Category Archives: Christian life

GROW… IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

Christian life, ,

GROW… IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

“And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

2 Peter 3:15-18 NLT

Error is rife in the church today as it was in the early church. Peter warned against falling for lies propagated by false teachers and those who call themselves “apostles”, complicating the simplicity of our fellowship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. “Change your focus,” Peter cautioned.

“Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

2 Peter 3:18 NLT

This is one of those gems of truth which I love but don’t always understand or know how to put it into practice in my daily life.

“How do I grow in the knowledge of Jesus?” I asked the Lord one day as I was meditating on this verse.

He began to show me and is still answering my question.

Thus began another part of my journey with the Holy Spirit. He answers questions in stages lest I miss the impact of His explanations.

Stage 1 – DISCOVER  – Grow in grace…

He showed me how to learn by observation – how He reveals Himself by the ways He responds when I call on His name. The smallest details become opportunities to recognise His love and goodness through His interventions.

Difficulties, which I used to struggle through on my own, now become opportunities to grow in the knowledge of Jesus. His grace is always enough for every situation.

An illustration. My frustration with my old router, my worn-out tyres,  my forgotten password, my lost dome…

Stage 2 – DRINK

Recognising God’s interventions was so exciting that I began to praise Him more and more. I remembered David’s words in Psalm 116:12-13

“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

Psalms 116:12-13 NIV

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Psalm 145:18 NIV

The best way to say thank you is to drink from the cup of salvation. Everything we need is in that cup. I do so by calling on the name of the Lord in every situation because God is a Father. He loves to meet our needs.

Stage 3 – DO

My journey led to a third step in this process of knowing Jesus and His grace…perhaps the most powerful and precious of all lessons.

It came about this way. For close to 5 years, my daughter has struggled to put my grandson through university. The Covid interlude made life extremely difficult for them as a family. She was retrenched, the tardiness of government officials ribbed her of all but one payment of uif. She fell behind with university fees until, in his final year, she was unable to catch up, disqualifying my grandson from studying online.

She was not eligible for a bank loan because she had not worked in her place of present employment for two years. She had nowhere to turn for help. In the nick of time, I was able to lend her the money to pay of her debt to the university.

The story didn’t end there. She began to repay the loan with two payments and then… I felt a strong impression to write off her debt as my contribution to my grandson’s future. Then I sensed the Holy Spirit’s quiet, inward response, “Now you are getting it!” He reminded me of God’s words to Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim, in Jeremiah 22:15-16…

“And the Lord says, “What sorrow awaits Jehoiakim, who builds his palace with forced labour. He builds injustice into its walls, for he makes his neighbours work for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor…. But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know me?” says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 22:13, 15-16 NLT

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…”

I learned that to “see God” is to share His heart for those in need, to do whatever I can to lift the burden wherever I can in my limited capacity as the Holy Spirit leads me, whatever it costs because His grace is always enough.

This is a tough assignment because I am always in conflict with the greed and selfishness of my flesh but… Peter said, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ”. So, if I have breath, I have opportunity to grow and so do we, as we travel this road together.

FAITH MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

Christian life, ,

FAITH MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

I am a fan of Bear Grylls. In case you don’t know who Bear Grylls is, let me tell you about him. He is a British adventurer and survival specialist. He hosts a programme on TV called “Running Wild With Bear Grylls” in which he takes celebrities on a two-day adventure into the remotest, most inaccessible and inhospitable places on earth.

The Amazon jungle, Colorado mountains, and the snow-covered peaks of the Dolomites in northern Italy, the Nevada desert, the steep cliffs on the coast of Wales, and even the remote interior of the Great Karoo are his playground. He guides his novice adventure companions through impossible terrain to survive the rigors of the journey to their extraction point.

He takes no food, eats what they can find, sleeps in caves, under trees, in holes in the snow, in hastily constructed shelters, or just wherever he and his companion can be safe.

Bear’s most important piece of equipment is his rope. It is long, strong, and reliable enough to bear his weight and the weight of his companion, sometimes together, scaling mountains, rappelling down steep cliffs, slipping and sliding down frozen waterfalls, and crossing raging torrents and deep gorges.

