Inspiration - CHRISTIAN REP

Hell’s Best Kept Secret

Rose — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:15:49 +0000

Hells Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort This message was first preached in August 1982.

Use this for inspiration and equipping you to be a Christian who is fulfilling the Great Commission!

Matt 28:16-20

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

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The Normal Christian Life

Mike Messerli — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:22:00 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Christian life. Specifically MY Christian life. I’ve been trying to evaluate my route of recent years. Why has my odyssey gone this way? Why have I struggled at different times and why have other days been easy and inspired? It’s clear that my walk with God has not been a progressively growing and increasingly happy life. I don’t think anyone has that kind of walk with God.

Let me see if I can describe the Christian life from my own walk and perspective. For me, as I walk with God, it seems that my walk looks more life a long walk through the desert with an occasional stop at an oasis for refreshment and rest. An oasis is a strange place. In the middle of miles of sand, suddenly and for no reason, water, trees and life suddenly appear. It’s at the oasis where a weary traveler can rest, get water and gain new strength.

It’s my experience that my walk with God can best be described this way- There are many dry days as I continue to walk with God. All the way I know God is with me and caring for me, but days of joy, inspiration and great victory are rare. Then, suddenly and for no reason, I come to an oasis. It’s wonderful! Refreshment, rest, water and revival of spirit. If I can, I linger at the oasis for a while…it’s such a wonderful place, but at some point I must continue my walk and so I head back into the desert to continue my walk with God.

The oasis is great. They are needed. I would get discouraged and might give up if it weren’t for the occasional oasis, but life with God has to be a life of dependence. It must be a life in which I look to God and trust him. I won’t find that relationship at the oasis. I have to go out into the desert to discover this kind of relationship. It’s the dry days when I learn to trust God. It’s the days in the desert when I look to him to help me and give me what I need for the day. It’s the dry days in the desert when I grow in my faith the most.

Some pray for an eternal oasis. They never want to leave the cool springs, the wonderful shade of the fig trees, the comfort of the oasis. But if you depend on the oasis you will never learn to depend on God. So, off to the desert we are led. Led by God to meet with him there. Dry days when we will find our richest walk with God. As I’ve tried to think through my own walk with God I think this describes my odyssey so far. It’s not glorious. It’s not always full of great testimonies to share. It’s often dry and difficult, but it’s my time with God in the desert where I find an intimacy with God I can never find at the oasis.

This is what I would call the normal Christian life. I think it’s the real life of every Christian. Many linger long at the oasis not wanting to leave the comfort there, but some find a hunger for God more powerful than the comfort of the oasis and so they head off into the desert. It’s there we find an intimacy and relationship with God that will never be found at the oasis. It’s this strange contrast between oasis and desert that describe the walk of the Christian. It’s not always glorious, it’s not always easy. It’s not filled with wonderful stories although there are some. There are days when the best we can say is, with God’s help, we got through the day, but between rest at the oasis and walking with God through the desert we grow in faith. The goal? A walk with God that is lived in dependence on him. As best as I can describe it, this is my walk with God.

Visit Mike at Finishing Well.

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The Purpose Of Messiah

Mike Messerli — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Luke 1 tells the story of the gospel from the beginning. Luke did a wonderful job describing details of the gospel we don’t see in the other books. As I read chapter one this morning I was captivated by the prophetic words of John’s father, Zacharias, as he spoke about the birth of his son and the events that would follow. Here are his closing words, spoken through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration,

“To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The whole purpose of Jesus coming is encapsulated in these few words. They are amazing words. Notice the keys to these few sentences- to give, to shine, to guide. Let me use these three keys for my thoughts today.

To give- “To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,”

Everything happens because God is a giver, it all comes from his tender mercy. God is the initiator. God starts it all by giving. His gifts come from his tender mercies. That very phrase captivates me- his tender mercies. Out of his tender mercies he acts, he gives, he provides forgives He gives us knowledge of something we desperately need based entirely on something he does to solve our need. He gives us knowledge of salvation. It’s a salvation based on forgiveness of sins. What does it save us from? The penalty of those same sins. God’s tender mercy brings a solution and provides the knowledge of that solution to us.

To shine- “to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.”

The one thing darkness needs is light. The one thing we needed is light to see, to know, to realize where we were. I love the commercial where they have sprayed a room fragrance in a horrible place and brought blindfolded people in to “smell the air.” They take off the blindfold and cannot believe where they are! This is what happens when the light of Christ shines on our sin soaked lives and worlds. We suddenly see how horrible the place is where we had made home. It’s his light that shows us our need. We have no idea how close we are to death until the lights come on and then, suddenly, we see how horrible this place really is.

To guide- “To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The one thing we need most is peace, but to find it we need two things- light and a guide. Thankfully God has provided both! How amazing that he has provided all we need; knowledge, light and a guide to the way of peace. There is so much to be written on these simple verses, but for today I just wanted to spend a few moments on these words and invite you to meditate on them for your own walk with God. To know that God has provided all we need to go from ignorance to knowledge, from wrath to mercy, from darkness to light, and from fear to peace is more than I can comprehend. It’s wonderful for me personally to realize that God has made such great provision for us through his great mercy.

To give, to shine, to guide. All we need to know Him. How wonderful!

Visit Mike at Finishing Well.

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