iChristian

Part 4 Yesterday

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“This is a war in the eternal world – a war for our everlasting-lives – and we fight halfheartedly, forever losing parts of our armour and leaving ourselves and others wide open to attack.”
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At the start we said: ‘It would be great if we could deal with the Enemy and give him no influence in our lives.’ And we asked: ‘Do you think that we can achieve that.’

So, what do you think?

We also said: ‘we must not be lulled into a false sense of insecurity.’

What I mean is this:

We have security – in God. In absolute respect for God and a complete dedication to obey everything that Jesus said – there you find security. This is a security that stretches into the everlasting world of God; it never ends. Even if we die in this life, we are safe for…

Part 3 Yesterday

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“We are dealing with an Enemy who wants nothing more than to destroy us – and we are doing the work for him.”
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As we have already said, the enemy is going to do whatever he can to make us disobey God. He is going to use all his influence to cause as much mayhem in this world as he can. This is a big question: who is actually carrying out the mayhem?

I have certainly never seen the Enemy but I have seen so much of his work being done by people – by non-Christians and Christians alike.

This is something that Paul wrote:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now…

Part 2 Yesterday

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“some physical problem that we suffer with could actually be part of our spiritual healing”
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The Enemy is going to do whatever he can to frighten us or persuade us to disobey God and fall away from the faith. He will throw all kinds of feelings and thoughts our way to try and lead us to a place where we lose our trust in the Father.

We will face all kinds of trouble. We will come up against many problems and hardships, but, does that, in any way, mean that we cannot trust God? Of course not – it means that we have to trust Him even more.

Jesus suffered – massively – and the Enemy attacked Him. All his disciples suffered and they were also subjected to the Enemy’s tactics. Although there is so much unnecessary suffering and so much that the Devil will…

I once observed a moth dancing around a candle light. It zinged past blindly at first and then I wondered if it was blind or just too courageous to consider that it was within an inch of it’s life playing with fire. It wasn’t quite long before the moth flew into the flame and that was the end? I wondered how it could be so dumb, how it could not know that the flames would roast it? In fact, within a short time of that moth falling victim, the next one followed suit. It’s just like that. They’re simply irresistibly drawn to light no matter how dangerous it may be. It’s no fault of theirs. They’re just easy prey.

Is it not odd when human beings that are accredited with much higher intelligence than any other animal act like moths? Like moths drawn to a flame, they fall into their…

Part 1 Yesterday

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“We must learn to see beauty as God sees it.”
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If you were asked ‘what is the most dangerous thing in this world’ – what would you say?

I am sure that there are a few good answers to that question. Perhaps pride or greed or envy; they are some of the most deadly feelings that underlie all the nonsense that goes on – but where did they come from?

Let me tell you, one of the most deadly things in this world is beauty. It has nearly destroyed our world and we really need to understand that. Do we think that the Enemy is a beast? Well, he has an interesting relationship with beauty. Here is a quote from Ezekiel:

“‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained…

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“We must not be lulled into a false sense of insecurity”
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It would be great if we could deal with Satan and allow him no influence in our lives. Can we achieve that?

Here’s part 1:

‘The Enemy is so clever’. We hear this all the time:- how true is it?

Here’s a quote from the back near the beginning:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1(NIV)

According to Moses, the serpent was more crafty than all the wild animals. We know that he is referring to the Enemy, the Devil, Satan or whatever you want to call him. So, how clever is he?

Being ‘more crafty than all the wild animals’ means what exactly – have…

Being in a world
Where our actions
Are not driven by fear

Being able to look
Without ever seeing
Any bad things

Being able to talk
Without saying anything wrong
About anybody else

Being able to laugh
Without laughing at the misfortune
Of any other person

Being able to think
Without thinking
Any nasty thoughts

Being able to live
Without living at the expense
Of anyone else’s life

Being able to do good
Without any fear
About what might happen

Being in a world
Where you know that nothing bad
Will ever happen to anyone

Being in a world
Where you know that you’re loved
And you always will be

Isn’t that what we all what
Well, that is all the bible talks about
And that is exactly what God wants

This world is not just about you
It’s about everyone; we’re in this together
And God – He must…

Part 4 Yesterday

Let’s bring together the last four posts here and say:

Firstly: We would all like to get rid of the darkness or evil or whatever you want to call it. Get rid of all of it – Put it somewhere else and live a perfect life in a perfect world.

Secondly: We are all already trying to do this in our own lives. We are all trying to choose the right things to do each day. And, when we think about what this task involves, we realise that we are trying to divide our own minds and hearts to remove the evil and also the confusion that causes us all to act badly – along with all the hurt and scars left by all our bad experiences.

