Tag Archives: blessed

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – ARE YOU CRAZY?

October 17, 2019Bible Studyblessed, hungry, tearsLuella Campbell

ARE YOU CRAZY?

“Then He spoke: ‘You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all. God’s kingdom is there for the finding.

“You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.

“You’re blessed when the tears flow freely, Joy comes with the morning.

“Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens – skip like a lamb, if you like – for even though they don’t like it, I do…and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like that.'” Luke 6:20-23.

What is He talking about? He almost sounds like some sort of killjoy; only happy when everything goes wrong; glad to be miserable!

This would sound crazy if it came from anyone’s lips but Jesus’. What is He getting at? You cannot go very far into the gospels before you realise that Jesus lived in the environment of God’s kingdom. Don’t get me wrong — He was a very down-to-earth person, in touch with reality, especially the need of the people around Him, aware of their suffering and full of compassion for them.

But He also knew that there was no permanent solution for them in the present world system. He could heal them now but they would be sick again. He could raise the dead but they were destined to die again. As long as the world system they were in prevailed, there would always be sorrow, sickness and suffering, because it is an imperfect fallen world and will remain that way until God intervenes.

The good news is that the present world system, with all its sin and imperfection, is temporary. He had come from the Father to get rid of the obstacle to restoration and reconciliation, the huge debt of man’s sin. God had set the course for restoring everything that was broken, distorted and out of joint and it culminated in Him. What God started in Genesis 1 and 2, He would complete according to Revelation 21 and 22.

Through Jesus, God provided the forgiveness that restored the broken relationship between Him and His estranged sons and daughters, but there was also the matter of choice. Would they want to come back to the Father’s house? How did the lost son in the far country come to his senses? He looked at his circumstances, starving and looking after pigs, and realised that he had been much better off at home.

Jesus said that it is very difficult for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. Why? Is it because they have money? No. It’s because they use their money to satisfy their own need. Money is a good servant but a bad master. Wealth is good if it is used to serve others but bad if it feeds greed and selfishness.

Therefore, according to Jesus, loss and hunger and persecution are not blessings in themselves but they are if they create an awareness that life is much more than what we eat, what we drink and what we wear. Life is transient, like mist that is here in the morning but gone by midday. It is foolishness to place our faith in and live for what is passing away.

God allows these kinds of circumstances into our lives to draw our attention to a kingdom that is permanent and eternal; a way of life that echoes the eternal character and values of the Father. Greed and selfishness belong to this transient, imperfect world and will eventually go out with the trash. We might be ridiculed and side-lined if we side with Jesus now. His way may seem puny to those who believe in control and force and power, but in the end, He won then and He will win again.

If you open up to Him, He will change your heart and set you on a course of generosity and unselfish service that will bring you joy and the realisation of who you really are, a son or daughter of God, created in His image to be like Him.

On This Rock

July 18, 2015Bible Studyblessed, Church, rock, SimonLuella Campbell

ON THIS ROCK

Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah (Matt. 8: 17-20).

What a golden moment . . . and what a mess we westerners have made of it!

Before Jesus’ words can make real sense to us, we need to put ourselves into His sandals and the sandals of His disciples, taking note of where they were and what His words meant in the language and culture of first-century Hebrews and not twenty-first-century western Greek-thinking so-called theologians.

Where were they? They were in the middle of the “red-light” district of northern Israel. There were sexual orgies going on of the most depraved kind – people co-habiting with goats to worship their god. This was not the place for Jews to get their entertainment. Jesus deliberately took His disciples there to give them a taste of what went on in the real world and then to ask them an in-you-face question, “Who do you say that I am?” If they thought He was just a human, albeit a mighty spiritual one like their prophets of old, then He would be powerless to make an impression on the godless world.

Peter blurted it out. “You are the Messiah.” Well done, Peter! In a rare flash of insight, which Jesus acknowledged as from the Father, he recognised in Jesus something far more than just a man. Now the disciples were ready to receive the next part of their commission to continue the work that Jesus had begun.

No need to spiritualise here. The very environment provides the explanation of Jesus’ words.

“You are Peter – just a little stone, powerless in yourself to do anything. You cannot change what you see going on here. Look around you, Peter. What do you see? Terrible things happening because people have rejected the knowledge of the true God, and created their own gods as an excuse to indulge the lusts of their sinful natures? Yes, Peter, but right here, on this huge rock where the images of their gods are displayed, I will build my church. Nothing will be able to withstand the power of the truth, not even their stupid idea that the cave over there from which water flows is the gate of Hades.”

What will make the difference? Well-meaning but misinformed Christians have latched onto Jesus’ words and turned them into the fanciful doctrine about “spiritual warfare”. Binding the devil and loosing the Holy Spirit! Really? Yes, this is spiritual warfare but not the kind that is carried on in the name of truth.

It was every rabbi’s right, whose s’mikah – authority – was recognised and acknowledged, to teach his own yoke – his understanding of what the Torah permitted or did not permit as a way of life. A rabbi with authority taught his disciples his yoke and expected them in turn to continue to teach his yoke to their disciples without changing it in any way. They were given the authority to interpret the Torah in the disposition of their rabbi.

Jesus was a rabbi with authority to teach His yoke. Instead of interpreting the Torah in the tradition of the other rabbis with authority who had gone before Him, men like Gamaliel, Hillel and Shammai who added rules to rules, making their yoke impossibly enslaving because of their legalism, Jesus said that His yoke was easy and His burden was light (Matt. 11: 28-30) because He was gentle and humble in heart. He taught and practised the mercy and compassion of God in place of the rules of a demanding God who punished those who broke them.

Jesus clashed with the religious authorities who did not like the God He represented. But, His yoke of mercy would break down the hardest resistance, transforming the hearts and lives of people, and replacing their godless ways with loyalty and obedience to Him as His followers accurately represented Him and practised His yoke.

At that moment, when Peter confessed his recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus conferred on His disciples the authority to interpret His yoke (the keys of the kingdom) and to teach His would-be followers what the Torah meant according to the disposition of Messiah. They were to “bind” on people the truth which had already been authorised in heaven and “loose” them from the lies which kept them in bondage to legalism which was not the true message of the Torah.

In this way, through the work of the Holy Spirit in them, not by praying “binding and loosing” prayers, people would be rescued from the dominion of Satan. Jesus said that it is the truth that sets people free. The Holy Spirit convinces people of the truth and brings life to their dead spirits.

Real “spiritual warfare” takes place through the truth. We do not fight by shouting at the devil or doing imaginary “binding and loosing”. Jesus waged war with error by speaking the truth and so must we. Our most powerful weapon, the sword of the Spirit, is the yoke of Jesus taught in the disposition of Jesus, gentle and humble in heart.

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Be Prepared

January 30, 2015Bible Studyblessed, do not fear, hope, reason, suffer, threatsLuella Campbell

BE PREPARED

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.’ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3: 13-16).

Wise counsel again from Peter! Be prepared.

Keep in mind the reason for his encouragement, that this section of society to which he was writing, most of whom were Jews and believers in Jesus, were the butt of Roman society’s animosity because they were misunderstood. These believers were part of a new cult, according to the pagans, which was not Jewish. They had tolerated the Jews but this group was spurned even by the Jews. Oh, they worshipped a Jew who was executed by the Romans and was said to have risen from the dead. However even this phenomenon of resurrection was not new in their religious teachings.

The pagan Romans and Greeks worshipped many gods, including Nimrod by his many pagan names and derivations. His evil wife, Semiramis had elevated to him to a god after he died. Semiramis also proclaimed herself to be a goddess – the Queen of Heaven. Her son, Tammuz, who was born after Nimrod’s death, whom she claimed was Nimrod’s son, conceived supernaturally after he died, was said to have risen from the dead after being killed by a wild beast in the forest.

Christians were accused of cannibalism because, during their love feasts they celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus by ‘eating His flesh and drinking His blood.’ Although they were, in the main, model citizens, they kept to themselves for fear of persecution, and worshipped in secret. This kind of behaviour made them suspect, and spawned all kinds of false rumours about them.

Peter’s counsel was, ‘Don’t be afraid of them’ – a quote from Isaiah 8:12b. You have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to fear from them. If you are living your life according to the standards of God’s kingdom, their malicious lies will have no substance. You will put them to shame by you respectful behaviour, your good deeds and by your courteous your response to their questions

Answer them when they question you. You have a very good reason for the hope in you that buoys you up and keeps you going in the face of hardships and unfair treatment. They don’t understand how you can do it? Tell them that is through God’s grace powerfully at work in you that you can put up with injustice without retaliating. You don’t only grin and bear it. You accept it joyfully because it gives you the privilege of suffering alongside your Master who suffered for you.

Jesus said that we must not fear the people who threaten to kill us. They can do no more than put our bodies to death. They cannot kill the indestructible soul within us which belongs to God. The one we are to fear, not be in dread of, but to reverence as Lord, is the one who has the power to destroy both body and soul in hell.

Peter encouraged these sufferers to focus on Jesus. This is the antidote to fear and to the temptation to resist or retaliate. If we keep on gazing at Jesus instead of allowing bitterness and resentment to fester inside, our spirits will remain calm as we draw strength from His suffering. We remember that ‘He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.’

If Jesus trusted the Father and died trusting Him, can we not also trust Him when we are mistreated for His sake? If we keeping thinking about Him, what He did and what He said, and how He suffered, trusting the Father for justice, it will take the focus off ourselves and save us from suffering from PMS (Poor Me Syndrome!) PMS is the root cause of depression in many people, not chemical imbalances. Imbalances are often the result, not the cause of depression.

There is nothing more medicinal and uplifting than a grateful heart. Gratitude for what Jesus did for you will lift you out of the pits of despair because what He did gives you access into the fullness of His life, His favour and His blessing.

The Slain Lamb

July 8, 2014Bible Studyblessed, covered, forgiven, sins, transgressionsLuella Campbell

THE SLAIN LAMB

“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Romans 4:6-8.

Now we have another problem. If God can only forgive sin on the basis of the death of His Son, how could David experience the blessedness of knowing that his sins had been forgiven when he lived long before Jesus?

The writer to the Hebrews made it very clear that animal blood can never remove sin. It is only a picture of the greater sacrifice – that of God’s perfect Lamb.

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.” Hebrews 10:1-3

“But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God…for by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:12, 14.

Did David somehow understand that his sin was forgiven on the basis of a sacrifice that was perfect and acceptable to God for all time? On what basis did the children of Israel escape the angel of death when he passed over Egypt and struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians? By obeying God’s instruction to paint the blood of a lamb on the door frames of their houses, they were placing their faith in God’s promise and in the blood of a lamb.

Jesus was often in trouble with the religious leaders for forgiving sin. They accused Him of blasphemy because only God can forgive sin. On what basis did Jesus have the right to forgive sin? Because He was God? But God, according to His own decree, declared that the only basis upon which sin can be forgiven was the death of a human being who had no sin of his own.

Now let’s look at God’s response.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1 Peter 1:20.

“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders …The Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the earth…” Revelation 5:6; 13:8.

Since God exists outside of time, He views the effects of what Jesus did on the cross, although it happened at a time in history, as spanning all time, not just the time after Jesus died.

The sacrificial system incorporated in the Mosaic Law was intended, not to be the basis for the forgiveness of sin, but a visual aid to help His people understand the nature of, and remedy for sin. When they trusted in the shed blood of a sacrificial lamb for the forgiveness of their sin, they were actually acknowledging God’s provision of a perfect Lamb that would deal with sin once and for all, and trusting in His promise of forgiveness.

The Israelites learned slowly, through a process; one lamb for a family when the angel of death passed over them on one occasion, memorialised by their annual celebration of Passover; one goat for a nation to forgive their sins for one year and, finally, one Lamb, God’s Son, for the world, once for all.

“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18.

Acknowledgement

Believing Is Seeing

June 12, 2014Bible Studybelieved, blessed, not seen, ThomasLuella Campbell

BELIEVING IS SEEING

“A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

“Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'” John 20:26-29 NIV.

Poor Thomas! It was his misfortune to be absent when Jesus appeared to His disciples for the first time. I often wonder whether it was doubt that drove him to demand his own personal audience with Jesus. Could his doubt have been linked to a disappointment that had caused him such deep pain that he was not willing to take the risk of entrusting himself to anyone again?

Perhaps we should call him Disappointed Thomas, or Disillusioned Thomas or even Devastated Thomas rather than Doubting Thomas. I think his doubt was a symptom rather than the cause of his unwillingness to believe the story that Jesus was alive. He had not yet learned that, unlike fickle human beings who are fallible and unfaithful, he could trust Jesus’ word because He will never break a promise. He said He would rise from the dead, and He did!

Did Thomas do what he said he would do? I think that it was enough that he saw and heard Jesus and witnessed with his eyes that it was indeed the crucified one. He didn’t need to finger His wounds to be sure that it was Jesus. All his doubts, disappointment and disillusionment were swept away in that moment. He fell on his knees and cried out, ‘My Lord and my God.’

What was it that convinced Thomas once and for all that Jesus was both Lord and God? Was it the wounds in His body that spoke of His death and yet He was alive? Was it the teaching and miracles that Thomas had heard and seen, now suddenly come alive in Him/ I think the fact that Jesus invited Thomas to do what he said he would do when Jesus was not present that convinced him that Jesus was God. How did He know what he had spoken unless He was invisible yet present?

The memory of Jesus’ gentle rebuke and tender invitation would remain in Thomas’ mind forever. Many months before, Jesus had asked His disciples the question: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter responded with little understanding, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!’ Now Thomas was convinced that He was the Son of God and would go to the ends of the earth and face the fury of hell because he knew!

Thomas saw and was convinced. But that is not the way of the kingdom of God. God works in another way. It is not seeing that released faith but faith that releases vision. Faith is the invisible link between the unseen realm and power of God and the natural world in which we live. We bring God’s power into action on earth through faith in His word. Miracles do not beget faith. Faith begets miracles.

The mighty miracles of God which the children of Israel saw in the wilderness did not produce faith. Every time a new crisis arose they forgot God’s miraculous intervention and turned on Moses with accusations and demands. Jesus responded to faith with healing power. ‘Your faith has made you whole.’

The more confidence we place in Jesus, the more we experience His intervention in our lives. True blessing, the supernatural favour of God on us, comes when we are willing to stake all on His promises because He delights to be trusted.

Acknowledgement

Ebenezer Family Church

HE IS RISEN!