Hope in God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:4-5 NLT

A humble prayer from David, as he asks God to teach him, to lead him, and save him. He then finishes verse 5 with the statement “All day long I put my hope in you”. There is no better focus for our God, as I’m sure we agree, but human beings are notorious for hoping and trusting in other things and in other ways. But that hasn’t changed since the days of Adam. Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God”. “Hope” and “trust” go hand in hand in life. We hope in God for our future, and we trust Him to lead us in His ways.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, we must think about how worldly people understand hope. They use it in contexts such as, “I hope I don’t get Covid”, or “I hope it doesn’t rain on my birthday”. There is an element of doubt in such a definition of hope. A response to the question, “will you go to Heaven when you die” is “I hope so”, again demonstrating that they have doubts, though not strong enough to make them do anything about it. 

The whole concept of “hope” comes about because we cannot see what will happen in the future. That introduces another word – “faith”. Hebrew’s 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. What do we pilgrims hope for? There will be many things, depending on our stages in life. We hope for the right job, house, partner, and so on. But one thing we all will agree on is our hope in God for our eternal home. And we can see the extraordinary experiences believers have gone through because within them was the hope of a better life ahead. Biblical hope is different from the hope that the world understands. Biblical hope carries with it a surety that what is hoped for, aligned as it is to God’s Word, is definitely going to happen. We might not see it taking place, but we have faith that whatever it is will come about. Jeremiah wrote, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). That’s a great promise of God, and one we must believe for our lives and those of our loved ones. 

We pilgrims have a firm and unshakeable hope in the future, and we share it with those around us. 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. Do we have our answers ready? Are we a people who are living out God’s truth in our lives, so that others can see it? Are we beacons set on a hill, for all to be illuminated by, standing out from the crowd around us? On Easter Sunday this year I met a dog walker and the conversation came around to what she referred to as the terrible state of the world. She was scared about the wars and threats of war. Of the politicians and their messages of gloom. a poor woman with nowhere to turn to where she could find hope for her future and her family’s. But I shared about Jesus and his resurrection, that through Him we have hope for the future. She admitted that she was an atheist and hurried off, but hopefully I was able to plant a seed of hope. The Holy Spirit I’m sure will water and nurture the good seed of the Gospel planted in that lady’s life that day.

We pilgrims really need to understand the meaning of God’s “hope” and apply it to our lives. We mustn’t be like the house wife in Wales who prayed, when she went to bed, that the coal slag heap behind her house would be cast into the sea, hoping that God would answer her prayer with a much better view when she woke up. On opening her curtains the next morning, the slag heap was still there, her hopes dashed. Her comment was that she knew that her prayer wouldn’t work anyway. When we hope for something we must have faith that the God of hope will answer our prayer.

Paul wrote, “ … We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” (Romans 8:23b-25). We hope and we wait in faith for our hope to be realised.

Father God, in difficult times it is easy to lose hope and faith in You. Father, we admit that we have lost sight of You. In this prayer for hope, Lord, we ask that Your Holy Spirit reignites within us the hope and faith in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Truth Leads

Posted on by korgrocker

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:4-5 NLT

It’s logical really. In theory, if we knew the perfect truth then we would have the perfect teaching and we would walk the perfect road throughout our lives. The problem is that we are sinful and imperfect human beings and we hear what God says in imperfect ways, if at all There is a verse at the end of Judges – “ … all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25b). And that’s the root of the human ailment. We start with whatever seems best to us rather than what seems best to God. Proverbs 14:12 reminds us, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death“. But thankfully there is Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding“. There is much truth contained in the Book of Proverbs. 

So how do we find God’s truth, so that we can be led by it? There is a hint from David here, because these verses in Psalm 25 read like a prayer. So we pilgrims pray for God to reveal to us His truth, in faith, as David was, that he will answer our prayers. Jesus told His disciples, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13). We pilgrims have the Spirit of Truth living within us, ready and waiting to be called upon in our prayers.

