For those approaching 70. Heaven or Hell?

The Chosen Global Livestream: Episode One

In this last week I have watched the first six weeks of "the Chosen" a mini series about Jesus and the Gospel story.
I watched to see if this was going to accurately  portray the Biblical accounts of Jesus life and times.
It is an amazing achievement for this band of people who have produced, acted ,written it and directed it.
If you are Christian many scenes will bring tears to your eyes.
If you are not you may be awakened to the reality of Jesus and His life and why He came to earth.
You will find the Director,Dallas Jenkins, a very enthusiastic promoter of this series.
The money to keep it going and producing it is being funded by crowd sourcing.
You may well find after you have watched a few episodes that you wish to contribute.
The acting is superb and the way the individuals in the series have been "imagined" based on scripture is I think remarkable.
I recommend this whole heartedly.
Below is episode one.
As you go through the series you will see by people's comments that lives are being changed.

Here us a link to an excellent review

https://pastorunlikely.com/the-chosen-tv-is-amazing-a-pastors-review/

Wanting to know how to reach out to God during the Pandemic!

In underground church Coober Pedy ,South Australia.

My blog and youtube channel is not backward in sharing the Gospel.

I do what I can to further the cause of Christ and would not know how many people are influenced by what I have shared.
Many people who might normally not be too concerned about God and Jesus and life after death have cause for a rethink at the moment because of the world crisis through the Corona Virus..
Becoming a Christian will not mean that you are immune from the virus.
But you can know God's peace and power of His Holy Spirit to comfort you and give you hope and a future.
It is likely that many will turn to God at this time and when the world recovers and time distances us from this crisis then some might desert what might be a new found faith.
Well I became a Christian in 1974 and it was a series of personal crisis that put me on a search.
I resisted God strongly but in the end I ran out of reasons and arguments about why becoming a Christian was not something I should do.
I had sat in Church for 3 years with my wife already a Christian,because I promised her I would go.
I heard the word of God,the Bible,faithfully expounded each week by Harold Long our Pastor.
Just before our first child was born I decided to take the plunge.
The Bible teaches that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Harold would today be called a Fundamentalist which has come to be a derogotary term for Christians.
It doesn't bother me.
God used Harold to convince me about Jesus.
I have never regretted making a decision to receive Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
It does not mean hat I have been spared more personal challenges since,but I have faced then knowing that God was in control of my life.
There is much on this blog and my youtube channel that can help you to see how, when and why you can know God, know Jesus and experience His peace.
Also note that there is a language translator on this blog if you have trouble with English.
When I went to the front of the Church in 1974 at the altar call, I went to the vestry afterwards and Harold guided me through a little booklet called the Four Spiritual Laws.
Se the link below to a pdf download.

http://www.4laws.com/laws/downloads/PolEng4pWBw05Mar.pdf

It is a simple presentation of the basics of Christianity.

It is only the beginning but a good place to start.

As you take these first few steps you will find a whole new world opens to you and you will be given a new outlook on life. a new disposition and a security you haven't known before.
Yu will know you have eternal life not based on any quality that you may have but what Jesus has done for you on the Cross.
So here are some links to various posts and youtube video/podcasts to help you take those first steps.

If you work your way through my blogs and youtube channel you may find the answers you are looking for in the various writings and youtube posts.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/whatever-happened-to-evangelism.html

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/2019/11/facts-that-strengthen-our-faith.html

Is there a conscious existence beyond the grave? by Harold Long 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaV6Bh1hUGc&t=101s

Here also is a link to the daily audio Bible podcast that you will find is a way of hearing the word of God on a regular basis.

https://dailyaudiobible.com/

Now is also a time to vist many churches who are doing online services.

Search for the ones in your area  where you might want to start attending in person when the Pandemic is no more.

Have a very blessed Easter.

I pray for someone venturing here it might be the first Easter where the Easter story finally makes sense.

Geoff Thompson

The Birds can teach us by Geoff Thompson

I presented this Christian  message on 8/3/20 at the Lifecare Parkrose Nursing Home United Congregation on Sunday 8/3/20.

The Birds our Teachers

You would have noticed in my power point presentations for this service I often have pictures of Australian Birds.

That stems from my love of birds and bird watching and bird photography.

Today I would like to speak about how we can learn from the birds much about God.

(I got the idea to do this today as a few weeks back Roger Brown was using the Eagle as part of his message.)

In fact you often come across people who say there is no God and that we just evolved as slime from the mud of the ocean.

They don’t believe there is a creator and therefore don’t believe in God let alone Jesus.

All they really have to do is look around and think about the beauty of our creation.

Where did it all come from?

