Tag: Bible Original

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Luke Luke 7 Matthew Matthew 8

Grace and faith

The gospels

As I look at these two passages, there are distinct points that I gather from each account.

In the Lukan account, we find that when the Roman centurion asked for Jesus help, he got the support of the Jewish elders who said to Jesus,

This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue. (Luke 7:4-5)

Yet though the elders called this man “deserving,” the centurion himself said,

I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. (Luke 7:6-7)

Sometimes, we think that in order to be saved, or for that matter, to get anything from God, we have to be “deserving.”

But grace says the exact opposite. It says, “Though you are not deserving, though you are not worthy, nevertheless I will give you what you need, eternal life and more. All you need to do is ask.”

The question is, do we have the faith to ask.

Sometimes we get jaded in our faith. I know I do. We ask for something, and for whatever reason, God says no.

And because of that, we wonder, “Is it worth praying? Will God answer? Does he have the power to answer? Does he care enough to answer?”

But faith says, “I will continue to believe in God’s goodness. That he knows what is best for me. Not only that, he has the power to help me. And because of that, I will continue to ask.”

That’s the kind of faith the centurion had.

He thought, “I’m an outsider. A Roman. Jews generally hate Romans. And I am totally unworthy to get help from this Jesus. But I believe that he not only has the power to help me, but the desire. And so I’ll ask.”

And because he did, his servant was healed.

It is rare that you ever find Jesus astonished. You only find it twice in scripture.

One was in the face of unbelief of the very people he grew up with. (Mark 6:6) And the other was in the face of the incredible faith of this outsider, this Roman centurion.

Jesus said of him,

I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:10-12)

And that’s the other point I get from this. It is people like this centurion, who understand their need for grace, and who put their faith in Jesus that will enter God’s kingdom.

No one can inherit God’s kingdom through their bloodlines or by doing works that make themselves deserving.

Rather, we inherit God’s kingdom when we say, “Though I don’t deserve anything from you, nevertheless I believe in you. Save me.”

Paul put it this way,

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

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Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: What we build our lives on

The gospels

And so we come to the end of the Sermons on the Mount and the Plain.

Both end the same way, with a challenge. Essentially, Jesus sums it up by saying,

Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46)

In other words, if you call me ‘Lord,’ but don’t do what I say, can you really say I am your Lord?

One person put it this way, “Either Jesus is Lord of all in your life, or he isn’t Lord at all.”

And it’s very true. Jesus is either Lord of your life, or he isn’t. There is no in-between.

Jesus then gives his very famous illustration of the house built on rock, and the house built on sand.

He tells us that if we hear his words and do them, we are like the person that digs down deep into the ground and lays their foundation on rock. And because we do so, because we have a stable foundation, when the storms of life come, our house will stand.

But if we hear his words and do not obey, we are building our lives on sand.

What is sand like? Always shifting. That’s what the thought patterns of this world are like. Always shifting.

Morals and values in this world are constantly changing. Things that were considered abominable 50 years ago are being celebrated as good. Things that were considered good are now considered passé.

But when we build our lives on shifting sand, our foundation is not stable, and when the storms of life come, our house will collapse.

How about you? Are you building your house on rock? Are you not only hearing the words of Jesus, but putting them into practice?

Or are you instead being conformed to the pattern of this world?

Are you building your house on rock, or on shifting sand?

In short, is Jesus truly your Lord?

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Luke Luke 6

What is in your heart

Luke

One thing that I notice about Jesus is that while he will repeat illustrations, he’ll apply it to different situations.

In Matthew, we see him apply the idea of a good tree bearing good fruit and a bad tree bearing bad fruit to false prophets. And his point is to test the fruit (both the lives and the teaching) of those you listen to.

But in Luke, he uses this illustration to challenge us to test our own hearts. The context of it in Luke is the judging of others, condemning those around us, and forgiveness.

And having talked about that, he then says,

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.

People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45)

What is Jesus saying here? He’s asking us, what kind of trees are we? What is in our hearts? Is it judgmentalism? Is it condemnation? Or is it forgiveness and grace?

How can we tell what is in our hearts? By the fruit of our words. Because Jesus tells us that from the overflow of our hearts, our mouths speak.

If our hearts are full of condemnation and judgmentalism, that is what will come pouring out of our mouths.

But if our hearts are full of God’s forgiveness and grace, that’s what will come pouring out of our mouths.

A key point to note here is that Jesus associates a judgmental and condemning heart to a bad tree. But he associates a gracious and forgiving heart to a good tree.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is, “What is coming out of our mouths?”

Are we constantly criticizing and judging other people? Or are our words full of grace? Because the fruit of our words show just what kind of trees we are.

What kind of tree are you?

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Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: Testing those you listen to

Matthew

After Jesus tells us to go through the narrow gate that leads to salvation, he gives us a warning.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15)

People often associate prophets as those who issue out predictions of the future. But true prophets of God did much more than that. They confronted people with the words of God.

You see this throughout the Old Testament. People like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

You also see in the Old Testament many of the types of people Jesus warns against here. People who looked good. Who sounded good. Who seemed spiritual. But who spoke words straight from hell, leading people down the broad road that leads to destruction.

Unfortunately, there are people like this in the church today. People who claim to speak the words of God but corrupt the very words he says.

The question then becomes, “How do we tell the true prophet from the false prophet when they look so alike.”

Jesus tells us the answer.

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:17-20)

In short, we need to test the fruit that they produce. There are two types of fruit that prophets and teachers produce.

The fruit of their lives is one. Are they living the things they teach? Or are they mere hypocrites.

This is not to say that they must be perfect in order to teach. But they should be continually growing and maturing in their faith. And hopefully, as they speak, they are honest about what their areas of struggle are.

But there’s another kind of fruit. The fruit of what they teach. What is coming out of their mouths? Is it consistent with the Word of God? Or is it not?

As teachers, they are responsible to teach the Word accurately. To study to show themselves approved, workmen who don’t need to be ashamed, accurately interpreting the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

But as hearers of the Word, we are to test what they teach.

That is what the Bereans did in the book of Acts. They did not simply listen to the words of Paul. They tested it by what scripture said when they went home.

And when they found that what Paul said matched up with scripture, they believed. (Acts 17:11-12)

We ought to do the same. Test what the teachers and pastors say. And if their teaching matches what scripture teaches, accept it, and obey. If not, reject it.

Many teachers today claim Jesus as their Lord. And most do. But some will come before Christ someday saying,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? (Matthew 7:22)

But Jesus will reply,

I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! (Matthew 7:23)

And unfortunately, those who blindly followed these teachers will be swept right along into hell with them.

Why? Because they never tested what they were taught.

How about you? Do you test what you hear? Do you test what you read? Or do you just blindly follow?

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Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: When being broadminded is not such a good thing

Matthew

A common criticism the world has of the Christian is, “Why do you have to be so narrow minded? Why can you be more broadminded? Why does Jesus have to be the only way to heaven?”

But there are some things we simply can’t be broadminded about. We certainly can’t be broadminded when it comes to mathematics.

If a student takes a test, and says that 2+2=10, and the teacher marks it wrong, can the student argue with the teacher saying, “Come on, let’s be broadminded about this. 10, 4, it’s not so different.”

We also can’t be broadminded about medical procedures.

Imagine you have a bad kidney and it has to be removed. The doctor knocks you out and when you wake up, not only is your kidney still there, but one of your teeth is missing.

You ask the doctor, “What happened to my tooth? You were supposed to remove my kidney.”

The doctor says, “Oh, tooth, kidney, it’s all the same. You’ve got to be broadminded about these things.”

Well, if we can’t be broadminded about these things, how much less can we be broadminded when it comes to eternal life. Especially when Jesus says,

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Jesus makes it clear that you cannot come to God on your own terms. You must come to him on his.

A person once put it this way: “You can either go to heaven God’s way or to hell your own.”

What is God’s way? Jesus tells us,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Let’s put it another way.

If there were another way to heaven besides Jesus, would God have forced him to go to the cross? How can we spit on the cross of Christ by seeking another way to God? How can we spit on the gift of God this way?

Being broadminded can be a good thing. But not when it comes to eternal life.

How about you? Are you seeking eternal life on God’s terms? Or your own?

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Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: Doing good, not just avoiding evil

The gospels

I find the placement of the “Golden Rule” a little jarring in Matthew. It doesn’t seem to quite fit, particularly with the “Therefore” at the beginning of it.

I suppose it’s pointing back to the totality of Jesus’ message up to that point.

In Luke, the placement of this rule is much more seamless. It comes right after Jesus talks about loving your enemies, doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you, praying for those who mistreat you, not responding to insult with insult, and being generous.

Jesus sums all of this up by saying,

Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)

In other cultures, we see a similar rule. “Don’t do to others what you would not like them to do to you.”

What is the main difference between this rule and the one Jesus gave?

Jesus’ rule is much harder to do. It actually requires action. It’s relatively easy not to do evil to another. Just avoid them. If you never deal with them, there’s no way you can do evil to them.

But you can’t do good to another while avoiding all contact with them. You actually have to do something. To reach out. Even though they hate you. Even though they insult you. Even though they try to take advantage of you.

That’s hard. But that’s the kind of people God calls us to be.

As God’s child, it is not enough to just not do evil. God calls us to do good. To be a light, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. To be salt that flavors the world around us.

And what better way is there to do that than to do good to those who don’t deserve it.

It’s the kind of love that this world finds hard to understand and almost impossible to do (if not impossible).

But a Christian who is plugged into Jesus can. Why? Because the love of Jesus is being poured into their lives to the point that it simply must overflow to those around them.

How about you? Are you simply avoiding doing evil? Or are you going out with the love Jesus has poured into your life and touching the people around you?

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Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: The Father who gives good gifts…generously

The gospels

In America, there are some Bible teachers that say that if you want something from God, just claim it in Jesus name, and he has to give it to you.

For a lot of these people, God is like their personal genie. But God is no genie. He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do. And whether people believe it or not, he doesn’t always want to give you what you want.

One key phrase we see in Matthew is that God gives “good gifts to those who ask him.” (Matthew 7:11)

Sometimes, though, we ask for things, and God knows they are not good for us. We ask for something thinking it’s bread, but it’s really a stone. Will God give us that stone?

Other times, we’ll ask for a fish when it’s really a serpent. Will he give us that serpent? Of course not. He is a good Father. He would never do that to us.

With that in mind, we can be bold in asking things of God, knowing that if something is good for us, he will give it to us in his timing. But if something is bad for us, he will tell us no.

So Jesus tells us,

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

Too often, we don’t receive because we don’t ask. We worry, “Am I being selfish? Shouldn’t I be praying about other things? Surely there are more important things to pray for than what I want.”

I think there are two points to be made here.

Number one, God is more generous than we realize. He loves us and wants to give his children good gifts.

Jesus talks in Luke of a person who only drags himself out of bed because his neighbor keeps pounding on the door asking for some bread.

Far from saying that God has to be pestered consistently before he will answer, Jesus is contrasting God with the man in the story.

Jesus was saying, “If that man, though he is tired, will drag himself out of bed because his neighbor keeps pounding on the door, how much more will God gladly answer the prayers of those who come to his door?”

The second point is this: God wants us to know him better. To learn to trust him. To know his goodness towards us. And asking is part of that process.

As we ask, we start to find out more of what his will is for our lives. We start to understand from his answers just what is good and what is not so good for us.

And through the yeses and nos and the results that come from his answers, we learn to trust God’s judgment and wisdom.

But if we never ask, we’ll never learn these things.

So ask. Seek. Knock. More doors will be opened than you expect.

And more importantly, you’ll find yourself in a closer relationship with God as you understand him and his will more.

Categories
Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: Wasting your breath

Matthew

I mentioned in the last blog that while Jesus warns us against hypocritical judging, he does call us to rebuke people who are in sin.

But when we do so, we should keep something else in mind: who we’re rebuking.

Jesus says here,

Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6)

What is Jesus saying here? He’s saying that there are some people you are just wasting your breath with if you try to rebuke them.

They simply don’t want to hear what God has to say, and if you try to tell them, they’ll rip you apart. So Jesus says, “Don’t bother.”

Solomon put it this way,

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. (Proverbs 9:8)

This is also true in sharing the gospel.

There are some people that you share the gospel with, and instead of being receptive or interested, they simply mock you. In that case, leave that person in the hands of God. You did your job.

The responsibility now lies with that person to do something with the Word you’ve given them. You are not required to keep tossing them the pearls of the gospel.

It can be hard to watch a person you love mock the gospel. Or harden their hearts to the word of God.

But once you’ve done your responsibility and shared his Word with them, if they reject it and make it clear that they don’t want to hear it, there’s nothing left to do but pray for them. Because at that point, only God can change their hearts, not you.

Who are you casting your pearls to?

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Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: Hypocritical judging

The gospels

One of my favorite comedy groups when I was growing up was Isaac Air Freight. (Does anyone still remember them?)

They did a lot of Christian comedy sketches, and one that’s always stuck with me was one called “Final Minutes” which was loosely based on “60 Minutes.”

In it, they interviewed a couple called “The Loggers.” They were Christians, who had a very “unique” characteristic. They literally had logs sticking out of their eyes.

Because of that, they were constantly knocking things down with them. And all the while, they’d criticize other people.

When the interviewer asked them about the logs in their eyes, they both asked innocently, “What logs?”

“Well,” the interviewer said, “There are these huge logs in your eyes. You’re constantly knocking things down with them.”

“Hmmm…they never seemed to bother us before.”

And that’s exactly how a lot of Christians are today. They are constantly criticizing others, while failing to see their own faults.

Jesus tells us, “You think you’re the one to help the blind by judging and criticizing them. But you can’t even see the problems in your own life. Their problems are but a speck compared to the logs in your own life.

You’re blind, and you don’t even know it. And if you who are blind try to lead others who are blind, you’ll both fall into the pit.

You think you’re a teacher for the ignorant. But your students will become like you, taking in all the faults that you don’t even know you have.” (Luke 6:39-40)

He caps it by saying,

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Luke 6:42)

What is Jesus’ point? I think the main point is humility.

One of the biggest planks in people’s eyes is pride.

There are times when we need to confront our brothers and sisters about their sin. Jesus commands us to do that. (Matthew 18:15)

The apostles reiterate it in the epistles. (Galatians 6:1)

But with what attitude do we do it? With pride? With an attitude of, “I am better than you.”

Or with a humble and gentle spirit that realizes that you need God’s grace and mercy as much as they do.

So before you rebuke someone, ask God, “What sins are in my life? What logs are in my eyes? I can’t help others if I myself am blind.

Am I suffering from pride? Am I suffering from unforgiveness? Am I suffering from the very vices the person I’m criticizing is suffering from?”

And as God reveals these things to you, repent.

If you cannot come to a person in full humility at your own weaknesses and need for God’s mercy, you should probably put off confronting them until you can.

Because even if they learn from you to avoid the sin you criticize them for, they’ll also learn pride, hypocrisy, and every other sin you’re carrying with you.

As Jesus said,

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

What logs are in your eyes?

Categories
Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 7

Sermon on the Mount: When we judge others

The gospels

It is so easy to judge others for their shortcomings. To rail on them for their character or their deeds. It’s especially easy to do so when they’ve hurt us.

I think it’s very interesting that in the Lukan account, Jesus puts this teaching right after talking about loving your enemies and showing mercy to those who curse you or mistreat you. He says concerning them,

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

Right after that, he talks about judging others, saying,

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)

In other words, when people hurt you, don’t condemn them. It’s quite frankly, not your place. That’s God’s place. Instead, God says to forgive them.

Forgiveness, in a lot of ways, is more for you than it is for another person.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, when you hold on to unforgiveness in your life, it chains you to your past. It keeps you from moving into the future God desires for you.

So God says to let go of your hurt and forgive. That the other person would actually change because of your forgiveness would be a bonus but is not guaranteed.

(The Pharisees and Sadducees certainly didn’t change despite Jesus’ prayer for their forgiveness.)

And of course, this comes back to the Lord’s prayer where we say, “Forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.”

Jesus then tells us exactly what will happen if we don’t. If instead we pour out judgment and condemnation on others for what they’ve done to us.

He said,

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38)

A lot of people take this verse and use it in reference to giving offerings. But this is not what Jesus is talking about at all. The whole context of this passage is judging others and showing mercy.

The picture here is of a farmer pouring out grain into a bag to sell it.

It’s a little hard to picture for us nowadays, but think about trash bags. How do we fill them?

Well, first we put some trash in. When it starts getting full, what do we do? We shake it a bit to let the trash settle to the bottom, and then put in more trash.

When shaking no longer works, we push down the trash so that we can get more of it in. Of course the point comes where we can’t put in any more trash and it starts to overflow.

So what Jesus is saying is that if you pour out judgment and condemnation on others, it will be poured out on you.

It will be pressed down and shaken so that more judgment and condemnation can be poured out in your life to the point of overflow.

If, on the other hand, you pour out mercy and forgiveness on others, mercy and forgiveness will be pressed down, shaken, and overflow in your life.

What do you want poured into your life?

Categories
Luke Luke 12 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Worry

The gospels

This is one of those passages that I know in my head, but I don’t know if it has truly sunk into my heart. In fact, I’m pretty sure it hasn’t.

I know because I still worry about stuff, most recently about my job and my finances.

So when I read this, my mind says, “That makes sense. God takes care of the birds. He takes care of the flowers of the field. Surely he will take care of me.”

And yet, I still find myself worrying about things. How can I save more money? Will I be able to get a better job?

While some things I worry about are to a degree controllable, other things are, at least to some degree, not.

So again, my mind says, “You’ve done what you can. Now leave it in God’s hands. Be at peace.”

But my heart wars against it and continues to worry.

I can just hear Jesus speaking to me, “O you of little faith! The world runs after these things, but don’t you know that your Father cares about you? Don’t you know he’ll take care of your needs?

So take your eyes off these things and put it on him. If you do, if you seek him and his kingdom above all things, he will take care of you.”

To be honest, because I struggle with this so much, all I can think of to do is to pray. Please feel free to join me.

Father, you said that you love me. That you care for me. I do believe it. But Lord increase my faith. I have so little of it, and that’s why I worry so much.

But Lord, you have been faithful to me in the past. I have no real reason to doubt you. Why do I doubt you now?

Lord, help me to get my eyes off of my worries, and on to you, that “all things that surround [may] become shadows in the light of you.”

You are the only true reality. Help me to focus on you. And to trust. In Jesus name, amen.

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Setting our sights

The gospels

I talked briefly yesterday about how if we set our sights on the sins we want to avoid, saying constantly to ourselves “I have to stay away from this,” we are actually more likely to fall to temptation.

A better way to fight temptation is to set our sights on God and follow him.

But this is true not only in temptation. It’s true in every aspect of our lives.

Jesus here talks about where we set our sights in everyday life, saying,

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 moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

He then says,

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24)

So the question is, “Where are we setting our sights?”

For many people, they set their sights on what is temporary; on money, on things.

But Jesus warns us that these things will not last. That we are to set our hearts on that which is eternal. What is eternal?

Only two things: Our relationship with God, and our relationships with those who put their faith in Jesus.

There is nothing else on this earth that we can take with us into heaven.

And so this is what we need to be setting our sights on here on earth: Developing our relationship with God. Sharing the gospel with those who don’t know Christ. And developing our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

By doing this, we earn for ourselves treasures in heaven. For what greater treasure is there than a relationship with the God who loves us and with those we love?

But so many people, even Christians, set their hearts on money. On the things of this world.

Jesus warns that we can’t do this. God doesn’t accept half-hearted service. Either we serve money or we serve him.

Jesus asks in this passage what kind of eyes we have. Do we have eyes that see things as they really are? Do we have eyes that see what’s truly important?

He says that if we do, our life will be filled with light. We’ll live a life worth living, the kind of life God intended for us. A life centered around relationships.

But if we don’t, our life will be filled with darkness.

We’ll be stumbling around unfulfilled and never knowing why. We’ll constantly be grasping for money and other things that ultimately leave us empty if we make them our life’s pursuit.

And he laments that if what we think is “light” is truly darkness, how great that darkness truly is. So he warns in Luke 11:35,

See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

How about you? What are your eyes set on?

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: A daily spiritual battle

The gospels

Every day, we are fighting a spiritual battle. That’s why Jesus instructed us to pray,

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

We’re living in an evil world, in which the prince of darkness dwells. And he is hostile to us. He will do anything to bring us down from within or without.

From within, he tries to get us to fall to our own sinful nature, to give into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

And so we are to pray that God would lead us. That we would keep our eyes on him, following him, rather than our own sinful nature.

Everyone knows their weak points. And to some degree, it’s good to be aware of them. To avoid doing things that would bring you to the point of temptation.

But if we spend all our time focusing on what we shouldn’t be doing, chances are that the temptation will only grow.

If on the other hand, we keep our eyes on God, we’re much more likely to avoid temptation. It’s not enough to just avoid sin. We need to follow God.

But beyond temptations, Satan wants to hurt us. He will attack us, and many times he’ll use the broken people of this world to hurt us.

Other times, he’ll whisper his lies into our mind, saying things like, “You’re no good. God can’t love you. You messed up too badly this time. He can’t forgive you.”

So Jesus tells us to pray, “Deliver us from the evil one.”

We are in a war against an enemy that hates us. So let us remember the words of Peter, who said,

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

And let us pray that God in his grace would limit his influence on our lives.

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Not an option

The gospels

This is one of the hardest passages in scripture for many people to deal with. Jesus teaches us to pray,

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:12-15)

Very strong words, and ones that Jesus will expand upon in other passages.

But let’s start with the prayer. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Many people pray this so often, that they don’t think about what they’re saying. But imagine praying this.

“I’m really angry at my sister. She said something really hurtful, and I can never forgive her. So Lord, please, please, in the same way that I refuse to forgive my sister, don’t forgive any of my sins either.”

That’s essentially what you’re praying when you pray the Lord’s prayer.

You’re saying, “God, inasmuch as I forgive others, forgive me. But if I don’t forgive others, please don’t forgive me.

Inasmuch as I pour out unforgiveness and ‘ungrace’ in the life of those around me, pour out your unforgiveness and ‘ungrace’ in my life.”

In God’s eyes, forgiveness is not an option. You cannot hold on to unforgiveness in your life and expect God’s grace and mercy in yours.

Why? Because God has forgiven you though you didn’t deserve it, and he paid a massive price in order to do it. It cost him the life of his Son.

You could do nothing to earn his forgiveness. You could do nothing to ‘pay back God’ for all the wrongs that you have done. And yet he extended his mercy to you.

Since God did that for us, how can we possibly withhold forgiveness and mercy from others?

To withhold forgiveness from others means that you truly don’t understand God’s forgiveness in your life. It’s to downplay your own sin and to say, “My sin wasn’t so bad; that’s why God could forgive me.”

Your sin was bad enough to separate you from God for all eternity in hell. Your sin was so bad, that it cost Jesus his life on the cross. How then can you say, “My sin wasn’t so bad?”

If you cannot forgive others their sins, then quite simply, you are taking your own sin too lightly.

No Christian who has a strong sense of just how bad his sin is, and how much God has forgiven them can possibly withhold forgiveness from another.

Two things to meditate on.

First, how seriously do you take sin in your life? Do you realize that it was and is serious enough to send you to hell?

Second, if God forgave you for such serious offenses, how can you not forgive those who have committed serious offenses against you?

Is it easy? No. Depending on the level of hurt you experienced, it’s difficult, if not impossible…in your own strength.

But the same mercy and grace that God poured in your life so that you could be forgiven is the same mercy and grace that he will pour in your life so that you can forgive others…if you’re willing to be changed.

Are you? It starts with a prayer.

Lord, I’ve been hurt, and right now, I don’t even have the desire to forgive. But you forgave me though I didn’t deserve it, and you paid a great price so that I could.

Help me to understand that more. Let it sink into my heart and my mind. And give me the desire to forgive. Change me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Praying for our needs

The gospels

One of the most amazing things to me is that the God of this whole universe cares about me, even the simple and perhaps mundane things. Yet he does. And so Jesus tells us to pray,

Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)

Jesus will talk about this in more detail later when he talks about anxiety, but God does care that we have what we need to live. Food. Clothes. A place to stay. Of course, all of these things require money. And to have money, we need a job.

So often we worry about these things. It is, I must admit, something that I’m thinking about constantly as I interview for a new job next week.

But God doesn’t call us to worry about these things. To let these things dominate our mind. Rather, he calls us to pray about them and leave them in his hands, knowing that our heavenly Father loves us and will meet our needs.

How often do we worry about things instead of praying? (I’m speaking to myself too, by the way).

I suppose the big question we need to ask is, “Do I really think my Father really cares about me? That he really will give me all I need?”

Because if we would just realize this, all our worries would shrink and disappear.

How about you? Are you worrying about the circumstances of your life, or are you praying?

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: His Kingdom, His Will

The gospels

I was in a quandary this morning. I was asked in for an interview for a job that would be higher paying and have better benefits than the one I have now. Whether I’ll get it or not, I don’t know.

My current company, however, seemed to be doing whatever they could to prevent me from going to the interview. They denied me a day off, for reasons that were not clear, and so I was trying to find a way to go to the interview without breaking conscience.

In the end, by God’s grace, everything worked out. With the vice-principal’s and head English teacher’s help (I work at a junior high school), I was able to convince my employer to give me a half-day off for which I’m truly grateful.

As for whether I’ll get the job or not, we’ll see.

What does this have to do with this blog? Well, we’re praying, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

I’ll be honest. I was very stressed this morning. I felt like I was being treated “unfairly” as I mentioned several blogs ago. And as I said then, I couldn’t control my circumstances. All I could control was my attitude, and it was difficult.

But in the end, I had to say, “Lord, your will be done.”

I didn’t know what my current employer would say when I went to work this morning, and even now, I don’t know if I can even get this job I’m interviewing for.

But I’m praying, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your will in heaven is perfectly done. I pray that it would be perfectly done on earth, and especially right now, in this situation.

If you want me to get this job, work everything out. If not, help me to accept your will.”

But another part of this prayer is “Your kingdom come.”

As important as getting this job is to me, my first priority needs to be his kingdom.

Honestly, I feel I can do more for God’s kingdom with this job. I’d have more time to do the things I think God wants me to do, to go along with the better pay and benefits.

I read further than this passage today, I will admit, because I was reading where Jesus was saying not to be anxious about this life.

And the thing that caught my eye was Matthew 6:33, where he says to seek God’s kingdom first. And if we do that, everything will fall in place.

Like I said, I don’t know how things will fall out. But as God gives me grace, my prayer is, “Your kingdom come, your will be done. In my life. And in the world around me.”

Lord, you know my stress. You know my worries. But you are Lord of all. Lord of my employer. More importantly, Lord of me.

Let your will be done. In my job situation. With my future. And let me always keep in focus your kingdom above all things. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: The one who is worthy of our honor

The gospels

We now hit the second part of the Lord’s prayer, or as some have correctly pointed out, what’s really the “Disciples’ prayer.”

Jesus said to pray, “Hallowed be your name.”

Although I’ve been a Christian a long time, and I kind of like the word “Hallowed” in the Lord’s prayer, it really isn’t a word we use nowadays. I doubt very many people ever use it outside the Lord’s prayer.

What does it mean? Basically it means to recognize and revere something or someone as holy. Which brings up the next question. What does “holy” mean? Essentially, it comes down to his perfection and purity in nature and character. There is no flaw in either.

This is in contrast to us who are far from perfect and far from pure in our nature and character.

So when we look at God in his perfection and purity, we are to stand in awe of that and honor him for who he is.

But to merely stand in awe is not enough. As we admire his perfection and purity, it should also stir something in our hearts that desires to be like him.

Just as a child longs to be like their father or mother, so we should have a heart that desires to be like our Heavenly Father. That strives to be like him. That desires to please him. And that groans at our imperfections and our impurities.

To pray “hallowed be your name,” leaves no room for us to live a life of sin. To say, “Well, God will forgive me for my sin, so I’ll just do my own thing.”

To pray “hallowed be your name,” if you are a true child of God, is to say, “Lord I so stand in awe of you, and I love you so much, that I want to be like you. Help me.”

And he will. God takes great delight when his children imitate him.

And though we may occasionally fall into the muck and mire of our sin (as we inevitably will), he will lift us out of our brokenness, wash us clean with the blood of his Son, take our hand, and lead us forward, teaching us and giving us the power to become more like Him.

How about you? Do you stand in awe of God, and desire to become more like him?

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Our Father

Father and child

I suppose I could breeze through the Lord’s prayer, but I just felt it might be good to take it a line at a time.

In these passages, Jesus teaches us how to address God. In Matthew, he says, “Our Father in heaven.”

In Luke, he simplifies it to “Father.”

Why did Jesus tell us to address God as Father?

I think the reason is because he wanted us to know it was okay to draw close to God.

It is by no means wrong to call God things like, “Sovereign Lord.” It is in fact appropriate, for that is what he is. Peter himself addressed God that way in the book of Acts. (Acts 4:24)

But to call God that does seem to put some distance between you and him. Certainly, a king and his servant have a relationship, but it almost never is a relationship where the servant can ask for the king’s attention at any time.

But a king’s child can. He has access that a mere servant doesn’t have. More than that, he has the confidence that his daddy loves him and delights in him.

Our Father is a great king. He rules in heaven and his dominion extends throughout the universe and beyond.

Yet he always has time for you because he is not simply your king; he is your Father.

The problem that many people have, however, is they can’t truly understand what it means to say God is our Father.

They can’t understand because their own earthly fathers were imperfect. They never listened. They never loved. They never cared. They never provided. They were never there. Or in some cases, were even abusive.

And we take all these negative images of our fathers here on earth and overlay them on God.

But God isn’t our earthly father. He is our Father in heaven. And all the things your earthly father isn’t or wasn’t, God is.

He cares. He listens. He loves. He provides. And he is always there.

What image do you have of God, when you hear “God is our Father?”

Hopefully you have a positive one that allows you to draw near.

But if you have a negative one, understand that God is different from the father you know.

Pray that God would heal you from the hurts your father caused you. Pray that you can forgive your father. And pray that God could reshape your view of what a father is so that you can truly understand who God is.

Categories
Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Empty words

Matthew

Prayer is simple. And yet somehow, it is difficult.

At its base, prayer is simply talking to God, just as you would talk to any other person.

If that’s all prayer is, why is it so difficult sometimes then? I suppose it’s because we don’t get audible answers back. It would be so much easier if we could actually converse with God like Moses did.

But because we don’t, we often wonder, “Is God hearing me? Am I even doing this ‘prayer thing’ right?”

So instead of just talking, we often turn to formulas. We turn the Lord’s prayer found here in Matthew and in Luke 11 into our formula for prayer.

But prayer is not a mere formula nor was it ever meant to be.

When we look at the Lord’s prayer, it gives us an idea of what prayer should look like, and what kinds of things we should be praying about. But it’s not meant to be prayed as a magic formula to get God to hear you.

Too often, though, people take the Lord’s prayer and turn it into a formula. They think that just because they say the words, God will hear them. After all, that’s what Jesus told us to pray, right?

But Jesus tells us here in verses 7-8,

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)

In other words, when you talk to God, talk normally. You don’t need special words. You don’t need to pray using long, flowery speech. None of these things impress God. All he wants to hear from you is your heart.

Sometimes people ask, “If God already knows what I need, if he already knows my thoughts, why pray?”

The best reason I can give is he wants to engage with you.

Sure, he doesn’t have to hear our voice to know what we’re thinking. Sure, he could just give us our needs without our asking.

But by praying, we engage with the living God. And that’s what he wants more than anything else.

But it’s impossible to engage with him if we’re just mindlessly repeating words we’ve memorized.

It’s impossible to engage with him if we’re busy trying to figure out the right formula to get him to answer our prayers.

He hears. More than that he will speak if we will just listen.

So let’s stop the formulas and mindless prayers and simply engage with the living God by telling him our hearts and holding nothing back from him.

How about you? Are you truly engaging God in your prayers? Or are you just saying words?

Categories
Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Why we do what we do

Matthew

The one thing that Jesus often points to throughout this sermon is our hearts. And in this passage, he makes it clear that God not only looks at our actions, but our motivations as well.

He said,

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)

He then gives three examples. First, he talks about giving.

In those days, people would basically announce to the world when they were about to give some money to the poor. In full view of everyone, they would show their great “generosity” and “compassion” for the poor.

But Jesus said, “You won’t receive any reward from God for this. You have already received your reward: the admiration of others, and the pride that comes from it.”

Then he talked about prayer, how some people prayed these long, loud prayers, showing just how spiritual they were to those around.

I’m sure there have been times when you have heard prayers and you wondered just who the person was talking to.

Finally, he pointed out how many people look like they’ve been sucking on lemons for a week (loose translation) when they fast to show how spiritual they’ve been.

And Jesus makes it clear: God will not reward any of these things. Rather, he rewards the things done in secret. The things that only he knows about. The things not done for show, but out of our love for him.

It’s very easy to point at others and criticize them, but how about you?

Are you constantly concerned about what others think of you? Are you constantly concerned about how spiritual you appear to others?

Or are you genuine?

You may fool others (although I wouldn’t bet on it), but you can’t fool God. It is not enough to do the right thing. You need to have the right motivation.

What’s the right motivation? Again, your love for God. And your love for others. Nothing else matters.

Notice that both of these things are outwardly focused. When we become inwardly focused, constantly thinking about what others think of us, then all the things we do, no matter how good, become worthless in the eyes of God.

I have to admit: I struggle with this a lot. I constantly have to ask myself, “Who am I trying to please?”

When I speak at church, am I trying to impress people with my spirituality, or am I truly letting God speak through me?

Whenever I do anything for God, whose approval am I trying to win?”

Who are you trying to please? Why are you doing what you’re doing?

Categories
Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Perfect in love, perfect in mercy

The gospels

As Christians, we often come across verse 48 in Matthew 5 where Jesus says,

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The context of it is very interesting. Certainly we are to strive for holiness in our lives, but in this passage, it is specifically talking about perfection in one area in our lives. Love.

Sometimes, people take Jesus’, “But I say to you…” statements as him contradicting what God had said in the Old Testament.

This is not true. What he was doing was contradicting people’s wrong interpretation of God’s commands.

We saw this in the last passage. Jesus wasn’t contradicting Moses’ law on justice. He wasn’t saying, for example, it’s okay to kill someone who took your eye or tooth.

What he was saying was, “While it’s civil law that the punishment must match the crime, you’ve taken it to mean that it’s okay to take revenge in the name of justice or fairness.

But I say to you that though it is certainly your right to seek fairness and justice, you can be a greater light in this world, you can be more like your Father in heaven, if instead of demanding justice all the time, you show mercy and grace to those who wrong you.”

And Jesus lived that out in his own life. Had Jesus demanded justice for himself, he would have never gone to the cross.

In this passage, we see another misunderstanding the Jews had about what God commanded. You can easily find in the Old Testament where it says to love your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:18)

You will be hard pressed to find anywhere, however, where it says to hate your neighbor. It’s not there. The Jews added that to God’s command.

So Jesus corrected their way of thinking. He said to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to bless those who curse us, and to do good to those who mistreat us. Jesus himself did this on the cross.

When his enemies nailed him to the cross and were mocking him, he prayed for them. Note that he didn’t pray about them. He didn’t say “See what they’re doing Father? See how terrible they are?”

He prayed for them. “Father forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

Despite their actions, he loved and cared for them. And by dying, he gave them and us hope for forgiveness and eternal life.

Jesus then pointed out that anyone can love someone who loves them. Even the worst of people can do that. But it’s very difficult to love those who hate you.

Yet that’s what God does for us. Though we hated him, though we made light of him, though we turned our backs on him, yet he daily gives us blessings we never even credit him for, even the sun and rain.

But more than that, he sent his Son to save us from our sin.

And so he calls us to be like him. To be perfect in our love as he is perfect in love. To be rich in mercy, as he is rich in mercy.

How perfect are you in love and mercy to those around you?

Categories
Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: But it’s not fair

The gospels

There is something in all of us, I think, that screams for fairness. And if something happens that we feel isn’t fair, we scream against it. But is that the best response?

These few verses go against every instinct we have.

Jesus said,

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. (Matthew 5:38-39)

Verse 38 comes from the Mosaic law, and it was basically instructions to judges on how people were to be punished for wrongdoing.

The point here is not revenge, but telling the judges to match the punishment with the crime, and not go beyond. If someone cost another an eye or a tooth, for example, you were not to kill the offender for that action.

It should be pointed out, however, that this was never literally carried out. You didn’t actually take out another person’s eye or tooth if they cost you yours. Instead, there was usually some compensation that was paid.

The idea was justice, or put another way, fairness.

But Jesus here says, “Don’t be so concerned about fairness. Instead, be a light, even to those who abuse you.”

The first example he gives is a very interesting one. He says, “If someone strike you on your right cheek, turn the other cheek.”

Now, I’m a lefty (and proud of it). So it would be no problem for me to nail someone on their right cheek.

But for most people, they are right-handed. And the only way for them to lay any kind of forcible blow on the right cheek of another is to slap them with the back of their hand.

In other words, Jesus isn’t talking about someone bullying you; he’s talking about someone insulting you.

In Jewish culture, it was considered a graver insult to slap someone with the back of your hand, than with the palm of your hand.

So Jesus was saying, “If someone insults you, let them. Don’t feel like you have to insult them back.”

Is it fair to just take this abuse? No. But Jesus tells us, “Don’t worry about fairness. Show grace.”

He then says if someone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give them your cloak as well.

In Israel, everyone had many changes of shirts, but generally only had one cloak.

Most people slept in their cloak to keep them warm at night, and Moses’ law said that if you took that cloak as a pledge for a loan, you should give it back to that person before he goes to bed at night. (Deuteronomy 24:12-13)

But again, Jesus says that if someone sues you to take your shirt, don’t worry about fairness. Give them your cloak as well.

Romans could force any Jew to carry a burden one mile because the Jews were under their rule. The Jews balked at that, as would we if we were forced to do something we don’t want to.

But Jesus said, “If that happens, don’t just go the one mile, go one extra. Do more than you’re forced to.”

And finally, Jesus says to lend freely to those around you, not worrying about whether they will return what they borrowed from you.

You might ask, “Are you saying that I should just let people walk all over me?”

No. But if we are only worried about “fairness,” we’re fighting a losing battle because we live in an unfair world.

Life isn’t always fair. We can’t always control that. What can we control?

Our attitude. How we react when life, when people are unfair. We can scream. We can fight.

Or we can show grace. We can show mercy. And if you think about it, that’s what Jesus did for us.

It wasn’t fair that he went to the cross. He never did anything wrong. But he showed grace and mercy to us, and because of it, we can know forgiveness and eternal life.

If Jesus did that for us, shouldn’t we do that for others?

Categories
Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Honesty

Matthew

Trust can be hard to come by. And in this broken world, people find it so hard to trust, we require oaths.

“I promise…”

“I swear…”

But Jesus says here that we are to be people of such integrity that God or others shouldn’t require such oaths from us.

He said,

Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’

But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.

And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.

Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:33-37)

Back in those days, swearing an oath in the name of God made it binding. But if you swore by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or by your own head, it was less binding.

But Jesus said, “No, swearing by all these things are just as binding, because heaven, earth, and Jerusalem all belong to God and are reflections of his glory. So if you swear by them, you swear by him.

And even if you swear by your own head, that belongs to God too. You can’t even control when your hair turns white.”

In short, unlike what the Pharisees and teachers of the law taught, all oaths are binding.

But Jesus says, don’t swear at all. The only reason you’d need to swear an oath at all is because you think people might not believe you.

Why would they think that?

First, they might not know you. In that kind of situation, you may need to swear, such as in a court of law.

But second, they know you, and they know you’re not trustworthy, or they have doubts about you. In those cases, you may feel a need to swear.

There is nothing to be done about the first situation. As I said, we live in a world broken by sin. Lack of trust is the norm. Because of this, we may be required to swear oaths.

I don’t think Jesus is casting aside all oaths in this passage. Jesus himself spoke under oath when on trial. (Matthew 26:63-64)

But, the second situation is something you can control, at least to an extent, by proving yourself honest to the people around you. That when people hear you say you’ll do something, that’s all they need to hear.

Can people trust you? From the little things (being on time for a party with friends) to the large (faithfulness at work or in ministry)?

Jesus calls us to be light. And to be a person that can be completely trusted is shining that light brightly in a world where few can.

Categories
Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Whatever it takes

Matthew

My favorite sports team is the Pittsburgh Steelers, and back in the 70s, their coach was a man named Chuck Noll.

Noll had a saying, “Whatever it takes.” In other words, “We do whatever necessary to win the game (within the rules, of course).”

Well here, we see that same kind of attitude. But it has nothing to do with winning games. It has to do with sin.

Jesus essentially tells us, “Do whatever it takes to get rid of sin in your life.”

He said,

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30)

Although some people have taken this literally, Jesus does not mean this literally. He doesn’t want you to literally gouge out your eye or cut off your hand.

What he is saying is to take sin seriously. Too often, we don’t. We just say, “Well, it’s okay. God will forgive me.”

And unlike what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes, we don’t mourn over our sin. Instead, we continue on in our sin.

But Jesus reminds us here that sin is the reason that he went to the cross.

Sin causes people to go to hell. You were going to hell because of your sin before you met Jesus. How then can you take it lightly and continue on in your sin?

And so Jesus says do whatever it takes to get rid of sin in your life. What does that mean practically?

First, it means prayer. We do not have the ability to fight sin on our own. We need the power of God working in us to conquer sin.

Second, it means avoiding problem areas in your life. In other words, if you have a problem with alcoholism, stay away from bars or parties where alcohol is served and you’ll be tempted to drink.

If you have a problem with lust, stay away from anywhere that sells pornography. Cut these things off from your life.

Third, it means accountability. Share with someone you trust your struggles and have them check up on you regularly. Not only that, have them pray with you and for you.

James writes,

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

But whatever you do, don’t take sin lightly. Jesus didn’t. He went to the cross because of it.

So do whatever it takes to be holy as he is holy.

Categories
Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Adultery

Matthew

From murder, Jesus moves on to adultery. And in doing so, I think he really pushed a sensitive button in those who thought they were so religious.

As I’ve said, the Pharisees were very proud of how well they kept every minor detail of the law. But as I’ve also mentioned, by merely focusing on the letter of the law, they completely missed the spirit of it.

A perfect example is in the case of adultery. Among the Pharisees, there was a group disparagingly called “bruised Pharisees.”

These were people that were so worried about lust, that they would literally walk with their eyes closed if they were near a woman, and in doing so would actually walk into walls because they weren’t looking where they were going.

But you also had Pharisees that debated about divorce. Moses had written that a man could divorce his wife if he found any “indecency” in her. (Deuteronomy 24:1)

The argument was about what “indecency” meant. Some thought it was sexual immorality. Others thought you could divorce your wife if she was too loud or even just burned your dinner.

In my opinion, the main problem came, however, when a married Pharisee saw a woman that he lusted after.

He might bruise himself trying to avoid looking at her, but perhaps after dusting himself off, he caught a quick glance at her and then perhaps took another glance. Soon, he was thinking of her all the time.

But he was married. As a result, the thought would then come, “How can I get around this law against adultery? I know. I’ll divorce my wife and marry this other woman.”

They literally did this. The frequency of divorce among Pharisees was an open scandal in Israel.

And so Jesus made it very clear: You may be avoiding the act of sleeping around. But that doesn’t mean you’re innocent of adultery.

He said,

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)

That did not absolve any of the bruised Pharisees either, because they could go home, bruises and all, and still plot how to divorce their wife to marry this other woman.

So Jesus told them,

It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32)

Considering that he was comparing true righteousness with the “righteousness” of the Pharisees, I think it’s pretty clear what he was talking about.

If you divorce someone because there’s someone else you want to marry, you are committing adultery. It may not technically be adultery by the letter of the law, but in God’s eyes, it is.

How about you? Are you committing adultery in your heart?

Are you lusting after another to the point where you’re planning to get divorced? Or are you encouraging a married person to get divorced from their spouse so that you can marry them?

That’s adultery, and God condemns it.

You may not be sleeping with another person, but are you joined to your spouse, heart, body, soul, and mind?

Or is your heart being pulled to another person? That too is adultery in God’s eyes.

May we always have hearts faithful to the ones we have committed our lives to. Namely, to God, and to our spouse.

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Making things right

Matthew

We read in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Often times, we solely think of this in terms of bringing peace between two outside parties.

But there is another situation in which we are called to be peacemakers. We are called to be peacemakers when we are one of the parties involved, and this is what Jesus talks about here.

He says,

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

I think there are two important things to note here.

First, he says, “If your brother has something against you.”

So often, there is a rift in our relationships, and we know that someone is upset at us, but we feel like we did nothing wrong. So we say, “It’s their problem, not mine.”

But when you do that, what you are essentially doing is devaluing them. You’re saying, “This person is not worth my time. If he has a problem, he should come to me.”

Or, “It’s his problem, not mine. He should deal with it.”

But Jesus doesn’t allow any room for this kind of thinking. He says that if someone has a problem with us, we are to do what we must to bring reconciliation.

Many times, it just means a simple apology.

“But I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. Maybe the other person is being too sensitive. It doesn’t matter. You need to value them enough that you take their feelings into consideration. And if you have hurt them, you need to acknowledge that.

If nothing else, you should say, “I understand that when I said that or did that, I hurt you. I didn’t mean to. Will you forgive me?”

And from that point, you need to keep in mind just what you did to cause the problem, and for their sake, and for Christ’s who died for them, you need to avoid those actions or words in the future.

The second thing to note from this passage is that broken relationships with others affects our relationship with God.

God will not accept our gifts or offerings if we have not made every effort to bring reconciliation to our broken relationships.

Peter writes that God won’t even accept the prayers of husbands if they are not living with understanding with their wives. (I Peter 3:7)

Jesus then points out that if you really did something wrong, it’s especially important to get things right as soon as possible. He said,

Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court.

Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:25-26)

But whether you are truly at fault or not, Jesus tells us to do all we can to make things right.

That said, reconciliation is a two-way street. Some people don’t want reconciliation. You can’t control that.

What you can do is control your actions. To first pray for that person. To ask God what you can do to bring reconciliation. And then to do all God has told you to do.

After that, it’s up to the other person. And if they refuse to respond, then all you can do is leave it in God’s hands.

In short, follow the words of Paul who wrote,

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)

Are you at peace with those around you?

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: When we despise people in our hearts

Matthew

Here we see one of the main problems Jesus had with the religious leaders’ interpretation of the law. It was strictly a matter of outward compliance, while totally ignoring what was going on in the heart.

In this passage, Jesus shows us what this means in terms of murder. He said,

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ (Matthew 5:21)

Many Pharisees and teachers of the law kept this commandment. They never murdered anyone (at least until they had Jesus crucified, anyway).

But Jesus told them,

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:22)

Jesus here goes beyond the outward crime of murder to the attitudes of the heart. Basically he says, “So you have never actually killed anyone? Great! But how about within your heart? Have you ever murdered someone in your heart?”

What does that mean, to murder someone in your heart?

What are you doing when you murder someone? You are basically devaluing that person. You are saying, “You have so little value, you are no longer fit to live.”

Well, what are we doing when we say to someone, “You idiot! You fool! You (fill in the blank)!”

We are devaluing them in our hearts. Essentially that’s what it means to despise someone. To look upon them as someone of little worth or value.

Murder is merely taking this attitude to an extreme. But if we hold on to this attitude in our hearts, it can actually lead to murder. We’ve seen this time and again in our society.

Anger is another problem that Jesus points to here. It is natural for us to get angry. We can’t control when we get angry. It’s an emotion. Something happens, and we get angry.

But we can control what we do with our anger. Do we hold on to it? Do we let it simmer in our hearts? Do we embrace that anger?

Anger undealt with takes us to the next level of murder. We either cut people off from our lives, or we actually take their lives.

And Jesus says that if we do so, we will be liable to God’s judgment, and apart from the grace of God, hell.

How about you? Is there someone in your life that you despise in your heart? That you have devalued?

Is there someone that you have cut off because of the anger you hold toward them in your heart? Then in God’s eyes you have murdered them.

John tells us,

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. (I John 3:15)

And again,

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness…

Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. (I John 2:9,11)

So let us start seeing those around us, even those who have hurt us, as people of value. Because they are. And it was for that reason that Jesus gave his life for them…and us.

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Fulfilling the law

Matthew

I think it’s significant that Jesus probably said these things after the controversies with the Pharisees over the Sabbath had begun (although you wouldn’t guess this by looking at the book of Matthew alone).

Jesus had probably already done multiple healings on the Sabbath earning the criticism of the Pharisees.

But Jesus makes it clear here that,

I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)

How did Jesus fulfill the law and the prophets? Primarily in three ways.

First, he fulfilled the prophesies of the Messiah to come.

Second, he was the only man to ever perfectly obey the law. Because of that, he was able to take the punishment for our sin on the cross.

As Paul wrote,

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

Third, he fulfilled in his death all the sacrifices that God had required of the Jews.

As the writer of Hebrews points out, while God required them, they in themselves could not cleanse us from our sins. What they did do was paint a picture of what Jesus would do for us on the cross.

Now in Jesus, all our sins have been cleansed, and so these sacrifices are no longer required. They are, as Jesus puts it, accomplished in him. (Hebrews 10:1-18)

But while some things in the law were accomplished in Jesus Christ, as was our justification before God, nevertheless, the law still points to the holiness of God and what kind of people God desires us to be.

And so each day, we are to strive to be holy as he is holy. Not in order to earn our salvation, but because now the Holy Spirit lives inside us to help us live it.

Before we were powerless to do what God commanded. But now God himself dwells in us and gives us the power to become the people he originally designed us to be.

And Jesus warns us,

I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

That probably stunned the people who heard it because the Pharisees and teachers of the law were considered the strongest preservers of God’s law. They had made rule upon rule in order to make sure they kept God’s law.

But righteousness goes far beyond keeping the letter of the law. Righteousness is a thing of the heart. And if your heart is not right before God, nothing you do is right before Him.

Three points that Jesus would lambast the Pharisees and teachers of the law for were lack of justice, mercy, and faithfulness in their lives. (Matthew 23:23)

We’ll see more of what he means by that as we continue through his sermon.

For now, the question is, how is your heart? You may be doing all the right things, but is your heart right before God? What would he say about your heart today?

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Salt and light

Matthew

It is very interesting to me the context in which Jesus talks about us being salt and light in the world.

What was the context? He had just finished talking about persecution. That we are blessed if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

Right after that, he tells us we are the salt of the earth, and he warns us that if we lose our saltiness, we’re no good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled.

How can we lose our saltiness? By giving into pressure from our family, our friends, and the people around us to conform to them, rather than to Christ. To do so because we are afraid of what they will say or do to us.

When we are so focused on pleasing others that we forget that we need to please God above all others, we lose our saltiness.

We are meant to be salt in this world. Salt preserves. It keeps meat from rotting.

In the same way, Christians are to be people that keep our culture from rotting by showing people God’s ways.

Not just by telling them about God’s ways, mind you. But by showing them God’s ways by the way you live your life.

And by showing them God’s ways, they’ll see the contrast between a healthy, fulfilled life and a morally decrepit one.

Salt also flavors. It gives taste to food that has little or none. In the same way, we are to flavor the world around us with the love and touch of Christ.

But we can do neither of these things if we are simply blending in with the world.

God put us in this world to be light. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. For what purpose? To show his glory to a lost, hurt, and dying world.

How can we then hide that light that God has lit in our lives by giving into the pressure of those around us?

How about you? Have you so conformed to this world that you’ve lost your saltiness? That your light can no longer be seen?

Who are you trying to please? God? Or the people around you?

May we obey the words of Jesus and let our lights shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: A whole new way of thinking

Matthew

As we look at the Beatitudes one last time, it strikes me that it is an entirely different way of thinking from the way the world thinks.

Many think that it is the ultra-religious who are blessed by God. That you have to be on a special spiritual plane in order to be blessed by God.

But Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” That God looks with favor on those who are spiritually bankrupt.

More than that, he looks with favor on those who realize they are spiritually bankrupt. Because when we do, we realize our need for grace. And it is at that point, that we can be saved.

The world thinks that it’s those who find happiness in this life that are blessed. And so they subscribe the old axiom, “If it feels good, do it.”

But Jesus says that it is when we mourn over the sin in our lives, and over the pain that sin causes in this world that we find blessedness. Because only then can we find his transforming power in our lives and in the world around us.

The world teaches that it is those who take the bull by the horn, who take control of their own lives that are blessed.

But Jesus says, we are blessed when we submit our lives to God in everything, through the good and bad. To trust in his goodness and his judgment. And when we do, we’ll find a life that truly works.

The world says, “Blessed are those who can do whatever they want. Who do whatever they can to bring happiness into their lives.”

But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after what is right.”

It’s not always easy, nor is it always pleasurable. But only in doing so will we find true satisfaction.

The world proclaims, “Look out for number one. Step on whoever you have to in order to achieve your goals.”

But Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful. Look to the needs of others above your own.”

This can especially be seen in forgiveness, where you stop focusing on yourself and the pain you’ve received, and you focus on the hurt and the needs of the person who hurt you.

And when we do that, we become like Jesus who prayed for his enemies saying, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.”

The world teaches that morals are relative. That we can’t judge another’s morals. That all moral codes are equal.

But Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart. For it is only they who understand God’s holiness, who will see God.”

The world says, “Mind your own business. Don’t get involved. Live and let live. All roads lead to God.”

Jesus says, “It is those who go out as ambassadors and preach the gospel, who help bring peace between God and the people around them that are sons and daughters of God.

And it is those who help bring peace between others that prove themselves to be like their Heavenly Father who brought peace between himself and us.”

The world believes that if everyone likes you, you are blessed.

Jesus teaches that we can’t please everyone. That there is only one who is worth pleasing, and that is God. That’s who we need to seek to please.

The kingdom of God has a radically different way of thinking from the way the world thinks. But if we’ll embrace it, we’ll find what life truly is all about.

So as Paul encourages us,

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

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Luke Luke 6 Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Under fire

The gospels

Nobody likes to be persecuted. Nobody likes to be disliked. In an ideal world, everyone would like you.

But this isn’t an ideal world. It’s a world that has been corrupted by sin. And because of that, people’s minds have been corrupted by sin to the point that they can’t distinguish good from evil. Even when they can, they often prefer evil.

John put it this way,

Light has come into the world (through Jesus), but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

Because of this, Jesus warned his disciples,

If they persecuted me (and they did), they will persecute you also. (John 15:20)

Think about this. Jesus was perfect. He never did anything wrong. He was love incarnate. And yet people hated him and put him on a cross.

If Jesus was perfect and he was treated this way, what makes us think we’ll be treated any differently?

But Jesus tells us that if we are persecuted for doing what is right, if we are persecuted for following him, we are blessed.

That seems a strange thing to say. Being persecuted is a blessing? I don’t want to be persecuted.

But the blessing is not in the persecution itself. It’s in knowing that we are following in our Master’s footsteps. That we are being like him even to the point of being persecuted as he was.

And the blessing is in knowing that the persecution is not in vain. That God will ultimately reward us for our faithfulness under fire.

So let us not get discouraged when persecution comes our way. When we are rejected by our family or friends or others around us for Jesus’ sake.

As the old saying goes, you can’t please all the people all the time.

Jesus couldn’t. Neither can you.

So let us focus on pleasing just one person: God. And in doing so, we will find true blessing.

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Reconcilers

Matthew

If there is one thing that God has called us as Christians to be is reconcilers. Why? Because Jesus himself was the great reconciler.

When there was a huge gap between God and us because of our sin, Jesus came down and died on a cross, taking the punishment for our sin. Now, because of what he has done, we have peace with God.

So when we can bring peace between two people who are at war, we prove ourselves to be “sons (and daughters) of God.”

God hates it when the children he loves are in conflict with each other. And so he calls us as his children to step in where we can to help bring peace.

This is not to say that we are to step into every conflict we see. Proverbs warns us against getting involved in conflicts that we have no connection with. (Proverbs 26:17)

But when you see people that you love fighting, you should do what you can to bring peace.

To be sure, you need to be careful about the timing, and also you will need God’s wisdom as to how do so.

Above all, you should have the love and respect of the people you’re dealing with. Without a relationship with the warring parties, you’re more likely to do harm than to do good.

But there’s an even more important way in which God calls us to be reconcilers. We are to be people that help bring reconciliation between God and those around us.

The apostle Paul wrote,

All this (i.e. salvation) is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

What an awesome responsibility. Jesus did the work of salvation on the cross. But now God tells us, “I put it in your hands now. It’s your responsibility to reach out as my ambassadors.”

What message do we pass on?

We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

It is, of course, not up to us to change people’s hearts. That can only be done by the Holy Spirit. But we are called to be reconcilers, people who help bring peace between God and the people he loves.

Jesus tells us,

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Are you a peacemaker?

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: To see God

Matthew

There are so many songs that express a desire to see God. Back when I was a kid, we had a song,

Open our eyes Lord,
We want to see Jesus.

To reach out and touch him.
To say that we love him.

Slightly more recently, there was another song,

Open the eyes of my heart Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart.

I want to see you.
I want to see you.

They’re both great songs, and I love them, but if we really want to see God in our lives, Jesus tells us,

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Why is purity so important? Because God is holy. When the angels sing at his throne, they don’t sing about his love, they sing about his holiness.

(Okay, maybe they sing about his love too, but we never see a song in scripture that says, “Love, love, love, is the Lord God Almighty.”)

God tells us in both the Old Testament and the New to be Holy as he is. (Leviticus 11:44-45; I Peter 1:16).

God hates sin and cannot be near it. And if we are covered in its muck, we will always find ourselves at a distance from God.

This is not to say that we’ll lose our salvation or that God will stop loving us, but we will never have the close relationship that he desires to have with us.

One time, I was talking with a friend in her garage, and her two-year old daughter wandered off.

When she came back, she had a sponge in her hand that her husband had used to clean grease off of their car. So now, the grease was all over her hands and her face, yet despite this, she reached out to my friend wanting to be picked up and hugged.

Needless to say, my friend did NOT want to do that, and so her daughter started to cry. So very gingerly, my friend picked her up from behind and took her into the house to get her cleaned up.

Many times, we wonder why we feel distant from God. We wonder why he doesn’t seem to hear our prayers, or why we never seem to sense his presence.

A good question to ask yourself is, “Am I covered with muck? Is my sin making God keep his distance from me?”

The writer of Hebrews tells us,

Without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

A couple of notes. First, remember that though we may struggle with sin, God promises that,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

The key is that we always seek to keep a clear conscience before God. And to do that, daily repentance is essential.

The second thing is that just because God seems distant does not necessarily mean you are in sin. There may be other reasons (which is a topic for another blog).

But repentance is a starting point. Ask God, “Is there something between you and me?”

And if there is, God will let you know. I strongly doubt God will ever tell us, “Well, I’m not going to tell you what you did wrong because you should already know.”

So if he doesn’t point out any sin in your life, then know that there are probably other reasons for his silence. And in time, he’ll let you know what they are.

But every day, you should ask yourself, “Is my heart clean before God?”

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Mercy

Matthew

I remember having a dream one night about being at some kind of ministry training seminar or something in China of all places (I’ve never been there), and during it, our teacher told us, “You all know your Bibles well, but are you living it?”

He then started to teach about mercy, and he quoted from the passage where Jesus said, “Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13)

At that point, I woke up kind of wondering what it all meant.

I was on vacation at the time, and that night, I visited my brother’s church. As I was waiting for service to start, I was reading over those passages on mercy.

Then when the message started, my brother (an assistant pastor) read from James, after which he started teaching on, of all things, mercy.

Later that week, I visited my home church and my pastor spoke about…mercy.

Which kind of gave me the idea that God wanted me to learn something. And that year, God started to teach me about mercy.

It’s a lesson I’m still learning. I wish I could say I am now a completely merciful person, but I’m not. It’s an area I still need to grow in.

Jesus says here,

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

What does it mean to be merciful? One thing I learned that year was to stop putting people on a measuring stick. To constantly demand that they meet the standards of my expectations.

God gave me that lesson one day while teaching English to some Japanese students.

I was getting really frustrated with some of them because of their lack of improvement. I was feeling like, “You should know this already! You learned this! Why can’t you remember?”

But God told me, “Bruce stop putting them on the measuring stick you’re setting up. Yes, they probably should be at a higher level than they are. Yes, they should probably know this by now.

But they don’t. Stop criticizing them and accept them where they are. Look at what their needs are and do what you can to meet them.”

It was a lesson I never have forgotten. So many times, people don’t meet our expectations as friends, as coworkers, as children, as husbands, and as wives. As a result we become very critical of them.

But to be merciful means to stop criticizing and to instead start asking ourselves, “What is their need? How can I meet their need?”

That was a key difference between Jesus and the Pharisees, and you see it throughout the gospels.

Another meaning of being merciful is to forgive. People often don’t deserve our forgiveness. Some aren’t even sorry for the hurt they cause us. And because of that, resentment and bitterness start to build up in our hearts.

The word resent, means “to feel again.” And when we hold resentment in our heart, whenever we think of that person that hurt us, we “feel again” the pain they caused us.

Resentment and bitterness chains us to our past. And God doesn’t want that for us. He wants us to move on and find the purposes for which he created us. But we can’t do that if we keep holding on to our past.

More importantly than that, God showed mercy to us, even though we didn’t deserve it. And because of that, he calls us to show mercy to others and forgive them even when they don’t deserve it.

And Jesus tells us time and again that if we desire mercy from God, we need to be merciful to others. We see that in this passage, in the prayer he taught his disciples, and also in the parables he taught.

How about you? How merciful are you?

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Hungering and thirsting for righteousness

Matthew

I suppose as you look at this passage, you can read it two ways, both equally valid in my mind.

First, Jesus could be talking about having a hunger for holiness in your life. To want to live a life that’s pure and pleasing to God out of your love for him.

Yet so often we struggle. Paul talked about that struggle in Romans 7. Yet in that struggle, we see his desire for righteousness in his life.

In short, he says, “I want to do what’s right, but somehow I can’t. I just keep falling time and again. What a total mess I am!”

I know I feel the same way. I desire holiness and purity, and yet so often I fall. And it’s easy to become discouraged. To just throw in the towel and say, “Forget it. Why keep fighting? I’m just going to fall anyway.”

But Jesus encourages us here to not give up. To keep on hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Because the day will come when those desires will be fulfilled.

Ultimately that will happen in heaven. But even here on earth, God is continuing to work in us, “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)

And until that day when perfection comes, the grace of God reigns. For as Paul writes in those passages in Romans,

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

Because of this,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

But I think there’s another sense in which our hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.

So often we look at the world around us, and we see all the injustice and sin that is so prevalent.

We see the failings of the court systems. The laws that are being passed by politicians that are contrary to the word of God. The way moral values are changing so that what was once considered detestable and wrong are considered right.

And we wonder, “When will righteousness and justice come to our land again? Are we beyond hope?”

To be honest, I don’t think things will get better. Paul gives a pretty bleak picture of what the last days will be like. (II Timothy 3:1-5). And I do believe we are in those last days.

I personally put no hope in the politicians, the justice system, or anything else we have set up in order to make things right.

Yet I have hope. Why? Because the day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. (Philippians 2:10-11).

So I refuse to despair at all the evil I see. Justice and righteousness will come. Our hunger and thirst for these things will be satisfied.

So until that day, I will wait and hope, not on the things of this world or the governments and institutions people have set up, but on God.

May we never lose our hunger and thirst for righteousness in our lives or in the world around us. For Jesus promises that we will be satisfied.

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Submitted to the Father

Matthew

I have to admit that whenever I read this, I’m always having to look up the word meek. What exactly does it mean to be meek?

I suppose it would be good to say what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean weak. When you look at Moses and Jesus himself, both were described as meek, but you could hardly call either of them weak. They were both very strong men.

The word meek comes from the idea of an animal that has been tamed. A tamed animal has not lost any of its strength, but is submitted to its master, and is willing to be used for his purposes.

Defined this way, Moses and Jesus can definitely be called meek.

Moses, after originally trying to fight for the Israelites on his own strength, and then giving up completely when he was essentially exiled, put himself under God’s authority and went on to accomplish great things.

Jesus, of course, while never ceasing to be God, nevertheless submitted himself to his Father’s will, going to the cross, and accomplishing the purpose for which the Father sent him, our salvation.

Both went through trying times. Both went through times of weakness. But both persevered through those trials, and kept on going until they fulfilled the purpose the Father had for them.

That’s what it means to be meek.

How about you? Are you meek? Have you submitted yourself to the Father?

When times get hard, do you complain, and ask, “Why is this happening to me? I thought I was doing what You told me?”

Or do you humble yourself before him, and continue to do his will?

It is to those people that Jesus says, “They shall inherit the earth.”

We will not go unrewarded if we submit to the Father and follow his will every day.

The question is: Will we?

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Those who mourn

Matthew

I have probably heard hundreds of messages on the beatitudes and seen numerous commentaries, and most of the time, they interpret this verse as meaning, “Blessed are those who mourn over their sin.”

I suppose it fits in well with the idea of being poor in spirit. We see just how spiritually bankrupt we are, and because of that we mourn.

Mourning over sin can be good or bad. Mourning over sin that results in repentance leads to life. But mourning that leads to despair leads to death.

You see that in Peter’s and Judas’ lives. One repented and found life. The other found despair and killed himself.

The key question to ask is where does our mourning take our focus? On God and his grace? Or on ourselves and our utter depravity?

When we focus on God and his grace, we find comfort. When we focus on ourselves and our utter depravity, it will lead to despair.

But I’m not so sure Jesus was totally focused on mourning because of our sin.

Sometimes we mourn not because of our sin per se, but because of the brokenness in this world because of sin.

We mourn because of the sickness and death we see around us. We mourn because of all the hurt that people cause each other.

And as I said, it’s easy to despair because of it. To wonder if there’s any hope.

But again I ask, where do we place our focus when we mourn? If we focus merely on ourselves, it will lead to despair. Because in ourselves, we don’t have the power to change all the awful things around us.

When we place our focus on God, however, it leads to hope because God is above all our circumstances, and he can take what is broken and restore it. More than that, he can take what is dead, and bring it to life.

Dead relationships. Dead marriages. Dead hopes. Dead souls.

Are you broken because of sin? Are you mourning because of all the hurt you see in your life and in those around you?

Take your eyes off of yourself and on the one who gives life to that which is dead. Because when you do, you will find comfort.

Categories
Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Not for the “spiritual”

Poor in spirit
www.LumoProject.com

We’re skipping back to Matthew 5 at this point, and we’ll be combining the two sermons on the Mount and the Plain, as they have very similar themes.

Jesus’ words here are slightly different from those we read in Luke. Instead of saying, “Blessed are the poor,” he says “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

While in the former, he seems to be talking to those who were monetarily poor, in this passage, he seems to be saying something different.

There’s no doubt that some Pharisees, teachers of the law, and other religious folk in the crowd were listening to Jesus speak that day.

And when others looked at them, they thought that these people must be the specially favored of God. They were so spiritual. They knew the Bible so well. They lived such righteous lives.

And probably as people looked at themselves, they felt spiritually inferior.

Jesus’ 12 disciples must have especially felt that way. They had no religious training that could compare with the religious elite. They were just fishermen. One was a despised tax collector.

They were a short-tempered, proud, bickering group. A group that Jesus often chided for a lack of faith.

And yet, Jesus said to them, “Yes you are spiritually poor. But the kingdom of God is for people just like you.”

On the other hand, many of the people they considered spiritually rich would find themselves locked out of God’s kingdom when they came to heaven’s gate. Why?

Because the truth is, we are all spiritually poor. None of us have anything we can bring before God that allows us to say, “See, you have to let me in.”

More than spiritually poor, we are spiritually bankrupt.

The Bible says,

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

In fact, all our righteous works are but filthy rags to God. (Isaiah 64:6)

Because of this, we all need Jesus. All of us need his forgiveness and grace, from the Pharisee to the tax collector, from the pastor to the prostitute. And without it, none of us will enter his kingdom.

Do you feel spiritually poor? Know that there is hope for you.

Even if you don’t have a seminary degree, even if you’re just an ordinary person with no special qualifications, and even if you have totally messed up your life, the kingdom of God is for you.

Why? Because whether you’re a pastor, an office worker, or a prostitute, we are all the same. Sinners in need of grace.

The kingdom of God is not for the “spiritual.” It’s for the sinner.

Do you feel you’re not good enough for the kingdom of God? Cheer up. None of us are.

But if you will humble yourself before God, ask his forgiveness for your sins, and if you will receive Jesus as Lord of your life, he promises you eternal life.

And no matter who you are, there are no second-class citizens in his kingdom.

Categories
Luke Luke 6

The problem with self-satisfaction

Luke

After Jesus talked about God’s blessings on those who were poor, he turned his attention on those who were rich and self-satisfied, saying,

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:24-26)

Pretty harsh words. But just as verses 17-21 were not a blanket statement of blessing for the poor, neither is this a blanket statement that condemns the rich.

Rather they were words to people who were self-satisfied. People who were so comfortable, that they gave little if any thought to God, simply because they didn’t feel they needed him.

But for people who feel like that, the time will come when they will realize that all their wealth, all their food, all their comforts, and all their pleasures are fleeting.

One day, they will stand naked before God and he will ask them, “What did you do with my Son?”

And if they have rejected him in this life, they will be condemned for all eternity.

And so will you.

How about you? Do you feel like you don’t really need God. That you have enough to make your life a happy one?

Remember that this life is only 70 or 80 years, if we’re lucky. But after that, we will face eternity, either in heaven, or in hell. And all that you enjoyed here will mean nothing if you have rejected God here on earth.

If you have rejected God here on earth, he will reject you for all eternity in the life to come.

But if you make room in your heart for him, if you give him the throne of your life and make him king, then not only will you have life in heaven someday. You’ll find true life here on earth. For as Jesus said,

I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

Where do you find your satisfaction? In yourself? In your possessions? Or in having a relationship with the one who loves you and died for you?

Categories
Luke Luke 6

Good news

Luke

There seems to be some dispute as to whether the teachings from the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew and the teachings from the Sermon on the Plain in Luke were actually the same message or not.

Some think they are, stating that the “level place” in Luke could very well have been on that mountain mentioned in Matthew.

I would guess, however, that these are two different messages, although with repeated themes that at times were altered because of the audiences Jesus was speaking to.

I strongly doubt that Jesus taught completely unique messages wherever he went. As he traveled from place to place, he probably taught variants of the same message.

In this passage, I get the impression that he was speaking to a lot of poor people. Literally poor. People who had little money, and little hope for the future.

Perhaps they were widows. Or disabled. Or immigrants from another land. And as such, Jesus tailored his message a bit for them. In doing so, he fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesy which said,

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

So Jesus said to them,

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. (Luke 6:20-21)

This of course is not a blanket statement that all who are poor and depressed will enter his kingdom and be blessed.

The underlying caveat behind all this is that they are people who pursue God. That if Jesus is your Lord, though you may be poor, though you may be hungry, though you may be weeping, there are better times coming.

And in a world that’s less than perfect, that’s good news.

How about you? Is your life hard? Are you struggling because of your circumstances? There is hope. There will be better times. But only if you make Jesus your Lord. Paul wrote,

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Are you in love with Jesus Christ? And are you living for his purposes or for yours? Who are you living for?

Categories
Luke Luke 6 Mark Mark 3 Matthew Matthew 10

Called to be with him, called to go out

The gospels

In these passages, we see the increasing popularity of Jesus, and perhaps it was because of these increasingly great crowds and their needs that Jesus decided to choose 12 people as his trained disciples.

As a man, Jesus was limited to one place at one time. As a result, to minister more effectively, he needed people around him to share in his work.

It truly was a motley crew he chose.

You had fishermen, a former tax collector and collaborator of the Roman government, and a former zealot who was highly nationalistic.

You also had a variety of personalities. You had the brash and bold (Peter), the skeptical (Thomas and Nathanael), and the short-tempered (James and John).

They were all quite different people. But there were three things that Jesus wanted of them. It says in Mark 3:14-15,

He appointed twelve–designating them apostles–that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

First and foremost, Jesus wanted people that would be with him. People who would spend time with him, and to learn from him.

Jesus still desires that today. He desires that we share in his life. That we might know him. And that we might grow to be more like him.

Second, Jesus wanted people that would go out and share the message he had given them.

So often, people read their Bibles, and they grow in their relationship with God. But it’s not enough to just know the Word. God wants us to share that message with others so that they can share in what you have.

Third, Jesus wanted people who would fight spiritual warfare. You may or may not drive out demons from people as the disciples did, but you will have to fight the spiritual forces that are out there.

As Paul wrote,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

Jesus calls us to fight. Not against people, but against Satan and his spiritual forces that would blind people and doom them to eternal hell. He calls us to fight for the souls of men and women everywhere.

Every day, people are dying and going to hell. But God doesn’t want that. He wants us to go and fight that they may be saved.

That’s what it means to be a disciple of Christ. To be with Jesus. To go out and share the good news with others. And to engage in spiritual warfare.

How about you? As Christ’s disciple, are you doing these things?

Categories
Luke Luke 5 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 4

Called to follow

The gospels

I do have to back up in time a bit. I just noticed I missed some crucial passages, namely where Jesus first calls the fishermen to follow him. (I’m sure this won’t be the last time I skip something by mistake.)

At any rate, these passages are a little difficult to harmonize, namely Matthew and Mark with Luke.

Any harmonization is purely speculative, but it is my guess that the events in Luke happened first, and that the events in Matthew and Mark happened shortly thereafter, perhaps a day or two later.

One day Jesus was trying to teach, but was getting pressed all the way back to the water by the huge crowds that were surrounding him.

Seeing Peter and his friends washing their nets nearby, he got into one of their boats and asked them to go out from shore a bit, and he taught from the water.

I’m not sure how much Peter and his friends wanted to do that. They’d just had a fruitless night of fishing, were tired, and probably wanted to go home. But they did as Jesus asked.

After Jesus finished teaching, however, he told them to go out further into the water to catch some fish.

At that point, Peter reached his limit. He was tired, discouraged, and wanted to waste no more time fishing this day. He certainly didn’t want to take any advice on fishing from a carpenter.

So he said,

Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. (Luke 5:5a)

But Jesus never wavered and just looked at Peter until he finally mumbled,

But because you say so, I will let down the nets. (Luke 5:5b)

So Peter and his friends went out, probably totally embarrassed. After all, nobody went fishing at that time of day. There were simply no fish to be had, and their friends in the other boat were probably all laughing at them for following Jesus’ advice.

But when they let down the nets, there were so many fish, Peter soon called his friends in the other boat to come help them, and there were so many fish, both boats began to sink.

At first, Peter was probably exuberant. But then it sank down in his heart what had just happened. He realized that this Jesus was much more than just an ordinary teacher.

And so he fell to his knees, and said,

Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man! (Luke 5:8)

But Jesus answered,

Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men. (Luke 5:10)

Again this is pure speculation, but I’m guessing that Luke compressed what happened next.

I’m guessing that they all went home that night. It’s possible that Jesus wanted them to reflect on all that had happened and the words he had spoken to them.

And then, perhaps the next morning, or shortly thereafter, while Peter and Andrew were fishing, and while James and John were mending their nets, Jesus made his formal call to them saying,

Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19)

And when they heard it, they left everything to follow him.

What can we get from this?

First, Jesus’ grace extends to us and covers all our sins and failures, just like it covered Peter’s. He didn’t condemn Peter for his sin. Rather, he called Peter into a new life.

Second, you don’t need special qualifications to follow Jesus. You don’t need to go to seminary or Bible school. Peter and his friends were simple, uneducated fishermen. But Jesus called them anyway as his primary disciples.

Third, the most important thing for us to do is to trust him and to obey him. We don’t need to understand all the whys for the things Jesus asks us to do.

But we do need a heart that says, “But because you say so, I will.” We need a heart that is willing to let go of everything we hold dear in order to follow him.

Finally, as his followers, we are called to join in Jesus’ work. To bring others into the kingdom of God.

Will you be like Peter and his friends. Will you follow the Master’s call?

Categories
Luke Luke 6 Mark Mark 3 Matthew Matthew 12

What grieves Jesus

The gospels

This is one of those stories where each of the gospels gives us a little piece of the puzzle to what happened. Here’s my take on the whole story taking into account each of the stories.

Jesus was in the synagogue, and he sees a man there with a shriveled hand. But he also notices the scrutiny he’s getting from the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and he knows that they’re waiting to see if he will break their rules concerning the Sabbath and heal the man. (Mark 3:1-2)

So Jesus deliberately calls the man to come up, and as he does, the religious leaders ask,

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? (Matthew 12:10)

Jesus, as he typically does, responds to the question with a question of his own.

I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? (Luke 6:9)

This was of course an unanswerable question for these leaders. They would have sounded stupid if they had said it was wrong to do good on the Sabbath or to save a life. How can you dishonor God on the Sabbath by doing good and saving lives?

But if they had said it was lawful, Jesus would have said, “You’ve just answered your own question,” and immediately healed the man.

On the other hand, there was no way they could say it was lawful to do evil or destroy life on the Sabbath.

So in the face of this unanswerable question, they remained silent. For as the old saying goes, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”

Luke tells us that Jesus looked around the room for an answer, but Mark adds a bit more information in chapter 3 verse 5. He says,

He looked around at them in anger…deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts (NASB — “hardness of heart”).

So Jesus probes them further, saying,

If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! (Matthew 12:11-12a)

In other words, “You are willing to help your sheep if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath? Which is more important, a person or a sheep? And if people are more important, how can you accuse me of breaking the Sabbath when I heal a man?”

So Jesus concludes,

Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:12b)

He then healed the man.

The irony of all this? Jesus had asked them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to save life or destroy it?”

And right after this event, on the Sabbath, the religious leaders started plotting to kill Jesus. (Mark 3:6)

But the verse that strikes me is Mark 3:5. That when Jesus saw these leaders’ hardened hearts, it grieved him.

They were so hardened by their legalism and by their traditions, God’s word and truth could not penetrate their hearts. Even when they had to know deep in their hearts they were wrong (as proven by their silence), they would not admit it.

How about you? You may not be as legalistic as the Pharisees, but are there areas in your life where you’ve hardened your heart to God?

You’re doing something wrong, or your way of thinking is wrong, and God has spoken to your heart and shown you your error and your sin, and you know you’re wrong. You know you need to change.

But instead, you cling to your old way of thinking. You cling to your sin. This kind of hardness of heart grieves God.

It grieves him because he wants so much better for you. It grieves him because by refusing to repent, you not only hurt him, but you hurt yourself, and those around you.

Let us have hearts softened to him. Receptive to his word. May we not bring grief to Jesus who died for us, but let us bring him joy.

Categories
Luke Luke 6 Mark Mark 2 Matthew Matthew 12

Condemning the innocent

The gospels

We have already seen in John the problems the religious leaders had with Jesus for “breaking” the Sabbath. Actually, all he did was break the rules that they had added to God’s original commandment to keep the Sabbath.

Here again, we see another confrontation between Jesus and these leaders concerning the Sabbath.

This time, Jesus and his disciples were walking by a field, and because his disciples were hungry, they took some grain to eat of it.

By the way, it was perfectly acceptable to take grain from another person’s field back in those days, as long as you weren’t taking a sickle to it. (Deuteronomy 23:25)

The problem was not the picking of the grain, the problem was that the Pharisees considered this “work,” which was of course forbidden on the Sabbath.

But Jesus refutes this in two ways.

First, the priests always worked in the temple on the Sabbath, and were not considered guilty of sin.

Second, there are some laws that God considers higher than others. Namely, the preservation of life was considered more important than keeping the letter of the Sabbath law.

Even the Pharisees accepted this to some degree as I’ve mentioned before. (Doctors could save a person’s life on the Sabbath, but could only do enough to keep them alive until the next day, from where they could give full treatment to the patient).

And once again, Jesus quotes Hosea to them, saying,

If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. (Matthew 12:7)

One mistake that people make about God is that they think he’s most interested in rules. That rules are the most important thing to him, and that he’s just waiting to blast us for every mistake we make.

God is far more interested in people than he is in rules.

But because the Pharisees didn’t understand this, they set up multiple rules around the laws God had made, and they were quick to condemn anyone who didn’t meet the standards they had set up.

But Jesus told the Pharisees,

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

I think you could say the same for all the rules God has set up. They were made for us. We were not made for them. God didn’t make rules solely for the sake of making us dance to them. He made them for our benefit.

And if we understand that, we can better understand the purpose for each rule, and what it means for our lives.

But if we fail to understand that, we’ll end up like the Pharisees, misunderstanding and misinterpreting the law of God, and condemning people who are innocent in his sight.

How about you? How do you see God’s rules? Are you seeing them as something God has set up just for the sake of setting them up?

Or do you see them as something God has set up for your benefit? Do you understand the whys for each rule?

If you do, you’ll be far less likely to unjustly condemn others for “breaking the rules.”

Categories
John John 5

When we seek the praise of man

John

When you think about Jesus’ life, the thing that would probably surprise you if you never heard the story before is that the religious leaders, the people that should have been the quickest to embrace him, didn’t.

Instead, they rejected him, and eventually were responsible for his death. How could that possibly happen?

These were people that Jesus said constantly searched the scriptures. Now that in itself is a good thing.

But the problem was they sought the praise of others, namely their peers, rather than the praise of God.

As a result, their study of scriptures was more to impress their peers than to really seek God. Jesus said to them,

I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? (John 5:43-44)

When we get so focused on getting the praise from others and the pride that comes from that, we become blind to what God is doing and saying. We may see and hear what God is doing, but we can’t take it in.

You see this with these religious leaders. They heard John the Baptist speak. They heard Jesus speak. And not only did they hear him speak, they saw him validate those words with the miracles he performed.

But for some reason, they couldn’t take it in. As a result, they missed out on what truly brings life.

Because life, true life, is living in accord with God’s purpose.

It’s walking in step with what he’s doing in your life, and the world around you, and joining in with his work. If we truly love God, that’s what our focus will be on.

But these leaders lacked that love for God because they were too focused on themselves. And so Jesus told them,

I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. (John 5:42)

How about you? What would Jesus say about you? Could he say that you truly have the love of God in your life? That your love is such that your main goal is to please him?

Are you seeking the praise of God? Or the praise of man?

As you do ministry in the church, who are you seeking validation from? From your pastor? From the other people at church?

When that starts to become your focus, your ministry becomes as self-centered as these religious leaders’ studies of the scripture. And we become blind to what Jesus is truly trying to do.

I’ll be honest, as a public speaker and teacher in my church, it’s something I have to constantly battle. Pride is a killer to any ministry that we do.

So we constantly have to ask ourselves this question: “Who am I trying to please?”

Whose praise are you seeking?

Categories
John John 5

The one who judges…and gives life

John

Here we catch a glimpse of the relationship between the Father and the Son.

One thing we cannot say, as some cults do, is that the Father is the Son. They are clearly distinct from each other, though they are the one God (along with the Holy Spirit).

We see that while Jesus was on earth, there was a dependency that Jesus had on the Father. He was constantly watching for what his Father was doing and joining in on his work. (John 5:19)

More than that, he was always looking to please his Father, not himself, and all he said and did was based on the Father’s strength and counsel. (John 5:30)

But on the other hand, we see the tremendous power and authority that the Father gave Jesus.

Why was this given? So that all would honor the Son as they honor the Father. To dishonor the Son is to dishonor the Father. (John 5:23)

So in this sense, we also see the equality that Jesus had with his Father. (John 5:18)

What power and authority does Jesus have?

First, he has the power of life. He has the power to raise all who are dead to life. Jesus said,

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5:21)

We see this throughout his ministry, most notably in Lazarus (John 11). But not only that, Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself…

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. (John 5:25-26, 28-29)

One thing to remember is that Jesus will ultimately raise all people back from the grave, not just the believers. Why? For judgment. And that’s the second point.

Jesus has the authority to judge all people. Jesus said,

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son. (John 5:22)

What kind of judgment will Jesus pass?

Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29)

In other words, Jesus’ judgment will have eternal consequences and will determine who will go to heaven and hell.

And he has the right to judge and condemn, because he himself became the Son of Man, and yet never sinned. (John 5:27)

How will Jesus judge who goes to heaven or hell? Jesus tells us.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

In other words, we need to hear the words of Jesus, believe them, and put our faith in the Father who sent him.

Those who do, will have eternal life. But those who reject Jesus will be condemned for all eternity.

How about you? Have you put your faith in the person who has the authority to judge and the power to give life?

Categories
John John 5

Who Jesus is

John

Who is this Jesus? That is the question that every single person who encountered him had to face.

It’s the question that people to this day must face in encountering Jesus.

The Jews came face to face with this question when Jesus told them,

My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working. (John 5:17)

That statement may seem innocuous to us, but to the Jews, it struck like a thunderbolt. Why?

Nobody in those days ever referred to God as “My Father.” As “Our Father,” perhaps, but not, “My Father.”

And by saying, “My Father,” Jesus essentially made a claim to deity. What was the logic behind that?

Well, think about it. Sons (and daughters) share the nature of their father.

If the father is human, his sons and daughters will be human. If the father is a cat, his sons and daughters will be cats. If the father is an ape, his sons and daughters will be apes.

And if God were to have a Son, that Son would also be God by nature.

Now we are not saying, of course, that God literally gave birth, or that he married and his wife gave birth. Jesus existed from all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

But one thing is certain. They all share the nature of God. How that works, nobody can truly explain. But that’s how God has revealed himself.

So what? What does this mean for us?

It means that if Jesus is God, we can’t simply dismiss his words as the words of an ordinary man. Of a man who had his opinions, but we are free to disagree with.

Instead, we must hold to his words as truth. And obey them.

How about you? Who is Jesus to you?

Categories
John John 5

Blinded by rules

John

Rules are a good thing. It tends to put order where there is disorder. This is true in the classroom (where I teach), it’s true in our households, and it’s true in society.

But rules can be harmful when people forget that the rules are not there simply for their own sake. There are reasons for rules, and if we forget the spirit of them, we can get into trouble.

What’s worse is when we start making up rules to keep us from breaking other rules.

What do I mean? To take a very modern example, God says, “Don’t get drunk, instead be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)

Throughout scripture, especially in the Proverbs, you see warnings against getting drunk. Why? Because when you get drunk, you’re no longer in control of yourself. Even more importantly, God no longer is in control in your life.

But some people put a rule around the rule. “Don’t drink alcohol at all. If you drink, you might get drunk.”

Now that rule around the rule is not bad in itself. I basically avoid drinking myself for that very reason (not to mention the fact that alcohol doesn’t taste very good).

But it becomes bad when you start criticizing others for breaking the rule around the rule.

That’s what the Pharisees were like, and you see it in their keeping of the Sabbath. You had the rule: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

In short, “Don’t work on that day.”

What was the spirit of the law?

First, to take some time to focus on God.

Second, to learn to trust him to provide for you by working only six days a week instead of seven (as the Israelites did when they were slaves in Egypt).

And finally, to relax. Let your body rest.

That was the spirit of the law.

But the Pharisees and teachers of the law built all these rules around the rule.

They had restrictions on how far you could travel or how much you could carry on the Sabbath.

They also had restrictions on doctors. If it was the Sabbath, they could only help someone if they were dying. And even then, they could only help to the point that the person could survive until the end of the Sabbath.

But by putting in place all these laws, they forgot the reason for the commandment and placed burdens on the people that God never intended.

Further, they criticized anyone for breaking their rules, rules that God never gave the people.

Not only that, they became blinded to what God was doing because of their fixation on rules.

You see that in this passage.

They see a man walking with his mat (breaking the rule against carrying “a burden.”)

“You’re working! What are you doing working on the Sabbath?”

“Well, the man who healed me, he told me to pick up my mat and walk.”

Translation: “If this guy had the power to heal me, he must have the authority to tell me to carry my mat.”

Now two things to note here. First, the Jews probably didn’t recognize this man at all as a person who had been disabled for 38 years. They only noticed him when he broke their rules.

How often are we that way? We totally ignore the people who are spiritually needy around us and only notice them when they break the rules.

Second, even when they realized what had happened, they were so focused on the breaking of their rules, that they couldn’t see the incredible thing God had done for this man.

Instead, all their focus was on finding out who broke the rule for healing this man. And when they found out it was Jesus, they persecuted him.

That’s the danger of being too focused on rules. We fail to see the needs of the people around us, and we also fail to see what God is trying to do around us.

How about you? Are you blinded by rules?

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John John 5

Desiring wholeness

John

Sometimes I wonder if people really desire wholeness in their lives.

They often complain about their marriage or relationships, they complain about their jobs or their health, but they never seem to do anything about it.

They almost seem to like complaining about their problems. They seem to enjoy receiving sympathy from others.

But Jesus doesn’t want us to be that way. He doesn’t want us to wallow in our brokenness. He wants to bring healing in our lives. We see this in this passage.

A man was an invalid for 38 years, and probably had to make his living begging.

When Jesus found out about his situation, he asked a simple question: “Do you want to get well?” (Or “be made whole” — KJV)

One would think it’s only natural that the person would want to be healed. But perhaps he was happy not working and just begging for a living. Maybe he enjoyed having people wait on him. It was in that sense, an easy life.

But we see from the man’s answer that this was not the case. He wanted to be healed.

Apparently, there was a belief (true or not, it’s not clear from the passage) that the first person that got into the pool of Bethesda when the water was stirred would be healed.

He always tried to get in, but with no help, someone always got in first.

When Jesus heard his reply, he said, “Well then, get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” (John 5:8)

One wonders what this man was thinking. Apparently, he hadn’t heard of Jesus before, or if he had, he didn’t recognize him, as we will see later in the story.

But here is this total stranger telling him to do something he hadn’t been able to do in 38 years.

Whatever he was thinking, he tried it, and immediately, he was healed.

Later at the temple, Jesus came up to him, and said,

See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. (John 5:14)

What can we get from this?

Lots of us experience hurts in our lives. Many of us are broken, and we see no way that we can ever be made whole. But Jesus asks us the same question he asked the man.

“Do you wish to be made whole?”

If you do, you need to do what the man did and obey what Jesus tells you. Don’t question what he says. Don’t complain that it’s impossible. Make up your mind to obey him.

Now this is not to say that wholeness will come as quickly or easily as it came to this man.

When it comes to issues of broken relationships, broken hearts, bitterness, and many other things, it takes time.

You’ll need the help of the Holy Spirit working in you, and the help of Christ’s body, the church. (That’s one reason why going to church is so important).

But wholeness will never come unless number one, you truly want to be made whole, and number two, you make the decision to trust Jesus and do what he says.

And when you do, as he did with this man, Jesus will give you the power to obey him and bring wholeness into your life.

But if you choose not to trust him and continue going your own way, in short, if you continue to live in sin, you’ll find as Jesus warned this man that your life will only get worse. (John 5:14)

What will you choose?

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Luke Luke 5 Mark Mark 2 Matthew Matthew 9

For God to use you

The gospels

One thing that the religious leaders always seemed to be trying to do was to pit John the Baptist versus Jesus. And John’s disciples fell for it every time.

First, these leaders pointed out to John’s disciples that Jesus was baptizing more people than John. (John 3:25-26)

(I should say that it’s not certain whether it was a religious leader that did this, but I think it’s a good guess.)

Then here in this passage, they have John’s disciples questioning Jesus as to why he and his disciples didn’t fast as they did.

Why did the Pharisees and others do this? Probably to rob Jesus of his credibility. John the Baptist, after all, did point to Jesus as the Messiah.

I don’t think it’s coincidence that Jesus brought up the illustration of a wedding. John did the very same thing earlier when told about Jesus baptizing more than him.

John said he was like the best man in the wedding, while Jesus was the bridegroom. Perhaps in using this illustration, Jesus was trying to remind them of that.

John was gone. He was in prison. His work was done. Yet for some reason, his disciples maintained their loyalty to John, and apparently weren’t interested in going after Jesus as Andrew and one other disciple of John had done. (John 1:35-40).

Jesus told them, “John told you I am the bridegroom. Why should people fast and mourn while the bridegroom is there? When the bridegroom leaves, there will be plenty of time for that.

But now is not the time for fasting and praying because I am here. When I leave, that will be the time to be fasting and praying.”

Then he told them a parable, talking about patches and wineskins which the people then could understand easily, but are a little difficult to understand in our day.

But think about it this way, if you put a brand new piece of denim to patch up a pair of old jeans, what will happen if you wash it? The denim will shrink, and ruin the jeans.

Nowadays, people put wine in bottles, but in those days, they used goatskins to make bottles for wine.

As the wine fermented, the skin would expand, so if you ever put new wine into an old wineskin, the wineskin would burst because it had already expanded, and could expand no further.

What was Jesus telling John’s disciples (and for that matter, the Pharisees that were looking on)?

Basically, he was saying, “God is doing something new. I, the Son of God, am here, and I am reaching out to the lost and dying. I’m building a kingdom that will last forever.

But you are like the old wineskins. You are so in love with your old ways, that God can’t use you.”

For the Pharisees, they were in love with all the laws and regulations. To them, that was the most important thing, not people.

As a result, they were looking down on the very people God was trying to save. They were more interested in sacrifices and religious ritual than saving people.

For John’s disciples, perhaps they fell too much in love with their teacher. They forgot what John’s purpose was. It wasn’t merely to baptize people or to call people to repentance. It was to prepare the people for Jesus and get them following him.

But instead of going to Jesus, even after John was gone, they missed out on what God wanted of them.

God was pouring new wine, the work of the Spirit, through the ministry of Jesus. But John’s disciples were clinging to the teachings and practices of John, and saying, “The old is better.” (Luke 5:39)

How about you? Are you open to the Spirit’s work in your life? Or are you clinging to traditions? To legalistic righteousness? Or even to things that were important and effective in their time, but whose time has passed.

In order for God to use you, you need to constantly be watching for what he is doing now, and joining in with his work, even if it’s different from what you’ve done in the past.

Are you an old wineskin, or a new one?

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Luke Luke 5 Mark Mark 2 Matthew Matthew 9

Mercy-givers

The gospels

Here we see a big difference between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day. A heart of mercy.

Matthew was so excited to be called by Jesus, that he immediately invited Jesus to a great banquet with him and all his friends.

Of course, being an outcast of society, all of Matthew’s friends were also outcasts; fellow tax collectors and other people looked down upon as “sinners.”

But Jesus didn’t hesitate. He gladly agreed, and soon he was dining with Matthew and all his disreputable friends.

How often do we do that? To reach out to those others, even those the “religious” among us have rejected?

One could make the case that Matthew had repented, but I doubt you could make that same case for all his friends. Yet Jesus reached out, and spent time with them. More than that, he enjoyed being with them.

How did the religious establishment respond? They were appalled.

If I were to translate it into modern society, imagine a famous pastor hanging out with gays and lesbians, eating and drinking with them. How would many “religious folk” respond?

Probably the same as these Pharisees. “How in the world can you hang out with those kinds of people? Those sinners?”

But Jesus replied,

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Mark 2:17)

In other words, “It is just these kinds of people that I need to be hanging out with. These are the people that need me because they are spiritually sick, whether they know it or not. And if I isolate myself from them, they will die in their sin.”

Matthew then gives us one more thing Jesus told those Pharisees that Mark and Luke don’t, probably because he was there, and Jesus’ words so impressed themselves on him. Jesus told them,

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ (Matthew 9:13)

Jesus was telling them, “You guys are so wrapped up in your laws and traditions. You dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ when it comes to the law, offering every sacrifice that’s required, and acting so religious.

But that’s not the most important thing God desires.

He desires that you be a mercy-giver. A person that reaches out to those who are lost in their sin. Who spends time with them. Who shows love to them. A person who offers them life and a second chance.

Instead, you isolate yourselves from them, leaving them to die in their sin.

How about you? Do you isolate yourself from sinners, looking down on them because of their sin? Or do you see them as Jesus does? As sick people who need a doctor. Who need a Savior.

Let us be mercy-givers today and every day. For that is what God desires.

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Luke Luke 5 Mark Mark 2 Matthew Matthew 9

Never beyond redemption

The gospels

I love these passages because it teaches us one thing. We’re never so far gone that God’s love can’t reach us.

One day, Jesus was walking past the tax collecting booth of a man named Matthew. I kind of wonder what was going through Matthew’s heart as he saw Jesus approaching.

I’m not sure, but at a guess, there was probably regret. Long ago, Matthew had “sold his soul.”

Tax collectors were among the most despised people in Israel. Not only were they considered collaborators for collecting taxes for the hated Roman government, they were also considered cheats for taking more money in “taxes” than they should have, and pocketing the excess.

Why Matthew took this path, we will never know. But perhaps as time went on, he discovered that the money he was making wasn’t worth the price. It wasn’t bringing him joy just having money and things. Instead, it was bringing only despair.

It’s possible that as he saw Jesus was approaching, Matthew felt a sting of jealousy for the throng that was following Jesus. Maybe a part of him wished that he too could follow after Jesus.

He had heard of all the things Jesus taught. He had heard of the miracles. And perhaps in Jesus, he thought there might be a way out from the hell he was in.

But he thought, “There’s no chance. There’s no way Jesus could accept me as a follower. I’m too far gone.”

Suddenly Jesus stopped at Matthew’s booth and looked at him. As he did, Matthew probably felt that everything in his heart was laid bare before that piercing gaze, and his head dropped in shame and guilt.

But then Jesus said, “Matthew.”

And when Matthew looked up, he didn’t see condemnation in Jesus’ eyes. He saw compassion. He saw forgiveness.

And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”

Two simple words. “Follow me.”

But in those words were a wealth of meaning. “It’s not too late for you. There is forgiveness available to you. There is hope. There is redemption. Just follow me.”

And Matthew left all to follow Jesus. To be sure, there was a lot still that needed to be dealt with in Matthew’s life. But that day, he took a first step into a new life.

How about you? Do you feel that you are beyond redemption? That you’ve gone so far that God has given up on you.

He hasn’t. He still loves you. He looks upon you with compassion. And he offers you forgiveness and mercy. All you have to do is to take that first step and start following after him.

Change will take time. Like Matthew, you will not become perfect overnight. There will be struggles with sin. There will be times you will fall.

But when you take that first step and say, “Jesus I want to follow you. Please be my Lord,” Jesus will give you a new heart that can follow him, and he will change you from the inside out.

Will you take that first step today?

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Luke Luke 5 Mark Mark 2 Matthew Matthew 9

The power to forgive

The gospels

Who was this Jesus? Just a great religious teacher? A good, moral man? A miracle worker? Or something more?

From this passage, we can see that Jesus was something much more.

Jesus was back in Capernaum where he had made his home for the time being. I’m not sure if he was staying in his own house, or was at another’s, but the people so crammed the place he was at that they were literally bulging out the doors.

People were probably jammed around the windows peering in as well as Jesus taught.

And to this house came four men who brought a friend who was paralyzed, hoping that Jesus would heal him. But because of all the people there, they had no conventional way to get him to Jesus.

So they took an unconventional route. They made a hole in the roof, and lowered him down in front of Jesus.

Can you imagine the scene? Jesus is teaching in this crowded room, when suddenly the people notice a strange sound coming from the roof.

Then pieces of the roof start falling down into the room and people are trying to get out of the way, only it’s very difficult because there’s nowhere to move.

Eventually, people start pushing out and opening up a space under which the roof is falling to the ground.

By this time, of course, there’s no way Jesus is teaching anymore. Everyone is just waiting to see what will happen next.

Then the man is lowered in front of Jesus and everyone is waiting expectantly to see what Jesus will do.

Of course, everyone expects him to heal the man. But Jesus instead says something totally unexpected.

Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven. (Matthew 9:2)

Those words probably dropped with a greater thud than the chunks of roof that fell to the ground. Everyone is dead silent.

And the Pharisees and teachers of the law probably voiced what everyone was thinking.

Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Luke 5:21)

In other words, “What right does Jesus have to forgive sins? Only God can do that.”

They were half right. Only God can forgive sins. Only the person wronged can absolve another of a wrongdoing.

But what the Pharisees and teachers of the law didn’t know was that God was standing among them. Jesus was himself God, and because of that, he had the right to forgive.

He then proved the man’s spiritual healing by healing him physically.

Jesus is much more than just a great religious leader. Much more than a good moral man. Much more than just a miracle worker. He is God come in human form.

He came and lived among us for a while, and then he died to take the punishment for our sin. And because he did so, our sins can be forgiven.

Just as he delivered this man from his sin, he can deliver you from yours. All you need to do is ask.

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Luke Luke 5 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 8

The One who cleanses

The gospels

I love the compassion of Jesus that we see in this passage. A man covered with leprosy came to Jesus, begging him,

Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. (Matthew 8:2)

Being leprous back in those days was a horrible thing because you were literally cut off from society. You had to leave your home, and basically go into exile. If someone came close to you, you had to shout “Unclean, unclean” to warn them away.

It was a lonely, miserable life. The only people you could hang out with were other lepers.

But this leper had heard about Jesus and suddenly he had hope again. He dared to draw near, asking for healing.

I think Jesus went well beyond what this man expected. Not only did Jesus say he was willing to heal him, he even touched the man.

To touch a leprous man in Jewish society was to make yourself ceremonially unclean, not to mention putting yourself in danger of becoming leprous yourself.

It may have been the first time that this man had been touched in years and Jesus’ touch may have jolted him.

I’ve been in Japan, a place not known for much human touch (such as hugs) among adults. I’ve been here so long, I get kind of jolted when people offer me a hug.

That’s how this man may have felt. For so long, people feared to touch him because they might become unclean.

But when Jesus touched this man, Jesus didn’t become unclean. Rather, he made the leprous man clean.

In the same way, Jesus sees us in an unclean sinful state. We’re trapped in the muck and mire of our sin, unable to save ourselves. All we can do is say, “Jesus, if you’re willing, you can make me clean. Help me. Save me.”

And if we will do that, as he did with the leprous man, Jesus will reach down, touch us, and make us whole.

If Jesus could make a person’s skin whole, how much more can he make our souls whole?

Are you trapped in your sin? Do you feel unclean because of it, unable to help yourself? Come to Jesus. Ask for his help and his forgiveness. And he will make you whole.

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Luke Luke 4 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 4

Recharging, refocusing

When Jesus started his ministry, he went all out, touching as many people as he could, spending the whole day doing his Father’s will.

But one thing that he never did was burn out. I’ve been through burnout in ministry before, and it wasn’t fun. Jesus never did.

Considering how much time he spent ministering not only to the crowds, but to his disciples, it would have been easy to do. Why didn’t he?

I think one of his secrets is found in these passages. Mark writes,

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

Jesus didn’t live life in his own strength and his own wisdom. Rather, he lived in total dependence on the Father.

And during those times away from the crowds, he was able to recharge and refocus.

He was able to remember the love the Father had for him. And just as importantly, he was able to remember exactly what the Father wanted him to be doing.

People were always trying to press on Jesus’ time. Luke tells us,

The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. (Luke 4:42)

But Jesus didn’t simply give in to everyone’s demands. Rather, he listened to what his Father wanted him to do and he did it. He told the people,

I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. (Luke 4:43)

There are two reasons people often burn out from ministry.

One is that they’re always giving and never receiving. Most importantly, they’re not receiving from the Father.

They are not receiving love from him, not because he doesn’t want to give it, but because they fail to seek it, and spend time with Him.

Because of that, they start running on fumes, instead of the love that God wants to pour into their lives.

That’s why when things start to go rough in ministry (as they inevitably do), people start to wear down and get discouraged. They’re trying to get their energy from the ministry itself rather than from God.

And when the ministry fails to provide that, they burn out.

The other reason people burn out is that they start doing more than God is telling them to do. They’re trying to please everyone and can’t say no.

Or they put burdens on themselves that God is not putting there. And eventually, they fall beneath the overload.

That’s why it’s so important to spend time with God every day. To recharge and refocus. To plug yourself into God, and the love and energy he wants to pour into you.

And to refocus on exactly what he wants you to do so that you filter out all the other demands people try to put on your time.

Failing to do this will lead to burnout.

How about you? Are you recharging and refocusing every day?

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Luke Luke 4 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 8

The One who heals

The gospels

Here we catch a glimpse of the healing ministry of Jesus as it kicks into full gear.

It starts with Jesus visiting Peter’s home, and healing Peter’s mother-in-law. It strikes me here that this was the first time Jesus healed on the Sabbath, although it was in a private setting, so he caught no flack for it.

Looking back, I kind of wonder about the casting out of the demon back in the synagogue. Would the Pharisees and teachers of the law considered that “work” and criticized Jesus for that too had they been there?

I can just imagine them saying, “Hey, what are you doing? Cast out demons some other day. It’s the Sabbath!”

Jesus would soon get into trouble for healing on the Sabbath, but not on this day. After the Sabbath was over, people flocked to Peter’s house to ask Jesus for healing, and Jesus healed each one.

Matthew says of this,

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” (Matthew 8:17)

It should be pointed out that Matthew clearly states that this prophesy was fulfilled in the healing ministry of Christ while he was on earth. There is no guarantee of healing now.

Jesus, of course, can and does still heal. But unlike what some preachers teach, it is not guaranteed.

Anyway, what can we take from this passage? First, the compassion of Jesus. He not only cares about the crowds, he cares about the individual.

Here was a woman in Peter’s mother-in-law, who is otherwise nameless. And yet Jesus took her by the hand and healed her.

You may be nameless in this world. People may not know who you are. But Jesus knows. And when you’re hurting physically or emotionally, he sees and he cares.

Like I said, there is no guarantee for physical healing. Sometimes God has plans that we can’t see that don’t involve the physical healing of our bodies, but Jesus does tell us to ask, and we should.

But where there are emotional hurts or scars, Jesus will definitely bring healing to those if we will just come to him.

While I’ve seen Jesus use physical ailments for his glory, I don’t believe there would be any reason that Jesus would desire you to carry those emotional hurts throughout your life. So bring them to him. And he will heal you.

The other thing that strikes me from this passage is Peter’s mother-in-law’s response to her healing. She immediately started serving Jesus.

We should do the same. When Jesus heals us, whether from physical ailments or from emotional ones, or from the scars that come from sin, our response should be to serve him out of our gratitude and love for him.

Not because we have to, but because we want to.

And in many cases, he asks us to help others who are in the very same kind of trouble we were in.

Jesus doesn’t just heal us so that we will be healed, but so that we can bring his healing to others as well.

Are you bringing the healing of Jesus to those around you?

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Luke Luke 4 Mark Mark1

Authority

The gospels

What makes Jesus different from all the other great religious leaders that started major religions?

There are many things, of course, first and foremost the fact that Jesus is God, and that he rose from the dead. All the others have this one thing in common: they’re all dead. Which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they weren’t God.

But as we look at this passage, we see another difference between Jesus and them: authority.

It was the thing that struck the Jews immediately when they started listening to him teach from God’s word.

All the other teachers they heard would preface their remarks with phrases like, “So-and-so said this about this passage.”

Or “According to so-and-so, this passage means…”

Jesus never said that. Instead, he would repeatedly tell them, “I say to you…” or “I tell you the truth…”

The people marveled at this. “This man speaks with authority. It sounds like he actually knows and is confident about what he is teaching.”

As a teacher myself, I think I would marvel myself. While I of course do my own studies and ask God for insight, nevertheless, I wouldn’t pretend to have a fraction of the authority that Jesus Christ has. It must have been marvelous to hear him speak.

He then backed it up with his works, casting out a demon from a man in the synagogue. Is it any wonder that word about him spread like wildfire throughout Israel?

But what does it mean for us?

I suppose the question you need to ask yourself is, “Do I accept the fact that Jesus does indeed speak with authority? Or do I just think he was giving his own opinion, and my opinion is as good as his?”

Too often, though we may give lip service to Christ’s authority, nevertheless we do not obey him. Either because we think it’s too “pie-in-the-sky,” the ideals of a man who didn’t have a grasp of “real life,” or because we simply don’t want to do what he has said.

But if we claim Jesus as our Lord, we can’t think this way. And we certainly can’t live that way. Jesus said,

Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but don’t do what I tell you? (Luke 6:46)

If there are two words that are oxymoronic, they are “No” and “Lord.”

How about you? Do you accept Christ’s authority in your life?

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Luke Luke 4

To all who receive him

Luke

As I read this passage, I can’t help but think about John 1:11-12, where it says,

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

In this passage, Jesus literally came to the people that he had grown up with all his life in the town of Nazareth. They knew him and his family well. He had undoubtedly visited this very synagogue hundreds of times.

And yet when he preached to them, they did not receive him. Instead, they rejected him and tried to kill him.

But Jesus makes clear here that to any who received him, they would receive the right to become children of God.

The passage in Isaiah he quotes (Isaiah 61) goes on to talk about God’s vengeance against Israel’s enemies and all those who would oppose him.

But Jesus pointed out that until that time, God’s grace extends to any who believe, even the Gentiles like the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian.

And to those who believe in him, he brings good news to those who are poor and in need.

This, of course, is true in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual sense. That to those who are poor in spirit, and realize their need for God, Jesus brings news of a new relationship with God based on grace.

He brings freedom and forgiveness to those enchained to their sins. To those chained to the hurts of their past, he also brings healing.

Jesus healed the physically blind, but also gives sight to those Satan has blinded spiritually, that they might see the light of the gospel, and the hope that Jesus brings.

Jesus releases those oppressed by Satan and his demons. Through his blood, he brings us not only victory, but overwhelming victory.

More than that, he proclaims the Lord’s favor here and now.

This was perhaps a reference to the time of Jubilee in the Old Testament, a time when slaves were set free, debts were forgiven, and land that was sold to pay off debts were returned to their original owners. In short, people were given a new start.

That’s what Jesus came to bring. A new start. A new relationship with God.

And as John said, it’s available to all who will put their faith in Christ.

How about you? Will you put your faith in him today?

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John John 4

Taking Jesus at his word

John

In this passage, we see Jesus’ first miraculous healing, although one can guess that he had done other healings before this.  (John 2:23)

But the thing that strikes me here is this royal official’s response to Jesus.

This royal official was in great need.  His son was dying.  He had probably taken his son to all the doctors and there was nothing they could do for him.  Jesus was his last hope.

Yet when this official asked for help, Jesus answered,

Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders…you will never believe.  (John 4:48)

It seems an odd thing to say.  But perhaps Jesus was asking, “Are you coming to me because you actually believe in me?  Or will you only believe in me if I perform this miracle for you?”

It’s a very relevant question even to this day.  When we come to Jesus in prayer with our needs, do we pray because we really believe in him?  Or will we only believe if Jesus answers as we ask?

I wonder what the royal official was thinking.  How much did he truly believe at this point?

Whatever he felt, he cried out in desperation,

Sir, come down before my child dies.  (49)

At that point, Jesus gave him a test of faith.  He said,

You may go.  Your son will live.  (50)

Think about this for a minute.  This official was undoubtedly expecting for Jesus to come with him.  But Jesus tells him, “Just go home.  I don’t need to go.  Your son will live.  Trust me.”

Now the official had to make a choice.  “Do I trust Jesus?  If I do and he doesn’t come through, my son is dead.”

How long this official wavered, I don’t know.  Maybe it was an instantaneous choice.  Maybe it took a few seconds of looking into the eyes of Jesus.

But in the end, John tells us that,

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.  (50)

And while he was still on his way back, his servants told him his son had been healed right at the moment that Jesus had told him that his son would live.

Do we take Jesus at his word?  So often we pray for things, but then he speaks to us, and we don’t take him at his word.  Instead, we doubt.  We wonder if Jesus will really come through.

We pray for a job, and one is offered but requires us to miss church regularly, and we know God is telling us to let it go.  But we wonder, “Can I trust God?  If I let this opportunity go by, will he provide another?”

Or we pray for emotional healing in our lives, and we hear God tell us of a bitterness we need to release.  Of a person we need to forgive.  That if we just let go, we will find that healing.

But we question God, “Why should I let this go?  I have a right to feel hurt.”

How do we respond?  Are we willing to take Jesus at his word and obey him.

You will never find healing in your life, you will never find peace and joy until you settle this one question in your heart:  “Do I trust Jesus?  Will I take him at his word?”

How about you?  Do you take Jesus at his word?

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Luke Luke 4 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 4

A light in the darkness

The gospels

I mentioned yesterday the question of why God allowed John the Baptist to go to prison. We don’t know for sure, but perhaps one reason was to get people’s eyes off of John and solely on to Jesus.

For right after John went into prison, it says that Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his formal ministry. In doing so, Matthew tells us he fulfilled the words of Isaiah who wrote,

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Matthew 4:15-16)

It’s amazing that the Pharisees totally missed this passage as they disparaged Jesus’ background. (John 7:52)

But here we see one of the reasons Jesus came. We were living in darkness, separated from God by our sin, condemned to death. But in Jesus, a light dawned.

Hope sprang anew as he showed the way to the Father. He declared to the people,

“The time has come…The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

That is our message to this day. The King has come. His kingdom is near. Both in the fact that it is working in the hearts of all who believe in him, and in the fact that Jesus will come again to establish his kingdom here on earth forever.

And so we are called to repent. To repent is to turn around. To change our way of thinking. To stop living for ourselves and start living for God. To put aside our distrust of God and to follow him wholeheartedly.

A big part of that, of course, is to believe in the good news of Jesus Christ.

That God became man, becoming one of us. That he died on a cross to take the punishment for our sins, and that he rose again. And that if we will only put our faith in him, trusting in him as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from eternal hell.

That’s the message Jesus came to bring.

Now there are two questions we all must ask.

First, have you put your faith in Christ? And if you have, are you continuing to pass on the message Jesus came to give?

How about you? Can you say yes to both questions?

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Luke Luke 3

But wasn’t I doing your will?

Luke

Sometimes, as we go through the Christian life, we go through hard times as a result of our own bad decisions.

I once went through unemployment, because though all the warning signs were there that my company was about to go under, I nevertheless ignored them and eventually went down with the ship.

But other times, we’ve done nothing but follow the will of God in our lives, and yet we end up in trouble anyway. And we ask God, “Why? Wasn’t I doing your will?”

That’s what happened to John the Baptist. It says in verse 18 that he was exhorting the people and preaching the good news to them.

We’ve seen in the passages in John that he was also pointing out Jesus to his disciples and telling them, “He is the one you need to follow.”

Not only that, he fulfilled his role as prophet by pointing out the sins of the people, and this is what ultimately got him in trouble.

King Herod (Antipas) had taken his brother Phillip’s wife for his own, and John publicly rebuked him for it. Not only that, he publicly rebuked Herod for many of his other misdeeds as well.

As a result, Herod had him thrown in prison. And there, John was left to rot.

We’ll get more into what happened to John in prison later, but it does bring up the question, “Why did God let it happen?”

Did John deserve to be in prison? No.

Could God have rescued John? Yes.

So why didn’t he? I don’t know.

And ultimately, we just have to accept that (if not be satisfied with it).

God does not promise that our lives will always be nice and comfortable if we follow him. He doesn’t promise that things will always go well.

Jesus, though he was perfect, was himself beaten and crucified. Hardly a comfortable situation. And if he who was perfect suffered, can we expect anything different as his followers?

Peter wrote,

But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:20-21)

What were we called to? Suffering for the sake of Christ.

What steps did Jesus take that we are called to follow in? The steps of suffering.

Am I saying that we should look to suffer? No. But don’t be surprised if it comes.

And if it does come, remember what the writer of Hebrews admonishes us,

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:3)

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John John 4

Breaking down the barriers

John

The disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman is very interesting. John writes,

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman.

But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” (John 4:27)

Now what does this mean exactly? Does it mean that they had become so used to Jesus’ ways that they accepted this as natural, though no other Rabbi would be caught dead talking to a Samaritan woman, especially in public?

Or does it mean that they wanted to ask these questions, but didn’t dare?

I tend to think it was the latter.

Remember the situation. Jews tended to see Samaritans as half-breeds who had perverted the Jewish faith by mixing it with other religions. As a result, they wanted nothing to do with them.

But as the Samaritans came up from the town to see Jesus, he told his disciples,

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. (John 4:35)

In other words, “These are not dirty, filthy, outcasts. Sinners beyond any hope of repentance. These are people that God loves.

He has been working in their hearts in ways that you don’t know. Others have been sowing seeds in their heart, and you now have the privilege to reap the harvest.”

And that day, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus.

Jesus smashed the cultural and religious barriers people had set up to reach a people that were lost. And he calls us to do the same.

How about you? How do you see the people around you?

I look at how many Christians treat gays, for example, and it seems they view gays the same way that Jews viewed Samaritans.

Many in the church almost seem to view them as the enemy. But whatever else they may be, they are not our enemies. They are people like us, in need of a Savior.

Or how many people do you know personally that you fail to share Christ with for other reasons?

Because of their religious beliefs or lack thereof. Or because of their character or personality. Or because you simply don’t like them.

Jesus says to us, “Don’t look at them as people beyond any hope of repentance. And most certainly, don’t look at them as people worthy of contempt.

Look at them as a field that needs sowing, and harvesting. Look at them as people who need me.”

You may be the sower. You may be the reaper.

But let us break down the barriers of culture and religion, and let us break down the barriers we have set up in our own hearts and reach a lost world for Christ.

Categories
John John 4

True worship

John

In the midst of the dialogue between Jesus and the woman at the well, we see an interesting sidelight into worship.

The woman stung by the truth of her own life, tries to divert Jesus, saying, “I see you’re a prophet. You know, our ancestors worshiped God here, but you Jews say we have to worship in Jerusalem. What do you say?”

This argument was one of the big disputes between the Jews and the Samaritans, and perhaps this woman was looking to anger Jesus by bringing this topic up.

But instead Jesus answered compassionately, saying,

Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24)

In short, Jesus said, “It doesn’t matter anymore where you worship. What matters now is how you worship.”

What did Jesus mean?

First, our worship needs to be based on God’s truth. The problem with the Samaritans’ way of worship was that they worshiped “what they didn’t know.”

Years before, when the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and exiled, other groups of people came to inhabit Israel and intermarried with the remaining Jews.

In doing so, however, they had not only mixed races, but had mixed religions. As a result, they had a confused view of God, and you can’t worship God that way.

But God also desires that we worship from our spirits. He’s not just interested in our “form.” He wants us to worship from our hearts.

More than that, he desires that our whole lives be praise to him. That as we live each day, living for him, and touching the lives around us, that our whole lives would sing out his glory. That’s what it means to worship in spirit.

How about you? Are you worshiping in truth?

You cannot worship in truth if you have a wrong view of God as the Samaritans did. You need to accept God as he has revealed himself, not as you want him to be.

How has God revealed himself? Through his written Word, and the living Word that is his Son.

The apostle Paul wrote,

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9)

If you want to know who God is, look at Christ.

Are you worshiping God in spirit? Not just in song, but with your whole life?

A song my friend wrote has stuck with me throughout the years. One line. One prayer.

Let my life to You be praise.

May you worship God in spirit and in truth this day, and every day.

Categories
John John 4

Brutal honesty? Or truth in love?

John

Someone once said that the problem with brutally honest people is that most of them are more interested in being brutal than they are in being honest.

And often times, I think that’s true. They tell the truth not because they really care, but because they secretly get some pleasure from hurting the people they nail with the truth.

Jesus was someone who could be brutally honest, as was John (the Baptist). You can’t look at their interactions with the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees and not conclude that they were being brutally honest with them.

I do wonder at times why Jesus and John were so brutally honest with them. The only thing I can think of is that their heads were so thick with pride, nothing else would get through.

As brutal as truth could be, however, most times Jesus used it with a touch of compassion. It’s something that I think is seriously lacking in the church today. But we see it here.

It’s interesting that it says in this passage that Jesus “had to” go through Samaria, because while technically it was faster to travel through there, most Jews didn’t.

Samaritans were considered half-bred Jews who had abandoned the true faith of the Jews, which was technically true on both counts.

But Jesus wasn’t one to live by cultural restrictions when it contradicted his Father’s will, so he blithely ignored them, probably to the disciples’ chagrin.

And when he got there, he sent them into the city to get some food, and tired as he was, he sat down for a rest when he saw a woman approaching.

If Jesus breached cultural norms by entering Samaria, he completely shattered them by talking with this woman in public, something no Rabbi would ever do. And he starts with an innocuous request, “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4:8)

I wonder what exactly this woman was thinking. For one thing, she was apparently a woman of ill-repute even among her own people.

Most women would never come to the well at midday when it was scorching, but this woman did, probably to avoid the other women.

Furthermore, we’ll see that she had a habit of starting love affairs that had bad endings, and was “living in sin” even at that point. Could it be she wondered if Jesus was looking for an affair with her.

It seems even she had her standards, because she spat out,

You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? (John 4:9)

But Jesus spoke to her with gentility, saying,

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. (John 4:10)

What was this living water? In John 7:37-39, Jesus uses the same term for the Holy Spirit.

But this woman could only think of the physical, and so she said, “How can you give me water when you have nothing to get it with?” (John 4:11)

Jesus answered,

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)

In other words, “I’m not talking about physical water. Physical water satisfies physical thirst for a short time, but I’ll give you a water that will give you life forever. You will never thirst spiritually again.”

Perhaps this woman was blind, or perhaps she just didn’t want to acknowledge her spiritual need because of how much it hurt (or perhaps both).

Whatever the case, she seems to mock Jesus, saying, “Well then, give me this water, so I don’t have to come here all the time.” (John 4:15)

And here Jesus hits her where it hurts.

Go, call your husband and come back. (John 4:16)

Perhaps the woman winced as she said,

I have no husband. (John 4:17a)

Jesus responded,

You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. (John 4:17b-18)

Ouch.

In one second, all her hurts are laid bare.

The years of seeking someone who would love her. Giving her body to man after man trying to attain that love, perhaps sometimes stealing him from another, but ultimately being rejected to the point where the man she was with now wouldn’t even commit himself to her even for a short time.

Why did Jesus do this? Because he wanted to see her hurt? No, because he cared.

When she tried to throw up theological smokescreen, he blew it away.

And when she tried to turn away and put off any more talk for “when Messiah would come”, he said to her, “Hey. Look at me. The one you’re looking for…I’m the one.” (John 4:26)

And as she looked in his eyes, she saw someone who knew her completely. Who knew the very inner part of her heart and soul. And loved her.

How often can the same be said of us?

When we tell people the truth, do they see Christ’s love in us. More than that, can we say from our hearts, “I really do care about you?”

Christ’s love turned the heart of this woman. Truth pointed the way. But love turned her heart.

Are you merely callous pointers of the way? Or is the love of Christ through you turning hearts?

Categories
John John 3

Who we want people to follow

John

Discipleship. The more I think about it, the more important I realize it is. But what is the goal of discipleship?

Too often, people get wrapped up in making disciples of themselves. They want others to look at them for all the answers. To be their guide for life.

It becomes almost a point of pride. “Look at all those who follow me.”

But our goal shouldn’t be to make people our disciples, but Christ’s.

This was something that John the Baptist understood very clearly. We saw this earlier when he pointed out Jesus to a couple of his disciples and essentially said, “He is the one you are to follow. Go.” (John 1:35-36)

We see it again here. Jesus had begun his ministry and his disciples had started baptizing people in his name (that is, by his authority). And more people started going to him than they were to John.

John’s disciples began to get a bit agitated about this, especially when others started to point this out, and they came to John saying,

Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan–the one you testified about–well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him. (John 3:26)

I wonder how John’s disciples expected him to act. Did they expect him to get upset? Did they think his pride would be wounded?

But John told his disciples,

A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.

That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. (John 3:27-30)

In short, “My whole life was dedicated to this one purpose. To prepare the way for Christ. To point others to him.

In a wedding, the best man isn’t the important one. The groom is. He rejoices when all his preparations for the groom have been completed, the wedding is about to begin, and the groom is about to take center stage.

That’s how I feel. I’ve done my job. Now Jesus must take his rightful position in people’s lives. As for me, it’s time for me to fade into the background.”

That’s what discipling is all about. It’s not to be a person’s life-long mentor, constantly directing their steps. It’s to point them to Christ. To help prepare their hearts so that they can know who Jesus is. To teach them all you know and all you’ve learned in your walk with Christ.

And when you have done so, to tell them, “It’s time to go now. I’ve done all I can for you. You follow Jesus,” and then slowly fade into the background.

There comes a point in any discipleship relationship when you simply must decrease so that Christ may increase in their lives.

As John points out, we are from the earth and we speak from the earth. In other words, our experiences are limited as is our knowledge.

But Jesus had no such limitations because he was from heaven and completely filled with God’s Spirit. And because of that, he is above all. More than that, he is the one that gives life, not us.

So let us point others to him. Let us teach them to be Jesus’ disciples. And then watch with joy as Jesus leads them where he may.

Categories
John John 3

Stepping out into the light

John

I mentioned in my last blog that we are not in danger of being condemned if we reject Christ. We are already condemned. Judgment has already been passed.

And in this passage, we see the verdict that was passed against us. John writes,

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

In other words, Light came into the world through Christ. He showed us who God is. He showed us God’s will for our lives.

But men loved the evil they were doing, even though they knew it was wrong; even though deep in their hearts, they knew their actions bring about shame.

As a result, they remained in darkness and would not embrace the Light. Instead, they rejected him. And for that they stand condemned.

How about you? Are you willing to step out into the Light of Christ? To no longer walk in actions that you know deep down are wrong and are shameful, but to walk with Christ in the Light? To live by his truth?

When we do so, we no longer need to fear God, but can stand boldly before him. John writes,

Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (John 3:21)

I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of relationship I want before God. No shame. No guilt. But walking freely and confidently before him, bathed in his love and grace.

Some people fear to come into the light because they’re afraid of what they might lose if what they’re doing is exposed.

So they stay away from church. They stay away from the Word of God. Or if they read it, they stay away from the passages that they know will expose them.

But God loves you. He wants your best. And while you may think you’re losing something that you love or need by surrendering it to God, you actually gain something so much greater.

The question comes down to this: Will you trust him? Will you trust that he is looking out for your best? Will you trust that he actually knows what is best?

Because until you believe that, you will never step out into the light.

God proved his love for you by sending his Son.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

If he did that for you, can’t you trust him with everything else in your life?

Categories
John John 3

The other side of the gospel

John

The word “gospel,” as most people know, means “good news.”

But the good news can’t really be understood until you understand the bad news. What is the bad news? It’s found in verse 18 of this passage.

Whoever does not believe (in Jesus as their Lord and Savior) stands condemned already. (John 3:18)

Ever since the time of Adam, every single member of the human race has stood condemned. Why? Because we failed to trust in God, and as a result, we turned our backs on him, and started going our own way.

Why is that a problem?

In Romans 6:23, it says,

“For the wages of sin is death.”

We are not in danger of death row. We are on death row, because all of us have sinned. Judgment has already been passed.

So it says in verse 17 that when Jesus came to this earth, he didn’t come to condemn us because we were condemned already. It’s a bit redundant to condemn a person that’s already condemned.

That’s the other side of the gospel. It’s a side that we don’t like to talk about very much.

If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’re not going to be condemned by God in the future. You already stand condemned.

How often do we think about that? That right here, right now, many of our family, friends, and neighbors already stand condemned before God.

Some of you as you read this also stand condemned before God because of your sin.

It’s not a pleasant thought. But that’s where the good news comes in.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

God loved us so much that he sent his Son to save us. Jesus took our punishment for us.

Now he asks a simple question. “Will you trust me? Will you put your faith in Jesus and his work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins?”

There is only one way off of death row, for you and for those you love. It’s through Jesus Christ. And John writes,

Whoever believes in him is not condemned. (John 3:18a)

When we put our trust in Christ, God forgives us our sin. Not because of anything we have done. But because of what Christ has done for us.

And he looks at us and says, “Because my Son has paid the penalty for your sin, I no longer condemn you.”

Again, it’s not that God says “I won’t condemn you in the future (although of course, that’s true). But God says right here and right now, ‘You are not condemned.'”

But if you choose to reject Jesus, you are on death row and the clock is ticking. John concludes by saying,

Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:18b)

What will you do?

Categories
John John 3

How to be born again

3 crosses John 3:16

In my last blog, we saw Jesus explaining to Nicodemus the need to be born again.  That we can’t work our way into heaven any more than we can work our way into the physical world.

In both cases, we need to be born into these kingdoms.  One is primarily through the efforts of our mother (physical birth) and the other solely through the work of the Holy Spirit (spiritual birth).

Nicodemus, for all his knowledge of scripture, had trouble wrapping his brain around this concept.

All his life, he had been trying to earn his way into heaven.  To keep the law of God to a T.

But here Jesus is completely tossing out that idea, and so Nicodemus asks,

How can this be?  (John 3:9)

In other words, “I don’t understand.  I’ve dedicated my life to the law.  And now you’re saying that to enter God’s kingdom depends solely on the Spirit’s work, and not mine?”

To this day, people from basically every religion ask the same thing.

All their lives they were taught they had to earn God’s favor by doing good works, and so they have a hard time wrapping their minds around the idea that salvation is a free gift.  It seems…too easy.

Jesus chides Nicodemus for his lack of understanding, saying,

You are Israel’s teacher…and do you not understand these things?  (10)

Had Nicodemus truly understood the words of the prophets (Jeremiah and Ezekiel, as I mentioned in the last blog), he should have understood Jesus’ words.

Because he didn’t, Jesus went even further back in scripture to a well-known story in Jewish history.

While the Israelites were wandering in the desert after having escaped Egypt, they started complaining against God and Moses.

Because of their rebellion, God sent snakes which bit the people and caused many to die.  When the Israelites repented, God told Moses to set up a bronze snake on a pole, and that everyone who looked up to it would live.

They didn’t have to do good works in order to live.  They simply needed to believe in what God had said.

The ones that chose to believe and looked at the snake lived.  The ones that chose to continue in their unbelief died.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “In the same way, you don’t work to earn your way to eternal life.  All you have to do is look to me, and put your faith in me when I go to the cross to die for your sins.

“Just as the snake was lifted up and all who believed in what God had said lived, so I will be lifted up, and all who believe in me will live.”

It’s not clear if the conversation with Nicodemus ends here and John is simply expositing on Jesus’ teaching, or if Jesus actually says the next few words (there are no quotation marks in Greek).

But either way, these words are the most famous in the Bible.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

How are we born again?  By simply putting our faith in Jesus.  By believing that he died on the cross to take the punishment for our sin.

Sin is essentially saying, “God I don’t trust you.”

So the remedy to sin is not good works.  It’s turning around and saying, “God I trust you.”

And the first area that you need to say, “God I trust you,” is in putting your faith in Jesus for your salvation.

Have you done so?

Father God, I admit I have sinned.  I have been living my own way, instead of trusting you and doing things your way.  Forgive me.

Jesus thank you for dying for my sin.  Please come into my life and be my Lord.  I want to trust you from now on in every area of my life and to live your way.

Holy Spirit, every day, please lead me, guide me, and change me.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
John John 3

Born again

John

We now come to one of the most famous passages in scripture.

In the States and most Western countries, most people have at least heard the idea of being born again even if they don’t understand it. But what does it mean, really?

In this passage, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus to consult with him.

Jesus had already apparently started performing miracles apart from the one at Cana, and so Nicodemus, unlike most of his peers, had gained some respect for Jesus, recognizing that he must be from God.

What was his main purpose in seeking out Jesus? It’s hard to say.

Certainly, he was not ready to become a full-on follower of Jesus as he sought Jesus at night when no one could see him. But lack of boldness notwithstanding, he did come to Jesus.

And after he greeted Jesus with a few words that he no doubt intended to be gracious, Jesus cut right to the chase, saying,

I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. (John 3:3)

The words stunned Nicodemus. Like I said, he was a Pharisee, a group of people that dedicated their lives to keeping the law. For them, that was their ticket to heaven.

But Jesus said, “No, the ticket to heaven is not in your works. You must instead be born again.”

Nicodemus had no idea what Jesus was talking about, and he asked,

How can a man be born when he is old…Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born! (John 3:4)

Here we see a problem that Jesus often faced, and we see it throughout the gospels, especially in John. Jesus is giving a spiritual truth, but the people who are hearing it can’t get past their material way of thinking.

How often are we the same? Unable to see spiritual truths because we are too focused on the physical things of this earth?

At any rate Jesus confused him even more saying,

I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5)

There are many explanations for being “born of water.”

I think it refers back to Ezekiel 36:25-27. There God talks about sprinkling us with water, and the meaning there is to wash us clean of our sins. He then says that he will put a new heart and spirit in us.

That’s what it means to be “born again.” To have a completely new heart and spirit. One that wants to please God.

That’s why Jesus tells Nicodemus,

You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:7)

In order to become part of this earthly “kingdom,” you need to be born in it. You don’t work your way into this world. You are simply born into it.

And in the same way, to be part of God’s kingdom, you need to be born into it.

You can’t work your way into it. You are simply born into it.

How? You need to be born of the Spirit. That’s why God told the Jews in Ezekiel that he would give us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

Physical birth comes primarily through the work of the mother. Spiritual birth comes through the work of the Spirit.

Jesus then compares the Spirit to the wind. You can see the effect of the wind, but you can’t see the wind itself.

In the same way, the Spirit works in human hearts, changing them from the inside out. We can’t see him physically as he does his work. We merely see the effects.

And as he works in our hearts, we change into completely new people. We are born again.

Nicodemus should have known this. Jeremiah talked about this transformation that God would bring about (Jeremiah 31:31-34). So did Ezekiel, as we saw earlier.

But instead Nicodemus was stuck in the misconception that he had to earn his salvation.

How about you? Are you still trying to work your way into heaven? Or have you been born again?

Categories
John John 2

Jesus’ zeal for his temple

John

Well, for those who have been praying for my computer, thank you. It’s finally back up and running after hours of futile troubleshooting. All of it actually sparked a thought for today’s blog.

In this passage, Jesus comes to the temple and finds that it’s invaded by a bunch of merchants and money changers.

They had set up their business in the temple courts, namely, the court of the Gentiles. People who were not Jews and wanted to come to worship God were only allowed in up to that point.

But when Jesus arrived at that outer courtyard, he saw utter chaos. Sheep, cattle, and birds were all making a ruckus, hardly conducive to an atmosphere of worship.

And if that weren’t bad enough, many people who had to change their money to pay for their temple taxes were getting horrific exchange rates.

Others, meanwhile, were being told that the animals they had brought to sacrifice weren’t good enough and were being forced to buy new ones at premium prices.

Little wonder that Jesus was a bit, shall we say, perturbed?

So for one of the few times in the gospels, we see Jesus go on a rampage, driving all the money changers and animals out of the courtyard, and bellowing out,

Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market! (John 2:16)

The Jewish leaders then demanded him to show what right he had to do such a thing; what miraculous sign he could do to show that he was truly doing God’s will, to which Jesus replied,

Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. (John 2:19)

The Jews thought he meant Herod’s temple, that was still not fully completed even after 46 years. (It was finally completed in 63 A.D).

But John tells us that Jesus was talking about his body. That though they may destroy it on the cross, yet he would raise it up in three days.

By the way, this totally destroys the idea that Jesus rose from the dead as a spirit as some, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, like to claim. Here Jesus specifically tells us that he would raise his actual body.

But just as Jesus referred to his body as a temple, so Paul refers to our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

And just as Jesus was zealous for the temple in Jerusalem, and keeping it pure for the worship of God, so he is zealous for the temple of our bodies, that we keep it holy and set apart for God.

Yet so often, we clutter it up not only with sin, but with other things as well that would keep us from a pure worship of God.

Which brings me back to my computer. When it went down, my hardware was fine, I just had my Windows software go down, such that it would not boot up. As a result, I still had access to all my files. I just had to go through DOS (does anyone still remember DOS) to get at it.

I tried desperately to find a way to not have to reinstall everything. But in the end, I simply had to back everything up, format the disk (in other words, wipe everything out), and then reinstall everything.

I had a lot of things on the disk that were not bad at all. There were many good things there. But because of the corruption that was there, it made it impossible for the system to go.

How about you? Is there anything in your heart that is distracting you from your worship of God?

Or is there anything in your heart that is keeping others from seeing God in you, just as all the sheep, goats, and money-changers kept the Gentiles from seeing God in the temple?

There may be sin. Or there may be things that are not bad in themselves, but are still causing harm in your temple.

Let Jesus purge it from your life and make you the temple he desires you to be.

What’s in your temple?

Categories
John John 2

Wine or grape juice?

John

A long time ago, as a teenager I think, I glanced through a book called “Wine or Grape Juice?” or some such title.

I can’t really remember all it said, but I got the impression through the book that when Jesus created “wine” in Cana, he really created grape juice.

The author no doubt went through a lot of word studies and other things to prove his point.

I kind of carried that opinion for a long time until someone pointed out to me the context. What was the context?

Very simply, verse 10 where the master of the banquet tasted the wine Jesus created and proclaimed for all to hear,

Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now. (John 2:10)

Now stop a moment, and substitute the word grape juice in there and ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”

“Everyone brings out the choice grape juice first, and then the cheaper grape juice after the guests have had too much grape juice to drink; but you have saved the best grape juice till now.”

This makes no sense at all. If it was simply grape juice, there would be no alcoholic content in it. And if there was no alcoholic content in it, why would a host wait for everyone to drink too much of the best grape juice before serving the cheap stuff?

Answer: They wouldn’t.

This completely shoots down this theory in my opinion, unless someone can explain logically the meaning of this passage using grape juice.

Does Jesus then teach that it’s okay to get drunk? Of course not. Scripture clearly teaches against that.

But it doesn’t say anything about never drinking alcohol. Rather, it makes it clear that alcohol is not to control us. (Ephesians 5:18).

By the way, just to make one point clear, I don’t drink at all for two reasons. First, I don’t like the taste. Even more importantly, I don’t know what my limits are, and I have no desire to find out.

But the point I want to make here above all else is to be careful how we interpret God’s word.

The reason that many people want to believe Jesus made grape juice instead of wine is that they’re dead set against drinking of any kind.

But in trying to explain away John 2, they resort to word studies that completely ignore the context of scripture.

There are four points we should remember whenever we read scripture or hear anyone preach about it.

1. Pay attention to context. Too often, people get into trouble because they don’t. A lot of cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons get into trouble because of this.

2. Let the scripture speak for itself. And if it happens to contradict what you think, you should change your thinking in order to match scripture, not the reverse.

3. Understand the role of culture in scripture. Some people get a little put off by Jesus addressing his mother as “Woman” in verse 4.

(The NIV softens it to “Dear woman,” but the “Dear” is not there in the original manuscripts of scripture.)

In our culture, it’s very disrespectful. In theirs, it was very respectful.

4. Do as Mary said in this chapter.

Do whatever [Jesus] tells you. (John 2:5)

Don’t just read scripture. Don’t just listen to it. But obey it. For it is the very words of God.

If you do these things, it’ll not only save you a lot of trouble as you interpret scripture, but also as you live your life.

Categories
John John 1

To be where Jesus is

John

I almost feel like I’ve been rushing through the gospel passages at times, so I want to slow it down a bit and take a closer look at this passage.

When John the Baptist’s disciples heard John tell them that Jesus was the one they should be following, they immediately left John to follow Jesus.

One wonders how hard it was for them to do that. No doubt they had built up some kind of bond with John during the time that they were with them.

But there was a limit to what John could do for them. Why? Because greatest of the prophets though he may have been, he was still merely a man, with all a man’s limitations.

If they wanted to take the next step in their relationship with God, they needed to become disciples of God himself. And that’s what Jesus was, God in flesh.

I wonder what it must have been like trying to approach Jesus. How do you just approach the person that John says is the Messiah that God promised to send all the way back in the Garden of Eden?

I would guess they were intimidated and unsure. Perhaps they were going back and forth between themselves saying,

“You talk to him.”

“No, you talk to him.”

Eventually Jesus noticed them, and he stopped and turned.

When he did, they probably came to a dead standstill. Would he reject them? They were, after all, nobodies. No special education. No special background. Why would Jesus accept them?

Perhaps it was in the midst of their awkward silence that Jesus asked,

What do you want? (John 1:38a)

And they replied,

“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” (38b)

It seems a strange question in our culture. We would probably say, “How do you do. I’m Andrew.”

But in their culture, it was essentially the question of a person asking to become a disciple. The idea was that they wanted to be where Jesus was, learning from him. Not just his teachings, but how he actually lived.

Not much has changed in 2000 years. If we are to be followers of Jesus, we need to have the same attitude as these disciples: the desire to be near our master.

How about you? Do you have that same desire? To sit at his feet in the morning, reading his Word, and talking and listening to him in prayer? And do you have the desire to walk with him throughout the day?

Too often, people spend time with Jesus in the morning, but after that essentially say, “Well, it was great talking to you. Gotta go.” And they leave Jesus behind in their thoughts and mind.

But we need to be taking Jesus wherever we go. To learn to listen to his voice throughout the day and follow his leading.

That’s what it means to be a true disciple.

I’d love to say that I’ve mastered this. I haven’t. I’m still learning what it means to walk with him every moment of every day.

Will you join me in that journey this year?

I love the (semi-)old worship song that says,

I just want to be where you are.
Dwelling daily in your presence.

I don’t want to worship from afar.
Draw me near to where you are.

I just want to be where you are.
In your dwelling place forever.

Take me to the place where you are.
I just want to be with you.

Categories
John John 1

Pointing the way

John

A lot of times, Christians get scared about sharing Jesus with their family and friends.

Part of the reason is that they think they have to have certain qualifications to do so. Or that they need special Bible knowledge to answer all possible questions.

Certainly it helps to have these things. And as we grow in our faith, we should grow in the knowledge of our Savior.

But as we see from this passage, our main responsibility is not to convince people, but to point the way to Jesus.

We see this with John the Baptist first. When the priests and Levites came out to question him, they immediately asked for his qualifications. Are you the Christ? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?

When John said no, they then asked him, “What then gives you the right to baptize?”

I wonder how John felt? Did he at all feel uncertain or intimidated by these people trying to stare him down?

One would think not, considering how he had lashed out at people like these before. But still, it can be tough when you’re facing a bunch of people with “qualifications,” all of them hostile to you.

I don’t know if it happened this way, but I wonder if it was at that moment that John saw Jesus returning from the desert. I wonder if it was because he saw him, that John said to them,

“I baptize with water…but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:26-27)

In other words, “If you’re asking my qualifications, I’m a nobody compared to the one who’s coming after me. In fact, he is right here, right now. And I’m not even worthy to be his slave.”

People may question our “qualifications.” But let us remember that we are not preaching ourselves, but Jesus.

We are not preaching how great we are, but how great Jesus is. And so when people question our qualifications, we should point not to ourselves, but to Jesus.

The next day, John once again pointed the way to Jesus, and then again the following day. As a result, two of John’s disciples immediately left him and started to follow Jesus.

One thing we should remember is that we are not trying to make people disciples of ourselves, but of Christ. It is him we should teach people to rely on, not ourselves.

That’s what John did, and I imagine he was ecstatic to see his disciples go after Jesus.

These disciples quickly followed up on John’s example. First, they brought Peter (Andrew’s brother — Andrew was one of the two who left John to follow Jesus).

Then after Jesus called their friend Phillip, Phillip got into the act by bringing Nathanael to Jesus.

But Nathanael was very skeptical when they told him of Jesus, saying,

Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? (46)

As you can see, Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, did not exactly have a sterling reputation for producing prophets, or anything else spiritual for that matter.

But Phillip didn’t argue with Nathanael. All he said was, “Come and see.”

And when he brought Nathanael to Jesus, it was Jesus who did the convincing.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t make the effort to answer people’s questions. We should.

But ultimately, answering their questions will not save them. Only Jesus can.

You will never argue a person into heaven. And so after dealing with their questions, we should tell them as Phillip did. “Come to Jesus. You will see.”

How about you? Are you pointing the way to Jesus to the people around you?

Categories
Luke Luke 4 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 4

Following the Father

The gospels

Happy New Year all!

I suppose there’s no better way to start the year then remembering who we are to follow heading into the New Year. It’s the person whom Jesus followed while he walked this earth, and you see it clearly in these passages.

This is one of the most famous passages in scripture in which Jesus gets tempted in the desert.

But as I read it this time, and looked at the scripture that Jesus quoted in fighting the temptations thrown at him by Satan, one thing struck me: Just how much trust he put in his Father.

Filled with and led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus went out into the desert after his baptism, and stayed out there for 40 days.

It seems only fitting, then, that the scriptures he quoted came from Deuteronomy after the Israelites had been wandering around in the desert for 40 years. Because what Moses told the Israelites right after that, Jesus lived out in his life.

What did Moses say?

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

Just as the Father led the Israelites through the desert to test them, so he led Jesus out into the desert to be tested. Like the Israelites, Jesus was humbled, being caused to become hungry.

But unlike the Israelites, he refused to complain against his Father during that time. Rather, he trusted that his Father would provide what he needed, when he needed it.

Satan tried to get Jesus to rely on himself and his own powers to meet his needs by turning stones into bread. But Jesus refused, and relied solely on his Father in heaven to provide what he needed.

When Satan tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the temple and let the angels catch him, even quoting scripture to do so (which shows how important it is to understand context when we’re reading scripture), Jesus pointed to Deuteronomy 6, where Moses told the people,

Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16)

What happened at Massah? The Israelites again showed a lack of trust in God, this time because they had no water, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7)

Sometimes, we question God in the same way. We go through struggles, and say, “Is God really with me or not?”

Satan was basically tempting Jesus to question God in that way too. He was saying, “Is your Father really with you? If you’re going to serve him, you’d better find out by jumping off the temple. If he’s really with you, he’ll catch you.”

But Jesus refused to do so, fully believing that his Father was with him, though he couldn’t see him.

Finally, Satan tempted Jesus to worship him in order to gain the kingdoms of the world. But again Jesus refused. He would not let anything or anyone deter him from following his Father saying,

Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ (Matthew 4:10)

How about you? Who are you following as you head into this new year? Are you following the Father?

Are you trusting that he is with you and will meet your needs? Are you making following him your first priority, above your job, your family, your friends, and everything else?

Who are you following?

Categories
John John 1 Luke Luke 3 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 3

Loved by the Father, Filled with the Spirit

Jesus baptized by John the Baptist
www.LumoProject.com

During the time that John was baptizing multitudes of people, Jesus also came up to him to be baptized.

I wonder just how well John knew Jesus and exactly who he was when he did. How much did his parents tell him about his cousin? How much did God tell him?

John had been living in the desert probably from the time he was old enough to survive on his own. Did he even recognize Jesus?

He must have, at least to some degree, for when Jesus came to be baptized, John saw in his eyes someone unlike any other he had ever met. Someone who had no need of repentance. And so he told Jesus,

I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? (Matthew 3:14)

But Jesus told him,

Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. (Matthew 3:15)

Why did Jesus get baptized? For two reasons. One was to make clear to John with no room for doubt just who he was preparing the people for. Later, when John saw Jesus, he gave this testimony:

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’

I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel…

I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.

I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. (John 1:29-34)

From his words, it seems clear that up until that point, that though he recognized something different in Jesus, nevertheless, he didn’t know he was the One God had promised, the one that he was preparing Israel for.

The second reason Jesus got baptized was to identify himself with us as fallen people in need of repentance.

Although Jesus himself never sinned, he would take our sins upon himself at the cross, and die for us. By his birth, he identified with us as being human. By his baptism, he identified with our sinfulness.

But the thing that strikes me is what happened when he got baptized, something that John the Baptist alludes to.

Namely, that when he got baptized, the Spirit came upon Jesus in power. Not only that, the Father affirmed his love for him.

If we are to be effective Christians, we need these things in our lives. If Jesus, the only unique Son of God, needed these things, how much more do we?

To know that the Father loves us. If we do not know this, we will always fear to draw near to Him. We will always be afraid of his words of rebuke, and so we’ll hesitate to draw into a close relationship with him.

But also, if we are not secure in the love of the Father, it makes all our other relationships much more difficult.

It becomes difficult to love others when they don’t return that love, or at least as much as we would expect or hope.

It becomes difficult to forgive when people hurt us.

The reason so many people find it hard to love as God does is simply because they don’t know God’s love for them.

But because Jesus was so completely filled with his Father’s love, he could love others despite their failings.

At the same time the Father affirmed his love for Jesus, however, the Spirit empowered him. Jesus didn’t start his ministry until that happened.

In the same way, if we want to be effective servants for God, we need to be filled with his Spirit. According to John, that was what Jesus also came to do. To baptize us with his Spirit.

How about you? Do you know God’s love in your life? Are you filled with his Spirit?

Categories
John John 1 Luke Luke 3 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 3

Telling it like it is

The gospels

We leap approximately 18 years in time from when Jesus was 12 years old to when he turned 30. And just before he began his ministry, his cousin John started his own.

The apostle John makes very clear who John the Baptist was and was not, saying,

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.

He came as a witness to testify concerning that light (i.e. Jesus), so that through him all men might believe.

He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (John 1:6-8)

Or as John the Baptist himself put it when questioned by the priests, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees,

I am not the Christ…I am the voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord.” (John 1:20, 23)

His whole purpose in life was to pave the way for Jesus. To prepare people’s hearts to receive him.

It strikes me that as followers of Jesus, God has passed on that mission to us. To prepare people’s hearts for Jesus. We cannot make them follow him. All we can do is plant the seed.

Our message, really, isn’t much different from John’s. The main difference, of course, was that he was preaching that they needed to prepare their hearts because God’s salvation was coming. (Luke 3:6)

We preach that God’s salvation has already come in Jesus Christ.

But the other thing that strikes me is that John really didn’t mince words. When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming down towards him, he said,

You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.”

I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:7-12)

Why did John come down so hard on these people? Because for the most part, they were hypocrites that looked good on the outside, keeping the letter of the law, while on the inside, they were utterly corrupt.

They thought they were in with God because they were Jews. Not only that, unlike the “ignorant,” they knew God’s law.

But on the inside, they were filled with pride and were utterly devoid of the mercy of God in their lives.

And though he was less harsh with the rest of the people, even the most hated of people in Israel, the tax collectors and astonishingly enough the Roman soldiers (although some would argue that the soldiers were Jewish soldiers), nevertheless, he called them to repentance as well.

He warned them that they could not just keep living the way that they were. Because as he told all of them, a day of judgment is coming.

We need to do the same. We need to tell people like it is.

The King is coming back to this earth someday, and when he does, he will judge all evil and make all things right.

That’s good news, but most people don’t recognize the evil in their own lives. And because of their sin, they too will be judged unless they repent, welcoming their King from their hearts and accepting his reign in their lives.

If we don’t warn people about that, God will hold us accountable. (Ezekiel 3:16-21; Acts 20:26-27)

How about you? Are you telling it like it is?

Categories
Luke Luke 2

Misunderstood

Luke

I suppose that one thing that most people would like is to be understood. And it can be hurtful when those whom we love don’t understand us.

Jesus certainly understood that feeling. His disciples often didn’t understand him. The people he ministered to often didn’t understand him. And in this passage, we see that his own parents didn’t always understand him either.

This is the first story we see of Jesus in the New Testament where he actually interacts with someone, and the people he interacts with are his parents.

When he was twelve years old, he and his parents went to the Passover feast. After the feast, his parents started to return home, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem talking with the teachers in the temple.

Unfortunately, his parents didn’t notice, and by the time they realized he wasn’t around, a whole day had passed. It then took another two or three days to finally find him.

One can understand the agitation in Mary when she rebuked Jesus, saying,

Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you. (Luke 2:48)

And Jesus was totally confused by their reaction, replying,

Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? (Luke 2:49)

In other words, “You know who I am. I expected you to know where I was.”

But in verse 50, it says,

But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

The people who should have understood Jesus the best, had no clue.

How did Jesus respond?

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. (Luke 2:51)

When he saw that they didn’t understand him, he didn’t get defensive. He didn’t scathe them for their lack of understanding.

Rather, he did his best to make things right with them. And as a dutiful son, he submitted himself to them.

Think about that for a moment. He was God incarnate. He had created them. And yet, he humbled himself and submitted himself to their authority as his earthly parents.

There will be times when people don’t understand us. And it’s easy to get upset with them. To hold on to hurt because we feel like they should understand us.

But even so, let us learn a lesson from Jesus and humble ourselves. Let us do what we must to make things right. As Paul said,

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)

“But Bruce,” you may say. “It’s all well and good to say that, but it still hurts. Why can’t they understand me?”

For one reason. They’re not God. Much as we sometimes wish they were, they’re not all-knowing. They can’t see your heart. So don’t expect them to.

But there is one who can understand you, and that’s Jesus. Because he is God. More than that, he experienced what it was like to be human.

So whatever you are going through, he understands you completely.

So just as Jesus took comfort in the fact that his Heavenly Father could understand him, even though his earthly parents couldn’t, take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus can understand you.

When you’re feeling hurt or misunderstood, turn to him. Talk to him. Because he does understand you.

Categories
Matthew Matthew 2

Troubled by the coming of a King

Matthew

I think at Christmas time, the one image that people have of Jesus is of the baby in the manger.

Perhaps one reason why people like that scene is because Jesus is so non-threatening. He makes no demands on you. He’s just lying there sleeping.

But Jesus is no longer that baby in the manger. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And sooner or later, people will have to acknowledge him as such whether they want to or not.

As I look at this passage, one thing jumps out to me. The reaction by King Herod and the Jews to the coming of Jesus as King.

Some Magi had come from the East. Who were these Magi? There is much speculation about them, but it’s very possible that they came from a priestly tribe of people called the Medes who lived in modern-day Iran.

They were people that studied astronomy and astrology, and were prominent in Babylon and Persia as advisors. In fact, in Persia, no one could become king without their approval.

In the book of Daniel, you see that Daniel himself was made to be the chief of the Magi because of his great wisdom.

