Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever

One of my favourite Bible verses is found in one of my favourite books of the bible - Hebrews 13:8:

'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.'

Whatever our circumstances, He remains the same - our constant Saviour and friend, one on whom we can depend, come what may. He is far more reliable and dependable than any human friend, however good that friend is.

He was there at the beginning of creation, He took on human form, born of a virgin, He died, rose again and ascended to be at the right hand of the Father.

When I was a child, my grandparents had a plaque hanging above their back door in the kitchen which said:

'Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday - and all is well'

If we acknowledge Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, He takes care of each day and what happens within it - unless, of course, we choose to go our own way and ignore His prompting. Why would we willfully want to go our own way when we have such a caring friend who has our best interests at heart?

Our challenge 'A trouble-free life?' is still open - you can read it here - if you are prompted to create something for this we would love you to leave us a comment and a link so we can come and have a look at your crafting.

Heather has joined our challenge with this beautifully crafted card - you can read what she wrote here:

A trouble-free life?

Hi, it's Pauline with this week's challenge. I asked the SALT team to think about the story of Jesus calming the storm in Luke 8:22-25,

"One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'let's go over to the other side of the lake'. So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him saying 'master, master, we're going to drown'. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided and all was calm. 'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him'."

There are so many aspects to this story, but what I've been reflecting on recently is not the miracle of the walking on water but rather the issue of difficulties, or troubles, in life. For Luke and the other disciples, Jesus was their Saviour and they trusted in him to save them when there were any difficulties, however when faced with a storm while they were in the middle of the lake they were still worried and upset.

Jesus does not, however, promise a trouble-free life. In fact we read in the Bible that trouble will come (Acts 14:22). The journey across the lake wasn't stress free for the disciples, but as Christians we must trust that we can overcome difficulties. God can bring good out of evil. There are many situations that I'm sure we can all think of where this seems impossible, but as the Body of Christ we can share with others that while the Christian life is not free of troubles, the power to cope comes from God,

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

We hope you enjoy thinking over this week's theme and if you feel inspired to create something as a response then please link back to us in the comments.

Pauline

Hazel


Kim

Julie

Ruth

Stacy

A Common Life

One of my favourite inspirational authors is Max Lucado. A couple of years ago, I read and worked through his book "Cure for the Common Life - Living in Your Sweet Spot".

I loved it so much, I recently picked up a used copy so I can read it again.

The theme of the book - "Use your uniqueness to make a big deal of God every day of your life" - and the concept of "finding your sweet spot" in life (that place that uses your strengths to glorify Him) are worth revisiting again and again.

"Each person is given something to do that shows who God is". 1 Corinthians 12:7 (msg). No matter where we are, what our position is in life, what we do everyday - God has given every person gifts that we are to use for His glory - to make Him known to the people in our lives.



I'm looking forward to spending some time studying this book again. God has made me for a purpose. I want this to be true for me - that I would "live so that "he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything - encores to the end of time...." (1 Peter 4:11 msg). Exhibit God with your uniqueness. When you magnify your Maker with your strengths, when your contribution enriches God's reputation, your days grow suddenly sweet. And to really dulcify your world, use your uniqueness to make a big deal about God...every day of your life."


(all quotes take from Max's book "Cure for the Common Life")

Clothe yourself in Christ

July already! How time goes by. Some of us have already entered into holiday time. But there is always time to reflect on God's word! This time round I (Lythan) have chosen a Bible passage to think about
Galatians 3:23-29 - Clothe yourself in Christ
23 But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed. 24 And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith. 25 Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us. 26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus. 27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself. 28 So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.

I think this is a great passage to reflect on - it moves quite well from the obedience not sacrifice and talks about how following the about the letter of the law is not enough - faith brings freedom which brings responsibilities. The difference in life is to be clothed in Christ which means there is no difference when we are in union in Christ. There are all sorts of themes to take here - those of you who have just celebrated Independence Day may want to think about what Freedom means; there is also a lot about equality as well as the wonderful phrase about being clothed in Christ. We look forward to seeing your creative reflections.

Hazel


Lythan


Julie

Shout to the Lord

When praying and thinking about my post today, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite praise songs. I have been so crazy lately kids out of school taking on a second job and Hubby finally working more then one day a week. I pretty much have this song in my head at all times. It keeps me sane and more in a happy place.Which is harder right now being busy busy. If you have never heard it you can find it here. I looked on biblegateway.com for it and it shared this passage

2 Thessalonians 1

¹Paul, Silas^a]">[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

²Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. ⁴Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

⁵All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

¹¹With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. ¹²We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^b]">[b]

^{b]">I am so hoping i am worthy even in my best moments! To All Canadians have a wonderful Canada Day and also Happy July 4 to all Americans if anyone else is celebrating this weekend i am thinking of you !!}

To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice

Greetings everyone and welcome to another SALT challenge! We're thrilled when you have an opportunity to play along with our challenges so if you're feeling inspired to create something based on today's topic, please drop us a comment with a link back to your blog or online gallery; we'd love to come visit!

This week I’d (Kim) like to focus on a verse from the Old Testament; 1 Samuel 15:22. I’m specifically thinking on the portion, "to obey is better than sacrifice." This statement was Samuel's response to Saul when he realized the Saul had failed to utterly destroy a certain city, saving “all that was good” for himself. Saul first tried to blame the people and then claimed the reason was that he saved the "best animals to sacrifice to the Lord." Of course God knew Saul's heart...the result of Saul's actions? He would no longer be king.

Since we can't identify with the Old Testament rituals of animal sacrifice, how can we apply this verse to our modern lives and experiences? We can think of those we know that are very giving, maybe even putting professing Christians to shame. They feed the poor, give a lot of money to charities, sacrifice their time to certain causes, etc. However, these same folks will never bow the knee to Christ. In Matthew 7:22 Jesus tells His followers, “many will say in that day “Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you…”

That said, I agree that works are important, God calls us to good works (James 2:14) but to offer works without faith in Christ is empty. I spent many years proudly boasting of the many things I didn't do. I had a neat little list; I didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, didn’t listen to “worldly” music. The problem? I don't believe that I was trusting in Christ; I was merely worshipping myself and my list of man made rules. Had God not truly changed my heart, I would have been one of the ones He confessed to not know.

My study Bible has this to say on faith and works, "...(there are those) that know the gospel and even agree with it, but fall short of trust in God. Failure to grow, develop, and bear the fruits of righteousness shows that the free gift of Christ has never been received. The answer for those with such a faith is not to save themselves by establishing a righteousness of their own, as if they could create faith by their own efforts, but to call on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:13)."

All that we do is acceptable to God only because of the mercy of Christ (Rom. 7:13-20). Christ changes our hearts so that we express love for God by doing what pleases Him and He in His kindness promises to reward us for what we do (Phil. 3:12-14, 2 Tim. 4:7, 8).

May God enable us to cling to Christ and His righteousness as we seek to serve those around us.

Kim


Hazel

Julie

Lythan

'Here I Am'

It’s nice to be back briefly for a guest appearance. Glad to see that things are looking as lovely as ever on SALT. Here are a few thoughts for the week…

1 Samuel 3:8-10
And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

Genesis 22:1, 9-12
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."


These passages have been brought to my attention recently, but on different occasions. Both the responses we find in the passage have the same words ‘Here I Am’. It made me think about the willingness to hear and answer God when they heard His voice. If God were to call us to a certain place or to a certain work would our answer be ‘Here I am’? And are we ready to listen to what God has to say to us through the scriptures? And are we willing to act upon his will for our lives whatever the challenges may bring?