Category Archives: Christian Life

“LORD, WHAT NOW?”

Christian Life, ,

Romans 8:14 NLT‬
[14] “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

My thoughts, in recent days, have been repeatedly drawn to this verse. My question is, “Is it possible to be so in fellowship with the Holy Spirit that I can be led by Him in everything I say and do, every moment of my day?”

I look at Jesus, a man, yes, but a man filled and led, every moment, by the Spirit in all He said and did.

‭Luke 4:1-2 NLT‬
[1] “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, [2] where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.”

It’s difficult to imagine that the Holy Spirit would lead Jesus straight to the wilderness. Here, Satan would be let loose on Him to test Him in the extreme circumstances and dangers of the wilderness as well as physical deprivation. Yet, that’s what the Bible says the Spirit did.

Jesus was so close to the Father and to the Holy Spirit that He literally did nothing without them. Can I live like Him?

‭Matthew 12:28 NLT‬
[28] “But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.”

I often recognise the Holy Spirit’s leading on hindsight. Sometimes I follow a prompting and later realise, to my relief, that the Holy Spirit had protected me from a foolish decision or action. On other occasions, I have doubted a prompting, ignored it, and and found out, to my frustration, that the Holy Spirit was leading me away from a mistake or a time-wasting incident I could have avoided. Instead, I was angry with myself for not listening.

‭John 10:27 NLT‬
[27] “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

The next question I ask is, “Does the Holy Spirit lead me only in matters that relate to my spiritual safety and wellbeing? Can He also lead me in everyday decisions and activities? Can He be so intimately involved in my life that everything I say and do is Spirit-controlled and Spirit-directed?”

I believe that the Bible says “Yes, ” and that the goal should be to hear and follow the Spirit’s voice all the time. After all, it is we, not the Bible, who make the distinction between “sacred” and “secular”. In fact, the Apostle Paul urges us to glorify the Lord in everything we do.

‭1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT‬
[31] “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Stories about King David astonish me because I read about a man who got it right most of the time. Even when he allowed his flesh to dominate him so much that he committed gross sin, David did not run from God. He ran to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

‭Psalms 51:1-4 NLT‬
[1] “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. [2] Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. [3] For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. [4] Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just…
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. [11] Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”

Did God respond to David’s plea? Yes, God forgave and restored him, although there were unavoidable consequences.

On many other occasions, when David was in danger or in trouble, the Lord led him out of them as he called on Him and obeyed the Holy Spirit’s directions.

Sometimes those direction came directly from God…

‭1 Samuel 30:1-2 NLT‬
[1] Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. [2] They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone….
[6] David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God….
[8] Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?” And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you.! “

… and sometimes they came through a person. For example, Abigail begged David not to kill her family because her husband, Nabal, refused to provide for David and his men in exchange for their protection.

David recognised God’s intervention and stopped the raid.

‭1 Samuel 25:32-34 NLT‬
[32] “David replied to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today! [33] Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands. [34] For I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from hurting you, that if you had not hurried out to meet me, not one of Nabal’s men would still be alive tomorrow morning.”

Time and again, David sought God’s help. God rescued him, won great military battles, and ruled over the kingdom of Israel through him, expanding the territory to its greatest extent during his reign.

If this was possible through a man who lived under the Old Covenant, how much more we, who have the Holy Spirit within us, have the potential to live daily under the Spirit’s leading.

God promised, through Solomon, to make a straight path, uncomplicate our lives, if we acknowledge Him in everything we do. If this is His promise, then He will do it when we fulfil the condition.

‭Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT‬
[5] “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Trouble is that we so often go our own way first, get into trouble, and then seek the Lord to get us out of the mess we have created. How much better to seek the Lord’s way and let Him lead us before we get into trouble!

So, my desire is to cultivate such a God-awareness that He is my first recourse before I make any decisions. Then I will become more sensitive to His leading in the ordinary things.

I know He wants to be intimately involved in my life because He even plants ideas in my mind when I am working on my hobby! When I ask Him, He is quick to show me new and better ways to achieve my goal.

“Lord, what now ?” will get a response because it is God who desires intimacy with us but it is we who initiate the process.

‭James 4:8 NLT‬
[8]” Come close to God, and God will come close to you….”

I need to stop waiting for the Holy Spirit to act. I need to expect and anticipate His involvement with me in the normal flow of my life as I live “in Christ” and He lives “in me”.

BLESSED WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING – 1

Christian life, ,

Ephesians 1:3 NLT‬
[3] “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”

Three little words, “has blessed us…” should change our perspective from what God wants us to do (according to the Old Covenant) into what God has already done (in the New Covenant).

In Paul’s magnificent letter to the Ephesian church, he explains, in detail, what God has done, through Jesus, to reverse the consequences of Adam’s rebellion.

Engaging His attributes as God – love, mercy, sovereignty, and power – He set in motion a process to undo what Adam did and to restore what He set out to do from the beginning.

God wanted a family of sons and daughters like Himself with whom He could fellowship. He also designed humans to rule in His kingdom, equipped with His authority to carry out His will on a redeemed earth as it is done in heaven.

We know that His plan went awry when Adam chose to side with the devil. However, God had already built in a way to overcome Satan and neutralise his power over humans before He set about preparing the earth for human habitation.

Paul assures his readers that, from God’s perspective, what He planned was already complete before He began the process.

‭Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT‬
[4] “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. [5] God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

Nothing took God by surprise. Nothing fazed Him when Adam went astray. Since God is omniscient, He knew the end from the beginning. His rescue plan was foolproof because He entrusted the outworking of His plan to His Son.

How desperately we need that assurance as we navigate a world dedicated, under Satan’s rule, to derail us and take us down with God’s enemy. Unfortunately for us, we still have a part of us that sides with the devil. He has a foothold through the evil desires, directed towards doing our own selfish stuff, that lurk within us.

God has designed it this way because life on this earth is our training ground for life with Him in eternity. We are on probation. We are apprentices, learning to rule over our wayward hearts before we can rule over His earth when we live with Him in glory.

However, we also have a powerful ally living in us, God’s own Spirit. He is dedicated to putting all the provisions of God’s rescue plan into effect so that most important of all His attributes, His “chesed” – His covenant love, (an untranslatable word in English), would be clearly seen, especially by the principalities and powers that oppose Him.

God wants us to know His power in us before He can use His power through us to do His will on earth around us.

For us, it means that the operative word in the New Covenant, “done!”, applies to us. This assures us that nothing can derail God’s mission. He has done what He set out to do and nothing can change that! We are already safely entrenched in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and living in His kingdom.

‭Colossians 1:13 NLT‬
[13] “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”

There are several blessings that flow from our union with Jesus.

‭Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT‬
[4] Even before he made the world, God loved us and CHOSE us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. [5] God decided in advance to ADOPT us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
[7] He is so rich in kindness and grace that he PURCHASED OUR FREEDOM with the blood of his Son and FORGAVE our sins.

Chosen, adopted, freed, and forgiven! Can there be any greater blessings in a world controlled by fear, evil behaviour, and chaos than these? Can we be that secure in the midst of insecurity that nothing moves us? The answer is, “Definitely! For sure!” if we believe God’s Word.

Now let me come to the crux of my thought. If God has reassured us that everything He needed to do for us is done, why do we still pray for God to do what He has already done?

Much of our prayer is still coming from our confusion between Old and New Covenants. The value of the Old Covenant lies in the revelation of God’s holiness and the total inability of Israel (and all people) to measure up to His perfection.

‭Romans 3:23 NLT‬
[23″For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.“

This conclusion leaves us without a leg to stand on. Without God’s intervention, we are done! However, God DID step in. He Himself took care of the problem by taking our place in Jesus, the man, facing the Father’s wrath against sin, fully paying sin’s debt, and then transferring all the benefits of what He did for us, to us as a gift.

‭Romans 6:23 NLT‬
[23] “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So, what is left for us to do?

We keep complicating what God made simple. God requires only two responses to everything He accomplished for us in Jesus… believe in Jesus and love one another.

‭1 John 3:21-24 NLT‬
[21] “Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. [22] And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. [23] And this is his commandment: We must BELIEVE in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and LOVE one another, just as he commanded us. [24] Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.“

Something amazing flows from this faith that does what God REQUIRES, praise, gratitude, thanksgiving, WORSHIP. Isn’t that what God wants from us above all else?

‭John 4:23-24 NLT‬
[23] But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. [24] For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

God isn’t looking for people who will invent new ways to worship Him, in music, dance, rituals, whatever foolish people think up. Again, He has only two criteria… spirit (heart, attitude, focus) and truth (based securely on what is written in His Word).

So, where does prayer fit in to God’s requirements? Again, God has made it simple.

‭2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT‬
[20] “For all of God’s promises HAVE BEEN fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”

This assurance also puts prayer squarely in the middle of God’s Word; do what God says!

For our daily physical, material, and financial needs, God has given us a promise…

‭Matthew 6:33 NLT‬
[33]”Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously (generously), and he will give you everything you need.”

When we live under God’s authority, always being generous in our attitude towards others, meeting needs when and where we can, God takes care of our needs without our having to ask.

So that takes care of much about which we focus on in prayer!

…and for our spiritual growth and development…

‭2 Peter 1:4 NLT‬
[4] “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

‭‭Hebrews 6:12 NIV‬
[12] “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Can you see, then, that prayer in the New Covenant is a confident “amen!” to all God’s promises because Jesus has already approved and fulfilled them all. This “amen” must always be accompanied by heartfelt expressions of gratitude and praise because whatever we need has already been granted.

‭1 John 5:14-15 NIV‬
[14] “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

The Holy Spirit taught me years, ago, not to ask for a miracle but to ask for a word. Miracles are open-ended, according to God’s will which we don’t know for sure. When God gives us a word, we know He will honour His promise. So…

We can encapsulate our entire Christian experience in four words, DONE! THANK YOU! and AMEN! .

MOLLY AND ME – CINDERELLA’S COACH IN REVERSE

Christian Life, ,

As children, we loved fairy stories that captured our imagination. A pumpkin turned into a golden coach and mice transformed into prancing horses! Cinderella, adorned in a beautiful ball gown and wearing glass slippers, the girl from the ashes dancing with the Prince! What could be more magical than that!

Well, for Molly and me, it’s quite the opposite. When we haven’t walked for a few days, for her the territory is brand new and everything on our route must be re-examined in minute detail.

The result is that I am transformed into a donkey and she becomes the wagon the donkey pulls. Progress up the hill is slow because the “wagon’s wheels” refuse to turn any faster than the exploring and inquisitive nose will allow. If I don’t pull her at times, our trip around the block would take all day!

So much for fairy tales!

How much like Molly we are when God gives us clear instructions to do or not to do according to His Word. We still insist on sniffing out other possibilities and looking for ways to do what we we choose to do without getting into too much trouble.

Take the young couple who knows it’s wrong to fornicate before marriage. “It’s okay,” they say, “because, after all, we are going to get married.” But that’s not what God said. “Marriage first, then union.” Then they wonder why things go horribly wrong.

Why are we like wagons that have to be pulled before we move? We are so much like Jonah. God said, “Go to Ninevah,” so he went to Tarshish. God had to pull him hard before he went in the right direction.

God is looking for people like Abraham or David who do what they are told to do without having to be pulled like a wagon.

There are no fairy tales with magical happy endings in God’s scheme of things,only loving obedience to a faithful and glorious Father who has done so much for us. All we can is to love Him in return by doing His will – gladly and spontaneously.

MOLLY AND ME – MY CHAMPION

Christian Life, ,

Molly is my self-appointed guardian. I guess it’s in the nature of a dog to protect. Since I’m her owner and much bigger than her, it’s my responsibility to care for and protect her, but she has somehow reversed the roles.

When I’m at home, she uses her rotweiler bark to ward off would-be invaders, be they real or imagined, be they warm-blooded humans of any shape or colour, or cold-blooded “critters” of any smell or size.

Her pet hate is the domestic worker who comes to clean my landlady’s house every second week, because she wields a mop or broom. We are under house arrest until she leaves because Molly wants to eat her.

She also hates the gardening service men because they invade our property with their noisy machines when they cut the grass.

Neighbours’ dogs fall into the category of “enemies” as well. She treats little ones with disdain and big ones with ferocious barking… as long as they are on the other side of the gate!

Molly isn’t even afraid of thunder. She just keeps barking fearlessly until the noise goes away!

When I am not at home, she goes to ground, time out, day off, all duty suspended, immobile ’til Mom gets home. She refuses all attention and only comes back to life when she hears my car coming up the driveway or the gate being opened.

Molly is worth her weight in gold. My champion saved me from disaster when she barked a warning that my gas stove, unknown to me, was shooting a flame of fire from underneath the cooker top.

Of course, her size makes a huge difference. When there is any real danger, Mom takes over. Face to face with a real dog either turns her into a high-pitched barking/squeaking coward if it’s big, or a sharp, warning yapper if it’s small. Hairs on the back stand up and the adrenaline rushes in.

Thank you, Molly. You’re a trouper! Your intentions are all good.

If Molly thinks she is able to protect me, what about God, our great heavenly Father? He has made an endless number of promises to His children to see the enemy off and guard us from harm and danger of every kind, and does a much better job than Molly ever can.

‭Psalms 121:3-8 NLT‬
[3] “He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. [4] Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. [5] The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. [6] The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. [7] The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. [8] The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”

If there were no other promise in the Bible, this one would be enough to give us complete confidence in Him.

Not only does God Himself watch over us but He has also assigns angels to be on duty as well.

‭Psalms 91:9-12 NLT‬
[9]”If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, [10] no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. [11] For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. [12] They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.”

God never sleeps, never takes time out or a day off. His angels are on duty 24/7, waiting for His command.

‭Psalms 103:19-21 NLT‬
[19]” The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything. [20] Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. [21] Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will!”

‭Jude 1:24-25 NLT‬
[24] “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. [25] All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.”

So why, then, should we ever be afraid? If nothing else, Molly is a very effective “early warning system”, false alarms or not. How much better our God who watches over us moment by moment!

MOLLY AND ME – MY DELIGHT

Christian Life, ,

Molly is a cute little dog. She is no longer pretty, somewhat misshapen with back paws that point inward, front paws that point outward and hump of fat on her chest so low it drags on the ground. Her legs are super short, her body super long, but she has deep brown eyes, and her gaze at me soft and loving.

Her muzzle is turning white, and her dappled coat, always red-brown and shiny, is becoming more marked with white as she grows older. However, she is still exuberant (at times) and bouncy as she chases her ball or darts after “prey” which includes frogs and geckoes… and hadidahs!

Molly does crazy things like sleeping on my dirty laundry and entertain herself by rolling around on her back in her bed. She loves squeaky toys but ends up destroying the sqeak because she thinks it’s “prey”!

With all her crazy features and funny behaviour, I delight in her. As old as she is, she will always be my “baby girl”. She is always in my thoughts. When I go shopping, I look for ways to “spoil” her with little treats. She is a big part of my small world.

If I delight so much in a little animal, how much more does God delight in us, His crazy and funny children!

Zephaniah says that God sings a wild and exuberant song to express His delight in us.

‭Zephaniah 3:17 NLT‬
[17] For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

The Hebrew word, Rinnah – meaning a ringing cry, can be translated as “Shouts of joy, singing in triumph”, a sort of victory cry.

Is it possible that God sings and dances over us because He is so happy? What could delight Him so much that He sings a crazy song?

Look at this verse…

‭Psalms 5:12 NIV‬
[12] “Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

The Hebrew word “ratson”, meaning favour or goodwill, can also be translated “delight”. God surrounds and protects us with His delight.

One usually never stops thinking about the person in whom one delights. No matter what one is doing, one’s thoughts soon stray back to one’s beloved. David said that God’s thoughts about us are more than the grains of sand.

I walk past a pile of building sand on my daily excursion with Molly. I try to think what it would be like to sit down and count the grains! Impossible! That’s a silly idea because David was simply trying to tell us that God’s thoughts about every one of His children are too many to be counted.

Why is God so delighted with His children?

Firstly, I think, because His daring plan to rescue us has worked. Think of the millions, perhaps billions of lost sons and daughters through the centuries, who have come back home to God because they have believed in Jesus.

Secondly, I think, because God is delighted with the finished product. He has worked hard, through our lives on earth, to recreate us in the image of His Son. He wants us all to be exact replicas of Jesus. It will happen when we come face to face with our Saviour.

‭1 John 3:2 NLT‬
[2] “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

The Father is crazy about Jesus. He wants us all to be like Him.

‭Matthew 3:16-17 NLT‬
[16] “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. [17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

He gave the Son His Spirit without measure.

‭John 3:34-35 NLT‬
[34] “For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. [35] The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands.”

Thirdly, if God surrounds us with His delightful thoughts about us in such volume that they can’t be counted, then He wants us to be completely secure and protected until He calls us home.

‭John 10:27-30 NLT‬
[27]” My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. [30] The Father and I are one.”

If that’s God’s view of us, then we should also be dancing and singing with delight because we should be as crazy about God as He is crazy about us.