Monday 26 May 2008

DAILY BYTE

Over the next two weeks we’ll be exploring the story of David, the shepherd boy who became Israel’s greatest king. In his story, we can find echoes of our own stories, for David, like all of us, was a complex person. In him we see a mixture of humanity at its very best and its very worst. But throughout the story of his life, the good times and the bad, God was a constant, steadfast and faithful presence. I hope that these reflections over these next two weeks will enable you to recognize the constant, steadfast and faithful presence of God in every dimension of your life. (I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Jim Harnish for many of the thoughts upon which these devotions are based.)

David’s story starts when the LORD sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, to anoint one of his sons as the future king of Israel. Samuel knew the routine, he knew what to look for in a king. He had already anointed Saul, the first king of Israel, who was “…an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites – a head taller than the others.” (1Sam 9:2)

So when Samuel saw the first of Jesse’s sons, a strapping hunk by the name of Eliab, he thought that he had found his man. But God said to him, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him!” (1 Sam 16:7). Clearly, God had other ideas and a different agenda. And so one by one, all of Jesse’s sons were paraded before Samuel, but none of them got the nod.

Finally, Samuel asks Jesse if he has any other sons. That’s when David is remembered, although he isn’t even mentioned by name but is simply referred to as “the youngest”. But when he arrived and Samuel laid eyes on him, God enabled him to see something in David that no one else had seen. For there was within this kid the hidden potential for greatness. There was a great and awesome destiny that lay before him. God’s calling was upon his life. And so Samuel anointed David with oil and we read that “…from that day the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power” (1 Sam 16:13).

Tomorrow, we’ll explore the implications of God’s calling upon our lives and how, like David, it’s not the external things about us but what’s inside that matters most to God.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Gracious God, in a world that is so obsessed with external appearances, I thank you that you look much deeper within to what is inside of me. Thank you that you see me not as the world sees me, but you see all of my hidden God-given potential, and my destiny for true greatness. Amen.

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

1 Samuel 16:5-13

Samuel consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the LORD chosen this one." Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these." So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"

"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."

Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."

So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

Tuesday 27 May 2008

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday, we started looking at the story of David, and reflected briefly on how he was the one chosen and anointed as the future king of Israel, even though he was the ‘kid at the end of the line’ – the youngest and most insignificant member of his family.

Over and over again throughout Scripture, God demonstrates a remarkable eagerness to use the kinds of people that would normally not be given a second look by the world. God is not concerned about external appearances, about outward qualities and qualifications. God is far more interested with what is going on inside of us – with our hearts. And God is able to recognize the best within us, and the capacity for true greatness that lies within all people, because all of us have been created in God’s image, and there is in us a divine likeness that we all bear.

Which means that nobody is beyond the call of God. There is nobody whom God would regard as useless. And when God’s call is heard and we realize that God has plans for our lives, something comes alive within us.

Jim Harnish writes, “A calling is an inner awareness that God has a divine purpose for our existence. It is a deep sense of being ‘at home’ with the person we are becoming. It is a maturing consciousness of our value as a person created in God’s image, redeemed by God’s love, and chosen by God for the abundant life that Jesus said he came to bring.”

As you think about your own life, do you think that you are of little or even no use to God? Stop! The truth is that God continues to see things within us that others, and especially ourselves, often miss. And while God can do His work on His own, He chooses not to. For God delights in calling ordinary people like you and me to move beyond the narrowness of our self-absorbed lives into the wide open spaces of God’s plan and purposes for the entire world. He longs for us to be a part of that.

What is God calling you to do for Him today?

PRAY AS YOU GO

O God, it’s hard for me to believe that you want me, and need me, to be part of your loving purposes in the world. Help me to accept that your perspective really can be trusted, and that if you believe in me, then who am I am to argue. Help me to listen to your Spirit’s stirring within me, that your calling for my life would become clear. And help me to embrace your calling, whatever the cost or inconvenience of doing so may be, and to follow it with courage, obedience and determination. Amen.

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Our scripture reading today comes from Psalm 8, one of the psalms that David wrote. It is a beautiful psalm that affirms the central place and the purpose that humans have been given by God within the world.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what are human beings that you are mindful of them
mortals that you care for him?

You made them a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned them with glory and honour.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Wednesday 28 May 2008.

DAILY BYTE

Having been anointed by Samuel as Israel’s future king, David did not immediately take up that mantle of authority and responsibility. Instead, he was drawn into service in the courts of the existing king whose name was Saul.

King Saul was a troubled man. The bible says that “…an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.” Many people find this disturbing, as if God were the source of Saul’s torment. But if we read his story a little more carefully we will see that the roots of his distress lay in his disobedience to the will of God, and his attempt to do things his own way.

Jim Harnish writes, “The Bible does not say that God is the source of evil; but the Bible does say that when God’s goodness is rejected, evil is all that is left. The Bible says that we are created to live with the Spirit of God within us. Take the Spirit away, and the soul is empty. When God is no longer the organizing centre of human experience, we are destined for confusion, darkness, and despair.”

That’s where David enters the scene in service of King Saul. David was gifted at playing the harp, and the beautiful music he made help to soothe the king’s troubled soul.

David’s soothing music is a beautiful metaphor for the healing power that comes through a life that is in harmony with the perfect pitch of God’s will for us. While we can never know God’s will completely, we can know enough to take the next step of obedience. When we do so there is a healing harmony, a restoring resonance that flows from us not just into our own lives, but also into the lives of others.

