Christianityworks Official Podcast

Berni Dymet
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  • CHRISTIANITY

There is such incredible power in God's Word! Power to change. Power to make an impact in this world. That's what Christianityworks is all about – in depth teaching straight out of God's Word. Join Berni Dymet as he opens God's Word to discover what God has to say into your life, today.

  1. 1D AGO

    It Starts in a Storm // On Solid Ground, Part 1

    When the storms in life strike, as they inevitably do, it feels as though we're caught in a small boat out on a stormy ocean. At that point, what we really need is some solid ground beneath our feet. And fortunately, God knows that only too well.   Dealt a Cruel Blow You know you can always tell when we are starting a new series – I am excited. I love to get onto a new series in God's Word and that's what we are doing today. We are starting a series called "On Solid Ground" to listen to what God has to say into one of the central dilemmas of our lives and that dilemma is this: dealing with the storms of life. I remember when I was a young boy – I was about four or five years old. My mother and my sister and I sailed in a ship from Australia to Europe. Now that was a four week sail through the Suez Canal and back again. It's a long way and I remember, even to this day, there were some huge storms along the way. I remember they had ropes in the corridors on the ship to hang onto. I have never forgotten those storms and remember, this was a large cruise ship and yet it seemed to get tossed around in those storms. I was sea sick; I was very afraid as a young kid, even though I was on this big cruise liner. I remember going out onto the deck and seeing the huge waves and the winds and the ship was pitching around in this fearsome ocean and for me, there is nothing as frightening as an angry sea and a violent storm – the ground as it were, moving under your feet. For some people life seems to be a constant storm. The ground under their feet is never solid – there is always some fear and some uncertainty and they can never quite figure out why. What is going on – why is my life always like this? Now many of these people believe in God and yet life seems to be one endless storm. What we really want to have is solid ground under our feet. When you are in a storm the question is – how? That's what we are going to be exploring in this series called "On Solid Ground" starting right here and right now. Now if you have a Bible, I'd like you to grab it because we are going to be spending most of our time in the first eight chapters in a Book called First Samuel, in the Old Testament. We are going to discover the truth that we kind of know or we should know and yet it gets lost in the world that we live in. See this is a 'me' centred world where so often we find ourselves going to God asking Him for things for me, for me, for me and little by little, instead of God being God we expect Him to start being like a performing dog – to do tricks on our command. It may seem harsh but you get God the wrong way around and it spells dog. Am I expecting God to start dancing to my tune or am I dancing to His? It's a good question. That's what we are going to be exploring in this story and it begins in the storm. It's a story about a woman called Hannah and it turns out that she is going through some incredibly tough times in her life but she has the Creator/creature relationship the right was up. Open you Bible – let's go to First Samuel – it's the ninth book of the Old Testament. It's kind of just over a third; between a third and a half way in. We are going to start at the first verse of the first chapter of First Samuel. There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah, son of Jeroham the son of Elihu the son of Tohu the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah, the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh where Hophni and Phinehas the two sons of Eli, were the priests of the Lord. Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters but to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her and the Lord had closed her womb. And because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year – whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord her rival provoked her until she wept and wouldn't eat. Elkanah, her husband would say "Hannah why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you down hearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" Pretty tough! Anybody who has ever gone childless or had someone in their family who has gone childless will know the incredible pain of a couple who would like to have a child and yet they can't conceive. Can you imagine this going on year after year after year and in between these annual trips, as well? And of course, there were two wives – now the Bible doesn't talk about the fact that there were two wives – obviously the author doesn't feel a need to comment – praise God that has gone away. But never the less, poor old Hannah had a pretty tough time – a real storm, year after year, the pain of being childless and she had lots of choices in that space. She could have been angry; she could have lashed out; she could have withdrawn. And her husband is pretty useless; typical male – "What's the matter, why are you crying? You've got me!" So what does Hannah do? Let's look at First Samuel chapter 1, beginning at verse 9: Once they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the door post of the Lord's temple. In the bitterness of her soul, Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord and she made a vow saying "O Lord Almighty, if You will only look upon Your servants misery and remember me and don't forget Your servant but give her a son then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life and no razor will ever be used on his head." As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." "Not so my lord" Hannah replied, "I'm a woman whose deeply troubled. I haven't been drinking wine or beer. I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Don't take your servant for a weak woman – I have been praying here about the great anguish and grief that I have." And Eli answered "Go in peace. May God of Israel grant you what you have asked Him." She said, "May your servant find favour in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something and her face was no longer downcast. Turns out she does have a son, calls him Samuel, gives him over to God as soon as he is weaned and he comes and serves as a priest in this temple under Eli, whom we discover later is one bad dude. He is the priest; he is supposed to be the go between, between God and His people and yet he and his sons have no respect for God. We will look at them later and also we will see Samuel's fate. At the start of the programme I talked about this "me, me, me" thing – always asking God for stuff; kind of turning things the wrong way round, instead of us being made in God's image, we try to remake Him in ours. And yet here is this story – this story that begins in a storm – this story that begins with Hannah in a storm and she is asking God for something. Did you notice she doesn't lash out or whine or complain? She humbles herself before God and asks her sovereign God; pours her heart out to Him. Eli, this scoundrel, with as much spiritual insight as my pet cat, thinks she is drunk and feeds her with platitudes – "May the Lord give you what you ask for." Yet here is a simple woman at the bottom of the heap, pouring her heart out to her God. And notice what it says after she does that, in verse 18 of chapter 1: "Then she went her way and ate something and her face was no longer downcast." See Hannah's feet were on solid ground – even before her prayer is answered – a seemingly impossible prayer. You know what that tells me? She trusted her God – no matter what His answer would be – she trusted Him; she let it go; she stopped worrying and God answered her prayer. I'm not saying "Let's all be like Hannah" – we are clearly not, our storms are different to hers but what we discover in this story is that when we put God in His rightful place – God – He honours that. We are going to have a look at her understanding of her God again next.   Chalk and Cheese What comes next in this story is Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving. She is in this storm; she asks God for the impossible; she has got the taunts of the other wife and she comes to God in a prayer of humility; pouring out her soul and God answers her with a son and she gives that son back to God for the rest of his life. Now listen to what she prays and how she rejoices. We are now at chapter 2 of First Samuel, beginning at verse 1: Then Hannah prayed and said 'My heart rejoices in the Lord, in the Lord my horn is lifted high, my mouth boasts over my enemies for I delight in Your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides You. There is no rock like our God. Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance for the Lord is a God who knows and by Him deeds are weighed. The bows of warriors are broken but those who stumble are armed with strength.' And this prayer goes on and on ... read it for yourself in First Samuel chapter 2. And you know what it's all about? The power and the sovereignty of God! It's about a Hannah who went to God with this in her heart – God is above all things. Not this attitude of "Let's reform God in my image. Let's turn Him into a performing poodle." You know how I know that? Because when she poured out her heart to God she offered her son back to Him and she honoured that promise when God delivered her son. There is a challenge there for each one of us about how we go to God – how we see Him – as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords or som

    24 min

  2. MAY 10

    The Top 3 Obstacles to Destiny // Discover Your Destiny, Part 4

    We each have a God–given destiny. A plan that God has for our lives, which fits perfectly with who He made us to be. The problem is that many people aren't living out that destiny – because there are some obstacles in their way. So let's find out what they are, and how to get around them – so that you can live out your destiny.   Putting First Things First Most people these days live hectic lives, just scraping through each day. Personally, my list of things to do is as long as my arm and then some. There are some personal things I have to do; things to do with writing and recording and producing this radio-programme; there's an organisation to run; people to meet with; this project; that project; a new idea over here, another one over there; hundreds of e-mails each day ... Welcome to my world. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining and none of those things are terribly bad at all, but the point is that with so many more things to do than I can possibly fit into my day, or my week or even my year, my process for deciding what I do is absolutely critical. Chances are, the same is true for you. One of the big mistakes I used to make is that I'd sit down in the morning, which (given that I'm a morning person) is my most lucid and productive time, and just start answering e-mails. After a while, I realised I wasn't getting anything else done because by putting my E-mails first, I was putting other people's priorities first. I was in fact dancing to their tune instead of sorting out for myself what the most important things were on my agenda, and doing those things first. There's a well-known principle or framework that you read in a lot of management books, that sets out the difference between what's urgent and what's important, and what you discover is that almost nothing that's urgent is important, and almost nothing that's important is urgent. And yet most of us react to urgent things, or at least the things that other people say are urgent, and so we spend most of our time doing urgent things, instead of the important things – day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. And before you know it, your life is kind of slipping away, doing a whole bunch of things, which, in the scheme of things, sure, they make you busy, but how important are they? Do you see my point here? How are you spending your life, and are the things you're spending your time on important and worthwhile? I guess I'm asking those questions for you to ask them of yourself, and answer them. Come on! Be brutally honest. For instance, making sure I have some time with my beautiful wife Jacqui is important. Making sure I encourage her and give her a hug and a kiss, and spend some unhurried time with her in the morning over breakfast is really important, but it's not urgent. It's not as urgent say as the e-mail that comes in from a radio-station somewhere around the world that says they weren't able to download tonight's radio-programme from our FTP server. And yet what I used to do (because remember, mornings are my most productive time) is get up early and spend no time at all with Jacqui over breakfast, and just work furiously through that time, and by the time she comes home from work and I come home from work, we're both tired and there you go. We haven't spent any time together. Do you see how easily this stuff happens in people's lives? The urgent trumps the important in so many people's lives, and before you know it, your life is falling apart. Things are in a mess. Marriages are falling apart, all because we allow the urgent to crowd out the important. It's scary, isn't it? So what about you? What about your life? Are you letting the myriad of urgent things crowd out the important things like spending time with people, managing your finances properly, nurturing your children, developing relationships with your co-workers? See, all those things are incredibly important, and in many-a person's life, they're being cast aside simply because we're too busy doing the urgent stuff. 'I don't have time to exercise!' Well, if you don't make time for exercise (which is important), let me tell you you'll certainly be making time for sickness (which will be urgent), and actually, that's how it works. Doing the important things generally over time reduces the number of urgent things that you need to do because if the important things go undone, that leads to crises and those crises increase the number of urgent things requiring an immediate response. I don't know what your destiny is, but this is what I do know: It doesn't lie in a myriad of things that other people tell you are urgent; it lies in the things that, in your heart of hearts, you know are important. If you or I went to God, this God who handcrafted us, who designed us in His heart – blueprinted our DNA, if we went to Him and said: 'Lord, what's the most important thing that I have to do with my life', what do you think He'd answer? What would He put at the very top of our to-do list? Well, actually, we already know. A clever young lawyer once asked Him a very similar question. The lawyer sort of said (and this is my paraphrase): Well, Jesus, you and I both know that in the Law of Moses handed down over all those years, there are 613 commandments and prohibitions. That's kind of a lot. I mean that's a lot day-to-day to remember to do, so how would you sum up the Law? I mean, if I'm trying to prioritise these things in my life, which one of all those commandments is the most important one? You can read the exact words in Matthew 22 and Mark 12, and if I had to paraphrase Jesus' reply in kind of here-and-now speak, it'd run something like this: Look, I know you have a lot of things to do. There are lots of rules: Do this, do that ... They're all good things, but you can sum up the whole Law in just two commandments – to love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. That's the most important one, and the second one is just like it: Love the people around you as much as you love yourself. That's the whole Law in a nutshell. Do you know something? The most important thing that I do almost every day, the thing that I do before anything else, is that I spend an hour or so alone with Jesus praying; reading the Bible; asking Him questions, and that's what sets the course for my whole day – day after day, month after month, year after year. Actually, it sets the course for my whole life. It is quite simply the single-most important thing that I do, and it's through that time with Him that I've discovered my destiny.   A Lifelong Journey If I were to ask you, "What's your destiny? What were you put on this earth to achieve – to do? What impact are you meant to have on this planet of over seven billion people? What's the point of your life, and is it heading in the right direction", I wonder how you'd answer those questions. I ask those questions of people rather a lot, and I can tell you the number of people who have a clear sense of destiny and purpose and direction – well you know, it's less than five per cent – maybe one in twenty; maybe. Now I'm not saying that we should each have our lives completely mapped out because things happen along the way. There are twists and turns in life that are totally unexpected. Little things can change the whole course of a life. We can't map out our whole lives in the minutest detail and say. "Yep. That's what I'm going to do, that's where it's going", and yet deep-down, we need to have some sense of a destiny. Another way of putting it would be to have a sense of direction for our lives. Where's your life headed? And that destiny is invariably tied up with two things: Our dreams, and our skills and abilities. If you're one of the majority – one of those people who hasn't quite yet cottoned on to the direction for your life, where it's meant to be headed – then this is for you. Can you remember the dreams that you had for your life when you were young? Can you? There were some back there that were never going to fly. I mean, if you're short and slightly dumpy, and you were dreaming of becoming a famous basketball-player, well, that was obviously never going to happen. But so often, there's a dream in people's hearts that's been there for a very long time. Here's a conversation that I've had so many times with people about this whole question of destiny. We get to talking about the direction in which their life is heading, and the person says to me something like: 'But you know, I'm sure there's meant to be something else, something more, something that I don't know, something I'm meant to be doing, but I don't know what it is'. Does that sound vaguely familiar? So I ask them then, "If you had no constraints, if money wasn't an issue, if you could be anything or do anything that you wanted, what would that be?' And the answer invariably comes back along these lines: 'Oh, well! Anything I want? Well you know, I've always dreamed of" ... and then, they tell me the answer. They tell me about their destiny. It's already there; it's already been woven somehow by God into their DNA. Now of course, there's a risk that this is a short dumpy basketball-player kind of dream, and so then I follow up with my second question: 'What are the things you're really good at?' Most people can tell you that, and what I've found is that there is almost always, in 90% of cases, a wonderful fit between their dream and their natural skills and gifting. You know something? We've just discovered their destiny. We've just discovered what they're meant to be doing with their lives, and the tragedy (I mean, the absolute tragedy) is that deep down they probably already knew that. So what's held them back? The constraints we put on our lives. Remember my first question? 'If you had no constraints, if money wasn't an issue, if you could be anything or do anythi

