The Heavenly Message

Posted on by korgrocker

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.”
Psalm 19:1-4 NLT

David wrote that God created the heavens and they were so wonderful that they continually display His glory. Day or night the message of who God is, is proclaimed without sound but as a visual presentation to everyone in the world. And that is true, because wherever we live on this planet, God’s glory in the heavens is there for all to see. The message of the skies “has gone throughout the earth” David wrote. But what was and is the message?

Paul wrote a clear explanation about this message in Romans 1:18-20, “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God“. But such is the sin of man that they have devised an explanation for the craftsmanship in the skies that excludes God. Instead they attribute the presence of the heavenly bodies and everything else in the universe to an event that took place many billions of years ago. In recent years the “Big Bang” theory has emerged, based on observations about how the galaxies and stars are moving. The scientists, with the aid of mathematical formulae, have worked out a theory that about 13.7 billion years ago the origin of the universe was a small, intensely dense and very hot, piece of matter that suddenly exploded. However, they fail to explain where this piece of matter came from and why it suddenly exploded. But if someone, observing the heavens in all their glory, asked such a scientist about how all the stars got there, they have a natural, Godless, explanation ready and waiting to be rolled out. And sadly, this theory is bundled together with the theory of evolution, and rolled out in our schools and places of learning as fact, not theory. 

Paul called these God-and-creation-deniers “sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness”. But why do people deny the existence of God, even when there is so much evidence about Him in the heavens, where God made “a home … for the sun”? The Billy Graham organisation claims that people deny the existence of God because of pride. People want to run their lives their own way and don’t want anyone, especially God, to interfere with the way they are living. They want to be in control of everything they do, and they know that if they were to believe in God, they’d have to change their lifestyle. Instead of living by their own list of what’s right and wrong, they’d have to take seriously God’s moral standards. But we pilgrims know the consequences of such a life-choice, because we have read the last few chapters in the Book, chapters that the God-deniers claim are just fairy tales for emotionally needy people. The first three verses of Psalm 14 read, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good! The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!” This Psalm, another written by David, is unequivocal in its conclusion that the God-deniers are fools. Of course, they have to be, because otherwise who would want to spend eternity in the company of the devil and his cohorts?

The message written long ago in the heavens, the message of the glory and existence of God, is there for everyone to observe, and one day everyone will stand before God to give an account of their lives. What will the God-deniers say? Probably nothing, as the enormity of their foolishness and pride suddenly dawns upon them, as their minds try and process all their sinful and evil ways in the light of God’s presence.

But on a positive, we pilgrims look up on a clear day or night, and are reminded once again of the wonderful God we worship. He loves us and cares for us, because we have chosen to cast aside our pride and arrogance and instead live His way. We know that it was our sins that nailed Jesus to that cross, and we bow in worship to the One who has forgiven us because we confessed our sins. God now sees us as His righteous adopted sons and daughters. How amazing is that? 

Father God, we thank You today in wonder for the extent You have gone to, to save mankind from hell. Please help us endorse Your Heavenly message to those we meet, those who are heading for a lost eternity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filled With Joy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.”
John 17:13-19 NLT

There is something about the Words of Jesus that fills us with joy. But as we look around us in our societies and see issues such as drug abuse, alcoholism, mental ill-health, physical problems, despair and more, all symptoms of a people without hope, we see a people who are looking for a remedy to their pain. These are all people who have a lack of joy, because they have either never heard the words of Jesus, or have heard them and discarded them as being irrelevant to them in their miserable lives, lives without joy, hope, and any definitive sense of purpose. Of course, in Jesus’ day there was no social budget to support a section of the population who fall into the hopeless and joyless category, but the pain was still there, and people flocked to hear Jesus’ Words, because they contained the message of hope and life eternal. 

Two disciples were walking to a place called Emmaus, and we can pick up the account in Luke 24. A Man, who the disciples later realised was Jesus, came up to them and asked them, “ … What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stopped short, sadness written across their faces” (Luke 24:17). Graphic details of two men in pain and grief, hope destroyed, joy taken away. They said, “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago” (Luke 24:21). As they journeyed on towards Emmaus we then read what happened next. “Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). But the Words of Jesus had an amazing impact on them. We read, “They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”” (Luke 24:32). His Words restored their hope and joy.

