Watching Angels

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”
1 Peter 1:12 NLT

Peter wrote that the preaching of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit was “all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching”. How do we feel about angels? Do we think that they exist or are they just mythical entities, superstitious legacies from a bygone age? I used to know an old lady whose driving skills were atrocious, but she never seemed to experience any bumps or scrapes, arriving at her destinations totally unscathed. The suspicion was that she had an angel positioned on each corner of her car, keeping her safe. Someone else I knew always advised against speeding when driving, as the angels then couldn’t keep up. The concept of guardian angels has always been with us.

Personally, I’m convinced that angels are real and play a very important part in our lives, even though we cannot see them. In my walks around the woods near my home I sometimes meet a man who shows an interest in spiritual matters, and I have shared the Good News with him on several occasions. But Peter said that angels are “eagerly watching” me as I speak with him and you can just imagine what they might have been saying. Perhaps they were trying hard to put words into my mouth. Or praying that the other man would open his mind to the Gospel truths. One thing is certain though, and that is that the angels were excited about the “Good News” being shared, because, as Peter wrote, “it is all so wonderful”. 

Angels are created spirit beings, who live in Heaven. So we cannot see them as tangible beings although we presume they can see us. To enable us to see them, they have to somehow acquire an earthly body. Daniel saw such an embodied angel, as we read in Daniel 10:5-6, “I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people”. Those men around him knew something was going on but they didn’t see what Daniel saw. In Revelation 22:8, John wrote, “I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me”. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 13:2, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realising it!” 

We may be unconvinced of the presence of angels. Our scientific and technological age discounts anything spiritual because it can’t be measured or observed. But the Bible is full of references to angels and to ignore them impoverishes our experience of Scripture. In Hebrews 1:14 we read, “Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation“. Psalm 91:11, “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go“. But as we preach the Good News to those around us we do so with the knowledge that angels are “eagerly watching” what is happening. And we read in Luke 15:10, “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents“. Can you imagine it – when we pilgrims became believers the angels had a party in Heaven! As we share the Good News with our friends and families, let’s remember there’s a party coming!

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your servants the angels. Amen.


Trials and Testing

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT

Life for a Christian must have been difficult in the five provinces in those days. Peter wrote about “trials”. We don’t know what they were but we can imagine. News reports today of the trials experienced by Christians in other countries dominated by hostile religions and governments will give us a good idea. For example, in India today, Christians are under attack, and the violence against them has been steadily increasing over recent years, with 2023 the most violent so far. So Christians endure arrests, beatings, and killings. Churches are burned down and pastors arrested and thrown into gaol. That would have been the life for those early believers living in the first Century Turkish societies.

Peter encourages the believers, saying that they “must endure many trials for a little while”. Why? Because there is “wonderful joy ahead”. Peter continued in saying the these trials are necessary to refine faith and ensure commitment is genuine. And as he pauses with pen raised, a picture before him of a worker in precious metals purifying gold comes into his mind, a picture that he immediately connects with the process of refining faith through trials. You see, no one is going to falsely claim to be a Christian for long if it is going to cost him beyond what he is prepared to pay. The trials, Peter was saying, will shake out anyone who is not prepared to pay the price for being a Christian.

The recent Covid pandemic with its lockdowns here in the UK saw church attendance plummet and, for many, it has not recovered. The Church of England has claimed attendance at weekly church services is down by a third. And that is without all the trials Peter was writing about. But regardless of pandemics and the like, there is still a substantial cost involved in being a Christian. We pilgrims are not running our own lives anymore, in accordance with our own sinful and selfish desires. We look to God for guidance and try and follow His ways which are often contrary to our own human viewpoint. 

Jesus once made a statement to the crowd of people following Him that was extraordinary in its implication. He said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27). Strong words but they contain a message about the commitment required to be a follower of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:15, “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them”. 

