2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Paul never claimed he was capable of accomplishing all that God called him to do. He simply learned to look beyond his own inadequacy to the sufficiency of Christ. If we’ll adopt the same practice, we, too, can discover the blessings hidden in our own experiences of inadequacy.

Our insufficiency drives us to God. When we realize a situation is bigger than we can handle, we’re quick to open the Bible and diligently pray for guidance and power.

Inadequacy relieves us of the burden of self-effort and self-reliance. The Lord has us right where He wants us–at the end of our rope with nothing left to give.

Inability motivates reliance on divine power. We’ll never be adequate until we draw from the Holy Spirit’s inexhaustible strength. He does in and through us what God never intended that we do on our own.

By using weak, inadequate people, God demonstrates what great things He can do. He actually delights in choosing unlikely individuals to carry out His purposes. There’s no limit to what He can do through someone willing to give Him full control.

Inadequacy challenges our faith. Paul says, “Our adequacy is from God” (v. 5). Those who focus on the reliability of this promise and step out in obedience will grow in faith.

Why go through all the fear, pressure, and frustration that accompany feelings of inadequacy when there’s an alternative? Let the Lord make you adequate: rely upon Him and allow Christ to live in and through you. He will replace your anxiety with a quiet spirit of contentment.

There is a widespread belief around about the Bible that it is some kind of powerful patriarchal conspiracy which has been used to oppress women. As a female speaker I find that this question is frequently asked: “How can you as a woman promote such a sexist book? The church has tried to keep women down!” As a Christian, I believe I need to be sensitive to the issues which underlie such an emotive question. While it may indeed seem to be the case that women have been discriminated against by religion, the Bible itself deserves closer examination on the subject. How is it that many of the greatest Jewish and Christian pioneers have been women? What does the Bible really say about this subject?(1)

Throughout the Bible there are numerous positive images of women and stories that involve women. In the Old Testament women share the image of God at creation. At the end of time at the Second Coming of Jesus, the church is represented as the bride of Christ. All the way through from beginning to end, the Bible includes the feminine as an integral part of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. While it is true that the Bible is written over a long period of time into specific cultures and that some of these contexts did not give equal social advantages to women, it would not be true to say that the message of the Bible is sexist or discriminatory against women.

In the New Testament, there are quite a number of significant events involving women, particularly considering the conservative cultural attitudes of the context into which it was written. This context is demonstrated by a simple statement in John’s Gospel in the famous encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. There is a telling little sentence in 4:27 which sheds a great deal of light on just how radical the Bible is in affirming women. The disciples come across Jesus during his conversation with the woman and we are told they “were surprised to find him talking with a woman.” This is the context of Jesus’s ministry and yet he goes against these cultural trends time and time again.

He does this firstly by having female disciples. In a culture where the idea of women travelling around with a group of men, or having the status of disciple was seriously questionable, Jesus has a number of women who are included in his travelling circle who also contributed financially to the needs of the group. In fact, when Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are waiting outside to see him, he points to his disciples and says, “Here are my mother and brothers.” This statement is unthinkable unless there were women among his disciples. In the Middle Eastern culture of the 1st century, it would be unspeakably offensive to point to male disciples and use female imagery to describe them. The group of disciples referred to must have included some women.

We also see Jesus teaching women in the New Testament. In Luke 10:38, we read of Mary who sits at the feet of Jesus and engages in theological study, much to her sister’s chagrin. This phrase “to sit at the feet of” is the same formulation as Acts 22:3 where Paul describes his training under Gamaliel. The clear implication here is that Mary is affirmed as worthy of a Rabbi’s theological instruction; indeed, it is interesting that later on in John’s Gospel we read of Martha, Mary’s sister, who is the first to be taught one of the most astounding theological statements of the New Testament. Jesus says to her, “‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies.” In contrast to the cultural norms of the time, Jesus made a habit of revealing great theological truths to women. The first person who discovers Christ’s true identity in John’s Gospel is the Samaritan woman at the well. We must not underestimate how radical this is:  Jesus was turning cultural taboos on their heads by teaching women and allowing women to be his disciples.

In reality, it is clear that women played a full and vibrant role in the ministry of Jesus, both as examples within his teaching and as recipients of it. While this may seem absolutely right and proper in our 21st century context we must remember how radical this was in first century Palestine. Jesus intentionally affirmed and included women. We see a continuation of this in the early church, from Lydia and Tabitha to Philip’s daughters, where women undertook various roles. While it is true to say that there are two particular passages in Paul’s writings which seem to go against all of this, by commanding some women to be silent and forbidding others from teaching, these must be read and interpreted in the context of the rest of the Bible. Paul himself gives guidelines for women when they publicly prophecy and mentions women who do teach like Priscilla.

