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I Have Been Reborn In The Image Of Christ

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When someone repents and believes in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord then God does something that defies the imagination. He actually creates a new self inside us. Why does He do this? Because in our natural state we are a mixed bag of good and bad. The good comes from the fact that God originally made us in His image, that is, as a limited reflection of himself. But when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command and try to take control out of God’s hands then the image of God in them shattered. This meant that they could no longer think and act in healthy ways but rather in destructive ways, which is what sin is. (Sin is anything that blocks God’s goodness, especially the love we are supposed to have for one another.) Furthermore, they could no longer bond with God because it would be like Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Our Good Deeds Will Shine Forever

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“”For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.” Rev. 19:7-8 (NLT) After Jesus returns we, the bride of Christ, will “wear” all the good deeds we have done in our life. This means that every good deed we do has eternal value, they are not forgotten. These deeds will shine on us for eternity! This may sound a little strange to our ears but consider how much God values the good things you do. He wants people to help and build up one another even more than we think. It is so important to Him that He will beautify us with our good deeds and display them to all creation and we will be full of inexpressible Continue Reading →

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Believing I Am Loved By God

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Jason Hanson’s dad was out of the home when Jason was two years old. Eventually Jason started using drugs, got kicked out of his house, almost committed suicide twice, experienced his sister’s suicide, started selling drugs, committed two assaults and eventually ended up in prison and accepted Jesus. But he couldn’t live a Christian life and ended up in prison three more times. Each time he got out he was a lost soul looking for life but he kept relapsing. Eventually he ran into James, a Christian man who poured his life into Jason. This transformed his life. James let Jason know that he cared about his heart, he showed him how to live a godly life, and he persevered with Jason for over eight years. In short, he re-fathered him. Incredibly, Jason eventually became a very effective youth pastor! It would not have happened without James’ fatherly love and Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Sitting On Jesus’ Throne – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” Rev. 3:21 (ESV). If we will persevere and be faithful to the end then we will actually have the privilege on sitting with Jesus on His throne. This means that we will reign with Jesus! This is an important biblical theme and John just promised it in Rev. 2:26-28 and we see it fulfilled in Rev. 22:5. Jesus reigns with love, power, wisdom and humility and we will do likewise. Maybe Jesus will give us a city to preside over or maybe He will invite us to create new cities using our own creativity. Maybe we will design new types of buildings or create new inventions to bless God’s people. Whatever we do as leaders we will do with Jesus. We will Continue Reading →

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I Am A Child Of God

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God actually adopts us into His family as His child when we believe in Christ (Rom. 8:15)! It seems too good to be true but it is. This is our new core identity and we need to remind ourselves of this daily. When we remember who we are we will find strength to become more like Christ. When people adopt a child they often go to great expense and effort. God did the same thing for us: the Son came to earth as a human and endured opposition and execution just so that God could adopt us as His child. And once He adopted us we became one of His heirs (Rom. 8:16). In fact, Scripture says that Jesus is our brother (Mt. 12:49-50 (Mk. 3:34-35); Heb. 2:11, 17) and just as He receives an inheritance from the Father so too we are fellow heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). But Continue Reading →