June 11, 2007 - God's Persecution

June 11, 2007

Sometimes I think that what God does is not fair. I mean why do bad things happen to good people? Let's look at what happened to people in the book of Acts.

Act 8:1 ESV
(1) And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Why did this happen to these people? Were they not Christians that were talking about God in Jerusalem?

It is really easy to blame God, but Ezekiel said it best when he said these words:

Eze 18:25 ESV
(25) "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

When we think God is unfair, we need to think again. What were the last words that Jesus said to these people being scattered? He told them to go in to "all the world". And here they were staying home! Next time it looks like God is persecuting you, you might want to see if you have something to get to doing.

Translation Information
“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Mar 9, 2007 - Live in peace

Mar 9, 2007

Rom 12:18 ISV
(18) If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with all people.
International Standard Version v1.2.2 Copyright © 1996-2001 The ISV Foundation.

One if the hardest things to do each day is to live at peace with all people. Notice that Paul is telling us, that as much as it is possible in our selves, to live in peace with all people. Some people are going to be having a bad day, they will be angry with you, they will want to start a fight with you or maybe push your buttons so that you will start one. Those people's actions are beyond your control. There is only one person that you are responsible for, that you can control. That person is you.

I cannot be responsible for another person cutting me off in traffic, but I can be responsible for how I react to them. I can try to control my anger and not react. When my spouse does something to upset me do I go off with both guns blaring or do I try to work with them to resolve what is getting me upset. When someone takes credit at work for something that I did, do I plan my revenge for that person?

God does not call us to make the other person perfect. He does call us to be at peace. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit that we are to try to obtain. Is it easy? No, especially when you want to call down fire from heave and make the other person into burnt toast. Is it reachable? Most definitely.

Like most other things that you achieve in this earthly body, it will have to be archived in stages. You cannot just say one day, I will not get angry any more, I live at peace with everyone. As soon as you say that, all the demons of hell will be let loose to make you break that vow.
There are two things that you can do to help:

1. Make small steps and progress towards them. God has only given you the now. In a sermon I recently heard, the minister spoke about loving someone the rest of their life when you cannot stand them now. Can you love them for one day he asked. Yes. OK, then do it today and let tomorrow be tomorrow. Break up your goals into weekly, daily, or even hourly goals if you have to.
   
2. Find a good person (not a spouse) that you can confide in. Find someone whose council you can trust. When the problems seem to be getting to be too much, turn to them for help. Talk to them and seek out their wisdom. God will put someone like that in your life if you ask Him.

Now go and live in peace, at least for the next 24 hours.

Mar 3, 2007 - Its only words....

Mar 3, 2007

Pro 29:20 MKJV
(20) Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Modern King James Version, copyright © 1962-1998 by Jay P. Green, Sr. All rights reserved.

The writer of Proverbs clearly thinks that a fool is one of the worst people in life when it comes to the social ladder. So if he marks someone as lower on the list, then it might be time to take notice of it.

In our fast world that we live in we want everything instant. Where our previous generations would have to squeeze the orange juice by hand for breakfast, we can get it out of a can to mix up, or even just pour it from a bottle. Where they would measure ingredients to make waffles or pancakes, we just pop them into the toaster oven. In years gone by, a long distance romance was one that meant 3 to 5 days for the next mail from your sweetie to arrive. Now it means getting to a computer so that we can IM, email or chat with person. Am I advocating going back to the good old days? Not at all.

What we need to stop and take a look at is the fact that we are often, in this fast paced world, to quick to say things. Often those things can be hurtful. I remember receiving a compliment not to long ago. I do not receive compliments well so it was a miracle that I just accepted it and went on. I felt I had turned a corner in my life. When I told someone close to me about it, the reaction was, well, anyone could do that. That is no great achievement. The words were said so fast that this person did not realize what they were saying.

Once a word has left your mouth, it can never be pulled back in again. It is out there and it is a seed planted in that other person. Have I forgiven this person for their words? Yes. Are the feelings of hurt still there? Yes. Once the pain is inflicted, the mark will be there for a long time to come. As a child I got a scar on my finger. Now nearly 50 years later I can still see the mark it left behind. Your words will leave a mark behind for years to come.

No wonder the author of provers puts a man with hasty words on the bottom of the social ladder.

Mar 2, 2007 - Why Salt?

Mar 2, 2007

Continuing from yesterday's theme:

Mat 5:13 WTNT
(13) ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but and if the salt be once unsavory, what can be salted there with? It is thence forth good for nothing, but to be cast out at the doors, and that men tread it under feet.
William Tyndale New Testament

Why are we the salt of the earth?

Did you know, that even though we have thousands of smells we can smell, we only have four tastes that we can taste. The taste buds are on thetongue and it is basically divided up into four regions: bitter, sour, sweet and salty.


God could have made us the bitter of the earth. Objects that when people hear the Gospel will not like it and spit it out. I do not think that would be a good idea. Anything that is bitter is usually a sign ofpoison that needs to be spit out. I guess we could have been the poison of the world.

God could have made us the sour of the earth. Guess some people did not get the message with their sour expressions. Something sour is usually something you do not want to eat or drink. If it is especially sour it can bring a strong man to his knees. Ever play with the candies 'Warheads.' While I do not like the sour taste, I can withstand it because once you get past the intense sour taste there is a nice tasting candy inside. I saw someone try to eat one after I did and there was tears in his eyes because being a big strong macho guy he did not want to admit that little old me could handle something better that he could not. In the end he wound up spitting it out of his mouth. And very ofter that is what people do with sour stuff.

God could have made up the sweet of the earth. Sounds good doesn't it. Where ever we go people will love us because we taste so good. We are also empty calories that add weight to a person while providing no nutritional value. Stuff that if left to eat too much of can cause a chemical imbalance calleddiabetes which left untreated can cause the body to loose important parts (the body of Christ is a good comparison).

