Become Nothing

Stop and become nothing... and see the truly powerful weapon that is God's grace fight for you.

His power is perfected in your weakness.

If your enemy is too strong for you, the answer is not to become stronger than your enemy... The answer is to admit weakness and rely on God's grace.

When we are at our weakest, our most bruised and broken, our most depressed and feel the most defeated - it is then that God's grace is the most powerful in our lives.

The more we rely on our own strength and experience to face and fight the struggles of this life, the less active God is in our lives... but when we truly admit that we are weak, and cannot do anything without God's help, it is then that His truly powerful and unexplainable Grace becomes active and evident in our lives to fight for us, defend us, vindicate us and to show us His presence.

God's power cannot be truly known or ever fully understood - not at least while we are down here as humans - but the one part we need to understand is that He is God and we are not - we are weak, but He is strong and able to save all those who put their trust in him.

Call out to Him and see Him save you. It's what He does best.

#salvation #redemption #Jesus #God #Father #Mark #Jansen #Adelaide #Bible #Truth #Hope #Prayer #Faith #Spiritburn #Grace

Selfishness and contentment are inversely proportionate

Selfishness and contentment are inversely proportionate

The more selfish you are, the less content you will be.

The less selfish you are, the more content you will be.

The Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

True godliness is achieved when we put God first and put ourself last. Jesus taught us to be thankful for every single day we are given and if we have food and clothes, we should be content. The Bible also teaches us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to, but to prefer others over ourselves. (Romans 12:3). Essentially our goal should be to better others more than bettering ourselves. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

This is why Jesus taught what we know as the "two golden rules" - on which hang all of the ten commandments plus all the law and the prophets. Love God with all your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. (Mark 12:30 - 31)

You'll notice when Jesus said this he didn't include loving yourself because I don't believe this is important. What's important is loving God first and putting others before our needs, our achievements our ambition, and what we want and desire.

Jesus taught that ambition is never a good thing and never leads us to a good place. Many lessons can be learnt from the story of Lucifer the arch angel who fell and became the devil because his selfish ambition to rule Heaven led him to a very, very bad place and ultimately lead him to being expelled from heaven.

As true followers of Jesus we can put our faith and trust in God our father that he knows exactly what we need and exactly where we need to be at any given stage. God knows exactly what we need to do to get there, and that we don't have to strive or push up hill trying to achieve it. Instead we should just rest in the knowledge that he loves us, cares for us, and He will get us to exactly where we need to be for His kingdom and his glory.

#selfishness #redemption #Jesus #God #Father #Mark #Jansen #Adelaide #Bible #Truth #Hope #Prayer #Faith #Spiritburn #contentment #godliness #selflessness #glory #ambition

The Truth that sets us Free is Jesus Himself

John chapter 8 verse 32. Jesus said then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

The truth that sets you free is not some intellectual fact. It's not knowledge you gain by reading books or listening to people wiser more experienced than you.

The truth that sets you free is a person. That person's name is Jesus Christ. The reason Jesus said "then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" is because you need to know Jesus himself. It is Jesus himself that sets us free. He gives wisdom and freedom to all those who seek it with all their heart.

He will give you a truth that will be locked up in your heart that nothing can ever touch. A truth that will only make sense to you and it will have a profoundly powerful meaning to you alone. It is only through that personal relationship with Jesus with him as Lord and you as a His follower that you can gain this kind of Truth and the true Freedom he offers.

If freedom is truly what you seek, there's only one place you will find it.You must know Jesus as the truth -  and he will unlock your prison and your true identity in the process. He will set you free as only He alone can.

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:32 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.8.32.ESV

#salvation #redemption #Jesus #God #Father #Mark #Jansen #Adelaide #Bible #Truth #Hope #Prayer #Faith #Spiritburn #freedom

God is nearest to those who seek Him humbly and in truth

God is nearest to those who need Him most and who seek Him earnestly and humbly.

Jesus said "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance". Luke 5:32.

This verse can be best explained like this... Jesus did not come to do a roll-call for the pretty, successful, famous, rich and powerful of this world - but instead He came to help people whose lives are a struggle, who haven't got it all together and who can't see how they are going to make it through the week. He came to help people of this world whose lives are a mess and to graciously help them turn their life around for good by following Him.

He can't help you or save you if you don't have anything wrong at all - God helps and saves those who call out to Him in desperate need.

The awesome news is that God is more than happy to help all who call out to Him for help. That is precisely why He sent His only Son Jesus to die in our place for our sins and to save all who accept Him as their saviour. We all need God's help but the choice to accept or reject His help rests with us.

Jesus said "scarcely will a rich man enter God's Kingdom..." Matthew 19:23.

Jesus said this because when you have plenty of money, you easily believe the lie that your money can protect you, provide for you and is a score card of your worth by comparison to others.

Essentially, the more money you have - the less you will need God and the likelihood of you humbly asking for His help or guidance in a time of need diminishes exponentially in proportion to your accumulated wealth.

Beware of those who advertise and preach a "prosperity gospel". We are seeing more and more of this across Australia (especially in the pentecostal churches) as so many "preachers" are seduced by greed and fame into compromising the Truth of God's Word and the powerful message of repentance into an empty lie of fortune and glory devoid of any ramifications or consequence of sinful choices while justifying their selfish greed as the "blessing of the Lord".

Read the book of Jude to hear God's view first hand of how He feels about those who chase riches and lead others astray with its dangerous lies.

Jesus never said He plans to make you rich, powerful and comfortable down here on earth - He told us specifically not to chase the money and fame of this world but told us instead He is making an extraordinary home for us heaven. He told us to keep our focus on Him and Heaven with Him, not all that sparkles down here.

The devil on the other hand is more than happy to make you as rich, satisfied and comfortable as possible so long as it keeps you away from God and His Kingdom.

Call out to God in your worst time of need, He promises to hear, help and save you as well as continue to walk with and lead you forever. (Romans 10:13)

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

Psalms 145:17‭-‬19 ESV

https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/psa.145.17-19/23025

#salvation #redemption #Jesus #God #Father #Mark #Jansen #Adelaide #Bible #Truth #Hope #Prayer #Faith #Spiritburn

Repentance is the Power of God | Beware of compromised anti-repentance doctrine

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

There are those in this world that are not willing that any should come to repentance, but that all should perish...

Beware of these people and these places. There are churches all over our country today where church is nothing more than a party place, a gathering for the rich and beautiful, a trophy case for their religious achievements - but not at all a place that honours God and follows His ways. These places have been infiltrated by evil and powerful spirits that rule areas of our land. These spirits take hold of people in leadership through compromise and keep them captive to corrupt and deceptive purposes through greed, pleasure and the fame of this world.

Read your Bible and see what Jesus said first hand - don't just blindly follow the crowd. Learn the character of Jesus by reading His Word the Sword of God and seeking Him earnestly through prayer.

Just because someone runs a church or preaches from a stage in front of a crowd doesn't mean that they are follower of Jesus. Just because they sing songs or write best seller books about Jesus doesn't mean they have a true personal relationship with Him as their Lord and Saviour. Just because half of the world considers them to be a messenger of God doesn't mean they are at all. Being born into a family that follows God doesn't automatically a you follower of Him and His ways - each person down here must make a personal choice to either accept or reject Jesus as Lord.

The Bible says that many will stand before Jesus on the judgment day and will be rejected by Him because He was never their Lord at all. Matthew 7:21-23

They never bowed their knee to Him as Lord but instead decided they were their own lord. They were just going through the motions - acting in front of a crowd - even if fame or success was the byproduct.

The Bible describes these people as ones who "honour God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him and His ways" - Matthew 15:8.

Jesus said we need to test the fruit... (Matthew 7:15-20) Pray and ask the Holy Spirit of Truth to open your eyes to see what He sees and to be led by Him.

True followers of Jesus will mirror the character of Jesus. Disciples who follow Jesus and who have learnt from Him will never promote ways and doctrine that is contrary to their master.

The Bible warns us to avoid those who have a "form of godliness but deny the power of God..." 2 Timothy 3:5

What is the power of God? It's the repentance of sinners saved through the final and complete work of Jesus on the cross.

Any place or person that isn't promoting the power of God to change lives through repentance by the cross of Christ is a place that is no longer serving Jesus or building His Kingdom. It is a place that is compromised and is being influenced and very often in full control of the devil himself.

It's always best when God is in control

The story of King David comes to mind... He started out as a humble follower of God and His ways and stood up against evil and oppression against the people of God. God used David in a big way to restore God's hope and freedom to His people.

Later in life though, when King David was rich and powerful he decided that he was in control and didn't need God's wisdom, God's protection, or God's ways and chose to take the wife of another man - a faithful soldier in David's army - sleep with her, get her pregnant then plan and execute the murder of her husband to cover his tracks.

The end result was that the child born from that night of lust was cursed to die by David's own doing and very poor choices. This scarred and weakened David for the rest of his life and effected all of his decisions going forward. David was truly repentant and was completely forgiven by God but the damage was done and could not be reversed.

The example here is that when we decide we don't need God and "take control" of our lives it inevitablely ends in disaster.

Let God be God, because we don't fit the role well at all.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.15.5.ESV

Living to please the opinions of others is trap...

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Proverbs 29:25 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.29.25.ESV

It's one or the other. You either live by the opinions and seeking the approval of mankind - or by the ways of God and seeking to please Him.

The two are opposed to each other so you cannot live both ways - you must choose.

It's either live in the ways of this world and in seeking to please it's unseen rulers that supply it's power, pleasure and riches - or you bow the knee to the One True King of all whose name is Jesus and be part of the eternal kingdom that He is building.

On one hand is death, and the other is life. The choice is yours alone...

Disciple: Radical (Official Audio)

Till the day I die... I'll be a radical for Jesus!

Why?

Because God The Father loves me in a radical earth changing way - so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to die in my place and for my sins.

Because Jesus saved me with His sacrificial death on the cross for in an absolutely amazingly radical way.

Because The Holy Spirit now lives inside of me and constantly changes me radically to be more and more like Jesus every single day.

We reap what we sow...

Whether you believe it or not makes no difference at all. There are spiritual laws  put in place by God himself much like the laws of gravity and thermodynamics  in our galaxy which cannot be bent or broken.

One of those laws is "you get what you give" or "you reap what you sow".

If we build a life of selfishness, greed, deceit, violence and sin - we will only end up with a result of corruption, death  and eternal separation from God in hell.

If we choose to build a life on Jesus - The Rock of God - and His ways we are promised peace, hope, relationship with God and a guaranteed final destination in Heaven with Him.

The choice is up to us alone. Choose life or death. There is no halfway.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Galatians 6:7 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/gal.6.7.ESV

When weakness is strength...

A truly powerful lesson to learn while also an equally difficult one at the same time. To learn that our weakness enables the power of Jesus Christ the anointed of God to be enabled in our lives is both an incredible paradox and an amazing opportunity for us to be used for God's kingdom and glory. In all honesty, none of us enjoy or seek for weakness, pain, suffering, abuse and persecution but it is in these painful times that God can really shine His power through us for His purposes.

In these undesirably testing times of pain we can either dig our heels in with pride - or we can quietly humble ourselves before our maker accepting our weaknesses for what they are and offer them up as opportunities for His purposes.

God has the absolutely uncanny and unfathomably amazing power to use our most painful weaknesses to highlight and showcase His immeasurable grace, mercy, power, peace and hope.

Trust in Him. He knows what He is doing and is the best place to put your pain.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9‭-‬10 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.12.9-10.ESV

Justice, Mercy, Humilty

God is looking for humble, merciful followers who stand up for what is right and stand against what is wrong.

He doesn't need our ambition, it just gets in the way of what He needs to make in and from us. Our ambition is nothing but rocks in the clay that the master must remove before He can shape us into something useful and valuable.

He wants us to have hearts that care for others and not only for ourselves - to extend mercy to others who wrong us because we are all corrupted beings prone to sin by default.

He also wants us to be people that call out right and wrong - not people who are compromised by this worlds ideals or the peer pressure of the crowd. Jesus wants us to be people that remove ourselves from evil not join in or enable it.

Jesus said "that if salt has lost its savour then it is as useful as dirt". Jesus wants us to be salt and light in this dark world - not dirt and fog.

Justice, Mercy, Humilty.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/mic.6.8.ESV

True Strength

In the battles that are waged of unseen worlds between good and evil, our physical strength has no bearing on the outcome. Our reputation held amongst other lowly humans, our lofty stature, our wealth, our health or any other physical quality won't aid the battle at all.

The only factor that turns the tide of battle in the spiritual war between good and evil is our faith and loyalty to the True King, Jesus the Saviour of the World.

It is in simple obedience to what He says in His Word and to us through the Holy Spirit combined with the quiet submission to the reality that He is all powerful, all knowing and that His character will not and cannot ever be changed - that these battles are won.

We do not win the battles. The battle always belongs to the Lord. It is only when we submit to and rely on his impenetrable fortress of strength that we share in the victory as humble soldiers of His Kingdom.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Ephesians 6:10 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/eph.6.10.ESV

True Wisdom begins with simple obedience to God's ways

To gain and walk in true wisdom, first we must admit that we are nothing more than humble, mortal, corrupted and frail creations of God - desperately in need of His guidance, His provision, and His protection every single day. It is that realisation that we are nothing without God and His amazing mercy and grace.

We must accept that He is God and we are not. This is the true meaning of "fearing the Lord". The word "Lord" simply means "ruler" or the "one who holds power and control". If we are lord of our life then God is not. If we call the shots, then He doesn't. It's as simple and as blunt as that.

There is no halfway. Either God is the Lord of your life - or you are. You can't have two rulers of your life.

If you wish to gain true wisdom, then the very first step is to relinquish your lordship and your own selfish control of your life and completely surrender your identity, destiny and plans to God. It is then and only then that true Wisdom from God is born in your heart.

God promises to guide your life and all that is in it and will never ever fail you.

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord , and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 3:7 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.3.7.ESV

Crushing Snakes (If God is for us, who can be against us?)

An absolutely awesome song about the True King - Jesus, His power that reigns above all, and how His children can stand against anything because our King stands with us.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

The righteous are bold as a lion...

Proverbs 28:1 (ESV)

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The righteous are bold as a lion - not because THEY are strong, rich, powerful, attractive or accepted by many - the righteous are bold as a Lion because they believe in and rely in the Truth of who Jesus is - The True King of all. The Lion of the tribe of Judah against who none can oppose.

They are bold because their righteousness is not their own but comes from their faith in Jesus and His complete work of redemption on the cross and the empty tomb.

They are bold because what and who they rely and build their life on is not from this world of shifting sands but is the rock that is Jesus Christ - which can never be moved, changed or assaulted.

Jesus : the place we can put our trust

Jesus made all things and He upholds all things. The seen and the unseen. He is forever faithful because His character never ever changes. This is why we can put our trust in him 100% and know that He will never betray or abandon us.

Even when things go bad, He promises to never leave our side and will continue to lead any one who seeks him to His perfect peace.

He even has the uncanny ability in his eternal power to make bad things work in our favour and turn them into good.

He's truly that powerful and absolutely worth putting your trust and your life in his hands. After all, who better to trust your existence with than the one who made everything that exists?

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

Romans 1:20 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.1.20.ESV