Heart Hunger for God

 Heart Hunger for God

 

For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

MATTHEW 4.2-4

 

When you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

MATTHEW 6.17-18

 

“Breakfast is ready!” “Lunch is on the table!” “Dinnertime!” Don’t you love the sound of those words? They mean it’s time to eat! And while God gives food for us to enjoy and to keep us healthy, he also expects that we will sometimes choose not to eat or choose not to eat certain foods. It’s called fasting. Fasting is when we go without food or without certain foods for a period of time, not for the purpose of losing weight but for spiritual reasons — because we want to develop our hunger for God. We want to connect with God in an intense way by denying ourselves the comfort or distraction of food. People sometimes choose to fast from other things besides food — like television or the Internet or shopping. Instead of tuning in or logging on or going out, they choose to tune in to God through his Word.

To draw close to God is a good reason to fast. But sometimes people fast for the wrong reasons. Sometimes people choose to fast in a subtle attempt to twist God’s arm or to win his approval. But God doesn’t respond to pressure. However, God does promise to reward those who fast. He says that those who fast secretly — out of hunger for God and not a hunger to impress other people with how spiritual they are — will be rewarded.

Jesus fasted for forty days before he launched his public ministry, and he expected that those who follow him would fast too, praying for his Kingdom to come in its fullness. Jesus said, “when you fast” not “if you fast.” Jesus needed to fast, and he expects us to fast because he knows it is a discipline that draws us close to him and encourages our dependence on him.

A Parent’s No1 Job

 A Parent’s No1 Job

 

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders. . . . So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.

PSALM 78.4, 7

 

Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.

1 TIMOTHY 6.17

 

Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

ROMANS 15.4

 

What is the most important thing your parents have taught you? To look both ways before crossing the street? How to develop friendships? How to run a household or a business? How to show respect?

All those things are important. God is so good to us to give us parents who are willing to teach us the things we need to know to navigate living in this world. But there is one thing in particular God holds parents responsible for teaching to their children, one thing God wants children to learn more than anything else, how to trust God. He wants parents to teach their children how to put confidence in God rather than in themselves or in anything or anyone else.

Parents can’t force their children to learn to trust God, but they can teach them about trusting God. Sometimes learning comes from direct instruction — talking through different aspects of our faith together. And it is important to study Scripture and talk about what it means to trust God. But teaching others to trust God is best done by example. Parents teach best by trusting God themselves and by welcoming rather than resenting opportunities to trust God in new ways.

Believe into

 Believe Into

 

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

JOHN 3.16

 

Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

JOHN 6.29

 

The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.

JOHN 16.9

 

You can say that you believe an airplane will fly. But to live that belief is to fly in one. You can say that you believe it is important to exercise. But if you don’t exercise, it is proof that you don’t really believe it is important. It’s not that different with faith. It’s easy to say that you believe in Jesus. But the proof that you really believe is that you entrust your life to him and depend on him to satisfy you and take care of you.

Many people think that believing in Jesus is simply agreeing with a list of facts about who Jesus is and what he did on the cross. But that is just the beginning. Belief also involves accepting the truth about Jesus for yourself, then entrusting your whole self to Christ.

Actually, in the original language John wrote in, he didn’t record Jesus as saying we should “believe in” him. Our Bibles say it that way because it would sound weird to our ears for the verse to read what Jesus literally said. Jesus’ actual words were that we have to “believe into” him. John 1.12 equates “believing into” Jesus with receiving him. In John 6.35 Jesus says that believing into him is like coming to him to satisfy the hunger and thirst at the core of our beings. To believe into Jesus is to enter into Jesus as a new way of living life.

Bible addition and subtraction

 Bible Addition and Subtraction

 

I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.

REVELATION 22:18

 

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.

MATTHEW 5:18

 

The instructions of the LORD are perfect.

PSALM 19:7

 

Some people come to the Bible the way they shop at a store. They have a list of things they want, and they shop until they find them, ignoring all the stuff they don’t want. And sometimes they’re frustrated that the store doesn’t have exactly what they’re looking for.

But that’s not the way we want to come to God’s Word — as a consumer or a shopper, picking and choosing what we want to listen to or obey. And we can’t conclude that the Bible is any way lacking because it doesn’t have what we’re looking for on the subject we’re interested in.

The Bible warns us about adding anything to Scripture. One way people do this is by making other writings or teachings of equal authority to the Bible. Anytime people go beyond what Scripture says to promote new ideas about God, basing their teachings not on Scripture but on their own speculation or personal experience, we have to check their words against what the Bible says. We also need to be careful about adding extra rules to those clearly stated in Scripture, labelling something as sin that is not forbidden by Scripture.

We need to be content with Scripture as God has given it to us — emphasising the same issues it emphasises. There are some subjects God has told us little or nothing about in the Bible. But we can be confident that God has given us everything we need for knowing and following him.

A Good Kind of Sad

 A Good Kind of Sad

 

I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.

JOB 42.6

 

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

MATTHEW 5.4

 

The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

2 CORINTHIANS 7.10

 

Usually when someone is sad, we try to cheer the person up. We don’t like anyone around us to feel sad, and we avoid anything that would make us feel down. But Jesus said there’s a good kind of sadness. What kind of sadness is actually good for us?

It is good for us when we begin to really see the sin in our lives and then, instead of minimising it or excusing it or comparing it to the sin of others, we become deeply sad over it. When we see what an offence our sin is to God, out of our love for him we become truly sorry about our sin. This is the kind of sadness that is part of real repentance. This kind of sorrow puts us on a pathway toward genuine, deep, lasting happiness.

Can you remember the last time you were truly sad about the sin in your life? Have you ever really been sad about your wrong actions, your ungodly reactions to other people, your sinful attitudes? Perhaps you need to spend some time alone with God asking him to show you what sins are holding you back from living the way he wants you to live. Godly sorrow over sin leads to freedom from the hold that sin has on our lives. Only then can we be really, really happy.

Wishful Thinking

 Wishful Thinking?

 

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

HEBREWS 11.1

 

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

ROMANS 4.20-21

 

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

ROMANS 15.13

 

Lots of people make wishes — when they blow out their birthday candles or when they cross their fingers or when they look at shooting stars. They say, “I hope it will happen” or “I hope I will get it.” They are wishing for something but have no confidence that it will happen.

But we don’t have to cross our fingers and hope as hard as we can that God will give us everything he has promised to give us or to do everything he has promised us he will do. We can be completely confident, totally sure, solidly convinced that God is at work in the everyday aspects of our lives. We can count on him to fulfil his promises to us. What promises? All his promises, including these, God works everything together for good for those who love him (Rom 8.28), he will follow us with goodness and mercy all our days (Psa 23.6), he will not leave us or forsake us (Heb 13.5).

You don’t have to wish and wait, wondering if God will do what he has said he’ll do in his Word. You may not have experienced the fulfilment of some promises yet, but if he has promised something, there is no question it will happen. We can entrust our lives to the One who holds the future, no matter what happens. Because God will do what he has promised to do.

Still growing

 Still Growing

 

Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.

COLOSSIANS 2.7

 

When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

JAMES 1.3

 

Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.

PSALM 90.12

 

Imagine if a baby just stayed a baby — never growing up or getting bigger. Something would be terribly wrong with a baby who didn’t grow. And something would be wrong with a Christian who never grew either — a Christian who stayed a baby in faith. As we grow in years, we want to grow in how we talk to, listen to, and trust God.

How do we grow in faith? It starts with how we “eat” spiritually — talking about, thinking about, and memorising the Bible. First, we feed ourselves the “milk” — the basics about life in Christ, who God is, and what he has done for us. Then, just as babies go from drinking milk to eating solid food, we move on from the “milk” to the “meat” — the deeper truths and bigger picture of God. We can do this by “chewing on” and “swallowing” more challenging passages in the Bible and by going deeper in learning about God’s Word.

While our physical bodies stop growing at some point, we never have to stop growing spiritually. We will always have more to learn, new ways to trust God, deeper truths to understand.

In or Out?

 In or Out?

 

Now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

ROMANS 8.1

 

The LORD will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

PSALM 34.22

 

I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

JOHN 5.24

 

A parent, frustrated by the door being left open as her kids come and go, might say, “We don’t want to heat the whole outdoors! You’re either in or you’re out!” The train engineer prompts the person with one foot on the platform and one on the train steps, “You’re either going or staying.” In other words, there’s a choice to be made, and the choice is clear. You can’t be halfway.

When it comes to Jesus, there is a choice to be made, and it is a choice everyone has to make on a personal level. Are you in or out? Are you going where he’s going, or are you staying where you are? Because of this choice, there is a dividing line between people. Some people are “in” Christ and some people are “outside” of Christ. Some people are still living under judgment because they are guilty of sin and have rejected the grace and forgiveness Jesus offers them. And there are others who are just as guilty, yet they don’t experience that judgment. They have chosen to hide themselves in Christ, who faced judgment in their place.

Our culture doesn’t like drawing the dividing line between people so clearly. Many people today want things to be less defined than that. They see the claim that some people are in Christ (while others are not in Christ) as superior or exclusive. But God has opened his invitation to all to come in to Christ. Sadly, some choose to stay out.

Stones that breathe

 Stones That Breathe

 

You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

1 PETER 2.4-5

 

Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.

ISAIAH 28.16

 

Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

EPHESIANS 2.20

 

Have you ever noticed a large stone set in a prominent location on the outside of a building that is inscribed with the construction date of the building and the names of people who built it? This stone is a cornerstone, set in an important place in the building’s structure. Cornerstones are important since all other stones will be set in reference to these stones, which determine the position of the entire building.

This is what it means when we read that Jesus is the cornerstone of the building God is working on. God is building his temple, not with rocks or cement, but with living stones — you and me and everyone else who loves Jesus. We are being fit together on the foundation of Jesus. It is Jesus who determines everything about this building.

As living stones, we are part of something God is doing that is bigger than we are as individuals, more important than our own agendas and preferences. Christianity is not so much about God saving a large number of individuals (although he will!). It is about what he is building us into together — his church. We are living stones that God is using to build his spiritual house — the people he wants to live inside.

Is God Happy?

 Is God Happy?

 

The LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.

PSALM 147.11

 

They will be my people, and I will be their God. . . . I will find joy doing good for them.

JEREMIAH 32.38, 41

 

Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne.

HEBREWS 12.2

 

Have you noticed that some people seem to smile all the time? They seem to be naturally happy. And then there are others who seem to have been given the grumpy gene. You’d be shocked to see them break out in a toothy grin.

How about God? Do you think he is strained and serious, with a furrowed brow, always a little annoyed? Or do you think of him with a smile on his face, full of contentment and joy? And if God is happy, what makes him that way?

God has many reasons to be happy. First, he is happy because he finds pleasure in just being himself. It is as if he looks in the mirror and is happy about what he sees. He loves the glory of his own nature — the infinite beauty of all he is and all he does. When he saw his reflection in Jesus, who “radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” (Heb 1.3), he said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Mt 3.17).

God is happy because he has the power to do as he pleases and because everything he does is right and good. Nothing can frustrate his happiness. God is so happy that his happiness spills out on us in the form of mercy. He showers goodness on us because he enjoys it. His greatest happiness is to share his happiness with us. We experience his overflowing happiness when we accept that everything we need to be happy is found in him. “The LORD’s delight is in those who . . . put their hope in his unfailing love.”

Prayer Masks

 Prayer Masks

 

When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

MATTHEW 6.5-6

 

He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the LORD.

2 KINGS 4.33

 

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

MARK 1.35

 

When people don’t seem to live what they say they believe, we tend to think of them as hypocrites. The word hypocrite originally came from the ancient Greek theatre and described a person who wore a mask.

Jesus says that we shouldn’t pray like the hypocrites. In other words, we shouldn’t use prayer to put on a spiritual show for people that doesn’t line up with who we really are. Why does Jesus have to warn us not to pray like hypocrites? Because he knows that we enjoy the admiration of other people and we’ll use anything — even prayer — to get it. He knows that we would much rather work on getting a reputation for praying than actually praying. And he sees us when we tell someone we will pray for him or her, knowing even as we say the words that most likely we will not.

Jesus says that when we pray to impress other people, we’ve already received our reward — their admiration — but that is such an empty and fleeting reward! We can make a big deal about public prayers or brag about private prayer and receive the applause of people, or we can go into our secret places, shut the door, and talk with God. There we find our best reward, not in making an impression on others, but in finding intimacy with him.

Do you want more?

 Do You Want More?

 

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

EPHESIANS 5:18

 

May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.

COLOSSIANS 1:11-12

 

How generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.

1 TIMOTHY 1:14

 

“I’m so full, I can’t eat another bite,” we sometimes say after a big meal. But what if we realised there was chocolate cake still to be served?

Some of us say to God by our attitudes or our choices, I’m full. I’ve seen all of God I want to see, my love for him is as deep as I want it to go, my confidence in his promises is as serious as I want it to be, I’ve been changed as much as I want to be changed. I have as much of God in my schedule, my thoughts, and my heart as I need — and as much as I want.

Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled, or satisfied. Paul prays that we would be filled with all the fullness of God. Both Jesus and Paul seem to be talking about an ongoing pursuit of an ever-growing sense of satisfaction. They are talking about a hunger to get all that God has to give in terms of joy, understanding, and power. It’s a desire to see more of God, to love him more, and to be used by him more.

No matter how far we go with God, there’s always more to know and enjoy and live out. In our pursuit of God, we’re like mountain climbers struggling to reach the top of a mountain peak, only to discover that there are more amazing mountain peaks left to climb. We lose out when we settle for only what we’ve experienced of God so far.

The Big City

 The Big City

 

Then Cain founded a city, which he named Enoch, after his son.

GENESIS 4.17

 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

MATTHEW 23.37

 

He took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

REVELATION 21.10

 

Have you ever been to a really big city, or do you live in one? You can get lost in a big city — you could even disappear in a big city and not be found for a long time, because cities are bustling and crowded and there are plenty of places to hide.

That’s what Cain was doing when he built the very first city. His punishment for killing his brother was that he was to be a homeless wanderer, banished from God’s presence. His response was to build a city, his own world, where he could get lost and try to find satisfaction apart from God. Cain’s city was eventually destroyed in the Flood.

The second city mentioned in the Bible, Babel, was built by some people in an arrogant effort to get to God on their own terms. It ended in a pile of rubble when God confused their languages and they could no longer work together. In Revelation, when John describes judgment, he talks about it in terms of a city that is destroyed: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” (Rev 18.2, NIV).

So it’s interesting that the Bible describes heaven as a great city, the new Jerusalem. This is even more interesting when we think about the old Jerusalem. Jerusalem had a history full of paganism and rejection of God. Jerusalem was the city that rejected Jesus. Isn’t this the most unlikely of cities to serve as a model for heaven?

What this tells us is that God is redeeming our idol-loving, God-rejecting, God-avoiding version of a city. He is transforming this idea we humans have messed up, and he has a plan to make it into a place he wants to live in.

A Higher Authority

 A Higher Authority

 

The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.

PROVERBS 21.1

 

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

ROMANS 13.1

 

Jesus Christ . . . is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.

REVELATION 1.5

 

Open up the newspaper, turn on the television, or look online and you’ll read or hear strong opinions about the policies of our government or the people leading our government. It’s likely there are also some strong opinions at your house about the current president or party in power.

But regardless of what we think about our government and its leaders, God calls us to submit to all rulers — including leaders we disagree with, unfair bosses, and corrupt governments. When Paul writes in Romans 13.1 that those in authority have been placed there by God, he knows from Daniel 2.21 that “[God] controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings.” All kings (and prime ministers) are under God’s ultimate control. He allows them to be put into office, and he allows them to be taken out of office.

We might wonder why God would allow a particular person or party with a clearly ungodly agenda to be in power over us. But the Bible teaches that God has the power to guide the “king’s heart” or to change any leader’s mind or policy. While God puts all human authority in place, there is a higher authority. Jesus said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28.18). And when we submit to earthly authority, we’re submitting for his sake. “For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority — whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed” (1 Pet 2.13-14). We submit to human authority because it honours a higher authority, Jesus Christ.

An Impossible Debt

 An Impossible Debt

 

The king called in the man he had forgiven and said, “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.

MATTHEW 18.32-35

 

Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

MATTHEW 6.12

 

What’s the largest note you’ve seen? A twenty-pound note? A fifty-pound note? The man in Jesus’ parable owed the king millions of pounds — which would mean many thousands of fifty-pound notes today! His debt was not just large, it was an amount of money he couldn’t even comprehend, let alone repay.

But there are two debtors in this story, and there is a great difference in the amount they owe. The debt owed to the servant by another man was a few thousand dollars — not an insignificant amount — but nothing compared to the debt the servant had been forgiven.

In reality, however, this parable is not so much about the two debtors but about the character of the king. The generous forgiveness of the king shows how big and gracious God’s forgiveness is — the kind of forgiveness that sets prisoners free from an unpayable debt.

In order for us to forgive others when they hurt us, we have to first see how big our wrong has been toward God — how much he has forgiven us. When we finally see the enormity of our sin and the generosity of God’s forgiveness toward us, only then will we really be able to forgive someone else.

True Love

 True Love

 

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 CORINTHIANS 13.4-7

 

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

EPHESIANS 3.19

 

Why is it that most songs are about love — the celebration of love, the need for love, the agony over the loss of love? Perhaps it’s because music is a way we express our deepest feelings and desires, and all of us have a deep desire to love and be loved. But can we really expect to experience love that will never disappoint, never fade, and never leave?

If we expect the rush of romance with another person to be the most satisfying love we can ever know, we are doomed to disappointment, because no other human can ever love us fully, completely, perfectly, or forever. We’re limited by our humanity and our sinfulness. But Jesus’ love is greater than any other love in the universe. He shows us what love looks like.

Jesus’ love is not like human love, which grows weary of our quirks and habits. Jesus is patient. He will not bring up your failures from the past and use them against you. He forgives and forgets your sins, casting them away as far as the east is from the west (Psa 103.12). Jesus will never fail to defend those he loves. Out of his love for you and his hatred for evil, he will take up your case and will make everything right one day. Do you think Jesus will give up on you, release his grip on you, or walk away from you? Absolutely not. That’s not what True Love does.

Unfailing Love

 Unfailing Love

 

Long ago the LORD said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

JEREMIAH 31.3

 

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

PSALM 36.7

 

The law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

JOHN 1.17

 

“That’s it! I can’t take it anymore!” Your friend has hurt you one too many times and you’ve had it. You decide the friendship is over.

That’s how we tend to love other people. Our love has limits. And when we reach our limit of another person’s rudeness, coldness, rejection, or betrayal, our love comes to its end. As humans we are sinful, changeable, and unfaithful, and even though we want to love others well and love them faithfully, we fail.

But God is not like that. His love doesn’t have limits — it’s not like human love. Paul writes, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1Cor 13.7). He’s drawing a picture of ideal love — something we can never live up to. Only God can love this way. His is the only love we can completely count on. And we can be confident that it will not fail, now or in eternity.

Sometimes when something hard or painful happens in our lives, we think God’s love has failed, that he has somehow stopped loving us. But that’s when we have to look at our circumstances through the lens of our confidence in God’s unfailing love rather than looking at God through the lens of our disappointing circumstances. As God’s children, we can be confident that no matter what happens to us, God is loving us in and through it. His love will never fade away or fail.

A Messy Human like Us

 A Messy Human like Us

 

The child [Jesus] grew up healthy and strong.

