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Only Fools

Posted on by korgrocker

“Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!”
Psalm 14:1 NLT

The Bible, particularly in Proverbs, says much about “fools”. One verse I particularly like, as being very applicable to modern times, is Proverbs 18:2, “Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions”. In these days of strange ideologies, where people stand up and stridently declare their views, “their own opinions”, one cannot but think that the word “fool” fits them very well. But then, we can’t call them that, because it might hurt their feelings. The Bible, however, has no such constraint, and God’s Word stands inviolate. But back in Psalm 14:1, David, the Psalmist, calls those who deny the existence of God, “fools”, and such an opinion, or belief, exposes their real problem – their corrupt ways, their evil actions and their lack of doing good. Those who deny God do so because otherwise they would have to face into their sin and its consequences. 

Much of what the people in the world think about God is misconstrued, twisted, invented and even libellous, but such false knowledge isn leveraged to build a picture to justify people’s actions, or lack of them. But for many others, they look around and see no evidence of God at all because, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Many of our scientists stay awake at night trying to plug holes in their theories of how the universe happened without God. So the conclusion of most is that there is no God, but if He does in fact exist, the knowledge is of no relevance to them. After all, they might say, knowledge of God won’t pay their bills. 

We pilgrims, of course, declare that God exists, and we know that we have a personal relationship with Him. We know Him as the Creator of the Universe. We know Jesus who died on a cross at Calvary to take on the punishment for our sins. We know that our God sent His Spirit to be with us, and live within us, a Helper and Counsellor always there for us. And we praise and worship God with thankful hearts, grateful for His love, grace and mercy. We keep short accounts with Him, always aware of our humanity and propensity to fall into sinful ways. Always humbly confessing our sins before Him who one day will judge the world.

It is so tempting at times to investigate the views of those who air their own corrupt opinions. We spend time thinking through the logic of devil-inspired arguments and ideologies, in case we have missed something. And before we know it our own view of God becomes skewed. There are many believers who post their own opinions on social media. They make videos of convincing scenarios that burden and confuse their viewers. They preach strange ideas that lead many astray, their charisma overcoming the doubts of their followers. Jesus warned about such people in a passage that describes what will happen in the End Times, and we read in Matthew 24:11, “And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people“. So, we must be like the Bereans of Acts 17:11, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth”. In the end, it is God’s Word that prevents us from becoming fools, and we must be on our guard against false teaching. Paul had strong words for the church in Galatia, “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross” (Galatians 3:1). 

So we pilgrims exercise caution when we hear a message or see a video. We carefully select books to read, always being vigilant to discern error. However, the denial of the existence of God may not just be an outward declaration from those unbelievers in the societies around us. Their secular and atheistic influence can also insidiously creep upon us until the God we say we believe in is a long way from the truth. Everyone believes in a god of some kind, and the devil is out to so corrupt us that we end up believing in a false god as well. That is a terrible place to be because we end up believing our own opinions rather than in the true God we know and love. The world may consider us fools, but better to be a fool for Christ than a fool denying His existence.

Dear Father God. In the eyes of the world we may appear foolish, but rather that than be numbered with real fools. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Amen.

Being Rescued

Posted on by korgrocker

“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.”
Psalm 13:5-6 NLT

David wrote that he would rejoice because God had rescued him. But from what? In this Psalm there were two previous references to “enemies”, with more in the preceding Psalms. David certainly had a problem with his safety in the face of those who wanted to harm him. However, there is perhaps a suggestion that David had enemies inside of himself, disturbing and unsettling him. There was probably much that David needed rescuing from, which was why he constantly called out to God for help, and here he is rejoicing because God has rescued him. And we know of course that David then, and we pilgrims today, have an enemy, “the devil [who] prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8b).

It is rare for us pilgrims who live in the UK to have enemies, coming at us with the means to do us physical harm. We are fortunate to be able to live in a country where society is relatively stable and people generally behave in a harmonious way. But that is not to say that we don’t have “enemies”. We will always be in a place at the cutting edge between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light. Between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. So we will have “enemies” who disagree with us because of our faith and will abuse us when we take a stand against the ways of the world. And the dichotomy between the two kingdoms will only increase as the UK becomes increasingly secularised. At the present time, the rights of people to follow their faith is protected, but only if their faith can accommodate the legislation in existence. Think protests about abortion being held outside clinics. The clash between the two kingdoms will only get worse as the country becomes increasingly anti-Christian.

We pilgrims, of course, were also once a part of the kingdom of darkness, living a life riddled with sin, but one day the call of God penetrated our souls. He effectively rescued us by offering us an escape route away from a life of sin and darkness. We were like those who “stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them” (1 Peter 2:8b). We all know the fate of sinners, those who are disobedient to God’s Word, but we were rescued. 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light”. We responded to the call and became citizens of the Kingdom of God. And more than that – we are now priests in a holy nation, a Kingdom without sin.

But wherever we are, we can always call out to God for Him to rescue us in situations where the two kingdoms clash. And now that we are Kingdom people we are God’s ambassadors to a dark and fallen world. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” What a responsibility! God is using us pilgrims to advance His Kingdom, and pushing back the boundaries of evil in the process. There are people around us who are uncomfortable living a life that is against God and His ways, and they just need someone to help them apply for citizenship of God’s Kingdom of Light. And once there they too will join us in rejoicing because God has rescued them. So we pray that God leads us to those He has chosen. We pray for our fellow pilgrims, that they too will stand firm for the Kingdom and will be obedient to His will. We pray that God will rescue and redeem our leaders and politicians from the clutches of the enemy. And in it all we rejoice because God has rescued us.

Dear Lord. You know our every thought and what is going on inside of us. Please help us never to follow in the ways of the wicked, and instead follow You in every moment of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.  

God is Good

Posted on by korgrocker

“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.”
Psalm 13:5-6 NLT

Some words to describe God appear in these last two verses of Psalm 13. Lover, Rescuer, and the declaration that God is good. In response, the Psalmist declares his trust, rejoicing and singing. A lovely picture of the relationship between David and his Lord, and one we would do well to emulate. What is our relationship with God like? Can we testify about His unfailing love or His goodness? Has God rescued us from some crisis or other in our lives? Do we go about our days singing our praises to the One who is good? Or do we struggle to even pray some mornings and start the days quickly drawn into a maelstrom of busy-ness and stress, God soon pushed to the rear of our thoughts if He even appeared in the first place? But it is because of God and all that He is to us, that means we can have a different perspective powering our lives. 

We pilgrims have found the sweet spot that somehow reconciles living in two kingdoms. In the one, we enjoy a relationship with God, where we can converse with Him, sing to Him, and enjoy His presence, full of His love and goodness. In the other, we find ourselves in a secular world that doesn’t know God and instead worships a system underpinned by sin and evil. A “what’s in it for me” society out of sync with God’s plan. I honestly don’t know how Godless and unbelieving people can ever survive in the societies in which they live. The only “goodness” they experience, if at all, is a shrivelled caricature of the goodness that can only be found through a relationship with God. And we pilgrims have an opportunity to bring God’s kingdom into the world around us, salt and light in a world of darkness, a world desperate for illumination and relief to people just as their Creator intended. 

But we know that God is good. There is nothing bad about God at all. His holiness and purity ensure that His goodness is also pure and holy. I love how Psalm 23 concludes, “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”. God’s goodness is always there for us, pursuing us through the otherwise dark days that lack anything good about them. We go through life with all of God’s resources empowering us, the Holy Spirit within us, the certainty of God’s love and goodness there within reach, refreshing our otherwise thirsty souls.

We can’t, of course, retain the benefits of God’s goodness all to ourselves. Paul wrote, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith” (Galatians 6:10). We are dispensers of God’s goodness to those around us. How can the lost folk in our communities ever know that God is good unless they experience His goodness for themselves? We are shining lights illuminating the world around us, but what good is it if we hide our lights “under a bushel”, thus appearing just as dark as everyone else? 

David couldn’t hold in His response to God, and because of His goodness, David sang. Songs of praises and worship. Songs of thanks. Songs that describe all that God had done for him. What songs are we singing today? But no matter how or what we sing to God, we can be assured that angels are joining in, swelling the songs of praise to our wonderful and gracious God. Sometimes we can even hear the refrain in the Heavens – if we listen. 

Dear Heavenly Father. Sometimes we do hear the song of angels worshipping You before Your throne. We pray that we have the opportunity to join in the Heavenly anthems, adding our worship, that is rightfully Yours to receive, and tuning our spiritual ears to hear the Heavenly choir. Amen.

Sparkling Eyes

Posted on by korgrocker

“Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.”
Psalm 13:3-4 NLT

David, once again, is giving God a hard time. Is he getting frustrated with God for a lack of answers to his prayers, or a lack of action to sort out the problems he is having with his enemies, whoever they are? But whatever the issue, David does seem to be trying to twist God’s arm, by telling Him that unless He does something about the situation then He will lose the “man after His own heart” that He had already installed as King, or, if the Psalm was written in the days when David was on the run from Saul, who was the King designate.

David prays that God will “restore the sparkle to [his] eyes, or [he] will die”. It has been said that our eyes are windows into our souls. And it is true that when we look into someone’s eyes we see life. We see a living person with eyes that tell what is going on within them. If someone won’t look us in the eye then we know they have something to hide. In their eyes, we see their mood, be it happy or sad, anxious or self-assured. David obviously suspected that his eyes were giving out signs of worry about his enemies, or stress about the situation in which he was in. And, understandably, he wanted to return to that state of health and vitality, where his eyes sent out a message of positivity to those around him. 

In Matthew 6:22-23, we read what Jesus taught about our eyes. He said, “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” What Jesus was saying was that someone with a healthy eye was a person who understood the things of God and who could discern right and wrong, and knew all about living God’s way, saved by His grace. Conversely, a person with an unhealthy eye represents most people around us, who know nothing about God and don’t want to know anything about Him either. They want to continue to live in their sin, effectively living with unhealthy eyes in a world of darkness. These are spiritually blind people and, sadly, we can even find them in our congregations and fellowships, people who Paul warned Timothy about, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (2 Timothy 3:5).

So, dear fellow pilgrims, how are your eyes this morning? Sparkling or dull? Bright or dark? David seemed to imply that it was God’s responsibility to make his eyes sparkle. But is it? We can obviously pray as David did, for restoration, and God will indeed answer our prayers, perhaps by taking us to a cross at a place called Calvary. There His Son died for our sins, taking on the punishment that we deserved instead. And as we stare into His loving face, we feel “the things of earth [going] strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”. We will find that our eyes are sparkling again, our spirits revived, perspectives restored, sins forgiven.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You that we can look forward with sparkling eyes, to a life with You for all eternity. We pray that those around us can see in our eyes a reflection of the Heavenly shores, twinkling in the distance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Anguish In My Soul

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?”
Psalm 13:1-2 NLT

David starts the thirteenth Psalm with a lament concerning the “anguish in [his] soul”. It was almost as though he was outside of himself looking in and sees a condition in his soul that was causing him acute distress. So, in a semi-detached sort of way, he was able to write about his feelings and apportion the cause to God forgetting that he was there. He was in a place of discomfort, unease, stress and anxiety and he asked the question “How long?”. “How long” is this going to continue? Will it continue “forever“? And who was this enemy David was referring to anyway? A physical foe, armed and ready to end his life? Or were there gremlins in his head, causing his distress?