The best way to discover God’s will for our lives is to look at the example of Jesus and to listen to his words, for as we seek to become more like him we will be becoming more and more the people God created us to be. And through us healing and harmony can flow into the world.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Reflect on these words by Leonard Sweet, and let them prompt a spontaneous prayer of your own to God:

“Jesus acts as a tuning fork to the Creator, the Eternal. If we would seek to get our own lives back in tune with God, it must be through listening to Christ’s frequencies and matching the resonance of our actions and attitudes to Jesus’ pitch.”

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."

So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."

One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."

So David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."

Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Psalm 57:1-2, 7-11

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
for in you my soul takes refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.

I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.

Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.

Thursday 29 May 2008

DAILY BYTE

The story of David and Goliath has become part of our cultural landscape. Even people who have never read the Bible are familiar with their names, and those who don’t believe in God get what most people assume is the moral of the story: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And don’t underestimate the little guy with the sling – he could take down a giant.

The only trouble is that this is NOT the point of the story as the Bible tells it. David didn’t defeat Goliath BECAUSE he was quicker and smarter. Yes, sometimes the small and swift triumph over the large and slow. Yes, sometimes the weak and vulnerable outsmart hostile powers against all the odds. But if we’re honest we’d have to acknowledge that there are just as many times when the big guy triumphs, when the bullies win, when the weak and vulnerable are trampled under foot.

So what is the point of this Biblical story? David defeated Goliath not because of his superior methods of tactical engagement, but because he was willing to place more trust in God than in his own human powers.

Jim Harnish writes, “The story of David’s confrontation with Goliath was told so that the whole earth may know that there is a God who is actively and purposely at work in human history. It affirms that the degree to which we allow ourselves to become a part of that divine purpose, God will work in and through us to accomplish God’s purpose in God’s way in the rough-and-tumble realities of our daily lives…. David’s victory over Goliath is ultimately about a God who acts in human history through ordinary people who place more confidence in God than they do in themselves…. It is about the way ordinary people allow their faith in God to become the power source to energize them when they face the giants in their lives.”

What are you facing right now that seems like an invincible giant mocking your faith and defying God? Cancer? Depression? Unemployment? Addiction? Divorce? Abuse? The good news of this story is that as we align ourselves with God’s power and commit ourselves to following God’s ways, so God’s purposes will be accomplished within our midst, “for the battle is the LORD’s.”

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, remind me that it’s not by might nor by power, but only by your Spirit that I shall overcome. Today, help me to trust you and your ways a little more. Amen

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

1 Samuel 17

A champion named Goliath came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall…. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing his words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

But David said to Saul, " The LORD will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me… All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's.”

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

Friday 30 May 2008

DAILY BYTE

One of the ways in which David experienced God’s blessing in his life was through his friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Jonathan had already established himself as a courageous officer in Saul’s army, a leader in the nation and a hero to the people (see 1 Samuel 14). With these qualities, and as the eldest son of the king, everyone expected that one day he would have assumed the throne as his birthright. But as we’ve already seen, it was David and not Jonathan who had been anointed as the future king of Israel.

If you think about it, this should have been cause for a lasting and bitter feud between Jonathan and David. Yet, Jonathan responds with remarkable integrity and grace, without the slightest hint of jealousy, and with a resolute determination to support what he recognized to be God’s will in this matter.

We read these words in 1 Samuel 18:3-4, “Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”

In establishing a covenantal friendship with David, Jonathan gave to him the symbols of his birthright, his leadership, and his future role as king. He clearly recognized that God’s intention was for David to be king, and so he surrendered any personal claims that he legitimately had to the throne in order to align himself with what God was doing.

Later, when Saul’s jealousy of David provoked murderous intent within him, Jonathan risked his own life in speaking up for David, and then warning him of Saul’s plans to kill him.

What a wonderful example of the loyalty of a friend who was not threatened by the other’s glittering destiny. That’s what soul friends do – they look to the future, to the fulfillment of God’s good purposes in each other’s lives. They help and strengthen each other to accomplish God’s best for each other.

To have such a friend you need to be such a friend. So who do you know who needs your unselfish, supportive and encouraging soul-friendship right now?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Thank you Lord God for the special friendships I have through which I experience your blessing in my life. Thank you particularly for my special friend ……….. Help me to be a true friend to him / her. Keep me from any selfishness, jealousy or competitiveness that would diminish the good gift of friendship that we share, and help us to encourage each other to fulfill your calling in our lives. Amen

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

1 Samuel 20:30-34, 42

Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!"

"Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.

Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David.

In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David….

Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.' " Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

The devotions this week have been written by Rev Roger Scholtz, who is one of the ministers at Manning Road Methodist Church in Durban. Any comments or feedback can be sent to bdc@mrmc.co.za

Monday May 19 – Don’t Be Afraid

DAILY BYTE

The Bible is only 66 verses old when fear stalks into the Garden of Eden and seizes Adam by the throat. Adam, after eating of the forbidden fruit, is terrified and cries out to God, ‘I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid’.

Ever since that moment, every descendant from Adam has joined in that confession. Fear is a constant threat to us. It robs our life of joy, paralyses our souls and threatens to undermine all our securities.

What are you afraid of? You possibly would not have to search very deeply within to come up with a whole list of things. We can all relate to Mark Twain who once said: ‘The human race is a race of cowards and I am not only marching in that procession, but carrying a banner.’

Or as Cullen Hightower once quipped, ‘We do experience moments that are absolutely free from worry, these brief respites are called panic.’ Or as a stockbroker was once heard to remark during a period of serious instability on the stock market – ‘At night I sleep like a baby. Every few hours I wake up screaming.’

Deep down we are all afraid of something. We fear life; we fear death, and everything in between. We are afraid of little things like black cats crossing our paths and spilled salt. We’re afraid of big things like drastic change, failure, rejection, crime, poverty, hearing bad news from a doctor or waking up in the middle of the night to a dreaded phone call.

