Wonderful Ways

Posted on by korgrocker

“I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways. By your mighty power you rescue those who seek refuge from their enemies.”
Psalm 17:6-7 NLT

Where was David when he was praying these verses? My imagination takes me this morning to a holy place where a lonely figure is standing in an attitude of prayer, his hands raised with a face turned upwards towards Heaven. Perhaps the figure was fearful of the threats of the warring nations around him. Perhaps he was even surrounded by his enemies who were intent on capture or death. But regardless, he was standing in the presence of the Lord God of Israel, the Creator of Heaven and earth. He was the same Lord who had parted the Red Sea and brought His people through on dry land, destroying the Egyptian army in the process. The same Lord who had miraculously fed an entire nation with something called manna for forty years. And more recently, the same Lord who had directed a pebble into the unprotected forehead of a Philistine giant, a pebble slung from a weapon carried by the lonely figure standing there in an attitude of prayer and worship. 

David would have been aware of the writings of Moses, and of God’s love for His people. Deuteronomy 10:15, “Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today”. David knew that his Lord loved him. All those days and nights spent in the wilderness looking after his father’s sheep had assured him of God’s love. He had no doubts, and answered prayers had bolstered his knowledge of God’s love to the point that he looked to God, expecting Him to do wonderful things for him, things desperately needed because of the predicament he was in. After all, he thought, who would have expected God to do such wonderful deeds for a group of Israelite slaves many years before? 

David did not have God constrained in a box of his own making, boundaries applied through his human thinking. He had an expectation that God had some “wonderful ways” ready and waiting to be applied to David’s predicament. What was his expectation of God? A miracle on the battlefield? Another Goliath moment? Another parting of a sea of adversity as he stood on the banks of danger before it? David wasn’t specific – he just looked to God in faith, his hands raised in prayer and worship. His upturned face shining in the light of his Lord.

But here we are, pilgrims in another world. We may not be surrounded by physical threats. We may not be in a place of danger, “seek[ing] refuge from [our] enemies”. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places”. God has provided for us a rich armoury of spiritual weapons, more than capable of protecting us from such enemies. We know, like David, that God loves us with a perfect and eternal love, that will never end. And He has equipped us for all that we are likely to encounter in our journey to glory. But there is a little verse that intrigues and challenges us, a verse that David knew something about many years before it was written. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20 (AMP), “Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us“. We pilgrims have God’s power within us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Power just waiting to be released as God directs, and unconstrained by our human thinking. The power that parted the Red Sea. The power that fed a nation for a generation.  The power that David prayed about in his prayer for God to “show … His wonderful ways”. 

We pilgrims are a people of power through God’s Spirit within us. We sing about it in our worship services. But do we really believe it? So let us pray like David did today, for God to show us His “wonderful ways” in response to all that is happening in our lives and around us. These are times that really need a manifestation of God’s power, power to save the world in which we live.

Dear God. We sing about You “building a people of power” but we confess our lack of faith and belief in these words. Please help us, we pray, as we go about doing Your work today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

True Heroes

Posted on by korgrocker

“I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.” The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them! Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods. I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood or even speak the names of their gods.”
Psalm 16:2-4 NLT

David’s thoughts seem to be leaping about in these verses. After acknowledging that God is the Source of all his good things, David moves on to consider the Godly people around him, defining them as his “true heroes”. The dictionary defines a hero as “a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities“, but does that definition apply in David’s thoughts? Certainly, to be a God-follower in an environment where other gods proliferate, takes courage, and “noble qualities” are required. But the outstanding achievements are more associated with successful exploits in battle, such as when David defeated Goliath, or when Samson  “ … found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it” (Judges 15:15). 

So, how can a Godly person become a hero? In the various Bible translations, the words “Godly people” and “hero” are only used by the NLT. Other translations refer to “holy ones” or “saints” being “noble” or “excellent”, but we get this picture of David’s admiration of people, God-believers, who stand firm in the face of a wicked and sinful environment, with idolatrous practices rife, and societal behaviour distinctly anti-God in their content. David took “pleasure in them”, he wrote.

In Biblical times, many examples of people acting as “true heroes” are recorded. Just turn to Hebrews 11 to find a few examples. But the essence of being a hero is having faith in God, because that will lead to a life spent at variance with increasingly secular points of view. We read in Hebrews 11:1-2, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation“. Look at the abuse Noah must have experienced when he spent 100 years building his ark, in faith that this was God’s will for him and his family, and there are other examples of the “true heroes” in the rest of the chapter.

In David’s view, perhaps we pilgrims are heroes in today’s world, but are we anything special? Today’s society is very tolerant of people who are considered to be on the fringe in terms of beliefs and behaviours, as long as it does not impact the way that they go about their lives. But when the behaviour of those with particular ideologies clashes with mainstream views then there can be a process involving the law courts to resolve the issues. In my view the heroes of the faith in today’s society can be found protesting outside abortion clinics, even if it means arrest and fines, or in turning their backs on denominations that violate Biblical principles, even if they have been members for a considerable time. Today’s heroes of the faith stand up for righteous practices in the workplace even if it means dismissal from their jobs. Recent legislation has seen justice being pursued in law courts over the right to wear a cross necklace at work, or a baker refusing to bake a cake with homosexual overtones, for a gay couple. These are the “true heroes” today.

So, fellow pilgrims, we are men and women of faith, standing up for what we believe in an often hostile and sinful world. We live lives of faith, believing that  ” … it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). In the face of evolutionary science now taught as fact in our schools, “ … we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen” (Hebrews 11:3), believing this because of our faith.

David had a lot of admiration for the “Godly people” around him, and he called them “true heroes”. I know people, Godly people, who I would count as being heroes. I’m so grateful for their courage and inspiration. Some have passed and I remember one man who is now part of that Hebrews 12 great cloud of witnesses. He was a hero to me and I know to others, and I thank God for him, and his unstinting and unwavering witness here on Planet Earth.

Dear Father God. You know the man I am referring to, and I pray that his witness will carry on, even though he is no longer with us. And I pray for the Godly people who I know, that You will uphold them in their lives of faith. Amen.

King Forever

Posted on by korgrocker

“Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed. The Lord is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land. Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.”
Psalm 10:15-18 NLT

In the middle of another rant about wicked people and what the Psalmist would like God to do to them, we read, “The Lord is king forever and ever”. It is important that in the middle of our frustrations about God’s apparent lack of action with the evil around us, that we don’t lose our perspective. In the end, it’s not about us, or the apparent injustice we see in our nations and societies. We need to look up and see the Lord. In the time of a national crisis, Isaiah looked up. King Uzziah had just died, bringing a fear of political instability to Judah after a long reign of 52 years. Uzziah was one of the good kings and Isaiah, fearful of what the days ahead would bring, went to the Temple and there we read, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple” (Isaiah 6:1). Isaiah looked up beyond the circumstances around him, and, if we read on in Isaiah 6, we find that his encounter with the Lord transformed his life and ministry. 

We pilgrims yearn for the King to return and bring peace and His Kingdom to this war-torn world. We know that the Lord is King. We know that He is coming back to this world again, although we don’t know when. We know that He is the forever King, present since before the world was created. But instead of looking around at the “wicked evil people” as the Psalmist did, we need to look up and see the Lord. Isaiah’s encounter with the Lord in the Temple changed him for the rest of his life. He wrote, “Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”” (Isaiah 6:5). The Lord asked Isaiah, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” and his reply was, “Here I am. Send me”” (Isaiah 6:8). Instead of wallowing in fear and misery, paralysed through the potential instability of his nation, Isaiah became a messenger for the Lord to his people.

There is something significant about having a forever King. We often forget that, although we are living in this world, with all of its sin and evil, we are in all reality citizens of another world, the Kingdom of God. There the Lord is King forever. No evil. No wars and strife. And it is there we run to when we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the worldly events around us. It might be helpful if we stand up and say to ourselves something like “I choose today to step into the kingdom where the Lord is King” and then take a step forwards, looking up as we do. We never know, but we might, like Isaiah, see a vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up”. Where is our faith because with the Lord anything might happen?

When we look up, we find an opportunity to see what the wicked in this world look like to God. When we look up we also find ourselves looking forward to the time when God will bring justice to correct all the injustices that have ever gone unpunished. And when we look up, we see the King and our hearts melt in the warmth of His gaze, flowing with love and compassion. There is no better place to be than in the presence of our forever King.

Father God, please forgive us for our lack of vision and understanding. You are our forever King and we praise and worship You today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Refusing to Repent

Posted on by korgrocker

“If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. He will prepare his deadly weapons and shoot his flaming arrows.”
Psalm 7:12-13 NLT

In military language David set out the consequences for those who refuse to repent. In the context of this Psalm, repentance means turning away from wickedness. It is not just saying “sorry” and continuing in the sin. It is not even being remorseful, expressing regrets for the consequences of wickedness. True repentance means to stop doing whatever is defined as wickedness, and turning away from it, never to return. But notice, that, thankfully, God’s response to the refusal to repent is not immediate justice and punishment. David wrote that instead of using His sword of judgement, God merely starts to sharpen it. Arrows don’t appear straight away because God delays while He strung His bow. God’s “deadly weapons” are only prepared, delaying the “fiery arrows” still ready and waiting. We read in Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love”. Aren’t we glad about that?

Those who have rejected God enjoy for a season the fruits of their sin and wickedness, and unfortunately some believe that the delay in their judgement doesn’t mean God is being patient with them. Instead they question if there is a God at all. Psalm 14 starts with the verse, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!” But there are many atheists in the world today who deny that God, or any god for that matter,  actually exists. Men and women who exercise their right to choose, and instead carry on their lives in blissful ignorance of the judgement still to come. What will they say before their Creator, when He asks them to provide an account of their lives? How will they react when they observe their lives from God’s perspective? Regardless of their stance while alive on Planet Earth, there will come a time when they will have to acknowledge the Saviour of the world. Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Those who reject God will one day still have to declare that “Christ is Lord”, an inescapable situation for even those who refuse to repent.

Regarding us pilgrims, there is always an opportunity for use to examine ourselves. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith”. David ended Psalm 139 with the verses, “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”. We pilgrims often cast around looking at others who refuse to repent and hear God sharpening His sword, getting ready to deal with them. But do we fail to hear God “preparing His deadly weapons” as far as we are concerned? Perhaps something we should all think about today.

Dear Father God. We are so grateful for Your patience and mercy. At the foot of the Cross today, we repent of our sins and ask for the strength to turn our backs on all the things that grieve You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understand Clearly

Posted on by korgrocker

“Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!””
John 19:4-5 NLT

Pilate’s words “understand clearly that I find him not guilty” have hung in the air ever since the Jews of that time condemned the Son of God to death. They killed their Messiah. Pilate made the correct legal decision over Jesus and he had Him brought out before the crowd to make his point. In Luke’s Gospel he wrote, “Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty” (Luke 23:13-15). Earlier in His trial Pilate declared that Jesus was innocent, ““What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime” (John 18:38). There was no doubt in the Roman authorities’ minds that Jesus was innocent of any crime and Pilate declared as such no less than four times. 

On what grounds did the Jewish people overrule the verdict of the civil court, instead finding Jesus guilty of the crime of blasphemy, in claiming as He did that He was the Son of God? Their decision was based on their interpretation of Old Testament prophecies, that said the Messiah will come to fulfil events that have yet to happen. They also failed to accept that God is Three-in-one, a Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And that appears to a layman such as myself to introduce a great divide between the Jewish and Christian faiths. 

Pilate said “understand clearly”, and that is what we pilgrims must do today. We must “understand clearly” the basis for our faith. We must use our time wisely in prayer and reading God’s Word. We must align our Kingdom lives with God’s principles. We must avoid sinful situations. We must be steadfast, resisting the attempts of the enemy to draw us away into sin. We must discern areas of weakness and make them strong with God’s help. Hebrews 12:12-13, “So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong“. 

Do we pilgrims feel a bit tired today? A bit lethargic in our faith? Thinking about giving church a miss this week? The we must “understand clearly” what Jesus did for us. We must allow His love and grace to flood over us, flushing away all thoughts of giving up. There is no other way. Only Jesus has the words of eternal life.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your blessings of grace and love. In the power of Your Spirit, we stir ourselves up once again and press on with our journey of faith in You. Amen.

