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Author: LC

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Published on 2 Comments on Luke 16:1-9 Focus on Eternity

Most Christians, whether they actually practise it or not, would tell you that we are supposed to give 10% of our money, a tithe, to God. We think of it as our money, and by giving 10% we are either fulfilling an obligation (like paying a tax) or we are being generous and giving to charity. Financial expert and author Michel Bell would tell you that it is all God’s money, and we are just managing it while we are here on this earth.

The Clever Steward in Luke 16:1-9 was doing something very similar. He was the manager of his master’s household and was in charge of managing his master’s finances. But the manager started acting as if he were the owner and used the money for his own benefit. The master found out and fired him. What was that manager going to do now? Who would hire him? He was used to having a desk job, so he didn’t think that his back could take doing manual labour, and he certainly didn’t want people to think he was poor, so he didn’t want to beg. He had to come up with an idea fast, and so he did. He went to the people who owed his master money, and made deals with them. He cut one person’s debt in half, and another’s by 20%. I can’t imagine that the master was going to settle for a lower amount, so I believe that the manager paid the difference. This accomplished two things. He arranged for the master to get his money back more quickly, and he also won some friends by charging them less. That meant that when he was jobless there would be people willing to help him out. His master commended him for shrewd actions. His master certainly wasn’t commending him for his dishonesty. That is why he fired him in the first place.

What does Jesus want us to learn from this? I’m sure He doesn’t want us to imitate the manager’s bad qualities—dishonesty, selfishness and pride. But the manager had some good qualities too. He was quick-thinking, decisive and focused on his future; he knew that he could make use of his money to win friends. If we were to focus on our future, it would include eternity. Jesus is telling us that we need to use our wealth in ways that will reach people for Him. Instead of spending it on things that have no eternal value, we could buy Bibles, take missions trips, or support organizations that are already working to further the Kingdom. The more people who are saved because of our use of money, the more friends we will have in our eternal home.

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Published on 4 Comments on Luke 14:26 Love or Hate?

What does Jesus mean by the word hate? It seems so harsh. Isn’t Jesus supposed to be all about love? A few of my Twitter friends and I have been reading Luke (#thebookofluke) this month, and one of them asked me about Luke 14:26. I have had the same question in the past, and probably many others have too, so I thought it would be a good idea to write a post about it.

As with every verse we look at in the Bible, we must consider the context and interpret it in the light of other scripture. Jesus certainly was, and is, all about love. He said that the two most important commandments were to love God and love others. (Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:33 Luke 10:27-28) He even told us to love our enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-31) We have also been told to honour our mothers and fathers. (Matthew 19:19, Mark 7:10, Ephesians 6:2-3) That was important enough to be one of the Ten Commandments--the law. (Exodus 20:12) Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) So why is He telling us that we cannot be His disciples unless we hate our families and even ourselves? The word here translated as ‘hate’ is a relative term. It means that we must think less of, and, if necessary, disregard our family. Now, if our family members have the same belief system as we do, and are willing to put Christ first, it may never be an issue, but if they disagree with our beliefs and our commitment to God, then we have to choose—God or family? God freely allows us that choice, but if we choose our family over Him, we cannot be His disciples.

Let’s be clear about this. Everyone, without exception, is invited to receive salvation. That is the meaning of the parable of the great banquet. (Luke 14:16-24) People were urged to come to the feast, so that God’s house would be filled. The only ones who did not come were those who chose not to. But there is a difference between accepting salvation and becoming a disciple. Do we really want to live for Jesus? Is He really the most important part of our lives? Luke 14:28-33 talks about counting the cost. Each person who undertakes to build a tower or fight a battle must count the cost to determine if they can complete the task. The same is true for us. We must decide if the eternal rewards of sacrifice for Jesus will be worth the cost of the challenges we face in our few short years on earth.

Jesus, too, counts the cost to determine if we are committed enough to be on His team. Are we worthy of the responsibilities that He will assign to us if we say that we want to work for His glory? Can He count on us to see it through to the end? When He said these words, He had a large crowd of people pressing in all around Him. (Luke 14:25) Many were probably following Him because they wanted to be healed, or because Jesus had a habit of feeding people, or simply because they wanted to see what everyone else was doing. Jesus’ use of direct language would have certainly thinned out the throng. We know that none of them were willing to stick by Him when He faced death; they all fled. (Mark 14:49-50) If we are to be Christ’s disciples, we have to be willing to give up everything else and put Him first. It is your choice to make.

