Reflections

Unconscious Guidance

No serious study on Divine guidance can ignore the fact that God guides our lives even though we are unaware of it. We often call this unconscious guidance. A great deal of our guidance in life takes place when we are not conscious of it, for God knowing the end from the beginning arranges circumstances and events in our lives for our highest good.

The story of Ruth in the Old Testament illustrates most beautifully this important truth. After committing her life to the God of Israel, Ruth, together with her mother-in law, Naomi, came to Bethlehem to eke out their existence in the direst poverty. Things were so bad that Ruth had to try to make ends meet by taking on the job of a gleaner, and whist doing this task, she happened to light on a part of the field which belonged to Boaz. From there the story takes on an entirely different turn, bringing Ruth from poverty and penury to become the wife of one of the richest men of her day. Was this just luck? No-it was the providence of God moving through her life and bringing her in line with His perfect purposes.

How many times do we just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Some years ago I met an evangelist In Tokyo airport who told me he had just missed his plane. As we talked, the announcement came over the public address system that the plane he missed had crashed into a mountain-with no survivors. We knelt together in the midst of that crowded airport to give God thanks for His unconscious guidance, How thankful we ought to be that God is working for our highest good-even when we are not conscious of it.

Reflections
He guides-not overrides
Apart from the three prerequisites to guidance (prayer meditation listening) there are other aspects to this fascinating subject. We ask ourselves: Just how does God go about the task of guiding His children into the best paths?
There can be no doubt that if God had a plan for every single detail of our lives, such as what shoe we should put on first thing in the morning, then our personalities would be dwarfed and our moral nature cramped. If all that was necessary was just to obey His dictated orders through the day, then there would be no development of our personalities or growth in the areas of our inner being. Exercise in freedom is essential to growth and development, and so God is concerned, when guiding us, that at the same time He does not override us, This does not mean of course, that God does not at times condescend to guide us concerning certain details, but generally His main concern is to develop within us mature attitudes so that we can handle those details in a mature way.
Every father concerned about the true development of his child gives that child a wide scope for the exercise of judgement and decision. But he is also swift to break in at times with words of guidance and instruction which his love and longer experience qualify him to give. Guidance is therefore guidance into the highest development of our characters so that we respond to  life with deep insight, clear judgement and rich understanding.

Reflections

'I Don't Feel Like a Quiet Time'

We need to develop a healthy spiritual appetite through daily prayer and the reading of God's Word-the Bible. However the question to consider is this: Do we have to wait until we want to pray and read God's Word or do we do it whether we feel like it or not? The answer is we do it whether we feel like it or not.

The Christian life is not simply a belief in certain doctrines but a discipline in which we move beyond creeds-to deeds. The deed is really the creed-the thing we believe is enough to put into practise. We do not believe in what we do not practise. Those who go from week to week without establishing a daily discipline  of prayer and Bible reading are severing themselves from the very life by which they grow.

But how, you ask do we go about changing our feelings  so that we want to pray and read the Bible? Firstly, examine your heart and see if there is anything in your life that needs to to be corrected? Is there some sin or spiritual violation that needs to put right? If there is, then attend to it at once. The old saying that sin will keep you from prayer, but prayer will keep you from sin, is right. Secondly, recognise that there nothing you can do to change your feelings. You cannot, for example. say to your heart-feel happy, for the power to change your feelings lies beyond your will. What you can do, however, is to exert your will so that you keep your 'Quiet Time'  and as you expose your thoughts to God in prayer and through the reading of the Word then your thoughts, opened up to God, will soon bring about a change in your feelings.

Reflections

Sure Guidance

Behind the multiplicity of circumstances there is a thread that unifies the whole of life. That thread is the unerring guidance of our good and gracious God.

If we are to make our way steadfastly and contentedly through this world then we must do as the navigators do and take our bearings from fixed and pre-determined points. The great art of navigation depends on the existence of certain definite points from which a skilful navigator can take a bearing and guide his ship toward its destination. It may be a star, a lighthouse or a prominent headland- but it must be fixed. He cannot take his bearing from a cloud. or a floating spar, for navigation is possible as one takes a bearing from that which is solid, definite and immovable.

