Matthew 11:28-30

THE LORD NEEDS ‘IT’ (YOU, ME)!

(June 12, 2024) Angeline Selvakumari encourages us to be available to the Lord, to ‘be donkeys’ for Him…

I can’t believe we are already completing the first half of 2024 so quickly. Time flies so fast. I think that is why the Bible teaches us to use our time wisely: ‘Making the very most of your time’ (Ephesians 5:16Amp). Message Bible emphasises ‘Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!’ 

Purpose
No one can know time better than Jesus. He knew when to keep His purpose for coming to the world a secret, and when to declare it openly.

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HAMAS ATTACKS ISRAEL; Triggers War: Christians Imperilled: Threats and a Smokescreen

(October 12, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, reports…

  • At 11:30pm on Friday  October 6, Gaza-based Islamic terror group Hamas started firing the first of 5000 rockets into Israel.
  • At 1:15am Saturday October 7, Hamas announced the start of a military operation dubbed ‘Al-Aqsa Flood.’ By 1:45am, Israel was returning fire; and at 3:34am Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was at war. As the sun rose on Israel, some 1000 Hamas terrorists invaded the ‘Gaza envelope’ (populated area within 7km of Gaza) by land, sea, and air.
  • By Monday the death toll had risen to over 1500 including some 900 Israelis, mostly civilians (including whole families, even infants) who were slaughtered in cold blood. A further 2500 Israelis had been wounded and around 150 abducted – including small children and an elderly holocaust survivor – taken as hostages and human shields into Gaza [see Live Updates, Al-Monitor].
  • On October 8, HizbAllah official Hashem Salhab delivered a speech in Lebanon where he claimed that ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ is just a manoeuvre in advance of a larger and multi-arena operation that will eliminate Israel [MEMRI, Oct 9]; indicating that what we have seen is just the beginning.

MEMRI’s August warning
MOSAD (Israel), MI6 (UK) and the CIA (USA) might have been taken by surprise, but MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) was not. Using nothing but open source material, MEMRI warmed back on August 31, ‘that a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023.’

Included in MEMRI’s list of indicators was the fact that: ‘In this context [of escalating provocations on every front] the heads of the resistance axis [specifically leaders from Iran, HezbAllah (Iran’s proxy in Lebanon), Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)] held a series of meetings in Lebanon.’ [NOTE: the Iran-led, Shi’ite dominated ‘Axis of Resistance’ is comprised of groups – Shia and Sunni – that are committed to ridding the Middle East of US bases and the state of Israel. The Axis of Resistance rejects alliances with the US and any peace/normalisation with Israel.]

This much is obvious: in Israel and in Gaza, Christians are going to die. However, the threat extends way beyond the obvious. All around the wider Middle East, the danger facing remnant Christians will escalate in direct proportion to the escalation in Islamic zeal all around them. As I wrote in After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, 2016): ‘There is a popular Arabic war cry which never fails to make the blood of Middle Eastern Christians run cold. Whether Muslims are spray-painting it on walls, whispering it in ears, or chanting it in the streets ‘Ba’d as-sabt biji yom al-ahad’ (After Saturday comes Sunday) is issued as a threat, meaning: As sure as Saturday (the day of Jewish worship) is followed by Sunday (the day of Christian worship), first we’ll kill the Jews, then we’ll kill the Christians.’

And as I demonstrate in the book, this is no idle threat. In a country like Iraq where Jews have already been eliminated, Hamas’ terrorism is being celebrated and vulnerable remnant Christians are gravely imperilled. Even further afield, it is routinely the case that vulnerable minority Christians in Northern Nigeria and Pakistan receive ‘blowback’ (unintended consequences) – mostly in the form of Islamic anti-Christian pogroms – when events in the West (includes Israel) inflame Islamic passions.

Smokescreen
Compounding the risk is the fact that a war in the Middle East involving Israel will devour the world’s attention, creating a smokescreen behind which other agendas can be advanced and atrocities committed. If the war continues and escalates, then Turkey and Azerbaijan might assess that now is the perfect time to advance their pan-Turkic agenda across the South Caucuses at the expense of even more Armenians.

The military junta in Burma/Myanmar might assess that now is the perfect time to eliminate resistance, once and for all. At 11:30pm on Monday October 9, the Burmese junta launched a military strike on a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Laiza – a city in predominantly Christian Kachin State, killing 29 IDP, including many women and children and wounding 56. (The junta has denied responsibility.)

Those intent on dispossessing, disinheriting and disenfranchising remnant Assyrian Christians in Northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains might assess that now is the time to enact the final solution [see RLPB 702, Christian Crisis in Azerbaijan and Iraq, July 19, 2023]. After all, the lesson of Nagorno Karabakh [RLPB 712 (Sep 27)] is this: when geostrategic power and influence and supply of gas and oil are involved, then some people are simply expendable. We must continue to watch and pray for all our imperilled brothers and sisters.

Prayer requested
Please pray that our merciful God will:
* Intervene to redeem all this horror and suffering for his good purposes; may peace be forthcoming and may many seek God and find the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:1-7). ‘Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand’ (Proverbs 19:21 ESV). ‘…for his steadfast love endures forever’ (from Psalm 136 ESV).
*Protect Christians in Israel, in Gaza, in Iraq and the wider Middle East, in Northern Nigeria and Pakistan and in every place where the possibility of violence against vulnerable Christian minorities is now elevated. Lord have mercy!
* Grant imperilled vulnerable Christians great wisdom and discernment as they navigate their changing and possibly increasingly hostile environment. Lord have mercy!
* Fan into flame that deep yet simple faith that moves believers to pray and ‘rest’ in the love, gentleness and faithfulness of God. (Matthew 11:28-30).
* A psalm to meditate on and pray through as we advocate in the Heavenly Court of The King of Kings for our vulnerable, imperilled brothers and sisters: Psalm 56.

‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’ (powerful and effective) James 5:16b.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com. Above updates excerpted from RLPB reports.

Elizabeth, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, Melbourne School of Theology, has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne) which offers a biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA).
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NOT BEING AFRAID

(June 22, 2022) Maureen McQuillan responds to a concerned, fearful mother…

Dear Pastor Maureen

I’m so pleased that my adult children are doing the Christian thing and using their career skills to help needy and troubled people, especially nonChristians, but I’m afraid that they may be getting into difficult and dangerous situations. Please help me find peace. Josie.

Hi Josie

Naturally, it’s great that your children are following in your footsteps – and the Lord’s – and reaching out to help troubled people. The reality is that we all have to make major decisions in life and no matter who we’re endeavouring to help (and lead to Christ) sometimes awkward or dangerous moments come up.

But we Christians are directed in scripture not to be worried or concerned about anything. Being concerned not worried, as any good mother should be, is all right but we are not to be afraid… otherwise we open a doorway for the devil, our enemy, to rush in through!

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HEART-ROCK LIFE IN A HARD-KNOCK WORLD

(June 10, 2022) Mama Lava again shares personally and deeply from her heart…

‘It’s the hard-knock life!’

I’m sure you’ve heard the sentiment, made famous by the popular Broadway musical Annie. It is relatable as it focuses on the difficulties of living…

  • Empty belly life
  • Rotten smelly life
  • Full of sorrow life
  • No tomorrow life (Excerpted from the lyrics of It’s the Hard-Knock Life by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin)

Hard knocks focus
I went to the store last night and found the price of eggs has tripled in the last couple of weeks. So much for inexpensive protein! Empty belly life? Not quite. But I briefly considered a chicken coop in my small space, which could make for a more rotten smelly life for sure!

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FIVE BURDENS YOU DON’T NEED TO CARRY

(May 15, 2022) Richard Winter reminds us that…

It’s often been said that it’s been a hard life and there have been many tough times. Well, l guess most of us can resonate with that… after all, who hasn’t lost a little sleep through worrying?

We’ve all carried burdens real and unreal… and, if we are honest, we have worried most about some things that never materialised. So here is the word of God that applies to our worries –

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:28–30).

A yoke is something Jesus would have made in a carpenter’s shop. It’s a wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen) at the neck, enabling them to pull a plough or wagon together. The function of the yoke is to make the burden easier to carry.

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ABIDING, RESTING AND TRUSTING IN JESUS

(September 9, 2021) Geri B encourages remaining in Jesus the vine…

Continuing along my earlier article on the theme of the grape vine (Abiding in the Vine)…

Jesus makes it clear that the Father wants his children to be fruitful and tells us that… ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful… Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing‘ (John 15:1-5).

Remaining… to bear much fruit

  • If we remain (abide) in him, we will do just that – bear fruit.
  • And if we bear fruit, the Father will prune us so that we will be even more fruitful.
  • But the warning comes to us twice in this short passage… remain in him, otherwise you cannot bear fruit, you can do nothing!

Not only is it the Father’s desire that we bear much fruit by abiding in him, but there is that oft-missed warning that unless we remain in him, we cannot bear fruit, nor can we do anything of true value!

With all the gifts we have been endowed with there can often be a tendency to take ownership and believe that we can use them whenever and however we so choose… but the truth of it is, we are simply stewards of the manifold gifts of God and to really see lasting fruit from what has been entrusted to us, we must take our direction from the Lord – we must abide in him.

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LEARN TO REST IN JESUS!

(June 4, 2021) Carol Round encourages us to draw closer to God…

Confession time!

I’m a recovering perfectionist addict. Rest doesn’t always come easy for me.
 
Recently in a national advice column, a woman wrote in about her ‘drive to be productive, to take action, to keep things organised, and stay perfectly on top of everything.’  In other words, she was battling perfectionism. Oh, how I could relate. At least to the ‘old’ me.
 
The writer, a young woman, recognised her problem. She was so overwhelmed by her drive to do everything perfectly, she had trouble sleeping. Her question for the advice columnist at the end of her letter read: ‘How do I learn to become okay with being still and to rest better?’
 
Learning to become okay
As I read the advice columnist’s reply to this young woman, it was as if she were speaking to the younger me. The younger me could have written this letter, seeking help for the desire to please others by striving for perfection. However, I hadn’t recognised at my younger age what the advice columnist explained to the letter writer.
 
Perfectionism is often inherited. I was in my late 40s when I realised my mother was a perfectionist. And so was I. But it wasn’t until I experienced new life through a relationship with Jesus that I was able to begin my journey of letting go.

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RECOVER YOUR LIFE WITH JESUS’ HELP

(February 04, 2021) Carol Round, having experienced an exhausting moving home time, encourages us to relax in Jesus…

Packing! Moving! Unpacking! I questioned, once again, ‘Why did I have so much stuff?’

It’s not the first time I’ve moved in almost 20 years, it’s the sixth! I know others who have moved more times than I have, and I don’t envy them. I’m still trying to recover from my latest move.

I’ll confess! If I’d had my way, I’d still be in the first place I moved to four years before retiring from my 30-year teaching career in 2001. My post-teaching career plans included freelance writing for area newspapers and continuing my 20-year photography business that exploded when I went digital.

But Jesus had a greater plan for me. That’s the reason behind my many moves. Although it took him nine months to convince me to move the first time, I’ve learned to say, ‘I want your will, not mine.’

Obedience means surrendering
Each time I’ve moved, it’s been in obedience to his calling on my life.

I don’t take it lightly. For someone like me, who was used to being in charge, and thought she was in control of her life, it meant surrendering. Even though I still struggle sometimes, I’ve learned his way is the only way to live freely and lightly. (more…)

MEANINGFUL KICK-STARTS

(September 17, 2020) Robert and Maureen McQuillan share…

Seems that every day TV newscasts share more bad news stories either about the current worldwide pandemic or crime, rebellion against authorities, government opposition groans instead of encouraging support… it’s rare to hear some good news, something to makes you laugh, even smile.

So let’s begin this article with a good news item!

Zimbabwean friend Raviro emailed a very touching story about a 93 year-old Italian being told the hospital bill for ventilator one-day usage was 5,000Euro (approx.. $8100AUD).

As he suddenly began weeping a doctor kindly advised him not to cry over the bill.

To his surprise the old man responded, ‘I don’t cry because I have to pay. I cry because I’ve been breathing God’s air every day for 93 years and never had to pay anything for it.’

He added, ‘But for using a ventilator in your hospital for just one day, I have to pay EU5000! I realise now how much I owe God… I never thanked him before for his free air!’

Now doesn’t that makes you smile – and think?

Powerful kick-start
Genesis 2:7 confirms that God himself gave his creation the ability to breathe and live life – ‘he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live’ (GNB). (more…)