Category Archives: Christian life

CREATIVE OR REACTIVE?

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CREATIVE OR REACTIVE?

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ​ Ephesians 4:29 – 5:1

E-R-I-T-A-E-C-V. Meaningless letters strung together.

What do we get when we rearrange them?

C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E or R-E-A-C-T-I-V-E. Same letters – totally different meaning. It all depends on our attitude. Many of us are reactive most of the time. What does that mean? It means that we react negatively to situations or people instead of looking for positive solutions. Being reactive often means being confrontational.

Take, for example, the age-old problem of your kids or your husband leaving dirty clothes on the floor. It’s recipe for a blow-up. It’s too much to expect them to pick them up and put them in the laundry basket in the bathroom!!! Instead of using this situation as an opportunity to vent your spleen and create resentment and rebellion, Moms, why not put a funky laundry basket in each child’s bedroom and plan a treat when they co-operate.

Instead of raising Cain when someone offends you, why not go to the person concerned and say, “Let’s talk. What did you mean?” So often, our anger is aroused, not because the other person meant harm but because we have taken it up the wrong way.

Jesus was never reactive in His responses to people. No matter what they said or did, not matter what questions they asked or traps they tried to set for Him, even if He had to say hard things, He always treated people with gentleness and respect. He was never rude, nor did He snap at people. Consider His composure when He was going through the greatest ordeal of His life.

“When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made not threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23, NIV)

God has pet themes in Scripture. One of them is unity. Why? Because He created the universe to reflect Himself. The Jewish creed is very simple, “Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”(Deut 6:4). In His high priestly prayer (John 17), Jesus’ plea to the Father was that His disciples (including us) might be one as He and the Father and Spirit are one. The Apostle Paul urged the Ephesians church to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:3) All the gifts in the church are to function in harmony to produce one thing – unity expressed by the mature way we handle life (Eph 4:13).

Unity in the body of Christ is destroyed when we cannot longer trust one another, when the church is no longer a safe place where we can be ourselves and fail without condemnation. Scandal and gossip are sure ways to destroy trust. God regards talking about people behind their backs as so serious that He lumps them together with murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, and idolaters. (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).

Jesus said that it is our behaviour, as well as our talk, that will convince the world who He is!

THE MIRACLE OF GAZING

Christian life, ,

THE MIRACLE OF GAZING

Looking in my bathroom mirror these days is sometimes painful when I see the results of aging sketched on my face. The fresh beauty of youth has given way to the blotches and wrinkles of old age, heralding the time for the sowing the seed.

However, God’s mirror reveals a very different picture. No signs of aging or deterioration mar the vision of the face in the mirror. As I gaze into the mirror of God’s Word, whose face do I see?

“18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

Paraphrase…

We all, having had the veil of unbelief taken away when we turned to the Lord, see the glory of the Lord reflected in our own faces as we gaze into the mirror of the Word.

How awesome is that! In Christ, God sees us whole and complete, perfected in holiness and a pure reflection of His Son. As He works in us by His Spirit through His Word and the discipline of hardship and suffering, He sees the image of His Son over our own faces.

In this life, aware as we are of our flaws and imperfections,

“12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity….”

1 Cor 13:12a

However, although we only see dimly and partially now, as we reflect on the image of Jesus in God’s Word, the Spirit is transforming us into that image more and more (from one degree of glory to another).

I love to crochet little figures of all kins of little creatures, practising a recognised craft called amigurumi. I must follow a pattern and, as I work, I keep the finished article in view. When I make a mistake, I unpick and correct whatever does not resemble the original until my finished product is an exact likeness to my pattern.

How much greater is God’s “craft” of changing us into the image of His Son, correcting in us what does not resemble His “blueprint” until, when we see Jesus face to face, we are exact replicas of Him in His beauty and perfection.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!… 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

1 John 3:1-2 NIV

What is the blueprint God is using as the pattern for His children? Paul tells us in Romans 8:29 that God’s plan is to restore in us the likeness of His Son.

“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.”

Romans 8:29 NLT

Jesus, the Son, is God’s blueprint and the four characteristics of Jesus as God’s Son encapsulate the blueprint God uses to work on us.

1. Submission.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Heb. 5:7 NIV

2. Obedience

“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

Hebrews 5:8 NLT

3. Trust

“46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”

Luke 23:46 NIV

4. Love

“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.”

John 15:10 NIV

We have a significant part to play in this transformation process. We become what we love the most, be it glory or shame. God’s complaint to Israel was that they became what they loved.

“10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.”

Hosea 9:10 NIV

If we truly love Jesus, we will gaze and reflect on His glory until we become more and more like Him. John warns us…

“15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

1 John 2:15-17 NIV

Instead,

…”And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…”

Heb 12:2b

because,

“18..We all who, with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Cor. 3:18 NIV

Postscript

We must also keep in mind that the face of Jesus is not only over our faces, when we look in the mirror, but also over the faces of every other believer, even those we may not like.

However, only when they look in the mirror of God’s Word and believe its truth, will they see the vision of Him who is the pattern God uses to transform them into that image.

THE POWER TO TRANSFORM

Christian life, ,

THE POWER TO TRANSFORM

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.'” Luke 6:31-34 (The Message).

Jesus was brilliant!

What an amazingly simple, yet powerfully effective prescription for creating harmony in the world! But it takes far more than the disposition of ordinary humans to do that.

We humans have far more inclination to destroy that to build and to sustain. Watching television is enough to convince us of that. How many TV programmes and movies and books and news stories are about destruction? And we thrive on them all! Watching or reading about everyday stuff is tame and boring. We like murder and war and bloodshed.

Jesus challenged His hearers, and He challenges us today. Try living this way for a  month and see what it does to your depression; your stress; even your anxieties and fears. How many of the issues you have with others will melt away? How much suspicion, mistrust, dislike, offenses will dissipate? How much peace will you experience in the place of inner turmoil?

Just imagine how far the ripples will go out from the pebble you drop in the pond! You have issues with your husband? Try doing for him what you are always nagging him to do for you. Your wife refuses to be your servant? Try lovingly serving her without expecting any reward. The outcome beggars imagination. Homes would be transformed from war zones to havens.

Jesus put His finger on the nerve centre of our problems — selfishness! What if we dethroned ourselves, just for a month, put Him back on the throne of our lives where He belongs, let God be the centre of the universe, not us, and practised these simple ways to create harmony, not chaos, around us? Jesus said our behaviour would be as visible as a candle in a dark room.

None of these things are difficult to do, but we have strong resistance from inside because they are foreign to our natural disposition. That is the reason why we need a supernatural solution to our problem of selfishness. It may take sheer grit and will power to do what we are not disposed to doing, but it will not last. We will soon be back to our old ways because every kind thought or act would be cutting across our real selves.

What Jesus was describing is “kingdom” living and He said that it takes a “birth” from above to understand and live the way God does. This kind of “power” makes no sense to the person who is used to living by the sword. Is that why the disciples switched off when Jesus spoke about His death? It made no sense to them then that the way to overcome the world system of power through force was to absorb the evil without retaliation until that power could do no more to Him.

Nothing about God’s kingdom make sense to the person who is still dark inside. The disposition of darkness only understands the power that pushes others around. Jesus was advocating a new kind of power, the power to subdue one’s own heart to the advantage of others. The power of love. What the world calls “power”, He called weakness. What He called “power”, the world called weakness, foolishness, but it turned out to be the most powerful event in the history of the world — the cross!

The cross changes things for the better like nothing else can. Force can change the world — for the worse. But the cross changes lives.

Has it changed yours?

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 5

Christian life, ,

LESSON 5

YOM TERUAH – THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

The Feast of Trumpets

http://endtimepilgrim.org/trumpets.jpg

The very next feast due to be fulfilled.

The shofar is blown at the western wall on the new moon of Tishrei to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets.

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: “On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the Lord by fire.” Leviticus 23:23-25.

“In the autumn of the year and on the first day of the Tishrei moon trumpets are blown to announce the Hebrew holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Biblical Christians refer to it as the Feast of Trumpets. It is the 5th of the Seven Feasts of Israel.

“This 5th feast was instituted by Moses at Sinai approximately 3,500 years ago. It marks the first day of the Hebrew (civil) New Year. ‘Rosh Hashanah’ means ‘head of the year’. The Feast of Trumpets is the first of the three, yet to be fulfilled, Fall Feasts of Israel. These Autumn Feasts relate to Kingdom/political issues rather than the High Priestly/religious matters that we saw Messiah address in the spring feasts during His first coming 2,000 years ago. Back then we saw Him ride into Jerusalem on a donkey as the ‘Suffering Servant’. But when Messiah returns this next time He will come as the Conquering King. After Trumpets on Tishrei 1 comes the “Ten days of awe” which lead on to Yom Kippur on Tishrei 10 which is the Day of Atonement.

“This is the most solemn day of the year. On this awesome Day of Reckoning all accounts between YHVH-God and all His covenant people are settled. The Jubilee Year is also announced on this same tenth day of Tishri.”

http://endtimepilgrim.org/trumpets.htm

FEAST OF TRUMPETS

The Feast of Trumpets, (Yom Teruah or Rosh Hashanah), took place on 1st/2nd Tishri, a 48 hour day marking the beginning of the new month. It was called “the day of which no man knows the day or the hour.”  Why? Because the day began when two priests agreed that they had sighted the new moon. The Hebrews operated on a lunar calendar; each month was thirty days long and began and ended with the new moon.

During this 48-hour day, when they agreed that they had sighted the new moon, they would shout to signal to the trumpet blower to announce the arrival of Yom Teruah which would announce that the Feast of Trumpets had begun.

The month before Tishri, called Elul, was the month of preparation for the Feast of Trumpets. Every morning and evening during the month, a trumpet was blown to remind the people that the Feast of Trumpets was coming. During the month of Elul, the people would do three things:

Tephilah – prayer

Teshuvah – repentance

Tsidakah – generosity.

Tephilah

Their concept of prayer came from the first time it is mentioned in the Scriptures – Genesis 4:26. “At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.” (The law of first mention).

The letters in the word “call” mean turning the head to face the one who can bear the burden, the idea being that I turn away from my concerns to become aware of the one who can carry my burden.  The first concept of prayer was about changing my awareness from myself to God and reattaching myself to God.

Teshuvah

The word means repentance and conveys the idea that I turn away from my thoughts and think the way God thinks. This implies changing from self-consciousness to God-consciousness and will give me a different perspective on the way God sees people.

Tsidaqah

Tephilah and teshuvah must be connected to tsidaqah – generosity. I recognise that God cares about people and desires to meet their needs. I need to view myself and people from a different perspective, that God wants me to use the resources He has given me to take care of needs where I can. Tishivah is my duty because God has been generous to me.

The Month of Elul

Put this into an agricultural setting; this is a season to evaluate the seeds I have been sowing in my life, to recognise that all my choices have consequences and to review my focus to change my mind about the way I do life. Before the Feast of Trumpets comes, I need to know what seeds I am going to sow in the field of my life in the next year. The seeds I sow now will produce the harvest I would like in the future.

Therefore, for a whole month before the Feast of Trumpets, the blowing of the trumpet morning and evening reminds me that I am in a period of grace when I am still able to turn away from myself, to change my mind so that I can line up my thoughts with the way God thinks and adopt His best way to do life so that the harvest I reap will be good.

This period of time represents the time between Messiah’s first and second coming, the period of grace that prepares me for His coming when the time to repent and realign my life with His way is over.

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

The feast of trumpets is a rehearsal feast for Messiah’s second coming when He will judge the nations according to Matthew 25 – the parable of the sheep and goats.

The blowing of the trumpet summoned the people to ten days of trial and preparation before Yom Kippur, the day when all sin was judged and atoned for. It was both a warning to repent and a reassurance of God’s mercy for those who repented.

DAY SEVENTEEN – PSALM 91

Christian life, ,

DAY SEVENTEEN

“‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord,

‘I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honour him. 

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.’”

Psalm 91:14-16

COMMENT

What an amazing string of promises!   Read through them again.  God promises to rescue you, protect you, answer your prayers when you call to Him, be with you, deliver and honour you, satisfy you with long life and show you His salvation.  Amid the storms of life that you and I face every day, what more could we ask for than all the things God has promised in these verses we have read today?  This should make your heart sing for joy because you are never alone or abandoned by your God and He is powerful enough to honour every promise He has made.

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Tell the Lord today how thankful you are that He is always with you and that He will guard you against harm and sickness and crown your life with His blessings because you believe His promises and trust Him for His love and favour to be showered upon you.