Easter. What is it all about?

What is Easter all about? Just this: New Birth. That is what it is all about; Chickens and eggs? Most certainly. Rabbits? Certainly not, they have nothing to do with it. You see, Easter eggs, (or ordinary eggs) have represented “NEW BIRTH” for centuries because

chickens illustrate “new birth” very well.  Recently, however, Cadburys and other chocolate manufacturers, decided to promote “bunnies” (even though they have no religious significance)

Next question: Why New Birth? Well you see, Jesus Christ, who was sent by God and who was ‘one with God’, (because God was in Christ Reconciling the people of the world unto Himself), pointed out to a very religious Jew, (who came to see him one night), that in order to please God, every one of us “must be born again”. In short, (just as these chickens are beginning a life un-tainted by the world, with not even a spot of dust on them), each one of us must make a new start, cleansed from all our past sinfulness, and replace our attitudes of selfishness, greed, unkindness, resentment, lustfulness and so on, with attitudes of Love, joy, peacefulness, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness and self-control. These latter virtues being the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit who wants to be our Helper and guide when we decide that we want to be “Born Again” by accepting God’s forgiveness for past mistakes and changing our direction.

Next Question: Why all this talk about New Birth? Couldn’t we just make a “New Year’s Resolution” to change our ways, be better people in future, and thus qualify to enter eternal Life in Heaven when we die? Well yes, that sounds simple enough and would be good if it was possible, indeed Jesus himself (just before He was Crucified) hoped that God might be able to find another way when He prayed “Father if it be possible, let this “cup” pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” But there was no other way because “All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God and the wages of sin is death”. You see, whenever someone breaks a law, a price has to be paid, and in this case we could not pay it ourselves. Lovingly Jesus Christ “took the rap” on our behalf so we could go free for eternity. Do you think He deserves our thanks for that? 

Next Question: What is so special about Easter in this regard? I mean, couldn’t we be Born Again at some other time of the year, for example Christmas? Absolutely! Being Born Again is not confined to Easter, any time during the year is as good as any other. The special thing about Easter is that it commemorates    the day that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life on the cross at Calvary in order to make it possible for our sins to be deleted. Remember God was in Christ, if that hadn’t been the case Christ’s death would have availed nothing for you or me. When this very special man died, (being the Son of God), he had “been tempted on all points like as we are, and was yet without sin” so was unique in that He, and He alone, was capable of cleansing us from all unrighteousness. So we get a clean “New Start” in life if we repent, ask forgiveness in prayer, and sincerely endeavour to follow His directions of how to live as Children of God in future (as laid down in the Scriptures). May each one of us be truly thankful as we fully grasp what Jesus Christ did on our behalf. “Oh that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me for it was on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.” As John chapter 3 and verse 16 says; “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” 

                                          Praise God! and Thank you Jesus.

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Our Provider

I was just looking at this Star Jasmine creeper at my daughter’s place and this Cootamundra wattle tree in East Dubbo. These photos don’t do them justice; they are spectacular. I asked my young Great Grandson to count the flowers on the creeper this morning but of course he wouldn’t even start to do so because it would be an impossible task, (like counting the stars in the sky). Our God who designed all these things really thinks big. However, He also is a genius for detail. Every tiny flower is crafted to perfection as you see here with every minute detail complete. Each tiny flower has its own tiny seed waiting to be pollinated and it has its own scent and nectar to attract insects. Likewise, each tiny ball of wattle is not only pretty but also has pollen for the bees to collect as they fertilise the seed there too.

The same planning went into designing you and me, we may be part of a crowd of people, just like these individual flowers are part of the tree or vine, but Jesus points out that each one of us is very special to the extent that God knows how many hairs there are on our heads and “He loves us with an everlasting love”, as a good father loves his child unconditionally. He won’t “Gate crash” our lives though, but wants to guide us to the extent that He has promised to “Direct our paths” if we are prepared to “Trust in The Lord with all our heart”, and “in all our ways acknowledge Him”. Actually it is similar to the way the Satellite Navigation System in a modern car guides us as we travel. We tell it where we want our destination to be, and then we rely completely on its ability to navigate us down the best route to that destination.

When we become Christians we tell God that we are looking forward to our ultimate destination in Heaven. We should then ask Him daily to be the equivalent of our Satellite Navigation System to guide us down the best path for us to travel, (as He has requested that we do in the bible quote mentioned in the paragraph above). Non-Christians don’t do this; they just go blindly ahead and do whatever they think might be best, which of course often results in some very unhappy outcomes and sometimes they even blame God which is quite unfair. After all, if we decide to not follow the instructions of our Navigation Satellite System when travelling by car and end up lost, it is hardly fair to blame the System.  Likewise, if we decide to ignore God’s directions in the Bible it is hardly fair to blame God if we end up in a mess. However, God knows our weaknesses so He “didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”. So the big picture might look alright: But in Gods sight it is the individual flowers that count: And when it comes to people the same applies. As clearly shown in John’s Gospel where Jesus said “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him, shall not perish but have eternal life.”  That “whosoever” covers ordinary sinners like you and me who make up the big picture, so we shouldn’t forget how much we are loved, and make the most of that outstandingly Gracious offer whilst we can, (forget your pride and independence). Hell is full of people who used to be proud and independent. Instead be proud of our Heavenly Father and become fully dependent on His grace and guidance.                    Best wishes.  Tom. 

Christmas

The song goes- “Long time ago in Bethlehem, the Holy Bible say, Mary’s boy-child, Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day. Hark the Herald Angels sing, a new King born to-day, and man shall live for ever more because of Christmas day.”

In the pictures we see depicted, the first Christmas which was the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, in a very humble stable environment, and in the second picture the three wise men from the East who came to worship Him and present Him with presents consisting of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.

He was born to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, but it appears that God chose to have Him born in a stable, and not in a palace, so that no one could say “he had a better start than I did”. In the second picture we see how God directed these important men to come and confirm His Royalty. Also as Jesus earthly father was a poor man, God arranged for these wise men to bring Gold as a gift, and this would have helped Joseph to be able to afford to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, to escape King Herod’s decree that “all the new born children in that area were to be killed”. This was a decree Herod made (after the Wise Men left), because he thought that Jesus would be a threat to his own Kingship. Therefore, to be sure he got the right child, he decided to kill all the babies in that area.

What then is so special about Christmas? Well, for starters, our calendar dates from Jesus birth, and Christianity is named after Him. Some people call it the “Christian Religion,” but Christianity is not a “religion” in the way that all other religions are. You see, religions generally require their followers to obey certain rules and regulations in order to appease their gods. Whereas true Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ: Which means the acceptance of Him as the Lord and Saviour by anyone who believes in His Divinity and the fact that He sacrificed His earthly life as a substitute for each one of us. This should be followed by our “Repentance” which means a complete change of values, when we realise that Jesus Christ (the 3^rd Person of the Trinity of God) was prepared to leave His Heavenly home, come to earth in all humbleness, live here as one of us, “be tempted on all points like as we are and yet be without sin”. And allow Himself to be humiliated and murdered so disgustingly, just so you and I can have our sins deleted and can go on into Eternal Life.

There is no Religion in this world that can go anyway near to matching that personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus said; “I am the way, the truth and the life, no person cometh unto the Father but by me.” With Christianity there is nothing for us to do but “believe” and repent, as I have outlined above. We don’t have to burn any type of incense or smoke, to ward off evil spirits, or sacrifice animals or people to placate an angry god. Whatever was required to reinstate us to be fit for eternal life in Heaven has already been achieved for us by our Loving Heavenly Father Himself, He has given us forgiveness and dominion over the enemy through Jesus sacrifice on the cross when we accept this “born again” experience.

Christian behaviour should be second to none: Jesus said we should “Love God and Love our neighbour as we love ourselves” and He has even given us the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit to assist us to get this behaviour pattern right.  Jesus pointed out, that If we do “Love our neighbour as our self” then we will automatically keep the 10 Commandments that God gave Moses, and this is logical isn’t it? After all, you won’t kill someone you love, you won’t steal from them, you won’t “bear false witness against them” or anything else that might harm them, will you?  Thus, if all the people in the world were real Christians we would have a form of “Heaven on Earth”. There would be no wars or selfishness.

O.K. Then, where do you stand in all this? Are you prepared to be a Christian and go to Heaven for Eternity? Or are you satisfied to be “something else” and go to Hell for Eternity? The bible gives no third option.

Just thought I’d ask, in case you had not thought it through. Jesus (The Son of God) died for you. No one else has, or even if they did they would not be perfect enough to nullify your sin because “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. (Romans Chapter 3 Verse 23)    Best wishes, Tom.

Make the most of your time

 

This week, with thunderstorms about, my cactus was flowering. They are beautiful flowers but only last for twenty-four hours as you see in the next photo. To some people this may seem like a waste, that God would arrange for this plant to be programmed to produce such beauty and that it would only last for such a very short time.

But that is how God saw fit to design flowers; few of them last long, some a

few days and possibly even a couple of weeks, but that is about the limit of their life. Their beauty, (even if short-lived), makes our environment more pleasant and bring a little extra joy into our lives.  This is the way God planned it; for example, in the animal kingdom all babies are beautiful and warm our hearts, and of course when it comes to human babies they are very attractive.   Indeed, I have often heard people say “Isn’t it a shame that they have to grow up”. Well “yes” and “no,” it certainly is a shame that they lose that ‘cuteness’, but ideally they should then grow to be delightful, loving, helpful human beings as God intended for all His Children to become.  I know that was His intention for us because He has made it very obvious that He wants us to be happy and enjoy life. For starters, He has designed a world for us to live in that is absolutely beautiful: There are these flowers everywhere, magnificent scenery, with mountains, snow, rivers, waterfalls, beautiful sunsets and lovely fruit and vegetables and all the necessary fibres to dress us comfortably and make us feel, and look, nice.

I know, we allowed selfishness and greed to enter in and disrupt God’s plan, but He is not one to take things like that lying down either. Instead, He has now given us the option of a fresh start if we are prepared to accept His forgiveness through Jesus sacrifice for us.  To reinforce that, and to make it easier for us to live the way that He originally intended for us, He also offers the fellowship and guidance of The Holy Spirit to those who have accepted His forgiveness and that is a colossal bonus, (Luke 11:13), because the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) is “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control,” and those attributes can soon become part of our nature.  Also, Paul pointed out in a letter to the Philippian Christians in Chapter 4 and Verse 8: that we need to forget all the destructive rubbish that is trying to pollute our minds making us unhappy, and instead concentrate on things that are “Noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.” There are stacks of things like that about, so let us enjoy

them, make the Angels happy, and become true Children of our Heavenly Father and therefore joint heirs with Christ for eternity (Romans 8: 17). We actually live in two worlds: Satan’s world of rubbish and deception and God’s world of Eternal life and love. We need to sort out which one we want to claim Citizenship in, (do it now if you haven’t already done so). It is a free choice.     Best wishes then as you decide.      Tom.

Foreign Citizens

There is a story of a new Christian named Harry, who visited his friend Ben, who had been a Christian for many years. After they had greeted each other, Harry asked his experienced friend why it was that he seemed to be having more problems now than he had before he became a Christian. Ben didn’t reply, but just said “I am going down to the lake to shoot a wood duck for dinner, come with me.” When they approached the lake there were two ducks feeding near the water so Ben fired his Shotgun at them. One died immediately and the other one had its wing damaged and flapped its way toward the water trying to escape. Harry ran after it (straight past the dead one), endeavouring to catch the wounded one before it reached the water, however he wasn’t fast enough and it escaped into the safety of the lake. When he returned, Ben said “why did you chase that one?” “Well” Harry replied, “We already had the dead one, we could collect it anytime, so I was trying to stop the other one escaping.” “Exactly” said Ben, “and that is why Satan is troubling you, he is not worried about those people who are ignoring God. He can get them any time, Indeed, he already has them, but people like you are escaping from His control so he is trying to prevent that happening. You see, Harry, Christians are really members of the Kingdom of God, living in this world where Satan is the Prince. Originally God designed the world for us but through sin, we handed it over to Satan. So it is really no wonder that we find opposition when we endeavour to live, or promote, the way that Jesus told us to”.

In 1 Corinthians Chapter 2 Verse 9 we are told that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Things are so good in Heaven, and so bad in Hell, and God loves us so much, that He sent Jesus to die for our forgiveness so that we have the option of going to Heaven if we wish to repent and claim our freedom. It is mind boggling that the God Who Designed and Created the Universe, and everything in it, “was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself”, “and it was whilst we were yet sinners, that Christ died for us.” Some people would die to save a loved one, but He died for everyone’s forgiveness (including yours and mine). Now that is love! Can you get your mind around the fact that, no matter what sins you or I have committed, God sent His Son to die as a substitute to take the “rap” for us so we can go free into Eternal Life?

That is why Paul said “For I Reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the Glory that shall be revealed in us”. He was confident to say that, even though he spent a lot of time in dungeons, because he had also had the privilege of having a glimpse of Heaven and fully realised what a tremendous privilege God has graciously granted us, and what a horrific cost that was to Jesus and God himself.

Now because the New Testament informs us that “Satan roams around the whole earth, seeking whom he might devour” we are told to put on the Spiritual armour described in Ephesians 6:16 that God supplied for us, in order to defend ourselves from Satan’s “fiery darts”. Rather like how our past Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, (shown here), was supplied with armour when visiting Afghanistan. Of course Julie was also surrounded by well-trained Australian troops. Likewise, after putting our Spiritual Armour on we are surrounded by God’s Spiritual army. As promised in Psalm 91 “for He shall give His Angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways”. We need to remember at all times that we are in our enemy’s territory, so need to stay alert and not place ourselves where we are foolishly open to Satan’s attacks and temptations to do wrong.

This duck in a pond at the Western Plains Zoo has made the

right choice, no shooters can touch it there. Likewise, you can avoid danger by doing as James 4:8 instructs: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”.

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Some helpful Bible quotes: -  Matthew 5:11&12, John 15:18-25, Romans 8:17 & 18, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 2:2 & 6:10-1, and Psalm 91.

Best wishes with all that. Tom.

Birds of a Feather

 

This Gymea Lilly flowering here has a very prominent place in the garden at the Mall and judging by what happened last year I will be surprised if someone doesn’t cut it off and steal it very soon. The stem is over two metres tall. It looks rather like what people refer to as “a Tall Poppy” and in the botanical field would be the equivalent of a U.S. President, or our Prime Minister, or one of the other World Leaders; Prominent, yes, and putting on a “good front” but I think very “tall poppies” seem lonely, and usually
don’t last very long.

If you were a flower and could choose which you could be, I think you would be more comfortable being one of those in this next photo. Oh yes, they also vary in height, but we need leaders in all walks of life. However, the majority of them there help to complete a lovely picture and providing that their roots go deep into “Good Soil” they will support each other and achieve the purpose the “Gardener” had in mind. We can of course, go to the other extreme like this little “loaner”, growing in very un-fertile soil on the foot path, where it may get trodden on and will have to rely on “Pot Luck” for water. Sure, it has its independence but it will never achieve its full potential by existing in a spot like that.

All these flowers are like a cross-section of our community. The difference between them and us being that they had no choice as to where they were planted and if they are not satisfied where they are, well then “bad luck” for them. However, we are in a different category and although we didn’t choose to be planted where we are either, we do not have to live under the circumstances we find ourselves in, (as they do), because God has given us the option of coming under His care and being “Transplanted” into His “Good Soil”.

How do we do this? Well firstly we need to accept His free offer of changing our Spiritual situation, because God sent Jesus that we “Might have life, and have it more abundantly” “For God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but inherit Eternal Life.” This is a “done deal” as far as God is concerned, because God (through Jesus) has already paid for all that to happen: All we have to do is Repent (change our attitude) and accept His forgiveness. Oh I know that our pride doesn’t want us to admit that we need help (believe me I have been there), but we are like that little lone daisy and are kidding ourselves if we say we don’t need to be transplanted into the “Good Soil” of His loving care and be looked after by Him and His Angels.

