Author: words and signs

Enlightenment

Ephesians 1:18-19 NIV
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. …”
As Christian people we all, and always need our spiritual eyes open so that we can understand more and more who we are, in Christ. Our grasp of the massive hope we have in our Saviour Jesus deepens our love and devotion. It is a real and certain hope which we can view with enlightened eyes. We have an inheritance because we belong to Christ and which we share with all the people of God. Our inheritance is kept for us until we enter into its glories, when our Lord returns to bring all His people home to His glory. Even as we live in the here and now, we have the power of God to sustain us, keep us in His grace and enable us to walk worthy of Him who loves us.

Hebrews 6:4-6 NIV
“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. …”
Surely this reference to enlightenment is frightening. It speaks of people who have received some enlightenment to believe, and yet have turned away. People who hear the gospel and understand the message, and yet reject Christ and fall back again into their chosen sinful lifestyle. These people have known the sweetness of the Holy Spirit working in them, and yet they grieve Him away with unbelief. They actually know and realise the goodness of God and have an inkling of the glory of the kingdom that will come, but fall away from it all to enjoy this transient world kingdom.
Once they have fallen away, they are irrevocably lost. No matter what they hear, see or understand again, they are forever barred from salvation. They are lost already and nothing or no one can bring them back. It is a fearful state and one that should fill us with holy fear, that we are safe in our Lord Jesus.

Hebrews 10:32-33 NASB
“But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.”
Christians are being encouraged to think of the days when they were searching for Christ. They are to remember the time when they were enlightened, illuminated, brought into the full light of gospel day. That wonderful moment and day of salvation, brought in days of trouble and hardship for them. The Christians had to go through days and long periods of suffering for the sake of their faith in Jesus Christ. They felt the pain of rejection by society and the stigmatisation of their way of life and were publicly reviled for their holy deeds and words. They were, as a group of people, subject to such negative prejudice, that when one suffered, all suffered. There was a bond of fellowship that kept them close to each other and their Saviour. When one was punished, all were punished by the pain of reproach. Such is the cost of enlightenment in the power of the Spirit.

Psalm 19:8 ESV
“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”
Everything that comes from the mind and voice of God is right. The Lord of all speaks only truth. To those who love Him, His Word causes rejoicing. No part is ordinary or commonplace. Every command He makes is pure and we can follow it with complete confidence. These great and precious edicts and teachings open our inner eyes to see God and give us clarity of understanding and wisdom.
If we do not love His Word, we do not love Him. Those who love His Word find themselves taken up with it, reading and obeying. This is what gives light to the understanding and wisdom to the soul.

The heavenly man

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1 Corinthians 15:49 NIV
“And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”
We automatically think this is for heaven, but it doesn’t have a time frame. For sure, we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ as we enter the city of gold. All our sinful traits and behaviours will disappear forever- never remembered or discussed. But, we are redeemed right now, here, in time and space.
Our full and total redemption draws near, but the reality of it is in our lives on earth, is a present experience.

This is for now. We are to bear the image of the heavenly man, every day. We will with Him, learn from Him in His Word, everyday. That’s quite a challenge.! The earthly part of us fades away and the character of our Saviour, Jesus, shines through- Lord, help me today..

How much is too much?

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The idea of too much. Often this is an opinion about other people or from other people. It is a changeable measure according to perceptions. What one person regards as too much, another might think it not enough..!

The things we have become too much, when we are simply responding to what we feel we want. Need and want are not the same. Passing over the line is a point in each persons mind and we each must realise it.

In the wealthy Western world, too much is encouraged in the name of entrepreneurial principles. We create need, to make money, to keep economies afloat and business booming. People have problems with covetousness, and business taps into that predisposition in our psyche. Christmas is a time when we see this rampant. We can see it’s ugliness and the misery it causes people who cannot purchase the dreams on display.

It is cruel. The inability to get the stuff everyone else has, or to meet the heightened expectations of family, leads to misery. There must be a way out of this endless cycle of greed. Our deeper needs remain unmet and we focus on the trivial, rather than the other way round.

How much love for God and holiness of life can you take? How much love for God’s ways is too much? We have the idea in our minds that if we are too holy, people won’t like us or be able to relate to us. We hear comments about “Holy Joe’s” and “little Miss perfect”. We make fun of people who seek to live good lives and who try to do what is right. Names are used to sideline people who reject the world’s way and to keep ourselves from feeling too bad.! After all, we must not be extreme.!

Jesus is perfect. We can love and trust Him because He is perfect. The scripture says we must follow Him and be like Him. That means we must seek holy lives and attention to the detail of the motivations of the heart. Sounds like “holiness” all round for those who seek heaven.

Perhaps the truth that we are forgiven all when we come to Christ, makes us complacent. We become careless so easily, and stop “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.”
We don’t examine the Word, and so do not go deeper into truth and grow to maturity in the ways of God. Daily living becomes sloppy and we stop examining ourselves and think that to be that extreme in seeking God, is not “normal.”
If others around us are also accepting of less than godly deeds, words and thoughts, then we sink down lower still. People who love God are supposed to sharpen each other and help each other grow in grace..!

In holiness, there is only perfection. If we desire God, then holiness is the aim and priority in our lives. After all, heaven is the place where holiness is the norm, and true believers want to be there for that reason. We get contaminated very easily. We substitute religious practices with growth in godliness. We think going to church is evidence of belief.. the devil is in church too. His job is to keep the people asleep and unaware of what is happening to them. Self-righteousness is a deadening sin and gives a false impression of holiness. Let us search the scriptures for real. Only as we put on Christ, are we becoming holy.

Holy? You can never get too much.

Worldly inclinations? We will always love them too much, until we are made perfect in righteousness. When we finally see the face of our Beloved, it will all fall away, and we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Redeemed

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“With your mighty arm you redeemed your people..” Psalm 77:15

The Holy Lord of heaven and earth has redeemed His people. No one else could do it. The people were dead in sins and all kinds of trespasses, and totally unable to choose or improve their lot. They were insensible to God and waiting for destruction, dead in every sense. But God, out of the riches of His mercy, came and suffered and died, paying the dreadful price for sins.

The righteous God died for unrighteousness people and made a way for them to be brought into His own family. As He reached out to them, the Holy Spirit enlightened the mind and heart and the person was given the faith to believe and a life-changing power turned the person for death to life. The Holy God was able to resurrect that person, just as God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day. All those who possess this life are marked for God and an eternal life with Him.

All this, God did. It is His will and power that has acted in this way towards His chosen people. This is His mighty arm. It took this amazing plan and purpose to work this salvation. If He had not done so,there is no salvation. We would never choose Him and all humankind would be lost in its corporate and particular sins.

Do not carp and quibble. If you don’t want to loose out, throw down your weapons and repent. Don’t allow false arguments to keep you out of heaven.

“Seek the Lord, while He is near. Call upon Him, while He can be found…”

Mary

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The figure of Mary the mother of Jesus, is right at the centre of the Christmas story, and she is hailed as a holy and separate person, above and different from ordinary types, such as you or I. However, if we consider her situation and what she had to face as a young teenage girl, we begin to see things we hadn’t previously noticed.

She must have suffered considerably at the hands of gossips and back-biters, as she coped with the noticeable bump of the developing baby, and no husband. Left out and rejected, she had to prepare for the arrival of her child, knowing that Joseph, her fiancé, would probably set her aside.

God assured her, through the angel, that he was in complete control, and that the baby was no ordinary child, but his own beloved Son, Creator of the universes.

Mary believed. She did not complain, worry, fret or seek the refuge of popular people. She patiently and faithfully, carried out her time, knowing that the person she was carrying, was the Saviour of the world, and her Saviour also.

Joseph also believed the angel who spoke to him from God. He took Mary and kept her safe and comforted her, taking her through the long journey to Bethlehem.

Mary rejoiced to be so highly thought of by God and we can read her song of praise in Luke chapter one. She put all her trust and hope in God and knew that He would deal with her sinfulness and make her what she was not – a good woman.

Mary knew that her son would some day be cruelly killed, for the sins of the world and her own sins. This baby was her Lord and God who would one day rule all things. Mary’s God is also our God, and we need to trust him and follow him, as Mary did. The humility of obedience is the mark of every person who loves Him and walks with him in faith.

 

Without roots

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Homeless people who live on the streets of our towns and cities know more about the grace of God than any person sitting in a church pew. They are judged by the cleanliness of their clothes and shoes and the look of unwashed hands and face. We inspect the outside of the person, and the inner person is ignored or deemed “beyond the pale” of polite society.

Homeless people understand need, more than anyone else. They know what it means to trust God in a totally close up and personal way. Every moment is a mercy and ever opportunity of having food and drink, is a singular blessing from the Father. They do not talk ostentatiously about spiritual things, but have a trust in God that is heartfelt and sincere. What is said by people on our streets, is real and a daily experience.

People without homes, wait for their needs to be met. They depend on the work of the Holy Spirit to prompt people to help and give what is needed. The immediacy is striking. Long term plans, or any plans for tomorrow, are foolish thinking. As long as needs are met for the moment, people are satisfied. Other people with money and resources miss out on this daily dependency and therefore loose sight of the provision of God in their lives.

We have too much. We think we need all this stuff and try to bolster up our faith and confidence by all we can see and possess. This is too this-worldly. Our eyes are on what we are presented with in the media, and we fill our lives and our cupboards with props for life. God goes out from our psyche and we are satisfied with trivialities and superficial ideas.

Homeless and “needy” people are needed in “church” to remind the rest of the congregation, of the realities of life in the raw, and that with God, we have all we need. The “needy” need to minister to the “not-needy”, and teach the sovereignty of God. A daily attitude, and walking with Him in faith. We are all without roots if we belong to God. We seek another city, built by God for us. Faith alone will get us there.

What does it take?

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We are all spiritually ignorant without Christ. It doesn’t matter about our time, place or culture in which we live. We are all dead in sin, no matter how large or narrow our biblical literacy might be. We are all empty without the Holy Spirit.

Every person who finds the Lord, does so because of His mercy and grace. God opens our eyes to see Him, and our need of Him. We each, individually, need the enlightenment of the Spirit of God to see our sinfulness and our need of forgiveness. We must seek Him and confess our sin and give over our lives to God in Christ.

This happens when we hear the truth about God and ourselves. The plain speaking of the truth of the Scriptures illuminates our minds. Not the interesting stories or illustrations from popular culture, but the plain speaking of the Word of God. God requires holiness and we do not have it. So we must seek the holy God to change us and forgive us. We find out about this in the Bible. It is the plain Word of God to all people, always.

Christians need to speak the truth in love and reach out to whoever God puts in our way. We should speak to them personally and persuasively, telling the way to eternal life. This is a humble outlook. This is sacrifice – to be the person others need me to be. It may mean giving up comfortable relationships and moving out into the world. To stand for Jesus the Saviour in dark places is the calling of every Christian, not a chosen few. God chose you to be saved, so you now reach out to others.

The love of Christ and our love for Christ will be the motivation and power behind what we do. Obeying His commands and seeking that His Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. That will stop the self-orientated empire building that is the reason for many so- called works for God.

To find the lost and bring them to Christ is heart breaking and back breaking work. It is what we do for His dear sake. We also build others up in faith and love, teaching the deep and wonderful truths of God. As we see our Saviour Jesus, so we seek to be like Him and that others also will live for Him.
So what does it take?
Dying to self, and living life full out for Christ. To walk in His way, bearing our cross, and bringing many to faith in Him.

The Prince

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The prince of light has pierced the gloom
Our darkness is betrayed
The Son of righteousness has risen
His beams of glory blaze.

None has need to sit in fear
Our debt completely relieved
The Saviour of the world has come
And all who trust, are received.

Step into the light all weary souls
Why linger in the shade
Eternal life is freely given
The way to heaven is made.

Hold me in your hand

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Psalm 73:23-28 NIV
“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”

There are days and times when the weariness of this world overcome us. All the things around that we see and have, are so dreary and we find it hard to listen and participate. We are reminded that this world is not the final destination. We belong to more, higher, another place.

When our health fails in mind and body, we are again pulled up, that this is not how we are supposed to live. Earth has nothing to offer us of any value and even heaven itself is empty without our loving God and Saviour Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Though all we have may fail, yet God Himself will strengthen us and bring us through the heartache.

To turn from Him is folly. To reject the life we are to have with God, is to embrace destruction. Who would destroy themselves but those who are cruel to themselves?
The wise choose life and the giver of all life. It does us good as human beings to draw close to our God.
We quickly realise that He is a refuge to all who call on Him. My reaction is to worship Him and sing His praises to everyone. This we do as we wait for His glory.

Liberty

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Psalm 119:45-48 NIV
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.”

Imagine the liberty of full confidence in God, when you can go anywhere, say anything and be secure. As people, we are not prone to accuracy and uprightness in what we say and do. The plague of sinfulness distresses the best thinking Christian, and keeps us down and over-cautious.

But there is a state of knowing God’s Word so well that we can be confident in what we say. It is not an easy place to be because knowing the Word is difficult for us. We must desire it and seek time to delight in God’s commands and meditate on them. We learn the ways of God to such an extent that they become part of us. We come to personally and deeply know God.

What are we reading? Newspapers? Magazines? Novels?

We are satisfied with so little. The things of this world seep into our psyche and dull down everything. Our desires and tastes are all for the trivial and even salacious. Thoughts of God are uncomfortable and don’t sit well with us. Bible reading is a duty, and prayer a token gesture. We are satisfied to give thanks for the food we eat, and that’s it.
To speak before others is not what we do. To speak before kings would terrify us. Even speaking to colleagues is beyond the pale of our courage.

Is this the way it is supposed to be? This scripture says that the one who seeks the Lord and His Word, will walk about in freedom. This freedom is a situation with complete lack of fear. This person will prove the Lord time and again. This person will obey in full confidence. This person has no confidence in themselves, but knows God so well they walk bravely and with true liberty.

To know God’s Word is to know God. Trusting in Him makes a Christian bold and full of courage. If I indulge in sin and doubt, I loose my footing and fear takes a hold. To cast out fear in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in true knowledge of the Word of God, is our true calling… this is normal. Let us reach out for it.