Monthly Archives: December 2019

December 21; A Charge

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2 Timothy 2-4; Hebrews 1

I hope you will read Paul’s charge to Timothy and hear God speaking to you. The fact is, the time of Jesus’ return is 2,000 years closer than when Paul wrote these words. We may be 2,000 years before that blessed event yet today, but Scripture tells us to be prepared. It could be 2,000 years from now. It could be today.

This is Paul’s charge from chapter 4:

  1. Preach the Word
  2. be prepared in season and out of season
  3. correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction
  4. keep your head in all situations
  5. endure hardship
  6. do the work of the evangelist
  7. discharge all the duties of your ministry

Friend, our relationship with God has to be intentional. It cannot be mere emotion, or something we put on a shelf like a trophy. You and I need to be using our minds, keeping our heads in all situations.

In chapter 3 Paul talks about the evils of the last days and warns us about those who live lives of greed, pride, disobedience, slander… He tells us to have nothing to do with them. Why?

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires… 

Now before you men start to feeling smug here, I’ve known some pretty gullible men, too. I don’t think I’m going out of bounds to suggest this warning is for all of us. None of us are immune from the wiles of the devil.

And I can’t help but think evil is worming its way into our homes through the internet and cable TV. Be ware!

That’s why my prayer is that any who read this blog will be encouraged to be in the God’s Word every day. Reading. Studying. Praying about it. Memorizing it. Re-reading it. And obeying it. Please let God grow you and strengthen you through the pages of His precious Word. And take Paul’s charge to Timothy as your own.

 

 

December 20; Everything You Need

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Jude 1:17-25; 2 Peter 1-3; 2 Timothy 1

Do you realize that, if Jesus is your Savior, you have everything you need to make it through this life? Peter tells us the divine power of God Himself gives us everything we need for life and godliness.

Don’t miss the word, “everything.” And don’t underestimate God’s power.

But then Peter says; For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith…

I recently read an article about a woman in our town whose name is Shawn, One day Shawn noticed a very tired woman walking along the street. She stopped to check on her and found out the lady walked to work every day. And it took her three hours one way to walk to her job at McDonald’s. Shawn decided to help, and for some time picked her up every day and gave her a ride. When Shawn wasn’t able, her sister or her son made the trip so that tired woman wouldn’t have to walk to or from work.

Then Shawn did something else extraordinary. She bought a car, put it in the woman’s name, paid for insurance for two months, and filled the gas tank. She handed the woman the keys to the car.

That woman now owned a car. No strings attached. I ask you, wouldn’t it have been a waste if she never put the key into the ignition? Wouldn’t you wonder about anyone with such an amazing gift who DIDN’T use it? What if the woman insisted on continuing to walk to work, a car in her drive, gas in the tank, and keys in hand? You’d think something was wrong with that picture.

At least I would. Here’s the thing. That car belongs to the woman. But in order to take advantage of  that gift, she has to use it.

In 2 Peter 1: 5-6 Peter tells us to add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love. Then verses 10-11 the apostle says:

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Yes, God has given us everything we need, but Peter reminds us if we want to make our election sure we need to use what is given, and to grow it. What a waste it is to have everything we need for life and godliness, and not use it.

 

December 19; Be Prepared

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I Peter 2:13-5:14; Jude 1:1-6

When was the last time someone asked you to give the reason for the hope you have in Jesus? Some of you will answer that you had that opportunity yesterday. Others might have to confess it’s been a while – if ever. Why is that?

God is asking me today if people even know I’m a Christian without me saying anything. Do I stand out in a crowd by being joyful, content, kind, caring, willing to serve, truthful…? If the only thing people know about me is that I go to church, is that enough reason for them to ask me about the hope I have in Jesus? A lot of people go to church, and still have no hope.

Paul tells us to always be prepared for people to ask us about Jesus. I don’t think that just means reading your Bible and praying every morning – although I hope that is the first thing you do before stepping onto the battle field every day.

I’m thinking we prepare to share Jesus by the choices we make, the life we live, the words we say. If we wear His name, can people see Christ in us? Or do we look like everyone else in the crowd?

If people see Jesus in us, they’ll naturally want to know more about Him, because what we have with Jesus is so much better than what anyone has without Him. Do they see that in us? Are we an enigma in a world of distrust, anger, discontent, depression, and immorality? We should be.

If you call yourself a Christian I can guarantee someone is watching you to see if your hope is real. Let’s determine to prepare ourselves to show them it is, and to tell them how they can have the same hope in the Savior

 

December 18; Reputations

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Titus; I Peter 1:1-2:12

Do you consider what kind of reputation you have among your friends and acquaintances? What about the school you went to? What are they known for? How about your workplace, your neighborhood, your church? What do people believe about people who work, live, and worship there?

Should we be concerned with our reputations? Or, like some would say, “What people think about me is not my problem.”

Paul, in Titus 1 quoted a prophet from the Island of Crete who said this:

Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons… 

Ouch.

But then Paul goes on to say “This testimony is true.” Double ouch.

I used to tell my students that anytime someone said, “always,” or “everybody,” or “all,” what followed was usually not true. But Paul seems to back up the idea that if you are from the Island of Crete you are a lazy, lying, glutton. I doubt that reputation did much for the tourist trade.

In his letters, Paul will often talk about how we should live. He uses words like servant, patient, kind, godly…

And he said something in Titus 2:19 that I believe sums up why our reputations should be stellar.

…so that in every way (we) will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

He goes on to tell us to say “No” to ungodliness, to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. Why is that important? So that God will bless us with material comfort, health, and happiness? Or should we want the kind of reputation that will reveal Jesus in us, and encourage others to want Him for themselves?

If we have reputations for being liars, partiers, or having dirty minds, what about that would draw anyone to a Holy God? Using Paul’s example in his letter to Titus, what about the reputation of the Cretans would make anyone want to visit there, much less live there?

Let me suggest that your reputation is very important as you represent Jesus. Let’s determine to live lives that are genuine, that are patient, kind, grounded in Truth and consistent in our walk. Let’s have a reputation for being joyful, giving, honest, servants of the Savior so that others will want what we have through the blood of Jesus.

Have you considered your reputation? You should.

December 17; The List

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I Timothy 3-6

What is sin? Or is there such a thing? Is calling something “sin” being judgmental? Is something a sin only if it hurts someone else? Are there degrees of sin?

Well, first of all sin is anything that deviates from God’s holiness. A thought, an action, a word that isn’t absolutely holy is a sin. That’s not my definition. It’s what God has told us in His Word. And every one of us have sinned.

Sin has nothing to do with whether or not your feelings get hurt, or if you are directly effected by the wrong actions of another. But it has everything to do whether or not you’ve offended God. The Bible is clear – any time we deviate from God’s holiness, He is hurt. It grieves Him to the core.

Is it judgmental if I tell you that?

If I tell a liar his lies are a sin, am I being judgmental? If I tell an adulterer her affair is a sin, am I setting myself up as her judge?

Paul says this: “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them…” (5:24)

If some sins are obvious, there must be a list somewhere that defines sin. And you would be right to think that. God has inspired men to list obvious sins repeatedly throughout the Old and New Testaments. For instance, I Corinthians 6:9-11. In fact, Paul not only gives us the list, he offers a solution. I hope you’ll read those verses today.

I would rather take the chance of hurting your feelings by pointing out a sin, than having you spend eternity separated from God. If your sin is reaching judgment ahead of you, I’d like to stop you in your tracks, and share with you how you can be transformed. You don’t have to follow your sins to hell.

Changing the definition of sin doesn’t change the reality of the sin. Calling homosexuality normal doesn’t take homosexuality off the list. Justifying an adulterous relationship by saying you can’t help who you love doesn’t take adultery off the list. Believing that spreading gossip under the guise of “you have the right to know” doesn’t take gossip or slander off the list.

And calling sin “sin” is not being judgmental. It’s reporting the obvious.

But, Paul has some good news for us sinners. He tells us, after listing some pretty obvious actions that deviate from God’s holiness, in other words “sins,” that some who have sinned have been washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus!

I hope that is true for you. But if it isn’t, if you haven’t faced your sin and allowed Jesus to do His thing in your life, I pray you will do that today. Sin is sin. The wages of sin is an eternal death separated from God, more horrible than any of us can imagine.

I’m not judging you. Sin has judged you. The list is pretty self explanatory.

But there is forgiveness through Jesus! I’m praying for all of us today.

 

December 16; Women Teachers

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Philippians 3-4; I Timothy 1-2

I am a teacher. And I am a woman. And years ago I taught a Sunday School class of women… and men. But knowing that, my take on the subject might surprise you.

I recently was part of a conversation with some friends about whether or not women should be allowed to teach men in the church. I honestly can say I see both sides of the argument.

On one hand, Paul said he didn’t permit women to teach. On the other hand he didn’t say God gave him that order. On one hand there were women like Miriam, Deborah, and Anna described as prophets. On the other hand I don’t believe there is an instance when these women, or any other women, took part in the actual teaching of their prophecies during Temple worship. On one hand we see Priscilla teaching Apollos the truth about Jesus. On the other hand, she went with her husband to meet with Apollos privately, her teaching was not public.

On one hand we hear Paul say women should be silent in church. On the other hand, we understand the climate of the day and, in context, could interpret that as saying women shouldn’t interrupt the service by asking questions, rather than forbidding them to be the teacher. But, like one of my friends said, who determines which Scriptures we should blow off because of context, and which Scriptures should be applied today?

Besides, in the same paragraph Paul says he wants women to dress modestly without braided hair or jewelry, and he wants men to pray with their hands raised. Yet I don’t hear those things being talked about nearly as much as the phrase, “women should be silent.”  And it’s all part of what Paul is talking about in I Timothy.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think the issue is a matter of heaven or hell. Even though I spent a year as a teacher of a co-ed Sunday School class, I still prefer a man behind the pulpit. I see in Scripture that God places a hierarchy in the church, and He put men in positions of authority over women. It doesn’t mean women are less than men, or not as important in ministry. Jesus had a lot of women disciples who enhanced His early ministry by their support. I don’t think He’d describe them as less-than or unimportant.

I love teaching. And having the privilege of teaching women is such a blessing to me. If  I never teach another co-ed Sunday School class, I’d be ok with that, but I am not apologetic for teaching a co-ed class in the past. I guess I would say according to God’s hierarchy, men should teach men. But I really don’t think a man will be punished for sitting in a classroom taught by a woman.

Let me say something to men. Some of you need to step up. Sometimes, as was the case that year I taught Sunday School, the number of men willing to take on that responsibility is lacking. If God has given you the gift of teaching, you need to be teaching. Period.

And women, there are so many ways we can use our own gifts of teaching. Are you being obedient?

I pray for teachers of God’s Truth. It is a heavy responsibility. But it is also a glorious privilege. May we all, men and women, be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading not just in who we teach, but what and how we teach it. That’s the issue. I said earlier the “who” of who we teach is not a matter of heaven or hell. But the WHAT we teach is.

May God find us faithful.

 

 

December 15; Attitude Check

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Philemon; Philippians 1-2

I remember that, as an adolescent girl, I could be a bit moody. No really, I could. I could get upset over what now seems insignificant, but at the time seemed the end of the world. And I remember on more than one occasion, during one of my displays of emotion, I’d hear the stern voice of my Dad say, “Change your attitude.”

It was not a suggestion.

I hear God say the same thing to me today. I hope you’ll read Philippians 2:5-11, and do an attitude check on yourself. Paul tells us our attitudes should be the same as Jesus’.

I’ve always loved these verses which speak of what Jesus did to pay for my sins, the lengths He went to die on a cross. And these verses thrill me every time I read about the Name of the One I love.

The truth is, I have no reason to have a bad attitude. I have no reason for self-pity, jealousy, bitterness. When I get a good look at what Jesus gave up to ransom me, and I realize He never complained or regretted what He’d lost, I am ashamed to remember the times when I made a big deal of things unimportant in the light of eternity.

I don’t believe God is talking about sadness, or grief, or disappointment as being sinful. Those were emotions Jesus Himself felt. But God is speaking to me about my overall attitude when bad – or good – things happen.

Paul says IF I have any encouragement from being united with Christ, IF any comfort from His love, IF I have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and IF I have received tenderness and compassion, (I emphasized the “ifs” because of course I have received all of that and more. It’s not an “if.” It’s a definite) then change your attitude!

Time for an attitude check. May my attitude, and yours, be the same as that of Jesus.

December 14; Wrestling

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Colossians

Sometimes I run across a person mentioned in Scripture and wish I knew more about him or her. Like Epaphras. Paul describes him as a fellow-worker, someone in ministry with Paul. But Paul also said this about Epaphras:

He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (4:12)

Earlier Paul challenged us to be devoted in prayer, and combined with what he said about Epaphras, I am convicted this morning.

What does it mean to be devoted to prayer, or to wrestle in prayer? And what would happen if we Christians really prayed like that?

I’ve shared that I don’t often stop to pray. I rarely spend more than ten minutes praying at a time. And I don’t even do that every day.

But I don’t think I’m the only Christian who doesn’t pray like we should. I don’t think our world would be in the state it is in if we were all devoted to prayer, if we wrestled in prayer for each other, and on behalf of unsaved people.

I pray we will learn to pray, that we would be devoted to prayer, and not too lazy or too uncaring to stop and wrestle in prayer, crying out to God, pleading, laying bare all our longings and all our cares. God wants to answer our prayers.

But we have to pray.

 

December 13; Are You Dressed?

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Ephesians 4-6

I had a rare day yesterday where I had no responsibilities, no plans, no reason to leave my house. All day. I will confess I stayed in bed much longer than I normally do, didn’t make breakfast until 11:00, and thought: “I could stay in my pajamas all day.”

Well, I didn’t do that last one. I did put clothes on eventually, if you can call leggings and a sloppy shirt clothes. But let’s just say I would have been totally unprepared for company.

Not so today. I’m up, showered, and dressed, ready to tackle my day. Or am I?

Sure I have the jeans, shirt, shoes and socks I’ll wear to clean a storage closet out at church. I’ll stop at the grocery later, pick up some things I need for Good News Club, drop off something at the elementary school, then come home to get cleaned up and ready to go to a friend’s house for game night. But am I really prepared for the day?

Paul tells us we need to be prepared for war every day. We need to put on the full armor of God so we can stand against our enemy, Satan. We need to put on the belt of Truth, the breastplates of righteousness, the Gospel army boots, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit.

If I read Paul right, those things don’t magically appear any more than street clothes would have automatically replaced my pajamas yesterday if someone had come to my door. Getting ready for my day requires intentionality.

So let me ask you (and me), are you dressed? Have you spent time in God’s Word, spoken to your Commander? Have you intentionally asked God to prepare you for battle today? Because, friend, there will be battles today. Are you dressed for the occasion?

 

December 12; Prison Ministry

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Acts 28:11-31; Ephesians 1-2

I thought the wheels of justice turned slowly in our twenty-first century. Seems they didn’t move much faster in Paul’s day. He was arrested, sent to Rome for trial, then sat there for two years as a prisoner, waiting for his day in court.

I am reminded that Paul was truly an innocent man. What they did to him was unfair. It was just wrong on every level. But Paul didn’t let his situation paralyze him.

His prison was actually a house. His roommate was a prison guard. And Paul was able to entertain people in his prison/home. For two years Paul’s house was filled with people, and the preaching of the Truth about Jesus. For two years Paul wrote letters like the one we started reading today to the Ephesian church. Two thousand years later God’s words through Paul are still encouraging and convicting hearts.

Paul had an incredible prison ministry.

Too often I let the unfairness of life, or hardships prevent me from sharing Jesus. Those pity parties replace the joy that is mine from having my sins forgiven, and the Spirit of God living in me. Too often I let what is happening to me effect who I am, what kind of ministry I can have for Jesus’ sake. I end up letting circumstances paralyze me.

Paul didn’t make that same mistake. And I want to follow Paul’s example.

Do you think you are in some kind of prison? Poor health, financial struggles, relationship problems, situations that make life difficult as a result of your own choices, or as the victim of someone else’s?

Then ask yourself what kind of ministry you can have. Let’s not let our struggles, or the unfairness of life prevent us from making a difference for Jesus’ sake. You might be missing a fabulous prison ministry right there in your own home.