Have any of us pilgrims been in such a place a David was? Where the heavens seem impervious to our prayers? Where everything seems to be falling apart? Where we wake up depressed and tired, dreading the day ahead? And we cry out as David did – where are You God? Are we facing enemies, real or imagined, that always seem to put us down and who we seem unable and powerless to stop? 

Such conditions will also cause “anguish in [our] soul[s]”, as they did with David. Daily “sorrow in [our] heart[s]” speak of a continued battle with the causes of depression and anxiety, something which many never seem to overcome. The bottle of pills seems to be the only remedy for many and a drug-induced calm takes over lives. The anguish in our souls is a human condition that threatens to take us down an ever-deepening spiral that dulls our minds and takes away our potential for a spirit-filled life.

There was a prophet called Elijah who had made a stand against the prophets of Baal and won, but he too succumbed to “anguish in [his] soul”. Following threats against his life from Jezebel, the queen at that time, he ran away, as we read in 1 Kings 19:4, “Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died””. After being refreshed with food and drink supplied by an angel, he journeyed to Mount Sinai, where God asked him “What are you doing here Elijah?”. He response in the next verse was, “Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”” (1 Kings 19:10). Was Elijah experiencing “anguish in [his] soul”? God answered with a miraculous demonstration of His power through wind, fire and an earthquake, and then came the “still small voice”.

God is always there for us. He was for David and He still is for us today. Like Elijah, it may take us forty days of journeying in dark places of sorrowful anguish. It may be that we are looking for the miraculous when all we need is that “still small voice”. But however we feel just now, God is right there beside us, reaching out to us through the self-imposed walls that we have hidden behind. We analyse our feelings but draw the wrong conclusions. The enemies we face are powerless before God and He lives within us. 1 John 4:4, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world”. So today we take down the walls and stride into the day, assured of God’s presence within us through His Spirit. 

Dear Father God. By Your Spirit we are overcomers – please help us never to forget that. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord’s Promises

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation, even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.”
Psalm 12:6-8 NLT

The refining process is a technology that has been around for thousands of years and in David’s day the silversmiths knew how to refine the semi-precious metal, silver, to increase its purity. A furnace was involved and the silver was melted, impurities skimmed off, a process repeated again and again, as the silver gained purity. We can just imagine David watching this process happen and immediately thinking of an analogy of the Lord’s promises. Of course, God’s promises are never in need of refining because they were, and are, totally pure and totally perfect. There are no imperfections included in any of God’s promises. 

A Google search will uncover a Bible absolutely full of the promises of God. In the context of Psalm 12, the verse about the purity of God’s promises precedes David’s assurance that the Lord “will protect the oppressed”. In Psalm 145:20 we read, “The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked“, a promise that will come to fruition sooner or later. In Psalm 1:4-5 we read, “But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly”. We have the separation of the Godly, those who love God, and the wicked, who reject anything to do with God. A stark dichotomy that will finally be resolved at the end of the age. There is a parable taught by Jesus in Matthew 13, and in it we find this verse, “That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous” (Matthew 13:49). If Jesus said it, then it will happen, and that’s a promise!

It can be said that the very act of becoming a believer in Jesus is the start of a refining process. In Isaiah 48:10 we read, “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering”. The furnace that is life is hot and sometimes painful, including much suffering, but it is a necessary part of our journey to Heaven because there will be no impurities in Heaven. Peter wrote, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Nothing has changed, folks. 

The Lord has written down for us His true and perfect promises, all contained in His Word, the Bible. Bibles such as those distributed by the Gideons contain helpful pages that list God’s promises in response to common human conditions. But anyone can open God’s Book and find the answer to their questions and dilemmas. However, God’s answers to life’s questions cannot be found hanging in the air. We have to search the Scriptures and find Hid promises, and that can only be done if we read the Bible. And having read it, we need to read it again. And again. And we find that, amazingly, every time we read a passage of Scripture, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us something new. Something fresh. Something precious from God Himself.

Dear God. We thank You for Your Word, the Bible. Guide us in Your ways as we discover more and more about You, we pray. Amen.

Lips That Defend

Posted on by korgrocker

“those who say, ‘By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us – who is Lord over us?’ ‘Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,’ says the Lord. ‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’”
Psalm 12:4-5 NIVUK

Human beings are blessed with the ability to reason and communicate. Even from an early age, children can weigh up the pros and cons of a situation and make a decision. To supplement our mental powers, we have instincts such as “fight or flight” when faced with danger. So all in all, a human being is an impressive example of God’s creative powers, far above all other created beings on our planet. But why should we be surprised? We read in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground’”. Then in Hebrews 2:7-8a we read, “You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour and put everything under their feet …”. But due to sin, corruption of God’s creation followed, and David correctly recorded man’s propensity to lie, deceitfully adding an evil element into his reasoning powers. 

Those people who follow the way of evil, lying and cheating their way through life, justify their position by claiming that they are outside the rule of the Lord, not as a conscious thought, or in so many words, and instead they rely on their intellects to defend themselves in life’s situations. But they will of course get away with it, at least for a while. There are some very clever people in positions of authority in countries all over the world, there because of very quick and shrewd minds, able to talk their ways into places where they want to be. And with their mental and communicative skills they become arrogant and claim, “Who is Lord over us?”  With the passage of time they hone their skills and really believe that their “own lips will defend [them]”. 

But waiting in the wings is the Lord of all. He sees all that is going on and will arise to correct the situation. David visualised the time when God will protect the poor and needy  “from those who malign them”. The significant words in these verses are “I will”. We worship the God who will. The only thing that we are unsure of is when. But in God’s plan for this world “when” will happen one day.

There are people groups everywhere who come into the needy and poor categories. This is not always a financial scenario, and many live their lives deprived of the means to realise their full potentials. In some parts of the world, women and girls are deprived of education. In others, a person’s family and ancestry determine their status in life. Many are enslaved against their wills, forced to work long hours doing menial tasks for little of no money. But in all these cases their plights do not escape the Lord’s notice. Because the scales of justice will one day be balanced, God’s “I will” will indeed prevail. He will protect the helpless and defend the needy.

We pilgrims are aware of a different Kingdom, one where the Lord is King. One where there will, one day, be no more sickness or crying. But a Kingdom of which we are citizens now, and one that we encourage others to join. There is salvation for all available through Jesus, and the Apostle James wrote, “Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?” (James 2:3). We don’t know whose names will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but as Martin Luther wrote, “First, there will be people in heaven I did not expect to be there. Second, there will be people not present in heaven I was certain would be there. Third is the greatest surprise of all—that I will be there myself!” 

There will come a day when the intellect, and defensive lips of mankind, will be of no further use to Godless people. It may be because their lives will be cut short when God intervenes to protect the poor and needy. But eventually for those who escape judgement in their natural lives will one stand before Him. But for us pilgrims it is far better today to use our God-given ability to reason and communicate about the things of our wonderful Heavenly Father. Daily we offer Him the praises of our lips not the lies and deceit of sinners. And the worship of our hearts will ultimately prevail on that glorious day when we see Him face to face.

Dear Heavenly Father. We praise and worship You today, the Maker of Heaven and earth. Amen.

Lips and Hearts

Posted on by korgrocker

“Neighbours lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts. May the Lord cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues. They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content. Our lips are our own—who can stop us?””
Psalm 12:2-4 NLT

‭‭Strong stuff here – “flattering lips” and “deceitful hearts”, “boastful tongues” and “lies”. According to David, it was a problem in his day, but, as we know, it is still a problem thousands of years later. David associated such behaviour with his neighbours. The politically disillusioned today will perhaps immediately think about the behaviour of one or more of our politicians. Some will know that our 21st Century lawyers spend a lot of time untangling lies from truth. Human nature hasn’t changed much at all, it seems. David was quite dramatic in requesting action from God to cut off the “flattering lips” and the “boastful tongues”, but did he really expect God to do such a thing? Imagine the scene if God had in fact performed the surgery that David had asked for – all the people wandering around, unable to communicate, lips and tongues no longer present, because, after all, who has never told a lie? 

David continued, expressing the attitude of heart that is a symptom of the people indulging in lying behaviour. And of course what people think will be expressed verbally – David referred to this as people having “deceitful hearts”. Today we know that in our hearts, our thoughts and imaginations, we brew all sorts of scenarios and outcomes. We process what we see, we consider an uncomfortable situation, we receive negative and accusing comments, and we even imagine situations that might happen to us but haven’t just yet. And in consequence our minds produce a response that more often than not has considered lying as an option. Our sinful nature sometimes considers a lack of truth as the best outcome, because, so we think, the truth instead might dig us into an even deeper hole. And so today, all the problems with hearts, tongues and lips prevail, just as David observed with his neighbours. 

The Apostle James wrote much about tongue problems. James 3:2, “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way”. He continues, “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself” (James 3:6). And James really hit home with this thought about tongues, “Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:9-10). I don’t think anyone would disagree with James because he expressed a sobering reality that impacts everyone, even us pilgrims. 

If we left things there, we would all be depressed. We would end up in the same place as the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Romans 7:22-24). But the next verse explodes with hope and a solution to our sinful lips. “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin” (Romans 7:25). We turn the page and start reading Romans 8, and the warm glow of hearts now thankful and free from condemnation overflow us. Lips redeemed and free from deceit and lies. Praise be to God! Heavenly surgery takes place, not with a scalpel, but with the blood of Jesus redeeming us from our sins. Of course, we endeavour to clean up our lives, and pursue righteousness even if it causes us short term problems. But as we do, God’s peace and love will follow us all the days of our lives.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your patience, Your grace and mercy. Instead of dispensing the punishment we all deserve, You sent Jesus, to free us from our sins. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Vanished Faithful

Posted on by korgrocker

“Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!”
Psalm 12:1 NLT

We move to the next Psalm, another written by David, and the title includes instructions about how it should be accompanied when sung. His perception was that “the Godly are fast disappearing” but was that real or imagined? As we read the Old Testament, however, we see that there is an ebb and flow in the number of God worshipers in Israel. For example, the book of Judges often laments those who have abandoned the Lord. Verses such as Judges 3:7 identify the problem, “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles”. ‭‭We also read about Elijah’s sadness with the thought that he was the only God-fearing man left. Elijah had journeyed to Mount Sinai and we read, “There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”” (1 Kings 19:9). His response in the next verse was interesting, “Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”” God recommissioned Elijah there on the mountain, and reassured him, “Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”” (1 Kings 19:18). ‭

Often the perception of the numbers of believers in our country is fuelled by a press hostile to believers, but there are problems within some denominations. For example, here in the West of Fife, where I live in Scotland, there is a decline in the numbers of Churches of Scotland, with congregations dwindling and buildings being sold. This is a theme often emphasised in the media, always willing to promote a secular narrative. But John Stevens (National Director of FIEC) is credited with saying, “The decline of denominations like the Church of Scotland, which have largely abandoned the gospel, is not the full story of UK Christianity. Evangelical churches that faithfully preach Christ are consistently seeing slow and steady growth overall – both conversions and transfer growth through migration”. John continued, “The UK is not turning from Christianity but rejecting empty folk religion that was never true Christianity in the first place. The major decline is in allegiance to the Church of Scotland – and this is inevitable given that it is a liberal denomination that affirms same-sex marriage. Liberalism in the church proclaims its own irrelevance to the culture because it has nothing unique to offer that can’t be better delivered elsewhere.” So there we have it. A Church of Scotland member would, most likely, pray the prayer over their church straight from David’s Psalm 12 prayerbook, mourning his perception that the church is in decline, but without taking a step back and consulting God Himself.

Of course, Jesus had some words to say about His church. In Matthew 16:18 we read, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it”. So, any perception that the church is in decline is in denial of the words of Jesus. And we can look back over two thousand years and see that Christianity has not declined. There have been times when the church has lost its way but God has always raised up men and women to bring things back on track. Today there is an estimate that one third of the world’s population practise some form of Christianity. That’s over 2.3 billion people. 

So what did David mean when he said “the Godly are fast disappearing”? His snapshot of society in his day may have been skewed by his knowledge of his society and friends and family. But today, we pilgrims sense that there are exciting times ahead. One day the church of Jesus Christ will be joined with Him in marriage. Revelation 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself“. We don’t know how far away in time the wedding service will be. We don’t really know what it will look like. But we do know that it will come one day, probably sooner than we think. And Jesus will be there welcoming all those who make up His “bride”. Jesus’ bride won’t be an anaemic, powerless, lukewarm group of pew warmers in a dying denomination. It will be glorious and clothed in white. It will be populated by true Christians, sold out for God, filled with His Spirit and excited about the day yet to come. Are we counted in that number?

There is an old Gaither song to finish with today:
What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon his face
The one who saved me by his grace
When he takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day, that will be.

Dear Lord Jesus. What a day that will be indeed. We echo the words that we find at the end of Your Book, Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

The Righteous Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulphur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds. For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.”
Psalm 11:4-7 NLT

We hear much today about the love of God. And after all, this might be the reason why we believers first came to know the Lord. A loving and compassionate God, who sent His Son Jesus to die in our place as a punishment for our sins. What love! But some unbelieving people, with whom we share the Gospel, argue that if God is so loving then why does He allow so many bad things to happen. Such people read John 3:16 and think to themselves that surely a loving God would put a stop to the wars and strife that blights the world He loves. They read verses such as Matthew 13:42 and think surely a loving God would never send anyone to a place called hell, where unbelieving people will spend eternity in torment. And to explain away the scenes of judgement from Genesis, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the devastation of the Flood, such people declare that this was the Old Testament and everything changed after Jesus came. But here in Psalm 11 we read David’s words about a God who punishes people. Just Old Testament? Not if we believe Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

It is unfortunate that so often the presentation of the Gospel from the pulpit lacks the balance about God’s character. Preachers today are perhaps too afraid to upset anyone in case they take the huff and go to another church where God is presented in a way that fits with their own God-is-love ideology. Such “old school” preachers and teachers are often just indulged and ignored, even if they exist today. Quite what modern congregations would make of John Knox is an interesting thought but I know someone who was radically saved in the 1970’s through the ministry of a man, a retired miner, who presented hell in the Gospel context, and it had a lasting impression.

But as well as being a God of love, He is a God of righteousness and justice. David knew that, and he wrote, “[God] hates those who love violence” and “For the righteous Lord loves justice”. David visualised a scene where the wicked found themselves being rained upon by “blazing coals and burning sulphur”. Such a scene would be a nasty shock to those who never thought God would do such a thing. But David ends this Psalm with the thought that the “virtuous [upright] will see His face”. Jesus taught in Matthew 5 about righteousness. We read, “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20). There is only one way in which such righteousness can be achieved and that is through Jesus. By believing in Him and repenting of our sins, we will find that He has given us His perfect righteousness, and that is the only way anyone will ever be able to spend eternity in God’s presence. 

Loving Heavenly Father. We know that You are the beginning and the end and desire that everyone will be saved. We experience Your love and compassion in times of trouble and yet we understand that You hate sin and will judge everyone one day to balance the scales of justice. With that sober thought, we confess our sins before You today, grateful for Your grace and mercy, and forgiveness. Amen.