506.“Encourage the Fainthearted.” [Oligopsuchos, ὀλιγόψυχος]

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

It is disappointing that the translators of the Authorized Version of the Bible [the King James Version] translated 1 Thessalonians 5:14 with these words, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”  “Feebleminded” translates the Greek word [oligopsuchos,  ὀλιγόψυχος]. This comes from oligos, ὀλίγος = small, few, light, slight,  and  psuchē,  ψυχή meaning breath , life, inner self, soul. 

The word “feebleminded” in our day seems to imply some form of diminished mental ability but that may not be the true meaning of the word. It is the only use of this word in the New Testament in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 where it is translated in the Christian Standard Bible as “comfort the discouraged” and in the English Standard version as “encourage the fainthearted.” This seems to imply a state of mind which can be strengthened through encouragement and comfort. 

We may find some help by looking at the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint [the LXX]. One modern English translation of the Septuagint is the NETS version [The New English Translation of the Septuagint] which we will use to find how the word is translated in the verses in which it occurs. 

The word [oligopsuchos,  ὀλιγόψυχος] is found in the following verses.

  • Proverbs 14:29, “A man slow to anger is abundant in prudence, but an impatient man is extremely foolish.” This is not a reference to a feeble mind but to an inappropriate response to a stressful situation. 
  • Proverbs 18:14, “A “sensible attendant calms a man’s anger, but who can endure a faint-hearted man?  Here the reference is to the difficulty of dealing with a man who is not strong emotionally. An angry man’s anger can be dealt with using the right treatment, but a person of weak emotional strength is more difficult to know how to handle.  
  • Isaiah 35:4  “Give comfort, you who are faint of heart and mind! Be strong; do not fear! Look, our God is repaying judgment; yes, he will repay; he himself will come and save us.“ The faint of heart and mind are able to bring comfort to others as they are themselves strengthened and lose their fear.
  • Isaiah 54:6 “The Lord has not called you as a forsaken and faint-hearted woman, nor as a woman hated from youth, your God has said.”  The nation as the bride of God had known exile for its sin and perhaps was emotionally weak as a result. But they would again experience His love for them.
  • Isaiah 57:15 “This is what the Lord says, the Most High, who dwells forever in lofty places— Holy among the holy ones is his name, the Lord Most High who rests among the holy ones and gives patience to the faint-hearted and gives life to those who are broken of heart:” Israel’s holy God promises that He will give patience and the ability to cope to those He had formerly deserted because of their sin. 

It seems overall that feebleness of mind is not what is really meant by this word. Rather the actual “little or weak in spirit” or emotionally weak seems to be the true meaning. As such it could apply to all believers from time to time. There will be times in the lives of all of us when we feel emotionally weak, confused or even anxious about the future. So it is comforting to know that the Lord has a real ministry to those who feel this way, as is shown in the ESV translation of 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” 

Encouragement rather than rejection is a ministry we can share with one another for the word for “encourage” here is [paramytheomai, παραμυθέομαι] meaning to exercise an influence by using words  to soothe, comfort, console, as seen in the other occurrences of the word in the New Testament, namely John 11:19, “and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.”  John 11:31, “When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.” And 1Thessalonians 2:12, “we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

Encouraging, consoling, comforting, strengthening the ‘fainthearted.” That is our privilege and responsibility.

Blog No.506 posted on Friday 17 November 2023. 

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Coping With Personal Grief, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Healing, Holy Spirit, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

505. REMEMBRANCE [Armistice] DAY. A Deeper Meaning.

Posted on November 11, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

Remembrance Day was formerly known as Armistice Day signifying the end of World War 1 at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. It is a time when people are encouraged to pause for a minute at that time to remember all those young men and women who fell in battle in times of war. 

It now has an added significance for me for it was at 11am on the 11th November 2019 that a Memorial service was held for my wife who had died a couple of weeks earlier.   When I realised the significance of the time I asked the minister taking the service if we could include a minute of silence at 11am and a short service honouring Remembrance Day. This he did. 

I have often thought how appropriate it was that my beloved wife Carole’s service was held at that precise time. My own father had fought in the trenches in France and Belgium in World War 1 in 1916-1918 and was one of the few who returned home in 1919 without serious injuries. He never spoke of the war except to share a couple of amusing incidents. Carole had an uncle she was never to meet for he went from India to join the British Army in that war and was killed by a sniper just a couple of days before the war ended. She herself was just a young child when Japanese bombers dropped bombs in World War 2 on Kharagpur in India where she lived but there were no serious injuries. Seated in the church for her Memorial service was one of my nephews, a Major in the Army who had served in 2 tours of duty in Afghanistan. I myself had had some experience of life in the services in National Service in the Royal Australian Navy and then in the Naval Reserve for 5 years. 

So every Remembrance Day now has an added dimension for me. I think of my own father who was a fine moral man who provided for his family as best he could, even in the Great Depression. I think of all those families whose sons or daughters served our nation but never returned home and the heartache that must have been for all those families. And now I think especially of my beloved wife who gave me so much love and support over almost 54 years of marriage and whom I miss so deeply. How blessed we are in life to have had parents who loved us, young people willing to risk their lives in serving and protecting our nation and wives or husbands who showered their love on us. It is good to remember, for we glorify God when we do so!

James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Blog No.505 posted on Saturday 11th November 2023

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Coping With Personal Grief, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Mental Health, Prayer, Real Life Stories, Salvation, Sanctification, TOPICS, Tributes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No.504.  The RAPTURE. If Only It Were True! 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

Is there a Rapture [a being caught up to meet Christ in the clouds ] that takes place before the Second Coming of Christ?  Some writers have expressed the view that the word Rapture is not in the Bible. It is certainly not in our English translations. But it is in the Latin version of the Bible in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where the Latin word [rapturo] is used to translate the Greek word [harpazo] meaning being caught up or being snatched. This is the context, 1Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.6 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up [harpazo] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Many Bible scholars believe that the Rapture precedes the great tribulation before the Second Coming of Jesus. The verses above seem to suggest that. They appear to say that Jesus could return suddenly at any time. He will bring with Him all those who have died in the Lord. Those who have already died whose bodies are “asleep “ will be raised first with resurrected bodies and will be joined by those still alive at His coming whose bodies are also transformed. They will be raptured or caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. From that time onwards they will always be in the presence of the Lord. That means that believers [the church] will not have to go through the tribulation but will return with Jesus when He comes to establish His kingdom on earth. 

There are many prophecies to be fulfilled before the second coming of Jesus but the rapture could occur at any time. The more we see the possibility of a worldwide conflict, the more it seems that the rapture could be near. But the great thing is that whether there is only one or two stages in Jesus’ coming, believers will go to be with Him in bliss forever. That is our great Christian Hope.

The RAPTURE. If Only It Were True! If it is true, it means that humans all around the world need to embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour and submit to him as Lord. There will be no time when He comes to make a last-minute profession of faith. The attitude we have towards Him at His coming will be the basis for the judgment He brings upon us. 

As Bible scholars continue to study the evidence for the second coming of Jesus and whether He comes in one or two stages, it is imperative for every human to be prepared by repenting of their sin and their rejection of His claim on their lives and to give their lives over to Him in an act of submission to His rule over us. 

A crowd who had witnessed Him feed 5000 people with five loaves and two fish later came to Jesus and He said to them, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:27. They replied with this question, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” John 6:28. They were anxious to know what “to work for the food that endures to eternal life” meant. Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” John 6:29.  Then he added, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:39-40.

The resurrection of all believers is God’s plan for the world and our Christian hope. But people need to be believers to receive eternal life and to experience the resurrection of their bodies. What a joy it is to know that one’s departed ones are now in bliss in the presence of Jesus and that one day we will be reunited with our loved ones in resurrected bodies when He comes to rapture us, to gather us all together to meet Him in the air. And to live with Him for eternity. 

The RAPTURE. If Only It Were True! It does appear that many respected biblical scholars from all over Christendom do believe the Rapture will take place as described in 1 Thessalonians 4 and could occur at any moment. My preference for an early rapture may be biased because I would not want any believer to go through the tribulation and because I am looking forward to seeing again my beloved wife of 54 years who went home to the Lord 4 years ago. 

Blog No.504 posted on Monday 06 November 2023.

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Coping With Personal Grief, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, Mental Health, Prayer, Questions and Answers, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, TOPICS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

503. COPING WITH THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

It will be 4 years tomorrow since I heard the nurse at the Palliative Care ward at Wauchope hospital say to me on the phone, “Mr Holbeck, your wife Carole passed away a few minutes ago.” I had been with Carole all day but she had been totally unresponsive. I had just arrived home when the call came. 

What do you do when your very best friend and confidante [who also happened to be your beloved wife of 54 years] is taken from you? Fortunately, the words of 2 Corinthians 5:8 came into my mind, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” From that moment I have thought of Carole as being in bliss in the presence of Jesus and that has eased the pain of her departure.  But every day as I look at her photo I tell her several times that I love her.  I don’t know if she can hear me but it does me a whole lot of good to keep on affirming my love for her.  

Another verse that I have found helpful is from Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” One can never forget the love one shared with one’s beloved for it was a gift from God in His abundant love. There will always be a great hole in one’s heart which our loved one once filled and there will continue to be moments of very deep sadness. But praise God, the weeping does get slowly less and joy begins to increase with every memory of her. 

As I live now without her, I continue to try to please  the Lord in everything I say and do whilst seeking to live a life that would continue to make Carole proud of me. It is a way of expressing my gratitude to God for bringing such a beautiful gracious loving woman into my life as well as my way of expressing my love and deep respect for the woman who stole my heart and who loved me till her dying day. True love never ends and even the memories of that love bring deep healing.  As I think of Carole and the blessings she brought into the lives of many people around the world my mind goes to the words of Proverbs 31:28-30, “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29  ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” 

Praise the Lord indeed for my dearly beloved wife Carole Ann Holbeck [nee Tapsell] 1943-2019.

Blog No.503 posted on Monday 30th October 2023.

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Coping With Personal Grief, Faithfulness, Glorification, Healing, Justification, Mental Health, Mini Reflections, Prayer, Real Life Stories, Salvation, Sanctification, Tributes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

502. Faith, Hope and Love in 1 Thessalonians 1. [The Example Given By  The Believers In Thessalonica ]

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

We are used to reading the three terms faith, hope and love combined in the one verse in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” But it may be surprising to find that St Paul grouped the 3 words in one verse in another two places, both in 1 Thessalonians.

The first reference is about the believers in Thessalonica. They had a special place in St Paul’s heart. He wrote to them these words, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3  remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:2,3. He went on to tell them that they had become an example to other believers, “So that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” 1 Thessalonians 1:7, 8.

The second reference is mentioned in his exhortation to the believers in Thessalonica, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8. This is similar to Paul’s reference to the armour of God in Ephesians 6:13-17 except there he mentioned “the breastplate of righteousness” rather than “the breastplate of faith and love” in Thessalonians. 

In a sense they amount to the same thing. Believers need to be ready always, to have victory over temptation and evil. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness [in Ephesians] is the same as donning faith and love as a breastplate in Thessalonians, for true righteousness depends on genuine faith and true agape love. Righteousness, faith and love all stem from the grace of God in Christ. In fact Paul used a simple term when he reminded believers in Galatia that they had “put on Christ,” “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Gal 3:27, and all belonged to the one body of believers in the world, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28. He also exhorted the believers in Rome “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” It means always allowing the Holy Spirit of God to produce the life of Christ in and through us so that it appears as though Christ is living His life in and through our human bodies. 

In both Thessalonians and Ephesians the helmet represented the hope of salvation. “Hope” is the blessed assurance of security for the present and the future for believers. In 1 Thessalonians it refers especially to the hope of the certain second coming of Jesus and all the consequent blessings which follow. 

We will look at all that entails in future articles on 1 Thessalonians.

Blog No.502 posted on Monday 16 October 2023.

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

501. How Acceptable Are Believers To God? The Message Of Ephesians 2:1-7

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

THE PASSAGE FROM EPHESIANS 2:1-7. Eph 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” 

SOME NOTES ON THE PASSAGE FROM EPHESIANS 2:1-7

1.]       The Bad News About Our Human Situation

All humans were once spiritually dead in sin! Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” This obviously means spiritually dead, not alive to God. That is a frightening thought, to be dead towards God. 

It was our trespasses and sins that had made us dead towards Him. We were once spiritually bound in sin! Controlled by the 3 enemies of humans.

