The Kingdom of God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?”
1 Corinthians 4:18-21 NLT

We citizens of the Kingdom of God, pilgrims on a journey to Glory, are living a different life from those around us, unbelievers who are still firmly and solely citizens of the kingdom of the world. We pilgrims have transitioned from a worldly life to one that is pleasing to God and aligned with His values and requirements. And the two kingdoms are so different, often with the expression of opposites. So someone great in the kingdom of the world’s eyes, such as a successful businessman, an autocrat or a political leader, is least in God’s Kingdom, where a servant assumes the greatest slot. But the biggest difference is that God’s Kingdom is spiritual. The first verse in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). (Note that “Kingdom of Heaven” is synonymous with “Kingdom of God” – Matthew was written for a Jewish audience and the name of God was so sacred that Jews would not refer to it directly.) But before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to define what the Kingdom of God is. One definition is, “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” (quoted from gotquestions.org). At His pre-crucifixion trial, Jesus was asked by the Roman governor, Pilate, if He was the King of the Jews. In response, “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place’” (John 18:36). Jesus truly was (and still is, by the way) the King, and we echo what Thomas said when he met the risen Jesus, “’My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed,” (John 20:28). 

So, how do men and women today become citizens of God’s Kingdom? Jesus gave Nicodemus the answer in John 3:3, 5-6, “Jesus replied, ‘‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” …  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“”. Men and women are naturally born into the kingdom of the world, a world riddled and polluted by evil, wickedness and sin. Although the Bible does not claim that the devil is the king of this world, Jesus did say that he was the ruler. John 12:31, “The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out”. And that is why this world is such an unpleasant place to live in. The only people who are comfortable living in this world are those who are sinful and conforming to the world’s evil ways. But God’s people experience a second birth, through the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus was greatly puzzled by this and couldn’t get his mind around the concept, the reality, of a different type of birth. Jesus said that worldly people could not understand how being reborn in the Spirit was possible (John 3:8 – “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit”), but He went on to describe what the door into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, looked like – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15). Right at the start of His public ministry, Jesus explained to Nicodemus that there was a day coming when He would be lifted up on a cross, crucified by the Roman authorities at the behest of the Jews, and taking on Himself the punishment that we sinners deserved. The Kingdom of God is an eternal Kingdom and one where its citizens will live for all eternity. 

To the Corinthian believers, Paul wrote, “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power“, but we will unpick that in the next blog. In the meantime, we have to understand the reality that living in God’s Kingdom in the spirit, while living in the world’s kingdom in the natural, will introduce tensions and conflicts for which God’s power is essential to be able to overcome. We pilgrims have a dual nationality. Paul was conflicted by a life in two kingdoms, and he wrote, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me” (Philippians 1:21-23). I have met Christians who are terrified of the thought of dying. All sorts of fears surface, such as leaving loved ones in a state of pain, sorrow and grief, but also the fear of the unknown, with questions around what the dying process for them will be like. Along with such thoughts come the doubts and sometimes a lack of faith bubbles to the surface. But Paul was so convinced about where he would end up after his physical death that he would have been more than happy if Jesus had whisked him away from this planet like Enoch (Genesis 5:23-24, “Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him“). 

We pilgrims have been born again by the Holy Spirit and now live for God in His Kingdom. It’s a wonderful life and one where we enjoy the presence of God in our lives day by day. And one day, we will experience an infinitely better life with Jesus forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for Your plan that involved sending Jesus, Your Son, to die for our sins. We now live in Your Kingdom as Your valued children, and we look forward to the day when our life on this planet will be replaced by a life spent for all eternity with You. Amen.

Foolish Preaching

Posted on by korgrocker

s the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.”
1 Corinthians 1:19-23 NLT

A mini-rant from Paul about the dichotomy between human and Godly wisdom introduces the theme in these five verses before us today. In his day Paul knew of men who, by reputation, were considered philosophers and who made their mark on the culture at the time. Men such as Seneca, who was a writer and advisor to the Roman emperor Nero. Then there was Epictetus, a Greek Stoic, who was born into slavery and later founded a philosophy school in Greece. Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, attempted to harmonize Jewish scripture with Greek philosophy, particularly Platonism. He believed that reason was a gift from God and that philosophy could be used to understand divine revelation. Three “wise” men, great thinkers of their day, but of whom Paul said God had made look foolish. Oratorical skills, brilliance of mind and thought, and a scholarly background all conspire to produce … a fool. Not because of their gifts, but because their thinking was all about human matters and, in the context of God and Heaven, had no value at all. A “brilliant debater” will not get into Heaven. Regardless of his words, he will still die and find a lost eternity.

Interestingly, Paul wrote that God said “that the world would never know him through human wisdom”. No-one can get into Heaven by their own efforts. I know someone who claims to have had a revelation as to what is there, and has even gone so far as to describe what God has revealed to him about Heaven. Such knowledge, he said, revealed to him that God had made Heaven with different compartments, each for a world religion. So the Buddhists would be in one place, Muslims in another and so on. The poor man, undoubtably intelligent as he is, suffers from delusions because his wisdom is earthly in its origins, and is based on his own thoughts alone, without fact or divine revelation. Part of my own testimony involves several months of trying to find God in the Bible purely by my own efforts, until, in the end, I discarded what I had thought I had found and instead called out to God for Him to reveal Himself. My prayer one Saturday night was something along the lines, “God, I can’t work this out on my own. If You are real then You will have to reveal Yourself to me”. I woke up the next morning with the assurance that God was real and through His grace He had indeed revealed Himself. That was the start of a journey, bumpy at times, but one from which I have never wavered. There is only one way to Heaven, as we know from 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“. And God in His loving graciousness has gently showed me the way, at a pace I can absorb, and He will continue to do so until I meet Him face to face. My wisdom and thinking was ineffective in its arrogance, but it was only when I came to the end of myself that God could start His work in a human being.

Paul wrote that God “has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe”. Is it foolish, to tell people everywhere about God’s saving grace? Most people we meet will say so, because their minds are limited by human wisdom. How do you introduce concepts of the spiritual world around us to people who have closed minds and who have rejected any thoughts of a “higher power”, who believe that we only live for a span for 70 or 80 years, and then enter a realm of unconscious extinction? People such as Richard Dawkins, a modern day philosopher and evolutionist, who said, “Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one.” People such as him have closed their minds against God and His Son, and instead deny any efforts to help them discover the truth. Such people will one day have a terrible shock, because they firstly will find themselves, not in a blank state of nothing, but as souls in a holding place called Sheol or Hades, and then secondly they will find themselves resurrected to stand before God to give an account of their lives. Why did Jesus describe hell as a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth? Matthew 22:13, “Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’”. The reason is that such God-deniers will have to spend eternity in a state of regret, that they rejected the One who saves and there is nothing that they can do about it. What a terrible thought!

So we pilgrims continue to be foolish in the world’s eyes as we preach to a people who are devoid of any vestige of God’s wisdom. People who are resistant to the idea of a spiritual world unseen by their natural senses, and who instead quote their human wisdom as the reason for their incalcitrance. But there is only one way that such people will ever discover God and that is through our “foolish preaching”. Paul wrote, “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ” (Romans 10:14-17). So let’s double our efforts to be as foolish as we can. We never know, because such foolishness in our stories of God’s love and grace might be just what someone needs to hear and experience.

Dear Father God. There is nothing foolish about a child of God, because we have heard the divine call and have reached out to the only One who has the message of eternal life. Please help us to pass it on to the people around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God is My Strength

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord, do not stay far away! You are my strength; come quickly to my aid! Save me from the sword; spare my precious life from these dogs. Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.”
Psalm 22:19-21 NLT

It is almost as though David has suddenly woken up and has now realised that God is there for him, able to save him from whatever caused his terrible vision of crucifixion. In distress and under attack he must have been, but he knew that God was his strength. But what did he mean by that? David spent much time with God, during those years looking after his father’s sheep. Instead of wiling away the time in pointless ways, David pulled out his harp or whistle, and worshiped God in the long hours. In those formative years, David learned much about God and how He helped him in times of need. We read the story of when Goliath was taunting the Israelite army and David ended up in front of King Saul. We can pick up the story in 1 Samuel 17:32, ““Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”” Saul’s response in the next verse emphasises David’s youth, ““Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”” But the next three verses were very telling, “But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!” (1 Samuel 17:24-26).‭‭ David knew all about his capabilities because God had repeatedly been his strength in a time of need. David knew that when faced with a seemingly overwhelming and fearful opponent, such as a bear or lion, God was his strength, and his relationship was such that he knew God would help him defeat this Philistine. He said to Saul, “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”” (1 Samuel 17:37).

Psalm 22, however, paints a picture of a different enemy to that of a bear, lion or even a Goliath. In Psalm 22:12-13 he wrote, “My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey”. And while facing this terrible situation, David had a vision of what his enemies would do to him. He did what we all do – get bogged down in imagining the consequences and what might happen, before we think of God. And isn’t it amazing that even when our enemies or difficult situations haven’t yet appeared, we start imagining what might happen if they did. The “wee small hours”, while we are supposed to be asleep, can become an imaginary battleground, where we stand in a place of potential danger, like the carpet in the boss’s office, or before the bank manager, and it is there that we generate various scenarios in our minds of the worst possible outcomes, and before we know it, we are living every terrible moment as if we have lost our jobs or are having to face into the consequences of bankruptcy.

There is another Psalm that I have turned to in times of distress in the past – Psalm 91. we read, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day” (Psalm 91:3-5). A picture of God’s all-encompassing protection and salvation. But it was verse 7 that God revealed to me one day when the company I was working for had announced the necessity for redundancies. It reads, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you“. How that promise of God encouraged me, and I indeed was kept safe from losing my job.

The Apostle Paul, like David, also knew about God being his strength. We read in Philippians 4:12-13, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength“. 

We pilgrims are convinced of God’s strength in every aspect of our lives. In fact, we know that God is so strong that He will bring us home one day regardless of our challenges and circumstances. What is there to fear? Yes, our fleshly nature sometimes rises up and gives us grief, but in the end God will prevail over all the odds. We are on the winning side, forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. You are a strong tower and we can always run to You in times of attack. We thank You today. Amen.

Abandonment

Posted on by korgrocker

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.”
Psalm 22:1-2 NLT

Why did David write Psalm 22? What was he going through at that time? We don’t really know of course, but we do know that he wasn’t in a good place. Riven by depression, his prayers failing to penetrate the clouds above him, he could find no relief. Perhaps he was sick, with some form of debilitating illness. Perhaps he had been through a situation where he felt trapped in a hopeless place, with no remedy in sight. But he did what he did often – he reached for his pen and starting writing, and we’re so glad that he did, because across his Psalms we have a legacy of situations with which we can often relate. How many times have we pilgrims woken in the small hours, anxious and worried, eventually praying but finding no answers? At such times perhaps we too think that God has abandoned us. David’s situation seemed to be going on day after day, with no relief in sight, but one thing does emerge – he calls on God. Would we have turned our backs on God, if we had been standing in David’s shoes? But in those small hours there is nothing better than for us to pick up our Bibles, head for a comfortable seat, and read a Psalm or two. And the God of comfort will minister to us I’m sure.

As we pilgrims know, Jesus cried out the words of the first verse from Psalm 22 in His dying moments on the cross. We read in Matthew 27:46, “At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”” Did Father God really abandon His Son? Jesus thought so, but did God really abandon His Son to take on our sins so that we could take on His Son’s righteousness? Sad though it might seem, that is what the Bible tells us and we have the poignant scene of Jesus, for the first time ever, cut off from His Father. David described His pain so clearly, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what Jesus really thought.

There is nothing worse than being abandoned. A newborn baby abandoned on a church step, a child abandoned by its mother in the hope that someone would hear the cries echoing in the darkness, bringing salvation to a young life. And then we hear of a child being abandoned through no fault of the parents, perhaps killed in a car crash or having succumbed to an illness. There is also something sad about old couples separated by the death of one of them, sometimes after 60 or 70 years even, leaving the surviving partner with a deep feeling of loss and abandonment. Jesus’ parents were riven with guilt when Jesus was lost as a young man. Mary and Joseph each thought that Jesus was with the other, and they quickly returned to Jerusalem to find Him. He wasn’t abandoned, but I expect that was what Mary and Joseph thought had happened. Abandonment is not uncommon in our day and age, and it is never pleasant. But to be abandoned in the way that Jesus was by His Father that Easter Friday – that shows just how much God loves us and how He desires for us to be with Him one day.

