healthy individual.

By way of interest, the Hippocratic Oath in Australia states the following:

I will maintain the utmost respect for human life; I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat; I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour.

Interesting that the name Hippocrates and the word "hypocrite." are so similar.

Then there is whole area of the Rainbow Brigade, with all the demonically 'inspired" inroads these warped distortions of gender and sexuality are pervading society, and sadly impacting negatively children and youth, creating confusion and loss of their God-designed identity.

WE NEED A REVIVAL - A TRUE HOLY GHOST AWAKENING

Most Christians, if they have been around for a while will know the injunction given in 2 Chronicles 7:14 in the Old Testament at the dedication of Solomon's temple:

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

The enemy is coming in like a flood. Persecution against Christians is increasing rapidly around the world. It is clear that persecution against Christians in Western nations is also on the rise, with legislation before parliaments to try to restrict Christian witness, and to seek to silence the Christian voice.

This is not a time for Christians, true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ to compromise their testimony and the Word of the Living God, in order to seem relevant in a society that is descending into deeper darkness and depravity.

This is a time for Christians to be bold, to be strong in the Lord, fully clothed in the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is  the beginning of wisdom. It also says that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

As true Christians, we must love the sinner, but hate the sin. The Bible tells us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Standing boldly for Biblical truth without compromise may not win you the first prize in a popularity contest. We have to be prepared even to be alienated from other family members and friends, and even some fellow Christians, if we live a life of no compromise. As Paul the apostle states in 2Timothy 3:12 All who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution/.

When a grown child tells you that they are severing communication with you because: They don't like the "bigoted" posts you have on Facebook,

                They think you hate gays (because you may have expressed that you do                 not agree with the homosexual lifestyle and Rainbow brigade agenda)

                That you love Israel (God has promised to bless those who bless Israel)

                and so on - you have to make a clear choice. Do you cave in to pressure                 to seek to please those who are offended by your no compromise stand                     for  Righteousness - or do you stand boldly for Godly Truth and                                 Righteousness, and COUNT THE COST and move on with the Lord to                     honor and glorify Him with every ounce of your being.

Matthew 10:24-39 has some sobering words from Jesus for Christians who would live uncompromisingly for Him:

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn

a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother, 

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -

a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.

Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.

In the context of these verses, Jesus is clearly stating that above all else, we need to have Him first place in our lives for our love and devotion. He is not saying we are to literally hate or dishonour our parents or children, but that if we have to make a choice about who we please in our life choices, He should ALWAYS take first place. Jesus is the Prince of Peace prophesied by Isaiah in the Old Testament, and He did not come to bring a literal sword, but the Word of God is metaphorically referred to as the sword of the Spirit, which will divide truth from error.

Children of God, it is time to AWAKE OUT OF SPIRITUAL SLUMBER, to take up the sword of the Spirit, to take a bold stand for Truth and Righteousness holding to the Word of God which will stand forever, and to ARISE AND SHINE bright for Jesus!

BUT WAIT......THERE'S MORE!!

That the character and nature of the God of the Bible is unchanging - that He is a God who can be fully trusted to perform His Word, is made clear by a large number of statements in the Bible - the original texts being wholly inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

    Verses such as the following attest to the Lord God's faithfulness to be true to His stated character:

Praise the LORD who has given rest to His people Israel, just as He promised.  Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises He gave through His servant Moses 1 Kings 8:56

God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent; has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and it not come to pass. Behold, I have received a commandment to bless, and I cannot reverse it. Numbers 23:19,20

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose," calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Isaiah 46:9-11

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28,29

As our Unchangeable Lord, the Living God can be fully trusted to be faithful to perform His Word. He is not a capricious God, who is unpredictable in His moods and temperament. He is a TOTALLY GOOD GOD!

The Bible says in Romans 2:4 Do you despise the riches of His goodness, not knowing that goodness [or kindness] of God leads you to repentance?

Psalm 34:8 says Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Psalm !00:5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

James 1:17 tells us: Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Our God is the God of Light. In Him, there is no darkness at all.

God is LOVE personified, as expressed in John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Although the nature and character of God is unchangeable - in His plans and His purposes for His people - concerning the nation of Israel and for the Christian Church, the body of Christ - CHANGE is ordained by God.

