Now is the time .......... To Fear the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… Proverbs 1:7

Over the years I have prayed with many people who were fearful about many different things. Generally fear is not something we want to entertain because it can spoil our lives and take away our joy and freedom. That kind of fear makes us a prisoner in our own bodies.

There is, however, one fear that we as followers of Jesus Christ need to have, and that is the fear of the Lord. Not that we are to be frightened of God as one would be scared of an abusive parent or person; but rather a healthy fear of the consequences of disobedience to God’s written word, accompanied by a sense of desire to please him.

As a child I usually did the right thing by my parents and teachers because I was afraid of the consequences of misbehaviour if it was discovered. Yes I was a normal child! It would have been much better if I had wanted to be obedient because I loved and trusted them.

Surely, you may say, I shouldn’t be afraid of God for is he not a God of love and mercy? Well, yes he is, but he is also a God of justice and to be just there must be judgment and punishment. This is not a popular preaching topic today but I believe it should be. Whether it is popular or not, it is the truth and we should tell it. We must return to the balance of teaching that Jesus demonstrated. He certainly spoke about judgment and its consequences more than we probably care to acknowledge. Read the gospels and check it out.

Yes we need above all to love God, but we also need to fear him because, as Moses told the Israelites in Exodus 20:20, “The fear of the Lord is to keep you from sinning.” Jesus told his disciples, “If you love me you will do as I’ve told you to do….. You will obey me.” (John 14:15,21).

Why is obedience so important? Because habitual disobedience carries with it the penalty of judgment and separation from God for eternity. That is the truth. Take time to read 1 John carefully, let God’s word speak for itself. The promise of being with God for eternity is “to him who overcomes”. This message was very clearly stated to believers in each of the seven churches in Revelation (Revelation 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21).

In order to walk in freedom and joy we need to walk in obedience to God’s will and purposes for our lives – that is fearing the Lord and departing from evil (Proverbs 3:7). God’s grace is available to us to enable us to do what we find difficult; receive it today and find victory to overcome those challenges that are hindering you from holiness.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please give me your grace to overcome the areas of weakness in my life which rob me of my joy and peace. Help me to walk in godly fear and so live to bring pleasure to you. Amen

Now is the time .......... To Forgive

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mark 11:25

I was recently challenged by David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me oh God and see if there is any offensive (or wicked) way in me.” I wonder how long it is since you prayed that prayer? It takes courage because sometimes we, (read I), are afraid of what God will show us and what it will cost us to put it right! However, if we believe that God’s word is true and that his way is truly the way of freedom and joy, then it is easier to take such a step.

Sometimes we don’t even know that there is unforgiveness lurking in our heart, but if we are willing, the Lord will shine his searchlight on it and when he does, we will surely want to confess our sin so that we can walk in freedom and light. Such was the case for me.

For many years I held unforgiveness in my heart towards my mother without really knowing it. Because she had been ill for all of my teenage years I had been more of a mother to her than she had been to me, and deep down I had resented that. As I allowed God to bring this deep-rooted unforgiveness to the light I was given his grace to be able to truly forgive her from my heart. As I forgave, a huge load was lifted from me and I found a new compassion rising in my heart for her and a new understanding of the pain she had suffered in her life.

It is so important that we do not knowingly refuse to forgive because our own forgiveness from God depends upon our willingness to extend forgiveness to those who have wounded us. Forgiveness is vital to our physical health. It takes a lot of negative energy to hold on to unforgiveness. I cringe when I hear people say “I will never forgive….” I know that they will be in for a rough ride because there will be a price that they will pay for their unforgiveness. I have heard testimonies of people who have received major healing from sickness and disease… for many of them it only happened after they had released forgiveness to others they had been bitter towards.

Jesus made it very clear that forgiveness is not optional when he taught the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18). In Colossians 3:12-13 Paul exhorts the Christians, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Will you make the choice today to ask God to search your heart? It’s risky but worth it.

Prayer: Forgiving God, I know that as your child I should show your character. Please shine your light into my heart, search me and see if there is anything hidden that needs to be brought to the light. Amen

Now is the time ...... To work

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Recently I received my “Seniors Card” from the New South Wales government. To qualify one must be 60 years old and working less than 20 hours a week (for pay). Now I can ride very cheaply on public transport and get discounts from various businesses and stores. I find that I can take one of two attitudes with this new ‘milestone’; either, “I am too old to be of any use now” or “Great! I can still work as much as I want to for the Kingdom of God”.

It is true that as one gets older the temptation is to feel that our contribution is no longer needed or wanted. That is a lie of the enemy that we need to strongly withstand and overcome. It seems to me that Christians never really retire – there’s always plenty of work to be done in God’s Kingdom and ‘seniors’ are in a great position to participate with the extra time they often have.

Ephesians tells us that God has appointed work for each of us to do. It is up to us to explore what that is. Take time now to read first Corinthians 12 and Romans 12:4-8 to see the gifts that God gives to his people. There is serving, giving, encouraging, preaching, teaching, mercy and others. If you are really not sure where you fit, there is a test you can find on the internet which may help you identify your spiritual gift (http://buildingchurch.net/g2s.htm).

