A plane misconception is often made about why Jesus come into the world. This is that he came to put us right to tell us off for our sin. Let’s say this clearly. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn us, he came to serve us, and above all to take away our sins.

Jesus took the punishment for our sins; he stood in our place and was crucified on a cross so that Gods justice could be put on him. This is why we felt the need to write this article, Jesus came into the world not to condemn us but to save us. The scripture in John chapter 3 v 17 sums it up perfectly displayed below.

Even though Jesus took away our sins we should still do everything we can to overcome sin in our lives. However, we will stumble from time to time. Here is the next bit of good news for you, that for us who are saved and confessed Jesus as Lord of our lives there is no condemnation for us, as confirmed in the book of Romans displayed below.

This means when we mess up and we do fall into sin there is no condemnation for us. Jesus does not condemn us, Jesus took the punishment. What it does mean is we are forgiven of our sins past, present and future, and if you are stuck in sin get help, talk to a trusted friend, or church leader and keep trying to overcome sin, or even better pray to God and ask him to help you he can bring you the support you need.

So, lets conclude. Jesus came into the world to save us, to bring forgiveness for our sins and remove them as far as the east is to the west. But importantly so that we could be restored to the father and have a deep and meaningful relationship with him. So stop condemning yourself and know that you’re covered by Gods amazing grace.

The Bible is full of scripture telling us to praise God and to glorify him. There are two ways in which we can praise God, one in private and two, publicly. Lets look at examples starting in the book of Matthew looking at secret prayer and praise.

Matthew 6:6

6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

In your prayers you can thank God for good things he brings you to help you in your life, this sort of praise is what God looks for from a secret place. It is good to praise God in secret to ensure our motives are correct, if we praise God just to be seen by other people then there is a problem, our praises have to be genuine.

Next up we look at public praise in Psalm 22.

Psalm 22:22

“I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.”

This shows that it is perfectly fine to praise God in public as David did and as it says in Psalm 22v22 above.

Singing praises to God can also release spiritual blessings that can help you in your life. Lets look at an example of praises being given in the Bible and how it helped people, such as Paul and Silas who ended up in Prison as stated in the book of Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16v25-26

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

This is an extreme example, but it shows how praising God can deliver a miracle like it did for Paul and Silas. So, if you’re in an impossible situation start praising God, and if done authentically and with the correct motives a miracle could find you as well.

Let’s conclude

It is important that our praises to God are authentic. We do not praise God for the sake of wanting him to lavish us with material wealth. We praise God for who he is, a Holy God.

We are going to have a look at a scripture in the book of Matthew. Here it is.

Matthew 11 v 28-30

“28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Many Christians think this scripture means we will and should expect easy lives, like we will have no hard challenges in life. Why so? Because Jesus says his yolk is easy and burden is light right?

But in fact, this scripture comes into play when a situation in our lives becomes overwhelming, the scripture means when we are overwhelmed, we surrender it to Jesus in prayer, because he says come to me. What Jesus is saying is when we have a problem bigger than us, we can hand it over to Jesus.

Jesus is saying you should take your eyes off the problem, let Jesus deal with it, and in the meantime serve him and learn more about Jesus. But what does serving look like? It could be that you get involved with some church activity and serve in a welcome team, or volunteer to help out in some way. What do we mean by learn more about Jesus? It means attending church regularly and making sure you get to church to hear teaching that will help you learn more about Jesus, staying connected with the word of God.

In times of difficulty and crisis it is important not to isolate yourself, serving and attending church allows you to stay connected in the body of Christ, letting people know how you can be prayed for and to ensure you stay in an atmosphere of encouragement and positivity, which the church does provide or should provide.

Being on your own means you give the enemy room to attack you with all kinds of thoughts, here are examples of what the enemy could say, “you can’t get out of this situation”, or, “no one is going to help you”, by staying in touch with church family and friends it enables you to stay focused through a trial knowing that people are there for you and care about you, the enemy will find it much harder to dent your confidence when you stay connected knowing the promises of God, and allowing your church family to remind you about these promises.

What else does Matthew 11 v 28-30 mean. This scripture was given during the time of Jesus ministry. This was when the pharisee were putting the yokes of religion on people (harsh expectations), Jesus was also challenging religious institutions that put burdens on people that Jesus wants us to live free from.

Let’s conclude

Matthew 11 v 28-30 is all about laying problems at Jesus feet. It is not always about Jesus plonking you into a field of roses, on a beautiful blue-sky day to get rest, or even Jesus finding you a Royal Caribbean cruise for you to rest on. We are not saying you cannot go on holiday, it might well be you need a rest.

We are just saying the true meaning of Matthew 11v28-30 is, when things get to hard for us we have Jesus to turn to, and while trials and hardships are being sorted out, you should focus time on serving and learning more about Jesus.

How do we communicate with God? Does this sound like a dumb question? The most obvious answer is prayer, correct? What we are hoping to do with this article is to encourage people to get personal with God holding nothing back.

If you are angry about something, then offload it to God, if you are concerned about something then hand it to God. God is only to willing to hear every aspect of your life. Jesus will listen.

A good prayer life can solve a lot of problems in your life. God wants a relationship with you as he confirms in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 3:20

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Jesus will always be there for you, to hear your petitions. There is no problem too big or too small for Jesus. It could be that you need the weather to be sunny for an event, or you need some extra finances to pay the bill’s, Jesus takes delight in every area of your life and wants to hear your prayers, so communicate with him and don’t hold back, whatever it is pray and he can answer your prayers. Praying will enable you to have a deep and intimate relationship with God.

If you would like to know more about the Christian faith, why not visit us at Church. We have a family service taking place every Sunday morning. We provide free refreshments from 10.45am with our service starting at 11.15am. Come along you will be warmly welcomed.

If you need examples of just how emotional you can be with God, then the Psalms are a great place to start. David who wrote most of the Psalms often poured out his emotions to God, he is known to be one of the most emotional men in the Bible. Let’s see an example.

Here are scriptures from Psalm 55 where David is pouring out negative emotions.

“My heart pounds within me; death’s terrors fall upon me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me; shuddering sweeps over me. I say, “If only I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and find rest.”

Not only did David pour out his negative emotions but his happy ones too, here is an example in Psalm 65.

“Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. You who answer prayer, to you all people will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.”

We have recently written an article asking the question about whether we are being personal enough with God? Well again we want to show you through the Psalms that you can display emotion with God and you should not be afraid too.

Tell God what is bothering you, what are you angry about? or whatever emotion you have that you find hard to deal with hand it over to God, he can help you.

Pray and tell God what you need, what makes you tick. Ask him to help you and your prayers will be heard by God, then wait for answers. Paul sums it up in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4 v 6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

So if you are not praying enough have a go at getting into a routine of being more prayerful, and if you are praying keep up the good work.