Renewing Our Minds:


Paul, in Romans, talks about us renewing our minds.

I believe that in order to do that, we need to give thought to time.

How we spend it, why we need to consider it and when we need to balance it.

When last did you take time to consider where you are with the Lord?

When last did you take time to talk to your family? (I mean on a real intimate level).

Renewing our minds has three keys areas:

Humility – never be too clever to learn.

Be in fellowship – we have special gifts which can only be used when we are in fellowship with others.

Use your spiritual gifts (all believers have them) for the building up of others.

Right!

Gone is our inbred selfishness and self –indulgence and in its place is a mind which God can use to fulfil His purposes.

Awesome!

Come to Jesus

Sin!

A word you don’t hear often today even in church. Maybe because it’s offensive or it’s hard to define exactly what sin is!

Yet Jesus came to the world to save sinners.

So there you are: the Bible is clear on what sin is and we all fall short in this regard. But fortunately for us Jesus knows what to do with our sin. Far from being judgemental and condemning, He forgives our sins.

Wow! Imagine that, Jesus wants to forgive our sins.
And the only thing we need to do is to acknowledge our sins, repent of them and we are forgiven.

And here’s the real gift we receive – Peace!

Some time ago, I was talking to someone who had been feeling that he was trapped in a joyless life. Nothing seemed to work out for him and the harder he tried to make things go right, the worse it seemed to get.

Then one day a friend spoke of how Jesus had set him free.
Sensing he had nothing to lose, he prayed and asked for forgiveness and in his own words: “I cried for a long time and it was as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt free to live. All the bad things I’d done in my life seemed to be washed away by my tears. Today I live knowing that God loves me so much, He gave His Son Jesus to die for all the rotten things I’ve done.”

Are you feeling trapped by things you fear may have power over your life? Maybe they are things like pornography, alcohol or drug addiction, hatred, fear or guilt.

You can be set free, go here and pray the prayer or email us and we’ll help you.

God's Concierge

Imagine God saying to you, I have made promises to My people in My Word and I want you to be the one who brings My promises to fulfilment. (Read Ezekiel 34: 11-16).

Scary?

Exciting?

Well it’s true! God has chosen His church (you and me) to look for the lost, bind up the broken and shepherd (care for) the flock.

Look around you (in the office, traffic…)….

Think a bit….(about family,… friends,..someone you know..)…

Write their name/names down in your Bible, devotional book…

Pray for them each day….ask for an opening to talk to them personally about Jesus, to pray with them for healing or to care for them in some way.

It would be great if you could share your experience with us. Click on ‘Comments’ and type in how God used you.

If you need to pray with someone, you might like to use the prayer at this page.

How Great is Our God

An old Scotsman was once asked whether he was worried about dying.

No he replied, not really,

When die I go to be with Jesus and right now I know Jesus is with me!

What wonderful words. Imagine living with that kind of attitude.

Well it’s possible. Living a life with Jesus means allowing Him to be the centre of our lives. Living a life of faith rather than having faith in life.
The key to this living for me is intentionally dedicating each and every day to God.

I usually start my day like this:

Here I am Lord, use me today!

God wants to use you. Wherever you are now, in the office, at home, in the bath…pray this prayer. And do it again every day.

Lord, here I am.

Use me despite my own misgivings and shortcomings. If You can use me to touch someone’s life, if You want to make changes in my life , if you want me to give of myself, my resources, my time…..whatever Lord, here I am.

Amen.

Amazing Grace

Sunday was a great day!

Here at North Rand, we had the biggest morning service in the history of the church. Combined with the privilege of baptising five children, was the opportunity to offer Christ to an estimated ninety visitors (some of whom are already in a relationship with Jesus I’m sure.)

Awesome!

We are fast becoming a church for both the churched and the unchurched.

The wonderful thing is that God uses our stories to tell others of His love.

No, believe it! You have a story to tell: How or why you became a Christian and what Jesus does for you in your everyday life. Your story has little to do with theological words and everything to do with your personal experience.

Ask God to give you opportunities to tell your story and then know the Holy Spirit will guide you as you share about Jesus.

Maybe you feel that you don't have a story to tell because you don't have a relationship with Jesus. Click here if you want to find out more!

If you feel called to share your story on this site then click on 'comments' and type it in.

86,500

God has a plan for our lives!

Being LOST means missing the mark.

Not living out Gods plan for our lives is sinful because God gives us opportunity, talents and abilities and at the same time He uses our personal passions and life experiences to fulfil His purpose. Once we respond to God’s gift of GRACE in Christ Jesus, we are raised to a new life.
This, in every sense, is the essence of what it means to be a Christ follower:

To Live with purpose!

We have been given 86,500 seconds a day to use.
Living with purpose means living inside every opportunity, embracing our passion for life and making a world of difference.

As you read this, have you or are you wasting precious time?
Then follow these steps: CONFESS and ASK God’s forgiveness, ACCEPT His offer of a full life in Christ Jesus, SEEK His guidance and then LIVE with purpose.

Living Righteously

Friday was a good day. Roxy and I went for a bike ride out to Hartesbeespoort dam. Over breakfast, we had time to chat about a lot of things. It’s interesting to hear of the carefree life of University (makes me yearn!)
Anyway, along the way, we spoke about what young people her age (18) talk about. I was amazed (not sure why) to learn that some of her friends grew up in homes where morals were not so clear and so they are constantly checking their own behaviour (I hope Roxy is too!)

The next days at our FATHERS meeting Ron lead us through a discussion on communicating with our children. And as part of the discussion came this:

Say what you like, they (children) will do what you do.

Scary!!!

The same is true for our witness as those who have responded to God’s gift of grace in Jesus Christ.

How are we living?

The bottom line is that our behaviour as Christians should speak of faithfulness, trustworthiness and love. It should be evident in our giving, our prayer life and our self control.

Bless you as you seek to live righteously!