  • Controlled by The World. Verse 2 “in which you once walked, following the course of this world.” “World” is [kosmos; κόσμος] and can mean the universe or here, the unbelieving world separate from and opposed to Christ. “Following” is kata meaning according to. They had lived lives in accordance with all others in the unbelieving world. 
  • Controlled by the The Devil. “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—.” Again ”following” is kata, according to. They were living not as God wanted but as the devil had tempted them to live. It was as though they were living as sons in a family of those always yielding to the devil’s temptations. 
  • Controlled by the The Flesh. 3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. The word “flesh” has many meanings but its use here seems to mean our fallen human nature that is opposed to God. We were doing what comes naturally to us as humans as we obeyed the mental and physical dictates of our fallen nature. 

The Result of giving way to the above 3 enemies of humans? God’s revealed assessment! “And were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” God is telling us as it is. We chose to follow the world, the flesh and the devil and incurred the wrath of God for our disobedience to Him. 

2.]       The Good News About What God Has Done About Our Human Situation

i]. His motivation for helping us. Mercy. Great Love!

Then come those magnificent words “BUT GOD”. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us.” Ephesians 2:4.  BUT! Is there a chance something could change our human predicament? There is every chance when God is involved! For He is merciful and loving.

GOD IS MERCIFUL. “being rich in mercy!” Mercy, not just pity, but compassion in action.

GOD IS LOVE! “because of the great love with which he loved us,” Love acted in Jesus to do something for us that we could not do for ourselves. 

ii]. His Method for Helping Us [Made Us Alive With! Raised Us Up With! Seated Us With HIM! 

It is interesting that each of the three verbs to “make alive,” to “raise,” and to “seat”  all have the  prefix [syn] attached to them meaning “together with.” The other interesting thing is that all these verbs are in the past tense. It is something that God sees as having been accomplished already. They are not waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus in glory. They are present-day truths we can believe and act upon.  

  • He made us alive together with Christ. He brought us from spiritual death to being alive in the spirit. From spiritual death to spiritual life! Eph 2:5 “[God] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” [Grace, mercy and love acted!] From death to life! Alive now in Christ.
  • He raised us up with Christ. From spiritual death and bankruptcy He raised us up and seated us with Him into the place of acceptance and spiritual authority. Eph 2:6 “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  God declares that He has identified us with Christ in His death [2 Tim 2:12], burial [Col 2:12], resurrection [Col 2:1] and His sitting at the right hand of God. We are identified and united with Him.

What a joy it has been to share those truths with believers over the years. To tell them how God sees them right now as believers. He tells us He sees us as being seated with Christ at the right hand of God, the place of acceptance, honour and authority. He accepts us as we trust in Him and we can never be more acceptable to Him than when we first believed. We need to become more available and useful to Him but we are already fully acceptable to Him. We are in the place of honour because God honours all those who humble themselves before Him and honour His Son by receiving Him as Saviour and Lord. We are in the place of authority because we are seated with Christ in the place of authority. Our faith-filled prayers have real authority. 

iii]. His purpose in helping us. To show the riches of His grace

Eph 2:7 “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God longs to display His rich gracious kindness to His people to encourage others to recognise His character and for them also to draw upon His mercy and grace.

 A SUGGESTED PRAYER TO PRAY BASED ON EPHESIANS 2:1-7. 

“Heavenly Father, We thank You that though we were dead in our sins, You made us spiritually alive in Christ. 

We thank You that when we were held in bondage by our three main enemies, You brought us liberty. 

  • You set us free from the power of the enemy around us, the pressure of the unbelieving world, as we began to trust in You.
  • You set us free from the enemy against us, Satan and the powers of darkness, so that we became free to live as You wanted us to live. 
  • You set us free from the enemy within us, our old nature, so that we could live for You by Your grace and power.  

We thank You too that in Your great love and mercy for us, You made us alive with Christ and made us to sit with Him in the place of honour and acceptance at Your right hand. 

We thank You that You have shown us and will continue to show us in the days ahead, just how much You love us. 

Accept our grateful thanks for all Your mercies to us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN!”

Blog No.501 posted on Wednesday 27 September 2023

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Praying our way through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, spiritual warfare, Temptations, TOPICS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

500. BECOMING THE PERSON GOD WANTS US TO BE

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

There is one thing that is certain in this universe that can never be prevented. That is, the Second Coming of Jesus. Jesus is coming again. This time as the judge of all people. St  Peter asked the question, “What sort of people ought you to be [in the light of His coming]?” 2Peter 3:11. He then answered the question, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 14  Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” 2 Peter 3:11-14.

How then do we prepare for His coming? By becoming the people God wants us to be, living lives of holiness and godliness. “Holiness” here is hagiais anastrophais [ἁγίαις ἀναστροφαῖς ] meaning holy conduct or the behaviour pleasing to God. “Godliness” is [eusebeia] which means reverence, respect, piety towards God. Together they speak of lives wholly dedicated to God in which He is pre-eminent in every  part.

It is interesting that we can play a part in bringing back the King. Peter says that by waiting for His coming,  living such lives, we can hasten the coming.  “Hasten” is from [speudō] meaning to quicken; to quicken in idea, to be eager for the arrival of. Some scholars suggest that the time of Jesus’ coming might come sooner if His people live as they should. Some evidence for that could come from what Peter said in Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20  that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21  whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”  There were conditions to be met before Christ could return and that included His hearers needing to repent and turn back to God.  Other scholars think the hastening is referring to the eagerness of people for His arrival. Both could be true.

1.   THE CONCEPT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.  (God’s rule over us.)

i. Every person is meant to live according to Kingdom principles. 

Humans are weakened by their fallen nature, the flesh, and fail to live as they should. As St Paul wrote, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:8. They need an inner motivation and an empowering to live lives pleasing  to  God.

That had been promised in the Old Testament in such passages as  Jeremiah 31:31-33  “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God would internalise His law in human hearts and His people would come to a deeper knowledge of Him. However Jeremiah does not state how that would be achieved. 

Ezekiel in Ezekiel 11:19 gives us an answer. Here is the promise that God would put His own Spirit in His people to make them sensitive to His will, “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20  that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Only then could humans be softened to desire to do what pleases God. Only then could they be inwardly motivated and empowered to obey God’s statutes and laws.

In Ezekiel 36:26 God says through Ezekiel that His Spirit would indeed motivate and empower them to do His will, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27  And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” God would change His people by giving them new hearts which would be sensitive to Him. He would also give His own Holy Spirit to indwell them and He would enable them to obey His rules. 

God’s resources to live in a way pleasing to God have been made available to believers by the gift of His Spirit to indwell them. 

St Paul put Christian living  like this, “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13. We work out the implications of our salvation [received as a gift of God’s grace when we believed] as God is working within us. His work in us gives us the willingness and the ability to do what pleases Him. So believers are to work out in practice what God is working inwardly within them by His Spirit. 

ii. Living contrary to these Kingdom principles causes damage.

a].       There is the danger of damage from the effects of hate, resentment, unforgiveness and other negative emotions humans hold within them. The Psalmist wrote of the effect of harbouring bitterness, “When I became embittered and my innermost being was wounded, 22  I was stupid and didn’t understand; I was an unthinking animal toward you.” Psalm 73:21-22. [CSB]. Any negative attitude that persists in a person has the ability to cause physical and emotional damage as well as spiritual damage from rejecting God’s command to forgive. 

b.        Psychosomatic illnesses. There is the danger that unhealthy thinking [psyche] can lead to unhealthy effects in the body.[soma]. That is why it is important to try to discover the root cause of illnesses.

c.         Pneumopsychosomatic. (Pnuema =spirit). [Psyche. Soma.) There is the further danger that those not having a relationship with God will suffer dis-ease which can lead to dis-ease in the mind and disease in the body.

iii. If we lived according to those Kingdom principles, we would be more likely to maintain health. 

a. Healing is accelerated as negative factors are dealt with. Being at peace with God [at ease with Him through repentance and faith] leads to peace in the mind and in the body. Healing can take place and good health can be maintained. 

b. Healing is accelerated as people learn to live by Kingdom principles. Jesus encouraged His followers to pray to God, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” It was a recognition that God was King and that He wanted His kingdom to come on earth in the lives of His people. But it was also personal, for it meant adding, “Your kingdom come – in me!” God wants to establish His kingdom in every human heart. But He will not override our freewill. We need to be willing to pray for His Kingdom power to influence our lives. 

2.   JESUS AS THE PERFECT HUMAN LIVING UNDER THE RULE OF GOD.  

Is there an example of a perfect human whose life we can follow? Yes, there is one example and His name is Jesus. He lived a perfect human life living under the rule of God. But wasn’t it easier for Him since He was the Son of God from all eternity? Surely He had power beyond our human resources? No, not as a human, for He “emptied Himself” as Paul described in Philippians 2:6-8. “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

What does Philippians 2:7 really mean? That Jesus “emptied Himself?” He could never empty Himself of His divinity as the eternal Son of God. But what He did when He became human was to forgo the privileges that were His as the Son of God so He could live as a true human. That meant having human fragilities such as  being tempted, becoming tired as He travelled, becoming thirsty and showing human emotions such as joy and sadness. Leon Morris wrote regarding the temptations of Jesus,  “No special  resource is open to Jesus. He met temptation in  the same way as we must, by using scripture and He won the victory.” How often did He draw upon His divinity to get Himself out of trouble when His humanity wasn’t enough to handle the situation? 

It raises a serious question that if Jesus lived as man and drew upon His divinity in difficult times, then He had advantages as a human that other humans could not take hold of. But the truth is that Jesus didn’t draw upon His divinity. He lived as every human is meant to live and that is for every moment of his life as a human, He was fully committed to God and living by those Kingdom principles. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews put it like this, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.“ Hebrews 5:8-9.  The writer was not saying that Jesus learned to be  obedient, for He was always perfectly obedient to His Father in heaven. Rather, as He lived as a human He learned what it was like for humans to be obedient through what He suffered. Because He lived a perfect life as a human He set an example for humans to follow in living as willing subjects of the King. It meant also that He because He had lived a perfect life as a human He could die a perfect death as the perfect sacrifice, for humans.  

i.          Jesus’ Healings and Miracles  

How about the healings and miracles Jesus performed? Were they a proof of His divinity [that He was the Son of God] or of His perfect humanity? John gives us an answer in John 20:30-31,  “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John affirms first of all that the signs indicated that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the long-promised Anointed One who would perform such signs, whilst incidentally being the Son of God. He performed them under the anointing of the Holy Spirit rather than using His divine power as the Son of God. 

We see here Jesus’ perfect availability to His Heavenly Father, His perfect faith, and perfect obedience, as the true human. He showed how humans were meant to live in utter dependence on the Father in heaven.

ii.         Peter’s explanation of Jesus’ ministry

Peter in Acts 10:38 spoke about Jesus’ ministry in these words, “   God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” Acts 10:38.

His ministry derived and was empowered from the anointing of the Holy Spirit and was not attributed to His divine power as the Son of God. Likewise His doing good and setting people free from the oppression of the devil was seen as resulting from the fact that “God was with Him” rather than being due to His innate power as the Son of God.

iii.       Jesus’ own explanation of His ministry. It came from the anointing of the Holy Spirit 

As He began His public ministry He said this, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Luke 4:18-19. And a short time later, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:21.

The scripture to which Jesus was referring was from Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” 

This was seen as one of the prophecies about the coming Messiah. Prophecies that Jesus said He had fulfilled by His ministry. His ministry was that of a Messiah whom God had anointed by His Spirit to fulfil this ministry. 

There was one occasion when Jesus could have used His status as the Son of God but refused to do so. It was a time of danger for Jesus as He stood before the high priest. Peter had struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Jesus told Peter to put away his sword for He would be able to avert the danger if He wished, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54  But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” Matthew 26:53-54. Jesus knew He was the Messiah who had been prophesied would die for His people and He chose to allow what was happening to continue. 

[It is worth remembering  that God has anointed all His people with the same Holy Spirit to live for Him. Our anointing is by same Holy Spirit, enabling us to be in Christ “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22  and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”  His Spirit also enables us to know, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.”  1 John 2:20. And 1 John2:27,  “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”] Jesus lived and ministered as a human and became the only example of a human life lived to perfection.]

iv.        Jesus’ explanation of His ministry of Words and Works.

The Words He spoke came from the Father, ‘So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.”’ John 7:16. And in John 17:7-8. “Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8  For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.”

The Works He performed were what Jesus saw the Father doing, “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” John 5:19.

In John 14:10 -11, Jesus spoke of His words and His works, His teaching and His ministry.  He saw them all as coming from His Father in heaven. John 14:10  “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” Because of Jesus’ perfect intimacy with His Father He knew what the Father wanted Him to say and what He wanted Him to do in His ministry. 

v.         Jesus, The Pattern of Perfect Humanity

The outstanding thing about the ministry of Jesus was that He was always perfectly available to His Heavenly Father to do or to say anything the Father wanted. He lived a life of perfect submission to God and was available to Him for every moment of His life as THE TRUE  human. That was due to the fact that He always continued to abide in His Father, as He prayed His disciples would do, ”that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:21.

3.   OUR OWN CHRISTIAN PERSONHOOD AS WE LIVE FOR GOD

*   Does it depend on our ability or avail-ability?  We all have certain abilities as we live in this world but they are limited in scope. We need to be open to what God desires to do in and through us. We could put it this way, 

We are responsible as humans to be available to His ability in and through us. 

*   That means that we need to continually abide in Him. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. We can do many things as believers but unless they are motivated and empowered by God they are of no value eternally. 

  • The example of St Paul. We have the example of St Paul in explaining his own ministry “for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles.” Galatians 2:8. Peter and Paul were involved in ministry but in truth, it was God who was working through them in their ministries.
  • Paul saw that his strength counted for little but he had come to realise that when he was weak, that was when he became strong [in the Lord’s strength],  “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

*   Paul’s motive in life was to gain Christ and to know Him more deeply, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Philippians 3:7-9

*  What Paul longed for was to not only know Christ deeply but to experience His power in his life even if it meant suffering in His name, 10  “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Philippians 3:10.

*  As Paul prayed for his friends he asked that they might know Christ and through Him might experience their hope and the riches they had in Him. He wanted them to experience the power God used in raising Jesus from the dead, Eph 1:17  “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” 

*  Paul also prayed that they might experience resurrection power in their lives, 

Verse 18,“that you may know … 19 what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20  that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.”

*   The goal then for Christian believers is to make Christ central in their lives. He has given them forgiveness through His death on the cross, and new life by sending the Holy Spirit to live in them.

*Believers have great resources. All things are now theirs in Christ as Paul wrote, ”Let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22  whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23  and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23. 

*  God has blessed all believers with every spiritual blessing, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:7. God has made His resources available to believers in His Son, and as we abide in Him, the Holy Spirit can reveal to us what we need to say and to do throughout our lives. 

* How can we become the people God wants us to be?

By believing and acting on all the truths above and by praying to be open to God. 

As we pray prayers like that in Psalm 139:23-24, we allow God to show us how He sees us so that we can repent of and [by His grace] remove the negative and be filled with His presence. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” God searches and can reveal the results of His search to His people.  

“Anxious thoughts” are unnecessary for believers, as St  Paul wrote,  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.

In verse 24 “any offensive way” translates hodos anomias  [οδος  ανομιας ] meaning a “way of lawlessness” and can be translated as “wicked way.” 

The Psalmist is inviting God to do a thorough search on him and to reveal to him anything that is not pleasing to God. The Psalmist wants to be free of anything in his life that is not pleasing to God for he wants God to lead him as he continues on the everlasting way.

This is the way to become the person God wants you to be!

Blog No.500 posted on Sunday 24 September 2023

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

499 God Wants Us To Bring Our Needs To Him [Mat 7:7-12.]

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

In chapter 6, Jesus had been teaching that we don’t need to be anxious about the necessities of life, because God will provide them if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.  In this passage in chapter 7, we see that God promises to answer His children’s prayers, and to give them their needs. 

1].                   JESUS ENCOURAGED US TO ASK FOR OUR NEEDS TO BE MET

In Matthew 7, Jesus encourages His followers of all ages to make requests of Him and promises that He will answer.  Notice in Mt 7:7, what Jesus says will happen, when we do what He says.  “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” What more encouragement could we get to pray? The verbs ask, seek, knock are present continuous tense. We need to keep on doing these things.

If it’s only a matter of (keeping on) asking God,  seeking His face,  and knocking at the door of heaven for our needs to be met, then why don’t we get more answers to prayer? 

Why Don’t We Get More Answers To Prayer

James in his epistle gives two reasons in i and ii. 

i. We don’t ask God in prayer for our needs to be met.

Jas 4:2  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

  • We don’t humble ourselves to pray. It is often true as James puts it, that we do not have, because we do not ask. If we don’t bother to make the effort to pray, then it’s like closing the door to God’s provision. We may verbalise our needs to ourselves or to others, but we fail to bring them before God.  He can supply that which we cannot supply for ourselves. 

There may be many reasons why we don’t ask Him to provide our needs. 

  • We may not see God as a loving Heavenly Father who delights to hear and to answer the prayers of His children. 
  • We may have deep-seated resentment\anger towards God for what we feel He has allowed to happen to us in our lives.
  • We may not feel very special to God, and because we don’t feel good about ourselves, we imagine God doesn’t think too highly of us either.  We may feel very unworthy. That sort of attitude needs God’s healing, and can be healed. 

 ii.       We ask from wrong motives. 

That’s what James wrote in James 4:3.  “When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

That’s why I believe it’s right to ask God to heal us, not just for our sake, for our own personal benefit, but for His sake, that we might be the more able to serve Him in this world, with the time we have left to live for Him.  

If this life is a gift from Him, that these bodies of ours are not just ours, but His, then it’s right to expect that God will work for our benefit and to His greater glory by bringing the healing He knows we need.

iii. We pray but we don’t recognise the answer to our prayers.

We may have prayed expecting that God is going to answer in exactly the way we assume. But God knows our real needs, and He will be working to meet our needs in ways that He knows are most appropriate for us. That’s why St.Paul wrote that we had to be watchful as we pray. Col 4:2, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”  Watchful to see how He is going to bring His answer. His answer may be much deeper, much more beneficial than we might have imagined.  As we learn to pray with thankful hearts and with open eyes for the answer God is providing,  we will recognise His loving hand at work in our situations. 

God will answer our prayers in His way, in His time and through whom He wishes.

2.                    JESUS PROMISES TO ANSWER WITH GOOD THINGS. 

In Matthew 7, Jesus goes on to say that the answers to our prayers will be beneficial, and not harmful.  Many people don’t realise just how much God loves them as His children. In this passage He’s trying to get His disciples to understand just how motivated He is to answer prayer.  He makes the comparison between God as a Father, and earthly fathers, by saying that if earthly fathers are motivated to give good, beneficial things to their children, so is He.  But then He draws the contrast, if they who are imperfect give good gifts, then how much more will He who is the perfect Father, give good things to those who ask Him.  When the Heavenly Father gives, it is generous, not stingy; it is more than enough. 

  • In Acts 3 a lame man, a beggar, asked for money, but God uses Peter and John to bring far more than he expected.  He was healed.
  • Christians throughout the ages can testify to the fact that God sometimes surprises them with His answers to their prayers. They ask for mercy, and He gives them an abundance of love, acceptance and forgiveness. 
  • Or like the prodigal son who repented of his former way of life in sin, and returned home, saying, “Father, treat me as a servant in your home,”  His father takes him back as a beloved son,  fully restored, fully forgiven.
  • St Paul wrote, Eph 3:20,  “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.”  Immeasurably more (far more abundantly). No matter what we can dare to ask in our greatest faith; no matter how much we might imagine God can do, He can do immeasurably more.” 

What’s the limit? You and I can never know.  It is immeasurably more than I can ever ask or ever imagine. 

 What are we meant to believe? The limited experience of people in their answers to prayer, or what God says in His word?

3.                    WE ALREADY HAVE IN CHRIST, WHAT WE ASK FOR IN HIS WILL.  (In the “Bank of Faith” in Heaven). 

The word  “ask’, used in Mat 7:7, and in the following verses, means humbly presenting our requests to the One who promises to hear them and Who longs to answer them.  

  • Mt.18:19, Again if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
  • Mt.21:22. Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. (Mk 11:24). 
  • Jn 14:13,14. ” Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it”. 
  • Jn 15:7,16. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you… 
  • Jn 16:23-26  Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in my name. Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name; ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 
  • James 1:6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 
  • 1 Jn 3:22, we receive. “and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”
  • 1 John 5:14-15 we have obtained. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” They are now ours in Him, to be released in His way and in His time.

An Encouragement From the Preface to Charles Spurgeon’s book, THE CHEQUEBOOK ON THE BANK OF FAITH.

“A PROMISE from God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check.

  • He is to take the promise, and endorse it with his own name by personally receiving it as true. He is by faith to accept it as his own. 
  • He sets to his seal that God is true, and true as to this particular word of promise. 
  • He goes further, and believes that he has the blessing in having the sure promise of it and therefore he puts his name to it to testify to the receipt of the blessing.
  • This done, he must believingly present the promise to the Lord, as a man presents a check at the counter of the Bank. 
  • He must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled. If he has come to Heaven’s bank at the right date, he will receive the promised amount at once. If the date should happen to be further on, he must patiently wait till its arrival; but meanwhile he may count the promise as money, for the Bank is sure to pay when the due time arrives.”

God has made great promises in His word. He can also fulfil them as we act upon them in faith and with the right motivation. That is, to live to His glory!

Blog No.499 posted on Sunday 17 September 2023

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Holy Spirit, Justification, Mental Health, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Temptations, TOPICS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

498. How Deep The Father’s Love For Us. Luke 11:1-4.

Posted on September 16, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

It is perhaps true to say that many of the social problems in society stem from the distorted images of God that people have when thinking about God. That is particularly true in societies where human fathers have not played a positive role in their children’s upbringing. When Jesus encouraged His disciples to pray, He taught them to begin their prayers with the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” It would have been mind-blowing to the people of Jesus’ time on earth that He encouraged His disciples to pray to God using those words. To address God in such personal terms must have shocked many who heard Jesus speak. Not only could believers call God “Father” but they were to see themselves as being His children, adopted into His family as they put their trust in Christ.  

1.         THE PROBLEM OF UNDERSTANDING GOD AS FATHER

Why is it then that many believers find it hard to relate to God as their Father in heaven when Jesus Himself encouraged us to pray to Him as their Father in heaven? We think we know what fatherhood is like, because most of us have experienced some segment of life with a human father. The concept of God as a Father in heaven may seem to be abstract, whereas our own experience of our fathers was more concrete. Most of us saw our fathers or heard them, and when we hear the word “father,” we’ve got something we can identify with. But does our experience of earthly fathers help or hinder our appreciation of God as a Heavenly Father?

2.         HOW WE LEARN. From the familiar to the unknown.

In our understanding, we normally move from the known to the unknown. We begin with simple maths and then we learn advanced maths as we build on the concepts we have learned. We move from the concrete to the abstract, from the familiar to the unknown. But we may get it terribly wrong if we take our experience of our earthly father, and expand or extrapolate that into a much greater version, to try to understand what God is like as father. As we do that we can quite easily attribute to God the good qualities we have seen in human fathers. But the danger is that we may even unconsciously attribute to Him many of the negative things we experienced in childhood if we see God simply as a bigger version of our own fathers.

3.         SOME FATHERS ARE GOOD PATTERNS OF FATHERHOOD.

Our earthly fathers may have been good, and kind and loving. As we think about our earthly fathers there may be a sense of warmth and love and acceptance, so that the very word “father” brings a sense of security. Yet we need to realise that at their very best, the best human fathers are only very pale reflections of what God is like as Father. None of us is perfect. No father is ever perfect, and even extremely good fathers will often need to be forgiven. God as Father never needs to be forgiven, for He never does anything wrong. His heart is always pure.

4.         SOME FATHERS ARE NOT GOOD PATTERNS OF FATHERHOOD

I discovered in counselling hundreds of people over 50 years that many of them had a distorted view of what true fatherhood is all about. A minority of them had been brought up with a loving father who was loving and just in his dealings with them and so they could easily understand God as being a loving Heavenly Father who was always there for them. However, the vast majority of them had fathers who had a mixture of attitudes and behaviours that were difficult for them to relate to. Sometimes their fathers were loving and approachable and at other times they thought it was safer to keep a distance from them. These are some of the examples of fathers who did not show forth an example of true fatherhood.

i.          A father geographically present but emotionally absent. For some people as they think about their earthly fathers, it’s not warmth and love, acceptance, forgiveness, and security that they think of. In fact they may feel nothing because their father was never really there for them. If he was there in body, geographically, he certainly may not have been there to bring emotional or physical comfort or strength. There may have been times when the cry of the child was for reassurance, for affirmation and love. But the father didn’t pick up the signals, and the child felt cheated and disappointed. Such fathers didn’t batter or beat their children; they just were indifferent to the cries of the child. Perhaps in their own sense of inadequacy, they felt they didn’t know how to cope, so they did nothing. Sins of omission hurt just like sins of commission.

