While driving yesterday, I caught sight of a heart-warming scene. A man was mowing the grass in his front yard. That in itself was not an unusual thing to see. But what brought a smile to my face was his little boy, probably about three years old. This boy industriously pushed a large plastic cart back and forth accross the turn, glancing occasionally at dad from his "work." The riding toy had a handle at the back gripped tightly by the youngster. Tongue sticking out in a concentrated effort, the boy was completely absorbed in mowing the lawn. Some would say the boy was not actually "doing" anything. It's true that his train toy was completely ineffective at cutting grass. But the boy was doing something. Best he could, he was working with his dad - and teaching me a lesson as well!
It is natural that this boy would delight in emulating his father. Doing something like dad was fun in itself, and it is a great joy to serve those you love. I have heard imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in this case it would be truer to say imitation was the sincerest form of love and respect. Small children are for a time incapable to dispense the sweet poison of flattery. Boys with great dads don't only want to do what they do: they want to be like them. I have been blessed to have a grandpa, grandad, and a dad that I not only admired as a youngster, but I wanted to be like them when I grew up. I still respect them and hold them in highest honour.
When we are adopted into the family of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our eyes are opened to the awesomeness of our heavenly Father. It is right for us to emulate Him in everything. As children of God through the Gospel, we are made co-heirs with Christ as a brother and friend. He is like the big brother we should always want to be like. I started thinking about this little boy, feverishly pushing his cart across the grass. A day will likely come when he will be taught to mow the lawn for real. Someday that boy who has become a young man will grow tired of mowing the lawn. He will put it off as a burdensome chore or even refuse to do it altogether. This picture popped into my head of the greying dad mowing the lawn in his gumboots ten years from now, and the boy stayed at a friend's house, happy to avoid the chore he once did freely and happily as a child.
God, keep me young in heart as a child! We must never see our service to the LORD as a burdensome task. It is really God who does the work: He pushes the real mower, and we are pushing our plastic toys. But it pleases God profoundly when we joyfully work with sincerity of heart for His glory. He no doubt smiles broadly when He looks over and sees us doing our best to emulate Him in thought, word, and deed. That little boy wasn't being paid to copy his dad. He took it upon himself to do, and his dad encouraged him in his efforts. He didn't scorn the child for mowing the lawn improperly. I can see it now: the lawn mower and toy have been put away, and the father and son walking hand in hand to the house for a cold drink. "You were a good worker today, mate. You did a fine job." The boy looks up to the smiling face of his father and beams with satisfaction and profound joy.
Doesn't the thought of your Father saying that to you bring delight to your soul? May we mature in faith, allowing Christ to live His life through us. But may we retain the heart of a child with simplicity of love and utmost respect. Let us look to our Father with our hands on the plow and worship Him!
25 October 2012
23 October 2012
Be Filled with the Holy Spirit!
People are into power. Who wants a gutless car when you could have one with power instead? There is a longing in the human heart to control. This desire for power can seep into our walk with Christ as well. The other night our family read of Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8 who for a long time had captivated the people of Samaria with sorcery. Philip preached the Gospel to the people and his words were attended with powerful wonders and signs no one could deny. Though a sorcerer, even Simon was convinced by the truth of the Gospel and believed. Peter and John then came to the city, desiring the new believers would receive the Holy Spirit. When they laid hands on Christians, they received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
The text does not say if Simon also received the Holy Spirit. But he was not one to stand by idly when actual power from God was potentially available! He offered Peter money and said in Acts 8:19, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." Peter sternly rebuked Simon for his foolishness, thinking that the power of God could be purchased with money. It can only be received by faith. He added in Acts 8:21-23: "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." Simon is like many people today. They are willing to offer God something in exchange for spiritual power or a particular manifestation of the Holy Spirit. People still look for the simplest way to obtain our ends under the guise of doing all for God's glory.
