Part 1 - Why read the Bible?

            A number of us at church have begun to read through the Bible together in a year.  We follow a five day schedule for each week with two days to do other readings or a chance to catch up.  We meet each week (by Zoom at the moment) and share thoughts or ask questions; it’s a chance to encourage each other to keep at it.

            But why read the Bible?  The first and primary reason is because it is God’s message, His love letter to us.  If we receive a letter from a loved one, we will read it from start to finish, and I am sure that we will read it more than once.  We will want to read the Bible similarly because we are now in a relationship with God, and one key way that we can get to know Him better is through His word.  The more we get to know God the deeper our relationship with Him can grow.  As we spend time with Him, our hearts will become more aligned with His in our thinking and actions. 

            There are a number of different metaphors for the Bible which helps us to appreciate something of its purpose in our life.  For example, in James chapter 1, he talks about looking into a mirror, which some people might do but soon forget what they see.  However, for the one “who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does” (v.25).  The more we look into the Bible, the greater our understanding of what God says about us, and as we let the Holy Spirit use that in our lives, the stronger our relationship to God can become. 

Joshua in the Old Testament was given similar instruction and encouragement from God.  “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).  For Joshua to experience God’s blessing and success in the mission he was being given required Him to keep his relationship with the Lord strong by allowing God’s word to have its full influence on his life.  He was to do this by daily meditating upon it, so that he would know God’s heart, His purpose and plan for his life and that of the nation of Israel.  Similarly, it should also be our desire to be in tune with God’s heart and His purpose and plan for our lives, so filling our minds with God’s word, that our heart’s response to God will and purposes are more in tune with Him.   

The psalmist tells us that “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).  In other words, God’s word is the light that lets us see the way ahead, but also the path in front of us so that we will not stumble along the way.  Also in this Psalm, the psalmist gives instruction on how we can live lives that are pure and pleasing to God.  Two things are suggested – one, that we live by God’s commands (v.9); second, that by hiding God’s word in our hearts we might not sin against Him (v.11).  We can hide God’s word in our hearts by memorizing verses that speak to us.  When we have God’s word in our hearts in that way, the Holy Spirit is able to prompt us more readily with the help we need from God’s word when we are being tempted, or are in a situation where we need some guidance from the Lord. 

The clear message from these and other passages is that God is speaking to us and that we need to be careful how we listen.  We are in a relationship with God, and the Bible is one important way that God uses to speak to us.  We need to learn to hear Him speaking to us.  As we allow God’s word to permeate our lives, the more the Holy Spirit can use what we are reading so that we hear His voice. 

Some hints that can help us.  1. Have a notebook with you to note things that God highlights for you, things that jump off the page, or make you think about something.  God may well be seeking to speak to us about something and we can pray about those things.  2. Read with an expectancy that God wants to speak to you through His word.  Obviously, not every passage is going to have something immediately relevant to your life and situation, but as we continue to read regularly, God can begin to speak to us about those things we need to hear about from God. 3. Create a regular place where you will read your Bible, and it is helpful to have a regular time to do it as well.  It might mean getting up a bit earlier, or prioritizing your time to create space to do it.  Let’s give Bible reading a greater place in our lives.

Consider the Creation…!

             The psalmist exhorts us to “consider [God’s] heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars…” (Psalm 8:3).  That means that we need to pay attention, to look into it closely, and carefully reflect on all that God has created, because the immensity of it should lead us to worship.  Paul reinforces that idea when he says, “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,… (Romans 1:20).

            The animal world is a fascinating place to begin to “consider” the wonders of God’s creation.  For example the ostrich, a flightless bird, can outrun a horse (Job 39:13).  Then in Jeremiah 8:7 the prophet contrasts the failure of people to know what God wants from them while the birds of the air, such as the stork knows when to migrate and have its young, as do the other birds.         

The Arctic tern holds the record for the longest distance covered by a migrating bird.  It follows a zigzag course back and forth across the Atlantic as it travels from Greenland to the Antarctic and back again.  Researchers have come to the conclusion that these detours of several thousand kilometres make perfect sense.  The birds appear to be following huge spiralling wind patterns in the atmosphere and so avoids flying into the wind.  “Why do they make these long migrations?  It is suggested that it is because of the rich [polar] feeding grounds that they travel so far.” (National Geographic)[1]  These migrating birds also return to the same areas each year, an incredible feat of navigation – an ability that God gave them.           

Arctic Tern

A lot of people are familiar with the migration of the Monarch butterfly, but that isn’t the only one.  The Chestnut Tiger butterfly seen in Japan migrates long distances as well.  The longest recorded migration is from central Japan to Hong Kong.  They travel northwards in the spring, and southwards in the autumn when they lay their eggs. 

Chestnut Tiger Butterfly

            Some other unusual facts about insects are that when cicada eggs hatch in trees the nymph falls to the ground and digs in among the root of the trees and lies there from twelve to sixteen years depending on the species before emerging to sing, mate and die after a few weeks.  We ask ourselves, why?  It is just another clear pointer to the power and creative ability of God Himself.  We will need more faith to believe that there isn’t a Creator to explain the incredible variety that we see around us.

 A cicada has just emerged from a nymph.  Drying its wings

           A few examples of the wonders of God’s creation.  Yet the interesting thing is that, as Job points out, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;…. that the hand of the Lord has done this” (Job 12:7-9).  He gives water to all the beasts of the field, the birds of the air nest by the waters, and He sustains man with bread and water (Psalm 104:10-15). 

            Jesus told those who followed Him, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29, 31).  Then again in Matthew 6, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?” (v.26)  This was what the psalmist was getting at in Psalm 8, when the Creator of the world and all that is in it gave us a special place within his creation, so much so that he says, “…what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet;” (v.4-6)  So if this is what the Lord has done for us who are of more value than the animals and birds around us, then we can be sure that we too will be cared for under the watchful eye of the Lord.  We can rest assured that God who knows how to care for His creation will also care for us.  We can believe that our Father knows what we need.  So we are exhorted to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all [the needful] things [for life] will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:32-33).  If God knows how to care for His creation how much more will He care for us who are of more value than the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields? (Matthew 6:28-30).

 Sparrows

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[1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/1/100111-worlds-longest-migration-arctic-tern-bird/#:~:text=The%20tiny%20arctic%20tern%20makes,thought%2C%20a%20new%20study%20says.&text=Miniature%20new%20transmitters%20recently%20revealed,Greenland%20and%20Antarctica%20each%20year.

Don’t hit the tent pegs in too far!

            The journey through the wilderness for the people of Israel was very much a time of transition from the life of slavery in Egypt to the freedom and blessings of God in the promised land.  However, the journey itself was full of many experiences of God’s leading and provision.

            Very little is said about the actual details of what was involved in their travels.  There are some passages that help us to get a little picture of what it must have been like moving around the desert for forty years.  In Numbers chapter 2 we see how the camp was arranged around the tent of meeting.  Chapter 3 describes the arrangement for the priests and the Levites around the tabernacle.  They were each arranged according to their tribes, and camped under their family banners. 

            When the people of Israel set out on their journey they followed an order described in chapter 10.  Every tribe knew its position and place both in the camp and when they moved.  Because of this order they were able to move efficiently.

            There is one other detail given in chapter 9 which I would like to focus on.  On the day the tabernacle was set up the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony.  There was always a cloud covering the tabernacle during the day time, and at night it had the appearance of fire.

            Whenever the cloud lifted the people set out, and when it came to rest, they camped.  This was the Lord’s way of indicating when they were to move and when they were to stay put.  Sometimes the cloud would stay over the tabernacle for one night and they moved on the next day.  At other times the cloud stayed put for longer, even for as long as a month or more.  They moved when it lifted, and they camped when it rested.  The people didn’t know whether it would be a short camp or a longer camp.  In other words, they needed to be ready to move whenever the cloud lifted. 

            There is a spiritual principle here.  The people of Israel had to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.  They didn’t want to put in the tent pegs too deeply, as it would take more effort to uproot and move on.  This is a challenge to me.  How ready and easily can I move if the Lord wants me to do so?  There are many things that can get in the way of us being ready to follow the Lord when He moves.  We can become so embedded in our present lives that we might not be willing to pay the price to pull up our roots and move with the Lord.  The comfort of a nice home, a secure job, an enjoyable church fellowship, our family and friends, our personal desires and ambitions can all become hindrances to moving with the Lord.  Have we become so encumbered by our lives that we find pulling up our tent pegs hard to do?

            Of course, this may not necessarily mean moving physically to another town, place or country.  It might mean being willing to move with the times as the Lord lead us, in the sense of being willing to make changes in our individual lives so that we have more time for the Lord, or are available for God to use us to bless others.   Work, interests or hobbies, pleasure/leisure can all get in the way, good though they may be.  In other words, we need to think about what is important to us – living and doing what the Lord wants us to do, or allowing our self interests and desires to have the priority.

Another area is for the church to be ready to move as the Lord directs.  If we are not careful, we can get stuck in a rut and be unwilling to move when the Lord wants to move.  We allow our self-interests and preconceived ideas of what we think is right, rather than allowing the Lord to lead us into new avenues of service as the situations around us change.  We can hold on to things tightly so that when the Lord wants us to move, we find it difficult to let go of our cherished ways of doing things.  We might see change as uncomfortable and inconvenient.  Of course, change cannot be forced, but needs to be introduced in such a way that people can see that it is the Lord who is in control of the direction. 

            The people of Israel had to be ready at a moment’s notice to move.  So they no doubt didn’t allow their lives to get settled so that they could move when the time came.  They made sure they could pull up their tent pegs easily.  How willing are we to make the Lord our first priority and be available for the Lord to move the direction of our lives?  That is the question I need to ask myself, and I trust you will ask too. 

BOOK REVIEW: J. Rankin Wilbourne & Brian Gregor, The Cross before Me; Reimagining the Way of the Good Life, 2019[1]

            We all want to be happy.  So why is happiness so difficult to find?  Following on from his award-winning book, Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God, Wilbourne joins with Gregor to answer the question of where our true happiness is to be found.  They have written this book because most books on this subject forget one thing.  They write, “’[T]he cruciform way is God’s way to the good and beautiful life he intends for us.’  Someone may question that.  ‘Are you telling me the way to wholeness and flourishing is through loss and deprivation, through suffering and death?  That seems counterproductive and counter-intuitive.’”  The way of the cross is not the popular way.  Yet the phrase, “Take up your cross” is an invitation, not something to see as a burden.

            This book has been written to show us what the cross will teach us about the art of living.  It is a book about how we grow deeper experientially into the love of God.  Furthermore, it is not about imitating the life of Christ, for that is impossible without our faith being grounded in our union with Christ.  It is a way of life lived out from a position of confidence and security “in Christ”.  As we participate in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we can share in all that belongs to Him, because it now also belongs to us because we are “in Him”.  As the authors put it, “Imitation without participation is not life-giving.  It’s exhausting.  It’s just religious moralism.”

            The first two chapters set the scene.   These are followed by chapters dealing with ambition, humility, freedom, romantic love, suffering, and why life can now have joy and peace along the hard road.  This will upend and reshape how we in our Western world view life.

            Jesus’ life was marked by suffering from start to finish.  He didn’t deserve suffering, yet it was His obedience to God that led Him to “death on the cross” (Phil.2:8).  As the writers point out, “The Bible even calls Jesus’ life of suffering ‘fitting’ (Heb 2:10), necessary for him to sympathize with us (Heb 4:14-15), and integral to his learning (Heb 5:8).  Jesus’ whole life was oriented towards the cross.”  Luke confirms this for us.  He ‘set his face’ towards Jerusalem and the cross (Luke 9:51).

            This book is not an easy read as it will require thoughtful thinking.  It is both challenging and insightful.  If we can accept that the way of the cross is the Biblical way to a fruitful, fulfilled and contented life, then the book will bless us if we take its message to heart. 

            We continually battle with what the authors call the theology of glory that assumes that God’s pathway is one of blessing, of bettering ourselves, of doing what will enhance our status and acceptance in the eyes of others.  

But the way of the cross says that whatever we do is for you, Lord, and for your glory.  It is the satisfaction that comes from playing our small part, without comparing ourselves with others, as our Master assigns to each one of us.  Ambition is a very human part of our being creatures who desire.  But what is unavoidable is the motive we have for everything thing we do.  As Jesus challenged the people, “They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:43).  The question is not, “Are you ambitious?”  The question is, “What does your life show that you are ambitious for?”

            The authors deal with various tests that show up our true motives.  How do we face failure or being seen by others as weak or ineffective?  A challenging question to think about.  Another is how do we view the successes of our peers, especially those in our own field?  Are we happy for them?  Do we celebrate their accomplishments?

            Each of the subjects dealt with comes with its own challenges and pride hitting punches.  Our human nature will always seek its own good before any thought of others.  But the way of the cross is self-giving, loving and humble and considers others ahead of itself.  This was true of Jesus.  In humility and love He was willing to give up His comforts, suffer the extremes of torture and death on the cross, just for us, with little consideration of His own life.  The outcome was that the way was opened for us to enter into that joy that He had in giving Himself in love for us. (Hebrews 12:2).

            God transforms our thinking so that it focuses less on self and more on Jesus.   His glory comes about by the hardships and disappointments in life, from the suffering and pain, from the humiliation of failure, and the acknowledgement of our weakness and need for God to step in and lift us up.  The way of the cross is the humbling of ourselves as we accept our own unworthiness and thank God for His free gift of grace and help.  There is nothing in us that deserves God’s attention, but He transforms us to be more like Christ in His suffering, so that the joy of heaven can become ours.

            We need to rely on God to transform our thinking so that it is God-centred rather than self-centred, and self-seeking.  This will take courage to go against in our Western cultural environment.  We need to trust God to mould us so that we can resist the inroads of the self-focused culture that surrounds us.

            There is more that we haven’t touched upon.  The chapters on humility and love are hard hitting. But if we can overcome our pride and acknowledge the biblical truths that the writers have shared, we will be blessed for taking the time to read this book.   I close with a final quote that sums up something of where they want to go with this book.  “If humility is the heart of the cruciform life, then love is the heartbeat, the living sign that the word of the cross has taken root in your heart.”

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[1] Wilbourne, R., & Gregor, B. (2019). The cross before me: reimagining the way to the good life. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook. (Logos Bible Software)

Faith in God when life is difficult. 3

God has a number of reasons for using “all things” of our experience, the outcome of which will be for the development of our faith and trust in Him. The following points show the variety of purposes He uses. 

The “all things” conform us into the likeness of Jesus

Paul gives a key reason in the verses following the “all things” we experience in Romans 8:28.  Paul tells us in verse 29 that those who are in a relationship with God as Father have been “predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” (v.29) He then goes on to say that the ultimate aim is that “those he called, he also justified” (v.30) so that the final end will be glorification.  

His primary purpose is to see His children grow and become more like His Son. God will use the trials and difficulties, the “all things” of life, to achieve that end. It is as we respond in faith to God, trusting Him with the outcome, that God is able to work things into our lives that will bring about that conformity to His Son. We will see how that works in the following ways.

The “all things” includes God’s discipline for our good

God is using the ‘all things’ as part of his discipline and correction, for He desires us to learn, grow and mature into the likeness of His Son.  Hebrews 12 tells us that the Lord disciplines those he loves and accepts as sons and daughters (v.6). It’s the evidence that we are loved by the Father. Then in verse 10 the writer tells us that “God disciplines us for our good, that we might share his holiness.” The benefit of this discipline is that it will “produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (v.11) So one of the purposes of the ‘all things’ is God’s work of discipline in us, His training of us, so that we will grow and mature spiritually as part of a conforming work into the likeness of His Son.

The “all things” prove our faith and trust in God

Another important reason for God’s use of “all things” is to test our faith and trust in God. James 1:2-3 tells us that we should rejoice in our trials because they prove not only the genuineness of our faith but develop spiritual maturity which will lead to us being perfect and complete. This will be finally true when we see Jesus as He is (1 John3:2). Without the testing of our faith, our trust and dependence upon God will not be given the opportunity to grow. 

The “all things” guide us into blessing

When we are faced with hard and difficult times, we may wonder where God is in all that we are going through. Naomi felt that when she returned to Bethlehem after having lost both husband and two sons in the land of Moab (Ruth 1:20-21). She returns to Bethlehem a discouraged woman, conscious that their move to Moab had only resulted in loss for her. However, God was still there in control causing her to return to Bethlehem. There He leads Ruth in such a way that she meets Boaz, and through that will bring the blessing of God’s provision and security in a husband for Ruth. This will lead ultimately to the birth of the Lord Jesus. Although Naomi suffered much initially, eventually it resulted in a good outcome as God worked His purposes in their difficult situation. Job is another example.  We may find it difficult to trust God in periods of suffering, but our faith in God will ultimately be rewarded in ways that will prove best for us in the long term. 

The “all things” will bring glory to God by our witness

As we respond in faith and trust in God in the “all things” of life, God is glorified. It becomes a witness that will attract others to God. In 1 Peter 2:12 Peter says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” This is followed up in chapter 3:14-15, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’ But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” People are watching how we respond to our difficult and trying times. If our responses honour God and we continue to trust even when all seems to falling apart around us, people will want to know why, and this leads to Peter’s exhortation to be “always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”(v.15)  It is a counterintuitive fact that it is the places where the church is persecuted that seem to be where the church is growing. Perhaps one reason why the church in the West is not as it should be is because we haven’t been put to the test of suffering in the way that our brothers and sisters in places like China have faced.

These five purposes encourage us to trust that God is in control and has our good at heart. Without the “all things” to deal with our faith won’t have any reason to trust God.  Dr. James Dobson has said, “The removal of adversity from our lives would eventually lead to the demise of Christianity on this earth.” Through our experiences of our Father’s goodness to us in the ‘all things’, our faith and trust in Him will grow as we become conformed to Christ Jesus.

Faith in God when life is difficult. 2

There are two kinds of promises in the Bible, conditional, and unconditional promises.  Unconditional promises are ones in which God has promised to do something irrespective of how we may respond. An example of an unconditional promise is Hebrews 13:5b: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  On the other hand, the conditional promise has a certain criterion which needs to be true of us to have the assurance that God will keep the promise.  Romans 8:28 is a conditional promise because it says that God will bring about what is promised to “those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  Why is this promise specifically directed towards those who love God?

Earlier in the chapter Paul has been referring to those who have the Spirit of sonship, that we are children, and “heirs and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:17)  “We are eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (v.23)   This is what we are hoping for, and waiting for.  Furthermore, the Spirit helps us in our weakness enabling us in our praying even interceding for us in our weaknesses. (v.27)

It is in this context of a new relationship of sonship with God that we have the promise in verse 28. 

To come back to the question we asked earlier as to why?  This promise is directed towards those who love God, it is because we are now his children, and He is our Father.  As Father, His love for us will be seen in His desire to bless us with what is good.  As Jesus reminds us, “your Father in heaven [will] give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).  This is why when we pray to Him as our Father in our times of difficulties, we can trust and rest assured that He has it all under control, and will use the “all things” for our good. 

The “all things” may be tough and hard to deal with at times, but we know that He will be with us, and He knows how much we can take and will only allow what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), and we can rest assured that “The Lord watches over all who love him” (Psalm 145:20).

            What an encouragement to know that because of this relationship with God as our Father, we can commit all things to Him because we are His children.  We can have this confidence in Him because we love Him, just as we know He loves us (1 John 4:19).  And as we believe and actively trust God in those difficult times, our faith in God can grow as we experience His love and care in bringing good out of the trials that we go through.

            Next time, we will look at some of the different objectives that God has in bringing out ‘good’ in the ‘all things’ of life. 

Faith in God when life is difficult. 1

Faith in God when life is difficult.  1

            Many of us have faced hard and difficult times during this lockdown from Covid-19.  For some of us, it is the stress of loneliness and not meeting people, for others it is balancing work at home with home school, or the financial implications of the situation, which can lead to anxieties about the future.

            How can we trust God in these situations of life?  Is there anything that gives us the confidence to choose to believe that God is in control?  As someone has said, “Faith is not a feeling.  It is a choice to trust God even when the road ahead seems uncertain.”[1]  We will look at some verses that give us peace, confidence and hope in life’s difficult times.

            The first is one of the most quoted verses we hear when life is proving difficult, but is a verse that we need to use wisely when helping others in their difficult times.   What they need is empathy, a listening ear, and a walking along beside them through those times.  However, this verse can prepare us for those times when we find ourselves struggling with life.  The verse is Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  This can be a hard verse to believe but it is one of many promises that we can use to strengthen our faith in God.  Often we are impatient and want to see how it is all going to work out immediately.  If we could see the end there would be no need for faith.  This verse encourages us to put our trust in God when the going is tough believing that the end, whenever that might be, will be the very best. 

To be forewarned is to be forearmed for those eventualities.  In 1 Kings 20:22 a prophet went to King Ahab and told him, "Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again."  King Ahab would have been foolish to have ignored that advice.  So too, God is helping us to see that we can prepare our hearts for the all things that we face in life, the good and the bad.  How we prepare is important. 

            One of the ways to prepare our hearts is to take in God’s word.  God’s word can reassure our hearts that He can be a trusted place of refuge.  His word strengthens our hearts so that our heart can rest in the knowledge that He knows and cares for us.  One example is Psalms 18:1-2  “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  Words like these can be a great comfort to us. 

            Another way to prepare our hearts is to rest in the promises of God.  Here in Romans 8:31-39 Paul reassure us with a promise that can give confidence for the future.  Paul puts it like this; no matter what may happen, whether it is “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword” (v.35)  “I am convinced that neither death nor life,…” or anything else “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(v.38)  What a comfort to know that we can believe this promise because no matter what may happen, we will be safe. What an encouragement to know that Jesus is also interceding for us. (v.34).  There are many other promises that we can take to heart and rest in as we believe that God will bring good out of the ‘all things’ which we face in life.  God may not work things out how we think or would like, and we may have to wait, but we can believe and rest our hearts in God to keep his word.

            To be continued.

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[1] On Facebook, Mindful Christianity Today, TobyMac#speaklife