Our great reward - Is 48:11

Isa48.11.NIV
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?
I will not yield my glory to another.

Do you still remember the summer Olympics? I was so impressed by the cyclists. Even the most unsporting of us has ridden a bicycle and knows how tough it can be. Its hard, hard work.

If you heard them interviewed about their training, you will remember hearing about their training regime, the time they put in on the training field in all weather, the huge number of miles cycled each day, the incredible muscle building sprint work that leaves them rolling on the ground in agony, their dedication to their sport, and their commitment to being the best.

We rightly admire them for all their effort.

And after the olympics we have see them proudly display their medals, go on TV shows to talk about their success, and we have held them up in our admiration for all their achievements.

However, the reality was that they were not there for themselves. They were there for their team and country. It should not have been for their own medal gain that they compete, but for their country and the glory of their nation.

In Is 48 God has pointed out again the peoples failure. He tells them that He has sought to refine them, to make them into the people they should be. But he reminds them that the reason that He does this is not first of all their good or glory, though we know that He does delight in His people and rejoice over them (Zeph 3). No, the primary reason is because of His name and His glory. "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this".

And that is far, far better for us. For why should we welcome His discipline if only for ourselves, even if we keep our eyes on His desire for our best, to transform us to be all He intended us to be (Rom 12:1-3)? We could be satisfied with 'doing alright'. But its not for us alone, and not merely for our lifespan. Its for His glory and His eternal honour! Its so that, beyond our time-frame, in the reaches of eternity, God might say, as he said of Job, 'Have you considered my servant...', and, amazingly, God is glorified in us.

Isn't that a far better purpose and reward?

Prayer from the heart - Isaiah 33:22

Isaiah 33.2 NIV

"Lord, be gracious to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of distress."

I guess that we've all heard the phrase 'you are what you eat'. Its hardly true, but it sounds right. However, a truer phrase might be 'you are what you pray', or perhaps less catchy but more correct: 'you reveal your heart towards God in what you pray'.

This little prayer reveals so clearly the reality of the love for God and trust of God in the heart of it's writer.  In the middle of huge trouble, of the judgement coming upon Israel that God has promised, there is a right cry for God's mercy and grace.  But it doesn't come from a survival instinct, from worry about my own safety or my own security.  There's a much deeper, better motivation.  There's a greater heart cry beneath it.

The heart cry that is the real motivation is simply this:  "we long for you."  Isn't that the heart cry that God longs for in all of us?  Isn't that the heart cry of the redeemed - those who realise the wonder of God's amazing love for them, who understand that all they are, even their next breath, is a gift from Him, whose heart has been won by God, who love Him with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.  This is the heart cry, like Paul's cry "I want to know you", of one who loves Him!

And, when we're taken up with His love, then we realise His protection - how can He turn His back on those who He has brought at such a great price?;  then we understand His care - are we not the sheep of His pasture?;  then we know that, no matter what our eyes see, we are the constant beneficiaries of His goodness.  And so we pray, just like we see in this verse, for Him - 'You be our strength every morning' ... how could we want any other strength?;  'You be our salvation in time of distress' ... how could we run to any other?

You see - our prayers not only show, but come from the true desire of our heart.  If we love Him with the deep love that we should have in the light of our great salvation, then our prayers will always be for Him!  And then He gives us the delight of our heart!!

Do The Right Thing! - Is 22:11

Isaiah 22:11 NIV

"You built a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the Old Pool,
but you did not look to the One who made it,
or have regard for the One who planned it long ago."

There was so much busyness! All around was frantic effort. It looked good; it looked necessary; it looked appropriate. But they'd got something utterly wrong.

The population in Jerusalem were responding to the destruction that was ongoing around them of Jerusalem. Walls had fallen, and they were even choosing houses to pull down to reinforce the walls. Water storage was being over-run, and they were building new water storage areas.

What they were doing wasn't silly ... it was actually just what they needed to do to survive. They had to prevent the invaders getting in. They had to ensure that the water supply would remain. It was all so necessary.

And yet, it was all so wrong.

You see, it was necessary, but it wasn't the first necessity.  It was only the first and most important thing if they were relying on themselves and not on God.

I'm so like them. Things are difficult and so I rush around trying to fix things. Yes, that's right, that's required, but it's not the most urgent. The most urgent thing I should do is to turn to God. The most urgent is to seek His face, to pour out my anxieties and my situation to Him who knows it all and is sovereign over it all. The most urgent is to find rest in him, not in what I will do. The most urgent is to obey His voice, not rush after my way.

How I need to learn to look to the one who made it all, who planned it long ago!

The greatest motivation - Psalm 31:3

What motivates you?

When you have teenage kids you will know that this is often a real problem ... not merely what is it that motivates them, but why don't they appear to have any motivation at all! How is it possible to lie in front of a TV as long as that? Why is it impossible to have any desire to put away the food/cups/clothes/[anything at all] that they got out only a few minutes before?

Of course, the reality is that there is something that motivates us all, even the most slothful. Teenagers might be motivated by ease, or by selfishness, or by numerous other things, but there is motivation there. As we get older we like to think that we are more sophisticated in our motivations. We are motivated by 'success', ambition, desire for our family, even desire to do good to all. Some of our motivations are laudable, others are merely selfish ambition in clever disguise. But we all have our motivations, whether we acknowledge it or not.

