Breaking free

The old has gone, the new has come.

A picture of an archaeological dig. It’s a field. The field is us. Jesus has purchased the field with His blood. He’s digging the field, poking, prodding, searching for artifacts, treasures. Breaking up the hard ground.

In the field is some sort of artifact. A bronze cylinder, beautifully inlaid with some sort of filigree pattern. It looks like a solid object. Looks are deceptive. Jesus is cleaning the object, then He begins to tap the object to remove encrusted dirt— it’s not even clear at first that it’s dirt, maybe it’s some sort of ceramic inlay, it looks like a part of the object. But no, it is dirt.

He firmly taps the object on the end. The dirt falls off like scales. It’s clear the object is a container— it has a mechanism for opening, a button, that was barely visable but can now be seen now the plaster/dirt is gone. He pushes the button. There is resistance. After being shut for so long, the object does not want to open. But Jesus is persistant. He pries open the container, just enough to let the oxygen into the container, the light in. As He does this, the resistance is less. The light and the oxygen is making the container come alive. There’s a restoration taking place inside.

Suddenly, an enormous explosion. Power. Not like normal explosion, that releases destruction. No, an explosion that releases life. An explosion that releases new life, the power to heal, the power to transform.

Matthew 13
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

As incredible as it seems, given the hardness of the ground, to all appearance, why are we of great value? Why does Jesus give everything He has just to get us… the hard, parched field in the middle of nowhere?

Because He knows what the field contains. He knows the potential that is in us. He knows the pearl that is hidden in the field, and He will find it. If we will let Him.

Let him. Let Jesus have His way. It will be worth it.

A time for fasting

When faced with overwhelming odds, or even what seem to be overwhelming odds, and the impossibility of circumstance or the torment of the promise of God in the face of the inescapable rawness of reality (read: against all hope, Abraham in hope believed) we have two choices.

(a) Give up, i.e. “Fear”, as in we’ve given in to fear
(b) Persevere, i.e. “Do not be afraid”

What to do, how to “persevere” in an impossible task? There seems nothing for it _but_ to give up. When the enemy of our souls seems to have the upper hand, and we just don’t know how to walk in faith… we just don’t have the answers…

Thats the time for prayer and fasting. Jesus said that his disciples would fast when he was taken from them. (by analogy to a bridegroom and his friends).

Sometimes, the presence of God, the bridegroom, the tangible sense of God’s impending victory in the face of the blackness…. is gone, utterly overwhelmed by the gloom. What then?

We fast and pray. That is the hour that is at hand, that is what the church is facing when we just cannot see the way. Not in a haphazard, disorganized way. Not irresponsibly, without an awareness of the cost involved with fasting. Not without a purpose. But because he calls us to fast.

Now is a time for fasting. As the word says in Hosea 10

Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

The Promise of Restoration

David says, in Psalm 138

In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, that promise is true for us today. It’s true for those of us who find ourselves in “constraining circumstances”. Sometimes these circumstances are obvious and external, sometimes they are less obvious and internal, but no less real.

I believe that God has a message today for those that are hurting, those who have been “burned”. Jesus said that the enemy comes only to kill, steal and destroy, but that he has come in order that we may have life, and that more abundantly.

Many in the church today are suffering from burns, received in the heat of battle, for which they were woefully unprepared at the time. They’ve been burned: burned by discouragement, burned by disappointed, burned by betrayal, burned by those who were supposed to help and left wondering who to turn to.

Just like natural burns have differing degrees, so do the burns of disappointment, discouragement, abandonment, failure (etc.). First degree burns are superficial, easily healed. Second degree burns reach the dermis, and cause blistering that can be painful for weeks, but take longer to heal and leave a scar. Third degree burns require hospitalization and/or divine intervention if the recipient is to survive, let alone be healed.

Third degree burns are disappointment, discouragement and difficulty that is of such a magnitude that it reaches deep within us and causes us to “despair of life itself”, such as Paul spoke of:

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

This kind of pressure and difficulty has a very high cost for us, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Yet God says, today, I give you life, and life more abundantly.

I am here to provide healing for third degree burns. I am here to bring restoration where you thought it was impossible. God says, just because no-one else sees your pain, doesn’t mean I don’t.

Though the LORD is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;

The promise of God for you, from Psalm 138, is this:

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;

Though you walk in the midst of trouble, the Lord will save you. Though you walk in trouble and difficulty, the Lord will perfect that which concerns you.

Perfect… make right, restore, recompense…

I’m reminded of words spoken many years ago by Kent Henry, a worship leader:

“You’ve been hurt, disappointed, and discouraged…”
“That’s ok, it just means you’re in David’s band…”

He talks about the three “P’s”: Proclamation, Prayer and the
Prophetic.

Today, proclaim over your life:

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me

There is a prayer:

O, Lord, according to your word, perfect that which concerns me.

There is a prophetic word for you:

The Lord will perfect that which concerns your life.

your life, in the brokenness, and the difficulties, and the impossible circumstances. God speaks to these and promises: I will perfect that which concerns your life.

Restoration

Scripture talks of the great and terrible day of the Lord, the day of reckoning and judgment. But judgment in God’s eyes is a good thing; it is a making right, and those of us who do what is right, to those who are being made right, have nothing to fear.

Paul says, with respect to a number of shortcomings and outright immoralities that the church of the time was living amongst (and previously in), that “this is what some of you were”.

But… you were washed, you were saved, you were healed. Maybe the washing and the healing is happening in the present tense. In fact for all of us in many areas it is, as we come to him daily.

All that is required of us to avoid the terrible and embrace the greatness of the day of the Lord is to call upon His name.

Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved, Peter says, in the book of Acts chapter 2. He’s quoting the prophet Joel.

God promises restoration. To those who revere my name, he says, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in it’s wings.

Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people: but the glory of the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you. Which was God’s promise for Israel in Isaiah, and is God’s promise for us today, those who call upon his name.

“To as many who received him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

The Ministry of the Spirit

I wrote yesterday about asking (and keeping on asking), seeking (and keeping on seeking), and keeping on believing…

Today, I was thinking… well, that’s all well and good, but surely there is a human limit to asking, seeking and believing.

Surely there is a point at which the human spirit says “Enough”, like Elijah, and simply can’t take it any more.

I’ve written about “why, God, why” and “when, God, when”

But I’ve come to realize we’re not talking about human possibilities here. God is disciplining us as sons (and daughters), first of all, by bringing us to our knees, and second of all by keeping us on our knees for what seems like (and probably is) an inhuman length of time.

“Why, God, Why?”, we cry, “When, God, When!”

“To what possible end?” our soul cries out “Show me your glory”

And the glory is coming. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. The big question is, when it comes, will you be ready? Jesus talks about the wise and foolish virgins. Just how much oil are you keeping in your lamp as you await the king? Are you getting tired? Fed up? Or are you keeping your lamps trimmed in time for the Master’s return, no matter what.

By the grace of God, and by grace alone, as we await the glory, through the “Dark night of the soul” (crying “When, God, When?”, and “Why, God, Why?”) we will remember to fill our lamps with oil. For what purpose, we don’t know, but we await the Masters return. Simply because he says he’s coming back. We trim the wicks, prepare our hearts, and we earnestly wait.

Yet there is a point at which it is humanly possible to wait no longer. That is where the ministry of the Spirit (2Cor 3,4) kicks in:

if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious… how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

…we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

…But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

…We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed …that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body…

Hard pressed, but not crushed. God knows our limits. He is sustaining is as we seek him, and remember it is not us who decides when the seasons of our lives begin, and when they end, it is him:

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

Strength in Weakness

Isaiah 40: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak”.

Consider Hannah: Almost everyone has heard of Hannah, but whoever heard of Penninah? Yet in Hannah’s day, it was the other way round.

Hannah’s fame was such that when God through the prophet Isaiah, that “more are the children of the desolate woman” (referring to God’s blessing to the barren woman), God’s people would have immediately thought of the story of Hannah.

Hannah was a barren woman, without children. More than that, she was persecuted by her husband’s other (we’ll save discussion of polygamy for another day) wife, the not-so-barren, childbearing (and don’t you forget it) Penninah. She was not only barren, she was desolate, hurting and pained. Constantly reminded of her failure, aggravated by the success of her peer, she bore the reproach of her barrenness and it was killing her. Her sadness showed on her face.

Hannah, however, sought the face of God. She went to the tabernacle to make her sacrifice. She would not let go until God blessed her. She did not give in when the clueless High Priest of the day, Eli, mistook her grieving and crying out to the Lord for drunkenness, and rebuked her. Almost to get rid of her, Eli announces to her “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”

Immediately, Hannah’s countenance changed. God imparted strength to her, in her weakness, and with the strength came miraculous grace to change the situation and to change the world.

Incredibly, especially given the apostacy of the priesthood of the day, God does indeed grant Hannah’s petition. It wouldn’t be the last Eli would hear from Hannah either.

Hannah’s pain and weakness became her strength. Her song celebrates this:

I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

“The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

The barren has borne seven, God’s number for completeness. The barren’s faithfulness results in the birth of Samuel, a true prophet after God’s own heart… and she who has many children? Penninah? Panini? Pa… who?

Not that there should be a cause for gloating. No, there is never cause for that. There is, however, always cause to celebrate God’s faithfulness.

Today is the day of God’s favour. Today is the day of salvation.

Receive the strength of God, recall Hannah’s words today, even as you stumble:

“Those who stumbled are girded with strength”

The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
after you have suffered a little while,
will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

So you’ve failed? So you’re weak? So those mountains keep looking bigger? So what?

Have faith in God. Only keep on believing.

God himself will restore you.

Have a look at the video: