What have I done for you?

Lord: Open your hearts to all that I am doing for you. Open your hearts to the beauty I surround you with. Open your hearts and lift your praises, for I am excited by all that I have made, and I want you to be as excited as I am.

Children, do not suppress the praise that wells up with in you as you recognise the work of My hands. Your praise is a natural expression of your delight, and I long to hear your voices join the praises of those who are already praising me in Heaven.

Every day I hear my people asking Me, what they have to praise me for? As if I have never given them anything of value! What do you have to praise Me for? Everything! Yes, everything! There is nothing that you see, hear, enjoy or experience, that does not come from Me. I am the Lord your Provider. Your life and existence is My precious gift to you. When I breathed life into you and made you in My image, I set you apart from, and above, all the animals and creatures of the Earth. I made you able to reason and experience, to observe and to learn. I made to to know and love me, as I love you. I made you to be company for me throughout all eternity.

Even when mankind fell from the special relationship I had with him from the beginning of creation, I have gone to amazing lengths to provide a way for you to return to me and through My beloved Son, Jesus, I have lifted you from the pit of total despair and sentence of eternal death, to the promise of abundant life with us. And man still asks, what have I done for you that I should praise you?

Every morning I cause the sun to rise and warm the Earth. I send the rain to water the ground. I swell the seed, and set the blossom. I provide food for you to eat and clothes for you to wear. I have given you family and friends. I reach out and touch you each day, with My love. Yet, still you ask Me, "What have you done for me, that I should praise you?"

When you turn away from Me and look only at the darkness that is you own shadow, you will sense the utter cold and loneliness of separation from Me. It was this darkness and separation that Jesus experienced, when He took your sin away and carried it to Hell. He did that in order that you might not have to experience that intense loneliness, that complete separation from Me, that death! Turn back to Me and live! Gaze into My brightness and come into My presence and know that you are loved by Me and need never be alone again. Let you heart fill with praise as you realise just how much I love you, what I have done for you, and how I sustain and uphold you every single moment of every single day. Open you heart and your mouth as you lift your voices in praise, and experience with the angels and all the Heavenly hosts, the nearer presence of My great home in Heaven. I love you. Oh, I love you.

Use the Senses I have given You

Me: Good morning Lord. Thank you for waking me this morning and for this beautiful day. Thank you for being able to see the sun rise over the horizon and for the beauty of that fantastic light show. I love you Lord.

Lord: Good morning son. Thank you for your company. I painted the sky specially for you this morning. No two sunrises are ever the same, and as with a rainbow, no two people see it in exactly the same way. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I did too.

As you took delight in the rising sun, so I want you to take delight in all I have made for you. Let the little things of every day bring a sparkle to your eyes, and look less at the big disappointments. Throughout history mankind has endeavoured to look beyond the limit of his eyesight. He seeks to gain knowledge by looking through the microscope and the telescope. In every discipline of study and learning he looks for what he cannot see! This approach certainly does stretch the mind, and increase understanding, but not in every field. In the area of literature, for example, looking too deeply at a text, as though it has a hidden code or meaning, is to ignore the original intention of the writer.

Looking for the unseen can become an obsession, and those who indulge in such a practice can lose touch with reality and not see the obvious. The same is true of speech and language. Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Listen to what is said, and dare to take it at face value. Read what is written, and take it that the author intended you to understand plainly what he/she has written.

Look at Creation through the eyes I have given you, and wonder at what you see. Listen to the sounds around you and learn to recognise them and understand what each one means. As you learn to interpret what you see, hear, smell and read, the world in which you live becomes an exciting place with plenty to learn and understand. As your understanding grows, you will learn to recognise the stamp I have placed on everything I have made. It is like a trade mark. When you have learned to recognise My mark, then you will realise the best one to ask about anything in Creation, is the maker: That's Me! Then I can direct your use of the microscope and telescope, and your investigation into patterns and form. As I direct you in these fields I will keep bringing you back to the world you live in and sense with all your senses. You cannot live in the world of microbes, or beyond the stars. I have made this Earth for your enjoyment and learning, and there is plenty to keep you occupied here.

In relationships with others, remember that every man, woman and child on this Earth today, is your brother and sister. Yes, you are directly related to everyone on Earth. That means you have a good reason to bless them in every way you can. Laugh with your brother, even if his skin is a different colour, mourn with him, and work together to make the world I have given you both to enjoy, a wonderful place to be in. Focus on what your eyes see, and look with the sight I have given you. Hear with the ears I have given you, think with the mind I have given you and be true to the sight, sound and thought I give you. Lay aside the wild, fanciful and evil imaginings of evil men, and trust me to show you all I have created for you to see and enjoy. Let me introduce you to brothers and sisters, you never knew you had. Be fulfilled in Me. I love you.

Build upon the Rock

Lord: Martin, what do you see?

Me: Lord, I see a number of, what appear to be, marble columns, each about two metres high, with stone statues of people on the tops. One of the statues is a man dressed like a Greek philosopher, another is a soldier, there is a man with a hard hat, a group of three making a family, a man with a briefcase, and one dressed like a scientist with a white coat and an instrument in his hand. They seem to represent all walks of man!

As I continue to look, cracks are appearing in the columns and they are beginning to crumble. The way they are disintegrating suggests they are not made of marble at all! As they crumble the statues are toppling off their perch, and falling to the ground. Some have broken and lie scattered amongst the remains of their columns, others have remained intact. Soon there is no sign of the marble at all; it has all crumbled into fine dust.

As I look, some of the statues have come to life, and are standing on their own. Some of them are even walking around. The wind is blowing, and the fine dust is being blown away. The broken statues are sinking into the sandy ground are are now nearly buried, but those who are walking around are moving towards the high ground, away from the sand, and towards the rock. What does it mean Lord?

Lord: What you see is society today. You live in a society where things are not what they seem. It's a world of false values and fraud. Rock-solid investments and business propositions crumble into dust, because the foundations and the material of which they are built, is like sand. The majority of people in this society had trusted in these structures as though they were made of solid rock. They have looked upon their pillars as beautiful, but it doesn't take an earthquake or a flood to destroy false assumptions; it only take the light breeze produced by truth to shatter the illusion.

The level of trust placed in falsehood is very great, so when the inevitable crash comes, many who fall with it will be broken, not to rise again. Others will weather the crash and will rise again, wiser than before.

The high ground, is the rock that I am. All things made by man are like sand castles. Only the rock that I made is firm and lasting. Those who take refuge in the rock, and build their lives on that rock, build to last.

I am calling the nations now, before it is too late, to return to Me, and to build their society upon My rock. Move away from the shifting sand of human greed, the corrupt columns of evil and deceit, that can only bring heart ache and human misery. Build upon truth and honesty, upon the standards and statutes I have made, for your good.

I am the Lord your God. Trust not in the gods of your own making. Trust only in the Rock that I am. Jesus, My beloved Son has opened a way for you to move away from the shifting sands of sin, and on to the rock which stands firm forever. Turn to Me, and I will heal your land. I love you

I am Working

Lord: Do not, as many do, fall into the trap of thinking that, because you cannot see what I am doing, I am not at work! If the sun rises each morning, and sets each evening, these are the signs that I am still in control of My creation. Moment by moment, since the dawn of time, when I formed the earth and placed the sun, the moon, and the stars in heaven, My Spirit has moved upon the whole of creation and given it life. Without the movement of the Spirit all things would pass away, like the shadows of the night when the dawn comes. I sustain all things, and provide for all my children. Even though man often believes he has provided for his own and his family's needs by the work of his own hands, it is I the Lord your God, who provides for you! I do this because I love you. You are My children whom I formed from the very dust of the earth. I breathed life into you at the beginning, and I keep that breath of life flowing, from day to day, and year to year. Without My love you cease to be.

Recognise Me in all I provide for you, every day. As you acknowledge and thank Me for all I give out of My abundance, so that provision grows and fills you with the nourishment you need. If you continue to ignore me, and not acknowledge My provision for you, then that provision will become like the dust of the Earth to you, and you will be dissatisfied, and will begin to wither, like a plant that has no water. This slow death is not a punishment, but a direct result (cause and effect) of turning your back on the bounty I have provided. Like a branch cut off from the vine, you wither and die. My heart-felt desire is for you all to turn to Me, and accept the love and bounty I am providing for you and pouring out upon you. It is in My heart that you will flourish and blossom, becoming the fulfilled people I made you to be.

You do not walk alone, for I am with you. No step you take along the pathway I have set out for you, goes unrecorded. Those who you meet along the way and those who walk with you, are there because I have caused it, both for your comfort, and for theirs. Bless those who walk with you and allow them to bless you, for as you bless others, so I will bless you.

Many who walk with you will not know me. Let the light I have given you shine upon them, and share with them your witness of all that I have done for you. Remember always, conversion is My work, witness (telling your story), is yours. I am with you and I love you.

Ask Me

Lord: As your Father, I give you life. As Creator, I give all things life. As God, I sustain all that I have made.

My Holy Spirit is the 'doing bit' in creation, moving so fast that he ignites movement in all the static molecules and elements of the universe. When man tries to ignore Me, and then answer some of the questions he has about the universe himself, he gets totally lost. He forgets the immense energy needed needed to start a neutron moving at speeds so great, that it will pass through solid lead several feet thick, as though the lead wasn't there! So he has to create a theory which doesn't even begin to address the problems it creates.

Actually, I have created particles that are so small, they can pass from one side of the created universe, to the other without even slowing down. They travel so fast, that  even microscopic man cannot detect them and if he could, would not be able to determine where they were! Their life span is in minute fractions of a nano-second. For man to produce enough thrust for a man-made object, to just reach enough speed to escape from the Earth, it requires him to burn created fossil fuel, that I laid down during the world-wide flood. To get them to reach even a fraction of the speed of light, would require the Earth's entire stock of that fuel! Yet these particles are created by Me, outside of the created universe. They have no engine to drive them, and no explosion to set them on their way! My Holy Spirit is the speed behind them, and he can launch them, and catch them with ease.

My Son Jesus, is Me. Yes, just as I am one with the Holy Spirit, I am one with Jesus. In order to deal with sin and death, I had to pay the price of sin, not My own sin, for I don't have any! I paid for your sin, by becoming a man. That man I became is Jesus. He is Me, made in a form that man can see and interact with. That is how I, Jesus, was able to deal with the problem of sin, disobedience and death.

Because I reveal myself to you in human form, does not separate Jesus from Me, any more that I am separated from My own Spirit. The separation is purely a human concept, brought about by a limited understanding of everything. If man really wants to understand anything about the universe, his origins, or the so called laws of nature, he would do well to come to Me and ask.

An arrogant man cannot be taught, but the humble learn fast. The unbelieving man sets himself at a disadvantage, for his closed mind refuses to ask, and therefore does not understand what he sees. A man who asks Me, (believes in Me), has the advantage of an open mind, and is quick to learn, because he has asked Me.

Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. I love you, and I want to teach you.

Spreading the True Gospel - Part 4

Lord: Over the centuries, My chosen people had struggled with their understanding of me. For those who followed Me, and tried to live the way, I wanted them to live, the struggle was creating and maintaining laws, which prevented them from falling into the ways of their ancestors, who had roused My wrath. So intense was the struggle to maintain a status quo, from one generation to another, the origins of sin and the significance of man's fall, became lost in the mists of time. Oh yes, they had the accounts written down in the book of Genesis, and they read it and expounded it regularly. But the understanding that I was doing something about it, and was building a bridge across the great divide between Heaven and Earth, was lost to them.

Jesus, was well aware of the fall of Man, and of Noah and the Flood, and of all the events which led to the rise and fall, so many times, of the children of Israel. He not only knew about these events, but understood My part in these things, and My purpose behind them, Jesus did not believe these accounts with a blind faith. He believed them and accepted them as truth on two levels. First of all, He believed them because He received these accounts that were passed down as a part of his people's history. The events were told to each generation, without embellishment or alteration, and each generation made sure they passed it on accurately. Secondly, he believed it all because He was an eye-witness. Yes, Jesus was with me when I created all things! He was a first-hand witness to the events that led Israel to rise and fall. He testifies to this himself when he said, "Before Abraham was, I am." He was already there before Abraham; indeed he was there before Adam. He and I are one.

Every day, My heart broke, because of the sins of My children. His heart broke also. We both knew, from the very beginning, the risk of giving man free-will. We also knew the full cost of putting the situation right. But in order to achieve My purpose, which was to have man love me freely, and of his own free-will, without coercion, and without the fear of the law, someone, who does not suffer from the same condemnation as man, but who is human, must pay the price of sin.

No man born under the curse of Adam, could die for another man's sins. As man can only die once, and he was under the same condemnation; his death would only satisfy his own sin! It had to be a man who was not under that condemnation. In effect, I had to do it Myself! Jesus and I are one. I had to come and be born into a man. This is why Jesus didn't have a human father. Mary his mother was overshadowed by My Spirit, and conceived Jesus, the only man to be totally free from the sin of Adam, yet descended from him through Mary. In dying on the cross, not for his own sin, but for your sin, Jesus took away the curse, and opened a way for man to return to Me.

Now, I spoke about risk for us. The risk was not the pain of death. Nor was it the pain of being separated from Me, as He carried your sin away. It was the risk that, even after such an act of love, man would not accept it, and continue in his rebellion and sin. Remember that gift I gave man, when I breathed into him the breath of life? Free-will! I have not withdrawn that gift. Mankind still has the choice to turn to me, repent of his sin and follow in the way I lead him, or to reject me and continue on his on own way.  Of course, he has always had that choice, but the big difference now, is that Jesus has paid the price for his sin and in so doing, has opened the bridge between Heaven and Earth. That bridge is the Cross on which He died. That Cross has meaning, that is firmly planted in the soil of Eden. It was a pointless gesture, if man had not sinned. If Eden is a Myth, then so is sin, and the Cross has no foundation. My church must accept that My word, the Bible is true, and return to teaching it, and proclaiming the whole gospel. The gospel of Jesus, as the Saviour of Man from Sin, is the best news any man, woman or child, can hear. Every man woman and child, whatever their background and former beliefs, has the free-will to receive Jesus, and all the benefits of the Cross. Once received, no-one has the right to take it away. In these days, men and women everywhere, in every nation under heaven, not only need to hear the good news, but want to receive some good news, in this world of collapsing economies, falling standards, hatred and violence.

Why is the gospel good news? because it brings love, into a loveless world, and love changes lives. I am Love, and from the moment I created man, I loved him. I still love him in spite of all the sin and evil he has been involved with. I hate the sin, but I love the sinner.

    Tell My people I love them.
    Tell My people I care.
    When they feel far away from Me,
    Tell My people, I am there.

Spreading the True Gospel - Part 3

Lord: Now that the necessity for some sort of action, has been established, let's explore what happened.

