New Hope – Who is this Jesus?

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Last night at New Hope we talked about Who Is This Jesus? So, lets see if I can make sense here…

Rituals or religion won’t make you know God.
1. Measure Jesus by God’s WORD, not mans.
Knowing Gods word is about knowing who God is.

“Now these (Bereans) were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the Word with much eagerness examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11)

To do this we should have daily devotions and journaling.

It is the process of knowing Jesus and becoming like him. You will become more like him when you sit and reflect on what you read. That is when it changes you. If you reflect , there is no going back. Reflection can change us. Feed yourself with the Word, becoming faithful and teachable to God.

2. Ask Jesus to reveal himself to you.
“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching whether (or not) it is of God” (John 7:17)
Be sure to keep an open heart. Jesus will reveal himself but you have to ask.
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and disclose Myself to him” (John 14:21)
Revelation comes only to those who obey.

If you have a closed heart you won’t have that revelation. He will show you who he is. His very being and heart. You will know who Jesus is.
If we keep His commandments, he will reveal Himself. How? reading His word and being obedient.

3. Respond to Jesus.

He calls us to respond but not everybody does. He wants to reveal Himself. Most of us don’t want to because we know we have to commit.
Do we know everything about Jesus? No. But God does. He knows all the unanswered questions. Some we might only know in heaven. The bible tells us everything we NEED to know to be able to live like Jesus. It is all in His word.
God is a Just judge. He has created us in His image and He has created Heaven for us. He didn’t create Hell for humans. Hell is for fallen angels. It is not Gods will for us to go to Hell.

God needs to be accurate and Just. He holds the universe together with his Word. When God tells us how to live its not because He is a party pooper, its because He is precise and He knows what is best for us.

“And answering Jesus they said, ‘We don’t know.’ He also said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things'” (Matt. 21:27)
In other words, “If I cannot be accountable to the truths I already know, why should He reveal to me truths that I don’t yet know?”

God will not respond to you if you choose not to respond to Him. We need to choose to commit to Him. Instead of getting to know Jesus we compare ourselves to people. We need to compare ourselves to Jesus!
In mans eyes, we think our actions are better than others. Then, you will create your own little world. It’s not true.

“But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding” (2 Cor. 10:12)
To get to know Jesus is our goal.
Jesus takes us how we are, and changes us.
It will help us to understand who God is. We will value people like he does, not look down on them.

“Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2)
If you think your worthless, its a lie. Also, we’re not better than others.
We have to develop our relationship with Jesus and our life should be reflecting Him.
Ask yourself, do you know Him well? or are you comparing yourself to others? Lets avoid that and feed on His word.

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Choose Life.

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First of all, I apologise for not blogging the last couple of days. I don’t actually know why… but I’m back!:-)

Last night at New Hope we had a guest speaker who was originally for Africa I think. We continued the series on Trust and how we need to trust God with our lives and choose life.

Love the Lord your God. Obey Him and remain faithful to him. Fear the Lord your God and worship Him. You may wonder what you want. Why are you here?
Because God brought you here. The simple and complicated things have all brought you here. You are here not by default but because He has a destiny for your life. He brought you here for Him.

In our generation people think about what something gives them. They want to do things only for themselves. There is a lot of selfishness. They are in there own little bubble. We need to come out of our shell and realise it is all for God not for us. We are brought here for a purpose by the Creator.

This is what God has done for us. This is where we are. Choose today who you shall serve. God wants you to choose life. It is God who chose you. It is God who called us.

Genesis 12 vs 1 “The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your fathers family, and go to the land that I will show you.'” his is a calling that God put upon his heart. He didn’t know where he was going to end up but he still went. Sometimes you know who you are in God but you want to do things with your own strength. Your missing out. God has a purpose.

Maybe you don’t understand the power of God in your life or what he has done for you. We must trust God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We must have faith. God is able to deliver us. God cares for you and is able to reach out to you.

Why would God be so interested in us? Why bother with us? Because He loves us! For God so loved the world. He came to save the world. In the small things in life, He is interested. That is the God we serve. Nothing is too big for Him. He looks upon us and says “I love you.”

How do you choose life?

1. Choose to love the Lord your God.
2. Walk in His ways.
3. Keep His commands.

We have His Word to guide us.

New Hope – Trust #1

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Over summer at New Hope I think there is going to be a series on trust. Here is the first one from last night.

God is always there with us. He never leaves us.
Trust is a huge issue in the Bible. It is always mentioned.

Without trust nothing works.
“Trust is the vital component required for any relationship to function successfully”
If people don’t trust one another things don’t go smoothly.

When the relationship between God and man was broken that is when truth was broken but God did not give up.
Adam and Eve didn’t trust one another. We’ve seen wars all based on the fact that people don’t trust each other.
There are so many people in the bible that trusted. They trusted with their lives.

When you go to the hospital you trust the nurses. When you have a job you trust that you will get payed and they trust that you will do the job. When you marry you trust. It is all about trust.
Trust is the base of any relationship.

Back in time…
The Bible doesn’t tell us much of Abraham’s early life. But from mostly Jewish writings there is information that will give us a bigger picture and help us to understand.
Abraham was 58 years old when Noah died. Abraham knew Noah. He new Noah’s son and probably spent days in their home learning. Abraham had great teaching passed down to him.
Abraham believed there was one God and Noah helped him with this.

Abraham was customed to a wealthy live style because of his fathers trade. But
God asked him to give it up. What would you say? He says, follow me, come with me.

Genesis 12:
“God told Abram; “Leave your country, your family, and your fathers home land and I will show you. I’ll make you famous; you’ll be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I’ll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you.”
So Abram left, just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Can an and arrived safe and sound.”

