Forgetting mammon

It's always been a little bit funny when it comes to receiving certain gifts in life, especially during birthdays and Christmas time. I can get myself all riled up about a gift that I'm pretty confident I'll get or something I've been waiting for for what feels like ages... and I open the gift.

And it's not as awesome as I imagined it would be.

Is anyone with me on this? Where the anticipation before receiving the gift feels somehow more exciting than actually getting it? And somehow, we manage to do this to ourselves again and again... well some of us. And instead of being a part from the world as we should be, we get sucked into the materialistic worldview that is always begging for more and no matter how much one has, it never seems to be enough.

And this idolatry, this worship of always having more; of always needing to have more, thankfully, is one issue in particular that Jesus directly addressed.

In the book of Mark, we have the story of the rich man and Jesus, which I am sure many of you are familiar with. The rich man approaches Christ asking Him what must be done in order to receive eternal life. Jesus then recites the commandments and the man affirms he has followed them throughout his life.

Then Jesus responds:

Mark 10:21-22, "Jesus looked at him and loved him. 'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth." (NIV)  

I'll be honest, this passage makes me a little uncomfortable because I look around and I see all that I have and I ask myself "Would I be willing to sell all of this for Christ in an instant?" and often the answer isn't godly. 

All throughout the Old Testament, God was clear on idols and here again, He has emphasised its issue, and here's the thing: the rich man's problem was not that he had the wealth in the first place. The issue was that he idolised it over God. 

He would have rather worshipped what he could hold rather than the One who created him. 

And this topic wasn't a one-time thing that Jesus brought up. No, He made it quite clear:

Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (KJV)

And hence, the name of the blog post with mammon being the idol of money. Christ was clear in Scripture that, whatever it may be, whether it be our car, our clothes, music or any other material possession, if any of these replaced God in our lives, then we are, as Scripture puts it, displaying our hate for Him, our distrust, our belief that we would rather trust in our own possessions for security than God Himself.

And just as this was an issue 2,000 years ago, it is just as evident today. But as usually is the case, rather than simply believing what we are told, we have to go and test the limits.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?" (NIV)

Some people like to think that Christianity is all about 'don't do this or that' and that it takes all of the so-called fun out of life. But when Jesus spoke out against worship of mammon and that it was such a serious issue as to keep oneself from eternal life, He commanded us not out of any malicious intention of ruining our lives, but out of love.

Notice in the passage in Mark 10, it says Jesus loved him. He saw the obedience of this one man, His earnestness. Jesus' intention of exposing the man's worship of mammon wasn't to humiliate the man, but to rebuke and teach out of love, just as any loving father would do for his son.

Because God knows better than any of us that the wells we often try to drink from are full of tainted water with a shallow bottom and it is only God alone who provides eternal living water.

In Matthew 6:21 He says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." (NIV).

And again, it seems clear, Jesus was far from concerned about how much the rich man had. For all Jesus was concerned, He could have had a hundred piece of gold or a million... or one. 

Jesus was concerned with the heart, as He is concerned with all of ours. The very fact that the man was unwilling to place Jesus at the centre of his life; now, that was something Jesus was far more concerned about.

And why shouldn't we place Him at the centre of our lives? 

1 Timothy 6:17, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (NIV)

So then once we have that full trust in God, what does He call us to do in His Word with respect to our possessions? 

We each have our own struggles in our lives when it comes to placing God at the centre, so with that one, I will leave it to God to minister to each one of us as He transforms us from one degree of glory to another in His likeness.

God bless you all.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV

The Seventh Day

With having recently finished high school and suddenly having a bucket load of time on my hands, I've been thinking, which is always a good sign, about the past several years and times that the system drove me mad and yet how, with God's guidance and strength, I learnt to overcome.

And as I've sort of entered into this period of physical and mental rest, it also feels as sort of a spiritual rest where God is needing me to calm down and re-evaluate my faith and in the midst of thinking this through, I felt God leading me to share on the topic.

It seems that as time progresses and we find faster and faster means of doing things, society somehow places this pressure on our lives that, because we have this extra time, we must fill this time with something else to do, and, consequently, we never really slow down.

And when this thought is pondered upon, oneself finds their thoughts being drawn to the very beginning of Scripture... well I hope your thoughts are drawn to Scripture. : /

Why? Because this God we serve is the very author of what it means to rest, to chill out, to look back on His work and say "It is good." And yet, it seems that we have grown this mentality that says "If you're not constantly involved in ministry, you're not doing enough." And its almost as if we get legalistic about it, and we, in our own small way, end up creating a works-based salvation.

Let us draw, for a moment, to Genesis 2.

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Genesis 2:2-3 NIV

I guess its easy to forget that this concept of 'rest' is actually a holy concept. That it is sanctified and perfected by Majesty. And before we go any further, we do need to draw a line because Scripture also speaks out against laziness.

"For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.'" 2 Thessalonians 3:10 NIV

And its good that Scripture makes this distinction so as not to thwart and mistake the holiness of what it truly means to rest as opposed to being a potato couch... which I am... sometimes. 

But on a spiritual level, what does this mean to us? In an effort to avoid this works-based mindset on salvation, what does it means to really... rest?

I recently spoke with a sister in Christ on the topic of working in faith and what this means to us and she brought to light a verse of Scripture that I've probably brushed past countless times yet appears so profound.

When Christ was being asked about doing the works God requires, this is His response:

"Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." John 6:29 NIV

Isn't that awesome? When you look at this verse in John 6 and relate it to Jesus' final words "It is finished" it resonates the saying,

"Religion says 'do'. Jesus says 'done.'"

While we get so wound up sometimes in trying to do things for God, He's whispering, "Chill, it's already done." And we're simply reminded all over again that we can do nothing to earn this salvation He offers because He has already done what is needed. 

And this basis of faith, of belief in God, what He has done and even obedience to His commands and its relation to finding rest for our souls resonates throughout Scripture. 

"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rests for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16a NIV

The good path leads to rest, not from it because God, more often than we realise, simply wants us to abide in Him. To wait upon Him and listen to what He has to say in our lives. To be restored by Him, to be refreshed so we don't burn ourselves out spiritually. This is His desire for us. 

Today, at church, several families shared what they were doing once they would move on in the summer and one couple talked about God's calling in their lives to rest and I recall them commenting that they didn't fully understand what it meant to rest and that they didn't have all the answers but they were going to step down from the ministries that they were involved in and simply abide in God. 

"for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." Hebrews 4:10 NIV

Isn't it amusing when people go on vacations and yet there's often one family member who has brought all of their work with them? This isn't what God wants for His children. He knows that in order to rest, we simply need to let go for a while. 

And, sometimes, the idea of 'letting go' scares us, and we begin to think that we aren't doing enough for God.  But this rest that God offers is the fruit of obedience, and as Paul points out, is worthy of making every effort to enter into. 

"Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their [Irsael's] example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:11 NIV

Some people love to work and work and work, but when it comes to serving God, that isn't what God desires. He knows we need this spiritual rest more than we know ourselves, and He's waiting for us to accept it. 

So, chill out, and allow God to minister to you as you rest in Him knowing that His work remains finished upon the cross. 

God bless you all.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV

Don't waste your time

I'm not sure why I do it, but perhaps I'm insane as I once heard insanity defined as the repetition of doing something while hoping for different results. Each time I go onto YouTube, or rarely on Yahoo! Answers, and I end up in the religion section, you are guaranteed to almost always find a religious debate going on in the comments.

And well, you get where I am going with this. That's exactly what happened and I ended up responding to someone who was trying to call Christians out on not obeying the Old Testament laws.

Man, I ask myself why I even bothered to provide some answers in the first place.

And so I ask myself questions like whether it was really worth it, whether I could have said something different, did I even plant any godly seeds or was it only a means of Satan to get me wound up?

It's very inspiring to hear Christian apologists debate the hard-line opposition, and while God is fully capable of using those situations for His glory, as I believe He does and gifts such Christians with the ability to engage in such debates, I believe Scripture teaches us not only to be careful with how we preach the Gospel, but also with whom.

Here is where it seems the Holy Spirit calls us to discernment because while some of us are gifted in debating, some of us aren't and we only find ourselves wound up in frustration with not only the opposition, but with our own willingness to engage in foolish quarrels that keep us from teaching Christ.

And by ending up in silly quarrels that lead no where, we miss the whole point of Christianity.

Now Scripture is clear:

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV says, "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

And we recollect Christ's words to the apostles in teaching how, as the world hated Him, so it will hate us. So it is no surprise when the world mocks us.

But.

Matthew 7:6 NIV reads, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

You see, while we know the state of the world and we know the cost of preaching the Gospel... Christ also taught to be careful of what we give to the world. 

"Do not give to dogs what is sacred."

And Scripture is filled with guidelines, warnings, teachings on such matters as discernment and teaching.

Titus 3:9 NIV reads, "But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

Just as we have foolish controversies that go round and round in circles, so too did the apostles and churches of the early NT. This dilemma is no stranger to God's children. 

This is why Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 2 appear to be so profound when he says, 

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power" (1 Corinthians 1:4 NIV) 

We, in our fallible ways, can so easily be lured into foolish arguments that have the appearance of wisdom. Arguments that centre on logic and trivial issues while the whole time we miss "Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 1:2) 

And based on His own words, it would seem Christ knew this very well as He faced such opposition Himself. And yet what was His conclusion? 

Matthew 10:14 NIV reads, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet."

We have pearls of wisdom, the joy of the Gospel, the Giver of life indwelt... yet what do we profit if the very people we preach to devour the pearls we offer? 

Now, just as I find myself, some may wonder, "Well, what about the Great Commission and the giving of the Gospel to all nations?"

And, in response, I say, as I often like to say, "Don't get me wrong here", I believe everyone should hear the truth of God.

But. He works on His timing, not ours and we work by His discernment, not our own. 

"My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." Psalm 51:17 NIV

God desires a contrite heart, and many voices that mock are clearly not contrite. And sometimes, instead of offering the beauty, sufficiency, supremacy and salvation of Christ in its purest form, we simply need to say "God bless you", shake the dust off our feet and wait.

Wait, because, there will come a time when God's timing is perfect and those pearls of truth, where they were once bitterness, can become life to a stubborn-turned-contrite heart. And while we all have the choice to other reject His truth or accept it, God, in His perfect timing and infinite wisdom, knows the right time for the right words. 

And God hasn't left us hanging on this discernment. 

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 NIV reads, "The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ."

He has given us His mind. His heart, His Word. And with all that He has given, we have the assurance that He will give the words that need to be spoken so that we may avoid the foolish quarrels that so often prevail, and can instead teach the truth of Christ in all its glory. 

Use your time wisely and never be afraid to brush the dust off of your feet when you need to. 

For anyone who would like a similar perspective in different words, here is a GotQuestions article. 

God bless you all.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV

The Season of Waiting

As one pastor once said "I would make my sermons shorter, but once I start I'm too lazy to stop." Well, today I want to give the second half of the message that I gave last week because in my original message on social prejudices, I had included two other biblical figures, but once I got writing, I realised there was no way I would be able to add in what I wanted to say without skimming over the important stuff but still keeping the message short. And even now, as I proofread this, I realise that trying to add in both intended biblical characters would have either made the message too shallow or too long. Hence, we continue, except with a slightly different focus.

You see, while we looked at God's lack of concern for social prejudices last week, my original focus had been on the 'age' aspect of that and how people are judged based on age. This explains my initial focus on Elihu. However, I still felt led to broaden it because Scripture is not just about how God goes beyond age but how He goes beyond physical limitation, social class and gender.

And so, bear with me if this message seems too youth-centred at the beginning (which it should be or else the blog's purpose is void).

So today, I want to look at a figure from Scripture who, though God had big plans in store for him, it wasn't until he was around 30 before the anointing of his youth took effect.

So who am I talking about? David, of course.

In 1 Samuel 16, we have Samuel who has come to anoint the new king of Israel who would succeed Saul.

1 Samuel 16:12b-13a it reads, "Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David."

So David had this anointing. He was told he would become king with his family as his wtiness. But remember, this anointing took place when David was a youth. And yet, think about it, when he finally became king as recorded in 2 Samuel 2, what had happened?

David remained a shepherd until called into Saul's service. 

David had killed Goliath - 1 Samuel 17

David got married - 1 Samuel 18

Saul attempted to kill David out of jealousy - 1 Samuel 19

Saul's men chase David throughout Israel - 1 Samuel 21-23

And the list goes on...

Seriously, David did a bucket load of things, things that we don't usually get around to doing in our late teens and early twenties (I don't see any Goliaths around here... just saying). And even then, before he went out to kill Goliath, what was he doing? He was shepherding the sheep, while killing bears and lions as was his duty as a shepherd. 

If I had that sort of anointing and had to wait that long to receive it, I would have become mighty impatient. And then, added onto that, just imagine being on the verge of death numerous times as the very king you have been prophesied to succeed is the very one who is trying to kill you out of jealousy and fear. 

Now, though not in 1 or 2 Samuel, we have the sentiments David felt during these different times in his life. Listen to David's conclusion in his plea to God found in Psalm 27.

Psalm 27:13-14 NIV reads, "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

This very man who was being persecuted, and crying out to God to be rescued from the hands of his oppressors, reached the simple conclusion of: be strong, take heart and wait. 

Why? Because regardless of the circumstances, His plan is good. And now the coming verse becomes painstakingly obvious. 

 In Jeremiah 29:11-14, we find God speaking to the exiled Israelites where God declares His promise that His plan is known and that His plan is good and for those who cry out to Him, He will be found.

And so in Jeremiah 29:11, we have, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)

This was a promise given to the exiled people of God. And if His plan for His people is good, does that not also mean that His plan for David was also good? Would it not explain the conclusion he found in Psalm 27? 

That regardless of whatever the circumstances, God would provide and fulfill His good and glorious plan. 

And in Scripture, we read about how God has provided His children with gifts, about the Great Commission that He commands His children to take part in, that whatever is done in His Spirit will not fail and so many other promises and commands He has laid before us as His bride. 

And so we know and believe that God has a plan and a mission He wants each and everyone of His children to fulfill. 

But like David, sometimes God will place us in seasons of waiting. Whether we be young or old, or whatever the circumstances, sometimes God simply commands us to wait. 

And we know, we just know that He has a plan and we're anxious for it to be fulfilled, but God, in His abundant wisdom, knows that we need it. Whether He is refining us as Christians, or He is waiting for His pefect timing, He knows we need it and we can be certain He will use it for His glory. 

So be strong, take heart and wait in the LORD. 

God bless you all.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV

The social prejudices that God doesn't care for

Today I want to share with you all a message that I brought to youth group several weeks ago and one that I've been wanting to share for some time ever since I finished reading the book of Job. But before I get into that, I want us to think for a moment because for some of us, this may simply be a message I'm preaching to the choir, but for a lot of us, I believe, we hold these reservations without us noticing them.

You see, how often do we neglect someone's advice or wisdom because of a social prejudice we may hold? Whether it be with respect to their age, gender, ethnicity or class, do we ever ignore them, if even for a moment because we think that since they are younger, different or come from a different country, that what they may have to say isn't worth our time?

Keep that in mind as we just briefly look at two people from Scripture, the first one coming from the book of Job.

Now, in the book of Job we have Job (duh) who lost just about everything material-wise and family-wise in his life, so a group of his friends came to mourn with him and after mourning, they begin a discussion. Now, when I read Job, I like to imagine its one epic argument... but that's besides the point. But we find the friends discussing what Job could have possibly done to deserve all that had happened. And it isn't until Job 32 that we hear from the person that I want to bring to the forefront today.

Job 32:1-5 NIV says, "So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himselfrather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused."

Here we have a youth of his time in society who was troubled by the words he was hearing to the point of being compelled to speak out, not for his own personal gain, but for the sake of the truth.

Godly focus. That's what Elihu had. And not only that but respect. He respected the others because they were older than himself. And so he waited.

And then, in Job 32:6-8 NIV, he begins to speak, "

"So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said, 'I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know. I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding."

He was fearful, he had respect. The kind of respect for his elders that it seems a lot of grown ups today complain that society is lacking. But here was a sincere youth who, despite everything that was being said, waited patiently until he could speak. 

But after realising the folly and all that was being said, what was his final conclusion? That it is God and God alone who gives understanding. 

But before we expand on this, I want to take it further, beyond just talking about age.

Let's take a moment, and jump ahead to the time of Christ and look briefly at the man who prepared the way for Christ before His ministry began. 

Of course, we're talking about John the Baptist who was prophesied about in Isaiah 40:3 NIV,

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

And when we think about John, what do we imagine? Someone whom many people had come to in order to be baptised, the very man that God chose to prepare the way for His Son. We have all these images in our head about John and the influential figure he was at his time.

But at face value, what was he? A poor guy with barely the clothes on his back. 

If we look at Matthew 3:4 NIV, what do we see? 

"John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey."

Whether it was a lifestyle John chose or a result of his circumstances, this was the life John lived. And yet in Matthew 3:5-6 NIV, we see,

"People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River."

All I can imagine issomeone, considered to be at the bottom of society, having such a godly influence that people traveled across Judea to come be baptised by him. 

And when we thought that God had shown all there needed to be demonstrated that He is neither limited nor cares about the social prejudices we place on people, He decided to take the lowliest position, making Himself a vulnerable infant born in a manger. 

And, sometimes. Sometimes, because of these prejudices we hold, we can be tempted to fall into the trap that Elihu speaks of,

"For God does speak - now one way, now another - though man may not perceive it." (Job 33:14 NIV)

What if, the very people that we ignore in our lives because of the prejudices we may hold in our hearts are the very ones God wants to use to  speak to us? That is what we must always be careful because God works in some amazingly mysterious ways sometimes and the last thing Satan wants is for us to realise and listen to what God is saying. 

Now, before we finish, there are a few words of encouragement that need to be shared.

Because God does not care for the limits that society tries to place on His children whatever those limits may be, we have a duty to uphold as Christians regardless of who we are in society, and I believe Paul says it beautifully in the first book of Timothy, "

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV) 

Whatever limit people try to place on you, remind yourself that regardless, God calls you to set an example for all believers. a

And because of His sufficiency and grace, we lack nothing. 

"For Christ conquered death with only a tree, and if you have more than that, how much more will He want to see, you see, you have all that you need." David Bowden from "No Excuse" 

God has given each of us exactly what we need in order to fulfill the mission He has set out before us.

And now He waits with an outstretched hand and a message to share: that the limits society places on us are the very constraints He will use to make His Name known and to fulfill His perfect and pleasing will.

So now the choice rests with us. Do we hold onto our prejudices that place both ourselves and those around us in shackles or will we trust God with what He has given us?

God bless you all.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV

Silent Providence

Today I want to share with you all a few final words that I feel God has in store for me to share. Over the past several weeks, for those of you who have missed the messages or need a recap, we first began with The Spoken Prayer and looked briefly at what prayer is really about behind the traditions that we have and the way we perceive prayer in church today. Then we moved away from what we do during prayer and looked, if only for a moment, at the ways in which God responds in Quiet Answers. Now, before I move on from the topic of prayer, I want to end on several passages of Scripture that really feel as though they fit in the 'spoken' word sense nor in the 'answer' sense but in something that remains unspoken yet divine. 

You see, there is a passage in Romans 8 that has kept me intrigued for a long time. Some of you may already be on the same train of thought as myself which concerns verses 18-27. Now, I'm not a big of expounding on large sections of Scripture at a time but I feel that it is necessary here in order to understand what Paul was sharing with the church in Rome. 

Now, this particular chapter of Romans is a well-known one where Paul speaks about who we are in the Spirit and in Christ. How we have His Spirit that testifies that we are His children (v. 16), how our present sufferings are incomparable to the future glory we will behold (v. 18) and how, in His love, we are 'more than conquerors' (v. 37). Those are only a few of the handful of beautiful verses found in the chapter and I would encourage you to re-read it sometime this week because of its simple reminder of God's sovereignty and grace in our lives. 

But before I get too sidetracked; in Romans 8:18-27, we find Paul speaking of our current sufferings and the future glory we will behold when we see Christ again. 

To show the way the author writes it in verse 18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (NIV)

What an awesome verse! Here we find Paul speaking of all that will be revealed at the Second Coming of Christ. As we later read in the following verses, the author goes on to talk about how all creation, including ourselves, wait with urgency for His return so as to be free of this world and be with Him forever. 

Now, some of you may be thinking "Dude, that's cool and all, but I thought this was about prayer, not the Second Coming."

Give me a moment... I'm getting to it. If I may, I want to share two more verses from the passage in order to set the context of where this message is headed. 

In verses 24 and 25, it says,

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (NIV)

God is moving, Christ is returning but He isn't doing this on our time frame because His agenda is larger than we can imagine. And because He knows this, He gives us His Spirit of patience so that we may serve while we wait for His return.

Here's the cool part that keeps me fascinated and is the main focus of today's message found in the next two verses. 

In Romans 8:26-27, it says, " In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." (NIV)

This very same Spirit intercedes for us when we are unable to even find the words to express our innermost struggles! 

The very same God who said "You know what? I'm going to re-build the bridge between You and me without you even lifting a finger by dying on the cross for you" is the very same God who says,

"When you no longer have the words to express the pain, the frustration or the hurt that you have, I not only know your pain better than you do, I can provide a way for you to persevere." 

Do we ever wonder why we sometimes hear the testimonies of others who were struggling and were so consumed with grief or pain and yet God provided a miracle and answered an unspoken prayer? Don't get me wrong here, spoken prayer is crucial to us yet even when we can't find the words to express ourselves, God still ministers to us. 

And I'm sure we all know a passage of Scripture that could probably show this in the practical sense. For me, this is found in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, 

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. (v. 7-8 NIV)

Now, Paul doesn't give us a great deal to go with in terms of understanding here in verses 7 and 8 but there was once something I heard regarding Paul referring to his struggle as 'a thorn". It's as though Paul become so familiar with his struggle that each time he came to God in prayer, its as though he would find himself simply saying, "Hey dad, I just need to talk about the thorn again."

Don't some of our struggles, spoken or unspoken feel like that? That they come to the point where we are so consumed by it that we can no longer mention it or we simply don't bother? And so we resort to nicknaming it, but how many of us stop there and in doing so, we end up forgetting some of the most beautiful verses that follow in verses 9 and 10.

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (v. 9-10 NIV) 

His grace is sufficient and because of this Paul was empowered and was able to delight in his hardship. And so can we. 

I want to take a moment and recall one short phrase at the end of Romans 8:27. Notice what it says, "because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."

You see, its easy to recognise when we have sin in our lives and we struggle because of it. And what do we do? We repent and enjoy restored fellowship with Him again.

But what about when we suffer for doing good or we suffer in the midst of following God's will. Whether it be the loss of a loved one or the love we gave that was given in Christ is trampled on and our own hearts along with it. And we sometimes find ourselves wondering what God is doing, whether He is moving or whether He can still make a difference in our lives. 

After all, we read in the Scriptures that is it is His very will that we suffer for doing good, "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." (1 Peter 3:17 NIV)

And yet the very Scriptures say that the Spirit intercedes in accordance with the will of God. In the midst of our trials and suffering for His Name's sake, He intercedes and provides that very sufficient grace that makes us strong in our weakness. 

When we can't find the words, He can always find the strength and He will never leave us hanging. 

