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Daily Bible thoughts 969: Wednesday 16th September 2015: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4: The snail and the Ark.

 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4: The snail and the Ark.(please click here for todays passage)

I remember well the May night in 1999 when Manchester United won their first European Championship under the management of Alex Ferguson, in the Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona. Really and truly, United looked like they had been screwed down by the efficient German team, Bayern Munich, who took a one nil lead in with them at half time. But throughout the second period there was a sense of growing momentum with the Manchester team. They kept trying; coming back at Bayern in wave after wave. With a matter of minutes to spare, Teddy Sheringham scraped an equaliser. Then on came ‘super-sub’, the Norwegian striker Ole Gunner Solskjaer. With almost his first touch of the ball he scored from a corner, and United had won an improbable victory. Interviewed after the match, an elated Alex Ferguson said he was so proud of his team. ‘They never gave in’, he said. It was obvious to everyone watching that this was the case. They refused to be beaten.

However much the odds may seem to be stacked against you, God will help you to keep going if you trust in Him. That was the experience of the Thessalonians. This church was persecuted from the beginning (see 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5), but, with Divine help, they never gave up.

In his opening thanksgiving (a thanksgiving that Paul says is right and should be continuous), he expresses appreciation for:

  • Their ever-increasing faith (3a);
  • Their continuously growing love (3b);
  • Their endurance in trials (4).

These things surely link to the triad of graces we saw in the first letter as hallmarks of genuine Christianity: faith, love and hope.

The wind was blowing fiercely against the Thessalonians, but they just kept going.

Perseverance has been called ‘’stick-to-it-iveness.’’

C.H. Spurgeon said, ‘’By perseverance the snail made it to the ark.’’

It is said that Sir Winston Churchill spoke at his old school and delivered the shortest message of his political career: ‘’Never give in; never give in; never give in!’’

There are more serious things at stake than a football result. So, ‘’Never give in.’’

Prayer: Lord, at times life is so hard. You know this for you lived here as a Man, and you experienced the worst that this world had to throw at you. Still, you endured. Please give me the grace to follow your pattern.

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Daily Bible thoughts 968: Tuesday 15th September 2015: Jeremiah 16: 19-21: Living on smoke.

 Jeremiah 16: 19-21: Living on smoke.(please click here for todays passage)

‘’The godless nations will come from earth’s four corners, saying, ‘’Our ancestors lived on lies, useless illusions, all smoke.’’ Can mortals manufacture gods? Their factories turn out no-gods’’ The Message.

This lovely prayer of Jeremiah’s (19-21) comes at the end of another rather dismal chapter, and it should encourage us. Someone described prayer as ‘’the flight of the lonely man to the only God.’’ This particular prayer is ‘’a burst of faith and prophetic joy…’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT), p.1228.

Jeremiah’s Strength (19a): We have seen that Jeremiah had a difficult calling. He lived a lonely life. He was single and childless and had very few friends. He had a message to give that made him deeply unpopular with the majority. He was persecuted for his beliefs. He was ‘’like a speckled bird, set on by all the birds of the flock.’’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Great verses through the Bible’, p.300. So how did he manage to go on? God was his strength. Let that thought put fresh nerve into you today. If Jeremiah could persevere with God’s help, then you certainly can!

Jeremiah’s refuge (19a): Jeremiah was repeatedly attacked, verbally and even physically. But God was real to him. Jeremiah entrusted himself to God. He was conscious of being enveloped within the impregnable walls of God’s love (Romans 8:39). The Lord was his ‘’fortress’’ and ‘’refuge’’; his place of safety. In the midst of your pain and hardship God wants you to know this reality.

Jeremiah’s confidence (19b, 20): Although he was ostracised and largely rejected in his own day, Jeremiah was enabled to see that a day would come when the Gentile nations would flock into God’s Kingdom. We are living in these prophetically foreseen days right now. The church is growing and spreading all over the world (see Isaiah 2:1-4; Micah 4: 1, 2; see Habakkuk 2:14). Many people are seeing the idolatrous mirages they have trusted in for what they are. They are recognising that they have been living on ‘’lies’’, ‘’illusions’’ and ‘’smoke’’. God is able to do this. He breaks the stronghold of idolatry over minds and hearts. As Jeremiah prayed, God spoke (21). What God said was that He would do the very thing that Jeremiah saw that He would do. God’s Word informs and strengthens and shapes our prayers. God is able to change people; He is even capable of influencing  whole nations. You may be in a dark place, as Jeremiah was, but God can light up your life with an awareness of something significant He is yet to do. His bright ‘torch light’ can penetrate your ‘fog’.

