Jew and Gentile

 

At school this week we are studying the record of the Jewess, Lydia , and the Roman jailer. Both needed to learn about Jesus – the Lord from heaven, once crucified and risen again. Both accepted the invitation to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result they were saved – saved from wasted lives, saved from guilt before God, saved from hell and saved to enjoy heaven in the life to come.

This is the only true solution to Jew and Gentile need today – unreserved faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Only then will true peace be attainable and the waste of lives by war be prevented.

May the Lord of the harvest enable, equip and encourage all who seek to spread this good news all over the earth. And may abundant grace enable believers to be faithful to the Lord Jesus when persecution prevails.

johnmckee@internode.on.net

Are you free

 

Freedom:

This  subject comes up often.

Jesus Christ said – “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”

So many millions in our world are not free!   Why?

   My study and my interactions with many cultures and religions, has showed up evidence of men manipulating and controlling others. By religious brainwashing and demands of ritual adherence with death threats for all who choose to change – this leaves billions of people living in fear. Not so much fear of God, but fear of oppressors, society  and family.

In many cultures, the religious demands transfer into political control and social obligations. Fear gives way to despair and people comply with dictatorial demands for survival. The evidence is that so  many  have rejected Jesus Christ as the Lord from heaven and don’t believe in Him as the Saviour of all people. Those choosing to be different are persecuted and penalised.

What does Jesus Christ the Lord offer that is so different:

1.        He encourages people to believe in Him, with the freedom to choose, or not to choose. To research and understand.

2.       All who call upon His Name are promised deliverance from personal guilt before God and receive Eternal Life instead of hell.

3.       To follow Him is freedom from fruitless rituals and attempts at working for God’s favour – grace overcoming evil (Ephesians 2)

4.      In His kingdom, all are free to do good things with love being the motive to serve friends and enemies. (Matthew 5)

5.       The teachings of Christ are high in expectation, but the choice to obey or not is left with the individual and not enforced by religious police or the like.

6.       Freedom in Jesus Christ is controlled by the motive of love – and love does not harm others.  (Romans 13)

The Lord Jesus illustrated freedom in the stories of the lost sheep and lost son.  Both chose to wander away (freedom to choose), but such was the character of the shepherd and Father – both wanderers were able to find forgiveness and acceptance again. Such is the character of our Lord God expressed so fully in Jesus Christ our Lord.

As I teach citizenship to diverse migrants in Australia, I thank the Lord for freedom to choose, and wish the same for them.

JRM

Does God care

 

The call of Luke 15.

The illustrations given by the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 15 are firstly a call to the followers of the Lord Jesus to act like God.

Does God care about lost people?

1.    One sheep is lost for some reason. It could be like the tax collector of verse 1 – tempted to make easy money.

God reacts as a shepherd seeking his own sheep. They still belong to Him and He goes seeking it until he finds it.

Do we seek lost people like God, who loves all the people of all the world?

2.    One coin is lost – we don’t know how it was lost and like the coin, some people seem of no value to anyone because of the wreckage of sin. But we do know that the coin still had the image impressed by it’s maker. As the woman was delighted to find the coin, so the angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner turns back to God.

Are we available to the Holy Spirit to seek, to sweep, to search until  the lost one is found?

3  One son was lost and we do know that his selfish selfwill was the problem. It was his own fault, so why bother to win him back? God, like the good and gracious father, gives, watches, forgives and restores the one who by rebellion is as good as dead.

Do we care, do we yearn, do we pray, do we forgive. It is so much easier to be like the older brother – to be judgemental and bitter.

The Lord Jesus calls us to “be like our Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:48).

‘Lord, let Your love constrain me to love like God loves.’

 

Then we will be able to rejoice with the angels – a sheep found, a coin recovered, a son restored.

Truth

 

Truth or tradition

Many people believe according to the tradition they have been born into. My studies of world religions proves that.

Some select one tradition over another. Few are willing to ask the question:

“What is the truth?”

Truth about things is like science trying to discover the world we live in.

Truth about people is often gained by reading history. For this education is very useful.

Truth about God seems interesting to most people, but the bias of childhood is very strong.

            To break out of ritual, reciting, indoctrination often involves harsh family treatment. The fear of the unknown, the loss of financial stability, the disfavour of a spouse and the perplexity of where to search creates fear. So many recoil into their traditional upbringing.

 

Seeking the truth :

Th answer is not so complicated  - Look, Read, Speak

Look at the world God has made. The wonder of nature causes us to think about the greatness of the creator. Example – who deigned the human eye? Who wrote the DNA code?

Read books – many books create confusion, so start with a book that historically and morally describes God connecting with humans- the Bible

Speak – listening to and speaking to God actually works. He is not some mute idol or far away deity. He is not far away from anyone of us.

So take time out to think, to read, ponder, and be challenged by the Bible. Ponder John chapter 14, verse 6 – the disclosure of Jesus Christ:

“I am the way the TRUTH and the life”

Truth then appears, not in a religion, ritual, or church. Truth is in a person you can know today.

Enquiries welcome and Bibles free  johnmckee@internode.on.net

Opportunity

 

The privilege of a Christian

-         To be a worshiper of the true and living God

-         To be a follower of Jesus Christ the Lord

-          To be a subject (citizen) in the kingdom of God’s dear Son

-            To be a servant in the promotion of Jesus Name

-              To be a brother or sister to those in His family.

-                To be a herald of His Gospel

-                  To be a conduit of truth in this dark world.

Listening to the voice of Jesus

 

The challenge of scripture to me this morning:

“No one lights a lamp and then hides it under a basket. Instead, it is put on a lampstand to give light to all  who enter the room.”  (Luke 11:33)

And again : “ You completely forgot about justice and the love of God….. you should not leave undone the more important things.”   (Luke 11:42)

“Lord grant me the help needed to shine for You today.”

Jesus Christ - dead or alive

 

Did Jesus really die?

Why is it that millions of people refuse to believe  that Jesus died and rose again?

The evidence that He did die is abundant:

The prophet Isaiah wrote 700 years before it happened that the Messiah (Christ) would die  - Isaiah 53:8. Also Daniel 9:26, Zechariah 12:10.

The historian Josephus records that Jesus was killed by the governor Pilate.

The writers of the New Testament  all wrote of the actual death of Jesus Christ as factual, historical and spiritual reality. To assert (as many do) that Jesus didn’t die, is to say that Peter, John, Matthew, Luke, Paul etc were liars. The ancient manuscripts from east and west attest to the same.

More than the historical record, the death of Jesus Christ is the foundation that makes true Christianity meaningful.

By His sacrifice, millions enjoy forgiveness if sins.

 By His death, millions have been reconciled to God and live in the joy of knowing God as Father.

  By His selfless love in dying for His friends, many are inspired to be self sacrificing for others.

 

Why then do so many refuse to believe that He actually died?

1.    One sentence in a doubtful book says so.

2.    It is humiliating to feel the need of Jesus to die for our wrong doing.

3.    A crucified leader is not a victory for the human ego.

4.    A dead Jesus needs the miracle of resurrection for Him to have any future

5.    A resurrected Jesus would validate the claim that He was and is the Son of God

“Lord have mercy on the millions that deny HIM this honour – that He died according to the command of God (John10), raised again by the glory of the Father (Romans 6:4), to be to Saviour and Sovereign of the world. (1 Corinthians 15:25).”

 

jrmckee149@gmail.com