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<BrethrenVoice>
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<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> |
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10 April
2003
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Today's
Bible verse: |
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He who dwells in the
secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty.
I will say of
the LORD 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will
trust.' - Ps 91:1,2
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In this issue
1)
<Devotional> Holding on to certain things - Jill
Carattini
2)
<Bible-Study> Cleansed by blood and washed by water - (Pt-9) -
Charles Stanley
3)
<Exhortational> Shamanism and prayer - Steve
Anderson
1)
<DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY>
HOLDING
ON TO CERTAIN THINGS
Jill Carattini
Recently, a brief letter from a family member painted a
telling picture of our nation's Capitol, and perhaps reflected the sentiments of
a nation in the grip of the unknown. She wrote, "Helicopters are circling
very low, sirens are screaming, the police are parked outside. On the
other hand, children are playing and laughing outside my window during
recess. It is an uneven and uneasy situation….
It is not hard to sense
that we are living in times marked by uncertainty; and often, it is this sense
of the unknown, the weight of things uncertain, that can all too easily stifle
hope and foster despair. And whether your fears originate from military
battle or a battle with cancer, whether your worry is of natural disaster or
marital disaster, political unrest or emotional unrest, the question is the
same: How do we get through uneven and uneasy times? Or as Ravi
Zacharias has asked, "How do you steady the soul when the heart is breaking?"
(Footnote 1: Light in the Shadow of Jihad )
A powerful illustration
emerged from the bombing raids of World War II where thousands of children were
orphaned and left to starve. Many of these children were rescued and sent
to refugee camps where they received food and shelter. Yet even in the
presence of good care, they had experienced so much loss that many of them could
not sleep at night. They were terrified they would awake to find themselves once
again homeless and hungry. Nothing the adults did reassured them—until
someone sent a child to bed with a loaf of bread. Holding onto their
bread, the children could sleep. If they woke up frightened in the night,
the bread seemed to remind them, "I ate today and I will eat again tomorrow."
(Footnote 2: Dennis Linn, Sleeping with Bread,
(New York: Paulist, 1995) p. 1)
Dear friend, may I suggest,
in times of uncertainty, we hold on to what gives us life.
A similar illustration
emerges from the Gospels. Before going to his death Jesus Christ spoke to
his disciples of the times lying ahead of them, times that they would face
without his physical presence. He said, "In a little while, you will see
me no more; then, a little while later, you will see me." At his words the
disciples responded, "What is this that he telling us? We don't understand
what he's talking about!" (Footnote 3: John 16:16,18)
But now listen to how Jesus responds to their uncertainty. At the end of
his talk with the disciples about things uncertain he says to them, "These
things I have spoken to you, so that in me you might have peace. In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world." (Footnote 4: John 16:33)
Christ reminds us that
peace can transcend understanding when we cling to the One who gives us
Life. It is interesting to note that his use of the word "peace" portrays
that quiet state of mind, which is infinitely dissimilar to disquietness or
despair. It is as if Jesus says, "These things I have spoken to you, so
that in me you might be thoroughly quieted by what gives you life."
And truly, it is the
victory of Christ that gives us life, the surety of that victory that gives us
peace in uncertain times.
---
Copyright(c) 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).
Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias
International Ministries.
2)
<BIBLE-STUDY>
CLEANSED BY BLOOD AND WASHED BY WATER
(PART-9)
Charles
Stanley*
For ever
perfected: It cleanses, in the sense that we are perfected for
ever, in perpetuity, by that one offering. To make this a matter of work or
attainment on our part would be to deny the work of Christ. He has perfected in
perpetuity. It is the abstract statement of the value of His blood, in the
light. And if we are there, in the light, walking in it, we shall have this
blessed certainty.
But perhaps my
reader will say, I have been told that verse means this: 'that if a believer
sins, he must come to God again, as he came at first, for a fresh application of
the blood of Christ; and it will cleanse him again from his sins'.
Now read the
verse carefully. There is no question here of 'if we sin', that is, if we do not
walk in the light; but 'if we walk in the light'. We will look at that question,
'if we sin', shortly. It is of all moment rightly to divide the Word of
God.