For the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, CHANGE IS NOT OPTIONAL.  It is a requirement of every disciple of the Lord. Change commences at the point of conversion. As Paul the apostle states in 1 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [or becomes a Christian], he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives by the regeneration of the Word of God, renewing our minds and bringing us into alignment with God's will and purposes for us, we are being changed, as it says in 2 Corinthians 3:17,18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [or freedom]. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

God does not want us to live lives that are "same old-same old," just going through the motions of living day after day, month after month, year after year. THERE IS ALWAYS MORE!

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

                                                         Nor have entered into the heart of man

                                                         The things which God has prepared 

                                                          for those who love Him.

Daniel 11:32b says: Those who know their God shall be strong and will carry out great exploits.

God is calling the church of Jesus Christ to ARISE AND SHINE for the glory of God to a world that is increasingly descending into deep darkness.

Over the past two millenia since the church was birthed on the Day of Pentecost, there have been many "revivals" - times when the Spirit of the Living God has moved in ways in nations and in communities that have seen the name of Jesus exalted and truths of the Word of God being highlighted, to be catalysts for times of renewal and spiritual refreshing.

It is encouraging to realise that, even in the Dark Ages, when the church was mostly made up of a priestcraft, who were steeped in religious tradition, without life and without Holy Spirit power, there were pockets of real Holy-Spirit inspired life, where Jesus was exalted as Saviour and Lord. 

Over the past five hundred years, what are known as Jesus' five-fold "ascension-gift ministries", as stated in Ephesians 3:11-14, have been restored to the Christian church, commencing with the ministry of pastor in the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's, followed by the evangelist ministry being restored in the 1700's with notable people such as John and Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield. in the 60's and 70's in the last century, the ministry of Teacher was restored to the church with the Charismatic Movement, and in the past thirty to forty years, the ministries of first, Prophet and in more recent years, that of Apostle have been being restored to the church. 

    The apostle Peter in Acts 3:19-21 calls on people to: Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ......whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

In the last one hundred and twenty years, there have been a number of significant revivals in different parts of the world, kicking off with the Welsh Revival in 1904-1905. In less than six months, over 100,000 people got saved and the entire nation was radically transformed. This released momentum which saw the Asuza Street Revival in Los Angeles from 1906, which birthed a number of Pentecostal church movements.

The Hebrides Islands saw a significant revival on the island of Lewis in 1949, in answer to intercessory prayer initiated by two sisters in their eighties, who were burdened for the churches, especially as there was not a single young person in the churches. Healing ministries in the twentieth century saw multitudes of people healed miraculously by the power of God. Increasingly the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been manifested in the church and in communities outside the four walls of church buildings by those Christians, filled with the Holy Spirit, who have been motivated by love for the lost and have been willing to step out in boldness and take God at His Word, when Jesus said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in  Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do, because I go to the Father." John 14:12

TO BE CONTINUED

 

LIFTING MY VOICE: WHEN SCI FIBECOMES REALITY In 1970, Hal Li...

LIFTING MY VOICE:  WHEN SCI FIBECOMES REALITY        In 1970, Hal Li...:  WHEN SCI FI BECOMES REALITY          In 1970, Hal Lindsey published a book called " The Late Great Planet Earth " through Zonderv...

 WHEN SCI FI

BECOMES REALITY

    

    In 1970, Hal Lindsey published a book called "The Late Great Planet Earth" through Zondervan Press. The New York Times declared it to be the bestselling nonfiction book of the 1970's. It was adapted into a 1978 film narrated by Orson Welles. It has been described as a treatment of literalist, premillenial, dispensational eschatology. In other words, it deals with the literal Biblical prophetic events leading up to, and including what is referred to as the Rapture of the church, the Great Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ to establish His thousand year (millenial) reign on Earth - as prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

As a young Christian, I also recall that a musical album was produced by Cam Floria and the Continental Singers, called "It's Getting Late (For The Planet Earth)." I had a copy of this album at the time, although listening online recently to a couple of the songs, it sounds a little dated and even "corny" now.

As a young Christian in the seventies, I also remember meeting Barry Smith, a New Zealand evangelist, who, with his Samoan wife and children travelled to many parts of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands presenting the Gospel of salvation in Jesus, majoring on preaching concerning end-time prophetic events as mentioned above in Hal Lindsey's book.

Barry Smith was, at the heart of his ministry, an evangelist, whose motivation in presenting last days scenario teaching was to lead people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, that they would have full assurance of salvation for eternity. His ministry was not without controversy, as he talked about the coming one world government, and even suggested particular people of interest to watch closely - as possible candidates for the Antichrist, whom the Bible states will lead the world, aided by one the Bible calls the false prophet (Revelation 13:11-18). He named Henry Kissinger as a person of interest, although he did say very clearly in his meetings: "If anyone goes away from this meeting, and says Barry Smith stated that Henry Kissinger is the Antichrist, I will be very angry."

    Well, as we now know, Kissinger died in November last year at the age of 100, so he is definitely out of the picture.

LEFT BEHIND

If you thought the volume of sales for "The Late Great Planet Earth" was impressive, a 16 book series in the 90's under the title: "Left Behind," starting with the first book in 1995, written by Baptist pastor Tim La Haye, and aided by bestselling author, Jerry Jenkins, had sales of nearly eighty million worldwide. These books were fictional but captured in print, what Tim La Haye believed to be  real life possibilities as the Bible prophecies of the end-times played out, beginning with the Rapture, or the "catching away" of all those who had put their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 New Living Translation

The last six volumes in the "Left Behind" series debuted as Number One on all the major publishing lists including "The New York Times," "USA Today," "Publishers Weekly," and the "Wall Street Journal."

Several "Left Behind" films have also been produced, inspired by these books.

When I was first introduced to this end-times teaching in the seventies as a young believer in Christ, as much as I wanted to believe that these events would play out, according to the accounts in Scripture, the possibility of there being a one world government led by one man whom the Bible refers to as the Antichrist seemed to me to be unimaginable. Every nation appeared to have proud national autonomy, with their own distinctive leadership - some democratic, others autocratic - many with governments and leaders elected by the populous, others ruled with an iron fist by despotic dictators. I just could not imagine the possibility really of all nations agreeing to be ruled by one world leader!

Yet, that is exactly what the Bible portrays will happen! 

For many Bible-believing Christians, the last four years since the world was forever changed by the global health crisis triggered by the COVID 19 virus, has brought into much clearer focus the reality that we are on track to see a one world government led by a world leader. The response to the Covid pandemic was, in many ways, played out in similar ways throughout the nations, with enforced lockdowns, mandated Covid "jabs" as the vaccinations were dubbed - with boosters upon boosters required with often, no, or at least very little preventive benefit - and even worse, significant numbers of adverse reactions, and premature deaths.

There are those who scoff at the alarm being raised concerning adverse effects of the "jabs," but increasingly, authorities in at least some countries, are seeking to investigate honestly the statistics of those who have thus suffered.

Then there is the specter of the climate change narrative, with carefully convincingly choreographed comment from the United Nations body, the IPCC - International Panel for Climate Change. Dire predictions of global warming and disastrous effects on the environment forecast, continually bombard our senses and sensibilities with carbon dioxide "pollution" being the prince of environmental demons.

As has been stated, Australia, where we live produces something in the order of just 1% of global CO2 emissions. However, the pressure is unending to convert from fossil fuel energy (coal and gas - both of which our Creator God provided for our use) to "clean, green" energy - solar and wind power etc.

There is increasing pressure for all countries to conform to dictates from bodies such as the United Nations. Much has been said about the UN's 2030 Agenda.

Also, we must not forget to highlight the nation of Israel - a central player in all that the Bible lays out as being end-time events. It might seem like science-fiction to non-Christians, and even to the majority of Jewish people who have not recognised Jesus Christ as their Messiah - that one day, Jesus will return to rule and reign over all the earth from the city of Jerusalem as King Of Kings and Lord Of Lords, as the Bible states in Revelation 17:14 and 19:16.

TO BE CONTINUED

WHEN SCI-FI 

BECOMES REALITY

    One of the best known and loved pioneers of contemporary Christian music from the late 60's and into the 70's was Larry Norman. He produced 100 albums up until his untimely death from coronary heart disease at the age of 60 in 2008.

Some of his best known albums are: "Upon This Rock," "Only Visiting This Planet." and "In Another Land."

Larry Norman was saved at the age of five and started singing at the age of nine. He took the Gospel to the streets of San Francisco during the Jesus Revolution in the late 60's-70's, and many of his songs had raw unsanitised lyrics that offended many traditional religious Christians, but spoke to the young contemporary youth where they were at. One example of this is to be found in the song: "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus?"

