Always Teaching

 

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin."    Luke 17:1-2 (ESV) We often ignore how our life affects the lives of those around us. How we act, what we say, and what we do with our resources will influence those who follow us. Those who follow us will follow us in an exaggerated way. We set the parameters for what is right and wrong, and they usually expand them as they reach adulthood. If we watch certain types of movies, our children will watch more than we did in that category. If we took them out to eat at fast food restaurants for a special treat, they will go to restaurants as a normal/regular part of their lives. Many who have used alcohol in moderation in their home have found their children use it to excess as they get older. We need to recognize that we are always teaching, and that whatever we do, however we live, is being watched, imitated, and “enhanced.” If those we have influenced have used our lifestyle to justify theirs and it is destructive, then I think we will answer to God for our lack of sensitivity.

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Power Source

 

"And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’"    Luke 16:27-31 (ESV) At a funeral I am sometimes asked what I think the departed my say now that they have experienced the afterlife. I am never certain, but I know that Jesus told us about a rich man who ignored God all His life wanting his poor buddy to go and tell his family that God is real, the afterlife is real, and they really need to pay attention their relationship with God. Jesus told him that this would not happen, and that it would not happen because it is unnecessary, and would not make a difference. Sometimes we think that if God would just perform a miracle, then many more will come to Him. Yet God has told us that we have what we need to come to Him. We have the creation He made and His precious Word. Satan has powers, and in the end, he will use his powers to deceive, and those who trust in miracles are perfectly set up to be deceived. The power is in God, not the miracle. It is God we need to focus on and His Word that reveals what truth is. We must never neglect His Word or even the miracles He has done will be meaningless.

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God rewards those who seek Him.

 

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried…"    Luke 16:19-22 (ESV) All people one day will experience death, for death is the great equalizer. When we are born, we are all the same. When we die, we are all the same. Our differences will be evident, and some will face God with regrets, while others look forward to such an encounter. Those who spent their lives too busy for God will wish they had been less busy and more relational. Those who were distracted by life’s “moments,” and never got around to the important, will be devastated. The thought of starting eternity hopeless because we ignored the One who gives hope is indeed tragic. God rewards those who seek Him, find Him, obey Him, and enjoy Him. Rich and poor have the same opportunity. On the day of death, some will be carried while others buried. What happens that day depends on this day.

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But Mary...

 

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.   Luke 2:19-20 (ESV) When Jesus’ birth was completed, the moment in history that the heavenly host earnestly waited for, the shepherds returned to their sheep, and Mary pondered. However, all of their lives would never be the same because of their experience. As our Christmas celebrations are over, it is fair to ask ourselves how spending the time yesterday celebrating Christ’s birth will affect us today. Have we returned to our normal way of life glorifying and praising God? How does that look in our lives? Are we spending time pondering or thinking of the significance of God’s greatest gift to us? We often need reminders of what is important, and the pause at Christmas is a great time to make adjustments that reflect what life is really about. I pray we do not miss this opportunity.

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Ponder On....

 

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void."    Luke 16:14-17 (ESV) What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God is rather definitive. We can gloss over this statement or we can ponder over this statement. Abomination means just that, something that is detestable to God. If it is detestable to God, it is detestable. The “things” that are exalted are the things of this life that draw us away from God. There are many things that seem to draw us away from our time with God. Many things that seem to challenge our faith, disintegrate our trust, and absorb our energy, leaving us spiritually anemic. God knows what our lives could be if we lived as we should, therefore, he detests all that keeps us from such a life. Perhaps I, too, need to detest things that draw me away, rather than just acknowledge them or passively accept them as the way life is. Statements like these should never be “glossed over.” They need to be pondered over. Ponder away!

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Serve What?

 

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”    Luke 16:13 (ESV) Those who grew up in the church know that there is no possible way to serve two masters. Yet, this intellectual knowledge often is not translated into reality because the lines seem fuzzy as to what “serve” means. Serve simply means slave, either voluntary or involuntary. We can be a slave to many things other than God, but we cannot be a slave to more than one thing. I can give servitude to my feelings, emotions, pleasure, comfort, job, money, family, fame, etc. However, I cannot be a servant to any of those and a servant of God. God does not say we should ignore the various inputs in our lives, He states that we cannot serve more than one of them. Who or what is it you serve? Why?

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Management 101

 

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’"    Luke 16:1-2 (ESV) The Scriptures make it clear that all we have belongs to God, and we are stewards, or managers, of these resources, not owners. If we are managers, then we will one day be held accountable to how we managed. Whether we have much or little will not matter. What matters is how we managed what was entrusted to us. How was what was entrusted to us used to honor the King? God gives us resources for many reasons. He gives us resources to take care of the normal needs of life, to be used to love Him and others, and to be a conduit for His love and provision. I need to act in accordance with the fact that God owns all I have. He does not own just 10%, or even my offering above 10%. He owns it all, and will one day hold me accountable for my management. Learn More at Relate365.com

Contentment

 

But when he came to himself, he said, “‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found/” And they began to celebrate.  Luke 15:17-24 (ESV) We often do not appreciate what we have until it is gone. It is easy to dream about life as better if we had no one to answer to, no one to tell us what to do, and no one who would limit our access to the vast world of opportunities around us. It is easy to focus on what we do not have, bringing neglect to what we do have. Yet, if we know God, we know that He knows what is to come, and He can and will prepare us for it if we walk with Him. He has told us to be content with what we have today, while always striving towards what is yet ahead. Contentment and striving work together, whereas discontentment and striving usually yield disasters. Today I must work the plan God has given me, and be thankful for that plan, while I stay submissive to God’s leading towards a better plan. God wants me to enjoy what He has provided, while using what I have to propel me to what will yet be. When I lack contentment, I need to readjust.

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Confession is never easy.

 

But when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” And they began to celebrate.    Luke 15:17-24 (ESV) Confession is always the right “thing” to do. When we make a mistake, we go to those we have wronged and admit our wrong. If those we confess to know what to do with our confession, we will experience forgiveness and freedom. Confession is never easy and is always appropriate. Those who love God should be good confessors and joyful forgivers. Learn More at Relate365.com

God tells us to love, not use, one another.

 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything."   Luke 15:11-16 (ESV)

When you use people instead of loving people the people become worthless to you when they have nothing to give you anymore. This young man was popular until he ran out of resources. All who live in a world where people are used instead of loved will run out of what people can use and will become unloved.

God tells us to love, not use, one another. Therefore, we should never use our “fortune” to gain influence, power, or authority. Rather, we should always see whatever provision God has given us as something to be managed and used for Kingdom purposes.

This young man set himself up for failure and had many who would use him until he was all used up. We can learn from this by thinking about it and applying it to our lives, or we can learn this principle the hard way, by experiencing it. For now, the choice is ours.

The Compliant Child

 

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."    Luke 15:4-7 (ESV) As a compliant child, I often felt as if I was ignored. It seemed that the obnoxious, disobedient kids got all the attention. It was very easy to get lost in the sea of compliance, even forgotten. When I became a teacher, I remembered well the feeling of the compliant student, and I tried to acknowledge their important role in our class. These students were the foundation for anything good that was happening, yet, by necessity, my attention was often in another arena. Those who overtly seek attention and think they need that attention are unhealthy, and they are like a body part that demands resources to the detriment of the others who also need the body’s resources. We would be educationally healthier if we would pay more attention to those who listen, and ignore, or possibly even dismiss, those who are continually disruptive.  Our choices have consequences, and children must learn this from an early age while in a controlled environment or risk learning it later in life when the consequences are far greater.

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God loves the sinner...

 

Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”   Luke 14:34-35 (ESV) When you obtain salt, you do so in order to gain the benefit of salt.  Salt that lacks the qualities of salt is not worth buying. In fact, it would be a waste of your money. Those who have purchased salt and expected it to act like salt only to find out after using it that it was worthless are sorely disappointed. The salt is actually worthless, or, dare I say, worse than worthless because of the expectation for which it set you up. Likewise, those who seek Christians do so for the effect Christians are to have on those around them. To seek Christians, and find them, and then realize that they have no effect on the culture around them, is a waste of time. What good are those who name themselves Christians, and yet who have no effect on the world around them? They have no value to the world and very well could be more harmful than if they rejected the label “Christian.” We do not like passages in the Bible that call people worthless, however, Jesus knows what He is talking about and makes it clear that those who attempt to find their worth outside of Christ will never find it, and those who pretend to be something they are not, are actually worthless. The silver lining is that God loves the worthless, and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This speaks volumes about God and His love and faithfulness.

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What Do You Mean?

 

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."    Luke 14:28-33 (ESV) The beginning statement of this passage and the final are where we should focus. If we desire to accomplish something in this life, we need to first sit and assess the cost of such a thing. We then need to arrange our life to meet the cost. The final statement states the obvious cost. It is a cost on which we often do not want to honestly evaluate or be challenged. Somehow, we have figured how to not renounce all, yet live as “good Christians.” Can different cultures have different meanings to “renouncing all,” or does “renouncing all” mean the same in all cultures at all times? This is something that is clear, to which we will someday be held accountable, and it is not a suggestion. It is a statement. What shall we do with it?

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Being Intentional

 

"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."    Luke 14:27 (ESV) Jesus came to bear a cross. He came to serve, not be served. He came to live as an example for us so that we could see what it looks like to live in this broken world as one who is one with God. Jesus created and sustains life, and he knew how one should live in order to be successful in life. He lived a life of giving, caring, and teaching, or, in summary, a life of love, where others’ needs were more important than His wants. Jesus saw the ready harvest and was working it every day. He was not moved by political power, corruption, or influenced by money or societal norms. Being like Jesus is a lifelong goal of the wise, and it will not happen by accident.

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How To Love The World

 

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."   Luke 14:25-26 (ESV) If we love people or things more than God there will be grave consequences in the world. T. Boston once wrote about why it is critical that we love God above all. He said this: “Because, if it were not so, Christ would have no Church in the world. If imprisoning, banishing, spoiling of goods, fields and scaffolds reeking with the blood of the saints, would have deterred all persons from following Christ, there had been no Church in the world this day. But God will have a Church in spite of devils and wicked men.” Loving God first and foremost allows us to love others as we should.

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Holding It Together

 

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."    Luke 14:25-26 (ESV) “While discussing this passage one day, I noticed that a beam of sunlight had fallen upon the mass of glowing coal in the grate, and where the sunlight fell the bright redness was turned into absolute blackness. “Ah!” thought I, “there is the meaning of this passage.” As the glowing coal appears black beneath the far more intense light of the sun, so Christ asks that the light of our love for Him should be so intense as to render our earthly loves even as hatreds in comparison. In reality, although the red coal appears black under the sunlight, it is still as hot as before, yea, hotter than before, because of the added heat from the sun; so our love for friends and relatives, though it should appear as hatred beneath our love for Christ, will not be quenched by it, but added to, and rendered deeper and purer.” (H. Stanley.) The one relationship that holds all other relationships together is our relationship with God.

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Acceptable Attacks

 

But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’    Luke 14:16-20 (ESV) We all have our “reasons” for what we do. Some reasons are really excuses wrapped as a reason. Many times we weigh out what is most important to us, and do whatever we can to make sure our response sheds the best possible light on our decision. Often, the urgent diminishes the importance of the important. It is the experienced and skilled laborer who can see through the urgent, and arrange his/her priorities to meet the challenges of the important. The characters in this passage who missed out on the banquet were not characterized as evil. The tasks they were doing were not bad. However, it was obvious that their priorities in life were going to keep them from experiencing what was best. Satan always attacks us in ways we find acceptable, and the more he can paint a beautiful picture of evil, one that we will accept as beautiful, the easier time he has unraveling our lives.

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Loving and helping people is natural for those who live in reality.

 

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”    Luke 14:12-14 (ESV) Loving and helping people is natural for those who live in reality. Jesus did not come to this earth because it benefited Him. He did not die on the cross or rise from the dead because He needed to do so to prove Himself. He did not extend His mercy and grace to us because He needed us. In fact, God has never needed us to accomplish His purpose, and as He came to die for us, He did so without receiving a benefit to Himself. I often encourage young people to seek advice from a Godly older person who has no way to benefit from whatever decision they eventually make. I encourage older Christians to help those who come to them without regard to what they might receive from it. Those who love are motivated by what is best for the other person.  There really should be no other motivation.

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Nothing To Prove

 

Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”    Luke 14:7-11 (ESV) Those who hold an honorable position need not try and prove their significance. Those who understand the purposes of God live in a way that points to Him and others, not themselves. As children of the King, whom the King formed (knit together), we have nothing in this life to prove, and see death as the gateway to everlasting life. If we spend our time and effort trying to prove something that already is evident, we will live “awkward” lives. It is always best to live in the context of reality, even if those around us have no idea of what reality looks like.

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Control? Manipulation?

 

And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.   Luke 14:3-6 (ESV) Trying to “catch” someone or trick someone into saying something that can be misconstrued is not trying to find the truth. Plotting to find, use, and distort what is said is not trying to find the truth. Controlling information, manipulating information, and adding or subtracting key bits of information is not trying to find the truth. The lawyers and Pharisees here were not seeking truth. They were seeking to destroy Jesus’s credibility. This effort in and of itself disqualifies them for any credible leadership position.

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Time To Refocus?

 

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”    Luke 13:6-9 (ESV) We have a purpose in life. The nutrients we take in physically and spiritually have a purpose. If we do not achieve this purpose, we waste the resources that have been entrusted to us.   Fruit is a direct result of absorption. If we are in the right environment, absorbing the right “stuff,” then fruit is a natural byproduct. However, if we are in the right environment and are not absorbing the available nutrients, for whatever reason, there is a major problem. Nutrients need to be used by an organism that will benefit from them or they are wasted. Farmers make sure the crop they are harvesting has little competition in that weeds are continually destroyed. In being diligent, they have abundant fruit to harvest. Those of us who live in the United States of America have an abundance of “nutrients.” There is no reason to be physically or spiritual hungry. Yet, even in a place where there has been and is an abundance, it seems as if we lack fruit. This is not a good thing. Perhaps there is time for us to refocus. God is patient, but not tolerant. For now, the choice is mine.

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The majority opinion is just that...

 

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”    Luke 12:57-59 (ESV) God has revealed truth, in everything that actually matters, in His Word. Those who love Him and abide by His Word do not use the world’s standards to judge themselves or others .If we get in the habit of judging ourselves or those around us according to a Godless standard, we open ourselves to being manipulated by political rhetoric designed to create a “truth” by a “mob mindframe.” The majority opinion is just that, an opinion. God has no opinions, and we would be wise to allow His Word to be our standard. Until we choose to do this, we will confused, manipulated, and hopeless.

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