Transcendent Praise

Mark 9:23 “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Jesus and three of his disciples, Peter, James and John had come down from the mount of transfiguration to find quite a commotion involving his other disciples, teachers of the law and a curious crowd. When Jesus enquired what the argument was about, a man in the crowd explained that he had brought his son who had been tormented for many years by a spirit which had threatened his life repeatedly. The man was distraught because the disciples had been unable to cure the boy.

Jesus seemed exasperated with his disciples as he said: “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” (Mark 9: 19). Immediately the spirit in the boy recognized Jesus and threw him into a convulsion. That is so like the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy! Now face to face with the Son of God who has come that we may have life and have it to the full. (See John 10:10).

Jesus asked the boy’s father how long he had been in that condition. The father explained that he had been that way from childhood and then added: “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus’ response was immediate. “If you can?” “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Here is our challenge – can we believe in God enough to exercise power over the seemingly impossible situations in our lives? Notice that not only did Jesus put responsibility on the man to believe but he also asked him how long the situation existed. I believe it is not that Jesus did not know, but that he wanted the man to recognize how long it had taken him to find enough faith to come looking for help from God. Don’t accept seemingly entrenched negative situations in your life. As a believer, the Spirit of God dwells within you, that is the source of overcoming power. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11).

Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Everyone has faith and exercises it every day. In fact it is so automatic that we barely think about it. We exercise it every time we cross a bridge, drive through a tunnel, fly on an airplane or any other convenience or conveyance which men have engineered.

The Scriptures ask us to demonstrate a different kind of faith – faith in a God whom we have not seen and cannot touch. Little wonder then than the verses above take us back to Genesis and bring the God of creation into view. The writer is essentially asking us to look around and weigh the evidence and accept that everything we see was made by God out of nothing. God spoke it all into existence, except for man which he made by his hand and breathed his breath into him.

Once you understand and accept that, saving faith follows. It becomes easier to believe that this same God would have such love for all that he created, that he would want to have fellowship with the works of his hands, and that includes you. That though we have sinned, he would find a way to bring us back into fellowship – that way is Jesus Christ. Not only that, he has made sure that those who believe in Christ can have a fruitful life now and a glorious future beyond the grave. That is our hope. You have faith enough to grab a hold of this because God has given to each of us a measure of faith. That faith, when exercised, becomes grounded in everything God has said..

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

The life of the prophet Jeremiah was upended. He found himself confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of King Zedekiah of Judah who had imprisoned him because he was prophesying that the King of Babylon was coming to take Zedekiah and his subjects as captives to Babylon. Jeremiah could not back down however because he knew he was only delivering God’s message.

At the same time Jeremiah also received instructions from the Lord to do something which puzzled him given his circumstances. The Lord ordered him to buy a field from his cousin. He obeyed, had the transaction witnessed and secured the deed in a safe place for the future. Why? “For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” (Jeremiah 32:15).

After the transaction Jeremiah began to pray: “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you….” It is a long prayer and we see that Jeremiah came into agreement with who God had revealed himself to be to his people over time. The circumstances they were facing and their immediate future would be bleak because God was about to bring judgment on them for their rejection of him and their worship of idols instead. But God had shared with Jeremiah that afterwards he would bring his people back to their homeland and restore their fortunes.

What to do when your present circumstances defy reason? Come into agreement with God about who he is – the Creator, the Lord who is sovereign over everything. The Psalmist David realized that: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1). In the revelation of Jesus given to the Apostle John in Revelation 1:8 we read: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and is to come, the Almighty.” There is nothing in your circumstances that God does not already know what the outcome will be because he knows the end from the beginning. Trust him! The Holy Spirit affirms:

“I am the Lord God and circumstances do not disturb me nor do they derail my plans. I am God over everything and I can turn things around in a way no one could ever contemplate or foresee. All I require is that my children obey and trust in me. I am their forever God, seeing the end from the beginning. Be not anxious over anything for I will undertake says the Lord your God.”

Luke 22:28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials.

Just as the physical body suffers exhaustion, it is possible to feel exhausted in your spirit as well. Jesus knew that when he preached: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30).

I recall a song from Sunday school: “Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus, anywhere everywhere, I will follow on. Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus, anywhere he leads me I will follow on.” Little did I know then, that life’s test is the ability to follow Jesus and that along the way there would be many obstacles. Exhaustion is a natural part of that journey.

If you are facing what you consider one trial too many, know that your Lord understands. The trials you face are not meant to undo you, rather they are meant to help you grow in your faith in an awesome God. “…No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father, except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27). When he said “take my yoke upon you,” the implication is that he has one end of the harness and he is offering you the other. That is a place of privilege! “Learn from me” means that there is still much he wants to teach you about himself. His Holy Spirit will equip you to stay the course. “You are those who have stood by me in my trials” was spoken to those in Jesus’ inner circle on whom he conferred a kingdom, a seat at his table and authority! (Luke 22:28-30).

“And when you have reached your final destination, I will be waiting to embrace you and to place on your head the crown of life. So my beloved faint not, be not weary in well-doing for in due season you shall reap your reward.”

The above was just dictated to me by the Holy Spirit. God has you on his heart!

Romans 12:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

The best gift that God has given you is a measure of faith. Your relationship with Christ started as a gift from God. Jesus said:  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…” (John 6:44). You responded. That was saving faith.

You are now called to exercise living faith for “the just shall live by faith” It begins with our spiritual act of worship – the offering up of our bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. (See Romans 12:1) Our bodies are really the only thing we own and over which we have some control, hence we need to be conscious about what we do with it and to it. The apostle Paul challenges us: Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” (Romans 6:13)

The next battlefield is the mind: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2).

It is the yielded body and a mind that is renewed daily by the Holy Spirit which will allow us to live by faith and exercise all the other gifts that God has given us in a way that pleases him. We often think of people as gifted only if they are able to demonstrate great prowess at what they do. But in Romans 12: 8 Paul explained that different gifts are given to each of us by the grace of God to be exercised in proportion to our faith. This will result in better health and unity in the body of Christ in much the same way each part of the physical body, by its unique function, contributes to the whole. Identify and exercise the gift(s) that God has given you.

II Kings 6:6-7 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?”  When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there and made the iron float. “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

Elisha is referred to repeatedly in II Kings as “the man of God” and his adult life was characterized by miracles. Things had not always been that way. But he had been a “student” of Elijah the prophet and witnessed similar exploits by Elijah.  When Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha had been on that final journey with him – he saw him go up just as they crossed over the Jordan River together.

As a last wish Elisha had asked of Elijah: “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit”. Elijah had responded: “You have asked a difficult thing, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise, it will not.” As they walked and talked together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them. Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind . Elisha exclaimed in wonder: “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”  Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak which had fallen from him and went back to the Jordan to cross over and rejoin the company of prophets they had left behind. He struck the water with Elijah’s coat just as he had seen him do, but his trust was not in the cloak for he said: “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” It was the power of God that parted the water. (See II Kings 2: 1-14).

The parting of the water was Elisha’s confirmation that the same spirit of God that was on Elijah was now upon him. That is why the axe head floated! There was and is no logic to explain how tossing a stick into a river could cause something as heavy as an axe head to float. Let faith arise in your heart and allow the Spirit of God in you to rise up and claim victory over the impossible situation you are facing. God has a way of giving substance to the things you reach out to him for by faith.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

This is one of the Beatitudes which Jesus taught to his disciples and the crowds which followed him. We often read or recite them mindlessly but they speak to a level of consecration which is not automatic but which can be produced only in an environment in which the will, the heart, mind, and spirit are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A confrontation takes place whenever you begin to hunger and thirst for righteousness. The Holy Spirit will make demands of you in the sense that you are forced to choose between pleasing yourself and pleasing God. An intrinsic understanding of gospel truth is that we have no righteousness of our own which pleases God. However, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imparted to those who believe in him. Your job from then on is to continually make room for his will to be done in you. Therein lies your fullness and, often your fulfillment of purpose as well.

This concept is so radical that when you have complied with the Spirit’s leading, it will seldom make sense to your natural mind. You will, however, begin to know the joy of a closer walk with God.

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

The Oxford dictionary defines grace in Christian belief as “the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.” That is a mouthful! As I understand it Ephesians 2:8 is telling me that before we are saved, we are completely bankrupt before God. Just think of it – the very faith that came alive in you and me to enable us to respond to God’s love is a gift from him. In that act he extended grace to us. All I can say is “thank you Lord!”

The realization of how bankrupt we were is what should motivate us to be gracious to each other. That means that in extending grace, we can have no reservations or add conditions, because then it becomes a transaction. Life gives us opportunities to extend grace from time to time and it is a way to reflect the love of God and fulfill our purpose. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10).  It seems to me then that doing good works for the sake of “piling up credits” so to speak is not what extending grace is about. Rather, it is an emptying of self for the sake of another in such a way that it transforms you and the recipient.

John 3:2 He (Nicodemus) came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Nicodemus was a man of knowledge and influence. After all he was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council. Even if you do not know what those terms mean you get the picture. One thing is clear – he had been hearing about Jesus and all the miracles he had been performing. He decided he wanted to meet Jesus in person and he decided to go at night. We could speculate why, but since we are not told, let us leave that alone. He paid Jesus a compliment. Jesus responded: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” To this Nicodemus asked: “How can a man be born again when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” and explained further that this new birth is not a visible event but is a result of a move of the Spirit of God, which, much like the wind, comes and goes but cannot be seen. Nicodemus’ next question was: How can this be? To this Jesus posed the question: “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things?” (Read John 3:1-21).

Nicodemus had lived awhile and appeared to know it all and had it all, but he had missed the essential thing in life – you must be born again to enter God’s Kingdom. Jesus made no mention of any exceptions.  You have heard a lot and perhaps know a lot about Jesus, but do you believe in him? Have you been born again?

1 Peter 1:3-6 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

It is clear that the child of God cannot in these times look to the right or the left for purpose, joy or hope. Your focus cannot be on the material, economic or political pronouncements of the day especially when even the natural world around us is groaning with hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and upheavals of all kinds. These things are part of the landscape so to speak. Jesus gave us a full description in Matthew 24.

Peter, in the opening verses of 1 Peter Chapter 1, addressed believers scattered abroad and reminded them of the process by which they had been chosen: “through the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.” It is because of this why we are able to have peace in abundance no matter what is going on around us. Obedience to Christ means that we are hearing his voice, that we believe in him and that all that he and the Father have promised is true. That is the source of our present joy and future hope. Recognize the value of praising God now, even if at times it is a sacrifice. He is worthy!