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Receive, is the word that comes to mind as I listen. “Receive from Me! I am a giving God – I want to give to you – You must just be open to receive from Me – I have given you so much over the years, you are aware of some of it – but I have given you so much more than you are aware of – not a wallet full of money, but a wallet of love, of companionship and fellowship and friendships with so many people – every day I have been giving – freely of My love and grace – just become more sensitive to me and My gifts and you will see so much more of Me and yes, I do desire communion with you, like with every other brother or sister – walk with me, like Adam walked with Me in the garden, draw near to Me and I will draw near to you!”

My reading in Luke 6:39-49. covers 2 sections.

Having laid down the true characteristics of a Christian and given direction on a number of interpersonal issues, so far in this sermon, Christ covers a whole section with a warning against being judgemental, not to focusing on another’s ability to follow and be obedient to what He has taught so far, which it is so easy to dol. As much as we must be generous in all other aspects of life, so much should we be generous towards the behaviour and actions of others, remembering that we are often more guilty than they of the very misdemeanors we accuse them of. The hyperbolic parable on judgement in vss 41,42 is well-known, but may I suggest, needs to be meditated well on.

He then reaches the closing section of His sermon in vss 43-49 which can be summarized as follows: the basic characteristic of a true Christian is that his/her heart has been changed cf vs 45. The measure of that is the fruit of a changed life, as I suggested last time a supernatural fruit, only possible from a changed heart. And the way to find that and maintain it comes from our attitude towards God’s word (vv 46-49). It is not sufficient to just read His word, or even study it. It must bring about a changed heart which is shown by the obedience of the person reading it and the work of the Spirit in empowering one.

So the real key to the Christian life is truly “Listening to Jesus”! Hearing what He is saying to you and then taking that to heart, asking Him to change your heart. Our hearts are so hard that we need all the power, on an ongoing basis, of God’s Spirit to change them. However He will not and cannot change them unless we desire to have them changed. A desire which must be matched by our ongoing seeking Him and His Spiritual power. In other words to “walk by the Spirit” as in Galatians.

So for me today, as I meditated on the instructions of not to judge, I became so convicted as to how shallowly I have viewed this command previously. How easy it is for me to slot people into categories and to see their faults, while forgetting mine completely. And of course dealing with that requires further Spiritual heart-surgery. I am so grateful to a God who is patient and prepared to give me renewed hope and strength every day. Thank you my dear Lord, for being such a giving God. I worship at the foot of Your throne.

Closing my eyes I allow my mind to take me into a picture of the heavenly vision that John had, which he recorded in Revelation 4. The multitude of worshipers, the cherubim, but most of all the figure dominating everything, The Lamb that was slain, the Lion of Judah. Shining so brightly that no-one could look at it, a figure so beautiful no-one can describe it.

“Let your life be influenced by that and fill your mind with what is good, admirable, of good repute etc and overflow in rejoicing in WHO I AM – Elohim, Jehovah, Jesus, The Holy Spirit! Focus on that and not on the “what if’s” of your everyday uncertainty – so that you can rejoice in Me and be filled with thanksgiving. So live your life in that light – moment by moment, making your decisions, led by the Spirit – with the underlying sense of joy because of my relationship with you”.

I am reminded again of the joy of my conversion at Noordhoek, where my eyes, my mouth and my heart were filled with the word Jesus. Its been a journey, with many deviations, obstacles and joys, which I would not have missed for anything.

Reading Luke 6: 30 -39. I have come to the middle of the “sermon on the plain” which is Luke’s parallel to Matthew’s “sermon on the mount.” These verses have a common theme which is summarized in vs 31 “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. In other words live your life in an “other people centered way”. the section is bracketed by the vv 29,30 on the one side and 38 on the other and shows us that the basic attitude of the Christian life towards others is one of ultimate generosity which governs how we treat them, whether brothers or sisters, or even our enemies.

I know that the immediate thought that goes through every person’s mind is “that is impossible, a bar too high to be leaped”. In ordinary terms that is oh so true, that is why we must understand that this can only be achieved supernaturally and that is why it is such a good witness as the true fruit of one who is really converted. I have so often seen the change in people who are converted when they become gentle and generous. So it has led me to say on numerous occasions the first sign of true Christianity is when a person’s wallet is also converted. But you know what? The promise in vs 38 is “Give and it will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured unto you”

This is the motivation behind the instruction, yet not the reason for one’s generosity. The reason for generosity is because of Jesus’ huge generosity through His grace to us. I can testify that I have been the recipient of many other’s generosity, especially now when I am vulnerable and weak, which proves to me that promise to be true. Friends, no-one can pretend this. This comes out of a heart that has been truly softened, by Jesus and His gospel and can only be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When I attended the camp at Noordhoek where I was converted, one of the first words that struck me was the word for “power”. The speaker started his talk with a comment on the passage in Acts where Jesus says; “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”. I remember Him saying the word for power in Greek is “dunamis”, from which comes the word dynamite. That really made me sit up. Well, the gist of his teaching was to do with being able to do miracles. While I now believe that miracles still happen today, the much more common need for power by the ordinary Christian is simply to live the gospel life effectively. When we think that Jesus’ instructions are impossible, we know that we need that gospel power to live it fully, from the heart.

For me today: The passage was a fresh reminder of the all encompassing other-person centered lifestyle that is expected of me. But wow, praise the Lord He has made it possible through the life-giving power of His Holy Spirit! I must just do it.

To God be all the glory.

This morning another song called “Goodness”, is ringing through my mind – God is the ONLY One who is truly good. “Search my heart Lord and show me my wicked ways that I may take responsibility and confess” as I am eager to hear my Lord. I see my heart – cloudy streaks in the so-called pure water – cloudy streaks of selfishness – building something to make a name for myself = Babel? Wanting to do things my way = Adam? Forgive me Lord and give me new impetus to deal with this so that my life will indeed, glorify you and not try and shine light on myself

Then God gives me a picture where I can see Goodness. The sky completely dark. Dimly on the horizon a figure on a cross, wracked with pain. I hear clearly in the distance “My God My God why have you forsaken me?” – Suddenly the word GOODNESS is emblazoned across the sky in the brightest light. This is where He showed more than anywhere else His Goodness – Here His goodness comes face to face with our need. There is nothing intrinsically good in ourselves – everything good comes from God and Jesus’ cross is the great means through which we receive it. We must receive it continually through the bread of life which is God’s word.

My reading today is Luke 5:27-39. (Just a reminder. The idea of this blog is that you read this passage and ask Jesus to speak to you through it personally first, then you can listen to what I heard Him say to me. Remember – this is not a commentary). Here we have two more of the 5 stories Luke uses to show Jesus’ demonstrating who He is through His public ministry which began at His prophetic reading in the synagogue, Luke 4:18-19).

The first story is of Matthew’s conversion and the banquet to which he invites all his tax gatherer friends and others to, to share his joy. Two things speak to me: 1.The immediate reaction of a true conversion is to want to spread this amazingly Good news and what better way than through fellowship, like a meal with those you know. 2. A repeated reminder (cf also Luke 5:12) that, to be helped by Jesus, we need first to recognize our need. The biggest stumbling block in our Western, affluent culture is our inability to recognize our need, therefore we see ourselves as “righteous” in other words we see ourselves as OK. So we pass up His help or seek worldly solutions. Jesus has come to help those who perceive their need (the sick).

The next story starts with a reminder of Jesus’ true identity. He is THE Bridegroom. Throughout the OT God has pictured Himself as the “Bridegroom” and where the people turned to other gods He frequently accused them of adultery. At the same time this passage looks forward to the ultimate conclusion and tumultuous consummation of God’s story at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb”. What a glorious day that day is going to be! Jesus is truly God in human flesh.

But the passage also reminds the reader that Jesus has come to introduce the New Covenant. The real emphasis is that this New Covenant is completely New and should not be polluted by the ideas of the Old Covenant. Does that make the Old Covenant irrelevant? Of course not! We would not be able to understand or appreciate the New C if the whole of the Old C didn’t point forward to the New.

As a new Christian I was involved with the Charismatic Renewal. At that time there was a magazine, published in East London called “New Wineskins”. The proposition was that the “Renewal”, as it was known, was bringing a completely new vision and word for the church, a suggestion that this was the “New Wine”. This whole movement of the Spirit was reviving and shaking the old denominations where this Renewal originated. In retrospect, I do think that it did shake up and cause many people to awaken spiritually, but it wasn’t the true New Wine of this passage.

So what did this whole reading say to me? 1. A continual reminder of the revelation of who Jesus is – “The Bridegroom”, brings waves of delight and anticipation of that great celebration of the “marriage supper of the Lamb”. 2. Following that, there is a continual compulsion to tell, with joy of the real healing that Jesus brings. With a reminder of how the first step in response is recognizing our need. 3. Warning how easy it is for the Old Testament ideas to cloud the wonderful Gospel of the New. So many people are living, by the law, they are missing the real gospel. I am in danger of that every day! At the same time it is precious to reflect on how rich the Old T teaching makes our understanding of the New.

To God be all the glory and majesty of the great Bridegroom

This morning I am listening to Hillsong sing the beautiful worship song “So will I” (also known as “a hundred billion galaxies”) and am deeply moved by this breathtaking picture of our “God of Creation”. A picture of a hundred billion galaxies being born, that awesome power being released, tens of thousands of lightyears in size, just by a word and yet ….. and yet – He is interested, intimately interested in me, in you, in each one of us! As the music washes over me, I see a crystal clear mountain stream tinkling down over little waterfalls and stones. The water, absolutely pure. Then I think of a description of John Piper’s in which he, in trying to describe God’s glory, he says it is like the word “beauty”, when we use that word a picture may come into your mind but how do you define it? Just so Glory is difficult to define and the closest he can come to describe it is that God’s glory is manifest in His holiness, which you can describe.

So I see in the clarity of the water a picture of God’s holiness, completely clear and unpolluted. In comparison to that I see a raging, muddy, torrent flowing past it, stones, leaves, rubble and mud swept along – “that is like the world”, the Lord says. Polluted, sweeping everything before it.

How does the crystal clear communicate with the torrent? That is what the work of Jesus which He has accomplished for us. A means for our filthy, muddy water to touch the pure – a picture of the power of Jesus’ work on the cross. He must cleanse a small amount of muddy water to meet with God’s pure stream. However as each individual being is cleansed it is almost infintesimal in its effects on the torrent. When more and more water is cleansed and flows together in a pure stream is has more of an effect. That is why we are so ineffective on our own. We need to act together to make a difference to the torrent. That is why the church is so important. On our own we can have an effect, but together the effect is much greater in changing the muddy torrent to the crystal clear .

My reading is in Luke 5:12-26. These are the first two of 5 stories following the calling of the first disciples. Among others it demonstrates the growing antagonism by the high Priests etc against Him. In the first story about a leper, what spoke to me was the fact that the leper came to Jesus for help. He humbly declared his need to Jesus, vs 12. Jesus’ answer to him is the same as His answer to each one of us when we we go to Him for help, “I am willing”. Perhaps the problem is that we don’t always see or want to admit that we need help. Or maybe we just don’t think of going to Him, but rather try and worry it out by ourselves. Recognizing our need is the first step, then going to Jesus believing that He will help is the next. Of course His answers are not always as clear as the leper experienced, but He is always willing and will help.

The second story is a classic in demonstrating the real nature and identity of Jesus. His true divinity is the main point of this story, which I find to my amazement that many commentaries don’t pick up. Just as He is crucified for blasphemy, claiming to be God, here He demonstrates His divine authority and ability by doing a visible miracle to prove forgiveness of sins which is an invisible action but which God alone can do. This IS God Himself in human form.

The question I ask myself is “do I really believe this? That He is God in human form, walking here in Galilee, able to forgive sins to the uttermost? Able to heal anyone or any situation completely? I am not just speaking about mental assent. I am speaking about heart-felt, when the chips are down faith. I think this is an area in which I need to grow and would venture to suggest hat it is the lifelong task for each Christian. To grow in your faith and vision of who Jesus really is and what He can and wants to do for you, the church and the world.

Yesterday morning I started my time with the Lord listening to a song sung by Kari Jobe called “First Love”. As she was singing it I was taken back to the first moment that I really experienced God’s love consciously, at a camp in Noordhoek over Easter in 1980. I remembered the thrill of the immediacy and reality of Jesus, the waves of love that swept over me as we sung songs like “Jesus Name above all names”, how I walked early one morning on Noordhoek beach with the dank grey mist came swirling in from the cold Atlantic, talking to Jesus, overcome by this soul-lifting experience, where His presence was so real that I found myself offering Him a sweet from a roll I took out of my pocket. When I went home, after the weekend I had to curb my enthusiasm that I didn’t engulf my dear Emily with the waterfall of emotion I was feeling.

Yesterday morning I was thinking back of that time and even comparing it with the tsunami of emotion I had felt when I first met Emily. After a while I started asking the Lord to help me to relive that feeling again. Later in the day I was musing on all this, still feeling a bit of the emotional high of the morning, when it occurred to me that actually this could not be about emotion. Emotions, as amazing and wonderful as positive emotions can be so unreliable they can be, being swept away by some negative happening within seconds. So it occurred to me that the warning of Jesus to the Ephesian church (in Rev 2:5) could not be about how they felt about Jesus. Nor did it necessarily have to do with their chronological love, in other words how they had behaved when they were first converted, although that was probably part of it. It seems to me that what Jesus is speaking about here is the primacy of their love for Him demonstrated by their active practice of love for Him and His people. This is the warning which I felt was applicable to me. That love, the love of Jesus, should be the most important love in our lives, our “first love”, reflected in our love towards others. It should be of first importance as it were.

