The way he treats your daughter is very different. He gets very impatient with her. He swears at her. If you are not home he eats all the food and lets her starve.

Would you be able to love this man?

We sing outrageously overstated songs to God in church every week. We tell Him how much we love and adore Him and how we want to be with Him as much as possible. And yet I can’t find ANYWHERE in the bible that it tells us He wants us to do that. What I can find is that if we want to express our love for Him we should love others. How does He feel when we profess such love for him and yet neglect His children, just like the daughter in my analogy?

Matthew 25

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Forgive us Father and help us to be better lights for your Kingdom. Help us to love others and do good for them so they will come to know You. Amen

When I get to the beach at 6:30am, there are often people still milling around after being out night clubbing all night. There are western tourists and prostitutes having a last beer from the circle K before getting in a taxi. There is the odd person, who indulged too much passed out on the beach, and there are often groups of people going for a semi-clad, intoxicated swim.

My heart is for them!! I want to reach out to them! I want to tell them about God!

Bringing middle aged couples into the church is great but my heart is for a ministry to the critically ill, those who are so far from God that they actively oppose Him. Those that are partying and using drugs and sleeping with prostitutes and prostituting themselves.

I was there once. I spent the first two thirds of my life COMPLETELY lost. Surely He can use that training. My questions now are ‘how?’, ‘when?’, ‘where?’, ’do I really have the guts?’.

For months now I have been desiring to get up in the middle of the night, take a box of bottled water to the car park where I start my run and just give out free water to the revellers, hoping to do something for God from there. Something has held me back….but I don’t think it will for much longer. Pray for me please.

God ‘needs’ us to be righteous so we can enter into heaven. We CANNOT enter and live in heaven if we are tainted by sin. In the Old Testament, being righteous meant obeying the law and yet nobody seemed capable of doing that (from what I can tell.)

The bible says the sacrifices they made were not capable of taking away their sins.

Hebrews 10

 ¹ The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship……..⁴ It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

So how could any of them be eligible to enter heaven? There may have been those who repented of sin and became acceptable to God. Perhaps the people of the bible that we read about as being in good standing with God made it to heaven. BUT what about the rest?

Generations of people, tribe after tribe. Did they all just fall short ?

The bible says our own righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64) but for us living in New Testament times all we have to do is accept Jesus and we get His perfect righteousness. Generations of people, tribe after tribe. God has made it so easy…..and yet so many people aren’t going to make it.

This analogy frequently comes to me…

There are ‘physical’, natural laws that cannot be circumnavigated. The law of gravity applies to everything on earth. There is a principal that is the basis for life and it goes like this:

God is like the fire in the picture. We are like the dry leaf. When the two of them come in contact, the leaf will burst into flames and be destroyed. This is because we are tainted by sin. God CANNOT be in the presence of sin. What we need to do to enter into His presence is get soaked in the blood of Jesus. It changes our physical/spiritual state so we do not get consumed by God.

From another perspective it is kind of like the Midas touch. It is not that God wants to destroy us, He can’t help it. Just as anything the King in the story touched turned to gold, anything that enters the presence of God, without the protection of the blood of Jesus, is consumed.

24After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25″Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”

26″From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27″But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

For morning devotion at the school I work at there re 2 teachers assigned to each class. My partner and I take turns giving sermons and leading the 15 minutes we have with our class each morning. This morning she shared about how last week she was having a problem and without knowing it my sharing was very specific advice for her.

Even now I don’t remember the sharing I gave. Quite often I go to class with little or no idea what I am going to talk about and just talk about something I have heard or learnt in the past. But God is God and He is in control !!

Why didn’t Jesus just take a coin out of His pocket and hand it to Peter to pay the tax ? Because He wanted to make the point that He is in control of everything, nature, money, every circumstance, everything !

One of my favourite experiences as a Christian is when you have the revelation or ‘re-revelation (remember) that God is working in every aspect of your life. He knit us together in our mother’s womb, He clothes the lilies in the field (Matthew 6:27-29), He commanded the waves and wind to stop, He cures disease and HE LOVES YOU AND ME !! How wonderful that is, if He is with us, who is against us ?

Lean on Him today, trust in Him, have faith in Him. They are the key words in Christianity because that is what Christianity is all about. The fact that God is God and He has a beautiful plan. Love Him, trust Him and know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

GBU

When these ‘dry’ times come upon us I believe the easiest solution is to just get busy being a Christian. In James it says ‘Faith without action is dead’, so if you are having problems in your relationship with God, why shouldn’t you get busy serving Him ? I believe the answer is in Matthew 7:21-23;

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ .

Our first priority is to KNOW GOD. We must be able to ‘Be still and know that He is God’. We must build our relationship with Him, spending time in prayer, reading our bible and worship. That is how we will know what the will of the Father IS so we can do it.

AND then we serve. Without a strong, intimate relationship with God, our church activities and ministry work are pointless. I believe Mother Teresa hadn’t heard from God for so long because she didn’t need to. She knew Him so well that she could walk her Christian life with very little direction from Him.

A friend of mine once said that often God ‘shouts’ at a new Christian, He is very real and frequently directs their path. That is because they need that direction. As we mature as Christians, God’s voice gets quieter and quieter. He shouldn’t need to be so obvious for us. We have a strong faith, we have a good understanding of Him. We have the bible to direct us. We are walking in his ways.

Kind of like a boss with a new employee, at first they will direct and teach everything to their new employee. But as the person starts to get it and the boss can trust them to do their job, the boss will have less and less input.

Wherever you are in you walk with Christ my prayer for you today is this,

Lord, that You would check our hearts. Let us know if You know us not. Help us to prioritise You in everything we do. Help us not to offer up lip service and run around doing what we think You want but help us to KNOW You. Speak to us Lord, reassure us Lord, direct us Lord.

If we are on the right path with the Lord his assurance is that we will have the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23)

If any one of these is lost, even though you may be rising in the ranks of your church, even though your soup kitchen may be feeding thousands every night, no matter what your circumstances, stop and pray.

There may be a whole host of reasons why your peace has gone but there is only one answer, ask He who supplies it how you can get it back.

Luke 10:38-42  (NIV)

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers —so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

The answer he receives is :

29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.

In Matthew 22:14 we hear that “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” What does this mean ?

The revelation I am beginning to get is that everyone on earth is called. The bible is there, the word of God is there, His saints are preaching His message, the church doors are open. It is their choice to answer the call or not.

Then there are those who were chosen. God had predestined them. He touched them on the shoulder at some stage in their life and said “Hey, you are mine. I have work for you to do” I believe he did that with me. If you read my life testimony you will see a complete life transformation. Why? Did I get sick of the life I was leading and work hard to change direction? NO! I CAME FACE TO FACE WITH THE LIVING GOD AND HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE!!

I pray that you are one of the chosen. If you are it is only a matter of time. If you are one of the called, answer the call. It makes absolutely no difference if you are called or chosen as long as you answer the call.

Put your life on track to spend eternity in Heaven. If you need help with this email me – Geoffcollins1@yahoo.com.au

                                                           God Bless You, Gef

So, last October we made the decision that I would resign, we would sell and house and we would all move to Bali. We prayed and we fasted and we didn’t get a straight up ‘No’ so we did it. From October to June dragged but the time finally came.

We had a guy who agreed to buy the house and we were happy with the price. I had no intention of looking for a job when we moved to Bali. I have been teaching for 10 years and felt like I needed a break. My brother plays internet poker for a living and said he could teach me to make enough to get by. As crazy as it sounds I decided that would be my plan until God did something.

So we moved and low and behold the guy who was buying our house fell through. We were living in a boarding house, our money running out VERY fast, no income, no job and no prospects. My mother in law was talking about buying us a house at one stage but I prayed to God and told him “I don’t want a house from my mother in law, I want a miracle from you !!”.

Through all the planning to move I had never doubted that God would provide. I clung to his promises that he would give us each day our bread, both spiritual and worldly. I quoted to my wife verses about not worrying about what we would eat and drink and so on.

But then I started to doubt. I would sit awake all night wondering what would happen when the last few hundred dollars ran out. If it was just me or even me and my wife yeah ok but we have two little girls WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO ???

And then it happened. God provided the perfect house for us. We scrapped together the money to send for our stuff from Surabaya. Then he lined up an amazing opportunity as a shareholder in a company that teaches English online. A guy I knew briefly had a contract to teach a school using software of his and asked me if I would like to become a partner. He knew of my experience and he knows God and he knew, as did I that God had lined it up.

We started teaching at the school today. The Principal loves the program and told us that the foundation that has the school has 24 other schools in Indonesia. Our company could become very successful, very quickly.

One of the main reasons I left work was to spend more time with my family. Now I work from home and can home school my kids. I also wanted to live a healthier lifestyle, now I eat fresh fruit and great food prepared at home and ride my bike 5 minutes to the beach to go for a run every morning and a swim every afternoon with my family.

I look back and see that I was like Peter stepping of the boat and walking on water. I left my job and believed and trusted. But then I looked around and I got scared. But He was there and I did feel like ‘Ye of little faith’.

What a great God I serve , He can be trusted !! When you ask him for bread He doesn’t give you stones but all you needed and more!!

Matthew 7:  9-11

 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

The thing about habits is that they can be bad or good. A golfer practices their golf swing to build muscle memory. After a while, your body can repeat your golf swing with very little conscious effort and it will be remarkably similar time after time. So why aren’t all golfers of Tiger Woods caliber? The problem is in the programming. When building the muscle memory people build in mistakes that they then repeat over and over again. It’s the golf coach that analyzes the swing and instructs about where correction is needed. The golfer must then make a lot of effort to re-program their swing as it is easier to build a new habit than renovate an old one.

In life we have also built in bad habits or had them programmed into us by people as we have grown up. We can however, change our bad habits. We can replace bad habits with good ones and fine tune our habits so that they become beneficial for ourselves and others.

A lot of smokers are successful in giving up because they replace smoking with drinking water. When they have a craving they drink a glass of water or eat candy. Instead of eating to relieve stress you can retrain yourself to go for a walk or go to the gym. Instead of waking up slowly and unhappily, depressed about the fact that you have to get up early, you can train yourself to get out of bed earlier than normal, eat your breakfast and go for a walk.

“ Many things effect your life but none as much as you.”

Take a good long look at yourself. Don’t try to change everything overnight. Choose one thing about yourself or one habit you have that is negative and work on replacing it with a habit that is positive.

Quote from ‘My name is Earl’ : “ We tried replacing cigarettes with carrot sticks but we couldn’t get em to light”

Don’t let life get you down, build yourself and others up. Amen