Thirsty

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” Psalm 42:1
All animals need water to survive. But water is not the only thing that man thirsts for (John 4:13-14). We are all born with a spiritual void inside us that only God can fill. People may deny that God is the answer to their inner craving, but those who don’t know Him are constantly seeking for meaning in life, whereas those who know the Lord and are known by Him, have inner peace and satisfaction.
This isn’t a one-time thing though. Just as we have to keep drinking water in order to keep on living physically, so too we need to keep on drinking spiritually in order to have that vibrant Christian life.
How thirsty are we for the things of God? Do we look upon reading the Bible every day as a chore, or do we enjoy it, knowing that the Holy Spirit will speak to us through it? Would we rather stay home in the evenings and watch TV, or spend time in prayer and fellowship with other believers? Over time, that initial thirst that we had for God, tends to fade. But the truth is that we need Him now just as much as we did when we first called out to Him for salvation. The point is this: don’t graze too far from the stream.

Speaking from the heart

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45
This is an often-quoted verse, but let’s try to set aside its familiarity and understand what it is saying to us today. It’s one extension of the law of sowing and reaping. If you sow apple seeds, you will get an apple tree – not a peach tree, or radishes, but an apple tree. If you don’t want an apple tree, don’t sow apple seeds! So the first law of sowing and reaping is that you always reap the same kind of thing that you sow. The second law is that you always reap much more than you sow. The third, is that the reaping always comes, and it always comes later.
In one sense, our heart is like a computer – if you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. But if you put quality things into your heart – meditating on the word of God, spending time with Him – you will get life and fruitfulness out.
How do we know what is in someone’s heart – including our own? Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). But Jesus gives us a clue here: to know what is in someone’s heart, we just need to listen to what is coming out of their mouth. What they say is a reflection of what is in their heart. What are you saying today?

The golden rule

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31
This saying of Jesus – which occurs in both Luke 6:31 and Matt. 7:12 – has been given the nickname ‘the golden rule’. At face value it is something which seems to have been echoed by many other teachers and philosophers over the years – but there is a fundamental difference.
The common way of expressing the ‘golden rule’ is ‘Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.’ That is, don’t hurt other people, because you don’t like being hurt, do you? Don’t spread gossip about other people, because you don’t like it when people spread gossip about you. Or even in the words of Thumper to Bambi: ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.’
However, the ‘golden rule’ that Jesus gave us goes far beyond these. We can easily live by the world’s ‘golden rule’ of not doing bad things to others – the easiest way is not to do anything for other people. We sit by passively. But Jesus challenges us, instead of refraining from doing evil, to actively do good for others. Leave extra change in the parking meter. Mow your neighbour’s lawn when they’re out. Cook meals for people. Be spontaneously generous. It will spice up your life – you’ll have fun doing it – and God will bless you for it.

Count your blessings

“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no-one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5
It’s good for us to count our blessings on a regular basis, and thank God for everything He has done. Sure, we can thank Him in general, but there’s overwhelming gratitude that spills over when we actually recall specific examples.
For me, here are some of the things God has blessed me with. First and foremost, for sending His Son to die for my sins so that I can receive salvation and spend eternity in heaven with Him. After that, things like good health, having grown up in a Christian family, the education I received, my job and all the opportunity it brings to be constantly learning and discovering new things, the opportunities to travel. My church, the pastor and the people there. Friends I have made over the years. My abilities and talents – intellectually and musically. The ability to play sport. The fact that I grew up and live in New Zealand, at the present time. My financial situation, and having a good place to live. Knowing that God is with me and He will never abandon me.
How about you?

Only God was there

“Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell Me, if you understand.” Job 38:2-4
It never ceases to amaze me how Christians can come up with umpteen different hypotheses as to how the world was created, when God has told us all along in the Bible how He did it. Perhaps the most popular idea is that of trying to mix the idea of macro-evolution with creation, saying God directed evolution, or set the process in place and let it run its course. This is completely contradictory to what the Bible teaches: that God created the world in six days (see Ex. 20:11). The creation account does not line up with what macro-evolution teaches. The Bible tells us light existed before the sun, that birds existed before reptiles, etc. So even if you buy into the ‘one day is a gazillion years’ hypothesis, you still have the order of events to deal with.
At the end of the day, only God was there at the creation of the world. There was no human observer to witness it. Do we trust God to tell the truth? Of course. And He has told us in His Word what happened. Why do we have such a hard time accepting and believing it? Why do we try to supersede what He has said on this issue?

This scripture

“and He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’” Luke 4:21
Jesus’ first sermon was in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth. He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and read the passage in Isa. 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18-19). And indeed, this is what Jesus did during His first coming.
However, if we actually read Isaiah 61, we find that it says, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God” (Isa. 61:2, emphasis added). It’s critical to note where Jesus stopped. At His first coming, He came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, the time of God’s grace being made available to all who would simply come to Him in faith. This is not a time of God’s vengeance – but that time is coming. When Jesus comes again, it will be to judge the nations who rejected Him. So the first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled. But it was Jesus Himself who split it into two – something that the people were largely unaware of, that Messiah would come twice: as the suffering servant, and as the reigning king.

Ongoing temptations

“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:13
We read about the temptations of Christ by Satan at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels (Mark 1:13 also mentions that He was tempted, but does not give the details). But this verse at the end of Luke’s account of the temptations gives us an additional insight: although Jesus withstood Satan and did not give in, these were not the last temptations that He faced.
I think the greatest temptations that Jesus had to deal with, were in the days and hours leading up to the cross. In Matt. 16:23, Jesus rebukes Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ when Peter suggested that Jesus need not go to the cross. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus again indicates that He had a choice between submitting to being arrested, or calling legions of angels to come to His aid and get Him out of there (Matt. 26:53-54). While He was on the cross, He was taunted by people to come down, if He was the Son of God (Matt. 27:39-44) – words that Satan uttered in the first instance.
Satan knew that if he could dissuade Jesus from dying on the cross, then he would have control over the world and its inhabitants forever. He could thwart God’s plan to set people free from their sin. The death of Christ was not an accident. It was all planned, by Jesus Himself – and it was completely necessary for our salvation.

Fear vs. love

"For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendour I could not do such things." Job 31:23
In Job 31, Job lists a number of sins that he had not committed. He did not look lustfully at women, he did not take advantage of the poor, he treated everyone fairly. But here in v23, he gives the reason for living this way: for fear of God's judgement coming upon him.
Christians can obey God for one of two reasons. First, they may be like Job, obeying God because to disobey Him would bring judgement and discipline. They obey God out of fear. Now, we are to have a healthy fear of God, giving Him the respect He deserves but not being afraid of Him.
The second motivation a Christian may have from which they serve and obey God, is out of love and gratitude for Him. Now, the tables are turned: we don't obey God because of the pain that He might cause to us, but we obey Him because we don't want to cause Him pain. Of the two, love is the greater motivator.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

Jesus' childhood

“Why were you searching for Me?’ He asked, ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?” Luke 2:49
This passage in Luke 2 is the only record we are given of Jesus as a child. He was twelve years old, and his family had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. When they returned to Galilee, He remained behind without them knowing it. After a day’s journey, his family realised He was not with them. Then they returned to Jerusalem and found Him after three days – in the Temple, talking with the teachers of the law.
Even at the age of twelve, Jesus knew Who He was. His response to His mother Mary was respectful, but also containing a mild rebuke: “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?”
She had asked Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You” (Luke 2:48). The issue with this was, of course, that Joseph was not Jesus’ father. His Father knew exactly where He was.

Being upheld

“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Psalm 37:23-24
It’s amazing to think how patient God is, that He continues to work with us and within us, despite the number of times that we fail and fall. While we are still in these mortal bodies, we will be subject to temptation and sin. But it’s as we seek to live on a higher plane, in the power of the Spirit, that this verse comes into play in our lives. God makes our steps firm. He leads us in the right way. If we do stumble – and we will – God will help us to avoid falling. He gives us the power to resist sin, and He has made provision for forgiveness when we do stumble.
It’s not the stumbling that is the problem for us. Like children learning to walk, we will trip over from time to time. The problem is when we fall down and fail to get back up again, when we sit and wallow in our sin. We have been called out of sin; we are not subject to it any more. Let God uphold you, and keep walking in the way in which He delights.