Category Archives: praise

It was the only way..

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On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals…I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

(Ex 12.12&13)

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement..

(Lev 17.11)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me…All who see me mock me…”He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him.”….they pierce my hands and feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment

(Ps 22.1,7,16-18)

I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight….I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

(Am 8.9&10)

But when Christ came..he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption..without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness..Christ..appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself..

(Heb 9.12,22&26)

‘Like mourning for an only son and the end of a bitter day…’Those words jumped out at me recently when taking part in a bible study on Amos, as the Lord spoke through his prophet of the pain and anguish of the day when the full price for human rebellion against God would be paid.

The narrative of the Bible makes it so clear that humanity is incapable of keeping to the covenant which God has made with them; our hearts are unable to remain faithful to God, even when we are most in earnest. If we do not sin by falling away from God, we sin by trying through our own efforts to remain close to him – as the Pharisees were doing in Jesus’ day, and making legalism and ritual a means (as they thought) to salvation. From the beginning, God made it clear that sin would have to be dealt with, and his righteous anger satisfied before true peace could exist, and we could once more enjoy fellowship with our creator.

God’s anger against sin is an expression of his holiness, it is absolutely just (unlike most human anger), and he cannot simply set aside our sin because he loves us without violating his nature. If God is to love and welcome us into his presence again, then his perfect wrath must be satisfied – the full penalty for sin must be paid. While this may sound extreme to many in our day, the bible makes it clear that the problem is our lack of understanding of God’s holiness, not his anger with sin.

The blood sacrifices of the Old Testament were a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice – of the perfect Passover Lamb who would take God’s wrath so that we might be protected, provided for. Blood had to be shed, and in Christ, the only spotless person who ever lived, a perfect substitute for humankind was provided. But as well as our perfect Passover Lamb,  he is the only begotten of the Father, the beloved one. And so on Good Friday, when the full weight of sin was finally laid upon the son, what agony entered the heart of the Father, and what grief into the son, as they endured that separation which was the proper fate of humankind.

We cannot ever fully comprehend the pain of that hour, and indeed this is cause for humble thanksgiving, since we could not have borne it. Christ did all for us, and then offered it freely as his love-gift, and so we should surely fall in worship and praise as we accept him. God mourned for his only son, and endured the bitterness of that dreadful and glorious day – because of his unfathomable, unaccountable, unstoppable love for humankind.

Surely, our praise this Holy Week should glorify the Father who loved us; the Son who died for us, and the Spirit by whom we receive the faith to believe in and accept the freedom and new life which have been bought for us at such a price.

There is a green hill far away, beside a city wall, where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains he had to bear; but we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiven, he died to make us good, that we might go at last to heaven, saved by his precious blood.

There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.

Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved, and we must love him too; and trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works to do.

(Cecil Frances Alexander 1848)

Cultivating wonder…

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God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.. and the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food..

(Gen 1.31: 2.9))

‘God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?..Remember to extol his work, which men have praised in song. All mankind has seen it…How great is God – beyond our understanding!..He draws up the drops of water..who can understand how he spreads out the clouds..? God’s voice thunders in marvellous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding’

(Job 36.22,24,26&27: 37.5)

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons…

(Romans 8.19-23)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away….And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them..”

(Rev 21.1&3)

After what feels like weeks of wind and rain, I walked this morning in a calm brightness, the sea unruffled and the distant mountains gleaming white in the sunshine. There was almost no sound at all in all the great amphitheatre of the loch, and the quiet chirruping of unseen birds carried far in the still air. Brightness, light, and saturated colours met my eye in every direction, and my soul rejoiced in my Creator, the great Artist and maker of all beauty.

I believe that God made everything good, in fact very good – not only useful, but beautiful. I exult in the magnitude of space – so far beyond my comprehension – and in the infinitesimal details of ecosystems and living beings – so far beyond my perception. I am glad to worship and yield myself to the hands of this God, whose power and infinite variety have expressed themselves in this incredible world which we perceive with all our senses.

We neglect our sense of wonder at our peril, because with it we lose a great source of encouragement and delight in our daily pilgrimage. Our glorious God has placed us in a world, a universe, which shouts his praises; and although the bible tells us that it is flawed and suffers the consequences of human rebellion, yet we also see that it remains truthful in reflecting God’s glory. We are also told that we were originally called to be faithful stewards of the garden – nurturing and tending for the benefit of all who live there – so that our fall from grace must have implications for our task as well as for ourselves.

Our garden is suffering because we are in rebellion against our maker, and ultimately that agony will only come to an end when Christ makes all things new – when our defiled and weary planet is transformed even as our mortal bodies will be transformed for immortality. This doesn’t mean we should abuse it further, but rather return with great energy to the task we were originally given, and seek to fulfill it as redeemed servants who believe in a glorious future. There is an added incentive to this labour, since we now know so much about the impact which human exploitation has had upon the whole earth’s systems – and in turn upon the creatures which depend upon it. God cares about his creation, as his children, we should care too. If by our labours now, we can create a healthier, fairer life for our poor neighbours, those affected by drought, floods, soil erosion, then let us do it – cultivating the garden for the benefit of all…

There is wonder in the coming of spring, as new life erupts in every plant, from the tiniest weed to the greatest trees; as buds swell and new leaves and flowers unfurl miraculously from tiny beginnings to extravagant displays of colour, shape and texture. There is wonder in the effortless gliding of seabirds as they ride the wind; in the ceaseless movement and energy of hedgerow birds as their tiny forms flit from thicket to tree and back to hedge. There is wonder in the the unfurling of an infant’s face and hands as they begin their journey of life. There is wonder in the soft skin of age, the strong and worn hands which have laboured and served, the patient and loving eyes which have wept, laughed and seen so much of life.

God made us to worship him, and not his creation. When I cultivate wonder, I am not worshipping the trees, the people, the sunset or the mountains, but I am reminding myself that I worship a magnificent God, who is utterly beyond my comprehension, and who yet has made all this so that I might live and know him.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. (Ps 95.6&7)

Sweet fragrance…

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Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices..and make a fragrant blend of incense..It is to be salted and pure and sacred..place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

(Ex 30.34-36)

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

(Jn 1.29)

In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation – an aroma redolent with life. 

(2 Cor 2.14-16, The Message)

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

(Heb 13.15&16)

In the regime of temple worship which God instituted with his people, there was a special incense – to be used only within the confines of that building, and for one purpose only. This particular smell, composed of rich spices, would instantly alert the worshipper to the fact that they were in a place set aside for meeting with God.  This building would smell different from every other, a perfume different from any flower, shrub or spice they knew in daily life, a building set apart for a special purpose. The scent would speak immediately of a holy place, one where God was pleased to encounter his people, where they were put right with him through the sacrificial system.

I believe that it is this instant recognition factor which is so significant about the incense in the temple. Even those who only occasionally made the journey to worship there would carry in their sense-memory that particular scent, and each return visit would bring a sense of homecoming, as the smell of incense reached them. Here, in this place, God is..

Our sense of smell is amazing, and scents are strong triggers for memory and recognition. How often have you been jolted from your present situation by a smell, pleasantly or painfully reminded of another time, place or person? My daughter inherited the end of a bottle of perfume which my late mother used for years. I find myself confused by the scent, worn by the one and reminding me so powerfully of the other. In a less serious vein, how many of us treasure the smell of freshly mown grass?! Reeking of spring and summer, of school games fields ready for lunchtime games, it speaks of heat, life and freedom.

What then is the significance of the aroma, or scent which Paul attributes to believers as they follow Christ? Is there something here of the unique fragrance which belongs to the place where God and humankind are reconciled – the cross of Jesus, which once for all replaced the sacrificial system of the temple?

The bible tells us that as we receive Christ’s sacrifice for us, by faith, so we receive new life – his life in us. We are now welcomed into God’s presence because we are ‘in Christ’, and all his triumphs and blessings are counted as ours. This surely means that we are to God as an acceptable fragrance too – we speak of atonement for sin, of reconciliation, of peace. As we seek to live faithfully, increasingly transformed by the Spirit into likeness of Christ, our lives yield the unmistakeable scent of grace. In the same way that the hyacinth fills a room with its fragrance – simply by fulfilling its nature and coming into flower – so also as believers, in obeying and trusting God, we are spreading the scent of the gospel to all with whom we come in contact.

Some will react against it, finding all that the gospel stands for abhorrent, and condemning all that we hold most dear. But even as the hyacinth cannot change its scent simply because some people find it unpleasant, so we as believers cannot change the truth about us – that we are saved, because we needed to be rescued, because sin is a reality which humanity alone cannot deal with. The gospel is indeed a stumbling-block to many, but we as believers are not accountable for how people react to it, only to for sharing it.

As I live by faith in Christ, depending on his once-for-all sacrifice, and representing in myself the place where God by his Holy Spirit dwells with his people, I pray that the aroma of grace might be the most noticeable thing about me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surely, he is worthy!