Criminality

Posted on by korgrocker

“So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.)”
John 18:29-32 NLT

Jesus, branded a criminal because He claimed to be the Son of God. Someone to be executed because they proclaim the truth. A miscarriage of justice if there ever was one, and a verdict that has had repercussions throughout the last two thousand years. In those days of religious zeal amid a rigid interpretation of the Jewish Law of Moses and the plethora of rabbinical rules and regulations added on since, blasphemy became a crime. The name of God and God Himself became a taboo subject and anyone crossing the red line drawn by the Jewish lawyers, whether mentioned in the Scriptures or not, were in danger of stoning or some other form of execution. But this is not just a feature of the Jewish faith. It emerges in other faiths as well, such as Islam. We have seen in recent years the furore over cartoon pictures of the Prophet Mohammad or the disfigurement of the Koran. The fatwah issued in response to a book written by the author Salmon Rushdie. In the Book of Acts we find a silversmith who ran a company making idols, silver shrines of the goddess Artemis.  Demetrius said, “But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province!” (Acts 19:26). A riot ensued, and it was only through the political skills of the local mayor that the situation didn’t deteriorate further. 

But in our verses today from John 18, we find Jesus criminalised for speaking the truth. We pilgrims could perhaps find ourselves also criminalised for speaking out in the name of Jesus. Recently, a man in the UK was handed down a large fine and a criminal record for praying silently outside an abortion clinic. The scandal of infanticide continues in our land, legally protected by the Abortion Act of 1967, and in the Uk in 2022 alone there were 251,377 abortions carried out in the name of “healthcare”. In addition, the politicians are discussing other forms of legislation to make it a criminal offence to provide any form of “therapy” (including pastoral care and prayer) for people perhaps confused about which sex or gender they are. Another debate is continuing over changing the law so that people can end their lives with medical assistance. The ideologues call it assisted dying, but it is suicide without any doubts. There are plenty of opportunities for people, Christians and pilgrims like ourselves, to become criminalised for speaking out Biblical truths. But two thousand years ago, the truth that Jesus proclaimed in His “trial” before Caiaphas initiated a process that led to His execution, “ … so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16b).

Over the years since Jesus died there have been many martyrs who stood firm in their witness for the truths of God. The first Christian martyr was Stephen and we can read the account of his death in Acts 7. The words that sealed his fate can be found in Acts 7:55-56, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!”” In previous verses we find that when Jesus left this world He returned to Heaven, ” ... where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand” (Colossians 3:1b). But as Stephen gazed upwards he received a vision of Heaven, with Jesus standing there, and I like to think that he was cheering Stephen on and preparing the way for him to enter Glory. Jesus hasn’t stopped cheering us on ever since, as we stand firm in our faith, declaring our allegiance to Biblical truths that declare God’s message for this lost generation.

Dear Lord Jesus. You willingly went to the cross for human beings like us. Because You took on our sins, we can now be righteous in God’s presence, for ever and ever. Amen.


Jewish Traditions

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.”
John 18:28-30 NLT

Again, as part of God’s plan, a series of events were unfolding. Having found Jesus “guilty” of what the Jewish leaders considered blasphemy, their next step was to get the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, to rubber stamp their verdict. But his weakness became apparent immediately, by him pandering to the Jews and their Passover rules and regulations. The Jews considered that entering the house of a Gentile, or having any contact with them before the Passover would render them unclean and unable to celebrate thew festival. But such a rule cannot be found in the Old testament writings and was probably a rabbinical tradition such as alluded to in the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees in Matthew 15:2-3, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?” Jesus obviously had no time for such traditions, and we even find Him willing to enter a Gentile’s house in Luke 7:2, 6, “At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. … So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honour”. We can read about Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10, where we read, “But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”” (Acts 10:15). So, the fact that the Jews refused to enter the house of the Roman governor was not Scriptural and was a symptom of the way they had interpreted the Law for their own purposes.

Do we have any rules and regulations in our churches that we cannot find in the Bible? There are many I’m sure. For a start, the Bible doesn’t specifically call for buildings, called churches, to be built, although these can be convenient meeting place. And what about the custom of some who have introduced bells and incense at certain times in a formal time of worship. Where in the New Testament does that come from? The go-to verse for me is from Acts 2:46, “They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—”. There is that sense of community not liturgy. Sharing with one another, not sitting in pews watching the minister. I have always favoured simplicity in my Christian life, without the added complications of forms of service or complicated liturgies. The Jewish faith became so complicated that Jesus gave the Pharisees a hard time when He said, “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things” (Luke 11:42). When rules replace the love and worship of God then the worship is replaced by legalism. The sad thing is that the Pharisees thought that if they can follow all the rules then their salvation was assured. But there is a human tendency for favouring routine and neglecting the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit.

Traditions are not necessarily bad or to be avoided but, as Jesus said, we must not “ignore justice and the love of God”. It is a sometimes a scary life, to rely on the Holy Spirit. He will lead us into all sorts of situations, as we are obedient to His leading. But we must always remain close to God, because only He has the words of eternal life.

Dear Father God. We love you Lord. We praise and worship You every day and all day. Amen.

Prove It

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret. Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.” Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded. Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.”
John 18:20-24 NLT

One thing that could never be claimed was that Jesus failed to tell the truth. In fact, in John 14:6 we read, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. How could the Son of God, who was perfect truth, ever be accused of saying anything that went against the very essence of His nature? Jesus said to Annas that if anyone believed to the contrary then he needed to come up with the evidence to prove it. And for good measure He asked why He was being ill-treated if He was telling the truth. It was very telling that Annas quickly gave up his line of questioning, because he knew that any substantive evidence against Jesus was lacking, and instead referred Him to his son-in-law, Caiaphas. In the presence of God’s Son, the Light quickly dispelled the darkness and brought discomfort to those who opposed God and His Son, Jesus. 

The world around us does not recognise truth. In fact “truth” is invented to suit physical observations or a person’s feelings. In fact, people have become so skewed in their understanding that if they feel, for example, that they were born in the wrong body, then that must be true. Or if they were told by their parents, or a boss at work, teacher, or anyone else, that they were a waster, then that must be truth. In our schools, the theory of evolution is taught as fact and therefore must be true, but as we pilgrims know, it is a lie propagated by the devil himself. Physical processes such as “carbon dating” have been invented to “prove” the age of a something, and the results are taken as being true. I have had philosophical discussions with atheists about the origins of the universe, and they promote theories they consider “true” such as the “big bang” but fall silent when I ask where all the matter involved in the event came from. And I usually follow up with the question as to why there is anything around us at all. Why is there not just nothing? Secular and worldly truth is invented to fit beliefs, ideologies, and limited physical evidence, and we end up with a series of “truths” that become mutually confirming, propagating a lie. 

But in God’s Kingdom, there is no room for lies or half-truths. No room for assumptions and conclusions that are based on anything but God and His Word. To a human being there is no human-derived proof available to confirm the reality of God, and anything to do with Him, because our physical senses are totally inadequate. For example, we cannot see, or taste or feel, the wind of the Spirit. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Jesus said,  “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it“. And that was the problem for the Jewish authorities. Nothing that Jesus said could be disproved. His teaching was firmly founded on Scripture. He often quoted Biblical passages from the Old Testament to back His public messages. In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven“. The problem for the Jewish leaders was that they had turned God’s Law into a monster that controlled them and because of that they missed what God intended. Jesus said of them, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things” (Matthew 23:23). 

People may say to us pilgrims, “show us the evidence”, but then we can refer them to the biggest miracle of all, our salvation. The fact that the Creator of the Universe cared enough about you and me to put into place a plan that would lead to our spending eternity with Him, is severely overlooked by the cynical and unbelieving generation around us. In John 6:30, the people ” … answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?” People are still asking the same question today but God is not in the business of displaying His power through the routine example of signs and wonders. But even with evidence of the wonders of God, people will still not believe in Him, because they prefer to stay in their sinful state. I have known Christians who have started their journey well, and have even experienced miracles happening in their own lives, but who have fallen away and lapsed back into their lives of sin. Jesus challenged people to believe in Him and experience eternal life. In may be a few earthly years before we pilgrims join Jesus in heaven and see the fruit of our belief in Him, but one day we surely will.

Dear Father God. it is only by having faith in You that will please You. We declare that faith before You today and declare that Jesus is Lord of all. Amen,

From Grief to Joy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.” Jesus realised they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labour. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”
John 16:17-22 NLT

This conversation started up between “some of the disciples”. We don’t know which ones, but some talked and some thought. Natural reactions to the crisis that was unfolding before them. If Jesus had said to them that soon He was going to be killed by the Roman authorities and would end up buried in a rich man’s grave, then they would have perhaps found that easier to understand. Their grieving process would have started and their thoughts would have extended to the period afterwards, as they faced into a life without Jesus. But Jesus said “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again”. Such an event was totally out with their experience and understanding. How could Jesus die and then reappear again? They had obviously forgotten about the Lazarus event, where Jesus had resurrected a man who was graveyard dead, and was still alive at this time as they spoke with each other. But how could Jesus resurrect Himself? They didn’t know the answer and still hadn’t got their minds around the supernatural power of God. But with a natural analogy, Jesus tried to reassure His friends that their emotional experience would be a bit like childbirth, where a woman goes through much pain, but something soon forgotten when the new born baby is placed in her arms. Jesus told His disciples that their grief would soon afterwards be replaced by “wonderful joy”. 

What message is their here for us 21st Century pilgrims? There has to be the Kingdom reality that our faith and God’s power provides a limitless combination. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:15a, 19-20, “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus, … I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” In the same epistle, Paul wrote, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).‭‭‭‭ Sadly, we too often put a boundary around God’s capabilities, looking at the situations around us with worldly eyes, instead of eyes of faith. As we look around at our challenges and sorrows, we mostly forget that our Heavenly Father has a remedy and through our faith He will bring about a Godly result. 

Father God. You are the all-powerful God. Nothing is impossible for You. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Faith Abandoned

Posted on by korgrocker

“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.”
John 16:1 NLT

We must start by reviewing the “things” that Jesus spoke about. In the previous chapter in John’s Gospel, Jesus taught His disciples about love and obedience, but He also warned them that the world would hate them, the “world” referring to all those people who had rejected Him and who hated Him because they misunderstood or denied who He was, why He had come to Planet Earth, and the message that he had brought. And because they hated Jesus, then they would hate His disciples as well.  There is a saying that being forewarned is being forearmed, and that certainly was Jesus’ expectation for His disciples. His concern for His friends would have been realised but for one significant factor – the Holy Spirit. He wasn’t leaving them on their own, as orphans – John 14:18, “No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you“. In those sobering days, Jesus encouraged His disciples with the assurance that He was not leaving them at all really. John 14:26, “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you”. And the following verse records something applicable to all disciples everywhere and ever since, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27).

So, Jesus’ message to His disciples was there was trouble ahead, but because He had talked through with them what was likely to happen, then, with the Holy Spirit within them, they would not abandon their faith. But we know from Acts 2 that rather than abandon their faith, the disciples, now Apostles, found that their faith was supercharged and was turned into action of such proportions that the world of their time was turned upside down. Such is the power of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of ordinary men and women.

Today, we disciples of Jesus also know the consequences of believing in Jesus. And we too have the Holy Spirit within us. But is our faith supercharged? One verse that challenges me is Acts 4:31, “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness”. When was the last time that we had a prayer meeting so powerful that the building used to hold it was shaken? Or if we use Zoom for such events do our screens start wobbling with the power of the Holy Spirit? But sadly today, the prayer meetings tend to be the least well attended of all the church meetings, and limited to a shopping list of requests, any sign of power being absent. Much as Paul wrote to Timothy, ” ... having a form of godliness but lacking power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Acts 4:31 also tells us that those present were all filled with the Holy Spirit. But had they not already been filled just two chapters earlier? The problem is that we need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit”. The phrase “be filled” is the Greek continuous present tense and would be better translated, “be being filled”. We need to be constantly refilled with the Holy Spirit in our lives and all we have to do is ask. Matthew 7:11b, “ … how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

Heavenly Father. We thank You for the many good gifts You have provided for us. Today we pray for a fresh infilling of Your Spirit, to enable us to face the day ahead with power and the assurance that You are there with us. Amen.