Grapsing the Sword

"Your fingers would remember their old strength better... if they grasped your sword."

 Gandalf, "Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers" to King Theoden

This quote is from one of my favourite scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies directed by Peter Jackson.  King Theoden had long been under the the control of the evil wizard Saruman, and as a result the king was decrepit and listless.  He was a puppet in the hands of an oppressive ruler who sought to destroy him and his kingdom.  In his ear whispered Grima Wormtongue, a once loyal adviser to Theoden who had covertly become a servant of Saruman.  Gandalf was wise to see who truly was in control and "drew Saruman like poison from a wound."  Once freed of the magic bonds, Theoden transformed back to the king who could recognise friend from foe.  His long nails and wizened beard melted away, as the king came to his senses.

It was at this moment when King Theoden looked at his hands and said, "Dark have been my dreams of late."  Gandalf replied, "Your fingers would remember their old strength better... if they grasped your sword."  The king slowly reached out to touch the hilt of his sword, and slowly took hold of it.  The moment his hand closed around it, his eyes sparked with memory.  It was like taking hold of the sword had instructed him, and he knew the right course to take.

So it is with Christians.  God has given us His Word the Bible, and it is called the "sword of the Spirit."  Hebrews 4:11-12 reads, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  In our lives we face trials and difficulties far beyond our ability to handle.  We do not have the wisdom to know the right course to take.  Yet if we will lay hold of the Scriptures, they will reveal our heart and motives.  The words of God are relevant for every situation, and reveal God's righteous judgments to us.  If we make the Bible a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, we will not stumble.  God leads us through deep valleys, dry deserts, even through the furnace of affliction.  If we will fix our eyes upon Him and walk in obedience, we know He will doubtless bring us into a broad pasture where rest is found.

It is one thing to read words on a page, but how much more important is it to grasp them!  We can only grasp the truths of God's Word when He reveals them to us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Thankfully, the Father has sent the Spirit to indwell and empower every follower of Jesus Christ.  When we grasp the scripture we do not recall former strength, but God renews our strength and adds to it!  We are then able to discern the voice of God from the whispers of Satan.  Praise God that when we walk in His ways, we can be strong in the LORD and experience victory in the power of His might!

The Meekness of Moses

In my morning devotions, I am reading through Numbers.  How impressive is the meekness of Moses!  He was a man who remained faithful to God despite opposition and struggles.  Here is a man who did not fight for himself, but committed his life - trials, reputation, and all - into the awesome hands of God.  He is really an Old Testament foreshadowing of how Jesus Christ lived (1 Pet. 2:23).  Moses was meek because he knew God.  He couldn't for a moment allow his authority given him by God go to his head.  He was an vagabond killer, a shepherd, and a servant of the Most High God.  When challenged, he fell on his face before God and submitted to His rule.

After the rebellion of Korah, the people were upset about the outcome.  They assembled against Moses and Aaron, and accused Moses of murdering God's people.  God sent a plague among the people and they began to die.  Seeing this, Moses quickly moved into action to save the people from God's wrath.  He commanded Aaron to atone for the sins of the people so they would be saved.  What a heart of love and compassion, despite their hurtful accusations.  Numbers 16:47-48 reads, "Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped."  Aaron, the High Priest, stood between the dead and the living after making atonement for sin.  This is what Jesus our Great High Priest has done through His shed blood.  He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and be saved.

That is the heart of love I desire, the heart of Christ!  Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit, a supernatural humility that springs only from God.  It comes from having our eyes on Christ, casting our cares upon Him.  What comfort we have when we commit ourselves into His loving, secure, nail-scarred hands.  Jesus says in John 10:27-28, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."  Jesus tasted of death so His sheep might live with Him forever.  How grateful I am of such sacrifice!  What value God has placed on us sinners to purchase us with the shed blood of His own Son!  Rejoice in this and be exceedingly glad!  May we be meek, seeing we have such a Saviour who calls outcasts and murderers friends through the Gospel, cleansing us from all sin, and making us His own children of light.

The Scars Speak

There is a story behind every scar.  Some are a result of an accident or work injury.  On my body I have scars from injuries I caused, and some caused by others.  Over time the scars may fade, but the wound is not easily forgotten.  I used to have a scar running down the bridge of my nose given me by my brother.  He wanted to "play dinosaurs," and my dinosaur playing days were over seconds after I agreed to the game!  I still bear the scar of a see-saw being slammed into my face and opened my lower lip on the playground in primary school.  In my right eyebrow is hidden a scar I am responsible for.  When I worked in my trade a pulled on a wire with end-nippers.  The wire snapped and boom!  I whacked myself in the face and opened up a deep gash.  For the most part, my scars are a testimony of carelessness or folly - either mine or of someone else.

There is one scar I earned worthily.  I was probably around eight or nine years old when my dad asked me to hold the lead of our dog Max in the front yard.  Max was a strong dog, an Akita-Lab mix that certainly outweighed me at the time.  He was not yet trained to "come when called" and whenever he ran off, he was tough to catch.  I remember my dad telling me:  "Don't let go!"  Then he went back into the house for some reason.  Max was content to stay in the yard...for a minute anyway!  Suddenly he became aware of a dog or a cat across the street and jumped through our split rail fence.  I was immediately yanked off my feet and pulled headlong through the fence, and my dangling legs kept me from being pulled Indiana Jones-style down the footpath.  I had wrapped the lead around my wrist and hung on, remembering what Dad said.  So as Max strained I balanced on my belly on the lower rail and yelled for rescue.  It was not long before my dad responded.  After he extricated me from the fence and lead, I noticed blood on my right hand.  As Max pulled me through the fence, the wood took a little chunk of skin from my middle finger.  It has faded over time but it remains a testimony of my hanging on with stubborn obedience to please my dad.  It is a worthy scar.

