Upon thinking about pangs of
conscience as we reflect upon our walk with God, please remember that
judging yourself aright can be extremely difficult because our hearts are
deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9)
and we then become prone to fall into the pitfalls of legalism or antinomianism
as we are tempted to fall prey to feelings on condemnation brought upon us by
feelings of worldly sorrow.
Therefore to help us think aright about the matter let us
move our focus away from our resistant besetting sins to the victims of our sins,
and especially upon the ultimate victim of Jesus Christ who willingly took our
sinful infirmities upon Himself as if they were his own.
Let
us consider the Tears of Christ and be graciously moved
with godly sorrow to true repentance empowered by the Holy Spirit and not our
own frail and folly-filled human will.
Nonconformist minister and
author, Matthew Henry
is quoted as saying: “Extraordinary afflictions are not always the
punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary
graces. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions.”
Honestly, I’ve had a very
difficult time actually understanding, let alone believing this until only
these last few years of my life in which I’ve had to travel through some dark
and difficult days of my own. The Lord blessed me by introducing me to
one of our Christian forerunners in the faith Charles Naylor. I
read one of his works, “When Adversity
Comes” in which I learned that he had suffered adversity—loss of health,
bereavement, unexpected reverses, disappointed hopes, and many other calamities
that happen to people. He spent thirty-five years as a bedridden invalid with
pain as a constant companion, serious financial losses, and the loss of his
wife, but by the help of God he has mastered the calamities that came upon him
in life.
This work greatly helped me
through a difficult stretch on my own life and I highly recommend it as a must
read for anyone in the faith!! It ultimately led me to sharing the
spiritual fruits that I’ve received from undergoing those trying times in my
following blogpost - “It’s
gotta be da’ shoes!!”
Please remember to:
Take one day at a
time.
- Matthew 6:34
Remember all things work for
good.
- Romans 8:28
Under no circumstances should you
worry.
- Philippians 4:6
Start everyday with prayer and thanksgiving.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"There
is enough sin in my best prayer to send the whole world to Hell.” ~John Bunyan
If you
find the above observation by John Bunyan, (a Puritan preacher and author {c.
1628-1688}) to be a goad, pricking & piercing
at the very depths of your heart today, then this message is for you.
I would
like to serve our fellow spiritualbrothers and sisters with prayer support as well as encourage everyone
to deepen, grow, & enjoy their own prayer life. To that end I encourage you
to reconsider anew, “what exactly is prayer?”As silly as this may initially sound, we find that any confusion or
potential misunderstanding of it is a real cause to much of our personal
difficulty with it.
If you
think of prayer as simply something that Christians do because we were
commanded and instructed to do so, you will soon come to find that prayer then
becomes some chore or burdensome duty – potentially veering into the realms of
mysticism & magic, where we think that we can get what we want by correctly
following some ritual or routine as we say the right ‘spell’. (And if you don’t
get the answer you want, you either start tweaking or doubting the ‘magic
formula’ you’ve been employing.)
John
Calvin, French theologian, pastor, and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant
Reformation (July 10 1509-May 27 1564) is quoted as saying, “Prayer is the chief exercise of faith.”Michael Reeves, President & Professor of
Theology at Union School of Theology in the UK, in his book Enjoy Your Prayer Life,
states that “Prayer is the primary way
true faith expresses itself. This also means that prayerlessness is practical
atheism, demonstrating a lack of belief in God.”He goes on to say, “Your prayer life reveals how much you
really want communion with God and how much you really depend on him.I stress it absolutely does not tell you
about your security as an unrejectable child of God, but it does tell you, very
accurately, how much of a baby you are spiritually, how much of a hypocrite you
are, and how much you actually love the Lord. Thus if your tendency is to think
you’re rather wonderful, just remember your prayer life.”
If you
find these words particularly cutting, please remember the counsel of Proverbs 27:6
and know that Michael does go on to exhort us with the following
acknowledgement & encouragement: “If
prayer is ‘the chief exercise of faith’, then of course everything – the world,
the flesh, and the devil – conspires against prayer. This means that you are
not the odd on out in your struggles with prayer, and it is not your secret
shame – which can be the crippling fear.You’re just a sinner, naturally inclined away from faith and prayer.
