Chatsworth Baptist Church

John 8:32 (NKJV) And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The truth can be a tough pill to swallow sometimes. It very rarely tastes good and it can sometimes be very painful.

Because of this, many people want to avoid the truth, whether it is about something in their own life, or in the life of someone else. So the truth gets replaced with something sweet in an effort to make it easier to swallow.

Sweet things might taste better, but the problem is that they will never fix a problem or bring healing where there is something broken, sick or injured.

Most times, what we need the most is for someone to sit us down, look us in the eye and give us the truth, even when it hurts to hear it. And we need to be mature enough to listen and receive it, even if we don’t like what’s being said.

As we grow and mature, we can (and should) learn to receive the truth, if someone is presenting it to us, and ask God what we can learn from it and how we can grow from knowing the truth.

And on the other side of the coin, we should never hesitate to share the truth with others, in a kind, loving way, when it needs to be spoken. It can be hard to say things to others sometimes, for fear of offending them, but if the words you speak are truth and they are presented properly, they can bring new freedom to the person you’re speaking to.

So don’t let the the half-truths of political correctness overshadow what you know is right and prevent you from speaking truth when truth needs to be spoken.

And never, ever push the truth aside when it is being spoken to you in an effort to show you where you might have gone wrong or you need to change.

And remember… words spoken in love are the key to making the truth work in your life and the lives of others.

Genesis 22 : 8
” God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son, Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. “

Imagine reaching a point in your life where you receive your greatest blessing or breakthrough and just then it is taken away from you.
This was the life of Abraham, who had prayed and sought after God for many years to bring him a son with Sarah, his wife. Just when God blessed them with Isaac, He ask Abraham to sacrifice his son as a test of faith. How easy would it have been for Abraham to display disobedience, now remember this takes some faith to avoid, for the sacrifice was to be his son.

The Bible does not mention Sarah’s emotions and reaction but I am sure she would have questioned but despite it all, Abraham stood upon the promises of God. God had told him that he (Abraham) would be the Father of the nation, God told him that he and Sarah would conceive a child at their old age and God brought those promises to pass – it was surely Gods past faithfulness upon Abraham that allowed him to believe that if Isaac was to be sacrificed, God would give him another son / sacrifice.
It is highly important that we look at Abrahams response, remember he did not know what was God’s plan but when asked where was the sacrifice he spoke life by faith and said God would provide it – he spoke with authority and belief ( Proverbs 18 : 21 ).

It would have been so easy for him to just say those things and then begin to doubt but instead he continued walking. Today you may be faced with difficult choices and the truth is you do not have the answers but remember you have Jesus Christ and through Him flows Gods promises. Allow God to lead you forward and with each step declare His power and glory.

Begin to see the change in your life, trust that God has a perfect plan for you ( Jeremiah 29 : 11 ) and you will surely live and not perish.

Heavenly Father thank you that you are the God who saves. We come to you with faith, for faith is what you require to act upon. Thank you that you are fighting for us Lord, that even though our backs may be against the wall you will come through for us. We open our hearts and minds Mighty God, help us to think and speak positively, that we may look beyond our present troubles and lift up our Spirit to walk in your ways. We are a blessed nation, and we will forever be victorious all because of what Jesus Christ achieved on the Cross at Calvary – We bless your Holy Name Father God. Amen.

Psalm 103 : 11 – 12
” For His unfailing love towards those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. “

Life can often pull us away from the love of the Lord and before we realise it we find ourselves despising every aspect of it.
Life is such that we either gather the ability to be in control or we need to be prepared to be controlled. We live in an environment where the enemy lurks, He longs to feed into our temptation or weakness. The minute we begin trying to live this life on our own, we set ourselves up for failure and we lose the essence of what Jesus Christ achieved on the Cross.

We are often crippled by our past transgressions and the enemy does everything to remind us of our wrong – just when we begin to make progress in life and in our faith, something comes up to remind us of who we once were. 2 Corinthians 5 : 17 tells us that “when we are in Christ, old things have passed and new things have begun “ – it helps us to realise that love conquered all, the love of the Lord unto us.

You see when todays Psalm tells us that God removed our sin as far from the east to the west, He is actually referring to the Cross at Calvary. You see the horizontal portion of the Cross where Jesus Christ’s hands were pierced, represent the east to the west, so even though you may be reminded of your past sin, you also need to remind yourself of the redemption brought about by the Lord.
It all begins with self-acceptance – do you believe that you are made anew in Jesus Christ, if you do, then you would hold onto the fact that even though you may be weak, the Blood of Jesus Christ is strong within you – even though you may be imperfect, you are perfect in Gods perfection.

Today rest in the power of the Cross, it is yours and mine, given by the Lord, as our reminder of our redemption, our restoration and our salvation.

Heavenly Father we thank you for our lives and for this day that you have provided. Thank you that everything is created by you, both good and perfect and for our benefit. Father we praise your precious name for the Cross, it is our constant reminder that you love us – nothing in this world can separate us from your love and we pray that with each passing day may we grow in your ways. Feed us with your word Lord God, that we may begin a journey with you, a journey that brings spiritual growth, acceptance and confidence in our faith. We bless your Holy Name and we pray for these things in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Philippians 4:11 (NKJV)

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content…

To be content… this is something almost every one of us needs to learn, to one degree or another. No matter what our situation is, we all seem to long for something else… something more, something bigger or something better.

It is not wrong to want to improve our situation, to make a little more money or to have some nice things. It is wrong, though, to constantly be dissatisfied.

We all need to learn to be content with what we have and where God has brought us. Sometimes this might mean doing without some things that we’d like to have. Other times it might mean giving up some things that we already have! Our own experience has taught us over the years that until we learn to be content with what God has already blessed us with (even when it seems like it’s only a little), He is very unlikely to bless us with anything more. So let’s count our blessings and be content and learn to appreciate what we have, before we ask for something more.

“Count your many blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise what the Lord has done.”

Sometimes we wonder,
‘What did I do to deserve this?’ or
‘Why did God have to do this to me?’
Here is a wonderful explanation!
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything
is going wrong, she’s failing algebra, her boyfriend
broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and
asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, ‘Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.’
‘Here, have some cooking oil,’ her Mother offers.
‘Yuck’ says her daughter.
‘How about a couple raw eggs?’ ‘Gross, Mom!’
‘Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?’
‘Mom, those are all yucky!’
To which the mother replies:
‘Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves.
But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all
make something wonderful!

God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and
a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are
here we might as well dance!