The Problem of Patience
Read James 5:7-11
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9 Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (TNIV)
I get so impatient about my lack of patience. I impatiently pray for patience on a regular basis! In a world where we are urged to upgrade computers to save a nanosecond or two, patience is an old-fashioned virtue. Getting somewhere fast, getting what we want now, getting immediate answers or information are the common currency of everyday life. As against this, James in this passage has us look at the farmer who having sown a crop can’t reap it immediately. Waiting is the name of the game, and waiting is never easy. Faith at times is simply about waiting. God will be true to his promises, but when? And how? The old-time prophets knew this waiting game well. So did Job.
God can sometimes act with stunning speed. Other times he takes his time. He knows character can’t be produced instantly, he knows he is working with stubborn and resistant material as he works out his good purposes. He doesn’t tend to take shortcuts either. If we insist God speeds things up, we will get frustrated and James suggests we will start complaining. A grumbling spirit arises out of frustration that things aren’t the way we want them to be.
And yet patience is not passive. The farmer has to sow the crop, the Old Testament prophets had to proclaim God’s word. Job wrestled and prayed. A favourite writer Henri Nouwen reminds me that patience will have us enter fully into the present moment, tasting the here and now rather than fearfully and impatiently craning our heads to see what is going to happen next. We figure the treasure we look for is around the corner, and we are badgering God to make it happen now if not sooner. Nouwen reminds me that the treasure we so often look for is so often hidden in the ground on which we now stand.
Patience allows us to discern God in the present moment rather than missing out on him because we are wondering what the future will bring and when it will come. God is to be found not in our anxious, impatient insistence for a change of circumstances, but rather in the present circumstances. Waiting for God to act in some way in the future must never blind us to his acting in some way in the present. Patience is not inactivity, but is a willingness to wait and embrace the activity of God in the present even as we have our hopes and dreams for the future.
Blessings
David Reay
A
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Hungering for Heroes
Hungering for Heroes
Read 1 Corinthians 3:3-5
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere human beings? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (TNIV)
We have a longing for heroes. Those who will be shining examples of faith and hope and love. We might project these longings onto certain individuals and begin to believe they have the answers, that they have got it together. We start comparing ourselves with them and coming up short. We admire giants of the faith as if they are over and above the mundane troubling realities of our lives.
This leads to some problems. One is that we lose biblical realism. We fail to grasp the fact that the great ones of faith are not perfect, and whatever faith they have has come through hard times. A reading of Hebrews 11 brings us down to earth.
The other problem is that we begin to despair of our own comparative lack of faith or hope or love. We can never measure up and so put ourselves down as inadequate Christians who haven’t made the grade. Compulsive comparison is the death of true contentment. We all fall short of the glory of God, whether we go by the name of Moses, Abraham, or our own names.
And then we might find ourselves falling into the Corinthian error. The Corinthian Christians seemed to exalt individual personalities. They attached themselves to whoever seemed to be the most impressive leader. They fell prey to a guru mentality. Doing this means we unfairly idealise such leaders so when they prove to be only too human our faith is shattered. And doing this means we take our focus off the one person we can truly look up to: Jesus. If we are to have heroes, make Jesus the one.
Blessings
David Reay
Read 1 Corinthians 3:3-5
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere human beings? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (TNIV)
We have a longing for heroes. Those who will be shining examples of faith and hope and love. We might project these longings onto certain individuals and begin to believe they have the answers, that they have got it together. We start comparing ourselves with them and coming up short. We admire giants of the faith as if they are over and above the mundane troubling realities of our lives.
This leads to some problems. One is that we lose biblical realism. We fail to grasp the fact that the great ones of faith are not perfect, and whatever faith they have has come through hard times. A reading of Hebrews 11 brings us down to earth.
The other problem is that we begin to despair of our own comparative lack of faith or hope or love. We can never measure up and so put ourselves down as inadequate Christians who haven’t made the grade. Compulsive comparison is the death of true contentment. We all fall short of the glory of God, whether we go by the name of Moses, Abraham, or our own names.
And then we might find ourselves falling into the Corinthian error. The Corinthian Christians seemed to exalt individual personalities. They attached themselves to whoever seemed to be the most impressive leader. They fell prey to a guru mentality. Doing this means we unfairly idealise such leaders so when they prove to be only too human our faith is shattered. And doing this means we take our focus off the one person we can truly look up to: Jesus. If we are to have heroes, make Jesus the one.
Blessings
David Reay
Friday, July 6, 2012
GUILT
GUILT
Morning Devotions with Chris Witts
Psalm 32 – re guilt.
If you’ve ever studied something of the 2nd world war, you might know the name Albert Speer. He was Hitler’s chief architect in Nazi Germany and rose to great power within Hitler’s party. At the Nuremberg trial in 1945, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and wrote extensively about that period of his life. He was the only one of the 24 war criminals who admitted his guilt. He acknowledged that he felt "personal guilt" for what had happened and the tragedy of so many lives lost, and he accepted responsibility for it because he had been part of the Nazi regime. Later in life he went to London and the US and was interviewed one day on the ABC ‘s “Good Morning America” TV show.
The interviewer referred to a passage in one of Speer’s earlier writings and said to him: “You have said the guilt can never be forgiven, or shouldn’t be. Do you still feel that way?” The look of pathos on Speer’s face was wrenching as he responded, “I served a sentence of twenty years, and I could say, “I’m a free man, my conscience has been cleared by serving the whole time as punishment.” But I can’t do that. I still carry the burden of what happened to millions of people during Hitler’s lifetime, and I can’t get rid of it. This new book is part of my atoning, of clearing my conscience.” The interviewer pressed the point. “You really don’t think you’ll be able to clear it totally?” Speer shook his head. “I don’t think it will be possible.”
For thirty-five years Speer had accepted complete responsibility for his crime. His writings were filled with contrition and warnings to others to avoid his moral sin. He desperately sought a way to make amends for his sin. All to no avail. He died an old man in 1981.
Anne Graham Lotz wrote, “ God has built into each of us an alarm system to warn us of the unwanted entry of sin into our lives. The alarm system is called guilt. In our pleasure-seeking, anything-goes, feel-good society, guilt is a problem We run from it.” Do people feel guilt today? I’m sure they do. But we try to not to think about it, ignoring those feelings, hoping they will go away. When the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was showing in theatres across the nation, more than 70,000 reports came in of the film helping people. At least 4 criminals confessed to crimes they had committed including bombings, robberies, and one murder.
In Arizona, Turner Lee Bingham, 20, walked up to a store about eight minutes after the alarm sounded and apologized to police for taking $80 from the register before confessing to five or six burglaries at other places. Bingham had seen “The Passion” with his mother, and he felt guilty, the store owner, Tobias Bright, said police told him. “I’ve seen the movie myself,” Bright said. “I think it’s the kind of movie that makes you stop and think about things for a minute.” The store owner, who identified himself as a Christian, said he wished Bingham would have felt guilty “20 minutes earlier, before he took a baseball bat to one of my windows.”
Guilt plagues everyone to some degree, for we all have to lay our heads on our pillow at night and accept the fact that we have not done as well as we could have done. One Christian psychologist recently stated that "Guilt is the most difficult problem in the whole realm of psychological therapy." One little boy was asked to define guilt. He said he wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he thought it had something to do with feeling bad when he kicked girls!
David said in Psalm 40:12 “Problems far too big for me to solve are piled higher than my head. Meanwhile my sins, too many to count, have caught up with me, and I’m ashamed to look up.” (LB)
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt ashamed to look up?
Our guilt can make us ashamed to ask God for help. But God knows all about your sins and your failures, and he loves you anyway. He is ready to forgive all of them if you will just humble yourself and ask him to forgive you.
Is there any sin that God cannot forgive?
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 (NKJV).
Getting back to David, he made a tremendous decision as he prayed to God.. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” Psalm 32:5 (NLT)
In I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away”.
Morning Devotions with Chris Witts
Psalm 32 – re guilt.
If you’ve ever studied something of the 2nd world war, you might know the name Albert Speer. He was Hitler’s chief architect in Nazi Germany and rose to great power within Hitler’s party. At the Nuremberg trial in 1945, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and wrote extensively about that period of his life. He was the only one of the 24 war criminals who admitted his guilt. He acknowledged that he felt "personal guilt" for what had happened and the tragedy of so many lives lost, and he accepted responsibility for it because he had been part of the Nazi regime. Later in life he went to London and the US and was interviewed one day on the ABC ‘s “Good Morning America” TV show.
The interviewer referred to a passage in one of Speer’s earlier writings and said to him: “You have said the guilt can never be forgiven, or shouldn’t be. Do you still feel that way?” The look of pathos on Speer’s face was wrenching as he responded, “I served a sentence of twenty years, and I could say, “I’m a free man, my conscience has been cleared by serving the whole time as punishment.” But I can’t do that. I still carry the burden of what happened to millions of people during Hitler’s lifetime, and I can’t get rid of it. This new book is part of my atoning, of clearing my conscience.” The interviewer pressed the point. “You really don’t think you’ll be able to clear it totally?” Speer shook his head. “I don’t think it will be possible.”
For thirty-five years Speer had accepted complete responsibility for his crime. His writings were filled with contrition and warnings to others to avoid his moral sin. He desperately sought a way to make amends for his sin. All to no avail. He died an old man in 1981.
Anne Graham Lotz wrote, “ God has built into each of us an alarm system to warn us of the unwanted entry of sin into our lives. The alarm system is called guilt. In our pleasure-seeking, anything-goes, feel-good society, guilt is a problem We run from it.” Do people feel guilt today? I’m sure they do. But we try to not to think about it, ignoring those feelings, hoping they will go away. When the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was showing in theatres across the nation, more than 70,000 reports came in of the film helping people. At least 4 criminals confessed to crimes they had committed including bombings, robberies, and one murder.
In Arizona, Turner Lee Bingham, 20, walked up to a store about eight minutes after the alarm sounded and apologized to police for taking $80 from the register before confessing to five or six burglaries at other places. Bingham had seen “The Passion” with his mother, and he felt guilty, the store owner, Tobias Bright, said police told him. “I’ve seen the movie myself,” Bright said. “I think it’s the kind of movie that makes you stop and think about things for a minute.” The store owner, who identified himself as a Christian, said he wished Bingham would have felt guilty “20 minutes earlier, before he took a baseball bat to one of my windows.”
Guilt plagues everyone to some degree, for we all have to lay our heads on our pillow at night and accept the fact that we have not done as well as we could have done. One Christian psychologist recently stated that "Guilt is the most difficult problem in the whole realm of psychological therapy." One little boy was asked to define guilt. He said he wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he thought it had something to do with feeling bad when he kicked girls!
David said in Psalm 40:12 “Problems far too big for me to solve are piled higher than my head. Meanwhile my sins, too many to count, have caught up with me, and I’m ashamed to look up.” (LB)
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt ashamed to look up?
Our guilt can make us ashamed to ask God for help. But God knows all about your sins and your failures, and he loves you anyway. He is ready to forgive all of them if you will just humble yourself and ask him to forgive you.
Is there any sin that God cannot forgive?
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 (NKJV).
Getting back to David, he made a tremendous decision as he prayed to God.. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” Psalm 32:5 (NLT)
In I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away”.
BEING FAIR TO OTHERS
BEING FAIR TO OTHERS
Morning Devotions with Chris Witts
There was a man who was walking along by the ocean one day and he came across a sea cave in the side of a cliff. And inside the cave he found a large sack filled with little balls of clay that looked like they'd been rolled up and left out in the sun to dry. So he picked up the sack and dragged it along with him as he walked. Every once in a while, he'd reach into the sack, pick up one of those balls, and just throw it as far as he could out into the water.
As he went on his way down the beach, the sack was getting lighter and lighter. It was almost empty when he accidentally dropped one of the balls which hit a piece of coral and shattered. And when he looked inside, there was, to his great surprise, a diamond! So he cracked opened another ball and inside was a ruby, then an emerald, and by the time he finished opening the remaining balls he found that every single one had a precious jewel inside. The man looked in his hands and was excited to see that he now had a handful of jewels, but then he stopped and realized how many of the balls he had thrown away because he couldn't see what was inside!
It's a bit like all of the people that come into our lives. If we could only see them the way that God sees them, if we could only see the precious jewel that's inside of each one...I think it’s an important lesson for each of us because in God’s eyes all people are equal. No-one is better than anyone else, and as it says in James 2:1 “If you have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, you won’t treat some people better than others”. Then in v8-9 he says “You will do alright if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves. But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scripture teach that you have sinned”.
We need to be careful not to favour some people because of the colour of their skin or background. We are born equal and in God’s eyes we are equal. God has no favourites. I like the bumper sticker that says “At the end of the day only kindness matters”. And that is very true. Jesus always displayed an outstanding level of kindness and fairness towards others in a society that was very cruel and sadistic. He loved and cared for people, and instructed His followers to be the same. And so the question we can ask today is – have I been kind and fair to others today? You can’t say you love Jesus till you love the people Jesus loved. Mark Twain knew the power of kindness when he said, “Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” That’s what God expects of us.
I Corinthians 13 in the New Testament is a well known Bible statement about love, and I recently came across this paraphrase:
I may have a brilliant mind,
a wonderful personality,
and a healthy body;
but if I am not kind to those around me,
it does me no good:
I may have a good income,
a beautiful home,
and an expensive car,
but if I am not kind and generous in sharing them,
I don't make a difference in the world.
I may have great success in my business or profession;
I may have power and influence over many people;
but if I don't treat people with kindness,
I am a failure.
Kindness is love in action.
Kindness is the pebble in the pond, whose ripples can change the world.
Having the faith to move mountains is great,
Having hope in bleak circumstances is wonderful,
But deeds of loving kindness transform lives and last forever.
I may have many wonderful qualities in my life,but without kindness
they are not enough.
Paul, in writing to the church in Rome, reminds us that, “God does not have any favourites” (Romans 2:11)
Favouritism is also UNREASONABLE
James goes on to write: “God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in His kingdom that He will give to everyone who loves Him.” (James 2:5)
By His mercy and grace, Jesus Christ receives each of us into His eternal family without favouritism. We are all equally loved and valued by Him.
PRAYER:
Almighty God, your Son instructs us to treat other people as we want to be treated. It sounds so simple, but we realize that we often fail to live up to his standard. At times we expect others to treat us like royalty, while we treat them as if they’re less valuable or as if they’re objects to be used to achieve our goals. Forgive us for being callous. Forgive us for treating others with contempt. Forgive us for failing to live up to Jesus’ teachings. Help us not only to embrace the promise of the resurrection, but to learn from our Saviour’s gentle ways that we may become more like him. Amen.
Morning Devotions with Chris Witts
There was a man who was walking along by the ocean one day and he came across a sea cave in the side of a cliff. And inside the cave he found a large sack filled with little balls of clay that looked like they'd been rolled up and left out in the sun to dry. So he picked up the sack and dragged it along with him as he walked. Every once in a while, he'd reach into the sack, pick up one of those balls, and just throw it as far as he could out into the water.
As he went on his way down the beach, the sack was getting lighter and lighter. It was almost empty when he accidentally dropped one of the balls which hit a piece of coral and shattered. And when he looked inside, there was, to his great surprise, a diamond! So he cracked opened another ball and inside was a ruby, then an emerald, and by the time he finished opening the remaining balls he found that every single one had a precious jewel inside. The man looked in his hands and was excited to see that he now had a handful of jewels, but then he stopped and realized how many of the balls he had thrown away because he couldn't see what was inside!
It's a bit like all of the people that come into our lives. If we could only see them the way that God sees them, if we could only see the precious jewel that's inside of each one...I think it’s an important lesson for each of us because in God’s eyes all people are equal. No-one is better than anyone else, and as it says in James 2:1 “If you have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, you won’t treat some people better than others”. Then in v8-9 he says “You will do alright if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves. But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scripture teach that you have sinned”.
We need to be careful not to favour some people because of the colour of their skin or background. We are born equal and in God’s eyes we are equal. God has no favourites. I like the bumper sticker that says “At the end of the day only kindness matters”. And that is very true. Jesus always displayed an outstanding level of kindness and fairness towards others in a society that was very cruel and sadistic. He loved and cared for people, and instructed His followers to be the same. And so the question we can ask today is – have I been kind and fair to others today? You can’t say you love Jesus till you love the people Jesus loved. Mark Twain knew the power of kindness when he said, “Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” That’s what God expects of us.
I Corinthians 13 in the New Testament is a well known Bible statement about love, and I recently came across this paraphrase:
I may have a brilliant mind,
a wonderful personality,
and a healthy body;
but if I am not kind to those around me,
it does me no good:
I may have a good income,
a beautiful home,
and an expensive car,
but if I am not kind and generous in sharing them,
I don't make a difference in the world.
I may have great success in my business or profession;
I may have power and influence over many people;
but if I don't treat people with kindness,
I am a failure.
Kindness is love in action.
Kindness is the pebble in the pond, whose ripples can change the world.
Having the faith to move mountains is great,
Having hope in bleak circumstances is wonderful,
But deeds of loving kindness transform lives and last forever.
I may have many wonderful qualities in my life,but without kindness
they are not enough.
Paul, in writing to the church in Rome, reminds us that, “God does not have any favourites” (Romans 2:11)
Favouritism is also UNREASONABLE
James goes on to write: “God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in His kingdom that He will give to everyone who loves Him.” (James 2:5)
By His mercy and grace, Jesus Christ receives each of us into His eternal family without favouritism. We are all equally loved and valued by Him.
PRAYER:
Almighty God, your Son instructs us to treat other people as we want to be treated. It sounds so simple, but we realize that we often fail to live up to his standard. At times we expect others to treat us like royalty, while we treat them as if they’re less valuable or as if they’re objects to be used to achieve our goals. Forgive us for being callous. Forgive us for treating others with contempt. Forgive us for failing to live up to Jesus’ teachings. Help us not only to embrace the promise of the resurrection, but to learn from our Saviour’s gentle ways that we may become more like him. Amen.
Monday, July 2, 2012
THE STING OF BETRAYAL - PART 2
THE STING OF BETRAYAL - PART 2
Morning Devotions with Chris Witts
I said yesterday that the act of betrayal is a dreadful and hurtful experience. My guess is that you have felt the sting of betrayal at some point in your life. If you haven’t, you probably will. We can feel betrayed by our spouse, our children, our extended family, or our friends. We can also experience betrayal in the context of our work—from our boss, our co-workers, or even our employees. It has the potential to ruin friendships and families.
