Hold Fast To the End

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he said it was not a tedious task to remind and exhort them to rejoice in the LORD.  If it was not tedious or irksome (Phil. 3:1) for him to write as led by the Holy Spirit, it should certainly not be tedious to read and study the same Word so we too might hear God speak.  Because I believe the Bible is proven to be literal God-breathed truth, it is rich and exciting in itself.  I wonder when people are driven to conjecture to somehow make the Bible more interesting, as if it was a dull and boring book devoid of power.  The Bible alone contains the words of life, and there is nothing dull about that!

Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 with commands, warnings, and exhortations.  He wrote in 2 Timothy 4:1-5, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: ² preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. ⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."  A day will come when Jesus will judge the living and the dead.  Paul charged Timothy to remain faithful to preach the Word of God - not opinions, conjecture, or stories.  A time would come (and now is) when even professing Christians will refuse biblical truth and be led astray from Christ according to the desires of their deceived hearts.  Regardless of their protests or opposition from the world and the prince of it, Timothy was to keep to the truth of the Bible.  This is a good exhortation for all Christians alike.

I found useful an article titled "A Heart That Burns" by Chuck Smith in the April 2014 edition of Decision magazine.  By God's grace, I know something of what Chuck speaks when he writes:

I get so excited just reading the Word of God.  There are times when I can hardly contain myself, as God's Spirit begins to open up the Scriptures to me.  I can't describe to you just how exciting it is to be taught by the Spirit the truth of God's Word and suddenly have understanding given to you, the Scriptures opened up to you.  There are some people who get excited when people speak in tongues or when people utter prophecies.  I get excited over the Word of God.  Some people get excited over visions or dreams.  I get excited over the Word of God.  "He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45).  That's a glorious gift, when God opens your understanding that you might understand.  And that happens when you're born again. (Smith, pg. 40)

As we progress in our Christian walk, we never lose our need for the fundamental truths of God's Word.  It seems many people in the church seek after experiences and emotional stirring rather than seeking Christ.  They become dissatisfied with their walk with Christ because they have stopped looking to Him to be their all in all.  He was never their God, so a worthless idol easily fills His rightful place.  They are caught up in flavour rather than substance.  When the foundation of Christ and obedience to His Word is abandoned for the slippery sand of personal experience or sinful desire, destruction is the result.  God is not a means but the End.  Jesus said He is the Alpha and the Omega, and His judgments are the only ones that count.  Let us hold fast to sound doctrine as we love one another as Jesus loves us.

Redemptive Value and Divine Exchange

There are rich of blessings for all who avail themselves of God's divine exchanges.  These exchanges must be done intentionally in faith according to God's Word.  I have continued to consider something spoken about in the sermon yesterday at Calvary Chapel Sydney, the fact God has placed redemptive value upon our sorrow, mourning, pain, and depression.  When we commit them to God in faith, He gives us a wonderful blessing in exchange.

God never promised to keep Christians from pain and sorrow in this life on earth.  In fact, Jesus promised in this world we will have tribulation.  We will all face consequences from sin in this world, and our experiences can be bitter indeed.  Though God does not insulate us from sorrow and pain, we are invited to be those who are casting our cares upon Him because He cares for us.  He has not promised to still every storm, but He offers us peace, comfort, and solace in the storm.  Our role is to admit our pain and weakness in humility, and entrust our life, well-being, and our future to Him.

Because recycling yards were conveniently located in my suburb when I lived in San Diego, I would save aluminium cans, plastic containers, and copper scraps to exchange for cash.  The redemption value was clearly marked on the sides of soda cans and bottles.  I would collect these containers until I had a couple bags full of crushed cans and then bring them to the recycling yard to redeem them.  As long as they sat in the corner of my garage they had not been redeemed.  There was cash value in those cans only realised after I loaded them into my truck, drove to the recycling center, separated them, and rolled the carts to the scale for weighing.  At that moment I gave them to the attendant, they were no longer mine.  It was a bit of work, but walking away with money instead of those stinky, sticky cans was well worth it!

Consider the divine exchange God has promised us through the Messiah Jesus Christ in Isaiah 61:1-3:  "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ² to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, ³ to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."  Before we are born again, the Bible says we are spiritually dead in sins.  We are bound in iniquity, awaiting judgment and everlasting punishment.  If we confess our sins in humble repentance, trusting in Jesus, we are born again through Jesus.  Our deadness is exchanged for eternal life, and confinement in sin and death is exchanged for freedom and eternal glory.  But that is not the end of the exchanges God offers!

Our hearts of stone can be exchanged for one of tender flesh.  Our blind eyes are exchanged for spiritual perception.  There is great redemptive value in mourning, depression, even our ashes.  Imagine that!  When your best efforts are turned to ash, we can take our failures to God and He will redeem them with unfading beauty.  Are you sorrowful or in mourning?  In exchange God offers comfort and consolation.  Is your heart heavy and laid low through depression?  God will provide in exchange the oil of joy and the garment of praise.  God will not force these exchanges upon us.  We must admit our need, confess our unbelief and lack of faith, and exercise faith in bringing each of our cares, worries, and sorrows to Christ.  When we are willing to part with those things forever and entrust them into His capable, loving hands, then we will receive the consolation.

Don't store up sorrows, pains, worries, guilt, and sadness when God has assigned great redemptive value to each one.  Bring them to the cross, casting your cares upon Jesus.  Once made, you will never regret this divine exchange.  No one has ever thought, "Oh, what I would give to have those cans back again!  To possess those old crusty, smelly milk cartons would be far better than what I received for them.  I used to have quite a collection built up, complete with ant trails."  As long as we live on earth, these exchanges will need to be done as we embrace our sanctification.  Cans pile up, milk continues to be consumed.  The dark corners of our garages and hiding places in rubbish bins start to accumulate.  It is time to cash in on the redemptive value of your cares for God's glory.  Let us avail ourselves of God's divine exchanges, for their value is greater than gold!  

Meeting God's Conditions

Jesus called the temple a "house of prayer" (Matt. 21:13, quoting from Is. 56:7), and when God spoke to Solomon He referred to it as a "house of sacrifice." (2 Chron. 7:12)  Since the institution of the new covenant in Christ's blood, Christians are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19).  This is suggestive of things that ought to mark our lives, even as they did the life of Christ on earth:  prayer and sacrifice.  God does not dwell in temples made with hands, but indwells those redeemed by faith in Jesus Christ.  Consider the implications of believers being the temple of the Holy Spirit as God spoke to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:13-16:  "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."  Amazing truth, this!

The fulfillment of God's promises often are contingent upon our obedience.  He does not give carte blanche blessings, for His conditions must first be met.  Anyone who has a grave illness, experienced the heartbreak of broken relationship, even a nation which has experienced plague or been ravaged by war, healing and restoration is God's desire.  God has the power to heal people, broken relationships, destroyed cities, and defeated nations.  The healing will come after we - those who are called by God's name, Jew and Gentile who are in Christ by grace through faith - meet His conditions.  It may start with one person, but it will take a people united to bring about this healing God desires for His glory and our good.

There are four conditions given in this passage.  God entreats His people to humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and repent (turn from their wicked ways).  It is possible we can do one without the other.  It is possible to pray without humility, or repent without seeking God's face.  But I say if we neglect any of these four requirements, we cannot bring any of them to full completion.  We can humble ourselves and pray for healing and forget to seek God's face.  What point is there to seek God's face without humility or praying without repentance?  We can make the healing our end when it is simply a means of God revealing His power to the world!  I have been asking myself:  are there any conditions I have not been intentional to fulfill?  We all want the positive final result, but do our souls draw back to fully accomplish any of these conditions?  We must walk in faith, believing that God will not leave undone one word of His promise.

Do you know that as a Christian God's eyes are open and His ears attentive to your prayers?  He has chosen you, with your cooperation will sanctify you, and He has claimed you as His own forever!  It is God who works in us both to will and do for His good pleasure.  Our world is sick and dying due to sin, but take heart in Christ, dear Christian!  Hebrews 10:35-39 says, "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: ³⁷ "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. ³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." ³⁹ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

Let us embrace the will of God for our lives by humbling ourselves, praying, and seeking His face in repentance.  The day is coming when our Saviour will return and make all right.  Until then, let's be about His business, providing a temple dedicated to prayer and sacrifice for His glory.

Teaching, Preaching, and Healing

How natural it is for us to value the gift over the giver!  When speaking about miraculous healings performed by Jesus Christ or Holy Spirit-filled disciples, we can miss the point of the exercise of spiritual power.  The healing of the body was not the end but a means:  a means to demonstrate the power of God so He might be glorified.  People can fall into the trap of seeing the exercise of spiritual power as the end, rather than the glory of God.

When we focus on a spiritual gift as an end in itself, we miss the purpose God has in giving and the exercise of the gift.  We are like babies who chew on extension cords, not even comprehending there is power flowing between our gums for a better purpose than our teething.  When Jesus healed a blind man, His disciples asked "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  John 9:3 says, "Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  The man was a sinner just like anyone else.  His blindness was not a punishment from God for sin in his family.  He was born blind so the works of God should be revealed in him.  Healing was a tool Jesus used to prove His redemptive power, divinity, and truth.  It would be a grave mistake to think Jesus just went around healing people without teaching and preaching.  Healing was coupled with the preaching of God's Word.  If someone is healed without explanation, the man who did the healing will be honoured.  Jesus did not come to honour Himself, but to glorify His Father in heaven.

The scriptures connect teaching, preaching, and healing.  Matthew 9:35 reads, "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." (Matt. 4:23 also)  What better way to illustrate the power of the Gospel then through healing people?  We see this connection when Peter through the name of Jesus healed the lame man begging at the temple.  After the lame man went into the temple walking, leaping, and praising God, a crowd of curious onlookers gathered.  Seeing the crowd, Peter addressed them concerning the means of this man's miraculous healing in Acts 3:12-15:  "So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses."

My favourite verse to show this critical connection is contained in the disciples' prayer after being threatened for preaching in Christ's name.  Acts 4:29-31 reads, "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness."  Peter, John, and the disciples did not pray for the gift of healing because there were a lot of sick people around.  God has compassion on the sick, don't misunderstand.  But did you see the reason why Peter and the disciples prayed that healings, signs, and wonders would be done through Jesus?  So they with boldness would speak forth God's Word!  I say this is not a primary reason why people want to be healed or see people healed today - that the Word of God would go out with power or that God would be glorified.  Our motives can be far less biblical and even blatantly selfish.  The disciples were described not as going around healing people - though they certainly did - but that they spoke the Word of God with boldness.  God answered their prayer!

God has the power to heal, and it is His will to do so.  When we walk in faith by the Holy Spirit, guided by scriptural motives, desiring God's glory and the promotion of His Word, we will see healing according to His perfect will.  Let's make sure we do not take healing out of the context of scripture and consider God's deep purposes for spiritual gifts.  More than simply alleviating symptoms or improving our lives, healing is a scriptural way to create an attentive audience for the Gospel.  May we with all boldness speak forth God's word as God stretches out His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of God's holy servant Jesus - not for our enjoyment, convenience, amazement, or honour, but the glory of God.

Lay Aside Weights

I was listening to a Calvary Chapel Radio app and heard pastor Brian Broderson speaking.  As he recited a verse with which I was familiar, the LORD illuminated it in a fresh way.  Hebrews 12 begins, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

This verse illustrates the purpose and intentionality of the Christian walk.  It is not simply a life of sin avoidance, but of running the race set before each one of us just as Jesus did.  He endured, and since the Holy Spirit has regenerated and filled Christ's followers, we can persevere to the end.  If we skim through the passage, we might think the writer of Hebrews is referring to sin as weights.  But that is not what is being said.  A distinction is being made between weights and sin.  Sin is the greatest burden all bear from birth, and we are free from it only through Jesus who bore it for us on the cross.  We should lay aside and forsake all sin.  There are, however, things in our lives that are not sin but are weights - weights that hinder us in running our race.  No one who cares about their time or placement in a gold-medal match would load themselves with weights.

Life can weigh upon both mind and body.  God intends that we run unencumbered for His glory as we lay aside sin which ensnares or any weight that drags down.  The Holy Spirit and the scriptures allow us to discern what is sin, what is necessary, what is permitted, and what is simply a weight that holds us back from a strong finish.  Once those weights are thrown aside, we will be stronger still to do what God has called us to do.  Our desire and ability to run only comes from God, and as we rely upon Christ - following His lead - we will not be led astray.  Let's not wait until the ship is sinking to throw aside what does not promote our spiritual well-being.  We must be vigilant to lay aside sin and weights we tend to accumulate!

Jesus: Our Sacrifice and Inheritance

I love when God opens my eyes to catch glimpses of His plan in the Bible.  Through Old Testament prophets God spoke of a Messiah who would save His people from their sin.  The New Testament begins with the Gospels by hailing Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of this divine promise.  Because He came in humility cloaked in humanity, He was rejected by the very people He came to save.  The Jews were looking for one who would rule the nations with a rod of iron, yet that fulfillment is still to come when Jesus is revealed to the world the second time.  Jesus came as a servant of all, and died to set sinners free.  Jesus rose glorified three days later, proving He is exactly who He claimed to be, a message harmonised with the angels who announced his birth to disciples who followed Him in faith.  He is Immanuel - God made flesh - our Peace, my LORD and my God.

In the opening chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John addresses the letter to seven churches in Asia.  He does not claim to be the source of this revelation, but Revelation 1:5-6 says his words are "...from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."  John praises Jesus for His redeeming sacrifice and atonement through His blood.  He proclaims the position before God of all genuine disciples of Jesus, having been made "kings and priests" before God.

This knowledge provides a beautiful picture of the believer's calling and service throughout scripture.  As a Christian, knowing Christ has made me a priest unto God, there is a wealth of understanding and personal application in the Old Testament to consider.  Priests under the old covenant were of the tribe of Levi and specifically of the line of Aaron, the first High Priest.  Hebrews chapters 7-10 goes into great detail how Christ is a better High Priest than any man, for He did not enter the Holiest place with the blood of animal sacrifices, but through His precious blood.  Hebrews 9:24-26 says, "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- ²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

Having established that Christians are made priests through the priesthood of Jesus Christ by His grace, I noticed a lovely picture in the book of Joshua.   Joshua 13:14 says, "Only to the tribe of Levi he had given no inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as He said to them."   The end of the chapter concludes with Joshua 13:33:  "But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as He had said to them."  Is this a contradiction?  Verse 14 says the inheritance of the Levites were the sacrifices they were privileged and commanded to partake of, but verse 33 says the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance!  It is not one or the other, but both!  This points to Jesus Christ as being the sacrifice we partake of by faith, and that He is our inheritance.  It is not an inheritance to be received only after the death of the body, for the Holy Spirit even now is the down-payment of our inheritance Who dwells inside all who are born again (Eph. 1:10-14).

What God has promised to do He has done.  As certain as the historical account of the Bible is true, all that we read yet to take place will one day be fulfilled.  Since Christ has made us kings and priests unto God, let us boldly lay hold of our inheritance and walk in this knowledge.  Naboth refused the request of king Ahab to sell land given him by God as an inheritance, and it ended up costing him his life.  May our lives, purchased by God as HIS inheritance, be used for His glory as we stand steadfast in faith.

Can You Stand?

We are in a spiritually healthy place when our thoughts, words, and deeds are moved by faith in Jesus Christ.  In this day of relativism and theological revision, it is imperative Christians ground themselves in the Word of God to know truth from error.  Error is not always obvious and requires discernment through the Holy Spirit.  As someone who believes the Bible is the inspired Word of God to be taken literally whenever possible, the scriptures form my theology.  Even though God and His Word have not changed, I have changed over the years.  My understanding has expanded as I have worked to put the scriptures into practice by faith.  After being justified by faith in Christ, the sanctification process has been embraced in varying degrees in my life.  This means change, a transforming work of being moulded more into the image of Jesus.  This means a change of heart, mind, and life for the better!

I cannot stress the importance of living our lives according to scripture.  Our theology must come from the Bible, not from worship songs.  There is a song that God has used to minister to my heart by Matt Maher called, "Lord I Need You."  It well illustrates the cry of my own heart, the recognision of my complete inability to do anything without God.  At the risk of sounding pedantic, there is one phrase in the song that has never set well with me.  It goes, "Teach my song to rise to you when temptation comes my way, and when I cannot stand I'll fall on you.  Jesus you're my hope and stay."  In Christ we find the strength and power to overcome all temptation, for He was tempted in every way yet remained without sin.  Sin becomes a temptation because of the wickedness in our own hearts (James 1:13-15).  The part where I take issue is with the phrase, "...and when I cannot stand I'll fall on you."  I have been thinking:  is this good theology?  I believe I understand what the artist is trying to convey, but I cannot see how it is biblical.

Because I am a flawed human being still in the process of sanctification, falling is more than a likelihood:  it is a certainty.  As I have heard a wise man say, we are all only one bad decision away from a fall.  In a physical sense, people skilled in balance and walking fall all the time:  a high heel failed, ice underfoot, because of advancing age, loss of balance from kicking something, or being pushed over!  We will fall.  I get that.  But the song implies there are times when we "cannot stand" when temptation comes.  In our flesh this is true.  However, the scriptures command us to stand with the assurance God has provided all the strength for us to stand no matter the circumstances.  It is written in Ephesians 6:10-15:  "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace..."  Christians are told we can stand in the evil day and withstand even the direct assault of Satan himself because it is in God's strength we stand.  Is anything too hard for God?  We are to put on the whole armour of God with our feet firmly fixed upon Jesus Christ the Chief Cornerstone.  From this spiritual vantage point, when we walk according to faith in Christ we cannot be moved.  We can always stand.

In one sense, God never commands us to do what we cannot do.  But here is a paradox:  not one thing God commands us can we do in our flesh.  We cannot love others, humble ourselves, or truly forgive from the heart in our unregenerate state.  We cannot stand when we have given place to sin or choose not to walk in faith.  But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  No man can stand on his own, but in Christ Christians can and will stand.  Perhaps the line would align better with the scriptures to say, "...And I'll stand because I trust in you.  Jesus you're my hope and stay."  I am so grateful for the truth of God's Word, and for the love God has revealed to all through it.  May we all stand strong in the LORD and in the power of His might!

I Need Revival - Do You?

I have heard many people speak of revival over the years, and often it sounds something like this:  "What we need is revival."  "Do you know how long it has been since there was a true revival in our nation?"  "Wouldn't you love to take part in a revival?"

As I have been thinking about "revival" in the last few days, there are a couple of misconceptions I feel important to clear up.  Revival starts with God's people, not with the world.  Revival carries with it the idea that something was once alive and has stopped breathing, or the heart has ceased to function, and revival is necessary to continue living.  When we see the deeds and hear the words of those who fear not God, revival is not what they need initially:  they need regeneration, salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, to be born again!

For all the times I have heard people lamenting the lack of revival, not one time have I heard someone say, "I need revival."  This is the point:  revival does not start "out there" somewhere, but takes place in your own heart.  True revival starts with you.  Yes, you.  The wonderful thing is revival is not something to long for but never grasp, but a promise fulfilled when we meet God's conditions!  Isaiah 57:15 says, "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."  You want revival?  God has given you His word that you may have it.  The question is, do you really want it?  Are you willing to repent and humiliate yourself before God in complete surrender to Him?

Let's not pray for others to receive what we are unwilling to seek for ourselves.  God promises to revive any of His people who are humble and contrite before Him.  He is holy, and therefore we must confess our sin and repent in humility.  If we being evil give good gifts to our children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to all who ask Him?  When God revives you, He will cease to be contained within you and spill out in fountains of Living Water.  Jesus has offered abundant life, free from dry tributaries and stagnant ponds.  Humbly come to Jesus Christ in faith as you came to Him at the first, the One who shouted to all, "If anyone is thirsty, let Him come to Me and drink!" (John 7:37-38)  The devil loves it when we wring our hands over our lack and neglect to receive ourselves what God has freely provided.  Aren't we called to walk by faith and not by sight?  Let's break up our own fallow ground and prepare our hearts because it is high time to seek the LORD!

To pine for the revival of nations and not to be revived ourselves is folly.  Revival of nations begins when God's people seek and receive the revival according to His promises.  I need revival.  Do you?  It's not a one-time thing.  Let us believe, humble ourselves before our God in repentance, and receive.

Whose Approval Do You Seek?

Our identity dictates whose approval we seek.  Growing up, I was raised in a home by both my parents.  Because I identified Mark and Darla as my parents and I was their son, when they gave me tasks to perform I needed to ensure the end results met their standards.  I might have thought the bathroom was clean enough, but their approval is what mattered.  If I cleaned a window for half an hour, time spent did not grant me their approval.  Should the glass remain smeared and streaked, it would not be acceptable.  I sought the approval of my parents so I could move on to something fun!

If our identity is in Christ, it is imperative we seek His approval and walk in the way that pleases Him.  History proves God's people often lose sight of their identity in Him.  It is often written of the children of Israel and certainly applies to God's people today, that they did what was right in their own eyes.  Though God brought them out of bondage in Egypt with a mighty hand, it was not long before they wandered from Him.  Jesus has purchased us with His precious blood, but the flesh has a way of forgetting we are not our own.  When we live seeking our own approval or the approval of others, we have lost sight of our identity and much more still.  Consider only some of the implications of living for the approval of anyone but Christ:

• We will fall far short of God's plan and purpose for His glory in our lives.
• We will not experience on earth all we could of Him, and remain devoid of His power.
• Our lives will be marked by dissatisfaction instead of contentment.
• We will be unable to be who God designed us to be.
• It will be impossible for us to accomplish the good works God created us to do.
• We will be hamstrung, paralysed by the opinions of others.
• Our reward in heaven will be significantly diminished and we will suffer loss.
• If you do not seek to do God's will, it may be you have not been born again or saved!

One aspect that marked the life of Christ on earth is He always did the will of the Father who sent Him.  He said in John 5:30, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  As the only begotten of the Father, Jesus identified Himself as God's Son.  He did not seek the approval of men to gain their sympathy or to win their allegiance, but sought the approval of His Father.  Jesus said these sobering words in His teaching to those who followed Him in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  How important it is, therefore, that we would do the will of the Father in heaven, living for His approval alone!  Otherwise, we might disqualify ourselves from the abundant life on earth or in heaven God offers us.  It is by grace we are saved through faith, and not of ourselves.  No man can earn heaven through working for it, but it is God's love that compels us to work.

Whose approval do you seek?  Your life will provide the answer!

