Listen to me!

“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

(Acts 4:20)

Reflection:

Peter and John had just been told by the Sanhedrin that they were ‘not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.’ There response was that they could not help it!

 We find it very easy, and sometimes compelling, to talk about a great or significant event in our lives or recent experience. It might be something exciting that we have done or seen done and that we cannot wait to share with others. From a ‘hole-in-one’ to a promotion at work, an engagement to a qualification, a thrilling sporting event or even a near accident, some things are meant to be shared and we do so without embarrassment.

 Much the same had happened during Jesus’ ministry as the crowds spread the word about His healings and teachings, and more and more people came to see and hear Him. Many brought friends and relatives who were sick and, very often, we read that they were all healed. If such things happened in our churches we would all talk about it!

 However, Peter and John were not speaking here about something that had a spectator appeal to it and which they merely wanted others to see. They were talking of a personal experience of the risen Lord Jesus. It was not only that they had seen Him in His risen form. What they had now experienced was His gift to them of the Spirit of God Himself, the Holy Spirit. This was something that had impacted them at the very centre of their lives, something that had changed them not just mentally or emotionally but spiritually as well. This was God within them, giving them a new identity as sons of the living God, and working to transform and direct their lives.

 Their great desire, as well as their commission, was to share with others the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ which they knew to be true – and they couldn’t stop themselves from doing so.

Response:

Is Jesus really good news – good enough to tell others? If not, are we missing out on something?

Prayer:

Lord God, please help me to draw closer to You so that I may more fully know the wonder, love and joy of my salvation in Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Loved!

“Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father’s house. The king is enthralled by your beauty; honour him, for he is your lord.”

(Psalm 45:10-11)

Reflection:

It has been said that some of the most beautiful lines of poetry ever written are the final two of the Arabian Love Song by Francis Thompson. Beseeching his beloved to come away with him he writes,

“And thou – what needs’t with thy tribes black tents

Who hast the red pavilion of my heart?”

 The psalmist is saying much the same thing here. Turn away from dependence upon the habitations and relationships of the world, no matter how secure and appealing they may seem, and trust the love of the Lord who is ‘enthralled by your beauty.’

 We read in Scripture of how God so loved the world that He gave His Son, of how Jesus gave His mortal life, of how God has loved us with an everlasting love, and even that the Church is the bride of Christ. Do we stop however and dwell on this great love for each and every one of us. Can we imagine God looking at us not as we see ourselves but as we are transformed in Christ into the beauty and wonder of our first creation?

 Can we see God watching us and smiling in delight, or running to meet us as we turn to Him and celebrating His relationship with us; calling for a joyous party because it is just so wonderful and He is so thrilled and happy? Can we envision Jesus holding out his arms to us and calling ‘Come … come and be embraced… come and be loved …. come to where you belong… come home to My heart.” Don’t worry … Don’t fear … just come.

 Our call to love God with all our heart and souls and mind and strength is because that is how He loves us, with every fibre of His being.

 Let God sing His love song in your heart. Cherish it, love it, live it – for He who is love in all its potential and fullness, loves you totally, wonderfully and eternally.

Response:

Practice  believing and receiving

Prayer:

Father you love me, Lord Jesus you love me, Holy Spirit You love me – I am beautifully and marvellously loved. Amen.

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God Will

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”

(Genesis 12:2)

Reflection:

God had a plan for the salvation and blessing of humankind. He did not entrust it to man for man to undertake for Him – instead He made it clear that it was something that He would bring about Himself. His only requirement from man was to trust Him, listen to Him and obey Him. Jesus, as perfect man, submitted Himself to these expectations throughout His ministry.

 In calling Abram He spells it out. “I will make you ..”, “I will bless you … “ and “I will make your name great.” Through this Abram would “be a blessing” to those who followed after him. In fact God says that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Note that God does not say that they will be blessed by Abram but through him – that is through God working in, through and around him.

 God has a plan and purpose for our lives, individually and corporately.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

 He had this plan for us before we appeared and He has it for us now. He has prepared the work that He wants us to do; He has gifted us for this work through the Holy Spirit and has empowered us to do it through the same Spirit. Here again it is His plan and His power at work to achieve His purpose.

 Some of God’s requirements are general to us all – like the Ten Commandments, the New Commandments and the Great Commission. Others will be specific to individuals – such as His calling into specific ministries and sending to definite places or peoples.

 Our initial responsibility in our response to God is to trust Him, listen to Him and obey Him in our immediate situations. These are our areas of ministry until and unless God leads us somewhere else. It is here that His light should shine through us, His seed be sown by us and His love be displayed in us.

Response:

Pray for your situations, the people in it and for yourself.

Prayer:

Lord God please help me to trust You, listen to You and be faithful to You in my situations this week. Please work Your will in and through and around me, for Jesus sake, Amen.

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Footprints

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

(2 Corinthians 3:3)

Reflection:

 I really miss getting hand-written letters. There was something very personal and warm about them – far more so than with much of today’s instant mail.

  How wonderful it is that God did not send out impersonal tweets, texts or bulk mail when He had something important to say. He spoke directly, He spoke through the prophets and He has spoken most revealingly through His Son. Even Scripture as the divinely inspired written record is filled with carefully chosen words and descriptions – all designed to help reveal to us more of the Lord Jesus and to point us to Him.

 He speaks also through us. We become His letters – living messages that can be seen, examined and spoken to. His message is not written on the cold screen of the latest tablet with all of its high definition and artificial colour, but on the living and pulsating hearts of His people. He who said that if we had seen Him we had seen the Father would want to say of us that if people wanted to see Him they should look at us! With His light within us we become ‘the light of the world!’ We are called to be living and speaking witnesses of His Way, Truth and Life.

 People read us all day and every day. We leave an impression on everyone – like footprints in the sand. We affect them.

Response:

Tread with love through the lives of others today.

Prayer:

Lord write Your message on my heart – and may it be the only one that shines out from me. Amen.

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Only God

“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
(Psalm 90:2)

Reflection:

In the eternity before time as we know it began – there was God. In the eternity after time as we know it has ceased – there will be God. In the time in between – there is God. Always and ever there is, has been and will be God.

 It is God’s will and power that created. It is God’s will and power that sustains. It is God’s will and power that redeems. It will be God’s will and power that resurrects. Always it is God.

 There is no other God. There never has been. There never will be. God laughs at man’s efforts to create one or to be one. The first have no life in them. The second cannot keep themselves alive. Man may decide that there is no God – but still there is God and always will be.

 We cannot find God. He reveals Himself. We were created in His image. Sin has separated and distorted us. There is an unquenchable longing within us. We know it but cannot identify it. It is Godless. Only God can find it – heal it – fill it.

 God. Always and only – God.

Response:

God calls. Listen.

Prayer:

Father God, always You call me to You. Help me to come – and to keep coming – and to know You (more) as Father. Amen.

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Treasures in Heaven

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

(Matthew 6:20)

Reflection:

Some years ago my eldest daughter brought me a copy of a magazine from my old school. I was sitting there quietly looking at it and saying, “I remember him – and him – and him.” Intrigued, she peered over my shoulder and then cried out, “Mom, Dad’s reading the obituaries!”

I was indeed – and was surprised at how many of my school acquaintances had died at what was a relatively young age. For them the journey of life was over and everything they may have hoped for or achieved or accumulated was left behind them. All that remained was their final meeting with our Lord and God.

It is very easy to get caught up with our wants and needs, our passions and fears, our occupations and past-times, our treasures and joys, and all the things into which the world tries to seduce us. No matter how important they are now, and how necessary and worth-while they may seem, they have one great thing in common – they will all be left behind us when we go. Some of them may even have been lost, stolen or turned to ashes before then.

Jesus encourages us to keep a proper balance and not to become obsessed with the things of this world, nor to strive to obtain, experience, accumulate and hoard its treasures. There are other things, He tells us, which have a greater and eternal value – things that cannot be measured in monetary or emotional terms.

Essentially our one and only treasure – incorruptible, unstealable and unbreakable – is Jesus Himself. He is our Life. He is our Righteousness. His is the Relationship which makes us known to God as His eternal sons and daughters. If Jesus is our supreme treasure everything else will begin to fall into place. If He is not we may well be serving something other than Him.

We cannot take anything with us when, sooner or later, we leave this world and go onto the next. All we will have is what we have become.

Live for the Lord – He is our Way, our Truth and our Life. He is our Light, our Love and our Joy. He is our Beauty and our Peace. He is our Purpose and our Fulfillment. He is our Today and our Eternal Tomorrow. He is our God, our Saviour and our Friend. He is our Everything.

Response:

Keep responding to His call. Never give up no matter how many times you fall. Trust Him always.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, in the midst of the worries, concerns and temptations of this life, please help me to live with You and for You in all things and at all times. Amen.

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Good News Person

“Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel,

and she served Naaman’s wife.”

(2 Kings 5:2)

Reflection:

Naaman was the military commander of the King of Aram (Syria). He had a skin disease which might not have been leprosy but which clearly distressed him. On one of their raids into Israelite territory they had captured and brought away a young girl who now served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress,

“If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”  (2 Kings 5:3)

 It is a remarkable little story in which a very special young girl plays an important yet seemingly minor role. There is much that we can learn from her.

• Abducted from her home and family she was taken suddenly away to another country by a band of raiders. They would have been a group of men who would not have hesitated to fight and kill if the need arose. There is no mention of how she was treated but she was probably very afraid.
• She became a servant in the home of the military commander. Such was her character that she was concerned about Naaman’s condition and the suffering it caused him and his wife.
• Her abduction and slavery had not caused her to lose her faith in God. Indeed she suggested that Naaman should seek help from Elisha, the prophet of God. There must have been something about this young girl that impressed the tough soldier and his wife for he did as she suggested – even getting the king to grant him leave of absence to do so.
• Naaman went to see Elisha and, after nearly missing out because he felt that he was not treated properly, he returned duly healed.
• We hear no more of the girl. There is no mention of whether she was rewarded with her liberty, or in any other way, by her master and mistress.

 Her moment in history has passed but her example – like that of Joseph – remains to teach and encourage us.

• Despite huge personal trauma and forced changes she kept her faith in God.
• She obviously served her master and mistress faithfully and earned their trust and respect.
• Through her God blessed the household and, it seems, brought Naaman to belief in Him.

 Although we don’t even know her name God certainly does. And it seems clear from the account that she ‘found favour in His sight.’  Trusting God at all times, caring for her neighbour and being trusted by those she served, gives her –as it would give us all – a wonderful epitaph.

Response:

Love God, love our neighbours, love our enemies – do everything as to the Lord.

Prayer:

Lord, help us to keep our focus on You at all times and to serve You by faithfully serving others. Amen.

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The Day

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

(Philippians 2:9-11)

Reflection:

The message of the world in which we live is not generally seen as one which either proclaims or honours Jesus Christ. His name is often used as an exclamation, His teachings ignored and His followers seen as irrelevant. John Stott commented that “it seems to me that our greatest need today is an enlarged vision of Jesus Christ.”

 The above verses are a great encouragement for all the followers of Jesus who share Stott’s concern.  They remind us that there will indeed come a day when far from either crucifying or ignoring Jesus the entire world will indeed bend the knee to Him and acknowledge that He is the Lord Almighty. In fact the world will be terrified at His appearance in all His glory. John painted the picture like this

“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

 No matter how great our personal vision of the Lord Jesus may be it will still fall far short of the reality of His glory and majesty. We may be horrified to discover too just how much the attitude to Him of those around us has watered down our own perspective. We should instead be seeking to see the Lord through the eyes of the Spirit – not the dark glasses of the world!

 This Lord Jesus is the One

• Who was with God in the beginning (John 1:2)
• Through Whom all things were made (John 1:3)
• Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood (Rev 1:5)
• Who even the wind and waves obey (Mark 4:41)

 When His people see Him as He really is we will find in Him a Beauty that is breath-taking, a Holiness that is blinding, a Majesty that is over-powering, a Glory that is stunning, a Life that is exhilarating and a Love that makes us weep in joyous wonder. And we will never ever want to take our eyes off Him for even a moment.

“Holy, Holy, Holy

is the Lord God Almighty

who was, and is, and is to come”

Response:

The Bible is all about Jesus – from the beginning to the end. Let it reveal Him as you read it.

Prayer:

Lord God help me to read Your Scriptures not just for what they tell me but for Who they reveal to me. Amen.

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God’s Acceptance

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

Reflection:

Through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone – that is salvation. And each part of it is a love gift from God Himself. So, as Brian McLaren puts it,

“God loves you. God accepts you.

Are you ready to accept your acceptance and live in reconciliation with God?”

Accept your need – accept God loves you – accept God accepts you – accept a new way of life.

Response:

Choose to believe and trust God

Prayer:

Lord I choose to believe Your word and trust Your great love and sacrifice. Please help me to grow in this faith and trust. Amen.

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Comfort My People

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Reflection:

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

(Isaiah 40:1)

In the days of the prophet Isaiah God’s call to comfort His people was followed with the news that their exile was going to end – and then a reference to the one we know as John the Baptist who would come before the arrival of the Messiah. It was a reminder that they were not forgotten and abandoned, that there was a Saviour, that He would come and that He would be a revelation of God’s love and glory.

 For us today we can look back upon the fulfillment of the prophecy – the reality of the coming of the Christ, and our salvation and new life because of His death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit, the Divine Comforter, has been given to us to make this a present reality for us and to guide and empower us for the road ahead. The forgiveness of our sins, our adoption as the eternal sons and daughters of the Father, the gift of the Spirit and the promise of Christ’s coming again in glory are our certainty, our inspiration and our comfort. As we face the realities of a fallen and painful world where we suffer through the sins of others as well as through our own sins and shortcomings we hold onto God through His revelations and promises as a person holding onto a lifebelt in the midst of a stormy and lonely sea.

 Just as we find comfort and strength in the Lord in these ways, and because of what He has done for us personally, so we can offer comfort and support to those around us who are battling at the moment. For some it might be only a passing problem, for others a longer term challenge and lonely road. We can be an invaluable help to some of them as we pray, support and encourage them with the love and reality of God expressed in and through our lives.

Response:

Someone we know needs comfort and encouragement today – don’t let them miss out.

Prayer:

Father you have blessed, comforted and strengthened me so much – please help me to encourage others who need it. Amen.

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