Archives for August 2020

We encounter various forms of pressure on our lives from others. We may have a demanding parent, or a teacher who threatens to fail us if we don’t get a project finished. There are those who tease and scorn us if we don’t go along with their ideas.

From the schoolyard to the workplace and at home and society we face pressure from people who want us to conform to their will.

Many people have gone along with things through life that were not their will. Some have suffered severely for it. Others have ended up with habits and constraints placed on them by the pressure of others.

In all of that, however, we should note that God does not force us to do anything. Even though there are extreme consequences for us rejecting God, committing sin and going our own way, God never strong-arms us to make us do the right thing.

Instead God keeps making invitations to us. We are advised and invited to do the right thing, over and over again.

At times, wonderfully, God picks up the pace of confirming to us His call and His love for us. But we are always left with the choice.

If we keep shutting God’s voice down, ignoring Him so we can go our own way, we will still His voice in our life and be left mostly to our own activities. This is tragic, since the only hope we have of eternal blessing and true fulfilment in life is through being God’s child.

A classic Bible verse showing God waiting for our response is the image of Christ standing at the door of our heart and knocking. We are the ones who must open to Him. He will not kick down the door.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

There is also the wider cry to the whole community, inviting each of us to come to Christ and receive rest from Him.

“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

God offers us things we can’t get ourselves. We are spiritually bankrupt, without any capacity to buy the things that have true value. Yet, despite our inability to pay, God invites us to receive the things we truly need, without having to have the money.

“Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1

These invitations confirm each other, as invitations not demands. We will face terrible consequences if we do not have Christ as our saviour, but God does not compel us to accept Christ. It is always an invitation.

Jesus not only offers us eternal salvation, to be enjoyed in heaven, but the very present power of the Holy Spirit in our lives on earth. This filling with the Holy Spirit is what empowered the early church to turn the world upside down, and empowered all the miracles of Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit is offered to all people who will accept salvation through Christ. It is the inheritance of all of God’s children. Jesus made a very public call to the people to receive the Holy Spirit through Him.

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, Streams of living water will flow from his innermost being. He was speaking about the Spirit.” John 7:37-39

Here we see a wonderful promise given, not as a lure, but as a statement of fact. There is great blessing in responding to God’s invitation and receiving Christ. This is not the tacky offer of a salesman trying to coerce you to buy what you don’t want. Christ offers us the most amazing value in all eternity, full of wonderful blessings in this life and the next.

Yet, among Christians it is still commonplace to find people who accept Christ yet still resist the ongoing wooing voice of the Lord.

The invitation is not simply for salvation, but for a life of ever becoming more like Christ.

Note how that verse about Christ at the door was directed to Christians, not to the unsaved. So there is a fresh stream of invitation coming to us from the Lord, prompting us to go deeper with Him and to receive more of what He has for us.

We also have a picture from the Song of Solomon of the husband visiting his wife and her finding his arrival inconvenient.

“I sleep, but my heart wakes: it is the voice of my beloved that knocks, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” Song of Solomon 5:2

The wife replies that she has already gone to bed and washed her feet. She reflects a self-focused attitude about her own inconvenience.

“I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” Song of Solomon 5:3

Many a Christian is happy with the level of relationship they have with God and resists growing deeper in their walk with Him. It is rare to find a Christian who is enjoying an ever deepening relationship with God.

The husband put his hand to the latch, and at that glimpse of him the wife is moved.

“My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me.” Song of Solomon 5:4 

So the wife finally responds and rises to open the door. However her beloved has departed. This leads her to go searching for him.

This tussle of human tardiness to respond to God’s wooing is not uncommon. Our selfishness and desire for the familiar and secure, keep us resisting God’s call to go deeper into the things of the Spirit and the heavenly wonders we can access.

We also have our comfort in mind. We like the familiarity and security of our pattern of life.

However, the best things in life are still waiting for you. They are the things of God’s Kingdom still waiting to be explored. They are the things of an ever deepening relationship with God and an ever more glorious revelation of Christ in you.

However those things will never be forced on you. You must choose to respond to God and accept His invitation.

