Friday, May 15, 2015
The Notion Of Divine Control
By Oswald Chambers
'How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?'
Matthew 7:11
Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges us to keep our minds filled with the notion of God's control behind every thing, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.
Notion your mind with the idea that God is there. If once the mind is notioned along that line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to remember - Why, my Father knows all about it! It is not an effort, it comes naturally when perplexities press. Before, you used to go to this person and that, but now the notion of the Divine control is forming so powerfully in you that you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle - God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry?
There are times, says Jesus, when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but trust Him. God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural Father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the notion of the mind of God behind all things strong and growing. Nothing happens in any particular unless God's will is behind it, therefore you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. "Ask, and it shall be given you."
Thursday, May 14, 2015
"(Though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates )" Nehemiah 6:1
"(Though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates )" Nehemiah 6:1
IT is when God is most prospering our labours that Satan's wiliest attacks come against us. In an incredibly short time the whole wall around Jerusalem had been restored; "there was no breach left therein." It was a period when God's servant might have relaxed and it was just at that very time when the subtle enemies of the work of God suggested the advisability of a new 'dialogue' between them and invited Nehemiah to share their hospitality in the plain of Ono for that purpose.
IT was a trick. The sole purpose was to lure Nehemiah away from the work of restoration, with the probability that he would never have been able to return to it. I know, to my sorrow, how real that temptation was. Many years ago, at a time of great blessing, several of us were lured into something of this nature. My discerning colleague, dear George Taylor, urged us to get on with the work and refuse to discuss things with our attackers, saying that this would mean, 'going down to the plain of Ono.' I am sorry to say that we ignored his counsel and found later that we had got out of the will of God.
NEHEMIAH avoided this trap, and he did so by realising the importance of what remained to be done: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down." So he refused to be drawn into idle arguments by concentrating on the work which God had given him to do.
OUR parenthesis tells us what constituted that 'great work' which yet remained; there were no doors to make the various gateways effective. It was this that detained him and enabled him to reject their repeated requests for him to come down. What was the use of closing gaps and building gates if the doors were not in their place? What was the use of closing gaps and building gates if the work was left in this unfinished state? The whole city was vulnerable while those entrances were not capable of being closed against intruders.
IN Nehemiah's days the doors were needed to guard the city during the hours of darkness (7:3) and to ensure the sanctity of the Sabbath (13:19). For us they emphasise the need for excluding from our lives and fellowships all that might dishonour the name of the Lord. Whether in our assemblies, our homes or our private lives, the wall of testimony must be adequately protected from defiling intrusions. The doors must be set up in the gates.
"(but they are but vain words)" Isaiah 36:5
OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (20)
"(but they are but vain words)" Isaiah 36:5
WE have now reached that part of the Old Testament in which there are few parenthetical statements, so perhaps I may be permitted to make use of this one which is only to be found in the Authorised Version.
IT is part of the harangue made by the multilingual Rabshakeh, who was Sennacherib's Public Relations Officer. The all conquering Assyrians found Jerusalem a very hard nut to crack, so they tried cajoling threats when they did not quite know how to use their customary force. This is a constant stratagem of our spiritual enemies, and it is sometimes successful.
THE point of emphasis being made was that it would only be a vain matter of empty words if the Jews claimed to have resources in themselves. 'You are saying', reasoned Rabshakeh, 'that you have counsel and strength for this war, but your claims are absurd.' This would have been quite true if it had been Hezekiah's position, but it was not. He made no such claims.
HAD he made them, it would indeed have been a foolish boast. The might and experience of the Assyrians were all too great for any resistance by puny little Jerusalem. If the Jews had relied on their own skill and strength, they would undoubtedly have been defeated. But they were not defeated. God's people never need be defeated. There is another factor in their spiritual warfare, a factor of which the natural mind has no knowledge. Defeat is turned into total victory when the Lord is brought into the fight.
