Christian Faith Perspectives

We all respond to a compliment, it makes us feel warm inside. It reminds me of those stamps we used to get at primary school. The teacher would have an array of pretty ones to put in our workbook; a sort of tick for well done!

As we live our Christian life there can be that inner question we ask ourselves… “I wonder how I’m doing and will God give me a tick?” So we think that if we try hard enough our good deeds will compensate for the bad ones. The reality is we will never be good enough! We may strive to live up to that golden rule of loving our neighbour but just one mistake will blot our copybook.

But God’s stamp of approval is still possible because Jesus Christ took the ultimate punishment of our moral failure. He now gives us a righteous standing before God because we reached out in faith… a justification by faith alone!

Now that we have received this free gift of righteousness, God can confirm or seal our new life as a believer. God’s way of signifying this is by giving us the Gift of the Holy Spirit. It is like a divine stamp that God has accepted us.

God is not only confirming that we have become a new person in Christ but He is letting us know that we belong to Him. The Holy Spirit is His legal seal that we are now a member of His family… we have entered the Kingdom of God!

Ref. Isaiah 53:10-11, Gal. 3:11-14, Eph. 1:13-14. NIV.

Sometimes it’s time for a bit of cleaning because things do get a little dirty over time; things still function, but not as well. Just recently I cleaned our house windows inside and out, they were okay… they obviously still let in the light! But if I took an Instagram pic from inside the house the result was a blurry image..

So we are not talking here of a major clean up, but just regular maintenance that makes things function at their best. Like that silver cleaning we do to remove the build up of tarnish on the cutlery and other items. Just a little of that magic cleaner Brasso is all that’s needed to keep things looking at their best.

As we look at our individual Christian lives we have to admit that they do need a little polishing up from time to time. It doesn’t mean we are any less a Christian for the Lord Jesus has already done a perfect work in forgiving us as sinners. We are righteous in Him, but some spiritual housekeeping doesn’t go astray.

As we live our lives in this human body of ours there will be inevitable conflict between the Spirit and our old ways. God has created us to be a new person but old traits die hard and we find our spiritual life in Christ getting somewhat tarnished. Is there a solution to this problem? There most certainly is!

The simple answer is to live by the Spirit and we won’t find ourselves getting stained by those sinful failures of the flesh like anger, impatience and jealousy. When we live by the Spirit it is possible to replace those negative traits with the positive fruit of the Spirit which includes gentlenes, patience and love.

The key is to be daily drawing on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Bible reading and fellowship are important, but to stay polished we must be commiting each day to our Saviour and Lord.

Ref. Galations 5:13-26. NIV.

The role of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians is important as breathing. Sometimes we are unaware of the Spirit’s functioning but it is never the less essential to our spiritual health. Wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and Jesus also spoke of the Spirit as rivers of living water. The Spirit is also expressed as fire. We discover that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are linked together as one.

The early church apparently had a simple understanding on this subject. They referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ and even said the prophets were speaking by the Spirit of Christ. The last Book in the Bible talks about the sevenfold Spirit of God burning as lamps before the throne of God. Our Lord and Saviour is inseperably linked to the flame of the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus comes to us in the Person of the Holy Spirit we enter into the dynamic unity of God. He says to us “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”. The Spirit of Christ is a reality!

As we live our Christian lives the Spirit of Christ is constantly available, we could even say in a modern day idiom… He is available 24 7. God’s desire is that we might experience the continual and powerful flow of the Spirit of Christ.

Ref. John 14:20-21, Romans 8:9-11. NIV.

Most of us would have said amens at the end of church prayers. Also, it is not uncommon today to hear people saying an “Amen” to express agreement with what the preacher is saying. Historical research indicates that some churches would have actually had an Amen corner. This may have been a particular area of the pews near the pulpit where certain church goers would vocalise their “Amens” in support of the preacher… if you like, a sort of cheer squad!

Amen is not some incidental closure with no meaning. Rather, it is a sincere expression that we believe in what has been said, a conviction that something is true. We are actually giving our support, we are in affect, saying ‘YES’.

