"I Know the Plans"

"I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 What an inspiring promise! And yet so often we get it all wrong. Our picture of God is so warped, that we see Him as destining us to a miserable life, or at least deferring the realization of our hopes and dreams, to develop our characters. Yet this sounds like a very plausible explanation to us with our distorted views. Oh, how finite is our conception of the Infinite! In our foolishness we want to make Him like ourselves. But He is not. 

Thankfully, our misconstrued images are not nearly reality. No, my Heavenly Father loves me more than I could ever love myself! In fact, He sent His only Son to die that I might live instead. Do we understand what this means?! Clearly we haven't the faintest idea. And, for what it's worth, we can't even right our own thinking. But He has promised to do that for us. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."  Ezekiel 36:26  

We can have certainty, (no matter how difficult it is for our minds to grasp this great truth): The God who created the very desires of our hearts, longs to fulfil them them much more than even we do! 

Will I give Him my hopes, plans and dreams, my heart?

Will I trust Him?

According to His Mercy

We try. We make resolutions. We know we need to change, but can't seem to. 

Why?

But we forget. It's not because of us. It's Him. Nothing I can do. 

We can't even come to Him of ourselves. Without His Spirit working in our lives, wooing us gently (even when we are resisting Him most), our hearts would just grow stonier. Without Him, we wouldn't even realize that we need Him.  

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" 

Titus 3:5 

The only question, then, is this: Will we let Him?

GYC Challenge 2014!

Original post from GYC website:

"Spinning through the universe is this little blue and green dot, sparkling like a gem against the black, wrapped with the wind, cradled by a life-giving firmament.

 

And we're here. This is home.

But why? Why did we appear here in this corner of the cosmos in the first place?

Simple. God is love, and love cannot exist without an object.

So, He made you.

Created for love.

And the search for life and meaning is defined by our origin, our purpose.

Join us for the next GYC memorization challenge: At The Cross.

The Gospel of Mark, and the Epistle to the Philippians.

Because, as Philippians so aptly puts it, "To Live is Christ" Phil 1:21"

 

Starts 1 February 2014!

to join click here

 

The Prayer That Moves The Hand

What if your prayers are the only thing that allows God to act in someone's life? To think, that your connection with God might be what saves someone else's life... what an awesome thought!

Let's examine just a few biblical examples, where, had these men not prayed, people would have been destroyed.

Paul:

On that wild, stormy night, when all others were fearing for their lives, he was in communion with the One who controls the winds and the waves. 

"Because there was in that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole shipload of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved...These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God’s servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power." (Ed 256)
 

 We could be that "one man"! But will we? Or will we be so caught up by the spirit of the crowd that we are no different from them?

Moses:

We see this principle once again in the example of Moses. We cannot intercede without first searching our own souls. Moses had not shared in the sins of the people, thus enabling him to intercede for them. For them! The very people who despised, even sought the death of him and Aaron.

"Moses lingered; for he could not consent to give up all that vast multitude to perish, although he knew that they deserved the vengeance of God for their persistent rebellion. He prostrated himself before God because the people felt no necessity for humiliation; he mediated for them because they felt no need of interceding in their own behalf... And by his intercession he held back the arm of vengeance, that a full end was not made of disobedient, rebellious Israel...Moses dared not cease his entreaties. He took hold of the strength of the Angel, as did Jacob in his wrestling, and like Jacob he prevailed." (3T 357, 358)

Moses truly loved the people for whom he was praying. He would not take honour for himself, leaving the people God had chosen to their fate. No, he was willing to have his name forever blotted from the book of life, to die in their stead. Could a lack of this kind of love be the reason we don't see answers to our prayers?

 

Abraham:

From the account of this man of faith, we can learn many lessons on how to intercede. As he approached the Lord, there was no self-confidence, he did not boast of his own righteousness. He made no claims on the grounds of his obedience, or the sacrifices he had made in following God's will. He spoke to God as to a father, with confidence.

"Love for perishing souls inspired Abraham’s prayer. While he loathed the sins of that corrupt city, he desired that the sinners might be saved. His deep interest for Sodom shows the anxiety that we should feel for the impenitent. We should cherish hatred of sin, but pity and love for the sinner. All around us are souls going down to ruin as hopeless, as terrible, as that which befell Sodom. Every day the probation of some is closing. Every hour some are passing beyond the reach of mercy. And where are the voices of warning and entreaty to bid the sinner flee from this fearful doom? Where are the hands stretched out to draw him back from death? Where are those who with humility and persevering faith are pleading with God for him?" (PP 140)
 

What a thought! A human being, by his prayers, could hold back the Omnipotent's vengeance! All this, merely a type of the intercession of our Great Example.

Jesus:

"The Son of God is Himself the great Intercessor in the sinner’s behalf. He who has paid the price for its redemption knows the worth of the human soul. With an antagonism to evil such as can exist only in a nature spotlessly pure, Christ manifested toward the sinner a love which infinite goodness alone could conceive. In the agonies of the crucifixion, Himself burdened with the awful weight of the sins of the whole world, He prayed for His revilers and murderers, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34" (PP 140)

 And now, to think that we have this same power available to us! Our prayers can change the course of history, can change lives. How could we not use this infinite resource?!  What would happen if we spent all the empty minutes in our day in intercessory prayer? What if, whenever we are tempted, instead of yielding we immediately started praying for someone else? What if we prayed for our governments? For our leaders? For our families? A struggling friend? Yet so very, very little of our time is spent in this all-important work. As I think of all the time I've wasted, of how easily I've given up... I'm overwhelmed by the sheer loss... Oh the victories that could have been gained, the souls who could have been saved from ruin. If only I had prayed...
May I not be guilty of neglecting to intercede.
 

 

 

 

*abbreviations: Ed (Education), PP (Patriarchs and Prophets), 3T (Testimonies for the Church Volume 3)



Lest We Think We Stand (Part 3)

Lest We Think We Stand (Part 1)

Lest We Think We Stand (Part 2)

Like Adam, his sons had to be tested, to prove whether or not they would believe and obey God's word. As sons and daughters of Adam, it is no different for us today. We too must be tested.

Cain's attitude is very prevalent in our world. He was willing to render obedience, but only on his terms, which, ultimately, was no obedience at all. 

"He would come in his own merits. He would not bring the lamb, and mingle its blood with his offering, but would present his fruits, the products of his labour. He presented his offering as a favour done to God, through which he expected to secure the divine approval. Cain obeyed in building an altar, obeyed in bringing a sacrifice; but he rendered only a partial obedience. The essential part, the recognition of the need of a Redeemer, was left out." (PP* 72) 

Isn't this so often the way we think? We attempt to serve God in our own strength, trying to do something for Him, instead of availing ourselves of the abundant Provision He has made for us. Yet, in spite of all this, God does not leave us to ourselves. He is merciful far beyond what we could ever comprehend, "not willing that any should perish". (2 Peter 3:9)

Throughout the entire story we God is thus working with Cain, giving him the opportunity to confess his sin and repent. In his anger, on the verge of committing the first murder in human history, God was reasoning with this unreasonable man, warning him that "sin lieth at the door". (Gen 4:7) And even though he rejected these divine warnings, God still offered him another chance.

"Notwithstanding that Cain had by his crimes merited the sentence of death, a merciful Creator still spared his life, and granted him opportunity for repentance." (PP 78)

Oh, Love that will not let me go! Even His judgements are not what we deserve, but are just and good, always with our very best interest in mind. Why do we question? Why do we doubt the One who wants our happiness even more than we ourselves do?

"The dark history of Cain and his descendants was an illustration of what would have been the result of permitting the sinner to live on forever, to carry out his rebellion against God...The divine sentence cutting short a career of unbridled iniquity, and freeing the world from the influence of those who had become hardened in rebellion, was a blessing rather than a curse." (PP 78)

And thus we see the sad depiction of what man truly is without Christ. But in Abel's life of faith is shown the completely contrasting principle.

