A-Z of Christianity 'K'

KINGDOM

Disney World Castle in Orlando, Florida

As most of you who know me will know I had the privilege of going to Orlando, Florida for New Year just gone. The trip was memorable for many, many reasons and one of those reasons was getting to go to Disney World in Orlando. 

Even at the ancient age of 23 it was exciting to go there and I wasn't disappointed, really enjoying the experience of seeing the characters, going on the rides and getting the full Disney experience. We only had the time to visit the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney as it is such a big 'world'. What struck me is that it is almost like another world (hence the name Disney World I suppose!). My girlfriend calls it 'the happiest place on earth' and she isn't far right in many ways, everything is geared towards making the park that way to visitors.

I was reminded that when we make God King of our lives by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior we become a part of His Kingdom. 


The Bible says in Galatians 3:26 that we are all sons of God through Christ Jesus. As a son we have an inheritance which, in Hebrews 9:15, is described as 'eternal'.


If we make Jesus our Lord and Savior we not only inherit eternal life but we have an inheritance in Heaven to look forward too, which is spoken of in 1 Peter 1:3-5...


'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade— kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.'

The choice of choosing to trust God or not is the biggest choice of your life because no other choice has so much depend on it. Don't write God off. He wants to know you, He loves you with a crazy love that led Him to take the sickening punishment our sins deserved. He wants to bless your life beyond your wildest imagination. He wants you to spend eternity with Him. You can look everywhere but you won't find anything more important or amazing than this on earth :)

In the Old Testament it says:-

Deuteronomy 5:29
Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children for ever!

It's impossible to keep all the commands but Jesus has covered us on that one, let's trust God today and see what He does in our lives. I've seen Him do amazing things in my life and others lives and I promise that those who choose to fully trust Him will not be disappointed :)

Join the Kingdom today!

A-Z of Christianity 'G'

Being Christmas, it is the time of year where the Christmas tunes come out. I am a big fan of Christmas music and to much people's disdain could listen to it at anytime of the year. Whilst playing on the Xbox with my brother the other day we had some music shuffling on iTunes and my brother gave me a massive look when Cliff Richard's 'Mistletoe and Wine' came on.

I quite like the song although it isn't my favourite ever Christmas song ('Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade) but contains the following lyrics:-

Its a time for giving, a time for getting,
A time for forgiving and for forgetting.
Christmas is love, Christmas is peace,
A time for hating and fighting to cease.

This is what Christmas is all about and also the main message of Christianity - God's GRACE!

Our relationships with God are strained because of sin. Imagine the problems adultery gives a married couple then times them by a trillion (because we have sinned an awful lot!) and you have the issue between us and God. Our sin keeps us apart from God and from knowing Him. God has every right to punish us but decided to give us a chance, and that chance was Christ.

The coming of Christ was the beginning of God's GIFT to us unfolding in Salvation from the weight of our sin by Jesus taking the punishment for us. Dying through crucifixion was not fun, it was probably the most painful death ever invented and Jesus knew that as He carried his cross, carried it for us.

Unlike the trust and forgiveness issues a married couple would naturally have in adultery situations, when we ask for forgiveness God is so mighty, loving and Graceful and Christ's sacrifice is so great that we are forgiven straight away.

By the time I was 17 I was losing my passion and excitement for Christmas but coming to know God and thus coming to know the wonderful meaning and incredible news behind it means I will never come close to losing it again! I simply love Christmas, it is wonderful to give and receive gifts, to share fun and memories with close ones and to eat lots of food. But none of that means anything to me without knowing that Christ gave His life in the most horrible way so that I, that we, could be clean before God and know Him once again.

So this Christmas remember how God gave, how God forgives, how God loved and how God decided to end the war between us and sin. Listen to a bit of Cliff if it helps!!

A to Z of Christianity : 'B'

When I was 17, God began to call me to Him. Before this point in my life I had never truly experienced the reality of a personal relationship with God before but I knew it was Him, and I knew I had to seek out the answers I needed from Him. I turned to a book, and that book changed my life. Every question I threw at God, I just happened to turn to the right page with the answer every time I looked. This book is well over a thousand pages big!! I was amazed and it was a part of my decision to become a follower of Jesus, the best decision I have ever made.

In case you are wondering what book I am talking about, I am talking about THE BIBLE!

A collection of 66 books, written by 40 different authors. It is amazing for correctly predicting a lot of things, most notably the coming of Jesus and the things that happened in His life. It also stated medical (water and blood in a body), scientific (the world had a beginning) and cosmic (the world is round) facts well before they officially became known!

Timothy describes the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16 as 'God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness'

Hebrews 4:12 states 'For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.'


Romans 10:17 says 'Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.'


If we need motivate to pick up your Bible, there it is...it changes life's, it is the truth, it is breathed by God, useful to us, living, convicting and inspires more faith in us!


Pick up your Bible today :-)

A to Z of Christianity : 'A'

So I haven't blogged in some time and am wanting to get back on track so my idea to keep me on track the next month or two is this, Do an A-Z of Christianity! My aim is to hopefully cover a lot of the truth of my faith and encourage readers in it and maybe give new insights as well!

Obviously the first letter of the Alphabet is 'A' so that is what I will begin with :-)

I believe I can actually sum up a lot of the Bible in this letter..like all good preachers (I joke) I have three points!

ADAM - was the first man on the entire Universe. God gave him a wife called Eve and they were the first married couple in history. To begin, them and God walked together on the earth. However this lovely arrangement ended when they decided to disobey the only thing God told them not to do. Like when you put mud in a glass of water, the entire Universe became dirty and imperfect. This was because sin had entered it.

ATONEMENT - Not the 2007 film starring James McAvoy but the answer to the problem Adam introduced to the entire world. Sin has corrupted everything and this sin was separating the world from God. God loves us, He doesn't want to be separated from us and definitely doesn't want our sin to stop us entering Heaven like it otherwise would. So He came Himself to sort the problem. Jesus of Nazareth was God come to remind the world of His Love and desire to know all humankind and pay the price for all sin on the cross. This act of sacrifice atoned for our sin so that we can be in relationship with God again.

ASK - This is how we get that relationship with God. Just ask. Ask that God would come into your life, forgive your sins and help you live the life He has planned for you through the Holy Spirit.

Mark 9:23a - 'Anything is possible for the one who believes'