Wait for Him… Abide in Him

I’ve been meditating on Isaiah 30 today; God promises us rest if we turn to Him:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength
but you would have none of it.

How hard is it for us to do that… and when trouble strikes how easy it is to look to the tangible: our own resources, the resources of society, our friends, our employers, our workplaces, our education, our family. Yet in times like these where are we to turn when these fail us?

You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

Isaiah prophesied this when times were tough: Assyria was breathing down the neck of God’s people, and captivity beckoned. Rather like today. As captivity beckons, who do we turn to?

“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the LORD,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge. who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;

…

Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.

The effort involved in “travelling to Egypt”, to attain the “useless” help of the arm of the flesh, is just not worth it.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

What to do, then, in times of trouble. Obviously, not nothing. No, we are to seek the Lord:

…the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help!
As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you,
saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God himself will send the help, the teachers that we need.

Though he gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, as soon as he hears, he will answer us. As soon as he hears. Has he heard from you today?

Treasure in Heaven

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.

Jesus promises us treasures in heaven and fruit that will last.  Paul reminds us we…get a crown that will last forever.  We are promised a great reward, if we faint not (do not give up).

I guess my reflection for today is this: do we realize just how great an inheritance is laid up for us in heaven, and have we allowed ourselves to get distracted from our primary goal in life, which is to lay hold of this inheritance, for which Christ laid a hold of us?

We talk a lot (in church) about “missing it”, but I wonder sometimes do we even get it at all, like even close? Do we understand—at all—what it is that God has for us, and do we understand how to get it?   I’ve talked about good old fashioned desperation, and  I second that (second myself…sheesh).  It’s time for some good old desperation to allow God to lead us to His inheritance for us.

Because I believe on the other side of eternity, the great beyond, the great gig in the sky, whatever, there is an inheritance that I either get or I get to see burned up.  Well, guess what?  I wanna get it, I don’t want to get to see it burned up (I’m not talking about salvation, I’m talking what makes it through the flame?)

How do we do this?

We get specific.  We get focused, and we engage our lives with everything that God has for us.

“I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.”

we pray, like men possessed (in the best possible way)

…The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name

And we get to know the Masters business.  To do so means forsaking our business and our busy-ness.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Above all, we’re normal.  Not wierd and religious, just people doing what we can, where we are with what we have. God has a way of intertwining His will with our lives, if we will just let Him (the letting Him is the issue here).

God, have your way in my life,  Lead me on Jesus and show me the inheritance you have laid up in heaven for me, and give me a passion to focus and engage so that I can grab a hold of it, for your sake Lord Jesus Amen!

Exceed Your Vision

Do you have a vision? Or if you do have a vision, is it a God-sized vision?

God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask—or imagine… and He wants to develop our vision so that it exceeds “our” vision (if you get my drift).  He wants a God-sized, impossible vision, and He wants us to believe it.

He says to us “Call to me, and I will answer and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know“

If anyone lacks wisdom—lacks vision—they should ask God, but they must believe and not doubt (lest they be as a double-minded person, unstable in all that they do).  And if the vision isn’t immediately crystal clear, keep asking, keep seeking… [actually it just needs to be "plain" not crystal clear]

The band I’m listening to on iTunes at the moment is called the “Desperation Band”

Maybe God is waiting for some good old desperation before He provides the picture… just a thought

Or maybe He’s provided all of the picture that we need, and we haven’t walked in the light that we already have.  God’s plan is usually revealed like an unfolding… little by little, each step a step of faith.  He patiently waits for us to walk out in the light we already have, and as we follow through, more is revealed.  To the one who has, more will be given, to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken…

God makes our footsteps firm, and He’s not bothered when we ask for more certainty each step of the way. If you’re not sure about the next step, ask Him.  He will give you the vision you need. True faith is not blind faith.  Faith is not blind, faith requires a vision that transcends and supercedes natural vision.  Ignorance isn’t a problem to God—in fact “ignorance” coupled with desperation is a prerequisite to hearing from God:  The one who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know.   The word of God doesn’t refer to blind faith, the word says “we walk by faith, not by sight.“  The vision of faith is far greater than the vision of the eyes, or the vision of human planning, or of any human endeavour.    Faith is the actual evidence of things hoped for, the very substance of things not yet seen.

What to do, then, when one has no vision?  How then are we to know the way we are to go?

Pilots are taught, early on in their training, how to fly in conditions of low visibility.  Such conditions are known as “instrument conditions”.  Pilots in instrument conditions cannot afford to fly by their senses, and their feelings, because these are invariably wrong.  In instrument conditions, a pilot must determine his position and his course by his instruments, and his instruments alone.   Failure to do this will result in disaster.

Likewise, God often requires of His children that we learn to “fly” in instrument conditions, when there is little or no vision.   The instruments are the word of God, the Bible, prayer, faith, hope and above all love. As long as we plant ourselves in God’s word, we cannot lose.  As long as we bring everything to Jesus in prayer, how can we worry?

Jesus tells his disciples to “keep” his word.   The word of God isn’t always easy to understand, nor is it easy to digest.  In fact sometimes digesting Gods word is like chewing dry weetbix.  It is in these times that we must learn the definition of perseverence (which literally means to “stand [stay, abide] under” in New Testament Greek).  God is teaching us to fly by our instruments and not by our feelings.

God is faithful.  He will not let us be tempted [tested] beyond what we can bear, but when we are tempted [tested] he will provide a way out so that we can stand up under it.  Persevere.  Stand under (understand?)

“You will seek me, and find me,” says God, “when you seek me with all your heart.“

Come see
Come see with spirit eyes
Come see
The door is open
Come near
Come weary and ashamed
Come near
His arms are open
His arms are open

Come live
Come live in freedom here
Come live
The chains are broken
Come rest
Come take his gift of grace
Come rest
The word is spoken
The word is spoken

Come see
Come see with spirit eyes
Come see
The door is open
Come home
Come lay your burdens down
Come home
His arms are open
His arms are open
His arms are open