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READING THE BIBLE……MORE
Many things in the bible still remain hidden although we might have read Genesis to Revelation many times. I keep discovering new things each time I read over the scriptures and that encourages me to keep reading. The main way to learn about God is by delving in the Word and the way to go about it is by committing to some daily reading time.
I believe that the Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher, so be encouraged to say a prayer before reading the bible. The Holy Spirit will bring knowledge, revelations and a deeper understanding of how God function and what He expects of us. Reading the Word regularly will also help in the building of a strong personal relationship with God.
In Matthew 4 and beginning at verse 1, we see Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, but before this could happen, God used the forty days fast to fortify Jesus. The devil proceeded to tempt Jesus and failed. Similarly, God removed the hedge from around Job so that the devil could severely test Him (Job1:6-12), the devil lost. The devil thought he had won the greatest battle when he set in motion Jesus’ crucifixion but he lost, for there was the resurrection.
Interestingly, the demons and devils seems to recognize Jesus as the Son of God much more than the Jews did (Matthew 8:28-29) and (Matthew 3:11). The Pharisees and Scribes sought to kill Jesus when He told them that He was the Son of God, healed the sick on the Sabbath or forgave their sins.(Matthew 2:5-7).
The men of God in the bible was used by God extensively. Some men of God today seems to feel that they can use God!, and they do try. They prophecy in the name of the Lord even when He has not spoken to them. They take material gifts even when they should not, expecting God to sanctify same. They shame persons into giving more money as offering than they wanted to and then proceed at times to set up businesses for themselves. These are some of the reasons why there are so much disunity and confusion in the churches. Church doctrines are good to a point but when they circumvent or superimpose the Word of God then they become blasphemous. We must humble ourselves before God.
Bruce Campbell
17/2/2025.
ISAIAH 58
PART 1
Isaiah 58 begins with a call to warn. This is not a “praying in your closet” time and definitely not a quiet prayer time. Verse one says, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins”.
The call to warn is not for every person. Just like everything that we do for God, there must be gifts, purpose, a call, a sending and there must be the anointing to function in the various areas. So while the judgement ( the taking action part ) always reside with God, if we are to show His people their transgressions or their sins, then we have to diligently qualify ourselves in God. We have to fight hard to get out the wrong stuff from inside of ourselves and replace these with the precepts of God.
The simple truth is that we have to fix ourselves up with the help of God, so we will be better able to help others fix themselves for the better.
PART 2
We should not be going after pleasures or be labouring as normal when we fast as per the last line of Isaiah 58:3, or as per Isaiah 58:4. There are times however, when we need to fast, but we also have to work.
In Isaiah 58:5 the Lord instructs us how we should not behave when we fast and then tells us what the focus should be when He calls a fast. Be reminded that there are other excellent things that He would have us fast for on other occasions. Our focus with respect to Isaiah 58, however, is on others, those who need help the most.
Heavenly Father, loose the bands of wickedness and set the captives free. Break every yoke and provide for Your people in every way, in Jesus Christ’s name, amen.
PART 3
Isaiah 58:5-7 is where God wanted a special fast to be done. A fast to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to break every yoke and to let the oppressed go free, to pay special attention to the poor and to attend to their needs.
This particular fast is the qualifier to what God says will happen in verses 8 and 9. ” Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee: the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.” Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer ; thou shall cry, and He shall say , here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;”.
Whatever we do for people, we must do it as if it is unto God. Be at peace and allow God to work.
Bruce Campbell
11.02.2025.
THE ISAIAH 54 WOMEN
Isaiah 54 is about God prophesying through Isaiah to barren women. This is a topic that normally brings some discomfort and even pain when it is discussed, but God makes provisions and is marvellous in all His ways.
In Isaiah 54:4-7, God gets real personal with these ladies, 4)” Fear not; for thou shall not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shall not be put to shame: for thou shall forget the shame of thy youth, and shall not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore. 5) For thy maker is thy husband; the Lord of host is His name; and thy redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called. 6) For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in Spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou was refused, saith thy God.
God promises to make the barren women’s windows and gates out of precious stones (verse 12). God’s glory comes when we do His will, when we are obedient. God is saying to the barren women, today as in verse 1,” Sing, o barren thou that didst not bear ; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
God is saying to these ladies that there are many children out there that are not of your womb but they belong to Him and that you are to treat them as your own. God shall then declare as in verse 17, ” No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.
God is standing right there with His hands outstretched….. Amen
Bruce Campbell
12/2/25
OUR CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHOICES WE MAKE
Principles, morality and our conscience are what guide our thought process but especially our actions. Persons believe that there are no absolutes in this life, except for death. So it is with this in mind that I will explore two subjects; that of the jobs that we take or not take, and the need to carry a weapon to protect ourselves.
Our qualifications or our professional area of studies does not necessarily determine which company we work for, or even in which country we work. Many Christians will not take up a job offer in a place of gambling, a bar, as entertainment coordinators in hotels or a whorehouse, although some do and justify it by saying they have to survive. The question is where do we draw the line?
