The Anchor Church

Next Sunday I am hopefully going to follow God’s injunction to Moses about the Sabbath day being one of rest!For the past 3 months I have been planning and executing the national election campaign for a minor political party and by midnight next Saturday  I will know whether it has all been in vain or whether we help form a new Government in New Zealand (in which case Monday could be very
busy).

In reading Genesis chapters 1 and 2 this week, I wonder how God felt on his seventh day? He had surely had a very busy time up until then;-much busier than I have been, so he must have felt exhausted (or maybe not, given that he creates energy) but in Genesis 2.2 it says that “on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (of making things).

Every day up until then he had put a big tick against his creation-and he saw it was very good!!Do you feel that about everything you have done this past week or has it all been a bit mediocre?

By next Saturday at 7pm will you have put 3 big ticks where you know is right? Will you have voted for the right person to be our electorate representative, the right party to govern our land and the right choice of voting system for the long term so that you can rest well next Sunday?

God prepared well for his unique and wonderful creation, putting it in logical order and crowning it off with creating humans in His own likeness. Very shortly after that the pinnacle of His creation let Him down badly so he had to put in place His rescue plan for us all- His Son Jesus Christ.  This week let us prepare as best we can so that His will and purpose is done in the way New Zealand is governed

Have you ever sat down and listed all of your assets? Not just the financially costed ones, but all the others you have, like children, your wife/husband, your family connections, your memories etc. How much did you reckon they were worth?

What price do you put on your assets and wealth? Are they worth more than your faith in Christ? Are they really yours or just something you have temporary custody over whilst here on earth?

The Bible has a lot to say about assets and wealth, but this one in Paul’s notes to Timothy sums up a lot of the New Testament view: People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (NIV 1 Timothy 6:9-11)

If we were to apply this principle to New Zealand, what would we do about it- in our nation, in our homes and in our church?

Would we seek to accumulate wealth at this time? Would we cut down on our expenditure? Would we sell off things that aren’t perhaps necessary rather than things that are? What about selling TVNZ instead of electrical generating assets? What about selling off surplus goods at home and giving the proceeds to buy food for needy families? At least one Porirua food bank had nothing to give out this week.

Would we find ways of using time, one of our fastest diminishing assets, for those things that pursue righteousness, love, faith, etc?

Ask God to give you a rhema word today as you worship Him.

There is once again a move to reform our welfare system in New Zealand. As I pondered about this I wondered what kind of Kingdom welfare system has God already put in place for us? It‟s a pretty generous one by all accounts and fully sustainable too, so let‟s give Him the credit for it!

It started with His creation. He has actually made all that we need for sustainable living and put it fully under our control (Genesis 1), it‟s just that we  waste so much of it!  He then made sure that our spiritual and mental welfare is taken care of by providing His Word that will form a basis for proper education and guidance for living (2 Tim 3 v 16), but most of us don‟t read it and follow its instructions!

He continued by putting in place a substitutionary, free to us survival plan, centred on His Son, Jesus Christ, who ensured that once and for all we would not have to get punished for our sins (Colossians 1 v 19-21), so how come so many people don‟t take the offer up?

Lastly he invested the care and protection of everyone on earth to his new organisation- the Church -and gave them a new law to operate under -“Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12 v 31). Now that is radical but it is what we are all commanded to do, so how come it‟s not enough?

So rather than think about whether we need any new welfare packages between now and 26th November, let us all start by practising this law today – don‟t just ask someone “How are you?”, ask instead “Do you have anything that you need that I could help you with?” and be prepared to do something about it – that  will truly bring God the glory for his innovative plan.