Word2Go

Hi Friends You’ve probably realised by now that my podcasts are becoming somewhat infrequent. In all honesty, I’m probably only going to average about one per month for 2010, but I would encourage you to go back and listen to some of the previous podcasts. I wish you God’s richest blessings for 2010. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 Usually our weaknesses are the things that frustrate us, and the things we often try to hide from others, but Paul decided he was going to parade his weaknesses down the main street and make them something to boast about! Why would he do that? Because he wanted it to be evident to everyone including himself that any success he achieved was only because of God’s grace and power operating through his life. We too can learn to embrace our weaknesses and realise that these are the very things that help to cultivate a close and intimate dependency on God and help us to avoid that most deadly of enemies known as self-sufficiency. To Listen Click Here!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 I think this is one of these verses we will grapple with all our lives. It’s a reminder that we’re not on this earth to live for ourselves. Our lives need to be centred around Christ and around serving others – a message that is in direct contrast to our consumer culture that tells us life is all about us and about the stuff we have or don’t have. I think it’s good to say this verse as a statement of faith, even if we don’t feel we are the living embodiment of this verse! As Christians we’re on the way and the Spirit of God is working powerfully in us to achieve this end.To Listen Click Here!

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Eph 3:17-19 It’s interesting that this verse makes no distinction between being filled with God and knowing his love, the two are so intertwined. It all got started with love (for God so loved the world), we received his gift of love when we became Christians and now we are constantly growing in our understanding of God’s amazing love for us. And the cool thing is, in the next age, our ability to understand and perceive the love of God will increase 1000 fold and will continue to increase throughout eternity. Once we’re filled to the measure, then the love of God will flow out of our lives into the lives of others and they too will experience the love of God, and finally the day will come when the whole earth is so full of the love of God, there will be no room for evil. Hallelujah!!To Listen Click Here!

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rom 12:9-12 These verses are just packed full of goodness! I want to pick up on just two thoughts. Firstly the idea of honouring other people above ourselves. Everybody loves to receive recognition and credit for what they do and their accomplishments, but this verse encourages us to promote others ahead of ourselves. It’s a great way to practice dying to self! Secondly the idea of keeping your spiritual fervour. There’s a line in one of my favourite songs called ‘Deep In Love With You’ from Michael W Smith’s worship CD ‘A New Hallelujah’ that goes “My love for You is deeper than it was yesterday”. For those of us who have been Christians for a while it’s easy to say to ourselves, ‘well I’m in a different phase of my life right now’. That may be true, but our love and devotion for God has to go beyond singing songs of worship. It needs to find an outlet in service of some description – something that is extending God’s kingdom. That too is worship that not only touches God’s heart, but keeps helps us to keep our zeal and fervour for God strong. You’ve probably realised by now that I’m averaging one word to go per week, which I think will be the case for a while. I wish you all a wonderful week.To Listen Click Here!

“Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;do not let me be put to shame.” Psalm 119:29-31These verses contain prayers and a declarations. He asks for three things and he declares three things. There is much power in making a positive confession and we too have the power to change things and break things off our lives by the words we speak out. Because of the choices he’s made, he is expecting God’s favour upon his life. You can sense his determination to follow God’s way no matter what the cost. Try speaking out your commitment to follow Christ and ask God to help you maintain integrity in your Christian walk. God is faithful. To Listen Click Here!

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - To the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 24-25 Imagine if you wanted to meet the queen. You couldn’t just walk up to front door and introduce yourself. It would have to be pre-arranged and then you would have to have someone to present you. They would say something like – “Your Majesty, may I present to you John Smith. In the same way these verses describe our first meeting with His Majesty God our Father. Jesus will present us confidently and joyfully before God the Father. We can have this confidence because we know that Jesus blood erases all our sin. And we can have confidence that we’ll make it because Jesus will keep us from falling. As long as we stay with Jesus and say to Him, Jesus I want you, He will be faithful to bring us into His glorious presence.To Listen Click Here!

