Stand Firm

Posted on by May 9, 2014
Reply

Isaiah 7:9 — And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

The Bible lays great stress on the importance of unwavering belief in God, and the reliability of His promises. There are other translations of the second sentence. Maybe the ESV has it best — “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” However the sentence is translated, the intention is clear; Although Ahaz knew he would not be alive by the time it happened, he should know that things would come to pass in the way God said they would — Israel would be shattered 65 years later and that in his day Syria and Israel would not overpower Judah. If he did not believe those predictions he too would fall.
We find firmness of belief stressed in the New Testament too:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8)
Here is a wonderful promise! God will unconditionally grant wisdom to anyone who asks for it in faith. But the request must be made in faith. It can be a mistake to assign human emotions and motivations to God but it is possible, I think, to see that He might be offended at the man who does not ask in belief. To not trust God to deliver on His promises is, after all, to make Him out a liar!
Firmness in faith has been on my mind quite a bit recently. I think it’s because, like all of you, I know that Christianity is increasingly under attack. Of course this in no surprise, and nothing new. Jesus said that we should rejoice when we are persecuted, and Peter even wrote that we are called to suffering: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (1 Peter 2:21)
There are many who feel that declining morals, the collapse of the family and the driving of Christianity out of public life are clear indicators of the end times. Maybe it is so — or maybe these are God’s discipline of a church that has become unnecessarily lax. However that may be, now is surely time to stand firm … Or as Paul was inspired to say: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13). Be firm in faith!

Out Of The Mouths …

Posted on by May 8, 2014
Reply

Psalm 8:2 — Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
I have a greatnephew. The five year old son of my nephew made a wonderfully wise comment yesterday, about life’s unpredictable ups and downs. “Every day is different dad. Some days my table eats first, and some days we don’t.” Apart from the verse appealing to the potluck supper fan in me (how come our table is nearly always called last to eat?) it reminded me of the (sometimes unconscious) wisdom of children. Being reminded of the wisdom of children I was reminded also that children can sometimes astonish us by their love of God. In its turn that reminded me of this verse from Psalm 8.
Jesus quotes this verse after He has cleansed the temple, and the children cried out in wonder:

And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? (Matthew 21:15-16)

John addresses “little children” in his first letter and this might suggest that the psalmist might have been talking not so much of actual “babes” but of spiritual children. F. W. Grant comments ”

But yet for this He will establish praise out of the mouth of babes and sucklings; that is, I doubt not, of new-converted souls, humbled and brought down to such conscious littleness and weakness as this implies. We have again from His lips such a comparison in the well-known words, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Thus we see clearly why He must produce such praise in order that the kingdom may come: the heirs of it must be made ready.

The words “ordained strength” might seem different from the idea of “perfected praise” which as the phrase that Jesus used. In fact the ideas are very close. A more exact translation might be “lay the foundation for glory”. That is, the children — literal or spiritual — are giving, from their innocent hearts, the most powerful witness to God’s glory.
Jesus said “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3). I think this idea of this purest testimony to God’s glory coming from the hearts and mouths of babes and sucklings is wonderful. It makes me want to become, again “as a little child”.

The Happy Family

Posted on by May 7, 2014
Reply

1Peter 3:1,7 — Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

One of the most tragic things happening in America is the rapid decline of the family. There are some signs that the decline might be slowing, a Pew Research article from 2013 says:
Americans believe that love is the main foundation of marriage. Most who never have been married say they would like to be at some point in their lives. However, statistics show Americans aren’t rushing to the altar, and the U.S. marriage rate is at an all-time low—only 51% of adults were married in 2011, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.
At roughly the same time, childstats.gov reported:
— Sixty-four percent of children ages 0–17 lived with two married parents in 2012, down from 77 percent in 1980.
— In 2012, 24 percent of children lived with only their mothers, 4 percent lived with only their fathers, and 4 percent lived with neither of their parents.
It is impossible for me not to link this trend to the fact that over many years governments and the Supreme Court, cheered on by the media and liberal commentators, have undermined the legal and moral foundations of the family. Of course this is in direct contradiction to what the Bible says.
There’s an interesting difference between the Old and New Testament perspectives on the family though. While the Old Testament honors a good wife (as in Proverbs 31, or the verse I quote above), it still presents an essentially patriarchal view. The husband/father is very definitely the unquestioned “lord” of the family. In its way, Old Testament Israel was a very typical society of its time, with a very clear position on male superiority.
The New Testament shows a shift in relationships. True, the husband/father is still very definitely the head of the family — but now the obligations are reciprocal, no longer in one direction only. As well as wives respecting their husbands, husbands are to love their wives (Ephesians 5:28-9). As well as children obeying their parents, fathers are instructed not to aggravate their children. (Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21).
Looking from the perspective of a “liberated” twenty-first century it is hard to see how radical the first century Christian perspective on the family was. A brief study of Jewish, Greek and Roman families makes it clear that, in its way, this was yet another earth-shattering aspect of this strange new religion.
I, for one, am grateful for the Christian family. I have a wonderful wife — and without the Bible I don’t think I’d have any idea how to look after her. With God’s grace I think we’re working out how to work together. The Bible is the best marriage manual there could be

A Fearless World

Posted on by May 6, 2014
Reply

1John 4:18 — There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

So how about it? Do you have a fear-free life? Actually, I think it’s not a fair question. Alexander MacLaren provides the context for this verse:

John has been speaking of boldness, and that naturally suggests its opposite—fear. He has been saying that perfect love produces courage in the day of judgment, because it produces likeness to Christ, who is the Judge. In (this) text he explains and enlarges that statement. For there is another way in which love produces boldness, and that is by its casting out fear.

There is a fear of God that is proper, and respectful. But there is another fear, rooted in guilt. It is the fear(oh, I remember it) of the naughty schoolboy, expecting well-deserved punishment.
J. B. Philipps provides a translation of this verse that adds an extra nuance which more accurately conveys the sense of “torment”:

Love contains no fear – indeed fully- developed love expels every particle of fear, for fear always contains some of the torture of feeling guilty. The man who lives in fear has not yet had his love perfected.

The word translated as “torture” in the King James Version carries the sense of “suffering for a purpose” — in this case for the purpose of driving the sufferer to seek help. Our fear of God, and the eternal consequences of displeasing Him, should drive us seek His forgiveness through the agency of His Son.
Now you might say that this is surely a harsh way for God to ensure our love. But we do well to remember what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews said:

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? (Hebrews 12:5-7)

God is a true father, and wants nothing but the best for us. He uses the tools of a wise father to educate us — and that includes necessary punishment from time-to-time. After all, He wrote the book on parenting: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” (Proverbs 13:24)
There will come a day when we have perfectly learnt our lessons. On that day we will be full of love for our Father — and living in a fearless world!

All Is Not Well

Posted on by May 5, 2014
Reply

Isaiah 11:6-10 — The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

A few days ago, perhaps not for the first time, I quoted from Robert Browning’s poem “Pippa Passes”:
God’s in His heaven—
All’s right with the world!
It’s a beautiful passage, and anyone who has walked out in the morning knows what is meant, as does anyone who perhaps has heard the skylark in the morning, celebrated by another fine poem — this time from Percy Bysshe Shelley:
Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Bird thou never wert,
That from Heaven, or near it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
This world, God’s creation can be staggeringly beautiful and satisfying. And yet … All is not right with the world. We are living in a damaged creation. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. We have war, disease, crime … We have forests being destroyed, lakes being polluted, species being driven to destruction … we have sexual immorality, abortion, adultery, divorce … It’s enough to make me despair.
And yet I am not in despair. I’m full of hope, even joy. In the Revelation of Divine Love, Julian if Norwich says:
And thus, in my folly, afore this time often I wondered why by the great foreseeing wisdom of God the beginning of sin was not letted: for then, methought, all should have been well. This stirring [of mind] was much to be forsaken, but nevertheless mourning and sorrow I made therefor, without reason and discretion.
But Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is needful to me, answered by this word and said: It behoved that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Why did God not prevent the fall? It was part of His plan. Granting free will inevitably meant there would be sin. Sin would damage creation … but God’s plan leads to the restoration beautifully described by Isaiah, when we will all rally around Jesus and “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Stumbling Blocks

Posted on by May 4, 2014
Reply

Leviticus 19:14 — Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.

Perhaps there are few more mindlessly ugly practical “jokes” than putting something in front of a blind person to cause a fall. This, I believe is why it is so often used as a metaphor for things that can interfere with the course of the life of an individual or a nation.
I am more concerned about the way one person tries to trip another than about the way God may use stumbling blocks as instruments if judgment, or about the sins or opportunities to sin that may be stumbling blocks — but these uses of stumbling blocks can be seen, especially in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
The New Testament specifically calls out two kinds of “stumbling block” that people put in each other’s way:
The first kind I see is the providing of chances to sin. 1 John 2:10 points out that “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.” Laying sin traps for each other is unloving! Jesus had a furious rebuke for those who would mislead the young and inexperienced in such a cruel way:

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. (Luke 17:1-2)

The second kind of New Testament stumbling block is a “Paul special”. He talks about anything that might persuade one Christian to go against their conscience characterizes because of different views about right Christian practices as a “stumbling block”.