    24 min

  3. MAY 3

    Getting the Most Out of Life // Discover Your Destiny, Part 3

    We all have some sense that there is some destiny to fulfil with our lives and yet so many people struggle to lay hold of that, to really start living the life that they know would be fulfilling their destiny. That's what I think it means to actually live our lives to the full. That's what I think it means to get the most out of life.   Living Life to the Full (1) So can I ask you something? Are you really living the life to the full? I mean really. The worst possible outcome to my life and I think to yours too, is to get to the end of it one day and to look back and think to ourselves 'I think I missed out, I don't think I lived the life I was meant to live, I don't' think I've fulfilled my destiny. If only I could go back and live it again and do it properly this time.' Don't you agree? Wouldn't that be just the most tragic outcome to our lives here on earth? It seems to me that we can be alive and kicking but not really living life. We can be alive but for all and intense and purposes be dead. So I guess when I talk about discovering your destiny is what I'm really talking about is being who you were always meant to be and living the life you were always meant to live. Getting the most out of life, is that something you want? I certainly do, and I hope you do as well. And so today we're going to take a look at a man who in a very real sense managed to get a second chance and whatever you may think of his story, his name is Lazarus, the question is, what does it say about your life here and now and the possibility of a second chance? It's a powerful story the story of Lazarus. It's about a real man who died and whom Jesus we're told brought back to life again. Now there are two parts to the story, we'll look at the first half right now and the second part after a short break on the program so let's have a bit of a read. Johns Gospel chapter 11 is where you'll find the story of Lazarus. Now a man named Lazarus was sick, he was from Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Now this Mary who's brother Lazarus now lay sick was the same one who had previously poured perfume on Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sister's sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love Lazarus is sick'. When he heard this Jesus said, 'The sickness won't end in death. No, it's for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified though it. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was for two more days and then he said to his disciples, 'Well ok, lets get up and go to Judea'. 'But Jesus,' they said, 'a short while ago Jews there tried to stone you and here you're going back?' And Jesus answered them, Isn't there 12 hours of daylight in a day? A man who walks by day won't stumble for he sees the worlds light, its when he walks by night that he stumbles for he has no light.' After he said these things he went on to tell them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I'm going there to wake him up again'. And his disciples replied, 'But if he sleeps he'll get better.' But Jesus had been speaking of his death and the disciples thought that he was just asleep. So then he told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I'm glad I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let us go to him right now'." The last couple of programs we've dealt with an issue, well, so many of us don't really want to deal with head on – sin. I mean in our world sin is something of a four-letter word. The stuff in our lives we know is wrong that robs us of life itself, when I look back on my life as a wealth apparently successful businessman on the outside people envied me. I seemed to have it all together and I seemed to have it all, but on the inside I was dying. I was dead and empty and hollow just like a shell, truly. I describe myself as a dead man walking. And so many people are living their lives that way today, truly they are! Are the things you're doing wrong robbing you of the life you were meant to be having? Are you a bit like this Lazarus alive sort of but not really? Sure physically alive but spiritually through the things you are doing with your life not really having a life at all? You know something, it doesn't matter how much we deny it and try and put a respectable face to it, or sell it as a feature of our freedom to do whatever we want, sin does that to all of us. It makes us dead on the inside. At this point someone might be saying, "Come on Bernie, what an old fashioned point of view." If you're in that camp I encourage you to do something, take a look, a good hard look at the way you are living your life and ask yourself am I really being the me I was meant to be? Am I really living the life I was meant to live? Do I have this sense that I'm fulfilling my destiny? See to me, it's a tragedy when people can't answer those questions with a clear assurance that yes they are being the person they were meant to be. Yes they do have a deep sense that they're fulfilling their destiny that God has for them because that's what God wants for your life, he wants a new life. Let's look at new life; let's look at how things unfold in this story of Lazarus. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him and Mary stayed at home. "Lord, Martha said to him, if you'd been here, if you'd only been hear earlier Lazarus wouldn't' have died!' and Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' But Martha answer, 'I know he'll rise again in the resurrection on that last day.' Jesus said to her 'I am the resurrection and the life, who ever believes in me will live even though he dies and who ever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' And she said, 'Yes lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who has come into this world.' And after she said this she went back and called her sister Mary, 'The teacher Jesus is here.' she said, 'he's asking for you.' when Mary heard this she quickly got up and went out to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered their village but was still in the place where Martha had met him, when the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her noticed how quickly she got up and went out they followed her thinking that she was going to the tomb to mourn there for Lazarus. When Mary reached Jesus and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, 'Lord if only you had been here my brother wouldn't' have died.' And when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit was troubled. 'Where have you laid him?' 'Come and see Lord.' And Jesus wept. And the Jews said, 'See Jesus loved Lazarus!" But some of them said, 'Couldn't he who opened the eyes of the blind come and kept this man from dying?' See here's the thing, nobody was expecting Jesus to come along and raise Lazarus from the dead. And when we look at our lives and when we see our dead things can be on the inside and we look at God and say, 'God, why didn't you show up earlier?' And we can't imagine how God could possibly breath life into our situation, we can believe he could have done something back then like the people with Lazarus, he could have stopped him from dying. We can believe that one day we will rise again and have eternal life, but it can be so hard so hard to believe that Jesus could come and breath a new life today, here and now. Let me ask you, what do you believe?   Living life to the full (2) Well let's get back to the Lazarus story because there is so much more in it about living our lives to the full, remember that everyone wanted Jesus to have fixed the problem before Lazarus died, but Jesus had said to his disciples he had a different plan. A plan that people around him didn't really understand, so no one could see it. Jesus was saying to Martha, Lazarus' sister. He said, "Your brother will rise again." But Martha said, "Look, I know he'll rise again on the resurrection on the last day" so she doesn't get it. She's happy to believe in pie in the sky when you die but not so much about steak on the plate while you wait if that makes sense. Lets pick up the story and lets read the simple story, its in John's gospel chapter 11 and it begins verse 38: Jesus was deeply moved when he came to the tomb, it was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 'Take away the stone', he said. 'But Lord,' said Martha the sister of Lazarus said, 'by this time a bad odour will be there, I mean he's been dead for four days!' And Jesus said, 'Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the Glory of God?'" I love that! If you believe you will see the glory of God! So they took away the stone and Jesus stood up and said, 'Father I thank you that you have heard me, I always knew that you would but I'm saying this for the benefit of the people around that they might believe that you have sent me.' And when he had said this Jesus said in a loud voice 'Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth was around his face, and Jesus said to them, 'Take off the grave clothes and let him go.' " Jesus was deeply moved … I mean he loved Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha; he cared for them! Lazarus was a good friend, that's why Jesus wept for him. So it's not some publicity stunt, but it's a tender encounter when people were thinking well, what's Jesus up to? He can't do this I mean Lazarus is dead he's going to smell, he's on the nose, his flesh is already rotting! I reckon we have to be very, very careful indeed about telling God what he can and can't do. About putting God in a little box of our expectations, imagining somehow that he could somehow never bring Lazarus back to life, imagining somehow he could never really bring life back into us! You see, all these people – Mary, Martha, the disciples all the others – they'd seen Jesus do amazing things, do amazing miracles, yet they couldn't

