God Is Faithful And Trustworthy

Today, I’ve had a nice, relaxing day of listening to a Christian podcast, reading apologetics, theology and the book of Jeremiah. Well, only the first four chapters so far – it’s hardly the shortest book in the Bible. The book of Jeremiah is probably most well-known for this promise:

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

(Jeremiah 29:11, New Revised Standard Version [NRSV])

And boy, when you’ve read the opening few chapters, you really need that hope to hold on to! In the opening chapters, God pours out judgement over Judah and reminds them of just about everything they’re doing wrong. It takes a while. It’s not pretty. But it shows God to be trustworthy, righteous and faithful. Two passages in particular stuck out to me as I read. The first is the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations:

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Then said I:

“Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

But the LORD said to me:

“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”

(Jeremiah 1:4-12, New King James Version [NKJV])

So what’s so amazing about that? God calls a young prophet, not just to Judah, but to the nations. Nothing particularly special, you might think, especially if you think of Samuel, who was young himself. What is so great about this passage is the reassurance God gives to Jeremiah in this passage. Jeremiah points out that he is young and that people won’t listen to him, but God replies, and He says that He has put God-appointed words in Jeremiah’s mouth, He has set Jeremiah as a prophet over the nations. He has annointed Jeremiah, and in that, he has great power. And so Jeremiah just does it. No more protestations. He just gets on with it, and God says, “You have seen well”. We have great power when we do God’s work. He is faithful to His word. We can trust Him. Wow.

Then, there’s another passage in the midst of God’s judgement on Judah that stuck out to me:

For thus says the LORD:

“The whole land shall be desolate;
Yet I will not make a full end.
For this shall the earth mourn,
And the heavens above be black,
Because I have spoken.
I have purposed and will not relent,
Nor will I turn back from it.

(Jeremiah 4:27-28, NKJV)

So, in the midst of judgement, of declaring that Judah will be ravaged, where this faithful, trustworthy God? It’s clear that He is righteous, for that is the precise reason that He is declaring judgement. He makes is quite clear to the people of Judah that He is righteous and they are not. But what really struck me was the last sentence, where it says, “I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back on it”.  It’s easy to remember the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God in the good times, but isn’t it also reassuring to know that when God chastises us, when He allows us to go through bad times, He sticks to his guns?

Our God is no flip-flopper. He is true to His word. He doesn’t make false threats. He might give us a way out, but if we don’t take it, he will follow through. What a trustworthy, righteous, faithful God we have!

 

A Poem Of Hope

Some of my friends have magnetic words for their fridges. I need to get some for my fridge, but in the meantime, I use theirs. This is a little piece I wrote on one a few weeks ago:

I ache
A spark for my heart
For it to shine

I dream of summer
Crushing through the rainy, wintry spray

I trudge languidly in
The chains of rusty blues
Lusting sweetness behind the void

Ou est l’étincelle? Perhaps it’s closer than I think. But while I wait, I lay my comfort in the truth that God has made verything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But in the meantime, I dream, and I’ll try not to trudge for too long!

 

Getting Priorities Right

I was doing some washing today and I saw a piece of scripture on one of them with the following passage on it, from Isaiah:

Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

(Isaiah 1:17-20. New King James Version [NKJV])

It’s a piece of scripture I know well. It’s one that really fires up my spirit. It reminds me of that well-known passage in Micah, too:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

(Micah 6:8, NKJV)

The two aren’t, of course, necessarily linked, though they are both passages that are used when people talk about justice – whatever “justice” is, which is not something I am intending to open up right now, because it would take some time. But right now, those two pieces of scripture speak one thing to me: simplicity.

We spend so much time arguing about theology, who has seen the biggest miracles and “looking the part” that we forget what the Lord requires of us. Of course He doesn’t want us to have bad theology, but what He really desires is a people who are after His heart. Theology has its place, but loving mercy, walking humbly with God and having a genuinely compassionate and serving heart towards others – that’s what He really wants!