"Through the shed blood he looked to the future sacrifice, Christ dying on the cross of Calvary; and trusting in the atonement that was there to be made, he had the witness that he was righteous, and his offering accepted...Abel chose faith and obedience; Cain, unbelief and rebellion. Here the whole matter rested." (PP 72)

Likewise, we are left with a choice. 

"Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time...It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. Those who feel no need of the blood of Christ, who feel that without divine grace they can by their own works secure the approval of God, are making the same mistake as did Cain...True faith, which relies wholly upon Christ, will be manifested by obedience to all the requirements of God..." (PP 72, 73)

Christ IS our only hope. But the path of obedience is by no means easy.
 

"In all ages the wicked have hated those who were better than themselves. Abel’s life of obedience and unswerving faith was to Cain a perpetual reproof...The brighter the heavenly light that is reflected from the character of God’s faithful servants, the more clearly the sins of the ungodly are revealed, and the more determined will be their efforts to destroy those who disturb their peace...Whenever, through faith in the Lamb of God, a soul renounces the service of sin, Satan’s wrath is kindled." (PP 74, 75)

But this is the path which our Saviour trod, and He has promised that He will be with us until the end (see Matt 28:20). Will we accept the honour of walking with Him?

* PP (Patriarch and Prophets) 

A Date Of Note

I have always been fascinated by sequences in dates.

11-11-11.....10-11-12.....12-12-12 

And now, today. The last time this will happen for a long time:

11-12-13!

This drew my attention once again to another, much more important event, of which we know "neither the day nor the hour" (Matt 25:13). Not merely a once-in-a-lifetime event, this will only happen once in all eternity.

Will we be ready?

Lest We Think We Stand (Part 2)

Lest We Think We Stand (Part 1)
Lest We Think We Stand (Part 3)

Eve’s own words played a great role in her demise. She added to God's words, saying that they were not to touch the fruit (Genesis 3:3). This, however, was not the case. He had simply said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Hence, when Eve touched the fruit, feeling no adverse effect, the serpent used this against her, convincing her that eating it would be of no greater consequence.  She based her faith on very shaky ground, and sure enough, it crumbled beneath her.

Yet, to all appearances, we have not learned from this tragic lesson. Still we place our faith in mere mortals, exalting human words and works as the standard for our lives. We place far too much confidence in self, the very thing we should be most distrustful of. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) We must pray like David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23, 24)

 
Then we continue to one of the saddest parts in this tragic history. Eve brings Adam the fruit. Unlike her, he is not deceived. He recognized this as the work of the enemy God had warned of. Now he must make his decision, a terrible struggle raging in his mind. Though he had enjoyed the companionship of God and angels, He lost sight of these blessings in comparison to his love for Eve. Adam loved gift more than Giver. In the crisis his true priorities,  who was most important to him, was revealed. (see Patriarch and Prophets p 56)

Our hearts are so deceitful. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12  Our course may, to all outward appearance, seem harmless, but we must beware. We cannot ignore the fact that the enemy uses those very things which are in and of themselves good to draw us away from the Source of all Life.

What do we automatically reach for when we have nothing else to do, when no one else is looking? Who has our hearts? Where do our thoughts constantly turn? The answers to these questions are vital in determining the direction of our lives, and, ultimately, our eternal destination.

Christ must have the heart. Our sweetest thoughts must be of Him (see Steps to Christ p 58). If this is not the case, don't despair! Pray. Plead. Wrestle. Never give up until this is true for you. The battle is not easy, but, praise God, Jesus has won the victory where human beings failed. In His strength we will overcome, if we only persevere. Keep coming to Him who will in no wise cast out.

 

“When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to tills end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man's best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. But He will not accept those who claim to have faith in Him, and yet are disloyal to His Father's commandment. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easy-going, accommodating, crossless religion. But Jesus says, ‘if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ ”

(1 SM 382 )

Our Lord is merciful, faithful. He knows our very inmost hearts, and He is just and fair in His judgements. But may we not be guilty of abusing that mercy, of deceiving our own souls.