Changing Boss - Romans 6

My musings on Romans 6

Romans 6 talks about being dead to sin and alive in Christ. This is a picture of what happens to a person when they become a Christian. By dying to sin we are set free from our slavery to it, and by being made alive in Christ we become a new creation. I think this relates to what Jesus means when he talks about 'the flesh' (our old life in sin), and 'the spirit' (our new life in Christ).

This chapter gives three steps to victory over sin in a Christian's life [1].

1. Understand that you are dead to sin. (Verse 11) The sinful part of us is already dead or dying. When we allow this part of us to control our life we have a dead man behind the wheel. Our Spirit should be stronger because it is alive in Christ.
2. Do not let sin reign in your life. (Verse 12)


3. Offer yourself - your whole self - to God, in service, submission and love. (Verse 13)

I think parts 2 and 3 are closely linked. It is hard to not let sin reign in your life, unless it is replaced by something.

Verses 15 to 23 talk about being a 'slave to righteousness'. As a Christian, I have changed masters. I used to be a 'slave to sin', for which the wages are death. Now, I am a willing servent to righteousness, for which the reward is the free gift of eternal life.

I think of it this way, I have had three jobs since I graduated from University. As I left one job, and started another, I changed masters. I no longer obeyed my former boss. If I kept working for my previous boss, doing what he wanted me to do, while being paid by my current boss, I probably wouldn't have a job for very long. So why do we do it in life? Picturing it this way helps me to remember where my allegience lies and who I should be living for.

References
[1] NIV Bible Study notes. Copyright (C) 1985; The Zondervan Corporation.

Spiritual Goals for 2009

I've been challenged and have some spiritual goals for this new year. They can be summed up by the following passages:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

with a specific focus on praying continually, and

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:32-34

(In my next article I will talk about some of the practical things I am going to do in this regard.)

I believe that if I get these two things right then a lot of the things that I lost sleep over last year will fall back into their proper place and I can get on with actually doing something useful for God.

If you are reading this, I would ask you to please take a moment for pray for me in these goals, and please post a comment; let me know what spiritual goals you have at the moment because I would love to pray for you.

Scripture taken from The HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers

Knowing God through Praise

Ever wanted to know what God is like? Look no further than Psalm 103. This is a praise psalm to God, but it is totally full of descriptions of God's character. It talks about his grace, his provision, healing, power and so much more.

Sometimes, it can be easy for our picture of God to become distorted, but meditating on passages like this one can help correct that.

What's in it for Him

This last Sunday my church released personalised devotional 'Power Walk' journals. Essentially it is a notebook to write thoughts and observations during daily Bible reading. At the top of each page is a suggested prayer for use before reading. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you. O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer." from Psalm 19:14.

I have always made it a habbit to pray before reading the Bible. It's something that has been important to me, but the prayer has always been along the lines of "Lord, speak to me through your word and help me to get something out of it that will help me grow to comfort me." There is certainly nothing wrong with those things, the Bible is here for us. It is a gift from God, but I made an interesting observation about the suggested prayer in my journal. It turns things completely around. It takes the focus off myself and onto God. It is not about what I will get out of the experience, but about what God will get out of it. I found that refreshing.

A litle bag of Treasures

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 is like a little bag packed full of treasures at the end of a letter. There are seventeen separate words of practical encouragement and teaching in just three paragraphs. Among these are the single-verse one lines "Be joyful always" (verse 16), "pray continually" (verse 17) and "Avoid every kind of evil" (verse 22). It's almost as if Paul didn't want to letter to drag on too much and so was careful to make every word count. He was also very adamant that everybody get a change to hear the content (verse 27).

This was possible the earliest letter written in the new testament. During his first missionary trip, Paul had to leave Thessalonica earlier than he wanted due to persecution. He wrote to the new church in that city soon after leaving so that he could continue to teach them what they needed to know to grow in their new faith. It's good for us that he did because there is so much simple yet vital teaching, even in the Final Instructions.

I intend to take a couple of these and study them as I think that will be quite valuable. I will be sharing what I learn here in the Collings Zone.

Sources:

The Lion Handbook to the Bible

NIV Study Bible Study Notes

Scripture taken from The HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers

Starting Now

My church has a dream. It is called Levi House. It was started by a group of people with a heart for the homeless. The aim of Levi House is to "Provide a safe & effective refuge for Launceston's homeless".

