Tag Archives: faithful

Foreigners And Strangers

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FOREIGNERS AND STRANGERS

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own (Heb. 11: 11-14).

Although the heroes of faith obeyed God and received many promises while they were still on earth, the writer implied that their faith held onto something even bigger than earthly things. The promises they inherited here were only temporal and passing away.  Something better awaited them when they passed from this life.

Their salvation rested on the sacrifice of Jesus as surely as it does for those who have lived on this side of the cross but they knew that there were promises awaiting them and died trusting that God would honour His promises beyond death.

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them (Heb. 11: 15-16).

This was the crux of their faith in God – the long look – a sense of eternity that saw the bigger picture. They were willing to endure the hardships of this life because they knew that death was not the end. Solomon also recognised that there was something more to man than just physical life.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning (Eccl. 3: 11)

In spite of people’s desire to escape accountability to God by denying His existence or by denying an afterlife, we cannot snuff out what God has written into us from the beginning. He created Adam for eternal fellowship with Himself. Adam’s sin disrupted our unity with God but He was not finished with us. He had already set in motion His solution before He blew life into Adam’s inert form.

Both Abraham and Sarah came out of their pagan origins to trust in the one true God as He spoke to them and led them from Ur to Canaan. He drew out their faith by His faithfulness to them so that it became easier and easier to follow His instructions and entrust themselves and their future to Him.

But they knew that not even Canaan was their final home. Just as they lived in tents as nomads in the land of promise, so they also understood that they were nomads in this life. They had no permanent dwelling here. Their permanent home with God awaited their relocation to a better place, where the sin and suffering of this world would be no more. Had their permanent home been back in Ur, said the writer, they could have returned, but they didn’t.

How important it is for us the hold on to God’s promise as well! If we only live for this life, we will wake up with a shock when we leave these mortal tents behind to find that we have made no preparation for the life to come. This life is an apprenticeship for the next. God has given us many clues regarding what He expects of us here. One of them, and we miss this one, is how we exercise our stewardship of the resources God has lent to us in this life. Jesus gives us a clear directive for this one:

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much; and whoever is dishonest with very little will be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16: 10-12).

Like Abraham and Sarah, the proof of our faith is obedience to God’s instructions. When we do what He says, we declare our love for Him. We confirm our confidence in His promises and we await with anticipation the fullness of life in His kingdom forever, beyond the grave. Like Abraham, we know that God has prepared a dwelling place for us with Him that far outstrips any city or mansion here on earth.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling because, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5: 1-4).

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.

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The Son Over God’s House

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THE SON OVER GOD’S HOUSE

‘Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,’ bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. (Heb. 3: 5-6)

The origin of Paul’s thought lies deep in the language and culture of God’s ancient people. For forty years they were nomadic shepherds, on a migration from Egypt to the Promised Land. They lived in tents and had to adapt their lifestyle to the uncertainties of their precarious existence, being totally dependent on God for their protection and provision. Their pictographic script and language reflected this period of their history.

The concept of a son and his role in the family pictures this time in their lives. The Hebrew word for son is ben, hence, for example, Jacob named Rachel’s second son, Ben-jamin, son of my right hand. Written in Hebrew, the word ben is made up of two letters, b and n, the vowel being understood. The letter b – beth – is a picture of the floor plan of a tent meaning ‘house’, and the n – nun – is a picture of a seed, which means ‘to multiply’ or ‘to continue’.

A son, then, is one who ‘continues the house’. It is the son’s role not only to continue the family line in natural descendants but also to perpetuate the beliefs and values of the family to the next generation so that the heritage of the family will not die out. This concept is captured in God’s instruction to Israel in Deuteronomy 6.

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments thatI give you today are to be on your hearts, Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deut. 6: 4-9)

In a real sense, Moses’s house was limited to his wife and family although he was a ‘father’ to the nation. He was not God’s appointed son, but a servant in God’s ‘house’ – His people Israel. Jesus was appointed by God’s decree to be a Son at a specific moment in time, called ‘today.’

