Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God

Author Archives: Giles


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1. Worth – Known By God – Part 1

Psalm 139:1-6

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

We live in a day of proliferating knowledge, where what we know is doubling every 18 months. But regardless of how much we know what is still the most important aspect of knowledge is for us to be known. Deep down we all want not only to be noticed but to be known. We want to know that we matter and in Psalm 139 we discover that there is one who not only knows about us but wants us and desires for us to get to know Him because He cares for us. David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote this Psalm for the director of music. It was written to be used in worship, to exalt the majesty of God, the all-knowing, ever present, all powerful God. The first word in this Psalm is the Hebrew word Yahweh, the great “I AM.” He is the great covenant keeping God of Israel, the One who keeps His Word. It’s here in Psalm 139 that David teaches us more than just great doctrines about God, He shows us how these truths about God relate to our lives today. Knowing God better is the solution to most of our problems, because it provides us with solutions and helps us to know how to handle them. Knowing God better will make us more loving which will enabling us to get along with others more. It also solves a lot of our marital trials and tensions as well as other inter-personal problems. Knowing God can fill us with joy. Knowing God better relieves our worries and provides lasting peace. Knowing God better can free us from fear. Knowing God better doesn’t just benefit our lives it blesses us and is well worth the time it takes. In verses 1-6 David reveals a powerful aspect of our Creator’s character, His omniscience. He knows everything, including knowing you and knowing me. The truth of God’s omniscience is seen in many different scriptures in the bible, here are just a few:

1 Samuel 2:3: “…the Lord is a God who knows…”

1 John 3:20: “God…knows everything.”

Psalm 147:5: “Great is our Lord…His understanding has no limit.”

Proverbs 15:3: “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Not only does He know about us but He knows us completely and thoroughly, He knows us intimately. There is a story told about a mother who was asked by a census taker how many children she had. Her and her husband had a large family, so she started to go through all her children, “Oh, let’s see now, there’s Billy, and there’s Harry, and there’s Martha, and there’s…” To which the census taker got a little impatient and annoyed with her, and said, “Never mind their names, just give me the number!” To which the mother replied, “They don’t have numbers, they all have names!” You may be a number to the world but you are not a number to God, you are a name, a person that He cares deeply about. The first thing that David reveals about our omniscience, all knowing God is that:

  • He knows us completely (1-6)

Verse 1 says: “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.” You is emphatic in the original Hebrew and the word “search” literally means “to dig.” It was a word that was often used in the search for precious metals or valuable gems. Picture for a moment someone panning for gold in a stream; they would sift through their pan very thoroughly so as to be careful not to miss any gold. The word search doesn’t just mean to look but to pay attention. Another way to look at this word is to picture an archeological dig where archeologists are trying to find fossils that will give them a picture of the past. Whenever someone on the dig site believes that they may have come across something of value, the archeologists in charge of the dig is notified and everyone focuses their efforts on removing the dirt so they can discover what lies beneath. This is not something that is rushed, they pay attention and very carefully and gently scrutinizing everything that they do. They brush the dust off very carefully, and catalog everything accurately. They do this with the entire area, leaving no stone unturned. You see that is the picture of how God searches us and how God thoroughly knows us. God cares about every aspect of our lives, He knows us completely, inside out. God doesn’t just look on our outward appearance but on the heart, the real us. He knows what makes our hearts beat with passion as well as what makes them beat with fear. He knows our dreams as well as our dreads. He knows us through and through, fully and completely. I want you to think about being loved, specifically a time in your life when you felt truly loved by someone else. What was it that made you feel loved? You see while the circumstances of our love moments may differ from each other, there are at least two common threads woven into the fabric of each one. First we were known and second we were accepted. Not only did they know us at a level deeper than the norm, but they knew things about us that most other people didn’t. Yet despite really knowing us, even the ugly parts of our hearts they accept and want us. You see for love to be complete, we need to be both known and accepted. Because to be accepted without being known is shallow, while being known and not accepted is painful. We have a God who searches us, who knows us as if He had taken us apart bit by bit, atom by atom. Yet despite knowing us intimately He doesn’t reject us, He wants us. Many of us work hard to fit in and be wanted, even being willing to conform to the culture and go against who we really are. Yet here we find a Creator who loves us where we are, we don’t have to perform to be acceptance. So what are you basing your worth on, what the world says or what the Word says?

 


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31 The Prodigal, the Pouter and the Pardoning Son – Part 3

Luke 23:33-34

33 “When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. 34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.”

The last truth we see from Christ’s cry from the cross is:

  1. The victory of love.

Not only did Jesus request forgiveness for the unforgivable but he did it immediately after being impaled on the cross. He didn’t wait till His hurts had healed, or to see if they would come around and respond in repentance. He chose to forgive when man was displaying his worst, when the horror of the human heart was revealed in all its vile ugliness. He chose forgiveness in the face of wickedness, when creation executed the creator. It was divine love that triumphed and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” We see the response to this prayer in the proclamation of the centurion who in Mark 15:39 said “Surely this man was the Son of God!” As well as one of the criminals who was crucified next to Christ and called out for salvation, Luke 23:42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” This prayer was also answered in a profound way on the Day of Pentecost where in Acts 2:41 we read that 3,000 people were saved in one day. It was modeled by Stephen as he was murdered in Acts 7:60: “He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.” Christ’s prayer was also answered when Paul, who was complicit in the murder of Stephen, met Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 and was saved. The power of this prayer is still being seen today when people repent, turning from their sins and placing their faith in Jesus Christ. In that moment the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and the Father declares us forgiven. Jesus shows us that love always triumphs over hate. When Samson came to the end of his life his revenge caused him to take others with him when he died. In contrast Christ desired to take his enemies to life through his death, He not only prayed for them but He died for them. As Jesus said in John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay His life down for His friends.” What held Jesus to the cross wasn’t man made nails it was the Messiah’s love. So what are you going to do in light of His love? Now it’s your move and I am going to pose two questions to help you make your move. First:

  1. Have you been forgiven?

Some of you may feel like you are beyond being forgiven, but if Jesus can forgive those who killing Him, then He can forgive you. The power of Christ’s prayer on the cross is that no one is beyond salvation; regardless of your failure you can be forgiven. None of us are good enough to save ourselves but no one is so bad that God cannot save them. Today you come face to face with forgiveness, what will you do, do you want it, and will you receive it? The price has been paid and the path has been laid, the question is will you accept the payment and allow it to be applied to your account? And will you follow the path laid out for you in God’s Word and commit to walk in it as a believer? The second question is this:

  1. Have you forgiven others?

It has been said that forgiveness is the virtue we profess to believe but fail to practice. In theory forgiveness is not hard to comprehend but in practice it is always harder to live out. The word “forgive” comes to us from the world of commerce and banking, where it refers to cancelling a debt or pardoning a loan. When it comes to our debt with the Deity we are grateful to God for canceling our debt but how many of us are unwilling to follow His forgiveness and cancel the debts done to us? If we would pay attention to the word forgive we would see that within it we find the word give. Forgiveness is not just something we get but something we can give. To forgive is to cancel the debt of others so that they never have to pay us back for what they’ve done to us. It means to share God’s grace with those who doesn’t deserve it. But many of us are like the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18, we beg for forgiveness from the master but then turn around and beat those who owe us. Why don’t we forgive because we want others to pay for the pain they have caused us, but what if on the cross Christ had had this same mentality and tried to make us pay? When we try to make others pay we are the ones who end up paying the price because we are the ones who end up stuck in a prison of pain. Many people today continually relive the pain done to them because they live in the hate of revenge instead of the hope redemption. The key to forgiving others is to remember how much Christ has forgiven you. In Ephesians 4:32 we find these words: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” In order to forgive we must focus first on our forgiveness. We need to come back to the cross and hear the first shout from the Savior: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” What if Christians became an oasis of forgiveness in this dry and dusty desert we call life. As a pastor I still find forgiveness easier to preach than to practice, partly because I want to focus on my feelings and feed my flesh instead of focusing on the Father and His forgiveness. It’s also that forgiveness costs, it cost Christ His life and it will cost you. When we forgive we chose to release the right for revenge and let go of our anger and bitterness. In order to practice what Jesus preached I want you to take a piece of paper and at the top write the words, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they’re doing” On the left side, write down all the times people have hurt you in the past. When you’re finished, to the right add this one word in large letters next to each offense: Forgiven…Forgiven…Forgiven. When you’re all done, take the paper and rip it up. So let me ask you have you been forgiven, and what are you going to do with God’s gift of grace, will you forgive those who have sinned against you?