Things Work Out

When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold; they kindled a fire and received us all. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

But they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

Acts 28:1-6

The Apostle Paul wanted to go Rome to preach the Gospel. He did not plan to go as a prisoner. Nor did he anticipate that he would be shipwrecked, rescued, bitten by a snake, accused of being a murder and then called a god. However, Paul took what we would consider to be a horrible trip and turned it into a mission trip.

So, when we are trying to do something for God and things are not going the way we planned, we need to consider that perhaps things are going according to God’s plan and go with the flow. And, we might be surprised how well things work out.

Welcomed

 

He who receives you receives Me, and He who receives Me receives Him who sent me.

Matthew 10:40

Jesus makes it clear that God goes with us when we set out to preach the Gospel. I use the word preach to encompass all manner of sharing the love of Jesus and the message of salvation.

We should not shy away from accepting invitations from those who are not Christians and even those who openly proclaim their unbelief, because we can’t bring them to Jesus if we don’t talk to them. And, if the invitation appears to be for an event which we find objectionable, we can counter with, “Well, I can’t make it, but how about if we have coffee on Tuesday? I’ll buy.”

When we are welcomed by unbelievers, we have an opportunity to share the love of God.

Think About This

 

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8

When we fill our minds and hearts with good and honorable thoughts and ideas, the result is that we feel empowered by the love of God.

And, we may just find ourselves doing all sorts of good stuff for other people.

The Easy Way

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and here are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus made an interesting point regarding doing things the easy way. When we go along with the crowd, we get no flak. Everybody is our buddy, until something goes wrong, then the crowd scatters and we are left to face the harsh reality of our choices all alone. When you’re sitting in jail or in the boss’s office or your car is being towed because you didn't follow the rules, it can be lonely.

When we strive to do things right, we may be ridiculed by our friends as being a sissy or a mama’s boy or too religious or no fun. We need to understand that ridicule is a small price to pay for the grief we are spared both here on earth and for eternity.

Jesus gives good advice, take it.

 

You Are Not Too Bad

And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus , he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.

When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half my possessions I will give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And, Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Luke 19:1-10

It is never too late. No one is ever too far from God. Jesus seeks us all. We just need to say “Here I am.” And, we are found.

Imitators of God

Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, in an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5:1-2.

What does it mean to walk in love? Does it mean we have to let other people walk all over us? No. It means that whatever we do, we do it in a spirit of love. It does not mean we will be popular or that we have to be nice to those who cannot grasp the concept of kindness.  You know who they are.  

As Christians, we must speak out against wrong, but we are to do it in a manner that addresses the problem as a problem, and offers the perpetrator an opportunity to correct the error of his ways. This is what God did for us. He called us from our lives of sin, to a new life forgiven by Jesus. 

We treat others with mercy as Jesus treated us. 

Good For All People

 

We encourage you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15.

If there are any people that can drive a Christian crazy, these are the ones: the ones who violate the rules of God and man, the ones whose personal lives are such a wreck they themselves can barely bear it, and those who are physically, emotionally and spiritually weak. Yet, here we are given instructions regarding what it is we are to do for these folks, even if they repay us with evil, we are to keep doing good for them.

Is this a recipe for frustration, or what? It is an “or what.” When we seek what is good for all people that includes us. We too will find what is good.

Try it and see.

Wisdom From Above

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:17-18.

Are you wondering if it is from God? This is a good test. If you are not at peace with a decision, then perhaps you need to reconsider.

Dare To Be Holy

 

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix all your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.”

1 Peter 1:14-1

People sometimes say they don’t want to be Christians because they will have to give up too much – meaning give up their sinful lifestyles which they know are sinful. What they don’t realize is that there is so much to gain from becoming a Christian, that the old lifestyle is not missed. Once we make up our minds to change, the rest comes easy.

Dare to be holy. 

God Hears Us

 They cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distress.

Psalm 107:13

One night I was driving home with my teenage daughter. I was clipping along at 50 mph. Then on the road right in front of us, there was a three foot high pile of dirt. I screamed, “Save us, Jesus.”

I swerved and missed the dirt. When I regained my composure, I said to my daughter, “Don’t scream in the car.”

She said, “Mom, you screamed.”

That’s the way God is, even when we are not paying attention to Him, He is paying attention. When we cry out to Him, He saves us.

The Lord Is Lord Of All

For the scripture says: Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:11-13

We are fortunate to worship God who is not counting our errors or requiring us to do penitence for our sins or dismissing us because of what we look like or where we come from or how we talk. 

God embraces us all as His sons and daughters; we say “We believe” and He says, “Welcome.”