    24 min

  4. APR 26

    Becoming Who God Made You To Be // Discover Your Destiny, Part 2

    Have you ever looked at yourself in a photo and cringed, or seen yourself in a video and thought – Yich – do I really look that bad? Other people don't seem to have a problem with how you look, but somehow you always do. And it's not just you by the way … we all do it. Today, we're going to discover how you and I can be truly happy with who you are.   Being Happy with Who I Am As I look around at people, big, small, black, white, young, old … what I see is an awful lot of people who aren't happy with their lot in life. And as you talk to them, what it often comes down to is not that they're not happy with their lot and the things that are going on – although that's sometimes part of it – but something much deeper going on. Because more often than not, they're not happy with who they are. In our last program, we chatted about the fact, that often, that's because we feel we don't measure up to what the world expects of us but today, I'd like to go even deeper than that again. Let me ask you, forgetting everything that goes on around you, when you're alone in a quiet room, completely alone, do you like who you are? Are you excited about who you are … your potential? Do you enjoy your own company? Or are you one of these people who can't stand to see themselves in a photograph or in a mirror? Every now and then I think to myself, "it's time to get right in your face about something", and today's one of those days. I mean, I don't mean to shove anything down your throat, that's never my intention but I don't know, I just feel that today it's time to really challenge you about how you see yourself. I'm someone who for many, many years, in fact the first 36 years of my life, appeared to be so confident on the outside. I have to tell you, everyone who ever met me thought to themselves, "this guy is so confident". But on the inside, which after all is where we live and where we feel and where we laugh and where we cry, I wasn't happy with who I was. People would never have guessed it, because in my confidence I used to roll over the top of them. I'm not talking about the things that we do but who we actually are. As a woman by the name of Joyce Meyer says, "It's not our do that I'm talking about but our who." I didn't like my "who", I didn't like myself and you know the more I tried to pump myself up in my own eyes and in the eyes of others, somehow the lower I sank in my own estimation. But the very day, the very instant that I gave my life to Jesus back in 1995, from that moment onward I knew I was okay. I've thought a lot about this and I thought why did it happen like that? It's one of those things that changed in an instant for me, why? This is such a deep thing. My own self image had been plaguing me for years and years. How could it change in an instant? So far as I can see, there's only one answer because on that day I felt accepted and I felt loved in a whole new way, at a whole different level. Different people believe different things. Oh – whatever you believe – let me ask you this? Does your belief system, does your faith – whatever that is – make you feel loved and accepted? Does it bring healing to that deep, nagging suspicion that you're not good enough? Does it bring you into a place where you are truly happy and content with who you are? I never used to be able to look at myself in a photo without cringing. I recently had a photo shoot, something I have to do from time to time, to get some images to use on websites and in the back of my books, that sort of thing. And when the photos came back, I looked at them and I was really happy with what I saw. I'm never going to win a beauty competition, you understand – that's because I'm just a pretty ordinary looking kind of man. But as I looked at those photos, I smiled, because I realised that I now like myself. I didn't become Mr Perfect overnight and all my faults and all my failures and all my weaknesses didn't disappear in an instant, it's not how it works. Sometimes I make mistakes – I don't like that. So I get up and learn, and work on my weaknesses. But fundamentally, these days, I'm really happy with who I am … and indeed with who I'm not. So change in me didn't happen overnight but the thing that did happen is that I knew that God had accepted me just as I was and that even though I could see all the things I'd done wrong, that I was completely forgiven. He came to me and said, "Now, that you have a new beginning let me help you to change." That's the thing, I thought if God sees me that way maybe it's time for me to see me that way and still today there are some things that I'm really good at and others that I'm just not and I may never be. Some of the things that come naturally to you, I'll never be able to do it's unconditional love that brought me to a point with all my heart, I'm delighted to be who I am. I often say to my wife, Jacqui, "I'm so glad I'm me, I never want to be anyone else." That is a gift from God because I never liked me before. Let me get in your face and ask you a question, is it time for you to ask yourself do I see myself the way God does? Do I love me in the right way, not proud and arrogant but in a humble delight in who he made me to be? Because how can you and I possibly ever be the me we were meant to be and live the life we were created to live, if we don't like who we are. When we compare ourselves to other people and think – Wow, I wish I was like him, or I wish I was like her … we're completely missing the point. Completely. I will never be a basketball player, because I'm too short. I will never be a surgeon, because I don't have the skill in my hands. I will never be a pop star, because I can't sing. But what I can be, is the best me that I can possibly be. And you know something – that's just fine with me. And the reason it's fine with me is that I was handcrafted by God and the love that He's shown me is the unconditional love of Jesus … Jesus His one and only Son, who died so that I might be forgiven. We can't truly be happy with who we are, until we know beyond any shadow of doubt that Jesus died to pay for all our shortcomings and failings and because the price is fully paid, we can now stand before God completely forgiven, completely whole, completely loved. And if you've ever stood in that place – with your faith in Jesus … Jesus alone – you will know that the acceptance of God is what makes you whole. The love and acceptance of God – is what sets us free to see ourselves through His eyes.   Discovering My Gift I think we all have a sense of wanting to fulfil our destiny, doing the things we're meant to do, achieving the things we're meant to achieve and being the person we're meant to be. But the more I talk to people the more I discover how many aren't happy with who they are. I spent a good many years of my life comparing myself with other people, here's how it goes. Here's what we do when we compare ourselves with other people: all we see, are their good points: 'he's athletic and good looking, and she's really intelligent, and he's caring, and she's so perceptive about people, boy he's got such great hand-eye co-ordination, that couple over there everyone seems to like them. He is such a good cook, she has her house so tidy, they have such well behaved kids.' You see what's going on here right? We construct some super human unreality which is a pastiche of the very best points of everyone we know and then when we don't live up to that unreality, all of a sudden we come to the conclusion that …, "Ah, I'm a failure". Never mind that everybody we know is good a some things and not at others, never mind that each one of those people has weaknesses as well as strengths. We tend to construct an unrealistic image of who we should be and then we spend a lifetime, fuelled by the advertising industry - with all these images of success - we spend a lifetime trying to live up to something that no-one can ever be or live up to. Hello! The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The family next door always seem perfect compared to our family.That job that your friend has – that's the perfect job, … look at mine. I'll never have a job like that. I'll never have a husband as good as hers, or a wife as good as his, my children will never grow up to be like their kids, my house will never look as nice as … Are you getting the picture here?! I wonder if we did a stock take of our strengths and weaknesses maybe sit down with a few people who really know us well whether we would look at that and go, "That's not a bad plus and minus ledger, you know, okay there are some things here I'm not very good at but actually there's one or two things here, oh, that's really my gig, that's my shtick, that's what I do." The Apostle Paul in Romans, chapter 12:3-8 wrote this he said, By the grace given to me let me say this to you, don't think of yourself more highly than you should but instead look at yourself with sober judgement in accordance with the measure of faith that God's given you. Just as each one of us has a body with many members these members don't all have the same function and so in Jesus, we who are many form one body, each member belongs to the other. We have different gifts according to the grace given to us, if your gift is in prophesying, then do that in proportion with the faith that God has given you. If it's in serving then for goodness sake go and serve. If your gift is teaching go and teach. If your gift is encouragement go and encourage people, if it's contributing to the needs of others giving well for goodness sake give generously and if it's leadership then lead diligently and if it's showing mercy then go and do it cheerfully. Isn't that beautiful? I love this passage and I come back to it often because what it says is, "Look! You can go and think of yourselves either too highly or too lowly". There is nothin