This is a large long-term dream. The facility is yet to be constructed. The finance does not yet exist to make this dream a reality. The thing that impresses me about the people behind this ministry is that they have already started.

Many of us have dreams. This is good. I believe it is important for us to dream big and allow God to grow our faith by placing lofty goals in our hearts. This gives us something to strive for, something to work toward. Dreams like this give us reason to get up in the morning.

Sometimes however, we can fall into the trap of thinking that because the goal of making that dream a reality is so far off in the distance that we fail to take any action now. The team behind Levi House are doing more than talking. They are not just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Seeing the need that exists in our community, they could not sit by and do nothing. They have not yet made the dream a complete reality, but they are doing what they can; right now. Homeless people are put up in motels or caravans (our church is situated next door to a caravan park) and now, people are volunteering their time to care for homeless people of an evening, giving them a place to stay within our church facility.

Often when we have these dreams we can make a start straight away. It may just be a small thing, but it is a first step and it will lead to greater things. It's like Jesus said in Luke 16:10. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." The Levi House team are certainly being faithful with what they have, and I have no doubt that God will make their complete dream a reality in His time.

Another couple in my church took a step of faith and become involved in a short mission trip to Africa. That has now led to them running an organisation called Villages of Hope; which provides housing for widows and orphans in Burundi, which could be described as the poorest country in the world.

These people have not allows the grand dream to cripple them into inaction, they have allowed it to inspire them to begin, one step at a time, and amazing things have grown as a result.

People like these inspire me. It is through their example that God has challenged me today with this message. I hope it challenges you too.

References
Scripture taken from The HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers

http://www.levihouse.org.au/

http://www.villagesoflife.org/

In God's Confidance

The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
Psalm 25:14

Most of us probably have verses that we have circled or underlined in our Bibles. The ones we read and say "hey this is cool. I must come back to this one." Psalm 25:14 is one of those verses circled in my Bible. I found it the other day. I couldn't remember circling it, but when I read I thought to myself all over again "wow this is cool."

The verse talks about how God will confide in those who fear him - as a friend. We often confide in God, telling him our secrets and discussing the things that are troubling us; but this verse makes it clear that God has things that he wants to confide in us about. That idea is quite exciting to me.

So who does God confide in? This verse states that it is 'those who fear him'. The fear of God is a term that Christians have struggled with for ages. I like the way that the NIV Study Bible notes describes the fear of God: "Those who honour God and order their lives in accordance with his will because of their reverence for him (1)." I like this explanation because it talks of honouring and respecting God, but also of ordering our lives according to God's will. Fear of God is more than just respecting Him, fear requires a response. If we truly fear God then we will be changing the course we plot for our life, based on His will and His values.

There are examples in the Bible where God has confided in those who feared Him. In Genesis 18, God was planning to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He chooses to share his plans with Abraham, and even allowed Abraham to argue it out with Him. This passage reads like God going to Abraham as a king might go to his advisors. To me, that is an amazing concept. The perfect infalible King of the universe was interested in the opinion of a mere human. "Then the Lord said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?'"(Gen 18:17)

God also confided in Job. "Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house" (Job 29:4.) This phrase, "God's intimate friendship blessed my house" literally means "God's council was in my tent" or "God was an intimate in my tent." (2)

I found studying these verses to be a very inspiring challenge. So, may we all "order our lives according to God's will, out of our deep reverence for Him." You never know, He might just have something that he wants to confide in us about.

(1) The NIV Study Bible. Copyright (C) 1985 by The Zondervan Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Study note on Psalm 15:4

(2) The NIV Study Bible. Copyright (C) 1985 by The Zondervan Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Study note on Job 29:4

Scripture taken from The HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers

Holiness

Our Youth Pastor preached last Sunday night on Holiness. She made some interesting points which made me think. We know that God is holy. He is perfect in righteousness. It is His holiness that makes him so unaproachable without Jesus.

It is often to see God's holiness and think we can never come close. Interestingly, God commands us in the bible "Be Holy because I am Holy" (1 Peter 1:16). We will never be sinless like God in this mortal life, but it must be possible to be Holy because God would not command something to us that is impossible.

