Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:2) I vividly remember once attending a church meeting where I became concerned about the level of apathy in the people around me. Prior to turning to prayer, a man had been speaking about how God had saved him and miraculously turned his life life around. God had been glorified; His goodness and His power were on display. There was much to be thankful for as the people turned to prayer, but instead, the sense of life and power that had been present, dissipated. Where was the shout of thanksgiving to the God who demonstrated His power to break the bondage to sin and bring physical and mental healing? As the hymn says, ‘Our God is an awesome God’. So why the lethargy? Why the lack of spiritual zeal? Why lack of desire for spiritual things? What is most real and living to us depends very much on where we are living. Although, on the outside we are resident in this world, our spirits inhabit a difference realm. "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:14) “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2) It takes discipline to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. The Devil would have your mind kept on ‘things of the earth’ so that the appetite for ‘things above’ diminishes. He is very aware of the importance of what occupies our time and attention, what we “fix our eyes on”. Social media and technology are good examples. The unfortunate truth is that social media has become a huge distraction for many Christians from their relationship with Jesus. They spend time on social media more than on the Word of God. To ‘binge on Netflix’ has become a common term used in society (and even among Christians). Then we have Amazon Prime, iplayer, Apple TV. Entertainment is being pushed at us from every angle and, if we overindulge, it saps the desire for spiritual food out of you. According to J Warner Wallace, social media is “Stealing our passion and stealing our priorities”. It robs you of the hunger to spend time in the Word. Your spiritual appetite diminishes in the same way your natural hunger for good food dissipates when you feast on junk food. J Wallace Warner also gives good advice when he says: "Ultimately, as Christians, we need to be mindful of how we use social media and how it impacts our relationship with Jesus. By being intentional about the content we consume and share, and by using social media as a tool for sharing our faith with others, we can navigate this new digital landscape in a way that honors God and strengthens our relationship with Him.” And finally… “God grant that if we must have two eyes, that they may be both clear ones; one the eye of faith wholly fixed on Christ, the other the eye of obedience equally and wholly fixed on the same objective.” C H Spurgeon Pauline Anderson
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A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. (Psalm 68:5) When we meet someone for the first time, our knowledge of them often falls into one of two categories: either we have heard about this person from others and feel we know a bit / a lot about them, or they are a complete stranger who we have never heard of, and we know nothing about them. Whatever we know about them, some people have something attractive about them that makes us want to know more. This is certainly the case with Christ. When we accept Him as our Saviour, whether we knew a little, lots or nothing about Him previously, we find a deep desire to get to know Him more. One way we can do this is by reading the Bible and finding out what moved His heart with love? We discover many issues that were dear to His heart. At the beginning of His earthly ministry, we find Jesus standing up to preach in the synagogue in Nazareth. He identifies Himself as the one mentioned in Isaiah 61:1-2: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. His heart yearned to help the poor, the broken-hearted, captives, prisoners, mourners in a way that was quite different from other rabbis and religious leaders of His time. In our title verse we see that being a father to the fatherless and defending widows is what God longs to be and Tim Keller tells us “This is one of the main things he does in the world. He identifies with the powerless, he takes up their cause.” But perhaps one of the places where Jesus most eloquently puts his priorities on show is in his discourse in Matthew 25:32-46, shortly before his death. Here we read of the final judgement when, “All the nations will be gathered before Him” (v 32) We read the criteria for inheriting the kingdom.
No, this isn’t a ‘salvation by works’ gospel, it’s the ‘fruits of salvation’. Love is not just a warm feeling, a romantic emotion, it’s the practical outworking of the beating of the heart of the Saviour as you become His hands, His feet, His body, and His heart to the downtrodden of humanity. Can you feel it? Can you sense the loving and longing in God’s heart for ‘social justice’? We don’t have to look far to find those who need the love of God demonstrated to them in practical ways. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) God grant that many today will hear the call of God to rise up from a life of ease, pleasure and indulgence and join God in His work of service to those in need. Pauline Anderson |
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Struthers Memorial Church is a registered Scottish Charity No. SC 006960 | Struthers Memorial Church is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland Company No SC335480 | Registered Office: 33 West Stewart Street, Greenock, PA15 1SH. |