Honorable In The Sight Of Everyone

"providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."
2 Corinthians 8:21 (NKJV)

Have you ever seen people going to some type of meeting or convention for people who take part in role playing games, or for fans of sci-fi fantasy movies or television shows?   Often people will dress up as a favorite character to attend these meetings as that character.  In those types of conventions, everyone dressed up as some character looks fine and fits in well, but what if someone dressed that way and went to their work as a doctor or a police officer?  If they dressed the same way in both places, they would look out of place in one of those two locations.

It is one thing to live in a way where you are just trying to please people and fit in for the sake of fitting in, but it is something else to do things that do not create some kind of problem.  While we should not live a two-faced type of existence where we behave one way with a certain group of people and then another way with a different group, there is a way to live where we can fit in to whatever situation that we might find ourselves in.  If we fit in well in one situation, and we look completely out of place in another, we may need to check into what we are doing.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul said that the way he was doing things was "honorable," not just in the view of God and Christians, but even with others outside of the church.  Integrity is an important quality that every believer, and especially leaders, needs to have.  Do we have a good reputation with those outside the church, or just with the people in our church?  If we only look good to other believers, and in our church group, but not to the rest of the world, we have lost at least some of our influence with those people.  We need to do things that everyone will see as honorable and good, and not just by those closest to us.  

Every Tool Has A Purpose

"from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
Ephesians 4:16 (NKJV)

There are many different companies that make tools for different uses, but no company would make a tool that would never be used.  Every tool and piece of equipment that is made is made for a reason, there is some purpose that the tool was created for.  No successful business would create a tool that no one had a reason to use for something.  Some tools are very simple and easy to use, and some tools are more complicated.  But no matter the kind of tool, each tool has a purpose, and it was designed for that use.

Feeling useless and not having a purpose is a terrible thing, and many people today are living a purposeless life, but it should not be that way.  God has a plan and a purpose for everyone.  One of the greatest things in life is discovering the purpose God has for our life.  Once we become a Christian, we need to grow up spiritually and learn about who we are in Christ and about the plan and purpose God has for us.  As Christians, we should not live a purposeless life, because God has something for each of us to do in life.

God has a purpose for us, to help fulfill His plan for the Body of Christ and the world.  Just like every tool was created for a purpose, God has given us an ability that we can use to supply something in and to the Body of Christ, which will then impact the world.  We are God's children, He loves us, and He wants to use us to bring a supply of something to the Body of Christ and the world.  We need to get into God's Word and follow the direction of the Holy Spirit to learn who we are in Christ, what ability God has given us, and how He wants to use us to fulfill His will. 

Flight Delays And The Will Of God

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.  Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
Habakkuk 2:3 (NKJV)

More than once, for various reasons, I have had a flight delay. The flight was not cancelled, so it was going to leave the airport and arrive at the planned destination, but it was leaving later than expected.  While I am never thrilled to have a flight delay, I do not get into a panic that I will never get to my desired destination, I know that what is happening is only a delay in my eventual arrival.  Whenever this happens, I do what I can to make the best of the extra time I have, to keep the right focus, and be productive as possible in some way while I wait.

When things are delayed, and we do not get what we want when we want it, we can become concerned, frustrated, and even give up on ever getting what we want.  In our world today, so many things can happen so fast that when things do not happen quickly, we can become upset and wonder what is going wrong.  But while something may be delayed, it does not mean that what we are waiting for is not coming, it is just going to get to us later than we had planned and would have liked to have had it.  

There can be times in our Christian life when things do not happen as soon as we would like them to, but that does not mean that it will not happen.  In Habakkuk 2:3, God told Habakkuk that even though the vision might tarry, or be delayed, it would come.  Just because something does not happen in our time frame does not mean that it will not happen.  What God has promised us may take longer to get to us than we would like, but we can be sure that God's plan and purpose for our life will come to pass as we follow His direction and act in faith on His Word.

When Will You Be A New Creation?

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

A lot of kids, and people, have dreams about something they want to be, someday.  For example, when kids are growing up, they will talk about becoming something they want to be when they are older.  A child might say they want to be a doctor, or a singer, or something else.  But it would be very strange for a child to say they want to be a doctor one day, and then when they become a doctor to keep wishing they were a doctor.  Once a person becomes a doctor, they need to focus on being that and not just keep hoping to be a doctor one day.

When discussing Bible truths, we can see two things.  First, there are things that God has already done for us, and second, that we need to take advantage of those things and live in the reality of what God has already done.  Salvation is a good example of this.  Through Jesus, God has provided a way for mankind to come into a right relationship with God, but a person still needs to act on that.  God does not need to send Jesus back to die on the cross again, a person just needs to act on what has already happened through Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old is gone and everything has become new.  We are a new creation in Christ, right now!  We are the righteousness of God, our past mistakes are washed away in the blood of Jesus, and we have a bright future with God!  This is not something that is going to happen one wonderful day.  We need to find out everything the Bible says about who we are as a new creation and start living that way, not just wish we could be that one day.  We are already a new creation in Christ, and we have to live in that reality. 

A Family Resemblance?

"Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father?"
John 14:8-9 (NKJV)

People sometimes talk about a "family resemblance" when someone in a family looks like, or even acts like another member of the family.  Often, this is referring to something in a positive way, but it can also be referring to a negative thing.  Someone may look like or act like someone else in that family, in a positive or negative way, and that will make other people either want to get to know that family or avoid them.  Based on something one person does, it can make their entire family seem more or less appealing to others.

When people hear us and see us do things, they will often associate our behavior with who we are connected to: our family, our place of work, and even our beliefs.  We are either a good reflection of who we are connected to, naturally and spiritually, or we are a bad reflection.  We should never do or say things that would make anything we are connected to look bad, and that is especially true with what we believe.  Christians can sometimes do and say things that make a relationship with God and Jesus look like something much less than it really is, and that should not be.  

In John 14, Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father.  Jesus said to Philip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father."  Jesus did and said the same things as His Father, there was a family resemblance, and what Jesus did and said made other people want to get to know His father.  What about us?  When people hear us and see us do things, are they hearing and seeing our Heavenly Father?  Is there a "family resemblance" between us and who we are related to spiritually?  There should be.  Our life should be a reflection of our spiritual Father, and encourage others to get to know Him and His Son Jesus.

Don't Just Hear It, Do It, Use It

"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk and not solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
for you are still carnal.  For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?"
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NKJV)

Having something is one thing, but doing something with what you have is another.  Whether it is some device, a skill, money, or something else, just gaining that thing and having it is only part of the picture.  You could get or be given something very important, exactly what you need, but if you never make use of it, then that thing is wasted.  Some people think that if they could only have this thing or that thing it would make a big difference in their life, but once they had that thing, they would still have to put it to its proper use.

The Bible is clear that we not only need to hear God's Word, but we also need to put it into practice.  God told Joshua to meditate on the Word and do the Word (Joshua 1:8).  In Deuteronomy 29:29, it says that the things that have been revealed to us are the things we need to do.  And in James 1:21-25, we are told to receive and do the Word, and that those who do the Word will be blessed.  So, we can easily see that we have to know God's Word and act on it.  Once we have heard God's Word, we then need to do what we have heard.  

The Apostle Paul had a great understanding of what God did through Jesus, and Paul spent his life as a Christian teaching others about that.  Paul told the believers at Corinth that he could not talk to them as spiritual people, but carnal.  The Corinthian believers had the Word, but they were not acting on it and making it a part of their life.  We need to read, study, and hear good teaching about God's Word, but then we still need to put it into practice.  If we don't, then we will not live in the blessings of God as we should, and we are in danger of living a life contrary to God's plans and purposes.

Personal, Or Professional Problem?

"But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!" 
Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called the place the Rock of Escape."
1 Samuel 23:27-28 (NKJV)

There is a difference between business and pleasure, personal and professional things.  It can be that a person's business, their profession, is something they thoroughly enjoy, but there is still a business aspect to their work that does not allow things to become just an entirely personal activity.  But, if someone loses sight of the professional side of their life because of a personal issue with someone else, or a personal problem of their own, that can take away from the effectiveness they should have in their profession.

As believers, our main focus should be on our relationship with God and spiritual growth, which enables us to be an effective part of the Body of Christ.  It is vitally important for us to find the purpose God has for us, and understand the plan He has for us to fulfill that purpose.  But we have an enemy, the devil, who will do everything he can to hinder us from understanding God's plan and fulfilling it.  The devil will try and keep us ignorant of what God has planned for us, and if this fails, the devil's secondary plan is often to create personal problems to distract us.  

Saul was the first king of Israel, but he had some problems.  Saul became jealous of David, which clouded Saul's judgment, causing him to lose his focus on God's plan for his life.  In 1 Samuel 23, while Saul was pursuing David, focusing on this personal issue, the kingdom was in peril as the Philistines invaded the land.  The same thing can happen today if we allow personality issues, jealousy, or something another person has done to distract us from doing what God has called us to do.  We need to keep our focus on God's plan, and not allow personal issues to get in the way of our doing the will of God.

Given To Me, For You

"For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - 
if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,"
Ephesians 3:1-2 (NKJV)

One of the first jobs I ever had was delivering auto parts for an auto parts store.  Different places would call our store to order various parts that they needed to work on cars.  Then I would get those parts from our inventory and deliver them.  My job was not just to get the parts that someone else needed and keep them for myself, those auto parts were needed by other people to be able to do the work they were involved in.  The only reason I had the parts was to give them to someone else, not to keep them for myself.

The Bible shows us that Christians make up the Body of Christ, and that each part of the Body has something to supply that contributes to the overall operation of the Body.  All the parts of the Body of Christ are connected and have to work together.  God gives each of us a grace, a gift, that we need to use to supply something to the Body.  As each part gives what it has to supply, the entire Body benefits, and if some part of the Body of Christ would somehow withhold what it should supply, there would be a problem in the Body.  

In Ephesians 3, Paul talked about how God had given him grace, a gift, and that God had actually given it to him for the benefit of the people of Ephesus.  In the same way, God gives each of us a grace gift.  One of the goals in our life is to discover and develop the grace, the gift, the ability, that God has given us.  We need to not only recognize the gift that God has given us, but we must also understand that what we have been given, was given to us for others.  The grace, the gift, the ability, that God gives us is meant to be used to help other people and not just kept to ourselves.

Where Is Your Focus?

"Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin.  But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."
1 Samuel 17:45 (NKJV)

What you focus on and what has your attention is very important.  You might be driving a car, but if your focus is on something other than the road, you can have a serious problem.  You might have a deadline for a project to be done where you work, but if you are focused on planning your vacation instead of working on the project, you will likely have trouble.  It could be that what we are paying attention to is really not the most important thing, so we need to be sure we understand what is important and focus on that.

For the Christian, spiritual realities are more important than our natural reality.  This does not mean that our natural situation does not exist, or that it is not something we should be aware of, but the spiritual side of our situation is what we need to be focused on.  In our life, generally speaking, and in specific situations, we need to look past the natural reality and focus on the spiritual side of things; we need to know what God and His Word have to say about our situation, and we need to put our attention on that.

One of the things we can learn from the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, is that David was victorious because he focused on the spiritual side of things, while everyone else was focused on the natural side.  David recognized that Goliath was defying and fighting against God, but Saul and the army were looking at Goliath's size and listening to what he said, rather than focusing on God and what He said.  David succeeded because he looked past the natural situation and focused on the spiritual side of things.  God is on our side, and no matter how big the "giant" that we face is, by focusing on God and His Word, we will win.

Give Or Get?

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
Luke 6:38 (NKJV)

Christmas is a favorite time of year for most people, because that is when they receive gifts.  But, while everyone likes to receive something, not everyone is quite as excited about giving something.  Most people do not get excited about Christmas because it is an opportunity to give something, but it is all about getting something.  There is a biblical principle here however, that is seen in the natural world, that to get you first have to give.  Getting something is great but giving something is actually a key to getting something.

The principle of sowing and reaping, giving and receiving, is seen throughout the Bible.  Unfortunately, many people have reduced this to just a monetary situation where someone talks about giving money in an offering, or helping someone by making a donation for some cause, and this has sometimes clouded the true nature of this principle.  What most people do not understand is that the principle of sowing and reaping, giving and receiving dominates much of our life, often without our realizing it.

In Luke 6:38, Jesus talked about giving and receiving, and while He was not specifically talking about money, this principle does work with material things.  Too often we only think about what we can get, without looking at what we can give.  What if everyone in a church, family, relationship, or on a job, looked for ways to give and help others instead of just getting something?  What would happen is that these situations would improve and everyone would reap benefits.  If we really want to be blessed and have what we need, we should first focus on giving, not getting.

Who Are You?

"Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God."
Romans 1:1 (NKJV)

We all have various forms of identification.  We might have a passport, a driver's license, a library card, or even a membership card to some store or organization.  When you go to different places, you need a valid form of identification.  For example, when I travel to different nations, I cannot show them my library card, which is not a valid form of identification outside of the library.  Although I may really like my local library, my library card is not my main form of identification, it is a secondary form of identification.

Knowing who we are is very important, and who we are is more important than what we do, especially as Christians.  The first and most important way we need to identify ourselves is in our relationship with God, not what we do for God.  To be someone that fulfills the calling of God and is a help to other people, we need to first develop in our relationship with God.  People can have problems if they focus more on what they do for God than they do on maintaining a strong relationship with Him, because doing what God has called us to do starts with our relationship with Him.

In the letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul first identified himself as a "bondservant" of Jesus Christ.  Then, after that, he talked about what he had been called to do.  Paul correctly identified himself first of all based on his relationship with God, not on what God had called him to do, his ministry work.  Just like Paul, we need to put our identity in Christ first.  What we are called to do is not as important as who called us to do it.  We are first of all children of God, then servants of God.  That is where it starts, and what we do for God grows from that.

Who Do You Give The Ball To?

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
But God be thanked that though you were slaves to sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered."
Romans 6:16-17 (NKJV)

Soccer is played around the world, and it is a relatively simple game.  The goal of soccer is for one team to use the ball to score more goals than the other team.  But, what if only one team was able to use the ball?  The result would be that the team with the ball would score all the goals and win the game.  It would be foolish for the team without the ball to wonder why they lost the game, because obviously they never had the ball.  Whoever is given the ball, whoever controls the ball, will always win the game.

We all have choices in life about what we do.  And, while this is true, there are still some Christians who believe that God is in control of everything.  But, if God was in control of everything, then the Bible would never tell us that there is a right way and a wrong way to live our life, we would never be told to resist the devil, and there would be no point to the encouragement for believers to walk by faith and not by sight.  The truth is that we all have choices in life, and what we choose will have a major impact on the life that we live.

In Romans 6, Paul said that we should not allow sin to reign in our life.  Paul also said that whoever or whatever we yield to will become our master.  Just like in a soccer game, the team that is given the ball will score the goal.  In the same way, spiritually, whoever we "give the ball to," who we yield ourselves to, will become dominant in our life.  We can yield to God's direction and guidance of how to live our life, or to the wrong attitudes, actions, and desires.  Who we yield to is who we give the ball of our life to, and that is who will have dominance in our life.

Stay In Your Lane

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

One thing that is very important while driving is to stay in your lane.  Although there may be times you will change lanes while you are driving, generally you need to stay in your lane.  The same concept is true in many events in track and field, where each runner needs to stay in their assigned lane during the race.  If you cross over to another lane while you are running, you could be disqualified, and if you move into another lane while you are driving, you could have an accident.  The best thing to do is to stay in the lane you are traveling in.

God has a plan and purpose for every person, and in the Bible this is sometimes compared to a race.  A race is a specific course that is followed by someone to reach a desired destination.  In our individual race, as a part of the plan that God has for our lives, there are things we are called to do, and there are things other people are called to do in their race.  We need to understand the race we are called to run, and encourage others in their race, but we should never judge anyone for the race they are running, just because it is a different race than ours.

Hebrews 12:1 talks about the race that is set before us, which is talking about the plan that God has for us.  It is our race, that is set before, in front of, us.  My race is what I need to run, and your race is what you are called to run.  In God's plan and purpose for our lives, His will is unique for each of us and the course of our life, so each person's race will look different than someone else's.  To successfully run our race, we need to stay in our lane and do what God has called us to do, and not get into the lane, the calling, that God has for someone else.

Walking In Love - Are You Keeping Score?

"does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;"
1 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)

Have you ever met someone who remembers the score from some sporting event, or the last time their team played a certain opponent?  Then, the next time that important type of game comes up, or when the other opponent is mentioned, that person remembers exactly what happened in the last game, what the score was, and they can even tell you about specific parts of the game.  That can just be a dedicated sports fan, or it can be someone who is obsessed with something in the past.  It is one thing to be a sports fan and have a favorite team, but often past games and scores are better left in the past.

People want to remember the good things in life, and to forget the bad things, usually.  But some people will keep in mind something that someone else did, that offended them or actually hurt them, and the person who was offended or hurt will remember that thing more than they should.  Everyone has been offended and hurt by someone else, but if we are keeping track of the wrong things people have done, and in some way we are keeping "score" with exactly what happened, when it happened, and how terrible it was, that is the kind of thing that can develop into a serious problem. 

In 1 Corinthians 13:5, we see that one of the characteristics of the God kind of love is that it "thinks no evil."  The word "thinks" here, in the NKJV of 1 Corinthians 13:5, means to take an inventory, with the idea of "counting up" something, like someone would keep score in some sporting event.  If we are going to walk in love, where we are fulfilling the will of God, living in the blessings of God, and being helpful to other people, we will need to learn to forget about past wrongs, accidental or intentional, and walk in love towards others.  We need to stop keeping score and start walking in the God kind of love.

What Is Your Supply, Your Share?

"from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
Ephesians 4:16 (NKJV)

You cannot give someone something that you do not have.  If someone asks you for a pen, but you do not have a pen, then you cannot give them a pen.  But if you have a pen, you could simply give it to the other person.  But what if you had a pen in your pocket, that you had forgotten about, or what if you had something else that someone asked for, but you did not know that you had it?  If you had forgotten what you had, or you somehow did not know you had something, you would not be able to give that item to someone, until you realized you actually had that thing.

A basic Bible fact is that believers make up the Body of Christ; Jesus is the Head, we are the Body, and each person has some gift from God, some ability that they can use as a part of the Body of Christ.  But what if someone does not understand that?  What if someone only thinks some people have a gift, but they themselves do not?  If you do not understand that you have a gift, you will not use that gift.  The result will be that your part of the Body of Christ will be lacking what you should give, and that is not good.

Ephesians 4:16 says that every part of the Body of Christ has a gift, something to supply and to share, so that the entire Body of Christ will grow and develop.  But some people do not even know that they have a gift, a supply, something to share.  We need to learn who we are in Christ, and what God has equipped us to do, through God's Word, and then be led by the Holy Spirit about how God wants us to give our supply, to share what we have, so that God's plans and purposes will come to pass.  What is your supply, what is it you have to share?