Some of us (like Adam) are even afraid of God.

Now, in quite a few cases the Bible tells us that we should fear God. Yet, in every one of those cases, the Bible is not describing a fear that is in any way debilitating. It does not mean that we should be afraid of God because he could destroy us with a cosmic click of his fingers but rather that we should be in awe of God because he is mighty in power AND love. Of course we should fear God in the sense of profound awe and reverent respect. However, that fear should not be debilitating or restrictive.

Millions throughout the world live with the image of God as a smoke-breathing, lightening-throwing tyrant. That image is in stark contrast with the tender, graceful Father that Jesus told us about. In today’s focus reading we are reminded that God wishes us to be friends with him. We should not underestimate how incredible this – that our Creator and Maker would seek friendship with us.

If fear is a real problem for you in any way then think about this: if the first words Adam is recorded as saying to God is ‘I was afraid,’ then the first recorded words at the birth of Jesus (God becoming human) are, ‘Don’t be afraid’. Remember, that’s what God’s messengers, the angels, said to the shepherds – ‘Don’t be afraid’. In fact, the words ‘Don’t be afraid’ and ‘Fear not’ are repeated well over 200 times in the Bible.

Like a loving parent would reassure a frightened child, it seems that God whispers these words again and again and again to us. ‘Don’t … be … afraid.’

This is the thought I would like you to carry throughout this week – that whatever your fears may be, and no matter how huge and threatening they are, know that God is your friend. God will never let go of you, God will never abandon you, God will never give up on you. With that truth in mind, we need never be afraid.

PRAY AS YOU GO

O God, you are our Creator, our Saviour and our Friend. It is a quite incredible thing to know your friendship – to know that you love us with a love that is both tender and formidable. Help us to balance this knowledge by carrying within us a deep awe and respect for you. And help us to face all our fears, armed with these truths. Amen.

FOCUS READING
John 15:15(NIV)
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Tuesday May 20 – Fear holds you prisoner

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday we spoke of how fear forms a huge part of all our lives. It shapes how we think, how we react and how we emote. Fear can hold us prisoner, even more than prison walls can. This is the powerful idea of the movie, ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ which had the tagline – ‘Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.’

In the film, one of the characters was a guy named Brooks Hatlen. He had spent most of his life wasting away in prison because of a reckless act of violence that he committed as a teenager. At one point in the film, after over 40 years of incarceration, he is finally released to enjoy the freedom for which he always longed.

There’s just one problem though ... he’d forgotten how to be free.

He’d grown so accustomed to the structure of jail that his new life on the outside scared him to death. He tried to think of ways to violate his parole just so that he could get locked up again. Eventually, Brooks ended up taking his own life because he could not handle the uncertainty and vulnerability of life on the outside any longer. In a letter to his former cellmates Brooks writes, ‘It is a terrible thing to live in fear.’

It is indeed.

Fear is, along with love, one of the most powerful human emotions. That is why I find the combination of them in today’s focus text to be so fascinating – ‘perfect love drives out all fear,’ or as The Message translates it more effectively – ‘well formed love banishes fear’.

Although they are not exactly opposites, in that you can experience both of these emotions at the same time, it does seem that love actually opposes fear in so many different ways. Fear makes cowards out of us; it cripples us emotionally, stops us from stepping out, stifles us from growing and shrinks us into ourselves. Fear, if it is left unchecked, unacknowledged and unguarded, can make us terribly self-preserving and selfish.

This is why love opposes fear!

For if fear makes cowards out of us; then love is that quality that makes heroes out of us! And if fear shrinks us into ourselves, then love is that quality that draws us out and challenges us to reach beyond ourselves.

Love drives out fear not by removing it, but by removing its power over us. Love defeats fear not by removing the cause of our fear, or even the emotion from us, but by ensuring that we have reason enough to face up to our fears. As Jesus once said: ‘Greater love has no one than this; that they lay down their life for their friends’ (John 15.13).

We will be exploring this concept in more detail tomorrow. But for now think about some of your life’s greatest fears and think about how love might give you the courage and will to overcome those fears.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Love drives out all fears. O Lord we know that you love us, and that your love can inspire us to overcome all obstacles and fears. We pray that you would help us to see how destructive our fears can be if they remain unchecked, but we also pray that your love would inspire us to creatively face our fears head on. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE
1 John 4. 18 NIV

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Wednesday May 21 – A giant named Goliath

DAILY BYTE

There is an awesome story in the Old Testament that illustrates everything that we have been talking about so far this week. Remember the story of David and Goliath? (If you don’t, quickly go and read 1 Samuel 17). Well, that whole ruckus began with the Israelites and Philistines fighting each other. The two armies were facing off – each camped on opposite sides of a valley. They were literally growling at one another and bristling with fearsome intent.

Then the Philistines played their trump card and parted like the Red Sea before a 7 foot giant who marched out into the middle of the valley. And from that moment on, this giant named Goliath, dominated the scene!

This huge man would stride up and down the valley, brandishing a massive 13kg spear while he teased and provoked the Israelites. Goliath was the living embodiment of everyone’s worst fears! Each day he would strut into that valley and challenge the Israelites to choose a champion of their own to fight him.

Every time he did this, he made every soldier there a little more of a coward. There were soldiers decorated for bravery in that Israelite army who stood rooted to the ground from fear - they were slaves of it. Their entire outlook, the way they looked at life, their worldview became Goliath-dominated (or fear dominated).

In much the same way our own worries, stresses and fears can loom ‘giant-like’ over us and we begin to feel helpless in their presence, too afraid to step out and face them head-on. We live with fear or Goliath-dominated worldviews, and we don’t fully realise it but it affects us big time.

The story of David and Goliath illustrates exactly how living with fear affects us by showing that the same debased worldview that treated Goliath as important, treated David as insignificant. David arrived on the scene carrying food and refreshments for his brothers but was treated with absolute scorn by them. Their emotions and perspectives had become so ruined by Goliath watching that they became incapable of seeing and receiving a simple act of friendship.

Listen to what Eugene Peterson has to say on this:
‘The moment that we allow evil [and fear] to control our imaginations, dictate the way we think, and shape our responses, we at the same time become incapable of seeing the good and the true and the beautiful.’

It’s like if we are not careful, then fear will drive out love! Fear and love are not opposites but they do oppose one another. It’s either love that will be driving out fear; or fear that will be driving out love. It’s either love that will be removing fear’s power over our lives or fear that will be removing love’s power from us.

This means that if we allow fear to run unchecked within us, our loved ones can be treated with scorn, anger or neglect. This is because our fear, our Goliath, is sucking all our emotional energy and focus.

Fear drives out love by dominating us in such a way that we can no longer see what is good and true and beautiful in our lives.

We become so consumed and preoccupied, and our worldviews become so warped, that we can no longer appreciate the gift that our relationships are too us. And like David’s brothers, we begin to treat our loved ones as unimportant.

PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, forgive us for the times we allow fear to control our imaginations, dictate the way we think, and shape our responses so that we are no longer able to appreciate the truly important things in life. Help us to deal with our fears in such a way that we can still give full appreciation to everything that is good and true and beautiful in our lives. Amen.

FOCUS READING
1 Samuel 17. 10-11 NIV
Then Goliath said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Thursday May 22 – Facing our giants

DAILY BYTE

Today we continue to look at the story of David and Goliath in order to see what it can teach us about dealing with our fears. We pick up the story just after David arrives in the Israelite camp to bring food to his brothers. David is shocked at how everyone has been stuck down by ‘Goliath-sickness’ and are cowering before their fears. David immediately offers to take up the giant’s challenge.

Why did he do this? At a surface level, David was probably the least equipped person there for the task of giant-slaying. He wasn’t yet a full-grown man and he wasn’t a trained soldier – there were many others there that day who were tougher, stronger and more skilled fighters.

But you see the difference between David and the rest wasn’t at a surface level, the difference was within. David’s perceptions were not controlled by his fears no matter how big because he did not have a Goliath-dominated worldview but a God-dominated one. God was David’s reality and giants didn’t figure largely in his understanding of the world – the real world.

David learnt this worldview in Bethlehem’s hills and meadows, working as a shepherd. There David immersed himself in the largeness and immediacy of God. Read carefully what Eugene Peterson says about this experience: ‘David had experienced God’s strength in protecting the sheep in his fights with lions and bears. He had practiced the presence of God so thoroughly that God’s word, which he couldn’t literally hear, was far more real to him than the lion’s roar, which he could hear. He had worshiped the majesty of God so continuously that God’s love, which he couldn’t see was far more real to him than the bear’s ferocity which he could see. His praying and singing, his meditation and adoration had shaped an imagination in him that set each sheep and lamb, bear and lion into something large and vast and robust: God.’

And it was from this worldview that David operated – a worldview dominated by God and shaped during worship. It was why a puny, little teenage kid could do what bigger and stronger soldiers couldn’t … face his fears.

And that’s exactly what worship can shape in all of us as well! This is what we should be reminded of every Sunday when we worship in church, and every day when we worship alone or with friends and families: That God is larger and more vast and more robust than even the very worst of our fears. That God is with us and that God loves us as his beloved children.

For if we open our hearts to that love, to the reality of it for us, the taste, smell and feel of it, well then we are given ultimate reason and hope to overcome our fears. Giant-like though they may be, they are nothing when compared to the vastness of God’s love.

Love drives out fear!

PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, this is why we worship you – because we need to. For it is when we immerse ourselves constantly in your presence, that our souls and spirits are shaped in your image. We are reminded that you are bigger and more powerful than anything else and that you love us deeply and so we are given courage and purpose to meet our fears head on because of that love. Thank-you for the gift of that love and the courage it continually brings to us. Amen.

FOCUS READING
1 Samuel 17. 33- 37 NIV
Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Friday June 22 – God’s Song: Don’t Be Afraid!

DAILY BYTE

A father had to take his four year old son, Zach, to the dentist. On the walk there, the boy became so frightened at the thought of the impending dentist’s visit that he began to cry. Zach sat down on the pavement, folded his arms, and refused to walk any further. His father tried absolutely everything to get him moving, from bribes to threats, but nothing worked.

So eventually, despairing of anything else, he bent down and began to whisper a song into his son’s ear. It was a little love song, made up on the spur of the moment, the words didn’t rhyme and his voice was off-key, but he could feel the song begin to quieten his son. The boy’s muscles relaxed enough to allow his dad to scoop him up in his arms.

As he walked he continued to sing silly little things into his son’s ears like, ‘I love you Zach. I like to play ball with you. It’s fun to see you smile.’ Slowly but surely, Zach began to calm right down until he stopped sobbing and rested his head on his father’s shoulder.

The boy lay in his dad’s arms quietly while he sang all the way to the dentist’s rooms and then all the way into the dentist’s office itself. He remained quiet and peaceful when his dad stopped the song long enough to place him into the dreaded dentist’s chair. Then Zach lifted up his head and said: ‘Sing it to me again, Dad. Sing it to me again.’

Because of this week’s focus, many of your fears may have come to the surface over the last week. We all fear something and we all deal with our fears differently but if fear is left unchecked, unguarded and unacknowledged then it can become very dangerous to us. Fear can dominate the way we think and shape our emotions and reactions. Fear can hold us prisoner and fear can drive love and goodness out of us.

This is why it is so important to remember that it is love that drives out our fears! And because God is love, then it stands to reason that God would be the greatest force for driving out fears that we know of.

Interestingly enough, the Bible records well over 200 times when God or a messenger from God, urges us not to fear. It’s like … that’s God’s love song! ‘Don’t … be … afraid!’

When we are stricken by fear, God scoops us up in his arms and sings that song into our ears.

The universe is not such a bad place when we know that the Creator of it all is our friend, and when we stop shrinking before Goliath’s taunts and instead start listening for God’s continued whispers of love. God’s song!

That’s what David heard as he stepped out into the valley to face a fearsome giant. It’s what Jesus heard when he feverishly and fearfully prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, before stepping out to face the cross. And it’s what you could hear too. If only you would just stop and listen out for it. Like David did in Bethlehem’s fields and meadows, why don’t you learn to listen out for this love song of God that is continually being whispered out into the wind – for this song sings of God’s nearness and friendship.

And may you do just that. As you lift your head from this time of worship, and as you stare across at the valley of the weekend and week ahead of you, and perhaps you see standing in the middle of that valley your worst fears strutting around giant-like, taunting and attempting to diminish you, may you hear it now for you.

God’s song of love.

PRAY AS YOU GO

O Lord may we hear this song of your love. May we hear it rising above the taunts of our fears. And may the song, which speaks of your nearness and friendship, make those truths (which we can’t see) far more real and present to us than our threats (which we can see). In Jesus we trust. Amen.

FOCUS READING

1 John 4. 17a, 8 MSG

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.
There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment - is one not yet fully formed in love.

Monday 12 May – Holy Spirit: The Pentecost Mystery

DAILY BYTE

I love mysteries and puzzles! It’s just that I am not very good at solving them. In fact, it is safe to say that my ‘mystery solving ‘career’ is one long list of sad failures. Remember Rubik cubes? You should do as they have recently come back into fashion (remember Will Smith solving one in ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’). I heard with some bitterness about people being able to solve them in about 10 seconds! The only Rubik Cube I ever owned took me about 2 years to get halfway through before I hit a wall. By that I mean the Rubik Cube hit a wall, thrown away in disgust and neither of us ever totally recovered from the experience.

The other puzzle that has always been a mystery to me is those 3 D pictures. I have stared at them until I am cross eyed but still never once made out a picture! I think everyone else just pretends they can see them to annoy me (and it’s working – I am really annoyed).

In many different ways the Holy Spirit can be both a mystery and puzzle to us. Yesterday, we celebrated Pentecost Day, which is the day the Church remembers the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples in Jerusalem. Because the Holy Spirit is a mystery, it is a subject far bigger and deeper than human comprehension, thus we need to approach it with a sense of deep humility.

To say that something in our faith is a mystery does not mean it cannot be understood or experienced, but just to say that we cannot box it into one particular understanding. Instead there are endless layers of depth and insight that are uncovered as we move forward on our journey of faith.

But even though there may be much in the Holy Spirit that is a mystery to us, we do need to know that we can trust God in this matter, just like we can in everything else. Mystery or not, Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is still God, and we need to remember that we can trust God’s kindness and goodness with all of our heart and soul. Many of us read the story of Pentecost, of the Holy Spirit falling down on the disciples like tongues of fire and them speaking in many different tongues, and we are left feeling somewhat uneasy.

The thought I would like to leave with you today is this: the definition of the third person of the Trinity is GOD WITH US RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW, working in our world. Everything that Jesus is – the Holy Spirit is. Jesus clearly explained this to his disciples in John 14 when he said something along the lines of: here on earth I am limited by my physical body, but when I go I won’t leave you alone, the Father will send to you another, a Comforter, Convictor, Liberator and Friend. Everything that Jesus is – the Holy Spirit is; everything that Jesus revealed God as – the Holy Spirit is.

What this means for us is that there is much we may not understand, there may even be things about the Holy Spirit that leaves us feeling uneasy, but that we CAN totally and utterly trust the Holy Spirit. Just we like can trust the other two persons of the Trinity.

Spend some time today thinking about the Holy Spirit. What is your understanding of the Holy Spirit – what thoughts and feeling well up within you when the subject comes up? Are you comfortable relating to God as the Holy Spirit? Why or why not? Write some of your thoughts down and then pray the following prayer.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Thank you O God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray that you would bring us to a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role in the church and world today. Fill us with your Spirit we pray. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Acts 2. 1 4 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Tuesday May 13 – Not safe, but good!

DAILY BYTE

‘Friend.’

That’s what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be to us (see John 14.16 MSG). Everything that Jesus revealed God as – the Holy Spirit is. We concluded yesterday that what this means for us is that although the Holy Spirit is way beyond our understanding – because he is God, we can trust him.

Yet, the story of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring in Acts also makes it clear that there is something dangerous and untameable about the Holy Spirit. As Aslan the Lion (the Christ figure in the Narnia Chronicles) is described: ‘he is not tame, but he is good.’ In the same way the Holy Spirit cannot be tamed, bound or constrained by us. The Holy Spirit may move and challenge us to change but remember that we can ALWAYS trust the Holy Spirit – because he is God, and God is good.

Many of us may have read the story of the Holy Spirit falling on the disciples, and we may have felt somewhat uneasy. There’s a lot about that story that we don’t get, a lot we would like explained, but in way it’s good that we feel that way.

For the Church shouldn’t be a safe place!

As Annie Dillard says the Church should issue safety instructions and put seatbelts in the pews. Of course a certain uneasiness would come over us as we are asked to give up captaining our own ships, give over control, hand over the steering wheel, and trust another with our lives. BUT WE CAN TRUST GOD IN THIS!

Certainly, our lives may never be the same, we will be swept up into the unimaginably incredible Gospel adventure, but our lives will always be better, deeper, and more meaningfully lived. Trust that. It won’t be safe, but there will be more hope, more love, more meaning, more life … MORE!

Tim Hansel tells the story of hiking with his son, Zach. The boy in youthful exuberance was running up and down the path around him. Suddenly Tim heard his son yell, ‘Hey Dad! Catch!’ Looking up he saw that Zach had leapt off a small cliff above him and was now plummeting to the ground. Tim managed to twist his body in such a way so as to get beneath his son, but Zach’s impetus sent them both crashing to the ground. When he finally managed to catch his breath, Tim yelled, ‘Zach! Give me one good reason you would do a thing like that!’

‘Sure,’ Zach replied, ‘Cos you’re my dad’.

God is a mystery it’s true. There is a very real sense in which we need to live in holy awe of his power, but he is still our Father. And we are his beloved children. So take a risk, jump out in trusting faith into God’s arms and encounter the challenging wonders of the Holy Spirit mystery.

PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, you are not ‘tame’, but you are safe. We give thanks that we can ultimately trust you in all things. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and sweep our lives up into that unimaginably incredible Gospel adventure. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Acts 2. 1 8. 11 12 (The Message)

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn't for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, "Aren't these all Galileans? How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues? "They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!" Their heads were spinning; they couldn't make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: "What's going on here?"

Wednesday May 14 – Dreaming God’s Dreams

DAILY BYTE

‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young people will see visions, your old people will dream dreams’. (Acts 2. 17)

Dreaming big dreams and having large visions is one of the first effects of being filled the Holy Spirit. As our minds, hearts and souls are consumed by the wind and fire of God’s presence; and as we see the greatness of God’s character in all his glory and give voice to that in worship, it is then, perhaps for the very first time that we SEE.

We see beyond ourselves and our own selfish concerns; we see that life’s purposes are far higher and greater than can ever be contained in money or power or anything that we were concerned about before. We see endless Godly and heavenly possibilities where once before we saw only pain or defeat or loss of hope.

We see!!

All things begin to take on new perspectives when we look at life from God’s perspective. To be Spirit filled is to have our imaginations stretched by the promises of God instead of being confined by the conditions of our present.

My little daughter was born just over 2 years ago. I remember clearly that when she was only a couple of months old, she used to stare around at things with the greatest of interest. It was her favourite hobby – just behind pooping. She could spend hours staring just at one thing because she was seeing it for the first time and it fascinated her. She used to especially love to stare at the leaves of a tree or bush.

Now I have seen literally millions of leaves, but her interest got me looking again. I began to look carefully at what she was staring at, and I think I managed to slowly get what was fascinating her. I gradually started to see what she sees. She was not just seeing leaves, but hundreds of beautifully and carefully shaped objects that were still shining and shimmering with the touch of their Creator’s hand.

The Holy Spirit does that to us. He opens our eyes anew to things that we may have already seen a thousand times or more. The Holy Spirit allows us to re dream and revision old hurtful experiences; and gives us new perspectives on broken, wounded situations. The Holy Spirit gives us new hope by opening our eyes to the way God sees things.

In what ways might God be challenging you to see with a new perspectives? What kind of Godly or heavenly possibilities might now be opened to you where before you saw only defeat or loss of hope? Try to write down some of the ways in which God might be challenging you and pray about them.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, fill us with your Spirit and help us to truly see. Help us to re dream and revision our lives with your eyes. Help us to see how the objects of our everyday lives still shimmer with the touch of your hand. Stretch our imaginations and shape them around your promises, and not on the limitations of our present situations. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Acts 2:17 21 (NIV)

In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Thursday May 15 – God’s Love

DAILY BYTE

So as the Holy Spirit fills us we begin to dream God’s dreams and gain glimpses of God’s vision. As we gain these glimpses, so are we privy to God’s nature and priorities. We begin to sense something of God’s incredible love for all the world, and of how that love cannot be hemmed in or constrained in any way.

And when we become aware of the sheer depth of that love, as we feel the warmth of its embrace, and sense something of its remarkable vision for whole world; how can we not be changed by it? How can we not be empowered by it, encouraged, filled, transformed, and moved on and out beyond ourselves?!

Just like these first disciples were so radically changed in that Pentecost moment. Yes, they had seen the love of Jesus on the cross, they had seen the power of the Resurrection, but now the Holy Spirit lived within them, they tasted it, drank it, they felt its raw power course through their souls like a wild wind or runaway bush fire. It burst forth from their lips in unconstrained praise. And they were changed, they were changed from a scared rabble into the Church, they were changed from people who worshipped behind closed doors to a people whose worship engaged them with the world, and offered others the hope and love of God.

They saw for themselves how this love of God included all people of every race, colour, and tongue and so they were transformed into a community that reflected that. They became an enemy forgiving, stranger embracing, sacrificially loving, generously sharing, God worshipping, Kingdom envisioning, Holy Spirit filled community!

Where we can be so prone to place boundaries on love, where we so easily put down conditions and stipulations on our love, where we are so ready to exclude; the love of God can NEVER be contained in such manner and will always be reaching out beyond margins, and past rules & regulations.

The Holy Spirit brings with him a love that sweeps out into all world with Good News, and would sweep all disciples along with as well. Followers of Christ are never in control of this Spirit, and we are often brought into uncomfortable, difficult to understand and downright scary circumstances. But remember that the very nature of love means that we can trust in all things and through all things.

That although our lives will never be the same, we need never look back, because ultimately life’s truest purpose and deepest meaning is found in this love of God.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord our God, because love is so integral to your nature, it goes without saying that being filled with your Spirit would mean that we will be filled with your Love as well. And so we pray that you would indeed fill us with your Spirit and your Love, as uncomfortable as that may become for us, help us to allow your Holy Spirit to sweep us up as you move out into the world. Help us to be living messages of your Spirit of Love. In Christ name we pray. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Acts 2. 36 39

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

Friday May 16 – Beware the God!

DAILY BYTE

As a minister, one of the privileges of my vocation is visiting people in their homes. However, one of the hazards of this aspect of ministry is that I will occasionally encounter large gates with no bell on them to announce my presence and an ominous looking ‘Beware the Dog’ sign fixed onto it. The sign is normally decorated with a picture of a bulldog who looks as if he routinely consumes steroids with his dog biscuits and could comfortably swallow me whole. It is that point I normally leave a message in the post box saying that one of my ministerial colleagues would be round to visit them soon!

One author, I think it was Philip Yancey, once speculated that churches should put up ‘Beware the God’ signs. The story of Pentecost as told in Acts 2 confirms that to us. God in many ways is a mystery to us, God is far greater than us and God’s plan for our lives and this world will sweep us out beyond ourselves. It will change us and our life’s dreams and priorities.

Pentecost celebrates the Gospel’s climax – all the incredible love and endless grace of God rushes into our lives and the Church through the Holy Spirit, but we need to know that God will sweep us along with him in what may be a bit of a wild ride at times. Our focus text today illustrates that – read it carefully and you will see what happens to a Holy Spirit filled community.

So fasten your seatbelts, for if you choose to be filled by God’s Spirit you may be asked to do wild and dangerous things such as to forgive an enemy, or embrace someone of a totally different culture or tongue; or you may be asked to include someone whose very presence and life choices offends you; or you may be asked to creatively share what you have with those who have nothing. You may be asked to do all these things and even more than that.

The love of God, which so unconditionally embraces us, will leave us forever changed. Our priorities will change and our character will transform to reflect that of our Father’s. We will be left with new perspectives, deeper vision, and an even greater capacity for Life itself. Things won’t always work out perfectly, and we will still go through tough times, in fact, we may even know suffering precisely because we are following Christ. But the promise is that our lives will always be more meaningfully lived; there will always be more depth to us as a result. We need never look back.

The way God’s Spirit works in our lives and in this world will never be totally understood by us. We will not be able to package it or compartmentalise it (‘the wind blows where it pleases’ John 3.8). The Holy Spirit is and always will be somewhat of a mystery to us. We may never completely work it all out, but we can, totally and utterly, trust God and trust the work of his Spirit in us and in the world.

The question is – will you?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Thank you for the wonderful gift of your Spirit, O God. Thank you for how your Spirit sweeps through the world, bringing your message of radical love and grace to all. We know that being filled with your Spirit will forever change us and our loves, but it is still our prayer that you fill us O God, fill us continually and fill us to the point of overflowing. We trust you totally, and trust the work you will do within us, and also the work you will have us do with our lives. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Acts 2. 42 47

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Monday 05 May – The Pursuit of Happiness 1

DAILY BYTE

Many of us would recognise the title of this week’s devotions from the recent major movie starring Will Smith. In the movie (which is based on a true life story), Smith plays Chris Gardner, a man who is bright, ambitious and driven and yet always puts the safety of his son, Christopher, first. The movie tells the story of Gardner’s struggles to make something out of his life. He encounters one setback after another, at one point even ending up sleeping on the streets with his son.

After months of poverty and hardship, facing one disappointment after another, Gardner finally becomes rich beyond his wildest dreams! … And then the movie ends. ‘So is that it?’ we are left asking ourselves. Is that what the pursuit of happiness is all about? Getting rich beyond our wildest dreams?

Now, I am not aware of how closely the movie portrays the ‘true story’, but I do need to say that the conclusions this movie draws for us sends some serious shivers down my spine. Do we really believe that endless wealth will provide us with all the happiness we desire?

Yet, in all honesty, I know that my personal daydreams have sometimes involved winning lotteries or somehow getting rich. We all do that to some extent. When times are tough we tend to daydream about past happy memories, or we daydream about a bright and prosperous future. We place our hopes in fantasies like winning the lottery or drastically changing our present circumstances in some way.

This is accentuated because times are quite tough right now. There are fears over a global recession, while many parts of the world such as Zimbabwe and the Middle East seem to be in constant turmoil. Wherever we live, we seem to be facing our own challenges of various kinds. Those of us who live in South Africa can find reading the papers a bit depressing because you are almost sure to find the latest horror crime story in the headlines.

Yes, times are quite tough for many at the moment. Which is why the title ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ probably stirs something deep within our souls. All of us, probably without exception, would like to find and know some happiness. Who wouldn’t want more laughter, fun and inner contentment to be part of their lives?

Yet Scripture would challenge this kind of response to life’s difficult times. The pursuit of happiness is understandable but ultimately hugely misguided. For if we pursue only happiness then we are really looking for all the wrong things in all the wrong places.

Scripture emphasises that what our souls need is to know joy rather than just happiness. And there is a huge difference!

We will spend the rest of this week studying that difference and discussing why exactly joy is such an integral part of the Christian walk.

