The Fate of Sinners

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers. Their hands are dirty with evil schemes, and they constantly take bribes. But I am not like that; I live with integrity. So redeem me and show me mercy. Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.”
Psalm 26:9-12 NLT

David asked the Lord to spare him from “the fate of sinners”. In David’s society, people who committed crimes suffered some form of punishment. Leviticus 24 lays out some examples of punishments for lawbreakers, who committed crimes such as blasphemy, murder, theft, and injury, where we read the punishment was “a fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Leviticus 24:20). Stoning was usually used for capital offences. But in the Psalm 26 context, David appeared to be considering behavioural issues – “their hands are dirty with evil schemes and they constantly take bribes”. There was in those days, and still is today, a level of moral lassitude that falls just below the radar of a definition of being a crime but is sin nevertheless. Jesus brought such behaviour to the fore in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell“. The problem for humans in all generations is that sin in God’s eyes can only be discerned by Him. So David cried out to the Lord to not let him suffer the fate of sinners because “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).‭‭

But what is the fate of sinners? The Old Testament, pre-Jesus, belief was that when someone died they went to a place called Sheol. Faced with the fabricated evidence that Joseph had died as the result of an attack by a wild animal, we read of his father Jacob’s reaction in Genesis 37:35, “Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him”. Both good and bad people went there and it seemed to be some sort of holding area for departed spirits. David also believed that the wicked ended up in Sheol. Psalm 9:17, “The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), Even all the nations who forget God”. So David and his generation would have no doubts about “the fate of sinners”. Jacob considered Sheol to be a place of mourning, but little was written about what it would be like until Jesus came, and provided some teaching. But one thought spans all the Biblical scriptures, and that is that after a person died, they went to a place of conscious existence, and there are hints that there were degrees of comfort there, depending on whether or not the person had led a good or bad life in God’s eyes beforehand.

In Luke 16 Jesus told the story of a Rich Man and a beggar called Lazarus. Some claim that this was a parable, but Jesus offered no explanation and the story was not about a natural environment that people could relate to, such as sheep and arable farming. It was a statement of fact presented in a way that fitted in with Jewish thought at that time. Basically, the Rich Man had a good life and ended up in Sheol (Hades in the Greek) where he found a place of torment. We can refer to it as “hell” because it was hot – we read, “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames'” (Luke 16:24). So there was communication of sorts with the other compartment in Sheol where the poor man went when he died. We can call this place heaven, because Abraham was there. In the next two verses we read, “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there'”. 

The New Testament belief is based on the Rich Man and Lazarus story, in that people who have died end up in a place of conscious existence, depending on how they lived their natural lives. Believers end up in a place Jesus called Paradise (Luke 23:43). Unbelievers end up in a place of torment that appeared to be another compartment in Hades. Jesus introduced another name for this place – Gehenna, a Greek word used in Mark 9:45. But Hades or Sheol, the Biblical view is consistent with David’s fear about the “fate of sinners”. One place of conscious existence divided into two compartments – paradise (a preview of Heaven) or Gehenna (a preview of hell).  

And then the story gets tragic and sombre. One day all these souls in Hades will be resurrected and judged, as we read in Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades (the realm of the dead) surrendered the dead who were in them; and they were judged and sentenced, every one according to their deeds”. Thankfully, believers will already have been resurrected by this time and will be living with the Lord in Heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:7-8, “For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord”. 1 Thessalonians 4 provides further details. 

David called out to the Lord to save him from “the fate of sinners” and he could do that because he walked with integrity and was redeemed by the Lord. Through his faith in the Lord I’m sure that we believers will probably have the opportunity of speaking with him one day. But we mustn’t rest on our laurels because there is a society full of people who, like lemmings, are rushing headlong to the wrong place. I keep banging on, I know, about reaching out to the lost, but these are serious times. Every day on my prayer walks I ask God beforehand to lead me to opportunities where I can share His message of hope. We don’t know if the next seed we plant might be in the heart of another Billy Graham.

Dear Father God. You are the only true righteous and holy God, full of grace and love. Lead us we pray to those who are perishing in their sins, so that we can share about all You have done for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Integrity and Honesty

Posted on by korgrocker

“See how many enemies I have and how viciously they hate me! Protect me! Rescue my life from them! Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge. May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:19-21 NLT

Integrity and honesty seem in short supply these days. As an example, what do people think of the political class in any Western country? I’m sure such words as “integrity” and “honesty” would not appear on the list of descriptive adjectives for most. David claimed that “integrity and honesty protect [him], for [he has] put [his] hope in the Lord”. He had a point, because those who behave in such ways will avoid most of the troubles that come from living in a society that is rife with lies and deceit. It says in Proverbs 10:9, “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed“. From a slightly different angle, Proverbs 11:3 records, “Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people“. In fact, the Book of Proverbs contains quite a few verses about integrity and honesty, and their opposites, lies and deceit. Proverbs 12:19-20, “Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed. Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!” The wise old sages in Israel knew all about the value of telling truth and avoiding lies.

According to “gotquestions.org”, “In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word translated “integrity” means “the condition of being without blemish, completeness, perfection, sincerity, soundness, uprightness, wholeness.” Integrity in the New Testament means “honesty and adherence to a pattern of good works””. A comprehensive, Bible-based exposé of the qualities necessary to enjoy God’s security and protection.

The best example of a person with integrity in the Bible is Jesus. As both God and man, He was without sin, totally without blemish of any kind. There was no deceit on Him at all, as we read in 1 Peter 2:21b-22, “… [Christ] is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone”. We read the accounts about Jesus and find a sinless man of complete honesty and integrity. Hebrews 4:15, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin“. We read about the temptations of Jesus, where the devil caught Him in a time of weakness, and see how Jesus stood strong and resolute, standing on the integrity of Scripture to fend off the temptations that would have led to sin. We pilgrims, believers in Christ, are called to be like Him. We knelt at the Cross, confessing and repenting of our sins, and Jesus took them upon HImself. But here’s the wonderful thing, He then gave us His righteousness, His sinless righteousness, so that we could become His brothers and sisters, adopted children of God. How amazing is that! So we too aspire to walk in integrity and honesty, just as Jesus did. No! More than that. In faith we do walk in integrity and honesty, resisting all attempts and distractions to corrupt us and lead us into sin. Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father”.

Of course, it is inevitable that we will stumble and fall. We are human, and always the focus of the devil and his minions who want to lead us into sin. Sadly, we will on occasion fall for one of his scams. But we have a remedy. 1 John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. There you have it – back on track again walking in integrity and honesty. In God’s Kingdom we are new creations. Paul wrote, “throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:22-24). We walk in faith towards the goal of perfection and holiness through Jesus. We will never get there in this life, I fear, but we try, in the knowledge that our loving Heavenly Father is there helping us every step of the way. One day we will be like Jesus – Paul wrote, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:29). Amen?

Dear God. We aspire to walk in integrity and honesty just like Jesus did. Please help us, we pray, and please forgive us when we fail. We want to become more like Jesus. In His precious name. Amen,

Feel My Pain!

Posted on by korgrocker

“Turn to me and have mercy, for I am alone and in deep distress. My problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all! Feel my pain and see my trouble. Forgive all my sins.”
Psalm 25:16-18 NLT

David called out to the Lord to “feel [his] pain”. David highlights in the previous verses in this Psalm the hassles from his enemies, and potentially wrong responses (“disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others” – verse 3), but he then goes on to remind God about His “compassion and unfailing love“, His mercy, His goodness and righteousness, and that He is “a friend to those who fear Him”. But all this was a build up to what was really bothering David and he cried out to the Lord – “Turn to me and have mercy”. An impassioned cry for help as he found himself in deep trouble facing insurmountable problems. He ends up asking God to empathise with him, feeling his pain and seeing his trouble. Have we ever been in a place like that?

Human beings were never created to be lonely, devoid of companionship and love. Such a person never appeared in God’s plan for humanity. Adam never chose a wife because God chose one for him, saying “it is not good for man to be alone”, and that relationship ticked all the boxes that were in God’s blueprint for His children. But sin has distorted and destroyed relationships everywhere, leaving people universally devoid of anyone prepared and willing to take an interest in them and empathise with them in their troubles. Thankfully Jesus came as a remedy for man’s sin, and restored the order that God intended. So in our fellowships, and with other believers, we care for one another. Paul wrote, “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), a verse that encourages relationships that are selfless and loving. Peter wrote in similar vein, “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude” (1 Peter 3:8). This is God’s blueprint for His children, believers everywhere. David cried out to God to “feel [his] pain” but we New Covenant believers have a wonderful God who has experienced what we have experienced. Hebrews 4:15, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin”. Jesus has gone before us and has shown us the way. Look at His love for His disciples, as He knelt before them, washing their feet. And He loves us just as much as well.

We pilgrims may be going through a painful experience at the moment. It could be the death of a loved one. It could be a debilitating illness. It could be a financial emergency. But whatever it is, there is One who feels our pain. One who died for us that we might have life, both in this world and the next. And if we know someone who is going through such experiences we must get alongside them and feel their pain as well. The old Apostle John wrote, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?” (1 John 3:16-17). Jesus promised that He would always be with us and we can feel Him close especially in times of need. When He left this world, He sent the Holy Spirit, who now lives within every believer, and in His love and compassion He will even send His spirit in human form, as another believer gets alongside us. Jesus knows and understands our pain because He has been there, and so when troubles strike, we have a Comforter who “feels [our] pain”. We relax in His love and feel it as a cloak smothering us, and compassionately dealing with our pain. The problems may never go away or reduce in intensity, but with Jesus along side of us, they will never be as bad.

Dear Father God. You know and understand that our lives can sometimes be painful in a world blighted by sin and evil. But You have a remedy for all our pain and we reach out to You once again, basking in Your love and compassion. Thank You. Amen.

Loneliness

Posted on by korgrocker

“Turn to me and have mercy, for I am alone and in deep distress. My problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all! Feel my pain and see my trouble. Forgive all my sins.”
Psalm 25:16-18 NLT

Loneliness is a terrible place to be. It is something that afflicts too many people, who may be surrounded by their family, friends and neighbours, but lack any meaningful contact with any of them. I recently came across an elderly woman sitting on a seat in the town centre, her walker cum shopping trolley next to her, but she was staring blankly into the distance. I wished her a cheery “good morning” and this unleashed a tale of distress about her life of being alone. She had mobility issues and had struggled to get there after a short bus journey. She was almost marooned in a first floor flat without a lift and her neighbours had no time for her. There was no family close by and she was facing into an uncertain future, lonely and miserable. Her situation is not unique by a long way and there are many in the UK today just like her. Just this morning I came across a man sitting on a park bench, seemingly impervious to the cold wind. He seemed to be in a lonely other-world and only briefly returned my greeting before lapsing back into his musings. God once said to me that sometimes all He wants me to do is to say “Good Morning” to someone when out on my daily walks. An opportunity to share God’s Gospel of hope will perhaps come later.

David confessed to being alone in spite of all the people around him. At least at this point in his life when he wrote Psalm 25 he seemed to lack the companionship of someone like Jonathan, King Saul’s son. We read about the start of his friendship in 1 Samuel 18:1, 3, “After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. …  And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself”. The next few chapters in 1 Samuel provide a story of an increasingly unstable Saul and how Jonathan tried to mitigate the attacks against David. And then in 1 Samuel 31:2 we read, “The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua“. David was devastated, as we can expect. 2 Samuel 1:11-12, “David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day“.‭‭ After Jonathan, David never really seemed to build a friendship with anyone, and here he is lamenting in Psalm 25 about being lonely. He grumbles to God, “Feel my pain and see my trouble“.

Loneliness was something God wanted mankind to avoid right from the beginning of His creation. Genesis 2:18, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him“”. Adam was never going to be lonely with God and Eve blessing his life. In those idyllic days in the Garden, God used to walk with Adam and Eve in the coolness of the evening (Genesis 3:8) but note that because of sin, that custom ceased, and Adam and Eve had the potential to become lonely. The devil has tormented mankind ever since the Fall, to fuel his intention to destroy and abuse anything to do with God. Loneliness is one of the ways in which he causes distress to mankind.

