More Than Lilies

 

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" 

 

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

 

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ..."

Matthew 6:25-29

Several years ago a friend told me that the first years her husband was in the ministry they had little money to spare.  Her daughter was starting school and she was worried about where they would get the money to buy her clothes.  The church parsonage where they lived had an old treadle sewing machine.  She said something to one of the women at church about needing clothes for her daughter and the lady said, "Why I have lots of fabric leftover from sewing projects and I have patterns for girls clothes from when my daughters were young that you are welcome to."  

 

My friend said, "I don't know how to sew."

 

The lady said, "I will teach you."

 

And, she came to the house and worked with her to make the first dress on that old treadle sewing machine.  After that my friend made four more dresses for her daughter.   

 

That is the way it is with God.  When we don't see an answer to our problems, He sends the answer because He cares for us.

 

Have faith you are of more value than the birds and lilies. 

The Ministry of Righteousness

For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.

2 Corinthians 3:9 

How about that?  

There are those who specialize in preaching hell fire and damnation sermons, thinking they can scare people into becoming Christians.  It works sometimes. But  Paul speaks of the ministry of preaching righteousness.  It is the idea that people respond to a positive message - that is, when you come into the church you are coming into a righteous community and you, too, can become righteous as you leave your old life behind and embrace the teachings of the Gospel.  The ministry of righteousness is a message of God's love and forgiveness. 

This appeals to our higher aspirations - that we want to be better people. 

And, isn't that the heart of the Gospel? 

 

Not Out Of Luck

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Job 2:20-22

Job had more troubles than anyone could ever imagine. He lost his children and all he owned. His wife told him to “Curse God and die.” And, his friends suggested that he must have done something wrong to have so much bad luck. But Job remained faithful to God. He continued to praise God and be comforted by God’s love.

When we face hard times, we can remember Job. Everything we possess on earth is temporary. And no matter what happens, we can take comfort in God’s never ending love for us and that He cares for us.

We are not out of luck, we are in luck - in God's hands. 

 

We Do What Is Necessary

And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.  The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 

And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;  how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?   

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:23-28 

Jesus understood that people do what is necessary to survive.  In this case, His Disciples picked grain from the field to eat on the Sabbath.  It was an action that hurt no one, but seemed to break the religious law against working on the Sabbath. 

Jesus did not say that they had not broken a religious law, but pointed out that even David, who was highly esteemed by the Jews, had taken liberties with the laws of the Sabbath. 

Jesus indicated that doing the right thing out weighs following religious customs.  This being said, we can consider when we take actions to which some might object, if the action is a violation some of man made religious customs and, if so, does the violation matter or not?  

Then we do what is necessary. 

A Noise Like A Rushing Wind

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out. 

Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language o which we were born?"

Acts 2:1-7 

On the day of Pentecost the Apostles and followers of Jesus were all together and hiding because they were afraid the Jews would kill them.  They were praying, and when God sent the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in other languages which they had never learned. This caused confusion among the Jews and those who heard them speaking.  

The arrival of the Holy Spirit gave renewed life to the believers' faith.  And, at this time  Peter boldly preached to the crowd and many new Christians came into the Church. 

We too can share in this boldness of the Holy Spirit by seeking the gifts of the Spirit and bravely sharing the truth of the Gospel.   

May you experience the coming of the Holy Spirit into your life.  

Wings Like Eagles

 

Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.

They will mount up with wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow tired.

They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:31

We can wear ourselves out trying to hurry things along.  Yet, here we are being told to wait on the Lord and be renewed. 

So, when you are feeling overwhelmed by life's demands, remember this scripture and take time to rest and be renewed, knowing that the Lord is on your side. 

 

Walk Away

 

The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”  

John 10:24-32

When we think about Jesus, we often only think about His teachings and His crucifixion and resurrection.  We miss that He was continuously threatened by the Jews.  

We can learn from Jesus' response in this case.  He did not plead for His life, He questioned why they wanted to stone Him.  And, He walked away. 

As Christians we are sometimes confronted by people who want to insult us or who question our actions or who taunt us.  We can follow Jesus model and ask, "Why is this a problem for you?" then walk away.