The God of a Second Chance

All of us saved folks are reclamation projects.  Many of been stepped over, put down, puffed up, abused, neglected...you name it, many of us have experienced it.  What I love about God is that God specializes in taken the things that are broken by the sinfulness of the world and restoring them to where He wants them to be.  God specializes in giving second chances.

In John 5, there is a very familiar story about a man at the pool of Bethesda.  The man had been there for 38 years on a mat.  This pool was sometimes troubled by an "angel of the Lord" such that anyone that got into it during the time of the "troubling" was healed, no matter what was wrong with them.  John recounts the story of this man and how Jesus gave him a second chance.

One day, Jesus came to the pool and to this man specifically and asked him a very pointed question: "Do you want to be made well?"  What we see here is Jesus, God incarnate, was unafraid to confront sin and sin's effects.  Jesus always went to the heart of the matter- he never treats the symptoms, he always attacks the root.  Here is Jesus at Bethesda, the "house of mercy" where all of the sick people were.  I can see a scene in my mind of this being a place where the castaways of society were;  an ancient "skid row" if you would.  We see our Lord meeting this man where we was!  Jesus will do the same thing for us.  He will meet us where we are because He totally understands the depravity of man and the pervasiveness of sin.

Let's analyze this man's second chance and let's see what God is saying to us through this scripture.

First of all, we see that the second chance is personal.  Verse 6: "When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”"

Jesus asked point blank, "Do YOU want to be healed?"  Let's analyze this.  Jesus knew of this man’s condition and how long he had been sick.  The verb "want" or "desire" depending on the translation is written in the active voice in the Greek text.  It would be up to the man to accept what Jesus was offering.  He would have to be an active participant in what was happening, not a bystander.  It was up to the sick man to make a move.  If we put ourselves in the place of this man, every one of us has been here and we've had mixed results.  Sometimes we have willingly accepted what God was offering and sometimes we have waffled.  What Jesus was saying to this man is this: Do you want a second chance?

Secondly, the second chance is immediate.  Verse 7-9 "The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”  Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”  And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked." 

Ok, so Jesus asks, "Do you want to be healed?"  This man offer up a litany of excuses as to why he's never been in the pool!  People have stepped over me, no one will help me, blah, blah, blah.  Notice he says "while I am going" in verse 8.  In other words, he's been on his way...for 38 years.  Now, pardon me for seeming insensitive, but this guy has been here for 38 years and he is obviously close enough for folks to step over him and enter the water.  What this man has is what many of us suffered from before we met Jesus.  He has an "on my way" mentality.  You know, "I'm on my way to church."  "I will come next week, but I can't make it this week...I don't have a ride."  "I'll get saved tomorrow..."  "I know that grandma is praying for me so I'm good..."  Blah, blah, blah.  This man made excuses.  If he had moved a foot per year, he could have at least gotten to the point where he could have dipped his finger into the water.  There had to be someone that brought him food and water every day.  He had to have a caretaker somewhere that could've gotten him to the pool, IF he really wanted to get there.

Jesus, in response to this story about who did what, did not even give it a second thought.  He simply said: "Get up, pick up your mat and walk."  GET UP!  Stop building monuments made up of empty excuses and get up!  Stop looking for the angel when the Lord is standing right next to you, get up!  Verse 9 says that the man got up "immediately".  I give him credit here because he was obedient to the command of the Lord and he got up!  He didn't think twice about it.  Contrary to many "preachers" who beat this man up for not having faith...he actually had to have faith to respond to the offering of Jesus here! 

Every healing that Jesus performed had immediate results.  Can we take this further, if this man represents the power of sin over one's life and the power of sin to paralyze us; his healing represents the immediate cleansing and salvation that comes from accepting Jesus!  Once we accept Christ, His righteousness becomes our righteousness.  We are redeemed from the power of sin.  We are free from the bondage of sin and we are able to walk when before we were crippled by sin's effects!

Thirdly and finally, the second chance is conditional.  Verse 14: "Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”"

Jesus runs into this man in the temple.  The man was previously accosted by the Pharisees because he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath.  They wanted to know who healed him.  Of course, they knew that it was Jesus but somehow Jesus slipped away.  You can imagine that there was a great crowd because this was a holiday (see verse 1).  Jesus says to the man, "you are (you have become) well!..."  In modern vernacular, "hey brother, you are looking great!"  The verb "become" is in the perfect tense meaning that the healing that was performed at the pool continued into the present i.e. the effects were still evident.  Then Jesus gets to the root of this man's issues.  He says, "sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you."  The verb "sin" is present imperative.  This is not an option, it is a command.  What this says is that the man's condition was caused by some sin that was in his life.  As a point of clarification, not all problems and issues are the result of personal sin.  We live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people and sometimes the ones that deserve the bad seem to escape punishment.  But sometimes, we make our own bad weather- and then we have the nerve to complain about it!  

Jesus running into this man at the temple raises this question: When Christ picks us up from our sin, do we continue to walk in the light or do we go back to the pool?  Jesus says sin no more!  Paul says that we are to "press" or "aggressively pursue" the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ.  He also tells us in Ephesians 4:22 that we are to "put off" the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.  These things imply that we are to exert some effort in maintaining our walk with Christ.  When the Holy Ghost convicts, we are to put off the old man.  When we know when there is some sin in our lives that is putting separation between us and God (Isaiah 59:1,2), we need to be ruthless about eradicating that sin and even more ruthless in our pursuit of Jesus!  This is an active, Holy Ghost driven walk and we have to surrender to the Holy Ghost every day.  Author Jerry Bridges calls it "dependent responsibility".  We are dependent on the Spirit of God to give us the ability to carry out God's will and we are responsible for doing so.

Sin no more so that nothing worse happens to you.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, let's just say that there is a place that a whole lot worse than sitting at the pool getting stepped over.  On another level, this pool is a picture of fallen, broken humanity.  Just like the pool was surrounded by those that were sick, humanity is sick with sin.  Before we met Jesus, we were all paralyzed, impotent, invalid and broken down by the effects of sin.  We have all been on a mat of self-pity!  We've all excused our sin away at some point in our lives.  But if you are saved, that means that Jesus came to the pool that you were hanging out at and spoke a word and asked simply, "Do you want to get well?"  Thank God, those of us that are saved answered in the affirmative.   If anyone is reading this and you are still on your mat, still sitting by the pool, unwilling to make an effort to get in, Jesus will meet you right where you are!  It doesn't matter how long you've been there on the mat, how long you've been sitting by the pool or how many folks have gone in front of you...you can be made whole!  Jesus can give you the same thing that He gave this man, an immediate healing in the Spirit.  Your physical issues might remain but, upon accepting Christ as your Savior, you are immediately made a new creature in the Spirit!  If you haven't yet, take advantage of the second chance that God offers to us all through His Son, Jesus Christ!  Grace and peace.  

The Devil in Disguise

You know, my pastor gave a really excellent bible study on last night and it really sparked a thought that I want to share here.  Satan is a master of disguise.  The bible says in 2 Corinthians 11:4 that he disguises himself as an angel of light.  The Greek word for “disguises” is metaschématizó meaning to change the outer appearance.  The devil wants more than anything to be validated and believed so he changes shape and form to try and fit in.  As Christians we need to be wary and vigilant as it relates to allowing Satan to use us to validate him!  Satan even sought validation for his sick rebellion by trying to get Jesus to worship him in the wilderness (see Luke 4).   

Let’s look at a scripture here in 1 Samuel 13 and walk through it so that you can see what I mean.  Before we look at the scripture, let’s set it up:  The context for this particular passage is a royal split.  Rehoboam (son of Solomon) is on the verge of having the unified kingdom ripped away from him.  Solomon’s sin coupled with his son’s insolence led to a split in the kingdom.  While unified under Solomon, God’s punishment was that the kingdom would be taken away from his son and eventually split in two.  Judah and Benjamin made up the Southern kingdom (Judah) and the other ten tribes (Joseph, Levi, Dan, Napthali, Issachar, Gad, Asher, Simeon, Zebulun, Reuben) tribes made up the Northern kingdom (Israel). 

God sent a prophet to speak out against Jeroboam who eventually took over as king of the Northern kingdom (for more scripture regarding the split of the kingdoms see 1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10-12).   Jeroboam was terrible.  He called his own priests, built a counterfeit temple and worshipped idols.  Although unnamed in scripture, the first century historian Josephus knew this story and attached a name to the prophet in this story.  His name was Jodan.  God gave Jodan specific instructions on how to deal with Jeroboam and what to say (1 Kings 13:1-3).  When Jeroboam got upset with the prophet, he stretched his hand out against him but God shriveled Jeroboam’s hand and at the same time the sign that the prophet promised as fulfillment of his prophecy (altar split and ashes poured off of it) occurred.
It gets interesting after the prophet heals Jeroboam’s withered hand.  Jeroboam invites the prophet into his home but the prophet refused, citing God’s specific instruction (1 Kings 13:7-10):

“’The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.” But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here.  For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’ ”  So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.”

