A meditation on Psalm 119:97-104 (Ma ahavti torahteicha - 'O how I love your law').

When did you last write a letter by hand? And in ink? (“ink? - what's that?” I hear you ask!). It seems that electronic communication by emails, Whatsapp, Facebook, etc, have almost replaced letters written longhand.

So when we browse through the new emails in our inbox, which ones do we open first? Replies to emails sent yesterday? Requests for money? Emails that should have gone to our spam file? No! It's those from our loved ones; and those who love us.

The Bible has been called God's love letter to us. A letter from One who has shown such wonderful and faithful love for us should make us want to open it at once and read about them over and over again.

God’s Directives, Our Faith

Psalm 119 is such a letter, beautifully laid out in acrostic bite-sized pieces, with 8 verses for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the language in which God chose to communicate His love to us. It reveals the writer's devotion to the Word of God as the Word of life, and is an invitation to walk in Torah (not as a rigid 'law' but, more accurately, as teaching, guidance, and direction – torah derived from the word yarah, to teach). It's from the One who, as no other, loves us and draws us to love Him.

Every verse has a synonym for His guidance (His Torah), and the psalm focuses both on God's directives for life, and on our faith in His faithful promises to those who follow them.
No wonder the psalmist says, “O how I love Your Torah: I meditate on it all day long” (v97). Do we also read and re-read this love letter?

Understanding Who God Is

The benefits of responding to this love letter are immediate. It makes me wise (chokmah) by keeping Your commands (v98), it gives me insight (sakal) through meditating on Your statutes (v99), and invites understanding (beyn) because I keep your precepts (v100) and seek to obey Your word (dvar) and Your laws (mishpat) (vv101-102). This is God's steadfast faithfulness (His chesed).

Note that the psalmist says: It is Your law (v97) - Your commandments (v98) - Your testimonies (v99) - Your word (v101) - Your laws (v102), for You yourself have taught me. All these elements of God's letter teach us about God Himself, and His love for us, and they are summed up in v104: In this “I gain understanding [of who You are]”.

No wonder the psalmist says, “They are sweeter than honey”. Who would not want these gifts from the One who loves us so?

And they please God, for He says to His people, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom...but let him boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight” (Jer 9:24). God is Immanuel and wants to dwell with us, in us.

Paul echoes this to believers in Philippi – “I count everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:7-10). Wow! That is a goal worth striving for. Torah is His way of loving us into receiving His promises and pleasing Him (1 Thess 4:1).

Knowing Him Better

As we mark Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22), this week, and celebrate Jesus' birth, let us dedicate ourselves to receive His miracle, the true Light (John 1:9), and meditate on His Word, His Torah, so we come to know and understand Him better through His love letter.

Author: Greg Stevenson

In Matthew 6:16-19 Jesus gave his listeners a fuller understanding of the Old Testament scriptures about fasting. Now, in Matthew 9, Jesus having had a meal with tax collectors and sinners, some of the disciples of John the Baptist are left confused. They put this question to Jesus:

Why don’t your disciples fast whereas both the disciples of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees do?

Initially Jesus gave a straightforward reply by way of a wedding picture. Identifying Himself as the bridegroom at a wedding and His disciples as the guests, He made it clear that of course His disciples couldn’t fast during such a celebration. Nevertheless they would fast when the bridegroom is taken away. History tells us that after Jesus was taken away, times of fasting continued to be acknowledged by believers (e.g. Acts 27:9).

But then Jesus followed with two analogies which, until now, seemed to me to have little to do with the question posed by John’s disciples:

No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch tears away from the coat and leaves a worse hole.

Nor do people put new wine in old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. No, they pour new wine into freshly prepared wineskins, and in this way both are preserved. (vv16-17)

These analogies seemed to me irrelevant…until I thought about the initial question and what lay behind it: “Why don’t your disciples fast?” was really a way of asking: ‘Jesus, are you and by implication your disciples, doing away with Torah?’

