Category: Devotions

Self awareness leads to honour

Luke 18:13-14 “13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

God is silent. He doesn’t praise the Pharisee and He doesn’t condemn the tax-collector. We don’t know what God thinks. Left to our own judgment on who God is pleased with the most, we may side with the Scripture-believing, spiritual leader who desires to please God. He seems a nicer man. He hasn’t committed sin. He paints a nice picture of himself. A man of thankfulness.

Yet this tax-collector is the opposite. He cannot even get close to the altar. He cannot look to heaven. He has nothing to give thanks for. All he can say is ‘sorry’ and he really does need to do that!

But neither of them know.

They may think they know.

The Pharisee probably banks on it being him.

The tax-collector knows it’s definitely not him. (At the time of Jesus these people were viewed by the Jews as thieves and betraying their own people for fraudulently collecting taxes.)

The difference between these 2 men is actually self-awareness.

Self-awareness is needed in the Church from the pulpit to the pew.

We tend to believe what people say about us which may be outdated, a dose of flattery or of course the reverse, something cruel),

We may think we are a very loyal and committed friend, this is a high value to us. But without self-awareness we may misread certain events even if we have made a mistake towards that friend as not our fault and certainly not contrary to our identity as being very loyal to our friendships. We lack self-awareness.

Pleasing God involves self-awareness. But within that self-awareness in the presence of God there lies the miracle of provision.

Self-awareness can be lacking in the one place you would expect to find it the most.

The good are not that good.

The bad are not that bad.

Jesus ends the parable with the result.

One man will be honoured eventually.

Self-awareness leads the way.?

It’s not what you think. It never is.

The humble brag

Luke 18: 11-12 “ 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

The humble brag. Don’t you just get tired of it? I see it a lot in ministry circles:

“It was a privilege for me to lead 500 people to Christ tonight, thank you for the invite.”

How wonderful to stand and open up the prayer with thanksgiving?

However …!

He prayed about himself. When will we stop praying the same prayers? Can we grow in our praying? Will we ever turn away from ourselves?!

The humble brag: “Thank you for what you have done for me. In that, I am better than most. Especially than the man next to me”.

Being the better man is not about what you do or don’t do. It’s about who you are.

Yet every humble brag is about what we do. It means very little in the bigger picture of the kingdom.

You may not rob people or God as you give a tithe of your income.

You may even have such self-control you are able to fast twice a week as opposed to those who just have to have it all, the greedy and the unfaithful.

The humble brag deceives you because it points you to your activity and not who you are. For example it will show you of an act of kindness that you did but hides that your heart is unkind. The act of kindness means nothing when your heart is unkind to the man standing alongside you, even if he is a tac-collector.

The craziest thing is that the humble brag happens before God. He knows!

May we speak of Him and less of us.

On the surface

Luke 18:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”

A parable regarding those who considered themselves righteous and looked down on others.

2 men. Both equal in sex.

1 Temple. Both share the same place of worship.

1 purpose. Both equally going to pray.

They are equals. But not really.

I wonder who is most righteous?

I wonder who is lesser than the other?

It’s obvious isn’t it?

Only if you understand the parable.

On the surface the tex collector is the lesser.

The Pharisee is the righteous one.

The surface can be wrong.

I AM RIGHT

Luke 18: 9 “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable …”

You may be miles away from being confident in your own righteousness! Your problem may be the direct opposite of this. But the culture Jesus lived in is still here today in some respects.

In my own lifetime I have lived through the drawing up of lists of what is acceptable and what is not. Those lists have been written and then a decade later torn up and sadly re-written.

Today, I will go to 2 Church services and they will both begin with what was looked down upon in the Church in the 1970’s, that is, contemporary music. Along with jewellery, make-up, hair styles, dress codes, I will see many things today that were banned in the same stream of churches only 40-50 years ago. The Church is very different today and yet Christian conduct is still important.

You may not drink wine. You may not smoke. You may not have a television or if you do you don’t watch anything worldly. You may not play cards. You don’t do the lottery. You don’t swear. You may not go to a pub and if you do it is only for food. Today I will wear a tie to Church (to be fair that’s more to do with following my father’s behaviour who wears one most days than it is about any holiness code!) But the list can go and on. All these things can be reminders that we are doing okay. We hope that God is pleased with us. What we do know is that we are certainly better than those who do these kind of unholy things!

In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had their Mishnah, their list of conduct. Mishnah means repetition. It was an oral law at the time of Jesus but in AD200 it was written down. It is now the first page of the Talmud and deals with the obligations of prayer and blessings, for example before and after food. The Talmud is the book of the Jewish law. Along with the Mishnah it contains the Gemara (more Jewish discussions on the Torah between AD200-500), the Rashi (11th century commentary on the Talmud) and other commentaries. If you read the text a page a day, the book takes 7.5 years to finish and the Jews have an event to celebrate the completion.

Einstein was asked what he would do differently if he could live his life again, he replied without hesitation: “I would study the Talmud.”

It would seem across the world in every generation there has been a genuine desire from most and amongst all religions to live a certain way that will please God/gods. The Talmud contains stories and discussions galore regarding this desire.

In it there is a powerful story of a rabbi who became immersed in his studies, and his wife who waited for him to return home. As a tear falls from the wife’s eye, the roof that the rabbi is sitting on to study collapses underneath him and he falls to his death. The story teaches us that the self-righteousness of this rabbi is something we can all fall into and the way that this can be prevented is simply being able to see another point of view.

And that is so prevalent today. We may not have our lists. Most of us know how wrong that would be. However there is a new danger which is as old as the Talmud and the Bible itself.

The danger can be summed up as this:

I am right. I do not agree nor value the other point of view, in fact, I look down on it.

v9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.

Life hasn’t changed.

I AM RIGHT. This is what Jesus tells the parable to put right. Jesus needs to put right the I AM RIGHT. The truth is we are not.

The prayer of heaven

Luke 18: 1-8 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

 

Never stop praying. If you have, start it up again. Make a determined effort to pray every day and throughout the day. Stay up late and pray. Get up early and pray. Spend the night in prayer. Fast things so you can pray more.

For when you are praying you are hoping. You are waiting. You are expecting God to answer. When you are praying you are focused on Him. Prayer keeps your eyes lifted upwards even when your heart maybe heavy. When we pray we are acknowledging that we are not alone in this life but there is another presence, the Living God.

Two individuals who were poles apart, the judge and the widow are in this story regarding prayer. But the prayer that is more than rote and ritual. A prayer that is expectant, demanding, longing and persistent.

If the unjust, powerful, wealthy judge relented and gave what the woman with nothing wanted eventually. Then how much more will the righteous God give to us if we do not give up praying.

Sometimes it feels like Jesus will never return. Sometimes we are praying, ‘How long, Lord?’ Maybe in the west we don’t pray these prayers. But those in the suffering Church certainly do.

But maybe you have been waiting a long time for something to happen.

Maybe it is longer than a Brexit decision (and today of all days we should be praying for our politicians)!

Sometimes it feels like God will never answer you. Sometimes we think and behave like He will never come again.

In my youth I was so sure He would come in my lifetime. I was ready. I am 53 years of age now and He hasn’t appeared. Worse than that, the world I have lived in has declined in its values and I see unkindness and hurt all around me. How long? When will you come and sort this? When will you create the new heaven and new earth?

Oh that you would bless me! (1 Chronicles 4:10)

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! (Matthew 6:9)

But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ (Jonah 2:9)

But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. (Psalm 3)

“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2)

So we pray like the above. We pray and not give up. We desire and long for Him.

For we know there is one other prayer that is being prayed. It is a prayer of heaven. It is a longing, hoping question.

“When I come, will I find faith on the earth?” (v8)

ARE YOU PRAYING?

FOR WHAT?

 

Luke 18 v 1 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

I have never known this but I can see how it is this parable that brings the section on the return of Christ to a close, for now. The chapters brought a separation which may not be helpful. It is actually verse 8 that shows this and we will get to that soon, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

How do we recognise his presence here and now? (v20-21)

How do we keep focused on His coming? (v22-25)

How do we stop ourselves from focusing only on the now as in the days of Noah and Lot? (v26-30)

How do we stop ourselves from not turning back like Lot’s wife? (v31-37)

How can we do this Christian life? How can we get through the many trials and temptations? How can we overcome the attempts of the enemy to bring us down? How can we be ready? Here is the answer:

Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray!

“…they should always pray and not give up.”

So many have said to me in the last few days how they haven’t heard many sermons on the return of Christ and how the spiritual conversations that are had seem to be more about the kingdom now than the kingdom to come. I am sure many have lots to say about that. But what I do know is that I need to turn the finger away from others and back on to me. I need to ask, ‘Am I longing for His return in my lifetime?’ ‘Am I honestly that bothered?’ ‘Where is the evidence that I believe He is coming?’ ’Does my prayer life contain prayers for His return?’ ‘Am I praying the prayer of the Spirit as in Revelation 22:17 the Spirit and the bride say COME?’

Or have I given up?

I wonder if the sign of spiritual awakening is not the things we may think it is but the simple fact of what we are praying. Are we praying still? Does it occupy its rightful place in our busy lives? What are the contents of those prayers?

What is probably true is that we all need to commence again praying even more fervently for His return. By doing so, as the Church responds accordingly then maybe the Church will fight the attacks of discouragement, maybe its members will not walk away, perhaps this fresh cause will draw many to Christ.

When the Son of Man comes, what will He find?

Are you ready? (2)

Luke 17:31-37

31 On that day no-one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no-one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Luke concludes the teaching on the return of Jesus with a warning: some will miss it and it will be too late.

I grew up in a time when the church talked a lot about the return of Jesus. Songs were sung in worship or simply listened to that highlighted the need to be ready. Songs like this popular one at the time by Larry Norman:

“There’s no time to change your mind

The son has come and you’ve been left behind

A man and wife asleep in bed

She hears a noise and turns her head he’s gone

I wish we’d all been ready

Two men walking up a hill

One disappears and ones left standing still

I wish we’d all been ready

The father spoke, the demons dined

How could you have been so blind?

There’s no time to change your mind

The son has come and you’ve been left behind.”

So what does Luke record of Jesus’ teaching?

If He comes during the day:

Don’t be like Lots wife. She valued too much what she had. She was close to safety but her longing for her home meant she became disobedient and looked back and she never made it.

Not holding on to those things now will mean on that day they won’t tempt you to go after them.

If He comes during the night:

Maybe you don’t value things more highly than the people you walk with and you are not going to turn from them. However, they may be taken from you. Two people sharing a bed or two friends working together may look like they could never be separated. They go through the night together. But by dawn they can be standing alone. The other has gone.

Some will use this for the rapture but Luke doesn’t make that clear except with the reference to Lot’s wife, the one who stays faces destruction and those who don’t turn back or are taken are saved.

Whether the day or the night time there will be no time to get ready. He will come. Being ready is for right now. Every day.

‘Where will this be?’ Is the question. It comes no doubt from the concern that we will miss it.

No one will miss it (as such) is the response.

Jesus uses an image of being able to spot a dead body because of the vultures circling in the sky. The point is that everyone will see this. It is a world event. So no-one will miss it but again many will miss Him because they are not ready for Him now. But we are ready aren’t we?

Are you ready?

Luke 17:26-29

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

So when will the day of revealing of the Son of Man be? When will He return?

Jesus never gives a check list that can be used as a tick off leading to the event.

Instead He used 2 famous stories of Noah and Lot to say what it will be like.

Firstly, life will be normal. No one will suspect a thing. Everyone will be focused on a bright future. As in the days of Noah.

Secondly, people will think nothing will touch them. They will have an attitude which says we are invincible. As in the days of Lot.

Thirdly, their will be no warning neither will there be people suspecting His return. It will be akin to destruction falling immediately and quickly.

Now look around today.

See how normal life is for the many?

See how everyone are planning for their future?

But those who follow Jesus are ready for Him.

Luke 17:22-25

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

This is a challenge for us in 2019.

Are we longing for the return of Christ?

Do we live our lives in expectation of it?

I lived during a time in the 70s of the many films of Jesus’ return. Pastors would preach a series on His return. We lived our lives not knowing if Jesus would come back that week! We lived with expectation and I think the Church was better for it.

What would we be doing if Jesus came back right now? Are you ready? Those were the questions.

Jesus tells his disciples there will come a day when they long for His return. May we be visited with such urgency again.

Jesus says his disciples must not go running after the false Messiahs that will come.

As if we would do that?!

Perhaps not. But what we are in danger of is for the Church to be so consumed with chasing after the latest NOW experience, the popular and the famous that our attention is taken off the real Messiah. “If only He would come” can be replaced with “If only I had this and that.”

But when he comes every eye will see him. There will be no doubt. He will supersede everything. All the WOW moments and people that we long to be like or to be near, Jesus will surpass them all. Like lightning in the sky so that everyone can see. The whole world will know.

Jesus then brings his disciples back to reality. The present reality for them is that Jesus would suffer and die first. For us our present reality is that we too may well suffer, we may struggle with defeat, we may battle

with the enemies of our soul that plague us. But we do so only for a short time. For there is a moment when the lightning will flash and what a day that will be!!!

Jesus is here!

Luke 17: 20-21 “²⁰ Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

At the time of Jesus most ordinary Jews and certainly the Pharisees believed that the Messiah would overturn the Roman occupancy and restore the land to God’s people. The Messiah’s kingdom would rule the land.

Maybe they are trying to trip Jesus up as they had attempted many times or maybe it was genuine, but the question comes when will this kingdom come?

So many people wake each day believing that something good is going to happen to them. The lottery of life will smile on them. They will get this and that. The doors will open. The roads will straighten and utopia will be discovered. They have such a longing of coming into a kingdom where they are the top not the bottom. “It is coming, we just don’t know when.”

Jesus answers and it disappoints. “It is already here.”

It is not coming. I am here, right now, standing in front of you.

For us now in our generation, Jesus is here by his Holy Spirit, of course. But for them, then, he was there physically.

Are we living for what is coming, for our glory and promotion?

Yes the Kingdom of God is coming, Jesus shall return, but can we say also that the Kingdom is here, right now, in our midst. Not in physical form but occupying physical bodies by His Spirit.

Wherever you are now say these words, “Jesus is here”.