What's the Difference?

As I was reading the book of Ruth the other morning, it struck me that Ruth and her sister-in-law, Orpah, were very similar.  Both married a man who had moved to Moab from Israel.  Both women's husband and father-in-law died.  Both were kind to their mother-in-law, Naomi.  And both vowed to go with their mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Judah.  But there was one very great difference between the two women?  What was it?  Put simply, when Naomi told both of her daughters-in-law for a second time to go back to their own people, Orpah chose to go, but Ruth insisted upon going to Judah with Naomi.  Put simply, Ruth chose to deny herself, not knowing what the future held.  Whereas, Orpah chose what was best for herself.  Jesus once said, "He who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it."  And, truly, we see that play out in Ruth's life, for later in the story, we see Ruth marrying a wealthy, caring man, and becoming the great grandmother of King David.  What is more, she became part of the Messiah's lineage.  Do you think that Orpah would have made a different decision had she known what was at stake? Obviously.  But are you faced with a seemingly simple decision today?  If so, then what will you choose?  Self-denial, like Ruth?  Or self-preservation, like Orpah?  If we could see down time, then I'm sure that we would make more decisions like the one Ruth made to deny herself.  For even though Orpah had no clue what she missed out on, she sure missed out on something special.

It's Dinner Time

At the end of a long day, the disciples wanted to send the crowd home, so that the people could buy their dinner in the nearby towns.  There were thousands of people who had come out to listen to Jesus teach all day long.  "You feed them!" replied Jesus.  "With what?" replied the disciples.  "What have you got?" asked Jesus.  After the disciples looked around, they came back and said, "We've got five loaves of bread, and two fish."  "Tell the people to sit down in rows of 50 and 100," Jesus instructed the disciples.  Jesus then prayed for the meal and began to pass it out until all 5,000 plus men had eaten until they were satisfied.  The disciples then collected 12 baskets of left over bread and fish.

Often times, we are told to bring whatever we have to Jesus, and He will multiply it.  But we seem to think of this from a material standpoint.  But let me challenge you to think of it from a time perspective, for in this day and age, we are all challenged with a lack of time.  "I don't have any time for this or that," we say.  But maybe you have a ten minute block on every third Wednesday that is open.  Let me challenge you to bring that time to Jesus, and give it to Him.  And let's see what He does with what little we have to offer.  Can He touch lives with your ten minutes?  I can assure you that not only can He, but He will.

Have You Changed Only Your MInd?

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9.  Isn’t it interesting that God is not willing that we merely come to a belief in Him.  Instead, He wants us to come to repentance.  In other words, He wants the gospel to change our conduct, not merely our minds.

Everything Is Against Me!

Oh, what a limited view we have of what God is doing in our lives.  "All these things are against me," cried Jacob in Genesis 42:36.  "What was against him?" you might ask.  Well, Jacob had been living under the belief that his second youngest son--his pride and joy, Joseph, had been killed by some vicious animal.  Now, he and his family were in the middle of a famine, and they were having trouble putting food on the table.  So he sent his sons to a foreign country to see if they could buy some food.  But when they got there, one of Jacob's sons, Simeon, was arrested and put into jail on charges of being a spy.  And the only way that Simeon was going to be released from jail was if his family could prove that he was not lying about having a younger brother.  As such, when Jacob's sons got home and told him about all that had happened and that they would not allow Jacob's family to buy food anymore until they proved that Simeon had a younger brother, Jacob was distraught and cried out: "All these things are against me."  But were they really?  In reality, God was about to bless Jacob's socks off.  For Jacob's son (the one he thought had been killed by an animal) actually had been elevated by God to second in charge in that entire country.  He wasn't dead; rather, he was alive, well, powerful, and prospering.  And now God was going to uncover Jacob's eyes and reveal what He had been doing for the past few years.  So learn the lesson that I am sure Jacob would have told you himself: stop whining like a baby when looking at your apparent circumstances.  Yes, it may look like everything is going against you, but God is at work, and He will reveal, in His time, what He has been doing in your life.  Put simply, you know that He is good, so start living like it and quit the whining.

Judah? Not My Choice!

Quick: whose idea was it to sell his brother, Joseph, as a slave?  Okay, okay, so the title gave it away: Judah.  Okay, pop quiz number two: whose two oldest sons were killed by God?  You're on a roll, now.  Yes, it was Judah, again.  Let's see if you can make it three out of three: which man got his daughter-in-law pregnant because he mistook her for a prostitute?  Did you guess Judah?  I hope so, at least if you want to get an "A" on this test.  Now if you were God, and you knew all of the above about Judah (and probably a lot more), who would you pick of the 12 patriarchs to be in the line of the Messiah?  Probably the most likely choice would be Joseph, for he seemingly never did anything wrong, and, despite all his misfortunes, he ended up the second in command in Egypt and was used dramatically by God.  But God chose to place Judah, and not Joseph, in the Messianic line.  And it wasn't through his third son, Shelah, that the seed passed, but, rather, it was through his little get together with his daughter-in-law that the seed passed.  "Wait a minute," some might say, "I know that Mary's husband's line is listed in the Book of Matthew, so, technically, his seed didn't pass to Jesus."  Okay, you got me.  You're right.  Judah's seed did pass to Mary's husband, Joseph.  But when you flip your Bible a few more pages to the right, you will see that the seed of Judah (and his son by Tamar, Perez) was in the direct line of Mary, too.  What does this speak of?  A little thing known as grace.  Imagine that--God took Judah's most embarrassing act of his life and wrapped it in his grace.  But do you know what is truly interesting?  During his lifetime, Judah had no clue of what God was doing.  Which begs the question: do you think we are in for a few surprises when we die?  I think so.  And I think that the surprises will be laden with grace.

Goodbye, Jesus.

Love is meant to be exclusive.  If you don't believe me, then fall in love with someone, and then watch your response if that person becomes intimate with someone else--it isn't pretty.  Yet God is a jealous God.  He is jealous for a relationship with you.  Yes, you, even with all your flaws and shortcomings.  Do you realize that the Scriptures tell us that He thinks more thoughts about you in one night than there are grains of sand on the whole planet?  You talk about being enraptured by somebody!  In short, He absolutely loves and adores you and wants the best for your life.  "But what about my sins?" you might ask.  He loved you so much that He died to pay the price for them, so that He could have a relationship with you.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  1 John 1:9.  However, so many of us profess to know and love Jesus, but we also want to love "the world."  In other words, we engage in spiritual adultery.  That doesn't sound too nice, does it?  But it is true, and it needs to stop, for the best of the relationship.  For loving Jesus and loving the world is inconsistent and just doesn't work.  And, tragically, one day, at the judgment seat, such "believers" will have to part ways with Jesus, for Jesus simply won't be one of many.  So think about it: for all that you know about Jesus' love, grace, forgiveness, and all that He has done for you, can you imagine having to eternally say "goodbye, Jesus"?  Wake up before it is too late and foster your relationship with Jesus Christ.  You'll never regret it.

A Way to Live

In response to Satan's first temptation (turn stones into bread--Jesus was literally starving to death) to Jesus, He said, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."  Matthew 4:4.  Put simply, there is a way to live.  Have you been living the right way?  Did you even know that there was a right way to live?  Jesus said that we are to live "by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."  In short, in order for you to live by "every word," then you have got to become familiar with God's word to know what He says.  Next, you have got to apply God's word to your life.  What does that look like?  Well, let's look at what Jesus did when Satan's second temptation (throw yourself off the temple because God's word says the angels will protect You) came His way: "Jesus said to him again, 'It is written again, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."'"  Matthew 4:7.  In other words, Jesus responded to the temptation by saying, "God's word tells me not to do that, so I'm not going to do that."  Jesus again demonstrated what it looks like to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God when He was faced with Satan's third temptation (worship me and I'll give you everything you are after in life): "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Matthew 4:10.  In closing, if you want to live the right way, then let me encourage you to become familiar with God's word, and then apply it to your life.  It's really that simple.  It doesn't mean that life will be easy for you, but you will be living it the right way.