Pentecost

Posted on by June 8, 2014
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Acts 2:1-3 — And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 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.

In many churches today there will be a recognition of the feast of Pentecost. The recognition will vary … From a full on celebration in some, to little more than a passing nod in others. For myself I think it is a pity to neglect it.
We should remember that Pentecost was first an annual Jewish Feast. The name Pentecost refers to the fact that the feast was held fifty days (seven weeks) after Passover. For the Jews, the feast had three purposes: First, it recalls the giving of the Law to Moses — being fifty days after Passover and recalling the fifty days between the exodus from Egypt and the arrival in Sinai; second, it was a time of thanksgiving to God for the harvest; and third, it was the occasion of the offering of the first fruits of the grain harvest, the acknowledgment of God’s ownership of the whole harvest.
Christians might well look at Pentecost as the day “the Church” was truly established and took up it’s evangelical mission. It’s relationship to Easter is like the relationship between Passover and Pentecost for the Jews … The sealing of the covenant after the freeing from bondage. The Jesus had told His disciples, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 KJVA) Now we see the promise being fulfilled.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the church in power. Those touched by the Spirit turned to preaching and teaching (Acts 2:4, 6, 14). As a result of their activities about three thousand people were added to the church (Acts 2:41).
First the Holy Spirit was heard like a rushing mighty wind (if you have ever heard one,nothing if the sound of a tornado!). Yet that sound did not herald a disruptive storm, but the arrival if a visual symbol — the seeming tongue of fire which separated to fill each believer with the power of the Spirit and send them rushing out to spread the Gospel.
I can’t help feeling that the neglect of Pentecost somehow related to the neglect of the Holy Spirit. It often seems that we are more comfortable with the Father and the Son than with the third person of the Trinity — who should literally inspire us. For my part, I love the Holy Spirit, and many of my favorite hymns celebrate Him — like this simple beauty from Edwin Hatch

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Blend all my soul with Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.
No matter how your church looks at it, please find a place for Pentecost in your heart — and perhaps a time to seek again the filling of the Holy Spirit.

In Charge Of Your Life?

Posted on by August 31, 2014
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John 5:19-20 — Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

Myra and I were talking during our devotions this morning. “How much”, she wondered, “did Jesus know during His life on earth?” In fact we differed slightly — Myra tending to think He knew everything, all the time and me tending to think that omniscience was one of those divine attributes that Jesus did not cling to while He was the God-man on earth. Perhaps someone more theologically knowledgeable than we are can educate us. It doesn’t matter a great deal, for the discussion led to another topic — one, perhaps, more relevant to our own lives.
How much control did Jesus have over His own life? How self-directed was He? Now that’s a question we can answer! Scripture makes it really clear. Jesus says it Himself, plainly. “The Son can do nothing of Himself”. He says it here, and repeats it (with variations) another five times in John’s gospel. (You don’t believe me? I’m hurt. Go check these out — Jn 5:30, Jn 6:38, Jn 8:28, Jn 12:49, Jn 14:24.)
These two verses, though, are the dramatic opening to a dramatic passage. William Barclay points out that they tell us three important things about the relationship between Jesus and God. It tells us of the identity between Jesus and God, it tells us that the identity is based on perfect obedience, and it tells us that the obedience is based on perfect love.
I want to focus on that obedience for a moment. You see Jesus’s choices weren’t limited to doing only His Father directed. He could have chosen His own way … But love prevented Him.
So how about us. Are we in charge of our own lives? We could be. We could choose to go our own way. Actually, a lot of the time, we do. It’s called “sin”. Barclay defines the alternative — the way we should go: “Jesus is to God as we must be to Jesus.”
Galatians 2:20 says “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” It is one of many verses that define our identity with Christ. Jesus defines, concisely, the basis of that identity. “If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
However much Jesus knew, there was only one thing that he cared about — “what was it the Father wanted”. The story should be the same for us. All we really need to know is what Jesus wants, and all we really need to do is to obey.

Look In — Or Look Out!

Posted on by June 6, 2014
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Proverbs 20:27, 21:4 — The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.?A high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

At first sight, You might wonder why I put these two verses together. But more modern translations like the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version make the connection clear:

— The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. (Proverbs 20:27 ESV)
— Haughty eyes and a heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. (Proverbs 21:4 ESV)

So here’s the question. Which lamp will you use? Will you use the lamp which The Lord has given you for self examination or will you use the lamp — the advertisement of your worldly success — to focus your attention on those things that draw your attention away from the things if God?

The 19th century theologian Henry Cowles comments insightfully on says on these two verses from proverbs. First on 20:27 —

Let us see in this reflexive power one of the noblest features of man’s God-like nature. He can and may know himself, and therefore may prosecute the noble work of self-correction and self-culture. To know one’s faults or weaknesses is the first step toward correcting them. A being made capable of self-improvement must inevitably have before him a momentous destiny.

Then on 21:4 —

… lamp or light used figuratively to denote whatever the wicked most delight in and count most vital to their happiness. Since they are in rebellion against God, their lamp or light is precisely that which most sustains them in this rebellion, which constitutes their chief joy and chief reward in the ways of sin.

The choice is clear. Will you look inwards or outwards? The ability to look into our own selves is, as Cowles says, a feature of mans God-like nature. Paul echoes the thought in his first letter to the Corinthians: “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:11 KJVA). The man or woman who rejects the opportunity of self examination is surely no better than a senseless brute.
Dreadful as the fate might be for those who refuses to examine their hearts for sin, those who insist on shining their light on some external source of joy may face a greater risk. Anything which attracts more attention than God is an idol, and idolatry must lead to damnation. I have said before that there are verses I am seeking to pay more attention to. These thoughts have brought them to the forefront of my mind again …

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

I will seek to use God’s lamp, not mine!

How Do You Smell?

Posted on by June 5, 2014
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2 Corinthians 2:14-15 –.Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

I don’t seem to be one of those people to whom stories “happen”. I’m very impressed by the writers of devotions who always seem to have a pithy anecdote at hand to illustrate their point — but I’m not one. So today I’m borrowing one from Adrian Rogers. Myra passed on to me his story about being recognized as a Pastor by people he’d never met. Well I’m not a Pastor but I am occasionally recognized as a Christian. How does that happen?
I think the verses from Paul give us a pretty good clue. The word translated as “savor” might better be translated as “odor” or “fragrance” in verse 14 and “sweet fragrance” in verse 15. The idea is, if you like, that there is a distinctive scent carried from Jesus to His people. Authentic Christians carry that scent — attractive to those who are saved and repellent, even lethal, to those who refuse salvation.
There’s another scent, though, that’s carried by some self-proclaimed “Christians”. It’s sickly sweet . It has a hint of corruption. It’s become known, ironically, as “the odor of sanctity”. Perhaps that’s fair, because the term itself has an odd history. It has been said that when investigating candidates for sainthood, their advocates have found that such saintly men and women have had pleasant aromas such as those of roses, violets, cinnamon and orange blossom — the odor of sanctity.
I’ve noticed an interesting thing. Non-Christians seem to be better than Christians at discriminating between the real aroma and the false fragrance. There’s another thing that strikes me as not just interesting but downright weird. It seems the world often prefers the odor of sanctity to the real “sweet savor of Christ”. That can lead us into a carefully laid trap where, in an attempt to avoid giving offense, we do the equivalent of spraying ourselves with a kind of “spiritual deodorant”.
Many Christians are retreating in the face of opposition, refusing to firmly assert Biblical truth when it is unpopular. Preachers are often unwilling to preach the “down side” of the redemption story — the truth of hell and damnation. Churches focus more on socializing and programs than on witnessing and discipleship. Those who retreat in this way should remember that Jesus said “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-8)
Don’t use spiritual deodorant. You’ll end up like the church of Laodicea, to whom Jesus said “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16). There’s a better way. Be like Lazarus when he came out of the tomb. He might have been stinky, but he was raised to life!

Run to The Lord

Posted on by June 4, 2014
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Proverbs 18:10-12 — The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe . The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty , and before honor is humility.

Yesterday I wrote about Paul’s instruction to be joyful, and to prayerfully take every request to God, being thankful in the knowledge that whatever we pray in the name of His Son we can be sure he will grant according to His promise, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 4:13-14)

Here is the same promise, from the Father. We can run to the Lord with all our concerns, all our needs, all our troubles. We can share everything with Him, and He will provide us with the defenses we need against all the world’s woes.

The rich man, foolishly, seeks to build his own tower – a tower of wealth. How futile an endeavor. Jesus warns of the folly of their efforts: “And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24). You can run to the strong tower of the Lord’s name … or you can seek to build your own tower … but you cannot depend on both equally. Jesus warns of that too: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

It’s not just wealth that we seek to use as the building block for towers of refuge. We might run to our jobs, to substance abuse, to hobbies and pastimes.

Now I know that Proverbs can be a difficult book to pull any kind of flow out of. It’s not always easy to see how one verse connects to another. As I looked at these verses though I did see the connection. You can rely on the name of the Lord, or you can try to rely on your own tower – but that way will lead to destruction. If we are so proud as to think we know better than the Lord, we will surely come to destruction. If we are so humble as to know our limits, and run to the Lord in times of trouble, honor will follow.