Rest for the Weary

"No rest for the weary," goes the cliche.  Now wait a moment, Mr. Cliche maker.  Clearly when coining your phrase you did not consider the words of Jesus when He said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  No amount of physical rest will eliminate weariness or the certainty of future aches and pains.  But rest for the soul!  Life has a way of sucking the "life" right out of us.  When our souls become weary of the drudgery of life, the emptiness of religious activity, the pain of rejection, fear of uncertainty, weighed down with guilt and shame due to our sin, Jesus bids us come to Him.  The life Jesus offers to all who receive Him is abundant for eternity.

The words of Jesus are ironic.  When we think about rest, we likely do not associate it with carrying a yoke.  The yoke Christ speaks of was a piece of wood customised to fit around the necks of oxen and attached to a plow.  It's a huge amount of work, pulling a plow back and forth across a field all day long.  That's why farmers employed oxen to do it!  Jesus does not offer us a sedentary life devoid of labour or responsibility, but He will provide rest for our souls.  He offers us peace that passes understanding on earth and eternal rest in heaven in the presence of the Father with exceeding joy.  God created man to do good works, not seek perpetual leisure.  It is only after we are yoked to Christ in relationship by grace through faith that we can taste and see how wonderful rest for our soul is.

Instead of seeking to secure our earthly future, the wise seek to invest in the eternal realm.  Once we are born again through the Gospel by the Holy Spirit, our aim is to enter into the good works God has prepared for us to do through His power.  Galatians 6:9-10 says, "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."  Life is hard.  Even the bodies and minds of Christians grow weary.  The cure to our weariness is found when we tap into the strength supplied by the Holy Spirit, looking unto Jesus for direction and inspiration.  Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."

When weariness hits, remember to consider Christ.  As a born again Christian, it is His yoke you have volunteered to bear.  He will be with you forever, for He has promised never to leave or forsake you.  The rest He gives is completely unlike the mirage of "rest" found in this world.  Be strong and courageous.  Has He not commanded you?  He will be faithful to do it!

It's Not About You

In our day, the statement "It's not about you" certainly will raise eyebrows and hackles everywhere, both within and without the church.  I suspect this is because I have been raised in a cultural platform which says everything is about me!    In a society that stresses the potential and value of individuals, that I can be whatever I want to be as I follow my heart, even the suggestion that my life is not about me may seem repulsive, offensive, and ignorant.  But the scriptural truth remains undeterred, gleaming ever brighter in a world darkened with humanism.  God created all things for His good pleasure, and we exist by His grace for His glory.  Our existence is all about God.

The greatest joy for a human being created in the image of the Almighty God is to know and serve Him.  Yet when we present the truth of the Gospel, it can be done in a way which emphasises personal benefits and gifts we receive from God more than the worthiness of God Himself.  Many times I have heard heaven described in all its glory revealed through scripture:  streets made of pure gold like glass, custom mansions prepared for the redeemed, the absence of tears, sorrow, pain, sickness, and death, the granting of a glorified body like the risen Jesus Christ, meeting with loved ones, and the joyous unity to be experienced forever.  But heaven is not about you.  All those aforementioned benefits of heaven pale in comparison to being in the presence of God and fulfilling His divine purposes.  Our entrance into heaven was paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.  He should receive all glory and recognition because the will of the Father has been accomplished.  We live, breathe, and have our being on earth by God's grace, and the same will be true in the heavenly realm.  We are intended to live on earth for God, and we will live in heaven for God too!

I have heard people talk about prayer or gifts through the Holy Spirit as a source of power to be tapped into, almost like a government grant of free money just waiting to be snatched up by those who fill out the forms and meet the criterion.  But neither prayer nor spiritual gifts are about you.  Prayer is not a handy way to obtain your every desire, but to accomplish God's will in and through your life.  Gifts of the Holy Spirit are not merely for your edification, but more importantly the glory of God and the edification of the church.  God did not make us the light of the world so we could bask in our own glow, but so we would be a light to all who are in the world so they might come to Him for salvation.  If you think ANY gift of the Holy Spirit is just for you, you are wrong.  The baptism with the Holy Spirit is always associated with increased service and praise unto God.  The gifts and talents provided by God are to be invested for His glory and the good of others.  Of course we too receive great benefits and increase of our faith through the exercise of gifts, but that is not the primary purpose.  All we are and all we possess is by God for God, and we are not our own.

When we realise our life is not about us, what freedom is ours by God's grace!  When we see a group photo in which we are included, our eyes quickly move to find our face.  This is often true when we look into scripture, and this is not a bad thing.  We should seek to discover who we are in Christ and the many blessings and promises He has freely offered to us.  There is so much we are called to enter into now!  But more important than focusing on how a relationship with God or the future promise of heaven will benefit us, we must step back from the photograph and ask:  "Why this glorious assembly?  Whose vision created this seemingly impossible future for me?  How should I be included in a picture with such heavenly glory?"  Let us turn our eyes upon Jesus once more and realise it's not about us.  God deserves all our affections, desires, and praise.  To look forward to the golden streets or the people we will meet in Heaven is to look forward to a gourmet meal because of the extra knives and forks.  On earth Christ is to be our Main Course, and in Heaven He is our Royal Host.  It's all about Him!

Rend Heart, Open Heavens

The prophet cried out to the LORD in Isaiah 64:1-2, "Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence-- ² as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil-- to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!"  Too long had the heavens been like brass - not because of the sins of the nations - but the sin of God's own people (Deut. 28:23).  He acknowledged this in the following verses.  Isaiah 64:6-7 says, "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. ⁷ And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities."  I wonder if we too live in such a day.  Without God's intervention, we have no hope in this world or beyond.

I am reminded of the beautiful picture provided when Noah released the dove from the ark.  God had judged the inhabitants of the world because of their wickedness and only those who were in the ark were left alive.  God rent the heavens with lightning, thunder, and torrential rain.  Genesis 8:6-12 says, "So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. ⁷ Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. ⁸ He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. ¹¹ Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. ¹² So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore."  Noah sent out the raven, a bird which fed on carrion and considered unclean.  When the Law of Moses was given, doves were an animal deemed acceptable for sacrifice.  None of this is without significance.

Satan is a unclean spirit gone into the world, much like the raven going to and fro throughout the earth.  The dove when it was sent out and later returned because it found no "resting place for the sole of her foot," a picture of the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters.  The second time Noah sent out the dove, she returned carrying an olive branch, signifying the waters had receded from the earth.  It was a picture of peace being restored.  The next time the dove was sent out, she did not return because she found a suitable habitation.  The story of Noah sending out a dove is the first reference to a dove in the Old Testament.

It is very significant that the first mention of a dove in the New Testament is right after Jesus Christ - the Prince of Peace foretold in Isaiah 9:6 - came up out of the water from being baptised.  As a sign to John the Baptist and all around that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, a voice called out from heaven, "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove lighted upon Him.  This event was recorded in all four Gospels (Matt. 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32)  It is written in  John 1:32-34, "And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptises with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."  Not only is Jesus the One who was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure, but Jesus is also the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit and fire.

If that wasn't amazing enough, it gets better.  After Jesus rose from the dead, He breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."  Though they had been given the Holy Spirit, He strictly commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were filled with power from on high and said in Acts 1:8:  "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  When the Day of Pentecost had fully come and the disciples (about 120) were praying in one accord in an upper room, a sound of a mighty rushing wind filled the house, tongues of fire appeared above their heads, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  God had rent the heavens and the Spirit had been sent to come upon the disciples of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.  God had done it!  It wasn't because of the righteous efforts of Christians, but the righteousness of Christ imputed to them that the Spirit rested upon them and His power was evidenced through them.  The followers of Christ walked in faith coupled with obedience, and the Holy Spirit was sent in fulfillment of His Word according to His grace.  God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13) and obey Him (Acts 5:32).

It is written in Joel 2:28-32:  "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. ²⁹ And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. ³⁰ "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. ³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. ³² And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls."  Does your spirit bear witness that the Holy Spirit has regenerated and come upon you?  You need not pray that God rend the heavens, for the Holy Spirit has already been given!  Joel 2:12-14 says, "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." ¹³ So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. ¹⁴ Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him-- a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?"

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not for your sole benefit, but is always connected with service unto the LORD.  Sometimes this baptism or initial filling is called the "second blessing" after conversion, but it is more still.  After we are baptised by the Holy Spirit we need to be filled again and again, leaky vessels that we are.  R.A. Torrey puts it well:  "It is the work of the Holy Spirit to apply to us that which is already ours in Christ.  it is His work to make ours experientially all God has and all God is, until the work is consummated in our being "filled unto all the fulness of God."  This is not the work of a moment, not a day, nor a week, nor a month, nor a year; but the Holy Spirit day by day puts His hand, as it were, into the fullness of God and conveys to us what He has taken therefrom and puts it into us.  Then again He puts His hand into the fullness that there is in God and conveys to us what is taken therefrom, and puts it into us.  This wonderful process goes on day after day and week after week and month after month, and year after year, and never ends until we are "filled unto all the fulness of God." (The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, Torrey, pg. 109)

Has the Holy Spirit found a clean place to set down His foot in your heart?  It is only the blood of the Lamb of God that can wash you clean of sin.  No amount of human effort can make God rend the heavens and come down.  But Jesus Christ has opened a way to heaven for all who humble themselves before Him in repentance, those who rend their hearts before Him in faith.  Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you.  With confidence in Christ and the scriptures we have complete assurance that being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit is the Father's will for whosoever believes and asks Him!

Thanks For Giving

The cares of this life fade away when we realise and affirm God is in complete control.  What is unknown to me is finished from God's perspective.  During His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His disciples not to worry about anything:  the future, the provision of daily necessities like food, clothing, or money, even their physical height or lack thereof!  God knows what we need and is able to provide out of infinite abundance.  It is easy for us to look at our limited resources, our circumstances, and the condition of the world around us and give place to worry instead of placing faith in God because He is in control.

God desires to place in us an ever-growing comprehension of His love and goodness towards us.  He wants us to live according to the knowledge that He is in control of everything.  Abraham believed God, and his faith was accounted as righteousness even before the covenant of God's Law was established.  We live in a day of a New and better Covenant in Christ's blood.  Yet the appropriation of Christ's atoning blood by faith is not a substitute to walking daily by faith even as Abraham did.  This constant, active-reliance upon Christ is to be the framework of our lives as we build on Christ as our foundation.

Words do not suffice for me to illustrate the many ways God has proved Himself worthy to be trusted and praised.  I am continually humbled and frankly baffled at times when I consider the generosity of many who pray for our family and give money to support us financially.  The practical demonstration of your love is overwhelming at times.  I can lay no claim to pray with the tenacity or faith of George Mueller, but I have seen God mightily, miraculously move people to give sacrificially without even a request of men.  Without sharing our needs to any human being, God has provided through our small church, little jobs, and many donations.  I cannot recall writing a single letter detailing specific financial needs, yet God has supplied enough just at the perfect time for all of them.  It is amazing to consider the amount of money that has passed through our hands to provide for our necessities since moving to Australia, a witness of God's grace, mercy, and care.  We have less now than when we sold our house and moved to Sydney, Australia in one sense, but we are so much the richer!  God's provision is the only reasonable explanation.  I have heard the phrase used, "Where God guides God provides," and in a sense that has been true to my experience.  And yet God's provision is not a testimony of my obedience or faith, but solely of God's grace.  It is not by anything I have done but according to His mercy and goodness.  I believe God has guided and God has provided through many willing people who have been led by the Holy Spirit.

With all my heart, I thank all of you who have been used by God to prayerfully and financially support our family over these years.  I cannot repay the kindness you have shown us, yet I know that God will reward you far beyond the value of mere money.  God has used you to increase our faith and know beyond a shadow of doubt He is in control.  I think of the words Paul wrote to the church in Philippi in Philippians 4:15-20, "Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. ¹⁶ For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. ¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. ¹⁸ Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."  To all who have partnered with us in the Gospel through your love, prayers, and gifts, may much fruit abound to your account.  Praise the LORD that God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

Green Leaves - But Any Pumpkins?

After we moved into our rental in Riverstone, I pulled out some of the overgrown seasonal plants which were dying.  In a cleared area of soil it was not long before a vine began to grow.  At first I thought it might be a zucchini plant, but after a month it became clear it was a pumpkin vine.  I knew this only because of the small green pumpkins the size of a cricket ball crowned with a golden flower.  The boys and I continued to water the plant along with our passion fruit vines.  Recently I went out to check on the growth of the pumpkins and to my surprise could not find a single one.  Upon further inspection, some animal (likely a possum or rat) had eaten every flower and pumpkin during the night, leaving only a small bit of rind.  That explained why the vine is growing massive.  With the fruit being eaten before it is mature, the vine keeps expanding.  The problem is, there's no fruit!  That's the only reason I didn't rip up the plant like a common weed!

The LORD reminded me of the passage in Song of Songs 2:15 that says, "Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes."  Foxes, like possums, are opportunistic.  In the middle of the night they sneak into the garden or vineyard and do damage to the vines as they feed on the fruit.  The devil is an opportunistic spoiler himself.  If he cannot kill or destroy, he tries to ruin our fruitfulness.  He ever seeks to gain entry to our minds and hearts through temptations or suggestions.  When we least expect it, he covertly works to gain a foothold through sin.  Instead of bearing the fruit of the Spirit, our spreading green leaves hide the truth even from our eyes.  We are to take captive all thoughts to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).  That is why we must intentionally ask God to search our hearts and see if there be anything keeping us from fruitfulness.  Expansive growth may be pretty, but it's pretty useless if fruit never grows to maturity!

The world spoon-feeds us gossip disguised as news, distracts us with busyness, barges into our thoughts with technology and media, and keeps us preoccupied or occupied with things of this world.  We may be careful to avoid spreading gossip with our lips, but how well do we avoid it with our eyes?  Those tasty trifles deal out great damage to all who swallow them.  Let us set a godly guard over our eyes and ears, for they have a direct line to our heart from which spring all the issues of life.  Instead of being defined about what we avoid, let us be those who walk in love so we might be fruitful.  Growing green leaves without pumpkins is like gaining knowledge without loving one another as Christ loves us.  Jesus has called us to bear fruit as it is written in John 15:16-17:  "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another."  We love God because He first loved us.  It is walking in His love that makes us fruitful for His glory!

Celebrate Small Victories

After sending the boys off to school, I walked past the kitchen to head to my office area.  When I walked by the empty kitchen sink, I celebrated a brief moment of happiness.  I made waffles for the family this morning and washed the dishes right away.  Seeing the sink empty of dirty dishes made me feel I had accomplished something worthwhile, something I ought to savour for a moment.  The clean dishes and empty sink was a victory worth celebrating.

Washing the dishes may seem a very insignificant thing.  It does not compare with landing a rocket on the moon, climbing a mountain peak, or surviving a fiercely fought gunfight as a soldier.  Clean dishes seem even less important because dishes become dirty again.  Since the next meal will generate more dishes, it can be one of those thankless jobs that never seem to be done.  Consider this:  how would your life be different if you saw the little household victories like mopped floors, clean windows, and washed dishes as great victories?  How thankful to God we would be!  Our appreciation of the strength and wisdom He provides would grow exponentially.  What if we saw small sacrifices for God's glory and the good of others as massive victories only accomplished by God's grace?  When we recognise we cannot do anything without God's help, no victory would seem small.  Indeed, even the smallest completed task is a miraculous victory to be celebrated if we maintain this biblical perspective.

Cleaning the kitchen cannot hardly be compared to warfare, but it is an accomplishment we ought not take lightly.  For some folks, simply getting out of bed when the alarm goes off at dark-thirty is a massive win!  Should we take this victory over the soft fetters of drowsiness lightly?  No!  Turning down that dessert, saying no to the second soda is a victory to be celebrated.  Our celebration should not be to boost our pride or build confidence in self, but in recognition and praise of God's grace toward us.  1 Corinthians 10:31 says:  "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  In seeking an arbitrary "victory" to celebrate (let's say losing 10 kilos), we neglect to celebrate when we only lost one!  In fact, the one kilo lost over two weeks feels more like a failure because we have forgotten that in everything we are to give thanks and rejoice before our Saviour.

If your sink is clear of dirty dishes, thank God and celebrate Him.  If your sink is full of dirty dishes, thank God you have dishes to clean!  In everything rejoice, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Grace to You and Peace

At Calvary Chapel Sydney yesterday, we began the study of Philippians.  Paul began by introducing himself and Timothy as bondservants of Christ and continued in verse 2:  "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."  The order of grace and peace is significant, for true peace is a product of God's grace.  There is no peace apart from the grace of God.  "Shalom" is the Hebrew word translated peace in the Old Testament and conveys peace, prosperity, and well-being.  Because the New Testament is translated from Greek, the transliteration is "eirene" which means "to join, by implication prosperity, to set at one again."  A man alone without God cannot be at peace, because he has been cut off from God because of his sin.  By the grace of God we can experience union with God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

On the heels of the sermon, I happened to read the back of a "Tea Tonic" chamomile packet.  It vividly described the effect of drinking the tea:  "A charming simplicity created from delicate flowers, that helps calm, soothe, and gives inner peace."  All I can say is, the "inner peace" chamomile tea potentially brings is far from what is available to all in Christ.  The union of tea with my stomach does not provide any lasting peace.  There is no shortage of activities or things the world claims is a substitute for peace from God, but every single one of them is a sham.  The world is big on promoting feelings gained from various activities, but nothing the world gives lasts.  Not one thing originating in this fallen world can bring peace to the soul of a human being.  The very things we can be duped into thinking bring peace do the opposite!  More money in the bank cannot give this peace.  No job, amount of fame, sex, or recognition provides peace.  Everything we see will someday pass away and be remembered no more.

But God, who is rich and mercy, has provided peace that passes understanding and is available to all who will receive Him.  Paul reminded the church in Ephesus to hearken back to their life prior to believing the Gospel in Ephesians 2:12-19 and to consider their changed circumstances after being born again by faith in Christ:  "...that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God..."

No one can be truly be at peace alone, for how can we be joined to ourselves?  Our sin has separated us from God, and Christ through the Gospel is the one who makes us a new creation:  He "sets at one again."  It is foolish to imagine we can be at peace in this life surrounded by troubled people and circumstances all around us by any external means.  The only way to divine peace is through Jesus Christ and union with Him through faith.  God has given us grace, and peace is provided for all who abide in Christ.  No matter the trials and challenges God allows us to face in the future, the peace God gives is a reality we experience as we look to Him.  It is by God's grace Paul can write the exhortation found in 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."

Look to Christ!

Mr. Kennedy was my History teacher at Emerald Junior High in 1993.  He was a man in control, a seasoned veteran of the classroom.  He was one of those older men who had a gruff persona, but also had that twinkle in his eye.  I liked him from the first day.  My appreciation of his experience, knowledge, and teaching methods only grew as the year progressed.  When graduation from year 8 finally came, I mustered up the courage to ask him to sign my yearbook.  He obliged.  After writing a quick note, he said with a straight face, "I usually don't write half that much."  I received his statement as a compliment, and after reading his message knew it was.

Out of all the messages written in my yearbook by friends and teachers, his meant the most to me.  It still means a lot to me now.  Mr. Kennedy was a man who only knew me as a student in his class for a short time, yet there was a man who believed in me.  Outside of my parents and family relations, I don't know of any others who expressed what he did in a couple of sentences.  He concluded with a sentence at the time I hoped would prove prophetic:  "You will do well in anything you try."  It was an important encouragement at an awkward time in my life.  I had entered into public school after being home schooled for 3 years, and was preparing to transition into high school.  I thank God for Mr. Kennedy and the encouragement he provided.  Twenty-one years have passed, and my appreciation for his care burns undimmed.

Back in those days I could never have imagined where the LORD would lead me.  I had aspirations of being a forensic pathologist or a coroner.  Perhaps a baseball career or my budding golf interest would pay future dividends.  God opened a door after two years of university to go into a construction trade, mechanical insulation.  And after a decade God did the absolute unthinkable:  called me into pastoral ministry.  Then God even went further to lead me to settle in Australia and pastor a church!  When I consider how God has directed my life, it blows me away.  I am most thankful and appreciative of all He has done.

I had a strange series of thoughts the other day, and in retrospect I do not know they were mine.  There were suggestions, statements rooted in doubt that did not spring from a perspective of faith.  The devil can be most subtle.  "Look at all your High School friends," the thoughts began.  "Some are doctors, lawyers, professors, business owners, corporate executives, a commercial pilot, a professional baseball player, well-known people of wealth and distinction.  And what have you done?  You are virtually unknown.  Think what could have been should you have chosen a different path.  You could have done this, done that, been somebody."  I didn't think long before I realised the futility of it.  There was an undertone of discontent, envy, and greed that reeked of sulfur in those thoughts.  I confessed my sin as I prayed:  "Please forgive me LORD for even giving place to those thoughts for a second.  Your way is the right way.  I'm happy right where I am, and my satisfaction is in you."

The path of faith in Christ is the only one worth traveling.  If there is anything I desire to do well, it is to follow Jesus faithfully all my days.  I am not rich in worldly goods, but I have all I need.  I am not well known in this world, but I am known by God as His dear child.  And I am not alone!  Last night I read with great delight a passage of a man who has gone before me.  Moses was a man who was raised as a prince, trained by the very best, and at 40 years old had a bright future.  He had wealth, intelligence, fame, and security.  Yet Moses chose to forfeit it all to serve God, believing only God could supply true wealth.  Hebrews 11:24-26:  "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward."  There it is!  Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.  I too have come to the conclusion that the reproach of Christ is greater than all this world could ever offer.  My convictions and beliefs have cost me superficial friendships, but the gain I have through friendship with God and fellowship in the church is of far greater and eternal value.

When you are tempted to look back on what could have been, instead look to the God who was, is, and is to come.  Regret promotes decay and death, whereas faith and hope in God bring light and life.  God is the one who does all things well, and He does not even need to try.  It is a beautiful day when our identity is found in Christ alone:  in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.  God is a Redeemer who provides joy unspeakable and peace that passes understanding for eternity.  Jesus is the One who makes all things new!

Forget Formulas

As Christians, we must take care not to make formulas out of facts.  Scripture is packed with important facts relevant for personal and broad applications.  There is a tendency in people - compared by God as sheep in many instances - for us to walk in the footsteps of whomever we follow.  When we see a result we appreciate, we seek to follow the same steps so we might too have a particular experience or outcome for ourselves.  "How did you make the cake so moist?"  "What product did you use to have such healthy looking hair?"  "Who details your car?  I never seem to get that deep shine."  "How do you stay so positive after all that has happened to you?"  So we follow a recipe, buy product and follow the instructions carefully, call the mobile detailer, or do our best to follow advice.  Sheep tend towards imitation, not innovation.

There are many who claim to have the answers we are all looking for.  There are hucksters who sell their wares at the fair, offer free seminars with a "free" gift promised to the first 50 who call, and plenty of folks willing to sell you information to increase your net worth.  The same can be true concerning spiritual matters.  Some have developed plans to increase church size, books have been written outlining how to pray and prepare studies, and some hold seminars on how to pursue religious experiences.  Formulaic approaches may be more entrenched in your life than you might think.  We couple biblical facts with our experiences and figure if someone desires an experience, they can do what we have done.  But the fact remains:  there are no formulas when it comes to knowing God and experiencing all He has for us.  There are plenty of facts and things in common between people who have known God, but God Himself is the only true common denominator.

Man likes to be in control.  He enjoys sitting down at a particular hour, pushing a button on the remote, having the television turn on, and watching the program he expected to be on air.  This is all very predictable, entertaining, and comfortable.  The modern television watcher even has more control than he used to, for he can record, pause, and rewind television with a button.  He can stand up and make himself a proper coffee and not miss a second.  It is in this culture of convenience and ease where God stands in stark contrast.  There is no formula to know God or steps we take in a particular order to have fellowship with Him.  This is no button to push, no convenient time frame provided, no pause button.  There are facts in scripture that teach us of God, His righteous character, reasonable requirements, and our fitting response.  There is no prayer that saves a man from hell.  There is no series of actions we can take in our flesh to accomplish what God does only through the Holy Spirit.  God is consistent in is holiness and righteousness, but the means and methods He uses are widely varied as our experiences and feelings.

We do a great disservice to God when the way of salvation is reduced to a formula, a "repeat after me" statement devised either for convenient use in groups or to quantify results.  "If you just prayed that prayer," I have heard someone say, "you are now a child of God."  That is presumptuous at best, abominable falsehood at worst.  Please don't misunderstand:  it very well may be at that very moment people were justified through faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour.  Perhaps you look back to a time when after uttering a prayer you were convinced of your justification by faith.  But it was not the prayer, hand-raising, or coming forward that accomplished the divine regeneration:  it is the power of God that makes a person born again by the Holy Spirit.  Sadly, it is at that moment when some seekers stop seeking.  They have found all they wanted - assurance of salvation - even if from a mere man.  This assurance may be granted after a genuine conversion, but it might be an illusion.  God does not look to see if we have ticked external boxes, but looks upon the heart.

It is the scriptures that teach us the way of salvation and provide ample assurance.  I believe everyone must wrestle individually with God, even as Jacob did.  Whether it is salvation or baptism with the Holy Spirit, it is for each and every one of us to seek God humble, fervently, presenting ourselves as surrendered servants to His will.  We are not alone in our search.  God has given us the Holy Scriptures and other believers to join us along the road in our pursuit of Christ.  God has seen fit to establish the church of which Christ is Head, scattered throughout the earth.  He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill and come upon us in power.  We must be careful not to adopt the means of Simon, a man spoken of in Acts 8:18-19:  "And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."  Instead of seeking God, Simon sought the help of man.  He offered corruptible money to obtain power only given by God as He sees fit according to His purposes.  Simon saw what he believed to be a formula for people to receive the Holy Spirit, yet this was no formula!  Sometimes the Holy Spirit was given to people without the laying on of hands (Acts 10:44).

The point?  Formulas are no substitute to knowing God in personal relationship.  As they mislead, formulas also disillusion.  "I have prayed that prayer and nothing happened."  "I prayed for healing like a book said and my aunt still passed away."  "I have sought spiritual gifts but I guess those things aren't for me."  What hardness, pain, doubt, and disunity can result!  When our experiences trump God's Word in our minds, we build on a foundation of sand.  Let us renew our desire to seek God with all our hearts according to His Word.  May our desire for closeness and intimacy increase as we grow in grace and knowledge of who God is and all He has done.  When we fall into the trap of formula instead of friendship with God we miss the point:  we miss knowing the One who has revealed Himself.  We should not approach God for experiences, though we will have them.  We should not seek God for power, though He empowers all Christians to perform His will.  God will never be a means to our end.  When God is our end, the best will never end.

Ignorance is No Fix

While driving this morning, I noticed something a bit odd in my rear-view mirror.  The vehicle behind me had what appeared to be a parking ticked tucked underneath the windscreen wiper, flapping madly in the breeze.  I wondered if the person hadn't noticed it before they climbed into their car.  But then again, perhaps the driver had noticed it.  Maybe they thought if they kept driving and the ticket happened to fly out, they could deny all knowledge of being ticketed for parking illegally.  People aren't that silly, are they?

I wondered.  Every driver with a reasonable amount of sense knows when they are ticketed, their details have been recorded by the governing body to enforce legal parking.  The loss of the paper ticket does not erase their infraction, nor will it wipe the fine they owe from the record.  It would be utterly foolish to ignore that ticket, watch the wind pry it loose from the wiper, shrug the shoulders and ask with a grin:  "What ticket?"

There is no doubt in my mind this is a similar approach some take with God and His righteous requirements.  They drive around (so to speak) with little scraps of paper flying from their vehicle they hope will slip away to litter the ground as they speed along.  Some think they do themselves a favour by ignoring their debt of sin before God.  Perhaps they believe that when they stand before God on the Day of Judgment they can "play dumb" and by pleading willful ignorance they can escape the enormous, compounded fine they owe for a life of sin.  Ignorance does not provide freedom from the Law and its righteous demands.  The only way to "fix" a ticket is to deal with it with the governing body and meet their conditions in the time permitted.  In similar fashion, the only way our sins are forgiven is when we own up to it before God, humbling ourselves according to God's conditions.  Our sins need not hang over our heads because atonement and forgiveness has been provided to all who repent and trust in Jesus Christ as LORD.

Ever so often it is reported on news stations a sting has been carried out to arrest people who have outstanding warrants for all manner of crimes.  These home arrests are typically carried out when the lawbreakers would not expect it, usually before the light of day when they are asleep in their beds.  We know that God often requires the souls of people at a time they do not expect.  Every word and deed will be brought under His righteous judgment.  Both Christians and non-Christians will be brought before God and will be required to give an answer, either of the quality of our stewardship or the denial of Christ.  When God brings it to our attention we have transgressed, let us take that slip of paper and own it, choosing repentance over willful ignorance.  Praise God He has provided the means of our atonement, forgiveness, righteousness, and reconciliation!

The Blessedness

When Paul wrote his epistle to the church in Galatia, he did not waste much time before going straight to the heart of the matter.  After a brief introduction, he launched into the purpose of his letter with grave concern.  The growing church in Galatia had initially responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ with great joy.  But after Paul left them, others came to the body of believers and perverted the message of the Gospel.  The people in the fellowship abandoned the simple grace of God and adopted a legalistic approach - that as followers of Christ, they were compelled to keep the ordinances given to Moses.  They had come to God through grace, yet they were deceived to think they were justified through their works.

The issue Paul dealt with severely in the Galatian church is not unfamiliar today.  There are many people who make a joyful acceptance of the Gospel yet it is not long before they are turned aside from the simplicity of it.  They heap upon themselves doctrines of men taught as the commands of God.  Some align themselves will Paul, Apollos, or Cephas instead of Christ!  Like the Pharisees before them, they work to measure up to an arbitrary standard and forget their calling to follow Christ and make disciples who follow Jesus too!  Christ drew them with His love, mercy, and grace, yet some professing believers do not demonstrate the same simplicity of heart.  How many have shipwrecked through devilish deceptions disguised as piety!  How many have become twisted, angry, frustrated souls, trying to accomplish through the flesh what Jesus has done through the Spirit!  My heart breaks for those who are turned aside from the Gospel through their revelations and knowledge.

The Galatians did what is common for all men:  they followed mere men.  They were fickle and easily fooled, not having a strong foundation in the Word of God.  God used Paul to expose them to the truth of the Gospel, but it was not long until they saw him as an enemy!  Paul wrote in Galatians 4:13-17:  "You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. ¹⁴ And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? ¹⁷ They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them."  Paul did not come to Galatia as a grand orator, nor did he have any manipulative motives.  He was deeply burdened by the possibility they were not even born again, for their lives had no evidence of Christ's love or good fruit.

Beware the day when we trade the blessedness of the Gospel for anything less!  If any doctrine or emphasis begins to trump the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His love and grace, it is only a matter of time before we will begin to alienate ourselves from those who truly love us.  It is so tragic when Christians see fellow believers as enemies, reconcilable only if they choose to agree with their pet doctrine or emphasis.  People will know we are Christians by the love we have toward one another.  When we keep in clear view the blessedness of Christ's Gospel, His love will be evident and fruitful through us for God's glory.

Reading Right

As I prepared a study in the book of Proverbs, a thought crossed my mind.  How many times in the past I have read those sayings of divine wisdom almost as I would read quotes from famous people?  Job 12:11 says, "Does not the ear test words and the mouth taste its food?"  What tastes lovely to one person may not appeal to someone else.  There is a range of subjectivity to personal preferences when it comes to food.  When we hear or read a quote, a process similar to tasting food is begun.  As we chew the food, no hands are forcing us to do so.  At any moment, we can decide that bite is simply too much to handle and spit it out. As we read a statement or hear words spoken, we weigh the words against our beliefs.  We can choose to reject what is said or file it away for future use because we agree.

The absolute worst way to read the Bible is to weigh the proverbs or sayings against our own experience or opinions.  The Bible is not true by virtue of my agreeing with it, but on the basis that it is actually what it claims to be in its entirety:  the Spirit-breathed Word of God.  What a mistake we make when we read a proverb and say, "Hmm, does my experience agree with this statement?  Do my prior opinions line up with the implications of what is being said?  Because I can think of an example from my own life to support it or I already happen to agree, I believe it is true."  This is a grave error and one to be avoided at all cost.  The Bible is not like a book of quotes where we are free to pick and choose what is true based upon our feelings, experience, or implications we agree with already.  It must be viewed as absolutely authoritative and true, trumping all my opinions, even my own experience viewed through the skewed perspective of the passage of time and my human frame.

There is a right way to read scripture if we are convinced it is the Word of God from a position of belief.  It is true on the basis of the righteousness of the Author, who through the Holy Spirit moved men to pen these immortal passages.  It's true that we can draw many examples to illustrate the truth of scripture from the pages of the Bible, our own lives, the world in which we live, confirmed through history.  Confirmation is everywhere for those who read with personal knowledge of the God who wrote those words.  They are indeed the words of life and that without controversy.

Increasing and Abounding in Love

I love it when God opens my eyes to a particular verse and then continues to bring it to my attention day after day.  Through His Word God speaks.  The repetition provides confirmation of the particular area God is directing me to pray, and reveals how intentional God is to speak into my life.  It also prompts a response from me, for in His wisdom God knows exactly what I need even if I am unaware or clueless.  1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 says, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."  What the LORD continue to impress upon me is my need to increase and abound in love to one another and to all.  God points out my faults and insufficiency so I will admit my need and seek Him as my sufficiency.

I am aware of my need to grow in love for God and others in a theoretical sense, but God wants me to accept this as His will for me right now.  The Bible confirms this is a process all believers should embrace according to His will.  God does not simply desire my love increase but to abound.  Instead of measuring out active love to a select few, I am called as a follower of Christ to seek Him that I might increase and abound in love to all!  Only through Christ can our love increase and abound.  Jesus said in John 10:10-11, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."  Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Though Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead almost two thousand years ago, His demonstration of love remains in the present tense.  Our love for one another must also perpetually remain in the present tense through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul did not "attain" in this life.  His life after being born again was marked by his increasing and abundant love for God, fellow believers, and all people.  But while he remained in a body of flesh, the road of sanctification stretched out far before him.  If Paul needed this growth, how much more do I need to increase in love as well!  I do not want to be content only with a measurable increase of love demonstrated through my life, but a super-abundance of Christ's supernatural love.  This is not something I can do by my best efforts, but God delights to cause my love to increase and abound towards all.  He is able!  This is not a work He will do until I admit my great lack, confess my sin in repentance, and walk in obedience to Him by faith.  It is the LORD who will make me increase and abound in love, and I'm thankful He will do this so He might "establish my heart blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

Scripture Teaching

How spiritually healthy and rewarding it is when our steps require faith in God!  The flesh hates feeling out of control, but what a blessing it is to walk in the truth that God is in control.  I experienced one such moment today.  Earlier today God brought to pass the culmination of a desire that has grown since I first visited Phil and Linda White in Brisbane, Australia in 2009:  teaching scripture to students in a public school.  During one of our chats, Linda told me that in public schools in Australia scripture is taught by qualified volunteers from local churches.  I could hardly believe it!  Hailing from the United States of America, a nation hamstrung by political correctness and supposed implications of "separation of Church and State" with corresponding restrictions, this seemed too good to be true.

An open door to teach scripture in public schools stands open in Australia, and God opened a door to teach scripture in my own suburb.  One week after moving house, I received a call from a coordinator of the scripture classes to inquire concerning a character reference.  It turned out there was a vacancy that had just opened up.  It is a remarkable opportunity to expose kids to the truth of scripture and introduce them to God.  The fact is, scripture teaching works!  Students are free to opt out of scripture teaching, and those who do are taught "ethics."  I would be curious to know the origin and foundation of those ethics!

When going through the modules to be qualified to teach scripture, I was amazed at the objectives according to the Rawlinson Report and the current NSW Education Act.  Taken from a Youthworks Training booklet, the five reasons scripture teaching exists are:

• to develop an ability to interpret religious data within the traditions of their particular faith
• to gain an appreciation of specific religious interpretations of issues and problems in which committed people apply their faith to life
• to translate their learning about their faith into active expression in a worshipping community
• to encounter, in a peer group-learning context, religious teaching given from a position of faith and committment by a person explicitly associated with the religious community
• to be aware of the availability of personal and group counselling in the area of religious need

As I entered the school today, it certainly was an act of reliance upon God.  The flesh never enjoys striking into unfamiliar territory.  I could sense doubts and worries being thrown my way by the enemy, reasons why I should not bother teaching scripture.  I had heard the class was difficult, nearly unmanageable!  There is no doubt God gave me a peace and utterance as I shared from the scriptures.  Overall everyone was engaged and attentive.  Perhaps the accent had something to do with that!  Because God promises His Word does not return void, I know seeds were planted, watered, and in His time according to His grace will be fruitful.

Have you recently taken new steps of faith?  If you are a Christian, this is what God has called us to.  By receiving the Gospel by grace through faith we have signed up to take more steps of faith!  If our lives do not require a walk of faith -going into situations outside our comfort zone where God is our only peace and help - then we must wonder if we are trusting Christ at all!  What joy comes from this walk of faith, though our days be filled with unknowns and growing challenges.  When we walk in faith in God, we walk closer to Christ.  He will always lead us in the right way!