Tag: faithfulness

March 17th 2024: Graham John

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Mark 14:1-11 Christian Devotion

I had a long-lasting friend in school who was nicknamed ‘the enthusiast.’ It was because an idea would grip him so powerfully that it would exclude all other things for a short while, until something else grabbed his attention. Once, when we were teenagers, he suggested making a lorry trip to India. If you gave a moment’s thought to it, and expressed grave doubts about its viability and success, he would put you down as a definite. If you said a firm no, he would put you down as a probable. He was a born optimist, a visionary, who was finally captivated by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here, in the home of Simon the leper, was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who was undoubtedly and enthusiastic for Christ. She was a disciple, a follower, a supporter, a fan. We have a flashback here to the Friday before Good Friday. We see her sacrificial love to the Lord Jesus Christ. In her devotion she gave sacrificially pure nard, which was one of the most expensive perfumes of the day, made from leaves of a plant only found in the foothills of the Himalayas. This display seemed very spontaneous but that couldn’t have been the case because of the cost of the perfume. The very cost meant she wouldn’t have had this to hand. It was the perfume of kings and queens. It probably had to be ordered for such an occasion. A lot of thought must have been behind this apparently impulsive act. It was carefully planned and considered. God loves a cheerful giver.

Marry poured out her heart in thanksgiving and gratitude to Christ. What form of devotion might you take? You have something far more precious than a year’s wage to give him. Paul encouraged Christians in the city of Corinth to increase the size of a gift they were given. Paul mentions examples of other Christian giving – the Christians in Macedonia. They gave themselves first to the Lord, then to others. God’s love is lavish, it is extravagant. Any giving of ourselves to Him will only be a pale reflection of His love for us in sending Christ to the cross. While we may suffer in some way, yet on the cross Jesus suffered for the sins of the world.

Mary’s act of considered devotion causes us to give ourselves to the Lord. The later you come to Christ, the more you regret you never came sooner. But it is never too late to come to Christ. In the planned giving of specific sacrifices, a Christian must actively and purposefully seek out ways in which to serve Christ. We need to follow Him as His disciple, even in moments when we don’t feel like it. Specific ways of sacrificing include my money, my energy, my thoughts, my mind. He longs for such sacrifices, yet He is not any the richer by receiving these things from us.

How can I practically give myself to Him, who is no longer on earth? His spiritual body is here – the Church. Give generously and show kindness. There are local needs in the local church, as well as the worldwide needs of the church. Mary’s example is an act of planned generosity and devotion to the Lord, who offers Himself as a sacrifice for all. His dedication works itself out in our lives. Do we ever take time in thinking how we may serve the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we plan and prepare to live out a life like this?

There is a deeper meaning of Mary’s gift; it was prophetic, “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.” (v8). His cross had been prepared. His death was just a few days away. As He anticipate the form of His death and resurrection, Mary has done more in this act than she realises. Often God fulfils His purposes without people realising they are His instrument. They are unaware. Mary has done something she is unaware of – performing an anointing before His burial. Heaven and earth filled with a wonderful perfume. Jesus crucified for me is the power of the gospel – both its glory and attraction of the cross.

Christ encourages us in this example to see how He accepts our gifts and sacrifices. Jesus says she has done a beautiful thing. Praise from the King of Kings! Do you sometimes feel your sacrifices displeasing or overlooked by God? In the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, only one was offered by faith. By grace He accepts our gifts, even a cup of water offered in His name. It is possible for a believer to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. He can look down with delight and pleasure, in the light of Calvary. Paul, in Romans 12, says, “By the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (v1b).

Notice how He defends us in the face of disapproval. We are told in a parallel passage in John chapter 12 that Judas points out the waste of the gift, but Jesus says Mary’s gift is timely. Judas, treasurer, champion of the poor. But Jesus says there will be many opportunities to help the poor. But there is something more pointed underneath these remarks. Cold, worldly hearts cannot understand this generosity. The zeal and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ is often misunderstood by people of the world. They still mock Christ in His people. If a person devotes they’re time, they’re money, their heart to build up a business, the world considers them praiseworthy. Yet, they consider dedication to Christ as a waste.

Once a person sees the awful nature of their sin, together with the heights from which the Saviour came and the depths to which He descended for our sakes at the cross, their heart cries out, ‘What can I do to give back to Him? Call on the name of the Lord.

It is easier to be an admirer of Mary than a copier of Mary. Why was she so devoted? Possibly because she was a good listener. According to John’s gospel, the one who poured perfume over his head here had previously sat at His feet, listening to His words. She learned of God’s love in giving His only Son for this evil world. Have you heard his voice? If so, have you thoughtfully, purposefully, sacrificially given first yourself to Him, then your talents and your gifts, and the things that are special about you? Or do you sit on the sidelines with others and mutter, ‘Waste. Extravagant waste.’ May the Lord show us today the precious value of the Lord Jesus Christ.

March 15th 2020: Tom Baker

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Tom Baker - March 2020-Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

Micah 7:18-20

Micah is not a well-known book. Micah is not a well-known man. Unlike most people in the Old Testament, we are not told his family name, who his father was. He was a nobody, not from an impressive family. We are told he came from Moresheth, about 22 mile from Jerusalem. Isaiah was in the city of Jerusalem at this time. Moresheth was a small, forgotten place in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere. But Micah is not concerned with knowing who Micah is. His theme is us knowing who God is. Is this your testimony? You are not concerned with people knowing who you are but about who God is? Or are you obsessed with yourself – either being terribly arrogant or terribly despairing – thinking too much or too little of yourself? Do you know the freedom of turning away from yourself and turning to God?

