TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 9:19b-43
TO CHEW ON: “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.” Acts 9:31
The church in today’s reading is a beautiful example of the diversity that should be found in the Body of Christ as a result of the spiritual gifts God gives each member (1 Corinthians 12: 27-31; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11).
The newly converted Saul now channeled his passionate nature into spreading the good news about Jesus. He was a powerful preacher and apologist (evangelist, preacher, teacher). When the Jewish leaders targeted him in a murder plot his Christian brothers planned and carried out his escape from Damascus (administration).
In Jerusalem the church leaders didn’t trust Saul and were fearful of him. But Barnabas encouraged and stood up for him until he was accepted as one of them (pastor, leader, exhortation, mercy).
Spreading the gospel got a boost at Lydda and Sharon when Peter healed a local eight-year bedridden man (healing).
At Joppa, Tabitha, was known and appreciated for her “good works and charitable deeds” towards the poor, especially widows (helps / mercy). Her illness and death, followed by her coming back to life (miracles) after Peter’s prayers (mercy) brought more attention and converts to the Joppa church. There Peter continued to work, all the while enjoying the hospitality of Simon a Tanner (helps).
This is how the healthy church operates. People with various gifts fill their spot and work gets done on all fronts. It’s easy to envy the high profile workers – the evangelists, teachers and preachers. But there is a spot and a need for everyone (1 Corinthians 12).
Whatever your place is in the body – do your thing. Whether it’s hidden or public, whether you get recognition or are ignored, keep doing your thing (as in using your gift[s] for the benefit of all). No one else may know but God does and He will reward you.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the diversity of gifts and ministries in the body of Christ. Please help me to find and fill my spot. Amen.
MORE: Daphne Rademaker sings “Serving You” against scenes from the movie “Call to Harvest" produced by Gospel for Asia Mission.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Body life
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Christian Carnival - here Wednesday (21st)!
I'm excited to announce that Other Food is hosting the 324th Christian Blog Carnival this Wednesday.
Maybe you'd like to join in by submitting an article from your blog. Posts should be:
Christian:
- The Christian Carnival is open to Christians of Protestant, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic convictions. One of the goals of this Carnival is to offer our readers to a broad range of Christian thought.
- Posts need not be of a theological topic. Posts about home life, politics, or current events, for example, written from a Christian worldview are welcome.
Recent:
- Posted between midnight Tuesday April 13th and Tuesday April 20th.
Or email me with:
- name and url of your post
- name and url of your blog
- brief description of your post
I will publish the Carnival post with links to all this week's articles on Wednesday morning.
Go!
TO CHEW ON: “Then Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem…’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go…’” Acts 9:13, 15a
While Peter’s restoration occurred during a quiet conversation with Jesus, Saul’s (later Paul) was a dramatic encounter. God knew that Saul’s zeal was rooted in the belief he was doing the right thing and what it would take to change his mind. When the light, the power and the voice of Jesus stopped him on the Damascus road, he converted in an instant.
In this story I sympathize with Ananias. Imagine being told to visit Christianity’s most vocal and influential opponent (to us Richard Dawkins, say, or Sam Harris) . Even compliant Ananias raised objections…Lord, do You know who this man is and what he has authority to do? (verses 13-14). To Ananias’ credit, he went anyway, found the now blind, helpless, and hungry Saul and helped onto his feet the man who became the church’s most articulate champion.
Are you and I as quick to obey – even when obedience seems like non-sense? Oswald Chambers says about obedience:
“There is no moral virtue in obedience unless there is a recognition of a higher authority in the one who dictates…. a man is a slave for obeying unless behind his obedience there is a recognition of a holy God.
But woe be to me if when I see Him, I say I will not. He will never insist I do it but I have begun to sign the death warrant of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say – I will not, He will never insist; but I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption.” – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 18th reading.
To whom or about what is God saying “Go” to us today? Will I? Will you?
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for examples like Paul and Ananias who illustrate how the lives of people in Your kingdom interlock. Help me to cooperate with You in this by going whenever you say the word. Amen
MORE: Some modern Ananiases
Gladys Aylward, missionary to China said:
"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China…I don't know who it was…It must have been a man…a well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing…and God looked down…and saw Gladys Aylward…And God said - "Well, she's willing."
Jackie Pullinger, missionary to Hong Kong:
At the age of 22 Jackie Pullinger, British subject and graduate of Royal College of Music specializing in the oboe, felt she was to be a missionary. But when all the missionary societies turned her down, she followed the advice of a pastor who told her, “go out and buy a ticket for a boat going on the longest journey you can find and pray to know where to get off.” She bought a ticket from France to Japan. When she got to Hong Kong she knew this was the place.
She tells her fascinating story in Chasing the Dragon (which I read some time ago and reviewed here.)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Church report card - 3
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Revelation 3:7-22
TO CHEW ON: “‘Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’” Revelation 3:20-21
What a contrast in the two churches addressed in our reading today! The church at Philadelphia has the best report so far. It is hard-working, persevering and obedient. It is promised a place in God’s presence, destined to live with Him forever.
The Laodicea church, on the other hand is described as nauseating. It thinks well of itself while it is actually “wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." It is the only church to which Jesus gives no commendation at all.
Some Bible students have interpreted these seven messages to the churches as seven dispensations.* They see them as an outline of stages in church history. In their reading:
1. The Ephesus church represents the church at the close of the first century.
2. The Smyrna church represents the church from the beginning of the 2nd century until Constantine (beginning of the 4th century).
3. The Pergamos church is the church of the 4th through 7th centuries.
4. The Thyratira church is the church of the Middle Ages.
5. The Sardis church represents the church just prior to the Protestant Reformation.
6. the Philadelphia church represents the “true church” throughout all of church history, especially the segment that experiences revival prior to the last days.
7. The Laodicea church represents the church in its final days, prior to its pretribulation rapture. It is characterized by apostasy.
Many Bible teachers feel we’re living in those last days. If we look at current events and line them up with Bible predictions, it’s easy to agree. On many fronts the modern church has fallen into apostasy. Does that mean we’re doomed to capitulate to the same thing ourselves?
I would say ‘no.’ In the end, it is not as a group that we respond to Jesus but individually. That’s why Revelation 3:20 is one of my favorite verses. Jesus comes to me. He knocks on the door of my heart. He wants to spend time with me, eat with me – and you. As groups of us who have welcomed Him into our lives join together, we will continue as a church that delights Him.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, come in! Make Yourself at home. Let’s visit, eat together, and live together. Please make Your home in my heart. Amen.
MORE: “O Church Arise” by Keith and Kristyn Getty
*Dispensationalism ("dispensations" explained) is a way of interpreting the Bible and history. It was developed by C. I. Scofield and became popular through study notes in the Scofield Reference Bible. Personally, although I think that interpreting the Bible in a dispensational way is interesting and has some value, I don't entirely agree with it.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Church report card - 2
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Revelation 2:18-3:6
TO CHEW ON: “‘He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life but I will confess his name before my Father and His angels.’” Revelation 2:5
Continuing on with these church report cards, today’s reading contains two more with poor grades. The Thyratira church was given an A for its works, love, service, faith, and patience. But they tolerated a Jezebel figure who “led people into literal and spiritual fornication” (endnotes – New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1820). Jesus warned them that their tolerance and unwillingness to rid themselves of this influence would lead to deadly consequences.
The church at Sardis had a reputation of being alive, but it was actually dead (D-?). Jesus only commends the faithful few “who have not defiled their garments.”
What can we learn about the church and God’s standards for her in the areas in which the churches at Thyratira and Sardis fell short?
1. The church has enemies. Possibly some of the worst are those who infiltrate its membership, causing dissension and disunity (as in Thyratira’s case).
2. Jesus prayed for the unity of His followers (present and future). Unity in the church was one of the Apostle Paul’s great aspirations for it.
3. God sometimes uses harsh and unpleasant circumstances to discipline us (individual members and congregations) toward maturity and repentance. This discipline sometimes comes as punishment for a refusal to repent.
4. Christ’s ideal for the church is purity. Again and again this purity is pictured as special clothes. Often these are clothes or robes of white.
As individual members of the body of Christ – the church – the things in the above list apply to and impact not only congregations but us – individuals out of which those congregations are built. Are we experiencing opposition? It shouldn’t surprise us. Are we working for unity. We should be. Are we learning from God’s discipline? Are we doing life in our rich, pure robes of salvation?
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, what a privilege it is to be part of Your church. Help me to be a healthy member in this, Your body on earth. Amen.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Boast, rave, celebrate!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 150:1-6
TO CHEW ON: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6
The Hebrew word halal in this psalm that is translated praise means to shine, boast, rave, celebrate clamorously. Do we do that? Boast about God? Rave about His works? Allow our emotions to overflow in actual shouts as we consider His greatness of both person and deed?
Some weeks ago I encountered a lovely fellow-Christian on the skytrain (she had in hand a list of Scripture references so it was easy to start a conversation). As we exchanged information about our backgrounds, I mentioned the word ‘charismatic.’ Her face stiffened. “I’m scared of charismatics,” she said. “They are too emotional.”
Though I defended showing emotion in worship, I’m not sure she was convinced. I should have referred her to this psalm which echoes with the admonition to express our exuberance, joy, enthusiasm and excitement about God in extreme vocal praise.
Jack Hayford in a sidebar article about this psalm says it so well:
“Begin with honestly asking if our habits of praise (spanning the spectrum from the silence of awe to songs of joy) are willing to incorporate the shout of triumph – see Psalm 47:1. Here is biblical counsel to include occasions of extreme praise. If a worthy reason is needed, embrace the ultimate “triumph” – Christ’s cross and resurrection (2 Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 2:13-15).
The triumph of Christ’s cross and resurrection summons. Give Him more praise than any other god gets. He is the “God among the goes,” so our praise of Him should be more outstanding than that given to any other “god.” – Jack Hayford, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 800
PRAYER: Wonderful God, thank You for being worthy of our most extravagant expression of worship, praise and adoration. Help us to be as uninhibited in worship as we are when we cheer on our favorite sports team or celebrity. Amen.
MORE: "Let Everything that Has Breath" by Matt Redman
(Thanks to Jan C., who gave me the heads-up on the above song - perfect for today's reading!)
