Monthly Archives: July 2023

THE CRUX OF THE CROSS

Christian Life, ,

THE CRUX OF THE CROSS

Jesus told a story of a landowner who hired labourers to work in his vineyard at different intervals during the day. At knock-off time, he paid them all the same amount, starting with the ones he hired last.

The ones who were hired at the beginning of the day expected to be paid more than the prearranged amount. Imagine their disappointment when their unfounded expectation was not met. They turned on their employer, accusing him of being unfair.

Why did Jesus tell this story? He always told parables for the benefit of someone in the audience. This time, it was His disciples. He was intent on revealing the true nature of the Father whenever He could.

The punchline of the story lay in the landowner’s response to the accusation of being unfair. The word for “jealous” or “envious”, the Greek word, “poneros” in the text, has the idea of the outcome of a bad action. The real meaning of “poneros”, which is usually interpreted as “envious” or “jealous” in most translations, should read, “Has my generosity to others ever caused you any harm?”

The labourers’ interpretation of the landowner’s generosity highlighted their character, rather than the landowner’s. They felt cheated, so they cast a slur in his integrity, forgetting that the landowner had done nothing wrong according to their agreement.

Two observations emerge from this story.

Firstly, God the Father is not fair, but He is far more generous that we will ever imagine. If He were to treat us fairly, none of us would survive.

Secondly, we judge the Father by our imagined loss, not by His infinite goodness. When we don’t get what we want, we judge Him to be less than who He is.

Let’s be honest. Has God’s generosity to others ever harmed us? Since we are constantly comparing ourselves with others, we judge Him unfair when someone else gets more or better than we desire. The real “harm” is the exposure of our own sinful hearts.

Why do we find it so difficult to trust God’s love in every up and down of life? Has His generosity to everyone, demonstrated in the priceless gift of His only Son, ever harmed us in any way?

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10 NLT

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

Romans 8:32 NLT

Adam’s stubborn, rebellious, sinful nature is in all of us from birth. Our new birth by God’s Spirit has not eradicated our old nature. Yes, we are now all “partakers of the divine nature” because the Holy Spirit has transformed us and indwells us but, until we are released from our old nature in the life to come, there is a war going on inside of us between flesh and spirit.

It’s that old “me” that prompts me to judge God, not myself, when I am suspicious of His dealings with me. How can I overcome this flaw in me to doubt Him when His generosity, so evident in Jesus, has never harmed me?

What is the antidote to this pernicious tendency to doubt God and the judge Him unfair when we compare ourselves with others’ blessings or when we covet what others have, especially spiritual gifts?

The answer is simple but not always easy. It is a choice that eventually leads to a lifestyle.

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.”

Hebrews 13:15 NLT

A vibrant faith in God is the antidote to mistrust, and gratitude and praise are the language of faith.

Continually giving thanks in all circumstances will grow into a robust, joyous spirit that can meet all circumstances with a warcry of victory, like the Israelites of old.

“After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!” At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.”

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 NLT

A thankful heart leads to contentment which Paul said is of great value. When we are grateful and contented with our lot in life, we are willing to trust God in every circumstance because He is always working for our good.

I think that there is something else hidden in this story. The context includes one of Jesus’ many attempts to alert and prepare His disciples for His impending death.

Every murder has a motive even when it’s a spur-of-the-moment crime of anger, passion, or revenge. Was Jesus using the story of the generous landowner to awaken His disciples to the ugly truth of what was going on behind the scenes of the religious hierarchy?

The “Jews”, as John called them, since they were the representatives of Judaism and the Jewish nation, had taken their stand against Jesus and His representation of the Father as outrageously generous. They hated Jesus for His acceptance of “sinners” by treating them with dignity and kindness. It was His goodness that riled them because the God He represented loves bad people.

Even Pilate recognised this fact. Matthew commented on Pilate’s perception of the religious leaders’ motive for murder.

“So, when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he knew it was out of self-interest (Greek word  “pthonos” meaning envy) that they had handed Jesus over to him.”

Matthew 27:17-18 NIV

Envy differs from jealousy in that jealousy focuses on the object of the jealousy while envy focuses on the attitude of the one who envies, usually the desire to get rid of that person because he/she is the object of hatred for who they are.

So, the underlying meaning of Jesus’ story was that the religious leaders planned to kill Jesus because they believed that His generosity to others harmed them.

SOME THOUGHTS ON SUFFERING

Christian Life, ,

SOME THOUGHTS ON SUFFERING

Suffering of every kind is woven into the tapestry of our lives here on earth. Suffering comes to us in many disguises, physical, mental, emotional, psychological…Suffering is the lot of every human being on earth no matter what language or culture.

Human suffering seems to fly in the face of who God is. “Why does God allow suffering?” Some even blame God for self-inflicted suffering like the pregnant young teenager who recklessly slept with her boyfriend.

Suffering makes no sense until we take the long look.

1. Jesus suffered physically and spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically.

“He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

Isaiah 53:3 NLT

The highest purpose of Jesus’s suffering was to absorb the sin of the world into Himself without resistance so that all the suffering that sin produced and sin itself, would be neutralised forever.

2. For believers in Jesus, if we understand our suffering from God’s perspective, suffering is a golden thread that connects us to the glorious purpose of God, to recreate us in the image of His Son.

Peter has some marvellous insights into suffering, both Jesus’s suffering and ours, that clarify this amazing truth.

“For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment… For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered.  He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.”

1 Peter 2:19, 21-24 NLT

This is God’s way for us to endure and overcome suffering.

“So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.  You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.”

1 Peter 4:1-2 NLT

Suffering for and with Jesus neutralises our sinful appetites and helps us to face real life on a corrupted planet with the power of God’s grace.

What was Jesus attitude in all His suffering?

“He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly…. ‘

Paul adds to our understanding of our suffering.

“I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.”

Colossians 1:24 NLT

Paul did not mean that Jesus’s suffering was either incomplete or ineffective. His suffering was a perfect sacrifice of atonement for our sin.

However, His suffering would be of no benefit to us if we do not appropriate God’s grace to suffer as Jesus did. By steadfastly trusting God in our suffering of whatever kind, we demonstrate God’s power in our lives to overcome the sins of our old nature. We add to Christ’s suffering only by living as He did in submission to and trust in the love of God.

This season of Covid-19 has brought untold suffering to everyone on earth, from the loss of simple pleasures like visiting friends, walking the dog, or just freedom of movement, to the ultimate suffering of grief for the loss of family and friends.

How do we react in these circumstances that is different from the world?

Watch “COVID-19 Health Update From Joni Eareckson Tada” on YouTube https://youtu.be/squAX6lV2Aw

This video from Joni Eareckson Tada, recovering from Covid-19, is a beautiful testimony to the way she responded to her suffering.

In the midst of her darkness, the Lord asked her, “Joni, do you trust me?” She responded, “Yes, Lord, I believe.” In the days following this encounter, she developed a strange calmness, “almost an indifference” she said, to what it would feel like and how it would end.

She felt Him drawing her into His shelter and resting under the shadow of the Almighty.

Quoting the writings of another sufferer (I could not identify the name on the video), she said, “When the suffering soul reaches a place of calm, sweet carelessness, when he can inwardly smile at his (own) suffering and not even ask to be delivered, then it begins to work its blessed ministry. Then the cross we are carry begins to weave itself into a crown.”

In conclusion, said Joni,

“When we give our suffering over to God, and sink ourselves into His will, He will make every pain work its divine purpose in our lives.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

James 1:2-4 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

James 1:2-4 NLT

My personal journey has taught me that my place of security and shelter lies in God’s promise that He works, in all things, for the good of those who love Him. His glorious purpose is to conform me and us, to the likeness of His Son that He, Jesus, might be the prototype (prototokos) of many sons and daughters.

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR REVIVAL?

Apologetics, ,

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR REVIVAL?

“The word “revival” is from the Hebrew word chayah and means “to bring back to life,” to “restore to consciousness,” or to “restore to a previous condition.” As stated in the Bible, it means a restoration, rejuvenation, or renewal of interest after spiritual neglect, oblivion, or obscurity.” 09 Jan 2018

There are many references to and prayers for revival in the Psalms and Prophets, eg,

“Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

Psalms 85:6 NLT

‘Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.”

Isaiah 1:27 NLT

but we must remember 2 things:

1. The Israelites in the Old Testament were still dead in their sins and under the Law. Revival relates particularly to what is dead or dying. The Israelites, in the main, were still spiritually dead and it was then, therefore, legitimate to pray that God would revive them.