The Bible tells about Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. It’s a well known story in the New Testament of a follower of Jesus who was greatly respected and loved by Jesus. He was highly trusted in the small group of disciples with Jesus, and was the Treasurer and he carried the money bag. They trusted him to do the right thing. Judas had experienced everything that the other disciples had. He had been there to pass out food to the 5000 people that Jesus fed with a few fish and some bread. He had seen Lazarus raised back to life. He had seen Jesus heal the blind and the lame and the deaf. He had been a part of all that. And on the night of his betrayal, Jesus had washed his feet. He had shared the Passover meal with Jesus. Jesus had placed him in the most favoured spot at the table – right next to Jesus. Judas had been a part of all the blessings that came along with being with Jesus. That night would have been a spiritual high point for anyone who was present there. And yet, Judas still chose to walk away into the night of his own sin. He knowingly betrayed Jesus at that critical moment which led to His death on a cross, all for money. Every time that Judas’ name is mentioned in the Bible, either the passage is dealing with the events surrounding his betrayal, or the phrase, “who betrayed him” is attached to his name. Judas Iscariot – the one who betrayed Jesus. We know nothing good about this man. But the other disciples, who ran away from Jesus when He needed them most, their betrayal is never mentioned again beyond the record of the actual event. Why? Because they received forgiveness and restoration. The past, as dark as it was, was wiped away. We read that Judas went out one night and hung himself. What a tragedy!
How ironic it is that Jesus was betrayed not by a stranger, but by a close friend. Judas had eaten bread with Jesus, and he had done that many times. Judas had eaten bread with Jesus at Lazarus’ house and at Zachheous’ house. They had enjoyed fish grilled over the fire on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. To eat bread – a meal – with someone was to indicate your closeness to that person. It showed your agreement with one another in lifestyle and beliefs. That’s why Jesus was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners and why Jews were forbidden to eat with Gentiles.
There’s a wonderful story about the cardinal of the Philippines, named, oddly enough, Cardinal Sin. When Cardinal Sin was a bishop, a young woman in his parish claimed that she had visions of Jesus. Bishop Sin was given the task of determining if these visions were authentic. He called her in for an interview, after which he made this request: “Daughter, the next time you see Jesus, would you ask Him what sin your bishop committed as a young priest and then come and tell me His answer.” She agreed. The bishop, aware that nobody knew his sin except himself, his confessor, and Jesus, felt this would be a valid test. Months later the young woman returned, reporting she had seen Jesus again. The bishop said, “Good. Did you ask Him about my sin?” She said, “Yes,” “What did He say?” “He said, ‘I’ve forgotten.’”
Would it have been any different for Judas? Of course not! I refuse to believe otherwise! Judas’ betrayal did not cause Christ to love him less. It was for sinners like Judas that He was about to give His life!
So, how are we to respond to those who betray us? Our calling and God’s command of us is to forgive those who sin against us—and is there any better description of betrayal? We must let go of our hurts and wounds, and refuse to nurse them in anger and resentment. Chances are, the deepest betrayals will demand an ongoing commitment to forgiveness—for, in our humanness, we often find it difficult to let go of such things all at once. Resentment and bitterness has a way of continuing to raise its ugly head, continually trying to draw us into its trap once again. My own experience is that it’s a day-by-day process, an ongoing entrusting to the Lord of our feelings and the situations with a refusal to give in to bitterness. The Lord knows that our hurts will consume us and destroy us, if we let them—and He is our greatest ally in our determination to let go of such wounds.
One way in which we’re helped in this process is to dare to remember the ways in which we, in our sin, have betrayed Christ ourselves. We might also remind ourselves of the ways in which we have surely left others feeling betrayed. We dare not be too smug in refusing to forgive those we feel have betrayed us. And in seeing all of this through Resurrection eyes, the disciples of Jesus were all too aware of their own guilt of jealousy, selfish ambitions, denial and defection from Christ. They were surely humbled in acknowledging their own failures—just as we might also be as we commit to resolving our own responses to those who have betrayed us.
So, how are we to deal with the sting of betrayal? As sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, we are called to respond with forgiveness. Because our sins have also been forgiven, we are called to be part of God’s redemptive work in the lives of others. With the help of the Lord, we can learn to let go of our feelings of bitterness and resentment, trusting such things into the hands of the Lord. We can move on with our lives, set free from that which would destroy us from within. And, with the help of the Lord, we can learn to trust again, though perhaps more wisely and more discriminately. And as we do, we focus our energies in pouring out our lives for the sake of others, just as Jesus did. It’s the way not only to blessing others, but also the way to be truly blessed ourselves.
Source: Chris Witts
Morning Devotions with Chris Witts
I said yesterday that the act of betrayal is a dreadful and hurtful experience. My guess is that you have felt the sting of betrayal at some point in your life. If you haven’t, you probably will. We can feel betrayed by our spouse, our children, our extended family, or our friends. We can also experience betrayal in the context of our work—from our boss, our co-workers, or even our employees. It has the potential to ruin friendships and families.
The Bible tells about Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. It’s a well known story in the New Testament of a follower of Jesus who was greatly respected and loved by Jesus. He was highly trusted in the small group of disciples with Jesus, and was the Treasurer and he carried the money bag. They trusted him to do the right thing. Judas had experienced everything that the other disciples had. He had been there to pass out food to the 5000 people that Jesus fed with a few fish and some bread. He had seen Lazarus raised back to life. He had seen Jesus heal the blind and the lame and the deaf. He had been a part of all that. And on the night of his betrayal, Jesus had washed his feet. He had shared the Passover meal with Jesus. Jesus had placed him in the most favoured spot at the table – right next to Jesus. Judas had been a part of all the blessings that came along with being with Jesus. That night would have been a spiritual high point for anyone who was present there. And yet, Judas still chose to walk away into the night of his own sin. He knowingly betrayed Jesus at that critical moment which led to His death on a cross, all for money. Every time that Judas’ name is mentioned in the Bible, either the passage is dealing with the events surrounding his betrayal, or the phrase, “who betrayed him” is attached to his name. Judas Iscariot – the one who betrayed Jesus. We know nothing good about this man. But the other disciples, who ran away from Jesus when He needed them most, their betrayal is never mentioned again beyond the record of the actual event. Why? Because they received forgiveness and restoration. The past, as dark as it was, was wiped away. We read that Judas went out one night and hung himself. What a tragedy!
How ironic it is that Jesus was betrayed not by a stranger, but by a close friend. Judas had eaten bread with Jesus, and he had done that many times. Judas had eaten bread with Jesus at Lazarus’ house and at Zachheous’ house. They had enjoyed fish grilled over the fire on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. To eat bread – a meal – with someone was to indicate your closeness to that person. It showed your agreement with one another in lifestyle and beliefs. That’s why Jesus was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners and why Jews were forbidden to eat with Gentiles.
There’s a wonderful story about the cardinal of the Philippines, named, oddly enough, Cardinal Sin. When Cardinal Sin was a bishop, a young woman in his parish claimed that she had visions of Jesus. Bishop Sin was given the task of determining if these visions were authentic. He called her in for an interview, after which he made this request: “Daughter, the next time you see Jesus, would you ask Him what sin your bishop committed as a young priest and then come and tell me His answer.” She agreed. The bishop, aware that nobody knew his sin except himself, his confessor, and Jesus, felt this would be a valid test. Months later the young woman returned, reporting she had seen Jesus again. The bishop said, “Good. Did you ask Him about my sin?” She said, “Yes,” “What did He say?” “He said, ‘I’ve forgotten.’”
Would it have been any different for Judas? Of course not! I refuse to believe otherwise! Judas’ betrayal did not cause Christ to love him less. It was for sinners like Judas that He was about to give His life!
So, how are we to respond to those who betray us? Our calling and God’s command of us is to forgive those who sin against us—and is there any better description of betrayal? We must let go of our hurts and wounds, and refuse to nurse them in anger and resentment. Chances are, the deepest betrayals will demand an ongoing commitment to forgiveness—for, in our humanness, we often find it difficult to let go of such things all at once. Resentment and bitterness has a way of continuing to raise its ugly head, continually trying to draw us into its trap once again. My own experience is that it’s a day-by-day process, an ongoing entrusting to the Lord of our feelings and the situations with a refusal to give in to bitterness. The Lord knows that our hurts will consume us and destroy us, if we let them—and He is our greatest ally in our determination to let go of such wounds.
One way in which we’re helped in this process is to dare to remember the ways in which we, in our sin, have betrayed Christ ourselves. We might also remind ourselves of the ways in which we have surely left others feeling betrayed. We dare not be too smug in refusing to forgive those we feel have betrayed us. And in seeing all of this through Resurrection eyes, the disciples of Jesus were all too aware of their own guilt of jealousy, selfish ambitions, denial and defection from Christ. They were surely humbled in acknowledging their own failures—just as we might also be as we commit to resolving our own responses to those who have betrayed us.
So, how are we to deal with the sting of betrayal? As sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, we are called to respond with forgiveness. Because our sins have also been forgiven, we are called to be part of God’s redemptive work in the lives of others. With the help of the Lord, we can learn to let go of our feelings of bitterness and resentment, trusting such things into the hands of the Lord. We can move on with our lives, set free from that which would destroy us from within. And, with the help of the Lord, we can learn to trust again, though perhaps more wisely and more discriminately. And as we do, we focus our energies in pouring out our lives for the sake of others, just as Jesus did. It’s the way not only to blessing others, but also the way to be truly blessed ourselves.
Source: Chris Witts
Saturday, June 30, 2012
How do I forgive when I can’t?
How do I forgive when I can’t?
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15, NIV
Long before I was involved with Ellel Ministries I went through a horrible time of deep betrayal. It had huge consequences in my life and I struggled with the whole issue of forgiveness. I started to say things to God like, “I will do anything you want, just don’t ask me to forgive!”
Each time the issue of forgiveness came up I would see people’s faces in front of me and the barriers were just too big, too strong. I did not feel like forgiving, in fact I felt that I should devise ways of getting even! I wanted revenge. I wanted to hurt them even more than they had hurt me. I started to become quite bitter.
Verses like Matthew 6:14 leapt from the pages of my Bible! ‘For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins your Father will NOT forgive your sins’. I knew somehow I had to do it, but how? Finally I came to God and said, “I know I have to do this but I really can’t” and I heard Him say, “You are absolutely right you can’t”. ‘Apart from Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5).
The next Sunday I went to a church which was new to me, and the preacher began his sermon by saying, “This morning I am going to tell you about how to forgive when you can’t”. I knew God was speaking to me. He said “firstly, this is not a transaction between you and the person who has done you wrong, this is a transaction between you and God. Do not see the face of the person. God has said in His word that we must forgive so He will give us the empowerment to do so”.
Part of God’s character is His heart to forgive, so we need to ask God to come supernaturally with His Spirit of forgiveness. Then having received first from Him we can release forgiveness to the person or persons that we need to forgive. We forgive the ‘unforgivable’ because He has first forgiven us. We forgive to be obedient to the Word of God but by so doing we let ourselves out of prison.
Secondly, we are not pardoning them, Only God can pardon. The only place anyone’s sin can be forgiven is by God at the cross. We are releasing them into the freedom of our personal forgiveness. Thirdly, we are not letting them off the hook, but we are taking them off our hook and putting them on God’s hook. We stop judging them and instead we say, ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ Genesis 18:25. We can surely trust Him with this.
God can start to heal the memories. We are unlikely to ever forget what happened, but when we remember it no longer has the power to trigger bitterness and anger. Forgiveness will be the gateway for our own healing.
That Sunday morning I knelt at the altar rail and asked God to come and fill me with His spirit of forgiveness… and He did. I wept buckets as I chose to forgive from deep inside my heart. I poured it all out to the Lord. It took ages but when I was through I had a deep joy well up within me and at last there was closure. I was aware of God smiling and taking hold of my hand to lead me into a new season in my life.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You for dying on the cross for me and for the forgiveness of all of my sins that I have confessed to You. Help me to truly forgive all those who have ever hurt me and to walk continuously in the Spirit of forgiveness, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Today's Writer : Jill Southern-Jones Jill Southern-Jones was a successful business woman before becoming the Director of Ellel Pierrepont, home of the Luke Nine Eleven Training Programme (NETS). People from all over the world come for 5 – 10 months and learn to teach and minister on NETS. Jill’s book on Sex: God’s Truth is an essential guide to the restoration of Godly order in sexual relationships.
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15, NIV
Long before I was involved with Ellel Ministries I went through a horrible time of deep betrayal. It had huge consequences in my life and I struggled with the whole issue of forgiveness. I started to say things to God like, “I will do anything you want, just don’t ask me to forgive!”
Each time the issue of forgiveness came up I would see people’s faces in front of me and the barriers were just too big, too strong. I did not feel like forgiving, in fact I felt that I should devise ways of getting even! I wanted revenge. I wanted to hurt them even more than they had hurt me. I started to become quite bitter.
Verses like Matthew 6:14 leapt from the pages of my Bible! ‘For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins your Father will NOT forgive your sins’. I knew somehow I had to do it, but how? Finally I came to God and said, “I know I have to do this but I really can’t” and I heard Him say, “You are absolutely right you can’t”. ‘Apart from Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5).
The next Sunday I went to a church which was new to me, and the preacher began his sermon by saying, “This morning I am going to tell you about how to forgive when you can’t”. I knew God was speaking to me. He said “firstly, this is not a transaction between you and the person who has done you wrong, this is a transaction between you and God. Do not see the face of the person. God has said in His word that we must forgive so He will give us the empowerment to do so”.
Part of God’s character is His heart to forgive, so we need to ask God to come supernaturally with His Spirit of forgiveness. Then having received first from Him we can release forgiveness to the person or persons that we need to forgive. We forgive the ‘unforgivable’ because He has first forgiven us. We forgive to be obedient to the Word of God but by so doing we let ourselves out of prison.
Secondly, we are not pardoning them, Only God can pardon. The only place anyone’s sin can be forgiven is by God at the cross. We are releasing them into the freedom of our personal forgiveness. Thirdly, we are not letting them off the hook, but we are taking them off our hook and putting them on God’s hook. We stop judging them and instead we say, ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ Genesis 18:25. We can surely trust Him with this.
God can start to heal the memories. We are unlikely to ever forget what happened, but when we remember it no longer has the power to trigger bitterness and anger. Forgiveness will be the gateway for our own healing.
That Sunday morning I knelt at the altar rail and asked God to come and fill me with His spirit of forgiveness… and He did. I wept buckets as I chose to forgive from deep inside my heart. I poured it all out to the Lord. It took ages but when I was through I had a deep joy well up within me and at last there was closure. I was aware of God smiling and taking hold of my hand to lead me into a new season in my life.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You for dying on the cross for me and for the forgiveness of all of my sins that I have confessed to You. Help me to truly forgive all those who have ever hurt me and to walk continuously in the Spirit of forgiveness, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Today's Writer : Jill Southern-Jones Jill Southern-Jones was a successful business woman before becoming the Director of Ellel Pierrepont, home of the Luke Nine Eleven Training Programme (NETS). People from all over the world come for 5 – 10 months and learn to teach and minister on NETS. Jill’s book on Sex: God’s Truth is an essential guide to the restoration of Godly order in sexual relationships.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Beware the Schemes of Man!
Beware the Schemes of Man!
“This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
Ecclesiastes 7:29, NIV
When I am praying for people, especially those who have suffered many things in their lives, I have in my mind a definition of Christian healing that God gave me many years ago at the outset of the work of Ellel Ministries – the restoration of God’s order in a person’s life. So I sometimes start by asking people the obvious questions about possible roots of disorder in their own lives and the lives of their parents and those whose influence and control they have been under down the years.
Often, however, I discover that some people are only looking for the healing of their present symptoms, and are not really interested in asking God what those roots of disorder actually are. As our Scripture implies, disorder is the fruit of mankind wanting to go after the many schemes that both men and women dream up for themselves – usually with a little help from the schemes of the devil that Paul warned us about in Ephesians Chapter 6! God created mankind upright, but following the schemes of man has resulted in a lack of uprightness. And none of us can escape the reality expressed by Paul in Galatians 6:5 that there is a law of sowing and reaping which applies to our lives as well as our crops.
It is a sad fact that, in the stories of the Kings of Israel, the Bible tells us that many of their problems were caused by things like a lack of uprightness in their lives or because they were not wholehearted in following the Lord. As I read this Scripture afresh I felt God challenging me to examine my own heart and ask Him to show me any areas of my life where the schemes of man have got in the way of the plans of God. May I encourage you to do the same and trust God as you seek His best for every area of your life.
Prayer: Lord, help me to see myself as You see me. Help me to see those places where there has been a lack of uprightness in the things I have done. I want to put things right with You and anyone else who has been affected by my decisions and actions. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
Today's Writer : Peter Horrobin Peter Horrobin is the Founding and International Director of Ellel Ministries. He has now written and is currently developing Ellel 365 – a completely new online training school. This is specifically designed to help people understand and apply the practical truths of God’s Word into their lives. Already there have been many remarkable testimonies of what God is doing in people’s lives. The Ellel 365 website has now been completely updated. To take a look for yourself click on the Ellel 365 link on this page.
“This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
Ecclesiastes 7:29, NIV
When I am praying for people, especially those who have suffered many things in their lives, I have in my mind a definition of Christian healing that God gave me many years ago at the outset of the work of Ellel Ministries – the restoration of God’s order in a person’s life. So I sometimes start by asking people the obvious questions about possible roots of disorder in their own lives and the lives of their parents and those whose influence and control they have been under down the years.
Often, however, I discover that some people are only looking for the healing of their present symptoms, and are not really interested in asking God what those roots of disorder actually are. As our Scripture implies, disorder is the fruit of mankind wanting to go after the many schemes that both men and women dream up for themselves – usually with a little help from the schemes of the devil that Paul warned us about in Ephesians Chapter 6! God created mankind upright, but following the schemes of man has resulted in a lack of uprightness. And none of us can escape the reality expressed by Paul in Galatians 6:5 that there is a law of sowing and reaping which applies to our lives as well as our crops.
It is a sad fact that, in the stories of the Kings of Israel, the Bible tells us that many of their problems were caused by things like a lack of uprightness in their lives or because they were not wholehearted in following the Lord. As I read this Scripture afresh I felt God challenging me to examine my own heart and ask Him to show me any areas of my life where the schemes of man have got in the way of the plans of God. May I encourage you to do the same and trust God as you seek His best for every area of your life.
Prayer: Lord, help me to see myself as You see me. Help me to see those places where there has been a lack of uprightness in the things I have done. I want to put things right with You and anyone else who has been affected by my decisions and actions. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
Today's Writer : Peter Horrobin Peter Horrobin is the Founding and International Director of Ellel Ministries. He has now written and is currently developing Ellel 365 – a completely new online training school. This is specifically designed to help people understand and apply the practical truths of God’s Word into their lives. Already there have been many remarkable testimonies of what God is doing in people’s lives. The Ellel 365 website has now been completely updated. To take a look for yourself click on the Ellel 365 link on this page.
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