Running With It

It is wonderful to teach the truth of God's word and for people to receive it gladly and run with it.  Years ago I led a course to equip people to share Christ, and it was great to see people put what they had learned into practice and exert more effort in doing outreach I never thought to do.  The people of Nazareth could have been impressed and pleased to hear the gracious words of Jesus as He read from teh scroll of Isaiah and addressed them in the synagogue.  "And to think--this is the son of Mary and Joseph who never went to proper school!"  Sadly for them, blinded by unbelief, they were offended by the Messiah who outshone them and sought to kill Him.

Another kind of "running with" suggests something is carried beyond what was originally intended.  I have seen this when Christians embrace a particular doctrine to the point they become divisive and sow discord among the brethren.  Verses out of context can be "run with" to support extreme and even erroneous views.  The works of Luther and Calvin I have read where they sought to push back against the "papists" were embraced by their followers and run with to the point we now have Lutherans and Calvinists.  In one sense Luther was not a Lutheran; Calvin was not a Calvinist.  I do not fault these reformers because their adherents carried their words further than they did.  These distinctions came later as their theological works were examined, further refined and more precisely defined.

Finally, the prophet Jeremiah spoke of prophets who ran to speak though God had not sent or spoken to them:  they ran bearing a deceitful message of their own hearts.  Jeremiah 23:21-22:  "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ²² But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings."  Rather than running without being sent or spoken to, prophets in Jeremiah's day would have done better to stand in God's counsel and cause God's people to hear His words.  There is a literal example in 2 Samuel 18 of a man who ran without a message after the death of Absalom.  Ahimaaz was very keen to run and bear tidings to king David that the LORD had avenged him of his enemies.  Joab refused to send Ahimaaz and instead directed Cushi:  "Go tell the king what you have seen."  Still Ahimaaz was undeterred, for he wanted to run.  Apparently he liked running, and from happened later he was known for his running--for his stride and gait was recognised from afar.

Joab asked, "Why will you run, seeing you have no message ready?"  Ahimaaz did not answer.  He just said, "Let me run."  So Joab permitted it:  "Run."  Ahimaaz was a very good distance runner, but he had not been given a message.  Cushi, on the other hand, had been an eyewitness of what occurred and was sent by Joab to tell the king what he had seen.  While Cushi bowed and obeyed, insistent Ahimaaz continued to pester Joab to let him run after Cushi--whom he overtook by way of the plain.  In the passage we have two runners who went two different paths, one who loved to run and the other with a message.  What this section of scripture illustrates to me is the importance of being sent by God, hearing His words and speaking them accurately.  We are called to carry the good news of the Gospel wherever God sends us, but we must take caution we do not run with God's words to justify going beyond what He has said.  We disciples who have received the Great Commission and go into all the world ought to stand in God's counsel and cause people to hear God's word--rather than running because we want to run, competing with others when we ought to compliment.  Standing in God's counsel is what we ought to run with.

Pray in Faith

God is sovereign and supreme, and He is faithful to accomplish His good plans and purposes.  Though He rules over all, God is easily moved by the prayers of people who trust in Him.  God does all things without instruction or direction, yet He yields to answer prayers of His children as a king graciously responds to a humble request of his subject.  God is not whimsical or impulsive as our prayers can sometimes be, and it is a timeless wonder He chooses to respond to our cries.

We observe God answered the prayer of Isaac offered on behalf of his wife Rebekah in Genesis 25:21:  "Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived."  Isaac was likely very well-versed with God's promise to make of his father Abraham a great nation and the very long time he and Sarah waited before he was conceived in his mother's womb.  God waited until a miracle was required, and the deadness of Abraham's flesh and Sarah's barren womb were easily overcome by God's power.  Isaac interceded in prayer for his wife, and God answered his prayer when Rebekah conceived.

The joy of conception and the expectancy of becoming parents was overshadowed as Rebekah suffered an uncomfortable pregnancy.  Rebekah also prayed to God as it says in Genesis 25:22-23:  "But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. ²³ And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger."  God revealed why her stomach felt like a cage match and much more than a sonogram ever could about the future:  she was going to have twin sons of whom God would make two nations.  At the request of Isaac God took action and gave Rebekah conception, and God responded to her inquiry by speaking to her and even told her of things to come.

God's ways of answering prayers of faith are more varied than the people who bring their problems, heartaches and hurts to the LORD.  In the Bible we see God often answered prayers in unexpected ways.  When God sent venomous snakes among His people who complained and murmured against Him, they asked Moses to pray that God would take away the snakes.  God responded to their prayer in a different way in Numbers 21:8-9:  "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived."  Rather than removing snakes to prevent additional people from being bitten, God made a way of healing for those who were dying--and anyone else who would be bitten.  The bronze serpent on a pole people looked at and were healed foreshadowed the coming Messiah Jesus who would be lifted up on a cross, that whoever believes on Him might not perish but have everlasting life.

When we are distressed by the fruitlessness of our efforts, life become a massive struggle and tussle, when we want dangers and what puts us in fear taken away from us, we can come to God in prayer.  We can intercede on the behalf of others and bring our requests to the LORD knowing He is inclined to hear us and will answer according to His grace and in His time.  Because the LORD is at hand we are wise to heed Philippians 4:6-7:  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Peace is not found by obtaining our desired outcomes but by knowing and trusting Jesus Christ who is our peace and is always faithful to hear and answer prayer.

