Trust in The Lord Our Eternal Rock

Isaiah 26:4 (NIV)

4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

"Let us make ourselves easy by trusting in the Lord for ever; since God has promised peace to those that stay themselves upon him, let us not lose the benefit of that promise, but repose an entire confidence in him. Trust in him for ever, at all times, when you have nothing else to trust to; trust in him for that peace, that portion, which will be for ever.' Whatever we trust to the world for, it will be but for a moment: all we expect from it is confined within the limits of time. But what we trust in God for will last as long as we shall last. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

I remember watching a father play with his little boy, repeatedly throwing him in the air and catching him just before he hit the ground. The child is relaxed and having a great time saying, "Do it again! Do it again!"

I thought, If that was me, I 'd be stiff as a board .

"Can you explain why he's so relaxed, even when he's out of control?" I asked the father.

"It's very simple," he said. "We have a history together. We've played this game before, and I've never dropped him." [Rod Cooper, "Worship or Worry?" Preaching Today, Tape No. 108.]

God is our eternal Rock and is always there to catch us when we fall, so let us trust in The Lord Forever!

Seek The Lord and Call on Him

Isaiah 55:6 (NLT)

6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.

Let them pray, and their prayers shall be heard and answered: "Seek the Lord while he may be found. Seek him whom you have left by revolting from your allegiance to him and whom you have lost by provoking him to withdraw his favour from you. Call upon him now while he is near, and within call.' [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Grosz points to research that shows we usually don't respond when a fire alarm rings. Instead, of leaving the building immediately, we stand around and wait for more clues. But then even with more information, we still won't make a move—and sometimes that proves deadly. For instance, in 1985, 56 people were killed when a fire broke out in the stands of a soccer match in England. Close examination of television footage later showed that fans did not react immediately and continued to watch both the fire and the game, failing to move towards the exits.

Research has also shown that when we do move, we follow old habits. We don't trust emergency exits. We almost always try to exit a room through the same door we entered. After a fire in the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Kentucky left 177 people dead, forensic experts confirmed that many of the victims sought to pay before leaving, and so died in a queue.

Grosz concludes:

After 25 years as a psychoanalyst, I can't say that this surprises me. We resist change. Committing ourselves to a small change, even one that is unmistakably in our best interest, is often more frightening than ignoring a dangerous situation. We don't want an exit if we don't know exactly where it is going to take us, even—or perhaps especially—in an emergency … We want to know what new story we're stepping into before we exit the old one. [Stephen Grosz, The Examined Life (W.W Norton & Company, 2013), pp. 122-123]

Don’t resist the one who is calling you, for God is calling you to come close and leave sin behind. 

The influence of Jesus on us and Our influence on others

Philippians 1:9-10 (NIV)

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

Paul often let his friends know what it was he begged of God for them, that they might know what to beg for themselves and be directed in their own prayers, and that they might be encouraged to hope they should receive from God the quickening, strengthening, everlasting, comforting grace, which so powerful an intercessor as Paul asked of God for them. It is an encouragement to us to know that we are prayed for by our friends, who, we have reason to think, have an interest at the throne of grace. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

In some ways, our biggest challenge in gauging Jesus' influence is that we take for granted the ways in which our world has been shaped by him. For example, children would be thought of differently because of Jesus. Historian O. M. Bakke wrote a study called When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity, in which he noted that in the ancient world, children usually didn't get named until the eighth day or so. Up until then there was a chance that the infant would be killed or left to die of exposure — particularly if it was deformed or of the unpreferred gender. This custom changed because of a group of people who remembered that they were followers of a man who said, "Let the little children come to me."

Jesus never married. But his treatment of women led to the formation of a community that was so congenial to women that they would join it in record numbers … Jesus never wrote a book. Yet his call to love God with all one's mind would lead to a community with such a reverence for learning that when the classical world was destroyed in what are sometimes called the Dark Ages, that little community would preserve what was left of its learning. In time, the movement he started would give rise to libraries and then guilds of learning …

He never held an office or led an army … And yet the movement he started would eventually mean the end of emperor worship, be cited in documents like the Magna Carta, begin a tradition of common law and limited government, and undermine the power of the state rather than reinforce it as other religions in the empire had done. It is because of his movement that language such as "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" entered history.

The Roman Empire into which Jesus was born could be splendid but also cruel, especially for the malformed and diseased and enslaved. This one teacher had said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me." An idea slowly emerged that the suffering of every single individual human being matters and that those who are able to help ought to do so. Hospitals and relief efforts of all kinds emerged from this movement; even today they often carry names that remind us of him and his teachings.

