Do what you know to be right!

Yesterday I was in conversation with the Lord and were discussing (as we often do) 'doubtful things'. Sanctification requires the surrender of all things sinful and doubtful. In other words if you can't justify a particular use of time or money then it has to go on the altar! The problem is that many doubtful things by their very nature are difficult to qualify. In addition where does one stop? If it is a 'doubtful' use of one's money to buy a daily newspaper what about having a TV? If it is a doubtful use of one's time to watch a football game what about participation in sport? The last thing I want to do is to become a prisoner to a cold form of ascetic holiness that has nothing whatsoever to do with God.

As we were talking the Lord said "why not focus on the things you know are wrong – start there!" This very obvious statement struck me like some esoteric revelation from on high.

How many of us struggle with God over whether we should or shouldn't take caffeine yet give into lust? How many of us avoid eating meat but indulge in gossip? The enemy loves to distract us with the minutiae of our faith in order that we never deal with the more obvious and pressing aspects of spiritual obedience.

In Isaiah 1:16-17 we read:

¹⁶ wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

¹⁷ learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

It seems to me that the emphasis here is absolutely right – 'stop doing wrong' – this is something we can do right away, we know what things are wrong, there is no debate that needs to be had here! Then, 'learn to do right', the doubtful things will be revealed to us with absolute clarity as we, through grace, live in the love of God. In addition, our lives will become concerned with social justice, for there is no holiness without a concern for social justice.

Today's scripture readings:

1 Chronicles 16:37 – 18:17

Is there a link between verse 18:6 and 18:11? I think so.

"The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went." (v6) "King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold he had taken from all these nations." (v11)

Psalm 91:1-8

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

"²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."" (1:27-31)

"²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (2:2-5)

Grace and peace, A

To the brook and beyond!

In the “The Salvation Soldier's Armoury” morning reading for October 12th I came across the following verse in 2 Chronicles 30:14 –

“They removed the altars in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.”

This verse is part of the account given concerning the purification, by Hezekiah, of Judaic worship from the influences of Assyrian cults.

I couldn’t help being pulled up by those words ‘Kidron Valley’.

The Kidron Valley runs along the eastern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem, separating the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives. It then continues east through the Judean Desert, towards the Dead Sea.

Once a river ran through this valley, but the water was diverted through Hezekiah’s tunnel to supply Jerusalem with water. In the time of Christ a seasonal stream or brook ran through the valley. It is that brook that Albert Orsborn refers to in his song from which this blog drives its name:

“My all is in the Master's hands
For him to bless and break;
Beyond the brook his winepress stands
And thence my way I take,
Resolved the whole of love's demands
To give, for his dear sake.”

In order to get from Gethsemane to the ‘winepress’ of Calvary Jesus had to cross the ‘brook’ of Kidron.

In other words he had to cross the valley into which his forbears had tossed their foreign Gods and broken idols.

This link really spoke to me, how often we, on our pathway towards holiness, hesitate over the worldly debris we have sacrificed. If we want to experience holiness then sacrifice is only part of the journey. Sacrifice must be followed by obedience. For Christ the sacrifice was made when he prayed ‘thy will not mine be done’, but it was obedience, evidenced by the crossing of the brook, that led to our salvation.

Then in my devotions I read the following verses from 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

“3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual
immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that
is holy and honourable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not
know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take
advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already
told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a
holy life.”

Let us make sure that our own sanctification is not corrupted or maybe even invalidated by a longing for the things we have surrendered – let’s make sure that we go ‘beyond the brook… resolved the whole of love’s demands to give, for his dear sake.’ Let there be no lingering, no hesitating, no looking longingly into the waters below, but instead a determined stride towards Calvary and the glory that awaits us there!

Love and prayers A

Make a date... Now!

I have recently encountered quite a few people who have heard the call to become Salvation Army Officers. Some of them have even gone so far as to contact their local Candidate's department. They have announced their intent by way of testimony, some have even blogged it on the internet.

However (with the exception of one of them) they have all failed to specify a date! If God has called you to full time covenanted ministry as a Salvation Army Oficer then don't delay make a date today. Get your calendar off the wall, get your diary off the shelf, get your IPAQ out of your briefcase and make a date!!!

If you don't make a date now then before you know where you are you'll be surrounded by a whole host of attractice and logical reasons why becoming an Officer is impossible.

'Come join our Army and make no delay the time for enlisting is passing away'

'Not called' did you say? 'Not heard the call', I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible and hear him bid you go.' William Booth.

Yours set apart for the lost, in the Army

A