Christ, The Foundation for Reconciliation!

Christ, The Foundation for Reconciliation!
Bible Reading: Mathew 5: 21-24

Focus verse: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

We all make friendships which at times break when we get tired with putting up with one another. Good friends have many at times feel like great enemies for different reasons.
We all try to make parties where we can discuss our differences in attempts to reconcile with friends; some people may spend huge amounts of money or wealth in this attempt. Many communities in Africa believe in doing rituals which must involve shedding of the blood of an animal for reconciliation to happen. These and many others attempts that we make many at times have not yielded the true and lasting reconciliation that we needed.

Many fail to identify Jesus to be the foundation and author of reconciliation. They want bloodshed of animals but fail to recognize the unstained, perfect, holy, blameless blood of the Lamb that God has offered for their enmity.   Jesus knows your differences and He understands how to mend.

Our sins have separated us from God and we live as his enemies. God does not want us to stay as enemies with him or with other human beings/creatures. He has offered Christ so that we don’t live again as enemies but be reconciled back to him and then to othes. Christ is today standing at each ones door, wanting to help make their relationship with our God and others, which has not worked despite our attempts. He does not want us to continue to stay far from him or our other friends. He wants us back to Him and as well want our loved friends back to us. He wants to save us from spending our wealth and time in building reconciliations by offering the perfect Reconciler at a free cost.  Each time we are faced with differences we need to let Christ be the reason for our reconciliation, he is able to bring true repentance of forgiveness from the heart.

Eliazar Wambo
Pastor Makira Baptist Church, Mfangano  

Faithful Followers

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” Luke 18:1-5

"Has rejection caused you to give up on an opportunity or a person? Are you tired of trying to do the right thing, without experiencing positive results? It is precisely at this point of frustration and fear that God calls us to persevere in prayer and continue to graciously engage these people and circumstances. Those who give up—give up on God" ~ Boyd Bailey

Pray for God's strength to continue to be faithful, even in the face of unfaithful family, friends or neighbors.  God will look upon your faithfulness and help you to finish well.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Remember Who the Enemy is

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 6: 1-7

Focus Verse: "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world"  Ephesians 6:12

Today I was in a meeting of 12 people.  There was a decision to be made and the vote was 9 -3.  One of the three people gave a very emotional complaint after the vote because she didn't think the decision was right.  Although she doesn't agree, she has a choice to accept the vote and live in peace or choose to live in anger, lies, hate and discord.  One way shows humility, the other is pride.

I realize that people, yes, even believers are not always going to think the same way.  They are not always going to agree.  Sometimes the matter is small and other times the matter seems to be big.  The Bible reading today tells us that nothing on this earth that we argue about is greater than the heavenly judgements to come.  God tells us to have unity and love one another in humility.

When
 you
 find
 yourself
 in
 a
 dispute
 with
 a
 fellow
 Christian,
 ask
 yourself if you can accept the way things are with the help of Christ and live in peace.  If you can not find peace, 
rather
 than
 brother
 against
 brother
 going
 to
 court
 before
 the
 civil
 court of
 the
 world, shaming the church; when
 necessary,
 Christian brother
s should
 together
 seek
 out
 a
 fellow
 Christian
.  Even then, if you don't agree... In the end of the scripture 1 Corinthians 6:7 says that it is better to allow yourself to be wronged and cheated than to take a believer to court of unbelievers.

The enemy is not your brother; remember who the enemy REALLY is.  We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the unseen enemy of evil.
Further reading: James 4

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Minstries

Be Thankful and Bless God's Name

Read Psalm 100 
"1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

 When I was a young girl, I memorized this Bible passage.  I loved how happy it made me feel.  I rejoiced over how God is good, merciful, truthful, our creator, and our shepherd.  I am thankful and joyful for the benefit of knowing Him.

Take some time to be thankful today for the Lord.  He provides a pasture for you.  Dwell there with Him and SHOUT with joy and thanksgiving.

"What if you wake up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for yesterday." ~unknown

~Page Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Spiritually Receptive

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 13:15-17

Focus Verse:  Mark 4:9  "Then Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

You must be receptive to grow closer to Jesus.  Jesus knew His listeners had to be receptive before they could understand and follow His teachings.  This is the attitude of a growing disciple of Christ.  Have you ever grown weary working for the Lord?  Yes, we all have at one time or another, but it's a patient and grateful attitude that hears Christ clearly.  God's Word lives in us, and with time will bear fruit.  God's Word is not important to just a few elite Christians.  No, God Word is important in the life of every Christian that seeks to know Christ in an intimate way.

Spiritually receptive means that our eyes and ears are open to God.  We submit to the Holy Spirit's prompting in our lives even if it means to wait.  This shows that we give Him control of our lives.  This is the best way to live, because when we take control of our own lives, we will make a mess every time.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Sin In This World

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3: 13-17

Focus Verse: 1 Peter 5:9 "Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

There is sin in this world.  We can expect that evil people and false teachers in this world will increase.  They will work hard to deceive others and won't even realized that they, themselves are deceived.  If you are in sin today, and giving excuses, you are deceiving yourself.  How do you keep from being swayed from the truth?  We have God's Word to keep us on track.  It is inspired by God and trustworthy.  So we should apply it to our lives.  We don't study the Bible just to gain knowledge, but to guide our lives to live more like Christ. 

We can live a different kind of life from the world.  1 John 3:8 says, "When people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning.  But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil."  Jesus can not only forgive your sin, but He can help you turn away from your sin as you walk with Him. 

We live in this world of sin, but we don't have to participate in the sin of this world. 

~Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Preaching & Teaching Scripture

Bible reading: Nehemiah 8:1-12
Focus verse: "So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them."  Nehemiah 8:12

The people understood the Scriptures as Ezra read them.  God opened their ears and eyes to understanding.

Jesus wants us to know the scriptures.  He rebuked ministers for not knowing the scriptures in Matthew 12:3-5, 19:4, 21:42 and 22:31, where He says, "Have you not read?" and "Did you not read in the scriptures"  When teaching the Word of God, it is important that you understand it's meaning.  There are scriptures, that when taken out of context, can have a different meaning.  As you read God's Word, it is important to understand the meaning of the scriptures in the entire book, before deciding what one verse means.  It is a common mistake.

As a preacher and teacher, you must be sure of what you say before you say it.  We are judged more than those who do not teach God's Word.  Go to God in all humility and ask Him to allow the Holy Spirit to give understanding as you read the Bible.  We do not teach merely our own ideas, but teach the truth of God's Word.

It is better to say, "I don't know" to a follower of Christ than to give an answer that is not correct.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries