The First Disciples

I came across another thought-worthy devotional by JR Miller I would like to pass on. – GFC

“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.” Matthew 4:18

When Christ needs men for important positions He never looks for them among idlers. He always seeks in the ranks of busy people, among those who are at their posts and are faithfully doing their duty. When the Lord wanted a man to be the deliverer of His people, He found Moses tending sheep in the wilderness. When He sought for a man to be king over Israel, He found a shepherd lad watching over his flocks. When He wanted a man for a prophet, He found Elisha at his plough. When Jesus needed men to become apostles, to lay the foundation of the Christian Church, He walked by the sea and sought for them among those who were busiest. No doubt there were many idlers loitering along the shore that day, lounging among the boats and watching those who were at work; but Jesus did not call any of these to be His apostles. He did not want for His apostles idle men or those whom their neighbours did not care to employ; so He passed by all the loungers, and kept His eye on the men who were at work. He must have men of activity, men of energy and earnestness, and He knew where to look for them.

The whole Old Testament was full of Christ. There were a thousand fingers along its pages, every one pointing to Him. All its types and prophecies and promises were fulfilled when He came, and lived, and died, and was raised up and glorified. It is very interesting to take up Christ’s whole public life and ministry, and show how perfectly He lived out the wonderful mission which the prophet here outlined for Him centuries before He came. He preached the gospel to the poor; He was the friend of the poor. He healed the broken-hearted. Wherever He went the sorrowing and the troubled came flocking around Him. As a magnet draws steel-filings to itself from the heap of rubbish, so there was something in Him that drew the sad to Him.

We ought not to lose this lesson. If we want Christ to call us to important places we must be busy and active, that when He comes seeking for persons to do His work He will see that we are competent and worthy. We should notice also that Christ often calls those who are engaged in lowly pursuits. If we think our occupation unworthy of us, the way to rise to a better one is to be faithful and diligent where we are, until we are called to a nobler and worthier pursuit. It is to him who is faithful in little things that the charge of greater things is promised. He who does not fill well the lower place is wanted neither by God nor by men for the higher place.

 
 

Rejoice in the Lord

Down through the years, one of my favourite songs by Ron Hamilton has been “Rejoice in the Lord.” Ron wrote this song back when he first was diagnosed with cancer in his left eye. Though Ron & Shelly did not understand all that God was doing at the moment, through that difficult and trying time, they learned to commit themselves to God’s gracious hand and let Him do what He knew was best. Of course, looking back now, everyone can see that God was preparing the Hamilton family for a lifetime of musical ministry to children – our children through “Patch the Pirate.” As I listened to Ron give his testimony last summer, it was clear that he would not change one step of the way of his life and he was careful to give God the glory, rejoicing in the Lord.

“God never moves without purpose or plan, When trying His servant or moulding a man. Give thanks to the Lord, though your testing seems long; In darkness, He giveth a song.

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified, I shall come forth as gold.”

Times of trial are not meant to be enjoyed, but they are meant to be understood. While we may not always fully comprehend what God is doing at the moment, we can understand that God never works on a whim or with randomness, but with purpose to shape us, cleanse us, and prepare us for greater things.

James 1:2-4
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

1 Peter 1:7
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

When I go through times of testing and trial, I try (not always succeeding) to ask the Lord to help me see His hand as He works to purge me, strengthen me, and clarify His plan for my life. And if I cannot see His hand, to at least continue to trust Him, knowing He has promised to never leave me or forsake me. When I do this, He enables me to face each new day and new challenge with a sense of His purpose and trusting my life to His care.

“Now I can see, testing comes from above; God strengthens His children and purges in love. My Father knows best, and I trust in His care; through purging more fruit I will bear.”

This is the ultimate goal in God-allowed trials. To bring us to the place where can bear more fruit. The testing, the trials, the learning to depend upon Him all work together to make you and me more productive in God’s harvest field.

What trials have you passed through of late? Have they helped you grow in your relationship to the Lord? Have they brought maturing in faith, strengthening of resolve, and humility of spirit? Remember that God allows these times of trial to make us better, not bitter. And when we experience our spiritual fruitfulness increasing, then we, too, can join in singing, “O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified, I shall come forth as gold.”

As time passes by…

As this writing, I am now waiting for my flight home from Kalamazoo. Once again it is early – I don’t know how I always get these flights. Tonight, at home, I will go through our house, changing the clocks because we are moving to daylight savings time. Losing yet another hour of sleep, another marker that time is passing.

The last few days have reminded me of this “passing of time.” I sat with my dear mom and watched her struggle to remember and understand her surroundings. It was obvious the grip of dementia getting tighter with each passing day. I won’t say it was easy to see her like this, it wasn’t. I am thankful that on my last visit to her before I left, I do believe she finally recognised me and we had a few brief minutes really “together” before she drifted off again. While I know my mom would be very frustrated over the turn of events in her life, I also know that her complete confidence in her Saviour would give her grace to accept what He has allowed. I can only ask Him to give me of His grace, too.

My sister gave me a gift on this visit, a scrapbook of pictures and memories of my life and family. It was lots of fun going through it – and wondering where the time has gone. Helping my dad in and out of the car, also spoke to me about the passing of time. We all live busy lives, constantly on the go, filling every moment with activity or media, and before we know, time has passed us by. The Word of God admonishes us: Psalms 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

We cannot stop to march of time, but we can make sure that we are living every moment for things that are truly important to life and eternity. Take time for your walk with the Lord, take time for your family, take time to enjoy the time God has entrusted to you. Or before you know it, time will have passed you by.

Riding the Rails

I write this sitting on an Amtrak train heading out of Chicago on my way to Kalamazoo to see my dad and mom – and my only sister and her family. I like travelling by train – the pace is much slower, the seats much roomier, and you actually get to see something of the countryside – more on that in a moment. As my dear parents age in body and mind, it becomes more important for me to make this journey to see them – even if I must come alone. My wife and I came to understand some years ago that my parents’ travelling days to see us in Vancouver were over. And so, here I sit on this train.

As we made our way through the ageing and rundown neighbourhoods on Chicago’s east and south sides, I looked out at the many houses and walk up apartment buildings and wondered who is taking the gospel to these needy people. Sure, the area seems poor and unattractive, but are the people here any less valuable to God? We all know the answer. The reality is, old cities and old neighbourhoods don’t inspire much in the way of “vision.” I doubt many missionary church planters would venture to try to raise support to come to such urban mission fields. Yet, the need is genuinely here. How we need to pray that God would send forth labourers into His harvest.

Seeing these neighbourhoods has made me think about my city, my home, my neighbourhood. In Vancouver, we replace ageing houses with huge new ones, but the spiritual needs are no different than what I see out my window today. Could we not also ask, “Who is trying to reach these people with the gospel of Jesus Christ?” I am glad to say that we at GVBC are doing something to take forth the most important message ever given. But then we must frankly ask ourselves, and I must ask myself, “Am I doing all that I could do? Is there a passion to impact my city, my neighbourhood?”

Getting so completely removed from the busyness of daily ministry and the routines of life itself gives an opportunity to reflect on life and it’s direction. Leaving home gives you a chance to look at things from a distance so to speak and to let God direct your thoughts and heart into seeing as He sees.

How well I remember driving the streets of greater Vancouver so many years ago now, and how every street seem to cry out, “Come over and help us.” To me, Vancouver was a “mission field” and it became the place God would choose for me to give my life in serving Him and reaching those streets with His Word. Have the years changed those streets? Has Vancouver been completely evangelized? Sometimes it feels like we haven’t even scratched the surface. There is so much left to be done.

As I look out the window of my train and see all the houses on so many streets, I think of the people who live in those houses and understand that they will spend eternity somewhere. I pray that someone has come to their neighbourhood with the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. I also ponder the work left yet to be done in my own neighbourhood and pray for God’s grace and strength to keep this all important work until He comes.

- Pastor Gordon Conner