We can use our sinful nature as an excuse not to bother persuing holiness. As my youth pastor put it "Holiness is possible because of the exchanged life"
Thankyou Jesus.

Making Poverty History

We have just completed a two-week series at church entitled "Making Poverty History." It was a challenging series. A lot preaching was done from the first chapter of Isaiah. Reading this chapter reveals such passages as:

"The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?" says the LORD. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing neaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations — I cannot bear your evil assemblies." (Isaiah 1:11-13)

and

"wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. " (Isaiah 1:16-17)

It is clear that God is not interested in empty worship. If our words and actions do not match up then our worship is hypocritical. God dealt harshly with his people in the Old Testament. He sent Isaiah to warn Israel that a great judgement was coming because of their failure to practice justice and care for those in need. Throughout the history of the church there have been many times when we have not been much better. I sometimes wonder if the only thing keeping God from treating us the same way is the fact that we are living in a period of grace.

Last week, our guest speaker said something which I thought was quite proufound. He said that our concern for others should not come out of guilt, but out of gratitude. I am glad that my children have enough to eat, and shelter to keep them safe. I needn't feel guilty about this, it is okay to be greateful that my kids are well off. It is that gratitude that should inspire us to help bring that same justice to those who lack it.

My church is certainly on a big journey at the moment, and it is not over yet. The next step for me is to seek God on what specifically He is calling me to do.

Life is never boring when you follow Jesus!

Looking in the Wrong Direction

Mark 8:1-10 Read it...

I was just reading the story of the feeding of the four thousand. Apart from a few numbers and places, the account is very similar to the feeding of the five thousand. You could be forgiven for thinking somebody just put the same story in the Bible twice, except for the fact that a little later on, Jesus refers to both as separate events.

The thing that astounds me in this story is the disciples. They knew Jesus had fed five thousand men (plus women and children) with a few loaves of bread and fish. Now, they have a few extra loaves and a smaller croud. Yet they say "How can we feed these people?" Have they forgotten? Do they think Jesus has lost his touch? Surely they should have said "Lord it's time for you to do that thing you do again."

It's easy to judge the disciples and think "how thick can they be" until I examine my own life. So often I face a problem or a need and start to freak out. I know God has provided in the past, so why do I get so stressed? I think it's because I'm looking at the problem. The problem seems so huge. It's like a monster hovering over me. That monster could crush me with one stomp of its thick sinewy legs.

If I turn around, however, and look at God, I see that he is so unbelievably huge that the problem appears microscopic. I see all the times in the past where God has provided. I see that God loves me and wants the best for me.

Bill Hybels had an experience like this once, which he details in his book "Too Busy not to pray" [1]. He had to stop looking at his need and start looking at his God. This was the same God who had created the universe just by the authority of His words. The God who had come up with a rescue plan to save humanity from doom by sacrificing his own Son. When he did this, his fear melted away and he was filled with confidence. God gave him a miracle that day.

Faith is never easy. Stepping out on a limb nd trusting God is one of the hardest and un-natural acts that humans take; but when we see the evidence of God's faithfulness it becomes easier. The more often we trust, the bigger that body of evidence gets, and the more natural it is to expect a miracle.


[1] Hybels, Bill. Too Busy not to Pray. Slowing down to be with God. Inter-Varsity Press. 1998.

A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

This year has started with a lesson in faith and dependance on God.

It was a warn sunny day and my wife and I were enjoying some rare time alone. Just as we climed out of the car Linda's phone began to ring. It was the child-care centre. They had noticed some discharge coming out of our daughter Chloe's ear. It wasn't serious enough for them to send her home but it would probably have to be examined by a doctor. When we collected Chloe and her brother from child-care that night we realised how bad it had become.

Out of concern we rang a free children's medical hotline. After speaking with a nurse and then a doctor, we were informed that Chloe would need to see her GP tomorrow. This presented us with some challenges. This was an expense we had not budgeted for and were currently in a difficult financial situation. Usually in this type of situation we would simply withdraw some money from our special savings account, but tomorrow was new year's day and the banks would not be open, and the account required us to sign in person. To complicate matters further, my parents were out of town so if we were to borrow some money from them we would have to drive out to their caravan, which would put a strain on our already limited petrol reserves. There was no money in the house and the cheque we had recently deposited would not clear until the end of the week.

