Elaine Campbell

  'For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake' (Philippians 1:29). Those who believe on Christ, must also suffer for his sake. This is part of the Christian life, to live faithful in Christ. Paul makes it quite clear, that when we follow the will of God, we may have to suffer for Christ, even though we are faithfully living for God. The world hated Christ because of what he stood for, and will certainly hate all who follow and are obedient to Him. In following Christ and living a godly life in Him, will lead to persecution for His name sake. Christ's disciples suffered for him, as well as the Apostle Paul, who in Philippians 3:8 said he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus His Lord; for whom he had suffered the lost of all things, counting them but dung, that he may win Christ. Christ is worthy of whatever sufferings we might face on our Christian journey, and we ou

 'But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for, the just shall live by faith' ( Galatians 3:11). Paul in speaking to the Galatians, admonished them not to listen to heresies, that would jeopardise their relationship with Christ. The same message is relevant to us today as well. Paul here was saying, following the law cannot save us. It is our trust in God and having  faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, that can make us  right with God. That was evident, that the just shall live by faith, not by our own works. It was Christ who had redeemed us from the curse of the law by the shedding of his precious blood. We are save and made right by God's grace through faith in Christ Jesus. Abraham was justified, because He believed God  and was accounted righteous. We who are seeds of Abraham, will receive the blessings of Abraham by believing in Christ by faith and not works. The Promised blessings of Abraham by God, wasn't just for him alone, but all

 'Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified'  (Psalm 70 :4). There is something amazing and wonderful, in seeking the Lord. Therefore in seeking the Lord we are to rejoice and be glad in Him, because he is the Almighty God. Every day people are searching for meaning and the value of life, because they want the best of life. For some people searching is a daily occurrence. They search for various things, people  and places on social media and Google engine. For others, it is the most important search of their lives; searching for God. He is the most important person in life, and the only One who could offer us salvation and refuge from the things of this world. In Him we can experience the true meaning of life in earth. Without Christ being in our lives, we are nobody! When we find salvation in Christ, we should rejoice and be glad, because He has the power to save us. He came down from heaven

 'For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty and shalt lift up thy face to God' (Job 22:26). Even though Job was going through trying and difficult times, still overwhelmed by the events that took place; He had confidence in God's mercy. It didn't stop him from worshipping the true and living God. Let us who love the Lord, lift up - look up to Him with joy and confidence, even amidst our sufferings. God is wonderful and truly amazing! We can go to Him in our afflictions and confide in Him; when we are persecuted for His name's sake, we can flee to him. We can also seek Him in the day of prosperity, and delight in Him. We shall lift up our faces to God in uprightness, as Children of God. Job needed comfort and strength from his friends in his time of need. But none was forthcoming. All they did was accused him of things they didn't understand; coming to their own conclusion. They accused him of secretly doing wickedness, which result in his sufferings.

 'Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightness' (Psalm 143:10). Knowing Jesus is important in our Christian experience. In knowing Him we will be obedient to the Word of God. Like David, we need to plead our own wretchedness and be fully assured of God's goodness towards us. In David's distress he cried out to His God for help, we too need to cry out to Jesus in our distress and be confident that he will hear us. We need the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into God's truth, as we seek to listen carefully to what His will is for our lives. The Devil doesn't like us and will try to destroy our testimonies; hinder our praise; shipwreck our lives and drown us in rivers of sorrow and self-pity and self-doubt. But we ought to stand firm upon the Rock of Ages and confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour. Therefore, we must be obedient to the Word of God; and  have sufficient grace to weather the raging

 'The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him' (Lamentations 3:24). Everyday we are alive, there is hope. When we make the Lord our portion, then can we hope in Him. God's lovingkindness, His compassion and faithfulness, gives us hope inspite of all that's happening around us. We all need the Lord, because we are sinners in need of God's grace and mercy. Therefore, we must gratefully receive whatever God brings into our lives. Jeremiah the prophet witnessed and mourned for the downfall of the city of Jerusalem and for the sinfulness of God's people. As a result, he was in deep anguish and pain. From the depths of his soul, he was able to proclaim that, "The Lord is my portion...therefore, I have hope in Him." Despite the terrible circumstances through which we are going, we can choose to place our hope in, and trust in God. As we look around the world today, we see corruption; abominable actions; cruelty; wickedness; sufferings;

