Righteous Paths: Navigating Life with Faith

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Moth hovering beside a lit candle on a rustic wooden table

“He humbles the proud and brings down the arrogant city. He brings it down to the dust. The poor and oppressed trample it underfoot, and the needy walk all over it. But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.”
Isaiah 26:5-8 NLT

In the next few verses in Isaiah 26, another city emerges. It is not the same as the previous city, the City of God. This one is arrogant. Once again, we are back to the theme of how destructive pride and arrogance can be, and how a city full of people infected with these traits thinks it is invincible and untouchable. The Jebusites, who populated Jerusalem before it became the city of the Jews, thought they were invincible. In 2 Samuel 5:6, we read, “David then led his men to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land who were living there. The Jebusites taunted David, saying, “You’ll never get in here! Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For the Jebusites thought they were safe”. But in the next verse, we read, “But David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David”. How did he do it? By finding a way into the fortified city through the water tunnel. With God there is always a way. Without God, wicked people, in their pride and arrogance, amount to nothing. 

But the word “city” has another meaning. In the context of our verses today, it also means worldliness, the world system, and the people who support it. Many complacent people in the UK today believe they are safe from the collapse of their society. After all, they say, nothing bad has happened here for many years. Yes, they say, there are challenges and the tax rate is too high, but they’re comfortable and can get by because they think they are invincible in their riches, nice houses, and secure jobs. They are proud of their achievements, their education, their cars and so on. But none of them gives a thought that God can bring it all down to “dust, to a point where the poor, the needy, and the people they oppressed can trample over them. 

In this prophecy, Isaiah highlights the benefit of those who trust in the Lord, as we read in Isaiah 26:4, “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock”. Those who trust in the Lord obey Him, and this obedience to God leads to living a life of righteousness. Because of that, Isaiah pointed out that those who live such lives of trust and righteousness will find that their ways through life will not be “steep and rough”, and the way before them will be smooth, without the hassles the proud and arrogant would find. Trying to live outside of the Lord’s design for life always introduces obstacles and difficulty. We find in Proverbs 1:7 the difference between the proud and the righteous: “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline”. And for us pilgrims, we do well to take note of, and follow, Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”. The paths the proud and arrogant have chosen will not end well, as their “house of cards”, their trust in the world system and ways, comes tumbling down. However, those who look to God will find that His way is free of the disasters experienced by godless people. A headline in one of the papers this morning mourns the experience of some greedy people with too much money who invested in poor-performing stocks, with returns far from those promised or expected. Perhaps they should have invested instead in God’s Kingdom, building up treasure that will never suffer from poor returns. The world system, and those who support it, will never last beyond the grave.

So does that mean we pilgrims should opt out of our societies and find a way of life in a monastery or foreign land, where life is more basic and untainted by the hustle and bustle of Western ways? No, because in our verses today, Isaiah is saying that there is a straight path through all the pride and arrogance that blights the lives of those around us. Isaiah 26:8 reads, “Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name”. We pilgrims are living in two kingdoms, the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God, but we are only citizens of the latter. We are God’s ambassadors to a lost and hopeless people caught up in the pride and arrogance of the world system. We need to be like Isaiah, who lived in Judah amongst a people who had forgotten God and were living lives tainted by evil and idolatry. We need to be beacons of light, speaking out God’s message to this lost and hopeless generation. And so we echo Isaiah’s words today, “Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name“.

Father God. Please help us to navigate the ways of this world, staying righteous in our societies of unrighteousness. Maximise our witness, we pray, so that Your voice will prevail through all the noise and darkness declared by evil people. We pray for our governments and leaders, our churches and congregations, our places of employment and recreation, so that Your name will be glorified. And we pray for our families and friends, that we will indeed be that beacon of light that draws them close to You. We pray all this in Your precious name. Amen.

Finding Perfect Peace in God’s Presence

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Sunset sky reflecting on calm lake with mountain silhouettes and pine forest

“In that day, everyone in the land of Judah will sing this song: Our city is strong! We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation. Open the gates to all who are righteous; allow the faithful to enter. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
Isaiah 26:1-4 NLT

That phrase again, “In that day”. Isaiah could see a day coming when all his wishes would be realised. A day when he would be freed from the anxieties caused by the sins of his people. A day when God’s perfect order would be restored, along with His kingdom. A day when everyone would be singing from the same hymn sheet, and what a song that will be! And Isaiah lets his anointed imagination loose on what that day will look like. The strong city was a reference to Jerusalem, the City of God, and with Him dwelling there, salvation would be assured. Only righteous and faithful people would be allowed to enter, with, presumably, anyone else shut out. 

