Baptism

 

Yesterday I was invited to witness the baptism of a young man at Cooby Dam. It was good to see the young man enthusiastic to declare thus, his faith in Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless him abundantly.

 

What is baptism?  - According to the Bible record, it regularly  happened after someone believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. These people were immersed in water as a public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of their life, and Saviour from sin.

 Various New Testament writings can be summarized thus:

   “ I am declaring my commitment to Jesus Christ. I am finished with the old life of sin and selfishness. I choose to live a new life, committed to Jesus Christ as Lord by the help of the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus Christ died and rose again, I want to die to the old life and now live God’s way.”

 

(Read Matthew 28, Acts 8 , Romans 6, Colossians  etc etc)

 

I remember being baptised in the creek (Duck Creek) at age 14. After that my desires to live in Christian ways intensified.

 

Religion has created non Bible rituals and doctrines around the transliterated word.  May God preserve us from deceptions.

Supermarket?

 

God does not operate a supermarket, or insurance company - like finding anything you want and He pays-  NO

God is very gracious and promises to care for what we need, not what we want.

He operates a family, a flock- caring as a father and shepherd.

So praying is

1st honouring Him

2nd thanking Him

3rd depending on Him as going his way

4th seeking blessings for others

 

In fact the Bible in James chapter 4 tells us that He does not respond to selfish prayer- seeking things or positions or pleasure for self.

 

Rather prayer has an order as in Matthew chapter 6

 

Our Father in heaven -praise

 

Your will be done-submission

 

Give us-dependence

 

Forgive us-acknowledgement

Deliver us-weakness

 

The glory -   letting God have the honour and the  praise

 

Read, recite and reflect on this disciples prayer daily. Let the relationship of nearness affect our every decision. Let our response to his love remove self centredness Let humility inspire us to seek the blessing for others. And let the Providence of God make your life worthwhile

 

A good father gives to children wisely-not what they want, rather what they need.

 

-for the children to mature they need guidance and sometimes discipline.

 

A Good Shepherd relates to the sheep by name, they know him, he knows them.

 

He understands their limitations , propensities and needs and with active love and wisdom responds to for their good and His honour.

Worthy

 

My Bible meditation today

2 Thessalonians 1  The lines standing out to me today:

“God will make you worthy of His Kingdom”

“ We are praying that God will make you worthy of the life to which He has called you”

What does this mean?

 

We are all saved by faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. Saved from being guilty sinners deserving hell.   Changed to be children in God’s family.

 

This is God's undeserved favour(grace) to all who turn away from sin (repent), to trust in Jesus Christ the Lord.

 

But God has good plans for his children. His plan is that they should grow and mature into Christians, worthy of belonging to the Lord.  This means a change of attitude- instead of being proud self-achievers, we live by trusting God as our heavenly Father who cares, provides and guides us.

 So we take time to listen to his voice from the Bible

  We take time in quietness to pray . This way we discover the change from wanting things, to being content with what He gives us. He may give us much or little.

 Being worthy, is accepting Him and His goodness without trying to control everything ourselves. It is then that we can praise Him for the good and even the disappointments.

Like Jesus, we can say to God the Father, “your will be done “

 

So we become worthy as a person in the Kingdom of God's dear Son .

We  are then worthy, as a representative of God in this world.

jrmckee149@gmail.com

Let rhe seed of God's word grow

 

Does it make a difference?

 

Does it make any difference?

 

People coming and going at the market – the Bible stall gave away 15 Bibles and 20 Bible plaques plus Gospel booklets.

But why bother?

1.     For the honour of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.

2.     In mercy upon the multitudes that live in spiritual darkness.

3.     To represent, as ambassadors, God revealed in Jesus Christ.

4.     In fulfillment of the Masters word – to be salt and light.

5.     By light resisting the forces of evil.

6.     As encouragement to the many believers from many countries.

 

Yes it worth it all – time , expense, weariness, stress – we as unprofitable servants count it a privilege to serve the LORD thus.

The success factor is recorded  by the accountant in heaven.

Our dominant Bible verse remains:

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,

so that everyone who believes in Him, 

will not perish 

but have everlasting life.

John 3.16

Repent

 

The most forgotten word in public preaching – Repentance

 

“Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does , with grief and hatred of sin, turn from it to God, with full purpose of and endeavour after, new obedience.”   WSC

 

Or in short ‘ Turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God’

 ( 1 Thessalonians 1 )

 

Or  as written in the book ‘The way of repentance’

‘Repentance is the life-saving doctrine to our sleepy and self indulgent age. It is the threshold to a holy God. It is the first word of the Gospel. The sorrow of repentance leads to joy, peace and purpose. It cleans the slate  of a burdened soul’

 

More than regret.

    True repentance opens the way to partake of the abundant grace of God.

Paul preached - Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ

jrmckee@gmail.com

The change HE is able to make

 

Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion, He understood
All I had to offer him, was brokenness and strife
But He made something, beautiful of my life

If there ever were dreams that were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And the hopes for life’s best were the hopes that I harboured
Down deep in my heart

But my dreams turned to ashes
My castles are crumbled
My fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of my life
And laid it at the Cross

 

Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion, He understood
All I had to offer him, was brokenness and strife
But He made something, beautiful of my life
He made something, beautiful of my life