Tag Archives: name

The Face Of The Father

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THE FACE OF THE FATHER 

“‘I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me, but if someone comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes only from God?

”But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?'” John 5:41-47 (NIV).

Listen to this man! Every word He spoke to the Pharisees drove the nails deeper into their coffins.

Jesus claimed to be the truth (John 14:6) and if He was who He said He was, these men who were so convinced that they were right, ought to have taken heed to what He was saying because it was His word that would, in the end, be their judge (John 12:48).

He put His finger on the thing that was the chasm between them and Him — ‘I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.’ Had they captured God’s heartbeat throughout the course of their history, when He agonized over their failure to understand the love He had for them and His passion that they would be to one another what He was to them, they would have recognized that Jesus was the mirror image of the Father.

They claimed Moses as their authority and yet Moses was the one who recorded all God’s dealing with them through their years of wandering in the wilderness. The evidence of God’s love was there if they would open their eyes and ears, but all they could see was the rules and ritual that turned them into the very slave-drivers from whom God had set them free.

The face of Jesus is visible throughout the pages of the Old Testament if they would only look for it but they were too blinded by their own self-interest to see it. They were too drunk on the accolades they received from others to recognise the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

There is great pathos in the words of Jesus. He does not utter them with accusation but with grief because He knows what of what they have forfeited by their blindness. He knew that the day would come when their lives would be paraded before them, every scene, every response and every choice. The blindfold would be off and they would see the implications of every refusal and every rejection of the potential that was in them.

God is not a vindictive judge, waiting to get even with those whose blindness prevents them from seeing the glory that could be theirs if they would only take Him seriously. His heart breaks for the wasted potential of those who throw their lives away on useless pleasure, self-indulgence and even self-contempt that leads them down the road of self-destruction.

The arms of Jesus were wide open to the very men who were planning to kill Him. Hear the sob in His voice when He said, ‘You will not come to me that you might have life.’ It takes courage to admit that you have been wrong; that your way does not work; and that the road you have chosen leads to a dead end.

His adversaries were nit-picking about carrying a mat on the Sabbath. Jesus was offering them the gift of eternal life which no amount of rule-keeping could earn for them. They walked away in disgust and resolved to silence Him when they got the opportunity because they did not want the life He offered.

What about you?

What’s In A Name?

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WHAT’S IN A NAME? 

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas,’ (which, translated, is Peter).” John 1:40-42 (NIV)

Why did John go into so much detail in relating this little incident? Didn’t Jesus call these two brothers from fishing in the lake to follow Him? I cannot answer these questions because the Bible does not connect the dots. However, we get some interesting insights into the character of these two brothers.

Simon and Andrew were two very different characters. Andrew seems to have been the more serious one, a disciple of John and keen to find out about the Messiah John was introducing. Together with an unnamed disciple of John, he sought Jesus out and spent the day with Him. Convinced that He was the Messiah, he hurried off to fetch his brother and bring Him to meet Jesus.

Andrew was more contemplative and less vocal than Simon Peter. He was very much part of the Twelve but stayed in the background while Peter was the spokesman and always in the forefront of the action. Perhaps, after this introduction to Jesus, the brothers went back to their nets until Jesus was ready to call them

Jesus’ response to Simon needs some comment. Why did He change his name?  In Hebrew thought, a name was a prophetic utterance of character. Babies were often named according to the circumstances of their birth, or as an expression of their prophetic destiny. John the Baptist was not named after his father, Zachariah, but called John which means “grace”. He would be ushering in, through Jesus, a new era of grace.

 

The name Simon means “to hear” or “reputation”. Jesus saw him, not as merely a hearer but as a rock – Petros in Greek, Cephas in Aramaic — one who would become steadfast and dependable. Isn’t this typical of the way God sees people, not as they are but as they would become through His grace?

There were important implications for Peter in this way of viewing and treating him. Jesus had to endure some questionable ideas and behaviour from this volatile and outspoken disciple. He often spoke first and thought afterwards. He said the first thing that came into his head. He had inflated ideas about himself and then crumbled when the test came.

Jesus knew Simon. He knew his character. He knew the way he was thinking and the way he would respond but He also knew what he would become. On the strength of that, He renamed him Peter. On a few occasions, when Simon really exasperated Him, He would revert to his old name but, more often than not He called him Peter. Every time Jesus said “Simon”, He was rebuking him and reminding him of who he was — just a hearer. And that’s what he often proved to be. Simon suffered from “selective hearing” just like the rest of the disciples did!

But it was not Jesus’ intention to tie him to his past. There was no value in reminding Peter who he was. In changing his name, Jesus was declaring His intention to change his character, and every time He called him Peter, He was drawing him towards his future.

There are valuable lessons for us in the example of Jesus. First of all, we learn that God is more interested in what we will be than in what we are. He has called us His sons and daughters. Our role in life is to learn to become what we are — holy and beloved children of God. True faith is taking possession of what we already own. We are heirs of all that God has promised. It is our job to inherit His promises with faith and patience (Hebrews 6:12).

The second lesson is equally important. Just as Jesus saw Peter as a rock, so we must view people according to their potential rather than their actual. Instead of criticising them for what we don’t like about them, call them “Peter”. See them as holy and beloved. That attitude will pull them towards their future instead of anchoring them to their past.

Release them from the past by cancelling their debt just as God has done, and they will be set free to become what God already sees them to be.

Will you do that? That’s what Jesus did.

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Thirty

Devotion, ,

DAY THIRTY

“I saw heaven standing open

and there before me was a white horse,

whose rider is called Faithful and True.

With justice He judges and makes war.

His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns.

He has a name written on Him

that no-one knows but He Himself.

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood

and His name is the Word of God.

The armies of heaven were following Him,

riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword

with which to strike down the nations.

“He will rule them with an iron sceptre.”

He treads the winepress

of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Revelation 19:11 – 16

Our Jesus is the glorious Conqueror of Satan, sin and death.  He trod the winepress of God’s wrath for us and He is our King of kings and Lord of lords.  We follow Him, our robes made white in His blood and we will live and reign with Him forever and ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Mob Dispersed

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A MOB DISPERSED

“Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’

‘Mob. My name is Mob,’ he said, because many demons afflicted him. And they begged Jesus desperately not to order them into the bottomless pit.

A large herd of pigs was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus to order them into the pigs. He gave the order. It was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over the cliff into the lake and drowned.” Luke 8:30-33 (The Message).

For anyone reading this for the first time, this is a strange story. It sounds a bit like science fiction, doesn’t it?

But for anyone unfortunate enough to be caught up in demonic involvement, and for those looking on, this was a very real and frightening situation. This man was inhabited by spirit beings who had completely taken over his life, using his body to host them and controlling his mind and his behaviour. They were representatives of the realm of absolute evil, controlled by the devil who had rejected and rebelled against God.

Their presence had turned this man into a raving lunatic who had no control over his thoughts and behaviour. He was on a path to destroy himself and everyone and everything around him. There was no physical power strong enough to bind or muzzle him.

It was only the presence of Jesus, whom the demons acknowledged to be the Son of the High God, and to whose authority they had to bow, that calmed the situation down enough for Him to speak to the man and get a sane reply.

Why did Jesus ask him his name? Was it out of curiosity or was it for a deeper reason than that? The first step towards this man’s healing was for him to acknowledge who he was. In Hebrew thought, a name was a prophetic utterance of character. Who he was expressed in his name.

Jesus wanted him to acknowledge who he was. The name, Mob, was not the name his parents had given him. It was the name he had acquired through the process of bad choices and the eventual invasion of demons who controlled what he had become.

Why did the demons beg to be sent into the pigs? Why could they not have just been told to go somewhere else? They knew that the time was coming when they would be judged along with their master, the devil, and all his other henchmen, but that time was not yet. In the meantime their territory was earth and their victims, people. They needed to inhabit human bodies but to enter humans needed their cooperation through deception and that took time. In their desperation not to be left bodyless, the pigs were their next option. Perhaps Jesus gave His permission because pigs were regarded as unclean animals and unfit for human consumption according to the Torah. They were fitting hosts for unclean spirits.

We have to remember that Jesus, as a rabbi, was always exposing His disciples to learning experiences. What would their impression have been? In the midst of this chaotic environment, one person stood out as being in charge — Jesus! He was not fazed by the hullabaloo this man was causing. He was not afraid of his violence. His presence calmed him down, allowing him to give Him a sane answer and His authority was unmistakeable, over the demons and over the man.

Jesus had taken charge of a violent storm and restored calm. He had taken charge of a violent man and restored peace. They were slowly building confidence in Him as the one He claimed to be — the promised Messiah. With their own eyes they were witnessing what the kingdom of God was all about.

This is the Jesus we have been invited to trust. Have you trusted Him?

Prayer – Lesson 4: The Pattern For Prayer – The Lord’s Prayer Part 1

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LESSON FOUR

THE PATTERN FOR PRAYER – THE LORD’S PRAYER

PART ONE

 INTRODUCTION

Jesus taught His disciples this pattern prayer not to be recited, but rather that the principles in it would be a guide for all prayer interaction with the Father. It forms part of the glimpse He gives us of life in the kingdom of God – Matthew 5-7.

THE LORD’S PRAYER – Why it is a pattern?

We have looked carefully, first of all, at what prayer is not. Now we need to examine what prayer is.

As we are discovering, prayer is more about awareness than about asking. What we are asking comes into line with a greater awareness of God, who He is and what His focus, His heart and concerns are rather than ours.  Because it is natural for us to be inward-looking and need-orientated, it is absolutely necessary for us to have a pattern that shows us how God envisions prayer rather than what we think it is or should be.

There are six facets to this prayer and each leads into the next. Having  explained that prayer is not about performance, words or needs – Matthew 6:5-8.Jesus proceeds to explain what prayer is:

1. OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

Firstly, prayer is about changing our awareness from self-awareness to God-awareness. We are approaching a perfect Father who knows our needs better than we do and who has accepted full responsibility for His children.

God is our Life-Source (our Father)

Prayer is not unique to the Christian faith. There is an inborn need in every human being, no matter what god people believe in, to worship and serve someone or something greater than ourselves. Our first priority, therefore, is to identify who we are becoming aware of.

It is vitally important to know who we are becoming aware of, not some visible but dead idol or vague unknown being out there somewhere but:

1.  He is our Father, our life-source, our Creator, the one who breathed His own life into us and to whom our spirits are fused by faith, through the Holy Spirit, so that we are ECHAD (one) with Him.

2.  He is the one on whom we are dependant for life and everything that our life involves.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1: 3ff (NIV).

3.  He is the only true God, the one who is described as “gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and full of love and faithfulness, forgiving sin…” He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not to be confused with any other god.

4. “Those who come to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him..”Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Secondly, prayer is about recognising that God is closer to us than our breath. We centre down into an awareness that He is here and that He is here in all the fulness of His deity. He is all-knowing and all powerful in His omnipresence. We do not call Him in to meet with us. We acknowledge and become aware that we are always with Him.

Whatever our situation or problem, He is already here, or there as we intercede for others.

God is as near to us as the breath we breathe

The God we address in prayer is unseen.  He is Spirit and we cannot and must not try to create Him in our imagination.

“God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

He has no physical form. We can know Him by what He does and where He has been.

The concept of heaven is confusing if we view heaven as some geographical place the whereabouts of which we do not know.  How do we pray to a God who lives in some place far away to which we have not access?

Just as we need to change our awareness from ourselves to God, we also need to change our awareness from God somewhere far away and inaccessible to a God who is as near to us as our breath.

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28.

Genesis 2:7 – God breathed into man the breath of life (His own ruach – breath, spirit) and man became a living being. Man has in his lungs the very breath of God.

Prayer is therefore, first of all, becoming aware that I live in the environment of God. He is spirit, He fills the entire universe and I am, therefore, immersed in His Presence like a fish in water.

Question: What can we do to develop an awareness of God?

We develop a God-awareness by putting Him in the centre of our lives and by changing our perspective on the things that happen. Jesus referred everything to God – e.g. Lazarus’ sickness and death

2. HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME

I hallow, acknowledge and become aware of Your Name

In Hebrew thought, a name was a prophetic utterance of character. Without going into detail, everything that God is, is encapsulated in His name. Therefore the God of whose presence I become aware, is not some vague, characterless being, but a God whose nature, character, values, standards, desires, intentions, plans and purposes are all summed up in His name.

Progressive revelation

God’s name was revealed progressively to His people.

To Abraham He was El Shaddai – God Almighty

To Moses and the people of Israel He was JHWH – the I AM – the intimate covenant name of God.

The understanding of individuals was enhanced and expanded through their personal experiences of God who was to them what they needed at that moment. eg, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Rohe, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah Shammah, etc.

Jesus – the name above all names

The clearest picture and demonstration of the name of God is to be found in Jesus. To see Him is to see the Father.

“I have revealed your name to those you gave me out of the world.” John 17:6 (NIV)..

To acknowledge and become aware of God’s name is to become aware of the character of Jesus as He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:28), revealing and putting God’s name on display.

Question: How best can we hallow God’s name?

 

We hallow His name, not so much by what we say as how we live because as children of God, we wear His name.

3. YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Let me place your kingdom over the kingdoms of the world so that the world will know who you are.

This is not a vague hope for the future as much as it is the expression of a desire to be part of the future. In the unseen realm of the spirit, the government of God is implemented to perfection. God’s will, which is the expression of who He is, is perfectly done, which means that there is nothing broken, or imperfect where He rules. Only in the realm where sin has disrupted the perfection of God’s rule, is there need for restoration and renewal.

It is God’s design for us who are now representatives of His kingdom, to put God’s rule in place wherever we are as a foretaste of how His kingdom will ultimately replace all the corrupted kingdoms of this world.

Jesus is God’s appointed King –

“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill...” Psalm 2:6(NIV)

In Matthew 5, Jesus has already explained how He kingdom rule works in the ungodly world system. As kingdom people we are not to conduct our lives the way the people in the world do. We are to live generously towards other people, treating them with love and mercy, not reacting but responding as our heavenly Father would respond. To be able to do this, we need God’s grace.

This is another piece in the puzzle about prayer. Prayer is not about us as much as it is about our part in the bigger picture of God’s kingdom – Matthew 6:33 – Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…

As we put the pieces together, we are starting to see what prayer is all about. God is busy reestablishing His rule on earth, but He has chosen to do it through man. He does not act independently of man, His vice regent, but through him but, in turn, man must not rule independently of God.

He does this by revealing the pattern of His will to us through His word so that we can ask Him to do what He has already purposed. God does nothing on earth without us.

It is through prayer that we become aware of who God is and what He plans are for our world which is a small part of the whole world. As we put His reign in place in our world in cooperation with Him and through His power and grace, His kingdom comes and His will is done increasingly on the earth as it is done in heaven.  When Jesus returns, He will perfect what He has begun through us now.

God desires that we be partners with Him in bringing heaven to earth through our prayers and our lives as His sons and daughters.

Question: How does this teaching help you to understand your role in prayer?