“Shout to the Lord” – Hillsong
Monday, April 05, 2010
Blind to the obvious
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 24:13-35
TO CHEW ON: “But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him….then their eyes were opened and they knew Him…” Luke 24:16, 31
My nine-year-old daughter’s thick brown hair was combed into silky pig tails that Sunday morning. She’d finally recovered from chicken pox and I’d given her hair a good scrub before church, hoping that that would take away the extreme itchiness she’d had for the last few weeks. As she sat beside me in the pew, I gave her a motherly once-over and noticed flecks of dandruff in her bangs. I tried to brush one away but it was stuck tight to a shaft of hair. I worked at removing another, with the same result. As I glanced over the rest of her hair, I saw more and more dandruff. What on earth?!
In that instant my eyes were opened. This was no flaky scalp condition. The chicken pox I’d blamed for her itchy head was only a partial culprit. I was looking at a case of full-blown head lice. Somehow, preoccupied with the concerns of everyday living and getting her through a bout of illness, I’d never noticed as the hungry critters took up residence.
I spent the rest of that day shampooing heads, scrubbing furniture, washing clothes and bedding, and vacuuming everything in sight. All the while I berated myself for not seeing. How could I have missed something so obvious?
I wonder if that isn’t how the disciples on the road to Emmaus felt after they realized it had been Jesus who had joined them on their walk.. Focused on their circumstances, wearing the dark glasses of human explanation and expectation, they’d spent hours walking and talking with the risen Christ but never realized who He was.
Like them, we too are often blind to spiritual reality. We listen to local, national and international news with a sense of panic, and miss seeing how world events are fulfilling Bible predictions. We get trapped under clouds of discouragement, distraction and defeat, and only after they’ve lifted do we see the fingerprints of Satan all over our situations. We talk to unsaved friends, family members or neighbors but it isn’t till hours later that we realize we didn’t take all kinds of opportunities to talk about Jesus. There is a realm of reality that we can see only through eyes opened by God.
PRAYER: Dear God, please open my eyes to the awareness of Your presence in every part of my life.
“Open My Eyes” by Hillsong
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Paid in full!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ephesians 4:1-16
TO CHEW ON: “Therefore He says:
On this day between when we celebrate Jesus’ death and His resurrection it is appropriate to spend some time thinking about the price Jesus paid to procure our salvation. What was He doing between when He died and rose again? Paul alludes to Jesus’ activity in this interval. He quotes part of a prophetic psalm (68:18) then takes a word from that psalm, “ascends” to deduce that if Jesus ascended, He necessarily first descended.
"Jesus in Hades"
Woodcut by an unknown Master
connected to the Protestant Reformation era
writings. Published in 1550.
1. A descent into hell (1 Peter 3:18-19).
2. A descent into Sheol/Hades the realm of the dead (Acts 2:25-35).*
3. A symbolic reference to His incarnation, where His coming to earth from heaven was the descent.
Whatever He did, it was sufficient. It purchased our salvation. Praise the Lord! And it made possible the “gifts’ that are the main subject of this passage – those talents and abilities the Holy Spirit gives us and empowers with supernatural effectiveness to ensure the health of His earthly body, the church.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for paying the price for my salvation. Help me to live full-out, expending my talents, using my gifts for Your glory. Amen.
MORE: Whatever the cost and procedure (a descent into hell included, if that was indeed the case) Jesus paid it all. An old hymn of the church by that name had its origins in this poem:
I hear my Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small,
Thou has naught My debt to pay,
Find in Me thy all in all.
Yea, nothing good have I,
Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I wash my garments white
In the blood of Calvary’s Lamb.
And now complete in Him,
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ‘neath His side,
I am divinely blest.
When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
Jesus paid it all
Shall rend the vaulted skies.
Elvina M. Hall (1865)
Kristian Stanfill sings a modern version of “Jesus Paid It All”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brVIlXlJRkQ
*Referring to the descent into hell or Sheol, the writer of the article makes this statement: “There is no biblical support for the notion that Jesus suffered in hell, only that He descended to Sheol to release the righteous dead into eternal glory, proclaiming the adequacy of the Atonement and validating the testimony of the prophets.” New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1650.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
The will of the mob
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 23:1-25
TO CHEW ON: “They were more fierce, saying, ‘He stirs up the people…’”
- Muslim demonstrations after the publication of the Danish cartoons.
- Mobs on the streets of Kiev during the Orange Revolution movement in Ukraine.
- Partisan fans at soccer games in Britain and Europe.
- Bloodthirsty crowds during wars of genocide in Rwanda and Kenya.
- Most lately the multitudes on the streets of Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics, cheering on Canadian athletes.
While being a part of these mobs can be fun and non-threatening (as in the last one), I can imagine feeling only terror should one be on the opposite side of the will of most mobs. Mob psychology is unpredictable but often results in actions of apparent insanity that would never happen during moments of cooler emotion. Before we are too hard on the disciples for never raising a hand to defend Jesus but running away, we should put ourselves in their places. Would we have done any different? I see this angry mob during the events of Jesus’ passion as another ploy of Satan. He would use every trick in the book. Frenzied voices raised in unison against Jesus suited him just fine.