We read about this City in Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem “coming down from God out of Heaven, like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband”. Further down the page we read, “So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:10-11). And at the end of the chapter we read, “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life”. In the next chapter, we read, “Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life”, and the unrighteous will be excluded, “Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie”. But there won’t be many of them, because we read in Revelation 21:8, “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death”. 

In Isaiah 26:3, one of our verses this morning, we read the well-known and much-quoted verse, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Peace is a scarce commodity these days. Wars blight our world, with death and destruction following. But peace, or a lack of it, also impacts our societies and our relationships. In recent years, the UK seems to have become very angry, with different factions stridently declaring their beliefs and ideologies and denigrating those who believe otherwise. Many people fail to be at peace with their neighbours, with occasional court cases emerging that expose disputes over the silliest of things, like a boundary wall erected a few inches the wrong way. The UK fails to be at peace with itself, and the problem seems to be getting worse, with politicians of different colours stoking up dissent and failing to lead the country into the peace its citizens require. But, as we pilgrims know, it is only God who has the eternal solution. Perfect peace can only be found in Him.

Jesus said to His disciples, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). He knew that the world would never live in peace. He knew that even the people themselves were suffering from a lack of it. And He knew that there was no political or national leader who could ever deliver the peace that people yearned for. That peace can only be found in God. The Psalmist David knew all about that peace and where it originated. Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe”. His is an incredible story of highs and lows, hounded for many years by King Saul, betrayed by his own son, harassed by his enemies, and yet he could feel safe and at peace in God.

We often say of a recently departed person that they are now at peace, implying that their life, or their last days, were spent in conflict. But even that is not assured, because there will be no peace for those wandering souls, excluded from God’s presence in heaven because they failed to trust in Him. God’s peace extends beyond the grave into Heaven itself, where the redeemed will enjoy God’s presence for ever. That is why we pilgrims must be proactive in spreading God’s message of hope to all those we meet. So many people are living lives conflicted by their worries and anxieties, hopeless and without peace. But we pilgrims know the “peace that surpasses all understanding”, and we cannot keep it to ourselves. Who can we truly say “Shalom” to today? Let’s be ready, in case God is leading us to just the right person.

Dear Heavenly Father. It is only in You that we can experience perfect peace. Please help us to look at world events through Your eyes, and be at peace because we know and trust that You are still on Your throne. We praise You today. Amen.

End Times and Trust: Understanding Isaiah’s Prophecies

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!” For the Lord’s hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem. But Moab will be crushed. It will be like straw trampled down and left to rot. God will push down Moab’s people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. The high walls of Moab will be demolished. They will be brought down to the ground, down into the dust.”
Isaiah 25:9-12 NLT

“This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us!” What a wonderful way to start our devotions today, with the thought that God has saved us. But we need to unpick this verse a bit to extract some more important messages. The first thought centres on “in that day”. Once again, Isaiah’s writings refer to a day when the world order will be destroyed, and it must have been of some importance because the phrase “in (or on) that day” occurs 57 times in the Book of Isaiah. God revealed to Isaiah some important truths about what was to come, and Isaiah faithfully wrote down what God revealed to him. But when will that day be? Of course, we don’t know, and Jesus said to His disciples, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know” (Acts 1:7). In Matthew 24:6-8, Jesus set out some signs to look for: “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come”. So the indications are that we are in the End Times, but, with more events scheduled to happen, we’re not there yet. John’s vision in the Book of Revelation is worth a read for the inquisitive. But, as any mother can tell us, the labour pains can come suddenly or can drag on for days. On the other side of all the End Time events yet to happen, though, there will be a people who will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us!” 

