Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during July 2022]

As we delve into the book of Daniel we see that king Nebuchadnezzar had an image problem – in fact, several. In chapter 2 we read of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a multi-part statue which illustrated the progressive decline of successive empires. Nebuchadnezzar himself dominates the image, as its golden head, then there are representations of other empires made of silver, bronze and iron. The image crumbled when the footings of the final empire were attacked. This final empire is often associated with the Romans, who developed concrete (essentially a mix of iron and clay) and, incidentally, also democracy!

Chapter 3 gives the account of the image of gold, which Daniel’s three friends refused to worship. In his anger, the king instructed that they be cast into a fiery furnace; when they survived he threatened to vent his anger on those who had instigated the incident. It is not just in modern times that being an advisor to the head of government has certain career limitations.

Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Habakkuk 2:18 [NIVUK]

In chapter 4 the king recalled how the future was revealed to him through the image of a large tree. This luxuriant, fruitful tree provided food and shelter for a large number of people, animals and birds but then it was cut down to a stump and left at the mercy of the weather. Daniel explained the image, foretelling how Nebuchadnezzar will be deposed and humiliated but eventually restored.

We see that Nebuchadnezzar takes a central role in each of these accounts, not only in the images themselves but in the way he reacts to them. They challenge his self-image and he tends to react violently to what he sees as threats to his own sense of invincibility. We might argue that those characteristics are not unique to him.

Do you ever look at the bathroom mirror and wonder just who is looking back at you? Would you really like to be someone different? Maybe you too have an image problem.

It may not just be physical; our behaviour can have an effect on how other people see us. We like to project an image to other people, to encourage them to look at us in a particular way. Of course, we accept that God knows what lies behind the image but leaving that aside … wait! Can we, in fact, leave that aside?

We were created in the image of God, we are fearfully and wonderfully made^[1], the work of his hands, but have we maintained or marred that image? What aspects of God are at risk of being distorted when people look at us? Do we project an image of judgement and rebuke or one of love and acceptance? Can people recognise God at work in and through us? We return to Nebuchadnezzar for his last words as he describes the God that he now recognises:

Everything he does is right, and he does it the right way. He knows how to turn a proud person into a humble man or woman. Daniel 4 v37 [MSG]

Does your image need a make-over?

[1] Psalm 139 v14

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during July 2022]

Back in the days when the typical family holiday was based around a car trip the seaside, at some point fairly early into the journey there would arise a plaintive cry from the back seat – “Are we there yet? How much longer?” These questions were often part of a cycle, alongside other cries such as “I need the toilet” and “I’m going to be sick”. The long-suffering parents would eventually resort to “Sit back and shut up!” and all would be quiet for a few minutes before the cycle began again.

It is not difficult to image Hebrew children asking the same question during the Exodus as they saw their parents pitching the family tent for yet another night in the wilderness. Their fathers would diligently explain how it was that their nation was trekking through the desert:

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. Numbers 9:17 [NKJV]

Some twenty or so years later those children would be explaining to their own children as to why they were still trudging through the sand. And so on for 40 years until they did eventually arrive at the Promised Land but, much like airline passengers today, setting foot in the destination country was not the end of their journey.

About 800 years later the Israelites were on the move again. How long would it take for a column of 10,000 captives^[1] to cover the 650 miles from Jerusalem to Babylon? Daniel and his companions were no doubt too well brought-up to pester their escorts with questions during their long journey into exile in Babylon but they must have wondered about what awaited them. Were they, as sons of the nobility, allowed to ride or did they too have to walk? Did their faith and youthful vigour allow them to sing as they travelled or did they too have questions about how long the journey was taking?

The Israelites eventually returned from exile in two tranches under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. Fewer in number and with royal support they would have felt more positive about the journey but the distance was the same. Many of them must have asked “How much longer?”

These questions came to me recently, at 35,000 feet over Germany. “Are we there yet? How much longer?” Some 80 years ago, there were other people in the same geographical location asking the same questions, albeit from a lower altitude. It is a sobering reminder that we live in a world where war and various forms of strife have dominated most of the period since then.

A long time ago some shepherds received an exciting message: “… on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”^[2]
Are we there yet? On the contrary, two thousand years later it seems that we are moving further away from the ideals of peace and goodwill.
How much longer? With respect, God only knows.

[1] 2 Kings 24 v14
[2] Luke 2 v14

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 26/June/2022]

I saw this in a rather different light recently. We had been away on holiday and perhaps like some of you, I was apprehensive about leaving the house unattended while we were away. I prayed to God for his protection over us while we were away and trusted our home to His care. The holiday was relaxing and there were no hitches with our flights or transfers.

On the way back, I started to worry that there would have been a disaster at home. My wife was more sensible, her main worry was that the tomato plants would have withered without someone to water them while we were away. Me, I took things to the next level. I didn’t tell her, but I was worried about a water leak, a fire, or that someone would have broken in.

We landed safely, got our luggage without problems, and got a taxi within minutes. Did I take time to thank God? No, I was now well into worrying and wondered as the taxi drove us home, whether as well as the other disasters, the car would have been vandalised and that there would be a note from the Police asking us to contact them (I blame my fears on watching too much television).

That was when Paul’s words to the Corinthians came to mind, but this time, it seemed as if it was God telling me, “you really need to trust that when you pray to me, I will be faithful to answer your prayer. We have a lot of things we need to do, you and I, but we aren’t going to get very far if at every step you doubt me, rather than trust me. You still want milk, and I am happy to give you that, but you really need now to be eating solid food. You need to go beyond doubting and walk with me in faith”.

When Jesus told us He would be with us always, He meant it. Yes, we will need reassurance from time to time, but it isn’t a great relationship if we continually question, everytime, whether He truly will be there for us.

We arrived to find the car on the drive where we left it, the house was intact, not burnt down and not a water leak in sight. Oh, and the tomato plants, they were a bit parched, but they look like they’ll be fine.

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Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during July 2022]

Once upon a time, “Once upon a time” was a common opening to many children’s stories. Often somewhat fictional in character they frequently carried a moral or social lesson. The consequences of stealing a baby bear’s lunch have been known to us since childhood, as have the dangers of accepting gifts from strange-looking people who live in dark forests.

In many ways, these stories are similar to the parables that Jesus told to his listeners. Compare, for example, the plight of the man who built his house upon the sand with that of the pig who thought that straw would protect him from a heavy-breathing wolf. These illustrations have been known for centuries but people still build with unsuitable materials in areas known to be subject to tornadoes, earthquakes or flooding.

In another of his parables, Jesus spoke of a man who had been blessed with a bounteous harvest; he resolved to upgrade his storage facilities so that he could keep all the produce for himself^[1]. One of the several ‘take-aways’ from this parable comes from the final question “Whose then will these things be?” We could paraphrase this question: Are you building for yourself, for your community or for those who will follow you? Is your focus on ‘me’, ‘we’, or ‘they’?

In another parable^[2], Jesus describes how a rich landowner engaged some men to work in his vineyard. The men started work at various times during the day but they were all paid the going rate for a full day’s work. There was some dissent amongst those who had worked all day but everyone received what they had agreed to.

It is interesting that in these parables, Jesus did not criticise these landowners for being rich; instead, he judged them on what they did with their riches. It was their attitude that counted.

Could Jesus have fed the five thousand with just four loaves and one fish, or would one thousand of them gone hungry? When the boy offered all his resources to Jesus everyone, including himself, were fed and, although nameless, the boy has a place in the Gospel records.

Had the widow in the Temple been ashamed about the paucity of her donation we would never had heard of her, and more importantly, we would not have learnt that God is more interested in how much we have kept back for ourselves.

There is more to being rich than just goods or money. We may be strapped for cash or running out of time but we all have some opportunity to use what we do have wisely and in God’s service. Our attitude to helping, sharing and giving not only affects our experiences of being generous but also it matters to God.

To what extent are we willing to echo the words of the apostle Peter when he said “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you”?^[3]

[1] Luke 12 v16-21
[2] Matthew 20 v1-15
[3] Acts 3 v6

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 26/June/2022]

He leads us like a horse in the wilderness that we might not stumble.
Isaiah Chapter 63 v13

We have a picture in our lounge of a landscape with wild flowers in the foreground – houses in the middle ground and the open sea in the background.

I was thinking about how Jesus leads us in our lives, when we first knew Him we are delighted in His beauty and presence, just loving what Holy Spirit is doing – bathing in His love for us. Enjoying His fragrance.

Then we have to dwell and communicate with others, those that we live with, and next door too, it’s not always easy. They don’t think the same way as we do, don’t have the same outlook on life as we do.

But … Jesus says look at the bigger picture. We can go forward, beyond what we are going through now, there is a wider horizon.

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.
Hebrews 12 v 1 and 2

Remember ‘love’, it covers a multitude of sins. In the 10 commandments the first two are great, love God and your neighbour as yourself. His Love is higher than the highest of mountains, His love is deeper than the deepest of seas, His love it stretches to the farthest horizon and His love it reaches to me.

Every blessing

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during June 2022]

The computer is on, the software is open, the fingers are poised above the keyboard and … nothing. The deadline for publication is approaching, still no flash of inspiration. Perhaps we should heed the words of Nehemiah 5 v8: They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say. In many circumstances that is wise advice but occasionally nothing is not enough.

In the musical “The Sound of Music”, the governess Maria sings that “Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could”. But is she right?

We can immediately think of the Genesis account of creation; the earth was without form and void, a mass of nothingness. God created the earth and all the creatures therein from nothing. Of course, when Moses compiled that account he knew nothing of anti-matter, sub-atomic particles or other entities that may exist where there appears to be nothing.

For Moses, the heavens consisted of the sun, the moon and those stars that are visible to the naked eye. He wrote within the context of his knowledge and that of his contemporaries. How might Galileo with his telescope and observations of the planets have written about creation?

It makes for an interesting diversion to speculate about how our God relates what we now know about the wider universe. Did he create other worlds with their own characteristics? Is our Earth the only sin-ridden one that requires his attention? In short, do we have a great big God or is your God too small?

The Bible makes much ado about nothing. The word is mentioned in 52 of the 66 books of the Bible; it is used descriptively as in the creation story, figuratively within lifestyle recommendations and warnings, and as an assessment of status. Here are some examples:

He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
Job 26 v7
Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.
Proverbs 28:27
Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labour is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
Habakkuk 2:13
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
1 Timothy 6:7

Jesus Christ made himself nothing so that he could make something of us^[1]. In 1776 Augustus Toplady summed up our status with his hymn ‘Rock of Ages’ which includes these lines:

Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.

With God nothing is enough.

[1] Philippians 2 v7

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.