Inspires to Shine

Yesterday I had a discussion with someone who is preparing to sit an exam.  I was asked, "Do you have any motivational or inspirational quotes?"  In the moment nothing came to mind.  I suppose the cliche approach to offer a one liner like the cat poster in the The Lego Movie simply captioned "Believe!" or another that says, "Hang in there!"  Playful images and cliches cannot provide any reasons or suitable answers for the persistent doubts that can plague us or how to live life wisely.  Cute doesn't cut it.

In thinking it over from a biblical perspective, God supplies motivation and inspiration in abundance for us to do what pleases Him.  Our motives are to be guided by the fear, love and glory of God.  The world operates in a totally contrary way and suggests we must believe in ourselves and great inspiration comes from following the desires of our hearts in the pursuit of our dreams.  We are liable to hijack statements in the Bible as motivational sayings by stripping the words from the context and applying them in the hope of fulfilling our own agendas.

When Paul said in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," it was written in the context he had learned to be content whether he had abundance or lacked, how he was taught contentment in Christ by being abased, hungry or full.  God told Joshua, "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage."  This wasn't advice for Joshua to trust or believe in himself to overcome obstacles to accomplish his plans but to trust and rely upon God and boldly do what God commanded:  to lead the children of Israel across the Jordan river, drive out the enemies in Canaan and to distribute to each tribe an inheritance.

The greatest inspiration and motivation that can be found is by faith in God Himself.  He is more lovely than the most breathtaking views in nature or the awe-inspiring glimpses of distant constellations.  The willingness of people to suffer for worthy causes can be inspirational, but nothing compares to the gracious sacrifice Jesus made to redeem lost sinners through His own death and resurrection.  Knowledge of God, His love and power is not rightfully used to goad us to try harder and do better for ourselves, but to offer ourselves willingly to God so He would be glorified, to do all as unto Him because He alone is worthy of honour, praise and majesty.

Believers in Jesus already have the assurance of eternal life and an everlasting reward.  This ought to inspire us to walk worthy of the love, grace and goodness God has provided for us.  Do you find God's love inspirational, a motivation to do what pleases Him?  The revelation of God and His love for us ought to prompt us to seek and serve the LORD with rejoicing, for He is our life and reason for living.  Believe in Jesus Christ and hang in there friends, for God has not left us hanging!  Jesus hung on a cross, was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead to prove His victory over sin and death and gives abundant life to all who trust in Him.  May Jesus be the reason we rise every morning and shine brighter than the sun by His grace.

Faithful to His Word

"Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead."

John 20:8-9

After the disciples of Jesus heard the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb, some ran to investigate.  Peter and John are described as looking into the empty tomb, saw the graveclothes lying there with the headcovering folded neatly by itself, and they believed.  They believed the body of Jesus was not in the tomb based upon what they saw, yet John 20:9 shows the scripture had already revealed the truth of Christ's resurrection from the dead.  God has given us eyes and physical senses we are to use wisely and can confirm the truth of what God has already said.

I love that God's work is not dependent upon the perfect knowledge of God's people.  God is sovereign and rules over all, able to accomplish His plans despite the ignorance of those who fear and trust Him.  The disciples did not at the time know the scripture, yet the passage is clear they would come to know and believe it.  The Bible has many examples of people who needed to see to believe, and others who believed without seeing.  Both groups can have genuine faith that brings honour and glory to God.  Our gracious heavenly Father knows what is required to convince mankind of the truth, and using both our senses and the word of God we are brought to greater understanding.

Women who visited the tomb reported the body of Jesus had been taken from the tomb, and later Mary Magdalene reported she had seen the risen LORD Jesus.  The disciples did not act like Jesus had risen from the dead, for they assembled behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.  Suddenly Jesus stood in the midst and proclaimed peace to them.  From then on they ascribed belief in the resurrection of Jesus and told Thomas, who was not with them the first night of the week, that they had seen the LORD.  It was not until Jesus personally appeared to Thomas and bid him touch His wounds Thomas gladly proclaimed, "My LORD and my God."

How good is the word of God to prepare us by revealing Jesus is LORD!  Consider how valuable the revelation by the word of the LORD was to the virgin Mary when she was told the Holy Spirit would cause her to conceive and bring forth a Son.  She believed the word of God spoken to her and did not assume her morning sickness was indigestion or had concern her abdominal swelling could be a tumour!  Belief in what God has said and revealed in the scripture gives us understanding and a basis for personal faith in the LORD.  May the word of God and His wisdom direct us to reliance and dependence upon Jesus as LORD, our risen Saviour who is worthy of all trust.

