Koinonia Kafe – Blog

It’s 2012! A new season has come! But with the start of a new year comes the memories of last year, both good and bad. Some of you may have reminisced about the successes you enjoyed over the course of 2011, whether it be acquiring a new job, a promotion in the company, growth in your business, increased value in your investments, or maintaining a solid A rated GPA score in university. You looked forward into 2012 with the hope that this year will be as promising if not even more successful. Others of you may have felt that 2011 was a painful ordeal because of what you have suffered for the past months. You may have lost a loved one to cancer, been laid off from work when you were already struggling to make ends meet, had a fallout with a lifelong friend or perhaps you were rejected from the ideal college you eagerly hoped to apply. You also looked ahead into 2012, not with excited anticipation, but with dread. You don’t know what else could possibly go wrong and perhaps even wondered if God Himself has deserted you at this point. Whether you are anticipating another successful year or fearing the possible tragedies that may occur in 2012, then the following passage might encourage you.

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
- Isaiah 43:18-19

These words were written by Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C. He lived in a time when his country, Israel, was in a state of moral and spiritual decline. As a prophet he was God’s mouthpiece to the people of his country, warning them about the consequences of their spiritual rebellion towards the One who created them, rescued them from centuries of slavery, gave them an identity and a beautiful land they can call home. Isaiah sadly knew that they will continue to ignore his words of warning which would lead to the invasion of the powerful Babylonians who would then take them away as captives into Babylon (present day Iraq). When this did occur, the Jews were living in misery as exiles in a foreign country surrounded by a foreign culture. They mourned the loss of their nation’s golden years and wondered if they will never again see the home of their ancestry, or worse yet, if God Himself has abandoned them. But God wanted His people to know that He has not forgotten them nor is He finished with them. He was telling them to no longer dwell on the golden years of the past; that their best days are not behind them, but ahead.

Note the 3 things God told the exiled Jews which can also be applicable to us today:

i) Forget about what’s happened.
Not referring to the positive moments from the past, especially the times when God intervened in amazing ways. Such reminders could help them get through the rough time of living as captives to another nation. But they needed to forget their rebellious actions that have led them to be in that place of misery. They realized they screwed up, but they needed to move on.

What can we take from this?
Forget about the pitfalls of 2011. This can drag you down and cause you wallow in self-pity.
Don’t carry these over with you into 2012.
It’s a new year, a new season, a new adventure.
Sure you have made mistakes or missed out on key opportunities in 2011, but don’t beat yourself over the head for it. Rather than seeing them as utter failures, view them as learning opportunities.
Be thankful for these life lessons in 2011 and start off the new year with a clean slate.

ii) Stop going over old history.
Though it was good to be reminded about how God intervened in seemingly impossible situations years ago, they needed to quit living in the past. If they kept looking backwards, they will not see where God is leading them and will miss out on the extraordinary blessings He has for them in the new leg of their journey.

What can we take from this?
It’s very easy to get caught up in the glory days of yesteryear. Yes, by all means celebrate the highpoints of 2011, but don’t stay there. That year is now behind us and we eagerly anticipate what God has in store for us in 2012.

iii) Pay attention to what God is doing today.
The Jews were encouraged to pay attention to what God was up to even while in exile. God never took a sabbatical, He was still very much active and didn’t want them to miss out on what He was doing around them, hence His admonishment to “Be alert, be present.” They were also encouraged to be open to the new way He will show His grace and power. God was telling the Jews in Babylon that He will do something entirely new, completely different and even more compelling in their lives than even the stories they heard from their parents. He did not want His people to put Him in a box, assuming that He could only operate the same way He did in the past.

What can we take from this?
Stay current. Pay careful attention to what is happening in the news, both locally and globally. Keep your ear to the streets. Find out what the latest buzz is or the most popular social issue people in your neighbourhood are talking about or blogging about online. This can be insightful in helping you to understand where your friends are at spiritually. Certain questions about life, death or our purpose here on earth that you may get from your friends could be an indication of what God is already doing in their hearts. The Lord can help you to use this as a vantage point to work in the gospel in a sensitive yet thought-provoking way. Be also wary of any pre-conceived notions you have in your mind about the way God works. He’s not interested in doing the same thing twice. Don’t expect him to move the same way in 2012 as He did in 2011. This will require for you to be heavily dependent on the leading of His Spirit.

