May 31st 2009
Our Seal Of Security
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come”.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)
The word seal has many meanings. It could be a sea animal, a wrapping that encloses a container, or an emblem impressed on paper or into wax indicating ownership or authority.
There are also security seals, some made from metal, others made of plastic. And just because a seal is made of plastic doesn’t mean that it lacks security. You know what I mean if you have tried to open certain kinds of plastic packaging.
We have a seal too, a seal that God himself has given us. God’s seal is not metal or plastic, but the Holy Spirit himself, who marks us as belonging to God and who guarantees our inheritance in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit unites us with the Father and the Son, and transforms us into the image of Christ.
The Holy Spirit reminds us that we belong to Jesus Christ, who is not only our Creator, but also our Redeemer. “All things were made by him and for him,” we read in Colossians 1:16. And verses 19 and 20 continue: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven…”
In Christ, God shines his light into our darkness and defeats our rebellion to reconcile us to himself. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…”
Throughout Ephesians, Paul writes about being filled with the Spirit, being filled with Christ, and being filled with God. These are not separate events, because to be full of the Spirit is to be full of Jesus, which means to be filled with all the fullness of God.
Our seal, the Holy Spirit, proves that we belong to God, that we are included in the life Jesus Christ shares with the Father in the Spirit.
And there is nothing in heaven or earth that can break that everlasting seal.
Prayer
Great and wonderful Father, Lord God, thank you that you have included me in Christ, and that I belong to you. Thank you for the Holy Spirit of promise, the seal that guarantees my inheritance in Christ.
Amen.
Study by Joseph Tkach
May 30th 2009
Energy Burst
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”
Colossians 1:27-29 (NIV UK)
In the musical the Sound of Music the question is asked in song, “how can you hold a moonbeam in your hand”? The answer is, you can’t. Too much energy. It will break out and shine in the darkness.
So often we try to contain energy, or at least control it. Like with our young children. Too boisterous. Be quiet. Sit over there and be still. Contain your exuberance.
“The Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Timothy 1:14) is not something we keep in a box. The mystery of God, described above, is that Christ, the Son, is in us. Jesus is within and among us through the Spirit, as Jesus had explained (John 14:17-18). Thus “God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12). Do we try to quench his flame within us (1 Thessalonians 5:19)?
Paul talks of Christ’s energy within him. He says he struggles with it. It is such a powerful force within him, a force for good, a godly desire burning deep within his soul. So it is with us. Jesus is in you and all his energy works within you. Don’t try to put a lid on it or to hide it in some way. Let it burst forth. Through you let the Sun of Righteousness rise with healing in its wings (Malachi 4:2).
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you that Jesus lives in me, and that his energy revitalizes me day by day. Help me, Father, to respond to his energy.
Amen
Study by james.henderson@wcg.org
May 29th 2009
Living Water
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 4:14 (KJV)
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that if she knew who he was she would have asked and he would have given her living water, and that whoever drank of that water would never thirst again. The Tynedale New Testament Commentary on John by Tasker* says that when she hears living water, she assumes this is running water, as opposed to still water.
Running water is much healthier than still water. Oxygenation is used in processing sewage and purifying water. Years ago homesteads in the U.S. would be sited one mile apart on a stream to allow for the purification of the water. Running water is more likely to be cold and cold water harbours fewer bacteria.
In Bible times water was precious, especially in the dry season. “During six months of the year, when there is no rain, water becomes scarce in many parts of Palestine, especially during the latter part of that season when one after another cistern has dried up, and permanent wells and ever-flowing sources must be depended upon for water. In such times the water carrier will go to a well, or reservoir, and then peddle his supply of water to those who need it. He may go down the streets of the city, or he may go into the marketplace. He will call out: ‘Ho, ye thirsty ones, come ye and drink.’ There have been times when a philanthropic person has paid the water carrier for all his supply of water and thus let him offer it free of charge to those who need it. Then he will call forth; ‘Ho, ye thirsty ones, come and drink today for nothing, for nothing!’” (From Manners And Customs Of Bible Lands, by Fred H. Wight**) Jesus used this custom in John 7:37-39, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Pentecost commemorates that time John spoke of when the Holy Spirit was given. There is a saying, “The Spirit was not given for our enjoyment, but for our employment.” As Christians we cannot just sit back and enjoy having the Holy Spirit–it should flow like living, or running water, out of us to cleanse and refresh those around us.
Prayer
Father in Heaven, help us to be conduits of your Holy Spirit, rather than bottles that keep or quench the cleansing and refreshing that should come as a result of that flowing, living water you promised so long ago to those that thirst and drink, to those that believe on you.
Amen
Study by Nancy Silcox
* Tasker, R. V. G., ‘Tynedale New Testament Commentary on JOHN’, p. 76, 1997, Inter Varsity Press, Leicester U.K.
**Wight, Fred H, ‘Manners And Customs Of Bible Lands’, p. 285, 1953, The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago U.S.A.
May 28th 2009
An Amazing Calling
“God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful”
1 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)
According to the dictionary ‘fellowship’ means “companionship, friendship, the state or relationship of being a companion or associate, sharing mutual interests, activities etc.”
We have been called into a very close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
By calling us into fellowship with his Son, God started a ‘good work’ in us, which he promised to complete. Because he is faithful, he will complete the work which he began in us. (Philippians 1:6) “The One who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
What is the ‘good work’ that God began in us when he called us into fellowship with His Son?
“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). It is the very image of Jesus Christ which is right now being formed in us. It is the purpose for which we were born, the reason we have been created. We are at our happiest and life becomes meaningful and fulfilling when we are living in harmony with this purpose. This special calling, which all Christians have been given, should not be taken lightly or for granted, but is to be taken seriously, since God will not change his mind about it. It is irrevocable.
“For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). That means they cannot be revoked or rescinded. God will not change his mind about having called us into fellowship with his Son. He is faithful and will see us through to the end of our race. He has promised never to leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). This is the highest calling that we can receive, it doesn’t get any better! It includes being called into God’s kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:12).
Not even the holy angels have received such a high calling. “…are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14) We, as Christians, are the heirs of salvation; we are the ones called into fellowship with the Son and destined to share in his glorious inheritance. We are just the first-fruits of God’s harvest; God’s ultimate purpose is to call all of humanity into this relationship with his Son.
Prayer
Father in heaven, thank you for the amazing calling that you have given to us. Help us to forget what is behind and press on towards our high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Amen
Study by Sherwin Scott
May 27th 2009
The Poop Scoop
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28N (KJV)
We’ve all had it happen. We are minding our own business when one of our feathered friends decides to mind its own business, and squirts it on us from a great height. Annoying and disgusting, and hardly an occasion to glorify God. Unless you are Sam Howard.
Sam has been incarcerated on Death Row in a prison in Nevada for over 20 years. In that time he has been transformed from being the most violent inmate of the state’s prison system, with a nick name of ‘Nitro’, to a gentle, humble, God-fearing Christian.
Sam is a member of our church, and we have been friends for many years.
Life for Death Row prisoners is very strictly regimented. For 23 out of 24 hours a day, they are locked up in cells about the size of your bathroom. Sam uses this time to pray, study, and keep up a lively correspondence with people all over the world. For one hour a day he is allowed to exercise outside in a small, totally enclosed wire cage. When he is taken to the exercise area he must, according to the regulations, be manacled with leg irons and wrist restraints. These are removed once he is locked inside the exercise cage.
One day recently, his arrival in the cage coincided with a constipated local bird being suddenly healed. The result hit Sam fair and square on the head. And there he was, his wrists chained to his side, unable to reach to wipe the mess off. I don’t know what the guards thought would happen next from this once so violent man. Sam just laughed. Everyone joined in the laughter – a moment of shared humor and joy in that bleak, forbidding place.
Think about that the next time you are in a situation where most people would curse, flare up in anger and act in a threatening way. You just never know when and where you will have the opportunity to show that you march to the tune of a different drum.
And please pray for Sam. There seem to be some serious irregularities in his original trial, and it looks like it may come up for review soon. Sam is not pre-occupied with regaining his freedom. As he puts it, ‘All the major decisions and questions of my life were resolved when I was baptized.’ But obviously, if a change of circumstances can happen, he would prefer it.
Prayer
We know that in this life we must suffer many things, but that we still have true freedom in Christ. The freedom to follow you in our daily lives, whatever our circumstances. Bless Sam for his Christian example and bless his inmates and guards, through him, by their exposure to You living in him.
Amen
Study by John Halford