Jesus says in John 14:1-3: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." It's a wonderful thought for consideration, that Jesus is preparing a home of eternal rest for us with Him in the heavens. It is built not according to our works or worthiness, but out of the riches of God's grace and love toward us. No human being save Jesus Christ is worthy to dwell in the presence of the Father. But He has promised us in Revelation 3:21: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."
A good portion of these past three months have been spent working to secure a rental property for my family and me to live in while we serve God and Calvary Chapel Sydney. I'm amazed when I consider the amount of effort and time expended on the process with frankly little to show for it. The rental market in Sydney at the moment feels like an impenetrable clique! Our search has been thorough, extensive, and time-consuming. It has given us the opportunity to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God and enjoy the generous hospitality of church family. Yet it is disheartening to be continually rejected without the opportunity to prove yourself.
But this is familiar feeling experienced by people all over the world on a spiritual level. No matter how hard people work to ensure themselves salvation by their own goodness, they fall short of perfection and are without hope. Even if people are able to claw to the top of their denominational ladder, do and say all the right things, the peace of God only received through faith in Christ eludes them. Well-meaning people go on missions to obtain eldership, others pay thousands of dollars to take the next spiritual course to learn privileged secrets. People literally crucify themselves, crawl through broken glass, and travel thousands of miles in a vain attempt to earn favor from God. What they do not understand is God's grace and eternal life is not for sale. Their proud works and efforts prevent them from receiving what God only gives freely.
Ephesians 2:8-10 teaches us of God's wondrous grace: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." There are flats in Sydney that cost over $1,200 a week to rent! Some people feel proud they could afford such a place to live. God will not allow a shred of pride in heaven! The only currency God accepts for heavenly entry is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. No amount of money, good works, or effort can help us gain entry into the presence of God. God saves us by grace through faith, and having received such a gift we are moved to labor freely for God's glory and honor. God has created us to do good, but we can only do so if He first indwells and empowers us.
How happy I am that God has prepared a place for me in heaven, as well as providing abundantly for our family in Australia. Though it has been a trying process to secure a rental property, it is good to know that our eternal destination is secure in Christ. He even has provided us a place to stay here, though it isn't what we thought it would be three months ago! It is not by our goodness that we have a place in heaven or in Australia, but all of grace! How great is our God and His unsearchable wisdom!
13 January 2011
11 January 2011
Sympathy or Prayer?
All of Australia it seems is looking with great interest and horror as the flooding continues to increase in Queensland. During the news telecasts last night, it was repeated over and over that last week it was believed the worst had passed with the flooding of Rockhampton. A huge flash flood suddenly went through Toowoomba, and the water which surged through the town is now on its way to Brisbane which is expected to flood severely, possibly greater than the massive floods of 1974. As we watched the continuing coverage last night, Prime Minister Julia Gillard addressed those directly impacted by the floods: "Our thoughts and sympathies are with you." As I watched the footage shown again and again, I heard similar statements by journalists and politicians: "You have our thoughts and best wishes."
Coming from the United States, I sensed a cultural difference. Even non-Christians in America would say, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those affected." It sometimes may be hypocrisy, but that is a common emphasis in times of tragedy in America: prayers. And by saying "prayers" it is an encouragement to appeal to God, clearly announcing His existence. It is commonly known that PM Julia Gillard is an atheist, so one would not expect her to pray. My question is, what is the power of "sympathy" compared to the power of God through the prayers of His people? Has sympathy caused fire to fall from heaven to consume an offering, or has sympathy made water flow from a rock? Has sympathy cured one person of disease or caused someone to rise from the grave? Has sympathy brought victory in a single battle or caused a person to receive comfort through Christ which cannot be taken away? No.
Our continual need is to seek and entreat the One True God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, who alone is able to save. It is good and right that we sympathize and empathize with people, feeling their pain and doing what is in our power to assist. If we were to see someone swept away with a torrent of water, we ought to extend a hand to catch them, not fall to our knees and ask God to send someone to help! There are times when we can offer practical, physical assistance. But there is no assistance more practical and needed than the power of prayer! It is both the least we can do and the most we can do. Our God is able to cause the storms to cease and be still with a word, and all power and authority in heaven and on earth is the LORD's. Should we not faithfully petition such a God for help, that His name with be glorified through lives being saved and souls eternally preserved?
Please keep those who are suffering and displaced in these floods in your prayers, as well as all others throughout the world who have no power to save themselves. Pray for our Prime Minister, that she might be exposed to the powerful saving hand of God and one day say of Christ, "My LORD and my God." When faced with trials, is it your tendency to pray? Sympathy is not enough when prayer is required!
