The Good Race

Can I just say, I'm not responsible for the adverts that come up on my blog...some of them look fishy to me!

Had a really good Quiet Time today exploring James 1v17-21. It was a great reminder that "every good and perfect gift is from above".  It is often so easy to start storing up treasures here on earth and thinking that we have it all sorted in our own little words of safety and posession.  When actually, that's a seriously unfulfilling way to live and not what God wills for us at all.  God has given us the best gift of all - spiritual LIFE through Jesus.  Thats how we can "consider it pure joy" when we face "trials of many kinds" (v 2).  Firstly because we know that Jesus has trodden a much harder path before us and secondly because we know that God "works through ALL things for the good of those who love Him".  Sufferring isn't some problematic hiccup in the life of a christian - it is included in God's sovereign purpose to make sure that we are "lacking in nothing".   

James has shown that there is no excuse for giving in to sin, even when life is hard.  Any sin is too much.  We MUST turn from sin and towards God's Word - His bible.  This is where we find God's answers.  They will strengthen us to face the difficulties and save us from the danger of sin. 

It is in the heart my troubles lie,
My contrite mind, my dirty eye,
I cannot bare to see the dirt,
The filth and scum that causes hurt.

This wretched body, mind and soul
Should be buried deep like a worm in a hole,
And yet it please You my Lord,
To raise me up to rest assured,
To sit upon a garnished throne
And know that You are God alone

You wipe me clean with Your own blood,
You wipe away the sinful mud,
Till I am dressed with a soul of white,
And can set my heart on eternal light.
By Your spirit's strength and song
Do I stand pure in Your own Son

It is by the ransom I stand strong,
To endure the race till the day is done,
to fight the battle till the medal won,
To sing Your praise till the darkness gone,
To climb the hill till Sunlight dawns,
So to bathe in Light and suffer no scorn.

xx

Many trials are yet to come,
Of that much I am sure,
But with battle cry and vict'ry drum
I plead you to endure.

Come the day that suff'rings end
And all tears are swept away,
The Master we will meet in full
And I know that He will say:

"Faithful ones abide with me;
Your toil and labours done,
You shone like stars in darkest night
And now the crown is won.

But until that day, O loved one,
Entrust everything to Him,
Your victories and failings,
And even, yes, your sin.

Give to Him your all,
Especially your heart,
Standing in your Father's love,
From which you'll not depart.

09.10.07

Here is a poem I wrote a couple of months ago when I was really struggling health wise.

The Costly Walk

Did I think you'd leave me
When I found myself at loss,
When actually your loving plan
Was to walk me to the cross.

You laid me low infront of it
That I might fully see,
The punishment Your Son received
To make me fully free.

And now I see the reason
Behind sufferring and toil;
To immerse me oh so fully
In a love that never spoils.

So when my mind begins to stray
And I forget these things you've done,
Bring me back, O Gracious Lord
To stand before Your Son

For it is there and only there
That I see my ransomed life,
And understand to full extent
How moment'ry my strife.

10.10.07

2 Timothy 4 v 6-8

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

The England vs Australia match at the weekend. Remember this, we have fought well in the first half, we stod our ground. We battled hard. We come out in the second half, and imagine, just for a second, what the outcome would have been if the players had simply given up, started waning and faltering and drooping. The outcome would not have been the same. We would not have been going on to the Stade de France, but home to rainy England and defeat. My point is, IT MATTERED how we played, right up until the end. SO IT IS with the Christian faith. We must not give up in the second half, after the initial adrenaline has worn off and we feel tired, our legs aching and our body bruised. If the England team had given up, then their first half efforts would not have mattered, because they still would have gone home defeated.

This is why Paul urges us on in his letter to Timothy; because he knows that IT MATTERS how we play in the "second half" when things are tougher. Look at how Paul describes his faith: as a battle and a race, "the good fight" and "the good race". Sounds like a struggle to me. Isn't that what Paul is suggesting...that we will be bruised and batterred right up until the end?...That until we cross the finish line and the final bell is rung, that we will be pushing hard and spending ourselves with every step? Isn't that what he is implying? Read these verses and tell me it doesn't sound like a struggle.

WHY, you say, WHY BOTHER, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WORTH THAT PAIN AND TOIL? Because of the joy that is found in Christ Jesus. Because He promises of better things to come and a richer (not wealthier, don't misunderstand me) life on earth. Jesus said in

Mathew 10:22 "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved".

Did he mean that? Did he really mean that all men will hate me because of Him? Listen, if you don't trust in the first promise then HOW can you trust in the second?

Please let me elaborate by further explaining what faith means. When you have faith in someone, you beleive that they will keep to their promises and you will trust what comes from their mouth. If you say you trust in Jesus then, and His ransom on the cross, then why do you not believe Him when He says through Paul "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12). We cannot and MUST not believe the comforting parts of following Jesus, and neglect the truth that we will suffer at some point because of walking in His footsteps. Listen to Jesus when He says "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me". What about the narrow path which few walk upon? What about the refining by fire in 2 Peter, what about the persecution and beatings of the saints in the early church?? Suffering is a truth, just as justification by faith is, and it cannot be avoided in the christ-like walk.

Some of you might well say what about that bit in Mathew where Jesus talks about his "easy yoke" and his "light burden"? Phoebe, you might say, havn't you ignored this truth? No, it is true, Jesus yoke is easy and his burden is light IN THAT SALVATION IS EASY! To accept the ransom that Jesus paid IS NOT A HARD CONCEPT. SO many places in the NT agree with this, "Believe/repent and be saved"

Mark 16:16 "Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved"

Acts 15:11 "We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved"

Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved"

Romans 10:9 "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified"

1 Corinthians 15:2 "By this gospel you are saved"
And I'm going to continue on from this verse because it states firmly "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain".

This is the essence of the point I am trying to make. Trusting in Jesus' salvation is an easy and light burden, but the struggles that come along the way WILL put us to the test. To be saved means to "hold firmly" to the Word of God and to trusting in the substitution of Christ in our place.

The race is not yet finished and the battle not yet won, but when it is and we have "kept the faith" with Paul, Jesus promises us a crown of righteousness that none can steal or destroy. I long to see you there on that day when our struggles our over and the day is done and we can rejoice with each other and give glory to God, for it will be clear then that He did do all things for the good of those who love Him. I long to see you there. I long for that day.

So my first blog...hopefully first impressions will prove successful.

So a little bit about me. I am a convinced Christian, I totally beleive that God's Word is the Bible and that as such it contains everything we need to get to know the character, actions and will of God. I beleive that God created us to glorify Him. But we reject him. Day in day out, everyone does, as it says in

Romans 3 v 11 and 12 "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

I beleive that God laid down his law in the Beginning. He gave us the ten commandments, not to hold us down, but for the good of those He loves, so that they might know Him better. Yet we reject those too. I lie, most days. I lie about homework reguarly. I lie about stories to make them more interesting. I am, therefore, a liar. Whatever good things I do in the meantime, that can not change the fact that I have lied. I also have looked at guys lustfully. Infact I do it every day. Jesus said "But i tell you, anyone who looks at a [man] lustfully has already committed adultery with [him] in [her] heart." Mathew 5v28.
I beleive that when we break His commandments then we sin, and are found guilty before God.

A makeshift example: say, for arguments sake, i was convinced into taking drugs for a friend into a country, lets say turkey. And i go through customs and the officers on duty find the drugs in my bags. I am found in possession of class A drugs and am arrested. I am tried in a court of law and found guilty and rightly so because it was me carrying the drugs. I don't know much about turkish law but for argument's sake lets say that the punishment for this particular crime is death. The judge condemns me to die because I have broken the Turkish law. Yet my close friend who has flown over to watch the trial stands up and says to the judge "No, take me instead." He has not committed my crime, indeed he had nothing to do with it, and yet he knows that the punishment must be upheld for justice to prevail. So he takes my place, i go free and he takes the punishment that should have been mine. There as no other way out for me.

This example, although rather crude for the actual truth, shows what Jesus did for me on the Cross. He had comitted no crime he was "one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26) an as such was the only fit person to take the punishment for our rejection and rebellion against God. This was God's perfect plan that was finished on the Cross. Jesus bore God's wrath against his sinning creation. This is undoubtedly the most loving act in all of history. Innocent, pure and blameless, the Son of God became a curse on the cross and "he held the cup of God's wrath and He drank it. And when He turned it over not one drop was left for you." ~Paul Washer.

I beleive that Jesus bore the punishment on that day for the sins of all who trust in Him. As Hebrews 5:9 says "he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him". He was raised again and IS coming back to judge everyone according to what they have done on earth. The only way that one can stand before God on that day and be seen as clean is if they have been washed by the blood of Jesus and have finished the good race.

X