God’s instructions were clear.  Don’t take anything from anyone, don’t eat any bread, don’t drink any water and don’t go home the same way that you came.  This was God’s direct word to the prophet Jodan.  It should have been settled and sealed.  With this in mind, let’s turn our attention to the second part of this story and let’s see how Satan counterfeits himself, deceives us and in the process causes destruction in our lives. 

As the prophet is on his way back to Judah, there were some “spies” there at the temple who went home and reported what they saw to their father.  Their father just happened to be a “prophet”.  I put that in quotes because this old, dried up man was as fake as a 3 dollar bill.  After the report of his sons, he asks them to saddle the donkey so that he can go out and meet the prophet from Judah (1 Kings 13:11-13).

“Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me…”
Historians say that this prophet was bedridden but he got up when he heard that one of God’s true prophets was in town.  Worst of all, when he found Jodan the prophet he had two missions…1. to deceive him and 2. to boost his own credibility at the expense of Jodan’s life. 

Let’s take a look at verse 13b-19:

"And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”  “I am,” he replied.  So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”  The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.  I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’ ”  The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (But he was lying to him.)  So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house."

Look at this very carefully.  The old prophet tried to get Jodan to come with him.  I wondered why and then it hit me.  If he could get Jodan to his home, he would have instant credibility in the eyes of those who viewed him as a false prophet.  Surely they had either heard or seen what happened with Jeroboam in the temple.  The devil is crafty.  This happens every day.  Fake preachers try to sneak in to unsuspecting churches and sit in the same pulpit as reputable pastors in order to boost their own stock with men;  Unrepentant friends, who have no intention of repenting, like to hang around and corrupt their Christian friends that are actually trying to live a holy life; Drug dealers donate huge sums of money to churches (I have seen it happen) in order to connect themselves with that church and somehow come across as a “Robin Hood” of sorts.  Satan wants to sneak in to validate himself and in the process discredit us!

When he couldn’t flip Jodan initially, he went into his religious spiel and said that he was also a “prophet” and that an angel told him to bring Jodan home and give him bread and water.  All he did was repeat what Jodan had already said!  He didn’t know anything, only what he heard.  Here is a wonderful opportunity to discredit the devil.  Many times we give him too much credit.  We think he knows everything but in reality, he only overhears.  God is the only omniscient being in the universe.  See, the old prophet wrapped his lie in the truth.    Many folks get duped every day by psychics and false prophets, who are fed your personal information that you give to an operator (which gets fed to them) while on hold.  E. Bernard Jordan and his son Manasseh come to mind here (NOTE: as I type this, there is a commercial on TV for California Psychics…thanks for the confirmation Holy Ghost).  They use loaded questions and wait for you to answer and piggy back of what you tell them.  Ms. Cleo (Call me now!) was a fraud and every one of these “palm readers” is just faking.  Even if the old prophet heard from an angel, the angel’s word would not have contradicted God’s word!

There is also something to be said here for the faith of the prophet Jodan.  He was obviously not very confident in God’s command to him to forego eating and drinking there in Israel.  He went against God’s word because he was subtly duped by this older, slicker and more experienced false prophet.  Does this not scream Ephesians 4:14?  the old prophet blew in a new wind and Jodan was tossed by it, never once testing this "new revelation" in light of what God had already said.  To further illustrate the point of Satan wanting to be validated, the older prophet, after Jodan was killed by a lion for disobeying God, knowing that Jodan was a true prophet and asked to be buried next to him! 

Verse 31,32: “After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.  For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

Here is how the devil works.  He lures you in, he discredits you, he causes destruction and then moves on to the next victim.  This old prophet was the reason for Jodan being killed and yet asked to be buried next to him!  I guess he wanted everyone to say at his death, “he was a good man; he is buried next to a true man of God”.  My advice is this: 1. IF God has spoken to you, anything else that comes from Him will be confirmation, not contradictory.  2. Be confident in God’s word and do not waver from it, even if there is an angel (i.e. a pastor, a religious man/woman- you know how we get lured in when we think someone is "spiritual") to tell you something new!  Satan was an angel so it’s obvious that they aren’t to be trusted over the Lord, if the Lord has spoken FIRST!  [NOTE: Gabriel announced to Mary the birth of Jesus- this was received initially from an angel, not after an initial word from God.  Daniel received the answer to his prayer from Gabriel, who spoke FROM God to Daniel] 3. Do not allow a counterfeit to hang on to you or use you to validate himself/herself.  I am not advocating not associating with “sinners” i.e. those that are actively engaged in unapologetically sinful lifestyles [yes we are all sinners] because you might be the only way they hear the gospel.  Jesus ate with “sinners and tax collectors” and he calls us to be light and salt in a dark world.  But I am talking about those people that are not even trying to do what’s proper in God’s sight and have no intention of getting saved, repenting....nothing!  The ones that use you as their lucky rabbit’s foot thinking that some blessing might fall their way if they just hang with you!  That might happen but it won’t happen very often! 

Be sober and alert because our adversary, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour!  Keep your discernment at a maximum (Hebrews 5:14) and always be ready to test the spirit to see if it is from God (.  May God’s grace and peace be upon you.

Wasted Energy

Just a short thought and a question.  Are you a digger or a multiplier?  The question comes from the passage of scripture listed below:

Matthew 25:14-18:  “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.

Let's put this in perspective before answering the question.  Jesus is telling parables about the end times and what it will be like when He returns to the earth.  Jesus uses many analogies but they all have the same themes, "will you be ready when the Master returns?"  and "what have you been doing while the Master was away?"  Pretty simple stuff but it is amazing at the way that human beings procrastinate when there is no tangible urgency to our current situations.  There is the prevailing sentiment that I can get to that later or "it can wait." 

So we see here in the above parable that a master had three slaves.  The master was going on a long trip (can you see the symbolism of Christ being here, making disciples and then ascending back into heaven i.e. taking a long trip?) and he gave each of the slaves some "money" to invest.  It is not known when the master will return but he gave them orders, according to the passage in Luke 19 that mirrors this story, to "engage in business until I return."  He gave "his property" to them with the expectation that they would invest and multiply it. 

Notice something else, the master knew about the character of each one of his slaves.  It is recorded that each slave was given "according to his own ability."  Here is where we can see the grace of God.  God is not going to ask anyone to do anything that they are ill equipped to do.  Yes, he will give the Holy Spirit to empower us but each of us has our own natural ability and God sometimes works within that ability to accomplish His will on the earth.  Does He sometimes supersede our natural ability and use ordinary folks to do extraordinary things?  Absolutely.  The bible is a compilation of God doing just that for thousands of years and He still does that today.  God allowed Moses to overcome his speech impediment.  God allowed Gideon to overcome his insecurity.  God allowed Peter to overcome his pride. 

But God also works within the confines of our natural abilities and use those abilities (ones that He gave us anyway) to accomplish His will.  He used Paul's intelligence, his knowledge of the Law and his skill with reasoning to make him an emissary to the Gentile (e.g. Greco-Roman) culture and knew that Paul was able to use the same logical reasoning paradigm that the scholars of the day used; except Paul used their logic against them and was a great theologian and a masterful writer who reasoned that there was nothing else except for Christ and him crucified.  The disciples were fishermen and Jesus used that vocation to allow them to understand that they were to be fishers of men.  What I am trying to say is this: God knows what we are capable of and He will not overburden us or overwhelm us by charging us with a task that we are incapable of handling.  As the old church says it, 'God won't put more on us that we can bear'.

Now, let us consider each slave.  The two slaves that received 5 and 2 talents, respectively, each set about the master's work.  They had no worries about his return date and they did not take into account that they probably had time to goof off before going to work and investing the talents.  The Bible says that they set to work "immediately" and because of their obedience and their ability to work, they each doubled what the master gave them.  Then there was the slave that was given one talent.  He did not do anything except he immediately dug a hole in the ground and hid the talent.  There is a problem here.  Have you ever considered how much energy is expended in digging a hole?  The energy spent there could have easily been spent "trading" or investing his master's property. 

Considering the nature of this parable and the message Christ was trying to convey, we have to understand that Jesus/God is the Master of the story and we are the slaves (i.e. disciples- Paul and James considered themselves bondservants of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1, James 1:1).  This doesn't contradict the scripture in John 15 where Jesus says that the disciples are no longer slaves because he was speaking in terms of their knowledge of the intimacies of the Kingdom of God.  Furthermore, while he was instructing them on the cost of discipleship, he used this phrase "a servant is not greater than his master" (John 15:20).  So we are friends of the Lord Jesus Christ but we are also His servants as well because He is our Lord. 

With that said, it is a known fact that we are masterful diggers.  When God has given us a task and has even been gracious enough to give us something that we can handle and given it according to our abilities...we find every excuse in the world not to do it!  We dig holes here and dig holes there when we could transfer that energy and DO what God has asked us to do.  Rather than multiplying what God gives, we do not and we spend a lot of idle time doing absolutely NOTHING.  That's not the intention of God when he blesses us with "his property" i.e. a gift or talent that could be used to glorify Him in the earth.

In all honesty we are probably a mix of both.  Sometimes we dig and sometimes we multiply.  I have been a digger before.  There are things that God has asked me to do that I still feel apprehension about.  I have also been a multiplier in that there are other things that I have been tasked with that I did according to what God said.  We are all going to fail and fall.  That is inevitable.  The question is, which task occupies the majority of our time?  Do we spend too much time digging?  Or are we willing to do what it takes to multiply?