These analogies give an answer which says ‘I am not doing away with Torah – on the contrary! I, your Messiah, am leading you into the fullness of Torah.’

Let me explain: The old coat and old wineskins represent Judaism at the time of Jesus - a good coat but with a hole, a wineskin that became rigid through lack of care. The patch and the wine is the Messianic faith that Jesus was proclaiming, the true fulfilment of Torah. Fitting an unprepared patch of Christianity to Judaism or forcing Christianity into a stiff legalistic Judaic wineskin will not be any more pleasing to God than patching up the legalistic forms of Judaism of Jesus’ day.

Assuming this to be a fair understanding, then I propose two prayers:

Heavenly Father…fill us with the new wine of life through the Holy Spirit, under the new covenant of Jesus’ blood. Let us inherit a full understanding of Torah as you always intended it – help us to learn, in you, how to relate to your Law and your people Israel.

Heavenly Father…release unbelieving Israel from bondage to legalistic Judaism, and prepare them for relationship with you and with Gentile believers, through Jesus the Messiah.

Amen?

Author: John Quinlan

Like all of Trump’s announcements, his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital this week has provoked uproar, with Israel-haters the world over chorusing condemnation.

But where does the Church stand on this symbolic issue? Several Christian leaders have been quick to express their opinion. For instance, ahead of the announcement 13 leaders from the main churches in Jerusalem pled with Trump not to change the US’s position, saying it would only lead to more violence and division. The Pope called for the ‘status quo’ to be respected – and United Nations resolutions on Jerusalem to be honoured (!) - in order for the city’s fragile peace to be preserved.

Archbishop Welby echoed the Pope’s call via Twitter, lamenting that the status quo in Jerusalem is “one of the few stable elements of hope for peace and reconciliation”. Across the pond, the American Episcopal Church and the liberal National Council of Churches have both declared opposition to Trump’s decision, as has the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, all saying that it threatens the outlook for regional peace.

Standing virtually alone in vocalising support for the President are American evangelicals (who are said to be ‘ecstatic’) and Jewish groups.

Committed to Compromise

For the most part, then, Christian leaders are either staying silent or aligning themselves with the unbelieving world on this foundational issue, placing their hopes for peace in the Middle East on some kind of diplomatic compromise (which in their eyes is now gravely endangered).

We know, of course, that this demonstrates a political and historical blindness to the region’s problems. It also demonstrates a spiritual blindness to God’s promises to Israel and the ongoing spiritual battle for Jerusalem, the city where He chose to place His Name.

Finally, and perhaps most devastatingly, it shows an unwillingness to commit to the Gospel truth that real, lasting peace can only be found in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Messiah. His Kingdom is not based on compromise or diplomatic negotiation, but on His name being raised above every other (Phil 2:9-11).

Where Do You Stand?

One day He will return as the King of kings and reign - from Jerusalem. But as believers in His name, where do we stand when it comes to His nation, His Land and His city? Diplomatically speaking, Trump got off the fence this week, putting the global Church to shame with his commitment.

When it comes to the things of God, anything is better than sitting on the fence (cf. Rev 3:15-16). Trump may be the most provocative leader ever to ascend the world stage. But let his decisiveness this week provoke us all to examine the commitment of our own hearts.

Author: Frances Rabbitts

The world seems smaller than ever before. With modern media facilities we can be in touch with anyone, anywhere, within seconds. We can find out what is going on anywhere and feel we are involved in the lives of others even thousands of miles away, as if they were just down the road from us.

This goes for the Church as well as the world. It is relatively straightforward, these days, to build up a general sense of the way the world is going, politically and also prophetically.

Yet, should we be careful? What God is doing and saying in the world is important to understand, yes, but it should not eclipse what He is doing and saying at a local level, within and to our own congregations and prayer groups.

The Churches of Revelation 2-3

Consider the letters to the seven congregations of Revelation 2 and 3. They were all reasonably close to one another in Asia, compared with the scope of the modern world. Yet each had a different set of challenges, according to location and their personal circumstances as congregations of disciples. The Lord had different letters for each of them.

The congregation of Ephesus was hard working, patient and stood against evil, yet they were called to repentance because they had lost their first love.

The congregation of Smyrna had suffered tribulation and the Lord knew that satan was about to bring more suffering, but it was the Lord’s will to let them suffer persecution for ten days. They were to have a testimony of overcomers.

The congregation of Pergamos were living in a very difficult area where satan had set up headquarters, but God still rebuked them for giving ground to false doctrine. Theirs was a spiritual battle.

The congregation of Thyatira were commended for love and good works, but had allowed a false prophetess to be a member of their community and to seduce some of the disciples with immorality. They needed to focus on this and put matters right.

The congregation of Sardis were known for their works, but God judged these works in a different way from the world. They heard the surprising message that they were dead, not alive, and needed to repent of dead works.

The congregation of Philadelphia were commended for their perseverance, promised a special protection from God and encouraged to continue as they were going.

The congregation of the Laodiceans were blind to their own lukewarmness and were at a low point in the Lord’s sight. They too needed to repent, but for different reasons than some of the other congregations.

Unique Messages Today

In our global community there are often tides of new and fascinating things criss-crossing from one area of the world to another. Within the Church, new formulae are always being suggested for what we might sing to please God, what we might focus on in our ministry or how we might be organised. Yet, just as in the early days of the Christian Church, we are all unique in the Lord’s eyes.

Surely then, now is the time for us to learn to listen to the particular word the Lord has to say to each of our congregations. “To the congregation of…write…”

In what unique way will God fill in the blanks for our congregation? We must be listening to Him directly if we want to find out.

Author: Clifford Denton

Isn't it amazing that with billions of people in the world, each one (even 'identical' twins) is different! Some years ago I visited my brother in Canada. While staying there I found a baker's shop in a small village nearby which had a notice on the door that said, “We sell 136 different types of bread” (all with different names!). I remember thinking there must be a story there, because I had also found that there were only 135 people resident in the village! So there was a different type of bread for each person; a type to suit every taste.

The Tanakh (Old Testament) reflects this appreciation of the uniqueness of each person – it is full of individual names. Try reading some of 1 Chronicles - there are 16 chapters almost full of Hebrew names, a clear expression of the significance of each individual person to the God who controls and upholds all things.

They were not perfect, but to our impartial Lord, they were all His children; each one was special, loved, of great worth and value, and cared for in a way that could meet every need (in the case above, even for their taste in bread! Though of course, we are not to live by bread alone - Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4 – repeated for importance!).

God's provision leaves none of His children behind

God provides what we need (not what we want), even in hard situations, because He wants to take care of us. He made us and wants to bless and mature us for the work to which He has called us. For each one of us there are special gifts available, suited exactly for our needs as individuals.

Depending on our upbringing, we know that some are quick developers and some are slower to reach maturity, and each have different natural gifts. When He gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the upper room at Pentecost, the tongues like fire came to rest on each of them (Acts 2:3). Every one received what they needed for the work to which they were called. None was left out.

By way of another example, when God calls His covenant people back to their land, He calls them all: “I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind” (Ezek 39:28, emphasis added).

God’s provision is a model for our response

But this works two ways: Paul encouraged all believers in the early church at Philippi to develop certain qualities which govern their lives - unity, love, fellowship, tenderness, compassion and humility: “Each (one) of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others – the attitude of Christ Jesus...taking the very nature of a servant” (Phil 2:1-5, emphasis added). Good advice for us too.

God treats each of us as individuals, His creation, and since He knows and cares for each one of us intimately, He knows what we each need. In relationship with Him He will provide these needs daily. Yes, Jesus is radically different from us, and we are different from each other (we each need different types of daily bread); but the point is that He knows these differences and is still more than able to provide.

