Category: Christian Thoughts

Joseph went from prisoner to prime minister perhaps within an hour?

The Lord had prepared him though through all he went through over the years since the pit.

The point being what? The Lord has ways of working things out we might never understand. Things can take years to be worked out, but at the right moment, change can come in an instant.

Joseph’s brothers throwing him into that pit was not their initial plan… it was God’s intervention for Joseph and in the end, for them too.

The point being? Even things that seem bleak and hopeless, no… even things that are bleak and hopeless… because sometimes that’s the reality… think of Jacob’s reaction when the brothers told him what had happened to Joseph… the Lord is able to miraculously turn around for good in the end.

The lesson? Two of them for me… enjoy the good moments “in the moment”… things can change at any time… don’t lose hope in bad moments…. things can change at any time.

Such a big part of life is truly not in our hands.
Change happens whether we like it or not… it’s only unquestioning trust in a faithful God that can see us through. Help me Lord to trust without question!!

• Mark Saunders

The word of the Lord desires us to be “hot, cold, but not lukewarm.”

Having zeal is good… but it doesn’t mean we act in our own strength.

Our own strength often makes zero difference in the kingdom of God… except to make problems.

Zeal needs to be tempered with patience. Everything has its time.

Keeping our lives on the altar means waiting for the Lord to open doors… the irony of which is that we often learn this by getting the timing of things wrong… in our zeal, doing the right thing at the wrong time and in our own strength.

Personally I’ve done that many times… it often means making a mess.

But the Lord is faithful and gracious… especially with our sincere intentions.

Take heart, the Lord is above our mistakes… He teaches us a lot through mistakes.

• Mark Saunders

Ambassadors to represent a glimmer of the Lord’s heart… Jesus left us a message, the Holy Spirit, His spiritual and ministry giftings and a commission as His followers.

The message of the cross can’t be learned like memory verses. It permeates our lives, marinating us so to speak… giving us a flavor that is different to the world.

It’s that message we need to allow access to… to hear it, to accept it, to live it… by His grace.

It’s a message that is no respecter of persons. It levels evenly… to become a firm foundation for us.

This message doesn’t tickle ears, it saves souls. It’s the means by which we have the opportunity to live out our salvation – with increasing respect for the dealings of God in our lives.

This message “peels away the man of the flesh” to leave a tender heart – one that can reflect for others something different to the what the world offers … the love of God.

• Mark Saunders

The value of people… Jesus, the express image of God, when He walked in person among men… the impression we’re left with from the gospels is that He “saw people.”

Immanuel, God with us, saw into hearts.

He saw through sin, past it… seeing the value of the sinner… wanting restoration above condemnation.

Each life is precious to the Lord. We can never as followers of Jesus “write someone off.”

Our great challenge is not to be powerful preachers, miracle working prophets, or learned Bible scholars… it’s to carry the same heart for people as Jesus does… or at least the smallest glimmer of it.

…It’s not to build ministries… it’s to have the heart of the Lord for people… who meets us where we’re at… broken… he doesn’t leave us there but invites us to leave our “state” behind and follow Him… follow Him on a journey of restoration.

Ours is to be ambassadors of that heart, pointing others… when we can… to the same hope we’ve found.

Each life is precious.

• Mark Saunders