1 Timothy 3:1-7: Noble ambition.(please click for today’s passage)
In Oswald Sanders’ remarkable book ‘Spiritual Leadership’, he places 1 Timothy 3:1 and Jeremiah 45:5 together at the beginning of one chapter. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting to be a (servant) leader in the church. It’s a noble ambition. Paul is so sure about this point that he underlines it by calling it a ‘’trustworthy’’ saying. The problem is, however, that our desires, at best, are tainted with selfishness. The ambition to be ‘up front’, doing highly visible stuff in church, can come from a bad place. So we need Jeremiah’s counter-balance: ‘’Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.’’ Why do you want to be a leader? Who is it for really? I believe that anyone who wants to lead should place their aspirations, and what they believe about their own giftedness, before other mature Christians whose judgment they respect. I recognise that we can be self-deluded. I have known good and sincere people who desperately wanted to be in a pulpit, but when they got an opportunity it was obvious to at least a core of wise and discerning fellow-believers that they weren’t fitted for it. Yet some souls will not be easily disabused of the belief that they can preach and lead and that they are very good at it! So there is a need to be humble and open to feedback. Let other people you trust speak into your life. Listen to them. If you don’t have the gifts you hope you have, you certainly will have others that you may not even recognise.
But it’s not necessarily wrong to want to be an elder. Here, however, are some key things to look for before we appoint anyone:
• What about their character? (2, 3): The qualifications for church leadership in the New Testament are not primarily about charisma but character. It’s not a question of whether or not this person can be a commanding presence on stage. No, is this man godly? That’s the issue. Is he growing in godliness? Is he committed to living a holy life? Will he be in example in all areas?
• How is their home life? (4, 5): The home is the proving ground for leadership in the church. If you can’t lead in your own family how can you hope to lead God’s family?
• How young are they in the faith? (6): Paul does not specify how ‘’recent’’ is ‘recent’, but we have to wrestle with this one and try to ensure that we don’t appoint anyone prematurely. Of course, people mature at different rates, so some may be ready sooner than others.
• What impression do you have of their reputation in the world? (7) I have never been in a church where we did this, but I think it would probably be fitting to get references from the ‘market place ‘where appropriate. What is their boss’s view of them? And what impression do colleagues have of this person? An elder should have a good reputation outside the church and not just within it.
Church leadership is like marriage in a way. Quoting from the wedding service it ‘’should not be entered into lightly, but reverently, soberly and in the fear of God.’’
Prayer: We pray today for all who have undertaken the responsibility of servant leadership in the church. Thank you for their willingness to serve. Please bless them with strength and wisdom and peace, and all good things needed to carry out their ministry. By your grace help them to keep growing in Christlikeness.
Psalm 119:57-64 (please click here for todays Bible passage)
‘’I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.’’ (59).
This indicates how we should read God’s Word; not just for information, but for transformation (or ‘’thoughtful self-reformation’’ as Alec Motyer puts it.)
Is your heart cry, ‘Lord change me’? Do you regularly place your life in front of the ’’mirror’’ of the Bible and look for what needs to be altered? (James 1:23, 24). First thing in the morning, I look in the mirror and I can see what has to change. It becomes obvious what needs to be washed, to be shaved, to be tidied and brushed and combed. If I simply looked at my reflection and did nothing about what I saw I would be stupid; and I would not be fit to go out! ‘’We must do the Word of God, not just read it or study it, the blessing is in the doing.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe. Today’s passage points to a way of reading the Bible that leads to life change. This is how we should always approach it, asking, ‘Lord what do you want me to do about this? How do I live it? How will I put it in to practice?
The writer of Psalm 119 was serious about God’s Word. He so intended to live God’s way that he was prepared to suffer for it (61). When that is your heart commitment, friendship with others of a like mind helps (63). Stay close to other people who also honour the Bible and revere God. You will be able to help one another.
There are indications in this section of Scripture of a devoted and intense spirituality. See:
• The commitment to obey (57b);
• The whole heartedness of his seeking God (58);
• His quickness to obey (60);
• His prayerfulness even in the night (62).
Could it truly be said of us that we mean business; that we are not ‘part-timers’? One man said, ‘’I am a serious reader of the Bible.’’ Are you?
But as much as this man loved his Bible, he loved God more (57a). His love for God was what caused him to treat God’s Book with the utmost seriousness. He was not a ‘Bibliolater’. He worshipped God, not a leather-bound Book. But that comment is not intended to diminish the Bible’s importance. Some years ago I wrote a quote down about today’s passage. It reads: ‘’We cannot have God without His word. Such is the lesson of this section – It is impossible to abide in Him unless His words abide in us (Jn.15:7)’’
We have seen before, in looking at this psalm, that there is a context of persecution lurking in the shadows; but ‘’in every situation and place – whether hostile, secret or corporate – his (unfailing) love is everywhere…How do we react to one who is all sufficient (57-60) and how do we live in relation to one whose love is to be found everywhere (61-64)? J.A. Motyer: ‘The New Bible Commentary’, p.568. The psalmist points the way here. Take a look in the mirror!
Prayer: Keep me Lord Jesus from a purely theoretical spirituality. Help me to always do something about what I see in your ‘Mirror’.
1 Timothy 1:12-17: My story (Click for todays Bible passage)
Paul wanted to encourage Timothy in his difficult assignment in Ephesus, and he let him know how highly he regarded his own calling to serve. It was an inestimable blessing and privilege (12).
Paul was quick to give his testimony and glorify the ‘’only God’’ who saved him (17). He recognised that he was undeserving and he overflowed with thankfulness. He had no reason to boast. The passage opens with these words, ‘’I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus…’’ The Message. This is where we need to live our lives, in a place of humble, adoring gratitude, low at the feet of Jesus, prostrate before the throne of God. Paul recognised that the very ‘’faith and love’’ he possessed (faith to trust Christ, and love for Him and His church) were sheer gifts (14). He was not a ‘self-made’ Christian. No one is or ever could be. ‘’Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.’’ The Message.
The central verse in this section, the pivot on which everything turns, is surely (15).’’Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof – Public Sinner Number One – of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy.’’ The Message. ’ Paul had come to ‘fully accept’ this ‘’trustworthy’’ truth, as the ‘New International Version’ of the Bible puts it, and it had changed his life. It was the heart of ‘’the glorious gospel of the blessed God’’ (11) which had been entrusted to Paul. This was his message (1 Corinthians 2:2). (By the way, the word ‘’glorious’’ in that verse can refer to the content of the gospel, or to the One who gave it, i.e. God Himself. In the context the second possibility seems to fit better.)
Paul recognised that his rescue by God, through His Son Jesus, was because of ‘’mercy’’ (13, 16) and ‘’grace’’ (14). He was struck by the abundance of God’s provision. It’s been pointed out that God in His grace gives us what we don’t deserve (salvation); and in His mercy He does not give us what we do deserve (punishment and eternal judgment). Twice Paul says, ‘’I was shown mercy…’’ He knew that but for this generosity of God everything would be up for him. But God’s mercy took into account that Paul (then Saul) didn’t fully know what he was doing in his violent and murderous former life (13). ‘’…I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing – didn’t know Who I was doing it against!’’ The Message.
And so Paul became, you might say, ‘Exhibit A’ of the gracious and merciful saving work of God (16). ‘’And now he shows me off – evidence of his endless patience – to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.’’ The Message. If God could save Saul of Tarsus, whose life could He not turn around.
In a sense, Paul’s story is also every Christian’s. The details of our lives may differ, but none of us could be saved apart from the mercy and grace of God. And He does not hold the details of our past lives against us when we are in Christ. Our place is with Paul, on the ground before the shining throne of God. The cross spells the death of all pride. It is not fitting before Calvary love. Paul never forgot the wonder of God’s choice of him. It will do us all good to lie and soak in this ‘bath’ of Paul’s testimony.
Prayer: Lord, may I never lose the wonder of your precious love for me.
Luke 1:1-25: John, a child prayed for.(please click here for today’s Bible passage)
Luke was a gentile doctor, ‘a man with a scientific turn of mind’ as someone put it, and he wrote a two volume history of the beginnings of Christianity that we know as ‘Luke’ and ‘Acts’. It is interesting that these two books, so full of miraculous occurrences, should be written by a ‘scientist’. This opening chapter of the fourth gospel shows continuity with the Jewish Old Testament; we recognise that we are in an unfolding story. But it also emphasises factuality and reliability. I am stirred to think of the effort Luke put in to communicate the truth of Christianity to, it seems, just one man, ‘’Theophilus’’, who, it is thought, was probably a high ranking Roman official, and a ‘seeker’. Bill Hybels has repeatedly said, ‘’Lost people matter to God.’’ They should also matter to us, and they are worth every effort to reach them. (N.B. At one time, it was fashionable amongst scholars to dismiss the historicity of Luke. Then an archaeologist called William Ramsay came along, and he discovered that on point after point Luke was right!)
This opening story is a very human one, full of pathos. Zechariah and Elizabeth were good and godly people, but there was sadness in their lives. (Somebody said that we should be gentle with everyone we meet because all people have some area of pain somewhere.) Being a believer, and faithful to God, is not an inoculation against trouble. Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless, and barrenness, for a woman, was regarded as a great disgrace in that culture (25). But, as someone pointed out to me, you are never too old to be blessed by God. The Lord doesn’t just use young people.
Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed about their situation. That much is clear (13). How long had they prayed? How desperately and persistently has they prayed? I don’t know. But this much I can see, through their prayers God did far more than they could ask or imagine. In God’s time, not only did they get a baby boy, but they discovered that he was to be the long promised ‘forerunner’ of the Messiah. Wow! ‘’He will be one of God’s great men.’’ (15) J.B. Phillips. Prayer is one of the major themes in Luke/Acts, and as we work our way through the gospel we are going to encounter the teaching of Jesus about persistence in prayer. Zechariah and Elizabeth show that such prayer is powerful.
But, when Zechariah was told that his prayer was answered, he was an unbelieving believer (18-20). However, I find I cannot point the finger for all too often I am just like this. ‘Peter’ is at the door. I have been praying fervently for ‘Peter’, along with others; praying that somehow he will get out of ‘prison’; praying for a miracle. Then when I find him at the door I can’t believe it (Acts 12:12-16).
When Zechariah heard what great blessing was to come to his door, he didn’t get above himself. He wasn’t puffed up with pride. He just humbly carried on his service (23-25), and went home and played his part in the miracle. It was no less a supernatural work of God, but the Lord looks for men and women who will fully cooperate with Him. And so there was great joy and gladness in this prayer-filled home.
Here is one final thought for today: ‘’The crowded congregation outside was praying at the actual time of the incense-burning.’’ (10). J.B. Phillips. It is important that we pray for ‘ministers’ and services, and it’s great if that praying can happen at the time the ministry is being given. Our God answers prayer. Never doubt it. Be encouraged today. And don’t stop praying for your children, even though they may now be fully grown. Let them always be children prayed for.
Psalm 119: 25-32: Watch where you run (Part 2).(please click her for todays notes)
Some years ago we had a guest preacher visit our church and in one message he declared, ‘I want to be Bible man!’ I’ve never forgotten those words. That was the determination of the psalmist also. In yesterday’s reading, we considered how this passage shows the renewing power of God’s Word (25), the strengthening power of God’s Word (28) and the keeping power of God’s Word (29). But to experience all of this, there has to be a definite commitment, on our part, to the Bible.
We must:
Choose it (30a): There is a definite choice to be made in order to become ‘Bible man’ or ‘Bible woman’. We must choose to have God’s Word at the very core of our lives; we won’t drift into such a commitment. But it’s one a believer can make because of God’s work in his ‘’heart’’, setting him ‘’free’’ for the life of obedience (32b).
Set our hearts on it (30b; see also Colossians 3:1): Within this there is a recognition that we must look to the Divine Author of Scripture for understanding (26b, 27). ‘’There is a heavenly wisdom, which can only be acquired from the lips of the Greatest of Teachers, at whose feet Mary sat.’’ F.B.Meyer.
Hold fast to it (31a): Meditation (27b) helps us to do just this. ‘’I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me…’’ Meditation helps you to ‘keep’ whatever it is that you are learning in your reading of the Bible. Yesterday we thought a little about George Muller and the place God’s Word had in his life. He saw it as his first duty each morning to ensure that his soul was supremely happy in God. For him, that meant starting the day meditating on the Scriptures, and then he turned those meditations into prayers.
Run in it (32a): Yesterday morning I left my home around 6 a.m. and ran along a clearly marked path by the River Wharfe in Boston Spa. That’s an image I have in my mind as I read (32a) – something of the joy and freedom, as well as the effort and discipline of running. But the run takes place on a path I have not made. I get the sense, in this psalm, of someone who delights to be out on these well-travelled paths. It’s not drudgery to him.
As ever, Alec Motyer has some insightful comments on the passage before us: ‘’Humiliation (25), weariness (28), temptation (29), potential disappointments (31) are all part of life. Things ‘get us down’ (25, ‘My soul cleaves to the dust’), life becomes too much (28, ‘My soul is sleepless with depression’). But more than anything else, the time of trouble is to be a time of prayer. These eight verses contain seven prayers…The time of trouble is also a time of special commitment, to fix the mind on his wonderful word (27), to choose and set the heart on his truth (30), to meet trouble with obedience (31, ‘I cleave to your statutes’), to make the effort, (‘I will run’). But the time of trouble is also a time of rest, for God will always be true to his word (25b, 28b, 29b better ‘in accordance with your law’). ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.567.
Prayer: ‘’My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn; build me up again by your Word.’’ The Message (Verse 28).
Jeremiah 13:23: New colours (please click here for todays passage)
‘’Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?’’
For a number of years our church held a house party at Bawtry Hall near Doncaster. The speaker at the first one had a repeated theme, and I think it got into everyone’s psyche: ‘’Things can change’’. We took that home with us, and he helped us to really believe it. He kept hitting this nail of truth with his preacher’s hammer until it sunk in!
It is also true to say that people can change. In the Hands of God people can be different. He can make them what they are not. We have a part to play in co-operating with the Lord in our metamorphosis, but we can’t boast of self-improvement. God is in the people-transformation business, and to Him be all the glory!
Tom Hale makes this comment on verse 23:
‘’Here Jeremiah cites a proverb to indicate that Jerusalem’s people were no longer able to change their evil ways. They had become hardened in their sins; they had become slaves of sin (John 8:34). When people persist in sin beyond a certain point – a point known only to God – they cut themselves off from God’s grace; they can no longer turn back; they can no longer ‘’change their spots.’’ This is all true – from God’s perspective. But from man’s perspective, there is always hope; it is never too late to repent…Up until the day he dies, even the hardened sinner can repent; and if he does, God will ‘’change his spots’’ (see Luke 23:32, 39-43).’’ ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1096.
What is the answer of the New Testament to the question posed in verse 23? It surely is that what ‘’the Ethiopian’’ or ‘’the leopard’’ cannot do, Christ can (Romans 5:6; 1 Corinthians 5:17). By His death on the cross Jesus makes it possible for people to be made right with God; through His presence within them by the Holy Spirit He can enable them to live right, more and more, day after day, until they are finally perfected in His likeness. Change is possible.
I understand that a man who had been a drunkard said: ‘’I have no problem believing that Jesus turned water into wine, for he turned beer into furniture in my house!’’ This man got a different skin; changed spots; new colours. In Christ He was a new creation. What He could not do for himself, Jesus did for him.
Prayer: Knowing your power I should never despair of anyone Lord. You change people. And I am aware that as long as I live I will need to pray, ‘Lord change me!’
Jeremiah 9:10-12: Are you ready?
Fulfilled prophecy is one of the reasons why I believe the Bible to be God’s Book (the technical term is ‘inspired’) and no ordinary book. A large percentage of the Bible is prophecy, in which future events are forecast in detail. The bulk of these prophecies have already come true to the letter. This should give us total confidence that the remainder of these, pertaining to the end of history as we know it: the second coming of Christ, will come to pass.
Take, for example, this prophecy of Jeremiah. Many people in his day thought he was talking through his hat! They could not envisage such a disaster. But what he predicted happened. Disaster befell the people of Judah because of their rebellion against God. It broke Jeremiah’s heart. He saw it all in vivid detail before it happened, and wept over it. But very few people got onto the same page as him.
So we may think that the contents of the book of ‘Revelation,’ for example, are far-fetched. We can dismiss these visions as eccentric and whacky and odd. But if you realistically assess what has already happened in terms of accurate Biblical prophecy, would you bet against the last book in the Bible coming true?
Many are asking, ‘What is the world coming to?’ The real question is, ‘Who is coming to this world?’ The answer is Jesus. Are you ready to meet Him? Or are you with all the mockers who dismissed Jeremiah? What happened to them?
Prayer: ‘’Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus. Come in today; come in to stay; come into my heart Lord Jesus.
Colossians 3:18 -4:1: Heaven in the home.(click here for passage)
It’s been said that ‘’Christianity is as practical as a pair of shoes; not just for putting on and showing, but for getting up and going!’’ It is so practical that it will affect your home and work life for good if you will allow it to.
Someone said that the secret of a happy marriage lies not in finding the right person, but in being the right person. There is profound truth in these words. Today’s passage says, in effect, that if we bring increasing Christ-likeness into our relationships at home and in the work place we will please God and follow His pattern. Verse 17 established an important principle and here are some concrete examples of how it works out. Doing everything ‘’in the name of the Lord Jesus’’ entails doing it all for Him, and through Him, in obedience to Him and like Him.
Notice especially these words:
‘’…as is fitting in the Lord.’’ (18);
‘’…for this pleases the Lord.’’ (20);
‘’…with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.’’ (22);
‘’…as working for the Lord, not for men…’’ (23);
‘’It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’’ (24);
‘’…you also have a Master in heaven.’’ (4:1).
We need to realise that marriage, home life and work life are essentially about Jesus. They are meant to be Christ-centred. He is to be Lord of who we are and what we do in these settings. They are arenas in which we are called to glorify Him. The more like Him we become, the more we will ‘oil the wheels’ in these relationships.
Throughout the passage Paul emphasises the responsibilities of each party: wives, husbands, children, Fathers, slaves and Masters. Now I have to fulfil my responsibility regardless of what you do (or don’t do) about yours. But obviously, everything works best when people reciprocate and pull their weight. Let’s do worship at home and at work. Worship is not to be confined, in thinking and practice, to church services. In real worship we offer everything we do to God, and if we can’t present it to Him we don’t do it. At least, that’s how it should be!
So when someone trusts Jesus to be their Saviour and Lord, He comes into their life and transforms everything, if allowed to. The cross comes into their relationships. (See the ‘sister’ passage in Ephesians 5:22 – 6:9; especially 5:25ff. It was written around the same time.) They seek to serve and to give rather than to be served and receive. ‘’For best results, follow the Maker’s Instructions!’’ When we do follow them we realise how wise they are.
Prayer: In every relationship of my life, make me the person you want me to be. I want to be more like you Lord Jesus.
Colossians 3:15-17: A portrait of the church.(click here for passage)
The church is meant to be:
A peaceful community (15a). If day by day we choose to wear the clothes Jesus has freely put in our wardrobe (12-14) the Christian community will be at peace. We’ll be unitedly fighting a spiritual war with the powers of darkness, but we won’t be training our guns on each other. However, a peaceful group will be made up of individuals who are allowing the ‘’peace of Christ’’ to ‘’rule’’ in their hearts. Whatever our outward circumstances, this is to be our dominant emotion. Other feelings/attitudes will fight to control our ‘’hearts’’, so we have a part to play in ‘letting’ Christ’s peace rule. The ‘’peace of Christ’’ may refer to the peace Jesus gives or the peace He possesses. Probably it’s about both (John 14:27.) Somebody observed that as Christ lived in the world, outwardly He ran into many a violent storm, but inwardly He was a ‘’sea of glass’’. He was always at rest In His heart. This is a peace that goes beyond human comprehension (Philippians 4:7). This is the peace which the Lord wants us to carry into the world each day. It is also to be the ethos, the culture, the atmosphere of the church as we gather together. People should be able to ‘feel it in the air’ as they join us. Let’s not allow anything of sin to ruin this peace between the ‘’members of one body’’. Those who belong to Jesus can live at peace if they choose to.
A thankful community (15b). One way that will help you to live at peace with everyone is to be thankful for each person in your world. Take that individual you like the least; the one who can just wind you up at the drop of a hat. You can feel yourself becoming agitated at the mere thought of them. I guarantee you that if you look for things to be thankful for, even in them, you will find them! And if you make it a habit to look for reasons to thank God for them, you will see those reasons, and gradually your heart will soften and change More generally, if you cultivate a thankful mind-set, where you regularly ‘count your blessings’, you will find that this leads to a more peaceful and contented outlook. (Look at how the thread of thanksgiving runs through this short section: verses 15b, 16b, 17b.) Recently I heard someone say that each morning he thinks of five things to be thankful for from the previous day, and he starts the new day by thanking God for them, before he starts to ask for anything else. That helped me and I’m endeavouring to bed in this habit. You will never run dry of reasons for thanksgiving. There are always many more than five reasons!
A Bible-centred community (16). By the way, here’s the primary way you can ‘’Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart’’. It’s by ‘letting’ ‘’the word of Christ dwell in you richly’’. A life soaked in Scripture is likely to be peaceful. If you are saturated in the Bible, like a sponge, when you are ‘squeezed’ in the pressures of life, what is likely to come out? Notice how God’s Word is to be at the heart of our teaching, (whether this is from a pulpit or in groups or one to one), our counselling, and our singing. We should no more sing heresy than preach it! It’s not okay to sing the words anyway just because we like the tune.
A worshipping community (17). David Pawson reputedly said: ‘’For the Christian the whole of life is sacred and the only thing that is secular is sin.’’ If we can’t do what we’re doing ‘’in the name of the Lord Jesus’’ we probably shouldn’t be doing it.
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