Author: words and signs

Covered over sins

“Love covers over a multitude of sins..” 1 Peter 4:8

It is a God-like ability to be able to forgive all wrongs carried out against our person. Rather than parading sins before other people, love covers them up so as not to spread the ill and embarrass the sinner.

Love allows a way out of a corner for someone who feels trapped. Love suffers put-downs, endures ridicule and copes with scoffing. Love forgives the perpetrator and holds no ill will against them.

Love bears with weaker nesses and inadequacies. Love teaches and encourages. Love does not show off what it knows, but finds a way to teach others in a humble way.

Love bears with and consistently forgives in all circumstances. Love never blames and finds a way to overcome anger and remember the state of the sinner.

This love is not human. Our cold hearts do not forgive and we remember all the hurt that has been done against us. Our love is self-orientated and justifies itself for not forgiving others. Those who have experienced the forgiving love of a Heavenly Father and have been changed by him, should know this power in their own lives. Yet we do not. We hold back.

The Christian walk is a progressive walk in holiness and being set apart for God. Each of us must seek the Lord and follow him closely and with humble obedient words and deeds. This love must grow in us, so that forgiveness thrives in our souls. Only as we draw near to our Saviour and understand what He did for us on that cross, will we be able to walk in a worthy way and cover over all evil against us.

This is the supernatural attitude of the Christian heart… forgive as I have been forgiven.

How to see

There are many millions in our country who will never darken the door of a church, of any kind, however appealing it might be. Many follow the way of false religion, and many more follow a seeming no-religion. It has been categorically proved that God is dead, and no one will believe or wants to hear otherwise.

God is irrelevant, impotent and a fantasy, dreamed up by the feeble-minded, who have no backbone of their own to face life. There is no one able to reach those who see the love of God in this way, or teach, or preach, so, what are we to do?

Christians in these days have to adjust their mind set, see the people around them as Jesus saw them – sheep without a shepherd, wandering in the cold and dark of this world, straight into trouble, disappointment and loss.

Now is the time to demonstrate the love of Christ and show what he is like to a society that needs his love more than ever. We must gain the right to talk and share Christ’s truth, but more than that, we should demonstrate the beauty of his love and the truth of his heart of compassion, to every human soul, not wishing that any should perish.

This will involve courage and strength, insight and understanding of the problems that our neighbours face, and to try and meet with them at the point of most vulnerability. Huge numbers of people use substances to facilitate the effects of joy and peace, which never last and have the sting of death in the tail. Some realize what they are doing and are cynical in their abuse of mind changing chemicals, but many others don’t really grasp the enormity of what they are starting in their inner lives.

Others follow sexual experience, pursuit of wealth, which is not theirs, inhabit a social circle that is destructive to human dignity and spirituality. There are so many layers of trouble, like the circles in the descent into hell, in Dante’s inferno, winding down into progressive destitution and depravity. As followers of Christ, are we ready to face this? Will we go out, as he went out, to the “lowest layers” of human society and truly identify with them? Sit with those regarded as failures, evil, lazy and beyond hope or help.

This is the challenge in these days of breakdown and trivialization of what is most precious and the only remedy for the moral and spiritual sickness we experience. If we sit in our churches with polite friends and clean and tidy lives, we are ineffective, because most people are not sitting in the pews, but seeking highs and meaning on our streets. Our lives become silent, like our lips.

It is difficult, but if we don’t shake ourselves and rise to the challenge, our churches will remain closed enclaves of solid evangelical granite. Our soft hearts will eventually atrophy and we will sit there until God takes us out of the way, or closes the doors of our historical and theologically correct institutions.

We should sorrow over what we have become and grieve over the future. The only one who can turn this around, is the Son of God, who has all power and love and faith, and before he changes our world, he must change us again, so that he can work in and through us.

Are you feeling unhappy sitting in your usual pew every Sunday? Good. Step out in the real world and respond to the people who are out there, and prove the power of his love and let his mind overtake the natural cynicism we possess.

Grace

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
There isn’t a hint of godliness in any of us. The only reason we have been forgiven is the majestic and undeserved grace of God. He chose us for no other reason than His kindness. The faith that we exercise towards God, is not our own- it is given to us. We are spiritually dead until God resurrects us, gives us the ability to believe, and brings us into His family. I have nothing of any value- I have not even got the desire for my God- only He has desired me and lifted me to glory…

Without the grace of God, there is no salvation for anyone. We are dead in our sins, with no hope of life towards God, and only a dreadful day of judgment and eternal death ahead. In no way can we lift ourselves out of our predicament. As a dead body cannot breathe the air, so we cannot live to God, understand Him or pray to Him. We are helpless and hopeless.

But God has given us an amazing gift. The gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our one and only Saviour. We are saved through what Jesus did on the cross and God gives us the gift of faith to believe and be saved. We are saved through the work of faith in our inner selves. Faith cannot be worked up in ourselves- since we are spiritually dead in our natural state. We need God’s work of grace and mercy to resurrect our souls, do that we can exercise the gift of faith and believe.

A spiritually dead person cannot make choices of any kind, let alone choose God, or do any deeds that would be acceptable to God. All we are and all we do is fatally tainted. God is holy, and cannot abide sin or the sinner. Something fundamental has to change in the sinner to make them right with God. To be acceptable to the Holy One.

God changes the sinner and imputed new life and righteousness into them, resurrects them from the dead, and makes a new person in Christ. The sins are paid for and forgiven completely, and the sinner becomes a saint. A saint is a forgiven person, made new by God, with no reason to boast in themselves.

As we live as saints, we live unto Him, and in His strength alone. The Holy Spirit works in the life of the saint to produce good work created by God for them to do.

Therefore, salvation is of the Lord…

The Unknown Lord

“Among you stands one you do not know”

Many are insensible to the very presence of Christ, the one who loves and stands ready to forgive. It is easy to carp and crave, moan and weep, hurt and suffer alone, with no lasting comfort or hope for the future. The fripperies of entertainment, or the tedium of ordinary life, do not fill the inner life and leave us dissatisfied and often downcast in our spirits.

Most lives are empty and are longing for meaning and identity, and most do not even realise it. The world set up around us, in the cultures that human beings generate, disappoint and deniy the most basic of wants and needs, and the structures of life keep us blind and insensible to that inner call for significance. We tramp repeatedly circling through the barren roads of a ruined world, all hope evaporated, love lost and faith a candle almost snuffed out.

“The bruised reed, he will not break and the smoking flax he will not quench.”

This One who stands among us, is the very one we seek, and so he waits for us to come to our senses, open our eyes and see him in all his beauty. He demands nothing from us, as in reality, we have nothing to bring, but to bow our knees to his authority and find true freedom. It does not matter that we have little, because he himself will make up the deficite and give us power and great riches in our souls, so that we are filled wth all good things.

The fake loveliness of the world’s empty promises blinds us to this one true friend, who is prepared to forgive our rottenness and bring us to himself. The day our eyes are opened is the greatest day, because it is the day we see him, who has waited so long and wept for us in our folly.

“I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not.”

Now that we see the trivial nature of what surrounds us in this life, it all becomes so insignificant and unattratcive and no longer satifies the heart. Our souls belong to another, the Man who stands among us, and who has brought us into a new life with him.

Tragedy surrounds all, and every day is a reminder that things are not as they should be. Our need for change becomes more and more apparent, and the craving is redirected to the source of all life and everlasting good. When the possiblitiy for change becomes strong enough in us, and the growning sense of destitution of heart and soul, we seek this Lord of all things.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”

To discover his love and utter forgiveness brings the peace that nothing else can give. The well of life is in us and springs up to nourish and refresh like nothing in the human social system ever can. The unknown Lord becomes the close personal friend, who never abandons or gives up on us, or gets tired of our fallings and failings. He himself will bring us safely home to a place far away for all hurt and passing pleasures.

However, the possiblility that we remain blind and never know Him, nor realise what we are missing, is real for many. The moment of turning passes and passes many times until it fades away.

“My Spirit shall not always remonstrate with a person.”

We can miss out so easily and so carelessly, just by not following the words spoken into the heart, and fall into vacant compliance with the tendancies of the age we live in. Yet he still stands, unknown by so many, and still he waits for us so patiently to come to our point of turning, so that we can be rescued and know him and be like him.

Growing

Relating to people can be challenging when we struggle to overcome our problems, illness or temptations. The Christian life is a fight on a number of fronts. We are taught to fight by the Lord..
“Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to fight..” Psalm 144:1 KJV

We can never be complacent as there is much spiritual opposition from supernatural and natural sources.
Ephesians 6:12 NIV “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

As we learn to fight and serve, we find a greater liberty and confidence in the Scriptures. Daily we find a strength that is not our own that powers our service and a holy boldness to speak up for God and His ways.
2 Peter 3:18NIV “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

The greater our confidence and personal strength, the greater it changes our relationships. Friendships become stronger with those who walk the same pathway and others fall away, who prefers other lords.
1 John 2:16 NKJV “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

There are times of solitary walk, as we come to terms with the situations we find difficult and as we develop skills to cope with life’s problems.
We must stand strong and walk with God in the power of the Spirit. Everything is heading towards that great and final day, and we must not loose heart or look back to past days. All is new and invigorating.
Malachi 4:2 NIV “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.”

There is a feeling of His presence in what we do and a deepening knowledge of who He is and what He requires of someone who loves and follows Him. There is a godly friendliness in His presence and a desire to be like Him. As time goes by, the relationship deepens into a lasting trust and a strong and forthright faith to fight the fight with Christ.

The Holy Spirit becomes increasingly involved in the intricacies of our lives and we seek only to please Him and not grieve Him into silence. Ephesians 5:8-11 NIV “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness …”

And so we walk with God. This is the Christian “norm.” There are no levels of spirituality and no hierarchies of importance. Each child of God is kept safe and will reach the heavenly home. Some reach it as grown-up believers, mature and bold. Other get through the door by a hairs-breadth. How wonderful to walk this world as the Holy Spirit reveals the character of Christ, and for those rare qualities to be found in us also…

God gave people with gifts…
Ephesians 4:12-13 NIV.
“to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Review

It is time to regroup, reevaluate and make the necessary changes. This is always the case for every Christian, and a crutial part in spiritual progress towards growning godliness and holy living. None cane afford to take the back seat and let life do the driving, checking out the scriptures now and them and hoping the salvation of God will cover anything we have missed. The Christian life is a walk, a fight and a journey to the heavenly city, which will take up all our time and effort as we wrestle on to take the prize at the end.

It so too easy in these restless and complacent days to allow ourselves to be lulled into a sense of false security and not notice the growning temptations we are succombing to, and futile interests that divert our attention away from Christ too often. Sleep can overwhelm us so easily and our days will become ineffective, courgeless and wasted.

Today, let us rise up against the lethargy of mind and body, and take up our weapons against our worst enemy – ourselves. Self has the amazing ability to justify every thought process, negative word and destructive selfish deed, that could ever be imagined. The trick of the mind is to keep ourselves in the positive glow of self-preservation, so that we never actually come to terms with the deep heart sins that infest the human breast.

These heart sins are excused by us, in that everyone else does it, so I have to fit in or they will sideline me, think I am unaware of the issues and leave me out. Human society does this, but we do not need to be concerned about it, as the Lord is with us and has greater and more profound purposes for us than this world offers.

Pride, selfishness, conceit, impatience, snobbery, wanting, hating, jealousy- these are the big sins that will ruin us if we should let them fester. Unfortunately we easily get distracted and imagine that sins like murder, rape, adultery, armed robbery, are the really big ones that God especially hates, but we have missed the point. God hates all sins, because it ruins us and everyone else, but the heart sins are the vipers that sting us to death and keep us away from really reading his word with understanding and praying with sincere meaning.

This is the very root of spiritual failure, and if we are honest, we know it already. This is the problem with our minds- they are not honest and facing up is so hard to do because we know God will require all our being and will make us new, and even as Christians, we are not sure if that is what we want.

God wants everything. Not half measures, second hand thought, emotion or belief, but a faith vibrant and alive and in tune with him. A faith that will strike out with him into the nastiness of human society and will not mind being thought badly of, or not regarded as one of the crowd, but will shine and will be so bright that he will show it to everyone. This is not just for the chosen few, who reach some “top level” of spiritualiy, but for every one of his children.

This is the God we believe in and we need to get to the point where we can serve him wholly and obey him absolutely and make an impact where we are.

How alive am I? What is holding me back? What do I need to put right, so that I can know my God so closely, that he is my true friend and Master?

For every one of us, the answers to these questions will decide the direction and meaning of our lives. The choice is God or Myself and the outcome will affect me, my family and everyone who knows me. For the Christian, it isn’t really a choice at all, because the Lord has bought us and we belong to him, so we need to square up and face up to what he is calling us to.

We think we are giving up things and we will loose out and – yes – we do loose things, but not loose out. We give up our seflish, small-minded, little selves and we get a life walking with the Lord of the Universe, and experiencing his power continually, so that we do right, put to death the selfish attitude and make sacrifices for others, to brign them to the same Lord.

This life isn’t the main event, but a time to prove God and throw off the selfish desires and sins that encumber us, so that we can know Him as we fight in this fallen world. This is the glory of the Christian and it will shine out to those around if we are patient and hold on to the promises of God. People may not see the glory of Christ in you at first, but they will in time. They may not openly regard you, as social pressure is powerful, but in their hearts they know that you are true and the God you follow is true. They might even investigate him for themselves and you may never know.

Heaven will reveal amazing things and the first will be last and the last, first. We need never fear, for who can be against us, if God is with us.

Lift the sword, helmet and shield, along with the shoes, and step up to the mark to fight for the one who fought for you. He will keep you and give you the victory as you give up yourself and become like Him.

Covenants, agreements, promises

The old covenant: This was weak and bound to fail, because it was between the creature man and a Holy God. The man could not, nor ever could keep the covenant. Mankind made a wretched choice and chose his own way rather than keeping true to his creator. The covenant broke down almost straight away and mankind fell into ruin.

The new covenant actually existed before the old covenant: This was a strong and Holy bond, because it was between the three persons of the Holy Trinity, and depended on them only to keep it and sustain it.

The first covenant was then the one made between the persons of the Godhead, so that sinful man could be redeemed and sanctified and brought safely into heaven itself. The covenant made with man, was seen to be useless, as it could not be upheld by the weak, human party.

God therefore demonstrated the weakness of sinful man and the glory of His own Holy strength and power to buy back from slavery and death a people for his name.

God the father willed this event, the Son gave himself as a ransom for many and the Spirit calls those who are being saved and indwelling them and keeping them until the day of final redemption. Thus the Holy covenant is fulfilled and sinful man can now enter in with true confidence that God is able to save to the uttermost, those that come to God through Him.

In the scriptures there are many covenants between God and His people. They are the great and precious promises that fill the pages of scripture. These promises are true and forever sure. Not one of the promises of God have ever failed or ever will. God is the upholder of all things, and it is His power alone, that keep us in all circumstances. The promises of God are certain, because of who He is, and they reflect His holiness, supreme and total power, His never failing love, His mercy, justice, wrath against all sin and deliberate sinners. The attributes of God are the manifestation of His eternal being, and His desire is to save all human beings, who humble themselves and trust in Him. This is determined by the everlasting covenant with Himself.

We can know the powerful and steadfast outworking of these covenants, agreements and promises in our daily lives, day by day.

Are you alive?

Jesus lingered, and his good friend Lazarus died, was buried and shut in the grave. Everyone mourned his death and blamed Jesus for letting him die. If only he had hurried up a bit and focused on what he was supposed to do, then it would all have been all right.

Mary was overcome with grief and couldn’t leave the house. Martha argued. If only… She knew Lazarus would rise again, because she believed the word of God and the man who walked beside her. But she couldn’t quite make that amazing jump of faith, which was going to grab her attention in a few minutes.

Jesus stood at the grave and shouted at Lazarus, telling him to waken up, get up, and walk out. How they laughed. The uproarious protests about the smell of the dead body after four days in the tomb, and the embarrassment of getting it all wrong, was obvious to everyone. No one really realized who was standing there yelling at the corpse.

The stone was rolled sideways and he came out, bandaged in cloths and no smell!

Jesus told the people to help him out of the bands and let him live his life. What an event, what a man and what a God.

This is the picture of what happens to every soul that is called by Christ and is raised from the tomb of spiritual death, to a new and vibrant life, following Christ. The joy of Lazarus coming out is mirrored in the rejoicing in heaven over every person who comes to Jesus and finds eternal life. This is the reality for millions across the world and the uncountable number waiting for us in heaven.

What about you? Do you remember the day He set you free, liberated you from restrictions and sins, and gave you true life?

Where are you now? Are you leaping and jumping and telling everyone about what you got? Or have you slipped back into the tomb, winding the bonds around yourself, laying back and waiting for nothing….

Those first effects seem to have worn off, and now, it is all so ordinary and predictable. They say you can get used to anything, and you are about to prove it. That joyous life has slipped away and you are just putting in your days, making the most of it, with expectations at zero.

Perhaps you need to hear again, those rousing tones of the voice of your God, calling your again, to rise up, breathe the air and live again, as you once did. Tear off the bandages that cover up who you are, that restrict your soul’s respiration, and kick off the grave clothes that have stopped you walking with your Master and dancing in his joy.

Are you, maybe, still in the grave? You have never heard that voice calling you persistently, and your ears remain blocked by the burial preparations. You have never seen his face, nor looked at it reflected in the book, but remain blind to the glory that could be yours. There is no movement, you are going nowhere, and you cannot even tell the difference between death and life.

Listen, and he will call you – indeed he calls you now. Why not get up? You have nothing to loose, only the stinking sins that keep you within the bandages, and the stench of everlasting death that clogs up your lungs. There is everything to gain, and you get to live and leap and love, really and truly. Life is in every part of the days you live, and you have plans and ideas and desires.

No one has any idea of what God can do in a person’s life, but you can find out. The mundane becomes an opportunity to check God out; the normal becomes out-of-the-ordinary; and the future is filled with possibilities. We see the world as God sees it, and small things are transformed into his will and the gladness that he cares for us.

Once you experience that resurrection, you will never be the same, and the past will melt away and change into hope, glory and the power that raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus said that all who follow him would do greater things than he did, and that is the outlook for everyone who follows him and trusts him with their lives, both here and then.

Humility: true greatness

Humility: true greatness

C.J. Mahoney Book review

As I picked up this beautiful little book a while ago, I did so with trepidation as to what I would read. I knew I was going to read things I need to understand.

We all have different ideas about what humility is, and what constitutes a humble outlook on the life God has given us. It seemed slightly strange to write a book about such a subject, as people who write books, usually consider themselves “experts.” This seemed at odds with the subject matter of the text. However, there is much to consider and learn from people who have been on the road before you and I, and have traveled for longer.

The writer highlights for us, our own destitute position before God, before he in his infinite kindness, ransomed and rescued us for the slavery of this world and sin’s clutches. When we read the scriptures, we are continually faced with what we are really like and the price Christ had to pay to redeem us back. This is the start for every Christian and the beginning of a life of humility.

As we walk with God, Pride is our greatest foe and humility our treasure and friend. The purpose of our lives is to weaken the enemy and strengthen the ally. The rest of this little book is to give prompts to help us do these things.

Humility thinks often of what Jesus has done and every day acknowledges a total need for God. Gratitude is the air breathed by every Christian and is strengthened by learning scripture and meditating on it’s meaning and application to our life. As the day ends, we think of what God has done and transfer all glory to him and accept graciously his gift of sweet sleep.

To deepen and strengthen our spiritual lives, we need to find out more about our great God and his attributes. Nothing aids appreciation like this realization. Study and realize the doctrines of grace so that you understand more about what you own. Sin. We all need to think about sin, and the hold it has on us. We need to ask for the revelation of our sinfulness and how insidious and deep-seated it is in our psyche and behaviour. The Holy Spirit must be at work in us to produce the desire for a sensitive conscience.

Thinking about ourselves realistically is painful, but is the way to blessing as we face up and seek forgiveness and put our attitudes right. Prayer should be for the removal of the blindness we have to our own failings and faults, so that we can walk God’s way better. Consequently, we can then help others along the road and be an encouragement to those who also struggle and are seeking God.

Suffering is something we don’t like, but need. God calls us all to suffer or bear burdens that can cost us very dearly. Humility in suffering is perhaps the greatest witness you can have to the saving and keeping power of God. We should be thankful and seek the long term blessing of proving God in this way, and then to be the testimony to a watching society as to the power and sustaining love of God.

What sort of person do you admire? Sports heroes? Film stars? Successful businessmen or women? The scriptures exalt no such person. God chooses the weak and lowly people to put to shame the proud. He chooses those who love him truly and put themselves at the bottom of every list, so that Christ shines from their lives and his perfect will is done.

Resurrection morning

No matter how far up the ladder of power
You are not exempt from the threat of deaths flower
Which blooms from the barrel of every gun
One purpose to annihilate awkward targets and run
Into the curtains of the cloak and dagger world
Where nothing is certain and truth left a flag permanently unfurled.
Never to let it fly, nor purpose to be laid bare
A world where humanity has nothing to share
Except the dark purpose of those who see the apparatchik
To give the ultimate goal of total commitment and pierce the cheek
Of the unjust stench of authoritarian doctrine
Leaving everything it touches, worm-ridden and rotten.

Another death, what does it matter anyway?
What’s one more life compared to the safety of many?
The end of one still touches all
A dogma yet enlivened to the faithful will call.
Accelerating the certain descent into gloom
And many lives face and meet the roving stride of doom.
Oh! Dark walker and talker of fateful hearts
Pour cold water on the gaping wounds which daily smarts.
Until the loathsome wound is covered, healed and satisfied
And we can draw the line under the grave where we have died.
There human flesh loiters waiting for the final act
Of the God-man who returns as the stated fact.
Resurrection morning dawns and all homo-sapiens leave the ground

In the deepest ocean, highest height and lowest bog they have found
That time is not the main event, there are future treasures
For those whose souls to the final bar- an imputed righteousness measures
Hope blooms, an eternal flower of content
Yet the lost to another fate are sent
Raised to face the horror of unpaid sins
As accusations and prosecution they can never win.
Death, the final enemy, is beaten for those who in life
Followed the master and took a backward step from strife.
They rise to glory, fame and eternal rest
With Him who they love above all, dearest and best.
It is not yet here, as the moments linger silent
Many view it with unbelief and that the judge is lenient
But, with surprise, all power and glory will fade
And human history instantly vanish into dark shade.

Hope returns, Oh glad day of joy and peace for ransomed souls
Justice, holiness and righteousness from both extreme poles
Their bodies of clay will break open the stone graves
And rise victorious, with powers renewed and unfazed,
By the memory of all that went before – and now gone
The future certain with the Son that for them has ever shone.
Look up! the resurrections morning is at hand
Graves wrench open and bodies leap across the land.
Unexpected release of those who are ready
And mount the skies of light with a step sure and steady.
All usurping power is now comprehended as superbly weak
Eyes to another, in hope and horror, are raised and future seek
These earthly days and years are now past forever
Friendships and loves will surely sever
Love at last conquerors all within its total path
And joy and beauty overcome all judgment and wrath.

Daughters of the Kingdom

Women who glorify God