Come

"Come unto me."
-- Matthew 11:28

The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, "Come." The
Jewish law harshly said, "Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path
in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt
perish; keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was a dispensation of
terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws
with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before his sheep,
bidding them follow him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet
word, "Come." The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the
distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that
awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.

From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into
glory, the language of Christ to you will be, "Come, come unto me." As
a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by
saying, "Come," even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you,
bidding you follow him as the soldier follows his captain. He will
always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you
shall hear his animating voice calling you after him all through life;
while in the solemn hour of death, his sweet words with which he shall
usher you into the heavenly world shall be-"Come, ye blessed of my
Father."

Nay, further, this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if you be a
believer, this is your cry to Christ-"Come! come!" You will be longing
for his second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come
Lord Jesus." You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with
him. As his voice to you is "Come," your response to him will be,
"Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my
heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to thy
service."

CHSpurgeon

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe.” Mark 9:23

This man’s son was demon possessed…..and he was dumb. The father, having seen the futility of the attempts by the disciples to heal his child, had little or no faith when Jesus turned up, and so, when he was called on to bring his son to him, he said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” Now there was an “if” in the question, but the poor struggling father had put the “if” in the wrong place.
Jesus, without demanding that he retract the “if,” kindly puts it in its right place. It’s as though Jesus was saying: ‘There should be no ‘if’ about my power, no ‘if’ about my willingness, the ‘if’ lies somewhere else.” “If you can??”. “No, friend, it’s ‘if’ you can believe…..all things are possible to those who believe.” The man’s trust was strengthened, he offered a humble prayer for an increase of faith, and instantly Jesus spoke the word, and the demon was cast out, never to return.
There is a lesson here which we need to learn. We, like this man, often see that there is an “if” somewhere, but we are perpetually blundering by putting it in the wrong place. “If” Jesus can help me-“if” he can give me grace to overcome temptation-“if” he can give me pardon-“if” he can make me successful? No, “if” you can believe, he both can and will. You have misplaced your “if.” If you can confidently trust, just as all things are possible to Christ, so all things will be possible to you.
Faith stands in God’s power, and is clothed in God’s majesty; it wears the royal apparel, for it is faith the King delights to honour. In the power of the Holy Spirit, faith becomes mighty to serve, to dare, and to suffer. All things, without limit, are possible to those who believe. Can you believe today?
adapted from C.H Spurgeon

Spurgeon at his best!

These are powerful words from 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon.....
"He led them forth by the right way."
-- Psalm 107:7

Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire "Why
is it thus with me?" I looked for light, but lo, darkness came; for
peace, but behold trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth
firm, I shall never be moved. Lord, thou dost hide thy face, and I am
troubled. It was but yesterday that I could read my title clear; to-day
my evidences are bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday I
could climb to Pisgah's top, and view the landscape o'er, and rejoice with
confidence in my future inheritance; to-day, my spirit has no hopes,
but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part of God's plan
with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven?
Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your
mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of
God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which
you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and
strengthening of your faith-they are waves that wash you further upon
the rock-they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards
the desired haven. According to David's words, so it might be said of
you, "so he bringeth them to their desired haven." By honour and
dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty,
by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these
things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are
you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are
out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of it. "We must, through
much tribulation, enter the kingdom." Learn, then, even to "count it
all joy when ye fall into divers temptations."

"O let my trembling soul be still,
And wait thy wise, thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by thee."

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"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."
-- Psalm 138:8

Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a
divine confidence. He did not say, "I have grace enough to perfect that
which concerneth me-my faith is so steady that it will not stagger-my
love is so warm that it will never grow cold-my resolution is so firm
that nothing can move it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If
we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages,
our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover
us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that Nature spins
time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed
therein. The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the
Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it
is he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never
will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of
our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost;
but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has
done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must
not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but
entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates- "You will never
be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer
sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that
beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray." Ah!
yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had
alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well
give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, he will perfect
that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven.
We can never be too confident when we confide in him alone,
and never too much concerned to have such a trust.

Like your steak well done?

Let me tell you a story....it’s a true story, this one. Well....I might have embellished it a bit.

Elijah decided enough was enough. The evil king Ahab had reigned for too long. The wicked priests of Baal were teaching the people of Israel do do all sorts of wrong things, deeply immoral things, even murder.
‘Why did you do that?’
‘Baal told me to.’
Worshipping Baal was an excuse to do what you like.
‘Forget God, he’s just a spoilsport.’
Sound familiar?

Now Elijah was just an ordinary man from Tishbe, might just as well have been Roxby. But God had appointed Elijah to change things and the time was now. So came the famous contest on the top of a mountain, big crowd, TV crew, the lot. The odds looked stacked against Elijah from the start. He was God’s only prophet. And there were 450 priests of Baal. But we know something they didn’t. When God is with you anything’s possible.

A big lorry rolls up: ‘Delivery for Mr Elijah: 2xdead bulls. 2xfelled trees. 2xspades. 2xaxes. 2xmeat cleavers. 3000xbottles of spring water.’ You could see the crowd were puzzled. Could it be an early Masterchef? But no matches. And what’s with the bottled water?

‘Now all you 450 wicked priests of Baal come here,’ said Elijah.
‘Listen all you people who’ve come to watch. Get this on TV. If Almighty God is the Boss then do what HE wants. If Baal is the Boss then do what HE wants.’
Huh?

Right.. Two separate barbecues. Recipe for each: Dig a trench. Chop up trees. Place in trench. Chop up bulls. Place on wood. Cook bulls.

Problem……no matches....can’t light fire!
But that was Elijah’s plan, ‘This barbecue says God’s the Boss, that one says Baal’s the Boss,’ he said. ‘No matches. If Baal lights his fire, he’s the real one. If God lights his fire, he’s the real one.’

Ready, Steady, Sacrifice.

OK so the wicked priests of Baal got cracking with their favourite fire-raising dance:
‘Come on Baal
Don’t make us wail
We really musn’t fail
Fire this bull from his nose to his tail.’
2 hours later: ‘Come on Baal’ etc x 3
And what happened?
Nothing, zilch, nicht
Not even a singed eyebrow.
Where’s Baal gone then? On a journey? To the loo?

Now all this time Elijah had been sitting by his chopped up bull apparently doing nothing.
‘Right you 450 wicked priests of Baal come here and watch. Now you wondered what the bottled water was for didn’t you? Pour them over my bull and wood.’
‘Right…..do you think this lot will burn?’ No answer.
Now Elijah didn’t do any fire-raising dance, no happy-clappy-lets-see-if-we-can-get-God-going, no headbanging or anything like that. He just waited until all eyes were on him and then said ‘Almighty God, please do it.’ And God did.
Total cremation. Zap. Bull, tree, water all gone. Just a hint of steak in the air….rather well-done.

Impressed? So you should be. Our God can do the impossible…..have you discovered that for yourself?

He really is God Almighty…. NO BULL !

(PS…it’s in the Bible: 1 Kings Ch 18)

Does God believe in me?

Doesn’t it feel good when someone loves you…. believes in you?

Someone once said, ‘Ask not “ Do I believe in God?” but instead…..ask “Does God believe in me?”

That’s a question I explored a few weeks ago, with Trinity Chapel full of 11 and 12 year olds. We considered Billy Elliot and the huge sacrifice his father made to get him into Dance School. Brilliant film.

As we launch into a New Year, it is a mind-blowing question to think about.

Because if God DOES believe in me that means His infinite resources are there for me! Wow!

‘This is love…..not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son….’ 1 John 4:10

If, then, God believes in me it is always ‘and’ and never ‘but’.
‘But’, you say……
‘And’, God says…..

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid…….Matthew 10:30
And underneath are the everlasting arms. Deut 33:27
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God. Romans 8:28

May you have enough faith to grasp this truth. It will take you through 2010 and beyond.

God believes in me!