An ABC of Faith

Holiness

There was a simple peasant, a good father of a family, an unlettered husbandman, whose fervent piety was the Joy of his pastor’s heart. Whether going to his work or returning from it, never did that good man pass the church-door without entering it to adore his Lord. He would leave his tools, his spade, hoe, and pickaxe, at the door, and remain for hours together sitting or kneeling before the tabernacle.

The pastor who watched him with great delight could never perceive the slightest movement of the lips. Being surprised at this circumstance, he said to him one day, ‘My good father, what do you say to our Lord in these long visits you pay every day and many 

times a day?’  ‘I say nothing to him,’ was the reply; ‘I look at him, and he looks at me.’ ‘A beautiful and sublime answer,’  

He said nothing, he opened no book, he could not read; but he had eyes — eyes of the body and eyes of the soul — and he opened them, those of the soul especially, and fixed them on our Lord. ‘I look at him.’ He fastened upon him his whole mind, his whole heart; all his sense, and all his faculties. There was an interchange of ineffable thought in those glances which came and went between the heart of the servant and the heart of the Master. Surely this is the secret, the great secret, of attaining sanctity; holiness.

Samuel Logan Brengle, that great holiness teacher of the early 20th Century wrote, “Holiness is not some lofty experience, unattainable except to those who can leap the stars, but it is rather a lowly experience, which lowly people in the lowly walks of life can share with Jesus, by letting His mind be in them.”

Dear Heavenly Father, You are a holy God and I desire to be holy too. Set apart for You, and living my life in a manner that is worthy of You and pleasing to You.

 

Search my heart I pray, and if there is any cherished sin lurking within, I ask that You would search it out and destroy it, for I know that only the one that has clean hands and a pure heart may stand in Your presence.

 

Purify my heart, cleanse my inner thoughts and examine the very motives behind my acts and attitudes, for I desire to live in holiness of heart. If there is anything that is displeasing to You in my life, I ask that in Your grace You would root it out, so that I may live in godly holiness all the days of my life, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, separated to you You and walking in godly love. This I ask in Jesus' name,

 

Amen.

An ABC of Faith

Hope

“My hope is built on nothingness than Jesus blood and righteousness.”

As Edward Mote was walking to work one day in 1834, the thought popped into his head to write a hymn on the “Gracious Experience of a Christian.” As he walked up the road, he had the chorus, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.” By the end of the day, he had the first four verses written out and safely tucked away in his pocket. Later that week, he visited his friend whose wife was very ill, and as they couldn’t find a hymnal to sing from, he dug up his newly written verses and sang those with the couple. The wife enjoyed them so much she asked for a copy, and Mote went home to finish the last two verses and sent it off to a publisher, saying, “As these verses so met the dying woman’s case, my attention to them was the more arrested, and I had a thousand printed for distribution”. Almost two centuries later, we continue to sing these words of hope and assurance, our declaration that in the midst of all trials and storms, we will cling to the rock that is our Saviour.

It was Brother Lawrence who said, “Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues.”

A Prayer for Hope: Lord, I maintain my hope in You and I hold onto the assurance that what I am praying for is already accomplished in the name of Jesus. Your Word promises “no good thing does He withhold from those that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). I wait upon You for Your definition of the “good thing” You will not withhold from me. As David prayed in Psalm 18:1: “I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” 

Amen

An ABC of Faith

Hell

Dante saw written over the gates of hell the words "Abandon all hope ye who enter here," but he must have seen wrong. If there is suffering life in hell, there must also be hope in hell, because where there is life there is the Lord and giver of life; and where there is suffering he is there too, because the suffering of the ones he loves is also his suffering.

I find Leslie Weatherhead’s words resonating with my thinking in his book “The Christian Agnostic.” This is what he wrote:

“It is surely probable that Jesus viewing the burning of rubbish in the valley of Hinnom, called Gehenna, used it, as he was so found of using the things men saw every day, to point certain lessons. All that flame could consume in the valley of burning was consumed. But there was always a valuable residue, ashes used for cultivating soil or clinkers for making roads. True the flames never went out, because daily, new material was dumped on to the burning mass by the dustmen of Jerusalem. But, equally true, nothing of value was destroyed. The fact that a fire burns for a long time, does not mean it acts upon the same material. It can only consume what is inflammable. Hell may last as long as sinful humanity last but does not mean that any individual will remain in it all the time. The time of purging can only continue until purification is reached. And a God driven to employ an endless hell would be a God turned fiend himself, defeated in his original purpose

The Gospel writers, like our own grandfathers, distorted the words of Jesus, impelled to do so by that age-long streak of malice in man which makes him desire that those who don’t agree with him and follow his teachings shall suffer.” In a footnote Weatherhead writes: The word “kolasis” translated “punishment” means “pruning” clearly something done to promote subsequent growth and change. So God has even a purpose in all of this.