I recall one farmer telling me that he had never seen any love being displayed in his home not even between his parents. He was never conscious of any affection being shown towards him or his sister. As he thought about his background he could only remember one incident where there was any sign of affection. It was during a thunderstorm and he saw his father lean across and give his mother a peck on the cheek. He thought to himself that he must be wrong to have only that one incident of affection to remember so he rang his sister and asked if she could remember any time there was any affection being shown in the home. After a while his sister replied. “Yes, there one time during a thunderstorm that Dad lent across and gave Mum a peck on the cheek. That’s the only thing I remember”. The farmer eventually came to realise that God as a Father expressed His love in the gift of His Son for him. Receiving that love in Jesus he began to be the husband to his wife and the father to his children that he could be and wanted to be by the grace of God.

Unless we’re careful we can transpose our experience of a geographically and emotionally absent father into our thinking about God the Father, and we subconsciously think that He will be indifferent to our cries for help.

ii.        A Father Who was geographically AND emotionally absent.

Some people may feel nothing about the concept of “father,”because their own fathers weren’t even there geographically, at the times it mattered. It’s true that there were many fathers who of necessity had to work long hours for the sake of the family and poured their love into their children in the limited quality times they had together. But for others, their fathers may have been too busy building up a business to have time for their family. Family life was not a priority. The struggle for success left no time for the children. Some people now as adults have no fond lasting childhood memory of times when their father played with them or hugged them or affirmed them or told them he loved them.

For others, as they think about God, it’s with the subconscious thought that fathers are supposed to be there but fail to be there when you need them most. Their fathers said they would be there for the school play or the sports carnival but they never turned up. Now as adults they ask God for help, but don’t really believe deep down He’ll show up to answer the prayer. That’s their experience of fatherhood. Fathers are those people who promise a lot but seldom deliver. Deep down they think God is like that.

iii.       Some fathers may have been terrible, terrible, misleading distortions of what fathers should have been. For them the word “father” brings a sense of revulsion, pain and shame. Where it should have been acceptance, it was rejection. Where it should have been security, it was danger. Where it was meant to be love and warmth, it was hatred and cruelty and cold paralysing fear. Where it was meant to be a loving self-giving response from the child to the self-giving love of the father, instead the child was given no choice but terrible things happened contrary to what the child wanted. It is amazing how some fathers dealt so unhealthily with their own children and made their experience of fatherhood so fearful.

The true pattern of fatherhood is seen in Eph 3:15 as God as the Father “from whom all fatherhood derives.”  But these human fathers distorted their roles, did not fulfil their responsibilities, and emotionally and perhaps physically damaged their children. That’s unfortunately what has happened throughout history with many, many human fathers.

In brief if we want to understand what fatherhood is all about, we look at the scriptures and see the perfect pattern in God the Father. We should not take our earthly father as our pattern, and make a bigger version of him with all his good points and bad points, and think that God is like that. Otherwise we finish up with a picture of God in our minds that is a distortion of the truth.

Instead we get the true picture of fatherhood from the way God describes Himself in His word as a Father. He is the “How much more” father. Then we look at our human fathers in the light of that perfect pattern and thank God for the good, and by the grace of God, begin to forgive the bad.

There will be many people who have trouble relating to God as “Father.”  It may be that their own experience of a human father has made them confused about God as father.

Or the feeling they have deep down towards their earthly fathers, may be the feeling they deep down have to God. It’s no wonder then that for some people to sing “Heavenly Father I appreciate You,” is a joyous affirmation of what they feel. For others, because of their bad or unhelpful experience of human fathers, it’s difficult for them to combine together in the one sentence, the words “father” and “love”. That wasn’t their experience.

5.                    THE GOD WHO WAITS FOR US TO CALL HIM “FATHER.”

I’m sure that when Jesus encouraged His disciples to pray “Our Father in heaven,” He knew there would be those who might find it difficult because of their personal history. But He still taught them to address God in this personal way, because He knew they needed to relate to God as the TRUE Father whose fatherhood is perfect in every way. Some people for their own healing will need to ask God for grace to help them to choose to forgive their human fathers for the ways they misused their role as fathers, and caused confusion and harm.

But let’s think about our own relationship with God and see to what extent our past has held us back from really appreciating His Father’s love to us. If we are still holding on to painful memories of our earthly fathers it will become difficult to relate to God as our Heavenly Father. The more we learn to thank God for the good in our earthly fathers and to forgive the not-so-good and even the terrible attitude and behaviours they showed towards us, the more we will be released to see God as our loving Heavenly Father who wants us to receive His love and to love Him as we are meant to do.

I want to close with the story Jesus told His disciples to get them to understand just how much God loves those who come to Him in repentance and faith. It’s the story in Luke 15 of the 2 Prodigal sons, or perhaps more aptly, the story of the Waiting Father.

It’s the story of one son who didn’t really appreciate his father and put himself at a distance from him. But there came a time when he mucked up his life, then realised that his father did care for him, and he determined to go back to get into fellowship with Him once again. He started back on his journey home. Imagine his surprise and his joy when he saw his father who ran to him and embraced him and welcomed him back as a beloved son.

It’s also the story of another son who never related to his father in a loving way, but who worked for his father like a servant serving a master, rather than as a son delighting to work lovingly for his father. When he saw how his father accepted the prodigal son he was upset. The father’s response could be very like God’s response to us 31… ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ Luke 15:31-32.

The first son recognised the father’s love for him and experienced the father’s love. The second son didn’t recognise the father’s love. He missed out on experiencing his father’s love because of his continuing wrong attitude to his father. 

Some of you may recognise that you are like the younger son who needs to come home to the Father God. He has made it possible through what Jesus did for us on the cross for you to come home and receive His love, acceptance and forgiveness. Add to experience His ongoing presence in your lives.

Others of you may recognise that you’re a bit like the older brother and your relationship with Father God is pretty impersonal, and you are judgmental and critical of Him. He invites you to come home to Him as a waiting father to also experience His love, acceptance and forgiveness through what Jesus has done for us humans in His death and resurrection.  Praise God, you and I can choose to come home to Him and receive the blessings He has given us freely in Him as His beloved children.

For some of you, it’s time to come home. As the hymn “Softly and Tenderly” puts it

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you and for me;
Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching— Watching for you and for me!”

“Come home! come home!
Ye who are weary, come home!
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!”

Blog No.498 posted on Saturday 16 September 2023

Posted in Forgiveness | Leave a comment

497. Getting Rid Of Unhelpful Thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Jim Holbeck

There are millions of people in our world today who have the same problem. They are bothered with thoughts that are unhelpful and sometimes emotionally paralysing. The Mayo Clinic on its website states, “Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause significant distress.” However there may be many people who do not have that degree of compulsion but for whom unwanted thoughts spoil their peace. How can they be helped?

There is a short phrase in God’s word that when acted on, can bring freedom. It is the phrase, “….take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We look at that phrase in its context. It is from 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6  being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” St Paul has been urging his readers in Corinth to understand that they could have victory over the pressures of the unbelieving world around them which pressurised them to live like the rest of the world and not in a Christian way. That pressure could be seen to be like a war against believers. 

Paul then goes on to say that believers have weapons they can use which are different to worldly weapons. These weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds, to demolish arguments and every lofty opinion that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. “Weapons” is from [hoplon; ὅπλον] meaning an instrument or an implement for making ready, for example, for war. Paul had already used the word in chapter 6 verse 7, to describe the victories he and other servants of God had accomplished “by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7  by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left.” 6:6-7.  Their righteous lives had enabled them to draw upon the power of God to be victorious against ungodly pressures. 

The word for ”strongholds” is from [ochyrōma; ὀχύρωμα ] which means a castle or fort or anything that a person relies on. They are like fixed bodies of belief that are hard to overthrow. “Lofty opinion” is from [hypsōma; ὕψωμα] meaning a height or a high barrier that is “raised against the knowledge of God.” It is found only once more in the New Testament where it  is translated as “height” in Romans 8:39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” St Paul is saying that no matter how strong the arguments may be nor how high the barriers erected against the knowledge of God, the believer has weapons to demolish them.  As we saw above, righteous people are able to draw upon the power of God to overcome enemies or beliefs that are contrary to the truth in God. 

1]. THE  NEED TO TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE. 10:5

Humans are responsible for what they think about in their minds. We may appreciate beauty but the mind must not let the thoughts turn to lust, as Jesus warned, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28). We are responsible for what we do with our thoughts. We can let them go off in wrong directions which may be unhelpful or even sinful. Somehow we have to learn to control what goes on in our minds. 

St Paul has the answer given by God. “….take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 

“Take captive” is from [aichmalōtizō; αἰχμαλωτίζω] meaning to lead away captive or to make captive. Paul used the word to describe the battle  in the minds of humans due to the power of their old nature within them, “but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” Romans 7:23. This makes him exclaim, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24. But he has an answer, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Romans7:25. The answer is to serve God with our mind and to look to Him to help us overcome the power of our flesh nature.

St Paul when he wrote to Timothy, used the same word when warning about false teachers“who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions. 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” 2Timothy 3:6-7. They were captured because they were weak, carrying the burden of sins and being under the influence of their passions. They could never grasp the truth which would have set them free.

What is needed then for all humans, is the ability to get their thoughts in order by taking them captive and not allowing them to roam without direction. But there is another aspect to this truth.

2]. The Need To Take Every Thought Captive [TO OBEY CHRIST.] 10:5

It is not just enough for people to get hold of their thoughts. They also need to bring their thoughts captive to Christ. When Jesus was asked “What is the great commandment in the Law?” He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37. To love God “with all the mind” means to let our thoughts dwell on Him; on the perfection of  His character and on all the truths He taught and on the work He did. Jesus had said that He would send His Holy Spirit to lead His disciples into all truth. Joh 16:13. That is why St Paul makes this observation “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5. It is necessary for all humans to learn to live according to the Spirit as part of loving God with all their minds. Only then can they know the truth and live out the implications of it.

We see how easy it is for humans to think naturally instead of seeing things as God describes them. There was a time in Jesus’ ministry when He told His disciples that He would shortly be killed and on the third day be raised. However Peter objected, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” It was natural for Peter to try to prevent Jesus from being put to death. However what he was saying was against the plan and purpose of God for Christ, whom God had destined to die for sinners. Jesus had to rebuke Peter and said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:23. Peter had to gain control over his thoughts and feelings and bring them into obedience to what Christ had said. 

It is easy for humans to be conformed to the world’s way of thinking and miss out on what God wants to do in His world. That’s why Paul encouraged his readers in Rome, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. What God wants is for humans not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by having their minds renewed. Then they will be able to, by testing, “discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. “Romans 12:3.  It is impossible for unbelievers to fully understand the will of God  for as Paul wrote to Titus, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” Titus 1:15. A defiled mind and conscience cannot comprehend the perfection of God and His ways.

We have said above that it’s not enough just to take our thoughts captive but we also have to bring them into obedience to Christ. How do we go about doing that?

Taking our thoughts captive to Christ

When we become conscious of a re-occurring thought, we need to ask the Lord, “Is this from You or does it come from my fallen nature?“ 

“Is there any biblical principle to guide me here?”

If the thought is of a conversation where we were belittled or made to feel terrible, we can choose to forgive the person who said it and we can ask the Lord to break the power of that thought in our minds. If the thought re-occurs we can thank the Lord that He has heard our prayer and is breaking its power in our minds. We can also think of some biblical truth that affirms who we are in Christ and bring that truth into our minds whenever a similar thought occurs.  

For example, the Bible tells us that as believers we are raised with Christ and made to sit with Him in the heavenly places. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.“ Ephesians 2:4-10.

Reflecting on such a passage reminds us of God’s incredible grace towards us and that our salvation is by His grace alone. This should humble us and make us determined to live for the Lord so that He can do in and through us what pleases Him.

So having a picture of us sitting with Christ at the right hand of God should be an encouraging but humbling picture to hold in our minds whenever we feel down or pressurised.

There may be times when we feel deserted and alone and think there is no one around us to help us. Instead of the “Poor little me!” thought that comes to mind we can affirm this truth, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Heb13:5. We will never be forsaken by the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. We can picture ourselves as a sheep lying safely across the shoulders of a rejoicing Good Shepherd as He brings us home.

Whenever we feel unappreciated or unloved we can affirm this truth, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39.

His love is there for us. Always! Everywhere! For ever! Nothing and no one can ever separate us from His love!

I’m sure there is great value in counsellors encouraging their clients to take control of their thoughts. We all need to do that lest we lose control of our minds and we suffer from mental breakdowns. But we can’t empty our minds. We have to fill them with something. The best thing we can do is to fill our minds with truths from God’s Word or with pictures inspired by those truths. As Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you hold to my teaching, [taking your thoughts captive to Christ] you are really my disciples. 32  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32. 

Blog No.497 posted on Friday 08 September 2023.

Posted in Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Justification, Mental Health, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment