Separate

Our God wants to have a people for Himself; He wants to share His and Jesus' glory (Matthew 16:27; John 1:14) and to have a bride for His son Jesus, a bride holy and pure, without "spot or wrinkle" (Ephesians 5:27; Philippians 2:15). 

Elohim God began "in the beginning" when Adam and Eve were made in their "image and likeness" (Genesis 1:26). We see something of God's glory here, in those early days. Adam and Eve will have known God as "Father", in the same intimate and loving way that Jesus does. They will have "known the Father's business" (John 15:15), and what was "good" and what was "evil" (Genesis 2:9); they worked with Father God during the day and walked and talked together in the beautiful and fruitful garden "in the cool of the evening" (Genesis 3:8).
 
Then came "the Fall" (Genesis 3:11), sin entered the world; "sin" is everything that does not please God. Sin causes separation between humankind and God, the opposite of God's loving desire.
 
Many generations after Adam and Eve, God chose Abraham and made covenant to form a people for Himself, the nation of Israel: "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, His treasured possession" (Deuteronomy 7:6).
 
God cares for "His treasured possession" to this day. We Christians are "chosen" (Ephesians 1:14) to be "different", "holy" (1 Peter 1:16), set apart for our God who calls on His people to look only to him: "I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44).
 
Jesus calls to us: "'Come out from among them, and be separate', says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing. I will welcome you. I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters', says the Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 52:11; 2 Corinthians 6:17-18; Revelation 18:4).
 
I still ponder all this in relation to my life and my worldview; Jesus is growing me into the John He always planned that I would be. Jesus' work continues: "He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber or sleep" (Psalm 121:3).
 
In Old Testament times God saw that His people were being corrupted by their non-Jewish neighbours, (and even by their Kings and those in leadership over them). Do we see something of today in these prophetic Bible words from centuries ago? "Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up" (Jeremiah 18:15-16). Do we give our time and money to what Father God would call "worthless idols", with what is popular or "trending"? I find myself avoiding more and more what our culture presents.
 
Jesus is front and centre of the whole Bible and is the "all" of God (Colossians 1:15-20). (Some say: "He is hidden in the Old Testament and revealed in the New", I found this to be true at Bible College where we were assigned psalms to present as pre-class devotions, I always found Jesus in the psalms I was allocated). It is clear that Father God wants us to look to Jesus in "all things" (Hebrews 12:1-2)). 

I have come to see that Jesus is now in a deep and eternal relationship with me, and through that He has brought me into His Father's family as a son, and into the constant care of His lovely Holy Spirit. My response is to love in return. "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind'" (Matthew 22:37).

I find that I do love our Father and Jesus and Holy Spirit, and also that Jesus is my focus; His humanity and the New Testament stories make Him so approachable. As I read my Bible I can see Him in my mind's eye (Luke 6:19). Now, through Holy Spirit's prophetic gifting, (1 Corinthians 14:1,3), I often see Him, feel His touch and hear His voice (2 Samuel 23:2). Jesus is my friend (John 15:15) and I know this to be true. Even as I write this I am singing "Jesus at the centre".. "Nothing in this world will do".. "Everything revolves around You", (Houghton, Massey, Ranney: 2014).
 
Jess Ray sings: "it may seem too good to be understood, but it's not too good to be true" - we hear her joy as she testifies to her certain knowledge of her relationship with our Saviour and Lord.
 
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5).
 
I see Jesus as front and centre of everything, the "fullness" of God (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:19), and that "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ", (Ephesians 1:3), reveals Jesus endlessly (Matthew 3:17; John 14:6-7), as does Holy Spirit (John 16:14).
 
Jesus mediates a New Covenant for us, a covenant which gives us spiritual closeness to Father, Son and Spirit, a spiritual confidence (2 Corinthians 3:3-6; Ephesians 3:12; Philippians 1:6), an understanding that, although we live in "this present darkness" (Ephesians 6:12), Jesus is with us, we have spiritual authority and can know shalom, God's peace (John 14:27).
 
It may seem that the "powers" in the world, (Ephesians 6:12), are gaining more and more control and influence over us, our societies and our cultures, but we can choose to "abide" in Jesus (John 15:4), and live a "full" and "abundant" life (John 10:10); only Jesus offers this, "by His Spirit" (John 7:39).
 
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3) - note "every", a big word.
 
"You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).
 
When we think in terms of "Jesus", we recognise His desire for intimate relationship with us, each one, and that He has brought us into His "team", (more than simply His salvation and His protection). Jesus is risen; He rules and reigns from the throne room of God; He equips us and commands us to "do the works I have been doing" (John 14:12). This is "boots on the ground" living in faith; there is no guarantee of comfort or glory. We are His "friends" (John 15:15), and also His "servants" (Revelation 19:5): "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28).
 
Paul reminds us: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" (Philippians 4:8), this verse is now on many hearts. See also Romans 13:14.

How Then Should We Live
(Also see post www.psalmsofjohn.com/2023/06/how-then-should-we-live.html)
 
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2).
 
As a Christian I have found a sense of being "foreign" to my old life, but with no desire to "fit back in" with the worldly culture I consciously left behind. This was hard, and still is; we lose friends, some enjoyable activities are now "out of bounds". Happily it is rewarding too, richly satisfying.
 
I have lived in four countries. The early days in each place were exciting and also difficult. Everything was so new, truly "foreign". I assimilated over time; I "fitted in" to the local way of things, and to their kind of "English"; (birth language to all of us but with different ways of speaking, a different idiom or vernacular). I am still "assimilating" into Jesus' "way" (Ephesians 4:13), praise the Lord.
 
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household" (Ephesians 2:19).
 
"And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine" (Leviticus 20:26).
 
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (Deuteronomy 31:8).
 
Testimony
I worked in an office where (I believe) I was the only Christian. I was blessed to be there, work was scarce and the money was good. Still, it was hard. Not only was I new, but I was "different"; I asked that people would stop using foul language in the office. Some became hostile; ridiculing or contemptuous. I was isolated and excluded from much of the comradery of the workplace.
 
Jesus found that work for me, it was not advertised. I was given some interesting and knotty problems to solve, one of which had defeated two programmers before me; my business users were overjoyed with my solution, they had been waiting more than a year.
 
By the time all my work there was finished I had found some welcome. I had opportunity to talk to some of my workmates who were experiencing deep personal troubles; they thanked me and said I was "wise and kind". This was Jesus work, He gave time for "divine encounters"; perhaps these ones saw something of Jesus' love and healing, and "Christ in me, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
 
The job was timely, and the money was welcome for our family. But perhaps I was there for those struggling, so that Jesus could touch them? I survived having to "be separate”; I know that I grew from it; this was, and still is, precious. I was aware that Jesus was "always" with me (Deuteronomy 31:8; Isaiah 60:19-20; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

 
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). 

Thank you, my lovely Lord and friend.

Rick Joyner wrote about a study which showed that about 65 percent of all Americans considered themselves to be born-again Christians, but only 3 percent had a Christian or biblical worldview; viewing the world as Christ does, knowing and adhering to His teachings. [Similar numbers appear in other studies]. These results show how poorly the church is accomplishing Jesus' Great Commission; we are commanded to "make disciples", not just converts, and to "teach them everything [Jesus] commanded us".
 
"Being a committed Christian, being baptized in the Spirit, involves a reorientation of life that is significantly different from the way the ordinary modern person thinks - it is a revolution in outlook on the world [our worldview]. We are able to explain the gospel message in a way that allows people to see how great the salvation is that is being offered, and how great a difference there is between living under the rule of Christ – life 'in the Spirit', and the rule of the world - life 'not in the Spirit'". (Discerning the Times, Part 53, 2009).

 
We are saved from sin and death by Jesus' great and sacrificial work; our salvation brought our "justification" (Romans 8:30), we have been given Jesus' "righteousness" (Romans 3:22), henceforth we are being "sanctified" (present tense continuous), being set apart, separated, for our Lord, (John 17:19). Our salvation is forever. (See Note 1).
 
Go
Jesus said: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
 
Later, Paul declared: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).
 

Our God of all the Creation has plans for each one of us, His people, plans which will require our commitment and dedication. Let us ponder the words of the songs we sing to Him, and our heart and our life (1 Samuel 16:7; John 14:6).

 
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6).
 
"But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you" (John 14:26 Amplified).
 
"Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
 
Jesus said "Come unto me" (Matthew 11:28).
 
My prayer, for all of us, Jesus’ people: "O Lord, you have brought so much to our lives (1 Corinthians 2:12). Go before us please, guide us into a greater commitment to you, your way (Acts 2:42-47), and your work (Philippians 2:13). Let it be clear, both in our selves and in our lives, that we are yours. Amen". 

Jesus' words, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).

Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Note 1. Our Salvation Is Irrevocable
Even now we can be diverted, as we were before Jesus got a-hold of us: "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?" (James 4:4). These are strong words, but they do not mean that we will lose our salvation if we slip and briefly befriend the world.
 
Once we are in our Father's heavenly family we are there forever. Sometimes we see people "fall away" who appeared to be fully part of Jesus "body"; this is a mystery and only Jesus knows. Jesus is "our redeemer" (Ephesians 1:7).

 

Our Bible is clear; once we are "saved" and "in" Jesus' Kingdom, vital aspects of who we are, are changed, renewed:

• Ezekiel 36:26 - He gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit in us; He will remove from us our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh.
• Romans 8:30 - Jesus' plans include our glorification.
• 1 Corinthians 6:19 - Our bodies are now temples of Jesus' Holy Spirit.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 - We are a "new creation", the old has gone.

• 1 Peter 1:23 - We are made new, "born again".
• 1 Peter 2:5 - We are "living stones", a part of God's house.
• Titus 3:5 - He "saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit".

(Also see post www.psalmsofjohn.com/2011/02/lukewarm.html) 

 
Bless us all. Amen.

  

P.S. The photos for this post were taken on Trish and my winter-school-break holiday in the bush a couple of hours South from our house. Lovely, cold but beautiful. A true holiday, Jesus was with us :-)

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"Separate" is now a podcast in Spotify under PsalmsOfJohn

• Public link to podcast

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Amen.

Broken, Now Mended

Trish and I bought a beautiful "love you" mug from a shop which sells Christmas things all year long. Years later the mug was broken. I tried, as carefully as I could, to glue the handle back on; it never looked "right" so when I bought a ceramic cutting disk for my angle grinder I cut off the repair, leaving it (almost) smooth and tidy. We now use our beautiful mug-without-a-handle as our tooth brush holder. It is still precious to us but it is no longer a mug, it is no longer what it was originally made to be.
 
When Jesus takes us, in all our brokenness, he mends us in a way that we become (firstly) more in line with how He purposed every human to be, in His image and likeness, and (second), He makes us more lovely, more precious.
 
When we become Christian we grow in ways we could not have imagined, (see NOTE 1). Jesus promises this; our growth as God's children is a theme in the Bible. The results of our growing are like the results in our planting pots or garden beds at home; the seeds germinate and sprout then grow and grow, until at the proper time, buds form which flower and the flowers become fruit with new seeds. Just so, Jesus makes fruit in our lives by His Holy Spirit. We are blessed to go along and share in what our Lord is doing.
 
Our fruit? "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control .." (Galatians 5:22-23).
 
The Philippian Christians were able to live well because of the outworking of Jesus’ spiritual fruit in their lives: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).
 
Brokenness And Lost-ness
I now know many people who work in social services or are studying because they want to work with people. There is great need in this field. This need is despite our society being one of the most affluent in all the world and in all of history. Western Australia is resource rich and there is near full employment. The problems come, I believe, from our increasing personal independence from one another, and this is made possible by material abundance. Sad but true. That and the growing "me, me, me" narcistic nature of our society which is fueled by "popular" media: movies and TV, and the immense forces of social media.
 
At a men's breakfast last year, a school chaplain declared that he saw "the biggest single problem in the world is screen time for young people", he went on to say that many of today's young generation will grow up incapable of independent thought. Their opinions are dictated by "influencers" and "celebrities" they will never meet or talk to face-to-face. They are morally paralysed by pornography which is ever present even among school children. Many under twenty-five have decided to never have children; they accept as fact that the known world will soon collapse because of "climate change". Sadly, these same people are unable to define "climate change" in practical terms or even describe how our climate has changed in the past decade or so. But they have been taught to be afraid.
 
Many people today, particularly the young, do not know who they are. They cannot give meaningful answers to any of the Four Big Questions which have been asked by billions of people over the centuries:
1.  Who am I?
2.  Where did I come from?
3.  Why am I here, for what purpose?
4.  What will happen when I die?
 
I see that all this is where so much brokenness and lost-ness come from, and why we have an epidemic of depression and anxiety and our rates of suicide are so frighteningly high. 

Kintsugi is a Japanese art of pottery where broken things are carefully, lovingly and beautifully mended with a mix of gold and resin. Then, instead of being discarded, the treasured article can continue to be useful. It is now more precious because of the work of repair, and from the cost of the gold. We see this beauty in the (I believe public domain) photo.
 
Answers
I am sometimes reminded that answers, even simple suggestions, are always better than cries of disaster. Happily, I see two big answers to these problems.
 
My first answer is "Jesus". At Bible college our theology teacher told us: "during your years here I will ask you many questions: the answer to every question will always be 'Jesus'". I have learned that our teacher spoke truly. It can take a long time to accept this, but O the joy when we do: "For in [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:16).
 
When we truly have Jesus in our heart we are "born again" (1 Peter 1:22-23). From this our God, (for He does become "ours"), becomes our Father, the world's only perfect father (Galatians 4:6), and also our Lord and our Master (Matthew 28:19-20). He wants us to become available to Him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, ready to obey His calling, His will. Jesus will lead us saying "follow me" (Matthew 4:19). I have found this to be freeing (John 10:1-4; Galatians 5:1). Even though I am bound with many earthly constraints, I learn to live free despite them as I actively work at following Jesus (John 8:12).
 
My second answer is: "seek". Do not give up and just go along with the world. Seriously seek. We are facing a generational epidemic. Thankfully many testify that when they were seeking truth, they found Jesus, and through Him, freedom (Galatians 5:1).
 
What do I mean by "seek"? We can seek with our mind and with our spirit:
 
Seeking with our mind: Everyone can do this. We don't have to be super clever, simply keen and persistent. The seeking is working out what is fact, what is truth, and taking it from there. This is something I have always loved to do, it comes easily to me and I enjoy the challenges. I get huge help by reading and listening to some of the great writers and teachers of science and of Christianity whose intellect has led them to only one conclusion: that a loving, personal God created everything and included them in it, and also sent His Son as Saviour so we all can be rescued from our guilt and shame, our brokenness.
 
Do you love to hang around with friends and discuss the world? I still do and have done since Boy Scout camps, and later in coffee bars when we were still too young to buy beer, (We could make one coffee and a toasted sandwich last an afternoon!).
 
The big thing here is to look at all the foundations and underlying assumptions behind an idea or argument. We can ask: "What are the building-blocks of this idea, this theory? Are they solid and provable? Are the underlying assumptions reasonable, or simply ideas, leaps of faith? What has been shown to be empirically true about this concept?"
 
It may be good to also ask: "Is there strong disagreement among experts on this subject?" And then to look at both sides. I look for leaps in logic and also for ridicule in the language, these are big tells of poor analysis.
 
(Evolution is a good subject to check out; we are often told that all life evolved from nothing, but I have never found any believable evidence to support this theory. See NOTE 2)).
 
I was not good at high school science because I am not strong in mathematics. But I am good with ideas. I have found that even complex scientific, engineering or social ideas can be explained clearly in simple and complete terms. Many things that I now believe to be false are always described with big underlying assumptions which have no clear foundation, they are still unproven after years of effort by thousands of clever people. These are nothing more than ideas even though they may be widely proclaimed as fact.
 
We are also seeking what everyone needs, an understanding of what is there, what is above and beyond what we can see and touch, the precious intangibles: life, love, beauty, freedom, joy, empathy, forgiveness, compassion. And also those mysterious or spooky things: déjà vu and premonitions (seeing events before they occur), fire dancing without injury, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, knowing that you are being watched, telepathy (thinking of someone immediately before they call you, or before a big event in their life). Answered prayer too, where neither doctors nor science can explain a prayed for change.
 
Scientific discussion does not include these things, (certainly not to explain them), even though most people know them to be real. The spiritual world is real, these phenomena all impact our lives because they affect our spirit.
 
The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 and 2 that God spoke and His power, His energy, created all the matter in the universe; (from this I can understand the basis of Einstein’s formula E=MC²). Then life came into the world on God's breath, He spoke and from His life we see life. God is uncreated yet creative, eternal, relational and loving. We see this in Himself: Elohim, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, eternally loving and sharing within the God-head and from there to the whole universe.
 
If people do not know our beginnings, we can see why there is so much doubt, fear, anxiety and depression in the world. Such not-knowing is very hard on our inner person who sees that something essential is missing, so we lose our peace.
 
Seeking answers from God: The other way of seeking is spiritual, everyone can do this too. It is simple, find a place where you can be alone and other people cannot hear you, then cry out to God. You don't even have to believe that He is there. Speak quietly or yell out loud, something like: "O God, if you are real please show yourself to me". I have heard many testimonies where God has answered a cry like this; the people are so happy to share their story! Also, many people have found God and His Son Jesus by reading the Bible which is the "living Word" of God (1 Peter 1:23).
 
(Today I was exercising at our local pool. A friend and I were talking; "the human spirit", (Proverbs 20:27), came up as we marveled at the wonderful way people responded together after the big 2010 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Where did the human spirit come from? Is it real? If the "human spirit" is not spiritual, what is it?)
 
