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Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - Leuven @[email protected] · 2017-07-27 · 10:04 UTC

Today’s thought “Blessed people …” (July 27)

Today’s thought

“Blessed people who trust in God
and share the Good News”

(July 27)

The day before yesterday we made a call for writers. Our Readers Digest and Lifestyle magazine From Guestwriters can do with some more writers on different subjects. We can still do with people who write about family matters, like how to build up a good family life or in present times how to cope with difficulties in the family, make the best our of a newly composed family. We also can do with writers who talk about aspects of environment and who let others also appreciate the wonders of nature. Even telling about what to do in the own garden is an interesting subject where we want to gave space for at From Guestwriters. Nature may receive much more attention, so if you are interested in it, why hesitate writing about it?

We should know that for those who carry God in their heart there are many blessings provided. Those who are willing to share their love for God may count on that God to be with them and to provide them with the means. God is willing to have His eyes on those who want to spread the Name of God and who want to show others that Jesus is the Way to God.

In today’s reading we can see that God is a forgiving God and takes into account that we have regret when we did something wrong and then when we want to do good, He shall be willing to be at our site like He was at the site of the family of David following his sin with Bathsheba and her husband, adultery and murder! God “put away” (2 Samuel 12:13). David’s sin, in the sense he did not suffer the penalty decreed under the law; but he suffered the consequences, his authority with his family had been undermined. What we do wrong we shall have to bear the consequences for, but what we do good shall also be taken into regard. Our good works also count and should be the proof of our faith, because faith without works is death.

The words of Paul come to mind,

“we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

We should be fully aware that we are placed on this world with a purpose. God has a Plan and we should come to fit in that Plan. It is up to us to decide if we want to fit in it or not. Each of us has to bear their own responsibility.

Down through the centuries we can see that there have be lots of people who, like the present generation, did not want to know much about the God of gods, and preferred to have their own worldly idols or gods. But we also can see in the past how there where men of God who did not mind to go against the maelstrom and who where willing to offer their soul for the Word of God (Jeremiah 17:5) .They did not stop to warn people around them about the Great Master Maker, the God of gods.

There where also people who where not afraid to warn people that they had not to be like a shrub in the desert, not to see any good come, dwelling in the parched places … salt land, but that there is a better place for those who trust the God of gods and who are willing to look for that spiritual food that can grow under His guidance.

If we are to survive in the “parched places” that surround us we should fix our eyes on the Higher Power and join hands with those who aim for the same treasure, not the treasures of the world but the treasures of the heavens.

Psalms 40:4 The Scriptures 1998+ (4) Blessed is that man who has made יהוה {Jehovah} his trust, And has not turned to the proud, And those turning aside to falsehood.
Psalms 15:4 The Scriptures 1998+ (4) In whose eyes a reprobate one is despised, But he esteems those who fear יהוה {Jehovah}; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

In the fear of יהוה , Jehovah the Most High God, we can go up to others and show them the marvels of our Only One True God. It is by letting others know the works of our Creator that they can open their eyes to God. By sharing our thoughts on the master-works of our God we give other people the opportunity to coming to learn our Master Maker.

We should let others know that we trust God more than we trust any person of this world. We should let many around us know that we are much better off to trust God and to build up a good relationship with him so that we can stand strong in this world, where so many hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.

Let us remain healthy in mind being fully conscious that Jehovah searches the heart and tests the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. Let us be able to say like king David

Psalms 40:8-16 The Scriptures 1998+ (8) I have delighted to do Your pleasure, O my Elohim, And Your Torah is within my heart1.” Footnote: 1Ps. 37:31, Ps. 119:11, Isa. 51:7, Heb. 10:7-9. (9) I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness, In the great assembly; See, I do not restrain my lips, O יהוה {Jehovah}, You know. (10) I did not conceal Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your trustworthiness and Your deliverance; I did not hide Your kindness and Your truth From the great assembly. (11) Do not withhold Your compassion from me, O יהוה {Jehovah}; Let Your kindness and Your truth always watch over me. (12) For evils without number have surrounded me; My crookednesses have overtaken me, And I have been unable to see; They became more than the hairs of my head; And my heart has failed me. (13) Be pleased, O יהוה {Jehovah}, to deliver me; O יהוה {Jehovah}, hasten to help me! (14) Let those who seek to destroy my life Be ashamed and abashed altogether; Let those who are desiring my evil Be driven back and put to shame. (15) Let those who say to me, “Aha, aha!” Be appalled at their own shame. (16) Let all those who seek You Rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your deliverance always say, “יהוה {Jehovah} be exalted!”

