The Battle Is Not Yours!

Posted on by October 17, 2014
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2 Chronicles 20:15 — And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

I have a tendency to worry about whether I can succeed at tasks I have undertaken. I am, of course, mistaken. I’m not always wrong about whether I can or can’t succeed. Where I go wrong is in assuming that it all depends on me. The truth is, of course, that if I’m doing the right things, God is in charge. It’s His battle!
When I realized my mistake I started to think about what that really meant. It’s not just about the Lord picking up His sword and sweeping the enemy aside. In fact I summed it up in five “P’s”. “Planning, Provision, Preparation, Performance and Product”.
Jesus told the apostles, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” (Acts 1:7 KJVA). It is not possible to read through the Bible without realizing that events happen as and when God says. We can’t speed them up, or slow them down to suit our desires! God is in charge of the planning.
Christians often say “When God calls, He provides”. It’s a restatement of Hebrews 13:21. There are plenty more scriptures like 2 Corinthians 9:8 which says ” And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. God is in charge of Provision.
God will always make sure we are ready for any task He lays upon us. My supporting text is very familiar: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 KJVA). We can rely on God’s preparation.
When it comes to performance, “the battle is the Lord’s”. Even when He is working through me, it’s not me — but the Lord — making things happen. Now that doesn’t mean I can be lazy. Myra gave me a clock that sits on my desk at work, and on it is Colossians 3:23, “and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”. For all that though, the performance is God’s.
Sometimes when things don’t work out I can get down, and blame myself. Thinking about it though, if the planning, preparation, provision and performance are the Lord’s, then so is the product. The product is the Lord’s.
The battle is the Lord’s. All aspects of the battle. If you’re like me, and inclined to worry, let it go.

Use It Or Lose It

Posted on by October 16, 2014
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Matthew 25:24-28 — Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

Jesus’s parables nag away at me. They seem to say, constantly, “look again, there’s more to see, I’ve got more to say.”
Today, it’s the parable of the talents. First of all, let’s deal with the matter of the man that buried his talent and then just gave it back to his Lord. What was so wrong with that? Why was his Lord so angry — he got his talent back after all? The point is the servant really did nothing. He sat on his hands and did nothing — and somebody else could have put that talent to work.
This bothers me for two reasons.
The first reason is that I wonder if I have talents I’m not using? I wouldn’t like to have Jesus tell me, when I meet Him, to ask “Why didn’t you use that gift that I gave you? I had some really great plans …”
The second reason is that there are no second chances. The Lord does not say to the lazy servant “You missed the point, try again.” It was “… cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30). Definitely no second chance.
Of course, that verse points to a bigger picture. It confirms that Jesus is talking about us and Him. He has considered us carefully, selected our mission and provided us with what we need to get it done. He’s going to hold us accountable. And He expects that we will have made the effort to get to know Him and His personality. In fact, not doing that is clear evidence of not being saved. Recall — the lazy servant was cast into outer darkness — which will not be the fate of any redeemed saint.

Straight Up

Posted on by October 15, 2014
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Proverbs 4:23-27 –,Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

King Solomon knew a thing or two! You probably knew that. Even so. there are commentators who look at this passage and give him a little too much credit. They say “look, all those years before William Harvey discovered it, Solomon understood the way blood circulates!” I don’t think so. But he really understood the relationship between character and behavior.
It starts with the heart. The word used for heart doesn’t just refer to the physical organ. Hollady’s Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament also translates it as “mind, character, disposition, inclination, loyalty, concern; determination, courage; morale; intention, purpose; mind, attention, consideration, and understanding”. “Character, disposition and inclination” is what Solomon means here. It’s the same thing Jesus was talking about when He said:
“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:34-35)
It’s the heart that drives the mouth, the eyes and the feet! There are choices to be made. How are you going to live your life?
Solomon calls out two ways in which we can misuse our mouths. It is not fitting for a Christian to be dishonest. Elsewhere in Proverbs we can see “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.” (Proverbs 12:22 KJVA). Nor should we be guilty of any foul language. Paul nailed that one in his letter to the Ephesians:
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:3-4)
It’s the same when it comes to what we look at, read or watch. We need to be like David who said “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:” (Psalm 101:3)
If we’re careful with our mouths and eyes, chances are we’ll make sure not to go where we shouldn’t. In fact, if we listen to the Holy Spirit “thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”(Isaiah 30:21)
Solomon is providing the basics for a well-conducted life. Everything he says is backed up all through the Bible. Did I say He knew a thing or two?

A Letter To My Younger Self …

Posted on by October 14, 2014
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For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. (Proverbs 4:3-5 NIV).

Dear Ian,

I’m writing to tell you some things I wish I’d figured out when I was a lot younger.
First, get saved. Do it now, right away. I know it seems unlikely but you might die tomorrow, so find someone who believes the Bible and ask them to help you.
Next, read the Bible. Don’t use the ones they have at school. You might get to love the King James translation later, but for now read something like the New International Version. It’s the same Bible, but easier to read.
The Bible is full of wonderful things, but I get that there’s a lot in it — so I want you to read to chapters a day. There are four books called “gospels” — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Start with chapter 1 of Matthew, and read one chapter a day until you get to the end. Then start again … unless you feel you want to move on. There’s another book called “Proverbs”. It was written by a really smart man called Solomon. It’s just full of good advice (I might write you another letter about that some time). Read one chapter a day of that one too. It so happens that it has 31 chapters, so you’ll get through in a month. When you get to the end, start again. It will surprise you — you’ll keep discovering new things! (The words at the head of this letter come from that book in the Bible version I talked about).
Next, pray! O.K., I know all the praying you’ve seen is in church and at school, and it seems like old men with “churchy” words. Forget it, that’s not it. Praying is about talking to God, telling Him what’s on your mind, being honest about what’s going on in your life, and asking His help.
Find a good local church (and be there every Saturday or Sunday at least, and more if you can). Why do I say Saturday? Well, if you don’t like the old-style Sunday morning service, a lot of churches have something “younger” on Saturday evening. The great thing about church is that there are people who will help you with all that other stuff I just talked about. You don’t want to do it all on your own — and you don’t need to. People in churches are just like you — fallible, prone to make mistakes, but well meaning. Give them a chance.
Lastly, keep in touch! Let me know how all this is working for you. I can tell you that it will change your life, and it will be great — but it won’t always be easy. There will be times when you’ll wonder what you’re doing. So call me.

Ian, you’re going to do all this one day. I know that if you wait as long as I did you’ll end up wondering why. So do it now.
With love,
Your elder self.

The Mystery Of The Faith …

Posted on by October 13, 2014
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1 Timothy 3:9 — … holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

Our church is just electing deacons at the moment, so perhaps it’s a good time to refer to this passage in Paul’s letter to his beloved Timothy, where he discusses the qualifications for this important church office.
Deacon’s must be well respected, and must be tried and tested — and then in the middle of Paul’s list of “must haves” we find this core requirement. The deacons, we should remember, were appointed to take the tasks of service off the shoulders of the apostles — and so they should do nothing to blemish their reputation.
Deacon’s must be men who know and understand the truths of Christianity. Those truths are not just things that can be learned from books … They are “the mystery of the faith”. They are the things which were once hidden, but which have been revealed to those who can hold it “with a clear conscience” — with their Godly walk matching their Godly talk.
“Holding the mystery of faith with a clear conscience” is surely not just a qualification for a deacons. It must apply to all of us. And the idea is a little more than just a matter of living up to what we profess. “Holding the mystery of faith with a clear conscience” suggest the idea of holding our beliefs like our dearest treasure, deep in our hearts. It’s not just a matter of faith gained by study — head knowledge alone will lead to questioning, uncertainty and doubt.
The issue that is on my mind is the idea that in our churches those of us who are not deacons cannot simply sit back and say “service is what the deacons do, so I don’t have to bother”. Every Christian is called into service and to be a witness. Every Christian, therefore, should strive to meet the character standard of the deacons, and to seek to follow David who said “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.” (Psalms 119:11 NASB)
A couple of other translations of 1 Timothy 3:9 add a some other truths to reflect on.
The mystery of the faith has been hidden in two ways. Firstly, it was hidden in time, kept until Jesus came. Secondly, it is hidden now, from all but Christians.
Lastly, these few words carry the idea that, as it is a treasure, we should fiercely protect the mystery of the faith, being “ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear:” (1 Peter 3:15 KJVA)
In these few short words of Paul I see a charge to take very seriously, and I will seek to guard my treasure carefully!

There’s A Famine In The Land

Posted on by October 12, 2014
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Amos 8:11-12 — Behold, the days come, saith the Lord [God], that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Unexpectedly today I found myself invited to read in Amos, and to consider the application of the prophets words to the America of today.
In the reign of Jeroboam, God warns Israel through Amos of a terrible time ahead. Israel had been used to the Lord providing guidance and direction when it was needed. Now He tells them that He will no longer provide it. Have they consistently despised and ignored His instruction? Very well. He will no longer provide it.
The context is that the society of the Northern kingdom was characterized by three core failings which God calls out through Amos:
First, there is idolatry. Jeroboam has provided a molten calf as an object of worship, and even when people do turn to the Lord they refuse to turn away from “the sin of Samaria” (8:14)
Second, there is empty religiosity. In chapter 4 the prophet has mockingly encouraged the people to come to Bethel and add unrequited sacrifices for the feast which they love so much. Time and again God makes a point to a people that will not listen:

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17)

Lastly, there is a rampant commercialism and oppression by the rich of the poor. In verses 8:4-6, Amos lays out the charge. The rich seek to consume the wealth of the poor. They are eager for the end of the Sabbath or feasts so that they can get back to business. They cheat on their weights and measures. To cap it all, when they have stripped the poor they are making them slaves.
It is all too easy to see the same failings in America today.
Discussions of income inequality might be controversial —
but there is clear evidence that it has been on the increase in America since the late 1970’s. The financial crisis of 2008 was largely created by predatory lending (perhaps the modern equivalent of false measures!). The large-scale stealing of wealth by Bernie Madoff is only one example of theft from those least able to afford it.
It is sadly all too easy to find evidence of religious lip service in America. Many of us have experiences of churches where the worship is proficient but cold, and where there is more judgment than grace. The perception is confirmed by a painful Barna Group survey of 2013 headlined “Most Christians lack Jesus’s love for others.”
How about idolatry? Americans don’t worship golden calves do they? Of course not … but does anybody put anything else — new car, golf game, football — ahead of God.
So there it is. Guilty as charged, and just as in Jeroboam’s Israel, there is a famine of God’s word in the land. But I see one terrible key difference.
In America, I fear there’s a famine but nobody is hungry! I do not see leaders desperately seeking for the word of the Lord. Spiritual death is happening, and the victims don’t even know about it.
We need to tell people the truth about Jesus, and awaken the hunger.

Don’t Be The Old Prophet

Posted on by October 11, 2014
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1 Kings 13:18-22 — He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

This story in 1 Kings 13 is a bit confusing. God sends the young prophet to the king with a message, and tells him to take no food or drink, and to return by a different way. On his way home he’s met by another, older, prophet who persuades him to come home, eat, spend the night … and then tells him that God, angry at his imperfect obedience, has condemned him! What’s to learn from all this?
First, there’s the young prophet. He started so well. He delivered the message to the king, declined his offer of hospitality and was on his way home by another route. Then he got “off mission” — literally. He allowed himself to be fooled into disobedience. God has to punish him, because partial or imperfect obedience is no better than disobedience. The punishment was severe, appropriately for one honored with an important and high-profile mission.
So much for the young prophet — although I will have one more thing to say about him when I’ve dealt with the old prophet.
The first question we might ask about the old prophet is “why didn’t God choose him for the mission?” We can only speculate — but perhaps he had grown lazy, and no longer burned with the passion he once had.
The second question might be “why did he mislead the young prophet?” Again, it’s only guesswork — but maybe it was jealousy. Maybe he felt, despite his weaknesses, that he should have got the important mission. Whatever the reason, it was disastrous for the younger man.
I did some pretty stupid things when I was young. I remember that there was a time when an older friend and I would roam the countryside “exploring”. One day we came across a big old glasshouse seemingly in the middle of nothing. My friend thought it would be fun to see if we could through stones through the remaining glass. I wasn’t so sure, but he was older and more “experienced” and I let myself be persuaded. Of course it was wanton vandalism, but we were lucky, and never got caught or had to deal with any consequences. If I’d been caught, perhaps I would have said “I was led astray”. Of course it wouldn’t have done any good. When it comes to wrong doing, we are responsible for our own wrong doing …
All this, it seems to me, places a great responsibility on those of us who might be in a position to influence younger “prophets”. We can’t get lazy, we can’t get jealous. We can’t take the risk of leading them astray. We must not become the old prophet …

Endings And Beginnings

Posted on by October 10, 2014
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Isaiah 43:18-19 –Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

There are times in my life when I have a sense of God working, of Him taking away the things of old and doing new things. I’m feeling that way at the moment. The company I’m working for is going through major changes. Myra and I are considering our finances, and when the time will come for us to change our house … I’ve had these feelings before and been wrong, but sometimes I’ve been right!
I don’t really enjoy major life changes, but I have come to realize that they are inevitable.
The passage in Isaiah — these verses and the ones around it — speaks of God’s intention to liberate His people and bring them back to Israel. Just as with the first rescue — the Exodus from Egypt — there was to be a long desert march. Unlike for the Exodus, God is going to clear the way. This is the new thing He is preparing.
A lot of change seems like this. There can be a difficult path to follow — but if the change is of God, He will clear the way along the path.
There is another thing in this little passage. “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old”. The new thing that God is preparing for Israel would be so great that all His former works would be forgotten. Looking back in my life, I can see that God has taken care of me and that at many times in my life He has done “a new thing”, and that new thing has been better than what went before.
There is yet another thing about this passage. The “new thing” that God will do refers not just to the return from the Babylonian exile. It refers, too, to a future blessing — one so much greater than any that has gone before.
It should, I think, be impossible to read and meditate on this passage in Isaiah without remembering another passage from 2 Corinthians:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We, like Paul, can reflect that by the agency of the Holy Spirit, we are new creations and we can know that we need not remember former things. We can also know that God is preparing a new thing for us — that will make everything that happens before it to be not worth remembering!
Change can be difficult — but when God is directing, I can trust that it will be wonderful …

Unanswerable Questions

Posted on by October 9, 2014
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Isaiah 55:8-9 — For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Let me say right away that I know that I have not given the whole context of the verses at the head of this devotion. These two, however, unequivocally express the truth that I am focused on today — which is that God is beyond my understanding. I can hear you saying “Well of course!” Let me provide some context.
Myra and I were talking this morning about time. The conversation started with a chance remark, but we were soon into questions like “Was God before time? Didn’t He create time?”. That led into the nature of knowledge …
Paul rightly warns, in his letter to the Colossians, about the dangers of empty philosophizing, so we did stop at least to think if we might be headed down that path. What follows goes a bit further than we did in our chat this morning, but these are the things that (to quote a well-known sportswriter) “I think I think”.
God created us as thinking beings. There’s definitely nothing wrong with thinking! “My thoughts are not your thoughts” might reassure us that we are expected to have thoughts — we are made in God’s image. He has thoughts, we have thoughts.
We don’t absolutely “know” very much. Most of what we know is rough approximation — a model if you like, of how the world is, that allows us to get along. I don’t really “know” the road from Fort Myers to New York — but I have a rough idea, and I know how to get started and as I get along I’ll know more. That’s how a lot of “knowledge” is, and we often supplement it with helpful tools — like maps — that help us to get along.
There are things that we can’t know. We can’t, for example, know what the future holds — at least, not in any great personal detail.
There are things we are better off not knowing. By and large, we are better off not knowing, for instance, the day and moment of our death. (I know I’ll get an argument on that from some people. Fine, pick yourself another example.)
There are things we must know. We must know that some things are dangerous. Above all we must know that God is God, and Jesus Christ is HIs Son, and we must know what is necessary for salvation.
I could continue categorizing knowledge for a while. But I want to say that some knowledge is inherent — it’s built into us, and some is gained by study — treading in paths that others have trod before, and some is gained by thought — exploring for ourselves.
The point is that when you seek to gain knowledge, by study or thought, there should be a reason. And if there is something you don’t know, and cannot discover — the chances are that you don’t have a reason to know. I believe God works on a “need to know” principle, and will give us opportunity to learn anything we need to know. And there are things He knows that we just don’t need to know — so perhaps we’ll stop thinking about the nature of time. Knowing all about it probably won’t lead to salvation or sanctification, so it’s probably not needed.

The Crown Of Thorns

Posted on by October 8, 2014
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John 19:1-3 — Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

I know it’s not seasonal, but we’re preparing some great songs in our choir rehearsals that speak of the crucifixion, the events that led up to it, and the blood of Christ. The image of the crown of thorns is resting with me tonight.
Pilate, blocked in his attempt to release Jesus tries whether a lesser punishment than crucifixion will satisfy the bloodlust of the crowd who have been whipped up into a frenzy by the priests. It is typical of Pilate; a weak man makes weak decisions. But what about the soldiers? We might ask ourselves, “what kind of men could treat a fellow man like this?” Alexander MacLaren has the proper response:

These rough legionaries were cruel and brutal, and they were unconscious witnesses to His Kingship as founded on suffering; but they were innocent as compared with the polished gentleman on the judgment-seat who prostituted justice, and the learned Pharisees outside who were howling for blood.

I don’t find the legionaries too hard to understand. But then I don’t find Pilate or the priests or the people hard to understand either. We see people like one or other of these groups every day. If you want to see people brutalizing prisoners try searching the web for information about Rikers Prison. If you want to see Judges too weak to take the right decision, just consider recent Supreme Court decisions. If you want to see mob rule, just look at recent events in Ferguson Missouri.
It’s easy to see the soldiers, the Governor and the people as patterns repeated throughout history right up until today … but there’s one pattern never repeated yet.
When I think of that crown of thorns, I still find Jesus to be beyond my understanding:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. … He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Jesus chose the crown of thorns. Never forget that He freely gave up His place in heaven. He never turned away from His responsibilities. He never turned His face away from Jerusalem. He refused to give Pilate an easy escape.
I guess that unblinking characteristic of Jesus is one of the things we aspire to, as we grow up into Jesus’s pattern. What I know is that living in Christ means dying in Christ to. That might mean wearing my own crown of thorns …