Imagine standing on a hill talking to someone who had risen from the dead. The person, you had seen do so many miracles in life and had now been raised from the dead. Would you have hesitated in believing in Him? Not just believing that he was the Messiah, possibly a great man but a man none the less, but that He was God!
This reminds me of the story in Acts when Peter escaped from jail. - "they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said".
When I read this recently it made me laugh. What was Peter thinking! An angel turns up, his chains fall off and he just walks out of the prison gates. Yet Peter doesn't realise the truth until he is out on the street, a block away.
How often do we read the bible and think - 'I wouldn't do that or be like that' and yet when we think back on our lives we already have. We hesitate. we question whether Jesus has the authority in our lives. Maybe we question whether he cares.
But Jesus says don't hesitate for " I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth". Trust in me.
So go and immerse people in my name - in my nature, being and essence. Spread the word. And remember I will be with you to the end. I care!
And do you know what, the end here means completion/fulfilment. For within this promise is another promise that all things are part of God's plan and that his plan will be fulfilled. Trust in me! I care!
So Jesus thank you that you care. Thank you for your word, for the amazing journey you have taken me on in the last few months. For I have come closer to you: your nature/ being; your commands for my life; your power/ authority and your promises.
My god truly is an awesome God.
Laura
PS As a final farewell I will be listing all of Jesus commands to us that he gave us in Matthew because He has asked us to live these out in our lives to give the fruit of them to others as well as the words. So watch out!
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
...our turn now!
Today Jesus, our Lord and Saviour closes one chapter to begin another. His ending makes room for our new beginning. He has left a clear trail. He has shown us what to do…it’s our turn now!
Lord pour out Your Spirit upon us…complete that which You have begun in us. Bring us to the harvest…fulfil Your word: Psalm 126:6 6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Today is the last of our Matthew Project’s GodBlog! Thank you all who contributed. Thank you especially Laura for you have spoken into our lives. I have been more than blessed…I have been privileged reading the thoughts our Lord God has shared with you all. Thank you for faithfully sowing His words, His heart poured into yours…may your lives bring a fragrance of Jesus even to the ends of the earth.
How good is this – He said: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age!”
Brian
Monday, 9 April 2012
Rejoice
Why do you think Jesus appeared to the women? It wasn't because they hadn't been told the good news, the angel had just done this, and in a no less wonderful way. It wasn't because they weren't going to tell the others because the passage says that that was exactly where they were going.
I wonder if it was because as they left the tomb they were both fearful and joyful. For all that Jesus told them was to rejoice. It is as if He wanted to dispel their fear. To move their focus from death to life and to celebration.
How often does life get us down. It takes over, we lose focus on Jesus and the joy He has brought us. We focus on the negative.
Here Jesus says to us all, rejoice. An amazing thing has just happened, the salvation of the world has been granted. Man's separation from God has been removed. This is something we should live every day, not just at Easter time.
It was lovely to see everyone getting baptised on Sunday, reminding us of the joy of following Jesus.
God help me to rejoice, to focus on your forgiveness, to see you, to fall at your feet and worship, and to obey your commands just like those women, who were the first to see you that special day.
Laura
I wonder if it was because as they left the tomb they were both fearful and joyful. For all that Jesus told them was to rejoice. It is as if He wanted to dispel their fear. To move their focus from death to life and to celebration.
How often does life get us down. It takes over, we lose focus on Jesus and the joy He has brought us. We focus on the negative.
Here Jesus says to us all, rejoice. An amazing thing has just happened, the salvation of the world has been granted. Man's separation from God has been removed. This is something we should live every day, not just at Easter time.
It was lovely to see everyone getting baptised on Sunday, reminding us of the joy of following Jesus.
God help me to rejoice, to focus on your forgiveness, to see you, to fall at your feet and worship, and to obey your commands just like those women, who were the first to see you that special day.
Laura
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Love, Honour, Obey and be Blessed
The Woman v Judas
There is so much in this passage. First the woman with the oil. Here it shows the difference between the 2 commands to love the Lord your God with all your heart and loving others as yourself. It shows that putting God first is paramount. This woman put God first and that is what she is to be remembered for.
And yet the juxtaposition of this act and Judas's is so stark. From honour to betrayal. Was He peeved off that the money hadn't gone into the common purse, the purse he was skimming off? Perhaps he felt that something that could have been his was wasted on Jesus and the woman was commended for it! It would seem he didn't see the point of honouring Jesus. In fact he saw it as a flagrant waste. He had missed the point. His selfishness drove him away from God.
Passover
Then the Passover Meal. It wasn't necessary for Jesus to hold it. Traditionally it was to be held the next day and yet Jesus saw past the tradition to the importance of holding the meal. To praise God, to show obedience to Him and finally to pass down a most profound teaching. Do this in remembrance of me! Do what exactly? Well, really it was the Passover meal. Eating the bread and drinking the wine was only part of the meal, which was in memory of God's mercy and provision of freedom to the Jews from their captivity in Egypt. And yet, Jesus was explaining that from then on they were to celebrate Passover not in memory of their physical freedom from Egypt, but their spiritual freedom, provided by Jesus through his sacrifice.
Peter
Often we think of Peter as impulsive and yet here he showed perseverance. The passage says, he was there to see the end. He so wanted to be there. He understood its importance. And yet He wasn't there at the end. He left. His own fear had caused him to stumble. He was scared about being associated with the one he knew was the Son of God, the one who had helped Him to walk on water, who had taught him the meaning of life. Even though he knew Jesus authority, he loved Him and wanted to follow Him, his fear of what the people around him thought meant he bailed out. He didn't see it through. What a word of warning and yet also a story with a wonderful ending. Jesus still forgave Him and used Him. He became someone who championed Jesus and spread the good news to lots of complete strangers, some who didn't want to know. So we must never forget Jesus unlimited grace and compassion. For Peter's heart was willing, and Jesus saw this, even if his fear at the time was greater. But he had to conquer it and put God first.
Laura
There is so much in this passage. First the woman with the oil. Here it shows the difference between the 2 commands to love the Lord your God with all your heart and loving others as yourself. It shows that putting God first is paramount. This woman put God first and that is what she is to be remembered for.
And yet the juxtaposition of this act and Judas's is so stark. From honour to betrayal. Was He peeved off that the money hadn't gone into the common purse, the purse he was skimming off? Perhaps he felt that something that could have been his was wasted on Jesus and the woman was commended for it! It would seem he didn't see the point of honouring Jesus. In fact he saw it as a flagrant waste. He had missed the point. His selfishness drove him away from God.
Passover
Then the Passover Meal. It wasn't necessary for Jesus to hold it. Traditionally it was to be held the next day and yet Jesus saw past the tradition to the importance of holding the meal. To praise God, to show obedience to Him and finally to pass down a most profound teaching. Do this in remembrance of me! Do what exactly? Well, really it was the Passover meal. Eating the bread and drinking the wine was only part of the meal, which was in memory of God's mercy and provision of freedom to the Jews from their captivity in Egypt. And yet, Jesus was explaining that from then on they were to celebrate Passover not in memory of their physical freedom from Egypt, but their spiritual freedom, provided by Jesus through his sacrifice.
Peter
Often we think of Peter as impulsive and yet here he showed perseverance. The passage says, he was there to see the end. He so wanted to be there. He understood its importance. And yet He wasn't there at the end. He left. His own fear had caused him to stumble. He was scared about being associated with the one he knew was the Son of God, the one who had helped Him to walk on water, who had taught him the meaning of life. Even though he knew Jesus authority, he loved Him and wanted to follow Him, his fear of what the people around him thought meant he bailed out. He didn't see it through. What a word of warning and yet also a story with a wonderful ending. Jesus still forgave Him and used Him. He became someone who championed Jesus and spread the good news to lots of complete strangers, some who didn't want to know. So we must never forget Jesus unlimited grace and compassion. For Peter's heart was willing, and Jesus saw this, even if his fear at the time was greater. But he had to conquer it and put God first.
Laura
Doing Nothing
I think sometimes it is easy to say well I am not that bad!!! I haven't murdered anyone! But in Matt 25 Jesus raises the bar. Just as he did with the young rich man who came to see Him to ask how He could get eternal life/spiritual freedom. The young man had lived a very good life and yet He still released something was missing. Jesus asked Him to give up his riches, to humble himself and to help others with it. Yet He couldn't.
Here again Jesus teaches us that doing nothing - only looking after our own spiritual lives and not helping others - is not enough. We have to share whatever we have, to help others wherever we can. To think of others.
And fear is not a good enough excuse to do nothing. Fear of failure, fear of making it worse, needs to be faced head on.
So trust the lord your god with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and lean not on your own understanding. For fear is just that, your understanding of the situation, not Gods. God give me your compassion for others to counteract whatever fears are stopping me from having faith in you and living out what you have planned for me.
Laura
Here again Jesus teaches us that doing nothing - only looking after our own spiritual lives and not helping others - is not enough. We have to share whatever we have, to help others wherever we can. To think of others.
And fear is not a good enough excuse to do nothing. Fear of failure, fear of making it worse, needs to be faced head on.
So trust the lord your god with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and lean not on your own understanding. For fear is just that, your understanding of the situation, not Gods. God give me your compassion for others to counteract whatever fears are stopping me from having faith in you and living out what you have planned for me.
Laura
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