We draw the line where we have made up our minds to draw it. The line is the standard that is in all our lives, and this standard can either be raised or lowered. We can, for example, decide to please God more by making up our minds not to steal, not to lie or to corrupt others, or be corrupted ourselves. We would then have raised the standard in our own lives. Many persons are cautious of raising the standard, as they feel that by so doing, they may become targets, as they decide not to accept bribes or a corrupt gift.
I have made up my mind not to accept certain jobs or gifts, no matter how hard it gets, unless God says I am to accept. My standard includes not telling lies or to take things unless it is given, even if these are considered insignificant.
In the year 2003, at the age of forty three, I became a born again christian (repented and was baptized) and my awareness of God has increased dramatically, as I read the Word, fasted and prayed. Prior to this, I always drove around with a sharpened cutlass to protect myself and my family. I would also go to sleep with the cutlass underneath my bed. All of this stopped after reading some of the following scriptures: 1) Matt. 16:25, “For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” 2) Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him (God).” 3) James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
I have learnt and lived through absolute faith. Absolute faith happened in my case when every dollar from my finances dried up, and everybody around me who could or would normally help, could not! The tyres on my vehicle needed replacing, one tyre was punctured with no money to repair it, while another tyre was leaking. On numerous occasions my fuel light would come on, and I would have to travel for approximately twenty miles before I could access fuel. I had no choice but to believe that God would see me through.
I have made up my mind to serve God without having to carry around a weapon for protection, so I know that I have to pray to God constantly for His covering and protection and to believe that He will. I believe that persons who carry a weapon, will always reach for that weapon first rather that saying a prayer to God, when they come under attack. All of us at some point will get to chose whether to carry a weapon or to take a job that compromises our Christianity.
If I force anything on anyone it becomes a sin, no matter how good I consider it to be. All the revelations that I have had, all my testimonies, I will always present and allow persons to decide.
Through His word, God does present more than one solution for a given situation. Two examples would be, 1) giving us the prescription for the born again experience, as that we should repent and be baptized, John 3:3-7, but Jesus received the thief on the cross beside Him during His crucifixion, into paradise, without him being baptized, Luke 23:39-43. 2) Paul instructs that it is better to marry than to burn, 1Cor.7:9, while presenting a higher calling, 1Cor.7:34-35, of keeping ourselves unto God by remaining unmarried while serving Him.
Finally brethren, some things will come down to choice. Jesus told His disciples in Luke 22:36, that if any of them did not have a sword then he should sell his garment and buy one. Conversely, in Matthew 26:52, Jesus admonishes that” all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”. I personally believe that our faith in God should encourage us to stop carrying weapons to protect ourselves. Be reminded that a large percentage of persons who carry a gun are killed, and their guns taken when they come under attack.
Bruce Campbell
Should we allow God to change us or should we resist.
If we begin with the fact that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God, then we would realize that we have much work to do on ourselves and that God also has much work to do in us. There is no doubting the the huge amount of changes to ensue when we receive God in our hearts. Sadly, however, the change we should realize either happens very slowly or not at all because we resist God.
When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we begin to look for and adopt Godly principles, even though we could have had some of them before our born again experience. God then uses the Holy Spirit to bring revelations to us or speak through other persons to make us aware of our sins. Our job then is to act upon this new awareness, making every effort to change our wrong or bad ways. Through all of this process we should never cease to go to God in prayer, asking for strength and courage to make these changes or to overcome in some other way . If we fail to invite God into the process then it means that we might not have the change(s) we desire or that in fact we did not really want to change at all .
Many Christians are out there functioning with portions of their Christian life, that need changing, firmly stuck where it is. This is like trying to push back a drawer in place that has a broken guide and therefore gets stuck every time. Like myself, who suffer from impatience and anger issues, there are persons out there suffering from a myriad of issues.
The problem is not the problems themselves, but that we fail to deal with them or in some cases we fail to deal with them effectively. Probably the greatest inhibitors to fixing our issues are pride and the flesh! The flesh says,”curse louder, say the worst things so it will hurt”, then the pride says,”although I am wrong I will not say I am sorry and as a matter of fact I will not speak to that person anymore”. Humility would say, “I know I am wrong so I will apologize and I will repent”. It benefits the Kingdom of Heaven and ourselves when we are humble.
By being unforgiving, we walk around with plenty baggage and instead of pulling persons to us and to God, we drive them away. Many young people have dropped out of learning institutions over the years. Some because of financial problems, some because they have run ins with the law, others give up for no proper reason, while some have been left to languish, unable to complete their education because their parent(s) or guardian have withdrawn their support as chastisement for some error the child may have committed. Young children and young people in general need all the parental support they can get in order to survive. The support we give as a parent should never be to condone wrong doing, but rather to give them enough chance to correct their mistakes and to find a firm footing in life.
If we stop to think, listen and to hear we can all become better persons, better Christians. It is time we start to embrace Godly principles more and make the effort to change.
