A GENERATION UNITED

John 17:23

“I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Jesus is about to be arrested. He’s prayed for himself, for his disciples and now he begins to pray for those who will come to believe in him after his resurrection through the testimony of the disciples. Essentially he’s praying for us.

His prayer is focused on UNITY. On Relationship. Jesus has experienced such a Unity with the Father such an intimate love with the Father. That He had to share that unity that love and that relationship with us.

He is in us. We are in him.

As he is praying he asks his Father… If we can be brought into Complete Unity. Both with Him in relationship but also with each other!

The purpose of this unity is that the world (the people around us everyday) may see this unity a unity that perhaps doesn’t make sense in the natural.

This un-natural unity is to declare to the world that God Loves Us!

Ephesians 3:10 Paul speaking of God says

“His intent was that now THROUGH THE CHURCH, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.”

Here Paul says that the when the Church is united… Gentiles and Jews, people who in the natural shouldn’t be getting on, when they are living in unity. The wisdom of God, the GLORY of God SHOULD be and WILL be made known to the world.

Essentially the world should be baffled at such love and such unity.

The idea is that a group of believers from different backgrounds and circumstances living in unity and loving one another, SHOULD and WILL convince and declare to the World the love and truth of JESUS!

This in-fact is the purpose of the church.

WOW…

I love the idea of Young Adults joining together at AWAKEN OUR CITY for this reason.

Joining with hundreds of Young Adults from different circumstances and backgrounds as we come together in uniyt is a truly incredible thing. As we worship together, pray together and grow together!

Just maybe this unity, this love that we experience WILL declare to the world the GLORY and LOVE and the TRUTH of JESUS.

See you at Awaken Our City

GET A GRIP

These thoughts are not my own… but they are well worth the read… Check Out Josh Kelsey’s Blog at www.itallhangsonthis.com

“Things I have come to grips with:

My height
My sharkfin nose
My second toe bending over my big toe
My hairless chest
My sometimes beedy eyes
My skinny legs
My baby like skin
My wondering mind
My breaking of bones

There are many others but this is becoming to demoralising.

God is good but I am weird
Sometimes it is just good to laugh at yourself
We are fearfully and wonderfully made
Have a laugh and enjoy being who you are today”

By Josh Kelsey

Great Thoughts… Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously!

Unbelief Says…

Unbelief & fear of the unknown the uncertain is so common among young adults of today. If we can’t get our heads around it, if we can’t explain it, if we can’t rationalise it then it must not be true right? or wrong?

A friend emailed me this from A.W. Tozer yesterday… I just had to share it!

Unbelief says:

Some other time, but not now;
some other place, but not here;
some other people, but not us.

Faith says:

Anything He did anywhere else He will do here;
anything He did any other time He is willing to do now;
anything He ever did for other people He is willing to do for us!

With our

feet on the ground,
and our head cool,
but with our heart ablaze with the love of God,

we walk out in this fullness of the Spirit, if we will yield and obey.

God wants to work through you!

The Counselor has come, and He doesn’t care about the limits of

locality,
geography,
time
or nationality.

The Body of Christ is bigger than all of these.

The question is:

Will you open your heart?

What Are You Saying?

In 1 Corinthians 9:16 Paul says
“I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

What is it that you are saying?

What are you compelled to tell people?

Is it about the new item you just purchased?
Is it about your exam results?
Is it about that guy or girl you have a crush on?
Is it about what happened at work today?
Is it about that person that really annoys you?
Is it about the latest message you listened to on itunes?

What are you saying?

Paul says he is compelled to preach… he is compelled to tell people about Jesus. And if he doesn’t, he says woe to me… he says shame on me if I don’t share the gospel

We are all saying something!

What are you saying?

Not What You Expected

Sometimes people aren’t who you expect them to be.

The nation of Israel has been oppressed and invaded for hundreds of years. At the time of Jesus the entire nation is living under the thumb of the Roman Government.

For generation after generation the Israelite’s have been waiting for this so called “Messiah,” (the anointed one). He was to come from the Royal line of King David… rising up in political power. The Jews were expecting this Messiah to overthrow the Roman Government and in the process establish a new Kingdom and a new way of living.

