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The path to follow Mark 8:34-5 In Part 2 we covered what Jesus expects from his followers. Today we look at the path Jesus has set for his followers. Mark 8:34-35 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." If we want to be Jesus’ disciple, we must (1) deny self, (2) take up our cross, (3) follow Jesus. (4) Be prepared to lose our life. Let us have a closer look at this path. 1. Deny self Denying self requires us to give up anything that we would want or seek that would hinder our doing the will of God. This does not mean that, if we want something, it is necessarily wrong. It means we must demote our wants and desires down from the throne of our wills and place Jesus and His will as the governing priority in our lives. There is room in each life for only one master (Matt. 6:19-24). If God is to rule in our lives, then our will must be made subject to His. We must be willing to give up anything in life in order to please God. 2. Take up your cross and 3. follow Jesus Many think this means bearing burdens and suffering hardships for the Lord. Surely such hardships will at times be required, but there is a fuller meaning if we consider the context. (a) What is a cross for? It was not just a burden to be borne. Far more than that, it was an instrument of death and total sacrifice. Many 19th century missionaries when preparing to embark for the mission field packed their belongings not in trunk but rather a coffin! They had already surrendered their lives to God. (b) Jesus said take up our cross and follow Him. He bore a cross, and we must bear our cross and follow Him. But where was He going with His cross? He had just said He was going to die. (c) In the next verse Jesus said we must give our lives for Him. (d) Then He asked what good our lives would be to us, if we are unacceptable at the judgment. So, "taking up your cross" suggests giving your whole life to God, as Jesus was about to give His life for us. This involves bearing burdens, but it is deeper than that. It is a total dedication of life. Our whole life is to be given to His service in anything He says. This will lead us to willingly deny self. Following Him then requires us to live as He lived His life. Luke adds "take up your cross daily" (Luke 9:23). There is a sense in which Christians must give their lives to God every day. This is not necessarily a physical death as Jesus died for us (though such might be required), but a daily total sacrifice of self to do the will of Jesus. We are called to be living sacrifices [1]. Whatever He wants with my life is what must be done with it. What I want no longer matters, but I give myself for Him, just as He gave Himself for us despite the fact His human nature would naturally recoil at the thought of the cross. 4. Lose your life for Jesus Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." Verse 35 then helps us understand Jesus' point. If a person holds his life so dear to himself that he wants to use it only to please himself, do his own will, and accomplish his own purposes, rather than denying self and serving God, that person will in the end lose his life eternally. But anyone who loses his life for Jesus' sake - gives it in service and sacrifice to God by denying himself, as described above - such a believer will save his life by gaining eternal life. This passage helps us understand the true meaning of being a disciple or follower of Jesus. This is how our Master lived, so this is how His disciples must live. God calls his followers to live lives of complete and total submission to the will of God. Amen Questions Will you follow Jesus this year? Is He worth it? Have you counted the cost of following Him? Have you considered Jesus’ expectations for you? Are you prepared (with His help) to deny your own desires this year? Will you embrace your cross and follow Him into this year? Personal Prayer [1] Romans 12:1 ‘’I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

What does Jesus expect of his followers? Here are three things that Jesus requires of his followers (disciples). 1. If we love Jesus, Jesus expects that we will obey him. John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments. What commandments – the three found in the New Testament; Love God, love your neighbour, love one another as I have loved you John 15:12 2. We are expected to follow his example Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, while He showed the disciples how to follow God. Jesus did not tell His disciples to follow other teachers; in fact, He warned against "false teachers" and rejected teachers of questionable beliefs. Paul followed the example of Jesus as he instructed believers to follow him, 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." It is scary thought to consider ‘just who are our children following today’? Our modern society "teachers/leaders" can include both people and peers and even the media. Media includes influences such as educational curriculums, books, television, music, movies, gaming, internet, etc. This is an urgent need for people especially our children to see just who it is that we are following. Many people would rather follow someone on Twitter rather than follow Jesus in life. 3. Jesus expects His disciples to count the cost of following Him. In the book ‘Mere Christianity’ [1] C.S. Lewis put the idea of counting the cost like this: "The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self--all your wishes and precautions--to Christ. A.W. Tozer on this topic expressed it like this: "Among the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying, and all we want to hear is another sermon about his dying." Part of following Jesus is being willing to put the self-life to death. Rom 6:11a Think (reckon) of yourselves as dead to sin. Death to self is NOT optional for Christians- We need to count the cost of following Jesus and the effects it will produce in our lives. It is a sobering thought to read- Mat 10:38 anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Amen Personal Prayer [1] C S Lewis Mere Christianity Chapter 23: 24, 26-33. In Part 3 we discuss the path that Jesus wants us to follow.

