Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial you are suffering, as though some strange thing happened to you

  The Scripture says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. And I can never quite figure out if the rain is good, or not! But in any case whether we are Christians or not life seems to be full of various kinds of trial. Other translations of this verse (1 Peter 4:12) imply that the fiery trials are there to test us. I used to jokingly say “These things are sent to try us, and they do!” But in fact our trials are pretty small compared with some of the things other people go through. In particular there is probably more persecution of Christians worldwide, than there ever was, and this verse was likely initially addressed to those who were suffering greatly for Christ. We only have to think of Christians in the arena at Rome!

In the West, our suffering is a different kind of suffering. If you talk to refugees, you will find that they are surprised when we complain at all. After all that many of them have gone through, our suffering seems to them to be trivial. In fact, it is only in a culture where there is no real fear of starvation, or of imminent death, that we can be obsessed with things such as our rights, micro-aggression or offense from hurt feelings and the like. Nevertheless this suffering can feel very real.

Whatever you happen to be suffering at the moment, if you are a Christian, then you have resources that you can tap into that the unbeliever does not have. Our God is the God of all comfort who comforts us in any trial (2 Corinthians 1:3). Furthermore Christ not only suffered for us, but he suffers with us, and our trials and difficulties have this enormous potential to draws into deeper intimacy with Him. Of course we choose how to respond to our trials. We either choose to cooperate with Him and draw close, or we finish up fighting Him. When we fight Him, we cannot enter into His comfort!

Father, You give grace in every situation. In the midst of our trials grace is available to help us choose to draw close to You. Help me to come to the place where I am offense proof, where I refuse to be offended at anything that You allow. Remind me again and again that You have promised that You are actively at work in all things for my good, because I love You, and You have called me according to Your purposes (Romans 8:28). In Jesus Name Amen

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above …Collossians 3:1

As I meditated on this verse this morning, I was reminded once again of the interconnectedness of Scripture. Paul could talk about comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. This phrase “If then you were raised with Christ,” is reminiscent of Paul’s teaching on full immersion baptism. The idea of course, is that going down and being covered by the waters is a picture of death and burial. And coming up out of the water, is a picture of resurrection.So one on the things that this prophetic symbolism does, is to identify us not only with Christ in his death, but also with Him in his resurrection.

So Paul is reminding us that the power of the resurrection is available to us, and then goes on to talk about putting off the sinful nature, and putting on the nature of Christ. In this way by starting off by saying “if, Paul is not only reminding us of the significance of baptism, but he is calling us to once again live this life in the perspective of the Kingdom and of eternity.

And we do need to be reminded of this over and over. Part of this is because of the invasive propaganda of the world. I remember when I was faculty advisor to our local student Christian group, that I was ministering to young man who was studying philosophy, with a specialization in Nietzsche. It was dragging him down, down into the depths of the blackness of Nietzsche’s philosophy. I remember, perhaps a little glibly, suggesting he needed to spend as much time in the Scripture as he did studying Nietzsche.

What I knew for sure, is that he needed constant reminders of the true reality to be found in Christ. I have come to realize is that the type of thinking we immerse ourselves in becomes our reality, even when it’s a lie. But it’s not just in situations as extreme as my friends that we need this constant reminder, we need it to fortify ourselves against the seduction of the World’s philosophies and of the flesh.

I suggested to my friend that we go back to my office and pray. He got down on his knees and started in a mournful voice to say “Oh God, it’s come to this. You are my only hope!” I felt led to interject “Yes, Hallelujah, what a hope!” What happened next was amazing, my friend's whole perspective changed, and he said with joy “Yes, yes. I’m encouraged, You are an incredible and amazing hope!”

Father, I acknowledge this morning, that I am indeed raised with Christ, and I am seated next to Him in the heavenlies. This means that I am seated next to the one who has the solution to every problem. Open my eyes to the incredible reality of this, and increase my faith, hope and joy. And I will give you all the honour, or the glory, and all the praise in Jesus name Amen

No eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for You

The context of this verse (Isaiah 64:4) is of the prophet yearning for the days when God had acted in such a way that there could be no doubt of His existence and His power. In the larger context Isaiah knew that the cause of it all was Israel’s sin. He tells us in 59:2, that the Lord’s hand was not shortened that He could not save, nor His ear heavy that He could not hear, but Israel’s sins had separated them from the Lord, so that He would not hear.

Isaiah also tells us that the Lord meets him who rejoices and does righteousness, and who remembers Him in their ways (64:5). As it was then, so it is now. If we wonder why we don’t see the manifest works of God in our day, is it not that as a culture, we have turned our back on Him? Nevertheless, God is at work in the remnant, those who truly acknowledge His Name. Just this month, in local meetings that were calling Canada back on track, there was a significant and instant healing of a lady who had suffered for 27 years from fibromyalgia. She had been in chronic pain and chronic fatigue, and the Lord set her free!

Father, thank You that You are the same yesterday today and forever. Thank You that You do breakthrough, and show us that you are alive and well and willing to show us Your glory! There is no one like You, You remain faithful even when we are not! Father, You are the potter, and we are the clay. Mold us Lord more and more into Your image. Thank You father for the precious promise contained in the verse at the head of this post, thank You that You will act for me to fulfill the promises that You have given to me, as I continue to wait for You. I give You all the honour, and all the glory and all the praise in Jesus Name Amen

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

In many ways this verse from John 15:12 is a continuation of last days post, "If you have seen Jesus!" So this morning I asked myself “How has he loved us?” The answer is in many, many ways!

His love is not like our love, not like my love! I remember the first time I heard His voice, I don’t mean His audible voice, but I knew it was Him. I was 16 at the time, and He asked me “Why are you running away from me Phil, I just want you to love for me?” In my brash 16-year-old way of thinking, I didn’t need Him for that. I felt that I had a lot of love, so I told him “I don’t need You for that do I?”

I cringe now, when I think about that. I mean life has a way of testing our love! Not that long ago someone close to me told me “I didn’t realize how selfish I was until I got married!” There is much hope for that marriage. In terms of the testing, one of the things that comes to me again and again, is that marriage is one of God’s primary tools to make us more like himself. In particular the honeymoon is over when my wants and my needs are more important than hers (his), and it tends to come far too soon!

In John 13:1 the Scripture tells us “ having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” And He goes on to take the lowest place, the place of a servant. And this is the beginning, not the end. Paul could exclaim “The son of God loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20)! And in Romans 5:7,8 he says “Perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

So if we think about the worst person we have ever known, and ask ourselves “Would I die to save this person,” I think we can see that we have a long way to go in order to love as Christ has loved us. I know I do.

Father, I have already repented of what I told You when I was 16. As the Scripture says “We love, because You first loved us” (1 John 4:19)! What this is telling me, whether we acknowledge it or not, is that You are the source of all love, and that my ability to love at all is only in response to Your initiating love. In particular I cannot love as You love without You. So help me father to abide in You, so that Your love may flow through me to this wicked and hurting world. In Jesus Name Amen

He who has seen Me has seen the Father

I have always loved sunsets and sunrises. Perhaps the most spectacular sunset I have seen was in Toronto years ago. I came out of a meeting in winter, and it hit me. The whole sky was literally filled with shades of pinks and reds and purples. It took my breath away, and I stood there just drinking it in. As I looked in awe, a man came out the same door, glanced casually up at the sky, shrugged and went on. I had seen the sun set, really seen the sun set, he had seen the sun set, but without really seeing it! How could he ignore such beauty, and how can we?

The point is, we can see and not perceive, we can hear and not understand (Isaiah 6:9). It’s the same with Jesus, and I was asking myself this morning have I really seen him, have I really heard him, have I really understood? I will been a Christian for 45 years this coming fall, and it’s easy for it all to become oh so familiar, so ho-hum!

I’ve had this experience several times over the last few days, I asked the Lord to give me a verse, and when he did my initial reaction was “Lord, how is this going to apply to my life?” Each time, my initial impression was that I’d heard it all before, and that there was nothing new here!

It’s not that there’s not a lot in this verse. For example, I encounter people over and over again who think that Jesus is all right, but you had better watch out for the Father! Jesus is saying if you want to know what God the Father is like just look at my character. So I asked myself "Do I really see the character of Jesus, I mean really see Him in all His beauty and fullness?" I felt I was being invited to take a fresh look!

He is amazing, so full of grace and truth. We we get it wrong over and over. We have love without truth, and it becomes license. We have truth without love, and it becomes an obnoxious self-righteousness! That Jesus has an amazing balance in these things can be seen, for example, in John 8. It is here that He speaks tenderly to the woman caught in the very act of adultery. He tells her He does not condemn her, but neither does He condone her destructive behaviour. He says "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more!" Because of Jesus there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)!

Perhaps Jesus is the only preacher who ever practice what he preached. He tells us to love our enemies, and as they pierced his hands and feet with cruel spikes, he says "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do!” Paul tells us that while we were God the Father's enemies Christ Jesus died for our sins (Romans 5:8). Such love! I am not there yet, but I want to be! He is my hero!

Father, help me in those times when I’ve think I’ve heard it all before, open my eyes anew, and help me to see Jesus with new eyes in all his glory, and in all his beauty. I’m not like him Lord, but I want to be. Thank you for your promise that you are changing me from one degree of glory to another. It’s slow work, thank you for your patience in Jesus name Amen

Dearly beloved, I urge you, as strangers and exiles in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

It’s interesting to me that the Lord can suddenly open up a verse that a moment before, meant almost nothing to me. So this is what happened to me this morning, as the Lord brought this verse, 1 Peter 2:11, to my attention. As I meditated upon it, it suddenly opened up. I am sharing only some of my thoughts here this morning.

So let me pick on the word “exiles. ” When you think about somebody who is in exile, you think of someone who for whatever reason, had to leave their home. The word itself evokes emotions of longing for what was, longing for the good old days, and I have a memory that came to mind.

Shortly after my breakdown in 1995, I was sitting in the botanical gardens in Wollongong, Australia. Possibly within the altered state of consciousness that my breakdown had brought, I experienced what felt like a memory. There was such peace in the garden, the sky was blue, the greens were lush. There was a Japanese garden with a little red bridge over a stream. In the sky cockatoos were screeching out their distinctive cry, and I had this sense of déjà vu, I had this sense that I had been there before. But I felt that what I was remembering was far better and far deeper, and what is felt like was that I was remembering Paradise before the fall. And it evoked a deep longing in me for it.

The closest earthly experience I have had in terms of exile, is when I longed to return to England from here in Canada. The biggest draw for me was that my beautiful little daughter was there, and I was here. That separation was very, very difficult. Such longings can immobilize us, they can cause us to live either in the past, or in the future and as a consequence hardly living at all, but rather simply existing. You know, proving the truth of the saying “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”

Paradoxically, a true appreciation of our spiritual exile will cause us to enter into the promised fullness of life in the here and now (John 10:10b). As part of what we need to do in order to enter into this, we need to heed the exhortation that comes at the end of this verse. In particular, we cannot enter into fullness of life when we allow our sinful desires to lead us astray. As Peter is telling us here, to do this is to declare war on our soul.

Father, most of us and I certainly include myself, had to learn the hard way that yielding to our sinful desires brings destruction. I have come to realize Lord, that this is just the way life works. In fact after the fall, it’s how You redesigned it to be. You told Adam “for your sake I curse the earth.” What You are telling us Lord is that the consequences of our poor choices are designed to bring us back to You. You did it for our sake. It certainly worked with me Father! Thank You Lord that You rescued me, showed me the eternity that was already there in my heart, and brought me back to You, the shepherd and guardian of my soul. I love You Lord. In Jesus Name Amen

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a man who built his house on a rock

Jesus goes on from these words in Matthew 7:24, to talk about the man who built his house on the sand comparing the two. Last day we were talking about worry, about things that might happen. Today we are talking about how we respond when bad things actually have happened. The one who is rooted and grounded in the word of God, not just hearing, but seeking to fully practice what is being heard, this one is able to stand firm.

Now if you’re like me, it was only after the bottom fell out of my world, that I was willing to examine my life and to change. Life was not working! In fact I was desperate, desperate enough to try even God! I have always said that it was not real, it would never have held me. In fact "it" was a "He", and He has held me, and He does hold me!

It is very clear to me that I would not be here if it were not for God. Life is too hard, and I am too soft. My life and verses, the ones that He underlined and indicated would be applicable over and over in my life are from Psalm 40:1 to 3. Verse two says “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.”

Verse 25 of Matthew 7 says “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” And it’s true! The generational pattern of premature deaths in my family in their mid-50s hit me in my mid-50s too, and I found myself literally fighting for my life. But He had set my feet upon a rock, He had established my steps. Now it was certainly not without struggle, and in fact I was able not only to survive, but to flourish! But even better, He has assured me that by standing on Him, I have broken the generational pattern of early deaths! What a blessing!

Thank You father for Your Word. Thank you for the grace You give day by day to be the man You are calling me to be. Thank You for the testimony you have given me, and the assurance that by standing I have done a good thing for my family. I could not have done it without You, and I cannot do it without You. But with You all things are possible. I praise and bless Your Holy Name and give You all the honour and the glory in Jesus name

Do not be anxious about anything

This tendency to worry seems to be universal, and perhaps that’s why there’s so much teaching on it in the Scripture. Three times in Psalm 37 we are told not to fret. The phrase at the head of this post is from Philippians 4, where Paul is teaching us how to enter into the peace that passes all understanding. Jesus had a lot to say about worry in the sermon on the Mount, and it seems worth quoting here.

Matt. 6:25    “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matt. 6:28    “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The passage starts off with Jesus telling us not to worry about the basic necessities of life. In verse 27 he asks which of us can add a single hour to his life by worrying. What he is saying is that worrying is completely and totally useless, it serves no purpose whatsoever. In fact Psalm 37:8 tells us that it's worse than that, it actually leads to harm!

But how can we stop worrying? Jesus is basically telling us that the solution is to put our trust in God who knows our every need. Then He gives us a promise. As I have said before many promises have a premise, a condition to be fulfilled before we can claim the promised outcome. I’m thinking about verse 33 here. What Jesus is saying, is that if we seek his kingdom and his righteousness as our first and foremost concern, then all our needs will be taken care of.

If you think about it, many of the things that we worry about never happen. What a waste of time and energy and effort to obsess on things that might never happen. But even if they do, we know that God is always with us, he will never leave us nor forsake us, and will supply the solution at the time we need it, and not before. Therefore, I'm looking at verse 34, that therefore. What Jesus is saying here, is that because all these things are true, we need to stop worrying about what might never happen, and live one day at a time trusting in Him!

