Lessons from Macedonian Churches: Joy Amid Trials

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.”
2 Corinthians 8:1-3 NLT

There were three significant congregations in Macedonia in the First Century, all established by Paul on his second missionary journey. In Acts 16:9-10, we read, “That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there”. So off Paul and Silas went, boarding a boat at Troas, and then made their way to Philippi. There, they met a businesswoman called Lydia, and the Philippian church was subsequently established, although Paul and Silas suffered much pain in the process (Acts 16:22). 

Their next stop was in Thessalonica, where Paul preached in the local Jewish synagogue, reasoning with the people. His efforts were not universally accepted by a long way, but we read, “Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women” (Acts 17:4). But more troubles followed, and Paul and Silas left the city “that very night” and headed for Berea. As usual, Paul headed for the synagogue there and once again preached the Gospel. We read, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth” (Acts 17:11). As an aside, there is a principle here that believers do well to follow. Whenever somebody delivers a message that doesn’t seem to sit right, the Scriptures, the Bibles we have, should be consulted to check out what has been said. In Berea, we see the result of Paul’s persuasive words, “As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men” (Acts 17:12). 

So the main churches in Macedonia were Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea, and their birthing troubles continued. The Gospel, the Good News about Jesus, His death, His resurrection and His Ascension, was life-changing, and the power of the Holy Spirit accompanying the preaching really shook up the religious, and particularly Jewish, status quo. The devil wasn’t going to concede ground without a fight, and he leveraged the instabilities of the Macedonian societies to his advantage.

The three churches were also very poor, Paul wrote, but they were also “filled with abundant joy” to the extent that they were insistent in giving sacrificially of their limited resources to support the poor in other places. Paul noted that they were not obliged to be so generous. No one had asked them to give that much of their money, but they gave “of their own free will”. There is a principle in going that is contrary to the ways of the world, and Jesus spoke about it. Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back”. The graphic illustration was one His audience would understand, as it referred to seed, a common commodity in His day. 

So the Macedonian churches were experiencing many troubles and much persecution in a society hostile and resistant to the early Christians, and their countercultural teaching about Jesus. Paul wrote that they were being “tested”, a benign way of saying that people in the society around them were attempting to get them to revert to their old ways and abandon being followers of Jesus. The testing might have included being ostracised from their circle of friends, being hassled in the workplace, and other forms of pressure, but in it all, they stood firm, the troubles and testing producing within them the Holy Spirit fruit of joy, and abundantly at that. 

We pilgrims are a joyful people, aren’t we? No matter what comes against us, we turn to Jesus, who is the Source of all that we are and want to be. We might have difficulties and challenges with our health, our wealth (or lack of it), in fact, anything that is going on in our daily lives, that conspires to give us trouble and testing. We might be tempted to say, “What’s the point?” and turn away from our Christian lives in the hope that the hassles would evaporate. New believers often find that when they make a decision for Christ, their problems don’t go away. But they do find that through Jesus, they have a new hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”. Instead of having no purpose in life, they find that they will eventually be admitted into Heaven to be with Jesus. Such a perspective is a factor in the “abundant joy” experienced by the Macedonians, and experienced by us pilgrims as well. We are now citizens of the Kingdom of God. We are His children, adopted into His family. Joy is the norm and not the exception.

For those believers struggling with their troubles, we glimpse God’s provision or grace and love in verses such as 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. A verse short and succinct, but loaded with God’s care and provision for His children. Psalm 91 starts, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him”. And it ends, “The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation””. God doesn’t give empty promises. He does what He says, and we pilgrims can be assured that whatever we are facing, nothing will take away our joy, and His love for us. We end with Paul’s words to the Romans, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). 

Dear Father, thank You for Your love and care for us. We will experience troubles in this life, we know, but we also know that You have us earmarked for a new life, free from all that causes us angst in this one. We pray that You protect us from the evil one, and don’t let anything steal away our joy. In Your precious name. Amen.

Renewed Spirits Amidst Life’s Trials

Posted on by korgrocker

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

“Our bodies are dying”, Paul wrote. In an absolute sense, that is, of course, true. We have been dying since we became adults, or, it could be argued, since birth. Through Adam, sin entered a previously perfect world, and what was meant to live forever has been corrupted and spoiled. The span of human life is now rarely more than 100 years, and here in the UK, the average lifespan for a man is 70 and for a woman 83. Death comes when our bodily functions start to decline and are unable to renew themselves. But I can hear my readers’ thoughts: “What a depressing way to start the day!” Well, it would be, except for the fact that Paul followed up his initial statement with “our spirits are being renewed every day”. A random person in the street, an unbeliever, will not have a clue about the spirit, or soul, that lives within him. They will experience emotions and feelings. They will laugh and cry, love and hate. And all the time perhaps not understanding that this comes from their soul. We describe a person as “body, soul and spirit”, but a random person in the street will not spend too much time thinking about their soul and spirit.

But we pilgrims are not random people at all, because we are children of God and because of that, our spirits will end up with God in Heaven. He knows our names, and these are engraved on the palm of His hands – Isaiah 49:16a, “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands”. What a privileged people we are! Paul was greatly comforted by the fact that, although his body was dying, his spirit was alive and well and was being renewed each and every day. 

One day, our bodies will finally die and will end up in a grave or urn somewhere, but our renewed spirits will go on to live forever, and, one day, will receive a new body. One that will never wear out and will be like the body Jesus received all those years ago on the first Easter Sunday. Paul took an eternal view of all the troubles that he was experiencing day by day. The beatings, shipwrecks, general abuse and so on would all one day be of no consequence at all because he would be spending time with His Lord, Jesus. A bit later in this epistle, Paul wrote, “While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:4-5).

But what about the random person in the street, whose body is wearing out as well and whose spirits are yet to be reborn into God’s kingdom? Their spirits will live forever as well, but not in a place they want to be. Suffice it to say that we pilgrims must encourage them to consider their future and, in the process, introduce them to Jesus.

Paul could see that his present troubles were of no consequence and, more, would one day produce for him a glory that far outweighed what he was experiencing. He finished the chapter with “we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”. That takes faith, but such a perspective is not unachievable because the Holy Spirit within us will hold the vision of Heaven before our spiritual eyes. So, what do we pilgrims fix our gaze on? Sadly, so often we get caught up in the things of this world, and the vision of glory dims and gets crowded out. It is not that we must neglect the worldly demands, but we must keep them in perspective. 

Towards the end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). It’s all about Jesus and what He has done for us. Without Him being willing to sacrifice his body so that we would have life, we would be in a very sad place.

Dear Father God. We praise and worship You today. We are so grateful for Your love and grace, and for the day we will have eternal life with You. We look forward to the glory awaiting us, totally undeserved, but all because of Jesus. Thank You. Amen.

God Is Hiding

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble? The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor. Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others. For they brag about their evil desires; they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.”
Psalm 10:1-3 NLT

The Psalmist wasn’t afraid to make his complaint to God. He had no fear of a lightning bolt from Heaven because of his audacity in questioning God’s motives. But he merely expressed what we all do sometimes – where is God when the going gets tough? As we know ourselves, it is easy to praise God when the blessings flow towards us, but not so easy when we are in trouble. 

The Psalmist was reflecting on his own troubles, but he followed his questions with, once again, his observations of wicked people. How do they get away with their evil ways? Asaph, another Psalmist, expressed similar sentiments in Psalm 73. In fact, he writes that the prosperity of the wicked almost caused him to lose his faith. Psalm 73:3-5, “For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.” He continued in verse 16, “So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is!”‭‭ In Matthew 5:45b we read a little snippet from Jesus, that perhaps provides a reason. “ …  For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike“. It is a ludicrous thought that God would perhaps stop the sun shining on all those people who ignore Him, coming under the Psalmist’s “wicked” definition. Imagine a largely dark world punctuated by pools of sunlight as Godly people went about their business. God’s blessings of life apply to everyone, wicked or not, but the difficult thought for the Psalmists was that the wicked seem to have more than their fair share.

But back to the times of trouble. We read about what happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi. Through the name of Jesus, they had removed the power of divination from a slave girl, upsetting her masters. A riot ensued and Paul and Silas ended up severely beaten, and imprisoned with their feet in the stocks. They were in trouble, without a doubt. And then we come to Acts 16:25, “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening“.  We would have thought that they would have been crying out to God, wailing their complaints and asking why He hadn’t been there for them when they were in so much trouble. They had been abused and incarcerated in a stinking jail, their backs sore, their movement severely restricted. And yet they were praising God. How could they do that? God wasn’t there for them when they needed Him, some might think. The wicked people in Philippi had imposed their vengeance. But no external act of wicked people was ever going to stop Paul and Silas praising God.

James wrote in his epistle, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3). The sad thing is that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that we won’t have to experience troubles anymore. In fact, Jesus said, ” …Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). So when the Psalmist questioned God’s motives in times of trouble and questioned why the wicked people got away with their wickedness, and when we do the same, we instead should turn to the Lord, expressing our thanks and praise. God isn’t hiding from us. He is always there when we need Him. But in those dark days when the Heavens seem like brass and our prayers don’t seem to get to God, we need to press in, worshipping and praising. We so often want to hide from God when troubles beset us. So on a Sunday morning we stay at home when we should be at church. We don’t pick up our Bibles and read His words of comfort. We stop praying. God hasn’t gone away but we have. God knows all about the wicked people who seem to prosper. He will deal with them one day if they persist in their sin. But in the mean time He provides an opportunity for them to repent and turn to Him. One day the scales of justice will be balanced but in this life we have a mission and that includes pressing through our troubles and keeping short accounts with God. Oh, and by the way, we tell the wicked about Jesus, and His saving grace.

Dear God. You had a plan for the salvation of mankind. And we deeply thank You for Jesus, Your precious Son, for forgiving us our sins. Amen.

Answer Me, God!

Posted on by korgrocker

“Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”
Psalm 4:1 NLT

What sort of relationship do we have with God? Do we bow and scrape before a holy God, afraid to speak out of turn in case we get zapped by a Heavenly lightning bolt? Are we fearful of a God who we perceive as being a cosmic policeman, wielding a truncheon, stern and unforgiving, never approachable as a friend? Is God to us a benign and detached elderly figure with a long white beard, leaning over the banisters of Heaven and observing what is going on in the world and in our lives, but never interfering much, if at all? Is our God someone we plead with when we experience troubles and problems? Or is our approach to God like that of David’s, robust and fearless, sure of his relationship with His Lord?

David knows that his sins are forgiven and he is innocent, so he demands from God, His loving Father, an answer to his prayers for freedom from his “troubles” and for God to have “mercy” upon him. God of course has mercy on us sinful men and women; if He hadn’t then there would have been no human race. Everyone deserves judgement and punishment for their sinful ways. God provides time for men and women to come in repentance to His Son, and be declared innocent before Him. But freedom from “troubles”? Can God answer that prayer? Will a convicted criminal, who prays that prayer be immediately released from prison? Will a child who breaks a school window in a fit of rage be forgiven from the consequent “trouble”? Freedom from troubles, just in response to a prayer, no matter how heart felt? Be assured, we live in a moral universe and punishment for our sins will happen either in this world or the next.

If we live God’s way, then our propensity for experiencing “troubles” will reduce. Psalm 19:7-8, “The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living”. So a prayer for freedom from troubles will be answered, not by an immediate release from the consequences of our bad choices and behaviour, but by a formula for living a life in a way that will avoid most troubles in the first place. 

The kingdoms of Light and darkness are colliding more frequently these days, and troubles for God’s children are on the increase. But our Heavenly Father is there with us declaring us innocent as we follow His ways.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your loving kindness and mercy, that follows us, even pursues us, every day of our lives. Amen.

Hated Disciples

Posted on by korgrocker

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”
John 15:18-19 NLT

Isn’t it strange, that the disciples, who did so much in those early days and years as they went around preaching the Gospel and healing the sick, would end up being hated. Men who anxiously and diligently tried to connect people with a loving God who wanted all men to join Him. Paul wrote this to Timothy, “ …  God our Saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. … ” (1 Timothy 2:3-6 extracted), and John 3:16-17 deserves a mention, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him“. Our God, who has given more for mankind than we can ever get our minds around, ends up being hated, and His followers as well. Men and women, who ever since, have tried to share the wonderful news about Jesus with so many but instead have been rejected, hated, and even killed. What would an alien think, looking on from outer space, at a situation where human beings hated the very One who created them, and in the process hated those who tried to reconcile them to their loving Heavenly Creator God. They would look, I’m sure, for another cause of such irrational behaviour.

Our helpful alien would perhaps find another life source that was causing the problem. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God”. Blinded minds. Minds filled with devil-inspired strange thoughts and ideologies. Minds filled with lies and wickedness. Minds reprogrammed to hate God and anyone who wants to acknowledge Him and follow Him. Minds that are even repudiating the very consequences of their God-denial, boastfully rejecting even the very concept of judgement for their sins and wickedness, a judgement that has to take place in our moral universe. And in it all the believers in God, lovingly fronting up His gracious presence, are hated, despised and even killed. History is punctuated by many Christian martyrs, murdered for the “crime” of believing in God and trying to help others to believe in Him too. 

We pilgrims must indeed face into the sober fact that we are hated by those around us, to varying degrees, and depending on where we live. We dare to be different, following a different path, refusing to bow our knees to different faiths, beliefs and ideologies. We tramp on in our life journey, taking every opportunity to live in God’s Kingdom, following His ways, and turning our backs on a world that doesn’t know Him. We are beacons of hope in a hopeless world. We season our communities by our presence and our willingness to show others a better way. Our faith will hopefully not lead to a premature death, but it will impact our standing in a worldly pecking order in our jobs and communities. We stand up against the issues of the day such as abortion, gender, conversion therapy, and similar legislation that opposes and encroaches on the sanctity of God’s order. And in the process we are arrested, hassled and hated. Not for us pilgrims the compromise adopted by some denominations to accept secular values instead of maintaining the purity of the faith.

Jesus warned His disciples about what was to come, but we read what he said in John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world”. Whatever we experience in this life will be of no consequence when we stand before Jesus and hear those words, “Well done …” What a God! What a Saviour! 

Thank You Lord, the One who made being children of God possible. Amen.