Some people believe that it is because of his influence that these Magi knew of the Biblical prophesies of a King that would come. In fact, Daniel had actually narrowed down the dates as to when the Messiah would appear in Daniel 9.

And so these Magi were waiting for a sign of this new King’s appearing and found it in a star that appeared in the sky.

What this star was is not clear. There’s as much speculation about it as there is about the Magi. But when they saw it, they came sweeping into Jerusalem asking about who this new King was and where they could find him.

To their surprise, no one knew. Perhaps to their greater surprise was everyone’s reaction. It says in verse 3,

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3)

Why was King Herod troubled? For one thing, he wasn’t a true Jewish king. He didn’t come from the royal line of David. In fact, he came from the line of Esau, not Jacob. So to the Jews, he was not a legitimate king.

For another thing, he was insanely jealous of his position, and had even killed members of his own family because of it.

Why were the Jews troubled? Probably because they knew what Herod’s reaction would be when he heard about a new king.

You probably know the rest of the story. Herod asked the Magi to find this king for him so that he could worship him.

But after the Magi found Jesus, God warned them about Herod’s intention to kill Jesus, so they went back another way.

When Herod found out the Magi had betrayed him, he had all the boys in Bethlehem two years old and younger killed. Why? Because according to the Magi, the king was born during that time frame.

(Contrary to popular belief, the Magi probably came about two years after Jesus’ birth).

But God warned Joseph to take his family to Egypt and so they escaped Herod’s wrath.

But getting back to the point of Herod’s reaction and the reaction of the people. They were troubled by the coming of this King.

And to this day, Jesus troubles people whenever they confront the fact that he’s no longer a baby, but that he is a King and that they owe him their allegiance.

For some, they, like Herod, react violently because they don’t want to give up the throne of their lives. They want to be in control.

For others, like the Jews, they’re more worried about how others will react if they start following Jesus 100%. They’re worried about persecution. They’re worried about being rejected.

But one day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Some will do so in joy and adoration. Others will do so with grinding teeth. Others will do so in shame. But all will acknowledge him as King.

Don’t you think it’s better to acknowledge him as your king now?

Who is king in your life?

Categories
Luke Luke 2

A heart prepared for the King

Luke

Every Christmas, we sing a song that says,

Joy to the World,
The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him room.

And in this passage, we see a woman who did just that. She prepared her heart to receive the King.

Her name was Anna, and she was a prophetess. She suffered tragedy when she was very young. After just 7 years of marriage, her husband died.

I don’t know this for certain, but it’s possible that she was childless. The text seems to imply that right after her husband died, she went to live in the temple and dedicated her life to worship, fasting and prayer.

If so, she was a remarkable woman. It would have been very easy for her to become bitter. To ask God why. Certainly to ask why he took her husband from her. And if she had no children, to question why she had been barren during those 7 years she had been married.

(Remember that this was considered shameful back in those days).

But instead of her tragedy driving her away from God, it drove her to God. And because of this, it gave her a heart that was prepared for meeting the King.

Indeed, she was one of the few who recognized him for who he was. Not only that, her joy was such that she had to tell those around about what she had found.

How about you? Do you have a heart prepared for the King? Do you have a heart that’s seeking God daily?

I’m not saying that you have to be like this woman spending every waking hour in worship, prayer, and fasting. But do you take the time getting to know him on a daily basis.

Or do you let the busyness of life, the worries of this world, and the hardships that you go through to drive you away from him?

So many people in Jesus’ time were that way, and because of that, they ended up crucifying the very Messiah they said they were seeking.

And if we fail to seek God daily, we will very likely miss seeing him in our lives, and the things he’s trying to accomplish.

Christmas may be over, but let us prepare room for God in our hearts every day, spending time with him, and drawing close to him.

For only when we do so, will we find the joy that Jesus came to bring.

Categories
Luke Luke 2

The One who causes many to fall

Luke

Merry Christmas to the rest of you celebrating Christ’s birth in the world! (It’s already the 26th in Japan…and all Christmas decorations are already gone).

Anyway, this passage strikes me, because the words that were spoken by Simeon are just as true today as they were when Christ was first born.

Simeon was a godly man, and somehow God had revealed to him that he would not pass away until he had seen the Messiah, the one who would come to save Israel…and the world. And when Simeon saw Jesus with his own eyes, he prayed,

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32)

But while Joseph and Mary marveled at his words, Simeon warned them,

This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

And a sword will pierce your own soul too. (Luke 2:34-35)

Truer words have never been spoken. For as many people accepted Jesus as their Messiah, many more rejected him. As many people honored the name of Jesus, many more cursed it.

And because of the Jews’ rejection of Him, it caused a piercing to the soul of Mary, who had to watch him crucified before her very eyes.

But while Simeon’s words were true of Israel in that time, they are just as true in the world today. Because while many people honor the name of Jesus, and worship him as Lord, so many others curse his name and reject him.

In doing so, they reveal the true state of their hearts.

For while many people may seem “good,” by rejecting the One who came to die for their sins, they show their rejection of God and his ways in their hearts. Instead they insist on living their own way whether God approves or not.

And seeing this pierces the souls of all who truly love Him. Especially when we see our loved ones reject Him.

I suppose at Christmas time, it’s especially painful to see. That at the time we rejoice in Christ’s birth, yet people choose to reject him.

Christ said that he didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34).

Some of you may say, “But what about the angels’ words at Christ’s birth, ‘peace on earth’ and all that?”

Christ did indeed come to bring peace, peace between God and us. But he is also a dividing point. People divide because of his name. Families divide. Friends divide. It’s inevitable because not everyone will believe.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: If you are truly going to follow Christ and preach his name, you cannot please everyone. Not everyone will like you.

Why? Because if they hate Christ, can you truly expect them to love you?

Jesus told us,

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.

As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)

So let us not waste time trying to make everyone love us. Instead, let us love Christ and preach his name. Because while some may fall because of him, some will rise and find life in his name.

And if those you love find him, isn’t it worth it?

God bless, and Merry Christmas!

Categories
Luke Luke 2

Spreading the Joy

Luke

Merry Christmas all! I trust you’ll forgive this short, but sweet blog on this Christmas day (in Japan).

When the shepherds heard the news that a Savior was born, they immediately raced down to Bethlehem to find him. And when they found Him, they rejoiced greatly.

It says that after they returned, they were glorifying and praising God. To be honest, I think that was an understatement for the joy they felt.

But it was a joy that they could not hold to themselves, for it says in verse 17, that they spread the news to anyone that would listen.

It says that the people were amazed at what the shepherds told them. What it doesn’t say is how they responded after that.

Did they truly believe the shepherds and go see the child themselves? Somehow, I get the impression that they didn’t. Some may have, but if they did, it’s recorded nowhere in scripture.

But to the shepherds, it didn’t matter whether or not the people believed them. They were so filled with joy that they HAD to tell others about it or they’d burst.

How about you? Are you so filled with the joy of the Lord that you’ll just burst if you don’t tell them?

We can’t control how people will respond to the good news about Jesus. What’s more, that’s not our responsibility.

But if we truly love Jesus, if we are truly filled with his joy, we should be telling people about him so that they can know that same joy in their lives too.

How much joy are you spreading?

Categories
Luke Luke 2

When Joy came

Shepherds

As I write this, it is Christmas Eve. And as I reflect on that first Christmas night, it’s hard to truly fathom. For it was on that day that joy truly did come to the world.

When the angel appeared to the shepherds, he said,

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

As I read this, and think of the feelings of the shepherds, I think of the old carol that says,

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned in the garden, the world had lived under the shadow of death. We were dying because of our sin. Without hope, and without God in the world.

And particularly for Israel at that time, they may have started to wonder if God had abandoned them. Though God had appeared to their forefathers and revealed himself to them, they hadn’t heard from him for 400 years.

But then, for the first time in centuries, God spoke, and said, “I am here.”

Literally. “Emmanuel” had come. And by his birth he said, “I not only care about you, but I have come to walk among you. To be a light in your darkness. To bring you hope. To bring you salvation.”

And when he sent angels to announce this, he didn’t send them to the priests who were supposed to be closest to God. Nor did he send them to the teachers of the law or any of the “religious” folk.

He came to ordinary folk. To shepherds. People, who in those days, were despised among the general Jewish population.

And by coming to them, God let them know that he truly had come for everyone. That this good news was truly for all people from the greatest to the least.

And because he came, the barrier between God and man came crumbling down. Peace between God and man became possible.

Not because of anything we had done. But because of what Jesus did, not on that Christmas night, but on the cross years later, when the curtain that stood between God and us was torn in two forever.

I pray that you may know that peace this Christmas. And may the joy the shepherds felt that night, fill your heart as well.

Joy to the World! The Lord is come!

Categories
Luke Luke 2

The One who is truly in control

Luke

When Luke gave his account of the birth of Jesus, he gave us some historical context. It happened during the time of Caesar Augustus, who was the emperor of the Roman Empire.

Augustus had taken complete control over the Roman Empire by conquering Mark Antony and Cleopatra’s forces, and shortly thereafter, he became the first Emperor of Rome.

He would flex his powers in many ways, including bringing peace to Rome, as his reign marked the beginning of the Pax Romana.

But what he didn’t know was that an even greater King was about to be born. And that though he was in control of the Roman Empire, there was a greater hand at work.

Augustus ordered that a census be taken of the entire Roman world, probably for tax purposes. With one snap of his fingers, his subjects all had to leap and go back to their hometowns to register.

One wonders what Joseph and Mary thought. We always assume that Mary was in her ninth month of pregnancy when the decree came, but we don’t know that. It may have been earlier.

But if true, I suspect that it wasn’t that much earlier because if it had been, there probably would have been time to find a better place to stay than in a cave, which was probably where Joseph and Mary had to go (contrary to all our images of a nice, clean stable).

Joseph must have wondered, “Why now, God? Why didn’t you work things out so she could be more comfortable?”

But God knew what he was doing. On a lesser note, it probably got Mary and Joseph out of a very uncomfortable situation in Nazareth where rumors were no doubt flying around concerning Mary’s pregnancy, because they were not yet married.

On a more important note, though, through this census, Jesus was forced to be born in Bethlehem, fulfilling the prophecy of Micah. (Micah 5:2)

Though Augustus thought he was in control, it was God who truly was in control. And while Augustus helped set up a peace that continued for roughly 200 years, eventually all he helped build crumbled.

But through Jesus, God started a kingdom that continues to this day and will have no end. No man, no woman, and no kingdom, will be able to overthrow it.

And when all is said and done, there will be a true peace in this world that will never be broken again.

How about you? Do you think that you are in control? Of your own life if nothing else?

Remember that there is Someone bigger than you are. And if your life is based solely on your wisdom and your efforts, it will eventually crumble.

Do you sometimes wonder if God is in control? Do you wonder why God allows things to happen as they do?

Continue to trust in him. Because he’s working things out according to a plan that we can’t always see. And in the end, all creation will see it.

On that day, as the angels cried out at Jesus’ birth, all will say,

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. (Luke 2:14)

Categories
Matthew Matthew 1

A selfless life

Matthew

“It’s my life.”

“My rights.”

“My happiness.”

How often do we hear those words from those around us. How often do they come out of our mouths?

But as one author put it, “It’s not about you.”

Rather, this life is about God, and the story he is weaving in us and around us.

When I think about Joseph, I see someone who understood this.

Think about his initial reaction to Mary. They were engaged, and in their culture, it was far more binding than in ours.

Though they were still not living with each other or sleeping with each other, by Jewish law it still required a divorce to dissolve the engagement.

But during that time, Mary is found to be pregnant.

How does Joseph feel? Probably hurt. Betrayed. Angry. And as I’ve mentioned before, by law, he had the right to have Mary stoned for her unfaithfulness.

But it says in verse 19,

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (Matthew 1:19)

Obviously, he didn’t want to marry her anymore. What man would? But hurt as he was, he didn’t seek revenge. He didn’t seek “justice.” He didn’t insist on his “rights” as the injured party.

Rather, he planned to show mercy to her. He wasn’t even going to make a big show of the divorce proceedings. He was just going to have it quietly done to spare as much pain as possible to Mary.

I wonder if Mary even tried to explain. How in the world do you say, “Don’t worry Joseph. I wasn’t unfaithful to you. God did this.”

Would you believe that? No reasonable person would. And because God knew that, he intervened, sending an angel to tell Joseph,

Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20-21)

Now on one level, I’m sure that it did bring some comfort to Joseph to hear this. But on another level, it would have been really easy to wipe his hands clean of the whole situation.

If he took Mary as his wife, there was a good chance that the people around would start to suspect that he was guilty of sleeping with Mary before they got married, and to stain his reputation.

What’s more, he could’ve easily said, “That may be true, God, but it’s not my baby. I didn’t ask for this. And you certainly didn’t ask me about it. Why should I take responsibility for Mary and the baby?”

But difficult as it was, Joseph took Mary as his wife. Despite the rumors. Despite all the difficulties.

Why? Because he knew this life wasn’t about him. That God had a bigger plan in which he wanted to save Israel, and the world.

So Joseph put aside his rights, his plans, and his life to serve God and Mary. But in doing so, I have to believe that he also found joy and fulfillment.

How about you? Are you living for yourself? If you do, ultimately, it leaves you empty. But by living for God and his purposes, you find life. As Jesus himself put it,

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

Who are you living for?

Categories
Luke Luke 1

Salvation

Luke

One wonders all that Zechariah thought during the nine months his mouth was stopped due to his unbelief.

Somehow, one gets the feeling that while he regretted his unbelief, it nevertheless didn’t put a damper on his spirit, because his inability to speak proved to him that God’s promise was true.

Instead of wallowing in sorrow, I think he walked each day with a new spring in his step.

And when his son was finally born, and his mouth was opened, all his joy came bubbling out. He sang,

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago). (Luke 1:68-70)

And as he goes on in his song of salvation, we see just what salvation is all about.

It’s a salvation that shines on those in darkness and in the shadow of death. (Luke 1:79)

So many people today are living in the darkness of sin, and because of that, the shadow of death hangs over them. For as Paul wrote, the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

But to those in darkness, salvation proclaims the forgiveness of sins to all who will believe. (Luke 1:77)

It’s a salvation that comes not through works, but through the mercy of God. (Luke 1:78)

We deserve nothing from God but eternal death. But because he loved us so much, he sent his Son to die for us, and through him, our sins can be forgiven.

It’s a salvation that rescues us from Satan’s kingdom. (Luke 1:71, 74)

Though Satan hates us and desired to keep us in bondage, God set us free from the chains of sin Satan had bound us in.

It’s a salvation that brings us a new life (Luke 1:74-75)

Instead of serving Satan’s kingdom, leading to our own destruction, we now serve in God’s kingdom.

Instead of living in sin, leading to fear, sorrow, and shame, we now live in the holiness and righteousness that he has clothed us in.

And each day, he transforms us more and more into his likeness. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

It’s a salvation that brings us peace. (Luke 1:79)

A peace that goes beyond our personal circumstances and is beyond all comprehension. A peace that comes because we know that we are at peace with God.

How can we receive this salvation? It’s as easy as a prayer:

Lord Jesus, I admit I’m a sinner. I have done so many things that have hurt you and others. Please forgive me.

Thank you for dying on the cross for me and taking the punishment for my sin. Please give me a new start. I desire to follow you and become more like you each day. Grant me your peace each day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
Luke Luke 1

Blessed

Mary

When Mary heard that her relative Elizabeth was pregnant, she quickly hurried down to see her.

This is quite understandable considering Mary’s own unusual circumstances. She probably wanted to confirm that this wasn’t just some kind of delusion or dream.

Any such thoughts were quickly dispelled the moment Elizabeth saw Mary. Because Elizabeth’s baby leaped within her, and filled with the Holy Spirit, she said,

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?…

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her! (Luke 1:42-45)

There was no human way for Elizabeth to know that Mary was pregnant nor was it possible for her to know that Mary’s baby was to be the Messiah. The only way that she could know was if God told her.

And because of this supernatural knowledge, all remaining doubt Mary may have had dissolved, and she sang,

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. (Luke 1:46-49)

As I look at her words, it reminds me of how God has blessed us as well.

Like Mary, it’s not because we are deserving of anything of God. We are simply his humble servants. It’s not because of the things we have done that we are blessed, but because of the great things God has done.

What has he done for us?

1. He has extended his mercy to us. And not only to us, but to those who came before us, and all who will follow after. (Luke 1:50)

We deserve punishment for all the sins we have committed, but God instead shows us mercy.

Why could he show his mercy to us? Because all his wrath was poured out onto his Son when he died on the cross. And because Jesus took our punishment for us, we can receive God’s mercy instead.

2. He has acted on our behalf. (Luke 1:51)

When Israel was in slavery to Egypt, God humbled Pharaoh and lifted up Moses and the Israelites.

He also cast down nations and rulers that were more powerful than them, and brought them into the land he had promised.

And though his people failed him again and again, nevertheless, he never forgot his promises to Abraham, and has preserved them to this day.

That’s amazing, considering not only how many other races have perished in that time, but also how many times other nations have tried to destroy Israel, even up to the present time.

Just as God has acted on the behalf of Israel, he has acted on our behalf as well. He did so by sending Jesus to die on the cross for us. But even now, he continually acts on our behalf.

When our problems are bigger than we are, he brings us victory. When we are in need, he meets those needs. And when Satan seeks to destroy us, God watches over us and preserves us.

So as Mary did, especially in this Christmas season, let us magnify the Lord. For he has done great things for us. And we truly are blessed.

Categories
Luke Luke 1

Surrendered

Luke

If one wonders why an ordinary teenage girl like Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus, it can be summed up in one word: Surrendered.

She was a woman completely surrendered to the will of God in her life, and you see it here in this passage.

Six months after appearing to Zechariah, Gabriel appears to Mary, and says,

Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28)

Despite Gabriel’s words, Mary is troubled wondering what was going on. So Gabriel said,

Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. (Luke 1:30-33)

Mary could not mistake what the angel was saying. All young women prayed that their child would be the Messiah. But she had a very logical question.

How will this be…since I am a virgin? (Luke 1:34)

Gabriel replied,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)

At this point, some people will say, “Come on. Virgin birth? You don’t really believe that, do you?”

But in this day of modern medicine, we see it all the time. When a couple is infertile, a doctor will take the husband’s sperm and inject it into the woman’s womb. In some cases, they inject the sperm right into the egg.

Are we seriously going to say that God can’t do what human doctors can?

Gabriel knew, however, this was a lot to swallow, and so she told Mary, “Go to your relative Elizabeth. Everyone told her that she would never get pregnant. But now she is. With God nothing is impossible.”

With these words, Mary said,

May it be to me as you have said. (Luke 1:38)

No more arguments. No more objections. Just surrender.

But think about this for a minute. By surrendering to God, she was risking much.

She was risking her reputation with her family and neighbors. She was risking her upcoming wedding to Joseph. And she was even risking her life.

By law, Joseph could have had her stoned (though admittedly, this rarely happened by Jesus’ day).

After all, who would believe that God was responsible for making her pregnant?

But Mary said, “If this is what you want God, I’m willing. No matter the cost.”

She had no guarantees from God. He never promised to preserve her upcoming wedding. He never promised to preserve her reputation.

But she believed in her heart that God was good, and that his plans were good. More than that, she said, “I am yours. I am your servant. Do what you will.”

That’s a heart of surrender. And because she was surrendered, God was able to do great things through her.

How about you? Are you surrendered to God? Are you willing to let everything go in order to follow him?

Categories
Luke Luke 1

Disappointment

Luke

We start the book of Luke with a prologue talking about why it was written.

Luke was a doctor who had become a Christian when the church first began. He was a learned man, and here he writes to a man named Theophilus.

Luke tells him that in becoming a Christian, he himself had carefully investigated the story of Jesus, and now he wanted to lay out all his findings for Theophilus and all who were interested.

I must say that this gives me some comfort that a man of Luke’s education would do this for us so close to Christ’s time here on earth. It gives a real credibility to the history of the story of Jesus.

Luke starts with the story of Zechariah who was a priest. And as you read between the lines of this story, you see someone who, though he was a good man and loved God, nevertheless had suffered deep disappointment in his life.

Namely, his wife was barren. As painful as that is in this day and age, it was much more so in theirs. And for his wife Elizabeth in particular, their culture considered it a disgrace.

One wonders how long they prayed for a son. Perhaps there were months that Elizabeth’s period was late, and hope sprang anew. But then her period would start, and hope would be dashed. How often did this pattern repeat in their lives?

How do we respond to unanswered prayers in our lives? How do we respond to hopes dashed?

For some, they get bitter.

“Why won’t you answer my prayers? I need this! Don’t you hear? Don’t you know what I’m going through? Don’t you know how I’m feeling?”

Others get resigned.

“Well, I guess God just isn’t going to answer this one.”

And they just move on with their lives, living in disappointment.

But others hope beyond hope. Abraham was an example of this in a similar situation to Zechariah.

How did Zechariah feel? At a guess, he had resigned himself to “the facts.”

“My wife and I are old. It’s too late. If it hasn’t happened now, it never will. Maybe God just had more important things to worry about.”

But one day, he was chosen by lot to burn incense at the altar in the temple. Because of the number of priests in Israel, the odds of getting chosen were very slim. But that day, he was chosen for this honor.

The smoke of the incense was a symbol of the people’s prayers rising to God, so while Zechariah was in there, the people outside the temple prayed, and no doubt, so did Zechariah.

What did he pray for? Undoubtedly, he prayed for the nation. Perhaps he even prayed that the Messiah would finally come. For God had not spoken to anyone in 400 years.

Did he pray for himself? Perhaps. Perhaps not. One wonders if after years of discouragement, he started to doubt if God really cared about him personally.

“Sure God loves Israel. But does he really care about me?”

But in the midst of his prayers, to his great shock, an angel appears. His first reaction is fear. Did he do something wrong? Would he be struck down as Aaron’s sons had once been while doing the very same thing (Leviticus 10)?

But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’ve got good news for you. Do you remember all your prayers that you prayed for a son? God has heard them. And he’s giving you a son.

“More than that, your son’s going to prepare the way for the Messiah you’ve been hoping for.”

Zechariah’s reaction? Disbelief. Years of unanswered prayer had beaten him down. And he said,

How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years. (Luke 1:18)

In other words, “I’ve been praying for years. Nothing has happened. Time and again my hopes have been dashed. I don’t want to get my hopes up again only to be disappointed.”

How often do we respond the same way? Because of disappointments, we lose hope.

God graciously didn’t take away the blessing because of his doubt, but he did rebuke Zechariah, and said, “Do you want a sign? Here it is: You won’t speak again until the birth of your son.”

That certainly got his attention. And he believed. Soon, so did his wife. She got pregnant, and when she did, she said,

The Lord has done this for me…In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. (Luke 1:25)

What can we get from all this?

First, whether we feel like it or not. God does hear all our prayers. It was one of the first things the angel Gabriel told Zechariah.

“Your prayers were not in vain. Your prayers were not bouncing off the ceiling. God has heard you.”

Second, God is weaving a story that we can’t always see. A story that is often bigger than us. You can’t get much bigger than preparing the way for Jesus to come.

But because of that, our prayers may seem to go unanswered at times.

But don’t lose hope. God has heard you. He may or may not give you what you desire. But know that God is working something out in your life. He’s working out something for your good. Because he loves you.

And if you’ll keep hoping and trusting in him, in the end, whether it’s in heaven or on earth, you will see the story he wove and the beautiful tapestry that resulted.

So whatever you’re going through, stay in the story. And you will find blessing as Zechariah and Elizabeth did.

Categories
Luke Luke 3 Matthew Matthew 1

Identifying with a fallen people

The gospels

As we look at the genealogies of Jesus, there are a couple of things that should be noted.

First, the genealogy in Matthew is clearly incomplete as several kings are skipped over (e.g. Joash, Amaziah, and Jehoiakim). So when you read “father of,” in Matthew, it would be better to read it as the “ancestor of.”

Second, most scholars agree that these genealogies are not both from Joseph’s line. It is assumed that the account of Matthew is giving us Joseph’s actual genealogy, while Luke’s gives us Mary’s.

The main reason is that in Luke, it says that Jesus was the son, “so it was thought,” of Joseph.

So as we read Luke’s account, it should probably be read, “[Jesus] was the son, so it was thought of Joseph, but really the descendant of Heli…” and so on. (The word “son” in the book of Luke can be translated descendant).

This is the first time I’m taking such a close look at the genealogies, and I’m realizing just how complex the issues with the genealogies can be, but I don’t want to get into them here except to say that the explanations are certainly very interesting.

At any rate, before I get lost in the explanation of the genealogies, let’s get to the fiercely practical.

As I look at these genealogies, one thing strikes me. When Jesus came, he didn’t just appear out of nowhere. He didn’t just drop out of the sky and say, “Here I am!”

Rather, fallen people though we are, he chose to identify with us. He chose to become one of us.

Just look at his ancestors.

  • Adam, who was created in a perfect world, but still managed to bring sin into it.
  • Terah, an idol worshipper, as were probably many of his ancestors.
  • Jacob, who had been a conman for much of his life.
  • Judah, who because of his ill-treatment of his daughter-in-law after his son’s death, was deceived by her and slept with her thinking she was a prostitute. The result? Two sons, one of whom just happened to be Jesus’ ancestor. (A complex story: See Genesis 38).
  • Rahab, who was not only an outsider to the Jewish people, but a prostitute.
  • Ruth, a woman from an outcast group of people, the Moabites. (See Deuteronomy 23:3-4)
  • David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Yet Solomon (Matthew 1:6) and Nathan (not the prophet — Luke 3:31) were both sons of this union.
  • Numerous kings who had turned their backs on God (Ahaz and Manasseh among others).

Jesus could have skipped out on all this if he had wanted to. He could have held himself out as completely separate from us. But he didn’t. Instead, he identified himself with us, saying, “I am one of you.”

He identified with us in other ways as well. He wasn’t particularly handsome. (Isaiah 53:2)

He didn’t come from a rich family. He grew up working hard, supporting his family once his father Joseph died.

He got tired. He got hungry and thirsty. He went through temptation and trials. He suffered rejection. He was misunderstood. He was abused. He was betrayed. He suffered pain.

Why?

The book of Hebrews tells us, saying,

[Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. (Hebrews 2:17)

In short, he did it to understand us. And because he understands us, he has become more merciful towards us as our high priest before God.

Because of this, it says in Hebrews 4:16,

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may find mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

How are you feeling today? Depressed because of your struggles with sin? Struggling just to support your family? Tired? Troubled? Rejected? Hurt? Betrayed?

Bring it all before Jesus. Because he understands. And he will help.

Categories
John John 1

Light in a darkened world

John

I once read about a young teenage girl in the United States.

She had perfect grades in high school. She had a perfect score for the SAT. She had a perfect score for the University of California acceptance exam. She was a brilliant young woman.

But in an interview, a reporter asked her, “What is the meaning of life?”

Her answer?

“I have no idea. I would like to know myself.”

That’s the kind of world that we’re living in. A world where people are separated from God, and because they are, they are walking around in darkness.

They’re stumbling around looking for meaning in life. Even worse, they are blinded by their sin and where that sin is leading them.

And it was into this world that Jesus stepped into 2000 years ago as a little baby. It says in verse 4 of this passage,

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

When Jesus came into this world, he became light in a darkened world. How did he become light?

He showed us who God is.

As we saw in my last post, he explained who God is to us. God is invisible, but when Jesus appeared, God became visible. All that God is, we see in Jesus.

We no longer have to guess what God is like. We can look at Jesus and know.

He showed us the meaning of life.

What is the meaning of life? Ultimately, it is to have a relationship with God.

It says in verse 3 that he created all things, including us. But when Jesus came, the very people that he created didn’t recognize him. More than that, they rejected him. (John 1:10-11)

But it says in verse 12-13,

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

In other words, when we receive Jesus as our Savior and as our Lord, we become adopted into his family.

Nobody is physically born into God’s family. Just because your parents are Christians does not make you one. You need to be born of God.

In other words, you need to respond to God’s work in your heart and say “Yes” to Jesus.

“Yes Jesus. I want you to be my King. I want you to be my Lord.”

When you do that, you become part of God’s family. And in doing so, you find the main purpose for which you were created. A relationship with your heavenly Father.

He showed us the way to life.

Just as he gave life and breath to all that live, he gives eternal life to all who believe in him.

It says in verse 5,

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood (or overcome) it.

When Jesus came into the world, the sinful people around him could not understand him, even the religious ones. And because of that they tried to kill him.

But even in killing him, they could not overcome him. Rather, through his death, he took the punishment for our sin.

More than that, he conquered death and the grave by rising again three days later, and now he gives life to all who come to him.

And so John writes,

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

Moses gave us the law that showed us what God required of us. But the law couldn’t save us. All it could do was show us our shortcomings. That we’re all sinners deserving death.

But through Jesus, we find grace and truth. We see the truth of our sinfulness. But we also see the truth of God’s love for us shown on the cross.

And when we receive him, we receive “grace upon grace.” A grace that never runs out and covers all our sin. A grace that gives us life.

May the light of Christ shine in your hearts this Christmas.

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John John 1

When God became flesh

Jesus John 1:1
www.LumoProject.com

For those wondering how I’m going to tackle the Gospels, I’m going to do it as I did the Old Testament, that is, chronologically. I’m going to use a harmony of the Gospels to do this, and weave between the Gospel narratives to tell the story of Jesus.

Because of this, we will start with John 1, which takes us back to the very beginning of time.

I’m really excited about finally hitting the Gospels by the way, particularly since as I write this, we’re well into the Christmas season. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

At any rate, John starts off his Gospel by writing,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1)

When it says “the Word,” it’s talking about Jesus. In other words, in the beginning when time began, Jesus was already there.

Why does it call Jesus “The Word?”

Well to the Jewish mind, “the Word” meant the wisdom of God.

To the Greek mind, it had the idea of reason or mind of God. When they asked themselves, “Why do we see so much order in this world we live in? How could it have been created in such a way?” they would answer, “The mind and reason of God.”

So when John talks of Jesus as the Word, that’s what he’s saying. He’s the mind and reason of God. He’s the wisdom of God himself.

Let’s think of it another way. How can we get to know a person? Through their words.

If a person never speaks or writes, we can get to know them to some degree. But the extent to which we can know them is very limited.

But when they speak, we learn the way they think. We can learn from their wisdom. And most of all, we can find out who they truly are.

That’s what Jesus is to us. He’s God’s “Word” to us. Because through Jesus, we see who God really is. Why is this so?

There are two reasons. First, he was with God in the beginning. More literally, it says, he was “face to face” with God the Father in the beginning. In other words, they had a very close and personal relationship.

But not only that, Jesus himself was God. And in verse 14, it says that he became flesh and dwelt among us. In other words, God became flesh in Jesus Christ.

Here we hit the concept of the Trinity full on. What is the Trinity? It is the idea that though there is one God, we see three persons in the one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father. Yet somehow, these three are the one God.

How can this be? I don’t know. We live in a dimension where three persons are three separate beings. Three people can stand right next to each other with no space between them, but they are still separate beings.

But God is not bound by a three dimensional universe. He exists in a completely different dimension. And in the dimension in which he exists, three persons can be one being.

We can’t fully understand it simply because we don’t dwell in God’s dimension. We dwell in ours.

But as much as God can be understood, it’s because of Jesus. Because when Jesus was born in that manger 2000 years ago, for the first time, we could actually see God with our own eyes.

John writes,

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (14)

When he walked this earth and spoke, he revealed who God is, because he was God in human flesh. All that God is, we see in Jesus.

That’s why John writes,

“No one has ever seen God [the Father], but God the One and Only [Jesus] who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (18)

Literally, it says that Jesus has explained God to us. He’s God’s interpreter to us.

This is getting long, so let’s wrap this up for now by saying this: When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the fact that God became flesh.

Why is that important? Because by becoming flesh, he revealed himself to us.

Do you want to know the invisible God? Look no further than the manger. Because in Jesus, we see who God is in all his wisdom, power, and glory.

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Song of Solomon

Sealed

Song of Solomon

And so after over 900 posts and two and a half years, we come to the end of the Old Testament.

In this final passage, the lovers are coming back from their short trip together, and it’s evident to all their love for each other, as they see the woman leaning on her husband’s arm.

And the woman tells her husband,

Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.

If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned. (Song of Solomon 8:6–7)

A seal in those days was a mark of ownership. And if someone possessed another’s seal, it was a sign of mutual access and possession.

In other words, she was saying, “You belong to me, and I to you. We are sealed to each other.”

She described their love as strong as death (6b). Even death could not break the love she had for him, and their love would last beyond death.

This is especially true for all who are in Christ, because though we may die, we will see our spouses once again in heaven.

She said her love’s jealousy would never yield (Song of Solomon 8:6c).

We often think of jealousy in a negative sense. But jealousy is wrong only when we desire something that belongs to another.

In this case, however, she belongs to her husband, and he to her. And basically, she’s saying that she won’t let anything get between her and her husband, and the love that they have for each other.

If only all couples so jealously guarded their relationships.

Too often, we let other things get in the way which destroy our relationships, whether it’s hobbies, work, or even another lover. Our love for our spouse should never yield to these things.

She then compared her love to a fire, a fire that nothing could quench. And she said it was a love that no amount of money could buy (7).

As she thinks of her own relationship with her husband, her thoughts then turn toward her sister, who is yet a virgin. And she longs for her sister to have the same kind of marriage relationship that she has.

She says of her sister, “If her walls protecting her virtue are strong, I want to make them stronger. If she seems to be an open door, susceptible to anyone that would approach her, I want to protect her and close up that door.” (8–9)

She then thinks of how glad she was that she kept her virginity until she got married. And she knows that because she did, she won the respect of her husband.

More than that, she was able to give her all to her husband. She had given to no one else what she gave him (10).

Solomon’s vineyard was so big that he had to let it out to tenants in order for it to be cared for. Many took of its fruits and paid Solomon for it.

But this woman’s “vineyard,” that is, her body, was her own, and she had chosen to give it to Solomon.

He didn’t have to pay to taste of her fruits. She gave it freely to him.

She told him that if he wanted to pay someone, he should pay those who had helped protect her virtue over the years (11–12).

The song closes with Solomon calling out to her and her responding, saying, “Come away with me, my lover.”

For every single person that reads this blog, my prayer is that you would save yourself for that one person to give your heart, soul, and body to.

For those who are married, my prayer is that you would be sealed to your spouse as this couple was, forever calling and responding to each other in love.

Amen.

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Song of Solomon

Making time to be with your spouse

Song of Solomon

In this passage, we see Solomon and his wife spending time together.

In chapter 7, verses 1–10, we see Solomon expressing his delight in his wife and how beautiful she is. He also expresses how much he desires her sexually, saying,

How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
O love, with your delights!

Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts like clusters of fruit.

I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,
and your mouth like the best wine. (Song of Solomon 7:6–9a)

I don’t know how many people would use this kind of imagery today, but the meaning, I think, is quite clear.

She responds with delight, saying,

May the wine go straight to my lover,
flowing gently over lips and teeth. (9b)

And as she basks in her husband’s love, she sighs,

I belong to my lover,
and his desire is for me. (10)

But it doesn’t stop there. She suggests they go out together, and the purpose is very clear as she says in verses 12–13,

There I will give you my love.

The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
that I have stored up for you, my lover. (12–13)

Mandrakes were plants that were known for their aphrodisiacal properties.

So she is essentially saying, “Let’s go out and find somewhere new to make love. I have even stored up some new things, some surprises for us to enjoy together.”

In chapter 8, she continues to show her desire for her husband, saying she wishes that she could be as openly affectionate with her husband in public as she could with her brother.

She thinks back to her mother and how her mother taught her about love and marriage, and she desires to show her mother how well she learned.

And once again, in verses 2–4, we see the sexual desires she has for her husband, all the while charging those who are single to remain pure until marriage, as she had charged them twice before.

What can we get from this?

Number one, I think it’s important—perhaps even more so for the women—to understand how important sex is in marriage.

Men are wired to desire sexual intimacy in a very strong way. If you don’t know, women, let me tell you. We think about it constantly.

And while wives are often somewhat different from their husbands in their need for sexual intimacy, and some may not feel such a need for it as often, nevertheless, it’s important to make time for it.

To even initiate it as this woman did and come up with ideas for how to enjoy it more.

Why is it so important? It helps us to bond with each other.

But another major reason is that it’s protection for us, especially the husband.

Paul wrote to married couples,

Do not deprive each other [of sex] except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians 7:5)

He also points out,

The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband.

In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. (1 Corinthians 7:4)

Or as Solomon’s wife puts it,

My lover is mine and I am his. (2:16)

And so in marriage, it’s important to make time for each other. To make time for sex, certainly. But also, in general, going on dates and doing things with each other.

How about you? Are you making time for your spouse?

Categories
Song of Solomon

Still captivated

Song of Solomon

As I look at these passages, I can’t help but think of the words of Solomon when he wrote,

May you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love. (Proverbs 5:18–19)

And that’s what you see in these passages.

Though some time has passed since the wedding, Solomon is still captivated by his wife.

If anything, he is even more captivated. Along with the metaphors that he used previously to describe his love for her, he adds more.

He compares her to the cities of Tirzah and Jerusalem. (Song of Solomon 6:4)

Just as it takes time to explore a city to discover all its glory, so it takes time to explore your spouse, and all the depths that make them what they are. It is, in fact, a lifelong process.

He tells her that when he looks into her eyes, they still overwhelm him (5).

After years of marriage, I can say the same when I look into my wife’s eyes and see the love that she has for me there.

He calls her his perfect one.

I think that as time passes, we can see that our spouses are not perfect. But the eyes of love are willing to overlook their faults. Indeed, the eyes of love often cause people to rise above what they are.

Some look at verse 8 and conclude that Solomon must have had other wives and concubines by this time, and that may be true.

It’s also possible that at this time, he was still monogamous and was simply throwing out a hypothetical situation (though one wishes it had remained hypothetical).

The main point, though, was that of all the women in his life, she had a special place in his heart.

Men may have different women in their lives—mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. But as God intended it, his wife is to trump them all. She is to take priority over all other women in his life.

Even when Solomon went out to conduct business, he found his thoughts drifting back to his wife, and they soon had him in his chariot racing back to her (11–12).

That should be a husband’s attitude.

Certainly, work is necessary, and hopefully enjoyable.

But his desire for his wife should outweigh his love for his work. If we love our work more than our wives, this is never a good thing.

The same can be said for the working woman concerning her husband.

How about you? Are you still captivated by your spouse?

It’s not simply an ideal. It’s certainly not intended to be just a dream awoken by “reality.”

