The Rogue Pilgrim

Hi peeps, this page has been allowed to slide. From now on I will be posting updates about what's happening, thoughts I have for discussion and generally doing mh best to break down some sacred cows.

ADVENT 1.

Advent is a time where we look to the coming King. Where we sing or scream "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

"Awaken! Remember that God comes! Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, now! The one true God, "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", is not a God who is there in Heaven, unconcerned with us and our history, but he is the-God-who-comes, not tomorrow, not next week, he is here in the dirt and mire of our lives right now"

So here is a list of scripture we are using this coming week. Please take the time to read and digest.

Isaiah 64:1-9
64:1 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence--

64:2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil-- to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!

64:3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

64:4 From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.

64:5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.

64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

64:7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.

64:8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

64:9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth

80:2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!

80:3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

80:4 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

80:5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.

80:6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.

80:7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

80:17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.

80:18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.

80:19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9
1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus,

1:5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind--

1:6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you--

1:7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mark 13:24-37
13:24 "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,

13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

13:26 Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory.

13:27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

13:28 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.

13:29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

13:30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.

13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

13:32 "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

13:33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.

13:35 Therefore, keep awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn,

13:36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.

13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

This Sunday we look at being prepared for the coming Messiah.

We are out in the wilderness listening to John the Baptist shouting for repentance and proclaiming the coming Messiah.

We today are taught to prepare our hearts and lives for this coming Messiah, we are told to be prepared. Are we? Are we with Mary preparing for the birth of Jesus, in the same way she was preparing for the birth of Jesus, we should be preparing for the coming King.


ISAIAH 40v 3-5

3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

ISAIAH 11vv1-10

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

LUKE 1 vv 26-36

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

PAX

ADVENT 3..... JOY

Firstly apologies for the abrupt end to the video, its fairly obvious why.

Today we will be looking and using Matthews account of the nativity. This is a long read so I'm going to post the scripture reference to give you time to read it.

We see in Matthews story that the Magi brought three gifts to Jesus. These were not just random things, they has a prophetic edge to them.

GOLD: Represents the kingship of Christ, also it was a custom to give Gold to a king when visiting him.

FRANKINCENSE: is an aromatic resin that is still widely used in parts of the Middle East and Africa today. When burned as incense, it creates a strong and beautiful aroma. The burning of frankincense was closely associated with the ceremonial worship of a deity. In this way frankincense as a gift for Jesus may have indicated that the wise men understood that the prophecy of the newborn king carried with it a claim of deity. We also have a connection to the temple and the burning of it from archelogical records.

MYRRH: again like the previous gift Myrrh is a fragrant spice. In the ancient world it also had a far wider use as a perfume, anointing oil, and was even used as a medicinal tonic. Most notably with regard to Jesus’ life, Myrrh was a key ingredient in the mixture of spices that were used to prepare bodies for burial (John 19:39-40). Perhaps the wise men intended this gift as an indication of Jesus’ humanity and the manner in which he would save his people, that he would die for them (Isaiah 53:5).

The three gifts all have a temple connection, in Exodus 30 we see that Myrrh was used to prepare the priests, the instruments, the Altar and the temple itself. These gifts as they may seem random actually point to Jesus as king, Messiah, the chief High priest. The ultimate sacrifice to God on our behalf.

Today is a joyous day, within Advent 3rd Sunday Jesus is born. JOY TO THE WORLD, THE KING IS COME
Scripture readings

Psalm 146 vv 5-10

Matthew 1:18-2:23.

PAX.

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THE SUPERNATURAL LOVE OF
THE GODHEAD:

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5 )



When Almighty God became your Father, we are told that God is love, (1 John 4:8) This means that you are the love outcome of God's love for you. You are born of God and his Spirit and as God is love, you are born again/saved because of God's love.

Here is the thing if the indwelling spirit of God lives in you, it's not possible to be a part of God's love that dwells within you and not have a brand new love in our hearts for all people, yes all people. The drunk, the drug addict, the murderer the W***e etc.

As the Scripture that opens this says

"the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us."

If you look at it another way, the love of God is put into us, placed into us by the power of the Spirit. Its living and breathing or at least it should be.

Let's be honest most if not all of us at times do not walk in love to the degree that the scriptures says that we can and must, but that love is still there living inside of us, each and everyone of us. This love is dormant in many of us as we don't see people as Jesus sees them. We see them with our biases, so in all honesty we look and see the sin and not the person, we see what they do and not who they are. The Spirit inside of us, God's Spirit, looks differently and so should we if we claim to be followers of Christ.

God's family is a love family, its love that held Jesus on the Cross, his love cries from his blood. Love is meant be the basis for all we think, say and do. As Believers we are actually commanded to love other believers, treat them with respect even if their particular brand of Theology is different to our own. When we start to insult other believers, we insult the image of God and the Spirit of God that is within them. You are railing against another Saint, we get enough of that from the world and we sure as heck should not be adding to it.

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another." (John 13:34-35)

These are the words of our King, they are the words of Jesus Himself and we do well to take heed of them.

" I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best--the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that." (Matthew 5:44-46)

It takes God Spirit in us to love like this, it's genuinely supernatural, because we really can't love that way of ourselves. It takes a supernatural input, it takes that power of God that loved you and saved you and lives in us to love that way.

It's our choice on how we decide to love. If we decide " nah it's ok, I'm not gonba do it" that's our choice, it's our choice to s***f our that love and quench God's Spirit in us. We have the choice, God has given us the way to do it, presented it on a plate to us, we decide if we are going to dive in. Yes it's hard when we have been hurt in any form to love like this, but it's what we are called to do and it's one of the reasons the Spirit lives in us.

Romans 5vv 6-8
Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

"Jesus' unconditional love for us is what hooked us and reeled us in. His unconditional love demonstrated through us is what will hook the lost people of the world and reel them in. This is what He meant when He said, "Follow Me and I'll make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)

We will suffer with Christ as we walk in love, we will feel what he feels if we are truly living in him and the Spirit. The heartbreak he feels for the lost should manifest itself in us, in an outpouring of his love from us. towards the unlovable sinful people we come into contact with.



There is suffering and sacrifice involved when we choose to lay down our own wills in order to reach others with the message of Jesus Christ. There will be if we are living it and not just paying lipservice to it.

IDEAS TO HELP US.

Take your bible and meditate on scripture that talks of God's perfect all encompassing love.

Pray for yourself to be able to forgive those that have wronged you
NB: This does not mean they get away with it, it means you are not carrying it around with you and letting it put you back into bo***ge to hurt and hate.

Tell someone you know that you love them, live that love out. It could just be a simple thing like a text or similar to ask how they are. It could mean you getting their shopping, babysitting for the single mum so she can go out for an evening with friends.

Learn to live in an unconditional love mindset. This is the hardest one as it requires us to in some cases undo years of teaching and work on ourselves and admit that we could have been less than loving, wrong and could have and do better. Though as much as this one is the hardest, it's also the easiest IF we surrender completely to God's Spirit within us.

PAX

All scripture from the Message paraphrase.