Let us help others to come to find the Way to יהוה {Jehovah} and let them understand that there is no reason at all to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written,

Romans 1:16-17 The Scriptures 1998+ (16) For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Messiah, for it is the power of Elohim for deliverance to everyone who believes, to the Yehuḏite first and also to the Greek. (17) For in it the righteousness of Elohim is revealed from belief to belief, as it has been written,
“But the righteous shall live by belief.”1 Footnote: 1Hab. 2:4.

We may trust that the just shall live by faith and that those who respond in the right way to the call of God shall be justified.

The promises of God might not automatically be at work in every life that hears them. Some respond correctly, while others respond improperly. Some enjoy the benefits of God’s promises, whereas others do not. In these two verses, we are given the fundamental response to all that pertains to the gospel of grace. That response is faith. This would certainly include living by the promises of God and following up the tasks given by His sent one, Jeshua (Jesus Christ).

Paul was unashamed of the gospel due to its effective character.

Acts 20:24 The Scriptures 1998+ (24) “But I do not count my life of any value to me, so that I might accomplish my mission with joy, and the service which I received from the Master יהושע {Jeshua}, to bear witness to the Good News of the favour of Elohim.

Loc Market Place, Norwich Streetpreacher(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We at all times should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Every moment of the day we should make use to show others how that gospel is the power of God to salvation. In our daily activities we should show others how we are under Christ and how we love to share that Good News of the coming Kingdom. The good news about Jesus Christ is essentially the grace of God proclaimed to man:

“the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

This grace is God’s Power poured out unto the saving of souls. This power is experienced by all who place their faith in the gospel, whether Jew or Gentile:

“for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

It is getting high time that more people let others know that the gospel is really effective, because it holds forth God’s righteousness to sinful man, if he is willing to trust in the Most High Elohim.

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.”

By coming to be a guest writer or author for From Guestwriters you too may help to show others the promises of God and how He gives so much beauty to all His creatures. Look at the birds and other animals around us and see all the beautiful plants. Also by showing others the beauty of nature you can show them the Hand of God.

In addition to initial salvation, the good news of God’s grace includes many other promises from God and it is the task of lovers of God to let them be known also to others who do not see God or do not want to believe in Him.

All of us can help to pave the way and can come a helping hand for constructing a strong church by people who fully want to trust in God by wanting to know and by sharing the truth.

and the truth shall make you free . . . When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (Matthew 16:18; John 8:32; and John 16:13).

We may count on it that all of these promises are experienced by faith as well, because “the just shall live by faith” – – continually, as well as initially.

Therefore let us respond to God His promises properly and let us not be afraid to take up the task Jesus asked his followers, to spread the Good News.

Please read “Do you have a writer or presenter in you?” and react to it, by giving your candidacy.

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Preceding articles

Sharing your big scriptures for tough times

Man’s own fault and the choice to flee from fear

Belgian Christadelphians 2013 & 2014 in review

Counting sands and stars

Proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation

Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian

Breathing to teach

Engaging the culture without losing the gospel

The Big Conversation

The Big conversation – Antagonists

Being in isolation #7 Mission work

When having found faith through the study of the Bible we do need to do works of faith

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Additional reading

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Further reading

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#writing #writers #worksofgod #worksoffaith #wondersofnature #trustgod

Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - Leuven @[email protected] · 2015-08-10 · 14:31 UTC

Counting sands and stars

Sandy beach

Those who go up in the mountains or just go out in the fields, now in Summer, may sit there at night and count the stars. Though both the stars in the sky and the particles of sand we may find on the beach are too numerous to count. However, there is a gigantic difference between the two.

Sand: a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. – Sand dunes in the Idehan Ubari, Libya.

Grains of sand are tightly pressed and compacted one against the other to form a beach. Each star, on the other hand, is a world in itself. It can be separated from its nearest neighbour by trillions of miles.

Moses tells God that the Jewish nation is too burdensome for him to carry alone. Why? Because they are comparable to the profusion of stars.

Jehovah, the God of the believers used as slaves in Egypt were multiplied by the Most High and had become like the stars of the heaven in number. (Deuteronomy 1:10)

Deu 1:10-12 RNKJV YHWH your Elohim hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (11) (YHWH Elohim of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) (12) How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

For Moses there was a burden so heavy as to produce weariness not because they were with many, but more because there was so much division between them. For Moses there may have been a similar problem as what we see today. We can find many people who say they love God, but look at that God in different ways and have different ways to serve Him. Some their worship is not liked by others because it goes against the rules made by God Himself.

In Christendom we may see several ‘planets’ or ‘stars’, find a massive quantity like Moses found one that he could not alone lead them. He wasn’t overwhelmed by the number of people. Rather, the problem was qualitative.

Moses implied that if the Jews were spiritually and emotionally unified – were proximate to each other, like sand – their large population would not require arduous leadership.

