A Hymn to Remember

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

by Martin Luther

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Savour the Flavour

Moving to Australia has brought many changes to my life.  Some of the changes are huge while others are subtle.  One of the differences between Australia and the States is the coffee.  I will be the first to admit I am no connoisseur.  The quality of coffee is directly proportionate to the size of the mug!   If I want a cup of coffee, I want more than a shot of espresso:  give me some volume!  When it comes to discerning the quality of coffee, however, I might be among the worst.  I am like Emile, the brother of the rat-gourmet chef Remy in Disney's Ratatouille.  Remy appreciated all the dynamic flavor combinations of food, but Emile would eat just about anything without even noticing.  Today's events were proof I still have far to go in appreciating good coffee!

I have a friend who works in the coffee business as a coffee roaster.  As we shared a "cuppa" this morning at his bustling shop, he asked a barista to provide a good espresso and a bad one.  He explained the principle of making coffee similar to how olive oil is squeezed in a press.  The weight of the press alone on the olives makes the extra virgin oil, the purest oil set aside for use in cooking.  The last drops from an olive press will be too bitter for cooking and would be used as fuel.  The reason why their coffee house is growing in popularity is because of the quality of the coffee, he said.  I confess I had a hard time not smiling in disbelief.  Is the coffee really that much better than at other places?  I mean, isn't coffee coffee?

As we sat down, two small cups of espresso were brought out.  I tried one which tasted like espresso I was familiar with.  Then I had a taste of the other which literally made me cringe.  It had a flavor so pungent, a taste so initially revolting, I wondered how anyone could drink such a thing.  "So, which one do you like more?"  I pointed to the one that I considered more drinkable, the first one.  Guess what?  It was the BAD coffee!  He took a sip of the rejected brew:  "This is the good one.  There is more of the flavour of the beans, a hint of peanuts, and some citrus."  I sat back in my seat amazed.  Here is a coffee professional telling me that I preferred the bad coffee, that my taste buds were telling me wrong!  The barista who made the coffee came out and asked which one I liked more.  When I pointed to the bad espresso he said without expression, "Interesting."  This morning only confirmed my coffee ignorance!

I continued to talk to my friend and sipped from one cup and then the other, comparing the two more carefully.  The first one tasted normal; there was nothing so different about it at all.  But the second cup was certainly different from any coffee I have ever had.  Once I was over the shock of the initial burst of flavour, I found that I actually could taste a hint of citrus.  It didn't seem so bitter as I tried it again and again.  I came to the conclusion that I initially preferred the taste I am accustomed to.  Apparently I make bad coffee!  Once I was convinced of my error, with an open mind I gave the good coffee another chance.

But consider the spiritual implications of this coffee experiment:  people prefer what they are accustomed to.  When I tasted the good coffee, I honestly did not like it with the first sip.  Without my friend's direction, I probably would have never tried it again.  I would have convinced myself that the second cup was not for me!  Because he confirmed that it was actually good coffee, and I trust his expertise as a professional in his field, I gave it another chance.  So often that is how it is in the Christian faith.  We have our opinions and ideas about what it means to live a Christian life.  We are content with our relationship with God.  Then someone comes around and tells us that we must repent and be filled with the Spirit and we immediately recoil!  This is something new, something unfamiliar to our experience.  But if we will just trust God and His Word, we will find that we have simply grown accustomed to our level of intimacy with God and see no reason to progress further.

God is so good to lead us gently.  He will never force His Spirit upon us.  My coffee-roasting friend decided to treat me to something really special.  I could have said, "Well, you can have all the good stuff to yourself.  That leaves more of the nasty stuff for me."  I can continue to decide I still like my own coffee my way and not learn from the professionals.  There's no such thing as a professional Christian, only professing ones by the grace of God.  Many believers have discovered a closeness with God that a handful of people ever personally experience.  For me, I want to have the closest relationship with God I can.  My flesh will resist at every point, but that is the desire of my soul.  I want to go for the good stuff, not be satisfied with the dregs.

As the song says, "Just a closer walk with Thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea, daily walking close to Thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be."  When Jesus turned water into wine, the master of the feast could immediately tell the best wine had been saved to last.  Though I am lame at discerning between excellent and poor coffee, may I always go for the highest quality relationship with my Saviour, Jesus Christ.  May I daily savour the flavour of a close walk with Jesus!

Profitable Labor of Love

"In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty."

Proverbs 14:23

Before I went to bed last night, I read this proverb of Solomon recorded in scripture.  I considered how this statement is true on many levels.  There are those who cannot speak and work at the same time.  Instead of working, they spend much of their working hours talking.  Then I thought about how common "chatting" is these days either online, with text messaging, or in person.  Not only does superficial chatting waste time that could be spent more effectively, but it leads to poverty in relationships.

We all know marriages and other close interpersonal relationships require a good deal of labor and maintenance.  Unless we have conversations of depth where we share our feelings, struggles, and dreams, it is virtually impossible to really get to know someone else.  For me personally, when I have conversations of depth it enables me to better understand what I am feeling and thinking as well as others.  The labor of putting my feelings into words works wonders in aiding me to know what actions I should take.

Would it be better to have 100 people to chat with or one person to whom you can bare your soul?  I say the latter.  But such a friendship will have a cost associated with it.  It is hard labor to trust someone enough to share your heart.  It makes us vulnerable and forces us to invest our love in someone else without any fall-back plan.  I will never trade the close friendships I have for a million superficial ones, and thankfully I don't have to.  What richness friends bring to our lives!

All relationships I have on earth pale in comparison to the relationship that God has with me and I with Him.  He always has my back - and my front - both in the spiritual and physical realm.  God understands all I have and will experience perfectly.  Jesus is a friend who indeed sticks closer than a brother.  I have a younger brother I love very much, and there is hardly a person I am more proud or fond of.  But he lives far away in the United States while I live in Sydney, and even when we enjoy time together it is only temporary:  we have families, jobs, lives, marriages, children, and ministries which demand our attention.  Nothing can separate me from the tangible love and presence of Jesus Christ except my own sin.  And even when I fall into sin when I draw near to God in humble repentance He draws near to me according to His Word.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

The same principle which applies in marriages and friendships applies to the relationship we have with God.  If all our prayers are idle chatter and superficial, we won't know Him very well.  Poverty would better describe our relationship instead of richness and depth.  Whatever we sow, we will reap.  If you plant one row of carrots, you would be a fool to expect the whole field to be fruitful.  Unless we are willing to labor in our pursuit of Christ and fortifying our relationship with Him, we will have a poor relationship indeed.  Our relationship with God will be laborious if it is healthy and good, and it is wise to invest in this eternal partnership God has offered by His grace to us.

Allow me to encourage you with a passage found in Galatians 6:9-10:  "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. [10] Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  This passage is often used to illustrate how we ought to do good unto our brothers in sisters in Christ.  But how much more should we do good unto our Brother, Savior, and Redeemer Jesus Christ, who is the HEAD of the Household of Faith!  Let us labor for Jesus making use of every opportunity He gives us.  There is no one richer than a man who is a friend of God.

The Wait is Over!

At church yesterday the message God placed upon my heart emphasized the necessity of Christians to be baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.  It should be no surprise that the devil has sought any possible means to dissuade people from seeking the fullness of the Spirit.  Some have been deluded to think the gifts of the Spirit are no longer necessary today.  1 Corinthians 14:37-40 says, "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. ³⁹ Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. ⁴⁰ Let all things be done decently and in order."  No longer need we be ignorant, nor must we remain without power.  A pastor recently told me most churches are so concerned about "decently and in order" that "all things" are not encouraged.  I believe all things should be done decently and in order for our God is not a God of confusion:  we are the one who become confused!

Consider Saul who was later called Paul, an apostle and servant of the Most High God.  After Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, Ananias was commanded by God to seek Saul out and pray for him.  This is Luke's account written in Acts 9:17-18:  "And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized."  Jesus is the One who baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I find Paul's public recounting of this event in Jerusalem to a crowd most interesting.  He supplies additional information Luke did not record at first.  Paul's testimony from Acts 22:12-16 reads:  "Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, ¹³ came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. ¹⁴ Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'"  I am drawn to think over the question Ananias poses in verse 16:  "Now why are you waiting?  Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord."  Paul had been filled with the Spirit:  what was he waiting for?  After praying with Paul, Ananias exhorted Paul to action.  "Why are you waiting?"  I hearken to the question the Ethiopian eunuch asked Phillip:  "Here is water:  what hinders me from being baptized?"

Why indeed are we often sluggish to obey God in both water baptism and the baptism with the Holy Spirit?  We need not wait any more!  Acts 1:4-5 records the words of Christ to the disciples after His resurrection before the day of Pentecost:  "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; ⁵ for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  The Spirit was poured out upon the believers as they prayed in one accord in the upper room.  Does that mean we must wait to receive this as well?  Some mistake Christ's words as applying to us today, that "wait" means "quit serving."  Not at all!  The wait is over because Christ has ascended and God's Spirit has been sent!  Today is the day of salvation and the day of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  It is only through the Spirit that we can serve God effectively, exercise spiritual gifts, resist the devil and all temptation, have understanding of God's Word, and victoriously engage in the spiritual battles we face daily.

Born-again Christians affirm that if a person will confess their sins, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ, they have assurance of salvation through the Word of God.  Yet some of these same believers (and I was once one of them!) stop short of believing if a person will confess their sin, repent, and ask in faith for Christ to be baptized with the Holy Spirit it may or may not happen.  How can this be?  Speaking for myself, I used to be the aforementioned person.  To put it bluntly, I for a while desired the baptism with the Spirit yet was unwilling to lay down my own will at the cross and humble myself.  I actually used scripture to fortify my position and hid behind a facade of spirituality.  In doing so to my shame I robbed God of glory and sacrificed my usefulness for His kingdom in exchange for pride.  But glory to God, He changed my heart and opened my eyes.  He showed me my great need for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, enabled me to believe the promises of His Word, and gave me faith to pray to receive.  Like John the Baptist I personally affirm that Jesus IS the One who baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit and fire.  We have God's assurance in His Word in the matter and the testimony of the Holy Spirit to confirm the truth in our hearts.

Do you possess, by God's grace, the fullness of the Spirit?  Know that you can and that is His will for you. Jesus says in Luke 11:13:  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"   1 John 5:14-15 affirms:  "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."  Now why are you waiting?  Jesus says to you in Luke 11:9: "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."