Marching Forth!

When we ask someone for help, it is typically from a position of being able to do something but needing assistance for the sake of convenience.  We might ask someone to hold a door open so it is easier for us to carry a bulky item through it, or help hold a flashlight so we can see better.  A blind person would not bother asking for someone to hold a light because it would not assist them.  We can ask God for help, not because we realise we are helpless and hopeless in ourselves to accomplish anything good, but to add the little we lack.  It is the blind man who asked for sight whose eye were opened by Jesus, and this is the way we ought to approach God for help:  as a helpless person who must rely upon Him for everything. If we assume we are sufficient in ourselves to do anything God asks, time and experience will say otherwise.  One thing we can do is look for help and assistance from others when circumstances prove overwhelming and difficult.  This ...

As I follow Jesus and read the Bible, I have learned by experience when I observe people exhibit behaviour that seems stupid or ridiculous in light of God's existence and power, I am looking at myself.  I have ceased to make fun or smugly mock people who made poor choices due to unbelief in God or fear of man because I recognise myself in them.  I have also learned if God gives a command, it is because it is naturally contrary to my flesh.  God told His people not to have other gods besides Him because we naturally do; He commanded the children of Israel not to covet because it is a sin as normal to us as breathing. Consider the commands found in  Leviticus 19:17-18 :  " You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him.  18  You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD ."  ...

As I met with a brother over breakfast I was reminded by the grace of our glorious God who draws near to us in fellowship.  A small table became holy ground as the scripture was fulfilled, for the LORD Most High keeps His word.  Malachi 3:16-17 reads, " Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, a nd the LORD listened and heard them;  s o a book of remembrance was written before Him  f or those who fear the LORD  a nd who meditate on His name.  17  "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them  a s a man spares his own son who serves him ."  It was enough to move me to tears as I considered the divine condescension of God and He listened in on our conversation.  Though we could not see God with our eyes, with eyes of faith I knew for certain the LORD was in our midst. Isn't it a lovely thing God takes note, not of how wretched and faithless we are, but o...

Regardless of your views of church governance, there is a lot to glean from the leadership of Moses.  While I do not see the "Moses Model" of leadership as the prescriptive pattern for the church today with Jesus Christ as the Head of the Body, we would do well to demonstrate the meekness, boldness and faith he did during our earthly pilgrimage.  When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, we see a man stripped of all aspiration to be known by the Hebrews as a deliverer.  According to the promise and direction of God Moses went back to Egypt out of obedience.  Moses was not a perfect man by any means, but any man the LORD refers to as "My servant" ought to grab our attention.  He was a man who feared God, prayed to Him often, who heeded advice from his father-in-law and delegated leadership roles to others.  He wished all people would prophesy and gave no place to insecurity, that only a select few were worthy to operate in spiritual gifts given by God....

It is wonderful how the LORD chooses and gifts people to contribute to the health and fruitfulness of His kingdom by His grace.  Because we serve the LORD who calls and ordains us for His good purposes, the things He tells us to do may not be our natural inclination.  We can make the mistake of limiting God by our own perceived strengths, and at our best (on our own) we are incapable of doing anything profitable for the kingdom of God.  The almighty God is likely to direct us to do things we cannot do on our own, something out of our comfort zone, so we will learn to seek and rely upon Him for success in faith. Seraiah the prince is a good example of this.  See how he is introduced in  Jeremiah 51:59 :  " The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster ."  A quartermaster was a royal...

Years ago we did some composting and was surprised when our pile of scraps yielded a couple of healthy pumpkin vines.  We did not intend for vines to grow from the seeds thrown there, nor had we thought our discards could result in delicious pumpkin pies.  Even as God created seeds to bring forth plants and fruit after their kind, so He would supply salvation and unrighteousness where it was least expected. In light of the new covenant God would establish through the Messiah Isaiah 61:10-11 reads, " I will greatly rejoice in the LORD , m y soul shall be joyful in my God;  f or He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,  a s a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,  a nd as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  11  For as the earth brings forth its bud, a s the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,  s o the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sp...

At Calvary Chapel Sydney I preached today on Genesis 15 , the passage where God made a covenant with Abram who believed in Him.  He believed God would make of him a great nation with descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars in heaven despite not having an heir in his old age.  He believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Abram brought the requested animals before the LORD and divided the heifer, goat and ram.  The idea was those involved in the covenant would pass between the animals which had been cut in two united before God as witness to do all they had said.  If they broke the agreement, it was with full knowledge their lives would be forfeit, even as the animals which were divided.  In a trance Abram saw a smoking oven and a burning torch pass between the pieces, an emphatic demonstration by God He would keep His word to Abram and his descendants would inherit the land.  By the power and authority of God it would...