We’re all sinners. And you know who the friend of sinners is!Jesus. He then goes on to say, “The Son, then is the first pray-er. And the
salvation he brings is a sharing of his own communion with his Father.Prayer is learning to enjoy what Jesus has
always enjoyed.”
Prayer should be a natural expression of our faith. Just as faith
is awakened as we grasp the wonders of the gospel, so prayer follows as our
hearts respond to these glorious truths. When faith is awake and surging in us, prayer doesn’t feel like a burden or
an obligation. It feels natural. It’s how faith most instinctively speaks.
According to Jon Bloom, in the article, “What to Do When We’re Prayerless”:
“Prayerlessness, then, is not
fundamentally a discipline problem. At root it’s a faith problem. Think of
prayer as a train. Faith is the engine of prayer, God’s promises are the fuel,
and discipline is the rails. Prayerlessness is almost always due to a stalled
engine. For prayer to get going again, we first need to fire up our faith
engine again with fuel from God’s promises. You see, discipline doesn’t power
the train of prayer. Faith powers the train as you trust God’s word. But
discipline will guide the train. The rails of planning, structure, and methods
are necessary. But the best time to address those is when you’ve stoked your
engine, because when faith is firing you want to move forward in prayer and you
are more likely to be led by the Spirit to choose the rails that are best for
your prayer train.”
So let us today recall God’s past grace, reflect and stoke the
flames of our faith as we reconsider anew His eternal love, goodness, and
unchanging promises!!
If you find yourself needing to either restart the engine or tend to the rails of your “prayer train” then please enjoy making use of some of the following resources:
Please know that I have prayed, am
praying, and will continue to pray that the Lord knits our souls together as
He’s done for David & Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1) so that we manifest ourselves as Jesus' disciples (John 13:35), who live their faith as the early Christians have (Acts 2:42) and are part of His one body (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Enjoy!!
Unless
the Lord Builds the House A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless
the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless
the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
The biblical figures of Ezra and
Nehemiah are not the most popular or well-known. No signs or wonders occur
during their days, and neither of them accomplishes mighty feats or brings
about miraculous acts of deliverance. Ezra is a Bible nerd who gets other
people to take the Bible seriously, and Nehemiah is essentially a project
manager for the rebuilding of the ancient walls of Jerusalem. It’s totally
understandable why no one thinks of Ezra or Nehemiah when they think of
significant characters of the Bible. Much of the modern Christian
tradition hasn’t really known what to do with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Because of the deeply held assumption that the Bible is primarily moral
instruction literature (a divine rule book), the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah
are usually turned into examples for how to lead a revival (Ezra), or how to
create momentum for your next church building project (Nehemiah). Biblical literature, however,
doesn’t always communicate by offering simple answers and moral examples.
Rather, the characters that populate the biblical stories are deeply flawed,
often ambiguous, and a mixed-bag of success and failure - Kind of like any one
of us…. The stories of Ezra and Nehemiah
tell a realistic story of religious people who are zealous to help others see
the world and God in a new way. They are full of passion and love for God, and
do everything in their power to lead the Israelites into a new era of devotion
to their God … and it DOESN’T work. The story ends with Nehemiah in angry
tears, beating the Israelites for violating the covenant commands of the Torah
(see Nehemiah13). Does that sound like a pattern of
inspirational leadership that you should follow? It doesn’t, and that’s because
these books aren’t offering us a list of tips to successful leadership. That’s
actually the opposite of their message. In reality, they offer a sobering story
of leaders who cannot bring about the full realization of their hopes and
dreams, even when they tried and prayed their hardest. For the moment, it’s worth
reflecting on the fact that the book of Ezra-Nehemiah is a profound statement about
leadership, but not the kind that’s popular. It’s a realistic story about
religious leaders who are unable to realize their dreams due to the impossible
paradox of the human condition. Leaders cannot generate a true revival, but
they certainly can prevent it from happening. Despite their best intentions,
Ezra and Nehemiah are not able to accomplish the transformation of the human