    24 min

  5. APR 19

    The Roadblock Between You and Your Destiny // Discover Your Destiny, Part 1

    In this electronic age in which we live, identity theft is the big new crime. If someone can steal your identity – well, they can own everything you own. But what if you and I aren't really sure of our identity in the first place? What if you and I woke up one day and simply didn't know who we were? Then what would we have?   Lost Without a Passport I remember once a few years back being at the airport in Christchurch, New Zealand. My international flight from Australia was late in getting in, and I had to race to make a last domestic connection that night to my final destination – Wellington, New Zealand's capital. And in the rush, I left my passport lying in one of those luggage trolleys at the international terminal – something I didn't realise until I was checking in on the domestic flight at the next terminal. Oh, panic attack! Can you imagine losing your passport while you're overseas? No passport, no identity. Now what? How could I tell people that it was me? I couldn't leave the country; I couldn't stay there ... It turns out that our identity is very important. I've never forgotten that, and in a very real sense, the same is true in life. We need to know the answer to that all-important question: Who am I? Other people need to know who we are. It's so basic; it's so fundamental, and yet so many people don't have a deep sense of who they really are. It's a problem deep-down, and it's not something we talk about much, but it's there, and as I talk to people, I think it goes something like this. Often we live life day to day without really thinking. We just go along and do the things we've always been doing: We go to work or we go to school or we look after the children, whatever it is, but bubbling away deep inside somewhere is a sense of: What's this all about? Why am I doing this? What's the point? The reality is this. We just have one life to live here on earth. It's not a dress rehearsal. We can't hit the rewind button and play it over again. When today's gone, it's gone; that's it, and every year, every week, every day, every moment that you and I have lived up to this point is gone. We can never get it back. The only thing left in our time here on earth is the time between right now and when we breathe our last breath. It's a sobering thought, and at the same time, most people have some sort of sense of destiny. Whether or not they believe in Jesus or some god even, they believe in things that are meant to be. How often have you heard someone say, "Well, it was just meant to be", or "If it's meant to be, it'll happen?" Whether it's karma or whether it's "que sera sera", whatever will be will be, we all have some sense of a future and a destiny to be fulfilled. It's as though there's some intelligent design or destiny that we just can't quite put our fingers on. I believe that that's there because in each one of us, God has made us in His image – each one of us, and when we look at the time we have left in the context of some sort of sense of destiny, a profound question of life emerges. Am I being the 'me' that I was actually meant to be? Am I living the destiny that I'm supposed to be living? They're huge questions. It's not about having things; it's more about being. The turning-point of my life was when I was reading a book, and the author asked this question. He said: 'Do you want to be, or do you want to have?' and I realised very clearly that I was one of those people who wanted to have, and having things is not being. Having is about the next car; the next sound system; the next pair of shoes, but being is a profound sense of joy and contentment; being really happy with who we are and what we're doing, and how we're living, and enjoying the relationships that we're having. When I realised that, it was so incredibly unsettling for me because I tried to do stuff my way, and it was turning out to be empty. Let me ask you something. As you contemplate the remaining time you have left here on planet earth, when you ask yourself the question, "Am I being the 'me' I was meant to be? Am I living out the destiny that I was meant to live?" What's the answer? Yes, or no? If your answer is "yes", then you're talking about some profound sense of joy and peace and contentment – the sort of stuff I was talking about just before, but if the answer is "no", then probably there's this nagging sense that you're missing out on something. Is this all there is? Surely there has to be something more than this. You know, in my experience, most people (by far the majority) are in the 'no' category. They have a sense that there should be – that there is – some destiny for their lives, but they also have a nagging suspicion that they're not really living it out. That's why we're kicking off a brand new series of programmes over these coming few weeks called "Discover Your Destiny" – to … I don't know … help us unscramble that, and maybe get a solid foundation of life sorted out in our hearts, get our lives on track, to live them out to the full so that when we're on death's doorstep, we can look back at our lives with a deep sense of satisfaction, and say to ourselves, "You know what? I've lived it to the full. I became the 'me' I was meant to be, and now I'm ready for my eternity with God." The starting-point of all that is an understanding of who we're meant to be. It's knowing where we come from and who we are, and what a tragedy it is for so many people who live their lives without knowing those things about themselves; without having a sense of what their lives are all about; without having, in effect, a really good handle on who they are – their identity. We live in a world that wants to tell us who we should be. We live in a world shaped by commerce and sales targets and advertising, that tells us: 'You're this, and if you're not, you're not successful, and if you're not successful, if you buy this, then you will be, and then you'll be happy. Then you'll have a sense of who you are, and where you're going'. Hey, I lived out that life for a good many years. I mean, I lived it out par excellence, and so successful was it that it drove me to the point of suicide. God's take is completely different. God tells us that we're made in His image – you and I. He tells us that not only did He make us who we are, but He also made every day of our lives to fit with who we are. More about that a little bit later, but right now, all I'm really trying to do is put my finger on the problem; that nagging thing that just doesn't seem to want to go away; that sense that so many of us have that we're missing out on something – something that we just can't quite explain. Surely there must be more to life than this, this drudgery. Surely there has to be something that sets my heart on fire; that inspires me; that lets me be the me I was meant to be; that lets me live out the destiny for my life. Do you really know who you are, who you were made to be, what you're meant to be doing, or is your life a bit like a cork bobbing around in an ocean, completely at the mercy of the elements – sunny one day, stormy the next, but just drifting – kind of drifting?   The Perennial Pollution Problem I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but living an average, normal, everyday life creates dirt. I mean, just eating and drinking and living – the most basic things – create waste: Carbon dioxide we all breathe out with every breath (and of course if we didn't get rid of it, it would poison us), perspiration, and we excrete waste. If we kept all of those things inside us, you know, they'd kill us in a pretty short time. On a global scale, we call this pollution; it's a perennial problem. It's just the way it is. For so many years, I have to tell you, I listened to these Christians talking about this word sin, thinking, "Oh, go on, get a life. I don't need this guilt trip. I don't need to go to confession or to be absolved or any of that stuff. I mean, I'm basically ok. I haven't killed anyone; I haven't robbed a bank ... please just leave me alone." The notion of sin had no place in my reckoning. "This is a dog-eat-dog world, and hey, there's plenty of dog to go around. I will tread on whoever I want to; I will do whatever I want to, as long as I don't break the law. I'm right, Jack." That was kind of my attitude because, in today's psyche, hey, anything goes, but this anything-goes thing doesn't always work so well because it's all about me, and for you it's all about you; and when I spend on me, me, me, that's great, but real satisfaction comes when we give of ourselves, of who we are and what we have. It's not until we give sacrificially to someone in need that we really get satisfaction in life, and that's where we really discover who we are and what life is all about. For many, many years I kidded myself that I was ok, but it didn't work. Just living my life created waste and mess and dirt and pollution, and here's the rub: When we live the I-am-the-centre-of-the-universe, me-me-me philosophy, we want everything to flow in, and that stuff includes the waste and the mess and the dirt, and it stays inside with everything flowing in, and ultimately it poisons our system. It ruins our lives. Do you get it? The word "sin", as it's used in the Bible, literally means to miss the mark. Like an archer aiming at a target, his aim doesn't have to be off by much for him to miss the target altogether. That's the idea of sin. It's missing the mark or, as we might say these days, missing the point. Can you imagine getting to the end of your life, on your deathbed, looking back and thinking to yourself, "You know, the way I lived my life, I didn't love people the way I should have loved them. I didn't serve people the way I should have served them. I didn't make the difference that I could have made. I haven't left behind a lasting legacy of good at all. You know something? I think my life missed the

    24 min

  6. APR 12

    Getting Into God's Word // Power Unlimited, Part 4

    God's Word is packed full of power … power unlimited … to transform your life. But one of the biggest problems people have with the Bible is understanding it. Making sense of it. Knowing where it comes from, and where what they're reading today fits into the big picture. Well, I think it's time we did something about that.   About the Bible – Old and New We've all heard of those word association tests that psychologists use. You know, they say 'black', you say 'white'; they say 'rabbit' and you say 'carrot'; day/night; God/mmm love; devil/mmm evil; Bible/hmm … Bible? How do you respond to that? Stuffy, old, irrelevant? Well, different people will have some different views but actually in Australia where I live, the Bible is one of the least trusted of all historical documents. Over the last week and a bit on the program we've been talking about the incredible power that we unlock, when we read the Bible. But this thing that we call "the Bible", it's a big book, it's massive and it can be daunting. So today I thought it might be useful just to have a look to see what this Bible is exactly. I want to share with you a secret, it's sad but true. I never read a book cover to cover until I was in my early twenties. I managed to get through school and university and did pretty well I might add, without ever reading a book from beginning to end. I remember at university, in first year English, we studied the book Wuthering Heights which absolutely bored me to tears, I'm sorry and I never opened the book once. There are companies that publish crib notes, you know the summary of the book and a summary of what's in it and a summary of what some of the critics say, so I just quickly read those, crib notes, wrote essays and did, by and large, reasonably well. And I never, ever liked libraries either. You know how libraries have this kind of dusty, dank smell; all of them are the same. Every library on the planet has the same smell. I thought about it for a while, I thought 'Berni, why don't you like libraries? Why did it take you so long to read books?' The answer I guess has two parts. Firstly, libraries for me always felt really big and inaccessible. They have tens of thousands of books and in the old days when I was at university, they had card systems for accessing, for finding things, I mean these days they have computers. The old card systems had what they call the Dewey Classification system and finding anything just took so incredibly long. And secondly, when you did find the stuff, there was always so much of it, there was so much time involved to, I don't know, look through all those books and research them. I mean, some people are natural book worms, well I'm not. I still frankly don't like libraries. I'm sorry if you're a librarian, I just don't like libraries. I haven't darkened the doorstep of one since I finished my last degree quite a few years ago now. You know something; I think for a lot of people the Bible is exactly like that. It feels big and inaccessible. There are many, many people who wouldn't mind having a read but, for goodness sakes, where do you start? Well today let's break it down a bit, let's make it a bit more accessible. I remember when I started Bible College only a few months after becoming a Christian, everyone took for granted that we knew about the Bible. The reality was, I didn't and my hunch is, I wasn't alone. Let's unpack it a bit, let's demystify it a bit. All of a sudden you know it becomes a whole bunch more accessible. The thing that we call the Bible is made up of 66 different books written by different people over somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 years. That's the kind of period over which the Bible was written. And it wasn't just written by different people but at different times and the last book was written, well almost 2,000 years ago. There are essentially two parts to the Bible, this was complete news to me when I first opened it, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and when I started at Bible College I didn't know which one was which. The Old Testament, well the Old Testament is God's story and the story of how He interacted with and engaged with His chosen people, the Israelites. The Old Testament is written completely B.C., before Christ, before Jesus came to be on earth with us here. What Christians call the Old Testament is in fact exactly the same as the Jewish Hebrew scriptures, Jews still use those same scriptures today, Christians call it the Old Testament. It's written mostly in the original language of Hebrew, the language of the Jews. Now there's small parts of books like Daniel which is written in a language called Aramaic which is the language that Jesus actually spoke but by and large, the Old Testament was originally written in the language of Hebrew. And what we have today, the thing that we call the Old Testament is an English translation of that. Now there are lots of funny name books, Deuteronomy and Judges and Chronicles and there's Ezekiel, there are 39 separate books and there are kind of 4 main parts of the Old Testament. The first 5 books, Genesis to Deuteronomy, are the Jewish or Hebrew Law, the Torah. And then you go Joshua through Ezra and Nehemiah and that's kind of the history of what God did and how His people responded. And then after that are the wisdom books, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Lamentations. And the rest of the books in the Old Testament are written by men called Prophets. Men whom God called to call His people back to Him. That's the Old Testament, it's a story of God engaging with Gods people. And the New Testament is 27 books. Now, it was mostly written in the language of Greek. The first 4 books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are gospel accounts, they're the historical account of Jesus' life and His ministry. And the next book, the book of Acts is the story of the first 20 or so years of the Church after Jesus rose again to be with His Father. Then there's a whole bunch of letters called Epistles from people like Peter and John and Paul, written to Churches that they were involved in or in some cases, to individuals. This may be old hat to some, but I know to many, just a simple understanding of the basic structure of the Bible is going to be a real help. I know that when I was a new Christian, no one ever bothered to explain it to me – I wish they had. Now some people might be saying to themselves, that's all well and good, but how accurate is the Bible. Because before the printing press was ever invented by Gutenberg in 1450, the Bible – there's this massive thing, the Old Testament and New Testament – was transcribed over and over by hand by people called Scribes who copied them by hand. It's hard to imagine. But these days, there's a science called Textual Criticism. It studies whether any errors crept into the Bible as it was copied through all these generations manuscripts. And what it tells us, is that having studied thousands of manuscripts, the levels of accuracy are remarkable. I mean it's a science, people have done it. There are very, very few words or sentences where there is any doubt what was originally written. And blessedly these days, this thing called the Bible has been translated into easy to read, contemporary versions. No more thee's and thou's – great, modern day, accurate, easy to understand translations. And did you know that in the Bible, over half of the 66 books, over half, you can read in half and hour or less. Now look, in a few minutes we can't hope to do anything but scrape the surface. Today we've just talked about some basic factual stuff. No-one really taught me this stuff. I remember becoming a Christian and going and sitting in a Church and people just teach from the Bible which is wonderful but no-one ever explained to me that it was 66 books written by a whole bunch of people over different periods of time. That some of it was stories and history and some of it was letters and some of it was poetry. But when you simplify and demystify all that stuff, it turns out that it's just a wonderful book. And with the many contemporary translations, it's much, much easier to read than I ever thought. As I started to read the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament, I was completely blown away by this amazing Jesus. Who would have thought … the Bible.   Getting Practical – Useful Resources I have to tell you, that thing they call the Bible was a real problem for me. I mean, first coming to grips with the fact that it is what it says that it is, the Word of God but then, just getting into it. It's made up of 66 separate books written over about 1,500 years in different times, in different places and different cultures. So there are words and names and places and concepts and ways of thinking … well, we're not always familiar with them. We're continuing in our series 'Power Unlimited' – because that's what Go's Word brings into our lives so today, we're going to get down and really practical on just how to get into the Bible because unless we do, we're going to miss out on much of the power that God wants to pour into our lives. Over the years I've discovered a few very simple helps or resources that have made such a difference in making sense of God's Word. You see, it turns out there's a whole bunch of people much smarter than me who have done some great research and put the information together in such easy usable ways and all their work makes getting into God's Word, the Bible, so much easier for the likes of you and me. Today I just want to share some of those resources with you. I remember twenty or so years ago, just after I became a Christian, I started attending a tiny little Baptist Church in the southern suburbs of Sydney. A little place called Oyster Bay. Our pastor, Phil, was a passionate and gifted Bible teacher and that man has had a huge impact on my life. Now as well