Humility, which was scorned in the ancient world, became enshrined in a cross and was eventually championed as a virtue. Enemies, who were thought to be worthy of vengeance ("help your friends and punish your enemies"), came to be seen as worthy of love. Forgiveness moved from weakness to an act of moral beauty. Even in death, Jesus' influence is hard to escape. The practice of burial in graveyards or cemeteries was taken from his followers … It expressed the hope of resurrection … Death did not end Jesus' influence. In many ways, it just started it. [John Ortberg, Who Is This Man? (Zondervan, 2012), pp. 14-16}

Hold on to Your Confidence

Hebrews 10:35-36 (NKJV)

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

He (the apostle) exhorts them not to cast away their confidence, that is, their holy courage and boldness, but to hold fast that profession for which they had suffered so much before, and borne those sufferings so well. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

The 1958 film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is the true story of Gladys Aylward (Ingrid Bergman), an English servant who became a faithful missionary in a remote region of northern China. The China Inland Mission Center in England refused to sponsor her due to her lack of vocation and experience. Consequently, in 1932 she set out on her own, believing with all her heart she was called by God. Not officially under the authority of the Mission, she was free to stay in China according to her own discretion.

She finds work running an inn for traveling mule drivers. After the death of the inn manager, a seasoned missionary, a government official delivers a letter to Gladys, which states that funding for the Inn will be cut off because of her lack of experience.

Bewildered by the news, Gladys expresses her concerns to the Chinese government official, Captain Lin Nan, who delivered the message: "One reason and always the same one: I'm not qualified. I was a servant in England. That's what they mean. But I came here when they said I couldn't. And I'll stay here though they say I can't."

When Captain Lin Nan kindly offers to escort her to Sien Chen, where she will deport, Gladys stubbornly insists, "I'm not going to leave!"

Captain Lin Nan tries to dissuade her: she's broke, and vendors won't give her credit; she has no friends; and she is in an isolated country with inveterate problems. "It isn't your country. It isn't your problem," he says. "You're white. You shouldn't be in China at all."

Emphasizing her resolve to stay, Gladys reminds the captain, "I came here to be of value."

Mildly irritated, the captain says, "How? By trying to make people believe what you believe? By saving souls who don't want to be saved? Who will agree to anything for an extra bowl of rice, and laugh at you once the rice is eaten?" When Gladys attempts a retort, he says, "The dangers that confront you—those are real. Leave now, while you still can. Go back to England where you belong."

"If I feel that God wants me in China," Gladys argues, "then that's where I belong."

Lin Nan resigns, leaving Gladys in God's hands. As he leaves, Gladys cries out, "Oh, Captain Lin Nan. I know you think I'm stubborn. But I'm not ungrateful. For you to be concerned, to bother, it is very kind."

"If I were really kind," Lin Nan responds, "I'd have you ordered out of Bien Chen. But since I'm not obsessed with souls or lives, I wish you well."

Because she stays, God uses Gladys to convert the village's mandarin governor to Christianity. And when the Japanese army attacks China, she heroically leads over 100 orphan children to safety through numerous mountains, avoiding enemy soldiers.

[The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (Twentieth Century Fox, 1958), not rated, directed by Mark Robson, screenplay written by Isobel Lennart, based on The Small Woman, by Alan Burgess]

Each of you are of value and importance. Keep enduring life that you may do the will of God and not let your confidence be thrown aside.

Glorify God Together

Romans 15:7 (NKJV)

7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

Receive one another; for sometimes the prejudices of the weak Christian make him shy of the strong, as much as the pride of the strong Christian makes him shy of the weak, neither of which ought to be. Let there be a mutual embracing among Christians. Those that have received Christ by faith must receive all Christians by brotherly love; though poor in the world, though persecuted and despised, though it may be matter of reproach and danger to you to receive them, though in the less weighty matters of the law they are of different apprehensions, though there may have been occasion for private piques, yet, laying aside these and the like considerations, receive you one another. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Gordon MacDonald shares the following story about visiting a small group of men and women affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. MacDonald said that he visited the group because he has friends who are recovering alcoholics and he wanted to see for himself what they were talking about. Here's what he found:

One morning Kathy—I guessed her age at 35—joined us for the first time. One look at her face caused me to conclude that she must have been Hollywood-beautiful at 21. Now her face was swollen, her eyes red, her teeth rotting. Her hair looked unwashed, uncombed for who knows how long.

"I've been in five states in the past month," she said. "I've slept under bridges on several nights. Been arrested. Raped. Robbed (now weeping). I don't know what to do. I … don't … want … to … be … homeless … any more. But (sob) I can't stop drinking (sob). I can't stop (sob). I can't … "

Next to Kathy was a rather large woman, Marilyn, sober for more than a dozen years. She reached with both arms toward Kathy and pulled her close, so close that Kathy's face was pressed to Marilyn's ample breast. I was close enough to hear Marilyn speak quietly into Kathy's ear, "Honey, you're going to be OK. You're with us now. We can deal with this together. All you have to do is keep coming. Hear me? Keep on coming." And then Marilyn kissed the top of Kathy's head.

I was awestruck. The simple words, the affection, the tenderness. How Jesus-like. I couldn't avoid a troubling question that morning. Could this have happened in the places where I have worshiped? Would there have been a space in the program for Kathy to tell her story? Would there have been a Marilyn to respond in this way? [Gordon MacDonald, "My Small Group, Anonymous," Leadership Journal (Winter 2014)]

These type of stories are happening every day. There are those who are in desperate need of help. They have lost their way in life and often trapped by addiction that holds them in despair. The church I attend formed a Ministry group for people like those above called HopeQuest Ministry group. There are many other organizations that offer help as well. Let us pray that brotherly love for others will be shown so these people may be helped through the difficulties of life.

Making a difference

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV)

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Thus the apostle concludes his epistle, and thus it is usual and proper to dismiss worshipping assemblies. This plainly proves the doctrine of the gospel, and is an acknowledgment that Father, Son, and Spirit, are three distinct persons, yet but one God; and herein the same, that they are the fountain of all blessings to men. It likewise intimates our duty, which is to have an eye by faith to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost-to live in a continual regard to the three persons in the Trinity, into whose name we were baptized, and in whose name we are blessed. This is a very solemn benediction, and we should give all diligence to inherit this blessing. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

It's possible to be so heavenly-minded that we are of no earthly good. But Professor Todd Whitmore from Notre Dame has also observed how being heavenly-minded can lead to incredible deeds of earthly goodness. After the war in Uganda had dragged on for over 20 years, Whitmore moved into the refugee camps in northern Uganda to hear the stories of the displaced Acholi people. As he observed the Christians who were working among the Acholi, he saw what he called "what real Christianity looks like." Whitmore discovered that the most practical and helpful workers among the Acholi were also the most heavenly-minded. He called them "reasonable apocalyptists," which means that these Christian workers thought a lot about God's intervention at the end of history.

These heavenly-minded Christians believed that no human effort could be relied upon to help the Acholi; it had to come from God. As one of the Christian workers in the camps said, "God is tired [of this war and suffering], and he will intervene." Because they believed that God would intervene, they also believed that it's worthwhile to work for good. In the United States, people who talk about God's future intervention are often accused of being escapists, impractical, or even mentally unstable. But in the refugee camps of northern Uganda they were the most rational people. Whitmore discovered that they were the ones who kept saying things like, "We want to make a difference here and now. We want to help with the orphans." [Adapted from Jason Bayassee, "Eschatological Innovation,' Faith & Leadership (8-4-09)]

God’s love and grace can help you do incredible things when you allow the Holy Spirit to be with you and guide you. Allow the love of God to work within you so you can help others.

Remove pride and honor others

Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT)

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

There is no greater enemy to Christian love than pride and passion. If we do things in contradiction to our brethren, this is doing them through strife; if we do them through ostentation of ourselves, this is doing them through vain-glory: both are destructive of Christian love and kindle unchristian heats. Christ came to slay all enmities; therefore let there not be among Christians a spirit of opposition. Christ came to humble us, and therefore let there not be among us a spirit of pride. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Henry Varley is best known as the man who stated to Dwight Moody, "The world has yet to see what God will do with a man who is fully committed to him." Moody sought to be that man and went on to become the world's most prominent evangelist of his day.

What is not so well known about Varley is that he was himself a powerful evangelist and pastor. But he faced a pitch battle with jealousy when another preacher in his neighborhood began having great success and started drawing some of Varley's members. Varley felt deep resentment toward the other minister and later divulged:

I shall never forget the sense of guilt and sin that possessed me over that business. I was miserable. Was I practically saying to the Lord Jesus, "Unless the prosperity of [your] church and people comes in this neighborhood by me, success had better not come"? Was I really showing inability to rejoice in another worker's service? I felt that it was a sin of a very hateful character. I never asked the Lord to take away my life either before or since, but I did then, unless his grace would give me victory over this foul image of jealousy. [Vance Christie, "Addressing the Cancer of Envy—Henry Varley," Vance Christie's blog (8-8-14);]

Envy was one of the first sins that led to the death of Able. The Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. Because of the sin that ruled over Cain he killed his brother Able.

We might not physically kill our brothers in Christ, but instead we may be like Henry Varley who let sin overtake him with the desire to succeed over others. As Christians we must support one another, even if that means putting another first before ourselves.