In the meantime, spend some time thinking about your daydreams. When times are tough, what kind of daydreams do you escape into? What can you learn about yourself from this?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we know that the pursuit of happiness is something that drives us powerfully. Help us not to look for all the wrong things in all the wrong places in the hope they will provide us with the inner happiness and contentment we so desire. Help us to find all we need from you, and you alone. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Psalm 16. 8-11 NIV

I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Tuesday 06 May – The Pursuit of Happiness 2

DAILY BYTE

There is a big difference between joy and happiness. Unfortunately, there seem to be several misconceptions that abound in modern thought about what joy really is.

Firstly, the concept of joy needs to be rescued from Christians themselves, because there is the unfortunate misperception that to be joyful one has to look and act like Ned Flanders in the TV show ‘The Simpsons’! Joy is not a sickly-sweet, unreal, lets-all-pretend-we-are H-A-P-P-Y!

In fact nothing could be more real and down to earth than joy.

If I had to define joy it would be as follows: Joy is a courageous and persistent CELEBRATION OF LIFE, even when times are tough (in fact, especially when times are tough). Joy is that which helps us to embrace all of life, both the laughter and the tears, without the need for escapism into daydreams or by pretending to be what we are not.

We must understand that happiness is not the same as joy, although happiness can form a part of joy. Joy is much bigger than happiness! Because circumstances allow for happiness (it comes from the same root word as ‘happening’), a change in circumstances can therefore make our happiness dissolve into thin air. Happiness is emotion, whereas joy is a choice, it is a discipline that doesn’t come and go with circumstances but defies them and lives to the full despite any difficulties.

Joy can coexist with doubt, ambiguity and pain. Joy doesn’t seek to escape from tough circumstances but rather to overcome them without losing who we are in the process. Joy is an inner contentedness, trust, peace and knowledge that takes us through tough circumstances knowing that God has never let us down and that God NEVER will!

So the pursuit of happiness is actually a misguided one. God created our souls for joy – that’s what is promised as a fruit of God’s Spirit. When we pursue happiness instead of joy we blur the lines of what it is we really need. We begin to misunderstand and misdirect our soul’s yearnings in a number of different ways.

Eugene Peterson pointed out one of these common misunderstandings when he said: ‘We try to get joy through entertainment. We pay someone to make jokes, tell stories, perform dramatic actions, sing songs. We buy the vitality of another’s imagination to divert and enliven our own poor lives. The enormous entertainment industry in [the world today] is a sign of the depletion of joy in our culture. Society is a bored, gluttonous king employing a court jester to divert it after an overindulgent meal. But that kind of joy never penetrates our lives, never changes our basic constitution. The effects are extremely temporary – a few minutes, a few hours, a few days at most. When we run out of money, the joy trickles away. We cannot make ourselves joyful. Joy cannot be commanded, purchased or arranged.’

The question you may well be asking yourself now is, ‘Why is joy important to me then? Why do I have to know about it?’ Well, joy is vital to faithfully following Christ because it is that quality that triumphs over adversity without losing who God made us to be in the process. In an age when sadness abounds, joy is the triumph of God’s Spirit being worked in and through the human spirit.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Holy and loving God, help us to understand what joy truly is. Help us to not confuse it with happiness and help us to never be false and pretend to be what we are not. Fill us with your spirit and your joy so that we might learn to celebrate all of life and live it to the full in your name. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Philippians 4:4, 6-7 (The Message)

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.

Wednesday 07 May – The Pursuit of Happiness 3

DAILY BYTE

Joy is at the very heart of WHO God is! Joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit and it is part and parcel of God’s nature. And because joy is at the heart of who God is, then it should be at the heart of who we are as well.

In his wonderful little book called ‘Orthodoxy,’ G.K. Chesterton writes about how the joy that one sees in a little child is just a fraction of the joy that exists in the heart of God:

“Because children have a bounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again.’ And the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead, for grown up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again!’ to the sun, and every evening, ‘Do it again!’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike. It may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy, for we have sinned and grown old and our Father is younger than we.’

Isn’t that an incredible thought? We have sinned and grown old, jaded, tired, worried and irritated, rushed and blind; we have sinned and grown old and our Father is younger than we!

We see this rather wonderfully throughout the story of Creation. Day 1 - God creates and then pronounces, ‘It is good!’ Day 2 – God creates and then pronounces, ‘It is good!’ Day 3 – God creates and then pronounces, ‘It is good!’ And so it has gone every day from that day until this one. It is good!

That is how it is with God … but not with us: For we have sinned and grown old and our Father is younger than we are.

Joy is more than happiness because joy celebrates ALL of life. God did this in Jesus by sharing in both our laughter and our tears. Jesus laughed out loud with lepers being healed and he wept alongside grieving families.

Remember what Jesus once said to his disciples as he prepared them for the day he would leave them. ‘I have given you all my teachings so that MY joy might be in you, and that your joy might be complete, it might be filled up to the brim!’

God is a God of incredible joy and so the source for all life’s joy is God himself. Don’t spend your life pursuing happiness, don’t even pursue joy, instead pursue the God who is the source of all these things and more!

We come to God because none of us has it within ourselves, except momentarily, to be joyous. Joy is not us concentrating so hard on being positive that beads of sweat pop out on our foreheads! As Eugene Peterson reminds us, joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence! We don’t have to be joyful in order to follow Jesus; it’s what gradually happens within us when we do follow Jesus.

Joy is God’s dancing ’it-is-good and lets-do-it-again’, nature being lived out in us.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord you are the source of all life and all joy. Joy is something that you form within us as we faithfully follow you and obey your commandments. We pray that your joy would indeed be within us so that our joy might be filled to overflowing. In Jesus name. Amen.

FOCUS READING

John 15:9-11 (NIV)

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.