When foundations collapse, for God's sake, look up.

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Will you wish you'd given more? Thursday 9th June 2022 'God loves a cheerful giver.' 2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV The film Schindler's List tells the story of one man's efforts to make the most of a desperate situation. As the director of a munitions factory in Poland, Oskar Schindler used his position to save Jewish lives. By employing them in his factory, Schindler rescued many Jews from the gas chambers. But keeping them employed was costly, and little by little he liquidated his personal property to keep his business afloat. At the end of the story, the Nazis are defeated, and the full impact of Schindler's efforts is revealed as the dead are counted and the living stagger back to freedom. In one scene, kneeling by the railroad tracks that had carried thousands to their deaths, Schindler had a startling realisation. He could have saved a few more! Overwhelmed with regret, he laments keeping the few personal assets he still owns. If only he had known when the war would end, he would have done more. Now it was too late. Oskar Schindler is credited with saving more Jews during World War II than any other person. But interestingly, all he could think about was what he didn't do. He wished he had done more. A powerful lesson in Schindler's story is this: even joyful givers will look back and wish they had done more. There are also others who gave less than they could have given, or who never gave at all. Imagine their thoughts as they stand before God, giving an account of how they used their resources and to be rewarded accordingly? 'God loves a cheerful giver,' so today look for opportunities to give.

Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance

Building: Once again, we thank our hosts for giving their home for us to have our Sunday services, and of course this is how the church that began at Pentecost met. However, our mission as a church and our call as a light for the gospel is to the town of Ballina, and we must get back to the place we belong. I would ask for prayer so that we can know the Lord’s leading for a meeting place in Ballina. On that note, rent is expensive, and I want to thank those who have contributed to the rent from last October to March. However, with your contribution, there was still a shortfall of over 130 per month which the church does not have to spare. Going forward, if each person would pledge as little as six euro per week, this would cover the cost of rent for a building, so could I ask you to pray about that and get back to me. Today I want to talk about our calling as believers, and in particular what God expects of us in relation to our giving. Teaching on finances is not one of my favourite subjects, but from time-to-time God will have me teach on subjects that I would rather not. If I am to be good steward of the call of God on my life, I must be prepared to teach the whole council of God, not just the subjects that I enjoy. Teaching on finances has had a lot of bad press in the church, and I know this is why many preachers stay away from it. Yet if it is not taught from a scriptural perspective, how can we learn. Which reminds me of a time when I began teaching with Rehab over twenty years ago. I will always remember what one of my first students said. “How can I know what to do if no one teaches me”. While I have taught on this subject in the past, we need to be reminded again and again of why we do what we do, or we can forget, and if we forget we can easily stop. And if you have stopped doing the things that Jesus taught, you really need to hear this message today. As I said, because of bad press, and in particular because of some who abuse the subject of finances for their own gain, many, including myself, shy away from the subject. Jesus however, talked a lot about finances, and anyone who consistently reads God’s Word cannot miss his teaching on finances and giving. If we are faithful to the word of God, we cannot skip over this part. While Jesus used money as an illustration in many of his teachings, yet he described money as the least of things. After teaching the parable of the dishonest manager, who though was dishonest in his dealings, was commended by his manager for his shrewdness, Jesus said. Luk 16:10-12 ESV “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. (11) If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? (12) And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? Jesus describes money as something that means very little, yet He goes on to say that if a person is not honest and faithful in finances, that which is least, who will put that person in charge of true riches. In other words, if a person cannot be trusted with money, how could he expect to be trusted with the riches of grace, with the blessings and promises of the covenant of grace, the graces of the Spirit of God, which truly enrich a person. How can that person be entrusted with the riches of glory, the riches of the gospel of grace or any other of God’s true riches. All