We must not hide our faults.

 Jesus demonstrated His humility by being baptised. He was identifying with sinners. When we go under the water in baptism, our sins are symbolically washed away but Jesus had no sins of His own to be washed.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptised by him.
And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptised by You, and are You coming to me?”
But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. Mt 3:13–15 NKJV

When we go under the water in baptism, we are symbolically burying our old life of sin and our sinful nature and rising again with Christ to the new heavenly resurrection life. But Jesus had no old sinful life and no sinful nature to bury. Jesus became one with us in His humble birth, His humble childhood, His humble social status, His humble occupation and His humble baptism.

If I am humble like Jesus, I will identify with people who might be considered beneath me in social standing, education, age, wealth or position in the church. I will not try to elevate myself above the poor, the mentally ill, the ignorant or uneducated people around me. 

If I have more intelligence, education, wealth, rank, power, social standing or any other advantage, I will use that to bless people apparently beneath me, not to make me feel superior or separated from others.

In Hebrews we read that the Old Testament priests had to sacrifice first for their own sins and then for the sins of the congregation. So many preachers subtly behave as if this spiritual truth did not apply to them.  

A preacher who gives the impression of living in superhuman victory above the level of his weaker church members can pay a great price for his subtle deception.

The people can form such a vivid mental picture of their leader as a supernaturally superior person, that all exhortations to pray for their leader do not penetrate their heart. Somehow they do not believe in their heart that this great man of God could really be so weak and vulnerable as to urgently need prayer support.

When a preacher plays at being Moses and then he falls, the people get a great shock but sometimes the gifted preacher brought it on himself. When he tried to persuade people of his great need for prayer support, it contradicted the image he created at the same time of being a virtually infallible man of God to whom everybody owed a debt of constant submission and even in some cases of lifelong allegiance.

The overexposed leader, inadequately supported by prayer, suddenly falls into personal sin or does something else equally mad, damaging to himself and his people. He reaps what he sowed.

Some preachers always talk about their achievements and never about their mistakes. This is a serious mistake.

Knowing God. Taste and See

 I love cappuccino coffee. When I go out, I love to try a different café and taste the coffee. I have found there is good coffee, bad coffee and wonderfully delicious coffee. Sometimes I go to the same café on different days and I find delicious coffee on one day and ordinary coffee on a different day.

I talked about it to a café proprietor I know, and she explained it this way. It depends on who serves you. If a person who does not love coffee serves you, the coffee is not likely to be good. 

What is the message here? If you want to bring people to God, you must learn to love the taste of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be a good cook if you don’t enjoy your own food.

Christian service can become an end in itself. You can work hard at being a good Christian but in fact you are trying to conform to human ideas of being a good Christian. 

So often we can copy church leaders or copy one another, or be ruled by rigid ideas of Christian duty and morality.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught something quite different. He called his disciples to follow him personally, to be with him, to know him, to enjoy his company.

I find that I can also fall into this trap. I get consumed with doing good things for God, but I spend less time enjoying His company. I get spiritually and emotionally dry.

Jesus said:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Jn 10:27–28 NKJV

I can read my bible and feel the touch of God in my heart or I can just read the Bible. I can pray and tell God what I think or need, or I can tell God what I think he wants to hear, or I can ask God what He wants to tell me and expect Him to answer.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Ps 34:6–8 NKJV

Taste and see ….

Dealing with Anger

 When I was 12. A very tall strong Englishman walked into the classroom. He spoke to us in a booming resonant voice like a thunderclap. Many of our teachers had nicknames and we called him Thunderguts. He was not a nasty man. He did not exploit his immense size or his powerful voice unfairly or aggressively.

He taught me for two years. When I was 12, he taught me for only one lesson a week. I felt uncomfortable with him but it was not so bad. The next year, when I was 13, he was my teacher for Geography. The course and the textbook were deadly boring and I hated the subject.

My discomfort with the English giant with the thunderous voice developed into a passionate hatred. He was not unpopular but I detested him. In my eyes he became an English ogre who salivated over the blood of Australian boys, especially a rather small boy like me. 

There was no evidence to support my intuitive judgement of his character. My best friend really liked him.

I was a good student but that year I failed Geography with a mark of 33%. I did it on purpose. It was deliberate rebellion. I refused to make an effort. I was proud of myself at the time.

What was the reason for my reaction? My father was a wonderful friend to me but he also had an anger problem. When he was angry, he sometimes shouted with rage, although he was never violent.

Do you ever dislike people for little reasons, because of something in their personality that makes you feel uncomfortable?

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety. Pr 29:25 NLT

For human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. James 1:20  NET

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. James 1:19 NET

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Col 3:8  NKJ

WHY DO PEOPLE GET ANGRY?
When people in your family or school get angry, what kinds of things do they say?
Do you know anyone who gets angry a lot?

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH ANGER?
What do you get angry about? Who do you get angry with?
What kinds of things do you do and say when you are angry?
How long do you stay angry?
Is there any connection with anger and fear?
What can you do about anger?

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH FEAR?
What are you scared of? Who are you scared of?
How often do you feel scared?
Can you remember being seriously terrified?
What can you do about fear?

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH RESENTMENT?
Resentment is often a feeling of helpless frustration, indignation and anger. Someone has hurt you and you feel you are a helpless victim. Maybe you feel vulnerable and afraid that you will continue to be a victim. You feel weak and defenceless.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH BITTERNESS?
Bitterness is long term anger. If you resent something or someone for a long time, you feel bitter.

Expect Sudden Turnarounds from God

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Mt 8:1–3 NIV

God can change a man or a woman in an instant. God can change a person’s life in 24 hours. The day that David killed Goliath, he changed from being a shepherd boy to being a national military hero, in one day. More than that, in one day the nation of Israel changed from being terrified victims to being conquerors as God intended, all because one boy became a man in one day.

When the day of Pentecost finally arrived, there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind. 120 disciples of Jesus were baptised in the Holy Spirit. They all spoke languages they had never learned; Peter preached an inspired sermon and 3000 people were born again. The Church was born in a day.

One day a Pharisee named Saul was on his way to Damascus. The purpose of his journey was to arrest and imprison Christians in that city. On the way, Jesus appeared to Saul and the Apostle Paul was born.

On two days towards the end of 1915, a great but defeated army evacuated the coast of Turkey. Not one life was lost. In 2 nights, an unknown Australian colonel became a military hero whose brilliant thinking rewrote the British military textbooks and whose battle plans in 1918 shortened that terrible war by months.

When Jesus returns to Jerusalem to end the Battle of Armageddon, the surviving Jews will see their Messiah and believe, and a nation will be born again in a day.

Prepare for good things and great blessings. Expect sudden turnarounds.

God in Tough Places

If you have had an experience of deep darkness, terror or despair, you may have experienced the miraculous intervention of God. His presence has come into your experience.

It was like you were a child terrified of the dark and then your mother came into the room and turned on the light. Your mother spoke words of comfort and reassurance, and suddenly the darkness was like a distant memory. Let us recall to our minds the times when God turned on the light.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Gen 1:3-4 (ESV)  

He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Ps 107:20 (ESV)  

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,  
"Lord, my servant is lying paralysed at home, suffering terribly."  

And he said to him, "I will come and heal him."  
But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. Mt 8:5-8 (ESV)  

A pastor’s wife was desperately ill. No prayer for healing made any difference. The pastor read aloud the 91st psalm every hour until she was completely healed.
 
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High  Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
   My God, in Him I will trust." Ps 91:1-2 (NKJV)

Corrie ten Boom spent terrible years in a Nazi concentration camp in WW2. She was released before the end of the war due to a clerical error. This apparently ordinary middle-aged single Dutch woman became one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century.

Her message to the world was simple but profound. There is no dark hole so deep, but that God is deeper still. She wrote a famous book about how God brought her through her terrible experiences. The title of the English edition is “The Hiding Place”.

You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble;
   You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Ps 32:7 (NKJV)  

To the Chief Musician. Set to 'Do Not Destroy.' A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!  For my soul trusts in You;    
   And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,            
   Until these calamities have passed by.
 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.
He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.

  God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. Ps 57:1-3 (NKJV)  

When my first marriage broke up, I was a part-time single father. I was deeply distressed and intensely concerned for my baby daughter, who was 18 months old when her parents separated. I received powerful reassurance from this Bible text.        
 
He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
Isa 40:11 (NKJV)

Staying Positive in Troubled Times

 As a little boy I loved listening to my father’s classical music recordings. One of my favourite recordings was of a German Jewish men’s choir who sang lovely German folk songs even during the Nazi period.

One of the all-time favourite movies is “The Sound of Music”. It tells of the Austrian von Trapp family, who were strongly anti-Nazi. They had to escape over the mountains to Switzerland to avoid persecution. What is striking in this movie is their love of God and positive human values. They were more for God and people than against the Nazis. It was their faith and love that drove them, rather than hatred of the Nazis.

They were determined to stay positive.

Baron von Trapp sang about his love of beautiful flowers and his love for his homeland.
Maria von Trapp sang about her favourite things. When she was upset, she would think about her favourite things.

When I read the news, I am shocked by what national leaders are doing. I have been crying out for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. I have seen God work miracles to protect Ukrainians. It is amazing that the Russians have not been able to conquer these people. God must be with Ukraine.
But hating Putin will solve nothing. He is what he is.

Valentin Silvestrov is a Ukrainian musician who fled to Berlin in 2022. In Berlin, he composed music, but not angry nationalistic music. He set the Lord’s Prayer to music. 

In very troubled times, it is so easy to become obsessed with fear and anger, but God is still God.

We can pray:
“Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven.”

The Apostle Paul’s life was full of persecution and suffering. He was a brutal persecutor of the Christians and then as a Christian he suffered equally brutal persecution himself.
He wrote:

We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Cor 4:8–9 NIV

And in another letter he wrote:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Php 4:6–8 NIV

Positive thinking was not invented by American writers of self-help books. It comes from the Bible, because God is positive and he loves you.

Humility and Mutual Respect

 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Php 2:3 NKJV

How can we apply this in practice?

• Should Billy Graham have considered other preachers better than himself?

• Should every husband consider his wife better than himself?

• Should every father consider his children better than himself?

• Should every pastor consider the church members better than himself?

This would seem very strange, counterintuitive. So how can I apply this in practice?

If I am a world champion athlete, should I consider every opponent or rival better than myself? Of course not, but if I am the best in the world, I must not admire myself, but rather admire other champions, champions of the past, champions in other sports or events. I should look for things to admire in my rivals, integrity, courage, fair play.

If I am greatly blessed and admired as a preacher, I must not claim the credit, but thank God for the people who pray for my ministry. I must not admire myself but honour other anointed preachers and also faith heroes of the past. I can preach about the heroism of persecuted Christians and esteem them better than myself.

If I am a father, I can look at my children as potentially better than myself and hope and pray that they might be better than myself as they grow up.

If I am a husband, I should be keenly aware of the talents, gifts and virtues of my wife in ways that are better than my own. If I am superior to her in some ways, she will certainly be superior to me in other ways.

What ever your virtues, achievements, gifts and talents might be, you will find talents and achievements to admire in others. God gives different gifts to different people.

Just as stronger Christians or leaders must not consider themselves superior, so also should less prominent people consider themselves inferior.

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
 
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 1 Co 12:14–17 NIV

It is important to look for things to admire in others, but it is also important to thank God for the unique gifts He has given you.