The Bible Standard - Re-Discover the Truth.

As Israel stood on the border of the territory of Sihon king of Heshbon, God said a very interesting thing to Moses. He said, "See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land." (Deut 2:31) In a work unseen by the children of Israel, God had begun the battle with Sihon king of Heshbon. God had put a spirit of terror and fear on Sihon and his people. Now it was up to Israel to conquer and possess the land. Having had God begin the work, Israel had a responsibility to go in and continue it. With God's help they would bring it to completion.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

It's no wonder Jesus was able to say and do everything so well. I am always amazed at the way he had answers on the tip of his tongue for the trickiest questions, and how he was able to keep multitudes enthralled as he taught them for hours and even days on end.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

As we face the giants of our lives, the fear and anxiety of our present situation, the worry that we’re not ready for the Kingdom of God, the trials and temptations of life in general, we often go in prayer to God to guide us and protect us. God has given us the answers to our problems in the words he has caused to be written. If we’re listening to him, trusting that what he says is right for the situations we find ourselves in, then we can have the confidence to go up and fight against our giants. When we try to align our human thinking to God’s divine thinking by reading and studying his word, it’s then that our prayers will be heard, and God will fight for us.

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“THE WORD THAT I HAVE SPOKEN”  April 19

What thought provoking chapters we continue to read in John’s Gospel!  What point was Jesus making when he said, “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him (or her); for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world” [12 v.47]

And so it is true that the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus was NOT followed by actions of divine judgment on the people and the nation.   It seems remarkable that the time came when “a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith” [Acts 6 v.7] – this was some time after the urgent appeal for repentance at and following the day of Pentecost when some 3,000 were baptized.

But note the next words of Jesus in today’s chapter, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” [v.48]   A knowledge of God’s word as spoken by his son, inevitably causes a reaction in the minds of those who hear or read it, but for many, at first, it was a negative reaction – and today?

What is it to “receive” the words of Jesus?  It is that they become part of you, of your thinking.  Jesus expresses displeasure at those who say “Let me first go and …” – he then comments that no-one who “looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9 v.59-61]

Jesus warned his hearers that the time will come when “the master has risen and shut the door … you begin to stand outside … saying, ‘Open to us … we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets … (but) there will be weeping when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.” [Luke 13 v.25-28]    Will others say, ‘but we did sometimes read your word’?

Jesus continues, “people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.”  Will you be among them?   All those who had responded to “the word that I have spoken” – or who read that word and put it “first” in the priorities in their lives, having become conscious that their reaction to that word – in mind and deed – will be the basis of judgment “on the last day” – will surely be among them.

May we all be there!  There is a hymn that ends, ‘We make the answer now.’

Brother Ron Houben leads us in this 6 part series

Bro Bob Lloyd

SWITCHED ON COMMUNICATION

As Christians, one of the things we rely on is our ability to communicate with God. We need to know that we can speak to him and that he will hear and respond to our prayers. So wouldn't it be a shock if God suddenly said, "I'm not listening to you any more." We like to think that God would never stop listening to us, but the wise man seems to say that it can happen. It's not God's fault, it's ours.

The wise man says, "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable." (Prov 28:9) Communication is a two way process. God's law, his word, the Bible is the way he communicates with us. We can respond to him in prayer.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone when they never let you have your say, and don't listen even if you do get a chance to speak? We tend to switch off to people like that. God wants to be listened to too. He wants us to pay attention to what he tells us to do. The proverb could probably be rephrased: "If we turn a deaf ear to God, he will turn a deaf ear to us." He won't listen to us if we don't listen to him.

So what are we going to do about it? Listen to God and do what he tells us to do. If we want to have an effective prayer life then we need to make sure our lives are also effective when it comes to listening to God and living the way he wants us to live.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

Brothers and sisters, friends and the people we work with can have a huge impact on the decisions we make in our lives. And as a friend we can have a big influence on the actions of our friends. It was a negative influence that kept Israel from entering the land. As the people were about to enter the land they said, "Where can we go? Our brothers have made us loose heart." By their description of the giants and huge fortified cities, 10 of the spies managed to discourage the Children of Israel so much that they were too terrified to attempt to enter the land.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

When we go through a major experience we tend to do some introspection. So, during this time of worldwide pandemic one of the things you may be thinking about is what it is we’re meant to be doing with our lives. There’s not a lot we can do at the moment, stuck in our homes, other than of course making daring trips to the grocery store armed with masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. We’re thankful for the technology like Zoom which allows us to do the readings together and hold Bible classes. We Christadelphians do like our Bible study and it seems that we’re doing a lot of Bible classes during this time and doing a lot more Bible reading than we might be doing if we were able to be out and about. If that’s what we’re doing with our time, it’s a good thing, obviously. There’s nothing negative about more Bible classes, reading and meditation. But the question we then need to ask ourselves is what are we meant to be doing with this knowledge?