Brokenness

Things break when they fall. The world is fallen, it is broken. People everywhere are now saying that they see this. The big "Fall" occurred when human beings first sinned, when Adam and Eve went against God's will. Sadly, every human since then has also been a fallen sinner (Romans 3:23), we recognise this in our self. We remain sinners until we are "saved" (Matthew 1:21). Only Jesus can mend this brokenness, it seems to me that He does so by saving one life at a time, we then become His people and are set free (John 3:16).
 
Mending: God's Power At Work
One testimony I know well is from a couple who were in London where the husband had a one year work assignment. The couple had been brought up Buddhist. He became very ill and the doctors warned them that he may die. The wife cried out: "Jesus, you God of these English people, if you heal my husband and give him back to me I will serve you with all my heart, all my days". Radical stuff. Almost immediately the husband began to get better, the hospital people were amazed at how soon they were able to release him and he could return to work.
 
The woman investigated Christianity and found it difficult. But she had spoken to God once and been given a miracle; she felt she could talk to Him again. She persevered and Jesus did reveal Himself to her in ways she could not deny. For decades now this lovely wife and mother has led a vibrant and effective healing ministry. Her husband wanted nothing to do with the promise she had made to the God he did not know, but later came willingly to Jesus as he saw his wife change and grow as a person, and as he saw miraculous healings and restorations from her prayers. The couple continue to testify to Jesus' love: "because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake" (1 Thessalonians 1:5). 

I flew (on a test flight of a new Boeing 747 airplane) over Mount St Helens in Washington State not long before its spectacular 1980 eruption when there was vast devastation; great areas of landscape were suddenly and radically changed. Now, just a few decades later the area is again thriving and beautiful. How does this happen? God mended it. Not "nature" or "time"; nature and time have no will, volition or power. Jesus our Creator God mended it all (Colossians 1:17).
 
We are here on the earth to share with God and to reflect who He is. But, being born into a fallen world, we start life "dead in [our] sins" and "by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:1-3). Is there some way to be mended, to be redeemed, to get past our guilt and sin?
 
Yes, Jesus came to save us!
 
How can we our-self be mended? God always looks to our heart; our heart reflects our spiritual and emotional state. Our heart knows when we are living with something which is not true. Jesus can mend us from guilt and shame, from brokenness from life, from bad memories, even from the effects of traumas, addiction or evil spirits. So many people happily testify new freedom because Jesus helped them.
 
This is why I focus so much on Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus is truth, (John 1:14, 17; 2 John 1:3). So I am always seeking truth as I spend time with my lovely Lord.
 
O Lord Jesus, thank you, we see your glory ".. the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
 
Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6).
 
"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free'" (John 8:31-3).
 
"When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father - he will testify about me" (John 15:26).
 
"Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths" (Psalm 25:4).
 
"Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws" (Psalm 119:43).
 
NOTE 1: 

When I was a boy I was sickly for a time. My mother encouraged me to read, she would come home with books from the library. I did not like them. One day she brought home a "Swallows and Amazons" book and I was hooked. I have read every book in that series two or three times and have devoured thousands of books since. I so loved reading I just knew that I wanted to be a writer "when I grew up". So I tried. I read many author autobiographies and learned that the best writers seemed to have learned their craft by writing, not by going to university or taking creative writing classes.
 
I tried to write short stories a number of times, the people who reviewed my efforts all said I should do something else for my work, so I gave up the idea. Since then I have written many, many letters, and possibly hundreds of business reports and user manuals while working in IT.

But it was Jesus who got me writing, for Him, from my heart, for life, for joy. He gave me PsalmsOfJohn.com, He gives me all the topics for these pieces, and He helps me write them. Jesus gave me a gift of what I loved but was beyond my reach.

(When I was half awake this morning Jesus reminded me about our "love you" mug .. so lovely; I have simply written what He has given me).
 
Authors often give sincere thanks to their editor. Jesus is my editor, nothing gets posted until I am sure that Jesus is happy with it, that it is on topic, complete, gracious, and useful for discipling others. I am so very grateful. He and I have now been working together on PsalmsOfJohn since 2010, and have begun podcasting the articles beginning last year. It is the most satisfying and fulfilling work I have ever done! Thank you Jesus.
 
NOTE 2: 

"Evolution, akin to religion, involves making certain a priori or metaphysical assumptions, which at some level cannot be proven empirically" (Renowned Canadian science philosopher Dr Michael Ruse). If people could prove that evolution is true then there is no need for a Creator, nor any power to guide and sustain the universe and all life from minute to minute and day to day. But once we conclude that evolution is a falsehood then we surely need our God, the God who we know is there!
 
Dr Ruse likens evolution to a religion, I now believe that it is one, that evolutionists have made an idol of the theory of evolution and worship there. I now turn the sound off when I watch those lovely nature shows on TV, I neither want to listen to, nor participate in their faith journey.
 
(As I type this, I am remembering the song: "When I rise in the morning, give me Jesus!") 
 
Millions of people have come to Jesus by working out that:
• Everything had to start somewhere – true, from all the laws of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and biogenesis.
• The complexity, compatibility and symbiosis of life had to be designed and carefully built – true in line with the rules of logic.
• Love, like all the other intangibles, is real – true, according to the observations of every person who ever lived.
• DNA could never have spontaneously formed – true, DNA is itself a design and construction tool which occurs in every cell in every living thing.
• People are made differently from every other creature – true, we have a spirit, just like our Creator who is Spirit (John 4:24). Also humans are creative, just as God is (Genesis 1:1); we make bread, bridges, buttons, books, baskets, boats. And bats and balls for fun.
 
"Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:19-20).
 
Praise Jesus. Hallelujah! Amen.
 
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Joseph and Mary

Christians delight to remember how the God of all Creation came to Earth and lived among us, He was given the name "Jesus" and grew up in a family just like us. One of His names is Emmanuel; this means "God with us". It is so lovely that, at Christmas time, we celebrate Jesus' birth; I have great memories from childhood until now.

 
This last December, during her quiet time, Trish spoke to me: "How hard it must have been for Joseph and Mary", she said, "they had to face one hugely impossible event after another, yet they pressed on, they believed God, and they knew that there was no need for fear". Trish is my wife, life companion and mother of our children.
 
