Looking down on others?

“How could they? What’s wrong with them?”  Ever uttered those words about somebody else? It’s quite common to get agitated about the sins of another generation, another society, while being oblivious to our own. Somehow the blemish in our own life turns into just ‘being human,’ but a similar one in the life of someone else is inexcusable.

In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees, a sect of Jews whose focus was on a strict adherence to the Law of Moses, were proud of their detailed rules for life. The tragedy of their attempts at righteousness, Jesus said, was that they managed to look great on the outside while on the inside they were an ugly mess of sordid sins!  Among Christians there can be a tendency to the sin of the Pharisees. He told them, at one point, that in their attempt to be clean they strained the gnats out of their drink but swallowed camels.

Jesus used humor another day driving home the serious point about the sin of hypocrisy. He reminds us that we need to take care of our own sins and failures before we attempt to ‘clean up’ those in the lives of others. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-5, NIV)

Too often Jesus’ words get twisted. “Do not judge,” is turned into a way to avoid accountability. Some feel that the Lord is telling us that we have no right to hold standards about the behavior of anyone else. Read the whole passage carefully. The true intent of His words is to call us to compassionate care for one another. “First take the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck.” Remember that we when quickly offer an opinion about the way another is living, we are inviting the same to be done to us. When we fail to try to understand why someone is living as they are, condemning without loving, we have a major sin issue in our own life.

The message of the New Testament is centered on redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. It’s why Jesus came. "God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment." (Romans 5:8-9, NLT)  God did not look at human rebellion and resistance and decide it did not matter. He acted in love to meet our need so that we could change. "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it." (John 3:17, NLT) After the Cross, which set us right with God, He gave the Spirit to be our ‘Counselor,’ to live in us, so that we could be changed into the likeness of Christ Jesus. Think about that.

Let’s make redemption our first impulse in a world that is broken and bleeding. We can start by receiving God’s love in a profoundly healing way in our own hearts, taking away our fear of judgment. People who are loved, learn to love. Those who are secure in God’s grace are able to overflow with grace. Instead of ‘looking down’ on someone in need to give a ‘hand up,’ they choose to walk alongside of them to help them find the way out.

Here is a word from the Word. The implications of the call in these inspired lines is BIG, asking you and me to get out of our holy houses and to let the Light of Jesus shine in places where it is darkest. "We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own." (2 Corinthians 4:5-7, NLT)  "All of these things are for your benefit. And as God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory." (2 Corinthians 4:15, NLT)

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This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

-              Public domain

Anxious thoughts about tomorrow

Each morning it my habit to open the Scripture to read and meditate. Some passages are familiar and easy to understand. Others require study and thought. Some comfort, some convict. Today, the passage in my reading was familiar, clear, comforting, and convicting! Jesus is speaking on the subject of God’s provision with an invitation to trust Him. It seems like it should be so simple, but it is not.

Here are His words.  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:25-33, NIV)

What causes you to worry? Most of us grow anxious at one time or another, wondering about the future. Will my health fail? Will my children do well in life? Is my job secure? Will I have enough money … for college, for housing, for food, for my future?  The worrying can keep us awake at night, make us physically ill, and rob us of the joy available to us in this day. You know that, I’m sure. I do, too, and still those anxious thoughts come knocking on my door from time to time.

The great wisdom of this passage is found in the last sentence:  “But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  What is Jesus asking of us?  He desires that we get our priorities straight, that we make God and His rule our first concern. Instead of trying to secure our little fiefdoms in this world, He tells us to put the Lord God in charge of it all. “Well,” you say, “He is God and He is in charge whether I ‘put’ Him there or not.”  That is true. But, we cannot know the benefits of being in His care IF we are trying to manage life on our own. Worry effectively cuts us off from the peace of God, keeps us from walking intimately with Him.

Jesus does not ask us to ignore the realities of life. He does not offer us blinders that let us live in denial and/or fantasy. He asks us to make Him LORD of it all. That is a choice we must make today, again tomorrow, and the day after that, too. With the dawn of a new day, new concerns arrive. We have a choice to make – trust God for His wisdom as we actively pursue His rule; OR try to manage it all on our own which will bring on anxiety and worry.

Are you full of care this morning? Is there a situation that resists your solution, that cause you pain, that is not what it ought to be? Trust God with it. Find a quiet place and hand it over. Take those tumbling thoughts and spill them before Him as you consciously make the faith choice to live in His reign. Will it all magically sort itself out? Probably not. Will every problem find a solution by the end of the day? No, that isn’t likely, either. YOU will change and with that change, God will be able to work in you and through you to accomplish His eternal purposes.

Here is a word from Peter, an application of the lessons of seeking God’s kingdom first that he learned from Jesus. Carry these words with you through this day, in full faith expecting to see the hand of God at work.  "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. . . . May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." (1 Peter 5:6-7,10, NKJV)

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Rock Of Ages

Rock of Ages cleft for me

Let me hide myself in thee

Let the water and the blood

From thy wounded side which flowed

Be of sin the double cure

Save from wrath and make me pure

Not the labors of my hands

Can fulfill thy law's demands

Could my zeal no respite know

Could my tears forever flow

All for sin could not atone

Thou must save and thou alone

Nothing in my hand I bring

Simply to the cross I cling

Naked come to thee for dress

Helpless look to thee for grace

Foul I to the fountain fly

Wash me Savior or I die

While I draw this fleeting breath

When mine eyes shall close in death

When I soar to worlds unknown

See thee on thy judgment throne

Rock of Ages cleft for me

Let me hide myself in thee

Augustus Montague Toplady | Thomas Hastings

© Words: Public Domain

Financial Peace

I’ll be 65 years old in a few months. The government has sent me a reminder that I should register for Medicare. Retirement is out there on the horizon. All of that makes me think about resources, lifestyle, and money! I suppose it’s common to wonder how much is enough, given the variable of not knowing if life will extend another 10, 15, or 20 years. Questions about resources are not just for people in my stage of life. Those who consider marriage wonder if they can afford to set up a home. Those who are contemplating having children calculate the cost of raising that child. Whatever stage in life, whatever choice is facing us, we can know peace in God’s promise.

Jesus teaches us about God’s provision for our needs. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Matthew 6:19-24, NIV)

Do you know the Treasure Principle?

Jesus says - our life priorities are determined by what we love most. 

One of the worst ‘first loves’ is money and possessions! I happen to like cars. Many years ago I purchased a new one. It was a beautiful red sedan with a leather interior and I was quite proud of it. Two weeks after I brought it home, while it was parked on the street, my teenage brother jumped into his old beat-up car and backed across the street right into the driver’s side of my new car. That’s life. I had it repaired and it looked good as new.  A few months later, while driving on the Interstate, a wild turkey jumped the guardrail and I hit it square in the front, crushing the grill, folding creases into the hood.  My red Mercury was not as much a treasure to me after that.

Such is the nature of the things of this earth. The economy will fluctuate, diminishing the value of your investments. Storms will come battering the house you have carefully built. Cars will gradually wear out. Fashions will change. That is why Jesus says we should invest ourselves in God’s work. Love endures. Lives that we influence for good are forever changed. A soul can be redirected by our love and service from destruction to eternal life! When we treasure what God values, our wealth cannot be stolen, eroded, or corrupted.

Paul reminds us of an accounting that we will give to the Lord in eternity. He says that the foundation of our relationship with the Father is Jesus, the Grace-giver. God invests in us and we have the privilege and responsibility of creating a life. Using the metaphor of a builder, he writes - "But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15, NLT) 

If we build a life of inferior service, are selfish or motivated by short term gain, get taken up with image, chasing pleasure – the whole of our accomplishments will disappear in a puff of smoke! If we love deeply, worship honestly, give generously of our time and resources to make God’s kingdom grow – the true value of our brief life will emerge as we stand before Him in eternity.

The Treasure Principle is invariably true. What do you love most? Don’t just listen to your words, look at your choices. Your deepest love will be revealed by your daily choices.

Here is a word from the Word. Lord, give us faith to receive Your word and promise. "Peter said, “We have left our homes and followed you.” “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you, everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, as well as receiving eternal life in the world to come.” (Luke 18: 28-30, NLT)
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One of my favorite worship songs from recent times. Enjoy.

Build My Life

(A great song that points us to real faith in the Builder)

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

Holy there is no one like You

There is none besides You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

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