In the last 2 weeks we looked at God explaining who He was through I AM who I AM.

So much said in so little, it is an in-depth explanation of just who God is.  When looking however at God through the bible we can take all it has to say at face value in by just going with the words where we interpret them in the context of today.  Through our 21^st Century values influenced by our culture, experiences and preferences etc.

As someone said, the bible whilst written for us, was not written to us!

Because it was produced over 2000 plus years ago for people in the near east who had different languages that would be affected by hugely different cultures, experiences, acceptability and issues.  Today, we, particularly in the west would have no appreciation of the many situations faced by those living when the bible was actually written. In addition we also rely on the translators to English say, which at times does not fully convey the intended original message.

Even in biblical times there were parts of the bible not completed as we today can so easily forget, Moses wrote the Torah, Paul didn’t have the New Testament until He had written part of it.  In those days there were other “Gods” to contend with who were worshipped by various races.  Think of the Philistines with Dagon, The Romans with their emperor and New Testament Jews after Christ who were still under the well-established Old Testament Law.

With all this incredible diversity how can such a simple statement as I AM who I AM still be relevant in such a changing and evolving world since creation came about?  Is the I AM statement just too simple to accurately describe God who is above all that we can think of, experience or react too, whoever and wherever we are?

The answer equally simply is no!  I AM who I AM covers in its entirety everything about God.

The primary challenge to accepting this statement is from what view are we looking from, ours or God’s?

All the considerations that directly affect humanity previously mentioned are subjective whereas God is objective, He alone is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  When accepting Christ, we have died and then been resurrected, consequently we are told to bring nothing with us except ourselves, we become new creations with new thinking/values and perception of what good means.  Whilst God is personal, he is also God who is above all else and is always the highest authority there is.  Hence the description, I AM who I AM.

To fully appreciate God’s description of Himself we of course need to have love, recognition of grace as well as faith, trust, obedience, patience, humility, gratitude, thankfulness to name a few, but there is also one other important element that we should have.

Humanely speaking we need to go to the centre of our universe for one of the most essential elements of life, namely the sun which provides heat and of course light.  When the sun doesn’t shine, we have darkness which neatly introduces me to something similar to the sun’s effects spiritually speaking.  Which is of course THE Son, Jesus.

He is the light of the world (John 8:12) and if we see Him, we have also seen the Father (John 14:9).  The apostle Paul when stopped by a light brighter than the sun (Acts 9) fully realised this to the point where he put to death his old life of religious comparative darkness and instead sought to get others to experience this overwhelming light for themselves.

Light can attract, emphasise, illuminate, eliminate darkness and therefore show the way

Two passages come to mind for accessing the light, Ephesians 1:17-19 and Ephesians 3:  both readings feature very powerful ways of allowing light to illuminate a deeper and rewarding appreciation of God – the I AM who I AM.

In Ephesians 1 Paul prays for his followers for qualities that we also can receive.  These include being given, a spirit of wisdom, revelation of knowledge of Him, the eyes of the heart being enlightened, the hope God has called us to along with receiving the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and also the immeasurable greatness of His power according to the working of His might.

In Ephesians 3 Paul’s prayer concerns truly knowing the love of God by being grounded in it through comprehending the breadth, length, height and depth of the Lord’s love.

Once we pray for these areas of our discipleship through the Christ sent Holy Spirit’s light of revelation, we will then deepen our being in Christ and know Him, who is the word of God, more deeply than any bible translation can convey.

Which in turn will lead us to know the fulness of God in whatever we encounter objectively as, I AM who I AM.

With all blessings

Tony

PS This blog is normally updated at the beginning of each week

Last week we looked at the awesomeness of I AM, the name given by God for Himself that explains who and what (in the personal sense) He is, not was or will be, but is.

Little wonder that we are told in Proverbs 9:10 that fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom before we are told that fear has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18) and then in (Matthew 19:14)  of the intimacy we have, of do not stop the little children sitting on the Lord’s knee! 

