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I think all of us can agree that Jesus Christ is the greatest preacher of all time. Many of us have read in Scripture or heard about the Sermon on the Mount. The following clip gives a taste of how powerful the actual event might have been. Although this is not strict word for word with Scripture verse order, I find that the man who acts Jesus performs very well and I have been encouraged by this 12 minute Sermon on the Mount version. So I decided to share the clip. I suggest though that you first read Matthew 5&6 for God’s Word verbatim, then return here and have a look.

This version of the Sermon on the Mount is taken from the movie King of Kings. (It is highly recommended that Scripture is first sought  before viewing.)

It is truly a struggle, conviction by the Holy Spirit has lead me to write the following…

I am ashamed; I do not do everything in love.
My anger gets the better of me.
But what is the better of me?
If I act out of the love of God,
Is there any good in me?
Certainly not!
For goodness out of God, “goodness” where there is no Him, is like filthy rags.
And more so, whatever I have but lack love, I am nothing.

I hate you sin, your haughtiness, your selfish ways
For you are not of God and lead me astray.

Leave me sin, let me reside with my God, let me be to follow His ways.
For in my sweet God, my wonderful Jesus alone will I dwell in safety.

In this moment of remorse, I consider:

Romans 7: 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Psalm 51: 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

I think we haven’t comprehended how blessed we are. Who me? I’ve got financial issues, relationship issues, even my clothes don’t seem to like me much these days. I’m anything but blessed. Well, you’re wrong. You’re blessed because of the grace of Jesus Christ. That’s a short statement, but it is a powerful one. Jesus Christ has freely laid down His life for the sins of the world, for Jews and Gentiles alike. We don’t even have to earn His free gift of salvation. (There’s no way we can earn something that’s free, else it wouldn’t be free to begin with.) To truly accept this free gift however, there are some things that we need to come to terms with. We have to recognize that we have sinned, and we all have (Romans 3:23), and repent of these sins and believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. So you’re thinking that you understand this, you’ve received Jesus and you’ve still got problems. Well, who doesn’t! Jesus didn’t promise smooth sailing, He did however say that we shall have trials (John 16:33). The bottom line is, just being in the kingdom of God is a blessing enough. Here’s how we are assured of this:

According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:. 2 Peter 1:3

But He said to me, “And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.. 2 Corinthians 12:9

If we’ve come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we have everything we need for living a godly life.  Too often we, I’m very guilty of this, feel discontented with what God has already given us. We want more; we almost gnash our teeth when we don’t see things going our way. Guess what? It’s not about us (Genesis 1:1, 1 Corinthians 10:31), it’s not about what we want, but what God thinks is best for us, or what He thinks is best for us at a particular time. I don’t believe anything is wrong with asking God for a life partner, asking Him for a better job, these things might all very well be in His plan for us. I just hope that we do not sink into a trench of bitterness and serving God with an attitude of resentment. So may we serve the Lord with gladness, for we have been blessed enough.

What a wonderful Easter Sunday! Today at service three young folks publicly proclaimed Jesus as their Lord. The three were baptised and shared their testimonies with the congregation. Such wonderful testimonies. Gabriel, one of the three, said that his testimony was not boring. That his testimony begun 2000 years ago on the cross of Jesus. Amen brother! I’m sure the Lord is using these testimonies to stir the hearts of others, to draw others to Him. Our Lord desires not that any live without Him or that anyone to perish, but that everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) I was surely moved by the service today. I remember my own baptism…memories of joy. God is not done with us yet. More work to be done, more people to love. Let us draw our strength from the one who rose from the grave!

Jesus the Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!

Matthew 28:6 “..I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised, just as He said.” Romans 1:4 “and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Not sure who were God’s chosen instruments to birth this child, but how encouraging is her witnessing!

And said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  Mat 18:3

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.“ Mat 19:14

Fruit of the Spirit

Recently, I’ve had quite a few things on my mind. Dominantly, I’ve been thinking that being a Christian is quite a struggle. The fruit of the Spirit which any true Christian possesses is love which then gives birth to: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and and self-control. Almost everyday I feel as if I’ve failed to display one or more of these attributes of the one fruit, love (Galations 5:22). This can be quite discouraging. However, it is no reason to give up. Making a mistake doesn’t mean we are without Christ. Though however, when we do wrong our actions are indeed without or out of Christ. God never promised this was going to be easy. Instead He warned of the exact opposite.

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

What does it mean? Exactly as it says. We’re going to have issues, there’re going to be moments when we fall. But there’s good news, Jesus has overcome this passing world. So what does that has to do with us? Simple, simple. Our God did it, we lean on Him for help and we can do it too! Through our Lord Jesus, all that is His will is possible. So let me say this, it IS God’s will for us to be in a relationship with Him. So no matter what, never give up! God intends for us to be with Him.

Declaring Jesus as our Lord and Saviour marks us for life. First of all, if we declare this to a mate that hasn’t publicly claimed Jesus as their Lord, that mate is automatically, subconsciously going to be observing our now mannerisms. There’s going to be a magnification on our actions. They’re going to want to know what’s the difference between then and now, because ultimately, everyone is looking for one thing. Many say happiness or true love, but what they really mean is fulfillment of their spirit. As we know, only the Lord Jesus can meet the needs of the spirit. He made us just to connect with Him. If folks see that positive change birthed from the Spirit in us, they too are going to want to have the Spirit living in them. Yes, they really will and do want, Richard Dawkins included. So what do we do? Do we worry about what others think? No! Human beings are insatiable, we’ll never please the whole world. So what do we do? Do we search exasperatedly God’s will for us? No! God reveals His will for us when He so see it fit. Our job is to obey and follow His revealed plan. God’s will for us will never contradict Himself. So we can be assured that when He reveals a plan, it’s a plan that’ll draw us closer to Him.

I cannot emphasis how important is daily prayer and Bible study. I find that whenever I get so busy in the speed of school and the like, I often end up feeling drained and disconnected from God. Also important is attending church. I don’t mean going to a building. I mean being in a community of other followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the church. I had a friend who said she’s looking for a church in Beijing. I was quite delighted to hear this. Only to find out that she knew about the church I belonged to. She said “I know this, it is just a building, like a simple room. Not a church.”  What it appears she was looking for, was a building with stained glass and all the fancy decorating of other buildings that contains a church.  A church is not the building! A church is made up of followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ve come to realize that it is immensely difficult to continue loving others the way Jesus did without expecting anything in return.  I might have said this in one of my previous posts, but how wonderful an example Jesus set before us. Remember when Judas betrayed Him? Why do you think the disciples didn’t even know who the betrayer was? It’s simple. It’s because Jesus’ attitude towards Judas was consistently of love and kindness. Had it been spiteful, no doubt the disciples would have been like “Oh, Jesus you mean Judas? Yes, we noticed how you treat him.” I’m often driven by emotions, by present feelings. This is not what God wants. He wants us to show the fruits of the Spirit regardless of our current situation. A difficult task, yes. Attempted on our own, impossible to even see a small improvement! However, if we continue to seek, listen to and obey God, in time we will become more an more like the piece of clay He intended us to be.

Thankfully we are saved by the grace of God. Had He have dealt with us according to our actions, I probably wouldn’t be typing this note now. None of us would be here actually, as we have all sinned. Wonderfully, great is the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are delivered from sin through God’s great act of mercy.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We need God’s salvation, so we continue in this race. Let it be known that:

Ecclesiates 9:11

…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

God’s mercy doesn’t just fall on one group of people, but the entire nation, the entire world. When we claim Jesus as our Lord, we don’t just sit back and say “I’m a Christian now. I’m invisible.” We’re not! It’s not going to get comfortable only until we are reunited with our Father in heaven.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. ¹⁴ Do everything in love.

This is what we are compelled to do for it pleases God. Not to mention, everybody’s watching us now. Setting a good example, still pleases God. In the end, we do it all for the glory of God our Rock, our Redeemer, our Healer, our Jehovah Jireh, our Counselor, our LORD, our wonderful King and Saviour.

Hosanna, hosanna in the highest!

John 1:12
¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Since we are the children of God, it means..

Acts 2:3
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

…was not just a one time event, God promises His Holy Spirit to all those who will trust in Him.

Surely, children weren’t made for the streets. Surely nations were not made for war. Surely this can’t be what God saw. Surely faith without action is dead.

May the kingdom of God rest in our hearts. May we live to love a world that’s broken.  Let’s go beyond religion, change the world by the power of God’s name. Only Jesus’ name is a shelter for the hurting, only Jesus’ name can redeem the undeserving.

Praise be the Lord in heaven on high! I would love to write more often, however, I can only write only as often as I feel moved or compelled by the Spirit. Today I feel compelled to remind us of the meaning of the word JOY.

J – thou shall love Jesus first
O – thou shall love others
Y – thou shall also love thy self

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Let’s test this against our foundation, our Holy Bible, inspired by God, written by men of God.

Mark 12:
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Amazing! Even our everyday language contains the the greatest commandments.

We do not always feel happy, but surely we can always feel joyful. There is a difference in the two, happiness is birthed by current life experiences. Joy comes from faith, hope and love. The opposite of happiness is unhappiness, but the opposite of joy really is fear.

Remember the Apostle Paul wrote many Books of the Bible whilst in jail (Philippians 1). However, we see Paul speaking of rejoicing even under these conditions:

Philippians 1:
Thanksgiving and Prayer
³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

Even in chains, Paul still found reasons to rejoice. He was not moaning about his condition, instead he remained confident in Jesus Christ and wrote of how much he loved his brothers and sisters.  Wonderful! May we all continue in the example set by this man of God, this steadfast man of God being moved by the Spirit of God (how else can we be children of God anyways). So with that, may we be moved by the Spirit in all things we do, and remain joyful, rejoicing in the Good LORD whether in comfortable conditions or discomforting ones.

Hello folks,

We are now well “settling” into the new year. By settling, I mean where the draft of a  fresh start might be unravelling into a year that looks like it will be full of challenges. Perhaps even more challenging than 2010. If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you might be wondering where the Good LORD taking you with all this. The thing is, none of us are going to learn anything or get any closer to God if we’re comfortable all the time. Remember when Jacob wrestled with “a man” (Genesis 32:24); the two wrestled for a while, then at day break, the man requested that Jacob let him go, but Jacob insisted that he was first blessed.

Gen 32: 24″And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be assured that when our LORD challenges us, that a blessing is to come after the wrestle.

Phillipians 3:14 “I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus.“