As Paul says in Romans 1.20

“Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of His existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God on judgement day.”

The birds are part of creation and they do feature quite a bit in the Bible.

I started bird watching on the encouragement of my father when I was about 12.

Mainly because at that age I had my own air rifle and I was in the habit of shooting the sparrows in the backyard.

I had no regard for them as creatures.

Not a good habit to get into.

Back then Australia had a “own your own gun and use it mentality” just like America still does.

Thankfully that is largely a thing of the past although some still insist on recreational duck shooting.

Well I got myself a bird identification book, was given some binoculars as a Christmas present and a groundsheet to sit on while I watched birds.

 These days they would probably have called me a nerd.

Anyway my interest and knowledge grew.

When I finally got into photography in about 1970, then my passion for bird photography started to take off.

So what has all this got to do with today’s message?

Well my father in law was an expert on birds and he was always saying they were cleverer than us and even had a language they could communicate with each other.

He believed we could learn a lot from birds.

He used to talk about birds as if they were humans.

For example he  would call them husband and wife.

Not male and female.

They are not humans of course and the message we had read to us today from John 3 does not apply to them.

In the sense they are not sinners and do not need salvation in the way we do.

Our response to God and the Gospel also has an impact on our world and indeed the birds.

A famous Theologian, the late John Stott, was also a keen birdwatcher and photographer.

He wrote a book some years back called “the birds our teachers”.

He invented what he called “Ornitheology”.

I am going to draw on some of his ideas today and share one or two of my own.

He was introduced to birdwatching by his father at the age of 5 or 6.

His interest grew and as his preaching duties took him around the world he was able to observe and photograph birds everywhere he went.

In the book of Genesis,

Adam was given the job of naming the birds and animals.

They were first assigned to him as companions.

Then God gave him Eve.

I wonder how many of his names are still used?

Please note that the subject of birds is a big one.

Many have written about birds,

many have drawn and painted them,

many have photographed them,

many have recorded their songs,

many study them,

there are many documentaries about birds,

some try to teach us about evolution through them,

many have worshipped them and also used them as sacrifices,

 and of course many are eaten daily as food.

My focus today is on birds as exclusively created by God and how in some ways they can point us to Him.

My aim, as always, is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ;

 and how the birds around us can assist us in this.

Jesus was and is their creator.

So lets start talking about some of these birds and how they might help us draw closer to God in our thinking.

The Sparrow.

Luke 12:6-7 Living Bible (TLB)

⁶ “What is the price of five sparrows?

A couple of pennies? Not much more than

that. Yet God does not forget a single one of

 them. ⁷ And he knows the number of hairs

 on your head! Never fear, you are far more

valuable to him than a whole flock of

sparrows.

(show slide of sparrows)

It is a fact that in some countries small birds such as sparrows and songbirds are still sold in market places for food.

The little dead sparrow in the picture I photographed on Everard terrace just out the front of Parkrose some years ago when visiting Aunty Doreen.

I took it because of this verse, and I thought one day I might give a talk such as todays.

John Stott focuses on this well known verse in his book.

(That was our call to worship today.)

John says there is an epidemic around the world these days of what is called low self esteem and depression and mental health issues.

We don’t have to look far to notice this.

Well he argues that we should realize how blessed our lives are, and we really don’t have a good reason to be down in the dumps.

By learning from this passage we are given a glimpse of the way out.

He tells the story of Joni Earekson-Tada.

You might remember her as the 17 year old all American teenager who tragically broke her neck in a diving accident.

She had a re awakening of her faith when this happened but has been in a wheel chair all her life.

She married Ken Tada and although she started and still leads a ministry for disabled people she has had her bouts of depression.

Especially after 25 years in a wheelchair and she became bed ridden for a time.

Her husband Ken, placed a bird feeder outside her window.

This is what she is quoted as saying in John’s book.

“I glanced at the bird feeder and smiled. I could understand Jesus noticing an eagle…but a scrappy sparrow?  They’re a dime a dozen,

Jesus said so Himself.

Yet from thousands of bird species the Lord chose the most insignificant, least noticed ,scruffiest bird of all.

A pint sized thing that even birdwatchers ignore.

That thought alone calmed my fears.

I felt significant and noticed….if the great God of Heaven concerns Himself with a ragtag little sparrow,

clinging to a bird feeder outside my window,

He cares about me.”

This was the catalyst that helped her overcome her depression.

He cares about all of us.

So we can learn from the sparrow when we remind ourselves of this verse.

How impressive is it when you see a hen bird of any species protecting it’s young under it’s feathers.

(show slide)

I was admiring with Shirley Rumbelow a few weeks ago, the little quails in the atrium/aviary here in Parkrose.

A little Hen quail ,

though itself is tiny,

had even tinier little chicks under the protection of it’s feathers.

How wonderful is the gift of Mothers,

 who are like hens for us when we are little,

 and usually throughout our lives.

And God Himself is likened to our protector as we shelter in his “wings”.

He is both our Father and Mother.

We can learn from the protecting and nurturing nature of hens.

The Thrush

(show first slide)

There are many birds around the world that  are wonderful songsters.

We have several species in Australia.

However I would like to concentrate on one bird we have in Australia.

It is a beautiful songster.

The Grey Shrike Thrush is common in the countryside in Australia and has a number of beautiful calls.

They can become very tame if you are lucky enough to have them on your property.

(show video clip)

They and other birds such as the Nightingale, The Black Bird, The Willy Wagtail and the Butcher Bird have beautiful calls.

The Australian Magpie also has beautiful warbling song,

If you are ever fortunate enough to be in woodland in Australia at Dawn you can hear the beautiful dawn chorus of any number of species all joining in together.

Music and song is such a great gift God has given us and the birds.

A reminder that with this gift we can praise God together and in doing so inspire each other and be uplifted as we touch our living God in joyful song.

The Thrush, and other songbirds

give us a wonderful example of the beauty of praise.

Of making a joyful noise unto the Lord.

The Apostle Bird

(show slide)

Here is a link to my youtube posts about Apostle Birds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0DqMeEYtpc&t=407s

The Apostle Bird is a bird of inland Australia.

I first saw these birds when I was 13 on a station property on the Darling River in NSW.

A mid sized grey bird that always seems very busy and noisy when not resting in the shade of a tree.

They are called Apostle birds because when first observed by early settlers they seemed to always be together in groups of about 12.

I have actually seen lot larger groups than that but never big flocks.

They are very communal birds,

a fellowship if you like.

They build one mud nest that is utilized by all in their group.

They look out for each other and their young.

I’ve seen them surrounding a sparrow hawk and chasing him off when he was too close to their nest.

(show slide)

The early disciples of Jesus were very communal and shared possessions with each other.

We could learn a lot from the “love” and sharing the Apostle Birds have  for each other.

The Dove.

(show slide)

The dove is widely recognized as a symbol of peace and also of God’s Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was baptized a dove descended on him representing the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells us when we are baptized we receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38

We are also told in the Bible that God is always with us.

No matter what our circumstances

 He is with us every day,

every hour,

every minute,

every second.

As a dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit

their presence all around in our gardens and parks is a great reminder of The Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives as our comforter, our helper,our teacher our source of God’s power in our lives.

So in conclusion:

We have touched on some Birds about :

God’s love for us, no matter how insignificant we think we are,

The need to work together as Christians

and love and support each other.

God is always with us.

His Holy Spirit is always with us.

We have much to praise God about and can do so in song.

Of course we have our Bibles to tell us so much more

 but if we didn’t

we can still learn about  God’s love from the

“Birds our Teachers”

They have many more lessons for us if we take notice.

When I gave Valmai today’s reading she said there is nothing about birds in it.

That’s true in a sense.

But this reading is recommended in the lectionary for today as we are approaching Easter,

The reading features the famous “ God so loved the world” verse.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

and verse 17 says

“God did not send His son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”

In regard to v17 it should be realized when Jesus came the world was already condemned since the fall in the Garden of Eden.

In verse 16 we can put our own name in the place of world to allow that verse to hit home to us with the Gospel.

But the verse also says He loves the world.

His creation.

He loves His whole creation including the birds.

The sparrow in particular is highlighted to help us in our understanding of God’s love for us.

Sparrows can’t believe in Him, well they don’t have that capacity, but we can on their behalf and all other creatures.

The Birds and all of creation rely on us humans to help sustain the planet and their habitat.

We have heard a lot about that lately, haven’t we?

Perhaps I will close with a famous encounter with a bird in the new testament.

It happened just before the Crucifixion of Jesus.

It is found in Luke 22:31- 34,54-62

(Read from Bible).

Peter was found out by the crowing of a rooster.

It was not a message for the whole world to hear.

Only for Peter!

But in turn we who are Christians can now heed it’s lesson.

It applies to us.

Is our love for Jesus genuine?

Would we give our lives up for His sake?

Would we ever deny Him before men?

Do we need to take steps to grow in our faith?

That is a lesson for us to ponder.

As we approach easter and people are talking about the resurrection as they do, will we walk away from the conversation like Peter?

What a challenge!

Below is a link to John Stott's book and how you can obtain an audio version.

https://www.audible.com.au/pd/The-Birds-Our-Teachers-Audiobook/B075DFDGSN?source_code=M2MOR1341126180055&ipRedirectOverride=true&source_code=M2MOR131091619005N&ds_rl=1252391&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3-WC3Pms6AIVQouPCh39wANvEAAYASAAEgI5N_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

If you would like to see more about Australian birds I have done a small series on you tube.

Here is a link to my introduction to this series and then you can checkout the later videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riaxYpUyLgg&t=17s 

"Spiritual Death" by Frank Hunting

I was listening to this sermon while out walking the other day.
I have previously posted it on my "Going Deeper with God" blog some time ago.
I decided I should post it here.
Please note it was recorded in the 1970's in Adelaide at the Church of Christ in Grote Street, long before we had the internet and social media where ideas are propagated and "tweeted" every minute.
Where you have a supermarket of spiritual beliefs and ideas saturating the world.
This takes us back to the Word of God.
Perhaps the Spirit of God can speak to you and to me through this message.

"This sermon by Frank Hunting is a challenge to us all. Particularly if you are not yet born again you may find this something you will dismiss.The Bible teaches that all people are either in the process off perishing or being saved.
At our peril we turn away from God.
My prayer is that if you listen to this and are not yet a Christian,that if the Holy Spirit speaks to you, don't delay.
I sat in Church for 3 years as a believer in God in a vague way but one who could not swallow the "Born Again" stuff.
(Please note when I use the Biblical term of being born again I am not talking about miraculous signs and wonders  and speaking in tongues which some people associate with the term).
After to listening to preaching by Harold Long in that 3 years I ran out of arguments and took the steps to receive Christ as my Saviour.
I used to sit in the very back row of the Church in the corner thinking I was safer there for most of that 3 years.
My wife was already a Christian and I had agreed to attend Church with her.
I was not going to become some sort of "fanatic"
On the night I made my "decision" I was sitting 2 rows from the front.
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" the Bible teaches.
That was 45 years ago.
There have been ups and downs and strong challenges along the way.
We were fortunate that Harold Long's preaching was used by God to convict me of my need.
Frank Hunting arrived at our Church  after I had been a Christian for about a year.
Not long after he arrived I was facing a personal crisis.
His personal counselling set me free from things that had me tied up in knots.
Listen with an open mind to what Frank has to say.
Don't delay taking those  steps to Jesus.
You will not be disappointed."

Click on the arrow to activate the audio podcast.

God's secret made known.

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Once again I had the privilege of leading the service at Parkrose this sunday.

Order of service,Bible Reading and Sermon follows.

Parkrose 17/7/16 Order of Service

Welcome and Call to Worship :   Psalm 92:1-4

Hymn: “To God be the Glory”  128

Announcements:

Bible Reading: Colossians 1: 20-27 Living Bible  

Hymn:  “On this Holy Lord’s Day morning”  256

Communion:  Geoff

Offering 

Church Prayer:  Geoff 

 Hymn:  “I cannot tell why”  481

Sermon:   “GODS’ SECRET MADE KNOWN” 

Hymn:  “I love to tell the story.”

Benediction and Vesper.

Bible Reading

Col 1:13-28


¹³ For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, ¹⁴ who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins.

¹⁵ Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all,^[a] and, in fact, ¹⁶ Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. ¹⁷ He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. ¹⁸ He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead,^[b] so that he is first in everything; ¹⁹ for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.

²⁰ It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. ²¹ This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. ²² He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for; ²³ the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others.

²⁴ But part of my work is to suffer for you; and I am glad, for I am helping to finish up the remainder of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the Church.

²⁵ God has sent me to help his Church and to tell his secret plan to you Gentiles. ^26-27 He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased him to tell it to those who love him and live for him, and the riches and glory of his plan are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.

²⁸ So everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen, warning them and teaching them as well as we know how. We want to be able to present each one to God, perfect because of what Christ has done for each of them. ²⁹ This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me.
 

GODS’ SECRET MADE KNOWN

Can you keep a secret?

It’s difficult isn’t it but sometimes we need to keep a secret so as not to embarrass people.

There are some things we shouldn’t keep secret.

Eg If we know someone has committed a dreadful and serious crime we should report it to the proper authorities.

On the other hand sharing other people’s secrets amongst our families and circles of friends is Gossip.

Gossip is one of the most deadly poisons on this earth.

There is also always the danger of what they call “chinese whispers” where an original statement gets mixed up as it is repeated and after several repeats can be nothing like the original.

Little kids like to whisper secrets in your ear at times as they like the idea of causing some intrigue or for whatever reason known only to them.

It’s like having something they can impress their siblings with or young friends.

“ I know something that you don’t know.”

Many of us of course keep things that might have happened to us in the past,

or things we have done,

as a secret.

Quite often that’s because of pride as we don’t want people to know of some shady or sinful thing we have done as we want everyone to think well of us.

Keeping some of these secrets  can harm us as often things like that keep us tied up in knots and we really need to confess sin in order to know God’s freedom.

Sometimes we may be trying to deal in secret with the effects of someone else’s sin against us.

We might have huge deposits of resentment and unforgiveness built up in our hearts.

That sort of secret we need usually to take to Jesus for healing.

Let’s get back to our title today.

GODS’ SECRET MADE KNOWN

The passage we have had read to us today tells us of God revealing His incredible secret that he had chosen to hold back until a time He deemed it appropriate to make it known to the world.

The “secret” was in the Old Testament all the time, and it was revealed in the New Testament, in the birth,life,death and resurrection of Jesus.

There are two sayings that go like this:

“The New is in the Old concealed,the Old is by the New revealed” or

 putting it another way

“The New is in the Old contained, the Old is by the New explained.”

All the way through the Old Testament the Jews were being drawn towards the coming of the Messiah.

The problem was that when He came the majority of them did not recognize that Jesus indeed was the Messiah.

But in actual fact the first Christians were Jews who did realize who Jesus was and responded to Him.

We see their response on the day of Pentecost when 3000 of them formed the first Church.

We read this again from Paul:

^“25 God has sent me to help his Church and to tell his secret plan to you Gentiles. ^26-27 He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased him to tell it to those who love him and live for him, and the riches and glory of his plan are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.”

But God now does not want this to remain a secret.

He want’s the whole world to know.

Paul tells us in this passage that he has been given the task of telling all of the plan God has for everyone’s lives, those who will receive Jesus as Saviour.

He goes on:

^“28 So everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen, warning them and teaching them as well as we know how. We want to be able to present each one to God, perfect because of what Christ has done for each of them. ²⁹ This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me.”

Isn’t it sad that many of us hold back on telling people we know, this open secret, about why Jesus came and died on the Cross and was resurrected from the grave.

Perhaps it may be that we are Christians amongst Christian people but not very Christian in our behaviour with others who are not.

We might be frightened that people will ridicule us if they know we are Christians.

But this open secret is the most important thing that anyone can ever be told.

Again the following  passage tells us how this secret works for us:  “²² He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for;”

Nothing left that God could even chide us for!

How liberating is that?

How wonderful is that?

Whatever secrets we have held back because we are ashamed, our slate is wiped totally clean when we accept Jesus as our Saviour with a repentant heart.

Now.

It is not just Paul’s responsibility to tell people about Jesus it is also ours.

Paul is no longer on this earth and it is our responsibilty as Christians to share Paul’s message and that of the whole Christian Gospel as given to us in the New Testament.

I know this can be daunting for us usually but in this country it is not yet a life and death matter to declare yourself a Christian and to share your faith.

We don’t have to another Billy Graham but should be ready to share the reason for our hope whenever we are asked.  

If we go about our lives expecting God to provide those opportunities He will see to it they arise.

In some countries in this current age to be a Christian, let alone share your faith, can be very deadly.

Now:

We come back to our standing with God because of Jesus.

“Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for;”

“nothing left that he could even chide you for;”

Nothing is hidden from God about our behaviour and yet if we have Jesus as our Saviour we receive God’s total pardon.

As Paul says though,in Romans, that because we are pardoned it is not a reason for us to just go on sinning to our heart’s content.

“6  1.Well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness?

^2-3 Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to? For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered. ⁴ Your old sin-loving nature was buried with him by baptism when he died; and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy.
⁵ For you have become a part of him, and so you died with him, so to speak, when he died;^[a] and now you share his new life and shall rise as he did. ⁶ Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and fatally wounded, so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin’s control, no longer needs to be a slave to sin;”
We no longer need to be slaves to sin.

We read this wonderful passage in Romans 8

Romans 8Living Bible (TLB)

“8 So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² For the power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death.”

How wonderful to be raised in newness of life with Jesus.

To become a brand new person.

Hopefully most of us here know the new life that Jesus brings and have been growing in that new life for many years.

If not ,well, it’s not too late to enter into God’s amazing secret that really is not a secret.

Is there someone in your life you are able to share this wonderful secret with?

A secret that isn’t a secret anymore.

A secret that anyone can know the answer to.

And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.”

It’s hard to understand what it means, “Christ in our Hearts.”

It doesn’t mean our physical heart but in the place where our spirit resides.

This is where Jesus wants to reside.

Praise God that He does and He is our hope..