Jesus experienced loneliness, but for a different reason because He often withdrew to desolate places to pray. In those times He communed with His Father in Heaven. However, Jesus’ final loneliness appeared when He was crucified. It was there, pinned to a Roman cross, taking onto Himself the sins of the whole world, that His Father turned His back on His only Son. We read, “Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”” (Mark 15:34). But that loneliness experience was not for long because Jesus said, “Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father” (John 16:28), and then, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” (Act 1:11).

We pilgrims will never be lonely because of Jesus. He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24), and He has promised never to leave us. Matthew 28:20b, “ …  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age“. Every time we sit down to pray there is a minimum of four people there – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and ourselves. Feeling lonely today? Then pick up the phone and call a dear friend, or call Jesus Himself. He is alive and waiting your call.

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for always being close to us, an ever present Help in times of trouble and loneliness. Help us to look around for those who are lonely and neglected, so that we can bring the sunshine of Your hope into their lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Enemy’s Traps

Posted on by korgrocker

“Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose. They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the land. The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies.
Psalm 25:12-15 NLT

When we think about traps, what springs to mind? A nasty-looking man trap, with a strong spring and bone-crushing teeth? A snare designed to catch an animal? A hole in the ground, disguised for the unwary to fall into? A minefield sown with explosives designed to kill and maim? Or an ambush with an enemy hidden but able to suddenly assault the oncoming soldiers? There are many physical devices that constitute traps and David was probably aware of them all. In those years after David despatched Goliath, Saul attempted on many occasions to trap him and kill him, but God always rescued him. And Saul wasn’t his only enemy. But it is rare to have a physical enemy in the UK today. We live in a time of relative security. There is no occupying force such as European countries outside Germany experienced in the last world war. There are no bands of marauders intent on harming us. There are, of course, those who are more subtle in their attacks, in the office with their snide comments and gossip, and in our schools using social media to denigrate and curse those less able to protect themselves. But traps for the unwary and naïve are commonplace, as ubiquitous as human beings. 

We also have a spiritual enemy, as we are aware. 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour“. Paul also warned us, as we read 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“. Just because we cannot physically see these “evil rulers” and “evil spirits” doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. There is much that we experience that we cannot see. For example, take the love of a family member, perhaps our spouses. We cannot weigh that on kitchen scales or box it up and pop it into our briefcases before we travel to work. Jesus said in John 3:8, “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”. We can’t see the air around us, or the winds that are so prevalent over most of Scotland, where I live. But we know that the air we breathe is there, invisible but ever-present. 

Our enemy the devil has a number of weapons at his disposal. He is a master at finding within us our weak spots and, once there, he will pick away bringing depression and destruction. And even more so in the case of believers, because he wants to destroy our relationship with our wonderful Father God. There are many ways in which he can do this, but three come to mind. 

Think about past hurts. The effects of things that happened in our childhood. Perhaps an abusive parent caused us harm. Or being brought up in a one-parent home, yearning for a father. In our fostering days, my wife and I saw at first hand the impact of alcohol addiction in families, with children in care physically harmed by their parents’s excesses and addiction. Or more recently, perhaps a broken friendship or schism in family relationships left an indelible memory in our minds. On that topic I know of four siblings who fell out over something trivial and because of it one of them never spoke to his three sisters for the rest of his life, a time period extending for over thirty years. He died a bitter man. Past hurts linger in our memories, and impact our behaviour and emotions, if we let them. Thank God that He has redeemed our minds through the blood of Jesus. The memories may remain, but they have been redeemed because we are children of God. Jesus said, “ … Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 

Another common attack from the devil is through pride. Have we ever been wronged or have wronged someone else, and, because of our pride, we wait for the other party to make amends? Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall“. Another Proverb, “All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13). The kind of pride that stems from self-righteousness or conceit is sin, and God hates it because it is a hindrance to seeking Him. Those who are proud individuals, so full of themselves, will find themselves tagged as “wicked”, as we read in Psalm 10:4, “The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead“. Pride will divert us from God’s ways because it is a sin. Pure and simple.

Here’s another way the devil will attack us. Anger is something that he will use to destroy us. We may be in a discussion with someone, but the conversation isn’t going our way, and we suddenly explode in anger. Or another driver cuts in front of us in a traffic queue and something inside us wells up in anger. Sound familiar? James 1:19-20, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires”. Of course, there are times when we must get angry, particularly when God’s name is being discredited or an injustice violates His world. Jesus got angry, as we read in Mark 3:5a, “He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts …”. We too must use our feelings of anger to motivate us to correct the injustices of life, by prayer and deed. At the moment the Scottish and UK Parliaments are discussing a law to approve assisted suicide, something that we pilgrims should become angry about, but we must channel our anger in a righteous way by perhaps writing to our lawmakers and in prayer that God will correct the wrongs being perpetrated by godless men and women. But what we must do is never let anger control us, because it will lead us into sin with potential and terrible consequences. 

There are many ways in which the devil will attack us, setting traps for the unwary. But we must regularly examine ourselves and turn to Ephesians 6, where we will find a blueprint for rebuffing the attacks and traps of the enemy. And as David did, we keep our eyes fixed firmly on the Lord. We read in Philippians 4:7, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus“. 

Dear God. We pray for Your protection to hedge us around, keeping us safe from the attacks of the evil one. And in our prayers we pray for the protection of our families as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord’s Honour

Posted on by korgrocker

“For the honour of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins.”
Psalm 25:11 NLT

There is something sobering about the thought that we could besmirch the name of the Lord. How could we? How could we sully the name of God, the One who has done so much for us? How could we drag God’s name down to the same level as ourselves? But many do. The phrase of surprise, “Oh my god”, is ubiquitous in the UK today and it has brought down God’s name to the same gutter populated by blatant sinners who have no intention of asking God for forgiveness for their sins. Most of these people deny the presence of God anyway. The “god” of such people is the god of this world, satan. But David was concerned about honouring the Lord, not just in a private sense but also publicly before the world of his day. 

How did David know that he had “many, many sins”? Probably because he lived a life close to God, and therefore the gulf between the sinless Lord and sinful David was very visible to him. I have known several people who claim to be “good” people and see no reason as to why they should repent of anything. They pay their taxes. They don’t steal from shops. They don’t try and avoid paying for train or bus fares. They are polite and respectful to their neighbours and fellow workmates, and even keep to speed limits (more or less). But they, like everyone else, fall into Paul’s net, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). And David was very aware of what “God’s glorious standard” was, purely because he spent so much time with his Lord. The people of Jesus’ day initially embraced Him and His miracles, enjoying having a stomach full of bread and fish, and perhaps seeing a loved one healed of a debilitating illness. But being in close proximity to the Son of God was an uncomfortable place to be because he was sinless, and because of that He exposed their sinfulness.

God’s standard for human beings is unreachable for those who want to achieve it in their own strength. Through Moses, God gave the Israelites a blueprint for how to become perfect in His sight. And yes, for a time, usually brief, the Jews of ancient days were able to live by the Law and they showed God the love He required. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, “[He] replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind'” (Matthew 22:37). That was the purpose of the Law, but Paul wrote, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4). “For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:19). 

But we pilgrims know all about trying to reach God’s perfection through our own strength. So many Christians think that they can tick the right boxes by going to church on a Sunday, laudable though that is. But what about on a Monday morning, when they have to get up for work? A husband growls at his wife for something trivial. The wife snaps back and a row develops, and the time spent in God’s presence the previous day quickly evaporates into the mundane human world of sin and wickedness. We pilgrims, however, and like David, “have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God”. We do that in our daily lives, living in the light of our confessed sins, and doing our utmost to walk in repentance. Isaiah wrote, “For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. Yes, we know what sinners we are. We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord. We have turned our backs on our God. We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies” Isaiah 59:12-13). 

With David we cry out to the Lord for forgiveness for our “many, many sins“. It doesn’t matter if we feel our sins our trivial or great, insignificant or noticeable. Before God, all sins are significant and need to be repented of before the Man on the Cross. His blood will cleanse us from all sin, and grant us His righteousness.

Dear Lord. We humbly thank You for the forgiveness granted us so freely. We worship You in praise and adoration today. Amen.

