Unity

Posted on by korgrocker

“How good and pleasant it is 
when God’s people live together in unity!”
Psalms‬ ‭133:1‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Another Psalm from David. This is another “Song of Ascents”, sung by God’s people during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. You can just imagine him watching the crowds of pilgrims, ascending the roads and paths up to Jerusalem. And what he observed brought into his mind thoughts of unity. You can almost feel the emotional glow in his musings, when he thinks about “How good and pleasant” unity is. And we too can imagine joining that throng of people, singing, shouting, laughing. A throng full of joy and camaraderie. But perhaps the exclamation mark at the end of this verse reveals that this was not the normal state of affairs. Perhaps, in those days long ago, God’s people were far from being unified in their approach to their lives and religion. David finished the Psalm with thoughts about the anointing of Aaron back in Leviticus, and the importance of that event in Israel’s history. How it then unified the people as they stood before God. 

Today there is little unity in society. Everyone seems to have their own opinions about everything and anything in life, and Christians are not excluded from having their own ideas. Perhaps this was what was in Jesus’ mind when He referred to people as “being like sheep without a shepherd”. Lost and rudderless in the sea of life. In many ways societies today have lost their way because they don’t have a life compass any more. Their moral parameters have disappeared. The concept of there being an ultimate Creator God is now largely missing from society and if thought about at all, is considered irrelevant. So perhaps when David observed the pilgrims ascending the heights, he realised what was missing from his society. I wonder what he would have thought about 21st Century Western society!

The verse about oil is significant. The ritual of a priest being anointed with oil is a practice not normally found in our liturgies today. But if we replace the precious oil with the precious Holy Spirit, then we have a different situation. God loves unity. And through His Spirit He brings that unity, that togetherness, into our lives and communities. Unity doesn’t mean that we all have to be clones of some God-image, all behaving in the same way. But it does mean we must all have the same understanding and are in agreement over the important issues in our faith, and particularly our faith in our loving Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit is the glue that binds us, God’s people together. Sadly, too many Christians get caught up in differences between denominations. Instead of celebrating the Biblical foundations of our faith, they criticise and ridicule the liturgical differences. And on the way, the Christian faith can be replaced by militant sectarianism, demeaning God and His ways. 

So how do God’s people, Christians, live together in unity? We pray of course. But more than that, we do what Jesus would do – we show God’s love, grace and compassion to those around us, regardless of their denominations.

Confidence

Posted on by korgrocker

“Good comes to those who lend money generously
    and conduct their business fairly. 
Such people will not be overcome by evil.
    Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
They do not fear bad news;
    they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
They are confident and fearless
    and can face their foes triumphantly.“
Psalm 112:5-8 NLT

To be a confident person in this day and age can be a wonderful place, and is even better if that confidence is based on our trust in the Lord. You see, to be truly effective, the confidence we have must be founded on a place of security, and that doesn’t include our own human understanding and abilities. Our prisons contain many confident people, but their confidence was misplaced and underpinned by wrong foundations and motives.

This Psalm presents a counter-cultural world, in which fairness, in this case in regard to money, is recognised and imputed as righteousness. And from that place, such people know that they are aligned with God’s Kingdom and therefore can trust God to look after and care for them. In today’s Covid-ridden society, bad news is also pandemic, and it induces high levels of anxiety in people, bringing on ever-increasing degrees of mental health challenges. But the “such people” in our Psalm are balanced mentally and “do not fear bad news“. And from their position of God-confidence, they can face the world fearlessly. 1 John 4:4 reads, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

So on our pilgrimage in this world, a journey full of the pandemics of life, we are in a position of unassailable confidence. Quite simply, we have a God who cares for us, and we have the knowledge that the Holy Spirit within us is a true foundation, stronger than anything to be found in this world. But what should we do with our confidence? Sit at home in a smug, warm glow, thinking like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people…”? No. God has given us a confident ability to reach an anxious and sin-soaked world with His message of hope. Let’s do it! 

Grace Unlimited

Posted on by korgrocker

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 
Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Psalms‬ ‭51:1, 7, 9-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David hasn’t done well. In fact, he has plumbed the depths of depravity beyond even godless people’s experiences. He has coveted another man’s wife, then committed adultery with her, and finally joined the ranks of murderers by arranging for her husband to be killed on the battlefield. And his self-deception was so complete that it took a brave prophet, Nathan, to point out his sins to him. But Psalm 51 is a record of his way back into God’s presence. Surely David’s sins were too great to be forgiven, we might think. Surely what he has done cannot just be atoned for by writing a Psalm. Surely he has to be banished from God’s presence forever. But this is where God’s unlimited grace comes into the picture. God will never turn His back on a truly repentant sinner. 

But we might think that it is unfair of God to forgive someone as sinful as David. After all, my sins are nowhere near as bad as David’s. I’ve never done any of the things David had. The problem is that none of us can live a perfect sinless life that matches up to God’s standard of righteousness. It doesn’t matter how grave the sin is – stealing a pencil from an employer or committing adultery are both sins and both will stop us entering God’s presence. Because of our sinful natures we cannot get into God’s presence through our own efforts. There is only one way into God’s presence and that is through Jesus. Look at the Scriptures. Jesus said in John 14:6, “‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”. In Acts 4:12 the Apostle Peter said, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”” It is only by the repentance of our sins and our belief that Jesus died for us at Calvary, that will enable us to become righteous enough to enter God’s presence. 

Back in my Sunday School days we used to sing a song that went like this;

There’s a way back to God
from the dark paths of sin;
there’s a door that is open
and you may go in;
at Calvary’s cross is where you begin,
when you come as a sinner
to Jesus.

Through God’s grace there is forgiveness. Once we have truly confessed our sins, and taken on board Jesus’ righteousness, He doesn’t see our sins any more. They are, in the words of the Psalm, blotted out. They have been erased from His record book. What a wonderful God He is!

But there is then the issue of our memories. Perhaps you are like me and sometimes remember a particular sin, from way back in the past, or perhaps not so long ago. We have confessed it, repented of it and God has forgiven us of it. He has no more record of it, but it is still in our memories. So we try and confess it again, just in case we have forgotten something. But God looks up the sin in His record book and doesn’t find it so He asks us the question, “What sin are you talking about?” It has been covered by His grace and blotted out of His records. Our memories retain it though and this is perhaps what David was referring to when he referred to the stain of his guilt. Sins leave stains in our minds. These can become a constant reminder of God’s grace, so freely and generously given. But also something the enemy will use to torment us, it we let him. If God has forgiven us, why would we not forgive ourselves? Perhaps our lack of faith comes to the fore?

The thing that David feared most, though, was that there was no way back into God’s presence. Verses 9-11 of today’s Psalm express the anguish going on within him. David appealed to God in three ways; to not keeping looking at his sins, to not banish him from His presence and to not take away the Holy Spirit. David didn’t have access to the Son of God, Jesus, as we do today. But he knew his God and knew that His grace and mercy would never reject him.

I wonder if David’s biggest fear, though, was that the Holy Spirit wouldn’t come near him again. What a terrible thought? But, rationally, can I ask us all a question today. Would we know if the Holy Spirit had left us? That’s a question to ponder throughout the day. 

Helicopters

Posted on by korgrocker

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8 NIV

Behind the trees this morning I heard the sound of a helicopter. First in the distance a popping noise and then, as it got closer, a swishing sound . It then appeared through a gap in the trees. So I looked it up on the “Flightradar24” App (if you are interested in flying then this is a great app to get and it’s free!) and was told that it was an “Airbus Helicopters AS355” but no information about where it had come from or where it was going was available. Of course, it must have started somewhere, and there will be a time when it has to land, if only to refuel. But the relevant data about its origin and destination was missing. 

