Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

How does Jesus feel about you?

“I am gentle and humble in heart.” Matthew 11v29

While I was away, I had the privilege of reading some devotional books. One of them was, “The HEART of JESUS – How he Really Feels about You.” The first chapter was focussed on the familiar verses I shared on Sunday, “Come to me you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11v28-30.

How do you feel Jesus feels about you?

Jesus is not cold and demanding. At his very heart, he is “gentle” and “lowly”.

“Gentle” means he is not reactionary or harsh. He is not easily irritated by you. He is sensitive to how you are feeling. His heart is to welcome you with a warm embrace.

“Lowly” or “humble” (either word is a good translation) means he is accessible and willing to serve you. He has your own best interests at heart. You do not need to raise yourself up to him, but as you open yourself up to him, he stoops down to you to lift you up. You do not need to jump through hoops to receive the Father’s love, you just need to come. And when you do so, he will serve your best interest.

Do you feel heavy today? Do you feel under a mighty burden? Is there something that you just wish you were able to shake off? If so, we can tend to shy away, but that is actually the very qualification for coming to Jesus! Do not stay away, but come in close. As you do so, you will find rest – rest for your soul!

In John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, as Christian gazes at the cross, his heavy burden loosens from his shoulders and rolls away down the hill into the tomb – never to be seen again.

May you know God’s rest in your soul today.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week                                                                        

A John or a Jonah?

As followers of Christ, we are sent out on His mission to:

1) Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and call men to repentance.

2) Continually bear witness to Him as the Light of men and the giver of eternal life (salvation).

Of John the Baptist, it was written (John 1:6-7):

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. Truly, John brought many to repentance and to believing in Jesus Christ (the Light). John was a sent man who went on the mission God assigned to him, thereby living his life within the context of fulfilling God’s purpose.

On the other hand, the Bible says of Jonah (Jonah 1:1-3):

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Like John the Baptist, Jonah was also sent by God to a sinning civilisation, but he rather ran away from his mission. He went down to Joppa and went as far as paying a fare to Tarshish…! Though he later got things right but at what cost? A storm that dearly cost those he was on the ship with, he was thrown into the sea, his companions lost their merchandise, he spent 3 days and nights in the belly of a great fish (imagine the discomfort), he wasted his own time, etc.

Truly, when we deliberately ignore the mission God gives us, like Jonah, we go down …. there are consequences….and sadly, many may not be so lucky/opportuned with time to get it right again (pause and think).

There are no neutrals in this matter: Every day of our lives, we are either running to God and His mission or running away from Him…So, will you be like John or like Jonah?

May God help us to be committed and intentional, living everyday by the power of His Holy Spirit as people on His mission to do His will and reconcile a lost world to Him in Jesus name, amen.

With love and blessings,

Otega.

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Sent by Jesus!

“[Jesus prayed to the Father,] ‘As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world’” John 17v18

At the heart of the Gospel is Jesus calls us. And part of his call is a sending out:

• Jesus’s first call was “come to me and I will make you fishers of men”
• He sent out the 12 to take the Good News of the Kingdom (Matthew 10v5)
• He sent out the 72 to take the Good News of the Kingdom (Luke )
• He sent out the 11 to make disciples (Matthew 28v19)
• Jesus anticipated we would all be going “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1v8)
• The early church sent people out on mission (Acts 13v3)

Sometimes, when I was a child, my mum would send me to the corner shop for something. When I went, I was going in her authority, with her money, to do her will. Similarly, as people sent by God into this world, we are sent under his authority, with his resources, to do his will.

Let’s live in the light of his sending and equipping!!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The Spirit for All!

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out might Spirit on all people…” Acts 2v17

It was on this coming Sunday around 33AD, that Peter declared that this promise was fulfilled. God had given it to the prophet Joel around 900 years previously. From both Joel and Peter’s perspective, we are now in the last days – the days of the Holy Spirit poured out. This is our age, our time.

The scope of the pouring is clear – on all people. The Holy Spirit is not limited to the odd one or two, but is poured out regardless of age, status or gender. The only caveat Peter gives is, “Repent and be baptised every one of you  … for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (2v38)

Just now, I dropped my parents off in Tewkesbury. On the way back I listened to the biography of Charles G Finney. He had no religious background, but his study of law led him to the Bible, and his study of the Bible led him to repentance and to seek after God. His seeking of God led to the Holy Spirit coming in power. He was never the same again: the Holy Spirit in him caused revivals in the 1830s and 40s in both the US and the UK, with the impact of those arguably still with us today.

Whoever you are, whatever your status, it is time to seek more of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit today!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The Spirit of Help!

“He will give you another Helper to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth…” John 14v16 (NASB)

Today is Ascension day – the day Jesus went back to heaven. It was a day of great loss for those first disciples as their Lord and Master was gone. But Jesus had briefed them and it was actually to be a great day of joy. Jesus was returning to the heavens to be with His Father and to rule supreme.

He gave his disciples a simple instruction – to wait in Jerusalem. They needed to wait because the Father was going to send them something better than the presence of Jesus. On earth, Jesus would come and go, but they were going to receive the Holy Spirit who would be with them all the time.

Jesus described the Holy Spirit as “another Helper.” The Greek word “paraclete” is hard to exactly translate, but its literal meaning is “one who is called alongside”, and was used of someone who helped alongside you in a legal case. The key word here, though, is “another” – meaning that the Holy Spirit is someone who is going to do the job of Jesus with us.

This is enormously encouraging. We can sometimes think, “If only I was around when Jesus was around, things would have been much better.” Jesus says that is not actually true because the Holy Spirit comes as the Spirit of Christ to be with you absolutely all the time.

As we celebrate Jesus ascended to glory, let’s also ask the Holy Spirit to fill us and help us today.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The Spirit of Power!

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you …” Acts 1v8

We continue our focus on the Holy Spirit leading up to Pentecost.

In Acts these are in the very last words of Jesus, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”  The Greek is “dunamis” which comes into English as “dynamite”.

Here is the truth: you and I can work hard at many things, but unless the Holy Spirit is enabling and empowering, all the effort is not going to go very far at all. As the Psalmist writes, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain.” (Psalm 127v1) Or as Zechariah records God saying, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.” (Zechariah 4v6).

As a car needs fuel and a torch needs a battery, so a disciple of Jesus needs the Holy Spirit. The car, the torch and the disciple all exist without them, but they are not going to be effective. Have you received the quantum leap empowering of the Holy Spirit? Are you more like a torch whose battery is running rather low? Are you like one of the virgins in Matthew 25 who were running out of oil for their lamps?

Jesus told the disciples to “wait around” until the Holy Spirit came on them as promised. In practice that meant the disciples “joined together constantly in prayer” for 10 days … What does it mean for you and I?

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The Spirit of Love!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace …” Galatians 5v22

We continue our focus on the Holy Spirit as we lead up to Pentecost. The Holy Spirit changes our character. His presence in our lives brings, “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”.

But as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13v13, “But the greatest of these is love.” Love for God and love for other people is shown by all the other characteristics listed in Galatians 5. It is love that enables us to be patient rather than impatient with people. It is love that causes us to be faithful when we may be tempted to unfaithfulness.

How obvious is it that the Spirit is at work in me and through me today?

I cannot do this of myself, it is God working in me by his Holy Spirit. My greatest need today is for more of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.”

Paul writes in Romans 5v5 “God has poured out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” May this be true for you and I today!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The Spirit of Truth!

“The Spirit of truth … will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14v17,26

Over the next few weeks as we approach Pentecost, we will focus on the Holy Spirit.

Jesus refers to the coming Holy Spirit is as the “Spirit of Truth”. He explains that the Holy Spirit is just as reliable in what he says as Jesus was. Jesus had passed on what he had heard from the Father, and the Spirit would do the same. Just as Jesus was able to foretell the future, so the Holy Spirit “will tell you what is yet to come.”

This does not mean that we can ignore the Word of God. Rather Jesus said the Spirit will “remind us of everything” Jesus said. So the Spirit brings back to mind the things we have heard Jesus say. One reason to keep reading the Bible regularly is so that the Spirit can remind us at the appropriate time.

While reading the Bible may give truth to our heads, it is the Spirit that takes truth to our hearts. Jesus says he will “conviction with regards to sin, righteousness and judgment” (16v8). This is more than a head knowledge, it is a certainty of what is true and a readiness to respond to it.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to your heart today through God’s Word?

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,         

Thought for the Week 

Living in Victory! 

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2v14 

Here is the victory of Easter. 

• God has already gained the victory and is right now in victory parade!
• He is leading you and I in this victory parade.
• This victory is that he has overcome the powers of evil and Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth.
• As I come under the authority of Jesus, I also have authority in Christ, over the powers of evil.
• Therefore, “Count yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6v11
• And,“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” Romans 8v28 

As a believer, you are victorious because of Jesus. It is your destiny in Jesus. Count yourself that today. 

With love and blessing, 

Roland