heart. We as faithful believers need to
realize and acknowledge that like Ezra and Nehemiah, despite any doctrinal
differences we may have, we as Christians are each leaders in God’s kingdom
commissioned with a building project of our own “church” community right where we are at here and now (Exodus 19:3-6, 1 Corinthians 3:9,16-17) and we are just as unable as our
biblical forefathers were in transforming even our own, let alone anyone else’s
heart. We must remember that we like Paul and Apollos are simply servants
(migrant workers who have been called, befriended and adopted into our King’s
family) farming His wild fields by sowing, scattering and watering seed as
well reaping any harvest we should come across as we make our way throughout
our lives, as we entrust God to actually make things grow (1 Corinthians 3:5-7). And so these books are a literary
memorial to the mixed-bag of leadership. Just because we have high ideals and
divinely inspired passion doesn’t mean God has to fulfill our dreams. Even the
most capable leaders will tell you that the law of unintended consequences and
inevitable human failure will compromise the best of our plans. But that
doesn’t mean Ezra and Nehemiah shouldn’t have tried. Their stories give us hope
and inspiration to keep pointing other people to God’s grace and to keep
calling them (and ourselves!) to faithfulness and devotion. But after pondering
Ezra-Nehemiah, our pointing and calling should be done with a sober awareness
that our efforts will likely be compromised. This doesn’t mean God isn’t
faithful or good. It means that we’re flawed humans whose fundamentally selfish
nature can be transformed only by a generous gift of God’s grace. Leaders who
know this will lead with a humility and self-awareness that is hard to come by
these days. And it’s this kind of wisdom and “leadership lessons” that
Ezra-Nehemiah offers to us. And we’re better off for hearing
this message, if we have ears to hear. So let’s honestly ask ourselves: Am I caught in Satan’s net,
fretting over my own hope, dreams, goals and concerns or am I truly living in
community with God, in step with His Word along with my fellow adopted brothers
and sisters in the faith, as slaves to righteousness, humbly submitting
ourselves to worldly authorities, considering others more than myself, as I
lovingly share God’s gospel message in hopes of their ultimate salvation? Just keep swimming…. CORAM DEO Hebrews 13:20-21
Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,The watchman stays awake in vain.
The American rock group Starship may never know how close yet far from the truth they were when they sang out that "We built this city on rock and roll," because we disciples of Christ know that any house that is built on the sands of anything other than the "solid rock" of Christ will not stand!! So let us take care to live out Colossians 3:16-17 as we honor Christ's call to go and make disciples, building up our citizens for the Holy City - the developed Garden of Eden - described in Revelation 21 - that we wait to one day inhabit!!
Today, I was moved by the words penned by Thomas Wilcox (1621-1687), one of our fore-running, elder adopted brothers in Christ, who is now a voice amongst the growing cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1-3) who is quoted as saying:
“A word of advice to my own heart and yours. You are a religious person and partake of all the ordinances. You do well: they are glorious privileges: but if you have not the blood of Christ at the root of your religion, it will wither, and prove but painted pageantry to go to hell in.
If you retain guilt and self-righteousness under it, those vipers will eat out all the vitals of it at length. Try and examine with greatest strictness every day, what ground your religion and hope of glory is built upon, whether it was laid by the hand of Christ. If not, it will never be able to endure the storm that must come against it; Satan will throw it all down, and great willthe fall thereof (Matt 7:27).
You that glory in being a Christian, you shall be winnowed. Every vein of your profession will be tried to purpose. It is terrible to have it all come tumbling down, and to find nothing but itself to stand upon.
You who pride yourself on being a Christian, see to your waxen wings, which now will melt with the heat of temptation. What a misery is it to trade much, and be bankrupt at length, and have no stock, no foundation laid for eternity in your soul!
You who pride yourself on the gifts you have, look to see there is not a worm at the root that will spoil all your fine gourd, and make it die about you in a day of scorching. Look over your soul daily, and ask: Where is the blood of Christ to be seen upon my soul? What righteousness is it that I stand upon to be saved? Have I got away from all my self-righteousness? Many eminent religious people have come at length to cry out, in the sight of the ruin of all their duties, “Undone, undone, to all eternity!”
