Tag: Christianity

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Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

We will read of sowing and reaping, the attitude of the heart in giving, the abundant provision from God and an eternal perspective on giving. However it all speaks of and points to verse 15 and the title of this blog today.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9 v 6-15)


The exclamation mark: strong feelings, an indicator of high volume like shouting and raising your voice. Let’s use the exclamation mark today!
It starts here. The gift of God. The gift being Himself, Jesus.
It is indescribable. It is inexpressible. There are not enough words but it is more than that. There are not the right words. So this gift is unutterable, unexplainable and incomprehensible. Of the over 6,500 languages in the world, it is the same. Could we find words in Arabic that best describe this gift? No. Or Mandarin Chinese or Japanese? No. It is impossible. It sits in a whole new undiscoverable language. It is lavish but it is more than that. It is unbeatable because it is everything.
Did He give reluctantly? I have seen people give even though they really would have preferred not to. I have heard people say “if I didn’t give I would have so much more”.

Did He give under pressure? I have squirmed at the lengthy pleading from the pulpits not for souls but for cash. I have seen manipulative campaigns to move those easily moved to give that bit more.

But He didn’t do either of those. The indescribable gift is the surpassing grace of the verse before.
The gift is grace.
And we don’t understand grace either!

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Keys to making relationships work part 2.

Whilst reading between chapters 3 and 7 it is easy to forget that Paul’s writing was a digression, a wonderful one at that. Here is where the digression started, in 2 v 13: “I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.” He waited and waited but Titus never showed up. What life was like without the ability to text! He desperately wanted to hear an update on the Church in Corinth especially after his (lost) letter and he was becoming more and more restless. So he decided to catch the ship and hope Titus would turn up eventually. When separated from those he cared about, the great Apostle, who sometimes looked untouchable, certainly incomparable to our lives, experiences anxiety. Titus was not just a co-worker, he was his ‘brother’ in Christ. Sometimes our lives are not just about being obedient to God but being faithful to people who God has led us to have heart connections with.
The digression now ends because Titus finally turns up.
“For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.” (2 Corinthians 7 v 5-7)
Throughout Paul’s life of ministry he had so many troubles. Harassed from those standing against the gospel message and anxieties over his relationships. He had written to the Corinthians Church a letter that we don’t have but they clearly received. We don’t really know what the letter was about though many have speculated. We do know it was a straight talking letter. So much so Paul was worried about what the response would be like. Would the Church turn their back on him? Could they see he wrote it out of deep love for them? Paul had no rest until he knew these answers.
But God.
Two powerful words that speak to us today. Paul had written quoting many times the God of the Old Testament, the God of the prophets, the God of the nation Israel and this God, is the God of Paul’s day also. God was there with Paul and the team. Two thousand years later, here today, with you and me, ‘But God.’
Slow your day down today because someone may just knock on your door, send you a text or email (if only Paul had these means in his day). There will be a moment today, a word spoken to you, which will be a ‘But God’ moment.
But God … when Titus appeared.
But God … when Titus spoke of the Church’s response to Paul.
But God … when Paul knew that distance didn’t impede their love for Paul.
But God … when Paul’s letter to them had brought them to their senses with regret.
But God … when Paul is told the people he loved were concerned for him also.
But God … when Paul’s fear turned to joy.
Your situation is different to Paul’s. But you may have fears within and harassment on the outside.
God is the lifter of heads. God brings comfort to the downcast. God uses people to do that. He may use you and He may have a ‘Titus’ He will use for you. Today could well be a ‘But God’ day. So open your ears and in your waiting, listen.

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When the tent falls down – a message for the Christian’s funeral.

Following on from yesterday, there comes a time for us all, when our bodies will collapse, as a tent falls to the ground, so will we. If we live our lives without that thought in mind then we have lived foolishly. But Paul reminds us that this is something not to be feared but rather to be embraced.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 5 v 1-5)

For we know.

  • As a Christian we know. Not everyone. But we who follow Christ as disciples, we know. This is not a wish, or a worldly hope, it is a knowing. It is certain.
  • We have 2 homes. A temporary one (the tent) and a permanent home (the house).
  • When the tent collapses it is the best thing that has happened to us because it is then when we move into our eternal forever, never to be destroyed, house.
  • Our bodies groan, are longing, and are burdened, wishing to be in this heavenly dwelling, to be clothed with a different body.
  • The tent may collapse under the weight of physical or mental disease, emaciated perhaps, wrinkled definitely! But the longing within us for a perfect, resurrected, forever body will be realised.
  • It may look like our bodies are overtaken by death but the truth is are wasting bodies will be overtaken by life.
  • We are fashioned for this, all our difficulties in this life are preparing us for this.
  • The Holy Spirit, our helper, continually reminds us, points us in the direction, is the sign in our life that all that Paul has said will happen not to only others but to us, to you.
  • The Holy Spirit is a guarantee. A word which means ‘an engagement ring’ pointing to the wedding. Engagements are wonderful but they only reveal that something greater is coming, the marriage!
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The juxtaposition

Though a lovely sounding word it is something so profound yet disturbing, enlightening yet dark, that we would rather not welcome the 2 contrasting elements in our life. We would have one or the other but surely not both. What am I talking about?

