A new creation

One of the most amazing parts of the Christian faith is that those who are saved are “born again” or made “new creations” in Jesus Christ. I have recently been studying this through the book The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace and also through The Excellent Wife Study Guide. I hope to write more about these in another post, as I highly recommend them. One of the studies is about putting off old ways and putting on the new man (or in this case, woman).

As Christians, our old selves were crucified with Christ. This means we are no longer trapped in wrongdoing. Sin no longer has dominion over us. (See Romans 6:6,7, 14). We do not have to sin. While before conversion we were trapped in sin, now we can be free! We are to put off the old man, and put on the new man (Ephesians 4: 22, 24).

I find it an incredible blessing to think about the way God has re-created me. I was once captive to all kinds of characteristics of the old man: selfish anger, corrupt words, lying, fellowship with unfruitful deeds of darkness, filthiness, stealing, coarse joking, drunkenness, lust, malice, strife, filthy language, blasphemy and revelry (see Ephesians 4 & 5, Romans 13:12-14 and Colossians 3 for the Biblical references to these traits).

I have been completely set free from many of these, such as drunkenness. Some traits surface very occasionally, such as filthy language. Other traits of the old man, such as anxiety, are a continual struggle. While there is a moment at which I was born again, and my heart was changed from rebelling against God to loving and following him, putting off the old and putting on the new is a continual process.

The Excellent Wife book and study guide encourage readers to choose each day to put on what is good and put off what is not. For example, instead of being anxious we are to pray and give thanks (Philippians 4:6). Giving thanks is also the antidote to filthiness, foolish talking and coarse joking (Ephesians 5:4). It is wonderful that God doesn’t just tell us what to give up, he tells us what to embrace.

As I consider my “old man”, I am amazed at God’s grace to me in preparing me to be where I am now. God has brought both Dave and I in to his family, and enabled us to base our relationship upon him. As the “old man” it is doubtful that I would have wanted to marry. I was quite hostile to the idea. Now, due to the work of Christ’s death and resurrection, Dave and I are able to make this step. God's miraculous work in our lives to bring us to this point is a reminder to us that he will continue to work in our lives to help us and to glorify himself. It is a reminder that we can trust him.

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Small things remind us of God’s character

After I wrote my post on the desires of our hearts, I began to think about the fact that it is often through small things that God reminds us of large and important truths. It is as though in our finiteness we need some context in which to grasp and realise anew truths that are otherwise abstract. My friend Felicity shared experiences from her trip to New Zealand in an email to me. This was another reminder that small events in life can help us to focus on God’s character.

“ I have really found it comforting it understand how God is in control of every moment of our lives and to rest on the truth that what he has determined before time to happen no man can change. It has been a real comfort to me these last few days. I went for a 6 hour bushwalk last Thursday on a track that promised to have wonderful views and was disappointed that on our way up the mountain to start the walk it started to rain, and throughout the day the weather only got colder and reduced visibility except for a few moments when the clouds lifted and a spectacular view was revealed. But as I started the walk it struck me that while I hadn't wanted it to be cold or cloudy God had known long before I got there what conditions I would face and he had prepared me for the trip and knew what I would face. While God held off the rain until the last 2 hours of the walk, and I know that he could of provided a fine clear sky, sunny day. It was a tremendous comfort to know that whatever happened he was in control and that his plans can't be thwarted.”

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Do not worry

This week I feel thankful for God's care. I have recently been thinking about this a lot. It is amazing that the God of the universe cares about our tiny worries and gives us the answers to them. God's care is one of the basic facts of the Christian faith, and yet often I fail to grasp the wonder and reality of it.

Matthew 12 was one of the passages in my Bible reading plan recently. I was blessed as I read these familiar verses. God tells us that we should not worry about anything, because God cares even for the lilies and the birds and he will also provide for us.

25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27

29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

God cares about our anxious minds, and he gives us the answer to them. Trust me, he reminds us! God has commanded us not to allow the heaviness of cares to oppress us, because he carries our cares for us. The burdens he gives us are light. If we are carrying heavy burdens they are not from him. They are usually a result of our sinful lack of trut in him.

Trusting in God and forsaking anxiety is part of being humble. C.J. Mahaney points out in Humility: True Greatness that in 1 Peter 5:6-7, God first tells us to be humble and then teaches us how: "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." C.J. argues that if we are truly humble we will be "genuinely care free" even in the midst of our responsibilities.

"Where there's worry, where there's anxiousness, pride is at the root of it. When I am experiencing anxiety, the root issue is that I'm trying to be self-sufficient."

I am deeply grateful to serve a God who cares. He cares to address the damage to our lives that worry brings. I am happy that he teaches us that while worry is both useless and sinful, there is something effective we can do instead. We can pray. The Bible repeats many times that God loves to answer prayer. When I worry instead of praying, I am expressing distrust in God through my actions. It is a blessing to be reminded through God's word that I can trust him.

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God rules Satan

Given the excited tone of my recent posts, I thought I'd better return to heavy, heavy, heavy lest you think my head is going to remain perpetually in the clouds.

A long quote from William Henry Green's book "The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded" seemed perfect. I am thankful to my friend Phil for using this quote in one of his excellent sermons on Job during 2004, and later kindly passing the quote onto me. William Henry Green says of Satan:

"With all his hatred of God and spite against His people, he cannot emancipate himself from that sovereign control, which binds him to God's service. In all his blasphemous designs he is, in spite of himself, doing the work of God. In all his rebellious efforts to dethrone the Most High, he is actually paying Him submissive homage.

In moving heaven and earth to accomplish the perdition of those whom Christ has ransomed, he is actually fitting them for glory. Fiend as he is, full of bitterness and malignity, and intent on every form of mischief. However, he is constrained to be that which he most abhors, and is furthest from his intentions and desires. He remains a helpful auxiliary to the designs of grace.

Like the sons of God who assemble in the presence of the Infinite Majesty to receive the commissions of the King of kings, prompt to do his bidding and to execute his will, Satan is, though most reluctantly, and in a different sense from them, yet as really and as truly, in the case of those who, like Job, steadfastly resist his insidious assaults, a ministering spirit sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. "

Many people speak of Satan as though he can thwart God. This quote is a reminder that he can never thwart God's plans for us. He can only assist God to achieve his plans.

Phil has a blog: http://philninness.blogspot.com

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Look to Christ

The discussion in the comments section of my Songs post reminded me of Oswald Chambers’s comments on Isaiah 45:22 “Look to me and be saved”. Chambers wrote:

“The very thing we look for we shall find if we will concentrate on Him . . . The difficulties and trials – the casting about in our minds as to what we shall do this summer, or tomorrow, all vanish when we look to God.”

“No matter if there are a hundred and one things that press, resolutely exclude them all and look to Him.”

I find this so easy to forget! I get caught up thinking about how I am going to pay for my new mattress for my back and save to do further education next year and . . . I get worried thinking about what to do in terms of work, or how I will get through this year in my job without having to give it up due to pain. There are countles things that come to mind and seem difficult to solve.

Yet when I remember the truth that Chambers has eloquently expressed, and apply it, I rediscover its truth in my own experience. Those "a hundred and one things" do become smaller in my mind as I look to God. Focusing on who he is imparts faith that since he is so great, he is able to handle the details of my life.

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Songs

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day with my friends Jonathan, Evelina, and Josh It was a great encouragement, in the midst of many struggles with work and chronic pain, to have time with friends here in Launceston. In the afternoon we gathered around the piano and enjoyed singing many hymns. I love hymns, because they generally focus on who God is or what he has done for us. In contrast, many other songs focus on our actions and character. Songs that repeat "I love you, I love you, I love you" spring to mind! I tend to feel uncomfortable singing these kind of songs. Knowing the wickedness of my own heart, I question whether what I am singing is the truth. Can I really say with confidence that God is always my first consuming passion, or that I love him with every part of myself? No.

I even have a question in my heart when I sing some hymns. One of my favourites, Be Thou My Vision, is an example. I can sing with confidence the prayer "Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me Save that Thou art." Yet when I come to the third verse, the questioning in my heart surfaces. As I sing "Riches I heed not, Nor man's empty praise" it too becomes a prayer, not the declaration it seems to be written as. I consider how much I feel grumpy or concenred about money, even though I am so blessed, and pray I will no longer heed riches. I think of how praise from others sometimes thrills me, and pray I will not heed it when it is empty.

I prefer to sing about God's character and actions than about my own. I would rather sing about the one who is able to keep me from falling, than about how I will always love God. Like Augustine, the church father, I am deeply aware that I need God's help to do what he commands. There is nothing in me, aside from the Holy Spirit, that has the power to do right. Songs about God's character and works turn my thoughts outwards to His power. They impart joy and hope and repentance to my heart. I realise anew that He is able to accomplish more than I could ever ask or imagine. They cause me to pray that as I see his beauty, my life will reflect it.

Praising God for his great character and works also causes my own problems and shortcomings to fade in my mind. For much of my Christian life, the song Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus has reminded me of this. Last week at school, it was special to teach the little children to sing it. Perhaps it will remind them, too, of where our focus should be. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in his wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of his glory and grace.

I would love to hear from any readers who would like to share their experiences with singing, or what type of songs they enjoy.

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Patches of godlight

We (or at least I) shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have ‘tasted and seen’. Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of godlight’ in the woods of experience.

C. S. Lewis.

I often find this to be true. A couple of weeks ago as I walked through our garden with Mum and Esther, God's goodness amazed me. Simple things like the feel of sun on my skin, fresh air, vegetables, trees, and flowers seemed alive with beauty.

As Psalm 65:11 says:

You crown the year with your goodness,

And Your paths drip with abundance.

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Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance

Last year I read Charles Swindoll's Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance.

What I liked:

Swindoll was uncompromising in his explanation of the sovereignty of God. He made no attempt to explain away God's involvement in sending us difficulty, but instead encouraged readers to embrace the truth of God's sovereignty in doing so.

Swindoll argued that in Job 12, Job is declaring: "The God I serve takes delight in undoing human activities and in dismantling human enterprises, and in the process, executing His miraculous undertakings."

On the effects of suffering, Swindoll used a good quote from an unknown source: "Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of a rebel heart." God did that in my life.

Swindoll also wrote that any nurse can tell you that "tact fades as pain progresses . . . the continuation of anguish that finally wears the soul down to raw, red reality." People say I lack tact, so maybe that is what happened to me after my car accident. I'd better not use it as an excuse though!

Swindoll is also good on the importance of theology: "Sound theology provides a foundation like nothing else . . . Be careful that you never substitute psychological gobbledygook for good theology. Work hard at not weakening your theology by double talk."

He defines endurance and wisdom well:

Endurance is "a long obedience in the same direction."

Wisdom is "looking at life from God's point of view."

"That is why it's so valuable to think God's thoughts after Him. You look at difficulties and tests as God looks at them."

Trouble can be viewed either as "an intrusion, an outrage" or as "an opportunity to respond in specific obedience to God's will."

What I did not like:

The style is chatty and Swindoll takes a long time to make his points. He goes over the story of Job many times.

Swindoll appeared to condone divorce in situations that are not Biblical.

Swindoll treated children rebelling against their parents as an ordinary and expected part of life. He wrote that it was a "stage", and reinforced stereotypical low expectations of teenagers. The Rebelution (linked to in my sidebar) challenges such expectations. Rebellion against parents is no more an acceptable "stage" for Christians than a "stage" of adultery, stealing, or lying.

Our cultural acceptance of rebellious children is also one reasons most modern Christians do not view having many children as a blessing. God gave Job 10 children as a blessing following his devastating losses. With current expectations of the outcome of childrearing, modern Christians are more likely to think that a curse.

God recently showed me how severely rebellion against my parents damaged my life. Before I knew Him, my disregard of my parent's instruction was a key reason for involvement in other sins. Any young adult who disregards parental instruction opens him or herself up to numerous dangers.

In His grace, God has made provision for all our sins through placing the punishment for them upon His Son Jesus. Our response needs to be confession, not accomodation, of the sins that caused His sacrifice.

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God's Providence - Beauty

This post is a collection of images that show some of the beauty God brought into my life in 2005.

Eagle Hawk Neck, Tasmania.


Queensland's parliament house, in Brisbane, with many beautiful rooms.


The scenery near the campsite the Answers in Genesis conference was held at.




The delight of the shore near where I live, where the water changes colour and continually reveals new beauty.





Flowers in a Brisbane park.


Tulips my friend Hunnah gave me as a graduation present.

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God's Providence in 2005

I am planning a series of posts on God's providence to me in 2005. I recognise and celebrate many things God sovereignly brought into my life during that time. I enjoyed my best year since 1999, when I was injured in a car accident.

I appreciated a Vision Forum email newsletter that encouraged readers to think on and document God’s providence to us this year. Anyone who has read much about Doug Phillips, Vision Forum’s President, will know he believes this is important. He named his seventh child Providence. The newsletter he wrote is also on his blog, and can be read here.

I'd firstly like to mention God's providence to me in his gift of a family. My nephews, brother, and sister-in-law are visiting for two weeks. It has been fun to watch Esther becoming acquainted with her cousins. Here are Esther and nephew No. 1 watching a catipillar.

During 2005, God's providence to me with regard to family included:
* My second nephew's birth.
* Learning that a new niece or nephew is due in June. I rejoice in welcoming new personalities to love!
* Seeing my brother and sister pray with their children.
* Visiting my nephews for two weeks.
* Two loving parents who always try to help me, and have done more for me than anyone else!
* Esther living close to us. Babysitting Esther and rejoicing as I watch her develop new skills.
* Having my sister (Esther's Mum) nearby and doing scrapbooking with her.
* Visiting different parts of Australia where I met up with aunts, uncles and cousins I had not seen for many years. I do not remember meeting my cousin Nigel Flowers before, and it was fun to visit his house for dinner.
* Seeing various family members learn more about God and apply His word.

God has placed each one of us in our particular family, with all its strengths and weaknesses, to accomplish his purposes in us. We should not disregard this. Instead, we should praise God and plead with Him on their behalf. We can have an impact, for good or evil, for eternity. One of most important keys to producing what is good is to pray for a humble heart that is ready to change, and submit to others. I know I need that!

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God's Kindness Never Ends

"The mountains shall depart,
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,"
Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

Isaiah 45:10

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God's Mercy to Me

It was only about two years ago when I first considered that the difficulties God had brought into my life could be his mercy to me. Yet the more I think about it, the more I do believe that. God sends us suffering in his mercy. This is real to me in relation to my ongoing back pain from a crushed vertebra in my spine. I was injured in a car accident six and a half years ago, and this injury still causes me a great deal of trouble. Yet when I look at where my life was headed before my injury, I can see his merciful hand in bringing me this. I was ignoring God, disobeying my parents, and involved in various dangerous and sinful behaviours. Could God have got my attention in another way if he wanted to? Of course. He is, after all, the God who says of himself in Isaiah 45:7:

I make peace and create calamity;
I the LORD do all these things.

God has infinite choices, and infinite control. If he thinks lying me flat on my back for months and following that with severe pain for years on end, possibly for the rest of my life, is the best way to sancrify me, that is his goodness to me. He could heal me tomorrow, or in a moment. I pray he will. Yet if he refuses, that is his mercy.

Now if anyone had said this to me early on in my Christian life, shortly after my accident when I gave my life to the Lord, I would have been mad! I am not advocating that you bluntly tell suffering people this truth, especially if you have not suffered much yourself. However, you can begin to embrace this truth in your own life. Even if your difficulties are only small, it helps to look for the mercy of God in sending them to you.

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Let God's Mercies be Joy to You

Life is likely to continue to hold many forms of torture and dismay . . . for all who refuse to receive with thanks giving instead of complaint the place in life God has chosen for them. The torture is self-inflicted, for God has not rejected their prayers. He knows better than any of us do what furthers our salvation. Our true happiness is to be realised precisely through his refusals, which are always mercies. His choice is flawlessly contrived to give the deepest kind of joy as soon as it is embraced. Elizabeth Elliot.

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