Inheriting the Kingdom

Posted on by korgrocker

“Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers. Don’t you realise that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 6:7-10 NLT

The Kingdom of God is mentioned much in the New Testament, particularly from the lips of Jesus. The kingdom of God is the spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God. In this sense, the kingdom of God is spiritual, and we remember that Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world, as we read what He said at His trial before Pilate, “Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world”” (John 18:36). Importantly, Jesus preached that repentance is necessary to be a part of the kingdom of God, “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”” (Matthew 4:17).‭‭ In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul supplied the Corinthians with a list of sins that would exclude them from the Kingdom of God, and at the end he wrote that people who cheat others would be amongst the company of those outside the Kingdom. This was, of course, particularly relevant to those in the Corinthian church who had been initiating lawsuits against fellow believers. Paul wrote that it was better for them to let themselves be cheated than head for the courts. We note from the list of sins that these fall into three categories: sins against a person’s body, sins committed against others, and sins against God. But they all have one thing in common, in that they will exclude anyone who commits these sins from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

Right at the start of His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “ … I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). In the next few verses, Jesus explained the process of spiritual rebirth, but did Nicodemus “get” it? He probably did, because we read about his involvement in the burial of Jesus in John 19:38-39, in the company of a man called Joseph. “Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes“. Joseph was the wealthy man who loaned Jesus his tomb for the weekend.

But back to the list of sins mentioned by Paul, sins that he said would exclude people from God’s Kingdom. Quite simply, there will be no sinners present anywhere associated with God because wicked people will be barred. It makes sense, really, because God, His kingdom, and everything to do with Him is sinless, pure, and holy. Absolute truth and righteousness will be found there. The Kingdom of God is, and will be eternally, a place where no sinners will be found and won’t be allowed to enter there either. A quote from “gotquestions.org”, “The Christian life is different from that of a non-Christian. Christians struggle against sin but have the God-given ability to overcome it. Unbelievers, who do not have the Spirit of God, remain slaves to their sin. Even if a Christian falls and lapses into sin, he will always eventually return to the Lord, and the struggle against sin will continue. But the Bible does not support the idea that a person who perpetually and unrepentantly engages in sin can indeed be a Christian”. There is little point in analysing each and every category of sin that Paul described, but we should note that there is an almighty battle going on in our times between those who are involved in sexual sins and those who believe what the Bible says about it. In fact, it is now going further, with the “gender wars” where, somehow, the devil has convinced men that they can become women and vice versa. And who would have thought that such a wicked ideology could even have been approved through legislation introduced by our lawmakers? Although not mentioned specifically in the list of sins, implementing such an ideology in a human being’s body is just as much a sin as any other. The sad thing in our days is that it is the secular feminists who are fighting the battle while the church is strangely silent. What a tragedy!

What do we pilgrims think about our inheritance, the Kingdom of God? In a sense, we have inherited it already.  We pilgrims, through the process of being born again, are now God’s children, and there will be an inheritance awaiting us. We are heirs to His Kingdom, and one day we will be in His presence forever. We may be getting weary about all the battles we are facing, but as Isaiah wrote, ” … strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you”” (Isaiah 35:3-4). And so we pilgrims encourage our fellow believers, because the Lord will indeed soon come to save us. His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is closer than we think, and we are part of it in this life.

Inheriting the Kingdom of God is a given fact for believers, past, present and future, but do we pilgrims feel we have inherited it, or are we unsure? Well, Jesus made it quite clear in John 3:3, 5, “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ … Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13b-14, ” … When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory”. So all believers who believe in Jesus, have repented, and continue to repent, of their sins, become born-again children of God, with an inheritance guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.

Father God, you are truly our Father, and we are deeply thankful for an inheritance assured by You. We worship You today. Amen.

