Daily Meditations from John N N Ng'ang'a: Week of 14th June--Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face
Day 1
1 Cor 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. NIV
'…one thing keeps me living the tension between the occasional inexplicable healing and the too frequent lack of intended healing' _JESUS BRAND SPIRITUALITY BY KEN WILSON_ CHAPTER 4 :_HEALING ALONG THE WAY,page_79.
Wilson wants us to admit with Paul in above verse that our knowledge at best is limited. Who among believers has not gone through the frustration Wilson is describing when you pray expecting God to heal someone whose only hope is in God's intervention only for the healing not to happen and the person either becomes an invalid or actually dies? Yet there are many times when we have prayed and God in his wisdom has heard us and healed.
I think this is what Paul is saying above. We do have knowledge but it is limited and at best it is like seeing through a dark mirror .Any knowledge we have is part knowledge and no wonder we look forward to going to heaven where we expect full knowledge. The trouble comes when we want to behave 'God' and hence can determine what happens next. It frustrates us that God does not bow to our demand that he makes us little 'gods'. Even his son had to admit the cup would only be removed if the father willed.
This is where the love of God becomes crucial. When you know he loved us enough to go to the cross, it helps us to resign to his will whether favorable to us and our loved ones or not. We know his will is best for us since our knowledge of the future is limited.
We need to pray that his will is done in whatever issue we bring to him and even more importantly we need to accept his will as good for us. This will give us peace in whatever we are facing. The fact that he does not answer our every prayer the way we want should not make us pray less. We should continue to bring all our needs to him aware that he hears us and will do what is best for us.
Day 2
Matt 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Our lord seems to have referred to the tyranny of things when he said above statement to his disciples.
Simplicity according to TOZER(SPIRITUAL CLASSICS BY A W TOZER _on _ SIMPLICITY ..page_112) will lead you away from the tyranny of things. But can things terrorize you? I agree with Tozer that they can.
In fact it is the same message when Jesus says that the love of money is the route of all evils. Once you love something you tend to want to do anything to either get it or keep it. Your decisions on any matter will be colored by your desire to ensure you do not loose whatever you love.
The above message then is the cure for a person suffering from this malady. You must deny yourself by stopping to seek to please self. Jesus advises that if you lose your life and seek to start living for God, then you will, actually save your life for you will no longer be slave to things but will feel free to enjoy God's protection and other promises,
Unfortunately when we talk of things we include even people ? How many girls have ruined their lives because of a boy who uses them and then dumps them. A whisper from the holy sprit in the heat of the moment is ignored because you would never want to loose the boy.
Simplicity then is simply moving away from love of things to the love of God and seeking to live only to please Him.
Day 3
1 Cor 13:4-5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.NIV
'If a man tries to find everything in man-woman or friend to friend relationship he destroys the very thing he wants and he destroys the one he loves ……our sufficiency of relationships is in that which God made it to be , in the infinite -personal God, on the basis of the work of Christ in communication and love ' HOW TO LIVE FOR JESUS MOMENT BY MOMENT BY FRANCIS SCHAEFFER _CHAPTER 12 :_ SUBSTANTIAL HEALING N PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS ..pg_112_)
Schaeffer is quite philosophical but on second look, what he says is quite biblical .We all enjoy friendships but if we start depending on our friends to fully meet our emotional needs, chances are we shall be disappointed or we even break them psychologically. That is why many marriages finally end up in divorce as the partners feel they got a raw deal because the spouse is not meeting their expectations. It is also true of parent-children relationships. After a life of sacrifice, parents expect the children to give back now that they are mature only to realize the child is taken up by all their needs and the parents are treated as' second thoughts'.
The solution, like Schaeffer says, lies in finding your needs met in God. It is only him who can fully meet all our needs. This gives us the freedom to meet other people's needs without us seeking them to meet our needs in return. This can only be based on agape love. Love that does not seek reciprocation. However human love always seeks reciprocation and hence we would need to draw from resources only God can give.
Day 4
1 John 1:8-10 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives NIV
'Confession is difficult discipline for us because we all too often view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of sinners.'…CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINES BY RICHARD J. FOSTER _CHAPTER 10 :_DISCIPLINE OF CONFESSION .page_145
Repentance or confession is a subject that we need to be reminded of regularly. I call it keeping short accounts. If you pay your water bill regularly, it seems a very small problem. However when you fail to pay it for 6 months, the day the supplier threatens to stop supplies ,you realize you might need to take a loan to avoid the disconnection. What happened is that you failed to keep a short accounts statements.
Similarly when you respond to the holy spirit and repent as soon as he convicts you, you will leave happy with the lord. But failure to do this leads you to one day live a completely backslidden life.
At times we sin and affect the brethren and failure to confess to them and clear the matter affects the fellowship. Similarly failure of them forgiving us breaks the fellowship. I agree with Foster above that we need to know that we ,as church members, are fellowship of 'forgiven sinners' and so be open to accept our brothers who fail the lord and us.
Day 5
Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NIV
'Simplicity is freedom. Duplicity is bondage. Simplicity brings joy and peace. Duplicity brings anxiety and fear.
' CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINES BY RICHARD J. FOSTER _CHAPTER 10 :_DISCIPLINE OF SIMPLICITY..page_79_)
Foster surprises me by calling this a spiritual discipline but on second thought I realize it is both requires discipline to happen and it certainly is spiritual.
Merriam-Webster says that duplicity is
contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action
the quality or state of being double or twofold
the technically incorrect use of two or more distinct items (as claims, charges, or defenses) in a single legal action[i]
However Answers .com says that simplicity is
Absence of luxury or showiness; plainness
Absence of affectation or pretense
a. Lack of sophistication or subtlety; naiveté
b. Lack of good sense or intelligence; foolishness
a. Clarity of expression.
b. Austerity in embellishment[ii]
I will take the meaning that simplicity includes clarity of expression and that duplicity includes the belying of ones true intentions. In addition to all that Forster says ,I want to say that if you are good at this discipline of simplicity people will find you easy to relate to.
Simplicity will require, as Foster says, that you have your full trust in God so that when you tempted to apply duplicity to create good public relations with others you do not fear what they will think of you.
You are confident that since God loves and accepts you ,rejection by others will not lead to depression..it also leaves you free to help others with the gifts God has given you . Duplicity is cover up so that people do not know the real you. That means you do not like and accept yourself. No wonder you do not want others to know the real you.Foster emphasizes that simplicity is about living simply and not lavishly. This will not be possible if you do not accept your self. You will want to use material wealth to give others a better impression of yourself.
Those who fully trust God find it to live simply.