The Test

Hezekiah succeeded in everything he undertook. But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart. 2 Chronicles 32:31

We always assume that God is by our side all day, every day, but is that always the case? Hezekiah was tested by God, but not by some great request or temptation he would have to overcome with God’s help, but by God leaving him. Why would God do that to His servant? Simply because He wanted to know what was in Hezekiah’s heart when the chips were down.

The parallel to you and me is easy to make. Have you ever felt alone, as if God has left you, and the old ‘Footprints’ poem doesn’t seem to fit or apply? I certainly have. These times can come during a personal crisis when the only person you can turn to as a Christian is God, and He is just not there. It may be a little like the analogy of the exams in school. The teacher is silent during the time of the test.

What do you do when you’re in deep trouble, and God is silent, and He has taken a step back? I think we have two choices. Either get even more discouraged and faith takes a severe hit OR faith comes through, and you become stronger because you have endured the test. Perhaps this is the biggest test of your Christian life. It will undoubtedly be a turning point and we can never be the same person again because God will know everything that is in our hearts, but so too will we. So, don’t fear the test, but embrace it!

Troubled?

When Jesus talked with his closest friends, He told them “Don’t let your hearts be troubled” and that is a wonderful word. It covers concerns, worries, right up to a depression, so whatever you are facing Jesus tells us not to be ‘troubled’ about it. Wait a minute, don’t you feel like yelling as John McEnroe would shout to the tennis umpire when a decision didn’t go his way, “You can’t be serious”? My daughter used to say, “don’t you tell me not to worry”!

The next phrase tells it all, and completes the sentence. Jesus affirmed to the disciples,“you believe in God, believe also in Me”. That’s the secret. When you are crossing a busy street with your child, who takes your hand? Your child trusts you completely, so they happily put their hand into yours in the certain knowledge that while you have their hand, they are safe from harm. It just leaves me to ask you, “whose hand is worthy of your trust when trouble comes”?

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1

Club Church

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20

We all want to belong. We all thrive on being with people just like us, so we have clubs. Lots of clubs. Football Clubs, Slimming Clubs, ‘Secret’ Society Clubs, Shopping Clubs, Camera Clubs, and the list could go on. Although different, they all have one thing in common and it’s the ultimatum. If you don’t want to be like us enough to fit in, and follow and obey the rules, you can’t join and be one of them!

Have you ever been turned down for membership of a club? It can be discouraging, or even devastating to say the least. I thought I was good enough to be accepted as ‘one of them’ but I am not. Have you ever felt rejected? I am sad to say that some churches operate on the ultimatum rule too, but that isn’t Jesus’ way. Since our Saviour operates on the principle of love, He will accept us if we love Him enough to be like Him, and drop those bad habits, or sins as they truly are. Jesus does not work on the ultimatum principle. Ever. There is a big difference between doing something because you have little choice, or because you love a person enough you want to please them. Remember when you decided that boy or girl was ‘the one’? Did you love them because you felt you had no other choice? Of course not. Simply put you were in love, and only wanted to please them. So it is with Jesus, and since the Church is His body of believers, it and we, should be no different. How do you and your church shape up to ‘the ultimatum’? Or do we operate on the principle of  the love of God as shown in Christ Jesus? When we are accepted by Jesus, then you and I are good enough for His Church (Capital ‘C’). Maybe we need to let those other ‘club-churches’ (small ‘c’) carry on regardless.

A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 13:34,35

Broken

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

Why do good people suffer stress, and feel down to the point of depression? The psalmist David knew all about the feelings of being broken-hearted and a reading of the whole of Psalm 34 clearly shows his downcast heart. David had a lot to feel bad about, but he still knew that God was ‘close to the broken-hearted’ and can still save ‘those who are crushed in spirit’.

It is fair to say that everyone goes through the dark tunnel of despair at some time. Christians are not immune to this disease of the heart. It can range from a short term period, to a full blown depression caused by who knows what! Do you know someone close who has, or is still going through, a period of darkness? Maybe that person is you. One thing is certain, no one should be ashamed, thinking it is all their own fault. We gladly see our GP for physical ailments, but we are so reluctant to open up about our state of mind. We feel there is a stigma, and our reputation will suffer. Our friends will not look at us in the same way, and might avoid us. If so, they can still be our friends, but they are not true friends.

I love the way the Psalmist inserts the word ‘saves’ between the broken hearted, and the crushed in spirit. Take comfort in this my friend. Our great God saves us in our times of distress. He doesn’t help a little, or give us a smile and a nudge saying it’ll be ok, you’ll see. No, He SAVES us right where and when we need it. In our brokenness. When we can’t face Him, or even feel like praying. I don’t know about you, but this makes me feel like shouting hallelujah! And you? How does it make you feel? The prophet Isaiah says it so well, and it is a joy to read as he foretells the heart of the coming Messiah and our Saviour…..

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour

and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:1-3

Gentleness

But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things. Galatians 5:22,23

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Galatians 6:1

We don’t see a lot of this on TV or in the movies because gentleness does not make good drama, or newspaper headlines. It is boring. It seems to be much better watching friends fall out, fight and even kill to get their own selfish way. Take a look at any of the TV soaps which are filled with all of these things, and for good measure add shouting, adultery and infidelity. That’s what seems to sell to the masses. After all, that’s what we clamour to tune in to.

Real life, however is a very different thing. The poor, bereaved, depressed and lonely don’t want or need aggravation. They need and yearn for some Godly gentleness in their lives, and can you blame them? If it isn’t found on the media, then where would we find gentleness? Godly gentleness is a wonderful thing, and unmistakeable when you come across it. When seen at its best, I would suggest you would want it, even more than the ‘brutality’ mess that the media serves up every night.

Next time you are tempted to join in the all too easy media mess, spare a second thought of those who are watching you. Mum and dad? Son or daughter? Friend or neighbour? Whoever they might be, it would make a refreshing change to see in you and me, a ‘gentle-man’ or a ‘gentle-woman’ positively beaming with that God given fruit of the Spirit, gentleness.

Witnesses

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

The only thing that made these disciples His ‘witnesses’ was the undeniable and indisputable Fact that they had been with Jesus. They walked with Him, ate with Him, and talked with Him. They were the closest people to the Son of God, so they could be trusted completely to pass on His message of salvation. They could be witnesses only after they had received the Holy Spirit. So Jesus puts two criteria on His message reaching ‘the ends of the earth.’ The receipt of the Holy Spirit, and that they must be first hand, trusted witnesses.

If you are called to perform jury duty, there are some things you would expect from the witnesses. They would have been there to see the incident happen, and they would have heard first hand what was said. Otherwise their testimony in unsure and open to question. The lawyers would have a field day tearing down the shallow account if the witness wasn’t there, and didn’t see or hear anything themselves. It must be first hand.

How do we rate as witnesses to the account of our salvation, and the truth of the gospel? How do we avoid being a second rate witness, and an embarrassment to the name of our faith and Saviour? Everything must be from a first hand experience, and when we are a child of God we are told in Romans 8:16 that “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”  It has to be first hand and nothing else is good enough. In the same way, if we are going to criticise another person, situation, book, film, or anything else, we really should know about them first hand. We should have read the book, or watched the movie, or spoken to the source we critique. It is not good enough to speak the things we think might have been said, or the source might have meant. In our court of law, your testimony would not be accepted.

Neither will your friends accept our words of ‘wisdom’ if they come from our own thinking, and not through the facts of our first hand experience. If we are going to be disciples, we must act like the disciples. Their first hand witness turned the world upside down, and it is still going on today. Jesus master plan is for that first hand witness to continue. There is no plan B, so let us pray that we do our part fully and properly.

Thunder or Love?

These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);  James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘sons of thunder’), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot (and Judas). Mark 3:16-18

The apostles were a motley crew. Out of the twelve, we would think of three as terrorists. That’s a quarter of those whom Jesus chose. These are men who would be lawbreakers given the chance. They were used to shouting the odds, fighting first and asking questions later! In spite of his past reputation, we are told that John became the disciple that Jesus loved. Thunder and love don’t go well together, so what happened to John?

John had been a shouter. A man who got his way by being strong of tongue, body and will, and knew how to get what he wanted, usually by force or wearing his opponent down physically and mentally. So what happened to the man he was? Three years in the company of Jesus changed John to become known as the ‘disciple of love’. When you read his epistles, you can’t help but notice the number of times the word ‘love’ is used. By the time John was exiled on Patmos, his life bore no resemblance to the John who started out with Jesus those years before.

I would suggest that spending time with Jesus will change us beyond recognition. The rough edges will be rubbed off, and we will emerge a very different person. There is a wise saying that “God will accept us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us the way He found us”. I like that thought. When we encounter the love of God, we will change. In John’s case, no more ‘son of thunder’, but replaced by a disciple of love. Jesus still performs the same miracle today. As the children’s hymn says, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. Do I hear an ‘Amen’?

Gap? What Gap??

You are young, but don’t let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by the way you live, by your love, by your faith, and by your pure life. 1 Timothy 4:12

The younger generation take a lot of flak. They are smug, coddled, protected, entitled, uneducated etc etc.. You must have heard the talk. In fact you might even have joined in and added your own words to describe these spongers of the community.

I need to set the record straight. I might be a lone voice crying in the social wilderness, but that’s ok. The truth is never easily accepted. Mind you I can only base my thoughts and opinion on my own family and friends who are in their teenage years. Are you open and honest enough to remember truthfully, what you were like yourself? That can be a bit like entering a confessional booth, but you will feel better when you let the truth into the open.

The fact is, recently I have found my grandkids to be everything a grown up adult should be, and are not. It can come as a surprise when your grandkids talk sensitive, intelligent sense. Remember these are young men and women who are two generations distant. We should be doing the advising, and they ought to be doing the listening. Right? Every time, right??

The generation gap in my own case has taken a hit. There is no gap, and I love it. Conversations are sensible, sensitive, loving, reasoned and logical. There are adults I know who don’t have these qualities. I can’t take the credit for this, because there is the generation in between. My own children, and they have to take the credit for producing such terrific children. I suppose all I have to do is enjoy the results of their hard work, and that’s easy. Yes, I am blessed beyond belief. So no matter how hard I look, I can’t see that so called generation gap! Am I lucky? No, I am blessed!

Grace and Comfort

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

If you have been in and around church for any length of time, you will have heard this verse preached on. I love the very thought of the grace of God that cared for me, and saved me, for no reason other than He loved me. It wasn’t up to me to be ‘good enough’, or to do and say the right churchy things. And all because God didn’t want any pompous human boasting.

We accept God’s grace so readily, and maybe because we didn’t have to do anything to get it. But are we as good at showing some of that same grace to others? I’m not sure we are. There are some interesting verses in 2nd Corinthians which show us the way we should act to others in sharing some of God’s same provision of love, grace, and comfort. At its root, we are told that the reason God comforts us (gives us grace) is to let us use that same comfort and pass it on to others. After all, if God is good enough to include us in His grace, should we not be as free in our giving of the same grace (comfort) He has given us?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4