A Brother With Two Sisters

Posted on by korgrocker

“A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.””
John 11:1-3 NLT

Chapter Eleven in John’s Gospel introduces Jesus’ friends, Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. They lived in a place called Bethany, a village located about two miles from Jerusalem on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. So it was quite close to Jerusalem and someone walking from there would take about forty minutes. We know little about the three siblings, but a story was about to unfold that had earth-shattering consequences. The account in John doesn’t appear in the other Gospels, although references to Mary and Martha do. But we do know that Jesus was friends with this small family unit, and probably stayed with them as often as He could. 

We know a little about Mary, because she “poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair”. John 12:3, “Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.” And we know a little more about the two sisters from the account in Luke 10, where Martha bustled around preparing a meal for all the hungry guests – Jesus and His disciples – while her sister, Mary, chose to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to His teaching. This is a well know story often referred to today, with some women identifying either with Martha or Mary in the course of their Christian journeys.

Lazarus became sick. With what we don’t know, but it was important enough for his sisters to send a worried message to Jesus. But the picture emerges in our minds of this ordinary Israeli family, living in a house large enough to accommodate guests. Lazarus and his sisters were probably at the younger end of the age spectrum, but there is no mention of parents or other relatives. Circumstances conspired to leave them, apparently reasonably well off, as three siblings living together on their own. John provided just the bare minimum of facts about this family unit, leaving us to try and fill in the gaps. 

But we pilgrims can relate to the concerns of being ill, and especially if a person close to us is unwell. A parent with a sick child. A wife with a sick husband. A Mary and Martha with a sick brother. Part of life as a human being living on Planet Earth is having to deal with sickness. This wasn’t God’s plan when He created the human race. Instead, we live in a world corrupted by sin, and under the power of the “god of this age”, and because of that we will experience illnesses, all the way from a common cold through to the ravages of cancer. When Jesus came He offered eternal life to all who believed in Him. This wasn’t an infinite natural life extension but eternal spiritual life. Yes, there were well documented occasions, such as in the account we are reading today, when Jesus healed the sick and even raised the dead. Today, there are still miraculous healings that take place through God’s servants and these are all down to God and His compassion.

There was a bond between Lazarus, Martha and Mary that was strong and able to withstand what would be coming to them in the days and weeks ahead in John’s account. But we pilgrims need to be on our guard because the devil excels in breaking up families, and especially Christian families. The devil will want to destroy anything that God has created and ordained. We know from Genesis 2 that God ordained marriage between a man and a woman – “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one” (Genesis 2:24). From the man/woman union comes a family, and family life, and two of the Ten Commandments confirm the importance of the family. The sibling family residing in Bethany were perhaps unusual, but they demonstrated a familial bond that was important.

In a spiritual sense, we are part of a much larger family, made up of the children of God. The devil will want to divide and conquer the church of which we are a part, so we need to be on our guards. And that is the message today as we explore the account of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and what was about to happen in Bethany.

Dear Father God. You designed the family unit and put within us Your family dna. You too are a part of a family unit, together with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We pray for our families and know that even if we aren’t in a family unit, You are there with us. We are so grateful. Amen.

Father and Son

Posted on by korgrocker

“So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”
John 5:19 NLT

Jesus and His Heavenly Father had a very close relationship, perhaps only limited by Jesus’ humanity. But spiritually they were so close that Jesus could truthfully say His ministry and presence on earth was totally aligned to the will of Father God. Jesus in fact said that without that relationship, He could do nothing. To the Jewish leaders Jesus was a severe threat. On the one hand they could see the miracles that He did, indisputable acts of healing and mercy, but on the other they had the problem that Jesus claimed that these miracles were directly due to His relationship with His Father showing Him what to do. The Jewish religious leaders had never encountered anything like this before and didn’t know how to handle Jesus. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was shadowed and harassed by the Jews, who were trying to build a dossier of “crimes” that could result in Him being prosecuted and silenced for good. But in His trial before Pilate, no crime was found, and particularly one that deserved the death sentence. We read in John 18:38b, ” … Then [Pilate] went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime”“.

