^{Psalm 119:105}
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

What will or can show us the way in such a dark place in which we live?

Can our mind lead us?

Can our heart lead us?

Surely that which has no light of its own cannot show us the way.

But there is a lamp which when filled with the Oil of the Spirit will never die out.

There is a lamp that never grows dim even in the darkest of nights.

For this light was before darkness was.

This light was before our hearts and minds knew the dark.

This Word will light the way and guide our steps.

This Word will illuminate the treacherous cliffs that lurk around every corner.

This Word will bring hope in the middle of the storm.

This Word is a lamp for your feet, a light on your path.

Pick up this Lamp today and let light up your heart, your mind and order your steps.


+jk

Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart.  They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are;the cities are large, with walls up to the sky...Deuteronomy 1:28


Where and what has God called you to?  Is it bigger than you? Is it impossible?
Good. 
It might just be about His glory and not yours.
Good.

Possessing the promise land for the Israelites was God's design, it wasn't their idea.
Their question therefore 'Where can we go?' or 'What way can we go up into the land?' was not based on what God desired but rather what man feared.

If the fear of what others think is louder in our hearts than what God desires we will lose heart.

What is it to lose heart?
To lose heart is to lose courage.
Courage is always coupled with the purpose of God.
Courage is always coupled with His glory.
Discouragement is always coupled with self, seasoned with victim mentality, blaming others for our lack of heart.

Courage.

Two spies came back with a positive report, ten negative...difference...faith.
Believing what God says is true. 
Faith always results in courage.
Its a gift because you know it is possible even though you have done nothing and logically it is totally impossible.

The cities we are called to reach are intense.
Its real.
It will eat you up and spit you out.
Its imposible.
Its too difficult.
Its too dark.
Its too large.
Its too...
Its too...
Its too...

It was His design not your idea.
He commanded you, you didn't ask.

It is not your fear driving you to reach a city it is His heart for humanity to know His glory.

You lose sight of His Glory you lose courage, you lose courage, you lose heart, you lose heart, you lose purpose, you lose purpose, you lose.

Our Heart His Courage.

Our Heart His Love.

Our broken hearts His unending Grace.

As we live for His glory courage comes like a flood.

Do not lose heart friend, lose your heart in His glory.


It all hangs on this...


+jk

Luke 20:38
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."


If you read this scripture in context it is truly fascinating.

The Sadducees try to stump Jesus with a question about the resurrection because they did not believe in the resurrection...their belief reflected that their hearts were dead.

For hearts that are alive bear witness by the Holy Spirit that the resurrection is true

Jesus said that even Moses gave witness to the resurrection for Moses engaged with God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...

These were physically dead guys...but in Christ they were not

Even though Abraham was dead he was alive for the faith that God gave him to believe made him alive in Christ even before Christ died on the cross and rose again for God saw the beginning and the end because He is alpha and omega...

We are children of the resurrection, children of the alpha and omega, confident that we will live forever with our creator, for Christ was the first to rise from the grave...

He is the God of the resurrection

He is the God of life

He is not the God of the dead for there cannot be a dead God

Many believe in dead gods and therefore are dead

Our God took on the sin of the world, the punishment for our sin, died on a cross and still death could not hold him down

Live today with the boldness that comes from believing in a God who makes all things alive

Saddducees had no more questions, they were stumped...

Man made religion and idols lead to death

God made believers, live forever

Believe.


it all hangs on this
+jk

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”- Joshua 1:9


I love that God asks questions...that makes me smile.

It is interesting what God commands of us
Sometimes in religious piety we are tricked into thinking God has commanded us to be weak and afraid...
But perhaps what we miss is that we are weak without being commanded to be weak - that's why we need grace

God's saving work through the CROSS+ is so confronting to me
I realised last sunday that I murdered God

Seriously...

Yet the Father allowed His son to take all our murderous sin upon himself
Jesus did it willingly out of love for His Father and for a fallen humanity

Who do I think I am to be afraid or insecure when a Most Holy & Perfect God died for me?

So today I receive the command of God...

BE STRONG & COURAGEOUS
DO NOT BE TERRIFIED
DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED


Why and How?

Because the CROSS+ has shown me that the Lord God will always be with me wherever I go.

He meets me at my point of weakness everyday through the cross, looks into my eyes and commands me to:

BE STRONG & COURAGEOUS
DO NOT BE TERRIFIED
DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED


it all hangs on this
+jk

Romans 8:¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...

New Years eve is usually for many a big let down.  Plans of fun and excitement can end in apathy and frustration as another year ticks over and the realisation that there is nothing different between this year and last's.

This is just a micro picture of a truly macro problem.  For true fun and excitement can only come from a change within and not from coming up with a greater scheme and plan to gain some pleasure in life.

Although planning and pleasure are not bad in themselves they tend to poor cousins of a greater plan and pleasure that is available through no work of our own.

For the greater plan to be experienced we must acknowledge the greater problem.

This problem is not limited to a new years party or relationship problem we are facing or financial issues in our world, it is far deeper and wider than we know.

The reality is we are condemned.  The human condition is one of separation from God, or sin.  We could have all the gadgets, money, know the right people, live in a mansion and still feel condemned or wrong.

So when Paul the Apostle writes 'Therefore there is now no condemnation...' this is no light statement.  He is talking about the end of the human condition that plagues every heart and mind on the planet.

Paul describes in the previous chapters the terrible state of man apart from God.  That although there is reflections of God's goodness in us and around us ultimately we have no glory and no light of our own.

But he can't just leave us hanging there with such a terrible gloomy view of the human mind in the previous paragraphs, there has to be a solution.

And he doesn't just make a positive statement of motivation, saying that even though we are in a bad state as humans it is okay because there is no condemnation!

No he goes beyond this revealing and showing us that the only reason we are no longer condemned is because of Jesus Christ.

His atonement and sacrifice on the cross has paid the penalty for our sins!  Because we were condemned we were meant to pay a price but we didn't have to because of our God, Jesus Christ.

Paul makes it very specific though, he says we are no longer condemned if we are IN Christ Jesus.

Once we see the state of our mess, the state of separation from our beautiful Father and creator maybe this will humble us to see the amazing love and grace that Jesus has poured out for us, that even though we are just like dust in comparison to Him, He would humble Himself to the point of death for us, why?  So we would no longer be condemned, but have freedom IN Him.

I don't know about you but this humbles me, this excites me, this softens me, this changes me, this changes everything!  Humanity is healed, the world is set free because of this ultimate truth!

It is not bad news at all, it is only bad news if we are too blind or too proud too admit that by ourselves we have made a real mess of things down here on earth and we need someone who knows what to do and how to live and how to love to show us the way up and through and out of this mess.

And although we will have to walk through some more mess we know that we are heading the right direction, and as surely as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the night we can be sure Jesus Christ is leading us home.

This is now a great opportunity for us to recommit or reconnect with Christ, don't let another year pass by without knowing Jesus more and letting Him heal your heart so it is regenerated by His Holy Spirit to live a pure, right and blameless life so that all will know this love that has saved us.

Why don't you stop and pray for His grace to fill you as you repent and turn back to Him today...

May it be a truly Happy New Year for you in 2010 because you are IN Christ Jesus.