aroona

It’s not very often that I finish a book in under a day, unless it’s in the New Testament, and even then there are a couple which take some time.  But this weeks Monday holiday + rain + family occupied + work staying in the office, all added up to the perfect time to at least start a book I’d picked up in the US.  I didn’t expect to finish it the same day.

Son of Hamas is the story, so far, of Mosab Hassan Yousef, the eldest son of Sheik Hassan Yousef one of the founders and leaders of Hamas.  Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic resistance movement in the West Bank and Gaza, and listed by the USA, EU and others as a terrorist organisation.

Mosab grew up in Ramallah, about 10km north of Jerusalem and at a young age began to fight back against the Israeli authorities.  As a child he saw his father arrested and jailed for months at a time and he himself was eventually arrested by the Israelis, eventually reaching a point where he agreed to spy on Hamas for Shin Bet (Israeli Internal security service).  His involvement with the Hamas leadership made him a valuable asset to Shin Bet and over the ten years he was working for them he prevented many attacks and assassinations by Hamas. During this time he was impacted by the teachings of Jesus Christ and eventually accepted the truth that Jesus is Lord and his saviour.

The book is a great testimony, helped me to understand some of what has been happening in the Middle East and motivated me to learn more about Islamic beliefs and Middle Eastern history.

Son of Hamas Facebook page

In my Bible reading this morning in Matthew, it struck me again this ability we have to choose to obey Jesus, or not. After Jesus was baptised and tempted in the wilderness He was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and came across Peter and his brother Andrew who were casting a net out into the water. Im assuming they were after some bait fish or something as they were fishermen and not likely to be making a living out of what could be caught just there. I dont know if they saw Jesus getting baptised or not. I dont know if they even knew or had heard of Jesus.

We are told that Jesus said to them “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!” (Matthew 4.19) Maybe a bizarre offer, but their response was to immediately follow Jesus. I assume that I would do the same – I mean, really, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, creator and sustainer of the whole universe and if I was there and He said that to me, Im sure that I could not make a choice any different than Peter and Andrew!

Later on Jesus meets Matthew the tax collector and says “Follow me!” – what does Matthew do – exactly what Jesus said, he got up and followed Him. Yeah I think, Id do the same. Between these two events Jesus tells demons to leave two blokes and they do, He also tells the wind and the sea to calm down and they do, he tells a paralysed man to walk home and he does. Jesus is Lord. His word is powerful.

But then these two blind guys are met by Jesus (Matt 9.27) and ask to be healed. He heals them and then tells them not to tell anyone about it………actually in the HCSB it says “Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no-one finds out!” Three other guys leave their jobs when Jesus simply says “Follow me”, and yet these two blind guys get a stern command and………dont do what Jesus says but instead spread the news about Jesus through the whole area. What a contrast to the last few commands we read about.

The message for me in all this was simply, to obey Jesus. Build my house on the rock, on the solid foundation of His Word. Rather than assume I’d be like Peter, Andrew or Matthew and just obey uncontrollably I need to remember that like all of us, I have a choice and need to make the wise one in everything.  Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

The edge homegroups finished an eight week study of Ephesians last night and what a truly great few weeks it has been! As we got into scripture we heard of the spiritual blessings we have as children of God, we heard of God’s great mercy and grace, we learned how much He equips and enables us to do His work, and we were told how to live in the light of that knowledge. It’s been exciting, challenging and humbling.

In Ephesians 4 Paul urges us not to be “spiritual infants tossed around by every wind of teaching”. Men, let’s not be “spiritual babes” who simply acknowledge God’s existence but let us be real men who seek to know God and make Him known. “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3.16,17). God has given us His Word. Clearly, He wants us to know Him fully through His word…..

With Christmas coming, the next few weeks are often the quickest and perhaps busiest of the year. Before we know it – January is nearly over! During this time make time to get into God’s Word, giving the Holy Spirit opportunity to reveal God and His will to you. Dont wait for things to happen. Set your mind on things above and what the Spirit desires (Rom 8.5) that you may be men worthy of the calling God has given you.

How do you get into God’s Word?

What is it thats “works” for you?

originally published as an article on www.thelakes.org.au

This morning I was sitting at my work desk and couldn’t get comfortable. Something just wasn’t right. Something was niggling away and had me shifting in my seat, I couldn’t sort it out. Finally, I stood up and realised I had my car keys in my back pocket………..

Pain is the body’s way of letting us know that something isn’t right. It’s an uncomfortable feeling that hopefully makes us stop and think and investigate before we continue whatever it is we are doing. We know when something isn’t right because we aren’t usually in pain so its easy to recognise something isn’t “normal”. Hopefully……

If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness – 1 Timothy 4.6-7

Here Paul makes it absolutely clear to Timothy to be discerning and men his words need to be heard just as clearly by us. Discernment is the skill of separating truth from error. Paul urges Timothy to continue in the truths of the faith and the teaching which he has received. Why? So that he would know the difference between truth and error and have nothing to do with myths and godless ideas, or philosophies of the world. These things were creeping into the church and Paul wanted Timothy to be equipped to contend for the faith and teach others the same. He hammered Titus with the same message too (Titus 1.9).

Men if we don’t know the truth of God’s Word from scripture, if our “house” isn’t built on the rock – we will be “like a child tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching” (Ephesians 4.14). When scriptural mis-interpretations and flaky doctrines are presented to us we wont know any different – wont feel uncomfortable – unless the foundational teachings of our faith are in order.

Now just because you are uncomfortable about something doesn’t always mean it’s wrong – we can only

measure what’s right and true when we line it up with scripture. Scripture is a “light on our path” (Psalm 119.105) it “corrects us and trains us” (2 Tim 3.16). Luke commended the men of Berea not for being ‘noddys’ – simply nodding ‘yes’ in agreement, but because they “examined the scriptures” to confirm the truth of the teaching they were hearing from Paul and Silas (Acts 17.11).

Some of us can be incredibly discerning when making our footy tips each week, or when deciding where to best invest our money, or when analysing food labels or when selecting a bottle of wine. But if we neglect Biblical discernment we become susceptible to following error. Discernment and spiritual maturity go hand-in-hand. We need to be feeding on the solid food of His Word and strive to consistently grow in our spiritual maturity.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed , correctly teaching the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2.15

Proverbs 4.25-27 – “fix your gaze, consider your path, keep your feet from evil”

Proverbs 14.6 – “Knowledge comes easily to the discerning.”

Proverbs 14.33 – “Wisdom resides in the heart of the discerning.”

Proverbs 16.21 – “The wise in heart are called discerning.”

Proverbs 17.24 – “wisdom is the focus of the perceptive.”

originally published as an article on www.thelakes.org.au