We are blessed today to have share with us Nick Robins who is the Development Officer for Bible League in Southeast Queensland.

In the last week before the crucifixion, Jesus shared what is known as the Olivet Discourse, the name given to the orderly and extended teaching given by Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives. In this teaching Jesus discusses a topic that makes us as Christians very parochial in our views and weighs it with a parable of the wise and foolish virgins.

In Corinthians the Apostle Paul writes and prays that we be strengthened with power through God's Spirit to our inner man. We all face this battle between our flesh and our spirit and temptation is impartial, it will reach out to anyone and the bible shows us that there are three types that affect us all.

Lust of the flesh - What do you need?

Lust of the eyes - What do you want?

Pride of Life - Who are you?

As born-again believers we need to have a high view of the divine inspiration of scripture, as high as Jesus’ view was. But our ultimate preoccupation should not be with the scripture itself but with the Christ to whom the scriptures point us to.

Church history has always shown the same thing. Once the high view of scripture has been abandoned by any group, any denomination, any church the downhill slide of it’s theology and practice into worldliness, compromise and error is inevitable.

Hebrews 4:13 tells us - "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." God is the God of the unexpected, at least from our perspective. God is near and far at the same time and encourages us to never be afraid of the unexpected because so often it's how He grows us and at the centre of any unexpected moment we find Jesus is there with us.

Jesus came to identify himself with us so that we may have a new identity with him. We can identify with him reversing the 'Who told you' from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. If we truly know who we are following, who we belong to then the how of denying ourselves and losing our lives can be trustingly be placed in His hands. Jesus Christ is our Who.

Ps Col Stringer shares with us a great word about the grace of God.

Did you know most Christians believe the phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is in the bible, but it's not. We all live in a world where the value we place on what is good is based on our own ideology. Jesus was confronted by a man who asked him what he had to do to be good and Jesus responds with the words "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God."