Worth Repeating - August 7, 2017

Acts 8: 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. (NIV)

More often than not, intense persecution of Christians leads to a spurt of growth in the church.*

When you buy seed for your garden, it comes in little packages – unless you are a professional farmer, in which case your seed will come in a larger container. The seed doesn’t turn into something else while it’s still in its packaging, but it will never grow into its potential until it’s scattered or planted properly.

Acts chapter 7 ends with the stoning of Stephen and the first mention of Saul. Chapter 8 begins with the bad news: “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem . . .” Or is that bad news? If Saul hadn’t begun his campaign of terror, going from house to house and dragging Christians off to prison, the church would have stayed in its little seed-packet in Jerusalem, and the garden of the world would have been barren. Instead, all except the apostles fled throughout Judea and Samaria, preaching the word wherever they went.

Christians today seem to be taking the Great Commission pretty seriously. We are taking the gospel into the world even though we aren’t so welcome in some places. Many of our brothers and sisters in other nations suffer persecution for their faith, but from among them have arisen modern-day heroes of the faith. In the United States, where religious freedom has always been our right, we are starting to get a taste of what it’s like to be among the persecuted. Oh, right now it’s more of an inconvenience than a hardship, but it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.

Jesus told us it would happen. He said not to be surprised if the world hates us. It’s not something I look forward to, but persecution is often the means by which the gospel gets spread. It’s how our garden grows!

It is not biblical to desire persecution, but according to Jesus it is part of God’s plan, part of our cross-bearing.*

Worth Repeating - August 6, 2017

Matthew 26: 69-75 Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken   . . . And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 27: 1-5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

(NIV)

(Read the complete passage in your Bible)

No failure is beyond the reach of God’s grace.*

Matthew has made it easy for us to compare/contrast the stories of Peter and Judas, two men who betrayed their Lord, by placing the accounts one after the other in his gospel. 

Compare: 

· Jesus had predicted their treachery - Matthew 26: 21 (Judas) and 26: 34 (Peter). 

· Both men regretted their actions (see featured passages above). 

Contrast: 

· Peter spent the rest of his life as a loyal follower of his Lord. 

· Judas ended any chance to make amends. 

I wonder: Was Judas’ act of betrayal worse than Peter’s? Did he feel worse about it than Peter did? What made one of Jesus’ followers choose to repent from the awful thing he did while the other refused to face the consequences? With equal exposure to Jesus’ life and teaching, both men should have known that Jesus would forgive them. 

For whatever reason, God allows us to choose him or to reject him. We could blame Satan for preying on our weaknesses, but his power is limited to deceit and whatever we allow. When we deny Christ – and we are all guilty – we should follow Peter’s example of godly sorrow. His repentance testifies to his faith in the Father’s willingness and power to forgive while also denying Satan another victory. 

As someone has observed, Peter “had to face himself as he had never been willing to see himself before.”* Take a good look at yourself. Will you weep bitterly for your betrayal or will you try to run from it? Which choice leads to life?

The nature of your eternity will be decided at the Cross. It is not the number or the heinousness of your sins that will condemn to hell, nor the beauty or strictness of your morality that will bring to heaven. Eternity will be decided by your relation to a crucified Jesus.*

Worth Repeating - August 5, 2017

Job 4: 6 “Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?” (NIV)

Human suffering is not easy to explain. Don’t always try.*

Job’s friends meant well. They rushed to be with him during his time of need. They tried to cheer him up – but like most of us, they were somewhat socially inept. We don’t know what to say in times of trouble but we very badly want to make things better for the sufferer. As if saying stupid things is really going to help!

If you read all of Eliphaz’s attempts to encourage Job, you will see that he was a proponent of the “reap what you sow” school of thought. He is convinced that Job’s misery is his own fault somehow – and if he broke it, he should be able to fix it. If only Job were pious enough, he wouldn’t be doubting himself; if he were blameless, he wouldn’t be despairing.

As Christians, we walk a fine line between encouragement and false hope in our efforts to comfort a friend who is hurting. Yes, we must speak the truth in love – but do we know all the truth? Eliphaz had no idea that God and Satan were behind Job’s problems, but he had trouble admitting that he didn’t know everything. We encourage by listening and by offering biblical solutions, not by trying so hard to think of the right thing to say that we tune out the Spirit’s voice. At this stage of the crisis, Why this has happened is not the important question; what are you going to do about it is.

The book of Job . . . teaches us the danger of speaking from an incomplete theology, of trying to analyze God's workings with only a narrow understanding of how he works, and what are the causes behind his actions in human life.*

Worth Repeating - August 4, 2017

II Samuel 12: 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” (NIV)

Avoiding confrontation is not love. It’s either apathy because I don’t care enough to do what Jesus says or it’s fear because I’m more afraid of facing you than obeying Jesus.*

“Silence is golden,” is good to remember on those occasions when keeping your mouth shut is the wisest move to make. But sometimes, silence is yellow. Things that need to be brought to light are left unsaid because we are too cowardly to face the consequences. We don’t want to make anyone mad, or hurt their feelings, or lose our job – or be executed.

Nathan was a prophet who is mentioned throughout the story of David’s reign and even on into that of Solomon, David’s son and successor.  (“As for the other events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet?” II Chronicles 9: 29) It was Nathan’s God-given responsibility to rebuke King David for his despicable behavior – adultery and murder – and to deliver the message of God’s judgment. Was Nathan terrified? We shouldn’t think less of him if he was, for as someone has observed, “The odds . . . were a million to one that Nathan would have lost his head if he had confronted any other monarch with a charge of wickedness like that he skillfully leveled against the king of Israel.”*

We don’t have the benefit of receiving a direct order from God to help us determine when silence is golden and when it is yellow, but we have two advantages over Nathan: we don’t have the fear of death looming over us as a consequence of our words; and he did not have the Holy Spirit’s presence to give him discernment. 

Are you faced with such a dilemma? Does it seem that you have been chosen to deliver a message like Nathan’s? It’s not just the risk of hurt feelings or anger that makes us hesitate – there’s always the chance that we will be accused of being judgmental or that we are wrong or even that it’s not our place to speak up. Whatever is holding you back, earnestly seek God’s will and his assurance. Assess the situation; ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen if I speak up? What’s the worst that can happen if I don’t?” If one of those answers involves eternal consequences, I believe you have your answer.

A rebuke is more effective when the person delivering it truly cares about the well-being of others and isn’t just out to win the argument.*

Worth Repeating - August 3, 2017

Isaiah 49: 23 “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” (NIV)

When we don’t become what we think we’re supposed to be, it makes us critical of ourselves and our lives. It causes us to be insecure, oversensitive, judgmental, frustrated, and unfulfilled. We become self-absorbed, constantly having to think about ourselves and what we should be. It forces us to try too hard to make life happen the way we think it is supposed to.*

Many of our disappointments in life stem from our unrealistic expectations. We expect others to read our minds and meet our expectations, or we expect them to perform at a higher level than they are capable of. Perfectionists are frequently disappointed in themselves because they can’t meet their own expectations. We misunderstand the promises of God so we think that he has let us down as well.

Because of these typical human shortcomings, we easily miss the point of this verse. We might hope that God will work things out according to our plans, but that is not hoping in the Lord. Hoping in him means that we put our trust in his solution and his timing. Whether we are control freaks or not, handing our control over to God is something we all have to learn how to do – it doesn’t come naturally to us. Once you have experienced it, you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. It is liberating to leave the heavy lifting to the one who will never disappoint us.

Modern Christians . . . often face a Christ who isn’t what they expected or hoped for.*

Worth Repeating - August 2, 2017

Psalm 33: 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. (NIV)

No matter how well orchestrated, worship isn’t intended to entertain but to feed and strengthen the soul.*

This must be the theme verse for the worship leader at my church. We sing a new song almost every Sunday; the praise team is carefully selected; and the congregation is led to experience joyful worship. Not every congregation has the luxury of professional-quality singers and musicians, but the worship service should still be well-done. Perfection is impossible to attain but we should never stop trying to achieve excellence.

In the next verse we learn why we should sing, play and shout: “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 33: 4) We are to be joyful because of the Lord’s righteousness and faithfulness, not because a praise song makes us feel uplifted. A worship service that leads us to contemplate and appreciate God’s attributes may prompt strong emotions, but we should never lose sight of the fact that it is God we worship, not the worshipful feeling.

Real praise is established upon sufficient and constraining reasons; it is not irrational emotion, but rises, like a pure spring, from the deeps of experience.*

Worth Repeating - August 1, 2017

Ecclesiastes 2: 3, 4, 10, 11  I tried cheering myself . . . I built houses for myself . . . I denied myself nothing . . . Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done . . . everything was meaningless. (NIV)

Blessed are those who, if everything they own were taken from them, would be, at most, inconvenienced, because their true wealth is elsewhere.*

Compare the life that Solomon led to Job’s life. Job lost all that he had and suffered misery. Solomon had no concept of loss or deprivation. Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.” Solomon says, “I have everything and it means nothing.” Maybe both men have reached the same conclusion from different approaches: things are worthless.

Solomon’s story could have had a happy ending if he had conducted the experiment with a different twist: try cheering someone else; build houses for others; deny nothing to those in need. He would not have concluded that “everything was meaningless” if he had looked for pleasure in using his riches to bless someone else.

Our focus is on accumulating possessions, retaining power, indulging in pleasure, and maintaining close relationships. Those are temporary goals. They are the goals of pagans and can be snatched from us in a minute.*