One Essential Thing

One Essential Thing

When embarking on a journey, particularly a long and hazardous one, you want to make sure you don’t leave something essential behind.

The children of Israel were on a journey to the Promised Land through the wilderness. The distance itself could have been covered in a few short months, but it took forty years. Their unbelief, rebellion, and hardness of heart caused this lengthening of days.

There was one essential thing, however, Moses knew they could not do without. This essential thing is revealed in the following verses:

And He said, “My presence shall go [with you], and I will give you rest.”¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with us], do not lead us up from here. ¹⁶ For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the [other] people who are upon the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:14-16 – NASB)

When God told Moses His Presence would go with them it jolted him into a realization. If God’s presence did not go with them there was no point in continuing.

In modern terms he was saying, “Don’t take us any further on his journey if you’re not going to be with us. We won’t be different from anyone else if we do not experience your Presence all the way to the Promised Land.

“We’ll be just like all the other heathen nations if you don’t go with us. No one will know the difference between us and them; there will be nothing to distinguish us from the other nations. They won’t know we are Your people if they can’t sense your Presence in our midst.”

The same thing can be said for the church, today:

Unless unbelievers can sense the manifest Presence of God in our midst, they won’t be able to distinguish us from the rest of the people in this lost and dying world.

The Presence of the Lord

(© Sunday 12^th April 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

And He said, “My presence shall go [with you], and I will give you rest.”¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with us], do not lead us up from here. (Exodus 33:14-15 – NASB)

I can’t go into the future,

Unless You are close by my side;

I can’t face the trials and troubles,

Unless I can in You abide.

Life without You is uncertain.

Worse, it is a dangerous road;

Death and destruction await me,

Except when You carry my load.

Without Your Presence I’m done for;

No bright future’s waiting for me –

Despair will be my companion,

And nothing but darkness I’ll see.

Don’t let me go any further,

Lord, not even a step ahead,

Unless I’m sure of Your Presence,

And know that by Your hand I’m led.

Make me to feel You are with me;

Make me to breathe Your pure air.

I cannot go into the future,

Unless I know You are there.

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(Picture in the public domain)

The Father’s Business – Renewal

(Picture credits at end of post)

The Father’s Business – Renewal

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 – NKJV)

The Father and the Son are in the business of taking the cast-off or redundant areas of our lives and re-form them into something of uncommon beauty.

                Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16 – NASB)

…and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind… (Ephesians 4:23 – NASB)

Driftwood

(© September 2010 by Christopher Shennan)

(A poem of free verse)

Just a piece of driftwood; Yet I have seen these random cast-offs of Nature, chosen, re-designed – lovingly re-crafted into objects of beauty – displayed in prominent places and treasured by those still gifted with the capacity to discern beauty in unconventional things.

I have seen them, the cast-offs, rescued from the cruel sea, or the barren beaches – a bird about to fly; a cane re-carved into human likeness; a clock now mounted on a piece of driftwood well-varnished; a unique and unrepeatable treasure.

Just like these drifting pieces, thrown up on the beaches, I have also seen much human flotsam, cast off – ravaged by storms that life has viciously let loose – has cast upon those barren places that seem devoid of Love – undervalued members of the human race.

I have seen this human garbage re-shaped by Love, by instruments sent forth from Heaven’s Heart. These instruments – themselves once cast-offs, but now re-claimed, are fit to work a miracle by God’s own power. They see these rejects, and hold them to their heart, and see them placed once more into Heavens Treasure House, the place where only reclaimed objects of God’s Grace may dwell.

So when I see a piece of driftwood, worn and ravaged by the action of the sea, and cast upon forgotten shores, I remember from whence I came. I remember, too, that I am called, not to the grand designs within palace walls, but to the long-despised alley-ways of life where the dregs of humanity dwell.

Not to these alone am I called, but these are burned with searing iron upon my heart, a heart re-shaped by the Master’s hand. I cannot forget from whence I came, so memory drives me to look with longing upon the broken ones – to see the Master bring them back; to snatch them from the burning flames and bring them home – once again.

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Driftwood sculpture by Heather Jansch. Photograph by Alison Cassidy. Copyright.

CC BY-SA 3.0  (note the disclaimer at this link.) No changes were made to this photograph.

Impossible Stains

Impossible Stains

CC0 Public Domain

Isaiah 1:2-20 

“Come now, and let us reason together,”

Says the LORD,

“Though your sins are as scarlet,

They will be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They will be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18 – NASB)

No true conversion to Christ can take place before someone has become aware of how corrupt and sinful their condition is before a Holy God. There are too many shallow conversions to Christ in these days; there are too many who claim conversion to Christ, but who display little or no evidence a change has taken place.  They live in much the same way as they lived before.

They may come to church more often; they may contribute financially to the work of the church; they may treat their neighbour a little more kindly. On the whole, however, the direction of their lives is fundamentally the same as it was before. If enough of these people fill the pews of the church it is no wonder the world does not sit up and take notice; it is no wonder we are largely ignored by the world outside.

The Gospel is indeed Good news. It is a wonderful, positive, glorious message of hope and salvation, but the negative must always come first. A cure for cancer cannot be fully appreciated by someone in good health or by someone who refuses to acknowledge they are afflicted with the disease.

So it is that we must first become aware of our hopeless condition before we can appreciate the Good News of the Gospel. Only the soul that has given up hope of ever saving himself can ever experience true conversion – what the Bible calls being born again.

