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Daily Bible thoughts 905: Friday 19th June 2015: Colossians 3:12-14: A Christian’s Wardrobe.

Colossians 3:12-14: A Christian’s Wardrobe.(please click here for todays passage)

Your clothes say a lot about you. What do your ‘clothes’ say about you?

This morning I looked in my wardrobe and I saw a couple of dirty shirts hanging there. One was called ‘’anger’’ and the other was labelled ‘’rage’’. I also clapped eyes on a pair of trousers bearing the label ‘’malice’’, and there was a suit hanging up that said ‘’slander’’. Then my eyes fastened on a familiar jumper – ‘’filthy language.’’ I confess that I was tempted to put on these old clothes. I’ve had them for so long, and have become comfortable with the feel of them. They are like old friends in a way. I have a kind of love-hate relationship with them. Even though I know they look terrible, and do nothing good for my appearance, they are just so easy to slip into.

But then I realised that there were other clothes hanging in the wardrobe, just waiting to be used. They carried lovely ‘Designer’ labels: ‘’compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’’ And there were other garments saying, ‘Bear with other people’ and ‘forgive’. This was a brand new set of clothes, provided for me free of charge by a very dear friend. It cost Him so much to make them available. So although I felt a tug towards my old familiar clothes; even though I was drawn in the direction of putting the old, shabby stuff on once again, the awareness of His deep love for me helped me to reach for the new clothing. It was even like I could hear Him speaking to me; a voice that seemed to be inside me saying, ‘Go on and wear them. You know you want to. And always remember how very much I love you.’ In fact, I was aware of Him in the room with me, and I could sense how strongly He wanted me to choose correctly.

So I’ve decided that I’m done with the old gear. I was inclined to put them in the wash, but I’ve now decided to be radical. They’re going out. I’m getting rid. I choose not to wear them anymore!

As I walked down the street in my new set of clothes, many people seemed to notice. They smiled admiringly, and paid me lovely compliments. That never happened before. I get the impression that they prefer this new me, and I’m certainly happier with what I see in the mirror.

So I’m determined to keep the new look and not return to the old slovenly and scruffy ways. And with the assurance of my Friend’s love, and the encouragement of His companionship, I believe I will be able to stick with this resolve. But even if I do slip every now and then, and dig out an old cardigan or something still lurking in the back of the wardrobe, I know He will be there to gently but firmly get me back on track. So, with His constant Friendship I am always hopeful, and endlessly thankful.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for my lovely new clothes. Thank you for the price you paid.

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Daily Bible thoughts 904: Thursday 18th June 2015: Colossians 3:5-11: Pursue Holiness.

 Colossians 3:5-11: Pursue Holiness.(click here for todays passage)

In the pagan religions of Paul’s day, little or nothing was said about personal morality. A worshipper could offer his/her gift on the altar and return home to live the same old way. But it is not like that in Christianity. A Christian is someone who will become more and more like Jesus.

You may quickly notice the paradox suggested by (3) and (5): ‘’For you died…Put to death…’’ It’s what commentators call the tension between the indicative and the imperative; between what has happened, and what must happen in the light of what has happened. We have ‘died’, therefore we must ‘put to death’.

Verse five speaks about definite action; decisive action. This is not something you drift into. These words agree with those of Jesus in Matthew 5:27-30, where He called for radical (you might even say ruthless) action to deal with temptation and sin. You can’t make a truce with these implacable enemies of your soul.

What do you know needs to change in your life? It may have to do with the sins listed in verses five and eight. But we do not have an exhaustive catalogue here. It’s just a sample. Your ‘’earthly nature’’ is capable of other wrongs. But wishing won’t change anything. Definite steps have to be taken against indwelling evil. It is important to realise how much God hates all sin (6). We have to hate it also, and declare war on it. There are things which belong to our old life and not to the new resurrected life in Christ. That previous life is now dead; it is in the past tense. We have to recognise this fact and not go back. There is a picture in this chapter of changing clothes; taking off dirty ones and putting on clean garments. As someone said, we must ‘’take off the grave clothes and put on the grace clothes.’’

As in (5), there is in (8) reference to decisive action. It is also urgent.(N.B. ‘’you must’’). We can’t afford to sit around waiting to change or be changed, but have to get on with making the necessary changes. It is important to see that if you are a Christian you can do this, because you are alive with Christ (1); you are dead to your old life (2), and you have a new godly nature (9, 10). Paul is asking for the possible (to those who are in Christ) and not the impossible. Once you trust Christ for salvation and the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, you have a new endless power supply to live differently. ‘Turbo-charged’ behaviour is now possible! You can pursue holiness because the HOLY Spirit lives inside you.

The church is a new community made up of new people who are enabled to live a new life. In the church all the old distinctions mean nothing (11). Jesus is ‘’in’’ everyone. He is ‘’all’’ we need. He is our ‘’life’’.

It’s been said that we were each formed in the image of God. We were deformed from that image through sin. But now we are being transformed into that image through Christ.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that remarkable change is possible because of your work in me.

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Daily Bible thoughts 902: Tuesday 16th June 2015: Jeremiah 8: 18 – 9:2

 Jeremiah 8: 18 – 9:2 please click here for todays passage

‘’Break my heart for what breaks yours.’’

When I was about to attend my first morning service at the ‘Elim’ church in Wigan, my parents tried to warn me that I might not like it. I didn’t!! I had never felt or heard such raw emotion in church before. I was used to sedate and orderly services, but here I witnessed loud expressions of joy and love and saw tears flowing liberally. It felt like loving chaos.

Jeremiah has been characterised as ‘the weeping prophet’ and today’s reading illustrates why. We see a window into his heart. He was so burdened for his people. (You also see conflicted emotions in 9:1, 2):

‘’For my dear broken people, I’m heartbroken. I weep, seized by grief. Are there no healing ointments in Gilead? Isn’t there a doctor in the house? So why can’t something be done to heal and save my dear, dear people?’’ The Message.

(18, 21, 9:1). What moves me? What makes me cry? Are our hearts somehow disconnected from the realities of sin and need all around us? Do we not care? Or perhaps we care all too little? I can’t help but feel that our prayer meetings would be more densely populated if we had more Jeremiah’s about the place. But Jeremiah’s seem to come in rather small numbers.

In (19a) Jeremiah sees his people in the land of bondage. This is where their sin and idolatry got them. They had their own way, and then found this was not what they wanted. Certainly, they didn’t want the full on consequences of their rebellion.

The people of Jeremiah’s day ‘missed the bus’ (20). They had the opportunity to turn back to God, but they didn’t seize it. They got so ‘sick’ that their situation was ‘terminal’ (22): ‘’Gilead was a part of the promised land that lay east of the Jordan River and was famous for a healing balm made from the resin of a certain kind of tree. Since this balm was readily available and there were physicians to apply it, why, Jeremiah asks, has the wound of the people not been healed? (verse 22).The reason is that the wound is spiritual, and it will take more than Gilead’s balm to heal it. Spiritual wounds can be healed only when people cast themselves on God and repent of their sins. Sadly, Judah’s people had rejected that remedy.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The applied Old Testament Commentary: p.1090.

Sin in the church can bring us to the sad place where it seems like our King, Jesus, is no longer with us (19). There is no sense or manifestation of His presence; there is no light shining out from among us. When we see anything like this we have reason to weep.

Prayer: ‘’Lord crucified give me a heart like yours.’’

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Daily Bible thoughts 900: Friday 12th June 2015: Jeremiah 8: 4-7: Warning Light.

 Jeremiah 8: 4-7(please click here for Bible Passage): Warning Light.

‘’Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.’’ (6b).

I discovered that next to this passage I had written a note: ‘’How often do we cling to what, deep down we know to be wrong, but want to be right?’’

Many years ago, I was embarked on a particular course of action, when it felt like a huge warning light came on inside. I knew that something was wrong. But the urge to continue with what I was doing was greater than my very real sense of unease. So I did carry on. It did not take long to realise why that ‘light’ had appeared on the ‘dashboard’ of my soul. Although the decision I took did not destroy me, it did cause much heartache and aggravation for a time, and it was damaging.

The pursuit of our own ‘course’ tends to go hand in hand with clinging ‘’to deceit’’ (5b). We are quite happy to believe lies that permit us to carry on with our plans, and just close our eyes to what we do not want to see; and shut our ears to uncomfortable truth. The problem is that, as we have already seen in these readings, when we get what we want we don’t necessarily want it. We certainly don’t want all the bad stuff that comes with having our own way. There is One who loves us; a Father who knows better than we do. We should listen to Him instead of stomping off down the forbidden road. He wants to protect us from ourselves.

‘’They stubbornly hold on to their illusions, refuse to change direction…They just kept at it, blindly and stupidly banging their heads against a brick wall.’’ The Message.

God clearly wanted His people to return to Him. He was longing for their repentance (6). ‘’I listened carefully but heard not so much as a whisper. No one expressed one word of regret. Not a single ‘’I’m sorry’’ did I hear.’’ The Message.

His complaint was: ‘’Cranes know when its time to move south for winter. And robins, warblers, and bluebirds know when it’s time to come back again. But my people? My people know nothing, not the first thing of GOD and his rule.’’ The Message. It was the season for mass ‘’migration’’ (7) back towards God and Home. If ever there was a time to return, this was it. But the people of Judah did not seize the moment of opportunity.

Thankfully, although it is self-destructive to plot our own route through life, such self-will is not beyond forgiveness.

‘’We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’’ (Isaiah 53:6).

As the prophet Isaiah foresaw, hundreds of years in advance, when the Messiah came, He took the punishment for our reckless pursuit of our own agendas. We may not be protected from the consequences of all our self-centred choices, but we can be forgiven for them through faith in Christ, who died in our place. This is very good news indeed! The time to turn to Jesus is now. This is the ‘season ‘ for movement towards Him. But will we? Will you?

Prayer: Whenever I see your warning light come on, give me the courage to heed it.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 899: Thursday 11th June 2015: Jeremiah 8:1-3

Jeremiah 8:1-3

This is a continuation of the message begun in the previous chapter. ‘’At that time’’ (of the fall of Jerusalem) certain things will happen. It’s a terrible scene depicted. Imagine being told that one day your body, along with the bodies of many other people from your community, will lie unburied on the ground; that there will be a landscape littered with corpses.

Verse one shows the comprehensive nature of the judgment to fall. ‘’I’ll see to it that they dig up the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes and priests and prophets, and yes, even the bones of the common people.’’ The Message. The leaders had led the way in ungodly living, and they led their nation to destruction. The bad shepherds took their flock over the cliff edge with them.

The various words used in verse 2, such as ‘’loved and served and…followed and consulted and worshipped’’ point to what the people had lived for; what they had given themselves to. Someone said, ‘’Beware of what you set your heart on for it will surely be yours!’’ There will be a return on the investment of your life, and many people will find that they don’t get the return they desired. If you give your life over to any ‘god’ other than the Lord; if you devote yourself to any purpose other than the one your Maker intended, you will deeply regret it. We will reap what we sow and many ‘farmers’ will not like their harvest. ‘’They’ll dig them up and spread them out like a congregation at worship before sun, moon, and stars, all those sky gods they’ve been so infatuated with all these years, following their ‘lucky stars’ in dog-like devotion. Their bones will be left scattered and exposed, to reenter the soil as fertilizer, like manure.’’ The Message. The truth is that when we get what we want, we don’t necessarily want it. We have many experiences of this during our life time. How much of what we long for disappoints us. To lie unburied was considered a terrible disgrace. Their beloved ‘gods’ failed them when they needed them most They could not save their worshippers.

This short section comes to a terrible end. Even for those who survive this judgment, they will wish they were dead (3). ‘’Everyone left – all from this evil generation unlucky enough to still be alive in whatever godforsaken place I will have driven them to – will wish they were dead.’’ The Message. As I understand the Bible, there will come a day when even those who are dead will wish that they were truly dead (i.e extinct). The people who have lived for other gods will find themselves forsaken by the true God. They have rejected Him, and He will respect their choice. But death would be preferable to being without Him forever. Remember that Christ, upon the cross, experienced the God-forsakenness of Hell, so that we will never have to. We simply have to trust Him and what He has done for us.

(The word ‘’refuse’’ in (2) reminds me that a common word used in the New Testament for Hell, is the same one for the constantly burning rubbish heap just outside Jerusalem.)

Prayer: O God have mercy on me, and on all I love. Save us from self-destructive lifestyle choices that exclude you.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 898: Wednesday 10th June 2015: Psalm 118:1-16

 Psalm 118:1-16

If you believe it, say it!

There are certain things that we who believe should ‘’say’’ (2-4). If we are convinced about certain Biblical truths, there are times when we should declare them – to ourselves, to others and to the powers of darkness. It is good to ‘’say’’ what we believe about God, in prayer to God.

This Psalm was written by someone who had experienced God’s love in answered prayer. He had come near to defeat (13), but with God’s help he had been the winner against all odds. He had learned by experience that it is ‘’better’’ to trust God than any human being, however strong and capable they may seem (8, 9).This was his repeated theme:

‘’His love endures for ever.’’

Karl Barth, a great Swiss theologian who had a mighty intellect, was once asked, ‘What is the greatest truth you have ever learned. His simple reply was: ‘’Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’’

God’s love ‘’endures’’. It is not like human love. Our love can be akin to a bubble in a bath, beautiful but fragile. There one moment, but gone the next; pretty but fickle. God’s love, on the other hand, stays the course with people, whatever they are like. God loved me when I wasn’t a Christian; he loves me still when I don’t behave as a Christian should; I know He will always love me. His love ‘’endures’’. Because ‘’the LORD is with me’’ (6, 7), I know that His love is with me. ‘’God is love’’ (1 John 4:16).

God’s love ‘’endures’’ in all circumstances. The Jewish people sing Psalms 113 – 118 at Passover, so this must be one of the songs Jesus sang before He went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray (Matthew 26:30). In the face of great adversity, let us follow the example of Jesus in declaring God’s love.

God’s love ‘’endures for ever.’’ In fact, the essence of heaven will surely be the greatest possible realisation of the love of God. We will experience His love perfectly. We will be enveloped in an ocean of infinite love

God’s love is supremely seen in Jesus. ‘’There is no love like the love of Jesus.’’ says an old hymn. I once heard a preacher quote the saying about ‘’wearing your heart on your sleeve.’’ He said, ‘’God wore His heart on a cross.’’ In the desperate cry of the psalmist for Divine help, I catch an echo of where each of us has to get to. We need Jesus to save us from our greatest enemy, which is our sin. This He will do for us if we trust in Him alone (8, 9). He will ‘’become’’ our ‘’salvation’’ (14). Have you come to that point yet where you ask Jesus to rescue you? Has He become your salvation? It doesn’t just happen. You have to ask for His help. Then He will as surely come to rescue you as He did the psalmist in many days gone by. How up to date and relevant is the Bible!

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Daily Bible thoughts 897: Tuesday 9th June 2015: Colossians 2:20-23.

Colossians 2:20-23.

All that we need is all that He is!

Let’s be wary of living our lives by any form of teaching that is not Biblical. Man-made rules will not change us. At times they can be appealing, but they just don’t work. They might seem to for a time, but they are not radical enough (23). They don’t go sufficiently deep.

Some professing Christians have rules for themselves and they are zealous about trying to impose these on their fellow believers. God made you and they have a wonderful plan for your life! Their mission is to make you in their own image.

But true religion is not about rule-keeping; it’s about Jesus. It’s about keeping company with Him; ‘abiding’ in Him; drawing from Him all that is in Him. All that we need is all that He is. That’s the message of Colossians, as we’ve been seeing. We will not grow by keeping human rules but through vital ‘’connection’’ with Christ our Head (19). Only the Lord Himself can deal with our flesh life; our own going struggles with ‘’sensual indulgence’’ (23). Strict rules will never cure the real sickness of our souls.

‘’If the Colossians were to fall victims to the false teaching and voluntarily place themselves under rules and regulations…which were imposed by the principalities and powers, then this would be to go back into slavery again, a bondage to the very powers of the universe from which they had been freed when they died with Christ in his death. Not all Christians are free from superstition, which can exert more influence than their faith…The taboos left untouched the problems of sensual indulgence.’’ Peter T. O’Brien: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.1271.

‘’Pleasure in God is the power for purity. The vice-grip the pleasure of sin exerts on the human soul will be broken only by trusting God’s promise of superior pleasure in knowing Jesus. The only way to conquer one pleasure is with another, greater and more pleasing pleasure.’’ Sam Storms: ‘One thing’, p.128.

The Christian life is not about following rules, but abiding in Christ.

All that we need is all that Jesus is.

Prayer: Let there be no going back, for me, to that futile realm of religious rules and works. Jesus you have set me free. Thank you.

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Daily Bible thoughts 894: Thursday 4th June 2015: Colossians 2:6-12: Sitting on a fortune.

Colossians 2:6-12: Sitting on a fortune.

Many years ago I heard a story about an old lady who lived in poverty in a simple cottage. Someone visiting her, who knew that her son was a successful business man, asked, ‘But doesn’t he ever send you any money?’ ‘No’, replied the poor woman, ‘but he does send me pretty coloured pictures from all over the world. Would you like to see them?’ Her friend was intrigued, and replied that she would. So the elderly lady disappeared into another room, and then returned carrying a big cardboard box which she proceeded to place on the coffee table. As she removed the lid, her visitor could see that the ‘pretty coloured pictures’ were currency notes from many different countries where her son had travelled. The old lady was sitting on a fortune whilst living like a pauper!

Now whether the above story is true, partially true or apocryphal, it makes an important point. We Christians are incredibly rich, spiritually speaking, yet we may not realise what we have ‘in the bank’, and fail to draw on it in our day to day lives. We are richer than millionaires but appear like tramps!

If two verses can be used to sum up ‘Colossians’, then surely (2: 9, 10) get the job. Paul’s concern was to focus the attention of these Christians on Jesus. He was saying to them, ‘Christ is all you need.’ ‘Everything you need is to be found in Jesus.’ The false teachers, who were having some influence in the churches of that region, were arguing that you need Jesus plus certain other things. Paul’s counter-argument involved an adamant ‘NO!’ to their message. ‘All that you need is in Jesus’, he taught.

  • In Jesus you get started as a Christian, and it’s in His strength that you will grow in this joyful, thankful Christian life (6, 7; 11, 12). Notice that the metaphors ‘’rooted and built up’’ (7) are drawn from agriculture and architecture. They both speak of growth and progress. Conversion is Christ’s work in us (11, 12). It involves being baptised, in which we totally identify with Jesus in His death and resurrection.
  • By looking to Jesus you can be protected from erroneous doctrine. Keep your eyes on Him (see also 3:1-4)
  • Through Jesus we can be winners (10b). He is ‘’the head over every power and authority.’’ This has implications for us. A song says, ‘Jesus is the Winner Man’. In Him we also can be winners. We can say ‘No’ to the fierce pull of temptation; we can overcome in every battle.

Every good thing is ours in Jesus, and In Him we find all we need to live the Christian life.

As I sit in my house right now, I know that I am surrounded by great (potential) power, through the electrical wiring system. But I cannot benefit from it without having to do something: put a plug into a socket and flick a switch. Something similar has to happen with us on an on-going basis. Otherwise we may find that, although we live close to immense power we do not benefit from it.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, teach me all that I am and have in Jesus.

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Daily Bible thoughts 893: Wednesday 3rd June 2015: Jeremiah 7: 30-34: Call it what it is!

Jeremiah 7: 30-34: Call it what it is!

Call it what it is! We have a habit of attempting to pretty up bad things by giving them nice names. But ‘a rose is a rose by any other name.’ This also applies to evil, ugly things; they remain evil and ugly however we label them. Listen to these words: ‘’ ‘’But soon, very soon’’ – GOD’s Decree! – ‘’the names Topheth and Ben-hinnom will no longer be used. They’ll call the place what it is: Murder Meadow.’’ The Message. Can you imagine a situation so wicked that people were actually burning their children as sacrificial offerings to false gods? (30-31). It is no wonder that this society was going to come under judgment. (In fact we sacrifice our children to our’ gods’ in other ways that look more acceptable and civilised. But we are nevertheless destroying them.) If we cover evil practices with a veneer of religion we may feel that this ‘coat of religious paint’ makes it look better. But God sees everything and He knows the truth. He knows that the house is ramshackle and about to fall down.

Use it as you should! The people of Judah had misused the Temple, set up for the honouring of God’s Name: ‘’In deliberate insult to me, they’ve set up their obscene god-images in the very Temple that was built to honour me.’’ The Message. According to the second big section of the Bible, the New Testament, a local gathering of Christians is God’s Temple (1 Corinthians 3), and so also is the physical body of a Christ follower (1 Corinthians 6). So it is important that in all we do in church life, and in our personal lives, that we should aim to honour God who made us for Himself and for His own glory. Let’s not misappropriate the ‘temple’ for our own uses.

Believe it because it’s true! As we read the Old Testament prophetic books we may find all the stuff about God’s anger and judgment a bit distasteful. But in everyday life we can find food that is good for us to be unpalatable. In a recent letter to the church in the U.K. the well-known preacher/writer R.T. Kendall pointed out that Jesus affirmed the Old Testament and was not ashamed of the God of the Old Testament. He called Him ‘Father’. Here are some key lessons we learn from the Bible about God:

  • He is Holy;
  • He hates all sin/wrongdoing/the breaking of His law;
  • He will judge and punish all evil;
  • He is also loving and gives ‘sinners’ many opportunities to repent;
  • In His love and justice, He gave Himself up for us all on the cross, in the Person of His Son; He took His own anger/judgment against sin, dying in our place. Therefore,
  • All who repent of their wrongdoing and trust in Christ will be saved;
  • All who reject Jesus will bring judgment on themselves.

This truth about judgment will not go away, and it is not for any theologian or preacher to re-write the Bible.

Prayer: Lord help me to swallow the parts of your Word that I find ‘tough’ meat along with the other bits that I find ‘tender’.

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