Archives for November 2020

A question arises among Christians about how dependent we should be on God. One saying goes, “God helps those who help themselves.” Others suggest we are to do all we can before we call for God’s help. Yet others suggest we should abandon ourselves on God. Many feel as if God’s help is only theoretical, so they have to live by their wits, without expecting anything from God.

What does the Bible show us about how we rely on God?

One metaphor is that of God and Jesus as our Shepherd and us as God’s sheep.

“Recognise it is the Lord who is God. It is he who made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3

“The Lord is my shepherd” Psalm 23:1

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11

Consider the difference in capacity and standing between a sheep and the shepherd. They are vastly different. Consider the sheep deciding to get rid of their shepherd and run the flock based on a committee of the smartest sheep. Is that even remotely possible?

The shepherd is so vastly superior to the sheep that it will never be possible for sheep to displace the shepherd. The shepherd understands things and takes responsibility for things far outside the understanding of the sheep.

The best any sheep can do is be under a good shepherd and totally trust the shepherd. If the sheep were to go it alone there would be no hope of protection or provision.

The sheep have to trust their shepherd, even when he leads them along a dry and rocky path. The shepherd knows where that path leads but all the sheep know is that they don’t like walking that way. The sheep have to get up from lying on green grass and follow the shepherd, even though they would rather stay and enjoy that lovely place. The shepherd knows how close it is to dark and how long it will take to get back to the sheep fold.

If the sheep were left in charge they would end up scattered and lost, in danger, or hungry. Sheep are basically helpless.

With that metaphor in mind, how are we to relate to God? Do we take charge of things and only call on God when things don’t go as we planned? Do we imagine that God is not there and just get on with life the best we can? Do we stop and analyse everything we think God might be saying and use our own wisdom to plan our way? Do we form a committee and take the majority opinion?

Or do we become Wonderfully Helpless?

Another metaphor for our relationship with God is that of God as our Father. This brings to mind the dependence of a child on their Daddy.

I recall when I was probably four years old getting my boot stuck in mud. I was close enough to home to see my dad working in the front yard, but far enough that my voice could barely carry to him. I called out to him repeatedly until he looked up, saw me and came walking down the dirt track to lift me out of the mud.

As a child we don’t have to understand family economics, or how to plan a holiday, or how to manage food in the cupboard, or anything else. We do as we are told and our parents worry about a host of things we might not understand until we have a family of our own.

Children are Wonderfully Helpless.

Of course, they don’t stay that way. Parents train children to take more and more responsibility and be increasingly aware of their world and how to manage themselves within that world. Yet the parents are there to oversee things, especially in each new level of learning and growth.

With the metaphor of Father and Child in mind, how are we to relate to God? Do we take charge of things and only call on God when things don’t go as we planned? Do we imagine that God is not there and just get on with life the best we can? Do we stop and analyse everything we think God might be saying and use our own wisdom to plan our way? Do we form a committee of our siblings and take the majority opinion?

Sadly, in some dysfunctional homes, children have to become the effective parents, caring for themselves and others, because the parents are absent, lost in their drugged state, or otherwise not effective.

In God’s family our Heavenly Father understands things far beyond what we could ever know. He is as far above His children as a Shepherd is above the sheep. No human understanding can possibly displace the knowing and wisdom of God.

So, once again the best place for us to be is that of being Wonderfully Helpless.

Whatever we do in our own wisdom and strength, working things out as best they suit us, and analysing things the best way we can, will be like a sheep looking around and trying to make a wise decision for the flock, or a young child trying to plan things for the family.

How, then, do we practice being Wonderfully Helpless? The first step is to commit ourself to looking to God and relying on Him. Tell God that you want to be led by Him, and cared for by Him like a lamb or young child. Repent of trying to run your own life you own way and call on God to forgive you, to teach you and to lead you into total dependence on Him.

Then keep asking God to speak to you, by impressions and promptings, but also through understanding God’s ways from the Bible.

Pay particular attention to things that take away your peace. Let God’s peace in your heart be a compass to move you forward or stop your steps.

