The Big Picture

“And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” [Genesis 45:5-7 NIV]

iStock_000009079578XSmallJoseph had a dream when he was a young lad. A dream that he had authority so that even his brothers and parents bowed down to him. His brothers were so annoyed by the supposed arrogance of this dream that it led to them doing a despicable thing — selling him into slavery.

For Joseph, all his dreams came crashing down. And then when things started to look up again, when he’d been entrusted with Potiphar’s household, circumstances not of his making caused him to end up in prison. Not guilty. Once again his dreams shattered.

Hope burgeoned again when he interpreted dreams for Pharaoh’s baker and cup-bearer, but he was forgotten, left to press on in the dungeons. I wonder how many times Joseph cried out to God, ‘Why?’ None of his journey would have made sense. It was unfair, undeserved –pointless.

Or so it seemed. Until the day he stood in the court distributing food to starving people, wearing the very authority of Pharaoh, and saw his brothers come before him. All of a sudden it all made sense. God knew a famine was coming — way back then when he was first dumped in the cistern by his brothers. God knew his family needed a deliverer. God had promised his great-grandfather a countless nation of descendents, and God would honour that promise. God had been in it all along. It was only that Joseph couldn’t see the big picture.

How many of us have received promises only to watch everything crumble around us? Take heart, child of God, you like Joseph, cannot see the big picture. If God said it, He will do it. Just keep walking in integrity and faith.

Published in: on 28th January, 2013 at 10:44 am  Comments (4)  
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A Faith-filled Response

‘Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.”So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,” she said.’ [Genesis 24:57-58 NIV]

168952_6028I was very inspired by the story of how Isaac got his wife. Inspired by Rebekah’s response in particular.

Abraham sent his servant to get a wife for Isaac, and the servant, relying on prayer and signs from the Lord, was led to Rebekah as God’s choice. He was sure about his answer, and sure about the girl.

I wonder what it was like for Rebekah, however. Sure, there would have been the cultural norms of arranged marriage, which would have been accepted fairly easily in those days, I imagine. And yet, the servant was a complete stranger, she knew nothing about Isaac at all. All she knew is that the servant had prayed and she was the answer.

When given the opportunity to spend a little more time with her family before she set off, her response was ‘I will go.’ A simple faith act. To me, it seems she was confident in the Lord’s choice and was able to set forth in faith that He had His hand upon her life. She could be secure in His plan.

How many of us act so quickly on a nudge from above? Do we accept His will and step out without hesitation or without question? Or do we argue, doubt and retreat from His purpose?

Published in: on 21st January, 2013 at 10:37 am  Comments (4)  
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Blame Shifters

‘And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”’ [Genesis 3:11-13 NIV]

1406450_24653656I have been reading Genesis recently, and loving the story of creation all over again. But when I got to what happened in the Garden of Eden, something stood out to me.

God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was the one thing He asked them not to do. But the serpent came, Eve was talked into it and then passed the fruit on to Adam. When God came looking for them, they hid — something I’ve seen my children do when they know they’ve been naughty.

Then, the blame shifting started. Adam said ‘it was that woman you gave me – she made me do it.’ And, of course, Eve passed the buck on to the serpent – ‘that slimy snake tricked me.’ No-one wanted to take the blame for this act of disobedience.

1340355_50366791The thing that I noticed more than other times I’ve read it is that all three of them received discipline for their part in it. None got away unscathed. The serpent was cursed to slither on his belly all his days and be at enmity with the woman. Eve was punished with pain in childbirth. And Adam was forced to labour and groan over weed infested soil, to provide food for his family.

When something goes wrong, an argument ensues, or a relationship is broken, there is always more than one side to the story. Usually both sides (or more if more are involved) have a degree of fault to be owned. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all own our own responsibility for mistakes, rather than blame shift? Relationships would be restored much quicker if we did.

Published in: on 14th January, 2013 at 10:02 am  Leave a Comment  
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Preparations

“‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)” [Revelation 19:7-8 NIV]

Photo by Svilen Milev

Photo by Svilen Milev

When I think of a bride making herself ready, there is so much involved. She does everything she can to make sure she is as beautiful as she can be for her groom on the big day. There’s a special gown to purchase, and all its accessories, a hair style to be chosen and makeup to be arranged.