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'Tis the season of cookie exchanges, and I'm listening to Christmas carols as I get ready for one. I have a lot of Christmas CDs, but this year I have a new one--The Heart of Christmas by Matthew West. There are some traditional Christmas songs on it, but also some that he has written. One of them is called "One Last Christmas" which is a sad story about the loss of a child. The parents however have turned it into a story of hope for others who are facing similar situations by raising money for the hospital that treated their son. We celebrate so many blessings at this time of year, whether consciously or unconsciously, that we really need to consider giving to those who are hurting or are less fortunate. Acts 20:35 reminds us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Please listen to Matthew West's song and consider giving to St. Jude's or a hospital in your area or any other charity that helps people in need. You can purchase his CD at his website or, particularly if you are in Canada, by giving a donation to another worthy cause at FullCircleTV.com

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Fair Disclosure: I receive no payment of any kind for this recommendation.

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Published on 4 Comments on Malachi 4:2 Hey listen! The celestial beings are saying something!

This being the Christmas season, we’ve been singing Christmas carols at church. And like all good contemporary churches, the words are put up on a screen at the front of the sanctuary. We don’t even have hymnals, so that isn’t an option. Occasionally there are typos on the screen, and I’ve come to accept that. After all, no one is perfect. There is one typo however, that comes up at Christmas time, that I’m sure the person typing thought was right. It is in the carol, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! written by Charles Wesley in 1739. He wrote more than 6000 hymns in his lifetime, that were theologically sound and full of doctrine.

Interestingly, Charles Wesley didn’t take kindly to people changing the words of his hymns when they reprinted them. In one of his hymnals he wrote, “I beg leave to mention a thought which has been long upon my mind, and which I should long ago have inserted in the public papers, had I not been unwilling to stir up a nest of hornets. Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honour to reprint many of our hymns. Now they are perfectly welcome to do so, provided they reprint them just as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them, for they are really not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse. Therefore, I must beg of them these two favours: either to let them stand just as they are, to take things for better or worse, or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page, that we many no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or the doggerel of other men.”

The verse I'm referring to goes like this:

Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Hark! The Herald Angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Did you figure out what word I’m talking about? Sun. I’m sure that many of you thought that it should read Son, didn’t you? You certainly wouldn’t be alone. If you were to Google this carol, you would find that Son beats out Sun by a ratio of about two to one on lyrics websites. Son seems to be the more logical choice, since we are talking about the birth of the Son of God. I’ve actually had a pastor tell me that Sun is a typo. But it isn’t!

The term Sun of Righteousness comes from Malachi 4:2. It is part of a divine revelation from God concerning the Day of Judgement. (Malachi 1:1, Malachi 3:16-18, Malachi 4:1) A time is coming when evil will be abolished, and all the arrogant evildoers, those who chose not to believe in God, will be burned to ashes. But for those who respect God, for those who have accepted His gift of love, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. It is figurative language, with a parallel between the controlled burning of the furnace and the Sun. The burning furnace that will consume the wicked will bring destruction, but the Sun of Righteousness will bring warmth and healing. Like the centre of our own solar system, the Sun brings light and life.

Perhaps in these days of tolerating everyone’s beliefs, it makes people uncomfortable to talk about what will happen to those who will not accept Christ. I agree that it isn’t very pleasant to think about, but that does not mean that it won’t happen. God is a holy God, and the time will come when He will no longer tolerate those who do not trust in Him. He has made His existence and power very clear, (Romans 1:18-24) and He has given us the choice, but we must not kid ourselves about what the consequences of our choices will be. This is why the herald angels sang, “Glory to the newborn King!”

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Published on 4 Comments on Luke 9:26 That’s A Lot Of Pressure

When you think of peer pressure, do you think of what children or teenagers go through at school? They often encounter pressure to do things that under normal circumstances they would never consider doing. Or how about a college student away at school being pressured to take a drink or drugs so that they can make some new friends? Those are the kinds of pressure that come to mind for me when I hear the term, but peers can pressure people to do good things too—to participate in team sports so you can have fun (even if you hate team sports), to be part of a group that is helping others, or even just a group for social reasons.

Today, I want to discuss a kind of peer pressure that has been on my mind for quite some time. If you are in the habit of forwarding e-mails, or sharing Facebook posts, you may have encountered this as well. Very often at the end of a touching or inspiring e-mail, the recipient will be told to forward it, and remember that if you are ashamed of Jesus and His words, He will be ashamed of you too. (Luke 9:26, Mark 8:38) What purpose does saying this have? Only to make the recipient feel guilty or afraid and pressured to forward the e-mail on. Is that really necessary? Is it that important to share the e-mail. If the message is inspiring enough it would get shared anyway; I often get the same ones from multiple sources.

In Luke 9:23-25 Jesus told His followers that in order to follow Him they would have to take up their cross daily. They would have to put Jesus ahead of themselves in everything they did. (Philippians 2:8-11) They would have to serve God, not money. (Luke 16:13) They would have to love their neighbours as themselves. (Matthew 19:19) They would have to pray continuously with thanksgiving. (I Thessalonians 5:17, Philippians 4:6-7) They would have to endure suffering with grace, and wisdom. (II Timothy 2:3, I Peter 2:19-20, II Timothy 4:5, Hebrews 10:32-36) They would have to rely on His strength. (II Corinthians 12:9) Jesus’ followers then needed to be willing to proclaim Christ in the face of physical persecution and even death, and that is still true for many Christians around the world today. There are many more important ways that we can proclaim Him that don’t require sending unwanted, guilt-inducing e-mails to our friends.

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Published on 2 Comments on I Peter 3:3-4 Inside Out

I’ve spent a lot of time with teenagers over the years, and without wanting to stereotype or say that all teenagers fit into the same category, I would say that generally they are trying to be accepted, to fit in and to know that people like them. (Perhaps those feelings don’t disappear when we leave the teenage years behind.) I have known a lot of teenage girls especially who have tried to impress people by the clothes and make-up that they wear.

I Peter 3:3-4 instructs us not to focus on external beauty, but on the condition of our hearts. This passage was specifically addressed to wives of unbelieving husbands, but I think that it applies to everyone. Our inner beauty will shine through as long as what we wear to enhance our outer beauty doesn’t speak more loudly. Peter was not saying that we should dress in rags and take no consideration of our grooming (because that would speak loudly too); he was warning against being outrageous and drawing attention to our physical features. I Samuel 16:7 tells us that people look at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. It is our hearts that He is concerned with, but the condition of our hearts is displayed in our words and actions, including the way we dress.

I think parents really need to focus on open communication with their children and teaching them to be modest, sincere and pleasing to God. And they need to do it before the influence of the world tells them otherwise. Henry Winkler, as his character Arthur Fonzarelli, in the old sit-com Happy Days, once said, “I only got one thing to say to you Shortcake. You put out an advertisement, someone is going to answer that ad.” In Romans 12:1-2, Paul said that instead of selling out to the world, we should make our bodies a living sacrifice—alive, holy and pleasing to God.

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Published on 3 Comments on Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 The Value of Friendship

I belong to a book club/Bible study group made up of a dozen or so ladies ranging in age from about 35 to 75. We encourage each other, and help each other out by sharing from our wide base of experiences, as well as with practical things like painting and kitchen duties. And we laugh. A lot. These ladies have become very dear friends to me, and I look forward to and treasure our times together. It has never mattered what book we chose to read; I attend because I value their friendship.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, a king known for his wisdom, laments the meaninglessness of almost everything, but in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, he promotes the benefits of companionship. Life is better with a friend or two. Labour is easier. Some tasks are just too difficult, even for a strong, independent person to do alone. If one gets hurt or into a bad situation, another is there to call for help. If they are travelling through the wilderness, as many would have in Solomon’s day, they can huddle together to stay warm. Today think of being in a stranded vehicle on an isolated highway in the winter. And, perhaps, most important of all, they can protect each other from their adversary. We do that in our group. We help each other to see how the enemy, Satan, is attacking our souls, and we stand together on God’s word, and through prayer, to fight back. Like a three-stranded cord, we are stronger together.

In the beginning, when God created each aspect of the universe, He declared it good. The first thing that He declared not good was that man was alone. (Genesis 2:18) So He created a helper suitable for him. Galatians 6:2 instructs us to bear one another’s burdens, and Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us to not give up meeting together. We were made for community. George Eliot described a best friend as a “well-spring in the wilderness”, an oasis. Take time to cultivate your friendships. All other striving is meaningless without them.

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Well here we are again December. Sometimes the days and months seem to fly right by, and sometimes they seem to move so slowly. The fact is the length of a minute, day or week doesn’t change; it is all about our perceptions and expectations. Do you remember when you were younger--or maybe not so much younger--waiting for Christmas? You had asked for something you really wanted, and you could hardly wait until Christmas morning to see if Santa / a parent / a sibling… had listened to your request.