Sipping whiskey from a paper cup

You drown your sorrows till you can't stand up

Take a look at what you've done to yourself

Why don't you put the bottle back on the shelf

Yellow fingers from your cigarettes

Your hands are shaking while your body sweats

Why don't you look into Jesus, He's got the answer.

You got gonorrhea on Valentine's Day

You're still looking for the perfect lay

You think rock and roll will set you free

Oh, you'll be dead before you're thirty-three

Shooting junk till you're half insane

Broken needle in your purple vein

Why don't you look into Jesus, He's got the answer

Work all night, sleep all day

You take your money, throw it all away

You say you're going to be a superstar

But you've never hung around enough to find out who

you really are

Think back to when you were a child

Your soul was free, your heart ran wild

Each day was different, and life was a thrill

You knew tomorrow would be better still

Things have changed, you're much older now

If you're unhappy, and you don't know how

Why don't you look into Jesus, He's got the answer.

Oh yes, He does, I know He does because He gave it to me,

He showed it to me, He is, He knows, He is, you got,

He is the answer.

The Jesus Revolution or the Jesus Movement saw multiplied tens of thousands of young people in America, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand - particularly, embracing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God, the Bible - bringing salvation from sin, healings and deliverance from demonic oppression, many turning from the hippie and counter-culture drug-fuelled lifestyles, which in the end offered no solutions to their quest for truth and enlightenment.

Jesus, as they so wonderfully found to be true, personally, was Who He said He was and is: The Way, The Truth and The Life. (John 14:6) These multitudes of young people discovered that their commitment to Jesus was not just another esoteric high, but this was reality. This was what they had been desperately searching for to find true purpose in life, and true peace and joy. John Lennon wrote and sang the song "Give Peace A Chance," but sadly his inspiration for the song fell short of the reality that true and lasting world peace will only come through the rule and reign of the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I well remember the exciting days in the early 70's, when as a young Christian myself in fellowship at a Pentecostal church on the Gold Coast, that at one time, a group of, from memory, around seven young men from the surfing scene, were wonderfully saved at the same time and brought a fresh dimension of fervent desire in the church to grow in their knowledge of the Lord, and to see their friends and families also come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. Long-haired, barefoot, tee-shirts and shorts, they began to come. There was no room for stuffy religiosity. They had come to know that Jesus is the REAL DEAL.  For most of them, there was no turning back! One of my best friends in the church at the time was a young man named Tom Rawls. Tom had, I think, been in the drug scene in his late teens. He was wonderfully "born again" as the Bible states in John's Gospel, chapter 3. He was delivered from demonic oppression as well, and he was on a quest to really know and love Jesus, and to make Him known to as many as he could share his new found love, peace and joy with. He was totally committed to fanning into flame his enthusiastic evangelistic fervor to reach the lost for Jesus. Tom, after several years, headed off to Bible College in Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales for three years. From there, he went to Melbourne for a time to gain further ministry experience at a thriving church. Following that time, he pioneered a church in Alice Springs, spent some years as a missionary pastor in Bangkok, Thailand, and eventually with his English wife, pioneered what is now a thriving Pentecostal church in Norwich, East Anglia in the UK. 

    Tom's desire to share the Good News of Jesus and the Gospel put me to shame at times. I well remember several times, when driving up or down the Gold Coast Highway with Tom as a passenger when we would pass a hitchhiker on the side of the road. Tom would yell: "Stop the car. We could witness to this guy." I am a little ashamed to say that, at those times, I think I just kept driving.

I have not really begun to address the title theme of this blog. Keep watching this space. More to come soon!

    

THANK YOU JESUS  

OUR ETERNAL DEBT PAID

As I am writing this, it is Easter Saturday for 2024, and once again, Christians around the world are remembering with gratitude the inestimable gift of God in sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to live as "one of us," in a human body for thirty three years, having divested Himself of His Godly attributes of omniscience (all-knowing), omnipresence (being limited to one place at any given time), and omnipotence (all-powerful), expressed in the Greek word kenosis or 'self-emptying.'