As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8I’m back! Starting to find my rhythm again as I re-organise my routines to include my little treasure Lucy. So let’s take a look at these powerful and challenging verses.These are Jesus marching orders to His disciples as they prepare to go on ‘outreach’. The way Jesus says it, makes it sound like He’s asked them to run down to the corner dairy and pick up a loaf of bread. But that’s the point isn’t it? The fact that these supernatural experiences are not part and parcel of our message should cause us stop and re-examine where the problem lies. Just because we’ve ‘tried’ this a few times and it didn’t work, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t persist until we get a break through. I’ve written this more for myself than anyone else. Right now I’m living in a country where people have heard all sorts of ideas and stuff about ‘the kingdom of heaven’ but what they haven’t seen is a live demonstration of the power of God in action to validate and verify the message. This is my current pursuit as I seek to align my life and message with the Word of God and not adapt the Word to fit my experience or theology.To listen click here!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 Maybe you’re feeling tired, stressed and frustrated that you haven’t accomplished half the things on your to do list? Then these verses are the perfect antidote for you. Many struggle even to get enough physical rest but how to you find rest for you soul? I can tell you from personal experience that the presence of His Holy Spirit will refresh you and lighten your load in a wonderful way, in fact I rely on this reality almost every day. Simply invite the Holy Spirit to come, enjoy His presence and let these verses take root in your heart.To listen click here!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 The question is not how powerful God is, because as Christians we know that His power is unlimited and the known universe testifies to this, but the real ‘eye-grabber’ in this verse is how great the power is that is at work WITHIN US! The channel for God’s power most of the time is us! We are the lightening rods for God’s power. The Him referred to here is God the Father and He is glorified through His people (the church) and through Jesus and every generation brings the Father new offerings of glory. Remember that we don’t need to be powerful in ourselves, we just need to be the lightening rods for God’s power.To listen click here!

Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. Psalm 77:13-14 He is a holy God, a great God and his greatness can be seen in the miraculous things He does for people all over the world. Note the present tense: You ARE the God that performs miracles. It’s not something God did way back in olden times, it’s something God is doing more in our day and time than in any other time in history. Our God is a powerful God who does mighty things so that all people everywhere will acknowledge that God alone is the one true God who alone deserves all the glory and praise. To listen click here!

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:15-16 The Bible has a tendency to make these very black and white statements with two possible alternatives and nothing in the middle and here’s another one! Obviously the ‘loving the world’ camp is not the best one to pitch your tent in, (talk to Lot – God rained hell fire and brimstone on his parade!) but what does ‘loving the world’ really mean? Because we live in the world, and we have to do business with the world. We have bills to pay, and nice things that we would like to own. I think the key is to hold ‘the world stuff’ loosely. There are definitely times in our life when in order to serve God well, we have to let go of some ‘worldly benefits’ and we do it because we know the benefits that come from serving God and putting God first will far outweigh anything the world has to offer. It’s called delayed gratification! In a nutshell enjoy the good stuff but don’t let it become your primary focus because there’s so much more to real life than the acquisition of material things or recognition from the world. To listen click here!

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. Matthew 22:20-22 (NIV) This is one of these special recordings for me. I’d like to suggest a way that you can engage with this text in a fresh way. Imagine yourself in the place of the woman and imagine that you’re fighting your way through the crowd because you want to touch Jesus. You have a urgent need, perhaps it’s physical or maybe emotional, but you know that Jesus can give you what you need. Then imagine yourself touching Jesus cloak and then in faith receive what you need. Remember this woman had no special connections to Jesus, but rather it was her faith that drew forth from Jesus the power she needed for her situation. Just reach out in faith and receive. To listen click here!

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 1 John 2:9-10 (NIV) This verse deals with one of the central themes of the Bible; loving others. Our response to our Christian brothers determines the quality of our own lives. This verse doesn’t spell out what stumbling entails, but it doesn’t sound very pleasant or pain free! In keeping with Jesus teachings, Peter presents us with two clear options and no middle ground – either we love or we hate. It’s definitely a challenging verse but this is how God wants us to live.To listen click here!

But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. 2 Peter 3:13-14 (NIV) Peter keeps bringing our attention back to the big picture; this earth is not our final destination. The previous verses talk about the earth being destroyed by fire on the day of the Lord. It sounds like something out of one of those movies where planet earth is being threatened by some catastrophe. It’s like reading the last chapter of a story and knowing how the story ends but how we arrive at that end point and in what condition is the key thing. Will we arrive ‘spotless’ and at peace with God or will we arrive with shame and deep regrets? We have a wonderful hope and future ahead of us so lets live for God. To listen click here!

For the foundations of the earth are the Lords; upon them He has set the world. He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. 1 Samuel 2:8-10 NIV God is all powerful and almighty. He guards our paths and keeps us safe, at the same time storing up judgement for those who oppose the plans and the people of God. God is unstoppable. No one can successfully oppose God or change His master plan for redemption and salvation. God will prevail – He will vindicate those who are His and judge those who stand against Him. He is truly a mighty and awesome God. To listen click here!

But do not forget this one thing dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9 Imagine living 24 hours and by the same time tomorrow being 1000 years older! You could really get a lot done!! This verse is a reminder that God is not locked into time on a moment by moment basis like we are. But neither does He lose track of human time frames. He doesn’t get distracted, look back and think, now where’s that person? Oh woops they died 100 years ago! God is precise down to the last second. It’s also a reminder to us that just because something happened thousands of years ago, ie the flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, in God’s perspective it happened just a week or so ago. These judgements of the past are reminders for us to live careful and holy lives for God. This verse is also a good balance to those that subscribe to the ‘God has already chosen who will become Christians therefore we don’t have to do anything’ theory. If God had His way, every single person on the planet would be saved. And by delaying His return, it works to the advantage of those who don’t yet know Jesus. To listen click here!

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 NIV Jesus said I am the light of the world but here He states so clearly that we also are the light of the world. I think it’s easy to under-estimate what we have as Christians. We have as much advantage over the non-Christian as a person walking through difficult terrain in daylight has over a person stumbling along through darkness. In the living Bible in 1 Corinthians 2:15 it says ‘But the spiritual man has insight into everything, and that bothers and baffles the man of the world, who can’t understand him at all.” I think too often we defer to the ‘experts of the world’, but as Christians we have the perspective and the insight to bring order out of chaos and solutions that will lead mankind to a truly bright future. We don’t need to be arrogant about that, but neither should we be hiding our light under a bowl, but rather we should let our light shine before men. To listen click here!

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter 1:5-7 NIV I’ve always found these verses interesting. I’m not sure if this list of virtues is strictly progressive, but certainly love is the ultimate and highest quality. In the previous chapter in 1 Peter 4: 8 it says ‘love one another for love covers over a multitude of sins’. I think the key point is in the word ‘add’. We need to progress in our Christian faith and character. We need to observe ourselves and take note on how we’re doing in these different areas. Yes God is the one who makes the changes within us, but He does it with our co-operation and awareness. To listen click here!

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 NIV These verses are a good encouragement for us to ask. We can’t just wait for a miracle to drop out of the sky, we have to show initiative and pursue it in faith. Faith is active and this is what attracts God’s attention, His favour and ultimately the release of His power. It’s interesting to note that in the gospels, 99% of people who had their requests granted by Jesus were people that strongly pursued it. Ask, seek, knock, and remember God loves to give! To listen click here!

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV Humbling yourself under God’s hand has a lot to do with submitting yourself to God’s plan and will for your life, even when it appears very unspectacular! God will promote us but in His time, not ours. Verse 7 is a wonderfully encouraging verse. Often I imagine my cares and worries as a heavy object and with my hands I lift them it up and release it to God. It’s my way of releasing it into God’s hands and demonstrating an active trust. He cares for us, which means He will work out what is best for us. We can rest secure in that knowledge. To listen click here!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27 NIV Worry, the cousin of fear, and something that I’m sure we all battle with from time to time. I read somewhere that I think it was 90% of what we worry about never comes to pass, and around 5% of what we worry about is not something we would have any control over or power to change. The bottom line is God loves us tremendously. We’re incredibly valuable to God and He is going to look after us. This verse is not a promise that we’ll never experience any lack in our life, otherwise why did Paul talk about how he had learned to be content in situations of plenty or want? I think the key point is that with God it’ll turn our all right, so let’s make the choice not to worry, and instead trust completely in a God that loves us so deeply. Think of all that energy you’ll save by not worrying!! To listen, click here!

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9 NIV This is a great verse to remember in the heat of the moment. It takes a lot of self-control to hold your tongue and not respond in like manner. I like the way the living Bible puts it as well; ‘Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t snap back at those who say unkind things about you. Instead pray for God’s help for them, for we are to be kind to others and God will bless us for it.’ Don’t snap back – that’s the thing isn’t it! In fact not only that, but we are commanded to pray something good over their lives. Isn’t that typical of Jesus to take it one step further than what might be considered reasonable. It a real challenge to our ‘they don’t deserve it’ mentality. But if you think about it, we don’t deserve God’s grace either, so this way, we get to practice being like God. Cool ay! To listen, click here!

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." From the outside, these two houses look the same, but it’s what you can’t see that makes all the difference. Someone may appear to have their life together and be doing really well, but the real test comes in adversity, the driving winds and the lashing rain. The storm will reveal what your life is built on and how real your faith is. It’s not a question of if the storm comes, but merely when. There is no substitute for strong character and a life of righteousness and integrity. They’re not flashy but they’re enduring. I think it’s interesting that Jesus only gave two possible scenarios. I was thinking what if the storm just did some damage, knocked off some of the roof and smashed a few windows? With the scenario Jesus gives, it’s an all or nothing, and I think that’s the way it is. Either you have a life based on solid core values or you don’t. That’s not to say that a person of good character never messes up, but it is contrary to the values he or she holds dear and aspires to attain. There’s a bit of ‘free-styling’ towards the end of this song, which is a just little summation of the situation the foolish man is in. You’ll hear what I mean. Enjoy! To listen, click here!

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1 Peter 2:11-12 NIVI love the line ‘aliens and strangers in the world’. It sounds so ‘other-worldly’! Being an ‘alien’ means that we think and live differently from those in this world. Our real life is in heaven with Jesus and our desire is to please Him and receive the reward He has for us. Notice also the destructive nature of sin, which attacks our very souls, hence the need for vigilance and abstinence. Have a great weekend and see you on Monday!To listen click here!