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As we finish Acts it seems Paul is determined to finish of the way he has acted during the whole book. It seems that no matter what Paul’s does, what situation he finds himself in, he makes the best of it. God always seems to honour Paul’s efforts and use his problems to spread the word about Jesus. Sometimes I make excuses for myself, how about you? Do you have a lisp or a stutter? Moses had a problem with his speech and God used him speak to thousands of slaves and free them from the Egyptians. Is it different for you because you re a girl, and it’s easier for the blokes? Esther rescued thousands of people when she was petrified of the mighty king who had a reputation for intolerance and killing people who spoke against him. Are you too young? Joseph was the youngest in his family and was hated by his brothers but he stopped millions from starving and rescued his family. Are you from the poor part of town? I know this bloke who was born in a cattle shed with the smell of dung all around him, his dad was a chippy (carpenter) and his mum got pregnant before she was married. That bloke went on to save the world. What’s your problem?

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Paul could easily think he was the main man. He has predicated that the ship would run into trouble but they would survive, and it has come true. Then he gets bitten by a snake but that’s not problem he just shakes it off and throws it into the fire. Now he is surrounded by people who think he is a god. There are many film and sports stars that get treated in a similar way today who do loose the plot and think that they are gods. But not Paul he knows that quite the reverse is true. He is not Gods gift but actually God has given him a gift and an ability to work for God. As God answers your prayers and directs you life maybe, just maybe it will be worth remember where it all comes from. As people compliment you, calmly accept their compliments but also explain to them where the source of your confidence comes from and that they can know God peace to.

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Prophecy is a funny thing, and here Paul is saying that he’s has been told what will happen to the whole ships crew. Now we can know that what Paul says will come true because we can read the next chapter and find out. But what happens when someone tells you that they think God has spoken to them about your life? Well I suggest you CALL God to ask him if it is true. In the word call C is for Common sense. God is not normally going to tell you to do something that you are not equipped to do. God doesn’t set us up for failure. That’s not to say that what God wants you to do won’t look daunting, but it will be something that you can achieve. In the word call A is for Affirmed by others. Don’t accept one person word for it, God is capable of letting more then one person pass a message to you. If someone tells you something pray and ask him for affirmation from someone else. The first L in call stands for Linked to the Bible. God won’t contradict his own word, and your calling won’t either. If someone tells you to rob a bank and give the money to the poor, then that is not Gods plan for you, because Gods word tells us not to steal. Finally the last L in call stands for just that, it stands for Lasts. Gods message to you will last and keep coming back to you. Gods plan for you isn’t a whim it will keep coming back to you. Noah took years to build the ark, Gods calling for Noah had to last or he would have given up. So next time someone tells you they have a word from God for you, just run it through this process and is if it is Gods CALL on your life.

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

This isn’t the first time Paul has been called crazy or cuckoo. Paul has had such a dramatic experience of God that it is not problem for him to be passionate about telling people about it. After all this is why Paul is in this situation in the first place. But Paul knows that it is Jesus who opened the way to heaven for him and that is why Paul does all he can for Jesus whilst he is on this Earth. You see we can’t work our way to Heaven, it doesn’t matter how many good things we do, we couldn’t possibly do enough to actually get into Heaven. The good news is that Jesus has paid the price for us to get into Heaven, he has bought the ticket and all we need to do is accept the invitation. We have to accept because the ticket does have an RSVP on it, and we need to respond to his offer and say yes please. Having done that, just like Paul we will want to be more like Jesus and do what we can to help others. God knows that we are built that way and he will reward us for our efforts. It’s say so in 2 Corinthians 5:10 it says “Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what's coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad.” So for all the good stuff we do out of our gratefulness to God for inviting us to the party we will be rewarded. It’s a win win. We get to go to the party, not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus did, but we do get rewarded further because of what we do. Hey lets party.

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Here we go again. Once more Paul drags out his story to talk to people about Jesus. Do you think that our stories might be important? How many times have we heard Paul tell his story in order for people to understand about Jesus? What is Paul trying to do, big himself up? “Hey look at me I am the man” No that’s not what Paul is doing there. Paul is just trying to get people to understand it doesn’t matter what their story is, it doesn’t matter how they have lived their life, Jesus still wants to know them. We have said in the past that what ever you story is, whatever you have done or not done in the past someone needs to hear your story and how you came to hear about Jesus. Have you practised that story, if someone came up to you and asked you could you tell them simply and quickly in your own words? As for me I simply went looking for Jesus and a friend pointed me in the right direction. My mate Iain grew up knowing Jesus, and another mate of mine did all sorts of stuff before finally God got his attention. How about you?

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »