Majestic. A Prayer

Posted on July 8, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Lord as the Psalmist looked at creation he cried out,

LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Lord like him when I look at creation I see how majestic you are.

Lord when I look at the waves of the sea braking upon the shore, I see how majestic you are. When I look around and see the distant horizon I see your majesty.

When I see the grandeur of the mountains I see your majesty and yet I also see your majestic wisdom in all the little things you have created.

Lord my heart cries out you are majestic when I read the story contained in your word, here I see more clearly that you are my Lord. As I read the story it has a complex plot but it leads me to the Saviour and the glories of your grace. When I look at Jesus his majesty concealed, living dying and rising again, I can not take it in. I see the Lord of glory suffering for my sin. But on the first Easter day, he triumphs over sin and death as he emerges from the grave, the work of salvation is completed. My whole being says Lord Jesus how majestic you are.

Salvation is by grace alone, Lord that comforts me and I look up to you who is the majestic one for all eternity.

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The Weakness of Man and the Power of God

Posted on July 6, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

We often feel our own weakness and our inability to accomplish what we want to do. Sometimes when we feel like this we look at the awesome power and greatness of God and we feel that such a great God would have nothing to do with us after all he is the exalted one sitting on the throne steering providence and making sure that the universe runs rightly. To fall into such a trap is to fail to realize how God made us and how he relates to us. I want to look at some elements of our weakness and how the power of God relates to us.

Creation: When God created us, he made us to be finite beings to relate to him and to depend upon him. God is and always will be our creator and therefore he is the only one who is infinite. But unfallen man had fellowship with the Lord in an intimate way and he was created to be God’s steward of creation. Man is created to relate to God, this does not make God smaller but rather shows something of his infinite goodness.

The Fall and its consequences: Humankind has asserted its own independence of God and however one interprets the opening chapters of Genesis, we see that humankind has parted from the fellowship it once had with God because of rebellion against God. the Fall brought an increase of human weakness because mankind in his sin began to know the consequences of his rebellion through the entry of discord in human relationships, the presence of sin and creation itself suffering because of man’s rebellion. Yet it is in Genesis 3 that we also see the first promise of redemption. God was not going to let go of his creation but was going to create a way back to himself because he longed for fellowship with his creation and especially humankind who he had created in his own image. Throughout the bible we see the consequences of sin and the redeeming hand of god at work at the same time. Look at the history of the exodus or the exile and return from exile and you will see the twin themes of love and holiness, judgement and grace and wrath and mercy. The Apostle Paul spell out the consequences of sin in the first three chapters of the book of Romans. We would all be  under the sentence of condemnation if it wer not for the work of Christ.

Sin has brought with it all sorts of consequences which have weakened humankind morally, physically and spiritually, The result of which makes us realize that a gulf exists between us and the Lord. The apostle Paul says,

And you, although you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath by nature, as also the rest of them were. Ephesians 2:1-3

The description here of our state as fallen being outside of Christ is vivid and illustrates our dire need of salvation. Spiritual death is now the natural state of humankind and we can see the consequences of that spiritual death all around us. We have harmed ourselves, we have harmed ourselves, and we have harmed God’s beautiful Creation. Thankfully that is not the end of the story.

Redemption: God was not going allow his creation to perish under the load of sin, so as he had indicated from the beginning he was going to redeem it. This redemption was accomplished by his sending his son into the world to save it. We need to grasp the fact that The work of the Lord Jesus Christ is much greater than the salvation of humankind, through his life, death and resurrection the price was paid for the reconciliation of all things in Christ ( see Colossians 1:15-20). Having said that,I do want to concentrate here on god’s redemptive work for humankind.

The Scripture is quite clear that God was determined to save a people for himself, to that end Jesus came into this world. he took upon himself the curse and punishment for sin. In order that we might come back into a living relationship with God. When we realize that we  are sinners and that we stand condemned before almighty God, we also realize our own weakness because we are aware that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. But at his very point the Scriptures point us to what God in Christ has done for us, Paul in Romans shows the awful plight of humankind in the first three chapters but in chapters 4-8 he shows God’s solution. When we receive Christ as our Saviour we are justified freely by the grace of God. there is nothing we can do to save ourselves but at this point we learn the joyful news that Christ has paid the price for our salvation. In Christ’s work upon the Cross we find the all-sufficient substitute for sinners. As we receive that salvation for ourselves, we realize that God has brought his salvation to us, to liberate us from sin and death.

As we step into the new life that God has given us in Christ we soon realize that we are still weak people needing God’s power and strength. When we are born again the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us and as we rely on his power, we are able to lead holy lives. We find that we are weak at every step of the way and yet at the same time through the Holy Spirit we can be strengthened. The fruit,gifts and power of the Holy Spirit are given to us so that we can live a life that glorifies God. Paradoxically it is only as we realize our own weakness that we depend upon God and realize his power working in us. We will always be dependent upon the grace and power of God and we will come to know that God views us as his children adopted into his family and that gives us boldness to come before God in all our weakness to seek his strength and power. Our Father God loves us in an intimate way and he has provided all we need for life and godliness in Christ Jesus. Both the Father and his Son have sent the Holy spirit to empower us and to make salvation real to us. We will glory in the cross of Christ because it is the only hope for salvation and we will see that behind that  cross is the love of God the Father.

 Consummation: When Christ comes again in glory we will know the final deliverance from the curse of sin and whole of the created order will be renewed. In the new heaven and earth although we will be sinless, we will still be finite and we will realize joyfully that we will depend God for all that is good throughout eternity. we will serve him perfectly in his power, worship in the spirit in a way that we have never known before and throughout eternity we will acknowledge that our salvation comes from the Lamb who sits on the throne.

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The Lordship of Jesus Christ Part 4: The Church

Posted on June 29, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Jesus claims the church to be his Church, we see this perhaps most clearly when Peter made his great confession of who Jesus,

13 Now when* Jesus came to the region of Caesarea ⌊Philippi⌋, he began asking* his disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, ⌊Some⌋ say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 And Simon Peter answered and* said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” 17 And Jesus answered and* said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this* to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it! 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven.” 20 Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ. Matthew 16

Jesus said he would build his church, not a Baptist,Anglican, Catholic or Charismatic church but his church. We so often refer to the church as our church, I am convinced that this is a great mistake. The Church was redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and is therefore his, it is also part of his eternal plan. The church of Christ is not some plan b in God’s purposes but right at the centre of his covenant purposes. Many years ago as a young pastor I used to pray for our church, the Lord showed me that I should be praying using the term, your church. As soon as you start praying for the Lord’s church it starts to challenge our self-centered mentality. We begin to realize that Jesus really is the Lord and we must submit to his purposes. I believe this conscious act of submitting to Christ will help us to discern his will in all areas of our church life. For instance how does the Lord want to use the finances that the church receives? We should be seeking his will in this area as well as in the areas of mission and the vision of the local church.

The Great Commission: The words of Jesus as he gave the great commission are familiar to us,but do we really hear them?  Lets look at them again,

18 And Jesus approached and* spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go* and* make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.” Matthew 28

We tend to focus on the things we are called to do but we often miss what Jesus is saying. Notice firstly, we are to go because Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. In other words we don’t carry out the mission of the church in our own authority but in HIS. This is fundamental to our understanding of our mission as the church because we are called to step out in his authority. We also need to notice that the great commission closes with a promise of the presence of the Lord. If we really grasp these two facts then we will realize that we need to consciously submit to the Lord as he calls us to mission. to try to accomplish the mission of the church without this perspective is bound to lead to failure and frustration.

The Lordship of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit: Jesus promised in several places that he would send the Holy Spirit to empower,teach and lead his church. We see this in John’s gospel chapters 14-16 and in his promise to the disciples at the beginning of the book of Acts. In Acts Jesus say this,

“Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised by the Father, which you heard about from me. 5 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit ⌊not many days from now⌋.”

The promised baptism of the Spirit was vital to the beginning of the churches existence and we need that seem empowering for mission today. this means that we need to be open to what the Holy Spirit is doing. We tend to shackle the Holy spirit by our traditions and this grieves him, we need to see that when the spirit works he will always glorify Jesus. We need to be open to all the diverse gifts of the Spirit because he has given these gifts to us to enable us to accomplish his purposes. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be used in love to build the church (see Romans 12 and ! Corinthians 12-14).  As we manifest the gifts of the spirit in love, we will also be growing in the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Worship: Worship is at the heart of the life of the Church, the Scriptures in their entirety call us to worship God. Our worship sometimes will be full of exuberant praise, at other times it will be more gentle as we kneel before our saviour with awe filled hearts. I do not want to say a lot about worship as I have already posted articles on this subject. But none of the above can be accomplished if we do not have worshiping hearts.

Fellowship: As we submit to our king, we will also seek to share with our brothers and sisters with open hearts. We are called to love our fellow Christians and to help them carry their burdens A church without loving fellowship is a church that is barren and unproductive. A church filled with love will be a dynamic witness to the world, it was said of the early church “behold how they love one another”. The world needs to see that within the church there is real love being demonstrated.

Discipleship:We all need to become life long disciples of Christ growing in our knowledge of him and his word. None of us will ever get to the situation that we have nothing us to learn, after all the riches of Christ are inexhaustible. Of course we need to make sure that new Christians are discipled, we need to teach them the basics of the Christian faith, this includes teaching fundamental doctrine but it must also include practical instruction about the Christian life.

Ministry: Every Christian has been given gifts of the Holy Spirit to be used for the benefit of the church. We need to encourage one another to discover the unique ministry that Christ has given us to exercise within the local church. There are such a diversity of needs and the Lord has called us to minister in these areas and he has given us the gifts to enable us minister in his power.

Evangelism: The church of Jesus must be an evangelizing church if it is to be obedient to its Lord and Saviour. There can be no doubt that as we look at our communities that so many need the love and grace of Jesus to transform their lives.

Conclusion: In every area of our Church life Jesus must have the supremacy, listen to the Apostle Paul as he writes to the Colossians,

18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.(Col 1:18)

Surely this sums it all up, we need to bow before our gracious,sovereign Lord and give him his rightful place in his Church

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Father For Revival Fires We Pray: A Prayer.

Posted on June 28, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Father for revival fires we pray,
come touch your church in a new way
so that many will see the glory of your name.

Jesus for revival fires we pray,
you died upon the cross to set us free,
you rose again and triumphed over Satan’s power,
reveal again your triumph in this day.

Jesus we acknowledge that you are Lord,
come reign in your church, break the bonds of tradition,
Lord Jesus, take the place of supremacy in your church
and we will worship you.

Holy Spirit, come fill us,empower us,
show us the Father’s love,Abba Father we will cry,
show us more of Jesus and his grace,
and enable us to witness to a broken world.

Lord we see so much that testifies to the power of sin,
but our  confidence is in you to overcome,
for you have triumphed over all that is evil,
we want to see the triumph of the cross today.

Lord make us pliable in your hands,
so that you can remake us in your image.
Lord the world needs to see Jesus,
may they see Jesus in me.

Father for revival fires we pray,
come melt our hearts today,
Let Jesus be glorified,
Come Holy Spirit do your work today.
Amen

Posted in Church, faith, filled with the Spirit, grace, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, Revival, Revival fires, Spiritual gifts, tradition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lordship of Jesus Christ Part 3: Culture,The Arts and Creativity

Posted on June 28, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

When we say that Jesus is Lord, we confess he is the Lord of everything and as our creator we should mirror his creativity.  In the recent past many Christians were held in bondage to legalism, we were told that godly people don’t go to the cinema, theater, or participate in ungodly amusements. We have reacted to this legalism by  embracing freedom but sometimes we wonder how to use that freedom. Is the only creativity valid for a christian that which is explicitly christian or is there a wider dimension to it all?

Creativity: Our starting point should be that all creativity reflects the creator, if this is so then as we create we will want to do so for the glory of God. when bach composed any piece of music he did so desiring to glorify God, this applies to his concertos as much to his religious music. Bach knew that he served Christ as Lord and therefore in all he did he wanted to reflect the beauty of the creator. Having a personal relationship with Jesus should make us more creative, we can cook,paint, compose music, write novels and plays all to the glory of Jesus. we don’t necessarily have to anything that shows that we are christian s  in what we do. Some people have felt that for a work to be christian it has to have a message that shows that it is christian, our creator has designed us to be creative in all that we do.

Culture: according to the Bible Christ is the transformer of culture. He is the one who we submit all our cultural endeavors to. We lament that this world is going to the devil but we fail to follow our master in creating good things. with all the musical ability we have in the christian community,surely we have the ability to compose wholesome pop songs and compose other types of music that reflects the creativity of our Saviour. If we are really to change our culture from the bottom up, we will need to serve the Lord in all of these areas. We must not narrow all of this down to evangelistic and prophetic creativity ( I am thankful for books such as “Born to Create” which demonstrates how God can use the arts to minister to people). We need to embrace the fact that God created us to enjoy life and to serve him in our culture by making things of beauty.

The Arts: I have said quite a bit about the arts above but I believe that we need to grasp a truth that Calvin demonstrates in his commentary on the book of Genesis and that is that all creativity is a gift of God’s common grace. If we see creativity as a gift of God then we will find a new found freedom to create. Several writers have dealt with thee issues in more depth, I would particularly to recommend the writings of Francis and Edith Scheaffer ,and those of H.R Rookmaaker, H Dooyeweerd and Richard Mouw.

In all that we do let us seek to live under the conscious acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ and as we do so we will show forth his beauty in a multitude of ways.

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I have a Glory in the Heavens: a song, a meditation and a prayer

Posted on June 27, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

 Song:
There is a glory in the heavens
I have a mighty, mighty Lord
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Meditation:
When I look to the heavens I see  the Lamb upon the throne, he reigns in Majesty,
Yet this majesty is different than the earthly type, he reigns in majestic love.
the Lamb excercises his power to protect his beloved bride for whom he died.
Although he is almighty God, he reigns in an intimate way in the hearts of his people.
Seated at his Fathers right hand he intercedes for his people.

This mighty one who loves his people,is my creator , the one who hold the universe together shows his love to me by going to the cross of Calvary, I can not describe his greatness because he is of matchless worth. My saviour, My God,My Lord and yet my Friend. When I look at the cross I feel shame for my sin, but he forgives me, how can this be!!

My confidence is this that I am saved by his amazing grace, I know I do not deserve to be loved, I deserve condemnation but I am united to Christ and therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

He calls me to love and serve him and even then gives me all the gifts I need through the power of the Holy Spirit. I long to discern his will so that I can reflect his love and glory. I know his call is on me life and he has blessed me in many ways.

Prayer:
Lord I see the glory of your power and might,
I see your love and it beckons me to come closer to you.
Lord in my fear, I tend to back off from you, Lord you are perfect love so cast out my fear.
Lord your word tells me that you want me to be like you and Lord that’s what I want too.
Lord come close to me,reveal yourself afresh to me so that I might share your love and grace with others. Lord fill afresh with your Holy Spirit, Lord I want toswim in the river of your love and grace.
O Lord reveal your love and grace to me so that I might know your glory.

Lord revive your Church,Lord awaken her to your love and grace.
Lord enable your Church to fulfill your great commission ,so that it can  reach the nations in Jesus name. Lord make your bride ready for the coming of her lover king.
Lord glorify your name in all the earth.
Amen

Posted in Anointing, body of Christ, Charismatic, filled with the Spirit, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Theology | Leave a comment

The Lordship of Jesus Christ Part 2 : The Lord of the State,Politics and Social Justice.

Posted on June 27, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Many Christians divorce their view of politics from their faith, this is a sad reflection upon the fact that many Christians don’t realize the claims of Jesus as Lord. Let me commence this discussion by looking at the issue of Patriotism.

Patriotism: So often we can be taken up with my country right or wrong attitudes. Sometimes our songs reflect this for example reflect this we sing unthinkingly songs such as “Rule Britannia” or ” And did those feet in ancient times” ( these are examples of UK songs) My question is should we as Christians be singing songs like this at all?  To my mind song like this try to make a claim to national supremacy. This can hardly be compatible with the vision that we are given in the Bible of God’s love for all mankind. When we read the prophetic books of the Old Testament we gain a different perspective, the prophets hold Israel accountable for its sin. This is what I call Critical Patriotism, there can be no doubt that the prophets loved Israel but they loved it too much it to leave the nation in its sin. We soon learn from reading Prophets like Amos how much God hated injustice. A Christian will naturally love the country that they were born in but we can not exalt the nation above the purposes of God. As a British citizen there is so much that I love about this country but I am also called to look at my nation through the lenses of Biblical revelation, being married to an American has at times challenged my perspectives on this land which is good.  Our uniqueness as nations is to be treasured as part of the rich tapestry of God’s creativity, any claim therefore to be superior to another nationality is invalid.

The State: The Bible shows us that the state is meant to uphold justice in all its relationships. Paul in Romans 13 shows that the State has the power of the sword to punish the wrong-doer, and to preserve law and order.  It is because humankind is created in the image of God that the Christian will seek to preserve life and not destroy it. The high value that God puts on life means that the Christian will oppose any program or policy that leads to the killing of the weak whether this be in programs of abortion or euthanasia. But this opposition must always be carried out in a loving way. The Christian is pro-life because he maintains that every individual is created in the image of God, this means that every individual is precious in god’s sight, and he alone has the right to decide when a person should die.

Ancient Israel in many of institutions shows us that God is concerned for the poor and needy, it is interesting to note how wealth was redistributed in  the year of the jubilee. Also the poor were to be provided for, laws for the poor to go gleaning are a good example. It is nor surprising therefore that some of us see the Biblical roots for the provision of free healthcare for all.  The Bible is no friend of untrammeled capitalism or of Marxism, but rather provides a third way, which reflects the love and justice of God.

We are called to bring a fresh perspective to social ethics and social philosophy, one that is rooted in a biblical world view, a lot of work has been done by research centers such as the Jubilee Centre in Cambridge UK.

I realize that this post does not do justice to all the issues involved but it is an overview of a Christian perspective on these important issues.

 

 

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The Lordship of Jesus Christ: Part 1 His Universal Lordship

Posted on June 26, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

The confession that Jesus is Lord has been at the centre of the Christian faith since its beginning, these next posts will be looking at aspects of that confession. I will commence by looking at the big picture of Christ’s universal Lordship and in succeeding posts I will look at how this applies to various aspects of life and our discipleship.

Jesus Christ is truly God as well as being truly man and as god he is the creator of all things, the Apostle Paul expresses this clearly in his letter to the Colossians,

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

In these verses Paul presents to us a magnificent picture of the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Here he is portrayed in all his glory as the creator God, the one who is supreme above all others. But he is not only the creator he is the one who sustains creation in its continued existence. If he was to cease holding creation together,it would cease to be. Paul could not be more explicit about the power and authority of Jesus Christ. If only we grasped the significance of these verses we would like Paul have a strong faith.  It is not surprising therefore that the early church could have confidence in the face of persecution, they knew who was in ultimate control, Jesus himself. The believers prayer in Acts 4 illustrates this for us,

23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“ ‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.’ b

27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

These  early disciple had no doubt who was in charge of history, they made no attempt to curtail the sovereignty of God but rather rejoiced in it.

The apostle John gives us another way to look at Jesus and the greatness of his person, when he describes Jesus as the word of God,

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Once again we see the clear affirmation that through Jesus all things were created, this shows us clearly that contrary to Greek though, creation is good. The Greek mentality tried to escape the physical and exalt the spiritual (this is evident in all forms of Platonism), sadly this attitude has infected Christianity. If Jesus Christ is the creator of the universe, then it must be good. This is not to deny the results of the fall but rather to affirm that when the great act of salvation is fully accomplished we will still be created,physical beings. The problem is not with creation as such but rather what humankind has doe to creation as a result of the fall.

When we see that Jesus is the creator it means that we must take seriosly the Cultural Mandate given in Genesis 1,

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Mankind was charged with the responsible stewardship of this earth, ruling here cannot mean exploitation because these word were given prior to the fall. We need to look at the world as the area where we are called to implement God’s good plans for the world. a logical development is that Christians should be concerned about the environment.

We as those who are called to serve God in this broken world should realize that God in Christ is concerned about every aspect of the life of this planet, not just some small spiritual aspect. Abraham Kuyper the great Dutch Theologian, Politician and educator, tirelessly claimed that every aspect of creation should be subject to Christ, we need to make this same affirmation.

This emphasis on the Lordship of Christ over all aspects of reality should stimulate Christians to be involved creatively in the arts, politics, commerce and the caring professions. In all these areas we are called to affirm the claims of Christ. I will return to these themes in later posts.

Finally I think that it is comforting to know that my Saviour is also my creator and the sustainer of the universe, he is mighty because he is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. let the last word go to John the apostle in the book of Revelation,

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, u dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

 

 

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The Honesty of the Psalmist’s Prayers: A lesson for today

Posted on June 25, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Sometimes as I read the Psalms I wonder what people would think if someone was to pray this way in our Church Prayer Meetings. The great thing about the Psalms is that they reflect every emotion of the human soul,they express fears and joys, penitence and assurance of God’s love and we could go. Below i want to look at just one or two examples of what the Psalms can teach us today.

Firstly lets look at Psalm 42,

  42 For the music director. A maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These I remember and I pour out my soul within me:
that I would go with the multitude;
I led them in procession to the house of God,
with a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving,
a crowd celebrating a festival.
5 Why are you ⌊in despair⌋, O my soul,
and disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
for the salvation of his presence.
6 O my God, within me my soul is ⌊in despair⌋;
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the heights of Hermon, from the mountain of Mizar.
7 Deep is calling to deep
at the thunder of your waterfalls.
All your breakers and your waves
have passed over me.
8 By day Yahweh commands his loyal love,
and in the night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a shattering in my bones
my oppressors taunt me,
while they say to me ⌊all day⌋,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you ⌊in despair⌋, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I shall again praise him,
⌊my salvation⌋ and my God.

The Psalmist here says things to God like why “have you forgotten me?” surely a spiritual person should not be feeling so low should they? Yet the whole Psalm shows that the greatest desire of this man’s heart is to be close to God, he does not need to cloak his feelings in pious words. He feels that he can be totally honest with God and we need to learn from that. How often do we think to ourselves that we cannot tell God how we really feel, yet God knows anyway and he longs for us to be real with him. This Psalm and many others encourage us to come to God when we are feeling low and tell him exactly how we feel. He inspired the Psalms for our use so it must be OK with him even if our fellow Christians feel we are a little odd. When we are feeling depressed the Psalms can be  a great help to us.

In other Psalms we find a more meditative mood, take Psalm 23 as an example,

  23 A psalm of David.
1 Yahweh is my shepherd;
I will not lack for anything.
2 In grassy pastures he makes me lie down;
by quiet waters he leads me.
3 He restores my life.
He leads me in ⌊correct paths⌋
for the sake of his name.
4 Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare before me a table
in the presence of my oppressors.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
6 Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will stay in the house of Yahweh
⌊for a very long time⌋.

The Psalmist here quietly meditates upon the goodness and grace of God. Here we find notes of quiet assurance that God will provide because he cares for the sheep of his pasture. We are so familiar with this Psalm that we need to stop and ask ourselves, what this Psalm really means for us. Do we see that our God cares for us in this same tender way as the Psalm describes or is our God a remote deity? The Psalmist here is quietly assured of the love,care and sovereignty of God. This shepherd cares for his sheep with a love which is invincible, if we are in Christ then we too have that same knowledge that this shepherd is our shepherd.

On other occasions the Psalmist is fill with exuberant praise for God, lets look at Psalm 150,

1 Praise the LORD. j

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.

The Psalmist here wants everybody to praise God with their whole being, he sees the greatness of God and wants to praise and worship him. Notice how he wants the band to strike up in praise of God, this is lively worship indeed. We should notice that he enjoys this joyful sound because it praises the Lord. He does not want  aloud noise because that is the fashion rather he wants to make a loud noise because God is worthy of praise.

The Psalms teach us that we can be ourselves before God and express what we really feel. This does not give us a license to be selfish in our worship times, sometimes the worship will be quiet when we feel like shouting out our praises. In such situations we need to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, who will always help us to worship in a way that reflects booth our love to God and for our fellow believer. In our own homes we can express exactly how we feel and mostly in church on a Sunday morning there is enough diversity for us to express our feelings. The important thing is that we know the presence of God in every part of our being. The God of the Psalmist is our God therefore we can be real before him and express exactly what is on our hearts and he will listen to us.

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Godly Success By Mornay Johnson: A Book Review

Posted on June 25, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

When I first looked at this book I thought that it was another get rich quick guide but nothing could be further from the truth. Since I started reviewing books for Destiny Image I have realized more and more the importance of giving a book a fair reading. so often we jump to conclusions without judging the contents by the word of God. There is much good teaching in this book that we will loose if we don’t read this book with open minds.
The first chapter deals with issues of the heart and our right relationship with the Lord, one soon realizes that the issues of the heart are more important than anything else, this is the key to understanding the book. This is not a book of formulas but rather a book that talks seriously about our relationship with the Lord.
Chapter 2, in this chapter the author shows that the minority of us are called to priestly callings (the fivefold ministries) whereas most of us are called to live out our Christian calling as Kings, in the marketplace.
Chapters 3,4 and 5 begin to show us the way to walk with the Lord in faith for our future, again it is the relationship with Lord that is central and how we grow in that relationship. We are given pointers in a practical way as to how to develop our vision one step at a time. It is as you read these chapters that you begin to realize that this all does not happen overnight. In fact some of the illustration given from scripture and history show how God used a lot of people when they were over sixty( if like the reviewer you are in this category, don’t give up hope).  We are shown constantly that it is not an easy ride.
Chapter 6, is to me the central point of the book, here we find sound teaching about the development of character. the teaching of this section is vital to the health of the body of Christ. The issue of how character is developed is not a popular one today, the author here shows how god uses even the difficult times in life to develop our characters.
Chapter 7 gives us the authors insight into the biblical teaching about money, the love of money and greed are the problem not money itself, money used rightly can be used to build the kingdom of God. The issues that the author raises here are ones that there is a lot of misunderstanding about in the body of Christ and he helps us to understand what God requires of us.
Chapter 8 brings the whole book to a conclusion summarizing the teaching and showing a way forward . He uses the acrostic GOFIE to help us grasp the teaching here, G is for guidance, O is for opportunity, F is for Favor, I is for ideas and E is for enablement. there is much of helpful insight in this chapter.
As you read this book you may like me have questions about some of the teaching regarding prosperity, my plea is don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. This book contains much practical biblical teaching. This book will enable you to see that God can use your life, whoever you are, wherever you are.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this E-Book free from the publisher through Destiny Image Book Review Program. <http://www.destinyimage.com> Book Review Program. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Posted in Anointing, body of Christ, Charismatic, Church, faith, filled with the Spirit, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prosperity, Spiritual gifts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment