Conformity.

Today, as many will know, is St Andrew's Day. St Andrew is the patron saint of a number of countries, one of which is Scotland. The Free Church of Scotland called for this St Andrew's Day to be a national day of Prayer - for the nation of Scotland, but also for the world in general. I know that I was not alone in spending some of today in prayer for Scotland, the rest of the UK and, of course, France.

The denomination kindly provided some specific prayer points that I certainly found to be very helpful.  However, one "bullet point" jumped out at me.  It stated: "Confess sins of conformity to the world and failing to prioritise Jesus Christ over all the world."

I have no doubt that a well-known verse from the Scriptures of the New Testament were in the mind of the person(s) who decided to provide that particular point. Paul, writing to the early disciples of Jesus in the 1st century city of Rome, encouraged them to "... not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom 12:2). How often I allow myself to conform in this way, and it is right and proper that I should confess to that, and receive the forgiveness of Father God that has already been gained for me through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus as He paid the penalty for my sins.

However, I remembered that Paul had already written about "conforming", in that same letter. A little earlier he had explained to his fellow-believers that "... those whom He [Father God] foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He [the Son; the Lord Jesus] might be the first-born among many brethren." (Rom 8:29; emphasis added).

So, it would appear that it is not "conforming" that is the problem - but to Whom, or to what, we conform!

Last evening, we had a number of friends join with us for dinner.  The gathered company included a little boy who is about 18 months old. He and I had great fun - if I did something, he would copy me. One might say that he was "conforming" to what he saw me do. It's a perfectly normal reaction in a child - copying what an adult does. It's how we learn in the early days of our human lives.

What a difference it would make in, and to, my life if I was to be as faithful in copying Jesus as that little boy was in copying me last evening! Yet Paul says that this is what I have been predestined to do! Now, I can accept that - and despair. I can look at myself, and easily recognise how poor a copy of Jesus I am! However, I can also accept that, if Father God has said that I shall be like the Son - then I shall be! The transformation will not be completed until I reach Glory - but the process is already in operation! As a friend from 'way back used to put it - "I'm still a work in progress"! (For more on this - what theologians refer to as "Sanctification" - read my book "Great Words of the Faith"; details above!).

So, to Whom, or to what, do you conform - or, at least, seek to conform? It's a question that only you can answer - but it's a question, the answer to which has eternal consequences!

Life - to death - to life!

A caterpillar appears to live a life of perfect contentment - provided it doesn't become a quick snack for a passing bird!     However, the life it leads is totally mundane when compared to the life that is to come as a butterfly.  This video clip shows the metamorphosis that takes place as one creature changes into another.

Wasn't that amazing?  It is also, of course, an illustration of what happens to the disciple of Jesus when (s)he reaches the end of this mortal life - either through physical death, or at the rapture.   John writes: "Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (I John 3:2); while Paul writes: "So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body." (I Cor 15:42-44)
 

The true disciple of Jesus has an eternal destiny in which (s)he will have a glorious, spiritual, body that is yet 'connected' to the physical body in which they lived out their mortal lives.  The transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly is amazing - indeed, beyond comprehension.  The transformation of the believer into a heavenly being, is a trillion times more wonderful!   But although all will live through eternity, only those who have acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus in their lives, will live with Him.  For those who reject, or even neglect, Him, there is only the prospect of eternity without Him.

Have you made your choice?

Real treasure.

This morning, my personal devotions were centred on Matt.10:16-41 - a passage that concerns the persecution that the disciple of Jesus will face.  Then, in my mail, I received a communication from Open Doors (see My Favourite Links, below) that contained a drawing by a 13-year-old Syrian girl, which she produced during trauma counselling.  In the drawing, she expresses the dreadful situation in that country with harrowing images of death and violence.  However, she also brings out her trust in the protection, and the promises, of the Lord.  Alongside the drawings of tanks, and of dead bodies and blood, was one item that particularly caught my eye.  It is the drawing of an open treasure chest, filled with gold - and with a copy of the Bible sitting on the top!  This child is obviously well aware that the written Word of God is of more value than all of the gold that this planet Earth contains.

I also received my copy of the bi-monthly International Prayer Bulletin (issue 320 - meaning that it has been faithfully published for more than half-a-century!).  In it, I was advised of the current amazing move of God among Muslims.  For example, over the past seven years, some 6,000 new Christian communities have been established in 18 African countries - among Muslim tribes!  Missions expert Jerry Trousdale, in his book Miraculous Movements (Thomas Nelson, 2012), reckons that upward of 200,000 Muslims have come to a saving faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, in that time.  Hallelujah!

Trousdale also tells the story (one of many!) of a group of Christian leaders who were gathered for a meeting in a mountain retreat.  While they were praying at mid-day, several Muslim leaders suddenly appeared and surrounded them.  The group was justifiably concerned - but kept on praying.  When they had finished, the group surrounding them approached.  They were from a distant region, and they had come with their Imam (a spiritual leader) with a request.  

"Please," they said, we have not come to harm you.  But we have a request.  Please send us the Storytellers!"  These Muslim leaders had observed other communities in their area in which many had become followers of Jesus, and they had noticed a dramatic change in people's lives - broken families now in unity; a sense of love and compassion among the people; an ending to old hostilities and vendettas - and they wanted the same thing in their own community.

Jerry Trousdale says, "It's not about telling them, 'this is the wrong thing' or, 'that is the right thing'.  It's about sharing the Word of God with them, letting them discover God.  And, once they want to obey it, they have no choice.  It is the true freedom of God; it is the whole freedom. ... You just teach people to obey Him, and they will then make their choices."

So, the bottom line seems to be that the people stop doing what they used to do because they want to obey the Lord Jesus; not because they want to be religious people.  It is true Gospel transformation!

Of course, one doesn't have to be an African Muslim in order to experience this life-changing miracle.  It's available to all who will come to Jesus, confessing their sins, and their inability to do anything about them; repenting; accepting the wonderful offer of salvation that He won for us on the cross at Calvary; and living our lives in obedience to Him, Whom to serve is freedom indeed!