The year 2012 MARCHES on! Get the pun? Maybe 2/3 of it - PU! Anyway - here we are in the 3rd month of the year already. We just left Christmas celebrations behind & we’re already counting down to celebrating the Resurrection - my favourite! Resur-rection Day! But first we have to learn more about our Awesome God as we continue our series on His Attributes or Character. Who is God? Join us Sundays at Selkirk Alliance to learn more about Who He is & what He’s doing in His people - the Church.
For those who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day - I think everyone’s Irish or wish they were on Mar 17 - here’s a story about that fabled Saint. A Shepherd in Ireland - During the time Patrick was a captive shepherd in Ireland sold like other slaves to a chieftan named Miliucc, he was lonely & afraid. Historians believe he roamed the slopes of Mt Slemish, County Antrim’s ancient volcano during the years he was away from his family. Turning to God for support & solace he became a devout Christian. Amidst the area’s beauty the young man often slept outside with the animals he cared for. Patrick describes those times in his Confession - I used to stay out in the for-ests & on the mountain. I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain & I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness because as I now see the Spirit was burning in me at that time. 6 years passed. Then Patrick had a dream - 1 of several which would change his life. This time he sensed a voice tell-ing him to leave his captors behind: 1 night in my sleep I heard a voice saying to me: You do well to fast: soon you will depart for your home country. Again a very short time later there was a voice prophesying: Behold your ship is ready. The young shepherd was not living by the sea. Where was his ship? And if one were ready how would he reach it? It was not close by but as it happened 200 miles away where I had never been nor knew any person. Could it really be the young man now 22 years old could break free from his oppression? How would he know where to go? How would he know which ship to board? Shortly thereafter I turned about & fled from the man with whom I had been for 6 years & I came by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (I was afraid of nothing) until I reached that ship. ESCAPE! After he escaped his life as a slave-shepherd Patrick went back to the country of his birth. He didn’t take a direct route however. Let’s read his words as he describes the journey. On the same day that I arrived the ship was setting out from the place & I said that I had the wherewithal to sail with them; the steersman was displeased & replied in anger sharply: By no means attempt to go with us. Patrick was puzzled. Could it be he wasn’t supposed to escape after all? He began to pray: Hearing this I left them to go to the hut where I was staying & on the way I began to pray & before the prayer was finished I heard one of them shouting loudly after me: Come quickly because the men are calling you. Immediately I went back to them: Come because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us in any way you wish. I continued with them & forthwith we put to sea. Scholars believe the ship sailed to France (then called Gaul) but once again we cannot be sure. Patrick himself did not tell us where he landed. He did say the rest of the trip was extremely difficult: after 3 days we reached land & 28 days journeyed through uninhabited country. The food ran out & hunger overtook them; 1 day the steersman began saying: Why is it Christian? You say your God is great & all-powerful; then why can you not pray for us? For we may perish of hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see an-other human being. Patrick suggested the men pray for themselves: In fact I said to them confidently: Be converted by faith with all your heart to my Lord God because nothing is impossible for him so that today he will send food for you on your road until you be sated because everywhere he abounds. Taking the young man’s advice his traveling companions did as Patrick suggested: with God’s help this came to pass; a herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes & they slew many of them & remain-ed there for 2 nights. They were full of their meat & well restored - many of them had fainted & would otherwise have been left half dead by the wayside. After this they gave the utmost thanks to God & I was esteemed in their eyes & from that day they had food abundantly. Patrick had safely escaped Ireland but he was not yet home. That would take a few more years. (awesomestories.com). Fact or Fiction? We don’t know -we just report what’s recorded. Is anything too hard for God? Jer 32:27.
As we continue our MARCH toward spring I think of the promises of God. According to 1person there are 3573 promises in the Bible. Isn’t that marvellous? Each of those promises are available to us who are relat-ed to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Lord. Who are His family? Jesus says Mt 12:46-50: While Jesus was still talking to the crowd his mother and brothers stood outside wanting to speak to him. Someone told him "Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you." He replied "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples he said "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." That’s you & I if we do the Father’s will. What’s God’s will? Read His Word & you will know. Trust in the Lord & acknow-ledge Him - He will show you the Way to eternal Life Prov 3:5-6. What are some of the promises for us as we enter Springtime 2012? To Moses God said: But truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD Numb 14:21. This proves men will never destroy the earth. So today in the midst of fear, turmoil & threat of war on every hand we know God is in control & His Word stands forever. Jesus said Mt 24:35: Heaven & earth will pass away but my words will never pass away. To Abram (later Abraham) who became the father of the Jewish race God said: I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you & I will curse him who curses you; in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed Gen 12:2-3. To this day God continues to bless those who are on the side of Israel - like Canada - Bless our country Lord! He continues to curse those calling for the eradication of the Jews & their homeland - Lord bring them to their senses before it’s too late! King David was the greatest king of Israel, a man after God's own heart 1 Sam 13:14. Because of this God made a wonderful promise to David: I will raise up your offspring to suc-ceed you...I will establish His kingdom...I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. I will be His father & He shall be My Son…Your house & your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever 2 Sam 7:12-16. My desire is also to be a man after God’s own heart. Lord help me to be faithful & true to you as I lead Your people. May Your people stand in the gap praying for the lost & teaching the Way to salvation through our Lord Jesus. The promise to David in 2 Sam 7:12-16 is a prophecy partially fulfilled in the birth & life of Jesus & to be completely fulfilled when Jesus returns as King of kings & Lord of lords Rev 19:11-14, 16: I saw heaven standing open & there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful & True. With justice he judges & makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire & on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dip-ped in blood & his name is the Word of God…Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter.…On his robe & on his thigh he has this name writ -ten: King of kings & Lord of lords. Which promises has God already kept? God's promise to Abra-ham, Isaac & Jacob that Israel would be-come a great nation has been kept. God also kept His promise to the Jews that they will never die out in spite of terrible persecutions. Jesus was raised from the dead exactly as God promised. God still has many important promises to keep. How do we know God will keep His promises? Every promise God ever made that relates to the past has been kept. That gives us confidence He will keep promises for the future as well. Jesus said in Jn 17:17: Your word is truth. God's power is supreme. Nothing can go wrong with His future plans. Has God made any pro-mises to you? He has if you’re prepared to do 2 things: Acts 16:31: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him Jn 14:21. If you do these things what has God pro-mised? A share in all the blessings you’ve just read about. For There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus Gal 3:28. Imagine. God has promised to raise you from the dead and give you everlasting life so you can live forever with Jesus in His Kingdom. No greater promises will ever be made to you. For true believers life is a great joy. These precious promises give peace of mind. This hope is an anchor of the soul sure & steadfast Heb 6:11. God invites you to share in the greatest promises ever made. To receive the blessings you must fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man Eccles 12:13. Do that & by God's mercy you will live forever. It's a promise. God said it; I believe it; That settles it!
As we approach the celebration of Resurrection remember Jesus showed His power over demons, disease, even death when He walked among us. Imagine with me 2 of the foll-owers of our Lord meeting on a street in Jerusalem after the Resurrection of Jesus & His ascension to the Father. In Mt 26:6 we hear of Simon the Leper at whose home Jesus was having a meal. Simon no longer had leprosy or no one would visit him & he wouldn’t have a home if he was still diseased. There was that other home Jesus & His disciples visited when in the Bethany area Lk 10:38-42.Good friends of Jesus - Mary, Martha & Lazarus - lived there. Martha is the same woman who bathed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil in the home of Simon the Leper. You know the story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead in Jn 11:1-44. Lazarus was dead 4 days when Jesus showed up - Mary & Martha were upset with Him not coming sooner. The key passage in this story is Jn 11:23-26: Jesus said "Your brother will rise again." Martha answer-ed "I know he will rise again in the resur -rection at the last day." Jesus said "I am the resurrection & the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; whoever lives & believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Jesus proclaims something about Himself here none of His followers really understood or believed un-til they saw Him, ate with Him,walked with Him, listened to His teaching after His resurrection from the dead. Surely if He has the power to release people from demons, cure disease & bring back people like Jairus’ daughter, the Centurion’s servant & Lazarus from cold supposedly final death - He can be raised Himself! My question is Jesus’ question to Martha & those within hearing of His voice that day: DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? With Thomas who doubted the resurrection until he saw Jesus & His wounds I bow before Him & proclaim My Lord & My God! Jn 20:28. Back to my 'What if?’ story about Simon the Leper & Lazarus after Jesus has gone home to heaven. Look at the cartoon from Jeff Larson’s The Back Pew (thebackpew.com) showing Simon & Laz-arus together with the caption “Lazarus - so glad you could make it”. Wouldn’t they have some great conversations about our Lord & Saviour, Jesus - Son of God & God the Son? I can’t wait until He shouts for us: Come Up Here! Rev 11:12 at the Rapture of His people who are alive at the time of the end. He’s coming soon. Are you ready to be ushered into His presence to spend eternity with Jesus? If not come to Him right now - release your sins to Him. Aged John writes to the early church & to us today I Jn 1:9: If we confess our sins he is faithful & just & will forgive us our sins & purify us from all unrighteousness. Believe in the Son of God Jesus the Messiah & be saved forever. Won’t it be awesome to meet around the throne with the Patriarchs, Prophets, Disciples & Apostles & all the martyrs who have died for faith in Jesus throughout history? Standing together before our Redeemer & King we will cast our crowns at His feet along with the 24 elders Rev 4:10 & bow to confess Him as Lord Phil 2:10-11. We will worship Him with all the saints: You are worthy our Lord & God to receive glory & honor & power for you created all things Rev 4:11. Rev 19:6 John speaks of the saints around the throne: Then I heard what sounded like a great multi-tude like the roar of rushing waters & like loud peals of thunder shouting: Hallelu-jah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns! In Rev 22:7; 12-13 we hear Behold I am coming soon! Behold I am coming soon! I am the Alpha & the Omega, the First & the Last, the Beginning & the End. When Jesus repeats something it’s a good idea to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying! Then John says in Rev 22:20-21: He who testifies to these things says "Yes I am coming soon." Amen. Come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. Until that time I leave you with Paul’s great benediction to the church in Ephesus Eph 3:16-21: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you being rooted & established in love may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide & long & high & deep is the love of Christ & to know this love that surpasses know-ledge - that you may be filled to the mea-sure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us - to him be glory in the church & in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever & ever! Amen. Look backward with thanks to God for His indescribable gift of salvation through Jesus. Look forward in hope to His glorious appearing & eternal life. God bless you.
Pastor Brad and Wendy
BEHOLD I COME SOON - Rev 22:7; 12
Thursday, March 1, 2012
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