The Israelites had been waiting for not weeks or months, but years, centuries even, for the Messiah who had been promised to them. As a matter of fact, God gave them a hint in Isaiah 7:14, and it was still about 700 years before the promise was fulfilled. As I said in my last post, waiting can make you doubt. Some of the Israelites may have even forgotten what they were waiting for. But a man named Simeon didn’t. (Luke 2:25-32) He was very devout, and he was waiting patiently for the Lord to reveal His gift, the Messiah. He had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before he died. (Luke 2:26) Just as an aside: isn’t it a good thing that Simeon recognized when the Holy Spirit was speaking and then listened to Him? That is what brought Simeon to the temple the day that Mary and Joseph arrived with Jesus. The Bible doesn’t tell us how old Simeon was, but it does tell us that now that he had seen the Messiah, his life purpose had been fulfilled. He was ready to depart from this world. (Luke 2:29)

The people of Israel had been waiting an incomprehensibly long time for their Messiah to be revealed, and many of them, like Simeon, remained faithful to the task. The very same Messiah is here knocking at our door, and all we have to do is open it and let Him in--no waiting required. (Revelation 3:20) It can be Christmas morning for us at any time. All we have to do is accept the gift.

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Recently a friend of mine asked this question on her Facebook page: How big is the gap between the life you're living and the one you want to be living? I wonder how many people are truly living their dreams. Perhaps some have achieved earlier dreams and now they want something more, while others are still struggling to reach their desired milestones. The truth is that there is always something getting in the way of our dreams, and we have to find our way around it if we want to succeed.

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I often include Jeremiah 29:11 as a reference in my posts. I do so because it is a verse that clearly states that God wants what is best for us. He is not an ogre up in the sky playing games with our lives. He knows that we have dreams because He is the one who placed them within us, but He also has a higher purpose.

The people of Israel certainly didn’t dream of being exiled to Babylon, and they didn’t intend to stay long if they could help it. Jeremiah the prophet sent them a letter to say that they would be there for 70 years, so they might as well settle down, build houses, plant crops and do their best to help the Babylonians to be prosperous. When their time of exile was over, God would restore them to their land. (Jeremiah 29:5-7, Jeremiah 29:10)

Seventy years! Can you imagine how many doubts about God would run through your mind in that amount of time? God planned to give the exiles a future and a hope, prosperity and not harm, but these plans were not immediate. And they were part of a bigger plan that applies to us too. God’s bigger plan was that the people of Israel would learn to turn to God, to seek Him with all their heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-14, Deuteronomy 30:9-10)

So what should we do when we encounter obstacles on the way to our dreams? I think the most important thing we can do is to remember God’s higher purpose—we need to trust and rely on Him. Then I think that we need to continue to work to make the best of our circumstances, and to help those around us, as Jeremiah instructed the exiles to do. In time, we will get past the obstacles and back on the road to our dreams.

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Some people are insensitive. I’d like to believe that they aren’t that way intentionally, but on the other hand, it would be nice if they intentionally tried not to be. Unfortunately, sometimes, because of their own expectations of how things should be, they say hurtful things to people who aren’t meeting their expectations. Now, I’m not talking about reproving someone in love because they have done something unbiblical; I’m talking about things like criticizing people for being single or not having children. Somehow we are all expected to grow up, get a job, get married and have a family, in that order. It doesn’t happen that way for everyone, and so, hurtful, insensitive comments make us think that we’re doing something wrong or that we are in some way not good enough. Satan loves to plant the seed of worthlessness in us and then water and fertilize it to make it grow. This is far from the way God sees us.

Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and that His purpose for us is to become holy. The larger context (Ephesians 1:3-14) tells us that in Christ we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. (Ephesians 1:3) We are predestined and adopted according to the pleasure of His will. (Ephesians 1:5) He has freely bestowed His grace on us. (Ephesians 1:6) We have been redeemed and forgiven through Christ’s willing sacrifice for us. (Ephesians 1:7) Because of this we belong to God. (Ephesians 1:11) We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit who gives us the assurance of our redemption and inheritance and will be with us until the time when all of this is completely fulfilled.

There are many other places in scripture that tell us of the value we have in Christ.

We are:
- the salt of the earth and the light of the world. (Matthew 5:13-14)
- more valuable than the birds that God cares for. (Luke 12:24)
- heirs of the prophets and of the covenant. (Acts 3:25)
- called. (Romans 1:6-7)
- co-heirs with Christ. (Romans 8: 17)
- God’s co-workers. (I Corinthians 3:9)
- God’s temple and bought at a price. (I Corinthians 3:16-17, I Corinthians 6:19-20)
- part of the body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:27)
- a letter from Christ. (II Corinthians 5:20)
- children of God. (Galatians 3:26)
- heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:28-29, Galatians 4:6-7)
- children of promise. (Galatians 4:28)
- members of God’s household. (Ephesians 2:19-20)
- children of light. (Ephesians 5:8-10)
- chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, and we are called out of darkness into His wonderful light. (I Peter 2:9)

Don’t let Satan keep you in the darkness. The next time someone says something hurtful to you, focus on what God thinks of you instead.