What would Judas do?

What would Judas do?

So if you know me you’ll know I’m something of a boffin.

Reclaiming the word y’all.

I like reading all things Chrstianity, so on randomly googling things about the twelve disciples I obviously came to an about.com page. They’ve got them on everything, brilliant. Anyways, point: there are things that we can learn from all of the disciples. Why? Because all of the disciples had human relationships with the Messiah. Other than John, they all abandoned Christ when He was crucified, Thomas denied that He could have risen from the dead and the temper of James and John saw them nicknamed the “sons of thunder” – hardly in line with the message of love taught by Christ.

These were real people, experiencing human relationships with Christ. They weren’t perfect, they weren’t always pious or loyal, they certainly weren’t consistent but many went on to found the Early Church. So why Judas? Because Judas is a great place to start with evaluating ourselves. Judas’ heart was greedy, before the idea of betraying Jesus even entered his head, there are verses referring to his tinkering with the donations given to Jesus and the disciples. He followed Jesus for three years, and yet with a kiss gave Him up to be crucified. Evaluating ourselves allows us to note our flaws and strengths, maybe people think you’re a great Christian but you feel pressure or a sense of shame because your heart is actually quite ugly. That’s not great, but it isn’t the end of the world. We still have time to humble ourselves before the Lord and ask for His limitless mercy and forgiveness. Judas did himself a disservice when he hung himself, pretty Faustian if you will, but quite clearly Judas really didn’t get Jesus’ ministry.

Do check out the short series.

God bless and keep you x

Stick At It, James 1:12

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
(James 1:12)

The first time we looked at James we looked at the notion of faith and asking for things like wisdom with certainty because God wants you to come to Him, and He wants to give you such gifts (re: 8th Aug, James 1:5-6). But in the same chapter James also discusses endurance. The term “carrying the cross” doesn’t mean easing Jesus’ burden, but in following Him you take up one of your own. The path of the Christian is one of challenge, persecution and judgement. You are challenged by friends, bosses, family; made out to look foolish in classes or even over dinner; and you are judged sardonically by non-believers…sounds appealing right?

But the Bible says blessed are those who “persevere” through all of this for they will receive “the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him”. Or as Romans 8:17 puts it “if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory”. We are not promised a life of ease but one of the greatest reward imaginable when we have poured out our lives in service on this planet. Paul and James noted (as Jesus repeatedly told the disciples) that inevitably following The Way would lead to a number of struggles and challenging experiences. But as co-heirs of Christ, in sharing in His suffering, in suffering in His name, we would also jointly inherit His glory.

This isn’t like the employer who still owes you a couple weeks pay, God’s good for His promise and His promise is the crown of life ! (For those of us who’ve forgotten our rightful inheritance is death, this is a serious change of events !!) We aren’t toiling for nothing and at times when we may feel fed up it’s well worth reminding ourselves why we do. Or perhaps more importantly what it is that we are toiling for.

I brought this up for another reason. A lot of young Christians struggle between discerning what is testing and what is temptation. As Christians put on this earth for but a season we expect to be tested by God, but how do we know what are lessons and what aren’t?

James straight up rules out a link between God and tempting (1:13-18). Instead he says when we are tempted it is because of our own base desires, which lead us into a horrific downward spiral should we appease them. In contrast, God is “good and perfect”, He would not bring things of a tempting nature about even to give our spiritual maturity a check-up.

“Bad company corrupts good morals” (1Cor 15:33). As you grow in your walk you will inevitably come into interaction with people acting in a more worldly way than you would envision for yourself. Take stock of this and remember this verse. Meeting such a person is not God trying to see if you start mimicking their sin too. Think about the nature of God. With the best intentions in the world we can still mess up, so it can be sensible to try to offset our chances. In such a scenario, God may watch the way in which you do or don’t compromise but never would He act with the intent of let’s see if he/she falls to temptation ! Such behaviour is not of The Lord Our God. Paul knew it, James knew it and you need to know it.

God bless and keep you always x

Not My Portion, Isaiah 41:10

Isaiah 41:10 : “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I don’t feel like sugar coating or playing down the element of the supernatural today. People were raised from the dead, demons were exorcised from people’s bodies and a number of challenges in the life of the Christian come from the enemy. Simple. Don’t try and replace cases of such for alternative arguments.

As people grow in Christ they can feel increasingly tested, even at the early stage when people accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour they can feel like they’re not worthy. This is not of our God, He wants us!

Think of it in this way. My aim is to stop you from knowing and living with God for eternity. I don’t have much power beyond trying to trick you into sin, into distancing yourself from Him. This takes effort so I’d much rather knock you off of your path before you’ve got confidence in God and His Grace, it would save me a lot of work. Should you grow in confidence, my job won’t be done and dammit I will keep trying.

Sometimes when we work to strengthen our resolve not to do particular sins our progress can feel like it hits a bit of a wall. Take sexual immorality (because its a simple one to illustrate). You and your partner could have agreed to wait until marriage, a month or so later your resolve is still high but your girlfriend/boyfriend starts saying “this wasn’t what she/he signed up for” or “you’re being selfish depriving her/him of what’s theirs(!)” You know that abstaining is what your God wants yet you feel like perhaps you are being too cautious. You begin to doubt that what you’re doing is right…

The Bible warns us of the overwhelming power of doubt. Remember James 1:6, “a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind”. Doubt is debilitating to the life of the Christian which is a life led by faith and obedience. When we doubt our God our actions may not seem to make sense. When we start to question things, cracks will form and make our very structure precarious.

God says do not be “dismayed”, “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. The enemy knows that when we lean on God He will revive us, He will comfort us and envelope us in His “unfailing love” (ps 5:8). God will get us through everything, even when we don’t ask Him to, God hears the cries and groans of our hearts ! Even when you can’t word your cry out for help, He will be there ready to comfort you. He is our “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (ps 46:1).

The enemy (I refuse capitalisation, he doesn’t impress me) wants you to wallow in condemnation and dismay because it will make you self impose distance between you and the Father. Spiritual warfare is real yo. It is real and at times it is really tiring. But the God you belong to is one who will use such episodes to help shape your faith and resolve to achieve the you that He intended you to be. Through Jesus you already have the victory so those attempts to make you doubt, to make you afraid and weak in spirit can only ever be just that: attempts.

Get out your boxing gloves and fight because fear, distance and doubt are not of the God you belong to, who reigns inside of you. Don’t have it ! Pray against it, seek counsel from friends and remind yourself who it is you belong to; He isn’t ever going to abandon you. Moses was a murderer, Paul a persecutor, King David an adulterer and murderer – there is nothing you can do to take you out of God’s love forevermore, He is there for us always.

God bless x

The Book of James, James 1:1-26

I am in love with the book of James. It’s about five pages of wisdom & practical advice for the early Christians. As young Christians in our walk, or at the very least in age, it really ought to be given as some sort of manual.

“If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (1:5-6).

The God we serve, the God we belong to, wants an active relationship with us. It makes Him “glad” (1:5) when we pursue Him and His will for us; God delights, encourages and rewards with the “crown of life” (1:12), with relationships like that of Caleb and Acsah where we boldly ask things in faith (Joshua 15:13-19). A relationship where we wait on the communion between His spirit and ours is life changing. God hasn’t given us this responsibility & understanding of Him to just be bewildered & awestruck, He expects action from us & prepares us for it, simply asking for revelation will lead us into amazing new pastures. He isn’t a sadist nor does He think you’re telepathic or a rubbish Christian if you don’t just magically know His purpose for your life or the season that you’re currently in.

At some point in our walks we’ve felt uncertainty, or a distance from Him which tends to breed uncertainty anyway, it can feel as if the Enemy is playing with the opportunity to make you stumble in your walk. That imagery of the “unsettled wave” (1:6) for many of us, is something we can explicitly identify with. So I ask you to go to God with your whole heart surrendered to Him, telling Him out loud that in light of who He is, His revelations in the Word, the acts we see in the Christian body, that you WILL trust completely in Him and that if this is something that doesn’t come naturally ask that He may stir it in your heart to develop evermore. Because when you’re in that place of certainty you are a walking definition of the word invincible. St Martin of Tours (316 to 397 AD) said “Place me alone in the front of the battle, with no weapon but the cross alone, and I shall not fear to meet the enemy single-handed and unarmed”. I know how he feels.

As a sidenote William McDowell – I surrender all, really ministered to me this morning. Had me walking to the station at half seven praising and committing my life to His will as if my eyelids were not screaming out at being open so early. Real ministry flows through that song.

God bless and keep you always