So I battle, I think we all do with placing the love of Jesus first in our lives all the time. There is a constant struggle between love for Him and other objects (idols). Probably the most important idol is our love for ourselves. Reading Oswald Chambers’ biography I see how he is portrayed as one who constantly made a point of placing God and His agenda above his own. Even when it was inconvenient for him and his family and associates. What a challenge.

Having said all this, there is surely no harm in the wonderful feelings of love which we may feel for God and Jesus. Often when we sing or experience His closeness in prayer or other circumstances, it spins off to engulf other people. However the encouragement to love, should not depend on those feelings but rather be constantly reaffirmed and built on through our daily relationship and interaction with Jesus.

Coming to my reading in Luke 4:14-21, the reading of the passage of the scripture from Isaiah 61 by Jesus in the synagogue, seems to serve as a written and verbal introduction in Luke to the next phase of public ministry by this Man, clearly linking Him to the Old Testament prophetic word. So He is presented as the “Anointed One”, which is of course what the word Christ means. From here on we will see His character and ministry develop as the true Messiah. So as I had pondered last time at the description of Jesus being “full of he Holy Spirit” we see here in vs 14 that description repeated and it will be repeated a number of times as the gospel unfolds. This seems to be a reminder of two things by Luke. 1. The humanity of Christ. That is apparently a strong theme in Luke’s gospel. So by repeated mentioning the work of the Holy Spirit being, with Jesus in His ministry brings the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead clearly into view. he was not acting on His own. 2. It is a constant reminder of the identity of this Man Jesus: He is truly “The Anointed One”.

So what does this mean to us? Well the baptism and work of the Holy Spirit is active in each truly “born-again” Christian. This supernatural power and wisdom is built into our nature. Does this mean that we can go out and do all the miracles that Christ did, like the charismatic believers profess? Well I suppose theoretically the power of the Spirit is there, however Jesus Himself said He did nothing without His Father’s instruction (John 8:29), one would have to be sure that God had clearly shown you to do it. The point of Jesus’ miracles was clearly to show who He really is and therefore completely unique. However we can be sure to be carried by God’s grace and power through any circumstance and in any ministry situation, as much as we shall ever need. The problem with most of us, me included, is that I try to do so much in my own strength and wisdom, that God wants to empower me to do. So the need for us to surrender completely to Him and be aware of the immense possibilities in His Name is constantly there. We are the supernatural children of the Creator God. Sadly, outsiders many times would not be able to tell that we are different to them. Why? “By their fruit you will know them”.

It is harvest time in all the orchards here in the Boland and well, maybe harvest time in our lives in the face of the challenges of 2021. Let us be so bound to Jesus that His fruit will draw people to Him the Gardener, that we are actively contributing to the “coming of His kingdom and His will being done”.

“Search my heart and show me if there are any wicked ways in it”. This has become an integral part of my preparation for “Listening to Jesus”, so that I may confess and have any sinful barriers between us dealt with. Then a warning thought flashes through my mind; “this has almost become a rote, another step to complete before experiencing ‘the real thing’ – that encounter with Jesus. A red light blinks, everything must be fresh, meaningful and real”. The word “generosity” comes up – I am a bit shocked – then I admit that my so-called generosity is often driven by a legalistic obligation, without the generous spirit which should inhabit it and drive it. Then Jesus reminds me of a few of the other fruits of the Spirit: Joy, love, patience, kindness, gentleness peace – How am I doing? What about goodness, faithfulness, self-control?

My mind pans over my day. How is my interaction with those I come into contact with every day? Mostly this is my dear Emily, with whom I am in close contact most of the time. I think of my impatience sometimes when she can’t grasp when I am asking her to do something she was able to do yesterday. My lack of real gentleness when she isn’t responding like I want her to. My faithlessness when I sometimes dream of going off somewhere for a break with someone else. My joy- how much joy am I expressing and feeling in my present situation? And of course there is meekness – how do I feel about submitting to others that I perceive as less important than myself. And then the one I started with, my whole sense of generosity. Ultimately, how much of my behaviour reflects the true state of my heart?