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’ (Psa. 2: 7)

As God’s Son, therefore, it is Jesus’s role to ‘continue the house.’ Through supernatural birth by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in those who receive Him, who believe in His name, He restores to the family of God every wayward and alienated son or daughter who returns to the Father.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit who is His counterpart on earth, He leads them back into His truth and teaches them the values and practices of the kingdom. Moses could do no more, as a servant, than give God’s people His instructions. He could not internalise them by writing them on their hearts. He could not remove their stony hearts or give them a heart after God.

Only the Son, through His perfect obedience to the Father even to death, could be the atoning sacrifice which paid sin’s debt and satisfied the Father’s justice.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Heb. 2: 10, 11)

Through HIs work, Jesus both taught and demonstrated the way of life God intended for His family and He provides the power for returning children to be true sons and daughters of the Father through the Holy Spirit who lives in them.

How, then, could anyone think of going back to the old religious system which did nothing for them but bring them into bondage again to a system which told them what to do but could not provide the power to obey? Only Jesus, God’s Son, can enable His brothers and sisters to become like Him. Only He can actually ‘continue’ God’s house. We have the evidence of His power to deliver on His promises by the family He has brought home over 2000 years.

Is He faithful over God’s house? Has He continued the house? Has He reproduced Himself in His spiritual descendants? Has He passed on the values of the family? In spite of the many who, down the centuries have twisted and distorted the values and teachings of the kingdom until they are unrecognisable as reflecting God’s character and His ways, there is still the remnant who are faithful, and are true sons who  ‘continue the house.’

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.

 

Greater Than Moses

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GREATER THAN MOSES

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. (Heb. 3: 1-4)

Of all the great characters of the Old Testament, Moses is the most revered by God’s ancient people. Jesus’s opponents constantly flung Moses in His face. ‘Moses this’ and ‘Moses that’ was their argument against Him and they would not accept that He was greater than Moses. ‘But,’ said this writer, ‘Jesus is greater than Moses just as the builder of a house is greater than the house itself.’

These Jewish believers were obviously still not convinced at this point that Jesus was greater that all the things they revered the most in their historical role of honour. He is greater than angels because He is the Son while angels are servants. He is greater that Moses because He is the builder of the house while Moses was part of the house.

The writer has already presented Jesus to his readers as the exact replica of the Father with the same honour as He and the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He occupies the place of authority at the right hand of the Father. He lived on earth as a perfect son and qualified to be both high priest and atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. No angel was worshipped as He was worshipped at His birth, and no angel was appointed to be the Son as He was appointed by the Father.

It behoves us, therefore to give Him all the attention He deserves rather that debate about whether to keep on being loyal to Him rather than to go back to the old ways when the pressure is on. To these tentative believers it was a matter of life and death because, to be a part of the population who refused to bow to Caesar as Lord, and to offer sacrifices to him in order to qualify for the right to buy at the local market, meant a very precarious existence, to say the least.

No one would be fool enough to choose a life that could be snuffed out, and very painfully through the evil imagination of the emperor, at the drop of a hat unless one were thoroughly convinced that it was worth risking one’s life for one’s faith. That was exactly what the writer was trying to do. To go back, though, was worse than dying for one’s conviction because it affected one’s eternal destiny. It was up to the author of this letter to prove to his readers that Jesus was worth trusting because of the eternal benefits of holding on to Him.

There are five little words in his presentation that hold the key to this life he was urging them not to abandon. ‘Fix your thoughts on Jesus.’ Our lives always go in the direction of our thoughts. Everything we are and do begins in the mind. ‘As a man thinks, so is he,’ said the writer of many of the proverbs. How true this is! James explained how the process of sin begins in the mind. Desire stirs, and the more one dwells on the desire, the stronger the pull is towards it.

How then, does one overcome the temptation to draw back when life gets tough and Jesus doesn’t seem to feature in our topsy-turvy circumstances? Where is He when we need Him? Is it worth the struggle to keep Him in mind and to trust Him when He appears to be MIA – missing in action? Why is He so silent when I scream for help and He does not appear?

Jesus is not about magically lifting us out of trouble. He assured us that trouble is an integral part of this life (John 16: 33). He doesn’t always appear to do miracles when we call just to bring us back onto even keel. But He promised that He has overcome the world and that He will never forsake us in our troubles. He is always there to accompany us and to see that trouble does not overwhelm or destroy us.

Trouble is not always a bad thing. It helps to strengthen our confidence in God; it teaches us patience and perseverance and gives us an opportunity to see what God can do when we run out of options. ‘So,’ said this writer, ‘fix your thoughts on Jesus, not on the rough seas around you.’ Jesus put it like this: ‘Remain in me, and I will remain in you.’ (John 15: 5). Be so anchored in Jesus in your thoughts and in your confidence that there will be no temptation to quit when the going gets tough.

Cling to Jesus and He will cling on to you. When the storm subsides and everything around you is in chaos, you will still be safe with Him because He is indestructible. Moses can’t help you, but Jesus can!

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.

 

Imitators Of Jesus!

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IMITATORS OF JESUS!

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”  Romans 12:12-15.

This is where the rubber meets the road!

How should this magnificent salvation, which God thought up and brought about through Jesus, make a difference in the daily lives of those who believe in Him?  God told the Israelites what He expected of them after He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Because of what He had done for them, He wanted them to be kind to one another and He spelled it out in the details of their everyday lives.

In the same way, Paul described the ways in which the followers of Jesus should respond to the ups and downs of life. God has rescued us from slavery to sin, a far worse kind of slavery than bondage to another person because it destroys the soul from the inside.

In response to God’s mercy, our first response is to give Him our bodies and our minds, allowing His Spirit, through His word, to change us by changing the way we think. We are no longer in competition with one another, but free to become who we are, and to grow our gifts through serving one another. In the atmosphere and bond of love, we can take our rightful places in Christ’s body, living and working together in harmony, showing the people in the world around us what God is like.

We need zeal and fervour – passion – to energise us, motivated by Jesus’s love for us and loving Him in return. Whatever we do for others, we do for Him. Our passion will grow as we keep gazing at Him, learning to interpret life’s experiences, good and bad, from His perspective, “seeing Him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27.

We have three groups of people to whom we relate – ourselves, our brothers and sisters in the church and the people around us in the world.

First of all we need to bring our own hearts into line with the Holy Spirit in us. When we allow Him to lead us. He will teach us how to respond to the difficult situations that arise in our lives as well as to the needs of other people, those in His family and even those who abuse us because we follow Jesus.

Since we are part of a family of God’s sons and daughters, we belong to each other. That means that we do life together and are part of each other in the ups and downs. Our resources do not belong exclusively to us. They are for us to share with any family member who falls on hard times. In this way, our generosity helps to maintain equality in the family and keeps the resources circulating.

Then we must get away from the idea that it does not matter how we treat unbelievers because they are enemies and not “of us”. It matters very much because we are the windows through which they see Jesus. Remember that, when His enemies were killing Him, Jesus said, “They don’t know what they are doing.” Don’t call down curses. Do the right thing – bless them and pray for them. You can go even further than that. You can come alongside them and identify with them in their joy and sorrow.

In order to relate properly to our brothers and sisters and to outsiders, we need first of all to bring our own spirits into submission to Jesus. Instead of complaining about every little thing that does wrong, build a picture in your imagination of how it will all be when Jesus returns. Then celebrate! It will be a million times better than that!

But keep your feet on the ground. Jesus warned that “stuff” will happen. Don’t blame the devil. He started it but God is still in charge. He’s busy reshaping you through the difficult times to look like His Son. That means that He wants you to learn to respond as Jesus did when life throws things at you. Instead of whining and moaning, and “taking authority over the devil”, keep in touch with God. You’ll be amazed at what He is up to!

What about the way we treat our church “family”? Paul said, “Be like your Father – generous. You’ll never be a loser if your do.” The more you share, the more will come back to you. That’s how it is with God. Have an open house and an open heart.

Paul put it like this: “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” Ephesians 5:1 (New Living Translation).

Acknowledgement

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