Waiting for the promises

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God. Luke 2: 25 – 28

There was also a prophetess, Anna …. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:  36 – 38.

Once again, we see the missed opportunity for so many people, when Jesus himself was brought to the temple. The religious leaders and priests who lived and worshipped there did not meet him but two elderly, righteous and devout people, who for a long time had been waiting for the Messiah, met their heart’s desire. 

It can be very trying to persevere, sometimes for years, to see what God has promised us but the story of Simeon and Anna encourages us not to give up.  We do not know how long Simeon had been hanging on in faith to see the Messiah but we do know his faith was rewarded.

Anna too had spent most of her adult life worshipping and praying in the temple and she too was not disappointed. She was an old lady, very old by those days, and yet she too got to see the Messiah.

For Jewish people there was no greater joy than to see the long awaited one. Simeon must have been thrilled to know he would see the Messiah and imagine his joy when he was able to take the baby in his arms and bless and prophesy over him and his parents. What a privilege. Anna too was able to pronounce to all who were willing to listen that this baby was indeed the Messiah.

We also may have been waiting for years for some promise from God; the salvation of a relative, our healing, our partner in life, a ministry opportunity and as this year closes may I suggest you go back and look at the words that God has given you in 2012 and maybe in previous years.

Thank him for those that have come to pass and pray over those you have still to see an answer to.  Like Simeon and Anna, some promises we have to wait a long time for but let us reaffirm our faith in God and our trust that He will work all things together for good in his timing. 

Bless you for reading this blog this year and let us go forward into 2013 with renewed enthusiasm for our wonderful God. I pray.. that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1: 10)

Pride and prejudices

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2: 1 – 2

Have you ever asked a question or said something and the minute the words were out of your mouth you realised you had said the wrong thing? Maybe there is an awkward silence or embarrassed looks but you feel really bad and may not even know what it is you have said wrong.

I think the Magi must have experienced this.  They were astrologers probably from modern day Iran and having studied the stars for years they realised that the new star in the sky meant a baby had been born who was King of the Jews. Naturally they had gone to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people and to King Herod’s palace, assuming he would know all out it.

Having asked the question they could immediately tell from the reaction of their audience that this ‘good news’ was in fact a complete and unwelcome surprise.  Herod was an unstable megalomaniac who murdered a large part of his close family and anyone else who he didn’t like. To tell him that a new king had been born was probably the worst possible thing to say.

Herod realised that the magi were talking about the long promised Messiah so he called the religious leaders to ask them where the baby would be born. They assured him the prophecies spoke of Bethlehem. At this point it is very surprising that if magi from 1000 miles away had taken the trouble to come and worship the king of the Jews, why didn’t even one religious leader want to go to Bethlehem, only 5 miles away, to check out the story?  This was the Messiah – spoken of by the prophets for hundreds of years – and they aren’t even interested?

I assume they didn’t believe the magi because they were Gentiles. They assumed God would speak to them and he hadn’t so the story could not be true.  Of course this assumption played out for the next 33 years. Jesus could not be the Messiah because God had not spoken to them about it. They never believed Jesus was the Messiah and most Jews still do not believe it even today.

We may be confident that Jesus is both our Saviour and the Saviour of the world but it is very easy to miss out on things God is doing because they don’t come at us in the way we expect or God hasn’t spoken directly to us. God will raise up all sorts of unlikely people to do his work and we must be careful not to be so offended by the messenger that we miss the message. I know of situations where people will not listen to a message or prophecy because they do not like the person speaking or they will not receive a healing or miracle because of the person praying for them.

The magi were right and they found Jesus the Messiah. The religious leaders were so full of their own self righteousness that they missed one of the great events of history. It was shepherds and magi who got to see Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and kings and religious leaders who missed it.

Let’s keep humble hearts and be open to what God may be doing. If it is in the Bible, no matter how unlikely, it is God so let us ask him to challenge our pride and prejudices so we don’t miss anything that He is doing.

What can I give him?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3: 16

This Christmas I have heard many people bemoan the fact that they do not know what to get someone for a Christmas present. Worse still is not knowing what to say when someone asks what we would like!

Our loving God has everything because he created it all so what can we possibly give the God who has everything? For some this question might have been as the carol says, ‘What can I give him, poor as I am?’ For others we might say, ‘What can I give him, comfortable as I am?’ This question has been asked every Christmas as we focus on the wonderful gift that God gave us and that is where the answer lies. He gave us himself – God in a tiny baby. Emmanuel – God with us.  So what do we give the God who has everything – we do what he did and give ourselves; that is all God wants and it is the best gift. In our busy lives, God wants us.

