Tag Archives: Word of God

Fasting From Communion with God

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“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
(John 6:35)

I’ve been reading through the biography of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister in the 1830’s.  The biographical sketch of his life is filled with excerpts from his daily journals and insights into his heart and mind for ministry.  It is fascinating (and somewhat comforting) to read of another pastor from an entirely different time and place, who also struggled with a sense of never making the most of his time, who felt terribly unqualified for the high calling of ministry were it not for the Sovereign Grace of God, and whose greatest joy was to bring glory to God in sharing the Gospel.

Something struck me, though, as I was reading, that made me stop and think about my life in comparison with M’Cheyne’s.  Early on there was this summary of the young pastor’s ministry:

From the first he fed others by what he himself was feeding upon. His preaching was in a manner the development of his soul’s experience. It was a giving out of the inward life. He loved to come up from the pastures wherein the Chief Shepherd had met him—to lead the flock entrusted to his care to the spots where he found nourishment.

(Bonar, Andrew A. Memoirs and Remains of R.M.M’Cheyne. (Edinburgh, Banner of Truth Trust, 1978)pg. 36.)

I have shared before my daily Scripture reading practice.  I encourage everyone to read daily from the Word of God, and to read in a way that lets the Word really sink in, soaking the mind and soul with God’s revelation.  There are a variety of reading programs out there, but the one I prefer, actually, was developed by M’Cheyne.  In this program, you read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice per year, reading about four chapters a day, taken from different parts of the Bible.

I share this, not necessarily as an advertisement for the reading plan (though you can go here to find out more).  No, I share this to warn you of a hazard of such a plan.  Reading God’s Word ought to draw you deeper into the presence of God, knowing His will, revealing His love, and strengthening your faith.  There is deep, nourishing, life-giving power in His Word.  Still, sometimes having a reading plan before you makes you want to read to “get it done” so you can move on to the next thing.

How often do we read our Bibles, check the reading off the “To-Do List” for the day, close the book and move on?  Are we just grazing in the grass, never really getting down to the roots?  I have to admit, there are a lot of days when that’s all my Bible reading really is – just something to do.  I skim the surface of the page, my eyes see the words, but the words never really touch my heart.

How can I expect to feed the flock unless I am first fed by the Word?  If I am not sharing from the deep experience of my soul, if I am not “giving out of the inward life,” then the best I can give is but an anemic, watered-down, half-life of the Gospel.  If I am not fed in the pasture where my Chief Shepherd as met me, how can I ever hope to lead others.

I read that M’Cheyne would rise well before the break of day to worship and fellowship in the communion with God, singing Psalms and hymns and reading God’s word.  That time in devotion would so prepare him for the day that all of his studies, all of his conversations, all of his leisure, was permeated with the fragrance of the Gospel.  He had been to the feast, and he was sharing the portion of the table of the Lord.

Why do we, why do I, fast from such a blessed fellowship today?  Why do we starve ourselves spiritually, content to live of the scraps and droppings that fall before us, when we have been invited to the feast?  God sets before us in His Word a smorgasbord of all the most soul-satisfying, life-giving truth that our hearts hunger for, and we ask for the “weight-watchers” menu.   When we deprive ourselves of all that God offers us, we are essentially telling God we don’t need Him nor what He gives, and we’d rather do this life on our own and in our own way.  (“How’s that working for you?” – Dr. Phil)

The simple truth of the matter is, God is God, and we are not.  He provides our daily bread.  He spins the planets and keeps them going.  Without Him, we can do nothing.  We cannot survive without every good gift that comes from His hand.  And yet, at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11), and God would not have us famished spiritually.  Rather, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…” (Eph 1:3).

Pull up to the table, to the feast of the Lord, and drink deep the blessing of His Word.  Let His Word teach you, correct you, fill you, strengthen you; until His Word gives light to all of yours.  Let your reading time, may my reading time, be a time of sweet communion in the Lord’s presence that give grace and substance to every endeavor through the day.

SDG

The Power of Words

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word as with God, and the Word was God…”
(John 1:1)

I love words.  Words have rich meaning, paint beautiful pictures, carry authority and power.  The right word at the right time makes all the difference in the world.

I make my living studying and writing words.  I love the theater because it tells great stories through words acted out.  I love the Scriptures because these words convey truth and transform life.

Words have, by nature, definitions.  I know that seems obvious, but, especially today, this matters.  We seem to live in a time when words mean only what you want them to mean – marriage, morality, love, God, evil – everyone seems to be running around with their own definitions of these words.  If a word, though, does not have a clearly defined usage, then all we are left with is the chaos of Babel – we may be speaking the same language, but no one understands each other.

If, for example, I ask for a chair, hopefully you and I are both thinking of a legged piece of furniture that will support me in a seated position.  If, however, you bring me a Pineapple, I will know that there is a breakdown in our basic form of communication.

I heard, recently, a message on John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word as with God, and the Word was God.”  I had hoped for an exposition on the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ.  What I heard was a nebulous pondering on what God might sound like if He still spoke to us today (!?!?!), what that “Word” might actually be, and ultimately, a call to “Centering Prayer” otherwise known as Transcendental Meditation (for a good article on this click here), in which we were actually asked to close our eyes, empty our minds, and listen for God to speak to us inwardly.

(Disclaimer: 1) I did none of the above, but turned to Psalm 119 for my prayer, and 2) I should have known what was coming when the Scripture reading began with the phrase “Listen now for the word of God,” rather than “Listen now to the word of God” – like I said, words make a difference.)

How could someone stand in a pulpit and offer such an ambiguous message on the Word when words are meant to remove ambiguity, to drive away the clouds, to pull back the veil?  Whatever the message was, it was not a sermon that “convinced and converted sinners, or built them up for holiness and comfort” (WSC 89).  More to the point, never did we hear that the Word, which was with God and which is God, became flesh and dwelt among us.  The prologue to the gospel of Jesus Christ was read without anything pointing us to Jesus Christ.  The Word became flesh so that in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God could express all that we need to know for our salvation.  The Word became flesh in Christ so that in Him the love and grace of God could be perfectly, completely, and definitively revealed.

While I beat my head upon my desk in frustration, here’s a little excerpt from A.W. Pink’s Commentary on John:

Christ, then, is the One who has made in incomprehensible God intelligible.  The force of this title of His found in John 1:1, may be discovered by comparing it with that name which is given to the Holy Scriptures – “the Word of God.”  What are the Scriptures?  They are the Word of God.  And what does that mean?  This: the Scriptures reveal God’s mind, express His will, make known His perfections, and lay bare His heart.  This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done for the Father.  But let us enter a little more into detail: –

      1. A “word” is a medium of manifestation.  I have in my mind a thought, but others know not its nature.  But the moment I clothe that thought in words it becomes cognizable.  Words, then, make objective unseen thoughts.  This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done.  As the Word, Christ has made manifest the invisible God.
      2. A “word” is a means of communication.  By means of words I transmit information to others.  By words I express myself, make known my will, and impart knowledge.  So Christ, as the Word, is the Divine Transmitter, communicating to us the life and love of God.
      3. A “word is a method of revelation.  By his words a speaker exhibits both his intellectual caliber and his moral character.  By our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned.  And Christ, as the Word, reveals the attributes and perfections of God.  How fully has Christ revealed God!  He displayed His power, He manifested His wisdom, He exhibited His holiness, He made known His grace, He unveiled His heart.  In Christ, and nowhere else, is God fully and finally told out.

We have the Word of God, we are no longer left in the dark without a witness.  We have the Word of God, we don’t need to quiet ourselves and listen for the whisper of God.  We have the Word of God, we don’t need to empty ourselves to find what God is saying to us within.  If we want to know God, we must turn to nothing other than the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in Scriptures.  May this be our passion, our consuming desire, our great work, to reverently, humbly, daily, dwell upon the excellencies of our Savior as they are revealed in the Bible.

I love words.  More importantly, I love the Word of God.  The Word gives life meaning and beauty, it comes with authority and power.  Christ is the right Word spoken at the right time, and has made all the difference in the world.

SDG