There are times whilst I am praying for people, that if I am being honest, from a human prospective I think it not possible for them to change. Sometimes during these times I think of Paul and how God met him on the road to Damascus. I find this encouraging because, if God can meet Paul and completely change his life around, then it is possible that God can still do the same thing in the life of someone today.
With that in mind I came across the following amazing example of this in the current Open Doors prayer diary.
A policeman arrived at an underground pastor’s home to arrest him, but he was not in. His 10-year-old daughter invited him to wait. She made him dinner and, saying grace, thanked God for the food and this ‘good man.’ Overwhelmed by her love, he became a Christian and is now helping protect the church.
Praise God for this incredible testimony illustrating the wonder of salvation!
Every Monday morning at approximately 9.15am I receive a notification on my mobile phone which shows me the average amount of time per day I have spent on it during the last seven days. The notification compares that with the previous seven days, so I have a week-on-week comparison. Additionally, it contains a bar chart showing my daily use and lists the three apps I have used the most in the last seven days. There have been numerous occasions where I have looked at the notification and felt embarrassed at the amount of time, I have spent on the phone during the last seven days. It is not unusual for me to vow to myself that I need to address this, but it is still a work in progress for me!
Whilst mobile phones are particularly useful, it is sad to see so many of us who seem outwardly to be addicted to our mobile phone. The following examples spring to mind:
Young mothers, out with their children, just staring at their phones rather than interacting with their children.
People walking their dogs and glued to their phones.
When people are waiting outside public toilets for family and friends, invariably they will be looking at their phones.
Friends and family sitting in a pub or restaurant and gazing at their phone rather than speaking to their companions.
Now obviously, there may be occasions where people are awaiting urgent communication from someone, and it is right for them to be closely monitoring their phones. However, if we are being honest, we do not normally need to be constantly staring at our phone. There are certainly better things that we could do with our time. I very much doubt if there are many people who on their deathbed express regret about not spending enough time on their phone during their life!
How do we therefore tackle our mobile phone addiction?
In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul lists the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the final one he mentions is self-control. I know from a personal perspective that there are times when I could read a chapter in a book instead of scrolling through my phone. On those occasions I need to respond to promptings from God to exercise self-control, thus making better use of my time. It is not actually difficult to pick up a book rather than a phone. However, I will need to have the discipline to exercise self-control. There will be times when it is a struggle and a battle, but God has provided the means to assist us in this.
I close with a prayer from Psalm 90:12 which we might find helpful:
“Teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom.”
This week I am sharing some articles written by other Christians during May 2021, which I hope you might find helpful. I have included an extract from the article beneath each link to give an indication of the content of each one.
Jonathan Landry Cruse writes “If you’re struggling with that one sin that never seems to go away, the one that has a perfect record when facing off against you in the ring, that’s when you need the good news of the inexhaustible grace and love of Jesus more than ever. Why? Because when we’re low we’re more likely to believe that devilish lie that God’s love is contingent on our performance. We may think that his forgiveness can be depleted. We sin again—for the umpteenth time—and then think, “Will God really forgive me this time?” For those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, here’s your answer: Yes! To remember that, take to heart these three truths.”
Scott Hubbard starts this article by saying “No preacher, upon looking up from his pulpit, hopes to see what I saw mid-sermon one Sunday morning: a man in the last row, head tilted against the back wall, sleeping like Rip Van Winkle.
A humbling moment for a young preacher, to be sure. Yet as I remember that drooping face several years later, a question comes to mind that brings a humbling of a different kind: How many church gatherings have I attended where, as far as spiritual attentiveness goes, I might as well have been sleeping?”
Glenna Marshall shares some thoughts about her Bible study group, as they studied the book of Joshua, “In January, my Bible study group began reading the book of Joshua. We finished this week. That’s nearly five full months in one book of the Bible. Week after week, we read a portion of the text and answered the same questions about each passage. We discussed faithfulness, obedience, idolatry, worship, war, apostasy, promises, covenants, and the gospel…….. For these five months, we have laboured to understand, have come with our questions and our struggles, and have been encouraged by the hours of study each person brings to the table.”
Tim Farrow addresses the important issue of modelling what it means to disagree well. “As Christians we should seek to model a better way. We can – and should – be angry at injustice, but we must see those who take a different view to us as people of immense dignity created in God’s own image. As such, we are to treat them with kindness, gentleness and respect. We see today’s political issues as important to the welfare of our neighbour… but at the same time we also consider those issues to be temporary. Just as every ideology and every government is temporary, so we need not panic or explode in fury if we find ourselves on the losing side, nor gloat and denigrate our opponent if we are winning.”
Michael J Rhodes says “When I walked up to my church’s outdoor Easter service, my first thought was a joyful one: “I have missed this so much.” But my second thought was much more unsettling: “I forgot how much I missed this.”
