PENTECOST • 20

What Does Standing Firm in God Look Like?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

SET PRAYER

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

reading for: Tuesday Night, 11 October

Luke 18:1-8

Standing Firm in Persistent Prayer

  • READ

    At first glance, we might think that Jesus is teaching about persistence in prayer, but it is much more. It is actually an assurance to God’s children that God will surely come through His Son and when He returns, He comes with divine justice for those who are longing for it.

    The description of the scene between the widow and the unrighteous judge (v1 – 5), is given to provide contrast to what the relationship is like between believers and God.

    The judge is totally godless and lacking even in fundamental human ethics and morals “neither feared God nor respected man” (v4), while the widow is defenseless and helpless.

    The widow has to persistently beg and hound the unrighteous judge while he avoids and delays helping her before he finally gives in out of frustration and metes out justice on her behalf. Jesus tells this story to make the point that if an unrighteous judge will ultimately give-in to a persistent seeker, HOW MUCH MORE will God, their Heavenly Father be ready to give to His children whom He loves?

    So for believers, God will ‘give justice…speedily’ to his ‘elect’ (v7 – 8). God is the total opposite to the unjust judge. So God’s children are to persistently ask God for the justice the midst of suffering and unfairness. We are to give up pursuing God for His righteousness’ sake. Yet, because of who God is and who we are, there is no reason to frantically assault his door or nag him for a response. He already knows our plight and the exact measure of justice that we need, and we are to have faith in God and trust in Him to be our avenger at His return. And as the Apostle Paul reminds, us “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”” Romans 12:19. For on the Day when the Lord returns, he will judge the corrupt and ‘avenge the blood of his servants’ (Rev 19:2)

    So while living between Christ’s First Coming and His Second Coming, will God’s ‘elect’ be still be longing for God’s righteousness or would they have given up through compromise, numbness or hopelessness? “‘when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth’ (v8)?

  • REFLECT

    Prayer is essential to living righteously in the world while waiting for the fullness of the kingdom. Our capacity to be faithful is dependent on prayer.  How strong and healthy is your prayer-life?

reading for: Wednesday Night, 12 October

Genesis 32:22-31

Standing Firm for Transformation

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Jacob is cornered and desperate. He has nowhere to go. He can’t go back because he has just stolen from his uncle Laban and he is running away from him (Gen 30:25-31:55). He can’t go forward because he had also stolen from his brother Esau’s inheritance and Esau might want to kill him. So, he makes preparations to meet Esau (Gen 32:1-21) but also sends his family to safety first.

In that desperate situation, God comes to attack and wrestle Jacob. The fact that the match lasts the whole night till daybreak is significant. The darkness symbolized Jacob’s situation. Fear and uncertainty seized him. If Jacob had known that he was to fight God, he would never have engaged in the fight, let alone have continued all night.

On the other hand the fact that the wrestling lasts till daybreak suggests a long, decisive bout. In fact, the attacker does not defeat Jacob till He resorts to something extraordinary – when he touches Jacob so that his hip goes out of joint. Jacob has now encountered Someone he could never defeat.

Nevertheless, though crippled and unable to win, Jacob clings to his attacker for a blessing. Then both the identity of the Attacker and the significance of the fight dawns on Jacob. Once He realizes who his Assailant is (v. 28) Jacob holds on desperately, pleading for a blessing. It is significant that in response to Jacob’s request for a blessing the Man asked ... What is your name? When we recall that in the Old Testament a person’s name is linked to his nature, the point becomes clear: Jacob’s pattern of life had to be radically changed! In saying his name, Jacob had to reveal his whole nature. Here the “heel-catcher” was caught, and had to confess his true nature before he could be blessed.

The blessing took the form of a new name—Israel. This name probably means “God fights”. The explanation was then given that Jacob had fought with God and with men. It is easy to comprehend his having fought with men but that he fought “with God” is more difficult to understand. Throughout Jacob’s entire life he had been dragging God’s blessing out under all circumstances for his own use, by his own schemes. He was too self-willed and too proud to let the blessing be given to him.

So “God fights” was now his name. This meant, first, that God chose, because of Jacob’s stubbornness and pride, to fight against him. Second, it meant that God would fight for Israel.

  • REFLECT

    When you are in a desperate situation and feel ‘attacked’ by God, what do you do? What might be His purpose or intention for allowing the suffering you are going through? What might be a greater priority for God than giving you what you want? What might the final outcome be for you when you don’t give up and continue to wrestle with God?

reading for: Thursday Night, 13 October

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Standing Form in Discouragement

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    This passage is part of a larger section that runs from 3:10 to 4:8. The force of 3:14–4:5 depends upon the references to the life of Paul in 3:10–13 and 4:6–8. In these passages Paul models the experience and behaviour that he encourages Timothy with in 3:14–4:5.

    The opening challenge to “continue in what you have learned … knowing from whom you learned it” (3:14) effectively summarizes the central purpose of the entire letter. Timothy is presented as wavering in his commitments to the duties and difficulties of his calling. The Apostle Paul’s encouragement is to anchor him with phrases like “rekindle the gift of God” (1:6), “do not be ashamed” (1:8), “be strong in the grace” (2:1), “remember Jesus Christ” (2:8), and “continue in what you have learned” (3:14).  

    Paul’s encouragement comes to Timothy in the face of suffering, the shame that suffering produces, and the puzzling experience of being abandoned by the people he is trying to lead. The prediction that “the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine” (4:3) conveys this experience of abandonment. While the letter elsewhere addresses the presence of false teachers in the persons of Hymenaeus and Philetus (2:16–17), in the prediction of “distressing times” when these false teachers will gather followers in the community (3:1–9), and in the list of people who opposed Paul (1:15; 4:9–16), here the problem is in the community itself. They have “itching ears” and collect teachers who will scratch those ears (4:3–4).

    The relationship between Christian communities and their leaders is, more often than not, accompanied by controversy. Nowhere does the letter explain what is at stake in the tensions between Timothy and the community. Communities reject their leaders for all kinds of reasons, some good, some bad. Yet Paul encourages Timothy to continue to shoulder the burdens and difficulties of leadership. He is to “be persistent” in good times and bad, to “rebuke and encourage” but to do so “with the utmost patience,” to “endure suffering,” to “do the work of an evangelist” (4:2–5). The virtues and duties of leadership are extensive.

    The encouraging news of the letter is that Timothy is not in this by himself. Even if his community rejects him, he is surrounded by support. Timothy has memories of his mother and grandmother (1:5) and of Paul himself (3:10–11; 4:6–8). He is surrounded by people. He is also surrounded by sound tradition. The Christian tradition that Timothy has inherited is sound, reliable. It comes from reliable people. Thus, Timothy must not abandon it simply because some people will not listen to it. He must continue in what he has learned (3:14).

    In the context of this tradition, the Paul adds a comment about the inspiration of Scripture (3:15–17). “All Scripture is breathed out by God” Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” In other words, of all the sound tradition that supports the tasks of leadership, the most important and productive is that of Scripture itself.

  • REFLECT

    As you look back on the last 9 months of 2022, how have you grown in your knowledge of God through Scripture? How might Scripture anchor you in your own leadership role at work, at home or among friends? Take steps to equip yourself.

reading for: Friday Night, 14 October

Psalm 121

Standing Firm for the Long Haul

  • READ

    The pilgrim-psalmist, contemplating his journey through the hills to Jerusalem, finds assurance that the Lord, the Keeper of Israel, will keep him at all times on his journey.

    In verses 1-2, the pilgrim-psalmist, as he contemplated his journey through the hills to Jerusalem, asks where his help came from. He finds the answer to his question in the affirmation of his faith that the LORD, who created heaven and earth—with those hills—was his only Source of help.

    In verses 3-8 the person changes from “I” and “my” (v. 1-2) to “you” and “your.” These verses are therefore the words of someone, perhaps a priest, accompanying the pilgrim.

    In verses 3-4, the person speaking assures the pilgrim that he will have divine protection. God, who watches over (v. 5, 7-8) His own, will not slumber or sleep, that is, He will not be indifferent to or disregard them. The Lord will be alert in protecting His own.

    In verses 5-6, the assurance is then given that the LORD will protect the pilgrim at all times. The Keeper of Israel (v. 4) is the pilgrim’s Keeper as well, protecting him as a shade protects from the blazing sun. The sun and the moon stand for dangers that occur in the day and in the night.

    In verses 7-8, the psalm closes with the psalmist’s renewed affirmation that the LORD will keep and watch over (v. 3-5) the pilgrim from all harm at all times (v. 7-8).

  • REFLECT

    How has the Lord protected you this year or in this season of your life? Take some time to reflect, remember and give thanks.

Season of PentecostCNL