Archives for January 2021

Do you have ‘reputation’ issues? Some people are very touchy about how they are perceived by others. Are you one of them?

We all like to be thought well of, so our culture gives attention to such things as First Impressions, keeping up with fashion, avoiding gaffs and embarrassments, upgrading our technology, keeping up appearances, and looking good in the eyes of others.

For some people this is an obsession. I know people who are so concerned about what people think of them they almost make a scene trying to paint over any bad perceptions given.

It is with that common human worship of ‘reputation’ that the action of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, stands out as amazing.

We are specifically told that Jesus made Himself of ‘No Reputation’.

“Jesus made himself of no reputation, and took on himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7

Note that Jesus chose to abandon reputation when He came to earth. He disowned all idea of having to make good impressions, win people over, defend His identity and reputation, keep up appearances or answer His critics.

This gave Jesus wonderful freedom from control by others.

Have you noticed that people who feel the need to defend their reputation can easily be manipulated by those who falsely accuse them, mock them or otherwise slur their identity. This is not uncommon among children. One will taunt another, and the child taunted will feel compelled to respond. “You’re silly.” “No I’m not!” “Yes you are!” “No I’m not!” “Yes, you are!” It’s a dead-end fool’s game, empty of all meaning, yet it pulls people in to a desperate fight over reputation.

Such reputation is anchored in pride and links to the World’s deadly evil called the ‘Pride of Life’.

“All that is in the world: the lust of the flesh; lust of the eyes; and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1John 2:16

Pride is a fool’s trap, dragging people into the vain pursuit of reputation that holds no value. Consider what would happen if you were blessed of God and yet the whole world thought you were a loser. What is the power of the world’s combined scorn, compared to the blessing of God? It is zero. It counts for nothing.

If you are applying for a job, needing someone’s trust, or trying to build a friendship then a bad reputation is harmful, but most of the concern people have about reputation is outside those arenas, and focused just on their personal pride.

There will be multitudes of people who don’t like you, for a variety of reasons. That doesn’t mean they should, but they will, based on their own set of prejudices and dislikes. Some people hate anyone who is happy, since they aren’t. Or those who have a comfortable life, because they don’t. Or those who are male, or female, young, or old, and so on. So get used the idea that someone somewhere will likely despise you, before they know much about you at all.

Your place in life is not to win the adoration of the world, but to serve God. Your reputation may well get in the way of you being who God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to do.

Jesus faced exactly that. Jesus preexisted as God, from before creation. Yet at a point in human history God took on human form and became one of us, in order to pay for our sins. That in itself is an amazing step of humility. Jesus put aside all that made Him God, in order to live with all the limitations of humanity, to then die a barbarous death to save us.

Jesus is God and stands alongside the Father and the Holy Spirit, equal in reputation, authority and power.

“Jesus, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” Philippians 2:6

Yet Jesus laid aside His standing as God and gave up His reputation, becoming a human.

“Jesus made himself of no reputation, and took on himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7

The Devil taunted Jesus, mocking His limited state as a mere human.

“The tempter came to him and said, If you be the Son of God tell these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:3

“If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here.” Luke 4:9

And the religious leaders similarly mocked and taunted Jesus.

“Come down from the cross, if you are the son of God.” Matthew 27:40

Jesus was not on earth to impress anyone. He had a crucial task to fulfil, and it had nothing to do with responding to taunts from the devil or those who would not believe in Him.

So, what about you? Are you living for God and getting about His will for your life? Are you able to do what God asks and be who God wants you to be, without care for what people think of you?

Preacher John Wimber recounted a time when he saw a man on the street wearing a sandwich board sign that read, “I’m a Fool for Jesus! Whose fool are you?” That challenged him about his own ideas and values.

Are there things you have refused to do because of what people would think of you? Are there things you still refuse to do, for fear of public opinion or criticism from your friends?

Imagine being the kind of person who can do what is right and stand up for what God wants stood for, without fear or favour. Imagine being a real person, not a cringing compromiser who is easily intimidated by the opinions of others.

Imagine giving your reputation to God and being free to do whatever God asks with complete freedom from any thought of what others might say or think. Imagine being able to meet people others don’t approve of, go places others wouldn’t go, give, serve, care, help and bless, with complete freedom to be yourself.

That’s who Jesus was on earth. And that’s who you are meant to be in your life too.

So may you embrace the call to humility and pass to the Lord all those things that would otherwise entangle you. And may you get on with the glorious life God calls you to, blessed that you have No Reputation.

Do you identify with some group or person? Maybe you have a favourite sporting team or player. Maybe you have a favourite music group or performer. Maybe you have your regular church connections or a preacher you particularly like. What about actors and movie characters?

Of course you have a family you identify with, and your nationality. You have your age group and peers that you most likely identify with.

In practice you probably have a very wide set of things you identify with. And one way to be aware of it is to meet people you don’t identify with. When you meet people who dress and look different, speak a different language (or sub-culture slang), or who have vastly different economic circumstances or significance to you, you likely feel you are not ‘one of them’, and they are not the same as you.

The same is true with religion. Christians don’t identify with Hindu gods or Islamic beliefs, in the same way secular people don’t identify with any religion. And Christians tend to identify with a particular style of worship and preferred approach to faith, such as being traditional, or contemporary.

The Bible signals some important moments of identification that we need to ensure are part of our life. Most important is that we identify with Jesus Christ.

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

“Everyone who confesses me before men is one I will confess before my father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32

“Whoever denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” Luke 12:9

That’s very serious stuff. It is important that we establish and live out our identification with Christ. In fact, that identification runs very deep in our life, full of spiritual significance.

At the superficial level identification is a personal, internal experience of pain or celebration. We see that in sport. In a football game I recently saw on TV the ball had to be kicked from an awkward angle by a player who had been exhausting himself up and down the field for the whole match. The packed stadium poised in anxious anticipation as the ball took flight and curved its way, finally, between the markers to provide the winning points.

Team supporters erupted in jubilation. You would have thought they had kicked that goal. What caught my eye was the sheer delight among a bunch of supporters who were overweight, unfit and looked like they’d never played sport in their lives. They probably couldn’t run to catch a bus, but they celebrated as if they, personally, had kicked that impressive goal.

That’s ‘Identification’! That’s the internal, personal, vicarious experience of living our life through identification with the work of others.

In times of war, news of a defeat by our troops is felt as a loss by all our fellows. News of a resounding victory made people feel proud and hopeful. Yet the people rejoicing could be thousands of miles away from the battle.

That’s ‘Identification’!

What makes that form of identification so powerful is that we feel as if our champions, or our chosen representatives, have performed on our behalf. They have won for us, or their loss is ours.

That’s how it is with Christ. His victory over sin and death is our victory too! His defeat of satan is ours. His triumph over the arrayed forces of the earth is ours. So when we make Jesus our Lord and Saviour we not only get the good feeling of identification, we actually enjoy the fruit of Christ’s finished work on the Cross. We get to take part in His resurrection.

In human experience we can choose to identify with a person, performer, team or group, without those parties ever knowing. Our identification is only our own personal dream. It is alive in our head, but may never be known by anyone else. Or we may become a ‘supporter’ or join a ‘fan’ group, but our level of connection is quite tenuous.

In Christ our Identification is spiritually powerful, because Christ, God and the devil know our choice. If we confess Christ we don’t only identify with Him, we experience the power of all Christ has accomplished. If we confess Christ before men then we are confessed before God.

Identification with Christ goes way beyond all the exciting connections we can claim on earth.

Identification with Christ is not just personal and internal, or a thing of our mind, but it is a real process of connecting us with Christ in a tangible way. The Apostle Paul talked of us being ‘baptised into Christ Jesus’ and of us being partakers, or fellow sharers in Christ’s victories.

“All of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:27

“Do you not know that as many of us as have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death?” Romans 6:3

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20,21

“We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” Hebrews 3:14

We are not just a fan of Jesus, cheering from our armchairs, or admiring our bunch of memorabilia. We actually experience Christ in our lives, in forgiveness of sins, adoption into God’s family, being filled with God’s Spirit, receiving eternal life, having Christ’s authority over sin, death and the devil, and alive in God’s Kingdom.

So, among all the other things you identify with in life, from your family, culture, interests, background, and so on, realise that you must identify with Christ. Not just as an enthusiast, or one who respects what Jesus did 2,000 years ago, but as one who joins with Christ, through faith. Your identification is referred to in the Bible as being ‘In Christ’, so it’s far more than just being a supporter.

Be born again by the Spirit of God as you put your faith in Christ. Be forgiven and transformed, stepping into God’s Kingdom and God’s family. Live for Christ and in the power of Christ. And, all your days, continue celebrating and exploring the wonder of your connection with God through Christ and the profound power of that Identification.

An old man shuffled past me the other day, struggling to make his legs keep going. He was probably only in his 80’s and now faced existing with limited mobility. Youngsters walking past would have just put him in the category of ‘old man’, but he was much more than that.

He had once raced against other children, played sport in his youth and had strength to play with his children. He had been a student, then a wage earner, a husband and father, successful man in several fields, and honoured with grandchildren and respect for his achievements.

Yet each of those situations was remarkably temporary. He did not stay in the schoolyard, racing his buddies, nor in the classroom, or on honeymoon, or as a young dad, or as any of those other stages along the way.

When he had his wonderful new car, that joy passed soon enough and the car was in time passed up for something newer. The big house needed for the growing family was soon enough a bit on the big side and plans made to downsize.

Those great moments of the past, when he had the newest or the latest or the best, don’t seem impressive against the current array of latest and greatest or cutting edge popular items.

The holidays ended and routine was returned to. The targets reached were replaced by new targets for the new year. The investments made became a step toward yet more things to chase. The girl of his dreams became the woman in his life, then the one he struggled with at times, and is now the old grandmother tagging along beside him.

I don’t recount the passing of life’s seasons to depress you, but to impress you with the amazing wonder God offers in things that are ‘eternal’.

This world offers us only a sequence of temporary moments. They may be good or bad, but they will all be transient. Your mind and body won’t stay the same. Your situations will change, and so will you health and finances, friends and environment.

God offers you eternal blessings that will never grow old or tired, stale or out of fashion. God offers you Eternal Blessings that continue to be new and fresh moment by moment, filling you with the wonders of God’s very existence to ignite and bless everything you are.

One of my sons recently completed a decade of ministry in a country church and moved to a new challenge in a city congregation. The farewell was tinged with sadness and also expectancy. The family’s decade at that church would never be forgotten, but it did come to an end. His family then changed location, schools, church, home and community pace and culture (from country to city).

Yet in that move some things did not change. They did not change name, family or relationships. Those things are a little more permanent. And they did not change their standing with God as God’s children, serving and worshipping their eternal creator.

They took with them the presence of God, the power of the blood of Jesus, their standing as God’s children, the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and their eternal blessings waiting for them.

In all of the transience of your life, you can have amazing continuity and wonderful unchangeable things, anchored in Who God is and what He is doing in your life. You can change location and your entire social connections, and still be embraced in your eternal, unchanging relationship with God. You can go from wealth to poverty or rags to riches, and yet find that your values, peace, confidence in the future, purpose in life and many other things remain unchanged. They are anchored in an unchanging God and your life in His presence.

The apostle Paul knew how to be abased and to abound. He was feted as a welcome guest and beaten as a criminal. He was loved and hated. He knew a huge breadth of the changeable circumstances of life, yet He remained faithful and consistent, because the One on whom he relied, the God he served, was unchangeable.

What’s more, God and God’s purposes are so much higher and more significant than life’s transient experiences that they are impervious to the changes in daily circumstances. God is eternal and He gives you Eternal Blessings, and those things are so much more real and powerful they are in full force no matter what continent you are on, or how old you are, or whether you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate.

God’s transcendence is so overwhelming that every changeable thing in our lives is of no consequence compared to God’s reality, presence and Eternal Blessings.

So friends, in a changing world, be sure to immerse yourself in relationship with the One who is not only unchangeable, but more significant than all of creation put together. Walk closely with God and live for Him, enjoying all that is unchangeable in your ever changing world. And may you constantly be filled with Eternal Blessings.

Can you believe that people think they know better than God does? It’s quite an amazing idea that people should trust their own ideas and reject what God says. It’s like a patient telling a medical specialist that the specialist can’t possibly know better than the patient.

Mind you, that kind of arrogance is quite common at times. Many a mechanic has been told what problem to look for in a car when the issue was something quite different. Maybe it’s part of our make-up to think we are experts on things and can figure them out.

When it comes to God and what God knows and what God says, it is common for people to reserve the right to decide whether God is right or not.

You might hear people say, “I don’t think that Bible truth applies in this case!” Or, “I don’t think a religious approach is appropriate.”

Wisdom from God is seen by many as just one of a range of ideas we can draw from. We might compare it or mix it with the latest pop psychology, or what we have observed in life, or what some supposed expert has said. By taking that approach we ignore the idea that God Knows Best. Instead we insult God and His wisdom, as just another thing to put in the mix.

Church attenders can be as bad as others at ignoring God. I am often amazed at how many Christians will live quite contrary to what God requires, without giving it a thought. Instead of humility, we see pride. Instead of repentance, we see people claiming right to do whatever they are doing. Instead of forgiveness, we see retribution demanded. Instead of yielding to God, we see people living independent, self-focused lives. Instead of loving God’s word, we see people who love entertainment or diversion. Instead of loving fellow Christians, we see people who close their heart and their world to those around them.

In these and a multitude of other ways we see Christians living as if God does not know best, but they know what is best for themselves.

So let’s stop and consider the fact that God Knows Best. God designed us and designed our world and created our purpose for existence, so, quite obviously, God does know far more about us and and what is good for us than we will ever know.

God also exists in the spirit realm, so He sees and understands things that are beyond our natural world and thus outside our comprehension. And God lives outside of time, so He knows the future and the past, while we are limited to what we can make of the present and what we remember of the past.

God also understands you better than you will every know yourself. He knows what is good for you and what is bad for you, while you only have your own ideas of those things. My mother once took a photo of me as a tiny infant, sitting in the chicken yard. My mother told me I would sit there and eat chicken droppings. On another occasion, when I was too young to remember, I drank kerosine and had to have my stomach pumped out. On those occasions I obviously thought consuming those things was a good idea.

Those things you feel keen to pursue and consume in your life may be about the same as chicken manure when seen from God’s perspective. If you think you know best you will persist in things that are not good for you and ignore advice that could really help you.

Another problem we have with what God knows is that it so vastly above what we know that we can think it is irrelevant, or inapplicable.

“To the degree that the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

A child might think about their choice of things to do based on what is ‘fun’. That’s their level of thinking. A parent or carer will think about what is ‘safe’ and what is good exercise, and what is good for developing cooperative skills in playing with others. Those thoughts are beyond the understanding of the child.

If an adult challenges a child to change what they are doing the child might well respond, “But this is Fun!” They revert to their preferred grid of reference.

You too will revert to the grid that makes sense for you, even if your understanding is very limited. Sadly, you will hold to your limited view of the world and what is good or bad, despite the wisdom you need.

We all have preferred focus in life, and we make choices to serve our self-will. If a person has chosen to be lazy, for example, they will find excuses to allow them to avoid doing things.

“The lazy man is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can give good reason.” Proverbs 26:16

So, you are likely locked in to a whole bunch of ways you want to stick with. When God speaks into your life you may well think His ideas don’t make any sense in your world. The truth is more likely that you live in a grid of reference that ignores things you really should comprehend.

The bottom line, however, is a matter of faith, since faith is the basis of our relationship with God. When a child trusts their parent they will do what they are instructed to do, without demanding an explanation, confident that the parent’s advice is right, even if they don’t like it or understand it.

If we had full faith in God we would carefully look into God’s Word and apply what God is saying, even when we don’t understand it, living by His guidance and values, despite our ignorance and that we would never in our own choice have gone that way.

Every time you think you know better than God you are acting in pride, and you are insulting God. What’s more, you lock yourself into your small world values, and miss the wisdom, blessing and protection God designed you for. And you are abandoning faith, not living by faith, but by your own mind and will.

I challenge you to open your heart to God and to His Word and to stop ignoring it, filtering it, mixing it with worldly ideas, or picking and choosing what you will accept. I challenge you to step into the larger world of grace and blessing God has for you, by you humbling yourself, trusting God, and obeying Him, because you have decided, God Knows Best.

There is a wonderful Bible verse celebrating our freedom from all condemnation.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

Many people carry feelings of guilt, shame and condemnation and have to be set free from those weights. This lovely truth from the Apostle Paul has been a help to multitudes, ridding condemnation from their lives.

One reason ‘condemnation’ is such a problem, including for many Christians is that the devil is an accuser. 

“I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, strength and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Revelation 12:10

Note that the devil is quite persistent at accusing us, doing it “day and night”. So it’s no wonder people come under condemnation, guilt, shame and the like.

The enemy loves to use people around us to accuse us, including parents, siblings and friends. Sadly upsets and hurtful words are common among close connections. We may think those things are of little effect, but they are powerful.

Hurtful words are such a common thing that from ancient times we have had responses to them, such as the ancient rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

The truth is that words can be deeply hurtful and even bring curse on people.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21

“Their tongue is an arrow that is fired. It speaks deceit.” Jeremiah 9:8

Sadly it is not uncommon for people to be raised in families where they are cursed by words from parents and relatives. People speak out what is in their heart, so when they are condemned, insecure, rejected and so on, they speak words of rejection, accusation, hurt and shame, without even thinking about it.

“Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” Luke 6:45

“O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34

I recall the example given by friends many years ago of a father with accusation issues. He bumped a bottle of milk while reaching for something at the dinner table. Rather than accept his own fault, he demanded, “Who put that there?” He made his children feel guilty for his own error. He was an ‘accuser’. Thus he cultivated ‘condemnation’ in his children.

The classic example is the addicted person who desperately wants a drink, or whatever they lust for. They accuse or blame someone around them for their actions, such as their spouse. “You’ve upset me now, so I’m going to go and have a drink.” Or, “I’ve tried to make it work with you, but you’re driving me to the arms of that other person.”

The accusation, “You are driving me to drink!” or “You gave me no choice!” are false accusations, dumping onto someone else blame for evil in the perpetrator.

These accusers may erupt in anger, blaming others for causing upset, then use that as excuse to serve their own lusts. Meanwhile they leave behind people who are hurting and accused, feeling responsible and condemned, when they were not responsible for the wrong choices of others, nor do they deserve to be accused or condemned.

Those raised with an alcoholic, or other addicted people probably have multiple examples of what I am talking about. But these things can occur in religious homes as well.

Often a demanding parent will blame children for their own disquiet and discomfort. Every time they are not coping, or are disappointed or angry, they end up blaming one of the children.

For example, a father or mother might be a bit worked up about something, maybe raising their voice, complaining, arguing or swearing. When a child speaks up, such as to say, “Don’t be upset”, the parent can use that as a trigger to dump even more upset feelings, accusing the child of having upset them. That is not what happened, but in the heat of the exchange the child can be left feeling responsible, blamed, accused and condemned, when they only tried to help.

Children raised in this kind of environment can go through life with a heavy sense of responsibility for everyone else’s issues. Rather than being able to leave others to their own issues, they feel as if it is up to them to try to fix people, or create circumstances where problems won’t occur again.

That’s a terrible burden to live with, because God and Christ save us, not us saving ourselves or others. We don’t have the capacity to do it. So the sense of condemnation can be deepened every time we fail to see a situation work out for the best.

You can imagine the devil’s delight when people go through life buried in that kind of condemnation and unrealistic expectation.

So, let me remind you of the wonderful truth that “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus paid for all our sins, failures, weakness, hopelessness, foolishness, defeat and shame. We are both forgiven and cleansed, so we stand clean before God.

“If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1John 1:9

We are answerable to God, not to those who keep accusing us or putting things on us. We have to please God, not them. We can give to God all the accusations, feelings of responsibility, and the like that have been dumped on us, and then wait on God to convict and guide us. We don’t have to dance to the tune of others who want to control and blame us. We live for the glory of God, in glorious freedom that belongs to the children of God.

“Creation itself will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Romans 8:21

Friends I call you to the salvation offered by God, through faith in Christ, being forgiven of your sins and living for God’s glory, in a life where there is No Condemnation.