We read in Psalm 68:5-6a how God is interested in those who have been abandoned. “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families…”. Paul gave us a glimpse of God’s heart for His people when he wrote, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). No matter how we feel or whatever the situation, abandoned or otherwise, that we find ourselves in, God will always be there for us. 

One thing is for sure. We pilgrims will never abandon God. Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to follow other less committed followers who had abandoned Him, but Peter spoke up for all of them when he said, “ … Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life” (John 6:68). There is no place where we would rather be, than in God’s presence forever.

Dear Lord God. You have placed eternity in our souls and we never feel that You have abandoned us. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Trust In The Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“Your victory brings him great honour, and you have clothed him with splendour and majesty. You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.”
Psalm 21:5-7 NLT

Just a simple statement lacking drama, almost written as an aside – “For the king trusts in the Lord”. It stands as the tip of an iceberg, with much implied explanation and background information hidden beneath it. The sentence doesn’t include the how or why of David’s trust. It’s just a statement of fact. But David’s journey to the point when he could state that he trusts in the Lord began at the moment when Samuel anointed him in front of his father and brothers – “So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on …” (1 Samuel 16:13). In those pre-Messiah days the Holy Spirit didn’t live in each of God’s people all the time; instead He visited and empowered chosen people for certain tasks when the need was there. So, for David to experience the indwelling Holy Spirit was remarkable. From that moment forward, David learned through his life experiences how to trust in the Lord. Day by day, battle by battle, crisis by crisis, and David went on to write that “the unfailing love of the Most High” would keep him from ever stumbling.

But what does it mean to “trust in the Lord”? Proverbs 3:5 provides a clue, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding“. Our own understanding is flawed because so much of our humanity gets in the way. Our sins, wrong choices, lack of wisdom, and many other factors can all combine to skew our understanding and put us on a path that is far away from what God has planned for us. And, sadly, it is often the case that when we find ourselves in a place of difficulty, there through our own choices, we then turn to God for the guidance that we needed right at the beginning. Proverbs 14:12 reminds us, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death“. 

To be able to trust in someone, we need to get to a place where we can find something in that person that inspires that trust. I trust in my wife of many years because I have come to know her and have experienced her wisdom on many occasions. I know her Godly ways and her willingness to spend long hours in prayer to find God’s will. So before any important decisions are made, I trust her to have the wisdom needed. But can I say the same thing about our politicians? But we won’t go down that rabbit trail today. There is only one way to say, as David did, that we trust in the Lord, and that is through spending time, a lot of time, with God, and trusting Him with everyday matters, in the process building up a relationship on which we can depend. We make sure that we honour and treasure our “Quiet Times” in God’s presence, reading His Word, and engaging Him in prayer. We bring before Him all the hassles and problems, the decisions to be made, our difficulties and stresses, that we face in the day ahead. 

God has made many promises to us. Let us consider one from Philippians 4:6-7, “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“. In another Psalm David wrote, “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25). God said that He will supply all our needs and, as David said, if we look around at our fellow believers we see that this is indeed a true statement. But we do see those suffering around us as the result of choices influenced by their own understanding, tainted as it is by sin and a lack of wisdom. We pilgrims search out God’s promises in His Word and apply them in our daily lives, finding that God is indeed unchangeable and true to His Word.

When we trust in God, we are handing control of our lives to the One who knows what is best for us. God sees the End from the Beginning, and when Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to leave Him, Peter replied, “ … Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life” (John 6:68). There is no other way to complete our journey through life. There is no other ideology, or doctrine, or religion, that will assure us a place in the Home our spirits desire. Only God knows the way we need to take in our lives and we trust Him in the process.

Dear Father God. We proclaim our trust in You today and every day. We praise and worship You. Amen.

Eternal Life

Posted on by korgrocker

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

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

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

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

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

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

For The People

Posted on by korgrocker

“So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. First they took him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time. Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.””
John 18:12-14 NLT

The historical account of Jesus’ arrest was well documented in the Gospels, with each Gospel writer adding snippets of information to build an overall picture of the events that weekend. Over the years following the death and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples would have perhaps occasionally relaxed and chatted together, going over the events and sharing the details, much in the Jewish way, where fathers shared an important event with their children who in turn did the same with theirs. And then it was all written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who would have brought to their remembrance what He wanted recorded. With the benefit of hindsight, John remembered what the High Priest, Caiaphas, had said in an earlier meeting of Jewish leaders. In John 11:49-52 we read, “Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world”. This would have been remarkable prophecy if it had been related to Jesus and His mission of salvation, but Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders were more interested in their own cosy lives, and didn’t want anything to rock their boat and cause them personal loss and difficulties. So, they wanted Jesus out of the way, preferably dead, in case He was in the process of leading a rebellion to overthrow the Romans. Caiaphas probably never realised the significance of what he was saying, and the difficulties he was afraid of in fact materialised just a few years later in AD 70 when the Temple was destroyed by a besieging Roman army.

For us pilgrims, the death and resurrection of Jesus forms the bedrock of our faith. No other religion can claim that their god came to earth, where he took on the sins of his followers. No other religion has the power to grant eternal life to all those who believe in the One who created the entire Universe. We read again God’s mission statement, voiced by Jesus in a conversation with a Jewish leader called Nicodemus. “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” (John 3:16). An all-inclusive statement that embraced all humanity regardless of skin colour, nationality, ethnic origin, sex and genetic makeup. The only criteria to be applied was the people’s belief in Jesus. A belief that went beyond a superficial acknowledgement of a God’s existence and instead placed Him firmly and unequivocally in a central position in our lives. Today, we pilgrims also believe in Jesus, with a faith that knows no doubts, with a faith that has transformed our very lives and with a faith that will carry us to our Heavenly home one day.

Dear Lord Jesus. You came to this world for the people, those who God loved so much. We are so grateful. Amen.

Protect Them

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.”
John 17:11-12 NLT

Jesus continues His High Priestly Prayer with a focus on His disciples. He prayed for their protection by the power of His name. But there were many in the religious society of their day that hated them, and we can see through the early chapters of Acts the abuse they suffered for sharing the Good News about Jesus and His death and resurrection. In Acts 12 we read about how Herod Agrippa had one of the Apostles, James, the brother of John, killed, and he then arrested and imprisoned Peter, presumably with the intention of killing him too. So what was the protection Jesus was referring to, if not the life of His disciples?

Under the Old Covenant, we see how God protected His people from physical harm. There is an amazing story in Daniel 3 about the three Jewish exiles, Shadrach, Meshach, and Adebnego were saved from a very hot furnace. We read in Daniel 3:27, “Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!” In Daniel 6 we read about how God saved Daniel from becoming supper for a pride of lions. He said, “My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty” (Daniel 6:22).

In the New Covenant, God’s protection is for our spirits from any attack of the enemy. Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution“. Paul wrote about our spiritual resources in Ephesians 6. In this, his last epistle, Paul was facing death, and yet he could write, “Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18).

We pilgrims have no need to be anxious about our future. Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29). Jesus prayed for His disciples’ protection and I have no doubts that, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, they are all in His presence today.

Dear Father God. Thank You that once we are in Your hands we are there forever. Please continue to lead and guide us in Your truth. Amen.


Trials and Sorrows

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:32-33 NLT

Jesus said to His disciples that in this world they will “have many trials and sorrows”. And it didn’t take long before this prophetic warning came into fruition. Acts 5:40, “ … They called in the apostles and had them flogged …”. Acts 7:59, “As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit“. Acts 8:1, ” …  A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem …”. Acts 12:2, “He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword“. As we read the accounts of the first years of the early church we do indeed find that Jesus was correct in what He said. But what was there about these early Apostles and disciples that drove them on in spite of all the opposition they faced? Jesus followed His prophecy with the words, “But take heart, because I have overcome the world”. The men who had been with Jesus, and many others in those early years, were empowered by Holy Spirit and nothing was going to stop them from spreading the Good News about Jesus. The documented accounts of Paul and what he faced into on his missionary journeys came under the category of “many trials and sorrows“, and we can read all about them in 2 Corinthians 11. But Paul gave us a glimpse of his relationship with God when he wrote, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38). Through the power of Holy Spirit in his life Paul was able to put to one side the “trials and sorrows” and instead consider his life unimportant compared with his mission for Christ. He knew that one day his spirit would join his Saviour in Heaven.

What is the source of the opposition to believers who are going about their lives doing the Lord’s work? One would think that the love and grace of God is indeed Good News, and His message would be welcomed by everyone rather than having to face into the alternative destination after death. But we can trace the source of the opposition back through the clouds of evil, sin and wickedness to the devil himself. He will do anything to persuade Christians to deny their faith and it must be an immense source of frustration to him to find that Christ’s followers do the opposite by continuing to share the message of hope. You see, he cannot offer eternal life with our wonderful God. All he can offer is an eternity of misery , of “weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth”, as Jesus so succinctly put it. 

What does all this mean for us pilgrims? Someone once commented that if we don’t experience opposition in our Christian lives then our witness must be ineffective. Here in Western culture, there is a general acceptance of any faith or ideology, with governmental pressure and equality laws attempting to keep a lid on any attempts to proselytise others. But even this has limits. We can stand in our High Streets with a placard displaying the Gospel message, but do the same outside an abortion clinic and an arrest will soon follow. Doing the same outside a registry office when a same-sex marriage is taking place will invite the “trials and sorrows” that Jesus warned us about. But we have the knowledge that Jesus has “overcome the world”. Paul wrote, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14).

We pilgrims are on a journey to our promised land, the “Glory” spoken of by the saints of old. We are in it for the long haul, but nothing will stop us from sharing our faith with other seekers after truth. Will it?

Father God. You never said that being a believer would be easy, but the reward of hearing the words “Well done” on the other side of the Great Divide is enough for us. Please continue to help us on our journey of faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jesus is the Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 NLT

We have looked at the two previous statements that Jesus made about Himself – “I am the Way”  “I am the Truth”, and we now consider the last, “I am the Life”. We note, that of the seven “I am” statements made by Jesus and recorded in John’s Gospel, five of them refer to “life”. 

In John 6:35 we read, “Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”” Obviously, this reference to “life” is about spiritual life, and the “bread” to which Jesus refers is spiritual food. A person’s spirit has to be fed and the only true and valid “food” is Jesus. Many attempts are made to substitute this “food” with other sources but they never last or satisfy for long. So, there will be some who focus on cerebral activities such as mindfulness or yoga. Others might look for “food” in a beer glass or sex or drugs. But in the end only Jesus has the real “food” that satisfies the yearnings of our souls. It was interesting that Jesus, on two occasions, supernaturally and miraculously fed a large number of people with no more than someone’s packed lunch, one that included the staple diet of the day, bread. By so doing, He demonstrated for all time that He had the power to supply man’s physical needs, and, by inference, their spiritual needs as well. 

Then we read Jesus’ words in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” As we know, Jesus did in fact voluntarily lay down His life on the Cross at Calvary, but on the third day He rose from death, resurrected to prove that he had authority of life and death. “Life” in this context refers to physical life and we all know that one day our natural lives will come to an end. Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 20:28, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Jesus died to save many people, but in the process refused to save His own life, even though He had the power to do so. John 10:17-18, “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded”. 

In a conversation with Martha (the sister of Lazarus), we read, “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”” (John 11:25-26). And as we read further in John 11, we find that Jesus had the power to raise a man from the dead, even four days after he had been buried. 

The deliverance He was about to provide was not a political or social deliverance (which most of the Jews were seeking), but a true deliverance from a life of bondage to sin and death, to a life of freedom in eternity.

Dear Father God. Jesus encouraged us to be born again, a spiritual rebirth based on repentance and a belief in Jesus. And we look to You, with grateful acceptance of Your offer of eternal life. Thank You. Amen.