When I survey the wondrous cross...

Hello again to my faithful reader(s?) :P
Today was a great day at church, except that going there directly from a not insubstantial lunch at a certain Chinese restaurant (which cannot be named here for legal reasons, ho ho) made me more inclined to doze off contentedly than stay alert to receive the teaching. Luckily, the worship was great today (as ever!) and the preaching better yet.

You will be delighted to hear I am trying to practise what I preach by making efforts to chat (beyond small talk!) to at least one new person each time I attend church (and more if possible) and build better fellowship with those around me, as well as continuing to try and encourage those newer Christians wherever the opportunity arises. Pray that God will strengthen me to continue; that His grace will be sufficient for me.

This evening, I have been reading from the book of Isaiah, which I absolutely love. Back before I started reading it properly, I had glanced at it a few times, and noted the following things:
1) It consists of 66 chapters. Yes, that was not a misprint; 66! :-O
and
2) It seemed that each one of those chapters followed a standard format:
"Woe to (insert hard-to-pronounce Hebrew place name of choice), who have (insert flagrant sin of choice); for I will rain down (insert punishment/pestilence/plague of choice) upon them (and their goats)".

However, upon further reading and meditation, church leaders and eminent theologians worldwide may breathe a sigh of relief, since I can now report that this book is actually chock-full of some of the most grade A, top-drawer, prime biblical quotes known to to mankind :D
Yes siree, some of the all time great quotes and wisdom are to be found in this book, so if any amongst you have not made the effort to read it, or felt like fleeing for the hills when you saw its size and tone, let now be the time :)

Of course, I hope and trust that most of you reading will already be familiar with this great book and excuse my jocularity on the subject, but I hope this post might encourage those who may have been avoiding part or all of the Old Testament up til now.

Since I do need to sleep at some point within the next week, I will not attempt to discuss the whole book of Isaiah, but rather I will focus on today's stand-out chapter, Isaiah 55 (abridged):
"Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money; come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price!"

I feel like Rolf Harris painting one of his pictures here;
"can you see what it is yet?" :)

Sadly for my weekly shopping bill, but happily for my eternal soul, God here is not talking about free food and drink for all, but rather describing His grace, given freely to us.
He continues, saying:
"Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good. And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear and come to Me. Hear and your soul shall live; and I shall make an everlasting covenant with you".

God is forever telling us in the bible what He wants from us and what we should do, not to nag or chasten us, but because He knows so well what will ultimately fail to satisfy us and what will truly bring us happiness and growth through Him.

So many times, I've dismissed the Christian ideals of behaviour, choosing to go my own sinful way, only to realise the hard way that it only led me to harm or sadness, or to hurting others inadvertently.

I've had to learn the hard way that God has given us these commands and guidelines in order to protect us from harm, from that which lures us in, like a parent would discipline and warn a small child who was reaching up for the kettle or trying to poke his fingers in the plug socket. It's a remarkable fact that those children will never turn around and thank you for this possibly life saving advice but will generally wail and gnash their teeth (much like people did in biblical times) at the unfairness of it all :p

So when the bible tells us to "flee from idols" (to be continued in a future post, methinks), to "abstain from all sexual immorality" and to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us, don't underestimate the seriousness and urgency of these commands!

Do bear in mind that it's one thing to intellectually agree that these things are all for our benefit, which is what I would have done in the past, in the same way many motorists would intellectually agree that the national speed limits are designed to protect us, whilst happily assuming that it is OK to break them when it suits them, and railing at their draconic unfairness should they be caught or punished.
It is another thing, when, either through the consequences of our sinning or through God's grace, we truly come to realise how our loving Father is trying to protect us and let us live a life of true freedom.

Luckily, we have His promise of forgiveness through His son Jesus Christ; although again, many Christians will intellectually acknowledge that our sins are forgiven, whilst carrying round a burden of guilt or shame inside them for years, when all they need to do is to repent, confess and be forgiven. But we can get trapped into self-recrimination and feelings of unworthiness.

An often quoted verse of scripture is used to illustrate God's greater wisdom and omniscience:
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts"
This gem comes from (wait for it...) Isaiah 55: 8-9, but if we read the preceding verses 6 and 7:
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.
Let the wicked man forsake his ways, and the unrighteous his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God who will abundantly pardon".

Now, if you put the four verses in the correct order, what we find is that verses 8-9 are in fact testifying to God's amazing grace! When we cannot imagine how something we (or someone else) has done could possibly be forgiven, the Lord points out how HE handles such things.

Finally, in a wonderful precursor to the coming of Jesus, the Word made flesh, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who follow Him, it goes on to say in Isaiah 55: 10-11
"For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it".

I particularly love the analogy of the Word giving seed to the sower (God's word and the Holy Spirit, to be used by those preaching the gospel), and bread to the eater (the bread of life, the life saving word of God). Sometimes, the mind cannot even begin to fathom the depth and breadth of God's love, His goodness, His mercy and His glorious works of grace.

The plan for us all to be reunited with him, that He had in mind before the creation of the universe, and that reached fruition on a cross 2000 years ago, and is still being played out all over the world today, and in which we, even we, are privileged to play a part, for His glory!
Praise the Lord! We've been been blessed beyond anything that we can comprehend or that we deserve in receiving Christ as our Lord and saviour, but there are billions out there in the world who still don't know Him or know the good news!

At times like this, I feel deeply ashamed of my complacency, and shyness to share the gospel with people. Missionaries can face persecution and dire physical hardship, but what they DO have is that they generally go to a place where nobody knows them, nor has any expectations regarding our behaviour.

But here, when we're at home, how many people have missed out on God's forgiveness and salvation because I was too shy to share the gospel, or too worried about what people would think of me or say about me afterwards? Lord forgive me, and I pray that you will help me to always remember what an amazing, priceless, yet free gift You've given me, and give me a heart that cries out for those who are still trapped in the darkness and still living as slaves!


You alone

Let everything that has breath
praise Your holy name,
You alone are God,
You alone are my Rock and my salvation,
You alone make me complete,
You alone give true purpose to my life,
In You alone will I trust.
You alone are my shield and my strength,
My heart cries out to you O Lord!
You're the reason I can't contain my joy,
You're the reason that I live,
You're the reason my soul sings within me.