Final Thought
2012 will not be just another year. In this year there will be new friends to make, new challenges to face, new achievements to be made, new mistakes to learn from, new life lessons to embrace and new opportunities for God to show His heart, unveil greater depths of His truth and for you to witness firsthand something brand new He’s doing this year. All the best for 2012!

SHOW ME, TEACH ME, LEAD ME – Part 3

Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

III        Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

This part of David’s prayer is perhaps the most difficult.

Again, imagine David’s prayer of Psalm 25:4-5 to represent the different phases of your journey with Christ. You requested the Lord to show you what His ways look like and in doing so you realize how radically different His ways are from your own. You then make yourself teachable. Only by His grace are you able to put aside your ‘know-it-all/I know what’s best for me’ attitude, and humbly become open to the Lord’s way of handling various issues and situations in your life. You have a deeper understanding of what it means to mirror Christ both in the good times as well as the bad, in skirmishes as well as in resolving conflicts.

But now comes that hard part… the bending of the will to the lead of His Spirit.

To say, “lead me” goes beyond merely acknowledging how different His ways are and having a deep theological understanding of His teachings. Here is where the rubber hits the road, or rather where the fun really starts. To have Him lead you, is to relinquish yourself of power, right, freedom and authority and to hand it all over to Him. I mean everything. You are no longer king/queen orthe highest authority over your life, He is. This is not easy because it rubs against the very grain of our fallen nature.

WE are the ones who want to be (and remain) in charge of our lives.
WE want to call the shots and determine what is best for us.
WE decide what’s truth and what is right or wrong.
WE make our own destiny.

It’s the very root motivation behind the Original Sin back in the Garden of Eden. The prospect of becoming like God was a very attractive proposition that was presented to our first parents. But being completely unaware of the serpent’s deception, they took the bait and instead of acquiring the godly status they were falsely promised, they ran and hid in the bushes in utter shame of their actions. Since then there’s been this innate desire in all of us to be our own god. To freely submit to another ‘unconditionally’ is unnatural. Even when unforced submission is done, say in relationships or legal/contractual agreements, it’s usually from a selfish motive where we’re only doing it because of what we can get out of it.

We are not strong enough to say to God “lead me” on our own because our pride and rebellious nature will get in the way. Here’s where we need the help of God’s grace and the work of His Spirit in our lives so that we can avoid the mistake of the first Adam who gave in to temptation in the Garden of Eden and follow the example of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who resisted temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had the opportunity to pull out of His assigned task to bear the weight of our sins and to incur the full wrath and judgement of God, but rather than pleading for God to remove the cup of this incredible responsibility from Him, He instead  prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will, but yours be done.”

This act of surrender is not done in blind faith! In fact nowhere does Scripture teach us to exercise blind faith in anything. That’s really no different than a fool’s wishful thinking. Rather the Word teaches us that the faith we are to exercise must be rooted in fact. For example, if you continue to read the rest of verse 5, David explains why he is willing to make such a request for God to lead him,

For you are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

God has proven Himself to David numerous times. He has shown Himself to be dependable, faithful and true. So in response to God’s goodness, David, the legendary general of Israel’s army and future warrior king, was willing to take the posture of a lowly servant and entrust his entire life to God. That’s why he has no problem to wait on God “all the day” to hear his next instruction. This language is saturated in David’s deep longing for intimate relationship with His Maker. As if to say, ‘Here I am….Let’s go for a walk…..You lead, for you know this area way better than I do. I don’t have the faintest clue…..I’m all ears.’

When  you really think about it, would it not make sense for God to lead you? Nobody knows your life (and should I add yourself) better than He does and He knows the full gamut that awaits you in your journey. The challenges, trials and surprises have all been included and as much as they may catch you off guard, God had full knowledge of them way before you even took your first step. Why is it like that? I believe it’s to refine your character so that you can mirror the image of Christ to your world the same way the full moon reflects the sun’s light at night. However, the way this can truly happen is not for you to simply acquire more biblical information, nor just to obtain deeper understanding through what He has taught you, but to surrender to His lead and be obedient.

