Bible Shorts

(Jeremiah 8:4-5)
"You shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not repent? Why then has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return'".

When I was learning to drive a car, I often stalled it and had to restart the engine. My driving instructor always told me that stalling the car would not fail me the driving test, but as long as I responded to my mistake in the correct manner and calmly restart the car then check the mirror, signal my intention to continue driving and drive off, I would be fine. One way to guarantee a fail would be if I were to just leave the car there and say "That's it. I give up"

If we trip over while walking, we get back up and keep going to where we're headed don't we? We don't just lie there and think "I've fallen. I'll never get home now". Or if we take a wrong turning while driving somewhere and we see that the place we're looking for is behind us, isn't it common sense that we should turn around?

God is saying here that what really vexes Him is not that the children of Jerusalem have made errors (although those errors are serious), but rather that they have no intention of mending their ways and returning to fellowship with Him.

You see, in life, we all make mistakes. We all say wrong things and do wrong things. The Bible says that everybody has sinned, nobody is perfect. The sin that matters therefore, the sin that can drive a person to hell is not that which was done in the first place, but the response to it.

If your response to divine correction is to stick two fingers up at God and tell Him where He can stick His opinion, then you are in big trouble..... As you are if you realise that you're in the wrong place and so you pretend you're not; maybe you'll find a church where you can hide and not be convicted, maybe you'll avoid church altogether, maybe you'll still pray and really, it's just a shopping list you present before your God or maybe you're just fed up and want it to go away.

But if your response is to turn from what you have done (repent) and turn to God and ask His forgiveness, what you did in the first place will be remembered no more and you will be restored!

God knows we make mistakes, He knows that we are only human. But as long as we turn to Him and accept the error of our ways, what we do will not be held against us in the day of judgment. And that is gospel truth!

(Galatians 1:9, Galatians 2:2)
Paul makes a very bold statement in Galatians 1:9. he says that anybody who preaches a gospel contrary to the gospel he teaches should be accursed. Before that, in Verse 8, he says that even if an angel preaches a gospel contrary to the gospel he teaches, even that angel should be accursed.

The reason for the strength of his language is that doctrine had come to these gentile Christians in Galatia telling them that in order to become proper followers of Jesus and to be sure of their salvation, they had to be circumcised according to the law. This doctrine, contrary to making their salvation more sure, was taking it from them and the severity of this message drove Paul to say that anybody preaching this kind of message was to be accursed.

But what is it that gives Paul the boldness to make such a statement about what he preaches, that the gospel he preaches is so reliable? Is he just self confident?

We can see people in our churches who have a mutated attitude which they fancy as being like that of Paul's where they see all religous aothority as wrong and worthy of rebuke. They think that because they can't see any reason not to do something, then they should. Such ideas can be marvellous because many of us are stuck in traditions which need to be broken, but we need to be careful of people who push their ideas as from God simply because the ideas are radical, as if the radicalism is reason enough to carry it out.

Paul, after making these statement, backs them up by giving his testimony. He lets the people of Galatia know his credentials, they know where he is from and they are made very clear of Paul's rather colourful history as a past persecutor of Christians.

What are the credentials of the people who are making bold statements in your church? Do they even have a testimony? Can they tell you where they're from and how they came to know Jesus? Do they even know Him? Always be careful when someone who supposes to preach the gospel and teach the Bible refuses to give you an account of their life (the link there is an example of such a person). The number of times I've preached in a church or chapel where they don't know who I am and not even attempted contacting my Pastor to check that I preach truth is frightening. Some of them didn't even know which church I belonged to. You need to know who it is that has taught you and is teaching you and if they don't tell you, then be very careful!

Anyway, in Galatians 2:2, we read something very interesting. Paul says (NASB); "It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but {I did so} in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain".

Paul had put this message of 'Salvation to the Gentiles' to the church authorities. He wasn't running on his own steam and although he had received a personal revelation of Jesus Christ, he still submitted to church ruling in order to ensure that yes, his message was right.

So Paul wasn't the loose cannon that some may like to think of him as, he wasn't that renegade cop you find in the movies, who does things his own way to get a result. Sure, Paul had a strong confidence that even many of today's genuine Christians would find difficult to live with, but he was always under authority and he respected it. He wasn't "doing his own thing", he was doing that which Christ has told him to do.

Here we see a twofold truth. We must ensure that what we do is the work of Christ and not a whim which we feel must be right because it feels right and it's such a good idea! We must be subject to the authority of a church and even check out the revelations we receive with the church. However, when we have the go-ahead, when we are checked out and we know that we are working the work of Christ, let nothing hold us back!

(Phillipians 1:9-11)
In this text, Paul prays for the church in Philippi to have love that abounds more and more in knowledge and all discernment so that they can "approve the things that are excellent" and be "sincere and without offence until the day of Christ".

Is this kind of love lacking in the church today? For many people in the world, love is a mushy feeling that's easily damaged and destroyed, being fragile as a glass vase. But this is not the love of Christ

The love of Christ brings wisdom and discernment! How I wish I could always tell the difference betwen the holy and the unholy! But how do I obtain this? Where do I get it?

Verse 11 says; "being filled wth the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ Jesus, to the glory and praise of God". We get this love in Christ, filled with His fruit (as an aside, is there any significance in that we ae told here not to produce this fruit but rather to be full of this fruit?).

We get this fruit by being more and more like Jesus which is done by being more and more with Jesus.

(1Timothy 1:18-20)
In the text linked above, Timothy is called to wage good warfare. For that he needs faith and a good conscience.

Paul says that some people have rejected these and have come a cropper with spiritual shipwreck. Why?

A shipwreck happens when a ship loses direction, when it is lost, blown off course or if the skipper doesn't know what to look for.

Two specific people are given as examples of spiritual shipwreck; Hymanaeus and Alexander who were blasphemers. The thing about blasphemy is that the person blaspheming may not recognise that they are doing so. They've misread the coastline of God's love and salvation, and are sailing according to what they see, or think they see.

What, therefore, can distort our navigation?

Anything that damages our faith and harms our conscience. We may begin to find ourselves in situations where we allow ourselves to do things we ought not, to read, watch and listen to things that damage our faith. At first, these things may seem as bearable sins, but once the compass of conscience and faith is damaged, we can find ourselves lost.

Faith quickens (or enlivens) our spirits to hear God and a good conscience gives us the mind to obey.

(Romans 7:21-25 & Galatians 5:16-18)
Sometimes, I get frustrated with myself, so very frustrated that I want to punch something, or just do something that'll express how angry I am!

I think and know one thing but feel and do another! I know that God loves me, but I feel unloved. I know that grace has saved me, but I feel condemned. I long to help others but before I begin to reach out, I pull back and seek to maintain myself. My mind is split in two. Pain and rejoicing often occupy me at the same time. My anger gets overwhelming, but I'm angry with myself! What is this!?

If you put a cat and a dog in a small room, there will be trouble. They will react. Within the Christian, we have a sinful nature that, for many years, has enjoyed a free reign in our lives only to be pushed to one side when we welcome Jesus into our lives because when He comes in, we have a new nature which is born of Him.

With the old and new natures together in the confines of a human heart, there will be trouble, they will react!

Romans 7:28 says "I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind"

This is war!

The old nature isn't going to just sit there and grumble. When the Holy Spirit moved in to your heart, the old nature decared war!

War means the seeking of ways to incapacitate, disable and destroy the enemy. The old nature is seeklng to destroy the new nature. Paul says he sees this happening, almost like a third party watching as two fighters slug it out.

Which one will win?

Where can I find victory (for the new 'Me' is the 'Me' that has been reborn by the power of God)?

Paul asks; "who will deliver me from this body of death?" and goes on to thank God through Jesus Christ. Jesus defeated sin and death on Calvary. It is sin that causes this problem, because the old nature is sinful (full of sin).

Verse 25 says "so then, with the mind I serve the law of God but with the flesh, the law of sin". So it's almost as if the only responsibility Paul has, is to choose which horse to back, the mind or the flesh?

Which does he choose? Romans 8:1 says; "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit".

Paul makes it clear that he choses the Spirit, Who renews the mind.

The battle goes on but there's victory to be had in Jesus and His work on Calvary, for those who believe and disregard the flesh's way of life for the death that it is, who walk according to the life giving Spirit of God.

(Ecclesiastes 1:4) "One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever".
It's often said when people go on a trip to see an old building such as a castle or ancient fort; "I bet these walls could tell some stories". That the walls being seen could have witnessed anything from sword fights to medievel banquets can capture the imagination and send it on a journey through time!