But then Jesus shows up… A carpenter’s son… He’s not the kind of Messiah they were expecting.

One day the spirit indicates to John the Baptist that Jesus, (John’s cousin) is the Messiah.

In John Ch 1:35-51 we see John the Baptist testifying to the life of Jesus the Messiah. Every one was looking for the Messiah. John the Baptist had found him. And begins to share his revelation with others.

Vs 36 “Look the Lamb of God” John the Baptist has such a passion within him that he cant help but share his revelation with others. Here, the result is that the others – in this case Simon, Andrew, Nathanael, Philip & John the Apostle. All encounter Jesus – The Christ – The Messiah – The Anointed One. For themselves!!

They begin their relationships with Christ because John the Baptist declared the way. He introduced them to Jesus.

In the same way we have within us the revelation of Christ. That he came into this world and into our lives to set us free. We live in complete freedom and have a hope that is beyond all hope.

Surely we too should be willing to testify and share the revelation with others!!

Think back to when you first came to Church, or when you first received Christ… I bet some one invited you… or introduced you to Jesus.

So too should we share the incredible opportunity that we in encountering Jesus.

The world around us is searching… for someone… some thing. And so often the Jesus that we know and love, is not the Jesus that people are expecting.

Lets share the revelation! Lets Introduce people to Jesus!

Prayer is Powerful

In Chapter 32 of 2 Chronicles the king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to one of Judah’s largest cities. It doesn’t look good for Judah. An army of great force is surrounding them and the King of Assyria is sending messages to the people mocking them and mocking the God of Israel. He says…

2 Chronicles 31:15 “Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”

I love the result!

2 Chronicles 32:20-21
20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. 21 And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.

Hezekiah and Isaiah cry out to God and their prayer is answered! An Angel ANNIHILATES the entire army of the King of Assyria.

We need to realise that this is the same God with the same power that we pray to today!
Prayer Is Powerful!

What Is Your Life?

There was a day last week where Auckland city was covered in fog. You couldn’t really see anything apart from the tops of the so called “sky scrapers” and by that I mean the Sky Tower & the Vero building. (I’m not sure Auckland really has sky scrapers). By about 10am the fog had disappeared to reveal a cloudless crisp winters morning!

James 4:14 says
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

What Is Your Life?

Are you breathing right now? … That means you’re alive.
But that next breath is not guaranteed! You may live your life, spend your money & use your time as if it is… but its not!

The bible says that our lives are but a mist or a vapour. A fog that lasts only a little while before vanishing.

This month in church our theme is on eternity.

Its got me thinking…

What if I went to the Doctors tomorrow and found out I only had five months left to live on this earth.

How would I live my life differently?

I think this question really puts things in perspective! There are certain things I would do more of, there a things I would do less of!
For me… I would have that much more of a desire to tell people about Jesus!
To lead people closer to Jesus!
So why don’t I live with that same fervency now? – I don’t have a good reason… therefore I am going to try and live like that NOW!

Our Lives are but a mist… Nothing is guaranteed!

What we do now… counts for all eternity.

What we do today matters!

Lets live each day as if it counts… Because it does!

Have You Been Deceived?

James 1:22-25

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror 24 and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like. 25 But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continue in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

In February of this year I was sitting on a plane flying to Sydney. (I think it was about the 14th flight I had been on in about 6 weeks. (Which has nothing to do with what I am wanting to say here… I just thought it was an interesting fact.) This flight was different. As we took off I was skimming through my Bible when I read the above section from the book of James. I had read these verses numerous times before and have always thought it was an interesting piece of scripture. I remember reading it… putting down my bible… and just pondering it for the next three hours as I stared out the plane window. You’d think that after pondering a certain scripture for three hours I would have something significantly profound to say. But I’m not sure that I do.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS! – How simple is that! – Yet week after week we read the word… or listen to the word as it is preached. But do we, Do what it says? Sure we hear the word & read the word & talk about the word… but how often do we actually do what it says? What if we simply read the words of Jesus (you know the red ones)… and did… what he said… I think our lives would be a whole heap different.