Our Strength and Portion Forever

Like the churning sea is never at rest, our hearts can be troubled under a calm exterior.  We may not even realise the depths of our pains until we are brought to a breaking point brought on by stress, grief, rejection, physical discomfort or a myriad of other things.  The constant cares of this life can lull us into a sort of stupor that pain intensely felt--like the paddles of a defibrillator pressed to our chest--snaps us back to the reality we need God more than anything because He is truly our life.  In our happy moments when all seemed right in the world we imagined we were drawing near to God, but in reality we only basked in His goodness or how we felt at the time.  Those soul-crushing moments we experience can reveal this reality to us, how we have neglected to seek the LORD with our whole hearts and trust Him.

At times I have felt so low I have desired to be done with living because I caught a glimpse of my own wretchedness and inability to do a thing to help myself or others.  For a brief moment due to a selfish, despondent perspective, it is likely all of us have also been presented a hideous world without God, a life where He does not exist or is stripped of power.  It is a hopeless existence where happiness, prosperity and fruitfulness depends wholly upon our efforts, and we are acutely aware of our abysmal track record of complete failure and incompetence.  In the depths of feelings of desolation and hopelessness God's word brings God back into focus again and quickens us to seek Him desperately for restoration.  Our painful feelings are redeemed as we draw near to God with renewed faith, revived by the shock of our foolish, beastly selfishness and self-pity.

Asaph, a worship leader in the temple in Jerusalem, also had this experience personally.  In Psalm 73 Asaph's focus was drawn to consider those who did not seek or know God and how they seemed to prosper.  He wondered if his allegiance to God and sacrifices to serve Him were worth it when it seemed to pay no immediate dividends.  He felt "plagued all day long" and "chastened every morning" (verse 14).  Asaph came to realise God is infinitely more trustworthy than his feelings, and repented of his doubts and unbelief brought on by troubles.  He declared in Psalm 73:22-24, "I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. ²³ Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. ²⁴ You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."  Isn't this wonderful?  Asaph felt alone but he was not alone, for God was with him, guided him by the hand with His counsel and would afterward receive him to glory.

When we feel cast down and depressed by troubling news and circumstances, how good it is to draw near to the LORD in a way we did not in our comfort and prosperity!  Being cast down and wallowing in our sorrows as those without the hope of Jesus, the Gospel and a glorious future with our LORD reveals the folly of our selfishness and unbelief.  We can feel lost in the dark when the Light of the World Jesus Christ stands ready to save and deliver.  What Asaph said next is very instructive in Psalm 73:25-26:  "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. ²⁶ My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  Should our desires be fixed on what is not we ignore the God who was, is and will ever be.  Our pains are often the realisation what we love and desire is not God alone and an indication of our failure to seek Him.

Instead of feeling everything is against us in troubles, let us remember God is for us, is with us, and will guide us.  The Strength of my heart and my Portion forever will afterward receive me to glory, and how blessed we are to seek His face and have fellowship with Him today.  Christian, we have a God who is sovereign over the heavens, the earth and our hearts.  The God of heaven and earth loves us without fail, and praise Him for His faithfulness. :)

God's Glorious Righteousness

"I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

John 17:4-5

When Thomas asked Jesus to show them God the Father Jesus responded, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)  Jesus previously revealed to all in John 10:30, "I and my Father are One."  Jesus was sent by God as a revelation of Himself in human form, the Christ who walked with men who beheld His glory.  The only begotten Son of God Jesus was tasked to seek and save the lost and lay down His life to redeem sinners, and as the hour on Calvary approached the LORD sought the Father in prayer.

I find intriguing the ways Jesus addressed God the Father in the prayer found in John 17, during which He called "Father" many times.  In John 17:11 He called Him "Holy Father," a title that should be reserved for the almighty God alone.  He used another adjective in John 17:25:  "O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me."  God is distinctly holy and righteous, sacred and upright without flaw.  There is absolutely nothing or no one like Him, perfect without change.  The redemption of sinful mankind would not be possible unless God was righteous and could justly impute it to the undeserving.  No man is righteous except Jesus Christ, no not one.

David spoke of God's righteousness many times in his songs as seen in Psalm 71:15-16:  "My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. ¹⁶  I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only."  Righteousness is a quality and characteristic of God we are aware of but may not appreciate as much as we should.  We ought to marvel over God's righteousness more than the most brilliant sunrise; we should proclaim the righteousness of God more than topics of personal interest.  God's righteousness is glorious, not because we benefit from it, but because He is awesome.

God doesn't just claim or believe to be right:  He is righteous and will ever be righteous without fail.  A glorious sunrise or sunset retains its brilliance for a minute or two, but God is righteous now and forever.  This is the righteousness God has imputed to believers in Jesus by faith in Him (Phil. 3:9).  Have you ever considered how glorious God's righteousness is revealed in His Son?