Snapshots: Day 26

The Snapshot: “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife”. Another childless couple? History repeating itself? But thank goodness for a godly husband who prayed for his wife. But he prayed for twenty years!!!! Why did he have to wait for so long? Mysteries that will remain mysteries until we get to heaven and get answers. Until then I must learn to trust, trust that God never ever makes mistakes. Until then I must learn my part as I weave my way through the mysteries of life – with Him. Can I learn to persevere in prayer, keeping hope alive? Can I learn to trust while waiting, come to a place of complete peace in the knowledge of His wisdom and love? Is this my part as I confront some of the pains of living in this Fallen World? Lord, I receive your grace for this moment today.

Further Consideration: Prayer is one of the strangest features in the life of a Christian. I don't mean the ‘prayers' found in the ‘Book of Common Prayer' but those that don't seek to cover all the theological bases well, as do the prayers in that book that help remind us of the truths of the Faith. No, the prayers I have in mind are those that pour out of the heart that might so often summed up as, “God, please help!”

The difficulties are that such prayers may come out of total selfishness that add the word ‘me' to that summary prayer.

Such prayer often forgets that Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Mt 21:22) and “I will do whatever you ask in my name.” (Jn 14:13) So belief that we are asking in line with Jesus will, what he wants to happen, is key to seeing answers.

So I wonder what Isaac prayed, because we're not told in detail, simply that he was forty when he married Rebekah and sixty when she had her children (Gen 25:20,26). Twenty years of married life and no child, so we can assume that perhaps he was wondering if he was having to walk the same path as his father, and perhaps he was growing desperate – so he prayed and prayed. Was he praying in line with God's will? Most definitely. Why? Because he would have known of the number of times God had said to his father that He would make a great nation out of him, and that was not out of anyone other than through Isaac (see Gen 17:15,16).

Snapshots: Day 27

The Snapshot: “His brother came out grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob.” Perceptions, hopes and dreams, all wrong, all muddled, all forgetting God. Here's the first twin – he will be great. No he won't. Here's the second twin, a grabber, a twister, a schemer, a hopeless case. True but that's forgetting God again. He knows what we're really like, He knows what He can do with us, that's why we're chosen, because He looked into the future and saw what we could become. Jacob is going to become a great Patriarch, a godly man with God's heart who will prophesy over all his family with amazing insight. We all start by being ‘schemers', plotting our own well-being, and God enables us to become something quite glorious, His children. How wonderful. Thank you, Lord.

Further Consideration: Yesterday I sought to encourage us to come into understanding God's will. Many years ago my wife and I sensed we should move to the town where we now are. We sought to do so but it just wasn't happening. Eventually I took a piece of paper and made a list of twelve reasons why I felt we needed to be in that new place, and I took it to the Lord and said, “Lord, why aren't you letting us move? These are the reasons we need to be over there.” Quick as a shot came back from heaven, “Now you understand I will move you.” We were in within three months. Forty years later we're still here.

So often we see the circumstances and stick with them and see no further. We ‘caught' a sense of needing to move but it took a while to truly understand what was on God's heart. But I say again, so often we ‘see' with our eyes and either simply accept the status quo of what we see, or misunderstand what we see because we have not consulted God. The situation involving Jacob is strange.

You see Rebekah shows herself to be a godly woman because, after twenty years pass and she eventually finds herself pregnant and there is a heaving going on inside, we read, “she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord ,” (Gen 25:22) and the Lord told her, “ Two nations are in your womb ….     and the older will serve the younger.” (Gen 25:23) so when Esau came out first followed by Jacob grasping his heel, she clearly didn't tell Isaac (or he ignored her) because they did not take on board the fact that Jacob would become the leader of the two, and thus they gave him a name that stuck – grasper, twister, deceiver. He certainly lived up to that name until he ended wrestling with God and was changed.

Snapshots: Day 28

The Snapshot: “so he proceeded to bless him.” A blessing is a prophetic decree of good from heaven. It comes from God, touches a heart, is declared and applied by God. It is not a wish but a declaration of the good will of God and is, in one sense, general for all of us (His desire for good for His children) but in another sense unique (what He sees He wants to do for ‘me' uniquely). We impart a blessing only as the Holy Spirit enables us; it is not a case of just wishing someone well, but an opening of the door of heaven for the good to be poured forth as he desires. How amazing that He wants to involve us, is limited by us, because He wants us to be the bringers of His good to His world. Lord, please make me sensitive of your will for those I love that I may bless them.

Further Consideration: Over the years I have had the impression that most Christians know little of blessings and curses. The classic passages of the Law that describe them are Deut 28 for blessings following obedience, then curses for disobedience. However, blessings start in Gen 1 when God blessed the living creatures (v.22) and then mankind (v.28). In each case ‘blessings' are God's decrees for good. In each case the blessing is “to be fruitful” and this is also seen when He blesses Noah (Gen 9:1). A beautiful outworking of this is seen in the case of Isaac: “Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.” (Gen 26:12)

Somehow this understanding has been communicated to Isaac and so it is no surprise when he blesses who he thinks is his eldest son, but turns out to be Jacob. He clearly holds a blessing in the highest degree for once he has spoken it, he knows he cannot either withdraw it or repeat it in respect of Esau (see Gen 27:34-37).

A blessing is thus equivalent to a prophecy and of course genuine prophecies always originate in heaven, in God's heart, and not merely in our hearts. As we catch a sense of the Holy Spirit's prompting we may then utter the blessing that we sense the Lord wants to impart to the person before us, and life is changed.

Snapshots: Day 29

The Snapshot: “a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” We might think it is a rare thing to be commended by God for wrestling with Him, but when the man in question insists, “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” that pleases God, for that is exactly what is on His heart for mankind – that we cling to Him to be blessed, to be saved, to be redeemed, to receive the blessing that only He can impart. We will come out of the wrestling match changed, perhaps in a way we hadn't envisaged and indeed don't fully appreciate, but from then on we will never forget God and He will always be our first port of call in the struggles of life. No longer will we be plotting our own well-being for we will have His blessing and will never be the same again,.

Further Consideration: Wrestling with God? That needs some thinking about because Jacob was commended by God for wrestling with Him until He blessed him, but not all ‘wrestling' is like that. Perhaps the greatest example of wrestling with God where the objective of the wrestler was seek to get victory over God for no other reason that pure self-centredness, is that of Pharaoh opposing Moses in Exodus. No of course it wasn't a literal wrestling match of Pharaoh with God but Pharaoh's attitude, his words and his actions, are clearly as much a struggle against God to get his own way, as if it has been a literal match.

God is seeking to get Pharaoh to submit to His will and we see it is a totally unbalanced contest because He is so infinitely more stronger than Pharaoh, but Pharaoh doesn't believe that. But then that is why unbelievers wrestle with God, resist Him, and try and get their own way; they just don't realise exactly who it is they are resisting. If they realised the truth they would give in instantly.

But when it comes to believers, they sense something and, I would suggest, it is something inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is that God can bless them, can answer a prayer – and wants to, if only they will ask and ask.

Snapshots: Day 30

The Snapshot: “seven years of famine began.” Living in a Fallen World is often confusing. Israel has lost his favourite son, and now famine threatens to wipe them out. It feels a hard world – but that is without understanding what God is doing. The ‘dead son' will be raised to life and be their saviour, but that is still the future. Sometimes the sun shines brightest before the storm that brings life to the desert. When Jesus entered Jerusalem they shouted, “Hosanna!”, Lord save us. A week later, others cried out, “Crucify him.” It was a confusing time, a terrible time, and it seems no one could see the glory of the future behind the black thunder clouds. But God has a plan so rest in that truth, and it's always a plan for good, our good. How incredible.

Further Consideration: Whether we like it or not – and I know some people who think it is a cop out – the world we live in is broken, dysfunctional or as we usually put it – fallen. It is not as it was when God first made it. When sin came in, God stepped back and said the equivalent of, “OK, you want to run it you way, I'll let you do that.” The result was that sin prevailed, and the world went wrong. Sickness accompanied sin, and that included sickness in the plant life and in nature at large, which included the weather and the way the planet works generally.

Thus sometimes there were (and are) famines because rain doesn't fall, seeds don't germinate and so on. If we blame God for famines, we must blame Him for giving us free will, not that He made us do wrong, but allowed us the opportunity, and everything else followed. So that's the world we live in – where it goes wrong – but the amazing thing is that God didn't step right of the equation, He is still there when we turn to Him and He is available to help. That doesn't mean He will immediately jump in and do what we want and reverse the working of the fallen world, but it does mean that there are times when He sees that that is possible without upsetting the balance of our free will.

Snapshots: Day 31

The Snapshot: “Israel loved Joseph more.” So often we cannot foresee the consequences of our attitudes and our actions, but when we look down from above (Eph 2:6) we see something incredible, the hidden hand of God moving to fulfil His purposes, taking even our folly and using it for good. But for the moment, all is quiet and the drama has not been unfolded and so we do not know what is to come. We think we understand it (Mt 16:22), we think we can handle it (Mt 26:33) but we don't and we can't. But that does not deter Him, He knows what He is doing and, before the end, salvation will be poured out to Israel – and to us. Israel, Peter, me, we're all a bit clueless and have just got to learn to trust Him, for He is not. In the quiet before the storm and in the storm.

Further Consideration: We need to unpack Jacob's (Israel's) feelings about Joseph. Jacob had been tricked into marrying both of Laban's daughters but his love had really only been for Rachel. Then there was the expectation of children. Leah the other wife had four sons, Rachel none. In desperation she gave her servant girl to Jacob, and she bore two sons. Leah joined the competition and gave her servant girl and she bore two sons. Leah then had two more sons and a daughter. There are ten sons and a daughter and only then did Rachel conceive and Joseph was born. Later she gave birth to Benjamin and died in childbirth. It is no wonder, therefore that Joseph, the child of his beloved wife, should have been special to him. So much for the background, but next the consequences.

Because he favoured Joseph so much, the other ten brothers hated him. (Gen 37:4) Jacob, with a lack of awareness of the family dynamics, sends Joseph out to the brothers caring for sheep, with the result that they sell Joseph to slave traders, who take him to Egypt and sell him on. Cutting a long story short he is imprisoned for fourteen years but is then released because of his powers to interpret dreams and is eventually made second most important man in Egypt, overseeing the next fourteen years of abundance of harvest and then famine. As a result of this Jacob and his family end up living in Egypt. Four hundred years later they need delivering from slavery – because they stayed on there not having returned home – by a prince-cum-shepherd called Moses, resulting in both an opportunity to clean up a dissolute land (Canaan) while revealing the immense power of God and His good intentions towards what now becomes a nation.

Favoritism may not have been the only factor in bringing all this about, but it was certainly one of them. Who knows what God can achieve despite our bumbling attempts at being good humans?

Snapshots: Day 32

The Snapshot: “It is finished.” A vision across time. Three crosses on a hill, with humans nailing others on to them. The one in the middle started shining brightly but then from every direction darkness hurtled at the one who was light, darkness seeking to obliterate the light. From within me a cry, forgive us, Lord! A battle for survival. But then as the last glimmer of light vanished under the darkness, there was an immense explosion and light poured forth in every direction and as it poured over me, my chains fell off, failures, disappointments, distress, anxieties, guilt, and shame, and as I looked down at myself I was full of light, transformed and clean. (1 Pet 2:24) Salvation!

Further Consideration: It was approaching Easter and I had a dream, a very vivid one, just as I woke, perhaps more of a vision. It was so clear it seemed appropriate to insert it into these Snapshots of the Bible. In one sense it doesn't matter where we are in history, or where we are in the Bible, we constantly need reminding that history pivots on this one unique event, the crucifixion of the Son of God.

In shorthand we simply refer to all he did and achieved for us as ‘the Cross'. It is, first, an historical event, noted even in secular history. The details are there in the Gospels: three crosses and on the one in the middle hangs Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He speaks seven times: to ask forgiveness for those doing this (Lk 23:34), to reassure the thief beside him (Luke 23:43), to reassure his mother (Jn 19:26-27), to cry to his Father (Mt 27:46, Mk 15:34), to declare thirst (Jn 19:28), to declare it is finished (Jn 19:30) and to commit himself to God (Lk 23:46). These are the recorded facts.

But second, it is a prophetic event, spoken of by the prophets who gave insight into what went on in the spiritual realm (see Psa 22), the powers of darkness attacking him trying to break this ‘perfect sacrifice' the one without blemish or failure. It was a battle of light over darkness but, “ the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn 1:5)

Snapshots: Day 33

The Snapshot: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20) What incredible insight the spoilt-brat-cum-saviour Joseph now has. Just like Peter: “God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death.” God using the wickedness of man to bring good. You could never have dreamt that up! I sometimes think that this is one of the most powerful reasons to believe – we could never have dreamt this up – Joseph becoming a slave to come the second most powerful man in the Middle East to bring salvation. The death of a ‘man' on a cross to bring justice to eternity and forgiveness to you and me. No, I never saw that coming – until it did!

Further Consideration: Approaching the end of Genesis, we find ourselves with a revelation from the mouth of Joseph that is without doubt, awe-inspiring. Here is this relatively young man who had been sold as a slave by his brothers, put in prison for fourteen years before being released into a position of immense power. That power means that he could give one order and his brothers would be dead, but he doesn't, he makes provision for them in Egypt and they settle and grow into a nation.

What is fascinating about this is that Joseph has the wisdom and insight to be able to look back and see that what took place, the Lord had allowed to bring him eventually into this place of power whereby, with the wisdom and revelation of God, he could ensure millions would be saved from starvation. Time and again God had intervened in the sinful affairs of this sinful world – that enslaved and imprisoned Joseph – and blessed him in such a manner that that wisdom and later that revelation would bless him, even as a slave, even in prison, and cause him to be brought out to become ruler. A lesson there surely has to be that God can still bless us in less than ideal circumstances!

Snapshots: Day 34

The Snapshot: “Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.” (Ex 1:8) The truth is that the world changes and not always for the better. For Israel it meant a period of slavery but that was not their destiny, just a pathway to an event that would stand out in their history revealing the incredible power and glory of God. Sometimes the path leading to glory is not easy but we always have the assurance that ‘ in all things God works for the good of those who love him.' (Rom 8:28) The hard path is the opportunity to grow, to reveal who we really are. On this path we chose whether we will become jaded and cynical, ever demanding our good, or glorious demonstrations of the power and presence of God in the midst of this Fallen World.

Further Consideration: Eternal glory is our end goal, our hope, a place in heaven with Christ. Perhaps much of the time we forget that as we get caught up in the daily affairs of life, but it is our end goal and it will be wonderful: no more tears, no more sickness, no more fears, no more doubts, no more anxieties. What a wonderful life to be looked forward to, and this is our inheritance.

But before we get there we have to live out this life on earth and I have often realised that I am grateful that I don't know what turn things will take tomorrow. Today has got enough worries of its own! (Mt 6:34) If we knew the things that are coming in the next ten years, say, we would be filled with worries and anxieties; how will I cope?

But the bad things that come – like a new national leader who is not for us, we feel – we only see as bad, but the Bible shows, as in this present case he/it can be a motivating force for change, sometimes good, sometimes not so good – but we have to handle it!

This new king is going to bring bad; he is going to turn the Hebrews into slaves, but the bigger truth is that they have become complacent in living here and have no thought of moving back to Canaan. Now don't expect things to move quickly. Moses is yet to be born, he will be forty before he leaves Egypt and eighty before he returns to free his people. Now we cannot understand the measuring stick in the Lord's mind that deemed four hundred years the right period to tell Abraham, before He set Israel free from Egypt (see Gen 15:13), but remember if He hadn't called Moses and then moved in judgment upon the new Pharaoh, the people of Israel would have remained there and perhaps even been wiped out there.

So when the changes come, we simply need the grace to handle them, but don't jump to conclusions about them. Only the Lord knows the truth about them; ask Him.

Snapshots: Day 35

The Snapshot: “a Levite woman… gave birth to a son… she hid him for three months.” (Ex 2:1,2) A godly mother from a priestly family, a family with history, but now living in the most terrible of circumstances. She determines not to submit to those circumstances; she will not give in to the powers of evil that surround her. She takes risks, she preserves her son, she takes steps to ensure his future, and so Moses is eased into the world. Little did she know the role this son would play, becoming one of the most famous founders of Israel; little do we know the destiny of the child we carry or bring into this world. Who knows how this life may impact and bless the world as we create shelter and a haven of love, security in which a child of grace may grow, so the world will be changed?

Further Consideration: Exodus records of Moses' mother, “ When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months,” (Ex 2:2) but the writer to the Hebrews declares, “ By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child.” (Heb 11:23) Was it just that they were his parents that they protected Moses? The texts suggest not; they imply that when they looked at him, something in them said he was special.

In one sense this is true of every child, unique and made in the image of God. In the argument of nature versus nurture there is the acceptance that the way you bring up a child determines a lot of how they will turn out. The truth is that the end product when you look back on a life, is a combination of genes, upbringing, chance opportunities, decisions made and, we would say as Christians, no doubt the invisible hand of God upon us.

Powerful ingredients! We may only help the work of God through prayer, genes are set, but we can play a major and thus significant part in the way we love, accept and are there for our children. The random opportunities and their decisions are beyond us so the way we treat them becomes doubly important as far as we are concerned. If only more parents would understand this. How often do we see parents for whom having a child appears to have been an inconvenient mistake which they regret?

Such parents tend to ignore their responsibilities so caring is minimal, discipline is rare and then, under stress, becomes harsh. How sad that we can hinder the potential of our children when we do this. Moses' parents risked severe retribution from the authorities of Egypt, just because they sensed something of his potential. They risked everything to save him – that's what loving parents do. They are a challenge and an example to us.

Snapshots: Day 36

The Snapshot: “he went out to where his own people were.” (Ex 2:11) There are times when we sense we are made for more than we see at the moment, there comes an awakening in us. And there we find the potential for disaster. Am I alone so I will have to make my own destiny, or do I have a divine destiny? (Jer 1:5, Eph 1:4, 2:10) If I am on my own working out my destiny alone, I may end up killing an Egyptian. If I can take hold of the concept of divine destiny, my future must be one where I learn to listen to Him, learn to cooperate with Him, learn to enter into the life He desires for me, in the way He wants for me. It will be a life that rejects the hasty decision but becomes one where patience and perseverance brings the reward of a more secure path and glorious destiny.

Further Consideration: I wonder how many people can testify to having had an ‘epiphany moment', a time of sudden insight. It seems that is what happened here. Moses surely knew about the Hebrew shepherds-become-slaves in the north, and it is probable he had found out that they were where he had come from. So one day he goes out to see what they are like and he watches them being driven by slave-drivers.

Now he could have just watched, turned around and returned to the comfort of the palace untouched, but he didn't. Somehow he had this ‘moment' of ‘these are my people' and he steps in and kills a harsh slave-master to save those workers being beaten.

Now interestingly there is a modern writer who has compiled a book of such epiphanies and in it she says there are four elements to an epiphany: listening, belief, action and serendipity. Serendipity, according to a dictionary means, “ the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.” Synonyms include ‘chance, providence, fate and destiny'. Now have a look at all this in the case of Moses. He arrives, watches and listens, and believes, ‘these are my people,' and so he acts. The outworking of the events is what follows – he flees, lives in the desert for forty years, until God calls him back. The final product – yes forty years on – is good.

Snapshots: Day 37

The Snapshot: “but Moses fled.” (Ex 2:15) We didn't see that coming. The circumstances of life had moved on and Moses was a Prince of Egypt, but then suddenly it is all gone. Put aside the causes for the moment because often the causes are not clear, but his life as a Prince is gone. If this was a big-screen picture it would be accompanied by the setting sun. A ball of fire at the end of the day, descending to the horizon until eventually just a few glimmers of its flames and its afterglow, and its gone. Dusk. Light fails. Night. Sleep. If you didn't know better you would say, ‘The End' but with God there is yet resurrection, a new day. The anguish remains for the night, but there is joy in the morning. There is more to come for Moses – and us.

Further Consideration: Times of personal catastrophe feel like the end. That is it, we've blown it, there is no future. We've just seen how a decision made in a moment can be a decision that devastates the past and utterly destroys the possibilities of the future. All the good credit we had built up over the years gets squandered in a moment and our past counts for nothing now.

We have stepped over the line we thought we would never cross. We had looked at other people whose moral failures revealed what they were really like on the inside and we thought, “How could they have done that? I could never do that,” but then we did, and we realised we were just like everyone else, a sinner who will be looked down on by the Pharisees who still deny they have ever crossed the line.

Suddenly we feel like Peter after his threefold denial of Jesus, except this hadn't been about Jesus – or if it had, only loosely, at a distance so to speak. No, this was about our own standing, about what others will think if I get found out. What will be family think? What will friends think? What will those who look to me, who rely on me, think?

Snapshots: Day 38

The Snapshot: “but Moses fled.” (Ex 2:15) Possibly this is one of The classic examples in the Bible of someone ‘taking affairs into their own hands'. It implies human effort, human endeavor, human wisdom and, as so often is the case, human upset. The temptation to remedy a bad situation by human means, by human endeavor, by human wisdom, is great when God doesn't seem to be turning up, and you feel He should! Invariably the result is worse. Activity born of impatience is indeed lack of trust in God's wisdom, God's timing and God's power. Because we walk by faith and not by sight, it means that often we cannot ‘see' God's plans, God's intention, even God's preparations. Pray we must, trust we must. The alternatives are not worth thinking about.

Further Consideration: We've just considered the horror of a life coming to an end, a life of innocence, a life of righteousness, and all that stretches before me is this life of guilt and shame, a life where others look at me differently. Come on, I just ran out of grace, it was a bad day, we all have these … don't we? You wait until it is your turn!

I want to justify myself. It wasn't just me; it was partly them, in fact the more I think about it, the more I realise it was mostly them! If they hadn't been like they were, if they hadn't been there, I wouldn't have fallen. Yes, it was them. I was just trying to do what was best in the moment, they needed my comfort, they needed my correction, they needed to hear the truth. I just acted in the moment to do what it seemed needed doing, and now the slave-master is dead!

I pause and I realise I'm just making excuses, it was my fault, I was weak, I didn't look to God for help, I blew it! I confess it and say sorry to God and as I sit there in silence various verses rise up in my consciousness, and I realise I am not on my own.

Snapshots: Day 39

The Snapshot: “but Moses fled.” (Ex 2:15) When we fail, when we flee, the enemy would have us believe that is the end, as we've seen. If we do find ourselves living in the desert, our natural tendency is to look back with regret, our self wants to wallow in the failure and the little voice whispers, ‘You blew it, that's the end', but it isn't. Sometimes this moment is the defining act that determines the future but often it is just simply another day in the many days it will take to change us. We wish change could happen instantly but sometimes it takes years and years, because God is not impatient, God is more concerned with a changed and good outcome that is your life and mine, so these are not wasted years but just the path to the amazing things yet to come! Watch out, God's in the desert!

Further Consideration: When I look back on my life, yes, as a Christian, I want to be honest and acknowledge three things. The first is that although I can look back and see very big and distinct times of change, of career and direction, when I look back, I am absolutely sure that God's hand was in them. For the vast majority of time I could not say, “I was aware of God's guidance in that change.” Yes, we prayed, yes we responded to what we felt was the right thing to do in the circumstances, but rarely did I sense the clear voice of God guiding and directing – but He was!

The second thing I note as I look back is a sense of failure. Yes, I am aware that looking back God did open up lots of areas of opportunity and blessed, and yet I feel with the saints of Heb 11:10 I am ‘looking forward' and that means a sense of not having got there in the past. Yes, I would like to live my life again from say age 30 – but with the knowledge I have now! I believe we live in a day when we, the Church, fall far short of what is on God's heart for us, and that saddens me as I am sure it does Him.

The third thing of which I am aware is a sense of inadequacy. As I confess so often to the people in my Prayer Workshop, the greatest thing I fear is coming to them without having heard the Lord and that we, collectively, by the end, fail to know His Presence. But the truth is that I cannot do it. All I can do is present this empty vessel to him, this chipped and imperfect earthenware vessel (2 Cor 4:7) and plead, “Lord, please fill this vessel with your glory so that you will be glorified.” (Jn 17:1b)

Snapshots: Day 40

The Snapshot: “Moses saw …. the bush was on fire.” (Ex 3:2) Curiosity is often the key to opening the door to the future. How often, I sometimes wonder, does God bring about something in our lives that we fail to see came from Him, was Him trying to catch our attention. It wasn't just that this bush was on fire, it was that it ‘did not burn up' that caught Moses attention. There will always be something slightly out of the ordinary with God, but so often we allow the thoughts and worries and cares of our lives to blot out awareness. This isn't to say we should spend our lives looking for the unusual, but that when it does come along, we need to be alert enough to spot it. It may be in the Bible ( if we read it), it may be in the day's circumstances, it may be people. Are we alert to God's activity for us?

Further Consideration: I wonder how many of us potter through life without ever having a sense of communication with God? Ok, perhaps we pray but it is probably a one-way communication. We aren't told how the Lord actually spoke to Moses but it seems like it was an audible voice. Now I remember a teacher saying in my hearing many years back, if you hear the audible voice of God it is serious business because He doesn't often speak like that. Well I can go along with that because a calling to go and confront the world's leading megalomaniac is pretty serious stuff!

But, of course, most of us don't get such a high calling. For most of us it is just to be a witness to the world around us and most of the time we don't need lots of additional input to do that. There is that need of wisdom, of course, that is often needed, how to go about it, and James was quite clear that if we ask without doubting, God will give it generously (Jas 1:5,6). I find, so often, that simply comes through thoughts in my mind as I am waiting on Him.

Snapshots: Day 41

The Snapshot: “The Lord said, “I have indeed seen…” (Ex 3:7) Foolish people say, “God doesn't see.” Yes He does! Foolish people say, “God is powerless otherwise He would act.” No He's not, He's just waiting for the right time, for the circumstances to be right for action. Don't worry about Moses, it's not him, he's just a plane caught in a holding pattern over the airport, waiting for the right time to land – only he doesn't know it yet. We get so caught up in our own little self-concerned worlds that we fail to realise that sometimes God is waiting for bigger things to come into line. Check out Eccles 3:1-8. Easter came at ‘just the right time' (Rom 5:6). The trouble is we probably don't realise these things. That means we are just left with trust, and you can trust Him.

Further Consideration: Theologian, evangelist and writer, Michael Green in his well-known book, ‘Evangelism in the Early Church', suggested that the Roman peace (pax Romana) meant that “the spread of Christianity would have been inconceivable had Jesus been born a half a century earlier.” Not only that, the use of the Greek language “was so widely disseminated through the Mediterranean basin that it acted as an almost universal common tongue.” Add to this the existence of the Jewish religion that had spread so far afield, so that “The Christian faith grew best and fastest on Jewish soil, or at least, soil that had been prepared by Judaism,” and you have all the natural ingredients for the rapid spread of the Faith.

We so often, rightly, attribute the spread of the Gospel to the work of the Holy Spirit but that does not say that He doesn't use the affairs of man in which to work. We would do well to observe that the narratives of the Bible do very clearly move on one from another in clear chronological or historical order with references made again and again to things that happened earlier, and on which current events depend. Unlike a fairy story or so-called ‘myths' the ‘story line' within the Bible is not a series of random events, but clearly interlinked events, bound together by common geographical history – and a divinely declared purpose, and it is within this that God moves.

So when the Lord says to Moses, “I have seen….” that is but the prologue to Him explaining that all this was part of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex 6:2-8). It is clear that God holds back judgment but knows how long it will take foolish mankind to build up their sin to the point of no return, at which point He steps in. God's times are not accidental. He sees and He knows how long He can hold back - and then He acts. Never ever think that we can do things that we can hide from God. We can't!

Snapshots: Day 42

The Snapshot: “I am sending you…” (Ex 3:10) It sounded good when God had said He saw, He had heard, and He had come down to rescue His people. Yes, it had been good up to the point He added, ‘I am sending you'. Our natural cry (and it took Moses nearly two chapters of arguing to make this point) is, “I'm not up to this!” Of course we're not, that's why He said, “I will be with you.” (v.12) So often as Christians we pray for God's help to change the circumstances when all the while He wants us to pray for wisdom (see Jas 1:5) so that we can play our part in His plans to change those circumstances. For some crazy reason – I think it's to do with love – He wants us imperfect people to join in His perfect plans, to be part in changing this world. Amazing! Incredible!

Further Consideration: As little children we like hearing fairy tales of handsome princes who come to the aid of distressed damsels. As grown up Christians we like praying for our family or neighbours to come to the Lord - because we know that is what the Lord would want us to do. But then comes the shock: I will speak to your family – through you. I will be a witness to your neighbours – through you.

We ask the Lord to change us and hope He will give us a tablet that tastes nice that will change us or wave a magic wand over our circumstances to change them, but then comes the shock when He says, “I want you to change them.”

Just recently I presented our prayer workshop group with a question that the Lord put before me: In this Fallen World where the circumstances often seem bad, does God want to change me through the circumstances or to change the circumstances through me? The answer came loud and clear: BOTH!

We would much rather sit on the sidelines and watch while God beats up the enemy, while Jesus heals the sick and delivers the demon possessed, or the Holy Spirit sweeps in with revival power, but instead He has given us the most incredible privilege – He has called us and made us “the body of Christ” (1 Cor 12:27) and so for most of the time (and yes sometimes He does move sovereignly without using us), Jesus who is the head of the body (Eph 4:15) seeks to guide us and direct us to do the works he started doing (see Lk 4:18,19, Mt 11:5, Jn 14:12)

Snapshots: Day 43

The Snapshot: “God said, “I will be with you.” (Ex 3:12a) Having a friend or a loved one alongside you has to be one of the surest ways of feeling secure in this unsure world. To be alone in the trials and tribulations of this fallen world is an anguish the Lord wants us to avoid. But if there are no other people, there is always Him. Even if that friend or loved one says nothing, it is just good to have them there. But is God a ‘friend' who is just there? The thing about the friend's presence is that we can always turn to talk to them and trust them in their counsel. With God it is so obvious because we are always talking about prayer. But dare I believe He is actually here in this place? Whether I sense it or not, it is true and that must be the starting place for my security.

Further Consideration: There is something strange about being a Christian that I have found over the years. There is comfort in the truth of His word, the Bible, there is comfort in being one of God's people and having other believers around me who are like me and are for me. If is comforting to learn the truth about the attributes and ways of God and the wonder of the Gospel, of what Jesus did and has done for us. Yes, all of these things are reassuring and comforting; it is good to know about God and who He has made us.

But the strange thing that I have found is that the greatest comfort comes either when He speaks personally or when I catch a sense of His presence – “He is here!” I have lost count of the number of times when He has spoken a personal word to me. It doesn't happen all the time, it doesn't happen when I want it to, but when it does happen, I find that even if it is just a single short sentence, somehow, having heard from my Lord is immensely comforting. And then there have been those times when I have been waiting upon him, a relatively few times, sometimes with others, and then comes that awareness that He was there, making His presence felt in a way that really denies further description. And it always comes with an amazing sense of peace.

Snapshots: Day 44

The Snapshot: “God said, “I will be with you.” (Ex 3:12a) Is just knowing He is here enough? If everything the preachers say is true, it is not. If He is love, I want to sense that love, if He is comfort, I want to sense that comfort. If He says I will provide for you, I want to know that sense of provision. If He says I am the healer, I want to know healing. If I don't know these things, why not? What is missing? What am I missing? What? I must “believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Heb 11:6) That I need to remember to come near to him? (Jas 4:8) I can keep it in my intellect that He will never leave me (Heb 13:5) or I can wait upon Him, desiring to draw near to Him, until I sense He is here. That is a possibility; I've known it, so why don't I do it more often?

Further Consideration: In the previous snapshot we considered some of God's attributes about His being, His existence, but there are more that pertain to His character which leads to His words and His actions:

He is Faithful , He is Good, He is Just , He is Merciful, He is Gracious , He is Loving . If these things are true – and they are – if my heart isn't yearning to experience them, there must be something wrong with me!

Thus when God says, “I will be with you,” then all of these things will be part of that experience, knowing His presence in the days that follow. We know that we can trust Him because He never changes in His attitude towards us, we can be assured of His goodness, that strange description that is so difficult to grasp, yet when we do, we have a feeling that it is right, pleasant, enjoyable and we need have no doubts about Him in any shape or kind. And so it goes on; these are the things about God that the Bible is clear about and which make knowing Him not only worthwhile but essential in life.

The apostle Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us.” (Rom 8:31) which could be equally said, “ Because God is for us, who can be against us.” That is the truth, He is for us. He is with us, indwelling us by His Holy Spirit, working around us by His sovereign power, and ruling from heaven over the affairs of mankind, working them together for our benefit (Rom 8:28). That is almost too good to be true – but it is! But my experiences of Him being “with me” will vary.

There will be the relatively rare times that I referred to previously when His presence is virtually manifest and there is such an awareness of Him there; there will be other times when we have no sense of Him there (although He still is), and there are a multitude of experiences in between. Sometimes He seems very active in our lives, sometimes it seems like He is waiting and still – but He is still there!

Snapshots: Day 45

The Snapshot: “this will be the sign to you that it is I.” (Ex 3:12b) Lord, I've always had a bit of a problem with signs. For instance, this one: “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Lord, if I was Moses, I'm not sure I would be blessed: You'll know it was me when it's happened? That's a sign? What's that? Read your book, read about Jesus? He performed plenty of signs but people still didn't believe? Did the disciples have signs when they were called? Well, no, I suppose not. They did by the end of the three years? Right. Just get on with it is what you're saying, and I'll find you'll turn up and do the stuff. OK, I get the message. Jonathan? As he did the stuff the sign became clear? (1 Sam 14:10) Right! Got it! Enough said.

Further Consideration: We read, “For we live by faith, not by sight ,” (2 Cor 5:7) but if we're honest, most of us would prefer to be able to see – to see God, to see where we're going, to see the resources that are apparently available to us. But even more, when it comes to guidance, or when it comes to facing the future, we would very much prefer to have it all clearly laid out before us so there are no question marks. But faith means we have an assurance of the things unseen and we can have that assurance because He indwells us.

