Eternal Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“You welcomed him back with success and prosperity. You placed a crown of finest gold on his head. He asked you to preserve his life, and you granted his request. The days of his life stretch on forever.”
Psalm 21:3-4 NLT

These verses today are rich with several themes interwoven but all coming together in acknowledging God and giving Him the glory for all He had done for David. David had returned victorious from a battle, or had won an important political argument, and he and his followers, his people, were celebrating. The crown signified that he was the undisputed king and the fact that it was of the finest gold represented the quality of his kingship. David was a royal appointee, successful in all that he put his hand to, and prosperous through his receipt of taxes from the subservient foreign nations and his own people, and through his own activities in Israel. 

But the Psalm records that “the days of [David’s] life stretch on forever”. We know of course that David died at the age of 70 so it could not mean that he was going to be immortal on this earth.  We could assume that David was referring to eternal life, as we read in Psalm 16, another of his Psalms. “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (Psalm 16:11). Or this could have been referring to his dynasty, as we read in 2 Samuel 7: 11b-13, “ … Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever”. This was of course a reference to the coming Messiah, and we see the fulfilment of that in the angel’s message to Mary, recorded in Luke 1:31-33, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Returning to the royal implication in these verses, we know of course that we pilgrims are also of royal stock. Peter wrote, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). We may not have crowns of gold in this life, but Paul wrote, “And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). We pilgrims will be supplied with a “crown of righteousness” when we cross the Great Divide into God’s presence, a crown of far more worth than something made with a commodity used to pave the streets of the New Jerusalem.

So, in a sense, our lives will also “stretch on forever” but without all the hassles of human life. Again, a verse from Paul’s epistle to the Romans, “And because you belong to [Christ], the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:2). Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:36), and one day we will experience that freedom, as though a huge weight has been lifted from us. No more sickness. No more death. And eternal life spent in God’s presence. David asked God to “preserve his life, and [He] granted his request”. We too come to the Cross and ask Jesus to preserve our life, and as we  ” … confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). This was the moment when we passed from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, enabling us to commence our eternal lives at a time when we are also human beings on Planet Earth. Is that a “Hallelujah” or whoop of praises expressed to God I can hear in the distance? 

Father God. David knew that he would live forever in Your presence, as will we pilgrims. Please help us complete our journey, giving You all the praise and all the glory. Amen.

Shouts of Joy

Posted on by korgrocker

“How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord! He shouts with joy because you give him victory. For you have given him his heart’s desire; you have withheld nothing he requested.”
Psalm 21:1-2 NLT

Something significant happens when God comes through for us. With David it was the realisation that God had given him victory over his enemies. In fact, David testified that God had “given him his heart’s desire” and had “withheld nothing he requested”. The “something significant” for David was a manifestation of “shouts of joy”. David had a freedom in his personality that allowed him to outwardly express the feelings of joy within him. In our conditioned cultures today, such an ebullience is unusual, although it can be seen in healing meetings, where people have been divinely healed of illnesses or disabilities, people expressing “shouts of joy” following the realisation that God had freed them from an incurable condition. But I have never heard anyone, including myself, offering “shouts of joy” in public just because God is who He is. Instead, we act all religious and sing hymns or worship songs. Or offer up long-winded prayers of thanks. We consider ourselves so much more refined than those who outwardly show their emotion. But in a private place, sometimes on my early morning prayer walks, I can be heard to call out the name of Jesus, startling the birds close by. 

There was an occasion when the Jewish exiles had laid the foundation of the new Temple, being built to replace the one destroyed by the Babylonians. An amazing outpouring of emotion followed, as we read in Ezra 3:12-13, “But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance”. The Jews had no hang ups in those days about expressing their emotions in public, and in many places in the world today we find the same. But not in the West, with our “stiff upper lip” culture. It takes a momentous event, usually the death of a loved one, to release a public display of emotion, but this is usually well suppressed by the person involved – after all what will people think? Bottling up our emotions within us is not a good idea because that is not how God designed us, and a physical or mental illness can result in many cases. (Try Googling “problems caused by suppressing emotions”).

But it was the realisation that God had answered his prayers completely that David thought worth recording. This builds a picture of a relationship so close that he seemed to walk hand in hand with God, in constant communication and with effective outcomes. Nothing that David asked God to help him with was refused. Is that the experience of us modern day pilgrims? Jesus said to His disciples, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14:13-14). This is a hard scripture to believe because we intuitively know that it can’t be true in every case. For example, if two people ask God to change the weather, each praying prayers with opposite requests, one for sun and the other rain, how would God answer such a prayer? The significant bit about what Jesus said was “in His name”. Our prayers must align with His will and character, and anything we ask for must therefore bring glory to God. And even then, adding “in Jesus’ name” to our prayers won’t always bring on the result we require, because the name of Jesus is not a magical incantation. David realised the importance of a relationship with God, and tempered his request accordingly.

Looking back over my life, there are many occasions that deserve “shouts of joy“. God has brought about miracles in my life, and in the lives of most believers, where prayers have not been uttered. Jesus said, “Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”(Matthew 6:8). There are other times when our spirits and the Holy Spirit are in direct communication, bypassing our mental faculties. Paul knew this when he wrote, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will” (Romans 8:26-27). 

Why don’t we pilgrims rejoice with “shouts of joy”? Without the manifestation of even a little squeak or suppressed whoop? We watch athletic events or football matches and observe outpourings of corporate emotion when our favourite athlete wins a race, or when our team’s ball crosses the line of the opposing team’s goal. Why can’t we “shout for joy”, when we remember again all that Jesus has done for us, an event infinitely more significant, with eternal consequences, than any human victory. Jesus died for us so that we can live forever. Surely that is worth “shouts of joy”, isn’t it?

Dear Father God. Please forgive us for suppressing the praise that is Yours by right. You deserve all the glory. Amen.

Nations Will Fall

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king. He will answer him from his holy heaven and rescue him by his great power. Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm. Give victory to our king, O Lord! Answer our cry for help.”
Psalm 20:6-9 NLT

David wrote that the boasting nations will “fall down and collapse”, in spite of all “their chariots and horses”. And as we look back through history we find that is indeed the case. But there was a man in the Old Testament who had some remarkable visions and in one of them, “… four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others” (Daniel 7:3). There was a lion with eagles’ wings, a bear, a leopard, and then one with ten horns. Daniel then recorded, “As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly” (Daniel 7:8). Notice the “boasting” bit. Daniel asked an angel for an explanation. Daniel wrote, “I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen, and my visions terrified me. So I approached one of those standing beside the throne and asked him what it all meant. He explained it to me like this: “These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth. But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever”” (Daniel 7:15-18).

David wrote that nations that rely on their own strength will ultimately fail and there is only one kingdom that will ever succeed. We pilgrims know that the only successful kingdom is the Kingdom of God, and its King is Jesus. There will come a time when all the earthly kingdoms and nations will finally collapse, as they have in the past. Where today is the “Third Reich”? The Roman Empire? The Persian and the Babylonian empires? All gone. And today the efforts of deluded men waging war and creating mayhem in the 21st Century will ultimately fail. If only they would read the Bible, learn from it, and history, and accept that their kingdoms will fall.

Jesus told His disciples about His return one day. Matthew 24:30, “And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” We pick up the account in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever“. Finally, we read about the thousand year reign of Christ in Revelation 20, followed by the establishment of a new Heaven and a new earth in Revelation 21. We pilgrims know what will happen one day. We might still be here on earth when it happens, or we might not, but happen it will. In the meantime we will do what David did – “rise up and stand firm”. 

We do not need to fear the world events. They are just a transient phenomenon when viewed from the perspective of eternity. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). We pilgrims are people who look after our souls, feeding them and caring for them, because they will live for ever. We feed them, not with physical food, but with the Word of God and prayer to our wonderful Heavenly Father. He cares for us we know (1 Peter 5:7). 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him“. Let us reach out to Father today and feel the love. And the grace. And the mercy. And it will all be there tomorrow as well. We praise and worship the Father today.

Father God. What can we say? Our only response is one of deep gratitude and worship. We give You all the glory. Amen.

Boasting

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king. He will answer him from his holy heaven and rescue him by his great power. Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm. Give victory to our king, O Lord! Answer our cry for help.”
Psalm 20:6-9 NLT

To boast about something is not normally a good thing to do. As the old saying goes, “pride comes before a fall”. We are all aware of the children in the playground trying to outdo each other with stories of their families, toys, prowess at sports and so on, boasts abounding. But in a less obvious way, boasts take place in the workplace or the pub. Fishermen boast about the size of their catch. Gardeners boast about the size of their prize marrows. Boasting is a human trait that spans many generations. And here we have David writing about how he “boasts in the name of the Lord” when other nations “boast of their chariots and horses”. 

In the Bible, boasting is considered to be evil, with one exception which we will come to later. James 4:16 is a verse in the context of a man making business plans and arrogantly saying what will happen. James wrote, “As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil“. Proverbs 27:1-2, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips“. On a national level we are familiar with the boasting of nations with their stories of armaments, their modern equivalents of “chariots and horses”. The Psalmist wrote, “How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast?” (Psalm 94:3-4). On the world stage today, we are familiar with the boastings of leaders in all sorts of disciplines, but we know that they rise and fall, much as we read in Isaiah 40, “ …  And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade,  … ”.

However, it is acceptable to boast in something that is invincible, indestructible, and all-powerful, as David wrote in our Psalm today. In confidence, and in the face of boasting from others, he could “boast in the name of the Lord our God”. Paul clarified the situation over boasting in 2 Corinthians 10:17, “As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”” Paul also wrote, “As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died” (Galatians 6:14).‭‭ And that is the important distinction. We can boast about Jesus because there is something eternal and complete to boast about. No other person, nation, or religion can match the claim that God came to this earth as a human being and died on a cross for the sins of mankind. That was an event so significant that it can never be exceeded. 

Dear Father God. At every opportunity I will boast about You and Your saving grace. There is nothing like You and never will be. Amen.

Prayer for Pilgrims

Posted on by korgrocker

“May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers.
Psalm 20:4-5 NLT

Psalm 20 is a “Psalm of David” so to whom is this prayer directed? The Bible scholars call this a “Royal Psalm” as it is written, they say, by the people about their King, David himself. So perhaps a better title would be a “Psalm about David”, with “about” replacing “of”. But from this perspective the Psalm makes more sense, and David merely recorded the Psalm from the prayers and other sentiments said about him. So, is this a Psalm we can discard as just being about David or does it have some helpful content for us today?

Yesterday we looked at God’s response to His people in their “times of trouble” and today we consider a more positive perspective as we look forward beyond any current problems to what lies ahead. What plans have we pilgrims made? What are our “heart’s desires” as we journey onwards in our lives? We must have some, because otherwise we will quickly die in our faith. Remember the verse, “Where there is no vision, the people perish …” (Proverbs 29:18a)? What we hope to do, and how we are going to make it happen, becomes our vision for the future. In the natural, we make plans for holidays, or employment. For where we live or who we are going to marry. But what about our spiritual lives, a part of us that is even more important? Sadly, many people become pew warmers, going through the motions of Christianity, but failing to leverage its potential in their live. A verse of advice from Paul to Timothy – 2 Timothy 3:5, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” I’m sure we have all come across religious people in our lives – I met two men yesterday who were more interested in looking after their church building than the Person who should be worshiped there.

There is much written in the Bible about what a pilgrim should be doing. Jesus said that we should follow Him, but what does that look like? To find out we must read the Bible over and over again, and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what Jesus wants us to do and how we are to do it. As an example, we read the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age“. On my prayer walks each morning I speak to people, looking for an opportunity to share the Gospel, but I’m sure all of us pilgrims do the same. Jesus’ Commission is not just for missionaries traveling to remote parts of the world. Jesus also wants us to pray. Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you“. Notice that Jesus said “When you pray” not “If you pray”. 

And we pilgrims pray for each other. The Apostle Paul was a great prayer warrior – Colossians 1:9, “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding”. And we cannot overlook Paul’s wonderful and touching prayer in Ephesians 3, “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit”. It’s a prayer that rises to a crescendo, rich with vision and purpose, as Paul prayed, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think“. The challenge to all believers is, does our vision extend to allowing God to “accomplish infinitely more …”  in our lives. 

The prayer over David included asking God to grant him success for his plans, for answered prayers, victory, and the fulfilment of his heart’s desires. And the same prayer hangs in the air over all God’s people. God’s Word is eternal, not just for one man on one occasion. In excitement today, we need to grab hold of all that God has for us, because that was why He sent His Son, Jesus. One day we will be with Him, and hope to hear those words, “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).

Dear Father God. We are citizens in Your Kingdom, workers for You on Planet Earth. Please lead and guide us in Your ways. And we pray for our fellow believers, that You will envision them with power in all they do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Times of Trouble

Posted on by korgrocker

“In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm. May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem. May he remember all your gifts and look favourably on your burnt offerings.”
Psalm 20:1-3 NLT

David has picked up his pen again and is writing another Psalm. He was probably looking out around his environment and could see distress in people’s lives. Or someone had come to him with a troublesome problem. And with all those wives, trouble wouldn’t have been far from his door. But because of Adam’s sin, the problem-free lives designed by God when He created human beings were corrupted and twisted by frequent visitations of “times of trouble”. And we also see lives of people today constantly beset with “times of trouble”. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle east continue to grind on, causing so much death, distress, and destruction. The UK is seeing major increases in social taxes and energy costs, particularly squeezing the household budgets of the less well off in our societies. There seems to be no end in any generation to “times of trouble”.

David knew the power of God because He had experienced God’s providence in his “times of trouble”. We read in 2 Samuel 22:1-3, “David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my saviour, the one who saves me from violence“. So when David wrote, “may the Lord answer your cry” it was from his personal experiences of God answering his own cries. Do we pilgrims also have testimonies of when God delivered us from our troubles? I certainly do, and I regularly thank God for His care and protection, knowing that He is always there for me.

It is interesting that David wrote, “May the name of the God of Jacob …”. What is the significance of the name of God? I can remember as a very young Christian questioning the recognition of the name of God, suggesting that it was God Himself who I need to worship. But then I found this verse about the name of God. The Bible is full of the many names of God, each describing a different aspect of His character. Names such as “Elohim” meaning “God, Creator, mighty and strong”. Or we have “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”, meaning “LORD”. There are many more. 

The name of Jesus has particular significance, as we read in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. In fact, the name of Jesus is so powerful that we can ask for anything in His name and He will do it (John 14:13-14).

We pilgrims are going to encounter trouble in this life. We know that, because Jesus warned us about it. John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world“. But through Jesus and the power of His name we can overcome the world. Paul wrote some encouraging words at the end of Romans 8, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us”(Romans 8:35, 37). So we pray today that we will be kept close to Jesus through His love and that we will be “kept safe from all harm”. 

Dear Lord Jesus. You overcame all that the world threw at You, even death on a cross. We thank You for Your love and protection. Amen.

Pleasing God

Posted on by korgrocker

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 NLT

David ends his Psalm with a lovely prayer that, although few in words, contains essential advice for any pilgrim on the road to Glory. David once again acknowledges and affirms that God is his Rock and Redeemer, after a journey through initial thoughts about God and His creation, His commandments that “make wise the simple”, and dealing with sin. And here he is winding things up with a prayer that must have warmed God’s heart. And there is also a prophetic indication that the coming Messiah will be the Redeemer. But it’s a prayer that, if we apply it to our lives, makes us feel a bit uncomfortable. Do what we speak and think really please God? All the time?

There is a connection between what we think and the words that come from our mouths, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:34, “You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say”. The Pharisees were a good example of the human tendency to rationalise behaviour to a place where what is thought feels right, and then a Scripture or two is found to back it up, with consequent actions following. Jesus saw right through them, and their house of cards came tumbling down when God’s spotlight showed them up for what they really were. Later in the same passage, Jesus warned the Pharisees about the words they spoke – Matthew 12:36-37, “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”. So before we feel a bit smug because we aren’t Pharisees, can we really claim that we have never spoken an “idle word” or had thoughts that were wrong?

Yesterday we considered the words of James, “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. …  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:6, 10). But what we say starts with a thought in our minds. That would be bad enough but to then verbalise that thought can cause untold damage to others. The advice in Proverbs 21:23 is blunt and to the point, “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble“.

