In search of God

Mark 9: 43-48 “And i f your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye makes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” How can your hands make you sin you ask, by taking things that do not belong to you or writing things that are untrue about someone online. What about your legs you might ask, by taking you to places that you know you shouldn't be going. What about your eyes, looking at things ...

Genesis 2:9, 16, 17, ‘And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ ‘And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."’ When God made the Garden of Eden, there were two particular trees that were specifically mentioned, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now the command God gave was for man not to eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and His wife were free to eat of the tree of life. Had they eaten the tree of life instead of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have enjoyed eternal life with their Creator and Father; living a life free from shame and condemnation that came with their choice to eat frui...

Psalm 116:8,9, ‘For you O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.’ We were dead in spirit but as believer we now live, through Jesus Christ’ death at the cross, we have been given a fresh lease of life, to start a new, to live only for Him who purchased our life with His, to share in His inheritance, to live in joy and peace and love for in sin all we had was heartache, misery, pain and death. God is giving you salvation, reach out with your heart and take hold of this life, this promise from a faithful and just God, to lift you up higher, from being a servant to being a son, do not hesitate, accept the deliverance of the Lord now and be counted among the living whose hope and trust is in the Lord, who are anchored on the Rock, the cornerstone that the builder’s refused that now gives life to whosoever believes.

Proverbs 22:1, ‘A good name is more desirable than great riches, to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.’ We live in a world that loves things and uses people. We place more value on things that we are willing to do anything to obtain it. The Lord asks what it profits a man to gain the whole world but lose His soul, highlighting that our soul was more valuable than the whole world. But how many of us sell ourselves cheap, selling our souls to the Devil for eternal damnation for a fleeting moment of pleasure. Moths and rust destroy the riches of this world so it wise to store up your riches in heaven where they will remain eternally by living a righteous life. You need to know your value, you can choose to be a child of the Most High God and inherit everything or settle for less and pay for eternity for your poor choice. Know your value, don’t sell yourself short.

Psalm 119: 33-40, ‘Teach me O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart towards your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.’ Who am I that I may know the plans of God? Who am I to question His wisdom? I am nothing apart from Him and all I need and desire is for Him to reveal to me His will for my life, what He has purposed for my life that I may live my life rejoicing in His will and not mine, through Jesus Christ and not on my own strength, for I cannot do anything without Christ who strengthens me. My focus is now only on Jesus who now ...

John 15:1-6, ‘“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. Jesus is the tree of life and the church is the branches that are attached to and wholly dependent on Him. Without Him we are nothing but in Him we are more than conquerors. If we allow ourselves to be fully ingrafted in Him, allowing Him to be the supplier of all our needs, feedi...

John 12:24, ‘I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.’ Life begins with the death of the seed which ceases to exist as a seed but is transformed into a tree. Jesus was the seed of Abraham, through which the world was promised redemption. At the cross, this seed of Abraham was crucified, died and was buried but on the third day and rose again but not as a seed but glorified as the tree of life. Now through that resurrection, many branches have been attached, growing and receiving sustenance from this tree of life. For us also to produce as per God’s will and plan according to His grace as believers of Christ, we need to die to ourselves in faith so that we can be reborn in this same transformation of our Lord, attached to him, the tree of life and being continually pruned by the Father to remove the unproductive elements in us while nurturing the productive elements through the m...

John 14:6, 7, ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.’ If anyone wants to have eternal life then the only way to attain it is through and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God in His divine wisdom crafted a plan to redeem man from the bondage and slavery of sin through His Son, Jesus the Christ. In Christ, God punished all the sins of mankind to satisfy the justice of His divine law that dictates that the wages or just payment for sin is death and total separation from Him. Through Christ, we exchange our sinfulness for His righteousness, we exchange our weakness for His power and authority over the world and sin, we exchange our condemnation and guilt for His innocence, we become conquerors through Christ who strengthens us, we are victors in Him, claiming victory over sin in a battle that He fought for us, and we g...

Titus 3:4-8, ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.’ Salvation comes to us as a gift of God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. No one can claim to have earned his salvation because none of us is worthy; we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Through Jesus the Christ, we are credited with righteousness before God and we therefore have the confidence to stand before Him in prayer. At baptism...

Isaiah 12:1-3, ‘In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ We were sinners, facing a hopeless and miserable end, but the Lord God, even when we were His enemies; He came down and died for us, to give us salvation. In His great mercy He has forgiven and forgotten our numerous iniquities. He has become our Savior, comforting us, encouraging us, building us up, so that we may become complete, mature in Him. He strengthens us in our times of weakness; he is our only hope of salvation and life. Rejoice as you draw the water of eternal life from Him and quench your thirst.

Isaiah 40:8, ‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever.” The word of God has life and imparts life to whomever hears it. It is eternal and it is the light of men. The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. To those who receive Him and believe in His name, He has given the right to be children of God, born of God. Believe and obey the word of God and you will receive life.