But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold

As far as I know, every biblical hero had to go through a period of intense suffering. I’m thinking of Joseph, Jeremiah, David etc., etc. And whether, as in this quote from Job 23:10 God gets the blame or not, what God always seems to be doing through suffering, is character polishing, facilitating His heroes to “come forth as gold.” In fact the supreme good that God promises to work in the lives of those who love Him, is that He is makes us more like Jesus both in character, and in fruitfulness (Romans 8:28, 29).

Job’s so-called “comforters” were not really comforters at all! They insisted that he deserved everything that had happened to him. Their warped theology maintained that suffering is always a sign of sin, and that it is God’s punishment on that sin (Job 2:7). But Job is blameless (Job 1:1), and in the end God vindicates him telling him that his three “friends” had not “spoken of Me what is right” (Job 42:7). In the end, what God thinks about us is far more important than what anyone else thinks about us. But being misunderstood, falsely accused, marginalized and dismissed in the midst of our trials, does nothing but add to our suffering! You might have a very good idea what I’m talking about!

Job’s suffering had another advantage, it moved him from knowing about God to knowing Him personally. He had “heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5). Jesus tells us, that the very essence of eternal life is “that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). When we truly know Him, and we know that we belong to Him, then we know who we are, and by his grace we are able to stand, and having done all to stand (Ephesians 6:13).

Father, it is so easy to loose perspective in the midst of our trials and temptations. And when we do, the solution is always to renew our perspective. Many times like Job, we need You to intervene to bring us back into that there. So as we go into this new year Father, give us eyes to see, and ears to hear what You are doing in this time, and to keep our eyes upon You, as Your eyes are upon us. And we give You praise and glory in Jesus Name Amen

To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life

They say there is no such thing as a free lunch, and one of the objections that people have who are skeptical of the gospel, is that it takes away all initiative and responsibility. But they misunderstand that what the gospel does is to set us free to serve without fear. So first of all I don’t need to worry if I will ever be good enough for heaven, because the moment I receive Him as Lord, He qualifies me to be an inheritor of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12 see also John 5:24 and 2 Corinthians 5:21). But that this does not take away initiative and responsibility is clear from the verse following this morning quote from Revelation 21:6. It says “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

So we build on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), and the picture Paul gives us of what can be built is gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and straw (verse 12). So silver could be giving to the poor out of a pure heart to please God, and wood could be giving to the poor to be seen by men. The latter, we are told already have their reward (the praise of men Matthew 6:1,2). Paul continuing with the analogy tells us that what we build on the foundation will be tested by fire (verse 13). So clearly the wood hay and straw will be burned up. Note that wood looks solid, durable, but it is no match for the fire. We cannot fool God, He truly knows our hearts (Psalm 44:21).

The point is that those who build with gold, silver or precious stones will receive a reward (verse 14). So there is the initiative! But those who build with wood, hay or straw will "suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet as through fire" (verse 15). We are told on that Day that God will wipe away all tears (Revelations 21:4). Being saved "yet as by fire" sounds painful, and I sometimes wonder if some (but certainly not all) of the tears He will wipe away are tears we shed because, after all He has done for us, we will have done so little for Him!

Father, I truly want to inherit all things. But what I think I desire more, is to hear from You “Well done good and faithful servant enter in to the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21). As I have been saying over the last couple of days You desire relationship over rules, and I love You Lord, and I want to please You, and that from me is reward in and of itself. Thank You Lord for the firm foundation based on the finished work of your Son. Thank You that I am secure, that nothing can truly harm me, and I look forward to that day when we meet face-to-face. And I give You all the honour and glory again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life

They say there is no such thing as a free lunch, and one of the objections that people have who are skeptical of the gospel, is that it takes away all initiative and responsibility. But they misunderstand that what the gospel does is to set us free to serve without fear. So first of all I don’t need to worry if I will ever be good enough for heaven, because the moment I receive Him as Lord, He qualifies me to be an inheritor of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12 see also John 5:24 and 2 Corinthians 5:21). But that this does not take away initiative and responsibility is clear from the verse following this morning quote from Revelation 21:6. It says “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

So we build on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), and the picture Paul gives us of what can be built is gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and straw (verse 12). So silver could be giving to the poor out of a pure heart to please God, and wood could be giving to the poor to be seen by men. The latter, we are told already have their reward (the praise of men Matthew 6:1,2). Paul continuing with the analogy tells us that what we build on the foundation will be tested by fire (verse 13). So clearly the wood hay and straw will be burned up. Note that wood looks solid, durable, but it is no match for the fire. We cannot fool God, He truly knows our hearts (Psalm 44:21).