Stand in Faith

When we go to the shops to buy food, there are often varieties of fruit or vegetables to choose from.  The fruit that is presented in the shop has already been whittled down by the pickers and the shop to present the best quality options.  Sometimes I have observed the fruit to be fresh and abundant, and other times it is hard to find a single apple that does not appeared damaged, soft or mouldy.  I try not to touch any fruit or vegetable I do not plan to buy, so I take a good look before I pick up each piece and place it in the bag.  Buying quality meat also requires discernment, for I take note of the cut of meat, the portion itself and the marbling.

Since my dad was a carpenter, I learned the importance of looking at the grain of wood and sighting it to ensure the timber was not warped by the process of drying or storage.  The lumber that is twisted and is full of knots is set aside, and it may require digging far into the stack of wood before pieces worthy of purchase are found.  Not all apples are good ones, and not every 2 X 4 is remotely straight.  I was reminded by this when I considered the word of God spoken to the prophet in Jeremiah 15:19:  "Therefore thus says the LORD: "If you return, then I will bring you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, but you must not return to them."  Jeremiah was a man who feared God among many who were unfaithful to Him.  There were many lies spoken as the "word of the LORD" that were imaginations of sinful hearts.  God exhorted Jeremiah to be discerning to take out the precious from the vile--to single out the truth of God's word, to believe and proclaim God's wisdom in a current of falsehood and deceit.

In the passage of Scripture preceding God's command, Jeremiah wondered why his pain was perpetual.  He questioned if God had lied to him and become as a stream that failed.  Giving space to these doubts and accusations against God who is revealed as good and righteous caused Jeremiah to wander from Him.  Thus God urged Jeremiah to return to Him, to repent of entertaining the possibility God deceives people, fails to keep His word or is incapable of helping the wounded soul.  Jeremiah was not to return to those who spouted such lies, and if he took out the precious from the vile would be restored as God's mouth.  In speaking forth divine truth, those who trusted and feared God would be drawn to Jeremiah to heed the word of the LORD.  This is a good reminder for all God's people, for we have unclean lips among a people of unclean lips.  There were many in Jeremiah's day who claimed to speak for God, but their words were vile in God's sight.  Let us be those who look to God and His word in a sea of deceit, gathering His truth, proclaiming and submitting to it day after day.

God promised if Jeremiah returned God would bring Him back and stand before Him, and we are called to stand--having done all our LORD has commanded.  Having been born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, we need God to help us stand when the wind howls and the fiery arrows fall like a wave upon our position.  The shield of faith has no trouble at all to deflect and extinguish every arrow expertly aimed at us by our adversary.  Praise God for His protection and His promises, for He is faithful.

Tried and Found Faithful

One of the more well-known quotes from G.K. Chesterton about Christianity is, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult; and left untried."  (Chesterton, G. K. What’s Wrong with the World. Ignatius Press, 1994. page 37)  Following Jesus Christ is no guarantee of an easy life, but all who are in Jesus know He is the Life!  Those who trust and love Jesus shall not want, for He is our Good Shepherd.  Just because we follow Jesus, however, does not mean we are always willing to follow His word when the world and our experience leads us differently.

It can be difficult to submit to God's word and obey Him because it is not our natural inclination.  It requires faith for us to trust and obey God when it comes to the administration of discipline, whether it be in the church or with our own children.  Recently I was in a conversation when we discussed the few times we had ever observed church discipline administered as Jesus taught in Matthew 18.  Paul's 1st and 2nd letters to the Corinthian church illustrate how Christians can swing like a pendulum to extremes:  first Paul rebuked the church for allowing blatant sin to be accepted among them, and then Paul had to exhort the church to receive the man who repented of sin and to affirm their love for him.  Every Christian is a sinner and we can be easily offended, yet we are not always willing to put Christ's commands into practice.

Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 18:15-17:  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' ¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."  For every time church leadership has failed to discipline an openly sinning member, there are likely many more times believers have told others or the church how others are at fault--rather than going to the offender personally alone because it was difficult.  This is how the Pharisees operated:  when Jesus did something that offended them they spoke to His disciples about it, and when the disciples offended them they complained to Jesus.  Brothers and sisters, let us not follow their example but Christ's commands.

The individual member who obeys Christ to go to their brother who sins against him with the aim of restoration and edification is the first step to implement church discipline.  Going to a brother and humbly confessing he has sinned against me is a difficult thing that requires faith in Jesus marked by obedience.  I exhort you, fellow Christian, lay aside any protests and doubts it will not produce your desired effect!  Could it be the LORD is testing you to see if you will obey Him or not?  When we want other people to admit wrong or change their ways, it could be the LORD is using them as His instrument to further refine your faith and obedience.  There have been a handful of times people have been obedient to God to confess I had sinned against them, and their obedience to Christ resulted in great blessing by His grace.  We trust Jesus to provide forgiveness and eternal life:  how about trusting Jesus to obey Him when it is difficult?  Try Him, for those who trust and obey Jesus shall not want.  He is faithful.