What does it mean to trust in God? Trusting God means relying completely on His goodness, wisdom, and power, even when life is hard or uncertain. It is a daily choice to let go of control, stop worrying, and believe that His character and promises are true. But, human nature being what it is, we find that it is very hard to let go and trust someone else with our lives, both now and in the future. And if that Person we trust is God, who, in the natural, we can’t see or feel or communicate with, face to face… But that is when faith comes into play. The natural response, when we encounter hard and difficult times, is to cast around to find a human remedy. So when money is short, we head to the banks or moneylenders, or use our credit cards. If we are short of food, we think of the food banks. If we lose our jobs, we see what financial assistance, “benefits” we can receive from government agencies. If we are in danger of losing our homes, we think about alternatives, such as staying with relatives, or phone around to find another. But trusting in God means that we set aside our anxieties and instead look to God for a solution. Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done”. Jesus said, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:31-33). 

But trusting God also means that we must wait for His solution, and not try to get ahead of Him by producing an Ishmael. Remember the story? God promised Abraham a son, but after a few years of waiting, he and his wife hatched a plan to get one through Sarah’s servant. Ishmael duly appeared, but he wasn’t the son of the promise. That son, Isaac, was still to come. And, as we know, in this world, the consequences of producing an Ishmael still continue. Getting ahead of God would likely produce something second-best, not the perfect result our Heavenly Father has waiting for us. And in it all, when anxieties and problems emerge, as they will in this troubled and imperfect world, we learn the peace that comes from trusting in our Father with our lives and all that we are. After all, we know who controls this world, and we remain faithful and hopeful, calm in all the storms. 

The people will also proclaim “in that day” that God saved them. When God saves us, it means He rescues us from the punishment and power of sin through Jesus Christ. Salvation means that we are delivered from eternal death through our faith in Jesus, who granted us forgiveness and a new relationship with God. Think about it. All the sins, the things that we have done wrong, the thoughts that have polluted our minds, the failure to do what we should have done – the list is endless – have all been forgiven and erased from God’s Heavenly slate. Psalm 103:12, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west”. But it gets better. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ”. We pilgrims can now stand before God clothed with Jesus’ righteousness and adopted as His children. Romans 8:15, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father””.

Isaiah 25 ends with a warning to Moab, but “Moab” can be extended to include all people who refuse to trust in God. Their pompous pride and evil works get in the way. As with all unbelievers, their belief that they didn’t need to acknowledge the Lord God of Israel is their downfall. But He will knock down the fortification of their human walls and defeat them in His judgment. We all know someone in this category, I’m sure, and we must reach out to them with God’s love, sharing His message of hope and salvation, so that the Holy Spirit can bring conviction of their sin. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent”. Yes, God’s patience is driven by His love and grace for human beings, and we must, in our capacity as His ambassadors to Planet Earth, extend the same.

So we end these devotions today echoing how we started, declaring that the Lord is our God, that we trust in Him, and thanking Him for our salvation. We are truly favoured as God’s children.

Dear Heavenly Father. As we draw to a close in another chapter in Isaiah, we thank You for the prophet and Your messages communicated through him. We thank You for Your Word, and the truths held within, so useful for helping us, and keeping us founded on the Rock who is Christ. Amen.

Judeans Living In The Moment

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this revelling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease. All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too. That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.” Oh, what a day of crushing defeat! What a day of confusion and terror brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, upon the Valley of Vision! The walls of Jerusalem have been broken, and cries of death echo from the mountainsides. 
Judah’s defences have been stripped away. You run to the armoury for your weapons. You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool. You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls. Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago.”
Isaiah 22:1-5, 8-11 NLT

Isaiah provides a prophecy, an oracle, in chapter 22 addressed to Jerusalem. One possible event here is the siege of Jerusalem by King Sennacherib and the Assyrians in 701 BC, since Isaiah experienced it firsthand. Another option is the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 BC, during which Isaiah could have prophesied about events yet to occur. Some scholars suggest that Isaiah’s oracle is intended to speak to both events. But this chapter commences with the city in uproar; in fact, it was a “terrible uproar”. There was much revelling going on, as the people within Jerusalem’s walls were partying, eating, drinking and making merry. Some event had occurred to warrant such a celebration, but Isaiah could see something else coming – “Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease”. So Isaiah’s message was that they should not be “revelling”, but instead they should be sober-minded because of what was to come.

History informs us that the nation of Judah had been overrun and destroyed by Assyrian sieges of the towns. Everyone of any importance had fled to Jerusalem and had been trapped inside the walls by the siege. Isaiah tells the people not to look at him while he is weeping for those who have died. He recalls how loud the noise became from outside the walls as the siege was being established. There was a great racket and loud shouting. Mass confusion fills the air, perhaps inside the city as well as outside. The valleys around Jerusalem were filled with war chariots. The enemy horsemen were right outside the city gates. Judah was uncovered and helpless. What did the leaders do when they knew the siege was coming? They inventoried and distributed the weapons from the armoury. They found breaches in the walls and repaired them. They diverted springs from outside the walls into the city for a water supply. They even tore down houses between the inner and outer walls and flooded that area as a reservoir. They did all they could except for one thing: call out to their Lord God. Isaiah wrote, “But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago”. 

All the preparations carried out by the Judeans were not wrong. In fact, it was wise to do what they did. But their sin was that they trusted in their preparations rather than in the God who had given them wisdom and who ultimately ruled over their future. There is a message for us pilgrims in this as well. There is a difference between preparation and dependence, because God expects us to act wisely, but never independently of Him. The danger is that we can organise our lives so efficiently that prayer becomes an afterthought. There is a proverb that is well worth writing on a Post-it note to stick on our fridges, and that’s “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6). There is another verse that applies both to the Judeans and to ourselves, and that is Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good”. And here’s a bit of wisdom from James, “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil” (James 4:13-16). Of course, James’ advice was too late for Jerusalem in 700 BC, but it is there for our benefit, as we navigate the highways and byways of life in our 21st-century societies. 

Isaiah’s picture of a city that is living in the moment, rejoicing one minute because of battlefield successes, but mourning the next when adversity strikes, is just as applicable today as it was then. We pilgrims are heading for a new world, where the rules and outcomes are different. It would seem to make sense to start living God’s way, but then I’m sure we are already. But nevertheless, when we are tempted to live the way the world around us does, we should pause and find a quiet spot to take stock and pray. As we read a Psalm such as Psalm 23, it sets the scene for the life we should lead, under the direction of the Good Shepherd. His closeness will strengthen us as we rest in His presence. He will lead and guide us and one day will welcome us into “the house of the Lord forever”. And with the Psalmist, we declare, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue [us] all the days of [our] life…”. It surely will.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your care and compassion for us pilgrims. Without You life in this world is impossible. We pray for Your guidance as we journey on, day by day.Amen.

God’s Unchanging Plans: Trust in His Purpose

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath: “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided. 
I have a plan for the whole earth, a hand of judgment upon all the nations.” The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken— who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?”
Isaiah 14:24, 26-27 NLT

God is a Planner. Life on earth does not proceed in a chaotic and random fashion, blown this way and that by the winds of adversity and the whims of sinful men. Daniel recorded some words spoken by a heathen king, Nebuchadnezzar, that put their finger on God’s sovereignty: “… I praised and worshipped the Most High and honoured the One who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’” (Daniel 4:34-35). Nebuchadnezzar finally realised who God was after a period of insanity. As we read today, perhaps we, too, can find some comfort in the same God whom Nebuchadnezzar found. The God who makes plans and keeps to them.

Firstly, it is not only God who makes plans. We human beings make plans every day. Some succeed; others have to be changed. Circumstances arise that we did not expect. People disappoint us. Doors that seemed open suddenly close. Life can take a direction we never anticipated. But God is different. The Lord said, “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided. I have a plan for the whole earth”. These words were originally spoken about the defeat of Assyria, a powerful, cruel, and intimidating nation. From a human perspective, it seemed unstoppable, and yet God declared that Assyria’s power would be broken. The message from our verses today is clear: earthly powers may appear strong, but they are never stronger than God, because He is sovereign. There are the three “omni’s” concerning God. He is Omnipotent: God is all-powerful and has dominion over all things. He is Omniscient: God is all-knowing and has perfect, exhaustive knowledge of everything, including the past, present, and future. He is Omnipresent: God is everywhere at all times, intimately present throughout His creation. And He is a Planner, who produces perfect plans that cannot be changed. People everywhere, caught up in war zones, or suffering due to famine, earthquake or just political instability, may claim otherwise, but nothing happens without it being a part of God’s plans. Perhaps that is a view not shared by many fellow believers, but either God is all-powerful or He’s not, and the God I worship is not a weak God who is unable to withstand and direct the forces that exist in this world. The people in Israel may have cried out to God, thinking that he was unwilling to help them, but He was actually using another nation to punish them for their iniquities. 

But with all that is going on in the world today, this does not mean that we will always understand what God is doing. There will be times when circumstances confuse us, and we may wonder why God allows certain things to happen or why He does not answer our prayers as we hoped. Our confidence is not based on our ability to understand God’s purposes. Our confidence is based upon the character of the God who makes those purposes, and we know that He is faithful, wise, powerful, righteous and good. 

Isaiah wrote, “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken— who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?” The answer is simple – no one. No enemy can defeat God’s purposes, and no circumstance can frustrate His plans. No human power can overturn His decisions. Nothing takes God by surprise, and nothing forces Him to abandon His purposes. This truth should bring great comfort to us pilgrims. There may be things happening in our lives today that we cannot understand, and the future may seem uncertain, with circumstances that may appear to be beyond our control. But they are never beyond God’s control. The same God who declared His purpose concerning Assyria is the God who holds our lives in His hands. We may not know what tomorrow holds, but we know the One who holds tomorrow. Therefore, you can trust Him. God’s purposes may unfold differently from what we expected. His timing may be different from ours. His ways may sometimes be mysterious. But His plans cannot be defeated.

So when life seems uncertain, remember the words of the Lord: “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided”. 

Dear Lord, thank You that You are sovereign over all things. Forgive us for the times when we become anxious because we cannot see or understand what You are doing. Help us to trust Your wisdom, Your goodness and Your power. When circumstances seem uncertain, remind us that nothing can frustrate Your purposes or stop Your hand. Help us to rest confidently in You, knowing that Your plans will ultimately prevail. In Your precious name. Amen.

Unimaginable God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.””
1 Corinthians 2:8-9 NLT

Worldly people, unbelievers in God, have no idea about God and His wisdom. A human being has no natural contact with the spiritual world, a super-natural place which we cannot see, touch, smell, taste or hear using our natural senses. And so anything a human being tries to work out about a mystical and elusive world beyond their senses is bound to fail. But a person rooted in a world driven by their senses bolstered by human reasoning and logic, comes up with a wisdom that falls far short of what God has made available. There is of course nothing wrong with human wisdom when properly utilised. That is why God has created humans with a brain that is amazing in its capabilities, but imaginative scientists and philosophers come up with much that pushes boundaries but inevitably finds limitations. Hardly a day goes past without some new discovery about our natural world, be it an atomic particle, or a new vaccine. Sadly, theories regarding the origins of the universe and the purpose of life itself change regularly and we find that human wisdom is woefully lacking, with significant limitations.

But what about God’s wisdom? Inaccessible although it is to mere unbelieving humans, we pilgrims are allowed a glimpse of the thoughts and plans of God. They are not available to people who fail to recognise Him and believe that He exists. But in those thoughts and plans we find God’s wisdom, and in His Word, the Bible, we find hints, glimpses, advice and assurances about this Heavenly world that we will one day find. Paul quoted a verse from Isaiah 64 in his Corinthian letter, which in the original reads, “For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!” (Isaiah 64:4). Paul’s memory came up with slightly different words, but the meaning is much the same. We have a loving Heavenly Father who is working for us and preparing a world, an environment, something and somewhere, but we cannot even start to imagine what it will be like. And even though the prophets of old were given tantalising hints of what was to come, no one can get anywhere near discovering what lies ahead. Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and even the old Apostle John all had thoughts and visions inspired by the Holy Spirit, but there is a problem. What they “saw” is so far beyond anything seen or imagined that we will find they are not even close to what God has for us in His plans. 

So human wisdom, thoughts, imaginations, and discoveries are silent when it comes to God’s spiritual world. Jesus said to His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:1-3). We know that one day we will have a home where Jesus lives, because we know and believe that He is alive today, but what form that home will take we don’t know. Our imagination usually starts at the point of human knowledge but then ventures into unknown places. Places that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined”. The Holy Spirit revealed something to Isaiah about God, ““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Human wisdom cannot bring us to the understanding that the Creator God loves His people and that He has prepared the glories of eternity to share with them. Our intellects will try and work it all out, but will come up painfully short. But we cannot trust in what God say He has for us without faith in Him. It is only by having faith in God, by believing the hints, glimpses and prophetic words contained in the Bible, that we will be able to be assured of our destination with our “unimaginable God”. The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “ … it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). 

But can we pilgrims start to feel a little excitement starting to build in our spirits? Are we feeling a little like a small child promised a trip to the seaside, feeling the anticipation starting to appear in our minds, our imaginations? What will the sea and sand be like? Will it be sunny? And so on. And of course we mustn’t forget the cry from the back seat – “are we nearly there yet?” The wise old pastor and expositor, John MacArthur, died recently and he will now be finding out if what he preached was in fact the reality he is now experiencing. Such revelation will also become available to all of us one day. But we pilgrims at least know where we are heading, having been given a glimpse of what is ahead. Pity all those who don’t believe because they are heading for a nasty shock and a future about which they can do nothing. All those poor people who have relied only on their human wisdom and knowledge, and who have rejected the King of Glory.

Dear Heavenly Father. Our human minds can never work out what plans You have for us in the future. But we believe in You and in the Words of Your Son Jesus, with a faith that will never be rocked by world events. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

From the Womb

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm 22:9-10 NIVUK

David made the confident assertion that his relationship with God started when he was born. In fact, he stated that he was “cast on [God]” at that nascent point in his life. A new life, full of potential, and with God’s hand upon him, how could he ever fail? And writing here David is much older and wiser, but testifying to his start in life. God was there at his birth and while being fed by his mother, and God was still with David much later as Psalm 22 rolled off his pen. 

Was David being singled out for special treatment by God? Did God know that He would have to be proactive in David’s upbringing, ensuring that he would be the right person for Israel’s king? When a child is brought into the world, the potential for a great man or woman of God is there, but not many will achieve the lofty heights of kingship. So, how is that potential realised during a child’s upbringing? In David’s culture, much of that was down to the mother, who nurtured the child, sung songs of praise and worship, prayed, told the Bible stories, and taught the child in the ways of God. The Jewish father also led the family in prayers and teaching, reminiscing over meals about the great acts of God in their heritage, the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea and so on. A Jewish boy’s education would also have been steeped in the Hebrew Bible of that time. In David’s case he progressed from childhood into manhood but he took with him all that he had been taught, and, most importantly, he started to work in his father’s business, tending sheep for long hours and in the process he developed the skills necessary for life as well as honing his relationship with God. And he wrote Psalm 8:1-2, “O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you“. In those long nights he looked up and saw the canopy of the heavens in all its glory, and he wrote, “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”(Psalm 19:1-2). But it all started as a new born baby in his mother’s arms, with God looking on.

There are other examples of God raising up a man for a particular purpose, and Moses comes to mind. But there was a special Man born two thousand or so years ago who was the Son of God. His mission has changed the course of history, and is still doing so as the End Times loom ever nearer. On that day, Heaven touched earth in the arms of a peasant teenager called Mary, bringing a Life that climaxed thirty three years later on a cross at Calvary, birthing something else that we call the Church. But that’s for another day.

The birth of David would not have appeared in his memory of course, but his parents would have reminded him about his Godly origins. It stresses the important role that a parent has in bringing up children. Those early years of nurture and teaching will make or break a child’s future, because what is sown in the first few years will set the course of their lives ahead. It is so sad that parents will often abdicate their responsibilities and sit the child before a television, potentially filling their minds with all the wrong information. And our schools, colleges, and politicians today seem more intent on propagating ideologies that are just plain wrong. We pray for our country, that God will once again visit us bringing conviction of sin and salvation. We need You, God! Our politicians need You. Our teachers need You. We all need You. Come Lord Jesus!

God does not prefer one person over another, as Paul reminded us in Romans 2:11, “For God does not show favouritism“. We are all equal before God and, most importantly, before the Cross. But people will have different abilities, as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Talents. We can read it in Matthew 25, but here is verse 15, “He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip“. Notice the phrase “in proportion to their abilities”. God doesn’t expect more from us than we are able to give. The first two servants, even though they had different abilities, heard their Master say, “well done, my good and faithful servant”. But we need to use what God has given us to the best of our ability, being aware of the ultimate fate of the third servant. 

Many people will try one day to blame their upbringing for their status in life. Although there is some truth in that, we have a wonderful God who is able to redeem our past, and restore the years the locust has eaten. We may experience many fruitless years in this life, but God is patient and knows our hearts. One day He will bring us through to His presence. But in the meantime, we listen for God’s voice and we obey His instructions. We are on Planet Earth for the just the time as this. There is an opportunity to reach our generation for Jesus, using the gifts the Holy Spirit planted within us from our mothers’ wombs. We may never see the fruit of our labours this side of eternity, but I think we may be surprised when we find souls coming to us one day thanking us for our perseverance and willingness to share our faith. We trust God with our future, as David did. And with him we proclaim that he is our God. Forever.

Dear Father God. We trust You with our lives, and one day we pray in faith that we too will hear those words “well done” from the Master Himself. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Trust In The Lord

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Your victory brings him great honour, and you have clothed him with splendour and majesty. You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.”
Psalm 21:5-7 NLT

Just a simple statement lacking drama, almost written as an aside – “For the king trusts in the Lord”. It stands as the tip of an iceberg, with much implied explanation and background information hidden beneath it. The sentence doesn’t include the how or why of David’s trust. It’s just a statement of fact. But David’s journey to the point when he could state that he trusts in the Lord began at the moment when Samuel anointed him in front of his father and brothers – “So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on …” (1 Samuel 16:13). In those pre-Messiah days the Holy Spirit didn’t live in each of God’s people all the time; instead He visited and empowered chosen people for certain tasks when the need was there. So, for David to experience the indwelling Holy Spirit was remarkable. From that moment forward, David learned through his life experiences how to trust in the Lord. Day by day, battle by battle, crisis by crisis, and David went on to write that “the unfailing love of the Most High” would keep him from ever stumbling.

But what does it mean to “trust in the Lord”? Proverbs 3:5 provides a clue, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding“. Our own understanding is flawed because so much of our humanity gets in the way. Our sins, wrong choices, lack of wisdom, and many other factors can all combine to skew our understanding and put us on a path that is far away from what God has planned for us. And, sadly, it is often the case that when we find ourselves in a place of difficulty, there through our own choices, we then turn to God for the guidance that we needed right at the beginning. Proverbs 14:12 reminds us, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death“. 

To be able to trust in someone, we need to get to a place where we can find something in that person that inspires that trust. I trust in my wife of many years because I have come to know her and have experienced her wisdom on many occasions. I know her Godly ways and her willingness to spend long hours in prayer to find God’s will. So before any important decisions are made, I trust her to have the wisdom needed. But can I say the same thing about our politicians? But we won’t go down that rabbit trail today. There is only one way to say, as David did, that we trust in the Lord, and that is through spending time, a lot of time, with God, and trusting Him with everyday matters, in the process building up a relationship on which we can depend. We make sure that we honour and treasure our “Quiet Times” in God’s presence, reading His Word, and engaging Him in prayer. We bring before Him all the hassles and problems, the decisions to be made, our difficulties and stresses, that we face in the day ahead. 

God has made many promises to us. Let us consider one from Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 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“. In another Psalm David wrote, “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25). God said that He will supply all our needs and, as David said, if we look around at our fellow believers we see that this is indeed a true statement. But we do see those suffering around us as the result of choices influenced by their own understanding, tainted as it is by sin and a lack of wisdom. We pilgrims search out God’s promises in His Word and apply them in our daily lives, finding that God is indeed unchangeable and true to His Word.

When we trust in God, we are handing control of our lives to the One who knows what is best for us. God sees the End from the Beginning, and when Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to leave Him, Peter replied, “ … Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life” (John 6:68). There is no other way to complete our journey through life. There is no other ideology, or doctrine, or religion, that will assure us a place in the Home our spirits desire. Only God knows the way we need to take in our lives and we trust Him in the process.

Dear Father God. We proclaim our trust in You today and every day. We praise and worship You. Amen.

Trust in the Lord

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety! The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right. The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?””
Psalm 11:1-3 NLT

What do people trust in? Their bank balances? Their wage checks? Their homes? Their families? Conversely, there are probably many things in our societies that they don’t trust in, like their governments or tax authorities. Some people are so disillusioned with society that they prefer to live off-grid in some remote part of the world. And as for personal safety, where can that be found, in absolute terms? David, the Psalmist for Psalm 11, was being advised to find safety in the mountains because once again he was being attacked by “the wicked”. But we read that David wasn’t the only target, and he included those “whose hearts are right”. He perceived that “the foundations of law and order have collapsed”, a serious state of affairs for any society. 

The Bible scholars are unsure about the context of this Psalm. It could have been written when David was running and hiding from King Saul, or it could have been at the time of the rebellion by his son, Absolom. But there seems to be a national crisis serious enough for David to consider fleeing to a place of safety. In his day, law and order was very much connected to God and His Law, but if David had doubts about social cohesion, then perhaps even God Himself was being rejected by the wicked people around him.

Here in the UK we have a legal system upheld by a police force largely respected by the population, and that seems to hold society together, at least for most of the time. Of course, our legal system is based on sound Christian and Biblical principles that have stood the test of time, and, although many reject God and Christianity in general, the laws remain, to the benefit of all. So we can enjoy the safety of our homes and we have the freedom to move around in our societies without fear of arrows being shot at us “from the shadows”. 

But back to the opening question – who or what do we pilgrims trust in for protection? David was emphatic that he trusted “in the Lord for protection”. That’s a real place of security because, as children of God, we pilgrims have a wonderful Heavenly Father who cares for us, and guides us in His ways. Of course, we will be familiar with Proverbs 3:3-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”. Those verses were written a very long time ago, and are as true today as they were then. As we follow along God’s paths we will find safety and protection. These paths might not be the ones our sinful natures would like us to follow, but going against God’s way could, and often does, lead to a place of insecurity, a place that lacks the safety our souls yearn for. 

David knew His Lord. He knew that by keeping close to Him, he would be safe. We pilgrims, similarly close to God, will hold fast in a society that panics at the slightest attack. Those around us will lack the safety of a relationship with God, and won’t know which way to turn. While they flap around, “fly[ing] like a bird” to the metaphorical mountains, we stand firm as the Psalmist did when he wrote Psalm 91:2, “This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him”. We, quite simply, trust in the Lord. There is no other way.

Dear Father God. As David wrote, we trust in You for our protection. Thank You for Your salvation. Amen.

Trust in Jesus

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
John 14:1-3 NLT

At the end of the previous chapter, Jesus had just prophesised that Peter was going to betray Him soon, in fact, before the rooster had crowed three times. But He swiftly moved on, and, perhaps seeing the distress building in the disciples’ faces, Jesus started to talk to them about the future. In this chapter, and the following two, Jesus spoke many words of comfort, including what was going to happen in the coming month and years, and beyond, and about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then we have Jesus’ prayer, leading up to His arrest in the garden. Wonderful words of comfort that must have sustained the disciples’ through the coming turbulent times.

Jesus started by saying “Don’t let your hearts be troubled”. Don’t be sad or worried, He said; rather, “Trust in God, and trust also in me”. These words have had a timeless impact in the lives of the followers of Christ, and still do today. We look around at world events and issues we are facing and the words of Jesus hang in the air before us, as He says, “trust in Me”. What are we pilgrims facing today? Do we need encouragement? Well, Jesus has the answer. No-one else can supply the security and assurance for the future than Jesus. All the disciples, except John, were to suffer a violent death, prematurely ending their lives. I can almost hear the thinking going on in their minds, as they faced into a horrendous series of events unfolding around them. The words of Jesus to not be anxious and fearful, and to trust in Him, would have been with them, providing comfort in their times of need.

But what does it mean to trust in Jesus? These are not just words of comfort. They are living and real, and we find in the Bible all about why we should trust Jesus. We overlay the Bible and its truths over world events and find practical advice and instructions that will never disappoint. In Jeremiah 17:7-8 we read, “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit”. 

So, fellow trees, we are truly blessed as we trust in God. There is no other person or circumstance in this world, and never will be, worthy of our trust. 

Dear God. In You we trust. Forever. Amen.