Confirmation of the Spirit's Leading

We've all heard the term, "when the 'planets/stars are in alignment', the time will be right," and, whilst it's a secular view, there is a time for everything; when everything seems right:

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... " ~Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NRSV)

One such time in my life, when God seemed to be saying, "Now is the right time to do this thing," there was a definite discernible feel that God had prepared the way. Suddenly there were no barriers, where previously there were plenty of barriers. People who could have gotten in the way, gracefully allowed the passage of God's will to unfold. This was the season of courting my wife. We both sensed God's leading - the confirmation of the Spirit's sponsorship in preparing the way.

It is a wonderful reality being in the lap of God's will. The mindful Christian will never want to be anywhere else.

KNOWING AND ACCEPTING THE TIMING OF THINGS

We are probably more adept at getting the timing wrong in our lives than being swept off our feet at the answer of our prayers. Prayer is seen to be answered in our favour less than we would like. This is obviously because our flesh is in the way.

But when we are consciously seeking to be in the lap of God's will most of the things we want will become secondary. This has to be done by intention; to surrender those things that get in the way of discerning the Spirit's actual leading. Sometimes we hear many 'voices'; it's good to be clear regarding the Spirit's leading. The Spirit's leading is confirmed not in just one or two ways, but in many ways; too many ways to ignore.

Knowing and accepting the timing of things is part of the mystery of maturity.

When we come to a place of knowing and accepting the timing of things we experience more joy, because most, if not all, our prayers are being answered. Indeed, our hopes, dreams, and plans tend more to conform to the pattern of God's needs for our lives.

So, two things merge. First, there is the fitting of our expectations to our circumstances and, second, later on, there is the fitting of our circumstances to our expectations. When we can adjust to our circumstances, and live happily that way, we are ready for the new thing. But that doesn't mean God will necessarily bless us there and then.

It is truly wonderful, and this is where God is real to us, when there is a persuasive confirmation - an incredible number of 'coincidences', alignments, and complementary strategies - of the Spirit's undertaking as he works in and through us for his Kingdom.

***

One thing we ought to pray for, continually, is confirmation of the Spirit's leading. This requires discernment. It's the quality of seeking the knowledge of God's will for our lives, right now. There is no better reality than being in the lap of God's will.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Trumping Tests, Trials and Temptations

"For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried." ~Psalm 66:10 (NRSV)

Tests, trials, and temptations are the opportunities we need that prove our mettle. We cannot find evidence for transformation unless we've experienced it. We need opportunities to trump our tests, trials, and temptations. And even if we fail our tests, are overwhelmed by our trials, or are weakened into submitting to our temptations, we have hope in the next opportunity, and the next, and so on. God is faithful; he will give us more opportunities in order to grow.

Such are tests, trials, and temptations: the stimulus for triumph. But this is not triumphalism for its own accord. No, God is turning what would be disaster into possible victory because of the example of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So we come from a situation of loathing our tests, trials, and temptations and we move - or better, are transformed - into an attitudinal situation where we see these three as initiatory spurs; compelling, propelling, and impelling us toward the very purposes of life: to overcome.

A POEM - PURPOSE IN TESTS, TRIALS, AND TEMPTATIONS

Challenges and tests are the defining of me, They purpose and prophesy who I'm to be, When I see them this way I'm beautifully blessed, Because they are God's ammunition bringing out my best.

I can tell this is true when I've finished the task, When I can again take off my mask, Because there are times when I must ascend, When I am called to faithfully contend.

And God's reward is insistently true, That I in my obedience will pull through, For the taste of blessing is never better than this, Where I am again afforded consummate bliss.

***

The poem attests to the fact that challenges and tests tend to define us - how we receive them and work through them. They are God's crucible in which our characters are refined, as we are tried like silver. We are blessed to see life like this in the midst of challenges and tests. By being tried and found true our best is brought out so we can see it. God needs no convincing; he knows we can trump our tests, trials, and temptations, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we finish the task - which is getting through the challenging time - we can afford to take off the mask of patient-with-ourselves-and-grateful-to-God stoicism that saw us through. By this stoicism of good faith we ascend the rawness of our problems in the realisation of hope. We are called to faithfully contend in patience and gratitude.

God's reward is ever true. As we continue to obey we are steadily drawn toward pulling through. There is hardly a more blissful moment than having trumped the test, trial, or temptation.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Sickness Is Punishment From God?

These last few days have been hell... or so my frail body led me to believe. I don't remember a time when I was more sick, had a higher fever, or committed my soul over to the Lord more times. More than two days were spent in bed, curled up in the fetal position, shivering, fading in and out of consciousness, yet never crossing the brink into blissful ignorance. I did not sleep a wink; for two whole nights the seconds would drag on, after seemingly tossing and turning for hours I would look at the clock to see that only one minute had passed. It was an eternity of agony. In that time I even forgot how to swallow, due to the excruciating pain of my superfluously swollen glands. a few bottles of prescription/OTC medication later, I am still alive. Thank God.

I am sick way too often. (Though never like this.)

Some people like to point that out to me. They say I clearly am a worse sinner than the average Joe (or apparently child too, since they are sick the most.) The theory is that I must have some crazy secret sins tucked away in the closet. I must be offending God more than the healthy people and He is punishing me out of wrath.

So is He?

Does God punish people for sin with sickness?

A lot of people would say "yes He does," and quickly bring up anecdotal evidence of some "sinner" that "got what he deserved." This is, of course, never examined against the millions of little Hitlers in full health while countless numbers of children die from sickness.

Lord have mercy on us for our silly beliefs.

Sickness is a result of sin, that is true. All disease, pain, afflictions, sorrows, and such entered the world due to sin. Everything bad around us is the result of sin. Your sin, my sin, our sin, their sin, Adams sin. Yet that does not translate into punishment, especially when Gods children are concerned. Pain and sickness is the opposite of punishment!

On a global level, it is the merciful plea of a righteous God, it is the wake up call to a world dying in sin. A call that says: repent, believe, and be saved!

On a personal level, it is the refinement of an individual. Its is Gods loving hand working in His child for the good of His child.

Some suffer more, some less. I cannot explain why, only God can know. I dare not presume that means there is more refinement needed in that person, because only One can know that. He permits it for His plans, to test some like Job, to draw others unto Himself; maybe sometimes to teach us or lovingly chastise us. We are His sheep and He our Shepherd.

I am not saying that I am better or worse, that I am an undeserving Job, or that I have sin in my life. Truth be told its probably a little of everything.

I don't understand exactly why God inflicted this upon me and maybe I never will. I'm not really sure what I need to do or learn, expect to have patience and trust. I repent and commit myself into His hand.

I know one day, when we shall see and know as we ought, I will fall at His pierced feet and thank Him for these last few days.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Isaiah 33 - Deliverance Will Come!

"Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold a land that stretches far away." ~Isaiah 33:17 (NRSV)

Such is the promise for the people of God from the LORD their God - they will see their king in all his radiant beauty. They will see their king - we call him Jesus - because they are obedient in turning to God in harsh times.

THE DISCONSOLATION OF THE OPPRESSED

This prophecy in Isaiah foretold of a time unspeakable, where the land of the people of God would be swept away by violence. The land was part of the identity of the people of God, and they had lost it. In our time and society we must think of how it would feel to have our country, or our world, invaded and oppressed by a malevolent foreign ruler.

This prophesy speaks of a time where a heinous and devouring destroyer would come against them. But as with all the stories, when the people of God turn to God their deliverance comes nearer... indeed, the Prophet foretells of the time when the destroyer will be destroyed:

"... when you have stopped dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously." ~Isaiah 33:1e, f (NRSV)

Such is our hope - that whatever oppression we deal with, as we obey God, praying for our deliverance, we will be delivered at the right time, because the destroyer is destroyed.

There is a promise in Isaiah 33 that the people of God, having turned back to God, would see the LORD'S judgment; that the defiance of the evil ruler will come to naught. They will become a fire that consumes themselves (verse 11).

In verse 15, God Almighty speaks of the sort of person who will be raised: they will walk righteously and speak uprightly; they will despise the gain of oppression; they will waive bribes instead of accepting them; their ears and eyes will turn away from bloodshed and evil.

TURNING HOME FOR HOPE

"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our ruler, the LORD is our king; he will save us." ~Isaiah 33:25 (NRSV)

This is our hope today. That we would call upon the LORD in his faithfulness to deliver us from whatever devours just now. That devouring situational monster that has caused us suffering - no matter how long we have been oppressed - is to be vanquished, for the LORD will save us.

Turning home for hope in the obedience that God calls us to is about recognising that in our weakness is our strength. Our rigging may hang loose (verse 23), but, in being forgiven our iniquities, God will save us from the tyranny that has been, or is, set against us.

***

The beauty in God's judgment is that it prevails for the obedient oppressed. By our oppression our weakness is our strength. Wait and see; see what the LORD is doing, yes even now. The LORD is coming with a mighty vengeance.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

This House We Live In!

When a person or a family buy a house, it's always a reason for joy, there is a sense of pride in ownership, knowing that It belongs to you, and that, even if you owe most of it to the bank, it is registered in your name, you are paying into your own, you're investing on your dwelling for now and for the future.

When a child is conceived in the womb of a woman, there is a spiritual act which takes place together with conception; God creates a soul to inhabit the house which begins to take shape in the womb.

Now, conception is the creation of a life, a soul which God conceives. What a man and woman do in the natural sets in motion the creation of a new body which will serve as a dwelling for that soul.

And it does not matter what color or shape or size or sex that body is, and it does not matter whether it is short or tall or perfect or faulty, missing a limb or an eye or its nose, the soul God's created is always complete, it's always whole, it's always perfect. And that soul comes equipped with a set of skills and endowed with a preset purpose designed by God.

Now, our fallen nature has caused our surroundings, and society at large to see us for what we are in the natural, in the exterior, and we have attributed to the body all of the value of a life; in other words, we have transferred to the house the values of the individual. This is equivalent to us saying I am my house and my house is me! This has caused us to become enslaved by our bodies and its natural cravings. Like a man owning a broken house, we spend our days seeking to please the desires of our bodies, trying to fix the cracks and the holes and the dripping pipes.

The thing is, in the natural, we can own a house made of bricks and mortar, and dwell in it for as long as we can afford it, and even pass it on to our children, but In the spiritual we are always renters, our body, the house in which we live is not our own, is just a temporary dwelling were we are allowed to stay for a season, and in order to exercise the skills we've been given, and to fulfill the set purpose God has assigned to us, and whether we exercise our skills, and whether fulfill our purpose or not, at the end of our journey we are going to be evicted.

Something we do need to think about is the fact that we do have a choice of dwelling when we vacate our present house, and we can either be upgraded or downgraded, that is entirely up to us.

When king David was affirmed in his kingdom and finally build a cedar house, a palace for himself, he saw the need to build a house for the Lord, and set his heart to it, (2 Samuel 7) yet the Lord told him he was not the one to build a house for him. And He added; "The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you". In his natural thinking David understood that his kingdom would be transferred to his children and that his son would build a house for the Lord, yet God was revealing that He would create a flesh in which to dwell in our Lord Jesus Christ, a natural descendant of David, yet a spiritual offspring of God.

"He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." (v 13)

And Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. And furthermore, he says: Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).

A House made of wood or brick and mortar may last hundreds of years, yet nothing which lives in the natural lasts forever, in the same way our body, the house we live in, is also temporary, and it will last up to 70, 80, maybe 100 years if we do not destroy it before. There is an eternal dwelling which God has prepared for you, a home in which you are meant to live forever.

Jesus tells us: In My Father's house there are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3 NKJV).

Take this words to heart, and realize that our body is a slowly decaying house, and that no matter how many repairs you do, it will soon collapse and we will move on to a new house, and I must announce to you that only Jesus can lead you to your eternal dwelling of peace and blitz and joy everlasting, any other option leads to darkness and doom!.

As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him and His righteousness to children's children, (Psalm 103:15-17)

Rev. Jose A. Luna

A Friend Servant of Christ Jesus

Still Too Bad For God?

In a similar-titled article I recently introduced this question, but now I must take it further. There are some pressing issues you may have, and perhaps not everyone who read my first article will be satisfied that their deep concerns were adequately covered. So here are some further issues which I hope will help you.

1. WORSE THAN WHAT?

Yes, I understand that many people may say, 'Hey, thanks for being concerned, but you haven't got a clue about some of the things I've done!' Well, yes, I have to agree and an article like this has limitations. Also, I am only dealing in general terms and you may have given yourself to corruption and plunged into it to excess and got others to do the same and now you think you have passed the point of no return. And then, your conscience may have become so dulled you now have little sense of moral right and wrong. Maybe though you still resent lies being told you or your legally held property stolen! When people object to such things, 'they show that the work of the law [of God] is written on their hearts' (Romans 2:15). This doesn't excuse you, but it may explain why you still disapprove, even your own behaviour.

We must also emphasise what we mean by 'sin' - God's word reveals that 'sin is lawlessness' (1 John 3:4). That is anything that breaks or is contrary to God's perfect standard, as summarised in the Ten Commandments. By nature we are all transgressors, 'all have sinned' (Romans 3:23) - we have all broken the law of God and cannot repair that breach by our own efforts.

2. MERCY FOR ME

King David is a well-known biblical example of someone who let lust take over his mind and let it run full course. He committed adultery and followed this by arranging the murder of the woman's husband who was away on active military service when his wife became pregnant. This was serious moral failure, for which after a while David was rebuked by Nathan the prophet. David was conscience stricken and sought God's mercy, and God graciously forgave him. See how David expressed his plea: 'Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! (Psalm 51:1-2). Did you or I ever pray like that - maybe it's time to do so today? You feel your sins are great? Then seek the living God who is great in mercy!

If anyone has committed a criminal act - whatever the colour of your collar, you ought to confess this both to God and to the appropriate civil authorities. And if you owe restitution or compensation to offended parties, to individuals or to an employer, or, say an apartment store - then settle the matter, and offer serious apologies, whether they are going to be accepted or not.

And be sure you don't think this is a first step to earning God's forgiveness, which is never earned but always undeserved. God is never in debt to anyone - we ought to make restitution for wrongdoing as part of our repentance, but never as moral leverage, upon which God might be more inclined to forgive us.

3. HOPE FOR THE FALLEN

Some Christians have fallen away from their earlier professed faith and have got into serious trouble. Now, after reflection, they know they would like to come back to faith, but feel so hard-hearted, so insensitive to the things that once concerned them, they are discouraged and feel hopeless. Many sins have a cultural notoriety, but it is not necessarily public disapproval that makes them any worse to God. Draw a line between the sinful behaviour and the sin-darkened heart as the polluted source that led to that behaviour. We are in urgent need of having our sensitivity to sin's seriousness brought home to us.

I mention this because there are large numbers of very pleasant and cultured religious people who will be cast into outer darkness for all eternity, in spite of all their church attendance and support for religious institutions, if they never repent of their sin of unbelief in Christ and earnestly seek God's mercy and grace as a wholly undeserved gift! They have never sought to be reconciled to God and justified by his grace on the basis of Christ's finished work upon the cross! Never - instead, they thought that climbing up the ladder of good works was the way to heaven - how appalling to have thought that they were good enough to bypass the sin-bearing sacrifice of the Son of God - Oh no, they weren't sinners like the rest of humanity! But there is mercy and grace even for the worst, blind religious pride, for God's forgiveness is not according to the limits we set for it, but 'according to the riches of his grace' (Ephesians 1:7).

So, knock on that door and ask to receive his overflowing and undeserved favour, and don't give up, and you may find there is plenty, way more than you ever dreamed, even enough for you! And then live a transformed life by faith in Christ, your Lord and Saviour.

4. NO GRADES - ALL HAVE SINNED

There are no two grades of 'sinners' - the notorious and the cultured - not at all, even though some may be more conspicuous than others, because it is God himself who knows the heart - 'for you, you only know the hearts of all' (1 Kings 8:39).

The point of this is to explain that some actions are more serious from society's point of view. If you engage in drunken driving and kill someone, you are both a sinner and guilty of a criminal act, and you will have to face the consequences. God will forgive you through Christ's death and shed blood, if you repent and turn to him in penitence and simple trust, but you will pay society's price in the way society specifies - that is pretty obvious.

5. RELIGIOUS SIN NO EXCEPTION

Whereas, if you have been a religious person for many years, perhaps a clergyman, pastor or office holder, but have never actively trusted in Jesus Christ to blot out the ugly sin of proud self-righteousness, you must do so without any more shilly-shallying. I say that because the sin of religious pride that sets up a pass mark for heaven and then awards that pass mark is a terrible rejection of the sacrifice of Christ. In effect, it says, 'I'll get there under my own steam thanks; I'm quite good you know - Jesus didn't need to bother about dying for my sins!' That sort of widespread religiosity is Christ-rejecting religiosity. Turn from it quickly before you get so impressed and blinded by your own wonderful good deeds that you see no need of turning to Christ, as someone who has never loved God, not even for a moment, but have rather loved your own fine reputation!

Still too bad for God? Don't write yourself off any longer! Ask the Holy Spirit of God to convict you and show you the awful seriousness of sin and the astonishing wonder of Jesus' love that he would die for sinners - even the worst, taking the penalty of their sin upon himself! None are too bad for a lowly, gracious Saviour who understands the depths of human depravity and 'is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them' (Hebrews 7:25).