Haldric.com

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Have a look at this verse – what is Paul praying for?

“God’s love & Christ’s perseverance”. I think the fact that Paul prays for perseverance, rather than asking God to take away troubles or things that could bring them down is such a key thing. We’re not supposed to seek an easy life with no trouble or worries - that’s never going to happen! Jesus himself told us that! Read John 16:33: “In this world you (we) will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We are to expect to have things that we will need perseverance to get through! That’s why instead of asking God to take away the problems and troubles, Paul asks God to give the Thessalonians love & perseverance to get through them still filled with faith. So that no matter what life or the devil throws there way, they can continue to persevere in the faith, trusting God and bringing him Glory.

What’s the point of perseverance? Well have a look at Romans 5:3-5: "..but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. " So from troubles, when we persevere, we develop character and as our character develops so does our hope, a hope in God which will not disappoint us.

Paul did not take perseverance lightly, he knew what it involved and what the cost was. He himself was a bit of an expert. He spent a lot of time in prison because of his faith, but he didn’t ask for prayers to be set free from prison, instead he prayed things like this verse in Ephesians 6:19-20: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Paul was less concerned with his own troubles and more concerned with sharing the gospel with those who didn’t know Jesus and telling them the good news of His salvation! This reflects his character, faith and hope in what is to come.

We are all going to have troubles, problems, bad days and low times. I read that this week is the most depressing week of the year! So it’s quite easy to get to a place where are focus is on “me”, my situation, my feelings and what I’m going through. When we are like this we are no use to anyone (not even ourselves!!) We are unproductive, actually quite destructive, and a bad witness to anyone who’s watching us. We need to pray for our hearts to be directed into God’s heart – to care about the things he does, especially the lost, and to stop focussing on ourselves. We need to pray for our hearts to be directed into God’s perseverance, so that no-matter-what we stand firm and keep going, rather than lying down and giving up!

Our role model? Jesus! He persevered and endured to the point of death. He never gave up on us and never followed his feelings rather than his calling! He is the ultimate role model of perseverance, and he did it for you and for me.  I can guarantee that what you are going through right now, no matter what it is, was not as hard and was not as painful as what Jesus went through in order to save you from your sin. And the amazing thing is that we don’t have to do any of this alone, we have the Holy Spirit in us and with us to give us all we need to persevere, we just need to choose to ask him!!!

So in this statistically depressing week, won’t you pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ – that the Lord will direct their hearts into God’s love and  Christ’s perseverance? (And while your at it, perhaps you could pray the same for me too!)

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." Romans 4:18-22

What does God look for in his children? I believe the thing that he loves to see the most is when we trust in him. Just look at this passage in Romans. Abraham was pre-Jesus, yet Abraham even though he was a sinner (like each one of us) was justified and made righteous through his faith in God. Today it’s our faith in Jesus – his death and resurrection – that makes us right before God. But we also need to live each day in faith, trusting in God’s words and promises and believing that God is who he says he is and has the power to do what he says he will.

The story can be found in Genesis. If we look at chapter 15:5-6 it says .

"He (God) took him (Abram) outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Abraham (God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, after this encounter) was a very old man and he had a very old wife. His wife had never given him children, the passage says her “womb was dead” and yet God told Abraham that his descendants would be so many it would be like counting the stars in the sky!!

How would you react to that promise? It’s not too hard to have the faith for something when you can see how it could happen, but it’s much harder to trust God’s word when every situation/circumstance screams at you that there’s no way (other than a miracle!)  it’s going to happen. Though all the circumstances seemed to say the opposite (“against all hope”), Abraham believed God’s word anyway and he was sure that somehow, someway God could and would do it. This faith pleased God so much that God "credited it to him as righteousness". That means that God made Abraham right with Himself. He no longer held Abraham’s sin against him, instead he removed it all and gave him a clean, holy new start! Amazing!

Now God didn’t fulfil his promise straight away and Abraham’s wife got a bit impatient and came up with a way to “make” God’s promise come true (which was not what God wanted). Yet in God’s timing he did give them a son, as He had promised, and although Abraham didn’t see his offspring numbering the stars in the sky in his own lifetime, he did get to see it from heaven because he had put his faith in God.

I just want to encourage you today to keep on putting your hope and your trust in God. You may feel that circumstances are against you, or that God is slow in keeping his promises, but God is powerful and He will do what He’s promised, in His own perfect timing. So trust in the Lord, in His power to do what He’s promised and with the knowledge that He won’t let you down. You will be so blessed and encouraged if you do!

Ephesians 1 : 17-19

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ever wondered what to pray for people? How about starting with Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1. It’s great! Notice that he keeps asking God, it was a regular prayer of his.

v17. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

The first part of his prayer in v17 is asking God to enable them to know Him better. This isn’t a head knowledge, this us a heart to heart knowledge, an intimacy with God. We can only have this intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit who reveals to us God’s heart. No matter how much intellectual knowledge of the bible and theory and religion we have, we can’t know God without the help if the Holy Spirit who helps us to get that knowledge from the head and into the heart.

v18. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,”

Hope is not what we often think it is.. some sort of vague wish that we hold onto even though we don’t know if it’ll come true or not. No, hope in the New Testament is an assurance of what God has promised is to come. 1 Peter 1:3 says… “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..” Jesus is our hope, his resurrection gives us an assurance that we too have new life when we repent & put our faith in him, and we too will live with him in glory. It’s a promise of God, and God is faithful to all his promises.

v18 cont.. “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

That’s US ! WE are Christ’s glorious inheritance!!!! He sees us as his riches!! That’s so amazing! Just think about that for a minute. Jesus died so that his inheritance could be us motley lot. He thought that we were an inheritance worth dying for… For me that’s just such a hard thing to get my head round, but that just shows Christ’s amazing, unconditional love.

v19. “..and his incomparably great power for us who believe”

You can’t compare God’s power with anything you know!! It would be like comparing… well you just can’t do it! And look at the wording “for us” the power is FOR US who believe. It’s for our good and for us to use, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is there for us! Often we don’t make use of the power God has given us because we only attempt to do the things that we know we could do in our own strength, if God didn’t step in. In doing this we’re not trusting that God has given us the same power that rose Christ from the dead, and we miss out on getting to see & experience God’s power. When we take the risk, and put ourselves (and God) on the line, that’s when we see God’s great power at work in & through us!

I pray that you may KNOW God more, in a heart to heart way. I pray that you will know the HOPE to which you are called through Christ. To know this hope is an eternal hope and an assurance that is set in the promises of God. I pray that you would know just how VALUABLE and PRECIOUS you are to Jesus. I pray too that you would trust that you have God’s GREAT POWER with you, and so you would have the BOLDNESS and confidence to step out in faith and “walk the walk” not just “talk the talk.”

“For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:3

When I read this passage it made me think about my motivation for doing things. We can all work, labour and endure to a certain extent, but when our motivations are in the wrong place then it’s all rather pointless.

“work produced by FAITH”

Each one of us goes to work with the faith that our employers will pay us, otherwise we wouldn’t go. Here the work spoken about isn’t worldly work, it’s Godly work, but the same sort of principle applies. We work for the Lord because of our faith in Jesus, we believe in His name. We know that Christ has already done everything required on the cross, taken all our sin and replaced it with his righteousness, so we do not work not to earn salvation or to try to please God. Our faith in Christ produces good works because we are eager to serve the Lord in whom we have put our trust. We also know that he has promised heavenly rewards for the works we do, rewards which are eternal.

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. Matthew 16:27

Are your works produced by faith alone, or do you still feel that you need to earn God / man’s approval? Ask God to show you what your motivation is for the good works you do.

“labor prompted by LOVE”
I see labour as something that takes a lot of energy and time, and we often ache quite a bit after we’ve laboured for a while! Like a woman giving birth, there can be a lot of pain and struggle involved, but it’s worth it because something amazing will come from it! Therefore labour prompted by love is the only way. If we labour for any other reason, we will get tired, de-motivated and probably quite bitter, we will wonder “why on earth am I putting all of this effort in?” Yet when we are prompted by love – mainly by God’s love for us (which shows us how to love Him and others in return) then we see that this labour of love is so worth it! Love should be our inspiration, our motivation and the reason behind why we “stick at” things and “press on” when others may just give up. Labour prompted by love causes us not to lose heart, as the love of Christ compels us to carry on, even when the going is tough.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14

What do you see yourself labouring on at the moment? Is it a labour prompted by love?

“Endurance inspired by HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ”
When the going gets tough! That’s when we need endurance. It’s easy to be “fair weather Christians” but when the storms of life come, it’s then that we see whether we do have our hope set in Christ. Our hope must be in Him or we will soon be shaken by the troubles of this world. Hope in anything else will cause us to wobble, because it does not and will not last.

Our hope is for now – Jesus is with us and will help us through any and every circumstance we face, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our hope is for the future – one day soon Jesus will return and we will see His glory in full, and we will be with Him.

We know that Christ came to earth to walk in our shoes and to face all the things that we face, but also he endured a horrifying death on the cross because of his love for us. Death, however, could not defeat him and he conquered death and rose again to give us this eternal hope in Him! Whatever we have to endure in this lifetime Jesus understands, he’s been there and he’s been through the worst thing imaginable, yet blessed those who were responsible – asking God to forgive them. This is such an inspiration for us; to faithfully endure when times are tough! Surely with this amazing role model, and the wonderful hope we have in Him, we can stand firm against anything that life throws at us, in full assurance of who we are in Christ and the battle He has already won on our behalf! And what a blessing we will receive when we meet him face to face having endured to the very end. What a hope we have in Jesus!

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

What do you tend to put your hope in when things get tough? Who/what do you lean on? Is Jesus your rock? Do you have your hope set fully on Him? If not, ask God to help you give Jesus his rightful place at the centre of your life.

Isn’t it interesting that all God’s motivators are positive? God doesn’t motivate us using guilt, shame, threats or obligation (although others my try to put these things on us). He chooses instead to use things like Hope and Faith and above all, his wonderful Love, to steer us in the right direction!

We are so blessed to have such a loving heavenly father!

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

The other day I was feeling like a need a reminder that Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a fruit, something that grows out of our loving relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. It’s not controlled by the circumstances or the situations we are in. The early Christians in the New Testament were imprisoned and persecuted and many were put to death, but still lived their lives in joy, it couldn’t be taken away from them. They sang praises to God in prison, it seemed that nothing could quench that overflow of joy in their hearts.

Sometimes I find it hard to stay joyful, and when I look around at others struggling too, I wonder, where has all the joy gone? And why are we letting life bring us down? What makes the difference between me and the New Testament Christians?

I thought perhaps I was trying to muster up my own Joy rather than seeking God for His? Or perhaps confusing the words “Joy” and “Happiness” and actually I do have joy deep in me but because happiness is often so fleeting I miss the joy that I have deep down? Or is it just because I’m not quick enough to turn to God in all situations and circumstances?

I prayed about this for a while and asked God to show me what I need to do to remain in joy. The answer was a simple one “fix your eyes on Jesus.” I realised that this was so true! All the times that I felt I didn’t have enough joy were the times where I had taken my focus off Jesus and started looking at myself, or others, or the situations/circumstances I, or others were in. As soon as my focus was on the problem rather than the Answer (Jesus) that’s where my joy faltered and I allowed worry / disappointment or fear take the place of my joy!!

Hebrews 12:2-3 says ^“ Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus endured the cross for “the joy set before him” and that by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author & perfecter of our faith, we can keep our joy and not grow weary or lose heart (even if we face difficult / uncertain circumstances?)

Check out Acts 13:50-53 ^“50 But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ⁵¹ So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Doesn’t it sound like something got missed in translation? They were persecuted and expelled from the region, and as a result they were… “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” ?!

The Holy Spirit in you is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11) and was the same Holy Spirit that came on the disciples, to enable them to move in power and do all the things Jesus told them to, with Joy! There’s no difference between then and now. You can have the same joy, if you follow Jesus and keep your eyes on Him!

So I pray that you will have Joy in your life, through the Holy Spirit, and that you will be able to fix your eyes on Jesus and not on the circumstances you are in or even on the lives of other people, so that you may hold onto this joy and not lose heart.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”- Deuteronomy 7:9

“God is God” – He rules & reigns over everything!!

God is “the faithful God” – we can trust him to never let us down

God “[keeps] his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his command” – he’s not ever going to turn his back on us or break any of his promises. He loves us and offers us salvation when we turn to him for forgiveness and choose to follow his ways.

Praise God that he is a Faithful, loving God who doesn’t change according to feelings and circumstances like we do. Praise God that he has promised us good things and that he will never let us down! Praise God that he has authority and power over all things and nothing is impossible for him!!

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.“ Mark 10:27

So if you are facing something which feels like an impossible circumstance or situation, !remember! – God IS God, God IS faithful, God loves you and will help you. With God all things are possible – even those that seem impossible for us.

Hold onto this truth and don’t give up asking God to help you, guide you and give you strength!

I thought I would write a short post on how to know God for yourself – this is for anyone who doesn’t yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

1st – Do you know that you have made mistakes in your life and have lived your life without God? –> God calls this “sin” and this is what seperates us from Him. The bible says it like this: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” –Romans 3:23 (NIV). God is perfect and has never sinned, and we learn in the bible that ultimately the punishment for sin is death – which is being cut off from God for eternity. “For the wages of sin is death.” –Romans 6:23 (NIV)

2nd - There is good news! John 3:16 says “for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” Jesus (God’s son) chose to die on a cross to take the punishment for all our sins. Then he rose again to conquer death once and for all, and to show that he really was the son of God.

3rd - YOU need to make a choice. To decide if you believe Jesus really is the son of God and really did die for your sins. If you’re not sure – perhaps go on an Alpha course or read the gospel of Mark or John in the bible (try a NIV or NLT version) to find out what God’s word says about Jesus. Then, if you want this gift of eternal life, you need to chose to ask for forgiveness from God for the sins you have committed, and chose to turn from them and try to walk God’s way (with God’s help of course). Welcome Jesus as Lord in your life and he’ll help you to do all this.

Here’s a prayer you can pray:

Father God, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong and for chosing to live my life apart from you. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins and thank you that he rose again. I now choose to turn away from my sins and to live my life for you. I pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit to help me and guide me as I learn to live my life your way. Amen.

4th - Tell someone! It’s really important that you find another Christian to tell that you’ve made a choice to welcome Jesus into your heart. They can support you and help you find a friendly, welcoming church who pray, worship & teach the Word of God.  We can’t be Christians on our own – it’s not God’s plan

What next?

If you live near Swindon, come along to Gateway church & make sure you visit the welcome area at the end of the service! If not, do try to find a Jesus loving, bible teaching, spirit filled church who will help you in the next steps of your journey.

Pray. You’ve started with a prayer to ask God into your life, it’s not a one off prayer! God wants to have an ongoing relationship with you, so try to speak to him each day about anything and everything. Ask Him for help, thank him for all the good things in your life and generally start to build a realationship with your Father in heaven. If it’s hard – ask God to help you to pray!

Get hold of a modern translation of the bible too and start reading! Start with the New Testament – An NIV version is good, or try NLT which is a nice easy version to read. The Message is also very easy to read (although it’s not a proper word-for-word translation.) Check out my bible studies, to learn more about God, Jesus and all sorts of living God’s way type of topics!

Check out our friend Adam’s blog on Baptism too!

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. 1 John 3:14

(more…)

Psalm 62:5-6
Find rest o my soul in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

This is part of another passage that I have been meditating on over the past few weeks. I’m not sure why I originally picked it out, but after learning it and thinking it over for a while I decided to write about it and share my thoughts.

There are so many things offered to us to bring us rest and relaxation – holidays, watching films, laying in bed till lunchtime on a Saturday, perhaps certain hobbies which distract you from the everyday grind of work. All these things are fine, but don’t you find that as soon as you are home from the holiday, or as soon as the film ends, you seem to be right back to where you started? I’ve felt a bit like that recently, and God’s been reminding me of this verse. “Find rest o my soul in God alone.” Not only for my eternal rest in heaven, but for my everyday rest whilst here on Earth. Only God can settle my worries and the thoughts going round in my head. Only God can give a rest that seems to stay with me longer than any holiday or other distraction. Yet I need to go to him and sit at his feet and ask him to help me to put it all down, to “find” the rest, not just expect it to be there without me choosing to spend time with God. That’s where we find rest, sitting at God’s feet.

I’ve been on holiday recently and came back straight into a load if work and emails etc. As soon as I was home I started to feel ill and I felt a bit robbed of my relaxation. Yet the week after we came back we had a week of prayer at my church and we spent several evenings at the prayer meetings. Whilst on holiday I was totally rubbish at praying and reading my bible, and during these prayer meetings I started to realised that I’d really been missing out on God’s rest. Even though nothing particularly changed in my circumstances, inside I began to feel rested and I knew that it was from God, not from my holiday.

The rest of this passage is an encouragement & a challenge for us. God is our hope. He is our fortress, with him we will not be shaken… Yet this is only the case when we choose to have him as our fortress. If “he alone” is not our fortress, and things like our finances, jobs, home or anything else have been made into our security, when tough times come, like the financial turbulance which is happening at the moment, we will be shaken. We will be no different to anyone else, because we haven’t put our hope in God, but in other things to keep us safe and secure.

There is nothing in this world that we can put our total trust in, we must make sure that we have God alone as our rock and that we are trusting in God alone for our salvation. Jesus. It’s all about Him. When we put him in his rightful place, we will find rest whilst the world is panicking and we will not be shaken, even if the world falls down around us.

God is great! As it says in Nahum 1:7: The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.

So are you trusting in Him?

Exodus 33:14-16 14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

Moses hit the nail on the head here. We will be no different to anyone else, unless God is with us. But you know what Jesus promised as he commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations??? And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20

I almost want to stop there because that’s so amazing. We have God’s presence with us!!! Us, little ol’ me and little ol’ you have God with us each day as we look to Him and seek to do His will. We can walk with God, anywhere we go and in every situation we face! At work, at home, in our conversations, in the highs and in the lows, us and God!! Little me and BIG God. Weak me and strong God. Wow!

What an impact it would make on the way we view our lives, if we could properly get our heads around this!! If we remembered each morning as we woke up that God was with us. If we thought every day “God is with me so what have I to fear?” Whenever we feel small or hopeless or out of control, to pause and remember – God is with me. God, the creator of the entire universe, is with little ol’ me! I don’t deserve it, but he’s with me. I don’t feel it all the time, but he’s with me. I know it. Because Jesus said so!

Without God we are unable to be any different from anyone else, unable to be a light in this dark world and unable to bring people comfort or hope. Without God all our deeds are useless and we will tire ourselves out working in our own strength. So lets thank God for his promise to be with us and ask Him to guide us so we don’t go off doing our own thing without checking first that it’s what God wants! When we acknowledge that God is with us in every situation, we are much more able to let Him work in the situation, rather than trying to sort it out ourselves. Knowing that God is with us should give us a confidence that we never knew we had, a peace that surprises us and a hope because we know that God will work through whatever situation we are in.

I feel encouraged already!!