LIVING:

I haven’t been blogging much lately because I have been active more in LIVING!

Yes living…not ministry, rather LIVING…

You see, I think (generally speaking) we like to organise and sort things out in our minds…viewing our lives in neat segments…I mean it’s logical, isn’t it? We function best with structure and order; we know our children function well with routine, don’t we?

Yet in reality life is messy and rarely predictable; then add trying to LOVE God and others into the mix and we can find ourselves struggling…

We organise our lives into what we think is a neat, perfect routine…Here’s an example: ‘Half an hour of prayer and scripture reading in the morning, kids to school, work hours, lunch with our friend, volunteering after work on Wednesdays, Bible study group on Thursdays, blogging every second day, sport on Saturdays’…you get the idea.  And yet we wonder why at times we’re exhausted or we fall in a heap, why our relationships fail or our family gets into a crisis.

Jesus said we are to LOVE Him and others and this simple truth is resounding within me today in a deeper way.

We may think LOVE is ministry…our faith in action…but is it really, when our MINISTRY becomes more about meeting our own needs rather than LOVING God and others?

Because LOVING God and those He places in our life can be MESSY and often costly to us without receiving anything in return…Yet I am learning this is truly LIVING in Christ’s freedom!

Christ’s values are upside down to our worlds’ and He truly is the source of freedom and the way for eternal life…The world offers bondage to sin and an eventual slow destruction…Yet Christ is LOVE and liberates us by changing us to become FREAKS to this world…yes freaks, not people of religion who at the end of the day are no different to anyone else!

People of religion love to do things which make THEMSELVES feel good...Those who LOVE Jesus and others, have HIS love in them which makes them love unselfishly, privately and freely…and THIS is true LIVING!

People of religion can be too busy to actually LIVE…to respond in love to those whom God has placed in their life.  A person of religion will put serving publically over those from whom there is no immediate reward, or public acknowledgment.  Whereas a person who loves God and others will respond to the ‘less important’ people; will love and forgive when others don't; and will act in the best interest of others…

Walking in religion wears one out for that is being led by pride…There is joy when walking in LOVE because The Lord will never ask more of someone than they are capable of giving and will make a way for them to respond.

I cannot imagine standing before Jesus one day and him saying, ‘Now did you attend every church meeting because I seem to have some absences on my roll?’  But I can imagine Him asking, ‘Did you love yourself or others more?’

I have been LIVING more lately…not just doing ministry and it has been truly liberating…Loving God and others with no expectations.

No, I am NOT giving details…

But I will say that I’ve had to say goodbye to someone special for a short time to allow them to follow where Christ is leading them and this is both wonderful and challenging…

Jesus said we are to LOVE Him and others and this simple truth is resounding within me today in a deeper way…for indeed to LOVE God and others is such a simple premise, yet it is indeed life changing to put it into practice, as it is true LIVING!

In His life and service, Melanie.

My Sheep Hear My Voice

John 10:27

Have you ever been caught up in the whirlwind of a new romance?

You know what I mean…

Where you can’t wait to spend time getting to know that new special someone who has come into your life?  You have a buzz of anticipation swirling around inside thinking about the two of you connecting on a deeper level…sharing stories…discussing important personal issues, wanting to know their reaction.

Relationship is all about relating…connecting!

We don’t become best friends with someone without investing a lot of our time and continued time afterwards to maintain the closeness…this is such basic common sense, yet due to our own selfishness we often forget to apply this to all of our relationships once the initial romance fades, like our marriage or relationship with Jesus.

Have you ever seen a miserable married couple? Stay with me on this for a minute, I have a point…

Day in, day out they co-exist side by side, living under the same roof, miserable with no real communication or love…no real connecting or meaningful relating…

I think this can be the same as when someone who once was in love with God can go from relationship to religion.

Two people who once looked into one another’s eyes with compassion and asked the other, ‘How was your day?  Tell me all about it…’

I heard a wonderfully challenging statement from a Christian woman via You Tube yesterday.  She said, “ Jesus said, ‘my sheep hear my voice…’ NOT ‘my sheep will know my scripture…”

Now her point was NOT that Christians don’t need to know scripture! Rather that people can know scripture and yet not be connected to Jesus and hear Him speaking in their lives because they don’t spend enough time communicating with Him.

Like the miserable married couple, if questioned I’m sure they could smile and give all the right answers to appear solid in their marriage to an outsider…yet it would all be meaningless words.

Even the devil knows scripture…remember how he tempted Jesus? We are so blessed to have scripture readily available today; yet if we're really honest with ourselves, we'd acknowledge sometimes God can speak to us and we can run it by scripture in our own mind, looking for an excuse because we don't really want to obey Him...and I personally believe disobedience leads to His voice becoming harder to hear because we're no longer as close to Him.

Like the miserable married couple...we may live with Him but we're not best friends.  Yet unlike the miserable married couple, Jesus is the perfect partner and is always wanting to communicate and be close with us!

Jesus said, ‘My sheep hear my voice…’

One cannot hear someone’s voice if they don’t spend time listening and communicating with them.

I know there have been times I have felt confused about something in my life…Yet our God is not a god of confusion; rather goodness, purity, order and relationship...He is always willing to speak to us...our confusion is not from Him.

For those of you who are familiar with this blog you probably know by now, how much I LOVE scripture; for it was how God reached me for my re-birth! Yet for me to be truly submitted to Jesus, obeying Him in my life and for clarity, scripture is not enough…it is firstly by prayer, communicating with Jesus…sharing my problems with Him and listening for His response.  But this communication must be ongoing for it is the basis of my relationship with Jesus…it is the very core of my faith!  The early Christians didn’t have the whole cannon we do today…but they met together for teaching and PRAYED!

When I hear His voice, having been patient for His reply, He will confirm what He has said to me by scripture, godly counsel from trusted Christians and sermons.

Jesus said, ‘my sheep hear my voice…’

The Lord wants our whole HEART…He wants ALL of us…He became a human being so that we could be restored to RELATIONSHIP with Him, like Adam and Eve were BEFORE the fall…The Jewish people had religion, but God wanted to give them and ALL people NEW hearts and minds that were personally relating with Him…He wanted to SAVE them from their sin which separated them from Him and give them a NEW BEGINNING!

There is only one way to be a child of God and that is by being best friends with Jesus.

How much time do we spend in prayer and worship, connecting with Jesus to maintain our best relationship?

Jesus said, ‘my sheep hear my voice…’

He will guide and protect us as His own but we must spend intentional time with Him to hear His voice…have you moved from relationship to religion or is religion all you know?  Well there is no need to despair, for Jesus truly is the PERFECT friend...so set some time aside and connect TODAY, then every day and see just how much more joy enters your soul, irrespective of your circumstances!

In His peace and Name, Melanie.

Let me leave you with a song which speaks of our passionate relationship with Jesus we are so amazingly blessed to freely receive:

50 Shades of grey, one colour of Redemption:

50 Shades of grey has swept our world bringing erotic dominance and submission into everyday homes, ensnaring women everywhere... perverting mutual respectful lovemaking, which should be between a married man and woman alone.  What began as literature is now set to hit cinemas, pervading even more people.

Am I surprised?  Sadly no…Oh how I long for His Kingdom to come and for sin to be done away with once and for all…My heart breaks as the enemy has his way with so many people, subtly destroying their lives and relationships with one compromise after another that entices their flesh…

And NONE of us are immune from temptation…even us Christians.

I do not want to focus on the book or movie, as it indeed is just another source of perverted pornography on our shelves (even though the sad fact is, what previously has been for a small niche market, is now mainstream for everyday consumers) I want to focus on the TRUTH.

The truth is that our rebelliousness will cause us to GREY things which our own conscience tells us are black and white, in order for us to ALLOW ourselves to compromise and feed our flesh…One small bite at a time until we are consumed and drowning…for the enemy wants to KILL and DESTROY us, making us experience a painful existence and eternal separation from our loving creator…and yes, I am writing from experience…Sadly I do know all about compromise and greying things in my mind.

The enemy in the garden GREYED what was a clear direction for Adam and Eve from God, leading them to sin, therefore having to leave God’s holy presence and face an eventual death and eternal separation from God…but sadly you won’t hear this truth much today, only the marketing hype the enemy wants you to…

God’s directions on sexual purity are so clear in scripture, time and time again we hear to walk in purity and to be holy as He is. Then there are those thoughts that come into our mind and we have a choice to entertain them or not…Yet too often because the temptation is so great we give in. 

Thoughts like…

The bible was written so long ago, for people of a completely different culture and understanding of God…We are so much more progressive now and understand God so much better.

God loves me and therefore must want me to feel good all the time.

Just this once won’t hurt and it could be educational for me, then I could please my partner better.

Everybody else is reading it or watching it and they’re fine!

There could be 50 shades of grey or even 1,000 and to me it doesn’t really matter, what matters is there is ONE shade of redemption and that is Blood Red.

God is HOLY and PURE and cannot have sin near Him at all…this is WHY Adam and Eve HAD to leave His presence…God was not just a meanie who kicked them out for no good reason…Remember the Arc of the Covenant?  No-one could touch it without instantly dying because God’s Holy presence was there and we people sin!

EVERYONE of us has sinned in one way or another, God Himself was the only one who could FIX our separation problem (sin) once and for all, so that we could be RESTORED to relationship with Him and again be in His presence for ALL ETERNITY (the original plan) when He returns to deal with the enemy and restore the Earth for His children (Jesus’ return).

Jesus became a HUMAN BEING, lived a sinless, perfect life and then died a death that we should, so that we could be RESTORED to relationship with God through Jesus, by the forgiveness of our sin and RE-BIRTH by the Holy Spirit.

There is ONE colour of redemption and that is Blood Red.

There is NOTHING we ourselves can do to get right with God…it is ONLY through Jesus.

It is the blessed Holy Spirit that transforms us, giving us a NEW HEART and MIND to live for God and proclaim the TRUTH which is freedom through Jesus Christ to the whole world…this is WHY people who are born-again Christians DRAMATICALLY change.

Sometimes we hear about Jesus, yet don’t get told that He not only LOVES us so much He died for us, He LOVES us enough to transform us daily to BECOME more like Him as we live our lives with Him…for when we become MORE like Jesus and LESS like the corrupt world, people will SEE the TRUTH of our testimony and find FREEDOM too.

But yes, we have an enemy who doesn’t want us to be successful testifiers, winning others to Christ and therefore will TARGET us time and time again…

There is ONE colour of redemption and that is Blood Red.

Jesus has made the way.

If you have been sucked into impurity by GREYING things in your mind, please DON’T despair; pray and ask for forgiveness and the resolve to move forward with Christ to walk in better purity.

He loves you so much He will answer!

 

His true healing is readily available…so don’t settle for anything less.

Don’t let the enemy destroy and steal your life and relationships by greying what is black and white…or convincing you that there’s no hope for change…Confess and repent your failings, so that you may be healed and made white as snow by the blood of the lamb!

There may be 50 shades of grey, but there is only one powerfully, life-changing colour of Redemption!