Reading about the 23 people of nine nationalities who became New Zealand citizens not long ago, in our local paper, reminds me of the time when I became a CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. (The Northland Age, Tuesday, July 9, 2019)

The 23 people took the oath or affirmation of allegiance before the mayor at Te Ahu here in Kaitaia.

But what is now a Christian? A Christian is a man who has been translated from the KINGDOM OF DARKNESS into the KINGDOM OF LIGHT, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of glory.

The citizenship of a Christian is now in heaven.

We are reading about our Heavenly Citizenship in the Bible:

• Luke 10:20 Source of Real Joy
• Luke 22:30 Assures Future Exaltation
• John 14:2 Promises a Permanent Residence
• Philippians 3:20 Furnishes an Undying Hope
• 1 Peter 1:4 Provides a Glorious Inheritance
• Revelation 21:27 A Register is kept of the Names of the Citizens

I surely remember the time when I became a citizen of Heaven, when I became a Christian, when the Lord translated me from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.

I was still in my teens and is was in Germany.

“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” – Mark Twain

“Tick the verses as you go to keep record,” it says on page five in THE WORD FOR TODAY (August – September 2019), I picked up last Sunday. It is all about reading through the Bible in one year.

“You can do it!” I am reading at the top of a page almost at the end of one of my Bibles. The words are also meant to encourage me to read through the entire Bible in one year.

So far as I remember I had even a Bible reading plan with boxes to be ticked pinned to the wall, but I did not achieve anything, until the time came when I read the Bible from cover to cover like any other book and every word twice in one year, without ticking any verses (boxes).

“God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds. USING TIME AND PRESSURE, HE’S WORKING ON YOU TOO!”

In the book called THE CROSS – God’s Way of Salvation, written by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, I am not only reading right at the beginning about the centre and the heart of the message of the Apostles, but also about the imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, his teaching (Sermon on the mount, ethical teaching) and his example.

I am especially interested in the imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because not long ago I bought the book called The imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis second-hand here at the Salvation Army store in Kaitaia for a Dollar and I thought it would be good to add the book to my small library. I have not read it yet. (The Penguin Classics)

The book reminds me also of the verse in the New Testament, where the Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 11:1, “FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE, AS I FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST.”

But what is now the centre of the Christian message? What is the heart of the Christian message?

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that the Christian message is not primarily the teaching, example and imitation of Christ, but the PREACHING OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST, the death upon the cross of the Lord. And of course the meaning of it all.

“BALKEN IM EIGENEN AUGE? NIE GESEHEN!”

Better is the word I come across lately.

When we are looking for something better, we are acknowledging that we are having a problem and that the world is not quite right.

And here are just three things we are looking for:

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT

“Partnering with you for a better environment,” is the message on a shopping bag in our house.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY

“Partnering with you for a better community,” I read when in town not long ago.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A BETTER PLACE

“Who makes our country a better place?” is the question on a leaflet, I picked up recently. (The 2020 New Zealander of the year awards. Honoring the Best of Us.)

But how can we really deal with the problem of the world?

The only way to deal with the problem of the world is the cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ died. The cross tells us that we are sinners and that we are helpless. But the natural man hates the cross, because of his pride.

“‘They will return to it

Ezekiel 11:18-20

Introduction:

and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.

A. I will give them an

undivided heart and

put a new spirit in them;

B. I will remove them from their heart of stone and

give them a heart of flesh.

End:

Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.'”