Faithful And Generous Giving

II Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15

The world is often divided into two groups of people.  Some of these are the rich and the poor, the old and the young, the thin and the not very thin.  And there are the generous and the not very generous, or the stingy.  The generous will give to help others, sometimes even when they don’t have much to begin with.  The less generous, or stingy folks want to hang on to what they have, even if they have more than enough.  Our New Testament Scripture this week comes from a portion of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  Here we read how Paul encouraged this congregation to be generous, and help other believers in need.  Let’s see what the Lord can teach us today.

During the years that Paul was a missionary throughout Greece, one thing that he wanted to do was to take up an offering in the churches that he established to help the Christians in Judea.  The Christians in Judea, in and around Jerusalem, were the first believers to come to faith in the Lord Jesus.  Why were they so particularly poor, more so than churches in other areas, like north in Damascus or Antioch, or the churches in Asia Minor or in Greece?  For one thing, practically all of the believers in Judea came from a Jewish background, a lot whose families were Orthodox or were Pharisees.  When they accepted Jesus as the Messiah many of them were then disowned by their families (many of these families being Pharisees), and expelled from their homes.  Their employers often fired them, so they lost their ability to support themselves.  Also, not that long before this letter, there had been a severe famine in the area (Acts 11:27-30).  In addition, there had been two earthquakes in the area.  One occurred during the reign of Emperor Caligula (AD 37-41).  The other was during the reign of Emperor Claudius (AD 41-54).  Due to all of these circumstances the Christians in Judea were in desperate need.

As Paul traveled throughout Greece establishing churches, he urged each congregation to remember the poor, not only among their own community, but also in other churches, particularly in Judea.  When Paul first came to Corinth and established the church, he challenged them to start a collection, as the churches in Macedonia, including those in Philippi and Thessalonica, were also taking collections.  Macedonia was a poorer area than that of Corinth, due to political and military problems there, but they were giving generously.  In contrast, Corinth was quite prosperous due to the thriving port and being a major commercial area.  Paul commended the churches in Macedonia for giving to the impoverished believers in Judea, even though they were poor, as well.  He encouraged Corinth to do equally as well.

How about our giving today in the 21st century?  Are we hanging on to whatever we have as we worry about the dismal economy in so many parts of the world?  Are we afraid to give, thinking things will get worse, and we won’t have enough for ourselves and our families?  Or are we just selfish, thinking we have rightfully earned our money, and want to spend it on things we would enjoy?  That shouldn’t be the case for followers of the Lord Jesus. When we are wholeheartedly committed to the Lord, His priorities become ours.

Some might say that they barely have enough for their own needs, how can they give to others.  The members of the Macedonian churches could have said that, but they knew that with the Lord, there is always enough to share.  The point of giving is not so much the amount we give, but why and how we give.  God does not want gifts given grudgingly.  He wants us to give out of dedication to Jesus, love for fellow believers, the joy of helping those in need, and that it is the good and right thing to do.

As children of the Most High, our finances do not depend on the world’s economy, but on the economy of God.  The unsaved world panics when the economy is bad, when the prices of food, gasoline, and healthcare go up and up and the bank accounts get thinner and thinner.  That should not be us, though.  We must show the world that we are people of faith, not of fear.  If we are faithful givers to those in need we will find out that God is a faithful provider.  No one excels more in giving than the Lord!

Living A Blessed Life

Psalm 112

When one sets out in life, most people hope that they will be successful, that they will be blessed.  This usually includes hopes that they will be prosperous with a good bank account, that they will be successful in their job and in their marriage, have plenty of good friends, and go through life healthy.  What does the Bible say about the man or woman who is blessed by the Lord, and how can one be in such a desirable position?  Our psalm for today speaks of the person that the Lord blesses.  Let’s take a look into our Scripture.

Psalm 112 opens with a word of praise to Yahweh, and then immediately declares what one must do if they desire to be blessed by Him (vs. 1).  To be one that is blessed by the Lord one must delight in His commandments.  As the psalmist continues, he states that there are many blessings available to us such as honor, prosperity, security, and freedom from fear (vs. 2-9) if we fear the Lord and delight in obeying His commands.  If one continually disobeys what the Bible says, if one tries to say that a command of God really means something different, or that it doesn’t apply for today, or if they just choose to ignore God’s Word, then they can’t really expect to be blessed by Him.  Mankind’s desire for prosperity and blessings can only come through obedience to the commands of God.

As we continue in our psalm we read that a good person, one who enjoys the Lord’s blessing, will be a generous person (vs. 5).  They freely lend to help those in need, and do so graciously, not begrudgingly, or making the other one feel bad about their need.  Sometimes wealthier people abuse others in their desire to accumulate wealth.  Developing a habit of generosity can help in eliminating that.  The fear of losing all of one’s money can be a snare.  If we are generous with what we have we show that we are putting our trust in the Lord and not in our bank and financial accounts.  The blessings the Lord bestows on His obedient children make it possible for us to give to others.  Though the unsaved may prosper, their prosperity is fleeting and will not last forever.  The blessings that obedient believers receive from the Lord will last forever because they are anchored in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another blessing that the Lord bestows upon believers who are living their life closely aligned to His Word is that we can live our lives without fear, panic, and apprehension (vs. 7-8).  There are so many fearful things happening in the world today, that we see people all over in a state of worry and fear.  They fear the bad economy and the security of their jobs.  They are afraid of wars and conflicts in various parts of the world and whether they will escalate even worse.  People fear about their health and that of their loved ones, about how their children are doing.  They also fear the deteriorating social and political climate.  However, those who fear the Lord, and who trust in Him do not need to be afraid of evil tidings.  The fear of God can lead to a fearless life.  To “fear God” means to respect and revere Him as the Almighty Lord.  When we trust God to take care of us, our other fears will subside.  A believer should not be afraid when bad news comes.  If we are, how are we any different from the unsaved?  They become filled with alarm and fear.  We have proven God’s faithfulness and we have a living hope.  Evil tidings should not put us in fear.  We know the Lord will undertake for us.

As our psalmist closes this psalm, we read that the Lord will exalt the horn of those who He has blessed, those who obey Him and give generously to the poor (vs. 9).   When the Scriptures talk about exalting someone’s “horn” they are using a figure of speech.  The horns on an animal, such as a rhinoceros, a ram, or a bull can be a symbol of their strength and power.  One does not want to be on the receiving end of any of their horns!  Typically we steer clear of them.  When God “exalts our horn”, it indicates that He is blessing us, giving us strength and prosperity.  In contrast to the righteous man, the wicked man leads a worthless existence without the blessings of the Lord (vs. 10).

After reading through this psalm, seeing the blessings the Lord will give those who obey and follow Him, or the final end of those who have turned away from God and are going their own way, which do you want for your life?  I would certainly choose a life of blessings and honor, a life without fear.  That is the reward for those who have Jesus as their Savior, and who delight in His commandments.

How Do We Treat The Poor?

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

I see them nearly every single day.  They are all over the big cities, and the suburbs.  They are out in rural areas, too, only probably not as noticeable.  What am I talking about?  I am referring to the poor and homeless asking for help.  We see them on the busier streets by the traffic lights.  When the lights are red, they will walk down between the lanes, often holding a sign saying they are homeless and hungry.  There are always one or two at a busy intersection several blocks from where I live.  I have lived here over twenty-five years, and there haven’t always been people on the street corners begging for help.  It’s only been in the last few years.  How do you feel when you see the poor and homeless in your area, as this is a world-wide concern?  Our Scripture today lets us know what the Lord God has to say about this.

This week’s Old Testament Scripture comes from the Book of Deuteronomy, the last book that Moses wrote.  Deuteronomy contains his final message to the people of Israel, right before they would cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land.  In these small handful of verses, Moses tells us the Lord’s instructions for how He wishes us to treat the poor.

