God’s Gracious Gifts

Posted on by korgrocker

“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge – God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.”
1 Corinthians 1:4-6 NIVUK
“I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.”
1 Corinthians 1:4-6 NLT

Now that the greetings are out of the way, Paul thanks God for the Corinthian church. In spite of all its problems, and the difficulties that Paul knew he had to address, Paul could straight away see the good and the potential in these people. And he thanked God for them. Such a view of people, imperfect sinners that we are, is God’s view through His grace “given [us] in Christ Jesus”. That is the most precious gift God has given mankind, one that is eternal and all encompassing. One that is the only possible way to reconcile mankind to God, and that is Jesus, His Son. When we think of gifts, our materialistic minds immediately picture something valuable that we have been wanting for a while. But such a gift is only temporal and will disappear, because it will be left behind when we leave this earth. The only lasting gift is Jesus, because it is only through Him that we can receive the greatest gift of all time – eternal life in God’s presence. And it is all about Jesus and His grace. 

From God’s Gift of grace, flow many other gifts, and all because Jesus, when He left this world, gave us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who dwells within each one of us. Paul noticed that it was through this Gift of Grace, that the church in Corinth had been enriched, and he mentioned in his letter that they were an eloquent group of people blessed with the right words to say from a knowledge base enhanced by their experience of Jesus. There is a noticeable difference between a church or fellowship moving in the light of God’s gifts, and one that isn’t. Someone mischievously once asked a church if they would notice if the Holy Spirit had left them. It was a sobering thought for the congregation, but a good question though and one that many a church would do well to dwell upon. Pope Leo XIV, in his first public address after his recent election, emphasised the Holy Spirit’s role in guiding the Church and the lives of believers. A extract from his inaugural sermon to over 80,000 people went like this, “But when the Holy Spirit comes [people] receive a new way of seeing things, an interior understanding that helps them to interpret the events that occurred and to experience intimately the presence of the Risen Lord. The Holy Spirit overcomes their fear, shatters their inner chains, heals their wounds, anoints them with strength and grants them the courage to go out to all and to proclaim God’s mighty works“. Is that our experience of the Holy Spirit in our churches and fellowships? It seemed to be in the Corinthian church, at least to start with, and here was Paul reminded the believers there of the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit. But we pray too that the words from Pope Leo don’t just resonate with the Roman Catholic estate, but also stretch into churches everywhere, and especially those that have chosen to try and compromise with a society that has sadly fallen out of step with the truth and purity of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit can’t dwell in such a place.

What about us pilgrims? Have we become complacent and find that we are missing the excitement of the first days when the Holy Spirit transformed us inside? When we felt a bountiful supply of joy and love welling up within us? Or do we daily go out very consciously aware of the Holy Spirit empowering us and equipping us for all that we expect to meet, in the office, or in our contacts with random people we are going to meet? The Pope has got it, because he knows that the Holy Spirit transforms lives today, just as He did when He visited the gathered disciples in that Upper Room, with a sound like a roaring wind accompanied by tongues of fire. The Pope painted a picture straight from Scripture, of the Holy Spirit being the Healer, the Overcomer, the Anointer, and the One who provides strength and courage in an age of despair. And the result? We pilgrims, full of the Holy Spirit, can go out and “proclaim God’s mighty works” just like the early disciples did, shaking up the status quo in the Middle East in the process. 

Something the Pope said struck a chord with me. He said that the Holy Spirit shatters internal chains. So many people go through their lives stuttering along, held back by the state of their inner beings. Even we pilgrims can be suffering from fears, anxieties, depression, poor mental health, and many other things that modern psychologists fix a label to. Aspergers, ADHD, PTSD, and other acronyms define a person who can then be tempted to stay in that state, comfortable to remain compatible with the diagnosis, behaviour defined accordingly. But that is not how God sees us. We won’t have any of these conditions in Heaven, because there will be no more sickness, no more pain. So why are we children of God comfortable with them in the few years before we cross the Great Divide? With the Holy Spirit within we have no need to be chained to such conditions.

God’s gracious gifts can all be traced back to the Source, Jesus. He is the greatest gift of all. Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved”. God has given mankind all the resources and gifts they need to be able to be His children. So when we have a tendency to opt out of living God’s way, we must remember that the Holy Spirit is within us, resourcing us to face down all that this evil world throws at us.

