Thursday, December 30, 2010

Life performs Law

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom 8:4 KJV)

The life of the Spirit within will fulfil the righteous requirements of the Law. The issue is not the Law. The Law is good, righteous. The issue is how we fulfil the Law. God's way is to commune with Him, blend our hearts with His, be nurtured by His grace, enjoy His Fatherhood.

The life of God is inherently, intrinsically, completely good. Anything else is not. It is only a sham. God is looking for His own life within us.

When James asks us to look at our lives, he mentions virtues garnered form the Law, see James Ch 2. Favouritism, judging and bearing grudges and lack of compassion and justice are all condemned by the Law, see Lev 19 esp. v15,18. There are many similarities between James Ch2 and Lev Ch19, similarities in the types of behaviour commended in each book.

Leviticus Ch 19 is from the Pentateuch, the OT books of the Law. James, of course, is from the NT, the Covenant of Faith.

God is not a God of lawlessness. The NT condemns lawlesness. Sharing in the life of God, the life of the Spirit, results in the righteous requirements of the Law being fulfilled. It is not that we strive to keep the Law. What we need to do is pursue intimacy with God. If we do, the righteous requirements of the Law will be fulfilled in us with ever increasing fidelity to the heart of God.

James is not revoking righteousness by faith or suggesting an alternative. He is asking us to realistically assess whether our faith, our fellowship with God, is alive and well. If it is, it will be bearing fruit. Our lives will be fulfilling the righteous requirements of the Law.

James is turning Romans 8v4 back on itself. If your faith is real and you are indeed walking in the Spirit, you will be seeing the righteous requirements of the Law met in your life.

If you are not, don't strive to keep the Law to earn God's favour and life. Come to Him and seek Him for answers, and for more of His life. Confess your sins and shortcomings to Him. Receive forgiveness. Ask Him for what you need. Agree with him that you need help to produce the fruit He desires in your life.

In Spirit and In Truth

Western man seems to have a remarkable ability to dissociate the rational analytical mind from the actual practice of his life; to deceive himself about his true spirituality.

Our godliness must be in deed and power, in lives and resources and treasures laid down, in real sacrifices made for the Kingdom. Otherwise our professed faith means little. It is dead, of the intellect only. A rich man can make nominal sacrifices which may look impressive, but which are not really very sacrificial and costly to the heart. In the modern age, with money and technology, he can make a 'christian' impact. It may be a clanging gong if it does not come from the depth of the spirit, from communion with the Spirit. It is possible to be born again and just live from ourselves, from a heart not rent before God. We will beget Ishmaels. We may be an obstacle and hindrance to those walking more genuinely before God. What we need is consecration, yieldedness, not resources. The resources will follow the yierldedness. They must, God has promised they will.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Knowing One Another after the Spirit

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.   Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor 5:16-17 KJV)

Are we looking for Christ in one another? It is easy to find fault, to be disappointed in ourselves and others. Let us look firstly for Christ in one another. Christ will bring out the flavour of each of us! See Matt 5v13.

Let's pray that the new man comes forth in one another.

We have a new identity in Christ. We have a new name. We are the only people on Earth with a truly solid sense of identity if we learn to abide in Christ.

There is a general aspect to our new identity; those things from Scripture which apply to us all. There is also a specifric revelation of our new nature; those things which are specific to us. We need to know who we are, what we are for. Prophecy will help you, ask God for it. God will give us a revelation, because He alone knows who we really are. The world will have distorted our character to some degree or other, God knows the intended shape.

Again, we must lose our life to gain it; surrender, yield, put on the new man. The Holy Spirit will guide us.

Everyone has a distinct and special character in Christ, we are not clones. We will all be righteous though.

Friday, November 26, 2010

James Again

Apparently Luther didn't like this Book of James because it appeared to contradict justification by faith.

I don't think so, it encourages us to examine our faith and see if it is real.

If it is, and we have real deep fellowship with the Lord, we should be producing certain forms of behaviour. One is not showing favouritism. Another is caring for the truly needy.

As we step out, we also find out if our faith is real enough to give us confidence over challenges.

I was humbled in the last few days when we were faced with an opportunity to live in a risky, rough place. I did not have what it takes to say 'yes'. I have renewed appreciation for those who have done, and who come from priveleged places. The Bakers from Iris Ministries spring to mind, along with Jackie Pullinger!

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Rest we are Designed For; Seated in Heavenly Places.

I recently asked God to help me picture 'being seated with Him in heavenly places.' The Bible tells us we are to enter into the rest of God. It is the same place as the peace of God, and of abiding in love.

I had a picture of Jesus and myself chating, in a relaxed manner, reclining in big cream leather seats with chrome frames! We were in a big room very high up.

David says we are to lie down in green pastures. This is not necessarily a physical lying down as much as a true rest of the wearied soul. We can be very productive, take big decisions, astonish onlookers, and still remain in the rest of God.

To abide in this state we must make quality decisions to conduct our lives in a Kingdom way. We must have decided that Jesus is reliable and in control. We are seated with Him in heavenly places. Our spirit is in his presence while our bodies do his work on earth.

