Showing posts with label blind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blind. Show all posts

Friday, 17 January 2020

The Lukewarm Church

The Lukewarm Church
The book of Revelations records Christ speaking to the Church at Laodicea. A Church referred to as the Lukewarm Church.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.  
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.  
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelations 3:14-22
Here Jesus addresses a church that thinks it is doing well. It is a rich church that thinks it needs nothing. In reality it is as Jesus puts it, it is,
“Wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
As someone once told me Laodicea was “in deep need of spiritual healing.”
The call of Jesus is to turn to Him that they may receive that healing.
Churches and individuals today especially I find here in North America think they are rich. They may be in a material sense rich. They are however if you look closer at them spiritually “Wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” They need deep spiritual healing.
They need to turn to God. To pray and study God’s word as often as they can. They need to take the teachings of the Scriptures to heart.
Jesus tells us,
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelations 3:20.
One thing I have learned over the years is that no matter how close we think we are to Jesus we can get even closer. We must never think because we appear to be rich that we are.
Just because we may appear to be rich especially in a material sense does not mean we are spiritually rich.
Our cry to God should always be “Draw me closer to you Lord.”
Please think about it.

Saturday, 14 December 2019

Faith

Faith
In the book of Acts we read this incident between Paul and Silas and their jailor,
“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.  
He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Acts 16:30,31.
The writer of Hebrews make these two statements,
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 
and certain of what we do not see." 
                                              Hebrews 11:1
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, 
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." 
                                                                              Hebrews 11:6
Blaise Pascal said,
“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe 
and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”
                                                                     Blaise Pascal.
Thomas Aquinas wrote,
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. 
To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” 
                                                                                Thomas Aquinas.
So my question to you is when it comes to Christ Jesus, what do you believe?

Saturday, 10 August 2019

Be Still

Be Still
The Psalmist writes,
“Be still, and know that I am God;
 I will be exalted among the nations, 
I will be exalted in the earth.” 
                                        Psalm 46:10. 
Someone said,
“Maybe the atheist cannot find God 
for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.” 
                                                                 Author Unknown
That may be true. Many people I know who do not believe in God have made up their mind and are not willing to change.
Believing in God takes faith and as Blaise Pascal wrote,
“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe 
and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”
                                                           Blaise Pascal.
I think as well the reason many people today in our 24/7 society do not believe in God is that they are not looking for Him. They are distracted by the many things that our society has to offer. You just have to walk down the street in any city, go into a shop, walk in the park. Even sitting in a doctors office and you see people constantly on their electronic device.
We are so wired, so content with looking at what this world has to offer that we don’t see God. Yet as the Psalmist warns,
That God,“...will be exalted among the nations,” 
That God “will be exalted in the earth.” 
In the book of Ecclesiastes we read,
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”Ecclesiastes 1:14.
The writer goes on to say,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
The Apostle Paul speaking in Athens states,
"For he (God) has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31.
Thus the decision is up to you. You can believe in God or you can choose not to. You can believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Saviour of Mankind or you can choose not to.
The apostle Paul writes,
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  Romans 10: 9,10.
The choice is yours.
Please think about it.