Over the years you come across sayings that you jot down on a piece of paper, or even worse, forget to note, and later wish you had as you cannot remember or recall them accurately.
When it comes to spiritual sayings and spirituality this is very true.
In many places there has been such a dramatic change in the Church of Jesus Christ that these words take on a new and apposite application. Instead of preaching the good news that sinners can be made righteous in Christ, and escape the wrath to come, the gospel has degenerated into the pretext that we can be happy in Christ and escape the hassles of life. In some places where there is ‘preaching’ that can be the impressions given and it is not only misleading but spiritually highly dangerous.
Keep looking up, with your face down. How relevant a word that can be. No matter how hard your walk in life is, if we keep looking up and looking to the risen and living Lord Jesus Christ, we will discover the help and strength just whenever we need it. Thousands have discovered that to be so true over the centuries.
I recall hearing, or did I read it somewhere, that one day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord.Moody’s reply was “I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do it?” The lady replied, “I don’t do it.” Moody responded “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”
Do we not always find that there are those who are so willing to criticise but so reluctant to speak and witness to Christ and testify as to how they were ‘born again’. Of course, they may never have experienced that essential spiritual necessity of being ‘born again’. Jesus spoke about it three times within a few sentences.
Joy is the by-product of obedience, and yes that is true, but only partially true. There are many thousands of disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, being persecuted for their faith in these present days, and I know not what type of joy they have as they endure such hardship and pain and separation from family and fellowship. How would I react in such a scenario? The thought of how poorly I might respond can cause me to tremble.
My greatest thought is my accountability to God, and again that is true and yet it is not fully and wholly true. Yes, one day I will be accountable to God for every word I have preached, taught and written, but there are moments when I tend to forget that spiritual responsibility and that can cause another wave of trembling. We have to be honest!
Then I recall coming across these words and again they are partially true but not the whole truth. The Christian life is an impossible one and it isn’t for everyone. You must enter through the narrow where you must leave everything behind and be stripped naked of yourself. You must get rid of your pride. Many so-called Christians are on the wide road leading to destruction. They may have all the outward signs of being a Christian as they go to church, serve, read the Bible, pray, but there is no inward change of repentance. Ah but God may be preparing these very people for something great in His glorious kingdom.
We never know what lies ahead of us but it is always best to seize the spiritual opportunity whenever we can. As soon as you see the light of God in Christ, seize it.
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland. He has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, 12 visits to Israel, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya.