Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

“I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten.”
Joel 2:25

The word restoration has been strongly on my mind of late. We all at some point will lose things, sometimes through no fault of our own, sometimes our own human nature has let us down and we might wonder if things can ever be the same again. We may think we have blown it altogether and are thinking of leaving the church, as we have failed as a Christian. God never gives up on us. He has promised “He will never leave you nor forsake you,” (Deuteronomy 31:6).  What kind of parent would we be, if one of our children had a weakness and because of this we discarded them? The word tells us, when we were still sinners Jesus chose to die for us (Romans 5:8).  We may give up on ourselves; give up on others, but God has paid so much for us, namely the precious blood of his son Jesus to ever give up on us.

We all need a second chance, but sometimes we need more than that. Our God is not only a God of second chances; but third, fourth, fifth… You may ask why?   The answer is simple; he wants us to get it right!   2^nd Peter 3:9 says: “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not  wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”  There is a lesson to be learned in all our trials, in time if you do not give up; you will learn the lessons.  Without a teachable attitude we will miss valuable lessons that God has for us, in order that he may give us back the years the locust have eaten.

In Hebrews 7:25 we read: “Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.”   That being the case then God has already made allowances for us to make mistakes; even the same mistakes, as we surely will, before we get it right. It is not for us to give up, because we have fallen more than once at a particular hurdle.

The locust may have visited you year after year leaving you scarred, wounded and battle weary, but God has given us this wonderful promise that he will restore the years the locust has eaten, “So do not throw away your confidence;  it will be richly rewarded,” (Hebrews 10:35).

One day you are going to get it right! And God is going to be there alongside you:  “rejoicing over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:17).  So let us go forward: “Forgetting what is behind I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 3:14)

Sandra Wylie

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “do not be afraid. I bring good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all men on whom his favour rests.”       Luke 2:8

Being a shepherd in Palestine at the time of Jesus wasn’t a job you would want; it was long hours, dangerous, it didn’t pay very well. It was regarded as something you did only if you couldn’t find anything else. Shepherds were regarded as the dregs of society next to thieves and murderers not to mention prostitutes. Add to this the fact they smelled of sheep, not the kind of people you would want to sit beside in church. With this thought in mind let us look at the night in question.

It must have been a night like many other nights with only the sound of  the sheep baaing in the distance. The shepherds minds may have been  filled with  thoughts of home and  loved ones. Maybe the only light they had was coming from the fires that they made to keep warm in the night watches and keep wild animals at bay. Suddenly  there appeared the angel of the Lord, God’s glory shinning all around, telling the shepherds the news of the Saviours birth.  If that wasn’t enough a great company of the heavenly host suddenly burst in on them praising God.  I doubt if the shepherds had ever heard heavenly voices before, or seen the night sky so lit up at night, for not even the starriest of nights could ever outshine the glory of God.

What a celebration! With only the shepherds as guests. The shepherds had never been in such good company, as the company of the heavenly host. With all this attention came an invite to see the Christ child. They were the first and only men invited to see the babe in a manger – what an honour. The shepherds of course responded to the invitation and made their way there. The shepherds were humble men, they were used to bowing down, but never like this, they had been left in no doubt who this baby was. I wonder if they noticed the conditions their saviour had been born into? Was there light in that stable apart from “The Light Of The World,” lying there in a manger?

Looked like heaven could not contain the news about God becoming man; fully God, fully man. The angel of the Lord could have told the high priests in the Sanhedrin first, you would have thought that would be the thing to do, but instead he told the humble shepherds. Why?  For God wanted his fellow shepherds to know first.  God had come that night as the Good Shepherd in person, to gather the lost of all of mankind to himself.  What a wonderful gift to all mankind. Merry Christmas.

The shepherds living in the fields watching their flocks by night
when the angel of the Lord appeared; His glory shining bright.
The shepherds they were so afraid, as the heavenly voices rang
telling of the birth of Christ, that God had come as man

O come let us adore him the shepherd voices sing
As they made their way to see the babe born to be king
Glory to God  in the highest, peace on whom his favour rests                                         For us a saviour has been born; through him all earth is blessed.

By Sandra Wylie

“When he ascended on high, He led captives
in his train and gave gifts unto men.”
Ephesians 4:8

The word tells us we all have God given gifts, albeit some are hidden, however it is our responsibility to find out what they are and use them for the glory of God, for the building up of God’s kingdom. How would you feel if you gave someone a gift that cost a great deal and they didn’t even bother to open it, or they opened it, never thought much of it, so it was left unused?

There are many reasons why we do not use our talents. Sometimes we are afraid of failure,  so we hold our talents back from ever  being used. We may only have the one talent and because of this we despise what we have and will not invest it in case we lose it. Or we could be lazy and lack the passion to use our gifts.  Some will make excuses and say they did not get the right opportunities to use their talents, however Proverbs 18:16 says: “A man’s gift makes room for him,” assuring us that our gift will be used if we are willing to let God use it.  Others suffer from the comparison syndrome you compare what you have to others and think it’s not good enough, however if you use it you may be surprised by results!

You may think your talents are not important in God’s kingdom, but you will never know what difference using your will make in someone’s life. All our talents are important, the reason being they are God given and God never gives us talents that we can’t use to further his kingdom.  God has given us so much therefore; we have so much to give. Our church is missing out when our talents are not used. In Luke 12: 47-48 it says: “For whomsoever much is given of him, much will be required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask more.”

God has a set plan for each of us this involves us using our talents for his purposes. Know what your gifts are and think where these gifts can best be used.  Not using your talents in church will leave you feeling frustrated. You may find yourself becoming discontent in church you may even decide to leave.  As in the natural, so in the spiritual, every talent unused will weaken and decay. Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” One way this happens is when you are using your talents. Activity is the law of life; idleness is death.

God has given us a mind and the ability to reason things out. Isaiah 1:8 says: “Come now,  let us reason together.” This is such an amazing statement, God is inviting us to come and reason with him, showing us that we have the ability to reason and discover the will of God in our lives. God has made every provision for us to be all we can be for his kingdom as well as the satisfaction we get in using our talents. God will use the talents you have; not the talents you do not have.

God is very practical as well as spiritual; these qualities work hand in hand together. Have you ever heard the saying: “Some Christians are too heavenly minded to be any earthly good?” Well there is something in that, so use your common sense. We all have some idea what we are good at; start from there.

By Sandra Wylie