Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. – Romans 13.10
We know that love is the perfect fulfillment of the law. God made that clear when he summarised the law with ‘love God and love each other.’ Love is clearly the foundation mark of God’s people. Here we read that one thing that love does not do is to cause any kind of harm.
In fact love does just the opposite and the Bible tells us all about it. Love does no evil, but it is:
Patient
Kind
Humble
Thoughtful
Caring
Not provoked
Trusting
Truthful
Hopeful
Enduring
I am sure you recognise and probably noticed that I combined a couple of things, but that is what love does instead of harm
The phrase ‘loves does no harm’ is a wonderful reminder. We can get angry or fleshly and then do something to purposely hurt some one we love. Folks, there really is no excuse for that. Our actions or words or whatever should never, ever, in no wise, under no circumstance do anything to harm.
It can be easiest sometime to harm the ones we are closest to, and even more so a spouse. We know the words or actions or looks or tones of voice that hurt. Sadly, we can even use them.
That’s just wrong. True love doesn’t harm – ever.
Sunday 31 March 2019
Saturday 30 March 2019
Owe no one anything - but...
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. – Romans 13.8
Owe no one anything but to love each other.
That says a lot, doesn’t it? It is a clear warning against being indebted to others. Nothing can cause more struggles in a relationship with another like owing them something. Sure, the Bible enjoins lenders to be kind to those indebted to them. It speaks against excessive interests and punishing unpaid debts. Here though we are told that we can avoid the issue by just not going in debt.
I am sure that we are not just talking about financial debt here. We should not be indebted by our feelings or emotions. We should not be indebted by cultural or peer pressures. Any obligation we have should be based on one thing – love for others – because that, at the end of the day, summarises the whole law of God.
I owe love to my family. I owe love to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I owe love to my friends. I owe love to my neighbours. I owe love to my coworkers. I owe love to those who oppose me. I owe love to those who may mock me and ever persecute me. I owe love to my enemies.
We can’t get away from it, can we? Love God and love others sums up all that we believe and should sum up how we act.
Owe no one anything but to love each other.
That says a lot, doesn’t it? It is a clear warning against being indebted to others. Nothing can cause more struggles in a relationship with another like owing them something. Sure, the Bible enjoins lenders to be kind to those indebted to them. It speaks against excessive interests and punishing unpaid debts. Here though we are told that we can avoid the issue by just not going in debt.
I am sure that we are not just talking about financial debt here. We should not be indebted by our feelings or emotions. We should not be indebted by cultural or peer pressures. Any obligation we have should be based on one thing – love for others – because that, at the end of the day, summarises the whole law of God.
I owe love to my family. I owe love to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I owe love to my friends. I owe love to my neighbours. I owe love to my coworkers. I owe love to those who oppose me. I owe love to those who may mock me and ever persecute me. I owe love to my enemies.
We can’t get away from it, can we? Love God and love others sums up all that we believe and should sum up how we act.
Friday 29 March 2019
For conscience sake
Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but
also for conscience’ sake. For because
of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually
to this very thing. Render therefore to
all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to
whom fear, honour to whom honour. Romans
13:5-7
It
is one thing to obey because we fear getting a ticket or being arrested or
avoid some other deterrent. Most of us can make ourselves do that. Our kids can
obey because we are bigger than they are. We can obey laws because we don’t
want to pay fine or go to jail or whatever. That is obeying out of fear.
Proper
submission goes a bit farther. God wants us to obey ‘for conscience sake,’ or
simply because it is the right thing to do. God doesn’t want us to obey because
we are forced to. We don’t want our kids to obey just because if we don’t they
will be punished. God desires submission from a submissive heart that wants to
please Him.
We
really ought to do right simply because it is the right thing to do. One of
those is to obey those in authority. We oughtn’t quibble and look for loopholes
or strive to skirt the laws.
Do
right because it is right to do.
That
starts where everything does – with a right heart.
Thursday 28 March 2019
Be subject
Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no
authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those
who resist will bring judgment on themselves. –
Romans 13.1-2
There aren’t a whole lot of texts that stir as much controversy as this one. It
follows on with the passage above which speaks of overcoming evil with good. Part
of overcoming evil with good is how we respond to the governing authorities.
What do we do about laws we do not like? What do we do about laws we find
inconveniate?
God’s
word is clear – there is not much room for debate really. Let everyone be
subject the governing authorities. Governments are ordained by God. Whoever
resists that authority is resisting God’s ordinance and are bringing judgement
on themselves.
Authority
is a big part of God’s plan. I think there is a reason. We are told to submit
to God, to our parents, to each other, and to our spouses. The one about
submitting to governing authorities is a tough one though because our secular
leaders don’t seem like they deserve respect or obedience. Their laws are often
difficult or troublesome. Sometimes they don’t make any sense. Sometimes they
are offensive to us. And sometimes they fly in the face of God’s word.
Let’s
look at the last one first. Laws that fly in direct contradiction to the word
of God are not binding on us. Sometimes we have to obey God rather than man. Even
here though we need to realise that if we don’t obey the law we may very well
suffer the consequences. Just ask Daniel or his three friends or Peter or Paul
and Silas. Still though, in those cases we must obey God and, like they did,
trust Him with the results. When Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego could not obey the law they told the king who threatened to throw then
in the fiery furnace. There answer was clear. The said with respect, ‘we still
can’t bow down. Our God is able to deliver us, but even if he doesn’t we can’t
bow down.
Disobeying the law, even to obey God, will have
consequences.
Wednesday 27 March 2019
Overcome evil with good
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12.21
It is easy to buy into the trap of thinking that the only way to respond to evil is to fight back in kind. The best way to fight fire is with fire, right? That’s what the world says anyway.
But God’s way flies in the face of that proverb. God says that the way to overcome evil is with good. God’s way says that if we try to overcome evil with more evil we are no better than the world.
Plus, if we, as God’s people try to overcome evil with evil we will never succeed. Evil is what the world us expert at – God’s people should be expert at good.
The clearest example of this was the early church under Roman rule. It was a terrible time of persecution and opposition. Chrsitans were being brutally tortured and executed for their faith. They had no rights.
So how did they resond? With protests and civil insurrection and violence?
No, they resonded with love. One of the Roman empowers was mystified by their response. He said that the Christian had the gall to not only love each other, but they loved the Roman oppressors. When they brought food to their love ones in jail they brought food for the jailers and guards. No matter what happened they responded with good.
Eventually God’s goodness would be victorious. Goodness should be our specialty. It is God’s way. We do it and we trust God with the results.
It is easy to buy into the trap of thinking that the only way to respond to evil is to fight back in kind. The best way to fight fire is with fire, right? That’s what the world says anyway.
But God’s way flies in the face of that proverb. God says that the way to overcome evil is with good. God’s way says that if we try to overcome evil with more evil we are no better than the world.
Plus, if we, as God’s people try to overcome evil with evil we will never succeed. Evil is what the world us expert at – God’s people should be expert at good.
The clearest example of this was the early church under Roman rule. It was a terrible time of persecution and opposition. Chrsitans were being brutally tortured and executed for their faith. They had no rights.
So how did they resond? With protests and civil insurrection and violence?
No, they resonded with love. One of the Roman empowers was mystified by their response. He said that the Christian had the gall to not only love each other, but they loved the Roman oppressors. When they brought food to their love ones in jail they brought food for the jailers and guards. No matter what happened they responded with good.
Eventually God’s goodness would be victorious. Goodness should be our specialty. It is God’s way. We do it and we trust God with the results.
Tuesday 26 March 2019
Live at peace
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Romans 12:17-20
I know that social media is not the real world, but I think it can be a reflection of it. There is one reflection that really disturbs me deeply and which I try, by God’s grace to avoid. I think we can destroy our testimony and our witness to this world because of the way we present ourselves on social media.
God’s way flies in the face of this nothing:
Don’t repay evil with evil
Regard good things in the sight of all men – and in every situation
You do your part to live at peace with all men
Do not seek vengeance – let God sort it
If your enemy is hungry, feed him
If your enemy is thirsty give him a drink
This is the way of Christ. This is the way of God’s people. This is the way we ought to be seen in everything we do. It is how we treat our neighbours. It is how we treat our friends and coworkers. It is how we treat those who oppose us. It is how we treat those we disagree with.
It is how we act on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. It is not mocking politicians we don’t like. It is not sharing ugly memes and hateful comments. It is the way of Christ.
Strive for peace, not for conflict.
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Romans 12:17-20
I know that social media is not the real world, but I think it can be a reflection of it. There is one reflection that really disturbs me deeply and which I try, by God’s grace to avoid. I think we can destroy our testimony and our witness to this world because of the way we present ourselves on social media.
God’s way flies in the face of this nothing:
Don’t repay evil with evil
Regard good things in the sight of all men – and in every situation
You do your part to live at peace with all men
Do not seek vengeance – let God sort it
If your enemy is hungry, feed him
If your enemy is thirsty give him a drink
This is the way of Christ. This is the way of God’s people. This is the way we ought to be seen in everything we do. It is how we treat our neighbours. It is how we treat our friends and coworkers. It is how we treat those who oppose us. It is how we treat those we disagree with.
It is how we act on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. It is not mocking politicians we don’t like. It is not sharing ugly memes and hateful comments. It is the way of Christ.
Strive for peace, not for conflict.
Monday 25 March 2019
Associations
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. – Romans 12.15-16
Rejoice when people rejoice
Weep when people weep
Have the same mind
Do not set your mind on the higher things in the world
Associate with those who are humble
Don’t base your wisdom on your own opinions
Wow! There’s a lot there.
One phrase is sticking out to me today – it is that phrase ‘associate with the humble.’ We are like to rub shoulders with the high and mighty. We like to drop names and talk about the famous people we have met. Somehow it gives us a view that we are kind of special. People crowd stadiums or public appearance of the well known. We want to sit at the head table with the important people.
Here though we read that God wants us to associate with the humble, not the mighty or proud or well known. We are to seek out those who need us. We seek out the less fortunate and those who seemingly have nothing to offer us. We learn to see the people Jesus saw and see them the way that He saw them.
This whole section of Romans has one theme – putting others before us. That’s not the norm and never has been. How we treat the less fortunate is a real sign of how we walk with Jesus.
Rejoice when people rejoice
Weep when people weep
Have the same mind
Do not set your mind on the higher things in the world
Associate with those who are humble
Don’t base your wisdom on your own opinions
Wow! There’s a lot there.
One phrase is sticking out to me today – it is that phrase ‘associate with the humble.’ We are like to rub shoulders with the high and mighty. We like to drop names and talk about the famous people we have met. Somehow it gives us a view that we are kind of special. People crowd stadiums or public appearance of the well known. We want to sit at the head table with the important people.
Here though we read that God wants us to associate with the humble, not the mighty or proud or well known. We are to seek out those who need us. We seek out the less fortunate and those who seemingly have nothing to offer us. We learn to see the people Jesus saw and see them the way that He saw them.
This whole section of Romans has one theme – putting others before us. That’s not the norm and never has been. How we treat the less fortunate is a real sign of how we walk with Jesus.
Sunday 24 March 2019
Blessers
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. –
Romans 12.14
The
notion of persecution for the church in the west is something we have not
thought about much, at least not in my lifetime or the places I have lived. I
have never suffered real persecution. I may have had people mock me or make fun
of me. We think persecution is when a boss won’t allow us to take a Sunday off
or a baker must make a cake he disagrees with.
We
do though get that petty opposition that can be frustrating. People attack us
for our faith or our ideas or our stands against sin. People can be ugly and
its not easy to take. How are we to respond?
I
fear that the natural inclination is to respond in kind. Those who hate us
deserve to be hated back. Those who say bad things about us deserve to have us
respond with bad things. They can’t get away with that, after all.
That’s
not God’s way. His way says ‘don’t respond in kind.’
When
people curse us we are to bless them.
How
do we do that?
We
can only do that by following the spirit instead of the flesh. The flesh calls
out for payback. The spirit begs us to act like Christ and pour out blessings
on our revilers.
The
church needs a change in this world where social media is quick to ignite fires
of discord. No matter where, in real life or in this crazy new online world our
response to people matters and makes a difference.
God
makes us blessers instead of cursers.
Saturday 23 March 2019
Others
distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. – Romans 12.13
Everything we see around us tells us that we need to take care of number one. We are told not to be taken in by takers. We are told that we are not to let people drain us. To a certain extent all this is true. We do need to be careful about the stewardship of our times and resources.
Sometimes though this takes on an ugly side. Sometimes we can get the notion that we are never to let anyone take advantage of us we become selfish with what we have.
God’s word is different though. As we learn to meet the needs of the saints and as we learn to be open and hospitable we take risks. We might be taken advantage of. We might get hurt. We might get ‘ripped off.’ We may even been seen as that dreaded doormat.
True, that might happen. God says though that we are to use what we have to meet others needs. We need to open our homes and hearts to receive people is. People need to know that they have a place with us when they need it.
That’s what Jesus would do and in the end it will be worth the risk as others see Jesus in our lives.
Others, Lord, yes others. Let this my motto be - that I might live for others so I may live like Thee.
Everything we see around us tells us that we need to take care of number one. We are told not to be taken in by takers. We are told that we are not to let people drain us. To a certain extent all this is true. We do need to be careful about the stewardship of our times and resources.
Sometimes though this takes on an ugly side. Sometimes we can get the notion that we are never to let anyone take advantage of us we become selfish with what we have.
God’s word is different though. As we learn to meet the needs of the saints and as we learn to be open and hospitable we take risks. We might be taken advantage of. We might get hurt. We might get ‘ripped off.’ We may even been seen as that dreaded doormat.
True, that might happen. God says though that we are to use what we have to meet others needs. We need to open our homes and hearts to receive people is. People need to know that they have a place with us when they need it.
That’s what Jesus would do and in the end it will be worth the risk as others see Jesus in our lives.
Others, Lord, yes others. Let this my motto be - that I might live for others so I may live like Thee.
Friday 22 March 2019
Rejoicing and patience and prayer
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; - Romans 12:12
I really love this little verse. I love the way it summarises how we get through our days and how we deal with the every day trials and struggles we face. We see every day how broken this world is. We see how things are turning more and more against anything having to do with God and His people.
In the midst of all that is going on and all the violence and bad news and hatred and anger and confusion we can keep on plugging away because we when we have presented our bodies as a living sacrifce we can:
Rejoice in our permanent settled hope in Christ
That hope allows us to be patient and endure trials
We have the wonderful opportunity to keep on with stedfast prayer
The only way we can possible hope to do this is if we keep pur hearts and heads in the right place. We can’t get out of focus and get distracted by all the mess around us. If we do we are going to get really discouraged.
No matter what though, if we focus on rejoicing and patience and prayer God can carry us through whatever we are facing.
I really love this little verse. I love the way it summarises how we get through our days and how we deal with the every day trials and struggles we face. We see every day how broken this world is. We see how things are turning more and more against anything having to do with God and His people.
In the midst of all that is going on and all the violence and bad news and hatred and anger and confusion we can keep on plugging away because we when we have presented our bodies as a living sacrifce we can:
Rejoice in our permanent settled hope in Christ
That hope allows us to be patient and endure trials
We have the wonderful opportunity to keep on with stedfast prayer
The only way we can possible hope to do this is if we keep pur hearts and heads in the right place. We can’t get out of focus and get distracted by all the mess around us. If we do we are going to get really discouraged.
No matter what though, if we focus on rejoicing and patience and prayer God can carry us through whatever we are facing.
Thursday 21 March 2019
Diligence
not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; - Romans 12:11
One thing I have learned about serving the Lord over the years is that it is not about momentary great victories or crushing defeats. We have those ups and downs and good times and bad, but in the end there is one things to do – just keep on keeping on.
We read about it other places:
Be stedfast and immovable and always abound in God’s work
Don’t be weary in well doing
Since we have the ministry God has given us we are not to lose heart
God isn’t looking for superstars. He is looking for men and women who are faithful and determined and diligent. He is looking for people who are ‘fervent in spirit’ and who are serving, a continuous present tense, the Lord.
God says that the thing that is required of His servants is to be faithful. Faithfulness requires that we be diligent in our lives. Diligence is not just being diligent about spiritual things. It requires that we do all we do for and to the glory of God.
Stick at it folks. Keep on keeping on. Don’t let up. It will be worth it all.
One thing I have learned about serving the Lord over the years is that it is not about momentary great victories or crushing defeats. We have those ups and downs and good times and bad, but in the end there is one things to do – just keep on keeping on.
We read about it other places:
Be stedfast and immovable and always abound in God’s work
Don’t be weary in well doing
Since we have the ministry God has given us we are not to lose heart
God isn’t looking for superstars. He is looking for men and women who are faithful and determined and diligent. He is looking for people who are ‘fervent in spirit’ and who are serving, a continuous present tense, the Lord.
God says that the thing that is required of His servants is to be faithful. Faithfulness requires that we be diligent in our lives. Diligence is not just being diligent about spiritual things. It requires that we do all we do for and to the glory of God.
Stick at it folks. Keep on keeping on. Don’t let up. It will be worth it all.
Wednesday 20 March 2019
Preferring others
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; - Romans 12.10
Let your brotherly love be seen in your kind affection to each other. Give preference to each other based on a desire to honour end elevate the other.
Can you imagine what the church would be like if we took that to heart? Can you imagine what social media would look like? Show affection. Show kindness. Show love. Show honour. Show preference.
It’s pretty simple – put the other guy first.
Our problem is that the world has taught us that it is okay to be mean and vicious and vengeful and to be the tough guy. If someone disagrees with us the best thing to do is to do show them that they can’t get away with it.
God’s way is the way of humility. It says that we love and let our love be seen not with a begrudging ‘I guess I have to love you’ attitude, but in showing genuine affection for those around. It says that we seek to honour others and elevate them instead of us.
What if we took this to heart and didn’t feel like we had to be the tough guy. What about if we responded the way Jesus did?
How different would our world be?
Let your brotherly love be seen in your kind affection to each other. Give preference to each other based on a desire to honour end elevate the other.
Can you imagine what the church would be like if we took that to heart? Can you imagine what social media would look like? Show affection. Show kindness. Show love. Show honour. Show preference.
It’s pretty simple – put the other guy first.
Our problem is that the world has taught us that it is okay to be mean and vicious and vengeful and to be the tough guy. If someone disagrees with us the best thing to do is to do show them that they can’t get away with it.
God’s way is the way of humility. It says that we love and let our love be seen not with a begrudging ‘I guess I have to love you’ attitude, but in showing genuine affection for those around. It says that we seek to honour others and elevate them instead of us.
What if we took this to heart and didn’t feel like we had to be the tough guy. What about if we responded the way Jesus did?
How different would our world be?
Tuesday 19 March 2019
Evil and good
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what
is good. – Romans 12.9
Good
and evil. How much more disparite can we get? North and south, black and white,
hot and cold, up and down, light and dark, good and evil. These things are
mutually exclusive. It’s the kind of thing where we can’t go halfway and do a
little bit of good and a little bit of evil and a lot of halfway in between.
Abhor
evil – hate it – be repulsed by it – refuse it – get rid of it – literally ‘detest
it with horror
Cling
to that which is good – love it – rush to it – accept rid – add it daily –
literally ‘be glued to it’
You
can’t get much different than that.
Why
then do we, serious, dedicated, committed Christian who love God and want o
live for Him still dabble with evil while we try to be good?
Because
we are selfish and want to gratify us more than we want to gratify others. We feed
our lust and selfishness and hatred and mean spiritedness because it gives us
some kind of perverse pleasure. We still like evil, or at least what it can do
for us.
I
wish I could find a valid excuse for dabbling with evil instead of detesting it
with horror. But I can’t. It is just a simple matter of doing what I want
instead of what God wants me to do. We all need to have that abhorrence for all
things evil. We all need instead to grab on to things that are good.
Monday 18 March 2019
Pure love
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. – Romans 12.9
Love is of course at the core of our faith. Love sent Jesus to the cross. We love Him because He first loved us. God, indeed, is love and as such love is centre of it all. To make it clear we read that the greatest commandment and the summary of the law is that we first of all love God and second only to that is that we love each other.
Here Paul gives one of many aspects of the kind of love we supposed to have. He gives a more full account in 1 Corinthians 12. Here he simply says ‘let your love be without hypocrisy.’
Both the modern word hypocrisy and the older word dissimulation have the notion of false motivation or intent. Not only are we to love, but we are to love with a pure love where our only desire in loving is to meet the needs of another. It has nothing to so with us. We don’t love to be loved back. We don’t give to get.
That means that we don’t feign love for people in order to ‘convert’ them to our way of thinking or to meet a standard or to say what a wonderful Christian we are. The love of Christ constrains us to love others with the love of Christ and if we do that we are share our lives and our faith with them simply because we want to see them revel in the joy of God’s love. When we learn to love that way sharing our faith will be the most natural thing in the world because it is the purest evidence of true love.
Love is of God. He who does not love with this pure love is not really of God.
How do you and I love?
Love is of course at the core of our faith. Love sent Jesus to the cross. We love Him because He first loved us. God, indeed, is love and as such love is centre of it all. To make it clear we read that the greatest commandment and the summary of the law is that we first of all love God and second only to that is that we love each other.
Here Paul gives one of many aspects of the kind of love we supposed to have. He gives a more full account in 1 Corinthians 12. Here he simply says ‘let your love be without hypocrisy.’
Both the modern word hypocrisy and the older word dissimulation have the notion of false motivation or intent. Not only are we to love, but we are to love with a pure love where our only desire in loving is to meet the needs of another. It has nothing to so with us. We don’t love to be loved back. We don’t give to get.
That means that we don’t feign love for people in order to ‘convert’ them to our way of thinking or to meet a standard or to say what a wonderful Christian we are. The love of Christ constrains us to love others with the love of Christ and if we do that we are share our lives and our faith with them simply because we want to see them revel in the joy of God’s love. When we learn to love that way sharing our faith will be the most natural thing in the world because it is the purest evidence of true love.
Love is of God. He who does not love with this pure love is not really of God.
How do you and I love?
Sunday 17 March 2019
Come over and help us
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia
stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately
we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach
the gospel to them. - Acts 16:9-10
This
words are familiar to anyone who has studied missions at all. Is it the famous
Macedonian call by which God called Paul and his team to a whole new field and
to their ‘uttermost parts of the earth.’
On
this St Patrick’s Day I want to look at another similar call about 300 years
later.
‘I saw in the night the vision of a
man, whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless
letters. And he gave me one of them, and I read the opening words of the
letter, which were, `The voice of the Irish'; and as I read the beginning of
the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice---they were
those beside the Wood of Voclut, which is near the Western Sea---and thus did
they cry out as with one mouth: `We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once
more.' And I was quite broken in heart, and could read no further, and so I
woke up.’ – Patrick’s ‘Confession’
This
is always a personal blessing to me. I am not sure about dreams and visions and
all that, but I have no reason to doubt that God can use anything to call
people to where He wants them, and this call certainly was Biblical. Our own
call was not a vision, but an Irishman over lunch saying ‘come over and help
us.’ There was no doubt in my mind and still no doubt today about the reality
of that call.
We
have been discouraged. Sometimes we have wondered ‘is this really where we need
to be?’ But then another section from Patrick’s Confession comes to mind.
'I could wish to leave them to go to
Britain. I would willingly do this, and am prepared for this, as if to visit my
home country and my parents. Not only that, but I would like to go to Gaul to
visit the brothers and to see the faces of the saints of my Lord. God knows
what I would dearly like to do. But I am bound in the Spirit, who assures me
that if I were to do this, I would be held guilty. And I fear, also, to lose
the work which I began – not so much I as Christ the Lord, who told me to come
here to be with these people for the rest of my life. May the Lord will it, and
protect me from every wrong path, so that I do not sin before him.'
May
indeed the Lord will it protect me from every wrong path, so that I do not sin
before Him.
Saturday 16 March 2019
Gifts
For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do
not have the same function, so we, being
many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in
proportion to our faith; or ministry,
let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives,
with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness. - Romans 12:4-8
What
a mess it would be if everyone in the body had exactly the same gifts or the
same calling. We would get nothing done if everyone was the preacher or if we
all played the piano or if we all took care of the books and finances or we all
worked in the children’s ministry or creche or whatever.
Paul
addresses some specific gifts. All of these are things that we should all be
doing, but these are things that some of us are especially gifted at. Preaching
and teachings and ministering and exhorting and giving and leading and be
merciful are traits for us all to some extent.
I
think the key lesson here though is that we need to be happy the use the gifts
God gives us. I am teacher. I ought to be a teacher who can proclaim the gospel
and minister to others and give and exhort and lead and be merciful. At the
core of me though is a teacher. We need to realise that God uses all of us with
our gifts. Paul builds this into a wonderful picture in 1 Corinthians where he describes
us as a body and the importance of heads and hands and eyes.
Find
the gift God has blessed us with and use it for His glory and the love each
other.
Friday 15 March 2019
More highly than we ought
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3
Pride is a killer. Pride has been the problem since before the beginning. Satan’s pride had Him cast out of heaven. Adam and Eve’s sin brought sin into the world. Cain’s pride resulted in the first murder – and I could fill a book with more examples.
Here is the root of pride – thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. This can show itself in a lot of ways. It can make us arrogant or selfish or jealous or entitled or privileged or demanding. It can lead us to sin because ‘nobody can tell me what to do.’
It can also cause another problem when it makes us doubt God.
How does that happen?
It happens when we are so sure of ourselves that we think God is not taking care of things properly. We think that we know better than He does. We worry because we can’t see the end and we feel like we ought to have control. Pride really gets in the way of faith because it makes me think either I could do better or that He isn’t able to do what He says. Fear comes because I think it is all up to me.
In other words I think more highly of myself than I ought to think every time I doubt God and trust me.
God forgive us.
Pride is a killer. Pride has been the problem since before the beginning. Satan’s pride had Him cast out of heaven. Adam and Eve’s sin brought sin into the world. Cain’s pride resulted in the first murder – and I could fill a book with more examples.
Here is the root of pride – thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. This can show itself in a lot of ways. It can make us arrogant or selfish or jealous or entitled or privileged or demanding. It can lead us to sin because ‘nobody can tell me what to do.’
It can also cause another problem when it makes us doubt God.
How does that happen?
It happens when we are so sure of ourselves that we think God is not taking care of things properly. We think that we know better than He does. We worry because we can’t see the end and we feel like we ought to have control. Pride really gets in the way of faith because it makes me think either I could do better or that He isn’t able to do what He says. Fear comes because I think it is all up to me.
In other words I think more highly of myself than I ought to think every time I doubt God and trust me.
God forgive us.
Thursday 14 March 2019
Nor conforming, but transformed
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. – Romans 12.1-2
To conform or transform?
That’s a question that faces every believer many times every day. What do we do when confronted by a world that seems like it is constantly struggling to drag us downhill?
There are two clear choices here:
Conform to the world
Let your life be transformed by the word of God
Conforming the world is the easy choice. Nobody really wants to be different. We all want to fit in. We don’t like being labelled as weird or some kind of freak.
Plus the world is so alluring. The pleasures of sin for a season draw us. Sin and worldliness would not be such a problem if they did not give some kind of pleasure. It is easy just to slide into the ways of the world. I heard an old preacher put it clearly one day – ‘even a dead fish can float downstream.’
But our call is to be transformed by our new mind in Christ. There must be a change in us once we have the mind of Christ. We are new creations. The world is no longer our home. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are to look at things above instead of dwelling on things in this world.
How are we going about our lives. Are we just ‘winging it’ day by day kind of attaching a little bit of God when we need Him. Or our we letting our minds be transformed day after day after day?
Don’t conform – be transformed.
To conform or transform?
That’s a question that faces every believer many times every day. What do we do when confronted by a world that seems like it is constantly struggling to drag us downhill?
There are two clear choices here:
Conform to the world
Let your life be transformed by the word of God
Conforming the world is the easy choice. Nobody really wants to be different. We all want to fit in. We don’t like being labelled as weird or some kind of freak.
Plus the world is so alluring. The pleasures of sin for a season draw us. Sin and worldliness would not be such a problem if they did not give some kind of pleasure. It is easy just to slide into the ways of the world. I heard an old preacher put it clearly one day – ‘even a dead fish can float downstream.’
But our call is to be transformed by our new mind in Christ. There must be a change in us once we have the mind of Christ. We are new creations. The world is no longer our home. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are to look at things above instead of dwelling on things in this world.
How are we going about our lives. Are we just ‘winging it’ day by day kind of attaching a little bit of God when we need Him. Or our we letting our minds be transformed day after day after day?
Don’t conform – be transformed.
Wednesday 13 March 2019
A living sacrifice
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service. And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. – Romans 12.1-2
If
there were one passage of scripture that could really sum of what Christian
living and our progressive sanctification is all about it would be this one.
Progressive,
or practicable, sanctification is how we live out our holiness in between our
positional sanctification in Christ and our perfect sanctification to come.
Paul’s
answer is clear. We are called, like Isaac, to crawl up on the altar and offer
our lives as a sacrifice to God. Isaac didn’t know what was going to happen,
but he trusted God and his dad.
I
don’t know all that it means when I present my body as a living sacrifice. I do
know that it means I yield my desires to Him. It means I follow the spirit and
not the flesh. It means I give my all, all me, every fibre of my body, mind,
and soul to wish will. I literally offer everything to Him, my wife and children
and my job and my time and my resources are now all His to use as He desires.
When
we wonder about God’s will this is it at the core. I do what He wants from me.
I choose His way and not mine.
Is
my all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
My
heart does the Spirit control?
I can only, I can only be blessed
And
have peace and sweet rest
After
I have yielded unto the Lord
My
body and my soul
Tuesday 12 March 2019
Who can comprehend?
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be
glory forever. Amen. – Romans 11.33-36
What
a beautiful passage. Paul certainly had a way with the Holy Spirit’s words,
didn’t he?
Oh, the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His
ways past finding out!
One
of the wonderful things about God is one of the things I can struggle with. His
wisdom and knowledge are far, far above our own wisdom and knowledge. His ways
and His thoughts are as far above mine as the heavens are above the earth. His
judgments are unsearchable and His ways are above finding out. Everything we
encounter is of Him and through Him and to Him and are for His glory.
If
I could get my thick head around this truth I would be much better off. I
really, truly, honestly, ignorantly, and stupidly can think as times that I know
what is best. How can I do that?
Actually,
I know – pride. Only pride lets me think I do better that the God whose
thoughts and ways are beyond my human ken.
Lord, I believe You know best, but help my unbelief.
Lord, I believe You know best, but help my unbelief.
Monday 11 March 2019
Irrevocable
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. – Romans 11.29-32
The gifts and the calling of God cannot be revoked.
That’s powerful stuff.
God says this about His gifts and calling being irrevocable in the context of salvation. You were once disobedient, now you are obedient and have received mercy. I realise that this whole passage can be difficult to deal with. Paul covers some deep issues and who the elect are and who God save, but here one thing sticks out. God does not take back His gift of salvation and His calling to eternal life.
Think about gifts. Think about, maybe, birthday gifts to our children or grandchildren. What kind of gift giver would we be if, after giving them a gift, we took it back because they were bold. What kind of gift would that be? It wouldn’t in fact, be a gift at all. It would be a wage or a reward.
We can’t do anything to earn the gift of eternal life. It is a GIFT. Praise God for His irrevocable gifts and calling. They give us the security we need to keep on keeping on, especially when we mess things up.
The gifts and the calling of God cannot be revoked.
That’s powerful stuff.
God says this about His gifts and calling being irrevocable in the context of salvation. You were once disobedient, now you are obedient and have received mercy. I realise that this whole passage can be difficult to deal with. Paul covers some deep issues and who the elect are and who God save, but here one thing sticks out. God does not take back His gift of salvation and His calling to eternal life.
Think about gifts. Think about, maybe, birthday gifts to our children or grandchildren. What kind of gift giver would we be if, after giving them a gift, we took it back because they were bold. What kind of gift would that be? It wouldn’t in fact, be a gift at all. It would be a wage or a reward.
We can’t do anything to earn the gift of eternal life. It is a GIFT. Praise God for His irrevocable gifts and calling. They give us the security we need to keep on keeping on, especially when we mess things up.
Sunday 10 March 2019
Either grace or works
And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: - Acts 11.5-6
So how can we be saved? Is it our works? Is it by the grace of God? Is it by some kind of mixture of both?
This debate seems to have been going on forever. Paul writes that we are saved by grace apart from works. James writes about faith plus works. How can that be? Paul says here that if salvation comes by works there is no need of grace and that if it comes by work there is no need for grace. Paul later writes to the Galatians that if works could save us that Jesus died for nothing. It can’t be a mixture of both.
How do we explain James then?
As we read through the James passage we find that true faith always proves itself with works. Without works there is no indication of grace. Grace awlways proves itself through works. With no works that supposed faith is a dead faith and God’s grace has yet to be poured out.
There is nothing we can do to save ourselves or to keep ourselves saved. That is purely accomplished by the grace of God through faith. But once that happens we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ and ordained to walk in good works.
So how can we be saved? Is it our works? Is it by the grace of God? Is it by some kind of mixture of both?
This debate seems to have been going on forever. Paul writes that we are saved by grace apart from works. James writes about faith plus works. How can that be? Paul says here that if salvation comes by works there is no need of grace and that if it comes by work there is no need for grace. Paul later writes to the Galatians that if works could save us that Jesus died for nothing. It can’t be a mixture of both.
How do we explain James then?
As we read through the James passage we find that true faith always proves itself with works. Without works there is no indication of grace. Grace awlways proves itself through works. With no works that supposed faith is a dead faith and God’s grace has yet to be poured out.
There is nothing we can do to save ourselves or to keep ourselves saved. That is purely accomplished by the grace of God through faith. But once that happens we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ and ordained to walk in good works.
Saturday 9 March 2019
How can they hear?
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!” – Romans 10.14-15
So what do I do about those who need to be saved? I try to be a good testimony. I try to live a holy life. I try to help them in their times of trouble. I need to do all of that and so much more.
But is that all I need to do? Is that enough?
God’s plan for the world to hear is simple. Faith comes by hearing. Proper hearing comes from the world of God. How though are they going to hear unless there is a preacher to tell it to them.
And that doesn’t mean a preacher like in behind a pulpit. It is a proclaimer, someone like you and me. There are people out there that no one else will be able to reach but us.
How can they hear unless we tell them? Who is going to tell them the good news? Who will open the word of God and give them the words of eternal life?
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!” – Romans 10.14-15
So what do I do about those who need to be saved? I try to be a good testimony. I try to live a holy life. I try to help them in their times of trouble. I need to do all of that and so much more.
But is that all I need to do? Is that enough?
God’s plan for the world to hear is simple. Faith comes by hearing. Proper hearing comes from the world of God. How though are they going to hear unless there is a preacher to tell it to them.
And that doesn’t mean a preacher like in behind a pulpit. It is a proclaimer, someone like you and me. There are people out there that no one else will be able to reach but us.
How can they hear unless we tell them? Who is going to tell them the good news? Who will open the word of God and give them the words of eternal life?
Friday 8 March 2019
My heart';s desire
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.- Romans 10.1-4
What would the answer be if we asked ourselves what our heart’s desire was for our people? I wonder how many of us would jump up with the answer – ‘that they would all be saved!’
That was Paul’s pressing burden. That was his passion. It was what he lived for. We know that it was more than just words because every place he went he headed for the synagogue to preach the gospel to his people. We went into markets and forum to share the Truth. He dealt with false teachers to protect his people.
What moves me? Indeed what is my heart’s desire for the people I live among? What is my heart desire for my family and friends and coworkers and neighbours and dog walkers that I meet and see on a regular basis?
If I am motivated and compelled by the love of Christ my biggest concern is for their eternity. Of course Christ’s love motivates me to treat them right and meet needs and be there for them. That ought to go without saying.
But more than ought to be concern for their eternity. Do I love them enough to always keep in mind that they need to be saved? I need to be that proper friend. I need to love them today and now, but I must love them enough to consider their eternity.
What would the answer be if we asked ourselves what our heart’s desire was for our people? I wonder how many of us would jump up with the answer – ‘that they would all be saved!’
That was Paul’s pressing burden. That was his passion. It was what he lived for. We know that it was more than just words because every place he went he headed for the synagogue to preach the gospel to his people. We went into markets and forum to share the Truth. He dealt with false teachers to protect his people.
What moves me? Indeed what is my heart’s desire for the people I live among? What is my heart desire for my family and friends and coworkers and neighbours and dog walkers that I meet and see on a regular basis?
If I am motivated and compelled by the love of Christ my biggest concern is for their eternity. Of course Christ’s love motivates me to treat them right and meet needs and be there for them. That ought to go without saying.
But more than ought to be concern for their eternity. Do I love them enough to always keep in mind that they need to be saved? I need to be that proper friend. I need to love them today and now, but I must love them enough to consider their eternity.
Thursday 7 March 2019
More than conquerors
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8.34-39
It sure doesn’t seem sometimes that the title of this thought is true, does it? More than conquerors? Really? It sure doesn’t seem that way. It seems like there is no peace on earth. It seems that is nothing like peace on earth. It seems like hate is strong and that it mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men that was promised by the angels.
But we forget something. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We thank God for the victory that He has given us through Jesus Christ. We forget that we are conquerors; yeah we are MORE than conquerors through Jesus Christ. The battle may be long and it will be hard, but conquer we will!
So remember God is not dead, He doesn’t sleep. Wrong WILL fail and Right will prevail and one day there will be peace on earth and good will toward men.
Because we ARE more than conquerors.
It sure doesn’t seem sometimes that the title of this thought is true, does it? More than conquerors? Really? It sure doesn’t seem that way. It seems like there is no peace on earth. It seems that is nothing like peace on earth. It seems like hate is strong and that it mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men that was promised by the angels.
But we forget something. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We thank God for the victory that He has given us through Jesus Christ. We forget that we are conquerors; yeah we are MORE than conquerors through Jesus Christ. The battle may be long and it will be hard, but conquer we will!
So remember God is not dead, He doesn’t sleep. Wrong WILL fail and Right will prevail and one day there will be peace on earth and good will toward men.
Because we ARE more than conquerors.
Wednesday 6 March 2019
What can separate us?
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8.31-34
There are some well meaning folks who try to tell us that it is possible for us, once adopted into God’s family and under the full protection of His love to somehow been torn asunder from His love.
What would it take though to separate us from God’s love?
Tribulation?
Distress?
Persecution?
Famine?
Nakedness?
Peril?
Sword?
Death?
Life?
Angels?
Principalities?
Powers?
Things present?
Things to come?
Heights?
Depths?
Any created thing?
That’s really quite a list isn’t it? There is not a whole lot more we could come up with. There is nothing ever going to happen that could take us out of God’s love. No matter what I am going through or how bad it seems God’s love is always there in every circumstance. His love is there. His love cannot be worn out. We can’t exhaust the treasure trove of His love.
Andrew Peterson is a wordsmith and songwriter. Here is how he describes it:
After the last tear falls, after the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves and the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
After the last disgrace, after the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician, after the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
'Cause after the last plan fails, after the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last, this marriage is over
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
'Cause after the last tear falls there is love
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8.31-34
There are some well meaning folks who try to tell us that it is possible for us, once adopted into God’s family and under the full protection of His love to somehow been torn asunder from His love.
What would it take though to separate us from God’s love?
Tribulation?
Distress?
Persecution?
Famine?
Nakedness?
Peril?
Sword?
Death?
Life?
Angels?
Principalities?
Powers?
Things present?
Things to come?
Heights?
Depths?
Any created thing?
That’s really quite a list isn’t it? There is not a whole lot more we could come up with. There is nothing ever going to happen that could take us out of God’s love. No matter what I am going through or how bad it seems God’s love is always there in every circumstance. His love is there. His love cannot be worn out. We can’t exhaust the treasure trove of His love.
Andrew Peterson is a wordsmith and songwriter. Here is how he describes it:
After the last tear falls, after the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves and the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
After the last disgrace, after the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician, after the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
'Cause after the last plan fails, after the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last, this marriage is over
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
'Cause after the last tear falls there is love
Tuesday 5 March 2019
If God be for us
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? – Romans 8.31
It can sure seem like everything is against us can’t it? It seems like we can’t buy a break today. Governments oppose us as laws are constantly being passed that erode our rights. Immorality of all sorts is growing as sin becomes the norm. Bible normal are becoming hate speech even the those who preach tolerance don’t want to tolerate us.
What can we say to all these things? How can we take any hope for the future? The bad is so bad that it seems like good will never win.
But if God is for us, and He is, who can really stand against us? Sure the obvious answer is there are plenty who oppose us, but their oppostion in the end cannot defeat us. They may win for a while, but we already have the victory.
It can sure seem like everything is against us can’t it? It seems like we can’t buy a break today. Governments oppose us as laws are constantly being passed that erode our rights. Immorality of all sorts is growing as sin becomes the norm. Bible normal are becoming hate speech even the those who preach tolerance don’t want to tolerate us.
What can we say to all these things? How can we take any hope for the future? The bad is so bad that it seems like good will never win.
But if God is for us, and He is, who can really stand against us? Sure the obvious answer is there are plenty who oppose us, but their oppostion in the end cannot defeat us. They may win for a while, but we already have the victory.
Monday 4 March 2019
Glorified
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. – Romans 8.30
Here is that predestined word again. Judging from the first above the context here is that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ. When He does that He calls us and when He calls us He justifies us and when He justifies us He glorifies us.
Why don’t I feel glorified then? Why do I still feel like a poor mistable creature who is surely the greatest of sinners? I fell a lot more unglorified than glorified. What’s the story?
The story is that I don’t have to feel glorified. As long as I live in this flesh I am going to battle it. As long as I am on this sin curse earth I am going to battle it. As long as the devil is free to roam the earth seeking whom he may devour I am going to battle him.
That’s just life.
But my final glorification has already been accomplished when Jesus said ‘it is finished.’ Nothing else needs to be done. The truth that my glorification is so certain that Paul could ‘we are glorified.’
My challenge is clear. Since I am glorified already I should be making decisions and making choices that are going to be to His glory. Whatever I say or do or think should always been done to glorify the One who has already glorified me in His sight.
Glorified – and glorifying Christ. That should be my life today.
Here is that predestined word again. Judging from the first above the context here is that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ. When He does that He calls us and when He calls us He justifies us and when He justifies us He glorifies us.
Why don’t I feel glorified then? Why do I still feel like a poor mistable creature who is surely the greatest of sinners? I fell a lot more unglorified than glorified. What’s the story?
The story is that I don’t have to feel glorified. As long as I live in this flesh I am going to battle it. As long as I am on this sin curse earth I am going to battle it. As long as the devil is free to roam the earth seeking whom he may devour I am going to battle him.
That’s just life.
But my final glorification has already been accomplished when Jesus said ‘it is finished.’ Nothing else needs to be done. The truth that my glorification is so certain that Paul could ‘we are glorified.’
My challenge is clear. Since I am glorified already I should be making decisions and making choices that are going to be to His glory. Whatever I say or do or think should always been done to glorify the One who has already glorified me in His sight.
Glorified – and glorifying Christ. That should be my life today.
Sunday 3 March 2019
Conformed to His image
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the
image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. –
Romans 8.29
I’ve
been saved more than 45 years. I’ve been to Bible College and Seminary. I study
God’s word every day. I’ve been preaching or teaching the Bible basically since
the time I was saved.
And
yet I still don’t fully understand some things. Election and predestination is
one of those things. Just when I think I have it I realise that I don’t. I am
just about to give up and say that God is going to sort it all out.
One
thing is clear though. God had predestined that all who come to Christ will be
conformed to the image of Christ. It’s not an option. Paul writes to the
Ephesians that God ordained before the foundation of the world that we are
ordained to do those good works.
Now
I realise that our perfect conformity will not come until I go the heaven to be
with Him. In the meantime however we must be growing in our conformity to
Christ. When we speak of our destiny conformity to Christ is our ultimate
destiny. We will one day be conformed – we might as well get into practice now.
Saturday 2 March 2019
Work together for good
And we know that all things work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. –
Romans 8.28
It
can be very hard for us to see how anything good can come from our situations
and circumstances. I’ve been there like I think most of us have been. What good
can come from cancer or other serious illness or losing a child or situations
like that? How can God turn that around? How can God make good out of such bad?
I
don’t know. I’m not Him, but His promise is here before us. God promises that He
can make good out of the worst.
For
me this is another one of those faith passages. There are bad things that have
happened that I still don’t see the good in. Sometimes I can see a glimmer of
good but it hardly seems worth that bad that brought it about. Sometimes it is
obvious when good results from bad situations.
If
I really trust God I can trust in His promise. I may never in this life see the
good that comes from what I perceive as bad. I only see me and my time and my
place and my situation. I can’t see it all from my persepective.
Friday 1 March 2019
The Spirit helps
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. – Romans 8.26-27
There have been a couple of times in my life when I felt like things were so bad and desperate that we were in despair. We had no answers and it was so tough that we could not even come up with the words for prayer.
I remember one time in particular when something happened that I thought would send us back to America. I remember sitting in a room with my son when a doctor told us that his wife had leukaemia and might not survive the week. I remember when our daughter phoned to tell us that she had stage 3 breast cancer. In those days I didn’t know how to pray.
I remember those days and just telling God I didn’t know what to di or what to say. I remember well the comfort of the Holy Spirit as we realied on Him. I knew this promise and I sensed the comfort as He interceded for us an brough peace into our lives. Thank God that helps in days of desperation.
There have been a couple of times in my life when I felt like things were so bad and desperate that we were in despair. We had no answers and it was so tough that we could not even come up with the words for prayer.
I remember one time in particular when something happened that I thought would send us back to America. I remember sitting in a room with my son when a doctor told us that his wife had leukaemia and might not survive the week. I remember when our daughter phoned to tell us that she had stage 3 breast cancer. In those days I didn’t know how to pray.
I remember those days and just telling God I didn’t know what to di or what to say. I remember well the comfort of the Holy Spirit as we realied on Him. I knew this promise and I sensed the comfort as He interceded for us an brough peace into our lives. Thank God that helps in days of desperation.
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