If I said, 'The
gas lights this room' [Written in the second half of the XIXth
century], this would not mean it is gone out, and needs a fresh
application, needs lighting again. If I said, 'The sun shines in the heavens,
dispelling all darkness', this would not mean there needs a fresh application of
the sun's light to do so. No, such has been the misuse of this precious verse
that some have fallen into the fatal error, that if a believer sins he is no
longer a child of God. But more of this presently.
A blind man could
not see that the gas lit the room, or that the sun lights the heavens. If a man
is in darkness, he cannot see this wondrous truth, that the blood of Jesus puts
away sins, cleanses from all sin.
As 'Aaron shall
lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their
sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. And the goat shall bear upon him
all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited'. Even so have all our sins been
transferred to Jesus.
'The Lord hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all' (Isa. 53:5-11). 'So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many'. 'But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God'. [To be concluded]
---
*[Edited by Hugo Bouter]
3) <EXHORTATIONAL>
SHAMANISM AND
PRAYER
Steve Anderson*
...therefore I said, "Now the Philistines will
come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favour of the Lord." So
I forced myself and offered the burnt offering." And Samuel said, "you have
acted foolishly..." - 1 Sam. 13:12-13
The
book of 1 Samuel tells the story of a man who had the appearance of a worshipper
of God, but who had the heart of a witch doctor. His name was Saul. In his
disobedient act of sacrifice at Gilgal, King Saul showed that whatever
pretensions he may have had to serving the Lord, his mind was really on how to
make God do what he wanted. His foolish presumption cost him his kingdom, his
dignity and eventually his life. His example can teach us very important things
about our approach to God.
Notice
that at Gilgal Saul was involved in a very respectable activity; he was offering
a sacrifice to God. Notice also that he was seeking a good thing; Divine
blessing upon the Lord's people in their battle against the enemies of God.
Furthermore, his intentions in preparing the burnt offering were beneficent
toward the people; he was striving to keep them unified in purpose. But his
infraction against God's order shows that Saul had a twisted understanding of
what a sacrifice was really about. He was trying to force God to bless his
actions. He must have known that the manner in which he was offering it was
contrary to the Lord's commandments, but that didn't stop him because he was
even more strongly convinced that offering the sacrifice would work for him. It
would produce the effect he desired -- it would oblige God to bless him. To
Saul, a burnt offering was not so much an act of devotion as a technique, a
method for inducing the Lord to "do the right thing" by blessing His people's
efforts at the war. It was a strategy for invoking God's
favour.
This is
shamanism. It might seem like true religion, but it actually has far
more in common with witchcraft. Its trappings are the trappings of the Divinely
given Jewish system of sacrifice; but its objectives are those of the occultist.
The goal of the occultist is to find the techniques for manipulating things in
the physical world in such a way that the spiritual world will respond. He is a
maker of charms, spells, rituals and incantations, which he hopes have spiritual
power. He seeks to gain control over his destiny. He is in search of the right
words or techniques to get what he wants; to gain supernatural control over
whatever forces guide his fate. In effect, shamanism is the belief that
through the right technique people can gain a measure of control over God, at
least to coerce or influence his favour. Saul viewed sacrifices as a
shamanistic activity. He was already leaning toward the occultist's
view of God. There is a very small step indeed between Saul's kind of sacrifice
and his decision to go to the witch at Endor.
This
just shows us how subtle the human heart can be. We can be involved in religious
activities. We can be addressing the true God. We can be seeking for something
which seems to be an unqualified good. But with all this, we can still be
practicing shamanism, not obedience. The difference is in the
motivations of our heart, not in the trappings of our religious activity. If we
are really hoping to sway God, to change His mind or to direct Him merely
through our use of a particular set of words or religious postures, then we are
guilty of being like Saul. We are thinking uncomplimentary things about His
intentions toward us, and we are trying out techniques on Him, hoping to bring
him to our side.
When we
pray, we must be wary lest our attitude should slip into shamanism. We
must not imagine that we can find any combination of magic words which can force
God to respond favourably to our requests. It does not matter even if the words
are, "Our beloved Lord and Heavenly Father..." if we are using it as an
incantation to provoke the Lord to respond to us. The fact is that our Father
already loves us, and He is always doing that which is best for us. Our role is
to trust in that, and to petition Him as to how we may move in sympathy with his
good will. It does not matter how pious and flattering, or even how Scriptural
our words are if the goal in our hearts is to bend the Lord to do our will. We
cannot coerce Him. He is in control - we are not. He is not fooled by fine
language. God looks on the heart (1 Sam 16:7).
When we
come to Him, it must not be to "get something done," it must be to experience a
true conversation with God. To have an authentic conversation with someone, you
must be as interested in receiving what he has to say as you are in giving him
information. You must not come to the discussion with the objective of getting
your own way, and of employing a strategy to manoeuvre your friend into doing
what you want. That is not conversation. That is manipulation. People rightly
resent those who are always angling, always trying to get something, always
trying to use them for some purpose. They want to be viewed as valuable, as an
end in themselves; they do not want to be treated as merely a means to get to
something else. Fellowship with God is the good purpose that we seek when we
pray. Every petition, every request and every thought must be subservient to
that purpose.
When we
come to Him, we must remember that we are meeting with a real Person. He is not
a "force" for us to tap, nor is He an object for us to act upon. He has His own
perspective, values, emotions, intentions and objectives. He is not merely a
collection of attributes; He is an integrated personality. As such, he deserves
our utmost consideration, deference and respect. He has invited us to consult
with Him, to enlist His aid and to request His favour; but He has not invited us
to regard Him as an impersonal source of supply. To forget this is to insult the
Lord by denying His the truth of His personhood. Even from our limited
experience with human interactions, we should know this. If, when we speak to
our friends and acquaintances we use conversation in a coercive way, we are
dehumanizing those to whom we are speaking. We are reducing them to objects for
our manipulation. We are making them into instruments. They respond by closing
their hearts to us; and we deserve it, for our interest in them is not genuine.
We are trying to make them pawns in our selfish game. If we habitually treat
others in this way we will soon have no real friends at all.
Because
God is a Person, we also must not come with a precooked idea of what we want.
When we come to converse with a person whom we truly love and respect, we come
without ulterior motives. We have no hidden agenda. Instead, we come to discuss
and share openly. We are willing to change our minds about what ought to be
done. We are interested in what achieves the goals of others, not merely in what
achieves our own goals. We are in a tractable frame of mind. We are hoping to
learn. We are willing to negotiate. We are prepared to change direction. Our
primary objective is not in getting something for ourselves, but in finding out
what is pleasing and beneficial to all concerned. If our best hopes are
realized, then we will leave the conversation with an arrangement that will
strengthen our friendship and coordinate our purposes; but whatever ideas we may
have had at the start will have changed. They will have been transformed by the
process of honest communication.
In just
this way, our conversation with the Father ought to be authentic and sincere.
When we pray, we ought not to be so brash as to imagine that we know what must
be done before we even begin. We do not know any such thing. Our ways are not
God's ways. We really ought to come to open our hearts to Him. We ought to begin
with His Word, and yield ourselves to the implorations of His Spirit through our
entire time of prayer. We ought to think deeply on His will, meditating on His
Word all the while. We should let our words be few, and ears be open. We should
know from the start that we ourselves must be transformed by the experience, and
that whatever we thought at the beginning, it will be different at the end.
After all, He who knows what we need before we utter it does not need to be
"brought around to our way of thinking"; we need to be brought around to
His.
In
short, true conversation with God is free from the attitude of
shamanism. It is not about getting things, no matter how good those
things may seem to be. It is about having fellowship with a Person, sharing our
thoughts, concerns and hopes, and reveling in our mutual joys. It transforms the
one who prays, renewing the mind and heart. Its outcomes are predictable only to
God; but because He is the One who is in control of all things, it is our most
wonderful opportunity to express confidence in his ultimate goodness, and to
trust in the kindness of His intentions toward us.
---
[*Courtesy: JRM
Pages]
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