Today I want to share with you all a few final words that I feel God has in store for me to share. Over the past several weeks, for those of you who have missed the messages or need a recap, we first began with The Spoken Prayer and looked briefly at what prayer is really about behind the traditions that we have and the way we perceive prayer in church today. Then we moved away from what we do during prayer and looked, if only for a moment, at the ways in which God responds in Quiet Answers. Now, before I move on from the topic of prayer, I want to end on several passages of Scripture that really feel as though they fit in the 'spoken' word sense nor in the 'answer' sense but in something that remains unspoken yet divine.
You see, there is a passage in Romans 8 that has kept me intrigued for a long time. Some of you may already be on the same train of thought as myself which concerns verses 18-27. Now, I'm not a big of expounding on large sections of Scripture at a time but I feel that it is necessary here in order to understand what Paul was sharing with the church in Rome.
Now, this particular chapter of Romans is a well-known one where Paul speaks about who we are in the Spirit and in Christ. How we have His Spirit that testifies that we are His children (v. 16), how our present sufferings are incomparable to the future glory we will behold (v. 18) and how, in His love, we are 'more than conquerors' (v. 37). Those are only a few of the handful of beautiful verses found in the chapter and I would encourage you to re-read it sometime this week because of its simple reminder of God's sovereignty and grace in our lives.
But before I get too sidetracked; in Romans 8:18-27, we find Paul speaking of our current sufferings and the future glory we will behold when we see Christ again.
To show the way the author writes it in verse 18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (NIV)
What an awesome verse! Here we find Paul speaking of all that will be revealed at the Second Coming of Christ. As we later read in the following verses, the author goes on to talk about how all creation, including ourselves, wait with urgency for His return so as to be free of this world and be with Him forever.
Now, some of you may be thinking "Dude, that's cool and all, but I thought this was about prayer, not the Second Coming."
Give me a moment... I'm getting to it. If I may, I want to share two more verses from the passage in order to set the context of where this message is headed.
In verses 24 and 25, it says,
"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (NIV)
God is moving, Christ is returning but He isn't doing this on our time frame because His agenda is larger than we can imagine. And because He knows this, He gives us His Spirit of patience so that we may serve while we wait for His return.
Here's the cool part that keeps me fascinated and is the main focus of today's message found in the next two verses.
In Romans 8:26-27, it says, " In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." (NIV)
This very same Spirit intercedes for us when we are unable to even find the words to express our innermost struggles!
The very same God who said "You know what? I'm going to re-build the bridge between You and me without you even lifting a finger by dying on the cross for you" is the very same God who says,
"When you no longer have the words to express the pain, the frustration or the hurt that you have, I not only know your pain better than you do, I can provide a way for you to persevere."
Do we ever wonder why we sometimes hear the testimonies of others who were struggling and were so consumed with grief or pain and yet God provided a miracle and answered an unspoken prayer? Don't get me wrong here, spoken prayer is crucial to us yet even when we can't find the words to express ourselves, God still ministers to us.
And I'm sure we all know a passage of Scripture that could probably show this in the practical sense. For me, this is found in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10,
"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. (v. 7-8 NIV)
Now, Paul doesn't give us a great deal to go with in terms of understanding here in verses 7 and 8 but there was once something I heard regarding Paul referring to his struggle as 'a thorn". It's as though Paul become so familiar with his struggle that each time he came to God in prayer, its as though he would find himself simply saying, "Hey dad, I just need to talk about the thorn again."
Don't some of our struggles, spoken or unspoken feel like that? That they come to the point where we are so consumed by it that we can no longer mention it or we simply don't bother? And so we resort to nicknaming it, but how many of us stop there and in doing so, we end up forgetting some of the most beautiful verses that follow in verses 9 and 10.
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (v. 9-10 NIV)
His grace is sufficient and because of this Paul was empowered and was able to delight in his hardship. And so can we.
I want to take a moment and recall one short phrase at the end of Romans 8:27. Notice what it says, "because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."
You see, its easy to recognise when we have sin in our lives and we struggle because of it. And what do we do? We repent and enjoy restored fellowship with Him again.
But what about when we suffer for doing good or we suffer in the midst of following God's will. Whether it be the loss of a loved one or the love we gave that was given in Christ is trampled on and our own hearts along with it. And we sometimes find ourselves wondering what God is doing, whether He is moving or whether He can still make a difference in our lives.
After all, we read in the Scriptures that is it is His very will that we suffer for doing good, "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." (1 Peter 3:17 NIV)
And yet the very Scriptures say that the Spirit intercedes in accordance with the will of God. In the midst of our trials and suffering for His Name's sake, He intercedes and provides that very sufficient grace that makes us strong in our weakness.
When we can't find the words, He can always find the strength and He will never leave us hanging.
God bless you all.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Quiet Answers
Today, I wanted to move onto a slightly different topic on prayer but after writing the previous message focusing mainly on traditions, I felt in debt to elaborate on a point that had been raised last week. A point that I feel is worth elaborating on and is crucial to our prayer life.
Last week the concept of conversation in prayer was discussed and how our prayers are more than simply our own requests going up to Heaven, but at also have to do with listening in response. And it would seem simple enough to think of it as us sending up our own prayer requests and thanksgiving for a given number of minutes and then listening to see if He responds in the moment with an audible voice.
But how often does it feel as though God speaks to us with an audible voice?
Don't get me wrong here, I don't intend to discredit those who claim to hear Him audibly. One testimony I heard of a man in prison talked about how God spoke to the man audibly at one point. The fact that the voice confirmed what would happen in the close future gave credit to the voice coming from God.
But when we look at the Old Testament and we hear how the Israelites would go and ask the LORD about whether they should go fight a certain nation or whether they should respond to this particular sin in this manner, and God would respond in what would seem an audible voice.
If we look at Judges 1 for example, the verse two verses say,
Again and again, we emphasise the importance of knowing God. Why? Because regardless of how this world changes and our prayer requests change from financial, to health, to marital, to family issues. God never changes.
Malachi 3:6a says, ""I the LORD do not change." (NIV)
And if God never changes, then the same answers that seemed crystal clear to the Israelites can be just as clear to us today because God is just as capable of answering our prayers today as He was capable of answer the prayers of the Israelites.
So before we ask ourselves whether we're listening, first we need to ask... do we know Him? Because once we know Him, then regardless of how He chooses to respond whether it be through Scripture, our circumstances, friends or even a stranger, we know He will respond and we know we will recognize His voice because we are His and He is ours and He won't leave us hanging.
And before I finish, I want to share a piece of wisdom that God taught me a few years ago:
"God's delays are not God's denials."
Remember, He works on His own time and His timing is always perfect.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV
Last week the concept of conversation in prayer was discussed and how our prayers are more than simply our own requests going up to Heaven, but at also have to do with listening in response. And it would seem simple enough to think of it as us sending up our own prayer requests and thanksgiving for a given number of minutes and then listening to see if He responds in the moment with an audible voice.
But how often does it feel as though God speaks to us with an audible voice?
Don't get me wrong here, I don't intend to discredit those who claim to hear Him audibly. One testimony I heard of a man in prison talked about how God spoke to the man audibly at one point. The fact that the voice confirmed what would happen in the close future gave credit to the voice coming from God.
But when we look at the Old Testament and we hear how the Israelites would go and ask the LORD about whether they should go fight a certain nation or whether they should respond to this particular sin in this manner, and God would respond in what would seem an audible voice.
If we look at Judges 1 for example, the verse two verses say,
"After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?” The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands."" (NIV)
I'm sure, in response to our own prayers, we would love to have such a clear cut answer as the Israelites were given by God again and again.
Now, this has the potential to raise the question of the means by which the LORD responded to the Israelites. I have always believed it was an audible voice. However, the truth is, concerning the point I'm trying to get at here, it doesn't matter.
Here is what really matters: that it is not necessarily the manner in which God spoke, but the confidence and certainty by which the Israelites knew that God had responded and that His answer was what He desired.
Because that's what we really desire when we pray, right? That confidence that when we feel we have received a response, that we know that He has responded and His answer will come through and prevail.
But listen to what Christ has to say.