The Lord wishes that His children have an attitude towards the poor that is one of warmth and generosity, giving what is necessary to meet their needs, whether they pay us back or not (vs. 8).  Right prior to our passage in this chapter of Deuteronomy Moses laid out the regulations for the “year of release”, where all debts were to be canceled every seven years (Deuteronomy 15:1-6).  That way people would not be weighed down with unending debt, especially if the lender tacked on heavy interest rates.  In today’s passage, the Lord added more about the “year of release” because He knew how hard-hearted some people might be to those who needed a helping hand.  He knew that a potential creditor might be unwilling to make a loan to a poor person because of the proximity of the year of release.  If it was the sixth year, and the next year was the year of release, that would essentially make the loan instead a gift, as little would be paid back.  So some hard-hearted and selfish people would refuse to make loans to the poor then.  The Lord explicitly condemned having such an attitude (vs. 9-10).

Why do people so often have a hard heart against the poor?  Many people conclude that people are poor through some fault of their own.  They feel that they are poor and/or homeless because they are alcoholics or drug addicts, or because they are lazy and don’t work hard enough.  This makes it easy in their minds to close their hearts and hands to the needy.  However, we are not to invent reasons for ignoring the poor.  The Lord tells us to respond to their needs, no matter who or what was responsible for their condition.  Plus, with the economy as bad as it is in the U.S. and in many other countries, we can no longer just assume that the poor and homeless are lazy drunks and drug addicts.  Unfortunate job lay-offs, ill health with sky-rocketing medical bills, an abusive spouse who takes off and leaves you with children to care for, any of these and more could be the reason that one needs to beg for a hand-out and help.

We also find some people who are so hard-hearted against the poor that they do not want them in their community because they think them unsightly, and that it gives the community a bad image.  They petition the police and city council to run them out of town.  They remove park benches so they won’t have a place to sit and rest, or put armrests in the middle of those park benches so they can’t lie down at night.  Then they turn around and go to church on Sunday and think they are a good, upstanding Christian.  Do we not remember what the Lord said He would do when He returns, how He will divide the people according to how they treat the poor?  (Matthew 25:31-46).  Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of our brothers, we do unto Him.  If we help them to the best of our ability, we are helping Him.  If we cast them off and ignore them, we are doing the same to Jesus.

Have we been blessed by the Lord with a roof over our head, enough food for each meal, and enough to pay our bills?  Most of us have that, and many have even much more.  The Lord does not want us to hoard what He has blessed us with.  He blesses us so that we might bless others.  If we want the blessings of the Lord to continue on us, we must obey Him, and work diligently to carry out His Word (vs. 10).  We are told here by Moses in our Scripture (vs. 11), and later with Jesus in Matthew 26:11, that the poor will always be among us.  Therefore we are always to remain generous.

A Disappointing Response

Mark 5:1-20

Our Gospel reading for this week tells the account that many of us should be familiar with, and that is the narrative of a man who was afflicted with many demons.  Thinking of demon possession is probably something that might strike some fear in folks, particularly if they were to be confronted by such a person.  How about if the person were suddenly set free from this demonic bondage?  Would that not bring happiness and rejoicing?  Or should that make people angry?  We would like to think that when someone finds healing and deliverance, people would be happy and grateful, however that is not what we find in our Scripture today.  Let’s take a look.

As our passage begins, Jesus and His disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee, and landed on the eastern shore, in the country of the Gadarenes (vs. 1).  The place where they landed was not at any city or village, and was a rocky, wilderness, though not too far from a village.  From this wilderness a man with many demons came out, confronting them.  As we read, this man lived among the tombs in the wilderness, and though he had often been restrained with chains, the demons gave him incredible strength to break free from the iron chains and shackles.  The demons within this man caused him much mental torment, as he was often trying to physically harm himself (vs. 2-5).

When Jesus and His disciples arrived, the demon possessed man ran out, and the demons possessing him cried out, acknowledging exactly who Jesus was, and for Him not to torment them (vs. 6-8).   Jesus demanded that they tell Him their name, and the man said “Legion”, as there were many inside of him (vs. 9).  In the Roman military of the day, a legion was comprised of 6,000 infantry men, so there was an extremely large number of malevolent and militant evil spirits possessing him.  What caused so many demons to possess him?  We don’t know for sure, however demons cannot possess someone who is truly saved.  They can oppress them, but not actually possess them.  For demons to come in and possess someone, that person has to have opened the door in some area of their life for Satan to get a toehold in.  This can occur when someone dabbles in the occult with witchcraft, tarot cards, Ouija boards, palm readings, horoscopes, etc.  It can happen when someone gets involved in drugs, in sexual deviance, or idol worship.  Demon spirits are morally filthy, and cause much harm for those whom they possess.  When someone opens the door to Satan just a crack, he will kick that door fully open and storm in.

As mentioned, the demons knew Who Jesus was, and that He had all authority over them, as they flung themselves at Jesus’ feet in absolute, unconditional surrender (vs. 6-7).  As He was casting them out, the demons begged the Lord to remain in the same area where they had been exercising their evil powers (vs. 10).  Jesus granted that, and they went into a herd of swine, which then immediately jumped off of a cliff (vs. 11-13).  Jesus felt that this man’s deliverance was worth the loss of the many swine.  He was worth it.  We are worth it.  We were worth Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross to redeem us.

The change in this man, from at one moment being possessed with thousands of demons to now being set free was instantaneous and drastic.  The man's restful condition was a strong contrast with his former restless, agitated state.  He was no longer under the control of the demons (vs. 15).  When the people of the nearby village saw this, they were not happy, they were not grateful.  Instead, they wanted Jesus to leave right away (vs. 15-17).  They preferred pigs and demon possession over the Lord and Savior.  And Jesus did leave.  He never goes where He is not invited.  It is a sad commentary when a society is more concerned about economic interests than seeing a person delivered and set free!  Those people would rather give up Jesus than lose their source of income and security.

This once demon possessed man was grateful to the Lord for what He had done, and wanted to join the disciples in following Him (vs. 18-20).  Jesus told him instead to go home and tell everyone what happened.  Jesus had greater plans for him.  He commissioned this man to be the first actual missionary.  This man did as Jesus asked, and apparently did a very good job, too, as later in Mark’s Gospel, when Jesus returned to the area, there was a large crowd who wished to hear His message.  It is very possible that many in that later crowd were there as a result of this man’s witness and testimony.

Jesus is still in the business of setting people free from what holds them in bondage and captivity.  He still has absolute power over the demon world, and they must bow to and obey His Word.  And Jesus still sends us out to tell others what He has done for us.  Jesus sent this man back to the very people who had sent Him away, those who we might feel hardly deserved His message any longer.  He still sends His message to those who are unworthy, and He uses people that we might feel very unlikely to be a witness, like a delivered demoniac, to bring it.

From A Caterpillar To A Butterfly

II Corinthians 5:14-21

We are all familiar with caterpillars, those little worm-like insects that crawl up and down plants eating the leaves and other plant matter.  Sometimes in grade school we would watch and study them as they made their cocoons or chrysalis, and later emerge as a beautiful butterfly or moth.  We wonder how, after a matter of a few weeks, the worm-like caterpillar can be transformed into something beautiful like a butterfly or moth.  There is an even more wonderful transformation that can happen, one which we will read about in our Scripture today.

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to believers within the church in Corinth.  As our passage begins, he continues with the well-known truth that all people, all mankind, are dead in trespasses and sin, and that the Lord Jesus died for our sins, in our place (vs. 14-15).  Now, all those who have personally accepted His death as payment for their sins, belong to the Lord Jesus.

Since we belong to Him, it only makes sense that we should be doing His will in our lives.   The love that Jesus had for us by dying on the cross for us compelled Paul to live his life in service to Jesus, spreading the Gospel message.  Paul’s old self-centered life was over, and he had an all-out desire to live righteously.  Believers are not only dead to sin, but alive to live righteously.

How can we be both dead and alive at the same time?  As Paul teaches here, and in other Epistles of the New Testament, when one accepts Jesus as their Savior and are born-again, their sin nature has been crucified with Christ, and they receive a new nature, one alive in Him (vs. 17).  When a person is saved, their old value systems, priorities, beliefs, loves, and plans should all change.  A true believer will have a new spiritual perception of everything.  If we still desire to cling onto our old sinful attitudes, they will stifle the fruits of the Spirit.  We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated .  We are recreated, a new creation living in union with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we continue to live in our old nature, it is futile to say that this is just the way we are.  That person died with Christ, and we are now a new creation.  What would you think if you saw a butterfly emerge from his chrysalis, but continue to crawl along the plant just like he did when he was a caterpillar?  You would want to tell him to spread his wings and fly, that he is a butterfly, so fly and float from flower to flower!  We need to allow God to complete His work in us, and then we can see what fruit our life will then produce.

Before we were saved, while we lived in our old nature, we were enemies of the Lord.  However, now that we have been redeemed, we are no longer God’s enemies, strangers, or foreigners to Him.  The Lord Jesus made it possible to be reconciled to God (vs. 18-19).  We now have the privilege of encouraging others to do the same.  We are to proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation to others.

Paul states here that believers have the position, the job of being ambassadors for the Lord Jesus (vs. 20).  We are His messengers, representing the King of Heaven to the world with the Gospel.  We are to plead with the people of the world to be reconciled to God, who is their rightful King.

As we close, let's look at the final verse in our passage (vs. 21).  On the cross Jesus did not become a sinner, as some falsely believe that this verse is teaching.  Jesus remained as holy and sinless as ever.  However, Jesus was treated as if He were guilty of all the sins ever committed, though He committed none of them.  The wrath of God was poured out on Him, and now believers are treated as if they were righteous.  God offers to exchange His righteousness for our sins, something of immeasurable worth for something completely worthless.

Have you come to the Lord Jesus, asking forgiveness for your sins, and accepting Him as your Savior? Are you a new creature in the Lord Jesus, being transformed just like a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly?   And if so, do you continue to crawl around in your old nature like a caterpillar, or are you living for God in your new nature, like a butterfly?  Let’s all be butterflies!

He Hears Our Prayers

Psalm 107

When Christians come before the Lord in prayer, we can bring a wide variety of prayer requests to Him.  This is unlike the false pagan gods from various cultures.  Those gods tended to just be associated with one certain issue.  There was a god for rain, a god for war, a god for young people in love, for sunshine, good harvest, etc.  One had to find the correct god or goddess to pray to. What if you lost something important and didn’t know the correct god to go to, or if there was even a god for lost items.  You were out of luck, because the god of sunshine or of war couldn’t help you.  However, Yahweh, the only true God, is Someone we can come to with any need on our hearts.  Our psalm for this week speaks of about six or so different needs that the psalmist used as examples of problems that people have cried out to God in prayer about.  Let’s look into our Scripture.

As our psalm opens, the psalmist tells us to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy is forever, and he encourages all believers to proclaim this (vs. 1-2).   He then gives us the first example of a group of people who cried out to the Lord in their distress, and He answered them (vs. 4-9).  Here we find people who are lost.  They are wandering around in the wilderness and have become hungry and thirsty.  People can be lost, both physically and spiritually.  Being lost, not knowing where you are or how to get back on the correct road can be aggravating, and if one remains lost, it can start to get frightening.  One starts to wander around in the hopes that they might somehow find the right road or path.  If one is lost long enough while hiking, they can run out of food and drink, plus not have a safe shelter.  We have no need to look up what pagan god or goddess helps the lost.  Believers can turn to the only true God, Yahweh, and cry out to Him for help.  As the psalmist says, He will deliver and lead us to the right way.  This is especially true if one is spiritually lost.  Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).

The second group are those who are in prison (vs. 10-16).  There are those who are in a literal prison because of something they did, and then also those who might be held in bondage because of addictions or other sins.  Whether someone is justly imprisoned, and especially if one is falsely so, the prisoner can turn to the Lord and cry out to Him in prayer.  Those whose sins have brought them into bondage can find forgiveness, help, and deliverance through Jesus, who will break their chains and set them free.

Next we look at those who are afflicted, sick, or near death (vs. 17-22).  Though certainly not always, sometimes sickness and afflictions come due to our own behavior and sin.  Whether that is the case, or these afflictions just came through no fault of our own, we can turn to the Lord in our distress, even and including when we are at the gates of death, and He will send the word and heal us.

Historically Psalm 107 has been a favorite for sailors and mariners, and our next section tells us why.  Here we see that those who are in danger when caught out in the open waters during a storm, can turn to the Lord in prayer (vs. 23-32).   As we know in life we can find ourselves in both a literal dangerous storm, or other storms, such as financial, relationship storms, and others.  Just as He did for His disciples, Jesus will calm the storm, and bring us into a calm harbor when we call upon Him (Mark 4:35-41).

Throughout history mankind has experienced severe droughts, which will then lead to famine or food shortages.  This was also an issue that our psalmist said we could come to the Lord in prayer for (vs. 33-38).  False pagan gods are useless in bringing help, but Yahweh can turn dry land into springs of water, and bring in a bountiful harvest when we turn to Him.

The Lord also brings relief to all those who are brought low through oppression, afflictions, and sorrows (vs. 39-42).  He will turn around rulers and political leaders who oppress people, and those who have no compassion for the poor.

No one is beyond God’s help or rescue.  He guides us out of the desert.  He breaks our chains, brings healing, and calms the stormy sea.  Jesus feeds the hungry and provides living water.  He releases people from chains of disability, rescues people from the grave, and calms all of our distresses.  No matter how extreme our calamity, Jesus is able to break through to help us.  He is loving and kind to those who are in any type of need.  All we need to do is cry out to Him in prayer.

Job And The Lord God

Job 38:1-11, 16-18

If your supervisor at your job comes in late to work one day, do you have the right to question him, to say “Hey!  Where were you?  Why are you late?”  Or if the owner of the company takes a day off, does he have to answer to the employees for it?  No, neither of them do.  However, an employee does have to answer to his supervisor or the boss.  In a proper and Biblically run family, the child will need to answer to his parents for his behavior, but the parent doesn’t answer to the young child.  It should be obvious, then, that God does not need to answer to anyone for anything He does, yet how many times do people, including some Christians, demand an answer or an explanation from Him?   Our Scripture for today is a response that the Lord gives to someone who kept wanting God to explain Himself and to answer him for things that had happened in his life.  Let’s look and see what the Lord had to say.

Our Old Testament Scripture for this week from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer brings us to the Book of Job.  Many of you are familiar with the account of Job, but in case you aren’t, here is a quick recap.  Job was a godly believer in Yahweh, following and obeying Him to the best of his ability.   He was a wealthy man, primarily a rancher, with ten children (Job 1:1-3).  One day Satan appeared before God, and God pointed out what a good and righteous man Job was.  Satan responded that Job only followed God because He had abundantly blessed him, and that if the Lord took away His blessings, Job would curse Him (Job 1:6-2:10).  God put Job to the test, allowing Satan to take away his wealth, his children, and his health, yet Job did not curse God.

Job did not curse God, yet when several of his “friends” came, and in their discussions with him, they told Job that this must have happened to him because he had sinned, Job began to not only angrily answer his friends back, he began to question God, wanting an answer from Him.  Throughout the majority of the book, Job and his friends go back and forth between each other, like a ball in a game of tennis, his friends accusing, and Job defending himself, including to God.

Throughout this book, Job had repeatedly called on God to verify his innocence to his “friends”.  Now God finally appears, beginning in our Scripture passage, and for the remainder of the book.  He will vindicate Job to the others, but first He brings Job to a right understanding of Himself.  Job was not as sinful as his friends had stated, but he was rather presumptive in wanting to question God.  Now God silences him (vs. 3).  The Lord proceeds to describe and give examples from nature and creation to Job, asking him if he understands the how and why of everything.  If Job did not understand the workings of God’s physical creation, how could he possibly understand God’s mind and character.

God has planned and created the universe down to the finest detail.  The worlds are held up by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3).   The oceans have boundaries, limits to how far they can go on land.  These limits are set by God Himself (vs. 8, 11).  If the oceans ever go past those limits, it will be at God’s command.

God never gave the reason why Job suffered.  He does not need to give an explanation!  God did, though, ask Job if he was as eternal, great, powerful, wise, and perfect as God.  If not, Job ought to be quiet and trust Him.

Between Job 38:1 and Job 41:34 God asks Job a total of 83 questions, none of which Job could answer.  Job must let God be God, the sovereign and omnipotent Creator, who answers to no one!  We all have questions that we would like to ask God, and it is good to be open and honest with Him.  However, we should never get presumptive with Him, demanding answers, and feeling that He needs to answer to us.  God is the sovereign God, not us.