(Ephesians 1v20)

Walking in Grace, Staying in the Green Pastures.

Psalm 23  Romans 8v1-2

The Law is exacting and precise. It is a nitpicking, unrelenting judge. Satan uses it against us because he loves to accuse the saints. The Law is enforced with rigour as Deuteronomy chapter 28 makes clear. Trying to please God and gain goodwill, blessing and favour by the precepts of the Law is an exasperating and exhausting business, and it does not please God. The reason is that God has sent Jesus in order that righteousness may be imparted to us without striving to fulfil the Law. The Law in context is the Law of Moses set forth in the Pentateuch. However I believe it can be extended to mean any rigorous code of external conduct. Such codes are often part of church life, though they will likely vary from church to church. we may also derive our own 'Law' which we feel determines the righteousness of ourselves and others. We then judge the worthiness of ourselves and others by measuring their outer conduct.


Living under law is like tottering on a tightrope, nervous and anxious, waiting for inevitable failure.


This sort of nitpicking scrutiny leaves no room for us to delight in the Lord. We are more likely to be secretly irritated. Jesus came to free us from this sort of yoke and give us a light yoke.

Does this mean God has no behavioural requirements of us at all? A balanced view of New Testament writing answers that question with a clear 'no'. We are in a broad pasture of grace. Psalm 23 offers a good poetic description of the pastures of grace. We are not under a written code of outward conduct. Neither are we in a 'zero tolerance' program of enforcement.

Love overlooks a multitude of sins. We are in relationship with a God who desires fellowship, friendship, love and even the intimacy of our souls. He is a nurturing Father who knows our frames individually. He knows the weaknesses and limitations of our individual make-up. Law is a 'one size fits all' set of rules and commandments. But we are known, accommodated and loved individually by our Father. He knows there are areas where one child is easily succeeding where another may struggle. Harsh, unsupportive judgement and criticism do not help. God encourages, reminding us of what Christ has done for us and of our true identity.

David had a prophetic revelation and appreciation of the Messiah and he lived in the good of it. When we read of David, we think 'relationship'. When we read of Moses, certainly after Sinai, we think 'proceedure'. This is a good working definition of the difference between Law and Grace. Law is the preference for proceedure over relationship. The God who ordained the ordered wonder of the universe with it's physical laws is still a God who wants relationship with us, and for us to enjoy relationship with each other. Beyond formality of relationship, He wants fellowship and ultimately intimacy. The analogy of the wedding feast, with the church as the bride of Christ, speaks of the consummation of a process of encounters of increasing intimacy. This process is not encouraged through Law. It happens through grace and willing yieldedness to His love.

This is the pasture. This is the rest of God. This is the place of abiding in His love. This is the intended normal Christian life. This is enjoying the family of God. This is the Law of Life in the Spirit. There is one gate into the pasture, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The pasture is much broader than the tightrope of law. We can relax and feel safe. We can explore and move around. However, we can still invoke God's anger, grief and judgement beyond certain points. While the God of Love will overlook many sins under grace, He will not overlook everything.
Certain behaviours will violate our fellowship with God. (Though not necessarily our relationship. We may be related to someone without having fellowship with them). Grace is not Lw but neither is it license to do anything that comes to mind. In particular, we need to know that we are to be constrained by the Law of Love. If we move seriously out of love in our conduct, we will move into a place where our fellowship with God is violated and we will move into darkness. Now this is a thing of the Spirit. There are few absolute rules because we differ as individuals and in our maturity. There is a liberty.

However when the man mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5 had sexual relations with his father's wife, it was indicative of the person being completely out of fellowship with the Lord. Such a person had violated the boundaries of grace for church fellowship. Since we can assume warning was not working, Paul instructed the church to exclude him pending repentence.

There is a difference between attempting to put a person under Law and surmising from their behaviour that they are not walking in the light of the Lord and therefore in the felllowship of believers.

Since we are in relational fellowship with the Lord, we must extend grace to the body, and ourselves, but there are still limits. They are flexible, reasonable and broad, but they are still there. One found in sin should be restored gently, if possible.

The pastures of grace mean God will not force us beyond a certain level of maturity. Maturity in part relates to self-sacrificial living and the deferring of reward. We will not experience the full measure of knowing Him unless we press on to maturity though.

Stop trying to deserve the Kingdom!

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 NIV)

God is good.


I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psa 13:6 KJV)

God's Kingdom is about fufilment and abundance. See also John 10v10, Ps 63v5.

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32 KJV)

God's heart is to give us these things. What things? Fulfilment and abundance.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Pet 1:3 NIV)

God has the will and ability to give us these things (fulfilment and abundance) and indeed everything we need for us to walk in His purposes..

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psa 16:6 NIV)

God's portion for me is special and delightful.


God will deal with us in line with His revealed character.

There is a Kingdom experience to be had on Earth. An employer might give you a 'package'. Well God has a more complete and superior 'package' for you. It entails provision, relationships, ministry, work, everything you need for life and Godliness.

There is a 'package' for earth and a 'package' for heaven. I am not talking about 'one-off; gifts, but of ongoing provision.

This package is custom fitted for you. God sees you as special. While Jesus died for all, and his death is the only way to acceptance and favour with God the Father, He still sees us as individuals and knows us intimately. He has a much better idea of what true fulfilment and happiness are for us than we ourselves have. There is a place in His heart set aside for you, and you only. When we touch God's heart, we start to find our true identity. When we walk in our true identity, we wil meet the provision of God without difficulty.

To enter into the experience of the Kingdom in this life we must learn to let go of the relationship we have with this world. Every attitude, every relationship, every possesion, every belief, everything.

If we truly let go of everything, He will clean up the mess we may have made as we move into His new purposes.

In our natural self, we will value some things too much and some things too little. This wil lead to frustration. If however we have truly released everything into God's hands, He will cause us to have correct values. Our hopes will be in the right things, and He will not disappoint us.


Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mat 10:39 NIV)

...it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32b KJV)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Choosing Grace in our Relationships

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col 3:13 NIV)
To choose grace, you must walk in complete forgiveness.

What does this mean?

It means firstly to receive the full depth of God's forgiveness. Day-to-day, God does not want you to be conscious of your sin. This means you choose not to try to spur yourself on to better behaviour and performance by keeping a record of your own failures. It means you do not judge yourself as inadequate or weak in God.

Our sin entails everything which falls short of God's desires and designs, past, present and future. So God does not want us conscious of these things in a guilty, defeated, self-loathing way.

We may have failed morally, financially, spiritually, relationally. God does not want us conscious of it however. We can at any time decide to enter into the higher life of the Spirit, where the Blood is continually offered for our sins, shortcomings and failures.

It means a clear conscience before God in all things. God calls us to live in this manner. We are not to beat ourselves up in a vain attempt at getting better performance out of ourselves.

There is the spirit of Law and there is the Law of the Spirit. The first is graceless and without mercy. Everyone is scrutinised and measured, judged wanting. The second is full of grace and mercy. Do not hold a constant measuring stick to yourself.

I pray that you will enter into this place of rest, of giving yourself a break. You cannot delight fully in the Lord unless you do! The very presence of Jesus caused people to enter into sweet inner rest, see Luke 10v38-. Unless they were inwardly under Law, driven to achieve and out-achieve others.

Only when you have drunk deeply from the wells of salvation in this way will you be in a position to truly forgive others, even if you have already  decided in principle that you need to.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Grace and Law- two systems to choose from

We can adopt three postures towards God. Only one of them is pleasing to God Himself. These are 'atheist', 'legalist' and 'contrite of heart'.

Firstly, we can deny God's existence or attempt to ignore Him completely.

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. (Psa 14:1 NIV)

There is no such thing as a righteous atheist. His attempts at righteousness will be a sham. The psalm spells out the truth about him.

Secondly, we can attempt to justify ourselves before Him. We try to prove our own goodness and worthiness to Him. This is normally by trying to get in His good books through an appeal to our own merits or our own good works.

Here we appeal, perhaps subconsciously, to some code of rules for conduct, published or otherwise, and try to convince ourselves that we measure up well to it, and are therefore deserving of God's favour or positive intervention on our behalf. This 'tit-for-tat' attitude is deeply embedded in our fallen nature. We are assuming God is after something from us to justify any favour or attention he gives us.

The Old Testament patriarch Abraham was given an unconditional promise of enormous scope in Genesis chapter 12 verse 7. This is indicative of the fact that God had decided to show him favour. Up to that point all Abra(ha)m had done was to take God seriously and walk with Him. In verse 7, there had been no bargaining or self-justification, just a promise from God out of the blue. Further unconditional promises would follow as Abraham walked imperfectly with God. Look at Genesis 14v14 and 15v1-7. These promises are simply statements from God to Abraham, saying without qualification that God would bless him in certain ways. These ways were obviously very substantial and far-reaching. Notice that the physical sign of covenant was given after the promise in Genesis 15, as a sign in response to Abraham's request for reassurance. It was not a condition of the covenant.

Later, under Moses and at Sinai, a conditional covenant was instigated. We refer to this as the Law, the Law of Moses. I believe that this was in response to the demands and expectations of the people, who failed to comprehend the unconditional covenant given to Abraham. We can therefore discriminate between the physical seed of Abraham and the spiritual seed of Abraham. The spiritual seed of Abraham is the Body of Christ, the true church. The physical seed is the Jewish nation, from which came the physical body of Christ Himself. One may be a physical descendant of Abraham by natural birth. One may be a spiritual descendant of Abraham by the New Birth, i.e. being born again. One does not have to be a physical son to be a spiritual son. You can be both of course.

We may acknowledge the existence of God, and His righteousness. We may then be tempted to try to measure up to Him in our own strength. We will measure ourselves and others according to some code of conduct, seeking to justify ourselves before Him and gain His favour. We will judge ourselves and others who do not measure up. We will become uncertain of our own standing before God. To live like this is to live under Law. The Law I am refering to may or may not be the law of Moses. For the Orthodox Jew it is. For others it may be some other written or, more likely, unwritten code of outward conduct. It could be the rules of a particular church or denomination. Whatever it is, we will fail to measure up completely.

The third approach to God is based only on faith in His love, goodness and mercy. The Bible does not tell us that sin was imputed to Abraham. In other words, God did not approach him by making an issue of failures and wrongdoings. Instead God took the initiative and simply made promises. Abraham for his part believed God was real and was talking to him,  and that He could be trusted. He then acted in line with these beliefs, albeit imperfectly. This way of realting to God is the way of grace. It is not that grace is first required from us. We believe that He is a gracious God. In other words, we have faith in His grace.

In reality throughout the Bible we can see that people attempted to commune with God on the basis of law or grace, or a combination. It is the same today. Even believers tend to appeal to Law at least some of the time. Abraham, and later David, approached God on the basis of His grace and goodwill and not their own imagined righteousness. This is how God wants it.

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.    The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.     I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.    And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.   I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14 KJV)

Here Jesus penetrates to the heart of the issue. A contrite needy heart will be accepted before God. A self-reliant heart will not be. It is a question of innermost attitude. The correct, contrite innermost attitude will perceive Christ.

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32 KJV)


God wants to give us the Kingdom. We simply acknowledge that we do not deserve it. In our natural condition we deserve death. We acknowledge that we cannot attain to it unless He gives it to us. we realise that He graciously wants ot give the Kingdom to us. He wants to condition self-reliance and striving out of us; those things which we learnt through the influence of Satan. Then He intends to give us the Kingdom. What is the Kingdom in practice? It is to live by the Word of God and not by the wisdom and patterns of this world. We can experience the Kingdom within us firstly in this dark world. This dark world will then begin to conform to heaven everywhere we go. If we live like this, we will ultimately experience the Kingdom as physical reality also.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Green Pastures of Grace; Grace and Forgiveness are Wonderful!

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1 v6-7 KJV)

Well Hallelujah!

We can interpret these verses from 1 John in the light of God's grace. If we walk in fellowship with Him, spending time in His presence and His Word, and in worship and fellowship with other believers, we will be in the light. In this condition, He will overlook many shortcomings and the Blood will cleanse us on an ongoing basis.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Pet 4:8 NIV)


If God tells us to overlook a multitude of sins, it means we should not be making a point of all those we see in others, provoking guilt. And God is simply telling us to extend to others what he is already extending to us!

We cannot enjoy fulness of fellowship if we are always conscious of our sins and shortcomings.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.


For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (Heb 10:1-2 KJV)

The Law of Moses had a sacrificial aspect to cover for sins. However it could not result in a clear conscience for more than a few moments even if complied with! God was making the point through the Law that sin was real and lethal in His sight, and that the price for cleansing and redemption was very great.

Verse 2 shows that under that old imperfect covenant, worshippers were still conscious of sins on an ongoing basis. The implication of verse 2 is that under the superior, complete and final New Covenant, entered into simply by faith, we should not be conscious of sins and shortcomings on an ongoing basis! Let that one sink in! Unless you are in serious, conscious, deliberate sin, drink it in!!! If anything in the whole of human experiece is worthy of celebration, this is!! Worthy is the Lamb!!!! For this reason in particular!!!!

1 John chapter 1 verses 8-9 go on to say that if we have sinned in our consciences we need to confess it and not hide and excuse. He will forgive us AND cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yes this is wonderful. But the fact that God wants us, even in our immature and falible state, to live free of condemnation and guilt and a sense of failure and inadequacy is even more wonderful!!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Inner Healing and the New Creation

I have been subjected to extremes of teaching in two areas. Inner healing, and the New Creation. This has led me to seek understanding of how, or if, these areas fit together. Those who emphasise the second sometimes tend to dismiss the first. Those who emphasise the first tend to detract from some of the teaching about the new creation.

We can support both types of ministry from scripture, e.g. Isaiah 61v1, 2 Corinthians 5v17.

What are my thoughts on all of this? We should be moving on in relationship; in our friendship with God, and in our yieldedness to His will. To focus on our pain for too long is to cease fixing our eyes on Jesus. However, if we do fix our eyes on Jesus, from time to time He will heal an area of our hearts.

We are only really and truly healed into who we really are in Him. This is the New Creation. We are healed into self-sacrificial servants. God will not turn you into a whole, self-indulgent, self-absorbed person, for that is a contradiction in terms. He will not heal you into an obsessive person. He will heal you into who you are in His sight. That may not be who you believe yourself to be, or who others believe you to be. But it will be your real life. Matthew 10v39.

A Male Ruled Kingdom?!

A real hot potato here!

Will God use a woman to lead His church? Yes, in the areas where he wants them to!

I see men going nowhere spiritually, and women putting effort into following Him. I guess we all do. Does that mean God has changed His design intention for men and women? Of course not.

