Tonight we looked at John 8:31-36 TNIV and Galatians 5:1 TNIV, looking at freedom through surrender. The first step to knowing freedom is to acknowledge that there is a problem. The Jews said ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ (John 8:33 TNIV), relying on their spiritual heritage to guarantee freedom rather than understanding that freedom can only come through Christ. Many people don’t even realise that they can be slaves to sin (see Eph 2:1-7 TNIV), but once we understand that we are not free (see Romans 7:14-20 TNIV for a description of the struggle we often face in our everyday lives), we need to move on to discern what is truth and what are lies.

Some lies are obvious (I couldn’t get to Australia and back in an afternoon, for example!) But the devil can seem very plausible in his lies (2 Cor 11:14,3) and can even use the Word of God (see the temptation in the wilderness). Nonetheless, Jesus exposed him as a liar (see John 8:44 TNIV) and if we are to enter into the freedom Christ has purchased for us, we must be able to recognise what is true compared to what is false. This can only happen as we allow God to transform our thinking (Rom 12:1-2 TNIV) and realise that His word must have pre-eminence in our lives.

If we are to ever know freedom in Christ, we have to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5 TNIV). If we don’t, if we allow our natural thoughts to control us, we become prisoners to them. Beth Moore says, “The walls of your mind will never stay bare. Never. Once we tear down lies, we must re-wallpaper with truth, or the enemy will happily supply a new roll of his own. Different pattern maybe – a more updated look – but the same deceptive manufacturer.” (Beth Moore, ‘Breaking Free’ P 241)

The choice we have is to walk in God’s ways or to follow the ways of the world, where fear and doubt take control and we are led into captivity. The path God has for us is utterly different. He leads us to ‘places where there’s beauty to behold.’ (Jeremy Camp) His plans for us are good; His ways lead to freedom: ‘I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.’ (Ps 119:45 TNIV)

We are freed from so many things by the power of Christ: from the prison of sin (see Psalm 146:7 TNIV) and the chains that sin brings with it to bind us. Psalm 116:6 TNIV says ‘You have freed me from my chains’. We are freed from the tyranny and rule of the devil, who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Eph 2:2 TNIV). We are freed from the power of him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and from the slavery which is caused by a fear of death (Heb 2:14-15 TNIV). We are freed from God’s condemnation, judgment and wrath. (Eph 2:3 TNIV) We can also be freed from wrong thinking, habits that enslave, wrong patterns of behaviour and every destructive stronghold which would seek to imprison us.

We are freed to become transformed into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor 3:17-18 TNIV), but the way to this transformation is through surrender and death (see Matt 10:38-39 TNIV, Mark 8:34-35 TNIV, John 12:24-25 TNIV). That doesn’t seem to make sense to our natural way of thinking, but we have to be dead to sin and alive to Christ if we are to walk in the paths of freedom.

Unanswered prayer – when we feel that God is not giving us the answers in prayer for which we are seeking – is a difficult area for many Christians to tackle. We know the promises of God regarding prayer, but sometimes our experience seems far removed from these promises. This morning, Dave looked at the testimony of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1-28 TNIV to show us how God often uses difficult circumstances to refine our attitudes and draw us closer to Him. As Bill Hybels says, “God always has the answer to our prayers: ‘No – Slow – Grow – Let’s Go.'”

Hannah is an unlikely heroine, yet her persistence in prayer resulted in the birth of one of Israel’s greatest prophets, Samuel. The story starts with the story of her barrenness, which Scripture makes clear resulted directly from God. Sometimes our hardships and limitations come from God, rather than from the enemy (who in any case can only do what God allows him to do, as the story of Job makes clear, whilst the healing of the blind man in John 9 refutes the oft-held notion that unanswered prayer is always the result of personal sin.) Hannah wrestles with her infertility for many years, longing for a child and having to face the verbal abuse from her rival, Penninah. She has to move from bitterness, anger and frustration to a place of surrender and submission before she sees the answer to her prayers.

For many years, Hannah’s predicament does not change. She is sorrowful, angry, and finds it almost impossible to cope with this heartache. Her name means ‘woman of grace’, but her grace must have been sorely tested by Penninah’s mockery and ease at bearing children. Hannah learns, however, to seek God through her sorrow. Ps 51:17 TNIV reminds us that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. Her prayer in this chapter is a prayer of submission (1 Sam 1:11 TNIV), for she promises to give her son back to God if she is granted her request and this becomes also a prayer of sacrifice, for she now realises that children are not just given to the parents for themselves but are a gift from God, loaned to parents for a short time, but given ultimately for God’s greater purposes.

Hannah’s attitude has changed. Her selfishness at wanting a child for herself and for her own reasons has been replaced by selflessness. She is now prepared to put God’s will above her own and to do what God wants. She has learned to respond as Mary would in later days: ‘May it be to me according to your word.’ (Luke 1:38 TNIV).

Samuel, the son born in due course, means ‘asked of God.’ The chapter may start with unanswered prayer, but it definitely doesn’t end there! Hannah is true to her promise and gives her son back to God, for Israel needed a prophet who could be soaked in God’s presence from an early age. She has moved from despondency over unanswered prayer to a greater understanding of God’s plans and her attitude has changed so that she now approaches God with clean hands and a pure heart, knowing that God is in control at all times and is always willing to hear and answer prayer.