How much more can this be said of the earth that has seen generations come and go? We are living on the same earth as did Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They saw the same sun, felt the same water and breathed the same air.

However, whatever the earth could tell, it can't, even though it supported and gave habitation to them as to us.

But how much more the Lord our God? The same God as spoke to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob speaks to you! The same voice as spoke to them has spoken into our hearts. Have you ever read an article in a newspaper about someone you knew and you thought "I know that person". How much more, when you read of times past and how the Lord God spoke to our forefather in the faith? You can say upon reading "And He said, let there be ligt"; "I know the person who spoke those words"!

The earth has hidden its testimony, but the testimony of our God is written and we today can connect with the patriarchs of old in that they communed with the self same Person as we do! The God that called Moses calls us, the very same God!! He has not changed one bit and our understanding today is blessed all the more in Jesus.

The Blood Of Our Priest (Hebrews 9:11-14)
"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption"
It is possible to forget the significance of blood sacrifices in a world where they are considered to be superstitious nonsense, without making mention of the cruelty! But the Old Testament makes if very clear that the requirement of sin is the shedding of blood and through the law of Moses, God made provision such that the shedding of an animal's blood would suffice to cover sin for one year.

Christians today can easily forget that blood remains the requirement for sin. Mine and your sin requires the shedding of blood. Only the great truth of the New Covenant is that the blood that needs to be shed for us has been shed and we can look to that sacrifice for our cleansing from sin.

The priest in the Old Testament took the blood of an animal into the Most Holy Place in order to pay for his own sin and the sin of the people. But we have a Priest who has taken blood, not into a temple on earth but rather into the place that the earthly temple represents, and that blood is his own.

The go-between for us and God is Jesus Himself, He is the High Priest who can stand on His own merit and has presented His blood to the Father as a sacrifice once made forever, a satisfactory sacrifice because Jesus was pure, holy and innocent, yet died a sinner's death.

Imagine the noise and the tumult during a sacrifice in the camp of the Children of Israel. The gallons of shed blood! The noise of the animals while they endure the pain as they die! Such a slaughter would surely have left a deep impression on the minds of those who were present, an impression of what sin does and what needs to be done in order to be clean of it.

And so the horror faced by Jesus on Calvary's cross, as He endured the pain of the nails and the darkness of the entire world's sin must never be forgotten! With His own blood, He has bought us access to the very throne of God. And were it be possible that such a time could arise where God would require blood for your sin, with faith you can say "the blood of Jesus avails for me".

All you need to do is believe in the sacrifice that was made for you.

OPINION: Forgiveness In Practice
Real forgiveness is a world away from just saying "That's Ok, don't worry about it" if someone knocks into you while you walk down a busy street.

In a clear testimony of their Christian faith and a demonstration of forgiving someone who has cost them dearly, this report on the BBC News website tells of two sons' forgiving those who had killed their elderly father in the West Midlands, UK. Of their father, they said "His Christian faith was very important to him and this had a great affect on the way in which he lived his life". Of themselves, one of the sons said; "The Christian faith is very important to myself also and my brother and we would like to extend a hand of forgiveness to the people who did this act".

What isn't reported here, but is heard in a recording of the press conference, is how they forgive the killers. Not through their own strength but rather with the "help of the Holy Spirit".

This is where the rubber hits the road, this is where the power of the gospel is shown. Anybody would expect bitterness and desire for revenge in these men, but instead, they show forgiveness for the killers, and such forgiveness comes from a heart filled with and tranformed by the power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Enemy On The Offence : A Warning for the Church (Genesis 19:9)
"But they [the men of Sodom] said [to Lot], "Stand aside". Furthermore, they said, "This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them". So they pressed hard against Lot and came neat to break the door".
God was ready to destroy the city of Sodom because its sin had come up before Him for judgement. Before destroying it, He sent angels into the city to warn Lot (Abraham's nephew) to get out. When the men of the city saw that Lot had visitors (and that these visitors were 'different'), they wanted to rape the angels. In panic, Lot said no. But the men insisted, even after Lot offered his own daughters for them to rape.

The church needs to realise that the world will not rest until it is as defiled and filthy as the world.

