God Is Patient

 

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Jesus Christ came to into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

1 Timothy 1:15-16

The Apostle Paul is speaking honestly when he declares that he was “foremost of all” sinners. Paul was a religious man, whose religious beliefs led him to do horrible things. Yet, when God called Paul, he was transformed into one of the greatest leaders of the Christian Church. Jesus did what religion could not do; Jesus changed Paul’s heart. And, even at that, Paul still struggled with sin.

We slip. We fall. We stumble. We bumble along trying to do the right thing and sometimes we fail. We may condemn ourselves and others may condemn us, but God is patient, always forgiving and caring for us.

Take courage, we are forgiven and God is patiently working on us.

Give It Up

 

Therefore putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

1 Peter 2:1-3

 

If you feel hate or malice, if you have a bent to deceit, or if you recognize hypocrisy in your life, give it up.

God is kind to us, and we should be kind to our fellow human beings. Our goal is to grow in the love of God and in knowledge of His ways and be reinvented as one who not only follows God, but strives to be godly. 

 

Because God is kind to us, we are kind to others.

A Lot Of Forgiving

 

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

Matthew 18:21-22

“Are you mad at me?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you mad at me?”

“You know.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You know!”

The thing about being human is that our humanness invades every inch of our lives including our relationships with one another. We all make mistakes and those mistakes can hurt or offend our friends and relatives. And, this same humanness can cause us to carry grudges against one another for years and years. One of us is angry and the other one does not know why. Our pride gets in the way of us doing what is right.

Jesus said the right thing to do is to forgive. So, we forgive – with or without an apology from those who offended us.

I don’t think it hurts us to apologize, even if we think we are right, just to clean things up so we can get on with God’s work.

Seventy times seven is a lot of forgiveness.

Love Others

 

This commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

1 John 4:21

Being a Christian is all about loving mankind. We are to love those who are the least lovable and extend a hand of fellowship to them.

How else will they come to know Jesus if we do not show them the way by first loving them and second, sharing the Gospel?

God Is In The Forgiveness Business

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1-2

Man is in condemnation business. God is in the forgiveness business.

Lean On One Another

Take care brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:12-13

We are surrounded by sin. It tries to invade our lives with all manner of evil. We see wars and crime and hate and discouragement. Sometimes Christians are beaten up by the onslaught of evil and give up.

Paul tells us to stick together and encourage one another in the faith. When we speak words of kindness and encouragement to one another it is a two way street, as we give encouragement we are encouraged.

We are called to care for each other, let us do so without reserve. Lean on one another, encourage one another, believe the living God.

Not The Way I Would Do It, But...

 

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but every one of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.”  

Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.”

So the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

Judges 7:1-8

If we were going to battle, we would assemble the biggest army we could get so that if nothing else our numbers would overwhelm the enemy. That is not the way that God goes to battle.

God instructed Gideon to select men not based on any man made reasoning but based upon a foolish test which demonstrated trust in Him. And, the battle was not a battle of the superior strength of men, but of the power of God.

When we are facing tough times, let us remember Gideon, and proceed not with our own devices, but under the direction of God.

Strive to do things God’s way.

Say "Hello"

 

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

1 Galatians 13:12

A few years ago I was working at a supermarket and was instructed to smile and say "hello" to every customer.  Some cashiers did not like the rule, and some of us did not mind.

One of the cashiers, Marge, pointed out that it was important for us to speak to every customer, because for some customers we might be the only ones who talked to them that day.  She was right.  The world is populated by a lot of lonely people, and saying "hello" is a small thing that can make a big difference in someone's life.  

We may not change the world but greeting others cost us nothing and can do much to spread the joy of Christianity around.  

Just say “Hello.”

Enjoy The Journey

 

Do you not know you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

God lives in us and we are filled with His Spirit. We should not be surprised when this spills out on those around us. We are to take the Gospel to the world, and God has equipped us well for this task.

Enjoy the journey.

Give It Up

 

“Come now, and let us reason together,”

Says the Lord,

“Thou your sins are scarlet,

They will be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They will be like wool.”

“If you consent and obey,

You will eat the best of the land;

But if you refuse and rebel,

You will be devoured by the sword.”

Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 1:18-20

The problem with sin is that you can’t fix one sin with another. Two wrongs never make a right and even if the fix makes us feel better, that great feeling will not last because sin always finds us out. I will even go further and say, the secret sin taken to the grave often does not stay in the grave because no matter how carefully guarded a secret is, there are those who know it and loose lips flutter.

So, what are we to do? First, we can confess our sin to God and ask and receive His forgiveness. Then we can do what we can to make right our sins against others by apologizing and if necessary making restitution. Then most important of all, we need to not repeat the sin.