Prayer: ‘’Let God speak, and I will listen.’’

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Daily Bible thoughts 967: Monday 14th September 2015: Jeremiah 16: Some further thoughts.

Jeremiah 16: Some further thoughts.(please click here for todays notes)

Here are some further observations on this chapter:

  • Verse 5 contains a warning for the church today. Think about the letters to the seven churches in the book of ‘Revelation’. ‘Lights’ can go out. ‘Candles’ can be extinguished. God can withdraw His blessing. Someone made the point that the local church is never more than a generation away from extinction. We can’t just live how we please and think that all will be well. God, in His patience, may well give us time to repent, but the time will not be infinite. A day will come when it is too late to change.
  • See once again that a note of hope is embedded within a message of severe judgment (14, 15). Jeremiah was enabled to see that there was going to be a second and greater ‘exodus’. In future days people would see the deliverance from Babylonian as the supreme example of God’s power in Israel’s history – even more than ‘the great escape’ from Egypt. (There is a repeated theme in this book that God will not destroy his people ‘’completely’’ : 4:27; 5:10, 18; 30:11; 46:28; see Psalm 94:14; Romans 11:1-5). When Jeremiah wrote, God’s revelation was not complete. Jesus, God’s final Word to mankind had not yet come. We now know that the supreme demonstration of God’s delivering power in human history was displayed at the cross where Jesus died for our sins.
  • Nothing is hidden from God (16-18; see 17:10). We are well and truly ‘bugged’. Jesus has ‘X-Ray vision (Revelation 1:14b).
  • Essentially, what God does in judgment is to give people what they have chosen (13). They would be where there hearts were – with their gods in the land of their gods. “When you tell this to the people and they ask, ‘Why is God talking this way, threatening us with all these calamities? We’re not criminals, after all. What have we done to our God to be treated like this?’ tell them this: ‘It’s because your ancestors left me, walked off and never looked back. They took up with the no-gods, worshiped and doted on them, and ignored me and wouldn’t do a thing I told them. And you’re even worse! Take a good look in the mirror—each of you doing whatever you want, whenever you want, refusing to pay attention to me. And for this I’m getting rid of you, throwing you out in the cold, into a far and strange country. You can worship your precious no-gods there to your heart’s content. Rest assured, I won’t bother you anymore.’ ’’ The Message.

Beware of what you set your heart on, for it will surely be yours!

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Daily Bible thoughts 966: Friday 11th September 2015: Jeremiah 16: The cost of ministry.

 Jeremiah 16: The cost of ministry.(please click here for todays passage)

In his remarkable book, ‘Intercessor’, Rees Howells says something along these lines: ‘’The Holy Ghost was stricter with me than any schoolmaster.’’ This Welsh man had a remarkable ministry in prayer, but there was a lot of self-denial and self-sacrifice behind the scenes. God will sometimes deny a person certain legitimate things for His own good reasons. He has a particular purpose for each life. We are not to compare ourselves with others, but faithfully do what the Lord asks of us (John 21: 20-23).

There is a price to be paid for an effective ministry. Indeed, there is a price to pay for a high profile ministry. Although, humanly speaking, he was largely unsuccessful in his day, and unpopular, Jeremiah has become one of the most famous names in history. But there was a price tag attached to what he said and did.

It must have been hard for a man ‘’of Jeremiah’s affectionate and sympathetic nature’’ to obey the commands in (2, 5 and 8). But this was part of his message. It gave him a platform to speak (10ff).

‘’When people asked Jeremiah about his strange behaviour, he would have opportunity to declare the Word of God.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe.

His life was his message, in a way. (In a slightly different way, it should be the case for us as well – that the godly way we live backs up what we say, and causes people to ask questions.)

‘’Jeremiah has already used a sign to reinforce his message (13:1-11); now his whole life becomes a sign (1-4). Being unmarried was unusual in ancient Israel, and so his singleness and childlessness stand out as noteworthy. In fact, they are intended by the Lord as a sign that all normal life in Judah will cease…Jeremiah is also forbidden to participate in normal funeral ceremonies, as a sign that death will be so widespread in Judah that such mourning ceremonies will become impossible (5-7). Gordon McConville: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.686.

Jeremiah was also told that this was no time for feasting (8).

So, he was a lonely man: unmarried, childless, and with few friends. Someone pointed out that what Jeremiah was called to was tantamount to self-imposed excommunication. Perhaps these things were the kind of increased difficulty envisaged in (12:5).

‘’Jeremiah’s apparently anti-social conduct was to be a witness to the devastation that was about to descend upon Judah, when all normal activities of a community would cease.’’ A.E. Cundall.

How unpopular are you prepared to be for the cause of God in this world? As we will go on to see, although Jeremiah trod a lonely path, he was not alone. He had a ‘’refuge’’ (19). So do you and me. He will be our ‘’strength’’ to carry on.

Prayer: I am grateful Lord that when you ask something of us, you also help us to do that thing. Otherwise we would never have the courage or fortitude or ability to get on with the job.

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Daily Bible thoughts 964: Wednesday 9th September 2015: Psalm 119:25-32: Watch where you run!

 Psalm 119:25-32: Watch where you run!(click here for todays passage)

George Muller was famous in the Christian world for being a man of faith. This faith was linked to his absolute confidence in the Bible as God’s Word. He miraculously ran two orphanages in the Bristol area in the 19th century, feeding hundreds of orphans daily. He trusted God to meet every need. George Muller exercised a long ministry, and continued to travel the world and preach into his eighties. I read that he put his health and longevity down to the Bible and its recuperative power over his entire being.

We see in today’s reading:

  • The renewing power of God’s Word (25): This verse caused me to think about George Muller and what he said about the link between the Scriptures and longevity. Tom Hale makes the point that ‘’according to your word’’ means ‘’according to your promise.’’ The psalmist was ‘claiming’ a promise of God. He says that God has promised, on average, a ‘’long life’’ to His people if they remain faithful (Deuteronomy 6:1, 2). But he adds that it is sometimes God’s will to cut short the life of one of His faithful ones in order to accomplish some special purpose. The supreme example is that He ‘’cut short’’ the life of His own Son in order to provide salvation for the world. George Muller exemplified what it means to live by God’s promises. It is said that he read the Bible through nearly 200 times in his life, and he often put his finger on a promise as he brought it before God in prayer. He would ask Him, and trust Him, to do as He said.
  • The strengthening power of God’s Word (26): Amid the painful realities of life that bring us to tears, God’s Word imparts supernatural strength. In sorrow, there is no healing balm such as that which we find in the Bible. God gives the strength to go on.
  • The keeping power of God’s Word (29): The Bible is a ‘means of grace’. We live in a corrupt and corrupting world, but in the pages of God’s Word we experience the grace to be different; to swim against the current. Someone said, ‘’Either this Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book.’’

If we are to experience this power it will not happen automatically. We will not drift into the life of holiness which God intends for us. There must be a commitment to the Bible, and to a Biblical lifestyle, such as that exemplified by George Muller. I finish today’s thought with another quotation from him:

“The vigour of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.”

 

Prayer: Lord God, Author of all Scripture, teach me how to live on every word that proceeds from your mouth.

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Daily Bible thoughts 963: Tuesday 8th September 2015: 1 Thessalonians 5: Living in the future tense (Part 2).

1 Thessalonians 5: Living in the future tense (Part 2).(please click here for todays passage)

The film, ‘Marvellous’, captures something of the wonderful story of Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin, who became kit man at Stoke City in the era when Lou Macari was manager. It’s a drama which truly deserves the epithet ‘heart-warming’. On reading (16) I thought about Neil and a comment his character makes in the film: ‘’I wanted to be ‘appy so I decided I would be!’’

We’re continuing to look at some of Paul’s practical injunctions set in the context of living in the light of Christ’s return. Here are some further points:

Live joyfully (16): Joy is a choice. Neil Baldwin was right. You can’t always choose your circumstances but you can select your attitudes. Living joyfully is very much about being a thankful person (18) – someone who counts their blessings rather than continually obsesses over their burdens. It is also about living to serve others (see 15). If you live for others you will almost certainly run into joy as a by-product. ‘’Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part…Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.’’ (13b-15) The Message. Good, healthy relationships are a key to joy-filled living.

Live prayerfully (17): This is not about always saying prayers, but living in a spirit of prayer. We need to be prayed for (25), and we need to pray for others (23-25). ‘’Friends, keep up your prayers for us.’’ The Message.

Live thankfully (18): As I have already begun to intimate, I see these three exhortations as being interlinked. A prayerful person who is learning to give thanks ‘’in all circumstances’’ will also be coming to understand the secret of joy. In fact, it is no secret. This is out in the open. There is a further dimension to this life of joy and it comes next:

Live with openness to the Holy Spirit (19-22): But do this with discerning wisdom. ‘’Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible.’’ The Message.

To be able to live out the wonderfully practical instructions in this closing section of 1 Thessalonians, we will need the ‘’grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’’ (28). It is ours in abundance.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that you make possible what you insist on.

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Daily Bible thoughts 962: Monday 7th September 2015: 1 Thessalonians 5: Living in the future tense.

1 Thessalonians 5: Living in the future tense.(please click here for todays notes)

Today and tomorrow we will look at some down to earth, practical implications of believing in the second coming of Christ. Many get carried away with speculation. By and large I believe they are missing the point. Belief in the Second Advent should affect our ordinary everyday lives right now. Here are some points to consider:

Be alert (4-9; Luke 9:32): We are to stay spiritually awake. William James said, ‘’Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.’’ (Think about Jesus’ teaching in the gospels about faithfully carrying on with the work we’ve been given to do. For example see Matthew 24:32-44).

Be people of faith, love and hope (see 1:3): As we saw previously, these are the ‘credentials’ of genuine Christian experience. Keep trusting in Jesus; keep on loving God and others and holding on to the revealed truth about your glorious future prepared by the Lord.

Be good congregational members (12, 13a): As far as it depends on you, make it as easy as you can for your leaders to do their often difficult work. Be a fellowship of encouragement, warning, caring, patience, forgiveness and goodness. There is such a lot encapsulated in a few short lines (14, 15). Each statement in this ‘rapid fire’ series of final exhortations is (and I know I am mixing my metaphors) like a sweet to be sucked and savoured. Every word matters.

Live in harmony with one another (13b): You probably have little idea just how much this will bless your leaders. It’s one way you can help them. I once read an article in ‘Time’ magazine about President Ronald Reagan. It said that he was such an affable guy, he hated it when there was in-fighting and squabbling among his staff. At the time that very much resonated with me because I was aware of the pain of having one or two people in my congregation who struggled to get on with each other – at least some of the time. Church leaders hurt when those they serve hurt each other. Remember this, and aim to live in peace. But do it not primarily for the sake of your leaders, but because God Himself calls you to such a life, and makes it possible.

Prayer: Lord God may my everyday life exhibit the truth that I belong to another Kingdom and that I am awaiting the coming of that Kingdom in all its fullness.

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Daily Bible thoughts 961: Friday 4th September 2015: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11: On tiptoe of expectancy.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11: On tiptoe of expectancy.(please click here for todays notes)

I heard a preacher tell a story about how he and his wife had been burgled, sadly not for the first time I think. He said, ‘Wouldn’t it have been nice if those thieves had popped round the day before, saying that they’d be calling the next day, and giving some idea of their time of arrival? We’d have been there to welcome them. We’d have had the kettle on…!’ Point taken. Burglars don’t operate in such a convenient manner.

I remember a quiet Wednesday afternoon some years ago. I had only been out of the house for a short time, collecting my daughter from her primary school. On returning home, I discovered that we had been visited by some criminals (or a criminal). Up until then it had been a peaceful day off! Now our quiet day was dramatically disturbed. It was totally unexpected. We were not ready for our uninvited ‘visitors’.

Paul says that the ‘’day of the Lord’’ will come unexpectedly ‘’like a thief in the night’’ (2) as far as unbelievers are concerned. It will take them by surprise. It will be a day of judgment (9).

But this will not be the case for believers. We belong to ‘’the day’’ and to ‘’the light’’ (5). We have the revelation of God’s Word. ‘’We do not belong to the night or to the darkness’’ (5b). So then we should be different to the rest of the people in the world. We’re in the know. We are aware of what is going to happen – at least to some degree (Luke 21:25-28).

The world will be caught by surprise, but believers should be on the tiptoe of expectancy.

(By the way, note that verses 10, 11 sum up 4:13-18).

If we believe that Jesus is going to come back to this world, this conviction will have some extremely practical implications for our lives now. Paul spells some of them out in 1 Thessalonians 5, and we will go on to consider them in the next couple of studies.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live as a ‘son of the day’ and make the most of the light you have given me

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Daily Bible thoughts 960: Thursday 3rd September 2015: Jeremiah 15: 15-21: The loneliness of the long distance leader.

 Jeremiah 15: 15-21: The loneliness of the long distance leader.(click here for todays passage)

Jeremiah’s suffering (15): God fully understood this and Jeremiah knew that He did. Jeremiah was a good man; a faithful man who was persecuted for his faith.

Jeremiah’s delight (16; see Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:4): Jeremiah knew something of the loneliness of ministry. In fact, he experienced more isolation and rejection than most. He received discouraging responses to his preaching during the ‘marathon’ years of his ministry. But he did find strength and joy and encouragement in God’s Word. Eugene Peterson wrote a volume entitled, ‘Eat this Book’. How’s your appetite?

Jeremiah’s loneliness (17): He didn’t marry and he had few friends. He could not join in with the party when he knew that the roof was about to cave in and the whole house come crashing down. He saw more clearly than most of his contemporaries, and he paid dearly for seeing so clearly and for having the courage to speak out what he saw on the horizon. He trod a lonely path. The party- goers saw him as a party-pooper and he was hated.

Jeremiah’s sin (18): I feel sorry for Jeremiah, and so do you. But all that he went through was not an excuse for sin. It is one thing to be honest with God, but it is quite another to say things that are untrue (18b). Jesus taught His disciples to pray these words: ‘’And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ (Matthew 6:13). I understand that it can read: ‘’And do not put us to the test…’’ The truth is that a time of testing can be an occasion for temptation, so we need to be vigilant in it that we do not fall into sin. ‘’Jeremiah here lapses into acute self-pity and launches a bitter attack on God that reaches perilously close to blasphemy.’’ A.E. Cundall.

But God did not write Jeremiah off as a failure. He dealt gently with him as he did with Elijah (1 Kings 19:3-18; see also the story of Peter’s restoration in John 21). ‘’Remember how Peter sinned; but within 50 days he was speaking as the mouth of the Holy Ghost to thousands.’’ F.B. Meyer.

God’s kindness and gentleness (19): We who preach repentance to others will need to repent ourselves at times. We will need to drink the same medicine we prescribe. Jeremiah was a good and faithful man. But he was also sinful. At this time of great pressure his sin nature shone through. He needed to understand that sin could clog up the channel of his ministry, and he needed cleaning out. He particularly needed to repent of the ‘’worthless words’’ he had spoken in (18b; see Isaiah 6:5).

God’s commission (19b): We could say that Jeremiah was recommissioned at this point. (Hear echoes of his initial call in 1:8, 18).If Jeremiah did repent he would God’s ‘’spokesman’’. But although the people might come to him to hear him, he was not to ‘’turn to them’’. He wasn’t to become like them; to be enticed into their ways or squeezed into their mould.’ A faithful preacher of God’s Word will not only carry an authoritative message; he or she will have a distinctive lifestyle. They will be different. That difference also preaches! So if we spend time in the company of unbelievers (and I think the example of Jesus says we should) we should be careful not to take on their moral hues (17). Jesus was with them yet distinct from them, and that’s our challenge.

God’s promise (20, 21; see verse 11 and 1:8; 18): Hold on to what He’s said to you.

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