One of the best things about a church fellowship is the variety of the members. In virtually no other setting do you find people of such varying age or experience. Think about it, most of your friends are likely a similar age to you, or in the same season of life. In church though, you could just as easily be sat next to a young family or an octogenarian.
No matter what the age profile of your church, today I am suggesting you identify an individual or family and set about praying for them consistently throughout this week. You might choose someone you know well, or you may decide to select a family you have spent little time with. Either way, make them your prayer mission for the week.
People are generally very appreciative of prayer. I know I need a lot of prayer coverage, and so if someone offered to set about praying for me for a week, I’d be very glad of it.
People appreciate #prayer – I know I do! #Pray for someone this #Sunday #Bible #Jesus #Church
What would be even better though is to let them know. Don’t just pray for them at a distance, tell them that this is what you are doing. You can even ask them what is happening that week that you could specifically pray for. Use your phone or a notebook to write things down if your memory is not all that reliable.
You can pray for the spiritual health of the family, that God would bless their working lives, that the Lord would protect them from harm this week, and that the Holy Spirit would reveal God’s love to them in a new or deeper way. Pray for their health. Pray for their home. Pray for their time with God to be productive and fruitful.
Do not merely ask for things though, remember to thank God for them and for their place in your fellowship.
Listen to what God is telling you too, as He may have a word of encouragement for them.
If you really feel led to, you could keep a prayer journal over the course of the week and present it back to them the following Sunday. What a blessing that would be!
I hope that this exercise will not just be a blessing to them, but it will encourage and uplift you also. What a privilege it is to stand alongside someone and invite the Lord into their lives.
#Pray without ceasing – #Bible #Jesus #Prayer #Christianity
Today I share a timely post from Nicola over at Eaglesight – A blog I highly recommend!
I find myself feeling overwhelmed at the moment, trying to keep up with the demands of life and family. so this reminder in due season that Christ is my anchor and loves me dearly, is much appreciated.
How about you?
Nicola also links to another blog by Alan, which I also encourage you to have a read of.
I woke in the early hours with thoughts racing through my mind of all the tasks I had not done and were overdue. As I went through them one by one I …
We look at a short yet powerful passage from the Sermon on the Mount today. Such verses should absolutely challenge us to look carefully at our lives and ensure we are truly following God and the Gospel.
We read:
21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
To be clear, these are words of Jesus Himself. As with everything the Lord said, we ought not to take it lightly.
Jesus tells us plainly that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In other translations, I believe it says not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will be saved. This is vitally important, and tells us something about what it truly means to be saved. Many people call themselves Christians, and many would say that Jesus is Lord, but is He – really?
Jesus says that only those who do the will of the Father will actually enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Does this fly in the face of the Gospel of grace? It sounds like salvation by works doesn’t it? Calling on the name of the Lord is suddenly not enough, but we must do certain things too to “earn” salvation, right?
I think not.
There is a distinct difference between acknowledging Jesus as Lord and living so, and simply paying lip-service and saying the words. I may have said this before, but it is a good example… I may be a fully paid up member of the local gym, carrying my membership card and even wearing the T-shirt, but if I never go and lift weights, I may as well not bother.
In a similar way, we can go to church, sing the songs, carry a Bible around and more, and yet if our lives do not reflect holiness and obedience, we must ask ourselves if we have truly surrendered our lives to God.
#Salvation is more than just saying words, it is living a life of #obedience #Bible #Jesus #Christianity
When we encounter Jesus, it ought to change us. When we make Him our Lord, that means putting Him in full charge of our lives and not just tagging Him on to our current lifestyle. True submission requires obedience. There can be no other way. It is a silly example, but I cannot claim to be a man of peace if I am frequently getting into fist-fights in the local pub. Likewise, I cannot claim to be a Christian while completely ignoring God’s instructions.
Obeying God’s will, as Jesus sets out above, is not a means to salvation, but a result of it.
Obeying #God is not a means of #salvation, but a result of it #Bible #Jesus
The true Gospel is indeed a Gospel of grace, not something we earn through obedience. God’s grace is freely given, and we need not nor cannot do anything to work for it. However, once freely received, the resulting change in our hearts should be reflected in our lives. Once saved, we joyfully obey the will of the Father in response to His grace. Grace comes first, and the fruit of obedience follows.