“No words used in the Gospel’s can legitimately be twisted to mean unending punishment, and indeed, such a expression is self-contradictory. The main motive of punishment surely is often to reform the sufferer; in school to make a better scholar; in the state, to make a better citizen. If the *punishment* (emphasis in original text) goes on forever when does the sufferer benefit by the punishment or use the lessons he has learned so painfully? If hell is endless it would be meaningless.

Yet for myself I do not throw over the imagery of fire. I cannot, for our Lord introduced it, however his followers may have distorted it. And there is a compliment implied in the very use of the word “fire”. Wood hay and stubble are destroyed by fire. Gold is “refined” by it. Since destruction cannot be God’s plan, his use of of a discipline comparable with fire points to mans character being of the nature of gold which benefits by it. Nor does one forget that the refiner of gold carries the purifying process to the point at which he can see his own face in the molten metal.”

Dear Lord, you are my refuge.

Where can I go without you.

My heart desires you. I need you everyday.

Let me bask in your love.

Bring your peace in me.

You are my shield and my fortress.

Thank you God for your goodness

all through my life. I love you Lord.

Be my guide. Thank you

for your comfort and Joy. Amen.

An ABC of Faith

Heaven

The word Heaven is used in the Bible in two ways—of the skies above the earth and of the sphere in which God,  the angels, and ultimately all the redeemed live for eternity. The latter is the theological sense and the meaning intended by the church over the centuries. Since human language is fit for finite experience, the only way heaven can be described is in picture language, metaphor, and symbolism.

Hence we read in 1 Kings 8:27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” and Ephesians 4:10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.

Art, particularly stained glass, presents Christ as sitting at the right hand of the Father, and the whole is seen as a city of gold (Rev 22). Heaven is the goal of God’s work of human salvation, and it is the sphere where his creatures perfectly enjoy his friendship and fellowship. As concerns the redeemed, it may be said that heaven was constituted by the ascension of Christ completing his promise of preparing a place for his disciples.

Jesus often used to refer to the Kingdom of Heaven; but what kind of kingdom will this be? Hans Hüng describes it this way.

“It will be a kingdom where, in accordance with Jesus’ prayer, God’s name is truly hallowed, his will is done on earth, human beings will have everything in abundance, all sin will be forgiven and all evil overcome.

It will be a kingdom where, in accordance with Jesus’ promises, the poor, the hungry, those who weep and those who are downtrodden will finally come into their own; where pain, suffering and death will have an end.

It will be a kingdom that cannot be described, but only made known in metaphors: as the new covenant, the seed springing up, the ripe harvest the great banquet, the royal feast. 

It will therefore be a kingdom of absolute righteousness, of unsurpassable freedom of dauntless love, universal reconciliation of everlasting peace. In this sense therefore it will be the time of salvation of fulfilment of consummation, of God’s presence; the absolute future.”

A Prayer

Lord, I confess I don’t often long for heaven. I’m a creature of this world and crave worldly things, not heavenly ones. I ask you would grow a desire in me for heaven. Help me not be satisfied with the things of this world, but long for closeness with you and the perfection of eternity in your presence. Lord, thank you for the hope of heaven and the joy we will have when we get there! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

An ABC of Faith

Generosity

John MacArthur an American Pastor said, “God made all of His creation to give. He made the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the earth, the plants to give. He also designed His supreme creation, humankind, to give. But we are the most reluctant givers in all of God's creation.”

Sociologist refer to three ways that people act in relationship; takers, matchers and givers.

Takers are self-focused and put their own interests ahead of others’ needs. They try to gain as much as possible from their interactions while contributing as little as they can in return.

Matchers like to preserve an equal balance of giving and taking. Their mindset is: “If you take from me, I’ll take from you. If you give to me, I’ll give to you.”

Givers are others-focused, and tend to provide support to others with no strings attached. They ask themselves, “How can I add value for this person? What can I contribute?”

In Matthew 10 we find Jesus advising his disciples to, “You received without payment; give without payment”. This is the call of the disciple: to acknowledge with gratitude all that we have received so that we can give freely. Following such advice can purify us from any pride or self-righteousness, as we realise that we are all recipients of God's mercy, and we can look at those to whom we am sent with respect and gratitude. As we listen to Jesus instructing his disciples, we need ask for the grace to let his words make us a better disciple.

Jesus' word, like Jesus himself, always carries judgement with it, for those who accept it, as for those who reject it. We find Jesus’ very concrete instructions so reassuring: God gets involved in the nitty gritty of life’s challenges as well as dealing with the big issues. For God no problem is too small for us to ask for help and advice. Knock and the door will be opened.

'You received without payment; give without payment'. What is it that we can give that requires no payment on either side? My time? My expertise? My gifts? My forgiveness? We can give others the benefit of the doubt. We can pray that the person who receives from us will pass on the grace of giving, and that whoever we forgive will likewise forgive someone else.

Giving God,

we receive so much from you,

and therefore have much to give.

Help us to share in the blessings of giving as well as the happiness of receiving,

that your love may be more widely, shared through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous; 

teach me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labour and not to seek reward,

except that of knowing that I do your will. Amen.

St. Ignatius Loyola

An ABC of Faith

Glory - There are many ways of thinking about the word glory; We can think of it as  praise, honour, or distinction extended by common consent or as worshipful praise, honour, and thanksgiving. Then there is the notion  great beauty and splendour sometimes referred to a Magnificence. But what was the glory sung about when the angel’s appeared to the shepherds on the hillside outside Bethlehem?

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Luke 2:10-14

When we think about it, although the the angelic proclamation is described in glorious terms, the actual reason for the glory was the image of a humble birth in a borrowed room. I think that John Betjeman beautifully frames the true nature of God’s glorious humility, “And is it true? And is it true, This most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window’s hue, A Baby in an ox’s stall? The Maker of the stars and sea Become a Child on earth for me?”

Many people are hungry for the greatness, grandeur and glory of God. They are looking for something bigger themselves and bigger than this physical or temporal experience. People are searching for transcendence.

The Bible mentions the glory of God many times throughout its pages. Yet glory remains an elusive concept. What is the glory of God? And how can we, individually and corporately, glorify him?

True we can see the glory of God in the beauty, intricacy and variety of nature. We can also glorify God with words of heartfelt praise and adoration. 

Often the church has a high concept of the sublime majesty and glory of God, and longs for its manifestation, but God’s glory is also manifested when his people engage in lowly works that continue Jesus’ mission of bringing hope and healing to the world. I read recently, “As long as we are in the day of small things, then, our job is to bear the Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness as we wait for God to bring the big things. And our job is to see, by faith, his glory is often in the small things right in front of us.”

Prayer:

Show us, Oh God, how to live our daily lives that we may glorify you in the common tasks of life. Many centuries ago there was a genius of the spiritual life, Brother Lawrence, a cook and shoemaker, who wrote: "Having given myself to God, having renounced all that is not God, I have come to see that my only business is to live as though there were none but God and I in the world." Let us focus on the radiance of Jesus' transfigured presence, and work for a world transfigured in the glory of Jesus' justice and love. In the name of Jesus, the Crucified and Risen Lord. Amen. 

An ABC of Faith

Goodness 

I wonder what Charles Dickens had in mind when he had a character in his 1840 " Barnaby Rudge " exclaim, " Goodness gracious me !"? This phrase also appeared in many classic TV programmes including the legendary Peter Sellers monologue of that name. Most dictionaries refer to this phrase as a mild exclamation meaning we feel alarm, dismay, annoyance or exasperation.

But it is thought also to have originated in the form “Good God be Gracious to me.”

In the 23rd Psalm we have that lovely phrase “Surely, Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” Did you notice the first word?  Surely.  The shepherd David did not say, “maybe” or “possibly” or even “there’s a good chance”.  David penned the word, “Surely”.  It really doesn’t mean that we are deserving of “goodness and mercy”, just the fact that God promises it to us in spite of our doubt, rebellion or even plan stubbornness.  If those words still don’t grab you, let’s look at the remaining portion of this verse, “pursue me all the days of my life and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  God says His love will chase after me all  not some, not most, not nearly all – but all the days of my life.  Talk about a love passage this is one of the great ones.

The word Goodness here in Hebrew stands for a state of “welfare, prosperity, happiness” followed by the word Mercy, best translated as “loving kindness.” It was Augustine who said that “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”

Father, thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness in my life. I trust that You are opening doors for me that no man can shut. I choose to obey Your commands and walk in love as I wait on Your marvellous plan to unfold in Jesus’ name. Amen