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“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other….Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘ In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength’.”

(Isa 45.22-24)

..Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the  name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Phil 2.9-11)

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation….”to the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

(Rev 3.14&21)

Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?..”See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll…Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne….Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!

(Rev 5.2,5&6, 12)

When I am all at sea, bewildered, afraid and anxious, it is a joy to spend time simply considering the names and titles which Jesus receives in the bible. What comfort it is, to let the authority of his office anchor and settle me; when I choose to hold onto the truth about him against all the tossing and troubling storms of life.

There is simply no one like Jesus. All the most admirable and exalted human beings who ever lived cannot hold a candle to him. Their moral purity, or creativity; their passionate commitment and faithfulness to a cause; their achievements in leadership or development; their victories in war and their statesmanship in peace…all are so much dross when compared with my Lord Jesus.

He is the author of creation, and he will pronounce the great Amen which winds it all up and inaugurates the glorious day of new creating, when God will come to dwell with his perfected people at last, and all the joyous merriment of the ages will be released in the bridal feast and great adventure which our eternal life promises.

He alone is utterly true, and can testify faithfully to us about the God who is clothed in majesty beyond our penetration, and from whose gaze we shrink because he is so pure and holy. In Jesus, and in him alone, we learn what God is – love. Not the saccharine, indulgent variety, but the searing, sacrificial, relentlessly pursuing variety, which knows and sees the need of the beloved, and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Only this Divine lover could give his beloved what was most desperately needed – new life, forgiveness for sin, and the glorious assurance of being utterly accepted and celebrated forever.

As another calendar year begins, the human story of the world around continues to be dominated by fear, greed, pain and darkness – the fruits of the truth about human hearts. No philosophy, education, social strategy or economic prosperity will ever change the truth about the human heart – it takes God to make the heart new, and in this alone lies our hope. So in the beginning of 2020, as the church prevaricates, neglects the gospel and lacks the vision and passion to act, I rejoice that Jesus is at work completing what was begun on the cross.

I may not see the work, but it is there. I may live in an increasingly troubled, and godless society, where an ever higher price is being paid in human pain for the ‘freedom’ to choose life without God. But my faithful and true witness remains; the ruler of creation is not mocked by the pomposity of human pride and achievement. The ‘Amen’ will make all things new and whole, and I cannot fall from his strong hand.

Praise the Prince of Peace

Praise the Wonderful Counsellor

Praise the Son of the Most High

Praise the Resurrection and the Life

Praise the Light of the World

Praise the Friend of Sinners

Praise the Great High Priest

Praise Immanuel, God with us!

The rock on which we stand

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You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal….

The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you…

Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us..You have enlarged the nation, O Lord; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land.

(Isa 26.3-4,7-9, 12&15)

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved…For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins..that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day…

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep…for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed..then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”….

Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

(1Cor 15.1-5,19-20,52&54,58)

One of the most wonderful things about the gospel which is the good news of our salvation, is that it is always true! It has nothing to do with our feelings, our circumstances, our confusion or misunderstandings, our theology (or lack of it it)..This ‘rock’ or foundation is the basis of our lives, of the freedom and strength and joy which God gifts to his children and it is reliable because it is the character of our God to be faithful.

We have received the gospel because God promised from the beginning that he would make a way by which fellowship between himself and his people would be restored. We have received the gospel because all through the bible narrative, God demonstrated his divine commitment to fulfilling that promise – in spite of the faithlessness of his chosen people, their idolatry and abandonment of his truth. We have received the gospel because it is entirely the work of an almighty, loving, just and gracious God. If any part of the good news depended upon human merit or ability, we would be utterly lost – praise God that he has done it all!

In spite of the two millennia of human failing which have characterised the church, still God continues to faithfully fulfill his promise, calling people to himself from every nation, tribe and tongue, and patiently waiting until all his own are gathered in before he winds up time and ushers in the glory of our eternal life with him. He has borne with the shame and dishonour which humanity(especially the church) continues to bring upon his name, as we fall sadly short of the example of Christ, and expose him to mockery and derision all over again. He continues to make people new, to call them to lives of loving service, of freedom from guilt, of wholeness instead of brokenness.

The gospel has not lost its power to transform, because God has not been diminished in any way by the increasing sophistication of our world. He is not weakened simply because certain leading thinkers and social influencers dismiss the idea of faith – nor because those who deny the divinity of Christ, and the truth of the gospel are shouting loudest. The Lord seated on the throne of glory laughs, and waits until the truth is revealed, and the folly of humanity in all its pride and self-confidence is laid painfully bare.

How necessary it is for me to return again and again to praising God for the gospel, to anchor my mind and heart in his unchanging nature, to rejoice by faith in what I cannot see – the steady completion of God’s kingdom-building work. Here is the only sure foundation for peace of mind in an increasingly troubled and God-rejecting world. How I thank the Lord for his mercy, and for his faithfulness to his people, and for the power by which I am held fast in Christ…’my heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.'(Ps 73.26)

What’s in a name..?

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For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who …Choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant – to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him…these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.

(Isa 56.4-7)

The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.

(Jn 10.3,14&15)

Greet Priscilla and Acquila..my dear friend Epenetus..Mary, Andronicus and Junias, Ampliatus, Urbanus and Stachys..Apelles, the household of Aristobulus, Herodion, the household of Narcissus, Tryphena and Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus and his mother, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas…

(Rom 16.3-15)

Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

(3Jn.14)

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

(Heb 12.22&23)

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no-one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name..

(Rev 3.11&12)

Deep down in our spirits, we know that each one of us matters; uniquely, eternally, matters. Our very existence has significance, and we strive to honour and respect the memory of those who have gone, as if the act of forgetting somehow wipes them out forever, and makes them of no account. This came home to me most recently at the sombre and moving memorial on the site of the twin towers in New York, where the names of those who died are recorded – not on some inaccessible wall or behind screens, but on plinths where they can be read and touched.

Each name represents a person made to reflect God’s character in the world; represents so many experiences, hopes and achievements – and above all a person for whom the world was made. We do well to remember that the terror and destruction of that day – and of so many other dark days in human history, like the Holocaust, the genocides of Africa and the Balkans, the purges of Stalin, Mao Tse tung and the Khmer Rouge, the great world wars and the invisible and forgotten conflicts that drag on today – all of these happened to ordinary people like us. In remembering, we express our own fear of being forgotten, swept away like dust with nothing to show we had ever lived.

Memorials are a cry against annihilation; a plea for it not to be true that after we die, there is nothing!

The bible teaches very clearly that the spirit in us is speaking a truth – that we are made for more than a few years of mortal life, and that our lives do have eternal significance. We have an inheritance – literally a place with our name on it – in the new heaven and earth which God is unfolding. No one can take that from us, no matter how short, troubled and apparently insignificant our mortal lives may be.

The shepherd king knows each of his sheep by name – he knows the very number of hairs upon our heads, and every detail of every day appointed for us to live. We matter to him, to the Lord of the universe, to the sovereign over every power and authority and the judge who will at last see righteousness rule over all things. He notices our little struggles and also our little victories; and he appreciates all that we seek to do in his name and for his glory. Even if our names are not recorded in some list of thanks by an apostle, we can be sure that our shepherd sees and values our labours, and we can truly rejoice because our names are written indelibly in heaven.

And there is this promise of a new name, to be given when at last we embark upon our new life with the redeemed in the perfection and joyous freedom of resurrection bodies and complete fellowship with Christ – a name which will maintain both our unique identities but also clearly show that we belong utterly to him.

I rejoice, O Lord, to know that my name is written in your book of life; and I praise you that one day, I will receive the new name which will proclaim to all the congregation of your people that I am your beloved, perfect and accepted, come into my inheritance and at peace!

Daily, hourly, moment by moment…

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As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.

(Gen 8.22)

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you for ever for what you have done, in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

(Ps 52.8&9)

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night…For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord: I sing for joy at the work of your hands. How great are your works, O Lord, How profound your thoughts…

(Ps 92.1,2, 4&5)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ..

(Eph 1.3)

Sometimes, it is best to keep it simple…to say thank you…

For the laws underpinning the universe which determine our planet’s course, that bring us into sunlight every day, and moonlight every night.

For the limits which are decreed so that the seas remain within their boundaries, the water flows downwards, and the winds and air move in such a way that rain falls to refresh and quicken the ground.

For the capacity of our planet to support life, to bring forth trees and plants which purify our air, feed our bodies, and clothe our lands with colour.

For the image of God within us which stirs our spirits to appreciate what we see, hear, smell, touch and taste, so that we agree with our Creator, who made it good.

For the minds we have been given, to receive understanding, to read and learn and grow in wisdom.

For the unique character in every child which has the potential to flourish and show our God to the world around.

For the bodies which operate so intricately, are balanced so delicately, can heal themselves and continue to function in spite of injury and disease.

For the gifts of friendship and of satisfying labour; for the security of family and the refreshment of leisure.

Every hour, of every day, we receive from God the gift of life, of breath, of a heart that is still beating and a mind that functions. We must not presume on these things as a right, they are incredibly fragile and we know in our hearts that we are indeed as fleeting as the grass outside our windows.

Every hour, of every day, we are being loved by God, who is longing for us to find our home more and more in him. He yearns over us, completing that work which he began when we received Christ by faith and became his beloved children.

Above all then, we give thanks for Christ.

For a sinless Saviour, who became sin for us.

For a perfect Saviour, who lived the perfect life for us.

For a risen Saviour, who died but returned, transformed, to show us that death is defeated, heaven’s plan of redemption has succeeded, and our future in God’s new kingdom is absolutely secure.

I still fall short of the holiness which God requires – but in Christ, I have achieved it. I still sin, and need to be forgiven, cleansed and set on my way with renewed joy and confidence – but in Christ, I am assured of both forgiveness and strength, and I need fear neither judgement nor failure.

This, then, is the foundation upon which my life stands – every moment of every day, month and year which the Lord has yet in store for me. No matter what happens, and especially no matter how I feel about myself, or my circumstances, these things are true.

In Christ, and in him alone, I am complete, secure, and untouchable. Alleluia, God be praised, for his marvellous gift to us!

I believe…

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The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him…Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

(Ps 89.5-7&14&15)

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no-one deceives you…when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines..

(Mark 13. 5,7&8)

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.

(Rom 1.18,19&28-32)

I believe in the wickedness and depravity of the human heart….in greed, selfishness, malice, violence, pride, callousness and hatred.

I believe in the brokenness of the physical world..the cruelty of nature, the destructive powers of fire, wind, earth and water.

I believe in the powers of evil, ranked in implacable opposition to Almighty God, willing to use and abuse every beautiful part of his creation against him in order to thwart his purposes.

I find it easy to believe in these things, because I live with human beings – and more pertinently, I am human. I find within myself the seeds of all those appalling fruits which Paul lists in his letter to the Romans. The human heart is fatally flawed, and it makes no sense to me to advocate education, meditation, mediation or any other kind of self-help as a means of dealing with that flaw. Our brokenness goes so deep that we cannot make ourselves whole again.

I live in a physical world which demonstrates great cruelty, where disease, and death, neglect and violence rule. Not all the troubles that we see are the result of human exploitation and abuse of God’s good gifts, but rather come from within creation itself. This wonderful world, this incredible universe and the galaxies beyond, all somehow warped and stained and not what they could and should be.

And so I believe in the evil with which our race chose to align itself when we rebelled against God as King and Lord, and deluded ourselves into thinking that we knew better, that we couldn’t trust our Creator to be good. We fell straight into slavery to that darkness, within our hearts and in the world around us, powerless now to break free, and often blind to the reality of our chains.

We live today under judgement – our plight is the result of our own choices down the generations – and still we refuse to recognise the truth about ourselves, about our slavery to sin, and the reality of our desperate need for God’s salvation.

When I consider the cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, I believe in the reality of God’s love and of his plan to save us and make all things new. If any other way had been possible, then the Son of God would not have died. But he did, and in the mystery of mercy and justice meeting at the cross, he achieved our complete rescue from evil, and offered freedom to the slaves.

I believe in the hand of God to gather all things together in his perfect time, to keep his  people through turmoil of every kind as the end draws near, and to deliver us into the new creation when Christ returns in glory and every knee – willing or reluctant – bows before him as Lord.

I do not understand why so much agony must be endured as we await his coming; why famine, war, abuse and neglect, slavery and exploitation, genocide and terror continue to afflict so many. But I believe in a God who is great and good beyond my puny comprehension, and with his help, I will trust and persevere.

I accept with humble joy his daily gifts of love and beauty, I worship him in his power and majesty, and I pray for his will to be done and his kingdom come.

 

 

Can’t help myself!

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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…And God said, “let there be light..let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear…let the land produce vegetation… let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night”…God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

(Gen 1.1,3,9,11,14&31)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is the son of man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.

(Ps 8.1-5)

My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.

(Ps 108.1-5)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

(James 1.17&18)

Do you ever think about praise as a means of defeating evil? That is how the psalmist describes it in Psalm 8, giving the voices of children raised in faith the power to advance God’s kingdom and silence the wicked! I love this, because it helps me to understand why it is always good to praise God, even when we are in trouble, weighed down by burdens of our own, or those of others.

When we declare in the face of the darkness that God is, that he is good, loving, faithful and utterly trustworthy, then the kingdom is being built. We may not see how God uses those statements of faith, sometimes whispered from breaking hearts, but he does.

And sometimes, in spite of the darkness in the world around us, we are simply prompted to praise by the beauty we see around us – and living where I do now, this happens very frequently! I sing with the psalmist, from a heart that overflows with delight, gratitude and deep joy, responding to the light, the colours, the sights, smells and sounds around me. I am so thankful to be alive today; so thankful for the physical strength which I have been given to move and work and play; deeply grateful for the mind and spirit which enable me to appreciate and grow in love for my God and all he has done.

God made it, and made it very good; and even all the consequences of human rebellion cannot disguise the vision of the creator, or take all the joy out of creation’s natural constant song of praise to its maker. The mountains and seas rejoice in their elements, the wind whispers and roars songs of praise; the trees and flowers of the field shout ‘Glory!’, and the creatures each in their place display his power, might, and delight in details and in the ridiculous.

I am made in God’s image, I share in some small way the delight which God has in all he has made – so that my joy in the beauty around me is a right and proper thing; a gift to be rejoiced in, and given thanks for. When I am gladdened, lifted up in my spirit, I sing thanksgivings in my heart to my Father God, and in sharing my joy, I am enriched and He is exalted because all the glory goes to Him.

Let me never neglect this ministry of rejoicing before my God, of fulfilling my debt of thanksgiving and praise, so that I might do my part in advancing his kingdom, standing against evil and proclaiming Christ’s victory. Let my voice not be silent among the chorus of creation, because I am both made and remade, I have double reason to shout alongside the trees, the birds, the glory of light upon the water and the wind over the moors!

Shout with joy, all my being rejoice and sing before your Lord and King; exult in his goodness and acknowledge in all things that He is God!

Thank Offerings…..

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Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank-offerings to God, fulfil your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me.

(Ps 50.7-15)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures for ever. Give thanks…to the One who remembered us in our low estate, His love endures for ever..and freed us from our enemies, His love endures for ever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures for ever.

(Ps 136.1,23,24,26)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Phil 4.6&7)

I suspect few of us are familiar on a day to day basis with the sacrificial system outlined for the people of Israel, in the text known to us as the book of Leviticus, but I would commend it to you as worthy of attention – with a good bible guide to help you along! The whole pattern for worship and life for God’s people is laid out there, with the aim of enabling the nation to live under God’s loving care and authority, to thrive as their lives were rooted and guided by him, and also to be a visible witness to the nations around them, demonstrating the glory, love and supremacy of the Lord Almighty.

The sacrificial system in particular is of great interest to followers of Jesus, because it is this system which his death replaced – in a supreme once-for-all act to address the consequences of sin. So in Leviticus we learn about how different offerings are dealt with in particular ways, depending on whether they address the impact our sin has on God in his holiness, or the impact our sins have on others, and on ourselves – guilt and the long-lasting effects of living with unforgiven sin.

Under that system, one special group of sacrifices had nothing to do with sin at all, and everything to do with spontaneous praise of God by the worshipper, expressing gratitude and rejoicing in the fellowship which his people enjoyed with him. These are called the ‘fellowship’ or ‘peace’ offerings, and the particular offerings for thanksgiving fall under this heading. They reflect the delight which we have as God’s creatures when we are in a right relationship with him – because of his faithful love, and forgiveness towards us as we depend upon his mercy and acknowledge his sovereignty over us.

When God calls his people in Psalm 50 to sacrifice thank offerings, this is what he means – and how wonderful it is to see the consequences of that sacrifice. When we live thankfully with God, acknowledging our total need of him, he delights to hear and answer our prayers for deliverance. Not only this, but our response to that assistance is more thanksgiving from us, and honour given to God – we worship him, give him his rightful position in the world, when we are at his feet, exulting in his deeds and character, giving glory where it is due.

I do not need to feel happy to be thankful; my situation may be grim, may appear without hope, but I can still choose to honour God by giving him his rightful place – the source of my life, my salvation and my eternal home. I can still be in fellowship with this great and holy God, can know that he delights in me – not because of all I give him or achieve for him, but because he loves and has saved me. Here is surely a great source of peace, a place of rest and nourishment for my soul, as I feast on all his goodness and the blessings which come from being his redeemed and beloved child.

His love endures for ever….Alleluia, Praise the Lord!