However, Bear’s experience and survival skills have taught him that confidence in his rope is not enough. If he does not anchor his rope around a strong object that will support a heavy weight, he will fall to his death if the anchor gives way. He uses chunks of ice, boulders, trees, clumps of bushes and even a crevice in a rock if it grips the rope firmly enough to secure it.

Bear’s adventures in the wild teach us a powerful  lesson about the nature and purpose of our faith.

Ancient Hebrew words reveal some of the secrets of God’s truth. Take the word “wait” in Isaiah 40, for example.

“… Those who hope in (wait on) the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31 NIV

The word “qavah”, here translated “hope”, is often translated “wait” in other versions. Its origin is the idea of twisting, referring to a rope maker who twists strands of thread together to make a sturdy rope.

While we “wait” for or “hope” in the Lord, we twist together our life experiences to develop our “rope” of faith. God often delays His responses to test the genuineness of our faith in Him or, to change the metaphor, He puts our faith through fire, like gold, to remove the impurities.

So, if our faith in God is genuine, like Bear’s rope, our rope will be strong enough to bear our (wait) weight when the severe tests come.

However, as important as our faith is, since it is our only link with God, we must also be sure of the object of our faith. To what or to whom do we anchor our trust when we have mountains to climb or deep gorges to cross?

Who is the God upon whom we depend? Is He the great “Sugar Daddy” in the sky whom we can manipulate to give us what we want? Is He the sovereign God whose character and motives are so flawless that we can trust Him to make the best choices for us? Is the One to whom our faith is anchored worthy of our trust?

There is expression believers often use that unwittingly reveals their “anchor”. “I am trusting God for…” This is the Sugar Daddy tree or bush or rock on which their faith depends. This “god” does not exist since he does not fit the description of the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith is misplaced. Trust in this “god” will always disappoint us.

Bear’s adventures have yet other important considerations… the motive for their journey and the goal which they strain to reach, their extraction point. At the end of their journey is a vessel or vehicle that will take them home. Their destiny is not to remain in the wilderness but to take the lessons they have learned with them as they go on in life.

The two adventurers don’t allow beautiful views or intriguing discoveries to distract them from reaching their goal. Home is where they are headed regardless of their experiences on the way.

We also must consider the motive of our faith in God. Take Job, for example. There was a sting in the tail of Satan’s taunts when God drew his attention to Job and his upright character. Was God baiting Satan to test the motive of Job’s faith in Him?

Was Job’s trust in God “Sugar Daddy” faith, or was he firmly anchored in God’s character, no matter what?

Job initially subscribed to the philosophy of his day, expressed in the accusations of his three so-called friends. “God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked.” Therefore, Job must have done wrong to have been so severely punished.

Job’s denial of wrongdoing flew in the face of this shaky belief. He was forced to rethink his values and his motive for trusting God even in the severest of trials. Would he give up on God because his faith had failed to get him what he wanted? Would he keep trusting even if he had no explanation for his trusting?

At no point did God, in His response to Job’s adamant defence of his innocence, explain His actions. To have disclosed the conversation between Himself and Satan would have ruined and thwarted the purpose of the test.

Did Job blame the devil for what he was suffering? No! His issue was with God, not the devil, and the challenge to his belief that God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked.

God’s silence frustrated Job. Where was God? Why didn’t He answer him? The more he questioned God’s motives, the deeper he got into his own muddled thinking until God had had enough. “Shut up, Job!” He shouted. “Listen to me.”

God’s challenge to Job shook him to his foundations. Job had to learn that he had no part in God’s creative power and wisdom. “Where were you when I did all this stuff?” God demanded.

God’s response smartly put Job in his place. Since He was solely responsible for all the mysteries and miracles of nature and was not in consultation with or answerable to Job, He was under no obligation to explain His actions when He permitted Job to be stripped of his wealth and comforts to the bone.

Did Job pass the test? Was his motive for trusting God pure or tainted with selfishness and greed? Apparently, God’s confidence in Job’s integrity was not misplaced. Satan lost the challenge. Despite Job’s misery, grief, and complaints, never once did he give up on God. Time and again, he affirmed his faith in some of the loftiest statements in Scripture. “I know that my Redeemer lives…” and “… when I am tested, I shall come forth as gold.”

Job’s final response was to repent in dust and. ashes. God was right and he was wrong.

What of our motive for enduring suffering with a robust faith in God? What is our motive for hanging on to our rope when we can’t see the bottom?

Fortunately, we don’t have to guess what the goal and motive of our faith is. God Himself tells us His dream.

Paul expresses God’s heart in one sublime and confident statement, “We know…”

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Romans 8:28-29 NIV

“… In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose….”  This is the God to whom we anchor our rope… the God who has the power and the will to work in all things for our good because He has a motive and a goal.

When we embrace His motive and goal for us, we are right on track to reach our “extraction point” and to go home.

So, what is our motive for trusting Him? We know that He is painting a bigger picture on a bigger canvas than we can see. A family of sons and daughters, exact replicas of His beloved Son, is what He is working on, on His canvas.

How will He accomplish His purpose? By chipping away, through hardship, trial and suffering, everything that obscures the image of His Son in us. What does Jesus look like? A perfectly submissive, obedient, and trusting Son, guarding His unity with the Father no matter what it cost Him because of the love that binds them together.

When we are distracted by the tinsel and trinkets of a transient world by our “trusting God for…” we exchange our God-given goal of likeness to Jesus for self-centred ambitions that take us on a deadly detour to end in loss.

Only calm assurance that God’s goal is best will keep us through suffering with joyful anticipation of its outcome.

And His motive?

“… That he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Jesus, always Jesus!

For more information on the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the firstborn in the Bible, clearly explained in the article, “Why is the firstborn so important in the Bible?”, go to gotquestions.com/firstborn-in-the-Bible.html

God has exalted Jesus to the highest place as the supreme authority (Lord) over all things. So, in the end, all the glory for who He is and what He does and has done, must reflect on Him.

“Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:9-11 NIV

If our suffering and hardship does not accomplish the goal for what it is intended, that we be transformed into the likeness of Jesus, we will never see the bigger picture. If our motive is not to endure with patience and joy the trials we experience because of the outcome that Jesus may be exalted through us, then we cannot rejoice in the glorious future the Father has planned for us. Our faith will have been a futile exercise, achieving nothing.

WAS JESUS TOO NICE?

Christian life, Christian Life, ,

WAS JESUS TOO NICE?

“Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about Him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, He deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about Him for fear of the Jews.” John 7:12-13 (NIV).

People will always have divided opinions about Jesus. No one can ignore Him because, if what He taught about God and Himself is true, we must do something about it. If not, then He was the biggest liar that ever walked this earth.

What the people said about Him must have been very difficult for Him. “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” John 1:11 (NIV). The Message Bible says, “He came to His own people, but they didn’t want Him.”

Why was it so difficult for people to receive Him and His message? Was it because He represented someone who was too “nice”? Many of them were happy to receive what He did for them, but they did not want to listen to what He said and showed them about God, His Father. Not even His brothers trusted Him although they had grown up together.

Why are people so suspicious about God’s goodness? Is it because Adam traded his oneness with God for oneness with the devil and now does what he wants? He is a liar and a deceiver and destroyer, and we are all born with his nature. When we have been “born again”, it will take a lifetime to rebuild our trust in God and get rid of our suspicion so that we can become confident in the reliability of God’s word and His ways.

We are all so self-conscious that we look at God through our own unreliable natures and our experience of other people. We think God is like us.

Jesus’ own family and everyone else around Him were hostile towards Him. Some made a feeble attempt to defend Him but, overall, they dismissed Him as a phony. They accused Him of being in league with the devil and doing the devil’s work. Some even thought He was mad.

Perhaps what Jesus said and did was just too good to be true. People were afraid to put their faith in Him in case He let them down and He turned out to be a fraud. With their hopes of Messiah so high and their hatred of the Romans so great, they could not afford to trust someone who might fail them. Their disappointment would be too great.

God’s counsel to Jeremiah when he was hated and rejected was, “Don’t change your words for them. Let your words change them.” This is how Jesus approached the situation. He made no apologies for what He said, and He stuck to the truth. He was not put off by their rejection of Him because He was representing the truth.

Despite people’s attitude to Jesus today there are still those who listen to Him and follow Him. They find that was He promised is true, forgiveness, peace and real life.

DO YOU LOVE ME?

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“DO YOU LOVE ME?”

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” John 21:15a

It was early morning. Seven of Jesus’ disciples had gone fishing because they had nothing better to do. They knew Jesus was alive. They had seen Him, but He kept coming and going. He hadn’t yet told them what He wanted them to do. They fished all night but caught nothing. Imagine how unhappy they must have felt. They couldn’t even catch fish even though it was what they could do best.

In the dawn light they saw someone on the beach, and the smoke of a fire. He looked familiar but they couldn’t see who it was. He called out to them, “Have you caught anything?”

“No,” they called back and to their surprise He instructed them to throw their net in again, on the right side of the boat. Peter remembered a similar instruction three years ago, when they caught more fish than they could handle. John suddenly realised who it was. “It’s the Master!” he yelled. Peter flung on his tunic and jumped overboard. He wasn’t going to wait for them to row the boat ashore. He wanted to get to Jesus.

It was a painful moment for Peter, one he had probably been dreading. The coal fire reminded him of his denial of his Master. What would Jesus say to him? The other disciples came ashore with a huge catch of fish. Jesus carried on cooking breakfast, but He said nothing. All the disciples felt bad because they had deserted Him. They waited for Him to scold them, but He kept silent. He knew that their consciences were telling them all how they had failed Him.

After breakfast, Jesus spoke to Peter. “Simon,” He said, “Do you love me?” He called Peter by his old name just to remind him that he had to start all over because of his failure. Why did He not ask Peter why he had denied Him? That was not important to Jesus any more. The most important question Peter needed to answer was, “Do you love me?” Peter could not change what he had done but he could change what he was going to do.

Love is a powerful bond that connects people through thick and thin. Peter did not know it yet, although Jesus warned him of what was coming, but he was going to face many tests of his love for Jesus. He would be beaten, imprisoned, and even threatened with death for following his Master and he would be crucified in the end because he refused to deny Jesus a second time. If he loved Jesus, he would always be loyal to him no matter what happened.

How does our love for Jesus grow? When we experience His love for us in tough times, it gives us confidence to trust and love Him too. The more our love is tested the stronger it grows.

GOD’S MARRIAGE COVENANT – PAY IT FORWARD

Christian life,

GOD’S MARRIAGE COVENANT – PAY IT FORWARD

“Honour your father and mother…” Ex 20:12

This is the first commandment with a promise, long life in the land God had given them. The promise in Ex 20:12 is tied to the length of time they would be allowed to live in the Promised Land.  God was saying to the people, “If you break the cycle of ungodly behaviour by honouring your parents, I guarantee that your life will be long in the Promised Land.” Godliness or ungodliness is multiplied in a family as the numbers increase. By the fifth generation there is a group of people big enough to affect a society. God is saying, “Stop the rot in your family before you lose the land.”

Honour has more to do with the way our children act than how our parents acted. Honour has less to do with what we say to our parents than what we say to our children.  To honour our parents is to move godliness forward into the next generation.  We choose to change what was ungodly in our parent’s behaviour so that our children don’t have to deal with what we had to deal with in our childhood.  Pay it forward. To honour our parents is to break the cycle of ungodliness for the next generation.

Some of us have a problem with this because our experience of parents has been painful and the thought of honouring them causes us a real problem. However:…

Firstly, to honour is not to ignore wrongs and pretend that things didn’t happen. Secondly, it is not to pretend that what was wrong was right. If we do, we are in danger of starting a new “normal”.  To do that is to accept that the way they treated us is “normal” which we perpetuate in our children. “That’s who we are and that’s what we do”, which is continuing something that is ungodly. Thirdly, to honour erring parents is to set boundaries in our behaviour that create a safe environment for us and our offspring.

How do we deal with our parents’ wrongs? We must start with gratitude to them for giving us life.  Whatever God’s plan, He could not do it without them. Any decision made while we are still alive, can be repented of and changed.

Our parents are not unique. They are part of a fallen world and so are we, but we must decide not to continue their wrongs in the next generation. We must not stand in judgement but let God take the vengeance for wrongs. He is a better judge than we are.

We must realise that they were wounded too. We can either perpetuate their wounds by punishing others because of what they did to us, or we can forgive them and let the offenses go. We can become what we hate, or we can break the pattern.  We can honour our parents by building a healthy future for our children or we can continue our bitterness in our children.