When we come to the text of the Bible with the issue of sexism in mind, we must be clear that while God is predominantly spoken of with male imagery and ultimately is incarnated in the man Jesus, this is not to say that women are undermined or undervalued. Some female imagery is used of God, and Jesus constantly affirms the value of women, teaching them and interacting with them as human beings. Both male and female are created in the image of God and both are so precious that Christ comes to the earth to redeem both male and female with his blood shed on the Cross.

Amy Orr-Ewing is director of programmes for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and UK director for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Oxford, England.

(1) A version of this article was first published in Idea Magazine, Jul/Aug 2005. See also Is the Bible Intolerant? by Amy Orr-Ewing (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006).

Morning  “There fell down many slain, because the war was of God.”  1 Chronicles 5:22

Warrior, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, observe this verse with

holy joy, for as it was in the days of old so is it now, if the war be of God

the victory is sure. The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of

Manasseh could barely muster five and forty thousand fighting men, and yet in

their war with the Hagarites, they slew “men, an hundred thousand,” “for they

cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them, because they put their

trust in him.” The Lord saveth not by many nor by few; it is ours to go forth in

Jehovah’s name if we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us

for our Captain. They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow,

neither did they place their trust in these weapons; we must use all fitting

means, but our confidence must rest in the Lord alone, for he is the sword and

the shield of his people. The great reason of their extraordinary success lay in

the fact that “the war was of God.” Beloved, in fighting with sin without and

within, with error doctrinal or practical, with spiritual wickedness in high

places or low places, with devils and the devil’s allies, you are waging

Jehovah’s war, and unless he himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat.

Quail not before superior numbers, shrink not from difficulties or

impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, smite with the two-edged sword

of the  Spirit, and the slain shall lie in heaps. The battle is the Lord’s and he will

deliver his enemies into our hands. With steadfast foot, strong hand, dauntless

heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the conflict, and the hosts of evil shall fly

like chaff before the gale.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

The strife will not be long;

This day the noise of battle,

The next the victor’s song:

To him that overcometh,

A crown of life shall be;

He with the King of glory

Shall reign eternally.

 

Evening   “Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

Numbers 11:23

God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he

would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by

a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the

promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But

doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? No; he who

makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks,

it is done–done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfilment

upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the

mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same!

God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what

God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak

and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you

look to the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? Verily, you would

act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to the weak for

strength, and to the creature to do the Creator’s work. Let us, then, put the

question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the

visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the

invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly

seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to

indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: “Has the

Lord’s hand waxed short?” May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the

question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, “Thou shalt

see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

 

. . . Be zealous.   Revelation 3:19

If you want to see souls converted, if you want to hear the cry that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord,”1 if you want to place crowns upon the head of the Savior and see His throne lifted high, then be filled with zeal. For under God, the way the world will be converted is by the zeal of the church. Every element of grace will do its work, but zeal will be first; prudence, knowledge, patience, and courage will follow in their places, but zeal must lead the charge. It is not the extent of your knowledge, though that is useful, it is not the extent of your talent, though that is not to be despised, it is your zeal that will do great exploits.

This zeal is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: It draws its vital force from the continued operations of the Holy Spirit in the soul. If our inner life dwindles, if our heart beats slowly before God, we will not know zeal; but if everything inside is strong and vigorous, then we cannot but feel a loving urgency to see Christ’s kingdom come, and His will done on earth, even as it is in heaven.

A deep sense of gratitude will nourish Christian zeal. When we reflect on the miry pit from which we were lifted, we find plenty of reason for spending ourselves for God. And zeal is also stimulated by the thought of the eternal future. It looks with tearful eyes down to the flames of hell, and it cannot sleep: It looks up with anxious gaze to the glories of heaven, and it cannot stay still. It feels that time is short compared with the work to be done, and therefore it devotes all that it has to the cause of its Lord. And it is continually strengthened by remembering Christ’s example. He was clothed with zeal as with a cloak. How swift the chariot-wheels of duty went with Him! He never loitered on the way. Let us prove that we are His disciples by displaying the same spirit of zeal.

1Revelation 11:15

Family Reading Plan

Isaiah 39

Revelation 9