Christian Chat Faith: Trials and Pain: The Back Side of the Desert

Christian Chat Faith: Trials and Pain: The Back Side of the Desert: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and cam...

Trials and Pain: The Back Side of the Desert

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. --Exodus 3:1 We should quickly review here the kinds of preparation Moses had gone through for his leadership role under God. Reared in Pharaoh's palace, he had been educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He had the prerequisites for almost any kind of career. In our day a man with his qualifications would be sought for election as a bishop or the president of any of the great church denominations. Then, too, Moses had a most unusual but highly effective postgraduate course. God took him out of the activity and the noise of Egypt and placed him in the silence of the open spaces. He kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. Tending the sheep, he learned lessons of meditation and observation that he could only have learned in the silence. Probably more important than anything else, Moses learned to know himself. That knowledge was a part of God's preparation of the man for his future tasks. We, today, know everything but ourselves. We never really come to know ourselves because we cannot get quiet enough. Men Who Met God, p. 70 "Lord, I pray this morning for the hurting pastor who is languishing in 'the silence of the open spaces,' on the back side of the desert. Encourage him; instruct him; then show Him how You can use him mightily in Your way and in Your time. Amen." By A. W. Tozer; Men Who Met God, p. 70 In Christ, John One of the things that I used to do was to drive out into the desert so that I could be alone, away from all the noises and interruptions of the town. I would use this time to read the Word, meditate on it, pray and spend time alone with God. No cell phones, computers or pagers. I was totally alone and it was great. I have gotten out of the habit of doing that and I dearly miss it. I cherished those moments because I could be totally open to express myself as I wanted to. I could cry out to God or sit in silence and wait for Him to speak to me. I learned a lot about myself during these times. I earned that I am not a real people person. I am more of a loner, but God has ordained that I be a under shepherd of his flock. This meant that I had to develop people skills that I had greatly ignored for most of my life. When God called me to be a pastor, He totally changed my perspective. I could no longer be self-centered because I now had to focus on the needs of others. God tendered my heart as He changed me from a opinionated, obstinate loner to an opinionated, obstinate but caring person. I learned these things when I took time to be alone with God. I urge each of you (especially those in leadership roles) to take time to be alone with God. Let Him reveal to you who you are in Him. Let Him reveal His purpose for your life. You may not be able to find a place in the desert but you can get away into the country or the mountains. The important thing is that you find a place where you are totally alone. Then you will be free to focus on God and you will be more able to hear Him when He speaks to you. You too will find those moments to be cherished. In Christ, John

Nick Vujicic's Testimony

My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles. "Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Click to see full size image .......To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne ( Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors we shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby. The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing. Click to see full size image Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school. The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school. I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new friends. Click to see full size image There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength. Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams. One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted. "And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him." That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life. Click to see full size image I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us > in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better. I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used. I am now twenty-threeyears old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector. I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow. I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope , to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the " Oprah Winfrey Show "! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!" Click to see full size image I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's! May the Lord Bless you, In Christ, Nick Vujicic

Finding True Rest

Psalm 62 For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David. 1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. 2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. 3 How long will you assault me? Would all of you throw me down— this leaning wall, this tottering fence? 4 Surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. 5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. 9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. 10 Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, 12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” This Psalm starts by declaring “1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.” Most experts believe that David wrote this psalm during one of the most trying times of his life. His son (Absalom) had tried to usurp his throne. He was exiled from Jerusalem, hunted by his enemies and in constant peril for his life. Yet he could avow that his soul found rest in God alone! The concept of rest is multi-faceted depending on the context. In Deuteronomy 12:10 “10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.” It refers to rest for the nation of Israel in the land promised to them by God. In Genesis 47:30 “30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” It refers to the final rest of death. In Leviticus 23:3 “3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.” It refers to a weekly day of rest on the Sabbath The Bible speaks of missing the rest that God promises us. In Deuteronomy 12:8-9 “8 You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, 9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the LORD your God is giving you.” The people were in peril of losing their “rest” because they were doing whatever they desired. In Psalm 95:11 “11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Because the people rebelled against God, God took from them the one thing they wanted most, to rest in a land that they could call home. It is God’s desire that none should perish (Ref. 2 Peter 3:9); but here will be some who stubbornly refuse to turn to God and receive from Him what He desires most to give them; to be at peace and safe with Him. The human body needs rest to recuperate from the aches and pains (physical and emotional) of everyday life. That we have to work hard for what we have is a direct result of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden where God declared in Genesis 3:17-19 “17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” God created us to fellowship with Him but Adam disobeyed and man has had to work hard ever since. There is no part of our life that is free from toil; from our daily job to raising a family, all avenues are full of struggles and hardships. Life can be exhausting with daily worries about health, work. Family, finances and so on. We need rest so that we can be restored and to be able to withstand the onslaught of the enemy. Our own lives can burden us as believers. We are never free from sin and the enemy confronts us and accuses us because of our sin. He desires that we collapse under a burden of guilt and shame because of our sin. We find ourselves seeking the rest that God gives because we know that in this life we will continue to fall. 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” We restlessly wait for that heavenly body. Our true rest is a spiritual, eternal rest. It is a rest where we can be free of the burdens and turmoil of this physical life. Our true rest is in God alone! David describes God in Psalm 62 in several ways. In verse 1, He is his salvation. In Verse 2, He is his fortress. In verse 5, He is his hope and in verse 7, He is his refuge. The ability to enter into this rest from God is still available to us as stated in Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” We can have peace in our lives when we place our trust in Him through Christ Jesus and have confidence that He will bring us through to our promised rest. Jesus invites us all in Matthew 11:28 “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” There is nothing that we need to do but trust Him! Then and only then can we have true eternal rest as stated in Revelation 14:13 “13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” If you are stressed and feel overwhelmed by life; Jesus is extending His hand to you, saying “Come and I will give you rest!” Don’t struggle with burdens that are too big to handle! Give them to Jesus and receive His rest. In Christ, John

Random thoughts

The following are some random things that I wrote during moments of contemplation. I hope you enjoy them and that they cause you to pause and think. Are we Christians, Believers or Followers? The world is full of those who call themselves Christians; but Christianity is a religion that is full of all kinds of sects, cults, factions, denominations and anyone who believes there is a higher power in their life. They are all labeled by the world as “Christians”. Many of them have no identification with true Christianity, which is founded on faith in Jesus Christ as the Son Of God and savior of the world. It is easy to call our self a Christian and there are many who do so. A believer is one who believes that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He died for their sins, that He was buried and rose on the third day and that He will give them eternal life. He believes that the Bible is the inspired word of God and he believes all that the Bible says. Paul’s jailer asked Paul and Silas ““Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:30b-31) This is what a believer is. There are not as many believers as there are Christians. A follower is a believer that does what Jesus says we must do. He takes every direction for his life from Jesus. We are told in Mark 8:34-35 “34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” This passage clearly states that we must deny ourselves before we can follow Jesus Christ. I prefer the same thought as it is expressed in Luke “23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24). I prefer it because it reminds us that we must deny ourselves on a daily basis. There are fewer followers than there are believers. So, the question remains, “Are you a Christian, a believer or a follower of Christ? In Christ, John Are we ready for Battle? As soldiers of Christ, we must be ready, in season and out, to defend the faith. The battles that we will be called to fight, will not be fought man against man or country against country. Our battle will be in the spiritual realms! “12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (1 Peter 3:12) The accepted term for this battle is spiritual warfare. We cannot prepare for spiritual warfare in any conventional manner. Our pride and macho image of ourselves will not do us any good when we are called to this war. In fact; the enemy will use our pride and our egos against us! The only way we can prepare for spiritual warfare is through prayer, worship and Bible study. I am not talking about going to church and Sunday school. I am talking about personal worship, prayer and study. It is said that the test of a man’s character is by what he does when he is alone. When we invest time with God, in prayer, study and worship, we are in fact training ourselves for spiritual warfare. Very few Christian believers today are prepared for spiritual warfare. It is not directly taught in mainstream churches and many pastors teach against it. We are all called to be soldiers for Christ “3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4). As soldiers, we need to be ready at any time to stand against the enemy but before we do we must submit ourselves to God per James 4:7 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Are you preparing yourself for battle? In Christ, John Are We Ready To Minister? Jesus was constantly demonstrating His role as a servant to all! His most memorable act of serving was the washing of the disciple’s feet as told in John 13. The reason that this is so memorable is because of the debasement that was demonstrated by Jesus. When a guest entered a home, the host showed his respect for that guest by having his feet washed. This task was given to the lowliest servant in that household. There were very few animals available for riding at that time in history and only the rich had them. Most people had to walk wherever they went. The roads were dirt and were by any standards, filthy with the offal waste of animals, the detritus of humans, and the waste of households that was routinely thrown into the streets. Because the common foot-ware was open sandals, the feet would be covered with all of this; so the task of washing ones feet was undesirable at best. Jesus demonstrated that as a servant, there is no task to menial for us. He is showing us that we must be ready and willing to do the most distasteful thing for the most distasteful people. Jesus ministered to all who had a need. He ministered to both the lepers and the rich. He loved both beggars and tax collectors. Jesus did not see the class or status of the people He ministered to, He just saw the need in them and He went out of His way to meet that need. Many churches have ministries to the poor, the homeless, the prisoners and to the needy. That is admirable and many of their congregation members join in and participate in these ministries. They share a Thanksgiving meal with them and possibly a Christmas party; but what about the rest of the year? Jesus wants us to minister to these people when we are not with a church group. It is this type of personal ministry to the people that Jesus is talking about in John 13. I use the poor and the homeless as an example; but the Holy Spirit will give you a burden for who He wants you to minister to. You just have to be earnest in your desire to serve. We are all called to be ministers of the gospel. Our actions will always say more than our words! Show someone the love of God today! Are you ready to minister? In Christ, John

