“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“When Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3), He didn’t say it to a prostitute-it was Nicodemus, a respected rabbi. Jesus said to this man: “You need your whole life to be recreated from the inside.” The new birth is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. It happens when He moves in a person’s life. When you see that, you’ll want to pray.
We’re looking for more than behavior modification, we’re looking for new life from above that makes us the kind of people who are joyful always, pray continually and who give thanks in all circumstances. This only happens through divine power. You have the privilege of knowing the One who holds that power, and He invites you to talk to Him. ”
Gay couples celebrates victory in Argentina. They are now given same rights enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts including adopting children after the country legalised same-sex marriage last Thursday, 15 July 2010.
The unprecedented legislation passed despite intense opposition by the Roman Catholic Church. Argentina is known to be predominantly Catholic nation. The vote is 33 to 27 with three abstentions. With this, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legally recognise gay marriage. While same-sex civil unions are recognised in Buenos Aires, parts of Mexico and Brazil and in Uruguay, no other Latin American country prior to Argentina had allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Christianity is not a doctrine, not truth as truth, but the knowledge of a Person; it is knowing the Lord Jesus. You cannot be educated into being a Christian. —T. Austin-Sparks
A funny church sign says: ” There are some questions that can’t be answered by Google!” With enough curiousity, I typed in “Jesus” in Google Search and bingo! There are about 175,000,000 results in 0.15 seconds! The top 5 results is from Wikipedia, a funny titled website called “Jesus Dress Up“, a question-captioned site called “Who is Jesus-Really?,” Youtube videos, and The Jesus Film Project.
With the advance technology that we are in nowadays, we process a lot of information. Good or bad. True or not true. Relevant or irrelevant. But who is Jesus really? With 175 millions hits in Google, where a lot us rely for quick information, Jesus is undeniably one of the most popular Person throughout our history. In fact He is very controversial. A lot of people likes to talk about God or “god” but some seems to shy away or avoid conversations about Jesus. In fact a funny anecdote depicts that even people who are religious fails to identify Jesus.
A Bektashi dervish apporached a certain bishop and said: ‘I have heard of a young man who harangues crowds, advocating their breaking the law, claims supernatural connections, performs “miracles” and contradicts himself….” ‘Enough!’ said the bishop. ‘he shall be tried, charged with blasphemy and upsetting public.If he does not recant, he may be put to death as a heretic and corrupter. Just tell me his name, and I shall arrange the rest!’
‘I wish you could realize how impressed I am by your competence,’ said the Bektashi. ‘His name is Jesus.’(1)
Funny but it’s true. Isn’t it? Religious people tends to know more about their traditions, customs, rituals, and creeds but not the God, the Saviour, and the Lord Jesus Christ. More so with non-believers, agnostics, and atheiests who bombard Jesus with mockery and lies.
Jesus came from Heaven to Earth not to establish a religion but a relationship. The Gospel of John in Chapter 14 verses 1-6 we read: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions;[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.[b] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
To me, this is profound. Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, and Jesus is the life.
Modern man does not like to think of God in terms of wrath, anger and judgment. He likes to make God according to his own ideas and give God the characteristics he wants Him to possess. Man tries to remake God to conform to his own wishful thinking, so that he can make himself comfortable in his sins.
This modern god has the attributes of love, mercy and forgiveness, but is without justice. Man doesn’t want to be judged and punished for sin. He “reconstructs” God along the lines of tolerance, all-embracing love and universal goodwill.
In this picture of God, there are no laws that demand absolute obedience and no standards to which man must adhere.
The Psalmist said: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7-8).
The Bible warns that “evil men do not understand justice” (Proverbs 28:5).The Bible declares that God is a God of judgment, wrath and anger. Time after time Jesus warned of judgment: “Every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).
The author of the Book of Hebrews wrote, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Life is passing fast for all of us. It won’t be long until we stand before God to give an account of how we have lived in this life. Are you prepared?
You ask, “What do I have to do to prepare?” The Bible says that you must repent of your sins. Jesus said, “Unless you repent you will … perish” (Luke 13:3). Second, you must receive Christ as your Lord and Savior.
The late Dr Adrian Rogers, preacher/teacher of Love Worth Finding Ministries, wrote this article that I want to share to all Behind Crossroads readers. I hope you will find it inspiring. Be blessed.
“If you believe the Bible, you know that God is a miracle-working God. And God is not limited in any degree nor any respect. He is totally sovereign. So, we can believe in miracles, but don’t put your faith in miracles. Put your faith and your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand as recorded in John 6. Great multitudes were following Jesus at that time, but why? John 6:2 gives us the answer, “And a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased.” People do that today, do they not? Now I want you to see three things about moving beyond miracles and on to Jesus.
There Is No Problem Too Big For Jesus To Solve
Do you have a problem today? Read John 6:1-14. There was a monumental problem that day – 5,000 hungry people and hardly a bite of food! Jesus said to Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” And Philip answered, “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.”
Now why did Jesus ask Philip where they were going to buy bread? Was it because Jesus was seeking advice? No, John says that Jesus knew what He was going to do. Was He trying to learn something about Philip? No, He already knew all about him. Jesus wanted Philip to gain some insight into himself. Philip calculated the cost of feeding the people, but he left Jesus out of the equation. You may have a very serious problem. Take that problem and double it. Now, double it again. Now, I want to ask you a question. Is it too big for God? Of course not. He is the Lord. The first part of Genesis 18:14 says, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” Put this down big, plain, and straight. There is no problem too big for Jesus to solve. Do you believe that? I hope you do.
There Is No Person Too Small For Jesus To Use
When Jesus solves problems, He uses people. Who was the person Jesus used in the miracle recorded in John 6? A little lad. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother found someone, “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9).
Here was a little lad and a little lunch. Meager in quantity, meager in quality, but the Lord Jesus blessed and fed the multitude with this little lad’s lunch. And Jesus is blessing and feeding you and me today, two thousand years later.
Do you think this little lad went away hungry? When he gave it all to the Lord Jesus, then Jesus gave back to him. You cannot “out-give” God. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
God is not asking you to give what you don’t have, He’s asking you to give what you do have. God specializes in doing extraordinary things with ordinary people. You may be too big for God to use but you’ll never be to small for God to use!
There Is No Hunger Too Deep For Jesus To Satisfy
After Jesus fed the five thousand, He gave the message in the miracle – to go beyond the miracle and on to Himself. Open your Bible and read John 6:22-65.
Jesus said the only reason they wanted Him was because of the bread and the fish. In John 6:27, He gives them a command, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed” (italics mine).
Then said they to Him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (John 6:28). Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent” (John 6:29). This is what it’s all about. That we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Here is the message in the miracle. Jesus. You should seek nothing more, you should settle for nothing less.
You need Jesus – not some creed, code, or cause. You don’t go beyond Jesus. You may go deeper into Jesus, but you’ll never go beyond Jesus. The table is set. Come and dine.”
A funny church sign says: ” There are some questions that can’t be answered by Google!” With enough curiousity, I typed in “Jesus” in Google Search and bingo! There are about 175,000,000 results in 0.15 seconds! The top 5 results is from 