With the attitudes of unity, humility and love for our Father and for others that Jesus showed us, we can by His Spirit echo David's words in Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Just as sheep feel no anxiety because they know that their shepherd sees to their every need, we can express our complete contentment in the knowledge that God knows all our needs. The more we are dependent upon Him (Yehovah Yireh – the One who sees the need and provides for it) the more we will each know His total provision, His daily love and the food of His Word – our daily bread.

Author: Greg Stevenson

When arriving on Isle of Wight for a month of work this autumn, I was struck by the number of advertised events to do with lights. There had previously been summer events with illuminations but they had not registered with me. When questioning our Heavenly Father about what I should write for this week’s ‘thought’, the subject of light sprang to mind and was confirmed at church the following day when the speaker referred to this subject.

The precise thought I believe God gave me is that as the times grow darker, the lights that our lives potentially give off become far more noticeable and important.

In John 8, the day after the last day of the autumn festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), Jesus was back teaching in the temple. He said in v12:

I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.

The darkening days of autumn following this festival may well have enhanced the picture that Jesus was giving. His listeners may have been led to consider the contrast portrayed in Psalm 107:10-12 which says:

Some lived in darkness, in death-dark gloom, bound in misery and iron chains, because they defied God’s Word, scorned the council of the Most High. So he humbled their hearts by hard labour; when they stumbled, no one came to their aid.

At Jesus’ words their hope may have stirred when recollecting that the same passage goes on in vv13-14 to say:

In their trouble they cried to Adonai, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them from darkness, from death dark gloom, shattering their chains.

Was Jesus this awaited rescuer?

Times of Great Darkness

It was in a time of great darkness for Israel when Jesus had made his home at Capernaum of Galilee and preached the Good News to the Israelites around the region. Because of the dark times of Roman oppression, people were looking to Adonai for the promised Messiah and would have seen Jesus’ light shine out all the more clearly. These same listeners may have recalled the prophecy in Isaiah 8:23-9:1 that Matthew (4:12-16), refers to:

Land of Z’vulan and land of Naftali, toward the lake, beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Nations – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the region, in the shadow of death, light has dawned.

This same picture could apply to our rebellious British Isles and many other Gentile nations today. It is such darkness into which we are surely heading more and more. But it is also in times of darkness that our own lights may become most evident.

As part of Jesus’ explanation of Torah in his ‘Sermon on the Mount’, he told his disciples:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Likewise when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

As the darkness increases over our land, so we must let our light shine all the more!

Author: John Quinlan. All Scripture quotes from the Complete Jewish Bible.

Did you notice that last week, 8 people were killed in a terror attack in New York? It seems like weeks ago now. How quickly it has left our screens, as the media has moved on to more incidents of shootings, political crises, exposes of corruption, etc. Never mind the natural disasters and impending famines, the incessant attacks on life, the family and freedom of speech. ‘It’s overwhelming’ soon becomes the heart’s cry.

The problem is that this is the ‘new normal’ – and we’re growing used to it. Atrocious attacks don’t stay in the papers for quite as long, because they’re too frequent. As soon as one scandal breaks, another eclipses it. We don’t have time to process the news, let alone react suitably.

In my local news this week, a gay man was sentenced for shaking his adopted daughter to death while his ‘husband’ was out of town. She was 18 months old. I was aghast watching this terrible story. And then I realised that I wanted to grieve and mourn for this poor little girl more than I actually was. I remembered Matthew 24:12: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” Jesus’ own words warn that the relentless evil of this world will, unless we are careful, exact a heavy toll from our own hearts.

It can happen so subtly, so easily. We can grow cold out of self-defence – being so overwhelmed by what we see that we put up guards around our hearts, even sub-consciously. It can be out of fatigue – the bombardment simply numbs us. It can be out of escapism; deliberately hiding our heads in the sand for a moment’s respite.

However it happens, the outcome is still the same: next time such a story hits the news, we pray but don’t weep. The next time, we don’t even pray, but simply roll our eyes. Bit by bit, hearts can grow weary.