God asks of us is that we show ourselves to be faithful with what is his. When we forget why we do something, its easy to stop doing it. During the pandemic we were prohibited from gathering together as a church, and there are many churches whose members have not yet returned. It seems like they have forgotten why we assemble together. They may feel it’s no longer necessary to meet up for worship, and that it’s OK to continue to watch the services online. While it’s great to be able to watch online, church is never meant to be a spectator event, it involves participation. After Pentecost when the church was born we read. Act 2:41-42 ESV So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (42) And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Verse 42 gives us the four pillars that our faith is built on, the apostles’ teaching, or the teaching of Jesus, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers. The apostles’ teaching is the teaching they received by the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, which we now have in the form of the written word. They received it and they held on to it. The fellowship is the community, the coming together for spiritual purposes, devoted to God as a family and living in holy and Christian fellowship. Strengthening and building each other up in our most holy faith. The breaking of bread is the time we as a body of believers remember and proclaim the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Isa 55:10-11 ESV “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, (11) so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. In the natural it is God himself who gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. This is only possible because of the rain and snow that come down from the heaven watering the earth. All is from God. If he doesn’t send rain, no matter how much money you have, one day you will starve to death. In the same way, when we look at the subject of finance and giving, we must always approach it from the mindset that our finances are not our own, they belong to God, and he allows us to be stewards of what he has given us. Seed to the sower. 2Co 9:6-12 ESV The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (7) Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (8) And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (9) As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” (10) He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (11) You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. (12) For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. The question is this, how much of what we get is food to be eaten and how much of it is seed to be sown. The old testament requirement was a tithe or a tenth. We are no longer under the OT law, and the New Testament never specified a tithe as a requirement. However, in the teaching of Jesus and in the examples of the early church, it is very clear that the message in relation to our finances is that we ought to be willing to give everything for the sake of the kingdom, and a tithe, or a tenth should only be the minimum, not the maximum. Being faithful stewards of unrighteous mammon is a very important part of our walk of faith. We work to earn a wage, but it is God who gives us the power to earn a living. Whether we get paid once a day, once a week or once a year, it is God who supplies us with all that we have. He provides everything we need for life and godliness, an in his provision he also includes seed for us to sow. He does not demand or command us to sow seed into his kingdom, but he expects us to. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. God made it simple, He has given us everything and included in everything is the seed he has given for us to sow. God expects us to give generously to the work of his kingdom, and as we saw earlier, under the new covenant, the old requirement of a tithe should only be a starting point. What happens then if we eat not just the food he gives us, which is our portion, but we eat the seed as well. I did a study on seeds recently. Some seeds are good for your health. For example, chia seeds are recommended to help reduce cholesterol and flax seeds aid with food digestion. However, your body is not designed to digest all types of seeds, so they either cause problems in your gut or they simply pass through your body and end up as waste. Seeds are the one part of the plant structure that are vital to the survival of their species. Because seeds are so important, plants take extra measures to ensure they are protected and have the best chance of growing and producing so the plant can survive. When God created the seed-bearing trees, he created in each species the seed of reproduction, and He hasn’t needed to create anything else since the beginning of time. Take the apple tree for example. Like other trees it has a goal to spread its seed. When an apple is in the process of ripening, the seed inside is still vulnerable as it has no protective covering, and if exposed during the ripening period it will not survive. During the process of creating this