No Stain Remover Made

© 20^th October 2014 – by Christopher Shennan

It’s a reasonable assumption

That the sins you’ve sinned will stain you,

In a way and in a manner

That will ultimately blame you.

There is no stain remover made,

By human ingenuity,

That can purify the sinner

And take away iniquity.

But no stain of sin can remain

When the blood of Christ is applied;

The stains of sin are now banished –

Because of Christ the crucified.

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No Small Thing

No Small Thing

(Picture credits at end of post)

Matthew 10:40-42

And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”  Matthew 10:42– NASB)

What we consider to be small acts of kindness are not considered small from a Heavenly point of view. Our Lord considers the smallest act as worthy of a reward.

There is the true account of Dr. Howard A. Kelly. He was famous in medical circles, and a brilliant surgeon, besides being a devout Christian man.

While in medical school he sold books to help pay his way, going from house to house to offer his wares. It was thirsty work, so he stopped at a farmhouse and requested a drink of water from the young girl who came to the door. Instead of the water she offered him a glass of milk. The milk was cool and refreshing, which he greatly enjoyed.

A number of years later Dr. Kelly had graduated from medical school. At last he became chief surgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

One day a woman was admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. She was placed in a private room and assigned a private nurse. Skilled surgeon as he was, Dr. Kelly did everything in his power to make her well. The operation was a success, and the woman recovered rapidly.

While she was overjoyed that she was recovering and would soon be going home, her joy was somewhat lessened by the thought of how she was going to pay for the operation and other related hospital fees. When the nurse brought the bill to her she was shocked to see how much each of the itemized services she had received cost. Each item seemed like an extra weight pressing down upon her. However was she going to pay for it all? At last she looked for the total at the bottom of the page. It was a very large amount, but under it was a notation: ‘Paid in full with one glass of milk! It was signed: ‘Howard A Kelly, M.D.’

You may not have the resources to do any “great” things, or get any recognition by the world for what you have done. However, if you give attention to detail, and do the small things that are within your power to do. You will not lose your reward. There are no small things with God.

Nothing Small

© Friday 10^th October 2014 – by Christopher Shennan

A small glass of water and a winning smile

Was all she could give to the man who came

To ask for a drink and to rest awhile,

But it felt like a fortune, all the same.

Just a moment he stayed to lend a hand

And encourage the lad who failed the test,

But the touch and the word helped him to stand,

And resolved in his heart to do his best.

The girl who’d been bullied, felt she could die,

Till a teacher took her under her wing;

Her heart was heavy, with many a sigh,

But this act of kindness taught her to sing.

There is nothing small if the gift is but true;

A smile, a hug, or a glass of cold milk;

A kind gesture seems a treasure, to you –

A rough woven garment can feel like silk.

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Water Glass, copyright by emptypulchritude. Used under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, found here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Find picture athttp://emptypulchritude.deviantart.com/art/Water-Glass-322320544. No changes were made to the photo.

Withered Hearts

Withered Hearts

Reading: Mark 3:1-6

And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts… (Mark 3:5a – NKJV)

The man`s hand may have been withered, but those of the faction of the Pharisees had withered hearts. Their religious legalism had withered their compassion and blinded the eyes of their hearts.

Jesus was grieved by the hardness of their hearts…

The Greek indicates that Jesus was in a continuous state of grief (Wuest) For a loving Savior, Whose heart bleeds for the lost estate of mankind, continuous grief for hardness of heart is the only reasonable response. He was, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Just because Jesus is a Man of Sorrows, does not mean we have license to add to His grief.  What brings grief to our Savior almost more than anything else, is hardness of heart.

What hardened the hearts of the Pharisees?

Their hearts had been hardened by an act of the WILL:

Three times in the book of Hebrews the plea is made: Do not harden your hearts. (Hebrews 3:8; 3:15; and 4:7)

I have myself had personal experience with this:

At the age of thirteen or fourteen, I was on a bus to school in the morning rush hour. As the bus turned the corner into a particularly busy intersection we saw an elderly man on a bicycle. The bicycle had one of those baskets in front to carry documents or other items. I guessed he must have been a messenger of the court, or some such occupation.

Just as the bus turned the corner his wheel hit something and he, the bicycle, and everything in the basket, landed on the road. The papers were scattered.

The reaction of the boys in the bus was to break into peals of laughter at the plight of the old man as he desperately tried to retrieve the papers in the middle of rush hour.

My own heart was breaking for the man. I had no way to help him since I was in a bus that was soon gone.  Up to that time I had a very tender heart.

To my shame, that changed. It hurt so much to bear another’s pain, I hardened my heart so it would not hurt so much.

It took years after my conversion to Christ for the Holy Spirit to soften my heart again.

Choose rather to bear the pain than to have a hard heart!

Hard Hearts Healed

(© Wednesday 4^th June – by Christopher Shennan)

It hurt so much to feel for those

That were passing though grief and pain,

That I shut their suffering out;

I vowed never to feel it again.

 

At first it came as a relief

To be free from another’s pain

“I have enough of my own to bear,”

I said, “Let others just do the same.”

 

The result of my decision came

As a shock and surprise to me;

I found my heart grew callous, hard,

And my spirit was bound, not free.

 

Then Jesus called, “Come follow Me,

For the burden I bear is light;

Carry another’s load of care

And your own soul will know – delight.”

 

The joy that I feel now is pure;

As I share the pain my brother feels,

The burden I bear gets lighter,

And the hurt I sustain? – It heals.

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