Category Archives: bible study

Praying in a broken world

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“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets.. Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame.. the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favour on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see.. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

(Dan 9.4-7,14,17-19)

I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard.. While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth.. “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”

Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”

(Dan 10.8-12, 15-19)

I have greatly appreciated recent studies in the book of Daniel, the faithful-in-exile, who served pagan rulers with integrity and always maintained an intimate and obedient relationship with the Almighty God, the Lord of his people Israel. Daniel models so much for us in our own day and age, and even though in the later chapters the book is full of strange visions, yet we can still learn much from them. Above all, we learn that the books of history are open before our God, and nothing takes him by surprise. It is made clear that while this broken world endures, there will be human conflict, evil will continue to manifest itself in many ways and suffering will be widespread. And yet, over and over again, Daniel is shown the final unveiling and prevailing of the eternal kingdom of which he – and we as followers of Jesus – is a member. God wins, and as his precious children, we are already secure in that victory.

Daniel also models how we should be praying for ourselves and others according to God’s word and will; how in the midst of turmoil, we bring our concerns to the Almighty and ask him to do what he has promised – to reveal himself, to extend mercy to sinners through Jesus, to make a people for himself, and ultimately, to reveal his eternal glory. God’s people are called to pray God’s word; recognising God’s sovereignty and submitting with grace and trust to his will but also claiming his promises. We pray not out of our own righteousness, but because God IS always righteous, and can be depended upon in every situation to be good, holy, and true.

It is easy for us to enter into Daniel’s experience of overwhelming distress as we contemplate the mess of our world, and the judgement which humanity is bringing upon itself. Daniel’s visions often shattered him for prolonged periods of time, and it is wonderful to read of the compassion and strength which is extended by the divine messenger to this faithful but traumatised servant. Three times, words of encouragement, tenderness and compassion are spoken over him; three times, he is touched by the divine hand. This speaks deeply to me of my heavenly Father’s concern that the cosmic scale of this battle should not be something which I seek to enter or understand in my own strength. It is the Lord who is waging war against his enemy, a defeated but vengeful, vicious and utterly unscrupulous foe. I can be honest in sharing my fear, helplessness, confusion and distress – God’s compassionate response never fails, and I find peace as I recognise that the Almighty has all in his hand, including me!

Heavenly Father, thank you that you meet my distress with compassion and raise me up to stand in your presence as you speak words of encouragement, wisdom and direction. Thank you that the future of this world is in your hands, and that my task is to follow Daniel’s example: Let me go my way, with your help, until the end of my days – the way you have alloted to me. Let me rest in your faithfulness, not my own understanding or strength. Thank you that, at the end of the days, I will rise with all your saints to receive the inheritance you have prepared for us. Thank you for Jesus, through whom alone all this is done, and to his name be glory, Amen.

Getting out of the valley…

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Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?… Those who walk righteously and speak what is right… they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them. 

Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar… your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved, its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken. There the Lord will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.

(Isa 33.14-17,20-22)

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.

(Ps 1.1-3)

“It is written; ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”

(Matt 5.4)

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

(Jn 4.14)

In these days I am testifying with a full and grateful heart to God’s keeping and directing of me over these months; for his sustaining grace through struggle and weariness; guarding me from folly and from dishonouring him as I seemed to be walking in a maze of dead ends down in the valleys, hungry for the wide open spaces which I believed to be out there! Thanks be to God, who has led and fed, and kept company with me, through his people and through his word – provided for the feeding of his people, who have the privilege of continually being nourished and learning afresh from it. I have received a revelation of grace, experienced the unravelling of knots and been led up over the foothills to the great ‘high ways’ of God’s people.

I am rejoicing in God’s goodness – with renewed appetite for his word and confidence in its power as I see it bear fruit in my life. I am delighting in prospect of a study group with whom to share in learning, sisters in Christ with whom to grow in faith, to share the sheer joy of learning to know God better, to see Jesus more clearly and to worship him with them. A rich banquet is laid out before us on which to feast, where we will meet God and honour him. Truly, our good shepherd provides good food and clear waters for us!

There is a sense of having left behind the narrow and baffling lanes in the valley with their restricted views and lack of perspective. Now I am walking on the ridges, my vision is far-ranging; I can see where I am and where I am going within the context of God’s great plan of redemption and re-creation. The air is clean and invigorating, the prospect glorious, I have food and drink in abundance for my spirit, and lack nothing.

And by whose agency am I brought to this place? By the One whose righteousness is now my inheritance and secure possession, by Jesus Christ the one who has paid for all my sins and through whom I am adopted as God’s beloved daughter. It is all by his loving sacrifice, and thus to him belongs all my praise and thanks. I see the king in his beauty, and the glorious sight brings me such peace and hope. I see the spacious land to which I now belong, and where I will dwell with God and all the saints, and I am near to bursting point with gladness and praise!

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the lessons which you have been teaching me in the valley; and for your preservation of me in those devious and trying paths. I praise you that your grace is now more fully revealed to me, and I am reinvigorated for my journey. Let me not forget the lessons of the valley – above all let me not forget that I can trust you to be working even when I am baffled, grieved and weak. In the name and for the sake of my precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus, I pray, Amen.

Times have changed…

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When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle, he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said…

(Jn 2.13-22)

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures for ever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore…. Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. 

Peace be on Israel.

(Ps 125, 1,2 4&5)

That was then and this is now… As I become more experienced in reading and thinking about the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as a coherent story, I find myself getting more excited about the many ways in which themes occur and develop across the great narrative. There are many such themes, and any one of them may be studied to great advantage as they enlarge our understanding of God’s purposes and especially of the person and work of Jesus himself.

The temple as a theme originates in Genesis, where Eden itself is established as the place where God meets us, before sin broke that fellowship and God embarked upon the long restoration of relationship. The tent in the wilderness, and the great temple of Solomon in turn symbolise how a holy God may dwell among sinful people, but these are only ever looking ahead to an effective and eternal removal of sin, and restoration of intimacy. In this passage in the gospel, John clearly states that Jesus has come to supersede the role played by the physical temple. After the coming of Messiah, after his sacrificial and atoning death, and his resurrection, there is no longer any need for a physical location of ritual encounter and worship.

Jesus will say as much to the Samaritan woman, and Stephen in his final speech before his martyrdom stirs up the fury of the religious authorities by affirming that God has never been contained by and limited to the human construction of the temple building. It has always been God’s will that his children should live with him in daily and intimate communion, and one day, we will realise that to the full, in the new creation. All the ways that the temple was used – to make God known; to meet with God; to make peace with God; to move people to growing faith in, loving commitment to and service of God – these are found as we come to Jesus himself.

In the old days, songs of ascents (like psalm 125 above) or pilgrimage were sung, as people travelled to festivals in Jerusalem, celebrating the joy and privilege of coming to the temple and remembering what it means to belong to the God whom they met there… These are now our songs as those who belong to God, and who in Jesus find they dwell with the Almighty and are in turn being shaped into his witness to others. We don’t need to make a long or arduous journey, Jesus has travelled all the way from his Father’s side to meet us.. let us then celebrate, remember, and grow ever closer to him.

Almighty God, thank you that in Jesus, we meet you; in Jesus we are made at peace with you; in Jesus you are made known, and by him we are moved to love and hope. Lord God, let me not depart from your presence in Jesus; let me grasp more deeply the reality of forgiveness and freedom which is mine in Him; let me learn from and through Him of you; and let me be moved ever more effectively to witness to you, walk with you, and share all I have in your kingdom-building work. Thank you that in Jesus, all that was signified by the temple of your dwelling among us is more than fulfilled!

*with sincere thanks to Stuart Smith for the sermon on 16th February, 2025, which inspired this piece.

Mind expanding..!

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning….In him was life, and that life was the light of men…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.. From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

(Jn 1.1&2,4,14&16)

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

(Heb 1.1-4)

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God… For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

(2 Cor 4.4&6)

Don’t you love it when the words on the page seem to jump out at you? When God sets off a firework display in your mind as you read and reflect on what the inspired authors have recorded for us, and can almost feel your brain creaking as it is faced all over again with the sheer enormity of The Almighty Triune God!

I have begun to read the book known as the letter to the Hebrews recently, and in the very first verses of the first chapter, was brought up short: take another look at that passage and just read it slowly to yourself. In a few phrases, the teacher has condensed the gospel, the creation narrative – everything that really matters – and reeled it off as though it were the simplest set of ideas in the world. I love it when the bible does this, crediting me with abilities which I do not possess, to comprehend the incomprehensible and grasp the impenetrable. Why do I love it? Because I am brought to my knees afresh in worship, in humble adoration of my Lord and the Almighty Father by whose will all things are.

Passages like the three which are quoted above are so rich in material for meditation and as prompts to further study as we tease out the connections which they are making, the multitude of echoes raised across the narrative of God’s dealings with his people and the great, revolutionary work of Jesus.  These passages also help us to consider Jesus, focussing on his person, his work and his perfection as God’s appointed one. And it is as we reflect, as we ponder and let these wonderful concepts and pictures enrich our understanding, that our faith is strengthened, and our love for Jesus is deepened.

That’s the wonderful thing about God’s word to us, in the bible and ultimately in the person of Jesus himself, it isn’t just words… It changes us, shapes our minds, transforms our values, and is always fresh with encouragement, challenge and rebuke. We can read it all our lives, and never cease to wonder, to be moved in prayer, confession and repentance, adoration and praise. How right it is to think of God’s word as food, as the crucial nourishment which we need for living; without this food, we starve in ignorance and perish in despair. This food strengthens us and directs us, always providing new things to wrestle with and to train us in living for and with our Saviour.

I don’t need to understand in order to be blessed; I rejoice in the ways that God’s word to me continually shows me my limitations and His endless power, majesty, holiness and love. He is utterly beyond my comprehension, and what a relief that is! In Jesus, we see all that we need to know in order to surrender ourselves in loving dependence and trust to this Heavenly Father – because Jesus IS ‘the exact imprint” and the “radiance of the glory” of God.

Almighty and everlasting God, I worship and praise you today, because I – as your creature – may know you as Father because of your son, my Saviour Jesus. My mind is so small, but I delight to consider him, and to let myself be lost in wonder at his majesty, and his saving work. Let me always be hungry for your word, and ready to have my mind expanded by your glory! For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

To hear is to obey…

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Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live..

(Isa 55.2&3)

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding.. then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

(Prov 2.1,2&5)

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said…. [the Lord answered] few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.

(Lk 10.38,39&42)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

(Jas 1.22-25)

I think we can all sometimes have ‘hearing’ problems when it comes to our relationships, particularly with God but also with one another. How often have I been guilty of distracted listening, of paying little real attention to the person speaking to me? And the result is that I misunderstand them, often hurting them as it becomes clear by my inappropriate responses that I have not cared enough about them to really listen and absorb their words. Arrangements get messed up, feelings are hurt, and a whole heap of unnecessary trouble arises, when I fail to listen. Our sense of hearing can only really function properly when our minds are also engaged, to process and act upon what we hear.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word used for ‘hearing’ implies an obedient active response. If nothing is done in response, in or by the listener, then they weren’t actually listening at all! As a follower of Jesus, I am called to listen for his voice, not only because He wants me to know him, but also because without listening – really hearing with all that implies about willingness to respond – I cannot know what He would have me be and do as his disciple.

As I listen, I put aside my own assumptions about God’s character and purposes for his kingdom, and I choose to be open to being wrong about all sorts of things! I put aside the wisdom of the world around me, and I choose to learn the truth of God. I choose to remember that I am dust, and that God’s ways are far above my comprehension – that not to understand is no reason to disobey the Almighty, if I truly trust him…

There are many good things which could be done in the name of Jesus, but unless I prioritise listening in humility and expectation, then I may end up very busy with a whole lot of things that are not my calling.. I trust that God will lead and enable me for the work I am to do, and that labour will always be founded in obedience to the word which I hear. There will be a continual rhythm of attentive, critically self-aware listening, which naturally bears fruit in a life of sacrificial love and delight in the One whose voice we are tuned to above all others.

Heavenly Father, let me, like Mary, choose to sit at my Lord’s feet as his disciple. Give me the hunger to hear his words, and the humility which keeps me from thinking I already know it all. Let me remember that busyness is not equal to holiness; that I do not earn your favour by working for it; that all I can ever do is respond in thankful service to your abundant and unfathomable grace to me.