However giving of ourselves is what people also desire – more than gifts and nice food – they want us; our love, friendship, time, support, encouragement. There are so many lonely, discouraged, disappointed, hopeless people and what they want is people who care, people who will stand with them, people to encourage them. We can’t do it for everyone but we can do it for someone.

Maybe you are already giving something other than presents today – perhaps serving a Christmas meal to people on their own, taking food to the homeless – have a wonderful Christmas. If you are with family and friends – have a blessed Christmas – but don’t pass up the opportunity to give of yourself today. Especially if there is something that needs to be put right, a phone call that needs to be made, an e mail that needs to be sent, an apology that needs to be made – please do it

This Christmas I expect most of us will give and receive many gifts and I am sure we will also focus on ‘the reason for the season’ but let us also look for an opportunity to give of ourselves to someone who may need an encouraging word, a hug, a smile, some appreciation.

Be blessed this Christmas

People of courage

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” Luke 1: 59 – 60

There are some amazingly courageous people in the Christmas story and one of these is Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. God showed great favour to Zechariah and Elizabeth.  Like some other elderly couples in the Bible, God gave them the ability to have a child; no ordinary child either. He would be the forerunner of the Messiah and he would prepare the hearts of the people for his coming.

The angel Gabriel had told Zechariah that his elderly wife would become pregnant and they were to name the baby John. Zechariah though did not believe the angel and as a result was struck dumb. The baby was safely born and on the 8^th day, it was time to circumcise him. This was a special occasion and one where the men did everything; the women might perhaps have been allowed in a corner but would have taken no part in the ceremony.

So with the father unable to speak and mothers not considered, the priests were about to name the baby Zechariah after his father. Elizabeth did a very courageous thing.  She spoke up and contradicted what the priests were about to do by saying that the baby was to be called John. The angel had only spoken to Zechariah about the baby and his name and he must have somehow told Elisabeth. She though was the one who had to bravely tell the gathering.

Everyone was amazed because there was no one called John in the family.  Today with everyone striving to call their children something different with some very strange results, it does not seem particularly unusual but in those days it was extraordinary that Elizabeth would speak up at all and even more so that she would suggest a name that had no family connections.

Thankfully the priests gave her the benefit of the doubt and consulted Zechariah who asked for a writing tablet and he wrote that the baby’s name was to be John. Immediately his tongue was loosed and everyone was amazed.  They knew that it was a miracle that Elizabeth had had a baby but now everyone wondered who the baby might be.  This was no ordinary child.

There was no indication that Zechariah the father was going to intervene in his naming of his child until Elizabeth spoke up. She had to push through the social norms of the day to do the will of God. Elizabeth faced ridicule and disbelief but it was too important not to say anything.

We may find ourselves needing to speak up and say something when no one is asking or even requiring our input. God may ask us to say something that goes completely against the flow of what is normally done. We need not fear; if God is in it, God will confirm it. Like Elizabeth, we must be courageous; the consequences of our silence may be far worse than saying the wrong thing.  Trust God, be brave and say what needs to be said.

 

The heavenly host

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2: 13 – 14

What a night for the shepherds!  Shepherds were well down the social order and whilst not exactly ostracised by society, they were definitely on the fringe, mainly one suspects because they spent so much of their time away from family and friends and probablyfrom  the synagogue looking after their sheep.

Jesus came as the good Shepherd (John 10: 11 ) to save people (his sheep) from their sins.  God seems to love shepherds. Abraham and his family, Moses and David were all shepherds and the last two must have learned a lot about looking after and leading people from their experiences of looking after sheep.  

So it was the shepherds who are chosen for a unique display of heaven’s power and God’s glory. They were terrified by the first angel who appeared and by the ‘glory of the Lord which shone round about him.’  He gave them the good and wonderful news that a baby had been born that would save mankind from their sins and the necessary sign so they could find the baby.

Suddenly!  I love that.  Suddenly heaven rips open and the heavenly host step out to praise God for this auspicious occasion. What else could you possibly have to announce the birth of the Son of God?  It has to be the angelic heavenly host.  What a sight it must have been!

The significance though is as incredible as the event. This baby was not announced by the heavenly host to the religious leaders at the temple in Jerusalem, just 5 miles away, where one might have expected it. No, it was announced to a group of uneducated, poor shepherds out minding their own business, doing their job. 

The significance is that God was announcing that this baby, this Messiah would be for everyone. Time and again Jesus showed that it was not just the religious, the learned, the socially acceptable that he came for but the poor, the marginalised, the hated by society, the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus constantly turned the social norms on their head. He made rough fishermen and tax collectors his disciples. He ate with people like Zacchaeus, he let prostitutes wipe his feet with their tears and hair and he appeared first to a woman after he rose from the dead.

No matter who you are, what your background, social standing, education, marital status, Jesus came for you.  He wants every single one to be not just his friend but his brother. No matter what others may say about you Jesus loves you and came to save you from your sins and in case we are not sure, just remember it was to shepherds, those at the bottom end of the social ladder, that the heavenly host appeared to announce the birth of the Son of God.

Wonderful Counsellor

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

This wonderful prophecy given hundreds of years before the birth of Christ foretells the Son of God coming to earth to save his people.  The Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and save them but Isaiah makes plain that this person will be born as a baby.  He will not come down riding on clouds of glory to smite Israel’s’ enemies as portrayed in Psalm 18. He will come as a baby and this wonderful announcement is similar to those given in our newspapers today; a son has been born to – us.  How personal is that? This son is given to – us.

Yet if we doubt that as a baby he will be able to be Messiah then, as in the personal column of a newspaper, his names are given – each one an indication that this baby is actually God and therefore more than able to save his people.  The first name is in itself amazing because the word ‘wonderful’ used here can also be translated ‘beyond understanding’.  Indeed when Samson’s parents ask the angel that foretells Samson’s birth what his name is, he says it is ‘beyond understanding’ or ‘wonderful’ (Judges 13: 17 – 18). 

Jesus is a wonderful or beyond understanding counsellor.  He plans and purposes things that we may well not understand.  Indeed we probably will not understand them unless the wonderful Holy Spirit brings revelation and understanding to us.

I am constantly concerned about how small some people’s God is.  When they cannot understand something about God or his ways, they dismiss it.  Too often people do not have any expectation of God intervening in the affairs of man; God seems distant and disinterested. Some seem to feel that the ways of men will prevail – especially wicked men - over the ways of God.  God is called upon only when other options have failed and then often with no real sense of wondrous anticipation.

However if God really is God then we should not understand most of what he does but if we open our spirits, hearts and minds to him, he will help us grasp things beyond our understanding.  I am just so conscious of how stupid I can be yet I would far rather be that than feel I know what God is doing.  If God is my size, he is pretty small!

Thankfully, the one thing I can be assured of is that God’s ways are wonderful, beyond understanding, incredible, amazing, unbelievable, awesome and every other word that leaves our finite minds gasping in amazement and overwhelmed by God’s manifold wisdom.

Friends let us raise our eyes upwards and be amazed by this ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ and at the same time hold the thought that he loves us more than we will ever know, that he never condemns us especially when we do not understand but rather he takes our hand and leads us into all truth, one step at a time as we trust him. He will enlarge our hearts and minds to comprehend wonders we could never have grasped alone; wonders that truly are beyond understanding.

Significance not prominence

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Luke 2:8

Looking today at the incredible birth of Jesus, we are overawed by the significance of this event – God becoming man in order to save the world from their sins.  The shepherds too must have realised this was a significant event though I am not at all sure they realised how significant. The heavenly host turning up in glory on their hillside, telling them of a Saviour born in Bethlehem and now lying in a manger, was a good clue though.

In today’s celebrity crazy, instant fame society of ours, it can be easy to get caught up in seeking prominence to give us significance.  Significance often comes though in places with no prominence; those helping the poor and weak of society in the city slums, those fighting for social justice and those in the mission field far away from the glare of media and cameras are often doing incredibly significant things with no prominence at all.

The Christmas story is full of people of no apparent significance or prominence who have gained significance by being obedient to God’s call on their lives.  Mary and Joseph, a poor couple looking forward to being married and having a life of their own in Nazareth are suddenly thrown into the spotlight on the stage of world history by the appearance of Gabriel. Shepherds, out in the fields doing their job, suddenly find themselves chosen to signify God coming to earth for the poor and marginalised of society again by the appearance of angels.

There must have been many unknown people who helped Mary and Joseph during their journey to Bethlehem and with the birth of Jesus – unknown to us but known to God. I am sure Mary, Joseph and God regard them as significant. 

Society seeks prominence and ten minutes of fame to applaud but God wants men, women and children of significance; significant because of obedience to his call on their lives. Mother Teresa gained prominence but I doubt if she particularly wanted it other than to draw attention to the plight of the poor in India.  For those poor people her life was very significant.

Frank Genor was an insignificant man who for 40 years handed out tracts on a street in Sydney, Australia in obedience to God to thank him for his salvation. He had no idea of the effect of this until just before his death when it transpired that literally hundreds of people had come to faith and were serving God all over the world, because of his obedience.

Has anyone ever come up to you to thank you for some kindness of word or deed that you have done that you have no recollection of but was very significant for them? That is the significance of great value to God; being obedient to his prompting to bless others. Fame and prominence are of little value even though highly prized by our societies. Significance through obedience whether we know about it or not is the prize of the Christian.

Born in a stable

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2: 6 – 7

If there is one thing that almost everyone knows about the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, whether they be Christian or not is that Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger or feeding trough.  They may know little else but stables and mangers are usually remembered.

Various people have commented that Joseph should have been able to find accommodation with his relatives in Bethlehem which would have been the normal thing in those days but that because of the great number of people in Bethlehem for the census, there was no spare room.  The BBC series called The Nativity went further and gave the reason that there was no room was because Mary had become pregnant outside of marriage so Joseph and Mary were ostracised by family and society.

I expect Mary had been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism and unkindness about her baby. It was shocking in those days to become pregnant before marriage but Joseph had honourably still married her and brought her under his protection. However I expect there would have been a lot of knowing looks and comments behind her back if not to her face.

So Mary ended up in a stable or more likely a cave to give birth to the Son of God. I don’t know about you but I would be devastated to have had any of my children born in a stable.  Mary knew who this baby was and for 9 months she had literally had the Son of God growing inside her.  Now at his moment of birth she ended up not in a nice guest room but outside of the family and society with the animals.

However God takes what appears a humiliation of giving birth in a stable and turns it into a sign that makes people wonder. When the angel told the shepherds a Saviour has been born, he identifies the baby as ‘wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ It wasn’t the rich, famous or religious leaders who come to see Jesus but the poor of society and they found the baby because he was in a manger and not comfortable in the guest room of a house.

Today God will take our humble beginnings, our lack of education or broken family, the things that others may consider weak and shameful and turn them into signs of wonder. Jesus used rough, illiterate fishermen to found his church and this too became a sign of wonder. When they (religious leaders) saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4: 13

Jesus, the Lord of glory, was not diminished by being born in a stable and lowly beginnings do not need to hold us back either. The very fact of his lowly birth is what makes Jesus known today. It may not have been Mary’s ideal place to give birth but the manger became not a shameful but a glorious place because of the presence of the baby born there.  Our circumstances, our lives can also become glorious as the presence of Jesus touches and changes them.

Psalm 3

O Lord how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!

Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him”

 But you are a shield around me, O Lord

You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

To the Lord I cry aloud and he answers me from his holy hill.

I lie down and sleep. I awake again because you sustain me.

I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.

Arise O Lord! Deliver me, O my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Psalm 3

This psalm was written by David when his son, Absalom, rose up in rebellion to try and take the throne from his father. It was treachery at the highest level; in the family, the court and the nation and David does what David always did – turned to God.

Psalm 3 is such a great encouragement to us when life and the devil comes and attacks us. It gives us a blueprint for how to deal with these assaults. First of all David states the situation; he has many foes rising against him who do not believe God will deliver him.

Then David affirms who God is; his protector, his provider and the lifter of his head – his encourager. He knows God will answer him (that is a wonderful thought to meditate on) and he can even sleep in the midst of all of this because the Lord sustains him and so he will not fear.

Finally David asks God to arise and defeat his enemies. I love the fact that he asks God to strike them on the jaw and break their teeth. If that happens you cannot talk!  It silences the enemy! David concludes that God brings deliverance and asks him to bless the people who will have got all caught up in this.

David did not accept the situation and just lay down and give up but unfortunately that is what many Christians do when they get sick, they face financial, family, work or even church problems. They accept them and give up.  David shows us the better way.

Tell God the problem as you see it. Remind yourself who God is and what he has done and will do. Then ask God to rise up and strike your enemies. We have the victory over all our enemies (who are not flesh and blood) and in Jesus Name we can resist the devil and all his works and he will flee.

God gave David strategy to defeat Absalom’s rebellion and he will do the same for us. Do not let circumstances overwhelm you; turn to God and he will arise on your behalf as you use the authority that Jesus won for us on the cross. God is our deliver and always acts on our behalf as we trust him.

David and Jonathan 2

“Do not be afraid,” he (Jonathan) said, “my father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home but David remained at Horesh. I Samuel 23: 17 – 18
Jonathan would have made a much better king than Saul. He knew that a king of Israel ruled under the kingship of the Lord. He knew that battles were won because the Lord fought them and gave you victory. The only reason he did not become king was because of his father’s disobedience and foolish mistakes (13: 13 – 14). He knew his father’s kingship was doomed after Saul did not follow the Lord’s instructions when fighting the Amalekites (15: 28).

Jonathan fought bravely for the Lord and the Israelites and had great victories and was popular with the men (14:45). He supported David and spoke well of him to Saul even when Saul was trying to kill David.  He made a covenant with David before the Lord on several occasions.  He was committed to David but his loyalties must have been divided and I think this lead to one great mistake.

In the verses above Jonathan told David that he would be king – even Saul knew that – and he would be second to him. Jonathan was quite right; I am sure that was God’s plan but look what happened – Jonathan went home- he didn’t stay with David to work out the call of God on his life. The tragedy is that they never saw one another again and Jonathan died by his father’s side. He was meant to be second to David but having been loyal to David all through the difficult times, at this moment instead of staying with David, he went home.  He knew God’s plan, he committed himself to both God and David by making a covenant with David before the Lord but a false sense of loyalty took him in the wrong direction and he went home back to Saul and later died with him. He never fulfilled God’s plan for his life.
A false sense of loyalty can keep us in the wrong place too. It is important to know when to move on, when God is doing a new thing and how to go with it. Someone told me once they knew they were in the wrong church but it was too difficult to leave – so they stayed and were not fulfilling what God had planned for their lives.

Some people move church or ministry far too often and some do not move when they should. We need to be aware of when God is moving on and calling us to move too and not get stuck in situations that will neither fulfil our destinies nor bring God’s life to us. False loyalty can be a burdensome thing but if we remember that our first loyalty is to the Lord, he will guide us to the right places, churches and ministries in his timing.

 

David and Jonathan

And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.  I Samuel 18: 3

I love the story of David and Jonathan because it is all about two young men who loved God more than anything else and wanted to serve him as best they could.

When Saul was king, before David was on the scene, Jonathan understood something that Saul never understood which was that the Lord was the one who fought for his people and it was the Lord who won the battles (14:6). When Jonathan went out to fight, he went out in that knowledge and had success because of it.

When David defeated Goliath and Saul took him into his army, Jonathan made this covenant almost certainly knowing that David’s success would mean he would not inherit the kingdom from his father. Jonathan stood up for David in the face of Saul’s insane attacks on David’s life. He risked his own life to support David (20:33) and consistently helped David to be aware of Saul’s murderous plans and to help him escape from them.

It takes a great man of God to stand by and help someone who will take the role that should have been theirs.  Jonathan should have succeeded Saul as king and yet instead of siding with his father and trying to overthrow and kill the one who was going to take his place, he actively supported David. One of my favourite verses is ‘Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in the Lord (I Samuel 23: 16). How we all need people who will not just give us sympathy but will help us find strength from God in our times of need.

I wonder if David would have been able to keep going and trust God to help him do what was right in the face of severe provocation from Saul if Jonathan had not been there for him. How difficult it must have been to know that God had anointed him king and yet he had to wait for God’s timing even whilst the present king was trying to kill him. Jonathan’s strength, commitment and loyalty to David must have been of inestimable comfort and encouragement to him.

Too often our main concern is our life, our ministry, our church and yet God may be calling us to support, strengthen and encourage someone whose success may appear to be to our detriment. Yet in the Kingdom, we need never fear that. If we are fulfilling God’s plans for our life, we will always be successful even if we are not prominent. Too often people confuse success with prominence. Success in the Kingdom is measured by obedience; are we doing what God wants us to do and that may mean supporting someone else and making them successful.

We are called to serve – God and other people both Christians and those in the world. We need never fear other people’s success; rather we should rejoice in it knowing that God holds our destiny in his hands and we can trust him to bring his success to our lives.