All posts by Luella Campbell

MOLLY AND ME – PSYCHOLOGY

Christian Life, ,

As we grow older, I am learning that Molly is a walking book on “dog psychology”, written in dog language! The more we live together, the less I understand her.

I recently had Covid, again, which pushed me into bouts of coughing so violent that I thought I would surely burst something. Whether Molly thought I was “barking” at her or not, I don’t know, but she distanced herself from me, mostly tail down, and became almost a recluse. In response to this “threat” she refused to eat, drink, even go to the toilet unless it was desperately urgent. Her usual requests for me to pick her up and put her on my chair with me faded away. She spent most of her days isolating herself on her bed in the bedroom.

Now that I have recovered, few of her old habits and gestures of affection have returned. She sometimes behaves as though I am her enemy.

Now, Molly has many physical challenges, mostly the result of her allergy to grass…and wheat…and her sensitivity to some foods. I try to do the best I can for her, take her to the vet when necessary, (which she hates), carefully monitor what I feed her, (which means no more “human” treats), and treat her ailments with sprays, creams and lotions, which she mostly tolerates.

Medication, for Molly, is an intolerable no-no. I have to fool her in the most ingenious ways to get anything she needs to help her down her throat without force. Sometimes, she see through my schemes, digs in her heels and turns her head away in disdain.

We are now at the point where she prefers to sleep on my dirty laundry in the kitchen, waiting to go into the washing machine, than in my bed!

The sum total is, the more I try to help her overcome her problems, the more suspicious she becomes of me. She does not appreciate the value of “tough love”.

Now, I know that Molly’s reactions have to do with her “dog-ness” and her limited understanding of my ways. The best I can do is reassure her of my love and and try to show her that I love her in the ways I treat her.

Molly reminds me so much of myself and my old attitudes to God. How often in the past I have turned away, thinking that God has failed me instead of trusting His love, no matter what.

Jeremiah almost lost his prophetic calling because of the same attitude. Despite his faithfulness to deliver God’s Word to his people, and God’s promise to protect him, the people hated and persecuted him, and refused to believe his warnings. He suffered all kinds of torments at their hands.

Jeremiah complained to the Lord that His promise of protection was like a dried-up water source.

Jeremiah 15:15-18 NLT
[15] Then I said, “Lord, you know what’s happening to me. Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young. It’s for your sake that I am suffering. [16] When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. [17] I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins. [18] Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”

God responded with sobering words.

Jeremiah 15:19 NLT
[19] “This is how the Lord responds: “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!”

In fact, God was saying to Jeremiah, “If you don’t take back your words, you can no longer be my prophet!”

That’s drastic!

How can I make Molly understand that I love her enough to treat her in ways that seem cruel to her? I must apply medication, like cold sprays or creams to her skin to relieve her itch; I must get medicine down her throat to treat her ailments; I must take her to the vet for help…all things she hates but are for her good. Somehow, I must keep her trust so that she understands that I love her, but how? She can’t see the bigger picture. She interprets my help as “harm”.

Despite my reassurances of love, she is suspicious of me and withdraws.

As a human, I have a greater capacity to understand God’s ways than Molly does mine. His Word constantly reminds and assures me that His love underpins all He does.
Nothing in heaven or on earth can ever separate me from that love.

Romans 8:35 NLT
[35] “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?”

It’s the love of God in all its length, breadth, depth, and height that prompts Him to persevere with His plan to recreate in me the image of His Son, despite the cost to me in pain and suffering. The rewards are out if this world!

I have no such lofty designs for Molly, but I do want her to have the happiest and most comfortable life possible while we are together. It’s up to her to respond to my love for her or not.

Why don’t I, then trust God’s love for me in all His dealings because He has already shown me the bigger picture in His Word?

I thinks it’s embedded deep in our old human nature not to trust God. It’s the old enmity just under the surface. Only His persistent grace and unfailing love will convince us and lead us to trust Him no matter what, even when He has to “treat” us with various remedies for our sin.

