The longer you wait

Not so many people are looking for God nowadays, but in case you are, are when you are wondering about that mysterious God, do not procrastinate.

Man has waited a long time, but God has waited even longer. He has shown His patience long enough. He has also allowed man to look for some systems to govern this world. But as we can see throughout history, man has not made something good out of it.

The words “sanctification” and "justification "have been under much debate recently in the church. This debate is less about the actual definition, and more about the ramifications behind how it is actually lived out in the Christian life.

There are preachers, priests and pastors, who want others to believe man is saved by the Blood of Christ and no does not have to do anything any more. They even say that works of faith is a blasphemy. but we would like them and you to have a closer look to what is really written in the Bible.

We should listen much more to the Words of God and come to understand His Plan with mankind and how we do have to fit in God's Plan.

There is God’s will of freeing us from sin, sending His only begotten beloved son. God wants us to become more like that Nazarene man Jesus who was authorized by God to do many miracles. Jesus showed the way to God and to sanctification. We either can see it or keep ignoring his teachings, preferring to hold strong to human writings instead of Godly writings.

Those who say we as Christians do not have to do any work any more should listen to the apostle Paul his writing to the Thessalonians

 “3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication; 4 that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God; 6 that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. 7 For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.

9  But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another; 10 for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more; 11 and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you; 12 that ye may walk becomingly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-12 ASV)

We have to make ourselves like Jesus. To do this we have a lifetime, but the longer we wait, the harder we’ll cling hopelessly to God and his promises.

When we are willing to give ourselves to God and willing to learn about Him we shall come to get to know more about Him. Bit by bit we shall come to know Him better and we shall come to see how our faith in God also can change our attitude in life. That is what has to happen. As soon as we want to go for God we should be willing to give ourselves in the hands of God and letting Him change our inner being.

Our life shall not always go smoothly, also not when we have become a Christian. But when we keep going on the right path, in the process of waiting, spiritual transformation shall happen in our life.

If God always gave you what you want when you wanted it, he would not be such a good Father, but be like any worldly spoiling father, not preparing his children for this life on earth and not getting them to know the values of life. We also should remember that we still are of sinful nature and that not everything we want is the right thing or something good for us or good for others. Think about it. Considering our sinful nature, if you never had to wait, you also would never have a reason to trust God. We would do our own thing. We would never pray. We would not revere Him for His character. If we never waited, our lives would be much worse.

Therefore be patient and look forward to the higher promises of God.  Follow Jesus as the Way to God and try to become like him. This will demand many efforts or works, but it shall be worth it.

Do not postpone and come to recognise who Jesus is, what he has done and Who his heavenly Father is and why that Eternal Spirit Who cannot be seen by man is so important for the whole world. Get to know why we should become children of Jesus ' heavenly Father.

Meditate on James 1:5-8 and on the second chapter about faith and works.

Please also look at our series on From Guestwriters:

1. Leading people astray!
2. Restitution
3. Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works
4. Luther’s misunderstanding
5. January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works
6. Our life depending on faith
7. Romans 4 and the Sacraments
8. Is Justification a process?
9. Justification – salvation is by grace through faith – JI Packer
10. Faith itself not the cause of justification – Louis Berkhof
11. Letter to the Romans, chapter 3
12. Letter to the Romans, chapter 4
13. Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans
14. Additional comments to the Letter to the Romans 4
15. Which is worse–works without faith, or faith without works?
16. James 2:14-23 — Justified Dynamic Faith & works
17. James 2:24 – You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
18. James 2:25. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

and read also other articles as:

1. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
2. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
3. Christ’s ethical teaching
4.  Being Justified by faith
5. Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
6. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
7. A Living Faith #6 Sacrifice
8. Faith and works
9. Bearing fruit
10. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
11. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
12. Be holy
13. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
14. Love for each other attracting others
15. Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus

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Related articles

• Jesus and the Reality of Spiritual Warfare
• Be Known By Your Fruit
• DIG for Monday the 1st of February.....justified by his grace, affirm this constantly.....Titus 3 v 7 and 8
• Are You Chosen?
• Acts 11
• The Word: Acts 1:6-11
• Worthy to Serve
• Faith In Action 'Being Distinctively Salted'
• 100-Day Identity Makeover: Day 53
• The Shame of Obedience

Heroes and saints

Perhaps we want to be  Heroes and saints at the same time.

"The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world,
who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.
The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world,
himself a light."
- Felix Adler

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."
- Author Unknown

The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration.
A saint is not a man without faults,
but a man who has given himself without reserve to God.
- W. T. Richardson

"In Jesus' situation we have the story of the holiest man that ever lived,
and yet it was the whores and the thieves who worshiped him,
and the religious who denounced him."
- Rebecca Manley Pippert

Sanctification is glory begun.
Glory is sanctification completed.
- F. F. Bruce

"Therefore be careful how you walk,
not as unwise men but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
... understand what the will of the Lord is."
Ephesians 5:15-17

In winter the world is beautiful white,
but it can be dangerous slippery.
Let me know the dangers of this seemingly beautiful world, Lord.
Let me deal with the right people
and let me be a light in dark days for many,
that I ask you, my God, in Jesus name.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Helden en heiligen

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2013 update:

Billboard advertising Heroes World Tour, Changi Airport, Singapore. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

• Lessons from the Saints
• Saturday (January 19): "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
• The Key That Fits the Lock, Part Thirteen
• A Choice in the Matter
• Feast of the Confession of Saint Peter

Old age

“Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. For my enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for [there is] none to deliver [him].” (Ps 71:9-11 Webster)

Every stage of life has its own problems, and old age is no exception. Many a person, becoming aware of the passing years, finds physical and emotional stresses creeping into his life that were never there before. Old age is not a time for despair or self pity, and God in His Word has given us much counsel on how to make our sunset years rewarding and enriching. Did you know that David devoted one whole psalm to those who are “old and grey headed”? Read Psalm 71, and locked up within it you will discover the Christian philosophy that makes for a meaningful old age.

  This psalm was written by David very late in his life. Apparently it was a time of persecution for him, for we read: “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails. For my enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying ‘God has forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.’” Psalm 71:9-11.

  This suggests the incident recorded in 1 Kings where David experienced the very thing he wrote about. We 

read: “Now King David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.” “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he prepared chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him.” 1 Kings 1:1, 5.

  It was a time that caused David much concern, and many doubts and fears rose up over him threatening to destroy him. When adverse circumstances in our lives, caused, perhaps, through ill-health or lack of finance or loneliness, threaten to crush us, we should follow the example of David in his extremity. These are his words: “In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.” Psalm 71:1.

  What does it mean to put our trust in God? It means to place our whole-hearted confidence in Him no matter how black the situation may seem. It means to depend wholly and solely upon Him.

  Two men were in separate adjoining rooms at a large hospital. They were both about sixty-five to seventy years of age, and both of them were dying of cancer. One man cursed bitterly every time someone entered his room, but the other, a godly man, always greeted people with a smile. The one placed his wholehearted trust in God to care for the future. Anyone who talked to him was inspired to a deeper faith in God. It is a terrible thing to be shrunken in body as those men were, but how much worse to be shrunken in soul.

  In 1 Sam. 30 we read of an Egyptian servant who had been found dying in the desert, by David and his armies. His Amalekite master had left him there to perish when he had fallen ill. God is not like that Amalekite master. He will not desert us when we become sick and feeble. He is one we can trust. David uses a very striking illustration in this psalm of what it means to trust in God. “Lord be my strong habitation, to where I may continually resort: You have given commandment to save me; for You are my rock and my fortress.” Psalm 71:3.

  In the days of ancient Israel, the Israelites would choose the sites for their cities in places that could be well fortified. Usually this was amidst rocky outcrops atop hilly places. They surrounded their cities with thick protective walls, and to these cities the people would flee in event of war. Similarly, David says, when the enemies of life surround us, when worry, sin, pain and despair threaten to destroy us, we are to flee to God and hide ourselves in Him. That is what it means to trust in God. We are to cast ourselves into His protecting care completely.

  The next thing David encourages us to do in old age is to look back over our lives and remind ourselves of the times that God has watched over us, has protected us and has delivered us. We might call it “counting our blessings,” but it is a practice that David urges us to establish in our lives. He says: “For You are my hope, O Lord God: You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been helped from the womb: You are He that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually to You” Psa. 71:5, 6.

  There are many, like David, who have served God from their youth up. How rich their lives usually are. Yet those of us who have become aware of God’s love for us only at a later period in our lives need not despair. Christ’s parable in Matt. 20:1-16 of the labourers in the vineyard reassures us that God will accept our repentance and cries for forgiveness at any stage of life. Even those who have wrought but one hour “are made equal unto those who have borne the burden and heat of the day.” Even the thief on the cross was assured of life eternal when in the closing hours of his earthly life he cast himself upon Jesus.

  The next thing in this psalm to give us confidence is that David’s life was not perfect. He had committed dreadful sins; sins of adultery, false witness and murder; sins of which very few of us have been guilty. And yet, deeply repentant as he was, David did not carry the burden of guilt on his shoulders for the rest of his life. He discovered the secret of sins forgiven, and this secret is expressed in the words, “Deliver me in THY righteousness.” Psa. 71:2.

  There are many who are burdened with a sense of guilt, and this carried into old age cripples and embitters the life. We must learn that at any age we need to drop our burden at the foot of the cross. Jesus has assumed our guilt and paid the penalty of it in his death. Therefore we do not have to bear it. David learnt this lesson, and following in the wake of assurance of forgiveness by God came two things: peace of heart, and a desire to praise God. These two things do more to make an aged person’s life attractive than anything else - a knowledge that he is right with God and a disposition to be happy in praising God. Yet another gem of counsel to the aged is found in David’s words, “But I will hope continually.” Psa. 71:14.

  Hope is likened to a star in the darkest night; and hope in the promises of God, in the soon coming of Jesus, in the restitution of all things, in the ultimate banishment of death, is the thing that dispels despair. One favourite text with many people is that which says, “Neither shall there be any more pain.” Rev. 21:4. This text gives hope and hope means that we can never turn inwards on ourselves. Nor has the Christian old person any cause to lose himself in self-pity. Becoming self-centred and having self-pity do more to cripple the aged than anything else. We should continually keep active as long as possible and always have some out-going interest.

  And finally, we might notice David’s parting plea to God: “Now also when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed Your strength unto this generation, and Your power to everyone that is to come.” Psa. 71:18.

 The aged have a responsibility to this modern generation, and that is to show them their strength. It is certainly  not physical strength spoken of here, for the aged have little of that. It is a spiritual strength, a strong faith that is needed in this modern world. Faith is a thing which is developed and deepened only with personal experiences with God, and most youth today are totally unaware of what such faith implies.

  Old age is not to be an era of barren bitterness. Sanctified by the grace of God, these years can be amongst the most profitable and rewarding years of all.

  - John Aldersley