Run to the Lord.

 

How Did He Do That?

Posted on by June 3, 2014
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Philippians 4:4-6 — Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Paul was a prisoner, dependent on friends for charity, with no Christian companion, with — to put it mildly — no certain view of his future beyond the knowledge that he was being poured out as a drink offering! So was he downhearted? Not much! In fact his advice to his beloved Philippians was to rejoice, and rejoice, and rejoice! How did he do that? How are we supposed to do that?
I’ve known two people, slightly, in my life who were full of joy. Both of them, in fact, seemed to be living closer to heaven than to earth. You might not, perhaps, be surprised to know that both of them — though widely separated in age — were close to the end of Spirit-filled Christian lives. But still, how did they do it?
I live my daily life, and anyone who reads these pieces regularly knows that I get down from time to time.
How am I supposed to rise above anxiety and depression? How do I do that?
Paul actually provided the recipe for joyful living. First, he said, let the world know who you are, and let “who you are” be the kind of person that everyone knows to be reasonable. Don’t be the kind of person that always wants everything they’re entitled to. You can never be joyful if you’re always scrabbling for everything you deserve.
Next, Paul says, remember the end game. The Lord is at hand. Jesus is coming soon. Whatever you’re dealing with now, your reward is coming soon.
Then, Paul says, “Don’t fret, don’t worry. There’s nothing you can do about the things your busy caring so much about. Pass them on to someone who can do something.”
God will take care of you, but make sure you ask properly. Make your requests part of worship, and make you worship thankful.
Now if you’re like me you’re not nearly as good at applying Paul’s recipe as he was. You might even say that it was easy for him, having seen Jesus, having performed miracles, being supported by his Christian community. It wasn’t that way at all. In fact he had it tough all the time, and most of his friends abandoned him. But I think he practiced being joyful. In just the same way as we are to be constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit, I believe we are to be constantly being filled with joy. I think Paul practiced until He got it right, and so should we!

I Am. Always.

Posted on by June 2, 2014
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Psalm 90:1-2 — Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Every so often I’m overwhelmed by one or other of the mysteries of our faith.
How about this one: God was before time, and a God will be after time. I have no way to understand the notion of the time before time and the time after time. I simply believe that this infinite nature of God is what is.
One of the most awe-inspiring moments recorded in the whole Bible is, for me, that moment when God says to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM : and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Exodus 3:14).
God defines Himself as just “being”. God is not created, He had no past, He has no future, He IS. That is, to me, incomprehensible.
Moses understood what he was hearing. The verses from Psalm 90 (titled “A prayer of Moses, the man of God”) make it clear. Physically, the Israelites had been wanderers, but wherever they wandered God was with them, and the awareness of that presence is what defined the dwelling place — the home — for the Israelites. Moses was confident that no matter how far he could look back into history he would find God, and no matter how far he could look into the future — from everlasting to everlasting — he would find God.
Moses compared God to the oldest and most stable, least changeable, objects he knew. Over time, even the mountains could change. All created things could change, but God would never change. He IS God.
There is something else incredible to me about God’s announcement of Himself to Moses. It is that this incomprehensible eternal being should speak at all to one of His creatures. This direct intervention in the fate of His people make it very clear that God is a God of relationships. It is an extraordinarily personal involvement that will not be matched again until Jesus walks the earth.
Moses understood what happened. Again we see it reflected in the Psalm. God is the dwelling place for His people, unchanging in His loving care for them.
Somewhere in this communication between eternal and unchanging God and His children, His creatures, I see part of what is at the heart of my Christian faith. It’s also in those other verses from Psalm 85 too:

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” (Psalm 85:10-11)

An unchanging eternal God has stepped into time because He loves, and passionately desires community with changeable finite man. His friend Moses understood it.

Home!

Posted on by June 1, 2014
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Matthew 8:20 — And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Well, as I said yesterday, we’re back from our mini vacation. That means we’re home. I love the wonderful definition provided by William Blackstone, the great English jurist of the eighteenth century: “Home is that place from which when a man had departed, he is a wanderer until he has returned.” In that definition we surely see why Jesus could have no home on earth. He was far, far, from His home. In a way, so am I, and so is Myra.
Make no mistake, the house that Myra and I live in is, though by no means grand, the best and happiest earthly home that either of us could imagine — and to reach back to the 1820’s for another quotation, we do feel the truth of the old words:

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
Which we seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere.

Home, Home, sweet sweet home!
There’s no place like home!
There’s no place like home!

