Know Your Place

Posted on by February 8, 2014
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Romans 16:7 — Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

Paul, the apostle to the gentiles. Perhaps the most influential Christian ever, with the exception of Jesus Himself. Paul, who had a pedigree as distinguished as most of those who opposed him. How does he recount it?

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:4-6)

He will travel the best part of 7000 miles, across most of Europe and Asia Minor, planting churches and building the greater church of Christ.
He has started to build out the the theology of Christianity, and by the time he’s finished he will have made a contribution that nobody coming after him will ever match, with this letter to the Romans being the glorious peak of his achievement.
For all his credentials, Paul was a very humble man. In this verse of Romans his humility shines out. Paul never forgets to send greetings to family, friends and acquaintances at the end of his letters. Here in his letter to Rome he mentions no fewer than twenty-four, of whom six are women. He make sure credit goes where credit is due.
Andronicus and Junias (probably a woman) are especially called out as having been Christians — in Christ — before Paul himself. “Salute these”, he says, “who were serving Christ before I was. Salute them who are prisoners, as I am. Salute them, who have played an important role in spreading the gospel.”
Paul knows his own importance, and he knows that he is surrounded and preceded, and will be succeeded, by others with an important part to play. He knows his place.
I have been working for more than thirty-five years in the software industry. As a writer and conference speaker, I have some reputation. I have been working for the same company for almost twenty years, and might sometimes have added some value.
May I confess something? Sometimes I get above myself. Somebody treats me inconsiderately, or puts somebody else ahead of me, or doesn’t ask my opinion about something … and I’m offended. Really! So I usually come to my senses pretty quickly, but I do forget my place. How about you?

About My Father’s Business

Posted on by February 7, 2014
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Luke 2:48-50 — And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

Wednesday’s devotion focused on the difference between worry and prayer. Worry focuses on our concerns and circumstances. Prayer, at it’s heart, focuses on the Father’s concerns. How do I make sure that my concerns are my Father’s concerns — all the time?
When Jesus taught us to pray He said “pray ‘Thy will be done be done on earth as it is in heaven'”. So how is God’s will done in heaven? It is surely done joyfully, immediately, completely, precisely, perfectly … So we must desire that this is how God’s will should be done on earth. But for today’s thought it is the first part of the clause that is the focus of attention. “Thy will be done”. It is the Father’s business that matters — we must want the things in His will to happen.
Jesus understood this when He was very young. I don’t know whether this was the first time He had clearly defined the focus of His life. Luke tells us that He was twelve years old when these events happened. He was on the threshold of manhood, these are His first recorded words, and we know that from this point forward He was only and ever about His Father’s business. He was driven by this purpose. The first words we hear Him speak are “I must”. Later (John 5:30) He says “I can of mine own self do nothing”. Twenty one years after His first words in the temple, in the garden, we will hear Him say “not my will, but thine”. From start to finish, the Son is unflinchingly focused on the Father.
How can I achieve that same focus? It’s not, I suppose, possible for me to achieve that perfection. But I have a framework. “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” “With man, it is impossible, but with God all things are possible” … and perhaps best of all, “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)
We have such great promises that we can depend on. And that’s my best chance for making sure that my concerns are my Father’s concerns. Use the book He gave me as my play book. From start to finish Jesus told us where His focus was. For me to maintain my focus I need to listen to Him, and He speaks to me out of the pages of the Bible.

Fog …

Posted on by February 6, 2014
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2 Peter 2:17 — These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

It was foggy this morning. Well, it was foggy by South West Florida standards anyway — it was a light mist by the standards of the places where Myra and I grew up!
London, where Myra grew up, used to be famous for it’s fogs — “pea-souper’s”, so called because of their yellow tint caused by the mixture of chimney smoke and other pollutants with the natural moisture. They could be dreadful events — the worst, in 1952, killing 4000 people.
I lived much of my youth and young manhood in the country. Our fogs were not the vile one of Myra’s childhood, but there were still times when it was not possible to see more than a foot or two in any direction!
Driving along through the fog this morning, Myra compared it to the spiritual fog satan sometimes leads us in to. Peter identifies a major source of that fog — false teachers. He starts this chapter of his letter, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” He likens these false teachers themselves to deceitful clouds that promise the refreshment of rain but provide nothing … Leading their students into mists … Though not the dreadful mists that is the end of the teachers themselves.
We should not confuse this fog that satan, or bad teachers, lead us into with the spiritual confusion that is sometimes part of our spiritual growth. Of this, Oswald Chambers said:

There are times in spiritual life when there is confusion, and it is no way out to say that there ought not to be confusion. It is not a question of right and wrong, but a question of God taking you by a way which in the meantime you do not understand, and it is only by going through the confusion that you will get at what God wants.

There is a test to apply when we find ourselves in a fog of confusion. Does it arise from teaching that obscures or contradicts what you find in the Bible? It is probably the product of false teaching. Does it arise because you cannot see God’s hand, or discern His purpose? It is probably a legitimate spiritual confusion, that will be dispelled by patience, prayer, and faithful Bible study.
We will all be in fog at sometime or another. The challenge is to discern between satan’s vile “pea-souper” and the natural country fog!

Prayers and Burdens

Posted on by February 5, 2014
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Matthew 6:31-34 — Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

For our night-time devotion at the moment we’re reading a book on prayer by Charles Stanley (Dr. Stanley is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in northern Atlanta, Georgia and the founder and president of In Touch Ministries.) A few days ago we read a passage that talked about worries and payer burdens.
The passage from Matthew that I have included is perhaps the best known Biblical comment on worrying. It’s focus, of course, is on how worry is pointless, faithless and ungrateful. Pastor Stanley makes a different point, however. “Worry,”, he says “like a lot of other prayer, is essentially selfish — it’s focused on OUR circumstances and desires. A prayer burden is something else — it’s focused on God and his concerns.” When I read that, it seemed like what I call “a blinding flash of the obvious”! Of course I knew what he was saying, but I’d never thought about it that way before.
I’ve seen a definition of a prayer burden in a couple of places — I can’t find the source and so can’t honor it, but the definition is so good I really want to use it:

A prayer burden is the burden that God carries upon His own heart, which He offers to us so that we may be moved in our spirit to join His Son in prayer.

Perhaps the best known Biblical example of a prayer burden is in the book of Nehemiah where The Lord places a burden on Nehemiah’s heart for Jerusalem. The Lord has purposed to restore Jerusalem, and places it on Nehemiah’s heart that he is to be the instrument of restoration.
As I write this, I realize that to me, the word “burden” has an implication that might be misunderstood. To be asked to carry a burden by God is surely a great privilege. Imagine — God is showing me what is in a corner of His heart! He is inviting me to share the desires of His heart! He is inviting me to join His Son in prayer! Surely not everything we are asked to carry is a burden?
Don’t worry, carry!

Dial 911-Heaven

Posted on by February 4, 2014
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Psalm 130 — Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.?Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.?If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand??But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.?I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.?My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.?Let Israel hope in the Lord : for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.?And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

As Myra was dropping me off at work this morning we heard the wailing of sirens, and then saw EMS vehicles going past on their way to whatever the incident was.
As is our practice, we said a quick prayer for whoever was in need, and as we did so it occurred to me that we’re generally pretty quick to call 911 when we need emergency services — but perhaps we’re not so quick to call out to God when we need help. Oh yes, I know that in desperation in extreme circumstances the prayer often goes up … but what about at the spiritual crisis moments?
The psalmist knew the secret. When you are up to your neck in sin, call out. Call out, trust, and wait. God is holy, and if He were to hold us accountable the depths would be deep indeed … But He does not.
We should know this, of course. But most of us, when we’re in trouble, forget what the old cowboy Will Rogers said: “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”. When we are in a spiritual hole, instead of crying out to God, we turn further away — instead of spending more time in the Word, more time praying, more time seeking Him, we seek any way we can find to avoid Him. When we’re in the depths we need to smarten up and dial 911-Heaven!
“The depths” calls the depths of the ocean to mind … And that stubborn prophet Jonah. Jonah 2:2-9 could almost have been a model for Psalm 130. When it came to crisis, Jonah got wise — verses 7-9 say:

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord : and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

In fact Jonah takes our understanding even a little deeper. “I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;” When we’re in trouble, it’s time to Dial 911-Heaven and thank The Lord!

Worship Fills The Sky

Posted on by February 3, 2014
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Psalm 148:7, 11-13 Praise the Lord from the earth … kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: let them praise the name of the Lord : for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

We just finished the Worship Ministry Weekend and so my mind is full of worship at present. There’s a song we’re learning at present that contains a glorious phrase “Filling up the skies with endless praise” … It made me think, this morning, of what the world would look like to God if each hymn of praise that we sang rose like a rocket into the skies. Most of the time, sad to say, the sky would be black and featureless …
Of course the “praise show” varies by day of the week, season and geography. Christmas Eve over North America might, I hope, be spectacular — but it might be a rare point of light in the featureless night.
“Praise” of course is only one aspect of worship. Worship, in all it’s aspects is mysterious. The Bible does not really define it, and the words most often translated from both Hebrew and Greek carry the sense of “bow down before”. The English word “worship” Comes from a Middle English word meaning “worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being” which in turn comes from an Old English word that combines “worth” and “ship” — worshipping God really amounts to giving Him His due! That sounds simple, until you start to ask yourself what that is. What is it that God deserves from us?
Perhaps the key is in what Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well:

John 4:23-24 — But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The worship due to God is “in spirit” — and so not limited to a specific location in time or space as God is a “Spirit” in every place, pure and holy.
The worship due to God is “in truth” — not symbolic, not through sacrifices symbolizing Jesus, nor by priests as intermediaries but directly from the heart of the worshipper to the heart of God.
How I long for praise to leap from heart to heart and be launched into the heavens in a never ending spectacular across all the world. How I wish that that praise would light a fire of worship and turn every “king of the earth, prince, judge, young man, and maidens, old man, and child” into a true worship, so that our God could receive His due!

Start Again

Posted on by February 2, 2014
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Genesis 35:1-4 — And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

These verses come in Genesis immediately after the horrific story of the rape of Dinah and the subsequent massacre of Shechem. They reminded me of how often God will allow us a “restart” in our lives. It’s not that the past is wiped out. Things rarely go back exactly to what is was before … But a change in direction may leave us with consequences but not catastrophe. There are prices to be paid. Jacob’s family had to let go of the household idols and their earrings worn as amulets, and Simeon and Levi lost their places as separate tribes in Israel.
The story of Jacob and his sons put me in mind of David, who was given a “do over” after his murder of Uriah the Hittite. (Perhaps the miserable failure of David’s response to the rape of Tamar was the similarity to Jacob that brought him to mind, and I’ll maybe write about Biblical fathers and daughters another day.) David’s new start carried a price as well, as Bathsheba’s child died and he lost moral authority with his sons.
Then, this morning, our Pastor talked about Peter, who we might call the “Do over Disciple”! Peter failed miserably to follow big words with big actions, but Jesus restored him, and he became a greater, though humbler, leader than he could ever have imagined. Peter paid a price too. At the very least he had to surrender his image of himself.
The biggest invitation to “start again”, of course, was the one that Jesus made possible for all of us. His awful death allows us all to change direction and destination. It’s often said that it is a free gift. And it is — we do not have to give anything except our acceptance …. And yet … There are gifts that are worth so much more if we are willing to invest something in them. So it is with Jesus’s gift to us. We pay very little for our salvation, He payed it all. But after that comes the process of growing into His image, being sanctified, being made holy. That process needs us to be prepared to give up a lifestyle, to let go of anything that we might be tempted to hold closer than God.
Starting again, heading off in a new direction, is a privilege God offers us, from time to time. Sometimes the price is high … But oh how great the reward!

A Real Power Wash!

Posted on by February 1, 2014
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1 John 1:7-9 … but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

O.K. So we’ve known for some time that our house needed painting. Actually we’ve known for about five years,but it never seemed to be the top priority. This year, though, it finally got to the top of the list. The first stage, of course, is a power wash. The man who’s doing the work has just finished — and even before the new paint goes on it looks beautiful. (He’s doing a great job — if anyone needs a good Christian house painter, let me know!) But here’s the thing … We know that in a few years we’ll have to do the whole thing all over again.
All this made me think of that passage in 1 John, and the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. The passage is often given less than its due weight. Especially, verse 9 is often trivialized as the “Christian bar of soap”. Now it is true that it is the only verse in the New Testament that tells us that we are to confess our sins to God to obtain forgiveness. But if we think that there is some magical process that wipes out each sin as we confess it, and that that’s all that’s going on, we surely misunderstand and misrepresent the work of the Spirit. Let us not, by any means think of ourselves like the wall of a house being soiled over time by contact with the world and periodically cleansed by the Holy Spirit power wash!
Alexander Maclaran expresses the point so much better than I ever could:

‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’ Now if you will notice the whole context, and eminently the words a couple of verses after my text, you will see that the cleansing here meant is not the cleansing of forgiveness, but the cleansing of purifying. For the two things are articulately distinguished in the ninth verse: ‘He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ So, to use theological terms, it is not justification, but sanctification that is meant here.

The Holy Spirit is engaged in a slow, steady, permanent DEEP cleansing process. Where His work is complete no mud will stick — that repeated soiling by contact with the world will not recur.
If we take such a view of things perhaps two things become apparent. The first is that where we continue to sin, it is not evidence that we are still un redeemed, but that there are still areas where the work of the Spirit is not yet complete. The second is that as we confess our sins, we confess our recognition of those areas and our desire for the process to continue. When we are faithful to confess our sins then, it can be no surprise that a loving Savior will lovingly forgive us.
The cleansing of the Holy Spirit is a real power wash. Slow, certain, and once for all!

The Family Instruction Book

Posted on by January 31, 2014
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Colossians 3:21 — Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
Ephesians 6:4 — And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Suppose we turn this round? Children, provoke not your parents … Why, you ask, would I have such an odd idea? Well, I’ve been struck recently by the thought that for a lot of people the relationship is reversing. More and more parents are dependent on children for support — financial, moral or just emotional.
Maybe I’m being silly about that one … but one of the wonders of the Bible is the way it provides foundational advice for critical family relationships — parents and children, husbands and wives, mothers and daughters-in-law,brothers and sisters …
Sometimes, of course, you have to work a little harder to see the lesson. What, for instance, can we tell from the relationship between Mary and Martha? As a simple man, I can see something about “sisters are different, but they need to get along, and unlike brothers they can do it without having to live in separate countries!”
Some of the lessons are not so hard to spot — but one generation doesn’t always seem to pick it up from another. For instance Isaac and Rebekah did a good job of proving that favoring one child over another wasn’t a good idea — but Jacob and Rachel didn’t get the lesson, and see what that did to Joseph and his brothers!
It’s sad to me that we don’t hear as much about the family lessons of the Bible as we might. We hear a fair bit about man and woman, husband and wife … but parents and children, brothers and sisters … they only seem to come out on special occasions.
Weddings, funerals (well burials anyway!), baptisms … You can find them all in the Bible. In fact I doubt if there’s an important family event that you couldn’t find insight into — even if you might have to look closely sometimes!
The family is God’s university for relationships. It’s where we learn to treat each other right. The Bible is the course book … It covers the basics … And the advanced topics … Like widows and orphans. It majors in parenting!
Probably the starting point for parenting education is the Book of Proverbs. The instructions aren’t so complicated: get your kids started right, make sure they know what they should be doing, and make sure they do it …
And so it goes all through the Bible. Any relationship, and any relationship issue. If you will look, you can find the guiding principle. So how come our children don’t know everything they need to know? You know the answer to that one. The Family Instruction Book is no longer welcome in our schools. Driven out of our schools, it is becoming less popular in our homes … And so our families fall apart. We need to get back to the Book and relearn relationships.

Oh The Glory!

Posted on by January 30, 2014
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Romans 2:3-9 — And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? but, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

I know that’s a really big text to start this with, but when I read it this morning it really popped out at me.
I don’t expect to avoid judgment. I know that there will be a day when I stand in front of Jesus, and He will confirm my eternal destination.
Time and again, the goodness of God leads me to a recognition of my sins, and an ability — in a very slight way — to see them as He sees them, and to feel about them as He feels about them. The tragedy, of course, is in that phrase “time and again”. In a very real way my repentance is like the sin offering in the temple — effective for a time, but not permanent.
If I read on in Chapter 2 of Romans, there are many other things I understand about my relationship to sin. I know that although I am not under the law as the Jews were under the law, I know that I am under obligation to obey the higher law articulated by Jesus — “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”.
I know that God knows my every secret, and that no matter how good a show I put on, I am a hypocrite. My heart is desperately wicked, more so than I would ever care to reveal to those around me.
When I think about my sinful nature, I know that I am not the only one. Mine is the general lot. In fact that is part of Paul’s message. First he has identified the sinful nature of the gentiles, and now he is calling out the Jews. It is enough to drive me to despair… and yet … as I find in a Dottie Rambo song that Choir is rehearsing just now:

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary, to view the cross, where Jesus died for me.
How marvelous, His grace that caught my falling soul He Looked beyond my faults and saw my need.

This is such a glorious thing to me. No matter what my desires, no matter how hard I work, no matter what I do, I can never be free of my sinful nature by my own efforts. Looking beyond my faults and seeing my need He laid aside His divine powers and privileges, took on flesh, took up His cross, and paid my price. He gave me freely what I could never obtain in any other way.
Understanding what Jesus did for me is like having Paul hold my hand and drag me with him to the wonderful peak in Chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans:

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 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 8:31, 32, 39)

How marvelous! Oh the glory!