No Strings Attached

"Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves."
Acts 20:30 (NKJV)

An exchange of one thing for another where you gain something, like when you purchase a product, is quite normal; you do this with the belief that you have gained something in the exchange.  But what if you found out that what you thought was an exchange, or even something that seemed solely for your benefit, was just done for the gain of someone else?  That would not be good because what was offered to you was done so with an ulterior motive, there were unseen strings attached.

While most things in the world operate on the exchange principle of giving one thing to receive another, in God's Kingdom it should be normal for us to do something that is a gain for someone else and we receive little, if any, personal benefit for ourselves.  But, as I am sure you know, there are many people who are doing things for the benefit of no one but themselves.  This is similar to what Paul told the leaders from the church in Ephesus when Paul said that people would say things just to gain disciples for themselves. 

As Christians, and especially as ministers of the Gospel, our goal should be to teach and train others, even if that means we receive little or no direct benefit from those people for ourselves; we have to remember that God is our source.  There should never be a situation where our goal in our preaching and working with others is just to build ourselves up, or to gain something from other people. We should follow the example of Jesus and do what we can to freely give the truth of God's Word to others, for the benefit of others, with no strings attached.

Walking In Love - Looking Out For Number Two

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

While I do not know for certain if people still say this or not, there used to be an expression where people would say something like, "I'm looking out for number one".  The basic idea was that you had to pay attention to what was important to you, because no one else will.  Although there is some truth in that statement, and we do need to pay attention to what is going on in our own life, we don't want to be so self-centered that all we do is pay attention to what we need and ignore everyone else.

It is natural for us to be more interested in what is important to us than what is important to someone else, but is that always the way it should be?  We can be so concerned about what we want that we never notice the needs of other people or the things they are dealing with.  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:5, that love "... does not seek its own ..."  Well, if love is not seeking something for itself, what is love looking for?  The answer is that love looks to meet the needs of others. 

The question is, will we be like Jesus and be moved with compassion to help those around us and do what we can to meet their needs, or will we be self-centered and selfish people who believe that our main focus in life should be on ourselves and what we want?  Love does not seek its own, but love seeks to meet the needs of others, and that is a goal for all of us.  If we are going to walk in love, we need to stop being overly focused on looking out for number one, and start looking out for number two, for other people.

Imitators

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."
Ephesians 5:1 (NKJV)

Sometimes a person might imitate a celebrity or politician by acting and talking like that celebrity or politician, and some people are very good at doing that.  Once, I saw a comedian doing a very funny variation of this.  The comedian announced that he would imitate a certain person, but then the comedian just talked and acted like he always did.  The comedian did this a couple of times to get the joke across that he could not do imitations, because what he did and said was nothing like the other people he was supposed to be imitating.

Once a person becomes born again, they are a child of God.  Ephesians 5:1 says that as the children of God, we should imitate God, we should act like God.  Now, of course, I am not saying that a Christian is God or is a perfect person, but if we are God's children, shouldn't we act like Him?  Ephesians 5:2 goes on to tell us that we should walk in love, and we know God is love (1 John 4:8), so this is definitely one of the ways that we should imitate God.  Imitating God in this one area would be a great start for all of us. 

How else should we be like God and imitate Him.  Well, how would God act or what would He say in a situation? So, how can we be good imitators of God and not just act and talk like we always act and talk?  Those are answers we find as we read and study the Bible.  The more we fill ourselves with, and act on, God's Word, the more we respond to the direction of the Holy Spirit, and the more we grow and develop spiritually, the more we will be imitators of God.  Every child of God should be an imitator of God.

When Jesus Was Offended

"Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to you!"
But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
Matthew 16:22-23 (NKJV)

In the world today, it seems that almost anything a person does or says will offend someone, somehow.  While it is certainly not good to do or say things that are offensive to other people, sometimes it seems that people are expecting to be offended.  But an actual offense is one thing and an imagined offense is another.  If there is an offense, it would have to be that something was said or done that crossed the line from acceptable to unacceptable, which would also mean that there has to be a standard for what is, or is not, acceptable.

For some people, being offended is an easy thing, but what about Jesus?  We know that God is love (1 John 4:7), and Jesus came to do the will of God (John 6:38), so did Jesus ever let anything offend Him?  While it may be a surprise to some, the answer is yes, Jesus did talk about something that was an offense to Him.  In Matthew 16:23, Jesus talked about how placing an emphasis on the things of men and not on the things of God was an offense to Him.  Can you imagine that, offending Jesus?

