water, faith and stuff

Here I am at my desk. Last Saturday, we had a flood. There's too much info to write down for you but let's say that the damage is not catastrophic but substantial. We are living in a hotel and aren't quite sure when our day-to-day will return. The issue of faith and life is ever before us. So are the insurance people, restoration people, strata people; lots of people. And yet our faith in a God who knows and feels and answers is growing stronger. I'll write more later as it's about 35 degrees in our house with a humidex hovering around 95%. I feel like I'm typing in the tropics. Pray for us - not that we would be comfortable (although that would be nice) but pray that where ever we go and whomever we meet that we would be lights for our Lord. Pray that our children would continue to see our God in action.

One question; How important a role does Biblical literacy play in our daily lives? How important is measuring what we see, hear and read up with the Bible?

ok - that was two questions - cut me some slack; I'm displaced.

Tell me what you think...

I finished reading "The Shack" by William P. Young. Has anyone else read it yet? Like it, love it, can do without it? Tell me what you thought. What do you think about the 'fiction theology' genre?

iron sharpens iron

Thanks for your response, let me try and clarify. My comment, "...Don't think that because the gift of eternal life is free that it comes without a daily cost to you..." wasn't meant to mean that our suffering brings salvation to our lives. You are quite correct. What I meant was that everyday we choose to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. The context to which this was embedded is one that is dealing with finding fulfillment. And the important thing to remember is that God is faithful to provide - despite our sin and rebellion. The cost I am referring to has to deal with the choices we make regarding in what or in whom we seek fulfillment and the cost associated with putting those desires under the captivity of Christ. I also want to emphasize that seeking fulfillment is not sinful in itself. However, seeking fulfillment in Jesus is to be primary. All other fulfillments (careers, spouses, family, knowledge, relationships) are secondary to Him.

Also, I hope that I understood your comment correctly and if I am wrong - sharpen me. Your comment about our sin and God's design; sin was never God's design for changing us into more like Jesus. Paul emphasizes this in Romans 6 - "...as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Our sin can and sometimes is used by God for His glory and purpose. And of course God works all things together for good - for His purpose. Maybe I'm just being nit-picky but sin is never God's design in changing us - revealing Himself through Scripture, coupled with our humility and submission and obedience to Jesus' Lordship through the Holy Spirit's power is what changes lives.

ISI


ps. RPGMB stands for Richmond Pacific Grace Mennonite Brethren and the name of the church of which I am privileged to preach in once a month.

RPGMB pt2

Here's the complete transcript.

OUR FAITHFUL PROVIDER

Psalm 145:14-16

Today’s message will deal mightily with the fact of God’s faithfulness to us. In fact his faithfulness is not only concerned with us who have been saved but it also extends to those who have yet to be saved and even to those who will ultimately not be saved. We of course have to come to grips with the fact that God is faithful to us because of his righteousness and character. Not because we have done anything to merit his faithfulness. For there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s grace and faithfulness – in fact scripture is very clear that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, all have fallen short of his glory and without God’s grace we would all be subject to God’s holy judgment upon our sin.

Because we will be examining God’s faithfulness, let’s look at some other portions of God’s word that help round out our brief exposure to this great attribute of God.

"Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast." (Psalm 119:90, ESV)

"For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”" (Psalm 89:2, ESV)

"O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?" (Psalm 89:8, ESV)

"but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness." (Psalm 89:33, ESV)

"Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds." (Psalm 36:5, ESV)

A brief reading of these few verses and we see a recurring theme; faithfulness and steadfast love. The meaning behind this statement is one that describes God ‘binding’ himself to his people. God is making the covenant as well as securing it with his people. Despite their rebellion and their disobedience. It’s not hard for us to look back in biblical history and say to ourselves, ‘they were so out of it! They actually seen the miraculous and still they acted in ignorance and unbelief.’ But before we become too judgmental, look at your own life. How many times have you turned your back on God and committed some treacherous act of sin? Essentially knowing that what you are doing is wrong but ignoring what your God says and doing it anyway. Are we not just like them?

Yet we see God binding himself to us, his fallen creatures, and securing the promise he made that he would save. And this is manifested in no clearer way than his action in sending his one and only son to die for us. Observe what Paul wrote;

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:23-26, NIV)

David wrote after his agonizing confession about his adultery;

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." (Psalm 51:3, NIV)

Again he wrote;

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin. " (Psalm 32:5, NIV)

David’s son, Solomon understood this principle;

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." (Proverbs 28:13, NIV)

Likewise the apostle John, in reassuring his church, wrote this;

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NIV)

God will not forsake the confession of his children. This faithfulness to himself and his character is described for us in Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church. In chapter two Paul writes that God demonstrated his own love for in the fact that while we were still sinners and objects of his wrath – he made us alive together with Jesus. It is by grace we have been saved. By his grace because of his faithfulness to himself and his promise of a redemption from sin.

Let us not to quickly forget that God’s faithfulness is described as everlasting, established, unfailing, infinite, incomparable and is shown to us through his forgiveness of our sins by our confession to him and through our faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ.

In these three verses I hope we will come to see that,

The Lord is faithful to the weary.

The Lord is faithful to all people.

The Lord is faithful to satisfy.

And all of this is found in Christ alone.

For He alone is our strength.

For He alone is our hope.

For He alone is our fulfillment.

In verse 14 we read;

"The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down." (Psalm 145:14, NIV)

Notice the word used to describe ‘Lord’ – it is the word that describes God as the existing one. That is important. It’s important to note because we want to know that the thing/person we place our fears and anxieties, our very lives in is actually real. We want no insecurities regarding were we place our insecurities. And the existing one is the one whom we can lean against for support. For that is what is being inferred by the verse. God is the one against whom we can brace ourselves and know that he is solid and immovable. And his rest and support are a place of refreshment and a source for our revival. The Lord is faithful in these things and David is quick to write that the object of this upholding and lifting are those who are weary and bowed. He describes them as those who are failing, feeling inferior and/or being judged by mistake. The issues and hardships of this life are making people weary and are sometime physically (not only spiritually and mentally) bowed over because of stress. God is the one who upholds them and lifts them up. Because they cannot do it themselves. They may want to but may lack the energy and the spiritual agility to regain their footing.

This is also echoed in what our Lord Jesus told the crowds that were following him,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV)

We need to respond to God’s faithfulness towards us because we need strength. We tend to look in a myriad of places and people for source of inspiration and strength. We may even look to biblical and historical, godly people for source of inspiration and strength. But let us never forget that their source came from the Lord. He is the one who upholds his people and he alone is the one who lifts them up. May we be able to say something like this…

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD." (Psalm 40:1-3, NIV)

Now, looking at verse fifteen we observe;

"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time." (Psalm 145:15, NIV)

The ‘eyes of all’ is a description of all people groups. Lest we think that God only takes care of his own people. God takes care of the whole earth and everything in it. We worked through that in verse nine – “the Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” But these eyes that people use are not only the physical eyeballs but this phrase also refers to the people’s mental qualities and their spiritual faculties. The eyes of all is a reference to the people’s ability to think and feel about the general grace and providential care of God. They may not label it as such but listen the next time you are in a group of people and some talk about being ‘blessed’. Or that they felt that it wasn’t their time or that the ‘big guy upstairs’ was looking out for them. Its not praise that these people are bringing to the Lord but it’s a confirmation that they know the truth and suppress it.

The act of ‘looking’ is really an act of dependence, expectancy and hope. These people are waiting. They are waiting with dependency, they wait expectantly, and they wait with hope. They wait for the Lord of heaven and earth to give them their daily sustenance. And they do this with the idea that God will bring it about in due time. And the meaning behind this phrase is one that comes from the root understanding of perpetuity. A continuing throughout the future. Not just once in a while but will continue because of the mercy and grace of God.

The apostle Paul reminded them of this fact as Luke records it for us in Acts 14:15-17…

"“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”" (Acts 14:15-17, NIV)

We need to respond to the faithfulness of God to all people because all people need hope. And the only hope that will effect change is the hope held out for them in the gospel of Jesus Christ. A time will come when this life is over and they have nothing to stand on but their own merits and works. Look what Jesus had to say regarding this kind of person…

"And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”" (Luke 12:16-21, NIV)

The Lord is good to all. But a time will come when you have to stand before a holy God and you will either stand with the blood of Jesus covering your sin or you will not. You will not be able to advocate for yourself that God showed you his mercy and kindness and faithfulness because he was making allowances for you to circumvent the gospel. Don’t become a fool thinking that because God loves you so much that you don’t have to respond to Jesus as your only hope. The Lord is faithful to all people but in Christ alone is our hope for salvation.

Finally, in verse sixteen we read;

"You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." (Psalm 145:16, NIV)

The opening of God’s hand is somewhat metaphorical in the sense that God is opening his hand to let loose, or throw open something. Some cases this refers to God letting loose his wrath and anger. Sometimes it refers to him letting loose blessings and care. But none the less it is an action taken by the existing one for his purposes and for his glory. The opening of the hand suggests that God is letting loose his strength, power or portion. If you can imaging God opening (letting loose) his hand(power, strength, portion)for the purpose of satisfying the desires of those creatures he created we find a God who is not only powerful and majestic but also one who takes special attention in the matters of mankind. For this is what is meant by the phrase ‘every living thing’. Look at Psalm 104…

"The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening. How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things." (Psalm 104:21-28, NIV)

God again is shown to be someone who is gracious not only to those who belong to him but also to those who don’t. But don’t be mislead into thinking that you can sneak by on your own.

"He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." (Psalm 147:8-11, NIV)

The Lord is faithful to satisfy and we need to respond to this faithfulness because we need the fulfillment that is found in him alone. And that fulfillment can only be found in Jesus Christ. He alone is our fulfillment. We try to pursue different avenues that seem to promise fulfillment but end in emptiness. Whether those avenues are school, career, marriage, children, sex, drugs, religion, friends, and knowledge. It doesn’t matter. None of these things will bring the fulfillment you need. The only one who can bring any sense of complete fulfillment will be Jesus Christ. And he is faithful to satisfy. But it will be costly. Don’t think that because the gift of eternal life is free that it comes without a daily cost to you. But the fulfillment you receive from knowing Jesus will far outweigh any passion or fleshly desire for fulfillment you may have. When Jesus said ‘the one who loses his life for me will find it’ wasn’t kidding. Once we make the conscious decision to lay down our life for Jesus everyday and walk like he did, we will find true fulfillment and satisfaction.

There is so much more to talk about in regards to the Lord’s faithfulness and graciousness.

The Lord is faithful to the weary and we need to respond to that faithfulness because in Jesus alone is our strength.

The Lord is faithful to all people and we desperately need to respond to this faithfulness because in Jesus alone is our hope for salvation.

The Lord is faithful to satisfy and we need to respond to that faithfulness because in Christ alone is our satisfaction.

Peace.

---