God Gives

Posted on by korgrocker

“John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.”
John 3:27-30 NLT

John the Baptist’s statement to his disciples “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven” was in the context of their concern that someone seemed to be taking away their ministry. After all, John had started  the practice of baptising people and now someone else seemed to be copying him. And from the previous verse, (John 3:26), it seemed that Jesus was being more successful, with people going directly to Him instead of John. But John’s humility prevailed and his statement applies to anyone in a ministry, or thinking about starting one, then and now. Unless God is in the plan, then it is pointless even starting it because it will fail. 

We Christians often talk about a “calling”, where someone hears a call from God, often to a difficult situation, in the role of a missionary, or nurse, or something similar. The Apostle Paul was called by God, as we read in Romans 1:1, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God“. An example of a modern day calling would be that of Jackie Pullinger, called to work amongst drug addicts in Hong Kong. God provides a “call” in our lives, seeing within us the potential to achieve His will and purposes, to complete His plans at this stage in the history of this planet. 

What calling have we pilgrims responded to? Perhaps we think that we don’t have one. But that deficiency can soon be remedied, because we only have to ask God. Of course, we might be disappointed if we were expecting a high profile ministry. But while we wait for something tangible, we might have to realise that being a Christian involved a lifetime of training. We, over the years, become more and more sensitive to the voice of God as we spend time with Him. We read about Moses, who was 80 years old when he started to speak to Pharaoh about letting the slaves leave Egypt. “Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:6-7). Moses spent 40 years in training looking after sheep (Acts 7:30) before he was able to carry out God’s calling.

But whatever we pilgrims do, there are two important “callings” that we must recognise. There is the Great Commission – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). And there is the reminder from Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16, “‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”. Wherever we are, we remind those around us about our faith. 2 Corinthians 2:15, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing“.

Dear Father God. We truly are a witness to You wherever we find ourselves. Please help us shine like a beacon in the community where You have place us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Disciples (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples.”
John 1:35 NLT

When we read about the ministry of John, there is little to suggest that he did anything other than baptise people for the forgiveness of their sin, and introduce Jesus to the world. We read in Mark 1:4, “This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven”. John seemed to be a preacher with one message, but, more importantly, he made a declaration about the One to come, who would baptise with the Holy Spirit, and who we later find, would Himself be baptised by John. But we read nothing about John‭‭ making disciples until we read he was joined by “two of his disciples”. 

What is a “disciple“? It is a word mainly used in a religious sense, but means no more than a follower. Someone who voluntarily hears and applies the teaching or lifestyle of another person. We pilgrims, believers in Jesus, are disciples of the Master Himself, and we read His Word and apply it to our own lives, as well as assisting Him in His ministry to the world, something that has not ceased ever since He came to Planet Earth two thousand years ago. We have read the Great Commission, those verses at the end of Matthew’s Gospel – “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age”” (Matthew 28:18-20). 

We should note, though, that we are not making disciples of ourselves. We are pointing those we share our testimonies with to Jesus Himself. He is the One to follow, not ourselves. We may assist in that process of course, but Jesus is the Master. A quote from “gotquestions.org”, “A Christian disciple is one who puts Jesus first, obeys the Lord, produces good fruit, loves others, and makes more disciples. Such a one is sure to make an impact in this fallen world for the glory of God.” We pilgrims are disciples of Jesus and Jesus alone, so we should be careful lest we get distracted by a charismatic leader, who might be saying things that we want to hear, and we become his or her disciple instead. Thereby leads the road to disappointment and even a spiritual shipwreck. 

Dear Lord Jesus. Only You are the One to follow. Only You are the “way, the truth and the life”. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Whole Earth

Posted on by korgrocker

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.”
Romans 4:13 NLT

Paul said that God promised to give “the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants”. This is a statement that needs to be checked out. Is it true? In Genesis, God promised to give Abraham the “land” before him. We read in Genesis 15:7, “Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession””. But that wasn’t the “whole earth”. Before we get hung up in Paul’s extrapolation, we need to remember that, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him” (Psalm 24:1). And Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-19, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. So Paul perhaps wasn’t wrong when he made the statement about giving the “whole earth” to Abraham, who has two types of descendant – those who can directly trace their natural lineage back to him, those in the “land”, and those spiritual descendants, like Abraham himself, who have been declared righteous before God because of their faith, those in the “whole earth”.

We are God’s representatives on Planet Earth, and He has given us a mission. In fact we call it a Great Commission. And that is to take the Gospel to every nation, to give those there the opportunity to become Abraham’s spiritual children. Too big a job? We will probably not see this happen in our lifetimes, although great strides are being made in that direction. I read a news report this morning of the activities of South Korean missionaries in spreading the Gospel and building churches in Nepal. They have been hugely successful with the Gospel message of God’s grace and love, even though converting people from one religion to another is illegal in Nepal. But there will come a day when God will draw a line under Jesus’ Commission and then the Revelation events will initiate a new Heaven and Earth, populated by people who are the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

We have a limited opportunity to reach our communities, our families, our friends, with the Gospel. We currently live in a season of God’s grace. We, like the Korean missionaries, mustn’t waste it.

Dear Father God. We take responsibly the fact that You have entrusted us pilgrims to share Your Gospel in the world in which we live. Please help us, and guide us, in spreading the message. In Jesus’ name. Amen,