Get a Life

What do you think about this interesting statement?

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Col 3:3

If a person is dead, how can we still speak of life? Because Paul is talking about the spiritual realm.

"For you died" - this refers to the 'old nature' which is crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6) and 'buried' through water baptism (Rom 6:3-5).

Barne's commentary puts it this way:

The idea of the apostle is, that as Christ became literally dead in the tomb, so we, in virtue of our connection with him, have become dead to sin, to worldly influences, pleasures, and ambition. Or, in other words, we are to be to them as if we were dead, and they had no more influence over us than the things of earth had over him in the grave

"Your life" - this refers to your new being, which has been 'born again' through God:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Cor 5:17

The Amplified Bible denotes that this 'life' Paul speaks of is the result of the death of the old nature:

For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:3)

Your life in terms of physical existence is not the real you. It is a stage you pass through, like a caterpillar in a cocoon. The real you is a new spiritual identity only available when you identity with Christ's crucifixion and resurrection through believing in Him.

Some translations pick up on a nuance of the word 'hidden' which implies something hidden due to its value. It's covered, kept carefully and secretly with Christ in God.

So are you living your real life? Or are you more pre-occupied with the details of your physical one, which is transient and already slipping away? Get a life! Get your real one that is hidden in Christ.

Colossians 2:1-2 exhorts:

IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  

And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. (Amplified Bible)

Where is your focus today? What have you set your heart on lately? Let the Shepherd of your heart order its contents today, and everyday.

Saying Good-Bye

My Second Uncle was in a car accident Sunday night. He didn't survive it. The car overturned several times and is a write-off. His passenger crawled out with only minor injuries but he died instantly (I hope), his spinal cord severed. Mum cried buckets as they were very close. She booked a ticket with my sister not long after the news and is now already back in the home town. The funeral is tomorrow.

I remember the shocking, sobering sight of my Grandpa's face - serene and tangible, yet otherworldly as he lay in his coffin... and thought with a kind of horror that my Uncle would be in that place this Thursday. It was sudden, tragic, too early. I remember him larger than life -- garrulous, generous, so much fun to be with, so flawed...

I hadn't known my Grandpa much when I attended his funeral but I was able to relate more to this Uncle. He was the one who came and brought some comfort to our family when we were new to Australia. He was the one who bought my Grandma a mobile phone (in Malaysia), set up our Australian number on speed dial, and looked after the phone bills (Grandma calls quite often). He lead the family on expeditions and holidays. He loved jokes, was one of those who laughed the loudest and parried the fastest in verbal matches.

It seems so wrong that someone so alive could be so...absent. 'Absent' because I now have a sense now of how all live to God, even if they are no longer on this Earth. I am confident that I'll see him again in that grand reunion I look forward to. He is free now, and arrived in the very place he was truly made for - I envy him that.

Amongst the possible ponderings about our mortality, I think most of the fact that we don't belong here on this Earth. Truly, Eternity has been set in our hearts (Ecc 3:11). We think that we'll be around forever. And we will - just not in this body. We are bound for a Home away from this home.

It's a timely reminder that we were set on this Earth with a mission to accomplish - and it's not to live for ourselves. We are called to be Christ's hands and feet on this Earth to the people looking for hope and a way. In our weakness, timidity and ignorance, God sees one who can carry His glory selflessly and without fear. It is He who empowers us, and it will be He who rewards us - not just in this age, but also in the age to come. We are sojourners all in a journey both ordinary and profound - may we remember that, and be faithful to our calling.

Intimacy One Day at a Time

I've just come back from our awesome annual Church Camp that we themed 'Deep Calls to Deep' from Psalm 42:7 this year. It was too short!


Coming back from the camp, I'm challenged to live out the challenge of drawing closer to God each day, responding to His call to know and understand Him.


Thus says the LORD: 

      “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, 
      Let not the mighty man glory in his might, 
      Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 
      But let him who glories glory in this, 
      That he understands and knows Me, 
      That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and  righteousness in the earth. 
      For in these I delight,” says the LORD. 

Jeremiah 9:23-24

God desires that we know Him, not just know about Him. The word 'know' (yada) in that verse describes a level of acquaintance and knowledge of a person that is as intimate as that between a husband and wife. 

As any married couple would know, such a relationship requires a lot of work and commitment. But the joy of sharing life and love between them despite all the trials makes it all worthwhile.

So it is with God. He offers us the most satisfying relationship possible, and the most reliable friend and lover in Himself. However, how much we get to know Him depends on us. We are our biggest obstacle. 


One prayer can sweep a legion of demons out of the way when you are hungry for God; God created us for that very encounter, that moment when He answers the hungry searching that originates from the thought there has to be more! God will move heaven and earth to reach you. He paid with His blood to make it possible. 


So if you're feeling like God would want nothing to do with you right now, you could not be further from the truth. He is the answer to the very thing that you think keeps you away from Him. Run to Him! He is waiting for you.

Every sincere Christian who wants to experience a life pervaded by the presence of God like Abraham, Moses and King David is faced with choices everyday that can shape the path towards God, or away from Him. They can be as simple as 'Do I switch on the TV?' and, 'Magazine or Bible?' to 'what university course should I pursue?' and 'Is this person the One?'. We can choose to involve God and seek His opinion, or do it our own way. I've found time and again that when I choose to leave God out, and refuse to obey Him, I reap sorrow, pain and regret.

It's in our interests to seek God. When it comes to trusting yourself, you'll find that there is a limit to the reliability of a philosophy of independence from God. Our hearts betray us, deceive us. We thought they would be the One -- but now we're not sure. It felt right - but nothing's working! All our understanding, skill and experience can still fail us: we're not sure whether to accept this offer, or that one; buy this house, or the other one; listen to your parents, or your friends. Wouldn't it be nice if the right choice was always clear like Dorothy's yellow brick road to the Wizard of Oz? 


The Bible teaches that we are to depend on God; it is wisdom to do so. The Christian that pursues God will realise that our need to depend on Him runs deep; we need Him as much as we need air to breathe. Only He knows the answers every time. Only He truly satisfies the deep parts of our soul.

Abraham, Moses and King David were all human, and made mistakes as we do. But they made consistent choices to keep in fellowship with their God, to fall in step with Him and stay there. We too need to purposefully make the choices that allow God to participate in every area of our lives; let Him fill the hungry corners of our hearts and make the dark places awash with refreshing light by letting Him in, and letting Him work in us. We need to choose to obey Him in the little as well as the big things, to fan the flames of passion - everyday, one day at a time.

One of our speakers used an analogy that has stuck with me: intimacy with God is like tending a garden. Weeds and bugs spring up overnight to threaten the health and beauty of our gardens; unforgiveness, idolatory, self pity, jealousy etc can spring up in our hearts in a moment. Those things can deafen our ears to His voice, block access to our hearts, plug up that spring of divine life within us.

I have to remind myself of that too because until we started preparing for the camp, I was actually letting a lot of things slip till I came to the point that I felt further from God than I had been for a very long time. I'd left Him out for too long. But God is so faithful, so merciful. I am continually amazed at how He continues to love us even though we have failed time and again. I would have given up on me long ago! But He is big enough for our smallness. And more than worth the pursuit.

From one world to another

Today, Christchurch, New Zealand has experienced the devastating effects of an earthquake striking the heart of its CBD.


They were all having lunch in cafes, rushing to meet deadlines at their desks, serving customers at a counter, lining up to pay for their shopping, studying at their desks wishing the school bell would ring. Mothers were feeding their babies or putting them to sleep, some people were having a day off and putting their feet up. 


They were all just going through another normal day. But it was all changed in a horrifying one- minute quake that has reduced the city to chaos. For some, it would be the end of a long 'day ' on earth.

I often think of the testimony of Ian McCormack on his hospital bed, slowly dying from multiple box jellyfish stings. He said to himself, 'I'll take a quick nap, then I'll be stronger to fight this'. He woke up later, and the room was pitch black. He thought to himself, "who turned off the light?" and, "where is everyone?"
He got up and walked in one direction with his arms outstretched, aiming for a wall with a light switch. But there was nothing. 
'Maybe I've gone too far,' he thought, so he turned in the other direction. But still -- nothing. He felt fully alive. But he had not realized that he'd crossed that invisible line between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. He was dead. But death is only the beginning.


I don't know about you, but what happened today in Christchurch reminded me of the frailty of life; that 'today' is as tenuous as a puff of breath in the winter air. My thoughts and prayers are with them in this fearful, uncertain time. I hope great good comes of it all, despite the current chaos. But I can't help but be challenged right now to assess my own life, in light of its frailty. And yet, it's so hard to live like it's your last day when it seems that life will go on forever. 


And we're right -- in a way. According to the Bible, we will live forever - just not the way we are right now, and not in this realm either. 


... Also He has put eternity in their hearts...                                                    Ecclesiastes 3:11


We were made to live forever. But HOW we will live forever comes down to individual choice: in the arms of God, or in the steps of embittered demons who themselves have rejected God, and who have made torturing souls the whole purpose of their existence. Demons already know their punishment; the only thing they can do now is to take as many people as they can with them. That's their ultimate attack on God. 


The tragic lie of hell being a big party could not be further from the truth. All good things come from God - that includes pleasure, love and fun. Hell is as far from God as you can get. There, you can try all the naughty things that brought pleasure on earth and find with an eternal despair that there is no pleasure available there - because God is not there. The experience of hell is not called the second death for nothing. Please, choose Life! Jesus is the only way out of the slippery slope to that second death. And none of us know for sure how much time we really have left.


If you want to know more, I encourage you to check out http://www.allaboutgod.com/ and if you like, you could contact my church by email via the prayer request form at www.covenantchurch.org.au. We'd love to hear from you and help you answer your questions. We might not have all the answers, but we can tell you our own experiences, and the experiences of millions around the world who have found that this God is no myth, but alive, and better than you could have ever imagined.


But I digress.


Jesus warned that natural disasters, wars and civil unrest would become a prominent feature in the last days. If ever those things have become a prominent feature in a generation, it is ours. Just today, as a colleague counted off on his fingers the mysterious way all the wars, riots, earthquakes, floods and cyclones have coincided, he commented, "It makes you wonder what is happening." He's not the first I know of who has put it that way. We all sense something strange and significant in these happenings. The Bible has already told us what will happen...


Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 
And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 


For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.


For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 


And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24: 3-14

The good news is that the good guys win. Satan will be relegated to his appointed punishment in hell along with his minions, never to bother us again. Those who have chosen Life as God defines it will receive a majestic reward that lasts all eternity. The sad thing is that many who thought rejecting God was freedom will find that they were deceived.

If you're reading this now, you still have time to make the right choices. How will you choose to live - both now and in Eternity?

Significance

We all have our definitions about what significance means. I've found that mine has mostly been influenced by media.  

I used to think only fame meant that you were significant. I've since come to the conclusion that while fame makes you significant in the sense that you become fodder for the gossip magazines, it doesn't necessarily mean that the legacy you leave counts for anything in heaven.

I remember a story of a simple, uneducated guy on the street who was on all accounts a bum. He managed to work out what an evangelistic gospel leaflet meant, and he decided to believe in God. He didn't have much and still slept on the street, but he made the most of it. He used to always be cruel to animals, but after that simple encounter with a leaflet, he would refrain from kicking them. 

He didn't accomplish a lot in life, but he died trying to keep a drunk guy warm by letting the drunk guy sleep in his crude cardboard shelter, while using his own body to shield the inebriated stranger from the rain and the cold. In heaven, he was given a higher honor than someone whose death had made headlines around the world. One line that really challenged me was the statement 'He used all the love he had'.

How many of us have so much more than this guy would have had? What have we done with what we've been given?

For the past few years, I've wrestled with 'what can I do? How can I be significant?' I've been through cycles of denial, giving up, being frustrated, being consumed by busy-ness of life. But the desire remained and refused to go away. 

Although I eventually gave up any thought of doing anything about it, it  niggled like a toothache in the night. Like the feeling that you've forgotten something but can't figure out what. The answer was both unlikely and yet complete: 

"You are most significant when you are obedient to Me."

"Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."

1 Samuel 15:22

"For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

 Colossians 3:3

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.

2 Cor 5:14-15

When we are obedient:

• we don't need to worry about what we should do (because we've been told!)
• we are walking in the centre of God's will, which is always where His provision and blessings are
• we will be given the ability to complete it; we're in no danger of being left out on a limb 
• we can be sure that it's God's responsibility to make things happen -- we just need to do what we're instructed to do. The rest will follow.

I think of everyone's lives being entwined together like the threads on a tapestry. You never know whose life you'll touch when you step out in faith. God knows. That's why He asks us to be obedient.

Significance is obedience. Who'd have known?