Taking advice

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 18:1-27

TO CHEW ON: “So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?” Exodus 18:14

It is interesting to watch Moses’ interactions with Jethro, this in-law parent. Gone is the authoritative, often slightly annoyed and irritated-appearing leader. Toward his father-in-law Moses is all congenial hospitality.

He goes out to meet him and welcomes him along with Moses’ wife and sons. He tells the older man the good news of what has occurred in Egypt and at the Red Sea. He summons Aaron and the elders to break bread with them (Interestingly, very little mention is made of Moses’ wife. Hmm.)

The next day Moses goes to his post as lawyer, judge, and jury of the peoples’ disputes and quarrels. Jethro watches as from light to dark the line of people slow-snakes past Moses. At the end of the day Jethro gives Moses a bit of good advice—to share the load of responsibility for judging with his leaders (Exodus 18:14-23).

I love that this advice comes from a family member, an in-law no less. Sometimes we’re blind to a situation and its solution. It’s then that often a family member, who loves us and has our best interest at heart, but also isn’t intimidated by us, the success we’ve achieved or our position, can open his or her mouth with good, common sense advice. It’s one of the benefits of families and parents (both natural and acquired).

Are we open to the observations and advice of parents? Maybe, like Moses (Exodus 18:24), we should be.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for my family. Though my parents are no longer alive to give me advice, I can still often sense how they would respond to a situation. Help me to be a wise and courageous parent and parent-in-law. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cooperating with God

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Matthew 15:21-39

TO CHEW ON: “And He took the seven loaves and fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled…” Matthew 15:36,37

Where did this multiplication of bread and fish take place? In Jesus’ hands or in the baskets and trays of the disciples?

The Bible doesn’t say. But I imagine Jesus giving each disciple a similar small amount of fish and bread. It may have looked puny, inadequate to feed a dozen let alone hundreds. Then they started passing it out and they passed it out and passed it out … and it never ran out! I imagine that multiplication occurring when the bread and fish were in the disciples’ hands (for they wouldn’t have been able to carry a receptacle loaded with food enough for hundreds!)

I can imagine my reaction if I had been one of those disciples, getting my portion to hand out: “But this small amount is ridiculous. How many will this feed? These hungry people will beat me up when some get fed and others don't …”

Of course the disciples didn’t say anything like that. They had been with Jesus through enough emergencies to realize He was dependable to come through. And His work through them kept happening:

“And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through accompanying signs and wonders” - Mark 16:20.

God in His wisdom continues to use people to accomplish His work with Him:"

"For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” - 1 Corinthians 3:9.

“We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 Corinthians 6:1.

I love how the Blackabys, in the book Experiencing God, challenge us to put this principle into practice:

“God never asks people to dream up something to do for Him. We do not sit down and dream what we want to do for God and then call God in to help us accomplish it. The pattern in Scripture is that we submit ourselves to God. Then we wait until God shows us what He is about to do, or we watch to see what God is already doing around us and join Him” Henry & Richard Blackaby, Claude King, Experiencing God p. 34.

“Every conversation with God has limitless possibilities attached to it, because He is ‘able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.’ - Ephesians 3:20” - Ibid, p. 89 (emphases added).

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to work with You. Help me distribute what is in my hands and trust You to use it in the needed way. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Barnabas—extraordinarily ordinary

Paul and Barnabas sent - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 11:19-12:5

TO CHEW ON: "For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." Acts 11:24

In the New Testament we have many major characters like Peter, John, and Paul on whom we often focus. But there are also minor ones like Barnabas—a man Luke describes as "a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith." What qualities of character and action did he have to merit such a description? In our reading today Barnabas lives out five.

Barnabas was:

Perceptive.
We can conclude this because the disciples chose him to check out what was happening in Antioch with the new Greek converts. And when he got to Antioch, he recognized that God was at work there (Acts 11:22,23).

Positive and encouraging.
What he saw when he arrived in Antioch made him glad and he encouraged them all (Acts 11:23).

A worker who served the crowd.
He rolled up his sleeves and pitched in, working beside the original evangelists. His faith and Holy Spirit-empowered life accounted for many more conversions (Acts 11:24).

A worker who focused on one.
He remembered that new convert Saul, the one everyone had earlier feared because of his reputation for persecuting believers. But Barnabas had trusted him and introduced Saul to the fellowship in Jerusalem sometime back (Acts 9:26-30). Now he went to Tarsus to fetch Saul and add him to the Antioch ministry team (Acts 11:25,26).

Honest with money.
When Agabus prophesied a famine for Judea the believers (now called Christians) took up an offering and sent Barnabas and Saul to Judea with it.

I don't know what you picture when you hear that someone is full of the Holy Spirit and faith. A person who performs miracles? A powerful orator? Someone who lives a notch above us everyday plodders?

I love this picture of Barnabas whose life is a demonstration of how ordinary are the qualities the Spirit uses: discernment, a positive encouraging attitude, a work ethic, an awareness of others' strengths and where they could be of use in the church, and reliability and honesty.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the example of Barnabas. Help me not to spurn the lowly character qualities that, when empowered by Your Spirit and faith, can enable us to accomplish much in Your kingdom. Amen.

 *********

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The church—an interdependent body

Stained glass - Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 12:14-31

TO CHEW ON: "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it." 1 Corinthians 12:26

If you've ever had a toothache or a sprained finger or a broken toe, you will have experienced the truth of all body members suffering with that injured part. And who could conceive of an eye, for example, going off in a sulk because the legs got the glory for winning a race?

The body analogy is so apt a comparison of the church with its many moving parts, not only within individual churches but of the many churches on earth. The ideal is for all members within churches and all those many churches to work as one so that Christ is revealed to a lost world.

A sidebar article in my Bible titled "Interdependence" does a good job of explaining such cooperation:

"Independence says I can do it myself; interdependence says, I cannot do it alone; we need each other. The goal of interdependence in the church (and among churches) is to reflect the unity of the body of Christ in the midst of diversity. God has gifted different parts of the body, including different congregations, with specific missions to build up the whole. As the body functions in the way God intends, He uses it to draw alienated people of varied circumstances to the good news of Jesus Christ" - Bill McCartney & Raleigh B. Washington, "Interdependence," New Spirit-Filled Bible, p. 1597 (emphasis added).

If we could only grasp the idea that God has different missions not only for each of us but for different congregations, the church would be a lot more effective and, I believe, healthier.

PRAYER:  Dear God, thank You for the church and for Paul's word pictures describing it. Help me to understand and live out the fact that I'm part of a wonderfully complex body that is privileged to carry out Your plans on earth. Amen.

MORE: More on interdependence

"Interdependence is difficult to develop in a culture that insists on its own way and rights .... In interdependent living we learn to appreciate the uniqueness of the other, and to need what the other is bringing to the relationship" - Ibid (emphasis added).

*************
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Embrace diversity

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 12:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities but it is the same God who works all in all." 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Our focus verses talk about three means through which God works in and through the life of a believer and so the life of the church.

He gives GIFTS. I like how the Amplified enlarges on "diversities of gifts": "Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments [extraordinary powers of distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit] and they vary…" (1 Corinthians 12:4 AMP). Paul lists the gifts of the Spirit in verses 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 of our reading.

He works through MINISTRIES. [Ministries—diakonia—means service, ministering religion, charity, food.] It may require teamwork with each person willing to do what's required. A few years ago my husband and I worked in the Alpha ministry of our church—not as table leaders but as kitchen workers. When it came time for testimony night, the leader asked that we, the kitchen crew, be present to hear the testimonies so we would get a sense of what we had been a part.

He works through a diversity of ACTIVITIES. [Activities —energema—means "thing wrought" and "effect operation."] Verse 6 in the Amplified Bible explains it well: "And there are distinctive varieties of operation—or working to accomplish things—but it is the same God Who inspires and energies them all in all." (1 Corinthians 12:6 AMP).

To me this speaks of how people have different styles of working, taking different routes to the same goal. Some make detailed plans while others are open to whatever comes along. Some are organized, doing jobs ahead while others are last-minute, working best under pressure. Some have neat work spaces while others are most creative in chaos. The beautiful thing is there's no one right way. God is present and moving even in our different styles of working.

How freeing to know that we don't have to be like others in our gifts, our ministries, or our styles of working. When God the Holy Spirit lives in us, He will give the gifts we need for the ministry in which we're involved, to accomplish His work through us, as individuals and the church. We can not only embrace but celebrate our diversity!

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your presence in my life. Help me to refrain from comparing myself with others in gifts, ministries and the way I work at things. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible,
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)