Spirit and Truth

If we only get what we want when we want it, we do not learn dependence on the Lord, or patience, or the ability to wait on the Lord to get his perspective on what He wants for our lives

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There are many things that we depend on in life that help us to know where we are and what is going on. We depend on the sun to rise every morning, because it heralds in a new day, we depend on water flowing from the tap to fill our kettles for our morning cuppa. We depend on electricity flowing through the wires to boil that kettle etc, etc. Our days run fairly smoothly because things look and feel “normal”.  But we also know how disorganised and disoriented we feel when one thing doesn’t go to plan. For example, my mom is in a care home and is now sadly confined to bed. Recently she has been tumbling out of bed on occasion because she rolls over too much and loses perspective of where the edge of the bed is. The wonderful home has now fitted two wedge type buffers to the side of the mattress that stop this happening. The other day I found her lying flat in the bed having pulled the pillows from under her head. She was frustrated and kept saying “I’ve been trying to get me and your dad out of this bed! Please help me!!”, my dad died 8 years ago. So, I calmed her down and gently raised the bed up to a sitting position and restored the pillow to its rightful place. Explaining about my dad passing away and letting her see where she was because the safety buffers had blocked out her view of anything but the ceiling. As soon as I raised her up, she could see her room and immediately she knew where she was and felt back to normal. Her true perspective was restored and she became peaceful again. It showed me how easily it is to be disoriented and upset when we can’t see clearly where we are. 

The older I get the more I realise that nothing stays the same, life if ever changing, sometimes this is welcomed and good and sometimes the changes are unwelcomed and not as good for us as we would like. These are the times when the tap stops running and the electricity fails and we feel we can’t cope without that cup of tea, so the whole day becomes out of step and we can’t seem to find the rhythm again. The Lord understands this completely and his word is littered with people, and events that we can turn to for help, and He has been challenging me about this over the last few weeks. 

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT) the secret of dealing with change and challenge “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Sometimes its hard to just stop and accept that in every situation the strength of the Lord is so readily available to us, it is always there (just like water from the tap) we just have to let it flow. Paul learned that he could rely on the Lord to provide strength for everything he was facing. He learned that sometimes his prayers were answered and things changed, or sometimes they didn’t, but that the Lord works through everything to perfect us and help us to become the people and priesthood he wants us to be. 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 (NLT) "So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness’” I bet this is not what Paul wanted to hear at first, after all he prayed 3 times for the situation to change, and we all know God could have taken the thorn away in a heartbeat, but there was a greater truth and work of perfection that the Lord wanted to work out in Paul’s life. To learn that in all things God's strength to endure was more valuable than instant relief. A hard lesson but a valuable one, one that gives us the tools to cope with anything. If we only get what we want when we want it, we do not learn dependence on the Lord, or patience, or the ability to wait on the Lord to get his perspective on what He wants for our lives. In other words, we skip out on a vital part of our spiritual development, ‘endurance’. As Paul says “so now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That is why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and the insults, hardships, persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT).

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The other thing the Lord has been showing me is that worshipping him is not governed by circumstance, health, geography or feelings. If there is one lesson that has come out of the pandemic for me it is to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth.  I know I have spoken about this before, but the Lord has had to bring me back again recently to the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman as they talked together at the well. We all know the account; she was arguing with Jesus about the correct place to worship. Jews say Jerusalem and Samaritans say Mount Gerizim. It had been the bone of contention between them for ages. But Jesus words to her are the same as his words to me all through the pandemic and beyond. John 4:23-24 (NLT) “The time is coming – indeed it’s here now – when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Just like my dear mom lost beneath the side buffers unable to see where she is and with a total loss of perspective, I often find myself `lost` in events, circumstances, geography and feeling which, I allow to affect my worship. The Lord has had to remind me so much of this again recently.  Jesus said clearly that those that worship God, must worship only in spirit and truth. What then do we need to worship God? It`s not the right music, the right environment, a good voice, or even feeling in a worshipful frame of mind. No, its focussing on who He is and connecting our spirit with His spirit and allowing the life of God to flow between us. Worship is so natural when we do this, and not necessarily anything to do with singing. It’s a deep adoration and thankfulness for who He is. Our spirit worshiping/connecting with His spirit. And as Jesus himself said this often stems from a revelation from Gods word. His word is truth. So, all we need to live in true worship is to connect to God's spirit by accessing the truth contained in His word. This very thing lifts our spiritual head up to see the place where we are fully, rather than just a view of the ceiling (like my poor mom) we gain perspective. So just like Paul we can say; “I have learned the secret of living in every situation”. Nothing can affect our worship and connection to the Lord when we worship only in spirit and in truth. There is a wonderful line in Psalm 42:7 "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls”. I`m never too sure what was in the psalmist mind as he wrote this, but to me it says that the deepness of God spirit calls to the deepness of my spirit and the roar of the splendour of that drowns out all the barriers of life, circumstance, illness, mental impairment, and anything else you would like to put in this list. Pure connection with the immortal, invisible God. Spirit and truth! And from this position of worship, we always have a true (God's) perspective on life.  

Thank you Lord!!

Author: Jan Pearson

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Voices

How is our voice shaped by the journey that we are taking with the Lord and how He is speaking to us?

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I suppose we remember certain voices in our generation – or even in past generations now we have the ability to record sound and video and see and hear what “great men” have said. When they hear the words “I have a dream”, most people in my generation will not need to be prompted a second time. Martin Luther King’s speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963 is a once in a lifetime landmark remembered by people across the world. Equally for people of my father’s generation in the UK “we shall fight them on the beaches” is a reminder of the tremendous boost that Sir Winston Churchill gave the country in the dark days of the battle for France (this speech was given to parliament on 4 June 1940).

Some voices remain in our heads – those of loved ones, friends, teachers and other people who have been significant to us in some way. Two that I remember at a church that I went to in my teens were an elderly lady that now and again gave exhortations starting “my child”. This “first person” voice that she used to encourage, support and challenge the saints in that church always felt deeply personal, and it was always very moving to hear the word of the Lord come across in that way. No matter what – even in rebuke – the voice was dripping with love and compassion and melted your heart with a desire to please Jesus. Another person – an older man in the same church – used to pray about God’s faithfulness. He would relate stories about normal happenings being at home alone in “his little flat” and all of a sudden “Great Scott” he would say “I realised that the Lord was right there with me”. He found the Lord present in the smallest things and his voice was full of gratitude and love for the saviour who has promised never to leave us or forsake us (his favourite verse).

The Old Testament prophets all have a specific voice. Yes, they gave out the same kinds of warnings – to Israel with warnings about their unfaithfulness and lack of love for the one who had chosen them as His special people, and to other nations about, for example, the fact that they had enjoyed and been over-zealous when God chose them to discipline His Israel. But they also had a unique voice – one which betrays their own relationship with God at the time, maybe their background and personality and why the Lord called them to be the bearer of a particular message. Here are a few thoughts and a bit of a summary of a recent journey through Habakkuk:

The prophet starts with a question which is prompted by seeing the sin and corruption of God’s people through the eyes of the Lord Himself. He is seeing the revelation but doesn’t know what to do with it. He asks the Lord why He has shown him this distress yet is apparently doing nothing to help those who are injured by it? He asks the Lord – having shown me the problem why don’t You answer my prayer for justice and mercy for the poor and exploited and downtrodden? The Lord does answer and promises unbelievable events in the prophet’s lifetime that will completely destroy the status quo.

The prophet carries on asking questions because there only seems to be evil upon evil: “But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?” (Habakkuk 1:13)

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Still not understanding the ways of the Almighty the prophet determines to play his part and “stand his watch”. Habakkuk 2:1: “I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint”. He knows that if he is faithful to his calling and patient, the Lord will correct his lack of understanding and wrong assumptions about what is going on. The Lord gets the prophet to write down the vision as a test and testimony:

The Lord gave me this answer: “Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed. “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

The Lord counsels patience and gets Habakkuk to wait on Him for the fulfilment – for the promise is that it will not wait for ever. The prophet’s expectation is that the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise is imminent and will come suddenly. The Lord’s expectation of the prophet is that he will wait in faith and not trust to his own devices. Maybe there is a temptation to “tweak” the word a bit so as to make it a little more ambiguous? Maybe there is a temptation to get stuck in and try and do a bit of manipulation in the meanwhile – he is warned that such things are done in pride and vary from an upright path – “The just shall live by faith” (No plan B).

The Lord now shows Habakkuk a number of things that characterise the evil that His heart abhors. Habakkuk understands the significance of what he is shown and is afraid. He understands the consequences of the evil committed by God’s people and that their suffering will be for a duration. Yet his prayer is for the Lord to limit the time of discipline and for there to be glory and respite in it – a time not only of hardship but also of renewal and revival brought about by a fresh revelation. He waits for the redemption of the Lord with faith and hope in the middle of what is happening to the contrary.

You could say that Habakkuk’s conclusion shows him to be in a new place. His various prayers have turned to praise and trust, and he finishes with this well-known song of praise (Habakkuk 3:17–19):

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the olive tree may fail, and the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.

Like the other prophets, Habakkuk’s journey with the Lord shaped his message and “voice” to the people around him. How is our voice shaped by the journey that we are taking with the Lord and how He is speaking to us? Our audience may not be equivalent to Martin Luther King’s, Churchill’s or Habakkuk’s but we are probably in a position to leave a lasting impression on many like the two people did for me as a teenager all those years ago.

Habakkuk clearly went from being full of questions and perhaps doubts through an experience with the Lord where He knew that nothing else counted except his hope and trust in his Saviour. Although he had a sober message to share about discipline and suffering, and his understanding was still not perfect, he could not help but burst out: “I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation”! It is clear that the Lord does not despise or discourage the prophet’s prayers or questions but the answers that appear to shape his message and change its character do not come from direct answers to them, but a deeper relationship with the Lord and who he is. A big part of Habakkuk’s story is that journey. 

O Lord make my “voice” to the people that I know ring with your presence rather than my pride – for then my soul would depend on me and not be upright within me – for the just shall live by faith and their path will shine more and more unto the perfect day!

Author: Chris Pearson

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Our Lord Jesus in the midst of the storm - Do not be afraid

The more time we spend in the presence of God and His word, the more our faith develops and our fear will diminish

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We all experience fear from time to time, in some cases fear can protect us, we are always told to use caution when crossing a busy road, we are told to keep from putting our hands on a hot stove and radiators, especially young children.

We are reminded to wear seatbelts when we are in cars. But fear turns into sin when we surrender to it. When fear becomes our daily master we are spiritually locked in a self imposed mindset prison. It constantly affects our relationship, our perceptions and even our health. When we allow fear to control us it deteriorates our relationship with God. God does not harshly chastise us for our fears, but redirects our attention of faith in Him.

God wants us to turn from our fear and instead embrace our faith in Him. God wants us to stop and see what has been feeding our fears - the people who influence us, the thought patterns we generate, or the ungodly goals we chase, turning away from them as we focus on Him.

In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul reminds us, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind". The spirit of fear is not from God. When we neglect our relationship with God, this spirit of fear can easily dominate our lives, but when we focus on the promises of God in His word, we can defeat that spirit of fear.

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Psalm 112:6-8 (Paraphrased) A righteous God-fearing life will lead to victory over sinful fear, surely He will never be shaken. A righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord his heart is secure. He will have no fear in the end, he will look in triumph on his enemies.

What we feed our minds and hearts will determine whether we live a life of faith or fear. Do we spend more time reading newspapers or watching television on the financial turbulence, natural disasters and crimes of this world, or do we focus on the means of our hope and salvation in the word of God? Do we spend more time listening to encouragement from Christians, or to pessimistic views of this world? The more time we spend in the presence of God and His word, the more our faith develops and our fear will diminish.

We read in Matthew 8:23-27 In the midst of a hostile storm, the fearful disciples woke Jesus. They were scared not only because the storm came on them in the darkest hour of night but also fear of losing their lives. Jesus not only calmed the storm, Jesus paused to challenge/rebuke the disciples. He was more concerned with their lack of faith in Him, than the tossing from the wind and waves. He knew the greater lesson would be learned in the midst of the storm before He stilled the waves.

What lesson was Jesus trying to teach? Faith in God conquers fear every time. The God who has redeemed us and cares for us, is trustworthy. Our creator God will never abandon us and He has our best interest at heart.

Psalm 46:1-5 God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and though the mountain be carried in the midst of the sea. Though it's waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shakes with it's swelling. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved, God shall help her just at the break of dawn.

Do you feel like you are drowning today? Maybe your savings are washed out, your relationship is sinking, or your health is failing. Yet God is in the midst of the storm with you. While Jesus has not promised us a life of smooth sailing, He promised that He will see us safely to the shore.  

Praise God today for His faithful love. Let us turn from our anxieties and dwell on the promises of God.

Author: Herbert Jean

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Surprised by the Truth

We can face the future because God is in control

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These recent months have seen joyful anticipation of our Queen’s platinum jubilee, lessening of Covid 19 and the horrors of the war against Ukraine.

I have been helped by the C of E Bible Study notes: “Live Lent, Embracing Justice”. They have been very relevant and instructive. I shouldn’t be surprised, the Bible is full of history and prophecy. ”You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.” Matthew 24:6

Many of us fear whether we would maintain our faith in God in an extreme situation. The royalist side in the English civil war was romanticised, especially after the Restoration in 1660. Richard and I both had ancestors in villages near Edgehill where people were caught in the crossfire and pillaged by both sides, who both claimed the victory.

In 1649 my ancestor (who was a tailor and parish clerk) had a twin who was butler at a manor house where, rumour has it, Cromwell stayed. On his sudden departure, Cromwell left behind some used pewter ware. Maybe a “tactical withdrawal”, or couldn’t pay the bill?  A far cry from, ‘being born with a silver spoon in your mouth’. If we could re-write our own history there is a lot we would alter or leave out!

In the 1941 Preface to The Screwtape Letters’, CS Lewis says: ”Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed to be true even from his own angle….the history of the European War, except in so far as it happens now and then to impinge upon the spiritual condition of one human being, was obviously of no interest to Screwtape.”

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The Bible contains lots of information that you would not expect to be included. For example, in Acts 12:11-15.  Peter, being set free by an angel, walks to the house of John Mark’s mother and then knocks on the door. The servant girl, Rhoda, is so surprised to hear his voice, that she forgets to open the door and rushes back to tell the others gathered in the house to pray; they think she is mad! This detail makes it very convincing to me – I can see Rhoda in myself. God’s plan still happens, despite our human failings.  

We all want to stand firm in our faith, especially in these challenging times when people may come to us and ask for advice. The Bible is given to us by God, it’s not the story we might have chosen to write. When our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, he left behind, not used pewter plates, but His Holy Spirit to guide and counsel us. “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” John 14:18

We can face the future because God is in control. Jesus says, “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)   

And in Revelation 12: 

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.

Author: Mandy Windridge

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Promotion to the Kingdom

It is possible to be promoted from living in this world’s darkness to the Kingdom where Jesus rules – a kingdom of light, life and peace; a kingdom of faith, hope and love

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When I worked in the health service there were many reorganizations. In the first one that I experienced I was stunned by the turmoil that it brought to our lives – people not sure whether their jobs were “safe”, people worried about the future, whole organisations disappearing and new ones starting, people applying for their own jobs, and even some in more favourable positions taking revenge on others who they didn’t like. What a mess! In the middle of all of this one person stood out to me. She was in a low management grade and in the space of 6 months managed to jump 4 levels to become a senior manager – achieved I think by managing to apply for the right job at the right time in all of the turmoil. In other words, she was rapidly promoted to great things …

I thought of this person after our Good Friday service recently, where we read Luke 23 (verse 33, 34 & 39-43) together. This is what we read:

“When they came to the place called “The Skull,” they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing” … One of the criminals hanging there, hurled insults at him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, “Don't you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!” Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”

It’s the familiar story of the two “criminals” on the cross which I have thought of before and even heard preached on. This time though, I read the account and was amazed. Whether the first one raged at Jesus in fear, anger or torment I guess we will never know but look at the response of the other one. What revelation and insight this man had in his dying hours! It really reminded me of the story of Moses in the desert when the Israelites had again displeased the Lord. A plague of vipers had started to wipe them out and the Lord told Moses to make a bronze serpent that everyone who looked at it and believed could be saved.

In John 3:14-17 Jesus refers to the incident:
“As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its saviour”.

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So here it was - on Good Friday Jesus being lifted up from the earth on a pole and the second “criminal” seeing and believing and receiving a revelation from the Lord – and also an answer from Jesus. “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.” Wow what a promotion! From a cross to Glory in a few hours. A team of us visit a local prison and we have heard so many life stories there. We do not know what life story this particular “criminal” had, nor what circumstances had brought him to the cross - but we do know that he will be forever grateful for being there at that hour and that time.

It wasn’t just the other criminal who was raging at Jesus – so was the whole world! The mob, the priests and religious leaders, the soldiers, the political authorities, every demon in hell. The disciples were in disarray, having fled from the garden of Gethsemane, Judas had betrayed Him, Peter had denied Him, Herod had mocked Him, Pilate had scorned Him. 

In the middle of it all – the shame, the pain, the humiliation, the perversity, the corruption, the weight of sin His Father turning His back - a criminal dying on a cross has the revelation that this is the spotless Lamb of God dying for the sins of the world. And Jesus gives him His undevoted attention to reassure him that, that mustard seed of faith is enough. Looking at the image of sin on the pole and believing in this God-given means of salvation is enough! It is enough not only for the dying criminal, not only the world of that day but to all who will believe in Him for as long as this world exists … 

The thief was in that moment promoted into a kingdom and acceptance that he had never known before – and soon after he was promoted to glory and Jesus kept His word. What a promotion – not by human efforts but by the offering that paid our sin-debt and set us free. That criminal that day was the first to be promoted by the offering of Jesus on the cross but many have followed in his path. It is possible to be promoted from living in this world’s darkness to the Kingdom where Jesus rules – a kingdom of light, life and peace; a kingdom of faith, hope and love.

However, whereas a big promotion in this world brings with it (maybe) a better standard of living, the ability to boss people around and more security in life, the promotion that Jesus offers does not bring that. The thief had to bear the pain and experience his life come to an end on the cross – Jesus did not deliver him from that fate. This is what Paul says about his experience of being promoted to God’s Kingdom, becoming one of the foremost New Testament writers and someone God used a lot:

11 … I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me (Philippians 4:11-13).

Promotion to the Kingdom where Jesus rules operates on different rules – Jesus said that he who wants to lead must become servant of all. We don’t gain rights and power in a worldly sense but we do “have the right to be called children of God”. We have access to understanding God’s purposes and character, we have access to partake of His divine nature the more that we allow Him to live through us. This promotion makes us slaves who have sold ourselves to Jesus – we live no longer for ourselves bur “for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us”. Here is what the promise of our promotion is (1 Corinthians 2):

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man understood the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God … 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Author: Chris Pearson

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