The Jehoshaphat Strategy

In 2 Chronicles 20, we find the extraordinary story of Jehoshaphat who, when faced with an impossible situation (an army of overwhelming size), discovered a unique and seemingly counter-intuitive solution. In verses 2-4, we find this account:

"Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, 'A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar' (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him."

Jehoshaphat's first reaction was one of alarm, but he immediately "resolved to inquire of the Lord."

What happens next is significant for me, particularly in the light of this weekend. So I want to walk through the following events briefly, then explore the practical implications for our lives.

Jehoshaphat's prayer is found in 2 Chronicles 20:6-12:

"O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'

'But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

As I read Jehoshaphat's prayer, I noticed that it contained three parts:

1. A focus on the Lord (verses 6-9)


2. A plea for help (verses 10-11)


3. A refocus on the Lord (verse 12)

I notice this happens a lot in scriptural examples of prayer (see Acts 4:24-30). Rather than focusing on the need itself, the biblical pattern is first to exalt the Lord. This shift of focus from the need to God is, I believe, an important element of faith itself, since faith by definition is God-centric, not need-centric.

The Lord then speaks through Jahaziel the prophet, and brings this direction to the people of Judah in 2 Chronicles 20:15-17:

"Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'"

What is remarkable about this prophecy is that it contains two clear instructions:

1. You will not need to fight this battle (because God will fight for you)




2. March down against them and take up your positions

These two instructions might appear, at first glance, to be contradictory. If they didn't need to fight this battle, why take up battle positions? If the battle is the Lord's, and not theirs, why face the enemy in the first place?

But this is a beautiful picture of how faith works. Faith is about trusting God, but it also about taking an active step in response to that trust.

The next morning, Jehoshaphat rehearses the words of the Lord again before the people, and then verse 21 tells us:

"After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: 'Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.'"

I'd never realised that before. God didn't actually instruct Jehoshaphat to put singers at the front of his army; all he had said was:

• "...the battle is not yours, but God's."


• "Tomorrow march down against them."


• "You will not have to fight this battle."


• "Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you."


• "Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you."

Yet such was the faith of the people that they decided that the way they would enact these instructions was through a spirit of worship. Once again, this was simple faith in action. Like Jehoshaphat's initial prayer, this strategy was designed to shift the focus from the need to God. Through worship, they shifted their attention from the enemy to the Lord.

2 Chronicles 20:22-23 then records the result of this worship strategy:

"As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

This morning I wasn't feeling 100%. Although I've had no serious ADR (adverse drug reaction) to the chemotherapy (a wonderful answer to prayer), fatigue has been a major hurdle for me. But, regardless, I was determined to join the worship team on stage at Evangelical Community Church for the 9am morning service. For me this was an important step for a number of reasons:

• I want to express my faith in practical ways, and taking this step of faith was an important way I could do this.

• It is important for the church to see me, not just as a recipient of prayer, but as someone who is facing my challenges positively and proactively

• This is for me an enactment of the Jehoshaphat strategy - worship is, so to speak, the frontline in my battle against cancer.

Praise and worship have always been an important part of my walk with the Lord, but I'm stirred again to enter into a new dimension in this area. And so my battle cry, like that of Jehoshaphat, is:

"Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."

Total Love, Total Identification

In yesterday's post, I shared just a fraction of what I'm discovering about the amazing grace of God. Today I want to take this one stage further and explore one particular aspect of that grace - an aspect which has great bearing on my own personal walk with the Lord right now.

In 1 John 3:1, John describes God's mercy and grace as a "lavishing" of God's love upon us:

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!..."

The Amplified Bible brings out 1 John 3:1 in this way:

"See what [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are!..."

This "lavishing" of love, however, is not just a past-tense event, but an on-going experience, for Romans 5:5 tell us:

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

God's love is not an abstract feeling or a distant affirmation, but rather an active intervention in the here-and-now - the result of the "ever-present God" pro-actively participating in our lives. And it was in the sending of Jesus (historically) and is in our connection with Jesus (presently) that this love has an ever-present expression in our lives. After all, Jesus himself said in John 15:13:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

In a similar vein, Romans 5:8 explains the practical nature of God's love:

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

And so it is in the death and resurrection of Christ - the work of the Cross itself - that we see both the love of God and the grace of God in full force. On the Cross, Jesus' total love resulted in total identification with my humanity. As Isaiah 53:4-5 explains:

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

The Message renders Isaiah 53:4-5 in this way:

"But the fact is, it was our pains he carried -
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him - our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed."

In the New Testament, Matthew 8:17 specifically applies this to the healing ministry of Jesus, even before the Cross itself:

"This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.'"

Peter takes this up further in 1 Peter 2:24, applying this prophecy to the Cross itself:

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

This fact is so significant that it alters forever the way that I not only view my relationship with the Lord, but also the healing I seek from him. As The Amplified Bible puts it:

"He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."

The whole purpose of the Cross was a total identification with my condition in such a way that Jesus not only should die for me, but that I should "die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness"! In the same way, this same verse indicates that the purpose of the Cross is also that I should "die (cease to exist) to [sickness] and "live to [health]." As The Message puts Isaiah 53:4, God wasn't just interested in solving my sin problem, but resolving all my "disfigurements, all the things wrong with [me]."

This is a profound and life-changing understanding of the atonement of the Cross. Time and again, the Cross is described in terms of a total exchange of one type of life for another (2 Corinthians 5:17). Not only did Jesus die for me (he identified with me, through sacrifice, 100% on the Cross), but I also died in him (I now identify with him, by faith, 100% on the Cross). Just take a look at these verses:

• Romans 6:6 - "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin..."

• Galatians 3:13 - "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'"

• Galatians 6:14 - "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

• Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

In these passages of Scripture, we discover that on the Cross, Jesus became for me:

1. Sin


2. Sickness


3. My old self


4. The curse

No wonder Paul, when writing to the Corinthians regarding the numerous problems that needed to be resolved, declared in 1 Corinthians 2:2:

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

The Cross is God's sole solution to the predicament of human life, and Paul knew that if he deviated even slightly from the message of the Cross, this would result in "the cross of Christ be[ing] emptied of its power" (1 Corinthians 1:17). In the same way, I must take the same approach in my life. It is all about the Cross of Christ. It is all about, not just the sacrifice of Jesus itself, but the total identification that this sacrifice means for me. My sin is resolved on the Cross, as is my old self. Not only that, but also my sickness and the very curse itself (note all the curses of Deuterononomy 28:15-68, particularly verses 60-61).

That's the amazing thing for me about God's grace. Jesus actually took on himself my sickness. He actually became the very curse of my sickness itself. On the Cross, cancer was crucified in Christ. He became that dreaded illness and so God dealt a death blow, not just to the cause of the illness, but to the very illness itself.

This profoundly changes the way I now approach healing. I'm no longer in a position where I'm simply asking God to act on my behalf; I'm now extending faith to an established fact - the fact that God has already established my healing for me through the death of Jesus upon the Cross. This is one of the blessings I have already been blessed with "in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). This is part of the "everything" that I have already been given "for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" (2 Peter 1:3).

Total grace, total love, total identification. This is the starting point of my life. But now my faith kicks in, not just to appropriate this established fact for myself, but to complete the loop. I'm now called to love the one who loved me. I'm now called to identify 100% with Jesus, just as he identified 100% with me. And so today, this dual identification defines my day.

Lord, like Paul, my desire is to "know [Christ] and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings..." (Philippians 3:10). I want to experience "the fullness of his grace" (John 1:16) today.

Announcement - Accessing Posts in Chronological Order

I've set up a webpage where you can access a list of my posts in "The Journey" in true chronological order (as opposed to reverse chronlological order, which is the default for the blogsite). This makes it easier particularly for new visitors to read the posts in the order they were originally written.

A link called "Read in Chronological Order" can now be found in the right-hand panel, or you can click on the following link:

http://www.online-bible-college.com/journey/

This chronological list of posts will also be updated on a daily basis, as each new post is submitted.

Amazing Grace

This is now the third day after the commencement of my chemotherapy, and I'm amazed at God's grace in my life. Probably even the word "amazed" is an understatement: I think "overwhelmed" would be more appropriate. For the last several days, whenever I've felt apprehension at the upcoming chemotherapy, the quiet assurance of the Lord has been there for me: "Trust me. I will be for you the resurrection and the life!" And now I've witnessed God's total faithfulness to his promise - not that I should be surprised at this, but to tell you the truth, I can't help but be amazed!

The song "Amazing Grace" has been a theme for the last couple of days, and so I'd like to share with you just what I believe is so amazing about this grace that God gives. I'm going to take you for a brief tour of the Bible in order to uncover just what God's grace is and why it is so far beyond our ability to grasp in even one sitting. At the end, we'll understand better why many of the New Testament writers started or ended their letters so frequently with an expression such as, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ...be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14), and why the very last verse of the Bible reads, "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen" (Revelation 22:21).

First of all, let's take a look at the "amazing" aspect of God's grace. Here is a sample of how the Bible describes the grace of God (and notice the superlative adjectives used in connection with the word "grace'):

• Romans 5:15 - "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!"

• Romans 5:17 - "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

• Romans 5:20 - "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more..."

• 2 Corinthians 9:8 - "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

• 2 Corinthians 9:14 - "And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you."

• Ephesians 1:7-8 - "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

• Ephesians 2:6-7 - "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

• 1 Timothy 1:14 - "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."

• 2 Peter 1:2 - "Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

Do you notice all the words used to describe the grace of God? Here's a summary...

• Overflowing grace!


• Abundant provision of grace!


• Grace increased all the more!


• God is able to make all grace abound to you!


• The surpassing grace God has given you!


• The riches of God's grace that he lavished on us!


• The incomparable riches of his grace!


• The grace of our Lord was poured on me abundantly!


• Grace be yours in abundance!

Time and again, the Bible reveals the superlative nature of God's grace. For example, in Ephesians 3:8, Paul connects the grace of God with "the unsearchable riches of Christ." Later, the Lord would speak into Paul's own experience with the words: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). In fact, Paul's own personal growth in the Lord was a process of discovery of the very grace that he writes of so frequently in his letters, climaxing in the statement found in 1 Corinthians 15:10:

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

For me, too, my journey is one of a deeper discovery of God's grace in my life, and what better place, as Paul himself discovered, than in times of weakness, for it is there that, according to The Amplified Bible, God's grace "and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God is called "the God of all grace" (1 Peter 5:10), but I am called to "grow in [that] grace" (2 Peter 3:18). And in order to grow in this grace, made so abundantly available to me in Jesus, I need to "[understand] God's grace in all its truth" (Colossians 1:6).

One of the first things I need to understand is that the grace of God is something I "step into" and "stand in" by faith (remember how much the Lord has been impressing on me the imperative of faith this last week?). Romans 5:1-2 tells us:

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand..."

You may notice that there are two things this verse reveals about the nature of God's grace:

1. It is "through our Lord Jesus Christ" that God's grace has been made available to us (note John 1:14-17).

2. It is "through faith" that we have "gained access...into this grace in which we now stand" (note Ephesians 2:8-9).

The fact is that it is in Jesus Christ that God's grace is not just revealed but also delivered to me. I was reading 2 Timothy 1:9-10 today, and was amazed at what it revealed about grace:

"[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Do you notice the two things revealed in this passage?

1. The grace of God was given in Jesus "before the beginning of time"

2. The grace of God has now been revealed "through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus"

This scripture shows once again the "ever-present God" in action - as well as the fact that Jesus being "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8 is not just a theological concept but has practical application in my life on a daily basis. For the grace of God has been there all along in Christ Jesus "before the beginning of time", and yet only now do I appropriate that grace "through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus" in my life today!

It might be good at this point to give a biblical definition of what the word "grace" actually means. In the Greek, it is the word charisma, which can actually be translated into English in two ways:

1. The undeserved favour of God toward me (Romans 3:23-24)

2. The enabling power of God in my life (Romans 6:14; Titus 2:11-12)

I suggest you download the Online Bible College lesson called "Grace" for a more in-depth study of this subject.

I need to understand both of these dimensions of God's grace in my life, so that, like Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10, I can say:

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

Most Christians understand the first dimension of grace's meaning. Simply put, grace is God not counting my sins against me, but pouring out his love and forgiveness in my life, even though I don't deserve it. This dimension of grace's meaning is very real for me at the moment. After all, I don't deserve healing. I don't deserve God eliminating the serious side-effects of chemotherapy that I'm undergoing right now. In fact, there is nothing within me that obligates God to act on my behalf at all. This is the very nature of grace - God acting on his own initiative without regard to whether I innately deserve his help or not.

But the second dimension of God's grace is also important. For grace doesn't just mean that God smiles at me in love. Grace means that God gets to work in my life. Grace is God doing what I cannot do myself.

For this reason, the Bible makes it clear that I need to have an active response to God's grace. Even though grace is God taking the initiative in my life, I need to act on that initiative through faith. This is why Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6:1, urges me "not to receive God's grace in vain." In other words, Paul is saying that it is possible to be a recipient of God's grace in vain - or, with that grace having no practical effect in my life. Again, in Galatians 2:21, Paul says, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" In Hebrews 12:15 too, the writer says, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." And Paul's rebuke of the Galatian Christians was exactly that - they had "fallen away from grace" (Galatians 5:4) because they were trying to live for God through their own self-effort (i.e not relying on his grace).

On the positive side, the Bible constantly encourages me to actively make use of God's grace that has been made available to me. In Hebrews 13:9 I am instructed to be "strengthened by grace." And in 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul writes:

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

How am I to "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus"? By exercising faith in the Lord Jesus! By actually, on a daily basis, "approach[ing] the throne of grace with confidence, so that [I] may receive mercy and find grace to help [me] in [my] time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

The secret to a faith that attracts God's grace is, I believe, humility (in fact, faith by its very definition is humility in action - I'm saying to the Lord, "I can't do this myself, but I'm asking you to do it on my behalf!"). This is why James 4:6 tells us:

"But [God] gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (see also 1 Peter 5:5).

I, for one, don't want to be one that God opposes; I want to be in a daily position of humility, where I receive God's abundant, overflowing, surpassing grace into my life at the point of need.

My prayer is that you too will experience this superlative grace in your life today. And so my closing prayer is, for you, the same as that which Paul expressed in Ephesians 6:24:

"Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love."

The Anchor of My Soul

Yesterday I went through my first round of chemotherapy - cisplatin in combination with a trial drug called S1. I was amazed at the wonderful sense of peace I experienced during the day, a direct result of the Lord's grace in my life (see yesterday's post, "This is the Day").

Today I've been meditating on Hebrews 6:18-20, which says:

"God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf..."

This passage very much describes the firmness of my faith in Christ. I am a good example of one who has indeed "fled to take hold of the hoped offered" to me in the person of Jesus.

The noun "anchor" is defined at Dictionary.com in the following ways:

• A mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving


• A central cohesive source of support and stability


• A rigid point of support, as for securing a rope


• A source of security or stability

In its verb form, "anchor" is also defined as follows:

• To hold fast by or as if by an anchor.


• To relate psychologically to a point or frame of reference (as to a person, a situation, an object, or a conceptual scheme)

And according to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the word "anchor" in Hebrews 6:19 "is used metaphorically for that which supports or keeps one steadfast in the time of trial or of doubt. It is an emblem of hope."

The Message describes this "anchored" experience as "an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God..." And The Amplified Bible describes it as "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it - a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil."

When you hit a crisis in life, that's the point when your life anchors are tested. If your anchor is money or material possessions, or your job, or your personal plans, that anchor will not prove reliable, and it is often because one's life anchor is being tested (for example, when a life crisis hits), that people suddenly become open to the Lord. That's why so many turn to Christ at the point of personal crisis. As long as everything is "smooth sailing", we can be deceived into thinking that the anchor systems offered by this world are adequate.

On the other hand, I've heard non-believers say, "Oh, that's OK if you need a crutch for life." My response is often, "What crutches do you have?" It's easy to talk about another person's "crutches" when everything is going "OK" for you personally, but no one ridicules a person who is genuinely wounded and needs some kind of assistance. And when a person goes through a crisis, it is arrogance to say they will not pass up the offer of a "crutch" of some kind - if it's a financial crisis, then friends or family may help, or they may rely on the government welfare system - aren't these "crutches"? If a person is seriously ill, will he refuse medical help because, "No, I don't want a crutch in life?" And so, when viewed in this way, we can say, yes, God is there when we are wounded physically, emotionally or spirtually and can be, for us, a temporary "crutch" until we are able to stand on our own feet.

But the "crutch" metaphor is actually flawed and it is, I believe, demeaning to refer to God simply as a "crutch for life" (how would my wife like it if I simply viewed her on those terms?). I prefer the "anchor" metaphor that the Bible itself uses. I have a firm anchor system for my life, and this came to me with great clarity when I visited a friend recently in hospital who is going through an almost identical experience to me. Like me, she has advanced cancer with a not-too-positive prognosis. And although she is rallying well, she is needing to draw on personal reserves of fortitute and hope in order to face the future. She's scrambling to find an effective anchor system for her life. Family and friends will go a long way to helping with this, but I've realised, like never before, that this is precisely the role that God has given himself to fill.

It is the ever-present quality of God's nature which makes his anchor system so effective. It is precisely because Jesus is "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) that I can trust him as an anchor for my life. This why the hope we have in Jesus is described as "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure..." Like a true anchor, it reaches to a place a fixed stability unaffected by the storm.

A good example of how an anchor works is found in Acts 27:29-41. On his way to Rome, Paul's ship encounters a tempest which threatens to destroy the ship. Verse 29 says:

"Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight."

Four anchors were used in an attempt to save the ship, yet verse 41 tells us that eventually "the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf." All four anchors failed, because they were no match for the ferocity of the storm.

For an anchor to be effective it must have the following qualities:

1. It must be unbreakable - The nature of the lifeline offered in Jesus fulfils this need exactly. My relationship with God through Jesus is strong and steadfast. Even my own failings cannot break this lifeline (note 2 Timothy 2:13), for God has provided for a system of forgiveness and empowerment more than adequate to help me through each and every situation. I know that I can trust the relationship I have with God, through thick and thin, that I have been "engraved...on the palms of [God's] hands" (Isaiah 49:16), and that "no one can snatch [me] out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28-29).

2. It must be fixed to a point of total stability - As strong as the anchor itself may be, unless it is attached to something which cannot move, it is just so much dead weight. Even partial stability is not enough; only total stability will work. This is why Hebrews 6:19-20 says that my anchor "enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." In other words, the anchor is fixed to the most stable point in the entire universe - the very throne of God himself, where Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father (note Ephesians 2:6-7; Hebrews 1:3).

3. It must be used - This is why the Bible emphasises not just the hearing of God's Word, but the putting of God's Word into practice (Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:22), for an anchor only works when it is actually used.

There is a key word for each of these anchor-like qualities:

1. Covenant - this has to do with the nature of my relationship with God through Jesus. The strength of this anchor is only as strong as the covenant that God has made in Christ (as with any anchor, it is only as strong as it's weakest link). That's why the whole context of Hebrews 6:19-20 is one of covenant - a covenant that has been made between God and me in Jesus, which is sure and unbreakable by the circumstances of life.

2. Faithfulness - this has to do with God's character, and this is why Hebrews 6:19-20 says that the anchor is based on "two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie." Those two "unchangeable things" are 1) the promise God made to initiate the covenant, and 2) the oath that God made when he established the covenant. This is a double-barrelled, iron-clad guarantee from God himself!

3. Faith - this is the part that I play in this anchoring process. By faith, I put this firm and secure anchor into use (read James 1:6-8).

I've already mentioned that yesterday, as I went through chemotherapy, I was amazed by the peace I felt - but I guess I shouldn't have been amazed. This was simply the secure anchor system I have in Jesus at work.

This is the Day

Today's the day! In just a few hours, I begin chemotherapy. And so for this reason, Psalm 118:24 has a special meaning for me:

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Likewise, Psalm 139:16 declares:

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

The Message phrases Psalm 139:16 this way:

"Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

The Amplified Bible brings Psalm 139:16 out this way:

"...in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them."

Remarkable, isn't it? As the ever-present God, everything - past, present and future - is immediately known by him. My life is "an open book", with "all the stages of my life...spread out before" him. And far more than just knowing about each and every day of my life, the Bible reveals that each and every day were "ordained" or "prepared" by God! As Ephesians 2:10 explains:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

The Amplified Bible, true to its name, amplifies Paul's original meaning for us:

"For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."

God's foreknowledge is total in the same way that his compassion and faithfulness are total (Psalm 100:5). In The Message, Psalm 56:8 tells me:

"You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book."

Back in Psalm 139:17-18, David is amazed by the personal knowledge God has of his life:

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you."

This knowledge is both total and personal, for in Psalm 139:1-5 it is described in the most intimate of terms:

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me."

It is with this understanding of Psalm 139 that I now enter this new day, a day where God's compassions are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23), where his "grace is sufficient for [me]" and where his "power is made perfect in [my] weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). This is the day when the God of Zephaniah 3:5 reveals himself in a special way:

"The LORD within [this day] is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail..."

Scripture indicates that when we walk with the Lord, he "appoints" days of salvation and grace. For example, Psalm 75:2 tells us:

"You say, 'I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly.'"

Again, in Psalm 102:13, the Bible says:

"You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come."

Likewise, in 2 Corinthians 6:2, Paul applies this in the most practical way for the Christian, not just as a future event where God intervenes, but as a daily experience of God's grace:

"For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

Each day is the beginning of a new work of God in my life. Every morning is the start of a unit of time in which "my Father is always at his work to this very day" (John 5:17). In fact, according to the New Testament, "Today" is the designated day of God's work, for Hebrews 3:13-15 says:

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.'"

Hebrews 4 goes on to describe the dynamics of this "today" experience with the Lord, and makes a vital point, which has not been lost on me today. For Hebrews 4:1-2 explains:

"Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith."

And so we come full circle back to the theme which God has been impressing on my heart all this week: faith! During the time of the Exodus, the people of Israel hardened their hearts against the Lord. Although they heard the message of the gospel (of God's salvation for them), it was "of no value to them" because they "did not combine it with faith." So the warning God is bringing to me is: "Don't fall into the same trap." Today is the day of God's speaking into my life, but I must "combine" the message with faith! Only when that vital ingredient is added to the mix will I experience the grace and rest God has appointed for me today.

Hebrews 4:1-2 brings the final explanation of the "today" dynamic of God's grace. It declares:

"Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts'...There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience."

Today is the day that the Lord has made - the day appointed for me to experience grace, rest and the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. This particular "today" is a day when I have chosen to hear his voice and not harden my heart, a day when God has "waken[ed] my ear to listen like one being taught" (Isaiah 50:4). And so I'm marching into the hospital today armed with two psalms, "with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left" (2 Corinthians 6:7). These two psalms of faith - my words from the Lord for the day - are:

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling even the LORD, who is my refuge -
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Putting Faith into Action

The theme for this week has most definitely been faith, and I'm being given plenty of opportunity to exercise that faith. For one thing, over the last few days I've been asking the Lord to help me build my strength in preparation for chemotherapy tomorrow, and the Lord has answered in a remarkable way. As ever, God never answers in half-measure, for over these last three days I've actually felt the supernatural power of the resurrection in my life. Of course, my faith is not based on feelings, but the feelings are wonderful when they come!

I've also experienced some measurable differences:

1. I've had greater reserves of energy (although I still have to be careful I don't overdo it). I've been taking long walks and, amazingly, even had enough energy to jog for a short while (again, taking it very easy). I cannot tell you what a wonderful feeling it is just to have the energy levels returning, even if they are still only a fraction of what I'm ultimately asking for.

