God’s Kingdom, is your Kingdom! It’s in the process of being built by God, and we’re supposed to be building it, too! This is your true home, your true future, your true inheritance. This is your only real post-retirement plan!:) First, how do we become part of this Kingdom? Well, Jesus himself said: ‘I am the door, and anyone who enters through me will be saved.’ (John 10:9) We access the Kingdom of God, by passing through the ‘door’ of Jesus Christ. We do this by turning our back on our sin (repentance), and declaring with our mouths (out loud), ‘Jesus is Lord.’ (Romans 10:9) Have you repented of your sin, and put your faith in Jesus Christ? When we enter into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are now ‘co-laborers’ with God in building this eternal place. (1 Cor 3:9) We live here on earth, but we now live to build our eternal dwelling, a Kingdom that will never end. Now that’s a worthwhile investment! This is serious business, my friends. As builders, we are called by God to build. In fact, we are told that one day, when we stand before God, ‘our work will be shown for what it is.’ (1 Cor 3:13) This is also exciting news, a true mission here on earth as the ultimate goal of all we do. So many people are looking for purpose; well, here it is! We are called to pray, and live, ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth…’ (Mt 6:9-13) If you are not yet clear on how to build on the ‘foundation of Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor 3:11), pray and ask the Lord to show you your station, your post. It is not easy to get a career here on earth, and it is not easy to really see and know our building post in the Kingdom of God. We need to ‘seek God with all our heart’, if we want that kind of treasure! (Jer 29;13) So, lift your eyes today, and ask God to take you deeper in your walk with Jesus, and show you your role here on earth, in building the Kingdom of God. For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus Christ, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html
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The ‘Faith You’ is the true you. The person you are naturally, the ‘self’ you’re ‘feeling’, is not the truest you. The true you is called forth, breathed forth, spoken over you by your Creator. And you step into this ‘true you’, by faith. Your friends might say you’re this or that person. Your own heart might speak a message over you. Your mind. Your actions. Your past. Your guilt. All these things ‘report’ on who you are. But it is Jesus Christ, who ‘ransomed you with his blood’, that defines the ‘true you’. (1 Pe 1:18-19) You can step into your true self in this way: step through the ‘door’ of Jesus Christ. ‘Jesus said, ‘I am the door, and anyone who comes through me will be saved.’ (John 10:9) If you turn towards Christ today, and allow Him to embrace you, you will be in the arms of God. You will be standing in the very Spirit of Truth, and it is here that your ‘Faith You’ will find its footing, now and forevermore. Jesus said, ‘Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ (John 18:37) My friend, to access the very soul of your truest self, you need to stand in the very Spirit of God Himself, which is Jesus Christ. Look to him, and go through the door today! For more on taking ‘First Steps’ of faith in Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html Jesus said, ‘When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.’ (Matthew 6:7) Prayer is about relationship. If there is no relationship, ‘words’ mean nothing. This is true in our friendships, and families. It is also true – even more true – with God. Prayer is not just about communication. Enemies communicate with enemies. They speak to them. They ask them for things. But this is not prayer. Prayer is about coming to God in ‘relationship’, and communing with him. Sometimes our truest ‘prayer’ is simply being close to God, facing in his direction, walking with him. The powerful ‘prayer’ of Moses, so to speak, during the battle against the Amalekites, had no words; rather it was an act of holding his hands high towards God. (read Exodus 17) Sometimes in our walk with God, our hearts will ‘need’ and ‘cry’ but will not find the words. We are told that in this place and space of relationship, Jesus ‘intercedes for us’, and the Holy Spirit ‘groans for us.' (Romans 8:26,34) True friends help you say what you need to say, even when you can’t. So does Jesus. So what is our part? What is it that God really calls us to, if our ‘words’ are not the key? He calls us to come to Jesus in repentance and faith. In other words, God calls us to turn away from our sin and darkness, and towards his Son and his light. And to actually entrust our soul - our very lives - to him. This step of faith in Jesus is your prayer that will ring out in heaven, now and forevermore! For more ‘First Steps’ with Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html ‘I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent man!’ (1 Tim 1:13) Paul described himself in this way. Paul, who went on to become an apostle and author of 13 books of the bible, was once a man of violence. Do you struggle with anger, with the spirit of violence? Me too! Here’s what happened: Paul felt the light and presence of God on his life, on his soul. And he asked this question honestly, with his eyes and heart lifted to heaven: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ (Acts 9:5) Here’s the answer that came back to him, and broke the spirit of violence and anger in his soul: ‘I am Jesus.’ My friend, we can all use anger management classes, self-help books, etc. But the actual power to break violence and sin in the soul, comes from the light of Jesus. We are told that he – and only he – can give us a ‘new heart and a new spirit.’ (Ez 36:26) Do you need a new heart, a fresh start? Jesus came to us as ‘God in the flesh’ (John 1:14) He came and said that he was the ‘door’ to eternal life, to forgiveness of sin. Here is what Jesus asked of us: ‘Repent and believe.’ (Mark 1:15) Have you repented of your sin? Have you put your faith in Jesus? A new life, from God’s power, awaits you this day! For more on taking that ‘First Step’ with Jesus into your new and eternal life, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html Jesus greater than theology. What do I mean by this? Well, my friend, the whole point in studying – or knowing - ‘about’ God (theology), is to actually ‘know’ God. Personally. Jesus is God in the flesh. He stepped out of heaven so we could stop thinking, studying, giving opinions about God, and actually know God. Jesus said: ‘He who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And he who sees me, sees him who sent me.’ (John 12:44-45) The very name or title given to Jesus – ‘Emanuel’ – means, ‘God with us’. (Matthew 1:23) Jesus squared up with the students of the day – the experts on theology – and here is what he said: ‘You study the scriptures… but you refuse to come to me and have life.’ (John 5:39-40) Jesus came to give us the personal touch and presence of the living God. In fact, without actually looking into the face of Christ, you cannot see God. (2 Cor 4:6) To really see and know the fullness of God and his character, you need to receive the life and character of Jesus Christ. (Col 2:9) My friend, are you weary searching for life? In the bible we are told that coming to actually see, touch, know Jesus Christ, is to take hold of the ‘life that is truly life.’ (1 Tim 6:19) This very day you can step off the ground of this dark and broken life, and soar in the eternal, pure and new Spirit of God. You do this by turning your back on your sin (repentance), and putting your faith in Jesus Christ. Are you thirsty? Are you ready? For more on taking that ‘First Step’ with Jesus into your new and eternal life, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html ‘Prodigal’ = wasteful, wayward, lost the path… Can you relate? Jesus tells a story about a ‘prodigal son’ (or daughter). This story is about you and me, and our relationship to our Father God. Here’s how it goes… This son went to his father and took his inheritance early – in other words cashed out his father’s property and savings – and hit the road. He spent it recklessly on prostitutes, pornography, drink, drugs and popularity. When hard times hit – and they always hit – this young man saw what was real. His money was gone, his friends, his pleasure, and he hungered physically and spiritually. He was destitute and lost. This son now had to consider and face his relationship with his father. He decided to venture home, to ask forgiveness for what he had done, and to ask for food and shelter and a job to do to earn it. He set out… When he was near home, the father ran to meet him. He embraced him. He ordered that his servants bring this his son the very best clothes, jewelry, and to get ready a feast to celebrate his return. The father said, ‘My son was dead, but now he is alive!’ (Luke 15:24) My friends, Jesus tells us this story to show us the heart that he has for us. Jesus gave us ‘life, breath and everything else’ (Acts 17:25), and we have all used this life – the resources that belong to Christ – on our own pleasure and dark desires. We now find ourselves full of regret, shame and hungry – physically and spiritually. Through this story Jesus is calling us home. He is assuring us that if we come with a humble heart, acknowledging that we have sinned, have wandered from his path, he will run to meet us. He will embrace us and forgive us. He will reinstate us in his household as sons and daughters, and clothe us with dignity and beauty. There is an incredible story of how God has made this ‘forgiveness’ possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But that story is not for right now. Right now, Jesus – with your name carved on the palm of his hand (Isaiah 49:16) – just calls you to come home with a repentant heart, and he will pour new life over you! For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus Christ, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html Three intense verses – and words – of Jesus Christ, read as follows: ‘I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.’ (Luke 12:49-51) One key point on each verse:
Do you feel the ‘sparks’ of the fire of Christ? Do you feel the ‘division’ that his name and his message brings into your mind, your soul, your relationships? Let go, and let Christ get to you! For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus Christ, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html Everything about ‘faith’ goes against our natural lives! Faith is putting a belief into action, here and now. Faith is submitting the facts and figures, to the authority of spiritual values. Faith is not acting on what our eyes can see and people are speaking into our ears, but what our heart knows is true and God is whispering to our soul. To live like this is to go against the flow, to walk up-stream, to defy very real forces of this world – it is hard! Jesus called us to live by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7) Jesus called us to ‘strive’ in this direction. (Heb 4:11) Paul gives us a picture of what it takes to actually put faith in motion in our earthly lives; he writes: ‘I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 3:12-14) Jesus called us to prioritize his Kingdom here on earth – going so far as to say that we should worry more about his Kingdom than about our own provision. (Matthew 6:25-34) This takes faith, and this is hard! Jesus called us to pray and live for bringing his Kingdom to earth, and making it invade and be a part of our lives. (Matthew 6:9-13) This takes faith, and this is hard! And then we are told, ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’ (Hebrews 11:6) Jesus came to light our hearts with revelation, and then to call us to a life of faith. My friends, if faith is going to be a real part of your life, if Jesus is going to actually move by his Spirit in your life - your work, your heart, your relationships, your eternity – it is going to take investment! It is going to take determination! For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus Christ, now and forevermore, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html Faith is not the same as belief. I like to describe faith as, ‘belief in action’. Faith is that spiritual engagement of truth that cannot be seen or even proven by the systems, values and experiences of this world. Faith is about truths that pertain to another world. However, faith is what makes that other world’s truth, a reality here and now. You see, ‘belief’ is not so much something you choose to have, but choose to acknowledge. I remember when I took a serious, honest look at Jesus Christ. Belief was upon me. I could have refused to go with my belief, but honestly I could not deny in my heart that Jesus was true. I looked at him, and I believed. When I decided that I was going to walk in that belief, or actually have faith, it was a hard decision. My belief I could hide, and still go and live as I wanted; but faith – putting my belief in practical action in my personal life – was going to cost me. And it cost me! I had to repent of my sin, and change my friends, language, thoughts, life style. I thank God for his practical demands on my life, in and through Jesus Christ, because I would not have the relationships I now do, if not for his ‘Rehab’ program of repentance! In the eyes of the world, my friends, faith is crazy! You are walking in a revelation of truth that the eyes cannot see. Your heart sees and knows, because of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Look up these powerful verses about the nature of seeing and believing on Jesus Christ: Matthew 16:15-17; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Mark 4:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:7 But we are called to walk in faith, and make our faith in Jesus a living reality in our lives here. Jesus taught us to pray that the Kingdom of God would come down and be real in our Kingdom here on earth. (Matthew 6:9-13) We are called to make our faith a reality in our lives here! How? Well, start by spending quiet time alone with Jesus. He is your friend. Get a bible and read a chapter a day (maybe start with the Gospel of Mark?), and just sit a few minutes and listen to Jesus, and speak with him – which is prayer!:) 'Without faith it is impossible to please God.' (Hebrews 11:6) For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html Do you find it hard to love? Do you feel that you are hard for others to love? We live in a broken world, a dark reality, and our hearts are broken! If you find it hard to love or be loved, there is hope! God offers us a ‘door’ to pass through, which restores love in our heart. When Jesus is speaking to the church, he says, ‘I stand at the door and I knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and dine with you, and you with me.’ (Revelation 3:20) As broken people, with broken hearts, we need the Author of Love to come in to our hearts and ‘dine with us.’ We need to receive Love, and let Him warm, win and resurrect love in our hearts. ‘God is love.’ (1 John 4:8) And in the person of Jesus Christ love comes to us. Have you heard Jesus knocking on the door of your heart? Have you opened the door to let him in? For more on taking a ‘First Step’ of faith in Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html |
AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
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