Rejoice in Our Saviour

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith like this:  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  Everyone, to some degree, daily demonstrates a measure of faith.  After buying a new car we trust the sensor on the fuel tank is reasonably accurate.  We trust motivated workers to finish the task they were assigned without feeling the need to check on them.  When we place our faith in God as revealed in scripture we are also are convinced and sure of unseen realities.  The Bible gives us insight to the character and power of God to save, forgive, help and save.  Without ever seeing Jesus Christ many people trust and love Him, not because they are weak-minded or mentally unstable, but because of the historical account of His life, death and resurrection.

One of my favourite passages that explores the victorious, sustaining faith in a child of God is seen in Habakkuk 3:17-19:  "Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labour of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls--¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. ¹⁹  The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills."  The prophet Habakkuk had no hope of a harvest of figs because the fig tree did not blossom.  It seemed there would be no wine because there was no fruit on the vines.  Food was scarce because the fields yielded no produce and there were no flocks or herds.  In the midst of a hopeless situation, Habakkuk was able to rejoice in the LORD because God was his Saviour.  We are excited at the prospects of a fruitful harvest and seeing our resources multiply, yet we are called to walk by faith and not by sight.  All hope is not lost when all seems lost because our rejoicing is in our God.

These verses in Habakkuk show me the folly of substituting good prospects for God.  In the midst of the trial we see "the light at the end of the tunnel" and find solace our troubles will be soon resolved.  This may be little more than a mirage which plunges us deeper into despair when our hopes are deferred again.  We soothe ourselves with the chance of small gains rather than in God who has already given us all things.  The LORD God is our strength, wisdom, redemption, righteousness and nothing can separate us from His love.  Jesus said He is preparing a place for His followers and will come again and receive us.  Shouldn't Jesus be who lifts our heads because our Salvation draws nigh?  Our LORD and Saviour is able to sustain His people with water from the rock, Living Bread from heaven and the comfort of His presence.  Our Good Shepherd is able to lead us safely through fire and flood, drought and storm day and night.

See the victory provided by faith in Jesus for those who are grieved when all other hopes are exhausted in 1 Peter 1:6-9:  "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls."  When Job was critically ill by the hand of Satan he uttered these inspired and immortal words in Job 19:25-27:  "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; ²⁶ and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, ²⁷ whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"

Hope in God, you His people!  Rejoice in your Saviour, all who look to Jesus in faith!  The LORD is our strength and will enable us to stand now and forever in His glorious presence.

Life Worth Investigating

Children are impressionable and parents have a great privilege and responsibility to raise them to know and honour God.  Christian parents can sabotage their efforts to teach their children about God when they reduce the relationship to rules.  There is a smug satisfaction that feeds our pride that we know and do what is right compared to a sinning, heathen world outside.  Believing sound doctrine is good, yet if pride in ourselves for a righteous stand (however costly) and still despise others without repentance we are no different than the self-righteous Pharisees who did not recognise the Saviour Jesus Christ who walked among them.  It is not doing one thing rather than another that makes us acceptable in the eyes of God but faith in Christ who regenerates us and empowers us by the Holy Spirit to walk in love.

After the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, God commanded His people to continually teach their children about Him, His word and all He had done for them.  They were to follow God's commandments in accordance to the covenant He made with them.  Deuteronomy 6:20-24 reads, "When your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?' ²¹ then you shall say to your son: 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; ²² and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. ²³ Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. ²⁴ And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day."  This directive is so insightful on how to instruct our children to follow God and exposes common pitfalls in raising godly children who continue on to maturity in faith.

Notice the transfer of knowledge does not begin with the parent telling the child what is right or wrong but the child, seeing the God-honouring conduct of his or her parents, is curious to know the meaning of God's word and why they follow God at all.  We fail in our witness to our kids and others when our "faith" in God is little more than words, esteeming agreement with certain doctrines and being heavy on what we reject.  These "anti" views are established as ideology within impressionable minds that might actually lack a relationship with the living God.  Zealous as devout Pharisees, these little ones at a young age are keen to reject dressing up for Halloween or promoting Santa Claus; they will hold signs protesting abortion and help feed the homeless.  They will for a time follow their parent's example to avoid distasteful movies or music.  However, a day will come when a child begins to question the ideology of their parents as they think for themselves.  Like the second generation of Hebrews in Canaan who did not know the LORD, a vast majority of these "churched" kids will know Bible trivia and stories but never know God personally.

Contrast this lamentable situation with the passage in Deuteronomy 6:  children were moved to ask their parents the meaning of God's testimonies, statues and judgments He commanded them.  The explanation of the parents is different than the explanation we might give because it starts with a personal testimony of who God is and all He had done for them.  The parents recalled the time when they were slaves in Egypt and how God brought them out with a mighty hand, with signs and wonders they witnessed with their eyes.  God brought them out of Egypt to bring them into a land He promised to give them.  Since God saved them and was their Sovereign, they observed His commands and feared the LORD their God because their lives depended on Him.  The God who was faithful to deliver them in the past would protect and provide for all their needs, now and forever.  Their answer was not an ideology, philosophy or tradition that included God, but their lives provided evidence of God's personal connection with them.

It is one thing to have a testimony of God's goodness, faithfulness and love from scripture, but do you have a life which is lived by faith in obedience to Christ's commands?  A verbal testimony is only of value when our lives are first lived unto the LORD.  The teaching of Jesus was confirmed by the miraculous works He did:  the two went together like faith and works.  James wrote that faith without works is dead, and we can conclude if faith is dead it has not regenerated a soul to eternal life.  James 2:17-18 states, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  Words and works by themselves are nothing, yet if our faith in God is genuine our lives will be marked by words and works which honour Him, by love for one another as Jesus loves us.  It is important we and our children believe the word of truth, yet how can we claim to believe what we do not adhere to ourselves?

A little girl of 4 years old impacted me by something she said about a movie.  "I don't like that movie because it has bird-killing," she said.  "Why should birds be killed when they should be free?"  It dawned on me if she had raised on a farm and viewed chickens and ducks as a primary food source for survival her views likely would have been different.  She had been fed an ideology by her parents, and we can do the same thing with Jesus Christ that can pass as faith for awhile.  Over time her views may lead her to be a vegetarian, or perhaps in her adulthood she would look back upon it as a silly phase of life--and this happens concerning Jesus and the Gospel as well.  If we will train our children in the way we should go, we must first live lives worthy of investigation because we have a relationship with the almighty God and our lives are aligned with the fear of God and the glory of His name.  We are not called to act differently from the world:  having been born again by faith in Jesus Christ our LORD and Saviour we will be different because we have been transformed by God.  Ideology or belief in itself never saved a soul.  A relationship with the living God which impacts daily life is what all saved souls share in common.

The LORD is Near

When appliances, electronics and toys grow old and break, often they are not worth repairing.  Long gone are the days of VCR and TV repair because of factors like the rapid advancement of technology that renders older obsolete, the difficulty of sourcing parts and the high expense of repair is greater than buying new.  Though parts can sometimes be recycled or repurposed, typically broken items that no longer perform their designed function are useless and only fit for the rubbish bin.  When my coffee machine stopped working, I removed it from the kitchen bench.  In a broken state it was a waste of space.

I am most grateful God does not treat us like we treat our damaged or broken goods.  Instead of throwing us away, God delights to draw near to us in our brokenness.  Our pains attract Him to hear, help and save us when our broken hearts cry out to Him.  See what Psalm 34:18 says:  "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit."  There is a caveat here.  As long as we proudly imagine we are sufficient and do not need God's assistance, our sinful pride creates distance between us and God who loves us.  Yet when we are broken and humbled, recognising our need for help and desiring to draw near to God, He will draw near to us.  Psalm 145:18 also reads, "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth."  It is comforting to know the LORD is near at all times and especially when we are humble and call upon Him in truth.

After he explained how God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, James exhorted in James 4:8-10, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."  The almighty God is not in a far off place sequestered or insulated from the pains we endure.  He is not frustrated by our neediness, nor does He desire our voices be silenced to save Him pains.  God is near and able to save us:  it is our self-reliance and pride that leads to our suffering being prolonged.  Our lack of humility in our brokenness prevents us from being healed.  God is near to the one whose spirit is crushed and can look nowhere else but to God with the expectation of help and salvation.

Reading the Psalm 34 passage in context illuminates how God has already provided all we need in Jesus Christ.  Psalm 34:17-22 says, "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸ The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. ²⁰ He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken. ²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. ²² The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned."  There is none good but God, and Jesus Christ is the perfect lamb of God who cried unto the Father and was heard:  though Jesus experienced the pain of crucifixion, not one of His bones was broken.  Through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead redemption by the Gospel has been provided for all who place their faith in Him.  Many afflictions are part of our life on earth, and we can have all confidence God is near and saves.

Learn to Discriminate

As a speaker of English it is interesting how the definition and meaning of words can change over time. 
It is not uncommon for the meaning of a word understood for hundreds of years to be easily overturned and narrowly re-defined as offensive.  A word which was once neutral can develop an overwhelmingly negative connotation and be viewed as bad in itself.  As a reader primarily of non-fiction by authors spanning hundreds of years, these shifts are not difficult to find.

One word that did not always have a negative meaning was "discriminate."  To "discriminate" is akin to a cardinal sin these days, yet see how it is defined in the Webster's 1828 dictionary (follow link for the full definition):  "To distinguish; to observe the difference between; as, we may usually discriminate true from false modesty.  2. To separate; to select from others; to make a distinction between; as, in the last judgment, the righteous will be discriminated from the wicked.  3. To mark with notes of difference; to distinguish by some note or mark. We discriminate animals by names, as nature has discriminated them by different shapes and habits."  From infancy we are taught to identify the difference between colours, shapes, sizes and kinds of animals.  For safety a child needs to discriminate between playing ball in the yard or in the street.  Discrimination according to this definition is good and necessary:  the process of distinguishing between two becomes wholly tainted when bias, favouritism, racism, nepotism, sexism, ageism, bigotry or selfishness in the heart guides our discriminating.

The Cambridge dictionary defines "discriminate" in accordance to a more modern interpretation:  "to treat a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their skin colour, sex, sexuality, etc.; 2. to be able to see the difference between two things or people."  Every true or false question on an exam demands a student discriminate correctly and rewards those who do.  People often follow "discriminate" with "against," loading the term with personal offence.  Regardless of your political or personal beliefs, you cannot hold any view unless you first discriminate--to note the difference between points of view and determine which ones you uphold or reject based on facts, personal convictions and experience.  It is of utmost importance a child of God learn to discriminate according to God's will and guidance.  Today people use the word "discern," yet the word discriminate carries in addition to the knowledge of God and His word the rejection of all sin and falsehood.

Interestingly as these thoughts were running through my mind, as I read C.H. Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students he touched on this theme precisely.  This is an excerpt from an address he gave to seminary students at a college for pastors in the 19th century:

"I have said that we must also learn to discriminate, and at this particular time that point needs insisting on.  Many run after novelties, charmed with every invention:  learn to judge between truth and its counterfeits, and you will not be led astray.  Others adhere like limpets to old teachings, and yet these may only be ancient errors:  prove all things, and hold fast that which is good.  The use of the sieve, and the winnowing fan, is much to be commended.  Dear brethren, a man who has asked of the Lord to give him clear eyes by which he shall see the truth and discern it bearings, and who, by reason of the constant exercise of his faculties, has obtained an accurate judgement, is one fit to be a leader of the Lord's host; but all are not such.  It is painful to observe how many embrace anything if it be but earnestly brought before them.  They swallow the medicine of every spiritual quack who has enough of brazen assurance to appear to be sincere.  Be ye not such children in understanding, but test carefully before you accept.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the faculty of discerning, so shall you conduct your flocks far from poisonous meadows, and lead them into safe passage.

When in due time you have gained the power of requiring knowledge, and the faculty of discrimination, seek next for ability to retain and hold firmly what you have learned. In these times certain men glory in being weathercocks; they hold fast nothing, they have, in fact, nothing worth the holding.  They believed yesterday, but not that which they believe to-day, nor that which they will believe to-morrow, and he would be a greater prophet than Isaiah who should be able to tell what they will believe when next the moon doth fill her horns, for they are constantly altering, and seem to be born under that said moon, and to partake of her changing moods.  These men may be as honest as they claim to be, but of what use are they?  Like good trees oftentimes transplanted, they may be of a noble nature, but they bring forth nothing; their strength goes out in rooting and re-rooting, they have no sap to spare for fruit.  Be sure you have the truth, and then be sure you hold it.  Be ready for =fresh truth, if it be truth, but be very chary how you subscribe to the belief that a better light has been found than that of the sun.  Those who hawk new truth about the street, as the boys do a second edition of the evening paper, are usually no better than they should be.  The fair maid of truth does not paint her cheeks and tire her head like Jezebel, following every new philosophic fashion; she is content with her own native beauty, and her aspect is in the main the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."  (Spurgeon, C. H. Lectures to My Students: Complete & Unabridged. Ministry Resources Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989. pages 207-208)

Once we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ we are divinely enabled to learn to discriminate as Spurgeon exhorts:  to know the truth and hold fast to it.  The presence of the Holy Spirit within us guides us into truth, convicts us of sin and reveals the wickedness in us which loves some people more than others.  We can renounce our wickedness revealed by our sinful discrimination because God has discriminated between truth and error in His word and in our hearts.  For the glory of God and our good we are wise to learn to thus discriminate, not because we are God but because we fear and seek to honour Him above all.  Society can base beliefs and practices on the sinking sands of political correctness, fear of reprisal or censure by man:  as followers of Jesus Christ we ought to love one another as He loves us, give more grace and walk in compassion towards all.  It does us no benefit to point out tendencies of others to unfairly discriminate until we first learn to discriminate truth from error and walk with Jesus (who is the Truth) faithfully ourselves.