The point is that those who build with gold, silver or precious stones will receive a reward (verse 14). So there is the initiative! But those who build with wood, hay or straw will "suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet as through fire" (verse 15). We are told on that Day that God will wipe away all tears (Revelations 21:4). It sounds painful, and I sometimes wonder if some (but certainly not all) of the tears He will wipe away are tears we shed because, after all He has done for us, we will have done so little for Him!

Father, I truly want to inherit all things. But what I think I desire more, is to hear from You “Well done good and faithful servant enter in to the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21). As I have been saying over the last couple of days You desire relationship over rules, and I love You Lord, and I want to please You, and that from me is reward in and of itself. Thank You Lord for the firm foundation based on the finished work of your Son. Thank You that I am secure, that nothing can truly harm me, and I look forward to that day when we meet face-to-face. And I give You all the honour and glory again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Part (II) The Law is our teacher to show us our need of Christ

To say what I was saying last day in a slightly different way, good rules are like fences on a cliff. They are there to stop us falling off. Bad choices have consequences, and so the Lord gives us laws, rules if you like which, if we obey them will protect us. David could write “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). He would also declare that because he meditates on God’s Laws and decrees, that he has more wisdom that his teachers (Psalm 119:99). So not only do His Laws protect us, they bring us into life in all its fullness.

But the Law is there for another reason too, and that is the main thing that this quote from Galatians 3:24 is saying. The Lord has always wanted relationship over rules. But when God was giving Moses the Law, and there was smoke and fire on the mountain, the Israelites were afraid. What they said to Moses was “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19). In other words, “We choose rules over relationship.” In many churches even today, it’s the same thing, trying to find favour with God by obeying rules! Good luck with that!

A large part of the Old Testament is the history of God’s people trying to obey His Laws, His rules, and utterly failing. The Scriptures tell us that all our own righteousness is like being clothed with filthy rags (Isaiah 64 6). So which do you want first, the good news or the bad news? Well the bad news is that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a), that is the just punishment for what we did is spiritual death, eternal separation from God. The bad news is that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The good news however is that “the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b). The point is, that we cannot really understand the good news until we understand the bad. So essentially then the Law shows us the bad news, and it does it “in order that we might be justified by faith” (the last part of Galatians 3:24).

Father, when we come to you, you take our filthy rags, and clothe us with robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Our own righteousness will never be enough to fit us for heaven, but we have this hope Lord that “When we see Him (Jesus), we will be like Him” (1 John 3:2). I’m not there yet Lord, but I know that You who have begun a good work in me will keep right on working in me until that day, and I give You honour and glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen

The Law is our teacher to show us our need of Christ (I)

Suppose, in setting boundaries for your 5-year-old daughter, you tell her that if she so much as puts her foot over an indicated line, she will be grounded for a week. If she, looking defiantly at you, then stands on the right side of the line and deliberately puts just her foot over the line, what you will do? Perhaps you should not have made the punishment so severe, but you did, and now you tell yourself “It’s only a minor infraction, I’ll let it go.” Well, if you do this, what you are really doing is telling her that you don’t mean what you say!

In the 12 step program Al-Anon, spouses of alcoholics learn that they are often enablers. That is they facilitate the behaviour of the alcoholic by covering up for them perhaps with their boss, or by excusing the behaviour, hoping against hope that they will straighten up. It may seem loving, but what it does is it takes away the responsibility from the spouse, it shields them from the consequences of their actions, and actually they have no need to change. It was the consequences of my own poor choices (we reap what we sow Galatians 6:7), that helped me to see my need of Christ, my need to be rescued, my need of a saviour!

We all need rules growing up in order to be safe. We need to hold daddy’s hands crossing the street. A child needs boundaries to be safe, and ultimately with a loving parent the child understands this, even though he or she may test the boundaries. But like a parent with his or her child, God ultimately wants relationship rather than rules. When I was a child I understood as a child, thought as a child, acted like a child (1 Corinthians 13:11). I need to grow up, and what I did not learn as a child, I had to I learn the hard way. But I did learn, I learned that when God says “no,” it is for our provision and for our protection. I learned that the rules, the Law is there to protect me until I could learn to choose the good, to choose Him.

