Jesus the King

Posted on by korgrocker

“When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.”
John 6:14-15 NLT

What connection did that great crowd of people make between receiving a free lunch and making Jesus their King? They must have extrapolated the “miraculous sign” of feeding them and concluded that Jesus had the extraordinary capabilities needed to resolve the Roman occupation problem for good and all. There is no doubt that Jesus could have called upon the necessary resources, had they been needed. Matthew 26:53, “Don’t you realise that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” But the people could only see a nation of Israel without the hated Romans and provided with free food forever. A Utopian state that, up to now, they could only dream of. But as we pilgrims know, particularly here in the UK, a change of government does not often add up to a change for the better. It is true that a government under the rule and reign of Jesus would be a fair and just administration, but there is a warning such as Jesus gave to the church in Thyatira, as John wrote in Revelation 2:26-27, “To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots”. And we have Psalm 45:6, “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a sceptre of justice.” Perhaps the crowd on the Galilean shore failed to see that if Jesus appointed the government of their nation, there would be a requirement for righteousness. 

But Jesus wasn’t ready or willing to fit into the people’s mould for a King. Jesus was not their warrior King in His first coming, but He certainly was for His second. The Jews would remember the song of Moses in Exodus 15. “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him— my father’s God, and I will exalt him! The Lord is a warrior; Yahweh is his name!“ (Exodus 15:1-3). In their minds, the people would imagine a King able to do again what He did to the Egyptian army. The Apostle John in his revelation wrote, “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. … From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all Lords” (Revelation 19:11,15-16).

God’s plan for the salvation of mankind was not bounded by time. Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners“. And at “just the right time” Jesus will come again, a second time, as the warrior King the Jews of His day were looking for.

Dear Lord Jesus. You, who came as a baby, born of a peasant girl in humble circumstances, will one day return to rule and reign in righteousness. The King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. We pilgrims look up and see in our spirits that white horse carrying our Lord and King. Come Lord Jesus! Amen.

Giving Thanks

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.”
John 6:11-13 NLT

Oh, to have been there that day. Watching Jesus as He miraculously took the loaves and “distributed them to the people”. The Gospel of Mark provides a little more information, “Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share” (Mark 6:41). Mark said that Jesus “kept giving” but isn’t that just like Him. He never stopped giving all the time He was here on earth, and He provided the ultimate gift by giving His life at Calvary for the sins of mankind. We worship a giving God, but we pilgrims, know that.

There are of course the theologically illiterate factions who try and minimise or deny the amazing miracle that happened that day. Some say that this was no more than people sharing their packed lunches. Others say it was just a story, and it didn’t really happen. But this account of “Feeding the Five Thousand” has gripped the imaginations of countless people over the years. The story is included in the staple diet of Sunday Schools and Children’s’ Bibles, and it appears in each of the four Gospels. I have no doubts in my own mind that this episode really happened, and the Gospel writers had no doubts either. John was present when it happened, and his almost dispassionate account has a ring of authenticity about it, as though he expected it to happen anyway.

Notice that John recorded that the people ate as much as they wanted and there were leftovers. In fact, there were twelve baskets full of bits of bread and the odd fish head or tail. For many that day, it was probably the first time that they had had full stomachs for a while. God is never stingy in His provision. He always has more in His storehouse for those who wish to be filled. 

But we pilgrims must never be guilty of taking God’s provision for granted. It is not just about having a full stomach, good though that is. It is about thanking God for the basics of life. Thanking Him for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and, of course, the food we eat. We thank Him for the natural things we need for life. But we also thank Him for the relationship we have with Him. Thanking Him for His love, His kindness, His Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of our sins, the righteousness we have through Jesus, and all the other benefits that come our way because we are His children. Matthew 7:11, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him”. 

Heavenly Father, we know that You never stop giving good gifts to Your children. And we know that there are even more available, just for the asking. How can we ever thank You enough? Amen.

Jesus’ Authority

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.)”
John 6:8-10 NLT

There were many people in that crowd. John recorded that there were five thousand men, so we can perhaps multiply this number by as much as four to obtain an estimate of the number of men, women and children, present. These were all people mostly from the surrounding towns and villages, and they had all come to see Jesus, the miracle worker sent by God. We don’t know how far they had travelled, but it was sufficient for Jesus to be concerned about their return journeys. What were these people expecting from Jesus? Was it to be entertained? Perhaps they were attracted, as people are today, to something “magic” (although of course there is nothing remotely similar between a deception and Jesus’ miracles). Did the people genuinely want to hear more about God and His Kingdom? Were they sick and wanted to ask Jesus to heal them? Or were they just curious and had nothing else on that day? Probably all of the above, but regardless, here they were in Jesus’ presence, and as Andrew noted, they made up a “huge crowd”. In Mark 6:34, there is a similar account of what happened that day, and we read, “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34). 

The next thing that happened was that Jesus asked the disciples to do a bit of organising. “Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred” (Mark 6:39-40). Just a small point, but it once again illustrates how Jesus planned carefully what He was about to do. There was no point in having a large crowd of people milling around. Children chasing each other and parents getting stressed wondering where they were. So, knowing where everyone was made sure that no-one was missed in the food distribution that was about to commence. But perhaps it was significant that the people obeyed what Jesus asked them to do. I have heard conference organisers describe the problem of getting people to do something together at a corporate event like herding cats. People tend to be independent and often uncooperative and can have a ”who is he telling me what to do” attitude. So to get everyone to sit down together in regimented groups was almost a miracle in itself. The Gospel writers don’t say what the expectations of all the people in the crowd were when they sat down, but they had probably come to realise that with Jesus around, miracles happen. 

That’s the issue though. With Jesus still around today through the Holy Spirit, what are our expectations? And because the Holy Spirit lives within us, surely we pilgrims can be personally involved with those expectations. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “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” (Ephesians 3:20). A challenging verse, but, nevertheless, what are we hoping to accomplish in God today? The God who fed a bunch of slaves for forty years, or, through His Son, a huge crowd sitting on grassy slopes on the Eastern side of Lake Galilee, can also do amazing things through us, can’t He? But will we allow Him to? Hmmm…

Dear Father God. It is so humbling to know and experience Your wonder-working power in our lives. We pray for the opportunities to do Your works as we go about Your business here on earth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Loaves and Fishes

Posted on by korgrocker

“Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?””
John 6:7-9 NLT

Andrew must have been listening in on the conversation that Jesus was having with Philip about bread, and feeding all these people, and he noticed in the crowd a small boy, whose mother had had the foresight to supply with a packed lunch, and he used that as an illustration of the problem of feeding a multitude of people. I have heard preachers use this verse in the context of bringing what we have to God for Him to use as He requires. And it is true that we hold all that we have in open hands, so that if our resources are useful for someone else then we can make them available. But perhaps in this encounter, an opportunity arose for a miracle of feeding many people. 

God has, of course, done such a thing before. We read in Exodus 16 how the Israelite slaves, now in the wilderness, were running out of food and they started to complain to Moses. God’s response was an amazing miracle, as we read in Exodus 16:4, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions””. Manna was an extraordinary food. The “flaky substance as fine as frost” (Exodus 16:14) contained all the vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates needed for a healthy life. It was a perfect food, far surpassing anything found naturally and with it God fed the Israelites for forty years. Some people have calculated that there may have been as many as two million people. That’s a lot of meals!

But what prompted Andrew to tell Jesus about the boy with the five loaves and two fishes? Did he perhaps have a hint of faith that Jesus could do something with a little food to feed a multitude? This whole episode became a learning episode for the disciples. But it is also for us today, because it tells us much about Jesus. He cares for us. Plain and simple. Today, the world generates more food than is needed to feed the whole population, and all the time new farming methods are increasing yields and quality, but the problem is distribution. The Western nations have ended up with too much and what we call the third world too little. 

The account of the loaves and fishes is important in that it tells us that God is interested in every aspect of our life here on earth. We sometimes take food for granted and instead elevate our minds into lofty Heavenly places, or get involved in other earthly pursuits. Food only becomes important to us when we don’t have any. But perhaps we need to review our whole person, with all its needs, physical and spiritual, and bring them into line with God’s perspective. Perhaps a little less natural food, and a little more spiritual food would go some way to ensuring God’s people are properly balanced, body, soul and spirit.

Father God. Thank You that You are interested in every part of mankind. Please help us to lead spiritually and naturally healthy lives, to Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Feeding the Crowds

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!””
John 6:5-7 NLT

There are a few questions we can ask about this passage. Why would Jesus want to feed all these people? And why choose Philip out of the Twelve to discuss the catering with? Was Jesus teasing Philip, who perhaps was a bit gullible? Why didn’t the crowd of people plan ahead so that they wouldn’t go hungry? But regardless, we can shut our eyes and imagine all these people dressed in the Middle Eastern way, making their way across the landscape, whatever it consisted of, trying to find Jesus. Men and women, with children as well. Perhaps singing, talking, carrying some who were disabled or sick. They hadn’t left their homes and villages without a good reason. They were looking for Jesus.