And then practice relying on God, being led by Him and going His ways. This is quite a journey, and people have various experiences of knowing God’s guidance in their lives. In all of it I urge you to seek to be and to enjoy being Wonderfully Helpless.

I have met many people who told me of their lifelong heart toward God. Many people, as young children, felt a love for God and a desire to know Him. Others talk of the childhood experience of looking into at starry sky or at the ocean and knowing that a Creator made these things and that they want to be close to that Creator.

Of course, there are others who seem to have no inclination toward God and who resent the idea of having to give honour to God.

When the final reckoning is made the great divide will separate those whose heart is to follow God, like sheep, and those who resist and resent God, like goats.

“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats.” Matthew 25:32

Those who love and seek God are delighted when God is near. Those who resist and resent God react to God’s presence.

There are vocal atheists who proclaim the world will be better without belief in God. Many of those actively campaign against the Bible and faith in God. It is a passion they devote time and energy to.

Yet there are others who are less vocal, but who persist in wanting to do their own thing their own way, without God’s interference.

My attention here, however, is on those tender hearted ones whose heart is open to God, and who are hungry for God. The response of such people is to be delighted when they can approach God and find Him.

The example that comes to mind is that of the Disciple Thomas. He had been with Jesus and seen many miracles and heard Jesus’ teaching. Yet when Jesus was crucified Thomas lost heart and could not believe Jesus would rise from the dead.

Jesus did rise and met with the other disciples, but Thomas was absent. When the others told Thomas they had seen the Lord, Thomas was unconvinced.

“Thomas, the twin, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. The disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. But he replied, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” John 20:24,25

Eight days later Jesus again appeared to His disciples and this time Thomas was with them.

“Then Jesus said to Thomas, Put forth your finger and behold my hands; and reach out your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” John 20:27

We refer to Thomas as ‘Doubting Thomas’ because he did not believe the other disciples. But we get a glimpse into his heart when he responds to seeing Jesus. Thomas is confronted with evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead and he quickly welcomes this wonderful revelation.

“Thomas replied, My Lord and my God!” John 20:28

It is a wonderful thing to discover God. And it’s a wonderful thing to sense that we know Him. Those who tell me of their childhood sense of loving God often tell of the great comfort and sweetness they found in feeling close to God.

Then in the lives of others who find faith later in life there is the repeated note of how wonderful it is to connect with God.

That connection truly is amazing. We, mere humans, with all our messes, failures and weaknesses, get adopted into God’s family and are brought close to God. We are made clean and brought to life on the inside. We are in relationship with God and Christ. God’s Holy Spirit comes to us and lives within us.

For all those who love God and have an open heart toward Him those things are delightful. To those who wish to live without God in their life each of those things is unwanted.

Some, like me as I grew up, have a mixed heart. I went to church and knew about God, and I would rather go to heaven than to hell, but I didn’t really want God to be the main focus of my life. I thought having God around might spoil my enjoyment of life and make me live a life I wouldn’t like. So I tried to keep in good with God on one hand, and keep God at a distance on the other. I wanted the best of what God offered, but I wanted the best this life offered as well.

I remember often feeling like I was a completely unworthy Christian. The idea was that if there were not enough seats on the bus to heaven I would be asked to step off the bus, because I wasn’t a very good Christian.

What transformed my walk with God was the discovery in my teenage years that God actually loved me and wants the best for me. And that I can encounter God and enjoy His power and truth at work in my life. The Charismatic Revival days showed us that God answers prayer, rescues His people, gives amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit to people, works miracles and speaks personally into our lives.

When I met God in that context I realised that following God is not a matter of religion and restriction, but of a vital, living relationship with the most powerful entity in eternity. The delight which opened to me drew me to God and led me to abandon more and more of my fearful and selfish ways, to enjoy God in this life and for eternity.

Now I have no problem coming to God as My Lord and My God.

So, for you, whether you always had a heart after God, or didn’t have God in your thinking, or were religious, or even a God resister, let me assure you that God loves you and your greatest delight is to know Him.

I urge you to open your heart to God, and, like one of the sheep in His flock, receive God and Jesus, saying My Lord and My God.

Christians talk of the ‘Gospel’ as the message about Jesus Christ and how we can be saved from our sins through Him. We talk of a Gospel Meeting, preaching the Gospel, a Gospel Choir, and so on.

The original word for Gospel means ‘good news’. And the news about eternal salvation through Christ is very good news.

A perennial challenge in Christianity is distortion or change to the Gospel message. This even happened in New Testament times. The Apostle Paul warned about people preaching ‘another gospel’.

“I marvel at how quickly you are turning away from the one who called you by the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not even good news. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” Galatians 1:6,7

One perversion of the gospel is the idea that people need to put their faith in Christ AND do something else. ‘Christ AND …’ is a common idea, even though people don’t say it that way. What you will hear is comment that a Christian needs to do this or that to remain a Christian. This might be to attend church regularly, pray, read the Bible, get baptised,  be circumcised, dress the right way, believe a particular set of beliefs and so on.

This is a perverted gospel because it suggests that Christ has not done enough through His death and resurrection, or that we save ourselves by adding to what Christ did.

The true Gospel message is that Christ has done it all for us and our part is to put faith in Christ. That transformation saves us from our sins and makes us God’s child. From that starting point we simply live with Jesus as Lord and with faith in God. All the ‘Christian’ things others demand that we do are just living out our faith, not part of the ‘gospel’.

Another serious perversion of the Gospel is to make it a Gospel of Salvation rather than the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Let me explain.

The Gospel that Jesus preached was the Gospel of the Kingdom.

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.” Matthew 9:35

“After that John was imprisoned Jesus entered Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” Mark 1:14

Jesus declared He was sent by God to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.

“Jesus told them, I must preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to other towns as well, for that is why I was sent.” Luke 4:43

The Apostles preached that same gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom.

“Paul remained two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ with boldness and freedom.” Acts 28:31

The Gospel of the Kingdom is to be preached right up until the end of time.

“This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

So it is clear that the good news is about God’s Kingdom, not about us getting a ticket out of hell, or getting to live a wonderfully blessed life, or anything else that is self-focused.

Jesus brought the Kingdom of God, which includes wonderful blessings for those who enter the Kingdom. But the good news is about the Kingdom, not about us.

Today there is much emphasis on the gospel as a good deal, offered as if by some marketing company. “You’d be foolish to miss out on the blessings Jesus offers.” “Make your life better by giving all your burdens to God.”

With that focus people are inclined to come to God to get from Him, rather than to enter into His Kingdom and His service. Salvation, forgiveness, healing, adoption into God’s family, peace, joy and love are all wonderful blessings. However they are the results of entering God’s Kingdom.

In God’s Kingdom God is King. God’s power and love overcome sin and satan and give us new life. In God’s Kingdom we live for eternity with complete freedom from the kingdom of darkness.

We don’t go to God’s Kingdom to buy something to take with us back into the the world or into the dark kingdom. We leave the world, satan’s realm and our sin and enter the Kingdom of God. We have a complete change of citizenship. We are no longer of this world, but of the Kingdom.

Sadly, many Christians want the best of God’s Kingdom, as an extension on their self-centred life in the world. They want a gospel that promises them great blessing, but they also want freedom to do their own thing and go their own way.

That is a perversion of the gospel. The true good news is that when we escape into God’s Kingdom we are free from sin, satan, eternal judgment, shame, defeat and so on. But it’s not something we can buy to enhance our life. It involves us choosing the Kingdom of God and living forever in that Kingdom, with Jesus as Lord and with active faith in God.

Friends, I invite you to confirm with God that you receive the good news of God’s wonderful Kingdom and that you enter it by faith in Christ. Recognise that you have become a new kind of citizen and that your life is now all about God’s Kingdom, not about you and what you want in life. God’s Kingdom will carry you into eternal blessings.

Commit yourself today to the true gospel Christ preached – the Gospel of the Kingdom.

We don’t like being put in situations out of our control. However, in life, we are often confronted by times when others have control, or circumstances are out of our control.

If we are fatalistic or feel powerless, we will let ourselves be swept along, hopeful things turn out alright. If we are determined to be in control we will strive and manipulate to protect ourselves and steer the course, however possible.

If we are resentful we will be angry at others, or jealous, or full of self-pity.

Since, as Christians, we are to ‘live by faith’ each of those situations where things are out of our control is the perfect place to establish our reliance on God and trust in Him.

A friend used the phrase quite a few years ago that those moments when we are powerless are Where Faith Begins.

If we are in control, there is no need for faith. If we have our own insurance processes or contingencies, then there is no need for faith. If we are happy to let happen whatever happens, then there is no need for faith.

But if we claim God’s promises, and are confident God will come through for us, our Faith is activated.

Faith is silent and unseen, so maybe it would be helpful to imagine something more obvious. Imagine faith as a chainsaw in your hand. You carry it around, slung over your back, but never used. When you come across a fallen tree you can clamber over the thing, or work your way around it, or give up your journey altogether. Or you can pull the chainsaw off your back, prime it and start it.

At that moment there is a huge racket as the chainsaw kicks into life. With that machine in hand you look at the fallen tree quite differently. Suddenly you are not powerless or a victim of circumstance. Now you can tackle the problem with real power.

So it is with our faith. We all have faith, but we may often leave it slung over our back, unused. When we face a problem we might choose to struggle over it, or to try to work around it. Or we might even give up and look for something else to do or somewhere else to go.

However, take our faith in our hands, prime it and kick it into life, we can look at the problem or situation with completely different eyes. We don’t have to give up, or struggle. We don’t have to lose time figuring out a way around the problem. We can tackle the problem with the power-tool of faith.

We recognise from the Bible that faith can be in different measures. Jesus scolded His disciples saying they were or small faith.

“Jesus said to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea causing a great calm.” Matthew 8:26

So people have different sized faith. That would be like people having different sized chainsaws. Those with the bigger chainsaw can tacking a tree differently to those who can only trim the twigs.

So too with our faith. Those who are strong in faith can take on giant issues, while those with baby faith are more limited. But in either case, the power tool of faith is on hand. And our faith will grow as we use it and are encouraged that God answers prayer and comes through for us.

A person learning to use a chainsaw looks at a tree with delight. At first they might not be so wise about what to cut and how to cut it, but the feeling of power and the delight in seeing results is there nonetheless. When they hear of a fallen tree needing to be dealt with they are keen to grab their chainsaw and get to work.

If there is need to cut a path for others through some dense timber they look forward to succeeding at the task.

So it is with us as we build our faith. We don’t see problems as things to run away from, but things to tackle. We feel confident about our ability to employ faith to engage the work of God on the problem. We are happy to tackle problems for others as well, since we know we have the capacity to help them.

Our entire outlook on problems and challenges is changed, once we know we have the power to tackle them effectively.

So let’s go back to the problems you confront. If you have normally tackled them with your own strength, or just put up with them, or worked around them, or walked away from them, let me remind you that you are missing out on engaging your faith.

Those problems are Where Faith Begins. They are God’s gift to prompt you to learn how to look to Him, stand on His promises, believe God’s Word, trust God for the outcome and see God come through for you.

Maybe you could even face a problem that is confronting you right now, and then, using your imagination, see yourself pulling your faith chainsaw off your back and kicking it into action. See yourself looking at your problem with all the power and wonder of God’s promises and God’s grace in your hands. Now, how does that problem look?

Tackling issues from a faith perspective is the way you are meant to live every day.

So rejoice in all those things that are out of your control, knowing that each one of them is Where Faith Begins.

Do you get unsettled when your routine is disrupted? I am a creature of habit and I love it when everything goes to plan. But when unexpected interruptions mess up my day it can take quite a bit of effort to get things back in order again.

I guess I am Addicted to Order. I like things to be convenient and to work out neatly. I can cope with some disruption and delay, as long as the overall order of things remains fairly stable and predictable.

I wonder how I would cope in those times of disaster, invasion or other huge disruption to life.

When things go pear-shaped in my world my first, human inclination is to be alarmed and frustrated. I can fairly easily become tense about how things might work out and how I will get needed things done.

I have been in places where unexpected road closures or transport delays, power outages,  staff absence due to accident or illness, or similar disruptions occurred. I know from watching others that I am not the only one to get rattled by those things.

Once I’ve become unsettled I quickly realise I’m not supposed to be like that. I have to remind myself that God has everything under control and that this is not the end of the world. It might be the end of my plans for the day, but what are those plans in the great scheme of things? If I had taken ill for a week those plans would have been abandoned anyway. Yet the world would keep turning and people would adjust to the disruption.

When things are disrupted permanently everyone manages to adjust and find their work-around, and life goes on. That’s a Biblical insight. The sun comes up each day and seasons come and go as normal.

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” Genesis 8:22

Our comfort zone is that set of routines we are accustomed to. We like to stick within those bounds and we feel fine while we do. If we are dragged out of predictable patterns we feel uncomfortable and, for some, quite distressed. As soon as we can we claw our way back to the routines and comfortable things we prefer.

This reveals we’ve become Addicted to Order and comfort and predictability.

However, our ordered world can be a prison of its own. It can keep us from exploring new things and discovering whole realms of experience and joy otherwise shut out of our life.

I recall the first time I visited someone in a mental institution. I had only ever heard stories of such places and I didn’t know what to expect. However I had been asked to check up on someone and couldn’t get out of it. By being forced out of my comfort zone I realised that visiting such places was not as I expected.

Similarly I was quite uncomfortable on my first visit to prison. In time I was not only comfortable in that setting but could assist and relate to those I met there.

I recall as a teenager being urged to do outreach to migrants. A small group of us would go to migrant villages and invite people to join us for food, singing and a Christian movie. This was way outside my idea of a good time. I don’t think I ever really enjoyed it, but doing that expanded my world.

As I stepped out from time to time to put myself in new places and situations I gradually grew a larger comfort zone. I found that God is with me in all the various places and challenges. The people I meet, whether foreigners, or from a different faith, or criminals, or of any age, are still humans who face much the same thoughts and experiences I know. They have the same needs and they need Jesus and God’s love as much as anyone else.

I dread to think how small my world would be if I had stuck to the order of things I was addicted to. Thankfully marriage and family, life experience, taking on new responsibilities, travel, new situations and challenges, relating widely to all kinds of people, and similar experiences expanded my world.

Those experiences also humbled me, showing me I didn’t know as much as I thought, and wasn’t as capable as I would like to have been. I met people who far outperformed me in areas where I thought I was pretty good. I met people who needed and appreciated me, despite my limitations. I sampled foods, culture, sights and friendships far beyond the limited world I once knew.

I have also seen God work in wonderful and varied ways and met people whose encounter with God has inspired and challenged me. I have faced failures and defeats, which are things I carefully avoided, and I learned from those experiences.

I learned to put legs on my faith, and to see how God’s Word and His promises play out in real life. I learned how to understand and help people better, and how to be humble enough to recognise I was way out of my depth. I learned how to give honour to those who deserve my respect, or who endured and lived out things I have never risen to.

I also learned how to put aside my comfort zone. I have slept in grass huts, dined on strange rations, traversed some pretty rough country, met some weird characters, put up with smells and indignities we would normally avoid, and had to accept whatever was offered.

After all that I can’t be sure I’m not at heart still quite Addicted to Order, routine, comfort and predictability. But I have also learned to find God’s grace when all that is disrupted. I might even have a small pity-party first, feeling sorry about the disruption, but I then get my act together and look to God to see what He is doing in all the mess.

So, let me encourage you to step out of your ordered world and discover the amazing things God wants to connect you to. Maybe you could get out to a Christian meeting or hear a new speaker, or volunteer to assist an outreach, or join a team doing good somewhere. Maybe you could invite someone home for a meal, or just stop and chat with a stranger at church and make them feel comfortable.

As you open your heart to God, and open your world to the people and challenges God sends along, your whole world is ready for some exciting upgrades.

And, while we all like things the way we like them, I urge you to ask God to help you be no longer Addicted to Order.