God bless you all.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV

Quiet Answers

Today, I wanted to move onto a slightly different topic on prayer but after writing the previous message focusing mainly on traditions, I felt in debt to elaborate on a point that had been raised last week. A point that I feel is worth elaborating on and is crucial to our prayer life. 

Last week the concept of conversation in prayer was discussed and how our prayers are more than simply our own requests going up to Heaven, but at also have to do with listening in response. And it would seem simple enough to think of it as us sending up our own prayer requests and thanksgiving for a given number of minutes and then listening to see if He responds in the moment with an audible voice. 

But how often does it feel as though God speaks to us with an audible voice? 

Don't get me wrong here, I don't intend to discredit those who claim to hear Him audibly. One testimony I heard of a man in prison talked about how God spoke to the man audibly at one point. The fact that the voice confirmed what would happen in the close future gave credit to the voice coming from God. 

But when we look at the Old Testament and we hear how the Israelites would go and ask the LORD about whether they should go fight a certain nation or whether they should respond to this particular sin in this manner, and God would respond in what would seem an audible voice. 

If we look at Judges 1 for example, the verse two verses say,

"After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?” The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands."" (NIV)

I'm sure, in response to our own prayers, we would love to have such a clear cut answer as the Israelites were given by God again and again. 

Now, this has the potential to raise the question of the means by which the LORD  responded to the Israelites. I have always believed it was an audible voice. However, the truth is, concerning the point I'm trying to get at here, it doesn't matter. 

Here is what really matters: that it is not necessarily the manner in which God spoke, but the confidence and certainty by which the Israelites knew that God had responded and that His answer was what He desired.

Because that's what we really desire when we pray, right? That confidence that when we feel we have received a response, that we know that He has responded and His answer will come through and prevail. 

But listen to what Christ has to say.

 Jesus Himself said in John 10:27, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (NIV)

Or as the New Living Translation puts it, "My sheep recognize my voice". 

Just to give some context, in this passage, Jesus was responding to a question that it seems many people ask even today. The question posed to Him was, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly" (v. 24). 

Doesn't that sound familiar? 

"If only God would make Himself known or provide some miracle to show His existence or..." The list goes on, yet these are the exact same accusations and questions Christ faced while on earth posed to Him by those who considered Him as crazy, a blasphemer or demon-possessed. 

But Jesus says His sheep recognize His voice. It seems too tempting to give into the belief that they had it easy in the Old Testament, that all that was required was to ask the prophet of the time to inquire for oneself what God wanted.

So if we don't hear an audible voice and yet know His voice, how does He respond? 

Well, He can choose to respond however He desires. You see, we seem to focus too much on 'how' God responds. Sometimes, its tempting for us to hear the testimony of another Christian and think, "Aha, now I know how God will respond next time I pray." 

But hearing His voice is not so much a matter of knowing how He will choose to respond, but a matter of simply knowing God.  

Scripture is riddled with promise after promise for those who fear Him, for His children. Promises of asking and receiving, of our prayers being heard, of escape from temptation, forgiveness from sin and answers to prayer. 

God may not respond with an audible voice, but He will respond nonetheless and not out of obligation in the sense that our faith forces Him to respond, but out of love and for the sake of His glory. 

Again and again, we emphasise the importance of knowing God. Why? Because regardless of how this world changes and our prayer requests change from financial, to health, to marital, to family issues. God never changes. 

Malachi 3:6a says, ""I the LORD do not change." (NIV)

And if God never changes, then the same answers that seemed crystal clear to the Israelites can be just as clear to us today because God is just as capable of answering our prayers today as He was capable of answer the prayers of the Israelites. 

So before we ask ourselves whether we're listening, first we need to ask... do we know Him? Because once we know Him, then regardless of how He chooses to respond whether it be through Scripture, our circumstances, friends or even a stranger, we know He will respond and we know we will recognize His voice because we are His and He is ours and He won't leave us hanging. 

And before I finish, I want to share a piece of wisdom that God taught me a few years ago:

"God's delays are not God's denials."

Remember, He works on His own time and His timing is always perfect. 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV