Monthly Archives: December 2020

MOLLY AND ME – CO-OPERATION

Christian Life, ,

MOLLY AND ME – CO-OPERATION

Molly is now 4 years old, an adult dog with the settled characteristics of her breed, good and bad. I bought her as a tiny puppy with the whole package of a dachshund, including inquisitiveness, stubbornness and self-will!

I have discovered, in the four years that she has been my little companion that, though I am in charge, she’s the boss. Now, that means that, when we walk in the mornings, she has her agenda and I have mine. The problem is that we both think that our agenda should take precedence.

You see, I walk for exercise (for both of us) but she walks for information…which makes walking for exercise my way a power struggle and walking for information her way a stroll. One can’t gather important information by whizzing past every new smell without carefully investigating its source and content. Of course, in between, there is also the important business of doing her business and showing both contempt or approval by marking each interesting spot with you know what!

So, since I have the brain and she has the muscle, we have reached a sort of truce by my decision to co-operate with her so that she unknowingly co-operates with me…which makes our walk a stop-start, sniff-and-pee, jerky sort of progression towards home. I suppose that we both achieve our goals in the end, though not quite in the way we anticipated.

My walk with the Lord in life is a bit like my daily walks with Molly. Unfortunately, my agenda does not always coincide with God’s agenda for me, which makes life (at least for me) a power struggle… but, I’m slowly learning the benefit of submission.

However, my walk with the Lord and my walks with Molly differ in many ways. You see, Molly and I don’t have the same nature. She has a doggy nature which functions mostly by instinct and by what she learns with much repetition where I have a human nature which functions according to decisions and choices, making me accountable to my Creator, where she is not accountable to me.

I control Molly by co-ercion, manipulation and sometimes even force, using her instincts to get her to do what I want (sometimes, because she is a doxie)! By contrast, God the Holy Spirit, appeals to the new nature in me because I have been born again, to live according to God’s Word, but the choice is always mine.

God’s role in training me is far more difficult than my task of training Molly. Where we blend our goals when we walk to make for an uneasy truce, the Holy Spirit persists in His role of conforming me to the image of Jesus. In the end, I have no say in the matter except to cooperate since He is committed to complete what He began when He rescued me from the dominion of darkness.

So, my walk with the Lord is an ever-growing awareness that it’s far easier and better to comply with the Holy Spirit’s leading since this is the evidence that I am a child of God.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

 

THE GOSPEL IN A NUTSHELL

Bible Study, ,

THE GOSPEL IN A NUTSHELL

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you who, through faithare shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1: 3-5).

Peter wasted no time in launching into his message to the believers scattered across Asia Minor. Talk about the gospel in a nutshell! And he did it so well!

These were people with no Bible except perhaps an odd copy of the Old Testament Scriptures if there was a synagogue nearby – and then they would have been denied access to it anyway. It is very unlikely that any of them would have possessed their own copy. They had to rely on what they had been taught and on good memories to boot.

They were surrounded by idolatry, Jewish fanaticism and roving false teachers whose influence would have crowded in on them as well. How were they to survive against such odds? Letters! Their very own Scriptures! Although the apostles didn’t know it at the time, they were writing Scripture. Every precious letter with its message of Jesus and explanations about their faith and how to live it daily in a hostile world was to be supernaturally preserved for the church down the ages and they were the first to read them.

Peter had already made it clear to them that they were much more than sinners saved by grace. Although they might have been nothing in the eyes of the world, they were everything to God. He took a great deal of trouble to rescue them out of the world and He was not about to abandon them through indifference or neglect. Hounded by their enemies though they might be, they were secure in God for time and eternity.

It was a timely message, to be sure. Perhaps some of them would have been tempted to dump this Jesus-thing and go back to their old lives. Had this message not brought them a packet of trouble? Was it worth the suffering? Wouldn’t it be better just to go back to the way they lived before the apostles came and put this heavy on them?

