We visited Scotland for the autumn half-term in 2011. It was very beautiful there and I would love to return one day. We visited a castle and went up a mountain. We stayed in a fantastic resort and built many fond memories while we were there for the week. One thing I regret about that trip: 3 point on my driving license! Unfortunately, I was caught speeding. I was not aware of the change in the speed limit in a stretch of road and the camera saw me. I was ashamed, still am, and thought it so unfair because I did not know, or did not notice the sign, which I am sure, was placed somewhere to let motorists know the speed changed. Still my ignorance cost me 3 points on my license!

I was embarrassed but also I felt I was not being given any chance to explain myself, after all, I did not know the speed limit had changed in that part of the road. I did not see the sign! How dare they send me a letter and fine me, AND give me 3 points on my license!

I am afraid, when it comes to the law, ignorance is not a good defence. I did not know, or did not notice the change, but it was my job to do so. I should have been more careful. So, I had to swallow my pride, pay the fine and get the points, which will disappear from my license in due course.

This made me think about our Christian lives. If we don’t know the “laws” given by our God about how we should live our lives, we, will suffer the consequences of our mistakes. The Bible tells us in Matthew 22:29

“Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”

If we don’t know the Scriptures and what it teaches, and if we do not practice it, we will certainly have problems in our lives. Problems in our marriages, problems with bring up our children, problems with our boss, problems with our relationships, problems with our finances. We would have problems in all areas of our lives. The Bible teaches us about all areas of our lives. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read:

” All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”  (New Living Translation)

That is why it is important that we try to be at church on Sundays, so we can  hear the Bible explained and we can learn what God teaches us about life. It is also important we try to attend our house group meetings, or youth group, or the weekend away the church has organized. As a matter of fact, any other activity where we have the opportunity to learn from the Bible. You see, when we choose to do other things instead of getting to know the Bible better we can’t use the excuse we didn’t know when something goes wrong in our lives. Ignorance is also a sin.

With my driving license points episode, I will be cleared of the consequences of my mistake soon, but when something goes terribly wrong in our lives because we did not know the Scriptures, the consequences will live with us for the rest of our lives. May God grant us the desire to learn more about His ways and His decrees so we can put it into practice in our lives.

“Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Psalm 119:33-34”

It has been a very cold winter and we have just returned from a lovely week of holiday! Lots of gloves, scarves and hats everywhere in our house at the moment! This made me think of how fortunate I was to have learnt to knit when I was a child. My grandma taught me. We used to visit her on a Sunday and after lunch she would get her needles out and very patiently she would show us what to do. Those were fun days. Unfortunately, she can’t knit anymore because of arthritis but she still helps me when I get stuck reading a pattern!

Recently I decided to make a ruffled scarf. My husband was away on a business trip and I sat down every evening to work on it. It occurred to me that knitting a scarf is very much like living our Christian lives. First you cast on the stitches. That is your foundation. Then you work on each row, making sure to keep the right side of the wool facing the right way (for the ruffled scarf). You carry on until you reach the length you desired and finally you cast the stitches off. During the process, if you are not being careful, you might lose a stitch or add one. When that happens you need to undo the stitches or rows above it in order to correct it. So, focus is important. As you practice you improve your rhythm and soon you are knitting very quickly! I really enjoyed the process and the scarf turned out so pretty that I went out and bought some more wool and knitted another one!

When we are living our Christian lives we cast on the stitches as well, i.e., we give all of our heart to Jesus and put our trust completely in Him. That is our foundation. Then we work each row – we let God take control of each area of our lives and we seek to do what He teaches us in the Bible. We make sure we are looking at the cross of Jesus to keep the right way. We carry on until we reach the end of the race and finally we present our lives before the throne of the King. During the process if we are not careful, we might lose our way or add something to the foundation of our faith. When that happens we need to go back, repent, confess it to Jesus and depend on Him above all things. So, focus on Him is important. As we live our lives seeking to please our King we become more aware of His love for us and we desire to keep loving Him back!

Happy knitting!

We have now established that sin is a problem of the heart. It is rebellion against God. It is pushing Him away. We also know that sin affects everyone. We all want to rule our own lives. We know that this rebellion in our hearts is punishable by death. So, we are left wondering if there is any hope. What can we do about sin? Absolutely nothing. Even if we tried really hard to “be good” we would not be able to change our hearts.

