Life Works 020 - Conceived of the Holy Spirit?

Summary

Christopher Shennan explains the spiritual meaning of the phrase "conceived of the Holy Spirit."

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Conceived of the Holy Spirit?

Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

"Now the Birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

"Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly n.

"But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

" 'And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.'

"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

" ' Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, ' God with us.'

"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,

"and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.

And he called His name JESUS." (Matthew 1:18-25 NKJV)

Text:

". . . that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 1:20)

Introduction:

There is a sense in which Mary's experience is unrepeatable. She was unique, in that she bore in her womb the very Son of God. In that physical, historical sense, that will never be duplicated in your life or mine. TO NO WOMAN OF ANY AGE, BESIDES Mary, can it ever be said that what is conceived in her womb, is of the Holy Ghost.

As true as this is in the PHYSICAL sense, it is a different matter when it comes to spiritual things. Spiritually, many things can be, and are, conceived in us. Some of them are definitely not of the Holy Spirit. However, there are some things that, when they are found in men and woman, can truthfully be said to be "of the Holy Spirit."

I am not just imagining this. Strong imagery in both Old and New Testaments suggest that the physical relationship between man and wife; between man and woman, are pictures of the spiritual relationship between God and His people.

1. THE IDEA OF SPIRITUAL CONCEPTION

(i) The Idea of Spiritual Adultery

For the moment, till you can read the context for yourself, you will have to take my word for it that the passage I am about to quote, is referring to the spiritual adultery Israel had committed against the Lord:

"I will not have mercy on her children,

For they are the children of harlotry.

For their mother has played the harlot;

She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.

For she said, 'I will go after my lovers,

Who give [me] my bread and my

water, my wool and my linen,

My oil and my drink. (Hosea 2:5,5 - NKJV)

The entire book of Hosea is filled with such imagery. When Israel made unholy alliances with the surrounding nations, and got involved in idol worship and covetous practices, God spoke of it as harlotry -- spiritual adultery.

That is the negative side of it. There is a positive side:

(ii) The idea of Spiritual rebirth.

"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, , he cannot see the kingdom of God.' " (John 3:3 - KJV)

We all know that birth cannot take place without conception.

(iii) The Idea of Christ and the Church

"For we are members of His body, of His flesh and His bones.

" For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.'

"This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:30-32 - NKJV)

Add to this John the Baptists description of Christ and His followers as bride and bridegroom, and you have strong Biblical backing for the idea of spiritual conception:

"He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, greatly rejoices because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."

(John 3:29 - NKJV)

I have gone to all this trouble to show you I am not out of line in making a spiritual application of Mary's experience when that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit.

We can now consider:

2. THINGS NOT CONCEIVED OF THE HOLY GHOST

(i) Materialism

"Therefore put to death your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Idolatry, in the Old Testament, was seen as harlotry, or spiritual adultery.

(ii) Gossip and Slander

(iii) Sensualality - thoughts dwelling on erotic behaviour outside of marriage.

(iv) An unforgiving spirit, selfishness, apathy, a critical spirit etc.

3. THINGS DEFINITELY CONCEIVED OF THE HOLY GHOST

(i) A Spirit of Prayer

(ii) A Passion for Souls

(iii) A Spirit of Forgiveness

(iv) Bearing the burdens of others, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

4. HOW TO MAKE CERTAIN EVERYTHING IN YOU IS OF THE HOLY GHOST.

(i) In the same way a young girl can make certain what is conceived in her womb is of the man she loves and is married to. She must cease all intimate contact with other men. So we must cease all intimate contact with the world, and any questionable practice.

This does not mean no contact with the world at all; since this would mean going out of the world altogether. No intimate contact. A girl who gets married may still meet men in public and on a social footing, but she cuts off all intimate contact -- suddenly and permanently.

In order to reach people for Christ we must have contact with people of the world, but we must separate ourselves completely from their life-styles, and the worldly principle by which they live.

(ii) A girl must commit herself to the man she loves; marry him; "till death do us part"; live with him; be faithful to him. Such must be our relationship with Christ. We will be certain then that what is conceived in us is of the Holy Ghost.

(iii) If we want things in us to be conceived of the Holy Spirit, we must occupy ourselves with what the Holy Spirit Himself has conceived -- namely, the Word of God:

"Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11 - NKJV)

Conceived in Me?

(Saturday 8^th March 2008 – By Christopher Shennan

So many things conceived in me ---

Within this heart of mine ---

Have brought forth sin and shame;

The name of Christ has not been raised,

Or praised, or glorified.