No amount of compromise, no amount of saying "you believe what you believe and we will believe what we believe" will satisfy a world that is thirsty for anything that it can't get its hands on. It wants to control and force its system on the children of God and the sooner the church realises this, the better.

Already, practices and lifestyles which are forbidden in the Bible are being forced upon the church and made acceptable and any attempt to tell society that what it does is up to it but we will follow the revelation of God in His word will result in accusations of self righteousness and hypocricy.

Lot meant no harm to the people of Sodom (in fact, he was the reason the city had not yet been destroyed), yet they said of him; "This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge".

It is no longer a case of you not being allowed to force your beliefs onto anybody else, you are no longer allowed to hold a belief that the world doesn't find palletable. The world will tell us that we need to be more tolerant and open minded. You will not be accepted until you abandon what you believe and accept the world's standards, the world will not tolerate the church's core teaching.

Yet the church, the Body of Christ on earth today, is to keep shining the light and preaching the message of salvation to all people who will receive it. This message must be uncompromised in its integrity, a message of God's unconditional love. But this does not license compromise, compromise that won't wash with the world anyway! Lot (as has been said) offered his virgin daughters to be raped by the crowd. How despicable! But even that wasn't enough for the men who had set their hearts of having intercourse with these angels of God.

And even after being struck blind by the angels, the crowd sought to fulfil their lust (Genesis 19:11; "They [the angels] struck the men who were at the doorways of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway". Desparation is an ugly thing, and this is how desperate the world is to fulfil its lusts, to rebel against God and do its own thing.

So what is this? A message of hate toward those who are different? A message to discourage the proclamation of God's love?

No.

Lot was in Sodom, but not of Sodom. He was the salt that preserved the city for longer than it would have lasted and nothing short of full adoption of that city's standards would have saved him from the crowd, but doomed him before the Lord God.

We are in the world, but not of the world. We are the salt that is preserving this world and we need to keep the message pure. Nothing short of full adoption of the world's standards will save us from accusation and oppression, but it's the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ that saved us and will save those who will respond.

Let's keep that message.

You you have to choose where you stand.

He Will Let You Find Him (1Chronicles 28:9)
"As for you my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever".
It's considered by many that playing 'hard to get' in a relationship is a cheap and nasty way of treating someone, but it certainly tests the lengths to which a person will go to in order to initiate a relationship. Anybody who just 'kind of' wants to get to know someone better will soon give up and look elsewhere while the diligent often find the fruits of their effort.

Odd as it seems, but those who are 'too available' never seem to attract friendships that last and mean something substantial.

Likewise with God, but He has made Himself totally available to us. In Jesus, He has given His 'everything', even His life in order that He may have a relationship with us, but this is not a cheap thing because to getting to 'know' God is not just a simple attendance stamp at your church door every Sunday.

If you feel that you're not getting to know God as you should, then think about this; if you had treated your best friend as you treat God, how would that friendship have developed? If you spoke to your best friend only to tell them what you needed, and that only at the late hours when you can't sleep or when you visit him (once or twice a week) at his house, would that friendship last? What if your best friend wrote to you every day but you never read the letters, or you never replied? What if your best friend phoned you or texted you, but you never knew it because your phone is on silent, or things around you are too loud for you to hear?

David told his son that if he sought God, God would let Himself be found.

Yes, there are aspects of God that are hidden from us. Sure, He has revealed many of His qualities in the world around us and we can know of Him by listening to sermons, but to know Him, we must seek Him for ourselves, and God will repond to that.

When you seek Him, He will see that you are seeking and will consciously and wilfully decide to let you find Him.

This act of seeking is more than a casual glance at the Bible when circumstance permits, or the approved nodding of your head to an intellectually ascenting sermon. This seeking is with the whole heart, searching the Scriptures (God's letters to you) and listening for His voice (His calls to you). Believing the Word of God, even the bits that can't be true (a dry path through the Red Sea? A man crucified raises Himself up from the dead?), will help what faith you have to grow within you, changing you to be more like Jesus (remember, our goal is to be more like Jesus the Son, not more like God the father - Satan's mistake was He wanted to be as God).

There are some TV shows I watch if they're on. Often, I don't know what's happened because I haven't sought to keep up with what's happening.

