Yellow and Blue

For some years I have used a Bible app on my iPad for most of my reading and studying. I particularly like the way that you can easily highlight particular verses or chapters with different colours. A little while ago whilst reading the Psalms I decided to highlight in yellow all the verses that were an encouragement to me. A little while later whilst reflecting on this activity I realised that I was reading this book in a very limited, lopsided way. I decided to read through all 150 Psalms again but to highlight all the difficult passages in blue.

The outcome of these two different ways of reading the Scriptures gave rise to my yellow and blue verses. Psalms in my Bible app is now highlighted with verses in yellow that bless, stir and stimulate a love for God and a desire to follow him. But the app is also full of blue verses that provoke, challenge, confuse and to be honest sometimes leave me bewildered

A good example of this Psalm 139. David's heartfelt prayer displays his deep devotion to God and reveals his inner life. Many of the phrases in the Psalm are beautifully poignant and have encouraged countless follows of God down the centuries:

• You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. v1
• Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? v7
• For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. v13
• I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made v14
• How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! v17
• Search me, God, and know my heart v23

However, a few verses from the end the yellow Psalm suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, turns blue. 

If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

They speak of you with evil intent;

your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,

and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

v19-22

But it is in Psalm 145 that I find the yellow / blue issue most challenging. Verse 9 says, 'The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.' A yellow verse. Then later in the Psalm there is a blue verse, verse 20 'The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.' This raises many questions 

• If God is good to all, how can he destroy the wicked? 
• Does it mean that God is not good to all? 
• Does it mean that God destroying the wicked is an act of goodness and love? 
• Does it simply show how David felt about the wicked rather than showing how God felt?
• Is this verse another example of what Christian leader Steve Chalk says is a record of a conversation between the human and divine rather than the authorative word of God?

To slightly mis-quote 2 Timothy 3:16; All Scripture, both yellow and blue, is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work

I don't have easy answers for all the challenges in the Bible, but I believe that all of Scripture is breathed out or by the Almighty, inspired by God for the equipping of his servants

Whether a passage is yellow, or blue does not change this truth

The Old Testament, 'What a load of rubbish'

Recently I spoke to a member of a local church, I found what he said quite shocking in some ways. He believed that the church 'needed to make some changes' which I couldn't disagree with, but he then got down to specifics. 'We need to change our services' he said, 'the readings from the Old Testament, what a load of rubbish!' 

Others may not speak in such stark terms but deep down may feel the same. Several well-known Christian leaders have sparked controversy in recent years by suggesting that the Old Testament is not really God's revelation to us but a record of people in conversation with God. That it is not 'true' but shows mankind's interaction with the Devine, therefore there may be errors or misunderstanding in the Scriptures 

I have been seeking to look at my own view of the Old Testament and trying to define what I think of some of the challenging details that are found from Genesis and Malachi. My default position for years has been to believe that all of the Bible is God's word, that it is reliable, trustworthy, true and reveals the Gospel from first page to last. There is much I don't understand, that challenges my mind and heart, that raise more questions than it answers. But I always come back to asking the question, 'How did Jesus view the Old Testament?'

As a disciple of Jesus, a learner, a follower, an apprentice; I want to have the same attitude to the Old Testament that he did

When Jesus was born, he fulfilled the Old Testament 

As Jesus was growing up, he would have learned the Old Testament 

When Jesus went into the synagogue p, he read the Old Testament 

When Jesus was baptised, he heard God his father referenced the Old Testament 

When Jesus approached Jerusalem, the crowds shouted the Old Testament 

When he was on the cross, he quoted the Old Testament 

After Jesus rose from the dead, he explained the Old Testament 

This approach does not seem to answer all my questions, but it does root me in a person I can trust. It does seem to be a place of security from which I can search for deeper understanding 

The Old Testament is full of the revelation of Christ, as these two verses indicate. I think therefore that I will stick to this approach 

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life

John 5:39

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself

Luke 24:27

The Old Testament, a load of rubbish? That is not what Jesus thought

Lighting

In Numbers chapter seven 'when Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings. He also anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils. Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings.' For the next twelve days a different tribe brought offerings that were to dedicate the alter; silver plates, finest flour mixed with olive oil, gold dishes filled with incense, young bulls, rams, goats, male lambs and oxen

Then came the climax of the proceedings as Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, days of sacrifice had been leading up to this moment. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was about to speak to his servant Moses. What would he say? What would be Gods instruction? What would be the culmination of this incredibly important event? What would be the first words from the divine mouth?

God said to Moses, 'speak to Aaron and say to him, when you set up the lamps, see that all seven light up the area in front of the lampstand.’ (Numbers 8:1) Can that be right, God's first words were to ensure that the lighting was right, that the tabernacle had the correct ambiance? God would go on to instruct Moses about the Levitical priesthood, the Passover and other important issues, but correct lighting came first?

Looking at various commentaries there are suggestions that the lamps point to the 'let there be light' command in the Genesis account of creation, to Christ as Light of the World in the Gospels and to the Bible as the source of God's revelation to mankind. Whilst there is clearly truth in these explanations could the simplest explanation be that the tabernacle had no windows and therefore needed light? God wanted his people to see when they approached him, he didn't want them stumbling in the dark

Perhaps the lighting department at IKEA has more importance than I thought!

Rest

Return to your rest, my soul,

for the Lord has been good to you

Psalm 116:7

Go back to where you know you belong, find again the place of inner peace. It is a place that can be found because God has been good to me. However it is out of reach unless I acknowledge the moral beauty of God's love for me. It is not found within alone, it is in submitting my feelings and experiences to the goodness of the Creator. My soul can only return to rest; rest cannot be found by searching for it or by exploration. As a disciple of Jesus I have already entered God's rest, it is my new dwelling place. It is the context in which I now live 

So there is a sence that my soul needs to return to the place in which it already dwells, to experience that which I already have. Rest is not a place that we go to, it is not a mental state which we seek to attain. Rest is not an absence of conflict, rest is not found internally or externally. Rest is found in a person

We don't seek rest for the first time we return to what we have known before, to the one we have known before. We return to a person, the Lord, who has been good to us

It is like coming home to a place I never should have left, to an awareness that was somehow always there but which I did not recognise 

Thomas Keating; Open Minds, Open Heart

Morning Joy

Weeping may remain for a night,

but joy comes in the morning

Psalm 30:5

I used to have a clock beside my bed so that when I woke in the night I knew what time it was. The clock now sits on the other side of the room and now without wearing my glasses when I sleep, I cannot tell what time it is. My problem is that I don't know what time of night it is. I know what will come in the morning, but I struggle to understand what time it is during the night. Weeping may remain for a period but how long before joy?

I know that this time of weeping will not continue. I know that it is temporary and there is something of greater joy and significance to come. But I don't know how long I will have to go through this or how long I will have to endure these tears. I know that this weeping will only remain for a short time but I don't know when the joy is going to show up. I don't know whether I am toward the end of my tears or really whether they've only just begun. Has the night only just started or is morning about to dawn?

However I have just seen a tiny glimps of light, as if an area of darkness had slowly given up the effort and allowed light in at last. And because I have seen the light I now know that morning will not be far behind. The light is a guarantee of what is to come. There may still be dark and night and blackness but it cannot be as dark as it was before because I have seen that morning is on the way. This tiny light is an indicator that joy is possible, that things will not be dark for ever, that God is my hope and my salvation

Reading Recycling Centre and the Victoria Falls

A few weeks ago I visited Reading Recycling Centre, not exactly a trip to Alton Towers or the London Eye, but still quite an experience. Having been to many recycling centres over the years (previously know as council dumps) this one stood head and shoulders above the rest. It was huge, but not only huge but it was indoors! Clear signage directed you to where you needed to be and there was plenty of car parking so you didn't have to carry heavy items very far. And, I know this is difficult to belive, it was ran by workers who actually seemed to want to help, nothing was too much trouble for them

Some years back we had the privilege of working in Zambia for two months, Alison and I were accompanied by our 18 year old son Chris. Whilst most of our time was spent working with a Bible college and children's project we did get chance for a short break including a visit to Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is considered to be the largest waterfall in the world. They are not the widest waterfall or the highest, but with all dimensions taken into account, including the largest flow rate, they are considered to be the biggest curtain of falling water anywhere on the planet. They were stupendous, we were expecting a lot but this was an experience of a different magnitude 

These two experiences have changed me, I used to think that the Swansea recycling centres were pretty good but they pale into insignificance compared to Reading. I can no longer see other waterfalls and get very excited, they may look beautiful but compared to Victoria Falls they seem just a small trickle

In the same way I want my experience of Christ to spoil me for anything else. I want to be captured by his beauty, overwhelmed by his love and grace, consumed with his priority and purpose. It is not that other things should have no value, simply that they should be desired and appreciated in a correct comparison. Paul put it like this: What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ Philippians 3:8

I will still appreciate the help and professionalism at our local recycling centre, I will still hope to enjoy waterfalls both large and small. But I have seen something more and can never be the same again

Barbara

I am not sure how well I knew Barbara, she was not one to reveal her true feelings very often. In many ways she was quiet and did not open up very much, she was quite a private person. However I will be eternally grateful to her for inside her womb grew the person who would be my life's partner, my precious wife and my best friend. Barbara and Roy can be seen in every one of Alison's cells, both of their DNA is alive and well!

Barbara died trusting that the saviour who she followed would allow her to follow him into the next chapter of her existence. At the end, as her body was giving up the fight, she believed in the reality of eternal life. Not some sentimental gush that would hide the reality and horror of death but a rock solid certainty that was rooted in the promise in the Bible

One if the songs that Barbara choose for her funeral service says this: 

Jesus loves me this I know

for the Bible tells me so

This truth was part of the formation of her life as well as a fitting tribute to the faith in which she continued to live until the day she died

So to go back to my original thought. Perhaps the best way to understand what Barbara was like would be to look at how she has influenced future generation. We can discover a lot about someone by looking at their descendants and seeing how that new generation has been impacted. Barbara can still be seen in her children, grand children and great grand children

Barbara may no longer be living and breathing on earth, but as she continues in her new, heavenly body her influence continues. We all will impact the world around us. The question is not whether we will make a difference in the world, but rather what kind of difference will we make?