And still there was more.....

Acts 18:24-26

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervour and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. 

*A thorough knowledge of the scriptures

*Instructed in the way of the Lord

*Spoke with fervour

*Taught about Jesus accurately

But he still need the way of God explaining to Him more adequately.....

What was he missing?

The true nature and implications of baptism...the repentance, identification with the death AND resurrection of Jesus and baptism as an outward act celebrating,or immediately responding to, the prior experience of new birth through Jesus and of having being given the RIGHT to be a child of the Father. Of the expectation & experience of the descending, indwelling, fullness and overflowing of the Holy Spirit. Of the Holy Spirit as our constant guide, companion & comforter. Of the reality of us being able to 'to what Jesus did' in the power of the Holy Spirit.

It seems he had sufficient accurate knowledge to genuinely excite him to speak fervently, to believe that there was something life changing about Jesus, to want to tell others...BUT , he had not yet stepped into the key to it all... The ongoing experience to which the knowledge points and invites.

There is absolutely no problem with where he was as a part of his journey ( way ahead of where many Christians ever get to in many important aspects ) - but there was so much more. There always is with our God.

Believe or live out?

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. (1 John 1:6 NIVUK)

This is a very short blog - but, in this case, the length is inversely proportional to its impact....

If we make claims to be a Christian and therefore to be 'in fellowship' with Jesus but find ourselves not walking in that way, John does contest our 'belief' in the truth, he simply asserts what he observes:

that 'we do not live out the truth' ......

and that for me is challenging, simple and powerful. 

You can go your own way......!

Reading Psalms today I got to Ps 81 vs 11-12

‘But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. (Psalm 81:11-12 NIV)

It's one if those sections that suddenly makes certain things so clear and simple. 

There are things in our lives, relating to our relationship with Jesus, that we make far too complicated. We often do this on purpose, knowingly or not, in order to diver our attention from simple truth. The fact is that we make choices, or we choose not to make certain choices, in order to stick with our own agenda whilst wanting to appear to be trying to get with God's agenda. So we complicate the issue, we muddy the waters in order to live how we want while appearing to be trying to live how God wants.

"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 

Jer 17:9

There is the story in the Old Testament of King Naaman (2 Kings 5) who was leprous and who heard that 'the God of the Jews' could heal. So off he went full of his own agenda only to be told ...yeah, no probs, just go and dip yourself in the River Jordan.... What, said Naaman....that's far too simple, he expected more, given his position, at least one if the rivers in his own country. He wanted something far more complicated, far more befitting of his own agenda, far more in line with his own prior choices, than the simple instruction to jump in the Jordan. The prophet of a god didn't even have the good manners to put in a personal appearance... He just sent an acolyte with the instruction to 'take a dip'.

Trying to hide from simple truth to meet our own choices, needs or expectations.

A friend of mine, a Pastor, was approached by a member of his church who never managed to make it to a single early morning prayer meeting.... But oh how we desperately wanted to be there, he said. Would the pastor please pray for him? Absolutely not replied my friend...... But I will buy you an alarm clock. A simple truth, a simple solution that would test the mans real agenda....his real desire to be at those meetings. 

In Ps 81, although we may not have asked the question, we nonetheless get the answer. Had we asked, the question would have been:

'why do I seem unable to submit to a Gods ways in so many areas of my life, words and actions whilst saying that I really want to, and why, despite my wishes to the contrary, do I seem always to default back to my own wants, desires and ways?'

There could be so many complicated answers given th that question, so many long and drawn out prayer ministry or counselling sessions, so many reasons to do with busyness, our work, and so on. We could hide behind a programme of activities designed to get to the bottom of this and all the while we use them as a cover to continue in our own ways, on and on we go, allegedly searching for answers, supposedly looking for the right solution, all the while making all the right noises!

But what does the Word of a God say the reason is, and by implication the solution?

It could not be more simple, 'you have chosen not to listen to me' says The Lord.

Yep, that's it, we have made choices NOT to read a His Word, NOT to set aside regular 'listening time' NOT to really hear what we don't to hear. It's that simple.

What choices have we made and are we making that give the appearance of trying to be or do one thing whilst those very choices are what prevent us actually being or doing the right thing?

Ending in futility?

I often wonder about the nature of 'punishment' in the bible and of the extent to which God actively wills and directly inflicts 'punishment' on people and groups & the extent to which he has built consequences into the fabric of our existence....

If you tell a child not to put its hand in the fire because to do so is dangerous & painful - but the child foes it anyway - is the 'getting burnt' (which is an inevitable consequence) also 'punishment enough'?

We can try and answer that question on a number of levels, but, for me the most important level is ' what would a good parent do?'  I am fairly certain that, having seen the child clearly disobey , to their own detriment, and in pain you would gather them to yourself, probably indicate that you warned them this would happen but primarily you would comfort them in their pain..... And probably use this as a very practical example of why not to 'play with fire' 

A built in consequence is also a warning and a painful reminder of a truth ignored.

In Psalm 78 we read:

So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror. (Psalm 78:33 NIVUK)

Is there a consequence built into the fabric of existence that those who repeatedly ignore God, who repeatedly ignore the 'love motivated' pleas of a good Father, will ultimately lose any sense of a His presence, lose a sense of their own purpose, lose the security of knowing Him - and tend towards feelings of futility and fear?

Is this inevitable consequence both the warning and the 'punishment' ? If so, know this, it need not ever be the punchline to anyone's life - there is always a living Father ready to wrap you in His arms and take you back to Himself.

The final cry of the prodigal

Darkness trails after me

Like a shadow

stalking my every turn

Inwardly, trudging through life

Though to all the world I dance

Soul weighed down 

by selfish obsession

that too easily masqueraded

as obedient devotion

A man, less purpose

With a heart, less love

A soul, less substance

And a life, less God

The prodigal ....

that just kept on walking

Away from the Father,

Farther and farther

Into the depths of despair

And now,

It's not hard 

to understand

How someone so shallow

Can just drift deeper

Effortlessly,

into a distant land

With only one 

final

desperate 

whispered 

cry......

Father, are you there?

And quiet as a gentle breeze 

came His reply

Yes, take my hand

Let's walk together

My long found friend

Vested interests and evidence

‘What are we going to do with these men?’ they asked. ‘Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.’ (Acts 4:16, 17 NIV)

How easily they slipped into contradiction and defensiveness in order to protect the status quo.....

How easily they were prepared to admit they couldn't deny what had happened but still stop it's effect from spreading.....

How easily they were prepared to look at a man whose life had just changed beyond belief, for the better, but then take actions to ensure no other lives would be similarly changed....,

How easily they admitted that what had happened was not just a miracle but a notable one at that, but still wanted to put a stop to what represented a threat to them... 

How easily they were prepared to take action to protect the system they were part of, to protect their part in that system, in short, their own interest and tradition far outweighed the life changing impact of people meeting with Jesus.

How easily it is to persuade ourselves that what we do and the way we do it is by far the most important issue. How easily we persuade ourselves that this is about some high and noble principle when really it is all about us, what we want and how we want it.

There are some things about human nature that never change despite 2000 years of history and huge cultural differences. We can always persuade ourselves that we are representing God, doing what He wants us to, occupying the high ground, when all the time we have simply wrapped a thin veneer of 'God culture' around the real centre of our universe - us! 

Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear.... and a passion to be changed.

News that's too good to be true......?

2 Kings 7

In v9 there was genuine, life saving good news...... But when the king heard it in v10' and it sounded too good to be true, he was sceptical .... And who can blame him? But news from God.... Mercy, grace, salvation, freedom always sound too good to be true...

We need the discernment of the Spirit to walk through scepticism, in faith, but also with wisdom & knowledge. 

Zeal alone would never be enough..... It generates momentum and heat, but often not focused direction or light.

This strange and unlikely turn of events, this news that was too good to be true, was also the way God fulfilled a very unlikely prophecy - see v1 & v19.....

Scepticism can blind us to prophetic activity and truth.