Even when it comes to the wedding day itself, I think of long soaking baths with perfumed water, followed by scented moisturising creams. Then she spends hours at the hair dresser’s making sure everything is perfect before finally putting on the wedding gown. By then she glows — as we all know when we see a bride come down the aisle.

So, how do we, as the bride of Christ, prepare ourselves for the big day? Something occurred to me when I read the part of this Scripture in brackets. Our righteous acts become our wedding gown. But I also think that the trials we endure and grow through are kind of like softening creams or perfumes. The sacrifices we make in life for Him go up to Him as a sweet aroma. All of our lives here on earth are a preparation for our future with the King of Kings.

I figure, with this in mind, I will try to live to the best of my ability, and thus make myself beautiful for my groom. 🙂

Published in: on 7th January, 2013 at 10:55 am  Leave a Comment  
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Immediate Reward

” These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” [Hebrews 11:39-40 NIV]

These two verses are at the end of a chapter which summarises many of the Old Testament heroes of the faith. These men and women lived by faith in a God whom they couldn’t see and couldn’t relate to in the way we do now. They only had the Law and the occasional visitation by an angel to go by. And yet, they held fast till the day they died.

The Promised Land from Mt Nebo

The Promised Land from Mt Nebo

They believed in the promises of God. They believed in something that none of them saw the complete fulfilment of in their lives. Even Moses, who was given the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, never saw it except from a distance. He never entered the fulfilment of the promise. But it didn’t change his deep faith in the God of the promise.

Today, we have seen much fulfilment of the Old Testament promises. We have the promised Salvation by Christ’s death on the cross. We have the promised Holy Spirit, so we can communicate daily with the God of heaven. We can see His power at work in those around us — indeed, we can see a little of the Kingdom of God on earth. Our faith, here and now, has immediate rewards, even while there is still a future promise ahead of us. How fortunate we are!

Does our faith rank up to those Old Testament heroes though? Do we still keep faith and believe on God as our rock and foundation even when we don’t see the answers we want? Something to think about.

Published in: on 17th December, 2012 at 7:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Whole New Way

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” [Ephesians 2:14-16 NIV]

Image by Tijmen van Dobbenburgh

Image by Tijmen van Dobbenburgh

As I read Ephesians recently, it occurred to me that after Jesus’s time on earth, the whole church experienced a revolution — well those who accepted who He was anyway. No longer was knowledge of God only available to Jews — the chosen people — and no longer were God’s children bound by a heavy burden of law and sacrifice.

Freedom swept through Israel and surrounding nations as the Gospel was spread. People could have a relationship with Christ — people everywhere. The barrier between Jew and Gentile was removed, so that anyone can now come to the Father. The law was broken wide open, becoming a heart response to a love relationship with the Almighty God, instead of a list of rules you dare not veer from.

Those early Christians must have felt so liberated, so excited about this new way of living. It is no wonder the Good News spread like wildfire with thousands coming to Christ all the time. And the apostles burned with it. They went to extraordinary lengths to keep on spreading the Gospel, even in the face of persecution and death.

It makes me wonder. Are we so used to this freedom that we have now taken it for granted? Do we burn with zeal for the gospel like those early Christians? Are we willing to face persecution to see more people saved? God, stir up the fires within our spirit and give us your heart for the nations.

Published in: on 10th December, 2012 at 10:25 am  Comments (2)  
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Thief in the Night

‘Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.’ [Thessalonians 5:1-3 NIV]

iStock_000014304825XSmallWhen you think about a thief breaking in to your home in the middle of the night, it conjures up frightening thoughts. It is sudden, unexpected, terrifying — much like a nightmare. According to the verse above, that is what Jesus second coming is likened to. Sounds intimidating? Definitely for those who have rejected  Christ, or if they don’t know about Him.

However, for those of us who walk with the Lord in our daily lives, the outlook is much different. In Thessalonians 5, verse 4 goes on to say ‘But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief’. In other words, we live in expectation of Christ’s return. Every day could be THE day. So, when Christ does appear it will not be such a shock. It will be a surprise, yes, but a pleasant, exciting one. Not scary, not unexpected, not a nightmare at all. A day for celebration. And we who know Him get to go and meet Him in the air.

I, for one, look forward to that day. How about you?

Published in: on 3rd December, 2012 at 10:35 am  Comments (2)  
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Amazed

‘When Jesus had finished saying these things,the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.’ [Matthew 7:28 NIV]

The Sermon on the Mount Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)

This verse is written at the end of the sermon on the mount, which covers three chapters of Matthew’s gospel. It is one of the most revolutionary pieces of teaching in the bible, especially for the people living in the time of Christ. Those people were used to the Pharisaic teaching which exaggerated minor details of the biblical law while ignoring the important heart attitudes those same laws tried to instill.

Jesus took everything they knew and turned it upside down. Or rather, he set the standard much higher, showing that kingdom living was more than just keeping a bunch of rules. It is easy to get caught up in the ‘if I follow the ten commandments, I’ll stay on God’s good side’ thought process. But, the way Jesus taught, it’s not enough to just not murder, or not lie, or not commit adultery.

Jesus showed that the heart attitude behind those kinds of sins need to be dealt with as well, not just the physical act. He said that if we hold anger toward someone, we are still in the wrong. He said that if we lust after someone other than our spouse, we are thinking in an adulterous manner.

And while it is good to give to good causes, and while it is good to fast and pray, if we do it for the world to see and therefore to boost our egos, we’ve got the whole concept wrong. God sees that as pride, not an act of humility.

No wonder the people in Israel were amazed at Jesus’ teaching. His words are still just as powerful, challenging and life-changing today.

Published in: on 26th November, 2012 at 10:28 am  Comments (4)  
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Five Words

“I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” [1 Corinthians 14:19 NIV]

Photo by Sanja Gjenero

This Scripture and indeed, the whole passage surrounding it, is talking about the speaking of tongues. However, this one line struck me in another way — especially as a purveyor of words.

We know from James, that words have great power. The strength that flows from our mouths is likened to fire, or the rudder of a ship (see James 3:1-11). Our words are capable of great damage, or great reparation. Basically it comes down to our control of our words — how we choose to use them.

In this verse, I think, it seems that we can waffle on for hours, not doing harm, and yet not conveying anything of worth. If you think about it, we can be quite adept at beating around the bush, or hinting at what we really mean without actually coming out and saying it. Or, we can just speak for the sake of it — to enjoy the sound of our prattling tongues.

I daresay it would be better if we didn’t waste our words on meaningless waffle. If we need to say something, we should just say it, choosing our words with care and wisdom. Not blurting. Not with insensitivity. But to the point, in a way that might bring change for the better.

Because in the end, wouldn’t all of us rather speak five intelligible words to build someone up, than then thousand words that in the end, mean very little?

Published in: on 19th November, 2012 at 10:02 am  Leave a Comment  
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A Beautiful Exchange

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” [Galatians 2:21 NIV]

Photo by Bren Leslie

All of Galatians emphasises that we are no longer under the law, or the curse that goes with it. We live by the grace, believing in the salvation that Christ bought on the cross. It is a powerful message.

In Galatians 3:19 Paul says, ‘Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.’ So the law was never intended to be a permanent thing. It was only put in place to help people in their quest for righteousness until the time was right for Jesus to come and offer Himself as the perfect lamb for once and for all.

If we think about modern law, we see that new statutes are formed constantly to try to keep society as peaceful and ordered as possible. For example, too many people take to hunting a certain animal and pretty soon, regulations are put in place to make it illegal in order to protect that species. If a better solution comes along, regulations are changed.

Photo by Niels Timmer

In our case, the better solution was Jesus’ death on the cross. Through His sacrifice, the whole of the law was fulfilled and we were free to live under the grace that was given. The law is now written on our hearts in love, and we live out of a love relationship in obedience to His Word, not in fear of punishment, but to honour Him who sits on the throne.

It was, and still is, a beautiful exchange.

Published in: on 12th November, 2012 at 10:22 am  Leave a Comment  
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