Total proof

I have to say that experiencing the birth of a child has to go down as total proof that God exists. At the beginning of this year Beth, my daughter, didn't exist in anyway. She had no soul, she had no body, no mind, no personality, no character. But one little act of love and BOOM!... she starts growing, rapidly, with unbelievable design and complexity. Nothing that man has ever created could be as awesome and as intricate as a baby. She's alive. Living, breathing, fully conscious and self-aware. She's beautiful.

If ever there needed to be total proof that this universe was created by a Great Designer, this is it. Billions of years and random chance could never create a baby. Especially not Beth.

A hope that crushes

Over the last couple of years I've seen a few friends of mine really struggle with health, in ways that are quite gut-wrenching. Your heart just goes out to them.

What I find quite paradoxical is that a lot of the suffering inflicted is actually due to the advances we've made in modern medicine. We are offered hope in what would have been totally hopeless situations a few hundred years ago. But sometimes it's just a flicker of hope, a percentage, a chance. You have to fight, battle and strive. And then cope with the crushing disappointment if it doesn't happen, or the problem is never truly overcome.

Sometimes there's no end, no final resolution, no way of moving on. Because treatment still offers some hope, the battle is never over.

Modern science and medicine is amazing though. But you really have to take the good with the bad. Last month, an emergency c-section probably stopped my wife from dying in childbirth. Incredible. Open heart surgery saved my brothers life. But cancer still claimed my Granddad when he was 58. Some situations work out really well. Others open you up to the torture of hope, met with failed treatment. Sometimes that flicker of hope seems to loom slightly out of reach and never delivers.

God, we need you!

Two levels of belief

When you think about it, it seems there's two levels of trusting and believing God, particularly regarding sin and our proclivity towards idolatry. At the first level, you understand that God has set certain things off limits and he says 'no'. But you still desire it, you're very much tempted, and you struggle and strive to be obedient. You grit your teeth and you desperately want to obey God, but the thing still looks good. It still has a certain power over you. In one sense, you strive to be obedient without really believing. You don't fully trust God, but you know he should be obeyed.

The second level is when you genuinely start to believe and trust. When God says a certain thing is bad, and not what he intended, the thing itself looks tainted. When you truly grasp that God is the great designer, you know that nothing can work outside his design. Everything else leads to death. Opposing God has the stench of a rotting corpse.

In this sense your believing and trusting changes your perceptions and desires. Sin loses it's power as you get closer to God. The way you think really starts to change.

King David's word really start to make sense in Psalm 119:

11  I have stored up your word in my heart,
         that I might not sin against you.
12  Blessed are you, O Lord;
         teach me your statutes!
13  With my lips I declare
         all the rules of your mouth.
14  In the way of your testimonies I delight
         as much as in all riches.
15  I will meditate on your precepts
         and fix my eyes on your ways.
16  I will delight in your statutes;
         I will not forget your word.
...

19  I am a sojourner on the earth;
         hide not your commandments from me!
20  My soul is consumed with longing
         for your rules at all times.
...

34  Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
         and observe it with my whole heart.
35  Lead me in the path of your commandments,
         for I delight in it.
...

77  Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
         for your law is my delight.
...

92  If your law had not been my delight,
         I would have perished in my affliction.
93  I will never forget your precepts,
         for by them you have given me life.
...

97  Oh how I love your law!
         It is my meditation all the day.
98  Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
         for it is ever with me.
...

174  I long for your salvation, O Lord,
         and your law is my delight.
175  Let my soul live and praise you,
         and let your rules help me.

No Special Effects

Just read this in Matthew 17 where Jesus pays his tax in a rather miraculous way...

"However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."
Matthew 17:17

It's interesting the way Jesus does miracles. There are no special effects. If I was Jesus I would be tempted to stretch out my hand, have a beam of light descend from Heaven onto it and have the coin materialise out of nothing. There would be no mistaking your power and authenticity.

But his miracles don't seem to go like that. Most of the time he leaves space for faith. He does miracles, but in quite an ordinary, understated way. Like when he feeds the five thousand. You get the impression that people couldn't really see where the food was coming from. It didn't fall out of the sky, materialise in front of them and drop into their hands. All they knew was that Jesus was giving out food, and it kept coming.

When Jesus healed people, there were no bolts of lighting, no thunder, no earth tremors. He just speaks and it happens. You just see the end result, not the process. When he raises people from the dead, there's no awesome sight of regeneration. No elaborate process of a corpse gradually coming back to life. They just wake up as if they were sleeping.

