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Your eyes shall see the King in his beauty. (Isaiah 33:17) In the ancient cultures that surrounded Israel, from Southern Mesopotamia in 2000BC to Rome in 200AD, their views on reality were formed by observing the natural world around them from the stars, to the moon, to the sky, to the dry land, to rivers, trees animals and so on. This led them to conclude that there were many Gods. This fact is attested by looking at cultures such as Indian, Chinese Roman and Greek, all of whom worshiped deities related to the natural world. In Acts 17, we find the apostle Paul in the city of Athens. In conversation with the people, he addresses them saying: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god.” (Acts 17:22,23) However, Israel’s understanding of reality was radically different from that of all other ancient cultures. “How did the Israelites come to their unique concept of reality? Was it not encounters with the true God in actual events of history?” (NLT Study Bible: ‘The Exodus as History’) A striking examples of this is found in the Book of Exodus in the account of the ten plagues of Egypt. On the surface of this account, you could wonder if God was exerting some kind of creative revenge against the persecutors of His people. However, when we dig below the surface we see not creative vengeance but divine revelation of the magnificent power of the God of Israel. Each plague was a step-by-step dismantling of the entire Egyptian belief system. For example, Knhum, Hapti Sobek and Taweri were all believed to be ‘gods’ who were linked to the River Nile. As the river ran red with blood, it would seem to the Egyptians that their Gods had been slain. It’s hard for us to imagine this, but in Ancient Egypt, amongst other things, flies represented tenacity and courage, (yes really!) and eternal life. Stone carvings and amulets shaped as flies were found in ancient Egyptian tombs. To be attacked by the insect they revered would have been a major blow to the Egyptians. Heket was the Egyptian goddess of fertility and resurrection and was believed to take the form of a frog. She was looked upon as a protector of the people. As a result of this, frogs were revered in the ancient Egyptian culture and it was forbidden to deliberately kill a frog. So, imagine how the people must have felt when their homes and villages were filled with the creature who was meant to protect them! And so it went on. For two years, the Egyptians faced plagues that targeted each of their Gods. It was a magnificent display of the supremacy, might and power of the God of Israel! As the song goes, ‘Our God is an awesome God”. Over the millennia, God has been revealing His greatness to the human race. He revealed His greatness to Joseph in Egypt, Joshua on the eve of entering the Promised Land, Daniel in the Lion’s den, through wonders and miracles in Jesus’ earthly ministry, to name only a few. And, the wonderful thing is that the desire in the heart of God to reveal Himself to mankind has not ceased. In spite of our failures and mistakes, God still wants to demonstrate His power to us. “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning, our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, holy, holy, merciful, and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.” (Reginald Heber) Pauline Anderson
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Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17) On Christmas Eve, 1968, Apollo 8 was in orbit around the moon. It was the first mission to take humans to the Moon and back without actually landing on the moon’s surface. Apollo 8 was testing out the flight trajectory for future moon landings; it orbited the moon ten times before heading back to earth. During one of those orbits, astronaut Bill Anders snapped a photo; it’s called ‘Earthrise’. It showed the earth rising spectacularly above the surface of the moon in the same way we observe the moon rising above the surface of the earth. It is breathtakingly beautiful. On 7th December 1972, on its way to the moon, the crew of Apollo 17 took a photo looking back at the earth. This photo, entitled Blue Marble, showed the perfect sphere of our home planet, hanging amid the backdrop of the blackness of space. It would go on to to become one of the most reproduced images in history. It is truly magnificent. Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, also makes an outstanding image. If a person wanted to travel from one end of our galaxy to the other, travelling at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), it would take them 100,000 to 120,000 years. (Make sure and take plenty of water with you.) In July 2022 Nasa unveiled the newest photos of our universe, taken by the James Webb Space telescope which is parked out in space a million miles away from earth. The clarity of the images is awe inspiring. When looking at these images, words like ‘magnificent’, ‘awesome’, ‘amazing' and ‘outstanding’ come to mind although none come near to giving a true expression of their beauty. Billy Graham said: "Look up on a starry night and you will see the majesty and power of an infinite creator." Psalm 19:1 tells us that: The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. The same God who ‘created the heavens and stretched them out’ (Isaiah 42:5), is the one who uses His creation to reveal something of Himself to us. If the universe is so magnificent in its vastness that we cannot comprehend it, how much vaster and more magnificent is the one who created it? However, there is something that perhaps creates an even greater sense of wonder. It is this same Creator who says to us: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. (Isaiah 43:2) “I will not fail you nor forsake you”. (Joshua 1:5) And finally… I no longer call you servants. Instead I have called you friends. (John 15:15) At times when we are navigating through life’s difficulties, shall we pause, and bring these thoughts to mind. Let us not be overtaken by the magnitude of our difficulties but be inspired by the magnitude of our Creator… and our friend. Pauline Ann Anderson You therefore endure hardness, as a god soldier of Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 2:3) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7) We can’t help being aware of conflicts that are raging in various parts of the world today. Behind each conflict there is planning, careful planning. Plans are made to attack and plans are made to defend. The New Testament likens Christians to soldiers. We face our battles too. Some of these are with people, other times the devil, sometimes with circumstances and even ourselves. At times it can seem as though we are fighting all four at once! So, the question today is, “Do you have a battle plan?” We need a strategy ahead of time, we need to prepare for the battle in the days of calm. Recently, I was reflecting on a ‘battle plan’ which may also help others to victory.
Raise up a people, holy and free; Hearts with a vision like unto thee; Souls that would rather die than give in – Lives with a passion, victory to win. E.C.W. Bolton There is a saying that “those who fail to plan, plan to fail”. But we don’t need to fail. By making ourselves ready for the battles ahead, we can not only survive, come through them victorious, knowing the ressurection power of Jesus Christ.
Pauline Anderson Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. (James 1:22-26) There are times in the Bible where we read about people who went ‘to inquire of the Lord.’ Here are two examples: Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel enquired of the LORD, saying, "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?" (Judges 1:1) The people enquired of the Lord in order to determine who should be their king: Therefore they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?" So the LORD said, "Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage." (1 Sam 10:22) People expected answers when they ‘enquired of the Lord’. We see, also, that they acted upon the information they were give. They ‘listened’ to God. The word ‘listen’ in the Bible isn’t just a simple hearing with ears; implicit within that word is that it is followed by action. In Genesis 25 we read these words: Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her,“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:21-23) In Rebekah’s discomfort, she, like others, enquired of the Lord and He answered her. Before the twins were born, the Lord predicted that Esau would serve Jacob (Genesis 25:23). However, subsequently, it would seem, that Isaac and Rebekah didn’t ‘listen’ to what they had been told. There came a time when Isaac was very old; he wanted to bless Esau. God had told them ahead of time that ‘the older will serve the younger.’ Perhaps along with his failing eyesight and bodily strength, his spiritual acumen was also failing. But we know that Rebekah understood the situation and, rather than go and remind Isaac of the prophesy so that God would fulfil it his way, she turned to deception. This failure to ‘listen’, to act upon what she knew resulted in two decades of enmity between the brothers, with Jacob having to flee for his life from Esau. Sadly also, we never read that Rebekah saw her beloved son Jacob again. It’s not enough to ‘hear’ what God says. We need to ‘listen, and that means acting on what He says. When we do, we find the kingdom of Heaven reigning in our lives, and we live the victorious life God Has planned for us” Someone once said: “Listen for God Listen to God And then do what He says” This is a word for us today. Pauline Anderson How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. (Psalm 31:19 NLT) This week, I have been reading again of Abraham, one of the most well known and well loved men in the Old Testament. Chapters 11 to 25 of Genesis chronicle his life. In Genesis 12:2 we read that Abraham is both the receiver of and the instrument of blessing: I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. We also read that he was a devout man. On a number of occasions, we read of him building altars to God. For example, the first was an altar of gratitude and praise: The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7) We also observe that Abraham was a gracious, noble and generous man. A time comes when Abraham separates from his nephew Lot to resolve a dispute between their respective workers. Abraham nobly allowed Lot first choice of the land, knowing that he would choose what looked like the best for himself. And Abraham would, some time later, prove himself to be loyal to this same nephew who, through his own unwise choices, found himself in a city, besieged, overcome and its inhabitants taken captive by the enemy. Abraham bravely pursued the attackers and: He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. (Genesis 14:16) And of course, he was a man of obedience, willing to give to God his most precious possession, the life of his own son. However, Abraham was a man who sometimes fluctuated between faith and fear. When he wandered into territories occupied by other settlers, he adopted a strategy of deception to protect himself. In his own words, speaking of Sarah, his wife, he said: And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother"'. (Genesis 20:13) Abraham foolishly used deception rather than trusting in God, running the risk that others would commit adultery, a capital offence in the Near East, as well as potentially costing him his life. Living by faith takes courage, determination and perseverance. There were times when Abraham leaned on natural rather than spiritual defences. As I was meditating , on the fluctuations in Abraham’s faith, I felt a gentle whisper come and say to me, “I can do much better than that for you!” Wonderful as Abraham’s faith was, God has an even deeper place of faith for us: a place where we find our feet are firmly embedded in the rock of faith, not just on it, and we will not walk away from that rock to seek another place of refuge when the storms of life assail us. When facing challenging circumstances, rather than allowing faith to fizzle out, you let it take wings and sore upwards as you pray; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. (Psalm 61:2,3) If God is opening that door to you today, don’t hesitate to walk through what seems such a narrow door, but leads to wide places of blessing and fellowship with God. Remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity (C H Spurgeon) Pauline Anderson Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (Genesis 6:22) The story of Noah is one of the most familiar stories in the Old Testament. The older generation were brought up hearing it in Sunday school, in school and sometimes at home. Familiarity with stories such as these can cause us to read over them with haste, not taking time to think as we read, not appreciating what actually happened. Noah lived many hundreds of miles from any large body of water. He would not have known what it was to stand at the ocean’s shore, viewing water stretching as far as the eye could see. Did he even know that oceans existed? Yet, when God spoke to him, asking him to build an ark which, in today’s terms would be seven stories high and one and a half football fields in length, we read that: "Noah did all that the Lord commanded him." (Genesis 7:5) This act of obedience and faith can often be under appreciated. One writer once said, “We need to be fully aware that Noah's salvation was ultimately God's doing, but we should also thoroughly and thoughtfully consider that Noah was fully involved with God in carrying out all that God told him to do.” This means that Noah had made a deliberate decision, gigantic in proportion and seeming preposterous as it was, to obey God. Obedience was paramount in his life. As Spurgeon said: “Obedience is the highest practical courage.” As we read though scripture, the importance of obedience is reiterated.
Obedience and victory go hand in hand. This year shall we make a commitment to start as we mean to go on? Shall we decide to obey God in 2023, resolving todemonstrate the ‘highest practical courage’. Let us remember and put into practice the words of Mary to the servants at the Wedding Feast of Cana in John 2:5: ““Whatever He says to you, do it.” Pauline Anderson For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) There are many fallacies that are perpetuated in society that have their roots more in generalities than realities. One fallacy is that women are more romantic than men. We tend to think that it’s only women who enjoy hearing about a recent love match, but, I have noted the comments of men when they hear of their best friend’s engagement, an old pal’s forthcoming wedding or news of a new love match on the wind. Additionally, how many books, songs, poems, plays and films have been made about love and love stories… and not all are written by women? Love transcends gender barriers, race barriers, and even age barriers. For many people these past weeks, without perhaps realising it, their thoughts have been centred around the greatest love story of all times. This love story is summed up in one verse in John’s gospel and is relevant to us all. It says: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14 ) Billy Graham once said “I suppose the most misused word in all the English language is the word ‘Love.’ But, you know, the whole Bible is a love story; God’s love affair with the human race.”
On that night in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, when an angel adorned the skies of earth with its beauty and its light proclaiming ‘I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people’ (Luke 2:10), the greatest love story of all times was being heralded and would soon be on display for all creation to witness. It’s a fallacy to think that Jesus just came for sinners, just for the poor, just the needy… the greatest love story of all times, encompasses every human being of every era, on every continent. As we stand at the threshold of a new year, let us, with great anticipation, commit ourselves to getting to know this One who wrote, produced and was the central character in the greatest love stories of all time. A very Happy and blessed New Year to you all. Pauline Anderson So then, welcome him (Epaphroditus) in the Lord with great joy, and honour people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me. (Philippians 2:29-30) When we think of people gambling, images of casinos, betting shops and online sites come to mind. We hear stories of men and women who have lost family, friends, possessions, houses and cars as a result of gambling. However, has it ever occurred to you that, if you are walking with God, in obedience to Him, that you too are a gambler? The difference is, you are not going to lose in God’s gambling arena, you always emerge a winner. While reading a commentary on Philippians 2, with reference to Epaphroditus who ‘risked his life’ to help Paul, the writer noted: ‘Risk is a gambler’s word. It means that Epaphroditus risked everything on the turn of the dice. He gambled his life to help Paul’. We read of many other people who similarly ‘gambled’ their lives in order to obey God. One of these was Mary, the mother of Jesus. In her mid-teens when she received the visitation from the Angel Gabriel, Mary had a choice to make.Luke 1:29 tells us that: “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” This was no ordinary messenger with no ordinary message. This message would change Mary’s life forever, if she accepted. Mary would be gambling her reputation, and even her life if she accepted this honoured position. And that’s exactly what she did. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38) In her youth, she risked everything she had ever held dear to her to become the mother of the Saviour of the world. Likewise Joseph, an upright man, risked his reputation and all his hopes for their future by taking Mary to be his wife. He accepted this gamble, taking Mary to Bethlehem with him and becoming her husband. In the light of history, we see what blessing poured on Mary’s life, on Joseph’s life and on the lives of all mankind as consequence of their risk. I’ve never been in a casino but I have watched the scenes in old films. A group of people are gathered round the roulette wheel. Some have placed bets; they are totally committed. The others are watching what unfolds; they are merely onlookers. If we are to know God, really know Him; if we are to walk so closely with Him so that we hear even the whisper of his voice, we have got to be willing to be totally committed, not merely an onlooker. After weighing up what God is offering us against what we could seemingly lose, we decide every time to take the ‘risk’ and obey him. It’s the safest risk we will ever take in all our lives. This Christmas season, will you follow the example of Mary and Joseph and make a decision to take that risk that you have been putting off for so long. By following and obeying Jesus, we are winners every time. Pauline Anderson Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Every year, on the fourth Thursday in November, the USA celebrates a festival called ‘Thanksgiving’. It’s origins lie in the sailing of a ship called the Mayflower in 1620 which left Plymouth harbour in the south of England carrying 120 religious separatists who were looking for a land where they could freely practice their faith without fear of persecution. After landing and settling in the ‘New World’, the first ‘Thanksgiving’ was celebrated by the Pilgrims in October 1621, after having gathered in their first harvest. Thanksgiving celebrations were practised on and off for over two hundred years until, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, “proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”, calling on the American people to also, "with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience .. fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation…” (Wikipedia) Unfortunately, the attitude of gratitude that marked the early Pilgrims has given way to an attitude of ingratitude and sense of entitlement which has permeated not only American society but the society of the Western world and, if we’re honest, much of planet earth. It has become one of the greatest pandemics of our age. Charles Spurgeon taught that it was “ ‘A heavenly thing to be thankful.’ After all, it was gratitude which ‘ought to teach us the divine object of grace.’ He longed for his heart to burn with the ‘sacred flame of thankfulness.’ Billy Graham preached that ‘nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of thankfulness.’ He also went on to say, “From one end of the Bible to the other, we are commanded to be thankful.” Here are two of these commands: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." (Psalm 100:4-5) "Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:20) Elsewhere we read; “One of the best things about thankfulness is that the more you choose it, the easier it gets. The more you profess gratitude, the more you notice things to be grateful for. The thankfulness muscles respond to exercise!” (www.worldvisionadvocacy.org) Are there some muscles of thankfulness that you need to start exercising today? If so, don’t wait. Remember that… “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) Let’s get exercising! Pauline Anderson We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defence. (2 Corinthians 6: 7) Dr Dave Walker is a retired, eminently successful anaesthetist. As an adult, while working in theatres and ICU, he began to seek for God. After his dramatic encounter with Christ which changed his life and, he began to pray with his patients, often seeing miraculous results. Some of these are recorded in the book ‘God in the ICU’. One fascinating story which he tells in his book actually does not involve a physical healing . He recounts a time when a new chief had been appointed over his department. Unfortunately for Dr Walker and the staff, the new chief was very curt with his new team. He was argumentative, made unkind remarks about others and created a tense atmosphere wherever he went. Dr Walker, although a Christian, decided to fight back with worldly weapons of criticism and backbiting. In his own words, he embarked upon a ‘character assassination ’ of his colleague. He criticised his relationships with other people. He criticised the decisions he made. He even tried to criticise his surgical skills. Then one day, as he was reading his Bible, Dr Walker read the following words: Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse... If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. (Romans 6:14, 20) Dr Walker had no desire whatever to ‘bless” the one who was persecuting him, and others, however, reluctantly, out of an act of his will rather than his heart he began to use weapons of righteousness to fight his enemy rather than weapons of unrighteousness. One day, he saw that his colleague had had no time to go out to buy lunch in-between his cases. Dr Walker bought him lunch and handed it to him. On ward rounds, Dr Walker asked his colleague what decisions he had made regarding the care of a patient. Dr Walker then recorded these as orders for the staff. He then invited him to lunch and learned that he was married and had a family. He also learned that the man had had a difficult upbringing yet, underneath all the brash exterior he had a soft, caring heart. In a few weeks the men became firm friends. Their operating times became a pleasure and they developed a mutual trust which enabled them to speak into each other’s lives. A year later, the chief became terminally ill and, with only months to live, he bade farewell to his colleagues at the hospital. Dr Walker and others gathered around him and prayed for him. One week later he gave his life to Jesus Christ and shortly afterwards died. As I listened to this story, I became aware how tragically different the ending of this story could have been if Dr Walker had not chosen his weapons carefully. It can be easy to fight back with unkind words, sarcastic remarks, curt statements. It takes effort and, as Dr Walker discovered, a sheer act of will, to choose different weapons, weapons that will heal rather than harm. I wonder what stories in our lives could have had a different ending if we had only chosen our weapons more carefully. Let this be a reminder to us today to choose our weapons carefully and to make sure they are ‘weapons of righteousness’. Pauline Anderson |
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Struthers Memorial Church is a registered Scottish Charity No. SC 006960 | Struthers Memorial Church is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland Company No SC335480 | Registered Office: 33 West Stewart Street, Greenock, PA15 1SH. |