Jesus only spoke truths when He was here on earth. John 14:6, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“”. Not even a hint of a lie ever passed Jesus’ lips. He made no attempt to ingratiate Himself with the Jewish leaders. He just spoke out, and performed miracles, all perfectly in line with what was happening through His Father in Heaven. But the Incarnation was all about Jesus taking on human flesh. He was for a time willing to leave behind Him His Godly life, and become a human being. Of course, He was still God, but human limitations were very much present in His life on earth. But the reason for His coming is explained in Hebrews 2:14, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death“.

But all who have put their trust and faith in God are God’s offspring. John 1:12, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God“. We pilgrims are brothers and sisters, children of a Father who lives in Heaven, and we have an elder brother called Jesus. Hebrews 2:11, “So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters“. So, we read today’s verse, John 5:19, in a different light. Just as Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, so must we pilgrims. It probably won’t place us in the upper echelons of the popularity charts, but we too must live our lives in accordance with His will, not ours. 

Dear God. Thank You for Jesus, our dear elder brother. Through His love He was prepared to die for us, taking on our sins so that we could be part of Your family. We are so grateful. Amen.

Rights

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then the Pharisees who had been sent asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”“
John 1:24-25 NLT

More questions for John, this time concerning his apparent intrusion into an area the Pharisees considered to be their religious “”right”. They claimed exclusive rights over all things spiritual in Israel and tried very hard to stop anyone trying to take over part of what they do. Apparently, baptism was not something new to the Jews. They used immersion in water as a ritual act of cleansing when a Gentile converted into Judaism. But John’s baptism was applied to the Jews themselves, as a public declaration that they had repented of their sins. Not something the religious authorities would have been pleased about because they considered that their exclusive territory.

Should we pilgrims have been baptised, by full immersion as those in the early church were? Peter’s first recorded sermon included this verse, “ … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The reference, “be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” implies full immersion in water, a public declaration of faith and one that clearly transitions a person into the Kingdom of God. It is also something very significant in the life of a believer because, in times of stress and doubt, their heritage can be referred back to. Baptism is a spiritual event just as significant as any other identity document.

John was asked, “what right do you have to baptise?”. In some countries today, there are very few “rights” let only being able to be a believer in Jesus. We mustn’t forget that many will consider it a privilege to be able to express our religious and social freedom in a Western nation. In John the Baptist’s day, the rights of an individual were few, being impacted by poverty, the Romans and by the religious authorities. But John wasn’t fazed by that and he just got on with what God had commissioned him to do – “prepare the way …”. We pilgrims also have a task before us, and one that is likely to be impacted by the conversion ban legislation that is slowly, but inexorably, passing its way through the UK parliaments, central and devolved. In the Anglican and Presbyterian denominations here in the UK, there is a restriction on who can officiate at services, but believers in Christ are all “ordained” in their own right – ” … you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

So what “rights” do we pilgrims have, in our spiritual and religious duties? There is nothing complicated here. We just get on with what God has asked us to do. It may not be easy. For some it may be dangerous, for others inconvenient. It may cost us our money and time. But the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us – that is God’s “right”. There is a higher law at work and one that, when followed, could lead us to our own “cross”. The Creator God of this world had the “right” to send His Son, Jesus, to save the world. We pilgrims have dual citizenship – we are citizens of the nation in which we were born, but we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God. The authorities may remove or amend our “rights” in our natural kingdoms, but they cannot touch our “rights” as children of God at all. And we know which kingdom will prevail in the end.

Father God. Only You can determine our true rights. Through Jesus we are privileged citizens in Your Heavenly Kingdom for ever and ever. Amen.

Obedient Children

Posted on by korgrocker

“So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.”
1 Peter 1:14 NLT

The Bible includes many references to God having children. Not natural children of course, but spiritual sons and daughters. However, there was one exception – Jesus. The Apostles’ Creed includes the following statement, “ … I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary …”. Jesus pre-existed his birth to Mary, as we know, but God chose to bring about the miracle of the virgin birth to introduce His Son into the world. The Creed goes on to say “ … He ascended into Heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father …”.About Jesus we read from Philippians 2:8, “he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Jesus was the first, the ultimate even, obedient child of God. 

The world is full of natural children. Everyone has a mother and a father, even if certain ideologies are trying their best to convince otherwise. But everyone has an opportunity to have a spiritual Father. We read in John 1:12-13, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God”. In John 3:5-6, Jesus explained something to a Jewish leader. “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life””. 

So, we have a scenario where, on the one hand, we have Jesus, the Son of God, the obedient Son, showing us perfection in everything including His obedience to His Father. On the other hand we have a sinful world full of natural birth people, and who are disobedient about anything to do with God. A nightmare scenario for our loving Heavenly Father? But one which He in His grace had a plan to resolve. We read about the obedient Son in Hebrews 5:8-9, “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him”. And we read about the plan, so simple yet so profound, in John 3:16-17, “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. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him”. 

What grace! What love! Who would ever have thought that we sinful human beings can become children of God. It starts with being obedient to His invitation through Jesus. Saying “Yes Lord!” to open the door into our spiritual birth. And our lives then become aligned to His as we are obedient to the truths made available to us through His instructions and precepts that fill His Book, the Bible. Obedience to parents is sometimes an unpopular course of action. But with God He expects us to be obedient. Not for His sake so much as for ours. Living life God’s way becomes eternal.

Dear Father God. We thank You for conceiving the plan to save mankind and bring about our new birth as Your children in Your family. Amen.

Heirs of God’s Glory

Posted on by korgrocker

“For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”
Romans 8:16-17 NLT

Paul’s logical journey continues. He has already dropped a bombshell by saying that Christians are fellow brothers and sisters. He developed that thought by, once again, setting out the prerequisite that to be a member of the wider Christian family then we must be led by the Spirit, and not by sin. Paul then went on to declare that Christians are children of God, as we read in Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God”. And then Paul made the apparently outrageous statement that we can call God, “Daddy”. The previous verse is Romans 8:15, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father“”. “Abba” is the Aramaic word for “Daddy“, used in an intimate relationship. Jesus Himself defined who were His siblings. We read in Matthew 12:50, “Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

So the reality is that through the Spirit who is living within us, we are children of God. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:5, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure”. We read in John 1:12-13, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God”. We have been born again – a phrase that is repeatedly attacked and ridiculed by those who know no better – into the family of God. 

Paul wrote in Romans 8:15 that we were “adopted” into God’s family. Adoption in Roman days had a particular legal importance. In some circumstances it was even more significant than for someone who was a natural child. So when Paul used the metaphor “adoption” it sent a significant message to his readers, particularly if they were of Roman birth, or knew the custom because they lived in the Roman Empire. An adopted child had specials rights and expectations.

Paul knew all about that – after all he was a Roman citizen – and his logic continues with the bold statement that if we are children of God, then we have a legacy. In fact, along with Jesus, we are heirs to all that God has. Not that, of course, one day God will die, but because right now we have the benefit of a living will. God has made available to us all that He is and all that He has. What an amazing Father!

Dear Father God. We are heirs to Your glory. It is almost impossible to get our minds around such an amazing truth. Thank You. Amen.

Children of God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
Romans 8:12-14 NLT

Paul referred to the Roman Christians as his “dear brothers and sisters”. He hadn’t met any of them but he spoke of a bond that was not bounded by geographical distance. Instead he knew that he was united with the Christians in Rome just as he was related to his own family back in Tarsus. Such a bold statement might have been a bit strange to those early Christians, so Paul continued to develop the family theme.

From the black and white, hard hitting, teaching of the previous chapters, Paul was now much more conciliatory in tone, appealing to his dear friends. Once again he gently pointed out that sin leads to death, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, sin is instead put to death, resulting in life. Life in the Spirit, not life controlled by sin. 

But we should note a little word used by Paul, a word of profound importance to pilgrims, just as much then as it is today. The word, “if”. We have a choice. We can discard a life of sin, or we can live a life powered by the Holy Spirit. A simple but profound choice. But one with equally profound outcomes. 