Dear Father God. Through Your Spirit we have all the gifts for life that we need. Please help us to use them well and effectively, enabling us to be the pilgrims You have called and chosen. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Giving Thanks

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.”
John 6:11-13 NLT

Oh, to have been there that day. Watching Jesus as He miraculously took the loaves and “distributed them to the people”. The Gospel of Mark provides a little more information, “Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share” (Mark 6:41). Mark said that Jesus “kept giving” but isn’t that just like Him. He never stopped giving all the time He was here on earth, and He provided the ultimate gift by giving His life at Calvary for the sins of mankind. We worship a giving God, but we pilgrims, know that.

There are of course the theologically illiterate factions who try and minimise or deny the amazing miracle that happened that day. Some say that this was no more than people sharing their packed lunches. Others say it was just a story, and it didn’t really happen. But this account of “Feeding the Five Thousand” has gripped the imaginations of countless people over the years. The story is included in the staple diet of Sunday Schools and Children’s’ Bibles, and it appears in each of the four Gospels. I have no doubts in my own mind that this episode really happened, and the Gospel writers had no doubts either. John was present when it happened, and his almost dispassionate account has a ring of authenticity about it, as though he expected it to happen anyway.

Notice that John recorded that the people ate as much as they wanted and there were leftovers. In fact, there were twelve baskets full of bits of bread and the odd fish head or tail. For many that day, it was probably the first time that they had had full stomachs for a while. God is never stingy in His provision. He always has more in His storehouse for those who wish to be filled. 

But we pilgrims must never be guilty of taking God’s provision for granted. It is not just about having a full stomach, good though that is. It is about thanking God for the basics of life. Thanking Him for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and, of course, the food we eat. We thank Him for the natural things we need for life. But we also thank Him for the relationship we have with Him. Thanking Him for His love, His kindness, His Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of our sins, the righteousness we have through Jesus, and all the other benefits that come our way because we are His children. Matthew 7:11, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him”. 

Heavenly Father, we know that You never stop giving good gifts to Your children. And we know that there are even more available, just for the asking. How can we ever thank You enough? Amen.

A Desperate Dad

Posted on by korgrocker

“As he travelled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.“
John 4:46-47 NLT

Jesus finally arrived in Galilee after all the excitement in Sychar in Samaria, and John then records that Jesus “travelled through Galilee”. Why was that? Well, Jesus had an itinerant ministry, that started when He was twelve. We read in Luke 2:49b, ” …  Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Further on in Luke we read why Jesus travelled around. Luke wrote, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). Such a mission involved teaching about the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, raising the dead and doing many miraculous signs. There was a prophecy in Isaiah 61 about the Messiah’s mission, and Jesus read it out while in the synagogue in Nazareth. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come”” (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus was on a mission and there was no time to lose because He was about His Father’s business.

Jesus’ reputation had preceded Him, and a civil servant needed help with a sick son, who was so ill that his family were afraid he was going to die. A nightmare scenario for any parent, because I know – I’ve been there. My daughter somehow contracted a particular type of encephalitis and spent nearly four months in hospital. The medics could do nothing other than supply nursing care, and it was only God who brought her through to full health some months later. That fact that this happened at all was recorded on her medical notes as “nothing short of a miracle”. In Jesus’ day there was little in the way of medical solutions to illness. People either got better or they died. All their families could do was to supply nursing care. It is only in the last century or so that medicine, with drugs and vaccines, have protected or treated people with otherwise fatal illnesses. 

The father of the sick son came to Jesus in desperation, and we are told that he “begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son”. But, today, is that what we have to do with God? When we have a loved one who is seriously ill, do we get on our knees and beg God to do something? I suppose it depends on our relationship with God. Those who don’t know Him will perhaps, in desperation, try anything as a last resort, and this may have been the situation with the civil servant from Capernaum. Sadly, other people will reject the only One who can heal, and instead blame Him for their situation. But the children of God, those who believe in Jesus and have been forgiven of their sins, don’t have to beg. Our loving Heavenly Father knows what we need, and begging is something we don’t have to do.  Instead, we pray the prayer of faith, trusting that God knows best. And as Jesus taught, we pray and keep on praying.

Dear Heavenly Father, You only have good gifts for Your children and You give them so freely when we ask and pray. We are so grateful. Amen.