The helicopter could be seen and heard but I couldn’t tell where it had come from or where it was going. In today’s Scripture, Jesus uses the analogy of wind. It can be heard but we don’t know where it came from or where it is going. It’s the same with our natural lives, we don’t plan either our origin or destination. That is, of course, unless we embrace the teaching of Jesus in John 3. But it is “sad but true” (to quote the title of the Metallica song) that most people seem unconcerned about their destination in life. They obviously cannot do much about their origins, but they can take steps to ensure the right destination.

In His discussion with Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who crept into Jesus’ presence after dark, Jesus explained the need for a spiritual birth. He said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:5-7). So by being born again, we can determine our spiritual origins, and this starts us on the right journey through life. But how can we be sure that we are on our way to the right destination? We have a choice. We can either spend eternity with the devil and his demons in hell, or we can spend eternity with God and His angels in Heaven. A wrong choice and a right choice. A wrong destination and a right destination. And we can make the right choice by believing in Jesus, God’s only Son, to forgive us for our sins. On a cross at a place called Calvary He took upon Himself all our sins and gave us in exchange His righteousness. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21. And by being righteous in God’s sight we are assured of a future with Him in eternity.

So as Christians, we have an origin and a destination, and the spiritual App equivalent of Flightradar24 will record our journey between them. Not more “N/A” against the points of origin and destination. We have been born again through the Spirit of God, and assured a future in Heaven through our salvation. Our flight plan has been recorded in God’s Book of Life.

If you are unsure of where you are going and want to know more, please message me. It could be the most important decision you have ever made.

Light and Care

Posted on by korgrocker

“Send me Your light and Your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise You with the lyre, O God, my God.” Psalms‬ ‭43:3-4‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Have you ever been somewhere where there are no street lamps, even close by? No cities lighting the sky in the distance? Not a glimmer of light anywhere? With a clear sky overnight the visual presentation of celestial bodies is breathtaking – there are just so many of them. But if the stars are obscured by clouds it can be a scary place, because literally you cannot see your hand in front of your face. Spiritual darkness is a bit like that too. With a view of the spiritual Heavens, God is visible and tangible. Blessing us with His presence. Communicating Spirit to spirit. But when obscured by the clouds of our rebellion and sins, God isn’t visible to us anymore, and our prayers bounce off the cloud’s underbelly, falling back to our lips answered.

The Psalmist prayed that God would lead him through His light, dispensing His faithful care in the process, revealing through the spiritual gloom His presence and His home. The Psalmist knew that once there He would find joy, delight and a place of praise. It doesn’t get better than that!

Today, O Lord, I pray that through the light of Your Word, with a thankful heart because of Your faithful care, I would find You dwelling in my heart where I can praise and worship You. Amen.

God Talks to Me

Posted on by korgrocker

“My heart has heard You say, “Come and talk with Me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”” Psalms‬ ‭27:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What an amazing verse! That the Creator of the universe and all that is in it would want to talk to David, the Psalmist? Really? But God favours no one more than any other. David’s experience of dialogue with God wasn’t just for him – it’s for everyone. And note this – God initiated the conversation. So I have to face into the fact that my amazing God wants to talk to me. So how do I respond? “Sorry, God, but I’m too busy right now?” Or ”sorry, God, there’s a TV programme I need to watch?” I can invent any number of excuses. But the truth is quite clear – He wants to talk to me. There is only one response that is acceptable – “Lord, I am coming”. God knows my busy schedules. He knows what living on planet earth demands. But there will be times when He wants to talk to me and I need to turn up my spiritual receptors so that I respond in His timing, not mine.

God talks to me through His Word. Through a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit. Through a comment from a fellow pilgrim in my community of faith. But He invites me to talk with Him. To join Him in an intimate conversation devoid of religious jargon. Full of honesty and grace. And He whispers with love and mercy, what I need to hear.

God is inviting you, my friend, to talk with Him as well. How will you respond?