WARNING

The edification value of this blog cannot be guaranteed. Spiritual vigour may go down as well as up and you may not receive back as much as you put in.


I expect you may disagree with at least of some of what I say. I pray that I don’t cause you too much offence and that somehow the gracious and dynamic Spirit of God will use these words to increase faith, inspire hope and impart love.


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Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Tuesday 31 May

1 Samuel 29:1-31:13
I’ve spent some time at Besor Ravine.  Knackered and unable to go on I vegged about at the back of church wishing I had enough desire to push me into action to help redeem the lost.  But I just felt worn out and hurt so I sat and rested and relied on others to get the job done.  I think David shows that there is no condemnation for taking time to recover like that.  I think David shows that God is deeply merciful and incredibly generous in dishing out his treasures.  That was certainly my experience.  God is not looking for opportunities to exclude us or cut us out - he is for us not against us, he has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people, he has made us more than conquerers.  This is the grace in which we stand.  But grace is not meant to be an excuse to holiday at Besor while others spill the sweat, grace is not meant to move us from the hope that is held out in the gospel.  There are still raiding parties to be pursued, there are still sons and daughters to be rescued.  David showed the grace of God to his men and, with that backdrop, they went on to conquer the land.
John 19:28-20:9
John takes his time to give a detailed explanation of the death of Jesus.  In this he is like a boxer circling his opponent and clinically landing blows in every weak part of their defence, exposing the paucity of their technique and the doomed nature of their advance.  Boom - there was blood and water flowing from his side as the bodily fluids separated after death.  Boom - there were scriptures written centuries before which predicted the exact nature of this event.  Boom - there were two trustworthy men who took guardianship of Jesus’ body and wrapped it in the cloths.  Boom - the tomb was new and had never been used so the strips of linen could only have been left by one particular man.  The assault has been vicious and the opponent is spinning.  But he has not finished.  He tightens his eyes and strengthens his swing - the stone had been removed and the strips of cloth were lying there separate from the linen, he himself had seen this, John - the disciple who Jesus loved.  He had not understood that it had to happen but he saw it and believed.  The opponent is on the floor now and he has been counted out of the game.  Either you accuse John of cheating or you accept that he has won.  He has shown that ‘he is risen’ if he has shown anything at all.  But he still gives us one more chapter to soak up the immensity of this fact.  John so wants us to believe in Jesus and, by believing, to have life in his name.
Psalm 68:28-35
“Summon your power, O God, show us your strength as you have done before... you are awesome”  Oh yeah, now that is a psalm I can really pray!

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