In the Lord

Psa 37:1 A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

I love these verses. I’ve been thinking about them for about two weeks now and have been really blessed.

To start with I simply concentrated on verse 4. It’s been something that I’ve used many times to encourage myself and others when goals seem elusive. Goals [ that is] that have been brought before the Lord – not just the wants of a fleshy aspect to my/their being.

We all have goals, but some of them we know are just us hoping for a particular outcome. Sure! We pray about them, bring them before the Lord and all the usual manouevres. But deep down we probably know it’s still just us. However – if we get to the place where the Lord is truly our delight, then that delight informs our hopes and desires and leads us to pray in His will because our desires and His desires are now the same.

It was good to just think this through. I was seeing how much of my life was being lived in accordance with a delight in the Lord rather than a sense of my entitlement from the Divine. Needless to say I found a lot that was wanting. But then, the more I considered these verses, the more I realised how much the Lord has got covered on our behalf.

Look again, and take note of the four things we are encouraged to have ‘in the Lord’.

Trust, Delight, Commit and Rest.

My normal inclination would have been to see these as a sequence. In fact I’ve probably preached exactly that some time in the past. But recently I saw them as four interlinked pieces of spiritual structure which are inseparable like the fruit of the Spirit.

If I really do Trust in Him [ and do good ] then Delight will be a natural extension of both the outcomes of my spirituality and also my responses to whatever I have entrusted to Him – be it people, places, needs, blessings. I’ll just be delighted that God has been who He says He is to me and to others. This dynamic tension between Trust and Delight will strengthen my ability to Commit more and more of me to Him and His will, further strengthening and enlarging the previous two-way tension into a three-way structure. But just as when you take a triangle and add a further common point into the design you get a pyramid, so here when Trust, Delight and Commit are in balance, so we then are able to add in Rest. With Rest we are able to let go of all our striving, all of our desperation and uncertainty. We will just know that everything is of Him and we are along for the journey with the Lord on His terms. How exciting to truly feel that you are in the palm of His hand and feel His awesome power carrying you through your life with Him. Just think of how you’d make a triangle into a pyramid to get the idea!

I feel there’s still so much more for me to come from these verses, and as Paul says ” … not that I have already attained…” but I think I’m getting closer.

Try meditating on Hebrews 4 for a better grasp of what, where and how is the Rest of God.

Trust. Delight. Commit. Rest.

Fret not. Fret not. Fret not!

Going local

There’s been a really special season of roller coastering going on here.

As a group we’ve met weekly more often than not. We’ve had a varied time of relationship and blessing but things have begun to gel sweetly. There’s something very special about really getting to know one another, seeing how the Lord works in each and every life with which we are engaged. It’s also such a blessing to know that when times are difficult that your friends are not going to let you down, let you get away with things and will keep pointing you to the source of all wisdom – God!

There have been patches when it seems that life beyond the Institution is too hard and it has been tempting to go back and return to passivity. But there is something just too rich and deep going on.

We met with a brother who had commented on an earlier posting and what a blessed time that was. It was most definitely a divine appointment both in terms of encouragement but also in testifying to a complete stranger about what we felt the Lord was doing in our lives and our group. Then we collectively shared and reinforced the understanding that the more we attempt to define and reproduce, the further away from a deeper leading we seem to get. Instead we are confident in the working of the Holy Spirit as we continue to look to the Lord and follow what we believe to be His promptings.

A while ago I felt so excited about what we are doing that I just wanted to get into the old Dave and push out the PR boat, do a bit of rooftop singing and send out invitations to every one and their dog. However, every time I got close to the point of going public, when I got quiet in the study, it seemed that the Lord was telling me “Not yet!”. Never a “No!” but always with the promise of soon. Today as we visited one of our favourite Sunday Fellowships, I read the pewsheet and as I checked out the reading from which the sermon would be drawn, I felt an impression from the Lord that the time is now.

I’ve had my bits and pieces ready to go for ages but at last I can use them and hopefully, if I’ve heard right we’ll see the Lord lead us to engage with others : saved and pre-saved.

We are calling our little group Jasciah Fellowship. It’s an acronym standing for Just Another Simple Church In A House. As I’ve been reading over the months and weeks, I’ve come across lots of material, models of fellowshipping, challenges which have really made me think hugely about how I want to be church from now on. You’ll find a link on the side bar to Jasciah. Maybe in the future there’ll be a blog…but maybe not. Maybe there’ll be an advert in the local press inviting interested parties to an eser, missim or mia group … I don’t know for sure yet – that’s not been revealed to me. I simply know that I am doing what I believe the Lord has called me into.

A big thankyou to those of you who have encouraged me or challenged me in equal parts. It’s all been so worthwhile.

“where the Spirit of the Lord is – there is liberty!” Hallelujah!