However, Isaiah’s prophecy above relates to new birth in the New Covenant.

We live under the New Covenant and must therefore be guided by the writings in the New Testament Scriptures.

2. God’s people are spiritually alive if they have been born again by God’s Spirit. We cannot ask God to make them alive if they are already alive.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:4-6 NLT

Let’s look at the writings of the Apostles in the New Testament. How did they pray for the church?

Paul based his prayers for the churches on who God is and what He has done for us in Jesus.

1. There is not a single prayer for revival in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul in particular, often wrote about his prayers for the churches.

2. Paul prayed for God’s people, that they would have spiritual wisdom and insight, enlightenment and understanding about what God had done for them in Jesus.

“Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him… “

Ephesians 1:15-19a NLT

3. Paul prayed that God’s people would know God’s love in all its dimensions.

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT.

3.Paul prayed and encouraged God’s people to grow in love for one another.

“We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 NLT

4. Paul exhorted the people to continue to grow in their walk with the Lord.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Colossians 2:6-7 NLT

5. Paul encouraged the people to move on to maturity through the gifts and ministries of teaching, training and equipping.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT

A mature church is a group of people who are …

A. Secure in the knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is and who they are in Him so that they can fully trust Him in every circumstance no matter what life throws at them.

B. Doing life together, caring for and serving one another out of, and expressing their love for Jesus by being givers and not takers.

We are mature, then, to the extent that we know God through Jesus and live out in our everyday lives the love and trust that we have in Him.

We express that love and trust by the way that we relate to one another through humility and mutual submission, honouring one another and meeting each other’s needs at our own expense.

Therefore, we all need teaching, correction, encouragement and fellowship to become a fully mature body in the body of Christ. According to Jesus, this is the greatest demonstration to the world of His life in us.” (Taken from my notes on   “Fully Mature”)

7. The Book of Hebrews is full of warnings about turning back to Jewish legalism or falling away through neglect or unbelief.

“So, we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?”

Hebrews 2:1-3 NLT

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

Hebrews 3:12-14 NLT

“For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”

Hebrews 6:4-6 NLT

7. Jesus (and Jude, His brother) taught His disciples how to live our Christian lives so that we never fall away.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me… When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

John 15:4, 10 NLT

“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. Jude 1:20-21 NLT

This short note should help you to understand that God’s people who have been made alive by the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus, do not need revival. We need to grow in faith and obedience through prayer, exhortation, encouragement, warning, teaching, training, and equipping.

We are in a partnership with the Holy Spirit who teaches us about Jesus, leads us into all truth, enlightens us through the Word, strengthens us to obey and matures us in our faith and love.

Therefore, true prayer in the New Covenant is not about praying for revival but praying that God’s people will grow in their understanding of who the Father is, what He has done for us through the Son, who the Holy Spirit is and what He does in us through our faith in Jesus so that, we can become mature in faith and love.

What about the great revivals of the past?

They happened and effected great blessing on their generation and beyond.

Individuals, who were prominent in revivals, had and perhaps still have influence in the Christian world.

Some revivals have led to excesses and deviations from the truth.

Revivals can never replace the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit who transforms us into the image of Jesus as we reflect on and contemplate His glory.

“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

Jesus does not need dying people who continually need “reviving”.

He, as head of His church, needs His body to be people who live in daily union with Him, walking in the truth of His Word, obeying Him as Lord, loving one another, and revealing Him in their ordinary lives to the world around by word and deed.

RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY!

Christian Life, ,

RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY!

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. Luke 6:17-19

Imagine the scene: Jesus had been up the mountain all night — praying, seeking His Father’s wisdom and guidance for the choice of disciples who would best follow Him and become like Him so that they could learn and bind His yoke on people wherever they went and do what He was doing and even more. And who did He choose? Simon Peter, James, John…and Judas Iscariot!

Now He comes down, having decided exactly who would form His band of followers, and He is met by a crowd of would-be disciples and people from the length and breadth of Judea and even farther afield -Tyre and Sidon, Gentiles from Phoenicia — Jezebel’s territory! What were they doing there? Sicknesses, diseases, demons…they were as much in need of Jesus as were His own people. They came for help and they knew where they could get it.

Jesus was electric with power. Why? Was there something about that crowd that charged Him with energy to heal and deliver? We learned earlier that the people of His own hometown of Nazareth rejected Him — even tried to kill Him. When He returned some time later, He was powerless to do miracles there because of their unbelief.

So vibrant was the atmosphere in this gathering that Luke commented on it. Power flowed from Him like electricity from a generator and just a touch brought healing and relief to their troubled minds and bodies. What was the difference between these people and the people of Nazareth? They were not concerned about His pedigree or lack of it. His presence brought help and they grabbed it with both hands.

To the villagers of Nazareth He was just a local kid, Joseph and Mary’s son, no big deal. He had grown up in front of them and they thought they knew who He was. Were they aware that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit? They thought He was Mary’s illegitimate son, a bastard who had no right to be running around teaching about God as though He were somebody special.

But to the people who were thronging Him and clamouring for His help, He was a rabbi, a prophet with unusual power and an unusual connection with God. They were not concerned about His pedigree, or who His parents were or what His father did. They were full of faith and expectation that He could and would heal them and their hopes were not disappointed.

“Then He spoke: ‘You are blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal'” Luke 6:20 (The Message).

Healing and deliverance were never the be-all and end-all of Jesus’ ministry. As much as they were acts of mercy and compassion to relieve people’s suffering, they were also a foretaste of what God’s kingdom was about — the restoration of all things. It was as important to minister to their hearts as to their bodies. He wanted them to understand that God had a destiny for them much bigger than comfortable lives in the here-and-now.

If we understand this from a Hebraic mind, Jesus was not talking about food; He was talking about having an appetite for God and His truth. God’s promise has always been that He will respond to those who sincerely seek after Him. “He is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. Really living was much more than not being sick or crippled or demon-possessed. It was about being God’s sons and daughters in  a family that loves and takes care of one another.

You can be a part of it too! It depends on how hungry you are.

PRAYER IS FELLOWSHIP

Prayer, ,

PRAYER IS FELLOWSHIP

Have you ever asked the question, “If God knows my needs before I ask Him, why must I pray?”

That’s the way we think because we view prayer only from our perspective. Why must we pray? Because God instructs us to pray. That should be enough reason for doing what He tells us to do.

Praying is like giving God a bouquet of flowers. A bunch of flowers has many colours and fragrances which, together, present a display that is beautiful and pleasing.

In the next few weeks, we’ll explore some of the facets of prayer that are both pleasing to God and beneficial to us.

Before we begin to examine the details of prayer, let’s get this fact firmly fixed in our minds… true prayer can only happen between the God of the Bible, the Creator of heaven and earth, and us because we have a relationship with Him as children of God. No false religion can claim this relationship with its god since we alone are God’s offspring by natural and supernatural birth.

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it…. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth….

Acts of the Apostles 17:24-26 NLT

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”

John 1:12-13 NLT

This relationship is the foundation and reason for our fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Tha Apostle John wrote…

“We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

1 John 1:3 NLT

And Paul included the Holy Spirit…

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

2 Corinthians 13:14 NLT

So, first, prayer is the expression of our fellowship with God. Fellowship implies having that which we have in common. We fellowship with God not as equals but as Father and children, the Father our Supreme authority, and the children living in loving obedience and submission to the Father.

This fellowship is the heart of a relationship between a father and his children, communication, the best way we have to maintain the connection with our dad. So, priority number one, prayer is fellowship with our Father, through Jesus, our Mediator, in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER

Thank you, my heavenly Father, that you have called me into fellowship with you through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who made me alive when I was dead in my sin. Thank you for the spiritual life you have given me, restoring me to your family as a beloved child.

Please help me, Father, always to remember that I am here to worship you, to praise you, and glorify your name in all that I am and do. I am not my own master. My life belongs to you.

“The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning It’s time to sing your song again Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me Let me be singing when the evening comes.”

“You’re rich in love and you’re slow to anger Your name is great and your heart is kind. For all your goodness I will keep on singing Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.”

“And on that day when my strength is failing; The end draws near and my time has come. Still my soul will sing your praise unending Ten thousand years and then forevermore.

BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL,

O MY SOUL

WORSHIP HIS HOLY NAME

SING LIKE NEVER BEFORE, O MY SOUL

I’LL WORSHIP YOUR HOLY NAME

(Matt Redman)