Marilyn Rivington

Jesus as Lord means that I am under his authority in every area of my life. I yield to his plan and purpose for my life. I do not go my own way but His way. I love the passage in John, So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" 68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." (6:67-69) Jesus is

Our Canadian Nation was founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God. As long as we recognize God as King of kings and Lord of lords we will be blessed.

Jesus is not just my Saviour but my Lord. That means that I am under him in ALL things. With Yahweh as my King I submit to him everyday. This does not mean that I do things because of Law but because of Love. I obey His Word in everything because I love Him. I reject Yahweh by not submitting my will to His, by doing it my way. Complete independence is a way of rejecting God. Lack of belief in God is also a way of rejecting Him. Disobedience is rejection. When Jesus is Lord, disobedience is not an option. This is what Kingly authority means to me.

It is by our giving that we confess that God is our El Shaddai. Yes we ARE under grace. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says,

Justice = assigning punishment for an offence; "justice deferred is justice denied". Vengeance = harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done. Mercy = showing compassion toward an offenders I do not believe that God forgives sin without punishment. Perfect holiness cannot tolerate sin. Because judgment has been delayed people have begun to believe there is no consequence for sin. They are not fearful of hell because they don't understand the truth about it. hell is real. It is not an idle threat God uses to scare sinners, but is a real place where His wrath will be poured out for eternity. Because God is just He must punish each and every offense committed against Him as fully as it deserves. Before the cross all would have been condemned because all have sinned. Because of God

Every Christian is mandated to help the poor. 1 John 3:17 says,

This is a complex question. There is no

Yes, it is good to be back. Praise God! Isaiah is filled with fear and a sense of failure. He gives a cry of despair as he sees how far he is from ever measuring up to the wholeness and holiness of God. His spiritual eyes are opened and he sees himself in a new light. He is able to see his own sin and shortcomings. Isaiah was able to look beyond what his eyes could see to the realms of the invisible and see the majesty of our God. He saw God "sitting upon a throne," the symbol of sovereign authority, in charge of everything in heaven and upon earth. A great hymn says it all. Immortal, Invisible, God only wise. In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes. Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days! Almighty, Victorious, Your great name we praise! The tradition in the Hebrew and Jewish cultures is that someone cannot see God and live. Exodus 33:20-23 Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 19And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." 20But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 21Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23"Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but (G)My face shall not be seen." A seraph flew down to him with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched Isaiah

Oh yes it is possible to have a pure heart. When I humbly confess my sins and turn away from them, I am washed by the Blood of the Lamb. I am reminded of this through the symbol of the Eucharist. Every time I partake, having first gone through the confession, I drink and I remember that by the Blood Jesus shed on the Cross my sins are forgiven and by the Stripes Jesus endured I am healed. Halleluia!

We need to take full responsibility for our sin - not gloss them over as "nothing." God requires a humble and contrite heart. But it is not just confessing our sin, we must turn away from our sin and do it now more. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." This is the promise of Scripture.

In order to pray for forgiveness I have to believe that there is a God who exists and will pardon me when asked if I am humble and penitent. This faith is based on God's mercy as shown in Scripture. Reading Scripture (Romans 10:17); believing in the Jesus of Scripture; prayers that have been answered in the past.

Abraham asked God to save Sodom if only 50 righteous people can be found. He continues asking until he gets down to 10. Obviously there were not 10 righteous to be found as Sodom was destroyed. But Lot, his wife and two daughters were saved, although Lot

God was glad that Abraham had enough faith in their relationship to dare to ask God for justice for the righteous. I find it interesting that Abraham spoke face to face with Yahweh and did not die. Awesome. I had not thought about that before. God takes delight in my prayers because I am his beloved child and he wants to hear from me - often.

