Faith: the spiritual energy drink

From my good friend Chris Stadler

In the military, men have always understood the value of morale. To boost morale, a general will let his men know that there is a plan and it's a good one. He will instill the confidence that they can prevail. He will get them focused on the prize: victory.

When morale is high, a general almost can't contain his soldiers. They want to go out and do battle now – not tomorrow.

So if you have an enemy, what would he try to do to you to get you to fear the battle? Simple. He will try to get you to take your eyes off of the prize and place them on the cost of failure. And when you mention God's promises, he'll say “Did God really say that?”

Because in a Christian walk, there is a cost of failure. The enemy knows that. He also knows that, if we're not full of the Word of God, he can convince us that we may have misunderstood God.

But what choice do we have? We can live for our big-screen TVs and a relaxed family life – until the economy takes a nose dive. Or we can live to fight the battle. But if we're going to fight the battle, we have to do it with our eyes both on the prize and on God's promises and the might that He has to fulfill them. And God doesn't fail.

Strength, energy and self-control come from confidence in our Commander and His calling on our lives. Find energy in His Word, because that's where our confidence comes from.

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Pray Like it Matters

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working James 5.16b

It is a mystery to me why God invented prayer.

Certainly He knows what we need: 

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matt 6.8

Certainly He has the power to meet any need: 

With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God Mark 10.27 

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 40.12-15

Certainly He knows what He is going to do and when:

But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What he desires, that He does. For He will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind. Job 23.13-14

Yet the Lord has asked us to pray as though, somehow, prayer makes a difference.

What if failing, frail and feeble people can change the course of things through prayer. 

• What if Joshua had not prayed for the sun to stand sill
  
• What if Elijah had not prayed for rain, or for fire to fall upon the altar
  
• What if Moses had not prayed for water, or Hannah for a son
  
• What if Jonah had not prayed from the belly of the whale
  
• Or Paul and Silas from the darkness of Jail

Would Gods' hand have moved? Would the stories end as they did? Or, did their prayers actually make a difference?

I see in the Word of God an ongoing encouragement to seek the face of God in prayer knowing that God has designed it so that PRAYER MATTERS!

Was She Right? Part 3

(Please read the previous two posts for the full conversation)

So was Naomi right to "blame" God for her circumstances? 

I dont know if blame is an appropriate term, but to say that it was within God's providence that these things happened is certainly true. Whether one says, "God did it" or, "God allowed it" the truth is that either way the circumstances of our lives are in His control.

The more important issue for each of us when we find ourselves in a season of "Dark Providence" is to realize that God's purposes are ultimately being worked out... even though I may not in the short term, or even in the long run know what those purposes might be.

Here is what is clear from Naomi's Story. Lets first remind ourselves of the difficult season Naomi had experienced.

In chapter one we read that she and her family had left the promised land because of famine, so they were strangers in a strange land, then her husband died, then both of her sons died, leaving her with no heir.

Now look at the end of the story:

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!  He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

Instead of famine, "a nourisher"

Instead of a strange land she was now among her own people

Instead of mourning "a restorer of life"

She had lost sons now a daughter worth "seven sons"

She had no heir, now a grandson... an heir indeed

And no run of the mill heir at that; rather, none other than David would come from her new family and ultimately the greater than David, the Son of David, Jesus Christ.

Had the Lord brought calamity upon Naomi, well, yes He had. For a season she languished under the "dark Sovereignty of God as God worked behind the scene to get a Moabite woman into a particular field to meet a particular man at a particular time; in order that the ultimate plan of God could move ahead.

Naomi had an important role in the fulfillment of God Eternal plan of redemption for mankind. I do not think that she is in heaven now still upset at God for what He saw fit to put her through.

Lord give us eyes to see and appreciate the bigger picture and your sovereign work in our lives.

Was She Right? Part 2

(read part one for the full conversation)

Lets take our discussion one step further.

One of the responses I received went in part as follows, "Calamity in the old testament was brought on by God for the sins of His people..." 

So what was Naomi's sin? If in fact the tragedy that she experienced was judgement for her sin, what was it God was judging her for? 

It is a fact that at times the Lord did judge His people; sometimes He did it directly, often times He used the nations surrounding Israel as the rod of correction. The question is... is every dark circumstance the result of sin? 

If we are not careful, we can find ourselves in the same place as Job's accusers when they said to him on numerous occasions, 

"If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great." Job.8.5-7

The problem was Job had not sinned. 

Jesus had something to say on this subject and the light He shine on the subject gives us insight in how to look at Naomi's situation.

Listen to Jesus from John 9.1-3 

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

So there may be more to consider here than simply the judgement of God on poor Naomi. 

We'll talk more.

Was She Right?

Here is something to think about...

Listen to Naomi's complaint and lament in Ruth 1.20-21:

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 

To say that she had hit a rough patch would be an understatement. Earlier in chapter 1 we read that she and her family had left the promised land because of famine, so they were strangers in a strange land, then her husband died, then both of her sons died, leaving her with no heir.

Now, I don't know what trials you are facing right now, I am guessing you are facing some... most of us are. The proximity and the severity of this season for Naomi is pretty spectacular by any estimation. She says dont call me Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara (bitter).

The magnitude of it all had swamped Naomi's boat, she had exhausted all her hope and strength and was at her wits end.

Here is the question I have for you; was Naomi right? Was she right to say, " the Almighty has brought calamity upon me."

Does the Lord Almighty bring calamity, would our God do such a thing? What counsel would you give Naomi? Would you say, "Buck up sister", or, "Don't speak of God like that", or, "Your faith needs to be shored up"? What comfort, what word of encouragement would you offer Naomi in her time of need, what counsel?

I am going to let you think about that one for a few days and we'll talk more.

Feel free to leave comments if you like.

Who Am I?

When David said these words in I Chronicles 17.16, he was not seeking the meaning of his existence, he was overwhelmed by God graciousness and mercy. The verse reads:

Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far?

Here is a little back story - 

David finished building a palace for himself then realized that the Ark (God) still dwelt in a tent so David had it in his heart to build the Lord a "House". It was a good thing but it was not a God thing. God had another plan.

What David wanted to do was good, what God was going to do was better. 

God says to David through the prophet Nathan you shall not build a house for Me but,

Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you.

David can hardly wrap his mind around what the Lord is saying to him and exclaims,

Who am I , O Lord God and what is my house that You have brought me thus far?

Isn't that how we should respond each and every day in light of what the Lord has done "thus far", and what He has promised to do for us in the future? David will say later on,

What more can David say to you for honoring you servant? For you know you servant.

David is amazed at the grace of God, amazed at His mercy, amazed at His goodness. Even more so in light of the person David know himself to be.

Then David says one more thing that I have always found very interesting. Listen to Vs. 23

And now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever and do as you have spoken.

Knock yourself out Lord, You want to bless me, bless away, don't hold anything back. And, Lord, the thing you promised to do, do that for me. David was claiming the promise and holding God to His word. 

Have you ever dared to pray like that? It is pretty radical, but David, a "man after God's own heart" prayed that way. "Lord you promised to do this thing for me, I am asking You to fulfill Your promise." That kind of prayer does not offend the Lord, is not disrespectful to the Lord, it is called appropriation, claiming what God said is ours. 

That is all David was doing.

Who am I? I am a sinner saved by grace, a recipient of mercy, a child of the King! I am also on the receiving end of the multitude of promises God has made to his people, they are there for me to claim daily as I walk in awe of God unimaginable goodness towards me "thus far".

"Charge it to my Account"

We have been talking about reconciliation a bit over the last month or so. It is so important to keep the peace between brothers and sisters in Christ, between family members, between friends and neighbors. 

What I have become much more aware of over recent weeks is the immense value you are to me. How long it takes to develop relationships and yet how fragile they can be at times. The value and the fragility makes them all the more important to preserve. It is just not OK to loose friends or be at odds with each other, it is just too costly.

The Lord has asked us to be reconciled and has given us both the "word" and the "ministry" of reconciliation. 

The problem is that we don't relish the idea of humbling ourselves in order to begin the sometimes difficult process. There is  a real sense of being wronged as well as a very real feeling that the other person does not deserve the effort it will take, we often feel, perhaps especially, that we are "owed". Fairness and equity scream for satisfaction and all of this has a bearing on the emotion we feel when facing the task.

The little postcard of a letter called Philemon gives us the wonderful principal that lies at the heart of reconciliation.

Philemon was a dear and close friend of Paul. Philemon had a slave by the name of Onesimus who had stolen from his master and run away. As ONI made a run for it he ended up, of all places, in prison with none other than the great apostle Paul himself.

You'll have to read the whole letter to get the full impact of the friend-to-friend tone of the letter, Paul pours it on pretty thick, it is pretty funny! Paul writes the letter to urge his friend to take his slave (and now brother in Christ) back with open arms. Then Paul says to Philemon, "If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge it to my account". 

Philemon owed Paul much! Paul said whatever debt ONI owes you... charge it to me. 

Doctrinally this is called imputation. it is a banking term that means charged to the account of. As it relates to our faith it means that Jesus, through the work of the cross, cancelled our debt and charged to our account His righteousness - it's huge.  

Practically, as it relates to reconciliation it means this... and this is key. It means that when I reconcile (also a banking term by the way) I don't have to worry about the "owing" or "fairness". Jesus is the one asking for the reconciliation and he says, let me worry about the debt owed, I'll take care of that. 

We do not reconcile for our sake primarily, nor for the sake of the relationship, nor for the sake of the other party. We reconcile for Jesus' sake and any outstanding debts that might remain, He has got that covered.

This means that I can be reconciled in a hurry as there is no settling up that need to take place. It was all handled at the cross.

Glad to be Back

Forty days... interesting.

For those of you who have been checking in here for a while it was a little more than a year ago that I planned a 40 day sabbatical. The leadership were in agreement and things were covered as I set out on what I hoped would be a refreshing and revitalizing time of reflection and rest.

In fact I began this blog as a way of keeping folks updated on the things I was experiencing during that time. You can read those early submissions in the archives if interested.

This one wasn't planned, least-wise not by me, but as it turned out I spent another 40 days "resting" this year. By the way, though I might suggest picking a different location for the purpose, taking time away to rest and be refreshed in the Lord is always an excellent idea.

As I reflect on the two "sabbaticals" I must confess that I have benefitted more from this one than from the one I planned. The Fellowship has benefitted more already from this years version than it did from the previous one as well.

I dont think I have ever had a greater love for the Lord - He is everything to me. It has been said that, "you wont fully know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have". I would not say that I ever felt like Jesus was all I had, not with my wife and family at my side and not with the multitude of wonderful folks praying and visiting, etc; but still, day to day, there was an intense need to really cling to the Lord and a profound sense of His presence.

The Lord is so good (All the time).

These 40 days have produced in me a renewed passion for ministry,  a refreshed vision of our mission as a Fellowship; a rekindled love for the Lord as I mentioned; a desire to preach the Word unlike anything I have experienced before, and, a greater love for the body of Christ, wherever it might be found, but particularly that part that congregates at 252 Lawrence Street.

I want to thank all of you for the tremendous welcome home. It was a day that was more than a little overwhelming to be sure. A day that I will not soon forget.

My thanks again for your prayers and love and help. Heaven alone will be able to repay you for the grace and kindness extended to me.

Happy to be back.

Renewal

Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” I Samuel 11.14

I wanted to return to the journey through the books of First and Second Samuel today but really had it on my heart to share with you the story of Joshua chapter 5.

And there it was! The same idea right there in I Sammy 11.

If there was any place that befit the renewal of the kingdom it was Gilgal.

Gilgal was a place that was given its name after a very important event in the history of Israel took place there. You see the name "Gilgal" means "a rolling", "today I have rolled the reproach of Egypt from you"

What was it that happened at Gilgal?

The Israelites were finally over the Jordan river. 600 years or so after the Lord had "promised (the) land" to Abraham and 40 years after they had failed to enter the first time; Israel was finally in.

They had been promised that the land would be given to them step-by-step as they moved in. The enemy would have to be defeated, it wouldn't be easy, but the Lord had promised victory as long as they continued to follow His Word.

The assignment had been given, the moment had come for them to march in and take the "promise land.

And yet... and yet; before they were allowed to take another step forward the Lord said to them that they must first circumcise the men. Circumcision had been neglected while they had been wandering in the wilderness.

Circumcision, of course was the mark, the outward sign of the covenant between God and his people. It marked them as belonging to God, it was a tangible reminder of their relationship with God... and it had been neglected. So God told them that they need to take care of it now.

They were not to go one step further until they relationship was restored, the covenant back in place.

Now, logically this makes little sense, at least in timing. I mean, they were in the enemies front yard and the work of conquering was before them. In human terms it would seem like the worst possible thing to do ; to put your entire army out of commission.

You may have noticed however, that God does not work according to "human terms" and the fact of the matter is; God is always much more concerned with who we are than what we do. God said, in effect, you are not going to take one more step forward without getting your heart right with Me, and, by inference, we can see that without a right relationship with God nothing we do will be pleasing to Him.

Now we look at the simple statement of Samuel and we see its value, we see the reason he said it need to take place at Gilgal. If I want to see the kingdom renewed in my heart... It must begin at Gilgal.

Isaiah 54

In preparation for Bible study last week the Lord led me to a passage in Isaiah. I truly felt it was a word for someone, perhaps more than one, in the service that night. I want to re-print it here in light of the untimely loss of family members that a couple families in our body are experiencing.

“O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,

Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,

And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

“Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,

And your gates of crystal,

And your entire wall of precious stones.

“All your sons will be taught of the LORD;

And the well-being of your sons will be great.

“In righteousness you will be established;

You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;

And from terror, for it will not come near you.

“If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.

Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

“Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals

And brings out a weapon for its work;

And I have created the destroyer to ruin.

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;

And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

Last night we were reminded that "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes" and we are reminded that Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (Jn 14.16)

This is one of the many blessings and advantages we have as Christians, as children of God.

Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus is, "A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" He knows we hurt, He knows what it means to hurt and He has made Himself available to us when we hurt.

This knowledge does take away the pain completely, sin stinks and so to its' "wages". I think this was part of what was taking place when we are told "Jesus wept" at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus knew what was about to happen, He knew that Lazarus would soon walk out of that tomb, but I believe it was the affect of sins' wages on his dear friend that caused the tears to flow. He wept for sins' curse.

Lazarus, however, knew the giver of life, the One who said, "I am the resurrection and the life" and because of that relationship with Jesus the grave could not hold him, would not hold him.

And it will not hold us either. The ultimate comfort is knowing that we will walk out of the tomb as well.