Tag: bible

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Lost in translation.

It’s such a famous passage: “They that wait upon The Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 King James Bible)

I’ve always read it as a call to rest, be quiet, wait… and then the strength will come and I will rise up, run, walk. I’ve always heard it preached that way and never really given it much thought. We all know it, we sing songs based on it, and surely we understand it.

Last night I had an OUCH moment. One of those times when the Word of God hits you in such a way that you wince at the impact of it. It makes you cringe as you reflect the word upon your own life. You squirm at the implications for how you proceed.

I was listening to Pastor Steven Furtick and he turned the verse on it’s head saying that to “wait” doesn’t mean stopping, it means the same thing as a waiter waiting on tables… serving.

“What we call Patience, God often calls Procrastination.” was one soundbite from the sermon.

OUCH.

That hurt. How many times have I “waited on God” before acting? How many times could I have been stepping out in faith, getting on with the job and believing that Gods strength would come, that His wisdom would be known as I too a leap of faith. How many times have I sat on my backside when I could have been seeking God through action.

Now I don’t take such radical shifts in the way the bible is interpreted at face value… so I did some digging into the different translations of this verse to see what they said:

  • “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.They will soar high on wings like eagles.They will run and not grow weary.They will walk and not faint.” (New Living Translation)
  • “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wingsand mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” (Amplified)
  • “But those who trust the Lord will find new strength. They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run without getting tired.” (Contemporary English Version)
  • “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (New International Version)

Don’t get me wrong, there are times we need to STOP. To wait on God. To refresh and recharge. Even the most enthusiastic and energetic of Christians need to stop sometimes or risk burning out. There are times when God needs to speak to us in the silence and the calm, to ensure He has our full attention and that we aren’t so distracted by DOING that we aren’t LISTENING.

But it’s also been a far too convenient excuse. It’s been so easy to accept that I need to “wait” and not “do”.

I wonder… how much further would I be if I’d mounted up on wings like eagles? if I’d run and trusted that God would provide the strength?

Yes, there’s always grace – but there are also seasons, and I suspect there have been some that I’ve missed because I’ve been sat on my blessed assurance with a holy face on. Hopefully now I might just be a bit more proactive and less procastinatory (is that even a word?!?)

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Love, Life and Communion


What a weekend! One couple committing to a new future together, another celebrating a major milestone and a big reminder of the ultimate expression of love.

You may have noticed it’s been a few weeks since my last blog post. You may also have noticed the little counter that is on the right of my homepage has now gone from counting DOWN to my borthers wedding and is now counting the days SINCE the wedding!

Yup, at long last my cute ickle baby bruvver (can’t resist I’m afraid bro!) has gotten married and boy has he managed to punch above his weight finding someone charming, witty, patient and who looked gorgeous in her wedding dress (OK – I promise I’ll stop picking on you now Roo :-D)

With our daughter as a bridesmaid, me as an usher, and plenty of other things happening it was always going to be a huge build up to the big day. What also added to the weekend was the fact that my Mum & Dad celebrated 40 years of marriage! I was priveleged to be asked to do a cake for the event (which Mrs H baked and I decorated, with an additional surprise of some chocolate and some jammy cupcakes for good measure). I was also honoured to be asked to lead communion following my parents renewing their wedding vows.

I guess this would be a good point to Congratulate Mr & Mrs Hartley Jr and also to offer huge respect and congrats to the patriarch and matriarch of the Hartley Clan!

It was really rather odd in some ways as on the one hand Mrs H and I were watching two people embark on a journey that we’ve been travelling for the past 12 years, and then we were looking ahead at an inspirational and great example of what love and marriage should be like after so many years. Reflection and Vision in the space of two days, not a bad thing really (tiredness and hectic arrangements aside!)

Being asked to lead the communion on the Sunday was a great blessing for me, and I found myself being given a clear direction straight away. As much for my own memory as anything (although I do hope that you will be blessed by it) I thought I’d share my communion notes below. They’re not polished or honed particularly but represent the outpouring of what I felt God wanted to convey through the act of sharing the bread and wine.

Communion. The most intimate act we can ever know

Communion in the dictionary is defined as: com·mun·ion [kuh-myoon-yuhn]
association; fellowship.
interchange or sharing of thoughts or emotions; intimate communication
They act of sharing, or holding in common; participation.

If there is one overriding theme this weekend, it’s Love.

With my baby brother getting married yesterday, and my parents celebrating 40 years of marriage today, it’s also a weekend of commitment, of promise, of covenant and relationship. It’s a time of intimacy and the wonder and mystery of two becoming one.

Our relationship with God takes all of this, and far exceeds what we can fully understand. He is our Father. The Holy Spirit is our companion and guide. Christ is our brother, saviour, Lord and lover of our souls. There’s an intimacy between us and Jesus that exceeds that which those of us who are married share with our other halves.

It goes beyond that though as there is even more to our relationship with Him because, as a church, we are to be the bride of Christ.

The relationship that God the Father, Spirit and Son wants to have with us is so close, so intimate, so complete that it encompasses, and is the ultimate version of, every type of positive relationship that we can have on earth.

Communion is one more expression of that complete devotion towards us. Just as a Bride and Groom give to each other fully, so Jesus is giving fully to us through a piece of bread and a sip of wine. It is a symbol of Jesus, the groom, giving himself completely over to his bride.

Through this simple act the all-embracing relationship with the trinity is demonstrated to us.

1 John 4:10 – THIS IS LOVE: not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took some bread. He gave thanks and then he broke it, giving it to the disciples as an act of remembrance. Likewise He took a cup of wine, gave thanks again and passed it to the disciples. The bread to remind us that His body was sacrificed for us, the wine for the blood that was shed as He suffered and died for us all.

That’s love. That’s commitment. That’s intimacy.

As the bread and the cup are brought to you, I pray that you will feel that ultimate and perfect Love coming from heaven. If you don’t feel able to take communion then please let them pass you by – but know that this Love isn’t passing you by and is there for you as much as for anyone.

 

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Passion


Passion

Boy, there’s a word to conjure a mixture of images in a mind. It may make you think of a sporting event with roaring supporters, or maybe screaming fans at a concert. For the more intellectually-inclined it might bring to mind two sides of a heated debate. It could even leave you with a knowing smile and a hint of a blush.

It’s a word that has some much resonance at this time of year for a completely different reason. During Holy Week it awakens thoughts of a triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, through to the intimacy and ultimate betrayal of a meal with close friends. Images of humiliation and mocking, followed by an excruciating death and then the ultimate joy of a resurrection.

All for passion.

All because there’s a God who is so passionately in love with His people that He sacrificed His Son to reach out to us and to clear the debt of our imperfect lives. All because He Loves ME… and YOU. Not “the human race” as a faceless mass of people, but each of us by name.

It’s sobering, heartwrenching, heartwarming, mindblowing, humbling and so much more. The infinite creator of the universe, so passionate about ME that He would go through all that… for ME.

I can’t tell you how much this impacts me to the core of my being. Even when I was away from God, there was always something about Easter that tugged at me (I always put it down to the raw emotions I was used to feeling rather than anything else – boy was I deluded)

Spend 5 minutes this week, just 5 minutes, and think about what happened 2000 years ago and why. Then ask yourself “what should it mean to me?”

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Why is it a daily walk with God can require so much effort?

When we were discussing the subject of spending time with God, on a daily basis, at our house group the comment/question was raised that “if I’ve not spoken to family/close friends I really want to catch up and keep in touch with them – why is it that we can struggle with feeling the same way about our relationship with God?”

There was a fair bit of discussion and then I had a sudden flash of inspiration – believe me, it sometimes happens!

Most of us are fortunate to have grown up with a healthy relationship with family and/or close friends. That’s a daily thing that has been a part of our lives since the day we were born. If, like me, you don’t start out life in a Christian household (we started going to church when I was about 9 and for a time it was a “Sunday thing” for me) then you won’t have grown up with that daily relationship with your Heavenly Father.

As a result of this, it requires work to have that daily connection with God. It requires effort. It requires time. All of which we can sometimes be reluctant to commit to in the midst of our hectic lives. We’ve always got something else to distract us and pull our attention: the kids, the housework, the job, the family, the TV, the Xbox. You get the idea.

When I got married, and indeed when I was dating the lovely Mrs H, it quickly became routine to be in daily contact with my better half. If I’m ever away then there’s at least 1 or more phone calls. When I get up in a morning to come to work and my wife is in bed, I always text her to say good morning. Because of my love for her, and the value I place on our relationship, I crave that daily contact and I honestly cannot think of a single day in nearly 12 years of marriage when there hasn’t been some form of communication and contact between us. I honestly think there hasn’t been a single day when we haven’t spoken – genuinely and truthfully I have spoken to my wife every day.

I think it’s sometimes difficult for us to apply that same raw emotion and depth of feeling to God. Sometimes it’s easier to love something/someone tangible and physical. Love for God can somehow feel higher, nobler and above the baser feelings we have for family. It’s so simple to try and spiritualise and not pursue a more familiar type of relationship with God.

The thing is – He is our Father. He is Abba which means DADDY. It doesn’t mean Father, a word which can sometimes sound aloof, it means daddy. It’s a word that conjures memories of being a young boy and playing with my dad. Play wrestling, time spent playing chess and backgammon, listening to War of the Worlds on original vinyl. It’s a word that brings emotions of joy at visiting my daddy at work, and the smile on his face when he sees me. It’s a word that speaks of a stable, protective and strong presence – but also of gentleness, tenderness and love.

I know that for people who haven’t known that kind of relationship with their earthly father, this can seem beyond comprehension. I know for some people daddy was a figure of fear, whilst for others he was completely absent and an unknown entity. That’s something I’m going to pray about and pick up later on in a future post – it’s not something I want to rush blindly into as I know it’s a big, no huge, issue.

The image of the Father in the Prodigals Return is technically an image of Christ rather than God – let’s not go into the technicalities though as it is still a hugely important image. When the prodigal returned, the father saw him coming and RAN. There are cultural reasons for that, but also cultural implications. A father did NOT run. It was undignified, below them, a child’s activity not a mans. But that image of the father running speaks of compassion, love, protection and more – it’s how God, our Daddy, sees us.

If we manage to grasp even the smallest part of that, then it has the potential to completely shake up our relationship with God. To personalise it. To bring a new level of intimacy and connection. Taking hold of that should give us a desire and eagerness to be with our Heavenly Daddy.

It may be a struggle at first – new relationships require work, and building a deeper relationship with anybody takes time and effort. As we start to build that connection, as we make that effort to be with our Daddy, it will get easier and it will become something that we want and desire – not something that is a chore.

The end result is a relationship full of joy beyond imagining, intimacy beyond earthly comprehension, life to its fullest extreme.

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Faith requires Action which results in Faith. And repeat.

It’s been buzzing around my head for a couple of weeks now and I listened to a talk by Pastor Steven Furtick (Elevation Church, Charlotte, USA) which re-inforced the point and has had me looping through an endless cycle that I really have got to apply immediately to stand any chance of stepping in to what God has planned for us.

It’s simple really, and pretty obvious, but we so often get it wrong.

Faith requires Action which then results in Faith.

Confused? It’s really not complex. For us to HAVE faith, we’ve got to ACT in faith which will then lead to us GROWING in faith and moving forward. Think about it. When a person takes those first steps of faith, there is an act involved – even if it’s simply raising a hand or saying a little prayer. There is an Action, which then leads to an increase of Faith… which then leads to more Actions, leading to more Faith.

We’re so busy over the next few months that moving house seems a crazy goal, and yet I firmly believe it’s what God is calling us to. It aint going to happen though, unless we get off our backsides and do things that will enable us to take the step of faith.

God can move mountains, but He may well ask for people to get behind the wheels of a JCB to achieve it. He doesn’t NEED us in order for His goals to be achieved, but how else will we grow and develop if not through the lessons we learn executing Gods pland for us?

It’s like the old joke of the man stranded on the roof of his house in a flood. A woman in a boat comes along and offers him a ride, the man replies “God will rescue me, I’m waiting on Him”. A helicopter flies by and offers to rescue him, they are given the same reply. Eventually the man drowns and when he gets to heaven he asks God “Why didn’t you save me” – to which God replies “Who do you think sent the Boat and the Helicopter?”

It’s an exciting, frightening, stressful, wonderful time at the moment and I genuinely feel Gods presence over our future – but it isn’t going to happen unless I get off my backside and get on with bringing about Gods plans.

How about you? I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes needs a nudge and a kick into action instead of sitting on the roof of my house.

P.S. As a friend commented – remember FAF. If you don’t put it into action you’re just faffing around 🙂