But we start from the premise that God is truth. That’s what He is. That’s what He has always been and will always be. It’s in His DNA. In John 18:37 we read about Jesus’ response to  Pilate. “Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognise that what I say is true””. Pilate followed with the cynical response “What is truth”, which is where our world has been ever since sin entered through Adam. In John 8:31-32 we read, “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free””.

We find God’s truth in His Word, and we need to live our lives in the light of His truth. But the way of the world is living in the darkness of lies. Lies are the opposite to truth, and they have permeated our societies at various levels. Some lies are blatantly obvious and they are exposed in the law courts or similar places, but others are more subtle and embedded in our society, even being taught in our schools. I can remember my daughter pointing out to her biology teacher that evolution was just a theory and was not the absolute truth about the origins of life, a brave thing to do in a secular environment. Our politicians are sadly prone to tell lies about what they would achieve if elected to government, only to forget the promises they made once elected. Lies can also be subtle, holding a hint of truth to give them traction, but they are still lies in the end. There is also a tendency to tell “white” lies, perhaps to a loved one who we think would be distressed if they knew the truth about, for example, their medical condition. But we pilgrims are obliged to tell the truth, and we ask God to help us choose the right words for the occasion.

Jesus was all about truth, because He was, and is, God and could not tell a lie. Sometimes He prefaced His teachings with the word, “Truly …”, or as the old KJV puts it, “Verily, verily …”. John 5:24. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life”. When we read Jesus’ confirmation that what He was about to say was true, then we need to sit up and take notice. Again, God doesn’t lie. So we pilgrims ask God to simply guide us in His ways of truth. There is no other path available to a believer in Jesus.

Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we are grateful that you have blessed us with the bounty and richness of our lives. We pray you, God, look down upon us and see fit to share with us the truth of your ways. We wish to know your will, that we may follow it till the end of our days, ever praising you and glorifying your name. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Trust Not Disgrace

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.”
Psalm 25:1-3 NLT

David starts Psalm 25 with a declaration of intent, that he has given his life to God. This is something that all believers must do, but only rarely do we hear this in a testimony. The Apostle Paul was very clear about his commitment to God; in Philippians 1:1a, Paul introduces himself, “This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. …“. A slave is someone who belongs to another and who puts his master’s needs above his own. Jude said the same in Jude 1:1a, “This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ …”. Those early apostles knew the importance of giving their lives to God because there is no other way of faith. We talk about being “sold out for Jesus” but do we really know what that means and the impact it will have on our lives? Paul did, and we read about what it meant for him in 2 Corinthians 11:23 and the following verses. “Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again”. Of course, not everyone will be asked to make the sacrifices that Paul did, but giving our lives to Jesus is a necessary part of discipleship. Paul wrote, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him” (Romans 12:1). 

The KJV translation of Psalm 25:1 reads, “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul“. In some ways this perhaps gives the impression that in the lifting up of our souls, we still have hold of them, able to take them back when the lifting has been completed. But that is not what David intended, and he devoted his life totally to God. When we devote our lives to Jesus, we also trust Him to know what is best for us. Don Moen wrote a song some years ago and the chorus goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey“. We used to sing it. We felt the warm glow inside. But what happened on Monday morning? Giving our lives to the Lord and trusting Him with them is a big ask, but one that we need to consider and apply if we’re going to be true disciples and followers of the Master. 

David, however, asked for something in response to his commitment and trust in the Lord. He asked Him to keep him from disgrace. David was probably once again in a perilous place, with his enemies around him looking for an opportunity to boast about how they had overcome him or how they had made him look stupid, undermining him before his people. So a simple prayer flowed from his pen to God – he wrote “my God”, perhaps emphasising the personal relationship that he had with the Lord. But we pilgrims have enemies, as David did. Peter warned us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”. Note that this may not be a direct attack but one that could be routed through his earthly assistants, who we will find whenever we do something bold and significant for Jesus. The Bible on our desk in the office may invite a sarcastic comment or two. A public testimony will invite threats and abuse. And we must always be aware that once we have come out as a Christian, those around us, confronted by the Holy Spirit living in us, will look for opportunities to make us objects of disgrace. But David was certain that no-one who trusts in the Lord will ever be disgraced. And neither will we, as we stand firm and see God work in whatever situation is confronting us.

David wrote, “disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others”. That is what will happen to those who try and accuse us and rejoice over our defeat. There is always that temptation for us to respond to the cutting remarks and abuse of others within our own strength, but we remember what Jesus said to His disciples, and to us by extension. “And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said” (Luke 12:11-12). So when we are facing those who confront our faith, we must pause for a moment and wait for the Holy Spirit’s answer. It will come, as we trust in the Lord. He will never allow us to be disgraced. 

Father God. We know that we try to hang onto our lives and live them on our terms. But today we repent and commit ourselves to You once again, and put our trust in You, the One who is worthy of all the praise and all the worship. Amen.

Gates and Ancient Doors

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – he is the King of glory.”
Psalm 24:7-10 NIVUK

Theologians have determined that the “gates” and “ancient doors” refer to the gateways to Jerusalem, and the context of this Psalm applies to the courtesies rolled out for special guests, perhaps royalty from other nations. Important people required special measures being applied so that royal entries could be achieved through the gates and doors. Some gates were portcullis affairs that were lifted much higher than usual, so that their tops, their “heads”, appeared over the top of the City walls. Sometimes doors were removed from their hinges, “lifted up”, making the opening in the wall as wide as possible. Quite a lot of fuss, probably, but then we stop and think about the importance of the King of Glory, “the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle“. David made the point about the importance of the “King of Glory” because he repeated verses 7 and 8 again in verses 9 and 10. The phrase “king of Glory” was mentioned four times in these four verses. 

In our Western cities, there are a few with some residual parts of medieval city walls that had gates to keep out the more undesirable elements of society. London once had a city wall, with seven gates into it, although they weren’t used after the mid-eighteenth century. Southampton still has its “Bargate” located at the end of the High Street and a remaining part of the old sea port’s city wall. In the walled parts of cities, there are occasions when certain traditions are re-enacted, reminding observers, mainly tourists, of how things used to be, but in modern Britain gates are of little use for security purposes.

But this Psalm is far more than being just an architectural nicety connected to ancient royal customs. Jesus used the analogy of a door or gate when He said, “ … I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.” (John 10:7-9). This illustration would have been easily understood by the common people of Jesus’ day. The shepherd would have positioned himself at the entrance way to a walled pen, a sheepfold, where the sheep would have gone for safety at night, and no-one would have been able to steal or harm the sheep without the shepherd knowing about it. Jesus’ illustration confirmed that there is only one sheepfold and only one Shepherd; there is only one way to be saved and only through one Person can it be achieved. Later, in John 14:6, Jesus said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. Of course, there are many who would claim other ways to get to Heaven and experience eternal life, pointing to other religions as the alternatives. There are even others who claim that they can get there just by being good, without needing any knowledge of Jesus at all. Still others claim that everyone will go to Heaven one day regardless of how they behave or what they think. But there is only one way, as we pilgrims know and understand. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it”. By God’s grace, we found the narrow gate leading us on a journey that at times is difficult. At times it seems to be populated by people on a broad highway, who are coming towards us and trying to get us to turn round and journey with them to the place we call hell. It is hard to find ourselves swimming against the tide sometimes. But we stick it out, persevering along the narrow road that leads to Glory. 

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends”. The believers in Laodicea were admonished for being neither hot or cold in their faith. They claimed that they needed nothing but failed to realise how spiritually impoverished they were. But after giving them a hard time, Jesus’ grace prevailed with an invitation to listen for His voice and open up their hearts to allow Him to minister to them once again. But what an invitation it was, and one we can receive personally! Think about it. That Jesus would deign to share a meal with us, if only we would cast aside our pride and arrogance and in all humility bow at His feet. We must open up our gates and ancient doors before Him so that the King of Glory can be admitted. Jesus is waiting, but we have to do the opening.

Father God. You are the King of Glory, the Lord strong and mighty. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

O God of Jacob

Posted on by korgrocker

“Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their Saviour. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.”
Psalm 24:3-6 NLT

We pilgrims worship the “God of Jacob” don’t we? The God worshiped by David in Psalm 24 is the same God who sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins at Calvary man years later, and the same God who will come to live with us on the New Earth, as described in Revelation 21:3, “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them”. The Nicene Creed starts, “There is one God, the Father almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth …“. But the God of Jacob? 

Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, one of a twin, born just behind his brother Esau and appearing in this world with his hand clutching his brother’s heel. But right from the start he appears as a schemer who tricked his brother Esau out of his birthright as the first born son. The account in Genesis records, “But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob” (Genesis 25:33). In Genesis 27 we read the account of how Jacob, in league with his mother, Rebekah, fooled his father Isaac into thinking he was Esau, and consequently received the first born’s blessing. When the lies and deceit were exposed Jacob had to run for his life to Haran, to work for Rebekah’s brother Laban. But on the journey, Jacob had a vision of a stairway to Heaven, with angels going up and down, and we read, “At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants” (Genesis 28:13). But Jacob’s scheming didn’t end there. We read, “Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God“” (Genesis 28:20-21). 

Jacob was the continuation of the promise God made to Abraham, his grandfather, and then to Isaac his father. But there was a line of sinful deceit in the family, with both Abraham and Isaac lying about their wives being their sisters rather than their wives. And Jacob was no better, with his scheming and deceit. It wasn’t until Jacob’s son Joseph that the sinful trait was finally erased. Three generations of flawed men who lied their ways out of trouble. And yet we read Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:31-32, “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead”. God made a promise, a covenant even, with Abraham, and the promise has continued to this day. Once God made a promise he will never break it. But to have His name associated with Jacob? 

There is much encouragement here for us pilgrims because we too are flawed human beings, corrupted by sin, but accepted by a God who loves sinners. He might not like what we have done, but He loves us anyway, and we read another promise in John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life“. That belief in God includes confession and repentance of our sins, as we align ourselves to the forgiveness that came through Calvary. We too are children of the promise as we, “receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God [our] Saviour”. We read about the “God of Jacob” but it could equally be the “the God of …” (put in your own name). He is the God who has pursued us with His “goodness and mercy” throughout our lives up until now and beyond into the future as we continue to believe in the One who has made eternal life possible. Jesus said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And so we look ahead, perhaps seeing the glow of Glory starting to appear over the horizon of our lives, we worship the “God of Jacob”, so grateful that God will accept us just as He accepted Jacob all those years ago.

Dear Father God. We worship You today, the God of countless men and women who know You as their Saviour. Thank You for Jesus. Amen.

The Holy Place

Posted on by korgrocker

“Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their Saviour. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.”
Psalm 24:3-6 NLT

David asks a question – “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord”? But before we move on to the answer, we must ask what the Lord’s mountain is, or was, and where it actually was. To the Jews there was a sacred place on which the Temple could be found called Mount Zion, a hill located in Jerusalem. So David was perhaps focused on a specific place when he wrote this Psalm. But in answer to the original questionnaire “Who may climb“, the “mountain of the Lord” was a “holy place” and was not to be defiled by anyone who was a sinner. Anyone coming into the Lord’s “holy place” needed to be clean and pure inside and out, and telling lies and the worship of idols were specifically highlighted as impure actions. Not just that, however, their hearts had to be pure. David may have written this Psalm in anticipation of the day when the Temple was finally built by his son Solomon (2 Chronicles 5) and he could foresee a procession of priests carrying the Ark of the Lord into the Holy Place. Or perhaps it was earlier than that, with the Ark brought into the special tent prepared by David to his City, Jerusalem, as we read in 2 Samuel 6. But there was a misconception in those days that to worship God you had to be in a special place, somewhere considered holy, somewhere such as when Jacob had the ladder experience in a dream. We read in Genesis 28:16-17, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”” Before he left Jacob anointed a memorial stone, naming the place the House of God, or Bethel. 

Much later, when Jesus stopped by a well on a journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, he had an encounter with a Samaritan woman who asked him a question, “So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”” (John 4:20).In response, Jesus told her, “ … Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem” (John 4:21). In Matthew 6:6, Jesus said, “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”. Jesus set the scene for believers everywhere that the “holy place” in their lives was somewhere private where they could be on their own with the Lord. 

At first glance, these words about mountains, holy places and idol worship seem to be a million miles away from us pilgrims on 21st Century Planet Earth. But there are some lessons to be learned, and some spiritual insights that we would do well to follow. We pilgrims look around our country, the UK, and can see many churches, considered sacred places of worship by many. Apparently, there are over 40,000 “places of worship”, many of them ornate and impressive buildings. But it may come as a surprise to many of our fellow believers that they don’t have to go there to find God. For many years, particularly as a young boy, I was convinced that there was something of God underneath that ornate cloth draped over a table called an altar at the front of the church, the place where the minister went through certain ceremonial functions particularly in the communion service. Every time the minister or church official walked in its vicinity, they genuflected before moving on, further affirming my thoughts. Without a doubt, many Christians are helped in their faith by the stained glass windows, the altar ornately decorated, the carvings and the statues. God may be there but only inasmuch as He is everywhere, always on hand for those who call upon His name. In Jeremiah 23:24 we read, “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord”. David wrote, in another Psalm, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me” (Psalm 139:7-10). God is omnipresent. And regarding all the churches, Isaiah wrote, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting-place be?”(Isaiah 66:1). No matter how wonderful and amazing a church building is, it will never be good enough for God to live there. The answer to the question “where is God” is perhaps found in the hearts and minds of believers everywhere, wherever they are.

We pilgrims can draw close to God regardless of our location, latitude or longitude. My favourite place is in God’s creation, the woods and parks that adorn our countryside, because it is there that I find that God listens to my fumbling prayers. Amongst the trees and birdsong I find a “holy place”, where, in His presence, I first confess my sins so that I can indeed “climb the mountain of the Lord” with a pure heart. Others find a place of communion with God in their bedrooms or studies or even a prison cell. But cleansed of our sin, regardless of where we are, we can indeed climb into God’s presence, where we will receive His blessing, and worship Him once again.

Dear Father God. In Your presence we find peace for our souls and comfort in our struggles. You are the only One worth worshiping. Amen.

Who Owns the Earth?

Posted on by korgrocker

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths.”
Psalm 24:1-2 NLT

We leave behind the gentle musings of Psalm 23 to move on to the next Psalm from David. He is in a reflective mood and asks some philosophical questions, one of which he answers right at the start of Psalm 24. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it”. A sweeping statement but most of the inhabitants of Planet Earth would dispute it. An individual might point to his property deeds and claim they are “freehold” meaning that he has a claim to the ground on which the property is built. But then how far does that ownership extend? A nation might claim ownership to the land within territorial boundaries, but what about the whole earth? There is no person or entity who can claim to own it. We pilgrims turn to Genesis 1 and see the account of how God brought the earth into being, by a Word “Then God said …”. Over the first four days of creation God made the earth and the heavens, followed by two days populating the earth with animal and vegetable matter, including human beings. And at the end we read, “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31). So to believers there is no doubt about how the earth came into being. Those who claim that the universe, including the earth, was a chance event, have no real answers to the question “Who made the earth?” let alone who owns it. But the earth is real. We are standing on it, and David wrote that it belongs to the Lord. At the other end of the Bible we read, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased” (Revelation 4:11). In the absence of clear ownership of the earth and its contents we can only look to God, who created it all in the first place. 

In Genesis 1:28 we read, “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground””. That verse is often taken as setting out the responsibilities mankind has over the earth and its contents. The fact that human beings are trashing this world is a sad state of affairs. But having said that, we also read in 2 Peter 3:10-13, “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness”. This theme continues in Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone”. Simply, the earth as we know it will disappear one day in a fire of cosmic proportions, and will be replaced by a new earth. The territorial claims made by human beings won’t be worth the paper they are written on. Anyway, the pieces of paper will be burnt up as well. Will there be souls arguing with God about ownership of a piece of ground on the new earth? I don’t think so.

David moves on to write, “The world and all its people belong to him”. That would be a very contentious statement to an unbeliever, who will claim ownership of themselves and their own little bit of the world, but in a sense their physical body and associated “stuff” ceases to belong to them after they die. But we pilgrims know differently. We read and apply Romans 12:1, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him“. One day these bodies of ours will be of no further use, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands”. So our souls will leave our earthly bodies and instead be domiciled in Heaven in a form God has already prepared for us. 

Paul starts off his Roman epistle with the verse, “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News”. A slave is a person who is the property of someone else. They have no rights or claims of ownership themselves, and Paul voluntarily bonded himself to Jesus as a slave. He was an example for us pilgrims to follow, because we are slaves of Jesus as well. Yes, often our “old man” will rise up and try and reclaim ownership of self, but it is no good because we belong to God, and God alone. Before the hackles start to rise, however, we need to think what we have bought into. A slave of Jesus will have access to God’s resources; it is a privilege, especially when we remember that only Jesus is the Way to eternal life.

Father God. What else can we say other than we are sold out for You and Your Son Jesus. There is no other way possible, and we thank You for Your grace and favour. Amen.

The House of the Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

We draw our little journey into Psalm 23 to a close with some thoughts about the “house of the Lord”. We received a key to God’s front door when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, a door that opened into a very different world to what we were previously used to in our sinful lives. We now live in the Kingdom of God, as children of the Most High, and here a different economy, a different lifestyle and a different culture exist. But on Planet Earth we find ourselves in a strange dual existence, where we physically dwell in a secular world, dark, evil and sin-soaked, but with our spirits loftily positioned in the presence of God, and a constant tussle prevails, as Paul described in Romans 7:23-24, “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. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” But David wasn’t thinking of this when he meditated on the “house of the Lord”, where he would find himself in God’s presence away from the physical constraints of human existence. What a place that will be, free from the worldly pressures and sinful pleasures, that have corrupted the souls of mankind.

In our earthly existences, we receive a glimpse of the Lord’s house, through our fellowship with other believers and our praise and worship of the One in whom we trust. It’s not about the church buildings, wonderful though some of them are. They are just there as meeting places, halls of convenience where our worship can take place. And it is there, in the presence of God, that our spirits connect with God Himself, who hears our shouts of praise and prayers of grateful worship. But I also find the “house of the Lord” in His created countryside, in the parks and woods around me, where my spirit joins the birdsong in reaching up to my Creator God. Those early morning walks where a roe deer accompanied me for a few steps, where an owl hooted and flew off, where wood pigeons and many small birds were singing their hearts out in God-ordained praise. A glimpse of the “house of the Lord” yet only a small hint of what was to come.

There will be a day when we cross the Great Divide, our bodies left behind, but our spirits and souls intact and looking forward in anticipation to examine more rooms in the “house of the Lord”. The same God will be there. Jesus will be there, because He said He would be. It was Spurgeon who said that in this life we live on the ground floor of the house, but in the life to come we can explore the floors above (my paraphrase).  John 14:1-3, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am”. The NIV records that the “place” will be “many rooms”. We don’t know what this place will be like, but one thing we can be sure of – it will be beyond our most extravagant and wildest dreams, because Jesus is preparing it. With God there are no half measures. No construction corners cut. No inferior white goods. Just a wonderful place where God will be. Another Psalmist wrote, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10). There’s a line in a Motown song from the 60’s that says “I’d rather live in his world than live without him in mine”. That’s what we pilgrims feel about being with Jesus, forever. Taking all things together, the “house of the Lord” will be quite a place!

There is insufficient space here to include all the things that will happen in the “house of the Lord”. We know that in His presence there will be amazing praise and worship, and not just from a few people in a small congregation. Revelation 19:1, “After this, I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting, “Praise the Lord! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”. We will be there in that number, caught up in a crescendo, the likes of which has never been experienced here on earth. And as we read on in John’s Revelation, we find that our new home will be in the “house of the Lord” here on a new earth, and in a city called the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:1-3, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them”. If we had thoughts about dying and spending eternity in a spiritual state in a place we call “Heaven” then we will be mistaken. Somewhere in between our physical dying in this world, and our new home we will acquire new bodies, firstly spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, “It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies”), and then we will receive a resurrected body just like Jesus when He comes again, (1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died“).

As we read from Revelation 21, the “the house of the Lord” will ultimately be on the new Earth, and God will be living there with us. That will be amazing, and David knew that all those years ago. Who else will we find there? I don’t think we will care much, because Jesus will be there. That’s all that matters for me.

Dear Father God. Thank You for the new home You are preparing for us. Amen.

Unfailing Love

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

David identified God’s goodness and includes with it His “unfailing love”. Other translations translate verse 6 as “Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life …” (AMP) or “faithful love” (CSB) or “love” (NIV). But we get the picture. God’s love is faithful and unfailing and it will pursue us “all the days of [our] lives”. The theme of God’s love is impregnated within the Bible from cover to cover. A favourite mention of God’s love for me can be found in another Davidic Psalm. We read in Psalm 36:5, 10, “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. … Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts”. We enlightened men and women in the 21st Century know that the extent of the “heavens” have not yet been discovered , adding weight to the extent of God’s love. More and more powerful telescopes just find more and more of the universe, with no end in sight. And we know that the region “beyond the clouds” has no end to it either. 

There are some human examples of “unfailing love” in the Bible, and the Book of Ruth tells the story of an extraordinary woman who uttered the statement to her mother-in-law, “ … Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” (Ruth 1:16-17). We could also turn to the Book of Hosea, a man who went to extraordinary lengths in love for his wayward wife, Gomer. But Jesus told a parable about a father and two sons, one a waster who squandered his inheritance before finally realised that his way of sin could not be sustained and that he had to repent and get things put right with his father. The son put together a humble and repentant statement and started for home. We read in Jesus’ parable what he was going to say, “I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant“” (Luke 15:18-19). But look at the unfailing love of his father, who daily kept watch just in case his wayward son was returning home, “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). That’s “unfailing love” pursuing a sinner.  That’s human love, so imagine how much greater God’s love is. In fact, we know it’s extent from John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life“. There is no greater love than that, and throughout the Bible the theme running through is God pursuing mankind, His love unstinting and so extensive that it would not stop at anything to restore His creation back to its rightful place. 

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:17-19, “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God”. Paul wrote about the extent of God’s love with an unlimited three dimensional picture of width, length and height, which we know from Psalm 36 completely fills an infinite universe. But Paul added an additional dimension, “depth”, and I take from this that Paul was referring to a fourth dimension, time. God’s love not only fills the universe but it is also eternal and timeless, and it pursues us whatever the age in which we have been born. 

And there is more about God’s love. Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. 