 

Living For Your Glory

I love to sing songs. I can’t sing, and I don’t particularly want other people to be able to hear me, but singing songs is great. Sung worship to God can be a liberating experience and reminds us of the One to whom we are singing. If it doesn’t, it should, because it’s certainly not meant to be about us, except for us praising God, whatever that entails.

These lyrics are from a song by Matt Redman called “Living For Your Glory”:

What good is it to gain the whole world, but lose your soul?
What good is it to make a sweet sound, but remain proud?
In view of God’s mercy, I offer my all

And take my life, let it be everything, all of me
Here I am, use me for Your glory
In everything I say and do, let my life honor You
Here I am living for Your glory

The road I’m on that leads nowhere without You
And the life I live that finds meaning and surrender
In view of God’s mercy, I offer my all

Seeking first the Kingdom
Seeking first the Kingdom of my Lord

What good is it to gain the whole world, but lose your soul? We can have the whole world, but without a relationship with our Creator, it’s all for nothing, it’s all temporal, it’s all going to disappear. Just look at Jesus, when He went in to the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days and 40 nights. Satan offers Jesus the whole world, but He doesn’t take it. He first refuses to turn a stone to bread in order to demonstrate His divine power. Then He refuses to throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple. So Satan offers Him everything He can, with a snag, of course:

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

The the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

(Matthew 4:8-11, New King James Version [NKJV])

What good is it for me to gain the whole world, yet lose my soul because I have not acknowledged God and have been led astray by the tempter? What good is it for me to make a sweet soun, but remain proud? God loves the humble. Scripture is full of references to the humble. The most obvious reference is probably from James, but James actually bases his passage on scripture from the Old Testament:

Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.

(Proverbs 3:34, NKJV)

James is not a book for a quick-fix, feel-good factor. The Bible really shouldn’t be used for a feel-good factor anyway, but James is a very direct, clear rebuke to our lives:

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

(James 4:1-10, NKJV)

Why would we even want the whole world? It comes out of our selfish desire, for a desire for gain, to be better than others. But that serves us no purpose. Our purpose is fulfilled in submitting to God. Scripture promises that God, our faithful God, will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), and so He makes it possible for us to submit to Him and to resist the devil. He promises that the devil will flee from us when we resist him. If we choose to draw near to God, He will draw near to us. He will be our refuge and our stronghold – our very present help in our times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

What a faithful God I have. What a good God I have. And if He’s not yours, He can be yours too!

 

The Armour Of God

Paul’s letters give us some great practical instructions on how to live a fruitful Christian life. The following passage is from his letter to the Ephesians, telling us how to hold firm in our walk with God:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints – and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it, I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

(Ephesians 6:10-20, New King James Version [NKJV])

If my task in life was knowing this passage, I think my life would be easy. If I followed this passage, my life would certainly be easier. But my task in life is to follow it, and I know that I don’t follow it nearly as well as I could, and ultimately, it’s me who suffers for not following it properly. If I don’t take the time to get right with God and then end up unreadied for the road ahead on that day, I’m not going to lose my salvation, I’m (hopefully) not going to put anyone else in danger, but I am going to suffer from a lack of preparation for the challenges the evil one is going to send my way over the course of that day.

It is not I who stands strong. I only stand strong because I stand strong in God. If I do not take the time to stand strong in God, I don’t stand strong – I hobble, I crawl, or stutter; easy pickings. It is not a physical battle that I am in – I cannot pick up a stick to fight off my enemy. No, I am in a spiritual battle, one altogether harder to fight alone, and so I need to be strong in God so that he can lead me into paths of righteousness and steer me away from untruth or situations that are going to cause me harm. He is my stronghold, my refuge, but I need to make Him my refuge.