As if these passages were not enough, we have the completely unmerited favour of grace and forgiveness on becoming born again as a new creation.

I guess the human response to these incredible benefits would be something like winning a European lottery every day, for a prolonged period.

Our God is not only an amazing God, but he is very much a loving Father, who has borne so much adversity from His chosen people that includes all, Jew and Gentile, consequently therefore, you and me.

When looking at I AM both this and last week and just how off the scale God is this means that we cannot even begin to recognise Him in all of His fullness, an indication of this is, His foolishness is greater than our wisdom (1 Cor 1:25)!

So, what should our reaction be, fear, respect, love and faithful obedience to name but a few come to mind, but there is also another which has so much depth and encompasses so many ways of truly appreciating God and all that He has done.

Gratitude.

In Hebrew, it means recognizing the good and is closely tied to grace and favour which differs in depth to our usual interpretation of acknowledging a kindness someone has extended to us, on the basis normally without payment or thought of any return. 

Gratitude on the scale of what we have been given includes thankfulness, reciprocation, freely extending to others what we have received, devotion and dedication summed up by a deep belief in the person who has extended this wonderful action.

Think how you would feel if someone settled a substantial debt that saved you from financial disaster, or like the Good Samaritan a person who saved your life and then consider that it is someone who you only vaguely knew if at all…….

That person saved you financially or medically, and certainly in accordance with an action requiring gratitude undeservedly. Only the action was permanent, that is it wasn’t a one off because they rescued you eternally, which in turn surely provides a peace that passes all understanding.

True gratitude is something that consumes our heart and thereby our thinking as well as our consequential actions, it changes our attitude, our way of looking at life and so provides a complete peace over apprehension, anxiety and fear.  It recognises the immenseness of what that person has done

 Gratitude humbles us to the point where we realise what we have and that we never can bring anything to God of merit along with an ongoing patience that it is fiercely active, not just idly waiting.   Gratitude brings a new lease of life where we go from being also rans (no matter how humanely successful we are) to more than overcomers who can do all things in Christ that strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).

Gratitude promotes generosity, righteous not good intentions and a wisdom that by doing things God’s way, rather than our way.

To sum up, true gratitude presents the true image of God within us, that both God and all others can clearly see.  

With all blessings

Tony

PS this blog is updated around the beginning of the week.

In Exodus 3:14 we have a very definitive statement!

God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM

In short God is I AM.

This means that he never changes and of course he is outside of time, unlike humanity.  We humans as you will be aware are totally subject to time and its various constraints.

Therefore, to fully understand the statement of how God describes Himself takes serious consideration, where we think limit, He is not bound by that.  Where we think hours, days, months and years or seasons, God is outside all of these periods.  In short, He is above and beyond and so is simply, I AM. The one who never changes.

Accordingly, some may need to consequently change their thinking about how God is viewed.  Particularly as He is everywhere and knows us intimately (e.g. by knowing the hairs on our head-Luke 12:7), but also what we are going to do daily (where He knows our thoughts, words and actions ahead of time – see Psalm 139:).

To try to put this into some sort of context that we can understand, imagine an ant’s nest in a corner of the garden which we decide to look at daily.  Simplistically, through our aerial view we can see the whole picture as the ants go about their activities and stretching a point, we’ll gradually get to know their habits and possibly even individual ants.  We can destroy the nest at any time, or alternatively, we can provide significant help in various ways.  We are not only outside but completely above their world.

This gives a very small idea of God and humanity.  God looking down sees everything, nothing escapes Him.

Given the uniqueness of I AM, the one who never changes what do we think about this or more pointedly about our Lord?  After all time constraints of hours and days combined with the changing weather of each season means that we face a different set of circumstances that must be dealt with.  So, where is our priority?

The limitless or the limited?

The eternal or the temporary?

The term I AM was also used by Jesus, where He used this phrase some 7 times in such ways as I am the Good Shepherd, or I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life, the incredible importance of Jesus being I AM helps us to understand both His Lordship and just how much He did for us.

In the same way we can also use the term to describe what we have as His followers, for example I am a new creation, I am forgiven and there are so many more.

I AM is definitive and it’s absolute, it’s what God and Jesus is, and a term we can use although on a much lesser level.

I AM stands out as being completely above and over all else.

It’s broadly like doing a puzzle, where we think of, I AM as something similar to the clouds for example, thereby forgetting He is not just the biggest number of pieces.  But that He is the puzzle, and we are the pieces who fit in.

So how do you and I think about I am?  Is he above all?   Or alternatively, only a part of a busy life that is fitted in with all the other things that occupy our time and minds?

Today we are in the temporary, all to soon we will be in the eternal, perhaps a good time to consider, which of these two is the longer and the greater?  And which of these two are given the greater prominence in our lives?

Pharoah and the Egyptian army fell to I AM. Goliath and the Philistines were routed by I AM’s peoples, Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful King was humbled to repentance by I AM, I AM through Jesus defeated Satan.

If I AM is for us, then who can be against us?

Are we for I AM first and foremost?

With all blessings

Tony

PS this blog is updated weekly.

A note to self can arise through numerous needs such as we don’t feel confident of relying on our memory, or alternatively to emphasis a point or points that are important.

The fact that it is down in black and white also gives it a reality, as those points now exist in the physical world rather than in our brain, apparently writing something has far more effect on the brain than typing digitally on to a screen!!

Suffice to say that these benefits can be lost as whatever is written must be relevant and acted upon. Otherwise like the bible it is merely print on a page.

Note to self means wait, this is for me and normally me alone and not for others for a change, although there is a caveat in that it should ultimately be for the glory of God and thereby for the benefit of others.

The note may remind us of something we need to emphasise, change in ourselves, learn from, or it could be a word from the Lord or something else that screams out at us. Sometimes it may just be a reminder of something we need to do or say, but keep forgetting.

Often the note’s contents are reflective, in other words when we look at the contents they look back at us by saying this needs to be done, no more procrastinating, mulling it over, avoiding the issue etc. get on with it. 

Our thoughts can become like chewing gum, where we constantly “chew” them over mentally, adding or subtracting something, slightly changing this or that and then pondering over these amendments.  Result everything gets left for another day and so, never actually sees the light of day!!

As the events and people of our lives crowd in with their very important needs that must have our immediate attention we may simply reflect, concentrate on the what is known, which means no progress or the final most destructive reaction of a note to self.  That is watch the television where the enemies of progress lay through inertia, indifference and my comfort first.

If, like me you have tried this distraction which only needs a comfy chair and cushions you will find that it comes with a convicting spirit, normally expressed through a guilty conscience of wasted, time, opportunity or advancement.

Andrew Wommack, an American bible teacher reflects how he got to a point in his ministry where after many years of severe adversity and struggling to get his ministry to be listened to, he finally found that all seemed to be going well.  In other words, everything was ticking along quite nicely as the ministry was finally paying its way, people were listening to his teachings, and he was becoming more accepted.

However, like Nebuchadnezzar with the handwriting on the wall announcing that he had been found wanting as his power was about to end, so Andrew’s ministry was about to radically alter.  Only for the better!

He was given a word direct from the Lord through Psalm 78:41 which told him that he was limiting God.

Accordingly, his note to self-brought about conviction, then consideration of the active type.  The result was a world-wide reaching bible school with television facilities and some $150 million spent on buildings with much more building to come, these I understand will all be constructed debt free.

The word from Psalm 78 could have stayed firmly in his mind and then died quietly or the note to self with this verse’s contents could be acted on, thankfully for many it was the latter.

So, our note to self, normally short and to the point, what could it be?

A verse?  A challenging action that has been put off, pinpointing the real reason for a guilty conscience, or taking action out of our usual/comfort zone.

A poster I once saw said that we can either walk along the usual paths or dare to create a new one.

