Lay Your Head Down and Go to Sleep

Acts 12:6 - And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

    In this account we find that Herod had already killed James and had now imprisoned Peter with the intention of doing the same to him. Peter was shackled with chains and kept under close watch by several armed guards. Herod’s plan was to bring him out and brutally murder him the next morning. What would we expect that Peter’s last night, before his execution, would look like? Would he be writing letters to his loved ones or would he be praying and preparing to meet the Lord face to face? Would he be frantic and worried about all those whom he was about to leave behind? No! We find him sleeping. Was he sleeping because he was so despondent that he had lost all will to survive? Was he sleeping because he was so fatigued from all of his labours for the Lord? I don’t think so.

   We have the record of another night, several years earlier, when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane. That night Jesus had asked Peter to watch and pray with him, but instead Peter was found sleeping. Jesus was not pleased with the fact that Peter could not stay awake and pray for at least one hour. That night in the garden Peter surrendered to the sleep of apathy, the sleep of hopelessness, and the sleep of fear, but the night of his imprisonment Peter slept for a different reason. Peter may have been rebuked for one type of sleep but he is to be commended for this other type, because in this case he was sleeping the sleep of faith. A man that is in an austere prison, bound between two soldiers and awaiting his execution, usually, would be wide awake. But Peter was sleeping so soundly that the angel had to jostle him out of his grogginess.

    Why was it that Peter could have such peace at this time? One reason could be something that Jesus had said to Peter just before his ascension, gave him a rock-solid conviction of his future. Jesus had told Peter that when he was old, someone would take him where he did not want to go. ‘When he was old’. Peter was told by the Lord that he would indeed be murdered for his faith but it was to happen when he was old. I can imagine Peter that night in the prison saying to himself, ‘I am not old yet, so I cannot die yet. The Lord has a plan to deliver me from this situation. Therefore I am going to sleep’. Someone has once said that until you have fulfilled the will of God on earth, you are invincible.

   This account of Peter reminds me of another story recorded during World War II. London was under a period of intense bombing and almost every night the sirens went off and people would run to the shelters for safety. One of those that ran to the shelter each night was an older lady, who lived on her own. One night it was noticed that she was missing and it was assumed that she had been caught in the explosions and was injured or worse. Shortly after she was seen on the street during the day and was asked if everything was alright and that people were concerned about her. She responded by saying that she had been reading in the book of Psalms and came across a verse that stated, ‘He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps’ so she had decided if God was continually awake, then there was no point in both of them losing sleep, so she just went to bed each night and slept soundly through the incessant air raids. Maybe Peter thought the same. Maybe we should think the same. There are different times and seasons and situations in life and not all require the same response. Sometimes we may need to be aggressive in prayer but at other times the greatest act of faith may be to simply go to sleep, resting soundly and trusting fully that we are being kept safe by the power of God through faith. God has got you covered, and under the covers is when we sleep best.

Your Answer Lies in Relationship to Others

Acts 10:5, 6 - And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodges with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell you what you ought to do.

    Imagine standing in the very presence of an angel of God, hearing him speak and seeing him a just a few feet away from you. This is what Cornelius experienced. It was, apparently, during a time of prayer that the angel appeared to him. An angel came directly to him; an actual messenger from God was dispatched from heaven to speak to Cornelius. What amazing truth would he reveal? What powerful insights and divine privileges would he share? What celestial mysteries would Cornelius be invited into?

     The angel informs Cornelius that his prayer has been heard. How this must have caused his heart to swell with anticipation and expectation of good. ‘My prayer has been heard. God Almighty has heard my prayer. I have had a hearing in the presence of the Highest’. Cornelius is described to us as a man who prayed to God always. Today we would describe the same type of man as a man of prayer. Prayer is relationship with God not just asking him for things. Prayer includes worship and adoration, and also specific requests and petitions. No doubt Cornelius included both in his lifestyle of prayer.

    ‘Your prayer has been heard’. There is a strong implication that God does not necessarily hear every prayer. However, if God has heard our prayer then he has also provided an answer to it. If we know that he hears us then we know that we have been granted the petition that we have asked of him. I believe that the deepest desire and prayer of Cornelius’ heart was that he would know God fully and also, that he would be able to lead his family into a more intimate relationship with God. He was a man that feared and reverenced God above the average person. So, when the angel said that his prayer had been heard, he would have expected that the next words out of the angel’s mouth would be his answer.

    ‘Call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter’. These instructions from the angel might seem to some people to be a bit of a letdown. An angel with a message from God himself tells Cornelius that he must meet someone and that person will tell you what you need to hear. Why didn’t the angel simply tell him directly? Surely the angel knew what Cornelius needed, however, God has designed his plan to include people. He loves to work through us as we yield and obey his instructions. It is the will of God for us to have God-ordained relationships and connections with others. Cornelius must meet Peter. Peter must also meet Cornelius. God is at work in both of these men’s lives simultaneously, and he uses this powerful meeting to reveal another important aspect of his divine strategy. Not only does Cornelius and his family come into a more complete salvation, but Peter also is undeniably shown that God desires all men of every nation to come into personal relationship and salvation.

    Do not be surprised that when your prayer has been heard that the answer will come by meeting the right people. We cannot fulfill the will of God without others in our life. If we could fulfill the will and plan of God by ourselves, how come we haven’t? This is one of the reasons that I believe so strongly in the power of the local church and being connected to people who know us. I pray that we would have the humility to receive the answer from God through whomever he chooses to use. Get ready for your answer but, just remember, that it may come in the form of an ordinary man named Peter.

Do You Have a Security System?

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed - Luke 1:1-4


   Luke uses very strong language as he begins to describe the reasons for writing this document. He uses compelling terms like; most surely believed, eyewitnesses, and the certainty. Many have taken it upon themselves to write down what they had heard or experienced and that is good, but I also, Luke says, decided that I would set these things down in order and make an actual, accurate and documented account of the Life of Christ. I have had a very close relationship with those who were eyewitnesses of the Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Son of God. 
   Most surely believed – not just believed, not simply agreed with, or accepted but, most surely believed. The things that I am writing about, Luke says, are so sure and so certain that they can be fully and completely relied upon. Since the early days of Christianity many individuals have based their lives and their futures on the truth of Jesus and what He came to do. Numerous people have done this long before we came on the scene. Christianity, for us, has been time-tested but for Luke and others it was all still relatively new. However, they did not doubt but they, to use Luke’s term, most surely believed. These early believers and leaders were the pioneers and foundation-laying preachers of this new faith in Jesus as the Christ. That first generation of Christians had an amazing impact on their world through the preaching of the Gospel.  A great many of them literally gave their lives to ensure that we today would have a written record of the life and teaching of Jesus. 
   Eyewitness – a witness is one thing, but an eyewitness is another. A witness may bring forth some evidence, possibly circumstantial, but an eyewitness brings evidence which is very hard to refute. A witness might have heard a sound or felt something, or came upon the scene shortly after the incident, but an eyewitness is someone who saw and heard and was right there when the event took place. God, in his wisdom, knew that we would need irrefutable evidence of the life, death and resurrection of Christ, so he made sure that there were plenty of eyewitnesses. He did and said everything out in the open so that it could be documented. When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, the world simply scoffs at the concept, but those who were eyewitnesses absolutely dedicated their lives to the proclamation of it. The resurrection was the central theme of their preaching as recorded in the Book of Acts. After the reports of Jesus’ resurrection began to be heard, a lie was intentionally circulated insinuating that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus from the grave and hid it. The most amazing thing about that is, if it were true, then those who were accused of stealing the body of Jesus actually gave up their lives in service to God, and they were tortured and most of them died horrible deaths all for an apparent hoax. No! These men were eyewitnesses. They saw His death, and then they saw Him alive and also ate with Him and spoke with Him after His resurrection.
   The certainty of those things – not the hope so, wish so, maybe so, wouldn’t it be great if it were true; No! The certainty; the absolute, unshakeable truth upon which you can base your entire life and eternity. You can most surely believe these things. There are those who would try to tell us that you cannot be certain about anything, that there are no absolutes. This is a philosophy known as relativism; the belief that truth is relative and subjective to each person’s situation and viewpoint. There is some interesting irony regarding this philosophy because it teaches that there are no absolutes therefore you cannot be certain about anything. However, those who espouse this ideology are, apparently, certain about the fact that there are no certainties. As believers, we know that there most definitely are absolutes and there is an undeniable certainty in the Word of God. Certainty means security, because if the truth of Jesus is certain then it is also secure. Security is available but, only in Christ. The world is constantly searching for security; financial security, relational security, occupational security, physical security, but security in this life is elusive and maybe even impossible and unattainable. Someone has said that there is no real security in this life, there is only opportunity. I believe that to be true. Outside of Christ there is no security. We only have security in Him, by continuing to trust in His faithfulness and His power and His love. Christianity is not a philosophy or even a set of beliefs, it is the truth! The truth is not debatable, it is only to be believed and surrendered to. We can study, learn and analyze the Bible but in the end it must be believed. The Bible is a closed book to the unbeliever. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him, and neither can he know them because they are spiritually understood. The Bible opens up to the man who opens up his heart to truth; it bends to the man who bends his knee to God. The Bible is not a closely organized, humanly contrived man-written document; it is a God-given revelation. It is an unveiling of God by God. It is God’s disclosure of Himself and His ways to mankind. The purpose of Luke’s writing was that Theophilus, and others who would subsequently read, might know the certainty of those things in which he had been instructed. God wants us to be certain. We can have a sense of certainty in the truth of the Bible. The Bible is no myth, it is absolutely reliable. When we think of faith we usually do not think in terms of certainty, but God wants us to be certain of what we believe. The only way for us to be certain is to have a solid foundation of truth from the Word of God. Certainty is produced by God in the heart of man through revelation and understanding of the Scriptures; this and this alone produces certainty. The Word of God is so powerful and as we continue to read, study and practice the teachings of the Bible, we grow increasingly more certain, and our carefully nurtured faith does not diminish over time but actually gets stronger.

Reach For the Sky!

1Timothy 2:8 - I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

    Paul specifically exhorts the men to pray. A close look at the average prayer meeting tells us that a lot of the women are already praying. It does seem that it is more natural for women to pray but for men, we want to fix things, or simply work harder, or get a job done with our hands. This verse tells us that men should pray and lift up holy hands. We are told to take those hands, which represent our ability and strength, and lift them up in prayer. To lift them up is the opposite of putting them to work. Lift them up in surrender, yielding them to the Lord. Don’t use your hands, let God use his hand to accomplish. 

    I think, when facing difficulties, our tendency as men, is to simply work harder but, when things do not go well, we fall into either wrath or doubting. Prayer is the antidote to both those tendencies. If we pray then we can trust that God’s hand is working; we don’t have to yield to doubt. If we pray then we can let go of all the ill-will or unforgiveness and anger; we can allow God’s love to fill our hearts. Anger might also be our tendency when it comes to certain things not working out the way we thought they would. Maybe we are not where we want to be financially, or in our marriage, or with our job or children. The tendency then might be to become frustrated or angry. We might blame others, ourselves, or even God. We may also give in and begin to doubt the word of God. Are the promises of God really true? Why hasn’t this or that happened? Maybe at that point we might begin to doubt ourselves. Do we have what it takes? Maybe God can’t use me anymore, maybe my wife or children do not need me anymore. No! All these are lies. Prayer brings us into a place of truth, it brings clarity to our thinking and enables us to have God’s perspective.

    It is also interesting to note that we are told that men should pray everywhere; all men in every locality are to pray. All of us, regardless of our circumstances and status or our geographical location, are to pray. Prayer levels the playing field. No one has more access to the Father than anyone else. We are equal in the place of prayer. Prayer is the answer for all men in all locations. Many times it feels like we are stuck; stuck in a certain situation or in a certain location but as someone has once said, ‘you can get anywhere in the world from where you are right now’. The real truth is we do not need to get anywhere but simply to look up and to lift up our hands in prayer. 

    I encourage all men everywhere to first of all, before you go out in the morning to use your hands to produce an income and provide for your family, to lift up those holy and sacred hands to your Heavenly Father, the ultimate provider. Let’s expect the answers and the solutions that we need right now as we raise our hands and our hearts to the One who is absolutely faithful. Amen!

We Spend Time, But Can We Buy It?

Ephesians 5:16 - Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

    Have you noticed how driven we are by time? Our alarms go off at a certain time in the morning. We get dressed and ready so we can make it to work on time. We spend the day keeping appointments which are set for particular times. Most of our life revolves around a time schedule. 
    We plan our exercise program so we can be fit after we invest some time at it. We save our money so it can build over time. We raise our children knowing that the time will come when they are on their own. Time, time, time; it is the one thing that all of humanity shares. We all have twenty four hours in a day. All people, young and old, rich and poor, regardless of their culture, status, or beliefs have this one thing in common; we only have so much time. Someone once said that time is really the only resource we have and we exchange that time for everything else. The word itself is commonly used in an economic fashion; we spend time.

   Paul says that we are to redeem the time. Redeem is an interesting and picturesque word because it means to buy up, or rescue from loss. Like a merchant who eagerly buys up a scarce commodity, we are to buy up the opportunities presented to us. 
    There are also two ways to look at the concept of time. There is chronological time, the kind that marches on and waits for no man, and there are strategic seasons and points of opportunity which quite often come unexpectedly. The Greeks called these opportunities ‘kairos’ moments and this is the word that Paul uses in this verse. Most of these moments arise unpredictably and they are usually are brief and fleeting. They come and they go like the water that passes under the bridge, it really never comes around again. These times may include such things as the birth of a child, a morning sunrise, a tender kiss, or kind words from a stranger. However, kairos moments also come at times of crisis. I remember a friend of mine telling me that in a certain oriental language their one word for crisis meant both danger and opportunity. When the crisis of life comes, it is a time of danger but it is also an opportunity for positive and powerful change. We are exhorted by Paul to redeem the opportunity, to not let it pass us by but to make the most of it. There are times in our life when the Lord is speaking to us and we are fully aware that it is him speaking. That is the time, that is the kairos moment which is the opportunity that is presenting itself. Stop and purchase that opportunity, stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Isaiah said to ‘seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near’. In other words, redeem the time, buy the opportunity.

   When Paul uses the phrase ‘because the days are evil’, I believe that he means that because of the fall of man, life does not automatically promote good things, therefore the time needs to be redeemed. Just as your garden will not automatically produce good and healthy vegetables without your active cooperation, so our lives need our awareness to make the most of every opportunity. 
   Thank God that we can, by his grace, redeem the time!

That Was Then, This is Now!

Galations 1:23 - But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preaches the faith which once he destroyed

    Paul was an ardent persecutor of the church before he met Christ. He was driven by his religious belief that Christianity was a cult. It was, in his mind, a deception and an affront to faith in Jehovah God. He persecuted anyone that had anything to do with the church. He chased them, hunting them down and dragging them away to prison. When Stephen, the first martyr, was murdered, he stood by in approval. He was convinced that his zeal to destroy the church was of God. He believed that he was doing the will of God by eradicating Christian believers. There is no blindness like religious blindness, and there is no hatred like religious hatred. Paul, known only as Saul then, was definitely not considered by the majority to be a potential believer in Christ. From the outside no one could see that God had his hand on Saul and just as he persecuted and hunted the church, Jesus was ceaselessly tracking Saul. A man by the name of Francis Thompson once wrote a poem entitled, ‘The Hound of Heaven’ which is a reference to God relentlessly on the hunt, pursuing people to win them and rescue them.

   Those early believers were well aware of Saul. His reputation always preceded him. Once Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, they began to hear that Saul had dramatically changed. They began to hear that the persecutor of the church was now the protector of the church. He was the bully and the oppressor in times past, but now he is the proclaimer of the faith. He has become the defender of the faith. He is now the church’s greatest asset and ally. In times past he was a certain way. That was then, this is now. Everyone has a past of some kind. God is the great intervener of our history. He enters our life and makes the past to become, in reality, the past. That was then, this is now. If Jesus had not revealed himself to us, our past would still be following us into our future; He makes the difference in our story. Before we knew the Lord, we were like Saul; blind, driven and lost, but there has been a divine intervention. Everything has changed because of the grace of God. That was then, this is now!

Are we Simply Passing the Tests, or Are we Learning?

Ephesians 4:20 - But you have not so learned Christ

    Much is said in Paul’s writings about revelation and how he experienced a dramatic and personal unveiling of Jesus. The Lord revealed himself to Paul. Later Paul was caught up into the third Heaven and was given abundant revelation; insight and understanding that was imparted to him instantaneously. Revelation is instantaneous but learning is a process. Paul had both revelation and a process of learning in his life. The Ephesians also apparently, learned Christ. They were taught and they acquired knowledge over a period of time. Learning is all important to life. Children must not just be taught, they must learn. We do not want to pass a child into the next grade because they were simply in the same classroom as everyone else and heard all the same teaching. No! Did the child learn? Sadly, our culture has given us the wrong impression. We have been taught to pass tests instead of learn. We emphasize the passing of the test, so we cram for the exam and because it is fresh on our minds, we can remember the necessary answers and obtain a passing grade. The answers were in our mind but not in our life. If we actually learn what we need to learn, the passing of the test will be a consequence not a goal. Learning and developing in character and skill should be the goal. Passing the test and getting the good grade will be the result. 

    Let’s apply that to our walk with God. We are not to simply pass tests or even acquire information. We might be able to quote multiple verses of Scripture but that is no guarantee that we have learned. Learning is the discipleship word. We are not just a pupil but an apprentice. If we think like that we will get a better picture of what God wants for us. He wants us to not simply have book knowledge or head knowledge but he wants us to be trained as apprentices so we can acquire the necessary skills to succeed. We must learn Christ. We must learn him, which means that we learn a person. When you associate closely with a person you eventually take on the characteristics, attitude and habits of that person. Jesus had said to his disciples earlier, ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn of me’.

    Just as it is necessary to learn Christ it is also important how you learn. Paul said that they ‘had not so learned’ Christ. They had not learned Christ in the manner in which some others had learned. We must be true to the way that the Lord has led us and the way that he has taught us. In what manner have you learned Christ? Obviously, we are open to more learning and to different ways of learning but it is important that we honour our roots. Honour those who have shown you the way of the Lord. Honour the history of your walk with God by continuing to learn from it. God knows us. He knows exactly how to speak to us and how to deal with us so that we may learn and thereby be changed and experience greater levels of freedom. Every parent and school teacher knows that each child is different and has a unique way of learning. Our walk with Christ is a lifelong process of learning. As we grow and mature, he teaches us a little more and shows us another aspect of his character and grace. There are tests in life and there are things that we face that are very difficult, for sure. However, let’s be sure to not simply go through the experience but let’s be sure to learn Christ in the middle of it all, take on his attitude and characteristics and be changed into the same image by his power and by his grace.