Thursday, 13 October 2016
Planned Neglect
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Promises, Promises
Thursday, 2 June 2016
Prodigals
Friday, 27 May 2016
Forgetfulness
Forgetfulness
Failure to Remember.
Philippians 3 v 13b-14
“but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the past. Sometimes it’s past achievements we rest on, where we’ve become proud of ourselves and allowed ourselves to get complacent. Sometimes it’s past hurts we refuse to let go of which can make us bitter and stagnant. Both will stunt our growth and keep us, motionless, where we are.
God’s Word tells us to forget the things in our past that would hinder us. Those things are different for each of us I am sure. To forget something means “to fail to remember” it. I wonder what things might be keeping us from reaching forward – stretching with outstretched hands – to the things God has prepared for our future. What is holding us back from pressing towards that final, glorious goal and winning the prize? What are we holding onto that makes us too emotionally drained to exert the continuous physical force we need to “press” toward that goal? What open sores do we keep poking at, never allowing to heal?
If it’s a broken heart from a failed relationship, then take comfort in the fact that the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart (Psalm 34v18). Take Him at His Word. If it’s bereavement, He will comfort you in your mourning (Matthew 5v4). If it’s guilt that is crippling you and causing you to keep looking over your shoulder at your sin and the aftermath of it, then you need to remember Psalm 103v12 where He promises to remove our sins from us, as far as the east is from the west. Where we have made poor choices in our family lives, and lacked integrity and fairness in the past, all we need to do is ask for wisdom for the future and He will grant it (James 1v5).
We need not be crippled by the things we are ashamed of in our pasts. If we are truly repentant, we are forgiven. There is now no condemnation for us. Let’s live like we believe that.
But let us also repent of our good deeds, which are filthy rags in His sight. Let us consider everything rubbish compared to knowing Jesus as Lord. Our righteousness does not come from any good works that we do, which we give ourselves a pat on the back for. It comes from God, on the basis of faith. He loves us not because of who we are and what we’ve done, but purely because of who HE is and what HE has accomplished on our behalf.
With this in mind, let’s drop all the baggage and vanity we are holding onto, and strain forward towards far better things. Let us learn to forget.
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
Patience is a virtue
but one who is quick-tempered displays folly." Proverbs 14v29.
Wednesday, 23 March 2016
Exceedingly Abundantly
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Sister Act
Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
At a time when Christian women are being bombarded with false and insipid teaching, it's incredibly important for us to find like-minded female Christian friends to uphold, support and encourage us.
If we're not careful of the company we keep, Proverbs tells us we'll suffer harm.
This is relevant to me today because I have the privilege of meeting a good Christian friend for coffee after work. It's a win-win situation: coffee AND great company! Since I am a caffeine addict and have been known to like a good "blether", I'm looking forward to it.
This lady epitomises the Proverbs 31 woman and I am in awe of her. Having lost my own mum in my 30s, and having my only sister living across the Atlantic, this friendship means a great deal to me since I can count on one hand the amount of people I consider Godly women in my life.
It's a joy to have a friend I can share Christian literature with. To share hospitality with. To study the bible with. To pray with, and know she upholds me and my family in prayer as well. To open my heart to, knowing I won't be judged, but perhaps gently corrected if need be. These are the friendships we need, ladies. These are the friendships that we need to get excited over. I have discovered some Sisters in Christ recently who I know without a shadow of a doubt, I'll meet one day when we get to heaven. That makes me smile, because I won't meet them on this earth given our geographic locations and distance from one another. But I am so thankful for their influence and encouragement even from afar.
But I also have to stop and ask myself, "What kind of friend am I?" It's great to have Godly women pouring in to my life, but am I learning from that and being the friend God would want me to be? It's not all about what I can get, but should be about what I can give, too.
To have Sisters in Christ is a wonderful blessing. I'd like to encourage you to be a blessing in return. There are so many ways we can minister, if we are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as confirmed by His Word. There is so much we can model to other women who may be younger in their faith and need some guidance. What example are we showing in our marriages? Are we scripturally submissive, or do we scoff at that notion? What messages are we sending out about being a Godly mother? If we are wavering on these points, we need to seek out mature women to teach us, as described in Titus 2:3-5. This depicts the picture of grounded Christian women teaching those who are less mature in their faith.
Whether you fall into the category of the more mature Christian Sister, or the younger, not-long-started-on-the-narrow-path Christian Sister, it is vital that we learn from one another, uphold one another, stick together and thank God for that common ground that is only made possible by the power of His resurrection and his acceptance of us into His family once we have been made right with Him.
"I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God
I've been washed at the fountain, cleansed by his blood
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God".
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Defiance and Defeat
I've been reading in Joshua the story of how the Israelites were defeated at Ai, immediately after their resounding victory at Jericho. They couldn't believe that after such success, came crushing defeat.
The Lord had led them to defeat Jericho but told them not to take any of the spoils for themselves, because certain items were to be devoted to the Lord. They were explicitly told, in Joshua 6:18-19 "by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord."
The Lord's command was very clear and unambiguous.
Achan decided to disobey, and take from Jericho, some of the items which were to be consecrated to the Lord, and his defiance not only consequently brought defeat at Ai, but cost him and his family their lives, just as God had clearly told them would happen if they disobeyed.
God finds Joshua flat on his face wailing and moping after their defeat at Ai, and basically tells him he can't expect to be victorious against his enemy, whilst disobedience and defiance run rampant in the camp. God's presence was no longer with them. However he gives them a chance to put it right and come into communion with him again once the sin was purged from among them.
It made me wonder about the sins we harbour in our own lives, or try to hide, as Achan did, hoping no one will notice. The things that God can't bless us in. The things that cause Him to turn His face from us because He is a Holy God. Are we being defeated in areas of our lives and pretending we don't know why? Are we on our faces crying out to the Lord, "Why me?" when we know we are breaking his commands and breaking His heart? Do we think there are no consequences to our sin? Of course there are. Unless we get before God and confess, seeking his forgiveness, the consequence will be the same as Achan faced. Spiritual and physical death.
Each of us may have our own "accursed thing" that is keeping us from a closer walk with God. Have we gone our own way even though He's blessed us and given us victory in certain areas of our lives? Have we become cocky in our own strength? Do we think we know better and can flout his commands and expect Him to turn a blind eye? When God gives us his Word, and we deliberately disobey it, we have no excuse. We cannot say "but I didn't know ..." because he makes his expectations very clear. Whether we like them or not is a different matter. We are to be consecrated and set apart, a holy people, not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds. What things have a hold on us that we need to release? What are the things we are holding onto out of selfish ambition? What things do we need to fall on our face before God about, sincerely seeking his forgiveness and help?
I am not a believer in the prosperity gospel. God does not bless us with financial gain, perfect health, a bigger house, a fancy car, the salvation of our children on demand, etc, just because we're saved or because we speak it into existence with positive words or because we've paid lip service to conquering a few more sins. He promises us that in the final analysis, all things will work together for good (Romans 8:28) but we're not promised plain sailing in this world. Quite the opposite in fact. We're told we WILL have trouble in this world, but the good news is that Christ has overcome the world. Addressing the hidden sin in our lives is not the green card to your happy ever after on this earth, but it is the key to a closer walk with your Saviour. Let's throw off the things that have even a whiff of evil about them, so that we are unencumbered and able to follow the path laid out before us in order to claim the rewards we are promised in heaven.
It's important for all of us to turn over to God, those things that we know the Holy Spirit is convicting us of. Flirting with your co-workers is not innocent. Gossiping is not harmless. Arrogance is not becoming. Immodesty is provocative and Jezebel-like. Impatience is not "just the way you are". Sleeping with your partner just because you're getting married anyway, is not ok. Seek His Word. Pursue holiness.
Obedience brings victory, but defiance brings defeat.
Lord open our eyes to the accursed things in our own lives that we may gain favour in your eyes and be close to you once again.
Friday, 22 January 2016
Pie of the Humble kind
Proverbs 1:7b
"Fools despise wisdom and instruction"
I've been a Christian since I was 7 years old. I was brought up in a bible believing church, attended Sunday school, youth meetings, prayer meetings, weekend socials, church camp, and even taught Sunday school to pre-schoolers.
You'd think I'd have a great grasp of the Word of God, wouldn't you? Well, I certainly thought so. I did well in the Quizzes, the Sunday School exams, I read "the manual" of my church as a teenager, I kept a diary of my daily devotions and prayer times, I highlighted passages in my bible, stuffed it full of "holy" bookmarks and was thrilled when it started to fall apart because that meant it had seen a great deal of use and I must be a pretty good Christian as a result.
I coasted along nicely until I met someone who started to say things that challenged my core beliefs. The things that the bible definitely told me. I read it. It was in there. I don't know where, but it was in there. How dare they say such things when I knew better. How dare they be so sure THEY were right when it was obvious I was right and they were wrong? And anyway, they'd only been saved 5 minutes.
"Did you know it wasn't actually an apple in the garden of Eden that Eve took? The bible doesn't say it was an apple".
"Do you know the sinner's prayer is not biblical at all? You won't find anyone mentioning it in the bible".
"Do you know that repentance means to "change your mind"?
What? Of course it was an apple! It's right there in Genesis! We were taught all about the forbidden fruit and it was an apple! And what do you mean the sinner's prayer isn't in the bible? How else are we supposed to ask Jesus into our heart? What do you mean that's another phrase that's man made? And I'm good with words. I KNOW Repentance means to say you're sorry. So there. Go back and rethink your position.
Such simple things I'd picked up and believed without questioning; things I'd taken for granted for most of my adult life. What an eye opener to actually realise I had been wrong all this time. Pass me a shovel for this humble pie I have to eat.
No one likes to be proved wrong, especially in an area they see themselves as an expert. And especially NOT by someone who is a newbie to the whole Christianity thing and has barely started his walk with God.
It sparked more of a hunger for the Word of God. The true, unadulterated, actual, unambiguous Word, to understand more. Where else had I been wrong? I needed to put it right and not carry on down the path of blind assumption.
God has been gracious in opening my eyes to things I hadn't noticed before. Small things perhaps, but things that are exciting to learn about. Bigger things too. Things that matter.
So after I got over being humiliated by that man, and having to rethink some pretty basic things, I did the only thing I could do. I married him!
Sometimes we are quick to shut someone down because of our own arrogance and pride. Especially if that person has a colourful past. Maybe we look at their lives and see the sin they have been delivered from, and lord it over them. Maybe we don't want to take advice from someone like that. We operate on a "what do they know?" mentality.
What right do we have? Can't God use broken and dirty vessels once he's taken them, fixed them, and given them a purpose? Of course He can. He makes all things beautiful in His time. Some of us take longer than others. I'm just grateful for a Godly husband to make this journey with me. We may be imperfect but we are His and He's at work in us.