So people buy books, ask for people to lay hands on them and pray, go to conferences, and try to figure out the formula to obtain this power from on high. The whole problem with this approach is God does not give the Holy Spirit based upon what you do but based upon what He has done. Following a seven-step formula to receive a spiritual gift might as well be offering God a wad of cash. In the Bible, it is clear there is no formula. Sometimes people were gathered together praying in one accord and the Holy Spirit fell upon them in power. Other times hands were laid on people to receive the Holy Spirit. On one occasion, Peter was simply telling Cornelius and his household the words of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit fell on them without them even specifically asking! The manifestations of the Holy Spirit coming upon people are as varied as the people themselves. The common denominator is faith in Jesus Christ and humbly presenting ourselves before Him as living sacrifices.
God has given us insights into the filling of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 3:2 tells us the Holy Spirit can only be received in fulness through faith: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" It is a scriptural principle that we ought to ask, seek, and knock. Jesus taught that we ought to ask God the Father for the Holy Spirit. He says in Luke 11:9-13: "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Our obedience is another factor God reveals as a requirement for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:32 reads, "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." As James says, I believe in many cases we have not because we ask not. Or when we ask, we ask according to our lusts. God desires obedience over sacrifice. If we are disobedient in worldly matters, why should God commit to us the true riches? If we have not been faithful with another man's things, why should God give us our own? (Luke 16:11-12)
Maybe you are thinking, "Well, that's fine for people when the church was first starting up. I mean, they needed the power of God revealed to confirm their words." To that I say, do we need God's power any less today? A blight upon the modern church is lack of power and faith that God still operates according to scripture! Miraculous works ought to attend our ministries (Mark 16:14-20)! If paralytics were healed, cancers were disappearing, and demon possessed were delivered with a word in Christ's name, would not there be additional power behind our words? The Bible makes it clear, my friends: the promise of the Holy Spirit with power has been offered to all who are in Christ. Acts 2:38-39 tells us, "Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." The promise is to you and me! I was once far from God but have been brought near by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. It is not by works of righteousness I have done, but according to His mercy He has saved, reconciled, filled, and empowered me.
Maybe you are not sure if you have received this filling of the Holy Spirit experienced by many in the book of Acts. A.W. Tozer used to say that everyone who has been filled with the Holy Spirit have three things in common: 1) they know for certain they have been filled; 2) they know exactly when it happened; 3) and it was not a gradual process, for God gives the Holy Spirit without measure. Just like you know when you were baptised with water, you will know when you were first baptised with the Holy Spirit. So the question is: have you been filled with the Holy Spirit? Have you been endowed with power from on high? If you have not, perhaps it is because you have not met God's conditions. Perhaps you have been like Simon, who was interested in the power but was not concerned with repenting of the sin which festered in his heart. God is good, and He gives good gifts. God the Father has provided His Son to redeem us and the Holy Spirit to regenerate us. Let us not be deceived to think we can do God's work without the power of God. Be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit today!
The text does not say if Simon also received the Holy Spirit. But he was not one to stand by idly when actual power from God was potentially available! He offered Peter money and said in Acts 8:19, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." Peter sternly rebuked Simon for his foolishness, thinking that the power of God could be purchased with money. It can only be received by faith. He added in Acts 8:21-23: "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." Simon is like many people today. They are willing to offer God something in exchange for spiritual power or a particular manifestation of the Holy Spirit. People still look for the simplest way to obtain our ends under the guise of doing all for God's glory.
So people buy books, ask for people to lay hands on them and pray, go to conferences, and try to figure out the formula to obtain this power from on high. The whole problem with this approach is God does not give the Holy Spirit based upon what you do but based upon what He has done. Following a seven-step formula to receive a spiritual gift might as well be offering God a wad of cash. In the Bible, it is clear there is no formula. Sometimes people were gathered together praying in one accord and the Holy Spirit fell upon them in power. Other times hands were laid on people to receive the Holy Spirit. On one occasion, Peter was simply telling Cornelius and his household the words of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit fell on them without them even specifically asking! The manifestations of the Holy Spirit coming upon people are as varied as the people themselves. The common denominator is faith in Jesus Christ and humbly presenting ourselves before Him as living sacrifices.
God has given us insights into the filling of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 3:2 tells us the Holy Spirit can only be received in fulness through faith: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" It is a scriptural principle that we ought to ask, seek, and knock. Jesus taught that we ought to ask God the Father for the Holy Spirit. He says in Luke 11:9-13: "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Our obedience is another factor God reveals as a requirement for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:32 reads, "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." As James says, I believe in many cases we have not because we ask not. Or when we ask, we ask according to our lusts. God desires obedience over sacrifice. If we are disobedient in worldly matters, why should God commit to us the true riches? If we have not been faithful with another man's things, why should God give us our own? (Luke 16:11-12)
Maybe you are thinking, "Well, that's fine for people when the church was first starting up. I mean, they needed the power of God revealed to confirm their words." To that I say, do we need God's power any less today? A blight upon the modern church is lack of power and faith that God still operates according to scripture! Miraculous works ought to attend our ministries (Mark 16:14-20)! If paralytics were healed, cancers were disappearing, and demon possessed were delivered with a word in Christ's name, would not there be additional power behind our words? The Bible makes it clear, my friends: the promise of the Holy Spirit with power has been offered to all who are in Christ. Acts 2:38-39 tells us, "Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." The promise is to you and me! I was once far from God but have been brought near by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. It is not by works of righteousness I have done, but according to His mercy He has saved, reconciled, filled, and empowered me.
Maybe you are not sure if you have received this filling of the Holy Spirit experienced by many in the book of Acts. A.W. Tozer used to say that everyone who has been filled with the Holy Spirit have three things in common: 1) they know for certain they have been filled; 2) they know exactly when it happened; 3) and it was not a gradual process, for God gives the Holy Spirit without measure. Just like you know when you were baptised with water, you will know when you were first baptised with the Holy Spirit. So the question is: have you been filled with the Holy Spirit? Have you been endowed with power from on high? If you have not, perhaps it is because you have not met God's conditions. Perhaps you have been like Simon, who was interested in the power but was not concerned with repenting of the sin which festered in his heart. God is good, and He gives good gifts. God the Father has provided His Son to redeem us and the Holy Spirit to regenerate us. Let us not be deceived to think we can do God's work without the power of God. Be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit today!
21 October 2012
Reject Revenge
Revenge is a common themes in books, shows, and films. From "Gladiator" to "Taken," "The Princess Bride" to "The Count of Monte Cristo," the desire for revenge fuels the plot. Revenge films begin similarly: the stage is set by a great injustice, the protagonist is introduced, and characters are developed. Before too long we sympathise with the protagonist(s) and hope the bad guys reap what they have sown. The only good resolution in a revenge movie is suffering and death for those who have done wrong. People want those who have done wrong to suffer. This is our natural inclination. Hollywood is happy to pander to common appetites.
Have you ever considered how ungodly and unbiblical the concept of revenge is? We read in the Bible of people taking revenge, but they were not commended by God for their violence. He says in Ezekiel 18:32: "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" When Jesus hung on the cross, knowing He would in three days rise from the dead, He did not shout out: "Just you wait until I return. I'll get you for this!" No. He said loudly for all to hear, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." It is not revenge that will be on Christ's mind when He judges the world, but righteousness. Yet not even the death of the wicked gives God any pleasure. Again, God says through the prophet in Ezekiel 33:11: "Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'" God has given all men the only way of salvation through the sacrificial death of His own Son, Jesus Christ. God made a way for the murderers of His Son to be forgiven and go to heaven to live forever with Him.
Imagine a film being made of that story! It would be seen as the most ridiculous, unsatisfying film of all time for the vengeful, bloodthirsty masses. Jesus lived under a cloud as a child because of His "questionable" origin, the apparent illegitimate son of a carpenter. His own brothers did not believe His claims. John 7:5 says, "For even His brothers did not believe in Him." Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Hebrews 5:8 tells us "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." Jesus was bullied, misjudged, and rejected. If Stephen King was to write a novel about a person who endured what Jesus had, he no doubt would have snapped and become driven by murderous revenge on those who had tormented him in his family and town. But Jesus did not seek revenge. He loved His enemies and prayed for them. He chose to die in their place. What an amazing revelation of divine love!
Hollywood sends the message that if we have been wronged severely enough, we have the right to take vengeance on our enemies - or at least fantasize about it! God commands us not to take vengeance, for that is God's territory. Romans 12:19 reads, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord." God's judgments are not spurned on by the base desire for revenge, but according to His perfect standard of righteousness. When a man sins, he sins against God. Instead of taking revenge, we are to exercise faith in God, His total knowledge of the situation, and His ability to protect and uphold us. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:43-45: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
If God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked, neither should we. Little by little I am finding my appetite for revenge waning. As we draw nearer to our Saviour Jesus Christ, the more we start to think and act like Him. May we take Christ's commands to heart and love our enemies.
Have you ever considered how ungodly and unbiblical the concept of revenge is? We read in the Bible of people taking revenge, but they were not commended by God for their violence. He says in Ezekiel 18:32: "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" When Jesus hung on the cross, knowing He would in three days rise from the dead, He did not shout out: "Just you wait until I return. I'll get you for this!" No. He said loudly for all to hear, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." It is not revenge that will be on Christ's mind when He judges the world, but righteousness. Yet not even the death of the wicked gives God any pleasure. Again, God says through the prophet in Ezekiel 33:11: "Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'" God has given all men the only way of salvation through the sacrificial death of His own Son, Jesus Christ. God made a way for the murderers of His Son to be forgiven and go to heaven to live forever with Him.
Imagine a film being made of that story! It would be seen as the most ridiculous, unsatisfying film of all time for the vengeful, bloodthirsty masses. Jesus lived under a cloud as a child because of His "questionable" origin, the apparent illegitimate son of a carpenter. His own brothers did not believe His claims. John 7:5 says, "For even His brothers did not believe in Him." Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Hebrews 5:8 tells us "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." Jesus was bullied, misjudged, and rejected. If Stephen King was to write a novel about a person who endured what Jesus had, he no doubt would have snapped and become driven by murderous revenge on those who had tormented him in his family and town. But Jesus did not seek revenge. He loved His enemies and prayed for them. He chose to die in their place. What an amazing revelation of divine love!
Hollywood sends the message that if we have been wronged severely enough, we have the right to take vengeance on our enemies - or at least fantasize about it! God commands us not to take vengeance, for that is God's territory. Romans 12:19 reads, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord." God's judgments are not spurned on by the base desire for revenge, but according to His perfect standard of righteousness. When a man sins, he sins against God. Instead of taking revenge, we are to exercise faith in God, His total knowledge of the situation, and His ability to protect and uphold us. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:43-45: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
If God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked, neither should we. Little by little I am finding my appetite for revenge waning. As we draw nearer to our Saviour Jesus Christ, the more we start to think and act like Him. May we take Christ's commands to heart and love our enemies.
19 October 2012
We've Got Company!
For some time now I have noticed a blue tongue lizard that likes to sun himself near my garage door. When approached from the outside with the door closed, he retreats through a gap into my garage. Curious where he scurried off to, I observed a small depression in the concrete where he crouched close against the exterior wall. Well, as long as he stays there it shouldn't be a problem, I thought. Blue tongues eat snails, which we have outside our house in abundance. Because of his small size and usefulness I saw little need to block off the gap.
But then I started thinking: if a blue tongue lizard can easily crawl into my garage, there is nothing to keep destructive pests like mice and rats from sneaking in as well. I decided to purchase some wood to fill the gap. Yesterday by our freezer, I saw an large amount of fluid and solid waste - the size of a pinky finger. Uh oh, I thought to myself. That is unmistakably reptile droppings, and look at the size! After cleaning up the mess, I starting looking around and to my great surprise I saw droppings in three or four places throughout the garage. Some were so small that I hadn't recognised them as being waste at all. I walked over to the area where the blue tongue enjoys sunning and saw him scramble into a hole in the garage wall! It turns out he had not just been visiting his sunning spot, but that is actually where he lives.
Now I find myself in a quandary: is there one lizard or more than one? How do I know if the hole is vacant? I wouldn't want to plug the gaps if he is inside. At the rate the blue tongue is growing, it won't be long before he outgrows the hole and starts living in my golf bag or something! As I thought about my predicament, I thought it was a great illustration of how sin can work its way into our lives. Gaps in our defenses are easily exploited by sin. Initially we might see our sins as small and nothing to worry about. But before long the sin is taking over an entire room of our heart. Had I stopped the gap and turned out the blue tongue immediately, I wouldn't have his poop all over my garage. I am actually quite sympathetic towards the lizard, having allowed him to stay for so long. We can also become sympathetic towards the sin we have been ignoring and allowing to remain due to our negligence. Sin can become a part of us we are loath to part with.
We have to be confronted with the disgusting nature of sin before we will do a thing about it, and it took me cleaning up waste yesterday to impress upon me the importance of taking action and evicting our squatter. While there is a benefit to hosting a harmless lizard, there is no benefit of cultivating sin. It may appear to benefit us but it is deceptive. Hebrews 3:12-13 reads, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." May our eyes be opened when sin has taken up residence in our hearts. Once our eyes are open to the problem, may we take the next step to repent, confess it, and forsake it!
But then I started thinking: if a blue tongue lizard can easily crawl into my garage, there is nothing to keep destructive pests like mice and rats from sneaking in as well. I decided to purchase some wood to fill the gap. Yesterday by our freezer, I saw an large amount of fluid and solid waste - the size of a pinky finger. Uh oh, I thought to myself. That is unmistakably reptile droppings, and look at the size! After cleaning up the mess, I starting looking around and to my great surprise I saw droppings in three or four places throughout the garage. Some were so small that I hadn't recognised them as being waste at all. I walked over to the area where the blue tongue enjoys sunning and saw him scramble into a hole in the garage wall! It turns out he had not just been visiting his sunning spot, but that is actually where he lives.
Now I find myself in a quandary: is there one lizard or more than one? How do I know if the hole is vacant? I wouldn't want to plug the gaps if he is inside. At the rate the blue tongue is growing, it won't be long before he outgrows the hole and starts living in my golf bag or something! As I thought about my predicament, I thought it was a great illustration of how sin can work its way into our lives. Gaps in our defenses are easily exploited by sin. Initially we might see our sins as small and nothing to worry about. But before long the sin is taking over an entire room of our heart. Had I stopped the gap and turned out the blue tongue immediately, I wouldn't have his poop all over my garage. I am actually quite sympathetic towards the lizard, having allowed him to stay for so long. We can also become sympathetic towards the sin we have been ignoring and allowing to remain due to our negligence. Sin can become a part of us we are loath to part with.
We have to be confronted with the disgusting nature of sin before we will do a thing about it, and it took me cleaning up waste yesterday to impress upon me the importance of taking action and evicting our squatter. While there is a benefit to hosting a harmless lizard, there is no benefit of cultivating sin. It may appear to benefit us but it is deceptive. Hebrews 3:12-13 reads, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." May our eyes be opened when sin has taken up residence in our hearts. Once our eyes are open to the problem, may we take the next step to repent, confess it, and forsake it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)