Desire....

Have you wondered why Jesus would ask the invalid man who was lying by the pool of Bethesda whether he wanted to get well? Does it not seem rather callous? To understand, we need to step into this man's shoes. When you are an invalid for 38 years, you can sort of get used to where you are at, kill your desire to get well and resign to your situation and rely on others to help you get by. Jesus by asking him whether he wanted to get well, opens up in him a desire that he has long given up on.
John 5:1-6:
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

Desire is often looked down as a bad thing or something to be supressed and overcome. We need to realise that the ability to desire is a God given gift placed in us. To connect with God and to live in His will, we need to develop Godly desires. God is not interested in soul killing spirituality, a life lived by duty and obligations. Instead God is looking for mankind to live to its fullest, in total surrender, in total desire of Him alone. This is perhaps the secret to King David's full life, as he constantly declares his desires for God alone and that God will fulfill his desires.
Psalm 42:1-2
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Sometimes, we are fearful of getting in touch with our desires because we are afraid of what might be lurking in our hearts. However, we need to believe that we are children of the new covenant, and though we struggle with sin and have a tendency to go after false desires, we are really a new creation with a new heart given by God and empowered by the Spirit to desire and live in a way that brings glory to Him!
Ezekiel 36:25-27
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

This season how do you want to live? Do you want to live just the way you always have - just going about the same motions of life and doing things out of duty and obligation or do you want to awaken the desires in you that God has placed in your heart alone and live a rich abundant life? What do you really desire? Saint Iraneus said that "The glory of God is man fully alive". Blessed indeed are the ones who hunger and thirst after God!

Prepare Him Room

Christmas is the celebration of the good news that the amazing, all powerful, omniscient God, the creator of the universe chose to come in human likeness so that we may have an abundant eternal life.
Philippians 2:5b-7
..Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Jesus could have chosen to come to earth as a popular rich King but He chose to come in a humble way as an unknown to let us all know that He identifies with all of humanity. There was no room for the King of Kings anywhere that He had to be born in a lowly manger.
Luke 2:6-7
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The life of Jesus even from His birth was one of sorrow - people rejected Him or crowded Him out of their lives.
Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Could it be that even we who have embraced Him sometimes live our lives not esteeming Him who gave up all the joys and comforts of heaven for our sake? There are many things that possibly crowd out Jesus from our hearts and lives and leave Him with little or no room. These things could include busyness, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, disappointment, doubt, self pity, selfishness.. When Jesus is not in the centre of our hearts, we create room for entanglements.

This Christmas, its time to clean up our hearts and lives and prepare Him room! Its time to get rid of all entanglements that draw us away from having Him at the centre and whole of our hearts and minds and lives. When we are entangled and things of this world crowd our heart, we are violating the first and greatest commandment that the Lord gave us.
Matthew 22:36-38
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
The heart is the centre and core of our being and if we honor God with all our heart and mind, then we will have true joy! We can get rid of all entanglements and get Jesus to fill our whole hearts by reading and obeying His word, confessing sin, examining our heart, guarding what we set our affections on and living according to truth rather than feeling.
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

How is your heart this season? Is it crowded with the busyness or worry or doubt or pain or anger.. that Christ is moved to the periphery? An old medieval Christmas poem says "Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born, if He's not born in you, your heart is still forlorn". Prepare Him room in your heart this season by getting rid of all entanglements and crown Him the King of your whole heart and experience the joy of knowing and living for Him!
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Follow the Star!

No Christmas story is complete without mentioning the three wise men who came from afar bearing gifts to worship the new born King! The three wise men when they came to pay homage to Jesus had to make a lot of decisions - they had to start on a very long journey not really knowing the destination by just following the star, they gave Herod news that they were seeking a new born King by following a star but they also chose not to return to Herod and returned home by another way. We know this decision by the wise men was important. On the highway to decision making, we all have some processes - some decisions are spontaneous, some are intuitive, others are thought through to discern which way to choose. For some decisions, we rely on the wisdom and counsel of others and some decisions are made on what “feels” good. We can look at the story of the wise men and learn on how we should make decisions.

The three wise men were seekers - seeking and worshipping the Son of God was their utmost priority. They probably waited and longed for the Messiah king, studying the heavens for signs and decided to give up the comfort of their homes to set out on an adventurous journey making every effort to seek and worship the One who is worthy of all worship. They were able to seek and worship God because they understood in humility that inspite of their wisdom and riches that in God is the ultimate fulfillment all our seeking and longing.
Matthew 2:1-2, 10-11
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."......When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

The second thing that the three wise men did was to discern what God wanted them to do. Discerning what God wants us to do in life is necessary to make wise decisions and avoid unplesant compromising consequences. Discernment is the ability to think in a Godly manner about all areas of life and is indispensable to an uncompromising life. The wise men were able to discern from their dream not to return to Herod and they did the right thing and avoided any unpleasant consequence.
Matthew 2:12-13
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
Knowing God will enable us to develop the gift of discernment. The wise men clearly knew who Jesus was - bringing Him gifts of gold, incense and myrrh that signified His royalty, His priesthood and His sacrifice.
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Reflect on the kind of decisions you have made in your life. Have they been wise and Godly? Do you want to make Godly wise decisions? Make it a priority to seek God in humility and to know Him so well so that you can discern God's will. God wants to guide you just like He guided the three wise men to the Messiah child through His star. We just need to seek Him and find His star and follow it!

Fuel of Faith - Obedience!

The fundamental thing that keeps a house together is the structure - the foundation and the load bearing walls. If we can liken Christianity to a house, faith in Christ is the foundation stone and the walls that hold our house together. However, obedience is the roof over the house of faith that keeps us protected from the outside elements and attacks of the enemy. Our feelings and emotions are merely the outer cover like paint and decorations that finishes the house but alone it does not stand up! The problem with most of us is that we largely like to live our life going purely by feelings and emotions. "If it ain't gonna feel good, I am not doing it", is our favourite slogan. When we live like this, we are subject to every attack of the enemy as we have no protection because we are like a house without a roof. Obedience is central to a faith that is growing and is central to walking in God's will.

Obedience is not having a strong will but rather it is aligning ourselves with God's plan, will, call and purpose for our lives. It is surrendering of our will knowing that God's will is far superior and better as a result of knowing who He truly is and knowing that He can be trsuted implicitly.
Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
It is surrendering our will so that we decrease and He increases just as John the Baptist said (John 3:30).
Throughout the Bible, God's heart is for people to come into a true relationship with Him, to come to a place of obedience resulting from complete trust. That is why in the Old Testament, though there was an elaborate system of sacrifices for sin and covering disobedience, God says that He delights in obedience rather than sacrifices.
Isaiah 1:11
The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?" says the LORD. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, the definition of obey is as follows: 1. To give ear to; to execute the commands of; to yield submission to; to comply with the orders of; 2. To submit to the authority of; to be ruled by; 3. To yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; as, a ship obeys her helm. The opposite of obedience is disobedience, defiance and rebellion. With these attitudes, we are moving away from God's love, ignoring His call and wanting to do our own thing. It is setting us up for a life of chaos and destruction, openly exposed without His protection.
Romans 2:13
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
If we truly love the Lord and our relationship with Him is of primary importance, obedience will naturally result.
John 14:23
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
1 John 2:5-6
But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Is your faith fuelled by obedience? Does your house of faith have a roof of obedience or are you only concerned with the paint and cosmetic effects without a roof? Come into a true love relationship with Him and know that He can be trusted implicitly at all times.
1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
1 John 2:17
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Break Up the Fallow Ground

Farmers clearly know that nothing grows in fallow ground. Fallow ground is a field that may have yielded much fruit in the past, but has been left unworked for a while or ground that has never been used. As a result, it becomes hard and yields nothing but weeds. The ground needs to be tilled, fertilized, watered and prepared in order that plans can take root to grow. Often times, we allow parts of our lives to lie dormant and is not fed by the Spirit and we do not grow in grace as a result. We keep parts of our lives hidden from God and sometimes from ourselves. Past hurts lie buried like the rocks in a farmers field that discourage strong, healthy growth. Relationships become strained because of weeds that are allowed to grow in the gardens of our lives. The call of God through Hosea is break such fallow ground if we are to be productive.
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Jesus is calling each and every one of us to sow in righteousness and reap in mercy. He calls us to plant our fields with His good works. He asks us to dig up those rocks and pull out those weeds. He tells us to break up our fallow ground for it is time to grow. Life will become a rut if we neglect the garden of our soul and just rush about attending to the things that we need to. So where do we begin? The first step and responsibility to break up the falow ground lies with each of us.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
What can we do? Our repsonsibility is to plow the ground with prayer and break the clods by coming to Him with a broken humble spirit.
Colossians 4:2-4:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Once the ground of our heart is open to the Lord in prayer in humility, we are then ready to sow the seed of God's word. As God shows us righteousness from His word, we need to obey and walk away from unrighteousness. When we do this, the weeds do not choke the word of God but the word of God will start producing fruit and the Holy Spirit will Himself water our souls!
2 Corinthians 9:6
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
John 7:37b-39a
..If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive..

Is there a part of your life or heart that has become fallow ground? Are there weeds and rocks hindering the garden of your soul? Break up your fallow ground with prayer and coming back to His word and allow the Holy Spirit to water your soul and walk in righteousness. Seek the Lord with your whole heart, soul and mind! Then along with David you can truly say, "He restores my soul, my cup runs over."

Are You Ready for the Bridegroom?

The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is story of great drama, intrigue, romance and adventure. In it we see a wooing, a calling into deeper devotion to God but is also is a warning to us that we should be prepared to meet with the Bridegroom.
Matthew 25:1-13
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' " 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The arrival of the Bridegroom is expected. His Holy Spirit, which represents the oil has been provided ahead of time ensuring eternal light and joy to the bridal party. Even at the midnight hour in an hour of deep darkness, the bridal party are ready to go out to meet with the Bridegroom. The wise virgins are clearly different from the others as they have taken the time to prepare knowing fully well that a period of darkness awaits before joining the Bridegroom. The foolish ones experience "burnout" and eventually miss out on joining the bridegroom. The extra oil thus represents the spiritual preparation ahead of an anticipated time of darkness required for persevering and enduring just before meeting the Bridegroom.
2 Corinthians 11:2
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

The overall thrust of the parable is that Christ will return at an unknown hour and that His people must be ready. Being ready means preparing for whatever contingency arises in our lives and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times while we eagerly await His coming. Saving faith in Jesus Christ will need to manifest itself in every aspect of our lives and the fruit of the Spirit needs to be produced. A desire for greater holiness and less sin should be apparent and a consistent looking for His coming will mark our lives. Paul's letter to Titus sums this well in the below verses:
Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Are you prepared to meet the Bridegroom? Ten virgins had intended to go out and meet the Bridegroom, however only five of them did. This is the high drama which unfolds in the storyline. May we not be found “going away to make the purchase” when Christ returns. Take the time now to fill your lamp with oil and take extra along. See that you are not asleep and unprepared but instead keep preparing, waiting and watching for His return with joy and anticipation!