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Recently a number of our staff went to St Albans, about an hour and half north west of Sydney, for a retreat. We spent extended time alone with God, slowing down to reflect on Him, focusing on 1 and 2 Timothy. There were no mobile phones, internet or TV to distract us. It was a great time to recharge and revitalise our walk with God. The setting was beautiful in the Hawkesbury River Valley.

As I began to read 1 Timothy I was struck by Paul’s reflection on where he had come from. He says that he used to scoff at the name of Christ and persecuted His people. But God had mercy on him and His grace and kindness overflowed and filled Paul with faith and the love of Jesus! Paul says Jesus came into the world to save sinners of which he is the chief and he did it as an example so that others will realise that they too can believe in Him and receive eternal life. And he finishes this reflection from 1 Timothy 1:12-17 praising God “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen”.

Retreat This really rang some bells for me because the last time I was at this campsite was in January 1977 when I was starting Year 11 and it was a Word of Life site. I was on a youth camp with 20 or so kids from Gosford (about 2 hours drive), travelling in the back of the leader’s dump truck. Even then it was illegal! We camped on the other side of the river and our youth leader set up a flying fox across the river. We took turns to climb up a tree about 8 metres and attach a cargo hook onto the rope. There was no harness or other such niceties and we jumped off the branch holding tightly (very tightly) onto the hook and raced down the rope about 40 metres to the river where our feet eventually hit the water … and then it was someone else’s turn. Providentially, we all survived with no major injuries! J

On the Saturday night of the camp we had come over to hear George Galieh speak. George is an evangelist and he preached a gospel message. The Lord spoke to my heart that night and I acknowledged that I was a sinner and realised that I too could believe in Jesus and receive eternal life.

God reminded me of His great mercy towards me that Saturday night so many years ago. It was a moving experience for me and I reflected on how different my life had been because of that pivotal moment and I was able to thank God again for His grace to me and to praise Him as the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, who is to be honoured and glorified forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer

I was recently asked to speak on prayer to a couple of groups. Interestingly nearly everyone thinks they could improve their prayer life, and in most cases they’re right. And I have to say that my own prayer life is nowhere near what I want it to be. One thing stood out to me through this that inspires me to pray. It produces expectant faith and preserving prayer rooted in the promises of God. It is my view of God.

See, your view of God will determine how you pray. Here’s an illustration. Just say that for some reason Bill Gates said to you. “Hey I really like you. I like you so much I am willing to buy you whatever you like. Name it and its yours.” And you said – “Wow!” And then after careful thought said, “Can I have a new pair of running shoes as my old ones are wearing out?” And then you went back to your friends and told them Bill Gates offered to buy me anything I wanted, so I asked for new running shoes and its true – he bought me a pair! Bill Gates is the best! … They’d say you’re nuts why didn’t you ask for something big! A mansion on the harbour and $100K indexed for the rest of your life! Or an endowment fund of 10 billion to live off and distribute the proceeds to help the poor. Or something big! But a new pair of joggers???

Well we have the Lord of the universe wanting to answer our prayers. A man who I think had a clearer view of God than most and asked God for big things was Dawson Trotman. I love this quote of him: “Do you know why I often ask Christians “What’s the biggest thing you’ve asked God for this week?” I remind them that they are going to God, the Father, the Maker of the Universe. The One who holds the world in His hands. What did you ask God for? Did you ask for peanuts, toys, trinkets, or did you ask for continents? I want to tell you, young people, it’s tragic! The little itsy-bitsy things we ask of our Almighty God. Sure nothing is too small – but also nothing is too big. Let’s learn to ask for our big God some of those big things he talks about in Jer 33:3 “Call unto me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things that thou knowest not.”

Start an impossible prayer list. Write down 5 or 10 things that you think are impossible – or won’t happen. BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals) in some business circles. Then commit to pray for them each day and see what God does. Now this isn’t a formula. It’s not a promise that if you do it God will definitely give you what you ask for. It’s not magic. It may take many years, perhaps 26 like it did for my parents to come to faith. But asking God for big things and keeping on asking reflects that God answers prayer and that He is the sovereign Lord. It does reflect our view of God.

And put Australia on your list of continents to pray for.

Be Bold

It is challenging to realise that God calls each of us to partner with Him in fulfilling His purposes in the world. He could zap people and make them Christians. Trouble is He doesn’t do that very often. Not many of us were converted like the apostle Paul! But Paul does invite us to be imitators of him as he is of Christ (1 Cor 11:1; Phil 4:9). And in Ephesians 6:19,20 that the Ephesians pray for him “that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should”. Here is a story about being bold and prayer that I found encouraging and challenging.

A staff couple met John (not his real name) about 4 years ago shortly after he moved near them. He had recently made a commitment to accept Jesus as his saviour and during the course of the next few years, they met with him for Bible study on a regular basis and became good friends. They taught him how to share the gospel and encouraged him to take every opportunity to do this. Strangely they hadn't heard from him for a few months when one day they received a voice message on their phone. It was their mate, and he said he was calling from prison. That shook them a bit, however they did know that he had had some run-ins with the law prior to moving near them.

John resolved in his heart to make his time ‘inside’ count for God. He used the time to pray for his fellow prisoners as well as devoting many hours to reading the bible that he was able to get from the prison chaplain (as his own personal bible was taken from him when he was incarcerated.) He was really excited that he could share openly with these men … and that they can’t get away from him! With an outstretched hand and a smile, John would greet each new cell mate “G’day, my name is John I gave my heart to Jesus 4 years ago.”

By God’s grace, John was able to lead four of his cell mates to Christ whilst in prison. He said the greatest lesson he learnt during his time ‘inside’ was the power of prayer – praying in advance for his new cell mate each time his cell mates would move on. If he wasn’t praying for each new cell mate he had, then his efforts were empty. But when John prayed, he could sense God moving in the hearts of the men who he shared a cell with. One of the prisoners, a big tough and burley tattooed man, with a missing little finger got down on his knees, put his hands together at his chest and prayed the sinners prayer. After he had received salvation, he was a changed man. The remainder of his time in the cell with John, he kept saying, “I can’t wait to see the look on my family’s face when they know I’m a Christian. When I go to court to be released, I’m going to call out ‘Praise God!’ My family won’t believe it.” Another man that John had ‘prayed’ into his cell arrived mid morning. John introduced himself in his usual fashion and began a spiritual conversation. Later that evening, this new cell mate was on his knees, asking Jesus into his life.

Please pray for the four men who received salvation during their time in prison and for John. Pray that they, and John, would “ just as they received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him and be strengthened in the faith and overflowing with thankfulness” (Col 2:67). John has been released after serving a four month sentence.

Glorify God

A while back I had read Ezekiel 20 in my time alone with God and God spoke to me about it being all about Him! It is about His glory or as it is expressed there for the sake of His name.

Ezekiel 20:8,9 “`But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. ⁹ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.”

Ezekiel 20:13,14 “`Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws--although the man who obeys them will live by them--and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the desert. ¹⁴ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.”

Ezekiel 20:44 “You will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD”

Then a few weeks later we had a sermon on the glory of God at church. I was reminded that the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1) and that this universe is way too big for us humans. It was created for the glory of God. I was reminded that we are to do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). When we came home Jeanette went out to weed the grass of bindies. Later that night we discussed what it meant to weed the grass of bindies to the glory of God. Whilst we aren’t completely sure we came to the conclusion that attitude is key – doing it cheerfully, to the best of her ability, thanking God that she is able to do it (and not invalidly or sick) and yet longing for heaven where there will be no weeds just perfection.

Soon after I was counselling a friend with relational difficulties and as I referred to the Peace Maker book Ken Sande’s first principle is to glorify God. His opening question when in relational conflict is “How can I please and honour God in the midst of this conflict?” That will often take some doing, but we are to do everything for the glory of God. Are you?

Lesson from King David

I have been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel as part of my time with God and have been struck afresh by how far David was from perfection. I often think about David being the forerunner to Jesus as the king and how all (well nearly all) the other kings of Israel and Judah were so terrible. In the New Testament David is described as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). I have this impression of David as a great upright and holy man. But now as I read of David’s imperfections – his deception by pretending to be mad after fleeing to the king of Gath (1 Sam 21), his rage and intent to kill all the males of Nabal’s house leading 400 of his warriors out to do this and only being stopped by the Lord through Abigail (1 Sam 25), his flight to the Philistines and his deceit in telling the King of Achish that he had been raiding the Negeb of Judah or the Jerahmeekites or the Kenites when he had been raiding the Geshurites, Girzities and Amalekites and killing every last man and woman so as not to be found out (1 Sam 27), his weakness in not punishing Joab appropriately for murdering Abner (2 Sam 3) and I am not yet up to Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah her husband (2 Sam 11) nor his weakness in failing to discipline his son Amnon appropriately for raping Tamar (2 Sam 13) which lead to his other son Absalom’s murder of Amnon and David’s failure to deal with that and the rebellion and … what a mess! (2 Sam 13-15).

And this is great David, who today I read that God will establish his house forever, whose “throne will be established forever”! (2 Sam 7:16). Wow! God uses a person like this! A person who blew it in so many ways. A person who had all sorts of insecurities and weaknesses. But a person who was a man after God’s own heart. A man who repented of his sins, whose repentance of his sin with Bathsheba is so movingly recorded in Ps 51. And a man whose response to the grace of God shows his humility – “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? … Because of your promise, and according to your own heart you have brought about this greatness” (2 Sam 7:18,21).

I was struck again that God can, and does, use flawed people. People like me … and you. We need to repent of our sins and to respond to God’s grace in choosing us and using even us to further His kingdom with a similar attitude to David – who am I Lord that you have saved me according to your promise, that you have brought me thus far, that you are using me in the Navigators to further your kingdom?