Do we pilgrims feel God’s love today? Even if we don’t, we know it is there. There is nothing we can do to stop it. We can deny it. We can refuse it. We can even throw it back into God’s face. But we can never stop it. God’s love for us humans knows no bounds and He keeps on loving us day after day, hour after hour, and forever. And in worship we offer our grateful hearts, in an offering of love and service, “forever and ever”.

Dear Father God, thank You for Jesus, the One who loved us so much that He was prepared to die for us. Such love! Thank You Lord. Amen.

The Pursuing Goodness

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

The last verse of Psalm 23 wraps up this wonderful poem of God’s provision. After writing down all the wonderful things God has done for him, David concludes that they will be there for him for the rest of his life. God’s provision, His giving, was not just a one-off for David; he knew that there was no limit to God and His resources. God keeps on giving and giving, on and on, until the Earth-years draw to an end. And David knew that even then, there was a feast prepared for him, ready and waiting to be shown to his place at the table. 

I love the NLT translation of verse 6 – “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” (emphasis mine). Other translations use the word “follow” rather than “pursue”, but the word “pursue” builds for me a picture of an active God, not just intent on keeping up with what I am doing, but influencing my thoughts, and leading and guiding my life in the right paths.

In a little village near St Andrews in Scotland, there is a church, its architecture seemingly at odds with the houses around it. A bell proudly displayed on a simple tower at the top, the walls constructed of stone probably cut in a nearby quarry, a slate roof immune to the storms that occasionally blast their way over that part of Fife, and a wayside pulpit declaring the denomination and the next Sunday service. Walking past one day, I saw that the front door was lying open, so I thought I would take a peep inside to see what it was like. There were two ladies cleaning the pews and other surfaces, and in subsequent conversations I discovered that the following Sunday service was the last to be held there. The congregation had dwindled away to a handful of elderly members, and the services were no longer viable. An air of gloom was present because those ladies loved that church and they were mourning its passing, not sure what they themselves were going to do. I shared with them the thought that God was always going to be there for them because He had promised them that His “goodness and unfailing love” is going to “pursue [them] all the days of [their] lives”. That will always be the case, because God doesn’t live in buildings, no matter how nice they are. He lives in the hearts and minds of His followers, pursuing each and every one of them every day of their lives, with “goodness and unfailing love”. Hopefully I was able to encourage them in the next season of their walk with God.

But what is God’s goodness all about? The word “good” is one we use when things are going our ways. A bonus is paid at work and we say, “that’s good”. Someone does a favour for their neighbour, and they get the reputation for being a “good” person. But none of these acts come anywhere near what God’s goodness is all about. Jesus was asked a question that started with the respectful greeting, “Good Teacher”, to which He responded, ““Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good” (Luke 18:19). And that’s the thing – God’s goodness is unique and only He can make the claim for being “good”. God’s definition of “good” is one that includes all the aspects of His character, including His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His truthfulness, and so on. We know that if God’s goodness pursues us, then there is no higher standard. We will experience the best of the best. We may feel at times that the valley we are walking through doesn’t have much of what we could describe as “good” within it. Look at what happened to Joseph, kidnapped, sold as a slave, imprisoned, falsely accused, but in the end he could say to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20). Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them“. God will always pursue us to ensure our highest good, no matter what. And I’m sure that as we look back on our lives, we can see hard times, but with a good outcome afterwards.

God’s goodness pursues us, and that is always been the case. When Adam sinned what did he do? He and Eve ran away from God and tried to hide. but we read, “Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”” (Genesis 3:9). God has been pursuing mankind ever since, and the Bible records God’s extraordinary efforts to woo mankind back home. God desires our highest good and He pursues us throughout our lives. Perhaps we need to stop sometimes and listen to what God wants to say to us. It won’t harm us and will do us much good.

Dear Lord and Father, we humbly thank You today for Your loving kindness, Your goodness and mercy, and Your many blessings. Amen.