There are no scars more worthy than the nail pierced hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  In obedience to the Father with a heart filled with joy and love, Jesus embraced the cross for sinful man.  Today, almost 2,000 years later, His scars still speak.  They speak of love, sacrifice, and obedience.  They are proof of Christ's divine condescension, that He is God made into human flesh.  He knows what it feels like to be rejected, ridiculed, tortured, abused, and murdered, though innocent of all crimes.  Scars are not revered for their beauty, but those scars on the brow, hands, feet, and side are the most beautiful of all.  God has provided Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross as the primary portrait of His everlasting, gracious love toward all people.  May His sacrifice never be cheapened or forgotten.  His scars still speak to all who will listen.

What is your response to those scars, those wounds Christ bore for you?  He died so you might live.  Are you willing to reach out in faith and acknowledge those scars were made for you?  John 20:26-31 describes a scene after Christ's resurrection from the dead:  "And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" ²⁷ Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." ²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" ²⁹ Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." ³⁰ And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."

Praying or Fainting?

On Wednesday evenings, we hold a prayer meeting at our church building.  Last night was a special blessing.  It is wonderful to gather with fellow Christians to praise God, intercede for others, and lay petitions at His feet.  What made the time more special still was the silence.  There is no "awkward silence" when we approach the throne of God.  It is in those times of silence when God often speaks because we have given Him permission by waiting on Him, without demands or selfish expectations.  No one enjoys a relationship that is based upon someone always wanting something:  the only time they contact you is when they want you to do or give something to them.  I think our relationship with God can be like that.  We tend to pray when we want something.  But just like you appreciate friends who love and simply enjoy spending time you, so we ought to approach God to spend time with Him - not just to achieve our ends.  God is gracious and good, delighting in us even when we are shortsighted and self-centered.  But He has a special blessing for those who delight in Him, drawing near with expectant hearts of faith to spend time with Him because we love Him too.

With the historically low turnout to prayer meetings in churches these days, it is obvious people really do not comprehend prayer.  It is true one should have a "prayer closet," or personal time of prayer on a regular basis.  Yet should the opportunity be provided to meet and share a meal with Jesus in bodily form on a weeknight (for free!), I would imagine the whole church would turn up and invite friends.  But when we talk about corporate prayer - entering into His throne room of grace with other like-minded believers - the draw is not the same.  This is a curious thing.  People will attend a prayer meeting once or twice and never come back.  Why?  Perhaps they had an expectation that was not met.  Perhaps other things in their lives are more important.  Maybe they don't believe it is making a difference.  Or their son has soccer training on those days!  Whatever the reasons, without prayer each of us - and therefore the church of God of which we are each a necessary part - will grow increasingly weak as we drift from our Saviour.

G. Campbell Morgan had some profound remarks on prayer in his sermon titled, "Prayer or Fainting."  He suggests we are doing one or the other:  either we are praying, or we are fainting.  He says in the sermon:

We may now consider our Lord's philosophy of life.  He puts these two things into opposition (Luke 18:1).  He declares in effect that this is the alternative before every one of us, to pray or to faint.  There is no suggestion of a middle course...Prayer is the opposite of fainting.  Fainting is a sudden sense of inability and helplessness, the cessation of activity, weariness which is almost, and ultimately is death.  Pray, and do no faint.  To pray is to have the vision clear, the virtue mighty, the victory assured. (The Westminster Pulpit, Volume 3, Morgan, pg. 55-56)

Morgan continues:

The prayer life does not consist of perpetual repetition of petitions.  The prayer life consists of life that is always upward, and onward, and Godward.  The passion of the heart is for the Kingdom of God; the devotion of the mind is to His will; the attitude of the spirit is conformity thereto; and the higher we climb in the realm of prayer, the more unceasing will prayer be, and the fewer will be the petitions.  It is the opposite of importunity that is taught here.  The thought that Jesus gave of God is that of one compassionate, just, mighty, quick to respond to the forward wish of the weakest soul., so that in the midst of the stress and strain and struggle there need be no fainting. (Ibid., 58)

He concludes:

"They ought always to pray, and not to faint."  If we do not pray always, we never pray.  The man who makes prayer a scheme by which occasionally he tries to get something for himself has not learned the deep, profound secret of prayer.  Prayer is life passionately wanting, wishing, desiring God's triumph.  Prayer is life striving, toiling everywhere and everywhen for that ultimate victory.  When men so pray they do not faint.  They mount up with wings as eagles, they run without weariness, they tramp the hardest, roughest road, and do not faint. (Ibid., 61)

May our prayers be constant, persistent with patience, as we seek to discover God.  When we know Him, we will then be able to grasp His will.  Too often we desire to know where a road leads instead of following Christ on the road wherever He leads.  Let us seek the LORD while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near.  He is seeking such to worship Him in spirit and in truth.  He has promised that those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength.