[I've had a bad cold over the last few days; and that's why I'm in catch-up mode at the moment. My head is starting to clear and my thinking is not as 'woolly' as it was, earlier this week.]

I agree with Selwyn’s main recommendation – we should follow the same practices as demonstrated by Jesus, during His ministry on earth.

The verses set for today’s ‘reading and meditation’, Luke 5:12-16 (NIV), provide such as example, as highlighted by Selwyn: ‘While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”  Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.’

Notice that Jesus often prayed, including those times when He was popular with the crowds. Most of us, I feel, only turn to prayer, when times get tough; and that may lead to a very lopsided, type of relationship – do you agree?

I think, it is amazing that even though we may have read the Bible a number of times, now and then a verse jumps out at us. It’s the first verse of the following extract, (verses set for reading and meditation) which really jumped out at me.

Luke 18:1-8 (NIV): ‘Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

 ”For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ “

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

The second aspect of the above verses, that I find extremely sad, is the last verse  – ‘Will Jesus find anyone with faith in Him, when He returns?’ It almost seems to suggest that there will be very few, who remain faithful to Him – when He does come back. 

I agree with Selwyn’s main message – our relationship with God depends, in a large part,  on our communications with Him  – if we don’t talk with God, how can we develop our relationship with Him? It’s that simple. We must persevere, in a truthful heart-to-heart discussion with our Creator – He will listen to our prayers and He will answer them in a way that prepares us for eternal life in His amazing Kingdom.

What’s your views on today’s study?

Selwyn spends another day considering the fact that the Holy Spirit is at work within us seeking to make us into the kind of person He sees what we can be.

He says later on: “I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit yearns to transform us in the same way that Christ yearned to transform Simon Peter.”  Of course, that’s true: the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one – for a thousand years, God constantly reinforced the idea with His nation Israel – that there was only one God, beside Him there are no other gods. The Trinity is a mystery, we can never understand this relationship - even, if we broadly define what the Trinity is, in our common creeds, that does not mean we understand ‘how’ this concept works. In John’s Gospel, Jesus clearly and unambiguously tells us, that He and the Father are One. We know the Father by looking at Jesus – Jesus is made known to us, by the actions of the Holy Spirit. The greater mystery is: God is in us; and, we are in God.

Selwyn goes onto say: “[God] goes to work, inflaming, enlightening, guiding, enticing and moving us until the difference in us is so marked that we need a new name.”

The reading for today, contains some great words; yet, more importantly, they indicate an important truth – read the following a few times, and, maybe the Holy Spirit will work with you (after prayer) to show you, part of God’s magnificent plan.

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians 3:7-18 (NIV): “Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, (the ten commandments) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Don’t you think that this is just so great – we are being transformed into the likeness of God? It means that we can suffer everything for 80 or so years, because these years disappear into nothing – when we arrive ‘home’ with our loving and almighty Lord.

Selwyn continues to discuss our view of ourselves – in regard to the question – ‘who am I?’

The following is good – because I think most of us have had similar experiences when looking at animals in a zoo. “In a zoo some year ago I looked at eagles in their cage. Somehow the sight hurt me. The great birds were made for the skies but here they were, confined in a cage! So many of us are like that – made for higher things but confined in a cage of doubt, fear, denial, perhaps even sin. … the Holy Spirit looks on you and sees you may feel ineffective, beaten, cowed and fearful, but He also sees you as confident, effective, sanctified and strong, moving ahead along the Christian pathway with great strides.”

In faith, we can seek God’s help through prayer to follow His way -  the way, that transforms us into the person God wants us to be – we must be willing to let Him take over our lives and mould us into that person. We sacrifice the false security of a locked cage, to experience freedom to fly, in an never-ending sky. Do you agree?

I liked Selwyn’s personal stories, as outlined in today’s study.

I thought that this bit was particularly powerful: “I remember on one occasion talking to a woman who had been raped in her teens and was finding it difficult to give herself fully to her husband: ‘You believe deep down that because you were violated you cannot now give your attractiveness to anyone. However, in the strength and power of Christ, your femininity which you now want to hide can blossom into an attractiveness that will not only bring out your inner beauty but His also.” The woman’s life was subsequently changed by the power of the Holy Spirit working through Selwyn’s words – and, Selwyn rightly gives God all the glory.

Many have been badly hurt during their younger years, and often by people who had a duty of care: in many cases – it arises out of love, betrayed. [That is, a parent should love their children and not physically or sexually abuse them - especially, in the context where they say that their actions are an expression of their love.]  These injured people often hold onto their wounds throughout their lives and they develop strong and rigid protective mechanisms. These deep wounds, form the foundation of large walls which they stay behind and thus restrict the full expression of their personalities. The strength and power of Christ is the one, sure way that these wounds can be completely healed, and the walls removed  – allowing the person to reach their full potential, as seen by God. I agree with Selwyn’s conclusion – to obtain a better view of ourselves as created by Jesus - we must determine to spend more time with Him. Do you agree?

The world we live in – is not an easy place – it’s often harsh and uncaring; therefore we can all make up our minds to spend more time with Jesus – so that His strength and power can work within us – to allow our wounds to be fully healed. The following prayer is taken from today’s study: “Loving heavenly Father, my mind is made up to spend more time with You – beginning today. Show me how to manage my time so that I can bring more of You into my day. The more You have of me the more I have of You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

You may have noticed that when you read the Old Testament, that the names of people also provide an identity as well – in terms of their role, occupation or character. I guess a lot of people have checked the meaning of names when searching for the ‘right’ name for their baby or what their own name means.

I just looked up a few, and concentrated on the Hebrew derivations: David (beloved), Elisha-Isaiah-Joshua (variations of ‘God is salvation’), Enoch (dedicated), Gabriel (strong man of God), Hezekiah (God strengthens), Malachi (my messenger) and Michael (Who is like God? – A rhetorical question, implying no person is like God.)

Today, Selwyn continues his discussion on Simon’s name change – God changed his name to ‘Rock’, to signify a (future) change in character. In his conclusion, he writes:  ” … Peter had taken on the characteristics of his Lord which were foreign to his own nature. ‘This is what I will make of you,’ Jesus had said, ‘a rock.’ And He did. What could the Holy Spirit have planned for your life?”

There are a number of name changes recorded in the Bible. For example, Abram (father exalted) was changed to Abraham (father of many), likewise Abram’s wife’s name was changed from Sarai to Sarah.

In Genesis 35:10-11 (NIV), we read of Jacob’s name change: ‘God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. ” So he named him Israel.’ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty ( El-Shaddai ); be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.’

It is widely thought that the name Jacob means ‘deceitful/supplanter’, and Israel means ‘to wrestle/struggle with God’, and perhaps has an extended meaning – ‘to prevail and become great in number’.  In these cases, an interesting feature emerges; the name changes often point forward to a future promise. That is, God is indicating, by the name change, something that will happen in the future. [However, if you do a few searches in Google, you will soon realise that there is a wide difference of opinion between scholars as to the meaning of these names; and, we need to be careful and exercise some caution in accepting information on the original meaning of ancient names.]

Your parents gave you a name but has God reserved a different name for you; a name, which points forward to  your future nature or role in His eternal Kingdom? What’s your view?

Selwyn’s introduction follows on from what has been discussed over the past few days. He starts this study with this observation: “We are beginning to realise that no matter how perceptive we may be, we never see ourselves as we really are (in God’s eyes)”

We are all called to pursue holiness -  we will never reach the point, where we can sit back and say, “I’ve made it – don’t need to change anything – I’m now perfect.”

It’s a process of persevering prayer, constantly seeking the Holy Spirit’s help in identifying those areas of our life which require our attention.

I think the prayer for today, is a good example of the type of prayer that should always be on our list of never-ending discussions with God. 

“O God, help me to become serious in the pursuit of holiness. If there are faults or sins within me that I can’t see, or even others can’t see, then give me Your light. For it is only in Your light that I can see light. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”