For the believer, under the revolutionary transforming recreating power of His Spirit, what should be our motivations? Paul clearly tells us that we should have the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5), that our minds should be continually being renewed to be able to decide and live in agreement with the will of God (Rom 12:2), that our personalities should be conformed to that of Christ (2 Pet 1:5-9). And so, we could replace selfishness with brotherly kindness and love, we could replace selfish ambition with a longing for godliness, we could replace a selfish desire for the good of our family with the much wider and more gracious love He lays as our target (for God, with all our mind, soul and strength, and others as for ourselves), ... . We could choose so many motivations that would be correct, Biblical, God-honouring.

Yet, David, probably fleeing his son Absalom, pleading with God for rescue and mercy in Psalm 31, has the right motivation. It's there in v3 ... "Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me" [italics mine]. What is the great motivation of the Man or Woman of God? It is "for the sake of your name" - it's all about His honour, His glory, His praise. That is the motivation that over-arches any other motivation we might Biblically choose. That is the motivation that will last through eternity, when all His people will gather to exalt His name - the one who has been given a name high over all, that at the name of Jesus every knee might bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:9-11).

So, what do I do as I set out today? If my life is lived "for the sake of your name", then it changes everything! How I speak; how I work; how I raise the family God has given me; how I walk; the things I chose to do; even how I respond when, like David, I face huge adversity ... all will change if they are "for the sake of your name".

How am I living? What motivates me? ... Is my life 100% "for the sake of your name"?

One man ministry - Ezra 8

Isn't it amazing how, throughout the Bible, one man whose heart is all out for the Lord he loves (and who first loved him) can make such a tremendous difference. We hear a lot in the modern 'motivation speak' world about how one person can make a difference if he or she 'believes'. Of course, if this is belief in him or herself, then this is absolute drivel. However, if it is faith in God (and faith is a gift from God) applied so that we step out for Him in His will even when the situation seems impossible, then He can use that man or woman greatly for His Kingdom.

In Ezra 7 we read an amazing letter. King Artaxerxes had given Ezra a letter promising to allow any Israelite who wanted to return to Jerusalem to go with him, all the silver and gold that he could collect from Babylon to be permitted to go as well, and a supply of gold, silver, grain, oil and wine from every region should it be needed. God had opened His resources to restore the temple, exactly as prophesied. And, God had done it through a pagan King whose interests should have laid elsewhere. But how had this come to pass, humanly speaking? Well, Ezra 8v22 gives us a hint - Ezra had been in personal communication with the King. In fact, it seems from Ezra 7v25 that the communication had been sufficient for the King to get to know Ezra well, and more than that, had been sufficient for Ezra to declare the might, power and dominion of God faithfully to the King (8v22). What an opportunity! We are not sure how this came to pass, but God placed Ezra, as He had done with Daniel and Nehemiah, in a position to speak with the King, and Ezra had been faithful to God in that circumstance. How different things would have been if Ezra had held back, had been afraid, had not spoken faithfully of God.

But that was just the start. We see Ezra's faith in action time and time again. Setting out on the journey, the first thing he does is to stop and assemble the people (8v15) to ensure that the needs were provided. He finds that there are no Levites present, and so in faith he requests others to come, and he testifies in v18 that they came "because the gracious hand of the Lord was on us". He then proclaims a fast (v21) because he wanted to travel with all this wealth without escort so that the name of God who he had faithfully spoken about to the King should not be dishonoured. He believed in God's power, and understood the importance of prayer in this work. He was passionate that the people should walk aright with God. He taught them God's word and made sure they understood it (Neh 8v1-8). He saw the people weeping and rejoicing and knew that God had spoken. It is not surprising, then, that when he heard that there had been compromise (Ezra 9, Neh 13) he tore his clothes, pulled out his own hair and was devastated (9v3-4). He did not scold, he did not rebuke, but he led the people in powerful personal repentance, with weeping, confession and submission to God (9v5, 10v1). The people saw it and joined with him, and there was a heart for God, for His word and for personal purity because of a desire for God's glory.

And how did all this come to pass? Read Ezra 7v10 - "Ezra devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel". It came to pass by the work of God in the heart of one man - a vision for the knowledge of God and His way - that led to the re-establishment of the temple and the worship of God. Here was a man who was prepared to be used by God and, in God's will and perfect timing, he was the man God used to fulfill His purposes. Sadly, there were so few others who were ready or prepared to be used. The King had given free choice to all Israel to return, yet how few chose to go (see 8v1-14) - not one Levite wanted to return, the very people who should have been the first volunteers (8v15). They were all too comfortable in Babylon. They had all compromised too much. They had settled and integrated in the world, they had become content with the riches they had there.

How much we need people like Ezra, Daniel, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah who did not just start by 'weeping by the rivers of Babylon', but placed their hearts and affections on God and were ready and willing to be used by Him. God does do great work through one man or woman, if others are not prepared to stand. So, even when it looks as though 'there are no other prophets in Israel' (1 Kings 19v14), keep going in Him, seek His will and when He calls be ready to say, in the faith that He has given you, 'Here am I, send me'.