King Saul's jealousy of David There are in the bible various forms or types of ‘Godly’ jealousy. These involve instances where a righteous zeal is expressed either by God Himself or by His servants. Here are some examples. Exodus 20:5; Our God is a jealous God, who loves us so much and therefore forbids His people from idols to protect us from demons behind the idols. Numbers 5:12-31; Where a jealous husband suspects his wife of infidelity, if she is innocent, she will then be able to conceive a child. Number 25:11; Phinehas is jealous for God’s honour and His commandments 2 Corinthians 11:2; Paul is jealous to protect purity of Corinthian Church However our subject today is ‘Ungodly’ Jealousy Definition: ungodly jealousy is a negative emotion which often involves envy, mistrust , and suspicion. Jealousy is a form of covetousness. It changes the way people perceive others, their own life, and even their perception of God’s goodness and plan. Biblical examples of ungodly jealousy are found below. 2 Corinthians 12:19-21 v20 includes ‘jealousies’ on the list of things that should not be in the church. Galatians 5:19-21 v20 ‘jealousies’ (in KJV emulations) are included in the evil works of the flesh. Case study One of the clearest examples of ungodly jealousy was that of King Saul towards David, the son of Jesse. The story is found 1 Samuel Chapters 17-19 where the start of the ungodly jealousy and its ultimate consequences are clearly seen. Picking up the story In 1 Samuel 17, we saw David (who knew his covenant) killing the giant Goliath and initiating a great victory over the Philistines. 1 Samuel 18:1-4; Jonathan and David’s covenant is made 1 Samuel 18:5-9 Verse 5; David is promoted over the men of war, and everyone is pleased. Verse 6; As the Israeli troops came home, they were welcomed with immense joy. Verse 7; The women sang and danced for joy but ascribed only thousands slain by Saul but ten thousands by David. Verse 8; The singing of the women caused a seed of jealousy to be sown in Saul’s heart which produced anger and displeasure, insecurity, and a sense inferiority in Saul. Verse 9; Saul now viewed David with suspicion and mistrust. Verse 10; Saul’s heart attitude appears to have opened a door to a distressing spirit which troubles Saul. Verse 11; Saul’s jealousy drives him to attempt to murder David with a spear. Verse 12; Saul now becomes afraid of David because Saul recognizes that God is with David. Verse 13; Saul removes David out of sight by transferring his role in the army. Verse 14; David behaves wisely demonstrating that the Lord was with him. Verse 15; David’s wise behaviour made Saul even more frightened of him. Verse 16; David’s shrewd behaviour made him a success, a hero, and loved by the people. Verse 17; Saul’s plan B, is a deceitful plan. Saul promises his daughter in marriage if David goes to war, and Saul hopes that Philistines will kill David. Verse 18; David is humbled at the very thought that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Verse 19; Saul acts shamefully by giving the wife promised to David to another man. Verse 20-21; Saul’s next daughter Michal loved David, Saul thought that she could work against David as a tender trap. Verse 25; Saul plots again hoping the Philistines will kill David. Verse 26; David was pleased with Saul’s idea for an alternative dowry for Michal’s hand in marriage. Verse 27; David triumphs again giving Saul twice the amount asked for. Saul must give Michal to David. Verse 29; Once Saul realizes how much Michal loves David, he is even more afraid of him. Verse 30; David acts wisely as a commander and as a son-in-law of the King. Saul’s every plan fails because his son Jonathan loves David, his daughter Michal and all people also love David. The story goes on Saul then arranges various further plots to try to kill David, including the murder of seventy-five priests at Nob. Saul eventually dies in battle. What Saul’s jealousy of David did to himself The poison seed of jealousy entered Saul when he heard the women ascribe thousands to himself but ten thousands to David. This poison seed produced negative emotions in Saul including anger, displeasure, insecurity, and an inferiority complex. Saul now looked on David with suspicion and mistrust. This evil attitude of Saul’s heart permitted a distressing spirit to trouble him from time to time. David’s music gave Saul some relief from the distressing spirit but more than once Saul tried to kill David with his spear. Saul then tries various ploys involving Jonathan then Michal to get David killed by the hands of the Philistines. All these evil plans fail because God is with David. Saul’s downward spiral continues until he is eventually killed on the battlefield. What a tragic demise for King Saul who once was the Lord’s anointed. Lessons for us today about ungodly jealousy While it may seem trivial to be worried about an emotion like jealousy, it often leads people to act in ways that are harmful to themselves or others. Understanding what jealousy is, and recognizing it, can help shape the way believers deal with it, and so strengthen our walk with God. Jealousy falls under the tenth commandment to not covet. Jealousy is the noun that relates to the state of being jealous: “feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages; inclined to or troubled by suspicions or fears of rivalry, unfaithfulness.” It can also be the state of dislike for another’s goods, success, or even lifestyle. It begins with a sinful feeling or thought, but such a poisonous seed can lead us to acting in sinful ways that will not lead to happy endings in our lives. I believe that the purpose of this study is that the Lord wants us to deal with any ungodly jealousy seeds sown into our hearts. This is achieved by confessing and repenting (1 John 1:9) so let us pray. Father in the name of Jesus Christ we ask that your Holy Spirit come and convict us of our sin, including all jealousy of others including their success in life or ministry. Please forgive those of us who have acted wickedly through jealousy, insecurity, envy, fear, and mistrust even with your church and remove all the evil consequences from our situations. Amen Personal Prayer

