Only Jesus Can do Jesus Stuff

Only Jesus Can do Jesus Stuff

Wherefore he [Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25 – AKJV)

Marsha Horn, one of my followers on Twitter posted the following on her Twitter page:

Eat, Pray and Be Happy! (Only Jesus can do Jesus stuff)

I applaud this; it is a joy to find new ways to restate eternal truths in a way that may capture peoples’ attention, and help them see how truly amazing Jesus is.

Only Jesus can do Jesus stuff

So, what is this “stuff” Jesus can do, that no one else can do?

The first, and perhaps the one dearest to our hearts is:

FORGIVENESS

There is a very real reason only Jesus can dispense forgiveness to a lost world. You see forgiveness comes at a great cost; sin is a horrible reality, and must be paid for. In the moral universe forgiveness is not a cheap commodity that can be casually given to anyone who asks for it.

There are only two ways of paying for the sin you and I have committed – either we must pay for it ourselves, which will cost separation from God for all eternity – or Someone Else must pay for it. Forgiveness for our sins can only come at the price of the shedding of blood:

And according to the Law, [one may] almost [say], all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22 – NASB)

Jesus shed His own blood on the cross to pay for our sins, and therefore becomes the only One through Whom God can forgives us our sins:

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24 – NASB)

The next “stuff” only Jesus can do is:

CLEANSING

…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7-9 – AKJV)

Not only did Jesus shed His own blood to procure forgiveness for us, but he goes a step further and grants cleansing. We are not just forgiven sinners, condemned to continue our sinful lifestyle; by confessing our sins we have forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness.

If that were not enough, Jesus is also the only One Who can assure us a place in:

HEAVEN

Because Jesus has paid for all that can keep us out of Heaven, He is the only One Who can a place in Heaven:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. (John 14:1-3 – AKJV)

There is a whole lot more “stuff” only Jesus can do, and it will take us the rest of our lives to explore it all. Indeed, we will never get to the end of it in this life; we will need all of eternity to gain even a small appreciation of all has done for us.

So Much More

(© Wednesday 18^th November 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

There is so much more Jesus can give,

To those hungry hearts who seek Him,

If only they give Him their wills,

And dare each day to believe Him.

There are many go only so far,

As is needed to just make do;

The treasures of Grace are so vast –

Always available to you.

There’s so much more you can still claim,

On the grounds of mount Calvary;

Don’t starve- a treasure awaits you –

For all of God’s blessings are free.

So much more if you’ll only seek them,

Christ’s opened so many new doors;

Just hunger and thirst to find Him,

All treasures of Heaven are yours.

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Forgiven by unknown. Shared on flickr by “Lynn ~ Off and On.” Copyright. Used under the CC by ND 2.0 license: please note the Disclaimer at this link. We have made no changes to this photo as found on the flickr link, above.

Our Heart’s Condition

Our Heart’s Condition

The Parable of the Sower is familiar to most Bible readers.

The Sower (representing Jesus Christ) sows the seed of the Gospel) scatters His seed indiscriminately over the earth, without regard to whether the place the seed is receptive to it, or not. He gives every kind of soil a chance to be fruitful.

The central idea of this parable is that the soil (representing the human heart) either has the capacity to receive the seed and be fruitful, or it does not. That is the core issue here.

You see the seed is how God initiates a relationship with men and women. It is all about the seed. Jesus is the sower and he scatters the seed of the Gospel to everyone. If this seed finds an entrance in the human heart, He can establish a connection – a relationship with the, Once he does that he can begin transforming their lives.

If, however, something comes between and prevents that seed from gaining entrance, that man or woman is prevented from having a meaningful relationship with God. It is all about the seed, (God’s Word), and the soil, (the condition of the human heart) that determines whether we can know God or not.

This is a basic reality. You cannot know God if you do not receive His Word and believe what it says. If you receive this seed, you can know Him; if the condition of your heart prevents the seed from entering your heart, you will be excluded from having a meaningful relationship with Him. It’s as simple as that.

I should point out that this Parable of the Sower does not tell us how to prepare our hearts to receive God’s seed; it merely states the present condition of the soil, and its consequences. This information is provided elsewhere in Scripture.

So, if I detect my heart’s condition is not receptive to the seed of God’s Word, can it be changed, and if so, how?

Hosea and Jeremiah together have the answer:

Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12b – NASB)

“Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? (Jeremiah 23:29 – NASB)

• The hard, unreceptive ground of our hearts must be broken up.

The responsibility to do this is ours.  God tells us to; Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord. Don’t put it off; time is of the essence.