Today, regardless of the pressures of living in democratic and capitalistic societies, we can still access the Words of Jesus and live a life of joy. Jesus’ Words are timeless and unaffected by circumstances because they sit high above any worldly and humanistic environment. But sometimes we may experience periods of a lack of joy, as our circumstances overpower us. Sometimes like David we cry out, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness” (Psalm 55:6-7). We take our eyes off our Creator God and instead focus on what is causing us so much pain. Sadly, joy and hope become lost in a sea of self-pity and misery. 

In John 15:10-11, we read Jesus’ Words, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”‭‭ As we soak ourselves in the Words of Jesus, joy will become more resilient within us, as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts. A series of circumstances will help the fruit of joy to grow within us. The Apostle Paul, suffering and languishing in a Roman prison, wrote, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). When Paul and Silas were in Philippi they antagonised a certain section of the population and we read, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening” (Acts 16:22-25). That’s joy in action. There is a Christian man alive today called Nick Vujicic, who lacks arms and legs, a condition he has had since birth. One of his strap lines is, “I’ve got no arms and legs, what’s your problem“. He has no lack of joy in spite of his circumstances. And he is an inspiration to many people throughout the world.

Whatever we are facing into today we have a loving Heavenly Father who has a remedy that starts with the Words of Jesus. Those words will point us to a life of joy, but there is a problem. We have to read them first. 

Dear God. We need to read Your Word more so that we can benefit from all Your truths. Please open the Scriptures before us so that we can know and understand, and live a life of joy. Amen.

Believing The Message

Posted on by korgrocker

“Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them. But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?””
John 12:36-38 NLT

These verses today portray a damning indictment of the people in Jerusalem, gathered together for the Passover Festival that year. Jesus worked hard and selflessly amongst all His people during His ministry but John recorded that “most of the people still did not believe in him”. Jesus correctly declared who He was, the Son of God. He backed up His claim by doing amazing miraculous signs, even raising one man from the dead. And then there was the public conversation between Him and His Father in Heaven. What more did He have to do to convince this people that if they believed in Him and followed Him, then they would receive eternal life? 

But human beings have a tendency to only believe what they want to believe. There is an organisation today called the Flat Earth Society. In spite of all the physical evidence to the contrary, the people who are members of this society are convinced that the planet on which we live is flat and not a sphere. Their web site sets out their aim – “Standing with reason we offer a home to those wayward thinkers that march bravely on with REASON and TRUTH in recognizing the TRUE shape of the Earth – Flat”. Really? And then there is all the confusion around gender ideology, with organisations promoting the belief that people can be born in the wrong body. Really? One web site says, “Trans young people and their families are at breaking point“. Of course they are at breaking point because they are going against what God created – Gen 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. There are many other examples of people with other strange and unsupportable beliefs, so we shouldn’t be surprised if people, including us pilgrims, refuse to believe them. People are of course entitled to their views and beliefs, but there is a problem when they try and impose their ideologies on others, calling them all sorts of names if affirmation is declined. We pilgrims are used to all sorts of ridicule and abuse, as we try and speak out God’s message of love and hope to a resistant and unwelcoming society.

All of which perhaps brings us back to how Jesus was perceived by the people in His day. Throughout their lives, the Jews were steeped in the Law of Moses, with no unconventional interpretations being allowed. Only the Rabbis were allowed to interpret the Law, and the people had to follow what they said. So Jesus burst into the Jewish religious scene with an explosive mix of teaching and miracles, apparently cutting across what the people had come to understand about the Law. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved”. Matthew 5 – 7 make sobering reading. But in spite of all His teaching and miracles, “most of the people still did not believe in Him”. To a people stuck in a fixed religious mindset, Jesus’ presentation of a radical counter-cultural invitation to believe in Him was something that they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, accept. But, praise God, we can thank Him that some people did believe in Jesus, and they formed the early church that blossomed and reached the world of their day.