“Not my will Lord, but yours be done in my life.”

Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

II         Teach Me Your Paths

David’s inner cry for the Lord to show him His ways was motivated by his desire to passionately pursue the Father’s heart. Fitting, since David was regarded as a man after God’s heart (1 Sam 13:14). However, this would not have been possible without the Lord’s work in David’s life. God was the One who initiated the whole thing. He placed that desire in David’s heart to pursue Him. But not only did David desire to know God’s ways, he wanted them ingrained in him so that it becomes second nature. Being depraved and sinful by nature, David knew that the Lord’s ways won’t come to him naturally. He will have to be taught…over… and over…and over again until he really gets it. David was not only interested in knowing the Lord’s heart, he wanted to walk with Him. The Lord desired for David to be in deep relationship with Him. David, in turn, being open and responsive to the Lord’s act of sheer grace, responded with a willingness from the heart to be open, humble and teachable. In a way, David was responding to God’s invitation to live relationally with his Maker.

That invitation is made to us today, and has been made towards humanity for years, decades, generations and centuries. The Lord’s invitation was made the loudest 2,000 years ago, when His Son, Jesus, came down to our fallen, sinful, dark, violent, fearful, chaotic world not simply to introduce a new teaching; illuminating hungry minds and hearts with a deeper understanding of Old Testament principles. Nor did He come to simply be the ideal moral example for humanity to follow. He came ultimately as the solution to our problem of sin. The very thing that has separated us from God and has innately oriented our thinking, emotions and will to do and be the very opposite of what our Father has lovingly created us to be. You see, sin is not only a spiritual problem, it’s a relational problem as well. Our broken relationship with God has severely impacted our relationship with each other. Jesus came to restore our broken relationship with God. He took upon Himself our sin, died in our place and conquered death to give us hope in this
life and the next. Through Him we have eternal life, which is being in relationship with the Triune God where we truly learn to live life, grow in His grace and continuously being re-shaped into His wonderful likeness….Christ-likeness that is. Through Jesus we have the incredible opportunity to once again walk with God. Like David’s plea for God to teach him His paths, we echo the same cry through a similar request, “Lord, teach me to love what you love and hate what you hate.” Initially, it sounds childishly simplistic, but when you really think about it, it is deeply profound.

I’m reminded of the dialogue Moses had with the Lord in the wilderness, which very much reflects the sentiment of the above devotional passage,

“Now, therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show
me Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.” (Exodus 33:13)

Moses wanted to understand the Lord’s ways, discern His will, feel His heartbeat, see the world through His eyes, understand His revealed truths, deeply perceive His objective moral standard and, finally, to live in a way that pleases Him, a way that would find grace in His sight.

David echoed that request over 5 centuries later.

But what about you?
Once you’ve seen how different God’s ways are from your own, what is your next move?Will you throw both hands up in the air and say, “Forget this! That’s way too impossible for me!” and then walk away? Or will you humbly respond by saying, “I know your path is THE only right way, but I can’t follow it without Your help. Please teach me Your how to walk in it so I can know You more in a greater way.”

Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.  (Psalm 25:4-5)

This passage is part of a psalm written by David, a prominent psalmist of the Old Testament and perhaps the most famous king that has ever ruled Israel during the monarchical era of the nation’s history. It’s uncertain as to when in his life David wrote Psalm 25, but scholars agree that it is one of the unique psalms with its mixture of the author petitioning God for help and repenting of his past sins. Shortly after he begins this prayer-like plea, David seeks to understand the ways of Yahweh, and the way he shares this is quite interesting because it also outlines for the readers the very manner (or perhaps phases) in which the Lord works in our lives today.

I           “Show me Your ways, O LORD”
Before He does anything else, God first shows us what His ways look like; which are radically different from our own. If you want proof, just read over the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught in Matthew 5. The principles he expounds in this sermon rubs against the very grain of our fallen nature. “But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matt 5:39) Our immediate response to that teaching is, “Excuse me?! I don’t think so! I prefer to leave him bleeding!” Of course Jesus never meant that literally, but was illustrating how we need to resist the innate tendency to retaliate whenever we felt an injustice done to us. We often times hear, “Don’t get mad, get even.” But Jesus says don’t even try to get even. By getting even we feel we are doing ourselves a favour. We want the other party to suffer for the misery or pain they brought on us and the moment they experience it we have this sense of satisfaction, feeling that justice has been served. But what we often perceive as justice, is really nothing more than revenge. The Lord wants us to seek true justice. Justice is never selfishly motivated. We don’t seek justice simply because we’ve been hurt at one time or to make a name for ourselves. We do it simply because it is the right thing to do. It’s THE way to love your neighbour (not the guy who lives next door or across the street, but the stranger you don’t know, in fact, as in the case of Jesus’ parable, the Good Samaritan, even your enemy). God’s form of justice is to seek for the good of others, not for your own sake, but for theirs.

There are also moments when God’s ways seem rather strange, as in the case with the weird military strategies he had Joshua employed in Joshua 6 and king Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. His approach may seem so bogus at times that it defies logic….at least our level of logic. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18) clearly implies that God is not the least bit anti-logical, but rather operates in a logical way that infinitely transcends our own. After all, He is the Author of logic who created humankind with the capacity to reason, but we must never forget what He said in Isa 55:8-9,

⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God has consistently shown throughout the course of biblical history that His ways are the superior way and are for our best interest. We do well to follow them; and not just His ways, but Himself as well. God’s most personal revelation of Himself to humanity was through His Son, Jesus Christ, who has already shown us that He is indeed THE way to the Father and eternal life…..no one else.

Jesus said to him,
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Our cry:
“Show me your ways oh Lord!”
Jesus responds:
“I did. My question to you is, will you now follow Me?”

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of
skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

Mercy triumphs over judgement. (James 2:13b)

Yes, both Adam and Eve dropped the ball, big time! But, instead of ending their lives and closing the chapter early for humanity right at that moment, God graciously provided a means to cover their nakedness, their sin and their shame.  This came at a cost….the life of another. The Lord created tunics from animal skins to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. The tunics were far more appropriate than the less than adequate fig leaves they sowed
together for themselves. In place of our first parent’s pathetic attempt to cover their shame, God provided the means for them to be covered at no cost to them, but at a great cost to another. From the very beginning we are given the pattern of how God will redeem fallen humanity.

Mercy was granted when blood was spilt; no doubt foreshadowing what will one day take place near the beginning of the 1st century on a cruel, unforgiving Roman cross. The tunics the Lord gave them served as a reminder to Adam and Eve that life was sacrificed in order for them to be spared from what they truly deserved; the full fury of God’s judgement. Some Old Testament scholars believe that the practice of offering sacrifices to God was likely passed down from Adam since then (as implied in the dramatic account involving the offerings of his sons Cain & Abel in Genesis 4:3-5) to serve as a reminder of what God graciously did to spare humanity from annihilation.

However, as much as it reminded them of the past it would also serve as a reminder of what He will do one day in the future, when this temporary solution will be replaced by a more permanent one. This particular sacrifice will be different from all the others.
Rather than being for a single person, family, ethnic group, or nation, this
sacrifice will be for all of humanity. In this significant, historical sacrificial act, it won’t be the blood of an animal that will be spilt, but the blood of the Son of God Himself. The cross has forever become the symbol of God’s love for us; a reminder of how He allowed His incredible mercy to spare us from His divine justice.

So What?…….

Our first parents’ attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves to hide their shame is a perfect picture of how we today continue to attempt to resolve our deeper problem of sin through religious moralism.

We think that by following a list religious traditions, duties and obligations, or simply by being good, we can acquire God’s favour, blessing and even divine pardon. But Scripture is clear that this is not the case at all! God’s favour has been granted to us, not by what we do, but what He has already done for us through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). As God provided tunics to be a superior covering for our first parents, He has covered us with His robe of righteousness that is vastly superior to any robe we can weave for ourselves through our own religious moralism. We did nothing to deserve God’s goodness and have done everything to deserve His divine justice. But God is
merciful. He demonstrated that to our first parents, He revealed it to all the intriguing personalities we find throughout Scripture, and He continues to show us His mercy each day. Let’s remember the words of Psalm 145:8-9,

“The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.”