Interesting. Jesus, even when performing miracles, seems to leave room for faith. You can find another explanation if you want to. You can call it coincidence, some sort of elaborate trick, or create some bizarre scientific explanation. Faith is always required, even with the supernatural.

(The only exceptions I can think of are when Jesus walks on water and when he has the transfiguration on the mountain. But even then it's just for the disciples – a very select few who get a special insight.)

What you want vs what you need

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
James 1:2-3

I've been chewing over these verses for quite a while. They are two verses which imply trials of all shapes and sizes are good for the exercise of your faith. If we didn't have such trials, our faith wouldn't be strengthened.

But what's interesting is if you're a 'good Christian', you've most likely been praying for a resolution. For God to get you out of a situation, to fix things up. And then, when there seems to be no definite answer, we may start questioning why.

Our lack of faith? Perhaps we haven't been praying hard enough, or often enough. Perhaps there's some sort of spiritual battle going on, and we haven't been praying in the right way.

But the first thing these verses say is 'count it all joy'. Obviously our natural reaction is to do the opposite, to get stressed and freak out. Otherwise that particular instruction wouldn't be written. 'Count it all joy' implies the trial is a blessing, and that we have to reconfigure our pattern of thought to acknowledge that.

The verses state that our trials produce steadfastness. Jesus says elsewhere that 'the one who endures to the end will be saved' (Mark 13:13).

It seems steadfastness, perseverance and endurance are what God is developing in our lives. They are qualities of unbelievable importance, and perhaps very central to his work of regeneration. Trials, of shapes and kinds, are the process in which they are developed.

It seems that trails are often the thing we ultimately need, and not always the quick fix answer to prayer we were looking for.

Nervous Vs Fearful

I've been contemplating lately the fine distinction between being nervous and being fearful. It's easy to confuse the two, but there's a world of difference.

Being fearful means you want to run from situations. You want to run and hide, to take flight and avoid certain trials and challenges. You're afraid of what might happen, how you might perform, and you don't want to embrace the challenge. In fact, you would rather the challenge didn't exist at all.

Being nervous is different. A situation or challenge might be very daunting and you might be very unsure of how you will fare. But many people who are nervous about something are also very brave at the same time. They throw themselves head first into the fire, they put themselves on the line.

Watching shows like X-Factor and The Voice is very interesting from this perspective. Some of those guys get so nervous, but they've willingly embraced it to get a shot at achieving their goals. As Tom Jones kept saying, "being nervous is good. Being nervous means you want to do a good job. If you don't feel nervous, then you're not alive."

It's also interesting watching the Olympics and how many of the athletes talk about being very nervous, but how the nerves sharpen them. They heighten your senses and make you more alert.

In a lot of ways, to actually operate at the peak of your abilities, you have to be nervous and you have to embrace it, and channel it into what you are doing. A lot of what God's called us to do is outside our comfort zones. The work he's got for us requires bravery and courage. The key is embracing the nerves and embracing the challenging, rather than running away and living a fearful life.

"I remember the answer I received when I once said to my venerable grandfather, 'I never have to preach, but that I feel terribly sick, literally sick, I mean, so that I might as well be crossing the Channel', and I asked the dear old man whether he thought I should ever get over that feeling. His answer was, 'Your power will be gone if you do.'"

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, p73-74.

First Sunday Preach

My first preach on a Sunday morning at Kings...

Assurance_of_Salvation.pdf

'Assurance of Salvation' and 'Conscious Change' from Kings Church Eastbourne on Vimeo.

Fusion: Purpose & Discomfort

Here's a talk I did at Authentic back in July. Did a dodgy recording of it as well. Always painful listening to yourself, but hey, one must get over oneself.

Fusion_Purpose_Discomfort.pdf

Authentic: Inch By Inch Growth from Sam Arnold on Vimeo.

Courage

I really enjoyed Jez Field's preach last Sunday on courage. Courage is only courage when you're afraid, fearful or nervous about something. But you embrace the situation and press on through it.

