This is My Prayer

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Mat 10:16  

The Christ of Love and not Contention

I have read why the gramophone needle gets stuck on one groove, and the reasons make an interesting study. And there is nothing as irritating as a record stuck on one line.

And so too can believers get stuck on one line, one theology, one idea, one thought, one doctrine, one …one… and one.

The Bible is not one doctrine, one method, but many.

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 1Co 12:3-7 

Now no one was as varied as Christ was in his methods. He had his “Woe” moments, and then he had his “Cheer up” moments. He had his “Miracle” moments” and then he had his “Come unto me” moments. He had his deep moments “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,” and then he had his “Let not your heart be troubled” moments. It is not enough to exhaust his methods. Like God the Father was, so was God the Son. For me there is no comforting words as God’s in Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isa 41:10).  

The Reasons Why We get Stuck

Now a record player can get stuck on one line because of foreign objects, like dirt, or dust, or small specks of debris, so the writer says.

A believer too can be encumbered with what is like a foreign object, dirt, or small specks of dust.

A foreign object can be anything like a strange doctrine, or false prophecy. The dirt or small specks of dust might not even be known to the believer, but to the hearing ear they are a pain.

I have here in view the attacks on fellow believers, mostly Catholics, and about their past errors. Now I am not an apologist (or even expert) for the Catholic faith. But to keep harping time and again on one idea… they did, they killed, they…they…they…

It is true they did. But it is equally true God forgives and forgets completely. Again, it is true that, even in their past errors, God was accomplishing his purpose.

Take the death of Jesus for example. It is easy to get stuck on the errors of Jewish leaders, it is easy to hate them perpetually, it is easy to see only Judas... But is that the spirit of scripture? Is that the whole counsel of God?

And Christ at the cross prayed, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

God forgives and forgets completely. Can’t we? Are we more righteous than God? “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” (Job 11:7).  

Is God done with the Catholic for good? Have they no hope? Has God done with Israel for good, because they killed Jesus?

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 

Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Rom 9:15-18  

Again, it is written:

I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 

Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? Rom 11:11-12  

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 

And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 

Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 

Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Rom 11:15-21  

Know Your Enemy

So, the writer of the gramophone continues: Now a record player can get stuck on one line because of dirt, or dust, or small specks of debris. But a simple cleaning with a brush can resolve the issue.

Have you tried the brush of prayer?

For the believer, the debris might be anger, jealousy, bitterness, or simply hate, that visceral monster beloved of the devil and us...

Who is your enemy?

And what did Christ teach about our enemies?

Have we worshipped God in truth and spirit?

Then you can love… I can love… we can love.

As it is written:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing…1Co 13:1-3 

Charity never faileth. Rather love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things. 

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1Co 13:9-13  

Know Your Heart

A damaged record is another cause for repetition. The damage may be in scratches, which can obstruct the stylus, causing it to repeat.

There’s such a thing as a damaged heart, an angry heart, or a bitter heart.

Theology (the knowledge of God) can get damaged through our peculiar stubbornness, our prejudices, our fears, our past baggage…causing us to repeat one line over and over again. And that can irritate just as a record stuck on one groove.

A damaged record may need to be replaced. But who can replace a damaged heart? The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).  

That was the question, and he followed it with the answer: “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jer 17:10).  

Only God can change a damaged heart. Can you, or can I allow him to do that?

And in Psalm 19 David says,

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Psa 19:12-13  

In Hebrew 4 we read about the searching power of God’s word.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Heb 4:12-13  

The word of God is that blunt. Can you and I accept its brutal honesty? Again, David writes in Psalm 139.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psa 139:23-24  

And in 2Co 13 Paul writes:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2Co 13:5 

And in Hebrews 6 the writer says:

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. Heb 6:1-3   

The Heart Can be Repaired

We can contribute to the repair of our damaged heart by reading (and practicing) the whole counsel of God, especially paying close attention to those verses which we don’t like much, or which don’t align with our theology.

We are human. And we are prone to bursts of atavistic stubbornness. In such times remember the grace of God…

Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Mat 7:1-3  

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Mat 5:46-47  

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Mat 7:12  

Know Your Theology

Another reason for a stuck record is a misaligned stylus or tonearm. If it’s worn out or dirty, then it will cause repetition. And cleaning the stylus with a brush, says the writer, can resolve the issue.

A simple thing as a prayer said in truth and spirit can resolve the matter for the believer.

The fourth issue, says the book, is tonearm and turntable issues. These can occur because of misaligned or misadjusted tonearm settings, or a sticking tonearm. And the solution is placing the turntable on a level stable surface.

Now what is a tonearm and turntable issue for a believer? I think one’s theology can be faulty, even fatal. The question is: Would one be bold enough to change it? Can one accept to be taught something new, or the correct way, as Apollos accepted the change?

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 

This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 

And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. 

And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: 

For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. Act 18:24-28 

I can be taught. They can be taught. Can you be taught? Can you change your theology, so long held, so long cherished, so long…so long…so long?

And John in finishing writing his book said:

This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Joh 21:24-25  

And the world is still discovering this to be the truth. Try it. I have tried it. And man, it is not enough. There is just so much, and so much, and so much to learn. It is the time that is short.

Yes, my turntable may have issues. Would I be bold enough to accept to be corrected?

Let’s go over again on those trouble shooting steps:

Clean the record (the heart).

Inspect the record (the heart).

Clean the stylus (theology).

Adjust tonearm setting (loosen the heart, laugh, once in a while!).

Check for a foreign object (Watch and pray, for ye know not the hour: and in the Last Days…).

So, every day is a learning day, every second and every minute and hour. “Call unto me” says God, “and I will show you mighty things you do not know.”

Did I miss something? Have I learnt everything?

Dear God teach me those mighty things about yourself!

That I may know you in the inward parts, O God, and more important, that I might know myself, as you know me. Amen.