This story ends with the master returning and rewarding the servants that multiplied and cursing the servant that did not.  This servant did not receive a "well done" nor was he considered "good and faithful" but "wicked and lazy".  Those are terrible words to hear when the master returns.  Someday, the Master of the Universe, the One that holds all things together by the word of His power, Jesus Christ will also return and the bible says this in Revelation 22:12 " behold, I am coming quickly and my REWARD is with me."  We will be rewarded based on the works that we do in the Kingdom of God here on earth.  It is my prayer that God would strengthen me to do those things that he has given me to do.  I am not perfect and I fail daily but I will continue to ask God for strength!  I also pray for you as you read and as you are convicted that you would begin multiplying.  I was convicted by this scripture with respect to my efforts in evangelism.  I have a burning desire to evangelize everyone that I meet but I don't always do it.  Sometimes I let opportunities pass and I make excuses!  But I pray that God would continue to give me open doors for ministry to the many people that I come across.  Please pray for me and I will do the same for you.  I am certain that ALL of us want to hear those words from the Master, "Well done good and faithful servant...you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many.  Enter into your Master's joy."  Grace and peace. 

All Downhill from Here

I had a thought today while I was in service and I decided to share it here.  You've certainly heard the euphemism, "It was all downhill from there", meaning that everything else that happened past a certain point was unstoppable.  We can illustrate this using many scenarios.  A student going into kindergarten shows up on the first day of school.  They may have had some apprehension prior to coming to school, but then it happens; they meet that one friend that they will probably stay connected to for the rest of their lives.  As the saying goes, it's all downhill from there- school becomes a little easier, days become more fun, lunch becomes more palatable, etc.

The thought today centered on the life of Jesus and there was a point in His life where everything was literally downhill.  There was a cascade of unstoppable events that eventually led to Calvary.  Let's look at the scripture in Luke 19:37:

"As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen..."

In context, this section of Luke 19 deals with the "Triumphal Entry" of Jesus into Jerusalem.  It is quite a scene.  Jesus had been doing great things throughout his ministry and this was a sort of culmination of his ministry on earth.  This was a prophetic moment in that the same donkey that Zechariah prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 ("...behold your King seated on a donkey's colt...") was waiting for Jesus in the village near Bethpage and Bethany.  People were praising Him, putting their coats and clothes on the ground as the donkey moved forward.  They were praising God so loudly because of what they had seen and all of the miracles that Jesus performed!  This moment in earthly history was the validation of the Messiahship of Jesus and there were some that did not like it.  The Pharisees were trying to quiet the crowd but Jesus informed them that if the people didn't shout, the rocks would shout in their place.  Undoubtedly, this gave the Pharisees an even greater desire to kill Jesus because, in their words in John's gospel: "the whole world has gone after him...".

Ironically, this occurred on the way down the Mount of Olives.  When I read this, I jotted a little note in my bible that said "all downhill from here..."  The life of Jesus was literally all downhill from here.  This was a pivotal moment in history.  Although some refused to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, this moment was one of several in the unstoppable plan of God the Father that verified every Messianic claim that Jesus made.  The donkey's significance cannot be overlooked as these men, the religious leaders, had to know the scrolls that spoke of the King being seated on a donkey's colt.  That same prophecy also mentions that the king is "lowly and humble" (see above, Zech 9:9).  this little trip downhill en route to Jerusalem was the beginning of the end for Jesus as it related to His earthly life.  Gethsemane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives.  But is was, for believers, one stop on the way to Calvary where all of our sins were forgiven.  In an odd twist, Calvary or Golgotha was also on a hill  but it was an upward climb that Jesus had to make to be hung from the cross.  Uphill or downhill, I thank God that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for my sins.  I am glad that once the ball got rolling, He dare not stop it but was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Grace and peace.
  

What's My Motivation?

Motivation is important to God.  You know, like, the reason we do things.  Although we are sinful creatures by nature, those of us that are being indwelt by the Holy Spirit have a new nature to combat the old nature.  We've been "born again" as Jesus says in John 3.  Jesus also gives us, the born again ones, a lot of instructions about having the right motives.  Matthew 6 lays it out very eloquently.

Matthew 6:1 warns us not to "practice our righteousness" before people to "be SEEN" by them.  Jesus goes on to warn us about giving (6:2), praying (6:5,7) and fasting (6:16).  All of which, if done with improper motivation, will not receive any response from God.  Jesus warns that if our motivation is to please men, then we may as well not even bother.  James (James 4:3), the half-brother of Jesus, says it this way in reference to out motives when it comes to prayer: "You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your lusts."   Wow, that's a gut punch! 

Why am I writing this?  I actually want to talk about our motivation in giving.  Many times, giving is misunderstood in the church.  Many give to be seen by others and to have their name called during some recognition program.  Others give because they feel compelled to.  Still, others give in order to obey scripture.  I am not even going to get into amounts.  10%, 20% or "as each has purposed in their own heart" (2 Cor 9:7) or even "according to their ability..." (Acts 11:29).  Regardless of the amount, the motive MUST be proper. 

As I was studying the other night in Deuteronomy 15, I was intrigued by a passage as it relates to giving to those in need.  That's something that we should all consider when we think about giving.  Many of us put boatloads of money into the church but will refuse to feed a homeless person or part with a dollar or two for fear of "what they are going to do with the money."  We really don't think about giving to the poor because there's really no glory in that.  Many times, it goes unnoticed, there is no plaque given for being a sliver, gold or platinum level donor.  There is no instant recognition or pats on the back and many times, it may only be a one time encounter with the person that we are giving to.

In context, as the Israelites were contemplating their move to Canaan and being taught about the blessings that went along with that, God also taught them about giving to the poor.  First of all, God instituted a sabbatic year.  Every seven years, the debts of those that owed creditors were remitted.  This is carried over into the New Testament with the Lord's Prayer.  "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."  God said that among the Israelites, there would be no poor because of His blessings.  This is an interesting statement in light of verse 7.  Did God mean that there would not be any poor Israelites?  Is this double speak?  I don't think so.  God doesn't operate in double speak.  Let's look at verse 4 first:

"But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess"

So God says here there will be no poor because of His blessings in the Promised Land, the Land in the book of Numbers that was said to be flowing with milk and honey.  Why would he say this?  Many word-of-faith preachers would use this to prop up their "prosperity gospel" without continuing to read.  Now, let's look at verse 7 and 8:

"“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be." 

So are we seeing why there will be no poor?  Not because there wouldn't technically be any poor, but because there would be those with enough riches to "lend" [please note that it did not say give away, although there is nothing wrong with that- see verse 10] to the poor "brother" (see verse 2 and 3) and MAKE SURE that he has enough for his need, whatever it may be!  WOW!  Do you see the fact that God has a thing for community and love for one another?  James and John also address this concept. 

James 2:15 "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good^b is that?" 

1 John 3:17 "If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person?"

We see here that giving is ordained by God and being a help to a brother or a sister in need expresses the love of God to that person!  Giving is a work that should be an outgrowth of our faith and it does not always have to be in an offering tray.  I am not saying don't give to your local church, giving is vital to the survival of the church.  What I am saying is that being a giver is being obedient to God. 

Although this is centered on monetary giving, it doesn't always have to be money.  Maybe there is a young man or young woman that is devoid of a role model.  Can you be a role model to them?  Maybe the church needs painting or needs some light bulbs to be replaced.  Do you have the means to do it?  Can you buy the bulbs?  Or better yet, can you take some time to put them in?

Can you see my point?  Maybe or maybe not.  Let's look at something else though.  When we give, be it money, time, effort or whatever, we should model God in giving.  Jesus said that when we give, we will also receive good measure, pressed down, shaken together ( Luke 6:38).  Is the motivation giving to get?  No, it shouldn't be.  Many do.  That's why "sowing seeds" is so popular and why so many people get lassoed into that warped theology.  They give with the motivation that the larger the seed, the larger return I can expect.  Yes, the measure that you mete our will be meted unto you, yes he that sows sparingly will also reap sparingly (2 Cor 9) but if that measure is based on your own greedy expectations of a huge windfall in return, as James said, don't expect anything!  We should give because God gave to us first.  The idea of remission of debts in Deuteronomy 15 is based on the fact that God proclaimed remission.  God gave the order to remove debts every seven years. 

God says this about the motivation to give in verse 9: "Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin."

God says give, even if the time of remission is near and there is NO guarantee of a return!  Give anyway, because God gave to us.  Give because if giving is not done grudgingly, there is a blessing attached to it.  See verse 10, give generously and God will bless you in all of your work and undertakings.

Let's take this home.  God gave to us first.  In creation, He gave of Himself because He wanted to share something of Himself.  God also gave in that He prepared EVERYTHING that man needed prior to man's creation.  Flowers, vegetables, fruit, animals and God even watered everything and kept it green for man (Genesis 2:6).  God gave man the Law to guide us but to also, in a broader sense, to point to man's imperfection and the need for a perfect One to come and fulfill the Law.  God is a cheerful giver if there ever was one, and He gives with one motivation, LOVE.  John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he GAVE His only Son.  God gave Jesus to be the payment for our debts that we owed because of our sin!  God will grant remission of sin upon our acceptance of this payment!  Let's finish the verse, ...that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life!  Give with love as the motivation and God will bless you for it.  Grace and peace.