Today was the Macmillan Coffee morning at church.

We raised £114.21 at the coffee morning and the church has agreed to send £250 in total to Macmillan. Many thanks for all your generosity.

The new Matt Redman album ‘Your Grace Finds Me’ duly arrived in our household this week (still waiting for the Phil Wickham album, alas…!) As always, I love the songs. But as always, I love also the heart behind the songs – the fact that Matt Redman pays such generous tribute to all who have been involved in the making of the album (from the songwriters to the musicians to the artist who designed the album cover to the myriad backstage people who normally never see the limelight), the fact that he is involved in a creativity that spans the arts as a whole (if you watch the video below, notice the artist drawing the lyrics out behind the musicians), the fact that he is so aware of God’s grace and mercy in the everyday and the mundane as well as those special moments of life. We all need daily reminders of grace. It’s the very thing that makes life worth living.

“It’s there in the newborn cry.
There in the light of every sunrise.
There in the shadows of this light:
Your great grace.

So I’m breathing in Your grace
And I’m breathing out Your praise.
I’m breathing in Your grace:
Forever I’ll be
Breathing in Your grace
And I’m breathing out Your praise.
I’m breathing in Your grace:
Forever I’ll be
Breathing in Your grace
And I’m breathing out Your praise
Breathing in Your grace
Forever, God, forever, God.” (‘Your Grace Finds Me’, Matt Redman)
‘Your Grace Finds Me’, Matt Redman (recorded live version)

Sooner or later in our church, most conversations end up with food! Tonight’s Bible study was no exception. We were discussing Ps 65:5 TNIV: ‘You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds’ and Mark asked us what examples we could give of ‘awesome and righteous deeds’ God has done for us.

Works of healing, provision, leading and guidance were mentioned, but to me, the way God communicates His awesome, lavish, generous nature is best summed up by thinking about cupcakes.

Just getting a cupcake (a ‘bun’ in Yorkshire parlance) is itself a luxury, not really a necessity. But a plain sponge cupcake is not seen as particularly exciting:

The mere fact that God answers our prayers at all is pretty amazing, I think! But I have recently seen, very vividly in my own life, just how much more generous God is. He doesn’t just give us a plain cupcake. He gives us answers that have ‘all the bells and whistles on’, rather like these lavishly decorated cupcakes:

The variety of toppings we can have – butter-cream, whipped cream, iced buns, sprinkles, additional sweets like Smarties or sugared jellies, nuts, chocolate and so on – is mouth-watering. God is that kind of God. His ‘awesome deeds of righteousness’ go beyond sufficiency into abundance, just as Jesus promised a ‘good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.’ (Luke 6:38 TNIV)

That kind of abundance and awesome attention to detail shows us the kindness and generosity of God.

The Bible study today looked at the question of ‘how can we have confidence in God?’ We started by reading Psalm 65:4-7 TNIV, looking at the many things in those verses which encourage our confidence in God.

First of all, God has chosen us and therefore we are blessed (Ps 65:4 TNIV, John 15:16 TNIV, Eph 1:4 TNIV). In a way, He chooses us because He has confidence in us; He knows what He can make of us and what we can become in Him. This gives us a sense of purpose and hope, because we are not living random, pointless lives, but lives that have meaning in God’s plans and purposes.

God brings us into relationship with Him: He draws us to live in His courts (Ps 65:4 TNIV). We have a long-term relationship with Him, one that will last all eternity! We are brought into His wonderful family and are drawn into holy places. We are filled with good things; fully satisfied by all that God has for us. There is an abundance in God which overflows and meets our every need.

The mere fact that God answers us is amazing, but His answers are awesome deeds of righteousness (Ps 65:5 TNIV). There is such provision and plentitude in God! He is our Saviour, the source of our salvation – our rescuer, our deliverer, the One who saves us from trouble. Not only that, but He is our confidence and hope. We have confidence because of His faithfulness in all creation – not only in creating all we see but in sustaining it (see Ps 65:8-13 TNIV, Heb 1:3 TNIV). We see His faithfulness in maintaining the seasons, in sending rain and helping the crops to produce a harvest, just as He promised Noah (see Gen 8:22 TNIV). ‘You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.’ (Ps 65:11 TNIV) Again, we see more than enough in God.

Next, we looked at the confidence found in Psalm 27:1-6 TNIV. God brings light into our lives and is our fortress and protector against enemies; because of Him, we have nothing to fear. We can have confidence in His protection and deliverance; not only is He our hiding-place and refuge, but He lifts us up to high places (Ps 27:5-6 TNIV). As we seek His face, we find beauty in His ways and are blessed with songs of praise (Ps 27:6 TNIV).

Prov 14:16 shows us the follies of feeling secure in our own strengths and having self-confidence that has no regard for God. If we rush in without due consideration of the Lord, we are hotheaded and reckless. We can have confidence in God’s vision and plans because He sees the end from the beginning. He is the One who is able to bring His plans to completion (see Phil 1:3-6 TNIV) and we can also have confidence because of His assurance that nothing will be able to separate us from His love (Rom 8:37-39 TNIV).