No More Condemnation

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” – Romans 8:1-2 (NIV 2010)

It is difficult to imagine the amount of guilt and condemnation that many live under, and I am not talking of unbelievers here, for a man without Christ is guilty whether he feels it or not. But I am referring to those of us who have experienced the new birth and are alive to God. For many of us, when we came to the Lord, we accepted that we are forgiven and our past is written off, but after years of the reality of falling short of expectations (both man’s and God’s), we become laden again with guilt.

A brother once told me how difficult he found many parts of the Old Testament (OT) to be, because he often felt condemned by the God of the OT who seemed to be out to judge every sin. Yet the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament. He hasn’t changed. He is and has always been the same loving and gracious One. The problem is, that when a man is struggling with guilt, everything, even the smallest rebuke, can reinforce condemnation. O how we need a fresh revelation of God’s love for us! The man who has a revelation of God’s love for him begins to see even God’s rebukes, corrections and disciplines as evidence of his love and acceptance.

‘And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” – Hebrews 12:5-6 (NIV 2010)

I don’t know what you have faced or are facing that makes you feel condemned by God. Know this: God does not condemn you. He accepts you as his son. Yet part of the manifestation of God’s love and acceptance for us is his rebuke. So we shouldn’t lose heart when he rebukes us.

God rebukes those he loves. That is why many Christian leaders are missing it in our day when they equate every form of rebuke with condemnation. God rebukes us in love and we can rebuke each other in love.

The problem is not whether we rebuke or praise each other. Our problem is because we are not free from guilt, so we filter everything through ‘the law of sin and death’ (‘I have sinned so I am condemned’). Because of this we are unable to enjoy the liberty of the fresh vision that ‘the law of the Spirit of life’ offers us in Christ (‘I have sinned but Christ gives me new life – new beginnings!’). Our problem is internal – it is guilt. That is why in the next few weeks I want to explore how to deal with guilt. And to buttress my point that the God of the OT is love, I will be taking my first text from one of the books my friend found condemning in the Old Testament.

I want to encourage you this week to be honest with yourself and ask ‘Do I experience constant guilt?’ Then tell it to God and ask him to teach you how to move from living by ‘the law of sin and death’ to living by ‘the law of the Spirit of life’.

A shoot will come up from that stump

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse…” Isaiah 11:1

This verse in Isaiah is the beautiful prophecy of the glorious coming of the Messiah, the Shoot of Jesse, our Lord Jesus Christ. What struck me here is that it says he will be as a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse – not from the tree of Jesse but from the stump. The dictionary defines a stump as ‘the base of a tree trunk and its roots, after the tree has fallen or been felled’. This glorious shoot is going to come up from something that has fallen – a failure.

I find this very encouraging to my heart and I pray it encourages yours too for this is the way of our God – he knows how to bring something glorious out of a total mess. A stump always results from blows to a tree that cause it to fall. This is very much like us. Many of us have come through issues in life either as a result of our own fault or that of others that has left stumps in some areas of our lives. And it hurts to look at that stump and think of the tree it will never become. But hear what the Lord is saying to you today: “a shoot will come up from that stump”.

I don’t know where the stump lies in your life but I urge you to receive this word from God. You do not need to know how God will do it, I only believe God is asking you to hand over that stump and indeed your entire life to him, and “a shoot will come up from that stump”. A while ago I read the book “Me, Myself & Bob” – the gripping story of how Phil Vischer (creator of VeggieTales) watched his dream begin to grow and then was suddenly cut down into a stump. I was disturbed, but God was saying to me “a shoot will come up from that stump” too, because through it all Phil has come to a place where he has submitted the stump to God and is focused on walking with God. God specialises in giving us beauty for our ashes. He might not do it the way we imagined, but he will bring beauty out of that stump.

I urge you not to let your “Why, Lord?” or your feelings of guilt stand in the way. Don’t allow bitterness or unforgiveness to hinder you. God wants to bring out something gloriously beautiful from the stumps of our lives. Let’s believe him and co-operate with him by yielding to him and seeking only him.  I don’t know where your stump may lie – whether in your marriage, ministry, job, children or vision, but what I know God is saying to you is this: a shoot will spring up from your stump. Will you believe it?

Risky Love

“Men who have hazarded their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ”  Acts 15:26 (KJV)

As we read of the lives of God’s people in the Bible and in Church history, there are some who stand out – whose actions must appear either extremely heroic or else downright crazy. These were men and women who despised the very visible risks and dangers before them in their bid to be true to God and to his call on their lives. They all seem to have said, like Esther, “If I perish, I perish!”

In the 1950s there were five very promising young men in the USA who had all the opportunities and resources to stay home and make “something” of their lives. But instead they decided to follow God’s call upon their lives to go out to reach a small headhunting  tribe – the Auca Indians of South America – who had never heard of Christ. They all knew the risks involved – that there was a strong possibility that they could be killed; yet they went, and they were all killed even before they had the opportunity to preach to them. But through their death many of the Aucas today know Jesus Christ.

Like his Master, Mark’s life was short – 35 years and the carnal man like Judas would ask, “To what purpose is this waste?” (Matt 26:8 – KJV) . But the explanation Jesus the Lord gave, was, “for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47 – NIV) Now, we must understand that it is well pleasing to God when men “love not their lives unto death” for his sake. It is to our shame that we know very little of this kind of love in this age of the “bless me, bless me” gospel. But God seeks lovers – those who love much. Not in word alone, but in deed.

Let’s look now at four attributes of men with this kind of love, as portrayed in the lives of three of David’s mighty men in 2 Samuel 23 verses 13 to 17.

We are told first of all that these men “came to David”(v.13). They sought first fellowship and intimacy with the king. Men with this kind of love for the Lord are not primarily ambitious adventurers seeking to accomplish great feats. No, their first and all-consuming desire is, “that I may know him”. So they draw near. Any risk-taking or venture that does not spring from  intimacy with God  cannot please God.

Secondly, it was when they came close enough to David that those men were able to hear his longing – his heart-cry (v.15). Many of us today are unable to hear God’s heart-cry because we are too far from him. Too many unnecessary things have drawn our hearts away – “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things”. So many do not know God’s program for their lives, nor for their generation. Others have abandoned their initial calling and vision.

Thirdly, it comes as a sharp contrast to most of us today the way these men responded immediately to the king’s longing (v.16). (Note: David never requested his men to go on that dangerous mission.) Remember in Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah heard God telling of a need, to which he personally responded.  These men were not “specifically” called to do something. They could have felt ’not fully persuaded‘ that it was they who should do the work. Or they could have spent time deliberating on whether or not the task at hand was within ’their calling‘, as we often do today.

But love is much simpler. All that matters to a lover is the desire of the one he loves. The immediate reply of the lover is “Here I am, send me”. The lover starts to move in the direction of the Lord’s longing and trusts that the Lord would redirect him if the work were not for him.

Today we do the opposite. When we hear God’s longing or call we stay put or continue to move in the opposite direction hoping that God will not disturb us (most of the times he doesn’t seem to!). A brother who was well acquainted with the needs of the mission fields, told me it was more advisable (he must have meant safer) for one to go on pursuing his plans and leave God to direct if he wants one in the mission field. I told him that I felt it would be more pleasing to God if those who hear of the unreached would begin to head out to meet these needs, trusting God to redirect them if he has some other plan for them. Can’t God do that?

It’s the hardness of our hearts that makes us so cautious in responding to God’s heart’s desires. We are afraid of the consequences of God’s call on our lives. Yet “there is no fear in love”.

Lastly we see that they counted their Master’s desire more important than their safety, comfort, ambitions, or even their  own lives(v.16). They despised the risks and accomplished the task. Today we are taught that the more faith we have, the more our comfort will increase. We have learnt to love our lives. Yet these men “went in jeopardy of their lives” (v.17).

The heart-cry of God today is that all “the earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14 – NIV). There are still many ethnic groups or peoples unreached with the gospel today in Africa and all around the world. Researchers tell us that there are over 6,900 such remaining unreached ethnic groups. And God calls “whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” He calls us to leave our comfort zone and go out to quench his thirst. If we love him we will earnestly seek to find out from him (even with fasting and praying), how we can be involved in praying, going and giving of our resources.

Jim Elliot, one of the five men who was killed, said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. Jesus said “He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” John 12:25 (KJV)

Do you love him as much as that?

CAPRO SA Prayer Bulletin for September 2011

Needless to say, your prayers are our greatest need in this work as we seek to occupy till He comes in this region. All we need is a minute or two of your time daily to lift up this items. It is meant to be printed out and folded into four so it can easily be inserted into one’s Bible to use at quiet time.

Please feel free to forward it to those believers on your mailing list. And let us all individually use it to pray in our family altar and quiet time too.

I am really excited about the possibilities of what your prayer can do.
Thank you so much for your partnership

Blessings!
Chim

Please download the Sept 2011 Prayer Bulletin here