Father, you never give a command that with the command you don’t with the command also give the wherewithal to do it. Thus it is possible to stop worrying. Thank you for those times when I have seen this work in my life, help me in those times I tend to forget this lesson, and bring me into the peace that passes all understanding. Lord, because of your grace, this is available to all who choose to trust and to obey. I choose to trust, help me in my doubting in Jesus name Amen

The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen

No matter what you think or believe about evolution, the popular understanding that it has disproved God is actually a bunch of nonsense! The point is that whatever is true about evolution merely describes the mechanism that he used to create and/or designed to evolve! That’s not to say there are not things about evolution that I would not want to dispute. But if, as scientists are now telling us, the universe had a beginning, then it must have had a beginner, and that should settle the matter.

One hundred years ago, science was telling us that the universe was eternal, that it always existed. It was called the steady state theory. In the end Einstein’s theory of relativity overthrew this, but even Einstein had a hard time coming to grips with it. Nobody today believes in the steady-state theory. This is encouraging in two ways; first of all it demonstrates that science has the capacity to correct itself (but it can take a very long time); secondly it underlines what I have already said that a beginning implies the existence of one who caused the beginning. This is simply an application of the scientific principle of cause and effect.

Now not everybody accepts what I have just said, but the explanations that are given to try and get round the now universally accepted fact of a beginning, can hardly be said to be scientific. In trying to explain the “coincidence” that the universe appears to be specifically designed for life for example, the theory of the multi-verse has been put forward. The point is if there are enough possible different universes, then by chance, one would expect to find one like ours.

Three points here: firstly because of the estimated probabilities of it all happening by chance, there would have to be an almost infinite number of such independent and unobservable universes; the second point follows from the first, and that is by definition each one of these is unobservable so that there is not and cannot be any evidence for the same; and thirdly even if the multiverse exists you still have to ask the question “Where did the multi-verse come from?” So in fact all you have done is pushed the question further back!

The modern, as opposed to the original, basic presupposition of science is called methodological naturalism.” From the Internet: Methodological naturalism is a strategy for studying the world, by which scientists choose not to consider supernatural causes - even as a remote possibility.

Reasons are given for this of course, and most of the time they make perfect sense. But not if you try and apply them to the beginning of the universe. In fact, with our current understanding of science, there are only two basic possibilities: the first, is that something or someone created everything that is, out of nothing. The second, is that nothing, created everything that is, out of nothing!

Even people as extreme as Richard Dawkins admit that the universe looks designed. It amazes me how much denial and rationalization goes into the rejection of what is perfectly obvious. As Paul says in Romans 1, the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen by the things that are made (us), so we are without excuse!

Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart

Years ago at the time of my breakdown, I was persuaded to go to a Christian psychologist. There were some good things, and there were some things that bothered me. On my first visit I had talked non-stop for two hours straight, and he shouted at me to shut up! I vowed never to return.

Shortly afterwards my daughter shared this verse with me from Proverbs 20:30, and I knew the Lord was speaking to me through it. Well it certainly hurt, and it was certainly a blow to my ego, but it enabled me to swallow my pride and go back to the man. And it did help!

It’s not easy to admit it when we are wrong, but as the Scripture says all of us are wrong in many ways (James 3:2). But we will not grow, if we are not willing to admit it when we are wrong. I’m not saying it’s easy, denial and rationalization seemed to play a large role in most of our lives. The Scripture commands us to speak the truth in love, but even when it’s spoken in love it is many times, still hard to hear. Perhaps the psychologist could have been gentler, but I’m not sure it would have worked. And who can listen to someone who speaks for two hours nonstop?

There is a relevant illustration here that I picked up from my preparation for our study on boundaries. We can’t expect to go to the dentist without experiencing some pain. This kind of pain hurts, but it does not harm us. In fact the short term pain results in long-term gain. Conversely things that feel good can actually harm us, but because they feel good, we may be resistant to seeing that we are being harmed.

If we are wanting to grow, if we are wanting to enter the fullness of life that we are promised (John 10:10b), then we need foster relationships with people who are willing to covenant with us in accountability (James 5:16). I wish I could say that this is characteristic of the church, and sometimes it is, but it has taken me a long time to find such a place. A ministry I can recommend is the recovery program Celebrate Recovery. It is a Christ centred 12-step program where all of the above is practiced and encouraged. Like you and me it's not perfect, but it is a reasonable start!

Father, I thank you for the people who were willing to speak into my life. Yes there are times when it hurts, but when it was spoken in love, it was always beneficial. Lord help me, help us, to foster safe places where we can grow up into the fullness of what you promise us in Jesus name Amen

Can we be good if we don't believe in God?

In a stimulating conversation with my son last night, he asked and I believe correctly answered the question in the title of this post. We don’t always agree, but we did here. In order to answer his question it might be helpful to ask the opposite one namely “Can we be evil if we believe in God?”

In questions about God and good and evil, there is a tendency for us humans to polarize, and to divide into two overly simplistic and diametrically opposite positions. This is perhaps brought into sharp focus by a YouTube debate between Christopher Hitchens and David Berlinsky. Hitchens had written a book entitled “Religion poisons everything.” The tongue in cheek title of the debate was “Atheism poisons everything.”

Part of the problem here, is that we tend to give pat and shallow answers to complex questions. The question “Can we be evil if we believe in God,” is such a question. First and foremost in order to have an intelligent discussion, we would need to determine what we mean by good and evil, what we mean by belief, and finally which god are we talking about!

One of the objections that I hear all the time, and which goes along with Hitchens' point, is that there has been more evil done in the name of God than in anything else. While I understand the point, and do not debate that there has been a great deal of evil perpetrated in the name of God, in the last century the balance of evil was certainly on the side of atheism. I’m thinking about Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot etc., and I would want to include Hitler in this list. I’m willing to debate about this last individual, because he certainly used the name of God. However, as Belinsky points out in the debate, for Hitler, Stalin and others they acknowledged no power greater than themselves. In other words each of these individuals was their own god.

By way of a clarifying question we might ask "Can an individual can be good or evil?" In my own life, I have come to the conclusion that I am capable of the greatest good, and the basest evil. Part of my journey to becoming a Christian was the rude awakening I received when my eyes were opened to my own propensity to do evil. In particular at the breakup of my first marriage I was totally convinced that it was 100% her fault. So convinced was I of this, that in my heart I felt she deserved to die. What I’m saying is that I had murder in my heart, and the scary thing is that I’m not at all sure that if I thought I could have gotten away with it I would not have followed through. My rude awakening came when my eyes were opened to my own faults in the matter. I read in the Bible that the heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). In light of what I had felt and thought and now knew to be wrong, it devastated me, and was one of the things that led to my conversion.

So, can an atheist to be good? Well there are some atheists who put some Christians to shame! Can an atheist be evil? Yes of course. Can someone who believes in God be evil? Yes! Can someone who believes in God be good? Jesus answered that by saying “No one is good, but God” (Luke 18:19)!

If this is true and I think it is, then we have a problem. It is that when we put our trust in anyone or anything other than the God with the character of Jesus, then we are putting our trust in something that is not good. So to ask again, can an atheist be good? By God's standards no-one can be good, but by the standards of this world yes, certainly. The problem though, is where does he or she get the motivation to be good? History shows that when a culture turns its back on God as exemplified in the character of Jesus, then that culture eventually becomes lawless. I see it, not only in history, but all over the place. I see it in the increasing lawlessness of the West, and I have seen it in me!

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him

They have not been that many people over the years, that I would consider enemies, and in any case the enmity was more from their side than from mine. I’m not saying I didn’t wrestle with their behaviour and/or attitude, but their unwillingness to live at peace with me was always greater than my unwillingness to live at peace with them. There are two cases that came to mind this morning, as I meditated on this verse. The above promise from Proverbs 16:7 was fulfilled in these two individuals, and I am waiting for the fulfillment of this promise in a third.

The Lord’s teaching on forgiveness is both profound, and difficult. It’s easy for those of us who don't have a lot to forgive to be rather glib about telling others that they need to forgive. Forgiveness, though necessary, can be very hard. And it’s easy for me to say that their unwillingness to live at peace with me was greater than my unwillingness to live at peace with them. In both cases, they were the ones offended! Of course there are always two sides to a story, but from my point of view what I said that offend them, needed to be said. And it was all the more difficult for them because it needed to be said in public!

In terms of making amends, I could regret the pain that I had caused them, and perhaps even the way that I did it, but I could not withdraw what I had said. In particular, I believe that what I had said had in each case prevented an injustice. Of course they didn’t see it that way, and when you consider the difficulty of admitting it when we are wrong, together with our natural pride and stubbornness, then you can see why I felt reconciliation was impossible. But it happened, and it's clear to me that it was the LORD, who made these enemies to be at peace with me!

Concerning the third case mentioned above, the Scripture says that the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, but it can certainly seem that way. A little old lady friend of mine who has now gone to be with the Lord told me one time “The Trouble with God, is that he has no sense of time!” The point is that it can seem to take forever for the Lord to come through for us. From my point of view, the promised reconciliation with this third person is long overdue! However, the second of the two reconciliations mentioned above is recent, and is a huge encouragement for me to continue to believe for the third.

Father, thank You that you know that waiting is difficult for us. Thank You for the little encouragements along the way that enable us to continue to trust and believe for the fulfillment of Your promises. Please show me any way in which my way is displeasing to You. I want to be sure that the premise of this promise, namely that my ways please You, is fulfilled. Thank You for the little encouragements that you give along the way. I trust in Your faithfulness in Jesus name Amen

Third revisit of “Guard your heart with all diligence”

   “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Ex. 15:11

We laugh at the ignorance of the ancients who would bow down and worship idols of wood or stone, but in fact there are many modern idols. An idol is anything that takes the place of God anything, or anyone in whom we put our absolute trust. In preparing for next week’s boundaries study, I came across this paragraph:-

Though we certainly need each other, no one but God is indispensable. When a conflict with one significant person can bring us to despair, it is possible that we putting that person on the throne that should only be occupied by God.

This can start off innocently enough, for example if we are not married we may dream about a spouse who will meet our every need. But that spouse will have needs of his or her own. In another scenario, in talking to the men in the prison, it is common for one or other of them to tell me that his higher power (as in AA) is his mother. I ask them “What will you do when she dies?” In both cases, the person is in grave danger of idolatry. And these kinds of unrealistic expectations set us up for heartbreak! When we look to another person in this way, even if that person is ourselves we will, sooner or later be let down.

In fact God is the only one who can fulfill the deepest needs of our hearts, and we fail to guard our hearts, if we look to anyone or anything other than Him to do this. On the other hand, especially after we have been deeply hurt, we can be so cautious that we never trust anybody at all. We may think of this as guarding our hearts, but actually it is to impoverish our hearts, because like it or not, we do need each other. He made us this way! It is not good for a man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). It’s hard at times to get this in balance.

Father, there is none like You among the gods (the false things I have trusted in). You alone are faithful and You alone are true. When I surrender all and put my trust in You I can be sure, according to Your Word, that You will bring me the people and things in my life that will bring the fullness You have promised. I choose to believe it, in Jesus name Amen

know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins.

This final admonition from the book of James (5:20) is very different from the live and let live philosophy of many. Actually in this era of political correctness, the final verse from Romans chapter 1 seems more applicable. It speaks of those who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things (sin) are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. The point is, that though according to the Bible the consequences of unrepentant sin are severe, nevertheless intervention even in love, is many times unwelcome. Notwithstanding, what James is saying here holds true!

There is no room for judgement or self-righteousness here. Paul in Galatians 6:1 speaks of the manna in which we should follow through on this admonition. He tells us that we should consider ourselves lest we also be tempted. In the prison ministry in which I’m involved, I often tell the men that one of the big differences between them and me, if they don’t know the Lord, is that I’m forgiven, and they are not! The other thing I often say, is “You got caught, and I did not!”

There are many ways to get this wrong. It is the Spirit who convicts of sin, righteousness and judgement, not me! The Scripture tells me to judge not, that I be not judged. But even when my attitude is non-judgemental, it can be received as being judgemental. There is of course a big difference between judging, which carries the element of condemnation, and the act of discerning that something is wrong. I am in no position to judge others, but I would be blind if I did not discern the bad choices that I and others make. And we cannot obey this admonition from James if we do not discern the transgression of the other.

One way to broach the subject, is to realize that our choices have consequences, that is what the curse is all about. In fact the bad consequences of our bad choices are designed to bring us back along the right path. So it might be helpful to see ourselves as midwives gently helping others to see the consequences of their actions. Again, this is the way I tend to approach the men in the pen. I tell them “In your position I would likely see my internment as a huge wake-up call, a moment of clarity, that would help me to reevaluate my life.” I may then go on to share my own moments of clarity, and how that led me to the Lord.

Father, help me not to neglect this responsibility that You have laid upon me. I can’t do this without You, guide me and lead me to know when to speak, when to be silent and when to simply live my life in a way that brings honour and glory to You in Jesus name Amen

Second revisit of “Guard your heart with all diligence”

It would be easy to read into last days post that I feel that God expects us to stay in abusive or intolerable situations. While the command is always to love, there are certainly times when the way to guard our hearts is to withdraw. I have to wonder how many marriages could have been saved if a spouse, while giving a clear and firm ultimatum to the other spouse, had guarded his or her heart by removing themselves from the situation before it got too bad. And how many of those that do give such an ultimatum return too soon, before it has been established that the other person is now safe! Promises are not enough!

As I mentioned earlier we are doing a course on boundaries by Cloud and Townsend, and one of the follow up books by the latter author is called “Beyond boundaries,” with the subtitle “learning to trust again in relationships.” He deals well with this subject answering such questions as how, when and if it is safe to re-establish a strained relationship, and how to create a safe environment and healthy interpersonal dynamics.

We do need to beware of giving pat answers here, formulas to be followed. There are no easy answers. There is a famous quote from Albert Einstein that seems to fit here, it is “Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them.” Sometimes we are totally unaware of the problems until they are right on top of us, but in fact they may have been handed down from generation to generation and never even acknowledged let along dealt with. Dealing with such problems takes time and commitment and determination, and it takes a new level of creativity and openness and hard work. In fact the very best thing is for both parties to come humbly to the foot of the cross where there is no difference for all have sinned!

The 12 step Christ centred program Celebrate Recovery is useful here, especially if both spouses get involved. The program is specifically designed to help us deal with our issues in a Biblical way. It is important that both spouses go, since although the presenting problem often seems to involve only one spouse, the problems are never ever only one sided. In particular in a dysfunctional relationship it is inevitable that co-dependency issues arise. So both parties need to work on their own issues. And we all have issues!

Father, help me to see my part in the relationship difficulties I have had over the years and in fact still have at some level. Please help me to concentrate on dealing with my issues, and underline for me over and over that I am the only one I can change in Jesus name Amen

First revisit of “Guard your heart with all diligence”

In being part of the program Celebrate Recovery, and in ministering in the prison, I come across people over and over, who have had a very traumatic childhood. It is clear that a traumatic childhood warps us, and makes it very difficult to deal with life in a functional way. I keep coming back to the saying “hurt people, hurt people!” In particular when we are hurt, and hurt deeply, then we operate out of that hurt. I use the illustration of somebody with a sore thumb. If you brush up accidentally against a person with a sore thumb, they are likely to react more strongly that if they did not have a sore thumb. Likewise in life when we are hurt, we are likely to react more strongly to circumstances and further hurts, that were it not for the deep inner wounds, we might be able to brush off lightly.

Conversely when someone has had a very functional childhood, where love and respect and gentleness were present, then that person is likely to be able to absorb the hurts and the happenstances of life in a more functional way.

But in the end it is surely a matter of degree, because we have all been hurt by life. If you haven’t just wait a while! Now when we are children we do not have the wherewithal to deal with our hurts in a functional way. We may learn to withdraw, we may react in outbursts of uncontrollable anger, or act out in various ways. And the default does seem to be that these things carry over into our adult life, so that we deal with problems in our adult life in exactly the same way we dealt with them as a child.

Enter the Scriptures: “When I Was a Child, I thought as a child, I acted as a child, but now I am a man I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). It is no coincidence that this is found in the love chapter! Note that this is an example to follow, rather than a command to obey. However, the most loving thing that I can do for myself, for my family and for those I love, is to deal with my issues. I am commanded to love, and when I seek to follow this with all of my heart, then I quickly come up against the brick wall of my inability to do so. This in fact, is one of the many crossroads we are likely to meet in life.

The response of the Christian is intended to be very different from the response of the world. The typical covenant of the world in marriage for example ends with “as long as we both shall love.” This is as I say, typical but is not always the case. In any case, God’s response to the Christian who says “but I don’t love him anymore,” is to say “love him.” When love has died the command is still to love! We can’t do this without Him, but with Him all things are possible. He tells us “We love, because He first loved us.” What he is telling us, is that the love, comfort and strength we can find in His embrace, will make up for the things that we lacked and suffered in childhood, and enable us to love where previously it was not possible!

So if it’s a crossroads, what are the two paths? Christ’s way, the way of the cross, is to throw ourselves onto the Father confessing our inability to love, then to tap into His love, and to allow it to flow through us. This is not to say it’s always going to work, because it takes two make a relationship work! But whether it works or not, it is the way to healing as we enter into the fellowship of his sufferings, and receive His power to do what otherwise is impossible [Philippians 3:10].

The other fork, the default, is simply letting her slide by'. And whether we are willing to admit it or not, this leads to the hardening of our heart and to poverty of life. It leaves us empty, keeps the bad in and the good out. This is not the route to the abundant life that He has promised!

There is more to say!

Father, help me to guard my heart by keeping it soft and open to you. This is difficult Lord, because I can get hurt again after, and hurt again after, and hurt again after, but it is the way of the cross! Have mercy on me Lord for those times when it’s just been too hard. At those times Lord bring me back to You, to Your comfort, to Your love and to Your grace, and show me where I need to go from here in Jesus name Amen

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the gentleness and humility that comes from wisdom

Having spent my entire adult life in the context of the University, I am well aware of the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is about facts that we acquire through various ways, be it through logic or experience or intuition. Wisdom is more about having the smarts to use knowledge in the best possible way. Wisdom seems to be in short supply, especially in the university setting. The Scripture says that knowledge puffs up, makes us proud, but love edifies. Perhaps my favourite Socrates story is the one he tells about how he became convinced that he was the wisest person in the world. They took him to the various people who claimed to be wise, and Socrates realized that he was wiser than all of them precisely because they were unaware of how little wisdom they had. Socrates on the other hand, realized his wisdom was quite limited.

Wisdom, true wisdom changes us. The Scripture in this post from James 3:13 implies that true wisdom leads to living a life of doing good, and conducting our lives in gentleness and humility. For me, the first step to gaining wisdom is to admit that I am lacking it. James 1:5 tells us that if anyone lack wisdom he should ask of God who gives liberally and it will be given. This is a promise, a promise with a premise. The two conditions of the premise are firstly that we lack wisdom. I often tell the Lord “I qualify for this promise, I lack wisdom.” The second condition is we need to ask. The next verse tells us we need to ask in faith, but we do need to ask. When these two conditions are fulfilled we can claim the promise “ it will be given!”

Father, the Scripture tells us that the wisdom of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Lord continue to open up my understanding of just how much I need you in my life, and give me the grace, and the humility to come to you for wisdom in Jesus name Amen.

Guard your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life

This admonition from Proverbs 4:23, is more complicated than I first realized. I have known for some time, that it’s very important to restrict what I see, what I watch, what I read. David said “I will set no vile thing before my eyes” (Psalm 103:3). Being a man, images so easily set off inappropriate thoughts, which lead to inordinate desires. But guarding my eyes, and hence my heart, is no easy thing in this culture which is obsessed by a form of pseudo-hyper sexuality. There are so many movies I would like watch but don’t. In particular I always look at the parental guide, and if it’s not suitable for my grandchildren it’s not suitable for me. For me, this is one way to guard my heart.

More recently I have become aware of another area in which I need to guard my heart. This is because many times life trains us to respond in certain ways, ways that are not always healthy. For example, in a home where one of the parents is an alcoholic, the rest of the family is likely to be trained to be hypersensitive to the moods of the alcoholic. The point is that you need to walk around on eggshells as it were, never knowing what will set the alcoholic to drinking again, and with the blame falling on you. In this way we can easily become people pleasers who neglect our own needs, even in the relationships we form down the road.

In the fellowship which I lead, we have been looking at the teaching on boundaries by Cloud and Townsend. In the type of scenario mentioned above, they suggest that when personal needs are neglected, there will likely eventually be some sort of eruption. Without going into details, they suggest that this is necessary but needs to be limited. In the best case, it can start to establish a more functional relationship, in the worst case it can sever the relationship. But the point though, is that we need to to establish boundaries that let the good in, and the bad out. So this is another area in which we need to guard our hearts, this also is no easy task!

Part of the difficulty, is that we need to know ourselves, and we need to deal with our issues. Though the Scriptures have much to say about these tbings, it is unfortunately very rare to find teaching on it in the church. But the church is where it needs to be taught. I say this, because first of all it is in the context of a relationship with Christ, and of the principles, promises and power of the Scripture that we have the best chance of making this work. And secondly relationship problems can only be solved in relationship with others, it cannot be done in isolation! But we need a safe place with people who are on the same journey, and who are seeking to tap into the resources mentioned above. This is what the Church is intended to be, or at least part of what is it intended to be, a hospital for the sin sick!

Father, I need Your help to establish healthy boundaries. My natural tendency is either have none at all, or to put up walls! The serenity prayer comes to mind again, give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference in Jesus name Amen.

I belong to the lover of my soul, and He is passionate about me

This paraphrase of Song of Solomon 7:10 speaks not only of the early stirrings of the passionate love between a man and a woman, but also of our intended relationship with God. That this is a valid application of the Song of Solomon is confirmed in the New Testament in Ephesians 5, where Paul speaks of the mystery of marriage being a parable of the relationship between Christ and the church.

I used the phrase “early stirrings” above, since likely most of us can remember a time of first love that was exciting. We knew, or perhaps we thought we knew, that we had found true love, and that this was the answer to life! At such times, all the barriers are down as we gaze intently into each other’s eyes, and we talk and talk, and even the touch of hand to hand sends a shiver of electricity down our spine.

For most if not all of us, this does not last, and boundaries quickly snap back into place as we discover our loved one is less than perfect. In our relationship with God however, there can be no such realization, because our God is perfect. When we are out of sorts with Him, we know deep down that it’s not Him it’s us. In fact any barrier that exists between God and ourselves has to do with us, not with Him. After all He has gone the second mile and beyond in reconciling us to Himself! Perhaps the barrier, if it exists, is some unconfessed sin, or some unrealistic expectation that we had of Him. Perhaps we were offended by something that He allowed!

One of my favourite songs when I was a young and new Christian was “Trust and obey.” The line “Trust on obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus,” comes to mind. In the new and fresh love that I had found in His embrace, the love that comforted me in the deep pain that was largely self-inflicted, I had found peace and hope and joy. I knew I belonged to Him, and I knew that He was and is passionate about me. Nothing has changed from His side, but there have certainly been times when things changed from mine.

Father, thank You that You have promised never to leave me nor forsake me. Thank You that You tell me in Your Word that nothing can separate me from Your love. Help me in those times when I feel disconnected from You, and bring me back into your embrace in Jesus name Amen

My times are in Your hands

I want what I want, and I wanted now! In this instant society in which we live, most of us are impatient to achieve our goals, dreams and destiny. But we keep bumping up against reality, at least I do! Today is my birthday, and I’m 29 again for the umpteenth time. Actually I have exceeded my threescore years and ten, and some of my dreams, ambitions and some of the promises I have received from the Lord have yet to be fulfilled. The Lord brought this verse to my attention this morning, from Psalm 31. David had been having a hard time, and I can relate. His comfort and his strength however, came from putting his trust in the Lord, and I felt I was being reminded to do the very same thing.

It’s impossible to describe how much strength, comfort and encouragement I have received from the combined resources of the Scripture, and my ongoing relationship with God. Familiar verses leap out at me again this morning: Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope!” Paul, after declaring that salvation is a gift, not of works lest anyone should boast, goes on to declare that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8, 9, 10).

There is a tendency to think that we may have missed the best that God has for us. It’s a lie, my times, fortunes, future experiences and my very destiny (and yours) are all in God’s hands.

Father, I thank you again this morning for Your presence in my life, and the ongoing power of your Word to comfort, exhort and encourage me. I know that my life, and my times are in Your hands, and as has been prophesied over me over and over, the best is yet to come. I choose to believe it, and I thank You for it in Jesus name Amen

Fear not, for I am with you

The full text of this verse from Isaiah 41:10 is:

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

One of the very last promises of Jesus to the disciples, and hence to us, was that He would be with us until the very end of the age. Various other passages assure us that He will contend with those who contend with us and that the He is with us to deliver us.

Over the years it has been a great comfort to me to know that He will never leave me nor forsake me. There have certainly been times that without Him I would have been very much afraid, and there have been times of great dismay. But what these things do, is to throw me back on Him. At The time of my breakdown in 1995 He told me that I needed to be strong, the very thing I was not. Such an instruction is not to be strong in and of ourselves, but to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might! At such times it was comforting to know that He is the one who would strengthen me, He is the one who would help me, He is the one who would lift me up, support me, and set my feet on the rock who is Jesus Christ.

The world tends to despise weakness, but sooner or later we all come to the end of our own strength. In fact it is a weakness not to ask for help when we need it. And sooner or later, even if we don’t admit it, we will all come to that place of need. So often it’s pride that keeps us from seeking help, and it is pride that keeps us isolated and alone.

Father, I thank you for your many, many promises to be with me, to help me, strengthen me and to deliver me. Like Paul, I can say that when I am weak, then I am strong. Because when I admit that I can’t do it without You, then You come alongside and strengthen me. Thank You that You have done this more times than I can count. Thank You for the comfort of your presence and Your love in Jesus name Amen

The veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom

At the time, probably only the Jewish readers would’ve understood the significance of this event, recorded in Matthew 27:51, and it's probably why it’s missing from both Luke and John. It happened immediately after Jesus had given up His spirit to the Father, and died. The significance of course, was that the way into the holy of holies was now open to all. Previous to this, only the high priest could enter into the holy of holies, where the presenve of God dwelt. He could only do this once a year on the day of atonement, and he needed for himself to take a bowl of blood. They were never quite sure this would be accepted, and they used to tie a rope around the high priest’s ankle, in case he died so that they could pull him out if he did.

I don’t think any of us fully realize the full significance of the veil being torn. Part of this, is that it was torn from the top to the bottom. In other words God had done it, and he did it immediately after Jesus died, connecting the two events. Jesus had cried out “it is finished.” Part of His finished work was this very thing, the opening up of the possibility of sinful man and woman being able to come into the very presence of God.

Two things stand out here, the first is the incredible cost of God's action, namely the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. The second is the reason for the necessity of the first. This has to do with God’s holiness, of which we can have a little more than a glimpse.

An illustration the Lord gave me while I was in India comes to mind. My friend's wife and I were on a bus traveling towards the river. The closer we got, the more overpowering the smell. The river of course was basically an open sewer. What was shocking was that there were people who were living on the very banks of the river, and they were so used to the smell that they didn’t even seem to notice it anymore. My friend’s wife’s remarks have stuck with me. She said “This is like sin, we get so used to it, that we don’t even notice it anymore.”

I find it helpful to consider what we need to get rid of, in order to be in heaven, and for heaven still to be heaven. In particular how much sin can there, how much anger or bitterness, or self seeking, or pride, or manipulation or punishing silences, or greed or hate, no unforgiveness? How much rejection, or hurtful comments, or of being the but of someone’s joke? And which one of us is not guilty of some if not all of these things? The point is, if heaven is to be heaven and stay heaven, then in order for us to be there, we need to be radically changed.

One of the wonderful things about God, is that He will not violate our self will. We can choose to reject His incredibly costly provision of our salvation. But in choosing to receive His salvation, and admitting just how far short we fall of His perfection, we are in fact giving Him permission to change us. That radical change starts now, and requires that we cooperate with Him in this process. But the biggest change will be when we see Him. The Scripture says “When we see Him, we will know Him, because we will be like Him.” We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, into the very thing that he calls us to be, namely saints.

Father, help me never to take for granted what You have done in sending your Son to save us. When I’m want to have my own way, please remind me of these things. In Jesus name Amen

Extravagant devotion to Jesus is not understood by the world, but appreciated by Him

I was meditating this morning on the passage where Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with very expensive ointment, and is criticized for it. It could’ve been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus tells them to leave her alone, and that what she has done will be proclaimed throughout the world (Matthew 26:13).

If Jesus wanted this proclaimed, then so do I. But why? And another question, was it not true that the money could have been better spent on feeding the poor? As to this last question, in the version of the story in John, we are told that it was Judas Iscariot who was the critic, and that his motive was more about getting money for himself for he was the treasurer and a thief. Jesus also remarked that we always have the poor with us, and that we can help them anytime we want.

There are a number of issues that this passage raises, not the least it is how much charity is enough? But I want to concentrate on the first question of why Jesus wanted this proclaimed. It has been suggested that Jesus did simply do not want to hurt her feelings, and I’m quite sure that this is true, but not the whole story. What I think the main point is, is that extravagant devotion is precious to Him, and He wants the world to know that this is the case.

