Sometimes, you just need somebody to point out the truth to you. By truth I mean, something that is radical and cannot be challenged because it is perfect.
The statement written by the apostle John is radical. The apostle John was a disciple close to Jesus-Christ and he says so in the Bible, he also reports what he heard.
So what is this Love? Why is this Love so special? What is the meaning of this verse? Are you amazed or shocked?
This epistle was written as a word of exhortation to call Jews back to the Lord.
It is a wonderful book . We don't know who wrote this book. Really God wrote this book. It elevates Christ and shows that Christ is far superior than anything else.
The author immediately focuses on the deity of Christ, he elevates Christ in the eyes of his readers.
The Greek word Christos, the equivalent of this word in Hebrew is Messiah Those words mean the 'anointed one' . Jesus when he was raised from the dead, Jesus is the anointed one. What does this mean that Christ is the anointed one?
These first three words tell us. The key word is better. Christ is better than the prophets (the first 3 verses) Christ is better than the angels (the next ten verses)
What did God do? He spoke
When did He speak? In the past
How often in the past?
In which way? various ways
He spoke through the prophets
How did God chose to reveal himself?
He revealed himself through the prophets. In which ways?
Dreams, visions, speaking to them
God revealed himself to those prophets, A prophet is one who speaks for another. Ex 7 v1 Moses'prophet was Aron.
These first verses are all about the old testament and tell us that Christ is better.
Jesus created everything
Jesus radiates the glory of God.
He is the exact impression of God Jesus said When you've seen me, you've seen the Father!
Jesus being called Emmanuel, Emmanuel meaning God with us!
Let there be light and there is light.
His words created all things.
I'm so excited to learn more about the book of Hebrews. I hope that your week goes well. Be blessed in the name of our saviour Jesus-Christ.
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,but have not love, I gain nothing.
10 October 2015
Numbers 6:22-26
Aaron's Blessing 22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Today, in my daily bible reading: Lamentations 3:22-24
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
The prophet Jeremiah walked through the streets and alleys of Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonian soldiers and saw nothing but pain and suffering. This happened in late 586 BC or early 585 BC. In this book, he expresses his grief over the fall of Jerusalem because of her sin and reminds the readers that “sin, in spite of all its allurement and excitement, carries with it heavy weights of sorrow, grief, misery, barrenness, and pain.”
In the midst of all the suffering, Jeremiah reminds us to put our hope and trust in the Lord who loves us faithfully as we are his beloved children. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Have a blessed day in Jesus-Christ.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, evenwhen we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—
Have a blessed Sunday! May the Lord bless you and draw you closer to him. In Jesus-Christ. Amen.
When we struggle and all kinds of trouble come at our front door, it is best not to panic (easy said than done) and remember our heavenly Father's promises. Romans 8:28 is one of them. I'd like to share with you another promise: The prophet Jeremiah says: 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
When we have to face a difficult situation, it is good to affirm our faith and remember that our Father in heaven cares for us so much everyday. Pick up your bible or google a bible app where you will find many verses that tell us about putting our trust in the Lord at all times and many others that tell us not to be fearful.
This morning, I stopped on these verses inIsaiah 41:10(NIV)
10 So do not fear,(A) for I am with you;(B) do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen(C) you and help(D) you; I will uphold you(E) with my righteous right hand.(F)
“No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength…But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” -Psalm 33:16-19
Launched in 2002, Boko Haram - which in the local Hausa language means "Western education is forbidden", a reference to the initial focus of its Islamist agenda - became a force to be reckoned with in 2009 when it raided police stations and government buildings in Maiduguri, and other northern cities.
Hundreds of people were killed in the ensuing clashes between the security forces and its members.
Soldiers raided Boko Haram's headquarters, an Islamic centre in Maiduguri where children from poor families, including those from neighbouring Chad and Niger, enrolled for religious studies, only to be recruited as fighters.
When the security forces seized control of the centre, they captured its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, who then died in police custody.
The military declared victory over Boko Haram, only to find the group reorganising itself under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, who took it on a more militant path in the campaign to establish a puritanical Islamic state across Nigeria.
This is how the extremist group Boko Haram started their fight. Using children warriors according to the BBC article. For more videos that explain how it started, click here.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for all the blessings and love you pour out on Nigeria and its neighbouring countries.
We ask you to reveal yourself to each member of Boko Haram, may you speak to them Lord, so that they turn from their evil acts, and let the children go.
Jesus, you are the living God, you have the victory and you are King of our hearts.
We know that you pray for us and your unfailing love is immense.
Help our Nigerian sisters and their families, comfort them and strengthen them, help them escape their kidnappers and find a safe place, help them to find shelter, surround them with your love oh Lord.
Guide all those who are looking for our sisters, may they find them quickly.
We praise you Oh Lord, you are the God of miracles, nothing is impossible for you.
You love us, and you keep your promises. We ask in the mighty name of Jesus, our Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.
Not long ago, I was reading about the armor of God. Tonight, I' m reading a truly inspiring book by Janet Thompson, Praying for your prodigal daughter. Here is what she says: I stand and fasten the belt of truth around my waist and I put on the breastplate of righteousness.. as shoes for the feet, I put on the readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace, .. I take up the shield of faith to guard my heart against all the flaming arrows of the evil one. I take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6: 10-18 Do you have any worries about your children or grand-children (I don't have any grand-children..yet!) Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you, he will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22. Rely fully on the Lord who is in charge!
Have you ever been in a situation when you keep on doing the wrong things and you feel that nobody wants to listen to you. For different reasons, maybe you weren't there for your friends when they needed you.. Maybe the only friends you ended up having were your friends because they 'added' you in the gang that was 'following' them - there is a bit of 'celebrity' in this kind of false friendship, to be counted in the 'in' crowd can lead to dangerous situations. Or not only you feel rejected by your friends but also your family is experiencing huge problems, whether financial, emotional, you thought they were strong and stable, there for you..no everything you thought was a rock is crumbling fast around you. What do you do?
The good news is that if you ever need someone to talk to, God is there 24/7 for you. He loves you, He is patient and full of compassion. He wants to welcome in His family, the family of all the Christian believers who believe in Jesus, his beloved son. He'll listen to every word you say, and cleanse your heart. He already knows everything about you and all the things that you have done that are bothering you and filling you with guilt.
Ponder on what Jesus said:
“Come to me,all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
I am a very proud mother, Camille was offered a position for a company based in the outskirts of Bristol.She is over the moon and so are we! Now, she needs to find an accommodation and so far, nothing has come up yet! Yesterday we set out there from Cheltenham and with the help of the GPS it was an easy ride. We had lunch in the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Camille couldn't decide between the buffalo or the wild boar! After coffee, we browsed in Oxfam Bookshop, Queen's road where I found some excellent books including the Traite ' de l'amour de Dieu (Treatise Of the Love of God, 1616) written by Francis de Sales (1567-1622) .
However, there was a small hiccup, with hindsight I should have parked in a car park, you have guessed, I got a fine for parking in the 'motorcycle bay'. I was not very happy as we made sure that we were back on time at the car ...anyway...
Camille took me to a flat that she considered to let and as we were waiting to hear if she could visit it again this time with me, I spotted this gorgeous cat, a youngster, very interested by birds up in the tree.
Later on, the odds were stacked against that room for all kinds of reasons so looking for a house or a flat is back to the drawing-board. Will you join us in prayers. Have a blessed evening.
'The bible was written to help us know God better.
God doesn't hide who He is and what He has done. We can clearly see Him if we will open our eyes with humility. We see Him in His Word, We see Him in His creation. Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened Romans 1: 20-21
God must always have first place in our hearts. He says ' You shall have no other gods before Me' Exodus 20:3. We must be very careful that we not allow anything or anyone to usurp his position. The better we know Him , the easier that will be.
Tonight, after a long day at work, I needed to meditate so I flicked through The Prayer that changes everything written by Stormie Omartian and stumbled on that chapter. This is powerful stuff. It reminded me of all the arguments put forward by the many atheists I have encountered in my life voyage, those who denied that God exists because they say that they cannot see Him. In those days when I was not a Christian yet, I was taken aback, and even though I believed that God was there (though for some time I did not want to), adding to this that I was not reading the Bible then, I did not know what to answer! This is why I do like this passage that Stormie quotes in Romans...'clearly seen'...Every day when I drive to school, I see birds flying up in the sky, trees, cows, horses, beautiful nature, pure blue sky; or lately grey clouds... And God revealed himself in Jesus, our saviour, our king and redeemer. How awesome! Just thinking about that is filling my heart with joy and peace, knowing that Jesus through his death and resurrection has allowed us to be reconciled with God, his father and also our father. This is just mind-blowing! Don't you agree?
Have a blessed evening. Your sister in Christ. N.
Time really flies! However as this week-end we've had beautiful evenings that remind me of an 'Indian summer' it is hard to think that autumn is on its way! Hixon PCC is getting ready for the harvest supper hence the poster above. Do come along, bring your friends and have fun! Yours in Christ! N.
The dream is fading, now I'm staring at the door I know its over cause my feet have hit the cold floor Check my reflection, I ain't feelin what I see It's no mystery Whatever happened to a passion I could live for What became of the flame that made me feel more And when did I forget that... I was made to love you I was made to find you I was made just for you Made to adore you I was made to love And be loved by you You were here before me You were waiting on me And you said you'd keep me Never would you leave me I was made to love and be loved by you The dream's alive with my eyes opened wide Back in the ring you've got me swinging for the grand prize I feel the haters spittin vapors on my dreams But I still believe I'm reachin out, reachin up, reachin over I feel a breeze cover me called Jehovah And daddy I'm on my way Cause I was made to love... I was made to love you I was made to find you I was made just for you Made to adore you I was made to love And be loved by you You were here before me You were waiting on me And you said you'd keep me Never would you leave me I was made to love and be loved by you I was made to love you I was made just for you Made to adore you I was made to love And be loved by you You were here before me You were waiting on me And you said you'd keep me Never would you leave me I was made to love and be loved by you (nah, nah, nah, nah - nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) (nah, nah, nah, nah - nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) Anything I would give up for you (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) x2 Everything, I'd give it all away (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) Anything I would give up for you (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) Everything, I'd give it, I'd give it all away, Oh yeah Cause I was made to love you (I was made to love you) Yeah I was made to love you (I was made to find you) Cause I was made to love you (I was made to adore you, made just for you) (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) I was made to love you (I was made to adore you, made just for you) Cause I was made to love you (I was made to adore you, made just for you) (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) I was made to love you (I was made to adore you) Yeah I'm loved by you Yeah I'm loved by you (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) Yeah I' m loved by you (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah) [Thanks to Kelly Spencer for these lyrics] [TOBYMAC LYRICSatwww.AZLyrics.com]