It’s what God intended for you and your spouse from the beginning.

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Song of Solomon

Anger, hurt, reconciliation

broken relationships

Marriage relationships don’t always go swimmingly. In this world broken by sin, anger and hurt between husband and wife are a given. The question is, how do we respond to it?

That’s what we see in this passage.

Most commentators take this to be a kind of dream sequence. But it depicts the feelings that often occur in marriage.

Perhaps the woman’s husband was late in coming home that night. Perhaps for work. Perhaps for other reasons.

And so she went to bed in anger and resentment, falling asleep before he came home.

In her dreams, she hears her husband calling, asking her to let him in because the door is locked.

But in her anger, she snaps, “I’m already in bed. Do I have to get up just to let you in?”

In Ephesians 4:26–27, Paul tells us,

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

That we will get angry with our spouse is a given. Inevitably we do things to hurt each other whether we intend to or not.

But Paul charges us not to sin in our anger. Not to hold on to anger or resentment, because in doing so, we give Satan a foothold in our lives, and in this case, our marriage.

But this woman held on to resentment toward her husband for being late.

Maybe he had had a pattern of coming home late. Maybe it was just this one night, but he had failed to call.

At any rate, when he finally came back, she had locked him out.

We may not lock our spouse out of the house (at least I hope you don’t), but how often in our anger do we lock them out of our hearts?

As the spouse locked out, how do we respond?

I think Solomon gives us a clue. He doesn’t try to force his way in. Rather, he simply leaves a sign of his love.

It says in verse 5 that when the woman finally came to open the door for him, she found it covered in myrrh.

In their culture, lovers would do this to show that they had been there. In modern terms, he left her flowers.

Sometimes our spouses get angry with us. Sometimes we feel it’s justified. Sometimes we don’t.

But if we don’t want Satan to get a foothold in our marriage, we shouldn’t respond to anger with anger, but with love.

Apologize, if necessary. And remind them of your love.

In her dream, as she saw her lover’s efforts to reach out, she finally responded, but it was too late. He was gone.

So she went out looking for him. It’s possible as she did so, she was beating herself up for her own attitude, which is perhaps why she dreamed of the watchmen beating her.

When others asked her why she was desperate to find him, she told them of all the things she loved about him.

It is something worth doing, even in our times of anger toward our spouse. It’s easy to focus on all the negative things about them. But it is especially during those times that we should think of all the things we love about them.

And while she talks about his physical features, she also describes him as the one who loves her, as a lover and a friend.

That’s what we should remind ourselves of too. That though our spouse may fail us, they do love us.

Perhaps it’s as her friends ask her, “Where is your lover that we may search for him,” that she awakes to find her husband by her side “browsing among the lilies.” (See chapter 4, verse 5, and chapter 5, verse 13.)

All her anger is forgotten, as she says,

I am my lover’s and my lover is mine. (Song of Solomon 6:3)

Marriage does not become a bed of roses naturally. It takes work. It takes cultivating. And part of that is dealing with our anger and the anger of our spouses in a right way.

How about you? How do you deal with anger in your marriage?

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Song of Solomon

Wedding Day: God’s intention for marriage

I’ve been married for 8 years now, and I still remember my wedding day very well. I remember how beautiful my wife looked that day, and to this day, she is still beautiful in my eyes.

In chapter 3, you can see Solomon’s limousine coming to pick her up for the wedding, escorted by all his secret service men (okay, so it was a chariot and soldiers, but you get the idea).

Her eyes light upon Solomon looking stunningly handsome in his wedding garb.

Solomon in turn is totally infatuated with his new bride, as we see him in chapter 4, saying,

How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful! (Song of Solomon 4:1)

He then goes into intimate detail of all the things he likes about her, from her eyes, to her teeth, to her temples, to her lips, to her neck, and down to her breasts.

I can imagine him kissing each part as he whispers these words of love.

And unlike in chapter two, where she bade him to leave until the break of day, now he says to her,

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense. (Song of Solomon 4:6)

I don’t think you have to stretch your imagination far to understand what he means by mountain and hill, particularly after looking at verse 5.

At any rate, he and she intend to totally enjoy their first night together. And Solomon concludes by saying,

All beautiful you are, my darling;
there is no flaw in you. (Song of Solomon 4:7)

This is the language of love, and very erotic. And it is good.

How often do husbands and wives continue using this kind of language 10 or 20 years into their marriage?

How much better would marriages be if they did?

He calls her to leave behind her home in Lebanon and to be with him forever, saying,

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! (Song of Solomon 4:9–10)

It’s a little weird in our culture to refer to our wives as sisters, but in their culture it was common. The idea is that she was now part of his family.

And if there’s any thought that French kissing started in France, take a look at verse 11. Solomon knew well about this type of kissing as well. 🙂

But one thing that Solomon admired about her was that she had saved her body for him and him alone.

Before their wedding day, she had been a locked garden, a spring enclosed, and a sealed fountain. Though there was much to enjoy of her in a sexual and passionate relationship, she had preserved herself for marriage.

But now, she opens up her garden to him, giving her whole self, body and soul to him, saying,

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad.

Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits. (Song of Solomon 4:16)

After coming together, and as they lie next to each other, Solomon says,

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk. (Song of Solomon 5:1a)

At this point, someone speaks.

Who? Some say it’s her friends.

But my guess is it’s God himself. And he says,

Eat, O friends, and drink;
drink your fill, O lovers. (Song of Solomon 5:1b)

That’s what marriage is supposed to be. Two people loving each other, saving themselves for each other, and enjoying each other in every way.

This is what God blesses.

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Song of Solomon

Keeping ourselves pure

Song of Solomon

We live in a culture where purity is hard to come by. How many husbands and wives come into their marriages sexually pure?

Everything in our culture seems to fight against it.

TV dramas constantly depict sex before marriage, and outside of it. Movies do the same. The internet is full of it, and makes porn even more easily accessible than ever.

More than that, everyone seems to just think it’s natural to sleep with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Or to move in with them before they get married.

But that’s not what God intended when he created sex. He created it as something good and to be enjoyed, but only within the confines of marriage.

Within marriage, it’s a beautiful thing that helps bind a couple together, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

But taken outside of marriage, sex often leads to heartache and pain.

Here in this passage, we see a passionate woman who nonetheless saw the need for purity. As you look at her words, you see her strong desire for her lover.

We see them on their wedding night here, lying together in intimate embrace. (Song of Solomon 2:3–7)

She compares her husband to an apple tree, and you can see the security that she feels in their relationship.

She says his embrace is like sitting in the shade protected from the hot sun, and all the while, she tastes of his “fruits.” She then asks him for even more, saying,

Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love. (Song of Solomon 2:5)

But then she issues a warning to the single women of Jerusalem, and to us all.

Daughters of Jerusalem,
I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. (2:7)

In other words, love and sex are powerful things. And to arouse these passions before you’re ready is a dangerous thing. What does it mean to be ready?

To be ready emotionally and mentally.

To be mature enough to be able to make a commitment that lasts a lifetime.

To understand what that kind of commitment truly means. That it’s not simply the feelings of the moment but goes far beyond it.

So many people don’t understand this, and that’s why the divorce rate is so high.

It’s why so many sexual relationships break up even before marriage is reached, leaving many brokenhearted.

The woman then recalls her own courtship. How her lover appeared and asked her out on a date.

You see his passion and longing for her in his words. (2:10–14)

But even he was aware of the traps that could destroy a relationship, saying,

Catch for us the foxes,
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in bloom. (2:15)

The vineyards in this case are their love relationship. And there are so many foxes that can ruin a vineyard.

In other words, there are many things that can destroy a relationship, including getting too intimate too soon.

So even in the midst of their strong passions, she tells him,

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee,
turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag on the rugged hills. (2:17)

In other words, now is not the time to spend the night together. Leave now, and I will see you tomorrow.

Even so, in her dreams, she longs for him (3:1–4), and she dreams of searching for him, and of her joy in finding him.

But once again she warns us,

Daughters of Jerusalem,
I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. (3:5)

Sex is beautiful. It was meant to be so. And by enjoying it as God intended it has tremendous power for good in a relationship.

But by taking it outside of what God intended, it has power that’s equally destructive, to your relationships and to you.

How about you? Are you keeping yourself pure?

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Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon: A love song

Song of Solomon

And so we hit the final book of the Old Testament. It’s very interesting to me that I ended Proverbs with two posts, “To be a man,” and “To be a woman.”

For in this book, we find what it means to be a couple as God designed us, as God intended.

It was a song written by Solomon talking about the courtship of his wife, their wedding, and their marriage relationship.

(Which wife this is referring to, I don’t know. I’d like to think it was his first, and this was written while he was still monogamous.)

The interesting thing is that this book is written primarily from the perspective of his wife.

There seem to be some time jumps in the first few chapters, and from all appearances, we are starting at the wedding. From the bride’s very first words, we see her passion for Solomon.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine. (Song of Solomon 1:2)

God created us as sexual beings. And the physical relationship between man and woman was something he created to be good and pleasurable.

We are supposed to take delight in the kisses of our spouse. We are supposed to take delight in each other.

But it’s also important to note that his physique was not the only thing that attracted her to him. She says,

Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the maidens love you! (1:3)

Here she compares his smell with his name.

In other words, he had a sweet-smelling reputation. He was a man of integrity and honor, and because of that, many were the women that longed for him.

This is something for men to remember in pursuing a wife.

It isn’t enough to work on your physique; you need to work on your character as well. This matters if she is ever to respect you. Are you a person worthy of her respect?

In verse 5, we see how she views herself. She sees herself in a healthy way. She views herself as lovely, as one who is attractive.

Still, she probably suffered the wounds of those who criticized her appearance.

In those days, having fair skin was considered a good thing, but because she was forced to work in the fields as she was growing up, her skin had become darkened by the sun.

(When it says she neglected her own “vineyard,” it’s referring to her body. Think of it this way: her body produces “fruits” for her lover to enjoy, as we’ll see in later chapters.)

Unfortunately, too many women nowadays don’t see themselves as attractive. They see all the actresses on TV and get depressed that they can’t compete.

But God created you as you are. And he created you beautiful.

This woman also came into this relationship with emotional baggage, as her brothers had rejected her and were hard on her.

One wonders about how much support, if any, she got from her parents considering how her brothers abused her.

But in this passage, we see the healing a loving relationship can bring.

Time and again, Solomon affirms his love for her. That in his eyes, she is beautiful. (1:9–10)

When she claims in chapter 2, verse 1 that she is simply ordinary in her beauty (a rose of Sharon and lily of the valley were common ordinary wildflowers), he affirms,

Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens. (2:2)

In other words, “You may feel like a common lily, but all other women are like thorns to me.”

And because of this love he has for her, she responds with unbridled love of her own. (1:4, 16)

That’s how love in marriage should be. It should be a love where the couple delights in each other, respects each other, and helps to bring God’s healing to each other.

May you know that kind of love in your marriage as well.

Categories
Proverbs

To be a woman

Being a woman

In this passage, we find out what it means to be the ideal woman.

As with men, too often, this world has a warped view of what a woman should be. Much of it is focused on her appearance—being slim, beautiful, and sexy.

But Lemuel’s mother makes a key point in this passage.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

Women, to be a woman means simply this above all things: fear the Lord.

Spending time developing your charm and your beauty is worth nothing compared to cultivating your relationship with your Lord.

Men, if you are pursuing a wife, don’t be deceived by her charms or her looks. Look instead for a real woman—someone who loves her Lord above all else.

If you want to wrap up the whole of this passage, that’s it.

But there’s also a lot more Lemuel’s mother said of the kind of woman her son should pursue.

She should be someone of noble character (10).

Physical beauty fades. A noble character only grows more beautiful.

What is a woman of noble character? It goes back to the first point. It’s a woman who pursues her Lord above all things. A woman who does this will grow more and more like her Lord as each day passes.

She is trustworthy (11).

She’s a person you can trust to be faithful to you. A person you can trust to be faithful in your finances. A person you can trust to be honest with you at all times.

She looks to bless her husband (12).

Put another way, she honors her husband above herself.

She is not lazy, but hardworking to support her family’s needs (13–15, 21–22, 27).

She is wise with her finances, making good choices (16).

Though not neglecting her family, she works to support her family financially (13–15, 17–19, 24).

This is a tough balance to achieve for both men and women. I, of course, think it’s fine for wives to work, and in this day and age, it’s often necessary.

But for husbands and wives, we need to be careful that in trying to achieve financial security, we don’t neglect our marriages nor our children.

She is generous (20).

Because of the type of wife she is, she brings dignity to her husband in front of others (23).

In contrast with other women who tear down their husbands in front of others, constantly complaining about them.

She has strength and a dignity about her (25a).

So not only can people respect her husband, they can respect her.

She is confident about her future because she fears the Lord (25b).

She has utterly put her trust in God.

She is wise, and from her mouth pours out wisdom (26).

She pours out wisdom to her husband, her children, and all those around her.

She has the respect of her husband and children (28–29).

That is a woman, and more namely a wife, by God’s definition.

Two more points before I close this chapter, and the book of Proverbs for that matter.

First, it’s not only women who are supposed to be this way. The men are too. Sure, Lemuel’s mother is speaking of the ideal woman, but an ideal man should be this way too.

Second, remember God’s grace.

Women (and men) can get so pounded down by looking at these ideals and thinking of how much they fail to measure up.

We compare ourselves to others, and we get discouraged because we aren’t this way. We think we can never be this way, and so we end up beating ourselves up.

But God sent his Son for us because we are imperfect. He doesn’t love us because we meet his standards for the perfect man or woman. He loves us despite the fact we fail so badly.

And because Jesus paid the price for our failures, we can now say, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

So women, ask yourself, “What kind of woman am I? And what kind of woman can I be because Jesus loved me and saved me?”

Men, what kind of man are you? What kind of man can you become because Jesus loved and saved you?

And can you extend the same grace to the women in your life that Jesus extended you?

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Proverbs

To be a man

Being a man

I suppose I could have called this post, “to be a king,” but I don’t think too many kings are reading this blog. Maybe zero?

But there are many men out there, and what King Lemuel’s mother said to him in this passage applies in many ways to men. (In case you’re wondering, no one really knows who Lemuel is.)

This world sometimes has a warped idea of what a man should be.

To many people, a “real man” is someone who is strong and virile, and is good with the ladies. Even in ancient times, you see this kind of thinking, especially among the kings.

King Solomon, of course, took this to an extreme, taking on 700 wives and 300 concubines.

But Lemuel’s mother told him,

O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,
do not spend your strength on women,
your vigor on those who ruin kings. (Proverbs 31:2–3)

This is not to say that all women are bad. Indeed, in just a few verses, Lemuel’s mother tells him just the kind of woman he ought to pursue.

What she is saying is to not make sex the whole of your world. To make having sex as often and with as many people as possible your life’s pursuit.

For one, it can ruin your health, particularly if you sleep with the wrong woman.

AIDS is still a very big issue, but so are a number of other STDs.

Further, if you pursue someone who is already married, you could also have a jealous husband to deal with, as Solomon pointed out in an earlier proverb (Proverbs 6:34–35).

But more than that, it can affect your relationship with God, who is to be your first love. Solomon learned this to his own ruin. It says of him in 1 Kings,

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been…

The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him. (1 Kings 11:4, 9)

A true man does not pursue women first and foremost. He pursues God. And this Solomon failed to do.

Lemuel’s mother also told him,

It is not for kings, O Lemuel—
not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. (4–5)

In other words, a king has responsibilities to the people under him. And because of that he needs to be sober in order to make sure he can fulfill the duties God has given him.

The same is true with any man. Whether it’s at work, at home, at church, or wherever it may be, we are not to let alcohol control us.

When we do, it causes us to forget all the things God has called us to do, and brings us to ruin. And God will call us to account if we do so.

So the apostle Paul tells us,

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

In other words, don’t be controlled by alcohol. Let your life be controlled and guided by God’s Spirit.

So in short, what is a real man?

A real man is one who pursues God above all else. And a real man is a person who is controlled and guided by God’s Spirit in all he does.

If you are a man reading this, are you a real man?

If you are a single woman reading this, are you pursuing a real man?

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Proverbs

To be a leader

What does it mean to be a leader? I think that we can get some clues from this passage.

Agur writes,

There are three things that are stately in their stride,
four that move with stately bearing:
a lion, mighty among beasts,
who retreats before nothing;
a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
and a king with his army around him. (Proverbs 30:29–31)

To be a leader is to be like a lion which always faces whatever challenges confront it.

Some people walk confidently about…until something goes wrong. At which point they hastily retreat and are quick to cede their authority and leadership to another.

A true leader, however, walks with confidence. Why? Because they know that God is with them.

You see this in Saul and David.

When Goliath challenged the armies of Israel, saying to send their best man to face him, everyone looked to Saul because number one, he was their king, and number two, he was the biggest of all the Israelites.

What did Saul do? He hid in his palace and instead offered a reward to anyone who would take his responsibility and fight this giant.

David, on the other hand, rose up and took on the giant. What was his reasoning?

The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine (1 Samuel 17:37).

And because God was with him, he took down Goliath.

A leader is alert and prepared for action.

What in the world does a strutting rooster have to do with being alert and prepared for action, you ask?

Nothing that I can think of, but then again, the Hebrew words translated “strutting rooster” are not so clearly translated.

In other words, no one really knows what they mean. Literally, they mean “one girt about the loins.”

Some commentators have said it perhaps means “a man dressed in armor” while others have said it was a warhorse dressed for battle.

There are many possible translations people have put forth. With the different translations, you can come up with different applications.

But as I look at the literal meaning, it reminds me of Peter’s words when he said,

Therefore, prepare your minds for action (literally, “gird the loins of your mind”); be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:13)

Knowing that Christ is coming back, we need to always be prepared as leaders to do the things he has called us to do.

A leader leads.

I suppose that should be self-evident. But as a he-goat will always go before the flock, so should leaders, taking them in the direction that God himself is leading them.

A leader has people that are willing to follow.

Another seemingly self-evident fact, but one that people don’t always think about.

My pastor in Hawaii always said, “I can tell if a person is a leader if people follow them. They may not think of themselves as leaders. They may not feel qualified. But they are leaders.”

On the other hand, you can’t consider yourself a leader if no one is willing to follow you.

But if you have followers committed to you, and willing to go to battle with you as an army with a king, you can accomplish great things.

But Agur warns us there are those that would exalt themselves and thus play the fool. Who look down on others and abuse their power.

These are not leaders. Or at least they won’t be leaders for long, because by their actions, they will stir up anger and strife, and all their would-be followers will soon disappear.

How about you? What kind of leader are you?

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Proverbs

Learning from the small and weak

It’s very easy for us to look down on people or things that appear small or weak.

But Agur was not one who would make that mistake. He looked at four small creatures, and from them found wisdom.

From the ant, he learned the wisdom to plan ahead. To work hard storing up food in the summer, to make sure they would have enough for the lean times in the winter.

So often, people don’t have the wisdom to do this. They spend all that they have on the pleasures of the here and now, and when trouble strikes, whether it’s a bad economy, a sudden layoff, or whatever it may be, they find themselves in deep trouble.

From the coney, he learned the need to find a place of safety because he realized his own weaknesses.

A coney can do little to protect itself from its enemies, and so it hides out in the crags where its enemies can’t get it.

In the same way, we too are weak. On our own, we can’t fight the enemy of our souls.

And so we hide ourselves in the “rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2),” and make God our refuge and strength.

In his strength, not only can we survive the attacks of the enemy, we can overcome.

From the locust, he learned the importance of organization and unity. By operating this way, they are capable of doing great damage.

In the same way, the body of Christ can do great damage to the kingdom of hell if we will just organize and walk together in unity.

Unlike the locust, however, we do have a King, and it is under his orders that we march.

From the lizard, he learned cautiousness and elusiveness. Though it is small enough to be captured by a hand, it is cautious and elusive enough to avoid being caught.

In the same way, we should be careful to avoid the hand of the devil in all his schemes against us.

Peter put it this way,

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

The thing to remember is Satan doesn’t play fair. And it’s especially in your times of weakness that he’ll attack. But we also need to be aware in our times of “strength.”

For it’s in our time of strength that we can become complacent and unwary. (Just think about David in 2 Samuel 11.)

So let us pray as Jesus commanded us,

Deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

How about you? Are you as wise as these creatures?

Categories
Proverbs

A corrupt generation

In this passage, Agur talks about the generation he saw in his own time.

(The word translated “those” in this passage is actually most often translated “generations” throughout the Old Testament. I suppose it was translated “those” to soften the sweeping indictment Agur made of the people he saw.)

What kind of people were they?

They were people who cursed their fathers and refused to bless their mothers. (Proverbs 30:11)

The first command God gave concerning human relationships in the 10 commandments was to honor your father and mother.

God himself recognized the importance of this relationship if society is to not only survive, but thrive.

Unfortunately, we see so many who not only don’t honor their parents, but actually despise them. And God will judge them for that someday. (17)

They were people who were self-righteous. (12)

They saw all the faults of others, yet couldn’t see the filth of their own souls.

They were people who were proud, and disdainful of others. (13)

While taking a higher view of themselves than they should have, they looked down on others who were also created in God’s image. As a result of that…

They took to bloodshed, and took advantage of the weak and needy, rather than caring for them. (14)

They also acted this way because…

They were full of greed.

They were like leeches, always taking and never giving.

And as the grave never has its fill of death, as a childless woman constantly cries out for a baby, as a thirsty land longs for water, and as a fire that will consume anything that gets in its path, so these people are constantly crying out for more, consuming all that is placed before them, and yet are never satisfied. (15–16)

They took something God created to be beautiful and turned it into something ugly.

As amazed as Agur was by God’s creation, he was amazed at how God created man and woman to be one in marriage. (18–19)

But what did this generation do? They glorified adultery, and made marriage a miserable thing where a wife is unloved and is cast aside for another. (20, 23)

The unqualified became rulers, and those who were rich lived only to indulge in their pleasures. (22)

That was the generation Agur lived in. It’s amazing how little has changed in the millennia that have passed since then. If anything, things have gotten worse.

Paul himself foresaw our generation, saying,

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

This is the generation that we live in. But this is not what we are called to be. That’s not what we are.

What are we? The apostle Peter tells us.

But you are a chosen people (generation — KJV), a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

That’s what we are. So let us live that way each day.

Categories
Proverbs

Humble before God

We go now to the words of a man named Agur. Who he was, no one knows. But in his words, we find not only wisdom, but humility.

Verse 1 is a bit obscure in its meaning. A possible meaning (and held by most translations) is that Agur is speaking to two people, Ithiel and Ucal.

But another possible meaning is seen in the ESV as well as a few other versions.

The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out. (Proverbs 30:1, ESV)

He then goes on to say,

I am the most ignorant of men;
I do not have a man’s understanding.

I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. (2–3)

In other words, Agur is a man who stands before God in all his weakness. All pride has been stripped from him. Pride in his own strength, and pride in his own wisdom. And in his weakness, he seeks God.

In verse 4, he asks,

Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?
Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!

In other words, what person has gone up to heaven and come back down to tell us about God?

Who is this person who created everything? What’s his name, and the name of his son?

These are all rhetorical questions, of course. For as we see in verse 7, he knows the name of the Creator.

The interesting thing he asks is the name of the Creator’s son. This he doesn’t know. But that he would ask the question is very interesting.

And when Jesus came to this earth, he answered that question. More than that, he told and showed us who God is in a way that Agur nor anyone else had ever been able to do.

As John wrote,

No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (John 1:18)

Agur then exhorts us to listen to God’s words and take refuge in him, saying,

Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. (5–6)

He concludes the section with a beautiful prayer.

Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’

Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. (7–9)

In short, “I want to honor you with my words and with my life. So do what you must to keep sin far from me.”

May we all have such a heart. Humble before God and seeking to honor him.

Categories
Proverbs

Though we live in the midst of evil

It used to be that you could call the United States a Christian country. But though there are many people that still claim to believe in God and even claim to be Christians, I doubt you could say that anymore. We really haven’t been able to say that for some time.

It does seem, however, that things are even worse than ever.

Solomon lived in a time when things were much better. But he could look at other countries and see the evil that was there.

He talks about anarchist societies (28:2), and societies ruled by tyrannical rulers who do evil and care nothing for justice nor for their people (28:3, 12, 15–16, 28; 29:2, 4, 12).

The States and Japan are not quite as bad as other countries in that sense, but we do see people in government who are more interested in their positions than in serving the people.

And we see lawmakers taking our society off moral cliffs that we’ve never been over before. (Though more so in the United States. Japan is still fairly conservative in a lot of ways.)

But Solomon also talks about the evil within society itself. Of those who have rejected God’s laws and praise those who do the same (Proverbs 28:5).

Of those who, because they have rejected God’s law, are now a law unto themselves, and as a result have become morally corrupt (5).

And of those who will rise up against those who are righteous (Proverbs 29:10).

How do we live in that kind of society? Solomon tells us:

Stay the course. Keep following after God.

Solomon writes,

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. (Proverbs 28:14)

It’s easy to become callous when surrounded by the evil that we see. To have our love grow cold, as Jesus once put it (Matthew 24:12). Love for God, and love for others.

But don’t let that happen. Keep on fearing the Lord, with a heart that’s softened toward him.

For as Solomon also writes,

If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law,
even his prayers are detestable. (Proverbs 28:9)

And again,

He whose walk is blameless is kept safe,
but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall. (28:18)

So continue to resist what is evil (28:4), continue to work hard (28:19), continue to be faithful in all you do (28:20), and continue to be generous to those around you (28:27).

When you fall, be quick to repent (28:13).

And teach your children to do the same (29:15, 29:17).

Though everyone else casts off restraint, hold on to the ways of God (29:18).

And most of all, continue to trust God.

Solomon writes,

He who trusts in himself is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. (Proverbs 28:26)

And again,

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)

As God once commanded Jeremiah, so he commands us.

“Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 15:19–20)

How about you? Are you becoming like those around you?

Or are you being a light in the midst of all the evil in which we live?

Categories
Proverbs

Wounds from a friend

I remember a time in my life when I was still walking with the Lord, and I was still going to church, but I had started to neglect fellowship in a small group.

My small group had broken up amicably for various reasons, and with me considering leaving for Japan soon, I decided not to join another one.

Time passed, however, and the doors to Japan (for a time) closed. Even so, I still didn’t get back into fellowship with a small group.

Eventually, the Lord spoke to my heart, and said, “Isn’t it about time you got back into fellowship?” And so I did.

Later on, I was talking with one of my former small group members and told her I had joined another small group. She told me, “I’m really glad to hear that. I was a little worried about you.”

I said, “Really? Then why didn’t you say anything?”

She answered, “I figured you must be okay.”

I suppose one of the downsides to being a “mature” Christian is that people tend to assume you’re okay even when you’re not.

And I told my friend, “The next time you’re worried about me, say something. I may or may not listen at first, but if it’s from God, he will get my attention.”

As I told my friend, I can be hardheaded at times. I don’t always listen at first. But time and again, God has used my friends to get my attention.

Sometimes though, that isn’t pleasant. Our friends point out something in our lives that isn’t right and we become defensive. We get hurt. And we think, “How could they say that?”

But Solomon writes,

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Proverbs 27:5–6)

In other words, if your friends truly care about you, they will confront you if you’re wrong.

People who don’t really care, on the other hand, will just be content to leave you as you are.

It is so important to have friends who will be honest with you. Who, when you are in trouble, won’t just say things to encourage you, but will give you godly advice as well.

As Solomon said,

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.

Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father,
and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. (9–10)

But this cuts both ways. Just as friends can help us grow as people, we are to help them grow through our words and our actions.

Solomon tells us,

As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another. (17)

The question is, do you have those kinds of friends?

Do you have friendships where you mutually sharpen one another? Where you can say the difficult things to each other?

Or do you have “friends” who only tell you what you want to hear?

What kind of friends do you have?

Categories
Proverbs

Living with a fool, living like a fool.

In these two chapters, we see how we should deal with fools, and how to avoid acting like one.

In this passage, the Hebrew word that is used for “fool” means a person who is stupid and arrogant. They insist on their own opinions and will not accept correction.

How do we deal with such people? Solomon tells us in verses 4–5. I like the NASB here because it’s a bit clearer than the NIV.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will also be like him.

Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
that he not be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:4–5)

In other words, don’t get involved in shouting matches with a fool, because in most cases, they still won’t listen, and you just lower yourself to their level.

On the other hand, do answer their arguments, but do so with wisdom, and with gentleness and respect. By doing so, it may be possible to show them the error of their ways.

But if they refuse to listen, and things start getting heated, don’t waste your breath any longer. For as Solomon writes,

Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
grinding him like grain with a pestle,
you will not remove his folly from him. (Proverbs 27:22)

Also, while we are to love them, we are not to put our trust in them, whether it’s in listening to their advice (26:7, 9) or in giving them responsibility for a task (26:10).

How do we avoid becoming fools or acting like them?

Learn from your mistakes. Be open to correction.

As Solomon writes,

As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly. (Proverbs 26:11)

So many people just never learn from their mistakes. And as a result, they find themselves in the same kind of trouble time and again.

Be humble. Understand that you don’t know everything, so be open to correction. Solomon tells us as much, saying,

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Proverbs 26:12)

Also realize that God holds your future. So be humble and lay your plans before him. (Proverbs 27:1)

Don’t be lazy. (26:13–16)

This is a consistent theme throughout the Proverbs. Look to your future by taking care of your responsibilities in the present. (27:23–27)

Avoid disputes in which you have no reason to stick your nose in. (26:17)

All you accomplish when you do so is to get people even more upset and to turn on you.

Watch your words.

Don’t lie (26:18, 28).

Don’t gossip (26:20).

And don’t be a person that’s constantly looking for a fight (26:21; 27:15–16).

Rather be a person that looks to bring peace to relationships.

Look beyond others’ words to their character. (26:23–26)

Some people have tongues that could charm you into doing anything. But look beyond their words, and test their character. Know the kind of person you are dealing with.

Be aware that when you make plots against people, your plans often turn back on you. (26:27)

Haman found this out when he plotted to kill the Jews in the book of Esther.

Pay attention to warning signs in your life. (27:12)

When you get the sense your life is going in the wrong direction, whether in your marriage, in your job, or whatever it may be, stop.

Start going in a different direction. If you don’t, it could cost you everything.

Be considerate of your neighbors. (27:14)

Even if you’re well-intentioned, you can sour your relationships if you don’t consider when and how you try to bless them.

How about you? Are you living wisely? Or like a fool?

Categories
Proverbs

Winning favor in the eyes of men

I should say right off that it shouldn’t be our top priority to win favor in the eyes of men (or women). Our top priority should be to please God.

But I titled this as such because of what the Bible says of Jesus. Namely,

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)

How do we find favor in the eyes of men? Solomon gives us some wisdom about this in this chapter.

First, don’t attempt to exalt yourself in others’ eyes. Let them be the ones to honor you if they so choose.

Solomon wrote,

Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,
and do not claim a place among great men;
it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”
than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman. (Proverbs 25:6–7)

Jesus alludes to this when talking to the Pharisees in Luke 14.

Further, Solomon writes,

It is not good to eat too much honey,
nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor. (Proverbs 25:27)

The interesting thing is that it is when we humble ourselves that we are often lifted up, both by God and men.

The second thing Solomon says is to not be so quick to accuse people of wrongdoing when you don’t have all the facts. Solomon notes,

What you have seen with your eyes do not bring hastily to court,
for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame? (Proverbs 25:7–8)

In other words, a person may have a perfectly legitimate explanation for their actions, and if you accuse them, it is you who will be put to shame for your false accusations.

Further, Solomon tells us,

If you argue your case with a neighbor,
do not betray another man’s confidence,
or he who hears it may shame you
and you will never lose your bad reputation. (Proverbs 25:9–10)

Sometimes, a friend will tell us something in confidence, but in order to prove our case against a person who supposedly wronged us, we quote the friend who gave us the information. Three things can happen as a result.

First, the friend may repudiate what he said because he’s afraid of what the person you’re accusing may say or do to him, and also because we broke his confidence.

Second, we can lose that friend’s trust by breaking his confidence.

Third, we can lose face because we again accuse someone of doing wrong when we have no proof.

In short, if you want to win favor in people’s eyes, be careful when you accuse them of wrongdoing, and don’t break their confidence.

Solomon also tells us we should give words that help others (11), and on the other hand, be quick to listen to rebuke when they’re trying to help us (12).

In our workplace as well as in other parts of our lives, we are to prove ourselves trustworthy with the tasks we are given (13, 19), and to fulfill the promises we make (14).

We are also to be honest in the things we say (18).

When we speak our words of advice, we are to do so with patience and gentleness (15).

When we visit our neighbors, we should be considerate of them and their time (17).

And when people are hurting, we should be sensitive to their feelings (20).

Finally, we are to watch our tongues (23), and to be people who have self-control in general (28).

By doing all these things, we can win favor in people’s eyes.

How do others see you?

Categories
Proverbs

Revenge

I once heard Bill Cosby give a comedy routine on Revenge. And he told a story of how when he was a kid, he plotted revenge against a kid that threw a slushball at him, and how his plan went humorously awry.

But how many times do people hurt us, and we plot how to hurt them back? To somehow make them pay for what they did?

Or how many times do we rejoice when they take a fall?

Solomon warns us against both kinds of attitudes.

He writes,

Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the LORD will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from him. (Proverbs 24:17–18)

The thing we need to remember is that no matter how bad the other person may be, they were created in God’s image.

It may be an image that is extremely distorted, but God still cares greatly about them. And he hates it when anyone rejoices in their suffering. Because God doesn’t.

When a person goes to hell, no matter how bad they are, God doesn’t rejoice. He weeps.

We are never to devalue a person made in God’s image, no matter how bad they may be. And God looks dimly on those who do.

Solomon goes on to say,

Do not say, “I’ll do to him as he has done to me;
I’ll pay that man back for what he did.” (Proverbs 24:29)

And again,

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21–22)

In other words, we are more likely to cause a person to feel guilty for his actions by showing kindness to them than by retaliating against them. Even if they never repent, God will reward you.

On the other hand,

Like a muddied spring or a polluted well
is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked. (Proverbs 25:26)

When we let the wicked influence our actions, it muddies and pollutes our witness. Instead of influencing the world, we become like the world.

Solomon adds,

Like a city whose walls are broken down
is a man who lacks self-control. (25:28)

If we can’t control our anger and our actions when people wrong us, the walls of our very lives break down. And Satan will send all he can against us to get us to sin again and cause us to drift even further apart from God.

But if we show kindness to those who hurt us, no matter what Satan throws at us, he will not be able to break us down.

And ultimately, we may start turning those very people Satan sends against us into friends, turning his own plots against himself.

Some people think that by taking revenge, it strengthens their walls. Actually, it is the person who shows restraint and forgiveness that is truly strong.

How about you? How do you treat those who ill-treat you?

Categories
Proverbs

When we fail to warn the lost

Solomon writes some very poignant words here in these verses.

Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who guards your life know it?

Will he not repay each person
according to what he has done? (Proverbs 24:11–12)

Every day, people are going to hell. They’re being led away to eternal death. They’re staggering toward their own slaughter. What are you doing about it?

Because hell is such an unpleasant subject, people don’t want to talk about it. But not talking about something does not make it go away.

And God will hold us accountable if we don’t warn people about where the path they’re taking is leading.

We cannot force people off the path they are taking. That’s not our responsibility. We can’t make people change. But God does call us to warn them.

He will not accept the excuse, “But I didn’t know they were going to hell.”

Many people try to convince themselves that their loved ones will go to heaven even though they haven’t put their trust in Jesus.

People try to convince themselves because they are afraid to confront their friends and family with the truth. They’re afraid that they’ll be rejected. That the people they love will get angry with them if they share the truth.

But deep down, they know what God has said about the matter. And Solomon warns us that God knows our heart. We can hide nothing from him.

And so what God once told the prophet Ezekiel concerning Israel, he now tells us concerning our loved ones. Paraphrased, here is what he says.

I have made you a watchman for those around you; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.

When I say to your father or mother, your brother or sister, your husband or wife, your child, your friend, or your coworker, when I tell them “You will surely die,” and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their lives, they will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.

But if you do warn them and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. (Ezekiel 3:17–19)

Categories
Proverbs

Building our house

What kind of house are you building? No, I’m not talking about your literal house. I’m talking about your life. What kind of life are you building?

That’s what Solomon addresses here in chapter 24.

He says,

By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures. (Proverbs 24:3–4)

Whether we’re talking about our family specifically (as I think Solomon is talking about here), or our life in general, we can only establish a house that’s able to stand the test of time through the wisdom that comes from God.

Solomon goes on to say,

A wise man has great power,
and a man of knowledge increases strength (5).

What kind of wisdom does God give that we can build our families and lives on?

Many are things Solomon has mentioned before.

  • Don’t envy the wicked nor make them your companions. That will only lead you down the path toward destruction. (1–2, 19)
  • Take the advice of others who are wise. (6, 26)
  • Embrace wisdom in your life. (13–14)
  • Don’t live a life of idleness. (30–34)

But there are a few other things as well.

Solomon writes,

If you falter in times of trouble,
how small is your strength! (10)

All of us go through hard times. Sometimes, even when we’re doing God’s will, we find hardship.

The apostle Paul certainly did. So did Jeremiah and the other prophets. Even Jesus himself did.

But during those times, we need to continue putting our trust in God.

Two people who I greatly admire showed just this kind of strength.

One of the pastors at my church lost his wife to cancer about a year ago. It was a painful and hard time for both of them. But neither of them faltered in their faith.

To the end, my pastor’s wife was still thinking of others and desired to reach out to them, even when her body no longer allowed her to even get out of bed.

Solomon notes of such people,

For though a righteous man falls seven times,
he rises again (16).

And when my friend’s wife rose again for the final time, she opened her eyes to her Savior.

If we want to build a life that truly works, we need to build our lives on faith in God.

Solomon then talks of other ways to build our house.

He admonishes us to fear both God and the king. (21)

In other words, we are to honor God, and all those who are in authority over us, whether in government, in our jobs, or in our church. For as Paul writes, ultimately, God is the one who put the authorities in place (Romans 13:1).

To rebel against him and the authorities he has put in place is to put our house on shaky ground.

Finally, Solomon writes,

Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready;
after that, build your house. (27)

In other words, don’t start something before you’re ready to take it on. Count the cost of what you do. If you don’t, Jesus warns you’ll be like the man who starts building a tower only to have to abandon the project later. (Luke 14:28–30)

Too many people get married without thinking of the financial ramifications and get into trouble because of it.

Too many people have children without adequately planning for it.

Other people start a ministry without thinking about all that it involves and all that they’ll need to make it work.

If we don’t count the cost, all we do will be in danger of falling apart.

What kind of life are you building?

Categories
Proverbs

What we pursue

In this chapter, we see warnings concerning what we pursue in life.

Solomon starts by saying,

When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.

Do not crave his delicacies,
for that food is deceptive. (Proverbs 23:1–3)

In other words, be careful of seeking only material satisfaction, in this case, food.

Solomon notes that when you eat with a ruler, or any person of power or influence, to be very aware of what they are serving, and equally importantly, who they are.

Consider why they have invited you to dine with them. If you don’t, they may deceive you into agreeing to something that could lead you to disaster, simply by wining and dining you.

People who are only concerned with their stomachs are often easily deceived.

Even if they are not, gluttony can destroy their lives. How many people do you know suffer from health problems because of what and how much they eat?

So Solomon warns,

Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. (20–21)

Solomon also notes in these verses the dangers of alcohol.

He goes into great detail about the consequences of alcoholism and drunkenness at the end of the chapter.

Alcoholics find sorrow and strife in their lives (29).

They suffer physically, and their minds become confused (32–33).

Worse, they become so addicted, they can’t see all the damage that’s being done to their lives. They only think about the next drink. (35)

Other people pursue wealth. All they think about is getting more money.

But Solomon writes,

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
have the wisdom to show restraint.

Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. (4–5)

In other words, wealth is a temporary thing. When you die, you can’t bring any of it to heaven. Worse, as Paul says,

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9–10)

Money in itself is not evil. But so many people, in their pursuit of money, have shipwrecked their marriages, their families, their relationships, and even their very lives.

But even more importantly, as Paul points out, many have shipwrecked their own faith.

Still other people pursue sexual pleasure. Sex as God designed it, namely, as something to be enjoyed within marriage, is a good thing. But so many people pursue it outside of marriage to their own sorrow.

Solomon warns,

A prostitute is a deep pit
and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

Like a bandit she lies in wait,
and multiplies the unfaithful among men. (27–28)

How many people’s health, marriages, and ministries have been ruined because they took something good and turned it into something bad by pursuing it the wrong way?

So how should we live? Solomon tells us.

Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.

There is surely a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off. (17–18)

In short, don’t pursue what the world pursues. Don’t desire what the world seeks. Rather, pursue God.

If we do, Solomon promises that we will have hope for the future. And that hope will never be cut off.

Categories
Proverbs

A good name

How do others see you? It’s an issue that Proverbs brings up more than once. We saw this in chapter 10, and we see it again here. Solomon writes,

A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1)

And in this chapter, we see more ways to maintain a good name.

Solomon writes,

A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it. (3)

It always amazes me that in Hawaii, there are always people who, when they hear a tsunami may be coming, rush to the beach to see it. (I actually have a friend that sheepishly admitted to doing this.)

Up to this point, fortunately, the tsunami always fizzles out before actually arriving, but the time may come when people will pay for their stupidity with their lives.

But so many people fail to see other dangers in their lives. Solomon notes that,

In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares,
but he who guards his soul stays far from them. (Proverbs 22:5)

How many people fail to see how their sin is leading them to the destruction of their marriage, or their health, or to their relationships?

As a result, they keep living the way they are, and not only suffer pain for it, but suffer a blow to their reputation as well.

But a wise person sees potential danger to all these things and takes measures to avoid it.

Solomon also adds,

Humility and the fear of the LORD
bring wealth and honor and life. (4)

When we fear the Lord, it does bring us a good name. This doesn’t mean, however, that everyone will like us. And as I mentioned in my last blog, it doesn’t mean that we will avoid persecution.

Jesus was the perfect Son of God. Yet, while he lived on this earth, there were still people who hated him and eventually put him to death.

But in general, if we fear God, we will prosper in this life and earn a good name.

Another thing to remember is that if we fail to raise our children right, they can become a stain to our reputation as well. Solomon wrote,

A foolish son brings grief to his father
and bitterness to the one who bore him. (Proverbs 17:25)

and

A foolish son is his father’s ruin… (Proverbs 19:13)

So Solomon admonishes us,

Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

And again,

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. (Proverbs 22:15)

Solomon then points out the importance of being generous (Proverbs 22:9), of having a pure heart, and speech that is gracious (11).

Of avoiding laziness (13) and adultery (14).

Of being careful about who we hang out with (24–25).

Of being careful with our finances (26–27).

Of being honest (28).

And of being skilled at what you do (29).

All these things lead to a person becoming favored in the eyes of God and men. A person like Jesus (Luke 2:52).

How about you? What kind of name are you building?

Categories
Proverbs

Remembering who’s in control

When we look at this world, it’s easy to wonder if God is still in control.

In verse 1, Solomon writes,

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD;
he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1)

Yet in recent years, especially as I look at the States, it’s hard to see sometimes.

In Hawaii, a gay marriage bill passed a few weeks ago. This despite the fact that in 1998, the people in Hawaii overwhelmingly voted on a constitutional amendment that supposedly banned it.

Now people have looked at the wording of the amendment and realized that it doesn’t say gay marriage is not allowed.

Rather, it simply gave the legislature the power to ban it if they pleased, and at the time they did. Now the legislature has reversed itself and is allowing it.

Is God still in control? Are things slipping through his fingers? Not according to Solomon, who wrote,

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
that can succeed against the LORD. (Proverbs 21:30)

Why then is all this happening? It’s happening because God is allowing our country free choice. The choice to follow him and his ways, and the choice not to.

God could force us all to be robots and to do things as he wants, but he doesn’t want robots. He wants people to choose him because they love him.

I think God may also be allowing this for another reason. We’ve been failing at our call as Christians.

Our call is not to fight legal battles to force people to conform to the moral standards God has set up. To do so is a losing battle.

Why?

Because our legal system is run by people corrupted by sin. And if people corrupted by sin are running our legal system, they will eventually corrupt that system. That’s what we’re seeing now.

Our call is not to fight legal battles to force people to conform. Our call is to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations… starting with our own.

That’s how a nation changes. Not through legal machinations and maneuvering. But one person at a time as we bring the gospel to them and God changes them from the inside out.

Am I saying we shouldn’t fight for our rights? No. But I am saying that if that’s our primary fight, we’re missing out on God’s call for us as Christians. We’re called to fight Satan who is enslaving people to sin and destruction.

The church is already seeing persecution because of this gay issue. And despite the “protections” added to the Hawaii bill, I foresee more of it.

Jesus never promised no persecution for those who believe in him. In fact, he guaranteed we’d be persecuted.

But no matter what persecution we may face, always remember that God is still in control. And ultimately, when Jesus comes back, we and the whole world will see it.

But until then, let us yield ourselves to him daily, and carry out the mission that he has given us to do.

Categories
Proverbs

Being wise with our money

America is a very credit-driven society. Japan, where I live, is much less so.

One of the major cultural differences I’ve found here is that at grocery stores and supermarkets, the usage of credit cards is quite minimal. Probably 99% of the people actually use cash. (Which makes for faster lines.)

There are, of course, downsides to using cash all the time, particularly when we think about the safety of carrying around a bunch of cash with you wherever you go.

But in Japan where the crime rate is pretty low, it’s a common practice. I would never have thought to carry around as much cash as I do here in Japan while I was living in the States.

Just glancing at a report on the internet (somewhat dated, it was written over 10 years ago), the average American made 60 credit card transactions per year. The average Japanese made 4.

I suspect this has gone up somewhat in Japan if only because of some Japanese companies (such as my cell phone company) that charge customers’ bills to their credit cards every month, as well as the growth of internet shopping.

It also pointed out (and I’m pretty sure this hasn’t changed much) that 90% of Japanese customers pay their entire credit bill at the end of the month while only about half in the United States do so.

This is not to say that the Japanese save any more than the Americans. In fact, the Japanese save less. Americans save 4.3% of their income, the Japanese only 2.3 percent.

What’s my point? Both cultures need to be wiser in how they use their money.

One problem with credit cards is that we tend to spend money that we don’t have, which is why Americans are not paying their full credit card bill at the end of the month and are incurring interest charges as a result.

More than that, far too many people are forced into bankruptcy because of their reckless spending.

That’s why Solomon writes,

The plans of the diligent lead to profit
as surely as haste leads to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)

How often do we get into trouble because we see something we want and instantly move to gratify our desires, not thinking about the financial consequences?

How much financial pain could we save by taking some time to think through our financial decisions before spending our money?

Solomon adds,

In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil,
but a foolish man devours all he has. (Proverbs 21:20)

In Japan, we have less trouble spending what we don’t have. Our problem is we spend too much of what we do have, not looking toward the future.

How about you? Are you looking toward your financial future, or only looking to gratify your desires for today?

Are you spending more than you actually have and putting yourself in a pit of financial debt that you may never be able to climb out of?

Or are you spending too much of what you do have, not thinking toward your future?

As stewards of the money God has given us, let us be wise in how we use the resources he has given us.

Categories
Proverbs

Facing our Judge

It’s so easy as we go through life to forget that this life is not all there is.

There is a life to come after we pass out of this one. And on the day that we leave this life, we will face our Judge.

Solomon wrote,

The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters,
but a man of understanding draws them out. (Proverbs 20:5)

If a man of understanding can draw out the purposes of another’s heart, how much more can God?

Solomon goes on to say,

Many a man claims to have unfailing love,
but a faithful man who can find? (20:6)

There are many people in this world who claim to love God, but there are so few that actually live that way. And Solomon warns us,

When a king sits on his throne to judge,
he winnows out all evil with his eyes. (20:8)

Solomon is talking specifically about human kings, but one day, the King of all kings will sit on his throne to judge the earth.

But while human kings are flawed because they lack perfect judgment, knowledge, and wisdom, everything will be laid out before God, and he is perfectly just in all he does. As a result, all his judgments are perfect.

As Solomon points out,

The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man;
it searches out his inmost being. (Proverbs 20:27)

And again,

All a man’s ways seem right to him,
but the LORD weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2)

Because we all will stand before him and be judged, Solomon reminds us of how we should live.

We are to be honest (Proverbs 20:10, 16, 23). We are to leave judgment in his hands, rather than taking revenge into our own (20:22).

We are to be more interested in living righteous lives every day than making the occasional sacrifice to appease God (Proverbs 21:3).

Finally, we are to remain humble before God. (21:4)

If we do not do these things, Solomon warns us,

The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked
and brings the wicked to ruin. (21:12)

And again,

When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

A man who strays from the path of understanding
comes to rest in the company of the dead. (21:15–16)

But let us also remember something else that Solomon said.

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure;
I am clean and without sin”? (Proverbs 20:9)

This of course is a rhetorical question. None of us can stand before God and claim to be without sin. None of us can stand before God on the basis of our works and say, “I deserve to go to heaven.”

All of us have failed. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. That’s why we all need a Savior, and that’s why Jesus came.

So let us make our hearts right before God, first and foremost by following his most important commands. What are they?

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:23)

How about you? Are you ready to be judged?

Categories
Proverbs

Lazy

When I was a kid, I could be very lazy, particularly about my schoolwork.

I remember nearly missing out on my fourth-grade school trip to the Big Island in Hawaii because I wasn’t doing my schoolwork.

I also got in trouble in fifth grade, and again in seventh grade for not doing my schoolwork. After that, I finally learned my lesson.

But for some strange reason, I still have nightmares about going to university, and having a test that I’m totally not ready for.

Oftentimes it’s a class that I skipped going to all year, and now I’m facing the final exam. (This never happened, by the way!)

Anyway, throughout the Proverbs, not just in these passages, we find warnings against being lazy.

Time and again, Solomon mocks the lazy person saying things like,

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth! (Proverbs 19:24)

Or,

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!”
or, “I will be murdered in the streets!” (Proverbs 22:13)

He also makes some rather obvious observations such as,

Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the shiftless man goes hungry. (Proverbs 19:15)

Or again (after a particularly graphic story of something he saw),

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest —
and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:33–34)

But perhaps the verse that strikes me the most is found in chapter 21, verses 25–26.

The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him,
because his hands refuse to work.

All day long he craves for more,
but the righteous give without sparing. (Proverbs 21:25–26)

God wants us to be a blessing to others. But not only does laziness destroy us, it also prevents us from being a channel of blessing that God can use.

By our laziness, we waste the gifts that he has given us to touch others’ lives. And God will hold us accountable for that. We see that in Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30).

How about you? Are you wasting the gifts that God has given you, from such gifts as a brain to think and hands to work, to the talents and spiritual gifts God has given you?

Let us not be lazy, but let us use our gifts to the fullest, not only blessing ourselves, but blessing those around us as well.

Categories
Proverbs

Who (or what) we put our trust in

Who or what do you put your trust in?

Yourself? Your money? Or God?

That’s what Solomon addresses time and again in Proverbs. He writes,

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it an unscalable wall.

Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 18:10–12)

So many people put their trust in themselves. In their own wisdom, or in this case, what they have. They feel that if they have enough money, they can handle whatever may come their way.

But Solomon writes that it is when you put your trust in God that you are truly safe.

Many who have put their trust in money still haven’t found happiness or security. Their marriages fall apart. They lose sleep worrying about their job or the stocks they’ve invested in.

And though they may have all they need, they still find it hard to be at peace.

And though others may feel secure, proud of all they have or all they’ve accomplished, oftentimes they see the kingdoms they built crumble around them.

More importantly, they will find that the day will come when they have to stand before God and give an account before him for all they’ve done.

And if they’ve been only living for themselves, they’ll find that all they built will mean nothing on the day of judgment.

On the other hand, those who have put their trust in God find rest in him, knowing that as they walk in his will, he will take care of them.

And on the day of judgment, they will be able to stand with Jesus at their side.

So we need to be careful who or what we put our trust in.

Solomon writes,

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,
nor to be hasty and miss the way. (Proverbs 19:2)

We can have all the enthusiasm for life in the world, but if we are not following God and his leading, we’ll miss the path that he has for us.

So often, in our zeal, we make foolish mistakes that we later regret. Yet as Solomon says,

A man’s own folly ruins his life,
yet his heart rages against the LORD. (19:3)

So many times, we trust in our own wisdom and so ruin our lives, and then we ask, “God, why did you let this happen to me?”

But we fail to realize that we are simply reaping what we sowed. Had we trusted in God, we wouldn’t have fallen into the pit we are in.

As Solomon said,

He who obeys instructions guards his life,
but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die. (19:16)

God’s words are the words of life. If we choose to ignore them, that’s on our own head.

So Solomon admonishes us,

Listen to advice and accept instruction,
and in the end you will be wise. (19:20)

And always remember,

Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. (19:21)

In other words, you can make all the plans that you want, but things will turn out in the end the way that God wants.

So don’t fight God’s will. Align yourself with it. And if you do, you’ll find,

The fear of the LORD leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble. (19:23)

Who or what are you putting your trust in?

Categories
Proverbs

Blessing your husband

I don’t write many things addressing wives very often. Most admonitions I write concerning married couples, at least up until this point, have been directed primarily at men.

One key reason for this is that God seems to put more responsibility for the health of the marriage upon the man than the woman. You see this time and again throughout scripture.

But in these passages, we see some things directed at the wives.

Solomon writes,

He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the Lord. (Proverbs 18:22)

I have been married for eight years and I can say this is true. I have definitely found something good, and I have been blessed so much because of my wife.

But there are things that wives do that can change them from being someone who is a blessing to their husband to someone who is a curse to their husband.

Solomon notes one of them saying,

A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. (Proverbs 19:13)

And again,

Better to live on a corner of the roof
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (Proverbs 21:9)

If that isn’t clear enough,

Better to live in a desert
than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife. (21:19)

Men are by no means perfect. And it can be very easy for us to do things that annoy our wives. I know I sometimes (hopefully, not often) annoy my wife.

But the way to deal with our faults is not to pick at our faults like a scab.

I know that’s a nasty picture but the next time you think about nagging your husband, put that picture into your mind, because that is exactly what you’re doing.

Am I saying that if your husband does something to annoy you that you should ignore it completely? No. Tell him about it once. If nothing changes, tell him about it twice.

If after that, he changes, great. But if he doesn’t, stop talking about it. Leave the change up to God. Pray for him.

You cannot change your husband. Only God can.

Or maybe I should say, it may be possible to change your husband through your nagging, but it will come at the expense of resentment and anger from your husband, spoken or not.

Only God can change your husband while preserving true peace in your marriage.

Solomon writes,

A man’s (and a woman’s) wisdom gives him (her) patience;
it is to his (her) glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11)

But husbands, I’m not letting you off the hook for this one. Particularly because God never lets me off.

I’ll tell you the same thing he tells me (and I’ve mentioned this before): Listen to your wife.

You may think her complaints are trivial. But if they truly are trivial, then it should be no problem for you to change. And when you do it, you become a blessing to your wife.

But back to you wives. God desires that you be a blessing to your husband. But you can’t do that if you are constantly picking at those scabs.

If you do, what you’re left with is open wounds that only make your husband feel like attacking.

So don’t nag, pray. And you’ll be amazed not only in what God can do to change your husband and his attitudes, but in what he can do to change you and your attitudes as well.

Categories
Proverbs

Before we speak

The proverbs are loaded with sayings about our speech.

I had a friend who once admitted avoiding Proverbs because he knew God would convict him for the things he let come out of his mouth.

(It didn’t matter, God threw an obscure passage at him to deal with his tongue, anyway.)

And here we see repeated warning to think before we speak. Not only that, to listen before we speak.

Solomon says in verse 2,

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding,
but delights in airing his own opinions. (Proverbs 18:2)

In other words, there are people that just like to hear themselves talk, and have no interest in learning from others. But if they took the time to listen, they would gain greatly in understanding.

He then says,

The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters,
but a fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. (4)

And,

A fool’s lips bring him strife,
and his mouth invites a beating.

A fool’s mouth is his undoing,
and his lips are a snare to his soul. (6–7)

And again,

He who answers before listening —
that is his folly and shame. (13)

In other words, when we don’t think before we speak, we can get into deep trouble with our spouses, with our boss, with our friends, and all those around us.

And as Solomon noted,

An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city,
and disputes are like the barred city of a citadel. (19)

How often have you offended someone you loved because you didn’t take the time to think before you spoke?

It’s very easy to let words slip out. But it’s impossible to take them back once they’ve escaped.

Solomon notes,

From the fruit of his mouth, a man’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit. (20–21)

In short, we will eat from the fruit of the things that we say, whether for good or for bad.

The things we say will affect our relationships at home, at work, and wherever we go. People will either love us for the things that come from our mouths, or hate us.

More than that, our words have the power to give life to a person or to destroy them.

So let us be careful to guard our lips with our spouse, with our children, with the people at work, and the people at church.

And may our lips be like Jesus’, whose words gave life to anyone who heard.

Categories
Proverbs

True friends

I’ve been fortunate over the course of my life to have found some really good friends. People who have been there for me during the good times and bad.

Several years ago, I was reminded of just how important such friends are.

I was involved in a small group at church, where about five of us got together twice a month to talk about God, share what was going on in our lives, and pray. And it was a pretty tough time for many of us.

The company I was working for went through bankruptcy, and I was unemployed, another person was having girlfriend problems, another was breaking up with his fiancée, and another had just found out his wife had cancer.

Needless to say, we were all in need of friendship at that time, and those friendships helped pull us through our difficulties.

Solomon writes about such friendships saying,

A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)

And again,

A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)

When I was in high school, my father told me, “I know you’re shy, but you really need to make some friends, close friends that you can really talk to. You don’t need a lot of close friends, but you should have at least one.”

At the time he said this, I did have friends, but none that I could really open up myself to. And his words really struck home with me.

By God’s grace, I was able to find some very good ones shortly thereafter that really helped shape me throughout my high school and college years.

I suppose the question we need to ask ourselves is two-fold.

First, do we have those kinds of friends?

And second, what kind of friends are we?

Are we friends that are bred for helping others through adversity, or do we run at the first sign of trouble?

In chapter 19, Solomon writes of such “friends.”

Wealth brings many friends,
but a poor man’s friend deserts him. (Proverbs 19:4)

And in verse 7,

A poor man is shunned by all his relatives —
how much more do his friends avoid him!

Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.

How about you? When your friends are in need, whether physically or emotionally, do you disappear? Or are you there for them?

This is not to say that we are to bail our friends out of every financial trouble they find themselves in. But we should do everything we can to help them overcome their troubles and stand once again.

Are you a fair-weathered friend? Or a true one?

Categories
Proverbs

Even when it works…

I’ve mentioned before that some of the proverbs express truths that God doesn’t necessarily approve of. Proverbs 17:8 is an example of this.

A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.

At first glance, it seems Solomon is promoting bribery. But later, he writes,

A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the course of justice. (23)

In other words, Solomon (and for that matter God) calls those who receive (and give) bribes evil, because in doing so, they disrupt what is fair and right.

We’ve seen this in government corruption on local and national levels. We’ve also seen this in the courtroom where people were acquitted of crimes they committed through bribery.

Of this, Solomon says,

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent —
the Lord detests them both. (15)

Most people aren’t in positions where they feel a need to bribe others, but I think all of us face situations where we do something we know is wrong because it “works.”

They tell “white lies” to get out of uncomfortable situations. Or they illegally download videos or music they want simply because they can.

But while you may “succeed” in gaining what you desire, God knows what you have done and detests it.

Let us never fool ourselves in thinking that just because we can do something and it works, that it is always right in the eyes of God.

Instead, let us weigh our actions by the word of God. Let that be the measuring stick for our actions, not the “effectiveness” of what we do.

Categories
Proverbs

How to build relationships…and tear them down

In this passage, we see some important principles for building and maintaining our relationships.

One of the key issues is watching what we say.

Solomon writes,

A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,
and his lips promote instruction.

Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:23–24)

Whenever we talk to people, we truly need to consider what we’re saying.

Are our hearts wise enough to know what to say, and when to say it? Are our words sweet to the souls of others and bringing healing to them?

These things build a relationship. On the other hand,

A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends. (Proverbs 16:28)

There are people that are always tearing relationships apart instead of bringing healing to them.

In some cases, they stick their noses into the affairs of others, spreading gossip and rumors concerning them, and causing their relationships to fall apart.

In other cases, they themselves are involved personally. Someone has hurt them, and instead of dealing with them face to face, they start complaining about them to others, and gossiping about what horrible people they are.

But as Solomon says,

He who covers over an offense promotes love,
but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)

This of course does not mean that we should just ignore sin or try to hide sins that are causing great harm to others.

However, every day people do sin against us whether intentionally or not. Most of the time, they’re minor annoyances. Sometimes they’re more major.

But small or great, we do not make things better by spreading gossip about others and complaining about them to the people around us.

Rather, if it’s really bothering us, then we should do as Jesus commanded us, and confront our brother or sister face to face. (Matthew 18:15)

And when the issue is resolved, we then need to cover it over with forgiveness, and never bring it up again. Don’t say, “I thought I told you not to do that! How many times do I have to tell you?”

Rather, deal with the issue at hand, without referring to the past.

Sometimes, though, if the issue is really minor, you should just drop the issue and let it go. Solomon tells us,

Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out. (Proverbs 17:14)

And again,

He who loves a quarrel loves sin;
he who builds a high gate invites destruction. (17:19)

Sometimes my wife will get on my back for not doing things a certain way, and I’ll think, “It’s so minor! Why is she so upset about such a minor thing?”

But then God will tell me, “Yeah, it’s minor. So don’t waste your time arguing about it. Just do it! If you argue, all you’re doing is building a wall in your relationship. And if over the years you build it high enough, you can destroy your marriage.”

I often have to swallow my pride, but I think it’s one thing that has helped our marriage thrive up to this point.

Frankly though, I think she has to put up with a lot more from me than I do with her, so I’m truly grateful for her patience. Which brings up another point.

A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,
and a man of understanding is even-tempered. (17:27)

Even when we argue with people, we should use restraint in our words, and be cautious about how we say things. And we should be even-tempered. It’s when we lose our temper that we often say things we regret.

How about you? Are your words building up your relationships? Or destroying them?

Categories
Proverbs

Aligning our will with God’s

reading the Bible

Often times, we try to invite God to join in with what we’re planning. But one thing that is crystal clear from this passage is that this is the wrong way to go about living our lives.

We shouldn’t be inviting God to join in with what we’re planning.

Rather, we should be asking God what he’s planning and how we can join in with him.

Solomon knew this well, and he wrote,

To man belong the plans of the heart,
but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. (Proverbs 16:1)

And again,

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps. (9)

We can make all the plans we want to, but the final answer belongs to God. And if our plans aren’t aligned with his, they are doomed to fail.

Solomon goes on to say,

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him,
but motives are weighed by the LORD. (2)

More than that,

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death. (25)

Sometimes we even deceive ourselves as to our motives for doing things, and we make our plans because they seem right to us.

But God sees to the very heart of why we do things. And though we may feel that our plans are good, they can actually cause us great harm.

So when we make plans, we should be asking him, “Search me and know my heart. Why am I making these plans? Are they truly from you, or are they merely from me?”

Solomon expounds on this idea saying,

Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed. (3)

Again, this doesn’t mean making our plans and saying, “Okay God, please join in with this plan I’ve made, and bless what I’m doing.”

Rather, in everything we do, we need to submit to his Lordship, asking “Is this your will? Is this what I should be doing?”

Only when we and our plans are fully submitted to him can we be assured that our plans will be successful.

For as Solomon said,

The LORD works out everything for his own ends —
even the wicked for a day of disaster. (4)

God is never surprised by anything that happens. He is never taken aback by the choices we make.

He knows every choice people will make, and has plans for every contingency. His plans are never truly disrupted by ours.

But ours can be disrupted if they’re contrary to his.

So what do we do? Humble ourselves and ask God what he would have us do.

So many people think they are wise enough to make their own decisions without God, but Solomon writes,

Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall. (18)

On the other hand,

Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. (20)

How are you living your life? Are you making plans and then asking God to bless them? Are you trying to align God to your will?

Or are you aligning yourself to God’s?

Categories
Proverbs

Is it worth the price?

Jesus once said of being a disciple, “You’ve got to count the cost.” (Luke 14:28–33)

But there are also other things for which we need to count the cost. And we need to ask ourselves, “Is what I’m pursuing worth the price I’m paying?”

Solomon wrote,

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
but heartache crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:13)

And again,

All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast. (15)

In other words, the state of our hearts will determine the amount of joy we have in our lives.

If we have the joy of the Lord in our hearts, it will reflect in our faces and will allow us to enjoy the gift of life God has given us.

But if we are constantly weighed down by the things of the world, and if we’re feeling oppressed by the Enemy, it can crush the very life out of us.

We see an example of this in verses 16–17.

Better a little with the fear of the LORD
than great wealth with turmoil.

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
than a fattened calf with hatred.

Some people pursue money thinking it can bring them happiness. But instead of money bringing them the joy they expected, they find trouble. They’re always worrying about the stock market and the state of the economy.

Or they work ungodly hours to the detriment of their family life. Their wives are always complaining of being neglected and their children resent Dad never being around.

Not only that, because of all the time they pour into their work, their health also suffers because of lack of sleep and the amount of stress they go through during the day.

On the other hand, other people don’t have a lot financially, but they’re at peace with God and with their family.

They may not have all they want, but they have all they need. They have food on the table, a place to sleep, and clothes to wear. More than that, they have family that loves them.

What are you pursuing? Have you counted the cost? To your health? To your family? To your relationship with God?

Is what you’re pursuing truly worth the price you’re paying?

Categories
Proverbs

Pleasing the Lord

How do we live lives pleasing to our Lord?

Solomon writes in verse 3,

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

We can’t hide from God. Not only does he see all our actions, he sees our very hearts.

Solomon wrote,

Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD —
how much more the hearts of men! (11)

In other words, if the grave and hell themselves are open to the eyes of the Lord, how much more are our hearts laid open before him?

So if we want to please the Lord, it cannot just be through our outward actions. We need to have hearts that are fully committed to him as well, because God sees beyond our actions to our very hearts and motives.

Solomon says as much in verses 8–9.

The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

The LORD detests the way of the wicked
but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

You can sacrifice your time by going to church. But what are you doing the rest of the time? Are you merely living for yourself?

You can sacrifice your money by tithing or even giving to charity. But what about the rest of your money? Are you spending it on things that would please the Lord?

Sacrifices without a true love for God mean nothing to him.

As Solomon writes,

The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked,
but those of the pure are pleasing to him. (26)

If God were to look upon your thoughts at this moment, what would he see? A person whose whole heart is set on pleasing him? Or on pleasing itself?

And when God brings discipline into your life, how do you respond?

We’ve mentioned this in previous blogs, but the same theme arises in this chapter time and again: the importance of humility and the willingness to accept God’s discipline.

Solomon warns,

A fool spurns his father’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. (5)

And again,

He who listens to a life-giving rebuke
will be at home among the wise.

He who ignores discipline despises himself,
but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom,
and humility comes before honor. (31–33)

So if you want to please the Lord, remember two things.

First, pleasing the Lord can’t be a once-a-week thing on Sunday. It’s impossible to be a part-time Christian. You either are one or you’re not.

God doesn’t only want a part of us. He wants all of us.

Second, if we’re going to please him, we need a humble heart that listens to him when he corrects us.

Only in practicing these two things can we truly please him.

Categories
Proverbs

Being wise in our speech

Proverbs has a lot to say about being wise in our speech, and we see a lot of it here.

It starts with verse 1.

A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

Often times when someone is upset with us, they can say some harsh things. And it’s easy to return harsh word for harsh word.

But by doing so we only escalate the situation, generating a great deal of heat, but very little light in trying to resolve the situation.

Most of the time, a lot of the anger can be defused by two words: “I’m sorry.”

“But why should I apologize if I’ve done nothing wrong?” many people ask.

I’m not saying that you should admit to doing something wrong if you haven’t. But often times we do things or say things that hurt others whether we intended to or not.

Sometimes we may feel they’re being too sensitive, and there probably are times when they are being too sensitive.

In that kind of situation, I often say, “I’m sorry that I made you feel that way. I certainly didn’t mean to hurt you but I did. I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

In wording it this way, I can apologize with complete sincerity because I can truly say that I never intended to hurt them.

Moreover, I do make it a point in the future to try to avoid making the same mistake.

I may not feel like I was wrong per se, but I do acknowledge the other person’s feelings when I act that way, and for the love of Christ and the other person, I try to avoid doing so again.

Some time ago, I sent an email where I made a joke that really upset a friend of mine. She blew up and sent me a really nasty email back. To this day, I feel it was a harmless joke, and that she massively overreacted.

But to me, our relationship was much more important than whether I felt the joke was harmless or not. The point was that she felt offended, and so I quickly apologized.

She immediately calmed down, and we’ve remained good friends ever since. Since then, however, I have made sure to be very careful about the kinds of “jokes” that I make around her.

I’ve also learned to be very careful in general about who I can make these “jokes” with.

Solomon goes on to say in verse 4,

A soothing tongue is a tree of life,
but perversion in it crushes the spirit. (NASB)

What kinds of words come out of our mouth? Are they words that soothe others’ hurts and wounds? Or are they perverse words that crush their spirits?

One reason I responded to my friend the way I did was because she had shared with me before how her father had treated her and her mom. Namely, he would verbally abuse them, and when they got hurt, he would say, “You’re just too sensitive.”

But by doing so, he crushed their spirits and I wanted no part in crushing my friend’s spirit further.

On a more positive note, Solomon says,

A man finds joy in giving an apt reply —
and how good is a timely word! (23)

This is the kind of people we should be. Finding joy not in tearing people down, but in having the timely word that encourages them when they’re feeling down.

Solomon adds one more note concerning our words in verse 28, saying,

The heart of the righteous weighs its answers,
but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

How about you? Do you weigh the words that you speak? Do you make sure that they are words of healing and life to everyone you meet? Or does evil and perverse speech gush out of your mouth?

What’s coming out of your mouth?

Categories
Proverbs

At peace with others and within yourself

A few more passages strike me as I read this chapter. First,

Fools mock at making amends for sin,
but goodwill is found among the upright. (Proverbs 14:9)

All of us are human. All of us make mistakes and hurt other people when we don’t mean to. Hopefully, most of us apologize. That certainly helps make amends for what we did.

Sometimes, however, mere words are not enough.

If, for example, we promise to spend time with our child, but for some reason we break our promise, it’s well and good to apologize.

But we should then immediately put aside what we’re doing and do something with them. That’s what wise, upright people do.

On the other hand, Solomon calls morally deficient (that is, a fool) the person who refuses to do what they can to make amends. Who makes excuses for why it’s not necessary. Or who tries to put blame on the other person by saying they’re too sensitive.

If we want peace with others, we need to make amends with them when we wrong them.

In verse 22, Solomon writes,

Do not those who plot evil go astray?
But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

Obviously to plot evil against another is wrong and will destroy peace within a relationship.

But Solomon doesn’t stop there. He tells us that if we will go out of our way to plan to do good to others, we’ll culture love and faithfulness in that relationship. When we are kind to others, it tends to cause them to act in like manner.

How often do you actually consciously make plans to bless your friends? To bless your wife?

It might be by treating your friend to lunch. Or by buying flowers for your wife for no other reason than that you love her. That’s the kind of thing Solomon is talking about.

But just as important as being at peace with others is being at peace within yourself. Concerning that, Solomon says,

A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones. (30)

How content are you? Are you always looking around at the people around you and envying what they have? Their job? Their possessions? Their spouse?

Solomon says that if you do so, it will rot your bones. You’ll never be happy because even when you have good things in your life, you’ll be blind to it because you’ll be so focused on what others have.

But when you are content with what you have, it allows you to be at peace and to actually enjoy the life that God has given you.

How about you? Are you at peace with others? And are you at peace within yourself?

Categories
Proverbs

Despising our Maker

How often do we despise God?

“Despise God,” you may ask. “I don’t despise God.”

And yet when we look down on those God has created, we do despise him.

That’s what Solomon reiterates several times in the Proverbs. He starts by saying,

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
but the rich have many friends.

He who despises his neighbor sins,
but blessed is he who is kind to the needy. (Proverbs 14:20–21)

Every once in a while in the Proverbs, you’ll see statements like verse 20 that make you think, “Is God saying this is the way things should be?”

The answer is of course, no. Solomon is merely stating the way things are.

When people are rich, they have many “friends.” When they are poor, those “friends” tend to disappear.

The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) is an example of this.

But how things are is not always how God says things should be. And he makes it very clear that when we despise our neighbor, especially our neighbor in need, we despise God. But if we bless them, God will bless us.

Solomon goes on to say in verse 31,

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

A big story in the news right now is of a Miami football player bullying another and ultimately causing the latter to leave the team.

While this passage talks about oppressing the poor, I think we could say that God looks dimly on anyone who oppresses another.

Chapter 17 in Proverbs also reiterates this idea.

He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. (5)

How is showing contempt for others showing contempt for our Maker?

In two ways. First, we’re telling God, “What you’ve made is no good. It’s worth my contempt.”

Second, we’re despising someone who was made in the image of God. When we spit at someone, we spit into the very image of God.

How about you? Do you despise the poor or homeless you see on the street? Do you look down upon the weak, not only the physically weak, but the emotionally weak as well? When we despise them, we despise Jesus.

But when we show kindness to them, Jesus says we’re showing kindness to Jesus himself. As our Lord himself said,

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40)

How do you see the people around you?

Categories
Proverbs

Think!

“Think!”

I’m sure many of us have heard that sentence punctuate the end of a scolding when we were kids.

We do something stupid, and after railing at us for what we did, our parents tell us, “Think next time!”

I can’t remember any specific incidents, but I do have a vague impression my dad did this to me.

That’s what Solomon tells us in this chapter. He says,

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception. (Proverbs 14:8)

And again,

A simple man believes anything,
but a prudent man gives thought to his steps. (15)

How often do we get into trouble because we don’t think carefully before acting. Instead we act rashly or impulsively and find ourselves in deep trouble because of it.

Solomon noted,

A fool is hotheaded and reckless.
A quick-tempered man does foolish things. (16–17)

Other times, we may not be acting rashly or impulsively, but we still rely on our own wisdom instead of God’s. And then we learn the truth of what Solomon taught when he said,

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death. (12)

What then should we do? Well, Solomon gives us a couple of “don’ts” first. He warns,

The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

Stay away from a foolish man,
for you will not find knowledge on his lips. (6–7)

In other words, don’t be a person that mocks the wisdom that comes from God. Who looks at the Bible and says, “That was for then, but this is now. Maybe those morals were fine for that time, but this is the 21st century.”

When we say that, we belittle God and his Word, which he says never changes.

As a result, we seek for wisdom relevant to our times, and find none because once we depart from God’s wisdom, there is nothing left.

The second “don’t” is to avoid seeking wisdom from fools.

Some people are simply stupid and arrogant in their ways. They won’t even consider God’s ways, and they never take correction.

Because of this, they will often give you “wisdom” that is at cross-purposes with God’s. And if you follow it, it can get you into real trouble.

So how are we to live? As we give thought to our ways, how do we measure what is best? Solomon tells us several times.

A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil. (16)

And again,

He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,
and for his children it will be a refuge.

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning a man from the snares of death. (26–27)

Solomon tells us that as we consider our paths, we are to fear the Lord. We are to ask him, “Which is the best path? How should I proceed?”

And when we do, God delights in sharing his wisdom with us.

As James once said,

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

Categories
Proverbs

Disciplining our children

We’ve often heard the proverb, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” This isn’t a direct quote from the Bible, but the idea is certainly repeated fairly often.

In Proverbs 13:24, it says,

He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.

Sometimes, people say, “I love my child too much. I can’t punish them when they do something wrong. It kills me to see the pain they go through when I punish them.”

But what Solomon makes very clear is that it’s the person who hates their child who refuses to discipline them. Why?

We see the answer in his other proverbs.

Discipline your son, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to his death. (Proverbs 19:18)

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. (Proverbs 22:15)

Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

Punish him with the rod
and save his soul from death. (Proverbs 23:13–14)

The rod of correction imparts wisdom,
but a child left to himself disgraces his mother. (Proverbs 29:15)

In short, children don’t know everything. And they will do foolish things that will not only hurt others, but hurt themselves as well.

Not only will they do things that can hurt them, they’ll do things that can also kill them.

All you have to do to see the truth of that is think about what could happen if you don’t train your child not to run out onto the street.

If you have a child trained to respond immediately when you say, “Stop,” it can save their life if a car is about to hit them.

If, on the other hand, they have never learned to obey their parents’ voice, they’ll continue out onto the street, and it will cost them their life.

Punishing your child can be painful, both for them and for us. I don’t like disciplining our daughter. But I do it for her good.

I’m not saying you have to spank your child, although I’m not against it.

In our house, we use a time-out system. We used it quite a bit when my daughter was 2 and 3 years old. Now, she’s a lot better about obeying us, and we haven’t had to use it in quite some time.

Hopefully, we won’t have to ever use it again, although I’m not counting on it.

How about you? Do you love your children enough to discipline them?

Categories
Proverbs

Walking with the wise

One of my pastor’s favorite passages is this one,

He who walks with the wise grows wise,
but a companion of fools suffers harm. (Proverbs 13:20)

He points out that it doesn’t say that a companion of fools becomes foolish, although we can certainly make foolish decisions by hanging out with fools.

But it says that a companion of fools suffers harm. When we hang around people that are foolish, it can get us into all kinds of trouble.

How often in your life can you look back and see the truth of that statement? You hung out with the wrong crowd, and got pulled into the stupid things they were doing, and paid the price for it.

I’m not saying that we should never spend time with non-Christians. If we never spent time with non-Christians, we could never fulfill the great commission that God has given us to make disciples of all nations.

But the question is, “Who is influencing who?” Are you influencing them, or are they influencing you?

One thing that we can do to make sure that it is the former is to consciously make the decision to hang out with those who are not just Christians, but wise Christians. Christians who are walking with the Lord daily, and are constantly listening to his voice.

Because when we hang out with these types of people, God often speaks to us through them. And his words bring life.

So who are you walking with? Are you walking with the wise? Or with fools?

Are you getting your advice from those who are walking with God and hearing from him? Or are you getting it from those whose advice would lead you into disaster?

Categories
Proverbs

Pride

A lot of themes are repeated over and over in Proverbs, and one of them is the danger of pride.

How does pride hurt us?

It hurts us when we refuse to listen to rebuke. Rebuke can be painful, but it can save us much greater pain in the long run.

Solomon writes in verse 1,

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
but a mocker does not listen to rebuke. (Proverbs 13:1)

I didn’t enjoy my father’s rebuke. The sharpest words I ever heard from him were, “I can’t trust you anymore.”

They were words he said because I had lied to him one too many times. But they really struck me. I didn’t want to be a person that people couldn’t trust. And so I’ve always striven to be honest with the people around me ever since.

Solomon later points out,

He who scorns instruction will pay for it,
but he who respects a command is rewarded.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
turning a man from the snares of death. (13–14)

And again,

He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame,
but whoever heeds correction is honored. (18)

When we listen to those who are wise, it gives us life. Many of them have experiences that we haven’t. And by listening to them, we can avoid the pitfalls that they themselves had fallen into.

But by holding on to our pride and ignoring their rebuke, it can lead us to disaster.

Pride also wreaks havoc on relationships. Solomon writes in verse 10,

Pride only breeds quarrels,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

A lot of our quarrels, especially with our spouse, are bred from pride. We don’t want to admit we are wrong. And so we stubbornly defend what we’d realize is indefensible if we were only honest with ourselves.

I know there have been times in my marriage that my wife said we should do something, but I didn’t want to do it. And God told me, “Drop your pride. Listen to your wife.”

Sometimes, even though I felt I was right about something, God still told me, “Drop your pride. It’s not worth fighting about.”

It’s not easy to swallow our pride. But if we want our relationships to work, and especially our marriages, it’s something we need to learn. And oftentimes, we find that we’re better off for actually listening to our spouse.

How about you? Are you in control of your pride? Or is your pride in control of you?

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Proverbs

Words that wound; words that heal

arguments and hurtful words

These are two verses from chapter 12 that really struck me, and I felt deserved a blog to themselves.

The first comes from verse 18, which says,

Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18)

How often have you said something without thinking, and severely hurt someone you loved? Or conversely, how often have people done the same to you?

This can happen at any time, but it’s particularly common during arguments. We need to be very careful even when arguing to fight fair. What does that mean?

Basically, it means to not get personal with our arguments. To avoid saying things like, “You’re so stupid. How could you do that?”

Or, “You always do this. You never do that.”

Or, “You’re just too emotional. You’re not thinking straight.”

Or, “You’re too sensitive.”

These kinds of words don’t solve the situation. It just gets the other person’s back up, and they start fighting back with harsh words of their own. And as Solomon said, those words can pierce like a sword.

But words spoken in jest or in a sarcastic manner can cut just as deep.

So often, we make jokes at another person’s expense, never expecting them to actually hurt. But I can point to more than one time in my life where I have seriously offended people by doing so.

Our words should bring healing to relationships, but how often do our words instead wound the people we love.

Solomon goes on to say in verse 25,

An anxious heart weighs a man down,
but a kind word cheers him up. (Proverbs 12:25)

Like I said, sometimes we tear down people in fun. But how much better would it be to build people up in love. That when we see someone hurting or distressed, we speak a word of encouragement. Or even to just say, “Can I pray for you now?”

That’s the kind of people God wants us to be. That’s the kind of person Jesus was.

What kind of person are you? Do your words wound? Or do your words heal?

Categories
Proverbs

Blunt pieces of wisdom

You’ve got to love the bluntness of some of these proverbs.

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates correction is stupid. (Proverbs 12:1)

It is a theme that you see throughout the Proverbs. That to be truly wise, you need to be willing to accept discipline and correction. To not do so is just… stupid.

It is also unwise to think you know it all and never need advice. As it says in verse 15,

The way of a fool seems right to him,
but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)

Another blunt, but picturesque proverb,

A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. (Proverbs 12:4)

I suppose you can take this in two ways.

From the man’s standpoint, be careful who you marry. Looks are not everything. A wife of noble character will enrich your life. But a wife of poor moral fiber will be like decaying bones in your life.

From the woman’s standpoint, what kind of wife are you? Are you bringing life and joy to your husband? Or decay?

Another blunt piece of wisdom:

He who works his land will have abundant food,
but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. (Proverbs 12:11)

So many people, rather than working hard, look for easy ways to make money and end up losing everything.

They waste their money on gambling or lotteries or other follies when they could get all they need just by putting in a decent day of work.

One final blunt piece of wisdom,

A fool shows his annoyance at once,
but a prudent man overlooks an insult. (Proverbs 12:16)

Are you quick to show annoyance? To your husband? To your wife? To your coworker? To your friend? If so, Solomon calls you a fool.

Reacting with annoyance whenever someone does something you don’t like is a good way to hurt, if not destroy, your relationships. A wise person is patient and is willing to overlook people’s faults.

Even when a person purposely does something to insult you or annoy you, it’s often wiser to just overlook it rather than blow up. If you know someone who likes to provoke you, you’re only feeding the fire by responding to it.

Am I saying that you should never confront someone? Of course not.

If your husband or wife or friend consistently does something to annoy you, it’s good to talk to them about it.

Talk to them once. Talk to them twice. After that, leave it in the hands of God. Let him deal with them. And ask God to give you his patience in dealing with them.

The thing to remember is that you cannot change a person. Only God can do that. So don’t try. Leave it in the hands of the only one who truly can change a person’s life.

As we look at these proverbs, let us not be, as Solomon puts it, stupid.

Let us not be stubborn and make excuses about why they’re unreasonable in our situation. Let us instead be wise, accepting God’s words of discipline and correction.

If we do, we’ll find a lot less frustration and a lot more joy in our relationships and our lives.

Categories
Proverbs

Being a pipeline of God’s grace

We’ve already touched on Proverbs 11, but I wanted to take a closer look at a few of those verses one more time.

This passage is about the joy that comes from giving—how when people give, it leads to blessing not only for the person who receives the gift, but for the giver as well.

Solomon writes in verse 24,

One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24)

One thing that God has called us to be is a pipeline of his grace. As he gives to us, we are to give to others. And as we give, God blesses us all the more so that we can give even more.

Paul put it this way,

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9:8, 11)

If, however, we withhold what we have unduly, we clog up the pipeline of grace.

Not only do we fail to bless people when we do so, but God is unable to pour any more into our pipeline because it becomes all clogged up and nothing else can pass through.

On the other hand, Solomon notes,

A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)

As we give and become this pipeline of grace, we ourselves will be refreshed.

Nowadays we hear about doing random acts of kindness. I have heard recently, however, of a person who does planned acts of kindness.

He purposefully thinks of ways to bless the people that he meets, even the stranger on the road. And he’s finding that as he does that, it makes him feel refreshed. He finds great joy in sensing the love of Christ flow through him and touch others.

How much joy do we lose out on in our lives by being stingy and thinking only of ourselves?

How much joy would we gain by being an active pipeline of God’s grace?

Solomon also points out,

People curse the man who hoards grain,
but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell. (Proverbs 11:26)

How often do we destroy our witness by clogging up the pipeline of grace? Instead of seeing Christ in us and his love flowing through us, they see only a selfish person who’s concerned solely about himself.

How about you? When others encounter you, do they encounter Christ in you?

Solomon says in verse 30,

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and he who wins souls is wise.

When people encounter us, they should encounter life. And they encounter life when God’s love flows through us.

It is this love that draws them not only to us, but to the God who lives in us.

Solomon says a winner of souls is wise. But you can only be a winner of souls if God’s love and grace is flowing in you and through you.

I’ve got to admit… too many times I’ve clogged up that pipeline. And it’s something that needs to change.

How about you? Are you being a pipeline of God’s love and grace?

Categories
Proverbs

Looking ahead

If there is one theme that is repeated throughout this chapter, it’s the importance of looking ahead to the consequences of our actions. So many people in this world don’t.

I was watching part of a sports documentary called “Broke.” On it, you see many of the foolish decisions that famous athletes made that led to their going broke despite the millions of dollars they had made.

One guy spent 7 million dollars on a yacht, two cars, and a mansion. Another guy spent millions on jewelry. Another guy has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the 11 children he fathered by 9 different women.

These guys failed to look ahead to the consequences of their actions, and it has cost them dearly. Literally.

The examples in this chapter are different, but the lesson is the same. Not looking ahead can cost you.

When we let pride rule our lives—the pride of who we are, what we have, and what we can do—it will eventually bring us down. (2)

The athletes who let the pride of life rule them learned that lesson and suffered the disgrace of bankruptcy as a result.

Others may be wise financially, but they still let the lusts of their flesh and the lust of their eyes rule them. And they’ll find out the truth of what Solomon taught.

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:4)

We can’t buy ourselves into heaven. God doesn’t need our money.

Only the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Christ can save us. And if we reject it, we will face God’s wrath on the day of judgment.

Many people will also learn that for all the power that they accumulate here on earth, it means nothing in the presence of God if they have not humbled themselves before him. As Solomon said,

When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;
all he expected from his power comes to nothing. (7)

Other people think that by indulging in their sin, they’ve found true freedom. That those who live the way God has told us to are only binding themselves up. But soon they’ll find that,

The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,
but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. (5–6)

In other words, when we live God’s way, we find a life that works. But by living our own way, we destroy ourselves.

We destroy our marriages and relationships. We destroy all that we worked so hard to build up in our lives. And worse, we find ourselves trapped by the evil desires we thought set us free.

Though we may come to see how destructive these things really are, we still can’t stop ourselves.

How many people have been destroyed by gambling, drinking, drugs, or by sleeping around? And yet seeing how destructive those habits are, they still can’t stop?

Solomon points out other ways people fail to look ahead.

Some people fail to think about who they are talking to, and as a result, have their secrets spilled. (13)

Others rely solely on their own wisdom, without seeking the wisdom of others, and see their kingdoms crash down on them. (14)

A person sets his sights on money, but fails to invest his life in people. As a result, he gains no respect nor love, and dies a lonely man. (16)

A woman has great beauty, but has no discretion in how she lives or who she gives her heart to, and winds up getting hurt. (22)

A person fails to share in his time of plenty, so when he comes upon hard times, no one comes to his aid. (24)

Still another fails to think how her actions will affect her family, causing her to lose the ones she loves. (29)

If we fail to look ahead, it will cost us eventually. In this life, and in the life to come.

How about you? How are you living your life? Are you looking ahead?

Categories
Proverbs

What kind of name do you have?

Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name?” Quite a lot actually.

Solomon wrote,

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot. (Proverbs 10:7)

When people hear the name Hitler, for example, there is immediate loathing. I doubt there are many, if any, parents willing to give their child that name.

But when people hear biblical names like Jacob, or Noah, or Abigail, or Elizabeth, they all have positive images of them. In fact, all four were among the top names for babies in the U.S. last year.

What kind of name do you have? A lot of it will have to do with the life that you live here on earth.

Solomon wrote,

A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son grief to his mother. (Proverbs 10:1)

What is a wise person?

  • It’s a person who is diligent and works hard. (4–5)
  • It’s a person who is willing to accept authority, and as we mentioned yesterday, to accept correction. (8, 17)
  • It’s a person who walks in integrity. (9)
  • It’s a person who is willing to overlook an offense and to forgive. (12)
  • It’s a person from whose mouth flows life. (11)

Who speaks wisdom (13, 31), who knows when to speak and when to keep it shut (19, 32), and whose words nourish others (21).

Or as Paul once put it, whose words correct, rebuke, encourage, and teach (2 Timothy 4:2).

What kind of person has a name which rots?

  • It’s someone who is lazy. (4–5, 26)
  • It’s someone who refuses to take correction, and thus lacks judgment, and even leads others down the path he is going. (8, 13, 17)
  • It’s someone who holds hatred in their heart and allows it to affect his relationships. (11–12)
  • It’s someone who has no guard on his mouth, and hurts those around him, and even himself. (8, 14, 19–21)

What kind of person are you? When people see you, what do they see? And when you are gone, what will they remember?

Will you leave behind a name that blesses those who remember you?

Or will you leave behind a name that rots?

Categories
Proverbs

Wisdom: A willingness to change

Some people mistake God’s love and acceptance of us with a license to sin. They think, “God accepts me anyway, so why change? Why not live the way I want?”

But in this passage, we see that a wise person is willing to change.

This chapter starts and ends with two calls. One is a call from Wisdom, who prepares her house for us and invites us in, saying,

Let all who are simple come in here…

Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.

Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of understanding. (Proverbs 9:4–5)

So many people are living ignorant of the consequences of their actions. They naively think that everything will work out all right just living the way that they are.

But all the while, the path they’re taking is leading them to pain and ultimately, death.

Wisdom cries out, “Don’t just stay the way you are! Leave your naive ways. I’ve got something better for you, that will give you life.”

The woman Folly, however, says,

Let all who are simple come in here…

Stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is delicious! (16–17)

In other words, “Continue living the way you are. Sin is sweet. It’s tasty and brings delight.”

What kind of person are you? Are you willing to change?

God does indeed love you as you are. But he loves you far too much to just leave you in the mud pile that you have been living in.

Solomon writes,

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. (7–9)

Jesus put it this way,

Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6)

Jesus says don’t give the mocker (“dogs” or “pigs”) the pearls of wisdom you have, because they won’t appreciate it. Rather, they’ll just tear into you.

If on the other hand, you give your pearls to the wise, Solomon says that they’ll become wiser still.

The question we need to ask ourselves, however, is, “Are we wise? Or are we mere dogs and pigs?”

When people rebuke you, how do you take it? Do you take some time to reflect on what they say? Or do you just throw it back in their faces?

Are you humble enough to accept correction from others? More than that, are you humble enough to accept correction from God?

Only in humbling ourselves before him and accepting his correction will we find true wisdom and true life.

As Solomon wrote,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. (Proverbs 9:10–12)

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Proverbs

Interpreting God’s word correctly

Sometimes people get into trouble as they interpret the Bible simply because they really don’t know how to interpret it correctly.

One of the big mistakes people make is when they bring two passages together that have no connection to each other except perhaps a few words that on the surface seem to have some connection.

Proverbs 8 and 1 Corinthians 1:24 are an example of this.

Some people, among them the Jehovah’s Witnesses, see Jesus in Proverbs 8. Why?

Because “Wisdom” is talking, and in verses 22–31, it talks about how “Wisdom” was with God from the beginning of creation. How “Wisdom” was the craftsman at God’s side when he made all things.

They then say two things.

First, in 1 Corinthians 1:24, they point out that Jesus is called “the wisdom of God.”

They then say, “See, Jesus is speaking here in Proverbs 8, and he says he was given birth before the earth was created and that he was the first of all of God’s work. So he can’t be God himself; he was a created being.”

Of course, the whole argument falls apart when you take a closer look at Proverbs 8. In fact, you can see it right in the first verse.

Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice? (Proverbs 8:1)

I think the problem is quite evident. Wisdom, throughout this chapter and throughout the book of Proverbs for that matter, is personified as a woman.

Since when was the Son of God ever a woman?

But by taking two passages that have no relationship whatsoever, and putting them together with Colossians 1, which talks about how Christ was there with the Father when he created all things, the Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to prove that Jesus was a created being, not God himself.

As one person pointed out, you can prove anything by using that method.

[Judas] went out and hung himself. (Matthew 27:5)

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

As we read the Bible, we need to really pay attention to context as we read, or we can get into real trouble, as do the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

What is Solomon doing in Proverbs 8? He is personifying an abstract concept. He’s using a literary tool.

And he’s saying, “Wisdom is calling out for you. While the adulterous woman is calling out to seduce you and lead you to your own destruction, Wisdom is calling out to you in order that you might have life.

“She was there when God created the world. God in his wisdom created the world, and he has made her known to all his creation that they might know how to live.

“She gives wisdom, counsel, and insight to kings, and by her power kings reign.

“Now, she’s calling out to you who are simple that you might gain prudence as you walk through this life. That you can know what is right and find the blessing that comes from her.

“And when you find her, you find something that’s better than all the riches in the world.”

As Solomon puts it,

Nothing you desire can compare with her. (11)

I have to admit, there’s an old song I like called “More Precious Than Silver” that is based on this passage as well as on Proverbs 3:15.

I don’t know for certain the lyricist’s true intent behind these words. However, it does seem to be based on this faulty interpretation of these two passages, that Jesus is this “Wisdom” personified in Proverbs.

That the Lord is indeed more precious than silver and more costly than gold, and that nothing we desire can compare with him, I have no doubt.

But Wisdom in these two passages is personified as “she,” not “he.”

Let us seek the Lord. Let us seek his wisdom. But let us also be sure to interpret his Word correctly so that we can truly discern what he is saying to us.

Categories
Proverbs

Easy pickings

Recently, my daughter had a sports festival at her nursery school.

One of the “sports” was running down to a place where she would “fish” for a gift. She lowered her little fishing pole, and a person there attached the gift to her hook.

And I thought catching goldfish was easy! My daughter didn’t really have to do anything at all to “catch” her prize.

But some people are as easy pickings for the devil. And Solomon gives an example here.

He talks of a young man who very swiftly got into trouble. Why?

Number one, he lacked judgment. (Proverbs 7:7)

He spent all his time among the “simple,” youths who were as lacking in moral direction as he was. He was someone who just lived for the moment, never thinking of the future consequences he would have to pay.

Second, he was probably idle, with nothing to do, wandering around at night when he probably shouldn’t have.

And with no purpose of his own, he was swept into someone else’s plans, in this case, an adulterous woman. (8–9)

She comes out of her house and goes to him, boldly kissing him where anyone could see.

And she says, “My husband isn’t home. He isn’t coming back until tomorrow night. I’ve seen you around, and I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve prepared everything in my house just for you. My food…and my bed.”

(Fellowship offerings, ironically, were sacrifices made as a sign of peace with God and thanksgiving toward him. Part of the ceremony associated with this was taking part of the sacrifice home and celebrating by eating it with their family.

This woman was taking something meant for her husband and her to enjoy, with a heart of thanksgiving toward God, and was using it to seduce this young man.)

And because he was not wise enough to discern her smooth talk for what it was, he went in to her house like an ox to the slaughter.

Solomon said that it would eventually cost him his life, perhaps because, as Solomon mentioned in chapter 6, when her husband found out, his revenge would be certain and swift.

Even if he somehow escaped her husband’s judgment, he would certainly face God’s.

So Solomon warns his sons,

Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.

Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.

Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death. (Proverbs 7:25–27)

How can we avoid this man’s fate?

First, seek the wisdom and discernment that comes from God. Make them your constant companions. As Solomon told his sons,

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call understanding your kinsman. (4)

Second, don’t let yourself be idle. Don’t wander around town or even around your own house without purpose. It only leads to trouble.

Boredom has caused more than one person to fall into sin. You probably don’t have to look back far into your own life to know the truth of that.

Finally, flee from sin. Sin may try to make itself look attractive, but when you have God’s word in your life, it’s easy to recognize.

As soon as you see it, flee. Because the longer you linger around it, the more you’ll find yourself drawn to it.

Let us not be simple. Let us instead walk in wisdom and in the fear of the Lord.

Categories
Proverbs

Captivated by sin

It’s amazing how often we see adulterous relationships portrayed on TV nowadays. Nobody even blinks at it. And yet, one wonders why people never learn from it.

Even on TV, most times there are negative consequences that come from these relationships. Broken relationships and hurt people at the least, murder at the worst.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show where the person said, “Oh, you slept with my wife? No problem. Please continue with my blessing.”

That’s one of the points Solomon makes here. He says,

Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?

Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?

So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished. (Proverbs 6:27–29)

He then expounds on this by pointing out that while a judge may be understanding toward a person who steals because he is starving, nevertheless he will pass judgment and the person will have to pay the price.

How much more will a person try to make another pay the price for sleeping with their wife or husband? They will have no sympathy whatsoever for the person who does so.

Solomon adds,

Blows and disgrace are [the adulterer’s] lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away;
for jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse the bribe, however great it is. (33–35)

So Solomon says, “Guard your heart. Don’t go after the adulterous wife, nor the prostitute for that matter.”

For the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life. (26)

In other words, the prostitute will take all your money if she can, and once it’s all gone, so is she.

And if you play with an adulterous wife, you’ll likely pay the price one way or the other. A destroyed marriage and family. Or even a destroyed life through murder or AIDS or other STDs.

But from a broadened perspective, I think the same can be said of the results of sin in general.

Don’t be captivated by sin. Don’t lust after it no matter how attractive it might seem, because you’ll only be scooping hot coals on yourself, and you will be burned in the end.

While sin may look attractive, it will take all we have and utterly destroy us.

Rather, let our hearts be captivated by the One who loved us so much that he took the punishment for our sins on the cross.

Let us seek him daily, and as our hearts become more captivated by him, we will find true love and true life.

Categories
Proverbs

Acting as God’s children, or as the devil’s?

In this passage, Solomon talks about the “scoundrel,” or as the NASB puts it, the “worthless person.”

In other words, a man of no use to man or God because they live only for themselves and place themselves under no authority but themselves.

The word here for “worthless” is actually Belial, and is sometimes used to refer to the devil. So such a person is a “child of the devil.”

Jesus gives us more insight into this in talking about the Jews who were hostile to him.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.

He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. (John 8:44)

Such people are given to doing evil with their every word, and even with their every movement, whether it’s the wink of the eye, or the motion of a hand, or a signal from his feet.

And Solomon says God will eventually punish that person. He then talks about the seven things God hates.

Haughty eyes.

Eyes that are proud and always looking down on others. More than that, eyes that look defiantly at the God who made them.

C. S. Lewis once called it the “Great sin” because it is the one sin that not only puts a distance between us and others, but puts distance between us and God as well.

A lying tongue.

We sometimes don’t take lying seriously enough, but God takes it very seriously.

It is the children of the devil who practice lying, because as Jesus said, Satan is the father of lies. How truthful are you?

Hands that shed innocent blood.

Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot often said, “I don’t approve of murder.”

God not only doesn’t approve. He loathes it, because you are destroying something that he created to be of great worth.

However, it would also be well to remember that when we hate someone, we are murdering them in our hearts (1 John 3:15).

When we murder someone, either physically or in our hearts, we are following after the way of Satan, who was a murderer from the beginning.

A heart that devises wicked schemes.

Sometimes we sin on the impulse of a moment. For example, something bad happens to us, we get angry, and we respond sinfully. That’s bad enough.

But to God, it’s worse when you take the time to plot evil in your heart. It’s one thing to do evil when you had no intention to do so. It’s quite another to plot it out.

Feet that are quick to rush into evil.

These are people who have no hesitation to do what is evil. They have no battle with their consciences. They have so subdued their consciences that they are automatically drawn to what is wrong.

Not only that, they delight in it and even take pride in it.

A false witness who pours out lies.

This is someone who not only lies, but lies about his neighbor—who falsely accuses him, if not in front of a court, then in front of other people, damaging their reputation and possibly much more. Gossip also falls into this category.

A man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

God calls us to be peacemakers. But some people, instead of trying to bring peace, delight in bringing dissension. They spread gossip. They’re always saying, “Do you know what so‑and‑so said about you?”

And when they pass messages between people, it’s for the purpose of widening the gap between them instead of bringing them together. God hates this type of behavior.

How about you? Are there any behaviors in your life that fall into these categories? God calls us as his children to repentance.

Are you acting as his child, or as Satan’s?

Categories
Proverbs

Being secure financially

I’m definitely not one to talk about how to improve your finances. My family’s doing okay, but we’re definitely not rolling in green or anything, so I feel a little weird talking about financial matters.

But Solomon does, so here we go.

There’s lots of financial advice in the Proverbs, and two pieces of advice are found in these verses.

One is not putting up security for another person, particularly when it comes to loans.

This is a pretty tough one, particularly in Japan. Real estate agencies always ask for a guarantor when renting an apartment, and immigration also asks for one when someone wants to stay in Japan.

The question is, does this passage mean we should never put up security for someone? My answer would be no.

However.

It is never wise to put up security for someone if you don’t have the financial resources to pay if they default.

If God has blessed you with financial resources, and it would not hurt you financially if you actually have to pay, then I would say to go ahead and do it, if God so leads.

But if you don’t have the resources to pay if they default, you should tell the person, “I’m sorry. I like you. I trust you. But you don’t know the future and neither do I. And if something happens to you, and I have to pay, then I’m going to be dead financially.”

I think the principle is the same for investments as well. I have some mutual funds (I wish I had more), but if they get wiped out, it won’t kill me financially. It’ll hurt, but it won’t kill me.

But if we put all our money into investments that go sour, then we’re dead. So don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.

The other advice Solomon gives is mere common financial sense. Unfortunately, not everyone follows it. Namely, work as long as you can, and make sure you save up for your future.

In Japan, we have people called “freeters.” Basically, these are people without stable jobs.

Some of them are that way because of their low education, while others simply don’t want to work so much. I’ve read of some “freeters” that get a job, make some money, quit, and when the money runs out, they find another job.

But Solomon says of such people,

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!

It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6–11)

In other words, to live that way is very short-sighted, and it will impoverish those who live that way in the end.

But just as importantly, it’s dishonoring to God to waste the skills and talents that he has given you. And he will call you to account for it on judgment day.

So the two pieces of financial wisdom for the day:

  • Don’t put up security for someone when you don’t have the financial resources to back it up, and don’t invest so much of your money that you would lose everything should things go sour.
  • Work while you can, and save for your future.
Categories
Proverbs

Delighting in your wife (and husband)

This is one of several long passages warning against adultery in the book of Proverbs.

In this world, people have lost sight of what marriage is about, and largely because of that, what sex is all about.

Marriage is about two people learning to delight in each other to the point that they become one. Not just sexually, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

And when two people can achieve that true oneness, there is no other human relationship like it in the world. You have two people that know each other in every way, and yet totally accept one another.

I read a shirt recently (one of the few in Japan that actually made any sense), and it said that “Love is blind.”

I don’t believe that is true. True love sees everything, and loves anyway. It sees everything, and still takes delight in the other person.

And when husband and wife have that kind of relationship, there is an exhilaration in knowing you are completely loved and accepted.

You aren’t constantly being judged, or compared to others. You are accepted for who you are.

Not only that, despite all your failures and weaknesses, you know that your partner delights in you and in being with you.

But what is an adulterous woman or man like? There can be no such relationship.

If you know they were unfaithful to their partner in sleeping with you, there’s got to be at least a seed of suspicion that they could be unfaithful to you.

If they are comparing their partner unfavorably to you, what will happen when they find another lover and start comparing them to you?

Even the adulterous person has no idea where their “love” will take them because they’re just unthinkingly going wherever it leads them. And they have no idea just how warped the path they’re taking is.

As Solomon wrote,

She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. (Proverbs 5:6)

As a result, you can never have any kind of long-term relationship with an adulterous person.

It may start out “delightful,” but always ends leaving a bitter taste in your mouth.

Solomon put it this way,

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. (Proverbs 5:3–5)

Following the way of adultery can lead to eternal death apart from Christ.

Solomon warns us at the end of the chapter that God is watching us and that he will judge us for our sin, namely (in this passage), for adultery.

But adultery can even lead to physical death. At the hands of a jealous husband or wife. Or as a result of AIDS or other STDs.

Even if it doesn’t go that far, how many people have been ruined financially because of adultery and the divorce that resulted?

And how many people have gone to that other woman or man, only to find that that person only sought to use them for their body or for their wealth?

So Solomon tells us,

Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.

Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?

Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.

May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love. (Proverbs 5:15–19)

In other words, don’t spend all your time and energy (sexual or otherwise) on relationships that can have no happy end.

Instead, delight in your wife. Delight in your husband. Be captivated by their love. Learn to love them as God does. And learn to be loved by them as God loves you.

That’s the only way you can find true marital and sexual satisfaction.

Categories
Proverbs

Watching our step

“Watch your step.”

Whenever we’re in a precarious situation, people always warn us to be careful. And in this world there are numerous pitfalls that can bring us down.

So David warned his son Solomon about the pitfalls in life, and Solomon in turn passed on those lessons to his own sons.

He said,

Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.

I guide you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.

When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life. (Proverbs 4:10–13)

Just as David and Solomon talked to their sons, so I think God speaks to us here as his sons and daughters.

He guides us and leads us in the ways that are right, and if we’ll just follow him, we won’t stumble as we’ve seen so many people have.

If we guard his words in our heart, holding fast to them, we’ll find the path to life.

How many times have we seen Christian leaders fall because they didn’t guard these things in their hearts?

It’s easy to criticize them, but it can just as easily happen to us if we don’t watch ourselves. So often we criticize others, but we fail to watch ourselves and fall into the same kinds of sins.

So Solomon tells us to watch our step. To stay away from the path of sinners who would encourage us to follow them. To swiftly turn from the path that they walk on, and instead to stay on the lighted path that leads to life.

He said,

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble. (18–19)

In other words, as we follow Christ and do things his way, he reveals to us even more, and the way we should go becomes even clearer.

But when we reject the light of his Word, we end up stumbling around and falling into every pitfall on the road, simply because we are completely blind to them.

Solomon concludes this chapter by saying,

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life. (23)

Put another way, “Watch what you let into your heart. And watch the places where you let your heart go. Don’t let it wander off into places where it can destroy you.”

Rather,

Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil. (25–27)

Categories
Proverbs

Esteeming wisdom

In this passage, Solomon recalls the words his father David told him when he was a boy, words that apparently left a deep impression on him. David told him,

Lay hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands and you will live.

Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or swerve from them.

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.

She will set a garland of grace on your head
and present you with a crown of splendor. (Proverbs 4:4–9)

These words so impressed Solomon that when God offered to give him whatever his heart desired, Solomon didn’t ask for wealth, power, or any of the other things you’d expect a king to ask for.

Instead, he asked that God would give him wisdom. And God happily granted it to him.

In the same way, God will grant wisdom to anyone who asks and seeks after it. James wrote,

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

The question then becomes, how much do we esteem wisdom in our lives? Do we actively seek it? Particularly in his Word?

How often do you spend time in his Word? For many Christians, it’s once a week on Sunday, while taking a fast on the Word of God the rest of the week.

Then as we face situations in life, we find that we don’t have the wisdom to deal with them, and we wonder why things so often go wrong in our lives.

That’s why Solomon said,

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)

But it’s not enough to merely learn what wisdom says. We need to follow it as well. James says in verses 6–8 of chapter 1,

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Some people ask God for wisdom, but when they receive it, they doubt that it’s really the best way. And so they just go on doing things their own way.

James says that type of person will never find stability in his life. Instead, he’ll always be tossed around by his circumstances and the opinions of others.

But when we truly esteem wisdom, when we seek it and then follow it, Solomon tells us we will find peace, stability, and honor.

How about you? Do you esteem wisdom in your life?

Categories
Proverbs

Love and faithfulness

Love and faithfulness. Two things that are sorely lacking in this world. It’s the reason why relationships, and particularly marriages, fall apart in this world.

Solomon writes in verses 3–4,

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Then you will win favor
and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3–4)

What does love and faithfulness toward God mean? A lot of it has to do with trusting him enough to obey him. To be so sure of God’s love for you that you trust him implicitly and show it by the way that you live.

Solomon expounds on this in verses 5–7,

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.

When we love God, we put our complete trust in him. In all that we do, wherever we are, we acknowledge that he is the center of our lives, not ourselves. And we lean on his wisdom and not our own understanding.

That’s hard sometimes. Let’s be honest. It’s hard a lot of times.

One area that is especially hard is in the area of finances. Solomon writes,

Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine. (9–10)

Whether you believe in tithing or not, one thing is crystal clear. Your money is NOT your own.

Jesus Christ bought you with a price. And if we are to honor God with our body (1 Corinthians 6:19–20), how much more should we honor God with our wealth?

Oftentimes, people who object to the practice of tithing are people who object because deep down, they’re saying, “It’s my money. I have a right to do with it what I want.”

I would agree that 10% of your money doesn’t belong to God. Actually 100% of your money belongs to God. You are merely a manager of the money that God has given you.

So whether you tithe or not, you should be asking, “God, how do YOU want me to use this money? It’s yours. How should I use it?”

We are also to submit ourselves to God’s discipline. Solomon writes,

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in. (11–12)

Sometimes as we read his Word, or as we listen to the Sunday message, we hear things that are hard. The Holy Spirit rebukes us for something in our lives.

The way we treat our wives or children. The way we use our finances. The way we act at work.

And it’s painful. We want to close our ears to it. But if we truly love God, we will submit ourselves to him, leaning not on our own understanding and following our own ways, but following his.

And God says when we do, we’ll find life and peace (16–18). And if we cling to his wisdom, fearing him, then we’ll have no need to fear anything else (21–26).

But not only are we to show love and faithfulness to God, but to each other.

Solomon says that we are not to withhold good from others when we have the power to act. In other words, whenever you have opportunity to do good, whether at home or work or wherever you are, do it. Don’t wait.

Solomon also says not to act treacherously against your neighbor either, for God is watching, and he is against such people.

Solomon concludes the chapter by saying,

He mocks proud mockers
but gives grace to the humble.

The wise inherit honor,
but fools he holds up to shame. (34–35)

When we mock God’s wisdom and hold to our own ways, he will let us reap what we sow. What do we reap? Sorrow, shame, and ultimately death.

But God gives grace, honor, life, and peace to those who humble themselves, submit themselves to his discipline, and follow him in all his ways.

What will you do?

Categories
Proverbs

Softening our hearts

In my last post, I noted the dangers of hardening our hearts toward God and his wisdom. But in this chapter, it talks about what happens when we soften our hearts.

Solomon writes,

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:1–6)

What does it mean to soften your hearts to God and his Word?

It means to:

Accept what he says. To say “Yes, I agree that this is good and right.”

But more than that, it means to…

Store what he says in your heart.

Too often, we hear something, we agree with it, and then swiftly forget about it.

It’s not enough to hear and agree. We need to meditate on God’s Word and make it a part of our lives. We also need to…

Turn our ear to wisdom.

When God is speaking through his Word or through a pastor or even through a friend, we need to have a heart that’s open to it.

Too often, and I admit I do this too, we just say, “Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. But it doesn’t apply to me.”

But a softened heart lets wisdom in and lets wisdom transform it. How does wisdom transform a heart?

By a person applying themselves to understanding. By asking, “What does this mean for me? How does it apply to my life?”

We need to take the general wisdom of God and apply it to our everyday lives. What’s more, we need to…

Call out for insight and cry out for understanding.

In other words, we should ask God to give us the insight and understanding to his words that we need.

When we don’t know how to apply his words to our lives, we shouldn’t just cast them aside, saying they’re irrelevant to our lives. We should ask him.

And when we do, Solomon says,

The LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (6)

More than that, when we commit ourselves to wisdom and doing things his way, Solomon says we will find victory, and God will watch over us as we walk through this life.

His wisdom will protect us from falling in with wicked men (and women) and keep us away from the adulteress woman (and man).

In short, while the wicked will pass away because they rejected wisdom, we will find life.

How about you? Do you have a heart softened toward God and his wisdom? Are you seeking it actively? Are you applying it to your life?

Because when you do, that’s when you find a life worth living.

Categories
Proverbs

When we reject wisdom

In this passage, we see the dangers of rejecting God’s wisdom and clinging to our own ways.

As I look at this passage, it makes me think of Noah. For 120 years before the flood came, he preached to the people, warning them of the disaster to come.

As “Wisdom” does in this passage, he probably cried out in the public squares and the streets, “How long will you cling to your simple ways. You lack a moral compass, and as a result, you are so gullible to whatever the devil says, and it’s leading you into all kinds of evil.”

(This, by the way, is essentially what the word “simple” means in the book of Proverbs.)

Noah likely rebuked the people further saying, “How long will you mock what God has said? How long will you hate the knowledge that he longs to pass on to you?”

And God through Noah probably cried out to the people, “If you would just listen to my rebuke, I would pour out my heart to you. I would reveal to you my thoughts.

“But instead you reject me and give me no heed though I reach out to you. You ignore my counsel, and you reject my rebuke.”

Then the flood came. And when it did, the people finally called out to God, but he would not answer. Though they looked for him, they could not find him. Why?

Because they hated knowledge and refused to fear the Lord. And so they ate the fruit of their deeds. Their simple ways killed them, and their complacency destroyed them.

But for Noah and his family, they found safety and were without fear from harm.

How about you?

When you lack a moral compass, when you consider all values relative, and you live complacently in your sin, it will ultimately destroy you. It wrecks your life here on earth, and it will ultimately banish you to hell.

And once you’re there, it’s too late. God will not hear you, and you will eat the fruit of all you did here on this earth.

But while you’re still here on earth, there is still hope.

So repent. Accept God’s rebuke in your life. Open your ears to him; soften your heart to him, and he will open his heart to you. He will show you the way to life.

Not just the way to heaven, but to a full life here on earth as well. A life filled with his joy and peace.

Let us be like Noah, constantly listening to and following after God. And when the storm hits, we will find a place of safety and ease, with no fear of harm.