Monthly Archives: November 2024

MOLLY AND ME – BELONGING

Christian Life, ,

Molly belongs to me. I bought her from the breeder when she was 46 days old. The moment I paid for her, she became mine. I took over the responsibility to love her, care for her, provide for her, and protect her. I do everything for her that she needs, as a little dog, to flourish.

Molly knows she is mine. When I need to go away for a short while, I hand my responsibility for her over to a trusted friend who cares for her as lovingly as I do, but… she is not me. Molly is sad and restless until I return, and ecstatic beyond words when she sees me. Every muscle in her body is mobilised to express her joy. Her tail would fly off if it were not securely fastened to her rear end. Even when I leave her for an hour or two, she responds to my homecoming as though I have been gone for days!

This bond is so strong that Molly even trusts me when I turn her upside down to treat her for any ailment. She submits to the indignity of cream on her chest and tummy for itchy skin and even on her paws which she guards tenaciously as a specially personal part of her anatomy.

So it is with God and me.

I remember the story of a young boy who carved a sailboat out of wood, dressed it up with paint and sails and took it to the water to try it’s performance. He was excited to see how the wind filled the little sails and pushed it through the water.

Unfortunately, the little boat did so well that it sailed out of reach. The water was too deep for him to rescue it, and soon it was also out of sight.

The little boy returned home in tears, his prized possession gone.

A few months passed. One day, as he was passing the toyshop in town, he was overjoyed to see his little boat in the shop window. Somehow his craft had been found and offered to the shop owner for sale.

He rushed inside to claim his possession. The shop owner refused to return his boat and he was forced to buy it back at the shop keeper’s price. After months of saving his pocket money, he finally walked out of the shop with the liitle boat in his hands.

“You are twice mine,” he whispered as he walked home. “I made you, and I bought you!”

Twice God’s! He made us…

Psalms 139:13-14 NIV
[13] “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

… and He bought us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
[19] “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; [20] you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

This belongingness has a double meaning. I belong to God, therefore, He takes full responsibility for me. I belong to God, therefore I am accountable to Him. He has the right and responsibility to train and discipline me so that I learn to conform to His ways just as Molly is accountable to me. When she is naughty, I scold her. Somehow she understands and seeks my forgiveness by licking my hands.

Molly and I live in harmony with each other as much as we can as human and dog. With God as my perfect heavenly Father, it is up to me to treasure this belongingness by living in harmony with Him, trusting His goodness and responding to His discipline. Nothing is more precious than belonging to God.

1 Peter 2:9 NIV
[9] “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

“DON’T LOOK AT ME, GOD”

Gospel, ,

Years ago, I watched a DVD seies on the Christian life by a Presbyterian pastor. One of his points dealt with his attitude towards sin.

He referred to a situation in his life when he had said or done something to offend his wife. Instead of humbly confessing his sin to God and to his wife, his shame led him to run from them, creating an atmosphere of tension and alienation. He summed up the situation with these words, “Don’t look at me, God!”

How often, because we misunderstand grace, we tell God, with or without words, “Don’t look at me, God!” We allow sin to disturb our fellowship with God and people, isolating ourselves by guilt and shame from our family or fellow believers.

We tend to think that everyone around us knows what we have done and judges us for our bad behaviour…most of all God because we have offended Him. We treat God as though He were human.

What does the Bible say to a situation like this?

Of course, there is a difference between an occasional lapse and a lifestyle of offending others. If we persist in selfish behaviour that puts us in the centre of our world, we will offend others by our thoughtless and careless words and deeds.

For a believer, this attitude of self-absorption is foreign to someone who is “in Christ”.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
[17] “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Does this mean that persistently selfish behaviour is evidence that such a person is not “in Christ”? True believers are those who have been born from above by God’s Spirit, have a new nature, and are learning to obey the Holy Spirit’s leading.

Romans 8:14 NIV
[14] “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

They exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in increasing measure in their attitude and behaviour.

Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
[22] “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Does this mean that a believer can never sin? No! It means that God has a remedy for those times when we do step outside of grace. He knows that, as long as we are in this life, we are at war with our old fleshly, selfish nature. We do give in from time to time.

However, God has made provision for all sin through the sacrifice of Jesus. His death takes care of all sin for all time. Even before we sin in time, He paid the price and has forgiven us. According to God’s Word, Jesus’ sacrifice was planned before time so that it is effective for all sin in time even before He died.