God Is Faithful

Nehemiah 9 is a prayer that recounts the history of the Jews and of how God had provided for them and protected them. God had been at work on behalf of the people of Israel since the beginning of time. Even when the people rebelled against Him, He still worked on their behalf; guiding them, protecting them and continually calling them back to Him. It was God’s desire to walk with His people as He had done with Adam in the Garden of Eden. There were many voices of discontent amongst the people of Israel. They resented the exiles and the slavery in which they were constantly in bondage to (It made no difference to them that their rebellious spirits were the cause of the exiles and the slavery.) This prayer by the priests served to remind the people to put their current circumstances in proper perspective by measuring them against God’s eternal purposes. The people of Israel were essentially starting over. Their city had been destroyed down to the foundations, yet they could still see a resounding and unchanging hope for the future. God had never gone back on His promises so they knew that they could trust in the unfulfilled promises that were yet to come. One of those promises was the coming of an Anointed One (Messiah). God fulfilled that promise in Jesus Christ. Steven again reminded the people of Gods promises and provisions from the time of the patriarchs to the coming of Jesus “the righteous one” (ref. Acts 7). Just as the people of Israel needed reminders of God’s faithfulness, we also need to be reminded that we can trust God with our lives through Jesus Christ. “8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:8-9) Again in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “ 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” Let us stand firm in our faith, ignoring the lies of the enemy. “23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” In Christ, John

Turning Back to God

Throughout the Old Testament, God used His prophets to bring His words to the people of Israel. One of the most common calls of the prophets was the call to repentance. The people of Israel would respond to these calls for repentance with varying degrees of intensity. Few of the prophets gave a call for repentance that got the response that Ezra did when he prayed with great emotion and confessed the sins of Israel. The people wept bitterly because of their sin of intermarriage, which was against the will of God. The years that Israel spent in exile because of their sin and God’s judgment for their sin must have taken a toll on their stubbornness and pride. Their return to their homeland of Israel (The land was given to them by God.), must have softened their hearts and given them a new appreciation for God and His promises and blessings. They had to be thankful to God for delivering them from the exile that they brought upon themselves. As a result, they wept bitterly, confessed their sin and repented of it. They then took steps to “make right” their sin by putting away their wives and children from inter-marriage with the peoples of the land that God had given to them. As Ezra gave the call for repentance and for the people of Israel to return to living by the teachings of God, Jesus issued the same call to the people of Israel (and the world) and preached that the people should “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 4:17) He preached repentance throughout His ministry; urging the people to turn away from their sinful ways of living and turn instead to God’s way of living which He taught in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-7:29. This beautiful sermon covers most every aspect of human life and how God wants us to live according to His words. As Ezra prayed and the people responded, Jesus prayed and the people are still responding today. Jesus preached repentance by the lost, but He also preached reconciliation. It is His desire that those of us who have heard His word and responded to it and then fell away (or backslid), that they also would repent and come back to God; just as the people of Israel returned to God in response to Ezra. Let us bend our ears to the call for repentance and commit or recommit our hearts to God in obedience to Christ. In Christ, John

The Eternal Christ

The Eternal Christ Jesus is God! God is eternal! Jesus is eternal! These statements are absolute truths. That should be non-debatable for believers. Many however do not believe that Jesus was present in the Old Testament. They say that He was only represented by angels and spirits. For them, Jesus is only a New Testament person. The Bible gives a lot of evidence that Jesus was in the Old Testament. John 1:1-2 tells us ”1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1-2). This verse tells us that Jesus was with God at the beginning of creation. It further states in verse 3 “3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” This clearly tells us that Jesus was responsible for all of creation. This is verified by Genesis 1:26, when God says “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” The oneness of God and Jesus is clear when Genesis 1 and John 1 are used together. Jesus is the image of God, who is not seen. In Him, we see God. “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,” (Colossians 1:15-19) If we know Jesus we know God! “18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” (John 1:18). The key is that we must know Jesus. If we do not know Jesus, we cannot know God. This is made clear in John 8:19 “19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” This exclusivity is shown in John 14:6-19 “6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” Because God is eternal, He is not concerned with time as we know it. Because Jesus and God are one; Jesus has revealed God to us in both the Old and the New Testaments. He does this so that we may know the Father but only through Him. When we read and study the Bible, let us look for the eternal Christ in all of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In Christ, John