Let me live then in this rhythm of listening first; of making time to read and ponder your word, and trusting that you will lead and enable me then to live for and with you. Speak, O Lord, and let me truly hear and obey your voice – for your glory and the blessing of many in the kingdom, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Not empty rituals but reason…

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“See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations.. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? …only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget… Teach them to your children and to their children after them…

(Deut 4.5-9)

Ezra came up from Babylon, He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given… [Ezra] had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

(Ez 7.6&10)

… all the people came together as one.. They told Ezra.. to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. So.. Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.. The Levites instructed the people in the Law.. making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.. Then all the people went away to.. celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

(Neh 8. 1-3,7&12)

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

(2Tim 3.14-17)

One of the many wonderful things which are revealed to us in the pages of what we call the bible – the combined Hebrew scriptures, gospels, the story of the early church and the letters – -is the emphasis on reason, on understanding, on the clear desire of our Creator that his people should bring all the powers with which He has endowed them to the understanding and expression of our worship and faith. Certainly, rituals were instituted and established by God, to be lived lessons in the relationship which a holy God has with sinful humanity –  but there was always a purpose, a lesson to learn and a principal to apply to life. Our God seeks intelligent worshippers, not blind slavish observance of ritual.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we do not leave our intellect and reason behind, but bring them into the glorious discipline and light of the revelation which God has given us – they are to be used, as every other gift is to be used, to glorify God and to spread the good news of the kingdom which is coming.

In the story of the exiles returning from Babylon to rebuild the temple and city of Jerusalem, we find a wonderful picture of the proper attitude to scripture – recognising its author, its authority, and joyfully celebrating the communication which is given to us by our great and loving God. How amazing, how marvellous and humbling, to find that the eternal, unlimited and all-powerful One would choose to make himself known to our tiny and limited minds… so that we can (at least dimly) glimpse his glory and grasp something of his character. Our minds as well as our strength, our love, and our gifts, are all most fully and satisfyingly occupied when we put them at God’s disposal and spend them in his service.

I know that I shall never come to an end of learning, of finding fresh treasure in the word of God. I know that I am more hungry than I have ever been for this food which nourishes my faith and brings me back to worship – because the more I learn, the more I realise I do not know! 

Lord God, author of wisdom and truth, it is good when your people recognise the authority of your revelation, place themselves under that authority and seek to be transformed by it. Your people are to be your witnesses, and how can we do that unless we know you, know your word and purposes? By that wisdom and the Spirit’s transforming power, may we testify to you in every sphere of life, bringing all our powers to be harnessed in your service. Let our minds be transformed according to your word, and be glorified in us we pray, for Jesus’s sake, Amen.

 

Uncomfortable reading

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“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: ‘Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.. Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them: “‘The Lord will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword,'” declares the Lord.

(Jer 25.15,30-31)

The tempter came to [Jesus], and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread,’ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every mouth that comes from the mouth of God,'”

(Matt.4.3&4)

“You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

(Jn 5.39&40)

[Jesus] said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.

(Lk 24.25-27)

..continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

(2Tim 3.14-17)

In recent years, I have been privileged to spend time reading and thinking about Job, Isaiah, and Daniel in local bible study groups. These have been occasions of great blessing, but also very challenging as they bring me face to face with some difficult truths about human life, divine sovereignty, the reality of evil and the facts of suffering.

I am aware that over the years, I must have heard many sermons on these themes, and yet every time I come across another difficult, violent passage like the one quoted above from Jeremiah, I find myself wincing away from it, deeply disturbed by the images conjured up. What am I, a 21st century Christian who enjoys health, peace and freedom, to make of the sheer quantity of bloodshed, wrathful speech, grim forebodings of judgement and general gloom which characterise so much of the Old Testament?

I do not subscribe to the notion that our bible – combining as it does the Hebrew scriptures, the gospels and epistles – actual talks about two different deities. I do not believe that there is a vengeful Old Testament God, and a loving New Testament God. For one thing, there is nowhere that Jesus attempts to distance himself from the Hebrew Scriptures and their portrayal of the God of Israel. This was the only scripture which Jesus knew, and the one from which he drew in explaining his mission, calling and identity to his followers! If there were some deep issues with the Old Testament portrayal of God, the heavenly Father who so loved the world that he sent his son to die, then surely Jesus would have dealt with it?