Jesus Himself said in John 10:27, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (NIV)
Or as the New Living Translation puts it, "My sheep recognize my voice".
Just to give some context, in this passage, Jesus was responding to a question that it seems many people ask even today. The question posed to Him was, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly" (v. 24).
Doesn't that sound familiar?
"If only God would make Himself known or provide some miracle to show His existence or..." The list goes on, yet these are the exact same accusations and questions Christ faced while on earth posed to Him by those who considered Him as crazy, a blasphemer or demon-possessed.
"If only God would make Himself known or provide some miracle to show His existence or..." The list goes on, yet these are the exact same accusations and questions Christ faced while on earth posed to Him by those who considered Him as crazy, a blasphemer or demon-possessed.
But Jesus says His sheep recognize His voice. It seems too tempting to give into the belief that they had it easy in the Old Testament, that all that was required was to ask the prophet of the time to inquire for oneself what God wanted.
So if we don't hear an audible voice and yet know His voice, how does He respond?
Well, He can choose to respond however He desires. You see, we seem to focus too much on 'how' God responds. Sometimes, its tempting for us to hear the testimony of another Christian and think, "Aha, now I know how God will respond next time I pray."
But hearing His voice is not so much a matter of knowing how He will choose to respond, but a matter of simply knowing God.
Scripture is riddled with promise after promise for those who fear Him, for His children. Promises of asking and receiving, of our prayers being heard, of escape from temptation, forgiveness from sin and answers to prayer.
God may not respond with an audible voice, but He will respond nonetheless and not out of obligation in the sense that our faith forces Him to respond, but out of love and for the sake of His glory.
Malachi 3:6a says, ""I the LORD do not change." (NIV)
And if God never changes, then the same answers that seemed crystal clear to the Israelites can be just as clear to us today because God is just as capable of answering our prayers today as He was capable of answer the prayers of the Israelites.
So before we ask ourselves whether we're listening, first we need to ask... do we know Him? Because once we know Him, then regardless of how He chooses to respond whether it be through Scripture, our circumstances, friends or even a stranger, we know He will respond and we know we will recognize His voice because we are His and He is ours and He won't leave us hanging.
And before I finish, I want to share a piece of wisdom that God taught me a few years ago:
"God's delays are not God's denials."
Remember, He works on His own time and His timing is always perfect.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV
Monday, April 15, 2013
The Spoken Prayer
It is no surprise when we are ridiculed as Christians. That is just the way it happens, just as it has been prophesied. And many aspects of the Christian life are ridiculed to a large extent but the one aspect that I find that is ridiculed a lot more than others, though this is only my own observation, is prayer.
One of the comments that frustrates me the most is when people say two hands working can do more than a thousand together in prayer because such a phrase shows how much we have come to misunderstand prayer itself. So, hopefully, in my own finite ways, God will teach us something today.
When we think about prayer, what do we imagine? A church with closed eyes, clasped hands and bowed heads? A lone voice speaking on behalf of the masses? A few silent but moving mouths in prayer? When I think about the way prayer is portrayed today, I ask myself whether my prayer will be any less valuable if my eyes are open and my arms outstretched.
But let's take a step back for a moment, and look at something we are far more familiar with found in Mathew 6:5-6:
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (NIV)
In Jesus' sermon on the mount, we hear Him reminding us to be secretive in the way we serve. And it seems quite clear why He would warn us of this because our incredible vulnerability to pride. Whether its giving to the poor or praying out loud, if we are not careful, we can lead ourselves to become prideful in our ways and in doing so we miss out on a godly reward that He has in store for us.
Now, don't get me wrong here. I believe public prayer within church is a beautiful thing. What I am meaning is that we must guard our hearts, as we are so often reminded of in Scripture. Prayer is not something God has provided for our own personal gain and it is so, so much more than empty words spoken from a prideful heart. But prayer, as we will later look at, is as much concerned about our own changing hearts, as it is about our spoken words.
This leads us with no surprise to what Christ says in the following two verses:
"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (NIV)
I'm not much of a Bible scholar compared to some but I would assume that the same people who prayed in public to gain an earthly reward are the same ones called 'pagans' who babbled on. And I don't think there's much interpretation needed here as Christ couldn't be much clearer than this. God knows us better than we know ourselves so how could we fool Him by trying to repeat the same request in five different ways or that by making our prayer ten minutes longer, that He is bound to hear us for certain.
I don't mean to crticise anyone with those words. I know that in our times of distress we can do nothing more than beg for His mercy and cry out to Him repeating the same words that express our pain.
What this leads us to conclude is that Christ desires sincerity. As we are told in Hebrew 10:22 to draw near with a sincere heart and in the final chapter of James, that it is the prayer of a righteous man that prevails.
But I want to take this chance to raise an interesting question about prayer that this passage in Matthew begs an answer for.
If God is sovereign in His ways, if He is all-knowing that He should not need some human request in order to make the right choice, if He is bound to act on the behalf of the good of those who love Him, then why do we pray?
For some of you, passages of Scripture will quickly come to mind where it feels as though God has changed His mind: Abraham's requests of behalf of the few righteous or Moses' prayer on behalf of the Israelites. It feels as though, somehow, based on these passages, God is able to change His mind and since His ways are perfect, then He would have made a mistake had He not changed His mind based on the request of His servant!
And if that were so, then He is prone to being imperfect which would leave us with a serious theological issue.
But this... this is where prayer gets interesting. This is where we come back to the purpose of prayer, because prayer is a conversation. Prayer is as much about listening to God, as it is about speaking.
If it were not so, then what would be the purpose of such passages as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 where we are told to "pray without ceasing" (NIV).
I don't intend on talking 24/7 without taking a moment to listen.
So then, if prayer is as much about listening as it is about talking, then perhaps its more than the supposed idea that God changes His mind at our request.
Perhaps it simply has more to do with us allowing Him to change us instead.
If we take a moment and look at the way Scripture presents the way we receive gifts from God, what does it say?
Matthew 7:11 NIV, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Again and again, Scripture tells us to ask and receive. And if we look at Philippians 4, we see that 'the peace that transcends all understanding' comes as a result of prayer and petition to God.
Just like any conversation with someone, when you share your deepest concerns, you open yourself up to them and in turn, their counsel can change you. Why should this be any different with God? If we share our deepest desires, hopes and concerns, then He is just as able to change our hearts.
The more we ask and cry out with a sincere heart, then will He not change us?
The more I think about the supposed instances where God seemed to change His mind, the more I believe those moments were more about God changing the hearts of men, than men changing God.
There is so much more than can be said about prayer and even in saying all of this I feel as though I have barely touched the surface of matters, but I want to bring this message round in full circle before I finish.
It feels as though Scripture does not present this idea of bowed heads, closed eyes and clasped hands when it comes to prayer. If anything, when it speaks of how to pray, Scripture is more concerned with the internal than the external.
So then why do we do it? Is not prayer with open arms, heads lifted high and eyes open wide just as valid?
Regardless of how we choose to pray and in the manner we choose to not only cry out, but to also listen, God, above all else, desires our sincere attention. It seems all too simplistic to say that by closing our eyes we close off the distractions that can hinder us from hearing God, but at the same time it seems all the more true. Now, I don't claim to know the origins behind such traditions with prayer but I would be willing to say that this reason can be just as valid.
And again, why else would we bow our heads other than to show reverence to this awesome God we serve?
Wholehearted attention and reverence. He deserves nothing less, and in view of His majesty, a prideful heart and empty words seem like nothing but foolishness.
But prayer goes much deeper than words, and at times it seems all to true that just as many unspoken prayers are answered as those which are spoken. But that's a whole other message for next week.
God bless you all.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
One of the comments that frustrates me the most is when people say two hands working can do more than a thousand together in prayer because such a phrase shows how much we have come to misunderstand prayer itself. So, hopefully, in my own finite ways, God will teach us something today.
When we think about prayer, what do we imagine? A church with closed eyes, clasped hands and bowed heads? A lone voice speaking on behalf of the masses? A few silent but moving mouths in prayer? When I think about the way prayer is portrayed today, I ask myself whether my prayer will be any less valuable if my eyes are open and my arms outstretched.
But let's take a step back for a moment, and look at something we are far more familiar with found in Mathew 6:5-6:
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (NIV)
In Jesus' sermon on the mount, we hear Him reminding us to be secretive in the way we serve. And it seems quite clear why He would warn us of this because our incredible vulnerability to pride. Whether its giving to the poor or praying out loud, if we are not careful, we can lead ourselves to become prideful in our ways and in doing so we miss out on a godly reward that He has in store for us.
Now, don't get me wrong here. I believe public prayer within church is a beautiful thing. What I am meaning is that we must guard our hearts, as we are so often reminded of in Scripture. Prayer is not something God has provided for our own personal gain and it is so, so much more than empty words spoken from a prideful heart. But prayer, as we will later look at, is as much concerned about our own changing hearts, as it is about our spoken words.
This leads us with no surprise to what Christ says in the following two verses:
"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (NIV)
I'm not much of a Bible scholar compared to some but I would assume that the same people who prayed in public to gain an earthly reward are the same ones called 'pagans' who babbled on. And I don't think there's much interpretation needed here as Christ couldn't be much clearer than this. God knows us better than we know ourselves so how could we fool Him by trying to repeat the same request in five different ways or that by making our prayer ten minutes longer, that He is bound to hear us for certain.
I don't mean to crticise anyone with those words. I know that in our times of distress we can do nothing more than beg for His mercy and cry out to Him repeating the same words that express our pain.
What this leads us to conclude is that Christ desires sincerity. As we are told in Hebrew 10:22 to draw near with a sincere heart and in the final chapter of James, that it is the prayer of a righteous man that prevails.
But I want to take this chance to raise an interesting question about prayer that this passage in Matthew begs an answer for.
If God is sovereign in His ways, if He is all-knowing that He should not need some human request in order to make the right choice, if He is bound to act on the behalf of the good of those who love Him, then why do we pray?
For some of you, passages of Scripture will quickly come to mind where it feels as though God has changed His mind: Abraham's requests of behalf of the few righteous or Moses' prayer on behalf of the Israelites. It feels as though, somehow, based on these passages, God is able to change His mind and since His ways are perfect, then He would have made a mistake had He not changed His mind based on the request of His servant!
And if that were so, then He is prone to being imperfect which would leave us with a serious theological issue.
But this... this is where prayer gets interesting. This is where we come back to the purpose of prayer, because prayer is a conversation. Prayer is as much about listening to God, as it is about speaking.
If it were not so, then what would be the purpose of such passages as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 where we are told to "pray without ceasing" (NIV).
I don't intend on talking 24/7 without taking a moment to listen.
So then, if prayer is as much about listening as it is about talking, then perhaps its more than the supposed idea that God changes His mind at our request.
Perhaps it simply has more to do with us allowing Him to change us instead.
If we take a moment and look at the way Scripture presents the way we receive gifts from God, what does it say?
Matthew 7:11 NIV, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Again and again, Scripture tells us to ask and receive. And if we look at Philippians 4, we see that 'the peace that transcends all understanding' comes as a result of prayer and petition to God.
Just like any conversation with someone, when you share your deepest concerns, you open yourself up to them and in turn, their counsel can change you. Why should this be any different with God? If we share our deepest desires, hopes and concerns, then He is just as able to change our hearts.
The more we ask and cry out with a sincere heart, then will He not change us?
The more I think about the supposed instances where God seemed to change His mind, the more I believe those moments were more about God changing the hearts of men, than men changing God.
There is so much more than can be said about prayer and even in saying all of this I feel as though I have barely touched the surface of matters, but I want to bring this message round in full circle before I finish.
It feels as though Scripture does not present this idea of bowed heads, closed eyes and clasped hands when it comes to prayer. If anything, when it speaks of how to pray, Scripture is more concerned with the internal than the external.
So then why do we do it? Is not prayer with open arms, heads lifted high and eyes open wide just as valid?
Regardless of how we choose to pray and in the manner we choose to not only cry out, but to also listen, God, above all else, desires our sincere attention. It seems all too simplistic to say that by closing our eyes we close off the distractions that can hinder us from hearing God, but at the same time it seems all the more true. Now, I don't claim to know the origins behind such traditions with prayer but I would be willing to say that this reason can be just as valid.
And again, why else would we bow our heads other than to show reverence to this awesome God we serve?
Wholehearted attention and reverence. He deserves nothing less, and in view of His majesty, a prideful heart and empty words seem like nothing but foolishness.
But prayer goes much deeper than words, and at times it seems all to true that just as many unspoken prayers are answered as those which are spoken. But that's a whole other message for next week.
God bless you all.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
Monday, April 8, 2013
The known God
Now that the celebrations of Easter are over as Pentecost comes around, I want to look at something that we find in Acts, which isn't exactly related to the festivities going on at the moment but, eh, what gives.
For those of you who are familiar with the book of Acts, I'm sure you would have heard of the story of the people in Athens found in Acts 17.
During this time, Paul is debating in the synagogue and during the meeting, he stands up and begins to proclaim the Gospel. This is how he begins in Acts 17:22-23a,
"Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you." (NIV)
Its very easy to get caught up in being 'religious' without knowing the living God. The Pharisees managed to do it. They demanded the crucifiction of God in the flesh.
And I'm not sure we're all that different. We may not physically crucify Him, but we become prideful in our ways. As what was talked about several weeks ago about the grace of God and how we sometimes have a tendency to think that we deserve God's grace... but that other person down the road? Nah, not a chance.
At what point do we get so out of touch with God that He becomes the unknown God in our lives?
I ask this because of a warning that God gives to Israel a number of times in Deuteronomy. I'm trying (note: 'trying') to get through the Bible in a year and as I read through the Old Testament, I notice how several times in the book of Deuteronomy, when God speaks out against false gods, the attribute of these 'gods' that He repeats is this,
"the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known."
"Of which you have not known". And remember, this is God-breathed Scripture we are talking about. God could have mentioned any other attribute: "which have no power/authority/being/life".
"Which you have not known."
Too many people think of God as some derelict God who winds up the clocks of time and leaves it there and yet this very same apathetic behaviour He speaks out against.
Or maybe its not that, maybe it isn't about religious pride but, instead, someone was hurt in their past by their father and because of that, this idea of a Godly Father figure just seems too unbelievable and too big to be known.
Listen to the first proclamation that Paul says in the rest of Acts 17:23b,
"Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." (NIV)
Each one of the reasons that make us feel bitter towards God as if He doesn't care about what we're going through can cause just as resentment towards God as the last one.
But this God we serve? Man, this is a very, personal God who cares about us.
A lot of the time we talk about how God moves for His glory, brings salvation for His glory, works our His will for His glory. But all of what He did as well is throughout the Old Testament and into the New is summed up in what Paul says in verse 27.
"God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:27 NIV)
In John 14:7, Jesus proclaims that since we have known Him, we know the Father.
Matthew 10:29-31 NIV says,"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
And this love that God has for His people. This isn't something new.
Isaiah 40:27-28 NIV, says, "Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom."
And again, "Do you not know?"
Not only is God concerned, but He is also capable and He wants us to know this so we may trust in Him.
And our trust in Him isn't blind in that He's some distant God that we have no clue about. He longs for us to know and simply know who He is so that we may trust.
And this very same God that is not far from us, is the same God who decided that despite our failings and sin, that He would reconcile ourselves to Him. And whether its in our pain our in our prideful religion that we come to forget Him, He remains the same.
This is the very same God who proclaims "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10 NIV).
So regardless of what you are struggling with, know that He wants you to rest in the knowledge that He alone is the everlasting God who is very, very known to us.
And He has made Himself known through His Word, all it takes is for us to ask Him to reveal Himself and He will.
God bless you all.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV
For those of you who are familiar with the book of Acts, I'm sure you would have heard of the story of the people in Athens found in Acts 17.
During this time, Paul is debating in the synagogue and during the meeting, he stands up and begins to proclaim the Gospel. This is how he begins in Acts 17:22-23a,
"Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you." (NIV)
Its very easy to get caught up in being 'religious' without knowing the living God. The Pharisees managed to do it. They demanded the crucifiction of God in the flesh.
And I'm not sure we're all that different. We may not physically crucify Him, but we become prideful in our ways. As what was talked about several weeks ago about the grace of God and how we sometimes have a tendency to think that we deserve God's grace... but that other person down the road? Nah, not a chance.
At what point do we get so out of touch with God that He becomes the unknown God in our lives?
I ask this because of a warning that God gives to Israel a number of times in Deuteronomy. I'm trying (note: 'trying') to get through the Bible in a year and as I read through the Old Testament, I notice how several times in the book of Deuteronomy, when God speaks out against false gods, the attribute of these 'gods' that He repeats is this,
"the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known."
"Of which you have not known". And remember, this is God-breathed Scripture we are talking about. God could have mentioned any other attribute: "which have no power/authority/being/life".
"Which you have not known."
Too many people think of God as some derelict God who winds up the clocks of time and leaves it there and yet this very same apathetic behaviour He speaks out against.
Or maybe its not that, maybe it isn't about religious pride but, instead, someone was hurt in their past by their father and because of that, this idea of a Godly Father figure just seems too unbelievable and too big to be known.
Listen to the first proclamation that Paul says in the rest of Acts 17:23b,
"Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." (NIV)
Each one of the reasons that make us feel bitter towards God as if He doesn't care about what we're going through can cause just as resentment towards God as the last one.
But this God we serve? Man, this is a very, personal God who cares about us.
A lot of the time we talk about how God moves for His glory, brings salvation for His glory, works our His will for His glory. But all of what He did as well is throughout the Old Testament and into the New is summed up in what Paul says in verse 27.
"God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:27 NIV)
In John 14:7, Jesus proclaims that since we have known Him, we know the Father.
Matthew 10:29-31 NIV says,"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
And this love that God has for His people. This isn't something new.
Isaiah 40:27-28 NIV, says, "Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom."
And again, "Do you not know?"
Not only is God concerned, but He is also capable and He wants us to know this so we may trust in Him.
And our trust in Him isn't blind in that He's some distant God that we have no clue about. He longs for us to know and simply know who He is so that we may trust.
And this very same God that is not far from us, is the same God who decided that despite our failings and sin, that He would reconcile ourselves to Him. And whether its in our pain our in our prideful religion that we come to forget Him, He remains the same.
This is the very same God who proclaims "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10 NIV).
So regardless of what you are struggling with, know that He wants you to rest in the knowledge that He alone is the everlasting God who is very, very known to us.
And He has made Himself known through His Word, all it takes is for us to ask Him to reveal Himself and He will.
God bless you all.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV
Monday, April 1, 2013
The Resurrected Body
Happy Easter to you all. I hope you all had a good time, whatever you got up to. Me? I slept in, did homework and played games... well I do that every Sunday. Meh. However, since it was Easter, again I feel compelled to write on something in relation to the resurrection.
And it feels almost troubling in a sense how we sometimes have a tendency to neglect the resurrection. I'm not sure how many of you will agree with me on that, I know there are millions of professing Christians in the world and I'm sure there are many who do incorporate this phenomenon far more than myself.
But just roll with me on this one.
How often do we hear people say "God loves you so much that He died for your sins"? It has to be the most common phrase used when it comes to sharing the Gospel. Of course, its necessary in order to share the Good News.
But how often do we hear people say "God loves you so much that He resurrected His body for you?"
That almost sounds a little weird. Sure, its in the Gospel message, but notice Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19,
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[a] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." (NIV)
If we do not have the resurrection, we were never new creations.
If Christ had not risen, we would never make it to Heaven.
If that the cross was the end of it, then we may as well not be Christians.
This is the truth of the matter with the resurrection. This is how crucial it is to our faith.
Let's back up for a moment to the cross where Jesus hung. On that cross, He bore the sins of the world, yours and mine. He received the full blow of God's wrath so that we wouldn't have to receive the punishment.
But here is our predicament. When Adam sinned, when he ate the forbidden fruit, we were brought into a state of depravity. For all intents and purposes, we died spiritually and came into bondage with death and sin.
Now, when Christ came and died, His death first made the way that we needed. It provided the atonement, the covering of our sin. It provided that intercession we need with God, but there was still this bondage to sin and death in our lives.
It was not enough for Him to simply die. Our God is a holy God and we couldn't be reconciled to Him without the bondage being broken.
For the wages of sin is death, and Christ died. But it is through His resurrection that He broke the curse.
This is the importance of the resurrection because it is vital for our renewal in Christ. We are called as Christians to DIE to ourselves so that we may LIVE in Christ.
And this doctrine is incorporated into one of the most common Christian practices.
Why do we get baptised? To symbolise death to self and resurrection in Christ.
Romans 6:5-7 say, "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin."
We are united with Him in the resurrection so that we are no longer slaves to sin.
Now, this is essentially all doctrine. But what about the application? I personally find a sermon frustrating when I'm not provided with a reason why the message applies to me and my spiritual life (or the audience in general) so I don't intend to leave you hanging.
The application I give to you is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20. After Paul has provided all of these arguments as to the importance of the resurrection and its necessity to our faith, the simplicity of his conclusion is amazing.
"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead." (NIV)
That's it. The undisputed claim that He has been raised from the dead.
This is the confidence God calls us to and it is this very same confidence that can lead us to worship and sing,
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
So the next time you find yourself recalling the love of God shown through the crucifixion remember also that the cross on which Jesus hung is an empty cross. And the grave in which He lay is a hollow tomb because not only did God love you enough to die for you, He desired you enough to free from you from bondage by breaking the curse through His resurrection.
God bless you all.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV
And it feels almost troubling in a sense how we sometimes have a tendency to neglect the resurrection. I'm not sure how many of you will agree with me on that, I know there are millions of professing Christians in the world and I'm sure there are many who do incorporate this phenomenon far more than myself.
But just roll with me on this one.
How often do we hear people say "God loves you so much that He died for your sins"? It has to be the most common phrase used when it comes to sharing the Gospel. Of course, its necessary in order to share the Good News.
But how often do we hear people say "God loves you so much that He resurrected His body for you?"
That almost sounds a little weird. Sure, its in the Gospel message, but notice Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19,
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[a] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." (NIV)
If we do not have the resurrection, we were never new creations.
If Christ had not risen, we would never make it to Heaven.
If that the cross was the end of it, then we may as well not be Christians.
This is the truth of the matter with the resurrection. This is how crucial it is to our faith.
Let's back up for a moment to the cross where Jesus hung. On that cross, He bore the sins of the world, yours and mine. He received the full blow of God's wrath so that we wouldn't have to receive the punishment.
But here is our predicament. When Adam sinned, when he ate the forbidden fruit, we were brought into a state of depravity. For all intents and purposes, we died spiritually and came into bondage with death and sin.
Now, when Christ came and died, His death first made the way that we needed. It provided the atonement, the covering of our sin. It provided that intercession we need with God, but there was still this bondage to sin and death in our lives.
It was not enough for Him to simply die. Our God is a holy God and we couldn't be reconciled to Him without the bondage being broken.
For the wages of sin is death, and Christ died. But it is through His resurrection that He broke the curse.
This is the importance of the resurrection because it is vital for our renewal in Christ. We are called as Christians to DIE to ourselves so that we may LIVE in Christ.
And this doctrine is incorporated into one of the most common Christian practices.
Why do we get baptised? To symbolise death to self and resurrection in Christ.
Romans 6:5-7 say, "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin."
We are united with Him in the resurrection so that we are no longer slaves to sin.
Now, this is essentially all doctrine. But what about the application? I personally find a sermon frustrating when I'm not provided with a reason why the message applies to me and my spiritual life (or the audience in general) so I don't intend to leave you hanging.
The application I give to you is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20. After Paul has provided all of these arguments as to the importance of the resurrection and its necessity to our faith, the simplicity of his conclusion is amazing.
"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead." (NIV)
That's it. The undisputed claim that He has been raised from the dead.
This is the confidence God calls us to and it is this very same confidence that can lead us to worship and sing,
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
So the next time you find yourself recalling the love of God shown through the crucifixion remember also that the cross on which Jesus hung is an empty cross. And the grave in which He lay is a hollow tomb because not only did God love you enough to die for you, He desired you enough to free from you from bondage by breaking the curse through His resurrection.
God bless you all.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV
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