It would be nice to think that God and Jesus are always pleased with everything we do.  But the Bible talks about living a life that is fully pleasing to God (Colossians 1:10) and Paul said that our goal should be to please God (2 Corinthians 5:9).  This tells us that it is possible to not please God, and as we saw with Jesus, to even offend Him.  We need to keep our focus and attention on spiritual things and not get so caught up in the natural side of life.  This is how we will be able to do what God has called us to do and be sure that we are well pleasing to God.

Listening, Watching, Waiting

"Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it.
Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors."
Proverbs 8:33-34 (NKJV)

For most of us, when we were children and December started, we could hardly wait for Christmas.  We awaited the day that we anticipated receiving our presents.  As adults, when you are waiting for someone you needed to see, you do everything you can to watch for them while you are waiting.  You certainly would not leave the place you were planning to meet them until they arrived, and you would put away every distraction to be sure you heard anything that signaled their arrival.

In the Bible, there are several places it encourages people who have ears to "let them hear".  This may seem strange since normally people have ears.  But that is similar to what we see in Proverbs 8 about wisdom, and how we need to listen, watch, and wait for wisdom.  Everyone needs wisdom and there are times we need more wisdom than at other times.  The question is, are we actively listening, watching, and waiting for wisdom?  Are we listening, watching, and waiting for wisdom as much as we do for other things?

God's wisdom is available to us in His Word and through the leading of the Holy Spirit.  But are we actively searching God's Word on a regular basis listening, watching, and waiting to receive the wisdom that God has for us, or do we just look for help in an emergency situation?   Are our prayers simply a monologue with God, or is it a time of our talking to Him as well as listening, watching, and waiting for what God has to say to us?  We all need to listen, watch, and wait for godly wisdom on a daily basis.

After The Fireworks

"Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord."  And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rock in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."
1 Kings 19:11-12 (NKJV)

Every year on the Fourth of July in the USA there are fireworks.  In Germany, people shoot off fireworks at midnight on New Year's Eve, and I am sure that other countries have similar celebrations.  But no matter what nation you might be in, or what event is being celebrated, there is one thing that is certain, the fireworks will eventually end and everyone will go home.  Everyone likes the fireworks, but in your normal, everyday life, you don't have fireworks going off all of the time.

Some people would like to have a spectacular event happen every day, but that is not how we live our life.  For Christians, seminars and special services are good, and sometimes we might even say spectacular.  But no matter how amazing the seminar or service was, everyone eventually has to go home.  This is like the fireworks; you don't have fireworks happen every day of your life and you don't have something spectacular happen every day in your life as a believer either.

The Bible is filled with examples of miraculous things that happened in the lives of God's people, but those things did not happen on a daily basis.  Walking in love, spiritual growth, serving God, and living a good and holy life may not be as amazing as the parting of the Red Sea, Lazarus being raised from the dead, or Jesus calming a storm; but they are all things that need to be a part of our walk with God.  Don't make the mistake of being focused on, or seeking, the spectacular and missing out on the things that make up a satisfying and successful Christian life.

What's Inside The Package?

"Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.
So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them."
Joshua 9:14-15 (NKJV)

In my family, sometimes when giving Christmas gifts, someone buys a gift, but rather than leave the gift in the box that it came in, the person puts the gift into another box.  So, when the person receiving the gift takes off the wrapping paper, they see the outside of a box that may not actually represent what is inside.  Everyone in my family knows that they have to open the box to see what is really inside of it.  No matter what the package looks like on the outside, it does not tell you what is really on the inside.

Before Israel entered the Promised Land, God cautioned them about the people who were living there, because those people worshiped false gods, and even sacrificed their children to their false gods.  But there was one group of people that fooled the leaders of Israel.  The people of Gibeon came pretending to be from a distant land.  Rather than finding out what God had to say about those people, Israel looked at what the people had and made a covenant with them; this was a mistake that caused Israel problems.

Too many people today look at the outside of something, the packaging, or the style of a thing and accept it on that basis, rather than checking into it and finding out what is really inside and, more importantly, seeing what God has to say about it.  We should never value the style or look of something over the actual content or quality of the thing.  We need to listen to God's direction and use the godly principles we find in God's Word to determine if something is really acceptable or not, instead of just accepting something at face value. 

An Important, Unimportant Thing

"But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
1 Corinthians 12:20-22 (NKJV)

If you looked at a sports or business team, you might rank who is the most important person on that team.  Or if you asked people what is the most important part on a car, you would probably have a few different answers based on what people think is necessary to make a car function.  While in a sense there may be a more important person or a more important part on a car, without the other people on the team, or the other parts in the car, nothing is going to work right.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul makes a comparison between the Body of Christ and the human body.  In the human body, everyone would agree that the heart is extremely important, but without the lungs the heart would not matter.  No rational person would say that there are unimportant parts of their body and, in the same way, no discerning believer would say that there are unimportant parts in the Body of Christ.  Every part of the human body is necessary and every part of the Body of Christ is also necessary.

Everyone knows that a pastor is important to a local church, but the person who cleans the church, works in the children's ministry, or serves as an usher is just as important and called by God as the pastor.  No matter how unimportant what you are doing may seem to be, it really is important to God and to the Body of Christ.  We all need to do our part and take our place in God's Family.  No matter who you are, and how unimportant what you do seems to be, you have an important part to play in the Body of Christ!

As Advertised

"For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV)

One of the worst things that a person or a company can do is to advertise or promise more than they can actually deliver.  If someone told you that they could help repair your computer, but then did not even know the basics of how a computer operates, it would be bad.  If a company advertised that a product could do a certain thing, but the product could not do half of what they said, they had then over-promised something.  In either case, the person or the company were shown to be untrustworthy.

It is a sad but true fact that sometimes people and companies promise things that they cannot deliver, but it is a wonderful and true fact that this is not the case with God!  What God has said and promised to us in His Word is something we can count on.  If there is something God has shown us in His Word, we can be assured that it is a statement of truth and we can act in confidence on what God has said.  The question is not if God will be true to His Word, the question is if we really believe it.

Too often people and companies over-promise on something, and we sometimes attribute these same qualities in people and companies to God.  We can easily become conditioned to think that there are no guaranties, and things are never quite what they are advertised as being.  But God's Word is not "Yes, no, or maybe", God's promises are Yes and Amen in Jesus!  God's promises are as advertised, everything God has promised in His Word is something He will do!

Wisdom For The Future

"Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days."
Proverbs 19:20 (NKJV)

When I was younger, I liked to read science fiction novels.  It fascinated me to read stories about how someone might go into the future to learn what was going on in the years ahead.  Sometimes in these stories, someone would try to find information from the future about something and then go back to the present day to try to alter the future.  Many times, because of some unforeseen situation, the people who tried to change the future would just create some other problems.

Most people would like to look into the future to have an idea what they could do now to be ready for the things that are yet to come.  As Christians, we don't need to go to some person to find out about the future, we can go to our loving Heavenly Father, He will give us wisdom for the future.  Jesus told us that God would send the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit would show us things to come (John 14:26; 16:13).  And, we have the wisdom of God's Word to be able to look into.

Being ready for the future is not about struggling to figure out what is coming, it is about paying attention to what God is telling us in His Word and following the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Too often we filter what God is showing us by what we know now, rather than realizing that God is giving us council and instruction today that will give us wisdom for our future.  We need to spend time with God in His Word and prayer, and learn to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, to recognize what God is saying to us today and to be ready for what comes in our future.

Finding The Way

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye."
Psalm 32:8 (NKJV)

Recently I took a trip, and I knew the way to go, but I was delayed because a car had broken down in the road.  A few hours later, I almost got lost because a road was closed, and no alternative route was given.  You might be thinking, "Well, why didn't you just use a map or an app to give you directions?", and that is a good question, but I had already done that.  The problem was that the broken-down car and the construction were not yet in the map system that I was using, so it could not help me find my way.

Very often, when people think about God giving them direction and guidance, they think of big things like finding the right job, knowing who they should marry, or becoming a pastor or a missionary, and these are all areas where we definitely want to have God's guidance.  However, as we are living our life, we don't want to just check in with God and get His direction when there is some big question, God wants to guide us in every area of our life.  And God wants to help us as we go and guide us all along the way.

God will give us direction through His Word and by the Holy Spirit, and as we move forward, doing what we know to do, God will guide us along the way.  We need to continually be listening to God because He not only knows the big steps we need to take, but every little step as well.  There are things along our way in life that we don't see ahead of time and we are not aware of that God will help us deal with.  As we live our life, we need to trust God to guide us, in every area and with all the details necessary to find our way.

But They Said ...

"Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias."  And he said, "Here I am, Lord."
So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.
And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight."
Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem."
Acts 9:10-13 (NKJV)

Have you ever had a disagreement with someone about what to do?  Sometimes when you talk to a person about what needs to be done, they reply, "But they said ...", referring to what someone else who has a different idea or opinion about the thing has said.  In this kind of a situation, nothing is going to get done until what you said is acted on by the other person, instead of them just listening to what "they" said about it.

When Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, met Jesus on the road to Damascus, it brought a dramatic change in Paul's life.  Paul was instructed to go into Damascus and that then he would be told what to do.  Meanwhile, in Damascus, God spoke in a vision to a disciple named Ananias to go and pray for Paul.  What is fascinating to me is that even though Ananias was hearing from God, Ananias first response to God was about what other people had said about Paul.

Have you ever seen something in God's Word, or the Holy Spirit led you to do something, but rather than just obey, you did what Ananias did and you first think and talk to God about something that someone else has said about it?  Like Ananias, we may hesitate in following God's direction for some reason, but we need to keep God's Word as a higher authority than what anyone else has said.  God's Word and the Holy Spirit give us the direction we need in life and we need to follow that, no matter what anyone else might say.

What Will You Write?

"My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer."
Psalm 45:1 (NKJV)

Today we do most things electronically, but in the past, most things were written out with pen and paper.  If you did sit down to write something, would it be normal to expect the pen to start writing on its own?  Would you stare at your pen and tell it to get busy writing, or would you start doing the writing yourself, using the pen?  You are of course doing the writing, the pen is just the instrument, the method, that you are using to write with; the pen itself is not doing anything, you are doing the writing.

David wrote many of the Psalms and it is easy to see that he was simply expressing what he had in his heart.  What David wrote was something that David was thinking about, experiencing, or feeling; David was writing from what was in his heart and mind, not what was in someone else's heart or mind.  David could not write about things he did not know, just like a pen cannot write things on its own; David's words came from David, just as our words are coming from us and not someone else.

The things we say are the things we have in our own heart and mind; our tongue is just the instrument we use to express those things.  You would not say something and then get upset with your tongue for saying it, you said it based on what you were thinking about, experiencing, or feeling.  A pen will not write things on its own, and our tongue is not just going to say things we don't allow it to say.  We all need to be determined that we will use our tongue and our words to "write" good and godly things for ourselves and others.  What will you write with your tongue today?  It is up to you.

The Start Is Just The Beginning

"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)

When I was in High School, I was involved in various running sports and we would compete against other schools.  Sometimes we would have to travel to another school for the competition; sometimes the trip was short, and sometimes the trip was long and took more time.  Then, after we arrived, we got ourselves ready for the race, but we still had to run the race, which had not yet even started.  The traveling and the preparations we did were just the beginning and the race still had to be run.

In the Bible, the Christian life is compared to several things, including a race, as we see in Hebrews 12.  The point is to run our race, which is to fulfill God's plan for our life.  But there are a lot of people who come to know Jesus and then somehow think that is the end.  Salvation and being born again is not the goal, it is just the beginning, it is just the start of the race that God has called us to run.  Our race has only begun and there is so much more that God wants us to do.

There are some things we have done to get to the point we are at now, but that does not mean we now just sit on the sidelines as though the race is over.  We should never get to the place of spiritual contentment, thinking we have arrived and now we are just living our life waiting to go to heaven.  We need to keep on running our race, laying aside anything that would hinder us, doing what God has instructed us to do in His Word and by the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Going Through The Wilderness

"Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region."
Luke 4:1-2, 13-14 (NKJV)

Over the years, I have driven through a lot of places.  There were times I traveled through some very nice places with some great scenery.  Other times, I went through places I would have avoided altogether if it was possible to do so.  But, since I did not build the roads or create the routes themselves, all I could do was go from one place to another, no matter what things looked like.  And besides, the views I had were not as important as getting to where I needed to go was.

Luke 4 shows us the story of Jesus going through the wilderness and His being tempted by the devil.  When Jesus started His journey into and through the wilderness, He was led by the Spirit as to where He went, He spoke God's Word to the devil in every temptation, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.  Jesus successfully went through the wilderness.  It even says that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit, not that His life was ruined or He needed therapy after what He went through.

Everyone likes great experiences with God, but there are times we will go through a wilderness type situation as we move forward in God's plan for our life.  We need to learn from Jesus and have the same kind of wilderness experience that He had, a successful one.  No matter what is going on in your life today, be determined to continue following the leading of the Holy Spirit and continue to focus on and speak God's Word.  That is how we successfully go through the wilderness and come out even stronger on the other side of the journey.