Micah’s name means ‘Who is like the Lord?’ Micah starts and finishes his book with this. His name follows him and tells him who he is. Micah here is determined to preach to us God in all His glory. Who is like Him? He is speaking particularly of what he sees; God’s people have sinned in a number of ways. There is rampant idolatry, turning to lesser gods than their own. There is a particular issue with the corruption of the leaders of the nation. To make it worse, they sin in that they offer sacrifices to God without any humble repentance, just going through rituals. But Micah has also seen the greatness of God revealed in great judgement against His people. God, as He administers that judgement, feels a deep compassion. It grieves Him to see that. We see a great one who will take chaos and sin and put it all right, someone who will be a great ruler, righteous and holy. We see the great deliverer and salvation that He will provide.

Today, we still live in a messy world with messy lives, but He is still a great God and still great salvation is available in Him today. Micah saw Him and he was amazed. Are we? God is greatly to be praised. He is greatly to be feared. Some may not like this, but there is nothing more fearful than the love of God. God is to be feared because He is a God of love; you can stand on the rocks on the cliff face  at St. Davids and be fearful, yet still in awe of lies before you. God is great. We fear the sheer size of Him. There is nothing at all in existence that is greater than the love of God. When we first see the love of God our reaction is ‘Wow!’ Micah sees the great God says, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.” (Micah 7:18).

He is a God who is infinite in every way: in His holiness, knowledge and power. He always has been a great God and always will be. Every great thing you have ever seen, He made it. Everything belongs to Him. He is greater than all of it put together.

Perhaps the most distinctive, amazing thing about God is He is a God of mercy, showing love to His people.

Let us explore:

  1. The mercy of God
  2. The faithfulness of God.

 

  1. The mercy of God. God sees us and our sin and still He loves us. Micah saw God’s people and their offences against God. We have offended God in many ways. Micah highlights our iniquity (our twistedness), our transgressions (our lawbreaking, doing what we known we should not do) and our sin (falling short). Because we are a sinful people, even the best we offer falls short. When see our offence, we see all this together.

Like those of Micah’s day we have turned away from God. Our great offence against God is simply we fail to acknowledge God and give Him the honour He deserves. We happily receive the things from His hand but wish He would clear off. We have failed to acknowledge God for how great He is. We attempt to solve our problems ourselves. We think more of ourselves than we ought to, thinking we do not need Him. God should be angry with us. We get angry with people who have offended us, God is angry with His people who have turned from Him. We are those people. All have sinned and are under His judgement. Micah is all the more amazed when he sees God is a God of mercy. He pardons them and removes all their guilt. It’s amazing!

Micah picks out two lovely images of how God deals with our sin, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea,” (Micah 7:19). He treads our sin underfoot and casts it into the depths of the sea. As Jesus hung on the cross, He took all our sin. God crushed our sin. Christ was cut off and died so we wouldn’t. He took it on Himself. God stamped out all my sin. He casts our sin into the depths of the sea, He takes it all and throws it into the deepest part of the sea – all of them, so they can’t come back. All sin, even the ones you are most ashamed of and the ones you can’t even remember, are cast away, never to return.

Are you still carrying your sin or has it been laid on Jesus Christ? Do you still carry a sense of guilt and try and make it up to God? Take it all to Him. And if you’ve done that, leave it there. Christ has dealt with it. Don’t feel you need to tidy up your life first. Come to Jesus Christ in all your need, see the great mercy that He displays – most strikingly at Calvary. The first thing He says on the cross is, “Father, forgive them,” (Luke 23:34). See the mercy of God. Lay hold of the grace of God, know His love for Jesus’ sake.

  1. The faithfulness of God. Great is His faithfulness. Not only does He see His people in sin and shows them love anyway, but He stands by them anyway. He is firmly committed to them and will be with them forever. We see two things:
    (i) the temporary anger of God and
    (ii) the permanent smile and favour of God.
  • The temporary anger of God is a just anger. He is angry with sinners. Some will reject Him forever. Yet that anger can be turned away; Christ has turned it away from all those who belong to Him. He bore it. I deserved it but Christ turned it to Himself.
  • Those who trust in Jesus Christ never have to face the anger of God. Instead, the Christian knows the permanent smile and favour of God. Why? He is a God who delights in steadfast love. What makes God happy? To show eternal steadfast love to sinners. It is mind-blowing! It is Life changing! God loves you because He enjoys it. He has bound Himself to you – not because He has too, but because He wants to.

How do you imagine God looks at you – smiling or frowning? If you are in the Lord Jesus Christ you can know the smile of God, unchanging, forever. God shows that same favour towards His Son. He always has and always will. He is proud of Him. When He sees His Son it just makes Him smile. If you are in the Lord Jesus Christ that is the same for you. He is faithful.

Why does God stick with you? Because you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. How much faithfulness will He show? Even when Christ was dead and buried, He brings His Son up from the dead. There is nothing now that could take Him from us. We can never lose His favour if we belong to Jesus Christ, “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 1:6). He started loving you, He is not going to stop!

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?” (Micah 7:18-20). Then Micah ends. There is no response, just resounding silence . . . because there is no-one like Him in all the earth. What a Saviour He is. There is no-one like Jesus!