necessary protective covering, the apple is green in colour, is bitter to taste, and is toxic to the stomach. This is why we don’t eat un-ripened apples. Even a gorilla in the wild will not eat an apple until it has ripened. However, once the seed has developed its protective cover, the apple is ripe in colour, has increased its sugar content, has decreased its toxicity, and is delicious to eat. But do we eat the seeds – I hope not, as apple seeds contain a compound called Amygdalin, which is a part of the seeds’ chemical defences. It is harmless when a seed is intact, but when a seed is chewed or otherwise damaged, the amygdalin degrades into hydrogen cyanide. This is very poisonous and even lethal in high doses. So, the seed has in itself not only the ability to reproduce, but it has a mechanism to ensure that it is not eaten. Food to the eater and seed to the sower, but if we eat the seed as well as the food, we are in danger of getting sick, and then even the food we eat will be of no use to us. The apple tree protects itself because it can only survive if the seed continues to be planted, if not then over time it will die out. Are we beginning to see the point? In the nature, eating the seed of certain food as well as eating the food, will have an adverse effect on our natural bodies. The same applies in the spiritual realm. Eating the seed that God gives us for the purpose of the advancement of his kingdom, as well as eating the food he gives us for our advancement, will cause our bodies to have an adverse reaction to the food. Not only that, but the seed we eat was that meant for the reproduction of his kingdom in the hearts and live of others, will not reproduce, and will die. If we eat the seed, first of all it will do us no good, and may even harm us, but we will certainly not benefit from eating it. Secondly, it will not do what God had purposed it to do in the first place so we will not be good stewards of what he has given us. This is why we separate the seed from the food, and if we forget why we do thhis, then we will soon stop doing what we are meant to do with what God has given us. Tithing is not law because we are no longer under Old Testament law. Under the New Testament, all we have is God’s in the first place, so a tithe ought to be the minimum. Your giving produces thanksgiving unto God, according to Paul, and overflows in many thanksgivings to him. And he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, promises to supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. If you have been faithfully separating the seed from the food and sowing it into the soil where you are fed from his word, then believe that God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. If you have not been faithfully separating the seed and sowing it in God’s good soil, then today if you hear his voice, repent, change your mind, and decide to be faithful with the good seed. If you have been faithfully separating the seed, but for some reason you have felt it is ok to sow it in a field other than the one you know God has called you to, where he wants you to be fed, then again, repent, and sow your seed where it belongs. For, says Paul, the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. (2 Co 9 12 ) When you are faithful in this the least of things, God will give you stewardship over more. And as you are faithful, the ministry of tis service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but it is overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

God's DNA is in his Word Thursday 12th May 2022 'All Scripture is God-breathed.' 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV On a cold day, have you ever tried breathing on your hands to restore warmth and life? That's like what happens when you meditate on God's Word, because 'all Scripture is God-breathed' ( 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV ). Imagine yourself at a party where people are blowing up balloons and popping them with pins. A scientist could figure out which balloon was yours because your DNA (the genetic configuration that makes you unique) is in your breath. Now apply that principle to reading the Bible, and you will understand how vital it is to your spiritual life. John tells us, 'the Word was God' ( John 1:1 NKJV ), so anytime you ingest God's Word, you're ingesting his attributes. That's why the enemy will try to keep you so busy that you have no time to read your Bible. Many of the issues we struggle with could be resolved or eliminated altogether if we developed a hunger for God's Word. Job said, 'I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food' ( Job 23:12 NKJV ). Jeremiah, who was so dejected that he became known as 'the weeping prophet', said, 'Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart' ( Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV ). Jesus experienced every test and trial known to man; he even went toe-to-toe with the tempter. What was the secret of his strength? He said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"' ( Matthew 4:4 NKJV ). Today get God's Word into you - it's his DNA.

Isa 57:14-21 ESV And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way.” (15) For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (16) For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. (17) Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. (18) I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, (19) creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him. (20) But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. (21) There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” I believe that today’s message may help us pray for our unsaved loved ones in a new way when we understand the danger that most of them are in. we all have family members who have not interest in the cross of Christ, we have some who have put their trust in him but are still walking in darkness and deception and others who are so wrapped up in their religion that they cannot see the truth of what God did for them by sending Jesus to die, if they did they would follow him wholeheartedly. At the beginning of this chapter, Isaiah the prophet prophesies against the wicked who delight in the calamity of the righteous. The righteous ones are those who have believed in Christ and have put trust completely in him for their eternal security. God says that though the righteous man may have trouble and other will laugh about him, God promises that he will be taken away from trouble, and he will enter a place of peace. Isa 57:2 ESV he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. The wicked are those who desert God, who do not remember him, as they are so caught up in themselves serving images created by man. God calls them idolators because they worship idols of wood and stone, images of created things. Today as in the days of Isaiah there are billions who worship idols worldview and even millions in our own nation. Idolators are those who bow down or pray to statues or images made in the likeness of the dead. They believe they are doing good, and while their actions are religious, God this to say about those who choose to venerate anyone except him. Isa 57:12-13 ESV I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. (13) When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. God is saying that their righteous acts, their good deeds, are of no use. He warns them that when they are in trouble and call out to their collection of idols, they will find that their images made of wood, stone or chalk, are useless. The wind will carry them off and a breath will take them away. But, he says, the one who takes refuge in the God of the universe, will prosper, and will have a place near his heart. God hates idolatry, he hates it when someone he created in his own image, puts their trust in something that was created in the image of another human being. and prays to that image. Speaking through the apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, Jesus warns us to run from idolatry. 1Co 10:14 KJV Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of anything other than God Himself. The second commandment that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai expressly forbids this kind of worship. Exo 20:1-6 ESV And God spoke all these words, saying, (2) “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (3) “You shall have no other gods before me. (4) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, (6) but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Many religions in the world today have the practice of praying to statues, worshipping, and bowing before images made by human hands. Those who practice this type of idolatry will say that they are not really worshipping the images or statues, but merely use them as a reminder and as a way of helping them to pray and focus on God. However, not only did God forbid the practice of bowing down and worshipping such images and statues, but He commanded that no such images should be made. No image is to be made of anything in heaven above, or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. God commanded man not to make them. If man obeyed God’s command not to make them, no one could worship them. But even if a person says that they don’t really worship such images and statues, by acknowledging them as part of their religion they are as guilty as the person who made the image in the first place. This second commandment is very clear, and it says that anyone who breaks this commandment hates God. You may well wonder how any religion could get away with breaking one of God’s commandments, and in particular any religion that claims to be Christian. In order to facilitate the worship of other beings besides God, the religion practiced by most of the people in our land simply took out that second commandment. Let us see a comparison of the ten commandments that God gave to Moses and the ten commandments as taught by this particular well-known denomination. Let’s refer to it as the Church of altered Ten Commandments. First Commandment Bible Exo 20:2-3 ESV “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (3) “You shall have no other gods before me First Commandment Church of altered Ten Commandments. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. Second commandment Bible Exo 20:4-6 ESV “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, (6) but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Second commandment Church of altered Ten Commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. In order to allow people to worship others apart from God, this denomination simply removed the commandment that forbids the making of images and worshipping them. Does this mean that they don’t teach a tenth commandment? Oh, they have a tenth commandment alright, but in order to make up for the commandment that was removed, the tenth commandment was divided in two. Ninth Commandment Bible Exo 20:16 ESV “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Ninth Commandment Church of altered Ten Commandments. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Tenth commandment Bible Exo 20:17 ESV “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's Tenth commandment Church of altered Ten Commandments. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods The second commandment was deleted, and the tenth commandment became the ninth and tenth. There you have it, a new set of ten commandments. And by doing that, people see no problem worshipping and praying to statues, images, and idols. However, they are deceived, and they are in total disobedience to the commands of God, a God who describes himself as someone who is jealous for the worship of his people and promises to punish those who make images or worship them, and to punish their descendants to the third and fourth generation. In fact, not alone does he hate the practice of making images and statues and worshipping before them, but God sys that those who make them and those who worship them in disobedience to his commandment actually hate him. Idolatry is a very serious offence, which is why Jesus warned us to flee from it. If your church has images and statues, you need to flee from it as fast as you can. Run to God and trust him and be among those who keep his commandments and are shown his love. He will lead you and he will restore you as he promises. Isa 57:15 ESV For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. The verses that follow tell how God relates to those who are humble and contrite. Those who humly turn from their ways and turn to God. When we learn that we have been going the wrong way in disobedience to the Lord, the high and holy God meets us where we are, he comes down to our level to save us, because it is impossible for us to go to his level to save ourselves. When we come to him un humility he promises to restore us, to save us and to heal us. Isa 57 18_19 ESV I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, (19) creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him. God sees all our ways, good and bad, and yet once we put our complete trust in him, he promises that, even though he sees our ways he says, he will heal us. Not only does he promise to heal us, but he promises to lead us and restore comfort to us, and to those who lament or grieve with us over our sickness. During my recurring health problems since Christmas, I have clung to verse 18 and 19. It is our wonderful Father who created the fruit of our lips, who creates praise to his name because of his wonderful works to the children of men. At times our sickness may well be the result of some sin in our lives, and our sin will draw away from God. However, when we turn again to him, he still promises to speak peace to us even when we are far from him. He speaks peace peace to the far and near, and He ends by repeating the words “and I will heal him.” This is the heart of Father God. He sees all our ways, but he promises to heal us. This is his promise to us when we are near him and when we move away from him. Claim this promise whenever sickness visits you. Pray especially for any of your family members who are caught up in a religion that worships any one other then God alone. They may have heard the gospel and may have believed it, but they will never be free while they live in disobedience to the gospel, trusting in another means of getting right with God. There is only one way, one truth and one life, his name is Jesus, and no person can be one with the Father without coming through Jesus. Praying to anyone else is idolatry and it’s not just that God doesn’t hear those prayers, he considers those who do such things as hating him, and promises to visit theirs sin, which means punishment if they don’t humble themselves and turn back to him.