 'For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God' ( Romans 14:11). Christ the righteous Judge is coming back again, therefore, we have no need to judge our fellow Christians. All judgments are down to Christ, not us! In the end every knee shall bow before the Lord, and every tongue shall confess to God, to give  praises and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. When Christ return, every one at that judgment will recognised Him as the Sovereign Lord and King of kings. The songwriter put it beautifully, "The judgment has set the books have been open. How will I stand on that great day. Shall I stand with my sins wanting or with my sins all washed away." Each one of us has to give an account of our lives to Christ, when we shall stand before him. Paul cited from Isaiah 43:23, when he wrote "For it is written."Christ can be trusted, as we see the Lord has sworn by himself, that is, by His own life, that

 'I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly' (Psalm 85:8). When we converse with the Lord God, it should be a natural thing to want to hear him speak to us. Whatever the request or petition, we should be still and quiet for a moment, wait and listen carefully to what his answer will be. God promises to hear and answer but we must believe he will. A heart that is upright will want to hear the Lord, and receive his peace. The Lord will speak peace to his faithful people to whom the covenant is made; who He has set apart for himself and sanctified by His Spirit. We are warned not to turn again to folly. That is, we should not be ungrateful to the Lord our God, who has been merciful, pardon and speak peace to us. When our souls are troubled and perplexed, we need the Lord. It is  only He who can speak peace to our hearts. Therefore, we should  believe that God hears us when we speak to

 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way' (Psalm 44:18). God who has called us, knows what his children are able to endure. He promised never to give up more than we could possible bear. He understands the trials in our lives and expects and accepts our questioning, when we don't understand the pain  in our lives. But like the Psalmist, we can say, "Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps decline from thy way." In other words, we remain faithful to God regardless of the situation. The Bible shows that we can lament and ask question of God. It is a normal occurrence in the lives of God's people in the Bible. Sometimes in life, the burden of our faith becomes heavy, the road seems long and dreary, the light at the end of the tunnel is not visible. We need to demonstrate trust and patience in God, even in these difficult times in our lives. We must seek to lift up others, when their faith wavers, in these instances

 'And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him' (Luke 5:11). Simon Peter and the sons of Zebedee forsook all and followed Jesus. They gave up their profession as fishermen to be fishers of men. Christ called these men and they responded to the call and became his disciples. We see in the Gospel of Matthew and Mark where Jesus walked along the sea of Galilee and called Simon, Andrew, James and John. However, in the Gospel of Luke, it tells a story of a miraculous catch of fish preceding the call. Simon had a long and rough night where he didn't caught any fish, and was at the point of exhaustion, when Jesus after teaching the people, asked him to launch out into the deep and let his net down for a catch. He believed it was futile being an experience  fisherman, but did what Jesus asked, and what a miraculous catch! He had to call his partners to come with their boats to take some of the fish. The nets began to break and boats sinking unde

 'The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble' (Psalm 9:9). The Scripture tells us that the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in  times of trouble (Psalm 37:39). Therefore, the Lord will help and deliver them from the wicked and save them, because they trusted in Him (Psalm 37:40). There is a great war raging between Christ and Satan for our souls. Satan knows he has a short time and is working overtime to destroy God's people. But Christ has already won the victory, we just need to trust and obey Him, so we can be victorious.The success of evil is only temporary, but in the end the righteous will endure, because Christ is our righteous Judge and our Champion. The Lord our Saviour is our stronghold, and all who are oppressed will find a safe and secure haven in Him. There are many of God's people who are being oppressed - being abused by others who exercise control over them. God will defend them and be a

 'Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive' (Titus 3:14). As believers, we should learn to pursue good works, by meeting the needs of others. We should seek to be efficient in supporting others and prioritising issues that are sensitive and of urgent needs. Jesus taught us to love our neighbours as ourselves. A 'neighbour' is anyone who is in need (Matthew 22:40). We should not waste precious time bickering, but focus on good works and urgent needs to all who are in dire need. Let us search the Scriptures, which contain what is the good and perfect will of God, through His grace and having faith in Christ. We will learn to deny sin, to be sober, righteous and live godly lives. It is in Christ that we can experience good works, by demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit and accepting God's grace by faith in Christ. Let us not indulge ourselves in idle conversations, lest we become unfruitful or unproduct