Seek God and make an effort and put your heart into it because He has things that He wants to show you, truths which will enlighten you..... but you must seek Him before He will let you find Him.

Better Times Are Coming! (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)
"There is nothing new under the sun is a recurring theme in this book. The preacher highlights how tempral everything is, yet also repetitive. Nothing lasts, all is but a breath! Yet what does last just does the same old thing.

It hardly sounds encouraging that life would appear to be destined for such turmoil and tedium, worthless and empty. But it's not. Let's look at what we have and what we will have;

There's nothing new under the sun - but Revelation 21:1 says; "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away". Even that which 'abides forever' in Ecclesiastes 1:4 will be renewed! There will always be an earth, but it will be renewed.

The sun rises and goes down- but Revelation 21:23 says; "The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it". No night! No darkness!

The wind just does its thing (Ecclesiastes 1:6) - even more of the same old thing just happening and there's nothing we can do about it, but Revelation 21:3 says ""Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people. God Himself will dwell with them". With this in mind, we can see that we are not destined for spiritual RSI because the nature of the Spirit and the spiritual life can be seen in John 3:8; "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where itcomes from or where it goes. So is everyone born of the Spirit". So, rather than merely watch the grand purpose and mechanic of existence, we will become part of it!

The river runs into the sea, the water rises and it falls on the earth (Ecclesiastes 1:7) - There is a river of life (Revelation 22:1-5), but its purpose is not to blindly fill the sea but its source is the throne of God, watering the tree of life which bore twelve fruit, each for every month. Psalm 1:3 says of the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly; "He shall be like a tree planted by the water, That brings forth its fruit in its season", also, "who's leaf also shall not whither". Likewise, the Tree of Life, planted by the River of Life, its leaves shall be for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).

All things are full of labout (Ecclesiastes 1:8) - Such is the labour upon the human existence that "man cannot express it". Toll and labour to survice is the result of the curse of Eden, but Revelation 22:3 says "And there shall be no more curse". We shall enter into eternal glory and eternal rest! And the extremity of man's sorry in the perpetual labour and fight to merely survive and described in Ecclesiasted 1:8; "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, not the ear filled with hearing" becomes an extermity of hope in 1Corinthians 2:9; "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard not have entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him".

Right now, there is nothing new under the sun, but one day, one glorious day, the Lord will make all things new!

There will be nothing old under the sun!

Born Blind (John 9:1-12)
Try and explain 'sight' to someone who has never, ever, seen.

When Jesus gave sight to this man (remember, his sight wasn't 'restored' since he was born blind), he was being brought into a new world, a new dimension, a new level of understanding and a new state of being.

Before this, colour and light were abstract ideas that he would not have been able to imagine in the terms of his four working senses.

When we were born again, we likewise entered a totally new way of being that lets us see what we couldn't and clarifies what we already sensed to be.

Jesus opens up a whole new world, one which cannot be understood or even contemplated until we see it for ourselves. And like this blind man, in the following verses (13-34), our sight may cause us to be treated differently and wrongly by the very fabric of the society in which we live and all we will be able to say to those around us will be as this man said in Verse 25, "one thing I know; That though I was blind, now I see".

Jesus said that this man's birth-predicament was so that God would be glorified; Not only in His healing power but His saving, sight giving grace also!

The Room for Headwork (1Corinthians 2)
Paul says in v4 that his speech and preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

Clearly, preaching and speaking is essential, and that they be done in God's power. This is beyond human reason, for such is the gospel to reach unregenerate minds. yet, there is room for the mind to dwell and contemplate for among the mature, Paul speaks the wisdom of God.

He speaks this wisdom to minds that have been enlightened by the gospel so that through God's spirit, parables are no longer required to explain spiritual things (v13, "comparing spiritual with spiritual").

But Chapter 3 goes on to say that even the saved can be too immature for the application of the deeper wisdom if they are carnal in even such socially acceptable things, such as "envy, strife and division".

We may be hungry to learn, but to what end? To puff up a carnal mind, or feed an enlightened mind?

Speaking From a Godly Heart (Joshua 14:7)
"I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart".
Caleb was one of twelve spies who went to spy out the land of Canaan before Israel was to go in and take it.

Caleb was one of only two spies who insisted that they go into the land and conquer it according to the word of God. He says here that the report he brought back was from his heart.

His head may have seen the strong giants in the land, but because his heart was for God, he was able to report to Moses according to God's will, according to what his heart was telling him.

Your head logic may put fear into your life, but if you have a Godward pointing heart, a heart of faith and desire for God's will and purpose, you will not fear or go astray. But if you follow your carnal mind and the idle thought that it produces, you will surely find yourself spending much more time in the wilderness than necessary.

Something Special For You (Joshua 13:33)
"But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance, the LORD God of Israel was their inheritence, as He had said to them".
The original lack of land (as it were) that the tribe of Levi was to endure was a punishment for the violence which was commited by Levi and Simeon against the people of Sechem who's leader raped their sister, Dinah. However, they redemmed themselves (in a manner of speaking) in that they refused to bow down before the Golden Calf' and stood for the LORD. Therefore, we can see that while one blessing was taken from them, another greater blessing was given to them.

Everybody else was given an inheritence of land. Why should the Levites be left out without this blessing of a land to call their home?

The Levites were given something better than land, they were given God Himself.

As you look around, you may see people who have things that you want, basic things, simple things. But these may not be the things that God wants for you. In the short term, this may hurt, but in the long term, your blessing will be the greater portion!

Just believe and receive.

Making The Most of Peace and Rest (1Chronicles 22:18-19)
As we go through the battles and trials of life, the wise turn to the Lord and He gives us the victory. When victory has been won and we are at peace, what do we then do?

Do we use the opportunity to sit back and enjoy a bit? Maybe have a little 'Me' time?

Here, Israel has been brought to a point where her enemies have been subdued and the instruction of king David is; "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God: arise therefore and build the sanctuary".

During rough times, God reveals Himself to us and we know Him better for it, but also during times of peace, we are to take the opportunity to seek Him and discover not only what He can do, but also Who He is thus establishing our lives ever more firmly in Him.

SHORT: Taking Comfort (Psalm 119:49-56)
"Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life"
When we get to know God, as we get to know Him better, He causes us to depend and hope on His word.

It is really special to be in that place where our comfort in times of affliction comes from the Lord and His word! We can take comfort in so many things, in prospects of revenge, relief, money, company and so on, but when we are comforted by the Word of God, we are in a truly beautiful place.

It is the Lord that the Patriarchs turned to, it is the Lord we should turn to, partiularly now as we have been given a Name on which to call, that we can cry out to God's ultimate revelation to man, in man, in Jesus. Of course, to be able to take comfort in the Word of God during affliction, we need to know the Word of God. This doesn't necessarily mean memorising (though such a thing is hardly harmful), but to hide His word in us, to have it live in us by us living in it - daily reading! Daily prayer!

If we/I want this sure source of comfort, there are few other ways, and none so effective!

SHORT: Of No Effect (Matthew 15:1-9)
Jesus accused the Pharisees of making God's commandments of no effect with the way they twisted i to do what they wanted, to mean what they wanted and to function as they wanted.

It is a serious accusation when we try and make God's commandments to be of no effect.

God gives a commandment to effect righteousness but we can nillify its effect in our lives and churches by adding to it.

In this instance, it could be argued that the Pharisees had provided a freedom of choice to people and an extra source of income for the temple - but in so doing, they removed the power of the commandment, removed the effect of the commandment, removed the divine authority of the commandment, all by adding a clause.

I have to ask myself if I add clauses to God's commandments to me and miss out on the blessing and stability the commandment would otherwise provide?

SHORT: Backward and Forward (Matthew 2:14)
"When he [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, 'Out of Egypt I called My Son'".
In order to fulfill His word, God may need to take us to some unexpected places. In order to bring us out of a place, He may in His wisdom, take us into a place.

How unexpected this might be, after all the whole Moses thing was about how God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt (a 'type' of so many things), yet here is the same God, as a child, going into Egypt!

"That it may be fulfilled....." happens a lot in the gospels. God's word will be fulfilled, whether it be a word of victory or a word of tragedy, what He has spoken will come to pass and it's a fool who would try and tell God how He's to do it.

Longing for Egypt (Numbers 11:1-15)
"Now the mixed mltitude who were amonth them [The Children of Israel] yielded to intense craving; So the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?...... There is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"
In previous chapter, Moses asked Reuel the Midianite, an outsider, to stay with the camp and Reuel committed himselfto the LORD God. However, there was also a mixed multitude who were not of the Children of Israel, who stirred up trouble in the camp, winding up the Israelites about the food that they had to eat, food given them by God.

This mixed multitude yielded to intense craving.

Now I don't know about you, but I've had intense craving for material objects. Whether it's the latest gadget, computer or movie. But when any of us give in to this intense craving, when we give in to the materialism that so easily ensnares us, we begin to fail to see the wonderful provision that God has made for us. Instead of seeing the food that He has given us for our lives to be lived in harmony with Him, we see tedium, boredom, plain stuff that surely is not as much 'fun' as what can be enjoyed by the consumer market around us, and we inadvertantly start complaining that this food of God doesn't taste as nice.

These influences are not of God, yet powerful because they brought the Children of Israel to the rememberance of the abundance of food that was in Egypt (fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks etc), food that only these outsiders would probably have been able to afford anyway since the Israelites (as slaves) wouldn't have had much in the way of wealth and rights in the first place.

Christians need to learn to ignore these dissenting voices that draw attention from the good nourishment that God offers in pleace of these unecessary toys of life.

SHORT: On The Move (Numbers 9:15-23)
"Whether it was two days, a month or a year that the cloud remained above the Tabernacle, the Children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey".
Our Christian experience can be such that we have a wondeful time of blessing, when we move on and into something new every day and then, suddenly, we stop for a few days, a week and sometimes longer. Likewise, we can become accustomed to the place where we're at and God will suddenly get up and it's time to move.

This is what it was like for the Children of Israel. They knew there was a promised land waiting for them, but they didn't know when they were going to get there (and little realising thet their unbelief would keep most of them out). Whether the Holy Spirit tells us to "Go" or "Stop", trusting His wisdom will put us in the best stead for life.

SHORT: Pleasures Evermore! (Psalm 16:11)
"You will show me paths of of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures evermore".
Why do I chase after the wind? Why do I look for joy in anything other than the will of God? He alone shows us what life is. I've been told "you haven't lived" because I haven't drunk something or slept around, but He shows us the paths of life. Nothing we can obtain in this world can satisfy like God. Thnings fulfill a purpose, but God, every purpose for in His presence is fulness of joy. COMPLETE JOY!!!!!!

And in case I think that this in any way lacks anything to appeal, I'm told that at His right hand are "pleasures evermore". He doesn't even have to do anything, His presence is enough! How awesome that we can find pleasure in Him.

Pleasure is something that is looked on by many as sin, as in many cases it is, especially if pleasure is all we seek. But when we are on the "path of life", we are being what we are designed to be.

The pleasures we have in God don't wear out, need a recharge or stop working if there isn't network coverage!

Wait! (Genesis 21:1)
"And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken".
Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, the wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (respectively) were all barren until the LORD 'opened' their wombs. When things look nigh on impossible, don't try and re-interpret God's promise like Sarah did when God said that she would giva Abraham a son because what God says is what He means. He told Sarah that she would give Abraham a son and Sarah's insistance that Hagar the servant should give Abraham the child in her place may have seemed a sensible solution, but it was not what God said.

Let God do what He has said He will do and don't interfere!

SHORT: Just the one talent? (Exodus 25:39 & Matthew 25)
If you're anything like me, after reading Jesus' parable of the Talents in Matthew25, you may feel like the servant who was entrusted with only one talent (weight) of gold. Of course, someone with more to offer may seem to be of more value, but look at the golden lampstand and all its utensils - arguably the most beautiful object in the tabernacle (after the Mercy Seat); "It shall be made of a talent of pure gold; with all these utenils".

God has given you abilities and many other gifts. Don't look at what others have got. God has given you what you need and He can make beautiful things out of your life.

SHORT: God Delivers Gradually (Exodus 23:30)
"...I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numeruos for you. Little by little, I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land".
When we seek to remove from our lives things which offend God, we need to fill that void with the things of God. If you give up watching too much TV, don't use the spare time to brose the net, otherwise, why bother giving anything up?

It would be too much for us if God were to show us every sin in our lives all at once. Be patient and don't fight the Hittite when you should be fighting the Hivite. In other words, as long as you are walking according to the will of the Holy Spirit in your life, don't beat yourself up over things that He hasn't yet chosen to deal with.