• God’s promise is that, once the fallow ground is broken up, He will rain down righteousness upon us:

Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.

• The means to break up our fallow ground has been provided.

not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? (Jeremiah 23:29 – NASB)

All we have to do is to seriously engage ourselves with God’s Word, and a process of transformation will begin. The fire will burn up the thorns and the hammer will break up the rock hard condition of our hearts. In time, the soil of our hearts will become more and more receptive to the seed of God’s Word. It is certain to be a painful process, but the rewards will justify any pain and anguish endured.

A Change of Heart

(© Friday 17^th April 2015 0 by Christopher Shennan)

…Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12b – NASB)

“Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? (Jeremiah 23:29 – NASB))

Some think that their heart’s condition,

Is beyond their power to change;

They accept their wayward nature,

Is beyond their scope and range.

Its true God alone can change you,

But He’s called you to play your part;

He’s called you to make an effort

To prepare the ground of your heart.

There’s a process you must follow;

There’s a sowing of seed you must do.

The fallow ground must be broken,

Before God’s seed can enter you.

How can I break this hardness?

How can I dig up this hard ground?

How can I make my heart answer

To God’s Voice I hear all around?

God’s Word is just like a fire,

Like a hammer that shatters stone;

Has power to make my heart listen,

And to receive God’s seed alone.

So I’ll let God’s Word disturb me;

I’ll let it fertilize my soul –

It will change my disposition,

And make my broken spirit whole.

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The Sower (Le semeur) by James Tissot. This image is in the public domain.

One Essential Thing

One Essential Thing

When embarking on a journey, particularly a long and hazardous one, you want to make sure you don’t leave something essential behind.

The children of Israel were on a journey to the Promised Land through the wilderness. The distance itself could have been covered in a few short months, but it took forty years. Their unbelief, rebellion, and hardness of heart caused this lengthening of days.

There was one essential thing, however, Moses knew they could not do without. This essential thing is revealed in the following verses:

And He said, “My presence shall go [with you], and I will give you rest.”¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with us], do not lead us up from here. ¹⁶ For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the [other] people who are upon the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:14-16 – NASB)

When God told Moses His Presence would go with them it jolted him into a realization. If God’s presence did not go with them there was no point in continuing.

In modern terms he was saying, “Don’t take us any further on his journey if you’re not going to be with us. We won’t be different from anyone else if we do not experience your Presence all the way to the Promised Land.

“We’ll be just like all the other heathen nations if you don’t go with us. No one will know the difference between us and them; there will be nothing to distinguish us from the other nations. They won’t know we are Your people if they can’t sense your Presence in our midst.”

The same thing can be said for the church, today:

Unless unbelievers can sense the manifest Presence of God in our midst, they won’t be able to distinguish us from the rest of the people in this lost and dying world.

The Presence of the Lord

(© Sunday 12^th April 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

And He said, “My presence shall go [with you], and I will give you rest.”¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with us], do not lead us up from here. (Exodus 33:14-15 – NASB)

I can’t go into the future,

Unless You are close by my side;

I can’t face the trials and troubles,

Unless I can in You abide.

Life without You is uncertain.

Worse, it is a dangerous road;

Death and destruction await me,

Except when You carry my load.

Without Your Presence I’m done for;

No bright future’s waiting for me –

Despair will be my companion,

And nothing but darkness I’ll see.

Don’t let me go any further,

Lord, not even a step ahead,

Unless I’m sure of Your Presence,

And know that by Your hand I’m led.

Make me to feel You are with me;

Make me to breathe Your pure air.

I cannot go into the future,

Unless I know You are there.

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(Picture in the public domain)

Under the Door-Mat

Under the Door-Mat

(Picture credits at end of post)

Colossians 1:21-29

… Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 – NASB)

Following the classic pattern of the absent-minded professor, I left my car-keys on the cedar chest, and went out the front door. After locking the door I remembered my car-keys and tried to get back inside, but the house-keys were on the ring with the car-keys.

I panicked. Going behind the house I removed the screen from the back window. This was the window into our downstairs bedroom. The distance between the ground and the window was too high for me to climb in without assistance, so I enlisted the aid of a rickety bench-like contraption so I could get to the level of the window. I should mention the ground under the window is extremely un-even.

Balancing like a circus clown trying to do a trapeze act, and already out of breath, I squeezed through the window, over the head-board of our bed, and lay panting on the bed with a feeling of relief. I retrieved my keys and was able to make it to church on time.