However, when there is a nation of people, each a star in his own right and alienated from others around him, leading them becomes nightmarish.

Jonathan Hughes, rabbi of Richmond United Synagogue calls unto his co-believers saying

As this mournful time of the Jewish year approaches in the run-up to Tisha B’Av, we need to be reminded of the Jewish togetherness that must be etched into our hearts.

One of the reasons we lost the Temple in Jerusa-lem is baseless hatred. Essentially, everyone was a ‘star’ in his own right, all the people light years away from each other.

The Torah’s clarion call is, as the Beatles would say, ‘come together’.

Indeed, the rabbis teach that every Jewish soul contains elements of every other Jewish soul that has been, is, or will be on this planet. We are one unit.

Also for our Christian community we should think about that problem of unity and remember that, our success will hinge on how connected we feel to each other. Every Christian soul (a living being) should carry in him the link to the master teacher Jeshua and as such also should contain elements of every other Christian soul.

A few months ago we already spoke about the problems of co-operating in Belgium of the different Christadelphian groups. We also had to lick our wounds of the 2013-2014 season. Such a small community, but like all other Christian communities, we did and do find human beings not able to work with each other or being afraid others would runaway with people from their group or would gain more attendance. But we should not be worrying about loosing members, but should worry about getting people closer to God.

It is also not the matter of being a star ourselves, being a gifted or highly celebrated person in the church to whom everybody looks up to, or having all the power. The power belongs to God. It’s about beginning a de-starification process and the forging of sand-like bonds of genuine fraternity. We are taking on the name of being “Brethren in Christ” and as such should be as brothers and sisters be associated for the common purpose or interest, such as to be united in Christ.

Deu 11:13-17 RNKJV And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, (14) That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. (15) And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. (16) Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other elohim, and worship them; (17) And then YHWH’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which YHWH giveth you.

Israel was called to remain faithful to Jehovah, and we as those who are called by Christ Jesus are now also part of that Israel also should be faithful to Him and should not make ourselves other gods or other idols we prefer following instead of the Most High. Jeshua is the cornerstone given by God the Almighty. Though certain people may want to be mighty and do want to have more power than others, we should give ourselves to Christ and be united under him, working all together, working the soil, for the One God. some may expect certain rewards by following certain man but it will be God Who will abundantly bless the people with tokens of His goodness. A person rendering service to God with all his soul, would become an acceptable “living sacrifice” unto Him).

Rom 12:1 RNKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of YHWH, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto YHWH, which is your reasonable service.

It is by the mercies of God, to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is our spiritual worship and a service which we are willing to share with one another, not conformed to the fashion of this world, but being transformed by the renewal of our mind, that we may learn by experience what is the will of God, what is good, and wellpleasing, and perfect (Romans 12:2).

There is the appeal for us to become co-workers, helping each other, not working against each other, or not considering each other rivals. As individual beings, planets or stars, we may be totally different, but together we are one part of the universe, just some small elements in the creation of God.

In that universe, on this globe, living in this world, we should not be part of this world but should be in unity with Christ, all going for Christ. This going for Christ demands following his instructions to go out in this world, preaching the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God. We should try to enlighten others and to take the yoke from their shoudlers by helping them to find the right path to God.

First of all we should first accept upon ourselves the yoke of heaven’s sovereignty, and afterwards accept upon ourselves the yoke of the commandments. Ceaseless we should strive to humbly accept God’s sovereignty. All that we do each day is then guided by the commitment made before at the end of the day.

Soon having a new academic year, starting a new working season, we should take the sparkles of the Summer-months with us and bring the light of the stars into the ecclesia. Without the internal core the star cannot be bright, so we too do have to have a good core. Our nucleus should have a firm duramen full of bright fire of faith. The pith of our faith should be the Biblical knowledge and our thorough frequent Bible reading and sharing this faith and Bible knowledge with each other.

We look forward to find more writers willing to write for our lifestyle magazines and bringing some interesting exhortations, which shall be able to inspire us to go further in space to go out of the darkness and see more light by even more stars which were first hidden.

We do hope we can get some more people to come to read some of our Christadelphian thoughts, to come to our meetings, showing them some more light on dark paths, showing the way unto the path into the stars

As Moses had to guide his people we also have to find guides to help us to recognise the most truthful Guide, the Bible. As brothers and sisters we should be standing ready to pick up a star, to find something in which we are good and by which we can help others. Each of us has received some talents and those talents we should use for the best. Do not waste those talents, but use them to bring people closer to God.

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Preceding posting:

Belgian Christadelphians 2013 & 2014 in review

A man from the North wanting to have control in Belgium

Delay in publications because attack from outside

Preparation for unity

Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #14 Prayer #12 The other name

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