The Journey - With Friends

A good walk can be made better (or worse) depending on the company you keep along the way. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who is hard work? Take that short time, and multiply it many times over because when you are on a long walk with friends that 10 miles can feel like 20 if the talk of your travelling companion is difficult.

It’s a good thing to plan your route and even more important that you choose your walking partners carefully. That’s not to say that some folks have no worth. They will be worth their weight in gold under different circumstances, but when you are side by side for such a long time, it is essential you make the journey as enjoyable as possible.

We all have friends in our lives whose company we enjoy. Maybe we have been friends since school days, but on our faith walk it becomes apparent very quickly that the common ground of conversation and lifestyle is not quite the same. You might want to enjoy the wonder of creation and talk about your friend and Saviour, the Creator. On the other hand if your walking partner wants to brag about their pub, club and Godless lifestyle, it can and will sour the experience of the journey. I am not saying our friends must all be Christians, but be careful not to exclude them as we try to look ‘cool’ and in touch with the world.

Our faith journey is a very special one, and the road can be narrow, so making room beside you for a like minded person just makes sense. And let’s face it, that narrow path is not the one chosen by some of our friends. They may stay our friends, but at the end of the trek, we will have a different destination. That’s worth keeping in mind when we start choosing. As a final thought, I have noticed that my true friends who have lasted are also the ones of like mind. Some of the pals made in my youth have become occasional colleagues now. To any younger readers, I would suggest that you take good care of the people who surround you. They may all be your friends now, but the real friends who will last will be more than just those who make you laugh now!

God’s temple cannot have anything to do with idols, and we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will live with them and walk with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. So come away from those people and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch anything that is not clean, and I will accept you. I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord All-Powerful. 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

Symphony Of Praise

Encourage each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Psalm 100:1,2

So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16

When we come to God, once we claim Him as Lord, we will bring (or at least try to bring) our best gifts and talents for His good pleasure to use, and we do this willingly. Our gifts or offerings are useful in God’s hands and we must let him be God. But he does not like our second best, especially when we already know it’s second best. These best gifts could include speaking, teaching, preaching, music, singing, friendships, fellowships, and the list could go on.

Is it good enough to offer God a cacophony of disharmonic noise when we can offer Him the better offering of music and song straight from a redeemed and thankful heart?

At harvest time, Cain brought a gift to the Lord. He brought some of the food that he grew from the ground, but Abel brought some animals from his flock. He chose some of his best sheep and brought the best parts from them. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift. But he did not accept Cain and his offering. Cain was sad because of this, and he became very angry. The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don’t, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it.” Genesis 4:4-7

The Journey - Part Way

You have a 12 mile walk or hike to the top, and you get half way. One of two things can happen. Either you are so encouraged at the progress you have made, it makes you look forward to the next part … OR you are footsore, weary, and thirsty because you have drunk all the water already, and you dread the remaining trek to the summit. The pictures in the brochure or map looked good, but you hadn’t accounted for the pain and blisters.

This is the dangerous time. It will take you the same time to get back to the safety of the car, as it will to continue up. If you turn back, you know you will feel defeated but you are so very tired. One thing is certain. You can’t stay where you are. You either go up or down, and the choice is yours alone.

At this point it is always a good thing to sit down, and drink in the view. Did I really make it to this point, and seeing the scenery from this height is spectacular. As you take your time to take in the view and rest, you wonder at creation. How can there NOT be a God? Someone is responsible for this panorama, because you realise again that it didn’t all happen by accident, or the randomness of evolution. Before you know it, you are refreshed and ready to carry on.

So too with our journey heavenward. Partway to our destination, we might get discouraged. Maybe it’s a family illness, or a death, or a financial difficulty you hadn’t planned for. In any case we falter. Right then, we need to sit down, and drink from the memories you have of the many promises God has already kept, and His provision in the past as you travelled to this point. He always saw you through bad times before, so why would God not see you to the summit from this point of despair too? Bring those Bible verses you memorised in Sunday School to mind, and look up. You might even want to pray, and why not? After a breather, and a rest, things can look clearer and before you know it you are on your feet ready to climb again!

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Matthew 11:28 Msg

Out With The Old

So don’t remember (dwell on) what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! Isaiah 43:18,19

We all go through periods of change, and we always know it will be for the better. Change is needed because we have built up habits over a period of time, and they are not good for our body, emotions, or spirit. In the quiet times we sometimes get in this busy world, the truth crashes in on us. We have been living in the past, and have not moved on.

Have you ever heard yourself saying, “It wasn’t like that when I was a child”, or “Those were the good old days and I wish they were back”, or maybe even, “I remember when the church was full, and there were great times of blessing.” I have, have you? But it never helps, does it? No never! The verse says it clearly. The prophet knew how we thought, even way back then, and it remains the same today. We long for the safety of the past.

If we are told not to dwell on the past, how do we help to shape the present, and therefore the future for our children and grandchildren?

I like the way the following verse catches the theme. The good times in the past were not related to the money we had, or the house we lived in, or the church we attended. It had everything to do with the heart of the people, and of the condition of our own heart. I suggest when we are tempted to think and dwell on the olden days, ask yourself about the state of your heart, and my heart too. Is our heart unfeeling, like a stone, or soft and responsive, like a living heart of flesh? May we all pray for the loss of our stony heart, to be replaced by a tender, human heart that Ezekiel talks about.

I will also put a new spirit in you to change your way of thinking. I will take out the heart of stone from your body and give you a tender, human heart. Ezekiel 36:26

Shallow

We have just seen an election campaign in the USA like no other I have ever witnessed, and I have seen a few. In a few days after winning the ticket to become the next President, many things said before have changed. Not just a little, but in a big way. In essence, Donald Trump won by using deceit at the highest level, not to mention downright lies to achieve his goal. He is already changing his mind on things like NATO, the wall along the Mexican border, affordable healthcare (Obamacare), his expressed views on the Clintons,the Obamas, and climate change to name just a few.

Before we rush to judgement on all those who voted for his success, and the lies he peddled, let’s take a look closer to home. We go by the name Christian? I wonder how we stack up against the things we say and do, and the Biblical standard we profess? In many ways we are no different from Donald Trump. We talk big, but deliver small. We claim that the answers to life’s ills are contained in the Bible, but we don’t act like it. Some even go to church on a Sunday, looking and sounding the part, but you wouldn’t know it during the rest of the week.

Before we shout about anyone else being a charlatan or a hypocrite, I suggest we take a long hard look at ourselves, and I include myself in that. Evidently there is much in common between a lying politician and a shallow christian. The biggest difference though is that any political charlatan can be replaced in a few years, and the world carries on. However a hypocrite claiming to be a Christian who does not live a good and Godly example in the way that he or she knows they should, will stand before a just and holy God and the outcome is eternal. Equally, we know that the Bible is not silent on this serious and important matter.  

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15,16

The axe is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Matthew 3:10

An Uncomfortable Truth

In world politics, we have had three major elections recently, and each one has not worked out the way folks planned. In 2014 there was the Scottish Independence Referendum. Then in 2016 the UK had a referendum on whether to stay or leave the European Union, followed up by the USA finally concluding its long process to elect the next President. To state the obvious, in each case there were winners and losers, and I have finally figured out the common thread which runs through all three losing groups (who all take their loss very seriously and personally).

Scotland, the UK and America pride themselves in being democratic at root. We all claim to abide by the fundamental rules of democracy. You know, where in the end everyone pulls together to make their nation a better place. Oh too fast there, easy now tiger…..

The 55% who lost the Scottish Independence Referendum have held a grudge ever since, and want another run at the question in the hope they will get the answer they want. The UK voted for Brexit, and now the minority who lost don’t like the answer, so there is a concerted effort to make the process as difficult as possible, all the while looking for a way to rerun the vote. And then there’s the Trump factor in the USA. The Donald won by a large margin in a record turnout, but there are demonstrations and riots in the streets of some US capital cities.

We have bad and sad losers everywhere, and that tells me we are not really democratic nations no matter how much we tell ourselves and everybody else we are. When a minority lose, they think the vote was rigged, and badly handled. Anything but accept the wish of the clear majority. No, the truth is that our great nations are turning to anarchy. Does that offend you? I hope it does, because it is an uncomfortable truth. By definition, democracy is: “control of an organization or group by the majority of its members.” and anarchy is: “a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority or other controlling systems.”

Nothing could be clearer. Scotland, the UK and America are paving the way to anarchy at the hands of the mostly young generation who are used to getting their own way, and faced with something they don’t like, take it personally saying “we need another system, because democracy is broken. It doesn’t work for everyone.” More mature people know this. The Bible has a word for all human life as it relates to God, so what does it say?

We know that the law is good if someone uses it right. We also know that the law is not made for those who do what is right. It is made for those who are against the law and refuse to follow it. 1 Timothy 1:8,9

But...

But you were washed clean, you were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. “I am allowed to do anything,” you say. My answer to this is that not all things are good. Even if it is true that “I am allowed to do anything,” I will not let anything control me like a slave. 1 Corinthians 6:11,12

In the verses just before this one, Paul lists the major sins which will keep us out of heaven, but somehow I don’t think those serious sins would apply to us. However, how about other sins which can be dangerous to the pilgrim, who is trying his or her best to stay close to the truth as shown in the life of Jesus, and the Scriptures? Is there a ‘but’ in our lives too?

We may not have an outrageous lifestyle, and people who don’t know us too well might even look up to us, but what about those smaller sins that get in our way? Our lives should reflect love in the way that God tells us through the Scriptures. I accept that we all love to a degree, but how far does it go? Do we love our Christian brothers and sisters only, and just enough that it makes a difference in the way others see us? Maybe it’s both what we say, and how we say it. Maybe, just maybe, in our efforts to be funny at the expense of others, we step over a line where non Christians would not go, and where they are surprised that we do. We may use the excuse that we are not doing any harm, and it’s only a manner of speaking, but I have to take note of these verses today.

I’m sure you have heard these words from a friend, “It’s just the way I am, and you have to accept me this way.” I have a surprise for you. No I don’t. This past few months have seen Christians speak and write very harmful things about other Christians who happen to hold a different political view. The UK Brexit referendum, and the USA Presidential Election has opened my eyes to what is seen as “acceptable talk”, and it certainly is not Christianity. It may be “Churchianity” but it is nothing more.

All I am asking (of myself too) is that we take more care of the things we say. Others are watching, and some are very young in the faith, or even being drawn by the Spirit to faith, and we are in danger of being a stumbling block by our language. It’s a choice, so I am asking that we all do a little better, and become more Christlike in our conversation. The difference could be startling in ourselves, and surprising in others!

For if you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even tax-collectors do that! And if you exchange greetings only with your own circle, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do that much. Matthew 5:46

The Journey - Time to Think

Perhaps the greatest benefit in walking or climbing a hill, is that it gives you time to think. Time to forget the daily grind for a while, clear your mind, breathe in the good fresh air, and let your mind become free. It is amazing how relaxed and happy it makes you feel.

In our journey heavenward, we need to get away too. Work will drag us down, and even a good home life takes effort to keep you positive. Church, and its programs will drain you if you get involved in too much, and more so if you start to believe that everything will fall down round your ears if it wasn’t for your efforts. What would they do without me, you may find yourself asking?

The Scripture is not silent on this. There are times we need a holiday from work, and in the same way there are times we need a break from the same old, same old, church routine. Oh no, did I really just say that? Which then is better, being fresh in God’s work, or running yourself ragged and being no good to anyone? We are told clearly that there IS a way to be Godly, and also to be content. Timothy was a young pastor and his mentor Paul helped him by advising that not only is Godliness and contentment possible, there is a massive benefit to the child of God.

So, climb that hill. Take that walk. Breathe the freshness of new air once in a while and when you do, refresh and renew your thoughts towards your heavenly goal. This journey needs you to be as fresh as possible!

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6