Indeed if a women steps out of her creation role to be a 'helpmeet' she should not be surprised if some of her 'spiritual' activity turns out to be chaff, even if it sounded good to some at the time! This role was defined by God and before the fall. The oppression of women came after the fall. Biblical submission of women need not involve oppression. There should be a willing, reverential acknowledgement of both gender roles.

I am not saying that women should not minister, even to men. But they should not do so in a domineering, directive, usurping, disrespectful way. The authority of spiritual direction for a congregation belongs to men God has prepared, influenced and supported by Godly women.

I realise this is against the zeitgeist or 'spirit of the times'. However, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and he chose 12 men  to head the early church! This does not mean they were always the quickest on the uptake however!

Yes, regarding salvation and value to God, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free. But regarding roles within the family, society and the church, we should not cause scripture to waste it's breath.

This is not to supress female self-expression, but to steer it in the right direction.

Males for their part have abused feminity so much that women have difficulty trusting us with leadership and authority in their lives.

There are many wounds to heal, and God will heal them if we ask, but the Bible does not teach that men and women are fully equivalent apart from the physical plumbing!

Now there are factors in our interpreting scripture I agree. I am scratching at the tip of the iceberg on a related subject here. There is a factor of cultural backdrop. This cannot be ignored entirely, and will alter the outworking of some statements. There is the possibility (depending on one's beliefs about scripture) of bias and predjudice in the human writers. Also some apostolic writing is clearly corrective rather than absolute. (For example Paul advises people in one context not to marry, whereas in another he advises them to do so). However all scripture is breathed of God and it seems dismissive of its authority to disregard so many passages on this issue.

I have noticed that here in suburban South Africa, decay is a few years less evident than the UK and US in things like family breakdown, lack of general respect, delinquent children etc. Is it a coincidence that on the whole male/female roles are also more traditional and therefore biblical?

Please understand I am talking about the issues the Bible talks about, such as love, respect and headship. Things such as wisdom, sensitivity, tact, intelligence, diligence, intuition, even courage, are not subject to any absolute gender discrimination, or it may be in  favour of the female of the species!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Looking unto Jesus

Paul said things which to the natural man are folly, or at least hard to understand. Paul told us to fix our eyes on things unseen, see 2 Corinthians 4v18 (NIV). The writer of Hebrews told us to fix our eyes on Jesus, Hebrews 12v2.

For both verses, the KJV uses the word 'look' were the NIV uses 'fix'. The NIV is probably better here. The greek word in the Corinthians verse is 'skopeo' from which we derive 'telescope'. The word is also used for 'taking aim'. It is to look intently.

Here is my rendition of 2 Corinthians 4 verse 18:

'Let us perceive clearly and intently, not the things visible with the physical eyes, but the things that are not seen with the eyes. For the things seen with the physical eyes are temporary, whereas those not so seen are eternal'.

Now Hebrews 12 verse 2.

The word used for 'look' or 'fix' is the greek 'aphorao'. Now I am no greek expert and used Strongs Concordance here. But this word is an interesting composite of two words.

First the second half of the word. 'Horao' is one of several greek words all meaning 'to look'. However, there is a great richness of shade of meaning in those different words. (The greek language is characterised by this, a depth of expression in everyday matters, few technical words). 'Horao' is, like 'skopeo', a word denoting intense observation and not passive, accidental seeing. There turn out to be greek words for casual, unintentional seeing too, but not here. It is observation by deliberate choice. It could be translated 'to take heed of something, stare at it and perceive it clearly'!

The other part of 'aphorao' is a prefix. This is the word 'apo'. In this context the meaning is most likely 'away from, sperate from'. We could therefore render the word 'aphorao' thus; 'to look intently away from something, and disregard it, and at something else, and perceive it clearly'.

This rendition makes sense when we take into account the previous verse. it concerns laying aside weights, sins and distractions, which encumber us.

My rendition of the first part of Hebrews chapter12 verse 2 (in the light of v1 and 2 Cor 4v18), would be;

Let us look away from ourselves, disregarding sin and distractions, and intently perceive and pursue Jesus.

Let us choose to believe that He is drawing us, and His Spirit is wooing us and encouraging us. It is not a barren experience to look to Jesus, but a fulfilling delight.

Let's ask Him to help us truly 'look unto' Him.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Kingdom Living and lessons from Nuclear Physics!

I studued Physics at University and occasionally I like to read about that sphere of activities.

I have been reading an interesting, if somewhat grim book on the development of the first nuclear weapons. Unfortunately it was the weapons, rather than the reactors for peaceful power production, that were realised first. (The book is 'Atomic- The First War of Physics' by Jim Baggott).

The German scientist Otto Hahn and 2 colleagues discovered nuclear fission in Uranium in 1938. Huge amounts of energy were available for release. Some people believed that mind-boggling applications were likely in the near future, and some did not. It was the brink of World War 2. Fortunately, some notable German scientists, in particular Werner Heisenberg, were among those who felt 'practical' applications of nuclear fission were many years away. The Nazis did not seriously pursue the Bomb.

Meanwhile, scientists such as Frisch and Peierls in the UK and Oppenheimer in the US were confident that extraordinarily powerful bombs could actually be built. Eventually, Churchill and, pivotally, Roosevelt, were also convinced. The rest is history and the world was changed, perhaps not for the better.

