Tuesday 27 July 2010

One thing.....

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear. The LORD is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid."
David begins this psalm with a declaration that God is His light and salvation and His deliverer. Therefore his heart can remain steadfast in his confidence no matter what circumstances surround him; he need not fear.
The reason for this confidence is that fact that David seeks after God.
"The ONE thing I ask of the LORD - the THING I seek most - is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and mediating in His temple". (Ps 27:4)
One thing...
It is in this single-minded fellowship, where we find ourselves, who we really are and what is really important. It is in this communion with Him, where we seek His face, that we become bold and confident even in the face of adversity, that God is our help and that we will overcome in His Loving arms, and so the song of joy and victory will arise in our hearts.
"My heart has heard your say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming." Ps 27:8
What an incredible invitation that the LORD extends to us. The Creator of the Universe and our Maker, this awesomely Mighty God who runs the universe, calls us to come and sit with Him and chat!!! How can we not respond to this amazing God, whose welcome mat is out and His ear is open to our cry? We don't even have this welcome from the rich and famous, or royalty of the earth, yet our Holy Father says, "Come child, come on in". God always has time for us.
David's priority in life, and indeed ours, should be - seeking God. God has promised those who seek Him"-
"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD." (Jer 29:12-14(a))
When we seek God, we begin to know Him and His ways better, as He throws the light of His revelation into our hearts. Experientially as we walk with God, we see His faithfulness manifest in all our situations.
This is the second reason for David's confidence - his meditation upon the nature and character of God. When we consider God's incredible LOVE for us, that He was willing to give up His most precious Son, how can we not be moved to trust Him with our lives and situations? God knows exactly what is best for us, (even if we don't think so at the time) and, as we know, He has a plan for each one of us. The bible tells us that it is a "good plan", a "hope for our future." (Jer 29:11) When we consider God's power, that He holds the universe together by the power of His Word and can fold up the heavens like a blanket, how can we not trust Him with our everyday struggles? We can call on His aid, day or night, it makes no difference to a God who does not slumber or sleep (Ps 121:3-4), and whose door is open and never shurt. When we consider God is Righteous and Just, we can leave justice in His Hands for the things that have wronged us and know God will have an outcome that will turn evil into good. We just need to trust Him with the whys and ifs and maybes, for God surely has an answer for us.
Therefore in everything we can confidently claim with David:-
"Yet I am confident that I will see the LORD's GOODNESS while I am here in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD" (Ps 27:13-14)
Can you hear that? The sound of joyful and confident expectation, the hope and shout of victory! Most "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD FOREVER." (Ps 23:6)

Saturday 17 July 2010

Dependency upon God.

As my husband was driving us to church this morning, I was quietly praying and preparing my heart to meet with God and asking for His presence to be upon me and the church. I muttered, God do You know how much I need you?" and the question came back, " Do I know how much I need you, Lord?" It is quite one thing to know that we need God, and we do, but to what extent is that need? I would dare to say it is a great need.


Jesus said that we must come to the Kindgom as a child, (Matt 8:13) and in fact, unless we are childlike in our faith, we will no means "enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Children have such simplicity of faith. They do not stress out asking where the next meal is going to come from or even their next pair of shoes. They rely totally on their parents' ability to supply their every need and are depended upon them for love, acceptance and self-worth. Do we trust God like this and are we dependent upon Him in this way?


Even Jesus, Son of God, in His humanity, depended upon the power of the Holy Spirit and on His Heavenly Father. Jesus, surrendered His every waking moment to the Father, to walk in the path of obedience doing the Father's will on earth.


Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." (Joh 4:34)


Even the very words He spoke came from His reliancy upon hearing from God and proclaiming His message to broken humanity.


For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I shoud say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak." (Joh 12:49-50)


Our times are in God's hands, so in a sense, we are even dependent upon God for our next breath. He has given us our talents and abilities which we can either use to glorify Him or glorify ourselves. We grow up and develop out talents, but do we consider, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (Jas 1:17)


David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, penned a "Messianic Psalm" wherein it was declared,


"O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You." (Psa 16:2)


If Jesus was so dependent upon His Father in Heaven, how much more should we be? I want to come like a child to the Father and rely on Him more and more every day, so that, more and more, He can use me to do His will and that His name will be glorified in my life.


True humility begins when we recognise that apart from Him, we can do nothing of everlasting and eternal worth.


Friday 9 July 2010

Hope in God

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13)

Hope, what a powerful state of mind. Hope is what people need to navigate the ups and downs of life, yet so many live without hope in the world and so many souls are cut short by choice because of the feelings of hopelessness. Christians should be people of great faith and abounding hope.

Faith and hope are closely intertwined and are two sides of the same coin. When we have faith in God and His promises, hope rises in our hearts, even as an eagle rises up on the updrafts of the breeze, to soar into the future with confidence and joy. Life is out there to enjoy when hope fills a heart and so it is that our hope in God and His promises gives us light, bouncy steps, even in adversity.

Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your hearts, All you who hope in the LORD. (Psa 31:24)

I love the way that David, killer of giants, could pen so much about the hope in found in God, when so much of his life appeared to be in a state of hopelessness. Spending much time in the wilderness, running away from a king determined to kill this young, ruddy youngster who stood against and defeated Goliath, David sets his heart and eyes upon God. The giant who defied the whole army of Israelites and left them quaking in their boots, was killed by a young boy with a large heart of hope in God and a single stone flung from a child's sling.

Goliath had hope in his strength and height, and cocky he was too, but he was no match for the faith and hope in "the LIVING GOD" residing in the heart of this shepherd boy.

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, Just as we hope in You. (Psa 33:18-22)

What giants have you quaking in your shoes?

A marriage that seems hopeless?
A wayward child?
Financially broke?
Divorced?
Family who wants nothing to do with you?
Unsaved loved ones?

There is an answer in God for every one of these giants. Put your faith and hope in God and strengthen your heart in the fact that God is forever watching over you and He will never leave you nor forsake you, and if you listen to Him, He can change the outcome of every situation, and you will be able to say with confidence what David said:-

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the Help of His countenance. (Psa 42:5)

And, hope does not disappoint. (Rom 5:5)

Saturday 3 July 2010

Agape Love

"and the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13)

It is so true that God is the God of Love and we know this because He demonstrated "His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(Rom 5:8) This really is an amazing thought for humans who, on the whole, cannot demonstrate this kind of "agape" love, yet it is the quality of love that God calls us into. The bible is very clear that we love God, because He first loved us. (1Jn 4:9) Before Christ, our love is mostly self-centred but when the Holy Spirit comes into our heart, He sheds His love in our hearts for others. (Rom 5:5)

The world confuses love for sexual expression (eros love), but true agape love has nothing to do with physical attraction, but is the emotion that seeks the welfare of others before oneself. This is so evident in the life of Jesus, who went about doing good and destroying the works of the devil, (Acts 10:38) not demanding His own rights as God (Php 2:6) or His own way, but who continually lifted up others, even to His own physical detriment (Mar 3:20), the finale of this being the cross.

Christ showed us the full extent of His love when He stretched out His arms willingly on the cross to carry the weight and depravity of our sin so that we could come back into the loving relationship with the Father we were designed to have from the beginning of creation. He taught us the significance of loving others even though they do not share the same values, culture or even colour of skin. We are called to love like this, to lay down our life for others, even as Christ laid down His life for us. This kind of love is only possible when we keep ourselves in the love of God. (Jud 1:21)

How do I continue to love others, preferring them to myself, being kind and patient, not irritable but quick to forgive and keep no record of wrong done against me? Challenging!

The answer, I believe, is found in this amazing declaration of Christ.

Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Faither will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (Joh 14:23)

When we have a deep revelation of how much God loves us, we do not find His commandments burdensome to keep, and in obeying Him and receiving His overflowing love, there comes an automatic outflow of love towards others.