Religion isn’t enough

 

Religion can only get you so far.

The dictionary defines religion as this:

Belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and worshipped; any specific system of belief, worship, conduct involving a code of ethics and a philosophy

So, reading that, we could classify Christianity as a religion. But Christianity has a key difference that separates it from all other religions. That difference is relationship!

Most religions of this world are man centred. They are built on the concept that man can reach a higher state of being through their own efforts, through good works and following a set of rules.

Let’s contrast this with Christianity.

Christianity is first and foremost a relationship. 

A relationship with God.

God did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. He bore our sins on the cross. (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our sin separated us from his presence and needed to be punished. But God, through his unconditional love, took on our punishment and extended grace towards us, urging us to accept his gift of salvation through faith. (Ephesians 2:8,9).

This grace-based relationship between God and man is the foundation of Christianity and it is vastly different from the man centred religions of this world.

Let me take you to a very well-known Psalm that might help to illustrate the importance of relationship over religion.

Psalm 23:1-6

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Religion can only get you so far.

Religion might help get you through the green pastures. It might help you as you walk by the still waters. But you’re going to need something greater and stronger to get you through the dark valleys.

Have a closer look at the way David speaks as he penned this Psalm.

In the first 3 verses, David is speaking about God. He says, “He maketh. He leadeth. He restoreth.”

He speaks of God as his kind shepherd. He lists some of the things the shepherd does for him. He speaks lovingly ABOUT him. But then he comes to the valley.

And valleys are where the rubber meets the road. Religion isn’t gonna cut it anymore. Something stronger is needed.

Valleys have a way of changing us. They have a way of transforming our lives.

In this verse, we see a shift. We begin to see ‘thou’ and ‘thy’. In modern English, you!

YOU are with me. YOUR rod and YOUR staff comfort me. YOU prepare a table. YOU anoint my head.

Do you see what happened here? David went from talking ABOUT God to talking TO him!

Religion can do no more than talk about God. But relationship? Relationship talks TO God!

Jesus didn’t just come to this earth to die on a cruel cross bringing forgiveness for our sins for us to simply talk about him. And yes, we need to do this regularly.

Jesus came to this earth so that we could have a personal relationship with him! He wanted connection with us. He wanted us to be able to talk TO him and come TO him with our cares.

Hebrews 4:16 KJV - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Religion might walk you through the easy times of life, but when you go through those dark valleys, you need more. You need the Father. You need more. You need RELATIONSHIP!

It’s not about rules. It’s about relationship!

The next time you read Psalm 23, take time to think seriously about whether you are stuck in a pattern of focusing on rules and rituals and instead, begin to develop a deepening relationship with God.

Christianity is not about signing up for a religion. Christianity is about being born into the family of God (John 3:3). It is a relationship. God wants us to know Him, to draw near to Him, to pray to Him, and to love Him above all else. He wants us to come to him, to talk to him, to put him first.

That is not religion; that is a relationship.

What will you do? Will you stay stuck in your religious rut, relying on your knowledge of God to get you through the hard times? Or will you make the decision to begin a relationship with God? Will you talk to him and let him speak to you? Only then will your cup run over. Only then will you experience his peace. His presence. His joy. His comfort.

Prioritize daily communication with God through prayer and Bible study.

Be vulnerable with God and pour out your heart to him.

Open your heart to God’s love and practice forgiveness towards others.

Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and listen for his voice.

 

Religion is not enough! You need relationship!

 

 

 

 

 

The Missing Ingredient

 

How do you treat Scripture? How do you read the inspired, authoritative and holy Word of God? When you open its pages and read verse after verse, chapter after chapter, book after book, how do you see it?

Do you perhaps treat it like a textbook to work your way through or is it instead a treasure to search out?

If you read the Bible like a textbook, it may explain why it feels laborious, boring and dry at times. As tasteless as cardboard. The words have no meaning; knowledge is gained but wisdom is not.

Do you know what is missing in many Christians’ lives when it comes to their reading of the Word of God? The missing ingredient may very well be not the time needed to read it, but curiosity!

We need to be more curious about the Bible and the treasures that lie beneath just a surface reading. The Bible is a book of hidden treasure. Its pages are filled with wisdom, comfort, truth, mercy, justice, grace, instruction, correction. But if we are reading our Bibles like we would read a textbook, we won’t find the gold that lies within.

The Hebrew people have a word for their searching of the Scriptures. It is called midrash. It has the idea of seeking out or inquiring deeply. Investigating, exploring and studying.

We need to approach Scripture with the same relentless curiosity. It’s the kind of searching that has you coming back again and again, always finding something new.

Now, don’t get mixed up with what I’m saying. There is no new revelation to be had. The canon of Scripture is complete, and we will ‘technically’ not find anything new in it, but as we search diligently, we will uncover truths that we haven’t seen before. Passages we didn’t realise were in the Bible will come to light. Promises we were unaware of will jump off the page at us. But this will only happen as we read our Bibles consistently, and with a heart that is seeking, searching and teachable.

The missing ingredient to make Bible study more irresistible is not more time. It is more curiosity.

Let me break this down a little more for you.

Think about one of your favourite hobbies. If you’re anything like me, you have a few to choose from. Have you got one in mind?

Right. With this hobby, do you study it once and then move on? No. Not if you are truly interested in it, you don’t.

You revisit it. You research it. You study it. You learn about it. You watch tutorials on it. You practice it. You share your discoveries with others that love it too. You connect with people with like passions for that hobby.

And that is what true curiosity is all about.

When it comes to God’s Word, there is always more to learn. Ask any Pastor or veteran Christian who has any humility about them. They will tell you honestly that they are always learning new things from God’s Word that they didn’t know before. They are regularly finding treasures in the pages of Scripture.

They believe the promise found in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 2:1-7 KJV - My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

My husband is an avid treasure hunter. Whether it’s swinging a metal detector over a local showground or park searching for coins or picking over rocks in a dry creek bed looking for a particular gemstone. He’s always on the hunt for a treasure. And his passion has spread to most of his family and we all, the grandkids included, are now treasure hunters always on the lookout for a great find. We search diligently, hoping to find that ‘pearl of great price’. (Matthew 13)

When we bring that analogy over to the Bible, the question isn’t whether the Word of God holds deeper treasures. It’s whether we are willing to take the time to search them out.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret. It doesn’t take hours of study! What? No. It is not long hours, head down, nose in the books, hour after hour. (Although that would be ideal)

It is a consistent curiosity.

It’s a heart that is humble, teachable and always eager to dig deeper, searching for the meaning, the understanding, the correct interpretation. Never content to just read casually.

You know those times when you sit down to read a Psalm or two, and find yourself stuck on the third verse, because you came across a word that didn’t seem to fit the context, which then lead you to looking into the meaning of the word, and then on to a commentary to help make sense of it, which then had you searching cross references and before you know it, you’re waist deep in a treasure box you never saw coming.

The Bible will become alive to you when you stop just trying to get through it and let it get through you.

One old preacher put it so well when he said, “What makes the difference is not how many times you have been through the Bible, but how many times and how thoroughly the Bible has been through you.”

What if you approached just one verse this week with a treasure hunters’ persistence instead of a ‘homework obligation’ mentality?

What if instead of just reading through your chapter a day, you took the time to slow down and dig a little deeper? What if you looked at each word in the verse, studied its context, its author, its time in history, its cultural significance, its true meaning and interpretation? Do you think that maybe your curiosity could unearth a treasure worth more than gold?

It’s worth a shot! The Bible comes with a promise to reward those who diligently study it and its author.

Hebrews 11:6 KJV - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Gold is a precious and rare commodity. It’s not easy to find. You have to spend a significant amount of time and effort searching for it and extracting it.

Gold does you no practical good unless you work it out or the mine or the creek or the soil or the rock.

And so it is with the Word of God. We need to work it out. We need to read it. Study it.

Just like gold will do us no good unless we dig it out of the ground, the Bible will do us no good unless we dig into it and apply it and most importantly, obey it!

We are blessed with so many resources at our fingertips in the age we live in, that we really have no excuse for not becoming treasure hunters of God’s Word.

I dare you to become an avid student of the Word. To make Bible study a new favourite hobby. To research, to discover, to learn, to love and to share.

Ask God to open your eyes and heart so that you will have understanding and knowledge and wisdom.

Success begins with following God’s Word. But we can’t follow God’s Word if we don’t know it. And we won’t know God’s Word if we don’t read it. And we won’t find the treasures it holds unless we read it with a relentless curiosity!

May we say along with the Psalmist,

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Stop reading it like a textbook and 

read it for the book it is.

The inspired, living Word of God!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today IS the future

 

 

The only preparation for the morrow is the right use of today. The stone in the hands of the builder must be put in its place and fitted to receive another. The morrow comes for naught, if today is not heeded. Neglect not the call that comes to thee this day, for such neglect is nothing else than boasting thyself of tomorrow. — G. Bowen.

 

I am not ashamed to admit that I have a LOT of hobbies and interests. Only this morning, I was talking to my husband about all the things I wanted to do, and bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t fit it all in.

I can’t remember the last time I was actually bored. Quite possibly, it was 40 years ago! I know, this is showing my age, but it really is true. A person with numerous hobbies will almost NEVER be bored!

That’s a plus. But it does have its downside. The downside is that there are so many things to choose from and only so many hours in a day and only so many days in a week. Weeks turn into months and months into years, and we are left scratching our heads as to where the time went and what we have to show for it.

Priorities become of paramount importance.

Do you realise that every day is a gift from God?

Do you realise that with each breath you breathe, with every inhale and exhale, you are reflecting the goodness of God? Every morning that we open our eyes and see the sun peek over the horizon is a gift from God. It is a new day full of opportunities for joy, for growth, for gratitude and the chance to show God’s love and reflect his heart to those around us.

Every single heartbeat is a gift from God. Don’t take it for granted.

If this is true, and it is, then how do we use, accept, and cherish the gift we’ve been given?

We make good use of it!

Read over the quote at the top of the page again.

“The only preparation for the morrow is the right use of today”

What are you doing with your day? Are you stopping to acknowledge the gift that it is?

Every day, as we rise out of bed and prepare for the day, we make a choice as to how we will use our day. What will I prioritize? What will I fill my day with? How will I spend my God-given 24 hours?

If we want to prepare for tomorrow, we have to make good use of today.

Today IS the future. What you do with your today greatly impacts what your tomorrows look like.

Did you just casually step over your day while chasing a career? Did it pass you by while you were wishing yourself into a new season? Did you get so busy with family life, appointments, bills and your to-do list that before you knew it, the day was gone, and a new one had begun?

James 4:14 - Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Time is short. Life is a passing shadow. And today is important. What you choose to fill your day with today impacts what happens the next day, and the next and the next.

We are reminded in scripture that our days are numbered, and our life is like a vapour. What we do with our time is so important.

On my free days, when my outside-the-home work is done, I often face quite the conundrum. With endless possibilities to fill my day with, I have to make a choice as to what is important, what is urgent, what I want to do, what I need to do, what I have time to do etc etc.

I often feel like the apostle Paul in Romans when he says, “For the good that I would I do not….” etc. (Romans 7) I know this is not totally in context, but I think you get what I mean.

The only way we can prepare for the future and the days ahead, is by using today wisely. Which is why I say, what you choose to do or not to do today, will have a direct impact on what lies ahead.

Priorities. Priorities. Priorities. Why does it always come down to priorities? It really does matter how we fill our days. It really does matter that we ask for God’s wisdom in organizing our days, letting Him arrange our days and prioritize our never-ending to-do lists.

Sometimes we just need to set aside our hobbies for the day and spend time in God’s Word. Reading, studying, meditating and learning from him. I’m glad that that IS one of my favourite hobbies and interests. But sometimes, I’ll admit, it’s a toss-up between that and so many other things.

Sometimes it’s people we need to make time for. That friend that needs encouragement. That new convert that needs discipling. That frazzled mum that needs a hand in her home or an hour to herself to run errands without the children in tow.

No matter what role or what season we find ourselves in, we always have people counting on us, relying on us, and possibly looking up to us. We are setting an example by how we choose to spend our days.

When we fill our precious days with things of eternal value, it's like a bank up in Heaven receiving a deposit. Gaining interest. Laying up treasures in Heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21) Every day we take for granted and every day we don’t offer up to God, asking him to order it, is a day wasted. An opportunity wasted.

Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take a ‘chill’ day now and then. Even Christ himself rested and emphasized its importance. (Mark 6:31)

There are times when we need to take a day to slow down the pace a little, take some time off, catch up with friends, do some shopping or whatever it is that you do to relax.  We just need to be mindful of the time we are spending on different activities and take care that we don’t prioritize the comfortable over the important.

We need God’s wisdom each and every day. We need his wisdom to know how he would have us use our time. We are reminded in Ephesians to redeem the time.

Ephesians 5:15-16 - See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

One of the definitions for the Greek word used for redeeming is to “rescue it from loss”. I think that is a very apt definition. We have to rescue our days from loss. Rescue them from being wasted.

We need to consistently ask for God to order our days. Although we may have our day all planned out, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, God often has a different plan altogether. And we have to be okay with that.

He sees the bigger picture. His eyesight is a lot better than ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

It’s not an easy thing to hold our day out to God with an open hand, letting him pour into it or take out of it what he wills.

Just remember, if you keep your fist tightly closed over your nicely laid plans, it hurts a lot more when God has to pry your fingers open.

I must confess that I don’t like having my little 'day plan' rearranged. I like to plan ahead. I like to know what I am going to do before I get out of bed, but I've found that time after time, when I let God order my day, he blesses it, and he brings to it a freshness that wouldn’t have been there if I had stubbornly resisted his changes.

 

Give your todays and tomorrows to God. Keep your hands open and your heart receptive.

 

 

If today is a gift from God, shouldn't we let Him choose how He wraps it? 

 

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years,

Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;

Each with its days I must fulfill,

living for self or in His will

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

C.T.Studd

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t fight it. Follow it.

Embrace the distractions and lean into them.

 

How often do you find yourself sitting down to pray, or in my case, lying in bed, wakeful, in the early hours of the morning, and you just can’t focus?

As you begin to pray, the anxiety, the swirling thoughts and all of life’s cares are so loud that your attention is diverted and your mind starts wandering.

You want to bring your requests before the Lord. You have the best of intentions, but you can’t keep your thoughts from jumping all over the place.

Can I help free you from the burden of feeling like you’ve failed?

I heard something recently that did just that for me.

This speaker said, when this happens, “Don’t fight it. Follow it.”

I know that this sounds backwards and wrong. But it has to do with our thinking.

We are led to believe that prayer needs to be this polished conversation, very eloquent, well-articulated and done in some type of orderly fashion.  

Now, don’t get me wrong, we are given examples of how to pray in the Bible, the most well-known is often called the Lord’s prayer (Luke 11) where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. There is a lot to be said on this subject that cannot be covered in just one short post, so I will not go into it here and now.

We do need to address God reverently with awe and humility. But as you read through your Bible, you will see prayer after prayer that is prayed in such a raw, unfiltered, heartfelt and sincere way that I find it difficult to understand that anyone would think less of a person that simply pours their heart out to God in whatever words tumble from their lips wholeheartedly, genuinely and honestly.

Let me break this down. This is how it often goes.

When you set out to pray, whether in the night watches, at a prayer meeting or in your daily devotions, you begin to pray about one thing, but your mind suddenly pulls you towards something else.

You sit down to pray about your finances, but your mind starts drifting to the lady you spoke with on Sunday. You begin to pray about your health, but your mind drifts to your child and their lack of understanding of simple concepts in their Math homework that day. You start to pray about a workmate but your mind drifts towards a ministry in the church you are burdened about. You begin to pray about one thing, and your mind takes to you a totally different thing.

What do you do?

You pray about it.

If your prayer about your finances drifts towards the conversation with the lady on Sunday, then pray for her. Don’t fight the drift. Follow it. Pray for her.

If your prayer about your health drifts towards your child, then pray for them. Don’t fight it. Pray about it.

You get where I’m going with this?

What if the very thing that is distracting you is actually the very thing God is inviting you to pray about?

Don’t fight it. Follow it.

Even if it feels random. And unpolished. And out of order. Or small.

Did you know that prayer isn’t about performance? I have heard many prayers in my lifetime that were so eloquent and so well-articulated that they left me thinking that God would hear them above my own. They made my timid, humble mumblings seem insignificant to say the least.

I’ll say it again. It’s not about performance.

It’s about relationship.

The goal isn’t to speak perfect prayers or well-formed sentences. It’s not about perfection, it’s about presence.

The presence of God.

It’s about being in the presence of God. Coming to him, broken, hurting, needing the refreshing and renewal that only he can bring. Bringing our prayers of lament, or sorrow, or heartache, coming humbly before him and finding peace in his presence.

If God is laying something or someone on your heart and mind that is different than what you started out to pray for, then lean into it. Follow it.

I am easily distracted if I am not in my hyper-focused zone. This is most often the case for me when I’m praying. But even my distractions can lead me deeper in my relationship with God if I bring them to God.

As I pray, about everything and anything that comes to mind, I am exercising a muscle. A prayer muscle, if you will. The more I pray, the stronger my focus gets. It may not be where I thought it would go when I started praying, but the more consistent I am with praying through the distractions, offering prayer on behalf of the ones God brings to mind, as they come to mind, the more I exercise the muscle, the more passionate and sincere my prayers become.

As my mind begins to wander, I don’t fight the wandering, I tell God about it. I let him direct the prayer. I let him lead me to who and what I need to pray for.

If I start to pray with my list of requests in hand, and his love washes over me, causing me to pour out my heart in gratitude to him for his greatness and his goodness towards me, I go with it. I lay aside the requests and I continue my prayer of praise. I know that God will bring those requests back to mind when he is ready.

I know that this may seem weird and maybe a little way out there, but I really feel like somebody needs to hear this today.

Somebody reading this needs to experience the freedom that comes when you let God direct your prayers.

He wants the whole, distracted, messy you. Not some polished version of you that is only a façade.

Every one of us has people in our sphere of influence that are unique to anyone else. God will bring to mind people that in the place of prayer, we may see as random and an interruption to our planned-out prayer, but is actually an ordained, divine appointment.

Don’t fight those moments. Use them to intercede for others.

Let the distraction be an appointment.

Embrace it. Lean into it and most importantly, pray about it.

Philippians 4:6-8 - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

Are your legs aching yet?

 

In the world we live in, the majority of us have grown accustomed to comfort. We love to be comfortable. We avoid discomfort. We don’t seem to have the stamina of our ancestors who pioneered before us, venturing into uncharted territories on horseback or bouncing across uneven terrain in a wagon devoid of suspension through all kinds of weather.

Okay, before I go all Little House on the Prairie on you, let me bring it forward to present day.

How often do you find yourself groaning inwardly when the Pastor or visiting speaker asks the congregation to stand for the reading of the Word, be it only 5 verses? Guilty? Yep.

I am working my way through the book of Nehemiah and I’m finding it such an interesting book. If you’re familiar at all with it, you’ll know that Nehemiah was the King’s cupbearer. Word reached Nehemiah that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the city was left unprotected. He was saddened by this news and his anxiety showed upon his face as he served the King. God answered Nehemiah’s prayers, and he was given permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it.

Months have gone by, the city is rebuilt, the people are settled and Ezra the priest comes on the scene. Both Nehemiah and Ezra play pivotal roles in this part of history. Nehemiah built the walls and Ezra restored the worship.

Ezra had an important job to do. That of restoring the worship, teaching the Word of God and leading spiritual revival in Jerusalem.

Fast forward to chapter 8. Read along with me.

Nehemiah 8:1-3 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

We see in these verses that Ezra begins to read the book of the law to the people. He read from morning until midday. It was a long service! AND the people were attentive! The Hebrew word for attentive has the idea of hanging upon the lips of the speaker, hanging upon every word, pricking up their ears, listening intently, paying close attention.

Not only were they listening to a very long reading lasting for a few hours, but they were also attentive. But wait. There’s more!

Nehemiah 8:5-6 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Nehemiah 8:7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.

Did you catch that? ALL the people stood up. They stood in their place.

So, from morning to midday, the people stood for the reading of the Word. It wasn’t just a few verses. It was a whole book of the law. It was hours long. AND they were attentive.

I bet our Pastors would love to see some dedication like that from their congregations today.

When you come down to verse 18 you see that the people kept the feast seven days and each day there were public readings of the book of the law. How often they stood listening and learning during that time I’m not sure, but I do know that the people were interested in hearing from God and repenting from sin.

Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

And I think that there was some ‘preaching’ going on too, not just reading.

Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

There is so much more in this book of the Bible and a lot to be said about the Feast of the Tabernacles and the whys and hows but I was just so impressed by the people’s dedication and reverence for the Word of God that it really spoke to my heart about the importance I place on the book we often take for granted.

When we hear the Bible read aloud in our churches, do we understand its importance? Do we stand in awe? Or has it become ritualistic and do we see it as just something to endure when long portions are read?

The Word of God holds power. It is wisdom. It is love. It is grace. It is truth. It is light. It is enduring. It is sustaining. It is alive. It is God-breathed.

The Bible is an amazing book. Some books can change your thinking. But the Bible is the only book that can change your nature! It has the ability to transform you from the inside out.

The origin of success is the BIBLE. The Word of God. (Joshua 1:8) Applying the Word of God. Reading with attentiveness and obedience.

Success begins with following God’s Word.

But we can’t follow God’s Word if we don’t know it.

And we won’t know God’s Word if we don’t read it.

The Bible is a book about God. When we study the Bible and look at a passage, we need to ask ourselves, “what does this passage teach me about God and his character?” before we ask it to teach us anything about ourselves.

We are to imitate Christ.

We can’t do that if we don’t know him.

And we can’t know him unless we learn about him.

 And we can’t learn about him if we are not in the Word of God, studying it, meditating on it, memorizing it, applying it, obeying it and letting God reveal himself to us through it. 

As the people in Nehemiah’s day heard the book of the law read, they learned of God’s character and it revealed their own character and shone a light on their sin, causing them to repent and change their ways.

So, the next time you are tempted to groan as you stand for a short reading, spare a thought for the Israelites who stood in awe, reverence and worship, honouring God and listening attentively.

Maybe our comfort zones need ruffling. Maybe our legs need to ache. Maybe we need to stop grumbling. We really don’t have it that bad.

 

Little black dots and lines on a page

 

“We once saw a man draw some black dots. We looked and could make nothing of them but an irregular assemblage of black dots. Then he drew a few lines, put in a few rests, then a clef at the beginning, and we saw these black dots were musical notes. On sounding them, we were singing,
               “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
               Praise Him all creatures here below.” 
There are many black dots and black spots in our lives, and we cannot understand why they are there or why God permitted them to come. But if we let God come into our lives, and adjust the dots in the proper way, and draw the lines He wants, and separate this from that, and put in the rests at the proper places; out of the black dots and spots in our lives He will make a glorious harmony. Let us not hinder Him in this glorious work!” C. H. P.

Music is a big part of my life. I can’t even imagine a world without music. I love to play it. I love to sing it, and I love to listen to it.

Music holds so much power. It has the power to take you to different places. It has the power to calm your fears, comfort you, bring you peace, bring rest. But it also has the power to hurt and stir up feelings of anger. Music has the power to harm or heal.

If you don’t believe me, read the story of King Saul and the evil spirit that plagued him. (1 Samuel 16). We read how that David played a harp and upon hearing the lovely melodies, Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed from him.

And then we read in Exodus 32 about some music coming from the camp of the Israelites as they danced and sang around a golden calf that they had decided was to be their god to worship. This music was not healing music. It was harmful.

Music is NOT neutral. All music wields power.

This past week has seen me practicing for a wedding I am to play for today and it has brought to my attention once again the awesome power that music has in our lives. As I composed a wedding song combining two different melodies causing them to flow in and out seamlessly, I thought about the ways that God writes the unique music to our lives.

Music is one of my favourite ways to worship God. Note, there is a whole lot more to worship than just playing or singing songs about God. But I’m so glad God gave us music and the ability to worship him through its use. We see music first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 4:21 with Jubal and his skilful use of the harp and the organ.

When I am playing or singing praises to God, I am drawn into a different place. A place of peace. A place of comfort. A place of rest. As I worship God through song, I am seeking to give him the glory and exalt his name as I raise my voice to him.

So, what about these black dots on the page? Do you sometimes question God as to why he puts all the black dots in our lives? We look at our circumstances, and we can’t make head nor tail of them. Nothing God is doing seems to make sense. But maybe it’s because all we’re seeing is little black dots. We’re not seeing the big picture.

God doesn’t always allow us to see the birds eye view. But when he takes his pen, and begins to join the dots, draw in the lines, place the rests in their proper place, add the treble and bass clefs, maybe a few little triplets and pauses too, something beautiful happens. Harmonies are written, and we begin to hear the music.

“Out of the black dots and spots in our lives He will make a glorious harmony. Let us not hinder Him in this glorious work!”

Often, I will write my own melodies. And when I say write, I mean make up songs and sometimes note down chord progressions or notes but not really write out the full tablature. But if I was to begin to fill a page with little black dots and add in some stems, some bar lines, a key signature etc and you took my piece of music and began to pick it out on the keyboard, the melody would start to come out and hopefully flow along to make a pleasant sound.

God’s melodies are so much more beautiful than anything we could ever write.

I’m not talking about music, as in a song, here, I am referring to the music of our lives. The song God writes. The music of our lives. The melody he creates as he weaves the patterns intricately, uniquely and specifically for each one of us.

We pick up the pages and all we see are little black dots. We see symbols we don’t understand. We see long pauses in places we wish they weren’t. We see loud crescendos building and then suddenly there are moments of softness and stillness so quiet we wonder if the music has stopped. We hear haunting minor keys and discordant clashes of notes played together.

If we were to write the music for our lives, we would forever write in major keys. We would leave out the minor sounds, take out some of the rests and the long pauses, maybe slow down the pace a little at times and allow the melody to flow along at a gentle, even pace.

But God knows that we need the minor keys as well as the major ones. The times our lives are playing in a minor key are often times of growth. Many a tremendous difficulty has been turned into a great victory and God’s name has been magnificently glorified. Those times in the darkness, as we sing our sad laments, we are drawn closer to him as we cry out to him and he reveals himself to us and shows us, by his power, what only he can do.

The long pauses, the discordant notes are all part of God’s plan in our lives. He knows what we need to go through in order to purify us and make us more like him.

God has to touch all the keys to make the music of our lives. He has to write in all the fortes and the pianissimos, the pauses and the fast-paced runs. He wants to make a glorious melody of praise, and the ups and downs of our lives contribute to the song that he writes.

So why is it that we think we are master composers, and we try to steal the pen? Why do we think that we have enough wisdom to write our own song? Why do we think we have the skill to accomplish such a feat?

Allow God to write the music of your life. 

Don’t stay his hand when he adds in a minor part. Don’t rush forward when he places a rest in a particular place. Sit still and wait when the pauses come. When you hear a discordant chord, look around for the lesson he is trying to teach you. When the pace picks up, look who’s racing alongside you. He is still with you, bringing the harmonies your song needs.

Let God join the little black dots and form them into something beautiful. Let him write your song. And sing your song of praise to him. Joyfully. Exuberantly. Continually. Loudly. Cheerfully.

 

Psalm 100:1-2 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

 

“When the musician presses the black keys on the great organ, the music is as sweet as when he touches the white ones, but to get the capacity of the instrument he must touch them all”

 

 

 

Do you hear the Music?

 

There is a legend that tells of a German baron who, at his castle on the Rhine, stretched wires from tower to tower, that the winds might convert them into an Aeolian harp. And the soft breezes played about the castle, but no music was born.

But one night there arose a great tempest, and hill and castle were smitten by the fury of the mighty winds. The baron went to the threshold to look out upon the terror of the storm, and the Aeolian harp was filling the air with strains that rang out even above the clamour of the tempest. It needed the tempest to bring out the music!

I’ve often read of Aeolian harps, and they have always fascinated me.

An Aeolian harp is in simple terms, a musical instrument that is played by the wind. It was named after Aeolus, an ancient Greek god and the traditional Aeolian harp is basically a wooden box including a sounding board, with strings stretched lengthwise across two bridges. As the wind blows across it the strings vibrate causing an eerie and ethereal sound.

As the years have gone by, many people have replicated this idea in various forms, from small ornate instruments to massive sculptures located on the roofs of buildings or on a windy hilltop.

The key factor in the ability of the instrument to create its eerie sounds is the wind. The strength and force of the wind determines whether you hear a soft murmur or a haunting wail.

Did you know that back in the 90’s, in an Arizona desert, a huge structure was built as an experiment to research and learn about the Earth’s living systems. Scientists locked themselves in this structure for 2 years, creating mini environments including a desert, a rain forest and even an ocean!

Their findings were interesting. The trees that grew inside this man-made structure, sheltered from the outside weather, grew very rapidly, but they also fell over before reaching full height. When the scientists looked at the root systems and the bark and leaves, they found the missing link. The one crucial missing element – WIND!

Because the trees experienced no wind, they had no resistance and because they had no resistance, they gained no strength. Without the stress of the wind, the trees grew weak and couldn’t hold up their own weight.  

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Think back to the Aeolian harp. What is it that gives it its song? It’s the wind. And the stronger the wind, the louder it sings.

I think that if we’re honest, we all want to live a life protected and sheltered from hardship, struggle or pain. We don’t want the storms of life to crash upon our shores.

But something happens to us when all we have is ease and comfort. We cease to grow. We lack strength.

Resistance doesn’t just challenge us, it changes us!

We see mention of trees over and over in the Word of God and often the imagery is tied to spiritual growth and endurance and strength.

One of the most well-known passages is found in Psalm chapter 1.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And then we come to verse 3.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

We see this reference again in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Here we are reminded of the importance of having delight in and meditating on the Word of God as our source of nourishment. This ensures that we will grow and mature and bear fruit. These trees are planted by the river. They are not growing in a controlled environment under a concrete roof with artificial lighting. No. They are outside, facing the storms, the sunshine and the rain.

Trees don’t grow strong by avoiding the storm, they grow strong by weathering them.

What if the thing you’re trying to escape is the very thing God wants to use to shape you?

That unexplained illness. That job loss. That relationship breakdown. The grief of losing a family member. The financial difficulty. The list could go on and on.

Ease may be nice, but the things that make life easier rarely make us stronger.

In my experience, the storms God brings into my life are the times when he does his best work. It is at these times when the winds blow strongest that my roots grow deepest.

When I look back over my life and all the things I’ve been through, the ups and the downs, it has been the hardest seasons in my life that have produced the most fruit. The winds that blew caused me to bend but not break. My ‘roots’ reached down for a taste of that living water, drinking it in, through study, much prayer and meditation on his Word, bringing nourishment and sustaining me, causing my leaf to stay green and my branches to bear fruit.

And as the wind whistled and howled, a sweet music began to sing all about me. And lest you think I have it all together, sad to say, there have been many times that I resisted the wind, trying instead to shelter from it and fight against it. This didn’t help my spiritual growth at all and needless to say, God had to bring the hard lesson into my life once again to teach me to trust him and bend with his guiding hand in the direction he would have me go.

Yes, God protects us and watches over us, but I think he is less interested in protecting us from the struggles of life and more interested in shaping us through them.  

What if instead of asking God to remove the struggle, to still the storm, to silence the wind, we asked him to use it?

What if we asked him to use it to make us stronger? To mold us and shape us more into his image. To help sink our roots down deeper into his living water. To enable us to help others through what he has taught us.

The storm you’re facing right now is not there to break you. It is there to make you stronger. It is there to help you grow.

Although the storm is not sent to wipe us out, it can make or break us. We can become better or bitter. It’s our choice.

God doesn’t bring the storms into our lives only to abandon us. He is with us in the storm. It’s not about the strength and power of the storm, it’s about who we have in the boat with us. He wants to make something beautiful of our lives. He wants to hear us sing.

What if we could learn to sing through the storm?

What if the wind rushing over us brought out a melody so unique, that caused those around us to hear its song and marvel at so great a God. A God that brings beauty from ashes. A God that creates a song from a broken instrument. One that is yielded unto him, allowing him to strum the strings and bring forth a song of worship.

Listen.

Do you hear the music?

 

They are HIS billows, whether we are toiling 
Through tempest-driven waves that never cease, 
While deep to deep with clamour loud is calling; 
Or at His word they hush themselves in peace. 

They are HIS billows, and He brings us through them; 
So He has promised, so His love will do. 
Keeping and leading, guiding and upholding, 
To His sure harbor, He will bring us through. 

—Excerpt of poem by Annie Johnson Flint