In the weeks since then I have been pondering Joseph's and Mary's adventures from that time, and marveling in my heart.
 
Jesus' birth story is told in two of the four Bible Gospels, Matthew and Luke, each one with its own emphasis. As I read and re-read the accounts I am surprised at the focus on God's presence, again and again, as events unfolded.
 
Ancient prophecies came to their fulfillment. God spoke to many different people through dreams and through angels. Holy Spirit was present to them and impacted their lives, first in Zechariah and Elizabeth, (by miraculously giving them a baby late in her life), and then by "overshadowing" Mary in what will have been a sudden and shocking way.
 
I am amazed that in every case, the people responded so gracefully. Zechariah seems to have accepted that God would make him speechless because of his unbelief. Mary "knew" in her heart that she was "highly favoured" by God Himself that she would bear His Son, the promised Messiah for all of Israel. We can understand Joseph’s sense of betrayal at Mary’s pregnancy, then how beautiful was his acceptance and agreement when the angel spoke to him. Such unexpected upheavals of lives, yet the people found peace in their hearts, such extraordinary faith!
 
This profound God activity was after a period we know as "the 400 years of silence" when God said nothing, prophesied nothing, and was not present to Israel for about fifteen generations; they knew themselves to be God's chosen people yet He had left them to themselves since the time of Malachi.
 

Then Caesar declared a census. This meant that Joseph would have to take his new family to Bethlehem to be counted. Joseph was a carpenter, a low income person, such a journey would have been hard financially, and the timing could not have been worse because Mary was well along in her pregnancy. They found no accommodation in Bethlehem except a stall in a barn with the cows, chickens, dogs and donkeys! Then Mary gave birth there. Imagine, Mary's first baby (who God had said would be King and Saviour to His people) being born like this, we do not even know if any family were there to help.
 
Yet the peace of God was with the young couple and with everyone involved.
 
Near by, some shepherds were "overjoyed" to see Jesus’ special star in the sky and to hear the angel tell them of His birth; the Bible accounts suggest to me that the shepherds were expectant and I ask: How? Why at that time? And why did God use lowly shepherds, another of the "ordinary" people He chose, (and not the priestly people or Jewish or Roman leaders)? The three Magi too were miraculously told about the birth and were thrilled to be involved; they were foreigners, not Israelites whose King had been born, foreigners. Then Joseph was told to escape with his wife and baby to Egypt; not a favoured destination for Jewish people in those days, but they went.
 
We see  radical yet willing obedience. To me it as an example of God's people pressing on with life because they know that they are inside God's will for them.
 
Joseph and Mary experienced one shock after another after another. God was always clearly present, He was the key factor in all of this. God Himself was working out His plan, a plan He had had in mind since before time began. This is what I find so thrilling about these Bible events with so many (mostly) very ordinary people.
 
In recent years and throughout the world we are all seeing frightening / negative / shocking changes and events involving all of us. Yet we know from Scripture, and so many testimonies, that Jesus is with us, even as He was with Joseph and Mary so long ago.
 
Praise Jesus that His work never ceases: "Jesus answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I am working'" (John 5:17).
 
These Bible accounts are all about people, about relationships and how God reveals Himself and brings our lives into His great eternal plan. I treasure my time with my Bible as I see how we can relate in our lives and relationships today.  
 

More Than A Lifestyle
Christianity is more than a lifestyle, it encompasses all of life. Jesus gives us new life and comes to us as our Lord and Saviour .. I see that both "Lord" and "Saviour" are very big words.
 
I now see things with new eyes and new heart:
 
Love is an essential for a full life. My testimony is that I knew love from when I was a boy, and more so when I met and married Trish, then again when Jesus came to me, and again with my being able to call Father God Abba. My knowing of love grew and grows still. It adds to all my earthly relationships and how I see life.
 
When we have love we need little else. At this campground by the sea where I am writing, there are two families tenting, they have three generations there and perhaps eight little children, one just a few months old. The families are close, all the grownups love all the children. Anyone can see that the children are free and safe; they know they are always loved and cared for. The children may tumble and hurt them-self, but this doesn't matter, they are immediately cuddled and reassured, the love surrounding them is unconditional. Camping is living close, in this closeness the children see the grownups love for and acceptance of one another. This is another form of assurance to them. (The seagulls love these families’ meal times, they feast off the children’s scraps!)
 
We Westerners have been taught, over the past two or three generations, to be almost entirely materialistic. Love is better. God's love for us, from Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, is endless and without limit. It flows by grace. It flows and is the mortar, the glue which cements relationships. For me, this is a treasure which came from my lovely Jesus.
 
Newness of Life – Christians are made new, we are born again. Many people live with guilt, shame, lack - they feel lost. A part of becoming Christian is that Jesus' Father becomes our Father and we are "born again" (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23) and set free from the condemnation our sins deserved (Romans 8:1-4), we come into a refreshing "newness of life" (Romans 6:4). This changes our whole perspective, our worldview. We come to identify with Jesus, rather than with the world. Re-reading Ephesians Chapter 1 and Colossians 1:1-20 reminds me of all this. I turn to these chapters often.
 
Spiritual Awareness: Trish and I became Christians during a great time of renewal. We were thrilled to see the spiritual world impacting on "our" world, our physical world where there was much trouble, sickness and pain, and where so much was transient or temporary. We saw that Christians were different, also that they would pray and people would be healed. This was Jesus' spiritual gift of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9). We saw all of Jesus’ spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) at work among us. This became clear to us. True.
 
Sometimes someone would share a word with me, or with Trish; they spoke about things they could not know in the natural, true and important things which helped us and encouraged us. This was the spiritual gift of "word of knowledge" (1 Corinthians 12:9), or of "prophecy" (1 Corinthians 14:1,3-4). These gifts do not make us a prophet, an Isaiah or a Haggai, but they do enable us to hear what God has to say for us, or for another. God loves everybody and wants to communicate and lift us up, to encourage and help us, and to show people that He loves them, each one (Psalm 139:17; Daniel 2:22; Amos 4:13).
 
"But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'" (1 Corinthians 14:24-25).
 

Joy is a fruit of God's Holy Spirit. The different fruits grow in us as we grow in Jesus. Our Western culture teaches us to seek happiness. Happiness is different from joy, it is often fleeting, it comes and goes. Joy can live in our heart even when circumstances are tough for us.
 
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
 
These fruit add to us and make us more human and more Christ-like. We become able to get along in all the busyness and troubles of life. This may explain why Christians are keen to testify to others about the lovely changes they experience as their healing and understanding grows.
 
Working with Jesus is another treasure for me. I had been a believer for years when I began to see that Jesus expects me to work with and for Him, here on the Earth. While He was here Jesus ministered with great compassion, generosity, power and grace, all coming from love. Now He is with our Father in Heaven and He wants us carry on His work in this very needy and hurting world.
 
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
 
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12).
 
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8).
 
Prayer is a constant with Jesus, "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them" (Hebrews 7:25 - note the present continuous tense). As I have grown in Jesus I have learned to love prayer. I am still not sure I know how to "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18), but I pray many times each day and regard prayer as a vital and satisfying part of my life work, praise Jesus.
 
Prayer works. We see results, sometimes spectacular and always thrilling. Prayer is part of our Christian adventure. Payer is integral: "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding" (1 Corinthians 14:15). See also Matthew 6:9; Matthew 21:13; Luke 6:28; Luke 18:1; Romans 8:26; Romans 12:12 (and more).
 
The Way
Early Christians called their new kind of life "the Way"; they testified as to how their lives changed once they had come to Jesus. He previously said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
 
I believe that Joseph and Mary understood that this was so; they, and Zechariah, Elizabeth, Anna and Simeon had a foretaste of the new life of faith, of being available to Jesus, and being ready to be obedient. We see this in committed Christians throughout history, and we saw it first in them.
 
When I have doubts or am confused at the state of the things, I am encouraged and remember that I too am on "the Way", pressing onward with Jesus and the people He has put me amongst. I love to remember the belief and faithfulness we see in God, in His Son Jesus and the angels and in the people He chose to share in His wonderful incarnation. So also the story we read every year where Joseph and Mary shine and reflect our Lord (Matthew 5:16). Such a lovely demonstration of His love, power and grace to us, even all these generations later.
 
Praise Jesus, Amen. 
 

 

The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
 
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

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God Has Thoughts For You

Growing in Jesus is awesome. I find that I am often encouraged because I have been given a new and brighter view of life by Holy Spirit. The newness and brightness comes because I see that view in the light of Jesus.

Lately I have been pondering the reality that God thinks about me, about each one of us. The Bible makes it plain, over and over again, that God, who we know as Father, who has the whole Universe and billions of people to manage, thinks about me (and you) so often that David said His thoughts "would outnumber the grains of sand" (Psalm 139:18). I am able to share in King David's delight as he wrote his psalms, in knowing how God was thinking about him.
 
"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count" (Psalm 40:5 NASB).
 
"How precious concerning me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand .." (Psalm 139:17-18).
 
I am writing this at our favourite camp site by the sea in our Southwest. Soon I will walk along the shore as the sun goes down, I will come away with sand all over my feet and will be thinking about God's thoughts. Just on my feet will he hundreds and hundreds of grains; how many are there on this one shore? O Lord Jesus, how wonderful!
 
This is inspiring to me, very affirming. Somehow I am assured that I belong, that I should be here, right where I am. And also that I am heading in Jesus' right direction for me, towards the ".. knowledge of the Son of God, becoming mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).
 
God Himself has thoughts about me, about you. Many English Bible translations use the word "plans", and the Amplified who want to be truly clear, says "thoughts and plans". God's thoughts are continuous since before we were born (Galatians 1:15). I am only just recognising this. His thoughts concerning me are not angry or judgmental thoughts about the rotten things I have done. No, He has forgiven those and they are now "behind His back" and "as far as the East is from the West away from Him".
 

"'For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope'" (Jeremiah 29:11).
 
This is very good news. This means that all the other "not good" thoughts which come to my mind are being placed there by someone who is not God; that "someone" can only be Satan so I can immediately cast them off (2 Corinthians 10:5).
 
All this helps me to understand how God is .. He throws His shadow over us, each one, His covering, His tent, His care and thoughts and plans.
 
God is For Everybody: Even as we pray for and care for one another we are sharing in the thoughts God has for those people. We may think of the people of Israel at this time as they are being attacked by Hamas. But even more, God's thoughts are for all the billions of people in the world, each one separately. His thoughts may be for every Israeli but at the same time God has thoughts and plans for us, and for each of the Hamas militants and those supporting them, morally, spiritually or financially.
 
God's Bigness: For months I have been pondering how big God is; times like this help me see that His bigness is beyond imagining and is simply awesome, (also, they help me to know "fear of the Lord"). When we get a touch from God, when something supernatural happens which we know can only have come from Him, we know that at that very moment He is especially thinking of us. Then we realise that He will have had many thoughts for us leading up to this moment; he hasn't just helicoptered in to help now and then will fly off to help someone else. No, Jesus assures His people that He is "with you always" (Matthew 28:20), with everyone, all the time, awesome!
 
The Lord's Prayer: Now is a time when people are remembering the Lord's Prayer, I am encountering this everywhere I go. This is a collective prayer, and also Jesus teaching each one of us to pray to "Our Father". We call out to our Abba Daddy to "give us this day our daily bread", asking Him to think of us and everything we need to sustain us, "spirit, soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23) as He has covenanted to do (Luke 12:22-34). The Lord's Prayer is for everybody on Planet Earth, because Father God is Father to us all, even unbelievers; He created us, each one, for His own purposes, even when we are wandering in a wilderness away from His path (Luke 1:79).
 
God's Spiritual Gifts To Help Us: Jesus wants us to share in His work on the Earth. This is spiritual work; He gives us spiritual gifts.
 
Note: You may have been taught that the spiritual gifts described in the Bible are not for today but were only for the apostolic age while the church was being formed. I have studied this teaching and find it wanting. What I find clearly stated in Scripture is this: Jesus helped many during His three ministry years on the Earth. He performed all kinds of miracles for all kinds of people as He saw our Father leading. After being crucified and rising from death Jesus told His people, (not just the disciples and later Paul), that He would soon leave them to be with our Father in Heaven and that He would send another "helper", "advocate", "comforter", God's Holy Spirit (John 14:15), to empower the believers so that they could carry on His work here and even do "greater works" than He had done (John 14:12). We are to "go into all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20) and do this, having "rivers of living water" (John 7:38) flowing from us to bring "salt" and "light" to others (Matthew 5:13-14). My understanding is that the "greater works" are possible because we are many millions in number and can minister in countless places to vast numbers of people at the same time; Jesus, in His humanity, was only at one place at any time. (See 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14, Hebrews 2:4 and more).
 

Here is a lovely testimony:
 
For a long time, my wife Trish and I studied under a couple who taught Jesus' spiritual gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:10; 14:1,3). We were taught to listen with our spiritual ears (and an open heart), and to hear God speaking, sometimes for ourselves and more often to "strengthen, encourage and comfort" other people (1 Corinthians 14:3). The teaching couple had seen that the prophetic gifting is a theme in the Bible, but not often seen among Jesus' people in our city in our time. They sought out teaching for themselves, being careful to choose teachers whose theology and lives were clearly Bible based and centred on Jesus. The prophetic is a Holy Spirit gift, and Holy Spirit always reveals Jesus.
 
We were called the Eagle School Of The Prophetic and we all grew over those years; we saw miracles as Jesus' love and life were imparted to a great many people.
 
For several years one lively local church would hold a week of tent meetings by the river in the centre of our city. Besides the big marquee tent there were smaller ministry tents, one was for prayer for healing, another for tea, coffee and cool drinks, (we would bring home-made muffins and scones to go with people's cuppa), another may hold helpful Christian resources, mostly to be given away. Our tent was for people to come and hear what God had to say to them, their own personal word from Jesus. Trish and I were part of this ministry. We saw miracles, we saw Paul's words come to life: ".. our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
 
One man came to us who was a surprise; he was clearly very well off, his bike would have cost thousands and his Lycra and sunglasses hundreds more. He was not Christian and told us that he did not know why he had come to our tent. We were in small teams. Sometimes the person coming to us would share their story but often they would not know what to say or to ask. This man was quiet. We all sat for a few minutes then the person whose turn it was to pray prayed a simple prayer asking Jesus to let this man know His word for him. After a brief silence one of us spoke and drew a clear word picture, then the next spoke a different picture, then the last of our trio, once again, spoke a third different picture. Immediately I saw that all three pictures for this man contained the same message: the man was much admired and had great worldly success but his personal life and his relationships were empty; all the precious things of life seemed to have passed him by; Jesus knows and understands isolation and loneliness and was ready to come alongside this man and bring him into His life and His family of believers.
 
The man cried, great deep sobs. It was so good to hug him, here was new life. This man now knew that he was in God's thoughts and His love. We passed him on to another person who was gifted in presenting Jesus' gospel and suggesting ways that people can find a suitable local church. That man left our tent with a much lighter step than when he arrived. Jesus had been love and salt and light to him by using us (Matthew 5:13-14; John 7:38).
 

That man had told us that he did not know why he had come to our tent. I believe that our Father sent him there so that He could "reveal His thoughts" to Him (Amos 4:13), and begin to give him a "full life" (John 10:10).
 
We often saw tears it that tent, and in the many other times we ministered Jesus in this way, we also saw great joy as people heard the thoughts God had for them; God was waiting until the person inclined their ear and was ready to hear. We were simply Jesus' servants. Every Christian can see Jesus at work in this way: ".. with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction". We were, and still are, available, we have learned from the Bible and the vast Christian literature, we listen and obey. This is very satisfying work (Ephesians 2:10), bringing God's thoughts to our neighbours and our brothers and sisters (John 13:34; Romans 13:8; Galatians 6:2).
 
Recently I was in a devotion with friends. One of us began by saying "God is truly relational", (she is a very relational person, thoughtful, kind and a great mixer). We all nodded our heads, "yes, we see the same thing" we seemed to be saying, "we all see this in our Jesus". I find it hard to make friends, even to mix in a crowd of strangers is so difficult; I see myself as being shy but also as trying to be helpful and to show Jesus' generous heart that He has given me. So I am excited about the "thoughts" verses I have been finding in my Bible; God's thoughts for us are completely part of who He is and who we are in relationship with Him. God created the Creation so that He could be relational towards something "other" and share His glory (Jude 1:24). That "other" is us, people, humankind.
 
All this encourages me to keep going, to keep walking in Jesus and continue in fellowship with His people. "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6-7 ).
 
Eternally God "is", He calls Himself "I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Father, Son and Holy Spirit are eternally loving, giving, sharing. This relationship within the Godhead is so special it has its own name, "perichoresis". Now God includes us in His love and thoughts. We are "born again" (1 Peter 1:23) into Jesus and His church where we learn to get along together, to "one another" one another, "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
 
Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses
 

"He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals His thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth - the Lord God of Hosts is his name" (Amos 4:13).
 
"May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word" (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

 
"See to it that no one takes you captive by hollow philosophy and vain deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8).
 
"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
 
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink" (1 Corinthians 12:4-13).
 
"Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.  For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.  But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort" (1 Corinthians 14:1-3).
 
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!
 
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New Covenant: Me?

I ask, am I a New Covenant person? There are many references in the New Testament which tell of how we are to "be" as Jesus' people; I try to appropriate these into myself and my life.

Many times I have encountered Jesus. More than once He has intervened and saved me from drowning or dying in a hospital. I have been in awe when He has hugged me. Countless times He has spoken to me. I have often seen Him smiling at me or have felt His hand on my shoulder, or a gentle punch on my arm - as guys do. Once I saw Him dancing, it was as though He was on a glass floor above us, dancing for joy as we all sung our hearts out to Him at a Christian camp in the hills near here.

 
I talk about Jesus all the time. Some people talk about "God" a lot. Not me, I talk about Jesus. I am Christian and believe that this name means that I am "of Christ", I also believe that He has made me of Himself. I am saved and am firmly in His family. I am continually being shaped and grown by Him, His Holy Spirit, and His Father, and will be until I die and go to live with Him in heaven (Ephesians 4:12-13; Philippians 1:6).
 
Everything I have experienced of Jesus completely lines up with what I see of Him, and of our triune God, in the Bible.
 
There came a time when I knew I needed to make a change in me. My spirit needed to wake up and be available to Jesus. It was not enough that I assented to the truth about Jesus and the Kingdom of God, my spirit had to assimilate into His Kingdom; I needed to become a more spiritually aware person and allow Jesus to form relationship with this new me. I had to know what Paul found: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). I had to learn to listen for what Jesus wanted to ask of me, and be ready to obey Him. Sometimes I think I am getting somewhere with all this ..
 
Now, despite the growing evil and chaos in the world, I know joy and am at peace.
 
Here are some New Covenant things Isaiah never heard God say:
 
• "Your sins are forgiven" (Matthew 9:2; Luke 7:48)

• "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)
• "You are a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• "You are born again of God's Holy Spirit" (John 3:3-7)
• "You are my child" (John 1:12-13; 1 Peter 1:23; Galatians 4:7)
• "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• "You are in the Father and in the Son Jesus" (John 17:20, 21)
• "I have set you free" (Galatians 5:1)
• "Abide in me" (John 15:)
• "Come to me all who are tired, hungry or thirsty" (Revelation 22:17)
• "You will worship me in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24)
• "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17) 
• "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18)
• "Make disciples .." (Matthew 28:19)
• "I give you authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction" (Matthew 10:1)
• "I give you power to destroy strongholds and every lofty thought raised against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
• "I am building a house for you in heaven" (John 14:2)
 
Not just Isaiah, Moses never heard these words, neither did Abraham, Noah, Esther, Ruth or David .. 

I see these verses and rejoice, I am so blessed that I was born for these times and am able to be with Jesus and to know Him. I now love Him deeply.
 
Psalm 40:2 has become true for me: "He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure".
 
Knowing God
We know God intimately through Jesus in whom "all the fullness of God dwells" (Colossians 2:9); this changes everything for us, and certainly for me.
 
Only a few Old Testament people ever heard God speak directly to them, mostly they understood Him as being distant, one who would speak through His prophets, priests and learned men, and only from time to time.
 
Israel knew that they were God's chosen people. They went to great efforts to obey God; they built the tent of meeting and followed Him 40 years in the wilderness. Later they built the temple (twice). Those physical things were central to their worship, and central to their participation in the necessary rites of belonging to God as a Jewish person.
 
My understanding is that all of our life is to be worship. When two or more Christians are together Jesus is with us. He is within each one of us, and somehow He is also in our midst, another lovely mystery.
 
 
Trish and I grew up going to church and doing church things but we did not become Christian (though we would have said that we were). Then Jesus made Himself known to us, each separately but around the same time. We met Him through committed, excited, active Christians for whom prayer, spiritual life, learning from the Bible and fellowship were vital parts of all our days and lives (Acts 2:42-47). We saw miracles. People were healed or circumstances changed in ways which cannot be explained by medicine or by the laws humankind know from science. We saw, and still see today, God’s hand working supernaturally in peoples’ lives.

My memory is that we saw that the New Covenant living described in the Bible is knowable today, and is quite unlike what I see in my church experiences.
 
Many years have passed. Trish and I moved our family from Karrinyup to Mumballup (in Southwest W.A.) and, over the years, attended four or five Collie churches and a house church in Donnybrook. Trish and my devotional life together, and the prayer meetings, stand out as being the centre of my Christian life over those years.
 
We found vital verses in our Bibles which many seem not to see as they read them. We grew. 

Paul's words came alive to me: "Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake" (1 Thessalonians 1:5; see also 1 Corinthians 2:4; Luke 4:36).
 
Many Christians look at the world today and take comfort in the many Old Testament promises:
• "I will give you lands flowing with milk and honey" (Numbers 13:2)
• "One hundred of you will defeat ten thousand" (Leviticus 26:8)
• "All their riches will become yours" (Isaiah 60:5).
 
These are promises for physical prosperity. I believe that the New Covenant is mainly spiritual and involves God and His people in Jesus 24x7; the Old Covenant offers life within the Lordship of God but I see the Old Testament talking mainly in physical terms: God is known to be spiritual but He seems to come from outside and affect things in the world as He wills, from time to time.
 
(How did these Old Covenant promises work out for the Christians in the Soviet Union gulags? Or today in the Chinese political prisons, or in Iran, North Korea or the Sudan? Or my friends today in India? Those Christians’ joy can only be in Jesus (Romans 5:3-4; Nehemiah 8:10), not in physical safety, material influence, worldly successes or riches).
 
The New Testament has, for me, a strong emphasis on peace, health, joy and fellowship in Jesus; His shalom in our spirit and our soul. The "fruits of the Holy Spirit" (Galatians 5:22) are our spiritual, or inner, prosperity. I believe that this, when present in us, will flow out to our physical world (Acts 2:42-47). Scripture tells us that Jesus in us is visible to others and is beneficial to them:

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his belly [his or her very essence or centre] will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:38);
 
"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). 

And this, I believe, will bring us to being New Covenant people; nearness to Jesus, seeking to grow spiritually and in obedience. I also believe that Jesus wants us, each one, to share and participate in His work here on the earth, in our own time, today (Ephesians 2:10).
 
Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses
 
"The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
 
"We have seen the glory of the Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
 
"The truth will set us free" (John 8:32).
 
"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).
 
"And Samuel said, 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams'" (1 Samuel 15:22).
 
"We can be confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
 
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8).
 
"For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace" (John 1:16).
 
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-22).
 
"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one" (2 Corinthians 13:14).
 
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
 
"Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God" (1 John 3:1).
 
Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. Amen.
 
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