Thirdly: We realise that, whatever you believe is causing this, we are bombarded with feelings and emotions on a frightening…

Part 3 Yesterday

How are we getting on so far – I am sure we are not lost but this is a sizable task that we have taken on here – best put on your hard-hats and steel toe-cap boots for the rest of this series.

We asked:

If you divided this planet in two, took all the bad things that exist and that happen, all the evil and darkness, and put them on one side so that the other side was only good – which side would you want to live on?

So, hands up for the good side – I am sure that’s pretty much everyone. Let’s just see how many still have their hands up by the end of this page.

As we have said since that initial question, we are talking about splitting are actual hearts and minds here; the evil as well as the good…

Part 2 yesterday

How are we going so far – I guess we are getting a bit deeper but this is not a rabbit hole – that is as long as you don’t get lost – just follow the Light.

So, splitting the world in two and getting rid of all the bad stuff – now we can see that we are all trying to do this – and, actually it’s not so easy. Like we said, the physical world that we live on is amazing but it doesn’t have life – the life is in us. This dark side that we want to banish all the bad things to and the good side that we would all choose to live on – those places really only exist on a mental and spiritual level. It is, in fact, our hearts and minds that we are trying to split – this…

Part 1 yesterday

We are all in the business of separating good from evil – at least in our own ways. We are all trying to salvage what we can from this, far from perfect world.

Let me just say: when I say world I mean us – the ball of rock we live on and all the physical things that we have made are lifeless – our real world is the hearts and minds of all the people and the invisible ways in which we connect together.

So, in our world, we try our best to decide what we should and shouldn’t do; what is good for us and what isn’t – ‘us’ being the operative word because our decisions are generally weighted in our own favour; ‘What is good for me’ rather than ‘what is good for everyone’ or even ‘what is good for him or her’.

We…

If you divided this planet in two, took all the bad things that exist and that happen, all the evil and darkness, and put them on one side so that the other side was only good – which side would you want to live on?

I guess that’s a silly question – I am sure that the answer is obvious.

Who would ever choose Hell over Heaven?!

But what would be on the dark side – any people at all? I doubt that anyone would volunteer to go there. Could it even be possible to separate the good from the bad. Nothing is done apart from by people; you certainly couldn’t just put our actions on the dark side and us on the good side – could you?

So how would you do it – shall we try?

We should – but it may be violent process.

Part 2 tomorrow

If we hadn’t seen so many wrongs
We wouldn’t thirst so much for right
If we hadn’t struggled for so long
Our patience wouldn’t be our might

If our race hadn’t become so fake
There wouldn’t have been so many lies
If we hadn’t made so many mistakes
We wouldn’t have become so wise

If we don’t learn from all our errors
We will never have stand a chance
If we can now see this path is failure
Perhaps we can manage to advance

If still remains when we hold dear
To lies we do not understand
If will only disappear
When we are fully in His Hands

If we want to live with God
There is still much to be done
If we trust what He said
We just have to let Him come

God of this City – Chris Tomlin

Part 4 Yesterday

This is the best bit:

I am sure that you’d hope it would be; most of what we’ve mentioned so far has been about the difficulties we currently face and the suffering that is down every street. Well, guess what: It’s not over. In fact it hasn’t even started yet. This messed up place that we have made has simply become the womb that will birth a perfect life for all who want to accept it. Of course, there is still evil and causes of evil to deal with; we have talked enough about that – that is in hand.

All these problems we see are the result of the behavioural issues of every person who has ever lived. We are just like a child who has wandered off from his dad and has lost sight of him, or rather, a child who was not paying attention…

Part 3 Yesterday

What is going to happen to all this evil?

Like we said, there are (at least) two sides to this thing:

We have already said that we are causing problems in this world and we have also said that God is actively working to fix things; fix us.

Some of the weight felt in this life is down to the consequences of our actions and some is down to God’s hand making the changes that He needs to make; changes that are for our benefit.

We have already said that God gave life to us and that we took that life and ran off it. That is what happened and look where we are now; without Him things will not work. In running off with life and living it in exactly the way we feel like, we have given birth to so much evil. That evil must…

Part 2 Yesterday

How much of this heavy life is our fault – and how much is God’s work?

A large part of it is down to the way we treat each other – we cause endless unnecessary suffering. For sure, so much of the burden we feel is our own fault. We are pulling against each other rather than working together; we are all, at least a bit, selfish. Going in different directions is easy because you can do what you feel like. Coming together is much harder (in our current state) because we will have to give up some of our independence.