If the Bible stopped there, this would be a pretty horrible story, wouldn’t it? An entire race, condemned to spend eternity apart from the One who created them. But see, the Bible does not stop there. It tells us about God’s plan to rescue man’s heart and bring him back to Him.

Throughout the entire Bible we see God displaying his love to his people and giving them opportunities to turn back to Him. A bit like the mother that tells the child 100 times to go put the toys away and even when that child chooses to ignore her time and time again, she still loves him/her and does the best she can to teach them to choose right and to learn to obey. But in this case that is all the mother can do. She can only hope, pray, that her child will learn. In God’s case HE can rescue us. He can give us a new heart and a new life with Him. A new mended relationship.

God in His infinite love, mercy and grace gave his own a Son so that man could have a new relationship with Him. The Bible says in John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus died on the cross so we could have eternal live with God. Jesus died our death. Jesus had no sin. He was perfect and did not deserve to die. He gave his life so we could have ours.

When Jesus walked this earth He knew what He was going to accomplish. He came to save us, but man despised Him and rejected Him. The love of God is so amazing that even then, He died. A slow and terrible death for each one of us. Isaiah 53:4-6

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

When we recognise that we are sinners and in our hearts feel sorry we rebelled against our Maker, we can put our whole trust in Jesus and He will, through his blood shed on the cross, change our hearts.

God provided the way for man to get back to Him. Jesus is the way. The only way. The Bible tells us in John 14:6:

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This amazing sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us, satisfied God’s wrath and when He looks at our hearts now, if we trust in Jesus as our Saviour, He sees Jesus. He sees our heart  as new.

What love is this? It is awesome! It is absolutely unimaginable! No one can understand!

Romans 5:8 says:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Why is it so difficult for people to see it and believe it? Wouldn’t they want a new heart? The problem is that most people can’t accept the fact they are sinners and need rescuing in the first place. They think that leading a good life is enough. They are happy and don’t need God.

I stand amazed that God would love me that much that He would give His Son so I could be in a relationship with Him. And it is all because of His grace. Ephesians 2:8-9

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

This is how God dealt with sin.

My prayer for all of those reading these posts and for myself, is that we would find strength, courage in Him to tell those around us living their lives for themselves that God has already given us the way to have a changed, completely new heart. That way is JESUS.

God bless!

On my last post we established that sin is a heart disease. It is much more than just breaking rules. It is an act of rebellion against Almighty God. Wasn’t that Adam’s and Eve’s problem though? What does it have to do with me? How does it affect me in the 21st century in modern Britain?

We often think about the way sin entered the world as a problem related to those that sinned then. And then we think we are different, better. We didn’t do it. We are ok.

The Bible tells us that because of what happened that day when Adam and Eve decided in their hearts to rebel against God, that we are all like them.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” Romans 5:12

We all have in our hearts the inclination to say NO to God and deny Him his rightful place as King in our lives. We all want that throne for ourselves.

This is the tricky part. It is very hard for people to see themselves as a sinner. In their eyes, and the eyes of the community, they might be good law-abiding citizens. They might have really high moral standards. They might be involved in doing good to people in need. What they fail to see is that in their hearts they are still saying NO to God. They don’t need Him as king.

Romans 3:23 says:

 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

All have sinned. That is what the Bible says. It does not say: the person that is not doing “good”, or living his/her life according to the law of the country. It says “ALL”.

Remember sin is about breaking a relationship with God. It is going against Him. It is denying Him the throne of your life.

When we think back to Adam and Eve in the garden, God punished them for their disobedience by sending them away from the garden. He banished them from His presence. And death entered the world. Physical and spiritual death.

Romans 6:23 says:

 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Death is what each one of us deserves for our sins. Rebellion against the King is punishable by death. Our bodies will grow old and physically die and spiritually we will be eternally separated from God.

Sin affects us all, even when we think we lead “good” lives; even when we live in modern Britain. That is difficult to accept because the world tells us that there is no such thing as sin. It is bad for your self-esteem. Sin is a matter of the heart and i needs to be dealt with. But how? What can we possibly do?

In tomorrow’s post we are going to see how God dealt with sin once and for all.