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‘Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.’ (Genesis 12: 1, 4. NRSV). Abraham never knew where the Lord God was taking him. Yet he never consulted friends about the best place to settle, call for a forum with his family or take a break from his duties to consider his options. Abraham simply obeyed. Abraham’s obedience, attributed to his faith in God, made him righteous before God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to God must believe that he exists and rewards those who diligently seek and obey Him. And God rewarded Abraham most generously. Like Abraham, we do not know where we are going and the journey ahead often seems confused and blurry. Thank God that He has a clear picture of what lies beyond the little we can see and understand. Jesus pioneers a way for believers through the uncharted terrain before us, perfecting our faith as we follow Him. We must travel lightly with Him each day, laying aside every distracting weight and the sin that tries to cause us to stumble. We must willingly endure whatever God in His wisdom leads us into knowing that He will assuredly bring us through to reach the end. Like Abraham, we must trust our Heavenly Father, rather than our limited understanding, and refrain from resorting to the ways of this world to gain a sense of control and knowledge about the days ahead. Keep faith in God and He will establish all that concerns us. Jennifer Woodley
South-East Queensland, Australia - faithwriters.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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When words fail6/16/2022 In his famous 1949 essay “Cultural Criticism and Society” the German thinker and sociologist Theodor Adorno writes that there can be no poetry after Auschwitz. These very words sprung to mind when I read about the horrific tragedy that happened in Uvalde, Texas. Suddenly everything lost its meaning. Inspiration and hope vanished into nothingness. The crime was atrocious. Words completely fail to describe it. Thinking about it, trying to imagine it is unbearable. The mind shuts itself down. Such acts erase millennia of civilisation in one fell swoop. They set us right back in the bleak landscape of inarticulate cries and wanton blows. Strike at random, Strike before they strike you! But what happened in our structured and welfare-endowed century is infinitely worse. Fuelled by an inexplicable hate, influenced by movie clichés and armed for body-to-body combat, the teenage gunman charged into ― an elementary school and took the lives of nineteen children and two adults by simply squeezing on a trigger. Most of us are parents. Geography and chance has spared us from driving our children to Robb Elementary School on Tuesday May 24, saying to them “I love you” and giving them a hug expecting to pick them up a few hours later. But this is not the way to think, from the safe side of the fence, because in reality there is no fence. Only odious, toxic swamps of pretences and inaction, pits of monstrous interests which pose a constant threat to every step we take. Our primary duty is to drain these swamps and that calls for a panhuman effort, a concerted endeavour on all levels, from legislators to manufacturers to consumers. We have the reason and education to act as sentient citizens and feel responsible for what happens around us. “To deny responsibility, means to hold no one responsible” as Ludwig Wittgenstein put it. Our greatest weapon is our conscience, and we are all equipped with it. Let us raise it high above everything else. What happened in Uvalde, Texas has happened before and can happen again. It is up to each one of us to put an end to it, to eradicate this deadly plague from the face of the Earth. We have done it with great success against invisible, insidious enemies such as the bacilli of infectious and debilitating diseases. But here the enemy is visible, metallic, affordable and dead easy to operate. A fact that calls for an earnest, conscientious reaction on the part of all. Admittedly a difficult task but not an altogether impossible to achieve. My boys are both grown ups, with their own families. They were raised in a continent that abhors the gun culture. Their generation defines the future as every young generation does. We, the old generation, still have a share and a role to play in their lives. What’s written on this page is a father’s plea, a voice in the wilderness of interests, as I am sure many would say, ― but a plea, nevertheless. Costas Nisiotis
Athens, Greece - info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Love God and love people6/15/2022 'Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40). God's desire for us is summed up with love God and love people. If we want to know God's will for us, those five words contain it. While we may get some flak at times, we can never, ever, go wrong if we love God and love others, as Jesus loves us. His love reaches to save all people, no matter where they are or what they have done. His love knows no boundaries, and neither should ours. One of Jesus's main objectives was to restore the image of God to that of the loving Father He will always be. He came to obliterate the false impression the enemy has painted since the beginning, of a God who is a harsh, judgmental, cruel, and a cold taskmaster. This false picture was continually reinforced by the religious leaders of Jesus' day, who knew little about love and could not even see God's love sent to save them. Jesus was the first one to call God our Father. He was the first to reveal the name, Abba, which means Daddy. Jesus' life, actions, and death restored the right image of God for all who have eyes to see. He repeatedly tells us that we have seen precisely what the Father and Holy Spirit look like in seeing Him. …whoever has seen me has seen the Father… (John 14:9) Sadly, since Jesus' day, the enemy has succeeded again in corrupting the true image of God in the minds of many. The church needs to restore the image of God revealed in Jesus Christ. This world needs the love of Jesus that gathers and fulfils all things (Rom 13:18-10), not the letter of the law that only scatters. It is the love and kindness of God that gathers, leading to repentance. Let us love and encourage everyone, everywhere, all the time, no matter what it may cost us, just like Jesus. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NAS). Michael Edwards
Florida, USA - faithwriters.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Stay connected6/14/2022 He woke up from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him. (Judges 16:20b NIV). Samson knew he was a Nazirite, set apart to God since birth (v.17), so he was aware of his purpose. But he yielded to the weakness in his flesh and suffered. He became so overconfident about the Lord's presence that he forgot His command, telling Delilah the secret to his strength that came from the Lord. The weakness in his flesh had stolen his focus away from his spiritual purpose. Samson faced deceit, through Delilah, by the words of his mouth. He did not separate himself from Delilah, even after knowing her intentions. Spiritual hearing forms an integral part of serving God. Samson chose to walk in the flesh and ignore the Spirit's wisdom. Like Samson, we too can be inclined to indulge in cravings of the flesh, being led astray and often lingering in the wrong place far away from God's purpose for our life. We often fail to fully comprehend the importance of the new creation that is ours in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), but the Lord knows. We do not know the strengths that are in us until He reveals them. A soul that keeps in constant communication with the Lord always prospers. As the Lord helps us grow in His understanding, we must refrain from being overconfident in such a way that we ignore the voice of the Spirit. If we disregard His guidance, it can leave us stranded, alone in the weakness of our fallen flesh. Nothing is impossible with the love of God and the submission of our flesh. As you feel the strength of His love, keep running to Him for more. The Lord loves a seeking heart and pours out His blessings upon all who walk faithfully depending upon Him. We all have a Kingdom purpose, for God creates nothing in vain. Choose to walk by faith in the strength of the Spirit instead of by sight in the weakness of the flesh. Stay connected, and the Spirit will keep you focused on God's purpose for your life. Deepika Emmanuel Sagar
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India - faithwriters.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The eucharist6/13/2022 In Greek mythology, Aris (in Latin, Mars) is the god of war, ready for conflict at the drop of a hat. Aris, my classmate in primary school, was the exact opposite of his Olympian namesake. Plumb, clumsy in sports, emotional, and very talkative in class. The last trait made him a target for the teacher’s scorn and wooden rule. In the early Sixties, corporal punishment in school was the norm, part of the daily diet. The teacher who picked on Aris everytime was none other than his own mother. We dreaded her, she was a real martinet. Needless to say we were all quiet in class; except her only son. Sitting at the back desks, Aris thought himself immune to her beady stare and chatted away, until he was called to the front, asked to stretch out both hands and stay unflinching while he received the numbered blows. It's from this time on that my strong aversion for corporal punishment dates. I find it humiliating, sadistic, and totally unnecessary. A traumatic experience especially for young children. I remember how the rest of us suffered to see our classmate being punished, his eyes welling with tears, his face grimacing from pain. After the end of primary school I lost track of Aris. I just prayed that in high school he would be under more humane educators, teachers who would discern his charitable nature behind the chatter and the giggles. * * * * Some thirty years later I returned to Athens with my family, and decided to take a trip down Memory Lane. I went to the church of my parish where I used to be an altar boy. The Mass had already started. I arrived in time for the Eucharist. A silent crowd had gathered round the altar in order to receive the consecrated elements, the Body and Blood of Christ. We all waited for the priest to appear. I looked up to see the man appointed by the Lord who would administer the Eucharist to the congregation. It was Aris! Lightly bearded, radiant in his liturgical garment, whispering holy words with a solemnity I remember to this day. Costas Nisiotis
Athens, Greece - info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Soul thirst6/12/2022 As the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1 ESV) You can almost picture the doe, beginning to feel panicky to find water, any water. Her tongue is swollen and feels like dust. She pants for a brook, a creek, a pond. Somewhere to quench her thirst. Some of us know what it's like to have years of drought. In the wooded countryside where I live, we hadn't seen deer for several years. But this year, after the rains, a young buck and a young doe are again grazing the trees and shrubs near our home. There's water again. Have you ever felt like the thirsty doe? We can have a good job, strong family, and even a strong emotional support system, and still be thirsty in our souls. You can put all the food in the world in front of a deer, but unless it has water, the food is superfluous. For we humans, that water is an ongoing friendship with Jesus. He satisfies us deep within, even when everything else is in turmoil. "Where can I go and meet with God?" the Psalmist inquired. Though I've heard people say they worship God on the golf course, I wonder. They're getting a physical and mental refreshment there, but worship? God wants the Church to be an environment in which He can work in the lives of believers. I can recall many occasions when I have sat in church or in a Christian conference I was attending, and as the meeting went on I found God speaking to me. Questions I had been wondering about, problems I had pondered, suddenly began to resolve themselves. Often it had nothing at all to do with what the preacher or conference speaker was saying. I long to see that atmosphere, in which God can work, become more and more powerful in our churches, and in congregations all over the world. Because where God is at work, our thirst is quenched, our dry spells are alleviated, and our soul is refreshed. Are you thirsty? Good. I know where you can find refreshment. It is Jesus alone who is able to quench our spiritual thirst (John 7:37). Dr Ralph E Wilson
California, USA - joyfulheat.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Jesus calms the storm6/11/2022 “A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. [Jesus] was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was a great calm. Then he said to them “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!” (Mark 4:37-41 CSB). Isn’t it interesting how keen human beings are to assess physical danger, and to panic over natural calamities, wondering why God seems so disinterested toward the threat to their lives, while these same people very often are oblivious to the destructive forces that are at war with their souls, and oblivious to the dangers that threaten to destroy them spiritually? In that sense, the roles are reversed from the story of Jesus and his disciples in the stormy sea. Now they are the ones sleeping blissfully in the bottom of the boat, while the Spirit of Christ is the one trying to rouse them – attempting to shake them awake by His eternal Word, addressing them earnestly, “Awake! Awake! Don’t you care that you’re going to die?” Many do wake up to the voice of Christ calling them to faith and repentance. They rise up in time to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved (Romans 10:13 CSB). They hear and experience Christ calming their stormy sea before the ship sinks. They understand they are worth so much more than to continue to be tossed to and fro in the frothy abyss of sin and despair, recognizing they are far too blessed to forsake Jesus Christ their Lord and Saviour, who is the treasure they were always looking for. Toni Babcock
Minnesota, USA - faithwriters.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Sharing Jesus6/10/2022 “For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those that are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (II Corinthians 2:15 CSB) It’s mindful to come into every situation with one primary goal – to share the fragrance of Jesus. Sharing Jesus becomes much easier to grasp if we reduce it to one solitary question in regard to our relationship with God and man, ‘Did I come into this relationship primarily to take something for me, or to leave something for thee?’ Of course, we know what the answer should be if we are sharing Jesus. Jesus came into the world always with the goal of glorifying His Heavenly Father and serving others. Here are a few specific ways he manifested this: He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10 CSB). He came that people might have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10 CSB). He came to be a spiritual light so people who believe in Him would not remain in darkness (John 12:46 CSB). He came to preach the good news (Mark 1:38 CSB). In none of these actions did Jesus come looking for what He could get for Himself. His primary goal was to make life better, fuller, and more spiritually abundant for somebody else. He was able to achieve this of course because He already knew who He was, and He didn’t need to grasp or prove anything. There was no need for approval, nor did he have an insatiable need to enrich his own life. Following our Master, we might examine the reasons we come into any situation. Is it simply to take something for ourselves in order to improve our own life, or is it to serve others and share Jesus? Toni Babcock
Minnesota, USA - info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Be strong in the Lord6/9/2022 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might (Ephesians 6:10). "Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might" is a message that I need to remember. I need to trust in the Lord, not myself, to be strong in the Lord's power, not my own. I know that I am relying on my strength when I am fearful and struggling, trusting in myself instead of Christ. It is only when we realize how weak we really are, that we will turn from ourselves and truly trust in the Lord. Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 BSB). When we abide in ourselves and our problems, we drift away from God. Apart from Christ, we are easily distracted, overwhelmed and defeated, able to do nothing of real value for the Lord or anyone. It is only when we abide wholeheartedly in the Him and the power of His might that the Spirit leads us into fruitfulness. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5 BSB). Jesus must be first in our life. We need to utilize His supernatural life and power that dwells in us. When we see ourselves yoked to Him, we are strong and courageous, walking above our circumstances in His strength, assurance and peace. Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 BSB). Let's focus on the Lord's power and strength so the Holy Spirit can lead us out of fear and into faith. In Christ, all things are possible for those who believe. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5 BSB). Michael Edwards
Florida, USA - faithwriters.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Living the truth of the Gospel6/8/2022 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1 NIV). Why does Paul refer to this sacrifice as our “reasonable service”? Because as believers in the gospel, Christ is living in us! The impossible becomes possible. Not only that, it becomes entirely reasonable. God has provided the life and power for us to fulfill our responsibility which is this: acknowledge the truth and live out what we believe. Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us in his epistle to the Ephesians: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV). This is entirely the work of Christ and we are called to believe and appropriate it through faith. Note that unbelief can take two forms: 1.) A soul can say they do not believe the gospel and make that known by living apart from God. 2.) A soul can say he does believe the gospel and live like he does not believe it. Jesus said, “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. (Matthew 7:21 NIV). The fact is, we live what we believe. What are you believing? Toni Babcock
Minnesota, USA - faithwriters.com; info@grace-lines.net The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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