Tag Archives: faith

by

What Do You Have?

II Kings 4:1-2 (NIV), “ The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

This poor woman. In those days, in that culture, a widow with small sons had no one to provide for her. With sons not old enough to work, and her husband gone, she is facing the horrible fate of having her sons taken to be used as slaves to pay an old debt. We all come across situations that seem out of our hands. Her husband is gone. Hard enough to handle, and now she may lose her children. As a mother and a grandmother, I don’t even want to imagine what that might feel like, but I can assume she feels deserted, and frantic. Who can help? Then she remembers the man of God.

When she relates her circumstances to Elisha, his response is two sided. First he asks, “What can I do to help,” then he asks “What do you have?” Both are very important questions. He is asking this widow to think about a solution, not just the problem, and he is asking her to think about what she does have, instead of what she doesn’t. God can just override everything and instantaneously give us what we ask for. He is able. However, He knows as well as we do what happens to those who are just handed everything they want. It makes them weak, and spoiled, and they begin to feel entitled. They don’t grow in relationship with the person who seems to be like a vending machine, they only make demands and expect instant results. Nobody wants kids like that, not even God.

We appreciate things more if we work for them, or if it has cost us something. We treasure gifts, don’t get me wrong, a thankful heart that is grateful for every gift is a good thing. However, when a child works hard and saves every penny of his paper route money to buy that new bike…well who can blame him when he is proud of his new purchase. Even King David understood that there should be a cost. He was instructed to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah not only agrees to allow David to do that, he tries to give him the oxen for the offering. Here is what David replied:

II Samuel 24:24 “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.”

Let me try to explain it this way. Pretend that a missionary comes to your church and speaks quite convincingly about the need for help in the Congo. You feel two things simultaneously, one you want to help, two you are quaking in fear lest God calls you to the Congo. So what do we do, we quickly drop a twenty or more in the offering to ease both of those feelings. You say, “I have helped, I don’t need to go, someone else can use that fifty dollars to help.” Usually we are very quick to give to missions. Then the very next week your pastor speaks of the need to replace the furnace at the church you attend, your house, and what do we do? We slip a five into the offering and say, “let so and so give the big bucks, they have a better job, sister such and such doesn’t have diapers to buy, let her give it, I wonder if we can get a grant from Uncle Sam to pay for it?” On the surface it looks like giving to mission is easier, but if you look deeper, it’s the same spirit. We don’t want it to cost too much. Selling everything and moving to a foreign country is costly! So we cave and give money. Less costly. Paying for a new furnace is costly, so we cave and make excuses why we don’t give.

God is so smart! Elisha asks the widow, “What do you have in your house?” She had oil. God gave her so much oil that she borrowed jars and jugs and still ran out of containers. She then sold it for enough to get out of debt! That is just like the little boy who shared a small lunch…with thousands. There was a multitude, a huge multitude, that were tired and hungry and Jesus told his disciples to feed them. They started adding up the monetary cost to feed so many, and of course they came up short. Jesus wasn’t even thinking of money. So, He asks, “What do we have?” Enter the little guy whose mom packed him a few fish and some small loaves. What happened? Well, of course, they were all fed, and they gathered up baskets (12) of leftovers!

Salvation is free, but that doesn’t mean that there will never be another sacrifice on our part. “Obedience is better than sacrifice,” you say. Yes, it sure is. Are you obeying?

Romans 12:1 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.”

Paul “urges” us, in other translations he “begs” and “beseeches” us to present ourselves as living sacrifices. That sounds costly doesn’t it? Before you get all worked up, stop and ask yourself, “What do I have?” What has God given me that will be multiplied to do His will and work miracles?

Do you have a little food, a little oil, some time, some money, a little talent? Give it to God. He’ll multiply it and use it to bless others. Don’t think about what you don’t have. When you are asked to give, don’t just plunk whatever is lying on the bottom of your purse in the basket. Stop, pray and listen. Then be obedient. It may cost you more than you wanted it to, but remember the leftovers? Remember the widow who had more than enough? Yep, that’s what God can do with it. Next time you are running errands and you see someone in need, stop, pray, and listen. What is God asking you to do? Take the time, sacrifice, let it cost you and let God work a miracle.

