Month: August 2026

This the power of the cross – Christ became sin for us!

” It is maybe hard to imagine that a cruel instrument of death would be the source of power. Your faith your life is indeed transformed by that one act of my son Jesus – through his death immense power was released – power to transform you by firstly winning forgiveness of your sins, which enabled you to be reconciled to me – from there to have a new life slowly drawing you out of the grip of the old nature and helping you to take on the new nature. Welcome to my new kingdom of transformed, adopted brothers and sisters.”

We have been looking at the practical outworking of the transformation of our minds and hearts in the way we live and conduct ourselves. Romans 12:1 ff. In the forefront is the need for the church to reflect the new values of the transformed community. That is the “showcase” of the new kingdom. From vs 9 we see that love is the overarching command which governs our behaviour and interpersonal interaction. Today we will look at 12:14-21.

I have tried to stress how important it is to understand that the power to live the new life is released when we receive God’s righteousness and His Holy Spirit to live this new life. These commands are not suggestions they are clear instructions. Looking at how impossible several of them seem to be, we must therefore understand we cannot try and live like this in our own strength. The churches round the world are full of people trying to be Christian, without the transformation which takes place when we receive the Holy Spirit. So these instructions clearly follow the first 11 chapters of the letter.

One of the basic instincts of the old nature is a sense of outrage when we are harmed or antagonised and that emotion is almost immediately translated into feelings and then plans for revenge. If you watch any number of movies you will see how many of the stories are based on the achieving of revenge for some act done against the main character(s). This produces a sense of satisfaction and therefore appreciation of the story. The story has spoken to that desire for revenge, the desire to prove self-righteousness and satisfy our sense of entitlement, which we all have.

So the instructions in this passage are entirely counterintuitive. And reflect back on the nature of real agape love. We need to allow the Spirit to help transform our thinking, becoming humble, regarding others as more important than yourself (Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility consider others better than yourselves) This is hard for us as pride is basic to our old nature and we have to bury that and regard everyone, even those who are of low position worthy of association.

From vs 17 Paul addresses this sense of revenge directly. It is not just a question of a change of attitude. It starts there but must be put into practice. The basic change in attitude that is necessary is to be prepared to hand over the feelings of revenge to God for Him to satisfy, and to trust Him to do what is right in His sight. In the meantime, you can’t necessarily change your feelings about someone who has harmed you but you can take action for their benefit if the opportunity should arise. Hard? Of course that is why when this is played out in the real world it becomes such a powerful testimony to the transformation which takes place when we receive His Spirit.

There can be no real harmony in a Christian fellowship if there are feelings of being hard done by and subtle plans for revenge circulating among some members and that is where God wants His love to be a shining example, reflected in our ability to love one another across the barriers of race and class and culture.

God bless you all till next week.

For God so loved…..that he gave…….and is still giving.

”My hand is open, I have been moved by love from the very beginning. Everything I have done is motivated by my bottomless love – which I express in a multitude of ways, from my creation to relationships and every need you have. In return? I long for you to love Me – to fall completely in love with Me so that will motivate every part of your life, from interaction with Me to the same for others. I have made the way, shown it, and now empower you and every reader of this blog to do the same.

We continue to look at the way our response to God’s love in giving ourselves to love and serve Him, (Rom 12:1,2, plays out in our lives and the life of the Church. We start with the understanding that we cannot live this life without our minds being totally transformed. Last time we looked at how Paul was indicating this should manifest in the church. Today we start looking at the wider picture, not only the church but our interaction with the world. Please read Romans 12:9-13.

We will just focus on this first paragraph. Paul first picks up the concept of love. He will come back to it later in more detail. Let us remind ourselves of Jesus’ words in Mark 12:29 ff after being asked what is the most important command: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength….Love your neighbour as yourself. This command to love actually summarises the whole Torah.

We should realise that the “love” word used here is unique to the Christian faith – “agape” which describes an attitude which goes way beyond our feelings and is expressed in our dealings and actions. It speaks of a self sacrificing attitude where we regard others and their needs as greater than ours.

In our passage today Paul contrasts love with evil as the opposite. Challenging the reader to be sincere and a priority in our interaction with other believers, starting off by demonstrating this by honouring others above ourselves. These are easy words to say or read but, we all know that they can be challenging when we deal with specific individuals, where we will need the transformation and power provided by the Holy Spirit to do it.

He then pours out a staccato of instructions, which each need to be prayerfully considered, as they contribute to the functioning of a healthy church. I will leave you all to do just that personally as they are self-explanatory, but very important in building a healthy, transformed life in a real church . As you read each instruction ask God to show you how you are doing with that one and asking Him to help you where you need it and maybe improve on it in your specific circumstances. Try imagining how it should manifest itself in your life.

Next week we will. Look on the other instructions of Paul. May God bless you all.

Here is love, vast as an ocean, loving kindness as the flood.

”My Loving kindness is what has driven Me from the beginning in My relationship with My creation. It was mentioned in my covenant promises and has been picked up many times later in My word, especially the Psalms. It is so helpful to My children when they truly understand these words, not as mere words or concepts but in the reality of how I relate to all of you. I have, after all, demonstrated it by sending My Son to die on the cross for you personally. How much more will I share it in all My dealings with you all.”

Please read Romans 12:1-8. Last time we started looking at the manifestation of true worship being the offering of our whole bodies to serve and follow Jesus. We saw that crucial to this was the transformation and renewing of our minds. The next verse makes and interesting statement. Once our minds have been transformed we will be able to test God’s will for us.

In the tradition I came from originally this statement was taken to mean God would guide us be revealing the path He is going to take us on in the future. Of course that is not what it means. We need to know His will so that we can now how to live as new-born children of His, surrendering our bodies to Him.

His first concern is for His body, the church. The first step in the functioning of a healthy church lies in our attitude towards one another. In Philippians ch 2 Paul addresses this in great detail, but an attitude of true humility is the best oil for the church’s machine to run on. This starts with how we view ourselves, neither too highly nor too lowly, simply soberly. The starting point is the need to understand that each one of us is different. In Philippians Paul says we should consider others as better than ourselves. The greatest need for the church to function effectively is true unity between the members. The one factor that destroys unity is pride. It is in our fallen nature to subconsciously, instantly compare ourselves with the person you are dealing with. This has been measured by psychologists, who say this is the very first thought that flits through your mind when you interact with someone else. It takes an actively renewed mind to force a favourable evaluation of the person you are dealing with. But this is so important for developing healthy relationships. That is why Paul places this attitude at the head of the requirements of living with a renewed mind.

It also shows that, as important as it is that our lives must be transformed, the first place that should manifest itself in is the church. An effective church body is the place where God’s kingdom can best be manifest and where individual members can grow in faith and in service.

So what else has God done to oil the wheels of the church? Paul goes on to mention a number of gifts God gives for the effective running of any place where His body is active. This is an understanding which is perhaps hugely underemphasized today, other than in the Chrarismatic churches. Each member receives gifts to enable them to serve. From the apparently most menial tasks of service to the upper management. Each one of us finds the greatest joy and satisfaction if we are using our gifts for the benefit of the church. Paul gives a list of a few of the gifts there are many others too. He highlights here the importance of giving your full attention to using the gifts effectively and with commitment.

So friends how do you view yourself. I have to constantly remind myself that my pride is the greatest thing that separates me from true, close fellowship with God. And then secondly, are you using the gift(s) He has given you in your relationship with the body you worship in?