If we fast forward to today, the same problem still exists. Jesus’ message of forgiveness to all those who repent and believe in Him still stands. The signs of religious inflexibility however, still mark the landscape with empty church buildings standing as monuments to a past move of God. The Holy Spirit is always at work, gently preparing the ground in people’s hearts for a seed of hope to be planted in our hopeless world. We pilgrims are seed planters and we pray for the opportunity to present Jesus’ invitation to believe in Him to all who will listen. Isaiah cried out, “Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?” A despairing cry but not a hopeless one, because the answer came on a Cross at Calvary. We pilgrims proclaim the message and the Holy Spirit brings about the solution.

Dear God. Thank You for Your message of hope, that cuts across and trumps all man made ideologies. We praise You today. Amen.

John Testified

Posted on by korgrocker

“John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”“
John 1:15 NLT

John knew who Jesus was, that day on the banks of the River Jordan. And it wasn’t just his knowledge that Jesus was his cousin. It was the reality that God had sent His Son to this world, and John recognised Him as its Creator. He exists eternally, and for a brief few years He walked amongst His people embodying “grace and truth”, discarding eternity for time, a throne for humanity. John testified about “Him“, Jesus the Son of God, the Messiah they had all been waiting for. Did anyone else at that time know who Jesus really was? Or was it only John? There was certainly much in the way of expectation, going back hundreds of years, but no Messiah had emerged onto the Israel landscape. Had there been false messiahs and false prophets in the years before Jesus? He Himself warned about such a phenomenon, as we read in Matthew 24:24, “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones“. Whatever the people were expecting, however, a baby in a manger would not have even occurred to them. And a man like themselves would have been difficult for them to accept, as Jesus found out when He was teaching in the Nazareth synagogue. “When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. … Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”” (Luke 4:16,22). But Jesus knew how difficult it would be for the people to accept Him as Messiah. Jesus said to them, “But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown” (Luke 4:24). If Jesus had burst into the Middle East, leading a huge army, then they would have accepted Him as their Messiah, but an itinerant preacher and teacher who could do a few miracles would not have been on their radar.

“John testified about him”, we read. But how did John know that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah? Later on John had doubts, because after he had been imprisoned by Herod, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). But on the banks of the Jordan, John had no doubts. The Holy Spirit within him left no room for any other possibility. The crowds there heard his message, his testimony about Jesus. 

In the world around us, in our communities and societies, there are many who could possibly relate to John and his message. In those days, people went to the Jordan, perhaps encouraged by their friends, who told them about this wild prophetic character with his Messianic message. Today, in the frantic information glut that surrounds us, the message of a Messiah quickly gets drowned out. But we pilgrims have a message about the Son of God and what He has done for us. There was that time when we were re-born into God’s family. And since then there have been occasions where the Holy Spirit has helped us sort out the life problems that we call sin. Like John we have a testimony. We experienced a life-changing event that put us on the road to eternal life with God Himself. The world around us is desperate for good news. We have it, and lots of it. We pray for opportunities when we can share what God has done for us. We won’t necessarily find crowds like John. But we will find opportunities to tell our stories of a Messiah, Jesus Himself. And what a wonderful story it is!

Dear Lord Jesus. As we follow You, day by day, please lead us to those who are waiting for Your message of Good News. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Witness

Posted on by korgrocker

”God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.“
John 1:6-9 NLT

John, the writer of John’s Gospel, said of John the Baptist, “he was simply a witness to tell about the light”. In our societies, a witness is someone who sees an event and who is prepared to stand up in a court of law or some other solemn place and say what they saw. They “tell about” something. But in the setting before us, in the first few verses in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist was witnessing something that had yet to take place. Through the Holy Spirit within him he was foretelling what was to come. John had an unique ministry in that he introduced his cousin Jesus as the Messiah who was bringing “light to everyone”. 

The early disciples were entrusted with the ministry of witnessing as well. We read what Jesus’ last words to them in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” But these men and women had been with Jesus. They had lived with Him. They had seen the miracles, the healings. They were there, and were involved, in the feeding of five thousand men and their families. They were in the boat when Jesus came to them walking on the water. They were there behind a locked door when Jesus appeared amongst them. John the Baptist was a witness of what was to come. The disciples were witnesses to whom Jesus was and what He had done. 

But what about us pilgrims? We are told to be witnesses to Jesus as well. Of course, we were not there in John the Baptist’s shoes. Neither were we in Israel when Jesus walked the highways and byways, seeing His miracles and hearing His teaching. But we can be witnesses to all that Jesus has done for us. We can tell others of the changes the Holy Spirit has made in our lives. We can testify about events and even miracles that God has done for us. And even a new Christian, taking the first steps in their pilgrimage, can tell of God’s saving love and grace. We have so much to be a witness for.

There were times when the people failed to understand who Jesus was or what His teaching was about. The spiritual leaders of His day did their best to rubbish His teaching and even ended up complicit in His early death. Jesus was counter-cultural, a radical who overturned the status quo in His society and, for a brief three years, touched earth with Heaven itself. And because of Him, the world changed radically, as witnesses to Jesus and His earthly mission propagated the Gospel throughout the world. We pilgrims will also be ill-treated and maligned. We too will be ridiculed and ostracised. But we are witnesses to all that God has done for us, and we can share our messages of hope, seasoned with God’s acts of grace, to all those around us. Each one of us is “simply a witness to tell about the light“.

Dear God. We look back over our lives and find so much that You have done for us. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Ancient World

Posted on by korgrocker

“And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.”
2 Peter 2:5 NLT

We read recently the passage in Genesis 6, where there is an account of angels having a “liaison” with women on earth and producing the giants of the ancient world. God spoke out in Genesis 6:3, “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years””. In Genesis 6:5-6 we then read, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart“. Those last words poignantly describe what God thinks about sin. And He pronounced judgement on the world at that time, “And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them”” (Genesis 6:7). That would have been the end of the human race but… We thank God for His buts! Genesis 6:8, “But Noah found favour with the Lord“.

In Genesis 1, God created the Heavens and the Earth, and we read in Genesis 1:31, “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day”. He was pleased with His creation, exclaiming that it was “very good”. An understatement, I think we agree. But as Peter wrote, God did not even spare His beautiful creation when evil and sin blighted what He had made. God had Noah’s ear, and He shared His plan with Noah, a plan that involved the destruction of all living creatures, except for those that He was going to save. It took Noah 100 years, or thereabouts, to build the ark, because he was 500 years old when he became the father of his three sons (Genesis 5:32), and he was 600 when he populated the ark and the flood came (Genesis 7:6). 

In a generation, a society, that was inherently evil, Noah stood strong in his faith in God. Imagine the abuse and ridicule he received for 100 years, as he built that ark and populated it with all the animals. We must consider that the building of a structure that large would have been too much for one man and his young sons, so he must have employed local craftsmen to help. We must also consider that the people of that day were not familiar with a large expanse of water, and therefore wouldn’t have known what a boat was for. But Noah stood strong in God anyway, and in so doing warned “the world of God’s righteous judgement”. And in return Noah had God’s protection. After the Flood, God made a promise to Noah. “Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth”” (Genesis 9:11). So instead of destroying His creation again for their wickedness, God introduced Jesus to the world. Surely they will believe in Him and turn to Me? Was that His thought?

There are many discouraged Christians around in the West these days. They observe much that is going on in Christian denominations that is directly against Scripture, and they grieve dwindling numbers attending church services. But we can take heart because God always has a “but” up His sleeve. Jesus said that He would build His church, and that will truly happen. In fact, we know that in the last days many will fall away from the faith – Jesus Himself warned us that this would happen, “And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other” (Matthew 24:10). We pilgrims therefore must shine even brighter in this dark society, where even churches are embracing the wickedness that God hates.

How are we shining for God to those around us? For a start, do they know that we are believers in Jesus? Are we behaving in a way that reflects our faith? One thing I believe God said to me recently was that some people are so worn down and depressed in their lives, that even a cheery word is enough to lift them. We have a message of hope, and the Holy Spirit will help us communicate it to this sad, sombre and sinful world.

