Fri 29th May - #51. A Netflix drama
During this lockdown period, Netflix has seen a surge in people signing up to its streaming service.
Almost 16 million people created accounts in the first three months of the year, the firm said.
That is almost double the new sign-ups it saw in the final months of 2019. *1
This morning’s reading could be a scene from a Netflix drama.
The reading is relatively long but as you read it imagine the various emotions.
Mark 6:14-29
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, ‘John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in Him.’
15 Others said, ‘He is Elijah.’
And still others claimed, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.’
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!’
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday, Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.’ 23 And he promised her with an oath, ‘Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.’
24 She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’
‘The head of John the Baptist,’ she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: ‘I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a dish.’
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a dish. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
So how do we respond when we read this?
Do we feel sick at the thought of what has gone on?
Do we feel angry at the evil that has taken place?
The Bible doesn’t hide the reality (and evil) of the world that we are in.
It’s not every day that you find a head on a dish but it reminds us of the lengths that people will go to to cover their sin and continue their progress in this world.
This story should remind us of the evil that is in our world but also the way that Jesus didn’t just die for the ‘nice people’ but He died for all (even Herod and Herodias).
Respond
Thank Jesus that He died for all, but also pray for Christians in the world who suffer greatly and the families who are left behind.
I am struck also this morning from the words of a persecuted Christian who said -
"JESUS IS LIKE OXYGEN, BECAUSE WITHOUT OXYGEN YOU CANNOT BREATHE."
- ISLÈM, NORTH AFRICA *2
Have a good weekend.
Much love
Tim
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* 1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52376022
* 2 https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/
Thurs 28th May - #50. Love Life
This lockdown has been going on for almost 11 weeks now. It’s been a tough time for the majority of people and has had consequences for our families, education, work and leisure. In fact lockdown has touched every area of our lives: social, physical, mental, financial and spiritual. We have all had things taken away from us and this has hurt and caused tears and sadness. For many the future is uncertain and for some very worrying.
Why did we go into lockdown? One answer: To save lives. Life, being alive, remaining alive is so precious, so treasured, so valuable; it is priceless. It is a wonderful thing to be alive. People literally fight for their life. And we have endured the hardship of lockdown so as to keep people alive.
But isn’t heaven better? Doesn’t the Apostle Paul say that “to die is gain”? (Philippians 1v21). In his “Institutes of the Christian Religion” (a very boring title for an extremely helpful book) John Calvin addresses the question that many disciples of Jesus have: “If heaven is so glorious and it is my real home, then why am I still alive, and should I enjoy life now?”
Calvin suggest 4 things for us to do during our life on earth.
1. Be thankful. Life is a gift and a blessing from God. “Indeed this life, however crammed with infinite miseries it may be, is still rightly to be counted among the blessings of God which are not to be spurned.” When we know that the earthly life we live is a gift of God’s kindness, then we shall be thankful to God every day of our lives.
2. Enjoy God’s gifts. In this life God shows Himself to be a good Father by providing us with daily benefits and good things from his hand. These good things are not just necessary for life, but also enjoyable: “Their beauty possesses value beyond mere utility.” And so God gives us food not just for necessity but also for delight and good cheer; our clothing is necessary but can also be attractive; the grasses, trees, fruits have their uses but also beauty in their appearance and pleasant fragrances. We may enjoy the good gifts our Father gives us.
3. Train. We should count this life, with all its struggles, as a preparation for the life to come which has no struggles. Life is a training ground on which our souls can be exercised and strengthened by spiritual disciplines until we appear in the stadium of heaven.
4. Anticipate. Every nice thing that we enjoy in this life, every gift of divine generosity, should whet our appetites for its fulness and perfection in the next life. Let everything you enjoy here point you forward to the enjoyments of heaven.
There are so many good things about life. And yet there is one thing better than life, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” (Psalm 63v3) God’s love is better than life!
And here and now in this life, even during lockdown, we can begin to experience the love of God as it is poured out into our hearts (Romans 5v5). We can live in that love, and even grow in our experience of it, and so our lives are enriched on earth. So “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3v17-19).
So love life, but remember there is a love better than life.
Love from Paul
Wed 27th May - #49. Hope of deliverance
In our reading today there are many parallels with the Exodus and the 12 tribes who left Egypt. So notice how (like the 12 tribes) the disciples are to take a garment, a belt, sandals and a staff. Someone has said this “the twelve are dressed as actors in a costume drama of deliverance, accompanied by signs of deliverance and preaching a message of deliverance".
Mark 6:7-13
Calling the Twelve to Him, He began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were His instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff— no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed with oil many people who were ill and healed them.
In the same way that the disciples has a message of deliverance we too are commissioned (by the Lord) to preach a message of deliverance. People that we meet need to be delivered from sin and Satan. We cannot deliver them from these by a course, book or counselling. It is only Jesus, through His Word and by his Spirit, who can deliver people from sin and Satan. We have the Gospel and, as, it is proclaimed through a 1-2-1, Small Group or Sunday preaches, we long for people to be delivered from the hold that Satan has on people. Pray the words that the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. Use these words in your morning prayer before you go out to your frontline -
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.. You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4 v4-7)
Much love Tim
Tues 26th May - #48. Directed
“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” (2 Thessalonians 3v5)
As lockdown continues, but with some relaxations and the hope of more to come, I wonder where your hearts are headed? Which direction are they going in?
To the shops? To the football ground? The cinema? The coffee shop or restaurant? The park? The family?
All nice places to go. But think of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians. They were going through difficult times and so were waiting earnestly for the return of Jesus. It would be easy for them to be distracted from that blessed hope and so Paul prays for them.
He prays for their hearts to be directed. Our heart is our inner being with all its values, hopes and desires. We tend to listen to our hearts and usually go to the places it directs us. But sometimes our hearts lead us astray. Paul says that God can direct our hearts like we can a car, bike or buggy. God has access to our inner life.
And Paul prays that God would direct them into two essential areas:
First, into God’s love.
Sadly, there are many things that can empty our hearts of God’s love: the culture of hostility and hatred we live in; people who drain us of love because you’ve given everything you can to help them, and they still want more or do not appreciate what they have; negative people, miserable people, selfish people can all empty our hearts of love.
And so we need God to direct our hearts into His amazing love. A relentless love, an everlasting love that does not give up on us! A love that was demonstrated in Jesus washing the filthy feet of the disciples, touching a leper, weeping over his enemies, and laying down His life for sinners on a cruel cross.
A love that reaches all kinds of people: the down and out; those who feel they have come to the end of life; the vulnerable, the poor, the abused, those without a voice. A love that reaches to people of all classes and races; a love that reaches to you and me (of all people!)
May the Lord direct your heart into that kind of love
Second into Christ’s perseverance.
We feel like quitting at times, giving up and throwing it all in. The disciples’ life is too hard, the suffering too much, the opposition to fierce, the response to our testimony and witness is negligible, and we can be so discouraged. Easier to give up following Jesus than continue!
And then we read of Christ’s perseverance. His perseverance is legendary. In the face of so many trials He continued to walk God’s road. Amid all the disappointments with His followers He stuck to His path to the cross. With the onslaught of His many enemies and opponents, He continued to teach and practice the truth. As He felt the lash of the whip on His back, the pounding fists of men on His face, the crown of thorns on His head, the nails hammered through His hands, He continued to do the will of God. Let us Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Where is your heart going? Into dark places it shouldn’t? Into hardness towards people? Going astray from the narrow road that leads to life? What is steering you? What is directing you?
May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance…
Love from Paul
Have a listen to this: The Love of God