Selwyn mentions two areas that can sometimes stain our commission. The first is doing a good thing with the wrong attitude. (He briefly touched on this yesterday). The second area  is that we must keep our commission free from the stain of emptiness. God has endless resources, it is foolish not to avail ourselves of those resources.

I thought that the prayer for today captures today’s theme, in a wonderful way.

“O God, forgive me if, while unbelievers around me need the refreshing rain of the Spirit, I am just an empty drifting by. You have given me the promise of endless resources; help me avail myself of them. In Christ’s name. Amen.”

I don’t have much to add to what Selwyn has said.

However, I really liked the following verses taken from those set, for reading and meditation.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians 2:1-5 (NLT): “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. … “

Okay, now an exercise for all of us – as we mix, work and communicate with others during this following week – do the thoughts we have for others – reflect a tender and compassionate heart?  Or, do our hearts show signs of being scared by thorns of selfishness and choked by the desire to spend most of our time on our own interests?

[I've been a bit sick (mainly headaches, and aching limbs) over the last few weeks, which partly explains my erratic postings during this time - maybe, on the mend now.    ]

The next issue that Selwyn discusses is to keep our commission free from stain.

I think one of the key statements made by Selwyn is: “It is not enough that we draw our life from God; we are to witness to the fact that our life comes from Him and live it out in the face of any and all obstructions.”

Selwyn has chosen Paul’s first letter to Timothy 6:11-21, as the text for today’s reading and meditation.

After having read the material, I’ve picked these verses to talk about - 1 Timothy 6:9-12 (NLT): ” … people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. … “

I think a lot of people reading today’s study would say that they usually live their lives free from the stain of habitual sin. Yet, for those of us, who live in a western style culture, the common threat is the desire to be rich – it’s a threat because we can be so easily seduced by sugar-coated justifications, for example: ‘Well, if I was rich I could fund a lot of church ministries, or I could give generously to disaster relief.’

It is when we start looking at money as a possible solution to help God out, that we start to take our eyes off what God is calling us to do; and we start to substitute our own plans, for God’s plan.

The second area I would like to point out is that Paul is encouraging Timothy to  pursue righteousness and a godly life. Paul uses a number of verbs, which spell out ‘action’ – to pursue, to fight, to hold tightly; I think too often we like to sit in our chairs/pews and wait for righteousness and the godly life to fall into our laps. These qualities never come to us; we, by our actions must go out into this world – following Jesus and be witnesses to all, just as Jesus was before Pilate – testifying to the truth.

What do you think?

I thought Selwyn’s conclusion (regarding over-involvement) to be  really good.

“When you are too busy being involved in what others are doing, you are over-involved. You are concentrating on others instead of on Christ. So avoid where possible over-involvement. Make sure you are involved only in those things that God wants you to be involved in. Over-involvement leads to maximum weariness with minimum effectiveness. Appropriate involvement leads to maximum effectiveness with minimum weariness.”

My overall view is that I don’t think over-involvement is a problem for many people – for most, it’s a case of under or no-involvement!

***

[It's my birthday today, and I usually spend the day looking at what I've done during the past year - or, more often than not, what I haven't done.  :)  The next step, is then praying/thinking about what I might do in the future. I'm a firm believer in the need to take all my plans to God and seek His blueprint for my future - over which I can lay my plans.

I then spend some time in asking for the right doors to be opened (to enable the fulfillment of 'our' plans), and for Him to keep locked those doors, which He does not want me to enter. For me, it's then a matter of trust that I start following my plan, after prayer; and start pushing on the various doors which appear appropriate. I think you need to start moving, and to carefully watch for the direction God steers. 

In my experience, I've found it to be a mistake to do nothing, and wait for a sign that tells you which way to go. In summary, I've found it's an act of trust to take the first step and to believe that Jesus will steer you in the right direction, once you start to move. What do others think?]

We help carry each other’s burdens, not to make us feel good but as a response to God’s love; to obey His commandment to love each other, in the same way that He loves us. ( As mentioned by Selwyn, regarding his reference to  Galatians 6:2.)

In his introduction, he mentions that a number of people ‘are attracted to counselling because of the good feelings they get as a result of rescuing people from their problems. This is sometimes termed the ‘rescuer syndrome’.’  He says that this syndrome ‘can cause major spiritual problems. We are to help people not because of the good feelings this brings but because it is right’ (to fulfil the law of Christ).

It’s my view that people get into this sort of difficulty because of communication problems – they just don’t talk enough to Jesus. Of greater importance, they don’t spend enough time patiently waiting and listening for God’s answer, in response to their request for advice and direction about helping others. If we put God first and allow Him to direct our actions  – we will experience a permanent and growing sense of joy – as we work with Him, which will enable us to survive the unhappy and painful events that may occur when carrying each other’s burdens.

What’s your view?

Another day is spent looking at the snare of over-involvement.  Selwyn opens today’study with: “Although God has called us to be people of moral integrity and to take a stand against immorality, He does not expect us to (take on the responsibility) to correct everything that is wrong. … ”

Selwyn uses the following verse,  Philippians 4:7: ” … the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” To remind us of the balance that we can achieve by placing our trust in God to guide us to do the things we can do; and to leave all the rest for Him to organise and manage; and, for us to have peace about God’s perfect sovereignty – that is, His absolute power to have everybody and everything (good and bad) under His control.

It may not appear so, at times – but God is always, in complete control, of His universe. You can totally trust in His love to guide you through all  the brokenness of this world – to your place in His home, where everything works and nothing breaks down or goes wrong, a place of never-ending peace.

Selwyn continues with yesterday’s discussion on the issue of trying to fix all the world’s wrongs. He says: ” … we must watch we don’t take on more burdens than God wants us to carry. … And we must be careful that our concerns do not lead us to the point where we want to control others, because when that happens we ourselves will be defeated and frustrated.”

We receive from the various news’ outlets, a constant flow of news items which will cause those who follow Jesus to feel grief – a grief, which recognises the fallen, broken nature of this world. Yet, we are not called to try and fix everything that is broken; by a series of impulsive, unplanned actions.

Trust in God’s love that He will call on and empower various people to respond to the various events. Talk to Jesus, in prayer, ask Him to open the right doors to you if He requires you to be involved – He always will. Our Lord is not a far-off God, but He is always close to you – through, His Holy Spirit He will guide you and help you to identify the roles or tasks, He has prepared for you to do. He knows you so well, that He will use the most efficient way to convey His will to you – so, keep your eyes and ears open – be prepared to hear His message.

The Scripture for today, contains a spiritual truth which was missed by many of the people in Israel. To those who are ‘deaf’, Jesus’ words don’t make much sense; to those close to Jesus, we can hear Him say: ‘I am, who I am.’

John 5:16-30 (NLT): “So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.

And the Father has given him (Jesus) authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.

I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”

Did you notice the various statements on judgment?  Such as this one: ‘The Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge.’   Then, we read these words of Jesus: ‘I judge as God tells me.’

Any comments?