Receive the rain

Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.    Heb. 6.7

There is much for me to ponder in these words. I think of the rain falling on the land that is me, and that might lead me to produce a useful crop. This rain can easily appear to me with an extremely negative impact. At best it can be a nuisance, at worst it takes on the form of the most miserable, soul-destroying experience, that begs the question, “Why me?”

I can be tempted to see the effects of this rain as totally destructive to me and achieving nothing whatsoever for God or for anyone else. And this is where I am in danger of giving in to delusion.

The first words of this verse Land that drinks in the rain... suggest to me that the land has the option of receiving the rain or rejecting it. In the literal example of land, I see how a hard crust on the earth’s surface can cause the rain to run off and drain away rather than sink into the subsoil and impart nutrients and goodness.

Likewise I have the option, when it rains, to raise my protective covering and steel myself against the precipitation. This, of course would deny me receiving any goodness from it. In dire moments even a light shower can appear as the most dangerous storm. This intensifies my self-protective instinct to resist with all my being.

How then can I receive, and drink in the rain, enabling it to produce a crop useful to others? I see the way as that of surrender. I do not resist the rainfall, whether it comes as a brief shower or a sustained downpour. Neither do I surrender to the rain. Rather I yield and surrender myself and the wet weather to God. If I allow it, He will enable me to receive the rain, to drink it in such that goodness can come to me from it. God may then use this good crop to “feed”, to encourage, others. As this happens they will be blessed. So, also will I be blessed.

Returning to the literal illustration, as the land absorbs the rain, the rain disappears. It’s the land that benefits not the rain. As I give myself and my situation to God in trials and tribulations, the antagonistic element will, in time, be dealt with by God. And I will have been further formed by Him, and possibly released from bondages as He works in me. As in my every involvement with God, the choice is mine to make.

Lord God,

I thank You for this revelation of the good crop that can come from stormy weather. I surrender to You in all of my living, on fine days and foul. I particularly seek Your protection and leading when the weather turns bad. In these times give me the courage to come to You and trust You for the right outcome. I pray this in Jesus’ name.                            Amen.

The Law, and beyond

The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.          Mark 1.22

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”          Mark 1.27

Something new came with Jesus. He taught “beyond” the scope of the law contained in the Scriptures which was revered by all devout Jews and unchallenged as the Word of God. Yet Jesus didn’t contradict or contravene the law, at least not the essentials of it. But, somehow, He enlarged it. He expanded it and in so doing He made it real to the people He taught and ministered to. He showed them the love that was behind the law, a love that hitherto had been hidden in the teaching of the Jewish leaders, if not altogether forgotten.

Jesus Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.”         (Matt. 5.17)

The Law said “You shall not murder.” Jesus took this further, saying, “...anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” (Matt.5.22) The Law said “You shall not commit adultery”, but Jesus said “...anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  (Matt. 5.28)

Jesus’ teaching was challenging and threatening to the leaders and teachers of His time. So much so that eventually they plotted against Him and secured His downfall under the very law that He challenged. Yes, by His teaching He was almost saying, “Don’t worry about committing murder and don’t think of yourself as righteous because you’re not guilty of such an act, but rather consider – have I been angry with my brother? Or, whilst I may not have engaged in the act of adultery, have I looked lustfully at a woman?”

The challenge that Jesus presented, with an acknowledged authority, to the people of His day is the challenge that faces us today. Instead of smugly satisfying myself in declaring “I have not transgressed the ten commandments”, I should be asking myself if I have been Christ-like in all of my thinking, speaking and doing.

The final word is with Jesus. He was hunted down, condemned and crucified for His challenge to the people of his day. But He overcame. He rose from the dead, illustrating His mastery over the final affliction, and His total victory over sin.

So it is for us. In Him we have forgiveness of all that would seek to keep us from right relationship with the Father. By His life on earth we have the most excellent example to follow. And through Him we are assured of eternal life filled with love unlimited.

Lord Jesus,

I pray that I might grow more Christ-like every day. I ask You to lead me in the victory You have won for me. I commit every detail of my life to Your leadership.

I thank You for upending the religious institutions of your day. Thank You for bringing truth and hope into the lives of ordinary people. I pray that You might equip and use me to do something similar in my day. I make myself available to You.

Lead me forward, Precious Lord, in Your powerful name I ask.                    Amen.

One source

The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”        Exod. 4.11,12

There is just one source. Whatever natural features we have and whatever attributes and talents are given us to develop they originate in our divine maker. And His first aim is to love us.

God committed to give Moses the very words to speak. He assured him of His presence: “I will be with you” (3.12). He is strength and enabling. Moses did the greatest feats, and his source was God. At an age when he could so easily have thought that life had passed him by, that he had “missed his calling”, he was wonderfully called, and led into his life’s work.

And what of me? I have God’s assurance that He is with me. He will always be with me (Heb.13.5). I know that He can do anything (Matt. 19.26). In Him I, also, can do all things (Phil. 4.13). And I know that there can be no real opposition: If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8.31)

I am never alone, and never lacking for any resource that I might need. God is my strength and enabler. All the resources I need can come from Him. He is my shield, my protector. He is my refuge and my comfort. He is my rest and my restoration.

I want Him with me. I need Him to prepare me and lead me. I so want to please Him, to do His divine will and to achieve, in love, the wonders that He has ordained for me to do in the unique and special plan that He has formulated for my life.

Lord God,

I am greatly encouraged by the story of Moses. I still remember Your words to me when I was apprehensive at entering Bible college at an advanced age. “Remember Moses” was encouraging to me then and it is so now. Today I can believe that there is still much for me to do in the plan that You have for me.

I want to be nothing other than Yours, fully Yours. Take me, O Divine Master. Mould me and make me. Use me and enjoy me. I delight in the life I have in You. Whatever time I have left on earth I ask be filled with Your love and grace, mercy and blessing, that I be fitted in You and become a faithful and loving witness to Jesus.

I dare to ask for Your favour. Take me forward into the rest of my life. Let me see and hear, think and speak, in You. Lead me on, in Jesus’ name I ask.                              Amen.

Righteousness

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’           Rom. 1.17

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.                                                                                Rom. 3.21,22

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.               Rom. 4.13

What do these readings tell me? Firstly, that the gospel reveals a righteousness from God. This righteousness, through and through, is by faith. The righteous will live by faith. If I am righteous, my faith will sustain me, I will live by faith. And if I have faith, I may know righteousness.

What is righteousness? I see it simply as living in right relationship with God. Work will not achieve righteousness for me, but trust in God may generate both faith and righteousness.

God’s righteousness comes apart from the Law yet it is attested to both by the Law and by the Prophets. The righteousness of God is received through faith in Jesus and is available to all who believe in Him.

Abraham and his offspring, of whom I count myself one, received the promise of heirship through righteousness which was reckoned by faith and not by the Law.

I know that I trust God, but I want to trust Him more. I believe I have faith, yet I yearn for more. I do not dare to describe myself as righteous, but I most certainly aspire to be. God, who is good, hears all prayers. May He hear my fervent prayer and may it please Him to answer me.

Lord God,

I come to You in thankfulness, humility and petition. I thank You for Your exceeding goodness and faithfulness to me.

I humbly ask for more. I see the example of Abraham and also of Moses and David. I would seek to follow them. Yet I am not them, but me, and so I ask for what they had but in the measure that it would please You to apportion to me.

I ask for a greater faith. O that I might follow Abraham in the demonstration of faith. His faith brought him into a state of righteousness. Lord God, I humbly seek for myself a gift of faith from You such as will lead me into a richness of righteousness.

Lord, I know too well that it is not who I am but who You are. I am saved by Your grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do believe. I rejoice in the lordship of Jesus over my life. I praise You for all You are doing in me and I dare to ask for more.

I pray that I might, just like Moses, know You and be known by You as a friend. And my hope is that, like David, I might become a man after Your own heart.

Lord God, Precious Saviour, My Dearest Father, I give my heart to You. Take it please;

touch it with You own heart. Deposit within me  a measure of the love that You have for this confused and hurting world and use me, if You would, to Your praise and glory in service to all humanity.

This I ask in Jesus’ powerful and precious name.                                                       Amen.

Clean

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”            Luke 5.12

The final words in this verse have great impact for me. Jesus can make me clean. Jesus can cleanse the dirtiest, foulest sinner. It is interesting to note that the man who came to Jesus was covered with leprosy. This tells me that he was in the advanced rather than preliminary stages of the disease.

Jesus’ response speaks loudly and lastingly: “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. (v13)

And so it is with the sinful. The person who is enmeshed in the deepest sin can be set free by Jesus. Nothing, but nothing, is too great for Jesus to bring deliverance from. I rejoice in this wonderful truth.

Lord Jesus,

I rejoice in the health and freedom that is in You. You healed the leper and made him clean. You take the most abject sinner and release them from their sins and bring wholeness and health into their beings. I thank You for this.

I release to You those dear to me who need to know relationship with You. I ask You to draw them to You, release them from uncleanness and lead them into wholeness. I extend my plea to all who need the release that the leper experienced. I appeal to your willingness. I thank You.                                                                                                                      Amen.

Consuming fire

Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.    Exod. 24.15-18

What does this passage tell me? As I imagine the cloud covering the mountain with the glory of the Lord within it, my heart leaps inside me. I feel a certain envy toward Moses, but also a strong sense of awe at the immediacy and power of the presence of God. Moses is, presumably, adjacent to and quite near this cloud of power and glory. He remains in the vicinity for six days. Then, on the seventh day, God calls to him from within the cloud. I almost physically jump at the imagining of the voice of God calling out to Moses.

The Israelites, looking on from afar, are not un-affected. They see the glory of the Lord sitting like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

Moses enters the cloud. Surely he is touched, impacted and changed by the glory of the Lord. He is with the Lord, in close relationship, for forty days and forty nights. How thrilling, how frightening, terrifying and – how wonderful!

Lord God,

Touch me with Your consuming fire. Draw me into the cloud of Your presence. Let me experience something of Your glory. I know I may not bear all that You could show, but I ask for a touch, that I might know the presence and the awesome power of the living God. My prayer today is indeed short, that I might meet with You and see something of Your glory. Thank You, Lord.                                                                                     Amen.

Stand firm

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.         1 Cor. 10.12

This is a worthy warning to bear in mind at all times, indeed, to live by.

I may think I am standing firm. I might feel most secure in God, yet I must be ever alert. There is no room for complacency in the Christian life. I need always to be on guard against the attacks of the enemy. And the more I seem to grow and prosper in Christ, the greater the threat I become to Satan and the bigger a target for his fiery darts.

Paul continues his writing and tells me that any temptation I experience is also known to others. There is no original temptation. All have been used before in devilish manipulation.

But God is faithful. He is faithful and He will not allow the temptation to go beyond my capacity to bear it. When I am faced with temptation God will provide a way out. He will enable me to stand up under temptation and to overcome it.

Yet, I must be diligent. Surely I need to keep my eyes firmly on God. Temptation is often appealing, but I don’t think it is all that subtle. If I remain alert, I can generally discern when temptation rears its ugly head. And this is when I take action. I act immediately and my first move is to turn to God, to turn fully to him, and to turn the temptation over to His holy response. If I waver, I could be lost. I cannot afford to give any recognition or measure to the ways of sin. James urges me to: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (Jas. 4.7). What a great thing it is to spurn Satan, to be able to turn from him knowing that we can so wonderfully walk with a loving Father who both protects us and blesses us. The ways of the Lord are the ways I want to embrace with the whole of my being. There is none like Him. I want to abide in Him always, to walk and talk with Him, to live and move and have my being in him. Hallelujah!

Lord God, Heavenly Father,

There are sinful ways and desires of the flesh that I know would seek to draw me from You. I do not want this, and so I lay these things before You. I seek Your forgiveness, Your protection against any evil thing that might seek to assail me, and Your leading in right ways.

I am no different to other men. The temptations that seek to provoke me assail others to. But I do not want to succumb.

Holy, Heavenly Father, hear my prayer. Receive my cry for greater union and deeper intimacy with You. Receive it, and answer it, please.

Show me your ways clearly. Strengthen me and guide me to walk always in them. I love you. I would share this love with others. Freely I have received from You. Let me freely share.

                                                                                                                                           Amen.