LUKE 2.40

 

For forty days and forty nights [Jesus] fasted and became very hungry.

MATTHEW 4.2

 

Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.

JOHN 4.6

 

Being human is messy. Bodies take in food and water, and in return produce fingernails and toenails, phlegm, that crusty stuff in your eyes, urine, blood, earwax, dandruff, and other things we don’t need to discuss — especially at the dinner table!

Jesus was willing to be human in all its messiness. Jesus had to let Mary change his nappy. He went through puberty. He was susceptible to disease and had surging hormones. Jesus got hungry and sleepy, his muscles ached after a hard day in the carpenter’s shop, his nose got sunburned, and his lips got chapped.

Jesus became absolutely human, not just in body, but in mind. Jesus went to school as a child. And he didn’t sit in the front row with all the answers automatically programmed into him. The Bible says that Jesus learned just like we do: “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature” (LUKE 2:52). He thought like a child before he thought like a man.

Jesus was also fully human in his emotions. He felt the range of human emotions that we feel. When Lazarus died, Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (Jn 11.33, NIV), and he even wept at his friend’s death (11.35). The Lord experienced joy (Jn 15.11) and anger (Mk 3.5) and even surprise (Lk 7.9; Mk 6.6).

We had no choice about being made of flesh and blood, but Jesus chose to be human. While still being completely divine and completely holy, he also willingly took hold of the messiness of being a person. He entered into our reality, walking, breathing, and living in our world.

Not your final destination

 Not Your Final Destination

 

Even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith — for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

HEBREWS 11.9-10

 

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

1 PETER 2.11

 

Imagine getting a letter telling you that you have been given the country of Japan. You hop on the next plane and go there, and you spend the rest of your life living there in a campervan. Your kids live in the camper next door, and their kids live in the next campervan over. You move from place to place, with no home, no citizenship, and no rights — always as an outsider.

This is what it was like for Abraham living in the land of Canaan that God had promised him. We might expect that if God had promised Abraham a new country he would have made sure Abraham felt at home there. But it wasn’t like that. Instead, Abraham made his home in the Promised Land “like a foreigner.” He lived in tents, as did his son and his son’s son. In fact, the only land Abraham ever owned in Canaan was the cave in which he buried his wife, Sarah.

But Abraham didn’t want to make himself at home there anyway. He was “looking forward to a city with eternal foundations.” Evidently, Abraham’s greatest hopes and dreams for a homeland were invested not in earthly Canaan but in his heavenly homeland, where there would be no more moving from place to place in temporary lodging. He would finally be home. Peter says we should live this way too — not putting down our roots too deep here on this earth, because our true focus is on our eternal home in heaven.

God’s masterpiece

 God’s Masterpiece

 

We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

EPHESIANS 2.10

 

All glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

EPHESIANS 3.20

 

I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

PHILIPPIANS 1.6

 

Do you sometimes struggle with the way God has made you —the shape or size of your body, the personality you have, the abilities you were given? It’s easy to allow the way we look to define who we are, but Paul says we are God’s masterpiece. What does he mean?

Antonio Stradivari made more than one thousand violins, harps, guitars, violas, and cellos during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Each Stradivarius is a treasured masterpiece — no other instrument can compare to its sound. It is not made to sit on a shelf to be admired for its beauty but to be played — to be put into the hands of a master musician to create beautiful music.

You are a masterpiece, not like the Mona Lisa, which hangs in a museum behind thick glass. You are like a Stradivarius violin, whose true beauty and value are seen and experienced in its usefulness — especially when it is used by a master.

Being used by the Master, Jesus, in this hurting world is an exciting experience! The reason it feels so good to offer food to someone who’s hungry, a coat to someone who’s cold, friendship to someone who’s lonely, a home to a child who’s alone is because this is what we were made for. This is the joy of the Master making our lives into a masterpiece he can use.

Where are you planted?

 Where Are You Planted?

 

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.

PSALM 1.1-4

 

I am like a tree whose roots reach the water, whose branches are refreshed with the dew.

JOB 29.19

 

The world looks very different from the window of an airplane, doesn’t it? From the sky you can follow the pattern of farmland planted with crops as well as the crisscross of roads running through a city. You can trace a river or stream as it winds its way through the land. And along the edges of the river you usually see a lot of green growth. Sometimes plants far away from the river dry up due to lack of moisture, but the trees by the river have a ready supply of water that keeps them green and growing.

In Psalm 1 we see a picture of the kind of people who are especially happy and satisfied in life, the kind of people who are green and growing because of where they have put down roots. They’re people who say no to things that are wrong — things that are underhanded or outright evil. They choose their friends carefully, resisting the influence of people who give no thought to God. They don’t follow the crowd in making fun of faith or the faithful. But they say a glad yes to God. They read and think about God’s Word in the morning, throughout the day, and as they go to sleep at night — not because they have to but because they want to. It makes them happy.

When we come to God, he plants us where we can draw from his stream of living water. As our roots go deep, we grow and get strengthened.

Are you changing?

 Are You Changing?

 

All of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord — who is the Spirit — makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

2 CORINTHIANS 3.18

 

The LORD your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!

DEUTERONOMY 30.6

 

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

COLOSSIANS 1.6

 

People can change a lot of things about themselves. They can change their hair colour, their names, and the people they spend time with. And there are some things they can’t change — certain physical characteristics, the families they came from, and their natural personality types. When it comes to changing our habits or ways of thinking or the ways we respond to things, sometimes we feel powerless. That’s just the way I am, we think. I’ll never change.

But we are not on our own when it comes to change. If we are connected to God and open to the ways he wants to work on us and in us, he will change us from the inside out. Then we won’t be stuck committing the same old sins and thinking the same destructive thoughts and feeling the same defeated feelings. Paul suggests that we are changed as we look at the face of Jesus. So if we want to change to be more like Jesus, we need to look toward him, think about him, and listen to him. This is the key to changing to become like him.

The Shadow of Death

The Shadow of Death

 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

PSALM 23.4, NIV

 

He will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever!

ISAIAH 25.7-8

 

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.”

MATTHEW 4.16

 

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse was one of America’s greatest preachers. His first wife died from cancer when she was in her thirties, leaving behind three children under the age of twelve. He had been searching for the words to help his children understand that death is not final for the person who knows Jesus, when a moving van drove by their car. As it passed, the shadow of the truck swept over the car. He turned to his children and said, “Would you rather be run over by the truck or by its shadow?”

His children said, “Well, of course, Dad, we’d rather be run over by the shadow. A shadow can’t hurt us.”

Then he explained that the truck of death ran over Jesus so that only death’s shadow can run over us. He said, “Mommy went through the valley of the shadow of death. There is no pain there.”

The “shadow of death” is the experience of physical death that sweeps over every person who lives and dies in this world. But the reason death is only a shadow for the believer is because the darkness of death is something we pass through, not something that destroys us. For the believer, death is just a passageway into a fuller, richer life in the presence of God. 

Come between us

 Come Between Us

Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

EPHESIANS 4.30

Listen! The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.

ISAIAH 59.1-2

What happens when a child disobeys his or her parents? Does it mean that the parents disown the child or kick him or her out of the house? Of course not! They’re family. But there is a breakdown in their relationship. The disobedience has to be dealt with in order to get rid of the uncomfortable distance and invisible barrier that has come between them.

It is similar when we, as believers, disobey God. When we sin, we still have a place in God’s family, and we’re secure in his love. But our sin causes him deep sadness. It puts up a barrier between him and us until we admit we were wrong and then change our attitudes and actions.

But if there is no sense of loss or sadness over sin, and no desire to make things right with God again after a person sins, it should be a huge wake-up call. It indicates that there may be no real, saving relationship there at all. It might be easy to brush off our own sins or other people’s sins as no big deal. But when a person sins and keeps sinning with no sadness about that sin — no tug toward change — there is definitely something broken in the person’s relationship with God. Or perhaps there is no real relationship with him at all, just some form of being religious.

When you sin and you are pained by the distance your sin has brought between you and God, thank him for that pain. It is a sign to you of your saving relationship with him. And if you feel no sense of loss when your sin comes between you and God, perhaps you need to ask God to show you what it means to truly have him as your Father.

Are you adopted?

 Are You Adopted?

 

To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

JOHN 1.12

 

You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

ROMANS 8.15

 

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

EPHESIANS 1.5

 

Do you know any families who have experienced the miracle of adding to their family through adoption? Adoption is a legal process that creates a new, permanent relationship between a parent and a child where one didn’t exist before.

God loves adoption! It was his good idea. The Bible says that even before the creation of the world, God decided he would adopt us into his own family. You see, God knew that every human being since Adam and Eve would sin and that we would need a way to be brought back into his family. And to all who believe in him, he gives the right to become his children.

But not everyone has been adopted into God’s family. The Bible says that those who do not believe in Christ are called “children of wrath” and “sons of disobedience” (Eph 2.2-3, NASB). That’s what we used to be. But God takes people who once wanted nothing to do with him — and he gives them the special privileges of being his children!

Something incredible happens when we are adopted. We go from being outsiders to being beloved children. Because God is our daddy, we can cry out to him, confident that nothing can cause him to stop loving and caring for us. He’s our dad, and we’ve been permanently adopted into his family.

What will spill out of you?

 What Will Spill out of You?

 

The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

PSALM 28.7

 

May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation — the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ.

PHILIPPIANS 1.11

 

Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

EPHESIANS 5.18

 

Have you ever drunk out of a polystyrene cup? If so, you know you have to be careful, because if you accidentally poke a hole in it, the liquid inside will come spewing out.

Our lives are a little bit like that cup. When problems poke a hole in our plans or when we feel pressured by our circumstances, whatever is inside of us comes spilling out. We can’t help it. It just comes out. Sometimes it’s words of frustration, and sometimes it is words of concern about someone else. So we have to ask ourselves, What comes spilling out when I’m frustrated, made fun of, inconvenienced, or hurt? Is my natural response to be angry or defensive? Or am I finding that I can respond with joy, selflessness, patience, and kindness?

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit actually comes to live inside us when we become believers. As we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and control us, he will be what spills out of our lives. When we submit to the Holy Spirit, he changes our attitudes, alters our perspectives, and orders our steps. Then, when our lives are bumped by hard times, what comes spilling out is the work of the Holy Spirit on our attitudes and character. We find ourselves responding in kindness to those who are unkind to us, in compassion to those who are in need, and in gentleness to those who treat us harshly. And those are all good things to see spilling out of a person’s life, don’t you think?

All ears

 All Ears

 

You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

JAMES 4.2

 

When you call, the LORD will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply.

ISAIAH 58.9

 

In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.

PSALM 118.5

 

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who was distracted? Maybe the person was listening to music or reading something or deep in thought, and you felt like he or she was ignoring you.

But what about God? Does he ever ignore us when we talk to him? When we pray, can we be confident God will listen and respond in some way, or does he sometimes ignore our prayers? We often wonder if prayer can really change anything. But the Bible promises us that God always listens, and it shows us that our prayers have an impact on what we receive from God.

When James said, “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it,” he was implying that our failure to pray and ask God for what we need deprives us of what God would have given us if we’d asked. And when Jesus instructed us to “keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for” (Mt 7.7), he was making a clear connection between asking God for things and receiving them from him. So evidently, when we ask, God responds. This doesn’t mean he’s like a genie and he’ll automatically give us whatever we want. But he does promise to hear us and respond — even if his response is not the response we were looking for.

God is happy when we depend on him. So he never ignores our heartfelt requests for his presence and his power in our lives. In prayer, we take a step in his direction, and he comes close to us. Through prayer, not only do we experience God’s activity and involvement in our world, but we also have the opportunity to be involved in a significant way in the work of God’s Kingdom. We can be confident that even though other people may ignore us, God never will.