3 wishes

 

   It has long been said that  if one should come across a bottle or lamp in which a Genie has been imprisoned, then by simply rubbing the side of the aforementioned article the powerful spirit can be freed and- in view of services rendered- the Genie will be obliged to grant three wishes to the liberator.

   This, of course, is utter nonsense.

   One must ask oneself- why was the Genie imprisoned in the first place? And then- Having been freed, what possibly would convince this powerful creature to submit itself to the  foolish wishes of the human? Before asking either of these questions, it would be prudent to ask- Do Genies even exist; and if so why on earth should a glass bottle or brass lamp be able to contain them?!

   Putting these wise questions to one side, many children have asked themselves what 3 wishes they would have asked for in that situation. Doubtless many adults also have asked that same question.

   If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for? *

*Please note: Genie’s do not allow “I’ll have a thousand more wishes, please.” as a wish.

   Its telling, isn’t it.

   Between 5-10 years  ago, without a shadow of a doubt, my first wish would have been along the lines of “Please let me not have to attend another Games or PE lesson ever ever again.” Now that I am freed from the shackles of formal education and no longer can be forced to run around the football pitch and neighbouring famer’s field until my legs feel like lead and my heart is 10000 degrees centigrade, I see that wishing for no more PE lessons would have been foolish. After all, given time my wish came to pass without the requirement of freeing a powerful and probably deceitful Genie from its lawful confinement inside a coca-cola bottle.

   As a Christian, my priorities have changed since those earlier days. Money, independence, a car, a house, a job, possessions: they don’t have quite the same sparkling lustre as they once did. Sure- they have their place. But can I live without them in such wild abundance as I have dreamed? Yes, I can. Paul wrote:

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”_{Philippians 4:12}

   Having been given eternal life in replacement for God’s eternal wrath at his sins, Paul realised that having riches or mansions or food, actually paled into relative insignificance in comparison!

   Its curious to note that Paul says “I have learned the secret of facing plenty….[and] abundance.”  Most folks would say that there is no secret to be learned! We can all face having lots of cash- no problems! However Paul is suggesting here that, if they are our primary concern, then riches and wealth are a serious problem!

   Why?

   Because they distract us from our future requirements.

   Do you remember my wish for no more PE? If I had been given 1 wish and had used it up asking for no more exercise then I would be feeling pretty stupid now that I have finished school (and I would be feeling pretty unhealthy too!). In a similar way, asking for more cash is really short-sighted. We have an entire eternity to spend either with God in Heaven, or without God in Hell. Surely that should be our main priority? And if, as Christians, we have already received the gift of eternal life then shouldn’t we want to be living lives that please our Saviour and that lead others to the wonderful truth about Jesus Christ? Surely that should be our main priority?

   So does the Bible give Christians any hints? What should we actually wish for? After all, the Bible does say:

“You do not have, because you do not ask.”_{James 4:2}

   Interestingly the Bible does offer us some clues.

   King Solomon, at the start of his reign, saw God in a dream:

    “At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.””_{1 Kings 3:5}

   Solomon didn’t ask for a long life, a big Kingdom or lots of cash. He asked that God would give him wisdom. He asked that God would make him discerning so that he could understand what was good and what was bad. And the Bible records that God was pleased with Solomon’s request: instead of asking for longevity or possessions, the King had asked for something seriously beneficial.

   It isn’t only the book of 1 Kings which encourages us to ask for wisdom. The whole book of Proverbs is basically falling over itself to tell us the same thing: Above all…get wisdom!

   Imagine if every Christian was wise.

   Imagine if every single believer was discerning between good and bad, discerning between useful and wasteful.

   Its takes some doing, doesn’t it?! If I had wisdom; if I fully understood how much Christ sacrificed for me; if I fully understood how beneficial Bible reading and prayer is for my soul; if I fully grasped the wickedness and folly of my sin…. if I had wisdom then my life would be radically different.

   You know, God is no genie. He doesn’t give grudgingly or because he ‘owes us one’. In fact…

““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened…

…Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”_{Matthew 7:7-11}
  

   It is fairly unlikely that I will ever encounter a Genie. It is doubtful that if I ever met a Genie I would free it from it’s bottle or lamp. It is astronomically unlikely that any Genie I freed would be willing or capable of giving me wisdom.

   It is certain- without any shadow of doubt- that the Lord God loves to give wisdom to those who ask:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”_{James 1:5}

akb4u: Bridging the gap ‘twixt Gospel and Growth

abk4u: A series examining Christian authors who have shaped lives; trying to find ‘a book for you’

   My bookshelf is too small-

   -If it wasn’t for its solid construction (my father has great wood-working skills) the joints would have burst asunder long before this post was ever conceived.

   I am starting to regret ever purchasing some of the books which adorn its shelves.

   Not once, however, have I regretted the small  investment I made in Jerry Bridges. It has paid me back in abundance!

   Some might claim that all of the Navigator-staff-member’s books are, in fact, all very similar to one another. But- I hasten to ask- is that necessarily a bad thing? Jerry Bridges reminds us that there is something we need to hear every single day of our lives,

‘It is only the joy of hearing the gospel and being reminded that our sins are forgiven in Christ that will keep the demands of discipleship from becoming drudgery. It is only gratitude and love to God that come from knowing that He no longer counts our sins against us (Romans 4:8) that provides the proper motive for responding to the claims of discipleship.’
_{The Discipline of Grace}

       It cannot be denied that the central theme of every book penned by our subject’s hands is the good-old-fashioned, life-transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bridges is also concerned with teaching us about holiness through- or to put in a better way, because of) the all-forgiving grace of God.

   Jerry’s best known book is called ‘Pursuit of Holiness’.

   In the preface to The Discipline of Grace, he states his greatest regret regarding PofH:  no chapter was included explaining that increased holiness must be motivated by an ever increasing wonder and thankfulness for God’s grace. Otherwise ‘the spiritual disciplines that are intended to help you grow will become duties you think you must practise in order to maintain God’s favour.’

   Without doubt, I can safely say that no other author I have read- excluding the writers of the scriptures themselves- have showed such a fantastic grasp at the magnitude of God’s grace. Indeed, if we were each gripped by a real understanding of what the Lord Jesus Christ gave-up and took-up in order to secure our salvation, we would also be writing book after book on the subject!

   Bridges’ wonder and excitement at the gospel of unearned salvation (humanly speaking) does not detract from his earnest desire to serve God. Quite the opposite. That said, he accepts that God’s unconditional forgiveness does allow for the mistaken assumption that we can live without concern for discipline or purity or holiness:

‘This type of response is always a possibility. In fact, if our concept of grace does not expose us to that possible misunderstanding , then we do not thoroughly understand grace.’

   He goes on to offer an answer to this apparent dilemma,

‘…the solution is to be so gripped by the magnificence and boundless generosity of God’s grace that we respond out of gratitude rather than out of a sense of duty. As Stephen Brown said, “The problem [isn’t] that we made the gospel too good. The problem is that we didn’t make it good enough.”’

   Jerry is not oblivious to the great difficulty we all face in living lives holy and pleasing to the Lord- he has written 8 books on the subject after all! I like Jerry’s frank description of sanctification (becoming holy):

‘The pursuit of holiness requires sustained and vigorous effort. It allows for no indolence, no lethargy, no half-hearted commitment, and no laissez faire attitude toward even the smallest sins. In short, it demands the highest priority in the life of a Christian, because to be holy is to be like Christ- God’s goal for every Christian.’  

   The issue of small or ‘refined’ sins is one which Jerry Bridges takes very seriously.

   In his book, Respectable Sins, he confronts ‘the sins we tolerate’. He points readers towards the Puritans. Those guys really took sin seriously. Here are 4 books written by Puritan authors:

• The Sinfulness of Sin*
• The Mischief of Sin
• The Anatomy of Secret Sins
• The Evil of Evils or The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin

*I actually followed Jerry Bridges’ suggestion and read this book. Serious stuff. Those guys understood that their sins were detestable in God’s sight.

   In Respectable Sins, the author carefully examines the lives of Christian believers; he discusses why our understanding of sin is so diminished in comparison to former generations; he offers the remedy for our sinfulness and also points to the power of the Holy Spirit (vital in the transformation of our hearts and lives). We are given some simple directions- or aids- in the battle against sin. After this careful and useful introduction, Jerry looks at a number of specific issues: sins which have been ‘respectified’ (my term, not his!), iniquity wrapped up as ‘normal, natural behaviour’. I found this book a cutting, painful book. By highlighting how my sins were contrary to scripture, I experienced the words of Hebrews 4 for myself:

    ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’
_{(Hebrews 4:12-13 ESV)}

    I started this post by saying that I have no reason to regret investing in The Discipline of Grace, Respectable Sins, Trusting God and Is God really in Control. Because of the benefits received, I have further invested in Growing your Faith (my current bed-side book), The Gospel for Real Life and The Fruitful Life.

   I would firmly encourage you to put aside some time, and pick up some Bridges! Invest an evening or two each week to one of his books. Be encouraged by his passion and amazement at God’s grace- may this cause you to worship God and to faithfully serve Him. That process is what Jerry calls, being….

…Compelled by Love

 

 

a light surprise

 

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, who rises with healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

_{Sometimes a Light Surprises, Cowper}

 

  I have no particular reason or aim in sharing the above hymn with you, other than to encourage you through its warm and God-praising theme.

   For the full hymn and music…

Tools for Effective Living, and other stories

 

Tools for Effective Living

  What a brilliant name for a book on Christian life! Tools for Effective Living would easily find a place on my bookshelf, alongside ‘Basic Christian Living’, ‘Keys for Spiritual Growth’, ‘Growing your Faith’ etc. etc. I can see The Good Book Co. stocking Tools for Effective Living.

  Tools for Effective Living, however, is not the name of a Christian bestseller. It is, quite inappropriately, the tag-line for a brand of dishrack.