Will it ever Stop?

My last few posts have dealt with my firm belief  that a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ can heal people from addictions, deliver from the bondage of sin, and lift people out of that curse, depression.

New Zealand, where I write from, is among the worst nations in the world statistically for suicide, particularly among teens. To visit N.Z. one wouldn’t think anyone could be depressed in this most beautiful of countries. Reasonably affluent, multi-racial with little racial animosity, educational opportunities for most everyone, and a social security system that supports those who fall through the cracks, along with any number of sporting and social past-times and associated activities to keep one physically occupied and mentally challenged, the statistics are difficult to comprehend.

Except for one thing. N.Z. is also one of the most secular countries in the world. All the above institutions, activities and past-times are limited in their effectiveness  if devoid of that one attribute that comes only from God. Love.

My daughter, who is in her late twenties, visited her neighbour just last night to discover to her horror that he had taken his own life. How utterly sad. Another statistic, but more than that. Another  precious life wasted.

So again my friends, I cannot emphasise enough, Jesus does love you. With a passion! And He is waiting, knocking at the door of your heart, desperate for you to let Him in and start His work of healing, loving, and giving you His power to live secure, peaceful, joyous, productive purposeful lives. Invite Him in today.

May God bless you all.

A Father’s Love

2 Cor. 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Unless one is born again, he is not a child of God. We are born into the kingdom of Satan, and to a more or less degree, we are children of wrath because of sin. And as far as children go, we are far from ordinary. We are extraordinarily rebellious, selfish, disobedient, lawless little brats who fully deserve the punishment that sin brings to the unrepentant. Yet God still calls us to Him. Knowing our craziness, the chaos that our lives consist of, and the lies and deceit and the manipulation our habits and addictions bring as baggage, God still loves us with that unconditional quality that defies logic and reason. God’s love for man, even in his present state, is a complete mystery.

So what’s so Good about the Good News?

Good news is always welcome in a world that is awash with the depressing , the sad, the shocking, the catastrophic. Many news channels leave special items that can be classified as ‘good news’ for the final segment of the broadcast, just after the weather. Having been bombarded with the gloomy reports earlier, it is always something of a relief to see something lighter, refreshing, or amusing. Such a scenario is a telling indictment on the state of the world. The world we live in today is not a happy place, and the media, whether it be television, radio, or the press, is a constant testimony and reminder that we are surrounded on every side by unrelenting horror stories bringing disease, death, and destruction to both the innocent and not so innocent alike. It is a fact that we have seen so much bad news that we have become so inured by it that it takes major disasters to genuinely move most people to any semblance of emotional empathy with the suffering and dying.  ‘Lesser’ forms of bad news are now so common that we have become quite blasé; the story of the Good Samaritan may have made the final segment, but the violent assault on the wayfarer would have barely rated a mention.

Which brings me to a particularly notable story that deserves to have its own segment on every news broadcast every day.

What is new about the New Covenant?

Covenants and testaments are based on promises and agreements between two or more parties.
Our Creator God is a God of infinite, unfailing, unwavering, uncompromising love. It always has been and always will be that He would have His erring sinful proud and unbelieving creatures to know this love, and therefore, to know Him.It has always been His heartfelt yearning that God and man should be on the most if intimate of terms and that both may know the joy and peace that would come from a loving relationship with one another. The entire Government of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the laws by which it is governed, is based on this love. And everything God purposes to do, promises, accomplishes, says and does, has as its motivating principle God’s perfect love. (Deut. 7:7,8; Isa. 63:7-9; 1 John 4:7-21; 1 John 5:1-4)

That is why, when Adam sinned, God still sought him out. (Gen. 3:9) Love was the motivating factor behind God’s promise (Genesis 3:15; Nahum 1:9) that the damage to the relationship caused by sin would ultimately be undone (Isa 59:2); that the power of Satan over our lives would be reversed (John 8:34; Romans 6:16,20; 2 Peter 2:19) and the power of death would be overcome (Ezek. 18:4,20; Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23). How was God to accomplish all this while at the same time honouring justice, love and mercy? Through Jesus Christ.