The pain of the pandemic has extended to every part of our lives. Some have lost loved ones. Some have lost jobs. Once-in-a-lifetime celebrations have gone uncelebrated. And many churches have made excruciating changes to our worshiping life. For some congregations, that has meant moving most of what we do away from in-person gatherings and on to the Zoom meetings, livestreams, and conference calls that have dominated our waking, working, and worshiping hours.
Emma Heath speaks about the how Jesus filled her soul with hope. “It amazes me that life was once so dark and hopeless and now, because of what God has done – and is still doing – it’s a life beyond my wildest dreams. Through God, I see how my battles have become blessings, helping people as I journey forwards.
Dealing with pain properly, rather than turning to substances, unhealthy habits or coping strategies is not for the faint hearted. Recovery – and developing new, healthy ways to deal with pain, as well as dealing with the root causes of trauma – takes commitment and dedication. Yet it is so worth it. The more effort you put in, the more you see the changes in yourself. I’ve stopped blaming the world and my past, and instead, through Christ, have learnt to forgive myself and others. The world is a mess and it’s so easy to blame everyone and everything for bad behaviour, yet having faith has helped me to do what I couldn’t do for myself. Change is possible.
I have recently been away for a few days on holiday down to the coast. During this time, I was able to do several walks ranging from between 5 miles to 12 miles in length. Most of these walks were along sandy beaches. I especially appreciate the beauty of the beach and the sea, never tiring of them. I really enjoy returning from a walk knowing that although I may feel tired, that the walk has benefited me.
It was great just to get away and enjoy the experience of fresh air and sunny weather (well some sunshine at least!). I returned from my holiday feeling fit, refreshed, and healthy, both physically and mentally.
Often when I am away, I think to myself how nice it would be to be able to do this every day. I make plans in my mind about how when I return, I will try to do several hours of exercise more each week. Unfortunately, though this is not possible as 5 days a week I am at work, and therefore cannot fit time in my schedule for this amount of exercise each week.
Whilst I would not describe myself as someone who is obsessed with keeping fit, I do think it is important. I am not a person who visits the gym, my sole form of exercise is walking. Most weeks, I will aim to walk between 20 to 30 minutes per day between Monday to Friday. At the weekends I normally walk between 1 to 2 hours each day.
However, although I enjoy walking and firmly believe that physical exercise is good for you, I know that we are not put on earth simply for this reason. Why you might ask?
My answer is based on what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:8). I like the way that the Amplified Bible translates that verse:
For physical training is of some value (useful for a little), but godliness (spiritual training) is useful and of value in everything and in every way, for it holds promise for the present life and also for the life which is to come.
For someone like myself, who has always enjoyed sport and exercise, this is an interesting and challenging verse! Paul is not saying that physical exercise is bad. In fact, he fully acknowledges it does have some value for us. However spiritual training / exercise is significantly more beneficial to us. It benefits us both in this life and prepares us for the life to come. Whereas physical exercise is just for now.
Therefore, we need to remember the importance of spiritual exercise, for example: prayer, bible reading, worshipping God, putting sin to death, and living a Godly life for Him.
Keep yourself fit physically but more importantly make sure you keep yourself spiritually fit too.
During the last 14 months we have seen many changes to life as we normally know it. One of those changes has been watching sporting events taking place in empty stadiums. Instead of hearing the roar of the crowd there has been silence. It just does not seem right. Although the TV companies have given viewers the option of listening to artificial crowd noises. Personally, I am not a big fan of them.
Whilst I like football, I have found myself getting increasingly bored with watching it being played in empty stadiums. In fact, I sometimes find it takes me a while to work out whether a goal has been scored due to the silence in the grounds. Under normal circumstances there would be a roar from the crowd. But now there is nothing. It is just not the same game without the crowd. Football needs the fans. Even a dull game can appear exciting with a lively crowd at the match.
With the lack of crowds and matches devoid of any atmosphere I decided initially not to watch the FA Cup Final last Saturday. My plan was probably to switch on in the last 15 minutes just to see the result. I had no intention of watching 90 minutes of fake crowd noises. However, on the news on Saturday morning they mentioned that there were in fact going to be about 20,000 fans let in for this match. Although that is less than 25% of the capacity of Wembley stadium, it certainly better than zero fans! Additionally, both Chelsea and Leicester City fans are quite noisy, so I changed my mind and decided to watch the game.
I am glad I made that decision because it was great to see football fans back in a stadium for a match. It did look a bit strange though seeing many of them wearing facemasks. That aside I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the game too. It was just like the old days: fans singing for their team, booing certain opposite players, and singing songs directed at the opposition fans. This was football as I remember it. The atmosphere was so different to the 2020 FA Cup Final which was played in front of an empty stadium.
Obviously playing a game at Wembley with 20,000 fans present means that it was over 75% empty. But this is a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully one day soon it will be possible to have stadiums 100% full again and no facemasks on view.
“We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
If you watch a runner competing in the London Marathon, one of the important qualities that they require to finish the race is endurance. They will need to overcome physical hardships and keep on going even when their body would want to give up. What is it that keeps them going when the easiest thing to do would be to quit? There can be any number of personal reasons which motivate them to keep on running and not give up. Deep down inside them they refuse to quit and are determined to finish the race no matter the cost. This is what drives them on to the end.
When Paul prayed for the Thessalonians, he remembered their endurance before God. However, the endurance of the Thessalonians was not one that was based on their own determination but instead it was inspired by their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we use the word hope it is often in the context of optimistically wishing something might happen which may be unlikely e.g. “I hope that it is dry tomorrow” or “I hope my team win the Champions League!” However, this is not the way that the word hope is used in the bible. The Greek word here is taken from one that means “to anticipate, usually with pleasure.” It signifies an expectation or confidence. This of course is not in ourselves but in the Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul reminds us.
Many years ago, we used to sing a worship song that contained the line “we have a hope that is steadfast and certain.” The Christian hope is indeed one that is certain and unwavering. It is a trust in the One whom God raised from the dead and who is currently interceding on our behalf at the Father’s right hand. Our hope is not dependent on either our feelings or circumstances but instead it is based in the eternal God.
Today in many countries around the world Christians are persecuted for their faith in Christ. In North Korea just being known as a Christian is enough for an individual to be sent to one of the horrific labour camps in that country. Yet despite this Christians are prepared to suffer and die for Christ. What gives them the strength to continue in these circumstances? One of the answers to this is contained in Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians “your endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This week I am sharing some articles written by other Christians which I hope you might find helpful. I have included an extract from the article beneath each link to give an indication of the content of each one.
George Sinclair starts this article off by saying “You will never have enough time to read the Bible. If you wait until you have enough time to read the Bible, you will rarely read the Bible. The world, the flesh and the devil will help fill your day. This means that you have to choose to take time. You will have to sacrifice doing something else so you have time to read God’s word and pray to Him. You need to pray that the Lord will help you set time aside so you can spend time with Him. Here are some pointers.”
Jesus did not put requirements on coming into his presence, and neither should we, argues Rev Dr Matthew Roberts, one of over 1,000 church leaders to have signed an open letter to parliament in opposition to vaccine passports
Our Lord Jesus, for obvious reasons, never met anyone with Covid. But he did meet numerous people with another infectious disease, and one that was arguably much worse. Leprosy was, with good reason, feared by the people of Jesus’ day. It attacked the skin and living flesh, causing hideous wounds and often death, though not without years of suffering first. It also brought social isolation of the most miserable sort. To be a leper was to be cut off from society; God’s law required it.
Chris Wright asks the question and supplies the answer: “Why should anyone in the 21st century read books by someone whose prime years of global evangelical leadership were fifty years ago in the 20th? The answer could be summarized in three words that we use in Langham Preaching to identify what is required in good biblical preaching: Faithfulness, Relevance, and Clarity.”
Murray Campbell shares some thoughts on the recent funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh.
“As we viewed the royal funeral from our sofa, absorbing the sight of the ceremonial and the personal, the figure of a Queen in mourning and the sound of stunningly beautiful music, the common face death struck a note.”
Tim Challies says “We do hear about people who welcome big cats into their homes and we all have a pretty good idea of how such stories are likely to end. While we would be surprised to hear of a man being killed by his pet hamster or pet budgie, we are not at all surprised to hear of a man being mauled by his pet tiger. Why are we not surprised? Precisely because it’s a tiger!”
Greg Moore recalls “I can still see the moment clearly in my mind. At a Christian conference, a friend whom I had been studying the Bible with that semester shared with our group that he was ready to follow Jesus. He broke down in tears. We were football players. We didn’t cry. I honestly couldn’t believe it. He not only accepted my invitation to attend the conference, but he even repented of sin and believed upon Christ for the forgiveness of sins. I sat watching it unfold in absolute awe.”
Whilst speaking about the destruction of the Temple and signs of the end times, Jesus warns his disciples that they will face persecution as followers of Him from within their own family.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” (Mark 13)
In India, a wife was so badly beaten by her husband when he found her praying that she had to have five stitches in her head.
In Kyrgyzstan, a wife is being beaten by her husband and he is threatening to divorce her because of her faith in Jesus.
In the Arabian Peninsula a sister is facing severe abuse from her family-in-law since accepting Christ.
In Tanzania, a young lady who is 18 years old, secretly converted to Christianity after graduating from high school. She was selected to attend a college, but when her family learnt of her conversion, they rejected her and stopped paying her college fees.
