Test My Heart

Posted on by korgrocker

“Declare me innocent, O Lord, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth.”
Psalm 26:1-3 NLT

David was looking for self-vindication in these first three verses of Psalm 26. He laid out before the Lord His unwavering trust, his integrity, and his life lived according to God’s truth. Surely he was a man innocent of any wrongdoing, as David asked the Lord to confirm. But that was only his perspective. Jeremiah prophetically set out what the Lord thinks of the human heart, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Of course, this doesn’t apply to a human’s physical heart, that amazing pump that keeps us alive for our “three score years and ten”. It applies to our spirits within us, that part of us where our emotions and desires dwell. The Bible mentions this spiritual organ many times and we can assume that even God has a heart, as we read in 1 Samuel 13:14. Samuel was speaking to King Saul, “But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command“. If David was a man after God’s own heart, this implied that everyone had the same. The problem is that sin, evil and wickedness has destroyed the perfect that God intended, and as Jeremiah wrote, mankind is universally cursed with a deceitful and desperately wicked heart. No exceptions even for David – look what happened when he spied Bathsheba taking a bath.

But David was keen to be vindicated and at this point in his life he wrote “test my motives and my heart”. He must have been pretty sure of his ground to write that. However, as we read in Jeremiah 17:10, God has His eye on everyone’s heart, “But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve“. Jesus had something to say about human hearts, as we read in Mark 7:20-23, “And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you””. Ouch! We all have a heart problem, no matter how much we try to deny it, and the NHS has no remedy available. We are unable to go and acquire a doctor’s prescription to cure a personal heart problem. No psychiatrist has a solution to the evil within a person; instead they can only try to fool patients into the conclusion that they don’t have a problem if they think a certain way. Quackery in God’s eyes. Jesus said that the problem of a failing heart exists within a person, but even they can’t see a problem because they have been deceived by themselves. We know the problems we have and we try and rationalise them so that we can live with our sinful hearts. Sadly, through our thoughts and intentions, we have a tendency to feed our heart on things that increase the evil within. We know it all. “Just one more glance” or “surely another … won’t matter” (fill in your own speciality). But an evil and wicked heart, suffering from all the conditions Jesus described, needs feeding, and that is where our hearts can be cleaned up, with much help from God of course. If we stop feeding our hearts with the things that destroy, then those qualities will shrivel and die. So if a thief stops dwelling on thieving, then his thoughts of stealing will gradually disappear. But there is only so much that a person can do and God’s help must be engaged. 

Sometimes, people describe an emotional person as one who wears their heart on their sleeve. But aren’t we glad that all that is within our hearts is invisible to anyone we meet. I look at a random stranger and I have little or no idea about what they are thinking, and neither do they about me. But God sees all, and why He still loves human beings after that, instead of recoiling in horror at what He sees in our hearts, is one of life’s mysteries.

Ezekiel wrote, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). In the end it is only God who can fix human beings and that redemption process started with Jesus and our faith and belief in Him. Through His death at Calvary, He took on our sins and started us on the journey to acquire that new heart Ezekiel told us about. Paul wrote, “For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:10). Our heart surgery starts quite simply with Jesus. There is no other way to find a remedy for all the evil that is within us. The wise philosopher wrote, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23). Sound advice that we would do well to obey.

Father God, we lift our hearts to You, exposing all and asking for forgiveness and the surgery needed to clean up our inner beings. Only You have the remedies we need and we thank You and praise You for all You are and for Your unlimited love and grace. Amen.

Future Generations

Posted on by korgrocker

“Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust. Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.”
Psalm 22:29-31 NLT

It is a fact of human life, that the species homo sapiens maintains its existence by the production of future generations. God’s plan was set out in the early chapters of Genesis, starting with Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person“. That was the male of the species, but he was shortly joined by the female, “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22). That original male “WOW” must still be reverberating around the Universe! The next wonder is a few verses on, “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one”. Earlier in Genesis 1:27-28a we read, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply …””. To complete the picture we turn to Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”” And so “future generations” were established and the process repeated. Simple biology as we all know, but this was God’s plan for populating Planet Earth.

But each new life introduced into our world has a problem – they are born with sin built in. Psalm 51:5, “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me“. It is troubling to think that this beautifully formed child, so innocent and so loved, has the potential within it to be sinful, but there is no escape, as Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard“. And as that child grows up into a man or woman, a process that can be painful, particularly for the parents, one of three things happen. The child may, through the witness of his or her parents or others, become a believer like them and live a life of piety in relationship with God. Or the child may become more and more sinful, living a life of evil and wickedness that continues to the end of their lives. Thirdly, the child may grow up to become a “good” person, following all the laws of the land (well, mostly!) and be considered an upright citizen in whatever country they live. But however they live their lives, these grown up children continue the cycle, producing their own children, adding to those in the category of “future generations”. 

But David wrote, “Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord”. In fact, he developed this theme, writing “His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done”. How is that going to happen, in our world corrupted by sin and bombarded with sinful advertising, and in places where sinful practices take place. How will people hear about the Lord’s wonders in our schools where sinful ideologies are taught, often as fact. And overlaying it all, like letters embedded in a stick of rock, within each human being there is a preference for doing sinful things, a preference for evil rather than for God’s ways. In these final verses of Psalm 22, David wrote down a promise of the Lord. In faith, and prophetically, he assured his, and future, generations that God’s wonderful works will never be forgotten. In fact, he wrote, even those not yet born would know about them. We pilgrims know within us the wonderful things God has done in us, through us and by us. Hardly a morning goes by without me being reminded of the wonderful presence of God, with memories of how He has come through for me in dark times as well as good times. Our enemy the devil has forgotten one major thing about human beings – they are all born with a God-shaped hole within them, and throughout their lives people will try to fill it. Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them“. If people are created in God’s image then they will inevitably look for ways in which they can connect with Him. Some turn to mystic practices such as mindfulness or Yoga. Back in the 60’s, transcendental meditation was all the rage. Others explore all the chemical substances available, drugs and alcohol just for starters, in the hope they can introduce some way of filling the yearning within them, or, more likely, to dull the pain of knowing that they are lost without Him. But intuitively people know that there is only one way into God’s presence and that is why today there is an increase in the numbers of our young people embracing Christianity here in the UK. A wonderful revival is about to take place, because God will never forget His creation, and His love and compassion with burst into the lives of human beings through His grace. 

Isaiah wrote, “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously” (Isaiah 55:6-7). While a human being, now or in the future, is alive and breathing, he will have an opportunity to look for, and find, a personal relationship with God. But once dead, the opportunity is gone. That is why we pilgrims are on a mission, to tell everyone about the “wonders of the Lord”. Yesterday I met a depressed dog walker, weighed down by, as she put it, the state of the world. So I took the opportunity to tell her that because of Easter Sunday we have hope in this otherwise dark and evil world. A seed planted that God will water and nurture, hopefully bringing eternal life to one of the “future generations”. It is a privilege to be able to share what God has done for us. There is no shortage of stories to tell of God’s grace, and we never know that the stranger we might share the Gospel with may become another Billy Graham, reaching millions with the Good News of God’s saving grace. And so we praise and worship the One who has promised never to leave us or forsake us, ever. As we step out today, we pray for God to lead us to yet another hopeless soul, scared witless by the state of the world. The society around is full of such people, just existing in a life of sin, some even wishing that they had never been born. And we pray like we never have before, because the days are short.

Dear Lord Jesus. Only You have the words of eternal life. Only You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Please help us reach out to those You have prepared for the seeds of the Gospel to be planted, bringing hope to the hopeless, and life to the dying. Amen.

Standing Firm Forever

Posted on by korgrocker

“Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? … Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.”
Psalm 15:1, 5 NLT

David winds up his list of required characteristics for those who wish to worship the Lord in His sanctuary. Inevitably, he turns to money, which can be a trap for unwary believers. Paul wrote to Timothy, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). The requirement that those who lend money should not charge interest is perhaps, at least superficially, a problem in this day and age, where borrowers expect to be charged interest. But if we dig down a bit further into this requirement, we find Exodus 22:25, “If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would“. So perhaps David was just meaning that money should only be loaned interest-free to poor people in need. Obviously, in Biblical days, it was expected that interest would be received on investments. Jesus said to the third servant in His parable of the Ten Servants, “Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?” (Luke 19:23). So, perhaps, David was meaning that those who loaned money should be charitable when it came to the poor, and not guilty of usury, the charging of interest at exorbitant rates, to everyone else. Banking today charges one rate of interest on loans, but a lower rate on deposits, the difference between the two rates providing sufficient money to fund the bank’s operations. But sometimes the size of banking profits makes us pilgrims wonder about usury.

David went on to write about those who accept bribes for lying “about the innocent”. Perhaps David was repeating Exodus 23:8, “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.” We read about how the guards at Jesus’ tomb were silenced, bribed by the Jewish religious leaders, in Matthew 28:12-13, “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep””. Bribery was common in those days, and still is today, with corruption in some nations reaching epidemic proportions. Bribery is a sin, there is no doubt about that, and anyone guilty of giving or receiving a bribe excludes themselves from being able to worship God.

In Psalm 15, David lists all the characteristics that need to be present to qualify someone for God-worship. The person concerned must:
Live a blameless life 
Not do anything unrighteous
Speak the truth
Not slander or gossip about anyone
Not wrong their neighbours
Not speak evil of their friends
Despise and avoid those who openly sin
Honour their brothers and sisters in Christ
Keep their promises, come what may
Be charitable and fair when lending money
Refuse to give or receive bribes

David concludes with the thought that the believer who ticks all these boxes will stand, upright and strong, a God-worshipper beyond reproach forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. We understand that there are things we have to do in our lives to qualify us for being able to worship You. We pray with the Psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 

Pregnant With Lies

Posted on by korgrocker

“The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies. They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.”
Psalm 7:14-16 NLT

David continues his Psalm with another rant about wicked people, written in a language rich with analogy and graphic in detail. He compares the thoughtful ways of an evil person with pregnancy. The moment of conception is when a wicked idea emerges in a person’s mind. Then the gestation commences, as the idea gains weight and form, and finally a bundle of lies is born. Anyone with an imagination can immediately grasp what David was getting at, and the analogy is one that we pilgrims can relate to. We can imagine someone who is thinking of stealing a lot of money. The idea is conceived, perhaps to rob a bank. This is followed by the growth of the idea, as plans are made to circumvent the bank’s security systems, a process that might take quite a time, needing careful planning by the evil mind. Perhaps a tunnel into the vault is required, or the help of a corrupt insider engaged. And then finally the evil deed is carried out, giving birth to the robbery. But most evil as considered by David, is not as dramatic and instead concerns everyday life, lived the devil’s way. It may start as a bit of a joke. Or an innocent thought might become corrupted by a mind unrestrained by a guilty conscience. But whatever the situation, mankind’s propensity for evil needs little encouragement.

David continues to describe what happens to the evil that has appeared as a new birth. He paints a picture of the evil people digging a “deep pit” to try and capture someone who they hope will fall into it. Perhaps the pit he describes could today be a situation much like the scene in the Garden, when the devil, masquerading as a snake, cleverly but evilly, twists words to trap a person into doing something they shouldn’t. We see such attempts in news interviews where the journalist formulates trick questions that try and trap someone into saying things they don’t want to, or putting them into a position where they are trapped by their own words. In a court of law, a clever prosecutor will try and “dig a deep pit” for the accused or a witness with questions designed to discredit their defence or testimony. But whatever the “deep pit” is, David envisages the evil person falling into their own trap, with the trouble they birth causing them the grief they try and impose on others. 

In the context of Psalm 7, David was writing about evil in the presence of God. Verse 11, “God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day”. Ultimately, evil people will discover the consequences of their evil, either in a human court, or, if they escape that, when they stand before God on that terrible day we read about in Revelation 20.

But we pilgrims are not those who think about evil deeds. Paul wrote about evil people in his Ephesian letter, “Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity” (Ephesians 4:18-19). These are people whose minds dwell on evil, giving birth to “every kind of impurity”. But Paul goes on, “But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:20-24).‭‭ We pilgrims have to do something. We have to be proactive in our thinking to avoid falling into evil ways, and let the Holy “Spirit renew [our] thoughts and attitudes”. Our hearts and minds will not, by some miracle, become instantly pure and holy when we became a Christian, because the sin within us will constantly battle for the upper hand. If we drop our guards, even for a moment, then David’s picture emerges, as evil is conceived. The enemy is constantly looking for an opportunity to plant an evil seed in our minds, so we pray for protection from the evil one (“deliver us from evil”), and we read God’s Word, allowing it to refresh our minds day by day. 

Dear Father God. We pray Jesus’ prayer this morning, for deliverance from evil and temptation. In Your precious name we pray. Amen.

End the Evil

Posted on by korgrocker

“End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.”
Psalm 7:9 NLT

Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world. We look around at global events, and see the wars and strife that decimate nations. As I write, the war in Ukraine continues. The Middle East appears constantly in the news, as one nation, faction or religious group battles against another. Evil people doing evil things to other evil people. There seems no let up in the wickedness present in this world. We yearn for the day prophesised by Isaiah, when he wrote, “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore”(Isaiah 2:4). 

But then we look closer to home and see the evil present in our societies. Communities blighted by drugs. People dying at the hands of drunk drivers. Children abused. Fights at football matches. The list seems endless. Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world.

But then we perhaps stop to think about ourselves, and the evil thoughts that emerge from time to time in our minds, redeemed even as they are. Perhaps we echo what Paul wrote in Romans 7:23-24, “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” We find ourselves in a place where we would dearly love to see the end of evil but accept that we are as much the problem as any other person. Thankfully, through Jesus, we have the remedy for our sin as we read on in Romans. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1-2). 

Jesus told a parable of the Wheat and the Tares, which we can find in Matthew 13, and which pictures a farmer planting good seed but the enemy comes along later and plants weeds. The wheat and the weeds grow together, and when the workers observed the weeds, they wanted to leap in and pull them all up. But the farmer asked them to wait until the harvest time, when the weeds could be separated from the wheat crop, and burnt. Applying that to today, God created human beings to be like Him (in His image) but the enemy, the devil, corrupted His creation (the Fall in the Garden). Through Jesus, believing and repentant people become the crop of the good seed but all those who prefer evil will be separated at the End of the Age.

There is another thought. If God removed all evil from the earth today, would there be anyone left? As Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). There is coming a time when evil will be dealt with, at the End of the Age. We don’t know when that will be, but happen it will. God sees what is going on in people’s hearts. He sees the righteous people saved and forgiven of their sins. But he also sees the hearts and minds of evil people, and takes note. God is righteous as well as loving. He wants all people to respond to His love and be saved from the judgement to come. But equally, He allows all those who prefer evil to continue in their ways. He created mankind with the ability to choose their destinies. 

Dear Father God. Sobering thoughts this morning. We come once again to the Cross, looking once again at our Saviour and asking for forgiveness. Not for us, Your children, the ways of evil. And we pray for both for domestic and world events, that You will hold back the tides of evil and protect Your people. In Jesus’ name. 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.

Light and Dark

Posted on by korgrocker

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
John 3:18-21 NLT

It is a fundamental physical fact that all earth dwellers experience light and dark. So when the sun rises it brings light with it, and when it sets darkness ensues. Biological functions such as photosynthesis rely on it. God created light as we read in Genesis 1. But this natural phenomenon is not what Jesus was referring to. He was telling Nicodemus about spiritual light and dark. God’s light, Jesus, came into this world as a once only event bringing an opportunity for the salvation of mankind. The Word illuminated the sinful ways of mankind, and we read in Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable”. We associate the “word of God” with the Bible, Holy Scriptures, but we mustn’t forget the opening verse in John 1, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God”. 

But sin brought evil into the world, a darkness that has prevailed ever since the days of Adam. There is something attractive about sin, and Jesus very perceptively pointed out to Nicodemus that people prefer to walk in spiritual darkness for one simple reason – if they go anywhere near the light of God then their sins will be exposed. A person thinks that their thoughts, and deeds done in private, are safe from scrutiny, but God sees all. But people are generally in denial, deluding themselves that what they do and think is just for them.

We pilgrims saw the Light of the world and brought ourselves into God’s presence. We exposed all our sins before His cross in repentance and received forgiveness. But there are many people who know all about the Light and refuse to go into His presence because they prefer to continue with their sinful lives. Around us in the work places, the schools or colleges, the leisure and amusement facilities, we see the outworking of sin. People’s behaviour exposes the darkness within them, and last thing they want to do is change so that they can live in the light.

A believer doing right in an evil world finds themselves in a difficult and lonely place. Shunned by evil-doers. Denied promotions in the workplace. Persecuted for their faith in God. But God is pleased with such people because “they are doing what God wants”. I think we all would prefer God’s approval rather than follow the crowd, as they stumble through the darkness.

Dear Lord Jesus. You said that You are the Light of the world. Please help us to reflect Your light to the people around us. In Your precious name. Amen.

Chasing Desires

Posted on by korgrocker

“So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.”
1 Peter 4:1-3 NLT

In his writings, Peter paints a picture of a restlessness driven by sinful desires. He writes about anxiety, evil, immorality, lust, feasting, drunkenness “and their terrible worship of idols”. We can just imagine a painter or sculptor of old representing such scenarios though his artistic medium. But Peter acknowledges that “godless people” enjoy doing these things. There is something about “sin” that is attractive and appealing, and is very hard to give up. Good people today might point out that these were symptoms of Peter’s generation and that they don’t apply to them. But as any street pastor will say, High Streets late on a Saturday night will find people enjoying alcohol-fuelled revelry. “Feasting and drunkenness and wild parties” were not just features of Peter’s society.

Peter reminds his readers that they have finished with sin. Rather, they must be “anxious to do the will of God”. Of course they are, because it is not possible to follow God’s ways and the ways of the world. Putting it bluntly, one way leads to eternal life and the other to eternal death. There couldn’t be a starker choice between two extremes. Jesus taught much about life in His Kingdom being so different to life in the kingdom of the world. The dichotomy between them is illustrated in His teaching about money, which is a worldly commodity. We read in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money“. 

The key word Jesus used was “enslaved“. In a conversation with some of His followers, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). In Galatians 5:1, Paul wrote, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law“. He repeated what Jesus said in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free“. I have included the words of the old Bob Dylan song in blogs before, but the words of the chorus are profound.
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

By default, people gravitate to being sinful. Their fleshly desires prevail over that other small voice within, and “the evil things that godless people enjoy” are the result. And they end up enslaved to a lifestyle that is against what God desires. But all that changes when we meet Jesus. Suddenly, all the sinful desires we have are exposed by His light and we realise what they are. The Holy Spirit exposes our sinful lives and helps us realise that God’s way is the only way. We become “anxious to do the will of God” and start to apply and enjoy the freedom we gained when we repented of our sins and believed in Jesus.

Living God’s way is a lifetime task. One that He helps us with, but one in which we can so easily get caught out when our old sinful nature emerges into His light. In Ephesians 4:21-24, Paul wrote, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy“. The theologians call this process sanctification. We are being made holy by following God’s ways. And one day we will be truly perfect, set free from our sinful lives for all eternity.

Dear Father God. We don’t want to chase after sin, but so often we get caught out. Please help us day by day, as we journey through the sinful minefields of life. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

A Good Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”
1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT

What does a “good life” look like? As a start, a person considered “good” is one who obeys the laws of the land, is a conscientious worker, probably does a bit of charity work, is a valued and loved family member, and overall is respected by friends, neighbours and all. The same person, if they believe in a heaven, would expect to get there purely as a reward for their “goodness”. A “bad” person would fail to meet expectations in one or more of these areas. We all recognise someone who society considers to be good.

However, the “good life” Peter was writing about is more than how the world sees it. There has to be a difference, because the “good life” he describes is “because you belong to Christ”. So what difference will that make? The Christian life is full of faith. Faith in God and faith that through the Holy Spirit we are developing the fruit of “goodness”. A believer’s “good life” starts at the cross, in repentance of sins, and believing in Jesus. The divine exchange takes place and in return for taking on all our sins, Jesus gives us His righteousness. We can then stand before God, meeting His definition of “good”. For all those people who claim to be “good” we must consider that even Jesus Himself would not take on board that title. In Mark 10:17-18 we read, “As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good“. Of course, we know that Jesus was, and is, divine, so He knew that He could claim to be good, but for the benefit of the man before Him He didn’t muddy the waters of his understanding. To be good in God’s eyes involves being holy, pure and righteous. Impossible qualities for human beings because, through our own efforts, we can never attain the standard that God requires. 

Those who are “good” in God’s eyes therefore must propagate that goodness to others, as Paul wrote in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith“. Peter, in today’s verses, pointed out that the “good life” we lead must be visible so that those who “speak against you” will be ashamed. Our goodness is a visible quality that has a strong counter-cultural content. Belonging to Christ elevates us into a realm that is represented by light. In John 1:5, we read, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it“. That light is Jesus, and as His followers we reflect that light into a dark and depressed world. As a small boy I remember a chorus we used to sing in Sunday school. “Keep me shining Lord…”. I didn’t understand it too well then, but it has stuck with me ever since. So we pilgrims, every day, have the opportunity to switch on our Jesus-lights and make a difference in our communities. Our “goodness” will illuminate many a dark soul.

Dear Father God. Only You are good, but through Jesus we can stand before You with His righteousness. There is no badness in Your presence, no sin or evil. So we thank You that one day perfection will be found with You. Thank You too for Jesus, because if it wasn’t for Him we would die because of our sins. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

The Lord Watches

Posted on by korgrocker

“For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.””
1 Peter 3:10-12 NLT

This passage of Scripture from 1 Peter 3 includes a quotation from Psalm 34. In this Psalm we read, “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth” (Psalm 34:15-16). This is not the only Scripture that records God’s watchful gaze. We read in Psalm 121:5, “The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade”. Proverbs 15:3, “The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.” Jesus Himself warned about the outcome of God’s watchful presence, “The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear” (Luke 12:2-3). We may object to many security cameras and other devices intruding into our privacy, but nothing we do or even think escapes God’s scrutiny. 

Is such a thought a scary one? It may be for some, and of course we remember that God is recording it all in books to be opened on the final day of judgement. But more positively for us pilgrims it brings into play the picture of a loving Heavenly Father, who cares for us. He wants us to become more like His Son Jesus and through His Spirit He gently cleanses us, both in thought and deed. It won’t happen overnight and will take a lifetime to bring about any change for the better. But thankfully, as we confess our sins, God then forgets them. They are blotted out of His records. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offences like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free” (Isaiah 44:22). He will never reject a repentant person, sincerely approaching His throne of grace.

We pilgrims should note as well that God is attentive to our prayers. The NLT translation calls them “cries for help”. Either way, because God is always present and approachable, He listens to what we are saying. A prayer need not be formatted in ecclesiastical fonts and riddled with phrases from a bygone era. “Thees” and “thous” are not obligatory. As we share our thoughts and words with God, He understands not only the words but the stuttering and perhaps confused thoughts behind them. He listens, and He answers, in one of three ways – “Yes”, “No” and “Not yet”. But sometimes we just need to share our difficulties and challenges, assured that he is there listening. We may not need or appreciate an answer. We just relax in His caring arms, feeling His warmth and presence. Feeling the breath of His Spirit bringing the assurance that we are not alone. And we remember that every time we pray there are three others apart from ourselves involved – God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Peter didn’t include the last stanza of Psalm 34:16. About those that do evil, we know that “[God] will erase their memory from the earth”. And that is of course so very true. Evildoers are soon forgotten but those who do good are remembered and honoured. And there will come a day when the wicked will be briefly remembered, to be confronted by their evil before they are cast away for good into a place where there are no memories. The good will hear those precious words, “Well done …”. Those who do right enjoy the watching presence of God. As we pilgrims follow the right paths, He will care for us and protect us from evil.

Dear Lord. We pray “Deliver us from evil” every time we pray Your prayer. Thank You. Amen.