Daily Archives: March 6, 2013

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.

They Took the Key

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THEY TOOK THE KEY

“‘You’re hopeless, you religion scholars! You took the key to knowledge, but instead of unlocking doors, you locked them. You won’t go in yourself, and won’t let anyone else in either.’

“As soon as Jesus left the table, the religion scholars and Pharisees went into a rage. They went over and over everything He said, plotting how they could trap Him in something from His own mouth.” Luke 11:52-54 (The Message).

Who were the religion scholars and Pharisees? They were the religious boffins – the theological students and professors of their day who dissected the Torah and reassembled it according to what was acceptable to them.

We have them today, the men and women who take the Word of God apart and pass judgment on its authenticity, accuracy and validity, judging by the standards they set up. They write books about their findings and, if they have a big enough name, their books often carry more weight than the Bible itself. So-and-so said this or so-and-so said that.

But Jesus wasn’t interested in who said what about the Torah. He was more concerned about what it said to them and how they responded to it. Knowledge has no value unless it impacts our lives for the better. The Pharisees and religion scholars were good examples of the futility of scholarship for its own sake.

Their ‘learning’ actually shut God’s word up to the common people. Their interpretations and applications were so complicated that ordinary people did not have the capacity to enter the simple way of life God was offering them. The boffins themselves were no example of real piety. Their lives and learning were pure sham, all for show.

So, what does this mean for us? Two things. Firstly, no ‘learning’ is of value if it complicates the simplicity of God’s way. The study of God’s Word must result in changed lives, otherwise we may as well spend our time dissecting ‘Winnie the Pooh’ for all the value it has for us.

Secondly, God’s Word must always be the measure for what people teach and write about it. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 (NIV).

This altercation Jesus had with the Pharisees also exposed the disposition of their hearts. They were more concerned about being right than about being righteous. Because Jesus spoke truth, and they knew it, their driving passion was to silence Him. Jesus said emphatically that those who are on the side of the truth would come to Him and He was right. By their very behaviour, these religious frauds revealed whose side they were on. They sided with the deceiver because of their hardened hearts.

Every time we hear the truth we either embrace or silence it. When we kill the truth in our hearts, we kill Jesus and stand in danger of the same judgment Jesus poured out on them.