Worth remembering!

"No matter how dark the day,God always gives His people the bright light of His promises." (Warren Wiersbe)
"... we don't have to explain the will of God before we can obey it." (Warren Wiersbe)
"Always remember - God's clock is neither fast nor slow!" (Rev. Andrew Macbeath, former Principal of The Bible Training Institute, Glasgow).

Prayer

I haven't long returned from our monthly Prayer Meeting in Liberty Community Church, and I'd been talking to my good friend Mark as we had a wee cuppa afterwards. This musing is based on some of what we shared together.
When we pray, we are not seeking to change God's will and purpose. That is already set - not in the fatalistic manner that is taught in, e.g. Islam, but because, from His "vantage point" of eternity (which is outwith our time dimension) He sees the end from the beginning. He knows the choices that I will make long before I make them, but my choices never thwart His will. If I am disobedient (or just plain stupid!) and fail to act in accordance with His will, then someone else will do so - but I will have lost the blessing that would have been mine. But He is sovereign, and the fulfilment of His purposes is assured.
So what that means is that prayer is actually about changing me!! It's making me conform to His will so that I will be His faithful servant.
The difficulty is praying. Oh, I can intercede for my family and friends, and for the persecuted church. I can go through the various Prayer Guides that I use. But is that all that there is to prayer? Is it no more than a sort of spiritual shopping-list? The praying that I want to experience is the praying that is the result of an ever-deepening relationship with my Father God. And I'm happy to accept any genuine, and useful, advice!!

Epiphany

Tomorrow, Sunday, is Epiphany in the Christian church calendar. This is the day on which the coming of the Magi (the Wise Men of Matthew 2) to the infant Jesus is celebrated and it is, traditionally, the twelfth day of the Christmas season. The word "epiphany" comes from a Greek root that may be translated "the appearing", and thus refers to the appearance of the Saviour ot the Gentiles (non-Jews). All of this, of course, explains why the Magi are not a genuine part of the traditional nativity play stable scene; nor a proper subject for the traditional Christmas card!! It might also be noticed that there is no mention of three Magi - indeed, the only clue that we have as to the number is that it was more than one!
But the story is recorded, not merely that folk might have scholarly discussions on the meaning of the word, but that we might learn from it. In this wee musing (more of a message!), may I suggest that we may learn from the gifts that Matthew records as having been brought by the Magi - the three gifts that have led generations of readers and hearers to assume that there were three men!
The first gift that was brought was gold - and in giving that particular substance, the Magi were acknowledging Jesus as Master. Gold has been, throughout most of recorded history, the symbol of kingship and authority and, as such, was most fitting for the King of kings - even if a strange gift to bring to an apparently illegitimate Jewish baby! But it is, indeed, the offering that He deserves. It is the very best that man can offer. And it reminds us of the obedience that He demands. This is not merely an infant, but the One born to be King - and not by force, but by love; not from a throne, but from a cross; not over a clearly defined territory, but over the hearts and minds of those who are prepared to, like the Magi, acknowledge His Kingship. This, of course, is no mere lip-service, but total and unequivocal commitment to Him. Little wonder that so relatively few are prepared to accept Him on His terms!
The second gift was frankincense, and this was the gift for a priest. As such, it reminds us that the Magi were acknowledging Jesus as Mediator. This is the great function of a priest - to mediate (be the "go-between") between God and man (using the term generically!!). In other words, the ministry of a priest is one of reconciliation. So the apostle Paul is able to write to the fellowship of Christian believers in Corinth that "... God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them." It wasn't God Who fouled things up at the beginning - it was mankind. But only God could bridge the gap, and He did it in the Person of the Son (look out for a future post in which I'll try to explain the Christian doctine of the Trinity!! Definitely worth coming back for!). Of course, a priest doesn't just represent man before God; he is also used, by God, to convey the means of grace to man through the Word and the Sacrament. Jesus, of course, is the "Word made flesh"; His was the broken Body, the shed Blood. All the resources of God are found in Him, and in Him alone. He is the "... one Mediator Who can reconcile God and humanity." (I Tim.2:5).
Master; Mediator, and Man of Sorrows. That was the significance of the myrhh. It was used in the embalming of the dead - and this Infant came to die; despised and rejected by the very people Whom He came to save. We might consider the price paid for us. Not of wealth, or possessions, but the very Life of God the Son, nailed to a cross. We might also consider the promise made to us. In fact, there are many promises made to the true child of God, but I'm thinking of one in particular. As He left our dimensions of time and space, and returned to that "light inaccessible, hid from our eyes" that is beyond our experience and understanding, angelic beings assured the watching disciples that "... some day He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go." (Acts 1:11). That is the great hope and expectation of the believer - not that He revealed Himself some 2,000 years ago, but that He will reveal Himself again, in majesty and power. May each one of us be prepared for His return, and welcome Him with joyful hearts.

Jeremiah speaks today!!

For my private devotions (what older Christians used to refer to as their "Quiet Time"), I've been reading for some time now, in the Old Testament book of the prophet Jeremiah. Over and over again, I've been struck by the relevance of that record for the UK - and many other countries - today. However, this morning, I was particularly struck by a comment by Warren Wiersbe. Writing on Chap. 38, he has this to say: "Sometimes God judges a sinful nation by sending them weak leaders who are hesitant and vacillating and whose leadership (or lack of it) plunges the nation only deeper into trouble. 'I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them' (Isaiah 3:4). The late John F. Kennedy put it this way: 'We, the people, are the boss, and we get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we deserve'."
As I look at the current administration in Westminster, and the way in which the current Prime Minister has acted over recent months, I cannot help but sense that this may, indeed, be part of the judgement of Almighty God on this nation that has, by its unchallenging acceptance of the policies that have been enacted by Mr Blair's administration, with the tacit support of Mr Brown, flown directly in the face of God's Word.
However, the message of Jeremiah is that there is always hope for those who repent, and turn again to the Living God. 2008 has been designated the Year of HOPE by a number of major Christian agencies and organisations. As you have the opportunity to be involved in any of the HOPE 2008 initiatives (www.hope08.com), please do so - and take to heart the words of II Chron. 7:14 "... if my people, who are called by my Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and restore their land."

Happy New Year!

"I said the man at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown'. He said, 'Put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light,and safer that a known way.'"
"Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future: faith is having the courage to dance to it today." (Peter Kusmic; Christian evangelist).
"Courage is not the absence of fear; it's the conquest of it!" (Bob Gass; Christian publisher)