Now that I have your attention, please know, that this same man who spoke these strong fire-breathed words, describes to us, our Savior, Jesus, with an equally heartfelt, powerful yet soothing elegance, second to none:
"If you have ever seen Christ truly, you have seen pure grace, pure righteousness in Him in every way infinite, far exceeding all sin and misery. If you have seen Christ, you can trample upon all the righteousness of men and angels, so as to bring you into acceptance with God. If you have seen Christ, you would not do a duty without Him for ten thousand worlds (1 Corinthians 2:2). If ever you saw Christ, you saw him as a Rock, higher than self-righteousness, Satan, and sin (Psalm 61:2), and this rock follows you (1 Corinthians 10:4); and there will be continual dropping of honey and grace out of that Rock to satisfy you (Psalm 81:16). Examine if ever you have beheld Christ as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Be sure you have come to Christ, that you stand upon the Rock of Ages, and have answered His call to your soul, and have closed with Him for justification.”
Have any one of us truly met this Jesus that the bible describes? Isn’t this the Jesus we want to know? For He’s the foundation that has been laid (1 Corinthians 3:11) and the chief cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6-8) of the spiritual house into which we like living stones are being built. (1 Peter 2:4-5)
May we be gratefully encouraged by The wonderful works of the Almighty Breath of Heaven and worshipfully marvel as Paul did upon considering Him (Romans 11:33-36) as we echo J.R. Miller's (1840-1912) sentiment as we answer His call upon our lives as the church, in this day and age, tasked to bring the good news to everyone we encounter:
“The new year on which we are about to enter is unopened and we know not what shall befall us; but if we follow Christ we need have no fear. So let us leave the old year with gratitude to God for its mercies, and with penitence for its failures and sins, and let us enter the new year with earnest resolve in Christ's name to make it the holiest and most beautiful year we have ever lived.”
1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
and Timothy our brother,
To
Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and
Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon's
Love and Faith
4 I thank my God always when I
remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and
of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and
I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full
knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.[a]7 For I have
derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of
the saints have been refreshed through you.
Q. Whom do you have in your life that is like Philemon?
Q. Have you repeatedly remembered this person in your prayers,
thanking God for them?
Q. Have you refreshed the hearts of your fellow spiritual
brothers and sisters?
Q. Can anyone honestly label you as a Philemon-like
individual?
Paul's
Plea for Onesimus
8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough
in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for
love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner
also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child,
Onesimus,[b] whose father I became in my
imprisonment.
Q. Do you habitually appeal rather than make demand of
others?
Q. Can anyone look to you as being their spiritual parent?
Q. If so, are you concerned for them, ensuring to take an
active interest in their life or did you leave them as an orphan, abandoning
them at some point in time in the past, leaving them to fend for themselves?
11 (Formerly he was useless to
you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am
sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have
been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf
during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do
nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by
compulsion but of your own accord.
Q. Do you carelessly and callously presume on the good
natures of any other people, taking their kindnesses for granted or do you make
an effort to value their willing consideration and consent?
15 For this perhaps is why he
was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no
longer as a bondservant[c] but more than a bondservant, as
a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh
and in the Lord.
Q. Do you have a practical understanding of and have
submitted yourself to God’s providential control over all of His creation,
knowing that there is a reason for everything as part of God’s larger plan or
do you believe in random chance of coincidence, serendipity, and good luck?
17 So if you consider me your partner,
receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you
at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account
Q. Are there any fellow spiritual brothers and sisters for
whom you would support completely, willingly giving yourself completely?
19 I, Paul, write this with my own
hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes,
brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.21 Confident
of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I
say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am
hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
Q. Are you confident enough to be respectfully assertive
careful to not cross the line into insistence and demandingness?
Q. In potentially tense conversations, are you either alert
or wise enough to convey your confidence in that other person’s integrity,
goodwill, and amiability?
Final
Greetings
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in
Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark,
Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
Q. Do you operate in a circle of friends who typically all
know each other or are your relationships largely linear and without the depth
of a multifaceted understanding of one another?
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit.