But not even a mob is bigger than God. In this case, the will of the mob prevailed because it was part of God’s plan of how He would accomplish our salvation. When we are tempted to fear mobs in whatever guise they take – public opinion, the results of polls, anti-Christian articles on the internet along with supportive and often abusive comments, voices rallied by satirical shows like SNL that mock Christians and Christianity – here are some Bible words to help encourage you and bolster your faith:
Psalm 3:6, Psalm 27:3; Psalm 112:8; Psalm 118:6; Isaiah 6:12; Isaiah 12:2; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18
PRAYER: Dear God, it is easy for me to become intimidated by a multitude of voices. In such times, please remind me that You are Lord, even of the mob. Amen.
MORE:
"It is no fun to be in a room where everyone assumes a particular view and you do not hold it. Only the very brave, the very wise, or fools rush to expose their minority opinions. Few of us are brave or wise and fools simply confirm the stereotypes. The rest of the very religious keep quiet and so nobody learns. " - John Mark Reynolds, Professor of Philosophy & Director of the Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University.
The article from which the quote was taken: “Ignorance of Christianity No Virtue.”
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sinister entry
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 22:1-23
TO CHEW ON: “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray Him to them. Luke 22:3-4
How chilling those words, “Then Satan entered Judas…” How sobering their continuation, “… (Judas) Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.” If a member of Jesus’ closest circle was not immune to Satan’s entrance how all the more must we be vigilant against it.
The tendency is to think of Satan’s entering and controlling someone as a bizarre paranormal thing, evidenced by spooky behaviors or a cursed, sickly life. But I believe it can be a lot subtler than that.
We need only think of our “besetting sin.” Do we struggle with anger, or find ourselves often covering our tracks with deceit, or letting bitterness cloud our outlook? There is a section in Ephesians 4 which mentions specific sins Holy Spirit-controlled followers of Jesus are to “put away.” These are common, run-of-the-mill sins that we all have no doubt been caught in at some time or other: lying, anger, stealing, corrupt talk, bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking with malice. Right in the middle of that list (immediately after the reference to anger) are these words: “nor give place to the devil.” Doesn’t this warning imply that we are at risk of giving Satan entrance when we cultivate these behaviors and attitudes?
How tiny it starts as the devil squeezes into that sliver-thin crack of our dissatisfaction, takes more territory as we augment our complaints with imaginings, then cements them in us when we voice them to others (compounding our sin as we influence them to join us on this destructive path). How big it eventually ends. In Judas’s case he betrayed his best friend. It earned him the very woe of Jesus.
We do well to follow Peter’s warning: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
PRAYER: Dear God, I want no one but You in my life. Please sensitize my “spiritual antennae” to the presence of anything that would give Satan opportunity or entrance into my life. Amen.
MORE: What happened in Judas’ mind and heart to make him regret what he’d done? Once the betrayal was accomplished, did the devil’s strong influence leave him? Or had he rationalized that his action would force Jesus’ hand to reveal Himself as king and when that didn’t happen, he realized the immensity and gravity of what he’d done? What do you think?
Friday, March 26, 2010
The low road, the small place
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:1-18
TO CHEW ON: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7
Jesus’ humility didn’t come the way ours often does, through being humiliated - though the religious leaders tried often enough to humiliate Him. Rather, it was demonstrated as He freely chose to make Himself low. We can’t imagine the extent of His plunge. The prophet Daniel’s description of His place of origin gives us a vocabulary-limited idea. It was indescribably grand. He had unlimited power. But He chose to leave all that and join us, small-minded, self-centered creatures on this sin-pocked planet. It’s mind-boggling really.
That’s why Jesus’ example of humility is so instructive to us. For none of us will ever have the reasons to be proud and uppity that He had. I love how a sidebar article in my bible describes it:
“Christ-like humility is manifested in the freedom of God’s Son to affirm the fullness of all God has placed in Him, without needing to flaunt or prove or push it through self-advancement. Jesus’ complete absence of any need to “clutch” for power or attention is manifest humility.”
Fuchsia Pickett in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1662.
Don’t you just love that kind of humility – and want it in your life?
Here are some other facets of humility gleaned from the Bible:
1. It is one of three things God requires of us.
2. Humility on our part shows we are in touch with reality. (See also Romans 12:3)
3. It makes us teachable.
4. It is demonstrated through service.
5. Humility is the foundation of a gracious, others-centered life.
6. It is through humility that Jesus attained His ultimate destiny.
7. Humility will also lead us to attain the highest purpose for our lives.
8. Childlike humility is the route to true greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven.
PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive me my proud, overweening spirit that longs for attention, glory and praise. Give me the desire to be humble and the will to choose the low road, the humble way, the small place. Amen.
Converting To Childhood
Jesus: “... unless you are converted and become as little children
you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3
You lose sophistication and veneer
and become clear
sing, skip and play
easily laugh and cry
then fall asleep without a care
for Daddy is nearby.
No longer do you worry
about whether there will be
food to eat, clothes to wear
how to get from here to there.
learning your family’s ways and graces.
And once again you fit
into small places.
© 2007 by V. Nesdoly
(First published in 2007 at Utmost Christian Writers)
****************
Monday, March 22, 2010
Great leaders use the servant entrance
TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 12:12-26
TO CHEW ON: “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him will My Father honor.” John 12:26
“Servanthood is the time-tested entrance prerequisite for trustworthy ministry,” begins a sidebar article in my Bible. “Since God’s Word seems to reveal such service as the basis for any advancement in leadership, we are wise to be cautious if such credentials are not found in a rising leader today.” – Joseph Garlington Sr. New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1466
Have you noticed how many Bible leaders first served?
- Moses served Jethro.
- Joshua served Moses.
- Elisha served Elijah.
- David served Saul.
If we dream of having ministries and being leaders, we’d better get used to the idea of being servants.
How comfortable are you with serving? I often watch the Customer Service clerks at our local Superstore with admiration. The best ones handle grouchy, complaining customers with a humility, grace and willingness to help that puts me to shame. Personally, volunteering in our church’s Alpha program has made me even more aware of some of the hang-ups about serving that I have. It has shown me I have a lot to learn about this unlikely, Kingdom of God route to greatness.
PRAYER: Dear God, help me to have a servant’s heart in everything I do – not to prove my greatness, but because You were a servant, and I follow You. Amen.
MORE: Want to learn more about serving? This comprehensive article by John MacArthur is a mini-seminar: "Spiritual Gifts – the Permanent Edifying Gifts – The Serving Gifts: Leadership, Serving and Giving."
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Reflecting the extravagance of God
TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 12:1-11
“For the poor you have with you always.” Doesn’t that sound awfully familiar? Indeed, we read the passage that Jesus is referring to, yesterday. He is quoting it in defense of Mary who had just anointed His feet with oil of spikenard - a most expensive perfume made from the dried roots of the nard plant and imported in alabaster containers from its native India. Jesus defended her after Judas’ criticism: “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor.”
Judas’ reaction is rooted in a thought process common to us. It goes something like: There is only a limited amount of resources (of any kind). Therefore I must look out for myself, making sure I get enough. (In this case Judas getting enough involved swiping from the disciples’ collective purse; some of those 300 denarii would doubtless have found their way into his pocket.)
Jesus, on the other hand, operated by an entirely different economy. He accepted this wasteful and precious act of love, interpreting it in a way that probably sent chills down Mary’s back as well as everyone who heard Him: “She has kept this for the day of my burial.” In heaven’s economy it was but a poor symbol of His extravagance to us when He died, taking the punishment for our sin.
Don’t you just love Mary’s lavish outpouring of devotion? We can begin to respond the same way to God and others when we operate on the assumption that in God our resources are limitless. My giving to you does not deplete those resources to me. God is the source of not one pie, cut in a finite number of pieces, but an infinite number of pies! It makes about as much sense as God the creator, forming distant galaxies, deep ocean fish and high alpine flowers that no eyes but His will see.
PRAYER: Dear God, may my attitude be rooted in Your abundance. I want to be like Mary – giving to You (and to others) with open-handed abandon. Amen.
"Pour My Love On You" by Dan Dean and Gary Sadler, (sung here by Jonathan Stockstill, I think).
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Debt free!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 15:1-11
TO CHEW ON: “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts…. except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance.” Deuteronomy 15:1,4
I think the Prime Minster of Canada needs to read this passage – and our premiers and our mayors. Isn’t this just the simplest solution for poverty: forgive all debts every seven years!
Here the Israelites were told to not only lend freely with the view of forgiving all debts every seventh years, but to lend freely even it if was the sixth year, knowing that there was little chance their debt would be repaid. The underlying reason was to help their brother, not profit from him, in his misfortune.
I’m no economist, but even my simple understanding of how our financial system works tells me that such a rule would wreak havoc in Canada in 2010. No more 20- or 30-year mortgages, no personal debts that last past seven years, no more national debts over generations, and probably no more billion dollar debt nations! I don’t know any person or nation that lives this way – do you?
Despite how impractical this passage seems, it illustrates a couple of important principles about material prosperity that are as relevant today as ever.
- We should look out for each other and be willing to lend a hand (or money) even at our own expense.
- Prosperity is not meant to fatten us, but to flow through us.
I must admit I fall far short in this area. The story Jesus told of the two debtors comes to mind. It makes me realize that this principle applies to me too, for I too have been forgiven much, perhaps not in the money sense but in the sin sense (even to the extent of my sin of possessiveness and stinginess).
PRAYER: Dear God, I have much to learn about Your generosity – including in material things. Loosen my clutch on the things I call mine. Grow in me a spirit that reflects Your willingness to give and forgive with no strings attached. Amen.
“Hear the Call of the Kingdom” by Keith and Kristyn Getty
Though this song isn’t specifically about material possessions, it talks about how the Kingdom of God impacts our lives in many areas. As you listen to it and consider the lyrics, give some thought to what you might usually take as referring to only spiritual things (being the “children of light,” having the “mercy of heaven,” reaching out to the lost “with the Father’s compassion” etc.) to material possessions.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Father's business
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 2:41-52
TO CHEW ON: “And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’” Luke 2:49
I wonder if these words of Jesus, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ sent a pang through His earthly father Joseph’s heart. Did they drive home again the fact that, even at this early age, Jesus was not truly ‘his’ – even as our kids aren’t ‘ours’?
So much for others’ obedience resulting in our inconvenience. What about the personal cost of being about the Father’s business? It is wide-ranging. Jesus’ words, “I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father Who sent me” (John 5:30), reverberate all the way down to us: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” John 20:21
A sidebar article in my Bible says:
"Yielding to His call in the pragmatics of daily living means that we recognize His purpose for us during times we would otherwise seek indulgence for our self-interests or run from the demanding implications of His leading at a given moment (ouch!)… it is not ours to excuse ourselves from our places of service but to choose His choice, that is to say, His choice is my choice, my consecration to Him.”
- Fuchsia Pickett, New Spirit Filled Life Bible page 1390.
PRAYER: Dear God, help me understand what a privilege it is to be busy doing Father-God business. I pray with the psalm-writer, “Take my eyes away from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your way” today. Amen.
MORE: Today is the Feast of St. Joseph – a church commemoration of the godly man who married Mary despite the scandal surrounding her pregnancy, and was an earthly father to Jesus.
The Collect for today:
“O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The necessary spark
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Hebrews 4:1-13
TO CHEW ON: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” Hebrews 4:2
One of the most well-known verses about God’s Word comes in this passage. You’ve probably memorized it: “For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Keeping in mind the power of God's word this verse describes, it's interesting that, 10 verses earlier, the writer says, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them…” Such ‘living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing’ words not profitable? Why?
Here's why: “…not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” – Hebrews 4:2
The match that sets God’s Word ablaze, the spark that ignites its explosive charge is faith. Faith in what? It seems to me that in order for God’s Word to come alive to us, we must have faith in three areas:
1. Faith that we even need a Savior. This kind of faith means believing words that tell us we’re lost sheep. and that our best efforts to impress God aren't good enough.
2. Faith that accepts Jesus’ death as more than fire insurance, but also makes Him Lord of our lives – our Shepherd, the One we follow.
3. Faith that the upside-down life of the Kingdom of God – of which the Bible is the roadmap – is the true reality.
If the Bible seems dead, impractical, closed, irrelevant, boring, mysterious, senseless or any number of other things to us, we need to take a look at our ignition system – the state of our faith. Personally, the fact that I need a Savior is settled for me. It’s with Jesus’ lordship and living the Kingdom of God life that my faith often needs shoring up.
How can I increase my faith?
- I can ask for it.
- I can keep immersing myself in God’s Word to increase it (and how’s that for coming full-circle?).
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your amazing Word, the Bible, which is made alive to me by faith. Please increase my faith for making You Lord of my life and for living by the uncommon-sense principles of Your kingdom. Amen.
MORE: Michael Card and John Michael Talbot sing “One Faith”
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Loved though imperfect
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 146:1-10
TO CHEW ON: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
As I read this psalm the first time this morning, the phrase “the God of Jacob” popped out at me. I know “Jacob” here can be taken as a figure of speech where the example signifies the whole (‘Jacob’ is a stand-in for all the patriarchs). But today I’m going to take it as an intentional mention of Jacob the man.
Of all the patriarchs, Jacob appears one of the most flawed and human in his good and bad qualities.
- He was deceptive and sneaky.
- He was sensitive to God’s voice.
- He was a hard worker.
- He preferred one wife over the other. This led to jealousy and dissension in his family.
- He tolerated idol worship.
- He showed favoritism to Joseph = more domestic strife.
- He had a pessimistic outlook on life.
- Despite all the above, he was a conduit of God’s prophetic blessing.
God loved Jacob and was loyal to him despite his faults. Of course God worked on his faults too. He came to him in crisis experiences like the night before he was reunited with his brother Esau. God also dealt with him in the daily grind when, for example, he had to relinquish his darling Benjamin so that Ben could accompany his other sons to Egypt for more food.
Happy are we, says the psalmist, when the God of Jacob – this God who sticks with us despite faults, but also loves us enough to deal with them – is our help (ezer from azar = help, succor, ally).
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your steadfast love, loyalty and the promise of Your help despite my imperfect humanity. Through good times and bad I put my hope in You.
MORE: “Never Been Unloved” by Michael W. Smith
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Ministry of tears
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 126:1-6
Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping
Bearing seed for sowing
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing
Bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5,6
Emotion is never glossed over in the Bible. In Scripture real men and women cry. “Tears in Scripture play a unique role in spiritual breakthrough,” begins a sidebar article in my Bible.
Here are some of the varieties in the ministry of tears:
- Tears of sorrow or suffering – 2 Kings 20:5
- Tears of desperation – Esther 4:1,3
- Tears of joy – Genesis 33:4
- Tears of compassion – John 11:35
- Tears of travail or birth – Isaiah 42:14
- Tears of remorse – Matthew 26:75
- Tears of repentance – Joel 2:12-13
- Tears of planting – our focus verses above.
What tears are you shedding today? Tears of remorse over some failure or shortcoming of your own? Tears of suffering over sickness (your own or someone else's) or the death of a loved one? Tears of travail over the state of an unsaved son, daughter, parent, spouse or friend? Tears of frustration over the apparent lack of effectiveness of your life?
Whatever your tears, don’t hide them from God. He understands and in due course will answer. Your liquid prayer has its purpose in His plan.
PRAYER: Dear God, my heart breaks over many things. See my grief, helplessness, desperation, and need. Please use my tears to nurture your plans and purposes on earth. Amen
MORE: Sayings about tears
“Tears are liquid prayer.” ~ Charles Spurgeon.
