Asking and Giving

Asking and Giving

by | Dec 1, 2013 | Forgiveness, Prayer

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Asking and giving may seem like polar opposites to us, but when it comes to asking something from God, or even giving something to Him, these actions have something in common in that they involve our relationship with our neighbor.  

Two verses in the New Testament show this fact. It’s easy to see one of them and then to think the other is just a parallel account, or a slight variation, but the two verses make two distinct statements:

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

“… if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift”  (Matthew 5:23-24).

Notice that these situations are not the same at all.  Mark 11 speaks of occasions when we are asking something from God – specifically forgiveness in this case – and shows us that we cannot receive this from God (and perhaps anything) if we ourselves are not willing to give forgiveness.   In Matthew 5, the occasion is one in which we wish to give something to God, but He makes it clear that He will not accept the gift (perhaps any gift) if we know others have something against us and we are not willing to accomplish reconciliation.

Taken together these verses show how important right relationships with our neighbors are for a right relationship with God.  In both these cases,  God does not want to accept something – a request or a gift – from someone who is estranged from another, who is holding back something from another – whether we are holding back forgiveness or reconciliation. 

In the case of our forgiving others, nothing must stop us doing this, though God understands that in situations where others have something against us we can only do our best to reconcile with them. Sometimes, others are not going to hear our attempts  at reconciliation and there is nothing we can do about that, other than to pray for them. 

Normally, however,  in our relationship with God, whether we are asking or giving, if we hold back from our neighbor, God holds back from us. On the other hand, if we are giving forgiveness and attempting reconciliation where it is possible,  God does not hold back from us in accepting  that which we are asking or giving. 

Salt and Light

Salt and Light

by | Nov 29, 2013 | Discipleship

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“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world … let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 13-16).Although Jesus’ statement  regarding being the light of the world is related directly to His disciples’ good deeds, His words at the same place in the Sermon on the Mount regarding being the “salt of the earth” do not say exactly what the salt represents.  All we are told is that it is important that salt has “saltiness” or “flavor” and if it loses that, it isn’t good for anything.

Despite attempts to explain the symbolic importance of salt in this verse as a preservative, a purifier, a symbol of righteousness,  and other things, it would seem best to simply accept Christ’s words that if the salt loses its flavor, it is useless.  This was, after all, the primary use of salt – to give flavor and make things pleasing and palatable – as we see in the Book of Job: “Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt?” (Job 6:6a). The apostle Paul used a metaphor of salt in a similar way, saying: “Let your utterance be always with graciousness, seasoned with salt…” (Colossians 4:6). This understanding of the function of salt to make something pleasing and acceptable seems to be strengthened by Jesus’  additional comment recorded in Mark:  “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50).  Here we are to be “palatable” and thus acceptable to each other and at peace.

Understood in this natural way, Christ’s words that His disciples are the salt of the earth mean that they represent humankind to God in a pleasing manner – making the world “palatable” to Him, as it were.  As the light, His disciples represent God to humanity through good deeds.   The expressions thus encompass in only a few  words the roles and responsibilities of discipleship as it relates to God and man.   Representing humanity to God and God to humanity might seem like huge responsibilities, and they are, yet we can be encouraged.  Jesus does not say to His disciples “Strive to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” He says “You are the salt and the light.”  We can always strive to better serve in these ways – and hopefully we will – but if we are His disciples,  if we have not lost our spiritual “flavor” and we have the good deeds that are part of our calling, we can rejoice that we have the privilege to function as salt and light in God’s plan.