No, my Lord and Saviour regarded the Hebrew scriptures as the word of God, the source of truth, and the place where all the teaching necessary to prepare his people for his coming had been recorded. I must then follow his lead, and begin from a place of acceptance, trust and willingness to learn – and to accept that my own human understanding is limited!

I want to grow in maturity of faith and understanding, I want to be able to handle the word wisely and not to be afraid of the difficult things, and so I invest in resources, I ask questions, I push myself to try and change lazy habits of thinking. Sometimes it feels like my brain is stuck – but I trust that the Holy Spirit can undo the knots and barriers to comprehension, and that as I continue to approach the word humbly, willing to learn and to face hard things, to hold seeming contradictions together, I will indeed be better equipped to serve my Lord, wherever he may call me.

spare me the closed ear…

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Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you.. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you..

(Deut 6.3,6&18)

Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? .. You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen.

(Isa 42.18&20)

The Sovereign Lord … wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.

(Isa 50.4&5)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

(Jas 1.22-25)

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches…

(Rev 2.7)

When my children were small, distracted and impatient of instruction or parental caution, I would sometimes ask them to listen to me with their eyes as well as their ears… I reckoned that if they were concentrating both eyes on my face, they were a good deal more likely to be concentrating their minds on my words! The faculty of hearing is repeatedly referred to in the bible as of crucial importance in responding to God’s revelation of himself, and always the inference is that unless one responds in obedience, one is not really listening, not hearing properly.

If I claim to be attuned to God’s voice, alert to his instruction, and yet continue to make choices and behave in ways which contradict his will, then I am not actually hearing him at all. I have closed my ears to his voice, and am listening instead to my own desires, or to the cultural voice which speaks more pleasingly. It was this sin into which the people of Israel fell, and were repeatedly warned against by the prophets. All their boasted faithfulness to God was in practice a willed deafness to his call to obedient witness and dependence on him. They paid a very high price for that persistent rebellion, and I need to learn from their story to be humble and aware of the danger of complacent self-assurance.

To have faith in God, is to make no distinction between hearing and obeying, and we are thankful that it is God’s gift which enables us to respond to him in this way. Apart from his grace, we are bound in a deafness which amounts to fatal rebellion against our maker and redeemer.

In Jesus, we see that perfect listening obedience which enabled him to do all that God entrusted to him, to speak God’s words and to proclaim the coming of the kingdom with such power. In Jesus, we see one who heard and trusted, whose unique understanding of God’s will bore fruit for our salvation. He is our constant companion and our good shepherd; he always knows God’s will, and can carry it to completion. We can therefore walk in confidence with him, knowing that he fully hears and understands the Father’s will and we can trust him always, whether we understand or not.

It is the Father’s will and gift that we should hear and obey him in faith; it is our good Shepherd’s voice which comforts us along the way and restores us when we have become weary or gone astray; it is the Spirit who quickens us to listen with our full attention, desiring only to discern God speaking that we might delight him in our obedience.

Heavenly Father, quicken my spirit to concentrate fully on you as you speak to me through your word. Let me hear you clearly, let hearing be obedience, submission, loyal love and trust. Let the likeness of Christ be seen more and more in my readiness to put your words into practice, and give you all the glory in my life.

Not just a future dream..

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No man presumes in that to which he was born; less than the gift to claim, would be the giver to scorn.

(G MacDonald; Diary of an Old Soul, 1880)

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you…

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted… to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

(Isa 60.1&2; 61.1-3; 62.1-3)

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God… you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

(I Pet 1.23;2.9)

I want to share with you some of the encouragement which I have been receiving in recent days as I come to the end of our ladies’ bible study in Isaiah, where the glory of God is revealed in his Anointed One, our coming King and the suffering Servant, Jesus.  The prophet is piling image upon image in his desire to express the wonder of God’s saving work, the beauty and all-sufficiency of the Anointed One who is also God’s word to a broken world, a word of healing and hope. I am – to quote an old hymn – often ‘lost in wonder, love and praise’ as I read and ponder our great God and his redeeming plan.