I’m sure we’ve all listened to lots of messages or read in pages scriptures that have really impacted us. For me this happens all the time. BUT how often do we actually act on that revelation? Sure we Act sometimes… But I think a lot of the time, perhaps with out knowing it…we think the purpose in our reading or listening is that we would walk away with somewhat of a “warm fuzzy”… a revelation. Which is great! But unless that revelation of knowing something new brings us into a place of action… We are Deceived! – We return the next week and the next week and the week after that… not changed from the revelation… but in exactly the same place.

We think by listening or talking or reading, that we are seeking God. But when we walk away with a “warm fuzzy,” not doing or changing but simply knowing… Perhaps we have missed the point!

You see I’m convinced that when Jesus returns, He’s not going to ask us what we know… or how we felt in response to a certain scripture or whether we knew the route word for blah blah blah. But he is going to judge us by what we have done… by our actions! By our fruit!

Paul says in Romans 2:13

“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”

And Jesus in Matthew Ch 7

24″Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

I have a friend who has a broken leg… he’s had a few operations & now the bones aren’t fusing together and his leg is infected. So he has been going to see a specialist. What if my friend drove to the hospital sat in the specialist’s office and listened to the recommendations and instructions of how to best treat the infection. But somehow thought that by simply hearing the instructions he would be fine! What if he believed that somehow just going and hearing what the doctor had to say was enough. But never actually acted on the advice he was given. Would he not be Deceived?

But so often that’s what we do!

How many times have you heard a great message, which you swore was going to change your life… but by the end of the week you had forgotten it? Here James encourages us not to walk away forgetting what we have heard. But to look intently (the word in the Greek speaks of someone eagerly searching the word) into the perfect law (the Gospel) that gives freedom.

When we eagerly look into the truth… into Jesus… when we study his life, his truth his law… when we persevere… when we constantly remind ourselves of the truth… when we daily seek relationship with him… We will be found not only to be listeners that forget but doers that do.

The result for such a person… is that he will be blessed in what he DOES!!…not knows but does!

James 1:22-25

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.25But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life! —Even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. (the message)

Where Is God?

Where is God for me?

What is my purpose in life?

What do I believe?

These days people have a lot of questions.

I found Ps Phil Pringle’s new blog titled DOES GOD CARE very insightful.

Well worth a read!

www.philpringel.com

Is Jesus a Sheep Loving Hippie?

Have you ever Googled Jesus? Like right now go to Google Images and type in Jesus… what come up? Paintings of Jesus holding a lamb, Jesus sitting with children and a picture of Buddy Jesus with a big smile on his face giving us a thumbs up.

The image we have of Jesus is often some kind of, peace giving, sheep petting, thumbs up giving Jesus. And if we look further into Google images we see a Jesus who was tortured, and nailed to a cross. (A Jesus so weak that he couldn’t even save himself).

But this is NOT the Jesus I know. Sure there are scriptures in the Bible where Jesus refers to himself as the good shepherd and where the Bible speaks of his kindness and compassion. And yes Jesus was tortured and did die on the cross. BUT…

The Jesus that I know wasn’t weak! The Jesus of the bible is so powerful that even the winds and waves obey his voice (Mt 8:26). He speaks and people come back to life, (Jn11:43)… even the demons are afraid of him, and an entire town asks him to leave their region because they are so afraid of his power! (Mt8:34) He had at his disposal legions of Angeles. (Mt26:53) And yet this Jesus… who had so much authority and power… allowed people to mock him, torture him, spit on him. And even crucify him!

So often we are lead to believe that Jesus is some sheep loving peace-giving hippie! But the Truth is that Jesus is a King! Jesus is GOD! And the next time we see this Jesus… He wont be petting Sheep! In fact the next time we see Jesus… will look something like this…

Matthew 25:31-33
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

The next time we see Jesus he will be seen in all his GLORY with 100 Million angels at his side(Rev5:11). As he he Judges us… As he separates us.:

Jesus is not some Sheep, loving, peace, giving hippie! Jesus is King, Jesus is the Judge!!