Chilled by a Cold Wind

Let’s take a closer look at Jesus’ words. “Because of the increase [pléthunó, meaning multiplication, filling to maximum capacity] in wickedness [anomia, meaning lawlessness, the total disregard for God’s word and the impact of this on the soul], the love [agapé, God-given moral love, first for Him and then for each other, manifested in obedience and sacrifice] of most will grow cold [psuchó, chilled, as if by a cold wind]”.

What a stark warning – but it is not inevitable. Contrast Matthew 24:12 with Ephesians 3:17-19, which shows our true calling: to be “rooted and established in love”, and to grow such that we might grasp the wonderful riches of the love of Christ, and “know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

I believe that it is possible for believers to be chilled in their love for God and others (especially in these days), and to be tempted to turn inwards to self-centred love, or to other worldly loves, instead. Indeed, by the time the Apostle John received Revelation, the church at Ephesus which had received those wonderful words above on love from Paul had ‘forsaken their first love’ (see Rev 2:1-7).

However, I also believe that it is possible for us – albeit against the odds – to grow in love, that we might truly ‘shine like stars’ (Phil 2:15).

Knowing Christ and Christ Crucified

There are many ways that this might be achieved - let me select two here. One is that recommended by Jesus in Matthew 24:13: “the one who stands firm [hupomenó, to bear up under the load, to stand one’s ground] to the end will be saved”. This perseverance requires diligence, courage and an intentional, ongoing decision to keep going, holding fast to the true faith.

The second is this: we fan the flames of God’s agapé love in our hearts by making sure we don’t forget the sinful state of our hearts and the price that the Lord Jesus paid to cleanse us. It was the Lord Himself who said that those who understand just how much they have been forgiven will love much (Luke 7:47, also 2 Pet 1:9).

Let us, then, keep our eyes fixed on the cross, while watching carefully and prayerfully how much we are being directed by the world's agenda rather than the Lord's agenda. Only then will we discover His focus and His heart for this changing and challenging world.

Author: Frances Rabbitts. With grateful thanks to David C Grabbe and Pastor Colin Smith.

It is coincidental that after a week in which we have been celebrating a number of significant anniversaries in our nation’s history, those who follow the weekly Torah portions will, this Shabbat, be reading Vayera (Genesis 16:1-22:24). This contains the account of Abraham’s intercessions for Sodom and Lot’s flight from the city just prior to its destruction.

In our looking back over Britain’s history we, like Abraham, have been sad for a people caught up in so much sin in our day. This sin has built up over several decades. Even as far back as 30 or 40 years ago, Christian leaders were beginning to say that if God were to forgive Britain He would need to apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah. This echoes what Jesus said when He too mourned for the blindness and deafness of the cities of His day:

And you Capernaum, who are exalted to Heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. (Matt 11:23)

It is hard to accept that a great collapse is very close to Britain. Yet, looking back at God’s past blessings and hoping for what once was great to recover from the present decay, seems more and more unreal as time goes on.

Lot’s wife looked back - possibly with nostalgia, possibly with unrealism. She should have been looking forward and upward to the mountains where the family would resettle under God’s protection. As a consequence, she hesitated and died under the flames of God’s judgment on Sodom.

Jesus left us a clear warning for the last days prior to His return:

And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars; and on earth distress of the nations…Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:25-28)

More and more we must look up with hope and not back with unreal nostalgia.

Author: Clifford Denton

I was privileged last month to go on my first trip to Israel, which was a wonderful, life-changing experience. We spent a very blessed week exploring the Promised Land and I know that most, if not all, members of our tour met the Lord in a special way.

There were many things that struck me, but one in particular was that it seemed easier there, somehow, to draw close to God and hear from Him. I remember thinking that this was a true ‘mountain top’ experience, where, spiritually speaking, the air was clear and the view was incredible. Undoubtedly a major spiritual battle is raging in that land, but that week God nevertheless blessed me with a real time of refreshing.

