Thursday 27 October

Habakkuk1:1-3:19

My own strength used to be my god (1:11).  But then I realised that my god couldn’t open a pickled onion jar and it suddenly didn’t seem so worthy of worship.  Not compared to the one from everlasting.  Not compared to the one whose glory covered the heaven and whose splendour was like the sunrise.  Not compared to the one who stood and shook the earth and whose ways are eternal.  I was puffed up.  I thought my drag-net was able to provide for all my needs - to help me live in luxury.  And I was pretty good compared to those around me.  But then I realised - or God showed me - that my desires were not upright and that my gains were at the expense of others.  I was arrogant and never at rest.  So I repented.  I wept.  And in his wrath God remembered mercy.  He called me into himself.  I live by his faith now.  I’m done with self-reliance.  I stand in awe of his deeds.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength now.  And pickled onion jars aren’t a challenge for him.

Titus 2:1-15

Titus is a book about purity.  And purity comes through sound doctrine.  Paul repeats again and again that the purpose of life in this present age is to live in an increasingly purified way.  That is what Jesus gave himself for.  And Paul repeats again and again that purity comes through teaching, teaching, teaching, through sound doctrine, encouraging and rebuking with all authority.  I sometimes fear that we are losing this in the ‘charismatic’ church today.  We love to focus on grace so much that we sometimes lose sight of the fact that this life is about ever-increasing purity.  We sometimes dismiss people as legalistic who stress the need for holiness more than we like (or is that just me?).  We also have found and enjoy the hugely rich seams of ministry and worship.  We organise our meetings around celebrating them and pressing into them.  That is a huge blessing.  But it is teaching that leads people into purity.  It is sound doctrine that God uses to purify a people for himself.  It is through teaching that God makes people eager to do good.  We need to explore what teaching sound doctrines actually looks like in our house groups, on Sundays, in one-on-one conversations and we need to never let is slide away.  That is why I love the Vineyard’s focus on worship, teaching and ministry on a Sunday.  I think that is a balance of what Jesus gave himself for.  I think that will prepare us well for the glorious appearing of a great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 26:3-12

There’s little hope for a man who is wise in his own eyes.  But I knew that - I’m so smart that I had worked that out already...