In Recovery

I'm resting temporarily while I recover from a recent episode of bowel obstruction (see Critical Prayer Point). I hope to be back writing again soon.

Slow to Anger

One of the areas in which I am experiencing transformation is in how I respond to others. This obviously isn't just a work that God's Spirit suddenly began to do in my life in the last couple of weeks -- it's been going on for quite some time in my life. However, in the last two weeks I've experienced a significant touch of the Lord. Before I share a little of what this means for me, I want to provide a little background from Scripture.

You will remember, from last Monday's post, that the process of transformation starts with revelation. This is not just a revelation of my condition (i.e. my sin), but rather a revelation of the Lord Himself. A picture of how this revelation-initiated transformation works is found in Isaiah 6:1-3, which describes the personal encounter that the prophet Isaiah had with the glory of God:

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.'"

The next verse explains what resulted from this vision Isaiah had of God's holy presence:

"At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke."

The glory of God will always have this effect on our world. In fact, God has promised that he will "shake not only the earth but also the heavens...so that what cannot be shaken may remain (Hebrews 12:26-27). But the impact of this vision was far more than just a physical shaking of Isaiah's surroundings. Isaiah himself was shaken, for in Isaiah 6:5 we read Isaiah's own words:

"'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.'"

This is the nature of revelation. When you see the Lord for who He really is, it cannot but impact your life. For a revelation of the Lord's nature will of necessity entail a revelation of your own. Because Isaiah had caught a glimpse of the holiness of God, he now saw himself in contrast -- a man who was unholy and "ruined." Like Paul, who recognised that he was "wretched" (Romans 7:24), Isaiah too realized the vast gulf between himself and God in terms of righteousness and holiness. This is why Paul said, in Ephesians 4:24, that we are now to "put on the new self, [which is] created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." You cannot step into this God-similitude without first having a revelation of the nature of God's righteousness and holiness.

But God doesn't leave Isaiah in this state of abject self-revelation. Isaiah 6:6-7 tells us:

"Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.'"

Hand in hand with Isaiah's revelation of God, and the accompanying self-revelation, came an act of atonement. God didn't just reveal Isaiah's condition; He addressed it through an act of redemption. In the same way, part of the transformation process that we experience as we encounter God, one revelation after another, is that we experience God's forgiveness and restoration.

Isaiah 6:8 finishes the description of Isaiah's transformation process (or at least this specific incident) with these words:

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

Transformation ultimately results in a total reorientation of one's life with God's plan and purpose. I don't believe a person can experience the transforming power of God and remain self-focused. By its very nature, transformation involves a realignment with God's will, hence God's question and Isaiah's response.

I mentioned 2 Corinthians 3:18 in my last post, and it's worthwhile quoting it here again:

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

The Contemporary English Version puts it this way:

"So our faces are not covered. They show the bright glory of the Lord, as the Lord's Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord."

The key to this transformation process, according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, is a revelation of God, which comes about with an "unveiled" or "uncovered" exposure to God's presence -- in other words, coming close to God, close enough that we ourselves "reflect the Lord's glory" (NIV) by "beholding [God's glory] as in a mirror" (NKJV). I've written elsewhere of this "mirror effect" and if you're interested in reading more, you can download the OBC lesson, "Conformed to His Image", from here.

I didn't intend to spend so much time on these preliminary explanations, but having written them, I've decided not to edit them out, because I believe it's important to understand the dynamics of transformation in order to fully appreciate what I'm about to write. I'm now going to share with you that part of the revelation I've had of the Lord -- just one aspect of His glory and His nature -- which has had a dramatic impact on my life in recent weeks. This revelation is not in itself new (I've read this passage before, and I've known this aspect of God's nature before), but it's imprint upon me has been very much new. Like Isaiah, I've experienced the shaking of "the doorposts and thresholds" of my heart and life.

When God revealed His glory (in limited measure) to Moses, He declared His eternal nature in Exodus 34:6-7:

"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'"

There's a lot that could be explained about this verse, but to suffice it to say at this point that everything in these two verses is the revelation of God that is revealed in the Law of Moses. In this post I want to focus on one facet of God's nature, the attribute that has particularly impacted me in recent days -- God's description as "slow to anger."

Take a look at these other verses:

• Numbers 14:18 - "The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

• Nehemiah 9:17 - "They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them..."

• Psalm 86:15 - "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."

• Psalm 103:8 - "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love."

• Psalm 145:8 - "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

• Joel 2:13 - "Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity."

• Jonah 4:2 - "He prayed to the Lord, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."

• Nahum 1:3 - "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet."

You'll notice that the Bible doesn't say that God doesn't get angry (note Romans 1:18; Psalm 7:11), nor does it equate anger with sin (note Psalm 4:4; Ephesians 4:26). Jesus got angry (see Luke 11:37-54), but his anger, like His Father's, is a righteous anger, provoked by serious and sustained wickedness, arrogance and hypocrisy (Romans 2:5-8) - not a self-centred irritation that flares up due to lack of self control. In fact, self-control is one of the "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23) -- in other words, self-control is one of the attributes of the divine nature we are called to participate in (2 Peter 1:4). This is why James 1:19-20 gives this advice:

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

I like the way The Message puts it:

"...Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger."

J B Phillips phrases it this way:

"...let every man be quick to listen but slow to use his tongue, and slow to lose his temper. For man's temper is never the means of achieving God's true goodness."

After stating that we must "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24), Paul goes on in Ephesians 4:31-32 to give this command:

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

The Lord has been working in my life for many years in this particular area. When you fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others, it's all too easy to come to the conclusion that you're "OK" or a relatively "good guy", but the moment you compare yourself to God, suddenly you see yourself from a divine perspective. Because I'm a person who's goal-oriented, who runs fast and easily outpaces those around me, I all too easily get impatient with people. Generally I can keep mild irritation in check, but sometimes, if I get tired or stressed, that impatience can rise to the fore. I'm not usually on a "hair trigger" when it comes to temper, but I can find myself losing my temper from time to time (and then needing to ask forgiveness from family after the fact).

I'm sharing all of this as background to what God is doing in my life. What I want to write is not just a "hey, I'm changed" kind of post, but rather to explain, at least as best as I can, the actual process I'm going through. You see, it's not good enough for God simply to tell me, "David, you need to change in this or that area." Using temper as an example, I already know I need to change in this area. In times past, Elena made certain that I knew this! And very early in my walk with the Lord, God was already clearly pointing out that this was an area where maturity was needed.

But just knowing is not enough. The Bible tells us that the Law of Moses was given for the precise purpose of showing us where we are wrong. Romans 3:20 reveals this purpose clearly:

"...through the law we become conscious of sin."

Or as J B Phillips renders this verse:

"...indeed it is the straight-edge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are."

The Law, therefore, was given to act like a mirror, revealing where I'm dirty.

But the Bible also reveals that there is another problem with how the Law works. When God gives a command, there is no innate power within me to obey that command. Think of the analogy of the mirror I just gave. Imagine that you've been working in the garden, pulling weeds. Because it's a hot day, you wipe the sweat off your brow everything couple of minutes or so. Without realising it, your face is now grimed with soil -- an absolutely horrendous sight!

You walk inside and suddenly catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You walk up to the mirror, and you now see yourself in all your glory! You see your true condition. The mirror didn't create the grime. But until you saw yourself in the mirror, you were oblivious to your true condition. This is what the Bible means when the Law, acting like a mirror, revealed the inner grime that you weren't aware of before.

But having seen yourself in the mirror, do you now take the mirror off the wall and proceed to rub your face with the mirror, in order to get clean? Obviously not. The mirror has no capacity to make you clean. It's sole purpose is to reveal the dirt and let you know something needs to change. But then, if you are wise, you will go to the faucet, turn on the water, and wash your face clean with the cleansing power of water. In the same way, the Law was not given to remedy the problem -- only to point out the problem. After the Law of God reveals where we are dirty with sin, we must then go to another source -- the Water of Life -- in order to get clean (note Ephesians 5:25-27).

But that's not all! The Bible also reveals another problem with the Law. Not only is there no innate power in the commandment itself to change what is wrong in me, there is actually an inner power in me that reacts to the commandment negatively! (check out the whole of Romans 7, particularly Romans 7:11-25, to see this problem explained in detail). The command actually amplifies the power of sin itself! Romans 7:7-8 describes how this problem works:

"...I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet.' But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead."

What Paul is telling us here is that the Law is very effective at pointing out the problem, but is absolutely of no value when it comes to providing the answer. Worse, it actually reinforces the problem, creating an even stronger problem. We all have had experience with this inner, negative power. Even as a child, I'm sure you can remember times when your parents told you, "Don't touch that!", but the commandment actually stirred within you an even stronger desire to touch the forbidden thing!

This is why God, after pointing out the problem through the Law, takes a completely different approach in order to deal with the problem. Romans 8:3-4 reveals God's strategy of dealing with sin issues:

"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."

I like the clarity in J B Phillips' phrasing of this passage of Scripture:

"The Law never succeeded in producing righteousness - the failure was always the weakness of human nature. But God has met this by sending his own Son Jesus Christ to live in that human nature which causes the trouble. And, while Christ was actually taking upon himself the sins of men, God condemned that sinful nature. So that we are able to meet the Law's requirements, so long as we are living no longer by the dictates of our sinful nature, but in obedience to the promptings of the Spirit."

Outside of God's solution, the carnal self is an intractable problem. Devoid of any empowerment from God, I am left with nothing but despair. But the good news is that with God, an internal power gets to work. This internal empowerment is described in Ephesians 3:20:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."

This post has taken me a lot longer to articulate than I originally anticipated (hence the gap of one week between posts), but it's such an important part of my growth in the Lord at the moment, I'm going to take this up further in my next post (maybe even in the next few posts). In this post, I've had to backpedal a lot, in order to bring you up to where God has already worked in my life. A lot of what I shared in this post is not new revelation to me -- it is what I've been learning over the last 20 years. But in order to appreciate what is new, it's important for me to first lay the foundation to that new revelation. This really has been a journey for me -- a journey spanning the entirety of my life.

I also want to emphasize that temper is not the only thing God has been working on in my life. In fact, the list is quite long. He is dealing with issues that, among others, include:

• Personal security in relationships
• Reactions to others (that's quite a broad category)
• Fears, anxieties and worries
• The ability to be an "overcomer", despite negative emotions/discouragement

But I want to use the issue of temper as an example of what God is doing in my life, and how He is doing it. So, in my next post, I plan to share with you more on how God is doing His work of change in my life, particularly in the area of temper and impatience. I am indeed being conformed (slowly but surely) to the likeness of Jesus, through the inner empowerment of God's Spirit. God by nature is "slow to anger", and I too am learning what it means to be, by nature, "slow to anger".

The Process of Transformation

In the last couple of weeks, I've had a deeper revelation of who the Lord is -- His nature and character, as well as His purpose for my life. And the effect of this revelation, quite understandably, is that I also have been changed -- or more accurately, I am in the process of change. We know why this is so, because 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us:

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Like all disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm on a journey of discovery. But this journey is not just a discovery of information, but one of transformation. The key word root in both "information" and "transformation" is formation. In other words, God is forming me into something -- in fact, the correct biblical term is conforming me into something, and that something is identified in Romans 8:29:

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

So, here's how it's working for me:

1. First, I am informed of God's nature, by a process the Bible calls "revelation" (see Ephesians 1:17).

2. Then, by the power of God's Spirit -- also called "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Ephesians 1:17) -- I am transformed through a process the Bible calls "repentance" (Acts 3:19; 2 Peter 3:9).

3. The end result is that I am conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29), which means a change not just in specific behaviour, but a change in the whole pattern of life (my attitude, outlook and actions).

I often use three words (each beginning with "R") to describe this three-step recursive process:

1. Revelation - being "informed" by God's Spirit through His Word.

2. Repentance - reorienting my life direction through obedience to God's revealed Word (at which point I am then "transformed" by God's Spirit).

3. Reality - walking in the truth of God's Word through the empowering of God's Spirit (where I am "conformed" to the likeness of Jesus).

I'll be sharing a fair bit on this inform/transform/conform process over the next few posts.

Running to Keep Up With the Lord

If you've been following my posts for the last couple of weeks, you'll know that there has been a frequent theme of personal transformation in many of these posts. I've been crying out to the Lord for that personal transformation, considering this to be of higher value and importance than even my healing. And I can now give testimony that the Lord has answered my cry.

In Matthew 5:6, the Lord said:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

I believe that every touch from God is preceded by a hunger for Him. In fact, sometimes the Lord will purposely withdraw the sense of His presence in order to cultivate a deeper hunger. And for the last few weeks, my hunger for the Lord has been insatiable. And as Jesus promised, because I have "hunger[ed] and thirst[ed] for righteousness," I have indeed been filled.

The last few days I've been up most of the night just praying. Not praying for my healing, but praying for God to reveal Himself in greater and deeper ways. And I'm now running, just trying to keep up with what God is showing me of Himself. It is, quite honestly, overwhelming. Much of it has to do with His purpose, not just in my life but in the world, His plans for His Church and the wonder of the goal He is heading toward. I'm going to share about this in this blog, but I'm actually creating two new blogs, specifically to begin to share in a deeper way what the Lord is showing to me. The two new blogs are:

• A Gospel for the 21st Century - describing issues related to the Gospel, God's redemptive narrative and life-changing power.

• A Church for the 21st Century - describing issues related to the Church, God's redemptive vehicle and the living expression of Jesus in today's world.

I'm just starting to put these blogs together, but soon I'll start posting in them. And I'll let you know when that happens.

By the way, I've also been helping my parents over the last couple of days put together three blogs for their own authorship. These can be found as follows:

• The Living Edge - true stories of God's miraculous intervention and the many visitations of the Holy Spirit that my parents have experienced over 50 years of ministry as missionaries in Asia and the Pacific.

• Sure Foundations - articles on the nature of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and its transforming power in people's lives.

• The Birthright - a discovery of God's glorious plan and purpose for every believer, as revealed in Scripture.

Now, back to my own journey of personal transformation. Much of what the Lord has been unveiling to me personally has to do with the 6pm Twilight Service, the congregation I'm pastoring at ECC here in Melbourne. But there has also been a lot of very personal stuff, some of which is still percolating (and thus is not ready for this blog), but some of which is matured enough for me to share. So the personal stuff, I'll share here, while I'll reserve the "deeper" stuff, regarding God's purpose in and through the Church, for the two blogs listed above.

When we are transformed by the power of God's Spirit, we come out a different person than the one that began the process. This is very true for me. I'm a different person from the one that began to write this blog, late last year, and I'm even a different person from the one writing just a couple of weeks ago. That's the nature of transformation. Although you have the same name, the same memories, the same personality, yet the transformation process makes of you someone who is in many ways different. You look at the world differently, you even respond differently to situations.

The Bible calls this the "new creation" dynamic. Take a look at these verses:

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

• Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

• Ephesians 4:22-24 - "You were taught...to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

• Galatians 6:15 - "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation."

That last verse in particular is interesting. Circumcision was the big theological dissension in Paul's day. There were lots of heated debates was to whether Gentiles should be circumcised or not, as required by the Law of Moses, after they had confessed faith in Jesus Christ. Paul has a lot of things to say in this matter (read Galatians 5:1-12), but at the end of it all, after all the theological discussions are over, he says, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation"! You can substitute "circumcision" with any theological debate currently running the rounds in the church. Here are some examples:

• Neither Calvinism nor Armenianism means anything; what counts is a new creation!
• Neither Evangelical nor Charismatic means anything; what counts is a new creation!
• Neither Premillenialism nor Postmillenialism means anything; what counts is a new creation!

How easily we can get caught up in heated debates about things that, in the context of eternity, mean very little (see 2 Timothy 2:23; Titus 3:9) -- and how much has the Church been guilty of waging these theological battles, while the world looks on bemused, at best, and totally turned off, at worst. It's all about the new creation in Christ! It's all about personal transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-6). That's my focus as I move forward in this exciting journey of following Jesus.

Considering the Facts

This last week, I've experienced a real touch from the Lord, physically -- but at the same time, I've also experienced what some might call "reversals", or what I view as retaliations by the enemy, pure and simple -- the last throes, as it were, of an enemy defeated.

I was speaking with my mother today about this, and she reminded me of Romans 4:19-21, which recounts Abraham's experience, so I read this again. In the New International Version, it reads like this:

"¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead -- since he was about a hundred years old -- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."

When the New International Version says that Abraham "faced the fact that his body was as good as dead", that phrase "faced the fact" literally means "considered carefully." But it can also be taken in the negative, meaning "he didn't consider (or take into account)" these facts. This is why the King James Version translates this passage as:

^"19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: ²⁰ He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; ²¹ And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."

Look at how different Bible translations have rendered this passage:

• New American Standard Bible (updated 1995) - "¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform."

• New Century Version - "¹⁹ Abraham was almost a hundred years old, much past the age for having children, and Sarah could not have children. Abraham thought about all this, but his faith in God did not become weak. ²⁰ He never doubted that God would keep his promise, and he never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God. ²¹ Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised."

• New Living Translation - "¹⁹ And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead -- and so was Sarah's womb. ²⁰ Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. ²¹ He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises."

• New Revised Standard Version - "¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarahs womb. ²⁰ No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised."

• The Message - "¹⁹ Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, 'It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.' Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. ²⁰ He didn't tiptoe around God's promise, asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, ²¹ sure that God would make good on what he had said."

• Good News Translation - "¹⁹ He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children. ²⁰ His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God's promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. ²¹ He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised."

• International Standard Version - "¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he thought about his own body (which was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah's inability to have children, ²⁰ nor did he doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, he became strong in faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being absolutely convinced that God would do what he had promised."

• J B Phillips - "¹⁹ With undaunted faith he looked at the facts - his own impotence (he was practically a hundred years old at the time) and his wife Sarah's apparent barrenness. ²⁰ Yet he refused to allow any distrust of a definite pronouncement of God to make him waver. He drew strength from his faith, and while giving the glory to God, ²¹ remained absolutely convinced that God was able to implement his own promise."

• The Amplified Bible - "¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah's [deadened] womb. ²⁰ No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, ²¹ Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised."

These translations (or paraphrases) each describe how Abraham took into account his frail condition (which was diametrically opposed to God's promise). He "considered" or "thought" or "looked" on these facts, but he did so through the lens of faith. This was because he took other facts into consideration -- particularly facts about God's faithfulness and ability to fulfill what He had promised. In Hebrews 11:11, we see that Abraham "considered" the others things to be of greater importance:

"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age -- and Sarah herself was barren -- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise."

I was challenged by the Lord with regard to what I "consider". I too, like Abraham, do not consider the symptoms to have the last say in my life. Instead, I consider other things.

I did a quick concordance study in the Bible on the word "consider" and this is what I came up with:

• Romans 8:18 - "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

• Philippians 3:8 - "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I considerthem rubbish, that I may gain Christ."

• Hebrews 11:2-3 - ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

• James 1:2 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."

Like Abraham, I am also "fully assured", "fully persuaded" and "absolutely convinced" that my healing is a matter of certainty, due to God's faithfulness. I'm just waiting for the symptoms to catch up with the reality, as it stands in God, that I am healed!

Milestones and Memorials

Today, I celebrated the seventh month since my diagnosis. Exactly seven months ago today, I was informed by my operating surgeon not only that I had cancer but also that it was in its last stages. The "mean life expectancy" given, as a rough guide, was that I had approximately 7-9 months to live. And so today was an important milestone in my walk of faith. For seven months has passed, and I'm still very much alive and kicking!

I took my family out for a meal at a Hong Kong-style restaurant as part of the celebration event. And then I had a time of prayer and thanksgiving with my children.

Milestones are important in our lives. By taking the time to celebrate significant points of transition and inflection points in our lives, we refocus our faith and consolidate our confidence in God.

In Joshua 4:4-7, we find this story:

"So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

I've often wondered at both the value and the utility of this particular memorial. How could you ever be reminded of these stones unless you actually went scuba diving (or unless the Lord once again blocked the waters of the Jordan to allow people to cross on dry land). But then I realised that the memorial wasn't just in the stones, it was also in the story itself -- the retelling of this story memorialized the event.

That's what I'm seeking to do with my kids. I'm creating milestones, not just for me, but for them. I'm retelling the story -- creating a narrative of faith -- which they will understand in the retelling.

In 1 Samuel 7:2-12, we also find an interesting story. After routing the Philistines, Samuel sets up a stone and calls it "Ebenezer," meaning, "the stone of help," and verse 12 tells us:

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the LORD helped us.'"

The Message phrases 1 Samuel 7:12 in this way:

"Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it "Ebenezer" (Rock of Help), saying, 'This marks the place where God helped us.'"

July 7 is my Ebenezer. Today, I declared, "Thus far has the LORD helped me," and tonight I proclaimed to my children, "This [day] marks the [time when] God helped us."

As far as I'm concerned, I'm healed already. Now we're just waiting for the symptoms to catch up with this fact! But the establishing and commemorating of memorials -- our virtual Ebenezers -- is important in the walk of faith. Milestones are integral to the journey.

The Cure for Spiritual Vertigo

In 2 Peter 1:4, we have a remarkable encouragement from God:

"Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

In His Word, God has given us "very great and precious promises", each of which has a two-fold purpose:

1. To help us participate in the divine nature -- to conform us to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29).

2. To help us escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires -- to be set free from all that opposes God's divine nature (2 Peter 2:20)

I was chatting, via email, with my dear brother Tom Gill in Ohio, and he gave me Psalm 91 to read, particularly verses 14-16:

"'Because he loves me,' says the LORD, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.'"

I've been familiar with this passage for a long time, but it came home to me in a very special way tonight. Part of the reason is that it is now 1am, and I've been awake for the last hour because of acute vertigo. If I shift my head to either side, but particularly to the right, or if I tilt my head back, the world suddenly seems to spin violently, and I feel extremely nauseous.

I've had this condition for about 48 hours now, and tonight Dr Sook Lin Lee, my family doctor, made a home visit, and she was able to diagnose it as "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" or BPPV (click here if you want more details on this condition). Apparently the condition will clear itself up in the next few days, although it means I have to be careful walking, and can't drive at the moment. But it causes me trouble at night too, hence being up right now.

But if I hadn't been up, I don't think I would have connected with Tom in the way we did, and I wouldn't be reading that wonderful promise from Psalm 91:14-16. It's almost as if those three verses were tailor-made for me tonight. And so this time is a very special time with the Lord, which I'm making the most of.

What a wonderful promise Psalm 91:14-16 is -- definitely a "great and precious" promise straight from God to me! "Because he loves me...I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name." Wow. For once, I'm speechless.

Lord, I've been calling on you a lot over the last few months, and I've seen you rescue me many times. And I believe you are going to rescue me in "the big way". Even tonight, Lord, I'm looking to you for your rescue from this nuisance of a condition. You said, "With long life" you will "satisfy [me] and show [me] your salvation." Long life. I take that, in Jesus' name.

I was thinking a little over the nature of vertigo, and in particular the parallels that physical vertigo has with a spiritual condition having similar symptoms. Being a teacher, I'm obviously interested in anything that can be used as an example to teach spiritual truths. So bear with me for a moment while we take a look at this unusual physical condition and its spiritual parallel.

Vertigo occurs because of a misfunction of the inner ear, which includes the semi-circular canals. Fluid in these canals trigger hairs, which signal to the brain and give the sensation of spinning and similar movement, and also give you your sense of balance when you stand or walk. Apparent, with BPPV, small grains or "rocks" interfere with the normal sensations within the semi-circular canals, creating the dizzying sensations of vertigo. So, it's official now -- I have "rocks in my head" ;-)

It's amazing how something as simple as this can interfere with one's sense of balance, and even more amazing how it actually interferes with your sense of sight. Anyone who has spun around crazily as a child will remember the visual sensation of the world "spinning around you." Of course, the world is not spinning around you at all, but you actually see this due to something in your ear! Go figure!

You know, in our spiritual life we also need to keep a fine sense of balance. And I believe it isn't coincidental that in the physical body, it is the ear that controls this sense of balance. In the spiritual, too, it is our spiritual ear which determines our sense of spiritual balance. Hearing from God is essential to walking a straight line with Him.

But it is also possible to get spiritual vertigo. By this, I mean that a person can lose their spiritual balance, become disoriented and "dizzy" with all the confusion of life. And the answer to spiritual vertigo is the voice of the Lord: "Stand still and see the salvation of your God!" (Exodus 14:13).

Elijah is an example, I believe, of someone who got spiritual vertigo. One minute, he had been ecstatic about God's miraculous intervention (read 1 Kings 18), and the next moment, he's running for his very life (read 1 Kings 19:1-3). Elijah completely lost his sense of balance, to the point where he asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4-8). But when Elijah reach Mt Horeb, this is what happened in verses 9-11:

"And the word of the LORD came to him: 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' He replied, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.' The LORD said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by'..."

What happened after that? What great earth-shaking event would God pull off in front of Elijah? What was God going to do to cure Elijah's spiritual vertigo? 1 Kings 19:11-13 tells us:

"...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'"

On Mt Horeb, God did some minor surgery in Elijah's spiritual ears. He didn't use great pyrotechnics to do it. Just the "gentle whisper" of His voice -- what the King James Version calls "the still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12, KJV) of God's Spirit.

What is the "gentle whisper" of God's Spirit saying to your inner ear? Maybe it's something like Psalm 46:10, where the Lord says:

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

For me, it's Psalm 91:14-16, which I'll read this time from The Holman Christian Standard Bible:

"Because he is lovingly devoted to Me, I will deliver him; I will exalt him because he knows My name. When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him My salvation."

Pressing On Toward the Goal (Part 3)

In my last post, I began an expository examination of Philippians 3. My motivation for doing this was quite personal, because God had already been speaking to me out of this chapter, particularly in regards to the issue of personal transformation (see "God's Magnificent Goal" and "The Transformation of Moses"). But before you read this post, I encourage you to first read the previous two posts in this series:

"Pressing On Toward the Goal (Part 1)"
"Pressing On Toward the Goal (Part 2)"

Now we're ready for the third and final segment of this three-part series. In my last post, we focused on Philippians 3:10, which is the pivotal verse for the entire chapter. In it, Paul identifies his central driving passion -- to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And this raises an important question for each of us: What is your central driving passion? How you answer that question has far-reaching implications for your life. For Jesus said in Matthew 6:21:

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

In Philippians 3:10, Paul says: "My treasure is Jesus." No wonder that is also where the focus of Paul's heart also is!

In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul wrote:

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Is Jesus your life? If so, it won't be difficult to "set your hearts on things above", because "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). But if your treasure is in your bank account, or in the stock market, or in the property market, or in physical possessions, or in your work, or even in your family, then setting your heart on things above will be nigh impossible. You might struggle to do so, but your heart will pull you in a different direction.

For me, well, the answer is very much that my treasure is Jesus. That doesn't mean that I don't have things that I want down here on earth -- oh yes, always would like that next model computer, or the next James Bond gadget -- but all of these things literally pale into insignficance when it comes to the person of Jesus. I'm not bragging, please realise. This is not something superhuman or superspiritual. It is expected of the Christian! This is part of our cultural heritage as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the ones who have responded to Jesus' challenge, who said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). We are the ones whom Peter called "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11). Is it so strange, then, for a Christian to place Jesus at the top of all priorities, the pinnacle of all desires?

I emphasise again that this is not a prideful, "super-spiritual", "heads-in-the-clouds" attitude. It is what Watchman Nee called "the normal Christian life." Anything less, is subnormal, even abnormal. Jesus expected nothing less.

So let's look back at Philippians 3, and track Paul's thoughts following this grand statement of purpose he made in Philippians 3:10. Remember, Philippians 3 is primarily about personal transformation, and all we've looked at so far is the precursor to that transformation -- the transforming of our thinking, of our mindset, of our worldview. Now begins the real transformative process.

In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul writes:

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Paul saw himself as still on the journey, not having yet reached the final destination. It is clear that he hasn't "already obtained all this, or...been made perfect." This is encouraging for me, as it should be for all of us. Setting Jesus is your primary focus in life doesn't mean you've arrived; it just means you've started the journey. Oh, but what a journey it is!

I love Paul's next statement, in verse 12. He says, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Jesus took a hold of me for something -- a goal, a purpose, a master plan that He had since before the creation of the world (see Ephesians 1:4). He took the initiative, and chose me for that purpose (see John 15:16). Now, however, it is my turn to respond to that divine initiative. I now take a hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me!

Look at how different translations and paraphrases render that particular portion of Philippians 3:12:

• New International Version - "...but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."

• King James Version - "...but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."

• English Standard Version - "I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own."

• New Life Version - "But I keep going on to make that life my own as Christ Jesus made me His own."

• New Living Translation - "But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be."

• Holman Christian Standard Bible - "...but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus."

• New English Translation - "...but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me."

• New International Reader's Version - "But I move on to take hold of what Christ Jesus took hold of me for."

• J B Phillips - "But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me."

• The Message - "But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me."

• The Amplified Bible - "...but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own."

All these translations (or paraphrases) seek to bring out the nuances of Paul's original Greek, which has a meaning essentially as follows: Christ Jesus took a hold of (grasped) Paul for something, and so Paul now takes a hold (grasps) that something will all his heart and energy.

I particularly love J B Phillips' translation/paraphrase of Philippians 3:12-14, which goes like this:

"Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have 'arrived', spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me. My brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now. But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal - my reward the honour of being called by God in Christ."

Like us all, Paul had made mistakes, some of them even recorded in Scripture. But he refused to allow himself to be a prisoner of the past, because he was a prisoner of hope (Zechariah 9:12). So he said: "I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal..."

I spent a whole post sharing about this goal in "God's Magnificent Goal", and this, for me, is what drives me forward each day. For Jesus is not just for me the subject of a personal relationship, He is also the object of my life's goal. Like Paul, I too am being "conformed to the likeness of [God's] son" (Romans 8:29), and am "being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). And as 1 John 3:3 says: "Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."

I think it worthwhile mentioning here what I consider this "prize" to be. First of all, it is clearly not salvation itself, for salvation is a gift from God as part of the package of His grace (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Rather, the "prize" Paul is talking about is in the context of Greek games of competition, such as track events, where a runner would run for a prize, which was awarded to him upon successful completion of the event (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-25; Colossians 2:18; Hebrews 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:5; 4:8). For me, the "prize" -- sometimes also referred to as "the crown of righteousness" or "the victor's crown" -- is none other than Jesus and all His glory. Or, if you like, the honour of sharing in His glory (Romans 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

In Philippians 3:15-16, Paul then says:

"All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

Transformation is a step-by-step process, not a snap-of-the-finger, I'm-suddenly-there experience. But Paul advises that we should "live up to what we have already attained." In other words, don't take a backward step. Don't grow so comfortable, that we lose ground on what God has done in our lives. This means, as always, "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead," and "press[ing] on toward the goal to win the prize..." The race is not over until it's over (2 Timothy 4:7).

On the basis of this, Paul now says, in Philippians 3:17:

"Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you."

There is a pattern of life which has been set in Scripture which we are to live according to and model for others. Paul encouraged the Philippian Christians to follow his own example, as he also said in 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9. And in 1 Corinthians 11:1 he said: "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Once again, living according to this biblical pattern is all, ultimately, about being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Himself.

In the next two verses, Paul speaks with great grief about Christians who have refused to embark on this process of personal transformation -- refusing to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. In Philippians 3:18-19, he writes:

"For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things."

Here are people doing the exact opposite of everything Paul has described in Philippians 3:7-17. Instead of fixing their eyes on the eternal, "their mind is on earthly things." Instead of striving toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [them] heavenward in Christ Jesus," their "destiny is destruction." Instead of their driving passion being to know Jesus, their driving passion is their own appetites. And instead of being conformed to the glory of Jesus, they have pursued their own glory, which Paul calls their very "shame." They are, says Paul, "enemies of the cross of Christ."

But we're not like that, says Paul! In Philippians 3:20-21, he writes:

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

What a grand finale to Paul's chapter on personal transformation! And what a journey we've covered in three days, as we've explored this extraordinary chapter. At last, here at the end, Paul reveals the great goal to which we are all moving. Our citizenship is in heaven, because that's where our hearts and minds are fixed. When Jesus returns, "by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control", he will "transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

That is a fixed event awaiting us, sometime in the near future. But even now, on the journey of transformation leading toward this goal, we are able to experience a foretaste of this final physical transformation, for even before then, Paul's desire was to know "the power of his resurrection" outworked in his day-to-day life (Philippians 3:10). Even now, before His return, Jesus still has "the power that enables him to bring everything under his control" (see Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:19-21). And so, as I myself am on this journey of transformation, I'm reaching forward by faith to experience "the power of his resurrection" in my life (see Romans 8:11).

1 John 3:2 describes the end-goal of this process of transformation in this way:

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

1 John 3:3 then closes that thought with these words:

"Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."

We are on a path of transformation, in which we can choose to purify ourselves "just as he is pure." But this purification comes by "the washing of the water by the word" of Jesus (Ephesians 5:26; John 15:3) on the basis of "the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:9). Let's respond then to the encouragement of 2 Corinthians 7:1:

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

Pressing On Toward the Goal (Part 2)

In my last post, I began an expository examination of Philippians 3. My motivation for doing this was quite personal, because God had already been speaking to me out of this chapter, particularly in regards to the issue of personal transformation (see "God's Magnificent Goal" and "The Transformation of Moses"). But before you read this post, I encourage you to first read the first part of this series:

"Pressing On Toward the Goal (Part 1)"

In this post, we saw how a transformation in thinking -- a shift in worldview and perception of values -- must precede a transformation of behaviour. Now let's take a look at Philippians 3:10, which is the pivotal verse in the whole chapter:

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."

Paul here identifies his primary desires in life, expressed in three specific goals:

1. To know Christ (personally)
2. To know the power of Christ's resurrection
3. To know the fellowship of sharing in Christ's sufferings

Before I go on to explore what this really means, I want to read this same scripture from The Amplified Bible:

"[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death..."

I did a little digging in commentaries and Greek lexicons in order to understand the nuances of what Paul was seeking to communicate in this passage, and I made a remarkable discovery in the process. I discovered that the original Greek words that launch verse 10, indicate a flow-on connection with verse 9. I'd always seen these two verses as independent segments of thought, but verse 10 is grammatically connected to verse 9. In essence, I discovered, the Greek grammar is written in such a way that the basis by which Paul is able to 1) know Christ and 2) know the power of His resurrection and 3) know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings was because, as he expressed in verse 9, Paul was "found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Because, and only because, of this foundation of righteousness that "comes from God and is by faith" could Paul then be able to "know Christ, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." One flowed automatically from the other.

Surprisingly, The New Living Translation brings out this dependence of verse 10 upon verse 9 quite clearly. Here's how Philippians 3:8-10 reads in The New Living Translation:

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death..."

I was meditating on this specific passage today, seeing verses 8-10 in their context.

I love the way The New Living Translation links two concepts clearly together in verses 8-9:

1. Having Christ
2. Becoming one with him

It really couldn't be made any clearer than that. By "having" or "acquiring" Christ Himself (through faith), a believer "become[s] one with him" -- this summarises the Christian experience. And it is only on this basis that a person can then genuinely know Christ, or as The Amplified Bible puts it, to "progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly." On the basis of my clumsy attempts at righteousness I simply do not have an adequate foundation to genuinely know Christ, because my pseudo-righteousness, which Isaiah 64:6 calls nothing but "filthy rags", creates an obstacle for me to get to come close to God, let alone get to know Him better (Isaiah 59:2). This is why, as I said in my last post, personal transformation must begin with a transformation in my thinking. The old way of thinking simply will not work.

Interestingly, Albert Einstein once made a comment which I think applies very well to our lives. He said (my paraphrase): "The significant problems in our lives cannot be solved at the same level of understanding that we were at when we created them." In other words, a transformation in thinking is not a luxury; it is a necessity. And this is what the Bible is all about -- transforming our thinking so that we begin to see things the way God sees them.

So the transformation in thinking that is required is summed up in The New Living Translation's expression - "to become one with Christ." It is only when I become one with Christ, through faith, that His righteousness becomes my righteousness, as a "credit transaction" on my spiritual balance sheet (note again Romans 4:1-5). At that point, like Paul, I have been "found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:9). Now, and only now, am I ready to truly discover Jesus, to genuinely "know Christ" -- "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).

My great desire, like Paul's, is to "know Christ." If you'd think there would be anybody qualified to say that he knew Christ, it would be Paul. Yet Paul recognised that there are depths which he hadn't yet explored, beyond the superficial understanding to a depth of relationship where one knows the heartbeat of the Lord. As far as I'm concerned, it is this hunger to know the Lord that is the primary driver behind spiritual transformation. There is no substitute for this hunger. Even Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). And since Jesus has become our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30), then "hungering and thirsting for righteouseness" is scripturally equivalent to "hungering and thirsting for Jesus".

And this is essentially what Paul is expressing. He's not satisfied with superficially knowing the Lord, but wants to plumb the depths of His relationship with the Lord. And this is my desire too. And by "progressively becom[ing] more deeply and intimately acquainted with [Jesus], perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly", I will also begin to discover Him on two levels of experience:

1. The power of His resurrection outflowing in my life
2. The fellowship of personally sharing in His sufferings

As I've discovered, these two things can't be separated. You can't pick and choose which level of knowing Christ you want to embrace, because both are aspects of knowing Him! In short, to know the power of His resurrection means you will share in His sufferings, and to share in His sufferings means that will experience the power of His resurrection in your life!

Romans 8:17 brings this out clearly:

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

I've already written in detail on both these subjects, so I encourage you to dig a little deeper by reading the following posts:

• To know the power of His resurrection -- read "The Power of the Resurrection"

• To know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings -- read "The Fellowship of His Sufferings"

Tomorrow, I'll wrap up this three-part series on the process of personal transformation, as it's revealed in Philippians 3.

Pressing On Toward the Goal (Part 1)

In my posts of June 30 and July 1 -- "The Magnificent Goal" and "Greater Is He", I quoted from Philippians 3:8-9 and 3:12-14, which say this:

• Philippians 3:8-9 - "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

• Philippians 3:12-14 - "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

If you've been following my blog for the last few days, you'll know that in my "daily conversation" with the Lord (see "Entering Into a Daily Conversation with God"), I've been focusing on personal transformation. And for this reason, I've been meditating on the whole chapter of Philippians 3 since Friday, and want to share with you a little of what I got out of that chapter. For me, this has a strong bearing not just on my healing process, but on the whole process of spiritual growth itself.

Let's start with verse 7:

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ."

Paul is speaking here of exchanging everything for something of higher worth. In fact, the "everything" that he is willing to "consider loss" is nothing less than what he would have earlier in his life considered for his profit -- all the credentials he had accumulated which had earned him spiritual accolades before his peers. In other words, all that this world might consider to be of value, Paul suddenly counted not just as worthless, but actually a liability -- a "loss" on his spiritual balance sheet. As The Message puts it:

"The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash -- along with everything else I used to take credit for."

As I read this, and was speaking to the Lord about it, I realised that personal transformation must first begin with a transformation in my way of thinking. Romans 12:2 then immediately came to mind:

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Two other passages of scripture also came to mind as I was looking up Romans 12:2 (both of which are almost mirror-like in similarity):

• Ephesians 4:22-24 - "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

• Colossians 3:9-10 - "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

Paul then goes on in verses 8-9 to explain what he means by the expression "I now consider [everything] loss for the sake of Christ." He writes:

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

Paul is willing to take what the world calls "gain" on its spiritual balance sheet and call it "loss", because he had discovered something worth far more than anything he himself could accumulate by his own efforts. It was because of the "surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" that he was willing to lose everything else and even consider it all "rubbish" so that "I may gain Christ"!

The word translated "rubbish" literally means "refuse, excrement, dregs, what is cast to the dogs." In other words, it doesn't just have zero value...it has negative value! As far as Paul was concerned, his own accumulated credentials of self-righteousness is something to throw away as quickly as he can, lest it fester, contaminate and begin to develop a stench. Quite extreme language, yet it conveys the dramatic nature of Paul's turnaround in thinking.

The Amplified Bible translates Philippians 3:8-10 in superbly exquisite and nuanced language:

"Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ..."

It was "the possession of the priceless privilege" or what The Amplified Bible connotes as "the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him" that drove this value change in Paul's life. You see, you can be begged, cajoled or even pestered, but you won't willingly give up something you consider to be of value unless something you consider to be of even greater value is given in exchange. This is what I call Collins' First Law of Spiritual Economics: "Relinquishing something of perceived value must be preceded by a change of values." (Sometime later I might share my Three Laws of Spiritual Economics with you).

And Philippians 3 is all about a massive change in values, which drove Paul to give up everything this world considers valuable in order to gain something of far greater worth. And the crux of this value change -- and the accompanying "renewing of the mind" (Romans 12:2) -- centres on a new understanding of how to attain a righteousness that is acceptable to God. Whereas before, Paul had seen righteousness as something that was to be gained through self-effort, Paul now realised that righteousness is a gift from God (see Romans 1:17; Galatians 2:21). This is why Paul emphasises so strongly, in Philippians 3:9, that his goal is to be "be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." This same concept is clearly spelled out in Romans 1:17, which says:

"For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"

So important is this concept that I want to underline it clearly before I move on. The two elements of this new kind of righteousness that Paul had discovered are summarised, in both Philippians 3:9 and Romans 1:17, by two phrases:

1. "From God" -- this describes the direction flow of this righteousness -- i.e. from God to me, not the other way around (note 2 Corinthians 4:7).

2. "By faith" -- this describes the method by which this righteousness is acquired -- i.e. by faith, not my own good works (note Ephesians 1:8-9; Romans 4:1-5).

No wonder Paul uses such emphatic language in Galatians 2:21, when he says:

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

In The Message, Paul's meaning comes across very clearly:

"Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily."

So now that we've established this value change, together with an inner transformation through "the renewing of your mind" -- a total reorientation of one's thinking and a complete shift in one's worldview -- we're ready to look at the next part of Philippians 3, which I'll examine tomorrow. For once there has been a transformation in thinking, the next step is a transformation in behaviour.

The Transformation of Moses

Today I preached a message at the ECCI 11am service called "The Transformation of Moses." I'm not going to cover everything I shared in that message, but I want to highlight a few of thoughts that meant a lot to me personally.

You may remember that yesterday, in my post called "God's Magnificent Goal", I shared about God's promise of personal transformation. Well, as I studied the life of Moses, I saw how God transformed him through a process that took him through three clear stages:

• Stage One - The first 40 years of his life - This was the stage of natural development, learning and personal capability. As a prince in Egypt, Moses "was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action" (Acts 7:22). He had everything going for him. He had the equivalent of today's best education - a degree in psychology, a degree in sociology, a degree in political science, a degree in history and an MBA all mixed into one. At the end of Stage One, however, Moses tried to exercise his leadership gifts in his own strength and failed miserably (see Acts 7:23-29). He ended Stage One by fleeing from the anger of Pharaoh and starting a new life in Midian.

• Stage Two - The second 40 years of his life - This was the stage of personal despondency and a sense of failure. For 40 years, Moses led the life of a shepherd, out of sight in the wilderness of Midian and Sinai. As this stage ended (with Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush), Moses declared to God: "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue" (Exodus 4:10). This is a remarkable backward step, it would seem, from his description as "powerful in speech and action" in Stage One (Acts 7:22).

• Stage Three - The final 40 years of his life - This was the stage of the fulfilment of God's purpose in and through Moses' life, which takes up the majority of the chronicled story of his life, starting in Exodus 3 and ending in Deuteronomy 34.

At the end of Deuteronomy 34, we find this epitaph of Moses' life:

"Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt -- to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel."

So what interests me is this: What was it that transformed Moses to become the great leader he eventually became? What was it that made the difference in his life?

Have you ever felt like you failed God? Have you ever thought that you were past your "use by" date? Well, that was Moses' frame of thinking when God interrupted his life in Exodus 3. In fact, when God announced that he was sending Moses back to Egypt to deliver His people from bondage (Exodus 3:7-10), Moses responded with five excuses:

• Excuse #1 - "Who am I?" (Exodus 3:11-12) - Moses by this time had a well-established inferiority complex, nurtured for forty years in the wilderness. Whereas in Egypt, in Stage One of his life, he had been a Somebody, he had by this time convinced himself that he was a Nobody. In answer to this excuse, God encouraged Moses and told him that He would go with him to Egypt.

• Excuse #2 - "Who are you?" (Exodus 3:13-22) - Moses turned the tables on God and admitted to an ignorance of God's identity (even though he knew that the God who was speaking to him was "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob" -- Exodus 3:6). In answer to this excuse, God identified Himself as the Great I Am (Exodus 3:14).

• Excuse #3 - "They won't believe me!" (Exodus 4:1-9) - Moses was still haunted by his rejection 40 years earlier (Exodus 2:11-15), and his imagination worked overtime, conjuring up images of continuing rejection by the very ones he had been sent to rescue. But in answer to this objection, God encouraged Moses and established a set of miraculous signs that would be proof of his anointed leadership.

• Excuse #4 - "I'm not eloquent" (Exodus 4:10=12) - Some people have considered it possible that Moses was a stutterer, and this of course might be possible. But in the light of Acts 7:22, I think it more likely that Moses' lack of eloquence was the result of his inferiority complex and poor self-image. Once again, God encouraged Moses and even made a concession to him, allowing Aaron, his older brother, to act as his mouthpiece.

• Excuse #5 - "Send someone else!" (Exodus 4:13-17) - This was the point where God finally got angry with Moses. Yet ultimately Moses did obey God and was indeed transformed into the powerful leader that Israel needed, the prophet described in Deuteronomy 34:10-12.

What was it that made the difference? That's what interested me today. Remember, this isn't for me just a nice study in biblical history. These last few days I've been conversing with the Lord about issues related to personal transformation, and so my study of Moses was driven by a desire to experience what he experienced -- at least the more positive elements of that experience ;-) So, what exactly was the process of transformation that ultimately made Moses into the man who lead God's people out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land?

The first thing I noticed, as I studied the life of Moses, was that God's transformation process had, for him, two important parts:

• Part 1 - Humility
• Part 2 - Empowerment

The first part of the transformation process is, I believe, extremely important, for 1 Peter 5:5 reveals the importance of humility in God's plan for our lives:

"...All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'"

I love the way Peter terms it in 1 Peter 5:5: "...clothe yourselves with humility." In other words, just as we put on clothes, so we can also put on humility. And why is humility important? Because "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Why did Moses have to spend 40 years hidden in the wilderness before God could use him? Why did he have to experience rejection by his own people, and the trauma of self-recrimination? Obviously, God has His own timing. But apart from that, I also believe that humility needed to be worked into Moses' life -- and, boy, did God do a great job of that, for Numbers 12:3 tells us that Moses ended up being "a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth"!

If God had skipped Stage Two and immediately sent Moses to deliver His people from Egypt, I believe the whole endeavour would have self-destructed. Moses' pride wouldn't have just been his personal downfall (Proverbs 16:18; 29:23), but possibly also the downfall of the whole nation. Not only that but Proverbs 8:13 tells us that God "hate[s] pride and arrogance," and unless God first dealt with Moses' inner pride issue, then God would have continued to oppose Moses on a personal level -- not a good start to his job as deliverer of God's people. This is why Peter goes on to say in 1 Peter 5:6:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Notice that it is "in due time" that God will lift you up. Once again, we see that God has His own timetable by which He works. Many of the heroes of faith, recorded in Scripture, went through a "wilderness preparation" before being launched on their prophetic or kingly career. Isaiah, for example, described this period of seclusion in Isaiah 49:2:

"He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver."

It was only after this intense (and lengthy) period of imposed humility that Moses became ready for the second part of God's transformation process. After the humbling, the time came for God to lift him up. As Jesus described it in Matthew 23:12:

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

In the second part of Moses' transformation -- empowerment -- the key, it seems quite clearly, is faith. In reading Hebrews 11:23-29, which describes Moses' life story, it's amazing to see how many times the phrase "by faith" is used -- five times in just seven verses! Even though Moses' gave plenty of excuses to try to get out of obeying God, the Bible tells us that Moses did eventually respond positively to God's command, and Hebrews 11:23-29 indicates that it was faith that motivated Moses' obedience, despite his initial misgivings.

So there it is: the two key elements to God's transformation process -- humility and faith. Both are needed to access God's grace, which is what ultimately transformed Moses into the powerful leader we all know and recognise. So after sharing this in the morning service, I had a long chat with the Lord. My desire is to be transformed into the likeness of God's Son (Romans 8:29), because I desire to expend my life in the purposes of God. And I recognise that, over the last 30 or so years, the Lord has indeed been working in my life developing both these attributes -- humility and faith.

The result of Moses' own transformation was that he became a person "whom the LORD knew face to face" (Deuteronomy 34:10-12) and who knew the ways of God (Psalm 103:7 - read also my post on "The Ways of God"). This is also my desire -- not just to be used by God in His purpose, but to know God on the closest personal level possible. And so, Lord, I'm willing to submit to your process of transformation. I take a hold of the promise of 2 Corinthians 3:13,18:

"We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face...[But] we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."