So, though I can’t change Molly’s reservations because she is canine and I am human, I can respond to God’s love because He made me in His image. The more I choose to trust Him despite appearances, the more real His love becomes to me.

What an honour to be a child of God!

GOD’S “GLIDESLOPE”, THE CROSS

Christian Life, ,

I love to watch “Air Crash Investigations” on DSTV. I enjoy the process of unravelling the cause or causes of malfunctions or even pilots’ errors that lead to disaster, and to the development of safer flying.

In the process of watching these episodes, I learn so much about flying that I can almost pilot a commercial plane! Well, not really!
Aparrently, the most dangerous part of flight is in the takeoff and landing of the plane. Two skilled pilots must monitor one another to ensure that they configure their aircraft for getting safely into the air and back on the ground. One omission or error can end in a horrific crash.

It’s fascinating to understand  how much radio, together with radar, plays a major part in flying an aeroplane. Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), via radio, keep pilots in contact with the ground from start to finish, tracking and guiding them to their destination, protecting them from midair collisions, helping them in emergencies, and so much more.

Radio also plays a vital part in keeping the aircraft flying on course and landing safely at the correct destination. Pilots get their direction both from the ATC and from a series of “way points”, radio signals from the ground that plot the course to their destination. Pilots receive warning signals from the information the plane receives from radio signals, for example, too close to the ground, too close to another aircraft, etc.

A fascinating part of radio signal guidance systems, for me, is what is called the “glideslope”. An instrument on the instrument panel in the cockpit, a digital display in the form of a cross, picks up radio signals from radio beams in the ground and guides the aircraft down onto the runway. The horizontal beam on the display shows the pilot where his plane is in relation to the ground and the perpendicular beam where his plane is in relation to the runway. By a series of radio signals at decreasing altitudes from the ground, the pilot can safely land the plane as he keeps the two digital beams on his instrument panel perfectly aligned in the form of a cross.

What a picture of the cross of Jesus in our lives! The cross is God’s “glideslope”, guiding us safely to our destination in glory.

Our glideslope is Jesus. He is the radio beam we lock onto by faith that brings us safely home. To ever reach our eternal “runway”, we must align our lives with the cross.

The cross of Jesus plays many parts in our lives. It is the foundation of our salvation; the remedy for sin, past present, and future; death to our old sin nature; the centre and core of our earthly lives; and our security on judgment day.

Let’s examine some of the functions of God’s “glideslope” that keeps us on course and lands us safely in glory.

1. The cross is the foundation of our salvation.

Isaiah 53:5-6NLT
[5] “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [6] All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

Unfolding before him in a prophetic vision, Isaiah saw the cross in all its gory detail…God’s Ebed Yahweh, His Messiah, suffering and dying for the sin of His people.

When Jesus disclosed to His disciples what lay ahead for Him, Peter was outraged, rebuking Him for such unthinkable words. Jesus, in turn, rebuked Peter because death on the cross had to be. Even in His final hours, He bowed to the will of the Father and submitted to suffering without protest.

1 Peter 2:22-23 NLT
[22] “He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. [23] He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”

Only though faith in what Jesus did on the cross can we connect with the glideslope that takes us to the Father.

John 14:6 NLT
[6] “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

2. The cross is the remedy for sin.

Romans 5:1 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

There can only be peace with God when the debt of our sin has been paid and the barrier removed.

Romans 4:25 NLT
[25]”He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”

John 19:30 NLT
[30]”When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

“Paid in full!” were Jesus’ last words before He died. Through the cross, all our sin was forever blotted out, removed from God’s sight and obliterated from His memory.

Hebrews 8:12 NLT
[12] “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

3. The cross is death to our old nature.

So, although sin and its penalty are gone, done away with through the cross…what of our old nature and sin’s power over us?

Romans 6:1-7 NLT
[1]”Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? [2] Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? [3] Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? [4] For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. [5] Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. [6] We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. [7] For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.”

God has not removed our old sin nature from us with its relentless pull towards sin but…He has given us the way to subdue it through our union with Jesus in His death. Our role us to put to death our fleshly desires so that we can share in Christ’s holiness.

God’s “glideslope”, the cross of Jesus, motivates and empowers us to stay on course and follow the “radio signals” that lead us to a safe landing.

Romans 8:12-13 NLT
[12] “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. [13] For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”

4. The cross is the centre and core of our earthly lives.

Galatians 6:14 NLT
[14] “As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.”

Paul used God’s glideslope to keep him on track as he navigated his way to the Father. His eyes on the cross, the horizontal beam showing him where he was in relation to the world and the perpendicular beam his relation to Jesus, kept his eyes of the world and it’s allutements. He was able to stay on track and in balance in all “weathers” and in all circumstances.

5. The cross is our security on judgment day.

God’s wrath against sin was satisfied when Jesus died on the cross. This act is called “propitiation”.

“The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him.”

https://gotquestions.org, article “What is propitiation”

1 John 2:1-2 NLT
[1] “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. [2] He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

1 John 2:2 KJV
[2]”and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Hebrews 9:27-28 NLT
[27] “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, [28] so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.”

John 5:24 NLT
[24]  “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”

Romans 8:1-2 NLT
[1] “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. [2] And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

John 3:16-18 NLT
[16]  “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. [18]  “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

How reassuring is God’s Word, that those who believe in Jesus will never come into God’s judgment because God has already laid all our sun on Jesus and judged all sin on the cross.

What better way to celebrate the “glideslope” of the cross and to follow its directions than in the words of a great hymn…

1. Beneath the cross of Jesus
  I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty Rock
  Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
  A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
  And the burden of the day.

2. Oh, safe and happy shelter!
  Oh, refuge tried and sweet!
Oh, trysting place where heaven’s love
  And heaven’s justice meet.
As to the holy patriarch
  That wondrous dream was given,
So is my Savior by the cross
  A ladder up to heaven.

3. There lies beneath its shadow,
  But on the farther side,
The darkness of an awful grave
  That gapes both deep and wide;
And there between us stands the cross,
  Two arms outstretched to save,
Like a watchman set to guard the way
  From that eternal grave.

4. Upon that cross of Jesus
  Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One,
  Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears,
  Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of His glorious love,
  And my own worthlessness.

5. I take, O cross, thy shadow
  For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
  The sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
  To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
  My glory all the cross.

https://hymnary.org
Author: Elizabeth Cecelia Clephane, 1830-1869



WHAT THEN?

Gospel, ,

On judgment day, when the Son is on His great white throne, all nations before Him, and the books are opened, what then?

Matthew 25:31-33 NIV
[31] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. [32] All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [33] He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

First, the nations…

What will Jesus do with my nation? Sheep or goats? Does my nation fulfil all the criteria for being “sheep”?

Sheep belong to Him; He bought them with His own blood. He knows them and they know Him.

John 10:14 NIV
[14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…”

Why are the sheep sheep? They entered the sheepfold through the door, the Good Shepherd. They follow Him. He gives them eternal life. They will never perish. No one will snatch them from Him or out of His Father’s hand.

In the main, South Africa as a nation falls far short of these requirements. We are not sheep. Why are we not sheep? As a nation, it’s everyone for himself. Governed by greedy and self-interested, power hungry, corrupt, and godless politicians, the fight for survival unleashes in the main, the worst that is in us.

Who are the goats? Every nation that does not qualify to be “sheep” is “goat”. Goats are all set aside for judgment. What comes next?

In this process, there is no safety in numbers. Every “sheep” and every “goat” nation must be scrutinised. Every sheep and every goat in every nation will be tested, to receive either reward or punishment.

Revelation 20:11-12, 15 NLT
[11] “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. [12] I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books…
[15] And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Though God’s judgement will fall on every nation, like Lot from Sodom, He will preserve everyone who belongs to Him. Jesus promised that they will never perish.

The Lamb’s Book of Life has an indelible record of the names of every “sheep” belonging to the Shepherd.

Let’s examine the criteria. First, Jesus is the judge.

John 5:21-23 NLT
[21] “For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. [22] In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, [23] so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.”

Jesus’ judgment is based on the objective standard of His Word, by which He condemns or acquits.

John 12:47-49 NIV
[47] “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. [49] For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.”

The Father judges by one standard.

John 3:16-18 NIV
[16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands CONDEMNED ALREADY because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Why, then does the Bible say that God will examine our deeds?

Revelation 20:12 NIV
[12] “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

Matthew 25:34-36, 40 NIV
[34]“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. [35] For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, [36] I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’…”

Revelation 19:7-8 NIV
[7] Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. [8] Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the RIGHTEOUS ACTS of God’s holy people). “

… L[40] “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

All sin is the fruit of unbelief. “Good works” are the response of faith in Jesus.

John 15:5, 10 NIV
[5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…
[10] If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

What we do, then, reveals what is in our hearts.

We must never be fooled into believing that all people are intrinsically good. The Bible declares judgment on all people because the human race is rotten at the core.

Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
[9]”The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

Even the Apostle Paul concluded…

Romans 7:18 NIV
[18] “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

Sin is both universal and incurable.

Romans 3:23 NIV
[23] “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Only those who, by faith, receive the gift of righteousness through the mercy of God will escape God’s judgement and share in the blessing of eternal life.

John 5:24 NIV
[24] “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

For those who reject God’s mercy and choose their own way, the outcome is…well, what then?

John 3:18 NIV
[18]”Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

This statement is neither intolerance nor hate speech. This declaration is both the sober truth and the greatest of all offers of mercy. How can a warning and a promise ever be anything else?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KNOW HIM?

Christian Life, ,

Why did God give us prayer? Let’s examine Jesus’ words in His High Priestly prayer.

John 17:3 NLT
[3] “And this is the way to have eternal life—TO KNOW YOU , the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

God’s passion, among other things, is to give us eternal life, that is, to live eternally wth Him in His realm of love and peace. He said that “knowing Him” is the way to go. How important, then, that we understand what “knowing” means.

Let’s examine some of the Biblical ways and examples of knowing God, (not in order of priority).

  1. Genesis 4 introduces us to one of the most intimate expressions of knowing.

Genesis 4:1 NIV
[1] “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”

Genesis 4:1 NLT
[1]”Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”

Genesis 4:1 KJV
[1] “And Adam KNEW Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.”

Some modern translations use euphemisms, others state bluntly what Adam and Eve did to produce a son. The KJV uses the word “know”… “yada”, to describe the intimacy of marriage.

God desires intimacy with us in our spirits so that He can impregnate us with His “seed”, His Word, that gives birth to His purposes. We can only have intimacy with the Father through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit by our submission and obedience to His will, and through transparency with Him. John calls this “walking in the light”.

1 John 1:6-7 NIV
[6] “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

  1. Knowing the Lord means sharing His heart for what is important to Him. Doing what is right, i.e., for example, taking care of those who need care, is the very nature of God. He gave us the gift of righteousness, Jesus’ own righteousness attributed to us. He requires that we live it out in our daily lives by loving and caring for others as He cares for us.

To the son of Josiah, Shallum, God spoke this rebuke, because he failed to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Jeremiah 22:15-16 NIV
[15] “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. [16] He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to KNOW ME?” declares the Lord.”

Josiah knew and feared God, issuing in a life of helping the poor and and needy, which God acknowledged as” knowing” Him.

  1. God reveals Himself and His ways to believers through His Spirit in answer to prayer.

David’s desire to know God was to know His “way”.