Instead of denying our guilt or hiding in shame, saying, “Don’t look at me, God,” He calls us to come to Him because He has the solution…

1 John 2:1-2 NIV
[1] “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. [2] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

1 John 1:8-9 NIV
[8] “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Like any loving earthly father, the Father graciously forgives our sin and restores fellowship with Him when we come clean with Him and with one another.

1 John 1:6-7 NIV
[6]” If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

REST IN A RESTLESS WORLD

Gospel, ,

Matthew 11:28 NIV
[28]  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Weary and burdened! Doesn’t that describe the lives of most people?

Despite the veneer of pleasure and happiness, deep inside, people are restless, insecure, and overloaded with troubles and struggles. They try, in many different ways, to calm the storms inside that drive them to behaviour that only adds to their inner turmoil.

Let’s look at one of the ways in which many people try to drug their disquiet…religion. Apart from  criminal, addictive, or devious behaviour that drives them to violate their conscience until it is no longer a compass for their lives, people look for rest for their inward restlessness in many different religious systems.

(Karl Marx wrote that “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Whatever he meant, this became a policy in communist countries, to stamp out religious beliefs and practices. It didn’t work because people are born with the need to connect to a higher power).

What is religion and why do people instinctively need a “higher power” to lean on? Is it because life is too uncertain to depend on ourselves?

For the most part, a dictionary definition of religion says, religion is….

“… the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods.”

Trouble is that all religions invent the gods they worship. There is no objective, infallible proof that any god or religious system is of divine origin despite what their devotees think or believe. They may have a religious book or books to guide them but their claims are subjective. This means that anyone who turns to this “god” or “gods” for help is putting his/her faith in something or someone that does not exist except in their imagination.

This is, in fact, Satan’s ploy to draw people to himself. Who do people worship if their gods don’t exist? In reality, it’s the one who spawned the myth!

If people consider what happens when they worship false gods, they must ask the question, “Does the god I worship give me peace? Does the restlessness I feel go away?”

What makes people feel weary and burdened?

“Saint Augustine writes in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Perhaps Augustine’s most often quoted phrase, captures something that resonates deep within the human person. Restlessness is that desire to be filled and fulfilled.”

(https://beafraid.org – Augustine’s restless heart)

The difference between religion and faith in the living God who promises and give real rest, is fundamental. All religions, whatever they proclaim, involve doing something. Rituals, sacrifices, ceremonies, taboos, are all part of the religious systems which supposedly meet the spiritual needs of those who practise them.

The proof that confirms their uselessness is a world still in ferment. Look at any people who are forced to conform to a national  religion e.g., Islam or Hinduism. To remain true to their religious beliefs, they must ruthlessly stamp out those who refuse to conform even if it is a family member. Does this attitude and behaviour provide rest? How can it when murder violates their moral conscience? How can it when the individual has no say in his choice of religion?

Faith in the living God, on the other hand, is not a religion, whatever people may think. Faith in God and His word involves a choice to take seriously what God has done, revealed in a book so supernatural that faith in what it says transforms lives. Out of this trust in the words of God flows God’s supernatural response…rest.

The only requirement to enter into this experience of inner rest is faith in the one who has done everything necessary to deal with the real issue of our unrest…sin. No religion on earth has the solution for sin. We can ignore sin, deny it, argue it away, or try to forget it, but our guilty conscience refuses to go away. No even dulling our conscience with drugs, alcohol or any other addiction, can produce inner peace.

Isaiah 48:22 NLT
[22] “But there is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.”

The Bible, as much as people hate it, or try to obliterate it, gives us the only true solution to restless hearts.

Why are our hearts restless? I think we all know what it feels like to be alienated from a loved one. Despite the anger, frustration, resentment, or bitterness over the cause, we feel incomplete without the presence of that loved one…father, mother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, cousin, or even friend. There is an empty place in our hearts, without their fellowship.

God is our divine Father. He made us for Himself. Sin has alienated us from Him and, until we are reconciled, we feel that emptiness inside. Religion cannot deal with our sin and its guilt and shame. Only Jesus can forgive and remove the cause of our restlessness and reconcile us to the Father. The great wonder of peace with God is that we need to do nothing but accept His gift of forgiveness by faith. He has done it all!

Faith in Jesus, in His death and resurrection, deals a blow to guilt, frees us from its gnawing accusations, and clears our conscience to approach Him with confidence. Only in Christ can we experience true rest.

Hebrews 3:18-19 NLT
[18] “And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? [19] So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.”

Hebrews 4:3, 9-11 NLT
[3] “For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world…
[9] So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. [10] For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. [11] So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.”

The invitation to enter God’s rest is open to everyone who gives up all efforts to be acceptable to God. Religion will never satisfy God’s holy standards. Only Jesus did, and faith in His Son is what pleases God most.

Romans 5:1 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

This is the only rest that will satisfy our restless hearts.

SO SEND I YOU

Christian Life, ,

John 20:21-22 NIV
[21] Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”

Was this instruction only for Jesus’  twelve disciples, eleven at that stage because Judas was no more? Was this a unique calling on these men to become the message they were to take to the world?

Any other messenger who is given a message, simply passes on what they were told to deliver and continues to live, unchanged by what they had to say, good or bad. Not so with those who follow Jesus.

Jesus came to earth from the Father as both messenger and message. He had a message to deliver from God…

Mark 1:14-15 NIV
[14] “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. [15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

… And a message to model in His own life and death.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

As time went on, those whom He had called to follow Jesus became
aware that He was far more than just another man with a message. He was more than a prophet with a word from God. Others who interacted with Him saw a man with unusual wisdom and power but still only a man…

Matthew 16:13-14 NIV
[13] “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” [14] They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

…but spokesman Peter saw someone who was far greater than a mere man, a human who somehow resembled and acted like God. He was bold enough to give Jesus His proper identity, the Son of God, without fully grasping what he was saying.

Peter’s insufficient understanding led him to protest when Jesus spoke of His sacrificial death.

Matthew 16:21-23 NIV
[21] “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. [22] Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” [23] Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

What a comedown! From a sublime moment of revelation to an ignominious rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” Peter still had to walk a long road before he fully understood who and what this “Son of God” was. Only the Holy Spirit, by His powerful anointing and indwelling presence, could complete that revelation.

Spokesman Peter, again, on the day of Pentecost, declared that this “Son of God” whom he once only vaguely knew, was indeed God’s Messiah, both Suffering Servant and Conquering King.

Acts 2:32-33, 36 NIV
[32] “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. [33] Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear…
[36] “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

To Peter and his fellow disciples, their message was to be far more than who Jesus was in His earthly life, powerful ministry, humiliating death, and triumphant resurrection. These facts of history became the very means by which His life became their lives from the moment they were invaded by the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Jesus promised another like Himself, to represent His own presence within them.

John 14:16-18 NIV
[16″And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. [18] I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

The impossible imperative to become the message is made possible by Jesus’ presence in us, doing the transforming work. This change happens when a person sees it at work in another and brought about through the Holy Spirit within.

So, John writes,

1 John 1:1-4 NIV
[1] “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. [2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. [4] We write this to make our joy complete.”

1 John 5:11-12 NIV
[11]”And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

On the strength, then, of His Spirit within, Jesus sent His disciples out, together with all who believed their message after them, from then until now, to be the embodiment of Himself and His message to a world of rebels.

John 20:21-22 NIV
[21] “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 NIV
[8] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

1 John 2:5-6, 20, 24-25 NIV
[5]” But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did….
[20] But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth….
[24] As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. [25] And this is what he promised us—eternal life.”

Transformed lives are the witness to the real Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV
[2]” You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. [3] You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Christ’s church on earth, made up of millions of individuals, saved by grace, and in the process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, whose role is to put God’s glory on display, is the messenger and the message.

1 Peter 2:9 NIV
[9]”But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Wherever it happens, whatever the cost, the instruction is to us as well,

“As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”

“So send I you to labour unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing,
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary,
So send I you to suffer for My sake.

So send I you to loneliness and longing,
With heart a-hungering for the loved and known,
Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one,
So send I you to know My love alone.

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labour long, and love where men revile you,
So send I you to lose you life in Mine.

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, though it be blood to spend and spare not,
So send I you to taste of Calvary.”

Author: Margaret Clarkson 1915 -?
Source: https://God‘s word is truth.wordpress.com…

In 1963, Clarkson published the second part of her hymn which tells of victory through God’s grace.

“So send I you – by grace made strong to triumph.
O’er hosts of hell, o’er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer.,
So send I you, my victory to win.

So send I you – to take to souls in bondage
The word of truth that sets the captive free,
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death’s fetters,
So send I you, to bring the lost to me.

So send I you – my strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised presence,
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.

So send I you – to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down,
To hear My voice, “Well done, My faithful servant,
Come, share My throne, My kingdom, and My crown!”