Bethlehem Seminar Blessings

 

The only way I can describe the past three weeks is: life-changing! And this is not merely a figure of speech. I literally can't go back and live life as usual ever again. 

Working with such an amazing, committed team has truly inspired me to work for God. Not only now, but to use the rest of my life, to be spent for Him. 
 

Seeing God working in all sorts of circumstances has been such a precious experience. There were so many amazing  encounters with various people, and though the vast majority didn't come, that makes it no less amazing.

Looking back, the single largest impact that I can see from 7 days of walking through the streets inviting people is the result it has had on my own life. Maybe it was not so much about inviting the people as it was about the way God worked in allowing us to invite them. Maybe there was another purpose. Maybe it was to change me. To instill in me a real love for God's work. And since His ways are so much higher than anything we can imagine, I know that only eternity will tell the full results, and show all the seeds planted. 

Yes, we thought at a time that the whole town would come. But God knew what we could handle. And with the recording, which He made possible, we cannot know this side of Heaven the number of souls that will be reached and lives that will changed!

But to me, by far the greatest influence I can see is that which it has had in my own life, as I learned countless precious lessons. Trust in God, surrender, willingness to be used and spent for Him. I was challenged and stretched, pushed beyond the limits of my comfort zone. 

Now the seminar is over. Reality hits home. Back to the mundane things of  life. But are they, really? The question begs- will I truly live a different life from now on? Is this change going to be practical? Will I take up my duties cheerfully, and am I as willing to serve my family here at home as I am to be working out on the streets? Nothing is neutral in life, nothing insignificant. Every descision, every word, every action, every thought holds weight either for good or for evil. Yes, these "little things" have just as much of a deciding influence as the so-called great descisions. 

As to the answer to these questions? I have but to claim God's promises, He has already made provision. Yes, the choice remains mine. And once again, only time will tell. But I pray for grace to be faithful, that we may meet on that "Beautiful Shore", and marvel throughout eternity at the wondrous love of God in redeeming sinful human beings...



 

To Be Spent

It's not fair. I don't like it. I feel like such an etcetera. And no one really cares anyway. They just use me.

Such was the preoccupation of this modern-day "Jonah" but a few short minutes prior to this.

Why should I care? They don't. Do I look like some commodity or something?



Silence. Then I feel a gentle tug on my heart.


"Isn't this exactly what you prayed for?"


...

Then it hit me, like the force of bright noon-day light when you've just come out from pitch-black darkness.

Yes, this. This is my prayer being answered.

To be spent.

A Walk Like Enoch's

The prophet Enoch walked so close to God, his heart so in harmony with God's will, that eventually they could not be separated.
 

The godly character of this prophet represents the state of holiness which must be attained by those who shall be “redeemed from the earth” (Revelation 14:3) at the time of Christ’s second advent. (PP 88)*

If this means us, which we believe it does, then it is the standard for which we must strive. But how do we attain that state?

What did the life of Enoch look like?

• His walk with God was practical.

"Enoch’s walk with God was not in a trance or vision, but in all the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit, shutting himself entirely from the world; for he had a work to do for God in the world. In the family and in his intercourse with men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citizen" (PP 85)

• He was in constant communion with God.

"Pray in your closet, and as you go about your daily labour let your heart be often uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch walked with God...Satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed upon God." (Steps to Christ p 98)

In the midst of a life of active labour, Enoch steadfastly maintained his communion with God. The greater and more pressing his labours, the more constant and earnest were his prayers. He continued to exclude himself, at certain periods, from all society...hungering and thirsting for that divine knowledge which God alone can impart. Communing thus with God, Enoch came more and more to reflect the divine image. His face was radiant with a holy light, even the light that shineth in the face of Jesus. As he came forth from these divine communings, even the ungodly beheld with awe the impress of heaven upon his countenance. (PP 86)
 

• He was a fearless reprover of sin.

"While he preached the love of God in Christ to the people of his time, and pleaded with them to forsake their evil ways, he rebuked the prevailing iniquity and warned the men of his generation that judgement would surely be visited upon the transgressor. (PP 86)

• He laboured for the salvation of others.

"remaining for a time among the people, labouring to benefit them by instruction and example" (PP 86) 

• He was educated yet humble.

"Enoch was a man of strong and highly cultivated mind and extensive knowledge; he was honoured with special revelations from God; yet being in constant communion with Heaven, with a sense of the divine greatness and perfection ever before him, he was one of the humblest of men. The closer the connection with God, the deeper was the sense of his own weakness and imperfection." (PP 85)

His was not a mere timeserving, he was a steadfast, unwavering servant of the Lord.

"There are few Christians who would not be far more earnest and devoted if they knew that they had but a short time to live, or that the coming of Christ was about to take place. But Enoch’s faith waxed the stronger, his love became more ardent, with the lapse of centuries." (PP 85)
 

We are instructed to do likewise.

"God’s people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will, until they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch, they will warn the world of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgements to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example they will condemn the sins of the ungodly." (PP 88)

The example of Enoch shows that it is indeed possible to obey the Law of God, even in the midst of a perverse and sinful generation. By the grace of God we can resist temptation and become pure and holy, children of God.

* PP (Patriarchs and Prophets)

"But if not"

We, as human beings, are happy to be Christians when things are easy. While it's popular. And, forget the approvals, we are even quite willing to be ridiculed, as long we know we'll be rewarded.
But are we willing to serve God when the going gets tough?
When it appears as though evil is triumphing?
When it seems He has all but forsaken us, His answers not forthcoming?

Apparently Daniel's three friends were.

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:16-18 (emphasis mine) 

 

 What courage! Young men who were serious about their God. And I wonder- does such a thing still exist in our generation?

 

Joseph went through the toughest thing anyone can go through. He's innocent, he stands for right, and his reputation is RUINED. 
 

"Joseph’s faithful integrity led to the loss of his reputation and his liberty. This is the severest test that the virtuous and God-fearing are subjected to, that vice seems to prosper while virtue is trampled in the dust...." 

(Conflict and Courage page 76.2) 

 

And I think of Esther. "If I perish." (see Esther 4:16)

Would we still trust God?

The focus of these Hebrew youths was not on themselves. It was on their God. It wasn't about them. Even if He did not deliver them, their priority was obeying Him.

 

Would we say that? Why do we serve God? Do we seek His glory? Do we truly love Him? Or do we merely do the right things because our 'gut-feeling' tells us it's the safest course to save our own skins?

 

Aah, but, we say. Things did work out for them in the end. 

Don't we believe they will for us too? 

We forget about the trying, even terrible experiences they had to go through first. And what about the countless martyrs who through the ages, and to this very day, who were not delivered from physical death and totrure, who actually laid down their lives for their Lord?

  

The scenarios we don't understand are more in number than our finite minds can grasp. In some cases people are laid to rest, and it doesn't occur to us that it is to save them, while they are still safe to save, before they can be tempted and turn aside. Only God knows what we would do with life should He extend it.Then the more common, "little" things. Nothing is working, you're frustrated because you're late for your appointment, but blissfully unaware of the accident you just missed being involved in!

Sometimes we get a tiny glimpse of God's providence in the trials of life. More often than not, though, it is unperceived, and we question. Disbelieving, we demand answers.

 

You see, we don't see the big picture. So, often we can't comprehend the puzzle pieces we hold in our hands. But we do know that God always acts in our very best interest, creating a thing of exquisite beauty. We can say with Paul, that this trial, this apparent defeat, has directly resulted in our salvation. (See Philippians 1:19)

 

Luke 6:22 says, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake."
Blessed!

We can count ourselves blessed to be treated in the same way our Master was. In fact, it is the greatest honour.

 

 "God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honoured than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon." (Desire of Ages p 224.5)

 

Will we be "But if not" Christians?

What if it's "not"?

Am I willing to face the worst, regardless of the consequences?

 

Is He enough?

To Live is Christ

This may sound cliché-like, but it shouldn't, because it's gospel.
Without Jesus, I am nothing. Nothing.

But we first have to fall before we realise how far we've fallen. And thus I often find myself, slipping, sliding, clawing at the dirt, desperately trying not to lose what little grip I have left, until it all finally gives way. Then I fall, fast. Plummeting into utter oblivion, wondering how much lower one go. Once you're there, feeling rock bottom is inevitable.

How do we get there? It doesn't happen instantaneously. People never crumble in a day. Giants, seemingly strong and unconquerable, are slowly chipped away, piece by piece, until they are undermined. Like a slow erosion process.

Now for the bombshell: It happens from within! Yes, we are the cause, our own worst enemy. Self.

To overcome, we must die. Not temporarily. Self will not share the preeminence. We cannot be even partly alive to the things of this world. 

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3 

How we feel, what people do to us, things that don't go according to plan- none of this concerns us. What happens to us here, ultimately, doesn't matter anymore. We are already dead.  
 
Then we say: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Of Second (and Third, No- COUNTLESS) Chances

On so deep, so broad a subject, I almost hesitate to put pen to paper. 

But I will. 

Not because I understand it. 

Not because I know all the hows and whys and wherefores. 

Not because I'm by any means an expert (on the contrary!).

I write merely because I have experienced.

Because I have been the humble, undeserving recipient of mercy so great I cannot dream of words with which to portray it, let alone comprehend it!

Imagine... The King of the universe, creating a world of perfection from a tiny speck of cosmic dust, because He loves, only to have the ones He loves choose someone else! And yet He won't abandon them. Instead, He gives (not lends, but gives) His only Son, His dearest treasure, to forever be one of them. And to die. Yet this awesome truth- Heaven's Prince, taking our place that we, guilty sinners might live, more often than not fails to evoke in us more than but a passing interest, if that. But while we go on with our busy lives, the Father is still waiting with mercy, pardon, redemption and restoration. Despite our numerous blatant rejections, more than anything, He longs to have a relationship with us. No, mercy cannot linger forever, but God gives every opportunity He can for us to be reconciled.

All throughout human history has been portrayed the long-suffering mercy, the love of God towards His erring children. 

Think of Abraham. God called Him, but he was still human, susceptible to doubts, slow to learn. Not once, but twice he made the mistake of saying Sarah was his sister. Yet God never wrote him off as a failure. He simply picked up where Abraham had left, and continued their journey. 

Then we have Moses. Self-trusting, warlike, thinking he knows how to deliver God's people without God's help. He has murdered a man, however, God does not cast him away. He has some serious 'unlearning' to  do, but in the end God still uses him mightily.

The people Moses was leading were even worse, if that be possible. Rejecting the God who delivered them from the heavy yoke of bondage, they gave themselves up to the worship of other gods. This they did, not once, but many times, to the point where God Himself was ready to destroy them. Yet in His mercy He spared them yet again, giving them another chance.

Peter. Three times he denied his Lord, at a time when, of all times, he should have been standing up for Him. Yet one cannot fall unless you have been standing. And Jesus didn't put him on 'probation'. There was no "I'll first watch you and then we'll decide". Just: "Do you love Me? Then feed my sheep." He restored him from where he had fallen, brought him even closer to Himself. 

And so we have seen just a few examples of the unending evidences of God's amazing forbearance, His mercy, and unwillingness to let any of His children perish.

That "Love that will not let me go"!

Countless times I've failed Him, but, He never gives up on me. 
Instead, He picks me up yet again, calls me to walk even nearer to Him. Neither does He first watch me to make sure I'm free from faults and mistakes before allowing me to serve Him again.
I cannot comprehend it. 
His ways are past finding out! (Romans 11:33)

Or Not Be Used At All?

This evening as we sang the familiar hymn: Live Out Thy Life Within Me. The old song took on a new meaning for me in the form of this one profound phrase:

"Or not be used at all."

"Ready to have Thee use them, Or not be used at all."

That first phrase resonates so nicely our concept of how things should be. We're important. We must be used (or so we think). We don't even think twice about the alternative.
Maybe we should.

We're always ready to do something, be someone great. "I'll go", we say. "Anywhere, Lord". 

Just not nowhere.

But what if that's not His plan? 

Am I willing not to go? 

Can I stand to "not be used at all"? (emphasis mine)

Am I willing to be one of God's etceteras?

And most importantly- is He enough for me?