How could this be, since by His blood I’m saved?

How could the seed of worldly lust have entered?

I’ve been mentored by my Lord, and taught His Holy Word.

His touch has thrilled me;

He has filled me with desire for holy things,

He’s given me a peace that only Mercy brings.

How then were all these other works conceived?

How came these other children born of darkness?

How came they since the day I first believed?

I know, I know, I know from whence they came!

I was seduced by worldly goals.

I grew too intimate with worldly pleasures;

Its treasures seemed so much to be desired;

I grew too intimate with attitudes,

And platitudes that made excuse for things

I’d labelled wrong.

The current in the river I sought to cross was strong;

It swept me on a course my heart would not have chosen.

Save me, Lord, from seductions such as these;

Let the Holy Spirit conceive in me

Your holy calling.

No falling into patterns of behaviour that

Put me at risk. May all that is conceived in me,

Be conceived of You alone.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 019 - More About Writing… and Life

Summary

Christopher Shennan talks briefly about writing, then discusses editing with Steve Saylor and Shane Shennan. (This episode is to 25 minutes.)

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More About Writing… and Life

Previously I have spoken of the writing life as a benevolent disease, a kind of gentle obsession. It turns a dabbler into a soldier wielding words like swords, and sentences like an artists brush. As valid as the imagery of the writer’s life as a benevolent disease is, it may give the impression (a false one) that the writer has no control over the development of his or her gift. This is not true, at least not entirely.

At times, when the creative juices are flowing, or when they are not, and yet the necessity is laid upon you to write anyway, you feel like a juggernaut careering downhill, uncertain you will be able to navigate the curves. However, in spite of the out-of-control sensations one experiences, the writing life is governed by certain principles that can help the writer have some control. For the purpose of this Pod cast I mention two of these, and leave any others for another time.

I call the first, the PRIMARY, and the Second, the POST.

The primary requirement must be a passion for the subject or theme you are writing about. Not only must you have a passion for the theme, the theme must in some measure take hold of you. No one can reach a higher level of the craft than what he himself has become. To be a great writer you must, in some measure, be a great person. This is just one way of saying you have to be a person of character, with noble ideals and noble ambitions. Anything you write is of necessity the overflow of who you are.

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. (Psalm 45:1 NKJV)

It follows that, as writers, our primary goal must be to aspire to true greatness. Even if we don’t reach our ultimate goal, we must have a passion to fill our lives with those things we will not be ashamed to pass on to others. For our writing is always the overflow of what and who we are. What we write will influence the lives of others for good or ill.

I used to tell my students when I taught a creative writing class, “Choose a noble theme, and don’t be seduced into the current fashion using coarse language under the pretext that you are simply depicting life as it is. If we ever have to be graphic about the evil that is in the world, let it be for the purpose of pointing the way to hope. Choose a noble theme; choose to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Of course you cannot provide that solution if you have not discovered it in your own heart. If your own heart is full of darkness and despair, that is all you will be able to convey in your writing. Your heart must be overflowing with a good theme, or all you will be accomplishing through your writing is to spread the darkness of your own heart.

There are two sources for this overflow. First, there is the overflow from what you already are. Whatever you have become at this point in your life is going to overflow into your writing, and so into the world around you. You can seek to ignore what you are, or you can accept reality and say, “Whatever I am, I am going to be the best me I can be.” This very attitude will flow into your writing.

The second source of the overflow is much more under your control. What you choose to fill your life with from this point on will be added to what you were and shape your character, so what overflows into your writing will gradually change. If you add ignoble thoughts and attitudes, it will infect everything you touch. If, on the other hand you pursue noble ideals and noble themes, they will naturally flow from your thoughts, your pen, and into the lives of your readers. The psalmist seemed to understand this when he said:

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Not a bad example to follow.

My Overflow

(Monday 10th March 2008 – By Christopher Shennan)

Dear Lord I long that You
Would be my life-long theme;
That You would be my anchor,
My love-life and my dream.

My Lord you can transform
My nature so that I
May overflow in writing
Your praises till I die.

Give me noble themes, Lord;
Give diligence to seek
The knowledge that will edify
The burdened and the weak.

There is so much that’s evil,
That fills the world with woe;
Give me words of power
To overcome the foe.

I cannot do much more, Lord,
Than take what is inside
And let it fill my writing ---
So, please, Lord, be my guide!

Now what I have shared is the PRIMARY concern of the writer. So what comes at the end of the writing process? It is what I call the POST process, or in common language, editing the first draft of a completed project.