A couple of days later I happened to look down as I was putting the key into the door, and it suddenly hit me. A spare key to the door was under the door-mat.  I had endured trial and suffering to get into the house when all the while the key to the door was under the door-mat.

Many of the struggles we face in our Christian lives; many of the lengths we go to in order gain the victory, are unnecessary. All we need is to remember where the key is, and sing the victory song: … Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ in Me

(© Thursday 17^th July 2014 – by Christopher Shennan)

The key to unlock my troubles,

Was near to me, and close at hand;

It was sitting right beside me –

It was waiting for my command.

I struggled to live like Jesus;

I battled with all of my might,

The strength to prevail just failed me –

The key remained out of my sight.

I’d forgotten Christ living in me

Would live His own life divine,

Through me, and in me, as promised,

If only I’d claim Him as mine.

Not a great deal of my effort

Would have won me the victory;

If I’d remembered His promise,

I’d have found that His grace was free.

So the key under the doormat –

It reminds me, close as I breathe

The Saviour Himself lives inside me,

And when I just ask I’ll receive.

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Photo by The McClouds. Copyright. Used under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license; please take note of the Disclaimer at this link. No changes were made to this photo.

How God Chooses Us

How God Chooses Us

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John 5:31-40

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

   To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: (1 Peter 1:1-2a – NASB)

God did not make a random selection, some to salvation and some to damnation. Election is according to God’s previous knowledge of our choices and continued faith in Him. He is able to do this because He is all-knowing.

The following true incident gives a faint glimpse of how election works:

Our family lived next door to an Acadian family on the coast of South West Nova Scotia for some years.  The old man, Denis, lived with his daughter and husband.  As we got to know this family, certain facts emerged.  Denis had two children, a son and a daughter.  The daughter he lived with was a responsible person financially, able to guide her affairs with discretion.  The son, whom we never met, while being a decent enough person, had proved himself to be rather irresponsible financially.

The father, Denis, decided to put his property into the name of one of his children while he was still living.  Knowing, as he did, the different strengths and weaknesses of his two children, he knew that putting the property into his son’s name was risky.  There was the real danger he would end up losing the property through unwise decisions.  So he “elected” to put the property into the name of his daughter whom he “foreknew” to be responsible financially.

While the old man’s action stirred a certain amount of resentment in his son the father had acted wisely in this particular instance.  To a limited extent he had “foreknowledge” of the future actions of his children and based his decision on that foreknowledge.  He elected his daughter as heir to his property according to his foreknowledge of how she would act with respect to that property. In a similar way God can elect us without violating our free will.  For we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…

God Knows

© Friday 31^st October 2014 – by Christopher Shennan

My Father in Heaven knew well

The free choices that I would make;

The paths that I would still follow,

And the chances that I would take.

God knew all the length of my days;

What the outcome of my life would be.

He knows if I’ll endure to the end;

What trouble or joys I will see.

And because He knows the outcome

Of my life right up till the end,

I know I’m one of His chosen;

I’ve chosen to make Him my Friend

God never made me a puppet;

He gave me free will – I can choose

Either to love or deny Him –

I can choose to win or to lose.

I know I’m one of God’s chosen;

I’ve chosen to follow His Way.

He offers to all His mercy –

If only they’d choose Him today.

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Copyright by Jonathan Billinger. No changes were made to the photo. Find photo at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fork_in_the_road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1355424.jpg. Used under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, found here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

Free, but not Cheap

Free, but not Cheap

Picture credits at end of post

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us . . . (2 Peter 1:1b)

It is precious faith because of:

The PRICE Paid For it

There is a danger in thinking that just because all the gifts of God come to us free, that they are also cheap, and of little value. Faith is the gift of God but it didn’t come cheap. It cost… everything

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [who is] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – NKJV)

Not only does faith come from outside of ourselves, and we did not obtain it by our own ingenuity; it came to us at great cost to the Giver.

Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. (John 10:17-18 – NKJV)

Think of what value Christ places on your soul.

A van Gogh painting sold for around $40 million. When you think about it, what is a van Gogh painting but a piece of canvass with a few splashes of paint on it. Yet someone was willing to pay $40 million for it. What is the value of any object of art? It is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

What are you worth to God?

You are worth what Christ was willing to pay for your salvation. You are worth what God the Father was willing to pay: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 – NKJV)

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

You are my friends… (John 15:13-14a – NKJV)

Salvation by faith is free, but it is not cheap.

They Have no Idea

(© Friday 24^th October 2014 – by Christopher Shennan)

For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:20 – NKJV)

Some think because God’s salvation

Is free it must also be cheap;

They have no idea how precious

It is, just how wide – or how deep

They tread under foot – cast aside –

This Pearl of Great Price from above;

They know not how much it has cost

The Saviour in anguish and blood.

But I know how much Jesus paid –

With eyes of true Faith I now see –

There’s nothing He would not have done,

To save and to sanctify me.

So I call to those who, unknowing,

Have passed my dear Saviour by,

Just look again how He suffered,

Then ask yourself the question – “Why?

‘Christ on the Cross,’ by Eugène Delacroix. No changes have been made to the photograph. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License Creative Commons, Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License (shown here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) and the GNU Free Documentation License, (shown here: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html).

Joy in Times of Heaviness

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Philippians 4:4-9

Christian joy is unlike any other joy. It rises to higher heights and is at home in the worst and the best of circumstances. Its secret is that it does not depend upon circumstances, but on God Himself and his matchless provisions.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.  (1 Peter 1:6-9 – NASB)

Notice how “greatly rejoice” is uttered with the same breath as “in heaviness.” Can one greatly rejoice at the same time as being in great heaviness? Apparently so! That is the paradox and the glory of Christian experience. It is not confined to the normal spectrum of human emotions, because it is rooted in God Himself.

Is this the kind of joy you have? Can you be in heaviness, yet at the same time experience the joy of the Lord? Can you weep at some tragedy, yet know the sustained joy and confidence in a faithful God? If not, you should know it is available to you in Christ Jesus. It is part of your inheritance obtained through His death on the Cross.

This joy is based on a salvation already received, by faith in Jesus Christ. If this joy is not yours, either you have not truly come to Jesus, or you have allowed some cloud to come between you and the Saviour, be it the sin of unbelief, or something else that dims the light of Heaven in your soul.

A Bed of Roses

© Tuesday 7^th October 2014 – by Christopher Shennan

Even in a bed of roses

There will be many, many thorns;

In a life of pure devotion,

There will be times of deep forlorn.

A gardener accepts that roses,

With their beauty and their fair bloom,

Will produce some sharp surprises;

God gives sunshine, but also gloom.

When you walk with God and treasure

Those moments of peace and pure bliss,

There’ll also be times of sorrow,

And you must be prepared for this.

Roses and thorns grow together,

So also can joy and deep pain;

God gives the sunshine to warm us,

But He also gives clouds for rain.

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Heaviness (Depression) CC-PD-Mark Vincent van Gogh’s 1890 painting,Sorrowing old man (‘At Eternity’s Gate’)

What it means to Obey

What it means to Obey

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Reading: Mark 3:31-35

For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35 – NKJV)

Jesus used every situation that presented itself as an opportunity to teach a lesson regarding the principles of the Kingdom of God.

Here he was surrounded by people eager to hear him, and those related to Him by blood found their access blocked. They could not get near Him because the house where he was teaching was jammed full with people.

So a message is passed from one to the other till it reaches Jesus” “Look, Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking You.”

Jesus responds with an apparent rejection of His mother and half-brothers. He seizes the moment and uses earthly relationships to instruct His hearers as to what constitutes family relationships from a Heavenly perspective.

Christ was not rejecting his mother and other blood relations; He was just establishing the basis upon which a relationship with Him is to be conducted – obedience to His Heavenly Father.

Now the moment the word “obedience” is mentioned the human mind interprets it as bondage. We think of it as being under obligation to do something we either do not want to do, or something we will find extremely difficult or well-nigh impossible to do.

We get into a state of mind in which all the joy is squeezed out of our Christian experience, and we come back under the bondage of the law. This is all due to a failure to understand the nature of obedience as it is revealed in the New Testament.

The apostle Paul calls faith itself an obedience (Romans 16:26):

In this context obedience to the will of God means to follow the Faith. It means to commit yourself to the Gospel of Christ and all that it implies. It means to commit yourself to a Gospel in which we are saved by faith, and not of works. It means to embrace the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as full payment for your sin and entrance into an everlasting Kingdom.

This kind of obedience is more like being given a cheque by a billionaire and told to go to the bank, withdraw ten million dollars from his account, and to deposit it in your own account. Who would consider obedience to the billionaire a burden and a bondage? Such obedience would be a delight to any reasonable soul.

True obedience is motivated by love, and Jesus said it was a delight to do His Father’s will.

Not a Dragon

© Sunday 21^st September 2014 – by Christopher Shennan

Obedience is not a dragon

Swooping down on all God’s people;

It’s not a dreaded judgment

Proclaimed from church and steeple

Obedience is a delight

Born of love and pure desire;

It’s a longing just to please,

That only God can inspire.

When you’re born into to God’s family,

His nature enters, too,

And a longing to obey

Is just – given to you.

You’re no longer under law,

Except for the law of love;

The power to obey

Comes down from Heaven above.

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“Family <3,” copyright. Image uploaded from Flickr by Yjenith onto wikimedia.org. Used under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license. No changes were made to the photo. Photo found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Happy_family_%281%29.jpg.

Called to CHALLENGE

Called to CHALLENGE

Findphotoat http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011_Green_Flight_Challenge.jpg.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; ³ and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3 – NASB)

Peter was an under-shepherd of the Chief Shepherd. As such he was not only called to gently guide the sheep and feed them in green pastures. He was also called to challenge the goats among the flock, gentle to the straying sheep he may be, but bold and uncompromising toward those who would seek to lead them astray.

The entire second chapter of Second Peter is a denunciation and condemnation of false teachers and false teachings. If your pastor is faithful to his calling he will challenge as well as plead; he will rebuke as well as comfort; he will expose error as well as proclaim truth.

Pastor’s and teachers are not the only ones who need to challenge false teaching. No believer is exempt from the need to search the Scriptures daily to determine whether what a teacher is teaching is indeed solidly based upon Scripture. If we are deceived, those doing the deceiving will face judgment. If we are deceived, we too bear a large slice of responsibility for your own deception, since we did not take responsibility for searching out the truth.

In Acts chapter 17, we are told of some Jews in a Synagogue in Berea and how they responded to Paul’s teaching:

 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily [to see] whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. (Acts 17:10-12 – NASB)

We, like those in Berea, need to examine the Scriptures daily, to ensure that what we are being taught is indeed the truth. If we do not, we bear the responsibility for our own deception.

I Won’t

(© Wednesday 1^st October 2003)

                        I won’t soften it up

Or water it down,

Or change the message because

Of a frown that comes my way.

The Truth is as sharp as a doctor’s

Scalpel, and is meant to heal, not harm —

To blunt its edge is a cruel invention,

Revealing an evil, base intention.

So, I won’t soften it up

Or water it down:

I’ll preach it straight and

Make it plain,

Regardless of whether it

Administers pain, or pleasure,

Or ecstatic joy. I’ll spread

God’s truth — without alloy.

I’ll serve it up in the spirit of Love,

With the help of Heaven and the

Host of Light:

I’m not alone as I stand my ground:

By the mercy of God

In His truth I’m found.

I won’t soften it up

Or water it down,

Or change the message because

Of a frown that comes my way,

But I need the prayers of

God’s people each day,

To keep me walking the straight,

Narrow way.

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The Source of Power

The Source of Power

Public Domain CC0

Read: Zechariah 4:1-6

Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Genesis 41:16 – NASB)

I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself,

Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23 – NASB)

A television preacher kept on repeating like a mantra: “You have the power! You have the power! You have the power! He kept this up through most of his allotted time. I am sure he impressed his audience, but his declaration was a half-truth that was completely untrue.

If we have the power, it follows we can use that power in any way we like. We can use it to gain wealth, honour, or even revenge. This is what the ancient art of sorcery promised; it is the “unlimited human potential” doctrine. It is New Age and totally unbiblical.

What then is the Biblical view?

The Bible teaches that born again Christians have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the One Who has the power.

…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 – NASB)

The Holy Spirit has the power, and He works His power in us in order to enable us to witness to the Gospel. The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to do only what He is comfortable doing. He will only work in us, through us, and for us those things that are consistent with the will of God. He does not give us power to wield at our own discretion.

You cannot separate the power of the Holy Spirit from His character. He is holy and He will only perform holy deeds. You can have all the power from God that you want, so long as you are totally surrendered to do His will, and not your own. For it is not your power you receive, but the power of the Holy Spirit,

It Is Not In Me

(31^st December 2011 – by Christopher Shennan)

Joseph was a man

With an excellent spirit, true;

He had many dreams and visions,

And mighty deeds to do.

He interpreted for Pharaoh,

And the future he could see,

But then he said with fervour,

“This power, it is not in me.”

Now, many gifts and graces

May on your spirit rest,

May fill your heart with fervour,

And help you pass each test.

Though these may bring you honour,

Let there be humility;

Say, like Joseph said to Pharaoh,

“This power, it is not in me.”

It is not in me to vanquish

The powers sent from hell,

Or even to guide my footsteps

In the paths that serve me well.

I cannot bless my brother,

Or my sister, this I see:

Though I give them many blessings,

I know it did not come from me.

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