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As I sat down this morning to blog with you, I had this warm sense that our blog has become like a group of friends who have one thing in common, their love for Jesus, sitting around a crackling ingleside chatting about this precious, common love we have for Him.

After listening to the song “Father not my will but Yours be done”, I heard the following:

“My will has, as it were, two parts – there is the grand part where My will is to gather a people for Myself – My kingdom subjects – those who are going to make up My Bride – to this end I am working globally in every corner of the world – from the Muslim countries which don’t allow Christianity to the Western countries where many Christians have become lazy, ‘fat cats’, overweight physically and spiritually obese as they greedily keep My Spirit and resources for themselves. Then the other part of My will concerns My relationship with you – here I am wooing you into a bridal relationship, I will not force My will on you but hold out My love and grace as I draw you to Me and am preparing you for the role I have in mind for you in My final kingdom. As you grow closer to Me you are surrendering your will more and more to Mine – and I am leading you constantly in this quest. Ultimately the measure of your Christianity is perseverance and not momentary emotional experiences.” Father not my will but Yours be done.

Reflecting on what Paul has to say in Colossians on fulfilment, I have been thinking about what he says in Ephesians on fullness and being filled. When I was in the Charismatic environment much was being said about fullness and being filled, often focusing on Ephes 5:18b. The picture, as I understood it then was sort of passive. A person was like a glass of water. You needed to keep praying that God would fill and keep the glass full and if it was really full it would spill over and affect those around you.

We need to understand firstly that this was a letter sent to several churches and so the theme of the letter, although it obviously addresses individual needs and responsibilities as well, is mainly addressed to the church. So in ch 1, Paul shows how each Christian has received everything that God gives, in the Spiritual realm, with His attitude of love and grace to each one. Our need is to understand the extent of what this gift really means is highlighted in the prayer in vs 15ff. A communal understanding, if grasped fully will reflect in the church as a body which demonstrates and experiences Christ’s fullness as He fills everything (vs 23).

In ch 3 from vs 14 Paul prays a prayer which is firstly a prayer for the church, for power to remain Christian and to experience the full extent of Christ’s love, which will result in them experiencing His fullness (3:19). Obviously this prayer involves the individual as well, but the focus of Paul is the church.

The first part of ch 4, 1-16 is a beautiful picture of how Christ’s church should function, demonstrating complete unity. When the people are all using their gifts correctly for the benefit of each other, the church will grow into maturity, vs 13, reaching the whole measure of Christ’s fullness, fulfilling thus God’s desire for His church as laid out earlier.

Paul then goes on to show how it is necessary for us to be obedient if the purpose of the church is to be fulfilled, finally coming to he statement in ch 5:18, which is often concentrated on without taking the context of the whole letter up to then into consideration. So look now: vs 15, be careful then how you live – iow, continue to practice all I have said up to now about obedience, using all the opportunities God gives you to contribute to the functioning of the church. Vs 17, don’t be foolish, but understand. Reminding us of the prayer in ch 1:15,16, how important understanding and knowledge of God’s will is, through the means He has given. And now the crunch – don’t get drunk on wine, instead be filled with Spirit. This is actually not really an either, or situation. He is using the example of how wine controls you when you have had too much, in a similar way you should allow the Spirit to control you. That really means much more than a few words can explain, because into that goes our whole relationship, as described in ch 5 Galatians for instance. It is a life, governed by knowing and interacting with Jesus and being obedient in His strength to His guidance.

To sum up then; while it obviously starts with our individual relationship and walk with Jesus, the concept of “being filled” in Ephesians, is best experienced and expressed in the interaction of the Christian community. These are just a few thoughts and not an exhaustive study but showed me again how important our church relationships and functioning are.

“No matter how vast and glorious My creation is – so complex and in 99 % of cases incomprehensible to you – you need to be reminded that in that relationship – you are the principle – you are the reason I have created – I have created you in My image so that I can have a relationship with you – yes you are not like the angels – they do not have a free will – they are messengers who act on instructions. The greatest mystery to you is the one of free will – you have the ability to do and to think what you like – however, even in that I am operating – on the one hand showing you the Inferno, that you should flee from it and on the other hand – opening My arms in love to welcome you into the safe haven – but you have a choice – all your life that choice continues – but it is also continuously tempered by My grace and My love as I mould you into becoming the perfect partner to fulfil the relationship I have been planning since the beginning of time – in a mystical way which you cannot fully understand – nothing is by chance – yet you are completely free – Once you have made the decision, I welcome you into My arms and wrap them around you. But remember you are part of a community – so My Bride will be huge and be community – you will not and should not feel and act alone.”

So I have been meditating on Psalm 8 since yesterday. You may have picked up some of the thoughts from that psalm in my meditation with our Father. On reflection it became more and more obvious that this Psalm acts as a sort of middle point to the whole story of the bible. The story of God and man.

This is why I say that: The backdrop to the whole psalm is God’s majesty (v1 and 9 which bracket the whole psalm) which is reflected and shown to us through His creation (v 3 ff). This is surely also the backdrop of the whole bible. The story of the bible revolves around God and His majesty. One of the ways He has chosen to reveal himself is in and through His creative genius. The pinnacle of His creation is surely then Man (v 4). Created in His own image. Man has a unique role – to rule over the creation, responsibly (v 6 – 10).

Two things not so obvious, are David’s reference to God as Jehovah Adonai in v 1 and 10. that name is of course unique, as it is God’s name for His covenantal people to use and denotes His special relationship with them. The other thing is that right in the middle is the reference to man’s creation as being a little lower than the angels. The New Testament writers, in a number of instances have interpreted this reference to a “Special Man” to refer to the Messiah who will be man’s ultimate representative.( eg cf Hebrews 2:5-9.) His death on our behalf has entitled us to be crowned with glory and honour (Heb 2:9).

I found v 2 rather intriguing. It reminds us of the infernal war that is going on between God and the His “adversaries, foes and avengers” in the world. The solution is interesting It is the praises, here defined as coming from children and infants, that will drown, will silence these enemies. Now I take this description as symbolizing the weakness and vulnerability of those who sing these praises. Why? Because these are the one’s who recognize their dependence on God. cf Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Our praise and enjoyment of God will be so great that it drowns the acrimonious declarations of hatred and vengeance of God’s foes.

For me today, as I have been meditating on it since yesterday this is such a beautiful picture of what is going on in the world as we know it that it continually fills me with continual wonder and awe. May I devote my life to be a singer of praises to Jehovah Adonai and his Son the Messiah, Jesus.

“Jesus” – I contemplate the name Jesus – that name that has come to mean so much to me – that name that makes me feel warm and loved – that name that is bandied about by many who have no regard for it and who He is.

“Yes I chose that name which represents My main purpose in the world – Saviour – but being a saviour means so much more than plucking you out of the torrent of this evil world – it means making you my ‘friend’. Yes I am your Saviour – but first I am your Friend, I am your Shepherd, but first your Friend, I am Father, Brother, King, Lover, but in all this I am first your Friend. Friendship has so many facets to it – each of which I fill – now I want you to be my friend – to fill up that space I have kept in My heart specifically for your friendship to fill – and through Me you can spread My friendship in the world to others – because I am a friend to everyone who professes My name – Jesus”.

Now Lilly has asked me to comment on the beautiful passage in Colossians 1:15-20. So here is how I see that passage fits in to Paul’s letter and why it has been put there.

When I was a new Christian in the 80’s, very involved with the “Charismatic Renewal movement”, there was a buzzword – “fullness”. The message was that, “Yes its wonderful that you are a Christian, but to really enjoy your Christianity and especially to have the power to serve the Lord through His supernatural Spiritual gifts, in other words to experience His fullness you needed to be baptized in the Spirit”. Everyone who hadn’t received that baptism or ‘second blessing’ as it was often known was missing out and somehow a sort of lame Christian.

Now there seems to have been a similar message being preached by various False Teachers after Paul had left to the Colossian church. Teachers offering a fuller experience of Christ through some other means. So this is Paul’s reply to those teachings. If you read through the letter and look for them, Paul has played with the word ‘Full’ or ‘Fullness’ in several places.

But here is the basic basic message: In 1:15-20 He presents Jesus. Who He is and what His relationship with God is and what He has accomplished while here on earth. The key vs is 1:19 “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (Jesus)”. In other words everything God has and is and can give, was and is present in Christ. Now move to 2:9 he repeats this “For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form” and now comes the crunch 2:10 “and you have been given fullness in Christ”. So every Christian, when he receives Christ, receives everything that God has available to give. Just meditate on that incredible fact. We have it, we have everything already, that God can and will give, the moment you become a Christian.

But now the question is: why do we not all seem to experience it and why is it so attractive to us that when we are offered an easy way to receive fullness we often fall for it? In ch 2:11 to the end of the chapter Paul mentions a number of the things that the people were obviously being offered to give them that experience of “fullness”. Well Paul actually answers that question by mentioning three ways that we can get to the point of experiencing fullness.

Ch 1:9 Paul repeats a similar statement which he uses in Ephesians 1:17-19. We need to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the extent of the magnificent gift God has given us in Christ and Paul shows that we need God’s help to grow in the wisdom and understanding of that, not just in our heads but our hearts as well. We need to know what we have received and what it means to us. The more we know the more we will experience it and be led to live by it.

Ch 1:25 It is through the study and teaching from God’s word that that knowledge will be available to us. The study and meditation on the Word is key to getting this knowledge. Knowledge which in many respects has been a mystery and still is to many of us as it is slowly unfolded in His Word. (vv26,27)

Then in ch 2:1 and 3:16, Paul reveals the importance of our interaction as a church, as a group of saints in helping each other to grow in our knowledge and experience of the fullness presented to us through our relationship with Christ. This is a community effort and really, especially with Covid, is so important to remind ourselves of the importance of this interaction and our responsibility to each other so together we can grow in knowledge and obedience.

So to sum this all up; we need not and should not be calling on God to give us more but rather that He show us what we already have and then live accordingly. We need to listen to Jesus. We don’t need more of Him He needs more of us. I close with these words from the song “Yet not I but through Christ in me” “What gift of Grace is Jesus my Redeemer, there is no more for heaven to give”.

The picture I have to-day at the beginning of a new week is of God being our Shepherd.

“Yes Ian, I am your Shepherd – I use that picture, that analogy because all my children were like sheep that had gone astray and I have rounded you up into my fold – under My protection. My focus for you today is ‘restoration’ I seek to restore you as the week unfolds – I seek to pick up all the loose threads and insecurities in your life and put you together again to make you ‘whole’, to make you ‘complete’. I will lead you then ‘beside still waters’ of rest and even when the path becomes difficult and dark I will be there leading and protecting you all the way, keeping you together – as we head to the ultimate ‘banquet’ where we will experience ‘full-front’ fellowship. So feel my arms around you and simply follow Me as I lead the way, putting your full trust in Me.”

Today my reading is Psalm 6. I think the key word in this psalm is in v 4. The Hebrew word ‘Chesed’, translated as ‘steadfast’ or ‘unfailing love’, it is a reminder of God’s covenant promise in Exodus 34:5 -7 where God confirmed the conditions of His covenant promises. We see in this Psalm how David is overcome with pain and grief (many commentators believe it had to do with his affair with Bathsheba and the consequences that followed, including his enemies who were mocking him). So against the back drop of his distress David first calls on God to stop chastising him, as he seems to see God being behind his troubles. Then in his great distress he cries out the often repeated call in the Psalms and by many, many Christians, over the centuries – “how long oh Lord, how long?” Voicing a desire for relief which just doesn’t seem to be coming.

Then David reminds himself of God’s covenant love (v 4) and calls out to God on the basis of that, which embodies all God’s goodness and promise of protection for His people. Even as the mourning and weeping dies down, he gathers himself and affirms his faith and trust in the Lord – vs 9 with the words “The lord has heard my plea, the Lord accepts my prayer” and so he voices his expectation of a positive outcome.

So as I reflect what Jesus has said to me, I am firstly reminded that we have an even deeper relationship with God under the new covenant through Jesus who died to make that promise of God’s love for us a reality. So on the basis of that and looking at David’s words here, we have every reason to believe that God will answer our prayers with a positive outcome, which nevertheless may not be what we may expect, no matter how sad and serious our situation may seem. Two questions arise, do I blame God for my troubles, seeing them as part of His hand in chastising or disciplining me? What would be the purpose of that? To grow my faith and trust? And secondly it reminds me again that in many respects God often does seem to hold back His answers and His solutions, probably for the same reason. The comforting assurance behind all this is that we have this covenant relationship with our God and Father through Jesus the Son and we can have full confidence in God hearing and responding, in His time and nothing that ever happens to us is allowed out of evil intent as we are fully covered by God’s infinite love and grace.

Even as I sing the beautiful song “Jesus help me to trust you more and more” – I sense that the means for me to grow in trust often represents difficulty. “Ian from the beginning the problem of man has been that he wants to follow his own way, make his own decisions – and when he has ‘success’ pat himself on the back and become more and more ‘self-sufficient’ – So the first step in trust is humility, recognizing that every obstacle and challenge in one’s life is part of My plan and every victory would only be achieved if there was something to overcome. So the means of growing in trust is firstly to recognize My hand in what is happing in your life, the joys and happiness as well as the difficulties and challenges and behind this all lies My goodness expressed in My love. Any pain you feel I feel as well – but also all the victories that bring you closer, I celebrate with you – No one could climb Mt Everest without having trained, trained and trained, experiencing all the pain that goes with that – and then the victory – when you come into My bridal chamber – the victory you will be experiencing will be worth every ‘trust’ muscle you have had to exercise.”

To-day I am reading Psalm 5 and it fits in perfectly with the word on trusting and Jesus had plenty to say to me through it. Why don’t you read it now and hear what He says to you from it before you continue here.

It consists of 5 stanzas. vv 1-3, David comes expectantly to the Lord (in the morning). His request for the Lord to hear his supplication is more an affirmation that he expects that Lord will hear him and respond. *# What is my attitude as I come to the Lord early every morning? Am I really expecting and trusting God to respond?

vv 4-6, He is being faced with huge challenges in the form of enemies who desire his destruction. *# What are the challenges I am facing today and how much of a role does God’s enemy play in this? I remember Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” I am reminded that I need to identify the real enemy in each situation.

vv 7-8, His solution, remembering God’s characteristic of mercy, is to go to God’s house, His holy temple to seek guidance how to act righteously and direct him in the way to move forward. *# Do I hear the invitation of God to David to trust Him to overcome this challenge? Of course in the New Testament era we no longer go to a physical temple to meet with the Lord, but instead we meet Him in Jesus, who has become our temple.

vv 9,10 He focusses again on His enemies, but now asking God to deal with them and give him the victory. *#A clear reminder to surrender every problem to the Lord and trust Him to give you the way out.

vv 11-12,Then he affirms his trust in the Lord by expressing joy and rejoicing which shows he believes in the right outcome from God’s perspective, ending with a reminder to himself that he is now under God’s blessing. *”We have received every blessing in the heavenlies”, says Paul in Ephesians 1:3, but later he still reminds the readers that they should take up the full armour of God, especially the shield of faith, which lies in our recognizing and affirming our identity as being “in Christ”, who is our shield.

So as I trust Jesus for the outcome over our difficulties I need to hand over the situation completely to Him, but that does not mean I become inactive, I still need to act as God guides me in the power of His Spirit.

Lots to think about and ponder, as we meditate on this word to us today from God, affirming to me what he was saying to me earlier about growing in trust. What has He said to you?

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Singing the beautiful worship song “Jesus comes to you”, I pause to hear what He is saying to me: “I come to you – I come to you in a form and shape who understands exactly where you are at, at the moment. The losses you have experienced, the pain, the day to day responsibilities – I come to you understanding exactly where you are at the moment, so that I can comfort you – but remember, even though I come as an absolutely human figure – embedded in that figure is and was the entire power of the Almighty, All-knowing, Creator God – filled with compassion and understanding I have come to show you My love and grace – and wrap My arms around you, reminding you of My faithfulness and ever-present presence drawing you closer for a great hug.”

As we come to the Psalms, although this is by no means meant to be an in-depth study, just a few thoughts to keep in mind as we read them:

1. This is poetry and some psalms were used as worship songs for the Hebrews and therefore have a corporate meaning.
2. The usual rules of exegesis should be followed ie. First consider what the message meant to the original readers in their Old Covenant context. Then examine what difference the establishing of the new covenant, with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus makes to the interpretation. Then only, consider how we may apply it to ourselves in the light of that.
3. They are written in the Hebrew style so in each verse or stanza the same thought is picked up line by line and repeated. So in interpretation we must take the verse and not the line as a unit of expression
4. Although David mentions “wicked men” many times, we can probably see them as the instruments of Satan in the global spiritual battle.

Psalm one and two represent a sort of introduction to the whole book. Psalm one concerns the relationship of the individual to God. One can summarize it as “Two ways to live”. Firstly the practice, then the outcome of that practice. There is much spiritual depth in the sylvian likenesses in vs 3. I have thought much about the concept of delighting and meditating on God’s law. This could easily be mistaken for an admiration of the word of God as such. That approach could lead to a legalistic application of the law as a way of living our Christian life. Instead, in meditating on the law and delighting in it, the law should be seen as the avenue through which one actually meets with God Himself, expressing Himself in His law. Meditating on His law represents what we do when we spend time in the word to hear what Jesus is saying to us through it, it represents our practice of the relationship we have with God, remembering that Jesus is described as “The Word”. The whole concept of “meditating” gives the picture of time spent in building that contact and can actually only happen if one is not rushed.

Psalm two looks again at a broad picture of the world in revolt against God, represented the kings and rulers. They perceive God as holding them in bondage. Against this is God’s attitude. All the might of the world arranged against God and His reaction to them: He laughs at their puny efforts. It was sung at the inauguration of kings, but as Jesus represents God’s ultimate Son looks far ahead at His coming and God’s demand that every ruler needs to humble himself and kiss the Son. The scepter of God’s wrath hangs over them.

While these two psalms launch us into the message of the Psalms, they are on the one hand a challenge to our personal walk with and relationship with God, through Jesus. At the same time looking at the mess the world is in, we have the promise that God is above and beyond everything and all the powers and authorities are mere creatures before him who will eventually face His judgement. A great comfort as we consider how broken the world looks at the moment.

Glory – glory – “What is your glory Lord?”

I see a light – a huge light, growing stronger and stronger – from it speaks His voice -” My glory represents all the goodness there is – it reflects My majesty and every part of of My power – it reflects My beauty – it fills the universe – every part is infused with My glory and ultimately when your earthly body is shed – you will participate in My glory – in the meantime your role is to reflect My glory to the world. On the outside it appears as if the whole world is in a mess and going to pieces uncontrollably, but in reality I am busy renewing it from inside – each saint who carries My glory is like a particle of yeast who together, are causing the dough to rise and transforming the world invisibly from within – so don’t despair – keep reflecting My glory with rejoicing”

As the winter ended on Aug 31,(officially, according to the calendar) I completed reading Acts. So I thought I would reflect back on what the main message, that I feel Jesus has been saying to me from it is. If you have also read through it, maybe you would like to reflect as well on what you have heard Him say to yourself and how that may have affected your life.

Firstly I was aware of God’s greater plan unfolding as He leads the next step in the spread of the events which were to be a tilting point of history that began in Luke, ultimately intended to transform humanity and to demonstrate His new kingdom, as He is now continuing to prepare a people to be His subjects.

Crucial to the spread of the life-changing gospel message is the role of the Holy Spirit, both leading, giving the right words at the right time and also giving the power to persevere in the face of huge opposition.

Then there is the picture, as the spread of the gospel gathers momentum, of a greater and greater number of people, not only affected by the message, but becoming active in the process of the spread. Looking back we can see the embryo of a kingdom which counts its subjects in billions today and of which I am only a small but vital part.

Integral to this is the backdrop of opposition and suffering which suffuses the story. No doubt we should reflect on the reality of the spiritual battle which was and still is going on, attempting to prevent the spread at all costs. Yet, as we have spoken several times of the fact that God, although He certainly modified it,(like the story of Paul’s shipwreck shows) still allowed much difficulty and even this contributed to the spread and growth of the fledgling church.

As I read this story I was again captivated at what must be the beginning of the greatest success story of history. Filled with wonder that the Lord has chosen me to be a small part of this exciting adventure, and reinvigorated to be available to be used to contribute in whatever way He wants me to be. Nothing will be too small and insignificant for me to do if He calls me to do it. And nothing will be too large to accomplish through the power of His Spirit.

Starting on the first day of Spring I have started reading the Psalms from Psalm 1 again. I think I will read more or less a Psalm a day till the end of September and decide then what I will do after that. I invite you to join me as I discuss relevant issues that arise.

The joy of the Lord is my strength, is going through my mind as I find myself facing a new week and my mind immediately feeding and focusing on several things that need to be done, obstacles to be overcome – I step back and remind myself that I should rather focus on “The joy of the Lord which is my strength”.

“Understand what this means, Ian, the joy lies totally in trusting Me all the time and when you face obstacles and difficulties to remember that nothing in your life is unforeseen to Me – so you can quietly place your trust in Me and know the peace and joy of being in a relationship with Me. As you move into the week and face obstacles and difficulties – you can face them by recognizing My power and guidance, My presence – My purpose and handing over any sense of unease – simply placing your trust in Me and taking the next logical step. So turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in His face – trust Him and sense the joy of the relationship of perfect safety – being in His grip which you have.”

Revisiting my last blog on spiritual warfare, reflected in persecution and Christian growth, I by no means was suggesting that persecution was the only way to experience true Christianity or spiritual growth. My point was that while we feel compassion and pity for those who are suffering persecution and are led to intense prayer for them, the irony is that some (surely not all) have rather ironically expressed a pity from their side towards brothers and sisters who live in the western life of affluence and ease and the effect it has on spiritual growth and experience (Nic Ripkin raises this in his book “The insanity of obedience”). Francis Shaeffer once said “the greatest threat to Christianity in the 20th century is personal affluence and privacy”. Personal affluence removes one’s sense of dependence on God and the privacy it buys, walls one off from a sense of community and the perception of interdependence.

Reading ch 27 of Acts, which describes Paul’s journey to Rome, beset by storms and finally a disastrous shipwreck, I am again struck by How much opposition and suffering Paul had during his life and ministry. How can we explain it? Well on the one hand surely Satan was at work trying to divert the potential spread of the gospel. Yet God in His sovereignty allowed it. I can just fall back on the thought that in all this he was constantly being brought to a deeper and deeper sense of dependence on God with the resultant growth in faith and trust.

More books than the hairs on my head have been written about Christian suffering, so far be it from me to think I can contribute something new. Suffice for me to say is suffering and its role in each of our lives is a very real factor in our spiritual growth, however, each of us is totally unique, so there is no way one can make a blanket statement about this subject which fits all.

We can learn from each other and from the scriptures but ultimately we need to apply what we are hearing Jesus saying to us in our particular situation and allow God to lavish us with His grace, through His word and through His Spirit, ministering to our particular, unique personality and circumstance. And by interaction with each other to support one another without offering easy answers, yet directing them back to God’s word.

Special thank you to Lilly for her interaction which provoked me to think through this subject again.

“Here Ian – come close to Me that I can speak to you – ‘Yet not I but Christ in me’ – that is the life I want you to live – that is the message I want you to preach. As you live that message well, there will be less of yourself and more of Me in everything that you do – I am still giving you a completely free will – yet I am drawing you closer to that aim – ‘Yet not I but Christ in me – the life that I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’. So I am setting you free again – free to live that gospel.”

As I read the story of Paul in Acts, describing his persecution while he tries to share the gospel, I envisage thousands of other Christians who were persecuted during the first century (and over the whole gospel era). Tradition has it that the gospel of Mark was written to strengthen and encourage Christians who were being persecuted by Nero in Rome. Pictures of the saints dipped in tar and tied to poles to be set alight at night to light the streets of Rome, come to mind. Saints in iron cages left in arenas for lions to pull pieces of flesh from them till they die and the church hiding in catacombs to escape.

And so my thoughts go to the recorded message Julie placed on our WhatsApp group who follow this blog, of a woman pleading for prayer for the Christians in Afghanistan. While I was listening to that, close to tears myself at the thought of the incredible suffering, my thoughts went to Revelation 6:9,10.

(The best way to read the book of Revelation is to imagine a modern rugby match where there is a slow-motion replay where the same event is played over from different angles to see it better. In the same way John was shown in a graphic, mostly pictorial and symbolic way the events that would play out during the gospel era. So there are a number of scenes (7), which each depict the same events in a different way. Many of the events have such horrific pictures that one is tempted to pass them over. To balance these however, you must keep in mind the key verse which describes the purpose of the book Rev 17:14 ‘They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings – and with Him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers’).

In 6:9,10 we are reminded of the reality of the fact that there are going to be many martyrs over the years and it seems to them never ending, as they cry “How long, Souvereign Lord so holy and true until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

Heh, but isn’t that so distant and unreal to us, safely in our Western comfortable houses, free to speak the gospel and worship the Lord. In a comment on these vv (Rev 6:9,10), John Piper in his book “Don’t waste your life”, urges us to have a wartime mindset and our weapon is the word of God .

“I need to hear this message again and again because I drift into peacetime mindset as certainly as rain falls down and flames go up. I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love, I start to call earth home. Before you know it I am calling luxuries needs and using my money just the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget the war. I don’t think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached people drop from my mind” pgs 110,11.

Nik Ripkin, who spent a number of years in the Sudan, later set out to research how Christians survived and still shared the gospel in countries where they are being persecuted. It was originally intended to be a task for which he set aside two years. He ended up doing it for 15 years and visited 72 countries, where there was severe persecution, interviewing over 600 people. Brother Andrew from Open Doors says in the foreword to Nik’s book “the Insanity of Obedience”, that the only place where the church is really growing is where it is suffering persecution.

To us in our safe homes and life-style we are horrified at what is going on out there, yet you know what, many of those people are actually sorry for us, because they believe we are not experiencing Christianity as it really is. So yes, let us pray for those people. Let us pray much for them. But let us pray for ourselves that we would become infected with the urgency of the kingdom. That it would infiltrate every part of our lives and we would be bold to take up the weapons of spiritual warfare, of which prayer is an integral part. As we have seen the warfare is as intense now as it has been from Paul’s time.

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I start my time with the Lord on this Monday morning, with the week looming ahead, with the lively song “Who can be against us if our God is for us”.

I am assured, by faith that the Lord is very present with me. “I am here in the full power and might of My presence – that power that I used to create the universe – I am here fully in this room with you today. Now let me lift you up into the celestial world where you can float on the clouds and look down and see the bigger picture – see My plan being worked out fully – driven by My love – which is the most powerful force in the universe – and that power is working all things together to complete My plan – even to where My judgement falls – and the promise, My personal promise to you is that you are a recipient of that powerful force of My love – which is driving every part of your life – and nothing can separate you from it, even the combined forces of all the evil. So now feel and experience the lightness of your burdens lifted – take My yoke – feel it – it is easy and it is light and in no way should it make you feel burdened again. Just take one step at a time – do the next thing that you must do – don’t try and live in the future. Make the most of every moment with Me – even when difficulties come your way. Remember My power released in My love, is protecting and shielding you.”

While I have been munching through Galatians I have picked up the story we were reading in Acts again. In ch 21 Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem is described. Stott makes the point that from that time on Paul was never again to be a free man. This section to the end of the book describes 5 different trials that Paul faces. The main subtheme seems to be the difference in the attitudes of the Jews and the Romans to Paul. As this is narrative compared to the concentrated teaching in Paul’s epistle to the Romans, it is often a bit more challenging to hear Jesus speaking to us from it.

Today I am reading the defence of Paul in his trial before Felix in chapter 24:9-21. To understand the context one should probably read from ch 21. I am going to focus just on these few vv.

So in the background the question continues to hover, “Why is God allowing Paul to experience such opposition, especially in the light of Romans 8:28? Have you ever pondered that? So where Romans 8 shows God’s attitude towards the individual, this needs always to be seen against the background of the bigger picture. The bigger picture of Paul’s ministry, however shows that God always has the growth of His Kingdom, represented by His church as His main objective. Of course the real issue that God affirms in Romans 8 is that whatever His bigger plan is, His personal plan for each one is driven by His love for us and what we experience is always for our ultimate benefit, as well as the benefit of the church. So we must draw the conclusion that opposition will always result in benefitting the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Kingdom as well as our personal sanctification.

This is not a question of God being nasty. The fact of opposition is one of the main motivators to persevere and carry out any plan. Considering that it is necessary for one to be sure that the plan is the correct one, opposition will often start one examining the plan again to confirm that it is the right way to go. So in a way it purifies the purpose and the implementation of the plan. I have experienced this first-hand in my early years in Stellenbosch. Being involved in a church with a very powerful evangelistic ministry I became convinced of the need to follow that with a concerted discipleship program. For a number of years I worked on developing such a plan and am still in contact with some of the people who were part of that program.

However rather than support from the leadership in the church I found them being responsible for the most opposition. I also experienced attempts to hi-jack the program for personal gain. The net effect was that I worked harder than ever, trying to improve the program to avoid unnecessary criticism and looking back it was a time of glorious growth in a personal way as well as in numbers, giving God all the glory.

Back in Acts 24. To pick up what Jesus is saying to me I would start by reminding myself of the main theme of Acts: the description of how God, through His Spirit, used the Apostles to take the fledgling message, the message which will result eventually in the completion of His Kingdom, into the then known world. Luke repeatedly remarks how the word spread and grew, in the various places where it was taken.

What can I see in this passage that speaks to me? 1. The accusers use ‘fake news’ and hearsay to bring their accusations against him, whereas Paul sticks to the truth. This strikes me as an important point in making a defence for the gospel – not to be dragged down by these tactics, rather sticking to the truth as it is recorded in God’s word. 2. Paul’s interaction with the Law and the Prophets is interesting, especially in he light of what he wrote in Galatians about the law. Perhaps you would like to think that one through. 3. Whatever his defence, he uses it to steer the conversation back to the central point of the gospel. In this case he focusses on the resurrection, cf vs 16,21. This was probably the most controversial point of the gospel, yet Paul doesn’t hesitate to bring it forward, to turn the interaction into an opportunity to explain the gospel. Opposition often throws out red herrings in an effort to distract us as we present God’s truth.

These things all remind me of the supreme importance of all of us being prepared to be a representative of and speak out for the gospel at all times.

But you may be saying, “I am not a bible teacher. Or someone who can go and confront people.” That is why I cannot tell you what Jesus is saying to you. You must be listening to His voice to you personally. What I can say is that every one of us is called to place the gospel central in our lives and thinking so that we will be its representative. How that manifests itself will vary, as we are all individuals with unique gifts and personality. It may mean just a smile at the right time, a word of encouragement, a prayer or open offer to pray, a gift in Jesus’ name, a little card or posy, a loving visit or even just a phone-call. The Spirit will guide each one of us, if we are sensitive and listening to Him. The important thing is that you won’t be led by Him if you aren’t listening to Him. For instance, for many years Emily used to buy packs of small cards with Christian messages on them. These she would post or hand out whenever she felt led to do it.