A Little Bit Of Resolve

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."~ Romans 6:11


Jesus set his face like flint towards Jerusalem, and we know too well what awaited him there.

Paul said to the Corinthians that whilst he was with them, he "resolved to nothing, save Christ, and Christ crucified ".

In grace we find strength. but it is almost as though resolve is itself a means of grace. I am drawn again to the greatest command. That we love the Lord our God with all our hearts minds, souls and with all our might.
That takes some bloody minded resolve, does it not?

We are reminded, by Jesus, that anyone who puts his or her hand to the Plough, and looks back, is not worthy.
We're told that the martyrs in Revelation overcame the Devil, partly because they did not love their lives so much as to shrink back from death.
You cannot have this kind of steel in your soul apart from the grace of God. But you cannot have it without your own will either.

Joshua does not say to the people. "Be drawn this day into whichever path you were predestined to be drawn to". That would be ridiculous. He says "Choose this day who you will serve". Our resolve, combined with Gods grace and power is a truly awe inspiring thing, and it brings God glory.

• What is our Jerusalem, to which we must set our faces, steely eyed and flint-faced?
• What do we love so much that we shrink back from suffering?

Tough questions. But good questions. Beyond which lies life.
Anyone who seeks to save their lives, lose them. But those that lay down their lives, for Jesus sake, find them. In abundance.

Audacious Tenacity

"Give me this mountain" ~ Joshua 14:8 (Caleb)


This blog is slightly different from the others that you will find in this Resolve series, because it was written independently of the devotionals I wrote last week. At least this draft is. You see I wrote a full devotional, on my phone, using the wifi at a fast food establishment at about 6am. I should have spent 20 mins on it, with the time allowed by my work schedule, but I spent something closer to an hour, in the end, so taken was I with my subject. I thought my fat fingers had hit the share button. I have no idea what I actually hit but in an instant, 90% of the post just disappeared , and my heart sank.

I think the feeling I had must have been a (very) little like Caleb felt, when he and Joshua came back from scouting out the promised land, and the faithless spies gave a bad report. All he had envisioned, vanishing before his eyes. It is not really comparable to my little technical error, but what I want you to see, is how utterly gutted he must have been. Absolutely floored. The rug was pulled right out from beneath him, and the Milk and Honey right before his eyes....vaporising into a fading memory.

And then, once more, to be standing on the edge of the promised land after Forty more years in the desert. And hearing the words;

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."~ Joshua 1:9


This great man of faith was stirred again, I imagine. The dream he had held onto, this boy born in the wilderness, was once more his for the taking. His belief in God had not wavered in the testing time. He had seen his God proved again and again and now his desire, if anything, had only been refined, and grown more concentrated.

 A friend of mine once made the observation that greater intimacy with The Father, breeds a greater audacity in his children. I have paraphrased slightly, but it is the principle that I want to draw our attention to, rather than the wording. (I think he said it better). Listen, the more we know him, the more we know he is for us, the more audaciously we can ask. It is not arrogance. It is an understanding of Gods love and power that will give us confidence of this nature. We are not slaves to fear, but rather we have a spirit of Sonship. We shouldn't shrink back from asking an imagined tyrant, but instead boldly approach the throne of grace, and receive the loving gifts of our kind king and faithful father.
Yes, the almighty creator of the universe, and we have the audacity to call to him, Abba, Father.

Remarkably, even after this hard fought campaign to take the promised land, Caleb, at 85 years old, is still up for the fight. All the land is taken apart from this notoriously difficult mountainous land of Hebron, where the insurgent fighters are entrenched. This is land that was promised to Caleb. He could have settled, but no. He was after his inheritance. 80 years in the desert had not quenched his thirst for God's destiny for his life. He knew the promise and he knew his God, and so he proclaims with confidence "Give me this Mountain". This is the last we hear of Caleb. In my mind (and I tend to see everything as a movie) We watch Caleb's heels disappear into the horizon, as he walks off towards his mountain. We are spared the details of his exploits but we know he was victorious.

Caleb is an adventurer. That in itself is inspiring, but what is far more inspiring is his longevity. We are instructed to 'Keep your spiritual fervour serving the Lord' (Rom 12:11). The start of that verse says "Never be lacking in zeal". Wow.

I speculate that Caleb was the inspiration for C S Lewis's character Reepicheep, the valiant mouse. I love Reepicheep. He is my favourite of all the Narnia characters. Reepicheep is last seen, getting into his coracle and sailing bravely into the unknown seas to the End Of the World, in search of Aslan's country. Reepicheep has the tenacity to go where none of the others will follow, and the Audacity to ask for Aslan's Country, when others will settle for the furthest reaches of their vessels abilities.

This is my challenge, and it is one that will go on far beyond your remembrance of this blog, will you live with audacious tenacity and believe beyond sight, and trust beyond touch and, like Caleb, never say die. What is the promise that still stirs you? Will you ask your loving heavenly father "Give me this mountain"?




 

Stirred Up (Not Shaken)

Ziklag 

When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. ~1 Sam 30:3-6

This situation calls... for a determination that is far from airy-fairy. This took real guts. In the smoking ruins of Ziklag, in the face of the loss of his family and facing the lynch mob of those who blamed him for their own loss, and yes, surely feeling the responsibility for it all himself, what David does next is staggering.

"David strengthened himself in the LORD his God." (v6, ESV)

Some versions say that he 'found strength in God'. I find this wording a little unhelpful, as it has the feel of someone saying to you 'your faith must be a real comfort to you'. No. That is not what was going on here. The KJV puts it, "David encouraged himself in the Lord"

There is no passivity here, and nor should there be for us. I've been low and I have experienced despair and lack of hope, as I am sure most of us have, and the last thing I want to do, in those situations, is to encourage myself. I want some-one else to come and comfort ME. I want God to come and shake the earth to show his love for me, to wave his hand over me and make it all go away.

But we all know, it doesn't really work like that. God, in his wisdom, has given us a choice; Mope in the ashes, or rise on eagle wings. Stay in Ziklag and get stoned, or mount your horse and go and get what belongs to you.

Listen, his divine power has given us everything we need for life and Godliness. But we have to take hold of those resources. The strength is not in us, it is in God, but we have to find it. WE have to stir OUR souls. WE have to lay hold, in faith, of Gods unshakable character. WE have to trust beyond our circumstances and believe beyond sight. King David says elsewhere "Why so downcast, oh my soul" and I will YET praise you". "I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living"
So once, like David, you have cried yourself dry, stir your soul. Take strength in God. He has not bought you out of Egypt to die in the desert. There is a land, flowing with milk and honey, and he has given it to us already, for the taking.

Press On Regardless

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."~ Philippians 3:12-14

If yesterday was about casting... off, today is about pressing on. A bit of Percy;   Good old Percy Verance . A bit of past shunning, eyes-on-the-prize grit and determination.

Now, no bit of our character development in Christ is independent from God's grace. But you don't have to think very hard about this before you realise, that without that bit of spit, without your own sheer determination and bloody-mindedness this is not going to happen.

And the past, both glory and failure, pleasure and pain, are just that. The past. Before us is Christ, our prize. So forget the past. Strain with all your might, yes your might (With which you are to love the Lord your God with all of) and make the upward call of God in Christ, your absolute obsession and passion. The promised land lies before us, and in it, all the ground he has given us for the taking.

Incidentally, the 'All of this' that Paul has not yet attained, is that he may gain Christ, and be found in him, having his righteousness and "to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."

By the grace of God, by the power of the spirit that works in us, let us press on and push on through, sold out, heaven-bent on the saviour, For the glory of Christ Jesus. Amen.

A Casting Off Of Everything That Hinders

Last week I wrote a series of devotionals for a private on-line prayer group I am part of.  The theme was on resolve and determination. I thought that some people would benefit from a wider sharing, so I am republishing them on my blog page too. I hope you are encouraged to 'take hold of that for which Christ took hold of you'. Be blessed, in Jesus name, by the power of the Spirit,  to the praise of his glorious grace...

"let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."~ Hebrews 12:1


This weeks verses are all about determination and resolve. We often focus on the grace of God, and that is right. But speaking for myself, I need a boot up my bum to get me moving. For some reason, for me, the Lord has seen fit for that spur to be something self initiated. It seems to me to be like the butterfly emerging from it's cocoon. It needs to break out by itself, otherwise it will never have the strength in it's wings to fly.

The image of a race that the author uses in these verses is extremely helpful. Listen, its not about winning. It's about completing. Although we run in such a way as to get the prize, the prize is what awaits us all at the other end, and all who complete the race qualify. All.
I am not in competition with my brothers and sisters who run with me, but I am in competition against my own body, and against the world.

In the days of the Olympics, races were ran naked. I wonder if that is what the writer has in mind when he says 'strip off every weight that slows us down'.
If the garments of the world are still being worn.....the high heels of vanity, and the low slung, pant-exposing trousers of pride, the long billowing skirts of false modesty, the sensible shoes of religion....the race is that much harder. I like the NIV's use of the words 'ANYTHING that hinders'. Whatever holds you back or weighs you down.....ditch it! It is not worthy of comparison with the reward that awaits you.

Oh, and the sin. Oh the sin that SO EASILY entangles! Brothers and sisters let us slip from every snare. The race is beset with bear traps of sin. Give these things as much berth as possible. And if the trap is like one of those vice like traps, get someone's help prizing it off so that you may re-join the race. It is time. Oh Lord is it time, to be done with sin and devoted to God. And in the spirit of Matt 18:9. It'd be better to gnaw your leg off than be stuck in that trap. It is time, indeed.
At the start of this week, as we look to new terms, let us forget what is behind, and straining towards what is ahead, fix our eyes on Jesus, press on, and "Run, Forest, Run!!"