This post could also have been called "the way we want others to see us" or "how we love to be seen in a good light" or something along these lines; but I thought "Show and Tell" was shorter and sweeter... It is about what we SHOW others and what we TELL others about ourselves through what we do. I was reading Matthew 6 recently and it became clear to me that it was all about that beautiful image of ourselves we like to project to other people.
(Please read "The 2 Sides of God" before reading this if you haven't as this is part 2)
So the Old Testament reveals God mainly as a holy God and the New Testament reveals Him mainly as a God of love in Jesus Christ. Because He is holy, He is a righteous Judge who has to punish our sins. But because He is also love, He comes down to earth as a man and receives the just punishment Himself on our behalf, so we can be forgiven and cleansed by His blood.
Thanks to the price paid on the cross, we are now back in fellowship with a holy God and we have access to His presence. We are proclaimed "not guilty". Our debt to God has been paid! If it stopped there,
God reveals Himself in His Word as a personal God who has a clearly defined character. He does not change and He always acts according to who He is. Like the 2 sides of a coin, His character is made up of 2 main aspects as is alluded to in Romans 11:22.
Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God...
God's goodness flows from His love and God's severity flows from His holiness. So let us say that heads is "love" and tails is "holiness".
The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:8 that "God is love". This is who He is, not something that He has. He does not possess love, He is pure love.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Romans 10:13)
"There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
(Acts 4:12)
There is only one name given by God to save people, and this name is Jesus Christ. There is no other name today, there was no other name yesterday and there will never be any other name tomorrow, anywhere, that can save mankind. No Buddha, no Allah, no Krishna, no Guru of any kind, no one else...
Once upon a time God created the world, a beautiful world... He made the seasons and provided us with the endless cycle of seedtime and harvest time. Like God said at the time of creation: it was good. This system of sowing seeds and reaping harvests was working well, allowing humans to grow various crops that were beneficial to their health and in harmony with their environment. And it went on for thousands of years, until one day... man invented genetic engineering!...
There is a very low vision of marriage and family in society. People's attitudes towards marriage have changed and it has become very self-focused, centred around pleasure, success, gathering of material wealth... People are in it for what they can get out of it.
The idea of covenant, commitment or sacrifice has been lost. We live in a selfish, self-centred world that lives to be entertained. What we need is the vision of marriage from God's Word. God has a great vision for it. He sees something awesome and of great value in it...
Does that sound like a pagan title? It probably does. Unfortunately these days it has become far too easy for children to be introduced to the world of witchcraft. They get access to various forms of the occult - including witchcraft - through the many media in their environment (TV, internet, consoles, music...). Today, we do not have to look for the occult, it is right in front of our eyes (and our children's eyes), whether we like it or not.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
(Romans 1:16)
These days, there are so many things that are preached in churches; but we hear less and less preaching of the Gospel. People do not want to listen to the Gospel any more. They think it is "deja-vu", boring, irrelevant...
Yes, you read this title well! The herb that I would like to talk about today has been shown to be able to literally stop heart attacks within 30 seconds when ingested!
This amazing herb also has numerous other health benefits, from toothache remedy, digestive aid to possibly killing cancer cells... And as it is a herb, it is also perfectly natural and has no dangerous side effect - contrary to modern medicines/drugs. Have you guessed it yet?