Positive Connections

Positive Connections

by | Nov 22, 2013 | Obedience

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It’s the kind of verse that is easy to read over without noticing anything unusual about it, but Leviticus 19:3 specifically ties two of the ten commandments  together:  “Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths …” 

What do the commandments to keep the Sabbath and honor our parents have in common?  It’s not just that they are the two positively expressed commandments – there are a number of other similarities that you may find interesting.  More importantly, this isn’t just a Ten Commandments trivia question. The fourth and fifth commandments share a connection which can help us better keep them both.  Take a look at this week’s new article, “The Positive Commandments”, and see what those positive connections are.
Intelligence Test

Intelligence Test

by | Nov 17, 2013 | God, Growth

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“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”    ― Albert Einstein

“It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.”
  ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky




A cartoon I saw recently showed a youngster telling his parents “Great news, Dad and Mom – My intelligence test came back negative!”  Intelligence testing is a huge industry today, and many different types of test have been developed. You can find dozens of IQ tests online which will measure verbal, mathematical or other forms of raw intelligence.   But, as may be seen by the quotes above,  some of the most intelligent minds have realized  that unapplied intelligence is worth little, and that intelligence without action can be meaningless. 

There are a couple of verses in the Book of Jeremiah which relate directly to this: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom … but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24 KJV). 

How do these  verses apply?  The interesting thing, in terms of this topic, is that these verses constitute a very real intelligence test.  Notice the admonition in verse 24: “ … but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands…”  Here, the word “understands” is translated from the Hebrew eshkl  to “use intelligence”.   The New International Version gets a little closer to this meaning: “…  that they have the understanding to know me …”  (vs. 24 NIV, emphasis added),  but we can go one step closer to the literal meaning by saying:  “… that he uses intelligence to know me …”. Therein lies the test. How effectively do we use the intelligence we were given?

If we think about the words of Einstein and other thinkers regarding using intelligence to change and act intelligently, we see that the smartest intelligence test is perhaps not the one you may find online or purchase from some testing organization, but the test that comes to us courtesy of the Book of Jeremiah.  It’s not just asking if we “know the Lord”, however. Our score is based on how well we really come to know the character and traits of the One who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness.
A “Perfect” Storm?

A “Perfect” Storm?

by | Nov 10, 2013 | Problems

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​[Coincidentally, this blog post was written just before Typhoon Haiyan devastated large parts of the Philippines.  Hopefully, our prayers and any other support we can provide will be with the thousands whose lives have been affected by this huge storm.]
                                                

​Sometimes it’s not the storm we are expecting that hits us; but whatever the storm, we can learn from it.

​It was the weekend he said the tropical storm was supposed to hit his Gulf Coast hometown.  His email said they were preparing for a big storm.  A dangerous storm.  That storm never hit, but a couple of days later his young son was hit by a car while riding his bicycle to school. With his son hospitalized in serious condition, another storm – my friend’s own personal storm – had  arrived.

It seems that life is often like that.  Sometimes the storm doesn’t hit when it’s expected, sometimes it’s not the expected storm that hits. Sometimes it’s not that which we fear that comes upon us, it’s that which comes out of left field, seemingly out of nowhere.  It’s not the disease we fear because of family history, but a different one that we contract. It’s not the illness we are checked for, but another one that shows up in the testing.  Whatever the case, no storm feels “perfect” when it hits. Yet we learn things in storms we do not learn otherwise. 

The Book of Job is always instructive in this area. Job’s ultimate life storm was certainly unexpected and terrible, but “the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm” (Job 38:1, 40:6).  It’s a truth that we learn through our storms, the things we suffer, as even Christ Himself did (Hebrews 5:8), and that surely is the message of Romans 8:28 – that all things work together to good. This doesn’t mean that the destruction caused by storms is good, or that suffering is ever trivial, or easily discounted; but that good can come out of the storm and faith is formed and deepened in these times.

It’s hard to think about storms without remembering the story recorded in the Gospels of how a great storm came up while Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-30).  Despite the storm, Jesus was sleeping peacefully on the boat until he was wakened by his fearful disciples asking Him to save them.  “He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’” (vs. 26-27). The disciples learned something from this experience about the Son of God and how God can control the outcome of storms in our lives.

No storm that causes injury, loss of life, or physical damage is “perfect” to those affected by it. Katrina, Hugo, Sandy and many others brought great suffering, as future storms will also. Other types of storms in our lives are no different. But for the Christian, every life storm is an opportunity for God to work something within us that might not have been there otherwise.  Believing good can be brought out of the storm does not mean the storm is good, but that the One who allows the storms of life to touch us and teach us has the power, when he is asked, to calm the storms around and within us. ​