The key to the release of nuclear energy had been given by Otto Hahn in 1938.  Some could not grasp or believe the implications. Some men of vision could however. (Hahn finally got a Nobel Prize for his discovery in 1946).

This made me think of spiritual parallels. Matthew ch 16v 17-19 tells us that the keys to the Kingdom are given to those who accept the revelation that Jesus is the Christ.

Just as a new day in energy and weaponry manifested to those with the foresight to apply the key, the same needs to happen with the Kingdom of God here on Earth. We need to see some more genuine realisation of the Kingdom.

We have been given the keys to the Kingdom. They are set out in Scripture. Do we believe they are sufficient, if we apply them, to usher in the rule of heaven on earth? The work has been done in Christ. The iimplications, the theory, have been set forth by the apostles. Are we going to wholeheartedly apply them? I side with those who believe that Jesus will not come for a weak church, but for one which has at least started to assert Kingdom values in this world. We should be seeing signs of Kingdom revolution against the prince of this world and his system of rule.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Kingdom Faith 2- Mammon

We are called to live in a spiritually hostile world. Attempts to organise heaven on earth have generally failed. We can live in a heavenly manner of conduct here on earth regarding provision (and indeed in everything). God will ensure that this world order is overuled where we are concerned when we do this. This is seen in teaching regarding the necessities of life. Jesus assures us that if we will seek to live according to the precepts of heaven, we will be cared for and provided for without having to get anxious about provision. Matthew chapter 6 verse19 onwards contains a mandate to establish Kingdom rule regarding provision.

There is debate about whether Mammon represents a personification, an evil principality, behind the monetary system or just plain money. Because of the context, I incline to the first point of view. The hold money seems to have on us is such that we have immense problems actually putting into practice the teaching of Jesus, regarding seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then trusting money to sort itself out. If Jesus is really taken at face value here, the control money appears to have over the affairs of men is actually a delusion. If we put into effect the living words of Jesus, the control and restrictions money appears to put in our way will crumble before our eyes! Do we really believe this? Let's ask God to help us see things this way!

Kingdom Faith- Blessing AND Persecution

The Bible is designed to assist as we seek to tune ourselves in to God's way of living, as we seek to learn to live in fellowship with Him, to experience His presence, and to shine forth His goodness to the world. God is fitting us out for eternal life and unfathomable and unforseen blessing.

We are (or should be) learning His nature, His values, His way of relating. All of this is going to be somewhat alien to those who have learned their outlook and beliefs from dealings with this world system. As I sit in a Cafe writing this, I eavesdrop on South African surburbanites, very many of whom still profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The dominant subject of conversation is money, business and possessions. But we are called to live in a very different way.

This world order, which seems so substantial, is a temporary aberration in the sight of God. We need to learn Kingdom living. The outcome of Kingdom living in this world is not entirely predictable. It can bring favour, but it also may bring persecution. This is a reason most of us prefer to hold onto worldly semblances of security and control. It is this false and temporary security that Jesus was offering to deal with in the rich young ruler, Luke 18v22. (Unfortunately, in the short term at least, he was not responsive). Kingdom living brings some guaranteed benefits, as David realised, Psalm 103 v2-5. Our eternal wellbeing is guaranteed. If we suffer in this world, He is with us and our would-be tormentors will realise that He can make for us a spiritual and emotional banquet in the presence of our enemies.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

David, Isaiah and me; waiting on the Lord

I often say Christianity, seen correctly, is primarily about relationship with the One who is Life. Working in Africa with no agenda dictated by other men means you sometimes have to decide what to do with your day. There may be nothing urgent to attend to. I can usually think of something to do, but I must choose to believe God is sufficiently interested in me persoanlly to have something to say. This can be a time to wait on the Lord.

To truly wait on the Lord is to be willing to do His bidding. It is to put aside our agenda. Even our 'Christian' agenda. If we have resources and friends, we can do something 'Christian' without waiting on the Lord. It may not clearly reflect the heart of God though.

I am not saying we should be paralysed from doing anything until we have clearly heard from God. Some responsibilities are immediate and obvious. Some guidance is just living out our knowledge of righteousness with situations that present themselves. (We personally have regular commitments 4 days of the week and often school assemblies on 2 other days). However, we should be cultivating this attitude of waiting on the Lord. God may communicate by impression, prompting, inner check, dream, direct word, advice of a friend, Bible verse, maybe another way. If we are sincerely waiting on God, even if we make a mistake, He will clear up and correct; pick us up and dust us off.

If we are to spend time in this way, we must have a conviction that God does want to speak. He is not wanting to find fault all the time. He is passionately and lovingly interested in our lives and callings.

Today I have on my heart a group of young men in the squatter camp we visit. They sometimes hang out near where Julia does a Bible study on Thursdays. The impression I got was that I should pray further about ways to reach them and perhaps approach them today. (I also find this idea intimidating, so I must pray for boldness too).

God will speak as far as we are willing to hear. If we have set our own boundaries and hardened our hearts, we may not hear. Repent and start again. His demands are not onerous. He will not force us to obey.

Often Julia gets the same promptings as me, or related ones. This week we have both been getting impressions about a couple who live in a nearby township, Wattville. They are Gift and Mary. Julia phoned Mary, and together they have been to the Municipality offices researching the land zoning in Wattville. It turns out that a plot of land that Pastor Gift and I (Simon) went to look at recently is zoned for 'faith group activities' amongst other things. So we could be on the right track with a children's centre there.

Now these impressions need to be rightly submitted to relevant spiritual leadership. The pastor of the church we go to suggested Wattville as a location and a member of the congregation introduced us to pastor Gift. Even the Apostle Paul himself submitted his revelations of Christ and the Gospel to the existing apostles for confirmation and approval. However church oversight should not be so overbearing or elitist that individual initiative before God is crushed out. If we turn out to be wrong on this one, God will still guide us on.

David at times was recklessly abandoned to the leading of God. When he shrunk back into natural reasoning and reassurance, he was severly disciplined by God. God was placing very high responsibilities on David as His chosen King over His people Israel. He was also called into a position of prophetic prominence in the earthly lineage of Jesus Christ. (Think about it. God became a man. He took on human form. And he chose a human lineage. And He chose David to be perhaps the most promonent, most honoured figure in that Lineage, see Revelation ch 22v16). We have seen that David was disciplined harshly for stepping out of love in 2 Samuel ch12. What is surprising is that God's wrath was also triggered by David attempting to rely on natural strength. This should be a sobering warning to people in senior spiritual leadership, (2 Samuel ch24). We might see these types of mistake as a trivial or excusable. There may be no physical consequence, but there could be serious spiritual ones. Again, grace and the fear of the Lord are two sides of a 'coin' of knowing God.

Back to waiting on the Lord. This theme is frequent in Psalms and Isaiah and there are promises made to those who practice this habit. They shall not be ashamed. Ps 25v3. They shall be preserved, Ps 25v21. They shall be strengthened, Ps 27v14. He is their help and shield, Ps 33v20. They shall inherit the earth, Ps 37v7 (!!). They shall see the vengeance of God on the wicked, Ps 37v34. He is their defence, Ps 59v9. He is their salvation, Ps 62v1. He is their provider, Ps 104v27. They shall see His mercy and redemption, Ps 130v6-8. They shall rejoice and be glad, Is 25v9. They shall experience His grace, and be blessed and exalted by Him, Is 30v18. They shall renew their strength and soar in life, Is 40v31. They shall be delighted and astonished at what He has prepared for them, Is 64v4!

Probably worth sticking at then!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

David and Contrition

2 Samuel Chapter 12

Today I want to talk about what grace is not. Grace is not a license to sin and expect no consequences whatsoever. We talked yesterday about how David walked in grace. He understood that God was firstly concerned about heart attitude and not ceremonial or legalistic observance. There was not necessarily a harsh punishment for every trangression merely against the written code. We are not constantly being measured against an exacting standard, even our own, with a threat of rejection and cursing. The person under grace has this perspective. It is God's favoured way of relating with us.

I should say straight away that if you got into serious sin before you became a Christian, then God will show you the fulness of His kindness and mercy over the consequences. I am talking here about the believer who makes light of serious sin, particulalry that which brings much pain to others.

David walked in grace and he was also a man of passion. By this I mean that he was not a cautious, timid personality. He was a 'people person'. Perhaps we see men of passion and action as inevitably being prone to obvious sins such as sexual immorality or substance abuse. This is not inevitable however, since Jesus was a man of passion and so was Paul. In other words, it is possible to exhibit a passionate nature which is also righteous and pure. God is not leading us into self-preoccupied introversion. Such behaviour generally has little real time for the needs of others. Personally I avoided much sin as a young man simply because of a lack of self-confidence, but that is not real virtue. But a person with the status and personality of David was going to be tempted more than most of us.

We might also consider that the behaviour he got into with Bathsheba and Uriah in 2 Samuel 11 was probably routine misdemeanour for rulers at the time. David could be tempted to excuse himself in this way. This is self-justification by social norm. Of course it doesn't really wash with God.

There are three key issues here.

In 2 Samuel 12 Nathan confronts David, indirectly and then directly, with his sins of adultery and murder. But also Nathan reveals his duplicity (double standards) and attempts at concealment. He gets the full force of God's hot displeasure. First his own duplicity regarding ruthless selfishness is revealed by his response to Nathan's parable. David's wrath is triggered towards a hypothetical individual who has behaved in a less atrocious way than he. Then 2 Samuel 12v9 clearly shows us that God sees the heart intent behind an act of sin, not just the physical act. Here, through Nathan, God addresses David as if he were the one who yielded the sword against Uriah. God sees through our contrivances and blame-shifting immediately. He sees our manipulative plotting.

First key issue. Grace does NOT mean God will negate the consequences of our sin indefinitely and totally, and particularly when the sin affects others seriously. 

There were natural and spiritual forces unleashed by the sin of David. It is interesting that in that dispensation, God was not expecting David to be monogamous. However, the behaviour of David with Bathsheba and Uriah triggered the anger of God towards David. Now God is not the author of evil, but he has set in motion a system where evil spiritual forces will bring vengeance on us when we get into sin. David was destined to live in the spiritual and relational consequences of his sin. God made this clear to him. There would be turmoil and violence in his household. In addition, because of his attempts to conceal his unrighteousness, God would make his punishment visible to all.

Then comes a very illuminating verse, verse 13.

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. (2 Sam 12:13 KJV)

David confesses his sin, and sees that it is against the Lord primarily. This is sufficient to release forgiveness into our lives, see 1 John 1 verses 9-10. (However, as we shall see at key issue three, confession and contrition are seperate things).

To understand this verse, we must see the results of our sin at the level of our relationship with God and also at the level of other natural and spiritual consequences. God had just spelt out clearly the consequences for David and his family of his actions. There was obviously a spiritual link involved bringing a curse on his life. Now this was not the curse of the Law discussed in Galatians chapter 3 verse 13. David did not live as one under the letter of the Law of Moses (1 Samuel ch 21v6). Instead it was a curse brought about by moving very seriously out of the Law of Love. This has something important to say to believers today. Nathan made it clear that this action had shown scorn for God himself, and not a contempt born of ignorance.

Second key issue. Crucially, God Himself had put away the sin of David. This means He would not hold it against him or bring it to remembrance as an accusation or hindrance to their intimate fellowship in future.

Since David was a friend, God would not punish David for the sake of mere retribution.

So why did God sometimes allow harsh consequences to result from David's sin? And why does He allow them following ours too?

Here we touch on another attitude of heart displayed by David which sheds light on why Jesus endorsed him and honoured him and why he is pivotal in the prophetic revelation of the Messiah.

I am going to look at Psalm 51. It is definitely worth reading in it's entirely. It was written at some point after these events.

We can react to the discipline of God in one of two ways. We can despise it, or we can submit to it, welcoming it as one would a very effective but unpleasant medicine. Philosophically and robustly would be my recommendation! See Hebrews 12 verse 5. Now God's discipline may or may not follow our outward acts of sin. Here it obviously did.

David submitted to God's discipline, seeing it as an outworking of His love.

But what I really want to draw your attention to is verse 17. Perhaps the main thing the discipline of God brought into David's life is contrition. This is closely related to the fear of the Lord.

Third Issue. God desires and prizes a truly contrite heart.

This is a heart that has stopped defending and justifying itself and sees a desperate and ongoing need for God in all things. It is true meekness of spirit, and it qualifies you before God to inherit both heaven and earth! A contrite heart sees God's ways and perspectives as the final legitimate realities, and soberly judges that God's ways are the only ways things can be.

A truly contrite heart is unlikely to sin again in the same way. A truly contrite heart has much love, see Luke 7 verse 47. David was still not perfect, but by the time this Psalm was written he was in a better place than ever with God.

A contrite heart has been melted by love, but has been conditioned by the right fear of the Lord.

Pray with me that God would form in us a truly contrite heart.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Grace and the Life of David

If we read the story of David's life, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he was a passionate man who lived from the heart. Religious people in general tend to live in a straightjacketed manner. They are often not people who seem to be living life to the full. David did. It was not some life of contrived excitement either. It was a real entering in to the spheres of human interaction, be they personal, political, military, literary, indeed religious. David lived with exuberance and it was not skin-deep. There is a richness and passion about the way he approached life.

Yet despite the fact that his drive and zeal for life sometimes overflowed into unrighteous conduct, he is a central figure in the Bible. He is mentioned just a few verses before the close of Revelation. Jesus is speaking in Revelation 22v16. He associates his earthly lineage with David and thereby honours him highly. In the prophetic sense the Holy Spirit does the same in Isaiah 11.

Why is this so? Some of my thoughts:

While David loved the Law, he found delight in the Lord Himself. He got a grasp on grace and mercy. He entered into intimacy with the Lord. He was a poet and musician, and in his writings, he was granted a prophetic revelation of the Messiah, the Christ. He came to understand that God did not desire ritual and procedure, even that which He Himself had given, as much as he desired fellowship. He came to understand that the prime motive in God's heart is eternal delight in those who bear His image and have the capacity to be His children. To this end, the Saviour would suffer and die, and be resurrected. David perhaps only perceived these things dimly, but he often lived in the good of them. He understood that God desired a humble and contrite heart more than ceremonial observances. If the sacrificial ceremonies reflected a contrite heart, well and good. If not they were worthless. If the heart was contrite, God would overlook the fact that the sacrifices were not performed.

There was mutual delight in God's encounters with David (Psalm 18v19, 37v4). We have a capacity for delight. With no delight, life is dull and laborious. Will we give that capacity we have for delight to the Lord first? It will be a stabilising factor in our lives and will predispose us towards righteousness in our conduct. It will help us to live in the Spirit and so fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law (Romans 8v4).