It's Been A While

I was just looking at my last post and am a little more than disappointed with myself: the 4th of April!! It's been that long since I last posted. That's quite shameful actually. And I am not going to given any excuses, because their shouldn't be any. 

Anyways, a while back, my lovely mum sent me this poem she found. I want to share it because I found I could really identify with it, especially at the time she sent it to me, and I'm sure that any of you who read it will be able to say the same thing, or at least think of a time when you are facing failure in the face. 

So here it is:

THE RACE BY D.H. Groberg

“Quit!” “Give up, you’re beaten!” they shout at me and plead,

“There’s just too much against you now, this time you can’t succeed.”

And as I started to hang my head in front of failure’s face,

My downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.

And hope refills my weakened will as I recall that scene.

For just the thought of that short race rejuvenates my being.

A children’s race, young boys, young men; now I remember well.

Excitement, sure, but also fear; it wasn’t hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope. Each thought to win the race

Or tie for first, if not that, at least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side, each cheering for his son,

And each boy hoped to show his dad that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they sped, as if they were on fire

To win, to be the hero there, was each boy’s desire.

And one boy in particular, his dad was in the crowd,

Was running near the lead and thought, “My dad will be so proud.”

But as he speeded down the field, across the shallow dip,

The little boy who thought to win lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself, his arm flew out to brace,

And ‘mid the laughter of the crowd, he fell flat on his face.

So, down he fell, and with him, hope. He couldn’t win it now.

Embarrassed, sad, he only wished he’d disappear somehow.

But, as he fell, his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,

Which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win the race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit, that’s all.

And ran with all his mind and might to make up for the fall.

So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,

His mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.

He wished he had quit before with only one disgrace.

“I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”

But, in the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face.

That steady look that said again, “Get up and win the race!”

So, he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last;

“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”

Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight or ten,

But trying so hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.

Defeat! He lay there silently, a tear dropped from his eye.

“There’s no sense running more. Three strikes, I’m out…why try?”

The will to rise had disappeared, all hope had fled away.

So far behind, so error-prone, a loser all the way.

“I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought, “I’ll live with my disgrace.”

But, then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “Get up and take your place.

You weren’t meant for failure here; get up and win the race.”

With borrowed will, “Get up,” it said, “You haven’t lost at all,

For winning is no more than this–to rise each time you fall.”

So up he rose to win once more. And with a new commit,

He resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.

So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been.

Still, he gave it all he had, and ran as though to win.

Three times he fallen, stumbling, three times he rose again.

Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner, as he crossed the line, first place,

Head high and proud and happy; no falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen crossed the finish line, last place,

The crowd gave him the greater cheer for finishing the race.

And even though he came in last, with head bowed low, unproud,

You would have thought he won the race, to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad, he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”

“To me you won,” his father said, “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and hard and difficult to face,

The memory of that little boy helps me in my race.

For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.

And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.

“Quit!” “Give up, you’re beaten!” They still shout in my face,

But another voice within me says, “Get up and win the race!”

What a powerful message: "Get up and win the race!"

Thanks mum.

The Importance of Routine

It has been WAY to long since my last blog post, and in actual fact I am quite ashamed to admit that, as it can well be assumed that this is a reflection of my lack of interest, or pure lack of time. None of these, however, are good excuses as there should be never ending possibilities for things for me to write about. The life of a Christian is never boring, and one can never get to a stage where they can say "I've done enough, I know God, and now I can sit back." Knowing God is a continual process, a process that requires continual work, continual bible study, and continual prayer. And its for this reason that I'm writing again (also, I must admit that I was kindly reminded by someone the other day that I hadn't written for almost two months. Thats a little too long :-/ ).

So, why 'The Importance of Routine'? Well, maybe you have guessed, but I have a weakness when it comes to sticking to routine. This is not at all healthy with respect to routine bible study/meditation. Now maybe you don't have this problem, and then I am very glad for you, and I thank God for you, but   it's also possibly that you have the same struggle as I; hence, 'The Importance of Routine'.

One of the main characteristics of a living Christian is that they are busy with God's word, working with it daily, searching the scriptures to grow in faith and knowledge of God.

I want to emphasise the daily bit here. In the Old Testament God commanded that Aaron and his sons sacrifice an offering daily. 'This is the offering of Aaron and his sons...one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night.' (Lev 6:20) As part of their service to God, Aaron and his sons were required to give a daily offering to God. By completing this task they were daily reminded of their sins, their incompleteness before God, and the need for a retribution to be made on their behalf. With the offering came an acknowledgement of sins, a looking towards God. And note also, that the offering was given twice a day. Thus, Aaron and his sons would have their focus on God throughout the entire day, from morning til evening.