Dear Father God. Please help us to share Your loving heart to those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Openly Confessing

Posted on by korgrocker

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NLT

Paul announces two behaviours in these verses that will lead a hearer to salvation. It is useful to note the emphasis on “will” and “are”. Salvation is a word often used to describe our future relationship with God, free from condemnation and hell. There will be a day when everyone will stand before God to give an account of their lives, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body”. Thankfully, those Christians whose names are recorded in the Book of Life will escape an otherwise terrible verdict from the Judge, who will otherwise consign the defendants to a place where they don’t want to go. Jesus knew about such a book, when He said to His disciples, “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). More was written by John in his Revelation, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. … Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12,15).

So, we pilgrims have publicly made a confession of our faith, that “Jesus is Lord”. And Paul writes that if we sincerely believe “that God raised [Jesus] from the dead” in our hearts, then we will be saved, at some time in the future. Paul goes on to repeat what he has just written, to emphasise that believing leads to a right standing before God and this, coupled with an open confession, means we are saved. All good? So we stood before the congregation in our churches, perhaps at the time of our baptism, and made an open confession of our belief that Jesus died for us. Some churches call it a testimony. And I’m sure that, when we said it, we meant it. So that means we are saved, and will be saved, doesn’t it? Well, I’m not so sure.

The tense Paul used when he wrote these verses implies a continuing behaviour, not just a once only experience. So perhaps it might be a bit nearer the truth to consider Romans 10:9 as reading, “If you openly go on declaring that Jesus is Lord …” and “go on believing in your heart…”. Just think about it. Imagine the scenario of someone who makes a public confession of their faith in church on a Sunday but then, on the Monday, returns to their old sinful lives, effectively nullifying their testimony. Will they still be saved? This brings us into the “once saved always saved” argument, which is beyond the scope of this blog. I personally believe that through the grace of God we are saved and will be saved, should we confess our sins and believe in our hearts, as Paul wrote. And God, who sees the end from the beginning, sees right into our hearts and knows how sincere we are. However, someone who once made such a confession, no matter how real or otherwise, can also choose to abandon said confession by neglect or downright denial. It’s a matter of their choice, which God, in the end, will honour, no matter how reluctantly. But no-one really knows what will happen when we come before God. Martin Luther is credited with making the following statement, “First, there will be people in heaven I did not expect to be there. Second, there will be people not present in heaven that I was certain would be there. Third is the greatest surprise of all—that I will be there myself!“

There is only one way that we can be saved. In Acts 4:12, we read, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved“. That is why Jesus came to this world. He Himself said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). What Jesus said is totally exclusive. No other adherent of any other religion can be saved, unless they come to Jesus. That is why our mission as pilgrims in this world is so important, and why Christians suffer so much persecution. The devil does not want anyone to find Jesus and believe in Him, but other religions don’t trouble him much.

Today, in our workplaces, our communities, our families, let us declare our faith in God. Our lost and dying world needs to hear our messages of hope. All the other declarations and beliefs people hold, though they may be very important, will not lead to their eternal salvation.

Dear Father. You have ordained us to share what Your Son did for mankind. What a Saviour! You are an amazing God! How can we neglect such an important task? Amen.

The Message

Posted on by korgrocker

“But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:”
Romans 10:6-8 NLT

Paul said to his readers that there is nothing difficult about the “message”, the Good News about Jesus and His sacrifice at Calvary. God’s grace is a simple concept. We don’t have to explain it. We can’t dissect it. We can’t stop it from being there. We can’t stop others from grasping its significance and believing in it. The problem for the early Christians in Rome is that, somehow, it was too simple. After all, they had this complex system of rules and regulations, the Law. Now that was something they could really understand and could apply in a tick box fashion. Haven’t murdered anyone today – tick. Haven’t committed adultery with anyone’s wife – tick. But such a system can never get someone right with God because it’s not about tick boxes, it’s about the state of our hearts. Do we love our wives and children, and treat them well? Do we honour our parents and love them sacrificial? And, above all, do we love God with all of our hearts? Being obedient to Him? Trusting Him even when life’s troubles threaten to overwhelm us? Why is it that us humans will always make things complicated when there is a simple answer?