Verses 22 and 23 send a shiver down my spine. On that final day when we all stand before God, not all who think they are saved actually are. Imagine that for a moment, imagine being one of those who are told by Jesus, “I don’t know you!” What a terrible thing.
I do not want that to be me, and neither do I want that to be you.
The defence of these people (which is really no defence at all), is that they have 1) prophesied in Jesus’ name, 2) cast out demons and 3) performed many miracles. These are not small things in and of themselves. What this tells me is that not every miracle worker knows Christ, or rather, is known by Christ. Not every prophet, nor everyone who delivers others from demons, is part of God’s kingdom.
So how can we tell?
This is not straightforward to answer in a short blog post. Clearly, the Bible does encourage the use of such spiritual gifts such as prophecy or the working of miracles. Yet my suspicion is that is less about the activity itself i.e. casting out demons, but the motive behind it. Of these three examples, all are very public things. I wonder if it is all too easy to start claiming the credit for a miracle, a prophecy or a demon-deliverance. These are gifts of the Spirit, but there is no mention made of the fruit.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
Many seek the gifts of the Spirit, without seeking the fruit. Jesus said you will know them by their “fruit,” not by their “gifts.” (see earlier on in this very chapter – Matthew 7:15-20)
So what do we take from this?
Firstly, we do need to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. He is in charge, and we must recognise His rightful place in our lives. We must not seek Him as Saviour without also accepting Him as Lord.
If, indeed, He is our Lord, then we must do what He tells us. We will not get that perfectly right all of the time, but in response to the grace we have been given, we take His commands seriously. The better we come to know Him, the more we will want to do this.
We obey, not to earn His love, but in response to it.
When we do obey, it must also be for the right motives. We do not do it to be popular or to seek fame and fortune, but instead we do it for His glory.
As a blogger, I too need to be cautious with this. Do I write to bless people, or do I write to seek their favour? Judging by how often I check my stats, I need to check my motives! How about you?
These are challenging words from Christ, and I encourage you to pray over them in the coming days. I want you to know Christ, and I want Him to know you. When you stand before Him one day, I want you to have full assurance of your salvation. God’s grace is sufficient, and so let each of us respond to it in obedience. Amen
Are you putting something off that you know you ought to be doing?
For instance, have you been putting off your regular dental checks? you may not have toothache right now, and perhaps you just don’t have the time to visit the dentist or want to face the expense at the moment.
Perhaps your car has been making an unusual sound, the occasional whiff of smoke, or even the check engine light has come on. Yet, you have not found the time to visit the Mechanic.
Maybe you knew about a hole in your roof, yet the summer has stretched out before you without a drop of rain in sight.I will fix the roof later, you think, but later never comes. While later may not have come, if you live in the UK, the rain certainly will!
Turning to spiritual matters, perhaps there is a sin or bad habit in your life that you know you need to be rid of.
Maybe you have felt the Lord leading you to pick up your bible more often, or to kneel down in prayer more frequently. later, you think…
My advice to you today is to fix the roof while the Sun is shining! Because you never know when a raincloud may form.
Don’t put things off that you know you need to do now. Do not wait until it is too late!
When the toothache comes or the car breaks down in the middle of the road, you will wish you had taken the necessary steps in advance.
Likewise, when the storms of life hit you, and they will, you will regret not having a firm grasp on your Bible or not having spent more time with the Lord in prayer.
The ultimate example is to put off making a commitment to Jesus Christ as your saviour and Lord.do not put this off dear reader! Get on your knees today and commit your life to Jesus! Do it now, while you can, for later may not come.
Take my advice today, fix the roof while the Sun is shining! And have a great day
This weekend just gone, our family & friends went to a luxury campsite in Norfolk in the east of England. Hence I have not had much opportunity to do any writing!
I’m just sharing a couple of photos from the weekend, and hope to return to normal writing service soon!
You will see in the background of that final photo some Chemical toilets… not exactly my idea of luxury! But we made do!
