Our Good Father in Heaven

No matter how long we have been believing in Jesus as LORD, we will always remain God's children.  We are called to grow to maturity, of course, but knowledge or experience should never lead to increasing distance from God:  growing in the LORD means we rely on Him more than ever.  We train our children to become independent of our care, and God trains us through countless means to be more dependent on Him.

Jesus acknowledged parents are able to give good gifts to their children in Luke 11:13 to teach that God is able to give infinitely better gifts:  "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!"  There is a biblical connection often made between our asking in faith and God responding.  James explained we often do not have because we do not ask, and also we have not because we ask with selfish motivation.  God is wise to refuse requests which work for our detriment and puffs us up with pride.

Responding to the request of a child for food is one of the many things a parent does for a beloved child.  In fact, parents watch out for the good of their children when they are clueless and place themselves in danger.  I have seen many parents swoop down to catch a child who was happily running into the street or lift them up after a fall.  This week I thought about a little child playing at the beach who never saw the wave that knocked him off his feet.  He went from laughing and playing to suddenly being flipped over with salt water in his mouth and sand in his eyes, his whole world turned upside down in an instant.  His mother or father does not wait for an earnest request for assistance:  before he can cry out his observant parents are already on their feet to quickly pick up their little one and offer words of comfort and consolation.

If we, being careless and forgetful, will lift up our little one who has fallen and is in trouble, won't our omniscient and loving Father in heaven do the same for us when we are cast down?  It is amazing how God uses our fellow believers to do this for us.  It is true that God draws near to those who draw near to Him; it is true God responds to the prayer of faith for comfort in His presence.  Yet let us not imagine God's care is based primarily on our desperate efforts to reach out to Him.  It is God who loves us first and has delivered us from sin and death.  It is God who keeps our feet from stumbling and lifts up those who are cast down.  Praise the LORD for responding to our prayers, and praise God for coming to our aid when we give Him no thought.  The best, caring parents in the world are a fleeting shadow in comparison to our compassionate, patient Father in heaven.

Growing In Grace

How gracious God is to teach us and give us time to grow!  A farmer does not pull or throw out seedlings because they have not yet produced fruit, and God does not expect us to have a biblical perspective from spiritual infancy.  Like a child grows to walk and talk outside the womb, once we are born again God enables us to develop into mature children of God.  It may be a surprisingly quick process to the casual observer, but it still requires time and the wisdom of God to accomplish.

Children have many misconceptions of the world around them due to their naivete, ignorance or from being misinformed.  In a similar way, many Christians can bring misunderstandings into their relationship with God after trusting in Jesus and being born again.  The transformation of a heart justified by faith may be immediate, yet even the most mature believers require a renewing of their minds.  All believers have the potential to lack faith, to forget what God has said and done, and to be slack in seeking God.  Let us also not forget the impact of growth.  As it grows a sapling sends roots down deeper, the trunk grows thicker and the branches grow longer.  Before too long there are new branches and leaves where nothing before grew, and as we grow in grace and knowledge of God a framework of theology is established.

No matter how extensive or "correct" our theology may be, there is also a need for our lives to align with what we say we believe.  Without obedience to God we will not grow or be fruitful as we ought.  Heresy is as deadly to souls as sin, and fallacies potentially sap our fruitfulness.  There are many genuine believers who hold onto misunderstandings which have stunted their growth.  One of these which I encountered recently is the assumption that if Jesus did not say something on a subject, we have "open slather" to do as we please, to fill in the blanks with what seems equitable or fitting for us.  The problem with this perspective is it ignores the fact Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, the God who existed before He was manifested in human flesh, the same God who has given us 66 books that comprise the scriptures.  Those who hold to this perspective run the risk of invalidating all other scriptures which do speak on the subject because they are not printed with red ink.

We live in a "pick and choose" world where it is natural to choose the news coverage you prefer, to alter recipes, to order from a menu where you are free to choose what you want and refuse what you do not like, to build bespoke homes or vehicles where man's demands are king.  This is not how it works for a child of God, for God is not a doting Father who is at the mercy of the whims and dictates of His children.  God is; God has spoken, and He speaks according to what is written.  He has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ but also as God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The words of Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life are to be heard and heeded, yet let us not forget the rest of the scriptures are also God-breathed.  It takes time to marinate or brine meat, and it takes time for the washing of the water of the word to cleanse us of the many misconceptions and errors we continue to make.  Praise the LORD Jesus is wisdom for us, for the Holy Spirit who fills us, and our heavenly Father who loves us.

Stones That Speak

There are many tasks we "leave to the professionals" because we lack the training, skills, tools or time to do a quality job.  When hiring a contractor we spare no pains to read through pages of reviews to ensure the price is reasonably and professionalism is adequately high.  One thing I find remarkable about God is His gracious choice to rely upon volunteers to gladly proclaim His praises and goodness.  God never shies away from using the weak and foolish to do His perfect will, broken vessels through whom His immeasurable glory shines.  Should a vessel God uses be proved flawed, He remains righteous, holy and good.

When the children of Israel passed through the Jordan river, God caused the waters to stand in a heap.  The priests who bore the ark of the testimony stood on dry ground in the midst until all passed over.  Joshua instructed a man from each tribe in Israel to carry a stone from the riverbed of the Jordan which were later set up in Gilgal.  Joshua 4:21-24 says, "Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land'; ²³ for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, ²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever."  Silent stones were used by God as a memorial of the mighty deliverance He worked among them:  He brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea, and He also caused them to pass over the Jordan to enter into the land He promised them.

The stones themselves were not sufficient to present the message of God's might and power.  God instructed the people to give their children an answer for why the stones were set up in Gilgal and to acknowledge the mighty hand of God Who worked in their midst.  The parents and their children were chosen by God to be a witness to the "all the peoples of the earth" of God's might that He might be feared now and forever.  Isn't it amazing God would use mortal men to proclaim His goodness?  Our lives on earth are compared to grass that dries up, a vapour that quickly dissipates and yet He has called us to fear the LORD our God forever.  Even as God made a way for the Hebrews to escape the advancing Egyptian army by parting the Red Sea and caused them to pass into Canaan through the Jordan on dry ground, God is able to overcome every obstacle so we can perform His perfect will.  Our lives on earth are short but God has miraculously overcome the curse of sin by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ so we can live forever with Him.

God did not reserve His public relations to priests and prophets but to everyone called by His name, having been born again through faith in Jesus Christ.  Paul spelled this out in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21:  "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  We are to make known the might of God to the ignorant as well to those who know God.  Paul and his fellow apostles urged believers to be reconciled to God and to walk righteously before Him and the world.  We are living stones whose mouths open with praise to God and minister His truth to all in the fear of the LORD.  Once we were drowning in sins that brought death, and now we have been set free and made His holy habitation.  Believer, God has chosen you and me to be His ambassadors, and though we be unworthy let us walk worthily before Him.

Navigating Unfamiliar Territory

"So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; ³ and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. ⁴ Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."

Joshua 3:2-4

On the cusp of finally crossing the Jordan river and entering into the Promised Land, God's people were told to keep their distance from the ark of the covenant carried by the Levites as they followed.  During their pilgrimage in the wilderness the presence of God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to the next location to make camp.  The children of Israel were told to keep almost a kilometre distance between them and the ark of God so they could see the way God was leading them.

God was leading Israel to a new place with which they were unfamiliar.  They did not know the way, nor were they to assume they knew where their final destination would be.  Everyone has a different idea of what is ideal, and the people were to wholly submit to God's leading in real time as they went together.  As we embark in a new year and every day this is wise for us to hold to this principle.  We have lived many days and years on earth, yet who but God can say where He will lead us or the way He will take us?  We have never lived today before.  We can apply this to Christian ministry as well because we run the risk of relying on our experience, our own ideas or the opinions of others to guide and direct our steps.  We can assume we know the way to go, that God, having reconciled us to Himself by His grace, will "rubber stamp" our movements with His approval.  Our call is to walk by faith in God, not by sight.

The children of Israel were to see and follow the priests bearing the ark of the covenant, but every step they took was to be by faith in God's sovereignty, provision, protection and presence.  Walking in God's ways meant God was with them and would not leave or forsake them.  Israel knew pushing the flocks to hard would cause many to perish, and God knew throwing His people into warfare quickly after being delivered from slavery would be too much to bear.  So like a good shepherd, God led His people gently toward His intended destination that they did not know and could not by experience predict.  We have been given the inspired word of God and we need to be taught by the Holy Spirit to comprehend what God is saying to us.  God was leading to a place they had never before, and today is unfamiliar territory for us though the scenery might remain the same.

Isn't this a lovely reminder of God's love and care for His people?  If we imagine we know the way to go we might make a decision like Lot who moved his family to the well-watered plains which ended up being utterly destroyed in God's judgment.  The tribes of Ruben, Gad and Manasseh were content to dwell on the east of Jordan because the land was suitable for cattle and they had cattle:  they were the first tribes to be absorbed by heathen nations.  Friends, when God moves in your life do not assume you know where He is leading you or even what the day will hold:  you have never been here before.  Unlike the Israelites who followed the ark at a great distance, we are called to follow Jesus Christ our Saviour closely as we heed His voice as sheep that heed their Shepherd.  Jesus is the Way and we enjoy safety, peace and hope in His presence.  Let us go after Him that we might go where Jesus is as the Holy Spirit leads us.