Pastor Nigel

JESUS TEACHES ABOUT SERVING OTHERS.

I'm sure you'll have caught up with our eventful weekend in Texas, but if you haven't you can check out my personal blog.

On Sunday in Corpus Christi we had a double-whammy of devotional splendor! Around dinner time we had a good time of worship led by Brandon Heath, and then a fun interactive Bible study on the story of James and John's mother asking Jesus if her sons could be placed on thrones either side of him when he reached glory. I won't go into details but you can read the passage in Matthew 20 verses 20-28, and then look at the same questions that we split into groups to study:

1. Put yourself in the position of the mother of James and John-what was here motivation in approaching Jesus? What had she failed to understand? Is there a lesson for us?
2. Put yourself in the position of James and John-how were they feeling about this request? Is there a lesson for us?
3. Put yourself in the position of the other disciples-why were they indignant? Is there a lesson for us?
4. Put yourself in the position of Jesus-how would he have felt about this request? And can you summarize briefly his response.  

Earlier on in the day, the band and I spent some time in study, discussion and prayer together- I'll post that as a separate entry. 

 

 

THE TEMPLE.

 Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,  for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 

For our tour devotions we studied the above verse from 1 Corinthians 6. Paul was speaking to the church in Corinth- a place of promiscuity and debauchery, where even some Christians tried to follow the Greek thinking of separating spirit from body, They felt as long as your spiritual life was okay that gave you license to do whatever you liked with your body. Mostly when we hear this verse preached, it is in conjunction with the previous verse which tells us to stay away from sexual sin. Yet 'honoring God with our body' involves much more than simply staying sexually pure. Paul gives some revolutionary teaching when he says positively that 'your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit'. The word for 'body' here literally means body and whole personality

Before the time of Jesus, The Temple was the place in which the Shekinah Glory of God could be found, it was the place where God's presence was. Now that Jesus has bought us at a price, the blood sacrifice no longer needs to be made at the Temple, and instead the blood of Jesus has sealed the covenant between God and His people. By His Holy Spirit, God now dwells in us- we become the Temple! By virtue of God's presence we become the place where people can meet Jesus. So what lessons can we learn?

1. It's not good enough just to believe in Jesus-we need to allow him into our lives.

2. It's not enough to attend the Temple -we need to BE the Temple.

3. You are living in a body that is owned by someone else-so honor and respect the body and the owner.

4. The Temple is the place that is set apart for God's presence and for serving Him.

5. You don't worship the Temple-you worship who is in the Temple, so these verses aren't simply about buffing yourself up to look good.

The Message translation tells us that:

Your body is a sacred place. So let people see God in and through your body.

LIVING IN HIS PRESENCE.

For our band devotions yesterday we began to discuss what it means to live in the presence of God-claiming the promise of Hosea 6.2: After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.  (We attempted to find a verse with the words 'Brandon Heath' in as well but failed to do so!)

Also reading Exodus 33.12-19, most of our discussion centered on the ways that we become aware of God's manifest presence, and how we need to search for that more. We know that the Holy Spirit is always with us, but that we may forget this is the case, and that perhaps the reason that the world is so cynical of Christianity is that we don't display the presence of God enough. If you are committed to the presence of God you become a vehicle of God’s presence to the world around you. God's Spirit lives in us for our own sake but rests upon us for the sake of others.

We shared honestly and openly how each of us was affected by the presence of God- tears, trembling, warmth, weightiness-and realized that these were all signs that the Lord was giving us of His presence, and that we should be prompted more by these signs.

Praise and Worship are  obvious entry points into the presence of God, and we see this each night in the concerts. Yet these are not the only entry points- testimony and witness, obedience and sacrifice also lead to the manifest presence of the Lord.

Our prayer was that we should learn to live more aware of God's presence and to lead others to that place also.

(If you are intrigued to know more about this subject then read stuff by Bill Johnson from Bethel Church in Redding, CA. You can listen to his podcasts on www.ibethel.org)

FOOLISHNESS AND WEAKNESS?

For our Sunday devotional time we read 1 Corinthians 1.18-25 and especially focused on this verse:

1Cor. 1:24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the mighty power of God and the wonderful wisdom of God. 

One verse later we hear of God's 'foolish' plan and of his 'weakness'. Now God isn't foolish or weak, but even if he were then his foolishness and his weakness would be more awesome than anything we could offer of ourselves. We can spend a lifetime accumulating worldly wisdom, or a lifetime attempting to increase our physical and mental strength, but none of that will ever match the wisdom and power of God found in the Cross of Jesus. Jesus is wisdom and power personified, and we spent the final part of our devotional time praying that God would give us wisdom for the difficult decisions we needed to make, and that he would give us power to overcome the challenges that we might see as insurmountable. We also prayed that in tonight's concert many people, through the foolishness of the Cross, would recognize the very power of God. If you have tired of relying on human wisdom and earthly strength then why not cry out for a supernatural touch from the living God right now- he wants to supply you with mighty power and wonderful wisdom.

HOW LONG LORD?.... AND WHY?

Four show into the  REVELATION tour, I'm back on the road having delayed my arrival to celebrate my grand-daughter's first birthday and my daughter's eighteenth birthday. 

In a brief devotional time with the band last night in McMurray, I shared some thoughts from the book of Habakkuk-even though most of the guys thought I was making the name up! Having written a series of devotions based on the songs and themes of the REVELATION album, I had used Habakkuk as a good starting place for someone needing revelation from the Lord.

Here's a portion from the devotional book, which will probably appear as 30 Days of Revelation with Third Day or a similar title. I reminded the band that there will be many fans at every concert of tis tour who will be in a similar place to Habakkuk, and that God will answer their cry through Third Day's music and ministry.

READ HABAKKUK 1.1-3 to see Habakkuk’s situation.

We are introduced to the prophet Habakkuk as a man who is deeply burdened and troubled. Simply put, he is desperate to hear from the Lord and he asks two questions of the Lord that at some time we have all asked- “How long?” and “Why?”  In fact you may be asking God one or both of those questions right now- “How long have I got to suffer this, how long till you give me some guidance, how long till I see the light at the end of the tunnel?” or “Why are you allowing this to happen Lord? Why don’t you act and do something about it?”

For Habakkuk, the concerns were how long would God put up with the disobedience of the nation of Judah, and why was God allowing this disobedience to go unpunished?

How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Habakkuk 1.1-3 NIV

Habakkuk had no other option than the one that we all face- to wait patiently for God’s revelation. If you are in that place of waiting right now, then don’t be anxious or downhearted. The God that spoke to Habakkuk eventually will speak to you.

READ HABAKKUK 2.1-3 to see God’s answer.

It’s a real act of faith, and often a hard lesson to learn, to recognise that God will speak to us in His timing, which in the end will always be the best for us. These are the words He speaks to Habakkuk- be comforted by them:

Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. Habakkuk 2.2-3 NIV

God has not forgotten you! He will speak at the right time, and when he does make sure you keep a record of what He is saying to you. All you need to do is position yourself in a place of faithfulness, dependence on God, and expectancy.

IF YOU HAVE TIME, THEN READ HABAKKUK 3.1-19 and see in his prayer of thanksgiving how Habakkuk’s attitude has been transformed because he had encountered the Lord.