Man of Sorrows for the Woman and Man in Pain

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JESUS hung out with all the wrong types, because no ladder-climbing was done there. He sought out the lonely, broken heart, unlike His detractors who loved ladder-climbing.

Jesus would rather approach and stay with a lonely, broken heart than make merriment from ‘success’. His heart’s affinity was for and with the suffering. How many happy, self-contented people did Jesus heal?

As soon as our heart has been broken we’re automatically attracted to others who have had their hearts broken.

Little wonder then that Jesus, the Man of Sorrows from the heartland of what we call Isaiah chapter 53, connects with us in the depths of our sorrows.

When we’re lonely and afraid, shattered and disappointed, confused and overwhelmed, beaten and ready to give up, there He is; ready and waiting to lift us, because He knows what’s involved.

Intimately acquainted with pain, our Lord sought not better like He was owed, He accepted worse than He deserved. Because of His affinity.

If you are tired, afraid, lonely, numb or grieving, the Man of Sorrows is your Man in and for your sorrows. Acquainted with pain, He is acquainted with your pain, like you nor I can truly understand. His heart is for you. He richly desires to meet with you in your lament. He is there with you by His Holy Spirit. Reach out and be still and know that He is God.

In meeting you in your brokenness He will show you how to connect with Himself in order that you may connect with others.

10 Years… 6,647 Articles Later… what have I learned?

BACK when I started blogging there was next to no Facebook — it was very uncommonly used in Australia at that time. I could really have done with it, however, as blogging felt lonely without it starting back then.

These, here below, are some of the things I’ve learned over my writing journey:

Blogging has taught me to be careful with what I say. Too many times I’ve written things unadvisedly, without knowing potential ramifications. What I write has occasionally caused me problems in my marriage (early on) and in my ministry. But I have learned the boundaries (sometimes the hard way), hoping that I steer clear of views that might upset those I depend upon; views that don’t honour God. It’s why my writing features many fewer illustrations from real life as opposed to sermons.

I have learned how quickly I can get an idea, how important it is to jot it down (even at 2AM), and then I’m often surprised how the article ends up going in different directions, as I write, than I thought it would — the influence of the Holy Spirit I’m sure. For me, receiving an idea is akin to revelation and I treat each such receipt as if it were gold. It’s very often how my prayer life works; God communicating to me.

I’ve been able to write a 400-word article in less than 20-minutes. Many times I’ve written over 1,000 pretty clean words in an hour. It’s like my brain thrives on the challenge, and once an idea comes it is fertile ground until I’ve exhausted it. I’ve discovered it is one of the things that lights me up. It’s my healthy addiction to write each and every day.

I’ve discovered I’ve never had writer’s block. I’m not sure I believe in it for me. There have been seasons where creativity has ebbed and flowed, but I never felt words, themes or messages evaded me or were drying up. In fact, quite the opposite. I’ve often not been able to keep up with the flow of ideas, and have had to learn to not get frustrated.

As far as statistics are concerned, EzineArticles.com has recorded over 750,000 reads on my articles, and my three blogs have recorded another nearly 1.5 million views (since recording began on Blogger in May 2010). EzineArticles.com allows websites to ‘publish’ articles, and that’s occurred nearly 12,000 times for mine, so I’ve probably been read a whole lot more. Besides the spam! I cannot tell you how many other websites have copied my words and modified them ever so slightly (or even majorly) and passed them off as their own work. Welcome to the social media world you cannot control!

I’ve also learned that God’s Spirit sifts me on certain topics I’ve written on and certain positions I’ve come to land in. This is the benefit of reflection, and blogging is active reflection. I write something, and I continue to muse over it for hours and sometimes days afterward — all because I committed myself to a standpoint, I said something, that anyone can see. It’s exposing, and it makes me feel vulnerable. Sometimes I get some sort of revelation that I’ve crossed a line into heresy, and I want to quickly re-check what I’ve written. Most of the time I don’t change what I’ve written, or perhaps I elaborate. I have to accept that over the three million words I’ve written, some of it could be better written.

Most of all I’ve learned that the time I’ve invested in curating my craft has been a personal blessing. The in-excess of ten-thousand hours I’ve spent writing, publishing and posting has nourished me and pushed me and encouraged me. I’ve had to live with that awkward reality that you get when you receive some kudos that’s over the top and, yet you hardly ever hear of those who would like to give you a piece of their mind. They just stop reading, for they disagree. And still I’ve had a lot of negative feedback, but small in comparison to the positive. But at times it’s been just one little piece of positive feedback that’s kept me going amid the negative — that’s the call; a little positive outweighing a plethora of negative.

Interestingly, many times I’ve actively sought to give writing and social media away, and each time God showed me the value in continuing. Not that I’m not open to him showing me I should discontinue someday soon. It’s up to Him.

Writing is collaborative with God, a creative work and a contribution, all in one.

As an outlet, I’m thankful for it.

How precious the LORD’S thoughts, about you!

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CREATION is the holy practice of our loving God. He loves what and who He creates. And God loves us so much He gave us the ability to create, for we’re made in His image.

Think how important those things we create are. Think about those children God gives us; His creations He places into our care even as we create them.

This is something many parents over the world understand. Consider how astounding love is conveyed in these words. Think about the fact — we’re unfathomably precious to God — that is described in these words.

“How precious to me, and how amazing,
are your thoughts concerning me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!”
— Psalm 139:17 (NIV amplified)

Here is a personal meditation I wrote based on the above verse:

Thankfulness has its abundance in me as I ponder how precious I am to You, God. Your thoughts concerning me are beyond my comprehension — the intensity and kind of Your love for me. Yet, You love me with no better love than is Your love for every other person You ever created or will create. Your love overwhelms our common understanding. We’re quick to judge ourselves and others. You’re quick to pour compassion over us. We fail to think how wonderfully made we are. You say, just look at the evidence! We’re divisive and exclusive and indifferent and ambivalent. You create masterpieces capable of diversity, inclusion, passion, and reconciliation. We’re corrupted, yet You are making all things new! — through me, through others who love You.

If only we had the foggiest idea how God ponders us. If only we meditated more often on the promises of God in the Bible. If only we could truly grasp how intrinsically valuable we are to God.

The more we understand the depth of God’s unfathomable love,
the more we’re compelled to rise in soaring delight.

When hope promises, faith delivers

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HOPE is an experience the other side of suffering, that God often grants us amid our struggle, where, in trust, we believe.

Faith is the phenomenon of leaving behind the world of reality — pain, seemingly a destiny — in hope that a better reality is possible. Faith is action that believes in such an ideal.

Faith knows and accepts pain is part of the process. But it refuses to accept that pain is a destiny. It knows better. It believes in the redemptive plan of God. It believes beyond this world’s reality. Faith simply sees more. Much more. Indeed, ideally, faith rises above despair in a confidence that trusts, with God, all things are possible.

Here are some tangible considerations:

Imagine in our depression a time coming when we know it was an important experience to have. This is not discounting our pain. The symptoms and signs of depression could be ongoing. That doesn’t mean there’s no purpose to it. There is understanding growing within us that transforms our ignorance into compassion; our hardness of heart is being softened; we view others who are distressed with warmth, not judgment; our inclination is to include and not deny them.

God is using our depression to help us to know
how to love people better who sorely need His love.

Imagine in our anxiety, a hypervigilance that is building effectiveness and efficiency within us. See how our anxiety may form the basis for a diligence God is training us in. He will not waste the experience of our anxiety if we conform our anxious moments to faith. That is, if we believe that God can grow us despite our anxiety. If we believe God can even use our anxiety as His instrument for our growth, then, over the years, He transforms us through it.

Even as we pass through deepest trial, in over our head, God is with us, and never abandons us. Indeed, via faith, over the passage of time, God redeems every trial.

When hope abides in our heart, our mind is delivered in the faith action of trust.

No matter the pain in our lives, God can use it to bring us closer to Himself, and to make us more like Himself.

My 8 purposes for life

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TRYING to make ends meet, you’re a slave to money, then you die… the immortal words of the Bittersweet Symphony. Life must have more significance than that! And it does.

In a salient moment’s reflection, God gave me this. I exist for these reasons:

1.      To stay alive. I feel God has given me the mission to work hard for Him for a definitive length of time. By His will and for His work, I will finish that mandate well. Then, He bids me retirement. Ultimately, we have a firm idea how long we wish for me to live; an age to attain. We all have a responsibility to stay alive; to promote health. (Psalm 23:6; 91:16.)

2.      To live straight. Integrity is the most important thing as far as the ‘how’ of life is concerned. And to follow God’s ancient path is the way, including the confession and repentance of sin. (Proverbs 3:5-6.)

3.      To love family. God has put a range of persons into my life as family. To love them to my fullest capacity is both my joy and responsibility.

4.      To preach well. Not only by the words I’m blessed to deliver both publicly and privately, He wills me to preach well by the way I live. I must plan and prepare and deliver His messages with all due diligence, and respect feedback as the stewardship of others as their love seeks to sharpen my own.

5.      To care compassionately. The gift of life experience has been a gift where spiritual gifts have become useful skills. Compassion is as important as integrity is. (Matthew 9:36.)

6.      To bless others. This is the uncommon love of Jesus done in common life. Everywhere, always, in the everyday, in all situations, to bless others is the summum bonum — the supreme good. (Romans 12:9-21; 1 Corinthians 13:13.)

7.      To enjoy life. I’ve been blessed to breathe and walk this life out; to enjoy it is to make the most of the seconds and hours and weeks. Because some parts of life require us to go backwards, walking forwards should hence be a duty of delight.

8.      To glorify God. Yes, ultimately, nothing else matters. And all the previous seven culminate in this! (Mark 12:30; James 3:17-18.)

The salubrious art of Turning difficulties into Training

GROWTH is the serious endeavour of ardent Christians. They know it’s life’s purpose.

Without growth we rescind. Fortunately, God has a great plan for our growth!

And difficulty is His key instrument. God uses difficulty to train us. Oh, how I wish I could always see it this objectively!

Difficulties have had their role in my life, and will continue to. In some situations, difficulties verified my character as relatively true. God gifts us all mastery over some difficulties, sometimes to test our pride, and where we’re found wanting, highlighted are the need for deeper difficulties yet to be revealed and experienced. In other situations, my difficulties proved exasperating, even overwhelming. Some broke me. A few have done that day-in-day-out, over months or years. Sure, losses fit firmly into this category, but also a plethora of other everyday annoyances that piqued my pride and caused me to see, through my fears and frustrations, where I still have room to grow.

Ill-handled difficulties made me aware of cavernous gaps in my maturity.

These are the difficulties God foresaw for my growth, and He sees them worthy to fit to me. I have observed the hard way, many times, there’s no use resenting a difficulty’s existence. Indeed, the opposite perception is blessed; difficulties when embraced.

When difficulties become less difficult there’s the evidence of learning, growth and maturation.

The way we take difficulties, and the way we respond to them, is where God’s Spirit speaks most poignantly. We only need to hold the truth by faith, that He is for us, never against us, to see this.

Difficulties are not a curse; they’re actually the avenue to eventual blessing.

Difficulties have a purpose of training us in patience, a fruit of humility, a blessing of resilience.

Patience is behavioural, observable, within us as we reflect, as much as it’s noticeable to others. Patience is a virtue of Jesus. Cyprian of Carthage (200 – 258 ce) pled that “in Christ a full and perfect patience may be consummated”[1] in each of us.

One sign we’re overcoming a particular difficulty — a symbol of real growth — is when we can laugh within the truth of such a trial. God gives us this capacity. It’s no proud laugh. It’s a laugh that accepts we don’t like it one bit; yet, we laugh because we can. It can even be, and often is, a laugh within a cry, as we wrestle with the reality amid His goodness. It’s possible as we face the stark reality, even when life has appeared to turn its back on us.

So, as James says, consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds…[2]

God is disciplining us — His sons and daughters — through training.[3] Because He loves us.

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[1] http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050709.htm

[2] James 1:2-4.

[3] Hebrews 12:7-11.

Humanity cursed itself and God | God forgave and blessed humanity

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HAVING washed his hands of the blood of Jesus, the next thing Pilate hears are the chilling words of an angry mob, some of whom had previously followed Jesus:

And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

— Matthew 27:25 (ESV)

Don’t miss the important details in this verse, above: all the people… His blood… be on us… AND… on our children. Astounding.

All the people. That’s a representation of many diverse kinds of people, not simply the Pharisees and scribes. Some of the crowd would have been silent or silenced. But the overwhelming voice of the crowd was cursing God to death, and their tenor was a curse to their very selves — much like what occurred at the Fall. All the people! All the people had no idea that Jesus really was who He and so many others claimed Him to be. They had lost their ability to be impartial.

They had forgotten the miraculous works of Jesus. They had failed to understand the true Kingdom relevance of Jesus’ teaching. They had forsaken their Old Testament Jewish writings that testified to Jesus being the Messiah. And they had fiddled with justice! But it was God’s plan from before the beginning to thwart Satan.

His blood. That crowd had no idea (as we, too, would not have) of the power of the statement ‘His blood… be on us… on our children.’ A statement that curses Jesus, blesses the curser with blessing the curser does not deserve.

Such a curse pronounces a blessing, for the sacrifice God has made meshes well the wish that is inherently evil with a love so true it loves those who reject it with the perfection of grace. It is the pronouncement of blessing even upon one’s children.

“Forgive them (us), Father, for they (we)
do not know what they (we) are doing.”

— Luke 23:34

The guilt of the angry mob is no less on us than it is on them. Yet, Jesus forgave, pleading their (and our) case before the Father.

No more than twenty-five verses down Matthew 27 and we read that Jesus breathed His last (v. 50). That curse that was ushered forth during that same day was annulled the moment Jesus died.

The possibility for all humanity to come alive through belief in His name became reality when He died.

Only God could thwart an enemy who would foresee salvation any other way than via God’s own sacrifice.

God foresees rejection and rejects its curse with His blessing. Only love would do that. Only love could do that.

And Jesus said, Always pray and Never give up

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GOSPEL accounts remind us how confronting Jesus actually was, especially the parables. The purpose of the parable of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8) is exhortation. The Lord casts a polarizing tale before the disciples to magnify the role of persistence in prayer.

Consider this single verse precis:

“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”

— Luke 18:1 (NRSV)

In other words,

Every day

no matter how empty your cup

always pray,

and never give up!

***

A STORY OF STARK CONTRASTS

From verse 2, our Lord speaks a story where the personification of powerlessness — a widow, with no rights — has influence over an iconoclast of privilege and power — a debased judge who fears nothing and nobody, least of all God. The widow has suffered a cruel injustice, and goes, again and again, persistently, to the wicked judge to plead her case. Desperate to be heard she cannot rest. Time and again, he has no compassion. Indeed, he would be bribed, but the only currency the widow has is her courage to persist.

Listen for the stark contrasts. As mentioned above, the judge holds the ultimate power, a seat at government, and the widow is as powerless as any in that society. He is the image of vice, all she has is virtue. He holds the most trustworthy position of society but continually perverts the course of justice. She is the quintessence of beneficence — embodying all that is good and right about life. And, finally, the judge fears for absolutely nothing, until now. Jesus says for the first time in his life the judge experiences fear: that the widow might wear him out with her endless requests.

The message behind the parable is also a massive contrast. Something to always do coupled with something never to do — always pray, never give up!

HOW THE PARABLE APPLIES

Imagine if we were to think of the unjust judge as those forces in life that prevail against us: our at-times frail mental health, discouraging circumstances in life, the prince of this world, and the world itself. Imagine simply having the pluck to joyfully persist in the face of any discouragement. Imagine disregarding the weight of the burden against us. Imagine not being hemmed-in by the power imbalances against us. Imagine wearying the world’s processes such that persons in authority — good or evil — would take notice. Imagine embodying hope.

This is the spirit of how Jesus wants us to pray.

Not just that, but our Lord commends us to the faithfulness of God — the All-Righteous, Ultimate, Eternal Judge who judges what no human judge can. Prayer trusts the ultimate justice giver. Prayer is the vehicle of our influence. The Judge promises to listen to us. And we pray not as a people who are powerless; we, His chosen ones! Jesus Himself tells us, His disciples, that God will grant justice quickly.

This is the sort of fruit of faith He is hoping to find when He returns (Luke 18:8).

HOW MUCH MORE

If God is abundantly good, will He not make a way for us through what we’re presently undergoing? If a wicked judge who has no scruples will cede to the request of someone who he has totally no regard for, how much more will God cede to us who He loves regarding what we need? How much more influence do we have with a compassionate, listening Lord God than does a widow over a callous judge? How much more will God bend toward us, His chosen ones? And how much more faith ought we to have that our petitions would be heard and answered swiftly?

David and Goliath struggles there will ever be in life. Always pray and never give up!

***

Bible Gateway’s New Living Translation account of Luke 18:1-8

Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ² “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. ³ A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ ⁴ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, ⁵ but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. ⁷ Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Our Focus as we Ascend

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ASCENDANCE is a Christian activity.

Not in correspondence with prosperity doctrine, but in congruence with resurrection reality. We were saved to follow Jesus, to die to self and be raised in Him.

In practical terms, this means a direct correlation between losing what we cannot keep to gain what we cannot lose. We seek the Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and God gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). Because those two things are uncompromisingly aligned, the latter linked with the former.

Seek what God wants and
God will give you what you seek.

See how these are one and the same thing?

We are a resurrection people. We are into building, not destroying. We are people who may stumble but don’t ultimately fall. And even if we do fall, we do rise again, by virtue of the fact we don’t give up.

Here’s what I mean:

Where’s our focus? It’s not on the people who do or don’t like us. It’s on those people who seem to ‘get’ our purpose. It’s on being kind to all no matter how they treat us, and we save a special form of respect for those who mistreat us. This is a Jesus teaching. How good it is to do kindness to those who cannot be anything but our reproach! We know our kindnesses are not motivated for our own gain, but for God’s glory. This is why we’re unconquerable when we choose joy in untenable circumstances, and hope when despair hits the ground running. How? Because we can. And we’re not perfect, we get that. Love for enemies is what we strive for. Because it’s powerful and dignifying to treat someone with respect when they’re disrespectful to us. See?

It’s on those situations that build people up, and it’s not on those circumstances that tear them down… why on earth would we make the cancer spread? It makes no sense!

The Holy Spirit comes in power
when we seek what God wants,
and that power gives others power.

Social media in this age is responsible for suggesting something insidious in our psyches. We seem to be in constant comparison mode, and there is a significant portion of our population who are stressed through the fear of missing out. Or, the other nemesis is getting set on ‘having’ our opinion, as if it glorifies God to fight for our right, which it almost never does. There’s no use in obtaining the whole world through influence if we lose our soul in cutting down our neighbour.

Before we know it, as Christians, we get sucked back into the ways of the world, forgetting we’ve been saved from these tyrannies. But we must work out of the grace we’ve been given. And that grace is surrender; the forfeit of ego.

It’s too easy in this life to focus on the things that destroy others and therefore ourselves, what with bitterness and self-esteem issues at the forefront. What stands before us as Christians is a simple choice. Which way will we go? To build up or to tear down. To appreciate or to deprecate.

Every choice is either one or the other.