2. I've had a strong appetite. This morning, I had breakfast with Alwyn Wong and even he was amazed at how much I was able to eat! I got through half of a major plate of eggs-over-easy, mushrooms, hash browns and toast (sorry if I got your mouth watering ;-).

3. I've put on approximately 2 kg (about 5 lbs), bringing my weight back to a healthier 68 kg (150 lbs).

Prayer is an extremely practical exercise. James 5:13-16 gives us some basic guidelines on how we should respond to specific situations in life:

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

With his characteristic turn of phrase, Eugene Peterson rephrases James 5:13-16 in The Message:

"Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven - healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with."

Faith is ultimately expressed on two important levels:

• In prayer - asking (Jude 1:20).


• In obedience - doing (James 2:14-26)

Both of these levels of faith have been important for me this last week. In prayer, I've been seeking to flex the spiritual "muscles" of my faith, and in obedience, I've sought to exercise that faith in practical ways.

These two expressions of faith are also reflected in the following two passages of Scripture, which have meant a lot to me today:

1. Faith through prayer (Philippians 4:6-7) - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" - In the light of tomorrow's chemotherapy, I've had a measure of anxiety, but over the last few days, this mild apprehension has been replaced by great expectation! I know this is going to be a unique opportunity for the Lord to move in my life, countering the flood of toxins and enabling that supernatural power of his resurrection to truly outwork in my mortal body.

2. Faith through obedience (James 2:17) - "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" - My faith, expressed through prayer, also needs to find practical expressions each day - in terms of my attitude to life and obedience to the promptings of God's Spirit. I'm seeking to put "legs" to my prayers of faith through my actions each day.

Just before I share some of the practical steps of faith I'm taking at the moment, I first want to share a couple of stories. Both these stories are examples from my own personal experience of the effectiveness of faith-filled prayer, and they illustrate a little of the background against which my present faith is operating.

Experience #1 - The Attack of Malaria

When I was eighteen, I travelled with my father through the jungles of Thailand and Burma, preaching the Gospel from village to village. The region is known as one of the worst malaria areas in the world, and so we had prayed and asked the Lord for his protection. It was during the rainy season, and for the entire three week period that we were in the remote jungles areas, it never stopped raining. Each evening I would wash my clothes and hang them up to dry, but the next morning they would still be wet and I would have to don them once more. (Three weeks later, when we got back into Maesot, in northern Thailand, my dad and I had to scrub the fungus off our bodies, and get rid of all the lice in our hair).

One day, we had arrived in a new Karen village and were just preparing to eat dinner when I began to feel violently ill. I asked to lie down, but soon I was shaking violently, with a raging fever, exhibiting all the symptoms of a serious bout of malaria. I managed to drag myself to where my dad was talking with the village elders. He immediately said, "I'm going to pray for you."

At the time, I remember that all I wanted to do was lie down again. I can honestly say that I had zero faith. But my father laid his hands on me all the same, and I clearly remember his words: "Lord, we refuse this malaria. I command it right now to leave David's body." After dad finished praying for me, I crawled back under the mosquito net and lay down again. But a couple of minutes passed before I realised that my fever had broken. I had stopped shaking. And a peace had come over my body. And yet even then, my faith was hardly up to par. I remember thinking at the time, "Ah, maybe it's because I just lay down...if I were to stand up, I'd feel sick again!" But it wasn't long before I admitted to myself that I had, in fact, been healed. Feeling somewhat ashamed of my lack of faith, I stood up, joined my father at the dinner table, and ate with the village elders.

My point in sharing this particular experience, I guess, is to emphasise that it wasn't my faith that got me healed. It was my dad's faith. And there is plenty of scriptural precedent to show that the faith of another can result in a sick person receiving healing from God. For example, Matthew 9:2 tells us:

"Some men brought to [Jesus] a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.'"

On another occasion, Matthew 15:28 records how a mother's faith resulted in the healing of her daughter:

"Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour."

I wanted to share this with you to point out that the Lord simply responds to faith - whosoever's faith it may happen to be. Of course, there have been plenty of times when I've exercised faith myself. Here's just one example.

Experience #2 - The Attack of Dysentery

Later, in my mid-twenties, I was ministering among the Lahu tribal villages of northern Thailand. I would often be away from the family for a week or more at a time, living in the villages, eating the local food and drinking the local water. As you would appreciate, this meant I was frequently exposed to contaminated food and water.

The local Lahu dish was a vegetable rice-soup, with very hot chilli. Meat was rarely eaten, except for special occasions such as weddings or when honoured guests came to the village, and even when the Lahu people slaughtered and ate a pig, they themselves would often end up with dysentery for the next few days. So as you would imagine, I tried to avoid eating pork, in particular, when staying in the villages. In fact, I absolutely loved their vegetable rice-soup and preferred it even to the banquet meals. And although I took common sense precautions (drinking only boiled water, for example), I still prayed over the food and believed for the Lord's protection over me, as his servant. In fact, I have very strong faith in the Lord's protection in this way - the result of many, many experiences of healing in this manner.

But I want to share with you just one of these experiences. I had arrived in one remote Lahu village with my team and (to cut a long story very short) we had seen the whole village turn to Christ. The village elder invited us to his home for dinner, and even though I insisted that all I wanted was the ordinary Lahu dish of soupy rice, with boiled vegetables and chilli, the elder would not be dissuaded. He had a pig slaughtered and served a banquet for us. And so, as I began to eat the half-cooked pork (I won't go into a full description), I prayed for the Lord's grace and protection. All was well until we were preparing to leave the village. I remember driving out of the village in our SUV and looking back at the village, rejoicing at how we had seen the Lord bring so many families into the kingdom of God. And then it hit me - almost like a sledgehammer in the stomach - and I knew it was going to be very bad.