When we own up to our sin, we open the door to forgiveness by God and by man. God is the easy one, man is more difficult. But nothing will get resolved unless we take the first step of asking forgiveness.

Ask and be forgiven.

Not A Club

 

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

Christianity is not an exclusive club; it is the inclusive love of God for all mankind.

We should not short change the ability of God to reach the hearts of all men and women and children. We are amiss if we believe that there are those for whom the Gospel is not intended. We should rather strive to take the message of the Gospel to world.

When we preach the Gospel that Jesus came to bring us back to God, and that His forgiveness is for everyone, we are opening the door for unbelievers to come into fellowship with God.

So, when we hear people say, “Oh, I am too bad for God to care about,” or “My life is too messy for God to fix,” or “I have a religion,” we should speak the truth of the Gospel to them, like Paul did. And say, the Lord is the Lord of all and “all will be saved who call Him.”

How Do We Do This?

 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present day.

Titus 2:11-12

We are “to live sensibly, righteously and godly” lives, but the question remains: How do we learn to do this?

The Bible is our handbook for life. It is filled with information and instructs us how to live godly lives.

So, no matter what our lives are like or what we have done, we can come to God and asked Jesus to be our Lord, Master and Savior and commence to live a new lives, cleansed of sin and filled with God’s love. And, by reading the Bible we can learn how to be all God wants us to be.

Take the first step: Ask Jesus to be your Lord, Master and Savior. Then dive into the Bible and see what God can do for you.

Do What Is Right

 

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:17

It is never the wrong time to do the right thing.

Pray and take action.

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

Keep Silent

 

Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise;

When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.

Proverbs 17:28

I am a person who talks way too much.  To much to the point where I am annoying.  I own this, and learning to control it was a hard learned lesson, which I mastered after a couple of smack downs and "shut ups" from people who I respected.  

Then a few years ago, I started a new job and after a week or so, one of the employees commented that I was really quiet.

And, I responded by quoting this scripture.  They said that that was a good one.  

If we don't know what we are talking about, we shouldn't be talking.

Lord help me keep my mouth shut.

Trust God

 

When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in You.

In God, whose word I praise,

In God I have put my trust;

I shall not be afraid.

What can mere man do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4

We are afraid of many things.  It may be scary people.  It may be that we are having financial problems.  We may be afraid for our children that they will make bad decisions or fail in school.  We may be afraid of loosing our spouse or other loved ones. 

The list of things to be afraid of goes on and on and on.

But our God goes on and on and on taking care of us.  God is always there looking our for our best interests.  No matter what happens God cares for us.

Trust God.

Give What You Have Got

 

Now this I say; he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

This is about money, but it also applies to other things. Opening our wallets and handing out money is easy, but opening our hearts and giving encouragement to others is more difficult because it requires something personal from us.

We have so much more than money that we can give. We can give a smile to a stranger. We can greet a new acquaintance with enthusiasm and interest. We can throw the ball back over the fence at the playground. We can offer kindness to the hurting and we can celebrate with those who are joyful.

Money helps but the real cure all for a hurting world, is human interaction. If we see each other and share with one another and reach out with Christian fellowship to those in need, we truly share in the ministry of Christ.

Be brave. Be kind and caring. Reach out.

Get Creative

 

He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need.

Ephesians 4:28

Every day the Church faces the dilemma of how best to serve new Christians who have criminal pasts. This requires some creativity.  One way is to help them secure jobs so they can earn money to live and support their families. This is no easy task, but by forming job clubs and recruiting employers who are willing to give those who want to change their lives an opportunity to do so, the Church can minster to those who are often under served by the Church.

And, enable those helped to help others who are in need.

So You Think You Are Having A Bad Day

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ, we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13

So, you think you are having a bad day? The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of what every day was like for the apostles. Yes, they had their church friends, but they also had a world full of enemies who killed all of them except John the Beloved.

What does this teach us? It teaches us that it is not always easy to be a Christian and to act in a Christ like manner. It teaches us that even when we do what is right, there will be people who will criticize and torment us for doing the right thing.

And, heaven knows, should we do something wrong, there will be people who know nothing of the forgiveness of God, who will yell at us and spread the word of our shortcomings.

So, all this stuff happens; so what. We know our faith rests in God and that we are called by God to do His work. Therefore, we keep on working for God and sharing the Gospel.

If Paul and the apostles did it, we can too.

God Heals Broken Hearts

 

Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

He gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds.

He counts the number of the stars;

He gives names to all of them.

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.

Psalm 147:1-5

God cares for us. He not only cares about our physical health, He cares about our emotional health.  We should not loose sight of this.

No matter what, God is on our side and at our side to help and heals our broken bodies and our broken hearts.

And, we are thankful.

The Power Of The Message

As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.

But many of those who heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Acts 4:1-4

When Peter and John set out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they had no idea what would happen. They believed in the power of their message.

Even when they were arrested and put in jail, the power of the message took hold and many came to believe in Jesus.

We should not grow discouraged because the outward signs may indicate that the message of the Gospel is being rejected, because it is not the outward signs which reveal the power of the Gospel, but the inward changes in the hearts of men, women and children. 

We cannot begin to understand the power of the message.  Preach it. 

Give Others A Break

 

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Romans 14:12-13

This is a novel idea. Instead of second guessing each other’s decisions, let’s cut each other some slack allowing for the fact we do not know all the circumstances of each other’s lives.

To do so is to error on the side of love.

Wow! That Was A Close One

 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

Mitch Albon in his book The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto (Harper Collins, 2015) wrote: “… when a higher power has a plan for you, life can be full of near misses.”

We tend to regard near misses of bad things as good for us and near misses of good things as bad for us, but what if both play equally into God’s plans?

This makes us reconsider how we are doing, doesn’t it? Perhaps when we think we are not doing too well, we are doing better than we think. God has a plan and we are part of it.

Be Kind

 

Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:1-2

Let us be kind to those who most need it: the sad, the grieving, the social outcast, the stinky kid and the grouchy neighbor. It is in showing hospitality that we show God’s love to the world.

And, perhaps entertain angels.

Seek God

 

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,

“Seek Me that you may live.”

Amos 5:4

God never stopped loving the Israelites even when they wallowed in sin. God wanted the Israelites to turn from their sin and return to Him. Some would say, “How can that be true when again and again the people of Israel suffered so?”

Yes, bad things happen to good people, but we don’t have to help evil along. The Israelites opened their hearts to evil and, that evil brought death and destruction.

God brings life. God never stopped telling the Israelites that He loved them and He asked them again and again to seek Him. God promised them life.

We too can have new life by acknowledging God’s Son, Jesus, as our Lord, Master and Savior. When we turn our hearts away from sin and to God that is when real life begins.

Guard Your Hearts And Minds

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority….”

Colossians 2:8-10

Since the beginning of time there have been those who tried to deceive believers in God with false ideas. The first was the serpent in the Garden of Eden who deceived Eve and the last has yet to be born.

Those who spiel "We have a revelation of a new mandate from God of to take control of the Seven Mountains of Society,"  and wrap ideas in words which contradict the Word of God and what we know about God, are true enemies of salvation.

We know that God sent His Son, Jesus, and that the only way to God and salvation is through Him. We use this as our measuring stick to determine if what we hear is true.

Guard your hearts and minds.  

Sticky Bun Or Kale Salad

 

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon!” The Son of man has come eating and drinking and you say, “Behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”

Luke 7:33-34.

Jesus was controversial, and sometimes, as in this case, the controversy was created by those trying to discredit Him. This also proves that no matter what we do, there are those who will find a reason to question whether our actions line up with being a “good Christian” in their opinion.

Jesus pointed out that such scrutiny is ridiculous.

Fight the good fight.

Make Things Right

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Matthew 5:23-24

God desires our full attention. When we are stewing about disagreements with friends, relatives, neighbors or associates, it takes the focus away from worshiping God.

The easiest way to make up with a friend or enemy is to say, “I am sorry.”

It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong because, when we think about it, most of our disagreements are small when we look at the big picture. And, the act of saying, “I am sorry,” clears the air for discussion if it is needed.

Plus, saying “I am sorry,” costs us nothing, except our pride. And, do we want to let our pride get between us and God? I don’t think so.

All This Stuff

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Delivery trucks are everywhere. Amazon, UPS, FedEx, and the post office deliver package after package.  I wonder how people have room in their houses for all this stuff.  Not to mention the piles of cardboard boxes sitting at the curbs on trash pick up day. 

We love shopping and getting all this stuff, but is all this stuff what is important?  Jesus reminds us that we should treasure that which cannot be bought or sold - our families, our friends, and most of all, our relationship with Him.

Think about it.

 

Give Thanks!

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Sometimes when things are going wrong, we think we have nothing to be thankful for.  It is hard to separate what is happening from everything else we have in life.  

One or two events do not define our whole lives.  We have more than we think we have.  We need to remember this.

Think about this, and give thanks to God for caring for you.

 

When We Ask For Help

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

Psalm 107:13

We all know that troubles will come because we live in a world that is not perfect, but we can be sure that when we cry out to God for help, He hears us. 

God does not sleep, nor does He take a day off. He is always there waiting to answer our calls.