Read posts that help us learn to live out our faith in real life

Is Anyone Left Out?

By Paula

Jesus said to love God.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37.

He said we should love fellow believers.

“[L]ove one another; as I have loved you.” John 13:34

Jesus said to love our neighbors.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

In Luke in the story of the good Samaritan, He explained our neighbors included anybody we came in contact with.

He also said to love our enemies.

“[L]ove your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44

See who Jesus mentioned? Is anyone left out?
Do we leave anyone out?

And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 1 Kings 17:7-9

If you’ve read the Old Testament or remember your Sunday school lessons as a kid, you’re probably familiar with the story of how God took care of Elijah. Tucked in that account are several lessons about God’s provision.

1 Kings 17 opens with Elijah announcing to King Ahab that a drought was coming as a judgment for the idolatry in Israel. After he delivered the message, God hid the prophet and provided for him by commanding ravens to bring food to Elijah each morning and evening. Ravens won’t even take care of their own young, but at God’s command, they brought food– real food and not the rot they usually eat– to nourish the man of God.

God’s provision sometimes comes from unlikely places.

After a while, the brook that had been Elijah’s source of water dried up. Elijah had to have known this was coming. He must have watched the trickle shrink each day all while waiting for God to intervene, to make the brook flow or to make it rain. It didn’t happen.

God’s provision doesn’t always come according to our plans or on our schedule.

Instead, God told him to go to Zarephath. Eighty-five miles away. Think of that. Israel is desert-ish. Elijah is going to hike 85 miles. In a drought.

God’s provision isn’t an always an easy handout.

The Bible doesn’t record how God took care of Elijah on that trip, only that the prophet arrived safely. In Zarephath, God commanded a widow to provide for the Elijah, only it seems God hadn’t told her that plan. In fact she’s more shocked than Elijah. She explained she had enough food for one final meal and then she and her son would starve like everyone else. Elijah asked her to feed him first, and she did. God honored her faith and took care of all of them for the duration of the drought.

God’s provision for us blesses others.

How has God’s provision for you proved these lessons?

Key Ingredients for Growth: Light

By Paula

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

We’re looking at the things a plant must have in order to grow — like good dirt, water, light and protection — and thinking about how that applies to us. We started off with the good, rich dirt and how our church can be that nurturing environment. But if the dirt isn’t regularly infused with water, that is the word of God, we will dry out very quickly. That’s not all we need. If the rich dirt is well-watered but shaded, the plant will lose strength and die. We need light for growth.

As we think through these, it’s important to remember that this is an analogy and won’t have a one-to-one correspondence between picture and reality, and we are likely to see a lot of overlap. The point still stands that there are some critical things that we need to grow as believers.

The theme of light is woven throughout Scripture. It is associated with God, His presence, and His glory. Certainly we have no life without God. He first formed Adam. Job 33:4 affirms this. So as we saw with water, we cannot grow until we are first made alive, and God is ultimately and solely responsible for giving us life.

Light is also used symbolically and metaphorically in Scripture and those ideas are the ones we will draw from for our study.

Light is understanding
In the opening chapter of the book of Ephesians, Paul mentions that he prays regularly for the church there, and this is what he prays: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power Ephesians 1:17-19

In other words, Paul prays that God would help the believers in Ephesus understand:

The HOPE that comes with being called to salvation in Christ Jesus
The RICHES and GLORY of the inheritance the believers will receive.
The EXCEEDING GREATNESS of God’s power working on our behalf, transforming us to be more like Christ

As those realities sink in, as they take hold of our hearts and our minds, the only response is a deeper commitment to live for Christ, that is to live in obedience and honor Him in everything. That light then shines into the darkness around us.

Light is righteousness
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7

We must live a different, distinct lifestyle from the rest of the world. Our conversation, our conduct, our compassion, our discipline, our work ethic, our generosity, our patience must set us apart from the standards of the culture. We must be distinguished by the active good that we do more than the evil we oppose. (And I’m not saying don’t oppose evil. Of course we oppose evil. But if the only thing the body of Christ is known for is what we are against, we have a problem. We are not communicating the love of Jesus.)

As we continue to live a life that honors Jesus, that imitates Him, we will grow.

Next week we’ll look at one more necessary thing – protection.

Key Ingredients for Growth: Water

By Paula

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

We’re looking at the things a plant must have in order to grow — like good dirt, water, light and protection — and think about how that applies to us. Last week we thought about the good, rich dirt and how our church can be that nurturing environment. But that dirt can only get you so far. If it dries out, the plant is not going to last long. Oh, it will fold in on itself for a little while and try to survive, but it can’t. We need water to grow.

The New Testament mentions water a few times so we’ll lean on those verses as we think about what is critically important to our growth. The first one comes as Jesus sits on the side a well in the Samaritan city of Sychar, talking to a woman who has come to draw her day’s supply of water.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Then a little later, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths), Jesus announces:

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:38-39

So what does that tell us. First we can’t expect to grow as believers if we are not genuinely saved. If we have simply embarked on a Christian-ish program of self-improvement, we won’t see any more more transformation than I would see if I swore off M&Ms.

Birth must precede growth.

We have to come face to face with the reality that our sin offends a holy God and we are hopeless to ever make amends. However, perfect, sinless Jesus Christ has been judged for our sins, in our place, and God will accept that judgment and the death sentence that was carried out. Jesus’s resurrection is proof that God approved of Christ’s death on our behalf. Of course, this is not a global, general thing. It has to be an individual transaction. That’s why we use the term “personal” savior.

The Holy Spirit helps us grow.

How do we know that we are really born anew and not just messing around? If we understand how offensive our sin is to God and that horrible price it demanded for redress … we commit our lives to living in a way that pleases that holy God, even if we fail sometimes, the trajectory of our lives is clearly aimed at being like Jesus. That is accomplished not by us promising to do better but by the Holy Spirit living in us. The Holy Spirit Jesus was talking about in John 7:38-39.

The Word helps us grow.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Ephesians 5:24-25

Paul adds another dimension to that water that we need to grow. He uses a theological word – sanctify. Sanctification is the process we go through that takes us from newborn babies who just believed in Jesus to fully mature saints in the very presence of God. (Hint: We won’t finish the process in this life.)

He says Christ cleanses us with the word. What “word” does Paul mean? Jesus is called the Word at the beginning of John’s gospel. The gospel is called the word (as in, preach the word). The Bible is called the word. You could make a case for all three. Jesus does the cleansing by His death on the cross. The gospel lets us know that we can’t do anything on our own, but we need Jesus for everything. (John 15:5) And as we learn about Christ and His ways through scripture we conform to it.

Immerse yourself in the Word. Soak in it. Read. Think about. Memorize. Study. Hear it taught and preached. Discuss it.

That’s how you grow.

Next week: Light.

Embracing Change

By Paula

Change is not all bad. In fact, it’s one of the ways God teaches us about Himself … and about us. Learn to embrace change.

A week ago, we dropped my oldest off at college. As I talked to some friends with children just a few years younger than mine–friends for whom that day still looms–we all talked about how much we didn’t like change, any change. Hated it, in fact. Maybe you can identify.

Change reminds us that we are neither self-sufficient, nor in control.

When things are familiar and comfortable, when we have a system and a routine, we start to think we can handle anything. That’s an illusion, though. In John 15:5 Jesus reminded His disciples and us that we can’t do anything without Him.

Focusing on the concern change brings chokes out the gospel.

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world … choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Matthew 13:22
When our anxiety and distress about change fills our thoughts and imagination, it becomes more and more difficult for God to work in us and through us. Sometimes it even interferes with our ability to embrace what we know–that God is in control, and that He loves us. See, change is good. Embrace change.

There is no growth without change.

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. 1 Peter 2:2
We see growth as a good thing and change often as a bad thing, but the two are inseparable. Change is not a punishment but an opportunity, something that God has carefully, lovingly approved to draw us to Him. From the moment of our salvation, He sets us on a course to make us more Christlike, more suited to His ultimate purposes. The changes we experience put us one step closer to where He wants us to be. Embrace the change

How do you cope with change?

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

A Study in Contrasts: Choosing a King

By Paula

Study in contrasts choosing a king title graphic

You may remember from beginning grammar that conjunctions are words that connect words or ideas. “But” is the conjunction that joins contrasting ideas. When “but” appears in Scripture, it highlights something God wants us to notice, to learn from. We’re looking at some of these contrasts. Let’s consider choosing a king.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

In a familiar story in 1 Samuel 16, the prophet Samuel travels to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem because God has told him to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, the one God would choose, as the next king over Israel. So, when Jesse’s oldest, Eliab, was presented to the prophet, Samuel thought, “This must be the one!”

God stopped him, though with the words in verse 7. Man looks on the outward appearance BUT the LORD looks on the heart. In that simple statement, the Lord teaches us quite a bit about Himself, and about us. Let’s looks at some of those lessons.

We are limited. God is not.
Our knowledge is limited to what we can tease out with our physical senses. And we are dependent on being able to correctly interpret that data. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen forms during my early morning run that turned out to be trash cans or mailboxes once I got a little closer or got a better perspective. And I’m sure many of us can recall situations where we would have made a different choice if we had all the information available.

God is not limited in any way. His eyes don’t play tricks on Him. He doesn’t get foggy-headed when He lacks sleep. He doesn’t make rash decisions in the heat of the moment. Because of that, we can have complete confidence in Him and His leading.

God sees us for who we really are.
We can fool a lot of people, including ourselves, but God always sees our true selves. In some ways this is unsettling. No excuses. No cover-ups. But it can also be reassuring. He is privy to the absolute worst in us … and that hasn’t caused His love for us to waver the slightest bit.

God also knows our real intentions when someone else might get the wrong idea. He knows the burdens and pain we carry that maybe no one else does. Because of that, we can rest assured of His unfailing love for us and His care of us.

We need to learn from God’s example.
We can’t suddenly become mind-readers (or heart-readers, for that matter) but we can recognize that there is much more to the people we encounter than what we see on the outside. We can treat others with the compassion God demonstrates.

While we may never have to choose a king, we do make decisions about people all the time. (Note, that’s decisions, not judgments.) We choose who we do business with. We choose who to form relationships with. We choose who gets our vote. Like Samuel, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us when we make those kinds of decisions rather than relying on the ‘eye test’.

In fact, James reminds us, we have that wisdom available to us.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6

Here’s another post about choices: Q: Did I Not Choose?

Is Anyone Left Out?

God’s Provision

Key Ingredients for Growth: Light

Key Ingredients for Growth: Water

Embracing Change

Change reminds us that we are neither self-sufficient, nor in control.

Focusing on the concern change brings chokes out the gospel.

There is no growth without change.

A Study in Contrasts: Choosing a King

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series