STEP BY STEP…

January 9, 2015

“… I being in the way the Lord led me…”   (Genesis 24:27)

When we discover the context of these words of Scripture we realize they are teaching us a principle of how God often works in the lives of His people. It is easier to steer a moving vehicle than one that is stationary. God can sometimes steer us more easily when we are moving. That’s why we will find that one step frequently leads to the next step when we have faith to be led by the Holy Spirit.

The words above were spoken by Abraham’s servant who was commissioned by Abraham to travel to the land of his people to find a wife for Isaac. As he journals the events of his search he writes that while he was in the way the Lord led him he encountered the family of Rebekah. When he met her he knew that his search had ended.

We who are committed followers of Christ were commissioned two thousand years ago to go to all nations and make disciples for Jesus Christ. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Like the servant of Abraham, as we embark on the adventure of obeying our great commission, we should expect that each step will lead to the next step.

We don’t always have to know where the road leads as long as we know it is the right road. While we are in the way our Lord has commissioned us to go we must have the faith to take that first step and then, one step at a time, expect our Lord to show us His will about the next step.

Dick Woodward, 28 July 2009

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The Greatest Thing in the World

November 8, 2013

“There are three things that last — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.”  (1 Corinthians 13:13)

What is the greatest thing in the world?  The Apostle Paul sifts his answer down to three things:  hope, faith and love.  Hope is the conviction that there can be good in life.  God plants hope in the hearts of human beings. People sometimes commit suicide because they lose that conviction.

On the positive side, hope gives birth to faith, and faith is one of the greatest things because faith brings us to God.  However, when Paul compares these two great concepts with love, without hesitation he concludes that love is the greatest thing in the world.  This is true because love is not something that brings us to something that brings us to God.  When we experience the special love Paul describes we are in the Presence of God.  There is a particular quality of love that is God and God is a particular quality of love.

To acquaint us with that specific quality of love, in the middle of this chapter he passes this quality of love through the “prism” of his Holy Spirit inspired intellect.  It comes out on the other side as a cluster of 15 virtues. All these virtues of love are others-centered, unselfish ways of expressing unconditional love. If you study these virtues you will find in them a cross section of the love that is God–and is the greatest thing in the world.

One reason Paul presents these three concepts as the greatest things is that they are the things that last.  Love is the greatest of the three because one day we will no longer need hope and faith when throughout all eternity we will love.

Therefore, pursue the greatest thing in the world – love.

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God’s Thoughts and Our Thoughts

October 22, 2013

“No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.”  (1Corinthians 2:11 NLT)

Our thought life is like a private chamber.  Nobody knows what we are thinking and we do not know what others are thinking.  Only the spirit within each of us knows our private thoughts.

In the same way, only the Holy Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God.  When we therefore receive the Holy Spirit of God we can know what God is thinking.  One translation writes that “incredible as it may seem we actually have the mind of Christ” when we receive the Holy Spirit.

When you study the rest of this profound chapter you will find that Paul applies this reality to teach us a great truth about the Holy Spirit.  It is a lesson in what we might call “spiritual educational psychology.”  We learn through the eye gate, which means everything we read and observe.  And we learn through the ear gate, what we listen to and hear.  He also references the heart gate, which means our volition and will to apply the truth we are learning.

He then makes the point that when it comes to learning spiritual truth we need another gate: the gate of the Holy Spirit.  When we have received the Holy Spirit we have access to the greatest learning experience possible in our lifetime.  Think of this the next time you spend time in God’s Word.  When you open the Bible, you have access to the very thoughts of God.

Through God’s Holy Spirit and His Word are you learning the thoughts of God?

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A Prescription for Depression

February 8, 2013

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”   (1 John 3: 20)

The apostle of love gives spiritual people a beautiful definition of depression.  In the Bible the heart is related to our emotions and feelings.  When we feel condemned John tells us some very good news: God is greater than our feelings.  Our faith is not based on something as fickle as how we feel. He goes on in this passage to tell us that our faith is based on the fact that we keep our Lord’s commandment that we should love one another.

Throughout the history of the Church of Jesus Christ devout people have struggled with bouts of depression.  Some extraordinary spiritual leaders have battled depression. This battle frequently takes place in isolation because it is thought to be inconsistent with faith.  People of faith are ashamed of their depression.

While medical professionals are often pharmacologists who medicate depression rather than determine its cause, the Apostle John gives some devotional and practical counsel to a depressed believer.  As a busy pastor when I had feelings that condemned me I went on a people binge.  I often found that when I became a conduit of the love of Christ for others I affirmed this wise counsel of John.

The Holy Spirit lives in believing people.  Although your depression wants you to isolate yourself, when you love other believers the Spirit passes back and forth between you with a healing effect on both of you.  That’s why James prescribed that we confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed (James 5:16).

John is prescribing something very similar when he tells us to treat our depression with loving one another.

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Another Beautiful Word

August 31, 2012

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)

The mercy of God withholds what we deserve and the grace of God lavishes on us countless blessings we do not deserve.  As we appreciate what the mercy of God withholds and the grace of God bestows when we believe the Gospel, we should be filled with grateful worship of our gracious and merciful God.

When Jesus gave His Great Commission He instructed the disciples to wait until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them before they obeyed His Commission (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1: 4, 5).  After that happened to them on the Day of Pentecost, we read:  “Great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).  This use of the word “grace” means there is such a thing as the anointing, or the energizing unction of the Holy Spirit upon us as we serve Christ.  I am using the word in that sense when I tell people that His grace outweighs my challenges.

Paul was declaring this dimension of grace when he wrote: “God is able to make all grace abound toward you so that you, always, having all sufficiency in all things may abound unto every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).  This is the most emphatic verse in the New Testament regarding the anointing and energizing grace of God.

Check out the superlatives he uses in this verse: All grace – abounding grace – each and every one of you  – he repeats all of you – all sufficiency – in all things – abounding unto every good work – always!  According to Paul we should all be able to make the claim that His grace outweighs our challenges!

Do you believe the grace of God can outweigh your challenges today?

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