Coming from the United States, I sensed a cultural difference. Even non-Christians in America would say, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those affected." It sometimes may be hypocrisy, but that is a common emphasis in times of tragedy in America: prayers. And by saying "prayers" it is an encouragement to appeal to God, clearly announcing His existence. It is commonly known that PM Julia Gillard is an atheist, so one would not expect her to pray. My question is, what is the power of "sympathy" compared to the power of God through the prayers of His people? Has sympathy caused fire to fall from heaven to consume an offering, or has sympathy made water flow from a rock? Has sympathy cured one person of disease or caused someone to rise from the grave? Has sympathy brought victory in a single battle or caused a person to receive comfort through Christ which cannot be taken away? No.
Our continual need is to seek and entreat the One True God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, who alone is able to save. It is good and right that we sympathize and empathize with people, feeling their pain and doing what is in our power to assist. If we were to see someone swept away with a torrent of water, we ought to extend a hand to catch them, not fall to our knees and ask God to send someone to help! There are times when we can offer practical, physical assistance. But there is no assistance more practical and needed than the power of prayer! It is both the least we can do and the most we can do. Our God is able to cause the storms to cease and be still with a word, and all power and authority in heaven and on earth is the LORD's. Should we not faithfully petition such a God for help, that His name with be glorified through lives being saved and souls eternally preserved?
Please keep those who are suffering and displaced in these floods in your prayers, as well as all others throughout the world who have no power to save themselves. Pray for our Prime Minister, that she might be exposed to the powerful saving hand of God and one day say of Christ, "My LORD and my God." When faced with trials, is it your tendency to pray? Sympathy is not enough when prayer is required!
09 January 2011
God Speaks!
During a conversation after the Sunday morning service at Calvary Chapel Sydney, I was asked a pointed question: "Do you believe that God still speaks to people today, for instance, just like He did to Moses at the burning bush?" After thinking I replied in the affirmative: God has not changed, neither is the way He communicates with people. Though He does use the Holy Spirit to speak to us personally through He Word, He certainly can speak through dreams, visions, or even spoken voice. God is not limited to speak to us in the ways which we might expect. It is God's choice how He speaks to us, and most certainly He has spoken to us all through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is our Mediator, Intercessor, and Savior.
How wonderful it is to know that we need not rely on a certain church official, a particular rabbi or priest, or a holy man or woman to decipher and tell us what God is saying to us. From the very beginning, God spoke directly to Adam before his fall. It was because of sin that God instituted the covenant of His Law with Israel, appointing and anointing priests to serve before Him. They were a type of Christ in that they were the mediators between the people and God. The king himself would consult with God through them, to receive guidance from the King of Kings. Now Jesus has become our High Priest, and has become sin for us in offering Himself freely to atone for the sins of the world. By faith we receive forgiveness through His shed blood, and we enter into the New Covenant established upon Christ and grace.
But God, in His great wisdom, did not leave us without personal help or comfort when Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father: He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers so we might be empowered, exercise spiritual gifts, and be taught all that Jesus desires to tell us. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:12-15: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." Whether God speaks to us audibly from a burning bush or through His still small voice within our hearts, He still speaks with all the authority and power of an infinite, Almighty Creator and Ruler of All.
As a friend of mine and dear brother in Christ enjoys saying, "God doesn't need me." This blog is not required for you to grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. These writings are simply a means to encourage you to seek God more. May this blog never be a substitute for a real relationship with God! Know that you do not need anyone to draw close to Christ except Him. Now some have stretched this into error, and would claim that because only Christ is needed they do not need to be involved and serve in a church fellowship, adhere to sound doctrine, or labor to be profitable for the glory of God. God has given us each other to gird us with strength, to preserve unity, to sharpen one another, to be an encouragement, and to pray and serve together for God's glory. The fact remains that Jesus must be our All in All, and we ought to preserve that place of all honor and glory for Him alone!
God still speaks! Have you heard Him lately? I tend to hear well only when I listen. I encourage you to take some time today to seek God and listen for His voice. And when He DOES speak to you in the night hours or calls your name as He did Samuel, say "Speak LORD, for your servant hears." (Then don't roll over and try to immediately go to sleep.) What He tells you be faithful to speak and live out. Praise God that He still speaks, and may His people be faithful to listen and obey!
