Category Archives: encouragement

Infinite beauty

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Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

(Philippians 4.6&8)

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

(Isaiah 53.5 & 61.1-3)

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 fulness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

(John 1.14-18)

There is a common misconception about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in this messy and troubled world, where life can be unbelievably hard and painful for so many people. It arises from this verse in Philippians, when Paul exhorts his readers to ‘rejoice’ always in the Lord. It is not only false, but also deeply unhelpful, to argue that this means that we are all meant to triumph continually over every adversity, to smile perpetually in the face of pain or tragedy, and to face injustice and oppression as though they were nothing.

Look carefully at what Paul says – we are to rejoice in the Lord, not in our circumstances, nor in some pretended victory over those circumstances. It is only right that as mortal beings, created in God’s image, we should grieve over death and destruction, should be provoked by injustice and deceit. As followers of Jesus – who wept over Lazarus, and delighted to heal those who suffered in their bodies – we should feel the pain of this broken world, not pretend it doesn’t exist for those who profess faith.

So what does Paul say? That our primary source of gladness, of joy and the strength which comes with it, is to be Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is as we contemplate this man, this God-made-flesh, that we are refreshed in our spirits,  growing in faith and trust, and thus able to continue to witness to God’s goodness and saving power. This source of joy can never fail us, never dry up or become contaminated. We can never reach the end of his loveliness. This Jesus combines in himself all the wonderful attributes of God, and a perfect humanity, and therefore ticks all the boxes of things Paul is exhorting his readers to think about!

Every good quality that we celebrate in one another, is seen to perfection in Christ.

Every need that we find in ourselves, and most desperately the need for forgiveness, restoration to fellowship with God, and freedom from sin; is given abundantly in Christ.

Am I weary? He is patient and strong.

Am I grieving? He is my tender comforter, and ever-present companion.

Is the devil stirring up dead ashes of guilt about old sin? He is my all-conquering captain, victorious over that enemy and blowing the ashes away with the strong breath of his forgiving and cleansing love.

Am I toiling with private griefs and seemingly endless trials? He is faithful in bearing the burden as I repeatedly lay it upon him; and as I contemplate his death for me on the cross, I am comforted that even through my troubles, he can work all things together for good.

My beautiful Lord..faithfulness made visible, love made flesh and blood, holiness completely allied to mercy..

Praise God, praise with great praise, for the joy which we receive as we gaze upon the infinite beauty of Christ.

It’s all happening..somewhere!

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“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

(Acts 1.8)

“You know the saying,’Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say , wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ and it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

(John 4.35-38)

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

(Revelation7.9&10)

There are some passages in the bible which I find I cannot read aloud without emotion overwhelming my voice, and this little bit of Revelation is one of them. The picture of the redeemed of all the earth, rejoicing in the presence of God and praising the saving work of the Lamb, our beloved Saviour, is deeply moving, provoking a great ache for the day when I shall be one of them.

It is meant to be an encouragement to persecuted believers; John was writing to an infant church which was coming under appalling assaults, and needed to know that they were on the winning side – no matter what happened! The book as a whole can be quite bewildering, but we certainly get the message by the end – no matter how bitter the struggle, evil is defeated and nothing but glory lies ahead for the people of God as they dwell with him for ever.

The passage is also an encouragement to us in these in-between days, after Christ’s ascension and before his return in glory, to wind up time and sit in judgement upon all humankind. We are shown the end results of the great harvesting of which Jesus spoke in his time on earth – the fruits of all the labours of his people, and the work of the Spirit in transforming hearts and lives. We are called to be workers in his harvest fields, and to toil without losing heart, even when there seems so little to show for our labour. We are so often called to plant seeds, trusting that another will harvest in the future and resting in the assurance that God knows and values our obedience.

I have been encouraged for many years in this quiet labouring by hearing of fruit from other fields – through the work of mission societies around the world. The Spirit of God is at work in so many lives, in so many ways, and we can draw great courage and hope from hearing stories of unlikely conversions, underground or hidden churches, faithful servants in other lands seeing great fruit.

We are so familiar with the story of Philip and the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch  (Acts 8), that we perhaps don’t realise how profoundly miraculous it is, don’t give sufficient glory to God for his power to bring people together in just the right way! There are similar stories happening today, in Latin America, in the oppressed lands of the Middle East, and the closed lands of Asia. God is working, God is no less powerful than before, and the church is growing. Perhaps not where I live, but these stories from around the world help me to believe that even here, even now in my secular society, the Spirit is moving.

Can I encourage you, if you are not already regularly hearing from mission agencies, to make it happen? Spending time hearing about their work, hearing the stories of their workers, and above all praying  for them and their people to the Lord of the harvest, will bring you to a place of hope for your own work and witness.

May our vision of God’s great plan for our world grow ever clearer, that we might labour faithfully – whether planting or harvesting – and contentedly, in the place to which we are called. When we gather before the throne together, we will see that it was all worthwhile!