Saturday 22 January 2011

Hatred

Why Hatred is So Destructive!

Why do we hate people? Is it really worth it and how does it really affect us.

Simple answer is because people are different to us and we dont always agree with what they say or do.

So why do we hate certain people? Backgound? Gang? A Piece of Dirt?

Let us look at it through Gods eyes to start with.
Does God hate anyone? No. Scripture tells us that "God is love" (1 John 4:8). He also backs this up with the fact that He ALLOWED his only son to DIE for us! (John 3:16) Probably one of the most famously known Scriptures.

No where in the Bible does it say "hate this person because of where they live, what they say, what they do or any other type of reason!" We should ALWAYS preach peace regardless as God is the one and only judge.

Look what Jesus gave as an aswer to a direct question to What must I do to gain eternal life, "Love thy neighbour as yourself", So would you really want someone to hate you?

God does love you EXACLTY the same as he loves the person next to you and "yuour worst enemy". He may not like what they do but he still loves the person.
So does that mean all the hate we have in us is silly? Of course as it does not do anything useful and can be very destructive to you and those around you without you realising!

God can forgive everyone for their sins so why can't we? Are we really being like Jesus with all this hate inside us? Not at all. So what must we do? We must accept that not everyone will do or say things we like but we know in our hearts that God will judge them on the day and it is up to them to justify it to God. I dont hold up much hope to them!

I know what hatred is like first hand and how it can eat away at you and really do some damage.

When I was 4 my dad was put into hospitaslised care due to a serious injury and my mum could not take care of him as he needed professional care 24/7. This was back in 1977

At the age of 10 this really started to hit me on exactly what it all meant to my life growing up wihtout my dad around every day. My mum found it very hard to cope and decided to move the family, withough dad, back to England. I know now it was NEVER an option to move dad as well due to his medical issues.

I reacted to this very badly as an 11-12 year old. I became very rebelious and evil. Looking back on it now, as a Christian, I am very ashamed of how I was. This was in 1986. A she was a mum with 2 kids alone in a country with no family to help her.

For the next 20 years I had so much hatred inside me towards my mother that I wished alot that she was dead, I said alot of things to her and others that were not at all nice.

It was not till I had a family of my own that i started to realise exactly how much all this hatred was eating me inside and making me into such a person that was not nice to be around.
When I became a Christian I really had to make a hard decision as Jesus tells us not to hate but to love and forgive.

It has taken 2-3 years for me to take the step to talk to my mum about everything I had inside me. Many tears were cried and alot of things came out in discussion which was hard to deal with but i know that facing and talking about the hatred has helped me to overcome it and now my mother and I have a good realtionship.

I am not saying everything is easy to over come but think about it this way!

If you hate someone because they belong to a different gang or what your "pad". Then really will hating them do any good?
The person you hate and the person next to you is EXACTLY like you as they have feelings, breathe and cry. There are people before you whao have hated and it has not done any good. It will happen in the future too.. but you CAN make a difference by realising that it is useless to hate.

Also if you hate someone if they want "your" block ask yourself why? That piece of dirt was there along time before you and will be there along time after you!

God showed me love and told me to show others love as well. I am not perfect but I have buried this huge amount of hatred and it feels so good.

If it was you and that person you hated alone and they needed your help to save their life.. would you? Really think about this!! ................... Now reverse the situation.. if you needed their help to save your life would you want them to help you??

Hate is a powerful tool used by Satan to turn people away from God and really will ruin your life. It can be stopepd by allowing God into your heart and listening to his words and feeling his love within you!

Lets look at Jesus a little here.. Those people who nailed him to the cross and then mocked him. Do you think he hated them? No... he forgave them!

I will leave you with the question i asked earlier...

If you and the person you hated the most were alone and you needed their help to save your life would you ask/want it ??

May the love of God fill your heart and overflow....

Thursday 20 January 2011

Breaking Societies Boxes!

Society puts us into “boxes” which apparently limits us, in our minds and minds of others, to what we can do say and our overall limits. My point I will try and explain today is that sometimes it restricts us in everyday life where it actually it should not happen.
For example.. Too old to work, to young to preach, old people are not in touch with today, youngsters know nothing, too fat to do anything, not good looking enough to represent us and many more!

As Christians today we must break this destructive view society has on everyone one of us! This should start within the church!! Repeat after me.. God made me and you in His image.. proof of this is in Scripture! ( Genesis 1:27 )

We ARE equal but with different abilities.

Do you think God will bless you more than someone else if you are good looking, rich, super fit, clever than someone who is poor, fat and ugly like me for example?? I am also guilty of this way of thinking as well a lot of the times. So I am preaching to myself on this! We all have an amazing blessing from God.
A “nugget” that we should share with everyone, even non-believers, and the good thing about this nugget is that the more you share it the bigger it gets within you!! (Pic of box will everyone within it)
This is how God sees us and how we should see everyone! Why don’t we work together? A phrase I heard through many management training sessions is T.E.A.M = Together Everyone Achieves More..

Just have a look at the people Jesus chose to have as his disciples! God collects a unique group of people together.. just look around here.. how much talent do we see we are blessed with and how much do we NOT know about ?? And why do we not know.. it is pure not willing to get to know someone and acknowledge the fact or just that person has not recognised it within them but you can see it?? Why can’t we change this issue…

God looks on the inside but man looks on the outside ( 1 Samuel 16:7 )

On our own we can achieve very little but with working with someone else the achievement possibility is a lot more and if we add God into that equation then the outcome can be beyond our imagination. You may have a way of communicating which a certain “box” of people will understand you but how do you deal with other boxes? This is where working together comes in! Let me give you a scenario.

If we are walking through town and someone asks us a question about God. You’re a very well educated and well spoken person and I well am not… you can give a very precise answer which is right and I can give a plain answer which is also right.. Yes the Holy Spirit will empower us when we require it but sometimes our “box” is not the same as someone else.
Another good reason to work together is that if you or I are alone and someone does not understand what we are telling them about God then they will more than likely become frustrated and be a lost soul.. Also it is the same as building a house.. you may be an excellent designer with all the technical knowledge but not be able to tell one end of a brick from another.

Now as for me I may be as thick as the planks I am using but I have the knowledge on how to put it all together physically so it is structurally sound. This nugget is not only about speaking differently.. we also think differently… So surrounding yourself with different people is a good thing.

Now what we have to ask ourselves is "Do we want to stay in societies box or do we want to step out and be in Gods box? If you haven't accepted Jesus yet then you are missing out on many wonderous things... Peace be with you.

Saturday 8 January 2011

Once a jolly Christian....

Just something I did for a laugh when UCB announced Australia day.. Heard Waltzing Matilda and my mind ran away with the idea....

Once a jolly Christian camped by the church he goes
under the shade of a large fig tree
and he sang as he watched and waited for the Lord to come
you'll become a Christian just like me

you'll become a chrsitian, you'll become a christian
you'll become a chrsitian just like me
and he sang and he watched and waited for the lord to come
you'll become a christian like me

Down came an athiest to question about the lord who comes
up jumped the christian and spoke with glee
and he sang as he praised and he glorfiied the lord who comes
you'll become a christian just like me

you'll become a chrsitian, you'll become a christian
you'll become a chrsitian like me
and he sang and he watched and waited for the lord to come
you'll become a christian like me

up walked the christian, singing and praising the lord to come
down came the gang lads one, two, three
what have you got in that book yoru holding in your hands
you'll come a christian just like me

you'll become a chrsitian, you'll become a christian
you'll become a chrsitian like me
and he sang and he watched and waited for the lord to come
you'll become a christian like me

Up jumped the christian and opened up the scriptures true
my lord, he gives me ever lasting life
the holy spirit can be seen when in the dark dark days
you'll become a christian just like me

Monday 3 January 2011

Revelation 1 - A Small Insight

It says in a lot of translations of Scripture “what must soon take place.”

Now when we read the word “soon” we can take it as a couple of days/ weeks or even months.. but we are not looking at “our” time, we are reading into Gods time.
God is above “time” as we know it as he made everything we have and come to know about.

Some people make look at the passage of Scripture whereby it says “To Him a day is like 1,000” but can we really pick and choose Scripture to add it all together to gain an answer we want or that is easiest for our minds to accept?

So why is God waiting? Like He tells us “it will come like a thief in the night”… Unexpected!!
What criteria does the world have to fill in order to have God finally be fed up with the poor state of the world He created and renew the world to the perfect place?
We see so many wars, natural disasters, poverty and the list is endless in this “God-less Society” we all live in.

Are we being strengthened in our Faith by waiting or is God testing us?

Personally I feel that WE have to make the steps in order for God to take control of things again.
Is it the case the more we sit around being happy-clappy Christians the slower things will happen. God will help those who help themselves again this is what He tells us.

If you look further into Revelation 1 you will read this:
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Is this another sign of why this prophesy has not come about yet? Are we talking about Revelation enough to everyone?
We are very quick to point out Jesus and that He died and rose for us. Also that our sins will be forgiven and we are off to Heaven when we die.
Yes this is very much the message we must speak of to show people how much love God has for us and the Way of the Truth but we also must speak about Revelation, if not, to the same amount. Maybe not trying to understand it fully but to atleast is prepared for it.

Also God tells us again in Verse 3 we are told “because the time is near”..

So how can over 2,000 years be considered “near” or “soon” .. just remember Gods words in that we MUST spread the Word, bring people to Christ and speak about Revelation and place it in our hearts.

I feel that too many people are either scared or just ignore Revelation because of the content of it  

Let us stop from ever becoming “Sunday Christians/Pew warmers” and actually live our lives for God, speaking of his Word and love for us. Let us not forget His promises to everyone and let us take Revelation and not look at the gloomy side of things but take the positive from it and realise that it is the finale of this world and the evil that is within it.

All things will be made new! Revelation also tells us something that is beyond our minds in Ch 21:4 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Peace be with you