One line that jumped out at me:

"Courage is fear that has said it's prayers"

George Muller on Faith and Giving

From The Autobiography of George Muller:

"A brother with small earnings may ask, "Should I also give? My earnings are already so small that my family can barely make ends meet."
     My reply is, "have you ever considered that the very reason that your earnings remain so small may be because you spend everything on yourself? If God gave you more, you would only increase your own comfort instead of looking to see who is sick or who has no work at all that you might help them."
p195

The child of God must be willing to be a channel through which God's abundant blessings flow. The channel is narrow and shallow at first, yet some waters of God's bounty can pass through. If we cheerfully yield ourselves to this purpose, the channel becomes wider and deeper, allowing more of the bounty of God to pass through. We cannot limit the extent to which God may use us as instruments in communicating blessing if we are willing to yield ourselves to him and are careful to give Him all the glory."
p196

"May 26, 1851. The Christian should never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need. Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come."
p212

"The natural mind is prone to reason when we ought to believe, to be at work when we ought to be quiet, or to go our own way when we ought to steadily walk in God's ways. [ ... ] But each time we work a deliverance of our own, we find it more difficult to trust in God. At last we give way entirely to our natural reasoning, and unbelief prevails."
p220

George Muller on Stewardship

"The child of God has been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. All that he possesses—his bodily strength, his mental strength, his ability of every kind, his trade or business, and his property—all belong to God. It is written, "Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

The proceeds of our calling are not our own in the sense of having freedom to spend them on the gratification of our pride or our love of pleasure. We have to stand before our Lord and Master as His stewards to seek His will concerning how He will have us use the proceeds of our calling."

p193, The Autobiography of George Muller

Verses quoted in his book, p194-5:

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."
2 Cor 9:6

"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered."
Proverbs 11:24-25

"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."
Luke 6:38

The Second Thing

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Matt 6:33

I've been reading the Autobiography of George Muller and in it he highlights two things regarding the verse above: pursuing the Kingdom of God and pursuing holiness. I don't know why, but I've always missed the second point. I've just had a real blind spot for it. But it's a really key factor in doing God's work here on Earth, a real motivator in the pursuit of holiness, and a promise for experiencing material provision as you go. Here's what George Muller said in his book:

"The great business which the disciple of the Lord Jesus has to be concerned about is to seek the Kingdom of God. I believe this means to seek the external and internal prosperity of the Church. If we seek to win souls for the Lord Jesus, we are seeking the external prosperity of the Kingdom of God. If we help our fellow-members in the Body grow in grace and truth or care for them in any way, we are seeking the internal prosperity of God.

In connection with this, we also have to seek His righteousness. This means to seek to be more and more like God—to seek to be inwardly conformed to the mind of God. If these two things are attended to diligently, we come to that precious promise: "And all these things [that is, food, clothing, or anything else you need in this present life] shall be added unto you."

Do you make it your primary business and your first great concern to seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness? Are the things of God, the honour of His name, the welfare of His Church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul, your chief aim? Or does your business, your family, or your own temporal concerns primarily occupy your attention? Remember that the world will pass away, but the things of God will endure forever. I never knew a child of God who acted according to the above passage for whom the Lord did not fulfill His promise, "All these things shall be added unto you."

P191-2, The Autobiography of George Muller

Skilful Discipline

Over the last two and a half years I've managed to shed about two stone in weight and keep it off. Quite a beneficial exercise from a health and fitness point of view, but it was also really interesting as a lesson in discipline.

In many areas of life discipline seems to be one of the key ingredients for effectiveness and success. It's not the only thing you need, but it's massively important. If you want to persevere in daily prayer and bible reading, be good at your job, be a good husband, run a business or excel in an area of ministry, a lot of it does just come down to discipline. Which is in itself quite a skill.

Here are a few of my current observations on the nature of effective discipline:

1. You have to set yourself a goal. Long-term, mid-term and short-term help spur you on and track your progress. In particular, having daily and weekly goals really help you drive and achieve what you're aiming for overall. If you just have the big long-term vision without breaking it down into smaller steps, you don't notice your progress quite so much and tend to get easily discouraged. You get sort of lost in the journey there.

2. You have to really go for it. The end goal is something you have to really want. Anything you set out to achieve is likely to be quite difficult and challenging. Desire, passion and zeal are tools in your pocket that you have to have. Otherwise the discipline becomes cold, hard, bitter and lifeless, and you'll inevitably give up. The thing you're fighting for should be a source of joy. The joy and satisfaction you gain from being successful in your fight needs to outweigh the struggles and trials you face on the way.

3. You have to experiment, problem-solve and persevere. The initial methods you employ in your goal are going to need refining and perfecting. They might not be very effective at all to begin with. But you have to try for a period, then look back and analyse what did and didn't work. If you can figure out why something worked or why something failed, you can then take that information a create a more effective method. You repeat the process over and over until you home-in on something that really works for you. It's quite a time-consuming process, but one which can lead to long-term effectiveness. The hardest part is getting the momentum in the early phase without giving up. If you can persevere at the beginning, you're in good stead for long-term success.

4. I think the final lesson I've learnt thus far is that overall consistency is more effective than 'peaks and troughs'. For example, it's better to hit consistently at 80% capacity than attempt short bursts at the limit of what you can achieve. If you set out to run a marathon, you don't sprint out of the blocks like you're running the 100 metres. You'll knacker yourself out and collapse in a heap before the race has really begun. Instead, you have to pace yourself at a lower level which you can maintain. Your initial short term goals should be very achievable to ease you into the flow of things, like a good warm up. Then, as things progress and you acclimatise to the challenge, you can gradually increase the intensity.

Comfortable Vs Useful

Listening to Tim Keller 'Real Security and the Call of God' (available in his free sermons podcast), one really interesting point was the strong correlation between being useful and being uncomfortable. Usually a position which makes you useful is also one which makes you uncomfortable. If you prioritise comfort and security, through jobs, houses, location, ministry choices and such, you often end up in a place where you're not that useful.

We Dream of Both

A line my friend Maicol said to me recently that I quite enjoyed:

"You can either have time or money, but never both."

Chapter 5: Learning to Live by Faith

I'm very much enjoying reading the autobiography of George Muller, and have just read chapter 5 where he is a church minister and decides, for several reasons, to give up his regular salary and rely on God's direct provision. The chapter reads like a diary that recounts continual answered prayer. Every time there's a need, he engages in prayer and pretty soon receives his provision one way or another. It reveals how such direct dependence, when combined with prayer, makes for a very good lesson in faith and provision. When you're on a comfortable salary, you don't see your prayers answered in quite the same way.

I think one of the reasons I find it so encouraging is that being self-employed, you don't have the comfort and security of a salary. Every time I get a job or a new client, it very definitely feels like an answer to prayer. Muller's faith levels were so high, and it's really encouraging to read. What you realise is how important it is to pray when living like this. It's so tempting to freak out at times, when money and work is low. Daily prayer really is the only solution to freaking-out, and can actually lead to a more carefree life, knowing that God's heard you and in control.

"Some may say that such a way of life leads a Christian away from the Lord and from caring about spiritual things. They say it may cause the mind to be occupied with questions like: "What shall I eat, what shall I drink, what shall I wear?" I have experienced both ways and I know that my present manner of living by trusting God for temporal things is connected with less care. Trusting the Lord for the supply of my temporal needs keeps me from anxious thoughts like: "Will my salary last and will I have enough for next month?" In this freedom I am able to say, "My Lord is not limited. He knows my present situation, and He can supply all I need." Rather than causing anxiety, living by faith in God alone keeps my heart in perfect peace."
p41-42, The Autobiography of George Muller

Muller also comments on the way such a lifestyle can help prevent backsliding:

"This way of living has often revived the work of grace in my heart when I began to grow spiritually cold. It also has brought me back again to the Lord after I had been backsliding. It is not possible to live in sin, and at the same time, by communion with God, draw down from heaven everything one needs for this life. Frequently, a fresh answer to prayer quickens my soul and fills me with great joy."
p42, The Autobiography of George Muller

"At the end of the year, we looked back and realized that all our needs had been met more abundantly than if we had received a regular salary. We are never losers from doing the will of the Lord. I have not served a hard Master, and that is what I delight to show."
p43-44, The Autobiography of George Muller

George Muller on Debt and Romans 13

"My wife and I never went into debt because we believed it to be unscriptural according to Romans 13:8, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another." Therefore, we have no bills with our tailor, butcher or baker, but we pay for everything in cash. We would rather suffer need than contract debts. Thus, we always know how much we have, and how much we can give away. Many trials come upon the children of God on account of not acting according to Romans 13:8.
p43, The Autobiography of George Muller

"Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:7-8

The above is quite an interesting point from George Muller on debt, and his conviction on the matter really makes you think. I've heard people say that verse 7 shows the Bible doesn't prohibit borrowing, it's just that you are to pay back what you owe in the manner you agreed. So credit cards, loans, and mortgages aren't necessarily bad things as long as you stick to your repayment agreements.

But then you throw verse 8 into the mix, "Owe no one anything", which is very straightforward. It's a phrase which really seems to limit the extent to which verse 7 applies. It basically says "just don't be in debt". Debt is bondage, and throws up all sorts of difficulties.

Verse 7 refers to taxes and revenue, and even respect. It is referring to on-going expenses that are unavoidable. You should pay your taxes, your household bills, your rent and such things. They're not so much debts but normal day-to-day expenses. You only become in debt if you miss a payment and get in arrears. So paying them is actually a means to keeping out of debt.

Verse 8 seems to specifically prohibit any sort of owing that isn't necessary. And it seems really personal – "Owe no one anything". It sounds different to owing tax to the government. It seems more like a friend, a neighbour, a local business, your bank. So don't owe your mate Bob £50. Don't rack up bills on your store cards or credit cards. Avoid your overdraft like the plague. As Muller says, it's better to suffer need that suffer debts.

What seems to sit awkwardly is all that stuff in the middle. Like loans and mortgages. What's unavoidable? When your boiler breaks down and you have to borrow a load of cash off your dad? And is a mortgage more of a good investment than debt? Is a business loan justified if it provides a means to generate income and cover the expense in the long run? Hmmm… there's always grey areas where you have to discern what's good, what's absolutely necessary and what can be avoided with better financial planning.

Notes on Matthew 1-10

Personal notes written on Matthew 1-10:

Notes_on_Matthew_1-10.rtf

Twelve Long Years

"And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
Mark 5:25-34

There are some really interesting points in this story. Some that are just remarkable and stand-out. I imagine Jesus performed a multitude of miracles and only a selection were included in the four gospels. As John says at the end of his account:

"Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
John 21:25

We might concluded that there were a fair number of miracles to choose from for the gospel writers. I imagine each one was carefully picked for the particular way they shine a light on the nature of Jesus, of faith, healings and miracles.

What's interesting about this story is the woman's level of faith, especially after twelve years of suffering and exhausting every avenue for her healing. I imagine she prayed a lot. I imagine she probably thought God could heal her at any time if he chose. She probably saw those doctors and physicians as channels of God's grace and healing. And yet she suffered, for twelve years, with no answer to prayer, and totally depleted her bank account in the process.

I imagine that most of us would be pretty disheartened at that point. Especially as her disease made her a social outcast. No support group, probably not much community at all. How easy it would be to feel overlooked by God and utterly depressed. Like you had been hung out to dry. When a new preacher rolled into town with a healing ministry, she might well have been tempted to think 'oh no, not again'. More prayers, elevated hope, and yet more disappointments to come.

But her faith is exactly the opposite of what you might expect. Her faith levels were exceedingly high.

"If I touch even his garments, I will be made well."

Unbelievable. Where did that faith come from? And the nature of it. I'm pretty sure that there's nowhere in Scripture that says you have to touch Jesus to get healed. There's plenty of examples where it doesn't happen that way. Not to mention that he was surrounded by a crowd where loads of people were pressing into him. Presumably without getting healed.

Even though her theology probably wasn't spot-on, her faith was off the scale. There isn't even a hint of doubt in her. I'm pretty sure she had taken a massive risk as well. Ceremonially unclean, yet amongst the people, rubbing up and touching them, risking total public humiliation if she was exposed. She hadn't done this as a whim. It was deliberated, planned, premeditated and must have taken a lot of guts.

What's of particular interest is the way she receives her healing from Jesus. She was completely healed by Jesus without him even knowing it until after the event. She hadn't presented her request, spoken, looked him in the eye... nothing. Faith was the key ingredient. And you might say, the only ingredient, in this story.

I can't think of another story where Jesus heals unknowingly. Every other case sees him presented with a sick person before healing. This story really hones in on the power of faith as it literally is the only thing that healed this woman.

All through the four gospels (and the book of Acts) you see faith and healing go hand-in-hand. You seem to hear the same phrase from Jesus over and over, "Your faith has made you well", "Your faith has healed you" and "In accordance to your faith...". In his home town Jesus was unable to do any mighty miracles because of their lack of faith (Mark 6:4-6). Jesus was unable.

It's tempting to steer away from the subject because our unanswered prayer might be diagnosed as a lack of faith. Which is like rubbing salt into the wound of a difficult situation. But let's not forget that this woman struggled for twelve years and had a remarkable faith. Twelve years. That's a long old time. Perhaps her greatest act of faith was continuing to believe, to press on, hope and take new opportunities and risks after twelve long years of suffering. That's pretty impressive.

