Faith for life

Loss is one of the most challenging and difficult types of suffering that we will ever experience. Grief is an incredibly powerful emotion. Sometimes it feels like grief clings to us, and no matter how much we try to shake it off and brush it away it remains. We wake up with it and we go to bed with it. We lie awake with it. We dream about it. When we lose something precious to us, we won’t have a choice; we will feel grief. And the Bible says that it is valuable to grieve, to mourn. And you should know and understand why.   In Matthew 5, the sermon on the mount, Jesus lists off the attributes and characteristics that bless those who embody them. Verses 3 and 4 detail that both those who are ‘poor in spirit’ and those who ‘mourn’ are indeed a blessed people. For those who are poor in spirit, ‘theirs is the kingdom of God’ and those who mourn, ‘they shall be comforted.’ As we follow the narrative, we can see that all of these characteristics that Jesus mentions are indicative of a ...

1. Be an imitator of Christ As the Coronavirus continues, you may be wondering how you can glorify God whilst practising social distancing and staying at home more. The first thing you can do is to imitate Jesus, by focusing on Him and doing the things that He did. In Matthew 22:36-40, one of the disciples asked Jesus: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’   All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” You see, if we have fulfilled these two crucial requirements, then we have done what is pleasing to God. Love God - use this time (and I’m speaking to myself here too) to deepen your love for God. Spend time with Him, talk to Him, listen to Him and be led by Him. Read the Bible. Ask Him to help you grow. Praise Hi...

The Lord is fire, He is wise, He loves, He will judge and He is faithful. As the world around us has changed over the centuries, so has faithfulness. God, who embodies faithfulness, created the world to be faithful. We read, again and again, in the Bible, that nature, everything that is around us, is obedient and faithful to the Lord. The mountains quake before God and the hills melt away (Nahum 1:5), the sea does not rise over the limit that God has given to it (Proverbs 8:29) and the valleys sing for joy to the Lord (Psalm 65:13). Nature acts this way because it acknowledges God as its creator. God also created mankind to be faithful. God's intention was for Adam and Eve to be faithful to Him, but, instead, they betrayed His trust, they took His faithfulness for granted. Since the time of Adam and Eve, mankind has found more ways to be unfaithful. Sometimes partners betray each other, friends do not remain faithful to one another, organisations deceive their customers, and t...