"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts." ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1860
"Tears are God’s gift to us. Our holy water. They heal us as they flow." ~Rita Schiano, Sweet Bitter Love, 1997, published by The Reed Edwards Company
"What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul." ~Jewish Proverb
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Stay-at-home prodigal
"Prodigal's Brother"
Woodcut
by Johann Christoph Weigel 1695
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 15:11-32
TO CHEW ON: “’But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
I love this story for its hopefulness about prodigals – both those who leave and those who stay home. Trouble is, I find myself identifying with one of them. Maybe it’s because I too am an oldest child and tend to be duty-driven that I empathize with that older brother.
He was all work and responsibility with, no doubt, a pinch of self-pity and a dash of self-righteousness. He probably resented the fact that he was left at home to work for Dad but may have congratulated himself on his work ethic and moral lifestyle. Perhaps he even dreamed of the day his brother would return and get a tongue-lashing from Dad. Of course Dad would hold him up as the example to follow. Thus on the day older brother returned from work to find the house alight and vibrating with celebration over the return of the scoundrel, his unmet expectations boiled over in stubborn standoffishness, and then, when Dad begged him to join the party, a heated exchange.
Their little conversation illustrates some things about stay-at-home prodigals, who can be just as distant in their relationship with God as their runaway counterparts.
1. Even though he lived with his father, the older son didn’t really know him. Surely he had seen his dad go out every day to scan the horizon for a sign of the kid returning. Yet that action never registered as yearning father-love, and big bro was surprised by his father’s delight at the prodigal’s return.
2. He didn’t communicate with his father. When he objected to Dad’s lavish celebration with “…you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends,” father replied, “Son, you are always with me.” I read that as, ‘Why didn’t you ask? I was here all the time.’
3. He didn’t know what was at his disposal. He could have had that young goat and much more. “All that I have is yours,” his dad told him.
If we find traces of ourselves in the stay-at-home prodigal, we can change the situation by working on his three areas of lack.
- We can get to know God. We see God the Father at work in the Old Testament. Jesus, His Son, lives out God’s father-heart of love in the New. We can get to know Him and His love for us and for everyone, deserving or irresponsible, as we read the Bible.
- We can communicate with Him – in prayer. “You do not have because you do not ask,” James says.
- We can get familiar with our inheritance and begin enjoying all the wonderful things at our disposal as children of God right now.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank You for telling this inclusive story. We are all prodigals. Thank You for welcoming us back. Amen.
MORE: Know your inheritance:
The older brother may have saved himself a lot of grief if he had realized his father's generosity with his inheritance even while he (Dad) was still alive. We too have a grand inheritance now:
- We have insight into God’s kingdom.
- We have the record of Old and New Testament witnesses to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s plan.
- Through Jesus we can be right with God and happily exist “in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory” - Message.
- We have the Holy Spirit who interprets the things of God to us (“dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along” - Message).
- Out bodies are actually Christ's home.
- We are anointed by God.
- We still live in a time of opportunity. Even if we've strayed, it’s still possible to return and spend the rest of our days doing things that count in God’s kingdom.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Rejected
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 15:10-23
TO CHEW ON: “’Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, he also has rejected you from being king.’” 1 Samuel 15:22-23
Some years have passed from when Samuel anointed the handsome Saul as Israel’s first king. The monarch has changed from a shy, humble young man to a confident ruler who is full of himself, looks out for his own interests and is agile with excuses.
When Samuel confronts him with the fact that he didn’t obey God in completely destroying the Amalekites, he takes a self-defense tack that is not unfamiliar to us:
1. "What sin?" He pretends he hasn't done anything wrong and acts like everything is as it should be.
Saul: “I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” vs. 13
2. He makes excuses for himself, blaming someone else.
Saul: “…the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen …” vs. 15
3. He quibbles over definitions, changing the meaning of words to suit himself.
Samuel: “Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord?” vs. 19
Saul: “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord.” vs. 20-21
4. He rationalizes his disobedience, and twists it into a good thing.
Saul: “The people took of the plunder…to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” vs. 21
Samuel exposes the root of Saul’s actions and defenses. His opposition to God’s commands is really rebellion and stubbornness, equivalent to witchcraft and idolatry. It results in God rejecting him as king.
If there is a quality that characterizes our society today, it is rebellion. Note the second definition of rebel: “a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.”
Rebellion comes to us naturally. Our society admires defiant and rugged individualists. Criticism of authority and resistance to it is the very life-blood of the media. And though the success of a democracy depends on the ability of citizens to make wise choices about leadership (which includes critical thinking), we need to beware that rebellion doesn’t creep into our attitude toward God.
What do I do when confronted by my disobedience? If I pretend there is no issue, make excuses, blame someone else, quibble over definitions, or rationalize my sin into a good thing, perhaps there is rebellion (witchcraft and idolatry) in my own heart.
PRAYER: Dear God, help me to obey you implicitly. Point out any rebellion in my heart, then help me to deal with it. I want no God but You. Amen.
MORE: “Our insistence in proving that we are right (when confronted with some aspect of Jesus’ teaching) is nearly always an indication that there has been some point of disobedience.”
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest - June 30th reading
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Come out singing
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 32:1-11
TO CHEW ON: “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:7
When I hear ‘hiding place’ I think of Corrie Ten Boom’s book by that name. It was well-titled, for Corrie’s family was arrested for giving Jews a hiding place in their home when Holland was under the Nazis. Later she relates several instances of God performing feats of hiding for her and her sister. In one, they managed to smuggle a Bible into prison right under the nose of their captors.
The need for “songs of deliverance” implies that we’ve been caught, or very close to it. My Bible has cross references from this phrase to Exodus 15:1 and Judges 5:1. The Exodus reference is to the song that Moses sang after Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea after pursuing the Israelites in an attempt to bring them back to slavery. The Judges song is one Deborah and Barak sang after Jael, a feisty desert woman, killed Sisera, the army commander of their enemy King Jabin (Judges 4).
Next time you’re in the thick of trouble, don’t take it as a sign of God’s displeasure or punishment. Rather, welcome it as another opportunity to strengthen your faith as you experience God’s care for you in the midst of it. He will bring you through, singing your own song of deliverance.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being with me in times of testing, threat, and sickness. Please hide me, preserve me and help me to come out the other side singing. Amen.
MORE: A quote from O.C.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Romans 8:35
“God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says – “I will be with him in trouble.” It does not matter what actual troubles in the most extreme form get hold of a man’s life, not one of them can separate him from his relationship to God. We are “more than conquerors in all these things.” Paul is not talking of imaginary things, but of things that are desperately actual; and he says we are super-victors in the midst of them, not by our ingenuity, or by our courage, or by anything other than the fact that not one of them affects our relationship to God in Jesus Christ. Rightly or wrongly, we are where we are exactly in the condition we are in. I am sorry for the Christian who has not something in his circumstances he wishes was not there.”
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, May 19th reading
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Whose fault is it?
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 13:1-9
TO CHEW ON: “Or of those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed then, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:4-5
We will not soon forget scenes of the Haiti earthquake of January 12th. A disaster like that gets people questioning why and inevitably someone makes the suggestion that Haitians were in some way to blame. I’m not going to argue the point one way or the other. We find instances in the Bible where the moral life of a nation and subsequent disasters they suffered were interpreted as God’s judgment. We see just as many examples of God apparently withholding His judgment even though it would seem deserved. And we could well ask, which nation or individual doesn’t deserve judgment?
Jesus here answers questions about two local tragedies, where the word going around was that the victims were to blame because they were “worse sinners” than those who were spared. Jesus said no. He doesn’t explain why these tragedies happened, but rather points out that we’re all sinners and unless we repent we’ll all perish.
Of course we know that we’re all physically terminal and will someday perish physically. So Jesus, by implying there is an out from perishing shifts our attention from physical perishing (death by whatever means) to the spiritual realm and the possibility not perishing.
We’re all disqualified from this, though, because we’re all sinners. A “sinner” (opheiletes) is a debtor, one who owes a moral obligation, a defender, a delinquent, a moral transgressor. “We are morally bound to live a life free from violation of God’s commandments; failing in performance we become delinquent transgressors and debtors to divine justice.” (New Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 1415). As sinners, we’re all headed for an ultimate disaster that will make Port-au-Prince, Phuket, and New Orleans look like a picnic.
The only escape is to repent – a decision that means a change of mind. We change our mind about trying to earn God’s favor our way (earn our way to heaven by being good enough, for example) and accepting Jesus as our substitute. Then we give Him the controls of our lives, no longer living to please ourselves but Him. And guess what – that new imperishable life begins now, at the moment we make that decision!
PRAYER: Thank You, Jesus, for dying for me so that I can have eternal life and not perish, as I deserve.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
My conscience, yours, or both?
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 10:18-11:1
TO CHEW ON: “Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
In our passage today Paul addresses a tricky cultural problem in Greece. Pagan worship (out of which many of the Christians came) involved feasts and eating. Paul warns Christians not to be a part of pagan celebrations and feasting. For just as taking part in the Lord’s Supper signified fellowship with God, taking part in pagan feasts signified fellowship with demons.
However, sometimes meat that had been part of pagan ritual found its way into the public market. What if they inadvertently bought some of that idol-consecrated meat. Were they then guilty of the same thing?
Paul advises them:
1. The meat in itself is neutral.
2. They can just not ask about the meat’s status – when it’s for sale or served in someone’s home.
3.However, if someone tells them that they are about to eat idol-consecrated meat, then they shouldn’t touch it. Why? For the sake of their own conscience, and for the sake of the person who told them and for whom eating the meat may have spiritual significance.
Of course we will probably never encounter exactly such a situation. But the principles apply to us too. We do things or refrain from doing them for two reasons:
- Because our own conscience allows or forbids it.
- Because we consider the conscience of our brother.
Here’s how a modern working out of those principles might look. You go to dinner with a former alcoholic. To this person alcohol means the old life of partying and bondage. For you a glass of wine with your meal is perfectly harmless. While your conscience allows you to have a drink, you’re not sure how that action will affect your friend. Therefore on this day, in deference to your friend’s conscience – considering what alcohol signifies to him and how you having a drink might actually make him feel tempted to have one too – you abstain from the wine.
As we live not only by the dictates of our own consciences, but also considering how our actions will affect others, we glorify God who is honored when every part of the Body (the Church) is healthy and pure. Can you and I be so mature that we set aside our rights in consideration of others?
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live by the dictates of my own conscience and with others in mind, “not seeking my own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:33)
MORE: Chris Tomlin sings “Give Us Clean Hands”