Psalm 84:6-7 The Valley of Baca Each one of us has a destiny in Christ. A walk or a journey that we must make to get to our final destination. God himself is our destination, as in his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. Yet, to arrive at our ultimate destination, all believers should expect to pass through the dry valley where the only apparent water is our tears. We cannot make a detour as it is on the highway to heaven. Do you feel that the Lord forgotten you, as you are even now passing through the dry valley? If that is you or a loved one then His word to you today, is to remind you that He is the same Lord God who pours out his Spirit on the dry and thirsty ground and causes the crocus to bloom in the desert. The Lord has filled your wayside pools with living water. Draw near to him who is the fountain of living water and be refreshed and renewed and you shall go from strength to strength, and you shall increase. The early rain has started and is falling. Main Text Psalm 84 Spurgeon has called this Psalm ‘the pearl of the Psalms.’ Psalm 84 has a subtle radiance. The psalm would be sung accompanied by the music of the gittith (a stringed instrument) and sung joyfully as the grapes were pressed to make the new wine. It is subtitled 'longing for temple worship', and we are a people who are longing for true spiritual worship of the living God. The Psalm describes a journey into God’s very presence. Our motivation for the Journey Verse 1-2; Feel the longing and desire of the psalmist as he contemplates the Lord’s house some Christians almost have to be whipped to come to the Lord’s house. It was the psalmist’s heart’s desire. Verse 3; He guided the sparrows and swallows just to be near him. We can identify with him as my King and my God. Verse 4; What a privilege for those who are with him, all the time. No wonder they are praising him continually. When the journey gets difficult Verse 5; How unmovable, how unshakable are those who draw their strength for the journey from God himself as their map, and their route is in their heart. As the Spirit says, ‘this is the way, walk ye in it’. Verse 6; The Valley of Baca, is known as the valley of weeping and is the dry and arid valley where only the mulberry tree can grow. The Valley of Baca to the Israelites represented the season of spiritual drought and dejection. A dry and arid time where the only water is from your own tears, but yet we can take our strength from God. His ways are in our hearts. As we are passing through (for it is for a season) the dry valley, we can actually turn it into a place of pools and springs, joyfully looking to our final destination. God himself surely, he is worthy of a little toil and effort. He intervenes and is intervening today to show you his pools of living water that you can drink deeply from to be refreshed, to be renewed and comforted whilst you are in the dry place. Beloved, it is by faith that we bring out the living water from the rock and the dry ground. God has and is even now filling the pools with his gentle early rain and the desert areas in your lives are beginning to bloom with the crocus. Drink of His Spirit instead of becoming weary as the journey goes on. Verse 7; We can go from strength to strength, supply to supply, force to force, company to company. Drink from the scriptures: Isaiah 12:3; Draw joyously from wells of salvation. John 4:14; Drink of living waters that truly quench. Psalm 23; Let your cup overflow. Everyone who thirsts may come to the waters. Yes, everyone who draws their strength from him. Yes, everyone who places their trust in him. Yes, everyone who drinks deeply from his Spirit. Yes, you will go from strength to strength and will make it. You will achieve your destiny and enter into his very presence forever. Even today, your wayside pools are filled with water, the early rain of the Holy Spirit is falling right now. Let each one of us drink deeply of the Spirit right now by faith for the Lord desires to refresh, renew and comfort you today. And you will go from strength to strength. Amen Personal Prayer Please share this message as appropriate