It is not dissimilar with the voyage of life. We who are conscious of being participants in the universal scheme of things, need from time to time to take our bearings from certain fixed and immovable points. God in His great and everlasting love has given us those points, and as we navigate by them we make our way safely past the rocks and shoals to the safety of the heavenly harbour I believe in the things that God has fixed in this world to help me navigate toward eternity. I believe in His love. I believe in His Word. I believe in Prayer. I believe in the Cross. These are fixed points. Accurate navigation depends on the fact one can be sure about something. You and I can be sure of God.

Reflections

A Bible- based Image of God.

The carry -over from an earthly to a Heavenly Father is seen quite clearly in Matt. 7:11. It calls us that a child can expect to see the virtues of his parents magnified in his Heavenly Father.

J.B. Phillips writes, the early concept of God is invariably founded upon the child's idea of his Father. If he is lucky enough to have a good father this is all to the good, providing of course that the concept of God grows with the rest of his personality. But if the child is afraid, or worse still afraid and feeling guilty because of his own father he is afraid, the chances are that his father in Heaven will appear to him a fearful Being. If a child had experience a good deal of negative feeling in his relationship with the earthly authority figures in his life, then he tends to carry this over into his concept of God later in adult life.

When a person becomes  a christian, although he has access to the true picture of God in the Bible, he retains to a certain extent attitudes and feelings drawn from the past which are difficult to break. The influence of twenty or more years do not just fall away. God doesn't descent on a new Christian, drill a hole in his head and place there a new concept of Himself instead. He encourages that person to delve deep into His Word to gain a picture of what He is really like, so that the expulsive power of the Scripture's truth concerning God can eventually and ultimately cancel out what is untrue and bring that person into a true understanding of what He is really like.

Reflections

Christ or Circumstances

If we do not allow ourselves to be led by the Lord then we shall be driven by our circumstances, or by the people who surround us. When the Israelites rebelled against God and refused to follow Him, then God informed them that He  would not travel with them. Moffat translates Ex.33:3 in this way; 'I

will not go with you. I will send an angel in front of you'. Religion became a secondhand affair in which they were led by an angel, rather than by direct contact with God.

When we lack a living real contact with God through His Son Jesus Christ we turn to things we can see, rather than depend on the invisible but reliable  wisdom that supports the universe. Some Christians turn to the stars for guidance, but it is sheer materialism to believe your life is determined by lumps of matter floating in space. It is a sign of inner collapse when someone who professes faith in Christ draws their inspiration from a daily horoscope rather than from a vital contact with God through His Word. Instead of facing the facts of life in the spirit and power which Jesus Christ gives to all those who are His, they turn to the stars to determine their destiny, only to find that instead of being led into sure ways, they are led into a swamp.

We must regain the sense of being led for if we are not led by God, then we will allow ourselves to be led by anything that comes. We Christians must work from principles not pressures, and experience a vital daily contact  with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I say again, we will be led either by Christ or by circumstances.

Reflections
The priority f Repentance
Repentance is the primary plank to every Christian foundation, and without this there can be no continuance in the Christian life. Repentance means a change of mind, in which a sinner changes his mind about what he believes to what  he knows what God believes. As the root of sin is self-centredness , it is from this we must turn if we are to experience the salvation of God in the way the New Testament unfolds it.
Charles Finney, the great revivalist of  a previous generation saw and witnessed the genuine conversion of thousands of souls because of his insistence on the need for a real and radical repentance. He presented the claims of Jesus Christ in a way that people had to repent in order to become Christians. His way was no slip into the Kingdom by the- side door type of evangelism but a confrontation with sinners that led them to see that the only way into the Kingdom of God was through the door of real repentance.
The word Repentance implies the conviction that God is wholly right and the sinner wholly wrong. When a person comes into the Christian life with this conviction clearly  established he discovers a significant principle at the beginning of his christian experience which enables him, in any subsequent encounters with God, to agree with the Almighty and believe that He is always wholly right and never wrong. We do not do men and women a service unless we confront them with the real issue of repentance, for without it there can be no meaningful continuance in the christian life.

Reflections

The Prod to Prayer

The question often arises in the minds of God's children: Why does God allow so many problems to crowd into my life? Why does He permit me to face such severe pressures? There are many answers to this question, such as He permits things in order that our characters might develop, or that through the irritation finer qualities might emerge in our spirits, but the main reason why God allows problems and difficulties is that they become a prod to prayer. It is so often our need that drives us to the Throne of Grace, in fervent believing prayer.

New Zealand (so  am told) is the home of more flightless birds than any other country in the world. The Kiwi, Kakapo, the Penguin and the Weka Rail. These birds , say the scholars once had wings, but they lost the use of them because of the fact that there were no dangerous animals to keep them on the alert. They had no necessity to fly and hence had no ability to fly. The cost of their immunity from fearsome and dangerous beasts was the power of their wings.

It might well be the same with us, were it not for the fact that God allows problems to crowd in upon us. The dangers we dread, and the problems we shrink from, are the invitation from heaven to expand our wings in the Spirit. If earth offered all that we need then we would be no greater that superior beasts without a thought above the clouds. But God allows difficulties to crowd our pathway and trials to come upon us to remind us that earth in itself does not contain everything we need. We need Him.

Reflections

Lovest thou Me?

When Jesus Christ was about to leave this world He placed His affairs largely in the hands of one man - Simon Peter (John 21:15-17). Now that, you must admit, appeared a very daring thing to do, especially as Peter had not proved too trustworthy in the past. Yet Jesus did not hesitate to do it.

Before handing to him the tremendous responsibility of holding the keys of the Kingdom, however, there was something about which Jesus wanted to be sure, and so taking Simon Peter aside He asked him a thrice-repeated question . What was it? "Peter are you familiar with the principles of public speaking?" No. "Peter do you understand the technical details of my religion?" No. "Peter are you able to handle the financial matters relating to My Church?" No. What was it then? It was this. "Peter do you love Me?" And that brothers and sisters, is the core of Christianity. 

It is fascinating to watch the play upon words here, for two Greek words come into focus in this passage. The word Jesus used in His probing question was Agape- Lovest (Agape) thou Me? Peter's reply, however, was  couched in the weaker Greek word Philio- meaning friendship. But if Christ was to build a Kingdom He needed more than loyalty from Peter - He needed his  complete and unqualified love. The third response Peter made included the the word Agape - "You know that I love you (Agape)" - Peter was now ready for his new responsibility in opening up the gates of the Kingdom of God at Pentecost. But this is not just a scrap of history, for Jesus is still standing on that shore looking straight into your eyes and asking that same question  "Do you love Me?" What is your response? Agape or Philio?

Reflections

"I Don't feel Like A Quiet Time!"

We need to develop a healthy spiritual appetite, through daily prayer and the reading of God's Word - the Bible. However the question to consider is this: Do we have to wait until we want to pray and read God's Word, or do we do it whether we feel like it or not? The answer is - we do it whether we feel like it or not.  

 The Christian life is not simply a belief in certain doctrines but a discipline in which we move beyond creeds - to deeds. The deed is really the creed - the thing we really believe in enough to put into practise. We do not believe in what we do not  practise. Those who go from week to week without establishing  a daily discipline of prayer and Bible reading are severing themselves from the very life by which they grow.

"But how," you ask, "do we go about changing our feelings so that we want to pray and read the Bible?" Firstly, examine your heart and see if there is anything in your life that needs to be corrected? Is there some sin or spiritual violation that needs to be put right? If there is, then attend to it at once. The old saying that "sin will keep you from prayer, but prayer will keep you from sin" is right. Secondly, recognise, that there is nothing you can do to change your feelings.  You cannot, for example, say to your heart - "feel happy", for the power to change your feelings lies beyond your will. What you can do, however, is to exert your will so that you keep your Quiet Time, and as you expose your thoughts to God in prayer and through the reading of the Word then your thoughts, opened up to God, will soon bring about a change in your feelings.

Reflections

Filled with the Spirit

The great preacher , C.H. Spurgeon , pointed out in relation to the text 'be filled with the Spirit' Eph.5:18, that it is not simply an experience to be enjoyed but a command to be obeyed. In other words, if we are not filled with the  the Spirit then we are disobedient Christians, and in need of some serious heart searching and self-discipline.

The term 'be filled with the Spirit, as is so often pointed out, is in present continuous tense, and rightly translated reads, 'be being filled with the Spirit.' We are not to think of the fullness  of the Spirit as something we experience at some given moment to last us for the rest of our lives. It is a

daily ongoing moment dependency on the Spirit's power in our lives  to flow through us and out of us wherever we are and wherever we may go. It is this daily drinking of the waters of the Spirits that neeeds (in my opinion) to be emhasised in today's Church for far too many believers tend to look to  some experience they received in the past, instead of relying day by on a fresh supply of the Spirit to fill and flow through their lives.

A Christian who is filled with the Spirit, in the sense it is described here, will have every compartment in his heart completely open to the Spirit's residency and presidency. And what will be the result? Probe the context and you will see. Your home, your business and your Church will all feel the effect of it when your life is being filled with the Spirit of God will never stop giving as long as we never stop receiving.

Reflections

The cause of Anger

As we submit ourselves to the rules of the Kingdom-that of joyful submission to all God's commands, and an eager acceptance of His perfect will-we discover that those rules work for us in powerful and positive ways. But what happens if we resist this law of the Kingdom? We then have to face the consequences, and those consequences find their expression in anger and impatience.

Have you ever considered what it is that drives Christians to be angry and impatience? It happens whenever we lose sight of the fact that all things work together to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose (Rom.8:28). Once we become aware of the fact that as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ,, we are God's personal property and that He will never allow anything to happen to us unless He can use it for good, this conviction becomes the Cosmic Loom on which all of live is woven. If we do not surrender to this fact then we will respond to life in negative ways, by becoming angry, frustrated and impatient.

A pastor had his heart set on a certain appointment and when he did not get it, his wife became embittered and ill, and died shortly afterwards. He himself became so spiritually upset that he left the ministry. Resentment  and bitterness combined to kill the body of one, and the ministry of the other. When we respond to life with a simple trust that God will never allow anything to happen to us that will not work out for our good, then anger and impatience will disappear from our hearts as surely as the morning mists are dissolved by the rays of the rising sun.

Reflections

Christ or Circumstances

If we do not allow ourselves to be led by the Lord then we shall be driven by our circumstances, or by the people who surround us. When the Israelites rebelled against God  and refused to follow Him, then God informed them that He would not travel with them. Moffat translates Ex. 33:3 in this way: "I will not go with you. I will send an angel in front of you". Religion became a secondhand affair in which they were led by an angel, rather than by direct contact with God.

When we lack a living vital contact with God through His Son Jesus Christ we tend to turn to things we can see, rather than depend on the invisible but reliable wisdom that supports the universe. Some Christians turn to the stars for guidance, but it is sheer materialism to believe your life is determined by lumps of matter floating in space. It is a sign of inner collapse when someone who professes faith in Christ draws their inspiration from a daily horoscope rather than from a vital contact with God through His Word. Instead of facing the facts of life in the Spirit and power which Jesus Christ gives to all those who are His, they turn to the stars to determine their destiny, only to find that instead of being led into sure ways, they are led into a swamp.

We must regain the sense of being led, for if we are not led by God, then we will allow ourselves to be led by anything that comes. We Christians must work from principles, not pressures, and experience a vital daily contact with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I say again: We will be led either by Christ or by circumstances.

 

Reflections

Does God Guide Us?

Many people outside the Church find it difficult to believe  in Divine guidance and are puzzled by the quiet confidence of Christians who claim that the Almighty God is interested in the tiniest details of our lives. They read what the astronomers say about the vastness of our universe, and learn that the planet on which we live is just a tiny speck in the bewilderingly exhaustless profusion of suns,stars and system that go to make up this mighty creation, and they ask: how can the Creator be interested in the insignificant details of our lives?

Because of God's revelation in the Bible we dare to believe that He cares for us, loves us, and is vitally interested in the way we go. The Psalmist rested time and time again on the simple fact that God was guiding him, and knew from experience  the secret whispering of Gog within his ear.

The truth is God has a plan for every life. When He made you He made you different from every other person in the universe. He has not made anyone like you and and never will again, for after He made you He threw away the mould. You are unique, and have a unique contribution to make to God's world, and so the one supreme business of life is to find God's plan - and live it. Most people go through life  with no central plan that holds them together giving meaning and purpose to their existence. They live a hand-to-mouth existence of opportunism. Hence when they leave this world they leave nothing but a blur.

Reflections

For me He Died

Once when John McNeil, the famous Scottish preacher, was addressing his congregation in Edinburgh, he began his sermon in a captivating way. "Can anyone here tell me who knew best the meaning of substitution during the trial and death of our Lord?" he asked. "Was it Caiaphas? No! Was it Annas? No! Was it Pilate? No! Was it Peter? No  Was it John?No! It was none of these!" Then into the breathless silence created by his arresting introduction he thundered, "I'll tell you who it was - it was Barabbas! Barabbas! Barabbas!"

And that is quite true, for standing by the Cross, Barabbas would have realised more keenly than anyone else the personal nature of Christ's death. Jesus was in fact dying quite literally for him, Like Paul  he could have said. "The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me". But John adds more to this and goes on to say in effect, "This man loosed me" (Rev 1:5 Revised Version) The Authorised Version renders the verb in this sentence differently. "Unto Him that loved us and washed us", it reads. Both translations are admissible, and both are useful in helping us understand the thought.

But think of the term "washed" and listen to D.L. Moody's comment on this phrase; "Christ might have washed us first, then loved us afterward, but He didn't, He loved us before He washed us. That is the sheer wonder of our Lord's redemption. Anyone would have loved us after we had been washed. He loved us before.

Reflections

Discipleship

Although the word 'disciple' means a learner, this does not mean that we sit like students in a classroom storing up facts and information  about the Lord Jesus Christ. Each truth He unfolds has to be lived out in practical situations, where it can be fully understood.

No sooner does Christ begin to reveal some new truth to one of His disciples than He opens up some special circumstance in which that truth can be tested. If, for example, you have a need to understand the meaning of forgiveness toward others, then you can be sure that it will not be long before you find yourself in a situation where you will be called upon to do just that. If, on the other hand, God sees that you have a particular need to understand the real meaning of patience, then He will engineer a set of circumstances in which that patience will be tested. You see, all your affairs are in the hands of a Master-Teacher who knows the value of an on-the-spot education. Each disciple must be tested on one point, before he can move on to other things, and God's examinations are designed for  the personal benefit of each one of His pupils.

There are no "memory exercises" in this school, for each lesson has to be lived out in terms of personal experience. No one can learn tomorrow's lessons until he has covered the groundwork that is needed for today, anymore than a child can be taught geometry until he has first learned the twelve times table. So apply yourself willingly to all that  He wants to teach you today, and tomorrow will yield a whole new scale of values, in the exciting world of Christian Discipleship.

 

Reflections

Graven on His Hands

What are the possibilities that God will ever forget about us, and lose His loving concern for our eternal destiny? Isaiah lays to rest any doubt that may arise in what must be considered as one of the most fascinating texts in the whole of the Old Testament ( Is. 49:16). God cannot forget His people because He has "graven" them on the palms of  both His hands, and as they are indelibly  marked there where they cannot be overlooked, we need never fear that that we will be forgotten.

Tattooing is a custom that is known the world over, and most people who allow themselves to be tattooed have it done in places which are not open to common sight. But the "graving" of which Isaiah speaks is not  in some hidden part of God's great being, but "upon the palms of His hands". It is carried where all may see, and none can overlook. The "palm of our hand" has passed into common usage to symbolise familiarity, such as when we say, "I know it like the palm of my hand'. And that, says Isaiah, is where God carries the reminder of His people's Salvation: where it cannot be overlooked. It is not a note passed on to an Angel, or written down in a scrapbook :it is graven on the palms of God's hands.

Reflections

The fruit of the Spirit

One of the questions frequently asked by new Christians is this: Does the Holy Spirit  dwell in me? If so, how can I tell?

We can tell how much of the Holy Spirit dwells in us by the fruit of His presence. Love: Am I able to show love to the people whom normally I would dislike?  Joy: Am I a happy Christian?  Peace: Am I secure and serene when things don't appear to be going right?  Long suffering: Am I patient and able to bear with other people's faults and imperfections?  Kindness: Do I excel in the demonstration of kind and tender actions?  Goodness: It was said of Jesus that "He went about doing good". Do I? Faithfulness: If my whole life suddenly crashed about me, would I still trust Him?  Meekness: Am I gentle in my rebukes, and Christlike in my judgements? Temperance: Am I self controlled in all things?

These nine qualities of life are the natural result of the Spirit abiding within. It is well to note that when Paul in Galatians 5 speaks of the self-centred and egocentric life, he refers to it as. "the works of the flesh", but the result of the indwelling Spirit is defined as "fruit". What is the difference? "Works" points to something manufactured and not natural, whilst "fruit" points to something that develops in an effortless way. Evil is, in fact, alien to our personalities but goodness suits us. It was the thing  for which we were made - a natural. In some Christian circles, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the power characteristics of the Spirit, but we must see that power without purity results in us being unbalanced Christians.

Reflections

Worry-A form of Atheism

Worry is a sin and a form of atheism. Some of you may feel that I am overstating the case by that remark, so let's examine that thought a little more closely. A person who worries says in effect, 'I can't

trust God to work things out so I'll take matters in my own hands'. What is the result? Worry, frustration and fear. With God, however, you can meet it, face it, and overcome it. One of the ways in which we Christians face our worries and fears is to meet them a day at a time.

In Matt. 6:34, Jesus is not saying that there will be no troubles to face, for we know full well that there are. Life is bound to bring troubles. We are not , however, to telescope the troubles of tomorrow and the next day into today. God has arranged that life should be lived a day at a time, and He has put into every day sufficient grace to enable us to cope with every difficulty and problem. If we reach out into tomorrow, and bring those worries into today, then although we can bring forward tomorrow's worries, we cannot bring forward tomorrow's grace. Hence we are overdrawn on the Bank of God's Grace, and what might be worse, we meet our troubles twice - once before they come and once when they are actually here.

"Worry", has been defined, "as the advance interest we pay on troubles that might never come". When you face one day at a time you will be able to draw from the Bank of God's Grace sufficient funds to meet every bill  life offers you. If, however, you borrow from tomorrow's troubles, then you won't have enough to pay your bills.

Reflections

The Problem of Pain

There are many problems which baffle human understanding, but there is no greater problem with which the human mind has to wrestle than the problems created by suffering and pain. Death is not the greatest mystery; sin is not the greatest mystery. Pain is the greatest mystery in the universe.

John in the Revelation, when listing the things that will not be present in the New Jerusalem, comes to that problem as the last on his list, and, as he realised that God will forever remove it from the universe, says with deep relief - 'neither shall there be any more pain'. While pain is a mystery it is not an unrelieved mystery, for in many ways it is the monitor of human health. If we felt no pain when fire burned, or when knives cut, then our race would have perished centuries ago.
In making us at the beginning, the God of infinite love and wisdom insisted on creating us as persons and not as puppets, and He will not withdraw this freedom even to save us from our woes. Yet as we watch Him at work in the world, the testimony of history is that He is adept at turning the bitter into the sweet, and producing something worthy for the price that pain had paid. There can be no doubt that the One who suffered most is the Man who, 1900 years ago, hung upon a centre cross. And that Man is none other than the Almighty God.

Reflections

Determining God's Will

Divine Guidance is not just calling on God to pull us out of a hole, but is a way of life, in which, as we rely on His guidance in the continuous, we are nearer fail to receive it in a crisis.

Before we look at some firm guidelines and principles which will help us understand more clearly the way in which God guides His children, we must recognise that in most areas of a Christian's life the Will of God is not in dispute. In the Bible, God has given insights and principles which, when applied, cover about nine tenths of our lives, leaving an area of about one-tenth in which we have no specific instructions. For example, God has told us in the Scriptures that a man who is healthy and is able to work should do so, but the Bible does not then go on to specify the exact kind of work each one of us should be doing. Again, the Bible gives definite instructions on the question of marriage, and points out that a Christian should not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. It does not, however, specify any details about the type or temperament of the person we should choose.

The difference between these two areas is sometimes referred to as the revealed Will of God and the unrevealed Will of God. There is no real problem here, however, for we shall discover that, as we live by the principles of Scripture in relation to the revealed  Will of God, we shall have no problem in applying those same principles to the area of life where things are unrevealed. 'Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path'.  Ps. 119:105.

REFLECTIONS

Prayer - A Priority

Two thousand years ago Peter issued this warning (1 Pet.4:7) - that time is fast running out. How much more urgent is it today! The age in which we live is so fast-moving that, with so many demands upon our time, more and more Christians are neglecting the priority of prayer. Someone has said, "that if we are too busy to pray, then we are busier than God intended us to be". Prayer is worth more than all the time it takes. If God is willing to live in our lives and strengthen our spirits through prayer, then it is blasphemous for us to wonder if we can really afford the time it takes to let Him in.

Tagore once told this parable, 'I had gone a begging from door to door in the village when a golden chariot appeared in the distance. It was the King of Kings! The chariot stopped where I stood, and the Master's glance fell on me. The Master held out His hand and said. "What have you got to give me?" I was stunned. A king opening His hand to a beggar. I was confused but slowly from my wallet I took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to Him. How great was my surprise when at the day's end I emptied my bag on the floor, and there I found a little grain of gold among the poor heap. I wept bitterly and wished I had given Him all I had'.

If we give God one moment He will turn it into gold, but if we give Him one hour - what then? As you learn to  love Him more you will crave more time to be with Him. You can be sure of this - whatever you give to God will be returned a thousand-fold. Start to share more moments with Him. He will turn then into gold.

Reflections

What is Faith?

Hebrews 11 has been described as "The Westminster Abbey of the Bible" because it contains the names of all those who died as heroes of faith. But the list has not been finished for day by day  God is adding new names so that list - those who learn and recognise the tremendous power of simple faith.

"Faith," said a little boy, "is trying your hardest to believe." 
Well that is not  - that is anxiety trying to look like faith. What then is Faith? Let's look at the acrostic F. A. I. T. H.- Forsaking All I Trust Him. Faith is not struggling, striving or trying, but simply resting, relaxing and trusting in the Saviour's Word.

One definition of Faith that I like very much is this: faith is right believing. The truth of this is brought out  clearly in the story of Christ stilling the tempest  (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus said to His disciples. "Let us pass over to unto the other side"  (v.35). Let that phrase sink deep into your heart, for in a moment you will see how little attention the disciple paid to the statement. In the midst of the lake a storm arose that was so fierce that it threatened to sink the boat in which the disciples were riding. They grew afraid and cried our in alarm, " Master carest thou not that we perish?" But how could they perish when a little earlier Jesus had said, "Let us pass over unto the other side". If they had believed His Word they would not have been afraid. There was no storm that could sink the ship in which Christ was riding, but they believed their fears rather than the word of their Master. Faith is right believing  - it stands on God'd Word no matter what the circumstance.