As followers of Christ in a broken world, living with the dregs of our old nature still dragging us away from holiness, living with the attacks of the enemy of our souls, living with the effects upon us of sin in the lives of others, it can be easy to concentrate on the difficulties of this life and our struggles. We cling to Christ for comfort and rest in his love, thankful to know forgiveness but acutely aware that until we are delivered through death, we will not know sinlessness. This is not wrong, this is our reality. But it is NOT the whole picture, and when we take time to consider who God says we are, and what he says has been done for us, then we see something intoxicatingly beautiful.

The apostle Peter, who surely knew plenty about human weakness and failings, writes to tell the church that they are – not will be, but are now – God’s chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. Think about those things for a moment… You and I, aware of sin as we are, are also the beloved, purified, set-apart ones; we wear robes of rightness before God, he sees us holy and perfect because we are now born again in Christ. Because of the Word, Christ our saviour, we are re-created, and our new nature, our new name, our new potential is all for God’s purposes and glory. And we are not merely a trophy on a wall, to be admired, but actively participating in realising God’s purposes and sharing the life-giving Word with the world which is yet in darkness.

Let us today claim our birthright, and not scorn the one who called us into this new life, making us his own beloved children. Shall we close our eyes to his lavish goodness and cling tight to the rags of our shame?! Why on earth should we do so, when he is pouring out his love upon us, calling us to rejoice in our status and calling his own? Let us today stand against the lies of the evil one, who would blind us to the power in us by which Christ works to glorify God and shine the light into the darkness. We are irradiated by God’s glory – you, me, all our fellow believers around the world – we are the precious jewels which signify his majesty, power, grace and sovereignty.

Oh Father God, deliver us from the timid spirit that clings to its own familiar tattered garments of sin, and let us stand tall in the robes of righteousness which you have given us. Deliver us from shame, and let us so exult in your redeeming word and work that all may see and be entranced by your glory.

No borrowed lights

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By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

(Ex 13.21&22)

The Lord is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?… Teach me, O Lord, Your way, and lead me on a level path because of my adversaries.

(Ps 27.1&11; R Alter translation)

O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble… The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.

(Isaiah 33.2&5-6)

Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? ..let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.

(Isa 50.10&11)

It is the testimony of God’s people down the ages that again and again, His word speaks directly into their situation and brings counsel, comfort, rebuke and restoration. As I read the bible, on my own and in community, I find that I am fed and strengthened for the situations to which God has called me, and I praise and rejoice in his generosity and care.

In these days, I am facing imminent departure from a place and ministry which I had hoped would be my home and community for many years. This is not to be, and while I thank God for making it clear that we must move, I am grieving for the loss which will be involved, and fearful for a future which is as yet entirely unknown. I am tempted to waste my energy making plans, speculating about what to do – basically trying to create an illusion of control in a situation where I am absolutely without any authority over what is happening. When I recognise that this is what I am doing, I am driven to repent, to cling to my Father and to ask for his help to walk in this darkness of grief, loss and uncertainty. God is all-knowing, all powerful, perfect and just – I am not!

Our recent studies in Isaiah brought this passage, where God calls his faithful people to trust his word and to walk in the darkness rather than create lights for themselves. This has come as a real prompt to me – what am I tempted to do in the face of dashed hopes, loss and uncertainty? What lights am I trying to create for myself to deal with the fear?

The psalmist calls me back to safety, to the truth that my Lord is my light, and his purpose is to take me down paths which accord with his good and perfect will. The Lord is the stability of my times – what a marvellous picture of steadying, and sustaining, of bringing me back from wildly veering emotions and thoughts to a calm centre and the assurance of his power, strength and love all mobilised for me, his child. The story of God’s presence manifest to his people after the exodus from Egypt is a wonderful expression of a reality which remains for us today. He is always with us to guide us, and to provide the guidance and light which we need – maybe not as much as we might want – for the next steps.

Lord God, and loving Father, let me trust you and walk steadily as you guide me. Let me not try to find my own way through or around this time of trial, grief and uncertainty – deliver me from the temptation to create my own lights, to borrow wordly wisdom or rely on my own strength, and wisdom. Let me be content to walk in the darkness if need be, so long as I walk in dependence on you, content to trust your timing and leading. Lord, let me not panic, indulge in anxiety and worry, or jump to false conclusions about your nature and purposes for me. Let me glorify you through this trial, for Jesus’s sake, Amen.

[with thanks to Jean Dewar for the photograph used]