Yesterday my Mum's minister visited a Latvian family who have just moved to the UK. They've been attending the church since November, but this was the first time that anyone had visited their home. He discovered that they were living in a house, with two wooden chairs and a table (they have three small children!).
The first I heard of this was when my Mum got a text to urgently check for an email he'd sent to the whole church. By the end of the day, they already had a three piece suite! Today they will have beds for the children, a choice of three (!) fridges, a full complement of kitchen stuff, a washing machine, and lots of other things I've forgotten.* Someone has even given them a china cabinet!! And there have been sums of money coming in from lots of different people.
It was incredible to see the people of God mobilising to meet the practical needs of their brothers and sisters. We were round for dinner with the minister and his wife, and the number of texts coming in promising items of furniture was amazing. I have to admit I nearly got teary! They are not a hugely wealthy church, nor is it very big, but I have never encountered a church which feels so much like a family!
Praise God for the love and generosity of his people.
* Many of these items come from a wonderful friend of mine. She has been praying for over a year that she'd be able to sell her house in the north. She had been renting out, but she really wanted to sell it. It had been a huge load on her mind. And in the past couple of weeks it finally sold. And yesterday she 'happened' to be up there packing up the flat and deciding what to do with all the furniture!! God's perfect timing!
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
The true gospel
"You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation have been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouses so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!"
Malachi 3:8-10 (NLT)
This is one of those passages which has been horribly warped by those proclaiming the prosperity gospel and dishonest televangelists trying to pry money out of their viewers. But this morning God used it to remind me of the beauty of the true gospel!
Like the Israelites I have cheated God of the tithes and offerings due to Him. He deserves my everything, and yet on a daily basis He slips from the center of my life. He is utterly worthy, and I fail to live a life of worship. I have cheated Him.
God placed Israel under a curse for cheating Him of what He was due (or as other translations put it - for robbing Him). I deserve that same judicial punishment. BUT Praise God! Jesus has experienced my curse for me! His ultimate sacrifice has opened heaven's floodgates, that I may experience blessing after blessing!
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
Galatians 3:13
Father God, you are worthy of endless praise. Your value is unmeasurable. Your worth has no comparison. And yet I treat you as though you are an add-on to my life. LORD, please forgive my sinful attitude, and reshape me in the likeness of your Son.
Malachi 3:8-10 (NLT)
This is one of those passages which has been horribly warped by those proclaiming the prosperity gospel and dishonest televangelists trying to pry money out of their viewers. But this morning God used it to remind me of the beauty of the true gospel!
Like the Israelites I have cheated God of the tithes and offerings due to Him. He deserves my everything, and yet on a daily basis He slips from the center of my life. He is utterly worthy, and I fail to live a life of worship. I have cheated Him.
God placed Israel under a curse for cheating Him of what He was due (or as other translations put it - for robbing Him). I deserve that same judicial punishment. BUT Praise God! Jesus has experienced my curse for me! His ultimate sacrifice has opened heaven's floodgates, that I may experience blessing after blessing!
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
Galatians 3:13
Father God, you are worthy of endless praise. Your value is unmeasurable. Your worth has no comparison. And yet I treat you as though you are an add-on to my life. LORD, please forgive my sinful attitude, and reshape me in the likeness of your Son.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Three questions
Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 16:16-17
Yesterday at church my Mum's minister preached on Matthew 16:13-26. Then in the evening I settled back to listen to a sermon I'd downloaded from www.thevillagechurch.net which turned out to be the exact same passage.
It's always a good idea to sit up and take notice when God finds ways to emphasise a point! And in this case, three different things really struck me.
1) Am I confessing and trusting in the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God in every situation?
Is the truth that Jesus is saviour and sovereign colouring my response to every situation and circumstance that God brings into my life? Or am I more like Peter, who in one breath proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God, and in the next rebuked Jesus' plans and purposes? Do I accept Jesus' identity only at a head level or has it impact me at the heart level?
2) Is my life utterly "yes"?
" If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (v24-25)
Jesus calls us to die. Joined with him we are to live the life of the cross. Discipleship is costly.
When I hold onto my rights, my expectations, my comfort, my safety, mine, mine, mine, I die a spiritual death. But when I am utterly surrendered to Jesus I find my soul alive. True life is found in Christ alone.
So according to this passage should I be treating my relationship with Jesus like a casual friendship, floating in and out of intimacy? No. According to this passage, true discipleship is very different.
On reflection I feel I should be seeing my relationship with Him through the lens of marriage? Discipleship is a life commitment. For better, or for worse. It is a relationship based on love. It takes your takes your eyes off yourself, but you remain totally secure in the love of one who, unlike human spouses, cannot let you down.
3) Am I proclaiming Jesus identity and mission, and praying for the Father to reveal this truth?
"...for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven." (v 17)
God is the one who reveals Jesus' identity to human hearts, but in grace Jesus built his church on Peter's human confession. The pattern that exists to this day. Am I praying for God to do this? To open people's eyes. Or am I trusting in my own skill and hard-work?
Jesus would not be proclaimed without his cross. He charged his disciples not to tell anyone who he was, until he had taught them what it would mean for him to be the Christ.
We must proclaim his identity and his mission: "Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor 2:2)
In my case, I often have the opposite problem to the disciples. I'm happy talking about the cross, but I find myself shying away from the trinity. Jesus as the Son of God, gets you in theological hot water pretty fast. So despite, the trinity being one of the most incredible and vital and beautiful parts of the gospel, I go light. Lord, forgive me and give me passion for who you are, that I may be unable to resist telling people how you are the eternal and only Son of the Father!
Matthew 16:16-17
Yesterday at church my Mum's minister preached on Matthew 16:13-26. Then in the evening I settled back to listen to a sermon I'd downloaded from www.thevillagechurch.net which turned out to be the exact same passage.
It's always a good idea to sit up and take notice when God finds ways to emphasise a point! And in this case, three different things really struck me.
1) Am I confessing and trusting in the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God in every situation?
Is the truth that Jesus is saviour and sovereign colouring my response to every situation and circumstance that God brings into my life? Or am I more like Peter, who in one breath proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God, and in the next rebuked Jesus' plans and purposes? Do I accept Jesus' identity only at a head level or has it impact me at the heart level?
2) Is my life utterly "yes"?
" If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (v24-25)
Jesus calls us to die. Joined with him we are to live the life of the cross. Discipleship is costly.
When I hold onto my rights, my expectations, my comfort, my safety, mine, mine, mine, I die a spiritual death. But when I am utterly surrendered to Jesus I find my soul alive. True life is found in Christ alone.
So according to this passage should I be treating my relationship with Jesus like a casual friendship, floating in and out of intimacy? No. According to this passage, true discipleship is very different.
On reflection I feel I should be seeing my relationship with Him through the lens of marriage? Discipleship is a life commitment. For better, or for worse. It is a relationship based on love. It takes your takes your eyes off yourself, but you remain totally secure in the love of one who, unlike human spouses, cannot let you down.
3) Am I proclaiming Jesus identity and mission, and praying for the Father to reveal this truth?
"...for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven." (v 17)
God is the one who reveals Jesus' identity to human hearts, but in grace Jesus built his church on Peter's human confession. The pattern that exists to this day. Am I praying for God to do this? To open people's eyes. Or am I trusting in my own skill and hard-work?
Jesus would not be proclaimed without his cross. He charged his disciples not to tell anyone who he was, until he had taught them what it would mean for him to be the Christ.
We must proclaim his identity and his mission: "Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor 2:2)
In my case, I often have the opposite problem to the disciples. I'm happy talking about the cross, but I find myself shying away from the trinity. Jesus as the Son of God, gets you in theological hot water pretty fast. So despite, the trinity being one of the most incredible and vital and beautiful parts of the gospel, I go light. Lord, forgive me and give me passion for who you are, that I may be unable to resist telling people how you are the eternal and only Son of the Father!
Saturday, 26 December 2009
When we think we know better
I often find myself thinking I know better than God. I find myself convinced that if I was to do whatever the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do, then there would be bad consequences. It would be better to do things my way. So I find myself blocking out his still small voice.
How small is my faith!?!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
(Proverbs 3:5-8)
My prayer is that in this coming year, my heart would be characterised by obedient faith, trusting God for the consequences.
How small is my faith!?!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
(Proverbs 3:5-8)
My prayer is that in this coming year, my heart would be characterised by obedient faith, trusting God for the consequences.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Seeing the treasure in the field
"Our loneliness cannot always be fixed, but it can always be accepted as the very will of God for now, and that turns it into something beautiful. Perhaps it is like the field wherein lies the valuable treasure. We must buy the field. It is no sun-drenched meadow embroidered with wildflowers. It is a bleak and empty place, but once we know it contains a jewel the whole picture changes. The empty scrap of forgotten land suddenly teems with possibilities. Here is something we can not only accept, but something worth selling everything to buy.
In my [Elisabeth Elliot] case, "selling everything" meant giving up the self-pity and the bitter questions. I do not mean we are to go out looking for chances to be as lonely as possible. I am talking about acceptance of the inevitable. And when, through a willed act we receive this thing we did not want, then Loneliness, the name of the field nobody wants, is transformed into a place of hidden treasure."
(Re-blogged from 'Unconfusing')
In my [Elisabeth Elliot] case, "selling everything" meant giving up the self-pity and the bitter questions. I do not mean we are to go out looking for chances to be as lonely as possible. I am talking about acceptance of the inevitable. And when, through a willed act we receive this thing we did not want, then Loneliness, the name of the field nobody wants, is transformed into a place of hidden treasure."
(Re-blogged from 'Unconfusing')
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