 Earlier this week myself and our son Aaron were in Dublin for appointments and during a break we went on a tour of Kilmainham Gaol. This jail is famous for holding many, and executing some, of those men and women who fought for Irish independence. From the 1798 rebellion, to the 1916 Easter Rising, the Anglo-Irish War in 1919-1921 to the devastation of the Irish Civil War 1922-1923. We got to walk the tunnels full of cells now lying empty, but for years were filled to over-crowding, especially during the Irish famine where a jail sentence meant being fed - while being “free” meant death by starvation. So many lives, so many stories. Stories of love, injustice, tragedy, devastating poverty. Lives of men, women and children kept in freezing cold cells, open to the elements - but facing this fate seemed to be a lifeline to survival. Serving sentences for offences such as stealing bread or a potato with their youngest prisoner being just 3 years of age, held along side hardened criminals who’s crimes were much greater and their motives and characters much more sinister. Some sentencing led to death by hanging … young, bound and many suffering for hours as they died in a torturous fashion – some innocent of their crimes, many truths untold, many failings unheard … Others serving time for fighting a cause bigger than their own, rebelling and rising against the injustices that their fellow country folk faced day in and day out. They may have been kept in better conditions, with a cell to themselves, but their fate still ended their lives - lives that had just begun, young men taken at the hands of another. The world is full of untruths, of stories unheard, injustices being allowed, lives in pain and torment. Disease and rumour eat away at our minds and bodies. There seems to be little relief … even if our basic needs are met … every life has hardships in the here and now … as we navigate the brokenness and sorrow of a world yet perfected for all of time. One thing all of humanity longs for is freedom … in all of its ways … but just like those who were starving and chose jail for relief - we look for freedom in all the ways WE can only to find ourselves more and more bound. To find freedom we must look outside of ourselves. In Psalm 63:1-4 King David finds himself out in the arid dry heat of the desert and sings … “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” Psalms 63:1-4 NIV Like the picture of jail, we can often feel like we are in a desert … we are thirsty and long for the refreshment of pure water, in a land dry and parched. Dry of truth, of health, of substance. We seek relief in other ways as we drink from all the many wells. Few seek the Water of Life from the only well we can drink from that brings freedom and true satisfaction. God describes Himself in Jeremiah 2:13 as a “fountain of Living Waters”. The average human can physically live around 3-4 days only without water, our bodies depend on being hydrated to stay alive. So when Jesus describes in John 4:13-14 the difference between drinking water from the well in the dry lands of Samaria and drinking the water only He provides we can see a clear picture of why He uses this analogy. He says “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” A spring that never dries, a continual stream of living water within us … bringing hydration to our dry bones, life to our souls, purpose and power in us and through us that over flows to those around us. A river of joy that supersedes our griefs and sorrow, it runs continually along side all our other emotions and thoughts and circumstances … accessible for us to drink from always if and when we choose. Jesus is our one and only source of life and freedom. The only breaker of chains. As David says “because your love (God’s Love) is better than life”. A strong statement do we think? Better than life? Didn’t God give us life? Yes. God’s Love is greater than all loves, greater than our every breath, greater than life itself. Why? Because God IS love so anything outside of that is not pure, it’s been distorted in some way, and as much as we want to believe other ways can bring us to the same outcome, to freedom, to life giving water … they can’t. In John 10 Jesus speaks of being the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. He speaks of the thief here in verse 10 … “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY”. Jesus gave His life so all who come to Him don’t just have life eternally but life abundantly starting right from that moment! The thief comes in all shapes and sizes to make us believe anything else is the right way, that any other falsehood is the truth, that any other person