Keeping His Covenant

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.”
Psalm 25:8-10 NLT

God made a covenant with Israel, as David knew when he wrote, “The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands”. This verse implies that those who don’t keep His covenant, obeying what it means, will fail to live with God in the ways that He intended. It also means that such covenant-breakers will fail to experience His “unfailing love and faithfulness”, leaving them outside the “shelter of the Most High” (Psalm 91). A scary thought I’m sure for God-fearing Israelites, but when we look back at their history we find many times when they generally failed to “keep His covenant”. The prevailing covenant in David’s time would have been the Mosaic covenant, given to Moses many years before. This was a conditional covenant, summed up in Deuteronomy 11:26-28, “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before”. 

God also made a covenant with David, promising long life for his kingdom. 2 Samuel 7:16, “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever”. And we pilgrims know, of course, the Man who subsequently sat on the throne of David, as we read in Isaiah 9:7, “His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” The Angel Gabriel also told Mary, Jesus’ mother-to-be, the same message, “He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David” (Luke 1:32). 

We pilgrims are very grateful – actually our feeble attempts at gratitude hardly give it justice – for Jesus coming to this world and giving us a New Covenant. Jeremiah prophetically wrote down, ““The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. … “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33). Although Jesus said He would fulfil the Law of Moses (the Mosaic Covenant – Matthew 5:17), he also promised a New Covenant. Luke 22:20, “After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you“. The New Covenant was given first for the Jews and then the whole of mankind, but what was this covenant? In many ways the whole of the New Testament is based on the premise that Jesus, the Son of God, came to this world to shed His blood to take away the sins of the world. Hebrews 7:22, “Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God”. The New Covenant is the promise that God will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him.

But what does all this mean for us pilgrims? We now live in the wonderful Kingdom under God’s grace.“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9). And this salvation is gained through faith in Jesus, that He died for us at a place just outside Jerusalem called Calvary so that our sins can be forgiven. What an amazing giving and loving God, that he would do all of that just for you and me! We have the wonderful promise, originally given to David, that He will lead us “with unfailing love and faithfulness“. He did then and He still does today.

But there are two parties to a covenant. God has promised our eternal salvation through grace, through the blood of Jesus. Paul wrote, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you” (Romans 8:11). Our responsibility is to exercise faith in Jesus, the One who fulfilled the requirements of the original Mosaic covenant on our behalf and brought an end to the required sacrifices through His own sacrificial death. We pilgrims now share in the inheritance of Christ, as we read in Hebrews 9:15, “That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant“.

We pilgrims are highly favoured and very blessed. And so grateful, that we have so much in response to so little from our side of the Covenant. The most valuable possession that can ever be considered and imagined is ours for free. It costs us nothing, but it cost Jesus everything. What can we do other than praise and worship Him. Today and every day.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on our lives. You have provided us with more than we could ever have imagined. We praise and worship You today. Amen

Leading the Humble

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.”
Psalm 25:8-10 NLT

David wrote, “He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way”. This simple and informative sentence is also profound and fundamental, and essential for the health of pilgrims everywhere. Quite simply, to continue our journey in the right way, receiving God’s teaching to help us, means we have to be humble. Three words that are the opposite of “humble” are “proud, arrogant and conceited”, and, unfortunately, I have come across many people, particularly in employment, whose actions and personality are described perfectly by these three words. There again, I suppose that everyone, at one time or another, has behaved in the same way at some time in their lives. But in our secular world, humility is considered with negative connotations, associated with words such as meekness, and humble people are often considered as being inferior to their more arrogant and assertive peers. 

So what does it mean to be “humble“? There are two New Testament Scriptures that make it clear that humility is something we have to work at. 1 Peter 5:5-6, “In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour“. And then we have Ephesians 4:2, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love“. And of course we mustn’t forget what Jesus said in Matthew 5:3, “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth“. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12 that humility is something that we put on much like when we get dressed, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience”. So being humble is a mindset, a life-choice, and humility something that a pilgrim must adopt if he  or she is to grow to be more like Jesus. 

Humility is not an option for Christians, because some commentaries even state that it must be a prerequisite before we can even be saved. A humble person is one who has put to death their “old man” and replaced it with the “new man” Paul wrote about in Ephesians 4:22-24. “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy”. A proud person, puffed up with a sense of their own importance, will never empty themselves to the point that God’s grace will flow and provide His resources for their journey. An un-humble person will be full of themselves and they go round singing the old song “I’ll do it my way”, but, unfortunately for them, they can’t. It has to be God’s way, or no way.

Jesus gave His disciples, and us, an example of what being humble looks like. In John 13 we read the story of how He left the dinner table where He was enjoying the Passover meal with His disciples, and adopted a servant’s role to do the most menial and demeaning job a servant could be called to do. He washed His disciples feet. Peter objected because, after all, this was His Lord and Master, and anyway, rabbis don’t go around washing people’s feet. After all the feet had been washed (including those of Judas, by the way), Jesus gave an explanation. John 13:14-15, “And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you”. So we pilgrims look around at our peers, our friends and family, and must ask ourselves the question – have I washed any of these feet? Not necessarily literally of course, but do we have the attitude that we look out for ways in which we can do something similar? 

Perhaps we pilgrims, myself included, need to do a regular checkup and set ourselves a humility test. Unless we pass the test we will limit God’s grace in our lives. God will lift up those who are humble – Luke 14:11, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”. 

Dear Lord, help me to be humble. Grant me the grace to see my own flaws and shortcomings, and to recognize that my gifts and talents are not my own but a gift from you. Help me to prioritise others’ needs and well-being above my own desires and ambitions. May I be more concerned with serving you and others than with pleasing myself. Forgive my pride and arrogance, and fill me with your humility. Amen.

God Does Right

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.”
Psalm 25:8-10 NLT

David wrote that “the Lord … does what is right”. Of course He does, we say. What else could the God and Creator of the Universe ever do, because if He didn’t we probably wouldn’t be here at all because chaos would have prevailed. But then we think, God does what is right from his perspective, not ours. So someone who enjoys being a sinner might not be very happy at all about God doing what is right, especially when they come to stand before the Judge, sitting on the Great White Throne! There are, of course, those who would dispute that God does right, as they survey the mayhem going on around them in the world. They hold God accountable for all the bad things that are happening in the world and, they say, surely a righteous God would not allow such suffering, because it is not right that children, for example, get caught up in wars or catch infectious and debilitating diseases. But such superficial thoughts come from a general lack of understanding and knowledge about God. 

Human thoughts about righteousness are based on morals and justice. The laws of the country in which we live set out what is right and what is wrong, so that all those in the society will benefit. So there are laws against breaking a speed limit, because someone might be hurt through a speed-related collision. Or it is not right to provide a false testimony in a law court, because someone might be fined or incarcerated because of it. But where do these laws come from? Here in the UK, most of them are based on a morality that originated with God. From way back He commanded that the Israelites must not murder anyone, or steal something that belongs to someone else. Laws based on this are accepted as common sense and breaking them will result in a punishment of some kind. We also have to remember that we are all made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and so we will have within us some of God’s DNA, giving us a conscience even if we are ignorant of the law.

God “does what is right” because He is perfect and His righteousness is perfect too. So in all matters, God’s standards of morality, justice, and so on are set at a standard that is perfection. But achieving God’s gold standard of righteousness is impossible for human beings because of sin. Thankfully, through Jesus, we can attain God’s righteous because He has cleansed us from all our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God“.  We call it the Divine Exchange, in that Jesus took on our sins on Calvary’s cross, and in return gave us His righteousness. What a bargain! An eternal gift of God that is beyond any price. 

But such a divine act of love cannot pass without a response, and we must live our lives accordingly. We cannot just continue in our sinful ways without taking the necessary steps to live God’s way instead of our ways. Some people give up the journey, saying that it is too hard to try and live God’s way. They become quite fatalistic about God’s righteousness, thinking that their destiny was probably pre-determined meaning that there was nothing much they could do about it, and as a result they don’t bother themselves about God and His righteousness. There was a priest in Israel called Eli and he had two sons who ministered with him. Eli’s sons were scoundrels who abused their positions as priests and Eli was too weak to do anything about it, other than offer them a mild rebuke. Even after a man of God pointed out to him the error of his ways, Eli still failed in his responsibilities. So God spoke to the young Samuel in a nighttime conversation and Eli, the priest at the time, asked Samuel what it was all about. We read in 1 Samuel 3:18, “So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best””. We can be like that sometimes, giving up on doing something that we know we should do, but we lack the will and courage to do it. But Paul wrote some encouraging words in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up“. 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“. Because of God’s love, we have all the resources we need to live in the light of God’s righteousness. Romans 8:37, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us“.

We pilgrims are on a journey to become more like Jesus. Romans 8:29-30, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory”. Let us not give up. Our challenges and difficulties in this life are insignificant compared with the time we will spend with Jesus in eternity.

Dear Father God. In times of trial and uncertainty, grant us the strength to persevere. Help us to remember that our struggles are not signs of weakness, but opportunities to grow in faith. May we find your guidance and strength in every step we take, even when the path seems unclear. Help us to trust in your plan for us, even when we don’t fully understand it. Grant us the courage to not give up, but to continue seeking your will, knowing that your love and grace will see us through. Amen.

The Teachable

Posted on by korgrocker

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:4-5 NLT

David asked the Lord to teach him, but what was the curriculum and method of the teaching? After all, David was skilled in most of what he put his hand to. Perhaps there’s a hint in the previous few words, “Lead me by Your truth”, because the teaching that David required was to be based on God’s truth. There is more information in Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name”. The curriculum for learning God’s ways must be unlimited, so how long would it take to complete the course?

A prerequisite before we apply David’s request for God’s teaching to our own lives is that we must be teachable. How open are we to receive any sort of teaching let alone that from God? How did we get on at school or college? Can we accept correction or embrace new ideas? And do we rely on someone else to deliver us teaching in a form we can understand and accept? Or, do we individually ourselves rely on the master Himself to teach us through the Holy Spirit within us? If we are to learn God’s ways we must be teachable, and prepared to stick the course even when there going gets tough. There was a time when Jesus’ teaching was too hard for some of His disciples. About His teaching, “Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?” Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? … At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him” (John 6:60-61, 66). So, we must be open to what God has for us because He wants us to become more like Him. Paul wrote, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:29), so if God chose us to be like His Son, Jesus, then we had better be prepared for much teaching. 

In a secular setting, to be taught about anything, we need to go one of two routes; either a formal educational path delivered and monitored by teachers and tutors, or a self-help route, where the student uses published resources to learn what is required. There may of course be a combination of both in certain educational environments, but there is then usually an exam followed by a certificate or diploma for the successful candidates. But in the Kingdom of God, things are different. We went to be taught the ways of God but the course curriculum will be different for each one of us. But the bottom line is that we want to be more like Jesus and to get there we have to follow and obey His teachings. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). A secular education has one major difference to being educated by God and that is about ourselves. In the world an education does not ask anything of us and we can continue to live our lives as we always have done, sin and all. In the Kingdom of God, being taught costs us our lives because we have to hand them over to God. That’s what taking up a cross is all about. There is one other thing that we must be aware of and that is the length of the course. We do not embark on, for example, a two year diploma in whatever. Instead the course we enrol on for lasts for the rest of our lives. And one day we will cross the Great Divide and receive our diploma, hearing the Master Himself say “well done. ….”. 

Jesus also told us that we must be teachers. Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising 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”. As disciples ourselves we are taught by God’s Word, through prayer, and through the pastors and teachers who lead our churches and fellowships. And we communicate what we have learnt to those around us, those who have perhaps started on the course a bit later than we did. Are we pilgrims teaching anyone? Before we go down the tubes, admitting that we aren’t, don’t forget that as we shine in our families and communities, we are unconsciously teaching them. But we must be prepared nevertheless, to sit down with a friend or family memory and share the Word and our testimony with them, praying with them and encouraging them. We tell them our stories about Jesus and all that He has done for us, helping them too along the narrow way that leads to glory.

Dear Lord, we praise you for being the author of all truth and thank you for our ability to be able to learn. Please help us humbly pursue wisdom and learning for your glory and to serve others. Lead us by your Spirit, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.