The Certainty of God and the Uncertainty of Man

Driving to work today, I had a thought as I listened to James McDonald (Walk in the Word Ministries- this guy is AWESOME).  He was preaching about faith and using Hebrews 11 as a text.  The message was great and I caught this scripture reference: Hebrews 11:17 "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son..."  This made me think about something that I had never thought about before.  We know that Isaac's potential sacrifice was a test of Abraham's faith and was also a foreshadowing of what was to come with Christ.  The sacrifice of an innocent life, the request for obedience from God and the ram in the bush all point to Calvary.  The bible says that Abraham was willing to go through with the sacrifice because he believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead (see Hebrews 11:19).  Abraham's faith in God was so great that he took his obedience to the brink reason and he was willing to sacrifice Isaac even though he was Abraham's only son.  He was certain that God could do something miraculous if Isaac was killed.

Let us stay with this line of thinking.  God the Father offered up His only Son, Jesus Christ.  He chose Jesus from before time began to be the atoning sacrifice for the "sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).  Ephesians 3 speaks of the mystery, the plan of God, through the church which belongs to Christ, to bring both Jews and Gentiles to Himself.  God's reconciliation project involved sending Jesus to do for man what the law could not do, to be the propitiation, the lamb without spot or blemish that would reconcile men back to God and grant forgiveness to those that repent and accept Jesus as Savior. 

Jesus even offered Himself up.  When He came and wrapped Himself in flesh to reveal grace and truth to man (John 1:17), He came with the expressed intent of going to Calvary.  The wise men brought frankincense to Jesus as a newborn baby.  Frankincense is a death spice/fragrance!  Simeon prophesied to Mary that her soul would be "pierced" (Luke 2:34,35).  Christ's mission is no secret!  Isaiah prophesied it in Isaiah 53.  The Old Testament is filled with references to Christ's crucifixion.  Jesus said on multiple occasions that the "Son of Man" must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified (or "lifted up") and be raised on the third day (Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22, Luke 24:7, John 3:14).  To put it in perspective, Jesus says emphatically in John's gospel: John 12:27 "“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour".  Jesus was well aware of His mission, why He had to wrap Himself in flesh in order to die a death "once and for all" (Hebrews 9:28) to defeat the power of death (Romans 6:9) and to grant all those who would receive his gift of salvation a. remission of sin and b. eternal life (1 Peter 3:18).  Here is what intrigued me, Jesus did so knowing that the Father gave Him the command to get up on the third day.  John 10:18: "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”  Jesus could trust that this commandment was sure because it came from the Father, who is eternally co-equal and faithful to the Son and the Spirit.

So where am I going with this?  The grace of God is manifested here in very vivid, and certain terms.  God offered Jesus up, Jesus offered Himself up in order to do away with death and sin and they did so KNOWING that there would be many that would not accept their offer of salvation!  How gracious is that?  This is not an endorsement of limited atonement or Calvinisim at all.  What I am saying is that God, in His infinite wisdom, knows everything and knows that there are many that will reject the message of the gospel and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  But the plan for salvation did not begin in the manger, it began in eternity- before any man was ever created or born!  Before Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or any human being that ever existed, God's plan to reconcile man to Himself existed.  It's so amazing and what's more amazing is the number of people that flat out reject that plan and will find themselves in fiery, unrelenting torment- not because the offer of salvation was not presented, but because they turned their backs on that offer. 

As a real life example, my son hates to eat breakfast.  He does so grudgingly on exam days because we try to stress the importance of having a good breakfast and how it benefits the brain and enhances cognitive abilities for test taking, etc.  Although he doesn't like to have breakfast, that doesn't stop me nor does is stop his mother from making breakfast for both of our children every morning...knowing that on most mornings, the food will not be eaten by at least one of the kids.  Out of graciousness, there is some offer of food each morning.  Whether they eat it or not is a different story.  Sometimes I feel that it is wasteful to continue to cook/prepare knowing that there is going to be a lip turned up or a deep sigh followed by an "I'm not hungry" or "Do I have to eat?".  I have even said to them and to myself that I would stop getting up to make breakfast because of their ungratefulness.  However, this is not God's way.  God keeps the offer on the table knowing, that just like that bowl of cheese grits that my son left on the counter this morning, it might not be accepted and some excuse will undoubtedly be made as to why it was not accepted.

It's not as if God wants people to go to hell. God asks in Ezekiel 18:23, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?"  We see here that God would much rather the wicked would turn from their ways and repent!  That's mercy and grace.  But God will not force the wicked to do so, He will present the opportunity, send His Spirit to convict them but the ultimate decision is on the person to whom God is speaking.  Did you know that Christ's return is being held because God is still giving people time to repent?  2 Peter 3:9 specifically says that God's "slowness" in returning is indicative of His patience and His desire that men would repent of their sins.

Hell was not even created for humans.  It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6, Revelation 20:1,2)!  However, humans that choose life apart from God are given their wish and will have all eternity to live without him.  God loves us so much that He will not force anything on us that we do not want- including Himself.  That is a sobering and frightening thought!

Christians should rejoice that we have accepted the salvation of God and we should be thankful that we have become beneficiaries of God's unlimited and unmerited grace.  We should also be telling others of this grace.  When the door for ministry is opened, take advantage of it and tell someone about the richness of God's grace and God's love for them.  Thank you Jesus that although the offer may not be accepted by everyone, the ones that do accept it, You've said that you will never cast away.  Let us be in prayer for those that we know, family and friends, that have not made a decision for Christ.  Grace and peace. 

Double Jeopardy

You have undoubtedly heard the phrase "double jeopardy", especially if you are a fan of legal shows like Law & Order or, my favorite show, Matlock.  It is a legal term that means simply that a person cannot be tried twice for a crime that they were acquitted of.  This is a very important legal concept.  Besides the legal definition, the phrase means that a person is placed into harm's way twice.

I submit to you that Jesus faced double jeopardy in that he placed himself in harm's way twice, for our sake! Jesus was not guilty of any crime, He never sinned, He is the Lamb without spot or blemish.  But there is evidence in the Bible that Jesus made the decision to face Calvary twice.

Let's look at the first instance which the Lamb, chosen from the foundation of the world, accepted the will of God and was sent here.  Hebrews 12:1,2:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

This is an excellent passage in that we see what Jesus gave up in order to come to earth and be the propitiation for the sins of mankind.  A literal translation of verse 2 is this " in view of joy lying before Him..."  What joy is this speaking of?  The word for "lying before" is a Greek word "prokeimenēs" which literally means the "destined joy" or the joy on the other side of the Calvary.  With this joy before him, Jesus endured the cross.  Let us understand this also, this decision was made in eternity and therefore, in order to endure the cross, Jesus had to be sent from His throne in heaven!  He had to leave the angels falling prostrate before Him.  He had to leave the constant praise and singing of the heavenly host.  He had to leave the beauty of heaven and the presence of the Father and the Spirit to take on flesh and become the Lamb that would take away the sins of the world.  He knew full well the agony he would face at the crucifixion and yet, He consented and, although being in the form of God, did not regard equality with God (the Father) a thing to be grasped, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant and was obedient to the point of death...even death on a cross (Philippians 2).  

There was a second time that Jesus had a chance to remove himself from the line of fire.  That time occurred when He was in human form here on earth.  He was in a place called Gethsemane.  He was under extreme duress as the crucifixion loomed.  His sweat was like "great drops of blood".  Luke 22:44 says that Jesus was in agony in Gethsemane.  The word used for agony is "agonia" which is a word taken from the realm of athletics and competition.  It is a word used to describe the feelings of an athlete before a contest.    What it literally means is that Jesus was in the "fourth quarter" with seconds left on the clock.  He could have dialed it in and called it quits.  He asked God (the Father) to remove the cup but remembered that his food (sustenance) was to do the will of His father (John 4:32).  Jesus once told the disciples  that the reason that the Father was with Him was because he "ALWAYS" did what pleased Him (the Father) (John 8:29).  What pleased God was to crush Jesus (Isaiah 53) as the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of man.  This was the only way that mankind could be reconciled back to God!

We see here that, unlike man and the judicial system, Jesus had no problem facing double jeopardy!  He did not try to avoid it, He embraced it.  He faced it to do the will of the Father.  The will of God is that none should perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  The will of God is that "all would come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved" (1 Tim 2:4).  While this is the will of God, unfortunately, all men are not obedient to God's will- but Jesus was.  The one who knew no sin became sin on our behalf.  The righteous died for the unrighteous.  He knew what was coming, He momentarily left His seat in heaven, He endured the abuse of man and He drank the full cup of God's wrath...so that ANYONE WHO ACCEPTS HIS PAYMENT is forgiven for their sins!  Thank you Jesus for deciding TWICE to go through with God's will.  Thank you Jesus for being the Lamb and taking away the sins of the world.  If you haven't told Jesus thank you for His payment for your sins, now is a good time to do so.  Grace and peace.