Getting & Giving

There is a lot of pain and misery in our world today, especially in the Middle East where a power struggle is taking place in Iraq, Syria and Iran, where ISIS is trying to get control to enforce Sharia law and secure the oil revenues of those countries.

Russia is similarly getting control of parts of the Ukraine, the Crimea has yielded to insurgents, and other areas are being targeted to usurp authority and control natural gas supplies through the country. All these acts of war are leaving thousands of people dead, men, women and children falling to military powers of one persuasion or another, but each wanting to get something that they do not have by force. Some refugees will have nothing to go home to, their homes and livelihood has been decimated.

In many countries materialism is affecting many individual lives; this longing to have more possessions is sapping the quality of life in many households. In Western society the god, Mammon, has taken hold and lotteries, bingo and other forms of gambling encourage covetousness. Companies are encouraging their management teams to be more assertive, an aggression that holds no thought for the good of others but rather the promotion of self.

Jesus said in Mark 8.36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:13 “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” 

Both texts ask the question what profit? and teach us that we brought nothing into the world and our hands will be empty when we leave the world. What is the point of being the richest man in the cemetery? And where will your soul be then?

Some Charities run television advertisements appealing to people to give two pounds a month to supply water to African villages, or to save children from malnutrition or being cruelly abused. Each appeal might touch the heart but not the pockets of ‘Joe public’. Sceptics say that these problems should not have money thrown at them but be resolved at their source by eliminating corruption, greed and selfishness.

Man’s giving is often measured and looks for something in return, but God’s giving exceeds anything and everything, He "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son", to die on a cross for bankrupt sinners like you and me. 

Romans 8:31 reads like this , “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”  

Many people do not believe that God created this Earth and the systems that sustain life. Even the breath of air that you just took into your lungs was provided by God. You didn’t have to think about it yet there is enough for the billions of lives on this planet, but uniquely the same provision does seem to be in place for other planets. Physical life requires water and sunlight and God gives abundant supplies of each for earth dwellers, but not a drop on other planets, despite the fact that scientists and atheistic governments spend billions of dollars on space research looking for water to prove their doctrine that life evolved from water.

Jesus said in John 10, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  

Physical life involves the body, spiritual life relates to the soul and spirit. The spirit of an unbeliever is dead in trespasses and sins and needs to be born again in order to receive eternal life. Five times in the New Testament we read that Christ “gave himself”. The first one in Galatians 1:3 says, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” God the Father gave His Son, God the Son gave Himself, He died on the cross on account of our sins. 

In the next chapter Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” 

In 2 Corinthians 9:15 he said, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” Paul had great appreciation for being saved and to know his sins forgiven but there was something more, he received Christ Himself and the Holy Spirit.

When the rich man Zacchaeus got saved, Luke ch.19 says, “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” 

Salvation changes lives and this tax collector’s life was changed and his perspective of getting and giving was changed too. He had a new heart and a new outlook on life. What he had, money could not buy, but faith obtained it freely by God’s grace. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  God bless.

This blog was written for FTMP by a Guest Blogger

For more blogs, podcasts, Bible Teaching Videos and contact details please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Syria - Wars and Rumours of Wars (Disturbing image)

We are living in momentous times! The past ten years have seen significant changes in the way nations react to one another and factions within nations are soon pushed beyond the demonstration mode, to take up arms to fight one another. The Middle East is a hotspot for trouble to erupt into warfare. Since Saddam Hussein boasted about Iraq’s ‘Mother of all wars’ there has been the on-going warfare in Afghanistan, the nuclear threat of Iran against Israel, military action in Egypt, recent shelling and bombings in Lebanon. These are disturbing facts that constantly affect our troubled world. Western nations are presently awaiting United Nations weapon-inspectors findings to discover what chemical weapons have been used in Syria, and what military response they will take if Assad is found guilty. The questions that need answering are, which chemicals were used, what was the means of their delivery and who is responsible for this violation against civilians?

Wikipedia comments, "The Syrian civil war, also known as Syrian uprising or Syrian crisis is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba'ath government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were part of the wider Middle Eastern protest movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971, as well as the end of Ba'ath Party rule, which began in 1963.

In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising, and soldiers fired on demonstrators across the country. After months of military sieges, the protests evolved into an armed rebellion. Opposition forces, mainly composed of defected soldiers and civilian volunteers, remain without central leadership. The conflict is asymmetrical, with clashes taking place in many towns and cities across the country. Late 2011 marked growing influence of the Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra within the opposition forces, and in 2013 Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army. The Syrian government is further upheld by military support from Russia and Iran, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia transfer weapons to the rebels." These are alarming facts!

The Apostle Paul recognized that there was a war taking place in his own life, he said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7;18-25). Every Christian knows this daily battle going on in their life, the old nature that we get from Adam versus the new nature we get from Christ when we are born again. An unbeliever does not have this problem, he steals, swears and commits adultery and lies without giving it a thought, it is his nature to do that, but a Christian does not do these things, so while we are in this body of flesh we shall have this conflict.

Matthew recorded the words of Christ concerning the prelude to His coming Kingdom, “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:3-8).

The disciples asked three relevant questions, they wanted to know WHEN the Lord would come to reign on earth. They wanted to know WHAT would be the sign of His coming and also the END of the AGE (the Greek word is aion which means age, not cosmos which means world). Matthew 24 gives details of the answers to these questions, and the matter of wars and rumours of wars, which we clearly see, are but the beginning of sorrows. The Great Tribulation is ushered in by these happenings and the worst is yet to be before the Lord returns to earth. Before He comes to earth He is going to come to the atmospheric heavens to call away the Church from the earth and take the millions of believers to the third Heaven, God’s dwelling place. Are you ready for His coming for the Church? Are you saved? If not, do not delay; receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour today.  God bless.

Written by a Guest Blogger

Please read previous blogs if you want to know more about how to become a Christian or alternatively visit my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/StephenGBaker) or podcast site (www.seekthetruth.org.uk). 

A House Divided

The Lough Erne Resort in County Fermanagh Northern Ireland is the beautiful location where the recent G8 meetings were held. The world press and TV carried aerial photographs of the house and the world leaders walking abreast along a road to a photo-shoot place where they lined up to present a picture to the world of political unity. The actual meetings in the house revealed that all was not sweetness and light when they discussed supplying military hardware to the fighting factions in Syria. It was a house divided by political dogma, Putin said Russia would continue to supply arms to the Assad regime, whereas Obama and Cameron were uncertain about selling military firepower to the rebels, consisting of a mish-mash of Arab groups with their own agenda, of who and how Syria should be governed.

Syria itself is a divided house comprised of Shias and Sunnis Muslims, fighting each other, with a total so far, approaching 100,000 fatalities. When order is restored it will take years to rebuild the infrastructure and houses in the towns and villages throughout the land. Sometimes such divisions can never be healed; hatred and distrust lay just under the surface ready to erupt again when provoked.

Yahoo News carried this report by Omar Fahmy on Thursday 13^th.June. CAIRO (Reuters) – “A congress of leading Sunni Muslim clerics issued a call to holy war on Thursday against the Damascus government and its Shi'ite allies, hardening sectarian confrontation across the Middle East over the Syrian conflict. Alarmed by reverses by the mainly Sunni rebels since the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah threw its full weight behind President Bashar al-Assad last month, Sunni religious authorities have stepped up rhetoric that could fuel a wider regional conflict and communal bloodshed in Syria and elsewhere. Concluding a conference in Cairo at which more than 70 Sunni scholarly organizations were represented, a leading Egyptian preacher made a televised statement accusing the rebels' enemies of waging "war on Islam". He urged the faithful to send money and arms to Syria and pursue "all forms of jihad". A house divided!

It is a sad state of affairs when a house is divided, where wife and husband do not love each other and they choose to live selfish lives. Where children are brought up under a roof where bitterness produces a daily diet of arguments, often they are just waiting to leave home and go their own way. Does this ring a bell? If so don’t despair, homes can be healed as well as broken hearts, Jesus Christ is the great healer.

I remember preaching in the prison in St. John’s Antigua, on the text in Galatians ch.1:4, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” It is the first of five texts in the New Testament where it is stated that Jesus “gave himself”, in this text it was for our sins. There were about sixty men in the upstairs chapel listening to the message. I said to them “You don’t need me as a preacher to come here and tell you that you are sinners, the law of society will tell you that. What you need me as preacher to tell you is how you can be delivered from sin’s power and the pull of this present evil world. Many of you are fathers, how can you return home and stand in front of your family and say – “Follow me”? ” Any form of leadership, whether in a home, a school, a nation, demands moral character. When the service ended a prisoner came to me, told me his name and asked me to pray for him. That was about a decade ago, I remember his name, and I have just prayed for him that the Word of God has changed his life!

Twice in Luke’s gospel the Saviour referred to a divided house, in ch.11:17 He said, “But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.” This verse gives us the principle that a divided kingdom or house cannot stand. A principle is unchanging; if it could change then it would not be a principle. What Christ said then still applies today. That verse in its context relates to Satan’s kingdom, which is a house divided against itself, therefore it cannot stand.

In the next chapter, we read in v.51 to 53, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.  The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.” These verses relate to the coming of the Lord to the earth when He sets up His Kingdom. The same truth applies to when He comes again to the air to take His Church to Heaven. Family members will be divided, those who believe and are saved will go to meet Him in the air and go to Heaven. Those that are left behind will experience the terrors of the Great Tribulation. Which will it be for you?

Charitie Lees Smith was a Christian lady from County Fermanagh, she wrote in 1863 the hymn ‘Before the throne of God above’, the last verse reads, ‘Behold Him there the risen Lamb, My perfect spotless righteousness, The great unchangeable I AM, The King of glory and of grace, One in Himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by His blood, My life is hid with Christ on high, With Christ my Saviour and my God!’ I believe her words rather than those of the G8 world leaders. Do you?  God bless.

Written for “Finding the Missing Peace” by a Guest Blogger