It is God

I would like to share with you an excerpt from Jim W. Goll's book "Intercession," The Power and Passion to Shape History. WHEN THE LORD CHANGED HIS MIND One of the most amazing truths in the Bible is that our prayers can change God's mind. Yes, you heard me correctly! As intercessors, we have the privilege of shaping history before the throne of God. I want to illustrate this by looking at a prayer uttered by one of the greatest intercessors of them all-Moses. In his prayer recorded in Exodus 32:9-14, Moses' holy arguments with God prevailed, permitting God to act in mercy instead of judgment. At the time of this conversation, Moses was still on the mountain where he had received the Ten Commandments. The Israelites down in the valley had just committed their great sin with the golden calf. God informed Moses of His intention to destroy the sinful people and to start over with Moses to build a nation. Let's examine Moses' prayer to see how he changed God's mind. 1. Moses argued from the history of God's redeeming acts. He told God that it would be out of character with His great acts of mercy (see Ex. 32:11) if, after leading the Israelites in triumph and glory out of Egypt, He destroyed them now. Moses interceded for God's redeeming acts, that they would align with His character. 2. Moses argued for the glory of God's name. In effect, Moses said to God, 'Don't give the Egyptians a reason to slander You because You failed to provide for Your people.' Moses was concerned about vindicating the holiness of God's great name in the earth (see Ex. 32:12). 3. Moses argued from God's faithfulness to His servants. He reminded God of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob) and of the promises that He had previously given to them (see Ex. 32:13). Moses boldly quoted back to God the promise God had made and held God accountable to His own Word! As a result of Moses' bold intercession, God changed His mind! That is truly awesome! God listened to the voice of a man and changed His mind! Why would God allow His mind to be changed by the voice of men? Because He has invited us to partner with Him to shape history. As priests unto God through Jesus Christ we have the right and the privilege to 'stand in the gap' between God's righteous judgments that are due and mankind's need for mercy. We stand before God on the people's behalf, pleading on the basis of God's reputation in the earth, His faithfulness to His covenant Word that He has previously stated, and for the sake of His glory being revealed and established. This is the power and the passion of intercession at work.

If I believe that God predetermines everything, then I also have to believe that my prayers are powerless. So why bother to pray? But Jesus told us to pray and gave instructions on how to pray (eg. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Matthew 6:5-7) then Jesus gave the Disciples the Lord

I really appreciate what Pastor Ralph wrote that George Herbert said, "He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for every one has need to be forgiven." It is a wonderful image of what an unforgiving spirit looks like - a bridge broken and we cannnot pass over. Heaven is the dwelling place of the forgiven and if we desire to go there then we must forgive.

By asking God we show humility and our complete dependance on Him. It is not only physical bread that we ask for but spiritual bread as well. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35) "Give us today our daily bread"- bread on the table, yes - but also "the bread of life." A daily provision of spiritual bread as well.

We live in a fallen world and sin is all around us trying to entice us. Satan has been defeated but not vanquished so temptation is always there. When we are tempted we have to stand firm. James tells us that we are submit ourselves to God. "Resist the devil and he will flee from us." (4:7) If however we do fail, then we must immediately repent and ask the Father to forgive us. To live for righteousness means I am always striving to live a life of obedience to God. A righteous life is characterized by godly behaviour.

I have been washed clean by the Blood of Jesus. Because he suffered and bore my sins I can come before the Father, clean. What a gift. Because Jesus bore my sins I have eternal life. His life was the cost for my freedom. He loved me that much. I am so thankful. Jesus loved me enought to do this and make me worthy. There is no way to say Thank You except by the life I live.

If Jesus had sinned he would have to pay the price for his own sin. It is only because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that he could ransom me. Halleluia! Jesus suffered separation from God, hence his cry from the cross, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" I cannot even imagine what that must have been like for him. The burden was almost too much for him to bear. His love for me kept him there. His obedience to the will of the Father allowed him to stand this kind of corruption.

Jesus carried MY sins as he hung on the cross. We are all so used to saying "Jesus died for the sins of the whole world." I am a part of "the whole world." One Good Friday I was given a nail and I went up to the Chancel and hammered it into a wooden cross that way lying there. My sins nailed Jesus to the cross.

I was betrayed by my Bishop and did not get ordained. The Lord said to me, "Say nothing. You cannot vindicate yourself, only I can vindicate you." I am still waiting for vindication but I trust God to keep his promise. My call to ordained ministry was a valid one and God has not changed his mind. I believe that God will release me in his perfect timing. This experience has given me a whole new perspective on suffering and waiting in silence. I have learned to trust God in every situation in my life. Jesus died for me the best I can do is live the best life I can for him.

When we see injustice it is our right to address it and try and do what we can to change the situation. As a Christian I cannot be a complainer. I can state my views but a complaining spirit goes against a God-centered life (Numbers 11:1; 14:27; Phil 2:14-15). If I knew the situation was not going to change and I had done everything I could to make it better then I found another job. I do not believe that God wants for us to continue to work in an abusive situation.

I have to do the very best that I can do because how I perform in the workplace reflects on God. Living a Christ filled life is not just for Sunday morning but for every minute of my life whether at work, at home, socializing or whatever. God gets glory when I do and act the best that I can. I have to live the talk.