So what does this offering have to do with us? We don't make sacrifices today? Do we?

Today there is no physical sacrifice, but God calls us to be a living sacrifice. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is you reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)

We must present ourselves as sacrifices of thankfulness to God. And why thankfulness? Because The offering for our sins has been made. Christ was the offering and sacrifice. He has atoned your sins and mine. We read in Hebrews 10:12-14 "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God...For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." 

So then, if Christ is our offering, does it not make sense that we remember that offering daily through bible study and prayer? How can we better know about Christ and His sacrifice if we do not spend regular meditation on God's word?

While Christ's one sacrifice is enough to cover all our sins, we are called to daily repentance.

Psalm 72:15 - "Prayer also will be made for Him continually, and daily He shall be praised." 

Luke 9:23 - "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'"

Being a Christian is not a once off conversion, nor a once in a while attendance at church. Neither is it a non-commital attitude towards bible study (whether at church or personally).

Being a Christian is an active task. It requires daily meditation, daily prayer, and daily time searching the scriptures, listening to what God has to tell you.

And what better way is there to make sure this happens than by ensuring you have a routine?

Surety in our Heavenly Father

I was looking at musical arrangements of some hymns of youtube, and I stumbled across one of my favourites: It is Well with my Soul. This hymn really portrays the raw dependence that we need to have on God in all things. The writer of the words, Horatio G. Spafford, really captured this in his own situation: the need that we ought to have in depending on God, both in good times and bad.

I won't recount the story behind these words (just google it, as its a powerful story and will change your perception of it), but one thing to note is that Spafford suffered. He really suffered. He had just lost his five children, as well as most of the real estate investment he owned. Yet despite all this he was able to praise God and say 'It is well, with my soul.' 

His faith puts me to shame, for so often when life's hardships come our way we despair, even to the point that we may become overwhelmed by them. Yet this refrain reminds me of hope: 'It is well with my soul.' And why? Because I know that God in heaven is in control over all things. I know that whatever comes my way, God is in complete control over it; He promises never to send us more than we can endure.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

And so, we have be assured and comforted that God is always with us. He is in control over all things as Almighty God, and He is also beside us as we endure it because He is also our Father.

It is Well with My Soul - Brian Doerkson

1. 
   

Create in me a Clean Heart

How often is it that we have a sin (or more than one) in our lives that keeps, and keeps on recurring? We all have something in mind that we know we struggle with constantly. It could be your pride, it could be your selfishness, it could be an addiction to pornography, it could be a quick temper, it could be so many more things.

But what do we do when we have such a recurring sin in our lives? Do strive to constantly fight it, or do we give up after a few tries because it doesn't seem to work. Or do we just not bother at all, because 'that's just a part of me, I can't help it'. The unfortunate thing is that most of us will admit to the latter. We either give up and cease the fight, or not even try at all.

But this is so WRONG!!! While our human nature tells us if something is too hard then maybe it wasn't meant to be, this is not the way we, as Children of God must follow. Our human nature is our enemy, don't obey it, but rather obey God and His commands.

God teaches us that when we encounter such difficulties we ought firstly to bring them to Him in prayer. Tell God about them. He is eager to hear. Let Him know what it is you struggle with, let Him know how easily you fall into the same sin again and again.

And then ask Him to heal the sin. And ask this believing that He can. So often we pray doubting the results. And yes, its true we often don't know the outcome, however, we must never doubt God. God CAN heal us, He CAN take away that sin. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The doubt however lies with you. Are you willing to fully put away that sin? Or do you still wish to hang on just a little bit?   Jesus tells us we cannot serve two masters for we will either "hate the one and love the other, or else [we] will be loyal to the one and despise the other." We "cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

This passage makes itself quite clear and yet it is so hard to do completely. Yet the command remains: we cannot serve two masters.

So how do we put away this sin? We must detest and truly desire to be cleansed from it. Allow God's Spirit to work renewal in your life. Do not hinder it by turning back to that sin, but resist your sinful nature. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). And at the same time be willing to work. Change doesn't come without work. And although we acknowledge that God works all things in us through His Spirit, remember, nothing will happen if you just sit back waiting.

Act NOW!!! Pray NOW!!! Let the Spirit do His work NOW!!!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, 

And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

Do not cast me away from Your presence, 

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit."

Psalm 51:10-12