Windows On The Soul

A few weeks ago I was lead to look-up Malachi .  The relevance of this chapter came to light last weekend as the leadership discussed the "values" underlying our mission and purpose.  Malachi is pointing out the importance of whole-hearted, total commitment. This seemed to reiterate the message some weeks back from John's Revelation, about the "luke warm" church at Laodicea ( Rev.3:15 ). Mala c hi points out that God is angry when we do not honour and respect him ( 1:6 ). When our offerings are second rate, we cheat God ( 1:14 ) - " Try giving a gift like that to the governor! Would he be pleased? " ( 1:8 ). God has already put a curse on those who do not take His commands seriously ( 2:4 ). Malachi calls us to whole-hearted commitment, " bringing the full tithe " sacrificially: by stepping out in faith, we " put God to the test, then we will see that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out in abundance " ( 3:10 ). Then ...

Our family’s most prized piece of family history would have to be my great-great-grandfather’s apprenticeship indenture certificate from the 1860’s. To modern eyes, the terms and conditions border on slave labour. The young teenage George had to leave home to live and work with his ‘master’, who in turn had to teach him the mysteries and secrets of the trade of clothier, as well as house, clothe and feed him, and pay him the princely sum of two shillings at Christmas. When the Bible talks about Jesus’ disciples, the concept of Disciple is very similar to that of Apprentice. The disciples lived, traveled and worked with Jesus, learning ‘on-the-job’. The commitment, to which they were called, included leaving their homes and jobs. As we celebrate with the young people being baptised tonight, lets encourage them in their commitment. For the commitment of ‘becoming a Christian’ is not like joining an organisation, but rather the commitment of entering into a life-long relatio...

One of the more common deep spiritual questions I hear, is “ How do I know God’s will for my life? ”. Whilst meditation and study of His Word will reveal general guide-lines, the application to any person’s specific situation is in the realm of the dynamic of Holy Spirit. We are not given a map showing every bend and hill on the road of life ahead, but rather the bends are revealed only as and when we need to know about them as we walk by faith. Its' no use whingeing about not achieving some high personal aspirations, when Jesus’ general command is to “ start washing feet (dishes, floors, tables, bed-pans, etc.) ”. Then as we show our faithfulness in the small things, God can start putting situations across our path, or using our words, or people start to seek us out - then we start to see God ‘nudging’ us around a bend, or challenging us to climb a hill. It can be quite surprising, humbling, even scary, when someone says to me, “ How did you know I needed to read/hear th...

In reading last week, I was reminded of the difference between " accepting " Christ, and making a " decision " for Christ. " Acceptance " does not have the sense of completeness as does " decision ", which implies a cut-off point, a turn around, of burning one's bridges.  A favourite hymn states " I have decided to follow Jesus, No turning back ". A man recently came to the Lord later in life. He felt convicted about a criminal act in his past and sought to confess and make amends. Though he has forgiveness from the Lord, the law of the land did not, and he is now serving a prison sentence. For him, taking up his cross to follow Jesus has had an enormous price. Please pray for him, his family and church, and remember the prison ministries and other prisoners who have come to the Lord through them and are still serving their time. ----xxxXxxx---- Lk.9:23 "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up ...

I thank my parents that as a child I was taught to write an "I want" list. This helped me identify those things I "really" wanted well after the initial plea had faded. Then came the hard part of giving up some things to save up the money to buy my heart's desire. The same principles apply to our Christian walk. We want to serve, but are we prepared to pay the price? We want to be humble, but are we prepared to be humiliated? We want to be a true disciple, but are we prepared to truly discipline our body, mind and soul? We want to be loving, but that includes the "unlovely", and carries the cost of sacrifice, non-reciprocation, even outright hostility. We ask in pray, but are we willing to accept and obey the answers given? ----xxxXxxx---- Lk.18:18-23 "'What must I do to have eternal life?'...you lack one thing, sell all you have and distribute to the poor...he was very sorrowful for he was very rich" Mt.16:24 "If anyo...

That's the title of one of the exercises I have to do in the coming weeks in preparation for a career planning seminar. I've done various goal setting and life-style evaluations in other training courses, but "Obituary" has a ring of finality about it. As an old preacher friend advised on sermon structure, "First tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em. Then tell 'em. Then tell 'em what you’ve told them". The progressive life (as in moving forward in a direction) is like that, a beginning, a middle and an end.  Another view is "Plan, Do, Evaluate". In the Christian life, the planning stage is a matter of obedience and seeking God's will personally. In obedience, the doing follows (super)naturally as we are driven and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The evaluation is ultimately the Lord's - will our obituaries include "Well done my good and faithful servant"? ----xxxXxxx---- Rom.11:29 "God's gifts...

The life of wisdom must be a life of contemplation combined with action. A life of total dedication to the truth also means a life of willingness to be personally challenged. The tendency to avoid challenge is so omni-present in human beings that it can properly be considered a characteristic of human nature. Another characteristic of human nature - perhaps the one that makes us most human - is our capacity to do the unnatural, to transcend and hence transform our own nature. We cannot be a source of strength unless we nurture our own strength. (Selections from - "The Road Less Travelled" by M.Scott Peck) Lk.2:52 "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man" 2 Ptr.1:5-7 "Make every effort to build on your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love" 1 Cor.14:20 "Do not be immature in your thinking; continue to be babes in evil, but in your minds be mature...