Anointed to Act
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
The anointing of the Holy Spirit (when God's Spirit enters our body); instantly prepares us to do God's work, when required. God's Spirit is equally designed for action as it is for teaching and heart blessing. Jesus was always ready to use these powers whenever opportunities arose. LUK 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Similarly, we only need some healthy motivation to allow the spirit to move as well.
Connecting God And You
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
The hardest thing about making a connection with God lies in the fact that this world mocks and scorns anyone who mentions any belief or evidence of a creator. We are pressured from birth not to even consider,anything relating to God or creation. A quick search on Google reveals the real failings of our 'enlightened' and 'modern' culture. There is not the slightest concern about death or its effects on our soul... the top ten problems facing humanity don't even consider death or the state of the dead. It is a conspiracy of silence and if you dare ask the wrong questions you face the scorn of society. Yet, only the right question can get the right answer.
Hard Sayings Reveal Easy Solutions
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Lack of action is simply the gap between motivation and commitment. We all get good ideas and many have wonderful moments of clarity and purpose, but all that needs to be turned into actions. When it comes to matters of scripture and servitude with God, the answers are already there and are actually easier to perform than most realize. These notes take us through a step by step guide to turn hard saying into easy solutions. JER 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. God reminds us that he is on our side and wants to support us.
When Things Go Wrong
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Astronaut and artist Alan Bean died in May this year at age 86. He was the fourth human to walk on the moon as part of the crew of Apollo 12, and spent 31 hours on the lunar surface in the 2nd moon mission 1969. Alan Bean's first space launch has gone terribly wrong after less than a minute; the craft had been hit by lightning twice. Despite flashing warning lights all over the control panels, he could see the batteries were still putting out the required power. He kept repeating this to his crew and mission control as the team scrambled to determine what happened and what to do. The ground suggests resetting the seemingly ailing systems, but Bean hesitates. "One of the rules of space flight is you don't make any changes to an electrical system unless you've got a good idea why you're doing it," he will later say. "I knew we had power, so I didn't want to make any changes. I figured we could fly into orbit just like that. We've all learned that by randomly switching the electrical system around, you can get yourself into more trouble."
Blessing Roundup
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Every blessing promised in the bible is there for us to take the advantage... however, it is always a choice we need to make and act on!! The following list of seven actions may well prove to be helpful to stimulate your mind into more effective living.
The Battle for Jerusalem
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Jerusalem has a history with God like no other city in the world. King David conquered Jerusalem (city ofpeace) also called city of David, approx. 1000bc and made it the capital of the Jewish kingdom. His son,Solomon, built the first Holy Temple 40 years later, with the Holy Spirit power and fire confirming God'sphysical connection with humanity (2CHR 7:1). The Holy Spirit appeared again in Jerusalem on the day ofPentecost (50 days after the veil was torn): in a temple prayer room, this time entering the bodies of thefaithful, not the holiest of holies... the New Testament now replaced the old. NB., Jesus was also murdered inJerusalem (God's chosen city); rejected and condemned by the Jews, crucified by the Romans.
Trained To Be Victims
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
There is no one who achieves 100% of their human possibility, whether it be genetic, intellectual, economic, self worthor romance. All of us suffer from being potentially short changed in one area or another. Thus we have two choices...move forward, or become victims. There is also a spiritual side to all of us, which we cannot naturally ever measure up to. God reveals how we can improve ourselves, but that means taking personal responsibility of our lives and make improvements. When God is not allowed to be part of any solution, then victimhood is the only outcome, because eventually all people die. Those who ignore God are the victims, deceived by sin. By refusing to allow God's power to bea solution, death becomes their choice.
God's Love Is Greater Than You
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
When we talk about the love of God; many rightly feel safe and secure in the gracious comfort and merciful forgiveness, which is far above our personal capacity. God is far more capable than we are, thus as Christians we endeavour to love and think more like Christ would have us do. The trouble with this is, we often can miss why he has shown his love towards us... we focus on his love, but often miss why he has revealed it to us. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit to demonstrate God's love, not just feed on it. His love goes far beyond his personal and touching care for us. He also cares for the rest of the world and wants us to do our bit in sharing the gospel with the unsaved as well. Should we miss this second part of God's love, we also miss the overcoming nature of our existence. Even worse, we also miss numerous blessing and can feel unfulfilled.
Serving God Never Got Easier
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Many people, including numerous Christians, falsely believe that serving God is a difficult and demanding task... this is not the case. God has never made it easier to prove his existence, to develop a working relationship with him and to build a quality life. This is made all the more easier by following a few well proven steps. Nothing workable happens until the Holy Spirit enters our bodies as this is the key to a successful relationship with God. The Holy Spirit is the source of power for every blessing and the key to all worthwhile knowledge. God's power also makes it possible to succeed despite our obvious shortcomings and personal weaknesses. The greatest power of the Holy Spirit lies in its ability to cleanse us of all sin and to maintain the cleansing process for our whole lives.
It is Finished
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
The death of Jesus Christ was much more than the removal of a 'religious competitor' for the Jews and far more beneficial for humanity than any other single event in history. Christ's sacrifice completed the Old Testament and introduced a foolproof plan for those seeking eternal life. JOH 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. It is over!!