We could certainly make our lives easier by learning to work together; conquering our feelings and doing what is right.

That said, we will not get rid of all the pressure we feel now because some of that is God’s hand working to change us. In…

Part 1 yesterday

So, Paul said that creation has been subjected to frustration in order to set free the children of God. Set us free from the addiction to the things that destroy us and bring us into a new life. That is a pretty deep statement but as we said yesterday, how do you think that God would help us to get out of this mess?

Let’s look at two aspects of the reason for this ‘heavy life’ that we are living. These two aspects are quite different and also very clearly connected. The first is that we do wrong, we do things that hurt each other, things that make our lives and other people’s lives difficult, sometimes horrible. The second is that God is and has always been helping us to see right from wrong.

The first point is easy to see; we do wrong and everybody knows that…

Have you ever thought about how heavy this world can feel, I’m sure we all have. It can be so difficult to make things ‘come good’. Do you sometimes feel a weight on yourself that you wish would disappear. Do you just want to understand one ‘simple’ thing: how to live your life?

There are certainly many sides to the explanation for the problems we have. For a start there is now over seven billion of us, all affecting each other in so many ways; we are subject to a whole load of confused feelings and emotions that constantly lead us astray. There is also the legacy we have received from previous generations; no one has ever got things right. Then there is God, how do you fit Him into this picture; if you even think that He exists.

If you believe me then He created this place and is All Knowing…

Who is your father; he may be amazing
Strong like double glazing; always grazing
In the Word; brilliant at raising
You; worth praising, forever appraising and meeting
Your needs; he’s spot on; his efforts are blazing

Then that’s good

or maybe not

He could be terrible; or barely bearable
He could be absent; leaving you arable
This no parable, some fathers bring trouble
Not adorable or flexible, just miserable
Or worse, deplorable; incurable sinners
Leaving your life unbearable; even horrible

That’s not your fault

Please listen

Because, there is more; a Father who is rather
Better than that; after nothing more than a calmer
Life for you. In fact, a perfect life; a new charter
Not bringing you unjust anger; no spiritual cancer
In Him; Nothing wrong, nothing awkward, no bother
Life changing times – yes; but always surrounding
You with armour; securing you with his eternal anchor
Giving you…

Do you think that this world is just how it should be
A perfect place of harmony; Heaven on Earth
No, of course not – but that is the plan
That is God’s plan for us bunch of misbehavers
Want to know how?

Well, it starts with you; whenever you want it to
It starts with change; change inside you
And it doesn’t stop until the end
Until everything that needs to be done, has been done
And it’s not just you; there are billions like you
All wondering and wandering and doubting
God has got some job on His hands; lucky He’s perfect
He does not want to lose anyone
So, what are you doing; go and find Him
He’s waiting for you

Walk on the Water by Britt Nicole – I love this song

Once, life was spotless; a long time ago
Maybe that was before the first human thought
Or perhaps a short time after; but not now
Now we are different; someone confused us
Somehow, someone tricked us into thinking
That evil things are good; twisted our minds
Now we see death as life; destructive behaviour as good
That is the story of our world

We want the best life; but we are blind to what is best
We strive for success and crave for a ‘good’ future
All the while destroying more and more life
Let us remember where we came from; let us just stop
Stop and return to the Truth; The Way to Real Life

Do you have directions; have you heard from Him
I will tell you the Way; let me share what I know

The path is narrow and not many find it; so I am told

Some scatter seeds of anxiety,
and harvest nothing but fear
some collect in their memory
the reason for all their tears.

Some spread seeds of gloom,
and collect grains of doubt
some gather up their losses
when there’s a spiritual drought.

Some cast seeds of excess,
and reap in what they sow
some collect worldly pleasures
thinking God will never know.

Some throw seeds of greed,
and amass envy and pride
some lose their hope and faith
when their will, with God’s collide.

Some scatter seeds of doubt,
and harvest nothing but fear
but those who mock not God
sow the seeds of repentant tears!

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Galatians 6:7
King James Version

“Be not deceived;
God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.”

Copyright 2013
Deborah Ann Belka

The understanding that there is a better life to live
It drives us on
It makes us stand and seek and try so hard to give
As much as we can

We work hard, or not, but we always think and believe
That there is more
We play our cards, do whatever we can, to try and relieve
That inbuilt draw

No one ever succeeds in finding that secret place alone
We are all confused
The selfishness we hide is never satisfied and always moans
We are being used

Controlled by all kinds of lying thoughts and feelings
They make us blind
To the Truth that comes from God and brings us healing
It renews the mind

There is only One Way to reach that Life that we desire
There is no price
It has already paid by Him and His Name is Jesus Christ
Just bring your life

Trust…

Love is and Love does
Just what is right
Love is and always was
Everything Bright

Love has and Love gives
Only what is good
Love gives and always does
Exactly what He should

Love talks and Loves sings
With perfect words
Love causes and Love will bring
A flawless world

Love spreads and Love shows
The Truth of Life
Love wants and Love sows
The end of strife

Love stops and Love takes
Only things that are wrong
Love Crushes and Love Breaks
Only things that need to be gone

Love desires and Love needs
To be listened to
Love develops and Love feeds
Me and you

Love longs and Love directs
Us to move
Love wills and never neglects
Himself to prove

Love does and Love is
Nothing bad
Love always was and still is
The Perfect Dad

This is a brilliant song by Brandon Heath

Since the beginning of this world
We have caused a lot of problems
We have littered the surface of the planet
And, more importantly, filled our hearts
With so much rubbish; rubbish that needs removing

There are huge mountains of greed everywhere
Pride heaped up to the sky
Filthy piles of Lust in every corner
Rotting jealousy ruining this beautiful planet
And all these constantly added to
By our so many, very confused, actions

Who could deal with all that; surely it is a mammoth task
But there is One; only One, Removal Man
One Disposal Expert; One Salvage Team
One Person that can deal with all this rubble
His name is Jesus; His name is Mighty God

If you think that you can purify yourself
By some other means – it just won’t happen
All kinds of superficial changes can be made
But if you would like a perfect…

No matter how bad your hand in this life has been so far
No matter what you’ve been through
No matter how much you’ve suffered
God’s doesn’t want that for you
Not in the everlasting world that He is making for us

So many of us have been through horrible times
So many of us have suffered at the hands of others
We dish out pain very easily; sometimes without even thinking
That’s is not what God want for us
Not in the eternal world that He is building right now

God is Awesome; He knows everything
He knew what we would do – BUT IT IS US THAT DO IT
It is us that have gone astray; we are the disobedient ones
It is us that do all the wrong and cause the pain
We do it; we do it to each other
God does not want that for…

Do you have a problem with God
Or think He doesn’t exist
Because you see a world full of pain
So many people suffering

I know it looks bad out there
But the fact remains and can’t be denied:
We do the things we do, to ourselves
No one ever told us to do evil – did they?

So, how exactly, do you think
That people are made
And then helped to become good
When they seem dead set
On a life of destruction
Doing whatever the hell they feel like
Regardless of how many others they hurt

Even in a more ‘innocent’ way
Not only talking about robbers and murderers
Just people being people; normal everyday life
Eating too much; being greedy with everything
Smoking and drinking; poisoning ourselves
Flirting and stirring dangerous feelings
Driving too fast; only slowing down for speed traps
This list would be endless

We…

How is your life
Going to plan
Husband and wife
Or single man

Good job, nice pad
Maybe some children
Even so, is it bad
Is your world your prison

Freedom can deadly
We do what we please
We’re all too ready
To follow the breeze

Did Your Freedom
Kill itself one day
Has your ambition
Lead you astray

Listen friend
So many are trapped
And just pretend
They’ve got it wrapped

There is only one Way
To really be Free
By trusting your life
To the One Who can See

Truth they say
Will get you there
Don’t be swayed
By evil’s flair

Everywhere you’ve stood
Bright lights have said
This is good
But they’ve left you dead

So, now you’ve Heard
Just agree
Obey the Word
And you’ll be Free

This world is such a mess
I wish someone would tell me how to live
I have to confess
I can’t seem to get things right; I’d give
Anything to relieve the stress

I can’t see us fixing this place
We’re all to proud and greedy
I thought we were a ‘human’ race
But we look at the needy
With selfish thoughts – not with grace

This world is such a mess
It looks so pretty with its bright
Lights and so much ‘success’
But that is just a blight
We’ve become hooked on excess

We need help to fix this place
Help to find a different Way
To change the thoughts behind our face
We smile but our hearts are grey
Let’s seek help from the Owner of Grace

Our God is a God of War (not that He want’s to be)

But, tell me, what do you think it is that He is fighting?

We all think (and rightly so) that He is coming to save us; but from what exactly?

Perhaps we think:

He is coming to save us from our circumstances, bad neighbours, outstanding grievances that need settling, people that upset us, people that don’t see things in the same way as we do.

He is coming to save us from everybody else; they are clearly always in the wrong.

I am sure that it is easy to think like that – even if only subconsciously.

