Anger

Anger: an emotion we all have!

The way I see, it anger has two sides:

Mary Garden says:

A wonderful emotion to get things moving when one is stuck is anger.
It was anger more than anything else that had set me off, roused me into
productivity and creativity.

AND

The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present. (Barbara De Angelis)


The tricky part, is that we all experience anger and that unless we deal with it, it may become unresolved anger and affect our daily lives.

Jesus (Matthew 5:21-26) says:

Resolve Your Conflicts

AND

Do It Quickly

Before your anger becomes something which robs you of living the life God has chosen for you.


If you are challenged by this message, take a moment now and pray and ask Jesus to help you with your unresolved anger.

You may want to pray:

Lord Jesus, thank you for making me aware of the unresolved anger in my life which is preventing me from living a fulfilled life. By the power of your Holy Spirit, please help me to resolve my anger. Thank you for blessing me in this way. Amen.

Eyes Make a Difference

Théophile Gautier once said: "Eyes are so transparent, that through them one sees the soul."

Jesus said "Your eye is the lamp of your body." (Luke 11:34)

So there it is then: Your eyes are the window to your heart!

However, windows that are dirty or marked often do not allow light in or out.

So I guess we have to keep our windows clean!

How?

Through things like:

- Prayer
- Forgiveness
- Humility
- Transparency
- Honesty
- Hard work
- Relationships

The list goes on.

"See to it then that the light within you is not darkness." (Luke 11:35)

Is there time?

Most of us live pretty rushed lives. We read the story of Mary and Martha in church on Sunday. Of how Mary sat listening to Jesus, while Martha rushed around getting the home ready for Jesus and the disciples. When Martha complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't helping her, he told her that Mary had chosen the better thing.

Would it be true to say that most of us identify more easily with Martha - but that we wish we could be more like Mary?

What distracts us from Jesus? What seems so important now that time with Jesus can wait until later?

I read a sad incident - I can't remember where I read it. It happened that an old lady was found dead in her bed. She lived alone in a smallish flat. It turned out that she had had 'flu. But it wasn't actually the 'flu that killed her. She died of dehydration. The doctors think that when she felt thirsty she also felt too ill to get out of bed to get a glass of water - although she was actually physically capable of doing so. They think that she must have lain there, saying to herself, 'just now when I feel a bit better, I'll get up and get some water.' But she never got around to that glass of water and so she lost consciousness and then passed away.

That story reminds me that the time to do something important is now. Jesus has a plan for us - a plan that starts at the cross and takes us into the world. Are you listening to him? Or are you distracted with many things?

Building Your House

On Sunday evening, we spoke about Jesus questioning whether we build our HOUSE(our understanding of life) on a solid foundation or a shaky one?
(Luke 6: 46-49)

Jesus refers to himself as a ROCK i.e. solid and dependable

Now here's a thing:

- Jesus is the ROCK upon which we can build our understanding of life because:

- HE went to the Cross for our sins,
- He suffered but remained faithful to God's call upon His life,
- He longs for a relationship with us and will never abandon us.

Awesome!

Now the question we need to ask ourselves: Who is a our ROCK?

- Money?
- Friends
- Family?
- No one?

Well, Jesus suggests that you make Him the ROCK in your life.

If you want to do this, go to our web page and click the Tell Me About Jesus Link and pray with us.

Lip-synching life?

I guess that most of us find it pretty surprising that the singing for the opening of the Beijing Olympics was lip-synched. Apparently the little girl who actually sang the song was not cute enough and so another performer was told to stand in front of the world and lip-synch.

What makes us feel upset about this?

We believe that the singer should get the credit. We somehow value integrity over appearances. Most of us are shocked at the organiser's attempt to make the ceremony as aesthetically appealing as possible even to the detriment of a seven year old, talented singer.
I wonder if we, as Christians, don't often do the same? Do we try to project an image of perfection, when really we are struggling inside? Do we feel that we cannot let our weaknesses and inadequacies show for fear of being rejected? We sometimes think that we need to pretend in order to be part of the church.

At the end of the day, our integrity is of more value than our pretence! When we are real and true to ourselves we are able to start genuinely changing and becoming the people that God wants us to be. We also stop discouraging those who feel that they can never attain our perfection.

We can 'lip-synch' through life. Or we can acknowledge who we are, with all our short-comings, and ask Jesus to start transforming us through his saving power. Some people will be harsh - but both you and God will know that you are moving to a better place.

Salt and Light

Sunday we spoke about Jesus stating that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world ( Matthew 5: 13-16).

What a profound statement: You are...!!!


It’s profound because:

- We don’t always feel like the salt so shinning our light is not an option

- God takes and uses our weaknesses to change the world

- Jesus asks us to bring our impurities/dilutions (sin, fear, doubt, pain etc...), so they will not affect our flavouring the world


Listen again to Jesus words: Matthew 5: 13-16

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

A Just and Merciful God

Here’s a tough question:

Is God just and merciful?

Easy answer: Yes he is!

So then:

What will happen to those who reject His Son Jesus Christ?


Scripture is clear: Romans 8:1-2

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

We can then take this to imply that for those who reject Jesus, there is condemnation.

Accepting this is tough because:

We might have loved ones and friends who we care about.
We may ourselves be unsure about Jesus.


For me, however I look at it, God is just and merciful after all He gave His Son to die for my sins.

More I cannot say but pray that God will have mercy on others and that they will come to accept Him..