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NOV/DEC 201 1

At Home in Reality ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.’

Lamentations 3:22

Selwyn Hughes Revised and updated by Mick Brooks Further Study: Ian Sewter © CWR 2011. Dated text previously published as Every Day with Jesus: Reality – A Road Less Travelled (November/December 2001) by CWR. This edition revised and updated for 2011 by Mick Brooks.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of CWR. Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. © International Bible Society.

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A word of introduction …

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t is always a privilege to read and hear the responses that come in from around the world from readers of Every Day with Jesus. A question which is often asked in letters, emails, phone calls or in person is this: ‘How did you know that on that particular day I would need that precise word of advice, guidance or challenge?’

When Selwyn was asked this he would often respond by saying that Jesus was at work applying what Francis Ridley Havergal referred to as God’s ‘mighty multiplying touch’. Just as Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes and multiplied them to meet the needs of thousands, so He takes the words of the pages of this small offering, breaks them and multiplies them so they meet the needs of many different people in so many different situations.

I have no way of knowing how each of you reading these words is finishing the year; life may have taken you to the brink of what you can endure, or this may have been your best year yet. Whatever your situation, I trust and pray that as you visit with God daily over the next two months, you will find the resources you need to meet reality with confidence and grace.

There is no doubt that this last devotional of the year tackles some very challenging issues, but Selwyn was long convinced that without challenge there is no real change. So, as we turn to look at the issue of facing reality, and as we enter this time of celebrating the birth of Jesus, let’s remember ‘Immanuel’, the God who is with us in everything.

May God bless you during this Advent season.

Mick Brooks Consulting Editor Free small-group resources to accompany this issue can be found at www.cwr.org.uk/extra

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‘No Way Through’

Tues 1 Nov

For reading & meditation – Hebrews 2:1–9

‘… how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?’ (v.3)

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ometimes it can be hard to face reality, but there’s just no escaping it. Millions of people attempt to do so every day of the week but it is a futile exercise. At the start of every path we believe will lead us away from unpleasant reality there is a sign that reads ‘No Way Through’.

But what is reality? ‘Reality,’ according to my dictionary, is ‘what is real, what underlies appearances, the way things are’. We can no more escape from reality than we can jump out of our skin. And those who attempt to do so end up demeaned and diminished. There is a word in our language which graphically describes Further the attempt to retreat from reality. It is escapism and Study can be understood in this way: ‘the unhealthy desire 1 Thess. 5:1–11; to escape from the realities of life by concentrating on 2 Pet. 3:3–10 other interests’. The society we live in is, in many ways, 1. How are we an escapist society. Advertising can feed our escapist to act in the mentality. Some is subtle, some screams at us: ‘Get away current climate? from it all. Take that holiday you have always wanted 2. What must – and take it now. You owe it to yourself to get out of we understand? the struggles and difficulties of everyday life.’ There is nothing wrong with taking a holiday, of course. However, if our motive in going away is to escape from reality rather than to rest and relax for the purpose of building up our physical and mental resources, a holiday will not be much help.

Our meditations over these next two months, therefore, will be focused on how, as we turn to God, we can face reality with confidence and grace – no matter how unpleasant that reality may be. ‘Salvation,’ said St Augustine, ‘is God’s way of making us real people.’ Believe me, if we are not saved from a fear of reality, we are not whole, as God wants us to be.

My Father and my God, on this first day of a new theme I come to You to ask for Your help in facing reality. I am saved, yet I see my need of being made whole. Please meet me at the point of my need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Wed 2 Nov

The great illusion For reading & meditation – 1 John 1:1–10

‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.’ (v.8)

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esterday we ended with a quotation from St Augustine: ‘Salvation is God’s way of making us real people.’ This raises an interesting question: what is a real person? A real person, I would suggest, is someone who faces up to the issues that life presents and resists every temptation to escape. Professionals who work in the field of mental health tell us that one way in which our mental and emotional wellbeing can be measured is by how able we are to face reality. In fact, one textbook definition of a neurotic is this: ‘someone with an exceptional and crippling fear of reality’.

Further To expand on the definition of reality I gave you Study yesterday, it could be said that reality is truth – 1 Sam. 15:1–23; Jer 2:22–25 acceptable truth as well as unacceptable truth, ugly truth as well as pleasant truth. There is an unbreakable 1. Describe the connection between truth and reality. Listen to our attitude of Saul. text for today as J.B. Phillips translates it: ‘If we refuse 2. What do to admit that we are sinners, then we live in a world those who are deceived say? of illusion and truth becomes a stranger to us.’ What applies to the reality of sin applies also to all other reality. If we refuse to face anything that is true, we deplete ourselves. Every time we run away from the truth, in whatever form it presents itself, something dies within us – we become less of a human.

