MetCPA

Supporting officers and staff to be the best that they can be

John 10

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Monday 22nd May 2017

Today’s exhortation – soul hurts cont.

As we continue to look at soul hurts, we must be aware that some soul hurts can go back as far as our childhood. A toddler who wasn’t hugged or cuddled, a child never made to feel special, a child called abusive names such as fat, ugly, stupid etc can be made to feel insecure and have a low self esteem of themselves resulting from the soul hurts. Children failing to meet parents expectations, family arguments are all egs. Some of the consequences of soul hurt are, feelings of shame, vulnerability, hopelessness, restricted growth, anger/disappointment with God, blocked emotions and hurt people projecting their hurt on others (the woman who never trusts men because of being cheated). The list is endless…

God has the power to heal all these and is willing to. The Lord said, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). A soul hurt robs us of living life more abundantly! Here’s the thing, forgiveness plays a BIG part of healing of the soul. So unforgiveness can be a hindrance in receiving healing. Also, unconfessed sin, blocked emotions, major fears, anger are all interferences in receiving healing. But thank God for His Holy Spirit, He helps us in our weaknesses and helps us in these areas. Without Him forgiveness and letting go of anger will be too hard for us. Try and sit down today and pray and ask Him to help you make a list of all the hurts in your soul starting from the present. One liners like, “the time he/she said or did.” We’ll go through what to do next tomorrow. Have a blessed start to your week.

Francis Hans-Jorie

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Wednesday 8th March 2017

Today’s exhortation – don’t self harm

There’s a cry for help amongst us that often goes unnoticed and it is “self-harming.” I have good news for anyone who self-harms, Jesus has paid the price for everything you feel guilty about and for the emotional pain or trauma to your soul. He says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew‬ ‭11:28). You may think that the best way to deal with your pain or trauma from things like failure, shame, guilt, sex abuse, drug abuse etc is by self harming, but that’s not true. Jesus has taken care of everything so you don’t need to punish yourself or deal with your pain in your own strength.

The bible says, “He is a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah‬ ‭53:3-5‬). He said “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (John‬ ‭10:10‬). He came “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. To console all who mourn and provide for those who grieve. To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…”” (Isaiah‬ ‭61:3‬). Amen

Francis Hans-Jorie

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A Christmas Message

Today’s exhortation – reason for the season

Christmas has become about many things but, Jesus is the reason for the season! He is the gift God kept wrapped for thousands of years until 2000 years ago. What does this gift mean to us? He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10). He came to to heal the brokenhearted, for the recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; (‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬). He came to take away our griefs and carry away our sorrows; To take away our transgressions and iniquities and to give us peace and healing. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭4-5‬). He also came to console those who mourn, to give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭3‬).

The custom for birthdays is that we give gifts to the person who’s birthday is being celebrated. Today we celebrate Jesus’ birthday and the best gift we can give Him is our lives. All He wants for Christmas is you! While you celebrate His birthday today, May The Lord Himself be a wall of fire around you and your family (Zechariah 2:5). If you’re by yourself, you’re not really alone because Jesus’ says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” May He wrap His arms around you and make His presence real to you. Merry Christmas!

Francis Hans-Jorie

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Reflection October 2016

Why does it always rain on me?

God Saved Us from Sin

At one time you were dead because of your sins. You followed the sinful ways of the world and obeyed the leader of the power of darkness. He is the devil who is now working in the people who do not obey God. At one time all of us lived to please our old selves. We gave in to what our bodies and minds wanted. We were sinful from birth like all other people and would suffer from the anger of God.

But God had so much loving-kindness. He loved us with such a great love. Even when we were dead because of our sins, He made us alive by what Christ did for us. You have been saved from the punishment of sin by His loving-favour. God raised us up from death when He raised up Christ Jesus. He has given us a place with Christ in the heavens. He did this to show us through all the time to come the great riches of His loving-favour. He has shown us His kindness through Christ Jesus.

For by His loving-favour you have been saved from the punishment of sin through faith. It is not by anything you have done. It is a gift of God. It is not given to you because you worked for it. If you could work for it, you would be proud. We are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this. Ephesians 2 1-10

So why does it rain on me? Is it because I lied when I was seventeen- This is a line from a song by Travis from 1999- have you ever felt that it always seems to rain on you? How many of us associate rest days or weekends off with bad weather and working days with the two days of summer we get in the UK?

Sometimes it seems that we have to ‘pay for’ the good things that happen by experiencing the bad- It was hot and sunny on my last rest weekend so I should expect this one to be rainy’

It is very easy to get drawn into this thinking when we consider our own lives, the lives of our family or close friends when things happen to us or them. We can get drawn into the belief that in some way we have to pay for the good that God bestows on us by accepting a bit of bad as well- For example- you may think that God has made you ill because someone in your family is massively successful at work or in the sport that they take part in- you hear yourself thinking ‘Is God punishing me because of their success?’

It is almost like we think that there is a large cupboard in Heaven marked ‘Good things’ that has a finite amount of good for God to give out…. And when it is gone it is gone; and once it is gone we feel in some way God has to in some way restock it by taking back the gifts he has given to others. Or that in some way God has to ‘balance the books’ between good and bad by handing out some illness, loss or ill fortune to keep everything in order……

Well I firmly believe that this is not how our father in Heaven works at all! We shouldn’t try and measure God by our own understanding because simply put God doesn’t work the way we do- God is gracious and giving without measure and taking away the gifts we have been given out of spite or because ‘he can’ is not in that nature; in Psalm 103 we read:

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:10-13)

When we think about loss or ‘bad fortune’ we often think about the bible story of Job.  In Job, we see a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God. Its purpose is to illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering.

But what if you have suffered loss, like Job? He lost his health, his wealth, and his family. The temptation may be to blame God for your loss, as if God had a change of heart. But God is not fickle. He does not change like shifting shadows. He is an extraordinary giver who never takes back his gifts.

“God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty – never cancelled, never rescinded.” Romans 11:29, MSG

So if God is doing the giving, who is doing the taking?  Jesus provides the answer- The Enemy-

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

We ought not to be confused about these two different roles. One is a giver, the other is a taker. If you have been given something good, then give thanks to God. But if you’ve been robbed, don’t blame God. He’s not behind your loss.

Karma versus Grace

If you think that God gives and takes away, then you may have missed the point of Jesus. Jesus came to reveal a generous Father and to destroy the work of the Thief (1 John 3:8). Jesus came that we might have life to the full, not to the half.

If you think that God gives and takes away, then you have more faith in karma than grace. Karma says what goes around comes around. If you’re healthy now, you’ll likely be sick tomorrow. If you’re prospering now, poverty’s waiting just around the next corner. When disappointments and hardships come, you won’t be surprised. You’ll just throw in the towel and say, “I knew it was too good to last.”

The world works according to the principle of give and take, but God just gives. The only thing he’ll take off you – if you let him – is your sin, your shame, your sickness, your worries and your fears. He takes away those things that harm us and only gives us good things that bless us.

God Bless

Keith