Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

What can one say for a Christmas blog, except: "God is so generous, may we all treat each other likewise." If he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not, along with him, graciously give us all things...

We have all we need from him, let us take his example, and be generous, even with those things precious to us, as the master, so the servant.

May God bless your Christmas, and give you his peace,

doug.

There is no half measure

There is something terrifyingly absolute about the Christian life. On the one hand Christ is profoundly gentle, merciful, bearing with our weakness, forgiving iniquity and sin… but on the other hand, those within the bounds of his grace are but few and strangely single minded about who they are.

I think of the rich young ruler of Matthew 19. He did so many things that were pleasing to God, yet still he was not one of Christ’s own.

I think of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. Every church bar one has its weaknesses and is rebuked for them, but only two of the seven are threatened with being abandoned by God. And they’re not the ones full of struggling recommitting sinners, and they’re not the ones with doctrinal flaws, they’re the ones whose love has grown cold, who have sought some mid-ground between the world and their Lord.

As John says: do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity towards God?

Christ does not ask much of us… yet he asks all of us. He does not ask us to be perfect, or to be able to change the world single-handedly, but he does ask for our whole heart, our whole love. How comprehensive is Paul’s assessment of the Christian life in 1Corinthians 6: You are not your own, you were bought at a price…

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die…”

Not what we can give, but ourselves, is Christ’s call upon our lives. Are we willing to give that most precious of treasures?

dh

Trying to live without Jesus

Trying to live without Jesus: That's the sort of thing you'd expect your average street level member of society to do, but I think it's actually pretty common amongst Christians as well. Now I'm not sure whether they do it because they're trying to look good before their peers, or whether they do it because they think it's 'not encouraging' to talk about their sins and failures, but the number of Christians I know who spend their time pretending they've got their lives together, when they patently haven't, means I have to stop and reflect on this.

Why is it that Christians seem afraid to admit that they're sinners, or that they're struggling with things, or that they don't love as they should, or care as they should? Because the underlying implication of such a stance is that you tell yourself and the world that you need Jesus less than you really do. And if you actually manage to convince yourself that you are humble and gentle and genuine and true, when I strongly suspect you're not, then you're convincing yourself that you don't much need Jesus, and could probably do without him, or if you do need him he's only for the rough edges, basically your heart is one of gold...

How can anyone ever have a heart consumed by worship, adoration, gratitude towards their Lord Jesus when they've convinced themselves that they don't really need him? How can churches be filled with unconditional adoration of Jesus when they're consumed by the studious avoiding of any obvious implication that they need the salvation he offers?

It seems to me that until truth reigns among God's people, worship will be a scarce and fragile thing. Until we grasp just how much we need Jesus, and cease to fear the censure of others so as to live for Christ's glory alone, we will never be true to ourselves, true to each other, or true to God.

This is my plea to Christians: be honest about your brokenness. Jesus came as the Gentle Messiah to bind up the broken hearted and gather those who wander in darkness. If that's you, be honest about it, it's his opinion that matters anyway.

doug.