B.C.
To Be Grafted In
The Israelites or Jews were God’s chosen people and remain that way. The Gentiles would be inclusive of all the other races and nationalities put together.
In Isaiah 5:1-7, God spoke through Isaiah the prophet suggesting that the Israelite nation was His vineyard and that the Jewish people was His choicest vines. So in this text we see where God gave to His people the very best, expecting them to bring forth good grapes, but instead they brought forth wild grapes. God’s action therefore was, and will be to remove the hedge (protection) from around the vineyard (His people) and allow it to be eaten up and trampled down.
Jesus tells us in St.John 15:1-8 that He is the true vine and that God the Father is the Husbandman (farmer). Verse 2 says that God purgeth (prune) every branch that beareth fruit that it may bring forth more fruit and in verses 6-8 Jesus tells us that if we are a non producing branch, we are cut off and burnt.
Paul explains in Romans 11:16-24 that some of the branches (Jews) were broken off the olive tree so that the wild olive tree (Gentiles) could be grafted in amongst them. So it is because of the unbelief of some Jews why the Gentiles was presented with the glorious opportunity of redemption. The Jews however will be grafted in again, if they remain not in unbelief (verse 23). Also see Zechariah 13:1, Romans 11:25-27.
To put things in a little better perspective I will explain basically how grafting is done. a) Rootstock:- it is important to select a proper rootstock (tree to be grafted onto) which has to be sturdy, disease free and from the same family of plants. So for example, orange, tangerine, lime etc. can be grafted on each other. You could also graft one or more different varity of citrus on the same rootstock. b) a bud(s) is then selected to be grafted onto the rootstock. These buds are to be healthy and just at the point where new growth is about to take place. The new buds will grow and bear fruit of the same kind as the tree where it was taken from. The rootstock is there primarily to support the growth of the new buds. New branches will sometimes appear from below where the bud has been grafted on. These must be cut off so as to avoid them crowding out the grafted buds and causing them to die. These branches that grow from the rootstock are called gormandisers.
Jesus is therefore the rootstock (the vine or the olive tree) with the Jews and Gentiles being grafted unto Him. Both Jews and Gentiles are expected to produce for the kingdom of God but after there own kind. None of these should really try to be the other and I don’t believe there is a need to. It is possible for both Jews and Gentiles to become joint heirs of Jesus Christ.
B.C. 28-12-2018.
Our Intentions Must Always Be Pure
When we serve God or go about His business, it should always be done through pure intentions, as this will help us to be equitable in all our decisions and dealings. It is always a plus to start out with a good sense of right and wrong.
In 1Timothy 3, Paul sets out what would be the expected behaviour of a bishop, pastor, deacon and also their wives and I would extend this requirement also to every church leader. How then could church leaders sit down and discuss how to extract money out of their members pockets and feel justified that they are doing it for God, when God does not require it? We must always remember and be guided by 1Timothy 6:10 which starts ” For the love of money is the root of all evil…..”.
Men were always meant by God to be the leaders of their household and the church but because they are sometimes weak in carrying out their mandate at home or have not shown up for duty in the kingdom of God, then more women have had to take up the mantle.
A church leader who uses the wrong method to get the right results, can only be wrong in the end and is not much different from a scammer who justifies his action by saying that the person whom he has just scammed is foolish. God does not require us to force or coerce anyone in anyway for His sake! To be safe, we must always use the methods prescribed by God.
We must constantly reflect on the things we do or say and make corrections where necessary, with the help of God. Our intentions should always be to do the will of God and so we should at all times make an effort to treat persons equally and fairly. If our intentions are right then we will get better results for God.
Bruce Campbell
23-Sept.-2015
The Beginning of Our Walk With God (Part 2)
Declaring Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…. You were conceived and brought into this world by Your mother, the virgin Mary, a product of the spoken word of God, You became God in the flesh, You conquered sin and death.
Jesus, You showed us what the greatest love is when You obediently submitted to be crucified, just for me, Your friend, a sinner. This act certainly was not easy but it was worth it, every drop of blood You sweated, every extreme pain You felt as You were scourged. You are truly the Lamb of God.
Jesus Christ, You did die on the cross that day, You were buried and on the third day You rose from the dead, and although You are God, You are still the Son of God. You are now seated at the right hand of God Almighty, waiting on Him to tell You when to return to this earth…. in Your full glory.
Jesus, You are the Alpha and the Omega (the begining and the end) because You were here when the foundations of the earth were being laid and You will come back to end it all. You are the lion of Judah but You are still the lamb. Some might think that You are a paradox but I say no, You are just being God!
Jesus, You are our Saviour, provider, healer, Comforter and King. Yes, You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You are wonderful, marvellous, all things to all men. There is no other name but the name of Jesus, at the mention of Your name, every knee shall bow because You alone are worthy. Hallelujah!!!!
Bruce, 28-2-14.
The Beginning of Our Walk With God (Part1)
