Category Archives: Christian Life

PLEASING SACRIFICES

Christian Life, ,

PLEASING SACRIFICES

“I have received full payment and have more than enough, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Philippians 4:18, 19.

Now we have the full picture. Although giving to meet the needs of others is our duty, it is much more than our duty. Paul said that it is an act of worship! It is one of the sacrifices that we offer to God as an expression of adoration and praise to Him. Yes, we no longer need to sacrifice animals to worship the Lord but we still offer sacrifices that are pleasing to Him.

1. Our bodies – Romans 12:1

2. Our praise – Hebrews 13:15

3. Our generous attitude – Hebrews 13:16

4. Our resources – Philippians 4:18

5. Our submissive hearts – Psalm 51:17

In our previous meditation, we explored God’s way of keeping His resources circulating, by giving and receiving. God’s way of meeting our needs and the needs of others is through people. When we give to others, we create a current which comes back to us in our time of need and so there will be equality if we all play our part.

When people hoard their money instead of keeping it flowing, they opt out of the system and decrease the available resources to meet everyone else’s needs. We cannot claim God’s promise to meet our needs if we are not fulfilling the condition to help others. Philippians 4:19 is not blanket promise for everyone to claim, especially those who are not fulfilling the condition attached to the promise.

It amazes me how many believers have not taken the trouble to understand God’s ways. He is not a sugar daddy who indulgently dishes out whatever His children ask for, regardless of their obedience to His instructions. God works in accordance with His own laws and not in a disorderly and haphazard fashion. His law of sowing and reaping applies in the realm of agriculture and in every area of our lives as well.

“Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:6, 7.

When hard times come, people pray desperately for financial help but nothing happens. Why? They have mocked God by failing to sow for a harvest. Would it be right for God to give on demand and violate His own law? That would make Him unreliable, and that is unthinkable! Instead of praying for help, sow some seeds and the harvest is guaranteed.

But is it not wrong to give to get? Is it wrong to sow a field full of wheat and not expect a harvest? The point of sowing seed is to have bread to eat and seed to sow again. A farmer would be a fool if he ate all his seed or stashed it away in his barn and failed to sow for the next harvest.

Jesus told a story about a greedy farmer who had a bumper crop which he stored away in bigger barns he had built to accommodate his increased yield. He sat back to enjoy his bounty with not a thought for the God who had provided for him. God called him a fool and took his life because of his selfishness. His harvest would go to provide for others, not because he was generous but because God had others to provide for as well.

How much better when we worship the Lord for His goodness to us by caring for His children so that they, in turn can also be generous when their opportunity comes. When God can trust us not to hoard our money but to keep it circulating so that everyone has enough, He will increase the bounty He lavishes on us because He is that kind of God. But if He cannot trust us with the little we have, He cannot give us more.

Giving to God when we have little ourselves may be difficult, but it is a step of faith as well as an act of worship. God challenges us as He challenged the Israelites in Malachi 3:10:

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'”

Try it! God will never go back on His promise.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ARE YOU CRAZY?

Christian Life, ,

ARE YOU CRAZY?

“Then He spoke: ‘You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all. God’s kingdom is there for the finding.

“You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.

“You’re blessed when the tears flow freely, Joy comes with the morning.

“Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens — skip like a lamb, if you like — for even though they don’t like it, I do…and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like that.'” Luke 6:20-23 (The Message).

What is He talking about? He almost sounds like some sort of killjoy; only happy when everything goes wrong; glad to be miserable!

This would sound crazy if it came from anyone’s lips but Jesus’. What is He getting at? You cannot go very far into the gospels before you realise that Jesus lived in the environment of God’s kingdom. Don’t get me wrong — He was a very down-to-earth person, in touch with reality, especially the need of the people around Him, aware of their suffering and full of compassion for them.

But He also knew that there was no permanent solution for them in the present world system. He could heal them now, but they would be sick again. He could raise the dead, but they were destined to die again. As long as the world system they were in prevailed, there would always be sorrow, sickness and suffering, because it is an imperfect fallen world and would remain that way unless God intervened.

The good news is that the present world system, with all its sin and imperfection, is temporary. He had come from the Father to get rid of the greatest obstacle to restoration and reconciliation, the huge debt of man’s sin. God had set the course for restoring everything that was broken, distorted and out of joint and it culminated in Him. What God started in Genesis 1 and 2, He would complete according to Revelation 21 and 22.

Through Jesus, God provided the forgiveness that restored the broken relationship between Him and His estranged sons and daughters, but there was also the matter of choice. Would they want to come back to the Father’s house? How did the lost son in the far country come to his senses? He looked at his circumstances, starving and looking after pigs, and realised that he had been much better off at home.

Jesus said that it is very difficult for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. Why? Is it because they have money? No. It’s because they use their money to satisfy their own need. Money is a good servant but a bad master. Wealth is good if it is used to serve others but bad if it feeds greed and selfishness.

Therefore, according to Jesus, loss and hunger and persecution are not blessings in themselves but they are if they create an awareness that life is much more than what we eat, what we drink and what we wear. Life is transient, like mist that is here in the morning but gone by midday. It is foolishness to place our faith in and live for what is passing away.

God allows these kind of circumstances into our lives to draw our attention to a kingdom that is permanent and eternal; a way of life that echoes the eternal character and values of the Father. Greed and selfishness belong to this transient, imperfect world and will eventaully go out with the trash. We might be ridiculed and sidelined if we side with Jesus now. His way may seem puny to those who believe in control and force and power, but in the end, He won then and He will win again.

If you open up to Him, He will change you heart and set you on a course of generosity and unselfish service that will bring you joy and the realisation of who you really are, a son or daughter of God, created in His image to be like Him.

DESTROY YOUR ENEMY!

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DESTROY YOUR ENEMY!

“‘To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love you enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.'” Luke 6:27-30 (The Message).

“What are you saying, Jesus? You can’t be serious!”

Oh, but He was. If you want to know what power is, this is real power. There is no true power in retaliation. It only takes a bit of physical or emotional energy to hit back when someone hurts or offends you. But what kind of power does it take to absorb the blows and respond with kindness and generosity? It takes power over one’s own self not to give back blow for blow.

But it takes far more than sheer will-power to stop oneself from hitting back. That is a perfectly natural reaction coming from a human point of view, but Jesus was talking about an attitude that is far more than what comes out of our fallen human nature. He was talking about a changed disposition that comes from a completely different perspective.

What will it take to change us from reacting to responding? Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that, to “see” and enter the kingdom of God will take the equivalent of going back to the beginning of our life and starting over again with a new nature. That is impossible in the natural, as Nicodemus discovered, but God can do it through His power at work in our spirits.

Paul speaks of this superanatural event as “being raised from the dead” — a spiritual resurrection that is like waking up to a new realm where we understand everything from God’s point of view.

God is not a tit-for-tat God. He treats us according to who He is, not according to the way we speak or behave. That’s the way His rule operates. Human parents would understand this. If your son misbehaves, he is still you son, no matter what. A good parent will address the behaviour, not bully or disown the child because he has behaved badly.

When we were born from above, God gave us the potential and the power to respond to situations out of who we are in Christ, not out of who we were in Adam. And He gives us opportunities to show the ones who offend us what He is like by absorbing the wrongdoing and not adding to it by retaliating.

But it’s even more than that. Jesus said that its not about non-retaliation. It’s about actively responding with generosity. That’s how God treats us. The best way to “destroy” your enemy is not to beat him up or kill him but to make him your friend. He will cease to exist as an enemy and come alongside you instead of standing against you.

What kind of perspective can change our attitude towards the ones we perceive as enemies? There are two things that have helped me see things from God’s point of view. Firstly, God wants us to treat everyone with dignity because we have all been created in His image. To dish out cruelty to another human being is to treat God with the same attitude. Who would want to do that?

Secondly, people’s words and behaviour reveal who they are, not who I am. I don’t have to mirror who they are by retaliating. I want to mirror who God is by offering kindness and generosity for unkindness and meanness. Absorbing the blows will stop them right there and offer your enemy the opportunity to change his mind as well.

Have you tried it? You can, with God’s grace.

THE POWER TO TRANSFORM

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THE POWER TO TRANSFORM

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.'” Luke 6:31-34 (The Message).

Jesus was brilliant!

What an amazingly simple, yet powerfully effective prescription for creating harmony in the world! But it takes far more than the disposition of ordinary humans to do that.

We humans have far more inclination to destroy that to build and to sustain. Watching television is enough to convince us of that. How many TV programmes and movies and books and news stories are about destruction? And we thrive on them all! Watching or reading about everyday stuff is tame and boring. We like murder and war and bloodshed.

Jesus challenged His hearers, and He challenges us today. Try living this way for a  month and see what it does to your depression; your stress; even your anxieties and fears. How many of the issues you have with others will melt away? How much suspicion, mistrust, dislike, offenses will dissipate? How much peace will you experience in the place of inner turmoil?

Just imagine how far the ripples will go out from the pebble you drop in the pond! You have issues with your husband? Try doing for him what you are always nagging him to do for you. Your wife refuses to be your servant? Try lovingly serving her without expecting any reward. The outcome beggars imagination. Homes would be transformed from war zones to havens.

Jesus put His finger on the nerve centre of our problems — selfishness! What if we dethroned ourselves, just for a month, put Him back on the throne of our lives where He belongs, let God be the centre of the universe, not us, and practised these simple ways to create harmony, not chaos, around us? Jesus said our behaviour would be as visible as a candle in a dark room.

None of these things are difficult to do, but we have strong resistance from inside because they are foreign to our natural disposition. That is the reason why we need a supernatural solution to our problem of selfishness. It may take sheer grit and will power to do what we are not disposed to doing, but it will not last. We will soon be back to our old ways because every kind thought or act would be cutting across our real selves.

What Jesus was describing is “kingdom” living and He said that it takes a “birth” from above to understand and live the way God does. This kind of “power” makes no sense to the person who is used to living by the sword. Is that why the disciples switched off when Jesus spoke about His death? It made no sense to them then that the way to overcome the world system of power through force was to absorb the evil without retaliation until that power could do no more to Him.

Nothing about God’s kingdom make sense to the person who is still dark inside. The disposition of darkness only understands the power that pushes others around. Jesus was advocating a new kind of power, the power to subdue one’s own heart to the advantage of others. The power of love. What the world calls “power”, He called weakness. What He called “power”, the world called weakness, foolishness, but it turned out to be the most powerful event in the history of the world — the cross!

The cross changes things for the better like nothing else can. Force can change the world — for the worse. But the cross changes lives.

Has it changed yours?

WHO IS THE HIRELING OF JOHN 10?

Christian Life, ,

WHO IS THE HIRELING OF JOHN 10?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. John 10:10-13

Times without number, I have heard preachers, teachers, and every other category of believer in Jesus, refer to the devil as the one who comes to “kill, steal, and destroy”. Never once, in all my Christian experience, have I ever heard or read a query to this interpretation.

Yet, when I read Jesus’ words in John 10, nowhere does He refer to Satan in His teaching about the hireling and the Good Shepherd. His debate was not with the devil whom He could vanquish with the Word, but with the religious leaders who twisted the Word to suit their own purposes.

In His teaching on the Good Shepherd, Jesus contrasted Himself with the “hireling” who had no interest in the sheep but in what he could gain from shepherding them. When danger or difficulty came, the hireling abandoned the sheep to save his own skin. No mention of the devil here!

By contrast, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, not only takes good care of the sheep whom He knows by name, but He also sacrificed His own life for His flock.

Who, then, was the hireling? Surely, Jesus was referring to the religious leaders, with whom He continually contended because they cared more about themselves than about God’s people. He called them “hypocrites”, play-actors who played the role of “shepherd” to impress their audience.

Matthew 23:2-7; 13-36 is a painful exposure of those who masquerade as shepherds but behave as hirelings. On many occasions, Jesus pointed out their dishonest use of the Law.

“For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’  In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.  And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

Mark 7:10-13 NLT

These religious leaders were so dishonest that they refused to weigh all the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. They rejected His claim that His authority came from God. Instead, they crucified Him as a blasphemer because He claimed (and proved by the Word, His works, and the witness of the Father) that He was the Son of God.

Yes, Satan was behind their attitudes and behaviour but, in the end, they made their choices and were the greatest threat to Jesus’ mission. They influenced the people against Jesus despite all the miracles He did for them. Although they made the decision to crucify Jesus, they were ultimately accountable to God, the highest authority, for what they had done.

“Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.” Matthew 27:20 NLT

‘Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”

Matthew 27:24-25 NLT

Peter laid the guilt for Jesus’ death squarely at the door of the Jews, including all those, led by the religious leaders, who had clamoured for His death.

“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.”

Acts of the Apostles 2:22-23 NLT

Nowhere did Peter on the day of Pentecost, give credit to the devil for having Jesus crucified. It was the human will by human hands that killed Him. What of today?

There are many “hirelings” in places of leadership in churches across the world today, people who are filthy rich at the expense of the  “sheep” who depend on them for care and guidance. These are the ones who kill, steal and destroy since those who follow them are robbed of money, wisdom and life itself.

Unfortunately, these hirelings are often difficult to identify because they masquerade as shepherds or, as Jesus said, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We can identify them by their fruit.

I am very wary of those who get people to give either by offering them a reward or by making them feel guilty if they don’t give. Many great so-called compassion ministries are built on the money the big names get out of their followers while they gather wealth for themselves.

Three things motivate the hireling that contradict what Jesus taught about the way of God’s kingdom; fame, power and money. Look for these “fruits” in the lives of false shepherds and stay away from them and their teachings.

The tragedy is that, though these false shepherds will take the rap for what they have done, the sheep who blindly follow them will also be lost because they have exchanged the truth for lies.

God holds every individual responsible for what he/she believes and how his/her belief system directs their lives. He has given us the New Covenant in His Word to show us how and provide everything we need to live godly lives.

“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

No one can hide behind ignorance as an excuse. We are told to test everything and hold fast to what is good.

“Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.”

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 NLT

Jesus warned us that deception will be the greatest threat to believers as time draws to an end. Fear and deception are the devil’s most effective tools, and hirelings his most efficient allies in his quest to draw people away from simple faith in Jesus.

So, my beloved friends, beware of the hirelings who are everywhere and out to lure you away by their smooth-tongued and convincing words that twist God’s Word, pander to your flesh and set you on the path to destruction.

Remain “in Christ”, abide in Him and in His Word. He is your only place of truth and safety.