Tag Archives: John 4

Doing God’s will..

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“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work…”

(Jn 4.34)

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.”

(Jn 12.23-26)

Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.

(Lk 18.31)

Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, 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 15.58)

Then they asked [Jesus], “What must we do to do the works that God requires? Jesus answered, “The work of God is this; to believe in the one he has sent.”

(Jn 6.28-29)

All four gospel narratives clearly reveal a man on a mission: Jesus knew from his early years that he had a particular task to fulfill, and when he finally embarked upon his earthly ministry, he spoke again and again of his ‘work’. We see that this work was to announce the kingdom of God, and ultimately to suffer, die and rise again in order to inaugurate that kingdom and defeat the evil power which until then had held all humankind in bondage.

Within this context however, we also see a man whose days appear to drift by with little structure, and who was continually responding to ‘interruptions’ and unforseen circumstances. How do we reconcile this with the idea of doing God’s work? Perhaps the answer lies in a different understanding of what it is to live for God in this world? Jesus knew exactly who he was, and why he was here. Jesus identity was secure and his purpose inflexible, and he knew that God would fulfill that purpose in his (God’s) good time. Within that overarching direction however, there was a sense of freedom and an expectation that each day would bring exactly what God planned across Jesus’ path. What looked to his disciples like unfortunate distractions and delays were met in Jesus with a peaceful, focussed attention – he believed that God was working in all the circumstances, and was ready to be used in any way that his Father ordained.

Is this not a liberating principle that we can also apply to our lives? As followers of Jesus, the Way, we look to his example and direction for our lives. We see that God has an overarching purpose for us – to believe in the one whom God has sent, that is, Jesus – and we trust that his power within is sufficient to enable us to do that until we are taken home and made new. Within that purpose, each of us has different callings at different seasons of life – a job, a family, a hobby which uses God’s gifting to us and celebrates his goodness – and in each of these, we must believe in Jesus. That is, we must live in those situations and activities as redeemed sinners, with an overflowing abundance of love to share in God’s name for people who need to hear it. ‘Belief’ which does not affect how we live is not belief, it is only a theory or casual notion which we can ignore when it suits us. If we claim to believe in the one whom God sent, and yet will not bear witness by our words and deeds, by the way we use our resources, and the choices we make, then we do not believe in the way Christ calls us to.

I am excited to think that my life as a believer is not a matter of rigid scheduling of ‘religious’ activities, but is a pattern woven by my Father according to his purposes, where he asks for my yielding, my desire to be attuned to his promptings, my availability to be ‘interrupted’ and to recognise in the smallest event some sign that God is at work and asking me to share it.

Heavenly Father, thank you that while you ask me to be prudent and to steward the hours and days, the strength and resources you give me, yet you also call me to hold all my schemes and plans lightly, recognising your authority over my life, and your place as the great weaver by whose skill your kingdom is being built and all things are working together for your plans. Today I release my life afresh into your keeping and for your directing. Let me meet what you send with the strength you will supply, and with glad confidence that you are working through all that comes. In the name of Jesus, who showed me what this looks like, 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.

Cause for celebration

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And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name….. Be joyful at your festival

(Deut 16.11&14)

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants… But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

(1Kgs 8.23&27)

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen, Amen!’ Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground…. Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’

(Neh 8.6&10)

‘You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

(Jn 4.22-24)

Human beings live with a great dilemma – whether they recognise it for what it is or not… I believe that we are made, in love and wisdom, by the author of creation itself, by God who is outwith time and space, whose power and majesty, holiness and glory are beyond our comprehension. We are made to be in relationship with God – we are loved, and designed to be fulfilled in that mutually delighting context. BUT, because of the stain and brokenness caused by our rebellion and pride, we cannot ever enter into that state of total fulfilment and satisfaction, we must be ever searching and never finding, always hungry and never filled. No other source of satisfaction can take the place of our Father God in our hearts, no other purpose can truly absorb and rightly use all our gifts and abilities.

The story which is revealed through the history of God’s interaction with people, first with Abraham and ultimately with the Jewish people, is a story of redemption, of putting right, of making it possible for God to dwell with his people again and for them to know and love him, thriving in his presence. That purpose was fulfilled, not only for the Jewish people, but for all nations of the earth, in the work of Jesus Christ and through him alone we see hope for our transformation and restoration, for the inauguration of God’s kingdom as it was designed to be.

Because of Jesus, we can know our maker; because of Jesus, we can come into his presence without fear, and with the eagerness of beloved children; because of Jesus, we dwell continually in the light of God’s smile and under his providing and directing hand; because of Jesus, we know who we are, and whose we are, and our lives have purpose.

The unimaginable greatness of our God should bring us to our faces on the ground in worship and awe; and the love of our God, through Jesus, should bring us to our feet and cause our voices to ring out in praise and loving thankfulness for such limitless grace. Of all the creatures under the sun, Christians should live each and every day with a wellspring of delight, joy and hope, because we have seen the face of the Eternal, and it is love, forgiveness, transformation. It is the face of Jesus Christ, who made his dwelling among brokenness in order to make all things new, in order to destroy the power which kept us blind, powerless and shut out from the life and light of God’s love.

Almighty God, dwelling in glory and purity, unrivalled in power and majesty, I worship you today. It is because of Jesus that I can know the One who knows and loves me; because of Jesus I can be at home with you – at the seat of life in all its fulness, which is your life dwelling in me by the Spirit.

Let me honour the privilege which is mine through Christ, let me never forget that I dwell by your grace within the care of your love and am safe forever in your family. Let this glorious truth underpin my days; let it sweeten every bitterness or disappointment; let it be my strength for the trials and my crown of joy in every situation. For the sake of your Son, my Saviour, Amen.

Filial love..

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“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

(Lk 15.3-7)

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest?’ I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. “

(Jn 4.34-36)

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love……. You are my friends if you do what I command…for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you…. I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit – fruit that will last.

(Jn 15.9&10,14-16)

…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God

(2 Cor 5.19-20)

If someone was given the task of observing from my life, my words and actions, the priorities and principles on which I make choices, what could they tell about the God whose name I confess? What does my life tell other people about his character and purpose? Would they know that the God whom I worship is passionate in his pursuit of humankind, longing to restore relationship with them and bring them home to his eternal family?

I suspect that I do not make a very clear or consistent sermon, that my life is too often dominated by self-centred concerns, and lacks the fire which characterised Paul and the early disciples as they poured themselves out in evangelism and church planting.

However, I am not an apostle, not an ordained minister, not a missionary. I live a small quiet life, in a small community, where there is strong and established resistance to the gospel. Our neighbours like having us here, so long as we don’t try to talk to them about faith and the claims of Christ….

So does that give me an excuse to just focus on those parts of being a Christian which make me feel good? By no means (as Paul would say)! I am one of those for whom Jesus died – that great act of divine love which did for us what we so desperately needed but were incapable of doing. I am one of those destined for an eternity apart from God, until Jesus died for me. I am now his loyal, loving and obedient servant, as well as a cherished daughter. And Jesus commanded his disciples to obey his commands as they remained in, lived from within, his love. I cannot claim to be God’s child and choose to ignore His great plan for re-creation and the coming of his kingdom. So, again, I ask, do I share my heavenly Father’s passion for the lost? Does His heart’s desire matter enough to me?

As one of Christ’s ambassadors, it is my duty as well as my privilege, to speak his words and show his character in the place where he has called me. This is what the word means! To represent, to show forth and speak the will of another, one in authority over me whom I serve. There can be no doubting – from scripture – what it is that will bring joy in God’s presence…. the saving of lost souls, and the growth of God’s kingdom. Does that matter enough to me, enough to make me overcome my fear of giving offence, my fear of being rejected or ignored?

 What kind of love do I have for God if I can blithely ignore his passion for souls and live as though hell did not exist and Christ’s death was simply irrelevant?!

God, forgive me for my indifference and stir up within me a holy passion, like yours, to see my neighbours saved and brought into new life within your family. Let me care more for your heart than my own comfort; more for the destiny of others than their favour towards me. O Lord, give me wisdom to discern opportunities, courage to take them, and the fire of love which comes from your spirit within to keep me in prayer for others. For Jesus’ sake – his glory and exaltation, Amen

It’s not about the music….

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Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

(Romans 12.1&2)

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth!

(1 Chron 16.28-30)

But the Lord said to Samuel,..”The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

(1 Sam.16.7)

Jesus declared,…”a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

(Jn 4.23&24)

Worship….what does it look like in my life, to really ‘worship’? I believe that to worship anything is to give honour, to defer and make that object the grounds and goal of all one’s decision-making. It is to express humble adoration, to elevate the adored object and rejoice in being in a position to serve, to dedicate all that is best in myself, to the glorifying and blessing of that which I worship. A worshipper delights to be with others who share the same faith, but is also delighted to have solitary time to contemplate and dwell with the beloved.

The worshipper who is a follower of Jesus Christ, one who is – by faith in the redeeming power of his death – privileged to enter freely into the presence of Almighty God and to call him ‘Father’; that person has the joy of giving their adoration, service and  commitment to one who is utterly worthy. We need have no doubts about our God, our King, He is splendid in his holiness; glorious in his purity; faithful in his justice; and awesome in his grace.

Is the worship – the elevation of, the service to, the humble commitment and dedication of all that I am – of this God to be expressed only when I sing? Surely not! Music may form a very small part of my worship of God – for some people it may be more significant than others – but it cannot and must not be the only way in which we think of this word. My God sees my heart, sees my thoughts, and knows my secret desires and failings. This God is not taken in by the public face I may put on at church on a Sunday, not fooled by enthusiastic singing, or particularly delighted by ecstatic emotional experiences which can arise just as readily at a concert of secular music as in a church service of praise!

He sees my heart, weighs my motives, discerns my private rebellions and those things which I refuse to surrender to his will and purpose. It is here that my true worship begins, in the willed abandonment of any claims to self-government, in deliberate aligning of my own thinking to his law and his truth. True worship, stems from the prostration of my spirit at the cross and results in a life which – in every aspect – is at his command.

I am only too well aware of the extent to which I fall short of this true worship. And I am thankful for this awareness, because it keeps me from the dangers of pride or boasting, or of judging others. I am completely dependent on his loving forgiveness, and daily grace for the small measure of obedience and worship which I am able to render. Praise him for his fathomless mercy and love towards his wayward children, whom he is tenderly leading home!

 

Worshipping God faithfully requires that I remember that I am not my own, but His; bought with a price and for a purpose. My body, intellect, emotions and will are gifts, and I am accountable to God for the use I make of them. True worship requires that I steward these resources according to His will and for His glory – pursuing holiness, selflessness, a proper appreciation of all His gifts. I must continually be asking – why am I doing this, does it glorify God, build up His church, proclaim His love and mercy?

Joyful, faithful, humble stewardship – this is my worship.

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!