Psalms 86:11 NIV
[11]”Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

Paul reveals his own heart for fellow believers in his recorded prayer.

Ephesians 1:16-17 NIV
[16]”I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. [17] I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may KNOW HIM better.”

Paul prayed that God would give the Ephesians believers wisdom and revelation of Himself through the Holy Spirit in them. There is no way we can “know” the Lord through human intellect or reason. Only God’s Spirit can interpret God’s ways as He interacts with us in our day-to-day lives. How can we ever understand His dealings with us unless the Holy Spirit enlightens us since God’s ways are unpredictable and mysterious?

Psalms 103:7 NIV
[7] “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:… “

Moses had intimate fellowship with God, so God enlightened him by revealing the meaning of His ways. The people of Israel did not share this privilege since they were stubborn and rebellious and had no desire to know God.

Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV
[3] “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

How would Moses have understood the meaning of these circumstances unless God had revealed it to him?

  1. God reveals the magnitude of His love by the ways He treats, empowers, and enables us to know Him through the Spirit in us, by our experience of Him. Again, Paul’s passion, expressed in prayer, was for his fellow believers to EXPERIENCE God’s love in all its dimensions so that the knowledge and the reality of His love would steady and steer them through life. Most of all, he wanted them to express in their own lives who God really was by understanding and experiencing His love.

Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
[16] “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, TO GRASP how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and TO KNOW this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may BE FILLED to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

How is this possible? It boggles our minds to think that God’s “fullness”, the Greek word “pleroma”, meaning the full complement, the completeness of God’s NATURE, is in us!

Paul makes it clear that this has nothing to do with us. This work of God in us far exceeds our imagination, comprehension, or expectation.

Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
[20] “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Now let’s summarise what it means to know God.

Knowing God means having intimate fellowship with HIM, being fully known and fully accepted, all blocks and barriers removed, absolute honesty and transparency between us, no mistrust, no reservations, no hidden agendas to cloud our interaction with God and He with us. How do we know when we are in this kind of intimate fellowship with God?

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And THE PEACE OF GOD, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

His peace in us!

Knowing God also means sharing His heart for what is important to Him. He is passionate about our doing the “good works” He prepared for us to do to benefit others. What are the good works He wants us to do? Whatever the Holy Spirit prompts us to do that blesses and helps others, especially using the spiritual gifts He has given us that equip us to serve others.

Romans 12:4-8 NIV
[4] “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; [7] if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; [8] if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

How else do we get to know God?

A powerful and effective way to get to know God is through our experience. Every time we experience God’s gracious intervention when we call on His name or even when He intervenes without our awareness until later, on reflection, we learn more about who He is.

John tells us how this happened to him and his fellow disciples during their time with Jesus in the flesh.

1 John 1:1-3 NIV
[1] “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. [2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

” Heard”… “seen”… “touched”… these are all human experiences through our senses. Jesus was a real, flesh-and blood human who said and did things in their presence, to them, and for them that profoundly influenced their knowledge of Him.

So with us. We may not have His physical presence with us but we have His Spirit in us. Awareness of “Christ in us” should profoundly influence the way we view life and the way we interpret our own circumstances. Knowing His love for us and His purpose to recreate the image of Jesus in us, our interpretation should give us greater understanding of who He is and what He is doing in our everyday stuff.

So, getting to know God is by His work in us and through our growing understanding of His ways, each new life experience increasing our knowledge that God is good, and laying the foundation for the love, trust, submission, and obedience that set us apart as God’s legitimate children.

In conclusion, perhaps the Lord is wanting us to move away from our preoccupation with our foolishness and failures that disappoint us and bog us down. Perhaps He wants us to see Him in everything, to learn the lessons of life that help us to know Him better. The more we know Him, the closer we get to becoming like Jesus in love, trust, submission and obedience to the Father.

You see., in the end, since eternal life begins in the here-and-now…we have eternal life…which means we are already living in eternity although our mortal bodies will perish one day in preparation for the resurrection.

So, why not live now in greater awareness of God’s presence, experiencing the benefit of knowing Him and growing in knowing Him, increasingly distancing us from the influences and irritations of this presently evil world?

FIRST THE TEST, THEN THE LESSON

Christian Life, ,

There are many aspects of God’s ways that are opposite to the world’s ways. In fact, I call God’s kingdom “the upside-down kingdom” because, as He said,

Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
[8] “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. [9] For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Take, for example, Jesus’ teaching on leadership. Worldly leaders, in the main, say, “Do as I tell you!” Jesus’ way is “Do as I show you.”

John 13:13-15 NLT
[13] “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. [14] And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. [15] I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”

Who is the greatest?

Mark 9:35 NLT
[35] He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

As always, Jesus Himself set the example.

Mark 10:45 NLT
[45] “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

One of the great “upside-down” lessons of Scripture is God’s way of teaching us. Unfortunately, we often miss the point and fail to learn the lesson because we don’t recognise that God’s way of imparting understanding to us is different from ours.

Instead of learning and moving on, we stick at the same place, sometimes blaming God for our troubles rather than being grateful for new understanding…and we fail to move on in our journey to the Father.

Years ago, I prayed David’s prayer, little realising what a profound and far-reaching prayer it was.

Psalms 86:11 NIV
[11] “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness (or, alternatively, “walk in your truth”); give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

Seventeen years later, God is still revealing His way, and I am still learning!

So, what’s His way of teaching us?

Every child is obliged to go to school to be “educated” in a variety of disciplines, ever increasing as knowledge increases.

Daniel 12:4 NLT
[4] “But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

Are we in that time now?

Our world is advancing in knowledge so fast that education for the young offers a bewildering array of facts to be stuffed into each small brain. When the lessons are taught and, hopefully learned, each child must go through the gruelling ordeal of regurgitating their knowledge on paper as best they know how. This happens not once but many times over in a period of twelve, now thirteen years, since they are now obliged to start their formal education a year earlier. “Big school” begins with and adds another year, Grade R.

However, God’s method of training works differently. He has no desire to stuff our heads with facts. His objective is to prepare us for eternity in His presence, not just as “saved” people but as sons and daughters in His forever family who perfectly resemble His Son!

The task He has undertaken is enormous. He requires us to learn to live new lives, leaving behind both sin and the old sin nature that controlled us and to become increasingly like Jesus.

God has given us His Holy Spirit to help us put to death the deeds of our old nature. He has given us His own nature through which we learn to nurture our new nature by submitting to and obeying Him. He has also given us everything we need to accomplish His objective.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
[3] “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [4] Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

He wants us to trust His perfect love for us in every…yes, every circumstance, good or bad, as He works IN ALL THINGS for our good.

Romans 8:28-29 NLT
[28]”And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. [29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

To achieve His purpose, God has given us a textbook, the Bible, a resident teacher, the Holy Spirit, and an effective method of teaching/learning, experience. He knows that we learn best through trial and error. The Holy Spirit and the Word are the interpreters of experience, helping us to better understand the purpose of the test.

Someone once said, “Life is lived forward but understood backwards.” How true that is in God’s “school of life”!

God’s way of teaching, then, is first do the test, then learn the lesson. As back-to-front as this may seem, it’s an effective way to impart understanding and indelibly imprint experience. Learning theory may put facts in our heads but real life lessons are learned the hard way…if we pay attention and apply the lessons.

Hebrews explains God’s method. Since we are incurably stubborn, we must feel the experience first, then internalise the lesson. God has an impossibly high standard, and only His work in us can achieve the goal. Without His work, we will never know the rewards.

Philippians 2:12-13 NLT
[12] “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. [13] For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Now let’s examine His way of training us for eternity.

He calls it “Discipline!”

Hebrews 12:5-6 NLT
[5]” And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. [6] For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

Disciples are those who accept and respond to discipline. Why do we need discipline? We all start our new lives like lumps of unformed clay, shapeless and full of impurities. If the clay is ever to become a useful and beautiful artlcle, it must submit to the potter’s skill.

As the potter works the clay, he must first prepare the lump by eliminating whatever interferes with the shape and form he has in mind. Patiently, he works until the clay is smooth and free from everything that would blemish his vessel.

Then the potter puts the clay on the wheel, applying pressure as the wheel turns. Under his fingers, a shape begins to emerge. Carefully he works, an indent here, a raised bit there, guiding and controlling the clay, its shape, its thickness, its final form until he is satisfied that the vessel before him matches the blueprint in his mind.

Then comes the most important finishing touches, glaze and firing the clay. Without these disciplines, the clay might easily collapse into a formless lump again.

Do you get the picture?

God has a blueprint for His people, Jesus, the perfect Son. Once again, Scripture presents Jesus as our perfect example, model and mentor. Through His Spirit, “Christ in us” is the only way the Father will ever achieve His goal.

Let’s examine the process.

Hebrews 2:10 NLT
[10] “God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”

Much as we hate the thought, God uses suffering to discipline us just as He perfected His Son through suffering.

Hebrews 5:8-9 NIV
[8] “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered [9] and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…”

Jesus learned the meaning and value of obedience as a human through suffering… not by trial and error as we do, but by being perfectly obedient to the Father’s will.

Peter beautifully explains how Jesus suffered.

1 Peter 2:19-24 NIV
[19] For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. [20] But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. [21] To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. [22] “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” [23] When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. [24] “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Although all suffering is painful, the writer to the Hebrews refers to the specific suffering of the believers to whom he was writing…Jewish believers who were tempted to go back to Judaism because of the severe persecution they were enduring.

To them, the writer explains that their suffering, unjust though it was, proved that they were truly God’s children and that He was qualifying them for His presence by making them holy.

Hebrews 12:7-11 NLT
[7] “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? [8] If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. [9] Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? [10] For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. [11] No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Both Paul and this unnamed writer put suffering squarely in the hands of God, not as we often think, random acts of the devil “attacking us”! God calls us to trust Him first, the only way to learn the lesson.

Why would God allow or orchestrate our suffering? Peter clarifies this thought.

1 Peter 4:1-3 NLT
[1] “So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. [2] You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. [3] You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.”

Strange as it may seem, according to Peter, physical suffering for Jesus has a powerful way of changing our attitude to sin. Suffering brings us back to earth with a bump, making the fragile nature of our lives that much more real. When we are close to death for whatever reason, sin is much less relevant or attractive.

Does this mean that suffering for Jesus is the only method of discipline that purifies us? What if we are never called to suffer for Him?

Although suffering for Jesus is the special privilege of some, and not all suffer in this way, we are all called to suffer “with Him”. This means that, whatever the nature of our suffering, we share His attitude of trust, submission, and obedience to the Father rather than complaining, resisting, and blaming the devil, “taking authority over him in Jesus’ name!” (which is unbiblical, unauthorised, and nonsense).

In the end, every trial is designed to test one thing, our trust in the Father’s perfect love. Abraham’s final test gives us the clue.

Genesis 22:2, 12 NLT
[2] “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”…
[12] “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you TRULY FEAR GOD. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

Do I fear God? Do I trust Him enough to obey Him without question? Do I love Him enough to take His every word seriously? Will I do what He tells me no matter how much it hurts? Will I take up my cross and follow Jesus as my example and mentor no matter the cost? Yes or no?

The tests will continue relentlessly, not to determine whether we pass or fail but to achieve God’s purposes. We will do them repeatedly until we learn the lessons and become what He made us to be, replicas of His Son.