CLEAR and persuasive as were the arguments of the loud-mouthed Rabshakeh, they in their turn proved to be quite vain, for Hezekiah had ample resources to withstand the attack, though those resources were in the Lord and not in himself.
HEZEKIAH did not say that he had them. He never used the words which the lying Rabshakeh tried to put into his mouth. What he did say was that he had no strength (37:3), his only hope being in God's ability to answer prayer or perhaps in His willingness to do so. Hezekiah himself was not too sanguine. "It may be" he suggested. Isaiah the prophet had a much more robust faith. But little faith or great faith, the two men prayed and sought help from heaven. The answer came quickly and comprehensively (2 Chronicles 32:21). And it was all because they prayed.
IF Hezekiah had said, or even thought, what was alleged by Rabshekah, he would have indeed been frustrated. His words would have been vain. And if we say or think in those terms, imagining that we can tackle the task, there can be no hope of victory for us. Our way, like that of Hezekiah, must be the way of humbling and prayer. What a pity we so seldom take it!
LESSONS FROM JOSHUA
LESSONS FROM JOSHUA
Poul Madsen
IN the New Testament we are exhorted to share in suffering as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Joshua provides a good example for us, since this phrase, 'good soldier', describes his whole life from a young man to old age. The first mention of him is when he was given the great responsibility of leading Israel into battle and he was told that there would be more battles ahead (Exodus 17:8-16).
But he also fought another kind of battle. When Moses pitched a tent of meeting outside the camp, his servant Joshua did not depart out of the Tent. A good soldier does not flinch when the battle is on, but nor does he neglect to seek God when there is no danger. We suffer most of our defeats on the inner front, as we allow the enemy to tempt us away from personal close contact with the Lord. No doubt this action of Joshua's made him the more ready to triumph in faith when ten of his fellow spies reported that it was impossible to enter the land.
We see, then, that this young man did not develop all at once, but grew as he faced one test after another. Perhaps his most difficult test was that of being just a servant; he had been in the limelight when he fought against Amalek and was prominent with Caleb in resisting unbelief, and then he just had to serve Moses day by day through the years. It is always easier to give orders than to receive them, but for forty [38/39] years Joshua served under orders from Moses. The good soldier of the Lord Jesus needs spiritual character as well as spiritual equipment; his first qualifications must be endurance, humility and conscientiousness.
The good fight is the fight of faith. This means that we must learn to fight with quite different weapons from those which our carnal natures would employ and above all we must listen to God. "Now it came to pass after the death of Moses ... that the Lord spake unto Joshua" (Joshua 1:1). Moses was dead, but the Lord never dies. Joshua was to die as we read at the end of his book -- but the Lord never dies. We are grateful for those whom the Lord raises up as leaders, but they all must disappear. The promises of God, though, do not change or diminish with the passage of time. But in addition to His promises, we must listen continually to His commands: "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth ... that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein" (1:8).
A good soldier of Jesus Christ makes obedience his first business. Joshua had lots of things to attend to, his workload was enormous, but he was careful to preserve unbroken his fellowship with God and he listened unceasingly to God's speaking. He was different in many ways from the subsequent Judges, for they were often only instruments which God used, but Joshua was a true servant. He was also used, but as this happened he was changed and became more and more like the One whom he served.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
A STRONGHOLD
By Bible Names of God
Nahu 1:7 The LORD [is] good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. {strong hold: or, strength}
He is good to "them that wait for Him." (Lam 3:25) He is good to them that trust Him. (Ps 37:3) He is good to them that acknowledge Him. (Pr 3:6) He is our Strength in every time of trouble. He is empowered with wisdom for every emergency. We are safe in His Stronghold, which is Himself. He loves to cover us with His wings. Rest in the Lord. Nestle close to Him. Pour out to Him your heart's desires. Never doubt, always believe.
Oh Thou "Stronghold", hold us fast in Thine own arms of love and may we abide in Thee by faith! Amen.
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