Category: Monday Thursday
Work Out What God Works In: MT e66
When I was much younger there were occasional summers that we as a family would go to Curie Beach in NC. One very clear memory is my mother would always get me a new plastic bucket and shovel to use on the beach.
But there was one condition, I could not use it until we got to the beach. I had other plastic shovels that were older but why use them if the brand new one was right here.
I had ants in my pants every time. I could not wait to use that new bucket and shovel.
Then finally, we would get to the destination, and I would be able to work with my new tools. I could dig and rake until my heart was content.
Philippians 2:12-13 it says, “As you have obeyed . . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
When it says, work out your salvation, does it mean that we are to work to gain our righteousness? Is Scripture saying here that God does His part and we do our part?
The short answer is no.
We are saved by grace through God’s loving kindness and mercy. Grace means gift. You do not work for a gift.
In the process of being saved God changes us. It is a miraculous change of heart.
Just like the younger me with my beach toys, just itching to get busy. This is the same picture for the believer. We are excited to get busy with our new tools that God has given us.
We are not working to gain righteousness but because we are righteous.
Believers are WORKING OUT what God has WORKED IN us. (repeat)
This is the ongoing desire for every believer. Keep working out what God is working in.
Why . . .because it is for His good purpose. Our Lord always gets the glory. That is why I say:
S.D.G.
Living Bread: MT e65
When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” what exactly did that mean?
This is where we were Thursday. We discussed then that When Jesus said this, the people listening to Jesus would have definitely remembered a couple of encounters that Moses had. Aside from them remembering Moses, what did Jesus mean?
Have you ever noticed ALL the places and things that we have in our culture that surround food?
We have cookbooks by the tens of thousands. There are countless cooking channels on YouTube. Television shows not just about cooking but also about visiting delicious restaurants and even shows that are about finding the best chefs. And this is just the beginning.
We love food. It is great for holidays; it is great for special occasions and memories. Even Christ himself, before he was crucified wanted to share one last meal with his disciples.
Midst all this food, cookbooks, cooking shows and places to eat, there is something more important. It is God’s very word.
What Jesus was teaching when he said, I am the bread of life is that just as food keeps us alive and keeps us nourished, we need more than this. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
This is LIFE! Life that ordinary food, regardless of how delicious, can’t provide.
Food indeed does provide sustenance for living life. But it is in Jesus we don’t just live, we have ever lasting life. That is why partaking of the bread of life is by far our most important need.
Jesus is the bread from heaven. Bread that gives us eternal life.
S.D.G.
Bread of Life: MT e64
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall never hunger and never thirst.” John 6:35
What did he mean by this? Does it imply that those who come to Christ will never get hungry? Will they never get “hangry”?
His statement would have been immediately understood by many in the audience but many would not appreciate what he was saying. Jesus was looking back at two events the listeners would have known well.
The first event is Moses asking God for advice. God wanted Moses to talk to the Pharaoh. This would be very similar to just any common Joe going up to the President of the United States or even a governor of any state.
There would be handlers. There would be people you need to get through first to get on the schedule to speak to even a mayor of a city. “Who are you?” They would ask.
Moses said, “Who will I tell them sent me?” God replies, “Tell them I am. I am has sent you.”
What a bold statement. Tell them, the one who exists has sent you.
The second event is the manna that fed God’s people. Bread from heaven it is called.
Jesus is summing up his identity and his purpose. I am, the bread of life. He repeats the words of God to Moses which identifies Him and points to the provision of bread which indicates His purpose.
Monday, we will unfold the implications of this statement. What does it mean when Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”
Until then S.D.G.
Becoming GREAT!: MT e63
I remember a lecture given by a guy named Tommy Amaker. Most likely you have never heard of him. Currently men’s basketball coach at Harvard. At the time of the Lecture I attended he was playing for Duke University.
Tommy was an exceptional basketball player. He was sharing how he achieved his skill. How did he become great? Time in the gym.
He said, “When everyone was at the Friday night football game in High School, he was in the gym playing basketball: dribbling, shooting, running.”
In his words, “It is what you do when no one is watching.”
How would you define being great? Is it something you think about?
Philosophically Plato defined being a great person as not being driven by personal desires but by a love for what is just and good.
Socrates defined it as the cultivation of virtue through wisdom and self-knowledge.
Descartes, the highest form of human greatness is a virtue he calls generosity
How about more recently, Jordan Peterson said greatness is a combination of disciplined, voluntary sacrifice, pursuing what is meaningful, that looks out for the moral good of self and society.
Even though I would consider only one of these I have quoted is an actual Christ follower, there are bits and pieces of truth in all of these ideas.
Jesus, with authority, said it best. “Whoever wants to be great must be a servant. . .just as I have come not to be served but to serve and give my life for many” Matthew 20
It is the call of the Christ follower to see Christ’s example and copy it.
Many years ago we had these bracelets that were popular that had WWJD What Would Jesus Do. It was a fashion statement but even more, it is the beginning of being great.
This is how you grow into greatness. Stop and consider, what would Jesus do.
S.D.G.
Where Is Your Treasure: MT e62
In Scripture, God appears to Solomon in a dream (1 Kings 3). He says to Solomon, “Ask me anything you desire, and I will give it to you.”
What would you ask for in this situation? For many it would be money. There is security and safety when there is plenty of money.
Last time we were in Matthew 6 and I was chasing money all over a parking lot. The wind was literally blowing my cash all around a very large parking lot. That mental image from so many years ago has not left me. It is what people do and have done all through time.
Jesus said, “do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steel. Rather store up for yourselves treasures in heaven; where moths and rust can’t destroy and thieves can’t break in a steel. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Jesus was not anti-savings. That is not the point of this teaching. There are PLENTY of parables and proverbs on saving and investing. The last line contains the point of his teaching. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
How we answer the question posed to Solomon reveals a lot in what we treasure. Think over it in your mind and heart. How would you answer that question?
Solomon said, “give me wisdom.” Solomon was young and did not feel wise and wanted to rule righteously. He wanted to rule and judge in a godly way.
When we come to a right relationship with Jesus we begin to have more correct views of the world. This relationship in Christ provides a change in how we look at this world.
Ask yourself these questions and they will reveal where your heart is. The answers will show if you are thinking on earth or heavenly:
1. Am I giving God at least 10% of your waking hours? (social media/entertainment etc. vs. with God in reading, prayer, study etc)
2. Am I guarding my heart from that which takes me away from God?
Be honest. Really ponder this. The answer to these will point to where your treasure is.
S.D.G.
Frantic Search: MT e61
It was a cloudy and windy November day, so many years ago. I had just completed a job and was paid in cash. As my buddy and I drove away, it was not uncommon for me to temporarily stick the folded cash between my legs.
It was about a thirty-minute drive home and we decided to get some lunch. The McDonald’s we stopped at was on a busy street full of very large vacant parking lots for strip malls which had been demolished years before. Eight-foot fences dotted the edge of those properties.
We went in and ordered our food but when it came time to pay, I could not find the cash. I looked in every pocket. Then I looked again. No success! Then I went back out to the truck and noticed that a wad of cash was sitting by the door on the pavement. I picked it up and it was only half, and a panic had set in.
Immediately I thought of the great tragedy of losing an entire day’s pay. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the $20’s tumbling in the distance. Chasing it down I began to look frantically for the rest of the cash. The wind had driven it all over a parking lot that was the size of three football fields.
I began to pray passionately, “Lord, please, let me find at least half.” In the next ten minutes I found one $20 here and one $50 there. Some were baptized in a water puddle. Most were blown up against the 8-foot chain link fence and the rest were swirling inside a collection of leaves caught up in wind. I did find all the money and a great relief overcame me.
I was extremely thankful, and I repeated several times, Thank You Lord. Later I was reflecting on that moment, and I could not escape that mental image of me frantically searching.
I pondered; was there any moment where I had so passionately pursued anything else? When was the last time I was that motivated?
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal (I could add here, where forgetfulness and wind will scatter). “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in a steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mt 6:19-21.
Jesus’ words are not anti-savings account. The purpose of Jesus’ words was to bring attention to what is the chief motive or concern in life.
That November day the chief concern was chasing down on that lost money. It was an all-consuming passion for about 15 minutes, and it should have been.
What lesson can we learn from this text and my mishap?
More on this next time, until then S.D.G.
Believe: MT e 60
If I were to ask you if you believe that the Bible is true, how would you reply? For those of you who are watching this and are also Christian the answer would certainly be yes. True believers have faith that the Scriptures contains God’s truthful word.
I want to press on that just a little today. My hope is that my challenge will bring a deeper conviction to your faith.
The focus Monday was the writer of Psalm 77 who was going through a difficult time and it seemed as if God was not hearing his cries, prayers and expressions.
This writer could have given up, pouted or gotten angry but rather he chose to remember God’s mighty acts.
Do you believe in Scripture in the same way the Psalmist did? Do you have real faith in Scripture?
When God’s word states that the Israelites with no where to turn were backed up against the sea with the Egyptian troupes after them, do you believe that God walled up the waters and made dry ground for them to cross the Red Sea?
Scripture says that God He poured water from a rock. It says that small David defeated a nine foot giant Goliath. It says that Lazarus was raised from the dead. Do you believe it?
The overwhelming number of believers would say yes. I know those stories. I believe the Bible and I believe those things happened.
Why do we live our faith and pray our prayers as if they did not happen? I say this not to shame anyone but rather to encourage you. Is our Lord weak? Is our Lord incapable?
Is our Lord so distant from you and me that you and we can’t have the same confidence that the writer of Psalm 77?
This should change our posture in prayer. It should change how we look at life, struggle, heartache, and disappointment.
Our God is Almighty. Let us rejoice and be greatly encouraged in how He has worked in the past. Let us be confident that His strength in no way has diminished in the present.
In short, believe dear Christian, really believe.
S.D.G.
Psalm 77: MT e59
Psalm 77 is written from a soul that is distressed. We may even today consider this person depressed.
Verse 2 says that this person is seeking the Lord, stretching out their hand until it gets tired.
Ever felt that? Like maybe raising your hand in a class setting but you aren’t being called on and your arm or shoulder starts feeling weak or tingly or weird? This psalmist is praying like that but finding no comfort, no relief.
This is one distressed person. Looking for help, looking for relief from God and yet there seems to be none. “Will you spurn me forever and never again be favorable to me?” it says in verse 7.
I have been here. As a Christian I have had seasons of despair and there seem to be no relief. There have been times of consistent prayer over a matter, and it seems God has no desire to provide relief in that situation.
The psalmist does something amazing. He says, alright, I am just going to remember your works of old. You won’t deliver me from my distress right now, let me focus on how you delivered others.
I have never had that reaction. I find it fascinating. The example here is to think of the time God allowed the people to cross the Red Sea on dry ground. To do this when God SEEMS (key word) to be far away and not providing me delivery. My habit is usually to be further depressed and question if God even loves me. Have I done something to anger you?
The Psalmist increased his faith. He looked at historical events, things that took place hundreds of years before he was born. Things of Scripture.
He did not just say, “I believe Scripture.” He treated it as fact. He used it to affirm that God is almighty. There is something in that for you and me. More on this next time.
Until then S.D.G.
Rocky Trails & Life: MT e58
Several years ago, while in Tennessee, Tina and I were hiking on a trail. The trail was a 5-mile loop and the sign at the trail head said that it would take 2.5 hours to hike.
I took mental note of that sign and thought to myself, 2.5 hours? At an average pace it would take less than 2 hours to walk 5 miles.
It was not long before I realized why it was going to take 2.5 hours. The trail was loaded with rocks; I mean, rocks, not limestone.
There were trip hazards everywhere. A root would make an appearance here and there. At one point there was a sink hole that was at least 50 feet deep and big enough to fit a smart car.
The entire time we walked, we had our heads down. We did not want to trip or fall into a 50-foot hole.
It was a beautiful day and the temperature was perfect; the sun was bright. But I remember saying to Tina, “I am enjoying our hike, but it would be nice if we could look up and around and see some beauty.”
How much that hike resembles life. If you are like me, too often I get so focused on concerns and trials in my own life that I fail to look up and look around me.
I can look around and see the beauty in the struggle. Maybe I need to slow down and little, come up alongside someone else who, like me, is also experiencing trials.
Paul in 2 Corinthians (1:3-4) speaks about this:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
A few sentences later Paul defines the weight his burden as more than he could bear. Yet he still was able to give us an example of looking around.
He was not just looking at the ground, head down, going through his circumstances. Rather, while he was working through his trials, he was helping others deal with their issues.
What a beautiful example for us to follow!
S.D.G.