    24 min

  7. APR 5

    A Radically New Way of Living // Power Unlimited, Part 3

    They say that following Jesus isn't easy. Because following Jesus means swimming against the tide of popular opinion. Following Jesus means, all too often … in fact most of the time … going in the opposite direction. That's why we need power … power unlimited … to follow Jesus.   WARNING: The Countercultural Christ Over the last couple of weeks on the program, we've been talking about the unlimited power that's available to you and me through God's Word. It seems like a bit of a crazy notion, this idea that you can find incredible power, unlimited power in a book. But the Bible, well … the Bible isn't just a book. It's the living Word of the living God and when God speaks, amazing things happen. This is what the Bible says about the Bible – two key verses that change everything about how we look at God's Word: Hebrews 4:12: Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 2 Tim 3:16-17: All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. It never ceases to amaze me how people who call themselves Christians think that they can live their lives in peace and joy and power and service … by never, ever opening the Bible. By never, ever drinking in the living, active Word of God that helps us discern the intentions of our hearts. Because let's face it, it's in our heart that we deceive ourselves. It's in our heart that we conceive sin and give birth to it. And so we do need teaching, we do need reproof and correction and training in righteousness in order to be proficient and equipped for every good work. What I've discovered in my life is that there are fundamental flaws and weaknesses in my personality, that, try as I might, I am powerless to change. And yet, when I let God's Word wash through my heart, when I allow the Holy Spirit to write God's Word on my heart, He does things that I could never do, He unleashes power … power unlimited … to do the things I cannot do. That's what happens when we listen to God through His Word. Because God calls into existence the things that do not yet exist (Romans 4:17). Think about it, how did God create the universe? God said "Let there be light and there was light." (Genesis 1:4) God said "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters. (Gen 1:6) God said "Let dry land appear" and it was so (Gen 1:9) God said … God said … God said … and so the universe was created. In other words God spoke the whole universe, the trillions of stars, the great lights, all the creatures and plants on the earth … God said … and it was so. That's the power of God's Word. And if that isn't power unlimited, I don't know what is. But … there always seems to be a "but" doesn't there? … but you and I, all too often, we want that power for all the wrong reasons. We want it to make our lives better, rather than to empower us to sacrifice our lives for Christ's sake. We want it to get ahead, to overcome this, to get that … rather than to take our Cross and follow Jesus. I said at the beginning of the program that Jesus said that following Him would be hard. Here it is: Matthew 16:24-26: Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life. Let me ask you plainly, quietly but very honestly: Why do you want God's power, God's unlimited power, in your life? Is it in order to change the difficult circumstances, the difficult people the things out there, the things around you that are causing you grief? Or is it in order that God would change you, to empower you, to enable you to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth? Is it that the Holy Spirit would give you the power to take up your Cross and lay down your life, to potentially lose it all, for Christ's sake? This whole series of messages Power Unlimited, comes with a warning. Don't try this at home, unless you're prepared to lose it all because this wild, untamed, Jesus, is radically counter-cultural and He's calling His followers to a radical, counter-cultural life. A life that could cost you, will cost you, everything. Have a listen to these couple of encounters that Jesus had with the religious establishment. It's worth taking a few moments to see how Jesus upset the prevailing culture of His day: Matthew 12:1-8: At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, "Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?" so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Do you get it? This is what got Him killed. This is why they crucified Him … because He shone light where there was darkness; because He brought truth where there were lies … and that upset people. Have you noticed how vitriolic people, society, culture becomes when you stand up for the rights of the unborn child, or when you speak with love of the wonder of God's plan for marriage to be a sublime union between one man and one woman, or when you pull back from the filthy jokes that people tell at work? Have you noticed that? Or have you noticed about the "dangerous religious teachings" in schools that people talk about these days in the news … when it was Christians who are responsible for taking education far and wide across this globe, founding schools, founding hospitals, caring for the needy. Have you noticed? Jesus isn't calling you to an easy life my friend, make no mistake about it. You follow Jesus and you are going to upset people, and they will come against you like nothing else on earth. And what you're going to need the power for, is to make it through in love, to continue shining the light of God's love into this earth, despite the opposition, the persecution, the difficult people, the difficult circumstances. As Adrian Pass wrote: You're going to need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow. And yet, when we get God's Word into us, the promise of Jesus, the Son of God Himself, is this: John 15:7-8: If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. Did you get that? If the Word of God abides in you, dwells in you, has say in you, and if you abide in Jesus – you can ask for whatever you wish – whatever – and it will be done for you. There it is. Power unlimited. But not to do the things that you want, because once God's Word abides in you, you'll be asking for the things that He wants. Let your will be done on this earth … as it is in heaven. Power unlimited.   Laying hold of Power A few years ago now, I had the opportunity to speak with a group of high school students at the opening of their college and senior campus. The subject of my presentation was this: 'How to Get More out of Your Parents'. I just remember that when I was at high school, speakers at those functions were so boring. I wanted to grab their attention and it certainly did that. A few of the parents, I have to tell you, were listening pretty closely as well but the heart of the presentation was this. Our parents, at least the greatest majority of them, are hard wired to bless us, but one of the things teenagers do, I know I did, is rebel against them and that stops the flow of parental blessing dead in its tracks. I shared some insights with these young men and women about how, in a very practical way, they can respond to their parents' love at the same time as growing up, to get that relationship and that blessing flowing again. You could see some lights going on as they came to grips with how to respond to their parents. It turns out, our relationship with God is no different. Over the last little while on the program, we've been working our way through a series of messages called, 'Power Unlimited'. Over the last twenty or so years I've spent a lot of time studying God's Word, the 66 different books in the Bible and so I've had the chance to mull it all over. And whilst I know I've really just scratched the surface, the more I think about it, the Bible appears to me to be about 4 things. Who God is, God's will and purpose for us, who you and I are in his heart and fourthly, the thing I want to talk about tod