How? By putting on the armour of God. Maybe I should try that in the morning. Instead of thinking about what it all means, intricately dissecting each bit, maybe I should just pray it through. “God, help me to put on the belt of truth, so that I can stand true to You and Your word, so that I can steer clear from untruth and deception.” Maybe I will. Maybe you could try that with me…

 

Sacrificial Living

How generous are you? I like to think that I’m fairly generous. I’m not rich, but I try not to hold in to what money I have too dearly – although I admit, I could probably tithe more generously. I’d like to think I’m generous with my time, investing in other people. I’d like to think I’m good at welcoming people into my home and to helping them when they are in need. So, in that sense, do I come across as a ‘good Christian’? To some, maybe. But then Jesus comes along and talks about how a Christian should truly be marked in their walk with God:

“Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues you for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

(Matthew 5:38-42, The Message)

Ouch. The screw tightens, my pride cries out. Do I still come across as such a ‘good Christian’? No. I fall well short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23). It’s easy for me to be generous to people I know, to my friends. I can serve them easily because I know they will serve me too. But what about people who won’t serve me in return? I don’t serve those people quite so easily. If I do serve them, I don’t serve them with my whole heart, with willingness, with a joyful spirit. I bemoan how ungrateful they are, how they need manners, or how they need Jesus to meet them powerfully in their lives – as if I, somehow, have been perfected to a point where I don’t need Jesus myself any more (which I haven’t; I need Him as much as I ever have)!

But you see, it’s not even in the serving that I fall short. What happens when people behave unjustly towards me? I cry out for ‘justice’ to be done! I long for them to be brought to their knees in repentance! O, how I cry out that God would smite them and turn them into creatures the size of ants. Then, they would think twice before doing that again!

That puts me at the centre of everything. Suddenly, everything is about me, myself and I. It’s not about God. It’s just about me wanting some kind of sadistic penance. How very Christian of me. I lose my perspective. It’s true, those people who have dealt me an injustice have sinned, they do need to repent of their sin, but it’s not me who they need to repent to – it’s God. When I lose sight of that, when I lose sight of the fact that it’s all about God’s relationship with that person, and most certainly not about my vindictive character, I lose sight of the cross.

I’m not such a ‘good Christian’ after all. In fact, I’m pretty rubbish. Thank God for grace. Give me your grace, Lord! Give me the strength to follow your ways and your teaching! For if there’s one thing I know, clearly, it’s that of my own doing, I cannot attain those ways of my own doing.

 

Soaring Like Eagles

The following passage from the Old Testament is one that I have read frequently over the last few weeks:

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or whine, Israel, saying,
“God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”?
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energises those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.

(Isaiah 40:27-31, The Message)

Sometimes recently, although I’ve probably not spoken it out or actively thought it, I think I have lived wondering if God has lost track of me. I know He hasn’t, but sometimes, when things are going against you, it feels like you could have been forgotten. It’s easy to fall in to that trap. I know from my own life that I am quick to complain as soon as things start to go against me.

But that’s the point. Sometimes things go against us. That is the nature of this world. The world changes, but God doesn’t. He is unchanging. He is everlasting. He doesn’t come, and He doesn’t go. He is always there.

He gives me strength when I run out. When I have nothing left, he carries me forward. I keep a busy life, and I do lots of things, but eventually, I run out of steam and I need God to carry me through. That was the case today. That was the case yesterday. And He did – he carried me through. Some may see me as in my ‘prime’, but it doesn’t make me infallible. Far from it. I just makes it a bigger shock when I faint on the floor, exhausted.

But instead of constantly striving to achieve, to do, to pursue, I need to focus my eyes more simply. I need to pursue – but not for earthly gain. I need to pursue God. I need pursue His presence and in that time, as I wait on Him, he will give me all the strength I need to fulfil His purposes for my life. As I wait for Him to fill me up and to provide for my every need that He sees I have, I will fulfil His plans for me. I will soar like an eagle for Him. I will not lag behind. I will be at the forefront of the battle He wants me fighting, to live a life worthy to Him, to take His message to others, to make disciples of all nations – however He wants that to look in my life.

 

You’re A Child Of The King

I love gospel music. It has a great rhythm to it. Patti LaBelle is a great gospel singer and released a track called “Anything”. It’s about how the world and people in the world can make us doubt and make us believe lies, and then goes on to remind us that the world is the wrong barometer of who we are. The chorus says:

Don’t let no-one stand in your life
Change the way you feel inside
Nobody on this earth
Can tell you what you’re worth
Stand up
You’re a child of the King
And you can do anything

I need to stop placing my trust and my value in what people think and in trying to find my worth from them. Nobody on this earth can tell me what I’m worth – only God can tell me that. And he has. I am his child – I am a child of the King (John 1:12), and in Him, I can do anything, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

The world deceives and tries to discourage me, but in Christ I have all I need. Hallelujah!

 

Psalm 40

I love the Psalms. They are wonderful accounts of praise, lament, celebration and anguish. They deal with the raw emotion going through their writers’ lives. They bring a human perspective on God and can be a great encouragement in times of trial – or when we want to praise God but don’t know where to start.

Psalm 40 is an amazing Psalm, one that I love. Here’s a piece of it:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog,
And set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are those who make the Lord their trust,
Who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
You have multiplied, O my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us;
None can compare with You.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.

Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, but You have given me an open ear.
Burnt-offering and sin-offering You have not required.
Then I said, ‘Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.’

(Psalm 40:1-8, New Revised Standard Version, [NRSV])

I’ve been going through a bit of a hard time recently. There’s been substantial change in my life over the past year. I’ve been convinced of what I was going on to do, only to find myself 200 miles away from that place. I’m going to face even more uprooting over the coming year. I don’t know what much of that is going to look like. It’s an uncomfortable time. I’m struggling to hear God about these things – or I’m not recognising His voice. One or the other.

But I long to come out on the other side. I long to see a glimpse of my life as it will be in two years. I long to see where I will be, what I will be doing and how God has moved through my life. I long to praise God for bringing me out of my pit, my bog, my feelings of hopelessness, restlessness and insecurities about my worth. I wait patiently for my Lord to move me on in my journey with Him, on to the next step, safe in the knowledge that my steps are secure in the Rock of my saviour Jesus. I long for that new song of praise to flow from my lips, a song of praise to my God on high, telling all of His great hand over my life. I long to tell of how, though I didn’t understand what He was doing at the time, I can look back and say with confidence that He is good, that He is trustworthy, that He took me places I couldn’t imagine in my tiny mind.

I long to know His plans and His will, so I can follow His lead. I live in faith that this day of revelation in my life is near.

How long, to sing this song?

 

A Psalm Of Praise

I will praise You, Lord, for You’re the Lord of the dance,
I will worship You, Lord, for You give me strength;
You’re the bringer and sustainer of life.
Creation reveals Your mighty power,
And Lord, may I surrender all to You.

I will serve You, Lord, for You are my master;
I will wait on You, Lord, for You are my guide:
You are the great I Am,
You’re the loving, merciful Saviour,
And Lord, may I give my life back to You.

I will follow You, Lord, in whatever You lead me to;
I will obey, Lord, though I may not understand;
For You are the Lord of Lords,
You are the Prince of Peace,
And, Lord, You cast out my fears in your presence.

I will have faith, Lord, that the path ahead is prepared,
I will trust, Lord, in Your plan for my life;
For You have plans for me,
You are the One I should trust;
For You, Lord, are more trustworthy than the best of men.

You, Lord, are my comforter, my saviour, my redeemer, my guide -
My ever-present help in my time of need.
You are mighty, majestic, magnificent and merciful.
You are my cornerstone, the foundation of my being;
The lover of my soul, reconciling me to You by Jesus’ blood.

How could I ignore You, Lord, and serve myself?
And yet, so often, that’s what I do.
Change me, Father, and mould me afresh,
Transform me into a servant acceptable to You.

Rid me of my guilt and shame, I pray,
And fill me with the peace of Your love.