Reflections

Conscience - A Compass

Both prayer and daily Bible reading  are essential to the continuance of God's abundant life in our beings. But there is also a third item of priority - the development of a sensitive conscience. Conscience is the capacity within us to decide what is right and what is wrong, but it decides is largely determined by the training it has received. Some people have little or no conscience because their parents did not take the time or trouble to teach  or train them, whilst others have an oversensitive conscience  because their parents made excessive demands upon them. Paul killed people in all good conscience until his conscience was brought into contact with Jesus Christ and then things changed dramatically. Someone said, "We make our conscience and then our conscience makes us."

When we come into the Christian life we bring with us a conscience that was trained  by parents and those connected with us in the early stages of our development. We need, however, to surrender our consciences to the Holy Spirit so that He can refocus them in line with His principles. If conscience approves and disapproves within the framework of what it is taught, then it must be our constant aim to subject it daily to the standards of God's Word so that it can be kept transparent, perfectly balanced and clean. A truly  Christian conscience is one of the highest priorities in Christian living and without it the abundant life which flows in our beings will be neutralised and invalidated to a great degree.

Reflections

Recognising God's Voice 

We turn to the question of how to develop the art of the listening side of prayer which is of great importance and value to every Christian. As the point I want to make has been put most expertly by Mrs Herman in her book Creative power, I can do no better than to quote her deeply  expressive comments: 

"The alert and courageous soul  making its first venture upon the spiritual life is like a wireless operator on his trial trip in the Pacific. At the mercy of a myriad electrical whispers, the novice at the receiver does not know what to think. And then, just as his ear has begun to get adjusted to  the weird babel of crossing sounds, there comes a remote and thrilling whisper that plucks at his taut nerves.... It is the expected message and he nearly missed it. The Christian who waits in silence before God must learn to disentangle the voice of God from the net of other voices-the ghostly whisperings of the subconscious self, the luring voices of the world, the hindering voices of misguided friendship, the clamour of personal ambition and vanity, the murmur of self will, and the song of unbridled imagination."

We learn to listen to God's voice in the same way as we learn any other art - by practice. Begin today to wait before God with your heart and mind fully open to Him. Don't be discouraged if for a few days  (or even weeks) all you hear is voices from your subconscious, or the muffled sound traffic in the distance. The more you practice the more perfect will become the art, and quietly, almost without realising it, you will one day recognise your Master's Voice.

Reflections

Keep A Daily Quiet Time

If we are to know the strengthening power of prayer  in our daily life and experience, then we must make time to have moments of quiet when we can gain the poise and power that will enable us to meet every problem head on. Those who say they can live in a state of prayer without definite times of prayer, will eventually find themselves without both.

In my counselling experiences I have often found that people who complain of spiritual dryness and barrenness do so because they have neglected the place of prayer. One counsellor asked a couple who were living defeated Christian lives if they kept the Quiet Time; and the naive reply was given, "Yes, my husband and I sit and smoke in the quiet, half an hour after breakfast". Those sincere but defeated souls found release and victory when they set up a real Quiet Time, in which they took in the resources of the Living God, instead of the pitiable substitute of nicotine. Breathing the Holy Spirit into your spiritual lungs gives you a pick-you-up with no let- you-down. James Russel Lowell says.

If the chosen soul could never be alone,

In deep mid-silence, open-doored to God

No greatness ever had been dreamed or done;...

The nurse of full grown souls is solitude.

 A watch was running slow and the watchmaker asked the owner when he wound it. When told "at night", he said, "Wind it in the morning. Give it the fresh spring at the most difficult part of the day when you are moving about." If the best Man who ever lived needed to pray in the early part of the day then so must you.

              A very blessed New Year to all of you in the Name of Jesus.