It can be said, too, that we love our adopted country. It has been kind and generous to us, and for us not to love it would be ungrateful indeed. And yet … We are “strangers and pilgrims” as Peter says, or “our citizenship is in heaven” as Paul wrote to the the Philippians.
I suppose a lot of words have been written about what makes a house a home. I hope you’ll forgive me if I add a few more. I’ll be quite happy if, in turn you want to add a few of your own!
It starts, of course, with people. Home cannot be home without the people we love. In our final home will be God our Father, Jesus our Brother, all those Christians we have loved in this life, and many more we have yet to meet. Nobody will be missing that we would wish to see!
Then there are possessions. I’m not one to cling to things — and yet to be at home with “my” chair, with the many other things which in themselves have no special value but which say “home”, gives me a very special kind of peace. Now I don’t know what “things” will be in my eternal home, but I know that “The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)
Lastly, there is the place. As Myra and I turned into our development yesterday, there was an extra lift to our spirits. Home is a jewel in a well-loved setting. So it is with our final destination. Jesus told John about it:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Revelation 21:1, 5)

Myra and I are truly blessed in the people, possessions and place that make our earthly home. Even so, we can hardly wait to see the place, possessions and people God has in store for us!

The Good Is In The Detail

Posted on by May 31, 2014
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Luke 18:19 — And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

So Myra and I were driving back from our mini-vacation today, and passed a plant for a well-known baked goods manufacturer. They had a tag line on a sign outside: “The good is in the detail”. At first I thought it said “God is in the detail” which is what put me in mind of Jesus’s comment to the rich young ruler. But then I saw it more clearly, and it stuck in my mind. Because the good is in the detail and so is God — who is the master of detail.
When I look at creation, I see detail. God doesn’t paint all the leaves on a tree the same color, nor does he make all the leaves the same shape. Each has its own contribution to a perfect whole. Every wave in the ocean, every cloud in the sky — uniquely detailed. You, and me, every person God ever made, uniquely detailed and uniquely good if we will be the person God designed us to be.
Sadly, we people don’t have the same grasp of the importance of detail in delivery in the creation if goodness. To pick just one example, rubbing sorely on Myra and me today, there’s the hotel we stayed in this week. The brochure was fine, the public rooms were pretty impressive — our room, not so much. (Don’t worry, they’ll be getting some loving coaching over the next few days!). Even after prompting and chances to get things right that room never lived up to the promises.
There was, of course, one man who did live up to the promises and who knew that the good was in the detail. When Jesus made His comment to the rich young ruler He was quietly identifying Himself (not, as some people think, denying His godhead). I sometimes think Jesus might occasionally have been difficult to live with. He lived out the perfect life, in detail, in full sight of His disciples. They were not perfect, and from time to time must have been painfully aware of their failings.
This is where the challenge is for me. Jesus also said “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). Guess what. I am not perfect. As I wrote a couple of days ago, I would like my life to be a witness, and I know that means “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk”. To put it another way, that means living the Christian life paying attention to the details, every time, every day. I’m not that good … just trying.

You Can’t Always Get There From Here

Posted on by May 30, 2014
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Acts 16:6-7 –Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia they assayed to go into Bithynia but the Spirit suffered them not.

Myra and I have had a strange frustrating day. So much so that the devotion I thought I would be writing will have to wait for another day.
We had a plan for today. Honestly it was a good plan. We were just going to drive a few miles to a local theme park — one of the less rowdy ones — and have a quietly giggly day together. We still don’t know what was wrong with the plan, except it can’t have been God’s plan. He blocked us off and drew a circle around us today.
Of course it shouldn’t be a surprise. King Solomon certainly did. In Proverbs 16:9 he said “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” Proverbs 19:21 says “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” It’s not just in Proverbs either. In Jeremiah 10:23 you will find “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
So there it is … It shouldn’t be any kind of surprise when God puts obstacles in the way of our plans. What it should be, and the way Myra and I want to look at it, is a wake up call. The next verse in Jeremiah 10 is “O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.” We believe that if we make plans, but God obstructs them, He has a very good reason. The verse in Jeremiah points out one such reason — namely for correction.
The verse from Acts points out another reason — Paul’s plans to go to Asia were obstructed because God wanted him to go another way. The passage continues, “And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” (Acts 16:8-9). God’s obstruction was for direction.
Then there’s Balaam and his ass. “But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.” (Numbers 22:24-25) (You know the story, but if you want a refresh the whole thing is in Numbers 22:1-35.) In a nutshell, the obstruction was Balaam’s protection.
With me so far? The summary is that God’s obstruction is for correction, direction or protection. So which is it for Myra and me? We don’t know. If we find out, I’ll let you know.