If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
The person I would like to be for a day has passed away now, but if I could choose it would be Billy Graham at one of his crusades.
I would love to know what it felt like to look out over huge crowds and see people streaming to the front to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
In the image above from 1973, there was 1.1 million people present in Soul, South Korea. Imagine preaching to 1.1 million people and tens of thousands receiving Christ. It would be truly amazing.
Before I finish I want to end with one of his most famous quotes.
Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.
In Matthew 5:3-10 Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount with The Beatitudes or the be-attitudes as I have heard them called. It says…
3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. 6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. 7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. 9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
It is interesting to note that the Greek work used for “blesses” is Makareeos (Mak-ar-ee-os). This word can be translated as supremely blessed, fortunate, well off, or happy. This helps us to further understand what this passage means.
When I first read this passage years ago I thought it was talking about different groups of people. However, over time I have come to see that these are the attitudes we should all display as Christians.
In much the same way we should display the Fruits of the Spirit that Galatians 5:22-23 talks about, as Christians we should display these qualities that Jesus opened His most famous sermon with.
God wants us to realise our need for Him, He wants us to want to see justice done, He wants us to be merciful, He wants us to be pure of heart. He also promises to comfort us when we mourn and when we are persecuted for our faith.
Let’s all purpose today to really live with pure hearts, to be humble, to work for peace, to show justice and realise our complete and total dependence on God.
Several years ago I started to attend a local Catholic church during the week. On weekend I would go to my local Protestant church. One thing that really surprised me is how much of the Catholic Mass is taken from Scripture.
Straight away I was saying to myself this is from John, this is from James and that is from Jude. The prayers, the responses, the blessings were straight from Scripture. And even though I did not know when to stand, sit or kneel, I recognised the Bible.
To be honest this really surprised me about the Catholic Mass. Being Protestant I had no idea it was so Scriptural. In the video below you can see a description of the Mass and all the Bible references. It is really worth watching.
I just watched a really good video from Matt Fradd from the Pints with Aquinas YouTube channel. In it he talks about the beliefs of early Christians and how they saw the Eucharist or Communion.
In the video he quotes the early church fathers and other leaders down through the ages who all agreed that the elements truly become the body and blood of Christ once prayed over.
If you are interested in what the church has believed down through the ages I would encourage you to watch the 14 minute video. It is well researched and presented. You can find it here on his YouTube channel.
Fasting does not always need to be about eating less food, it can be about fasting in attitudes or fasting by not doing this we normally do.
Fast from hurting words and say kind words. Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude. Fast from anger and be filled with patience. Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope. Fast from worries and have trust in God. Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity. Fast from pressures and be prayerful. Fast from bitterness and fill your hearts with joy. Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others. Fast from grudges and be reconciled. Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.
I really like this list as it helps us to think about our attitudes we hold or the negative thought patterns we can fall in to.
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