Lord Jesus, Mary’s example of extravagant devotion, is something that clearly pleases you very much. It warms your heart, and I want to get in on it. I want to please you in everything that I do. This is not always easy, and it’s not well understood by the world, but with your help I will be the man of God that you want me to be. Please help me in those times when this is the very last thing is on my heart and on my mind. I ask this in Jesus name Amen

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us!

This has to be the scariest prayer you could ever pray. What we are saying is “Father I want you to forgive me in exactly the same way that I forgive others.” So we need to ask ourselves “Exactly how do I forgive?” Jesus tells us explicitly in this quote from the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, that if we forgive then we will be forgiven, but if we do not forgive neither will we be forgiven.

Not only is this perhaps the scariest prayer, it is perhaps one of the hardest principles in the Christian faith. Some of us have had things happen to us that in all rational ways of thinking could be described as unforgivable. In fact for some, being told to forgive, can feel just as abusive as the original abuse. In terms of justice, it’s easy to feel that the other person deserves our resentment and even revenge. But the Lord says “Revenge is mine, I will repay!”

Somebody has said “Failing to forgive someone, is like allowing them to live rent free in your head.” One of my addictive tendencies was obsessive thinking. I’m sure you know what I mean, with thoughts going round, and round, and round in your head. And in the midst of this type of addiction, we are not free, and we are not healed! We need to realize once again, that when Jesus gives us a command, it is for our provision and our protection. In this case the road to freedom is to forgive, no matter how difficult, and how atrocious the offense. This is our provision. In terms of protection, when we fail to forgive, we leave ourselves open to manipulation by the enemy of our souls.

So the one who benefits the most when we forgive, is ourselves, and it is an act of faith and trust in God to turn it all over to him. To quote again what is written above “Revenge is mine” says the Lord “I will repay!” I can leave it to Him, and I may need to keep placing it in His hands over and over again. Forgiveness is a process, He forgives instantly, for us many times it’s a battle.

Father, help me to forgive like you do, instantly, freely and fully. You know that with me this is a process in which I need your help, because there are times when for a while, resentment and revenge feels so sweet. The Scripture says that there is a way that seems right in to a man but the end thereof is death. I choose life In Jesus Name Amen

no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions ...

The context of the above extract from Mark chapter 10, is of a rich young ruler coming to Jesus and asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. It seems that the young man was confident that he had kept all of the commandments, and Jesus essentially told him to go sell everything that he had, give to the poor and follow him (Jesus). We are told that the rich man went away sad because he had great possessions.

Jesus commented that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom. The point seems to be, for the rich man at least, that his riches were an idol, which he put before following the Lord. The disciples were amazed wondering who then could enter the kingdom, and saying that they had left all to follow him. The above extract is Jesus response.

The command to the rich man to sell everything, is not a universal command, it was a specific command to address the specific problem, which was that the young man was putting his trust in riches rather than in the Lord.

Doing the right thing for the Christian is much more than doing what is moral and not doing what is not. It has to do with doing what he is calling us to do. In other words it has to do with obedience, which at times can be radical. What Jesus is saying is that this kind of radical obedience aligns us with his promises and provision. And you can almost see the twinkle in his eye as he adds “with persecutions.” This call is very different from the lukewarm version of Christianity that seems to be the norm in the West. Passages like this are meant to challenge us to the core!

Father, it is clear that the wealth of this rich young ruler was more important to him than being your disciple. Lord search me and show me anything and everything that I might be tempted to put before you. And then give me the grace to give it all to you. In Jesus Name Amen

If you want to be first, you must be last and servant of all

The disciples had been arguing on the way who was the greatest, and when Jesus asked them what they were talking about, they were too ashamed to say anything. Knowing what it was, Jesus told them “If you want to be first, then you have to be last and servant of all.”

The upside down kingdom: The world will tell you you have to look after number one, if you want to get ahead, you need to trample on those under you. And it’s seductive, even if we don't act it out, we are likely thinking it! How often have I said or done something to impress? But it's not the way of the kingdom, and we have our reward or not! What I mean is the other person is likely trying to do the same thing, so the whole thing gets lost in the ether. It's noting but vanity! It doesn’t lead to peace, hope and joy, it has no eternal value, and in the end it leaves you empty and unsatisfied.

What struck me this morning as I read this passage from Mark 9, is the gentle and humble way that Jesus responded to his disciples. There is no self exaltation in his answer, there is no condemnation. There is correction, but there is no condemnation. What a contrast! The more I see and understand about Jesus, the more I want to be like Him. They say that we become like what we worship, so I choose to worship Jesus.

Father, thank You that as I come to You morning by morning, You sometimes (but thankfully not always) gently, lovingly but firmly put your finger on things in my life that displease You. Thank You that Your gentle and loving ways make me want to change and to be like You. Thank you for the truth, that as I worship you I become more like you. This is my greatest desire. In Jesus name Amen

Whoever is ashamed of me (Jesus) … I will be ashamed of him day on that day

Jesus showed up mightily last night in a local meeting here in St. John’s. There were many, many healings, the most spectacular being a lady who had had fibromyalgia for 27 years with chronic pain and chronic fatigue. So why should I be ashamed, when He brings such life to me and others? Well there are certainly times when I should have spoken up and I didn’t, probably because I didn’t know what to say at the time, or perhaps I was afraid of the conflict.

In this paraphrase from Mark 8, Jesus tells us that if we want to go after Him, we need to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. And He further tells us, as in the title of this post, that if we are ashamed of Him in this adulterous and sinful generation, then He will be ashamed of us on that day. It’s quite a challenge!

In the West, the tyranny of political correctness is surely designed to intimidate and to shout us down. It's also difficult to know what to say. We need to know when to speak, and when to be silent. And when it’s time to speak we need to know what to say. Part of our job is to always be ready to give an answer of the hope that with us within us with meekness and with fear. The fear part here, has to do with not being judgemental, and not being reactive. In all of our relationships we need to be looking for the treasure in the other person, not the trash. Anyone can find the trash. We need help, many times, to see the treasure. It is always there, because each and every one of us is made in the image of God. We are fallen of course, so we are all a mixture of treasure and of trash!

Part of the reason for the strong opposition to the gospel and to Christian values, is that people are defensive. We know deep down when we are doing wrong, but most of us don’t want to admit it. My example, the one that I look to again and again, is of Jesus dealing with the woman caught in adultery in John 8. They had been trying to trap him into saying that she should be stoned. Jesus told them that the one without sin should cast the first stone, and convicted of their own sin, they left from the eldest to the youngest. Finally she was left alone with Jesus. “Where are those who would condemn you? He asked. “There are none Lord” she replied. “Neither do I condemn you” was Jesus response “go and sin no more!”

Jesus did not condemn, but neither did he condone. We need to do that, and do it with the same love, grace and understanding that Jesus showed.

Father, give me the serenity to keep my mouth shut when I’m not supposed to speak. Please give me the courage and the wisdom to speak when I should, and also the wisdom to know when I should do the one, or the other. In Jesus name amen

When my father and my mother forsake me, the LORD will take care of me

Probably most of us have experienced abandonment and rejection at some point in time. And it’s no fun! Having been divorced twice, in spite of every attempt to prevent it, I know something of these feelings. In John chapter 14 Jesus tells his disciples, and us through them, that he will not leave us orphaned. Though I was not an orphan, I have come to recognize that I had an orphan spirit.

In this Psalm, David tells us the cure for this. No doubt he, like myself, learned this the hard way. I was already a Christian at the time of my second divorce, and I did have a relationship with the Lord, but I was still very dependent on my earthly relationships, and no less than the first divorce, I was devastated by the second.

After a couple of years, when it became clear that any reconciliation was not going to happen anytime soon, I fell back into my pre-Christian addictions. Anything to dull the pain! But it didn't work, in fact it got worse, compounded by guilt and shame. I was trying to fill the gaping hole in my heart that only He can fill. All the time he was reaching out to me, inviting me into his embrace, waiting to be gracious to me (Isaiah 30:18). Eventually He got through to me.

There is a saying that I really relate to very well at this point in time, it is that you don’t know that God is all you need, until God is all you have.

And I see many around me struggling with the very same thing that I struggled with. And I know that the solution that I found, or rather that he gave to me, is the solution that they need. But it seems that we have to come to the end of ourselves, that we have to come to the point of desperation before we are truly willing to surrender everything to him.

I would never have chosen this path to finding a deeper relationship with him, but I cannot regret it. In the end I found that not only did he suffer for me, but that he suffers with me, and uses that suffering to bring me into freedom, peace, hope and joy in relationship with him.

Father, for those who are struggling and reading this post, I ask you to continue to reach out to them, and to give them the grace that they need to cast everything on you. Bring them through the loneliness, emptiness and the pain and give them the true comfort that only you can give. In Jesus name

All things are possible for those who believe

The story is told of a little old lady who lived at the base of a mountain. She had heard that if she believed she could tell the mountain to be uprooted and thrown into the sea. So she mustered all the faith she could, and commanded the mountain to do just that. The next morning she looked out of the window to see that the mountain was still there. “I knew it wouldn’t move,” she said.

Between this story, and the story of the little boy who defined faith as believing what you know is not true, there is true faith. The writer to the Hebrews defines faith as the the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Jesus is our example of someone who had true faith. He tells us that he does only those things which he sees His Father do (John 5:19). What He is saying is that true faith has to do with receiving some sort of download from the Father, and then acting on that download.

My recent experience of believing that the less invasive procedure for filling the hole in my granddaughter’s heart comes to mind. It was something that I had prayed for. Looking back I can see that the Lord had actually put a check in my spirit when I learned what the doctors were suggesting a less invasive procedure which ultimately did not work. With 20/20 hindsight I am feeling that was a gentle nudge telling me that this was too easy. So I am thinking that the problem was that I really wanted to believe that this was of the Lord, and my desire for it to be true, took over. I suspect that this happens a lot, and is a huge source of (inappropriate) disappointment with God.

So, at least for me, all the confusion, all the wrestling, all the self talk of my telling myself I don’t understand, sprung from hearing what I wanted to hear, rather than what I now believe the Lord was trying to tell me.

Some no doubt, will regard what I have just said as a cop out, a way of excusing God for not answering my prayer. But for me, it’s a deeper lesson in discerning and praying “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” In the end it’s all about our relationship with Him, about learning to hear His voice, and learning to discern it from my own, and from the fellow with pitchfork’s voice.

Father, the propensity to fool ourselves is huge. Please keep me close and help me to discern your voice from the other voices that would seek to distract me from my walk with you. In Jesus name amen

I believe, help my unbelief

The Lord brought this verse to my mind this morning, as we wait to hear what will happen about my granddaughter's heart surgery. The context of this verse from Mark 9:24, is of a father having brought his son to Jesus. The problem was that the son often threw himself into the fire or into water, and the disciples had been unable to help.

The father’s faith was small. “If you can do anything for us, have compassion on us,” he had said it to the Lord. The Lord had replied “All things are possible to he who believes,” and the phrase at the title of this post was the father’s reply. It’s interesting to me to note the Scripture says that the father’s response was “with tears.” Scriptures like this help me to know that He knows what we are going through, and that He goes through it with us.

Most of us who have children, would gladly take the child’s place when they are ill. We had hoped that a less invasive procedure they had suggested would have worked. I had felt sure this was an answer to our prayers from the Lord. But it was not to be, the less invasive procedure did not work. At times like this, as we wait, there is confusion, tears and anguish. The Lord had told me two days ago again this morning “you do not know what I am doing now, but you will know.”

I am very aware at times like this, I need to choose to trust, and the relevance and beauty of stories like this help me greatly.

Father, I believe, help my unbelief, in Jesus name amen

If, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live

There is a saying that we sin because we are sinners, rather than we are sinners because we sin. The saying is trying to point out that it is in our nature to sin, or to put it another way the default is to go wrong. Which one of us has never told a lie? I am not a habitual liar, but they have been times when what came out of my mouth was not true. I don’t even know where it came from, and the times I am thinking about there was no advantage to my not telling the truth! I have to admit that there have been times when I was too embarrassed to correct such terminological inexactitude :-).

It’s hard to admit it when we are wrong, and this too is part of our fallen nature. On top of this we have this propensity to blame others when things go wrong, or at the very least to minimize our own faults while maximizing the other person’s. The Scripture calls this living according to the flesh, or in some versions according to the sinful nature. In the first part of the verse at the head of this post (Romans 8:13), Paul tells us that if we do this we will die, but it by the spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh we will live.

We cannot all live the Christian life without him, and we cannot put to death the deeds of the flesh without his help. The picture I have of this is the game of whack a mole, where you hit one mole over the head, and immediately another mole pops up elsewhere. In my own life, until I had learned by the Spirit to put to death such deeds, I essentially went through a series of rotating addictions, changing my behaviour in this area, but another addiction appearing in another. And it was a kind of death! It was certainly not the abundant life that Jesus promises (John 10:10b).

It starts with admitting that we cannot do it without Him. He has promised that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). In James 5:16 we are told that we need to confess our faults one to another so that we may be healed. It’s quite humbling to have to confess our sins to another person, but as the verse promises it is only here that we are healed. Of course we need to find someone who is safe, and we may need to ask the Lord to help us find such a person/fellowship. So we confess to God to be forgiven, and we confess to each other to be healed.

Father, I need your help! Holy Spirit I surrender to you, please show me my part in putting to death the deeds of the flesh, because then I know that you will do your part, and I will be free. In Jesus name Amen

Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

The disciples, probably Peter, were panicking. They were in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee that was threatening to sink the boat, and Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the rear. So they wake him, and ask him the question at the head of this post (Mark 4:38).

This morning, I was practicing the “picture it method” of meditation on the Word. I was imagining that I was Peter in a panic and confronting Jesus with this question. In my imagination I received a look from Jesus that pierced my heart. In the story, Jesus calms the storm, and asks the disciples why they are so afraid, and why they have no faith.

It was a relevant question! After all that they had seen of the miraculous power of Jesus, how could they doubt that He would not look after them and deal with the situation, even if He were asleep.

It’s hard for me to describe exactly what I felt when, in my imagination, I received the piercing look from Jesus. It was certainly a rebuke, but it wasn’t condemnation. Over the past 20 years or so I have seen many more miracles than I can remember, and some of them have been spectacular. And yet I continue to panic, or perhaps overreact is a better description, at the happenstances of life.

How about you? Have you often thought that Jesus was asleep in the midst of your trial and temptation? Have you, like Peter, accused the Lord of not caring? We (and I certainly include myself) demonstrate a lack of faith in such circumstances. And we need to repent!

Father, I repent of my unbelief, I choose to trust you in all circumstances, and I ask you to help me to pause for those crucial seconds before I overreact. I give all fear and anxiety to you, and I received your peace, the peace that passes all understanding, that lifts me above my circumstances. In Jesus name amen