1 Corinthians 3:12 Are you building a palace or a shack? The rewards accumulated in every faithful believer’s life are described in 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field; you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God, which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. We will receive these rewards at the end of our life at the bema judgement seat of the righteous[1]. Paul compares the life of faith as though each believer was building a structure. Our materials can be gold, silver, or precious stones or else they can be wood, hay and stubble. If you are building with gold, silver, and precious stones you are building a palace. However if you are building with wood, hay, and stubble the best you could hope for would be a shack, a hut, or a mud-hut [2]. In the above scripture v13 we learn that each person’s work for God will be tried by fire. The fire would only purify the gold, silver and precious stones but would completely consume and destroy the wood, hay, and stubble. This confirmed in v15 which is not talking about loss of salvation but the loss of rewards. What does this mean for Christian believers? Are we building a palace or a shack? Or are we building a mixture precious and worthless materials? If this is the case, there would be a partial collapse of the structure when tried by fire. When serve the Lord with work done in the flesh, or in our own strength, or not specifically commissioned by the Lord then we would expect to produce wood, hay, and stubble. When we serve the Lord by doing works that He commissioned and were conducted in the power of the Holy Spirit then we can expect our rewards to include gold, silver, and precious stones. What do you think? What about me? I suspect I have a mixture of both types of work in which case there will be size reduction when my building it is tried by fire! What do you think you are building today? Amen Personal Prayer [1] The Bema Seat is the title given the Judgment Seat of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:10, and Romans 14:10). [2] Roger Price CCF Tapes BBS 023 ‘Palaces or mud-huts’.

Blessed are those who live to bless others God exists to bless God simply lives to bless. Blessing is in the essence of the flow of divine love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit [1] The Father blesses the Son, and both bless the Holy Spirit who in turn blesses them both. God has a big heart which is full of blessing Think of it, God has unlimited resources with which to bless God can pour out a blessing so big we cannot contain it [2]. God’s heart is always to bless His children God’s heart is always to bless and when He decides to bless you ... you should be aware that nothing can stop the blessings of God from overtaking you (except our disobedience). Picture a man running as fast as he can down the road, but the blessings of God will overtake him! To be blessed by God is to enjoy His gracious favour To be blessed by God is to feel His smile upon your face How blessed is that man who meditates on His word day and night [3]. I thank God that is me. Is your life full of blessing tonight? If so, it is dangerously easy to fix our hearts on the blessing rather than the Blesser [4]. We need to grateful every day of our lives for His blessings and thank the Blesser. And there is more... we not only have the privilege of being able to receive many wonderful blessings but also have another mighty privilege of being able bless other people in the name of Jesus Christ. We are traders in blessings. We are blessed and we bless in turn. Let us trade in blessing every day of our lives! God has given each one of His covenant people the power to bless in His name. This ability to bless in His name is extremely powerful. Our words have power Our words and prayers have an incredible power to bless others. When we bless in the name of Jesus Christ the situation becomes a ‘thin place’ [5] a thin place is where heaven and earth touch. The kingdom of God can be brought down to earth in the situation when we bless here on earth with what God is blessing in heaven. Definitions. To bless is to bestow happiness or prosperity upon To bless is to pronounce God’s gracious favour upon To bless is to pronounce or declare God’s favour and goodness upon others Give and it shall be given unto you Forgive and it shall be forgiven In the same way, Be blessed and Bless others and again be blessed. Our life should be a circle of blessing (the opposite of a vicious circle). Over the years from time to time I have pondered this God given ability to bless in His name. This ability in some ways is spiritually speaking can be likened to a blank cheque with the amount simply to be filled in. Although we can bless in general sense the most powerful form of blessing will be that revealed specifically and empowered by the Holy Spirit. More recently I have read the book ‘The grace outpouring’ by Roy Godwin whose subtitle is blessing others through prayer. The story is set in a retreat on a Welsh hillside where the Spirit of God falls upon visitors usually without human intervention and the ministry team's main job is to bless the visitors through prayer. I highly recommend this book. We must learn to develop a lifestyle of blessing others through prayer. We can bring about real-life transformation in real people’s lives and situations on a day-to-day basis. Sounds great but is it too good to be true? Where in the bible does it tell us we have been given this wonderful power to bless others? Can we really partner with the Holy Spirit in this formidable ability to bless in the Lord’s name? We can even bless someone or something even when they are absent from us. Biblical basis of having this power There are a number of biblical proofs of us having the power to bless in His name. Here are a few of the biblical strands of truth concerning this. Firstly, God is glorified when we bless others, and this would be reason enough on its own. He (Christ) redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit [6]. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise [7]. The blessing of Abraham comes to the believers through Jesus Christ and God even goes beyond this by blessing us directly. The Lord goes on to promise to bless those who bless you and curse those who you curse or else to curse who curse you [8]. That is a tremendous level of identification. God really identifies with you as his child. This is an immensely powerful promise in our in our lives. It means extremely good news for that target us for blessing and extremely sad news for those who try to curse us. When God blesses them that bless you it is like compound interest accruing in your account. Firstly we are blessed ourselves and then we are blessed when we see others being blessed by God blessing them back in return. Blessing has always been a priestly duty [9] and we are part of the priesthood of all believers. Remember that ‘you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’ [10]. There are many scriptures in both the old and new testaments where we find the Father or the Son Jesus Christ or even God’s servants blessing people in many different situations; Jesus blesses children by laying His hands on them, God blesses... houses, the disciples, food, Mary and the fruit of her womb, the children of Israel. We can even bless the Lord himself for His many benefits, but we must bless those who curse us and those who persecute us and also bless others with peace. This makes us children like our Father. We do indeed have this tremendous power to bless, and we can bless others in terms of their spirit, soul and body including health and especially in fertility. Over the years I have known of many cases of infertility where healthy children have been conceived through prayers of blessing on various infertile women. We can bless the fertility of crops, of livestock and anything that can grow. Lord blesses the harvests in our various walks of life. It is interesting that where there has been spiritual revival it so affects nature that wildlife that has left will sometimes come back. The caribou in Canada, the water in Wales and the eagles returning to Antrim. We can bless with rain, or we can bless with rain being withheld. We can bless a marriage, a business, a family, or a friendship. Jesus told the disciples to bless and not curse and this commandment has never been rescinded! Do we still have the power to curse like Jesus did to the fig tree? We must be careful never to curse people, but we do have power to curse evil things such as people trafficking or drug pushing. We must bless in faith We need to bless others in faith by believing. If you want your blessing of others to really count, then we must believe it will. Have the conversation with God along these lines, ‘Lord if I bless so and so, will you empower it and see it fully carried into fruition’? Sometimes the Holy Spirit will just ask us to bless someone or something. Let us be obedient to all His promptings. How to bless others in prayer Here are some examples of how to pray or speak blessing on others in His name Father God in the name of Jesus Christ I bless my home church I bless our pastors and leaders I bless every person who is part of this work with every blessing that you have for them, spirit, soul, and body. I bless every family, every marriage in His name. I bless the financial and material needs of every church member in His name. I bless my home church with Kingdom growth and a harvest of souls to join us and who in turn will help in bringing in the harvest. I bless my home church with success as the Lord judges’ success. I bless my home church to be a centre of healing and revival. I bless Edinburgh and Scotland through my home church. I bless my home church praying it be a bright light for Jesus Christ here in Edinburgh and beyond. Or I bless our leaders that they might have a revelation of having every spiritual blessing in heaven places and that our ministry needs are met. Amen. Or I bless the foreign people living in Scotland in Jesus name asking that they prosper spiritually and financially and that they feel welcome here. Is it biblical to bless an unbeliever? God blessed you and me before we were Christians by leading us into His gift of salvation. He sends the rain on the just and unjust. Some additional blessings in scripture Blessing Israel/Jerusalem If you want to receive a specific blessing from God there are a number of things that scripture teaches carry a blessing Psalm 122:6-9. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. 7 May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” 8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” 9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity. Read the book of Revelation 1:3 blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Conclusion Let us ask the Lord today to give us a revelation of our power to bless others through prayer and pronouncement and that each one of us develops a lifestyle of daring to bless others in the name of Jesus Christ Pronounce the Blessing [11] The Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make his face to shine upon thee The Lord be gracious unto thee The Lord lift His countenance upon thee And give thee peace Amen Personal Prayer [1] Galatians 3:14 [2] Malachi 3 [3] Psalm 1 1 [4] Ronald Dunn [5] Where heaven and earth touch (concept from Celtic Christianity) [6] Galatians 3:13 [7] Galatians 3:29 [8] Genesis 12:3 [9] Numbers 6:24-26 ‘The Aaronic Blessing’ [10] 1 Peter 2:9 [11] Numbers 6:24-26 ‘The Aaronic Blessing’ For printout and many more articles please click on https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/we-are-blessed-with-the-power-to-bless

Luke 15:3-24 When I was a boy, I lived in a rough housing estate. My family were quite poor and did not have many valuables. However, one time my mother received a Churchill crown (a coin), considered to be valuable. When I was a young teenager, my mother took me aside one day, and entrusted the Churchill crown to my safe keeping, I hid it in an old piece of furniture. I forgot all about it for several years, when it was raised at a family gathering, I could not account for it. I knew that I had not sold it or disposed of it, someone in the family had taken it! I became the butt of family jokes, such as do not give anything to him to look after, look what happened to the Churchill crown! The stigma of an unjust accusation hung over me for many years. On my 40th birthday one of my sisters gave me a Churchill crown as a present. I think I know who had previously taken it! Anyway, the fact I had a replacement for my family treasure made me incredibly happy. What about you? Have you ever lost something valuable, and then had it returned you, if so, how did you feel? There are three short stories in Luke’s Gospel about valuable things that went missing: Lost Sheep Luke 15:3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Lost silver coin 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Lost son (prodigal son) 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So, he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So, they began to celebrate. Like the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son you are very valuable to God, if you turn towards him, God will run out to you, and there will be rejoicing in heaven over you. Amen Personal prayer

God can make a little go a long way Some years ago, whilst working in my role as a biomedical scientist, I heard about a patient who had a kidney transplant. Such patients need to take a type of medication called immuno-suppressive drugs. These drugs prevent the patient’s immune system from rejecting the transplanted organ. The doctors were able to gradually reduce the patient’s tablets from several a day at first, over a year or two right down to a half tablet each day. This worked fine and for something like 14 years the half tablet did the job. However, one day the patient forgot to take the half tablet and sad to say, he went into graft rejection and lost the kidney. Although he was only taking a tiny dose it went a long way and unfortunately as soon as he stopped the entire benefit was lost. This story made me think of a recurring theme in the bible of how God can make a little go a long way. Let us bring these stories to mind… Elijah’s tub of flour and jug of oil never ran out during the famine (1 Kings 17:8-16). Elisha prayed that the widow’s jar of oil would keep flowing and she was able to clear all her debts (2 Kings 4:1-7). God filled every vessel of the widow which c.f. with us being filled with the Spirit but he is never diluted or diminished. Jesus prayed and the loaves and fishes were multiplied to feed a multitude (Matthew 14:17-21) and had lots of leftovers too. Again, Jesus tells us (Matthew 17:20) that if we have the tiniest measure of faith, then we can move mountains! God certainly can make a little go a long way! And he does time after time, again and again, Let us now focus specifically on a little going a long way in the context of prayer. Sometimes we think that for certain types of prayer to be effective, then the prayer must be nice and long. But could God act on us merely mentioning someone in our prayers? Well, here are 5 biblical examples from the Apostle Paul, who clearly thought mentioning someone in prayer was very worthwhile. Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention [1] of you always in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. Philemon 4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, So, what does it mean to mention someone in prayer? A dictionary definition of the word ‘mention’ -a brief comment or remark, or, to remember briefly. As we get older in the faith our daily prayer lists get longer and longer! Paul’s prayer list must have been very extensive (he prayed for the Galatians, Colossians and many other churches, families, and individuals). But he felt that it was important to continually be mentioning his fellow believers in prayer to the Lord. Sometimes, we think that for a prayer to be effective that it must be long! As an older car battery charger gives a trickle charge, so our making mention of others in prayer is constantly bringing them before the throne room of grace. Sad to say, from my own experience, for several years I used to briefly mention each day two children with serious health problems. They always seemed fine. But I unintentionally forgot them for a year or two. When I next saw them, I was surprised how much they had deteriorated, and I decided that I had to start mentioning them before God each day again. Beloved, God can make your little go a long way. So, give God your littles: (your little prayer, your little time, your little finance and little resources, your little strength, your little capacity to care for others, your little faith can move mountains), and know this that even mentioning someone in prayer to the Lord is positively making a difference in their lives. Let us pray: Father God in Jesus name, we offer to you the ‘littles’ in our lives, our time, our strength and energy, our finance and resources, and all other areas of our lives where we feel ‘little’, asking that that you make each one of them go a long way in the building your kingdom. Amen [1] 3417. mneia, mni'-ah; from G3415 or G3403; recollection; by impl. recital: --mention, remembrance.

Victories through Jesus Christ the glorified man 1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Since death came through a man (Adam), the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. All men will die but believers in Christ will be made alive again. Victory with the devil under our feet Your identity in Christ gives you various rights, privileges, and authority. Psalm 110 1The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” If Satan and his forces are under Jesus' feet, we are so identified with Jesus' Christ, that we must realise that Satan and his forces are also under our feet. Victory over demons Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. Do you remember your first encounter with the demonic? As a young Christian I recall that a man at a worship service began to manifest demons. The senior pastor, pastor and an elder invited me to join them to minister to this man in a cloakroom. There was something in the man’s eyes that moved independently of his pupils I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The man locked eyes with each of the ministers trying to psyche them, but he was the one who had to break his gaze. Then he came to me the least experienced Christian, when he locked eyes on me, I felt the power of the Holy Spirit flood through me, and I knew for sure that ‘’Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world’’! Needless to say, the demonized man broke off his gaze. Victory over sin and the ability to pull down strongholds 2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Our mighty weapons through God are used in the context of our righteous living (armour of God) and include the Word of God (that Rhema living word), prayer, the name of Jesus Christ, and the Blood of Jesus Christ. Victory over our circumstances 1 John 5:4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Do you believe? Pray for God’s will, his good, and pleasing and perfect will in your life not what is gratifying to your fleshly desires. Amen Personal Prayer In Part 4 we consider your new birth right.

Identity crisis Many believers today seem to be experiencing an identity crisis. What I mean by this is that the life they are leading does not match up the life of the believer that is found in scripture. The identity crisis leads to them being defeated, dejected, downtrodden and beaten up by life whereas the scriptures tell us we should be living in victory and that we are more than conquerors, we are the head and not the tail, we are the winners and not losers etc. We are being conditioned to believe we are less than God says we are, conditioned to believe we have nothing to offer in the Kingdom, conditioned to only see the natural instead of the supernatural. Satan seeks to steel our identity in Christ. We must remember that we are no longer under the circumstances, but we are overcomers through Jesus Christ. The basis for victory in the believer's life comes from the magnificent victory of Jesus Christ. The magnificent victory of Jesus Christ God expects us to live victoriously in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus victory was achieved via the cross and resurrection but especially in his ascension to the Father’s right hand. In this way Jesus who was 100% man and 100% God, took his humanity on to the level that increased our ranking to above the angels and fallen angels.[2] John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Ephesians 1:19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. All things are under Jesus' feet. Jesus is head over all things pertaining to the church. Ephesians 4:8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) When Jesus Christ won the victory over sin and death at the cross and then ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father he gave us victory in every area of life; we are completely identified with Jesus Christ. The picture here is like a victorious general returning to Rome, with his legions, and fierce captives, in Jesus case he defeated the fallen angels. When we become born again we move from the old creation into the wonderful new creation. Old creation vs New creation God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit I Born again believers Old Creation Order New Creation Order Angels (Elect and fallen) Angels (Elect and fallen) OT believers Unbelievers OT unbelievers Animals Animals Hebrews 2:5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? 7 You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour 8 and put everything under their feet.” Although mankind was created a little lower than the angels when we become born again through Jesus Christ we are so identified with Jesus that we receive his ranking which is now above the angels and this includes fallen angels/demons. Amen Personal Prayer In Part 3 we consider Jesus as the glorified man

Part 1 Jonah This is a new 4-part mini- series in which we will have a brief look at the ministry of four prophets. You could say the prophets of old in a sense were God’s trouble-shooters. Today’s trouble-shooter is Jonah, and we are going to explore God’s view of the Ninevites and his lesson for Jonah. What is a trouble-shooter? Someone sent into a tricky situation, who brings the answer to the problem, this often a ‘specialist’ e.g., in the twentieth century, Red Adair for oil well fires or Roy Leeming for dealing with rogue elephants. We shall see there is a lot more to Jonah than in the popular view of him being a ‘jinx’ to the sailors i.e. bringing calamity to companions. So, let us look at the book of Jonah from the viewpoint of Jonah being God’s trouble-shooter and see what we can learn from it. We will take brief look at whole story then begin to focus on certain verses Chapter 1:1-3 Jonah is called by God to go and preach repentance to the Nineveh who as Assyrians were an enemy of Israel. Jonah opts out of God's instructions but heads in a different direction to Tarshish. Verse 4; Jonah confesses to being the cause of the problems for the sailors and is thus thrown into the sea and was swallowed by great fish. If you feel like disobeying God, this is something to bear in mind. Chapter 2; Jonah’s prayer Chapter 3; Jonah goes to Nineveh this time. We could wonder what might have happened if he had not? Jonah preaches to the Ninevites about the coming wrath of God and the Ninevites turn in repentance from their wickedness to God. Chapter 4; Is it a happy ending and if so for whom? Verse 2; The key to understanding Jonah is to know his outlook was that of a typical home nation patriot! I know you would be gracious and forgiving to your nation’s enemies and let them off? What Jonah was really saying was that these people, the Ninevites were the sworn enemies of the Jews, they were a numerous and powerful people, and they were going to overrun the Jews. Jonah thinks he is acting more righteously than God! This story at best tells of Jonah’s blind patriotism or at worst may reveal some form of racial prejudice or even hatred. Verse 3; His prejudice was more important than his life. Do we have prejudices more than the life of God in us? Verse 10; The plant was a ‘son of the night’, Jonah did not plant or labour for, nor nurture or cherish it. Verse 11; God is telling Jonah how he feels about Nineveh, where there is a vast multitude of real human beings. 120,000 young children (or ignorant adults) and animals. God loves the innocent and always seeks to protect them. Here are some examples… Sodom and Gomorrah could be saved for the sake of ten righteous/innocents. Children’s angels behold the Father’s face. Jesus warns us not to cause the little children to stumble. God in Old Testament forgave the sins of Israel because of innocent blood (of the lamb/goat) at the Passover. God in the New Testament forgave the sins of humanity because of innocent blood (Jesus’ blood). God breathes his breath into each human person making them living souls. He formed the Ninevites in their mother’s wombs. He feeds, sustains us, and heals us. His love extends beyond race and colour. God loves his enemies and allows no prejudice. Rather we ought to pray for them that despitefully use us! Jonah never considered the innocent people of Nineveh; he only saw one side of the story that is as a Jewish patriot. God’s love is not limited by man’s characteristics, such as young and old, fat, and thin, clever, and not so, black, and white or even rich or poor. Man’s love often can be subject to prejudice, for example, the disciples asked if they should call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans! What if God called one of us to go preach repentance to another local fellowship and made it clear a major revival would come to that fellowship? Man’s love is jealous. God’s love rejoices with all his body. Trouble-shooter Jonah learned that God’s love was wider, deeper, and higher than he had appreciated. God taught Jonah about his divine nature whilst Jonah was on his mission. Personal Prayer Father we ask in Jesus' name that you show us how to love with your love. We confess our prejudices before you now, show us them by your Spirit. We repent and ask you Jesus to fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit and your love. Amen

John 15:1-7 Disciples ought to bear good fruit John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Jesus tells his disciples that ‘I am the vine, and you are the branches’ This describes the relationship between Christ and his church in way to help us to understand it. You could say the picture of the vine and the branches is a model but one that reflects the spiritual reality very clearly. Romans 5:5 tells us that the love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like liquid love in our hearts and produces the fruit of the Spirit which is the character of Christ. In other words, the liquid love of the Holy Spirit is like the sap that nourishes the branches and leads to the fruit of the vine growing on us the branches. This liquid love is constantly being poured into the believer’s heart. God the Father is the gardener, farmer or vinedresser and lovingly tends his vine and branches. J15:2 Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. The best way to interpret the word fruit (Greek karpos) here is as a return or yield for what has been put in (in this case the Holy Spirit into the believer). The branches that not bearing fruit are ‘taken away’ (Greek airo), but this means to be lifted to catch the sunlight better and get another chance to produce fruit. The grapes that are ready are then harvested, the love that has filled us brings the character and the virtuous deeds of Christ which we then share with those in need. This consumption of the fruit by our virtuous deeds stimulates the branch to produce more fruit. 3 Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. The word clean (Greek katharos) means honed or fine-tuned for a specific purpose. There are two aspects to this cleansing, firstly a removal of all external hindrances to fruit production in our behaviour, and secondly, an internal honing with removal of all hindrances and development of all good qualities in our hearts. There is some overlap in the two processes. Jesus tells his disciples that they are now ready to produce fruit. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. The word for abide (Greek meno) means to stay and this root gives us words including remain, maintenance, and even mansion. This is cause and effect, and if we abide in the Vine then we can bear fruit. The abundant life flows from Christ in the form of the liquid love from the Holy Spirit. We must be fully connected to the vine and receive his nourishment as we pray, study the word, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The fuller our connection to the vine the more fruit can be produced. If we lose our ongoing connection to the Vine, our branch cannot produce any fruit. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. This verse emphasises the fact that if we are not abiding in Christ, we cannot produce any yield, or fruit nor a dividend to the Lord. The more and better we are connected to Christ the more fruit we will produce. 6 If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If we are not connected to the Vine, our branch has no life and is only useful as firewood. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Jesus tells his followers that if we focus our lives in on him, so that all his words and sayings are flowing in our hearts and minds, whatever we ask for will be done for us as our flow of words and deeds line up with his. Prayer: Lord teach us how to abide in the Vine with a full connection into your flow of love in our hearts. Teach us to bear fruit for you. Amen