I urge you to stop resisting God and to yield to Christ’s invitations that are Wooing Your Heart.

There are many things we can chase in life, from new trinkets, to achievements, reputation, success, wealth, power, friendships, respect and so on.

These things all have allure and they seem like things to be pursued. We can be envious of those who have more of those things than we do. We can drop what we are doing to chase after something that seems accessible to us.

Yet the testimony of many people is that when they achieved their dream it turned out to be empty. Attaining that once-in-a-lifetime moment or that highest achievement, left them feeling unfulfilled.

Isn’t that the way it is in most people’s lives. Most of those who are currently hoping for something better have already achieved many landmarks in their life. It seems that once we achieve our current ambition we will replace it with another, then another.

We are often on a treadmill of endless pursuit of happiness.

What that experience tells us is that the things we are chasing don’t satisfy. The things we think have value don’t turn out to have the value we expect. The things we are chasing won’t bring us the benefit we are hoping for.

It is rare to find someone who is wonderfully content and satisfied with life. Often those who express such a state are older people who have decided to be content with what they achieved, despite what they did not accomplish.

Many people are driven by agitating passions which stir inside them, driving them to an endless and vain pursuit of resolution.

One reason we don’t achieve what we long for is that we look to human values. The Bible calls that our ‘flesh’. Our human or fleshly desires are to satisfy our inner urges, our lusts, and gratify our pride. If we pursue those things the only fruit we get is a type of rottenness, instead of a bunch of good fruit.

“He who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption (rottenness)” Galatians 6:8

So that’s why chasing those things doesn’t satisfy. It only produces rotting fruit, not good fruit. So we then pick another goal and chase after that.

The Apostle Paul tells that we don’t owe our flesh any respect at all, because it never delivers on its promise.

“So then, brothers, we have no debt to the flesh, to live according to its impulses. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your bodily impulses, you will live.” Romans 8:12,13

Many people have chased success in academics, sport, arts and enterprise and given priority to that pursuit. Often we hear of people who finally stopped to see that they had paid a high price in terms of family relationships, their health and their future happiness, because of their devotion to their dream.

We also hear of people who finally step off the treadmill, putting aside their potential, so they can work on family and marriage relationship.

As a young man dreaming of working in the media I was struck one day by the announcement that a popular television newsreader quit his prime-time television post so he could spend time with his young family. He realised he was never home to have dinner with his children and he decided they were more important than his post on the news desk.

I was shocked, thinking him to be crazy to give up such a valuable career role.

Those who make such a move are abandoning the lure of success and returning to something they hold in higher value. They can be returning to family, as that newsreader did, or returning to their marriage. They may also be returning to their faith and their desire to serve God, putting career in second place.

Obviously things have different value. We get to choose where we put our priority and which things we will elevate over others.

The highest value in the universe is relationship with God. Knowing the Love of God in our lives, and being in relationship with God as our Heavenly Father, is the highest possible joy offered throughout our entire lives.

Jesus talked of people abandoning house, lands and family for the higher value of serving God.

“Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold.” Mark 10:29,30

There are many testimonies of people who once knew God and who were lured by this world to chase their personal dreams, instead of living for God. These people may have become famous, or may have trashed their life in their empty pursuits, but a common factor is their return to God and to God’s love at some time.

How wonderful for someone who has been out in the cold, living an empty life chasing elusive dreams, to come home to God’s Love! How wonderful it is when a lost and shivering lamb is found by its shepherd and brought back to the warmth and loving care of the fold. How wonderful when those who have been chasing empty and vain things return to enjoy things that are truly enriching and truly satisfying.

Friends, I don’t know where each of you stands right now, but I urge you, in Jesus’ name, to return to the God Who loves you and Who invites you to enjoy Him as your Heavenly Father.

I invite you and urge you to Return to Love.

Our bodies are very adaptive. We quickly adjust to new things that at first are strange. If you keep repeating the same process you will adjust to it until it becomes a very normal thing.

That explains why you can adjust to things that at first you react to, such as curry, chilli, bitter flavours and so on. The more you eat them the more your body gets used to them. In the end you may be eating a wide range of foods you didn’t like in the smallest dose initially.

New clothes might feel a little strange, but over time they feel familiar. Your ears tend to turn off to sounds constantly going in the background, such as road or machinery noise. We are amazingly adaptive to things that at first seem strange.

At the same time we can also adapt to routines and find ourselves just going through the motions. We develop habits, and some things we do without even thinking.

You may have had the experience of going somewhere familiar and not remembering any of the journey. Your mind was on something else and you travelled by autopilot, doing everything right, unconsciously.

There is nothing wrong with doing the right things unconsciously, except when it is meant to be done purposefully and with heart.

The Israelites were given religious rituals by God. These were things to be done in worship of God. However the hearts of the people often abandoned God, even though they still went through their rituals. The practice of religion became empty to them.

The prophet Isaiah was sent to challenge the people that God had no delight in their religious duties, since the people were corrupt and evil and their religion was meaningless to them.

“What do all your sacrifices mean to me? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened beasts.” Isaiah 1:11

“When you spread out your hands I will hide my eyes from you; and though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” Isaiah 1:15

The same issue is brought up in other places, such as the Psalms.

“To the wicked God says What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.” Psalm 50:16,17

We see here hypocrisy, where the people go through the religious duties, but their heart is set on evil. They make a show of being religious, but their heart is not turned to God.

We might be tempted to excuse these people, by saying they had done the rituals so often over so many years that they forgot what it really stood for. But God is not so generous. Why? Because God sees our heart and that is where He focuses, not on our actions.

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” 2Chronicles 16:9

“I the Lord search the heart, I try the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:10

God has things he wants us to do, like the religious obligations for Israel in the Old Testament. But they are secondary to our heart condition.

So if our actions are ‘empty’, without heart, they are offensive to God.

Consider the people Jesus saw giving money in the Temple. Rich people made a show of putting in large amounts, but a poor widow woman dropped two almost worthless coins into the box.

In human terms the large offering was impressive, since the larger amount could do more things. But Jesus saw the heart of the giver. It was of little consequence for those who were rich to give large amounts. They had plenty left over. The widow woman gave everything she had.

Which one was giving the greater worship to God?

Obviously it was the widow, who put herself at risk to make her offering.

God is not against our religious actions. He wants us to do all the things a worshipper would do. That includes attending church meetings and being with Christians. It includes prayer, fasting and giving. It includes caring for the needy. It includes reading God’s word, the Bible.

Yet for people who have done those things all their life, it is possible to go to church, sing the songs, read the Bible readings, put money in the plate and have lovely chats with people, but have an empty heart toward God. It is possible to do all those things and be bitter, jealous, resentful, selfish, proud, lustful, unforgiving and so on.

One of the religious things people did in old times, when there were problems, was to appear humble, by tearing their clothes and putting ashes on their head. Note what God said about that through the prophet Joel.

“Tear your heart, not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and turns away from evil.” Joel 2:13

Again we see that God is looking at the heart. And He is looking at your heart. So, with all the wonderful things you do that should please the Lord, I challenge you to awaken your heart as you do them.

Open your heart as you hear the preaching, read the Bible and sing the songs. Open your heart as you pray or join in the prayers of others. Give with a willing heart and as an act of worship and trust in God. Talk with and encourage others, as a child of God seeking to bless them. Cleanse your heart of things that are offensive to God. Humbly give Him those things you can’t overcome. Seek help from spiritual leaders to break evil things that seem to be stuck in your life.

Worship God in spirit and in truth, as God wants you to.

“The hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father seeks such to worship Him.” John 4:23

And worship God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

And from this moment on, abandon in your life any and all Empty Rituals.

A lovely treat in our walk with God is the delight we enjoy as God reveals more of Himself and His grace to us. Over the years I have experienced long seasons where things seem fairly static, but then find times when it is as if new lights have been turned on.Press In For MorA lovely treat in our walk with God is the delight we enjoy as God reveals more of Himself and His grace to us. Over the years I have experienced long seasons where things seem fairly static, but then find times when it is as if new lights have been turned on.

It’s always wonderful for me when a fresh wave of God’s anointing, or fresh revelation from God’s Word, or fresh experience of God’s reality impacts me. Everything within me is revitalised at those times.

That is probably why God prompts us in various ways to keep pressing in for more of Him and His Kingdom.

Jesus talked of that, saying that since the arrival of John the Baptist people have pressed in to claim God’s Kingdom. 

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12

The original Koine language can be translated as “the kingdom of heaven is forcibly seized and the positively assertive capture it”.

John declared that the Kingdom was at hand, available to people. Since that time there were people who were determined to get the benefit of accessing God’s Kingdom.

Every time someone came to Jesus, calling on Him to heal them, whether they were a leper or blind, or had a sick relative, or whatever, they were pushing into God’s Kingdom to claim the benefits of God’s power being on hand. So those people are examples of what Jesus was talking about.

All of those who might have said, “Oh, we shouldn’t bother the master. He has more important things to do”, would have missed their miracle, because they didn’t press in for it.

Apostle Paul described himself as one who pressed in for more from God.

“I press on so I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

We see another reflection of pressing on signified in Ezekiel’s vision of the River of God, in Ezekiel 47. An angel showed Ezekiel a river flowing from God’s Temple, and the angel took the prophet into the water at measured distances. At first the water was ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep and finally too deep to stand in.

This signified us being in the River of God and learning to go deeper.

Apostles Paul and Peter, in their letters to the New Testament churches, explained that we are to keep on growing and changing, to become more like Christ.

“We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” 2Corinthians 3:18

“Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2Peter 3:18

Many years ago a lady asked me to pray for her that she would recapture the joy she felt when she first new the Lord. She had become bogged down in issues and frustrations and missed the lovely sense she had enjoyed of being new and being close to God. I prayed with her and she began to smile in delight. I have no idea what my prayer did or how long any effect may have lasted, but I was impressed by her desire to press in for more. She was keen to take the Kingdom by force and make sure she didn’t miss out.

Her prayer was much like that of King David thousands of years ago …

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation” Psalm 51:12

At times I have been in the doldrums, sticking to routine and going about my life, but without any special sense of God’s reality fresh in my life. Then I have met someone who was enjoying fresh encounter with the Lord. That would quickly awaken my hunger for God and I would find myself calling out to God for more, so I too could enjoy what others were enjoying.

Crying out to God is a great way to start a time of spiritual refreshing, because God hears us when we call.

“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

Prayer is included in that calling on God. We are to ask for things in prayer. We are to cry to God for help and rescue. We are to ask in Jesus’ name.

“Truly, surely, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father for in my name, he will give it to you.” John 16:23

Calling to God starts with our own heart cry to want more of God and to be closer to Him. That is a journey in itself, taking us deeper in the things of God.

I think of the ministry of Jackie Pullinger among the drug addicts of Hong Kong. Her team from St Stephen’s Society at times hold public Christian meetings on the streets, to attract addicts. Often an addict, standing on the edge of the group, will be approached and asked if they want to be set free from their addiction. When they indicate they do, they are told to pray to Jesus. Many of them don’t even know who Jesus is, but they are told that if they cry out to Jesus He will help them. That begins the addict’s journey to recovery.

Sometimes, like those addicts, we don’t know to cry out to God, we just know we need something to change. We may have tried every other possible thing, never realising we can press in to God.

When someone prompts us to call out to God we begin a journey into the wonder of salvation and knowing God’s power and love. That journey is indeed a journey, leading us ever deeper into things we otherwise did not know.

But we can pause along the way, and stop pressing in. That’s when things get stale or even go bad for us. That’s when God will try to prompt us to Press in For More of God.

So, in your situation right now, be assured that God has abundantly more of Himself and His love and grace to share with you. He wants you to call out to Him and to claim the reality and power of His Kingdom.

In Jesus’ name, I urge you right now to cry out to God, asking Him to be more real in your life and circumstances, and for you to assertively Press In For More.

Over the years I have at times been unhappy about unwanted interruptions by silly little problems that disrupt what I am doing. It’s wonderful to get uninterrupted time to get on with a project. So when there is a small hitch or something that has to be attended to it can be quite frustrating.

What helped me get past my feelings of annoyance is the realisation that God is in control of things, even to the little details. When something annoying happens it just may be that God, in His infinite wisdom and seeing things from His perspective, knows that the annoyance is a good thing, not bad.

You may well have had the experience where some distraction came up that pulled you away from what you would prefer to be doing. Maybe it pulled you away from something productive, or maybe it pulled you away from some personal entertainment you enjoyed.

At times the distraction alerts you to something you would otherwise have ignored, such as how much time has passed and that you need to be moving onto some other appointment.

You may have to go fossicking in a cupboard for something that is needed, and in there notice things you needed to be aware of – such as being out of something or your cupboard invaded by ants.

So I began to train myself to think of problems and interruptions as things handed to me by God, whether I wanted them or not and whether I could see what good there was in them or not.

What I then realised is that one common outcome from an interruption is exercise. Every time I drop something or have to get out of my chair to go find something I need, I am exercising myself. If I could sit at my desk for hours I might feel quite productive, but there are physical downsides. 

We are told to regularly get up, look out a window, get fresh air, stretch and flex our muscles and so on. When we are focused on our work or interests we are likely to ignore such advice.

God, in His wisdom, might decide to send someone to your front door, getting you up and moving. You can be annoyed at the interruption, especially if it was someone at the wrong address, or you can thank God that He prompted you to get up and move.

What about those times when the thing you need is at the back of some very high cupboard, or very low shelf. You find yourself getting into positions not normal for you, or stretching further than you normally do. That might be just what your muscles or body needs.

I came up with a phrase to remind me that God may well be giving me a problem or two to prompt me to do something good for me. The phrase is “My Problem is My Opportunity”.

Instead of resenting having to get up and leave my workspace, I kept in mind that the problem I suddenly have to solve is an opportunity in some way or another.

As I’ve mentioned, one opportunity is to get up and active. The saying goes “Use it or Lose it”, to remind us that if we don’t use our muscles and faculties they can tend to shut down.

However, there is a richer scope of ‘Opportunity’ as well. Some annoyances and problems don’t require you to get up and active. They may be annoyances with your spouse and family. They may be hurts and offences that come from people criticising you or misunderstanding you. Those problems are also opportunities.

Just as I have to keep using my physical faculties I also have to keep using my inner faculties as well. I have to keep doing the things God asks of me, such as living by faith, forgiving offenders, loving my enemies and so on.

I can be as lazy about spiritual challenges as I can be with my body. So God may well send me an annoyance that challenges my internal responses. In those situations “My Problem is my Opportunity!”

How long has it been since you practiced forgiving someone who offended you? It may have been a long time. So, God in His infinite wisdom can send along someone who treads all over your toes, so to speak. They can offend and insult you or otherwise annoy you. And that specially assigned Problem is sent to you by God to be your Opportunity.

What about your faith? Do you regularly press in to God for things that don’t look like they are going to work out? If you have a lazy faith muscle God can send you a divinely created Problem as your specially crafted Opportunity. Maybe God can send you a financial need, or a health scare, or a threat to your comfort and circumstances.

How wonderful of God to care enough for us to send along these lovely Problems!

Or do you resent such things? Your Problem is Your Opportunity. It is God’s doorway into greater grace and greater faith. It is God’s prompt for you to keep fresh your walk with Him. It is God’s gift of a way to “live by faith”.

“The righteous will live by their faith” Romans 1:17

It is God’s gift of an opportunity to forgive a few more times, heading toward the seventy times seven.

“Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21,22

We each have a range of spiritual challenges. Children are to obey parents, husbands are to love their wife, wives are to submit to their husband, employees are to work for their boss as if working for the Lord, and so on. Most of us find some ‘problem’ with following Christ’s instructions at some time or other.

When you face such a ‘problem’ situation, I urge you not to be resentful, but to realise that God may be using this very situation to test and school your heart. So from now on start to see that Your Problems are Your Opportunities.