Well folks I am baring my soul before you all, not to show myself off, but rather how easy it is to fool yourself that you are living a good, holy and sinless life.

I am not going to stop there because God continued to speak to me this morning. “Abide in Me and I will abide in you”. But what does this mean from a practical point of view? So I say to myself – when you are converted you are taken, by faith, into Jesus – I am now “in Him” and that gives me access to all the gifts that come with the Holy Spirit with which He has sealed me. So my walk with Jesus starts with me reminding myself of my new identity – a Christ-i(a)n and with this comes the presence of Jesus through His Spirit. The life I live now should arise from and demonstrate the Spirit’s work in me – ie the fruit of the Spirit and exactly that fruit arising from the transforming presence and power of God’s Spirit which I can access through faith. From that arises the power and reminder to be generous, arising from a generous, transformed spirit within me.

If I sit down and say I am now going try and become more generous, because that is what is expected of a real Christian, I am becoming a legalistic Christian who will only feel burdened and act out of conscience rather than a transformed nature. However if I remind myself of and live the life of abiding in Christ by faith, then through His power and the power of His Spirit, all the fruit of the Spirit will well up naturally. Will it happen automatically? To some extent yes, however we still have to make up our minds to “walk in the Spirit”. The important thing is the order in which things happen and are done. So many of us live with this feeling of guilt because we are falling short of what we believe we should be doing, rather than turning to Jesus and confessing our self-reliance and asking for a fresh filling and experience of the Spirit with His power to enable us to live this life with real joy. That is why it is called “Good News”.

My reading today is Luke 4:1-13. A very important passage as Jesus launches His new life as the “Anointed One”. Luke has just finished a number of stories on who Jesus is, with the summary “Son of God” 3:22 and also “son of Adam” 3:37. Mark says He was “driven” (ekbalo) by the Spirit into the wilderness, where Luke says He was led. The scene suggests a parallel to Adam’s experience in Gen ch 2. Except Jesus is in a desert, while Adam is in a garden. Both are allowed to be tempted by Satan. Jesus is seen here as setting about repairing the disaster of Adam’s failure. I found myself asking 5 questions as I read the passage. Here are the questions which I asked. I have not furnished the answers that I came up with as this is not a commentary. Maybe you can ponder them on your own and maybe you may even have more.

1. Why did Luke describe Jesus as being “full of the Holy Spirit” vs 1? Surely as the Son of God He was always “full of the “Holy Spirit”
2. Why was it so important that this was the first act He undertook in His formal ministry. Is this unique to Him or do we all face this at the outset of our Christian life?
3. Why did He fast for 40 days? Is there an application for us here?
4. What aspect of Jesus’ faith was the devil attacking in each of the temptations and how did Jesus deal with them?
5. Was He only tempted 3 times during this 40 day period? (Heb 4:15).

So Friends, let us all set our course to “abide in Christ” every day of 2021 and be able to live a fruitful life in the Spirit, filled with joy. My readings for the next few days will be as follows if you want to read with me: 4:14-22, 4:23-30, 4:31-44, 5:1-11,5:12-26, 5:27-39. 6:1-11, 6:12-19, 6:20-29, 6:30-38, 6:39-49.

This morning, Jesus says “Come and walk with me on the road to Emmaus”. Remember how Jesus met the 2 disciples after His resurrection while they were walking on he road to Emmaus? Remember what He did then (Luke 24:27)? “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself”. So that’s where He takes me into the Old Testament and reminds me of some of the salient pointers to His coming to the earth. Like Gen 3:15, Like the promise to Abraham and his Seed, like the rescue of the Israelites from Egypt at Passover, the giving of he covenant promise, the whole sacrificial system, like the kings especially King David and many others.

The main point of this tour, however seemed to focus on how Israel looked at the end of all that. The Israel Jesus was born into. I was pulled up short – a nation in tatters as a result of years of disobedience. A nation in bondage on the one hand to the Roman overlords, on the other had to the religious leaders, Pharisees etc and then to extreme poverty. A nation in a very sad state. Yet there was a remnant that was expecting Messiah to come. A faithful remnant.

Surprize, surprize, He follows this with: “this is like South Africa at the moment. A country in tatters. A nation in bondage to poverty, crime, corruption. A nation, once known for its Christian stance. Now riddled with corruption, apostacy, drunkenness, murder, domestic violence and lately in bondage to a huge plague – a nation looking and hoping for a saviour. Most are expecting a scientist, a vaccine, an economic genius, a real leader who will lead us out of this mess. But, Jesus says, “I am doing a work of refining in S.A. I am starting with the visible church – I am strengthening and purifying the true Church. I am strengthening the real believers – I am building My kingdom. But there is judgement – “It is time for judgement to begin with the family of God”.

“The rescue that I sent to Israel, was entirely different to what they were expecting. Just so with S.A. I will come – I am already there to do this work. You have a role to play, as does every true believer – just remember that all the glory must come to Me.”

My reading Luke 3:1-9. Here’s John the Baptist again, with his chosen role. The role of preparing the way for the coming of the true Saviour of Israel and the world. He has a simple message: “Repent, and demonstrate the genuineness of your repentance by the fruit of repentance, the fruit that proves the change, the fruit of the Holy Spirit coming, cleansing like a refiner’s soap and renewing a spirit of love, of purity and honesty, not only when others are looking.

Jesus came to an Israel that was not ready for His way of salvation, yet there was a remnant that was ready at that time, like Zachariah, like Elizabeth, like Joseph, Mary, Simeon, Anna and others. The simple people were the ones that accepted and welcomed Him. Praise the Lord, there is a huge remnant here in S.A. Many who are longing for a revival. Longing for the real Saviour to come. We each have a role to play: Starting with ourselves. being prepared to repent and truly turn to God and take up our cross and follow Him. Then we have a role to play as His witnesses, as His prayer army, as the extension of His arm of love to those who are broken. It is time for a new and different “Salvation Army”. Are you on for it this year? This could be the most amazing year in the history of S.A. not like last year.

2020. Many ways to look at the year that’s past. The thought that comes to mind is: it was a year in which God once again showed his global power, despite many shaking their fists at Him.

So on this last day of 2020, as I become quiet before the Lord I see gold. Not just the colour gold but a real shining bar of gold. What are you saying Lord? “I am refining you like gold and silver – I’m refining you through my Word, which is more precious than gold or silver – I am refining you through suffering.” .As my mind immediately feels a dark cloud passing over at the mention of the word suffering, I sense God saying to me “stop focusing on the “what ifs” of the future – focus on to-day – what you are going to face to-day My grace will be sufficient for you to-day – for anything you may face to-day – let the future in my hands, my grace is always going to be sufficient for you – remember the song “it is well with my soul””.

So I pursue my search of God’s word for confirmation and I find:

Psalm 119:71,72: “It is good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than a thousand pieces of gold or silver”

1 Peter 1:6,7; “In this I greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. these have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

My reading today is Luke 2:1-20. I wrote last time about this passage. It is possibly one of the best known passages in the bible. Who hasn’t seen a number of nativity plays? The danger lies in just that. Because we know it so well it no longer holds the full wonder for us that it was meant to. I close my eyes and see the scene in Palestine 2000 years ago. A small group of shepherds sitting around a fire chatting, dressed in the basic home-spun clothes of the poorest. Behind them in the starlight their sheep, grazing away quietly (sheep feed mostly at night). Suddenly the glory of the Lord shines around them. Their reaction? They are terrified. The Greek could not emphasize this more strongly it reads “megas phobeo, phobos”.

Just think back of the dedication of the temple in Solomon’s time when God visited it with His glory.: 2 Chronicles 7:1,2……Fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifice, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.”

And then the announcement: The announcement of the beginning of the greatest history-changing event of all time. That’s not all. The show is not over yet. A great company of the heavenly host appears with the angel praising God. This was no nativity play with paper props, this was a glimpse into heaven itself. A huge supernatural display of God’s power and joy.

And Luke is writing in the same style of his first chapter, using the huge contrasts to highlight the event, like a master painter. Here is Mary, a pregnant, peasant lass, with her husband Joseph, a carpenter (betrothed yet not consummated). far away from home in the simplest of accommodations. Among animals in a stable. Giving birth to a baby and without a cot he is laid in a manger, with the animal food just scraped out. Outside in the field a group of the simplest folk gathered. No rich and influential people around, kings or religious leaders, just the most simple scene. And God reveals His glory (not nearly all of it but enough to make a huge show).

Who is this baby? The reader must ask? He is, vs 11 none other than the Christ (the Messiah, everyone in Israel was waiting for). But not the King riding in on His white steed but a small, vulnerable child. God, yes I said it God Himself, coming to identify with His creation completely. Wrapped up in that little body was the Saviour of the world. Luke wants us to be gobsmacked, just like the shepherds were. He wants us to absorb this truth so that it will change our hearts, our very lives. And like the shepherds in vs 12 to go out and spread the word, so that everyone who hears it will be amazed vs 18

He is a unique King. A king described best by the term “now but not yet”. There will be a day when He will come in glory. Maybe sooner than we think. The question is: does this story strike such a familiar note that you – yawn, as you see all those little children, in your mind’s eye, bumbling through this year’s nativity play. Aren’t they so sweet? Or is it so mind-boggeling that you can’t wait to go and spread the word?

let’s stop and be honest with ourselves. Which news has dominated your thinking this year? Of which news are you the most concerned? I’m sure like me the whole Corona story is the one most prominent. Why don’t we decide that 2021 will be the year when we, with the Lord’s supernatural help, turn our thoughts and conversation to this coming and the possibility of His next coming and away from Corona and it’s sooty fingerprints on everything. God has created the environment, we need to make use of the opportunity!

And so let me end 2020 with words of the blessing in Numbers 6:24 as I call down God’s power and grace on you all for the coming year:

“the Lord bless you and keep you,

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace”.

On Christmas day, I was pondering again the dark cloud of Covid, which has enveloped the world. As I looked at it in my imagination I saw that it was like a net. A net which is trapping the world. Then a thought came to me: The net is not actually the Covid. The net is something that Covid represents. It is SIN. Behind the cloud of Covid, which will eventually dissipate to a large degree, leaving lots of wounds and scars, behind that and far more serious is the cloud of sin which has covered the world since Adam, covering and entrapping us in a net from which we cannot escape. As serious as the danger and the effects of Covid are, they are nothing compared to the seriousness of sin, which leaves NO PERSON untouched.

There is only one way out. As I read Luke 2 of the description of Jesus’ birth, I was struck again by the description in vs 9: “an angel of the Lord appeared to them (the shepherds), and the GLORY of the Lord SHONE around them”. This is described in the next verse as “good news of great joy”. Good news = Greek; “Evangel”, this is the gospel. This is the greatest Good News of all time! But note carefully it is not a message, the Good News is about a Person. A Person who has just been born. A Person so distinctive, that His birth is the greatest Good News of all time!

Isaiah prophesied 800 years earlier “The people walking in the darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned”. The shadow of death cast by Covid is nothing compared to the shadow of death cast by sin. And there is just one solution = the Gospel of Jesus. He has come to set us free from that net which traps every one of us, much worse than Covid has done to the world.

Yesterday I was reading the first passage in Luke. My attention was grabbed by the statement in vs 18 where Zecharaiah is confronted by the angel bringing him the news that his barren wife would have a child. His reaction “How can I be sure of his?” God’s reaction in vs 20? That he will be struck dumb “because you did not believe my words.” The contrast to that is Mary’s reaction, although she is greatly troubled and doesn’t grasp the full significance of the message the angel brings her, ends up by believing and being filled with great joy.

Simple heh? All you must do is believe or you will be judged. Well not so quick. I was led to God’s interaction with Abraham in Gen ch 15. Here God is heard reiterating the Promise He had made to Abraham several times up to then. Of course this is the Promise which will eventually play out in the birth of Jesus. First the writer records Abraham’s response to the announcement in vs 6 “Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness’. Now Paul regards this response as so important that he equates it with salvation faith in Romans 4:3. Pat on the back for him and 0 out of 10 for Zach. Yes? Well look forward in Genesis ch 15 to vs 8. Abraham is saying “How can I know for sure?” Oops.

Did God strike him dumb? No he went ahead and took him through the whole covenant cutting ceremony. Then Yahweh says to him “there – now you can know for certain”. (vs 13) In fact despite repeated promises from Yahweh to Abraham he still often acts in ways that show he has run out of trust and tries to bring his own solution.

So how do we interpret this and how do I apply it to myself. Here goes (and maybe the Lord may show you otherwise.) Firstly we know that faith is one of he most important means through which we relate to God (through Jesus). It is the KEY to our relationship with the Lord. This is a thread that runs through the whole bible. So here Luke is laying that basic fact on the table, right at the outset of his gospel account.. He starts his book with a statement that he has researched everything carefully so that the reader may KNOW THE CERTAINTY of everything he is about to write about. Then in the very first of his stories he again underlines that, by the story of Zach and compares that to the reaction of Mary to emphasize it. From the very start he wants the reader to know that he should take the writing of the Gospel story seriously and respond by believing it and trusting God and all His promises through it.

But do we all do that? My first reaction was “I wonder how I would have fared if I was in Zach’s shoes?” So we have other stories in the bible, many of them to teach us more about faith. Like Abraham. When Abe struggled with faith God said “here let me make this sure with a physical ceremony, the cutting of the covenant”. And despite Abe’s later struggle we can stand in he shadows at Mt Sinai and see him going up to sacrifice his son. Not only his son but THE SON of the promise. How much has he not grown in faith in this time? For us today we have the terms of the “New Covenant” which God made through the death of Jesus on the cross, to remind us that we can trust Him completely. But we need to see the story written down, after careful research to show us hat it is certain!.

So friends, may I challenge you to ponder these things, like I have. The Evangel, the good News of great joy is not just for Christmas. It was the beginning of a light, far, far greater than the darkness covering the world, the light that is cast by the very Creator of light and of the world. the very purpose of Christmas was to dispel the darkness. The virus will dissipate but the huge challenge, which I believe God is reminding the world of, is the challenge of the other great darkness and the only solution, “the good news of Jesus who has come to dispel that darkness”.

Do you believe this? Or are you saying to yourself “How can I be sure?” Don’t be afraid to be honest, because it is only when we are truly honest that we can grow. So I call out to God: “I do believe, yes I do, please help my unbelief”!

As the dark cloud of a second wave of Covid 19 arises with a new strain threatening, like a seething cumulus thunderstorm, which seeks to cut off the Light of Christmas, a smouldering miasma of evil, I felt the Lord calling me to remind you of what we really believe at this time.

This morning my time with the Lord started with Him showing me the “well” from which we can drink “Living water” – a picture of Him and His Spirit – then psalm 1 comes to mind, “the blessed man is like a tree that is PLANTED by streams of water” – it is necessary not only to drink constantly of the Living Water, but I need my roots planted where I can continually draw water, the real Water of Life.. Then I see God, as the Rock and am reminded that I must build my house on that Rock. He is that Rock, but I must build my foundation. But wait a bit, if this depends on my ability to build, then the foundation will always be flawed. So it is necessary for God to build, with me so that I have a foundation with His strength, so when the storms come the house will stand. In fact His promise is that it will stand against any storm.

So “come to Me and I will give you rest, I will give you peace, I will give….. I will give, not as the world does but from my well of everlasting, living water that will never dry or rum out, so remain in me, plant your roots firmly.”

As I internalize this, I am looking out the window. A few meters away is a tree growing. It is an indigenous tree of which I have experience from my previous house. It grows tremendously quickly, shooting out new branches in overflow when pruned. But it easily outgrows its strength and when the wind comes it shatters and splinters. It really needs to be in a forest, among other trees to support it. Trees, some of which grow slowly and are very strong, like the yellow-wood tree, or the stinkwood. So the metaphor comes to me that this is a bit like the church, some people who are the real movers and shakers can easily be shattered if they are not protected by others who are slower yet more stable. Yeah the church is a bit like a forest. We were never meant to be out there, as it were, alone on a rock facing the storm, we are meant to be part of the forest where we can stand together to resist the storm.

So my final reading in 1 Peter is from 1 Peter 5:6-14. Now, when I used to train students to be discipleship group leaders, I always had them study this section as part of their quiet time. I wanted them to see it as encouragement in the context of the word in vs 5 addressing “young men/women”. Today it struck me that actually this is a summary of the whole of 1 Peter, remembering the basic gospel as foundation and then the extensive discussion on suffering. In vs 7 the verb translated “cast”, is a very forceful word. With energy throw your cares off your own shoulders onto God’s shoulders. There is also a play on the word “care”. The verse should read “cast your cares on him because He cares for you!”

So standing back and summarizing, there are three instructions to the reader on what his response should be to the message of the letter, and three corresponding promises from God which He will do in response. For us: humble yourself, under God’s mighty hand; Cast your cares on Him; be self-controlled and alert especially towards the whiles of the devil who prowls around seeking to devour us. It is necessary to consciously resist him and stand firm in the faith (because mainly he is in the business of discouraging us and causing us to lose faith). From God’s side: He will lift us up under His mighty hand in due time; He will care for us in the midst of the suffering and the attacks of the devil; He will restore us after we have suffered for a little while, making us firm and steadfast.

Vs 12 “This is the true grace of God, stand fast in it”

He has the power and the desire to banish this dark cloud at this time, shining the true light of the gospel on it and through it, as we remember the first baby steps of what would become a mighty powerful Presence sweeping through the world, far more powerful than this puny virus. Take heart dear reader, apply this and live in it.

To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen (vs 11)

May I end by wishing each one of you a most blessed and truly joyful time especially on Friday, no matter what you are planning to do. May He bless you and make His face shine on you and give you peace.