Monthly Archives: August 2023

THE MIRACLE OF GAZING

Christian Life, ,

THE MIRACLE OF GAZING

Looking in my bathroom mirror these days is sometimes painful when I see the results of aging sketched on my face. The fresh beauty of youth has given way to the blotches and wrinkles of old age, heralding the time for the sowing the seed.

However, God’s mirror reveals a very different picture. No signs of aging or deterioration mar the vision of the face in the mirror. As I gaze into the mirror of God’s Word, whose face do I see?

“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

Paraphrase…

We all, having had the veil of unbelief taken away when we turned to the Lord, see the glory of the Lord reflected in our own faces as we gaze into the mirror of the Word.

How awesome is that! In Christ, God sees us whole and complete, perfected in holiness and a pure reflection of His Son. As He works in us by His Spirit through His Word and the discipline of hardship and suffering, He sees the image of His Son over our own faces.

In this life, aware as we are of our flaws and imperfections,

“12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity….”

1 Cor 13:12a

However, although we only see dimly and partially now, as we reflect on the image of Jesus in God’s Word, the Spirit is transforming us into that image more and more (from one degree of glory to another).

I love to crochet little figures of all kinds of little creatures, practising a recognised craft called amigurumi. I must follow a pattern and, as I work, I keep the finished article in view. When I make a mistake, I unpick and correct whatever does not resemble the original until my finished product is an exact replica of my pattern.

How much greater is God’s “craft” of changing us into the image of His Son, correcting in us what does not resemble His “blueprint” until, when we see Jesus face to face, we are exact replicas of Him in His beauty and perfection.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!… 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

1 John 3:1-2 NIV

What is the blueprint God is using as the pattern for His children? Paul tells us in Romans 8:29 that God’s plan is to restore in us the likeness of His Son.

“29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Romans 8:29 NLT

Jesus, the Son, is God’s blueprint and the four characteristics of Jesus as God’s Son encapsulate the blueprint God uses to work on us.

1. Submission.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Heb. 5:7 NIV

2. Obedience

“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

Hebrews 5:8 NLT

3. Trust

“46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”

Luke 23:46 NIV

4. Love

“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

John 15:10 NIV

We have a significant part to play in this transformation process. We become what we love the most, be it glory or shame. God’s complaint to Israel was that they became what they loved, the shame of their evil idols.

“10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.”

Hosea 9:10 NIV

If we truly love Jesus, we will gaze and reflect on His glory until we become more and more like Him. John warns us…

“15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

1 John 2:15-17 NIV

Instead,

…”And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…”

Hebrews 12:2b

because,

“18.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 NIV

Postscript

We must also keep in mind that the face of Jesus is not only over our faces, when we look in the mirror, but also over the faces of every other believer, even those we may not like.

However, only when they look in the mirror of God’s Word and believe its truth, will they see the vision of Him who is the pattern God uses to transform them into that image.

THE MESSAGE OF THE NAIL PRINTS

Devotion, ,

THE MESSAGE OF THE NAIL PRINTS

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. Luke 24:30-31

Two disciples… returning home after a weekend of tragedy and disillusionment. Back and forth they talk, airing their grief, their shattered hopes. Why, oh why did it have to end like this?

Soft footfalls behind them herald the approach of a stranger. Sensing the sombre atmosphere, the unknown man asks, “Why so sad?”

“Haven’t you heard? Are you the only one who doesn’t know what happened in Jerusalem this weekend?” they reply.

Eyes downcast, they relate events and emotions that betray their deep-seated disappointment.  “We had hoped… but now…” Like the Twelve who persisted in their unbelief despite the testimony of the women who went to the tomb, these two dejected disciples allow their grief to destroy any last vestige of hope. They know that the lifeless body of the one in whom they fervently trusted is sealed in a rocky tomb.

The stranger rebukes them. “Are you so foolish that you let grief override good sense? What does the Word say?” This man seems to have amazing insights into the depths of Holy Scripture.

He opens the sacred writings as they listen, fascinated, to his teaching… yet they still have no idea who he is, perhaps a visitor to Jerusalem with no ties to the events of the past weekend. They still make no connection between him and the messages he is recalling from Scripture.

They invite the stranger into their home as is the custom of hospitable people. There is something familiar about him that they can’t quite figure out. Perhaps a few more hours with him…

The evening meal prepared, they gather around to share their bounty. Courtesy prompts the head of the family to invite the stranger to bless their meal.

He lifts his hands in thanksgiving and suddenly, in a flash, every detail of the past moments falls into place. His seeming ignorance of recent tragic events… his gentle rebuke… his intimate understanding of their sacred book… his hands as he spreads them out in blessing.

In a heartbeat, as understanding dawns, He’s gone! Gone from their eyes but not from their hearts. A subtle fragrance fills the room where He shared the table with them, the lingering fragrance of the Son of God.

His hands! Of course, who else but Jesus Himself! Gone the grief and unbelief! It all makes sense now. He is no upstart, self-proclaimed prophet, but truly the promised Messiah so eloquently described in their own Scriptures.

Those angry wounds so clearly visible in His upraised hands speak more clearly than the many words He uttered as He accompanied them to their home. How beautifully the nail prints symbolise the greatest love of all, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” How clearly they speak of a sacrifice so great that it forgives and restores everything Adam forfeited in the Garden of Eden.

An old but ageless hymn captures in the jewels of language the message of the nail prints:

Crown Him the Lord of love

Behold His hands and side.

