Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This meditation was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 20/Oct/2019]

With less than 24 hours before my next ‘Yours’ article was due for delivery I sat down to give a final polish to the text which had been evolving over the past couple of weeks. As I did so, a blue-tit landed on the sill outside my window, within an arm’s length of where I was sitting. The small insects that abound at this time of year make rich pickings for a variety of birds and the blue-tits have joined the feast. However, here blue-tits are the harbingers of cold weather and today’s cool 20C adds to the indications of the coming winter.

I got to thinking – what could the blue-tit see? It could not see me due to the difference in lighting on both sides of the glass. Did it see its own reflection; was that reflection a rival or a companion? What about us? When we come to God’s presence what do we expect to see? The light of God hides Him from our direct sight and we see only a reflection but maybe we think that is enough. He is, after all, made in our image – right? Do we see ourselves as others see us? Are we rivals or companions to those around us?

A little further away a woodpecker is at work. Nature’s original headbanger is looking for small insects among the branches of the walnut trees. Life for her consists of a lot of noise and effort but she persists and is eventually rewarded. Is our walk of faith becoming a headache? Maybe a meditation on the eagle in Isaiah 40 v31 will help.

On the wires outside, our resident flock of sparrows is showing off its fluffed-up winter plumage. They have made a nest in our verandah and their friendly chatter is a reminder that God provides for their needs. Sparrows have a special place in God’s heart, even being allowed to make their home at God’s altar (Ps 84 v3). But so have you – Jesus said that you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matt 10 v31)

In my story the ravens are the bad guys. They steal fruit and strike fear into other birds but they too demonstrate God’s provision “… they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.” (Luke 12 v24).

Feeling down? Remember how much more value you are than the birds
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[This Reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 25/Aug/2019]

A young man of my acquaintance has the ambition to write a series of books looking at prominent people in the book of Genesis, in particular to consider how their faith in God developed through their experiences of life. I have had the privilege of proof-reading his initial drafts and offering certain observations that might, or might not, contribute to the quality of the final publication. So far we have considered the lives of Abraham and Jacob. This exercise represents a significant investment of time on my behalf but it is the responsibility of those of us who are older to share our experiences of walking with God with those who are younger – even if the value of that advice will not be appreciated until later!

The apostle Paul had his protégé, Timothy, whom he encouraged in the faith. Timothy had a Christian family background, a blessing that many of us share. However, that blessing has a potential downside – the risk that we might rely too much on what our parents or grandparents have told us and we neglect the need to study the Scriptures for ourselves.

My friend is a young man in the faith; he comes from an un-churched family and was converted in his late teens, some ten years ago. He has studied the principles of the Christian faith, to a degree that few of us have the opportunity to emulate, and has travelled widely but he has little experience of what most of us would consider to be a ‘normal’ life, with its cycles of work and domestic obligations. Not surprisingly perhaps, I do not always agree with his interpretation of the Biblical account. But is he right? Has he gained some insight from his studies that we have neglected by ‘inheriting’ elements of our faith? This exercise has forced me to re-read passages of Scripture that I thought I knew, to listen to teaching from a variety of sources and, of course, to seek wisdom from the Great Author himself.

Paul strongly urged Timothy to “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth”. Surely an ambition that we all would do well to emulate!
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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, August 2019]

Why do you read the Bible? For some, this is an irrelevant question, as it is not something they do. For others who read the Bible though, it is, I think, an important question.

For me, the reason changed at different points in my life. When I was in secondary school, it was because I needed to read it to pass my GCSE equivalent in Religious Knowledge. In University, I hardly ever picked the Bible up. Just after that, when I became a Christian, I read it to understand more about this faith I now professed. Not long after, I read it because it seemed to be my ‘duty’ to do so (as the song says – ‘read your Bible, pray every day’).

More recently, it has been more likely to happen when I need to prepare something for a sermon. Now and then however, I have picked the Bible up just to ‘hear’ what it says, to understand more about Christ and about people who lived in Old and New Testament times. I have learnt more each time I have read the Bible, but I think I have felt blessed the most when it was not for a deadline or an exam, but rather, those times when I just wanted to know more about God, more about Christ.

CH Spurgeon said:

“Knowledge (of Christ) opens the door, and then through that door we see our Saviour. Or, to use another analogy, knowledge paints the portrait of Jesus, and when we see that portrait then we love Him, we cannot love a Christ whom we do not know, at least, in some degree. If we know but little of the excellences of Jesus, what He has done for us, and what He is doing now, we cannot love Him much; but the more we know Him, the more we shall love Him. Knowledge also strengthens hope. How can we hope for a thing if we do not know of its existence? Hope may be the telescope, but till we receive instruction, our ignorance stands in the front of the glass, and we can see nothing whatever; knowledge removes the interposing object, and when we look through the bright optic glass we discern the glory to be revealed, and anticipate it with joyous confidence. How important, then, is it that we should grow not only in grace, but in the ‘knowledge’ of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

It is important to move from knowing about Christ, to knowing Christ. Reading the Bible with this as our aim is one of the main ways that this happens. He moves from our minds into our hearts, so that the knowledge of Christ abounds not just in our heads, but in our hearts.

Our words will then make an impact in the lives of others, for “what you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6: 45, New Living Translation).

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, July 2019]

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Ps 119:105)

Have you ever read a novel and looked first at the last page to see how it ends. I have known some readers who do just that. However, I must confess that I have a book that I start at the last page and read towards the front .It is the Hebrew “Authorised Daily Prayer Book” and is printed in the Jewish manner, from the back to the front. Sadly I cannot read Hebrew but the book has a parallel English translation by Sir Jonathan Sacks who was this country’s Chief Rabbi until his retirement.

Reading the Jewish prayers and the commentary included in the book has given me insight into how the Jewish beliefs as fulfilled by our Saviour Jesus are the foundation of our own Christian faith. Many of the prayers are based on what we read in the Bible’s Old Testament, and especially the book of Psalms. In the Psalms, loved by many Christians, we are led to praise the creator God, find answers to our daily problems, question God as to why evil things go on in the world and in our lives today, and learn prophecies about the first coming of Jesus already fulfilled and those about His second coming that are still to happen.

The evangelist, Billy Graham, recommended reading five Psalms a day in order to read through the book in a month to help us through our daily life. The only problem is that some Psalms are much longer than others, and so reading all 176 verses of Psalm 119 together with four other Psalms on the same day takes a long time. For my own use I worked out a reading plan based on the number of verses in each Psalm so that I read about the same each day – some days less than five Psalms and other days more than five. Psalm 119, for example, is read on its own over two days.

Can I encourage you to follow Billy Graham’s advice and read the Psalms in a month? By using the following plan it is much easier, and can be used as a basis for your prayers.

The Psalms: daily readings for one month

 
PS.If you really want to see how the Bible ends, turn to the back and read Revelation 21 and 22. It really does have a happy ending for those of us who believe in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord.

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