From small acorns do mighty oak trees grow.

Consideration, quickly followed by action

Can grow, from a simple note to self.

With all blessings

Tony

PS This blog is normally updated at the start of each week.

At first sight this may meet with some negative reaction, and I must admit that when I first felt led to write on this subject I wondered about it!

However, on further consideration there is an important point to be made in that we are made in His image.  Yes, comes the reply but then as many will think, our Lord is far above you and I, because He alone, is good, holy and righteous, therefore He is above having the characteristics of the humanity which we have. 

This description of Him is of course exactly right, because we are saddled with our fallen nature as all Christians are only too aware of and so “our” humanity can include every known sin.

However, we consider these comments in more detail, as there are other points that need to be noted which help to give a more balanced view.

For example, Jesus, although sinless when with us some 2000 years ago certainly showed what we would readily call human feelings and emotions when He undoubtedly experienced the widest range of human emotions possible at the hands of those He came to save. 

Could it be that by His direct experience of living with humanity He gave God further insight into our (primarily fallen) human thinking with its consequential actions?   If so, then this would build on God’s deep relationship experiences with the Jews of the Old Testament.

Elaborating further, our Lord showed His feelings by being, exasperated at the lack of faith shown, He grieved over Jerusalem, lost His incredible patience when lack of faith was shown.  Also, as those temple sellers could readily testify, He clearly showed His zeal through anger for the Lord as He also clearly did with the Pharisees, whom He described as being spiritually blind hypocrites.  Peter definitely found out our Lord could call a spade a spade rather than a digging implement when reacting to Peter’s reaction over His dying on the cross.

Emotions, whether good or bad are without doubt an essential part of our humanity, those without this character trait tend to be either legalistic or completely cold and aloof individuals.  Equally, by having a surfeit of them, we can easily become unstable in all our ways, or alternatively overly sympathetic to the point of indulgency which excludes correction or genuine repentance.

So, emotions are something that our Lord Jesus has and similarly, God in the Old Testament showed and they both experienced many varieties of emotion when dealing with the rebellious Jews as well as thinking about the individual characteristics of Jacob, Joshua, Caleb, Elijah and David, Peter, to name but a few.

What determines our emotions?  Something I read summed it up very well, they are generated by what we believe, usually about something or an individual.  In other words, the way that we see a situation or a person will determine what and how we feel and consequently react.  Do we have the peace of Jesus or the peace of self? 

The first peace deals with all situations whereas the second is governed by our laziness, indifference, perceived lack of control, faithlessness, self-benefit and bowing to our way of thinking rather than the Lords.  Put another way it’s all about us and not the Lord and doing His will only.  We feel threatened, insulted or inferior to a situation or person according to what we think, which is mostly incorrect!

So, the primary difference between us compared to God and Jesus is the influencing source of our emotions because of something that is common to Satan, who then spread his disease to Adam & Eve before we contracted it, and that is quite simply, pride.

Each of us have varying degrees of pride which can cause us to form opinions about ourselves where we either seek our own advancement/benefit or conversely, some who will boast of their own wretchedness.  The first form of pride compels us to maximise self-control over our surroundings through money, power, or alternatively, not standing out to become humanely vulnerable. Whereas the second is an entrenched belief of self-condemnation such as I will never be good enough.

 Pride put simply, is a lack of humility; we believe something, whether its advancing or decreasing ourselves irrespective of the facts or what God says, effectively this means we are not submitted and therefore not servants of God first and others second.  It’s our opinions that count to the exclusion of all else and so places us first, rather than third after God and others.

Without emotions we would all be robotic and therefore why would God make and therefore want us for a relationship? As further evidence we have different Godly gifts which consequently require different approaches.  If we weren’t different then presumably, we would have all the spiritual gifts and thereby wouldn’t need each other as we would already have everything we needed.  Adam & Eve, the one-time perfect couple must have had emotions already present to fall for Satan’s tempting promises of greater knowledge that brought about the fall.

