Tag Archives: pray

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM – 12a

Bible Study, ,

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that… Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭27‬-‭33‬, ‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus was a true revolutionary! His yoke, His interpretation of Torah that led to the demonstration of a lifestyle of mercy and non-retaliation, was as revolutionary as, for example, a military operation that invades enemy territory to provide medical help to those injured through war. 

“Love your enemies…” is as unpalatable to the human mind as expecting a millionaire to give his Lamborghini to a homeless beggar. This would be unnatural behaviour at its worst for the one whose natural bent is towards “You hit me and I’ll hit you twice as hard…”  

Yet, Jesus gave this instruction as part of His yoke as though it were the way the rule of God works in His divine system. God’s boundaries, His laws, are an expression of His nature. They give us a peek into who He is and how He operates, even in the hostile world over which He rules. 

In the main, the citizens of God’s world are His enemies and utter rebels against everything that He is and wants from them. He owns the world and its people, yet those who live in it refuse to acknowledge His authority. Some deny His very existence, while others do whatever they can to defy Him. 

How does God treat those who hate Him? Does He relish His right to punish and destroy? The witness of Scripture, from cover to cover, is the story of a God who loves, blesses, and acts in mercy to the worst of rebels. 

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭35‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s mercy peaked in Jesus when He gave His own Son as a sacrifice for sinners. 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s kingdom is wide open for those who accept His sacrifice and, in response, pledge to live in His kingdom in keeping with the nature of His rule. There is no place in God’s realm for those who claim allegiance but demonstrate rebellion by rejecting His standards. 

Above all else, knowing that for the natural human to live by God’s standards is impossible, God has provided the way for ungodly rebels to be transformed into compliant sons and daughters. He gave us His own Spirit to live inside us, to transform rebels into saints by the power of His word. 

In Jesus, the Father has provided, by His grace, strength to overcome the ravages of our old nature and truth to renew our minds in the ways of righteousness, holiness and peace. 

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, for Jesus to require that we love our enemies by treating them as the Father has treated us, though it contradicts our natural bent towards selfishness, is more than a pipe dream. It is the response of grateful people whose lives are being transformed by His grace. It is the expression of obedience of a son to a father, and a response of trust that what God wants He will also do in us by His grace. It is a witness to the world that it is Christ in us who guarantees that we will be like Him when we see Him. 

God treats people out of who He is, the God who is in His essence, love….and so must we, and we can because of Him!

To be continued…

A PARTNER WITH GOD’S PEACE

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[6] “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Peace…what the world lacks most. Peace…what Jesus said the world cannot give. His Peace…what Jesus bequeathed to His disciples on the eve of His death.

One attitude Jesus always exuded was peace, even in the darkest hour of His life. The religious leaders, the Jews, the Roman soldiers, Herod, and Pilate could not destroy His peace. How could anyone in the circumstances Jesus faced remain calm and unfazed when His life was at stake and threatened in the most extreme way? His confidence lay in His union with the Father.

Isaiah painted a word picture of the supernatural peace which held Jesus steady in the face of extreme suffering…

Isaiah 53:7-8 NLT
[7] “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. [8] Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.”

… a peace so remarkable that the criminal dying beside Jesus realised that Jesus was no ordinary man.

Luke 23:42-43 NLT
[42]” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” [43] And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This is the peace Jesus promised to His disciples but…how can we experience this peace that steadies and supports us throughout our lives?

Paul said it’s simple. Make an exchange! Worry and anxiety are expressions of doubt and unbelief and they neutralise peace. So, Paul says, give God your all the issues that trouble you and He will give you His peace.

Psalms 55:22 NLT
[22] “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

When Paul says, “Pray about everything,” he doesn’t mean waffle about how bad things are. He means, in down-to-earth language, “Spill your guts to God.” Now that might sound rough but it works.

God isn’t fazed by anything we tell Him. He doesn’t hear pious, insincere prayers but He does listen to an honest confession of what’s going on inside.

David understood this principle. He was aware of God’s absolute knowledge of his innermost being. He knew he could hide nothing from Him so, he invited God to open his soul to himself and show him what was inside.

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23] “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

This is the kind of prayer that invites God’s scrutiny and allows us to dump all our issues on Him. It’s the honesty that enables us to trade anxiety in whatever form it takes for the peace that Jesus promised.

Jesus’ peace, which is an integral part of who He is, becomes ours only through the absolute trust in Him that abandons on Him our reasoning, our logic, our tumultuous emotions when stuff happens. This is the faith that refuses to entertain anything other than the love and goodness of God in every situation.

John 14:27 NIV
[27] “PEACE I leave with you; MY PEACE I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 16:33 NIV
[33] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus’ peace keeps us rock-solid steady no matter what happens because He is its source and He can never fail us.

Now, there is a key to this kind of immovable, indestructible, what someone called, “furious serenity”…

“Peace is a furious serenity that refuses to submit to chaos.”

I love that, don’t you?

Paul inserted two little words into his prescription for God’s peace…”with thanksgiving.” Gratitude neutralises all doubt, unbelief, anxiety, and fear. It is impossible to be thankful and anxious at the same time. Every time we thank God for his love and goodness in all circumstances, we drive anxiety out of our souls.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
[18] “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Now, let’s look at Paul’s way of experiencing the “furious serenity” Jesus promised to give us.

Show God you have an honest heart. Then cultivate a thankful heart. Give God your stuff with a willing heart. He will respond by giving you a peaceful heart.

The peace Jesus gives us is so strong and real that it will post an impenetrable guard around our hearts and minds, protecting who we are and what we think against all enemy intrusion.

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD – 7

Christian Life, ,

Ephesians 6:18 NLT
[18] “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

This is the often-forgotten piece of our equipment that secures the effectiveness of our counter attack against the enemy. In earthly warfare, it’s the command centre that controls and instructs the soldiers in the battle how, when, and where to conduct their operations.

War is not a will-nilly affair. It’s the execution of carefully-planned strategies directed by experts from the control room and carried out by the soldiers on the ground.

So it is in “spiritual warfare”. During our engagements with the enemy, we need to stay in close contact with “headquarters” from where we receive our instructions. We cannot overcome our opponent by hitting out blindly in every direction. We will end up exhausted and beaten.

Paul exhorts us to pray “at all times and on every occasion”. Keep in contact with the Holy Spirit who is in charge of operations. He is the “Commander-in-Chief” inside us who represents the “War Office”. He provides us with the weapons of attack and directs us to where we must apply our defensive strategies.

All this sounds theoretical but it is important that we apply, in our day-to-day lives, the lessons we learn in boot camp.

Lesson number one…submit to and obey your commanding officer. Without unwavering confidence in, and obedience to the Holy Spirit, the war is lost before we begin.

We must learn to listen to and obey Him. This means learning to identify the impressions we receive since He does not speak in an audible voice. How do we know who is speaking? The test is simple. The Holy Spirit never contradicts the Word. He reminds us of truth we have internalised and is applicable in each situation.

Jesus exemplified the strategy. First, He knew He was in the wilderness to be tested because the Holy Spirit led Him there. Second, He fended off every attack with the Word…”It is written…” submitting to the Father’s authority in each test.

Lesson number two… Whatever the thought we have, we must discern, “Does it match God’s Word?” Sinful desires will draw us away from the truth. Godly desires will have the Holy Spirit’s approval. What does your peaces say? Test first.

Lesson number three…never act in haste. Snap decisions made on the spur of the moment are never wise decisions. Decisions made out of emotion, not clear ans wise thinking, are invariably misleading. Weigh up first, listen, and then follow the leading of the Spirit.

In this way, we keep in contact with our heavenly headquarters, using every form of prayer. First, we worship, then we continue with thanksgiving and praise which put our thoughts into perspective, and then petition and request.

Like every other part of our walk with God, we put Him in the centre of our struggles, humbly submitting to His refining processes. We acknowledge His sovereignty, we honour His wisdom, and we allow His grace to take us through to new understanding and experience of His power at work in us.

Never, in this battle to overcome fleshly lusts, must we give credit to the devil for his part in it. He is our antagonist but God is always working for our good. He is moving us, one step at a time, towards likeness to Jesus, the blueprint of every true son. We are learning to submit to His authority in every circumstance, obey His instructions, and trust His love, even in the battles of life.

To be concluded…

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

Prayer, ,

Luke 11:1-4 NIV‬
[1] One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” [2] He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. [3] Give us each day our daily bread. [4] Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ’ ”

Have you ever asked the Lord to teach you to pray?

As little children, many of our prayer lives began with, “Dear Lord Jesus…” That’s a good beginning for a five-year-old but, as mature believers, we should have advanced beyond the ‘toddler’ stage in our Christian walk.

The disciples saw something in Jesus’ prayers that fascinated them. They recognised an intimacy with the Father that was missing in their own lives.

Why did they want to learn from Jesus what John was teaching his disciples about prayer? Was John doing more to train his followers than Jesus was doing for His? This cannot be so, there must be another reason for their request.

What did John teach his disciples about prayer? We don’t know. However, since John had disciples, followers who lived with him wherever he went, and learned to imitate him as their rabbi (teacher), he must have passed on to them what he had been taught from childhood. The ‘tanach’, their Old Testament Bible, was their textbook, and its written prayers, which there are many, was their pattern. They would have recited set prayers from the tanach on many different occasions and for many situations and reasons.

However, I think that intimacy with the Father may have been foreign to them and missing from their prayers. This was something unusual and compelling that Jesus exemplified in His prayer life.

Sometimes, Jesus went out alone before dawn to pray, sometimes all night, for example, before He chose His disciples.

‭Luke 6:12-13 NLT‬
[12] “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. ‭
[13] At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles…

Sometimes, He prayed in His disciples’ hearing, for example, before His death.

‭Mark 14:35-36 NLT‬
[35″+ He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. [36] “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Our Scripture, quoted at the beginning, reveals Jesus conversing with the Father in His disciples’ presence. Prayer was such a significant part of His life that He spoke to the Father anywhere and everywhere in any and every situation.

What He saw, heard, and learned from the Father, as a Son, He put into practice in His earthly life.

‭John 5:19-20 NLT‬
[19] “So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. [20] For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing…”

The Iove and unity between Father and Son was so strong that Jesus did everything He could to protect that bond by the intimacy He shared with the Father, and miracles happened.

Before He fed a crowd of hungry people, Jesus thanked the Father for the food…

‭John 6:11 NLT‬
[11] “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.”

and everyone had enough to eat!

When He stood outside Lazarus’ tomb, He thanked the Father for hearing Him…

‭John 11:40-44 NLT‬
[40]” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” [41] So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. [42] You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” [43] Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” [44] And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

and Lazarus came out of the tomb, alive!

What does this witness say to us?

Prayer is not about getting God on our side. Prayer is, at best, getting ourselves onto God’s side. When we look carefully at Jesus’ reponse to His disciples’ request, it’s all about where we fit into God’s plan. This requires humility, submission, and intimacy with the Father.

Jesus gave His disciples a pattern prayer, not so much to be recited but to guide them and to help them understand how to experience intimacy with the Father.

Why, then, did Jesus wait to be asked, on this occasion, to teach these men to pray? Did He want to arouse a desire in their hearts, to show them, first, through His own life, that prayer is the expression of union with the Father?

Jesus lived out the prescription of Solomon…

‭Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT‬
[5] “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

That’s true prayer in a nutshell, perfectly modelled by Jesus and given to us as the only way in which to live the life here and now that prepares us for the life to come.

CLOSE THE CIRCLE

Christian Life, ,

Philippians 4:6-9 NLT‬
[6] “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

We love this Scripture, don’t we! When problems come, we run back to it for comfort and reassurance. We revel in God’s peace when we turn over our anxieties and worries to Him. We trust Him and we wait in joyful anticipation for His response to our cries for help but….

We stop there! We don’t pursue the greater blessing of what follows if we do what Paul tells us to do.

Anxiety, first, is an attitude that settles into a state of mind. Anxiety becomes a diagnosed ‘disorder’ when we allow our troubles and problems to dominate our thinking. We endure ‘panic attacks’ and swallow medication because it’s all part id the ‘disorder’ of which we are the unfortunate victims.

Paul gives us a solution to the anxieties and worries that control us. Change your thinking. Since we cannot think two thoughts at the same time, (especially two opposite thoughts!), we can teach ourselves to focus on positive, good, helpful thoughts by yhe simple discipline of our minds. Push anxious thoughts (lies) out by thinking about what is true and right, helpful, and good.

[8] “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Did you notice the outcome of changed thinking? “THEN THE GOD OF PEACE WILL BE WITH YOU.” When the Bible states that God will be with you, it means much more that His passive presence. It implies His active intervention to bless and prosper you.

‭Genesis 39:2 NLT‬
[2] “The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.”

‭1 Samuel 18:14 NLT‬
[14] “David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him.”

What a promise! Since what we think has such a powerful influence over what we become, the key to getting rid of anxiety, and experiencing both God’s peace and His favour is simple, if not easy.

‭Romans 12:2 NLT‬
[2]”Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

How do we change the way we think? We do it by filling our minds with the truth of God’s promises. There is a promise in the Word for every issues we face. Let me give you an example.

Financial problems?

‭Philippians 4:18-19 NLT‬
[18]”At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. [19] And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

Do you get it? There is an answer to financial needs in the Bible.

‭Luke 6:38 NLT‬
[38]”Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Generosity begets generosity. And so with every other issue we face. Anxiety gets us nowhere. Changing our thinking will change our circumstances. It’s a daily walk of faith in God and a partnership where He, the senior partner, takes care of all our issues when we think the right thoughts.