But Jesus, compassionate as ever, wasn’t just concerned with teaching them about His Kingdom. He also attended to their physical conditions, healing the sick, casting out demons, and doing miraculous works that benefitted those who found Him. And His beneficence didn’t end there. He was going to send them home with full stomachs. That is how much our Heavenly Father cares for us. Jesus was a real life manifestation of the God we read about in Psalm 103:2-5. The Psalmist wrote, “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” Jesus was interested in the whole person.

So, Jesus asked Philip how they could find enough food to feed all these people. Philip was overwhelmed with the scale of the task, imagining many months of work to generate sufficient money to pay the tab when it came. But do we pilgrims, like Philip, also sometimes look at a seemingly insurmountable problem, thinking of a natural solution and then imagining what it would take to bring it about? We think about the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, active as I write, and wonder how they can ever be “fixed”. We can, closer to home, think about an unexpected bill that has just landed on our doorsteps. Or an announcement of redundancies. Perhaps we are a parent looking on at a sick child, riven by an apparently incurable condition, and wondering how and when the suffering will ever end. All situations that can bring about a heart-stopping despair, until we involve our wonderful compassionate God in the situation we are facing. He has the bread we need when hungry. The finances when we are desperate. The medicines when sick. All from His treasure chest of resources that know no limit. 

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Of course, we take note that Paul was referring to “needs” rather than “wants”, but to the crowd making their way across the Galilean countryside, sufficient food to sustain them on their return journey was a necessity that Jesus was aware of.

When it comes to the “giants” that we are facing, the remedy pivots upon our faith and trust in our wonderful Heavenly Father. We pilgrims are men and women of faith tramping our way towards our ultimate “Promised Land”. And all the obstacles we encounter in our journey will bow the knee before God as we pray, in faith, for His provision. Paul wrote a helpful instruction to the Philippians, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Father God. We are overwhelmed with Your compassion and provision. We are so thankful and worship You today. Amen.

Over the Sea

Posted on by korgrocker

“After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.)”
John 6:1-4 NLT

As written in the previous chapter in John’s Gospel, Jesus had been in Jerusalem for one of the Jewish Feasts, and while there He had healed a paralysed man lying next to the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus’ instructions to the healed man were recorded in John 5:8, “Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”” The Jewish leaders took exception at the healed man doing work on the Sabbath (they considered that carrying a mat was “work”) and this initiated a conversation between the hostile leaders and Jesus, where He explained His authority and mission. We now move on into John chapter 6, where we find that Jesus had travelled back northward to Galilee and then across the Sea of Galilee to a more remote region on the other side. He did this because, as we find out later, He probably wanted some peaceful quality time with His disciples. But the crowds kept following Him. They were huge crowds, John wrote, made up of people wanting to see the miracles of healing that Jesus was committing. 

Jesus had become a celebrated figure to the people in Galilee. Imagine the popular music stars of today, followed around by adoring fans and the newspaper photographers, never able to get any time on their own. Followed to their gigs. Followed to their hotels. Never a let up and never any privacy. But unlike the pop stars of today, Jesus never turned anyone away. Healing the sick was not the only reason why Jesus was in the Holy Land at that time. He knew His time on earth was not going to be very long, and He was desperate to train up the young men who were His disciples. So He climbed a hill with them, and we read that he “sat down with his disciples around him”. In those days Rabbi’s sat down to teach their disciples.

Matthew 4:23,25, “Jesus travelled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. … Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River”. This was perhaps Matthew’s account of what John was recording in his Gospel. But Matthew continued with, “One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them” (Matthew 5:1-2). Helpfully, Matthew recorded what Jesus taught about and we can read the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7.

We pilgrims also have a mission here in our societies and nations. The Good News about Jesus and His love and saving grace, must be shared with those around us. And in the Great Commission we are told to make disciples. Not of us, or course, but of the wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is unlikely that huge crowds will be following us, but it is quite likely that distractions will try and pull us away from what we should be doing. Things like extra shifts at work, or lots of emails. Perhaps it is the golf course tugging us away from our mission. But whatever it is, we must be self disciplined just as Jesus was. But Jesus never stinted having quality time with His Father in Heaven and often He arose early to go out on His own to spend time in prayer. 

Do we pilgrims prioritise spending time in prayer and reading God’s Word in the Bible? For me it has to be early in the morning as otherwise the pressures of the day invade my personal space and it becomes too late. Jesus was in constant communication with His Father, and through that received guidance and spiritual sustenance for His mission. We pilgrims need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit who resources us for the day ahead and leads us into all truth. and as we listen to what He has to say, perhaps the day before us will become less of a hassle than we otherwise would have expected.

Dear Father God. We thank You for all Your resources and encouragement. We pray again today for more of the life-giving water of Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Moses Prophesied

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
John 5:45-47 NLT

Was Jesus correct when He told the Jewish leaders that Moses wrote about Him? Of course He was, although admittedly it wasn’t by name. Jesus quoted Moses’ writings several times in the Gospels. For example, we have John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up”. Then there is the parallel between manna and Jesus being the bread of life, or Jesus proclaiming that anyone believing in Him will produce rivers of living water flowing from his heart. The Jewish leaders, however, failed to make the connection between what was written in the Pentateuch by Moses, and the Man standing before them. Their minds and religious thinking was stuck in a groove more focused on a different religion of rules and regulations, and nothing was going to change their minds. Not even with God’s own Son standing before them.

But the Jews were not unique in their approach to matters religious. Today we have Christian denominations and movements stuck in their own individual grooves. For example, if we look at the Church of England, we find the Book of Common Prayer. In this worthy tome we will find Orders for Morning and Evening Prayer, various Creeds, the Order of how Holy Scripture is to be read, and so on. There are a shed full of scenarios for all the offices of the Church but perhaps we wonder why all this is really necessary. After all, the early Church liturgy can be found in Acts 2:42, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer“. So what would happen to the orders of service if Jesus came along with a counter-cultural exposure of congregants trusting in liturgies rather than His teaching as recorded in the Gospels? In Hosea 6:6 God said, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings“. Perhaps we could write, “I want you to show love, not follow a liturgy. I want you to know Me more than a pew or the Book of Common Prayer”. Of course, I might be doing many sincere Christian believers a disservice, but I’m sure my readers will understand my point.

By now, I’m sure my readers will also recognise that I am passionate about the Bible and its integrity and value in supporting life in the Kingdom of God here on 21st Century Planet Earth. In His day, Jesus came as the fruition of many prophecies about Himself, and He accused the Jewish leaders of not believing in Him in spite of all the evidence that said He was who he said he was. In particular He pointed out the incongruity of the leaders putting their hope in Moses and his writings, and yet refusing to believe and understand what those writings meant in the Person of the Man standing before them. But we pilgrims today must never abandon or rationalise the Scriptures to make them fit in with our ideologies, liturgies or world views. Just because we don’t understand, or refuse to understand, what the Bible says about living in the Kingdom of God, it doesn’t meant that what is written isn’t valid. We will never achieve everything that the Bible says we need to attain holiness by trusting in our own strength. But through the grace of God and the blood of Jesus, we can stand before God righteous and holy. It’s all about Jesus, not about the man made liturgies we love to install in our churches and fellowships. 

There is much more written about Jesus in the Bible. Throughout all the Old Testament books there is a thread foretelling the Messiah, woven almost into every page. And then He burst upon the scene, making an impact that launched the new order, the New Covenant between God and mankind. Most of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day failed to recognise Him, as many still do today. We have to remember though that the enemy has blinded the eyes even of God’s own people. But one day everyone, including all powers and authorities, will be forced to bow the knee before Jesus, the Son of God.

Dear Lord Jesus. We give You all the praise and glory. Amen.

In Whose Name?

Posted on by korgrocker

“For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honour each other, but you don’t care about the honour that comes from the one who alone is God.”
John 5:43-44 NLT

Jesus came to this world with the highest mandate ever – God’s backing. Anyone with such authority has, by implication, all the resources of the Backer behind them. A diplomat sent overseas enjoys the respect and protection of the nation hosting them, because they are the representatives of the nation that sent them. So, in His conversation with the Jewish leaders, Jesus pointed out to them that He came in the name of His Father in Heaven, but rather than welcome Him and treat Him as they should and as the very Son of God deserves, they rejected Him. With all of God’s power behind Him, Jesus could have eliminated them at a stroke, but He continued to allow them to exercise their own free will, as God has ordained ever since the Creation and Fall. 

The attitude of the Jewish leaders was the same as most of their countrymen at that time. Just because God, or His representatives, and their ways and sayings, didn’t fit in with their human expectations, then they felt they must reject such people, or so they thought. But Jesus went on to say that, instead of honouring Him, the very Son of God, they welcomed people without a God-given mandate, people who came with nothing more than their own personal authority. And, worse, the Jewish leaders honoured such people.

When we honour someone, we acknowledge their value to society or to science, or some other worthy cause. And the same applies to how we treat God, only infinitely more so. Only He is worthy of all the glory, all the praise and all the accolades we can think of. So what was the Jewish leaders’ problem, that they failed to honour Jesus, the Son of God? Perhaps Jesus was telling them that by honouring the wrong people, they were placing a blockage in their ability to honour God Himself. One problem is that the leaders rejected Jesus because He didn’t conform to their Jewish ideology, even though it was founded originally on the Law of Moses. Over the centuries, the intent of the Law had been replaced by a set of rules and customs, so when Jesus came along, breathing the fresh air of the Spirit over the Holy Land, He was rejected. He preached a counter-cultural message about the Kingdom of God. But we read what He said in Matthew 5:17-20. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. … For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven“. The Jews had reached a stage where the intent of the Law had been replaced by a doctrine based on an outward display of conformance. But Jesus blew all that away. He preached a message stating that the only way to keep the Law was through believing in Him.

I’m writing this at the start of the Holy Week, and have been reminded once again about all that Jesus did for us, so that we can stand before God, sins forgiven and righteousness assured. The Jewish leaders knew all about the Law. But they lacked the ability to believe in Him because their hearts were hard and calloused, and they were unable to see God’s Son when He was standing before them. But they weren’t alone, and even today many shut their eyes, preventing them seeing Him, because they are bound up in lives of sin. In 1 Samuel 17:45 David said to Goliath, ” … You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied“. In whose name do we pilgrims go out to fight our battles against the sin and evil around us? There is only one Name, the Name above all names.

The Name of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, the Son of God, is all-powerful. 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“. That is the power of the Name of Jesus. So, like David, we can go out and face and slay the giants before us. They may have all the weapons in the world but none of them are as powerful as the Name of Jesus. So, fellow pilgrim, what giants are we facing today? Problems or circumstances that seem insurmountable? An illness? Redundancy? Financial problems? Rather than face the giant, do we hide in a corner, hoping against hope, that the problem will go away? Or do we face into whatever is before us, commanding a solution in the Name of Jesus?

Dear Lord Jesus. We know that in Your Name, demons have to flee. We pray that whatever is before will bow the knee to You, the Name above all names. Amen.

God’s Approval

Posted on by korgrocker

“Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.“
John 5:41-42 NLT

Jesus wasn’t at all concerned about what people thought about Him. He was on Planet Earth for one reason – to fulfil the mission given to Him by His Father in Heaven. He was coming to the end of His conversation with the Jewish leaders after they had picked Him up for telling the healed man to “take up your bed and walk”. Their petty attention to something trivial like carrying a sleeping mat on the Sabbath was the precursor to a significant introduction of what Jesus’ mission was all about. Jesus was not going to be bounced into saying or doing things just to please other people. Jesus saw right into the souls of these leaders and could see that they didn’t love God at all. In spite of their rank and status He consigned them to the group of people carrying the “need to repent” label. 

So much of what we do or say in our societies has to be carefully thought through. Will what I say offend the other person? Will disagreeing with my boss affect my career prospects? Or worse, will what I say lead to a charge related to hate speech, just because I don’t, or won’t, affirm another person’s ideology? Rightly or wrongly, our speech and behaviour is seasoned by a sensitivity to those around us, but Jesus was a counter-cultural figure who faced head on the societal norms, and particularly those that got in the way of His mission. His scathing analysis of the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, and particularly the Pharisees, was well documented. On one occasion He said to the Pharisees, “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” (Matthew 12:34).‭‭ Today, in the UK, such a statement would end up in the “hate speech” category I’m sure, even though Jesus was correct in His assessment of the spiritual health of the people His comment was directed to. 

We pilgrims are on a mission ordained by God, echoing Jesus’ commands, following His ways, and to also “seek and save the lost”. In the process of this, we will end up challenging the margins of our secular society. For example, a street preacher has to be very careful, particularly as parts of the Bible contain Scriptures that are considered offensive to certain groups. As we interact with others, the mention of sin and evil will not necessarily be well received. People like to hear the Scriptures that they agree with, but the Bible is the whole package and we can’t remove the verses that we don’t like. 

Fearing how other people think about us, or might react to what we would like to say, can potentially be a problem to us, particularly if we are always looking for the approval of others. But we need to remember that our security is in God. Proverbs 29:25, “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety“. Hebrews 13:6, “So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” We have no need to be dictated to by what others think of us, or how many “likes” we acquire on our Facebook posts. In the end they will make no difference to our status in God’s eyes, and our future with Him in Heaven. Jesus didn’t need man’s approval, and neither do we.

Father God. We love You and Your ways. That is enough to sustain us through the minefields of sensitivities in the societies in which we live. Please help us to be bold, but loving and gracious to those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Search the Scriptures

Posted on by korgrocker

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
John 5:39-40 NLT

In a message I heard one day, the speaker said that the Bible was a story of God’s love for mankind. And it is true, because as we read the Old Testament scriptures we find time and time again that God loved His people and went to extraordinary lengths to look after them, provide for them and even promise them that one day they will spend eternity with Him. And then we have over three hundred prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah, God’s very own Son, sprinkled through the Old Testament pages, and all pointing to a time when He would come to earth to save His people. Here’s one of them. Isaiah wrote, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). So far, Jesus, in His conversation with the Jewish leaders, had already told them that there was proof available about who He was. There was John the Baptist’s testimony. There was the witness of Father God, working miracles through Jesus. And now Jesus pointed out the witness from Scripture. 

Jesus said to His listeners that they read their Bibles, and feel good about it, because by doing so they think that is enough for assuring their life will be eternal. These men would have read the Scriptures about the Messiah. They probably could recite huge chunks of the Torah from memory. But the sad thing is that in all of this, and as Jesus pointed out, they missed the opportunity to have a relationship with God and embrace His Son. As we pilgrims know, there is a big gulf between head knowledge and heart knowledge.

There is the story of a young Christian, recently saved, who heard a sermon about the Christian life, probably from the Sermon on the Mount. But it was some weeks before the young Christian returned to church. When asked where they had been, the answer was that there was no point in hearing more until they had put into practice what they had heard previously. It takes time and effort to turn our lives round away from the sin, which so easily entraps us, to living life God’s way, a life of purity and holiness.

The Jewish leaders wanted proof that Jesus was indeed the expected Messiah. But Jesus was effectively asking them, what more proof do you need? Man’s witness, God’s witness with signs and wonders, the Bible’s witness with its prophecies about Him. More than sufficient I’m sure. But isn’t it strange – you can present people with loads of proof about something, but if the outcome doesn’t fit in with their world view or ideology, then they will not accept the evidence. So, we end up with evolution being taught as fact in our schools even though so much evidence for God and His creation exists. To take another example, we know that a person is born either male or female, but the gender ideologists, who say there are other options, get offended if their warped point of view is challenged. They are now going to extraordinary lengths to try and transition a man to being a woman and vice versa, with operations and drugs to try and make it happen. Before God’s throne I wonder what the evolutionists and multi-gender ideologists will have to say about their beliefs and rejection of God’s creative order?

We pilgrims have read the Bible and have concluded that Jesus is who He said He was – the Son of God. We have repented of our sins and now believe in Him. To the best of our abilities, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we follow Him and try to live our lives God’s way. The Jews had the opportunity to observe at first hand who Jesus was, and yet they still asked for some sort of sign. This was in spite of the proof, the miracles, and all the evidence. We read in Matthew 12:38, “One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority“”. We can read Jesus’ reply in the remaining verses in Matthew 12. 

In John 20:25, we read what “doubting” Thomas had to say when told about Jesus’ resurrection. “They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”” But Jesus’ response when Thomas did achieve what he desired was interesting – “Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me”” (John 20:29).

Regardless of the evidence to the contrary, some people will never accept the proof before them. But, concerning the things of God, one day all will be revealed. No proof will be required!

Dear Father God. We proclaim our belief in You. We cry out the name of Jesus over this dark and sinful world, knowing that only You can make a difference in the lives of men and women on this planet. We know that Your Spirit has brought Your Word to life, presenting through us a beacon of hope to a lost generation. Please help us, we pray, to life the life You have provided so that others will come to know You as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.