Monthly Archives: March 2013

A Bank You Can Bank On

Christian Life, , ,

A BANK YOU CAN BANK ON

 

“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. The place where your treasure is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” Luke 12:33, 34 (The Message).

God’s economic system hits at the core of our fallen nature. As long as we are ensnared in the dominion of darkness, our disposition will be one of greed driven by selfishness. However, Jesus’ work on the cross sets us free from the one thing that will destroy us as surely as night follows day.

The Apostle Paul has given us another principle that appears to be a paradox. He said,“…Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12b, 13. You work out…God works in. Once again Paul declares that God works through our choices to perfect His work of grace in us.

The potential to be generous is the spontaneous outcome of salvation but we have to turn that potential into action. Both Jesus and Paul tell us, “Now work it out.” That is the miracle of what Jesus has done for us. Sin shackled us to a nature that has endless potential for greed and wickedness but, when we were transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light, we were freed from that potential and released into a new potential. “Be imitators of God as dearly loved children…” Ephesians 4:1(NIV). There it is again, the family environment in which we are freed to develop our new nature in God.

Jesus urges us, “Now get on and become what you are.” Developing our generous nature has huge potential – firstly of imitating our Father and secondly, of growing our assets in an infallible banking system.

This has far greater significance that we can imagine. According to Jesus, eternal life is ‘knowing’ God and ‘knowing’ Him, Jesus, (John 17:3), but what does it mean to ‘know’ God? Strangely enough, we find the clue to knowing God in the Old Testament. Jeremiah was talking about Shallum, Josiah’s son, who succeeded him as king of Judah. He had been taken captive to Babylon. What was his crime?

“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labour…does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?  Did not your father (Josiah) have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord?  Jeremiah 22:13, 15, 16 (NIV).

We will develop an intimate knowledge of God by doing what He does. Growing our potential, then, means using every opportunity we can to be generous givers. The more generous we are, the more revelation we will have of who God really is, and the more we will experience intimacy with Him. And, after all, that’s where He is heading – leading us into oneness with Him – the essence of our marriage with Him at the end of time!

 

Who Are The Really Blesses Ones?

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WHO ARE THE REALLY BLESSED ONES?

“While He was saying these things, some woman lifted her voice above the murmur of the crowd, ‘Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.’

“Jesus commented, ‘Even more blessed are those who hear God’s word and guard it with their lives.'” Luke 11:27-28 (The Message).

Jesus was always realistic. Some woman in the crowd was loudly commenting on His mother’s good fortune to have a son like Him. ‘Your mom was blessed to have a son like you,’ she shouted. She was probably thinking what a pleasure it must have been to raise a son like Jesus.

Did she have sons of her own? What problems did she have with them when they grew up – teenagers perhaps rebellious, perhaps failing Beth Safar (Elementary School), perhaps not interested in going to the synagogue every Sabbath? Had they disappointed her expectations? What prompted her to call out like that? We do not know but, whatever it was, it was a cry from her heart.

Jesus did not ignore her cry. Instead he redirected her thinking to something far more important and realistic than what was on her heart. Who are the really blessed ones? Not those whose children never give them any trouble, who don’t add to their grey hairs by disappointing them or abandoning them when they need them. Not those whose earthly circumstances are ideal.

He changes the ‘blessed’ (baruch – the supernatural favour of God) to ‘blessed’ (asher – the happiness that a person experiences by making the right choices, i.e., doing life God’s way). Yes, it is true that God’s favour is a blessing but to live God’s way brings happiness now and eternal rewards in the hereafter.

Jesus consistently and persistently turned people’s attention to what really mattered in life, to embrace God’s word and obey it faithfully. To Jesus, personal obedience to God was more valuable than any earthly benefit in life.

When His own family came to ‘rescue’ Him because they thought He had lost His mind, He shrugged off their concerns by asking, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ Pointing to the crowd He answered, ‘Those who do the will of my Father are my real family.’

The really blessed people are not those whose family life is ideal, or whose earthly circumstances are uncluttered with trouble and hardship. These may be blessings from God but, at best, they are temporary because everyone lives in a fallen world which will inevitably produce trouble of one kind or another.

Who are the really blessed people? Those who have received the gift of eternal life – the life of the spirit, connected to Jesus, the source of life, through faith in Him. Whatever happens now cannot take away the promise of life in its fullness with God in the hereafter. Earthly blessings have no influence on the life to come. It is only guaranteed to those who embrace and obey God’s word.

What Are You Worth to God?

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WHAT ARE YOU WORTH TO GOD?

“‘What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one.

“And He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail – even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.'” Luke 12:6, 7 (The Message).

We ordinary folks often struggle with a feeling of unworthiness. What am I really worth to God? I know my own heart and I feel unworthy of His love. This feeling takes us a step further into thinking, ‘God is so big and so ‘busy’ that I am too insignificant to bother Him with my petty issues.’

How does God feel about that? Let’s examine that kind of thinking from God’s perspective. Firstly, we argue, God is so big; I am so small. Why should He bother with me? Wrong! It’s not our size that gives us value but what God has invested in us. He put His breath inside of us – created in His image with the potential to reflect Him to the creation around us.

What does that mean?

Because He made us and put His life and nature in us, we are able to put Him on display by treating people like He treats us – ‘gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and full of love and faithfulness’ (Exodus 34:6). The fact that sin has distorted that image does not take away from God’s original purpose.

Secondly, it’s not what we do but what God has done that gives us value. He paid the price of His own blood to redeem us from the slave market of sin and death. He is busy restoring his image in us. That puts a value on us higher than He put on His own life. Jesus traded His life for ours to get us back from our own self-destructive ways.

Thirdly, our value lies in the reason for our existence. God created mankind to be His family because of His love. We messed up, sure, but God is well able and is working to put His plan back on track. His Holy Spirit is active on earth to woo people back to God and to restore His image in us for His glory.

Fourthly, because we feel unworthy does not mean that God feels we are unworthy. We are making a big mistake by projecting our own feelings on to God. It is the devil’s ploy to distort our opinion about God, to discredit Him so that we don’t trust Him. What better way than to play on our feelings so that we shrink from Him rather than running to Him as our heavenly Father!

And that’s really the crux of the matter – whether or not we know God as our Father. As a true Father, God is intimately interested and involved in our lives, down to the smallest detail. He loves nothing better than to be ‘Abba’, Daddy who delights in His children and wants to be wanted in the nitty-gritty of our everyday lives.

Does He really care when we are bullied by religious people who want to push us around to suit their own ends? Sure He does. He watches, He knows and He will repay at the right time. We can leave it to Him because He is not only Abba but also a righteous judge.

Unmarked Graves!

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UNMARKED GRAVES!

“‘You’re hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You love sitting at the head table at church dinners, love preening yourselves in the radiance of public flattery.

“Frauds! You’re just like unmarked graves. People walk over that nice grassy surface, never suspecting the rot and corruption that is six feet under.'” Luke 11:43, 44 (The Message).

Unmarked graves!

This is one of the tragedies of the Christendom of this age – perhaps of all ages, this putting on airs and graces in the name of Jesus when this attitude is the complete opposite of all He taught and stood for.

What is the root of this attitude? When we look at Jesus, we see a person so secure in God and in Himself that He did not need the accolades of people to make Him feel good about Himself. He knew who He was and could be authentically Himself without needing affirmation and approval from the people around Him.

Perhaps their learning had so inflated the self-worth of these Pharisees that it obscured the wickedness and greed in their hearts. They had lied to themselves so much that their cloak of ‘holiness’ became their all-time cover-up for what they were really like inside. Their egos had become so big that they were oblivious to the evil buried beneath the surface of their religious performance.

But even that was second to their attitude. This was what angered Jesus the most. Not only did they think their performance made them acceptable to God, but they despised everyone who did not measure up to their standard. Everyone who was not in their class was beneath them, making them act as though they deserved the attention and approval they received from the ‘lesser mortals’ who admired and deferred to them.

They not only thought they deserved the highest honour and admiration from the crowd, but they also expected and demanded it. They would never think of taking the lowest place at the dinner table. They would not wait to be escorted to the place of honour beside the host. They would simply take is as their right.

It is a sad fact that there are Christian ‘leaders’ who act in exactly the same way in the public eye today. Their success in the church game, their wealth which they see as evidence of God’s ‘blessing’ and their exposure through the media have given them so much visibility that they have begun to think that they are more important and better than the ordinary people around them. They love titles – Apostle, Prophet, Reverend, Doctor, Father, because these boost their ego and set them above others.

This is not God’s way. Jesus used words like ‘servant’ and ‘little child’ to describe the attitude of true greatness in any son of God. Jesus was first and foremost a servant to the world He came to rescue. He never pulled rank to re-enforce His authority. His authority came from His humble submission to His Father. He did not need to cover up what was inside Him.

He stands on the side of His Father who ‘resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ When we entertain the Pharisee attitude, God says in effect, ‘You’re on your own. I can do nothing with you or for you.’

This is War

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THIS IS WAR

“‘When a strong man, armed to the teeth, stands guard in his front yard, his property is safe and sound. But what if a stronger man comes along with superior weapons? Then he’s beaten at his own game, the arsenal that gave him such confidence hauled off, and his precious possessions plundered.

“This is war and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.'” Luke 11:21-23 (The Message).

The reaction of the crowd to Jesus when He drove a dumb spirit from a man gave Him the opportunity to warn them that their bigoted opinion of His mercy and their antagonism towards Him put them in a dangerous position – there is no neutral ground when it comes to Him. They could not stand on the side-lines and voice their skeptical and caustic comments and expect to be part of a kingdom that was based on love and trust.

What was His little story about the strong man intended to convey? Was He talking about His mission on earth? Was He telling them to watch out because they were backing the wrong side? Satan thought he was strong enough to guard his territory but he was powerless against one who was stronger than he and who had the authority to evict him and reoccupy the territory that He owned in the first place. The very weapons he thought were invincible, would be his undoing,

What is the weapon Satan thinks will enable him to get what he wants – the allegiance and worship of the people God made for Himself? His most effective weapon is deception, the lies he has woven around whom he is and what he does. He is the father of lies. He dupes people into believing that they can live without God, do exactly as they please and then have an afterlife of bliss and pleasure without Him breathing down their necks. What a terrible lie!

How does Jesus unmask the deceiver and take away his weapons? With the truth! The cross is the clearest demonstration and declaration of the truth. What does it say? That God is in charge, that God is just and that rebellion against Him is punishable by death. It also says that God is loving and merciful and He paid the price for our rebellion by taking our penalty on Himself. Satan’s weapon of lies is powerless to cover up the truth.

In relation to this universal conflict between lies and truth, no-one can be neutral. This is war to the death and whoever does not believe THE truth, that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came in the flesh to reveal the Father and to take the place of sinners in order to ransom them and set them free from their debt, is an enemy and doomed to the fate awaiting the devil and his demons.

That is exactly what the devil is aiming for, that he can take as many people as he can down with him. There is only one way out of his trap – to believe and receive the truth. Not to side with Jesus is automatically to side with the enemy and to side with the enemy is to choose destruction. God gives every person what he chooses.