Monthly Archives: November 2013

Hug It, Don’t Shrug It

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HUG IT, DON’T SHRUG IT

“Then He told them what they could expect for themselves: ‘Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You are not in the driver’s seat — I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Believe me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?

“‘If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when He arrives in all His splendour in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realise, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their very own eyes the kingdom of God.'” Luke 9:23-27 (The Message).

In the context of His own impending suffering, Jesus laid out clearly before the Twelve the way of a disciple. Once again it’s all about letting Him lead. What does that mean? How do we interpret the circumstances of our everyday lives, especially when things are tough or uncomfortable or even tragic? Is He leading only when the days are sunny and the way smooth? That’s what we tend to think, and we give the credit to the devil when things go wrong.

Could it be that Jesus is leading, even when we don’t like what’s happening? It’s really all about trusting Him, isn’t it? My journey with Him had been a long one, over 57 years to date, and it has taken me a long time to realise that He was leading every step of the way, through success and failure, through financial struggles, the loss of a child, a stormy marriage, divorce, homelessness, starting a new business, and having to pick myself up and carry on on my own.

Jesus gives us the key to using our difficult times to our advantage, not wasting them blaming the devil and becoming angry and disillusioned with God. He said, ‘Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.’ That’s it! Our attitude to our hard times will make all the difference between wasting them and having to go through them over and over again, or embracing then and being refined like gold in the fire.

The writer to the Hebrews recognised hardship as God’s way of disciplining His beloved children. “My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child He loves that He disciplines; the child He embraces He also corrects.” Hebrews 12:5b, 6 (The Message).

Does that mean that God deliberately makes life difficult for us? No. We live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people as well as bad people. Our troubles are sometimes the result of our own bad choices and sometimes the result of other people’s bad decisions, but God brings good out of the worst of circumstances if we trust Him.

 

Why does He allow stuff to happen? Why does He not cushion us from trouble and suffering? I think that one of the big reasons is that, when we are bumped, what’s inside of us comes out. God’s plan is to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10); and He does it in the same way as He prepared Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin; through suffering.

He has to get rid of the thoughts and beliefs and attitudes that belong to our old sinful, selfish natures. Difficult times, issues with people, physical and emotional suffering expose what’s in our hearts. If we turn these things over to Jesus, He will cleanse and heal us and move us towards being mature sons and daughters instead of immature brats who are always needing diapers changed and noses wiped, always demanding, and always throwing temper tantrums when we don’t get our own way.

“Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.” Treat it as a friend, not an intruder. You will be on the way to being released from your old selfish self to becoming “a chip off the old block”, following and imitating your Master.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

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WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

“One time when Jesus was off praying by Himself, His disciples nearby, He asked them, ‘What are the crowds saying about me, about who I am?’ They said, ‘John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back.’ He then asked, ‘And you — what are you saying about me? Who am I?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’ Jesus warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said. Luke 9:18-21 (The Message).

Luke said nothing about the circumstances and environment of this event – which happened at Caesarea Philippi, the “red light” district of Israel — or Jesus’ altercation with Peter because of his misunderstanding of what He, as God’s Messiah, had come to do.

Jesus, it seems, wanted His disciples to be clear in their minds about His identity. They needed to distance themselves from the opinion of the people around them because, without the absolute conviction that He was the Messiah, they would not have the strength or perseverance to stay with Him when the going got tough.

The crowds who thronged Jesus were dazzled and enamoured by His personality and His miracles but they still fell short of their understanding of who He was. He was a prophet, yes, even one of the great prophets of history come back from the dead — that was a possibility — but not the Messiah. They could not rise to that, especially as their spiritual leaders repudiated His claims and were bent on annihilating Him because He was a threat to them.

It was imperative that His disciples get it. It must have encouraged Him to know that they, probably through discussion among themselves, had at least recognised that He was more than just a prophet. Whatever their understanding of Messiah was, was yet to be revealed. It turns out that they were set on believing that He would deliver them from Roman occupation and restore the glory of David’s kingdom and nothing more than that.

Although He repeatedly tried to get them to understand what His messianic role was, it was only after all the horror of His crucifixion and the miracle of His resurrection that they came any closer to understanding that the deliverance of which He spoke was more than political and that God’s kingdom was broader than Israel.

It’s a great pity that there are large parts of the church today that have just as narrow a concept of who Jesus is as the disciples and the people of Jesus’ day had. Many denominations narrow God’s kingdom down to their particular theology or way of doing things. Some preachers insist that it’s all about “faith and prosperity”, while others go so far as to declare categorically that there is no salvation outside the boundaries of their “church”. They have removed Him from the throne and put themselves in charge.

But Jesus refuses to fit into anyone’s mould or to be anyone’s servant. He does not belong to anyone’s denomination or subscribe to anyone’s theology. His criterion for participation in the kingdom of God is far simpler and less regulatory than that.  He said, ‘Follow me.’ Those who don’t do that, immediately disqualify themselves from being His disciples.

As simple as that instruction is, it will take a lifetime to understand and carry out His command. Following Jesus implies watching, listening, learning, practising, falling, getting up, starting again, going on, imitating, obeying, repenting, relearning, over and over again, like an infant learning to become a responsible adult.

Anything less than, or other than that, is just not Christian. As He said, ‘If you don’t do that, you are disqualified.’ It’s time for us, who call ourselves believers to get back to the Word of God and stop inventing our own brand of Christianity. The measure I use, which helps me to stay on course, and especially when I see and hear what goes on in the name of Jesus, is to ask the question, “Is that why Jesus came?”

It is the Bible, not popular preachers, that gives us the answer.

God’s Banquet

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GOD’S BANQUET

“The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, He healed.” Luke 9:10-11 (The Message).

Now this was a cause for irritation, if ever there was one! Jesus must have been eager to hear from His disciples how their first preaching tour had gone and they, no doubt, were just as eager to tell Him. At the first opportunity He spirited them away, perhaps even under cover of darkness, to a remote place where they could be together without the ever-present clamouring crowd.

But what happened? Someone noticed and split. They had hardly settled down for a chat when the people began to arrive. The disciples must have groaned when they saw them coming. Not again! If ever there was an opportunity for Jesus to show His true colours, this was it. But what did He do? He welcomed them, taught them and healed their sick. His nature shone through, the ever-loving, compassionate Jesus!

 

“As the day declined, the Twelve said, ‘Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.’

“‘You feed them,’ Jesus said. They said, ‘We wouldn’t scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish — unless, of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.’ (There were more than five thousand in the crowd.) Luke 9: 12-13 (The Message).

Did the disciples really care whether the people were hungry or not? Did they really think that more than five thousand people would find accommodation and food in the area? Wasn’t it just a ploy to get rid of them so that they could be alone with Jesus again? Their attitude was heartless and faithless.

Jesus’ response was to challenge the disciples to take responsibility for the people in their need. Most of them had probably left home in too much of a hurry to make provision for the day. This was a golden opportunity for the disciples to learn to partner with God to meet the needs of other people. It was a lesson they were going to have to learn if they were to be followers and imitators of Jesus.

“But He went ahead and directed His disciples, ‘Sit them down in groups of about fifty.’ They did what He said, and soon had everyone seated.”

“He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted His face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.'” Luke 9:14-17 (The Message).

Seeing that His disciples had not yet caught on to God’s way of bringing heaven to earth, Jesus went ahead and put His own plan into action. First, He needed some order in the crowd. He instructed the disciples to gather them into small groups to ensure that everyone had a share in the banquet.

Then He used the available resources, five loaves and two fish, to feed the people instead of doing what the devil had tempted Him to do in the wilderness, perform magic by turning stones into bread. God is not a magician although we sometimes pray as though we think He is.

Why did Jesus insist on feeding the people? To have sent them away hungry would have been a message to them that God was not interested in their physical need and that they would have to go elsewhere for help.

We must never forget that He is our Father and loves to take responsibility for us, His children. Don’t turn away from Him; turn to Him!

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Twelve

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DAY TWELVE

                         In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the

prophets

at many times and in various ways,

but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son,

whom He appointed heir of all things,

and through whom He made the universe.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory

and the exact representation of His being,

sustaining all things by His powerful word.

After He had provided purification for sins,

He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

So He became as much more superior to the angels

as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father

and that will be enough for us.” 

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip,

even after I have been among you such a long time? 

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

John 14:8,9a

 Although we have many descriptions of God’s character in the Old Testament, it is only in Jesus that God comes into full view.  When we take a long, hard look at Him, we see God in a human body, whose words and actions we can understand.  From here on we will keep looking at Jesus and through Him, come closer and closer to the heart of the Father.  Keep reading your Scriptures aloud.  Allow the truth to filter into your heart.  Every time you look at Jesus, you see God face to face.

 

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Eleven

Devotion, , ,

DAY ELEVEN

 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,

all you who remain of the house of Israel,

you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,

and have carried since your birth.

Even to your old age and grey hairs

I am He, I am He who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

To whom will you compare me or count me equal?

To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?

….I am God and there is no other;

I am God and there is none like me.”

Isaiah 46:3-5, 9b

 

Isaiah focuses on the God who is timeless and unchanging in the midst of a changing world.  God was there when you arrived on the scene and He will still be there when you leave.  He was not only there but He was there for you.  What a comfort to know that He upheld you from the moment of your conception and when you were born He put His strong arms around you and carried you, day after day.  Through all the seasons of your life, growing up, maturing into adulthood, learning and taking on responsibilities, facing struggles and loss, He was there.   Now He gives you the same assurance. The God who was there with you in the past is still with you now and will be with you until the end of your days.  There is no other God like Him.  There is no-one who comes remotely close to the God He is.  As you have traversed the Scriptures day by day, you are encountering this amazing, unchanging, very big and yet merciful and loving God who is your God and your Father.