REFLECTIONS
Insights from God’s Word into Today’s World
Over the next 21 days, we will be experimenting with various ‘means of grace’ so that we can see Jesus more clearly so that we may draw on his grace all the more and thereby live in greater intimacy with God. To start us off, Craig gives some helpful insights on how we can best connect with God through reading the Bible.
In this ‘exercise’ below, which will take you 5 minutes to read, I am encouraging you to experiment with a way of praying that will ignite your prayer life. Just do it for one week. Don’t contemplate it or put it off for another time. Start today or tomorrow morning. 5 minutes to spark an exercise that can change your way of relating to God and make this year a one to remember for all the right reasons. I would appreciate your feedback after doing this for a week!
We know the Great Commission mandates us to take the good news to the nations, but we can forget that means our neighbours also. This article from The Gospel Coalition is a good reminder that it all starts by giving ourselves to what is in front of us as well as the bigger picture. It is reminiscent of the man asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”
When you have ‘more than enough,’ it is a privilege and joy to be able to share with those who are struggling. But don’t you also love those stories of people giving out of their ‘lack’ and seeing God respond in ways that are deeply satisfying? Like the widow who has truly little but responds to God’s word to feed the prophet called Elijah (1 Kings 17:8-16) …Here’s one told by author Ann Voskamp
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”
Isaiah 40:1
I tuned in on a webinar last night where a pastor, Matt Woodley, hosted John Ortberg on the subject of ‘Preaching through Disruption.’ John made the point that sometimes prophets speak to God’s people but sometimes they speak for people, that they not only challenge but also identify with God’s people (e.g. Isaiah 6:5). Jonah is the only prophet who doesn’t lament with his audience. Stories are a huge part of how we lament together, so that we can know we are not alone on this journey and that life doesn’t present us with all the answers at times. I had just spoken to Rigby Wallace earlier in the day and he told me about his preach from Sunday- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h-nIItDGEc
It tied in with what Ortberg was saying and I want to point you to a powerful section that gives voice to fellow Capetonians struggling with this time in our lives. Rigby’s message was called ‘Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land,’ based on Psalm 137. The whole YouTube video is 1hr13 minutes, including worship and an introduction, so I’m taking you to a number of points, with the “Scroll of Laments,” just under 5 minutes, being what I’m referring to above (place on the video is 42:35-47:12, which is under Point 3, How does this Psalm/s help us express our own lament?, starting at the 39 minute mark). I would also recommend you watch from 54:15-57:30 on Where do we take our lament and what do we do with it? (2 great quotes) & 59:30-1:02,35 under How does God respond to our Laments?
Then these 2 resources that Common Ground put after the message are also very helpful, the latter giving you some guidelines on how to write your own lament:
-Lament 6 Reasons We Need The Psalms: https://bit.ly/3ayJzmF
-The Biblical Art Of Lament: How an ancient practice helps us give voice to our emotions https://bit.ly/35069Do
The phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness” is often mistakenly assumed to originate from the Bible. While it does not emanate from the Bible, there is some truth to it. During the threat of the coronavirus, good hygiene has been vehemently and correctly advocated as the best means of preventative care against infection. The CDC recommends that one wash their hands for a minimum of 20 seconds. In a little experiment, we saw this correlates roughly to the same time it takes to recite the Lord’s Prayer. It would be remiss of us to not take this opportunity to invest in both our physical and our spiritual hygiene. As we explore what it means to be spiritually healthy, we turn our focus to Jesus as he teaches His disciples to pray.
The following article is a summary of John Joseph's journey of getting to know Jesus. He tells the story of how God transformed his heart from a self-centred addict and then self-help deception to someone redeemed by God’s grace alone. Today he leads a church in Maryland, USA. The full story appeared in the January/ February 2020 issue of Christianity Today.
