Jesus

The depth of darkness

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Inspired by a YouTube Praise video

I love to watch praise videos, mostly through YouTube. In recent years, Facebook has also allowed videos to be uploaded, even those that have been linked from YouTube

Having watched and been uplifted by many praise videos, I quite often scroll down to read the comments, while all Christians offer their own praise and thanks to the person who uploaded the video

There always seem to be other viewers (non-believers) who delight in criticising all too often

There are many forms of darkness, not just the darkness of the night. One of the deepest darkness is depression, which wraps itself around your life force and sucks all the joy out of your very being

Dragging you downwards into a spiral of self-criticism, self-doubt, along with self-pity, which uses our own weaknesses against us

Clouding our vision so we begin only seeing the lies of the darkness, exaggerating even our smallest faults and allowing them to grow into nightmarish monsters

 Much of the darkness inflicted upon us can be beyond our control, while some are self-inflicted because they offer false pleasure but become easily addictive

The enemy weaves such a web of deceit all around us; we can so easily become trapped as a fly stuck fast upon its sticky strands. We soon grow weaker through the struggle and succumb to its power over us until we accept the situation as a normal part of life

Since the fall, we seem to have bodies and minds that are far short of what they should be, and our children become affected by the sins of their parents

Many modern people view the commandments as outdated and even unfair, considering it unreasonable for God to expect us to adhere to all of His strict rules.

Uncontrollable anger rages – a sense of hopelessness, self-doubt, self-pity, and perhaps the worst of all, self-indulgence

This we shrug off with excuses, “I’m only human”, “You have to have some pleasure in life”

But deep in our hearts, we know that self-indulgence will lead us into more self-centred behaviour, blocking out our ability to see our desperate need for salvation before we can help others

Whatever darkness threatens to engulf us, let us pierce with praise, that we be freed from the enemy’s clutches, and help and pray for each other to become free through the grace of Jesus Christ

Help me Lord to make a difference!

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New Creation

Even as You have forgiven me and made me a new creation

You have chosen to give me a desire to serve you within my heart

I continue to read Your Holy Word, even though I struggle and stumble

Although many have been presented to my eyes spreading false teachings

Your word is consent and clear shaking me from idle deceptive words that would tempt me back into that darkness which so enslaved my life before You saved me.

In that hellish place of self-torment where I was so unclean in thought and deeds  

Yet You Oh Lord who chose to set me free, for I am willing to do Your bidding, even if others threatened and killed me, for I would rather die than ever go back to that dark place

I will continue to praise You my Lord and serve You, without fear of what men may do

I no longer desire the things this world has to offer, for You my Lord are more than I will ever need

Amen

Lies and More Lies

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First the author of lies and how he deceived Eve

Satan’s first lie “Did God really say you could not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?

“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

More recent lies

Then there are lies told through the internet

“The Bible is a bunch of fairy stories”

Next: The all-time favourite with atheists “There is No God”

 “Jesus is Gay” This lie started circulating many years ago, even before Woke gained attention

“Jesus was gay” Because all of his followers were men” Recently a TikTok user added that phrase to his awful video, attempting to promote the Gay LBQ+ community

(That is Not true Jesus also had a large number of female disciples

Mary Magdalene a former prostitute became a follower

Mary the mother of Jesus travelled with Him throughout His short ministry

Yet more lies

Jesus is portrayed as Korean, a Black man with dreadlocks, as an Indigenous Māori with a full-faced tattoo The most bizarre lie is that Jesus was portrayed as a dark-skinned Woman!

Jesus was just a prophet and He did not die on the cross, it was a substituted man who died in place of Jesus 

Jesus was just another dying and risen God (The theme line of the atheist film

Where they listed other mythical gods from other religions

They claimed all these gods were born of a virgin

In short, this film claimed Jesus was a carbon copy of all these gods

(Whereas not one of the claims had any truth in them)

Woke based lies

“I am my own god I create my own reality”

“God made me this way” based on a excuse for homosexuals & lesbians

Bible Reading Update

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Having finished reading the lifetime of Moses a little while back

I felt sympathy towards Moses after a lifetime of service for God, he was denied entrance into the promised land.

Perhaps this was God’s way of demonstrating the need for the perfect saviour as the only way anyone would be allowed in Heaven.

Moving onwards into the book of Joshua, unlike Moses I knew very little about Joshua

Apart from the Sunday school song “Joshua and the Battle of Jericho” only to find out Joshua went on to conquer many other cities by the sword, unlike his Jericho victory.

Reading later on how Joshua went on to divide the conquered cities for all the tribes of the Lord

I must confess to skipping some of the numerous listed tribes and the lands they were given

I know I must persist in reading His Holy Word daily, even though family life is demanding

Shall I keep reporting my progress, or not?

Perhaps I need to write about other things too?  

What has the darkness to do with the light?