It's not Joy vs Discipline

I was in the shower yesterday morning when a thought struck me. About the nature of discipline.

Discipline, you must admit, is absolutely essential for anyone to live a life that pleases God. The very word 'disciple' comes from the root word 'discipline'. And that's exactly what we're called to be. But, when have you ever been able to consistently do anything you didn't want to?

Joy and discipline are inextricably connected. You're disciplined in the areas that you believe lead to greater happiness, and you often enjoy the disciplines themselves. The guys in the gym cranking out their routine every day are there because, underneath the hard work, they love it. They love the gradual transformation of their bodies, and they probably enjoy much of the routine itself. There are hard, difficult days, but they know that their long term joy is routed in overcoming certain obstacles.

And I think the same must be true of the Spiritual Disciplines. We engage with God daily because we love it. Discipline is involved, but it is by no means the main ingredient. Our love of God is. And that leads to great joy.

I was in Bedford a few weeks back in a teaching session by Andrew Wilson. He was talking about the fight for Joy (which he's also taught at Kings previously: The Fight for Joy). One of his points was that we should discover what things increase our joy in the Lord and make a discipline out of them.

Just like the guys in the gym, it probably takes some hard work, perseverance and experimentation to find what really works for us. But when we get the thing going, engaging with God daily, our joy and the love of God are what fuels our efforts.

Work & Conviction

"...looking at the matter in a commonsense way, it does seem that the most likely instrument to do the Lord's work is the man who expects that God will use him, and who goes forth to labour in the strength of that conviction."
p42, The Soul Winner, Charles H. Spurgeon.

"Dear brethren, do be earnest, put your whole souls into the work, or else give it up."
p45, The Soul Winner, Charles H. Spurgeon.

The Pursuit of Holiness (Part 5)

"...let a man once become really holy, even though he has but the slenderest possible ability, he will be a more fit instrument in God's hand than the man of gigantic acquirements, who is not obedient to the divine will, nor clean and pure in the sight of the Lord God Almighty."
p32, The Soul Winner, Charles H. Spurgeon.

"When I listened to Mr George Muller, as he was preaching at Mentone, it was just such an address as might have been given to a Sunday-school by an ordinary teacher, yet I never heard a sermon that did me more good, and more richly profited my soul ... you could not help saying, 'That man not only preaches what he believes, but also what he lives'. In every word he uttered his glorious life of faith seemed to fall upon both ear and heart. I was delighted to sit and listen to him; yet, as for novelty or strength of thought, there was no trace of it in the whole discourse. Holiness was the preacher's force; and you may depend upon it that, if God is to bless us, our strength must line in the same direction."
p32-33, The Soul Winner, Charles H. Spurgeon.

Content with the Seasons

I've been thinking of late: enjoying the season of life that you're in is a very good discipline. You can spend your whole life longing for the next phase, dwelling on the tougher points of your current existence and totally overlook all the good things life is offering right now.

A while back I felt slightly challenged when I was chatting with my wife about how I totally loved the summer, and how the rest of the year kind of sucked. She pointed out that if you only enjoy those summer months, you'll only enjoy about a quarter of your life. She then when on to tell me all the things she loved about autumn, winter and spring. Quite a profound, far reaching point. I've since been enjoying crisp winter days, amazing autumnal colours when all the trees turn red, and spring, when all the flowers and blossom suddenly break out. I had somehow never really noticed any of these before.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain"
1 Timothy 6:6

It's interesting that godliness and contentment is described as gain. Most of our thoughts, longings and strivings are looking forward to seasons where we get something extra. Some sort of life upgrade or bolt-on: a job, promotion, financial security, a spouse, having children, more free time and so on.

And yet this verse is talking about the underlying root of all of these: gain. Contentment and godliness, I imagine, are two incredible sources of joy. They provide the ability to enjoy God and everything he's provided, and you can tap into that whatever stage your life is at.

When you look back at seasons that have now come and gone, you realise that there were many, many good things that God provided and were very enjoyable, that you somehow didn't appreciate to their full extent at the time.

So it leaves you with a few questions: what is it that you're longing for, and what are you overlooking? Will anything other than God satisfy you?

Spurgeon on New Converts

Great quotes from chapter 1 of 'The Soul Winner' by Charles H. Spurgeon.

"It very often happens that the converts that are born in excitement die when the excitement is over. They are like certain insects which are the product of an exceedingly warm day, and die when the sun goes down. Certain converts live like salamanders, in the fire; but they expire at a reasonable temperature."
p9

"The preacher's work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, that they may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them."
p13

"The proof to you that you have won the man's soul for Jesus is never before you till he has done with himself and his own merits, and has closed in with Christ."
p20

"Great care must be taken that this faith is exercised upon Christ for a complete salvation, and not for part of it. Numbers of persons think that the Lord Jesus is available for the pardon of past sin, but they cannot trust Him for their preservation in the future. They trust for years past, but not for years to come; whereas no such sub-division of salvation is ever spoken of in Scripture as the work of Christ. Either He bore all our sins, or none; and He either saves us once for all, or not at all.
p20

"Is it any wonder that many converts fall away, when, in fact, they were never taught to exercise faith in Jesus for eternal salvation, but only for temporary conversion? A faulty exhibition of Christ begets a faulty faith; and when this pines away in its own imbecility, who is to blame for it? According to their faith so it is unto them: the preacher and professor of a partial faith must unitedly bear the blame of the failure when their poor mutilated trust comes to breakdown."
p21

"True regeneration implants a hatred of all evil; and where one sin is delighted in, the evidence is fatal to a sound hope."
p23

"You may say to yourself, at the close of the service, 'Here is a splendid haul of fish!' Wait a bit. Remember our Saviour's words, 'The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.' Do not number your fishes before they are broiled; nor count your converts before you have tested and tried them. This process may make your work somewhat slow; but then, brethren, it will be sure."
p28

Expenditure

Another thought-provoking quote on finances and materialism...

"Occasionally when a couple cannot make ends meet the problem is that they do not have enough income to support themselves. Most often the problem lies with their expenditure. Rob Parsons writes about his own upbringing:

My father was a postman and my mother a cleaner. We lived in a rented house, and life was simple to say the least. Non-essentials like heating in the bedrooms, fitted carpets, and toilet paper (don't ask!) belong to another world. I didn't eat in a restaurant until I was sixteen. But I had everything I needed in that home, including wise advice from a father who would take me aside regularly and recite to me the words of Mr Micawber from Dickens, David Copperfield: 'Annual Income: twenty shillings; expenditure: nineteen shillings and sixpence - result: happiness. Annual income: twenty shillings; expenditure: twenty shillings and sixpence - result: misery.' A belief in that principle meant that my father was never in debt. You may think that he paid an unacceptable price for that. He never had a holiday away from his own home, or had his own bank account, and he never did get to taste pasta - but I have never known a man so content."

p358, Nicky & Sila Lee, The Marriage Book.
Original quote: p190, Rob Parsons, Loving Against the Odds.

The Pursuit of Holiness (Part 4)

Some wise words from J.I. Packer on the subject of holiness:

"Personal holiness is an issue for every believer without exception. I am really expected to be so much like Jesus Christ that others will know at once and unmistakably that I am a Christian."
p19, J.I. Packer, Great Joy.

"Believers are positionally holy (separated by God for himself) from the word "go." Their obligation to practice moral and spiritual holiness on a day-to-day basis is derived from that fact. Our setting ourselves apart for God, in purpose separation from the world, the flesh, and the devil, is our proper response—our only proper response—to the knowledge that God has already claimed us by right of redemption."
p19, J.I. Packer, Great Joy.

"Holiness of life is not precisely a human achievement, however much it demands of human effort. It is a work of the Holy Spirit, who prompts and energizes the human effort as part of it. We do not sanctify ourselves."
p19-20, J.I. Packer, Great Joy.

"Self-reliance is not the way of holiness, but the negation of it. Self-confidence in the face of temptation and conflicting pressures is a sure guarantee that some sort of moral failure will follow."
p20, J.I. Packer, Great Joy.

Joy Blocker

A couple of lines from J.I. Packer in his book 'Great Joy' that got me thinking:

"Fifth, the practice of joy means losing your inhibitions. Some of us are so emotionally frozen that we never get close to anyone, and feel paralyzed with embarrassment when urged to loosen up. Inner restraints of this kind block out joy in our relationships both with other people (even our nearest and dearest) and with God."
p10

It's very easy if you're a bit of an introvert and a bit reserved (like myself) to just think 'that's the way God made me' and sort of nullify any need to push through your inhibitions. But these lines of text do reveal their tendency to block out some very positive emotions. They can put a false ceiling in place, and a shallow foundation. The great heights and depths of joy are beyond our grasp when we let our inhibitions dominate. We should be seeking to push that ceiling up, dig that foundation down, even if it's just little by little.

Mostly Tired of Self?

"If you're a Christian mainly because you want to be changed, that's a problem. If you've given your life to God mostly because you are tired of yourself and want to be a different person—well, that may suggest you're merely using God to fix you. That's not faith. That's not love of God. That's love of self."

Mark Galli, 'Point of Crisis, Point of Grace' in Christianity Today, Jan 21, 2010.
Read in: Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p79

"Just Stop It" Won't Do

"When you become entangled in habitual sins and addictions, "just stop it" just won't do. You may be able to exert your willpower for a short time, resisting urges to indulge your sinful desires. But trials and temptations always return to find you in a moment of weakness, often in the very moment of weakness where you have fallen to temptation hundreds or thousands of times before. To stand firm in that moment takes more than the chanting of Bible verses, more than willpower, more than disgust at the filthiness of the sin. For the Christian, these moments are tests of faith. Do you really believe God? Do you really trust him?"

Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p153

The Gift of Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is a gift that God means for you to receive and then pass along to others. It may be the most costly gift you ever give; yet, precisely because it is so costly, it is also one of the clearest ways you can show God's love as his image bearer."
Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p80

"Biblical forgiveness is a gift given to someone else, not a favour to oneself."
Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p82

Absorption

"A helpful way to think about forgiveness is absorption. Imagine you're in traffic, and another driver swerves into your lane, cutting you off and forcing you to hit the brakes to keep from crashing into his bumper. What do you do? If you flip him off and slam on your horn (not for safety, mind you, but for payback), you offend everyone else around you. They have to tolerate your road rage on top of the usual stresses of commuting. Furthermore, maybe the guy who cut you off didn't mean anything personal by it—he just needed to move over quickly to make his exit. But you, in your swearing, definitely meant something personal against him. You have refused to absorb the offense and in the process have compounded the sin.
    Absorption, says Cheong, "is at the heart of forgiveness, since it involves the ability to deal with the pain in a way that it will not be passed on to anyone else." Or, as Tolsoy put it, to forgive is to "swallow" evil and prevent it from going further."

Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p81
Quoted: Cheong, Towards an Explicitly Theocentric Model of Forgiveness; and Leo Tolstoy, The Complete Works

A Few Notes On Forgiveness

"When people say, I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself,' they mean that they have failed an idol, whose approval is more important to them than God's."
Original quote: Tim Keller, Counterfeit God's, p148
Read in: Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p79

"As David Powlison says, "So often when people feel remorse for what they've done wrong, it is a remorse against their idealised self-image, a remorse in their own eyes, and a remorse against what other people think about them," not remorse for what they've done in God's eyes."
Read in: Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p79

"It is the height of self-centredness to think your sin somehow offends you (or anyone else, even) more than it offends God."
Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p79

"...you may feel unforgiven because you haven't honestly confessed your sin to God. In this case, you feel unforgiven because—in a sense—you are unforgiven. As Wolf says: "Without confession I will remain unforgiven—not because Gd doesn't forgive, but because a refusal to confess is a rejection of forgiveness. Refusing to confess, I refuse to make forgiveness my own through confession of wrongdoing and joyful gratitude over it not being counted against me."
Redemption by Mike Wilkerson, p79
Free of Charge by Volf, p154

Paying in Advance

I've recently be reading through the Lord's prayer and been thinking about the model of forgiveness that God gave us. One of the things that hit me is that for all of us alive in the present day, Jesus prepared for our sin thousands of years in advance. Before we had done anything good or bad, committed any offence against God, he was ready and able to forgive.

It struck me that we should perhaps attempt that same model of forgiveness. When sin is committed against us, it shouldn't be such a surprise sometimes. On some level it should be expected. We should know what's required and be ready to pay the price. It shouldn't take days, months, years before the penny drops and we realise what we've missed.

I guess it's another fine balance. Trying to avoid being cynical by expecting sin, and yet being ready and willing to forgive when it happens.

Love is...

"You know very well that love is, above all, the gift of oneself"

Quote from 'The Marriage Book', Nicky & Sila Lee
Original Quote: Jean Anouilh, Adela, 1949