Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11, ESV

Merry Christmas from Exchange Church!  We hope you are enjoying a peaceful and happy holiday this season.

"A Saviour has just been born in David’s town, a Saviour who is Messiah and Master." Luke 2:11, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah" Psalm 46:10-11, ESV

It's the classic thing you read/hear/see during the madness that is a modern Christmas : take some time to remember the real reason for this (crazybusy) holiday season.

But has anyone who ever knew really forgotten?

The fact is, Jesus was born into ye olde stylee CrazyBusyWorld, circa 4BC-6AD, almost certainly not anywhere near the winter or summer solstice, and when people were racing all over the countryside in order to be where they needed to be for the taking of the Roman Census called by Quirinius.

Today isn't that much different, there's just a lot more of us crammed into the place, trying to fit a lot more stuff into our lives.

So today, tomorrow, next week, next month - always - choose to spend some time with God.  He loves you more than you can fathom; always has, always will.

Live out a selah

"Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel armies protects us."Psalm 46:10-11, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions." 1 Timothy 1:5-7, ESV

There really is nothing new under the sun.  Twisted truth, self importance, misguided ideals - all things we see in the Church today in various forms - have been going on since it began.  And it's easy to get caught up in it, because humans love that sort of thing.  Not for nothing are we warned against gossip...

When we are caught in the midst of that, it's easy to lose sight of the whole point.  And that is love.  Simply love.  It's so easy - yet so difficult - because in love there are no ulterior motives, no games, no hierarchies, no charades, no facades, no masks.

Just love.

You might be the best speaker in the world and know the Bible inside out, but without love...none of it matters. Because when it all comes down, faith hope and love remain, and the greatest of these is love.

"The whole point of what we’re urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God.  Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip.  They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they’re holding forth with such imposing eloquence." 1 Timothy 1:5-7, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Romans 8:6, ESV

It's been quieter here this week than it has been since this wee blog was quietly started around 6 weeks ago, focussing on God's infinite love for us.  Amazing, incomprehensible, too-good-to-be-true love.

Initially, I thought it was because I had writer's block, but I realised it was something else entirely : my focus had shifted from God to me, and I hadn't even noticed.  It's exactly what Paul is talking about throughout Romans 7.

But he doesn't leave us hanging on our failings; He goes on to give us the answers in Romans 8.

Reading through these chapters again today, I felt overwhelmed with how much I'm loved, and the words that close out the chapter - "(nothing) fazes us because Jesus loves us" and "absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love" - remain true no matter what.

Even when I decide to take back the reins momentarily and start heading down a dead end street at a million miles an hour.  Because while self-obsession is a sure-fire way to sickness, God's obsession with me - the obsession that's so great He asked Jesus to take on what I deserved so I could have the life Jesus deserved - is a sure-fire way to an abundant life.  And nothing could be healthier.

"Obsession with self...is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life." Romans 8:6, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13, ESV

We've just wrapped up a 7 week series on the Cross - the ultimate demonstration of Love as Jesus laid down His life for us.  There's no more work to do - He's finished it all.  All that's left is for us to let ourselves be loved by Him; there's nothing He wants more.  It's got nothing to do with our effort, and everything to do with His grace.

There's no greater love.

"This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends." John 15:13, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" Ephesians 3:20, ESV

The human mind has come up with some pretty amazing things : skyscrapers, airplanes, pyramids, cities, engines, computers...the list is virtually endless.

The mind of God trumps it all though.  Apart from anything else, it's His mind that created ours.

But more mindblowingly amazing than any of that is realising just how much God loves you, and letting Him get on with loving you far more abundantly than you can ever dream. Because then the world can truly be changed as He gently lets you truly realise that there is nothing you need to do but accept Him completely.

Such love!

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us." Ephesians 3:20, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:44-48, ESV

Jesus tells us that if we only love those who love us back, we are no different from the people who don't know Him or love Him. If all we do is show love to people in the hope of personal gain or because we know they care for us, there is nothing to distinguish us from the world.

What makes us stand out is when we love our enemies.

What makes a difference is if we bless people when they curse us; wanting the best for them when they don't care for us.

We are distinct when we pray for people, even when they hurt and wrongly criticise us.

Why should we do that? As Jesus was being nailed to the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing." By association with Christ, there is an expectation that we live in a better way. When we realise what was given to us at the cross - our adoption into God's family, His inheritance, His grace, His unlimited love, our very identity....we become an extension of His kingdom, His hands and His feet. And when we struggle to love the unlovable, it's good to remind ourselves just HOW much Christ loves us, even in our darkest moments..

" I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." Matthew 5:44-48, MSG

Note for users of the Exchange Church phone apps : you may need to click on the title above to see the whole post

"...we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved."Ephesians 2:3-5, ESV

So many of us still have a picture of a vengeful God in our minds, a kind of either/or situation, where God responds if we do X,Y & Z correctly, and shuts up shop, divinely speaking, if we don't QUITE get the formula right or unlock the magic code.

When we consider the love of God, we put it into a similar framework - "well God won't love me now", "God loves that person more", "I need to make Him love me more", or even "He loves me but not you".

So think about it...when DID God start loving you? When you said the sinner's prayer? When you started serving in church? When you started being nicer to people and more loveable? When you became perfect (not likely, I know!)? Do we think that God looks at us and thinks, "Aww, they are just the sweetest, best-behaved bunch; I'm going to love them!"?

No. When we were dead in our sins and the blackness of life, Christ died for us.

While we were far from Him, He loved us.

Before our performance. Despite the churchy mask.

Before we felt that the way to blessing was full of legal requirements.

He has loved us forever. He has never NOT loved us. He will never not love us! Through this love, our lives are no longer dictated and dominated by our former lives, our fleshly desires. Through Christ, the blinkers have to come off as we realise God's intent towards us. Our new birth connects us inextricably to Christ. HE did it. He sought us out for reconciliation. It was by His grace. Not formula, not law.

Accept that you are loved incredibly.

"We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us!"Ephesians 2:3-5, MSG