Five Words

Posted on by korgrocker

“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you. But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language. Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.”
1 Corinthians 14:18-20 NLT

Paul was apparently a great tongue speaker, but the Corinthians would have known that because he started the church there and pastored them for the first few months. Paul started in the synagogue, found much opposition, and so ended up meeting in a place right next door. But the people in the church had become believers in Jesus, responding to a message which had been the central thrust of Paul’s evangelism. They found that when they believed the Gospel message and were baptised for the forgiveness of their sins, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit in a way that astounded them with its power and its impact on their lives. Apart from when he used the other gifts, Paul was a great tongue-speaker, and that fact wasn’t lost on the Corinthian believers. 

But Paul had to address the overabundant use of the gift of tongues, and he laid out the necessary balance in a church meeting. Great to use the gift of tongues for their personal devotions, he said, but not in a church meeting, please! Instead, he encouraged them to seek God for five helpful words to build up the church. 

Fast forward to today and our church meetings. Whatever and wherever they are, there is always an opportunity to help other believers. Sadly, when we encounter another person, a negative situation often develops. There was a lady I used to know who got to church, which was a miracle in itself, because when she arrived, she unburdened herself of all her family problems. Negative after negative came up in conversation, but in return, a message in tongues would have been no help to her at all. Instead, she needed some words of encouragement to lift her and give her hope again. Sometimes five words would have been sufficient. 

“[God] will never leave you nor forsake you”

As we pilgrims go out and about, there are plenty of opportunities to bring five words of encouragement. It will probably be appropriate to say a few more words than five, but sometimes all another person needs to hear is that God loves them and cares for them. We need to have a word of Scripture ready and waiting. Something like 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. Or how about 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”? Or there is Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you”. As we read our Bibles every day, we must squirrel away useful and encouraging verses for future use so that when we meet people, we have a few words to edify them. We live in a sad and bad world, but we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and He hates to see His children struggling unnecessarily with worldly burdens. 

Dear Heavenly Father. We love You and praise You today. We are so grateful for all You have done for us, for the times when You have lifted us up out of the miry clay and put a song in our hearts. Please help us to be Your mouthpiece to bring encouragement to the discouraged in our churches and neighbourhoods. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Deep Distress

Posted on by korgrocker

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

If we read the news reports today we will find stories of “deep distress” leaping out of the pages, assaulting our standards of right and wrong, inciting panic, and even sucking us into having the same feelings ourselves. We could be excused for thoughts about what a terrible place the UK is to live in. Stories of debt, council tax arrears, forced installation of prepayment utility meters, homelessness, paedophilia, murders, phone thefts – the list is endless and our senses of decency are violated day after day. Well, what we experience today was not unknown in David’s day. Of course, in those days it was a different culture, a different society, but ever since the Fall, human beings have been in “deep distress” whenever and wherever they have lived. David had problems that he said were going “from bad to worse”, putting him on what looked a downward spiral into misery and depression. What his problems were he doesn’t say, but running a kingdom was never going to be easy, with stories of intrigue, internal jostling for positions, thoughts of attack, and that was just in his palace. There were the threats from the nations around him. There was a people to govern and keep happy. Idolatry was also a problem in Israel, generation after generation. And then there were all those wives and concubines …..

All of this got too much for David and he cried out to God for mercy. In desperation, he asked God to “save [him] from them all”, and, for good measure, he confessed all his sins. David was prone to depression, and we can see that in his writings. Psalm 31:9, “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away“. And then we have Psalm 13:2-3, “How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die“. David had many personal struggles, and his affair with Bathsheba was such an example. In that whole episode he broke several commandments – the sixth (murder), the seventh (adultery) and tenth (coveting someone else’s wife) come immediately to mind. But before us men start adopting a position on the higher moral ground, claiming that we have never done any of these things, remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 5 and 6 will soon bring us back down to earth. Matthew 5:21-22a, 28, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! … “But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. But with all his real and imagined potential struggles, no wonder David found himself in “deep distress”. 

Are we pilgrims in “deep distress” today? Due to poor choices or unforeseen circumstances, we might find ourselves in a place of being overwhelmed by our problems. Fortunately we have a loving Heavenly Father who will help us get back to the place where we should be. There is much in His Word that will help us, and a good place to start is in 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”. I also find encouragement in Paul’s suggestion, “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” (Philippians 4:6-7). Or how about 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. Through all our problems, though, we must never lose hope. Paul wrote, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28). The one positive thing in all our problems is that we can pray. Unfortunately, we see time and time again that people in our churches who find themselves in difficulties, then stop fellowshipping with their fellow believers, preferring to stay at home. But sharing our problems with a trusted believing friend, praying together, will soon bring a solution. At a time of personal “deep distress” during my daughter’s illness, an army of prayer warriors rose up in the church my wife and I attended, and, in answer to theirs, and our, prayers of faith, she was healed so totally and miraculously that the doctors wrote on her medical notes that “this is nothing short of a miracle”. 

