Recording of the book of Isaiah

 Although I am no longer actively blogging this is still a useful place to publish links to resources I wish to make public. I have recently made a recording of the book of Isaiah. It is free to use and redistribute under the terms of the NET Bible copyright agreement section 1a

https://audiomack.com/chrisjhh/playlist/isaiah

Teaching notes reposted

It was pointed out that the links to my teaching notes in some of the past posts on this blog are now broken. Apologies. As you may have noticed, I'm not actively blogging any more. However, I do like to keep this site up and running in the hope that some of my old posts may still continue to bless.

So I've uploaded my notes again so they can continue to be of service to whoever may be interested.
Here are the new links:

The Kingdom of God - https://cl.ly/3e0R3m460c2Q
The Book of Ruth - https://cl.ly/1N180d3f0C0n
The Book of Daniel - https://cl.ly/050n2u3T1I3N

If you spot any more, let me know. (I still get emailed when people leave a comment. So I will notice, honest!)

Love and Self-Control

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2Timothy 1:7)

When you can't show love, show self-control!

Nothing new under the sun

And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” 

Exodus 32

It's not modern and it's not scientific. The proposition that the right ingredients and blind chance alone are responsible for any form of life is one of the oldest expressions of idolatry.

Always assume best intentions

Joshua 22 is an important chapter. It shows how easily misunderstandings and divisions can arise between God's people. Especially where communication has broken down.

It is easy to read too much into the actions (or inactions) of our brothers, and to pay more attention to an inferred attitude behind the action than the action itself.

The tragedy of this story is that covenant brothers, comrades in arms, those who once extended the kingdom and fought the Lord's battles side by side now find themselves on opposite sides of the battle lines! The true enemies who remain in the land are given a rest while God's people square off against each other. The accuser of the brethren can take a day off because God's people are doing his job for him!

A greater tragedy still that such things still occur amongst God's new covenant people. As the apostle James says - such things should not be!

Before we ready our swords for battle, before we let the arrows fly we should take the time to ready our ears to listen and our hearts to understand. Invest the time to reopen the lines of communication and learn what the true issues and motivations are.

Most of all let us not forget that our battle is not against flesh and blood. And it is certainly not against our brothers in the Lord. When brothers fight it never pleases or honours the one who is Father of both.

Table of Jubilee

The Lord's table is the New Covenant Jubilee. A regular event when every debt is cancelled. Not just the forgiveness of our debts towards God but a relinquishing of every debt between the covenanted people of God. The same blood that washes away our sin is received like a dialysis that is to flush out all the bad blood that may have accumulated in the corporate body. Jesus taught that it is impossible to receive forgiveness until you let go of unforgiveness. The table is thus an end of bondage and a new beginning of freedom towards God and each other just as Jubilee was.

There is a reason we should talk to a brother who has wronged us before we come to the table. It's not just so we can come in a right manner. It's because afterwards we have no right to mention it again. The same grace that forgives us requires us to forgive them.

Positive correction

I had a dream last night. That in itself is not unusual. In my dream I was running. Those who know me will know that that is not unusual either! However, what is unusual is that I very rarely ever remember my dreams, and when I do they are almost always significant.

In my dream I was running. And I was running well. I was moving at speed; my legs were moving fast. I was taking great strides and I was covering the ground with ease. It felt great! Then I looked down and saw that I was wearing my work shoes!

My work shoes are very familiar shoes. They are well worn and fit my feet great. I have worn them every day, Monday to Friday, for many years and they have served me well. But they are totally inappropriate for running!

My first thought was that if I was moving so well it couldn't be that much of an issue. Perhaps it wasn't so bad that I was wearing the wrong shoes. If I had managed thus far and was making such good progress perhaps I should just carry on as I was. But I know too much about running to accept that lie for long. I knew that if I continued sooner or later it would become an issue.

Then a very positive thought came to my mind. If I'm running this well in the wrong shoes, how much better will I do and feel when I put the right shoes on!

As I was thinking about the significance of this dream this morning, I felt stirred about how we receive and respond to correction in our lives. We can often react to it as a negative thing. A judgement or a criticism. It can be taken in a discouraging way to imply that we are not running our race well.

However, correction comes to us all. None of us have reached perfection yet and so recognising what is not right and making improvements is an important part of our continued growth and progress. Correction doesn't just come to those who are running badly. Sometimes it comes to those who are running well. Not as a criticism or as a discouragement, but as an opportunity to make something that is good even better.

One of the marks of maturity in the Christian walk is how we respond to correction. Do we take it personally and get upset. Do we think it is no big deal and try to carry on as before. Or do we seize it as an opportunity to make us even more effective in the race marked out for us.

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;reprove a wise man, and he will love you.Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. 

(Proverbs 9:8-9)