We lay down on the bed that night praying together. We knew that God loved our daughter, even more than we did. We knew he had promised in the bible to provide for our needs, and we knew that in the past he had proven himself to us many times. We chose to trust God to provide a solution and went to sleep.

The next morning we rang the doctor's surgery and made an appointment for the limited clinic that night, believing in faith that God would help us. There was some money in our normal account, but it was due to be taken out by a direct-debit scheduled for tonight. I briefly considered withdrawing this money and wearing the fee when the direct-debit found insufficient funds. It would work, but perhaps God had a better option.

I sat reading a book about the prayer life of Jesus. As I read and prayed, my thoughts wandered to Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" At the same time, Linda was praying in another room. God said to her "Go look in the rent folder". She immediately remembered that we had some cash set aside, hidden in the rent folder, to pay for steam-cleaning of the carpets at some point in the future when we move out of our house.

We looked in the folder, not remembering how much was in there. It was only five dollars short. We found enough coins in our wallets, Chloe's money box and the glove box of the car to make up the five dollars. God had provided using money we forgot we had.

There are times that I feel I am extremenly undeserving of God's provision and blessing, but as the Bible says "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11.

God is definately our provider.


Scripture taken from New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Lifesong Devotional - Lifesong.

In their album Lifesong, Casting Crowns have included several Bible passages with each song, along with a challenge to further investigate what the Bible says about the themes of the various songs. I have decided to take up their challenge. I have studied the passages that they included with their title track, Lifesong [1], and included my thoughts from each.

Worship is more than music. Our life should be a song to God that glorifies His name. If our life doesn't match what we sing, then the song is meaningless.

Matthew 15:8-9
The pharisees were honouring God with their lips but their hearts were far from Him. Their worship was in vain and was not really worship at all. As Rob Bell might put it, "Their lives were not in tune with God's song". [2]

Matthew 23:25-28
The Parisees were more concerned with appearing Holy than actually being Holy. They cleaned their outside but inside were dirty. This is why Jesus called them hypocrites. Do we worship at church for appearances? Do we raise our hands so people will think we are spiritual? It's all in the motives.

Galatians 2:20
If we are saved then our life is no longer our own. Our old self has been crucified with Christ. Now it is Him who lives in us. Now if our life is Christ's and He lives in us, then by definition, our life must be lived in worship of and service to God. It is His life afterall.

Colossians 3:17
Everything we do in life - word or deed, is to be done in Jesus' name. This verse makes everything we do in life - big or small - an act of worship. Nothing is exempt. Nothing is too insignificant. God is glorified when we do the ordinary for Him. The spiritual is inseperable from the physical. We do it all for Him, thanking Him while doing it.

Lord, this life is yours. It is a gift from you. All I have I owe to you. Every good thing in my life is a gift from you. Thankyou that you value me enough to take an interest in my life. May my life - all of it - be lived as an expression of love, gratitude and worship to you.

May my lifesong sing to you.

[1] Lifesong. Written by Mark Hall. Performed by Casting Crowns. © 2005 Club Zoo Music (BMI) / SWECS Music (SMI) (adm. by EMI CMG Publishing.)

[2] In the short film NOOMA® Rhythm, Rob Bell compares God to a song, and descries how when we are living in a way that is concistent with God's teachings and honouring to Him, we are 'in tune' with the song; but when our life does not match what we believe, we are 'out of tune'.

What the Bible says about Compassion

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been planning to conduct a biblical review on the subject of Compassion. Having had a bit of a look at what the Bible says on the subject, I have come up with the following. This is by no means a complete description of compassion, but some thoughts worth pondering.

The nature of Compassion

Compassion is mindful of other's needs. It is generous.
Exodus 22:27
Compassion never abandons
Nehemiah 9:19, Psalm 103:13, Psalm 112:4, Psalm 145:9
Compassion leads to provision for physical needs
Isaiah 49:10, Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 15:32
Compassion goes hand-in-hand with both mercy and grace.
Exodus 33:19, Deuteronomy 13:17, Psalm 51:1, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15

God's compassion for us:

Repentance leads to outpooring of God's compassion
Deuteronomy 30:2-4, Judges 2:18, 2 Chronicles 30:9
Compassion leads to forgiveness
Ephesians 4:32
God excercises compassion even during judgement
Deuteronomy 32:36

Our compassion for others

We are instructed to be compassionate
Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 3:8
We are instructed to "cloth ourselves" with compassion
Colossians 3:12

Of course studying what the Bible has to say about compassion, without looking for ways to put it into action in our lives is of little use. I think a characteristic like compassion should effect not only the big things such as fighting world poverty, but also the little things, such as the way we interact with people in our daily lives.

Let's try putting it into practice.

Influences

2 Samuel 13:3
Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shieah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man.”

The story of Amnon and Tamar (2 Sam 13:1-22) is one of the most tragic in the Bible. Amnon was one of the sons of King David. He had a very unhealthy obsession with his half-sister Tamar. He had feelings for her that he just couldn’t get out of his head. Amnon had a friend named Jonadab (actually his uncle). Jonadab seemed like a very switched-on kind of guy. He was smart. Jonadab noticed that his friend seemed trouble and asked what was wrong. Amnon shared what he was struggling with.

So far, this story seems pretty good. All of us have sinful desires that we battle with. Locked up inside these things can fester and grow to a point they can’t be controlled. On the surface, Amnon did a good thing. He openly and honestly confessed his struggle to a friend who was described as "a very shrewd man." In modern-day Christian language we’d say that he shared with an accountability partner – a very good strategy.

Unfortunately, while Jonadab may have been a shrewd man, he was not wise or righteous. If he had been a good friend he would have suggested some strategies to help Amnon get over his temptation, or prayed for him. Instead, Amnon used his intelligence to concoct a devious plan, which would help Amnon to satisfy his inappropriate cravings. The result is that Tamar gets raped and then abandoned, a disgraced woman in her society. This one event sets off a series of circumstances that almost destroys a family, and leaves Amnon murdered for his crimes.

We all have people in our lives who influence us, and others who we influence. This is part of how God made us. He works through people. We need people who we can take advice from and learn from. We must use wisdom and discernment however, in choosing these people. We must assess, is this person likely to lead me in the right direction, or lead me astray. Amnon took the wrong advice. Let’s be a bit more deliberate about who we allow to influence us.

"Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1873, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."

Grace

Grace has really been on my mind and my heart lately. Yesterday, as I began to think over my life, and remember my own sinfulness, I became overwhealmed by the mercy and grace that God has poured into my life.

I recently read a verse in the old testament:

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Zechariah 12:10. (NIV)

In this verse, the prophet Zechariah predicts the coming of a period of grace. Jesus instituted this period of grace when he died and rose again, and it will continue until he returns (this is not to suggest that God did not give grace to humans before that).

I really think that there is nothing more beautiful in this world than grace. As Phillip Yancey discusses in his book What's so Amazing About Grace, Christians must demonstrate grace to the world, because we have received it. Where else can the world find something so un-natural?

Soaking in the Word

I was reading our weekly church eNews this morning. In it, one of my pastors drew a comparrison between the heavy showers of rain we have been having lately (which do more for the grass and plants than an occasional sprinkle) with the way we read the Bible. Often we just take a quick moment to read a short passage in the morning. God can and does certainly use this type of reading to impact us, but sometimes we really need to devote some time to soak in God's word.

We need to read the Bible, we need to study it, and we need to apply it. This does'nt mean that we need to spend hours every day, but I know that I myself need to make time more often to have a good soaking.

While browsing through the New Living Translation website this afternoon I came across the following articles, which provide one framework, for this type of inclusive Bible study. It seems to me, that this method combines serious study and application/devotional type reading both into the same process. I found it interesting.

• What is Application


• How to Apply the Bible Part 1


• How to Apply the Bible Part 2

Compassion

Something that has been on my mind and my heart lately is Compassion. Specifically, how lacking ours often is when compared to God's.

A quick search for compassion on www.dictionary.com reveals a number of definitions from many sources. Most seem to have two components:

• An awareness of, or sympathy for the suffering of another.


• The desire or motivation to do something about relieving that suffering.

Both parts are important. Without the second, it is not really compassion at all.

I plan to make the time to conduct a study of what the Bible has to say on compassion. Imagine what the world could be like if we had more of it.