1. Abraham listened and he Trusted God.
We listen to so much around us. We fought lives based on lies and many lives were lost. All because people believed what they were told. What we trust will determine what we believe.

Romans 4:
“So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given I a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in scripture is, “Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.”

Abraham was given tests during his walk with God. This is to build trust. We have to learn to trust him. When you follow God he has filled you with his holy spirit.
Abraham left his family, friends and culture. he had no idea what would happen but went. Things didn’t always go to plan. His plans. But it was God’s plan. Abraham became Gods family.

Genesis 22, 1-5:
“After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!” “Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.” He said “Take your son Issac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”
Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Issac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

Abraham trusted God.
When your going through tuff times ask God. Ask him to give you wisdom and help you.

Genesis 22, 11-18:
“Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes, I’m listening” Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the alter for me.”
The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: “I swear – God’s sure word!- because you have gone through with this, and you have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I’ll bless you – Oh how I’ll bless you! And I’ll make sure that your children flourish – like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! an your descendants will defeat their enemies. All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me.”

This is why we are here!! He gave his dear dear son to die on the cross for us.
Abraham did not only listen to God, he obeyed God.

Trust and obey. You’ll be amazed if you achieve these what God will do. When you and I do this city will never be the same.
How do we help our city? Listen and obey.
It was through a series of test that God brought Abraham to Obedience and trust.

Abraham obeyed God because he trusted God

The more you read the word of God you will soon know that God is leading you and talking to you. If it goes wrong you have learned a lesson.

*See if you can find the story of Pii Chui and see if you can trust God like he does.*

We need to learn to trust god. We need to learn to walk with God and listen to him. Otherwise we won’t be able to reach others. We cannot put our trust in the things of this world. God will never fail you. He will grow you and take you through the tuff times. Listen to the spirit of trust, Listen to the spirit and know that God will never leave you.

By listening and Obeying God it proves that you trust Him.

Are You Satisfied With Where Your At?

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Or do you want more? we’re not satisfied with the drip. we want the river to flow.

how do we move on from the drip drip drip to the river of God flowing? church’s are flowing but then it returns to dripping. why aren’t our churches like the ones in the Old Testament? if your tap isn’t flowing properly its because there is a blockage. This means there is a blockage in our life. Things like:
1. disobeidience
2. unforgivness
3. unbelief

We compromise the word of God. we’re either following it or not. There isn’t a middle ground. But now we are letting the government make decisions. we are caging up the word of God but it needs to be released. The word is powerful. We contain it in our heads but we don’t work it out in our lives.

Its not always easy to obey the word of God. We struggle to obey. but if we really want God to move in power like in the old testament, if we really want it then we have to follow him and spend time with him every day. When we gave our lives to God we were saying that we are choosing to obey him no matter what it costs. Obeying the word is more important than what we think and want. If you want to be in a place where we obey God we need to surrender.

If you don’t forgive others trespasses then God won’t forgive yours but if you forgive theirs, God will forgive yours. sometimes its very hard to forgive. We have the power to let go of bitterness and anger. If you don’t then technically your saying God is less important with what he’s saying then what you think. if we want to move from being a trickle into the flowing river we need to forgive.

Its not that we don’t believe in God. It’s that we don’t believe God can work through us. We don’t allow God to demonstrate his power through us. How do we get from a can’t do attitude to a can do attitude?

Mathew chapter 25 verse 23;

“H

is lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord”

If you be faithful with the little things God will move you on to the bigger things. Anna from the bible was faithful with the little things. God had given Anna a new calling at 84 years old to be an evangelist .

Are you prepared to get rid of the blockages to move on to what God has for us? Let’s be people who stand out, who obey God no matter what, let’s see the river of God flow through our lives and the nation. Amen.

Are You Satisfied With Where Your At?

Tags

Amen, believe, bible, Blockage, church, decisions, disobedience, evangelist, faith, faithful, Fellowship, flow, forgive, God, Government, jesus, Joy, life, lives, Lord, nation, obey, old testament, powerful, river, satisfied, scripture, servant, surrender, unbelief, unforgivness, verse, Word

Or do you want more? we’re not satisfied with the drip. we want the river to flow.

how do we move on from the drip drip drip to the river of God flowing? church’s are flowing but then it returns to dripping. why aren’t our churches like the ones in the Old Testament? if your tap isn’t flowing properly its because there is a blockage. This means there is a blockage in our life. Things like:
1. disobeidience
2. unforgivness
3. unbelief

We compromise the word of God. we’re either following it or not. There isn’t a middle ground. But now we are letting the government make decisions. we are caging up the word of God but it needs to be released. The word is powerful. We contain it in our heads but we don’t work it out in our lives.

Its not always easy to obey the word of God. We struggle to obey. but if we really want God to move in power like in the old testament, if we really want it then we have to follow him and spend time with him every day. When we gave our lives to God we were saying that we are choosing to obey him no matter what it costs. Obeying the word is more important than what we think and want. If you want to be in a place where we obey God we need to surrender.

If you don’t forgive others trespasses then God won’t forgive yours but if you forgive theirs, God will forgive yours. sometimes its very hard to forgive. We have the power to let go of bitterness and anger. If you don’t then technically your saying God is less important with what he’s saying then what you think. if we want to move from being a trickle into the flowing river we need to forgive.

Its not that we don’t believe in God. It’s that we don’t believe God can work through us. We don’t allow God to demonstrate his power through us. How do we get from a can’t do attitude to a can do attitude?

Mathew chapter 25 verse 23;

“H

is lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord”

If you be faithful with the little things God will move you on to the bigger things. Anna from the bible was faithful with the little things. God had given Anna a new calling at 84 years old to be an evangelist .

Are you prepared to get rid of the blockages to move on to what God has for us? Let’s be people who stand out, who obey God no matter what, let’s see the river of God flow through our lives and the nation. Amen.