Confidence

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:35,36 NIV

In our youth, we feel that we can take on the world, and nothing will be able to get in our way. But as we get older, we start to realise that our confidence ebbs as we find out that there are some things, no make that many things we just can’t do anymore. It’s a stark truth and reality, and something we can’t change.

This verse gives me some comfort because the rich reward is not limited only to those who have boundless confidence. For me, the key word is not ‘confidence’, but to ‘persevere’ doing the will of God. Then, and only then it becomes certain, that we will receive God’s promise.

However, there is a serious note of caution. I started out to say that our confidence can ebb, and that is true as life affects us, but we are warned ‘do not throw away your confidence’. As with many things in the Christian life, we have choices, and here we have a choice to make too. If our God given free will allows us to throw our confidence away, thus losing the promise, we must also have that same free will to retain our confidence! With the strength given by God, we have the certainty of receiving the promise of God. What could be better than to be in the will of God, and in His favour?

The Promise Finger

It was little Margie’s 6th birthday, and her mum had bought her a pretty dress, and arranged a party with some of her friends. It was a great evening, but lovely and sunny outside, so the kids asked Margie’s mum, almost as one voice, if they could go out and play hide and seek? They lived in a nice house which backed onto an open field which could be seen easily from the kitchen window, so the excited children raced out and took turns to be the seeker.

Since it was her birthday, the other kids decided to pretend they couldn’t find Margie, so that she could be the winner. As it happened, Margie had found a great spot under a bush where she was sure no one would find her and she was right because no one came looking. It soon came time for the party to finish, so when mum called, the children all went inside, but where was Margie? Mum was frantic. She had watched as best she could from the window, but her little girl was missing now. Everybody rushed out to search, and it was her mum who discovered the little sleeping beauty, still under the bush.

Mum scooped the still asleep Margie up in her arms, gave her a big hug and at that Margie wakened. The truth was it was a nice warm, sunny evening, and after all the cake and party games, Margie was pooped and so fell asleep right where she was. Mum and everyone else were relieved to say the least. When sleeping, Margie had wrapped the fingers of her right hand in a tight grip around the fourth ring finger on her left hand. Mum asked why?

“It’s simple Mum” Margie explained. My Sunday School teacher told us a good way to feel safe by holding the ring finger. Again, Mum asked why? Margie rolled her eyes as only a 6 year old can, and with a sigh explained that they were learning the 23rd Psalm and to remember the first line they were told to point to each finger in turn as they repeated, “The Lord is my Shepherd”. Five words Mum. Five fingers, one for each word and when we need to feel safe and secure we have to hold our ring finger. “Did you know that the ring finger is the promise finger too” as though Margie was telling her Mum something she didn’t know.

The child got it right. When we need the safety and security that only God can give, let’s remember the promise that Margie learned. The Lord is MY Shepherd. If you have to squeeze that finger as a reminder, then do it. Every married couple know that the ring on that finger is a promise of love, safety and security. Margie learned that lesson aged 6, but sadly sometimes it can take ‘older and wiser’ adults a lot longer!

Broken Altars

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 1 Kings 18:30

Every time the children of Israel strayed from God their altar would be neglected and fall into disrepair. And each time God became real to them again, and they walked in His steps, a prophet would step in and repair it. The altar was an important place of sacrifice, and a good barometer of the state of the people of God. Broken altar, broken people. Repaired altar, a restored people walking in step with His will.

We often apply the image of the altar to the state of our hearts as God’s people and that is a good way for any individual to know where they stand with the living God. A broken altar is a sign of an incomplete or wayward man or woman. When the altar of the heart is repaired and in good condition, our life will reflect the will of our Heavenly Father.

Every church has an altar area, usually where communion is served, or infants are baptised, weddings consecrated, or even funeral services are conducted. It is a holy and sanctified place where we feel God near to us in a sacred way as we make promises and vows before Him and the congregation. If the altar of the church is broken, or unused, it can be a sign of spiritual decay.

Not so many years ago, the altar in a church was also the sacred place where the repentant sinner would kneel to confess sin, and take Jesus as Lord and Saviour. For that to happen, there would have been a gospel message of salvation, and an invitation from the pastor or preacher. Many churches and evangelists did this, and used mightily in bringing many to salvation in Christ.

Is it too simplistic to make a connection between churches with an unused, broken altar, to a church of broken people needing spiritual repair? Could this also be the reason for low or no growth? Like Elijah, we may need to repair the altars that are broken, both in our hearts and in our churches. If not that, what? And if not now, when?

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

My Eyes

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully…. Job 31:1 NIV

My understanding is that the book of Job is one of the first full books ever written in the Bible, sandwiched in between chapters Genesis. This verse almost seems to be aimed at our age and generation in the 21st century, but obviously Job is dealing with an age old problem, and we are still trying to deal with it today. I think the advance of TV, magazines, and of course the internet has made it much more important that we need to keep a careful rein and guard on the things our eyes see.

There was a time when I would have said this kind of warning would be aimed on our young men, but that is wrong on at least two levels. The problems of access to indecent images, and the effects from it, are not confined to the young. Nor are they limited to the men in our society. The old saying goes, “monkey see, monkey do” and this applies to the lessons, good and bad our next generation learn from the previous one. So, the more lax and accepting we become to the images we take as normal on the TV, internet etc., the lower the bar gets for each succeeding generation.

For those over the age of 50, cast your mind back to your own youth, and note how things have changed. There are images and shows that would never have made it to our screens, but lo and behold they are there now, and we have become used to them. The taboos of yesterday are tolerated, and even encouraged today. Why should this be, and have you ever wondered what will be tolerated in another 30 years? Love has given way to sex, and we have accepted them as the same thing. We treat both as equal, and that is not the only immorality we have accepted as equal. In fact we have even gone as far as legalising, condoning and encouraging immorality. Is it any wonder we are experiencing an epidemic of child abuse and sexual crime? Or are we in our modern minds not able to equate the obvious connection between abuses and what our eyes have seen and accepted as ‘just the way it is’?

'Bond'age

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Proverbs 22:1 NIV

What's in a name? Not a lot you may say, but what if it is a good name? And I don't mean a fine posh society name, I mean a name of a good family or pedigree? In royal or high society circles it means a lot. It tells character, and shows integrity. Well it is supposed to, except we have seen that some of the people we once associated with integrity, have abused the name. You only have to look at the reputation of politicians for example to see where a good name can be easily lost, and tarnished. A name that may have taken generations to make good, can be lost in minutes. The Christian family name is not immune. I happens to us too.

I was told by my dad that “a man's word is his bond”, and the description has stuck with me. When all else has been taken away from a person, he or she can still be left with a good name. We can all relate to good people who are not rich in financial wealth, but have integrity. It is their character, and probably has taken many years for them to get to the place where others grant them the honour of being someone who keeps their word. Sadly, I have also seen that same good reputation be lost in a short time. My concern is that there may never be enough time on this earth to regain that good reputation.  

Since a man's word is his bond, it follows that when we give our word, we are 'bonded' to the promise. That means many things, but primarily that you stake your own reputation on keeping your word. You are in 'bond'age to your word. What a thought. We give our word to our children, our friends, and our marriage partner. We do it voluntarily, and in good faith, and we give those people our assurance that we will follow through on our word, because we are 'bond'ed to it. Our integrity is wedded to our word, and we are obliged to keep faith with our promise, at all and any cost.

However, I have to confess, from personal experience, not all promises can be kept. Some promises are taken out of our hands by circumstance, and that is understandable. Children know when a well meant promise just cannot be kept,  but I think as we get older, the significance of the word we give can get weakened. We go from understanding the reasons when some promises cannot be kept, to making excuses for not making our word our bond. Can I be so bold to suggest that sometimes we don't really want to be in bondage to our word?

A man or woman of integrity is still a special and wonderful person, and you are blessed if you have such a person in your life. Of course, we can't confer 'integrity' on ourselves. It has to be given to us by others, and when it is, guard it well, because these are the same people who will also decide that you don't deserve the honour of the name any longer. We all know it is easier to lose integrity, than it is to achieve it, so why do we sail so close to the wind and jeopardise it?