Think about this:

Our God is a God of war but not a war against people. We are certainly in the war too but most of us aren’t aware of it; and many of the ones that are have been…

You could be fast
Usain Bolt could envy you
It won’t last
You can’t run past God into the after-life

You could be so beautiful
A super-model if you like
You’d never be truly full
Just that hollow pull leaving you always empty

You could be the hardest geezer
A gangster or the next Mohammed Ali
But would that make you a God pleaser
Here’s a teaser: there’s only been one Real Man

You could be really smart
Einstein they might call you
But what about your heart
Only Jesus can start to change that thing

You could be so many things
The world is your oyster
But only one way brings
You life: If you’ve never sought God then Do it

Why do we look to money to solve our problems?

We think:

If I had money I would be able to sort things out
If I got rich I would be able to do good in the world
If I had enough cash things would be easy

In reality:

People behave badly when poor, trying to get rich & rich
Money doesn’t even exist unless we say it does
And all money does do is give us control over other people

Someone once said:

If I had all God’s power I would change things
But…
If I had his wisdom too, then I would leave things to Him

The Truth is:

We barely know what we are doing with our own lives let alone with everyone else’s.

If we want to sort things out then the best thing that we can do
Is trust God and keep trusting Him –…

We have gone from people walking around naked to a world laced with culture and tradition

We have so many fashions, rites, festivals and delicacies; what culture
We are a people of intelligence, wisdom and enlightenment; we are civilised
We have amazing technology, medicine and scientific discovery; how advanced we are

But what actually means anything; what is important?

What about life; things that give life and things that save life; rather than the things which simply make this place a bit more ‘interesting’

What am I saying?

THIS:

There is so much that we could do that would save so many lives

But we don’t manage to do it – and people keeping on suffering and dying

There are so many things that we don’t need to do, that don’t really help anyone at a fundamental level of life and death

But that is what most of us spend our lives doing

It seems like…

The only reason that we struggle
With giving ourselves completely
To our perfect God
Is because of our imperfections

Perfection wants to embrace us
And totally envelope us
But we hold on to our impurities
For dear life
But that ‘life’
Is nothing more than death itself
What a twisted world

Please, we must let go
We must reject the nonsense
That we all seem to love so much
Move away from the dark side
And change this place for good
Will you accept Him

What has Hope got to say?

Check this out

Listen friend, that Hope we mentioned when you questioned me
That place you ventured to and walked a bit before things tensioned
It’s still there, still here, still given by God and still shared
By so many who listened and doubted but stilled dared
To go there, to trust Him, even when life seemed bare

Please, let me give you some truth to lift your heart
That hope, that life you want; it’s there, set apart – for you
So take it, you’re smart – use your mind, choose God; get a head start – This is
Not some abstract art but real life, ready for you to play your part

It’s never gonna be easy; not every move; that’s a cliché but it’s true
How could it be simple to change the likes of me and you
Into different people; the same but new; altered from the past we…

What is hope; is it good or is it neutral
Or even sometimes bad or if not, perhaps misguided
But how could there be false hope; why would we create that

Can it be any positive idea
Or does it need to be based in hard fact
Or is it just some kind of medical condition;
The opposite of depression

Is it whatever happens to work for you
If you can manage to find anything that works
Or is there really some way of life that is good
And a means to get there; even if we only have some vague sense of it
Some semi-subconscious inkling of what a perfect life could be
Would that create hope; something that drives us to push on
Something that makes us want to get things sorted
Even if just for ourselves; even if we are selfish about it

We certainly have some…

Where’s my tow-rope on this uphill slope
Day to day I lope around; try to cope
But life is there, just waiting to slit my hope
So I continue to grope around in the dark and mope
Around cos again my hope fell to the ground: eloped
With everything else good that I tried to control
Too often this life seems hope-less; You secure a guy-rope
To give your scope foundation but it’s cut by rogues
I thought there was hope but the strobe
That flashes so fast: this world; this globe
It confused my mind and stole my hearts desire
So I ask you, friend: can you define
Where’s this hope that you said was mine

This is one of the hardest things to do but it yields amazing, purifying, sin shattering, peace bringing results.

Those things that are weighing you down. The things that make you think that your situation is worse than everyone else’s; God knows and He wants you to get them off your chest. He also insists that we help each other through this; we are all in the same boat, remember.

James said this:

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
James5:16 (NIV)

• We all have issues. We need to talk to, forgive, help and pray for each other.

And John said this:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
1John1:9 (NIV)

• God is not the issue, it’s us. He has forgiven us; Let’s get…