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People love the dark due to their desires overtaking them

Therefore, they dwell in the darkness believing it will hide their sins

Their minds become seared also their hearts are hardened

In this present darkened world, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few

To this extent, gay parades have gathered in huge numbers, in many countries even in unexpected places.

Sucha as in India and here in England there is a gay village in Birmingham city

Jesus said many things during his ministry, but even in his own home town

He was frequently threatened by angry people who at times wanted to stone him

Jesus made it clear to those who would listen

 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Even though Jesus made it crystal clear who He was and why He came

Far too many have become like lost sheep either rejecting God or turning away from Him

Heavenly Father may it please you to use me, unworthy as I am, to bring your light back into this dark world

How do you know you have been forgiven?

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Part of knowing you are forgiven and set free from whatever sin nature has enslaved you

As they are part of the same process, first when you have confessed you are a sinner and in need of forgiveness

You will be given a new heart, not a physical one but a spiritual heart

With which you will begin to desire the things of God

The old things of the flesh will not have a hold on you

As you will be a child of God, and as a real child will need to learn and grow

So, you will begin to grow in the fruits of the Spirit

Even when you face hardships or persecution, the Holy Spirit will dwell within you and you will know Jesus as your Saviour

This knowledge alone will sustain you on your journey in this new life

Reading the Scriptures and praying and preaching the Good News

Become part of this new life, also experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit

Starting with patience, at least with me it was so

Followed swiftly with longsuffering, which I thought was the same thing

Of course, I was wrong, as it is more of the progress of shedding off the layers of old stubborn fleshly desires along with old wrongful habits

Praise

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Based on a Hymn Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty

The second line is “Early in the morning our praise will rise to Thee

That line came back into my memory and inspired me to get out of my bed early as it says

To raise my praise to the Trinity

My praise

Heavenly Farther thank and praise you for the many blessings you bestow on my family and myself

Thank you for the many answers to my prayers

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you were willing to suffer and die on the cross at Calvary, to forgive me of all my sins

May the Holly Spirit continue to transform me into the person you would have me be

Teach me, guide me, inspire me, so that I may bring glory to your Holy name

Thank and praise you for every day you give me breath, that may offer my praises to you

Amen

He Has Risen

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The world celebrates Easter with chocolate eggs and other indulgences

Whereas Christians celebrate the risen Christ Jesus, by proclaiming

“He has Risen”

Knowing that He died in our place so that we may be forgiven

We can truly rejoice and praise Him with every beat of our new hearts  

As the Holy Spirit continues to transform us so that we may bring glory to His Holy name

With every breath and with every fiber of our being, may our praise never cease as long as we may live

To serve our God and Him alone

May this be true of me and every other Christian

Amen

What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?

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For some reason, the phrase “Wait upon the Lord” popped into my mind

As I was unsure, I started searching, because I thought it could mean I need to “Wait on the Lord” by becoming a servant.

Then again it could have meant I need to be patient for God to answer my prayers

Among the search results was this “The world has so many things they want to offer us on an instantaneous silver platter” basically treating God as a genie

The results of my search were the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end

Now I understand I pray the good Lord will help me “Wait upon the Lord”

Even though the fruits of the Spirit take time to grow and flourish, even though I know I have been “born again” and God has given me a new heart.

My flesh still fights against me and attempts to regain control through the evil one who lurks in the shadows of my mind ready to accuse or tempt

I will lift up my praise to my Saviour in thanks for all He has done

For whenever, temptation comes my way I remind myself through grace I am a new creation and the things of my past died on the cross with Christ Jesus

Amen

God of Love and Hate

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While this sounds like a contradiction, especially when we read that so loved the world, He gave His only Son

Since we are all sinners and there is no good in anyone, we all deserve the punishment of hell

But Jesus died for our sins, He freely gave up His own will to do the Father’s will

So that if we admit we are sinners and believe Jesus as our Saviour, we can have eternal life

This is offered as a Free Gift, and can’t be influenced by good work

As a sinner forgiven of my sins and freed from my addiction, I still remember the overflowing joy

I wanted to tell everyone, but of course, the enemy tried to snare me back with lies and reminders of my past, every time he turned up, I reminded him that I was no longer that person from the past

I was a new creation who belonged to God and grateful to Jesus for answering my prayer

As to hate and God, He does not hate in the same we do, for He is LOVE

If He did not, he would not have given up His Son, God provided a way to be saved from our weaknesses and indulgences

 All we have to do is accept His Free Gift, to ask and believe

The enemy soon began dropping the cares of the world onto me, through YouTube videos  

As a new born-again Christian, I was not prepared for the heavyweight these videos bought with them, while at the same time replacing my past addiction to watching videos

One after another I began to feel anger and human hatred, and yet unable till now to be able to stop being drawn in a judgmental state of mind

Jesus although spent His time amongst sinners, he didn’t judge or rebuke them

He either forgave them of keeled them, even though He know all the people would turn against Him and crucify Him

Thus, displaying a far deeper Love than we can even imagine