The secret to wholesome speech starts with getting our thinking aligned to God’s thoughts and ways. David wrote about the “meditation of [his] heart” and that is the centre of the problem. What do we meditate on? A blunt question but the answer is one that could make us feel quite uncomfortable. The purification of our thoughts is something we will never really achieve in this life, no matter how hard we try. But we can get better and better in thinking God’s thoughts and getting His perspective on what we think about, as the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. So do we pick up a media report and meditate on that, or do we pick up the Bible instead? The world events that can cause us so much distress become less troublesome when viewed through the lens of Scripture. We behave in response to what we meditate on. We pilgrims must look beyond our circumstances to the Kingdom yet to come, and in the meantime we pray that God will help us clean up our thoughts and speech. A final word from Paul. “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29). Before we say anything we must stop and think. 

Dear Father God. You know our predisposition to say what we shouldn’t. Please help us to follow Paul’s advice and analyse what we say before we say it, to ensure that it is only a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lurking Sins

Posted on by korgrocker

“How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.“
Psalm 19:12-13 NLT

David had a thought that worried him. He wanted to be pure and sinless before God but was concerned about sins “lurking in [his] heart” that were hidden. But were they sins that only he knew about or were they sins that he was unaware of? I think it was the former. Regarding the latter, there are sins that we may be unaware of, but we can be assured that the Holy Spirit and God’s Word will bring these to our consciousness sooner or later. And in the end all sin will be exposed. Jesus said, “For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all” (Luke 8:17). 

Believers may be conscious of their hidden sins but rationalise hiding them because they think that they are just personal and no one else is involved or hurt by them. But sin is sin and will emerge eventually. God gives us time to deal with our sins, through repentance and forgiveness, but if left too long, then in love He will engineer circumstances that cause us to face the gravity of the sins and force us to deal with them. We should note that dealing with sin involves repentance, where we don’t just confess our sins, but we turn away from them, never to commit them again. The confessing of sins without repentance is not really dealing with them. Being remorseful usually happens when someone is caught red handed in their sin. But there is some sinful behaviour that will take a lifetime to sort out because it involves character traits that need to be controlled. James highlighted the dangers of an uncontrolled tongue. “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. …  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:6, 10). Perhaps repentance for a tongue “set on fire by hell itself” will take time as Holy Spirit refines and guides.

Paul struggled with sin, as we read in Romans 7, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. … I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:18, 21-23). But Paul continued, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 7:25-8:2). That must be worth a “Hallelujah!” or two this morning.

David asked God to cleanse him from the sins lurking in his heart, because he said he will then be “free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” Through the blood of Jesus we too are cleansed from all our sins. 1 John 1:7, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” Andraé Crouch wrote a song, “The blood that Jesus shed for me … will never lose its power“. And a hymn written by William Cowper many years ago reads, There is a fountain filled with blood , Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;  And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains:” David didn’t know the redeeming power of Jesus’ shed blood but his relationship with God was such that he knew where he could go to be cleansed from his sins. We are indeed a blessed people today, living as we do in this season of God’s grace.

Father God. We thank You for Your grace and love. We confess our sins to You today, confident in the redeeming power of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. We worship You today. Amen.

Laws, True and Fair

Posted on by korgrocker

“Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.”
Psalm 19:9-11 NLT

David wrote that “the laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair”. Of course they are. They were in David’s day and still are today. Most of the laws in the UK, where I live, are based on Biblical laws and principles that have stood the test of time and have established a stable and peaceful society. But Jesus said in Matthew 5:18-19, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven”. When the Kingdom of God (Heaven) and the kingdom of this world coincide in its laws and behaviours then we find the sweet spot where all human beings will live without trouble and strife. Utopia? Potentially, but, as we know, man’s tendency to sin spoils all that God has planned.

But why did God introduce laws in the first place? Why were they needed and what purpose did they achieve? The Law given through Moses started with God providing stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them. By following them, the Israelites were separated and made distinct from the nations around them, setting them apart as God’s people. Through the Law, God demonstrated His character, holiness and righteousness, and exposed the importance of dealing with sin. The Israelite society eventually became marked by legalism, something exposed by Jesus through His encounters with the Pharisees, who thought that by following the Law and all the rabbinical teachings, they would achieve the righteousness demanded by God. Jesus challenged the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the other religious leaders, but He said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose” (Matthew 5:17). The purpose of the Law was to provide an earthly copy of an eternal, heavenly, unchanging standard of holiness, Psalm 119:89, “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven”. 