The pointy is that we are created in the likeness of God to become an image of Him for others to see and this is done by following Jesus’s example. Summed up by, I only do the will of the Father.

Therefore, the humanity of God is singularly based on God’s righteous version of humanity, which is free of all sin arising through pride. Being expressed by ourselves in turn through our gratefully lovingly and joyfully obediently following of Him, with accompanying forgiveness and compassion that’s always influenced by our father to son/daughter relationship.

With all blessings

Tony

PS Apologies yet again for the delay in issue, but I wasn’t happy with previous versions!  This blog is normally updated each Monday/Tuesday but delays have arisen recently.

I started this blog series on the individuality of God by saying that I wasn’t referring to the Lord’s individuality but how he sees us, however in this issue I will be reversing the process.

By looking at God through His individuality.

The first place to start is possibly the most important but least obvious and consequently least actively thought of which is relationship.  When this is offered to humanity it is highly personalised and therefore very intimate because if God knows the very hairs on our head (Luke 12:7) then He must know each of us, period.

How strong is this relationship?  Well, on the Lord’s side He sent Jesus, and on our side?  This at the very least leaves much to be desired!! If we treated our family and friends as we can be inclined to treat our relationship with God, then how long would they continue to be friends?  This makes God’s faithful pursuit of relationship and His dedicated love for you and I abundantly clear.

Equally and very importantly, without this relationship that operates through the Holy Spirit we would have an eternity of separation with all of its consequential outcomes!

Individuality also comes through free will, Adam & Eve as we are all painfully aware used theirs when listening to Satan’s tempting lies which has caused many to question, why didn’t God prevent the Fall happening? 

Again, I would submit that this is because of relationship, if we didn’t have free will then we would just be clones that would say the same thing, and act in the same way, at exactly the same time.  In short there would be no individuality, and the world would surely be a greyer place without it and of course everywhere would be very crowded as we would all go for example to the shops at the same place and the same time!

Another outcome would be that we would either be incredibly skilled at one thing such as painting whereby again for example the same picture would be produced or more likely, we would become talented at everything.  The consequence would be complete isolation through total independence, as we wouldn’t need anything from anyone if we could produce it ourselves.

Like male and female, each of us shows a part of God’s overall character which is why we are called to be either, apostles, teachers, prophets, pastors and evangelists and so on.

Because we don’t have complete independence, we become inter dependent through our first dependence which of course is on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) and thereby our existence and secondly loving others.  This is in accordance with the two great commandments of loving God first and then others, as we would ourselves.

To further appreciate God’s individuality, consider how this was righteously expressed through both himself and Jesus through the following feelings of, exasperation, impatience, anger, punishment, patience, faithfulness, forgiveness, loving kindness, grief.  God is most certainly not one dimensional!

God is unique, as are you and I, because we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image, there is no one like Him, never could be, never can be and never will be.

He is a God who is also a loving father, a redeemer, someone who freely shares and gives, a provider, who protects and blesses, to name only a few.

God through Jesus experienced just about everything that humanity could, He knew the high times and the lowest of the low times that included betrayal, abandonment, condemnation, physical deprivation and extreme violence to name only a few.  Whatever each of us may suffer, He has  seen, experienced and done it, so when each of us come to Him He can say empathetically, yes, been there.

God’s individuality stretches far beyond what we can think or contemplate, which means that our of concerns or visions can be accommodated individually, not theoretically but practically and realistically.

Perhaps the easiest way to describe His individuality is through the following words, there is none like you.

AMEN!

With all blessings

Tony

PS this blog is normally updated at the beginning of each week.

Where does your testimony start?

One month ago?  Or perhaps 5-10-15 or even 80 years ago?

For many of us we will think back to when we first gave our life to God or put another way when we were born again.  That is the moment we entered the kingdom of God and life changed although I suspect that for many of us, we don’t fully realise by how much!

Relating to our natural birth, we of course celebrate our actual birth-day, rather than our conception day.  The initial event is taken for granted, possibly because it’s so physically obvious whereas conception can only be an estimation!