Some people say to me “I believe in God but I don’t go to church,” so in reality they only want to be “half transplanted”, or else they don’t understand what the New Testament means when it says “Church”. For example, Romans 16 verse 5 says “……. greet the church that is in their house”. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 19 says “Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house”. Whilst Colossians chapter 4 verse 15 says “Greet the brethren……and Nemphas and the church that is in his house.” So you see a “church” is a group of Christian people who come together to worship God.  Indeed, Jesus said that “Where two or three gather together to worship I will be there in the midst of them.” The building is of little relevance; it is the people that are the Church.  However, for convenience sake people have erected specific buildings, and groups of Christians, (who like to worship in slightly different ways), have identified their buildings with different names. There is no fear though that the roof of any of these buildings will fall in if a “newcomer” enters any of them. After all, the entire congregation is made up of people who are sinners saved by the grace of God through believing that Jesus died a sacrificial death, on their behalf. Or else are still sinners, coming in to claim that forgiveness. Christianity declares that “All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” and “The wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is Eternal Life, through Jesus Christ our Lord”.  Interestingly, Paul when writing to the Hebrews in chapter 10 and verse 25 directs them “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as some do.” You see, Satan is trying to lead us astray constantly and when we fellowship together we make friends with people of like mind, and as birds of a feather that flock together are less likely to be attacked by hawks so we are safer as we hear the Gospel preached and hymns sung, because that increase our faith. Furthermore, there are fellowship organisations there like Bible study groups, organisations for children to fellowship together and so on.   Also remember that If you take a hot coal out of the fire it will soon cool down but if you put it back with other hot coals it will not only become hot again itself, but will also strengthen the fire.      Some food for thought. Tom.

Peace

 

I read an article the other day about a king who wanted a painting that depicted “Peace”. The one he finally chose was a picture that had mountains that were rugged and bare. Above them was an angry sky with rain falling and lightning flashing and down the side of the mountains tumbled a waterfall. This picture didn’t look peaceful at all but the king chose it because he had noticed that behind the waterfall there was a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in spite of the rush of angry water, she sat on her nest—in perfect peace. You see, peace does not mean that we have to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the middle of all these things and still be calm in your heart.

To be at peace in difficult situations we really need outside help; Paul, although in prison, said that “in whatsoever state he found himself he had learned to be content”, of course he was relying on the fact that he was doing God’s will and that was his aim in life. In chapter 4 verse 7 of his letter to the Philippians he says: “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. (New Living Translation)

Now I had been shown that bible verse some 60 years ago but I never realised that when it said “heart” it was referring to that lump of flesh in our chest, not some “feeling”. In other words, he is saying that not worrying, and therefore being in a state of peace, will actually keep your heart healthy and prevent your mind from having a nervous breakdown. I only realised the truth of this when I went into cardiac arrest some 13 years ago and after being revived was sent to St Vincent’s hospital in Sydney. The Cardiologist there said: “How come you have blocked arteries around your heart? Your weight is normal, you have never smoked or drank alcohol, you have lived an active healthy life on a farm, you just don’t fit the pattern! Therefore, for this to have happened to you there must have been a lot of stress in your life”. He was right, (I am ashamed to say). Because as a Christian I had been ignoring that instruction to “not worry” and paid the penalty by having 5 heart by-passes. After all, God who made us should know what is good or bad for us and we shouldn’t ignore his instructions in the New Testament. Because worry never achieved any worthwhile result, and we all know this, but it is hard to “Let go and let God take over” isn’t it? We are God’s children and I think we can learn from watching a little baby like Evie
Pratten here with her mum (Jackie). She may be crying in her cot, but when mum or dad come along and pick her up, the crying stops immediately. Why? She hasn’t yet been fed, her nappy hasn’t yet been changed. What makes the difference then? Why did she stop crying? The answer is that a baby Instinctively knows that its parents love it and have the ability to solve its problems. That’s why.

The person stranded on a ledge half way down a cliff face, has a different problem; but needs similar trust when a rescue Helicopter lowers a paramedic on a rope; the stranded person knows that he must let go of the rock face and cling tightly to the paramedic; trusting both him and the rope, complete faith is essential or he will just have to stay on that precarious ledge. The same type of thing applies to you and me; every day activities usually don’t worry us too much or cause us to stress out. No, it is only when we find ourselves out of our depth with problems that we cannot effectively handle that we become really worried. At that point we should implement the above bible text as it tells us not to worry, but to hand the problem over to God and experience the unexplainable peace from God, that will replace the stress and worry. I could say “Good luck with that” but it has nothing to do with luck – it is a matter of faith and trust in our Father God, (as that baby trusts its mum or dad). However, like the person on the rocky ledge (who must let go of the ledge completely, and trust the paramedic), we must hand our problems over to God completely and trust Him. The New Testament says that if we have faith in God the possibilities are limitless and “faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God”.  So best wishes then, as we learn to stop worrying and start trusting. None of the above is theory to me, because I have “been there, and done all that.     Regards, Tom.  ( Read Phillippians 4:7 to confirm this.)