Friday, August 26, 2011

Blessing and offence

Blessing and offence

"Blessed is the one who takes no offence at me..."
Luke 7:23, RSV

Jesus offended many people. He offended both his enemies and his disciples, because He always spoke the truth and was not afraid to confront sin. He says the ones who are blessed are the ones who do not take offence.

To be offended means to be hurt, resentful, annoyed, repelled or made to stumble because of a circumstance. An offended person usually believes they have been treated wrongly, even if they haven’t. Taking offence is the cause of the breakdown of countless relationships and it is the opposite of intimacy and fellowship.

To take offence may seem justified. It is rarely seen for the sin that it is. People who give offence do not always do so deliberately whereas taking offence is a deliberate choice. On that basis, I believe we can say that to take offence is usually a greater sin than to give it.

When Jesus said the above words a vivid picture would come to the minds of His hearers. The verb to take offence had to do with the trapping of birds. It referred to the action that depressed the bait-stick and triggered off the trap and caught the bird. When we live with offence, a part of us is trapped in the past and we are not living in freedom.

Proverbs 18:19 tells us that an offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city. Walls around a city were for protection. Offended people are usually inward focused. They build walls around their hearts to prevent further hurt. These invisible walls intended for protection are keeping other people at a distance and, consequently, God seems far away.

To move from offence into blessing can only come through forgiveness. Forgiveness from God for being offended and forgiveness to those we perceive have offended us. God desires us to live in close relationship with Him. This is indeed blessing. It is joy and peace.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times when I have taken offence. I ask you to search the motives of my heart today that I might see myself as you see me. I choose to forgive those who have offended me. Please help me to take down the walls I have built around my heart, In Jesus’ name, Amen.


Today's Writer : Margaret Silvester Margaret Silvester had a career as a teacher prior to being called into full time Christian Ministry with her husband, David, in 1986. They were involved in establishing a Healing Ministry in the local church and Margaret has a passion to see lost and wounded people found and restored. She and her husband joined the Ellel Ministries teaching and ministry team in 2000 after a clear call from God.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Engage-Part 1

"For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes."
Proverbs 24:16, NIV

In the wake of the civil unrest in the different cities in the UK many buildings and properties were burnt or vandalised. As I saw the events on the news I couldn’t help but feel the pain of those losses. It wasn’t my loss, but I felt a glimpse of what the owners of the properties felt when they saw their livelihoods and homes going up in flames, or their shop was being broken into.

It must be what David felt when he and his men found Ziglag attacked by the Amalekites and their wives and children taken captive. The Bible says that each one of them was bitter in spirit about the losses (I Samuel 30:6)

Loss is not pleasant. It’s very painful to lose anything. It’s more painful if there isn’t any hope that what you lost will be restored. It’s very easy for us to get entangled in the distress we face because of loss and lose focus of what’s ahead. David and his men had an option, to sit and mourn about their losses, to pursue and recover everything, or to rebuild the city and start all over again. They chose to pursue the Amalekites and recover what they had lost.

This is an encouragement to us. It’s right to mourn about what we have lost, but then we need to arise and move forward into what God has placed before us.

There’s a great story of how Jesus appeared to two of the disciples on the way to Emmaus. The pain of loss and distress had made them forget the promises that Jesus was to arise on the third day. They were busy focussing on what had happened, and how they had lost the one they knew as the Messiah. It must have been a difficult time. But, as soon as they heard the words of Jesus as they saw Him break bread, they remembered what He had said to them before. In our time of loss we need to remember His past promises to us and to hold on fast to Him.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the promises that You have for me. Please open my eyes to see and understand Your will. I give my losses to You and ask You to help me know the way forward. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Amen.

Today's Writer : Joan Rono Joan Rono was on the young people’s team in the year 2008-2009. She is now working as a Youth Pastor at Ellel Grange, UK. She worked in full time ministry in her church in Kenya before she joined the YPT last year, in obedience to God’s call in her life. She has a passion to see the young people walk in purity and holiness.

Loss

"For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes."
Proverbs 24:16, NIV

In the wake of the civil unrest in the different cities in the UK many buildings and properties were burnt or vandalised. As I saw the events on the news I couldn’t help but feel the pain of those losses. It wasn’t my loss, but I felt a glimpse of what the owners of the properties felt when they saw their livelihoods and homes going up in flames, or their shop was being broken into.

It must be what David felt when he and his men found Ziglag attacked by the Amalekites and their wives and children taken captive. The Bible says that each one of them was bitter in spirit about the losses (I Samuel 30:6)

Loss is not pleasant. It’s very painful to lose anything. It’s more painful if there isn’t any hope that what you lost will be restored. It’s very easy for us to get entangled in the distress we face because of loss and lose focus of what’s ahead. David and his men had an option, to sit and mourn about their losses, to pursue and recover everything, or to rebuild the city and start all over again. They chose to pursue the Amalekites and recover what they had lost.

This is an encouragement to us. It’s right to mourn about what we have lost, but then we need to arise and move forward into what God has placed before us.

There’s a great story of how Jesus appeared to two of the disciples on the way to Emmaus. The pain of loss and distress had made them forget the promises that Jesus was to arise on the third day. They were busy focussing on what had happened, and how they had lost the one they knew as the Messiah. It must have been a difficult time. But, as soon as they heard the words of Jesus as they saw Him break bread, they remembered what He had said to them before. In our time of loss we need to remember His past promises to us and to hold on fast to Him.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the promises that You have for me. Please open my eyes to see and understand Your will. I give my losses to You and ask You to help me know the way forward. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Amen.

Today's Writer : Joan Rono Joan Rono was on the young people’s team in the year 2008-2009. She is now working as a Youth Pastor at Ellel Grange, UK. She worked in full time ministry in her church in Kenya before she joined the YPT last year, in obedience to God’s call in her life. She has a passion to see the young people walk in purity and holiness.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

You fit!

You fit!

"You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price."
I Corinthians 6: 19, NLT

It is a human need to know we `fit in’. To know we have a place. To know we belong. To know someone cares.

Not all of us feel or know this deep in our hearts, where it counts. Circumstances, our upbringing, and life itself has perhaps been used by the enemy to create a sense deep in our hearts that we are alone and different.

The wonderful truth is that no matter what we may feel, no matter what the enemy may tell us and no matter what has been spoken by others in our lives – we all have a wonderful place of absolute, concrete, belonging. A place we can take ownership of and enjoy once we have come to the Lord through His cross.

Just like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, all of us (whether we know it or not) are a piece of God’s puzzle. There is a place set aside within the Lord’s heart that waits for us to come and rest, to enjoy being simply a part of His picture. There’s a place in His heart and His plans that is perfectly designed and shaped for you and for me. It’s a unique place where we fit and belong and are 100% accepted, not by anything we can do, say or earn – but just because it’s the place He bought for us as His children. It’s when we come to this place that we find comfort for our loneliness, and peace for our striving. It’s the place that assures us we belong, we fit, we have a place – we’re not forgotten or overlooked. We have a purpose, a significance, and a worth that is entwined into the very heart of our Father God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that I belong to You. Thank You that You have given me an eternal place where I fit. That I don’t need to be worried about where I may fit in terms of the world and the people around me, because I can rest in the amazing place of ownership that You paid for me. Lord, I ask that You will reveal more of who I am in You, as I draw close to You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Today's Writer : Cath Taylor Cath Taylor joined the Ellel Grange team back in 1992. Cath is married to Andy and they have three sons; Jake, Ben and Isaac. Together, Andy and Cath now live in Florida and lead the Ellel USA team.