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Retired pastor

Daily Bible thoughts 875: Tuesday 12th May 2015: Colossians 1:3-8

Colossians 1:3-8

Here are some ‘gleanings’ from these opening verses:

  • It is good to ‘’always’’ (3) combine prayer and thanks;
  • In encouraging others, it is important to glorify God, and say ‘thank you’ for His work in them;
  • Genuine faith in Jesus (vertically) will show itself (horizontally) in love ‘’for all the saints’’. This love is the Holy Spirit’s ‘’fruit’’ (Galatians 5:22). For Paul, the triad of graces, ‘’faith’’ (4), ‘’love’’ (4, 5 and 8), and ‘’hope’’ (5), are the hallmarks of genuine Christian experience. Someone said that faith reaches back into the past, to embrace everything Jesus did for us at the cross; love reaches out into the present to touch all God’s children with love; and hope reaches forward into the future to grasp the plans God has for us there. Hope is not a flimsy characteristic. It is something solid and certain. (Note too that it is this ‘eschatological’ presentation of what God has planned for tomorrow, that brings people into faith today, and causes them to overflow with love: verse 5); ‘’The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.’’ The Message.
  • People will not come to faith without someone preaching to them (Romans 10:14, 15). In the case of the Colossians, it was ‘’Epaphras’’ (7), who faithfully shared the good news of Jesus with them. Trying to piece things together, scholars think that Epaphras may have been converted during Paul’s two yearlong ministry in Ephesus (see Acts 19). Epaphras then went back up the Lycus valley to his home territory, and may have been responsible for the planting of churches in Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colossae (4:12, 13 and 16.)It’s encouraging to think what can come from just one convert. ‘’He is one reliable worker for Christ! The Message;
  • The gospel message has a life all of its own. It’s like seed which has life in it (5b, 6). It’s a ‘living thing’ because it is true. Sow it into a place and you just don’t know what might happen. Not only are people brought to faith through the gospel, but it is also the means by which they grow. ‘’It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time…The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you…It’s as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras.’’ The Message.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the powerful work your gospel has done in me, and continues to do.

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Daily Bible thoughts 874: Monday 11th May 2015: Colossians 1:1, 2

Colossians 1:1, 2
I once read about an elderly gentleman who lived in a retirement home. One day, a visitor asked him, ‘What’s it like to live in an old folk’s home?’ Pulling himself up to his full height, he responded with great dignity, ‘I don’t live in an old folk’s home! I live in God!!’ That’s a wonderful answer, and it comes from the kind of perspective that sees yourself living ‘’in Christ’’ first of all, and only secondarily ‘’at Colossae’’ (2a). Do you see Jesus as your primary place of residence; as your supernatural habitat? We are likely to make the greatest impact on our geographical location when we see ourselves as fundamentally located in Christ. Then all that is in Him can flow through us to touch our village, town or city; the places where we live. At one and the same time we need to be connected to heaven, and also connected to the place where God has called us to live on earth.
Paul knew who he was and what he was (1). His calling was to be ‘’an apostle’’. This is what the will of God meant for him: he was a witness of the risen Lord, having met Him personally. He was also sent on a mission, to preach the good news about Jesus and pioneer churches in virgin Gentile territory. Do you know who you are ‘’by the will of God’’. God has a ‘shape’ for your life. He doesn’t expect you to ‘fit’ (or ‘squeeze’) into anyone else’s ‘slot’. As the hymn says: ‘’There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.’’ You are special; you are unique. Even someone else who has the same gifts as you won’t exercise those gifts in the way you do. Their personality and character will colour the exercise of the gifts. True satisfaction and fulfilment in life come not to those who try to be someone else (that way you will only run into tons of frustration) but to those who discover who/what God has called them to be, and get on with it.
At one church where I visit from time to time, many of the people have a quite refreshingly old –fashioned way of speaking. (That doesn’t matter in the least of course, because their sincere love for Jesus is almost tangible.) I have often heard the leaders say about an individual in the church, ‘’He’s a good brother is….’’, then they will name him. I want to say that if it’s a fine thing to be an apostle to someone (as Paul was to many), it is also invaluable to be a ‘good brother’ to someone (as Timothy was.) This was also the case with the Christians in Colossae. They were ‘’the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae…’’ (2a). They were ‘’holy’’ i.e. set apart to belong to God. They were also ‘’faithful’’ in living out that calling. (And, of course, there were ‘sisters’ among the brothers!)
One way you can bless other people today is by your words. As much as possible, let them be words of ‘’Grace and peace’’ (2b); words that speak of and come from ‘’God our Father.’’
‘’May everything good from God our Father be yours!’’ The Message.
Prayer: Lord, cause me to know and do your will for my life today; help me to be a brother to someone today; and enable me to be your mouthpiece today. Make my life a blessing.

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Daily Bible thoughts 873: Friday 8th May 2015: Jeremiah 5:26-31

Jeremiah 5:26-31

Make no mistake it, when rich and powerful people make their money on the backs of the vulnerable poor and needy, these are ‘’evil deeds’’ (28a). It angers God and it will incur His Judgment. When those who should ensure that there is justice for all, are prepared to sell it to the highest bidder, Heaven notices and will respond. For a time, wicked people may seem to get away with their wickedness, but it is only for a time.

‘’My people are infiltrated by wicked men, unscrupulous men on the hunt. They set traps for the unsuspecting. Their victims are innocent men and women. Their houses are stuffed with ill-gotten gain, like a hunter’s bag full of birds. Pretentious and powerful and rich, hugely obese, oily with rolls of fat. Worse, they have no conscience. Right and wrong mean nothing to them. They stand for nothing, stand up for no one, throw orphans to the wolves, exploit the poor. Do you think I’ll stand by and do nothing about this?’’ GOD’s Decree. ‘’Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures against a people like this?’’ The Message.

In Judah and Jerusalem in those days, a clear line could be drawn from the pulpit to the pew. What was going wrong in the community was linked to what had gone so badly wrong in ‘the church’. The preachers weren’t preaching the truth. There were time-servers and hirelings being appointed to the ministry. The leaders told lies and followed their own rules, in flagrant disregard of God’s Word. What’s more, the people ‘loved it’ that way (31b). It was right up their street. In the same way, it’s not unusual to hear some parishioners today rallying around a popular ‘priest’/minister who is living an immoral life, and doesn’t have much of a belief system. ‘But we love him (or her),’ they say. ‘He’s a great priest – so kind and loving, and fun to be around.’ There is very little challenge going to come to their lives from his life and words, if any at all: ‘’…and my people love it this way.’’ (31).

‘’Unspeakable! Sickening! What’s happened in this country? Prophets preach lies and priests hire on as their assistants. And my people love it. They eat it up! But what will you do when it’s time to pick up the pieces?’’ The Message.

‘’But what will you do in the end?’’ (31). That is such an important question. Where does all this lead? To a sick and broken society (‘’horrible and shocking’’ things happening in the land: verse 30), and ultimately to the devastation of judgment. Only Jesus can save us from such an end, and we need our pulpits to be filled with people who truly do believe and live the gospel. We need a band of faithful preachers who do not lie, but point to Jesus who alone is ‘’the way, and the truth, and the life.’’ (John 14:6). ‘’People need to think about the end of their lives; it will help them make better choices while they are living.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1086.

Prayer: Holy God, in your mercy, deliver us and protect us from an unbelieving ministry.

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Daily Bible thoughts 872: Thursday 7th May 2015: Jeremiah 5:20-25

Jeremiah 5:20-25

‘’There are none so blind as those who will not see.’’ (See verses 20, 21).

As we have seen, the people of Judah did not want to see the uncomfortable truth (12, 13), but preferred false teaching that made it easy on them (30,31). Before we jump in to condemn, let’s realise that we can be similarly obtuse.

‘’What is your attitude when you come into God’s presence? We should come with fear and trembling (that is, awe and respect) because God sets the boundaries of the roaring seas and establishes the rains and harvests. God had to strip away all the benefits that Judah and Israel had grown to respect more than him, with the hope that the people would turn back to God. Don’t wait until God removes your cherished resources before committing yourself to him as you should.’’ The Life Application Study Bible, p.1291.

Leaders/preachers can be given extremely tough assignments. They can have a script put in their hands that their listeners will not want to hear (20ff.) But we must be faithful to our calling.

‘’Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God…’’ (Romans 11: 22).

God, in His ‘common grace’ shows His loving kindness to all He has made (Matthew 5:44, 45).God’s kindness should move us to fear Him; to love, honour and worship Him. But if we do not respond to His overtures of kindness, we will come into contact with His sternness.

Prayer: Lord God, open our blind eyes and deaf ears.

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Daily Bible thoughts 871: Wednesday 6th May 2015: Jeremiah 5:12-19

 Jeremiah 5:12-19

‘’It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that bother me, but the bits I do.’’

