Hard To Relate To?

Posted on by May 8, 2015
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John 14:7-9 — If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 
Who’s the person that you know best of all? For me, of course, it’s my lovely wife Myra. So, think about that person, that one that you know better than anyone else. How well do you really know that person? Do you know the history that has scarred them, or the dreams that urge them on? Do you know the inner chambers of their heart — the secrets they guard so carefully?

In a way it’s miraculous to me that we manage to relate to each other at all. How do we manage to bridge the gaps? The truth is, of course, that some of us barely do — and none of us do it consistently well all of the time. If it’s so hard to relate to people we see every day, how do we relate to someone we have never seen? How can we manage to relate to God? That’s what Jesus is talking about.

“Hang on a minute”, I hear you saying, “I haven’t seen Jesus, either”. But you have. Some of my favorite verses tell the story …

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (Matthew 25:34-36)

Every time we see an unanswered need, we see Jesus. But it’s more than that. Every time we see someone answering one of those needs, we’re seeing Jesus in action. Even when we catch ourselves in need or answering someone else’s need we see Him too.
Seeing Jesus is a learned skill.  We have to look for Him. When we see Him we see God too. That’s how we build a relationship with Him. Learning to watch and see Him at work we get to know who He is. He’s not that hard to relate to. 

Ragamuffin

Posted on by May 7, 2015
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1 Corinthians 3:13-15 — every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

When you stand before the throne, what will you look like? Are you going to be a humble but confident saint, in robes of white? Or are you going to be something different. Are you, perhaps, going to be ever so slightly singed?
I’ve never been able to see myself in grand robes, riding the horse in the big parade. Somehow I still see myself as the runny-nosed ragamuffin kid looking on from the outside. I suspect a lot of my works will be burned in fire.

It doesn’t really matter how I imagine myself though. What matters is what God sees. There’s a passage in Proverbs that makes the point:

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. (Proverbs 30:12-13)

I like the “Message” translation of the same verses:
Don’t imagine yourself to be quite presentable when you haven’t had a bath in weeks. Don’t be stuck-up and think you’re better than everyone else. (Proverbs 30:12-13 MSG)

I have a feeling that most of us would be surprised at how God sees us, and at how much Jesus loves us. Some people are convinced they are doing a good job following Christ. A lot of us, however, find it a struggle to be the Christians we would like to be, day in day out, no matter what the challenges. That used to really depress me. I’m very blessed though, to have access to a lot of great books. One I found, a few years ago, is “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brendan Manning. It’s focus is on God’s grace and His wonderful love for us.

For those who feel there lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change.
                     The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brendan Manning.

Seizing hold of that understanding — knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God — is a critical tool to living a free and joyful Christian life. It’s an amazing thing … There will come a day when we will look the way God means us to, the image of His son. There are no ragamuffins in heaven!

Praise the Lord

Posted on by May 6, 2015
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Psalm 95:1-3 — O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Because we are redeemed. He is our vision, He wears the victor’s crown, He is holding on to us, and we are heaven bound.
O.K., that’s a bit forced. It’s a mash-up of the titles of the worship songs we rehearsed this week. Every one of them is beautiful in it’s own right, but as we worked on them they were telling me a story of how many reasons there are to praise the Lord. Let’s look at them one by one.

We are redeemed — “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Jesus is our kinsman redeemer and pays the debt we cannot pay.

He is our vision — “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” (Matthew 17:1-2). We have our eyes set on Him, and He leads us where we must go.

He wears the Victor’s crown — “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.” (Revelation 19:11-12). Jesus is a warrior who leads us to victory … and will lead His people to the great final victory!

Jesus is holding on to us — “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39). Jesus is holding on to us and will never let us go.

We are heaven bound — “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:14). Because of Jesus, and all He is, and all He has done, we are headed to heaven.

So what do you think? Have you got breath? Praise the Lord!

Jehovah Jireh

Posted on by May 5, 2015
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Psalm 104:14-15 — He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.

The Lord is our Provider. One of the favorite names of God comes from the experience of Abraham when he took the boy Isaac to sacrifice on Mount Moriah. When Isaac asked “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” Of course God did exactly that!
Of course the sacrifice on Mount Moriah was a picture of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, so it was hugely significant — but when I think of God my Provider I think of so much more. These verses from Psalm 104 go to the heart of the matter.

There is nothing that God does not provide. 

It seems like a simple statement — He makes grass for cattle and “herb” for the service of men. But it’s really saying something wonderful about God. It’s saying that He provides variety — all the variety needed to satisfy every kind of creature in His creation. Notice, though, that the herb is provided “for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth”. It’s not that the abundance of vegetation serves man, but that man serves, or cultivates the vegetation to bring forth food — literally bread out of the earth.

God produces “wine that maketh glad the heart of man”. It’s just a fact, not an implied statement of approval. That wine lifts the spirits — at least, if wisely used. He provides oil that makes the face shine. Another translation says that wine makes the face shine more than anointing with oil. He makes bread, that strengthens man’s heart. The heart is the seat of life, the spiritual part of us, the place where our desires lie.

God provides for every part of a man, for body, spirit and heart. God provides for my every need, in an infinite variety of ways.

God provides everything for my every need. Sometimes I stop and think about all that goes into meeting just one of those needs. Try it some time. Start with one thing, and work backwards and marvel at what God has provided. Like me, perhaps you will want to repeat the opening and closing of the Psalm.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor … Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.
 

Thunderstruck

Posted on by May 4, 2015
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Isaiah 29:6-7 — Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. (Isaiah 29:6-7) 
Writing about the Boxing match in London’s Docklands yesterday reminded me of another night in London.
It was a Friday night — April 10, 1995. I can’t remember what we had been doing, but we were driving through the city when, at 9:20 pm, a bomb set by the Provisional IRA destroyed the front of the Baltic Exchange  killing three people. It was stunning. We were bewildered. We were not that close to the building, but we felt the concussion and heard the explosion. It was beyond comprehension. Sometimes God can be like that — He can strike with devastating and destructive suddenness (though not, like the terrorists, for anything but the most wonderful reasons).

Through Isaiah, the Lord recounts several woes that He will strike Israel with. To me, this one in chapter 29 is especially noteworthy. It is pronounced upon a nation that is deficient in worship, and it contains just that stunning element that I’m talking about. First “Ariel” — Judah and especially Jerusalem — is punished by being besieged by the Assyrians led by Sennacherib.

Suddenly, with that stunning power — Divine shock and awe — the Assyrians are assaulted by “thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire”. Only God’s divine power could have saved Jerusalem — but when He chose to wield it the Assyrians were blown away like chaff, they were “as a dream of a night vision”.

What makes this “woe” so interesting to me is that is not just a “near” prophesy for the time of Senacherib. It’s also a “far” prophesy for the time after the Tribulation when nations will attack Jerusalem and the Lord Almighty will come and destroy each attacking nation. 

“So what?”, you might say, “What’s the application?” Well I  think there are two.

First, we need to be aware that when life seems to be running smoothly, the Lord can drop hand-grenades without a moment’s warning. 

The second application is that God can just as well drop His thunderbolts on those that afflict us as He can on us — and we will be thunderstruck just the same.

The Battle Is Won

Posted on by May 3, 2015
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Colossians 2:15 — and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

So the big fight has finally taken place. The cool experience of Floyd Mayweather was too much for the passion of Manny Pacquiao (I believe that’s “Pack–ee– ow”). It seems it wasn’t much of a fight. Myra and I didn’t watch. We don’t have any interest in boxing now. We did once though, and all the hoo-hah around this fight reminded me of the only fight we ever saw together …
It was a cold February night in the East End of London. Twelve thousand five hundred people were crammed into a dock shed converted into an arena. It was a classic fight night. Gangsters and aristocracy rubbed shoulders. Disreputable and boringly respectable enthusiasts eagerly awaited the clash between American Gerald Mclellan and local boy Nigel Benn. 

It was a classic fight. Benn was downed in the first round by one of the hardest punchers Boxing has ever seen. Mclellan knocked him down again in the eighth round, but Benn hung on, and somehow knocked Mclellan out in the last round. The “Dark Destroyer” had triumphed. But it was a victory soon turned to tragedy. Mclellan had suffered a massive blood clot to the brain. Three-and-a-half-hour surgery saved his life. He was in a coma for two months and was left blind, hearing impaired, brain damaged and unable to walk.

Could any good come from such a tragedy. Oh yes, it could. God will find a way. Nigel Benn is a born-again Christian. Here’s what he says of his life in Australia:

All my life I’ve had people serve me. Now it’s nice to cut people’s gardens, to do the lawn, make a cup of tea, paint their house [as part of his religious devotion]. That’s a blessing and I enjoy it. I had a life of sex, drugs …  suicide attempt. I was a liar, a cheat, a thief, but to be in a place where I was able to confess 16 years’ worth of affairs to my wife – … When I said the prayer of salvation and accepted Jesus as my lord and savior all my addictions from drink, from sex and smoking weed it all went like that. I was set free from everything.
In the end there is no victory for any “Dark Destroyer”. Satan thought he had a victory. But Jesus got up off the ground to deal the knock-out blow. It was the greatest grandest victory of all. The Battle is won …

Do You Know The Heart?

Posted on by May 2, 2015
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Jeremiah 17:9-10 — The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
My lovely Myra is often surprised by wickedness. Somehow I’m more realistic, or experienced or cynical and so not often surprised, but Myra is often surprised by wickedness in the wide world, and by the petty malice of those close to her. The truth is though, I’m not really as smart as I think I am, and sometimes I get blindsided, and this morning’s devotion reminded me that there is only one who really knows what anyone is capable of.
We were reading John 2. It finishes:

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man. (John 2:23-25)
All those people, easily swayed, “believed” in Jesus, because of the signs He did. He, however did not “commit” Himself to them. The Greek is interesting. The word used for “believed”, and the word used for “commit” are different forms of the same word which has, at its heart, the idea of trusting in or placing faith in. Jesus would not reciprocate the “trust” of the crowds because He knew how unreliable it would prove to be. 
Jesus was there before the beginning of time, when we were imagined. He was there before we were born, when we were conceived and grew in our mother’s wombs. He was there when each of us was born, slaves to sin. He was there when we were saved. He is with us now, watching us fall short of His glory minute by minute, day by day.

The Lord spoke through Jeremiah and made it clear that no one of us can know what is in the heart of any other. In fact we cannot even know our own hearts. He, on the other hand, knows and studies each one of us. The end of that study is that each of us, in the end, will receive the due reward for who we are and what we have done.

Having considered all this, what are we to do? We are to love our neighbors as ourselves! We are to be wise as serpents — never surprised at human failings, and gentle as doves — leaving it to God to reward and punish.

 

Supply and Demand

Posted on by May 1, 2015
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Luke 12:47-48 — And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Tom Rider, who teaches our Sunday School class, is doing a great series on truths about God. The first two were “God is God and I’m not” and “I need God and He doesn’t need me”. Last Sunday though the topic was one I hadn’t thought about nearly as much — “What God demands, He supplies.”
There are times when God demands a lot, don’t you think? I think James might have been hinting at it:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4)
There’s another angle to this. What God supplies He also demands. Every Christian should take this very much too heart. If we have been given much we should be ready to give much back. That doesn’t just apply to those who have been materially blessed. Nor does it just apply to teachers and preachers. Every Christian has at least one Spiritual gift — “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” (1 Corinthians 12:7). God doesn’t just give us the gifts — He expects us to use them — “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8)
It’s clear, from the parable of the unfaithful servant that using gifts isn’t just a suggestion. The servant who wasn’t prepared and didn’t do the master’s will was beaten with many stripes.
I used to think Christians were not punished by God. After all, didn’t Jesus pay for all our sins? Yes he did — to the extent that we have confessed them and repented. There’s the danger. It would be all to easy to miss the point that not using God’s gifts is sinful. What He supplies, He demands!

And Now Comes The Wind

Posted on by April 30, 2015
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John 3:8 — The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Yesterday it was the rain. Today it was the wind. Sometimes it is so clear that God uses weather to get our attention, or to draw our attention to a particular scripture.
This comment that Jesus made to Nicodemus came to mind this morning as I had my quiet time on our lanai. There was quite a strong wind and the mesh of the cage panels amplified the sound and the activity of the Holy Spirit filled my thoughts.

In these few words Jesus says a great deal. It’s important, by the way, to know that the word “pneuma” that Jesus uses for “wind” is also used for “Spirit” … which causes the passage to be inhabited by the mystery that Nicodemus finds so confusing.

The wind blows where it will. And so it is of every one that is born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has set us free to go wherever our will will take us. At the same time, there are places we will not go, for our will — at least in our better times — is His will too.

We can hear the wind. Others can “hear” our passing — our Christian character and behavior should influence those we encounter, even if they do not know what has shaped that character and behavior, and even if they do not know where we are going. We, of course, are listening to a greater wind:

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2-4)
The wind is an amazing force … It can change everything in a moment, or it can have it’s effect gently over time. The Holy Spirit works in both ways. There is the dramatic change of salvation, and the long-term effect of sanctification. It has been that way for a while,many maybe it will continue for a while longer … The Irish writer George William Russel wrote, “The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown all over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet.“. Of course, it could all be over tomorrow too … but for now, here comes the wind again.

The Latter Rains

Posted on by April 29, 2015
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Zechariah 10:1 — Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
We were blessed by the latter rains today. I’m not sure what time it started — maybe 2 o’clock, but by 3 o’clock this morning there was a glorious downpour accompanied by dramatic thunder and lightning. It kept me awake, but I really didn’t mind, it was wonderful. We had five hours of good rain, and we needed it.
In Israel the “former” or early rains fell at the time of seed planting around November. The “latter” or late rains came at around the end of April to water the ripening crops. The latter rains brought the crops to their full ripeness.

I have heard more than one interpretation of the former and the latter rains, and perhaps they are all correct! They certainly are all worth considering. Here are two to think about.

One suggestion is that the “crop” is a picture of the church. The former rain represents the Holy Spirit falling on the church at Pentecost. The latter rain represents a visitation of the Holy Spirit at the second coming.

Another suggestion is more personal. The early rain, it is proposed, represents the gift of salvation. The later rain in this scenario is the gift of sanctification.

Zechariah told the Jews to ask the Lord for the latter rain. They were in the middle of a period of drought. That period of drought was, according to the prophets, because they had neglected their duty and not rebuilt the temple. If they would remember their duty, and pray, the Lord would send blessings — represented by those bright clouds that pour down rain when split by thunder. It’s good advice. Have you ever felt you were in a dry period? Is it possible that there is some duty you have neglected — something owing to the Lord? Then it is surely time to pray, and to ask the Lord to send refreshment to your spirit. If you return to Him, He will surely return to you, and pour blessings on your head.

Only God can restore us like this. consider:

Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things. (Jeremiah 14:22)
Only the Lord can bless us with the former and latter rain. Only He can empower His church. Only He can provide salvation and sanctification. Only He can restore us at need. And His storms are glorious!