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Miriam and Aaron complained (Numbers 12:1-2). Caleb and Joshua encouraged (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9). Thank God for encouragers!

“Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). We must never forget Jesus Christ, He is our Saviour. Remembering Him will keep us from thinking too highly of ourselves. We are only servants. Jesus is the Saviour.

Before we even reach the opening chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, the Old Testament proclaims this message of hope: Christ is coming. The journey through the Old Testament  paves the way for the coming of Christ. The first 17 verses of Matthew’s Gospel gives us a brief outline of Old Testament history as a preparation for the coming of Christ. These verses present us with a family tree. It’s not particularly interesting reading. For this reason, these verses are often overlooked. There are, however, important lessons which we must not miss! Here are two interesting names in Christ’s family tree - Rahab (Matthew 1:5) and Solomon (Matthew 1:6). Who was Rahab? - a prostitute! Who was Solomon? - a child born out of an adulterous relationship! How did they get into Christ’s family tree? Was there some kind of mistake? - No! It must be stresses that the names of Rahab - a prostitute - and Solomon - the child of an adulterous relationship - are found in Christ’s ...

The Pharisees were subtle - just like the ‘ancient serpent who is the devil’ (Genesis 3:1; Revelation 20:2). They tried ‘to entangle Jesus in His talk’ (Matthew 22:15). They wanted to trap Him and bring a charge against Him. They asked Jesus about payment of taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:17). Jesus moved beyond this question to our greatest responsibility: ‘Render ... to God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22:21). If we must speak words of political significance - ‘Render.. to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ (Matthew 22:21) - , let them arise out of this: Giving God His rightful place in His Church, the nation and the wider world. Jesus’ words to the Sadducees, in Matthew 22:29, were not simply a protest against the religion of the Sadducees. They were a protest for the Scriptures and the power of God. A positive faith is much more helpful than a purely negative reaction!

‘When the Holy Spirit comes on you… you will be My witnesses… to the ends of the earth’(Acts 1:8). This great advance of the Gospel - Salvation reaches ‘the Gentiles’(Acts 10:45; Acts 11:1,18) - is a movement of ‘the Spirit’(Acts 11:12). The Spirit speaks through the Word (10:44; 11:15). In God’s Word, we read of (a) God’s love for the whole world (John 3:16); (b) God’s Son who died for ‘the sins of the whole world’(John 1:29; 1 John 2:2); (c) God’s command that ‘the Good News’ should be preached to ‘everyone’(Mark 16:15); (d) God’s purpose that there should be disciples of Christ in every nation (Matthew 28:19). ‘Every person in every nation, in each succeeding generation, has the right to hear the News that Christ can save… Here am I, send me’(Youth Praise,128). ‘Go forth and tell!’(Mission Praise, 178).

Am I going to heaven? - This is the most important question of all. Jesus says, "Unless one is born anew, again, from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" ( John 3:3 ). Here, Jesus is speaking about the new birth, the second birth, the heavenly birth. His words weren't spoken to the publican in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. They weren't spoken to the woman caught in adultery. They weren't spoken to the thief on the cross. They were spoken to a "Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews" ( John 3:1 ). Nicodemus said to Jesus, "You are a teacher come from God" ( John 3:2 ), but this didn't take him far enough. He still needed to hear the words, "You must be born again." He needed to be shown his need of the Saviour. Jesus' statement concerning the new birth is His supreme message to the world. It's a message that runs counter to human pride. The new birth is a divider of the human race. Either you are bo...

Three very important questions - questions that demand a personal answer: Who is Jesus? What can Jesus do for us? What will we do about Jesus? (1) Who is Jesus? Is he a mere man? or Is He somebody special? Every one of us must answer the question, "Who is Jesus?" - Jesus is the Word of God ( John 1:1 ). - Jesus is the Son of God ( John 1:34 ). Jesus does not merely speak God's Word. He is the Word of God. Jesus is more than a servant of God. He's the Son of God. (2) What can Jesus do for us? Could He do something wonderful for me? Could He change my life? Could He turn boredom into satisfaction? Could he turn confusion into certainty? Could He turn aimlessness into purpose? Could He turn cynicism into testimony? Could He ... ? - Yes! He can. Jesus is able to do great things for us. He can give satisfaction to the bored. He can give certainty to the confused. He can give purpose to the aimless. He can give a testimony to the cynical. Jesus can do...

John 9 is a chapter that's full of questions and answers. (1) Question: " ... who sinned, this man or his parents ... ?" ( John 9:2 ). Answer: "Neither ,,, this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" ( John 9:3 ). (2) Question: "Isn't this the same man who used to ... beg?" ( John 9:8 ). Answer: "I am the man" ( John 9:9 ). Whatever we may have been, the grace of God is able to lift us up. Praise the Lord! (3) Question: The "How" question - "how were your eyes opened?" ( John 9:10 ). Answer: The "Jesus" answer - "The man called Jesus ... " ( John 9:11 ). May God help us to look away from ourselves and say, "This is what the Lord has done for me. (4) Question: "Where is this man?" ( John 9:12 ). Answer: "I don't know" ( John 9:12 ). When, at first, you don't find Jesus, keep looking for Him. he has given us His prom...

John 8:34-36 Sin is our greatest problem. What are we to do about it? We ask the question, "What are we to do about sin?" We ask this question, and, then, we ask another question, "What can we do about it?" When we realize how big a problem sin is, we became aware that we need help. We need more than self-help. We need salvation. This cannot come from ourselves. Salvation must be given to us. It must come from outside of ourselves. It must come from above. It must come to us from our Saviour, Jesus Christ. We have a problem with the idea that salvation must come to us from outside. The problem is ourselves. Here, we come to the heart of sin. What is sin? It's self-centredness. G K Chesterton hit the nail on the head when he said, "What's wrong with the world? I am." Sin is our problem. Salvation is God's solution. What is sin? Sin is self-will: "I did it my way" Sin is self-indulgence: "Looking after No. 1" Si...

"One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" ( John 9:25 ). Every believer can share his /her personal experience of Christ. Many people say, "I don't know very much." They use this as an excuse for their failure to speak a word for Jesus. The man, who received his sight, didn't use his lack of knowledge as an excuse for not speaking for Jesus. He said, "I don't know." Then, he said, "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" ( John 9:25 ). To help us learn the lesson that every believer can and should share his / her personal testimony, when the opportunity, let's look at the context in which these words were spoken. There are three factors which contribute significantly to this context: the relation between Jesus and the man; the relation between the man and his world; the man himself. (1) Jesus and the man There are two moments of contact between Jesus and the man: the healing ( John ...

“Anyone who comes to Me, I will never cast out” ( John 6:37 ). Often, it seems like we’re living in an earthbound existence. We look out beyond ourselves, and we see nothing but an enormous iceberg that keeps us from getting through to the God who loves us with a warm-hearted love. Then, Jesus comes along. He’s the Ice-Breaker. He breaks the ice, which separates us from God. He enables us to see that God is much more than just, “There must be something somewhere.” He’s much more than “the unknown God.” He’s the God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins so that we, through faith in the Saviour, might come to know God as our Father. Jesus is the Ice-Breaker How does He break the ice? How does He melt away our coldness towards God? He does this in the same way that we break the ice with other people. He speaks to us. He speaks to us in ways that we can understand. He speaks to us His words of love. Here’s a great icebreaker that comes to us from Je...