Many writers hate the editing side of the writing life. I think that is regrettable. I find editing the most exciting phase of the writing life. I don’t see it as a necessary evil. It is very much part of the creative process. Now listen to a conversation I had with Steve Saylor, author of recently posted audio book entitled, Black Shadow. Our discussion is concerned mainly with editing as an essential part of the creative process:

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Steve Saylor for the use of his recording of this conversation.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 018 - Pre-Forgiveness

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares a lesson he has learned about forgiveness.

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Pre-Forgiveness

Forgiveness is such a critical part of the life of faith that to ignore it, or to give it less than its due emphasis, would be to put your relationship with God in dire peril. It can be simple, or complicated, depending on how you approach it.

I am speaking of the forgiveness we owe each other, not the divine gift that follows faith in Jesus Christ. For the purpose of this article I am going to assume you have already received the forgiveness of sins on the ground of Christ’s death on the Cross of Calvary. You have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and have received eternal salvation through faith in Christ, and Christ alone. You are not saved by your good works, nevertheless good works flow from you as the supernatural outflow of the blessed Holy Spirit. You have not reached perfection, but you are striving for it.

Of course, you are engaged in spiritual conflict. Being human, you find yourself grappling with situations and attitudes as the result of dealing with humanity in general, and personal weaknesses in particular. There is the battlefield of the mind, where the subtle lies of the enemy seek to deflect you from your holy calling.

One of these battlefields is in the area of forgiveness. The first step is to face the issue of forgiveness with extreme seriousness. To treat it in any other way could lead to spiritual disaster, as the following passage illustrates:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven. "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him.

When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him.

But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant's wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

"But the servant fell on his knees and begged, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.' 27 The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

"Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, 'Pay me the money you owe me!'

The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.'

But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed.

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

Then the master called his servant in and said, 'You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything.

You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.'

The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.

"This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart." (Matthew 18:21-35 – New Century Version)

Can it be that refusal to forgive others will lead to a withdrawal of the forgiveness God has given you? It would certainly seem so.

I heard a story, a true one I believe, about a woman who came regularly to the altar of prayer for healing. The pastor and congregation came to expect her to come forward week by week without fail, seeking healing from some serious ailment. Years passed while the woman’s condition worsened. At last the pastor left and a new pastor took over. This new pastor noticed the woman’s regular appearance at the altar for healing, without any healing taking place, or any improvement in her state of mind. By careful counselling he determined that she harboured a deep-seated resentment toward someone who had injured her in some way. Finally he confronted her on the issue. To get through to her he had to be quite blunt:

“You will never be healed,” he said, until you are willing to forgive the one who has injured you.”

The woman’s response was incredible, “If I can’t have healing without forgiving that woman, I would rather not be healed.” Never again did she go to the altar for healing again, and to my knowledge, she never found healing either.

Now I am not saying this woman would necessarily have been healed had she had a forgiving heart. That is something we can leave to the Providence of God. But I agree with the pastor that a refusal to forgive can hinder the work of Grace in a believer’s heart.

So does that make forgiveness easy? No, it just makes it an imperative – a necessity, without which you cannot survive the spiritual life.

How does one do it? How does one overcome the natural propensity to hold a grudge and want revenge?

Given a sincere desire for a Christ-like attitude, the next thing is to understand the process. The best way I can illustrate this is to refer to a personal experience.

I was having issues with forgiving a certain individual. I prayed, “Lord, why am I having so much trouble forgiving? I must have forgiven him a thousand times. Why am I still struggling with feelings of resentment?”

I felt that the Lord was saying to me, “If you had forgiven him properly the first time, you wouldn’t have had to do so the other 999 times.”

So I started seeking God to help me understand the process of forgiveness. Over time that understanding gradually dawned.

Imagine forgiveness as a full circle made up of two parts, the negative and the positive. Most of us are only aware of the negative part. We say, albeit silently and unconsciously, “I forgive you for the wrongs you have committed against me,” unaware we have only travelled half-way around the circle of forgiveness. We have not gone all the way. We have not completed the process by moving from negatively trying to dismiss the grievance, into actively blessing those who have caused the grievance. Jesus said:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,(Matthew 5:44 – NKJV)

I’m not just quoting chapter and verse here in order to support a theory; I have discovered experientially that actively participating in the blessing of those who have hurt me is the only way for true forgiveness to take effect. I need to do good to those who hate me, and pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me. It is the only way to purge my heart of the poison of resentment that entered when the injustice or vindictiveness was practiced against me. Merely trying to dismiss the evil deed from our consciousness is not enough. It always seems to come back at the slightest reminder of what they have done to me. But deliberate obedience to Jesus’ command to love those who spitefully use us and persecute us, effectively wipes the slate clean, and I am free to move forward, unshackled by past hurts and grievances that hinder me from pleasing Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Now let me ward you, this kind of forgiveness does not guarantee your enemy will accept your act of love. They may indeed reject your attempts to bless them. They may question your motives and mock your attempt at reconciliation. Their positive reaction is totally irrelevant. What matters is that you have been obedient to your Lord, and He has freed you from the curse of an unforgiving heart.

Now I have taken all this time to lay the groundwork for a discussion of the theme which is the title of this article --- pre-forgiveness.

An old Scottish ballad expresses the following:

“You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road,

And I’ll be in Scotland before thee;

Where me and I my true love will never meet a gain

On the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.

Of course the song-writer meant high and low to mean “the long way and the short way.” I want to use it in a different sense. By the “high road” I mean the best way of doing things, and the most noble. By the “low road” I mean the path of least resistance; I mean taking the easiest way out.

Now there is nothing mean about learning to forgive in the manner I have described. If you have managed to go the full circle and forgiven your enemies from the heart, you have done well, and you will reap the benefits.

Nevertheless, what you have accomplished is just the “low road” of forgiveness. It simply deals with the hurts and grievances as they take place. It is like receiving an unexpected punch in the head. You first reel from the blow, and then struggle to find your balance. There is a higher road than this. I call it the path of pre-forgiveness.

What is pre-forgiveness?

Pre-forgiveness operates on the assumption that you will receive injustices. You will be treated unfairly; you will be spoken against; you will suffer injury. When you practice pre-forgiveness you develop a spirit of forgiveness to those who have injured you in the past, those who are doing so in the present, and those who will spitefully use you and persecute you in the future. In short you are adopting the spirit of Christ. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” You simply adopt the attitude that was in Christ and allow it to cover injustices past, present, and future. You forgive them before they have injured you. You don’t have to reel from unexpected blows, because they have already been expected and dealt with before they happen.

Too Late

(Saturday 1^st March, 2008 – By Christopher Shennan)

It’s too late for you to injure me

And think to take me by surprise;

Too late to plan an evil deed,

And think you’ll cause my ire to rise.

You see I’ve taken care of all

The wicked thoughts you harbour now,

Of all the evil deeds you plan

To harm this once forgiven man.

You see I’ve learned the secret, sir,

And madam, how to deal with hate ---

How to deal with vengeful acts ---

No matter when they come, they’re late.

I’ve learned forgiveness by God’s power

Long, long before an evil deed

Can reach me, and do me harm;

Before hate binds, I’m already freed.

Before you strike with a bitter tongue

You’re already too late to get me riled;

Before your words were ever conceived.

My heart was already --- reconciled.

I call it pre-forgiveness sir,

A skill that tender hearts can learn;

Forgive before the hurt arrives;

It’s a skill that only fools will spurn.

And do not think this is a new invention? We are told that Jesus is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. Before Adam and Eve sinned, before your guilt and mine stained the records of Heaven, God had already planned the sacrifice that would provide for our forgiveness. In the heart of God the price for our sin was already paid, long before the fist sinner sinned, and before the actual death of Christ took place. Pre-forgives was God’s idea, not mine.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 017 - Cutting or Comforting

Summary

Christopher Shennan talks about the sharpness of the Word of God.

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Cutting or Comforting

Ask patients who are scheduled for surgery and the removal of a tumour if they would rather have cutting or comforting, and the answer might surprise you. Nine times out of ten the answer will be “cutting.” They may say, “I would rather have cutting with the hope of healing, than comforting together with the sentence of death.”

This may be a merely academic question, unless you are yourself facing the knife. When you are, you are driven to two basic choices --- life or death.

It is easy to grasp the truth of this when we are speaking of physical life, and physical death. The issues are blurred when we are dealing with spiritual life, and spiritual death. It has been my experience that a vast number of people would rather be comforted, than endure the sharpness of the word of truth.

Before I share with you my personal experience in this regard, I should explain my approach to preaching and teaching the Word of God. I have extreme confidence in the power of God’s Word, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to do its own work. The Bible is, after all, the Sword of the Spirit. I explain, Illustrate, I emphasize, but I do my best not to put my own slant on the Word of God itself.

I have often used the following illustration explain my approach:

If I have a lead box containing uranium or other radioactive material, what do I have to do to expose others in a room to radioactivity? Not much. All I have to do is open the box. The radioactive material will, by its very nature, spread to everyone in the room.

The Word of God is like that, except that it is like a two-edged sword:

God's word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12 – New Century Version)

If I am faithful in presenting God’s Word, it will be wielded by the Holy Spirit and have both a cutting and healing effect on my listeners. Of course, I must bring my own personality and life experiences to my presentation, as God intended. But essentially it is God’s Word that is doing the work, and not me. The Word of God, if faithfully presented, without compromise, will have both a cutting and a healing result. Yet, as I said before, a vast number of people would rather be comforted, than endure the sharpness of the word of truth.

To illustrate this I should share a personal experience:

While a missionary in Zimbabwe I had the privilege of establishing a work amongst the Shona speaking people. I was assisted by a man from the Ndebele tribe named Nathan nTombeni who was himself married to a Shona woman. I was grooming him to take over from me when I left for Canada.

To facilitate this I gave Nathan the responsibility of leading more and more of the church events. I stayed home more and more so the congregation could become accustomed to his leadership.

We invited another preacher to conduct a seminar As I said, I stayed home for the entire week of the seminar for the reason stated. At the end of the week I met with Nathan informally in the church vestry.

“How did the seminar go?” I asked.

“It was alright.” Nathan responded.

Sensing I was getting less than a complete answer, I asked again, “Nathan, how was the seminar?”

“Pastor,” he said, “it was fine.”

He continued to give evasive answers till at last my persistent inquiry caused him to ask, “Pastor, do you really want to know how it went?”

“Yes,” I said, “I really want to know how it went.”

So Nathan explained, “Pastor, let me put it this way, we are accustomed to a word that cuts. This word we received at the seminar did not cut.”

What was Nathan saying?

He was saying that the Word of God, properly presented brings conviction to the hearers. It exposes the thoughts of the heart and, even when it encourages, has a radical effect upon the heart and mind of the hearers. A double-edged sword cannot but have a cutting effect when it does its work, even when it is employed as a scalpel to bring ultimate healing.

When I arrived in Canada I preached the same word in the same manner I had done in Zimbabwe --- but it producing a totally different reaction. I had several people say to me, “You frighten me.”

Why the difference?

I can only conclude that the Zimbabweans understood the need for cutting as a necessity in the healing process, while my Canadian hearers were intimidated by it. Accustomed for years with a steady diet of messages meant to soothe and not offend, the cutting effect of plain preaching is strange and intimidating.

This is not meant as censure, only as a description of two radically different responses to the same word.

I simply pose the question, “Have we in North America adopted an attitude to the plain teaching of Scripture that is resistant to the cutting that is essential for ultimate healing? Are we content to let the Truth penetrate only so far as to effect only the outward, and refuse to let it go deeper into the inner man? Have we failed to accept what the Bible says about itself?:

God's word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12 – New Century Version)

Would we rather blunt the sword of the Spirit than allow it to do its full work? We seem to want a non-judgmental Gospel that lulls us to sleep rather challenge us to godly living, convicting our conscience and confronting us with the living God.

We would do well to take heed to the word God spoke through Joel the prophet:

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. (Joel 2:12-13 – KJV)

I Rend My Heart

(Thursday 24^th January, 2008 – By Christopher Shennan)

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. (Joel 2:12-13 – KJV)

I rend my heart, and not my garment, Lord;

For outward acts may not reflect reality ---

May not express the true intent that dwells within the heart.

I rend my heart, and tear apart that part of me

That hides from truth, and will not let the Master see

The shame, the sin, the ignominy.

He sees, so what is this parody you enact

Upon the stage of your own duplicity?

You tear your outer garments, you grind

Your teeth and cry out loud. The foolish crowd

Is taken in, and cheers your star performance;

You’ll welcome classic drama just so long as

There’s no interference with what lies hidden

In the core of your being, but God is seeing.

He says:

“Rend your heart and not your garment.”

He wants us, you and I, to deal with reality,

Not with a pretence that leads to insanity.

He wants the sin laid bare so the balm that

Heals may be applied.

When pride has died He’ll enter in

And re-create the desperate longing

For Him, and Him alone.

I rend my heart, and not my garment, Lord,

For inwardly I know there’s no relief,

Or lifting of the burden, grief,

Until pretence is torn away, until the lie

Lies bleeding and exposed.

Until the truth is resurrected from its silent tomb

And stands bare-naked on the Hill of God,

No restoration will emerge.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.