When we get down to the bedrock of life, there are really only two choices: we can either face and deal with reality or, like the proverbial ostrich, we can bury our heads in the sand. Ask yourself now: What kind of person am I? A realist – someone who stands up to life? Or a ‘retreatist’ – someone who runs away from life? Retreatists get nowhere – realists get everywhere.

O God, I don’t want to live in illusion; I want to live in illumination.

Help me to be willing to face everything that comes my way, and not to dodge issues – however threatening and intimidating they may be. Amen.

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‘Hey, you just told a lie’

Thurs 3 Nov

For reading & meditation – Numbers 23:13–26

‘God is not a man, that he should lie …’ (v.19)

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e continue meditating on the thought we touched on yesterday – that whenever we refuse to face anything that is true, we deplete ourselves and something dies within us. Why should this be?

One reason is because we are made in the image of a God who does not lie, and when He designed us, He made us in such a way that whenever we speak or live a lie, we are inwardly deprived.

We are designed for truth and we cannot function effectively unless we live by the truth. That is why, I believe, when a rational human being knows that something is a lie, he cannot Further convince himself it is the truth. The polygraph or lie Study detector test indicates this. He or she may try to deceive Exod. 20:16; others by pretending that they believe the lie to be the John 8:31–47 truth, but the situation goes against the grain of the 1. What does personality and creates an inner conflict. The conflict God think creates disturbances in the physical body, which is of lies? then measured by the polygraph machine. When this 2. Contrast happens, the little instrument goes haywire and says: Jesus and ‘Hey, you just told a lie.’ the devil.

Isn’t it interesting that this simple test reveals the fact that we are made in the structure of our inner beings for truth and righteousness? It is imperative that those of us who have committed ourselves to Jesus learn to live according to our Maker’s design, and are willing to face everything that is true – no matter how unpleasant or intimidating it may be. It is not easy to do so – and it would be naïve to say it is – but when we throw ourselves upon Jesus and His resources then He works within us to make us the kind of people He originally intended us to be.

O my Father, my heart cries out for reality – and nothing but reality. I don’t want to live a lie, or even on half-truths. Help me be what You designed me to be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Fri 4 Nov

‘The ugly side of life’ For reading & meditation – Job 5:1–16

‘Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.’ (v.7)

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oday we ask ourselves: what are some of the examples of reality? Well, sin is a reality. Death is a reality. A marriage failure is a reality. Sickness is a reality. The list is endless: disobedient children, a car that won’t start, dirty nappies, an overdrawn bank account, difficult neighbours, a burst water pipe, a husband who slurps his tea or coffee, and so on. Reality can be pleasant as well as unpleasant, of course, but as we usually have no difficulty in coping with the pleasant side of reality, we need to find a way of dealing with those realities that comprise what one poet called ‘the ugly side of life’. Our maturity as Further Study people can be measured by how well we cope with the ‘ugly side of life’ – those harsh and threatening things Dan. 3:8–30 that happen to us all at one time or another.

1. How did There are basically only two ways we can respond the three Jews to unpleasant reality: we can face up to it, or we face reality? can look for a way of escape. Naturally, there are 2. What was some forms of reality from which we should escape. the result?

Sometimes, our personal safety may be put at risk – this is something from which we need to escape. For example, we may be threatened with or experience violence at the hands of another. This is a reality which should not be endured. If we find ourselves in a situation like this, it is important that we do not suffer in silence, but that we seek to protect ourselves and gain help from appropriate sources.

Our discussion here, however, is about those realities which can and ought to be faced and which we need not attempt to avoid. Escaping and escapism are quite different matters.

Understanding the difference is crucial.

My Father and my God, Your Word teaches me that to flee is sometimes better than to stand and fight. But not always. Help me to know and understand the difference. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.

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Problems – always with us

Sat 5 Nov

For reading & meditation – James 1:1–12

‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds …’ (v.2)

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hat is it that makes people, in general, turn away from unpleasant reality and look for ways of escape? The answer is: they do not know the one true reality – God. Sadly, many Christians are gripped with an escapist mentality even though they know God – what about them? This is my thinking: they may know God, but they do not know Him well enough. You see, the more we know the one true reality – God – the less afraid we will be of any other form of reality, no matter how threatening it may be. This is not to say that a close relationship with God will make us immune to the hurts and difficulties of life.

Further Unfortunately, many Christians expect to be exempt Study from difficulties, but that expectation is a false one – it Acts 16:16–34 does not reflect reality.

Some years ago I sat on a platform with several other 1. How did the apostles ministers and heard a young evangelist say: ‘Come face reality? to Jesus and all your difficulties will be over. Never 2. What was again will you struggle with a problem. They will be the result? banished at once and for ever from your life.’ I winced inwardly and came away from that meeting saying to myself: ‘Is this the picture we are portraying of the Christian life – a picture of a salvation which promises us that never again will we struggle with problems? If that is what salvation brings then I am somehow missing out, for I constantly struggle with problems.’

The picture that young evangelist gave of the Christian life was untrue, even though he did not intend to mislead those listening to him. In his eagerness to win people for Jesus he stepped beyond the boundaries of truth.

Problems will always be with us. But so too will God.

O Father, help me in to present a true picture of the Christian life – not a caricature. As a Christian I still have problems, but the difference is that I have You to help me with my problems. For that I am deeply thankful. Amen.

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Sun 6 Nov

When God goes ...

For reading & meditation – Isaiah 22:15–25

‘“In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way …”’ (v.25)

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esterday we said that the more we know God, the one true reality, the less intimidated we will be by any other form of reality, no matter what it may be. What is threatening you at this moment, I wonder? A marriage problem? Redundancy or unemployment? A financial reverse? A broken relationship? A besetting sin? Life can be extremely hard – that is the reality.

But the clearer your perspective of God, the better equipped you will be to face up to all the unpleasant reality and deal with it.

One of the sad things about this generation is that although it boasts about its realism, it is a generation that has Further Study invented more ways of escape than any other. And the major reason for this is because it has lost its belief Isa. 31:1–3; 36:4–6; in God. When God goes, then everything worthwhile Jer. 48:7–8 goes with Him; everything lacks basis, permanence, ultimate meaning. Listen to today’s text in The Message 1. Why should paraphrase: ‘“And then the Day will come,” says GODwe not rely on of-the-Angel-Armies, “when that nail will come great wealth or power? loose and fall out, break loose from that solid wall – 2. Why would and everything hanging on it will go with it.”’ This people be generation has hung everything on the wrong nail – taken captive? the insecure nail of money and economic prosperity – and a fall is inevitable. One day the nail of materialism will give way, and then everything men and women have hung upon it will come crashing down. The nail should have been God, for when He holds everything, everything holds.

I do not wonder that this generation has coined the term ‘escapism’ – it has rejected God and is now in the process of rejecting itself. You see, you cannot love yourself properly unless you love God properly. The one thing flows out of the other.

O Father, let Your Spirit be at work today in the hearts of men and women everywhere, and help them see that to try to escape from You is like trying to escape from sanity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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CWR Ministry Events Please pray for the team Date

Event

Place

2 Nov

Faith, Hope, Love and Everything in Between

Waverley Abbey House Mick Brooks

Presenter(s)

7–8 Nov

Certificate in Counselling Supervision (stage 2)

WAH

Heather Churchill

9 Nov

Caring God’s Way

WAH

Mick Brooks & Lynn Penson

12 Nov

Taking a Look at the Old Testament

WAH

Elizabeth Hodkinson

14 Nov

Insight into Addictions

WAH

Andre Radmall

15 Nov

Preachers Must Apply!

WAH

Andy Peck

19 Nov

Deeper Insights into MBTI

WAH

Andrew & Lynn Penson

21–25 Nov Introduction to Biblical Counselling WAH

Angie Coombes, Richard Laws & team

29 Nov

Mentoring Others

WAH

Andy Peck

6 Dec

Women’s Christmas Celebration

WAH

Guest speaker: Abby Guinness

7 Dec

Insight into Depression

WAH

Chris Ledger

Please also pray for students and tutors on our ongoing BA in Counselling programme at Waverley and our Certificate and Diploma of Christian Counselling and MA in Integrative Psychotherapy held at London School of Theology.

For further details and a full list of CWR’s courses, phone +44 (0)1252 784719 or visit the CWR website at www.cwr.org.uk

For full details phone 01252 784719, international +44 (0)1252 784719 or see the CWR website for further information www.cwr.org.uk

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