What’s Up with You?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But  if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”   Matt 5:38-42 NASB 

As I stood outside of a very busy building, I noticed that for the most part people look the same.  Because fashion seems life or death, most people dress the same.  Because being cool could launch you into a new realm of popularity, most people try to act the same.  And because blending in is what keeps you comfortable, most believers and unbelievers do the same.  Today, I look at Jesus and challenge you to make a difference and stand out by taking action.  Now I realize that a fire and brimstone sermon on top of the lunch table or desk would not cut it with the administration or boss.  And I do recognize the ability of an angry mod after a super soaker baptism.  However, Jesus commands that followers of His do things, small things, to show the lost He is the difference in their actions.  Maybe you choose to do something in class that a lost person would not think about like encouraging the teacher.  Maybe you strike up a conversation that a lost person would ignore.  Whatever the small action may be, know that people are watching and waiting for a reason to fill the void in their lives that’s meant for Christ.  How great it would be for people to come to Jesus because of the small things that Christian do.

-BR

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 

Matt 5: 14-16 NASB

The Hands of a Leader

With our hands we grasp, we give; we hurt, we help. We shape the world as we would like it to be, and hopefully, as God would like it to be. Jesus used His hands to create a better world for others: to open the Scriptures; to bless children, connect with friends, and touch the sick; to make a meal for His disciples; to bring life to a dying world. His hands bear witness to His life. How will you use your hands today?

A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.—Matthew 8:2-3

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for reaching out to touch people, for getting Your hands dirty living in the real world and reshaping it according to the Father’s desire. Use my hands to do the same, I pray in Your name, amen.

-Lead Like Jesus devotion

Student of the Word

 John 9:41

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. 

This past Sunday, my REACH class finished studying John chapter 9.  This was the story of the man that was born blind whom Jesus healed.  Christ did this to show the works of God and to serve as an example of how He came into the world to make the spiritually blind see.  At the end of the chapter, Jesus makes the point that the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, are spiritually blind.

As I was preparing to teach this lesson to the Jr. High girls, this got me thinking about the importance of teaching truth.  As I was talking to a friend at work today, he was talking about the change in responses he’s noticed over the many years when trying to talk to people about beliefs.  We talked about how people have grown more apathetic towards the Bible and people just don’t know the Bible (except for John 3:16 and the Lord’s Prayer—as long as you don’t ask them to try to find the Lord’s prayer).

This got me thinking, that even though I’m graduated from high school and I no longer attend college, I’m still a student.  When it comes to studying the Bible, it’s a lifelong process.

When Paul was writing to Timothy about dealing with false teachers, he advises him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV).

It’s not just that some people learn where truths can be found without trying, or that scriptures are memorized without effort.  No, it takes work.  Notice that Paul told Timothy to do his best and called him a worker.  Other translations say, “Study to shew thyself approved” KJV, “Be diligent to present yourself approved” NASB, “Work hard so God can approve you.” NLT.

If we’re going to tell others about what we believe, let’s make sure that we know what we believe and why based on the Bible.  God is the one that opens our eyes to the truth to start with, but let’s do our part.  Let’s study hard today and do our best.

-RB

2 Timothy 2:24-26 

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

God is My Portion

 Psalm 73:23-24

 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Sometimes, it seems like you can have too much of a good thing.  A computer can be used for good, but since I am on the computer all day at work, when I get home, I don’t like using one.  Instead, when I am off work, I just want to sit outside or do something active outside.

For my husband, on the other hand who is outside most of the day, in the evenings, he doesn’t want to go anywhere or do anything outside.

I like eating food, especially good fresh cooked southern food.  However, when my husband and I go to Buckner’s to eat the all-you-can-eat buffet that continuously gets brought to our table, we tend to over-eat every time and get so full that our stomachs hurt.

I am grateful that we can’t ever have too much of God.  No matter what situation we are in, no matter what time of day, what season of the year, no matter what phase of our lives, God doesn’t change and He is enough.

Let’s thank God today for holding on to us, for giving us the desire to long for Him, and for being the right portion and just what we need.

-RB

Psalm 73:25-26 

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Whether I Live or Die

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up (Dan. 3:16-18).

The nation of Israel had been conquered by Babylon. Many of the people of Israel had been taken captive and transported to Babylon to serve in various capacities. This number included many young men who were believed to possess qualities that could prove useful. These qualities ranged from mental strength and wisdom to superior occupational skills.

Four of these young men play a pivotal role in the Book of Daniel. One of these, of course, is Daniel, who was renamed Belteshazzar. The Babylonians also gave new names to his three friends. Hananiah had his named changed to Shadrach. The name of Mishael was changed to Meshach. Azariah was renamed Abednego.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, like Daniel, had remained faithful to the Lord even in the face of many challenges, including pressure to conform to the ungodly ways of the Babylonians. This, of course, would have involved worshipping idols in the form of graven images. They knew this was forbidden by the Word of God. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled (I Cor. 8:7).

The king of Babylon, who was named Nebuchadnezzar, had a statue built as a tribute to himself. He made a decree that went out throughout the kingdom that all should bow before the image of the king. Most in the kingdom obediently worshiped before the statue.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow before the statue. They would not sin against God by committing this act of idolatry. There must have been great pressure to simply follow the crowd and bow, but these brave young Hebrews would not defile themselves. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel (Phil. 1:27).

They knew they would be facing a death sentence. Reading the words of these young men in the face of death should encourage us to push forward for the cause of Christ. When the words were spoken, If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, they knew God would deliver them whether it would be in life or death.

The world has no hold on the believer who has their faith placed in Christ. He holds our lives, not man.

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the LORD; and whether we die, we die unto the LORD: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the LORD’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be LORD both of the dead and living (Rom. 14:7-9).

-sbc.net devotion

Thought for Today:

Although life sometimes is bitter, earth’s trials will seem small when we see Jesus.

All Who Believed Were Together

Acts 2:42-47

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.   Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.   Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,   and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,  praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added  to the church daily those who were being saved.

I think we all know that the idea of a “time-machine” isn’t realistic; but what if it were?  We usually think of time-machines as a scientific contraption we get inside and travel in time, but what if someone came from the past into our time?  What if someone came from the first century into the twenty-first century?  What if someone from the Acts chapter two church came to your church today?  How might they respond to 21^st century liturgy?  Would they be encouraged and impressed with the body of Christ after 2000 years?

Spend some time reading Acts 2:42-47.  Read this passage several times noticing the attitudes, the commitment, the goals, and heartbeat of the early church.  Pray and ask God to bring revival to your local body of believers. -BP

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,  not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Working for Completion

 Philippians 1:6 

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

As I mentioned earlier, my husband and I have been working on re-staining our house.  I described how big of a project this is.  It’s now been about two weeks, and we are still trying to finish it up.  I find it amazing still how slow this process is.  We will set a goal, and then find later that we have to settle for a lesser goal.

Today, my husband had a goal of staining one side of the house completely.  After working all day in the sun, he has gotten the top, harder half done, but has left the bottom part for me to finish on Saturday.  When I look at what is left, about an 8’ x 38’ section, it doesn’t seem like very much.  However, I’m sure that it will take me longer than it seems it should.

Thinking about how we are getting off schedule on our goals for completing this project, this makes me think about our original plans when we had built the house.  Our original goal when we worked hard doing a lot of the work ourselves in order to save money was to sell the house and build another house with the profit made.  (That was before the drop in the housing market and we lost ALL of our home equity).  We had planned by the time my husband was 35, that we would not have a house payment.  (Let’s just say that in a few years, I will be 35 so my husband is a little ways past that age and we still pay a seemingly endless monthly payment.)

There is nothing wrong with setting goals for our lives including financial ones; however, what happens when those goals are not met?

I read a post on Facebook this week that talked about how hard a particular person was working towards things in their life.  Then it asked a question, “What is your motivation?”  The spouse replied, “you”.  Even though that was really sweet, I didn’t think that this was the right place for a warm reception if I said that God should be our motivation.

However, it definitely made me stop and think.  Can I truthfully state, each day, that Jehovah is my motivation?  Material things, other people, goals, our health or whatever else we may be chasing after will eventually fail us and leave us still feeling wanting, not complete.  However, if we put our hope and motivation in God who never fails us and promises to carry the good work on to completion, we will not be disappointed.

-RB

Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.  

   10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

   I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my labor,

   and this was the reward for all my toil.

11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

   and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

   nothing was gained under the sun.

Do Your Best

Colossians 3:23-24

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

On Thursday night I had the privilege of participating in flag football at Shiloh Rec.  I was in charge of grading each player for throwing ability, catching ability, defensive ability, speed and agility.  I thought all the young men did an excellent job.

I wish I could have given all of them a 16 out of 16 but that wasn’t the case.  But if I could have graded their effort they all would have gotten a 16.  Every young man on the field worked as hard as they could.  Every young man tried his hardest.  Every young man had fun.

Sometimes in life, like sports, we get so focused on results.  We are consumed with winning the game.  We are consumed with getting the next promotion or pay raise.  We are focused in on everything else except the Lord.

James told us that “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”  This means that we should do our very best at whatever we do, but it also means that we should do our best for the Lord and not for man.  In other words, God doesn’t care about winning and losing, God cares about how you play the game.  God isn’t focused on your next promotion but He is focused on how you relate to other people.

So tomorrow as you go to work or as you go to school remember to passionately work for the Lord and not for man.  Remember to passionately reach out to people and remember to not be focused on results but on God.

DBA

1 Corinthians 10:31

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Go!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  (Matthew 28:19)

Our Master commands us to “go.” We need permission to stay! The gospel is the account of Jesus’ leaving His Father’s right hand to go to Calvary. Jesus instructed those who wanted to be His disciples to leave their homes and their comforts and follow Him. Some insisted that they could not go yet because they still had to care for elderly parents (Luke 9:59–60). Others wanted to make sure everything was in order first (Luke 9:61–62). Still others expressed willingness to follow but wanted to know the details of what they would be doing (Luke 9:57–58). Jesus never excused those who struggled to follow Him. He made it clear that to follow Him meant He set the direction and they were to follow.

We can convince ourselves that Jesus does not really want us to adjust our lives, pointing to the success we are enjoying right where we are. Yet Jesus often told His disciples to go elsewhere in spite of the success they were experiencing. Peter had just pulled in the greatest catch of fish of his entire career when Jesus invited him to leave everything (Luke 5:1–11). Philip was enjoying astounding success as an evangelist when the Holy Spirit instructed him to go to the desert (Acts 8:25–40). Success where we are can be our greatest hindrance to going where Jesus wants us to be.

If you become too comfortable where you are, you may resist Christ’s invitation to go elsewhere. Don’t assume that God does not want you to go in service to Him. He may lead you across the street to share the gospel with your neighbor or to the other side of the world. Wherever He leads, be prepared to go.

-BMI devotion

911, A Day of Remembrance

Romans 1:18-19

 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 

Today is a day of remembrance.  Everyone knows that it is the 12^th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks that killed about 3,000 Americans.  This traumatic event now in history was orchestrated by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda.

One thing about today that I find very strange is that American Muslims are choosing this day to perform a march in Washington because of the victimization of their “rights”.  “The American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) listed “erosion of domestic civil liberties, drone policy, illegal tapping and [surveillance]” among their reasons for the action.”

This seems pretty tacky to me; however, it also seems ironic in a way.  Do they forget what other people of the same faith had just done a little over a decade ago?  Muslims are choosing the anniversary of the horrific day in which other Muslims hijacked four planes and in cold blood killed so many people to appeal for their individual rights.

When I think about the rights of humans, I think about the fact that all human have been made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  Peter stated that, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:34).  We know that Jesus died for all people groups, “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).

The other part of human rights that I think of though is the result of sin and the fall of Adam and Eve.  We are all born as sinners (Romans 3:23) who deserve the wrath of God.  (John 3:36).  According to the first chapter of Romans, all are without excuse, but some people chose to ignore God and what they know to be right.  “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32).

The Muslims’ march for rights on 9/11 makes me think about how a lot of people live today.  They are sinners who deserve death, but they live their lives fighting for their individual “rights” as humans.

If you are a Christian, forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ, let’s observe and recognize what God has done for us.  Let’s remember the day that we accepted Jesus as Lord and not forget that “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:13-14).

If you’ve never repented of your sins and turned to the only one who is able to forgive and rescue, it’s never too late to do so…why not do it today?

-RB

Romans 5:8 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.