No, we are the salt of the earth. What are the properties of salt. I could be a little silly and say to look at salt under a microscope and see that it looks like little cubes. Are we the squares of the earth? Maybe. Salt has some interesting qualities:

• It is a preservative - It is used to keep meat from spoiling. By salting the meat, it can last a much longer time that if there was no salt added. Without it meat would corrupt. With out us as salt, what would happen to the world?
• It is a healer:
• Smelling salts help to revive someone knocked unconscious - do we revive an unconscious world?
• Muscle relaxant - Epsom salts help to revive a worn out body - do was act as a place where the world can relax with us so we can spread the word?
• A cleanser - salt in the wounds - cleanses and disinfects - Do we act as a disinfectant or are we so much like the world that we are no good as salt? Yes it hurts, but anything good for you may have to hurt a little.
• Seasoning - It adds flavor to food. Too much and it is not able to be eaten, too little and the food is bland. Salt can season the world but must be careful of thebalance that it uses.
  
• In order to be used it must be broken. Ever see salt get clogged in the salt shaker. By nature salt wants to bind to other salt (a picture of the church) but in order to be used it must be broken apart from the chunk and then put where it will do most good.
  

So, some thoughts on what salt is and does? Are you the salt of the earth today.

Mar 1, 2007 - Can Salt Loose Its Saltiness

Mar 1, 2007

Mat 5:13 WTNT
(13) ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but and if the salt be once unsavory, what can be salted there with? It is thence forth good for nothing, but to be cast out at the doors, and that men tread it under feet.
William Tyndale New Testament

Sometimes in putting these together I get a verse and I know what needs to be said about it. Other times I have to look it up and study it a lot. Today's falls in the later category. How can salt loose it's saltiness? The answer is that in today's way of looking at salt, it cannot. We look at salt as a white granular substance in a pure state made up of Chlorine and Sodium. It is not possible to loose its saltiness without it breaking down to its individual elements. There is a old statement the Rabbi's once said:

How can one re-salt salt after it has lost its flavor?
You can salt it with the afterbirth of a mule.
But a mule is sterile, how can you get an afterbirth?
Can salt loose its saltiness?

In reality, we can never loose our saltiness, we are in the world to flavor it.

In Jesus day though, salt was a lot different. It would be mixed in with the ground when it was mined. They would try to purify it as much as could be done, but in the end it would be a cake that they would grind off the salt from to flavor the food. It was through a process of exposure to moisture and sunlight that the salt would leech itself out of the cake. At this time, though it would look the same, the salt flavor was gone, and with that the usefulness of the block of salt.

So what does that mean to us today? If we have lost our saltiness, we are no longer influencing those around us and have become not much good for anything. When we do not do the things that make us stand out as Christians, we loose the saltiness and become like the world. In fact we become equal to the earth in the sight of man. Look at the scandals that have hit the great men of God over the years and see what the world thinks of them. Look at the scandals that we ourselves can get ourselves into and how it influences our fellow man. Big or small, we all will fall. God is there to restore the salt.

The good news is that God has 'the afterbirth of a mule' to re-salt us. Just like it would be a miracle of science to have a mule give birth, we have a miracle of faith that can restore us to where we need to be. That miracle is Jesus. Confess your sins and turn back to God and He will forgive you and let you be a witness again.

I know these to be true. Years ago I ran from God. I wanted nothing to do with Him because my life was not the way I wanted it to be. During that time I had lost my saltiness. A few years later I realized I was wrong, so I turned back to Him and asked forgiveness through Jesus. Now, I still have lost my saltiness to some people, but God is using me in many small ways, like this devotional you are reading.

So, are you salt? Or, do you need the 'afterbirth of a mule?'

Feb. 28, 2007 - Child Favoritism

Feb 28, 2007

Gen 25:27-28 NET
(27) When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.
(28) Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org All rights reserved.

Issac and Rebekah had twin boys, the older being Esau, a hunter and a man of the field. The younger was Jacob who was a more studious man. While Esau was a man who liked to get his hands dirty, Jacob was more a man who would figure out how to get it done without getting a sweat up. Is one type better than the other? If you are a hunter, sportsman, or any outdoor type at all, then you probably think that Esau is more like you. If you like to do stuff on the computer, work out complex number problems or any non-outdoor type, then you will most likely think Jacob is the one you like.

Note that the King James does a disservice in verse 27 (as do most translations) saying he was a plain man. The Strong's numbering indicates many ways the word plain could be translated, and in fact, complete is most likely a better word to use. Esau was a one-dimensional man. Jacob, as we can see in his later life, had a more complete knowledge in many things. Again, there is no crime here in what they were. You can be a good person either way.

Our problem here is really with verse 28. The fact that the parents had favorites is not good. Now I know as a parent it is not easy to not have a favorite child, there is always one you like better than the rest. The situation here was not a slight favoritism, nor even an attempt to hide it. This was out and out take one side against the other. Issac like Esau and Rebekah liked Jacob. In situations like this, only trouble can break out.

Does this happen in every day life as well, I mean when someone is not dealing with children? You bet it does. I took a class recently in Critical Conversations. When someone speaks or does something we often create a story based on our experiences. This story can get well rehearsed in our brain and become our 'child.' Meanwhile, the other side is rehearsing their story and another 'child' is born. We each have our favorites and we are willing to duke it out to get our 'child' to be the prominent one. Maybe we need to stop and not make our 'child' the favorite one. Maybe we need to take the time to see if the other persons story is a real thing that needs to be dealt with and stop promoting ours. And yes, maybe the other side does too. I have a better idea, lets not have favorites and we can stay out of these situations. Think on that the next time you get in a situation at work or home.