This FFT applies to everything in our lives. For an example, words without accompanying action are meaningless! Guaranteed you have heard the words or even said them, "love you!" Do our actions back up the words? Or how about, I'll pray for you, but do we? If not, the words were meaningless!
Have you ever seen a couple totally in love? Whenever you see one, you see the other. Whether in church, at the coffee shop, out for a walk, always together hand in hand, arm in arm. Many times when one spouse dies it is not long after that the other goes to join them. One without the other equals nothing. A part of them died with their spouse but life does not necessarily have to be that way. I know personally when my wife Dar went to be with the Lord I rejoiced for her "to die is to gain." Thank God for the truth of His word "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. She beat me into glory & in my minds eye she is cheering me on to continue the work of the Lord here on earth until we meet again in glory. Since Dar's promotion to glory the Good Lord has blessed me with another bride & Carol & I continue to serve the Lord together.
I want to look at a little different scenario, the institution of the Lords supper & the crucifixion. Again one without the other equals nothing. Without the Communion table (or as my Catholic brothers & sisters would say the Eucharist) the crucifixion would have been nothing other then an execution. But with the institution of the Lord's Supper the crucifixion of Jesus became God's Passover Lamb--Lamb of God, the Sacrificial Lamb of God!
In Psalm 23 we read & the Jews knew The Lord is our Shepherd, but a recent revelation to me is that the Shepherd became the Sacrificial Lamb of God! This has been going deep into my inner person & bringing an illumination I had never seen before.
In the Old Testament a lamb was sacrificed at the Passover for the sins of the people. Now, with the new covenant Jesus Christ was going to take away the sins of the people "once and for all" through His death and resurrection. He went to the cross for our sins. He urged His followers to understand and experience the power of the Lord's Supper. A New Covenant that would bring freedom and eternal life to all who would believe. A celebration & realization of who He was & is!
This also fulfills the prophecy Jesus spoke of Himself in John 2:19 "destroy this temple, & in three days I will raise it up." In this particular instance one without the other would have made Jesus a false prophet, NOT LIKELY!
I can say with certainty that not one person left the Calvary after seeing Jesus crucified that what they had witnessed was the greatest sacrifice of all time. An act of obedience & worship from Jesus to His Father, God, that could never be matched.
His crucifixion sent the disciples into turmoil, what now? For the last three & one half years they had done nothing but follow Jesus, being there seeing Him minister the love of God in so many different ways. Healing, deliverance, even raising the dead & yet He is dead & gone, or is He?
One without the other equal equals nothing. Is Jesus alive in your life today? Food for thought!
Ken Gorham a servant of the Lord
Friday, 25 May 2012
Monday, 14 May 2012
The Highway of Holiness
We all go through stages in life, seasons. Those seasons include everything, friends, family, careers, wrong choices & right ones. In hindsight it is so simple to see how we screwed up, but a little more questionable is how some things worked out so well. Some call it luck while others like myself refer to it as divine coincidence. The ups & downs & even roundabouts that life presents to each of us can really get you shaking your head. Yet there is one who knew all along how things would work out, even before it happened, God!
Then why did I have to go through the bogus crap I did, duh possibly because of my dumb choices. God the Holy Spirit will always be a gentleman & never force you to do anything against you're will. So when you choose to go down the wrong pathway He will not stop you, but instead will allow you to be you. The author of free choice was & is God, cool eh, or maybe not so?
The world we live in is filled with darkness. The darkness of sin & despair, while for many a feeling of hopelessness is all they know. What a horrible place to be in, without hope. If you know no light, darkness is all you know! But Praise be to God when Jesus comes into your life, life itself changes. It's like everything around you is illuminated as never before. He gives you a sense of direction & He becomes your hope rope to hold onto when things get tough.
Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light. Psalm 119:105 His Word is a lamp unto our feet & a light unto our pathway! So as a Christian I should always be confirming my choices by searching out direction in the Bible. For those who read this blog or if you are someone who knows me personally I have a four fold strategy for my Christianity, read the word, pray pray pray, be faithful in all things & obey (whether we want to or not) what God shows us to do or not to do.
I cannot understand how so many Christians think they can get by without reading Gods Holy Word each & every day. Like for sure you will be bombarded by worldly perspectives & mindsets on a continual basis. Even our thought life can be hazardous to our health. Each & every day you will have at least 10,000 choices to make. It is not my way, not your way, but Yahweh (Gods way!)
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." 15/ "Nor do they light a lamp & put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." 16/ "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
The people of the world around us, those we come into contact with each & every day have to see we are not the same as everyone else, being peculiar is not a bad thing but biblical. Dump your candle for the Lord & become a flame thrower reach out with the love of God & touch someone each & every day. To do this you have to make yourself vulnerable, not something many people want to do. Plus you actually have to do something not just profess you are a Christian. Confess you love of Christ not merely by words but by everything you do!
John 8:12 "Jesus is the light of the world. He who follows Him shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Another scripture I love is one that Paul quoted "Imitate me as I imitate Christ!" Jesus has walked on this earth, shown us the way & it is up to us to follow Him as His disciples. Food for Thought!
Then why did I have to go through the bogus crap I did, duh possibly because of my dumb choices. God the Holy Spirit will always be a gentleman & never force you to do anything against you're will. So when you choose to go down the wrong pathway He will not stop you, but instead will allow you to be you. The author of free choice was & is God, cool eh, or maybe not so?
The world we live in is filled with darkness. The darkness of sin & despair, while for many a feeling of hopelessness is all they know. What a horrible place to be in, without hope. If you know no light, darkness is all you know! But Praise be to God when Jesus comes into your life, life itself changes. It's like everything around you is illuminated as never before. He gives you a sense of direction & He becomes your hope rope to hold onto when things get tough.
Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light. Psalm 119:105 His Word is a lamp unto our feet & a light unto our pathway! So as a Christian I should always be confirming my choices by searching out direction in the Bible. For those who read this blog or if you are someone who knows me personally I have a four fold strategy for my Christianity, read the word, pray pray pray, be faithful in all things & obey (whether we want to or not) what God shows us to do or not to do.
I cannot understand how so many Christians think they can get by without reading Gods Holy Word each & every day. Like for sure you will be bombarded by worldly perspectives & mindsets on a continual basis. Even our thought life can be hazardous to our health. Each & every day you will have at least 10,000 choices to make. It is not my way, not your way, but Yahweh (Gods way!)
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." 15/ "Nor do they light a lamp & put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." 16/ "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
The people of the world around us, those we come into contact with each & every day have to see we are not the same as everyone else, being peculiar is not a bad thing but biblical. Dump your candle for the Lord & become a flame thrower reach out with the love of God & touch someone each & every day. To do this you have to make yourself vulnerable, not something many people want to do. Plus you actually have to do something not just profess you are a Christian. Confess you love of Christ not merely by words but by everything you do!
John 8:12 "Jesus is the light of the world. He who follows Him shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Another scripture I love is one that Paul quoted "Imitate me as I imitate Christ!" Jesus has walked on this earth, shown us the way & it is up to us to follow Him as His disciples. Food for Thought!
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Restored By God
What does it mean"to be restored?" Websters gives us a number of perspectives. l/ to give back something taken away, lost. 2/ to bring back to a former or normal condition, as by repairing, rebuilding, altering. 3/ to put back in a place, position, rank. 4/ to bring back to health, strength, etc. 5/ to re-establish something which has passed away, as a custom (renew.)
Who needs to be restored? Now that is a wide open question, which in my eyes includes this glorious nation we live in, Canada. Let's face it even the United Nations has stated we are no longer a Christian nation, that means in their eyes we're a bunch of heathens.
We have always been a multicultural nation but today there is one major difference, as a nation we have allowed other religions to dictate to us what we can & cannot do ex. Merry Christmas! By doing this we have turned our back on the God who helped us to build this nation. We need as a nation to repent & for our government that means our laws have to line up with His Holy Word, ex. gay marriages, an abomination in Gods eyes!
By the way the first ones who need to repent in Canada are the Christians for allowing such nonsense to go on. Please don't give me the hogwash that you prayed about it! Most of us (Christian & non-Christian alike) totally agree on the things that have gone astray, even complain amongst ourselves, but we do not stand up for Who & What we believe in! Prayer is one thing, but like faith without works it will not accomplish the desired results.
Many today proclaim to be Christians but we no longer go to church or even follow the teachings of the Bible. If we are not reading & sitting under the influence of the Word of God the worlds mindsets will soon be in control of our lives. Trust me we all have buckets full of excuses on why we no longer do church or even read our Bibles, but within every excuse is at least one lie. If you are a true believer, the Holy Ghost has already been convicting you of your wrong doings. But the Holy Ghost always has been & always will be a gentleman. What that means is He will not force you to obey the Word of God, it has to be by your free will.
We cannot blame the devil or anyone else. The devil actually cannot make you do anything , all he can do is present the temptation & then it is up to each one of us to chose whether to bite into the forbidden fruit called sin or not. As for other people, dump that excuse & start to stand on your own two feet, saying & doing what you believe in, that is if you actually even know what you believe in.
We have a merciful God who is always willing to receive us back into the fold. 1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." It was no-one else who screwed up but each of us has done our part. Ask God to forgive you & get on with serving Him. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
"One final scripture Galatians 6:1 "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass (sin,) you who are spiritual (Christian) restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. My take on this is when we see a brother or sister in Christ in sin, it is our job to pray for them to be restored back into a righteous walk with the Lord.
Please do not think I am being pompous or holier than thou, I too am challenged daily by the business of life (& my lovely wife) to do as the scriptures challenge me to do. If we all are serious about being about our heavenly Fathers business look out devil, here comes the church storming the gates of hell taking back what he has stolen, food for thought!
Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore" and make disciples (not just lead people to Christ) of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you' and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Ken Gorham a servant of the Lord
Who needs to be restored? Now that is a wide open question, which in my eyes includes this glorious nation we live in, Canada. Let's face it even the United Nations has stated we are no longer a Christian nation, that means in their eyes we're a bunch of heathens.
We have always been a multicultural nation but today there is one major difference, as a nation we have allowed other religions to dictate to us what we can & cannot do ex. Merry Christmas! By doing this we have turned our back on the God who helped us to build this nation. We need as a nation to repent & for our government that means our laws have to line up with His Holy Word, ex. gay marriages, an abomination in Gods eyes!
By the way the first ones who need to repent in Canada are the Christians for allowing such nonsense to go on. Please don't give me the hogwash that you prayed about it! Most of us (Christian & non-Christian alike) totally agree on the things that have gone astray, even complain amongst ourselves, but we do not stand up for Who & What we believe in! Prayer is one thing, but like faith without works it will not accomplish the desired results.
Many today proclaim to be Christians but we no longer go to church or even follow the teachings of the Bible. If we are not reading & sitting under the influence of the Word of God the worlds mindsets will soon be in control of our lives. Trust me we all have buckets full of excuses on why we no longer do church or even read our Bibles, but within every excuse is at least one lie. If you are a true believer, the Holy Ghost has already been convicting you of your wrong doings. But the Holy Ghost always has been & always will be a gentleman. What that means is He will not force you to obey the Word of God, it has to be by your free will.
We cannot blame the devil or anyone else. The devil actually cannot make you do anything , all he can do is present the temptation & then it is up to each one of us to chose whether to bite into the forbidden fruit called sin or not. As for other people, dump that excuse & start to stand on your own two feet, saying & doing what you believe in, that is if you actually even know what you believe in.
We have a merciful God who is always willing to receive us back into the fold. 1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." It was no-one else who screwed up but each of us has done our part. Ask God to forgive you & get on with serving Him. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
"One final scripture Galatians 6:1 "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass (sin,) you who are spiritual (Christian) restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. My take on this is when we see a brother or sister in Christ in sin, it is our job to pray for them to be restored back into a righteous walk with the Lord.
Please do not think I am being pompous or holier than thou, I too am challenged daily by the business of life (& my lovely wife) to do as the scriptures challenge me to do. If we all are serious about being about our heavenly Fathers business look out devil, here comes the church storming the gates of hell taking back what he has stolen, food for thought!
Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore" and make disciples (not just lead people to Christ) of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you' and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Ken Gorham a servant of the Lord
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