Note 4 things in today’s passage:

  • They contradicted the message (12): They did not like the words of threatened judgment and calls to repentance. They loved how they were living and did not want to change. Like many today, they wanted to have their ears ‘tickled’. They wanted to go to ‘church’ and be entertained. The just wanted to have fun. It’s interesting how we can rationalise more pleasant alternative interpretations of heart-searching Scripture passages. When we contradict what the Bible clearly says we are actually lying about God.
  • They abused the messengers (13): They didn’t like the message and so they ‘shot’ the messengers. ‘Let these bad things happen to them’, they said, ‘Not to us!’ (There were other messengers whose sermons they did love: verses 30, 31. There were people preaching a false and powerless message. God saw this as ‘’horrible and shocking’’, but the majority of the people loved it. No wonder a former great leader of Methodism asked, ’’What evil have I done that all men speak well of me?’’)
  • The rejected message does not lose its power because it has been rejected (14-17). It will come back to bite those who have slammed the door in its face. If someone tells you that there’s an escaped lion in your garden, but you refuse to believe them, your ‘unbelief’ will not prevent the animal having its way with you when you step outside. As we read earlier (6), the Babylonians were going to come and ‘’devour’’ (15-17).
  • There is hope (18, 19). As we have seen over and again, even amidst deep darkness a bright light shines.

There are ‘hard’ sayings in the Bible. Be careful that you don’t deliberately soften them; that you don’t dilute them to taste. If you twist the plain message of Scripture you will be lying about God (2 Peter 3:16). Just because we don’t like the preaching of judgment doesn’t mean we won’t have it to face. We can mock the preachers all we like, but we will be ‘burned by their words (14).

I understand the Bible to teach that we cannot reject Jesus in this world and be accepted by Him in the next. This is a truth to face, and not push away.

Prayer: Lord God, please give me the willingness to listen to all you have to say, and respond as you desire.

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Daily Bible thoughts 870: Tuesday 5th May 2015: Jeremiah 5:10, 11

 Jeremiah 5:10-11

‘’Don’t show me up!’’

How many times did I hear the above exhortation from my mother during my childhood days?! She was acutely aware that her reputation with other people was tied up with my behaviour. I had the ability to redden her cheeks with shamed embarrassment. Maybe I sometimes used that ability (even if not necessarily with intent!)

These people thought they belonged to God, but for a long time they had not behaved like they did (10). They had acted unfaithfully. As we have seen, they were spiritually adulterous. We might say they had shown the Lord up before men. They were like besmirched mirrors that could not properly reflect the Lord’s glory.

Once again, though, in the face of judgment there is hope (10); there is evidence of mercy shown. God had promised to give Abraham an everlasting nation (Genesis 17:7, 8) and therefore He intended to leave a remnant out of which a renewed and purified nation could arise. The branches would be ripped off, but the root and stock spared.

Prayer: Thank you dear Lord that you remain faithful regardless of how we are. Nevertheless, may that fruit of the Spirit which is faithfulness grow in us more and more.

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Daily Bible thoughts 869: Monday 4th May 2015: Jeremiah 5:1-9

Jeremiah 5:1-9

I have found, at times, that people can use pious language but live far from God. This was so in Jeremiah’s day (2). Some hypocritical people freely use religious language, but they can’t hide from God. He sees through the cloak of their verbal ‘fig leaves’. These opening verses depict a desperate scenario. God’s city was full of injustice. Here was behaviour to befit pagans. That’s what the people had become at heart (8, 9). Virtually the entire population was corrupt.

God is longsuffering. He sends preliminary warnings, prior to the main event of judgment (2 Peter 3:8, 9). The people to whom Jeremiah was preaching had not responded to God’s chastisements, other than by hardening their hearts. We should not be surprised if some set themselves against the gospel, the good news of Jesus. It will sadden us, but it ought not to surprise us. Although God is patient and merciful and gives repeated calls for repentance, not everyone will turn from sin and trust in His dear Son.

The leaders had greater knowledge and therefore greater responsibility (4-6). But there was not a flicker of an appropriate response from them either. ‘’Then I said to myself, ‘’Well, these are just poor people. They don’t know any better. They were never taught anything about GOD. They never went to prayer meetings. I’ll find some people from the best families. I’ll talk to them. They’ll know what’s going on, the way GOD works. They’ll know the score.’’ But they were no better! Rebels all! Off doing their own thing.’’ The Message. So Babylon would become the agent of God’s judgment (6). The Babylonians are pictured here as wild animals.

Idolatry lay at the centre of all that was wrong in the land (7-9). The sexual imagery speaks of the fact that the people had abandoned the Lord, their true ‘Husband’ and deserted Him for other ‘lovers’ (gods). They were spiritual adulterers. It also underlines the point that promiscuous sex was part of the religion itself. Their corrupt worship erupted in this terrible lava of immoral behaviour, flowing down to cover and destroy society. Their sin against God was a sin against Love. ‘’I satisfied their deepest needs, and then they went off with the ‘sacred’ whores, left me for orgies in sex shrines! A bunch of well-groomed, lusty stallions, each one pawing and snorting for his neighbour’s wife.’’ The Message.

Throughout this passage you get a feeling of the heart-broken, yearning love of God. The Lord is longing for His people to turn to Him and live right. He doesn’t want them to experience the punishment that is now available. But there does come a point where it is too late to change. ‘’…the people’s sins are piled sky-high; their betrayals are past counting.’’ The Message. If you keep pushing away the good news about Jesus who has come to save us; if you keep rejecting Him rather than receiving Him, there will come a point of no return.

‘’Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?’’ (9b). Probably the people of every nation should examine themselves in the light of this question.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your patient love. Enable me to not take you for granted.

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Daily Bible thoughts 868: Friday 1st May 2015: Proverbs 24:5-14

Proverbs 24:5-14

‘’It’s better to be wise than strong; intelligence outranks muscle any day. Strategic planning is the key to warfare; to win you need a lot of good counsel.’’ The Message.

Before taking on an appointment with a Christian organisation, a well-known Bible teacher asked permission to consult with some trusted friends. He quoted (6): ‘’In the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom.’’ Furthermore, wisdom is sweet (13, 14). But not everyone tastes it (7): ‘’Wise conversation is way over the head of fools; in a serious discussion they haven’t a clue.’’ The Message.

It certainly is unwise to be a ‘’schemer’’ (8).

Trouble is a revealer of character (10): ‘’If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.’’ We usually don’t know what strength we have until trouble comes knocking on the door. Then we discover that we are stronger than we thought – or weaker.

The next verses (11, 12) remind me of the evangelistic responsibility of the church:

‘’Rescue the perishing: don’t hesitate to step in and help. If you say, ‘’Hey, that’s none of my business,’’ will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know – Someone not impressed with weak excuses.’’ The Message.

‘’If we know someone is in mortal danger and do not try to save him, God will judge us. This applies to those who are in spiritual danger as well; this is why Christians are called to share the Gospel with unbelievers (1 Corinthians 9:16). We may invent excuses for not doing so, but God weighs our heart (Proverbs 21:2); He will repay us according to what we have done (Psalm 62:12; Romans 2:6) – and also according to what we should have done but didn’t (James 4:17).’’ Tom Hale: ‘The applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.957.

In our church small groups this week we learned about ‘the good Samaritan’ and how we are to be a ‘neighbour’ to anyone in need. We must not ‘pass by on the other side’ but, like the Samaritan, go to where the need is. There are no excuses.

Prayer: Lord give us growing hearts of compassion.

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Daily Bible thoughts 867: Thursday 30th April 2015: Philippians 4:21-23

 Philippians 4:21-23

‘’But God’s word is not chained.’’ (2 Timothy 2:9b).

The final words in Philippians disclose the amazing insight that the gospel had penetrated as far as ‘’Caesar’s household.’’ It is believed that this letter was written from Rome, where Paul was a prisoner. As Romans 16 shows, the church in the capital city of the Empire was made up of a diverse group of people. There were Jews and Gentiles in the congregation; the wealthy and the poor; those who were influential (in worldly terms) and those who were slaves. Here we see that there were even believers in the Emperor’s own household. We can add this titbit of information to what we already saw in (1:12, 13): ‘’I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him.’’ The Message.

There are no locked doors to the risen Jesus (see John 20:19-23). The gospel is unstoppable. It will triumph in this world (2 Timothy 2:9).The Romans had not actually conquered the world, only a part of it. They ruled over the then known world we might say. But here are the first fruits of what is to come. ‘’Caesar’s household’’ and all it represents (i.e. every other world power system) is going to be replaced by the Kingdom of God. His Word and His will are going to prevail, while everything else crumbles to dust Daniel 2:34, 35, 44 and 45).

As we come to the end of our journey through the ‘epistle of joy’, I want to share in Paul’s closing greeting and speak it to you:

‘’The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.’’

‘’Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.’’ The Message.

Only by God’s grace will we be able to live out the truth we have discovered in Philippians, and be a joyful people in all circumstances. Thank God for His amazing grace, because it is available to you and me.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that out of Paul’s suffering you brought something as beautiful as this gem of a letter. It sparkles with joy and makes me want to be a praising, thankful person always.

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