Father, You always wanted our interaction with You to be about relationship rather than rules. But as in this morning’s quote from Galatians 3:24 we needed the Law as a guide to keep us out of trouble. But even after salvation we need to obey You. You told us Lord Jesus that we are Your friends if we do whatever You tell us (John 15:14). But You are not some celestial Scrooge wanting to take away our fun. No rather You know that in this kind of relationship with You we find fullfilment and hope and joy and peace and destiny. We find our purpose in the plans that You have for us. This, and only this, will lead us into fullness of life in Jesus Name Amen

Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain

It is a valid principle of interpretation to take things in the physical in the Old Testament, and apply them to their spiritual counterpart in the New. So in this quote from Zechariah 10:1, we can apply the picture of literal rain to the spiritual rain of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In addition “The Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7, but it is also a principle that things appear in the natural before they appear in the spiritual. And part, but only apart, of this is that this year has been a year of fire and flood in North America. In fact independently, and across various streams, the Lord has been showing His prophets that there is a wave coming that is greater than any previous wave of the spirit. So what we need to see here, is that we are in a "season of rain,"so what is our part?

Now the Lord is Sovereign, and He will do what He will do, we cannot thwart his plan, but we can hasten it (2 Peter 3:12). The Lord has a plan for a great end time harvest, but He has to do something first with his church. And we can hasten in this in this season, by "asking the Lord for rain." And there is an element of this, that works a little bit like what happens when we pray for our enemy. And that is that first and foremost our prayer for our enemy changes us. Likewise our corporate prayer for rain for that wider body of Christ changes our local corporate bodies.

At the end of his life, Paul talked about the crown of righteousness that the Lord will give to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 3:8). And part of loving His appearance is to hasten the day by choosing not to lose heart. We have need of perseverance, so we need to remind ourselves that the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Since the king’s heart is in the Lord’s hand, and He is able to direct it wherever He chooses (Proverbs 21:1), we need to cooperate with Him in praying for our loved ones (the kings and queens) who do not know Him, that He will direct their hearts to be part of the coming harvest.

Father, we do so pray. Lord our heartfelt prayers are powerful, because we are righteous in You (James 5:16). While there is so much going on in this wicked and hurting world that is not of You, nevertheless our eyes are on You (Chronicles 20:12). Lord it is encouraging to know both that Your plans cannot be thwarted, but also that we can hasten them as we partner together with You. I pray this morning Lord that You will strengthen us and encourage us, and pour out Your rain on me, on all those reading this blog, on Your church, on the nation and on the world. And we will give You all the honour glory and praise. Let is rain Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in

It’s not about Church, it’s not about correct theology, though I am not saying these things are not important, but if as I was saying yesterday, Christmas is all about me, all for my benefit, then a response is called for. Gift giving and receiving in a culture where we have very little physical needs can be a challenge. My youngest granddaughter gave me a tiny plastic shovel for Christmas, and her mother helpfully suggested that I could use it to shovel myself out of the car if I got snowed in. Bless her heart she so wanted Grandpa to be please with her gift. It is no fun to be excited about giving a gift, and it not being received well.

I know something of this in my own life. My grandfather was a troubled man, never having recovered from a traumatic childhood. I never understood this as a child, and I remember my disappointment at him not even bothering to open the Christmas presents I handed him. He would simply put my present aside as I sought to give it to him. All this to say that a gift may be offered, but not received. God gave us a gift at Christmas when He wrapped His Son in flesh and gave Him to us as the “indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

The origin of Boxing Day is disputed, some say it was the day servants received Christmas Boxes (i.e. presents) from the master. Others say it had to do with the alms boxes. For us Christ Himself and the salvation He offers are an indescribable Christmas Box. But like the man on death row who is offered a Presidential pardon, it has to be received in order for the pardon to come into effect. And we need to see our need, the "meek soul" (a quote from the Christmas Carol 'O Little Town of Bethlehem') who acknowledges this and invites Him in, is then indeed received by the “dear Christ!” For “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

Father, thank You Lord for Your indescribable gift. Truly Your gift is the one that keeps on giving. Thank You Lord for all the benefits of Your passion, for the presence of Your Holy Spirit and for the principles and promises of Your Word. I want to pray again this morning Lord for all who find Christmas difficult, that we all together in spite of it all we may with Habakkuk choose to rejoice in the LORD, and be joyful in God our Saviour (Habakkuk 3:18) in Jesus Name Amen