Harvest City Church Leicester

Paul gives nineteen negative characteristics of many professing believers during these difficult times.

You and I were created to worship - a worshipping family or indeed individual will always rest on a godly perspective, even when things are at its worst! Worship sets you up to battle with God at your side. The Story of 2 Chronicles emphasises that whatever you're facing it worship and the Lord house keeps you on the winning side.

When you experience problems, difficulties, set backs or hurts in life, they can either make you better or bitter. You really have a choice. You can either grow up or give up. You can become who God wants you to be, or you can become hard-hearted. When you go through difficult times, what happens to you is not nearly as important as what happens in you. You'll take your character with you into eternity—not your circumstances.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus' Resurrection means that his sacrificial death on the cross was sufficient, and therefore our sins can be forgiven.

As God's people:We must receive God's wordWe must be set apartWe must be cleansedWe must respect God's boundaryWe must restrain the fleshWe must know we come to a holy God

Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.

When we take time out to really learn and understand who Jesus is for ourselves, we prepare ourselves for an encounter that will change our lives.

For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 

You can afford to live without a personal relationship with the Lord, but you can't afford to die without one.

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”Philippians 4:4-9 ESV

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”Psalms 139:13-18 NLT

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn't realise what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes." - Matthew 24:37-39

To surrender in the believers life means to completely give up your own will, desires and wants to God. We subject our thoughts, ideas, and deeds to the will and teachings of Christ Jesus. Surrender is a wilful acceptance and a yielding to God's Word and Commands.

Rudolph Bultmann – “Righteousness does not mean the ethical quality of a person. It does not mean any quality at all, but a relationship. That is, dikaiosýnē is not something a person has as his own; rather it is something he has in the verdict of the “forum” to which he is accountable.”

John Wesley tells us in his journal of a deliverance in 1756. The King of Britain called for a day of solemn prayer and fasting because of a threatened invasion of the French. Wesley wrote,The fast day was a glorious day, such as London has scarce seen since the Restoration. Every church in the city was more than full, and a solemn seriousness sat on every face. Surely God heareth prayer, and there will yet be a lengthening of our tranquillity.Then in a footnote he added later, "Humility was turned into national rejoicing for the threatened invasion by the French was averted." It would not be difficult to multiply story after story from the Bible and after the Bible to show that fasting and prayer have changed the course of history.

God sees His church as the answer to the world's problems - in the midst of chaos 

“By evening you will realize it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7. In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?”

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don't be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[c] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Forgiving and pursuing justice must go hand in hand. In fact, if you don't forgive the person, your justice seeking will likely veer into the territory of revenge. – Tim Keller

“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

The people God accepts will live because of their faith. But He isn't pleased with anyone who turns back. Hebrews 10:38 (CEV)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Isaiah 9:6 NIV

How many times has “what if” kept us awake at night? What “If” I didn't eat that… Or What if I hadn't said that? Or what IF I didn't do that? The word IF appears some 4,711 times in the bible. We almost always think of what if ‘retrospectively' God wants us to see IF as future-spectively. Before we act or speak we consider “IF” to obey God first. 

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[

Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”

Jesus desires to invade our lives, routines and seemingly unimportant things. He wants to meet us at our “wells” and desires to do a divine exchange!

The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone. No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don't be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What's more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.' So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.

Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.[a] 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,[b] son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'” At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses[b] and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

The Hebrew word for “holiness” is qōdes, a word that highlights the realm of the sacred in contrast to everything common and profane. The adjective qādôš, “holy,” refers to God and what belongs to him. In various places in the Hebrew Scriptures, God is called by the title the “Holy One of Israel.”

The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness and with all the friends you ever had on earth and all the food you ever liked and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there? – John Piper

Galatians 5:17 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

We must learn to say Yes to whatever God asks of us without complaining and grumbling.

"Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear. That's why it's such a powerful weapon. Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." - Nelson Mandela.

1 LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honours those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Then he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.