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” (2 Corinthians 4 v 10-12)

  • If you want the life of Jesus to be experienced and seen in you then it is crucial that you experience pain and suffering.
  • If we truly come to the cross in full surrender then what we are doing is welcoming the death of Jesus not as something that took place but that is actually happening spiritually in our lives.
  • If we want to know life then we need to allow the suffering to shape us into His image, so that others see Christ and His work in us.
  • The impact on others from our own suffering is incalculable. You are far more effective as a broken vessel than a perfect one.
  • Victorious living is not to live without suffering. It is to see how others benefit from the life of Christ that flows through our suffering.
  • Praying to be free from our difficulties may end up being a desire to be free from the place where the life of Christ becomes most evident.
  • All this isn’t some form of spiritual masochism but rather it is to follow the strategy of Christ and to create the space for His power to flow through us.
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From Resurrection to Giving on Resurrection Day

And we move from a wonderful chapter of the evidence and the application of the resurrection of Christ and of ourselves to what we do on Resurrection day, on Sundays, on the Lord’s day and as Paul calls it ‘the first day of every week’.

“Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.” (1 Corinthians 16 v 1-4)

How do we move from the heights of Resurrection to that of giving money?

What does Paul expect to happen in our church services on Sunday? Is it in alignment with what is happening in 2025? He had already told the Galatian churches to do this.

  1. Giving should involve a focus on the poor. This was the collection for the mission in Jerusalem. Whether individuals should be giving restrictively to the poor or they give to the Church and collectively the amount is sent to the poor that may not be as important  as to make sure that the Church members all put God first for His mission whether to the poor in the city and town they’re in and beyond to the nations of the world.
  2. Giving is for everyone. “Each one of you …” The rich and the poor. Those who have much and those who have little. In fact personally I have found it is those who have the least who give the most proportionally.
  3. Give proportionally. The beauty of the tithe (10%) is that it is proportionate to what we have. We give in keeping with our income.
  4. Giving should be planned. Don’t wait for the collection and see what’s in your pocket. Get ahead. Fill in a standing order form and/or set money aside before you spend it.
  5. Giving needs to be entrusted to those who count it, bank it, administrate it, send it and then ultimately use it.

Are you ready to give this Sunday?

There are so many initiatives for giving. Here’s one that is still going well and has been a blessing to so many since it was created in 2014.

https://www.elim.org.uk/Articles/531023/Pound_by_Pound.aspx

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The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, part 12

I didn’t think we would reach 12 parts and I just stayed with the title even though we moved from the evidence of Jesus to the evidence for our resurrection and then to all that this means for us now. But this has to be the best chapter for understanding the powerful resurrection that Jesus has brought.

Paul concludes this section and takes us right back to the beginning, when in verse 2 he wrote, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”

He is confident that because Christ has been raised and every believer will be then it will all have been worth it.

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15 v 58)

Throughout this chapter Paul has argued for the reality of Christ’s resurrection. He clearly gives evidence that Christ’s resurrection happened but that it becomes the very foundation for our faith.

He ends by calling us to stand firm. In a world which changes so quickly, values are being diluted all the time and faced with constant challenges we are called to be immovable, rooted in the truth of the resurrection.

Let nothing move you means that nothing, no challenge, no persecution, no doubt, no worldly temptation should shake you from this core belief.

We are not to simply stand still in our hope and faith but we are to be actively participating in the mission of God. Wholehearted commitment and total dedication is what Paul means for us to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

We will not be disappointed in the end. We will look back and say we have lived a life which had meaning and that was full because our labour was not in vain.

So today hold on. Remain. Work. It matters. Do it all in the light of the resurrection of Christ and of yours!

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The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, part 11

Death is our ultimate enemy. It either comes without warning or it announces its arrival and slowly creeps towards us in an almost torturous way. Either way we have not managed to defeat it. The truth is for many of us death hurts. It hurts those who are left behind. In what is a prophetic evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and ourselves, Isaiah looks forward to a day in the future when mourning is over because death is swallowed up by victory. When every believer has received a new resurrected, imperishable and immortal body then Isaiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled in its entirety.

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. 9 In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9)

The hurt that death brings for those still alive, the sting, the pain of numbed children, broken men, burdened and tired women, these are who God focuses on in this last days meal.

Paul knows this passage very well and quotes from it:-

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15 v 54-57)

God in this last days battle which chapters 24-27 in Isaiah reveal, pauses and with compassion, stoops down to wipe away each tear of grief and brokenness. With joy, relief and expressions of worship the people say, “This is our God.”
Death can be a fierce enemy. It can destroy not just the body but relationships. It can be feared, it wants to be feared. Pretence will not stop the pain that it always brings.
But it does not have the last word!
Death is defeated, it is no longer an enemy, for life and hope comes. This is what Isaiah saw. This is what Paul speaks of.
This is what Christ our Saviour brings. He is our resurrection and life. We live in this reality. This is our experience.
Surely this is our God!

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The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, part 10

This amazing chapter moves from the resurrection of Jesus to our resurrection and it will return as Paul continues to give us amazing promise after promise. Here’s another:-

“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15 v 50-54)

All of your weakness and decay and all that is fragile and limited will not enter the realm that God has prepared for you. Isn’t that amazing?! If you are waking today and life is just one struggle then look ahead to what is before you.

There is a mystery (v51), a divine secret that is beyond our understanding:- Some Christians will be alive when this event happens. (Paul uses sleep as Jesus and the other apostle did for those who have passed away; it’s a much better description!) The alive Christians and those that are ‘asleep’ will be instantaneously, miraculously, transformed  and our mortality is swallowed up by LIFE.

God has prepared a complete transformation for His people and yet our humanity though fundamentally different will still be recognisable.

This means today we live with hope. We may have struggles, limitations and we may grieve for those who have died. But sorrow lasts only for a night. There is a morning, a sounding of the trumpet when all things will be changed but our very essence, our personality, our core identity remains. We will not be replaced but renewed.

At the sound of the trumpet transformation will come. And victory, complete, total, overwhelming victory will be ours! Amen!

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The Evidence for the Resurrection part 9

Paul is continuing on from his metaphors of earthly and heavenly bodies and moves us to think of Adam and Christ.

“If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” (1 Corinthians 15 v 44-49)

We are now of Adam, we bear his image, we have Adam’s weakness and his mortality. But through the resurrection we will bear Christ’s image and characterised by a body of glory, wholeness and immortality.

What does this mean?

  1. Our physical reality is not abandoned for some ghostly existence in the after-life but rather a perfecting of what is now.
  2. Our limitations now with regards to weakness and decay give way to strength and glory.
  3. We become something greater because we bear the image of Christ not Adam.

At the time of Paul the world had thoughts of some disembodied immortality. But Paul knows differently. His gospel is the complete transformation of our bodies to that of Christ’s.

The gospel isn’t about simply eternal life but entering into something completely transformative and gloriously new. Whatever current limitation you have it is temporary. Whatever decay and disappointment you are experiencing Paul’s teaching offers a compelling alternative – bodies transformed by the power of resurrection. Amen!

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The Evidence for the Resurrection  of Jesus part 8

I am preparing this devotion having received the following message from an Elim Global Pastor in India:

“We are in great pain at this time we are building church in Gollaigudem village near Eluru town where pastor Abraham is pastoring the construction has come to roof level and all of a sudden some fanatics came and warned us to stop the church construction in this area we approached government authorities and asked help to reduce from fanatics but they gave deaf ear and next day yesterday morning 4 am some 15 people came and with machines and demolished all the building. We are so much pain please pray for church in India to be protected by God and please pray for our local church pastor Abraham and for his family.”

These messages from Paul on the resurrection of Jesus and us are of enormous encouragement to the persecuted and suffering Christians around the world. The story above of what is being experienced in India reveal the painful experience of being under persecution. But what the enemy destroys God will raise. Whether that happens to buildings or not it definitely happens to the bodies of Christians who die.

“But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendour. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15 v 35-44)

My father has sadly had to move into a care home because his Alzheimers means he regularly falls to the floor. It is a struggle right now. But there will come a day when his earthly body will no longer fall to the ground for he will be raised imperishable, in glory and power, as a spiritual body. There will come a day when what breaks now will break no more; what is diseased now will be healed; what is destroyed now will be indestructible. There will come a day where there will be no limitations that the earthly body has now.

Evidence?

Paul gives an agricultural metaphor for the evidence. Just as a wheat seed bears little resemblance to the full plant it becomes, our resurrection bodies will be dramatically transformed from our current state to something glorious while still maintaining a continuity of identity.

Inside every acorn is an oak tree ready to come forward and inside every born again Christian is a heavenly body ready to be raised on that final day.