Tag Archives: humble

THE SHEPHERD OF SHEPHERDS

Bible Study, ,

THE SHEPHERD OF SHEPHERDS

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe, yourselves with humility toward one another because

‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5: 4-7)

Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd, He is also the Chief Shepherd. That means that He is the Shepherd of all shepherds.

Shepherds need a Shepherd just as much as the sheep do. Those who are called to lead are not only accountable to the Chief Shepherd for the sheep with which they are entrusted. They also need a model and a mentor for the responsible task that is theirs. Jesus is both the Good Shepherd to the sheep and the Chief Shepherd to those who are called to care for the sheep.

God had an issue with the shepherds of His ancient people because they failed to fulfil their calling to care for the sheep. Instead they exploited them for their own benefit. Did Peter have these words in mind when he wrote to God’s people?

The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? . . . You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. . .’ (Ezek. 34: 1, 2, 4)

What an indictment against the leaders of God’s people! And yet there are spiritual leaders today who are no different from those who received God’s judgment in Ezekiel’s day.

Peter’s strong counsel is, ‘Don’t do it! You are accountable to the Chief Shepherd for the way you lead His flock.’ Peter himself had received the mandate from the mouth of Jesus: ‘Feed my sheep; tend my lambs; take care of my flock.’

For both Peter and Paul there was the anticipation of a reward for fulfilling their calling. Paul’s crown was a crown of righteousness:

For I am ready to be poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. (2 Tim. 4: 6-8)

Peter’s crown was an indestructible crown of glory:

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5: 4)

To the flock he wrote: Be humble and submit to your leaders. In this way the unity of the flock will be maintained. There is no place in the company of God’s people for a democratic attitude or for rebels or loners. Harmony is the way of unity. Mutual submission produces harmony when authority is respected and everyone is willing to submit to each other for the common good.

How does one learn to submit? By casting one’s anxieties on God. Whatever your issues, don’t beat the other sheep with them. Roll them onto God and at the right time He will vindicate you.

Cast you cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psa. 55: 22)

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.

WEAR THE YOKE OF JESUS

Bible Study, ,

WEAR THE YOKE OF JESUS

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who over all and through all and in all (Eph. 4: 1-6).

In this letter, in which he did not deal with false doctrine or practical problems in the church or in the individual’s lives, Paul followed his usual pattern of basing his practical appeal on doctrinal teaching, explaining the implications of what God had done for them in Christ through His death and resurrection and calling them to respond in faith and obedience.

Paul continued the Old Testament concept of life as a journey and faith in Jesus as a walk with Him. He appealed to his readers to follow Jesus in a manner worthy of their calling. To what were they called? They were called out of the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, out of disobedience to God and a life of sin – transgression of God’s laws and the self-destruction which was the inevitable result, to a life of faith in God and obedience to Jesus as Lord.

They no longer belonged to the world system with its greedy and selfish pursuits, but to the kingdom of God, under His authority and living in obedience to His standards because they had been made spiritually alive and able to hear and respond to His Spirit in them. This kingdom required a new attitude and outlook on life. No longer were they under the devil’s influence and held in bondage to sin. They were free to express the life of God in them by their love for God and for one another.

This must have been a “mind-blowing” experience for people who knew nothing but idolatry and the perverse behaviour idolatry produced. Out of this depraved lifestyle flowed the fear, guilt and shame with which their consciences responded and which they could not silence. Peace with God through Jesus brought freedom from fear and inward rest which was both new and indescribably wonderful to them.

Paul appealed to his readers to maintain this peace by wearing the yoke of Jesus characterised by humility and gentleness. Remember Jesus’ words?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30).

Jesus was speaking to those who were burdened by a religious system that demanded endless rule-keeping in order to gain the acceptance of a God whom they believed to be demanding and relentless in his requirements for holiness. Jesus offered a way of life that freed them from this legalistic bondage.  He called them to imitate Him and they would be free to live in peace and harmony with God and with one another.

“Gentle and humble”? Is it possible to tame our selfish and unruly hearts so that we are content to be who we are and to enjoy what we have without being in constant conflict and competition with others? Yes, it is! Through Jesus, God has removed our sin and the reason for the fear, guilt and shame that underlies our aggression towards our fellow human beings.

He has sent His Spirit to live in our hearts as His representative, to give us the power to overcome the ravages of our old, sinful nature. We are no longer bound to be selfish and antagonistic towards others. God has poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit in us. We are free to follow Jesus and to apply His yoke of patience, gentleness and humility in our attitude towards others.

Have you ever been in situations where the old nature rises up and demands to be allowed to react? I have! How does one deal with oneself on these occasions? Time and again I have had to remind myself that, as a disciple of Jesus, I am called to follow Him and to imitate Him. To my surprise, I find that the decision to let my anger and irritation go brings the power to do it. I allow my thoughts to return to the truth that I am a daughter of the Father. He is in me by His Spirit and His Spirit causes me to think and act in patience, gentleness and humility as one who bears the image of His Son.

These are the practical ways in which I am able to express the life of God in me. It is a journey, not an easy one because I have my old, sinful nature to contend with, to subdue and the new nature of love to nurture. But, as I practise and learn, I progress, however slowly and falteringly, towards the goal of becoming like Jesus in His gentleness and humility.

Being a Christian is not about going to church, carrying out religious rituals and keeping rules. It’s about following Jesus, learning to be submissive and obedient children of God, doing and being what He wants and responding to Him in unwavering trust whatever comes our way in life. The Holy Spirit in us is our personal companion and guide. He will lead us unerringly to the Father as we learn to hear His voice and respond to Him.

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

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

The shepherd Of Shepherds

Bible Study, , ,

THE SHEPHERD OF SHEPHERDS

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe, yourselves with humility toward one another because

‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5: 4-7)

Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd, He is also the Chief Shepherd. That means that He is the Shepherd of all shepherds.

Shepherds need a Shepherd just as much as the sheep do. Those who are called to lead are not only accountable to the Chief Shepherd for the sheep with which they are entrusted. They also need a model and a mentor for the responsible task that is theirs. Jesus is both the Good Shepherd to the sheep and the Chief Shepherd to those who are called to care for the sheep.

God had an issue with the shepherds of His ancient people because they failed to fulfil their calling to care for the sheep. Instead they exploited them for their own benefit. Did Peter have these words in mind when he wrote to God’s people?

The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? . . . You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. . .’ (Ezek. 34: 1, 2, 4)

What an indictment against the leaders of God’s people! And yet there are spiritual leaders today who are not different from those who received God’s judgment in Ezekiel’s day.

Peter’s strong counsel is, ‘Don’t do it! You are accountable to the Chief Shepherd for the way you lead His flock.’ Peter himself had received the mandate from the mouth of Jesus: ‘Feed my sheep; tend my lambs; take care of my flock.’

For both Peter and Paul there was the anticipation of a reward for fulfilling their calling. Paul’s crown was a crown of righteousness:

For I am ready to be poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. (2 Tim. 4: 6-8)

Peter’s crown was an indestructible crown of glory:

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5: 4)

To the flock he wrote: Be humble and submit to your leaders. In this way the unity of the flock will be maintained. There is no place in the company of God’s people for a democratic attitude or for rebels or loners. Harmony is the way of unity. Mutual submission produces harmony when authority is respected and everyone is willing to submit to each other for the common good.

How does one learn to submit? By casting one’s anxieties on God. Whatever your issues, don’t beat the other sheep with them. Roll them onto God and at the right time He will vindicate you.

Cast you cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psa. 55: 22)

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.

 

Who Gets The Washcloth?

Bible Study, , , ,

WHO GETS THE WASHCLOTH?

“He quoted a proverb: ‘Can a blind man guide a blind man?’ Wouldn’t they both end up in a ditch? An apprentice doesn’t lecture the master. The point is to be careful who you follow as your teacher.

“It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbour’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbour.'” Luke 6:39-42 (The Message).

Isn’t it amazing how right we all think we are! The world is full of blind guides who think they can see, and are leading blind people into ditches everywhere.

Jesus warned His hearers to be careful who they followed. The scribes and Pharisees,  the religious “experts” of His day, fitted His description very well — blind guides who thought they were right, so right in fact that they were ready to destroy truth for the sake of their right-ness.

Take, for example, the scientific fraternity that teaches the ridiculous theory of evolution as proven fact when every intricate detail of creation (a word they freely use, yet deny the Creator), screams out the truth that there has to be a Designer. Yet most of the people in the educated world believe they are right!

And where has that got us? Into the ditch of utter moral darkness! To accept evolution as fact and follow its ramifications is to be just like the apes we are supposed to have evolved from, devoid of common sense and reason. It takes a huge leap of faith into a deep, dark void of foolishness to believe that, in spite of the fact that every simple thing humans make needs a design, the whole of creation just “happened” by chance! Really?

How can we be safeguarded from the boffins who insist they are right regardless of the facts? Weigh up the evidence! In the Apostle Paul’s day, the Bereans were applauded for their good sense. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 (NIV).

What does it take to weigh up the evidence and come to an informed conclusion? It takes a humble admission that I don’t know everything, I can’t explain everything but someone else does, and I’ll take the trouble to find out from an authoritative source.

Jesus laid the problem at the door of our innate human pride. We are so blind to our own pitiful ignorance that we dare to sneer at others and offer to wash the spots off their faces when our own are blotched with contempt because we think we know better.

Test your own heart. What lies underneath those judgmental, critical thoughts, even if they are never uttered? “I’m not like that! I don’t do that! I’m better than you! I know more than you do! I’m right and you’re wrong!”

Humility is a great leveller and it opens the door to many things that pride excludes us from — wisdom, knowledge and understanding, friendship, peace and harmony with others, just for a start and, most important of all, God’s grace. “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5b (NIV).

There is one source of truth upon which we can stand with great confidence, the Word of God. Truth needs no defence. It needs only to be spoken. It will endure while lies, false teaching, and wrong thinking will all disappear because they have no substance. The Scriptures admonish us to test everything and to hold fast to that which is good.

Are you a fool or do you do that?

The Sadducees Gave a Go!

Christian Life, , ,

THE SACCUDEES HAVE A GO!

“Some Sadducees came up. This is the Jewish party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote us that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to take the widow to wife and get her with child. Well, there were once seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless. The second married her and died, and then the third, and eventually all seven had their turn, but no child. After all that, the wife died. That wife, now — in the resurrection whose wife is she? All seven married her.'” Luke 20:27-33 (The Message).

Quite a contrived story!

It must have been obvious to Jesus that it was a trick question. Perhaps these arrogant Jews were hoping to insult Him and make Him look like a fool so that they could undermine His credibility with the people.

Under normal circumstances, the Pharisees and Sadducees were on opposite sides of the fence. The Pharisees were the fanatically religious leaders, sticking rigidly to the minutiae of the Law while the Sadducees were part of the political wing. They denied the supernatural; hence they rejected any possibility of resurrection.

They made up this story to catch Jesus out, to make Him and the whole possibility of resurrection look silly, to undermine His claim to be Messiah and, ultimately, to be the Son of God because He was supporting a pipe-dream!

These men had to learn that God’s truth and God’s ways were not some superficial and poorly-devised idea to give them false hope and lure them into worshipping Him under false pretences. They were correct in their understanding of the law of levirate marriage but, as we examine Jesus’ response in the next study, their understanding of God’s kingdom and the life to come was way off track.

This is the problem when we try to rationalise God’s revelation and apply human wisdom to God’s ways. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ’As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'” Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV).

God does not reveal Himself and His ways to satisfy our curiosity. He only reveals what He wants us to know to show us His greatness so that we will take His word seriously and submit to His authority. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV).

The attitude of the Sadducees is still alive today. People, who have no desire to know the truth so that they can follow Jesus, replicate the Sadducees’ approach to Him. Their questions are not for honest answers but because they are looking for an excuse to justify their unbelief.

We need to be careful if we think we can make a fool of God. As the Apostle Paul said, ‘God’s foolishness is wiser than our wisdom!’ His mercy is wide open to those who are humble enough to recognise their need and to call on Him but there is nothing but judgment for the people who think they can make it on their own.

God has made it clear that He has no time for arrogant fools but endless mercy and grace for the humble. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6b (NIV).