Paul’s writings next dropped a bombshell of seismic proportions on his audience. If we are led by the Spirit then we become God’s children. If true, then this must be one of the most important and significant events this planet has ever seen. But we must accept that this is an amazing truth, one we cannot ignore. But the logical question then is whose children are we if we don’t live a life led by the Holy Spirit? Of course, we are referring here to spiritual children, not to our physical origins. And in that perspective, we are either children of God or children of the devil. I John 3:10, “So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God”. 

So we pilgrims have another message for this lost, confused, chaotic and dying world around us. We are spiritual beings, members of one of two families. I know which of them I would rather belong to! Perhaps we need to ask our friends and families which family they want to be a part of.

Dear Father. How amazing it is that You want us imperfect humans to be part of Your family. Thank You! Amen.

Being a Servant

Posted on by korgrocker

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!””
‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT

John was so overcome with his conversation with the angel, that he felt the urge to fall on his knees before him and worship him. What was there about the angel that induced that feeling in John? But John had been there before. We read in Revelation 19:10 about another time when he felt he had to worship an angel. We read, “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God.…..””.

What is there about angels that can perhaps invite their worship? It may have been a problem in early church days, because the Apostle Paul warned the Colossians church about it. We read in Colossians 2:18, “Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,”. Angels are created beings, but they are eternal and they have the powers to travel through space and time. They serve God continually, and they have a form that is supernatural and beyond our understanding. Many books have been written about angels, and the Bible is full of references about them. We may even be able to sense the presence of angels, keeping us from danger. But mankind has a tendency to be wowed by something amazing, and that perhaps initiated John’s feelings of a need to worship. 

The angel claimed that he was a “servant of God”, just, as he said, like John and his “brothers the prophets“. But in what way did the angel serve God? In the case before us, God had obviously assigned him the task of showing and explaining all that he did to John. And he did it with patience, gentleness and kindness, threads we see throughout the Book of Revelation. But what about the brothers, the prophets? How do they serve God? Paul gave us insight, in Colossians 2:23-24, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” There is a connection here between living our earthly lives and service to God. Many church people have claimed to do “the Lord’s work”, preaching, teaching, being missionaries and so on, but the reality is that serving God can be a job as mundane as cleaning the toilets or drying the dishes. We read in Philippians 2:14-15, “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticise you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” That’s serving God in the way He expects.

In our societies today, we don’t tend to think of worship as something we do outside a church building. But we pilgrims know what it means to worship God. And we do so continually. We must worship only God, and not one of the false gods that can sometimes wheedle their ways into our lives. We see people worshipping on a golf course, at football matches, polishing a piece of metal in their driveways. The list of false gods is endless. We make something a god when we elevate it higher than the true God. We need to pay attention to who and how we serve, and who or what we worship. Get the priorities right and we won’t go far wrong.

Father God. We need some help here. You know our tendency to get caught up with false gods and how we grumble and complain. Please help us! Amen.

A Baby is Born

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“…He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a Son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days”. 
Revelation 12:4b-6 NLT

The devil wasn’t at all happy about the impending birth. Her offspring was someone or something that he was very much afraid of and he had to destroy it, come what may. The description in John’s Revelation account seems to fit with the expectation that one day Christ will return, His second coming, and He will rule and reign together with His people. Perhaps the rule all nations with a rod of iron is a reference to the prophecy in Psalm 2:9, “You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots”. But it is possible that the “baby” in our verse today applies to the rule and reign of Christ, an event that started with His birth two thousand years ago and is still in process. Or did John’s vision once again run the video of an event that had already happened, the birth of God’s Son, Jesus, Himself? The devil was waiting for something to happen, so are we still looking to a future event at this point? A future event that will see the establishment of the Kingdom of God, ruled by Jesus, His second coming? The traditional view is that the birth event described by John was the first coming of Jesus, and the mother of the baby was the Jewish nation. But how does this fit in with the 1,260 days being assigned the label, ”The Great Tribulation”, which is yet to come? Whichever interpretation we choose to believe, however, is is clear that John’s vision was of something very significant. Once again, the verses in Revelation seem to generate more questions than answers.

We continue to read John’s account and see that the child was “snatched away” into God’s presence, where the devil couldn’t get to Him. The child in fact was brought into the very presence of God, which indicates that they had a close and special relationship. Of course, the most plausible explanation in this context is that the child was, and is, Jesus, God’s Son. But God also has a special relation with His children as well, those people who were adopted into His family, of which the first born was Jesus. We read in Hebrews 2:11, “So now Jesus and the ones He makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters”.

Do we pilgrims consider ourselves brothers and sisters of Christ? Sadly, many Christians look with suspicion at those in other denominations, but the reality is that we are all part of God’s family. Once when Jesus was speaking to a crowd of people He was told that His mother and brothers were outside and wanted to talk to Him. His response, recorded in Matthew 12:48-50 was, “Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”” Unfortunately, we so often get caught up in worldly thoughts and behaviours without addressing the real issue about our heart attitudes. We pilgrims aspire to be siblings of Jesus, so the solution is clear – we must do what God has asked us to do – His will. Do we know what that is? Perhaps a good place to start is Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect“.

Dear Father. We confess our desire to be Your children. Please help us to discern what Your will is for each one of us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Dearly Loved

Posted on by korgrocker

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:1-2‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

These verses say unequivocally that we Christians are “dearly loved”. Children of God. And Jesus, through His sacrifice at Calvary, a selfless act that was part of God’s plan, demonstrated His love for us. Because we are “dearly loved”, Paul wrote that we must follow God’s example, and we must “live a life of love”. Beautiful words and sentiments. Two verses that give us a warm glow inside and lead us to a place of worship, as we meditate on all that God has done for us. 

But here’s the thing – what does ”living a life of love” look like in the day to day world of today’s pilgrims? In a war-torn world, full of doom and gloom. The Covid pandemic refuses to lie down or go away. Rising energy and commodity costs risk tipping many families into poverty and debt. Newspapers and journalists try to outdo each other to win the prize for the most negative, doom-laden, story. But in all of that the message to us today is the same as it was when Paul wrote to his Ephesian friends, that we are “dearly loved”. I don’t know about you but that has provided me with another perspective on life. My status in God’s eyes somehow elevates me above the natural world into Heavenly places. 

On my morning prayer walk today I looked around at the hints of spring. The snowdrops have been around for a while. Crocuses and daffodils abound. The bird song is different. Just a few days ago I saw a couple of ducks exploring the small stream that trickles through the woodland nearby. In the distance was the drumming of a woodpecker. This is God’s creation, the environment He supplied for the “deeply loved”. And somehow, the worldly mayhem around me seemed less relevant. Escapism? Denial? I don’t think so – just a reminder, an appreciation, that my Heavenly Father cares for me. He promised never to leave me. He promised to meet all my needs. Life may not be easy right now, but He is here for me, because He loves me.

Back to my question – what does living a life of love look like? Simply, the love God has lavished on me is there for me to lavish on those around me. To those in my family. My neighbours and friends. My workmates. Those people I meet in the supermarket, the petrol station. And my acts of love may seem small – perhaps no more than a cheery word – but essential nonetheless to dispense the love we have to share. A man I met the other day is worried about being able to pay his energy bills. The anxiety is eating away at him like a cancer. I couldn’t do much about his bills, but I was able to tell him that God loves and cares for him. Briefly, a flicker of relief crossed his face and I pray that he too comes to a place where he knows he is deeply loved.

Who is there around us today who needs to know the love of God? We all have our messages of hope, ready and waiting to bring light into a dark world. We all must unselfishly try our utmost to find someone with whom we can share all that God has done for us. We are dearly loved children of God extending an invitation to those we meet, an invitation to join the most wonderful family ever. God’s family. Open to all – He has more than enough love to go round.