I’m pleased to report we had mostly sunny weather, and almost no rain! Astonishing for the British summertime!
My only regret is not getting a photograph of myself flying a novelty octopus kite on the beach! We will have to return to recapture the moment!
I’m not sure what it is like where you live, but in my part of the world August can be rather hit and miss for church attendance. This weekend in particular is a bank holiday weekend in the UK, so many are away on holiday or visiting friends or family.
Church attendance can take a hit when this happens, understandably. However, I have also noticed a few visitors to our church over the summer months. We live in an area where holiday makers often visit, and so we occasionally have people join our congregation for just one or two weeks.
I remember a time (before children) where my wife and I went away for a week or two, and while there visited a nearby church for their Sunday service. The congregation were very friendly and welcoming, and it was enjoyable to join with a totally new group of believers in worship. While we did not come away having made lifelong friends with anyone, it made a nice change and just because we were “away” did not mean we were away from worship.
Are you away this weekend? Are you getting away from your normal life for a few weeks? My Sunday Suggestion this week is simply to visit another church while away. We nearly all have phones these days and access to the Internet, so it doesn’t take a huge amount of effort to find a local church and work out their service times. It may be a blessing to them to see some new faces, even for one week, and it may be an encouragement to you too.
I understand that we all have preferences when it comes to churches, and more than just preference, I am not suggesting you join in with just any group calling themselves “Christian.” Clearly, we need to be discerning. If you do visit a fellowship which is not your “cup of tea,” then that won’t do you any great harm. Perhaps they worship with a pipe organ, and you prefer electric guitar. Perhaps they space out their music throughout the service, whereas you prefer to have it all together at the start. The point is not to have everything your way, but to unite with fellow believers and support the Body of Christ in a different part of the world.
There is no one way to worship, nor is there only one way to “do” church. We are connected to the rest of the church, and this is particularly clear when we share in Communion. Visiting a church may feel a bit odd, or even a chore when you just want to enjoy your break, but you never know what God might have in store for you if you do. Likewise, you do not know how God might use you to be a blessing in that place.
If you do choose to visit a new congregation this week, or in the near future, I hope it proves a positive experience for you. Have a great weekend, and if you are away, enjoy your time to rest and relax.
P.S. – don’t forget to mention the blog where you got the idea from!
Welcome to the weekend! Whether you have exciting plans or not, I pray you get the chance to rest and relax, see friends or family, and most importantly spend some time with the Lord.
I have seen a number of new followers in the last few months so want ted to take this opportunity to say a very warm welcome. It is a real honour that you have chosen to follow my writing, and I do hope it blesses you and enhances your relationship with God. Please do share the blog with anyone else you feel may enjoy it, as it really is the best way to get the word out.
You may have already figured out that I am not the most consistent poster! I am trying to be better, but have a rather hectic lifestyle and so sometimes my writing can suffer. If I could post daily with any regularity, then I certainly would, and although it comes in fits and starts, I hope you understand and enjoy it when it arrives!
There are now over 500 posts on the blog, which is amazing to me. Who knew I had so much to say?! Feel free to look around and use the search to see if I have written anything on a particular subject you are interested in.
If you like the blog, then you may also like the 40-day devotional book I wrote a few years ago called – A Journey with Jesus. It is available on Kindle and paperback,and you can also find a large print copy if that suits you better. Click on the Books section to find out more.
If you ever get fed up of reading my words (heaven forbid!) you can always click on the Audio link and listen to my dulcit tones instead. I have posted a number of audio messages and sermons on the site, and like the written blogs, hope you find them interesting, challenging and encouraging too.
Finally, if you have any questions for me personally, or on particular Bible topics, then do reach out. There is a contact form where you can get in touch, and I’d love to hear from you. Find me on Facebook at andy-brown.org and also on Twitter as @andrewbrown100
Welcome aboard, and so pleased you have joined me here. Hope you have a great weekend, and looking forward to getting to know more of you through the comments. I have met some amazing Christians on this blog, and some true friendships. Do connect with people through WordPress as it is a great way to do so.
Andy Brown 