Collect Your Bonus

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Earthly thinking says you get what you earn. If you get an “A” on your report card, Dad gives you $10.00. If you are a boss and do a great job for your company, you get a bonus. However, sometimes no matter how hard we work, we don’t get any rewards. That does not seem fair does it?

With God, all of us qualify for His bonus plan, not because we have earned it, but because it is free. Isn’t that great? We all get something. And that something is so good, that it revolutionizes our life for all eternity.

Get to know God, and collect your bonus.

Be Kind

 

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4: 32

We live in an unkind world. People are mean to each other. There are plenty of people out there who love to find fault with Christians without us beating up each other.

I heard a story about a couple who were married for seventy-five years. When the wife was asked how she managed that, she said when they got married she made a list of ten things which her husband did which irritated her and decided that she would ignore those things. Then whenever her husband did anything which irritated her, she would say to herself, “Good thing for him that that’s on the list.”

As, Christians we need to learn to ignore stuff that is not really important. In other words, we need to cut each other some slack and work on taking the Gospel to world.

Not The Lions' Lunch

 

Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den…. Then the king arose at dawn, at the break of day, and went in haste to the lions’ den. When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found innocent before Him, and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.”

Daniel 6:16, 19-22

Daniel trusted God. It did not matter that statistically it looked like he would die when the King threw him into the lions’ den. What matter to Daniel was that God had never failed him, and he believed that God would not fail him in the lions’ den. Daniel was right. His trust in God trumped the power of the King and the appetite of the lions.

When we face lions we need to remember that we serve the same God as Daniel, and that He never changes. We are not the lions’ lunch, we are God’s children, and He protects what is His.

God Is Who He Is

 

I am the Alpha and the Omega,” Says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelations 1:8

God is who He is and there is no other.

Waiting Around

 

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:8-9

Today, everything is right now.  We don't want to wait for anything.  We think stop lights are too long, the drive thru at McDonald's is too slow, the checkout line at the store is too slow, television commercials are too long, and our kids are too slow getting ready to go.  

It is just life.  Life means at times we will have to wait.  Sometimes things move fast, sometimes not.  We need to learn to roll with it.  

This scripture reminds us that God's timeline is not our timeline.

Just because we cannot see the end result, doesn't mean its not coming.  

All Dressed Up And Ready To Go

 

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10

We have God’s promise that He has destined us for salvation. This means that God has claimed us as His own. All we need to do is acknowledge Jesus as our Lord, Master and Savior.

Salvation is the free gift of God, why not receive it?

There Is Hope

 

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the person who seeks Him.

Lamentations 3:22-25

The Prophets were not people who you would invite over to dinner. In the Book of Lamentations Jeremiah continues the saga of doom. And, once again in the doom are rays of hope for us.

No matter how bleak things may be, God is still there waiting for us. He is compassionate and comforts us because He loves us.

And, He promises to be good to us.

God is great and we are grateful.

It Can Be A Hassle

When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.

And they came bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him, and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.

And, Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

… “I say to you, get up pick up your pallet and go home.”

And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.

Mark 2:1-5, 12-13

Sometimes we have a difficult time getting ready and getting to church. Those of you who have children understand what I am saying. Or, we might work many hours and be tired and want to sleep rather than go to church.

We all have something at some time which hinders us from going to church.

Then we read this account of the lengths that people would go to in order to be in the presence of Jesus. For most of us the only inconvenience we experience when we get to church is having to park far from the building. Yet, these people had to find a way into the building and they went so far as to take the roof off and lower their friend down so that he could be touched by Jesus and healed. Jesus did not disappoint the paralytic, He healed him.

When we find it difficult to get to church we can look forward to getting there because we know Jesus will make it worth our while.

Keep Talking

 

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

What do we do when people laugh at us when we deliver the message of the Gospel? Do we stop telling people that God loves them and Christ died for their sins and we are forgiven when we ask Jesus to be our Lord, Master and Savior?

No. We keep on extending the love of God to everyone. Those who deny the power of God do not negate the power of God. They negate their ability to receive it at that moment, but they do not negate God’s ability to reach them, because God does not give up on anyone.

They laugh, we keep talking.

The Blahs

 

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.

Proverbs 13:4

None of us are immune to the blahs, those times when we don’t want to do anything. If we still go to church, that’s all we do there – go to church. We are disengaged. Maybe we are mad about something or bored or burnt out. Whatever it is, it zaps the zeal from our Christianity.

While we may enjoy wallowing in our leisure, it is not productive nor is it good for us. And, it does nothing to further spread of the Gospel. Even when we don’t feel like doing something, when we get up and get busy, God will bless our efforts.

Do your best and God will do the rest.

Speak With Kindness

Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

Years ago, I had a job selling jewelry.  I worked with Pat who had had a rough life.  She had open heart surgery and while she was recovering got let go from her job and her husband divorced her.  She was heart broken.  She complained a lot.  One day she said, "Nobody likes me here."  

And, I said, "I do."

She asked, "Why?"

I told the truth, "You are smart.  You help me out when I need help.  You know everything about jewelry. What's not to like?"  

Pat was surprised and seemed to feel better about work.  And, we got to be pretty good friends.

The kindest thing we can do is to speak with kindness to others.  Everyone needs to hear kind words.  Kind words sooth the souls of those who are troubled and give them hope that someone cares for them.  

Be kind.

 

Do What Is Good

 

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

3 John 11

We need to remember our assignment from God is to share the message of salvation through Jesus, not to be everybody’s friend. This means that some people might be offended when we don’t join them in activities which we consider to be wrong or evil. That’s OK.

Being a Christian is about what we do, not what we don’t do. We do what is good.

God Is Working For You

 

Jesus said: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe in me also.”

John 14:1

Have faith. God is on the job and He is working for you.

A Little More Tolerant

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good and to his edification.

For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on me.”

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Romans 15:1-7

We all have our ideas of what right behavior is for a Christian and we base some of this on what the Bible says and some on what we think. We all know people who are Christians who do and say things with which we do not agree. So, what do we do in these cases?

I think what Paul is saying is that we should accept these believers as fellow believers and offer encouragement to them. We need not lecture them regarding their shortcomings because they are most likely aware of where they fall short.

So, rather than criticize each other we are to try to build one another up with the Word of God and by our own witness. When we accept one another we open the door to change in all our lives so that we can be better servants of God.

So, let us all be a little more tolerant of one another in the interest of furthering the work of the Gospel.

Count It All Joy

 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

After we experience many trials we learn to recognize what trials we need to work on fixing, and what trials are just trials which we must go through and come out on the other side. Let’s face it, there are somethings which we cannot do anything about and worrying and concocting possible solutions will do nothing to change the outcome.

In all trials we can turn to God and ask for direction and the strength to do that which He would have us to do. If the answer is “nothing” then we need to have faith that God has it under control and stop stressing and worrying about it.

So, give those pesky trials over to God and have faith that God’s plans are far superior to anything we can concoct on our own.

I am praying for you, and if you will, pray for me.

Amen.

Self Improvement

 

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-8

There are many self improvement books.  Some are good and some are not so good.  In the end what value is there in self improvement, if the improvement does not leave both the world and us in a better place?

No one is perfect and no amount of self work can make anyone of us perfect.  But we can aspire to loftier goals that will bring us to a place where we find our lives make the world a better place for not just ourselves, but for others as well.

Aspire to be useful and fruitful.

Covered By Grace

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:14-19

When we ask Jesus to be our Lord, Master and Savior, we are no longer under the law and we will not be judged by God according to the law. We are subject to the grace of God.

The Apostle Paul points out that this does not mean that we can sin with impunity. On contrary, it means that we are now the servants of the living God and as such are bound to live in a manner which brings glory to Him. This is not to say that we will never sin, but that if we mess up, we need to repent and not repeat the offense.

Grace means we have a much easier go of it in life because we are no longer burdened with and subject to the consequences of willing sin. We are covered by the grace of God who will direct the paths of our feet so that we can enjoy the good life of a redeemed believer in Christ.

God Will Get You Through

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

When things are going wrong, and sometimes when things are going right, we can be overtaken by anxiety. We can “what if” ourselves into a place where our Christian faith seems to escape us.

We are not called to worry. We are called to prayer and thanksgiving. Taking our concerns and joys to God, lifts us up spiritually to a place where we can survive a rough ride or celebrate a pleasant journey.

 

It's Not About Being Popular. It's About Doing The Right Thing.

 And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

The crown sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

And Jesus stopped and called them, and said “What do you want Me to do for you?”

They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

Matthew 20:30-34

If Jesus would have polled the crowd, the blind men probably would have remained blind. But Jesus was not in the business of being popular; Jesus was in the business of healing the sick and saving souls. When He healed the blind men, He did both.

When we cry out to God, He hears us and answers. He does not ask us about church attendance or if we have money or if we think we are worthy. He does not appoint a committee to evaluation our requests.

God hears and God answers. He is merciful and He cares for us.

We can take a lesson from this:  It's not about being popular.  It's about doing the right thing.