What do you have that God can use? We all have something, because He made sure you were prepared.

That should get you excited!

by

What Reward Do You Want?

?????????

 

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV), “ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

God rewards us. Pretty cool huh? There are many actions and activities that He rewards. There is a prize at the end of the race (Phil 3:14), a crown for those who persevere (James 1:12), perfect peace for those who set their minds on Him (Isaiah 26:3), and I could keep going. But according to Matthew we can either store up treasures here on earth or we can store up treasures in heaven.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT), “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Jesus was probably talking about worldly goods here, because rust, moths, and thieves take these kinds of things away from us. However, I don’t think it would be stretching this scripture to include recognition of men, or self aggrandizement because if we continue to read on in Matthew, Jesus warns us of doing just that.

Matthew 6:1-6 (KJB), “ Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Did you catch what kind of reward we get for wanting to “be seen of men”? Oh, there is still a reward; it’s the recognition of men. That reward lasts for a season, it is fleeting, fame is fickle. The fifteen minutes of fame that people used to talk about has now turned into fifteen seconds. The media has overloaded us with information on so-called famous people and their deeds. Millions watch “reality” tv to see every detail of someone’s life, the good, the bad, and most of the time the ugly. “I don’t want that kind of fame”, you say. Do you want the people in your life to know about all your good deeds? Do you spend more time talking about what you do than what God did through you? Do you only volunteer for the jobs that you can be seen doing? At work, do you have to take credit for everything you do above and beyond the call? At school, do you need to be the center of attention all of the time? Same thing. You may think that is a great reward, but it never lasts. Why? Because we may look good one day, then mess up the next. That perfect “hair day” is called a day for a reason.

What’s worse is that most people can’t handle being around someone like that. Those seeking fame, recognition and acceptance through their actions may write it off as jealousy, but I assure you that isn’t what it is. There is just something about a person who is so insecure, or so puffed up that they have to be in the spotlight, that turns our stomachs. On the other hand when we find out someone did something behind the scenes, whether it is simple or grand, we feel good about that. It touches our hearts. They did it because it needed done. They were motivated by love not by recognition. Sometimes they may have done it as simple obedience to God and His word. They may have had to grit their teeth and do it. It isn’t always fun cleaning toilets or dealing with hard situations, but obedience is better than sacrifice.

In Matthew, Jesus promises us that when we do our good deeds in secret that the Father rewards us openly. One day someone is going to say, “Let’s thank so and so for all they have done,” and more than likely that person will blush and be embarrassed, or maybe grin like it’s their birthday and give God the glory.

There is always something to do. We are called to do good works, and there will be rewards.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV), “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

There are two kinds of rewards: eternal or temporal. One lasts forever, the other is only temporary, fleeting.

What kind of reward do you want?

by

Book Review for “Draw of Kings”- Christian Fantasy

untitled

Final book of the series, sad to see it end. I loved the set and this one was the best of all. Great writing, it sucks you into the story. The characters were great and the whole plot rocked your emotions one way or another. Humor, sorrow, hope, and just about every other one you can imagine. Well done! A new favorite author to add to the list. I give it five stars. I also recommend to anyone who loves fantasy or Christian fiction. Great for teens and up. No sexual content or swearing, lot’s of fighting and violence.

by

The Sin Scale

old-fashioned-scale-28207[1]

We all have one, a “sin scale”, where we weigh those bad things we do. Or worse yet, we use it to excuse our bad behavior or habits by saying to ourselves, “my white lie I told my boss is only a two, my co-worker’s adultery is a seven…at least my sin is not as bad as his.” A lot of us, who claim to be Christians, love to point out the sin of homosexuality, armed robbery, murder, child abuse, and so on, and if there really was a scale, we would all agree that those probably are off the chart. However, there is no such thing as a “sin scale.”

To God, sin is sin. There isn’t some worse than others, and even more importantly, sin really isn’t an action or lack of one, it’s a nature! Those horrible, or less-than-righteous things we do aren’t in themselves the sin, they are a symptom or a corresponding action to our sin nature. We are all born with one, due to the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. But, praise God, when we surrender our hearts to Him, he gives us His nature. His nature isn’t sin! We are then the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We aren’t as good as God, but we are as right as Him. Not from anything we did, or can do, but because of what Jesus did. Because we aren’t as good as God, we aren’t perfect, we continue to mess up, and miss the mark.

Matthew 19:7 (KJB), “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Thankfully, since Jesus died for our sins, we just confess and turn back to God. Soon we sin less and less. Our sin doesn’t make us “sinners” because we don’t get our old nature back; we still maintain our rightness with God as long as we humble ourselves and repent.

So instead of trying to excuse, or weigh our bad behavior, instead we should be trying to please God. We need to have faith in Him, be confident that He is doing a work in us, that we are being changed from the inside out. God had told us that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). We need to hear Him, believe in His great power, stand firm on His word.

Let’s take a look at what Jesus said to His disciples as He sent them out:

Matthew 10:11-15 (NIV) “And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”

He said, “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words…it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment.” If you still have that sin scale on your mind, this should wipe it away. Not heeding, not hearing His “Good News” is worse than the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah…

Shall we continue?

Matthew 11:23-24 (NIV), “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Jesus came to point the way to the Father, He showed God’s love and mercy, forgiveness and kindness. Had those miracles been shown in Sodom, He says that it never would have been destroyed, inferring that they would have believed and repented!

Sin is sin. We can’t categorize it, weigh it, label it, or whitewash it. The only remedy for sin is surrender. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and He will lift you up (James 4:10). He doesn’t cover it, as the blood of sacrifices did under the old covenant, He takes it away, and then even better, He forgets about it!

How many times have I stood at the altar (figuratively or literally) and thought to myself, “at least I am not like so-and-so” or “at least I have never done that”? Sound familiar?

Luke 18:9-14 (ESV), “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

How dare we stand like that Pharisee and think that somehow we are better because we placed our sin on the sin scale of our own making, and declared ourselves more righteous. As the body of Christ, we pray for souls, or should be, so we need to ask God to forgive us for expecting those souls to be rich, well dressed, un-broken, and good. Those very people we have looked down our noses at, those are the ones that our loving Father wants us to reach out to with His love. Separating ourselves from those who live in the world, can’t get us saved any more than hanging out with them will get us unsaved.

When they accused Jesus of wrongdoing when they found him eating and fellowshipping with sinners, His response was, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:7)

We don’t do what they do, we don’t participate in their wrong behavior, but we show them a better way. Hate doesn’t lead to repentance, judgmental attitudes won’t, God’s goodness will.

I think I will close with this scripture:

Luke 6: 35-35 (NASB), “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return

by

Book Review for “Hero’s Lot” – Christian Fantasy

511MzFjFaRL._SX321_BO1,204,203,200_[1]

What is the book about? With the King Near Death, Will the Kingdom Fall?

When Sarin Valon, the corrupt and dangerous church leader, flees the city of Erinon and the kingdom, Errol Stone believes his troubles have at last ended. But he and his friends still have dangerous enemies working against them in secrets and whispers.

In a bid to keep them from the axe, Archbenefice Canon sends Martin and Luis to Errol’s home village, Callowford, to discover what makes him so important to the kingdom, and in that journey they discover amazing new secrets about the workings of Aurae.

Back in Erinon, Errol is unjustly accused of consorting with spirits. Convicted, his punishment is a journey to the enemy kingdom of Merakh, where he must find Sarin Valon and kill him. To enforce their sentence, the church leaders place Errol under a compulsion–he must complete his task, or die trying.

My Review:

What a great sequel. Hero’s Lot is book two of the “Staff and the Sword” Christian Fantasy Trilogy. So far I am very much enjoying these books. Some of it mirrors our own Church history, but most of it is pure fantasy. The main character is so real, flaws and all. All of the characters are well rounded and make you feel like you know them personally. I have laughed and cried, gotten angry and sad, but always had a hard time putting them down. Worth the money to buy them, or find them at the local library. Book one is offered free, Kindle version on amazon, book two is 5.99 and three is 9.99. I downloaded the free one, couldn’t find book two at the library, so purchased it, now I am borrowing book three! Will be checking out more from this author, be forewarned this is not a light read! It will take some time and some emotional toll. I give it five stars! No swearing or sexual content, there is fighting and violence. I can recommend for teens and up.
by

The Truth Is (My) Relative

images[3]

We have all heard the saying “truth is relative”, meaning that it depends on the circumstance, or the person, or some other outside influence. When Pontius Pilot is having a conversation with Jesus before the crucifixion he voices the same belief after Jesus tells him that “I came to testify of the truth”.

John 18:38 (NIV), “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”

That common philosophy of Pilot’s day is still common in our day. So many people talk about the “grey areas” or that “there is no black and white, just different shades of grey.” I disagree.

Jesus made it very clear. There is TRUTH and it is HIM.

John 14:6 (NIV), “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Instead of saying, “truth is relative” he said, “TRUTH is my relative”. I love that. I am one with Christ, a joint heir, a son of God, and Jesus is the way, the truth and the light, so I am related to Him.

God’s word is true, He is not a man that He should lie, and Jesus is the Living Word.

His word is alive! And it is True!

Truth isn’t relative, but He is my Relative.

Be blessed.

by

Brainwashing?

the-myth-of-brainwashing[1]

Ephesians 4:22-23 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds;”

At our Church our pastors and teachers frequently tell us to “repeat after me” and then we say things like “God is my Father,” or “I can do anything through Christ,” and one of my favorites “I am the righteousness of Christ Jesus.” We confess God’s word and His plans for us at Church and at home. It is a way of life, it is common place for us so I don’t think about it too much. Then I brought someone to Church with me recently, who isn’t in the habit of going to Church, and afterward when I asked her what she thought, she mentioned the “repeat after me” thing. In her words “it was like brainwashing to me, I don’t like someone telling me what to say.” I quickly explained that to retain what you learn you need to hear it, read it, and write it (the same explanation of why I took notes during the message) and that by saying it out loud, it helps us even more to remember what we have learned.

I don’t remember exactly what we repeated that day, maybe even a few things. It was either scripture or scriptural and uplifting, so I pondered that for a while. I thought, if we repeated something like “drink the Kool-Aid” or “kill the infidels” I would understand better the objection. Then I thought, people do that all the time in marketing seminars, self-help seminars, and feel good about yourself and life seminars. They repeat things like, “I am a winner,” “I can sell anything,” or “Nothing can stop me.” I don’t really have a problem with any of that. When I realized this didn’t bother me because it was positive thinking, it was to help and build up confidence, it suddenly dawned on me (or the Holy Spirit finally got through), it was brainwashing!

Now, I realize that a lot of bad brainwashing goes on. Just watch TV or any commercial. If we don’t have that new car, we haven’t arrived yet. If we don’t wear those clothes, we aren’t part of the in crowd. If we don’t drink that booze, we are so less than cool. We are brainwashed to believe that youth is the only type of beauty and then only if it is a size six with perfect skin, hair and nails, and teeth white enough to see from space. We are brainwashed into believing that the government can do a better job of raising our kids, and that a women that stays home to raise her own must be lazy. But, is all brainwashing bad?

“Do not conform 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.”

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV), “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

My answer I “NO!” If our minds get filled up with so much junk, bad words, bad images, bad attitudes, pure “crap” from the world, and lies from the enemy, shouldn’t we be washing that all out! Of course.

So yes, I wash my brain and if you go to a good Church they will ask you to wash yours too. They may even say, “repeat after me.”

Less you think that just repeating a few lines on Sunday is enough to brainwash you, think again. True brainwashing happens by repeated and continual exposer. So, repeat, read your Bible, and then do is all again. Daily.

Happy washing!