Tag Archives: teach

THREE LET’s FOR LIFE – 2

Christian Life, ,

Colossians 3:16 NIV
[16] “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

The second “let” is as fundamental as the first. You see, our entire lives, past, present, and future, rest on the message of Christ in all it’s richness. “Dwelling” means living, being at home, being comfortable in the environment of all the details of what Jesus did and how they affect us.

This is about letting Jesus be sovereign in every minute detail of our lives. If He is Lord, then He IS Lord.

There are many ways in which we express His sovereignty and live it out day by day. One way is to obey Him in everything. Another way is to encourage others to obey Him in everything. Yet another way is to be perpetually and unconditionally grateful to Him in every circumstance and situation, no matter what.

This is the message of Jesus
He is qualified to be Lord. The Father gave Him that honour because He did what He did.

Philippians 2:5-11 NLT
[5] “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. [6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This is the message of Jesus in all its richness that must live in us like the fuel that drives an emgine.

How do we “Let the message of Christ dwell among you?” I notice with interest that this translation says “dwell among you” rather than “dwell in you.” The Greek preposition “en” denotes a fixed position, “in”. Christ’s presence in us is fixed position. “En” can be translated “among” but it seems that a more accurate rendering is “in”.

What does this mean for us? It means that His message has become fixed in us. This message influences all our thoughts and behaviour so that His message also becomes fixed among us, teaching us how to treat one another.

As we internalise the life of Jesus by reading and believing, His life in us enables us to think and act increasingly like Him.

Jeremiah predicted that the new covenant with which God was to replace the old, had this provision in it.

Jeremiah 31:33 NLT
[33] “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

No longer would God’s Word just be laws and regulations written in a book. Now His Word would be woven into their lives because of their new nature, written on the pages of their hearts.

So, Paul says, let this new nature, so clearly portrayed in Jesus, and made real in us by His Spirit, be the controlling factor in our lives. Let’s allow our new nature to do it’s work just as we allow Christ’s peace to monitor and guide us along His path.

To be continued…

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.

SPIRITUAL GIFTS – FOR WHAT?

Bible Study, , ,

SPIRITUAL GIFTS – FOR WHAT?

“We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is  prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:6-11.

Have you noticed how Paul focuses on the non-spectacular functions in the church here? Are these any less gifts of the Spirit than, say, speaking in tongues or healing? What makes us think that it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to do a miracle but not to be generous or to show mercy? The one reveals God’s power through you, the other, in you, otherwise the old natural selfish nature will still be controlling you attitudes.

The use of spiritual gifts is not so much the issue but the motive for which they are used to benefit others. If you use your spiritual gift as a platform to gain anything for yourself, be it visibility, popularity, admiration, accolades or any other personal glory, there will be consequences in the end. Ananias and Sapphira are a case in point. They sold property, gave some money to the church as if it were all, wanting to appear generous in competition with Barnabas; but they were quickly exposed by the Holy Spirit through Peter and put to death!

Is not this the reason that Paul warned his Roman readers (and us) not to be conceited but to think realistically about ourselves, and not suppose that we are indispensable or have to do everything. It takes humility to admit that we can do one thing well but not something else, and to be content to be who we are. When we can take responsibility for our part, and not try to do what we cannot do, we fit in comfortably with the other members of the body and, in partnership with one another, we can accomplish what Jesus wants His body to do.

Once again, it’s not about us – it’s about Him. Our task, in harmony with one another, is to bring restoration to each member through the use of our gifts and, in this way, to mirror Him to the world around us. The gifts He gives us are His, not ours, and are for the benefit of others, not ourselves. But, like everything God does, the blessing always boomerangs back on us!

We do what we are gifted to do through His grace, but it our attitude that determines whether we are blessed in return, or whether we stand in line for judgment as did Ananias and Sapphira. Behind the attitude with which we use our gifts lies another attitude – our attitude to God. The Bible calls it “the fear of the Lord”. When we have the right attitude towards Him, it will regulate the motives and attitudes we have towards ourselves and the ones we serve.

Solomon summed it up aptly in Proverbs 9:10. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  Wisdom is, very simply, doing the right thing. When we have a reverential awe of God, remembering who He is, and hating anything that infringes on His glory, we will not take what He says lightly or treat Him with contempt because, as Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.” In the end, God is inescapable.

Every thought, attitude and motive will one day be exposed in His light. I am sure none of us would like to see our selfish and self-seeking motives in neon lights for everyone to see! How can we prevent our old corrupted nature from intruding into our ministry and service in the body of Christ?

Paul gives us some simple but effective steps:

1. Give God your body for His use and change the way you think – from your thoughts to His thoughts. That comes about as we spend time in His Word.

2. Put yourself in the right perspective. You are not the whole – only a small part. You cannot be and do everything.

3. Do what you are gifted to do and do it faithfully with zeal and fervour.

4. Keep the bigger picture in mind and fit into it with joy. It’s not about competition but about harmony, working towards a greater goal, the health of the whole body.

5. Wrap it up in a blanket of love – for Jesus and for His body. Put Jesus and others before yourself Meet the needs of others at your expense.

Imagine what the church would look like if we all did that!

Acknowledgement

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THE GOSPEL OF MARK – HE TAUGHT WITH AUTHORITY

Bible Study, ,

HE TAUGHT WITH AUTHORITY

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Mark 1:21-22

This was the new disciples’ first “fishing” lesson. What did they learn? Jesus was a Jew. He was quite happy to live this God-drenched life within the boundary fence of His Jewishness. He did not do anything to buck the system or to be revolutionary in His attitude to the parameters of the Law. He did what every other devout Jew did – He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He used the ordinariness of His situation to present the extra-ordinariness of the Father.

The record in Mark’s Gospel says that the people were astounded at His authority. He spoke to them as though He knew what He was talking about. And why shouldn’t He? He had just spent forty days alone with God in the most austere and dangerous of environments, hemmed in by physical and spiritual enemies, and yet He had experienced God’s presence and love so strongly that it had overwhelmed every scary moment.

He knew who He was; He was soaked in the power of the Holy Spirit and He carried with Him the environment of heaven. So steeped was He in the heavenly dimension in which He lived that He filtered every earthly experience through His awareness of God. He viewed life through God’s eyes and nothing human or natural fazed Him; not sickness, not adversity, not opposition, not misunderstanding, not even demons or death caused Him to wobble in His security in God. He was in charge and everything not of God had to give way in God’s presence.

How does this affect us? If we are not so sure of God’s presence and loving purpose in the face of everything that is a challenge to His perfection and His purpose, we will be affected by the environment of earth, not of heaven. God wants to challenge our faith by putting everything in our path that will try to deflect our awareness of Him to an awareness of the roadblock. Faith becomes purer and stronger every time His presence overcomes earthly encroachments.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

Bible Study, ,

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’” Luke 11:1.

This was a strange request unless something significant lay behind it. What was it about the prayers of Jesus that caught the attention of His disciples? They were Jews who had been taught to pray the Jewish way from their mother’s knees. There were prayers they prayed every day and there were prayers they prayed on every occasion. What’s more, their prayers were ‘Bible’ prayers, making them more powerful than spontaneous prayers. They were praying God’s Word which meant that they were praying God’s will.

But there was something different about Jesus’ prayers. Did they link His prayer life and His public life, His powerful ministry and His miracles to the relationship He expressed with the Father through His prayers? How much of His praying did they actually hear? Sometimes Jesus prayed one-sentence prayers out loud as in, for example, His prayer in John 12:27, 28, and the Father responded audibly.

Jesus answered them by teaching them a model prayer which enshrines all the principles of New Testament praying. In it He was taking them into a realm of prayer which was foreign to them because it opened to them the same privileged position of sonship which He enjoyed and which He had come to reveal in His incarnation.

Was this what they saw and wanted? There is no evidence that this moment added anything to them before His death and resurrection since they were the same quarrelling, competitive and failing bunch that denied and abandoned Him in His hour of need. Nowhere in the gospels do I read of any of them engaging in prayer as He did.

It would take the life-changing event of His death and resurrection to move them from being spectators to becoming sons and learning that the same source of power was available to them through the Holy Spirit who had come to live in them at Pentecost, as He had promised.s