    24 min

  8. MAR 29

    Power to Go // Power Unlimited, Part 2

    God is so profoundly different to anyone or anything that this world has to offer. His ways are so different to our ways, and unless and until we have a personal encounter with the risen Christ, unless and until we encounter Jesus in our own, personal experience, our lives simply cannot be transformed.   Who Exactly is God? Who or what is God? When you go out and ask different people and what you discover is that they have a picture of God in their heads that doesn't always have a whole bunch to do with who God actually is. It's almost like we reconstruct Him in our own image, to suit ourselves, to suit our own agendas, but let me ask you something, if God is God wouldn't it be worthwhile kind of figuring out exactly who He is? IF God has the power, is the power, to transform our lives, shouldn't we get to know Him? I mean, who is He really and how do you and I relate to Him? What if God is awesome and powerful and loving and kind and we spend the rest of our lives missing out on all that because we never really went after Him to discover who He really is? So how do we discover who God really is? This week on the program we're setting about laying hold of God's power to completely and utterly transform our lives. And the place that we discover that power, the place that God the Holy Spirit has made available for us to lay hold of that power – is His Word, the Bible. I mean reading the Bible was something I would never have done in a million years. What do you think I am, some wacky fundamentalist? But you know something, reading the Bible for myself has completely and utterly transformed my life. It didn't stunt me, it opened me up. It didn't narrow my mind; it opened me up to the wonder and the possibilities of life with God, to the power that God wants to unleash in my life. Over the last twenty or so years I guess I've spent a lot of time in that Book, in fact its 66 different books. I've had the chance to study and to learn and to think and to mull it all over and truly, in those twenty odd years I've really only scratched the surface. But the more I think about it, the Bible is basically about four things: Who God is, what He's like and how He reacts to things. What God's will and purposes are, what His plan is. Where my life is headed. It's about who I am, made in His image but how does He see me? Who did He make me to be? And … how I can respond to God. Some people think this last one, number four, is all that the Bible has to offer; just rules and regulations … but you know, as you read it for yourself, how to respond to God is quite simply not the main thing, it just kind of drops out at the end, it's the natural consequence of the first three. Those four things again are: who God is, what His will and purposes are, who you and I are in His eyes and how we can respond. That's what the Bible contains, it's real and it's practical, it's about life, it's awesome and it's exciting and it contains power … power unlimited to transform you, to transform your life, to heal you, to bless you, to empower you. Today I just want to look at the first one of those; who God is. I mean if God is God, shouldn't we figure out who He is? Who He says He is? Where better to do that, to search Him out, than that great love letter that He's written to you and to me, the Bible. It makes sense, doesn't it? When I first laid eyes on my wife Jacqui, when I first saw her from a distance, I was speaking at a Church and she was sitting in that congregation. As far as I was concerned, she was just another face in the crowd and had I never sought her out, I would never have come to know her and to have a relationship with her. So, I did seek her out and she responded to that. In a sense, picking up the Bible is seeking God out, it's the same thing, He responds. It's not a dead book written by men thousands of years ago. It's the living, active word of God and His promise is that when we pick it up, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, will bring it to life in our hearts. God promised that He would pour His Spirit out on all flesh and that He would write His words onto our heart. By far, the greatest reason for reading the Bible, is to encounter God Himself, to discover who He is, and how He sees things; what He's like and what He's up to. You see, it's easy to read this story or that in the Bible and say, "Well that was a story about King David" or "That one over there, that's the story about Moses or Peter or Paul". But so often in the pages of this great and mighty book, the great unseen player is God Himself and as I read every story, every verse, I keep asking myself, "What does this tell me about God Himself? What's He up to in this story?" Let's take just one example, it's a short story. God makes a promise to this man called Abram who is childless. You know, Abram's an old man, his wife Sarai is an old woman, they're childless and yet God has called them to go from their home on this huge journey. God's promised them children, a multitude of children, but it's never happened. It's gone on for years and years and years. Abraham's out of his comfort zone, he's on this long, uncomfortable journey and he's frustrated and this is what happens. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." But the word of the Lord came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:1-6) It's really easy to read this story and imagine that it's a story all about Abram. But the real question that we should be asking is What does this short little story, tell us about God? Here's Abram. He's frustrated, he's waiting for a breakthrough that's not coming. He's trying to believe in God, but it's hard. I wonder if that sounds at all familiar to you? And it's going on for years and years and years and he and his wife are old and it's just absolutely impossible. But along comes God and He does this kind of gentle and kind and wondrous and patient thing with Abraham, He takes him outside to gaze up into this beautiful masterpiece called the Milky Way. Have you ever looked up at the stars away from the smog and the lights of a big city at night? It's incredible how many stars are up there and in the middle of Abram's frustration, God says 'Abram, look … look at this! This is how many descendants you're going to have. My promise will actually happen". And if you read the rest of this story, Abraham ultimately has a son, with his wife Sarah, called Isaac. He never saw all these offspring happen, he never saw the rest of the promise fulfilled in his life time, but here is this good and gracious and powerful God who takes a man in the middle of his frustration and just speaks lovingly to him. It's a story about God do you get it? It's a story about how God treats those who He loves when they're at the end of their tether. the Bible is full of those stories. You pick it up and you read them and wow, you discover who God really is. Do you see the power in that? Do you see how know God, and how in our small, limited way, coming to understand Him can make such a powerful difference to us, when we're lost and frustrated and clinging onto a promise … but only just? People often say to me, "Berni, you seem to be so enthusiastic about God." Can I tell you why? Because over the last couple of decades I've discovered Him in the pages of the Bible and discovered what He says about Himself there and those things have ended up being etched onto my heart, so that I can experience Him in my life. I can't help but be enthusiastic and you know, I can't help but wonder, where would my life be? Where would I be, if I hadn't laid hold of this power … power unlimited in the living Word of God?   What are His Plans and Purposes for Me? You know one of the most common things that we all experience at some point or other in our lives, is this dilemma, this crisis if you will, of, well where is my life headed? I think it's because somehow we're hardwired to have hope for the future, to be able to look forward to a good future, to have a sense of significance, to make our mark in this world. Where is my life headed? … can become a question of quite some desperation. And for our lives to be headed in the right direction we need a few things to come together. The way we live, the things that we can control, and the things that go on around us, the ones we can't control. That's not easy. It's almost an impossible juggling act. But … what if God has a plan? What if He has a purpose in the things that we've been travelling through? What if there's meaning behind it all, and He does want to do amazing things and He does want to be involved in the choices we make today? What if? Wouldn't you want to tap into that? I mean, wouldn't you want to know? Wouldn't you want Him to speak those plans and purposes gently into your heart and let them make a difference for you, here and now? Just think … what a powerful way that would be to live. Yesterday we saw that the biggest thing that we can get out of the Bible is discovering God Himself, who He is, what He's like, how does He react to different situations and things? To me that is the greatest prize of them all, God Himself, getting to know Him, having a wonderful, rich relationship that just gets deeper and deeper as time goes by. Today I want to look at the second thing that I think the B

    24 min
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There is such incredible power in God's Word! Power to change. Power to make an impact in this world. That's what Christianityworks is all about – in depth teaching straight out of God's Word. Join Berni Dymet as he opens God's Word to discover what God has to say into your life, today.

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