Posts

Teaching

Acts 5:42 ESV And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. If we’re mocked, intimidated, imprisoned, and martyred for our faith, our gut reaction might be to pack it in. We’re not to go with our guts but with our spirits. The early church prayed for boldness and received it. Not only was the early church bold, but they were zealous. They didn’t slack in their mission to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. At every opportunity they ‘gossiped the gospel’. In addition to zeal, the early church was faithful to her calling from Christ to make Him known. They didn’t let opposition stop them. They persevered in their mission. Also, the early church was strategic. They didn’t rely on leaflets, but face to face encounters, to make Christ known. They didn’t leave door to door evangelism to the cults. ‘Lord, make us bold to proclaim You for Your honour, amen’.

Two Ways to Live: A Talk on Psalm 1

 https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robert-chamberlain/episodes/Two-Ways-to-Live-A-Talk-on-Psalm-1-e2hkjs7 Follow the link for a talk I gave on Psalm 1 on Spotify, about how there's ultimately Two Ways to Live :)

To my regular readers: please get in touch :)

 I get stats for my readership, which seem to suggest I have at least a couple of prolific readers, in Singapore and Hong Kong!  I would love to hear from my readers. You can either comment on my posts, or email wisdomsgates @ gmail.com (no gaps). Hope to hear from you soon :) God bless, Robert

Ask!

  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 ESV Taken out of context, we might assume that we can ask for a private jet and expect to receive it! In context, Jesus had cursed a fig tree which had withered. He had also told His disciples they could have the faith to cast a mountain down into the sea. The meaning of the context is that the Jewish people, by rejecting their Messiah, invited judgement on themselves. Only about 40 years later, the Jewish people were devastated by the Romans. The Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in A.D. 70 as they crushed a rebellion. By implication, I think Jesus was hinting to His disciples to pray for justice for the Jews who rejected Him. He also wanted them to pray for the vindication of their faith in Him. Old Testament Judaism is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus the Messiah. The temple in Jerusalem is no longer needed because God presences Himself with His people by His

Seek!

  Zephaniah 2:3 (ESV) Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. We’re not naturally in God’s good books. We need to seek after Him. We need to be restored to a right relationship with Him. God loves humility. God Himself is humble: He doesn’t think more highly of Himself than He ought. We ought to humble ourselves before Him. Righteousness/goodness/obedience/humility don’t come naturally to us. Yet they’re all important. We need to seek after such things; to have faith in God to credit such things to our bankrupt spiritual accounts. I like the fact that Zephaniah’s not presumptuous. God doesn’t owe it to us not to be angry at us. A day of wrath is coming, only if we seek to be hidden in Christ can we escape the righteous anger of God at our sinfulness. ‘Righteous Lord, may we seek You with all our hearts. Please humble us and make us righteous through

Holy

 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. LUKE 1:49 (ESV) Humanly speaking, God had made Mary’s life a whole lot more inconvenient. To be pregnant out of wedlock in her culture was taboo: even in those days a virgin birth was unheard of. Joseph needed a divine dream to reassure him that she was still okay to marry. Thankfully, Mary perceived what an amazing honour it was for a humble young lady like her to bear the Son of God. There wasn’t a hint of grumbling or even complaint from her. She was grateful for the Almighty’s work in her life. Mary knew she wasn’t anything particularly special. She needed Jesus as her Saviour as much as anyone else. She wasn’t naturally holy or great, but she knew God is. God is set apart from us, even the virgin Mary. He is the Holy One, not us, or Mary. We all need Him to be merciful to us. ‘Almighty Lord God, we praise You for the great things You’ve done for us and acknowledge Your holiness. For the honour of

Wonderful

  Isaiah 25:1 ESV O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. What an honour and privilege to be able to call the Lord our God, unworthy though we are! I’m sure the wonder of that wasn’t lost on David. God took him from tending sheep to shepherding His people of Israel as their king. God is worthy of our praise because He does wonderful things. For David, I’m sure he had in mind being taken from pastures to a palace. For us spiritually, we get taken from impending doom to an inheritance in glory. From eternity past, God intended to save for Himself a people. By Christ’s sacrifice we can wonderfully be saved. His death wasn’t plan B but God’s plan all along. God is faithful and sure. As such, His plans are also faithful and sure. He doesn’t give up on us and He know what He has in store for us, for our greater good. ‘Lord our God, we praise You for Your goodness to us in Christ

Witness

  To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Acts 10:43 ESV Peter was preaching to a Gentile Roman. He wasn't afraid to refer to the Jewish Scriptures however, because they validate his assertion. Cornelius was at least a God-fearer, so he was open to such a statement. All the prophets bear witness to Jesus. If we read Obadiah for example and can't find Jesus, we're not looking hard enough! Even Jesus on the Emmaus road took His disciples on a whistle-stop tour of the Old Testament and said it's all about Him. Take Habakkuk for just one example of many. He said that the righteous live by faith. That's quoted thrice in the New Testament, such a significant statement it is. The righteous live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In another quote by Habakkuk, the earth will be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea. There isn't a nation on earth without representatives

Reverence

  In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Hebrews 5:7 ESV Jesus is the only One whose prayers didn't need an intercessor, because He is the sinless Son of God. We do need a mediator. Thankfully Christ Himself is the Mediator between God and mankind. If we want to know how to pray, we would do well to consider Christ. A wrestling Jacob and a songwriting David have things to teach us about prayer. Jesus though is our ultimate example. We all want deliverance from death deep down. Even if we're suicidal, we don't want oblivion necessarily, but something other than what we're experiencing. If we cry out to God in sincerity, He will hear us. We're to be reverent in coming to God. We're not to be flippant or careless. We can't simply waltz into His presence. 'Our Father in heaven, please help us to be reverent an