Spiritually, the situation is very different because our being born again is not the beginning but the end of the process, as with being born physically and as many a child has said to their parent, I didn’t ask to be born.  So it is with us as Christians, although we did have a choice of either accepting or refusing God’s offer.

As I have said previously Ephesians 1:4 states that we were known by God since before creation and then secondly to provide our new birth Jesus died and was then resurrected on the cross. 

Equally God decided that to have a meaningful relationship that each of us would be totally individual, since the beginning of the world there has been nobody like you or I.  We have free will through that individuality and equally despite our thinking we also have different gifts that will be expressed in a variety of ways.  Consider David who learnt to use what he had been given through defending sheep out in some remote area, this was later to transfer in front of thousands to defend God’s chosen Israel where his enemy was not a lion or bear, but a supposedly fearsome warrior.

Think about Joseph, sold by his brothers in the wilderness to become a slave who was blamelessly imprisoned, before rising to great rank in a foreign country, a classic example of God using someone who was extremely low in society.  How did he react to his brothers when at his peak?  Not humanly!!  He forgave his brothers insisting that what had happened had been part of God’s master plan.

God didn’t use David for what Joseph did and vice-versa, each was chosen by God to fulfil a particular role they were specifically designed for and that has never changed.  Ephesians 4:11 confirms the individuality and consequential importance of God’s calling through being an apostle, prophet, evangelist or pastor and finally a teacher.

Where do you fit in?

Could it be that having a different view of footprints helps?  David could look back at his time in defending sheep for overcoming Goliath whereas Joseph directly related to his loss of family status caused by his brothers, what are the marks in the sand behind you that indicate God’s calling on your life?  Small or large events/experiences could contain significant indicators as to what God’s involvement in your life has been.  A good indicator may be what rings your bell, or what you get hot under the collar about and what do you feel most comfortable doing or desire to do.

There is a rucksack waiting to be picked up with your name on it, it contains all the resources you will need for your individual calling, the only thing you need to activate the contents is faith.

You, me, us, are fearfully and wonderfully made, individually called, just as much as Abraham, Noah, Joseph, David, John the Baptist, the disciples and Paul plus many others too numerous to count.

Where do we individually fit in?

The latest part of our very personal testimony that started before creation awaits.

With all blessings

Tony

This blog is normally updated at the beginning of each week.

Imagine the president of the United States walking intently towards a crowd of people which you were part.

He stops; eyes searching the faces and then requests that everyone from a certain area to raise their hands.  He continues looking, before he once again shouts that all those from a suburb of the area previously referred to are the only ones who are to keep their hands raised.

So, imagine your reaction when he names your street, you might well ask what on earth is going on?  Could little ol’ me be of interest to the world’s most important man?  Surely not you think there must be someone else who is far more important living on my street.

Another shout, the president has mentioned your house number.  Your brain freezes, unable to take it all in, did he? Could it be? Your mind races, am I the one? Did I hear it right?  Time freezes, then following your response you come face to face with the president.

Who says, follow me!

We’re going to the White House!!!

An imaginary story to illustrate a point. 

Now think again, only in a spiritual sense, you read the bible and as certain words sink in you realise that the previous imaginary story is true, only on a far greater scale.

Suddenly you see the commitment you made in a totally different light because you are realising just how personalised that event was and also what occurred many centuries before you made your decision!  You thought that you’re becoming a Christian started when you gave your life and that it was done as many others had done before.  In other words, you are part of a community of believers.

Ephesians 1 v 4 however, when seen in the reality of revelation gives a far different insight to your commitment

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

We were chosen, put another way we didn’t choose to become sons and daughters of the highest authority ever known, but instead, the highest authority chose you and I, and that took place before creation!!

To increase the personalisation, we also read in Hebrews 2 v 11 about our relationship with Jesu. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

The family ties are further strengthened by 1 John 3:1, See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are

Summing up these verses when we are born again through our acceptance of Christ as our saviour not only are we going from the kingdom of Satan as a ruler to that of God’s kingdom, we also become valued parts of God’s family.

This has tremendous importance!  Because Christ achieved what Colossians 2:15 confirms, Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.  Then we need to also take into account Philippians 2:9, Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

We, that is you and I individually have become part of the winning team.  So, we no longer have to fight to get the victory, we now need to be concerned with defending the victory that the kingdom we are now in provides.

One of the biggest indicators that God works on an individual, personal level is that we have free will, as previously said God doesn’t force,

 He invites, whereby we either accept or decline His invitation. How did you feel about this invitation? The same as being invited to te White House?

To end, I will leave this question for you and I to consider, how do we use our free will in respect of our relationship with God? 

To build our relationship with Him?

With all blessings

Tony

PS This blog is normally updated weekly.

By individuality I am not thinking about God, but about how He relates to you and I as individuals.

Most, if not virtually all Christians will be aware of one verse that has become almost definitive for the faith we follow, it is of course John 3 v 16. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”

When typing this verse, I saw it in a different context for what this blog is conveying!  Simplistically, it has the following parts, God, love, world, gave, whoever, believes, in Him, not perish, eternal life.

Many look on this verse as a spiritual gateway, whereby all our primary concerns being condensed down to life and death are answered, it can used to sum up the gospels.

Nearly all turn to God, whatever their beliefs, when life gets beyond our control, or the fear of death overtakes us through a loved one dying or because of their own mortality.  Love of course is what we psychologically want and need, to be respected and valued for who we think we are.  If love defines God, then in turn, it must also define us, and all our relationships.

The world?  This is the corporate Christianity, for many a generalised description that describes what they are a part of.  Believing is an area that can be also described as faith where we believe in God and Jesus which means that we pass the saved qualification test of Romans 10 v 9, despite our faults.

The use of gave is often the reason why we praise, God gave and not humanity or an individual like Abraham, Caleb or David to lead us through or overcame all obstacles to achieve salvation.

In Him, that we believe in Christianity as represented by God coming in the form of Jesus as our redeemer and thereby seek to live a life that can be described as, being good through being what a Christian requires for goodness.  Next, we come to one of the “biggies” as I indicated earlier!  Not perishing but also having the last point on the list above, eternal life.  The thought of hell can be enough to not only drive some towards Jesus but keep them there, no matter what.

The problem is that when we think of John 3 v 16 on a superficial level to a greater or lesser degree as I have outlined above, we completely overlook one very important point of Jesus’s return.

The reason Jesus came was to restore what Adam & Eve had broken, humanity’s relationship with God through a faith called Christianity true, but on an individual basis.  That is, you and I.  The answer may come back, yes, that’s obvious, but how often do we fully realise it to the point where it affects our thinking, our actions and our love for God and others?

So, how do we really think God sees you and I?  As part of an overall picture of redemption or that we will meet Him personally when departing this mortal world? Alternatively, is it through receiving an occasional world of knowledge or a miraculous like winning the lottery one-off event that gives it the all-important personal touch?

Undoubtedly how I think God sees me will be greatly influenced by how I see Him, Almighty fearsome God, or Abba Father (Daddy).  Many will see Him as someone who sets unobtainable high standards which they can never reach.  Whilst for some the other description can be likened to either a cuddly love that covers all, or an intimacy of varying levels with our spiritual father.

In truth, I would suggest however that the true answer lies between Almighty God and Abba Father, through a respectful fear and a consequential father to child intimacy.

God is a very individual God, as the whole of the bible so clearly shows, through referring to people from all walks of life, power and wealth whilst also clearly displays their weaknesses and complete failures.  Put more simply sin.

Perhaps one of the most profound instances of how God shows individuality towards us can be summed up in Psalm 139 where (King) David presents a very intimate view of his relationship with God and likewise how this is reciprocated.

Here David relates to how God knows when he sits and rises, his thoughts and words and that no matter where he is physically, God is with him.  David cannot hide from God and because he was created by God, he is fearfully and wonderfully made and all of his days are ordained.  No wonder when writing this he goes on to say that God’s thoughts are precious to him and that he hates those who hate the Lord and finally he asks God to know his heart and anxious thoughts and see if there is anything offensive in him.

In Ephesians 1 v 4 we are also told that we were chosen in Him before the beginning of the world, just pause there and take a moment to think on that, we are not saved collectively but individually and personally.

To emphasise God’s highly personalised Matthew 10:30 and Luke 12:7 tells us that the hairs on our head are numbered!!!

So, the point is, that as we uncover in our fellowship, thinking and consequential actions just how personalised God’s relationship is with each one of us, so we see John 3:16 in a new light ever more increasingly.

Once we realise the depth of God’s personal love, we will then realise what he has extended to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus and so live in the completeness of shalom, total peace.

Then we will be more than overcomers (Rom. 8:37) and in our rightful place because God is not only in us but with us!

With all blessings

Tony

PS This blog will normally be updated on Monday or Tuesday of each week

It was difficult to see anything different as a man sat looking intently at his coffee cup, as if seeking an insightful reply or assurance from its warmth or contents.

His eyes though, had a contradictory look, whilst focused they were also devoid of any real interest in the cup or its contents as his hand alternatively tightened and loosened their grip on his cup.

Had the busy passers-by taken time from their busy schedules and consequential preoccupations they would have noted that he was muttering under his breath in a troubled manner.

Another individual listening to him was also looking intently, he was studying the man, noting what he said and how he said it, being a leader for countless years he knew precisely what to look for.  He could hear every word that was spoken and noted various points that might be important for future use.

He remembered why he had first encountered the individual grasping the coffee cup, who had been s0 enthusiastic, zealous to change the world as he had been changed himself.  He smiled ruefully as he thought about the bold promises made by the disconsolate individual opposite, when he had such high hopes to achieve great things.

How many times had he heard that remark?  So many were only in it for the sprint instead of the marathon required!

Briefly, for the umpteenth time he thought again of how people never considered that someone like him would take a very keen interest in the seemingly ordinary individuals, through thinking that he would only be available for those who were in leadership roles.  What they so often failed to realise was that it’s not position but the potential, those who had a real belief and would act on it as well. 

Leader or ordinary individual, they were the ones that needed his attention.  Get them to focus on their own performance rather than what they have been given, that’s the key!

Coffee cup put down, the man rose from his chair looking crestfallen, having stopped muttering, he moved away from the table to join the passing crowds of people who were still only concerned about their lives and their problems.  Had they bothered to look they might have thought that there was only one individual, not two at the now vacated table.

Should anything be said to this beaten despairing individual his keen-eyed observer thought? Whilst remembering how he had so devastatingly spoken before to this one-time enthusiastic go-getter?

Satan thought better of it, the man was doing the I’m totally defeated and worthless job for him, so why bother?  With that he disappeared, laughing to himself that Christians just didn’t have a clue as to how much real power and authority had been given to them.  Not to mention forgiveness which he of course, could never achieve.

They might have all blessings and have every need met and he, the mighty Satan might have been totally beaten by Jesus’s death and resurrection.  But that still didn’t stop him bringing down those who verbally gave him a loophole to exploit by getting them to question who and what they were in Christ.

Start with the Achilles Heel, pride, just as with Adam & Eve, oh so simple but also, oh so effective.  

Then getting their confession, it might be good for the soul when used for repentance and bring forgiveness.  But if used wrongly through the expressing of self-condemnation, admitting wretchedness, or pride by going independently from God rather than stating who they were in Christ, it was also good.  In fact, very good, for allowing Satan the accuser to enter as well.

He didn’t take prisoners, only captives.

With all blessings

Tony

PS This blog will normally be updated each week, usually Monday or Tuesday but due to personal circumstances this may occur later-please accept my apologies!