Paul quoted the verse from Deuteronomy 30:14, but here is verse 11 as well, “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. …. No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it” (Deuteronomy 30:11,14). The Message translation of the verses from Romans 10 reads as follows, “So what exactly was Moses saying? The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching”. What Paul was saying was that the message of hope that we pilgrims have is nothing complicated. We don’t have to attend a Bible school or Seminary to learn it and understand it. The moment that we put our trust and faith in Christ we receive all the understanding and learning that we need. We immediately have the mandate to share the same message with those around us. Whoever they are. Friend or foe. Family members or neighbours. Simple?

But it can’t be that simple, we hear. Surely there is more to it than that, they say. But, sadly, many say they don’t need the message of hope, love and grace. We’re doing ok by ourselves; we’ll do life our way. We’ll take our chances before God – if He even exists.

We pilgrims mustn’t give up. Paul wasted no time in sharing the message about Jesus. We read in Acts 9:20, just days after his conversion, “And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”” In fact, his zealousness was so intense and all-consuming that the Jews in Damascus were going to murder him, so the solution was a clandestine escape for Paul, “So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall” (Acts 9:25). He started his mission again in Jerusalem and another plot was devised to end his life, this time by the Greek-speaking Jews. So in Acts 9:30-31 we read, “When the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown. The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.” Paul became too hot to hold, but his zealousness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ never left him. 

How zealous are we pilgrims in our faith, and our willingness to share the Gospel? Are we an all or nothing person like Paul, prepared to forsake all for God? In Matthew 5, Jesus gave an illustration about salt and light. We are the seasoning in our communities. We are beacons of light in a dark world. We may never be Pauls, articulate and convincing in what we say. But nevertheless, we are all equipped to share the simple message. We do it with our lives and, if necessary, we use words to back it. Those around us who don’t know Jesus will be watching us, to see if the message we bring makes a difference in our lives. We love God so much, so what else can we do? 

Dear God. Thank You for trusting us with the sharing of Your message of Good News, so necessary in this dark and sinful world. Please help us to truly shine as a beacon of faith to those around us. In Jesus same. Amen.

The Prisoner

Posted on by korgrocker

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles –”
Ephesians 3:1 NIVUK

Paul is in prison. Not a pleasant experience in those days. A dirty, rat-infested and cold cell of misery. No sanitary arrangements worthy of the name. So why is he there when he needn’t be? Paul was probably arrested and imprisoned several times and we have accounts, brief glimpses of his penitentiary experiences, in Acts 16 and again in Acts 21. And all because Paul was an active and effective preacher of God’s Word, the Gospel of Good News. He refused to keep a low profile and ended up arrested, imprisoned and beaten. His life story is recorded in the Bible and through scraps of history from other sources. 

So Paul was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. The problem is because the Gospel, the message of Good News about the Kingdom of God, confronts the status quo. It encourages people to face the fact that “all have sinned” and points out the consequences continuing to live in sin, in the darkness of the devil’s ways. This counter-cultural view upset the Jews of Paul’s day – they thought that the only way to God was through them and their religious culture and customs – and because the Gospel also reached and included the non-Jews, the Gentiles, who the Jews despised. But Paul wasn’t fazed by any of this and continued to preach the Gospel regardless, to the detriment of his freedom. But we should be clear – Jesus Himself, the Son of God, lost His life for the same cause. And He warned His followers that they would be treated in a similar way. In Matthew 10 we read His words, “Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you….”

What about preaching the Gospel in a public place in 21st Century Western societies? “Free speech” is a hot topic in the UK in these days, with people and lobby groups constantly wanting to “cancel” any messages they disagree with. And Christians are increasingly being attacked for their faith. There is even legislation before the UK parliaments that would seek to make preaching the Christian message illegal. 

Would we be prepared to go to prison, to be persecuted, for our faith? Many Christians throughout the world are facing into the consequences of openly being a Christian, especially in places like North Korea and Afghanistan. Pushing back the frontiers of the enemy, the devil, will invoke a violent reaction. At the present time in our Western societies, we are free to hold church meetings and bring our message of hope to our streets. But it may not always be that way. We must pray for our communities, our nations, our families, that God will have mercy on us and graciously and lovingly support us in His mission of reaching the lost. While we still have time. But one day we might just have to choose between freedom and imprisonment, between keeping quiet or denying the Gospel, or preaching it regardless, to whoever will listen. Hmmm…

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!