That doesn't stop us on bad days or unclear days asking for signs but as the snapshot says, that was not how it was with the disciples. I've written before of an imaginary conversation between Jesus and Levi as Levi is being called to follow Jesus and basically it could be summarised as, ‘Follow me and as you do you'll get all the ‘signs' you need.'

The reality is when we first came to Christ, we were in no position to bargain, no position to go asking for signs. We were desperate and we took what was on offer, the salvation that follows repentance. The terms of that salvation were, believe in Jesus, believe he died for you and hand your life over to him, die to the old life, and let him lead you for the rest of your life.

Those were the terms and they haven't changed. He didn't say, ‘I will show you the way, how it all will be and then you can follow me.' No, it was the other way around: follow me and because I am the Way, I will make it clear as we go together.

Yes, Gideon did ask for signs (Jud 6:17) and got them, but Gideon didn't have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Mostly in the Gospels, sign seekers are people expressing their unbelief. The signs were already there for those with eyes to see. If our hearts are open to our Lord then his word will show us the way, his Spirit will show us the way. Often we ask for signs because we lack reassurance. Let his word and his Spirit bring you that.

Snapshots: Day 46

The Snapshot: “ I am who I am .” (Ex 3:14) Pardon? Say “ I am has sent me to you.” Er… yes…. er, Lord, that's not much clearer. You are ‘ I AM”? That's right. You are what? It doesn't matter, that part, stop and think about it, I AM. Yes, I know, you said that. Yes, and I will keep on saying it. Er… could I say that about me? No. Why not? Because I've only given you a set number of years and then you'll be something different. Right, I see, but you'll never be different. That's right, I AM. And there is clearly no one else like you. That's right. You are unique. That's right. You just ARE. That's right, you're beginning to get it. You're very different from us. That's right. In fact, different from everything else I know. That's right. Wow, I sense I ought to be on my knees. That's right.

Further Consideration: I suspect that the majority of us take for granted the word LORD in capital letters throughout the Old Testament and yet each time we ought to be reading ‘I AM' meaning the supreme eternal one who is outside of time. So, as a random example, “ The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;   the Lord accepts my prayer.” (Psa 6:9) becomes, “ “ The I AM, the Eternal One, has heard my cry for mercy;   the I AM, the Eternal One, accepts my prayer.”

It is only when we read it like this, that His utter difference from us becomes clear. The Eternal One, the one outside of time nevertheless hears me here in time-space history. The Eternal One, the One outside of time, nevertheless acts into our time-space dimension. He is not limited by time; He sees everything from beginning to end (including every detail of what is between) and so knows everything. Moreover, in fact He can drop into our time at any moment – but the truth is that although He is outside of time, He is here in time, all the time. Wrap your mind around that!

From the few visions of heaven we find in the Bible and the responses of the prophets who ‘saw' Him, (at least in the vision) this Being who is so utterly unlike anything else we know, creates terror in the beholders, simply because He is so different (holy – perfect, unlimited, pure). It is to overcome that fear that when He communicates it is usually in the Old Testament through angelic beings, or simply an audible voice, and in the New Testament through His Son, Jesus Christ, or His unseen presence, the Holy Spirit.

The analogy is often given: if you want to communicate with ants, become an ant. if you want to communicate with tropical fish, become a tropical fish. God is a communicating God and so made mankind in time-space history, and then became a man, purely so that He could communicate His love to mankind. Amazing!

Snapshots: Day 47

The Snapshot: “I will harden his heart.” (Ex 4:22) Lord, I'm a bit confused by this. I've looked up and there seem at least ten times when it says you hardened him and at least three times that he hardened himself. Which is true? Both. It's very easy; when someone has a hard heart and you challenge them, their heart just gets harder. So you were purposely making it worse? I was purposely making it clear to you what was going on in him. Er …. why? As a warning; how would you describe him? Me Lord? Yes, you. Er, stubborn and pretty stupid really, I suppose. Was he unique in the human race? Definitely not. What lessons do you think come out here? Well …. not to allow yourself to be hard-hearted, not to argue with I AM? Silence.

Further Consideration: The heart? Of course when the Bible speaks of ‘the heart' it is not referring to that muscle that pumps blood around the body but that inner area where will and intellect interact to guide, motivate, inspire the life that is ‘me'.

But that's where it takes on differences in me from other people, differences in me as to how I react to God, to people, to circumstances. The Bible shows the possibilities: stubborn-hearted (Isa 46:12), an undivided heart (Ezek 11:19), a heart of stone or of flesh (Ezek 36:26), a troubled heart (Gen 6:6), a hard heart (Ex 7:3), a lusting heart (Num 15:39), a fearful heart (Deut 1:28), a seeking heart (Deut 4:29), a proud heart (Deut 8:14), a pure heart (Mt 5:8), a gentle and humble heart (Mt 11:29) etc. etc.

All these descriptions show us what we are like ‘at the heart of us', at the core of our being, that is expressed outwardly in life activity. And so we come to a ‘hard heart', a person whose inner being is set and determined, who resists any pressure from outside of their being to change and conform to outside wishes, outside forces – God!

In Pharaoh we see the awfulness, the folly, of a heart that resists the pressures put upon it. To use a completely different analogy, imagine a man driving a car across the country and he decides to keep himself awake by having half a dozen bottles of alcohol beside him which he will use from time to time. You try to explain to him that it won't work, in him like that, that it will incapacitate him, but he has set his heart on this. He starts off and you ring him on his cell phone, his mobile in the car, and you plead with him not to drink from the bottles, but his heart is hard, he refuses to listen to you; you keep on warning him but he refuses to listen, even though his vision is becoming impaired. Eventually you hear over the phone the sounds of the crash. It was inevitable! Thus it is inevitable that pressed and pressed Pharaoh's hard heart will get harder and bring about his demise. Learn.

Snapshots: Day 48

The Snapshot: “ Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord , that I should obey him and let Israel go?” (Ex 5:2) A hard heart is revealed by a “Why should I?” attitude. Why should I worship God? Why should I pray? Why should I read the Bible? Why should I go to church? Why should I do what I don't want to do? Why should I obey him? Hard hearts refuse to listen to others. Hard hearts refuse to receive wise counsel. Hard hearts refuse to say sorry. Hard hearts continue to make excuses. A hard heart is simply any heart that has settled into a self-centred mode and refuses to change. Of course, all the refusals - pray, read, obey etc. – are irrelevant. It is the heart condition that is the critical issue. And it is critical because hardness turns into inactivity which becomes death.

Further Consideration: In the previous snapshot we sought to demonstrate how hard-heartedness, this resistance to outside pressure, can so easily mean we are operating against what can only be called common sense. It is that because any outsider looking in would see how foolish it was to pursue this course, a course that was doomed to failure and even likely to cause our demise.

But we see this same attitude in so many people around us who say, “Who is God, what is this religion, that should tell me what to do? Why should I obey the things your preachers say, who are you to say you are right and I am wrong?”

Increasingly I have to say, look at the way life, in the godless Western world, is working out . As they say, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating', i.e. ‘ the final results are the only way to judge something's quality or veracity', to quote an internet definition. The Bible puts it more simply: “ A man reaps what he sows.” (Gal 6:7)

But the hardness of people's hearts means they plough on through life living foolishly, suffering all the repercussions that are being seen to follow. Obesity is almost an epidemic because of lack of self-control in eating, alcoholism or a whole range of antisocial behaviour is seen following intemperate use of alcohol, failing relationships, growth of STDs, unwanted pregnancies, guilt-laden abortions, etc. etc. are the clearly visible fruit of hardhearted refusal to listen to God.

But why is it? The apostle Paul wrote, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” ( 2 Cor 4:4) How does he do that? Using what John called, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” (1 Jn 2:16) or, “the world's ways… the world's goods… squeezing out love for the Father.” (Msg) These are the things that fuel a hard heart.

Snapshots: Day 49

The Snapshot: “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?” (Ex 5:22) Why, Moses, when God said it would be hard, do you complain? So often we complain because we fail to take hold of the truth that has been put before us. God is not hard, but the fallen world often is. “ Blessed are those who mourn,   for they will be comforted.” (Mt 5:4) I don't like mourning. I know but death does come. “ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.” (Mt 5:10) I like being liked. Yes, but the unrighteous don't like being shown up. But I thought being a Christian would be easy? I'm sorry you listened to a lie. But why, and how will I cope? It's all right, I am with you (Heb 13:5) and I am working all things for your good, even the bad things! (Rom 8:28)

Further Consideration: I believe it is one of the most important things that Christians understand the big picture of being a Christian, for only in so doing will they manage to maintain a right attitude towards the things that happen to them.

Moses lost sight of the big picture; the Lord had warned him that this would be hard going that would necessitate Him coming again and again to deal with Pharaoh, yet Moses cries out to the Lord, “Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (|Ex 5:23) Moses wanted it to happen instantly, he wanted God to wave a magic wand over the situation and transform it straight away, but this situation involves people and changing people takes time.

Point One: we live in a Fallen World where, because of sin, things go wrong and people say and do nasty things because they have free will.

Point Two: God does not override our free will and so permits the world to proceed as it does with things going wrong and people acting badly BUT He does expect us, His children, to act as His representatives and to be salt and light in it.

Point Three: He a) expects us to change the circumstances and b) be changed by the circumstances. We are to be one of His means of bringing change in this world while being changed into Jesus' likeness as we do it.

So, when bad circumstances come, turn to the Lord, look for His grace and His wisdom to deal with it. When we find it difficult to cope with people around us who are not being the epitome of a good person, look to Him for His grace to love them, pray for them, and bless them. Not the easiest of tasks but possible with His enabling. Let's not moan and groan under the pressures of this Fallen World but use such times to demonstrate the goodness of God.

Snapshots: Day 50

The Snapshot: “ I will bring you to the land…” (Ex 6:8) When God says He will do things we so often jump to the conclusion that He means now, this minute, but His reiteration to Moses that He will take His people into the Promised Land first came to Abram, then Isaac and then Jacob. It first came over four hundred years back! He had warned Abram that it would take that time. Our problem is that we only read parts of scripture and rarely get the big picture which means we jump to wrong conclusions – God is not here, He's changed His mind, He doesn't love me anymore, He's given up on me. All lies from the enemy. He is using the time to change you in the circumstances, so look again and rejoice.

Further Consideration: From the moment the Lord called Abram and the die was set for establishing a relationship with this family and then later with this nation, ‘the land' was always a feature of His promises to the Patriarchs: “Go from your country….to the land I will show you,” (Gen 12:1) and then, “To your offspring I will give this land, .” (Gen 12:7) then, “ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever…. walk through the length and breadth of the land , for I am giving it to you,” (Gen 13:15,17) and, “He also said to him, “I am the Lord , who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it,” (Gen 15:7) then, “ your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there…. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here,” (Gen 15:13,16) etc. until eventually, to Moses, “I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites.” (Ex 3:8)

‘The land' was to be the place, the environment, in which the Lord would have dealings with Israel, revealing Himself to the world through them until eventually it would be the ‘God-zone', prepared over the centuries, into which His Son would come and be revealed and become the Redeemer of the world.

Did the enemy realise the significance of all this? Probably not, and yet the fact that God was declaring this was His will for the Hebrews made the enemy stir up against them through Pharaoh. The battle isn't merely to deliver them out of Egypt, as wonderful as that was, but was to deliver them into the new land, the land He has decreed will be theirs forever. Yet, as He warned, it would be ‘future generations' who would receive it – the present generation. The time has arrived. It's time to get them out to get them in, and however much Pharaoh might object, it WILL happen! Two lands, one to be left, one to be taken.