Rich wounds, yet visible above

In beauty glorified…

Matthew Bridges

Godfrey Thring (1851)

(en.m.wikipaedia.org)

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Concluded

Christian Life, ,

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Concluded

9. THE KEY OF ALL KEYS – The Word of God

Unless we use the Word of God to gain access to all the keys that open all the doors to the

resources of God’s kingdom, life under God’s loving rule will always be out of our reach….

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17

And ultimately, there is one more key that unlocks the Word of God –

10. THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Proverbs 9:10 NIV

“The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”

Isaiah 33:5-6 NIV

Conversely, without the fear of the Lord, nothing works.

When we honour the Lord enough to believe His Word and take Him seriously, every door into the resources and provisions of God’s kingdom are flung wide open.

The fear of the Lord, to change the picture, is the root of all the fruit we can pick from “the tree of life”. God gave Adam one instruction – leave “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” alone. We can only experience life when we live under God’s authority and in submission and obedience to Him.

When we live on the fruit we pick from living selfishly and making our own rules, we are already dead and destined for an eternal destiny of being “dead” to God; no life, no light, no hope, no love, no joy, no peace, just eternal nothing.

CONCLUSION

It amazes me how often the Holy Spirit opens the Word of truth to me by beginning at the end and slowly taking me back to the beginning. That’s how Jesus taught the truth. He took His hearers, in response to their questions, back to God’s original intention. “It was not like that in the beginning…”

So too if we are to understand the keys of the kingdom. Without God’s Word and the fear of the Lord, our absolute commitment to honour and reverence the Lord by taking His every word seriously, we cannot experience the fullness of life in His kingdom.

In the Lord Jesus Christ, God has provided everything we need to live as citizens of His heavenly kingdom right here and now in this present evil world. He supplies all our physical and material needs, as we take care of the needs of others. He provides all the grace we need as we acknowledge our weakness and call on His name.

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

Christian Life, ,

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

8. THE KEY OF PRAYER

Communication with the Father

Although we may not recognise prayer as an important key to God’s resources in the kingdom, we cut ourselves off from all that God has provided for us when we don’t pray.

There is a process in prayer that, first of all, embraces all the great truths of our faith. This process opens the door to fellowship with the Father.

A. Without the cross, we are separated from God and barred from approaching Him.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.”

Hebrews 10:19-20 NLT

B. Without Jesus, we have no mediator between us and God to represent us and plead our cause with the Father.

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”

1 John 2:1 NLT

C. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no one to interpret our groans and help us to pray according to the Father’s will.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

Romans 8:26-27 NLT

D. Together with the key of faith, prayer cultivates our intimacy with the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is not about changing our circumstances or getting what we want. Prayer is about growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer is about learning and leaning on God’s promises that enable us to participate in the divine nature.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence. 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.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT

E. Prayer connects us to God’s promises. Through His promises, God has provided everything for human life on this planet and spiritual life in His kingdom.

“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. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV

F. Prayer leads us to worship, the highest form of prayer. We approach the Father, we call on His name, we engage Him for ourselves and others, but all our efforts must lead us to gaze on Him, to contemplate His greatness and goodness since, through these, we receive grace to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

“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 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

Christian Life, ,

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

7. THE KEY OF SUFFERING AND HARDSHIP

Discipline in the kingdom – staying on the path.

This key may be uncomfortable for us to accept as a vital part of our experience of living in God’s kingdom. However, without the willingness to accept, embrace, and rejoice in our suffering, there are lessons we may never learn about fully participating in the glory of life in God’s kingdom. These are lessons we can only learn through submission and obedience. Jesus is our model and mentor.

“While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

Hebrews 5:7-8 NLT

What we learn through hardship and suffering relate to our character as God’s children and brothers and sisters of Jesus who is God’s firstborn in His family.

A. Suffering teaches us many lessons; patience, trust, hope in God’s promises, and an eager anticipation for the glory of our future.

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

B. Hardships and suffering transform our character.

“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

C. Hardship is God’s mark of sonship and God’s way of training us to be true sons.

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.”

Hebrews 12:7-8 NIV

D. Suffering changes our attitude to sin.

“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.”

1 Peter 4:1 NLT

E. Hardships and suffering change our focus and lead to holiness.

“For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.”

Hebrews 12:10 NLT

F. God’s disciple through suffering enables us to live righteously.

” No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Hebrews 12:11 NIV

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Acts 14:22

8. THE KEY OF PRAYER

Communication with the Father

Although we may not recognise prayer as an important key to God’s resources in the kingdom, we cut ourselves off from all that God has provided for us when we don’t pray.

There is a process in prayer that, first of all, embraces all the great truths of our faith. This process opens the door to fellowship with the Father.

A. Without the cross, we are separated from God and barred from approaching Him.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.”

Hebrews 10:19-20 NLT

B. Without Jesus, we have no mediator between us and God to represent us and plead our cause with the Father.

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”

1 John 2:1 NLT

C. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no one to interpret our groans and help us to pray according to the Father’s will.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

Romans 8:26-27 NLT

D. Together with the key of faith, prayer cultivates our intimacy with the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is not about changing our circumstances or getting what we want. Prayer is about growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer is about learning and leaning on God’s promises that enable us to participate in the divine nature.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence. 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.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT

E. Prayer connects us to God’s promises. Through His promises, God has provided everything for human life on this planet and spiritual life in His kingdom.

“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. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV

F. Prayer leads us to worship, the highest form of prayer. We approach the Father, we call on His name, we engage Him for ourselves and others, but all our efforts must lead us to gaze on Him, to contemplate His greatness and goodness since, through these, we receive grace to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

“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 Corinthians 3:18 NIV