Recently I had the opportunity to hire a few people to clean up and paint inside a couple rent houses. One of the people we hired was very experienced but the other wasn’t. Although we hired them to do a job so that we wouldn’t have to, my wife Jade and I enjoy seeking out these kinds of opportunities to encourage people. This time I knew it may take me showing them how to do the job right before I was going to leave them on their own.
People have different ways about how to manage an employee. Some take the approach that if they’re going to pay someone then they better know how to do whatever it is they’re being paid for, which that might mean they may not offer advice or direction, instead they just let them do whatever they do on their own. Other managers micromanage every step of their employee. They’ll come in behind them and change everything they’ve done, or tell them how to do their job. Then I suppose there are the kinds of managers who just accept whatever work is done and don’t say anything about errors, even though it’s eating them up inside. But there are also the kinds of managers that will show a worker how to do the work.
Oddly enough, I was reminded of the need to take the time out to show people how they should do the work they’re asked to do by watching my daughter's soccer game. There are times when a kid needs the coach to tell them or show them what to do, but there are also times that their spirit needs coaching. What happens when the drive to succeed isn’t in a player? It may be tempting to view them as non-coachable, but perhaps they just need to see “a drive” or passion modeled for them.
The interesting thing about desires is that they can be shaped by outside influence. Satan has been working diligently to shape our minds on what we should desire, but what is God doing through us?
For my daughter, I knew she enjoyed winning a game and receiving a trophy because the first time she got a trophy she spent what seemed like hours sitting at the dining room table polishing it. She enjoyed the prize, but her problem was finding the passion and desire to improve. She plays hard, but like many kids her age, she needs direction and guidance on how to be better at what she’s doing.
There are many people who genuinely want the prize of heaven but they don’t know how to find the desire to live for it. What do they need? They need someone to show them how to be excited about living for God’s purposes in our lives. They need to hear people talk about their faith in ways that don’t just seem like pledging allegiance to a group of people. They need someone to show them how to live for the promise.
Thankfully, Jesus was the answer for the people of His day, and He’s the answer today. We need someone who can model a passion for God and a fixation on the promises of God.
Paul encourages the Thessalonians to “keep the fire alive” by not “sleeping” spiritually as so many people do. Instead he says in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another.”
Paul goes on to describe how that might take place. He says in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord's work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work…(16-17) Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
First of all, the leaders were doing the “work.” They had modeled what Paul encourages the brothers and sisters in Christ to do by “warning those who are lazy. Encouraging those who are timid. Taking tender care of those who are weak. Being patient with everyone.”
As Christians, we need to constantly evaluate our motives and ask ourselves, “How is my desire to do God’s work impacting those watching me?” There are people who are watching us, but we need to be willing to take them aside and help them discover what it is about living for God that develops passion for his promises.
Let’s be proactive in showing our desire for God to the world. Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Showing Honor To Mom
What does love look like? It’s a question that has been debated for centuries and many good answers shared. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” He described in many different ways the need to consider others better than yourself, and by doing so, we love our neighbor and honor them.
A love like that doesn’t come often. It isn’t as frequent as television and songs make it out to be. We don’t find that deep kind of love easily. For a parent, there is a natural deep connection we want to have with those little people we get to bring into existence. Even before we get to know their personality and their behaviors and attitude, we love them.
One of the hardest thing I can imagine is giving up your child. I’ve heard many stories of times during World War II, in the Holocaust, where parents gave their children up to virtually anyone who would be willing to hide them away from the danger of the Nazis. Thousands of children hidden away without the people that love them the most. Why? What would compel a parent to give their precious child up with the possibility of never seeing them again? Love.
In Exodus 2, we read of Jochebed and her love she had for her son, Moses. The Egyptians were on a rampage to destroy all the Jews from their land. Hebrew babies were the target. Jochebed sent her son away not knowing how her decision would end, but trusting God for a positive ending. In the end she was given the privilege of raising her son in safety in the very palace where the command to kill the Jews originated.
Moses in turn spent his years honoring God and pleasing his parents for his service to free the Hebrews from slavery. Ten plagues and 80 years later, he would lead the Jews out of danger towards the Promised Land. The story of the Exodus is used constantly throughout the Bible as symbolism of the Messiah redeeming the slaves of sin from Satan’s snare and delivering them to the Promised Land.
That story is revealed in Jesus. From the day that Mary heard that she would be the one to carry the Messiah she praised God for the honor. But her time with Jesus had an expiration date. A day would come when she would realize her son would have to give His life to free us from what separates us from our Father.
At His death, Jesus looked down from the cross and took the time to show honor to the woman that had been there through so much of his ministry. She helped to prompt Him in His first miraculous sign to the world, and she would be there at the end when He would show the world His final miraculous sign in the flesh. Jesus said to John in John 19:26-27, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” Then we read that ‘from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.’
How do we honor those that have loved us so deeply to sacrifice so much for us? Those who have stood beside us when no one else would? Moses brought freedom to his mother’s kinsmen, Jesus brought spiritual freedom to everyone who trusts in Him. What can we do for our mother? Our father? Anyone who has loved us with that rare love that so few are privileged to see?
Solomon says in Proverbs 23:25, “Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you.” What could you do with your life that would cause your parents to rejoice in your birth? Perhaps the same answer could be given for what pleases our Heavenly Father. Do you know what pleases your Heavenly Father? Those that will share in the ‘joys of the Father’ will be those who use their life to honor God, who love Him with all they have. People who trust Him and seek His will in their life. Through that service to Him, we help perpetuate the message of freedom made possible through Jesus Christ and His willing sacrifice on the cross.
It pleases God for us to trust Him and His words of truth and guidance. Consider how your obedience to God brings honor to your mother, then tell her, if you can, how much she has helped to define your purpose in life.
A love like that doesn’t come often. It isn’t as frequent as television and songs make it out to be. We don’t find that deep kind of love easily. For a parent, there is a natural deep connection we want to have with those little people we get to bring into existence. Even before we get to know their personality and their behaviors and attitude, we love them.
One of the hardest thing I can imagine is giving up your child. I’ve heard many stories of times during World War II, in the Holocaust, where parents gave their children up to virtually anyone who would be willing to hide them away from the danger of the Nazis. Thousands of children hidden away without the people that love them the most. Why? What would compel a parent to give their precious child up with the possibility of never seeing them again? Love.
In Exodus 2, we read of Jochebed and her love she had for her son, Moses. The Egyptians were on a rampage to destroy all the Jews from their land. Hebrew babies were the target. Jochebed sent her son away not knowing how her decision would end, but trusting God for a positive ending. In the end she was given the privilege of raising her son in safety in the very palace where the command to kill the Jews originated.
Moses in turn spent his years honoring God and pleasing his parents for his service to free the Hebrews from slavery. Ten plagues and 80 years later, he would lead the Jews out of danger towards the Promised Land. The story of the Exodus is used constantly throughout the Bible as symbolism of the Messiah redeeming the slaves of sin from Satan’s snare and delivering them to the Promised Land.
That story is revealed in Jesus. From the day that Mary heard that she would be the one to carry the Messiah she praised God for the honor. But her time with Jesus had an expiration date. A day would come when she would realize her son would have to give His life to free us from what separates us from our Father.
At His death, Jesus looked down from the cross and took the time to show honor to the woman that had been there through so much of his ministry. She helped to prompt Him in His first miraculous sign to the world, and she would be there at the end when He would show the world His final miraculous sign in the flesh. Jesus said to John in John 19:26-27, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” Then we read that ‘from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.’
How do we honor those that have loved us so deeply to sacrifice so much for us? Those who have stood beside us when no one else would? Moses brought freedom to his mother’s kinsmen, Jesus brought spiritual freedom to everyone who trusts in Him. What can we do for our mother? Our father? Anyone who has loved us with that rare love that so few are privileged to see?
Solomon says in Proverbs 23:25, “Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you.” What could you do with your life that would cause your parents to rejoice in your birth? Perhaps the same answer could be given for what pleases our Heavenly Father. Do you know what pleases your Heavenly Father? Those that will share in the ‘joys of the Father’ will be those who use their life to honor God, who love Him with all they have. People who trust Him and seek His will in their life. Through that service to Him, we help perpetuate the message of freedom made possible through Jesus Christ and His willing sacrifice on the cross.
It pleases God for us to trust Him and His words of truth and guidance. Consider how your obedience to God brings honor to your mother, then tell her, if you can, how much she has helped to define your purpose in life.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Where We're Led
In Acts 6, the apostles had a dilemma where they were pulled between evangelizing and doing benevolence for those in need. They quickly realized that they really weren’t able to effectively do both. So we read in Acts 6:3 the solution to their problem, “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.” The question for you is this, “Would you have been selected?” Do we resemble people who are led by the Spirit?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:17, “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” The fruit may not come naturally, in fact I’d suggest to you that it is impossible for Godly fruit to come naturally. You will never accidentally become righteous. It takes a conscience decision to submit to the guidance of the Spirit, and it is in the daily small decisions that really define how much the Spirit is actually leading you.
What was it about those seven men the apostles chose to take care of their problems that helped them know to pick them? Was it their reputation for knowing scripture? Was it their reputation of how faithfully they showed up for worship? Was it by their reputation of prayer?
We already know the answer to that, because I’m sure we’ve met people that simply demonstrate a reliance upon God, it’s revealed in their nature. People whose actions verify that they have an understanding of scripture; people who show that worship is essential to them; and people who’ve proven that they depend upon prayer as a vital part of making decisions. These are some examples of what Jesus was describing in Matthew 7:16-18, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” In context he’s describing how we recognize a false teacher, however the criteria is nearly identical.
Peter reveals the progress and the blessing that comes with living by the Spirit in 2 Peter 1:5-8, “[add to] your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
That’s a wonderful promise to us, that we can know how to be productive for God’s kingdom. Paul also reveals something about what it means to live according to the Spirit in Romans 8:5-9, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, [have their minds on] the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
It doesn’t take much effort to determine if we could have been in the list of qualified people to help with the widow issue in Acts 6. But regardless if you feel qualified or not, we know it’s possible to think in a way that reveals who is leading us. Just remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8, “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.”
The Spirit may compel us to reach out boldly to those who oppose the truth, or that same Spirit may compel us to give all we have to help someone in need. Those who “live by the Spirit, will also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). That journey may lead us in places we never would have imagined serving God in ways we never dreamed. One of the exciting things we get to participate in is mission work around the world. People dedicated to teaching and serving people in places where the gospel is new or an obvious minority. However, all of us have a role in that work. Mission work is all around us, and the more we submit to the leading of the Spirit God gave us at the moment we were baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38) the more we will find out how God is willing to use us to accomplish the wonderful work of reaching and strengthening souls.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:17, “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” The fruit may not come naturally, in fact I’d suggest to you that it is impossible for Godly fruit to come naturally. You will never accidentally become righteous. It takes a conscience decision to submit to the guidance of the Spirit, and it is in the daily small decisions that really define how much the Spirit is actually leading you.
What was it about those seven men the apostles chose to take care of their problems that helped them know to pick them? Was it their reputation for knowing scripture? Was it their reputation of how faithfully they showed up for worship? Was it by their reputation of prayer?
We already know the answer to that, because I’m sure we’ve met people that simply demonstrate a reliance upon God, it’s revealed in their nature. People whose actions verify that they have an understanding of scripture; people who show that worship is essential to them; and people who’ve proven that they depend upon prayer as a vital part of making decisions. These are some examples of what Jesus was describing in Matthew 7:16-18, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” In context he’s describing how we recognize a false teacher, however the criteria is nearly identical.
Peter reveals the progress and the blessing that comes with living by the Spirit in 2 Peter 1:5-8, “[add to] your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
That’s a wonderful promise to us, that we can know how to be productive for God’s kingdom. Paul also reveals something about what it means to live according to the Spirit in Romans 8:5-9, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, [have their minds on] the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
It doesn’t take much effort to determine if we could have been in the list of qualified people to help with the widow issue in Acts 6. But regardless if you feel qualified or not, we know it’s possible to think in a way that reveals who is leading us. Just remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8, “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.”
The Spirit may compel us to reach out boldly to those who oppose the truth, or that same Spirit may compel us to give all we have to help someone in need. Those who “live by the Spirit, will also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). That journey may lead us in places we never would have imagined serving God in ways we never dreamed. One of the exciting things we get to participate in is mission work around the world. People dedicated to teaching and serving people in places where the gospel is new or an obvious minority. However, all of us have a role in that work. Mission work is all around us, and the more we submit to the leading of the Spirit God gave us at the moment we were baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38) the more we will find out how God is willing to use us to accomplish the wonderful work of reaching and strengthening souls.