Without a moment's hesitation, I looked up to heaven and said, "Father, I'm not going to accept this. I'm your servant. I've asked you for your protection. I know you have promised to heal me and protect me as I serve you in the villages. And so right now, in the name of Jesus, I command this dysentery to leave!"

Instantly, the pain was gone. And it never returned.

These are just two examples of how the prayer of faith has worked in my life. Now here I am again, under different circumstances, but with both kinds of faith in operation:

1. The faith of others, praying for me


2. My own faith towards the Lord

And what a powerful combination these prayers of faith are!

So here are some of the practical steps of faith I'm now regularly taking each day:

1. I'm thanking God ahead of time for his healing. Gratitude is one of the simplest and purest expressions of faith (see my previous post "The Reflex of Gratitude").

2. I'm laying hands on my stomach and praying very specifically a) that the Lord's healing touch be upon me, and b) that the blood supply to the cancer will wither up (cancer cannot survive without its own blood supply).

3. I'm eating, even if I don't feel like it, and at the same time asking the Lord to strengthen me physically and to help me to put on weight.

Hebrews 11:6 says:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Jesus Christ is still "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8), and so he therefore still rewards those who earnestly seek him. He responds today to faith just as he did when he walked upon the earth 2000 years ago. And so tomorrow - on January 25, 2006 - I'm going to be taking up the invitation he offered in Matthew 7:7-8 and I will ask him in faith for his special touch of healing and protection as I go through my first course of chemotherapy.

Fighting the Good Fight of Faith

This is a significant week for me, as I prepare for chemotherapy in two days' time. And so it is not surprising, then, that the theme the Lord has been driving home for me over the last few days has been that of faith. As I've mentioned before, every time I gain a new revelation of the Lord - some new facet of his eternal nature - my response should be faith - not merely a belief in this new aspect of God's nature, but an active faith that brings with it a radical new transformation in my life. And so the revelation that I've embraced this week - that Jesus is "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) - has stirred within me a new level of faith.

For this reason, the last two days have been a watershed experience for me - there's a real sense where a line divides this week into a clear "before" and "after." But before I share about this in more detail, let me first share what the Lord's been showing me in his Word.

In 2 Timothy 4:6-7, at the end of his life, Paul wrote:

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

You may remember from the very beginning of my blogging that this was one of the passages of Scripture that the Lord used to speak into my life when I was first diagnosed with cancer (see "Torn Between the Two"). For Paul, the timing of his death had everything to do with "finishing the race" that had been set before him (note Hebrews 12:1). By the time Paul wrote 2 Timothy 4:6-7, he knew his race was complete, that the time had come for his departure, and that he had "fought the good fight."

This was not the first time that Paul used the expression "fight the good fight." In 1 Timothy 1:18-19, Paul had earlier written:

"Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience..."

And again, in 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul instructed Timothy:

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

As I look back on the last few days, I realise that active faith means there is a fight. This is because faith, by its very nature, not only sees beyond the immediate circumstances but also demands attitudes and actions in defiance to those circumstances. Wherever there is opposition, a fight is required. This is why Paul spoke in Philippians 1:27 of the need to "stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel" (see also Jude 3).

Everything is now in place for the commencement of my chemotherapy this Wednesday. And so yesterday, at the Twilight service of Evangelical Community Church, I pre-empted the expected hair loss by publicly having my head shaved (see "Countdown - Shear a Shepherd"). This was a very meaningful event for me, for a number of reasons that I want to share with you.

Taking Charge

One of the main reasons I decided to get my head shaved was because for me this was, in itself, a step of faith. Instead of passively waiting for hair loss to happen, I decided to set the pace myself. My father has an old saying: "Never let the enemy choose the time and place of the battle." In other words, in the spiritual battle, we should choose the time and place for the fight. Rather than wait for Satan to attack, we need to take the battle to him - on our terms, not his. This is an important general principle of warfare, and on Sunday that's what I enacted symbolically.

One of the hardest things about cancer, I think, is the loss of control. Forces are at work in your body which are beyond your ability to control. And it is for this reason, that the first part of the fight is not a physical fight, but an emotional one. The fight against cancer is, first and foremost, is a "heart and mind" battle. For this reason, the "Shear a Shepherd" event was, for me, a statement - a declaration that I'm in full fighting mode. Not only am I not giving in to this deadly disease, I'm entering the ring with my gloves on, ready to go the full 15 rounds. Like Paul, "I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). I've "set my face like a flint" (Isaiah 50:7) - ready to contend for that which God has promised me in Christ Jesus. In faith, I've "taken charge".

Preparing to get shaved.

A Public Declaration

The "Shear a Shepherd" event was also a public declaration. It's one thing to have a personal faith in Jesus; it's quite another to declare that faith publicly. That's why water baptism plays such an important role in the Gospel process, and it's also why Romans 10:9-10 places such a strong emphasis on the public confession of personal faith. The Bible doesn't just emphasise believing with the heart (as a private matter between you and God); it also stresses the importance of a public proclamation of that private faith. And so, the "Shear a Shepherd" event was a means by which I could make a public stand in faith.

Alwyn Wong begins the first stage of the shearing.

Looking Beyond Myself

One of the most important lessons to be learned when facing any trial or hardship is the lesson of "looking beyond yourself." When you're going through pain and suffering, it is all too easy to become introverted. Your world shrinks to a very small package that is focused on you and your feelings.

But part of "fighting the good fight of faith" is refusing to fall back to this default position of introversion and self-focus. My life is centred in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I refuse to let cancer alter this basic fact. And so I decided not just to pre-empt the hair loss by being shaved, nor even merely make this a public declaration of my trust in the Lord. I also decided to make it a fund-raising event for the Online Bible College (and yes, if you would like to sponsor me, you can still do so by clicking here).

My passion is to see people trained and equipped for the great harvest (Luke 10:2). As a result of the "Shear a Shepherd" event, I was able to raise over AU$10,000.00 for OBC - far beyond what I had hoped or dreamed! Praise the Lord for his goodness, his faithfulness and for the privilege of playing a part in the training of workers for his harvest field.

Alwyn lathers me up for the final "close shave".

Well, the deed is done! I now have a new look - a more "military" demeanor, all ready for the fight that is ahead.

The new me.

Thank you for joining me in this journey. Your prayer support and encouragement has meant a great deal to me. My prayer is that you will also experience the Lord's grace in your life today, and that together we will "stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1:27).

Jesus Christ - The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

I've been meditating today, as I have for the last few days, upon the "ever-present" quality of God's nature and what this means for me today. If you haven't had the opportunity, I suggest reading my previous posts on this subject before this one:

• The Ever-Present God


• My Father Is Always At His Work

What really struck me over the last 24 hours is the fact that the "ever-present God" expressed himself in human history - in the here and now - in the person of Jesus Christ. For this reason, it shouldn't be surprising that this "ever-present" quality is also an attribute of God's own Son. Hebrews 13:8 tells us:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

The Message puts it this way:

"For Jesus doesn't change - yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself."

The unchanging nature of the Lord Jesus Christ provides an important perspective on the Gospel stories, for if Jesus Christ is truly "always totally himself" and "the same yesterday, today and forever," then we should expect that his ministry as described in the four Gospel accounts is continuing today.

In fact, if you take the Gospel record at its face value, you really can't come to any other conclusion. If a person reads Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and genuinely believes that Jesus is who these four books say he is, then he would automatically expect that this same unchanging Jesus will be doing the same things today as he did back then. In fact, it takes a lot of theological intervention to persuade a person otherwise.

There are so many levels upon which the unchanging nature of the "ever-present" Jesus impacts my life, but none so important at this stage than that relating to the healing ministry of Jesus. For this reason, I've been reading the Gospel record and I've been amazed at just how much faith played a critical role in the healing ministry of Jesus. And if Jesus never changes, then I should expect the same principles I see in the Gospel record continuing to be outworked in the current ministry of Jesus into my life.

Take a look at these verses:

• Matthew 9:22 - "Jesus turned and saw her. 'Take heart, daughter,' he said, 'your faith has healed you.' And the woman was healed from that moment."

• Matthew 15:28 - "Then Jesus answered, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

• Mark 5:34 - "He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'"

• Mark 10:52 - "'Go,' said Jesus, 'your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

• Luke 8:48 - "Then he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.'"

• Luke 18:42 - "Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.'"

I particularly like the way The Amplified Bible translates Mark 5:34:

"And He said to her, Daughter, your faith (your trust and confidence in Me, springing from faith in God) has restored you to health. Go in (into) peace and be continually healed and freed from your [distressing bodily] disease."

It is also clear from the Book of Acts that this healing ministry of Jesus, based on faith in his name, didn't stop when Jesus returned to his Father. For in Acts 1:1, Luke indicates that the Book of Acts is a continuation of "all that Jesus began to do and to teach" (I often refer to the Book of Acts as the "Fifth Gospel Account", after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

Take a look at Acts 3:12-16. After healing a crippled man, Peter explains the dynamic that was at work:

"Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?...By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see."

I often think what I would do if I were living in the time of Jesus' earthly ministry. I know that I would be one of the crowds, pressing in to touch Jesus and to be touched by him. But if Jesus is truly "the same yesterday, today and forever," what has changed? Jesus hasn't. In fact, the only thing that has changed is me - or rather, more specifically, my relationship with Jesus. I'm no longer just "one of the crowds". I've been supernaturally linked with the Lord Jesus through the power of God's Spirit - an "in Christ" experience that has wholly redefined my relationship with God (note Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 1:3-8; Ephesians 2:6-7).

So what does this now mean for me? If Jesus indeed is "the same yesterday, today and forever," then his ministry of healing didn't stop when he ascended to heaven. And if the principle of faith was the basis upon which Jesus ministered healing 2000 years ago, then God is working today on the same basis in my life right now.

For this reason, I'm learning to exercise my faith in Jesus (just as if I were exercising a muscle). I'm putting into practice Jude 20:

"But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit."

The Amplified Bible expands on this meaning:

"But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit."

This morning, I began my day "praying in the Holy Spirit." Today, I'm going to continue in this practical exercise, allowing the Lord to build me in my faith - not just faith for healing, but faith in the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And at the end of it all, since I believe in a Jesus who has never changed, I know that the Lord's reply to my prayer of faith will be the same as that found in Mark 5:34:

"Son, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Countdown - Shear a Shepherd!

On Wednesday, 25 January, I'm going to start chemotherapy, and rather than wait for hair loss to happen naturally, I'm going to pre-empt the whole thing and hold a special fund-raising event for the Online Bible College - called "Shear a Shepherd!" (I'll be providing you with photos, before and after, of the event).

And so, in about 12 hours' time, at the ECC Twilight Service, I'm going to have my head shaved, and I'm inviting people to sponsor the event to help raise funds for OBC.

There are two ways you can sponsor this event:

1. You can donate through PayPal by clicking here.

2. You can mail your donation details by downloading and printing this document.

This going to be a fun event as well as productive for the Kingdom of God!

All donations are in Australian dollars (which works out at about .75 USD or .43 GPB), and will go to the support of the worldwide ministry of the Online Bible College.

If you would like to calculate the exchange rate between, say, AUD and USD or GPB, here's a rough guide:

AUD	USD	GBP
25.00	19.00	11.00
50.00	37.00	21.00
100.00	75.00	42.00
200.00	150.00	84.00

Thanks so much for praying with me for this event.

Making a difference together,

David C

My Father Is Always At His Work

Over this last few days, I've been contemplating the extraordinary "ever-present" quality of God's nature - not just in terms of his divine attributes as the "ever-present God", but also in terms of his covenantal work in my life. While there is historical depth to God (he is, for example, called "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" - see Exodus 3:16; Acts 3:13), and while there is a future depth to his purpose (he is, after all, taking us toward an ultimate goal - note Philippians 1:6), the Lord Jesus made it clear that God is primary a "God of the living" - or a "here and now" God, to whom "all are alive" (Luke 20:37-38).

This news has a very real impact on the way I relate to God. For although both past and future are important to my relationship with the Lord, it is the present that is the hinge on which everything swings. It is about how I now respond to God that counts.

This morning I was drawn to John 5:17, where Jesus declared:

"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."

The Amplified Bible brings out another level of meaning:

"...My Father has worked [even] until now, [He has never ceased working; He is still working] and I, too, must be at [divine] work."

The interesting thing is that the context of Jesus' declaration was healing (see John 5:9-16). Jesus had just healed someone on the Sabbath, and the Jewish leaders were complaining about a violation of Sabbath law. And so, when Jesus said that he was working (on the Sabbath) because "my Father is always at his work to his very day" (i.e. even on the Sabbath), he was inferring that the work of the Father at this time was a work of healing.

I've been pondering on this for the last few days. Although God's work is hardly limited to healing (note, for example, Philippians 1:6 and Philippians 2:13), healing appears to be a very important component of that work. For example, when Peter described Jesus' ministry on earth, he used these words in Acts 10:37-38:

"You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached - how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him."

Jesus himself declared that what defined his activity was the driving desire to "do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34). And following on from John 5:17, Jesus went on to say in John 5:19:

"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

In other words, Jesus was doing the work of his Father because he recognised the ongoing work of his Father already in process. In fact, Jesus claimed no independent action whatsoever. He declared, "...the Son can do nothing by himself."

This is a lesson that I began learning in my early twenties, while working with Jackie Pullinger in Hong Kong. As a fellow-worker with God, it is all too easy to forget that the emphasis is on being a "fellow-worker". In other words, God himself is the prime mover, the senior partner in the work, and I am the one who labours alongside him (not the other way around). And just in case we might think that Jesus was talking uniquely about himself when he said "the Son of man can do nothing by himself" and "he can only do what he sees his Father doing", in John 15:4 (The Amplified Bible), Jesus applied the same principle to his disciple's lives:

"Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you...Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me."

Again, in the next verse, The Amplified Bible says:

"I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing."

Jesus really couldn't get any clearer than that. There is no independent action in God's work. Like Jesus, I too must declare, "David can do nothing by himself" and "I can only do what I see my Father doing".

The last two decades of ministry have, for me, been a discovery process - learning to "see what the Father is doing" and to join him in his work. I've seen heroin addicts and prostitutes totally transformed by the power of the Gospel. I've seen miracles of healing, and times when the Holy Spirit has fallen on individuals so powerfully that I cannot even help them stand straight. I've seen God's power fall on congregations and on families. And at the end of it all, I can only stand back and say, "It wasn't me. I couldn't do any of this. The Father has been at work."

And yet, after more than 25 years in ministry, I feel like I'm still a novice. I'm only just beginning to learn to see the Father at his work, and to join him in that work. And now I feel like I'm back in kindergarten again...learning all over again what it means to recognise the work of the Father, but this time in my own life.

This morning, a group of leaders from Evangelical Community Church gathered in my home. This was, in fact, the second prayer meeting of the day, and my dear friend Kah Seng shared a passage of Scripture he had been reading in the earlier meeting. It was found in Acts 14:8-10, and it has a strong bearing on what I'm sharing with you now:

"In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, 'Stand up on your feet!' At that, the man jumped up and began to walk."

This is a remarkable account of healing - all the more remarkable because it shows exactly the same process in place that Jesus himself spoke of in John 5:17 and John 5:19. Paul had been preaching the Gospel in Lystra. There is no indication that he had planned to heal anyone at that time. But Acts 14:9 tells us that while Paul was preaching, he recognised a dynamic at work which he then, on the spur of the moment, responded to. The Acts record says that "Paul looked directly at him" and "saw that he had faith to be healed." The Amplified Bible brings it out even stronger and describes how Paul was "gazing intently at him and observing that he had faith to be healed..." What was Paul doing? He was seeing what the Father was doing! And notice that this "seeing" or "observing" wasn't in any abstract sense - what Paul actually observed was that there was faith welling up in the heart of the cripple.

If you look at the particular conditions into which Paul commanded healing, you couldn't get anything more adverse to a miracle. Acts 14:8 describes him as "a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked." And yet the miracle wasn't defined by the condition itself, but by the work of God already in process in the man's heart. This man had never heard the Gospel before. He had never heard the name of Jesus, or the work of the Cross, or the power of the resurrection. But at this "chance" encounter, he heard the Gospel for the first time, and the Father was at work in his heart, producing faith not just for salvation but also for healing. And all Paul did was recognise the work in process. His response then was to issue the command, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, Luke writes, "the man jumped up and began to walk."

In my limited experience, I'd say that this is also the main means by which I've recognised the work of the Father. There have been times, for sure, when I've been felt the strong impression upon my heart by God's Spirit, to which I've responded in obedience and then witnessed the divine work of God. But there have been plenty of times when it has been a simple recognition that God has already begun a work on someone's life, that there is faith present for a miracle, and all I've done is acted on what I've seen.

I've come a long way in this blog to share with you a simple lesson I'm learning at the moment. And that is this: faith lies at the crux of the work of God in a person's life. Faith is the fulcrum upon which a miracle turns. And that faith is not engineered, I believe, by the person himself - it is a very real part of the work of God already in process. It is a "gift from God" (Ephesians 2:8), the starting point for the miracle to follow.

Even Jesus appeared to be limited to the action of this work-in-process, for Mark 6:5-6 tells us:

"[Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith."

1 Timothy 1:4 tells us that "God's work...is by faith." Jesus also, in response to the question, "What must we do to do the works God requires?", replied in John 6:29:

"The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Tomorrow I'm going to share more on this dynamic "work in process" that pivots on faith. But for today, if I want to see the work of God in my own life, my response must be the response of John 6:29, which is, as The Amplified Bible puts it, that I continue to "believe in the One Whom He has sent [that I cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]."

And so that is what I do today. I'm not waiting for God to begin his work in my life. He is already at work, stirring the faith upon which a miracle of healing will turn. And so, dear Lord, I simply believe in you.