How wonderful it is to know that we need not rely on a certain church official, a particular rabbi or priest, or a holy man or woman to decipher and tell us what God is saying to us. From the very beginning, God spoke directly to Adam before his fall. It was because of sin that God instituted the covenant of His Law with Israel, appointing and anointing priests to serve before Him. They were a type of Christ in that they were the mediators between the people and God. The king himself would consult with God through them, to receive guidance from the King of Kings. Now Jesus has become our High Priest, and has become sin for us in offering Himself freely to atone for the sins of the world. By faith we receive forgiveness through His shed blood, and we enter into the New Covenant established upon Christ and grace.
But God, in His great wisdom, did not leave us without personal help or comfort when Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father: He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers so we might be empowered, exercise spiritual gifts, and be taught all that Jesus desires to tell us. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:12-15: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." Whether God speaks to us audibly from a burning bush or through His still small voice within our hearts, He still speaks with all the authority and power of an infinite, Almighty Creator and Ruler of All.
As a friend of mine and dear brother in Christ enjoys saying, "God doesn't need me." This blog is not required for you to grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. These writings are simply a means to encourage you to seek God more. May this blog never be a substitute for a real relationship with God! Know that you do not need anyone to draw close to Christ except Him. Now some have stretched this into error, and would claim that because only Christ is needed they do not need to be involved and serve in a church fellowship, adhere to sound doctrine, or labor to be profitable for the glory of God. God has given us each other to gird us with strength, to preserve unity, to sharpen one another, to be an encouragement, and to pray and serve together for God's glory. The fact remains that Jesus must be our All in All, and we ought to preserve that place of all honor and glory for Him alone!
God still speaks! Have you heard Him lately? I tend to hear well only when I listen. I encourage you to take some time today to seek God and listen for His voice. And when He DOES speak to you in the night hours or calls your name as He did Samuel, say "Speak LORD, for your servant hears." (Then don't roll over and try to immediately go to sleep.) What He tells you be faithful to speak and live out. Praise God that He still speaks, and may His people be faithful to listen and obey!
07 January 2011
Overcoming the Adversary
This morning during my quiet time with the LORD I read the first chapter of 1 Samuel. A verse about Hannah the mother of Samuel caught my attention. 1 Samuel 1:6 reads, "And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb." The NKJV drives home the effect Peninnah (a rival wife of Hannah's) had upon her: "And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb." Hannah was barren because God had closed her womb. Though she had a wonderful husband and did greatly desire children, it was the hateful spite from Peninnah that broke Hannah down. It is amazing to consider the means God employs to foster within His children His heavenly graces as we are refined "as by fire."
God did not desire for Hannah to be miserable, to weep and refuse to eat food. But He intentionally closed Hannah's womb and allowed Peninnah to continue her assault. How true it is that our adversary, the devil, would provoke us to be miserable over what God does or does not do! Hannah wished for a child, and cried out to God to fulfill her petition. It was God's will she would have a son and five more children besides, but He desired to use this difficult situation to work within her as well as through her. She would later give birth to the prophet Samuel, whom she would consecrate for life to serve the LORD.
There is much God will do in our lives, and He has given us desire to see His word immediately fulfilled. Yet in His wisdom, He tarries. And in some cases, it feels as though His promises might never see fruition! While He tarries, our adversary labors to make us fret and wallow in misery, break our resolve, distract us from His goodness, fill us with doubt and anguish, and drown us in cares that ought to be cast upon Christ in prayer. How great is our God, who works all things - even the vicious assaults of our adversaries - for good! May we be as Hannah, who sought the LORD fervently despite the ferocity of her rival. When her prayers were answered, she was faithful to obey and do her part unto the LORD as she promised. She was rewarded with fruitfulness and God received the glory!
God did not desire for Hannah to be miserable, to weep and refuse to eat food. But He intentionally closed Hannah's womb and allowed Peninnah to continue her assault. How true it is that our adversary, the devil, would provoke us to be miserable over what God does or does not do! Hannah wished for a child, and cried out to God to fulfill her petition. It was God's will she would have a son and five more children besides, but He desired to use this difficult situation to work within her as well as through her. She would later give birth to the prophet Samuel, whom she would consecrate for life to serve the LORD.
There is much God will do in our lives, and He has given us desire to see His word immediately fulfilled. Yet in His wisdom, He tarries. And in some cases, it feels as though His promises might never see fruition! While He tarries, our adversary labors to make us fret and wallow in misery, break our resolve, distract us from His goodness, fill us with doubt and anguish, and drown us in cares that ought to be cast upon Christ in prayer. How great is our God, who works all things - even the vicious assaults of our adversaries - for good! May we be as Hannah, who sought the LORD fervently despite the ferocity of her rival. When her prayers were answered, she was faithful to obey and do her part unto the LORD as she promised. She was rewarded with fruitfulness and God received the glory!
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