Peter was emphatic. ‘You need to understand what this is all about before you make a rash decision like that. This faith in Jesus is so much bigger than the here and now. You have to take the long look. This is about you and God, and eternity and an inheritance far more wonderful than you can ever imagine. Why would you want to give that up just to dodge a few hardships now?’

Salvation is a God-thing from beginning to end. It was through God’s mercy that they had been given new birth. What did that mean? Their birth in Adam brought with it a natural rebellion and enmity against God. They had to start all over again to be acceptable to God, but there was no way they could do anything to change their sinful nature. God did it, not because He felt sorry for them but because of His mercy. Without His intervention, they were doomed. He cancelled their past and gave them a new start through Jesus.

God’s salvation is huge, all-embracing and soaked in His goodness. He didn’t just forgive our sins so that we would no longer be a stench to Him. He drenched us in His kindness. Can you get a hold of that? A living hope! No matter what people do to us because they hate God, they can never extinguish the hope we have that when our physical lives are over here – and they could cut them short if they wanted to – that’s only the beginning. Jesus’ resurrection guaranteed that.

An inheritance! That’s huge too. If you are heir to your father’s estate, you will only get what he has and what he can give you – and that may not be very much. But to be an heir of God! That’s different. God sums up His will in two words – ‘all things’.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things . . . (Rev.21: 7 – KJV).

What are these ‘all things’? Everything God has promised (Heb. 6:12); His nature (2 Peter 1: 4); the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5: 3); the earth (Matt. 5:5); everything that Jesus inherits (Rom. 8: 17). What more could we want? The possibilities are overwhelming.

‘So, don’t give up when the going gets tough,’ he counselled them. ‘You have too much to lose.’

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.

PETER, AN APOSTLE

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PETER, AN APOSTLE

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance (1 Peter 1: 1-2).

Who wrote this letter, Peter or Paul? It sounds a lot like Paul, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t Paul; it was Peter, the fisherman.

When we read these letters, we read them as inspired writings rather than as letters written by human beings who must have been in contact with one another and influenced one another in many ways. These men were apostles and leaders in the early church. They had a profound influence on the believers and would have spent time together whenever they could so that they would speak with one voice.

Peter had been with Jesus for more than three years. Paul had his three years in the desert of Arabia, communing and learning the message he was to take to the world from the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised, would lead him into all truth. They learned from the same Master and taught the same message wherever they went.

To whom did Peter write this letter? To believers scattered throughout Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. How can one write a letter to people scattered all over the place? Perhaps Peter made many copies and had one of his compatriots drop them off as they travelled from place to place. We can send e-mails anywhere simultaneously simply by adding an address to our list of addressees and pressing ‘send’. In a flash, through technology we use but do not understand, our recipients can read our letter within seconds.

Peter’s way of communicating was tedious and took many months to reach his readers but his message was permanent, preserved on material that has survived thousands of years. What happens to our messages on computer? They disappear as fast as they were sent simply by pressing ‘delete’. Unfortunately, we often dismiss God’s word from our minds as quickly as we delete our e-mails from our computers, instead of saving them on the ‘hard drive’ of our hearts.

Peter’s greeting was in itself a short but profound summary of his message to these scattered believers:

Who were they? They were God’s elect, unknown and unnamed people as far as the world was concerned but, as far as God was concerned, known and chosen to belong to Him before the world was even created. From the world’s perspective they were exiles, aliens, rejected by the world, refugees living in foreign lands, not belonging anywhere in this world but, nevertheless, citizens of the heavenly kingdom, their true homeland.

What a contrast! Rejected by the world but belonging to God. Their identity was not rooted in the world’s favour. What did it matter if the world did not want them? They were God’s chosen, chosen by Him and identified with Him. That made them secure for time and eternity. And it was a God-thing from beginning to end. Why? The triune God is involved in their election.

