What do you do with your time

All photos courtesy of Unsplash
It is nice to take time to relax, have a coffee and chat. It is important at times to sit down, catch up and do a bit of planning. We all do it from time to time but probably not often enough.

Relevant questions we should sit down and ask are: 

1. What have I been doing with my time? 
2. Could I have used it more effectively? 
3. What are my plans for the future? 
4. Am I achieving what I want to achieve?
5. If not what plans and actions do I need to take to change things effectively? 

Planning is so important in every area of life! 

As someone once said - if you don't know where you are going, you'll definitely arrive. Planning, organising, implementing and reviewing are all good organisational skills.

You might be very successful in work-life but I want to ask you how your personal life is? Sometimes we need to clean and tidy up certain parts of our lives. What about reviewing your life so far and planning for the future? Are you prepared to be as careful about the personal issues of your life and your soul as you are in work life? Some of you will be perfectionists when it comes to your business, your personal hygiene, your financial affairs but how is it with you soul and your spiritual state before God?

Be careful as you start this process. 

Remember that the Bible speaks the truth and warns of the following:

Jeremiah 17. 9 - 'the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it'.

Proverbs 16. 25 - 'there is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death'. 

These verses mean that you cannot trust your instincts, you must learn to trust, believe and obey what God says in His revelation of truth, i.e. the Bible.

The Bible often states the obvious because as humans we often choose to ignore the obvious:

Ecclesiastes 3. 1 & 2 - 'to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die'.

Hebrews 9. 27 & 28 - 'and as it is appointed unto men (humans) once to die, but after this the judgement: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many'. 

John 8.24 - (the Lord Jesus is speaking) 'I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he (the promised one/Son of God), you shall die in your sins'. 

My final quotation is simple yet direct advice from the Bible. 

It is based on the assumption that the hearer accepts that they are guilty of sin, in danger of God's judgment and aware of their inability to save themselves.

Acts 16. 31 - 'Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved'. 

Plan for life and enjoy God's salvation now and the guarantee of a home in heaven on the other side of death

OR

Ignore the truth and face the eternal judgement of God in Hell and the Lake of Fire.

Please plan wisely.

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

Only 55% of Christians believe that God exists!

A recent survey concluded that Britons are more likely to believe in ghosts and karma than a Creator. It’s probably important to note, however, that ‘Christian’ is a cultural identification for many. Last year, YouGov found that only 55 per cent of self-identified Christians believe a God exists.

In fact it would seem that in British society a trend of ‘christianaphobia’ is rising. Christianity is accused of some amazing things. A couple of years ago, in a large circulation Regional Newspaper in England, Christianity was accused of being the source of the 'tide of disrespect engulfing us'. Is this really an honest assessment?

The impact of Christianity on the world is indisputable! Following the principles Jesus taught produced social reform, improved education, the development of science and medicine and influenced literature and philosophy!

The consequences of failing to follow the teachings of Jesus will be catastrophic both for society and the individual! The Bible teaches that Jesus will return to earth one day to judge the world righteously, Acts 17:31. All wrong will be judged; sadly unbelief in God, and his Son Jesus, is one of those wrongs that will qualify. 

This may seem harsh but essentially unbelief is the worst crime of all because of what it leads to. 

God is light therefore unbelief leaves you in moral darkness. 

God is truth therefore unbelief leaves you with all that is false. 

God is life therefore unbelief leaves you with death. 

God is holy therefore unbelief leaves you with sins unforgiven.

Ultimately unbelief leads to all the depravity that we readily accept is wrong and harmful. Thankfully today we all have the opportunity to 'believe in the Lord Jesus Christ'. In that day it will be too late.

In closing I want to pass on a ‘Global Warning,’ (excuse the pun)! This is not about the effect of the mismanagement of our planet and its resources, important though that is, but about an issue which has a longer lasting effect. This planet will come to the end of its life cycle one day, see 2 Peter 3. However our souls will never die! The warning is that if we do not actively get back to God then we will find that we are, on death, forever at a distance from God and all that God is i.e. love, justice, peace etc. 

How can we come to God? The answer is in seeking the Lord while he may be found, repenting of our sin (turning away from it) and placing our personal trust in Jesus Christ.

The scripture teaches - 'Christ died for our sins....and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day,' 1 Corinthians 15.3,4.

The solution is to 'repent and believe the gospel,' Mark 1.15.

May you come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour as a result of considering these thoughts from the Bible. 

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

One purchase you will never regret!

One purchase you will never regret!

While the religious authorities were seeking ways to trap, arrest and execute Jesus there was one person not so far from the city of Jerusalem who were doing the complete opposite. Standing up for what is right will often mean you are in the minority. Don't give up because the majority disagrees with you. Truth is not measured by statistics!

In the small town of Bethany there was a home were Jesus was always welcome. Is Jesus welcome in your home and life?

The people in Bethany that night were, as is always the case, split in their opinion and attitude to Jesus. Some believed him to be who he claimed to be, the Son of God. Others were convinced that he was a fraud, an imposter and not worth consideration. 

Where do you stand in your view of Jesus? Is it the one question that will determine your eternal destiny! Jesus said as recorded in John 8:24 'I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.'

On this occasion a lady comes into the house with expensive ointment and pours it on Jesus' head. The reaction: most said what a waste of good money; it could have been used for better purposes i.e. to feed the poor. 

Here's a point you may strongly disagree with! It's better to worship Jesus than to feed the poor! I think that's true! 

But listen, Jesus didn't say don't feed the poor! He said the poor would always exist! I think this a lesson in priorities. If we see Jesus for who he is, the Son of God. If we turn from our sin and unbelief, confess our sin and trust him as Lord and Saviour.....

THEN

We will go on to: feed the poor, love our neighbour and do all the things that are pleasing to God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

SO

Where do you stand when it comes to the cost of worshipping Jesus? It's one price you will never regret paying. 

Mark 14King James Version (KJV)

1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

2 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

4 And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

#TimeOut - Saturday - The Daily Diary of a Bible Blogger

How are you when it comes to taking time out? Are you good at switching off or do you always seem to be in work mode? I have to admit that I am not very good at switching off. I enjoy what I do and I find that it is easy to keep on going when I should be taking a rest.

Believe it or not the Bible establishes the premise of taking periods of rest. When God made the world he made it in six days and then rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2, the Bible). Why do we keep on working? Why is there restlessness about us as humans? Is that we never feel that the job is really done properly? Or are we not satisfied with what we have done? Is there a guilt thing that makes us feel that we have never done enough? Do we have to impress others? Or satisfy our own demands? There is not one simple answer but a lot of the above will no doubt apply.

So how did God manage to rest after making this world? Well when God does a job he does it to perfection. He could not have improved on His creation. It was perfect and he was content and satisfied with what he saw on the dawn of creation.

You may at this stage be saying – it doesn’t feel or look like a perfect world to me! And you are right. This world is not perfect but the Bible teaches us that it was when God made it, in Genesis 1 we read that it was good, good and indeed very good. So what went wrong? Why do we have climate disorders, earthquakes and eruptions? Why do we kill each other, hurt each other and damage this world? Why does everything get old, wear out, decay? We are on a downward spiral and nothing can stop these natural processes. Or can they be stopped?

Let’s answer the first question first. Why? You maybe don’t like the answer but the Bible does offer an explanation. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,' The Book of Romans 5:12, the Bible. The reason why the downward spiral exists is that everything that is not of God and blessed by God will ultimately fail. God created the universe for our good but good can only be effective in the hands of the creator, God. When we handle good we corrupt it and it is tainted with our fallen nature. We like the first man, Adam , have made our choices and we ‘all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,' The Book of Romans 3:23, the Bible. God intended mankind to enjoy his blessings for ever free of corruption and death but Adam's acts of rebellion condemned us all as guilty before God. You may feel that this is unfair but these are the facts as revealed by God in His word, the Bible.

Can the downward spiral be stopped? The message of Christianity is this. The ‘Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world,' 1 John 4:14, the Bible. This is not climatic salvation, or economic salvation, or even ethical or moral salvation. All of those things will be effective in a future day but initially God offers personal salvation to individuals. The Lord Jesus Christ said (when in this world) ‘I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly,' The Gospel of John 10:10, the Bible. He claimed that if a person took on board what he said and trusted Him and believed that God had sent him that, that person would cross the line from death to life, they would be raised to everlasting life at the Day of Judgement, that they would be saved, The Gospel of John 3:36, 5:24, 11:25.

You might be asking how was all this possible? Was Jesus not just a good man? His claims are too great to be that of just a good man. He is either is the real thing or at best he was deluded and at worst a liar. Check it out, he claimed to come from heaven, he claimed to be equal with God, he claimed to fulfil Bible predictions, he announced that he would draw men to him upon dying, he predicted his own death and coming to life again after three days. These things are either true or false; there is not middle ground.

All I can say to you if you are reading this blog is go, check it out for yourself. Read the Bible. Listen what God has to say. Trust Him. Take Him at His word. If you do e-mail on stepcar61@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

Stephen

#Paris - The Blogger's Daily Diary - Saturday

What a change one day can bring! What evil and destruction a small group of evil men can create! How suddenly your world can change!

No one went out for a meal in Paris expecting such devastation to happen! You wouldn't go out if you thought it was so unsafe to do so. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones yesterday. They have suffered a massive loss which many of them may never get over. 

My blog tonight will be short as I wouldn't want anyone to think that I'm taking advantage of the tragedy others have faced. 

My prayer is that:

1. We will avoid the corrupting power of religion without God. The bible talks about 'pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world,' James 1:27. In other words true religion is always for the good of the needy and the praise of God. 

2. We will be reminded of the brevity of life and the importance of being ready to meet God. 

Stephen