Impact Christian Centre

What do you want to do today?

I woke up this morning to an email with the subject line “What do you want to do today?” It was just a junk email but it made me think about Proverbs 29:18 where it says without vision the people perish. Other translations say without divine guidance or without prophetic vision, the people are wild or through off restraint.

We know that it is important for a church or ministry to have a vision of why they do what they do and where God is taking them. But what about our own lives? Not just a ten year plan but a practical plan of every day what God made you for. Why He gave you life today.

I think as a concept we kind of understand this. We know we were made to love God, to minister to Him, to get to know Him and to “diffuse His knowledge in every place” (2 Cor 2:14-15). Put simply we were made to have relationship with Jesus every day to enjoy Him ad be enjoyed by Him and from that place to tell the world who He is, to demonstrate the power of God by loving the broken hearted, praying for and seeing the sick healed and fighting for those who are oppressed in prayer and acts of justice: to bring His kingdom and fight the enemy who seeks to stop us. The point in both our personal relationship with Jesus and our witness to the world, is Jesus; to bless Him, to give Him the reward of what He died for (us!) and to tell the world that He loves them.

We know this as a concept but when I wake up in the morning do I have this sense of purpose? Do I see that every day I have a chance to bless God and be blessed by Him in the secret place where it’s just me and Him? Do I feel like witnessing is a burden and is something I ‘should’ do or do I see that I am an ambassador from heaven, I get to tell others that the God that I love, loves them, died for them and is the solution to their problems.

Alot of the time its not that we need to hear something new but that we need to do what we know. To actually apply and to walk in what we have as head knowledge, would radically transform our lives and renew our sense of purpose.

Never forget you are pursuing a God who loves to reveal Himself to you, a love that loved you before you were born, and fighting a fight that Jesus already won for you - you still have to fight but you can rest assured that it will be worth it, if you love God you will like the end of the story!

Only God can take a weak man like Simon and make him a rock, a leader that would lead many in loving Jesus. Only God can take an unknown Hebrew orphan like Hadassah and make her Queen Esther of Persia and her people’s deliverer. Only God could take a young man like Joseph from the lowest place in prison to the second most powerful position in the kingdom. Only God can take weak broken lives and make them beautiful, it’s what He loves to do. #HedeliversusbecauseHedelightsinus #Hemakesallthingsnew

“I see what you will be in time but even now, in my eyes, you are beautiful.” #Helovesthejourney #Helovesyouintheprocess

Everything He does declares everything He is

Someone asked me recently how we discover the knowledge of God. That question got me thinking. If Jesus gave us the bible so that we could know Him, who He is, what He’a like and what we wants then why do we study it for intellectual facts like a textbook.

When you go on a first date with someone you don’t spend the night inquiring about the ‘facts’ of their life so you can understand the sequence of events in their life. When your friends ask you “How was your date?” You don’t reply it was great I now underdstand his life and know all that happened to him.
You spend the evening getting to know your date as a person, what he’s like, what his character is and what he’s looking for in your relationship. Sure you will probably ask about his life but you’re looking, probably subconsciously, for what he’s like. When you’re asked how your date went you tell your friends about the guy you went out with ” He only talked about himself, he was really arrogant etc.” How do you know He’s arrogant ?Presumably He didn’t say “I’m arrogant” you picked it up from his mannerisms, the way he talked to you and probably the way he talked about himself.

Well what if you approached your quiet time as a ‘date’ with Jesus, now I’m not talking about some weird sexual ‘Jesus is my boyfriend’ rubbish. I’m saying what if you sat down with Jesus and said “Tell me about yourself” ask Him questions and let Him answer them. If you don’t hear His still small voice then take the bible, maybe you want to specifically read the gospels, take them as if Jesus was telling you these stories. Imagine Him in front of you telling you what happened. Don’t just take what’s written in red but take time to just look at the words written in black - they describe what he was doing, His mannerisms, not what He said but how He said it! Look at this text and ask the Holy Spirit how Jesus is feeling when He is telling this story, what is He doing, what is the expression on His face or the tone in His voice? Jesus is a real man and He wants a real relationship with you.

Also imagine that Jesus is speaking directly you: when He washes the disciples feet and tells them they are clean imagine He’s washing your feet, looking you in the face and saying “You’re clean”! How do you feel? What do you feel about this Man that has just washed your feet? Putting yourself in the story, reading the dialogue as if Jesus is speaking straight to you, as if you were there can change everything!

Sometimes it can seem difficult to get to know an invisible God but the truth it is simple, humans make it complicated. Jesus laid out in sermon in the mount the way to live a christian life, if you look for Him, take Him for face value as you see Him in the bible and honestly tell God how your feeling and what you’re struggling with in your quiet time you will find Him! He wants YOU not ‘holy, reverent, pretending everything’s ok you’ but the real you if you’re finding it hard to believe He lives you tell Him, if you’re finding it hard to trust Him tell Him exactly how you’re feeling and let Him meet you there. Remember that He wants you to know Him, Holy Spirit is the Teacher let Him reveal to you who Jesus is. Also remember that life is a journey of discovery, a process, guard your heart from disappointment, duty or condemnation God wants to show you who He is but also remember He knows what He’s doing. He know exactly how to get you to where He wants you to be. It’s God’s job to lead and your job to follow if you’re following Him you can be sure you’re going to be ok, Psalm 23 says “you shall not want”!

Why Jesus?

Today I’ve been thinking about my answer to this question.

There are thousands of ‘Spiritualits’ and ‘mediums’ and ‘gods’ but something in my spirit says no to all of them. Just like the people who are serving those things, I know there’s more to life than the mundane. I know that life is more than what we see right now and I know that there must be a creator.  I do not buy the argument that ”all ways lead to God”, because each way is so different - one of them must be true. Also each ‘god’ is different, some people believe He’s a task master who we must serve, some people believe He’s angry, some people believe He’s tolerant, some people believe He’s not a person but a ‘force’ or energy. In the midst of all this confusion all my heart wants is truth. I don’t believe in being offensive for the sake of it, or setting out to trample on other people; we need to respect and love people. But surely if you genuinelly believe you have found truth then love is not to ‘tolerate’ but to honestly share this truth with others so they can find the peace and satisfaction that you have.

Ok so I’ve set the scene of the kind of confusion that has been swirling around me  but maybe I should tell you where this began. I was in a class and the bible teacher asked us a question that stopped me in my tracks; ”If you were talking to a Muslim friend and they asked, ”Why do I need Jesus as my God when I have Allah?” What would you say?”

As Christians we are guilty of becoming too familiar with Christian language, we hear something that sounds good and we accept it. The problem with this is that truth you have wrestled with, mulled over and found to be true, is truth that will rise up in you when people ask you these questions. I was talking to a friend who loves Jesus about witnessing to her brother, she was nervous because he was very intelligent and she felt like she didn’t have answers to his questions. I found myself asking her what it was that grabbed her heart about Jesus. What had made her leave her old life, all she had believed, enjoyed, loved and give it to an invisible God? I heard my lips saying,”That’s your message. Don’t argue intelluctual issues that don’t have your heart, tell him why YOU love Jesus.”

So often we can feel like telling people about Jesus is a burden because 1.) We get made fun of for it, 2.) We are constantly told people don’t want to hear it 3.) WE get accused of being too harsh, haughty, intolerant etc.

All I know is that people took time to pray for me, to tell me about Jesus, to show me His love and to tell me that my life could have meaning. More than that Jesus took the time to chase me down, when I turned away from Him, He spoke to me like a still small voice in my heart telling me exactly what I needed to hear. When I ignored Him He put me in situations where I couldn’t deny that He was talking to me. When He was on the earth He endured people mocking Him, hating Him, making fun of Him but He didn’t give up because He was hoping one day I’d hear what He was saying and believe it.

So what is my answer to ”Why Jesus?”’ : Because I have never met anyone who loves me like He does. When I hated and laughed at Him He kept putting me in situations where people would tell me how much He loved me. When I was struggling with suicidal thoughts He told me not to give up on life, that He loved me and made me for more. When I was at my lowest point He was there, no-one else could have been that patient, that kind, or known me that well. Yes I’ve seen God’s power, I’ve seen miraculous healings like people I’ve known who were in wheel chairs get healed, I’ve been healed myself, I’ve seen some amazing things happen but none of that is my answer to ”Why Jesus”. Yes He is my answer to the point of life, I do believe that when I die I will be with Him forever but even that isn’t my answer to ”Why Jesus.”

My personal answer to ”Why Jesus?” Is that I didn’t exist, He thought me up, made me put me on earth and I messed up. I fell short of everything He told me to do and in that moment He didn’t ‘smite me’ or say ”Must try harder”, He came to earth. God who made everything became a Man and came to earth so He could take my punishment in my place. Jesus chose to die, He wasn’t guilty, He didn’t need to die, He chose to die the most painful death imaginable in my place. Think of a time when you were accused of something you didn’t do, it feels horrible, unjust, you feel so misunderstood. Well Jesus chose to walk through that and be kicked, spat at, hated, for me. But the story doesn’t stop there after He died, He went to hell took the key of hell that would have held me there forever, and came back to earth. Now for some of you you’re thinking this is crazy but please just let your mind wonder for a second ”what if this is true”.

What if there is a God who loves you? What if there’s a God that loves you so much He gave up everything He had to come to earth and pay your debt? What if He loved you enough to die for you? What if that image you’ve seen a thousand times of ‘Jesus’ with His arms stretched wide on that cross is a picture of God, arms open to you, revealing a heart that loves and accepts you? What if He wants to forgive you and take all the regret, shame, guilt you’ve ever felt wash it away and say ”you’re clean”? What if when people speaks lies about you He’s waiting there to defend you, to say ”No, I love this one, I made this one.” What if I told you that when He died He left it up to you to decide to accept Him or not? He isn’t forcing Himself on you, or standing with a bullhorn shouting love me or I’ll destroy you. He loves you so much He won’t force Himself on you, He’s done all He can to show you He loves you. What more can God do than to give His own life!?! But now it’s up to you at the end of the day He will give you what you want, if you want Him all you have to do is say yes, choose Him and ask Him to help you follow Him. If you don’t want Him, He will give you what you want. I can’t imagine knowing that there is a Man that loves me like this and not loving Him in return. I can’t imagine looking Him in the face, knowing that He is longing to forgive me, to set me free, to talk to me and telling Hm ”No, I don’t want You.”

So that’s my answer to ”Why Jesus” in a nutshell. What’s yours?