August 21, 2024

Matthew 9.38 (NIV)

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

God’s work is spiritual work . . . spiritual work is best advanced with spiritual weapons, the chief of which is prayer.*

According to the language experts, the literal meaning of Jesus’ words is that we should ask the Lord to “thrust out” workers into his harvest field. That has a more forceful and energetic ring than merely sending them. It sounds a bit random as well. To the human eye, sometimes God’s “sending” does not appear to be so orderly. From my home church, for instance, during a period of just a few months, we had members who were called to Japan, Cambodia, and Africa. Why there? Why them? They know they were called, but only God knows the “whys.”

Have you noticed that we don’t read that Jesus ever told his disciples to pray for lost souls? Instead, he told them to pray for laborers (and he told them to go be those laborers).* How many prayer requests have you heard for someone’s lost loved one? How many requests for workers in the field? Perhaps we need to change the focus of our prayers.

I believe there is a natural progression from praying for laborers to developing the willingness to be one.  Our willingness to serve may not result in a call to go away – after all, if we all got up and went, who would pay the bills? God hasn’t gifted us all the same or called us all to the same field; but whatever our gift or calling, Jesus asks us to pray for workers in his harvest fields.

Accept your current obligations as opportunities. See the fields that are white for harvest beginning at your home address.*

August 20, 2024

Matthew 8.2, 3 (NIV)

A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said.

Contact with Jesus . . . changes the unclean to clean.*

Any time you get to feeling overwhelmed by your unworthiness, remember this story and be reminded of our Savior’s amazing love. In the society in which Jesus moved, no one was lower than a leper, never mind that the person was diseased through no fault of his own. Because the Jews regarded leprosy as a curse from God, doctors didn’t even try to treat it. A leper was only fit to live with other lepers.

This particular leper was audacious enough to present himself to Jesus for healing. He knew that Jesus had the power to heal him – he just didn’t know if Jesus would be willing. Not only was Jesus willing, he demonstrated his love and his power in this one act. He “could have healed the man with a look, or a word – instead he reached out and touched him.”* How long had it been since this poor man had felt the touch of another human?

Do you believe that Jesus has the power to heal you? Do you believe that he is willing? Do you believe that his love is powerful enough to touch you and make you clean?

It’s hard to imagine Jesus could have done anything more compassionate than touch a man who had been untouched, unloved, and in a sense, unseen.*

August 19, 2024

Matthew 7.20 (NIV)

“Thus by their fruit you will recognize them.”

Good fruit grows from good trees.*

In this verse, and in verse 16 of the same chapter, Jesus warns about false teachers and how to recognize them. He makes it clear that we must be prepared to discern and judge when it comes to false prophets.*

While actions reveal character, we understand that fruit takes time to grow – whether it is good fruit or bad fruit. It is possible for a false prophet to display a “form of godliness” and fool his students for a time. But there are clues to watch for in determining the fruit that will eventually be produced: the teacher’s manner of living; the content of his teaching; and the effect of his teaching.* We are foolish when we don’t consider the source, verify the teaching against Scripture, and observe the results in the lives of the students. 

He that brings forth no fruit, and he that brings forth bad fruit, are both only fit for the fire.*

August 18, 2024

Matthew 7.6 (NIV)

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs.”

He will give no guarantee that others will enjoy us and respond well.*

The scholars are divided on what specific sacred items Jesus is referring to in this verse, but I have to wonder: Does it matter? The message is clear: Pigs have their place in this world but they have no use for jewelry. To a dog, a nice leather-bound Bible is a chew toy. As we shouldn’t offer valuable things to pigs and dogs who are without discernment, Jesus says that we waste time offering holy things to people who refuse our best and most loving efforts to lead them to him.

Just prior to this statement, Jesus says, in Matthew 7.1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” “How can one be careful not to cast pearls before swine or not to give dogs what is holy unless in some way one judges who the ‘swine’ and the ‘dogs’ are?”* And yet, we must be careful who we call a pig!

Just because Jesus warns about tossing our pearls to the pigs, we are not relieved of our responsibility to “cast our pearls” period. Don’t be too quick to decide that your pearls are landing in the pig-pen. There are many souls who will tell you how glad they are that there was someone who never gave up on them.

Effective evangelism takes time. . . Harvests don’t come about overnight. It takes months of hard work, dedication, perseverance, and prayer for the crops to be ready.*

August 17, 2024

Matthew 7.1, 2 (NIV)

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

“Minding our own business” is not a Christian virtue if it means ignoring evil things going on in our midst.*

In our culture, “judgmental” is one of the worst things we can call another person. As Christians, we tend to choose one extreme or the other in the exercise of judgment. We are the judgmental hypocrites that the world thinks we are; or we act as if we believe that Jesus preached a universal acceptance of any life-style or teaching.*

If we take Jesus’ words to mean that Christians are called to unconditional approval,* then we leave ourselves with no ability – or authority – to make evaluations of whether any behavior is acceptable to God.* But as Christians, we can’t not form an opinion of conduct that is clearly evil.*

We need to learn the difference between discernment and judgment. When we make assessments (judgments) about a tree based on its fruits, we aren’t deciding the fate of the tree; we are just evaluating the quality and quantity of its output. In John 12.47, Jesus says, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.” While Jesus didn’t judge, he certainly didn’t hesitate to use discernment. We might say that he made “judgment calls.”

In order to avoid becoming judgmental and self-righteous, remember these points:

• Recognizing and confronting sin in another person does not release us from our responsibility to love them.
• “We can judge the fruit of a man, but we can rarely judge [his] motives with accuracy.”* There is no such thing as a good reason to commit sin but we should be sensitive to the circumstances that have led to the wrong behavior.

In Jesus’ time, the rabbis taught that God had two measures by which he judged people. One was a measure of justice and the other was a measure of mercy. Which measure would you want him to use with you?*

It is not merciful to be nonjudgmental.*

August 16, 2024

Matthew 6.27 (NIV)

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Pray twice as much as you fret.*

This is a classic example of a rhetorical question because I’m pretty sure Jesus wasn’t expecting anyone to raise his hand and answer, “Me! Worrying has really increased my lifespan!” It’s as if Jesus is saying, “So, tell me how all this worrying is working out for you.”

We are aware that worrying can actually shorten our lives. Stress makes us unhealthy. We waste a lot of time and energy crossing imaginary bridges. But how do we not worry? I mean, if we don’t worry, it might look as if we don’t care!

I am not a worrier by nature but here are some tricks I use for those times when I feel a fret coming on. These tricks won’t surprise you; I just hope they will remind you.

• Quote some worry-reducing scripture. Like this one (Matthew 6.27). How about I Peter 5.7?  Check out Philippians 4.6 and 7 – a step-by-step worry-busting formula.
• Journal. My daily “quiet time” includes writing my prayers. When I am worried about something, I start by making a list of all the things I can do about it and end by realizing that I can’t do anything. It’s so much easier to let God have it when it’s clear that the solution is out of my control.
• Talk to someone. Voicing my worries almost always makes them seem smaller than they did inside my head. Saying them out loud reduces their size and their power.
• Pray without ceasing. Make sure that you really are praying and not just fretting.
• Listen. “In the midst of our praying, let us ‘listen’ . . . And let us listen carefully, for God doesn’t shout.”*

There may be greater sins than worry, but there are none more debilitating and useless.*

August 15, 2024

Matthew 6.11 (NIV)

“Give us today our daily bread.”

God gave manna in limited portions.*

In the model prayer, Jesus has us asking for today’s needs, not our future needs. Like manna was only for the day and couldn’t be hoarded for the future, our daily bread is for now. When tomorrow comes, we’ll be provided for again.

According to the scholars, the meaning of the Greek word that is translated as “daily” is vague. My favorite of the possible nuances is that of its being a request for something that God has already promised before we have even asked for it. I have been blessed so abundantly that I would be embarrassed to ask God for more! And even on my lowest, most impoverished days, I have never had to ask for my daily bread – I just got up every morning and looked for the manna.

Is your faith strong enough not to ask God to bless you tomorrow?

Be careful never to place your trust in God’s blessings rather than in God.*