Monthly Archives: July 2015

Inside Out

Bible Study, , , ,

INSIDE OUT

Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ After He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples asked Him about this parable. ‘Are you so dull?’ He asked. ’Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.’ (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean). He went on: ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’ (Mark 7: 14-23).

What was the issue? The Pharisees had accused Jesus’ disciples of eating with ceremonially unclean hands because they had not done their ritual washing before a meal. It was much more than washing their hands before lunch. It was about failing to observe the tradition of the elders. They attacked their lifestyle – they were not following what was proper according to the religious traditions added on to the Law of Moses.

Jesus had responded by showing them how they had twisted the Law of Moses by declaring what should rightfully have been used to support elderly parents as corban, that is, dedicated to God so that it could not be used for anything else.

Without explanation, Jesus taught the listening crowd that it is not food that defiles a person but what comes from within the person himself. Once again His disciples didn’t get it. He had to spell it out to them so that they would understand that evil thoughts and actions defile a person rather than food eaten with unwashed hands, or even food that was so-called unclean according to the Torah. How can food which passes through the digestive system, contribute to the sinfulness of the heart? Of course, certain foods are bad for a person’s health, but food cannot affect the state of one’s heart.

If what comes from within defiles a person; thoughts, words and actions, then it stands to reason that those thoughts, words and actions are a mirror of the person’s heart. Every time someone opens his mouth or does something, he is giving others a glimpse of what is inside him. This had implications for interpersonal relationships.

How many hurtful words are spoken from the mouth of a person who is full of hate and bitterness? Instead of the hearer recognising that the attack from the speaker is merely a revelation of what is in his or her heart rather than a criticism of the hearer and instead of reacting with hurt and carrying an offence against the other person, the one who was judged or criticised should realise that the real issue comes from the heart of the attacker.

The conflict will end and there will be no offense taken if the criticism is dismissed right there. How important it is to realise this and to step back and brush off the offense. Instead of anger and retaliation, the offender’s words can be ignored as irrelevant because the real issue in his heart rather than the person he is attacking. How liberating to walk away from such a person knowing that the criticism can’t stick because it’s not your “stuff” – it’s his or her “stuff”.

This is also a warning to all of us that we give ourselves away by what we say or do. Angry words reveal unresolved hurts. A controlling person gives away his insecurity. Even addictions say something. People who struggle with addictions use substances or behaviour patterns to manage unresolved pain or guilt in their lives. When we understand this, it does not take a psychologist or psychiatrist who put people into diagnostic “boxes” which they call “disorders” to realise what the real problem. Jesus called our “disorders” sin. There is only one effective answer for sin – the blood of Jesus which forgives sin and cleanses us of all our unrighteousness.

When Jesus come in to cleanse us and give us a new heart, everything changes.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old had gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5: 17).

Don’t be fooled by those who think they are cleaning up their hearts by eating the right food. Jesus said, ‘Listen to me.’ He has the answer for the problem of defiled hearts. His death paid our debt of sin so that we can be forgiven and made new. He changes us from the inside. What comes out then will God-stuff, not our stuff!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

LIFE IN HIM

Christian life

A few years ago, the commercial world, in the advertising of their particular prod-ucts, used the word “LIFE” Co-ca-Cola stated that “Coca-Cola adds life”. The other advertise-ment came from a motor com-pany and they used the phrase “Life’s is a journey enjoy the ride.” What is the true meaning of life? If one were able to do a survey on the subject of life, the outcome would express many different interpretations. How-ever for the unbeliever, it would be all about self. What I can get out of life and not what I am able to contribute to leave a leg-acy for the future generation. Praise God for the Christian there is a lot more meaning to life. When we accept the Lord Jesus into our lives as our per-sonal Saviour, many things begin to happen. For instance Acts 17 : 28 reminds that Jesus is the centre of our lives this “For in him we live and move and exist” Jesus is the very es-sence of our lives. Psalm 36 : 7 – 9 (7) “How excellent is your loving kindness O God! There-fore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings. (8) They are abun-dantly satisfied with the fullness of your house, And you give them drink from the river of your pleasures. (9) For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” In John 4 we read about a Samaritan woman coming to the well to draw water. Jesus “THE FOUN-TAIN OF LIFE” was seated at the well. A conversation began to develop between Jesus and the Samaritan woman over wa-ter. Jesus said to the woman, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again” “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into ever-lasting life.” Reader, are you experiencing a spiritual drought in your life? Jesus THE FOUN-TAIN OF LIFE is the answer to your spiritual, physical and fi-nancial needs.

You are God’s temple and he is living in you. You must allow him to take possession of your whole being. Then you will get to know life in all its fullness.

Colin.

 

IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM

Pastor's Desk,

Dear Family

One of those many weird, unanswerable ponder-ings in life for me, at any rate, is to attempt to fathom how we are able to be “in Christ” whilst at the same time, He is “in” us. The Bible says, for ex-ample, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” and also “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. The clos-est explanation I can get to satisfy my pragmatic mind, is to think about a thoroughly soaked sponge in water. The sponge is in the wa-ter and the water is in the sponge. Not that the God who created this water should ever be compared to anything remotely like a mere facet of His creation, but at least it helps me to understand a little more how something can be in something else and at the same time be the thing that something else is in. Confused properly now?

The important thing is that we are in Him, and he is in us! He is our life. He is our past, our present and our future. He is everything we need, and we are the fulfilment of His plan for our lives. Nothing more, nothing less. In Acts 17:28 the Apostle Paul quotes the Greek poet, Aratus, from the first line of his poem on astronomy, “Phaenomena”, which is dedicated to the god Zeus as follows “For in him we live and move and have our being”. Obviously Paul was referring to the God who made the world and not Zeus, but he uses this line to emphasize the incredi-ble relationship we have with Al-mighty God. We live, we move, we have our being – all in Him!

I encourage you never to lose sight of the inexplicable closeness of God. He in us, we in Him. Through good times, through bad times, in celebration, in temptation. He is there! Our promised “Emmanuel”, “God with us” is a truth that, as believers, we should hold dear and high. God is not far removed from our human exist-ence, only popping in occasionally to see how bad things have got be-fore He shuts up shop. Rather, He in us, and we in Him, all the time, forever. Thank you, Jesus!

Paul

 

 

Rules Or Righteousness?

Bible Study, ,

RULES OR RIGHTEOUSNESS?

And He continued, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father and mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father and mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) – then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.’ (Mark 7: 9-13).

On the warpath! Just as much as the Pharisees were after Jesus for violating their beloved rules, so Jesus was after them for choosing their rules over what was right. One thing they did not realise – that the best way to serve God was to obey His instructions and to do the right thing when it came to the needs of people.

What were the religious leaders advocating? They knew that it was their responsibility and the responsibility of every Israelite, according to the Torah, to take care of the needs of their aging parents. However, they sidestepped Moses’ instruction by dedicating to God what should have been used to support their parents. They made a religious issue out of what should have been simple obedience to God’s command.

What did it mean to honour their father and mother? They were to give back to their parents in their old age what their parents had invested in them in their childhood. When their father and mother were no longer able to care for themselves, wasn’t it the right thing to do to take care of their parents, to ensure that they were provided for and made comfortable when they could no longer provide for themselves?

People matter to God. He is concerned about His people doing the right thing – taking care of the needs of others when they cannot take care of their own needs – and it starts right at home. By withholding from their parents what was their due in order to “give” to God (and most probably in the most ostentatious way possible, to be noticed), they were not serving God; they were heaping judgment on their own heads.

Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them (Mark 7: 14-16).

Now here’s the difference between religion and reality. Man-made religions concentrate on the outside – doing this, doing that – eating or not eating certain foods, using this hand and not that hand, facing this way and not that way when they pray, washing in special water or sprinkling “holy” water on their heads, or “doing” whatever is prescribed by their religion, as though what is slapped on the outside can change what is on the inside.

Jesus put in in a nutshell. It’s not what you put in but what comes out that makes a person unclean. You can wash your body as much as you like with whatever kind of water you like – it will make not one iota of difference to the sin in your heart. You can eat whatever you like, wear whatever you choose, go wherever you please, but you will remain the same person inside. You cannot change your heart from the outside. You have a past which remains until your heart has been made clean, and that will never happen by washing or scrubbing the outside.

The prophet Micah asked the question:

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (Micah 6: 6-7).

No, dear reader. No amount of observing rituals, obeying rules or practising religion will clear the debt you owe to your Maker for the sin of your soul. Giving Him your money when He told you to take care of the needy will not wash away your guilt. Not even giving to the needy will do it. Grooming the outside will not cleanse the inside. Your heart is defiled and nothing you can say or do will make your filthy past clean. Even if you were to change from this moment on and live a life of perfect obedience to God, you would still have a past you cannot change.

Do not be fooled by the traditions you have adhered to that have replaced the Word of God. It is God’s Word and not the traditions of men that will endure forever. Go back to the simplicity of Jesus’ call: “Follow me!” Stick with Him and He will show you the way to the Father.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

The Folly Of Tradition

Bible Study, , , ,

THE FOLLY OF TRADITION

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, and saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as washing of cups, pitchers and kettles). So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’ (Mark 7: 1-5).

A good plan – to wash hands before eating, especially after being at the market! And as for washing dishes – don’t we do that every day? So what was the issue? The religious types were not critical of Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before lunch. They had issues with them for eating with ceremonially “unclean” hands. Their problem was not hygiene but religion.

They were fastidious about keeping the detailed instructions handed down from their sages – the ancient rabbis who spent all their lives debating the meaning of the 613 laws of the Torah, and adding what they considered to be interpretations which were supposed to protect the people from inadvertently transgressing the commandments. The outcome was a top-heavy load of rules that made the ordinary people’s lives intolerably weighed down by so much “do-ing” that they had not time for “be-ing”.

That led to another problem. The emphasis of the rules was so much on the doing or not doing that they lost the implications of the Torah, to show mercy to their fellow beings, both Israelites and foreigners by being generous and kind, like the God they served. They were so self-absorbed in their efforts to be right that they became self-right-eous, and despised those who were not as “holy” as they. The nature of their God was distorted and the ones they were supposed to be influencing toward Him were driven away.

He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’ (Mark 7: 6-8).

Aha! So this was not new. It was already happening in Isaiah’s day, some six hundred or so years before. It was not new then and it certainly is not new today. Look at some of the additions to Jesus’ simple command to follow Him that have become integrated into the gospel and the Christian way of life. Those who are bent on being true disciples of Jesus might wonder where all that stuff came from.

I have a simple test when it comes to evaluating all the trappings of Christianity. I ask myself the question, “Is this why Jesus came?” Of what value are fancy embroidered robes and sashes, swinging of incense, bowing to altars, wearing of crucifixes, praying to saints and lighting of candles and . . . and . . . and, to people when Jesus only said, “Follow me”? Did He insist that all of that was part of His calling? Did Jesus set up a hierarchy of people so that some are “holier” than others because they have education or a title or wear embroidered robes? What about “That they may be one . . .”?

What about all the other stuff we have added? Some believers in some circles regard other believers in their circles as “second-class” because they don’t speak in tongues, or they haven’t been “baptised” in the Holy Spirit. Where do they find that in the teaching of Jesus? And if there is no being “slain in the Spirit” during ministry, then they say that the Holy Spirit had not “worked”. Really? Who said? Who is the judge?

And what about being called “born-again” believers as though there are two kinds of believers, those who have been born again and those who have not? Jesus told only one man that he had to be “born again” because Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He had such fancy notions about himself that he needed to go back to square one, symbolically, and begin all over again through the power of the Holy Spirit, like beginning life from scratch as a baby in his understanding of God’s way.

Jesus called everyone else to follow Him; to become like Him, to think like Him, to live like Him, to speak and act like He did – to “become” Him so that the world would see what the Father is really like.

Is it any wonder then, that the church in the main is irrelevant in the world? It is no better than any other religion – fragmented, ritualistic and unrealistic, making people slaves to do’s and don’ts just like any other man-made ism.

Jesus came to set people free from all that stuff to become true sons and daughters of God. Over the centuries, rules, rituals and traditions have been so piled on Jesus’ simple call that He has become an unrecognisable caricature of the true Son of God. In some quarters the Bible, God’s Word to His people, has even become a forbidden and hated book! Why? In simple terms, because people love their darkness rather than the light because of their wicked lives.

In some places the church has become nothing less than the temple of Baal – with altars and images all over the place and beads and saints and holy water and every other irrelevancy to draw people away from Jesus. Jesus came as the truth to do away with every picture and symbol so that we can focus completely on Him and Him alone.

And 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).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com