can fulfil us, any other desire is everlasting and fully satisfying … all of which are lies. The thief comes ONLY to steal and kill and destroy. This is why getting to know God is the only thing that’s not only eternally worthwhile, but worthwhile in our living and breathing right here, right now. It’s our freedom and sustenance. Truth can seem so stark in comparison to all we have been told, fed and bound by - it can seem so foreign to us we can even become offended by it. We wrestle with it. We reject it for what seems an easier way but as we dig in and persevere in forming a relationship with Jesus, in believing in His Truth, in His way, in His Love … we move further away from everything else that is thrown our way and deeper into freedom. Our eyes become opened and our spiritual senses more keenly fine-tuned to recognise the deception all around us. We come to know the power residing within us, the Holy Spirit, we come to see more clearly and as Tom often says it’s the Truth we KNOW that sets us free … we often hear these verses taught here from John 8:31-32 Jesus says “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So to get to KNOW the Truth we need to abide (to live) in the teachings of Jesus, in relationship with Him - and the Truth in Him lived out in us sets us free. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to deal with life’s pains, sorrows, illnesses, griefs … trials that seem to be endless. It means we get to live in FREEDOM within them, we get to be refreshed moment by moment in living water, we get to find and know true, unconditional, merciful, Grace filled Love every breath that we take. We find acceptance and belonging, a peace that comes from being known deep, deeper than we will ever know our own selves, and living free in THAT knowledge, THAT identity of being HIS and as we continue in HIS Love we find safety, security, confidence, trust … we find life in abundance true life … beyond circumstances that surround us, beyond emotions that crush in, beyond illnesses that bind our bodies, beyond cruelty that leave scars cut deep … we find that HIS Love IS better than life … because without it we are not living at all. We are surviving, scrambling around trying to find water to drink, reaching out to anyone and anything to relieve the pain of being shut in our own jails … finding nothing of substance, nothing that lasts, nothing that satisfies … nothing like the Love of Jesus … because He IS life. In John 14:6 Jesus speaks to Thomas saying … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Even in the world we live in today the model of thinking about our overall health and wellbeing in general includes to love ourselves and heal from within before we can love others well. If we love ourselves by human standards of love, we are doing OURSELVES an injustice, if we never discover the purity of God’s Love for us, we can never love ourselves or others as He does … because it is HIS love that flows in us and through us to ourselves and to others … and there we find rest. Jesus left us with a new commandment that encapsulates all others given before it … “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind. And to love your neighbour as you love yourself.” When I used to read that in my early defiance I’d come to God and say “but I don’t love myself so that’s that”. Maturity at its finest!! God in His mercy knows us so well and there’s a reason why we are told to love Him first and then our neighbour. If we love the Lord our God with ALL of ourselves … we come to know the fullness of Him and in turn the fullness of His Love not just for us but IN us … so to love God cannot be separate to loving ourselves, they are as one - He in us. It is God in us, changing us from the inside, not by anything we can do of ourselves. Only by giving our all to Him can He then work in us. It’s voluntary … not forced, He asks us to invite Him in not to control us but change us for OUR good. As He is at work IN us … we change, we find forgiveness that enables us to forgive, we find mercy that enables us to be merciful, we find grace that enables us to be gracious and extend His grace to others, we find security, safety, stability, joy and peace beyond our understanding and so much more … we find life and life abundant! I have spent many long dark years clinging to Jesus as my only source of life but only truly following Him this past 11 years. Those years seemed full of loneliness, pain and confusion - years of untold trauma, unseen pain, unknown misunderstandings within misdiagnosis’s. Distructive untrue labels, words spoken over me that produced death in me and not life. I don’t know why I went