The word ‘Amen’ essentially means SO BE IT, in other words we are saying that something is true and we have faith in it. Interestingly, the Jewish meanings are:-
– let it be, -may it come to pass – praise the Lord. When we say ‘Amen’ we are aligning ourselves with what has been said. Our Amen response is to involve our selves with the God of truth. We are partnering with Him in what we want, what we believe or expect to happen. As we say “Amen” we are giving honour to God. It is really a form of praise, a very special expression of our faithfulness.

Let us continue to say our ‘Amens’ with a fresh understanding of their meaning. They are not empty words, but powerful and heard by our heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Our ‘Amens’ do reach the throne of God!!

Ref. Is. 65:16, Jer.11;5, 2 Cor. 1:20, Rev.3:14, 7:12, 19:4. NIV.
Carroll County Comet The Amen Corner
Tactical Christianity Five Things You May Not Know About Saying Amen

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There is so much fascination with discovery… our world, the solar system and the universe. As astronomers explore deep space and reveal hidden things we marvel at what they find. As scientists discover new things about our earth, we are amazed that there are still new things to understand. An example is the large ‘ocean’ of water trapped inside rocks and hidden in the earth’s mantle.

We live in a time when there is literally an explosion of knowledge. There are television ‘Discovery’ channels and the search engines of the worldwide web which supply us with instant information. In the same manner, information about the Bible and associated theological subjects is available at the touch of our keyboards. Just type a word and a flow of knowledge instantly begins.

But despite all this Bible knowledge at our finger tips there is still that element of understanding which is beyond us. I am reminded of those school years when our lecturer would try to explain some principle. But then understanding would dawn and clarity of thinking would take the place of what puzzled us.

God has given us the perfect teacher of truth in the person of the Holy Spirit. As we grow and devlop as Christians there are things we puzzle over, spiritual principles we don’t fully understand. It is the role of this Counselor to give our minds that spirit of revelation which makes the obscure become clear.

In his earthly ministry Jesus of Nazereth was the classic perfect teacher as he instructed his disciples. He is of course no longer here in person but the Spirit of Truth is now available to give us all the spiritual understading we need.

Ref. John 14:25-26 NIV.

Our lives are constantly challenged to finish what we have started. It may be a simple jigsaw puzzle which is not finished till the last piece is in place. But there is still a personal sense of satisfaction that we have completed the design.

There are so many other examples of things which need to be finished… it could be a course of study or a personal project we are working on. The challenge to finish the task remains and we must stick at it and see it through to the end.

I recall an incident from my childhood about a house being built. We would pass this house regularly… it was at the frame stage with no cladding. As the months passed nothing further happened to the house, it simply stayed at the frame stage for what ever reason. Eventually the timber began to grey and warp due to continued exposure to the weather month after month. Years later I passed this build again, surprisingly there was a completed house to see… finally finished!

It is good to know that when God planned our salvation He completed the job. Under the old order or first covenant there had to be an annual shedding of animal blood which the high priest would offer for the sins of the people. Unfortunately our salvation could never be achieved by this method. It required the single once for all offering provided by Jesus when he died on the cross.

Our salvation is now complete under this new covenant, totally cleansing our conscience from the guilt of sin. Yet there can still be that nagging thought there is something more we have to do to gain God’s approval and favour. No, the work is completed! Jesus has offered one sacrifice for all time!
– OUR SALVATION IS COMPLETED –

Ref. Hebrews 9:12, 10:9-10. NIV.

We have all walked the boulevard of broken dreams. Past events play on our minds and we dream again…. if only!! We cannot alter the past, and we cannot rewrite the events of our lives. But tomorrow is a day of fresh beginnings.

When things have not worked out the way we would have wanted, it is easy to become negative and feel a sense of failure. But I like to think of our Heavenly Father being a God of the ‘second chance’ . Indeed, this is what forgiveness is all about; the sins of the past are so dealt with, that they are blotted out… God does not remember them. The removal of our sin enables a fresh start.

If we take this principle and apply it to ‘broken dreams’ it means God wants us to be set free from the emotional baggage of those negative memories. Was it a marriage that didn’t work out? Was it that fabulous career you once had.? Instead of negatively dwelling on the past we need a point of release. It is to have the guilt load of past mistakes and failures completely lifted from us.

To be free from those broken dreams is to be free to move forward with an emotionally clean slate. It is the point where we can again start writing our personal success story. There is a sense in which we can unburden our shattered dreams before God. He will forget them… so should we!

Ref. Hebrews 10:17 NIV.