Jesus was once asked what the greatest commandment was and we can read His response in Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”. When we read these verses we can see how Jesus fulfilled the Law. Through our love of God, we receive insight for living lives God’s way, and all the Laws of Moses drop into place. Paul wrote, “For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfils the requirements of God’s law” (Romans 13:9-10). 

The twentieth century saw the introduction of laws that specifically contradicted God’s Laws and Principles, and civil confusion has resulted. The transition from a society based on Christian principles to the secular society of today has introduced certain legislation that would not have been necessary for a people who “loved the Lord Your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind”. So we have ended up with laws such as the Abortion Act of 1967, which enables medics to effectively destroy a foetus even though the Bible specifically states that life starts at the point of conception. In God’s Kingdom, life lived God’s way would have rendered this law unnecessary. And there are others, with two pieces of legislation currently proceeding through Parliament, the Conversion Therapy and Assisted Suicide Bills. O Lord! What a mess, all caused through the abandonment of God’s Law.

Of course, we pilgrims can wring our hands in despair, thinking that we are impotent in attempts to set society back on the right track. But of course we can pray, and the Lord’s Prayer has these words, “may Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done”. We pray these words daily because as we do, God listens and continues to hold back the forces of evil that would desire to overflow our society. And we pray for our politicians and law makers, that the Holy Spirit will reveal to them how they can pass laws that are “true and fair”. There will be a day when God’s Law will prevail over all other laws, and Jesus will indeed accomplish its purpose, as he said he would.

About God’s Laws, David wrote, “They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them” (Psalm 19:11). He knew that one day there will be a reward for keeping God’s Laws, and we know that those who don’t have been warned of the consequences of disobeying God.

Father God. You gave us the principles for living life Your way for a reason. We understand the consequences of disobeying You and pray that we will follow You all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Insight For Living (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.”
Psalm 19:8-9 NLT

We left the last blog thanking God for David and his example for living. We thank him too for the Psalms he wrote. But David lived under the Old Mosaic Covenant, that was nevertheless designed to establish a unique relationship between God and his people, outlining laws and rituals to guide their lives, and demanding daily sacrifices in atonement for their sins. However, throughout the Old Testament there were glimpses of the New Covenant, notably through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. ““But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). God knew what was coming and He gave His servants pointers to the climax of history – Jesus Himself.

The New Covenant is not based on the Law but on God’s grace. Paul wrote, “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14). Salvation is a free gift, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, “If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. … When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:7, 13).

We pilgrims responded to the words of Jesus, applying His teachings to our lives. We journeyed to the Cross through the words of the Gospels, and we fell on our knees before God when the reality of John 3:16-17 penetrated to the very cores of our beings. To think that God Himself could come to this world and die for us, taking on the punishment for our sins in our place, has only two responses possible. We pilgrims have chosen the right way, the way of life, but most people in our secular societies have chosen the wrong way, neglecting God’s gracious invitation for salvation. Such people have effectively chosen by default to die in their sins, a decision consigning them to a lost eternity, a fate which Jesus warned against – Mark 9:47b-48, a place of horror where they will” … be thrown into hell, ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’”

So we believers turn to God’s Word, finding the commands of the Lord and giving us the clarity of how to live our lives God’s way, as the Holy Spirit leads and guides us. Our spiritual rebirth has given us access to the Kingdom of God, and there we find “insight for living”. Not only have we access to all the Laws and the Prophets of the Old Testament, but we also have the New Testament, containing the words of Jesus and the writings of theologians like Paul that has founded our faith. There is much that can be written about living our lives God’s way, but perhaps a good place to start would be to ponder on the words of Jesus in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me“. Our lives must be aligned to Jesus, and in everything we do He must be glorified. John 15:8, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father“. There is a sobering question, much bandied about at youth conferences towards the end of the last century – “What Would Jesus Do”? It’s a good question, but thankfully God is patient allowing us a lifetime of discipleship to respond. In the meantime His grace and willingness to forgive prevail. David knew that, and he wrote Psalm 86:5, “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help“. 

David wrote, “The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living” and that statement has never lost its meaning. As we fill our hearts and minds with the truth of God’s Word, we will find all the help we need to live a life God’s way. We will find that the Holy Spirit gently but firmly guides us through the minefields of life and we give Jesus all the glory.

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You for showing us the way with Your words of eternal life. We praise and worship You today. Amen.