through that for so long, it caused pain not only in me but in those who love me … I had many many unanswered questions … until I didn’t even need the answers to them anymore. I don’t need the answers to those questions because Jesus is the only answer I need. I KNOW that it’s only because of Jesus I stand before you today, I KNOW it’s only because of Jesus I have life, I KNOW It’s only because of Jesus and Him alone I live and breathe, I KNOW it’s only because of Jesus I found Living Water that sustains me, I KNOW it’s only because of Jesus I found freedom, I KNOW it’s only because of Jesus my chains are gone, I KNOW it’s only because of Jesus I am Loved fully, purely, confidently with no condemnation. I KNOW the Truth because Jesus IS Truth and it is in HIM I am set free. I can assure you that in my flesh I would be as far away from the front as possible let alone be speaking in front of you … but God IN ME. When we come to Him, allow Him to change us, work in us, hear His voice and follow Him ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. At a particularly difficult period I clung to that verse in Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me”. Even getting out of bed seemed insurmountable and I knew I couldn’t do it in my own strength. I would say out loud “I can do ALL things through Christ” and His power would well up within me and gave me strength to literally put one foot in front of the other. I KNOW His Love IS better than life … without Him I’d have no life at all and many other lives would be destroyed in the process. At that time my loving husband Tom had only recently come to know the Lord but when he turned to Jesus he KNEW his life was changed forever and he never wanted to turn back! He carved Philippians 4:13 into wood for me and it now stands over the door which we use the most to come in and out of our home. It stands as a reminder that we don’t live here as a family in our own strength, but God’s. It stands as a monument of His goodness and faithfulness. It stands as an anthem that we take through each moment of our days. It proclaims words of life over us and in us. It counteracts all of our own weaknesses and failings that we give to Him and allow Him to turn them around in us and through us. This home is messy (and I don’t just mean all the stuff lying about in it!!), it’s messy because we are human and we make mistakes as we navigate our lives and relationships in a messy world, it’s messy because although God is at work in us we are not yet perfected, it’s messy … but it’s covered by the blood of the Lamb … Christ is the Head of our home, He is our strength, He is our purpose, He gives us life … and life abundantly because from Him Living Waters flow continually in us and around us. So as we all spend our days looking to Him moment by moment, in our pain, in our griefs, in our difficult circumstances, our struggles, our relationships, in our questions and in our doubts but also in our joys and our victories … we will find ALL we need to live life in freedom and continual satisfaction in Him, for Him, with Him … breath by breath becoming more aware of WHO He is, who WE are and the abundance of life in His Love and there we can sing along with David … “my lips will praise you (Lord) … I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands … because your steadfast Love is better than life” …

'I felt a fire burning inside.' Psalm 39:3 CEV David wrote, 'I felt a fire burning inside, and the more I thought, the more it burned, until at last I said: "Please, Lord, show me my future"' ( Psalm 39:3-4 CEV ). Passion is like fire; unless you feed it and stoke it, it will die. Question: on a scale of one to ten, how wholehearted are you about serving the Lord? Before you answer, think about these Scriptures: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength' ( Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV ). 'Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart' ( Psalm 119:2 NIV ). 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding' ( Proverbs 3:5 NIV ). 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart' ( Jeremiah 29:13 NIV ). 'Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you' ( 2 Timothy 1:6 NIV ). '"Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him' ( Luke 8:39 NIV ). 'Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church' ( 1 Corinthians 14:12 NIV ). 'To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me' ( Colossians 1:29 NIV ). 'Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus' ( Philippians 3:13-14 NIV ). All these Scriptures can be reduced to one sentence: be passionate about what God has called you to do