Thursday, October 31, 2024

October 31, 2024

Ephesians 3.20, 21(NIV) 
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory.
We praise God for his attributes and thank him for his actions.*
When I worked in an office, I often told our IT guys, “If I can think of it, you should be able to do it.” The IT department didn’t always see it that way; sometimes my wishes were beyond their power to grant. I can think of great things for God to do, too, but he can think of greater ones.

We tend to think of these verses as describing someone who can grant all our wishes – like a genie in a lamp. While God does sometimes use his power to accommodate us, we mostly underuse this source of power. We are armed with the power to save the world and all we can think of is how we can make use of it to make our dreams come true.

“To him be glory” may not be a command but a statement of fact: God will be glorified because of who he is and what he does. How can glory not be given to the one who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine?  
He will only do as much for us as we will allow Him to do in us.*

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

October 30, 2024

Ephesians 3.12 (NIV)
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
To separate faith from confidence would be an attempt to take away heat and light from the sun.*
In my previous job, I and my colleagues from around the state went to the State Capitol to lobby our representatives regarding proposed legislation. My counterpart from another county and I ran into one of her legislators in the hallway and had a brief chat. I expected the same from most of my reps except for one – I had been friends with him and his wife more than 20 years - and his aide was my former next-door neighbor. My friend was out of the office in a meeting when we got there but his aide volunteered to take us to him in spite of my insistence not to bother him. He took us to a door that opened onto the dais of the meeting room where my friend sat. When he spotted me, he didn’t just smile and wave in acknowledgement of my presence – he got up from his important (and perhaps boring) meeting and came out to talk to us. Not surprisingly, my colleague was impressed by my warm reception from such a prominent person!

Contrast that kind of approachability with the story of Esther. She risked her life to approach the king without an invitation. . . And then look at our access to God. We don’t need an appointment. He doesn’t have his secretary screen his calls. Jesus has removed all obstacles from our path to the throne of the most powerful being in the universe.

There may be dangers in approaching God carelessly* or in becoming unduly familiar,* but let us rejoice in the freedom and confidence with which we may draw near to God. With Jesus as our royal escort, we are always welcome in the presence of God.
The same freedom that gives us confidence to speak to God also gives us confidence to fellowship with him.*

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

October 29, 2024

Galatians 6.10 (NIV)
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
When we evaluate ourselves against the New Testament example, we find much of what we call “community life” in the church today is still far from what Scripture calls us to do.*
Our mission as Christians is to seek and save the lost. We know that in order to do our job, we have to have contact with nonbelievers. We are criticized (and rightly so) if we just hunker down in our church buildings, taking refuge from the dangerous, cruel world; but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the New Testament speaks more about how to live a Christian life and how to get along with our brothers and sisters than it does about evangelism.

Orphans who dream of being adopted don’t fantasize about joining a family of squabblers and back-stabbers. Why would anyone be attracted to the Christian life if we don’t treat each other with love and respect? If we are treating our family like family should be treated, wouldn’t you expect that goodwill to spill over into our treatment of everyone? “Charity begins at home” could be used as an excuse for selfishness and isolation but “begin” implies further movement. Start by doing good to your family of believers; move on to doing good to all people.
Church buildings are where most Christians today learned about God, gave their lives to Christ, were nurtured by a faith community, and were ministered to in their darkest time of life.*

Monday, October 28, 2024

October 28, 2024

Galatians  6.1 (NIV)
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
Restoration, and not retribution or retaliation, must be the purpose of our dialogue with one another.*
When trying to restore someone who is caught in sin, what might we be tempted to do? We might be tempted to be judgmental; to oversimplify the solution; to run! We might even be tempted to be presumptuous. What we must do when we are aware of a brother or sister’s sin, is to bathe them in prayer before taking it upon ourselves to address the issue with them. 

There was a time when I felt that a certain friend needed some wise counsel from me. I did okay at first – told her what she needed to hear, what she needed to do about a specific situation, but I guess it felt so good to be right and to have her at my mercy that I got carried away. It was not my finest hour.
 
Today, I find it helpful to ask myself three qualifying questions: Does it need to be said? Does it need to be said now? Does it need to be said by me?* If the answer is no to any of them, I butt out. I don’t see this as abdicating my responsibility – if someone is trapped in a burning house, I’m going to leave the rescuing to the fireman if there is one available.
 
The word translated “restore,” is also used in the context of “to set in joint,” as with a dislocated bone.  Our goal with the person caught in sin is to “put him back in his place,” not alienate him. This is not a job for a spiritually immature person, and each of us should examine ourselves before setting out to correct someone else.  
Those who have been overtaken in any fault ought to reckon a faithful reproof the greatest kindness than can be done them and a wise reprover their best friend.*

Sunday, October 27, 2024

October 27, 2024

Galatians 3.27 (NIV)
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Should not people of hope, whose bodies are temples of God, look a bit different from children of despair?*
On the red carpet at the Academy Awards, celebrities are asked, “Who are you wearing?” Wearing a designer’s creation is an advertisement for him and if you don’t look good, he doesn’t look good!

Paul says that when we are baptized into Christ, we begin to wear Christ; but if not accompanied by faith and repentance, baptism is just a bath and the “clothes” you wear around are cheap knock-offs, not designer originals.

Analogy may be useful for illustration purposes, but often it stops short of an apt word picture. In John 14.20, Jesus tells us that he is in the Father, we are in Jesus, and Jesus is in us. That sounds a little more complex than merely donning the appropriate attire. But the unity Christ describes between him and the father, and between him and us, is a result of the same baptism by which we are clothed with Christ.

If you aren’t wearing him on the outside, you surely aren’t bearing him on the inside!
God approves righteousness when “inward," but despises the mere outward show of it.*

Saturday, October 26, 2024

October 26, 2024

Galatians 1.24 (NIV)
And they praised God because of me.
The truth of God must always usher in the praise of God.*
In this chapter, Paul presents his testimony and his credentials to the Galatian church. He is establishing his authority to confront them about things that were going on there (see verses 6 and 7). He refers to the churches in Judea who didn’t even know Paul but who, based on what they had heard, praised God because of what he had done through Paul. Paul is not bragging about himself but about how God had changed him from the man who had gone from persecuting Christians to the man who was preaching to them now.

Two of several applications that we can make from Paul’s statement are:
  • The churches to which Paul referred glorified God but they didn’t “worship” Paul. It is hard for us to separate the message from the messenger, presenting a double opportunity for Satan. First, as receivers of the message, we like to put our preachers and leaders on a pedestal – which is the equivalent of idol worship. And second, as messengers (and humans in general), “our hearts crave recognition that rightly belongs only to God.”* Leaders struggle constantly with ego versus humility.
  • People can change. Paul had been Public Enemy Number One, but these churches did not hold his past against him. I don’t know how long it took Paul to earn their trust after his conversion but someone had to be willing to give him a chance to prove himself. We do not know the “motivation and the condition of another’s heart,”* but in Christ we have to allow them room to grow and thrive in their faith.

Whether we have a disreputable past to overcome or whether we start building trust from higher ground; whether we are messengers or recipients; can we bless others beyond the point of appreciating us to the point of praising God?
It should ever be the end of the Christian man, not only to promote the glory of God by his works, but to illustrate the glory of God in his character.*

Friday, October 25, 2024

October 25, 2024

II Corinthians  12.9, 10 (NIV)
He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses. . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Personal weakness provides a great opportunity for God’s strength to come through.*
Often, we think God is not answering our prayers because we aren’t getting what we asked for. The fact is, God always answers the prayers of his children, but sometimes the answer is “no.” Just look at Paul. If anyone deserves to get what he wants from God, it is the Apostle Paul, God’s faithful, obedient and self-sacrificing servant.
 
And what did he ask for that was so bad? He didn’t ask for riches or vengeance on his enemies or for God to interfere in the space/time continuum. He asked for the removal of a “thorn in my flesh.” We never learn the exact nature of his thorn. Most people assume it involved physical suffering. (I tend to think it might have been some kind of deformity – something to keep him humble when he looked in a mirror. I wonder what that says about me!)
 
It is interesting that, by his own admission, Paul knew why he suffered from this affliction (to keep me from becoming conceited), but he asked to be delivered from it anyway. Perhaps most of us don't have so much to be conceited about, but Paul’s risk was real, because of his visions and revelations from the Lord – things that certainly distinguished him from the rest of the crowd. In refusing to remove Paul’s “thorn,” God also revealed an additional reason for Paul’s adversity: he desired for Paul to learn about the sufficiency of his grace. If things are going too well, even the most faithful of us can forget that we need God.
 
When God says his grace is sufficient, it means so much more than “just enough.” It doesn’t even mean “more than enough.” Sufficient is one of those words like pregnant or unique - you either are or you aren't. There are no degrees of sufficient – God can’t make his grace more or less sufficient. It is enough.
 
Like Paul, we need to learn to rejoice in our afflictions. When it is clear that our personal strength is inadequate, God’s power is revealed and unleashed on our behalf. That, my friends, is real strength! 
God said he was looking for empty vessels more than strong muscles.*

Thursday, October 24, 2024

October 24, 2024

II Corinthians 10.18 (NIV)
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
The value of a commendation lies in who makes it.*
The Apostle Paul, like any public figure, was the object of criticism. He probably tended to overlook most personal slights but in this passage of his letter to the Corinthians, he is compelled to defend his ministry. He could not overlook challenges to his authority to speak for the Lord.

In this chapter, Paul makes some interesting points, a few of which are:
  • he is not ashamed that he is not ashamed of his calling from the Lord (verse 8);
  • he does not to classify or compare himself with others (verse 12);
  • comparing yourself with yourself is not wise (verse 12).

Paul’s confidence in his authority to speak for the Lord is the result of his walk with the Lord. His boasting was not hollow because he knew the word and he knew the Word. He did not look to other people as the measuring stick for the value of his work; neither did he base his standard of success on his own record of achievement.
 
These principles have a double application for us. We can use them to recognize false prophets; and we can apply them to identifying inconsistencies in our own lives. Be confident in your ability to know who is commended by the Lord by knowing what the Lord finds commendable. Whether in others or in ourselves, actions and words must measure up to the standards found in God’s word, exemplified in Christ, and approved by the Holy Spirit.

From this day forward, resolve to do away with the foolishness of comparing yourself to others. Use Jesus as your measuring stick as you examine your character, your words, and your actions.
His wisdom does not need human acceptance or approval.*

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

October 23, 2024

II Corinthians 9.10, 11 (NIV)
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
If we receive wealth in return for our giving, it is not so that we can live the high life but so that we can give more.*
This passage is an essay on supply and demand – in God’s economy.

First, God supplies seed for the sower to plant, and bread to feed him while he waits for the harvest. In the course of the harvest process, he actually increases the supply of seed which yields an increase in the harvest of righteousness, which is our reward for benevolence.* This makes us rich so that we in turn can be generous. Our generosity results in thanksgiving to God which is his required repayment for the seed he supplied in the first place!

God not only supplies what we need to do good works, but he also provides the means and the ability to do it again. His resources don’t get used up. It’s a very simple formula:  give equals blessing equals more to give. This is not a recipe for gaining wealth; we are not promised that give equals blessing equals more for me to keep.

One final note on God’s economic strategy: Paul says that God rewards our generosity so that we can be generous on every occasion. How does that fit in with our tendency to be charitable just on special occasions? For special causes? To those we deem to be deserving? Perhaps we need to rethink our approach to benevolent giving.
There is no risk in generous giving.*

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

October 22, 2024

II Corinthians 9.8 (NIV)
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Few persons are ever reduced to poverty by liberality . . . But . . . there are multitudes who are made poor by the lack of liberality.*
In the earlier verses of this chapter, Paul bragged on the Corinthians for their eagerness to help and how their enthusiasm had stirred others to action. Being the cheerleader that he was, Paul hoped to urge the Corinthians to keep their momentum going. Keep up the good work, he might have said. Don’t be afraid that you will become impoverished because of your generosity to others. “Where the generous spirit is,” he might have maintained, “God will provide the means of expressing it.”*

Is Paul promising that our generosity will make us wealthy? Doesn’t it sound like we should expect that the more we give, the more we get? Look again. He says that in all things, at all times, we will have all that we need. What you can expect for your benevolence is the means to continue being benevolent.  For those who already know the blessedness of giving, that is very good news!

Take the challenge. Give generously to someone in need. See if you miss what you gave away. See if you can out-give God.
We are not really poorer by what we give away.*