Beloved, Prepare Him Room

Beloved, Prepare Him Room

Peter writes that we are all ‘beloved’ in Christ. Yet a few are singled out with that adjective. John is the ‘beloved’ disciple. Daniel is ‘greatly loved’. How does someone become ‘beloved’ in this special way? We know that each child of God is equally loved and infinitely loved. In John 17 Jesus prays as much: ‘I pray that the love you have for me would be in them.’

This love is the infinite eternal unchangeable love of the Father for the Son- equally poured out upon all. Yet, it is also true that some have a great capacity for this love. No matter how much water is poured into a jar, its capacity to receive it is determined by the width of the opening. Pour a massive amount of water into a jar with a small opening, most will simply pour over.

When a mother feeds her little child to take a spoonful, she coaxes, ‘Open up dear. Open up”. In a similar way God invites us to pursue a ‘beloved’ life with God.   

‘Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’ 
Psalm 81 

I have one grandson, Daniel, who opens his mouth wide at every meal. He simply shovels food into this mouth- with a kind of reckless relish that is very entertaining. Another grandson, Oscar, is seldom interested in food. His appetite is to play and explore the world. Eating is a necessity not a joy. He takes a bite or two and then wants to head out for adventure. Needless to say, Daniel is bigger than Oscar. He has a ‘wider mouth’. 

When it comes to having an appetite for God’s love, some are able to open their mouths wider than others. They have a bigger appetite. It is in this sense that some are called beloved- others not so. God’s love is always and only received by the openness of faith. Thomas Watson wrote, “Faith is the mouth of the soul, whatever feeds it is food.” Faith is measured by our capacity for God and his love. Our emptiness is filled by this love. Our capacity for God’s love increases the more we receive and enjoy his love. The joy of God’s love is the food. Faith is the open mouth. The important question to ask is this: “How do we expand our faith to receive God’s love and enjoy more of this ‘beloved’ life?”One way we seek, receive and grow in this love by thoughtful, meditative conversation with God- that is by prayer. 

In prayer we increase the capacity for God’s gift of himself. 

-Augustine 

Prayer is the way we feed our faith.The chief work of the Spirit is faith. The chief exercise of faith is prayer. – Calvin.

Second, if we want to increase in the joy of God’s love we will pursue a life of holiness. If faith

increases our capacity for God, a life of faith will deepen into a life of holiness. Jesus says this in simple terms:“Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love.” John 15 Holiness is the work of God’s Spirit within us. Growth in holiness is the immediate response of those who are growing in the love of Christ.  

Holiness is not a merit by which we can attain communion with God, but a gift of Christ which enables us to cling to him, and to follow him. -Calvin 

If we want to pursue the ‘beloved life’ we must pursue holiness. Holiness begins when we empty our inner being to make room for God’s gift of himself. Self reliance and self indulgence are the twin appetites which feed on the world and reduce our faith. By filling our lives with useless passions and practices these vices we stuff our souls and choke off the opening of our heart to God. Repentance is emptying and purging our inner beings of self reliance and self indulgence in order to make room for God’s love.  

Holiness is a profound openness to God. The positive side of holiness is nothing other than beholding Christ and bathing in his love. We increase this ‘holy openness’ by praying for more knowledge and experience of Christ’s love. In this understanding of holiness, we understand the profound prayer of Paul: 

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  Ephesians 3:14-19

http://www.prayercurrent.com/_blog/Pray_It_Forward_Blog

China and the Bible. Why is Winter Solstice the most important festival for the Chinese?

China and the Bible
You might possibly be thinking ‘what possible connection can there be between China and the Bible!’ However, you will be surprised to find that China is mentioned in the ancient Hebrew scriptures. Although there is no specific mention of England, France or the USA in the Bible, if we examine an ancient prophecy from Isaiah 49v12 (about 700BC), we do discover a mention of China:
Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.
In context, this prophecy appears to refer to the return of exiled Israel from the nations of the world. The ‘north’ probably refers chiefly to Russian Jews and the ‘west’ to American and European Jews. But while ‘north’ and ‘west’ are general terms, ‘Sinim’ is a specific term, thought by many scholars to be China. The ‘Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible’ explains Sinim as ‘Chinese?’. In fact the nouns ‘Sinology’ or ‘Sinologist’ use the same root word ‘Sin’ meaning China. Isaiah thus prophesied that one day Israel’s exiles would return from China back to their own land. Other Christians have interpreted the above scripture to imply ‘Christians’ rather than ‘Jews’ meaning that many Chinese would come to believe in God. Maybe both interpretations are correct. However, regardless of how you interpret Isaiah’s prophecy, one important fact is that China (Sinim) is mentioned in the Bible!
Those of us who have lived in China or Taiwan know that the Chinese are very proud of their long history, and rightly so. Some years ago when I lived in Taiwan, I recall telling a young Chinese man how I had become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He listened very politely while I spoke and then replied: ‘We Chinese have 5000 years of history, how can it all be wrong’. My attempts to share the gospel with him came up against his strong patriotism which was based on almost 5000 years of unbroken history. He felt, as have so many Chinese people, that becoming a believer in Jesus meant turning his back on his historical and cultural roots as well as his family. At the time, I had no satisfactory answer to help him with his dilemma, but if I had known then what I do now, I would have been able to assure him that believing in Jesus was actually the fulfilment of what his ancestors had believed many thousands of years previously. Most Chinese people traditionally view Christianity as a western or foreign religion. This is not really surprising as the gospel was brought to China by western missionaries. However, there is much evidence to show that at the beginning of their history, the ancient Chinese were believers in the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and worshiped Him in a similar way to the ancient Hebrew people.
Confucius, believer in God
One of the most revered men in China’s history is the philosopher Confucius (551-479BC). In fact proof of his importance is shown by the fact that he is also very well known in the West! Confucius lived in a place called Qufu in Shangdong Province, on the eastern border of China and like all truly great men, he was also a humble man! He described himself in the following words:
‘The sage and the man of perfect virtue’—how dare I rank myself with them? It may be simply said of me that I strive to become such without satiety and teach others without weariness.’ The Analects. 

 For more information please click the link below.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4071415762079889029/7831298037854733782#