As anticipated, it took only a few days for this ‘mountain top’ feeling to wear off, after the trip ended and we all headed home to our respective ‘valleys’ of everyday responsibilities, burdens and difficulties. But because I had been told to expect it, I watched my own feelings with interest as this process took place.

Britain’s Spiritual Malaise

What I discovered was that as soon as we arrived back in the UK, things ‘felt’ different – as the air was clear in Israel, so the UK was under a cloud – spiritually as well as meteorologically! Almost immediately it was more difficult to draw near the Lord and hear His voice, more difficult to sense His leading, more difficult to keep hold of a biblical sense of perspective on life.

Part of this is undoubtedly natural; so as the Lord graciously affords us spiritual ‘pit stops’ every now and then – times when we are taken aside from life’s clamour and given time and space to be replenished spiritually - so ‘normal’ life stands in stark contrast because it is naturally an ongoing spiritual battle, for any true believer.

But the sense of thick darkness covering over Britain was, for me, more than just ‘normal’ and ‘natural’. We are living at an incredibly dark time, when – if we are not careful – our lives as Spirit-filled believers will be suffocated and stunted because we unwittingly come under the spiritual malaise that is affecting the rest of the nation.

This, of course, should not – and need not - be. “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt 24:12-13). So my ‘thought’ this week, upon sensing in a new way the darkness covering our nation, is that we need to become more awake and alert to the effect that this is having upon us all, and intentionally seek the Lord for help to stand firm and stay close by His side. In the presence of our Messiah, Yeshua, is light, and life, and hope, and fullness of joy – enough to overcome any thick darkness (John 1:5; Isa 9:2).

Pinpoints of Light

I am reminded of Jean Darnall’s prophecy (received 50 years ago, in 1967) of the British Isles covered in mist and pin-pricks of light breaking out all over, burning brightly as fires which grew and joined together, representing hungry believers joining together to seek the Lord.

There is more to it than this, but I take hope that in God’s eyes we each have the potential to become a blazing fire, His light in us piercing the darkness all around, if only we surrender ourselves to Him, humbly and completely.

I believe that this is His desire for us, even in the midst of our ‘valleys’, and in these dark and difficult days. We await His soon return, when darkness will be vanquished completely. We await the dawn (Luke 21:28) – but let us be faithful while it is still night.

Author: Frances Rabbitts

Jesus prayed for His disciples “that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:21).

This was one of His most important prayers for us, a High Priestly prayer just before He went to the cross for us. It was why He came to this world and why He gave His sacrifice for us. First, that we might be saved, and secondly so that we might be His united Body on this earth. Is it any wonder, then, that the unity of the Christian Church is forever under the sinister attacks of the evil one?

That unity is the echad of Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one [echad]”. It is the unity that commands a blessing in Psalm 133.

It is unity in diversity. In all God’s expressions of Himself, He is one. Father and Son are one (echad). The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and Son (echad). The Holy Spirit is working on us through the ministries of the Church to bring us to maturity of the same oneness (Eph 4:13). Son and Bride, ultimately, will become one (echad).

This unity in diversity is also to be the character of the Christian Church, in which each member exercises particular gifts of the Holy Spirit.

False Unity, True Unity

Yet, all this is under attack. There is a forced unity that is sometimes evident when we try to subdue our doctrinal differences so much that we end up with a lifeless ecumenism. Worse than this is when we succumb to one of the tides of false spirituality that are always washing across the world, identified by a tendency to draw us into compromise with other religions and play down the way of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus.

Neither of these are what Jesus prayed for. He is looking for a Bride making herself ready through deep study of the word and prayer, whose unity is through the working of the Holy Spirit.

While there is a personal application of salvation to the individual whence we can each testify that “I” have been saved. The “I” turns to a “we” and an “us” when we recognise the one Body, growing in unity together.

It is time then to focus on the unity of the Spirit, recognise the enemy’s schemes to isolate and divide us, and pray more than ever through these difficult times, that we may indeed be one as the Father and Son are one.

Author: Clifford Denton