But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak. …
But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. (1 Corinthians 8:9, 12)

There’s one other “stumbling block” that I suspect we are all painfully aware of, although I can’t really find direct scriptural warnings about it. It’s the stumbling block that interferes with another Christian’s worship, fellowship or service. I see this happening in at least three ways, and they all make me sad.
The first “church” stumbling block is the sort of thing … sometimes very petty … that gets in the way of worship. Usually a comment, or a small unkindness (like jumping into a parking space) that just ruffles someone’s feathers and distracts them from worship.
The second “church” stumbling block I see is anything that discourages someone as they are engaged in service. Somehow there are many more critics than supporters, putting stumbling blocks in the way of God’s servants. Whenever I see this I want to take the critic on one side and point them to Romans 14:4: “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”
The last of these vicious church stumbling block is that which drives someone — often a new believer, or even a seeker — away from the church. How often has someone been turned away because they “didn’t fit”. God forgive me if I ever make that mistake. I know there are so many places where I don’t fit!
There are so many ways in which we can create stumbling blocks. Be on your guard! Let your watchword be Romans 15:1-2:

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.

Leaving Traces

Posted on by May 3, 2014
Reply

1 Peter 3:8-11 — Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another; love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
Do you like the TV series, factual and fictional, that focus on forensic investigation? I find them fascinating, though the underlying events are unquestionably unpleasant.
All forensic investigation had it’s roots in Locard’s Exchange Principle — the idea that “every contact leaves a trace”. In 1942, Dr. Edmond Locard articulated it:

Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.

So it is with relationships. Whoever you touch, wherever you touch, you each will leave a mark. That mark can be a scar or a cherished memory.
You won’t find anything in the Bible (I think … Feel free to prove me wrong!) that says “relationships leave traces” — but I do believe you can pile text upon on text to support the notion. We might start with Mark 12:31, “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” We could move from there to Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” From there we might jump to Ephesians 4:32, “and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Have I convinced you? If not, let me assure you that I have skipped over many verses, and I could have reached far back into the Old Testament and heaped evidence on top of evidence.
What does this mean to how we should live? There are at least four consequences:
— First, we must take care of what scars we may inflict, what traces our relationships with others may leave behind.
— Second, we should know that other relationships have scarred anyone we encounter, and give them grace.
— Third, we must be aware that we, too, show signs of the impacts of others on us. That self-awareness may make us more kind.
— Lastly, we should know that we are constantly having new traces left on us, and take care that they do not influence our behavior in ways they should not.
I know that I am setting a standard that I can rarely reach. I mean to do better.

Knowing And Going

Posted on by May 2, 2014
Reply

Numbers 9:18-19 — At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.

I know I keep saying that you shouldn’t play favorites with parts of the Bible, but almost every day I’m reminded of my love for one passage or another. Today it was the book called “Numbers”. (The Hebrew name is bemidbar — “in the desert”, a great description of the action.)
Numbers is full of wonderful insights into God’s character, and advice about how to live. Take the passage above — it carries a vital lesson.
Many of us struggle, day-to-day, with discerning God’s will. But He’s usually providing some pretty clear guidance if we will look for them.
The Israelites had the clearest possible signal — when the cloud covered the tabernacle it was time to hurry up and wait … And when the cloud moved, it was time to hit the road.
There was something else about the Israelites and God’s will in the desert. The Israelis were obedient — when the cloud moved, they moved. When the cloud stopped, they stopped.
Moses was a great leader, and the Israelites took his word when he told them that the cloud was God’s sign. But Moses was wise enough to know that God provides guidance in more than one way. In an earlier instance (Exodus 18) we read of him taking the advice of his father-in-law Jethro over the appointment of Judges and in the desert (Numbers 10:31) He was anxious to have the knowledge of the desert of his brother-in-law Hobab: “Leave me not,” he said to him, “forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness”. There’s another lesson about God’s revelation of His will. As well as signs, He provides wise advisors — and we should listen.
There is another lesson hidden in this passage. It is the lesson of patience. Very often we feel stuck in God’s waiting room, and succumb to the temptation to move before the cloud lifts. About this the JFB commentary says:

A desert life has its attractions, and constant movements create a passionate love of change. Many incidents show that the Israelites had strongly imbibed this nomad habit and were desirous of hastening to Canaan. But still the phases of the cloud indicated the command of God: and whatsoever irksomeness they might have felt in remaining long stationary in camp, “when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, they kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.”

That’s the necessary restraint we need to show … Wait for the sign — and then go.

Who Should You Trust?

Posted on by May 1, 2014
1

Proverbs 3:5-6 — Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

The company I work for is reinventing itself which means a lot of new initiatives, new people, and need for reorganization. Sadly, a few people are working hard to protect themselves and their own positions while the rest of us are putting our minds to making things work.
The issue, of course, is one of trust. Not all the parties are convinced that everybody is simply working in the best interests of the business … I don’t want to go into any details, but it did provoke me to consider who we do trust and who we should trust.
Yesterday I wrote about the marvelous abilities babies are born with. It struck me as I thought about this matter of trust that we are born with two other attributes. We are born trusting … and we are born to sin. Of course the two things work against each other — as we learn to sin we lose the automatic capacity to trust.
As we get older we start to rebuild trust. And the next thing that came to mind was “I wonder how we should do that?” One factor, of course, is proximity. In principle we trust those who are close to us — first our families, and then our neighbors and then we meet and interact with regularly — at school or work, socially or, perhaps best of all, at church.
The next reasonable seeming factor was time. I know that there are people who somehow seem trustworthy (or the opposite) from the moment we first meet them — but in general, the longer somebody’s track record of doing the right thing, the more we should trust them.
Does it matter? It does. I like what American author and activist Barbara Smith said : “Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation on which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish.”
This all leads me to God. How does He meet my basic criteria? Better than anyone else, of course! “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24). God is always the nearest person to us … and His track record goes back before the beginning of time.
There’s another way to build trust, of course. It’s by recommendation. I trust those — more or less — who are trusted by those I trust. Combine that with the knowledge that trusting God with all my heart just make sense and then I see that those I can trust best are likely to be those who trust Him best.
There’s just one more thing I’d like to add. Trust yourself! No, I didn’t say trust your understanding … my favorite proverbs, at the head of this piece, make that clear. abut trust your integrity. Israeli prime minister Golda Meir nailed this one, saying “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” If you can’t trust yourself, it’s probably impossible to trust anybody — even God.
With all this in mind, as to what happens in my company — I’m giving everybody credit for trustworthiness … until they prove me wrong!

Nothing Can Stop The Glory

Posted on by April 30, 2014
Reply

1 Chronicles 6:31-32 — Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after the ark rested there. They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem; and they served in their office according to their order.

Genesis 1: 11 – 12 — Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed?bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

It is not always clear to me why the thoughts behind these devotional pieces are what they are. Recently I have more often felt the difficulties that surround us than the wonders. Today it is different. I have been reminded of the glorious creativity of God.
I am at a highly technical Information Technology conference this week. The organizers, though, are ingenious and at the end of today’s conference sessions provided two speakers with a remarkably different spin on what we do. One was Peter Olson from Marvel Comics (bringing you Spider-Man, Captain America, the X-Men and many others!). The other was Philip Sheppard, a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, a virtuoso cellist and a fine composer. As well as brilliantly connecting music and Information technology, playing some beautiful music (it’s not often that I am moved to tears at one of these conferences), Mr. Sheppard shared some amazing facts about new-born babies. Did you know:
— Babies are born with perfect pitch?
— Babies have an innate perfect rhythmic sense?
— Babies have “photographic” memories?
Most of us, of course, “lose” these abilities. It seems they wither away, because they are not used. (In fact perfect pitch is more prevalent among people whose languages are highly intonated, depending on pitch for meaning). I have no idea what other amazing attributes we are born with, but they are a sure testimony to the glory and creativity of God.
After the conference today I went walking in the woods. They were beautiful, with more greens than I could count, vibrant in the light and shade. I went down to the small lake at the bottom of the hill, and enjoyed the swans, ducks and geese that were not the slightest bit bothered by, or even interested in, me. There was a wonderful sense of “active peace”. Everything was not still … it was in motion … but that was how it should be. I am reminded of the passage in Robert Browning’s poem, “Pippa Passes”:

The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearled;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven—
All’s right with the world!

My walk was in the early evening, of course, but the sense was the same. All creation sang around me, and I remembered that no matter how troubled the times are, our Creator God has wonders to perform.