So we pilgrims, mostly sitting in the comfort of our lives, look around us and reflect with the question – if this was all taken away would I still be a follower of Christ? My wife and I were faced with an extremely painful situation when we were called to discuss the prognosis and treatment for our seriously ill daughter. We were told that she would be unlikely to survive her illness and that we should prepare for the worst. I can remember that in our prayers we believed that God would heal her. But we also had to face the reality of what we do if she was taken from us. We concluded that we would still praise Him, follow Him and trust Him. Thankfully He did heal her but perhaps we briefly experienced the trials Peter wrote about. Many disciples stopped following Jesus because of His hard teaching, and as they disappeared over the horizon Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked them if they wanted to leave as well. We read in John 6:68, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life”. We have before us the short-term cost of being a Jesus follower, but longer term we will find ”much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world”. When will that be? We don’t have a date but we do know that one day Jesus will return to this planet.  Let’s not forget that. We need to get ready for His return because it could be tomorrow.

Dear God. We know that eternal life with You is the only goal we should consider. Please help us in our journey, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul’s Fellow Workers

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews. I, Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul, send my greetings, too, as one of the Lord’s followers. Gaius says hello to you. He is my host and also serves as host to the whole church. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you his greetings, and so does our brother Quartus.”
Romans 16:21-23 NLT

Another eight names appear in Paul’s letter to the Romans. We know of course about Timothy; in fact we know quite a bit about him. Paul nurtured him as a “true son in the faith” – “I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace” (1 Timothy 1:2). He was well taught in the faith by his mother and grandmother, “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you” (2 Timothy 1:5). Timothy probably pastored the Ephesian church for a while – in his first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, “When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth” (1 Timothy 1:3). And Timothy was obviously ill with some gastric condition – Paul advised him to, “Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often” (1 Timothy 5:23). And there are other little gems about Timothy that we can pick up from Paul’s letters.

Then we find that Paul didn’t write this letter himself, but used the services of a secretary called Tertius. From the customs and traditions of the time, we can draw other conclusions about Tertius. He may have been known by the Roman believers, because that is why he greeted them in this letter. Other traditions say he may have been a slave who went on to become a Bishop, but the one fact we do know something about is that he faithfully transcribed all of Paul’s thoughts and instructions. Perhaps he even thought “How much more, as he started the umpteenth new page!” 

Gaius was the church host, we read, and Erastus was a man in high office, being the city treasurer – a useful man to have in the church role! But in this list of names, a picture of men of solid faith emerges. We are so grateful for the early Christians because of the legacy they left us. We know little about them, and for every name that Paul mentioned there were many more working behind the scenes. But their fortitude in difficult times is a glowing testimony to the love and power of God. We pilgrims today have the opportunity to leave a legacy for the generations and generations following us. We mustn’t waste the opportunities that we have.

Dear Father God. Our gratitude to those early Christians knows no bounds. You know who they are and we look forward to being able to thank them personally one day. Amen.

Obedient to the Lord

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
Romans 16:19-20 NLT

Paul is happy because he knows that the Roman believers are obedient followers of Christ. A faith statement on his part, but one he felt, through the whispering of the Holy Spirit within him, to be the case. In those days, without the benefit of the New Testament writings, the truth about God’s plan and His message of salvation through Jesus came through reference to the Jewish Bible and through the Apostles’ teaching. And of course the Truth came through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul implied through the next few words in Romans 16:19 that “obedience to the Lord” would lead to righteous living which was wisdom, but he also appealed to his readers to stay innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words they should avoid sin. The person of satan emerged as a potential assailant, but through “the God of peace” he would soon be a defeated foe. 

We pilgrims today have a much easier time in knowing right from wrong, and how to be “obedient to the Lord”. But translating that “knowing” into practice in our society today is far from easy. Even the church leaders in our land are promoting behaviour that the Bible clearly says is wrong. If Paul was around today, would he still be “very happy”? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. Obedience to Christ is fundamental to the Christian. At best, it may appear old fashioned in the eyes of the world. But at worst it may lead to imprisonment or even death, as in other nations. We must stand firm – “But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). The Gospel that we preach is counter-cultural and to many an offence because it challenges lifestyles, and attitudes and more. But we have to be obedient in doing what God has asked us to do, because salvation comes through Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. When challenged by Jesus about his future relationship with Him, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God”” (John 6:68-69).

We pilgrims have a clear understanding of how we should live our lives. But obedience to the Lord is a key that will unlock the doors of Heaven. We cannot compromise. In this season of “Pride” marches, I read today of a Christian councillor who tweeted on social media, “Pride is not a virtue but a sin“. As a result he has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and “cancelled” by six other organisations. Here is his full tweet, “When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you“. And he quoted Isaiah 3:9, “The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves“. Obedience to the Lord is going to cost us, folks. But there is no other way. Again I write that we cannot compromise.

Dear Father God. We pray together for the Christian Councillor who has lost so much for standing firm on Your Word. Please restore to him all that he has lost and more. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Pray for Paul

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem. Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.”
Romans 15:30-32 NLT

Paul writes that he needs prayer. He firstly asks for his readers to join his “struggle” by praying for him. What “struggle” was it that he was experiencing? As we read through Paul’s experiences in the book of Acts, we see a struggle emerging between the wonderful things, miracles of healings and so on, that God was doing through Paul, and the forces of the enemy doing their utmost to shut Paul down. People were being saved in droves, churches were being established, lives were being transformed. It’s no wonder he was experiencing a “struggle”. But he wasn’t so complacent that he failed, humbly, to request prayer. We read in James 5:16, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results“. It wasn’t just James that knew the truth of the power of prayer. Paul was very much aware of it as well. 

Paul appealed to the Roman believers’ love for him, which he knew had been given to them through the Holy Spirit. God’s love is truly amazing, because it cuts right across distance, ethnicity, social standing, and everything else that would otherwise divide believers. The love that prefers the needs of another person over our own. The love that penetrates even the most insensitive of human hearts. And the love spawned by the Holy Spirit in their very beings motivated them to pray earnestly for Paul. 

A specific need that Paul had was for safety from the attacks he expected would develop against him when he reached Jerusalem. And that was a very real threat, as we read in Acts 23:20-21, “Paul’s nephew told him [the commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem], “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent“”. But as we know, as the story unfolded in Acts 23, Paul was indeed kept safe, so their prayers were answered.

Lastly, Paul asked for prayer that the donation from the Macedonians that he was taking to Jerusalem would be accepted by the believers there. It would have been a bitter-sweet gift for the believers of Jewish origin, that Gentiles in another place were supplying their needs. So Paul’s prayer was that there would be no proud rejection due to the Jew/Gentile divide.

Paul finished these two verses with the conclusion that once the prayers had been offered up on his behalf, he would be able to journey to Rome with a joyful heart, knowing his job in Jerusalem was done.

We pilgrims also have prayer needs. But how often do we continue to suffer in silence, too proud to ask for prayer? We continue to experience pains and aches, dosing ourselves with various pills and potions, when what we should do is pick up the phone and call a Christian friend, asking for prayer. Or we may be facing into family or work issues that are driving us to distraction. Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done“. We pray for our needs and worries and involve our brothers and sisters as Paul did. We can never pray too much!

Father God. We know that prayer changes things. Please forgive us for neglecting Your Heavenly hotline when we have needs. We know that you hear our prayers and the prayers of our brothers and sisters. Thank You. Amen.

God’s Plans

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain. And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together.”
Romans 15:28-29 NLT

These two verses today paint a picture of a reliable man, entrusted with a large amount of money, and refusing to waver from the task before. We get the impression that he is comfortable within himself, and satisfied that he is doing what God wants him to do. His plans, as he wrote in these verses, simplify what was an enormous problem in those days – getting from A to B. The transport links were long, tedious, and tenuous. Anyone carrying a large amount of money was at risk from thieves en route, and Paul was no stranger to shipwrecks and other hazards as he went about God’s business. But he had three goals – take the gift to Jerusalem, get to Spain and spend some time with the Christians in Rome. Through God’s grace, he managed the first, failed (as far as we know) in the second and succeeded in the third though in a way not quite as he planned it.

God had different plans for Paul, and they turned out to be far more effective than Paul’s. His incarceration both before he got to Rome, and after he finally got there as a prisoner, enabled him to reach many more people with the Gospel. Paul’s journey to Rome was fraught with danger and in Acts 28 we read how a shipwreck found him on Malta, where Paul healed many sick people. A potential disaster ended up with God being able to touch people on an island away from the more civilised parts of the Eastern Mediterranean region. And we read about how Paul was placed under house arrest in Rome, and was freely able to fellowship with the Roman believers. We read in Acts 28:30-31, “For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him”. Amazing! Paul’s aim was to get to Rome to have a time of rich blessings with the Roman Christians. God’s plan was to see the Gospel preached by the greatest evangelist and theologian of that time, and right in the very heart of the Roman Empire.

We pilgrims make plans. Proverbs 16:3 reads, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans”. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”. Our plans sometimes don’t turn out quite as we expect. God uses what we have and what we do to reach others with His grace and love. Like Jonah, sometimes we don’t really want to go God’s way, preferring a more comfortable or less problematic life. But God has a way of using His people to reach the lost and the Holy Spirit will gently but firmly nudge us in the right direction. And if disobedience to God’s ways prevails, God will find someone else who is willing to fulfil His plans. God’s plan for the people on this planet will never be frustrated. This generation will be touched for Him as we shine like beacons in the dark places of this sad world. 

Are we shining for God? Many years ago, in my primary Sunday School years, we sang a chorus that went like this:

Keep me shining, Lord, Keep me shining, Lord,
In all I say and do;
That the world may see Christ lives in me
And learn to love Him too.

A simple song, but so profound, with lyrics that have stayed with me all my life. But it sums up where we should start in allowing God to fulfil His plans through us. As Christ lives within us, the world will never miss seeing our God-beacon.

Dear Father God. We echo the song and pray that You keep us shining for You, illuminating the world around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Preaching Ambition

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.” In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.”
Romans 15:20-22 NLT

Paul was very clear about what really floated his boat – his preference was for being a church planter in virgin territory, in places where the inhabitants had never heard the Gospel before. Throughout the Middle East in those days communications were poor, so the Good News about Christ was carried by word of mouth, by itinerant preachers such as Paul. No internet or social media to spread the news. So it would have been very possible for Paul and his entourage to walk into a new place, and find a harvest of people desperate for some Good News. We read what happened at Philippi, with a lady called Lydia. The story is recorded in Acts 16, “On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She and her household were baptised … ” (Acts 16:13-15a). There were people around with a God-awareness in those days, but the Good News of Jesus and God’s plan for the salvation of mankind was not widely known, even though it was prophesied in the Bible. In Ephesians 3, Paul referred to God’s plan as being mysterious, but from Paul’s lips came the simple but profound facts of Christ, His sacrifice at Calvary, and the way to God “through the dark paths of sin”. Good News indeed.

But Paul’s heart as a Pastor wasn’t in doubt. We read his letters and see the care and love he had for both the churches he planted and those he didn’t. The Ephesians and the Galatians. The Philippians and the Romans. All received, with others, his letters of correction and encouragement. But his heart was really in bringing new souls into the Kingdom of God.

Fast forward to 21st Century Western society. Some have started to refer to the current age as being “post-Christian”. We have the many church buildings, mostly unique and very beautiful, particularly here in the UK, dotted around our landscape, like monuments to the glory of a past age, where people worshipped a person they called God. Prayers written in an antique style were read in unison from elderly books; songs they called hymns with strange lyrics were sung to tunes unfamiliar to today’s ear. And we now have a generation, or more, who may have a God-awareness, but not in a worshipful way like Lydia and her family. In today’s society, the name of God is more likely to be heard as a swear word than in a worshipful prayer. The only contact with God most have is at a church wedding or in a funeral service, rituals quickly forgotten in the celebrations afterwards.

But there is hope, because our wonderful Heavenly Father planted within every person an awareness of Himself. In Genesis 1:27 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”. We can try and suppress our inner feelings, but the reality is that each human being has within him God’s image. People try and find something to fill the God-hole within them with spiritual activities like Yoga or they delve into things like horoscopes. But they soon find that the emptiness is still there. Others try and fill the gap with materialistic activities. People talk about “retail therapy”, or they claim closeness to nature with their gardens or eco-activities. But only God can fill the yearning, the spiritual thirstiness, within them. We pilgrims have the opportunity, through the power that is within us, to tap into that spiritual awareness, and bring the only lasting solution. Jesus invited the thirsty to come to Him. We read what he said in John 7:37-38a, “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!“”

What do we pilgrims have an ambition for? Of course we have to earn a living, but do we search after promotion in our companies or do we put our earthly yearnings to one side and, like Paul, say that we, “ … would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2b). Promotion to a higher position in our employment won’t help the lost around us. But our testimonies and preaching about Christ could just promote them into Heavenly places.

Dear Father God. Please help us prioritise our lives to get them aligned with Your will and purposes. For Jesus’ sake.Amen.

Boasting

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.”
Romans 15:18-19 NLT

Boasting is usually an objectionable trait. I’m sure we have all met a person who doesn’t stop “blowing his own trumpet” about his achievements, his lovely garden, his latest car, his sporting prowess, his … All things that are materialistic or worldly, and relatively unimportant in the Kingdom of God. Boasting is a form of pride, which is a sin. Solomon, thought to be the person who wrote Proverbs, recorded the following, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). But Paul confessed to being a boaster, about something far more significant. His testimony was impressive. He could talk about the wonderful things that God had done, by “bringing the Gentiles to God”. 

Paul had much to boast about. In 2 Corinthians 11, we read about Paul’s concern that the Corinthian church was being corrupted by false apostles. These were people who claimed to be just as good as Paul, but he accused them of delivering error, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:4, “You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed”. Paul was quite scathing about these people. About his message he wrote, “But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:12-14). He went on, “And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too” (2 Corinthians 11:18). Referring to the false apostles, Paul went on, “ … But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too” (2 Corinthians 11:21b). 

Paul then went on to list all the privations and danger that he had experienced while disseminating the message of God’s Good News. And then he finished this list with, “If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am” (2 Corinthians 11:30). We turn the page to the next chapter and read about an experience he said he could boast about. 2 Corinthians 12:1, “This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord”. His visit to the third Heaven (where God and His angels live) must have been so amazing that it would have done his street cred no harm at all. But he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:5, “That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses”. We know of course what Paul’s weakness was – he wrote, ” … So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-9).

Paul was kept from being conceited by having to dependent on Jesus. But in it all he directed the glory to God. His life was totally sold out for Jesus. He didn’t boast about his tent making skills, or the number of miles he walked every day. His boasting was a testimony of God’s grace and love and the power of the Holy Spirit. At every opportunity we too should “boast” about what God has done in our lives. Our testimonies of God’s saving grace surely count for much and will shine as bright as a beacon in this sad and dark generation.

Father God. You have done so much for us, but please forgive us for holding back on speaking out our testimonies of Your love and grace. Please lead us to the right person today, so that we can give them too the opportunity of sharing what You have done for them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Being Full of Goodness

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them.”
Romans 15:14 NLT
“Personally I am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge, and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another.”
Romans 15:14 AMP

There are two principles in Romans 15:14 that are worthy of note. Paul encourages the Roman Christians with the thought that they are “full of goodness”. How does he know that? After all, Paul had apparently never met anyone in the church in Rome when he wrote this letter. But in faith, he knows in his spirit, and by reports that had probably filtered through from travellers, that those Christians in Rome were great people. What did Paul mean by “goodness”? Qualities such as mercy, compassion, unselfishness and love come to mind. But a Christian is a reflection of God’s “goodness“, and every God-attribute builds together to develop a picture of “goodness”. In the end, though, “goodness” is really godliness. We add into the mix His qualities of purity, forgiveness, holiness, and righteousness. Jesus demonstrated His “goodness” at Calvary, where He put aside all so that we could find forgiveness with God. Paul was “fully convinced” that the Christians in Rome were “full of goodness”. Quite a statement but Paul knew that all followers of Christ would have “goodness” within them. 

Because of their “goodness“, Paul knew that those early believers could teach others around them, and reminded them of the second principle in Romans 15:14. The church in Rome was growing, and new converts needed the “goodness” qualities of the older Christians to show them the way in the faith. God in His mercy could of course teach His children about His ways and the correct path to Heaven without the help of others, and it would seem, according to Hebrews 10:25, that indeed some Christians had stopped fellowshipping. We read, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near“. We meet together as Christians for just the reason Paul wrote about. Teaching each other is not necessarily a formal “chalk and talk” session, but it is to do with shared life together. The Holy Spirit inspired much teaching about the “one another’s” in the Bible.

Here are some “one another’s” that come from “goodness”. “You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God” (Hebrews 3:13). Ephesians 4:32, “Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you“. ‭‭2 Corinthians 13:11, “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you“. And there are many others. They all speak to a shared life agenda.

We all need the encouragement or goodness in this world of badness. Sometimes we feel as though we are living in a strange place, hostile to God and His people. A place where all the qualities opposite to what God desires and exemplifies abound. A place where the devil is doing his utmost to discourage us and attack us. Breaking up our families. Destroying our finances. In fact he wants to stop believers from following God. But within us is this Holy Spirit glow of God’s goodness, equipping us to prevail over all the enemy throws at us. And we share the encouragement we feel with those around us, helping each other on our separate journeys to our promised land, life with God in Heaven. 

Dear Father. We pray the prayer that Jesus gave us, and which includes the words “deliver us from evil”. Thank You for Your goodness and mercy. Amen.

Paul’s Prayer

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 NLT

The word “hope” appears twice in this verse, and it points out that the hope Paul is writing about is something that comes from God. So it isn’t a natural hope, like “I hope it doesn’t rain today” or “I hope we have a good holiday”. Paul continues to pray in the next sentence that this “hope” is something full of confidence and powered by the Holy Spirit. And the consequence of this “hope” is a complete infilling with two qualities enjoyed by Christians – “joy and peace”. Perhaps when we consider this verse we are looking for a meaning to the word “hope” that is different from the world view.

As we look into other parts of the Bible we see that “hope” is a word often associated with “faith”. We read Hebrews 11:1 from the Amplified version, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]” (emphasis mine). It’s the fact that a Christian’s “hope” is “divinely guaranteed” that is exciting. We believe through faith that the promises of God will come to pass. We “trust in Him”, as Paul wrote.

What God-given promise is most likely to fill us with “joy and peace”? A “hope” that God has guaranteed? There are many such hopes written in the Bible, but where else can we initially turn to other than to John 3:16? We read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. The promise is that one day we will “have everlasting life”. Eternal life. Endless life spent in God’s presence. In Revelation 21:3-4, we receive a hint of what this future life will be like. “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” “Death or sorrow or crying or pain” just about sums up every negative human emotion and experience and we “hope” that one day God will deliver the promise to do away with them “forever”. And, poignantly, God will personally be involved with each one of us, wiping away our tears.

In the meantime, we have a “hope” in this life. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope“. As we journey through the years remaining in our natural lives, God reminds us that He has good plans for us. He sees our years laid out before us, and He knows what’s coming our way. Perhaps some people view this as a negative. Weary people populating a pew and waiting for the day when they cross the Great Divide and enter eternal life. But God has so much more for us in this life. Exciting things. Things that are the manifestation of our hope in Him. And Paul’s prayer was that we would experience “joy and peace” as we “trust in Him”. What a prayer! But what a Saviour!

Dear Lord. Thank You for showing a world without hope that there is a future. We are a part of Your plans, and so we declare our trust in You with our future, in this life and the next. Amen.