Firstly, God the Father was behind the choice of every individual who made up the elect. They did not happen to be in His kingdom by chance. They did not stumble into it by accident. They were there by the Father’s choice and for a purpose.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit was involved in their election. He made it all happen. He wooed and won the heart of every person who was called ‘elect’. He drew them to Jesus, opened the eyes of their understanding, brought them to faith and set them apart for God.

Thirdly, Jesus was also involved in their election. He was the object of their faith and the reason for their salvation. It was through His blood that they were forgiven, cleansed and made fit to be citizens of God’s kingdom and members of His family. It was for obedience to Him that they were chosen and called. This was ultimately the evidence and the outcome of their election.

If you are a citizen of God’s kingdom, you are also ‘elect’ of God, unknown and unwanted by the world, but belonging to God and set apart for him.

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.

CLOSE CONNECTIONS

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CLOSE CONNECTIONS

Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant of the Lord, will tell you everything so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.

Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love (Eph. 6:21-24).

I wonder whether technology with its ease of communication would have killed real communication in Paul’s day as it has in ours. Have you noticed how much of our social skills we have lost since the advent of email and cell phones? How much easier it is to send an email, a Facebook, Whatsapp or text message than to talk to someone face to face! A group of kids (by that I mean teenagers!) can sit together in the same room and talk to each other via cell phone messages rather than sit and chat.

Families don’t know how to resolve their conflicts any longer because each member retreats to his or her room to sit behind the computer screen or to “talk” on their cell phones without uttering a word.

How different it was for Paul and his colleagues in their lives together as believers in Jesus. In two short paragraphs, he gives us an insight into the way the church across the Roman Empire did life together. It was not trouble for Tychicus to travel hundreds of miles, taking many months to carry a letter from Paul to the church at Ephesus. Paul was incarcerated in a Roman prison, or perhaps still under house arrest but he needed to communicate with his beloved churches in other cities.

There was no postal service and certainly no electronic mail or wireless communication. People were his messengers, people to people carrying information, love and encouragement from one group to another, from one individual to another. Just imagine what it cost Tychicus to go for Paul since Paul could not go himself.

People mattered. Paul was their spiritual “father”. He has risked a great deal to take the good news of Jesus to Ephesus which was the hotbed of witchcraft and Diana worship. The silversmiths were doing a roaring trade selling their images of the goddess Diana to the superstitious citizens of Ephesus. Paul’s message turned the city upside down, bringing the wrath of the business sector down on him. His life was in danger because of the response to the gospel.

Every new believer was precious to him. He loved and nurtured them like a father for three years and never forgot them when he moved on. Evangelism for Paul was much more than holding campaigns in city after city and then leaving the converts to be “followed up” by the churches in those cities. There were no churches. It was Paul’s job to care for them together with his fellow workers in the gospel. And care for them he did!

It was also important to the believers in Ephesus (and in the other cities to which the letter was sent) to get news of Paul in Rome. Did they know that he was once again a prisoner for his faith? Just as he has written to other churches to let them know what was happening to them and to encourage them to persevere in spite of persecution, so he also wanted the Ephesian believers to know his latest situation.

The gospel message was much more than an insurance policy for heaven. It was a way of life they lived together. Paul made sure that the people of God knew and cared about each other across the miles. They needed each other because the whole world was against them. He wrote to instruct and sent Tychicus to encourage so that they would remain steadfast in their faith and not waver because of the hardships they were enduring for their faith.

Paul also reminded them that they were eternally linked to a Father who loved them and a Saviour who died for them. Through Jesus, they had access to God’s grace which He freely gave to all and which enabled them to endure the trials and suffering of this life, and the peace which would keep them in whatever they were called to bear.

Nothing can ever take the place of these gifts which come from the Father through the Son. To be sustained by God’s grace and supported by His peace means far more than any outward so-called “peaceful” circumstances which are temporary and transient. God’s love would never fail them, no matter what. In that, they could rest as they loved Him in response.

Scripture is 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 first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,  eB978-4828-0511-6

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

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

ALL KINDS OF PRAYERS

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ALL KINDS OF PRAYERS

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should (Eph. 6:18-20).

Here’s a little gem on prayer for us today.

Prayer is a mystery, isn’t it? “Prayer” plays a part in every religion and yet, in every religious system that worships a man-made god, not the true God of revelation and of the Bible, the pray-ers’ empty words go nowhere and dissipate into the air. Who hears them? Certainly not the non-existent god they worship and certainly not the devil who masquerades as their god!

Prayer in the Bible is very different. It is based on the solid relationship between the Father and His children. “God” is no creation of human imagination. He is alive and real and has fully revealed Himself to us in His Son, Jesus. He has removed the barrier of sin through Jesus and commanded us to repent and to be reconciled to Him and to come back into His family as His beloved sons and daughters.

The hallmark of any real relationship is communication. People who love each other talk to each other. The gods don’t talk; they cannot. However, God talks. He has reopened the lines of communication between Himself and us. He talks to us in many ways and has invited us to talk to Him. He has also reassured us that He will respond in whatever way is appropriate, for our best and for His glory. Answering our prayers is one way in which He will show the world what He is like.

In this passage of Scripture, Paul indicates that there are different ways of communicating with God. One of the most important ways is by worshipping Him. Expressing to Him our adoration and appreciating Him for who He is and what He does, enables us to focus on the true God, one who is Creator, sovereign and supreme in the universe, and yet who has come down to our level in the person of His Son to be with us. We did not make Him; He made us.

Every other so-called “god” reflects the ones who created them. They are takers, not givers, demanding, cruel and unpredictable like the ones who invented them. The God of the Bible, the Father of Jesus is a lover and a giver. He gave His only Son to save us from the predicament we created for ourselves.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness (2 Pet. 1:3).

Jesus assured His disciples, during a teaching session on prayer (Matt. 6:5-8), that the Father knows what we need before we ask Him. We have no need to worry about the everyday practical details of our lives because our Father has promised to take care of them when we do what He wants us to do – to live lovingly and generously, under His authority, towards everyone around us.

Prayer also includes participating in what God is doing on the earth. As God’s children, He wants us to be fully involved in re-establishing His rule on earth. The first pair elected to follow Satan’s deception and to throw off God’s authority and His way of doing things in favour of their own, which landed the world in the mess it is now in. Jesus came with a message for His people. “God is here to show us who is in charge. He is putting right everything that went wrong when man rebelled.”

God chose Jesus to be His king (Psa. 2:1-6). Jesus has set up His government on earth again and invites anyone who will trust Him and entrust his life to him to live under His rule – His standards of love, justice, righteousness and truth which work where man’s selfish and greedy rule has failed.

God is a Father. He also loves to be included in our personal lives. He invites us to share the intimate details of our lives with Him. He knows it all, but He wants us to be transparent with Him. This allows Him to help us understand the tough times we go through and the hardships we endure so that we can co-operate with Him in His work in us to make us holy instead of rebelling and mistrusting Him and harming our fellowship with Him.

There are many more facets to prayer but all of them form part of this open, trusting, two-way communication between God and us as Father and children. The Holy Spirit is intimately involved in all of this. He is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus. He interprets our deepest heart’s cries to the Father, even when we don’t know how to pray (Rom. 8:26-27) and He shares the Father’s heart with us in response.

Paul was aware of his own need for the Father’s grace and power to help him in his difficult task of taking the message of Jesus to a hostile world. Both Jew and Gentile were against God, stubbornly resisting the good news that God loved them enough to intervene on their behalf to rescue them from self-destruction and bring them back to Himself.

“Please include me in your prayers,” he entreated. In some mysterious way, Paul knew that prayer made a difference. God acts powerfully when His people participate in what He is doing. Paul needed courage, boldness and strength to do what God called Him to do. God would give it to Him, but in partnership with those who cried out to Him for help.

That’s how intimately He wants to be involved with us in our lives and in His work through us!

Scripture is 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 first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6

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

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.