We have a loving Heavenly Father, who loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, for the forgiveness of our sins. That is how much He loves us, and He will not see His children struggle in “deep distress”  for a moment.

Dear Lord, in the midst of our times of distress, we seek your comforting presence. Wrap us in your loving embrace, and grant us the serenity to face these troubled moments. Let your divine light shine upon us, banishing the shadows of fear and doubt. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fishing Lesson 1

Posted on by korgrocker

“Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.”
John 21:1-3 NLT

This last chapter in John’s Gospel is entitled “Epilogue”. Seven of the disciples decided to go fishing, back to the time when Jesus called them from this very profession. A night-time excursion out on the Sea of Galilee. So they readied the boat and presumably headed off into the places where they knew they would normally have caught something. They returned to their comfort zones, as they struggled to get their minds around the grief over what had happened to Jesus, as they wondered what the implications would be from His appearance to them in the locked room, and at a loss to know what to do next. We read what happened after hours and hours of toil, “but they caught nothing all night”. How discouraging was that? They would have usually caught something, but nothing at all? So the depressed disciples ended up even more depressed after a fruitless night’s labour.

Do we pilgrims sometimes find the same? We encounter something that totally throws us out of our routines, or we experience a discouraging event, losing a job or a loved one, or suffer some other life event in our journey that totally throws us and all we can do is to get back into our comfort zones, doing something familiar to find comfort and give us time to make sense of what has happened. But that might not be the best place for us, because rather than reach into the temporal, we should instead be entering the Kingdom realm where we can find Jesus. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you“. Paul wrote in 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”. 

The disciples lost their way for a bit, but Jesus had a solution, as we will soon find out. We too may lose our way sometimes, but we must always turn to Jesus instead of looking for a solution in a world corrupted by evil. Our comfort zones may not align with God’s Kingdom, and we run the risk of becoming depressed as the disciples did, catching nothing of any value even if we work hard at trying to make something happen. There is only one way to eternal life and that is through Jesus. Only He is the Way.

Dear Lord, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. The comfort our souls crave for can only be found in You. Amen.

Totally Convinced (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

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 NLT

Paul continued to write about the things that convinced him could never separate him from God’s love. He considered life and death, angels and demons, and now writes about fears and worries. Paul was a man who had first hand experience of life’s troubles, but he never seemed to stop and think. He was a driven man, desperate to share the Gospel regardless of his personal safety and comfort. Regardless of what he thought, though, he accepted that fears and worries were an issue. 

Have we woken up this morning, stomachs churning with fear because of what we are facing into in the day ahead? Perhaps the boss at work wants to see us about an issue that could result in our dismissal. Or perhaps the bailiffs are due, to collect an unpaid debt. The doctors in hospital want to talk to you about a sick relative. Further afield, some live in constant fear of the authorities, waiting for that knock on the door. Perhaps we have received a threatening or bullying message on social media. There are countless issues that could be causing “fears for today”. 

Paul continued to write about “our worries for tomorrow”. That too can be debilitating. People worry about things like, “Will I have enough money to pay the utility bill that’s due next week?” College students worry about the looming exams. The list of potential worries coming down the tracks of life can be seemingly endless.

Fears and worries can be debilitating, and they snatch away any thoughts of God and His love and provision, impacting our joy in the process. But in the context of eternity, our anxieties are irrational. However, just saying that is ok when we don’t have anything to worry about. It’s a different issue when we fear for our physical comfort and safety. When we have problems with finding the resources to buy the food we and our families need, or heat our homes. Having “fears for today” and “worries about tomorrow” manifest themselves in many ways. Sadly, I know people who are unrepentant worriers. Even when they have nothing to worry about, they pause and start worrying that there is something to worry about that they don’t know about yet.

How do we pilgrims join Paul in his state of being “totally convinced”? Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength”. Paul’s relationship with God superseded anything life was going to throw at him. His calling was solid and indisputable.

God promises us that He would supply all our needs. We read in Philippians 4:19, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus“. If we are honest with ourselves, we will find that many of our worries come, not from our needs, but from our wants. So we fill our homes with gadgets and other “stuff” and then start worrying about our possessions. To mitigate the worries of ownership, we take our expensive insurance policies. Paul learned to live a life of faith in God, trusting in Him to supply all his needs.

We can’t leave the subject of “fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow” without referring to Philippians 4:6-7, verses that are much quoted, and which read, “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“. Somehow, when we are on our knees in God’s presence, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace“.

Dear Lord. You care for us, and we respond to You with grateful hearts. We worship You today. Amen.