Since the foundation of the earth and the heavens, man has been My central purpose. The climax of creation week was the creation of man. All that I had made was both perfect and very wonderful. But in all the things I created, I found nothing to satisfy My need to love. I loved everything I made, from the smallest particle, to the greatest star systems, from the smallest living organism, to the greatest of the creatures that have ever roamed on land, or lived in the deepest depths of the sea. I know them all by name, and I command their coming and their going. Something was still lacking, so I made a man in my own image. I placed within the man, whom I formed out of clay, the breath of life. I made him a being, capable of thinking, feeling and loving. With him, I began to share the delights of the creation I had made for him. But he rebelled against me, choosing to walk his own way, and in so doing, upset the very delicate, and finely tuned balance of creation. Something had to be done to restore the balance. Without some action, mankind would destroy himself, and all creation with him.

The man himself knew what he had done, and over the centuries, vent his anger at himself, for losing paradise, by trying everything he could think of to fill the gaping hole inside him, which was once occupied by his close relationship with Me. He tried accumulating wealth, exercising power over other people. He raped, murdered, terrorised. He tried being alone, he tried large cities, he explored the Earth, and he tried to build towers to reach into heaven. When all this didn't satisfy the aching in his soul, he sought to find truth and fulfilment in thinking, fantasy, mysticism, magic and religion. He became adapt at creating gods, to rule his life, for he realised, that without Me, he had no direction, no purpose and no satisfaction. Generations tried to find a way back to Eden, and to Me. However man could not pass the Angel, who guarded the way with his flaming sword. This may all sound like a myth, but the reality of it is more stark, than you have even begun to imagine.

When man rebelled against me, and was expelled from the Garden of Eden, a great gulf was fixed between Heaven and Earth. Its purpose was to contain sin, and confine it to the Earth, preventing it from entering into Heaven. It was also for man's good. In his fallen, sinful state, to enter the perfection and brilliance of My presence, would burn man to a cinder. That is why I could not even allow my friend Moses to see My face. For no man, can look on the face of God, and live.

As man himself is not able to put the situation right, and, as the offence was against Me, and not man, any action to redeem this situation, was down to Me. I could have walked away from man, and creation, which would have caused all things to cease to exist, or I could act and put things right. There was only one reason why I chose to make a way for man to be redeemed. That reason, was the same one that caused me to create all things: Love. Yes, even in his fallen state, I loved the man that I had made. I hate the sin, and the disobedience, I hate evil in any form, but when I made the man, he was perfect. I loved him then, and I still do. It is this force of love, the most powerful force in all of creation, that I use, to bring man back to Paradise.

A life of sin and evil causes man to become isolated and lonely. He soon becomes rejected, even by others who live in that same state of sin. Any love between sinners, can very easily become lust and craving. A form of selfishness that thinks only of personal satisfaction. The deeper man falls into this pit of sin and evil, the less love features in his existence, and the more he craves for love. The only way to reach into the depths of this prison man is in, is to reach out with love. It has to be a love that can forgive, and go beyond his present state. No other man can love him, as much as he needs loving. Because the sin is not primarily against man, no man can truly forgive him.

Therefore I had to act! I am the one, who has been sinned against, so only I can truly forgive sin. However, there is still one small problem. The direct result of sin is death. Mankind started walking down the pathway to death as soon as he cut himself off from Me. In the same way that cutting a rose bloom from its bush means that you have cut it off from its source of life, and it will surely die, so by cutting himself off from Me, man secured his own death. The result or wages, of sin is death. It is a fact of life, it is inevitable!

Just as with the rose, there is an answer, but it does require outside action. Many fruit bearing trees and plants, like roses, can with the help of a gardener, be grafted back into good rootstock. Man had cut himself off from his source of life (rootstock). There is no way for him to graft himself back in. But it is possible for Me to provide a way. That is exactly what I have done through Jesus! The Bible clearly traces My actions, as I prepared a people to receive the answer to man's sins.

By letting go of the Bible, by not teaching it and believing it, the church undermines  the gospel it is trying to promote. The New Testament, the story of Jesus, cannot be taught on its own, for its foundations are very firmly in the old Testament. Remove or undermine the Old, and the New topples over.

Tomorrow we look at what Jesus did, and how it made a difference.