Jesus was the God-man. Although limited to a human body, he was still divine - being fully man and fully God, as the second Person of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

One of my very favourite worship songs in recent times is one that our church pastor introduced to the church probably about a year ago now, It is called: "Thank You Jesus For The Blood," and the singer is popular American worship leader/ songwriter, Charity Gayle, who with her husband, Ryan Kennedy and musicians David Gentiles and Steven Musso - all from Buffalo, New York state collaborated to write this Holy-Spirit anointed song:

I was a wretch, I remember who I was

I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time

Sin separated, the breach was far too wide

But from the far side of the chasm

You held me in your sight

So you made a way, Across the great divide

Left behind Heaven's throne

To build it here inside

And there at the cross, You paid the debt I owed

Broke my chains, freed my soul

For the first time I had hope

Thank you Jesus for the blood applied

Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white

Thank you Jesus, You have saved my life

Brought me from the darkness into glorious light

You took my place, Laid inside my tomb of sin

You were buried for three days

But then You walked right out again

And now death has no sting, And life has no end

For I have been transformed

By the blood of the Lamb

Thank You Jesus for the blood applied

Thank You Jesus, it has washed me white

Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life

Brought me from the darkness into glorious light

There is nothing stronger

Than the wonder working power of the blood

That calls us sons and daughters

We are ransomed by our Father 

Through the blood, the blood

Glory to His name, Glory to His name

There to my heart was the blood applied

Glory to His name.

This song encapsulates the message of Easter. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that: All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In other words, our sin nature inherited from the first man, Adam has separated us from fellowship and relationship with our Creator God.

The apostle Paul again expands on this in Romans 6:23 where he says:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:7-11 tell us the Good News that:

Now most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's condemnation.

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son.

So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends with God.

Under the Old Covenant, it was necessary for the children of Israel to continually make blood sacrifices of animals for the remission or forgiveness of sins. Indeed, Hebrews 9:22 tells us that:.....without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, or forgiveness of sins.

When Jesus, the sinless Son of God died on the cross at Calvary a little over 2,000 years ago, He paid the price required by our Holy God once and for all for the sins of everyone who would live from that time forward. HOWEVER, it does require a response from the individual of repentance from sin, and acknowledgement that Christ died for his or her sins, and an invitation from the person to the Lord Jesus Christ to become their Saviour and Lord with a willingness to commit to following Him.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world from many and varied ethnic, and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds have experienced the life-transforming power of the resurrected Christ in not only saving them from the eternal consequences of sin and rebellion towards God, but whose lives have also been healed from physical and mental illnesses and delivered from life-destroying bondages such as drug addiction, pornography and alcoholism. Truly, the Word of God can be fully trusted, when as Jesus stated in John 8:31,32. "If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." The truth of God's Word in you indeed shall be a liberating force.

I pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else - not only in this world but also in the world to come.

Christ's bodily resurrection is a well-documented historical fact. It has been stated that there is more proof for the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for any other fact or incident of Roman history.

HE'S ALIVE!! This Easter, in 2024, you who are reading this could make the most important decision of your life - to commit your life to Jesus Christ, and to invite Him to become your Saviour and Lord. Your life will never be the same again!

You don't have to say fancy prayers using long theological words. The most important thing is that what you pray is from the heart.

You could pray something like this:

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner, and that my sin has separated me from knowing You. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sin, in my place, and that He rose again from the dead. Please forgive me of my sin, and i ask You to become my Saviour and Lord of my life. Amen.

As you begin your new life as a Christian, I encourage you to:

Start reading the Bible, and read some every day. Start with the Gospel of Mark or John in the New Testament.

Spend time praying to the Lord in your own words from your heart - and listen for Him to answer.

Find a Bible-believing church and start attending regularly, so that you can be taught the Word of God, and be built up and encouraged as you fellowship with other Christians

Tell someone of your decision to follow Christ. Your personal testimony is powerful and may lead those you share with to want to know Jesus too, as they see the transformation in your life.

God Bless! Jesus is the best friend you will ever have!

BIBLE READING PLAN SUGGESTION 

    From the time a person is born again of the Spirit of God and becomes a Christian, they are encouraged that one of the primary disciplines of the Christian if they want to grow and mature in their relationship with the Living God, is to regularly - preferably daily, read and study the Word of God, the Bible.

There are many verses in the Bible itself that speak to us of the vital importance of Bible reading, study and meditation.

Obviously there are also other disciplines for the Christian life that also are vitally important and necessary for the child of God to grow in the knowledge and grace of God. These include:

- A consistent prayer life

- Being planted in a local Bible-believing, Spirit-filled church home where they can not only sit under anointed teaching and preaching of the Word of God, but also 

- Fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are commanded in Hebrews 10:3-5

- Bearing witness to the reality of the Spirit of God working in our lives by testifying of God's goodness to us in specific ways. As the apostle John records in Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

- Becoming active in the local church, asking the Holy Spirit to show you your specific motivational gift as recorded in Romans 12:3-8 and then trusting God to enable you to outwork this gifting

- Be prayerful and open to the Spirit of God to use you for His glory and for the edifying of the church and individuals in the church by operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in 1Corinthians 12.

The Word of God provides a sure foundation for everything undertaken by individual Christians and the wider church body. 

Although in church life, the Bible does not always give minute details about, for example how worship in church is meant to be conducted, or how church services are to be planned, the Word of God does give very clear instruction on matters such as leadership, the importance of celebrating Communion regularly, and the need for the five-fold ministry gifts to the church as outlined in Ephesians 4:11-13 to equip believers for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son Of God.......It must be said also that most of the ministry, especially in relation to evangelism should be undertaken in the market place, outside the four walls of the church. As Pastor Tak Bhana, Senior Pastor of Church Unlimited in Auckland, New Zealand stated recently on a series of his "Running With Fire" programs on Vision Christian Radio here in Australia - the title of the series being "Seek His Face For Your Workplace," in a sense, wherever our sphere of influence is, whether it be at work, home, your street and neighbourhood, etc., in those specific spheres, the Christian is in a sense the "pastor" to those he or she interacts with, shining the light of God's love by our lives as well as our words. As has often been said, for many people in our nations, we, as Christians may be the only "Bible" peope read - seeing Christlikeness lived out.

Back to the title of this short blog post: "Bible Reading Plan Suggestion," there are many good Bible reading plans available to help the Christian systematically read through the entire 66 books of the Bible in one year, or in other time frames. Some start from Genesis and work through from start to the end of Revelation, the last book in the Bible. Others offer readings daily from the Old and New Testaments. There are also chronological Bible reading plans which seek to take the reader through the Bible in the order that the events took place over time, which in some cases will see the order of reading of the books change from that in which they appear in the Bible compilation. There are also plans that seem to provide daily readings from Old and New Testament books which seem to be randomly chosen.

Over the decades that I have been a Christian, I have sought often to begin the year with a Bible reading plan that would take me through the whole Bible systematically in one year, the readings being allotted to each of the twelve months of the year, day by day.

To be totally honest, although my intentions have been good, I have always found that after a while, I have missed the odd day or more, and then given up the reading plan, thinking it is too hard to catch up.

A couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of this year, I prayed that the Lord would show me a good Bible reading plan I could follow and hopefully stick to. 

The Lord led me to a reading plan devised by The Navigators ministry, a trusted discipling ministry founded in 1933, whose mission has always been: "to know Christ, to make Him known, and help others to do the same."

The Bible reading plan has the months numbered, not named, Month 1 to Month 12. For each month, there are four readings for each day, but only for 25 days of the month. This is so that if the reader misses a day or so, they have time to catch up before the end of the month. Every day's readings consist of two from the New Testament and two from the Old Testament. Longer chapters are broken up into segments as shown in the Bible, so that each day's readings are quite easily doable.

I am looking forward to following this reading plan this year, and I firmly believe that I will be able to exercise the self discipline necessary to consistently progress through the year to finally read the whole Bible cover to cover. 

If you, like me, have found it difficult to stay with Bible reading plans that are designed specifically to be read from January 1 to December 31, then this Navigators plan may be just what you are looking for.

Another suggestion I would make is: If you find it somewhat daunting to read chapters of genealogies and other seemingly mundane details, as important as their inclusion in the Bible is, a suggestion I have is to listen to those chapters on a good audio Bible recording. There are a number of well-voiced audio Bibles in various versions. For me, personally, I cannot go past the wonderfully recorded and produced recordings of the King James Bible by Alexander Scourby - amazingly recorded back in the early 1950's. He has an authoritative voice and he reads with wonderful expression, and sensitivity to the text. I do not know if he was a committed, born again Christian, but to my mind, he certainly read as if he was anointed of the Holy Spirit. He was an actor, yes, but I believe he read with great conviction that what he was reading was worthy of his very best reading input.