In the West we might complain about Christianity being marginalised and be concerned about what could happen in the future. However, in many counties in this world the price of following Christ is very high as we can see in the examples above. They already right now are facing some incredibly tough situations. There are also other countries where it is just too dangerous for people to be open about their faith and they must keep it secret.
If you wish to pray for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the countries where it is most dangerous to follow Him, then the following resource will be helpful to you.
In January, each year Open Doors publish their World Watch list which lists the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian. The top 10 countries are currently:
North Korea
Afghanistan
Somalia
Libya
Pakistan
Eritrea
Sudan
Yemen
Iran
India
For many years Open Doors have been doing a very good job in supporting the worldwide persecuted church and if this is something that interests you, I would highly recommend that you explore their website.
There are many countries in the world today where life can be difficult for Christians. In these countries both individual believers and the church face persecution for their faith. For those Christians who live in Muslim countries Ramadan can be especially tough and challenging for them.
We may at times feel helpless to know how we can assist and support our fellow Christians in their struggles. One thing we can do though is to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. But what should we pray?
Open Doors is an organisation that works to supports the persecuted church throughout the world. There are many resources available on their website to help us in praying for our fellow Christians.
They also have a prayer diary and the following five prayers are taken from this month’s issue in which some of the prayers focus on Christians in Muslim countries during Ramadan.
Ramadan is a lonely time for many believers from Muslim backgrounds, especially those who must keep their faith secret. Many feel intimated because they are not fasting. Pray that isolated believers will know the Lord’s comfort and be strengthened in their faith.
There is an urgent need for Christians who can stand by believers from Muslim backgrounds, to model the Christian life to them. Pray that churches will be places where believers from Muslim backgrounds are warmly welcomed and receive the love and care they need – especially during Ramadan.
Believers from Muslim backgrounds often visit their families during Ramadan in Malaysia, but these visits can be incredibly difficult, as not every family member supports their decision to follow Christ. Pray for wisdom for these believers and ask God to use them to open the hearts of their families to the love of Jesus.
Pray for wisdom and boldness for Christians in Muslim majority areas looking for ways to share the love of Christ with their Muslim neighbours during Ramadan. Pray that many Muslims will begin their journey towards Jesus as a result of their witness.
A Christian in Indonesia was rejected by his family when he became a believer, but he still plans to visit them this Ramadan because he wants them to know about Jesus. Pray for courage and protection as he shares the good news and ask the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of his children and relatives to receive the seed of the gospel.
Open Doors do a very good job in supporting the persecuted church and if this is something that interests you I would highly recommend that you explore their website
Devastated! That is how I felt. I had hoped that he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. But our dreams were cruelly shattered. It was over.
Last Sunday when he rode into Jerusalem it seemed like my dream was shortly going to be fulfilled. Israel would at last be redeemed and set free. The crowds had cheered him into the city. Yet by Friday the crowd were crying for his crucifixion. He died later that day. All my hopes and aspirations were shattered.
I decided to remain in Jerusalem until Sunday before returning home. Just before leaving, some women from our group of his followers, came back from visiting his tomb and said his body was missing. They reported that they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive. A few of our men ran out to the tomb and confirmed on their return that the body was indeed missing.
Hearing this news left me perplexed. I did not know what to do. I eventually decided to head back home and set out with Cleopas to walk to the village of Emmaus. It was time to rebuild my life again.
As we walked along the road discussing everything that had happened, we both felt sad and confused about the events of the last week. Shortly after our journey began, we noticed a man walking alongside us. He asked us what we were talking about and we told him about our hopes that Jesus was the Messiah and how he had been crucified. We also told him too about what the women and men had seen when visiting the tomb.
The stranger then started explaining the scriptures to us showing how they had predicted the Messiah would suffer before entering his glory. He went through the writings of Moses and all the prophets explaining from the scriptures the things concerning himself. As he spoke, I could feel my heart burning within me. Hope was being renewed in my heart.
We had almost reached Emmaus and the end of our journey. The stranger though appeared to be going on. Cleopas and I asked him to stay the night with us as it was now getting late. He agreed and we sat down to eat. And then it happened! The stranger broke bread and blessed it, suddenly we recognised who he was. At that same moment he disappeared.
Looking at each other we both knew that we had been with Jesus, walking and talking with him along the road to Emmaus. Jesus who had been crucified three days ago was alive. He had risen from the dead. The joy that flooded our souls was incredible. No more were our dreams shattered. Our hope had been restored. There was a purpose for living.
Very soon we were on the way back to Jerusalem to report this wonderful news to Jesus’ other followers. I would never forget that day. It totally changed my life. Our Lord has risen from the dead and this changes everything.
Still Learning 