Be The Blessing!

One of the 'missing gems' from the current edition of our Salvation Army songbook is 'Make Me A Blessing'.
These are the words that we concluded our worship time with this morning.

Out in the highways and byways of life, many are the weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, making the sorrowing glad.

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing;
Out of my life may Jesus shine.
Make me a blessing, O Saviour I pray.
Make me a blessing to someone today.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love; tell of His pow'r to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove true every moment you live.

Give as 'twas given to you in your need; love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed; unto your mission be true.

I have no doubt that God calls us to live out our faith in such a way that we 'speak life and hope' into the broken lives of those who experience personal devastation, hopelessness and despair.

Will you allow God to enable you to 'be that blessing'?

Psalm 111:10 (MSG) ~ "The good life begins in the fear of God — Do that and you'll know the blessing of God. His Hallelujah lasts forever!"

Speaking Life And Hope

Confronting...soul-wrenching... spirit-inspiring...that's how I'd sum up the OASIS documentary aired tonight on ABC focussing on the prevalence of youth homelessness and addictions in Australia. I was moved to tears and, honestly speaking, need some more time to really process all that we saw and heard discussed.

But without a doubt, this was clear and plain ~ Captains Paul and Robbin Moulds, and the volunteer staff at the OASIS centre, are legends in their field and their consistent and caring influence in the lives of Sydney's youth is both compassionately Christlike and personally empowering in enabling young people to seek a change for the better.

A comment made in the documentary is still ringing in my ears and forces me to question: "If we don't speak life and hope into the lives of 'needy' others, who will?" It's a question that is not only relevant to youth facing homelessness and drug addictions; it is relevant to all people in all aspects of our society who are broken-hearted and in despair because of their individual experience of a range of personal, social, cultural and spiritual injustices.

The challenge here is to be 'salt and light' right where God has placed you, speaking life and hope into the lives of those you come into contact with everyday.

Deuteronomy 33:27 (NIV) ~ "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."

"Verse Of The Day" Has The Final Word!

Following yesterday's comment, I noted today's Verse of the Day from Hebrews 1:3 certainly has the right of reply as the final Word on the topic.

"By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God's nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule."

(The Message)

Amen! Amen! Amen!

Spiritual Mythbuster

I was listening to a recording of one of our retired officers who was invited to preach recently on the topic "Maintaining a healthy spirit, soul and body", and was thrilled to be reminded of the distinction between our spirit (that which communicates spiritually with God) and soul (our mind, intellect, will and emotions). But the greatest lesson I learned was that "satan is not the opposite of God". Too often Christians live with the mythical mindset that satan (meaning 'adversary' or enemy of God) is as powerful as God. The arch enemy of God is not an evil opposite or 'reflection' of God!

Consider the enemy's limitations . . .

• He is not self-existent. He is created.
• He is not sovereign.
  satan rules a domain of demons, but he does not rule beyond the bound of that confinement of rule which God has given him.
  satan never has cast off the government of God, since the rebellion totally failed. He has been exiled to the earth and the domain around it (Ephesians 2:2).
  satan’s chain stretches just so far and God allows him to go that far and no further. He operates completely within the sphere of God’s allowance (e.g. Job 1:12; 2:6; Luke 22:31-32).
  God even uses satan to His own ends (2 Corinthians 12:7).
• He is not omnipotent (all-powerful). He is powerful, yes, but not all powerful (1 John 4:4; Revelation 12:8; 20:2).
• He is not omniscient (all-knowing).
  satan is a 'fallen' angel and angels don’t know everything (1 Peter 1:11-12).
  There is no indication in Scripture that satan can read our thoughts. But he’s pretty good at predicting our behavior, because he’s an expert on human nature.
• He is not omnipresent (everywhere at the same time). He’s fast, but not omnipresent.
  Being a creature who dwells on earth, satan cannot be in more than one place at a time. Job 1:7 makes it clear that satan roams here and there. He was thrown to earth in a war with Michael and other angels and "lost his place in heaven" (Revelation 12:8). If satan can "lose his place," then he is not in every place.
  But satan is the head of a network of subordinate devils who make his influence felt all over the earth (Matthew 12:24).

So let's not live a moment longer by the myth that satan is somehow the opposite of God. He is not, and never will be, an 'equal opposite' of God ~ "Christ is all, yes, all in all".

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV) ~ "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Overseas Personnel

WORLD MISSION FELLOWSHIP MEETING

It was a real privilege to welcome home Majors Ross and Agnes Hailes (left) from service in Canada, and Majors Anne and John Farquharson (right) from short-term service in Zambia. Both officer couples are in Australia enjoying a period of furlough before heading back overseas.

The stories of ministry and service in their various countries were very different, but the common thread was their strong commitment to meeting the social and spiritual needs of their respective local communities by impacting the lives of others with God's gospel in action.

Mark 16:15 (MSG) ~ "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all."

A Matter Of Perspective

I've been reflecting recently on the different perspectives people take in their approach to life, and I've come to the point where I'm personally grateful that I live each day with a "Christian Faith" perspective. My faith provides me with a personal assurance of love and confident hope that I couldn't possibly ever achieve in my own strength and by my own design.

In place of the temporary, I gain the eternal.
In place of working to earn favour, I receive freely the unmerited favour of God.
In place of fear and uncertainty, I know the assurance of a peaceful and certain outcome.

God's perspective is always best and we can never go wrong if we live in His love and grace.

Fear keeps us limping in the dark

Grace keeps us walking in the light.

Barbara Johnson

("Mama get the hammer! There's a fly on Papa's head!", p.172)

"THE OASIS" Documentary

THIS COMING THURSDAY 10 APRIL...8.30PM...ABC1