There are two important things I want to mention with regard to using your spiritual gift or gifts for God’s Kingdom (yes you can have more than one). The first is that there is much work to be done and the pastors are not responsible to do it all! It is varied work, from feeding the poor to administration in the church office, from preaching and teaching to offering a word of encouragement. Your gift will definitely have a place in God’s scheme of things.

The second thing is that knowing your spiritual gift and using it will give you a sense of identity and fulfillment in the body of Christ. It is important to have God’s view of the gifts and not to measure them by human standards; for example, preaching is spiritual but serving refreshments or working the sound system is not. If you are using your gift for God’s glory, then it is a spiritual work and it is important. Ephesians 4:16 says that the body of Christ works properly and effectively when each person does their part.

There is something for everyone to do, not one of us is unimportant, neither have we passed our “use by” date! If you don’t feel a part of your church it just may be because you are not participating in the work God has assigned for you to do.

Prayer: Dear Father, help me to be willing to do the work that you have already prepared for me. Help me to prepare myself and offer myself for your service and for your glory. Amen

Now is the time…… To Decide

Teach me your way O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. Psalm 86:11

All of us have experienced some form of indecision at one time or another. Should I buy this house, change my job, marry this person, buy this coat, vote for this person, change my internet provider…. etc etc. Life is full of choices and for me the supermarket choices, after living in Asia, are pretty amazing although I thought we did pretty well there! Some choices are small but some are major and life-changing.

There is a choice that each of us needs to make concerning God. We read of Joshua challenging the Israelites in Joshua 24:15 “then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,”. There is a choice to be made and a path to then be followed. Joshua told the people that if serving the Lord seemed undesirable to them, then they had to make a choice about which side they were on. No matter what their choice Joshua had chosen for himself and his household to serve the Lord – no turning back (vs 15).

What,then, is an undivided heart that the psalmist wrote of? Jesus commanded us to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength; surely a very tall order, but he was very clear in his instruction. We live in a world that commands our attention to many details of work and family so common sense dictates that we have to live normal, balanced lives and attend to those things that are required of us for day to day living. To me a divided heart speaks of something deeper; it speaks of divided thinking or divided loyalties.

In 1 Kings 18:21 God spoke through the prophet Elijah. He said, “How long will you hover between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is god, follow him.”

It is vital that we decide who our God is going to be. Will it be sport, money, materialism; will it be myself, my time, my opinion, my appearance? To what will I give my allegiance? Are we convinced enough of God’s care for us, and his utter faithfulness and goodness toward us, to commit our lives into his great hands and totally trust him with our future and the decisions of life, or do we feel we have to take matters into our own hands and trust our own judgment? To compartmentalize God speaks of a divided heart. To allow him to lead in some areas of your life and not others is to have divided heart. That is saying “God I will let you lead when it suits me, but I want to choose some things for myself.”

David knew that he was prone to have a divided heart, as are most of us. He knew that he needed God’s grace and he prayed for God to give him an undivided heart. Do you need to pray that same prayer today? It is so easy to revert to old habit patterns of self-reliance and self-sufficiency, but God wants to be our wisdom and our sufficiency. This will mean entrusting our lives into his hands as a little child trusts his father, and not trying to manage our affairs without him. He has our best interests at heart so “if God be God, follow him.” Submit to his leadership and plans for your life; decide to consult him on every decision of life – you will not be disappointed.

Prayer: Teach me your way O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. Amen

Now is the time…… To Praise the Lord

Praise the LORD, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD! Psalm 117

How is your “praise life”? This psalm is only 2 verses long but it holds great truth about God’s love and care for us and it begins and ends with the command to “praise the Lord”. The second verse tells us why we should praise him. It says “For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” These are two great reasons to praise the Lord and two great truths to think about, and as we do, we will find praise automatically rising within us.

Years ago a military chaplain, Merlin Carruthers, wrote a book called “Prison to Praise”. The book contained many stories of what happened in people’s lives when they begin to praise the Lord in their difficulties and disappointments. Pastor Carruthers had received a revelation from the Lord about the amazing power that is released when we praise God and when he began to teach people this truth wonderful things began to happen.

We must never forget that God is worthy of our praise and that is the first reason why we praise him. But praising God when things are not all that we would want them to be, shows that we trust him in spite of our circumstances. It demonstrates that we trust God and believe that he has heard our prayers and that we believe things will change and our prayers will be answered.

Hebrews 13:15 tells us “Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God,”. Praise is a sacrifice when we do it in spite of how we feel. Have you ever begun to praise God even though you didn’t feel like doing it? In my experience, it does great good to my spirit. The word tells us that God will give us “a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61:3. How good is that! The secret is that most times we have to put that garment on by deciding to praise the Lord, the feelings of joy and thankfulness then follow.

Is there a circumstance in your life which is causing you to despair or be discouraged? Will you pray about it and then decide to praise God believing that he is in control, that he is faithful and that he loves you and will work things out? Let me know how it all works out!

Prayer: Faithful and loving God, help me to have a heart of praise no matter what trials come my way. Amen